The New York Times – Warren E. Buffett: Stop Coddling the Super-Rich Job one for the 12 is to pare down some future promises that even a rich America can’t fulfill. Big money must be saved here. The 12 should then turn to the issue of revenues. I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of… Continue reading Buffett Speaks
<Click on graphic for larger image> Time Magazine – The End Of Europe Britain is burning. Strange that it should be so. After all, the catastrophic economic news of recent days, including the highly controversial downgrading of U.S. debt by Standard & Poor’s, the burgeoning euro crisis in continental Europe and the market turmoil that… Continue reading Is The Stock Market The Same Thing As The Economy? Everyone Seems To Think So
The New York Times – Small Investors Recalibrate After Market Gyrations Small investors provide the bedrock for the United States stock market through their mutual funds, 401(k) plans and other company-sponsored retirement programs. Many have called their stock brokers and financial advisers in recent days, seeking advice or reassurance that their retirements and savings would… Continue reading Small Investors Are Gone And Have Been Gone For Years
Bloomberg.com – Obama’s 14th Amendment Stand Counters Critics’ ’Wimp’ Factor Claims: View Many of President Barack Obama’s friends on the left are disappointed with his performance during the debt-ceiling negotiations. In fact, they are starting to lose their enthusiasm for his re-election. To be blunt, liberals are becoming convinced that Obama is a wimp. The… Continue reading Is Obama In Trouble?
CNBC – Behind Its Lectures, China Is a Sinner Too Immediately after Standard & Poor’s rating agency announced its historic downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt last Friday, China’s official Xinhua news agency published a scathing editorial, excoriating the profligate western nation for its “debt addiction”. “The U.S. government has to come to terms with the… Continue reading China
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Gold Futures Margins Increased 22% by CME as Investors Drive Record Rally CME Group Inc. (CME), the world’s largest futures market, raised the margins on gold contracts by 22 percent after prices surged to a record on increased haven demand amid a deepening rout in global equities.… Continue reading The CME Hikes Gold Margins
CNBC – Tie Central Bankers’ Hands, Return to Gold Standard: Grant Central bankers are in the business of “currency manipulation,” James Grant, editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, told CNBC Thursday. He wants a “modernized, 21st century gold standard that checks the capacity of central banks to print money.” “I am for more rope in… Continue reading Bring Back The Gold Standard
The Financial Times – Short-selling ban boosts bank shares partial ban on short selling in the eurozone boosted European bank shares on Friday but led to confusion among market participants unclear about how the rules would be applied. France, Italy, Spain and Belgium on Thursday introduced a ban on the short selling of financial stocks… Continue reading Short Bans Never Work
The Economist – Financial markets: Hit me baby one more time Markets will take any help they can get Risk aversion has also shown up in the price of gold (see chart 1), which has hit repeated highs, and in the strength of the Swiss franc, which reached a record against the dollar on August… Continue reading Governments Help Markets
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Muni Bonds Cheapest Versus Treasuries Since 2009 as Yields Fall (No Link) Ten-year municipal-bond yields are the cheapest relative to Treasuries in more than two years as prices of tax-exempt securities trail a rally in U.S. government debt… Both municipal bonds and Treasuries have become more expensive… Continue reading Muni Yields
Fortune – Buffett: The lower stocks go, the more I buy Warren Buffett discusses the lowered outlook for Berkshire Hathaway debt, why some of his businesses aren’t hiring, and why U.S. debt remains triple-A rated in his mind For us mere mortals, this summer’s stock market meltdown has a grinding, Groundhog Day feel to it,… Continue reading Buffett Buys Again!