Project Syndicate – Robert Shiller: Bubble Spotting People frequently ask me, as someone who has written on market speculation, where the next big speculative bubble is likely to be. Will it be in housing again? Will it be in the stock market? I don’t know, though I have some hunches. It is impossible for anyone… Continue reading How To Spot A Bubble
Bloomberg.com – Europe’s Banks Would Need $355 Billion in S&P Stress Scenario Europe’s banking system would need as much as 250 billion euros ($355 billion) of new capital if faced with a “sharp” increase in yields and a “severe” economic contraction, Standard & Poor’s said in a report. The report imagines three stages that may… Continue reading EU Stress Tests
The Wall Street Journal – Detroit’s Population Crashes The population of Detroit has fallen back 100 years. The flight of middle-class African-Americans to the suburbs fueled an exodus that cut Detroit’s population 25% in the past decade to 713,777, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday. That’s the city’s lowest population level since the 1910… Continue reading Where Is Everyone Moving?
Business Insider – CAUGHT ON TAPE: Former SEIU Official Reveals Secret Plan To Destroy JP Morgan, Crash The Stock Market, And Redistribute Wealth In America A former official of one of the country’s most-powerful unions, SEIU, has a secret plan to “destabilize” the country. The plan is designed to destroy JP Morgan, nuke the stock… Continue reading Is This The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory?
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U.S. Treasury – Treasury to Begin Orderly Wind Down of Its $142 Billion Mortgage-Backed Securities Portfolio Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it will begin the orderly wind down of its remaining portfolio of $142 billion in agency-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Starting this month, Treasury plans to sell up to $10 billion… Continue reading The Treasury Will Sell Its MBS Holdings
Bloomberg.com – All Clear Sounded as Markets Shrug Off Multiple Black Swans Global markets are signaling that sustained economic growth will more than make up for Japan’s worst disaster since World War II, rising commodity prices and uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Interest-rate derivatives, bond sales by the riskiest borrowers and rebounding… Continue reading Do We Have Systemically Significant Positions?
<Click on chart for larger image> The Associated Press – Portugal gov’t nears collapse amid debt crisis Just as Portugal appeared to have dodged a bailout like those taken by Greece and Ireland, a domestic political spat was set Monday to worsen its financial troubles and possibly spoil Europe’s efforts to put the sovereign debt… Continue reading Portugal
<Click on picture for larger image> Zero Hedge (Blog) – Possible New Oil Spill 100 By 10 Miles Reported in Gulf Of Mexico lack Swan Clusterflock +1. As if earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns and war was not enough, the Examiner now discloses that a replay of the BP oil spill could be in the making,… Continue reading This Week’s Black Swan Event, Another Gulf Oil Spill?
Bloomberg.com – Fed Will Release Bank Loan Data as Top Court Rejects Appeal The Federal Reserve will disclose details of emergency loans it made to banks in 2008, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an industry appeal that aimed to shield the records from public view. The justices today left intact a court order that… Continue reading Court Orders More Transparency From The Federal Reserve
The Financial Times – Barclays considers bid for US securities Barclays is among a group of investors weighing a rival bid for a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities that has already drawn a $15.7bn offer from AIG, people familiar with the matter said. The securities are owned by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and… Continue reading Now Barclays Wants A Piece Of The AIG Maiden Lane Securities
Zero Hedge (blog) – Goldman Advises Outright Short on 5 Year Treasury With 2.3% Target Or Vampire Squid Vs Pimco? From Goldman Sachs: Trade Update: Go Short 5-yr US Treasuries, as Yields Price Excessive Growth Damage Escalating geopolitical risks in the Middle East and North Africa, coupled with the most recent devastating events in Japan,… Continue reading Goldman Joins The Party By Going Short Treasuries