Archive for February, 2010

  • Geithner Refuses To Come Down Off Capitol Dome
    , February 22nd, 2010 at 6:32 pm

    Sad. WASHINGTON—Three days after a sulking Timothy Geithner climbed to the top of the U.S. Capitol dome, the treasury secretary remained steadfast Monday in his [...]

  • A Conspiracy of Ignorance
    , February 22nd, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    I’m not very impressed by the various people who now claim to have predicted the credit crisis. The point I like to make is that [...]

  • Business at AIG Is Stabilizing
    , February 22nd, 2010 at 11:11 am

    It’s amazing what $183 billion will do. American International Group Inc., the troubled financial firm that threatened to bring down the U.S. economy, is showing [...]

  • Wall Street Loves to Round Up
    , February 22nd, 2010 at 9:44 am

    Last week, the WSJ highlighted a fascinating study. Two academics looked thousands of earnings reports down to the tenth of a cent. They found an [...]

  • The New Yorker Profiles Krugman
    , February 22nd, 2010 at 8:43 am

    Clocking in at over 10,00 words, it’s pretty much what you’d expect: Krugman was bemused by the reactions. True, he had accused Chicago economists of [...]

  • 30 Years Ago Today
    , February 22nd, 2010 at 7:18 am

  • World Markets Pause for Man Who Hits Ball with Stick
    , February 20th, 2010 at 1:21 pm

    Priorities people: For a few minutes, Tiger Woods was bigger than Ben S. Bernanke. The CHART OF THE DAY shows that a day after the [...]

  • The World's Biggest Debtor Nations
    , February 19th, 2010 at 1:25 pm

    From CNBC: 20. United States External debt (as % of GDP): 95.9% 19. Australia External debt (as % of GDP): 108.8% 18. Hungary External debt [...]

  • The World’s Biggest Debtor Nations
    , February 19th, 2010 at 1:25 pm

    From CNBC: 20. United States External debt (as % of GDP): 95.9% 19. Australia External debt (as % of GDP): 108.8% 18. Hungary External debt [...]

  • Weakest Inflation Since 1982
    , February 19th, 2010 at 9:59 am

    Today’s CPI report shows that seasonally adjusted core prices had their biggest drop since 1982: The AP is calling this “the first monthly decline since [...]

  • Many ETFs Swing and Miss
    , February 18th, 2010 at 11:15 pm

    This is kind of scary. Outside of S&P 500 ETFs, many exchange traded funds have significant tracking errors: Last year, 54 ETFs showed tracking errors [...]

  • Reuters: Only 19% of Americans Are Confident Stock Investors
    , February 18th, 2010 at 10:43 pm

    Yet they all write for Seeking Alpha: Fewer than two in 10 Americans are confident of their ability to invest in the stock market, although [...]

  • Odd Lots
    , February 18th, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    How to Make a Crayon Rocket UBS: World’s Largest Trading Floor A Look at the Tax Returns of the Top 400 Taxpayers The Mouth of [...]

  • Fed Raises Discount Rate
    , February 18th, 2010 at 4:33 pm

    This is the Discount Rate not the Fed Funds rate: The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced that in light of continued improvement in financial [...]

  • 2-Year/10-Year Treasury Spread Hits All-Time Record
    , February 18th, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    Bloomberg: The gap in yield between Treasury 2- and 10-year notes, known as the yield curve, steepened to a record as reports showed that Philadelphia [...]

  • There's a Constitution Laying Around Here Somewhere
    , February 18th, 2010 at 11:26 am

    The WSJ: President Barack Obama on Thursday created a bipartisan commission to confront what he calls the federal deficit’s “disturbing” trajectory. Correct me if I’m [...]

  • There’s a Constitution Laying Around Here Somewhere
    , February 18th, 2010 at 11:26 am

    The WSJ: President Barack Obama on Thursday created a bipartisan commission to confront what he calls the federal deficit’s “disturbing” trajectory. Correct me if I’m [...]

  • Courtier of the Hip Class
    , February 18th, 2010 at 10:55 am

    Lots of people love Matt Taibbi’s reporting. I find him entertaining, but not very worthwhile. I don’t see him as a journalist but as a [...]

  • The Hemline Theory Strikes Again!
    , February 18th, 2010 at 9:20 am

    The AP reports that long hemlines are back in fashion: So long, miniskirts. The up-to-there trend gave way to longer hemlines at New York Fashion [...]

  • Sandler O'Neill Cut Estimates and Price Target Price for Eaton Vance
    , February 18th, 2010 at 9:06 am

    From Barron’s: Based on our math, we think Eaton Vance generated about $2 billion of net inflows during fiscal first quarter, translating into 5%-plus annualized [...]