tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036Mon, 07 Oct 2024 04:38:48 +0000Where Politics Meets the Sane Investorhttp://market-spin.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (TC)Blogger196125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-6975642408796239989Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:19:00 +00002011-02-13T17:31:12.865-05:00Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is out of his leagueI sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Any U.S. Treasury Secretary worthy of the position instinctively should know, as a matter of profound, humanist principle that, a house is a home and not an investment. This is where any discussion of the U.S. residential mortgage market http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2011/02/presenting-natures-law-separating-usa.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-2581949006089267270Mon, 07 Feb 2011 23:46:00 +00002011-02-10T00:06:27.567-05:00Calling for the immediate shutdown of the New York Stock Exchange!Of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth;—Song of Solomon* * * * *"The difference between a visionary and a dreamer is activism. That's the difference. There are those who say it can't happen. They say that's Utopian, you can't change anything. We can change it. The first step is belief, and that http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2011/02/glass-steagall-or-die-will-american.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-3608253161662163185Mon, 07 Feb 2011 05:21:00 +00002011-02-07T00:59:40.081-05:00Wall Street will survive if only it gets behind the United StatesWhile the king is at his table, My spikenard sends forth its fragrance.—Song of Solomon* * * * *In addressing the present peril of those institutions supporting a banking system whose [grossly over-stated] financial "value" rather is burgeoning with exposure to an arrangement that, simply cannot be sustained, harsh reality spoken athttp://market-spin.blogspot.com/2011/02/sound-banking-system-awaits-but.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-8169921973749474502Mon, 13 Sep 2010 18:50:00 +00002010-09-16T13:38:25.587-04:00Pondering the power of media.All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full;—Ecclesiastes* * * * *The following segment is interesting simply on account of the revelation about increased media attention being given of late to the problem of bed bugs. Just how much media is used to focus attention on this or that — whether the issue be some growing concern or a manufactured problemhttp://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/bed-bugs-and-memories-of-joseph.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-710217894561825697Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:38:00 +00002010-09-15T12:28:35.967-04:00Rechargeable batteries need cheap electricity.I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) is right to say a "partnership" between government and industry is essential to promoting a vibrant economy capable of competing globally. This particularly on "research and development" fronts, where the fruits of discovery http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-government-waste-subsidizing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-1224104651145748915Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:00:00 +00002010-09-16T12:57:14.712-04:00Raising fear in the age of mispriced risk.We will make you ornaments of gold With studs of silver.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Today's shell shocked investor apparently desires a guaranteed fixed return — albeit smaller — rather than some promise for far greater gains...Now, should the fact that, no one wonders what risk could put in jeopardy a "guaranteed" return dissuade one from considering this http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/guaranteed-investment-returns-are-not.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-3200715141231234574Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:00:00 +00002010-09-14T10:43:57.969-04:00A weak government feeds the war.Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines,For our vines have tender grapes.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Republicans in Congress claiming a rise in "class warfare" occurring as a result of policies the Democratic party's leadership are championing appear shockingly blithe toward the numbers game ultimately determining their political future. Truth is thehttp://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/class-warfare-battle-cry-of-allies-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-3214197444565413552Fri, 10 Sep 2010 20:15:00 +00002010-09-10T18:37:35.279-04:00Sound policy needing but a stable reality.Let my beloved come to his garden And eat its pleasant fruits.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Sound institutional policy encouraging home ownership no doubt is sane policy when a house is treated a home — a launching point from which one lives what hopefully becomes a productive life. Thus, the spirit of policy discussed in the following piece truly is http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/could-fannie-mae-zero-down-mortgages.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-796281828411879774Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:20:00 +00002010-09-10T18:45:27.415-04:00Free market becoming a flea market.That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.—Ecclesiastes* * * * *Contracting revenues among privately held small businesses are confirming the impact of the collapse of the shadow banking system (the former source of trillions of dollars of capital whose risk was grossly mispriced)...Absent capacity to turn home equity into http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/canary-in-economy-private-businesses-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-3712552363656942405Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:20:00 +00002010-09-09T17:18:35.019-04:00Kill the casino and rebuild physical economy.All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full;—Ecclesiastes* * * * *Price pressure on the underlying asset backing the greatest financial bubble ever created continues unabated...If real estate's downward price spiral is to be stopped, then what must immediately change are the legitimacy of derivative claims serving to maximize leverage. http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/relentless-real-estate-plunge-begs-new.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-7116582851975300019Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:00:00 +00002010-09-09T12:01:06.196-04:00Fading confidence in a confidence game spells doom.Of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth;—Song of Solomon* * * * *With affluent Americans increasingly pessimistic about the U.S. economy from where will come new investment capital needed to prop up collapsing finance of old?Someday soon the CNBC crew might actually grasp the power of leverage in reverse and http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/with-wealthy-pessimistic-who-will.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-7321739286839550004Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:30:00 +00002010-09-09T11:05:46.024-04:00The danger of appeasing fascists.Let my beloved come to his garden And eat its pleasant fruits.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Mr. Lenihan might better ponder what the German Nazis did to Rotterdam following the humiliating defeat of Dutch forces in May 1940 ending all resistance...The city was leveled by aerial bombardment.In Ireland, Dangers Still Loom—Tom Chechatkahttp://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/history-lesson-for-irish-finance.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-3592369360245502677Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:38:00 +00002010-09-09T15:52:44.052-04:00Within the twisted mind stirs a penchant for pain.I sat down in his shade with great delight, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.—Song of Solomon* * * * *John Taylor of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition offers a timely review of the financial crisis' evolution, giving pause to those who think it a good idea to allow the real estate market to spiral into free fall..."Free market shockhttp://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/free-market-lunatic-cannot-get-enough.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-7901573988741650381Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:15:00 +00002010-09-08T22:15:24.069-04:00"Better late than never" finds an exception.The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.—Ecclesiastes* * * * *"A top federal prosecutor in New York will on Thursday declare another front in the war on Wall Street fraud, focusing new resources on civil litigation to complement existing criminal actions."—Prosecutor Declares New Front in War on Wall Street Fraud (FT)Among http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-new-front-in-war-on-wall-street.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-3588040247031782996Wed, 08 Sep 2010 14:31:00 +00002010-09-08T13:15:00.756-04:00Will Anglo Irish Bank backstop be withdrawn?Every man has his sword on his thigh because of fear in the night.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Downward pressure on the securities-based Ponzi scheme that is the global financial system proceeds unabated..."The number" Sedgwick reports simply is the sum of good money to be thrown after bad. Here's the problem. Much as nuclear weapons give otherwise weak http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/threat-of-eurozone-sovereign-default.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-4502832566996342796Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:17:00 +00002010-09-08T20:37:35.173-04:00Mr. "Fiscal Responsibilty," meet Ferdinand Pecora.I opened for my beloved, But my beloved had turned away and was gone.—Song of Solomon* * * * *The Federal Reserve is a bankrupt institution whose compromised state is made plainly apparent by the likes of former Fed governor Frederic Mishkin...Mishkin is a man who claims, "The large-scale asset purchases, the expansion of the balance sheet, were http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/fred-mishkin-proving-federal-reserve.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-5123104698050998986Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:40:00 +00002010-09-08T11:54:53.504-04:00Looks like the bubble is about to burst.The watchmen who went about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me;—Song of Solomon* * * * *Yo Erin! Since when does a so-called "moderator" call a guest "rude?"Burnett might better have foregone scolding Pento and instead corrected Balestrino for his poor use of verb tenses. It's "were," Joseph, not "are." What "is" apparently finds no http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/pento-turns-burnett-into-us-treasury.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-1507710714252992110Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:18:00 +00002010-09-08T10:34:38.699-04:00Election season focusLike an apple tree among the trees of the woods,So is my beloved among the sons.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Andrew Herrmann of the American Society of Civil Engineers highlights some of the areas in which the nation presently faces potentially disastrous consequences as a result of its longstanding deficit in infrastructure investment...The ASCE's 2009 Report Card for America's http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/infrastructure-investment-deficit.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-2432484255201323734Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:50:00 +00002010-09-07T16:02:08.964-04:00Fed and Treasury unduly panicked of late?The watchmen who went about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me;—Song of Solomon* * * * *Probably the most notable insight gained from the following report is its headline: "Housing Market: Prop it Up or Let it Fail?" Evidently, a push is on to precipitate a further crisis in real estate such as might incite risk capital — amply http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/big-lie-let-real-estate-fall-because.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-3672500834683181629Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:47:00 +00002010-09-07T16:03:09.824-04:00Someone tell Buffett!Of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth;—Song of Solomon* * * * *Art Cashin once again with some interesting historical data. To wit he notes the sort of trading that generally follows strong starts to a month (such as has been the case this month), as well as where we presently lie in a long-term, 17.6 year cycle..."Buy-and-hold is dead," http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/art-cashin-declares-buy-and-hold.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-4672175944234716632Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:43:00 +00002010-09-07T13:54:39.749-04:00Windmills? What next? Wooden shoes?We will make you ornaments of gold With studs of silver.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Apparently, free capital available for investing in such backward technologies as windmills and solar panels is not forthcoming...There is no substantial economic gain from these so-called energy "solutions," such as offers robust opportunities for capital to be leveraged from http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/not-even-mispriced-capital-is-attracted.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-9195153644794889993Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:46:00 +00002010-09-08T22:28:53.164-04:00How chaos made the squeaky wheel that forever gets the grease.That which is done is what will be done,And there is nothing new under the sun.—Ecclesiastes* * * * *You just knew this was coming. In commemorating the upcoming two-year anniversary of the failure of Lehman Brothers the highly-charged political air against bailing out firms whose leverage was going bad is being cited for ultimately http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/lehman-lesson-resisting-desperate-thief.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-3292722857293221058Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:54:00 +00002010-09-06T23:02:11.314-04:00"Change you can believe," indeed.I opened for my beloved, But my beloved had turned away and was gone.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Should we expect anything less from the Financial Times of London endorsed candidate for the office of President of the United States? Beneath the smokescreen of a debate over deficits and spending we have a presidential imprimatur on the project du jour where politics ishttp://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/push-for-national-infrastructure-bank.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-3793504188498490085Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:25:00 +00002010-09-06T21:20:58.591-04:00Coming political consensus will be overwhelming and profoundly effective.I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;I have drunk my wine with my milk.—Song of Solomon* * * * *Michael Panzner, author of "Financial Armageddon," is right about things on the political front: not only is gridlock the last thing the nation needs, it is virtually unlikely given the monumental challenges we face, the likes http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/amidst-weakness-and-vulnerability-lies.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1174404073123440036.post-678755694540378512Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:40:00 +00002010-09-04T21:39:06.921-04:00Money grabbers of both political stripes expose our nation's bankruptcy.His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me.—Song of Solomon* * * * *The debate over tax policy — already out of place — just got more ridiculous...Newsflash! Yesterday's debt-laden, consumption-based economy is dead. There is no tax policy objective capable of changing this fact. No short-term http://market-spin.blogspot.com/2010/09/tax-debate-obfuscation-and-poverty-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (TC)0