Weekend Links: 2009-09-19

Wells Fargo is starting to pay for its tight-lipped limited disclosure policy.

I don’t agree with Grant , but here it is. "James Grant argues the latest gloomy forecasts ignore an important lesson of history: The deeper the slump, the zippier the recovery."

"Is irrational exuberance back in the markets? Evidence abounds that it may be. With financial chaos abating, the return of risk appetite in stock and lending markets is logical — up to a point. But risk-taking that aspires to the boom-time norm, rather than a more sober new reality, could be premature and dangerous."

"a 19-year-old Pennsylvania man was arraigned earlier this week on a charge of felony daytime robbery… the burglar left a trail, by way of checking his Facebook account before leaving the house with two diamond rings and forgetting to log out."

"U.S. bank regulators are considering tapping a line of credit with the U.S. Treasury Department and may explore other lesser-known options to replenish the dwindling fund that safeguards bank deposits."

"The destructiveness of what Carter has done is hard to exaggerate."

"A 12-year-old boy with bronchial asthma died Thursday after being infected with H1N1 swine flu, becoming the youngest domestic victim of the pandemic, an official of Yokohama City Hall said. Before the boy’s death, the 15th caused by swine flu in Japan, a 24-year-old woman in Okinawa Prefecture who died Tuesday was the youngest reported case."

It looks like blogger hater Dennis Kneale is done.

"Private sector deleveraging accelerated fairly dramatically in Q2, even as financial market conditions were showing material improvement. Private sector credit contracted by $2.32 trn at an annul rate after shrinking $1.84trn in Q1."

Most of it is not about race, it’s about not being a change agent. But some of it IS race.

"A correction in asset markets is overdue. However, any weakness in the economy and asset markets will lead to larger fiscal deficits and more money printing. Following a correction, asset markets should still move higher! Asia remains our favorite investment destination."

"These days, of course, the word “SIV” has become almost as taboo as the phrase “subprime securitisation”. Yet, as I perused this week’s announcement that Barclays plans to sell $12.3bn of credit assets to a “newly established fund” called Protium Finance – which will be independent but mostly financed by a loan from Barclays – it was hard to escape a twinge of déjà vu."