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More On The Supposed Economic Illiteracy Of Bloggers And Other Links
Must-reads Rajiv Sethi: On Blogs and Economic Discourse Time to shut down the US Federal Reserve? – Telegraph Blogs The Usual Fare Morgan Stanley – Global Economic Forum – The Case for Argentina Leaving oil spill alone might have been better for environment – National Post Zoo plans to bring rare animals back from the
The Bon Vivants of Doom And Gloom: Economist Nouriel Roubini and Author Nassim Taleb
I like how this reporter starts off his interview with Nouriel Roubini and Nassim Taleb. Of course what underlies this oxymoron is the "shoot the messenger" heuristic. Wikipedia describes "shooting the messenger" like this: "Shooting the messenger" is a metaphoric phrase used to describe the act of lashing out at the (blameless) bearer of bad
Verizon To Start Selling the iPhone in January
Bloomberg News is reporting that the iPhone is coming to Verizon in January. Research in Motion shares were getting crushed on the news in the pre-market. This will also be a net negative for AT&T as well since Apple has been under pressure to move away from AT&T exclusivity due to AT&T’s poor coverage and
Irish GDP Turns Positive, Sort Of
Ireland, the first euro zone country to fall into a recession in 2008, reported today that Q1 GDP expanded by 2.7% from Q4 09. While the headline is impressive, even if Q4 09 was revised to show a 2.7% contraction rather than -2.3% as initially reported. The year-over year rate improved to -0.7% from a
ADP Employment Numbers Weak; Only 13,000 Jobs Added
From ADP (pdf): Nonfarm private employment increased 13,000 from May to June 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the ADP National Employment Report®. The estimated change in employment from April to May 2010 was revised up slightly, from the previously reported increase of 55,000 to an increase of 57,000. June’s rise in private
First Time Homebuyer Traffic Plunged in May
Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions reports that homebuyer declined in May, as would be expected with the end of the latest federal home purchase tax credit. The most dramatic drop was with first time homebuyers, which was the category that led in home purchases the past several months. First time
Risk Returns on Successful ECB Tender
Highlights The US dollar is generally softer, consolidating yesterday’s moves. In fact, the three best performers yesterday and for the month of June, namely the Swiss franc, British pound and Japanese yen, are the laggards today. Month-end and quarter-end adjustments are commingling with normal market forces after outsized moves the previous day. The key event
Robert Byrd and Housing
A post by Annaly Capital Management The death of Senator Robert Byrd (“an institution within an institution” is what President Obama called him) may be the butterfly wings that alter the financial landscape of the United States. Without him, it is not entirely clear whether there are 60 votes to pass the financial regulatory reform
May’s FDIC cease and desist and other administrative orders
Below is a partial list of May 2010 FDIC enforcement decisions and orders. I have only included cease-and-desist orders, prompt corrective action notices and termination of insurance orders as these are the signs of banking system distress. FINAL ORDERS ISSUED PURSUANT TO SECTION 8(b), 12 U.S.C. § 1818(b) (Cease-and-Desist) Butte Community Bank, Chico, CA; FDIC-10-097b;
What to Expect from the COFER Data On The Currency Composition of Reserves
The IMF provides the most authoritative data on the currency composition of reserves. It is reported at the end of the quarter for the proceeding quarter. Tomorrow it is expected to report reserve holdings as of the end of Q1 10. The COFER data is not perfect. Not every one reports their currency allocation. Notably,
Chart of the Day: Treasury Yields in Freefall
Below is a chart of the ten-year Treasury yield over the last three months. After peaking near 4% in April, it has since dropped to below 3% and currently yields for 2.97%. This is as abrupt a move as you are likely to see in long-term interest rates. On the one hand, this is certainly
Case-Shiller: Highest Year-on-Year Numbers in Four Years
This morning Case-Shiller released a report showing the largest price increase in the American residential property since August 2006. Prices for April 2010 in the broad Composite 20 index were up 3.9% year-on-year while prices in the Composite-10 are up 4.7 in the prior twelve months. Digging deeper into the non-seasonally adjusted data, 17 of