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On Liquidating Fannie and Freddie and Other Links
Topic of the Day: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Unfinished business | The Economist America’s housing market: Unnecessary evils | The Economist Why We Have Freddie and Fannie, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty Topic #2: Prisons and America Rough justice in America: Too many laws,
Taiwanese animation: Microsoft as Obi-Wan to Apple’s Vader. Where’s Skywalker?
"I’ve been waiting for you, Obi-wan. We meet again at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master." "You don’t know the power of the dark side!"
Draft Document Suggests Stress Tests Not That Stressful, Euro Gets Hammered
From Win Thin, Senior Currency Strategist at BBH. Newswires have reportedly gotten hold of the draft document for the stress tests, and it’s not pretty. It appears that the worst may be true with regards to how bonds would be subjected to testing. Draft said that haircuts would only be on bonds held in banks’
Dollar Soft Ahead Of Stress Tests As European Data Still Strong
From the Brown Brothers Harriman Currency Strategy Team Highlights US dollar is mostly softer so far today vs. the majors, hurt by stronger than expected data out of Europe (see below) ahead of the European bank stress test results around noon EST. The euro has recouped most of this week’s losses as the 1.27 area
I Smell a VAT
From The 8 Jul 2010 Daily Dispatch Dear Reader, In past editions of this service, I’ve advocated tuning your personal radar to pick up early indications that the government is taking an active interest in gold. Especially when that interest revolves around terrorists or tax evaders, two popular bogeymen these days. It was, therefore, with
US Government now tracking gross proceeds on gold sales over $600
An interesting wrinkle in the recently passed healthcare legislation involves language inserted into the bill to track gold bullion sales. For gold dealers, the problem is the paperwork because they now have to file 1099 forms for every transaction over $600 – which is essentially every transaction since gold sells for nearly $1200 per ounce
DEFLATION!
Wow! We see the word "Deflation" everywhere; we see it in every financial publication and hear it every time we turn on financial TV. We see that the pundits who were bearish because of runaway inflation have just recently included deflation as well as inflation to be the problem. We were talking and warning about
Stat of the Day: Heat Map of Stock Performance Looks Good Today
Courtesy of FinViz.com, these heat maps give you an idea of the breadth of the stock market rally. Look at the year’s heat map to see what a broader recovery in shares looks like over a longer time frame. My takeaway is that the rally in shares wasn’t that broad-based over the past few weeks
Bullish on the Euro?
Andy Lees who does Macro Derivatives Strategy at UBS says the Euro has a lot farther to run to the upside. You will recall that I mentioned his comments in May regarding the makings of a technical countertrend rally for the Euro. Now, he is making noises of a more fundamental nature, citing the weak
Gated communities for the poor in China and other links
Link of the day Inside China’s gated communities for the poor – The Globe and Mail The Usual Fare News Analysis – Afghan Deadline Is Cutting Two Ways – NYTimes.com Banks accused of ‘disingenuous’ capital claims – view from dc – world – FT.com Straws in the wind at the convenience store: "Welcome to America"
HTC EVO 4G vs. iPhone 4
Happy Thursday. Here are a few videos to liven up your morning (warning: strong language). Hat tip Scott. Also see Best Buy Trying To Fire Employee Over Those Hilarious EVO Versus iPhone Videos from Tech Crunch. And here’s the latest from the man who did the two EVO-IPhone animations. It’s called TweetFired, Tech Crunch says:
The Fed has a disconcerting power over the financial markets
Here’s how one well-respected equity analyst sees yesterday’s performance by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke: The Fed has a disconcerting power over the financial markets The Fed is calling the tune – that much is clear. Many will argue this with me and they will make solid theoretical points: the Fed cannot create jobs; all