Merrill’s Economic Research team has been top notch for years under the leadership of Richard Bernstein and David Rosenberg. Unfortunately for Bank of Aerica, these two gentlemen are jumping ship now that Merrills has been taen over by BOA. I look forward to hearing more from them in their new roles elsewhere.

Recently, I have highlighted the comments of a number of investing gurus, most of whom are fairly positive on the market. This includes Jeremy Grantham, Marc Faber, Bill Fleckenstein, Fred Hickey, Marty Fridson and Steven Leuthold (Louise Yamada is a notable exception). However, when it comes to the global economy, the situation is much murkier, the likes of David Rosenberg at Merrill Lynch/BofA have made the case for continued economic weakness in the United States.

The standard bearer of the global-economy-is-weak-and-needs-rebalancing theme is Stephen Roach. And he is not a tad bullish on the global economy.

This video from the Charlie Rose show should give one a fairly complete view of most of the relevant finance and political issues surrounding the AIG situation. (hat tip Calculated Risk)

Participants include bank analyst Meredith Whitney and Gretchen Morgenson of the NY Times, and Carol Loomis of Fortune. Why is Hank Greenberg in this panel? It seems incongruous since most of these problems happened while he was the head of AIG. Very strange.

The large bonuses at AIG have sparked yet another wave of revulsion amongst American taxpeayers. And rightfully so. This company has cost taxpayers $170 billion and counting and yet the bonuses of the same individuals complicit in the losses is still to be paid due to contractual obligation. While Ben Bernanke, Larry Summers and others have expressed their contempt for this state of affairs, I suspect there will be consequences down the line.

By now you have heard that Warren Buffett’s bets on GE, Goldman, and Swiss Re and his derivatives positions have earned him a downgrade from Fitch Rating Agency. Below is the Fitch statement. I have highlighted the key sections.

Marc Faber is a definite bull right now, despite his title as Dr. Doom. In the video below he makes his case for gold miners and for a general equity rally through April. His main points are:

Warren Buffett seems to be making the rounds on television media appearances these days. Last week it was CNBC. This week it is Bloomberg. Below is the video from the first parts of his Bloomberg appearance. Well worth a look.

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Jeremy Grantham, who is chief investment strategist of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co and manages over $85 billion is telling clients to get out of cash.  His March newsletter had this to say:
Every decline will enhance the beauty of cash until, as some of us experienced in 1974, ‘terminal paralysis’ sets in. Those who [...]

Warren Buffett answers questions from viewers on CNBC. He talks about his investment philosophy and recent stock picking performance. He bought ConocoPhillips at the top. And he made poor investments in Irish banks. About Wells Fargo, he says “the spreads are enormous.” And he still likes US Bancorp and defends his [...]

Warren Buffett spoke with CNBC about the U.S. economy and the banking system in an interview televised this morning. His basic message was that the economy cannot function without confidence in the banking system. The FDIC can work its magic with smaller institutions and that is a good thing. However, some [...]