Deehena

The FSB's Big, Bad 30

"and should be removed from the financial world." Yea, sure.

Video: Why Obamacare Will Be a Budget Buster

Lot's of right-wing scare claims and no intelligent fact analysis.

WealthTrack: Why Jim Grant Is Bullish on the Recovery

Prieur -- Please consider first verifying there is a transcript to be read before recommending it. I'm broken-hearted it isn't there to be read but will assume you'll let us know when it is available. Thanks, John

Bond Expert: Monday Wrap

I like to see updates on corporates - that's where the money is.

'First-Time Homebuyer' Credit May Cost Government up to $96,000 Per Home

I agree with the conclusion but why did it take 20 paragraphs to say so?

Bruce Berkowitz Adds to Hertz, Trims American Express Holding

I personally can't imagine why anyone would be interested in Bruce Berkowitz and his picks. His reputation hinged on his decent bear market performance during 2000-2003 when his fund Fairholm first started. He became reputedly the master of conservative value investing with Berkshire Hathaway as his largest holding and up to 20% liquid cash.

All of that went to pot when his fund lost more than 50% in this latest bear market, Berkshire and cash not withstanding.

Five Reasons the Market Could Crash This Fall

One reason it might not - The Bernanke Bubble blown up by near zero interest rates, lousy MM and CD returns and huge liquidity stimulus. How could the stock market be happier.

A Week of Superstar Bears Moving the Market

Whitney and Roubini were just some frosting on the rally. Earnings reports underpinned the move all week.

Health Care Bill: Prescription for Disaster

This I agree with and I would hope will be part of the reform.

"The simplest (but by no means fullest) explanation of why health care costs so much is that demand exceeds supply. Demand is a function of how much people are prepared to pay. Insuring more people will drive demand for health care services even higher. (To truly get a handle on out-of-control health care costs, we need more people paying for routine medical care out of pocket, and tort reform for medical malpractice."

Health Care Bill: Prescription for Disaster

How many times Peter have I heard this baloney in the past 50 years? It hasn't happened yet and never will because the more tax you pay the harder you have to work to maintain your standard of living and loving.

"many business owners might simply choose not to put in the extra effort necessary to expand their businesses."

Filtering Through Today's Economic News

It's a mystery to me "playing" MFD or MGU for suffering airlines. For that matter neither is an ETF.

“Airlines, Already Suffering, Brace for Further Woes” – Some analysts say if conditions continue to deteriorate, several airlines may not survive. (NYT)
ATA showing passenger rev. down 26% over past year on 9.5% slide in traffic & 18% drop in fares per traveler. With businesses aggressively cutting costs and consumers unlikely to open their wallets anytime soon, there is a long runway ahead for the airline industry.
Ways-to-Play: FAA, MGU, MFD

Freddie Mac Sub Debt Buy-Back: Heinous and Grossly Unfair

Interesting post but Krasting is comparing apples to oranges. Subordinated debt is nevertheless debt and preferred shares are equity with zero rights to recompense in bankruptcy. Any consideration a bankruptcy judge may give to preferred holders is a GIFT.

15 Stocks You May Want to Keep Out of Your Portfolio

Without question I agree the z-score is close to worthless for most companies. I've carefully and painfully used it in the past for several companies, most recently e.g., for Goodrich (GR) - the result according to z-score is that this solid credit (Moody - Baa2 stable) is already bankrupt! I've no doubt that including TWX on this list is equally baseless.


On Jul 10 02:22 AM billddrummer wrote:

> I began to discount the impact of the Z-score 25 years ago when I
> first began analyzing companies for commercial banks.
>
> The Z-score was developed to determine the likelihood of bankruptcy
> based on analysis of small manufacturing companies based in the Midwest.
> My assessment of the statistic showed that it didn't properly identify
> the likelihood of bankruptcy for service companies, real estate investment
> firms, technology companies, telecommunications firms, airlines,
> transportation companies, or a myriad of other firms that are part
> of the business landscape now, but didn't exist when the formula
> was devised.
>
> I agree with Infinitus: Despite the hits, I believe the Z score is
> obsolete when identifying the risk of bankruptcy for all but a narrow
> band of companies that are true vertically integrated manufacturing
> entities.
>
> As we know, most of those companies have moved to China.

A Plea for Better Balance (Sheets)

Goodwill is neither an intangible or a fixed asset cost - it is vapor.

Back in the U.S.S.A.

It wasn't the "government" that was the primary cause of the problem, it was Alan Greenspan.