MikeW

Why Economists Messed Up

I suspect that economists didn't get it as wrong as it seems. Most likely, there were lots of them who know full well what was in store, like the knowledgable folks who began grooming the great Depressionologist Ben Bernanke to head the Fed years ahead of the inevitable. The trouble is that 95% of economists work for organizations with products, services, or ideologies to sell, and the selling of those is in conflict with the telling of economic truth, even if they're clever enough to know it.

The 600 Year Silver Bear Market

Silver is also used in photographic film. We know the trend for that product.

S&P Cuts U.K.'s Credit Outlook to Negative - We're Shaking in Our Boots

Is the UK soverign debt denominated in GBP?
Don't they have the ability to print as many of those
as necessary to "repay" that debt?
If so, can somebody please explain what constitutes the "default" against which the CDS insure? In case of that default, what would the CDS sellers deliver to the buyers in payment of their obligations? USD? Can someone post a link
to a "standard" CDS contract for soverign debt?

U.S. Debt Default, Dollar Collapse Altogether Likely

Headline's half right. The US can't "default" on debt denominated
in a currency it prints. Dollar collapse on the other hand...

Open Letter to Sirius XM: Take Us Listeners into Consideration

Don't forget about the technological limitations of this deal.

Each satellite has a very finite, limited bitrate in which to carry
all the desired programming. As far as I know, unlike internet
streaming, satellite radio has no ability to download (digital audio)
codec updates as technology improves, so there is no way
to get more use out of those bits. The technology has to
be frozen as it was the day the service was rolled out years ago.
In order to carry more programming, the sound quality of each
program has to be reduced. I've been an XM subscriber almost
since day one. In the beginning, sound quality was barely adeaquate
for the music programming. Since then, they've chosen quantity over
quality every time.

Now with the merger, the available bitrate is
effectively cut in half! That's because they seem to want to
give all their programming to both XM and Sirius subscribers.
But the radios and satellites are technically incompatible.
Very deliberately designed that way to reduce competition while
they were separate companies. Any program they want to make available to both radio types has to be duplicated.

I don't have a golden ear by any means, but the sound quality is AWFUL.
Robot choruses singing, robots arguing, robots reading us the news.
Don't hear it? Tune one of the traffic channels - I admit they don't have to sound good. Then check one of your favorite channels, and see if you don't hear some of the same weird effects.

WaMu Borrower Purposely Defaults, Gets Foreclosed On, Sues

Well, now we're seeing the trouble with expecting the Government to bail out irresponsible lenders xxxxborrowers, aren't we. Unintended consequence: people expect a "right" to loan modifications they think they need. They expect a government-enforced do-over for their mistakes. If Wall Street and Fannie and Freddie get them, why shouldn't they? IF I had a mortgage, I'd be tempted to not pay so that I could get an after-the-fact better deal.

How about the Government gets out of housing finance and we give Capitalism a try? Might work, let's see, haven't tried it for 60 years...

Predatory Banking Practices Undermining the U.S. Consumer

It's not linked to one bank. It's linked to four banks, and four ETFs.

WaMu and More: Uninsured Depositors Begging for Trouble

Disclosure: I'm long WM at the moment. At the moment being the operative phrase. The legitimate, long-term investors have left the building. I see relatively little downside risk ($3.91 to 0), and decent upside opportunity ($3.91 to $6) so what the heck. When the housing bill passes, or when the SEC bans short-selling across the board, there may be a short squeeze that will make me some money. I've been one of those shorts in the past, and reserve the right to be in the future if it isn't banned. Who knows WaMu's future. I know they took huge risks and are paying a price for it. I closed my account there a year ago because they had a savings account promotion that assumed depositors were as stupid as their borrowers. After I spent 20 minutes filling out forms they said would take 5 minutes, I ended up with a 0.5% savings account when they had offered several %. If they go down, they deserve it,
if they don't, recent shareholders can make a few bucks. Those who have held their shares for a long time, sorry.

Mish tells it as it is, as always.

Long-Term Ugliness

Well, is it? Add some value and tell us your answer. We can read the charts ourselves.

Gold’s 'Grand' Illusion

Gold, guns, and gasoline. The three G's of troubled times.

I guess if times really get tough, and public sanitation breaks down, my
gold will be useless in the outhouse, while your paper money
will still come in handy.

Insider Buying Portends Better Times for Homebuilders? - Housing Market Tracker

Insider buying doesn't portend better times, it simply means builder insiders are confident their bill is gonna pass in Washington, and they're signing up to get a bigger share of the free money from the Government. They've already laid off the workers they'd need to grow their businesses.

Countrywide's FHLB Bailout

Socialized housing finance is the problem, not the solution. A market free of government central planning and manipulation would have its ups and downs, but would have a hard time getting into messes of the scale of the one now facing Countrywide et al.

Wachovia: Insider Buying of Shares is A Great Sign

IndyMac CEO Michael Perry bought $1M worth of IMB stock back
in March. For $29.40. Now it's goin' for about a third the price.