jabez

Nominal vs. Real Gains

Here is yet another wild card thesis to think about: post-Galleon Wall Street now has to think about the wonderful neo-Stalinist world of 24/7 electronic surveillance. Technology has reached a critical point; sensors are now effectively undetectable and cheap enough to deploy in massive arrays, and data storage capacity is effectively infinite. From the perspective of law enforcement personnel, warrantless surveillance cannot produce evidence usable in court (yet). However, once persons engaged in ongoing illegal activities are identified, then a warrant can always be obtained, and subsequent data is then admissible. Therefore, why not spy on anyone making large sums of money?

This very real situation creates a highly uncomfortable environment wherein everyone engaged in trading must assume that ANY communication is being monitored, and any conversation or relationship may suddenly place one in an untenable legal situation, literally at the drop of a word.

Will hedgefunds and other big players deploy money into a massively overvalued market w/out the benefit of insider information? Will they move in unison to the short side? Heh. And would short-selling then be banned, and (even more) capital abandon the US equity markets entirely?

Government Sets a Dangerous Precedent with Lehman

Exactly. And all that is required to put companies in jeopardy is that market cap be reduced sharply.

A scary part for me is that I am not seeing this aspect discussed in mainstream media.

Gold's Divergence Between the Paper and Physical Markets

Barring an unlimited source of credit, can hyper-inflation occur in a system w/ no savings? Don't prices hit the wall very quickly, and to some extent en masse?

What the SEC Really Accomplished with Its New 'Short-Sell' Rule

Mainer has it exactly right. Evidently the authors do not know the difference between short-selling and NAKED shorting, or perhaps just want to tell a good story. No need to worry that shorting has been banned, or will be banned.

Besides, the marketmakers have been exempted from the rule...

Energy Bombshell: China Raises Oil and Diesel Prices

Yeah, and aren't the Chinese/Cubans drilling the Eastern Gulf of Mexico right NOW... ?

Which Solar Stocks Will Continue To Shine?

Jack says "... some folks consider non-American companies inherently more risky."

Chinese companies are! Consider that the shareholders of major steel and energy companies are required to subsidize the situation in Sichuan, for example. Raw materials (e.g., coal) may be unavailable or more costly if supplies are tight, and the Party decides your company is 'unimportant'. Tax rates are arbitrary and likely to surge if the gov't experiences a decrease in revenues.

Note that the risks of corruption (from within the company, and/or from w/out) and/or poor accounting practices are both unknowable and may vary over time.

That said, I would like to mention the power situation in China. They lost a lot of hydro during the quake, aggravating pre-existing shortages. Their own scientists told the gov't dams were at risk in that area due to seismicity before the dams were built and now I think they may start to listen. This means abandonment and cancellation of hydro projects. Also, the quake has strengthened 'pro-environment' sentiment.

Doesn't seem unlikely that the gov't will push point-source generation, at least in rural areas...

Disclaimer -- not a Sino-expert, never been there, the above opining is my take on media information; also I own/have owned some Chinese solar, SDTH, and APWR.