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  • Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
    More "misses" than a beauty pageant on expectations at historically low levels. And "earnings" are more bookeeping maneuvers than income. The risk premium driving this market upward is unbelievable. Unintelligible. Unsustainable.
    Oct 22 11:06 am |Rating: +3 0 |Link to Comment
  • Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
    Welcome back, Eli. A fine "breakfast buffet" of info, tho the news is less than rosy. Doubleguns states the overall picture well.

    Regulating derivatives is critical and essential. The ONLY reason AIG had to be rescued and given $Billions of taxpayer money was their mess of stupid CDS's, for which they retained no funds to back them.

    As of the beginning of 2008, the world was awash in over 1,000 $Billion - yes, that's a $Trillion - face value of derivatives, most of which had no legal backing requirement. The current financial crisis was caused by the failure of only a small portion of them. We are still at significant risk from the rest.

    As for "Cetinist" optimism, the truth is that there's money to be made in EVERY market, all the time. I made money last year (barely) and I'm well ahead this year. That says exactly nothing about the underlying economy which is still swirling in the bowl.

    Some people made fortunes in the Great Depression in the markets. That doesn't mean the economy is good. It means they are good traders.
    May 15 08:39 am |Rating: +11 -1 |Link to Comment
  • Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
    "They" guess and place their bets...
    Oct 30 09:47 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment
  • Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
    Good job - a wide ranging "breakfast" buffet. But the news is troubling.

    "The pace of economic activity appears to have slowed markedly, owing importantly to a decline in consumer expenditures," The Fed Is it just me or is this expectable ? Hundreds of thousands of Americans are no longer getting paychecks this year, with another 100,000 scheduled to join them by year's end. Would not a slowdown in consumer spending be expected ? If so, why is the Fed trying to return to "normal" (whatever that is).

    "... downside risks to growth remain. The Committee will monitor economic and financial developments carefully and will act as needed to promote sustainable economic growth " If the consumer accounts for 70% of the economy and the financial sector somewhere near half of the rest - and both are swirling in the bowl - is it realistic to expect any growth whatsoever ? Are these people kidding themselves or us ?

    I remember writing over a year ago on the precipitous condition of pension funds, mostly "funded" by stock. When will we see the foolishness of that policy ? Pension funds should be funded like reserve insurance funds with assured value instruments.

    It is bewildering to see, in a serious market trough, the flimsy underpinnings of what we used to think of as the greatest economy the world has ever known. And it is unsettling to see the actions our "leaders" are taking designed - at least in their minds - to fix the situation.

    Consumer sentiment is at an all-time low and 9% of Americans say we're on the right track. Jusifiably so. I sure wish our "leaders" were doing more than "the same old thing". Reminds me of the line in Casablanca - "round up the usual suspects"....


    Oct 30 09:24 am |Rating: 0 0 |Link to Comment
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