Liebold

Baltic Dry Index Up 11 Days in a Row: Should You Care?

Thanks for the short!

Is the Crisis Over Yet? The CBO Weighs In

That 100bn will probably be 100bn bullion that back/underwrite/insure (as sold puts) further US CDO sales (Treasuries) for the Fed to purchase - which will be backed by IMF bonds showing in the Fed's books (probably before Congress prys them open). They're a private bank, just like the IMF, WB, and BIS (branches/roots of the same tree), so they can buy whatever they want. I'm guessing storage, delivery, and/or coupon payment nets the 5% (taxpayer donation if we want global banks to continue buying our debt). It's only paper, and gold doesn't buy a better seat in the afterlife. If the casino closes at midnight, who cares where the roulette wheel stops on it's last spin. Party like it's 12/20/2012!

Golf Bailout, Anyone?

If Auhnuld legalizes Marijuana, maybe the golf courses can re-sod the rough with "puff" and, profit (huge) by selling the clippings. Win win. 'Course course play might be slowed (to a crawl) with all the lost/forgotten balls, but there's the opportunity for the dimple makers. Hell, make nerf balls, and then each hole becomes a par 72. Wiffle golf! Liability insurance deduction! And the beer cart becomes a muchie cart. The pre-toasted won't have the energy for more than one hole anyway. I can hear the laughter already. Shame about all that razor wire circling the field though.

Bond Expert: Wednesday Wrap

Seems the Tralfamadorians have just enough fingers (and see better when they're outstreached).

Why Are Quant Hedge Funds Getting Crushed?

You don't have to hack the GS mafia system. They're being paid by NYSE to "provide liquidity" (a Prozac/Viagra cocktail):

seekingalpha.com/artic...

Bears (and Buffalo) have had their day, and now they're fifth columnists. Besides, it's un-American to be short:

www.youtube.com/watch?...

But, you can beat the algorithms (without kidnapping the programmers) because progroms are predictable. They're predictable because they're run by humanoids.

Animal Spirits, by Shiller and Akerlof: Questioning Economic Motives

Thank you ... good review. Those "animal spirits" are called egos, inherently self-serving. They have no relation to either Logos or Eros, yet board rooms are full of these well-removed super egos. Manipulative hands become callous and feel not the pulse of their "piles". More snake oil, leeches, surgery, and the life blood is puréed.

Ed Yardeni Likes Emerging Markets, High Yield Bonds; Believes Europe's in for Trouble

Sounds a little to "cheery" to me, as well. But his oil call is OTM.

Bond Expert: Thursday Wrap

The trucks are "... clearing out of the truck stops ..." because there's nothing to haul, freight rates are in the basement, and/or they're being repo-ed. China might not like taking a haircut at gun point, but if they want cheap oil, they'll hold dollars. We still "own" the world's value assets - Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the US Navy, and Rayethon.

Stress Test Results Are Out - Leaks Were Right

nobby73 wrote:

"The shorts on Citi are misleading and they are not naked in the traditional sense. They are there because the pref share vs common is being arbitraged in size - funds have bought the pref shares and shorted the stock. If the conversion terms are in line, they will convert and neutralize for a decent gain. There will be no tripling - this is nothing like VW...."

Makes sense that smart money would've hedged at the bottom.

The Declining Usefulness of Debt

Good question. It will be interesting to see as taxpayers, how our acquisition of capital on margin (bailouts) returns - on what has become nearly half of GDP - the money launderers. Certainly "our" willingness to allow conversion of preferred leverage to common leverage could have been better timed. The hologram of perpetual confidence generation is, no doubt, running out of bandwidth. Haircuts for everyone!

Don't Be Fooled, We've Been Here Before

Rise of the machines (algorithms). When the mega-funds rewrite them with the uptick rule, there will be balance.

Thoughts on NYSE Program Trading

Thanks again, Tyler, for your diligence. Pretty easy for the NYSE to be at the NBBO at least 5% of the trading day when SLP(s?) control supply (and therefore price). We can thank the gutless carp at the SEC for the fishiness. But what more can we expect when "hope" trumps truth and AIG stands for "Amerika In Greed"?

Long Term Treasury Yields Likely to Rise, Pressuring Dollar Lower

I agree Friend(s). You can't be your own best customer without inflation (i.e. the Fed). Dear snake/dragon: regurgitate the rat, sprinkle it with green bamboo shoots, or choke on your own tail.

April Sentiment Up - But It Followed the March Rally, Remember

Bottom line: watch the bond spreads and the "hanging curve".

April Sentiment Up - But It Followed the March Rally, Remember

Bottom line: watch the bond spreads and the "hanging curve".