Hank Paulson: Leading Us to the Next Bull, Soon [View article]
There is enough blame to go around - particularly for those invested in the 2008 elections. My perspective is that McCain has been trying to talk about addressing the problems, Obama has been trying to figure out how to make the most political gain from it. But more to the author's point, we are fortunate to have had Hank Paulson as Secretary of the Treasury at this point. Bernanke has helped and Cox has been a bust, but Paulson has been a star. He has acted forcefully with a deep knowledge of the financial system and the players, with creativity, and with much more pragmatism than ideology about "moral hazard".
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Can McCain dump Palin and put Paulson in her place? He obviously is the most powerful person on the planet. Months ago he recommended a set of regulatory changes which were ignored. When all is said and done, he may actually make money for the taxpayer on this mess - until the Treasury stepped up to buy artifically deflated mortgage securities at a discount the only seriously interested party that I have seen was PIMCO. With all of the panic selling there is value for a discerning buyer.
This Chinese article is very significant. As McCain and Obama call for new regulation, the winner will not be able to do it alone. The global dominance of our currency would seem to be over.
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Why are we building any houses? This bubble shouldn't work itself out until the number of people who can afford a house grows to fill the inventory. Perhaps there is some migration from one region to another, but that's it.
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Much comes down to people. We are fortunate that Paulson and Bernanke know what they are doing, are creative, and have a pragmatic (and selective) priority of stabilizing the financial system. Cox and the SEC seem to finally be coming to the party - controlling short sellers. It is also interesting to see the first instincts of the presidential candidates: - McCain to call for a comprehensive, non-partisan review of the financial system once things have been stabilized. - Obama to make political hay by blaming the Republicans and ridiculing McCain's call, and touting his own leadership without any specifics.
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Thank god we have Bernanke and Paulson at a moment when we need experience, flexibility, creativity, and strength - politically savy technicians. Over the next month, there will be a real battle between those who think that free markets (with a revised regulatory structure) are the solution and those who think that the government can and should protect the public from Wall Street.
Distinguishing Between Out of Favor Sectors and Doomed Ones [View article]
Good point "just a hick". There are lots of us "law and order" types, who have been pushed too far by the exit packages at Fannie and Freddie and hope that the government just says no, regardless of contract provisions.
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
We do need enough foreign confidence in our financial system to convince them to pump in $60 billion per month to feed our habits. I can't imagine that continuing for long - at some point they'll only take hard assets.
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Does anybody know what impact the Fannie/Freddie decision will have on write-downs on individual mortgages? Is it likely that there will be a policy of accepting a more lax approach to restructuring individual mortgages?
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
On the "where do we go from here?" question, they have punted to the next administration - where the election will make a big difference. On one hand there may be a free market capitalism philosophy, with an effort to minimize the role of whatever emerges. On the other, a socialist philosophy with the government becoming the buyer of mortgages - and making political decisions on what criteria to follow.
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
The productivity number of + 4.3% for the second quarter is an outlier in an economic downturn. It does help explain why unemployment is now over 6% and we are losing 50 to 100,000 jobs per month while profits are holding up (outside of financial companies) and real hourly earnings are increasing.
Sarah Palin: Wall Street's Candidate [View article]
It is interesting to see how many Democrats there are on this financial site. One clarification on PIAs comments on national safety - between 1998 and 2003 there were over 20 attacks on American interests globally (other than 9/11) killing over 2000 people- the Marine barracks in Lebanon, the embassies in Africa, the first World Trade Center, the USS Cole, Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, Lockerbee, Egypt Air flight 990 off Massachusetts, etc. Since 2004 there have been none. Something is working.
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Does anybody understand the approach that Boeing and the unions have taken over the last several years. While we don't have a national strategy on industries, this would seem to be a key one. It is technologically based, the main competitor is tangled up in European politics and socialism, there are balance-of-trade opportunities, there are national security issues, etc. One would hope that union negotiations take place in the context of general agreements about how much of prosperity or difficulty the owners get (ROI) and how much the workers get (wages). Hopefully it is not totally tactical - like US Steel or Detroit in the 50s.
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
It's nice to see Coke buying in China - Coke has long been a truly international company which happens to have its headquarters in Atlanta. For the rest of it (like the Lehman auction), we continue to sell ourselves to cover our $60 billion per month deficit. Closing that gap should be the primary economic issue for our presidential candidates, not who can give the biggest tax cuts to the most people.
Hank Paulson: Leading Us to the Next Bull, Soon [View article]
But more to the author's point, we are fortunate to have had Hank Paulson as Secretary of the Treasury at this point. Bernanke has helped and Cox has been a bust, but Paulson has been a star. He has acted forcefully with a deep knowledge of the financial system and the players, with creativity, and with much more pragmatism than ideology about "moral hazard".
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Months ago he recommended a set of regulatory changes which were ignored. When all is said and done, he may actually make money for the taxpayer on this mess - until the Treasury stepped up to buy artifically deflated mortgage securities at a discount the only seriously interested party that I have seen was PIMCO. With all of the panic selling there is value for a discerning buyer.
Thursday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets [View article]
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
CNBC's $190 Billion Reporters [View article]
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
It is also interesting to see the first instincts of the presidential candidates:
- McCain to call for a comprehensive, non-partisan review of the financial system once things have been stabilized.
- Obama to make political hay by blaming the Republicans and ridiculing McCain's call, and touting his own leadership without any specifics.
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Distinguishing Between Out of Favor Sectors and Doomed Ones [View article]
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Sarah Palin: Wall Street's Candidate [View article]
One clarification on PIAs comments on national safety - between 1998 and 2003 there were over 20 attacks on American interests globally (other than 9/11) killing over 2000 people- the Marine barracks in Lebanon, the embassies in Africa, the first World Trade Center, the USS Cole, Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, Lockerbee, Egypt Air flight 990 off Massachusetts, etc. Since 2004 there have been none. Something is working.
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]
Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News [View article]