July 2009

In talking to the FT’s Gillian Tett, Hugh Hendry of The Eclectica Fund makes the hilarious metaphor of China as Santa Claus bringing gifts to a world constrained by excessive Western government debt issuance.  But, Hendry thinks the…

Laura Tyson, an advisor to President Barack Obama, said in a speech to day in the lead up to the –8 conference that the ground work for a potential second stimulus bill must be laid now. To be sure, the G-8 leaders are expected to recommend…

This comes from Reuters: Fallout from a still deteriorating housing market caused the rate of consumer loan payments at least 30 days late to rise to 3.23 percent in the January-to-March period from 3.22 percent in the 2008 fourth…

This can't be good. A group of the biggest U.S. banks said they would stop accepting California's IOUs on Friday, adding pressure on the state to close its $26.3 billion annual budget gap. The development is the latest twist in…

I saw this post with cool pictures on popping bubbles and I thought about Alan Greenspan.  Sir Alan says you cannot recognize bubbles until after they have burst.  I think that’s nonsense – certainly in the case of the “Great…

U.S. office market continues to spiral down - Reuters Vacancy rate is now 15.9% Surprise drop in UK output hits recovery hopes - Guardian Data in UK missing expectations now too. Close Relationship Between Past…

Here is a Marc Faber interview from March. It is well worth watching because he calls things perfectly through June: economic news, equity markets, and commodity markets. This is billed as a Czech TV interview.  But the audio is…

Peterson is the former Nixon cabinet secretary and founder of the Blackstone Group. He is also a well-known deficit hawk and founder of the Peterson Foundation.  He recently wrote his autobiography, “The Education of an American…

10-Year TIPS were sold with a Bid/Cover ratio of 2.51.  Almost half of the securities went to indirect bidders, meaning central banks are still bidding for U.S. government debt. Obviously, there is no problem for Treasuries despite…

I ran across a slew of stories this morning, so I am making another links post.  Enjoy.   Super-size Deposits Of Frozen Carbon In Arctic Could Worsen Climate Change This makes a trilogy of environment stories Vitamin D…