This Week’s Most Popular Posts: 2010-09-27

By Edward Harrison On Sep 27, 2010

The Credit Writedowns Interview with President Bill Clinton: Report on a blogger meeting with former President Bill Clinton and what his views say about the agenda for Democrats and the Obama Administration.
Hugh Hendry interview on the BBC: Twenty minutes with the outspoken London-based but Scottish-born Hedge Fund manager Hugh Hendry. Entertaining as usual. In this case, Hendry’s interviewer revealed some weaknesses in Hendry’s arguments. Have look.
Stat of the Day: Ireland now fifth for highest government default probabilities in the world: The sovereign debt crisis has moved on to Ireland. Credit Default Swap levels suggest a high level of concern regarding eventual default.
Rosenberg: Seven Investment Strategies For A Deflationary Environment: If we do suffer deflation, how should one invest? Gluskin Sheff’s David Rosenberg gives us seven strategies.
Andy Xie is much less bearish on Chinese housing market: China bear Andy Xie appears to be taking a less apocalyptic stance on China. While his macro call is more nuanced, he is still bearish. It’s unclear what good this does for investors looking to take a view accordingly. Also see the related Xie: China’s housing market is "not crashing like I expected" in which China bull Shaun Rein offers some good counterpoints during a Bloomberg Asia TV discussion.
Why was AIG rescued after Lehman had failed?: Former German Finance Minister Steinbrück has recently revealed that European leaders pressured the Bush administration not to allow AIG to fail after Lehman collapsed in September 2008. This is a very important account of events that has not received nearly enough attention in the U.S. media.
A Recovery That Looks Like Recession: Comstock Partners gives us eight reasons why the technical recovery in the US actually looks and feels a lot more like a recession.
Jim Chanos: "We are really rewarding failed business decisions repeatedly": Short-seller Jim Chanos is now short shares of Ford because he believes the firm will be weakened by competition from its bailed-out cross-town rivals GM and Chrysler. Chanos looks at this as an example of our having rewarded failed business decisions to the detriment of the whole of society.
How Much Higher Can Bonds Go?: A lot. Read John Lounsbury’s post on recent David Rosenberg arguments and find out why. Caveat Emptor.
Inflation in goods, deflation in assets: A reminder that inflation does not hit all goods, all sectors and all asset classes with the same impact. In fact, you could have inflation in the goods sector while asset prices deflate. This suggests a sector approach to navigating the marketplace will be more beneficial than either a top-down macro view or bottoms-up view alone.
Barack Obama, The Departure of Larry Summers, Voter Anger and the Bailouts: A review of why voters are still angry and what impact this may have had on the cabinet shuffle in the Obama Administration. Why will Tim Geithner be the last man standing come January. Read to find out.