News from around the web: 2009-10-08

• Hypo Needs an Extra $10.2 Billion to Survive – WSJ.com

  "German real-estate financier Hypo Real Estate Holding AG needs an additional €7 billion ($10.2 billion) in capital from the German government to stay afloat and won’t return to profitability until 2012 at the earliest, Chief Executive Axel Wieandt said at a shareholder meeting."

• When Old Flames Beckon on Facebook – WSJ.com

  "Think about it. We went years without reconnecting, and everything was fine. But now, thanks to social-networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn, our old lovers are essentially popping up in our own homes. It’s like having a secret stash of ice cream in the freezer. Even if it’s a little stale, it can be hard to resist."

• Parity Beckons for Australian Dollar

  "We believe US dollar fundamentals are incredibly bearish and long term US dollar depreciation is likely to be the dominant trend going forward," said Mr Averill.

• FT.com – A curb on bank bonuses misses the point

  "Governments should focus on the market failure. It was not the level of bonuses, but the risk-taking incentives inherent in the system that were the problem.’

• Gene That Regulates Breast Cancer Metastasis Identified

  "They also demonstrated that expression of KLF17 together with another gene (Id1) known to regulate breast cancer metastasis accurately predicts whether the disease will spread to the lymph nodes."

• Corus: Cash for Clunkers of Commercial Real Estate – Deal Journal – WSJ

  "“Private investors without government subsidized leverage would not be able to pay that price if they have to raise their own capital from private sources.” Indeed, the FDIC is heavily subsidizing this deal. Not only is the agency taking a 60% equity stake, valued at about $831 million, it also is providing $1.38 billion in interest-free, government guaranteed loans. (The TPG-Starwood group contributed $554 million in equity.)"

• McCaughey And Me – Andrew Sullivan

  About Betsy McCaughey’s 1994 TNR piece. "But look: it was one piece in a magazine. It’s being treated as if it were a turning point in history. Please. There’s one reason the Clinton healthcare bill failed and it isn’t Betsy McCaughey. It’s Hillary Clinton."

• Mortgage applications surge to 4-month high | Reuters

  "U.S. mortgage applications surged last week to their highest since mid-May as consumers sought to take advantage of the lowest interest rates in months, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday."

• FT Alphaville » Charting Spain’s flujo de fondos

  "The second-quarter flow of funds data, which documents things like spending and savings behaviour, for Spain is now available and JPM has helpfully provided us with the charts. And, as JPM economist Greg Fuzesi notes, there have been some rather dramatic adjustments."

• FT Alphaville » Fitch: False dawn for the UK housing market

  Expectation is for a 30% peak to trough decline.

• The Cost Of Corporate Communism | Dylan Ratigan

  Lately I have been using the phrase "Corporate Communism" on my television show I think it is an especially fitting term when discussing the current landscape in both our banking and health care systems.

• PIMCO Cuts Ties With CIT Steering Committee, Sells CIT Holdings | zero hedge

  "just how much is PIMCO hedged to its CIT exposure? And if the answer is "much to quite much", will the combined interests of Goldman and PIMCO to effectively let the company sink be enough to warrant what may otherwise not have been a foregone conclusion on the viability of the company?"

• D-Short’s Famous Four Bears Chart

  tracking four great bear markets. This one is looking better of late

• Simon Johnson and James Kwak – Don’t Blame China – washingtonpost.com

  They don’t believe in the Blame Asia meme any more than I do. "The time is here for our nation to actually do something about the recent financial crisis — that is, do something to prevent it from happening again. But instead, many people are finding it easier to pass the buck than to, say, regulate the financial sector effectively."

• FT.com – Insight: Crisis breeds short memories – Stephen Roach

  "we were told by the apostles of yet another New Era that imbalances were to be ignored – whether they took the form of an unprecedented build-up of current account deficits and surpluses around the world or an increasingly virulent strain of asset- and debt-dependent growth in the US. A year after the world’s near-death experience, there is broad acceptance that there must be a safer and saner way to grow."

• Cash Is Trash – Kiplinger.com

  this is why bonds and equities are doing well.

Distraction of the Day: Commander in Chia (this looks like a really, really bad idea)

(video embedded below)