Author

Frederick Sheehan 81 posts 0 comments

Frederick Sheehan is the author of Panderer to Power: The Untold Story of How Alan Greenspan Enriched Wall Street and Left a Legacy of Recession. He is the co-author of Greenspan's Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve. Mr. Sheehan was Director of Asset Allocation Services at John Hancock Financial Services in Boston. For more than a decade, Mr. Sheehan wrote the monthly "Market Outlook" and quarterly "Market Review" for clients. He is a frequent contributor to Marc Faber's "Gloom, Boom & Doom Report." He also has written articles for "Whiskey & Gunpowder" and the Prudent Bear website, among others. He currently serves as an advisor to an investment firm and a non-profit foundation. A Chartered Financial Analyst, Mr. Sheehan is a graduate of Columbia Business School.

Economy

Miserable Wants Company

Frederick Sheehan Feb 28, 2012

For entities not awarded illusory funding by the ECB, U.S. Treasury Department, or the State of California, reality pounces like a thief in the night, sometimes literally.

Markets

Leveraged Populists

Frederick Sheehan Feb 21, 2012

The latest deals bring to mind the days of mega mergers and technology stocks of days gone by.

Economy

A Real Phony

Frederick Sheehan Feb 1, 2012

A quote from Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who centrally controlled and underpriced the most over-leveraged interest rate in the world for 18 years and is now cashing in like a reality TV celebrity

Markets

Markets Vanish – “In a Flash”

Frederick Sheehan Jan 8, 2012

Government interference extends unstable market conditions longer than would otherwise be true. By doing so, George Eliot's observation (at the bottom, here) is even more appropriate in 2012.

Markets

Volatility Lurks

Frederick Sheehan Dec 28, 2011

The S&P 500 volatility index - the VIX - is a measurement of volatility expectations. It has fallen 50% since the (latest) agreement to save the euro was announced. If the VIX falls to 18, call options are worth considering.

Monetary System

U.S. Exposure to Europe – Unknowns Unknowns

Frederick Sheehan Dec 15, 2011

As Eurocrats dissemble, ratios that quantify U.S. financial system exposure to European insolvency are dated, even as they are published.

Political Economy

The Rotten Heart of Europe

Frederick Sheehan Dec 9, 2011

Frederick Sheehan writes that the purpose of this dispatch is to dispel rumors that current front-page treaty talks have any economic meaning. The European and U.S. stock markets react with a 3% or 4% gain after vague announcements, but we…

Economy

The SEC’s Day in Court

Frederick Sheehan Nov 30, 2011

Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the United States District Courts of the Southern District of New York struck a blow against the Securities and Exchange Commission and in support of the "public interest." The Securities and Exchange Commission had…

Economy

Ted Forstmann

Frederick Sheehan Nov 23, 2011

Ted Forstmann was a sterling example in a tarnished field.

Economy

What They Are Doing?

Frederick Sheehan Oct 24, 2011

The quantity of debt grows as the quality recedes. The problem of bad loans is no longer just the pre-2008 mortgages, CDOs, and LBOs. Debt issued after the bust is defaulting, such as Greek sovereign bonds, issued in June 2010. Some…