market wizards

Recently, I have become very concerned about the deteriorating geopolitical situation and its likely effects on the global economy. The Georgia-Russia situation produced a response from the U.S. to defend Poland with a missile shield,…

The complete and utter failure of owners' equivalent rent - Tim IaconoInflation Versus Deflation: The Debate Continues - naked capitalismDark Star - Bank Implode-O-MeterJuly Jump in CPI Suggests Third Quarter Growth Could be Negative -…

Another blurb on David Rosenberg of Merrill Lynch, this time from the Globe & Mail in Canada where Rosenberg is from. This one is more about Merrill and its culture than Rosenberg. The paper points out the irony of Rosenberg being the…

Berkshire Hathaway, the company led by Warren Buffett, is offering a five-year debt deal for the highest spread over treasurys in its history. As Berkshire is a low-risk AAA company, this fact reinforces the magnitude of credit market…

Caroline Baum is one of the more insightful financial market pundits around. In her column she takes aim at Fannie and their private reward, public risk corporate setup. Basically, the Fannie-Freddie bailout is a simple case of "heads and…

"I am officially scared. In 2000, we had a technology bubble. But this is massive, a massive credit crisis and a bubble in global housing, global equity and global land." -Jeremy Grantham as quoted by Chicago Tribune

Housing: US, UK and SpainBright spots in the housing nightmare - MSNU.S. Mortgage Rates Soar on Inflation Fears - Housing WireU.S. Existing Home Sales Continue Freefall - Housing WireOversupply killing U.S. lender giants and house prices -…

Oil at $100? That's certainly my call and I'll stick to it. So far my call of oil peaking at $150 is holding.( We'll see for how long). On July 9th, after oil's first pullback to $138 I said:Yesterday, oil fell the most in one day since…

Have we, too, not suffered at the hands of what used to be called The Interests? Have the stewards of other people's money not made a hash of high finance? Did they not enrich themselves in boom times, only to pass the cup to us, the…

UPDATE: 23 Mar 2009: I am re-publishing this and a February post (Where is the outrage?) because of the situation at AIG. In my view, the outrage that has finally boiled over in the AIG bonus scandal has long been simmering. In reading…