Here’s a piece today from Michael Lewis, the man who can usually make complicated financial matters simple. This is his dissent on the findings of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, of which he was a member. The fact that it’s uncharacteristically unclear—especially the part about women on Wall Street—proves how complicated an issue this is.
February 2011
Chuck Patterson stuns surfing world by skiing massive waves. Video Below.
Chuck Patterson stuns surfing world by skiing massive waves. Video Below.
Below are snapshots (with links) of five big data points markets are trading on today. U.S. rate markets—aka mortgage bond markets—are taking four of them as non-threatening: flat U.S. retail sales, weak Eurozone economic growth, less-than-expected Chinese inflation, and despite higher UK inflation, markets are shrugging it off. For now, markets are also ignoring the
Oil prices are in the mid-$80 per barrel range, and gasoline in many parts of the nation is sitting at or above $3 per gallon for regular unleaded. This is bad news for anyone who uses transportation, or buys goods that are transported. (Did I leave anyone out?) What do higher oil prices mean for
Why Banks Fail Why is a man like a zero coupon bond? They pay little interest, and have no maturity! And roughly 85% of bank deposits have a maturity of 3 months or less. Given that, banks must carefully watch the amount of fixed rate loans and fixed rate securities going onto the books to
China’s NBS site delivering “Server Too Busy” errors right now. Reminiscent of early crisis days when S&P servers started crashing on Case Shiller Home price release days. Anyway, consumer prices came in at +4.9% versus expectations of +5.3% and last month’s year-over-reading of 4.6%. And producer prices came in at +6.6% versus expectations of 6.4%
China’s NBS site delivering “Server Too Busy” errors right now. Reminiscent of early crisis days when S&P servers started crashing on Case Shiller Home price release days. Anyway, consumer prices came in at +4.9% versus expectations of +5.3% and last month’s year-over-reading of 4.6%. And producer prices came in at +6.6% versus expectations of 6.4%
When I left UBS 8 years ago, my boss gave me a book on negotiation called Getting to Yes. It’s a must-read, but if I may highlight the most effective tactic: focus on interests, not positions. It works like a charm because if you’re always taking a firm position, you’ll lose most of the time.
Origin of Valentine’s Day? Valentine’s Day…Opinions differ as to who was the original Valentine but the most popular theory is that he was a clergyman who was executed for secretly marrying couples in ancient Rome. In A.D. 496, Pope Gelasius I declared Feb. 14 as Valentine Day. Through the centuries, the Christian holiday became a
There’s been lots of chatter about how the top dogs at HuffingtonPost will get rich from AOL’s $315m acquisition of the site, and how that trend may continue because all the content is sourced from bloggers for free. Top-dog financial blogger and money manager Barry Ritholtz has a great take on this model that’s followed
There’s been lots of chatter about how the top dogs at HuffingtonPost will get rich from AOL’s $315m acquisition of the site, and how that trend may continue because all the content is sourced from bloggers for free. Top-dog financial blogger and money manager Barry Ritholtz has a great take on this model that’s followed
In the coming weeks, we’ll be doing a series on Jumbo mortgages. And don’t let the terminology fool you. Today jumbo mortgages are for loans above max government-backed caps of $729,750. But as the politicians begin plans to wind down government support, their first big step will be to reducing government-backed loan caps. So a
Rates closed Friday 2/11 net even on the week, a nice break (despite wild daily swings) after rising .375% the week before. Rates could resume their rise this week in response to inflation reports from the U.S., China, and Great Britain. Inflation worries may cause investors to continue selling bonds, and home loan rates rise
Below is a snapshot of U.S. data for the week. There are also key inflation reports from China and Great Britain. Here’s what it all means.
Below is a snapshot of U.S. data for the week. There are also key inflation reports from China and Great Britain. Here’s what it all means.
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