Commentary
Consumers High on Hope
Consumers are high on hope, choosing the drug peddled by politicians, mall operators and bankrupt car makers, over the dismal news coming from the housing and job markets. Consumer sentiment, the lifeblood of the American economy, climbed last month to the highest level since last year. The faint glimmers of good news in some areas [...]
Federal Budget Deficit Kills Spring Fever
Spring is finally here after a long, frightfully cold winter. And with it comes the delusions induced by spring fever. Both the Obama administration and investors are stricken with the heady optimism associated with this illness, classifying the trickles of less than horrible economic data as green shoots that will bring America out of the [...]
Bank Stress Tests are a Complete Farce!
Let’s hear it for the bankers! They only need another $75 billion in extra capital by November in order to stay alive. Nice work, boys! The NY Times reported today that ten of the nineteen bank holding companies subjected to regulators’ stress tests, the banks deemed “too big to fail,” will need to raise extra [...]
Still Heading for the Abyss
Stock markets across this troubled planet rocketed ahead late this week – mainly on Thursday – because it appears that the world’s largest economies are slowing down as they approach the abyss. But, what jubilant investors are missing is that we’re still headed for the abyss – the economic trajectory has not changed. Extremely tough [...]
The Culture of Debt
I have something that I’m quite proud of to share with you this afternoon. It’s an essay called The Culture of Debt, and I wrote it about three years ago. At the time, the credit bubble was still growing, feeding a boom in real estate and fueling all manner of mindless consumption. I wrote this [...]
The World According to Gordon Brown
It was all smiles at the conclusion of the G20 summit held in London yesterday. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown babbled on about the emergence of a new world order – which will be composed of the very same self-serving politicians that he was bickering with just a few hours before this laughable announcement of [...]
Timmy’s Big Week
U.S. Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner had a very big week. In February, the panicked American public and their clueless representatives in Congress saw a timid and overwhelmed Geithner fumbling and bumbling his way through a vaguely defined plan to rescue the banking system from all of the toxic securities purchased – with borrowed funds – [...]
Fed Buys U.S. Debt!
I believe that a disproportionate amount of media attention has focused on political squabbles inspired by the latest mega-billion dollar economic stimulus package, the continuing costs of bailing out financial institutions, and the recent show trials of A.I.G. employees. In my opinion, far too little attention is set upon the Federal Reserve, which is embarking [...]
Where did America’s Wealth go?
Where did America’s wealth go? That is the question being asked from Washington state to Washington DC. The Federal Reserve reported yesterday that U.S. household net worth plummeted by $11.2 trillion, equivalent to a loss of close to 18 percent, during 2008. Household net worth – which is assets owned minus liabilities owed – of [...]
Feds Toss More Money Down AIG Hole
American International Group (AIG) made history this week by declaring a $61.7 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2008. That equates to $22.95 per share, compare that to a stock price of less than a buck, (it was quoted at $0.34 today) and one can see the absurdity of our nation’s current financial situation. [...]
Main Marbles
- No categories
