Yesterday appeared to be an “in your face” day as the markets responded with another sharp drop to the downside in response to the Fed/US Treasury announcement of a $85 billion loan to one of the living dead, namely AIG. I think Wall Street is finally seeing beyond the futile government attempts to prop up failing companies in order to …
Another Money Fund Breaks The Buck
The markets had another volatile session yesterday with swings from high to low of some 300 points on the Dow. The Fed’s refusal to lower interest rates pulled the major indexes sharply lower, but buying resumed and we closed in positive territory. The only reason we closed higher was when the remote possibility surfaced that the Fed/US Treasury was considering …
A Black Monday
A few weeks ago, I mentioned in a conversation with a client that I would not be surprised to wake up one morning and find the Dow down some 500 points. Well, it did not start out that way yesterday, but we ended up with a drop of 504 points. Of course, the news all weekend was focused on Lehman …
What’s Next?
With the markets having been in a tizzy fit all year, with no signs of imminent change apparent, investors and traders alike are having difficulty making sense out of the violent swings and unprecedented write-downs due to assets having gone sour. Reader Steve had this to say: I have been following your Blog and commentary, thanks for the good advice …
Sunday Musings: Words Of Truth
I personally have a very low opinion of politicians, but once in a while I get surprised by candidness, which is usually not a quality most of them possess. Bloomberg featured a story called “Senator Bunning Says Paulson Acts Like Socialist, Should Resign.” Let’s listen in: Senator Jim Bunning said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, by rescuing Fannie Mae and Freddie …
Welcome To The United Socialist State Republic of America
In view of the government take-over of Fannie and Freddie, Nouriel Roubini wrote a timeless piece a couple of days ago titled “Comrades Bush, Paulson and Bernanke Welcome You to the USSRA (United Socialist State Republic of America)”. Here are some highlights: The now inevitable nationalization of Fannie and Freddie is the most radical regime change in global economic and …