Monthly Archives: June 2007

iPhone

Posted on June 30, 2007 by Felix

I got one, thanks largely to a wonderful birthday cheque from my grandmother. And it really is a thing of beauty. And I’m not going to repeat what everybody else has said. But I will say that the email functionality … Continue reading →

Posted in Not economics | 2 Comments

Why Murdoch Can Make Money On His Dow Jones Investment

Posted on June 29, 2007 by Felix

It’s a bit embarrassing, but true, that the 76-year-old Murdoch has a longer time horizon than a public company which will almost certainly exist in some form for many generations yet.
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Posted in Media, publishing | Comments Off on Why Murdoch Can Make Money On His Dow Jones Investment

Bloomberg Plays Gotcha with S&P

Posted on June 29, 2007 by Felix

Bloomberg’s Mark Pittman isn’t hedging his bets in a story
headlined "S&P,
Moody’s Mask $200 Billion of Subprime Bond Risk":
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Posted in bonds and loans | Comments Off on Bloomberg Plays Gotcha with S&P

Diary of a Defenestration

Posted on June 29, 2007 by Felix

June 27: "Bear
Stearns’ Asset Management Chief Takes Charge in Fund Crisis"
is the headline as Rich Marin rides to the rescue of his company’s
embattled hedge funds.
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Posted in banking, defenestrations | Comments Off on Diary of a Defenestration

Why Margin Calls Need Not Destroy the CDO Market

Posted on June 29, 2007 by Felix

The
Epicurean Dealmaker explains why I’m a bit too sanguine about the prospects
for the CDO market: it all comes down to margin calls.
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Posted in bonds and loans | Comments Off on Why Margin Calls Need Not Destroy the CDO Market

What Jimmy Cayne Eats For Breakfast

Posted on June 29, 2007 by Felix

Red wine for breakfast.
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Bear’s Funds’ Problems: Not All That Big

Posted on June 29, 2007 by Felix

The more we learn about what happened at Bear Stearns, the more overblown all the worries seem to have been.
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Posted in banking, hedge funds | Comments Off on Bear’s Funds’ Problems: Not All That Big

iPhone to Support Wifi Calling

Posted on June 29, 2007 by Felix

Apple and AT&T are OK with wi-fi based calling, which will be a godsend to people who travel or call a lot internationally.
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Posted in technology | Comments Off on iPhone to Support Wifi Calling

Exblogmunication

Posted on June 29, 2007 by Felix

I was “exblogmunicated” by Instapundit Glenn Reynolds in 2006, when he linked to me without linking to me. Now he’s done it again, but if anything even more egregiously. If I’m on some kind of blacklist, I want to know!

Posted in Not economics | Comments Off on Exblogmunication

Harvard-Yale Competition

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Felix

Do Harvard and Yale compete for the best students? Greg Mankiw
certainly thinks
so:
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Posted in economics | Comments Off on Harvard-Yale Competition

Alternatives to Globalization

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Felix

There are major downsides to globalization, but it increasingly seems as though fighting it is worse than futile: it’s actually counterproductive.
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Posted in economics, Politics | Comments Off on Alternatives to Globalization

Blank-Check Companies: Good Value?

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Felix

Megan
Barnett wonders what a conservative value investor is doing in high-risk
investments with no real assets:
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Posted in stocks | Comments Off on Blank-Check Companies: Good Value?

IMF’s Rodrigo de Rato Unexpectedly Resigns

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Felix

This one came out of left field. As if there wasn’t enough turnover at the
top of the World Bank, now the head of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo
de Rato, has announced that he, too, is going to resign his job: his
last day will be in October, after the annual meeting concludes on October 21.
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Posted in IMF | Comments Off on IMF’s Rodrigo de Rato Unexpectedly Resigns

Rupert Murdoch is Enjoying Himself

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Felix

Rupert Murdoch:
“When the Journal gets its Page 3 girls, we’ll make sure they have MBAs.”
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Posted in Media, publishing | Comments Off on Rupert Murdoch is Enjoying Himself

Unpacking the Risks in the CDO Market

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Felix

There is cause for concern, to be sure. But there isn’t cause for panic.
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Posted in bonds and loans | 2 Comments

CDO Scaremongering, Ebola Edition

Posted on June 28, 2007 by Felix

Tim Price is some
kind of genius.
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Posted in bonds and loans | Comments Off on CDO Scaremongering, Ebola Edition

How to Help the Bottom Billion

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Felix

Niall Ferguson reviews
the new book by Paul Collier, The
Bottom Billion, in Sunday’s NYT Book Review, and I’m not sure what
to make of it.
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Posted in development | Comments Off on How to Help the Bottom Billion

A Plea to Jamie Dimon for Great Architecture

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Felix

It’s quite sad that for all Wall Street’s wealth, no New York bank has in living memory managed to build an architecturally distinguished building.
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Posted in architecture, banking | Comments Off on A Plea to Jamie Dimon for Great Architecture

Propping Up the Blackstone Share Price

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Felix

It turns out
that those 20 million extra Blackstone shares that the lead managers sold
on Monday didn’t necessarily make $234 million for Steve Schwarzman personally
after all. The point of a greenshoe, it seems, is to help support the price
of the stock if it falls below the offering price – as BX, of course,
did
on Tuesday.
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Posted in banking, private equity, stocks | Comments Off on Propping Up the Blackstone Share Price

Lloyd Blankfein, Man of the People

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Felix

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein came
out as a Democrat today, aligning himself with Robert Rubin
and Jon Corzine rather than with Hank Paulson.
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Posted in banking, Politics | Comments Off on Lloyd Blankfein, Man of the People

Bear Stearns Funds: Is Everything OK Now?

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Felix

After throwing the entire financial media (if not the actual markets) into a week-long tizzy, Bear Stearns seems to have found a way to stabilize things without committing too much of its own money and without subjecting its funds’ prime brokers to any losses.
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Posted in banking, bonds and loans, hedge funds | Comments Off on Bear Stearns Funds: Is Everything OK Now?

Punishing Short-Sellers

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Felix

What is the SEC
doing fining UK hedge fund GLG Partners $3.2 million over illegal
short-selling?
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Posted in hedge funds, stocks | Comments Off on Punishing Short-Sellers

Carlyle MD: The Blackstone IPO was “Highly Successful”

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Felix

With Blackstone stock languishing below its offering price, few people would
count the private equity firm’s IPO as a smashing success. But among
them, it would seem, is Carlyle Group managing director Jason Lee:
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Posted in private equity, stocks | Comments Off on Carlyle MD: The Blackstone IPO was “Highly Successful”

Murdoch: “Everything is Done”

Posted on June 27, 2007 by Felix

Reuters managed to snag
a quick interview with Rupert Murdoch in Warsaw, of all
places, where he’s meeting the prime minister (natch) and relaunching a television
station. "Everything is done. We are just waiting for a final approval
of the Bancroft family," Murdoch said.
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Posted in Media | Comments Off on Murdoch: “Everything is Done”

Two Views of Congestion Pricing

Posted on June 26, 2007 by Felix

Does subway congestion make congestion pricing more problematic, or does it, on the other hand, make congestion pricing more necessary?
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Posted in cities | Comments Off on Two Views of Congestion Pricing