Meta
Categories
- accounting
- Announcements
- architecture
- art
- auctions
- bailouts
- banking
- bankruptcy
- ben stein watch
- blogonomics
- bonds and loans
- charts
- china
- cities
- climate change
- commercial property
- commodities
- consumers
- consumption
- corporatespeak
- credit ratings
- crime
- Culture
- Davos 2008
- Davos 2009
- defenestrations
- demographics
- derivatives
- design
- development
- drugs
- Econoblog
- economics
- education
- emerging markets
- employment
- energy
- entitlements
- eschatology
- euro
- facial hair
- fashion
- Film
- Finance
- fiscal and monetary policy
- food
- foreign exchange
- fraud
- gambling
- geopolitics
- governance
- healthcare
- hedge funds
- holidays
- housing
- humor
- Humour
- iceland
- IMF
- immigration
- infrastructure
- insurance
- intellectual property
- investing
- journalism
- labor
- language
- law
- leadership
- leaks
- M&A
- Media
- milken 2008
- Not economics
- pay
- personal finance
- philanthropy
- pirates
- Politics
- Portfolio
- prediction markets
- private banking
- private equity
- privatization
- productivity
- publishing
- race
- rants
- regulation
- remainders
- research
- Restaurants
- Rhian in Antarctica
- risk
- satire
- science
- shareholder activism
- sovereign debt
- sports
- statistics
- stocks
- taxes
- technocrats
- technology
- trade
- travel
- Uncategorized
- water
- wealth
- world bank
Archives
- March 2023
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- December 2012
- August 2012
- June 2012
- March 2012
- April 2011
- August 2010
- June 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- September 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
- March 2003
- February 2003
- January 2003
- December 2002
- November 2002
- October 2002
- September 2002
- August 2002
- July 2002
- June 2002
- May 2002
- March 2002
- February 2002
- January 2002
- December 2001
- November 2001
- October 2001
- September 2001
- August 2001
- July 2001
- June 2001
- May 2001
- April 2001
- March 2001
- February 2001
- January 2001
- December 2000
- September 2000
- July 2000
- March 2000
- July 1999
Monthly Archives: April 2008
Attractive Lenders
If I were a chartist, which I’m not, I’m sure I would consider the chart of KKR Financial to be surpassingly ugly. But I had lunch today with Brian McMahon, the CEO and CIO of Thornburg Investment Management, and he’s … Continue reading
Posted in banking, bonds and loans, stocks
Comments Off on Attractive Lenders
Are There Low-Risk, Low-Return Hedge Funds?
Megan Barnett reckons that all hedge funds are high-risk investments. Because of their performance fees, she says, they’re incentivized to take greater risks because it’s there that the big money lies. I like these arguments from incentives, because they do … Continue reading
Posted in hedge funds
Comments Off on Are There Low-Risk, Low-Return Hedge Funds?
Blogonomics: Narrow Blogs
Liquidity Freeze is, in its own words, A blog following the catastrophic failure in auction rate security markets, concentrating on closed end funds. The author even adds a note saying that anything not associated with closed end funds is "out … Continue reading
Posted in blogonomics
Comments Off on Blogonomics: Narrow Blogs
Agricultural Subsidies: Still a Bad Idea
If you want proof that the free-market intelligentsia really doesn’t get what it wants, all you need to do is look at agricultural subsidies. The right hates them because, well, they’re subsidies, and the left hates them because the beneficiaries … Continue reading
Posted in commodities, fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on Agricultural Subsidies: Still a Bad Idea
Why Hedge Funds Lose Money in Volatile Markets
Insight from Baruch: The strategists at my beloved employer told the punters, correctly, that this year would see a lot of volatility in equities. So, they said, increase allocation to equity long short, which struck me as precisely the wrong … Continue reading
Posted in hedge funds
Comments Off on Why Hedge Funds Lose Money in Volatile Markets
The Fight for Yahoo
The more I think about it, the more I like this idea of a joint bid for Yahoo from Microsoft and News Corp. The bits of Yahoo which Microsoft doesn’t want – call them "content", if you like – are … Continue reading
Posted in technology
Comments Off on The Fight for Yahoo
The Euro Under Attack
Avi Tiomkin has a provocative article in the latest Forbes on "the demise of the euro". His thesis is not only that the euro will fall against the dollar, but that the entire currency will fall apart, and that Europe … Continue reading
Posted in euro
Comments Off on The Euro Under Attack
Sheila Bair’s Plan B
FDIC chairman Sheila Bair’s Plan A for modifying troubled mortgages is, by her own admission, not working out very well. But never worry, she’s got a Plan B: One idea is to provide loans directly to troubled borrowers to pay … Continue reading
Posted in housing
Comments Off on Sheila Bair’s Plan B
Sebastian Mallaby Still Loves Hedge Funds
Every so often over the past few months, as yet another hedge fund or private-equity legend came unstuck, I wondered how Sebastian Mallaby’s book was doing. After writing an astonishingly upbeat article on hedge funds for Foreign Affairs, he decided … Continue reading
Posted in hedge funds
Comments Off on Sebastian Mallaby Still Loves Hedge Funds
Extra Credit, Wednesday Edition
Survey of economics blog readers: If you have a minute, take it! A Tax Break for Bubble Heads: More problems with the housing bill. The Bear Stearns Tombstone.
Posted in remainders
Comments Off on Extra Credit, Wednesday Edition
Blogonomics: Leaving Seeking Alpha
I feel I have to mention Barry Ritholtz’s very public abandonment of Seeking Alpha. After they mistakenly edited a couple of his headlines, he put up an anguished post on his personal blog, asking if he should quit the relationship; … Continue reading
Posted in blogonomics
Comments Off on Blogonomics: Leaving Seeking Alpha
Apollo’s Discount IPO
One thing the stock market has in common with the art market is a very strong allergy against primary-market offerings which have fallen in price from the last time round. It’s one of the reasons why gallerists invariably sell their … Continue reading
Posted in private equity
Comments Off on Apollo’s Discount IPO
Petrochemical Datapoint of the Day
Darren Rovell is on the baseball-cap beat: New Era raised prices on its 59Fifty hats by $4 last year because of a change in material from wool to polyester. No, that’s not a misprint. Polyester, it seems, is now more … Continue reading
Posted in commodities, sports
Comments Off on Petrochemical Datapoint of the Day
Wall Street Euphemism Watch
At Citigroup, the guy in charge of firing people is known as the "head of productivity". Someone give Vikram Pandit a bloody shovel already.
Posted in defenestrations
Comments Off on Wall Street Euphemism Watch
Hedge Fund Losses Blamed on Volatility
There’s more than a little schadenfreude doing the rounds at the news that one of Jim Simons’s funds is down 12% from its peak last May – especially since it’s meant to provide "lower, yet steadier, returns" than your average … Continue reading
Posted in hedge funds
Comments Off on Hedge Fund Losses Blamed on Volatility
Where Private Equity Meets Public Debt
Back in October, things were so much smaller. The idea then was that KKR would put up $2 billion of equity, leverage it up to a total of $10 billion by borrowing $8 billion from Citigroup, and then use the … Continue reading
Posted in banking, bonds and loans, private equity
Comments Off on Where Private Equity Meets Public Debt
The Greenspan Defense
Have you had enough Alan Greenspan yet? Just in case his interview with Greg Ip today isn’t enough for you, I should also point out his 1,638-word "response to my critics" over at Martin Wolf’s FT.com forum. There are some … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on The Greenspan Defense
Extra Credit, Tuesday Edition
Jobless Rates by Education: Stay In School! Machiavelli meets the Big Apple: Ten reasons NYC’s congestion pricing plan went belly up. I Cahn’t (turn Motorola around) My Experiment With Incentives: Mike Moffatt used incentives to lose weight. And MSF still … Continue reading
Posted in remainders
Comments Off on Extra Credit, Tuesday Edition
Which Taleb is Right?
Pablo Triana today wades back in to the Black-Scholes debate, and takes aim at Michael Lewis: Black-Scholes has been blamed in certain quarters for the subprime crisis. Essentially, the argument is that those blinded by the dictates of the model … Continue reading
Posted in derivatives
Comments Off on Which Taleb is Right?
Credit Card Datapoint of the Day
Visa is truly the global leader in credit cards. It has a market capitalization of $50 billion, and has a total transaction volume of $3.5 trillion per year: it’s worth about 1.4 cents per dollar transacted annually. Diners Club (remember … Continue reading
Posted in banking
Comments Off on Credit Card Datapoint of the Day
Why it Makes Sense to Give the Fed More Regulatory Powers
Bethany McLean makes a seemingly salient point in the latest Fortune: a year ago, in the Bloomberg-Schumer report, Chuck Schumer was saying that there was too much regulatory red tape on Wall Street. Today, he seems to support Hank Paulson’s … Continue reading
Posted in regulation
Comments Off on Why it Makes Sense to Give the Fed More Regulatory Powers
The Most Depressing Headline of the Day
Congestion Pricing Plan Is Dead, Assembly Speaker Says I hope Shelly Silver finds it impossible to show his face in his own district from here on in.
Posted in cities
Comments Off on The Most Depressing Headline of the Day
The Plunging Schwab Bond Funds
As you might have heard, the largest bond fund at Charles Schwab, YieldPlus, is plunging in price. Suffering from massive redemptions, of the vast majority of its assets, it was forced to sell illiquid mortgage-backed securities at distressed fire-sale prices. … Continue reading
Posted in bonds and loans
Comments Off on The Plunging Schwab Bond Funds
Housing Datapoint of the Day, Schadenfreude Edition
The Mortgage Bankers Association is having difficulties with its mortgage. (Via Campbell)
Posted in housing
Comments Off on Housing Datapoint of the Day, Schadenfreude Edition
Will Banks Ever Promote Financial Wellness?
There are very few things more stressful than money, whether you don’t have it or whether you do. Money problems destroy relationships every day, and I’m sure that all of my readers can think of quite a few people off … Continue reading
Posted in personal finance
Comments Off on Will Banks Ever Promote Financial Wellness?