Monthly Archives: May 2008

Carl Icahn’s Communication Problems

Posted on May 20, 2008 by Felix

Remember last year, when Rupert Murdoch and Harvey Golub played phone tag? Rupert left a message for Harvey on March 29, but Harvey was out of the country. When Harvey returned Rupert’s call on April 4, Rupert was out of … Continue reading →

Posted in M&A, stocks | Comments Off on Carl Icahn’s Communication Problems

Check Forgery Datapoint of the Day

Posted on May 20, 2008 by Felix

Luke Mullins talks to Frank Abagnale, the acknowledged expert on such matters: Check forgery is now at about $20 billion a year, up from about $12.6 billion in 1996. There was an increase in check forgery of over 25 percent … Continue reading →

Posted in banking, personal finance | Comments Off on Check Forgery Datapoint of the Day

Barclays’ Plan B: No Better Than Plan A

Posted on May 20, 2008 by Felix

Is Bob Diamond delusional? Barclays’ top team feels it has earned kudos with the City by walking away from last year’s battle for ABN Amro, which was bought by a consortium led by RBS for ߣ47bn. Um, walking away? That’s … Continue reading →

Posted in banking, M&A | Comments Off on Barclays’ Plan B: No Better Than Plan A

The Cheap Pennsylvania Turnpike

Posted on May 20, 2008 by Felix

What kind of effect has the credit crunch had on the formerly-frothy market for infrastructure investments? As money becomes scarcer, the price tags attached to future-cashflow investments like toll roads would normally go down. But there was always another possibility: … Continue reading →

Posted in infrastructure | Comments Off on The Cheap Pennsylvania Turnpike

Extra Credit, Monday Edition

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Felix

Shiller on the Psychology of Foreclosure: A Tanta classic. Spot the Contradiction: Tabarrok on Gross on Sachs. Auction-Rate Collapse Costs Taxpayers $1.65 Billion Why your internet experience is slow: Because of the need to sell pretty ads against the content … Continue reading →

Posted in remainders | Comments Off on Extra Credit, Monday Edition

Mark-to-Model Datapoint of the Day

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Felix

The gimlet-eyed SAR found this gem in a Bloomberg story from Friday: Potential homeowners approved by [Fannie Mae’s] automated computer program will be able to borrow up to 97 percent of the value of the property, the company said… The … Continue reading →

Posted in housing | Comments Off on Mark-to-Model Datapoint of the Day

China (and Inflation) Datapoint of the Day

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Felix

Jim Surowiecki: According to the Yale economist Peter K. Schott, machinery and electronics products made in developed countries sell in the U.S. for four times the average price of Chinese products. And, since the late nineteen-eighties, that price gap has … Continue reading →

Posted in china, economics | Comments Off on China (and Inflation) Datapoint of the Day

Chart of the Day: Credit Losses Per Employee

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Felix

Here Is The City has put together this chart of credit losses per wholesale-banking employee, and it’s quite eye-opening, even if you discount the Mizuho outlier: Wachiovia, UBS, and Citi have all managed to rack up more than $1 million … Continue reading →

Posted in banking, charts | Comments Off on Chart of the Day: Credit Losses Per Employee

Blogonomics: Integrating Acquisitions

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Felix

Stephen Dubner is a journalist (he has written mainly for the NYT) who is now blogging for the NYT. And so it’s interesting to me what he did when given the opportunity to break some news: The other day, I … Continue reading →

Posted in blogonomics | Comments Off on Blogonomics: Integrating Acquisitions

Getting it Backwards

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Felix

The FT reports: Cowotinam of the US, known for its ice-dispensing equipment as well as its Niatop tower cranes, again upped its bid for Britain’s Sidone, which controls a range of catering brands… Actually, I reversed all the company names … Continue reading →

Posted in M&A | Comments Off on Getting it Backwards

The Risks of an Argentine Financial Crisis

Posted on May 19, 2008 by Felix

Finally! A good old-fashioned emerging-market currency crisis! Well, possibly, anyway. The WSJ headline says it all: Argentines Rush to Buy Dollars Amid Fear of a Financial Crisis This, if it happens, will turn out to be the most-forecasted crisis in … Continue reading →

Posted in emerging markets | Comments Off on The Risks of an Argentine Financial Crisis

Extra Credit, Sunday Edition

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Felix

In Reversal, Microsoft Proposes New Deal to Yahoo: Here we go again. Solving the climate change attitude mystery: Why only 19% of college-educated Republicans believe in anthropogenic global warming. Condé Nast/Wired Acquires Ars Technica: There’ll be more about this on … Continue reading →

Posted in remainders | Comments Off on Extra Credit, Sunday Edition

Why Cap-Weighted Funds Aren’t for Everyone

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Felix

Joe Nocera finds himself enmeshed this week in a rather arcane fight within the world of index funds: the one between cap-weighted funds, on the one hand, and fundamentally-weighted funds, on the other. Nocera ultimately dodges the question – "they’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in personal finance, stocks | Comments Off on Why Cap-Weighted Funds Aren’t for Everyone

Gesture Politics Done Right

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Felix

Bryan Caplan famously defended the economically-illiterate McCain-Clinton plan to suspend federal gas taxes on the grounds that it was the least bad way for Congress "to show the voters that it feels their pain". At a cost of just $9 … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, taxes | Comments Off on Gesture Politics Done Right

Hot Ladies and Bald Dudes, Erin Callan Edition

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Felix

I can’t remember a profile of a banker which ever quoted his tailor. But Susanne Craig is perfectly happy ending her profile of Lehman’s Erin Callan with a quote from her personal shopper: Tina Sussman, her personal shopper at New … Continue reading →

Posted in fashion | Comments Off on Hot Ladies and Bald Dudes, Erin Callan Edition

The New Realities of Personal Finance

Posted on May 18, 2008 by Felix

Ron Lieber, Cubs fan and new personal-finance columnist for the NYT, has hit a home run with his first at-bat: "Five Basics for Building a Solid Financial Future" is top of nytimes.com’s Most Emailed list, not just for the Business … Continue reading →

Posted in personal finance | Comments Off on The New Realities of Personal Finance

Pandit Skewered

Posted on May 17, 2008 by Felix

Remember the stupid email with which Vikram Pandit spammed all his customers? Antony Currie has now published a pitch-perfect parody over at BreakingViews, while even getting some serious analysis in at the same time: I have also created some new … Continue reading →

Posted in banking, stocks | Comments Off on Pandit Skewered

Why GE’s Selling its Appliances Division

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Felix

GE looks as though it’ll sell off its appliances business, and John Gapper wonders why GE is not prepared to invest enough in the business to turn it into a global powerhouse when it clearly expects someone else to buy … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, stocks | Comments Off on Why GE’s Selling its Appliances Division

Extra Credit, Friday Edition

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Felix

Lender’s goof slams credit scores: And the fix didn’t work well, either: Sallie Mae’s latest foul-up Phillips: Tighter Sale, Fewer Fireworks Philly’s $100 Cheesesteak: "On average, five or six customers order it per night." I am a jelly donut: Krugman’s … Continue reading →

Posted in remainders | Comments Off on Extra Credit, Friday Edition

Pricing Panmure House

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Felix

The Adam Smith Institute reports that Edinburgh councillors have sold the great economist’s house to Heriot-Watt University: They chose the £800,000 bid over a higher offer, on the grounds that the University would make the building more accessible to the … Continue reading →

Posted in economics | Comments Off on Pricing Panmure House

Zimbabwe Datapoint of the Day, Banknote Edition

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Felix

How does one pay for a $340 million beer? With a half-a-billion-dollar banknote, of course. This is the fourth set of high denomination notes to be issued this year, the first being in January when a 10 million dollar note … Continue reading →

Posted in emerging markets | Comments Off on Zimbabwe Datapoint of the Day, Banknote Edition

Great Ad Slogans Of Our Time: “Jump, Rabbit, Jump!”

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Felix

I kinda love the new advertising campaign from UniCredit. Here’s the copy from the ad above: Success stories have always started with someone doing things differently and not saying “Maybe”, but “Definitely”. So jump, rabbit, jump! This is the spirit … Continue reading →

Posted in banking | Comments Off on Great Ad Slogans Of Our Time: “Jump, Rabbit, Jump!”

How to Default on Your Mortgage and Stay in Your House

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Felix

Floyd Norris today finds one of the worst bonds ever underwritten: a securitization, by Merrill Lynch, of second-lien mortgages mostly originated by Ownit. The kicker? When the bond was sold, Ownit had already gone bust, a victim of the fact … Continue reading →

Posted in housing | Comments Off on How to Default on Your Mortgage and Stay in Your House

Berkshire Hathaway Should Buy CBS

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Felix

Evan Newmark has a very smart take on CBS’s acquisition of CNet. The main problem with CBS, he says, is that it’s a profitable but slow-growth company saddled with a public listing. Since no public company CEO is happy mapping … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, stocks | Comments Off on Berkshire Hathaway Should Buy CBS

Why the Fed Won’t Raise Rates to Prick Bubbles

Posted on May 16, 2008 by Felix

Justin Lahart has a front-page article today on a group of economists studying bubbles at Princeton. It’s a perfectly interesting piece, marred only by relative weakness on the monetary-policy front. Given that the piece is illustrated with a dot portrait … Continue reading →

Posted in fiscal and monetary policy | Comments Off on Why the Fed Won’t Raise Rates to Prick Bubbles