American International Group has received to date $170,000,000,000 of U.S. tax-payer’s money. The zeroes start swimming in my vision with numbers like that, as my eyes cannot focus on numbers so wide. If the numerals were letters, that’d be enough letters for three four-letter words. Don’t know why I think of four-letter words in the […]
The fickleness of the stock market as a predictor of the economy versus just a responder to the economy played out clearly in the past week. On March 5th, CNN reported that the market had broken a five-day losing streak, bouncing off of twelve-year lows. “The markets opened higher and never looked back, following reports […]
On January 30th, Germany’s news publication Spiegel reported, “The bailout packages aimed at shoring up financial markets in Europe are getting increasingly expensive. A creeping depreciation of currency is inevitable and state bankruptcies can no longer be ruled out.” Chancellor Angela Merkel stated, “There is a rumor going around that nations cannot go bankrupt. This […]
Some people keep talking stock, whether they’re right or wrong, and stay with their pollyanna beliefs. Others take stock of their own predictions, ignore what they want to believe, and look at reality square in the face. We’re now at a perfect time for taking stock of some recent predictions. Talking Stock Two weeks ago […]
We’ve all heard the plan for saving the nation. Create a “Bad Bank.” Deposit all the bad loans in the nation into the bad bank, and flush them away. The bad bank will buy these loans with money that is minty fresh This magic money will come from the next generation. Our legacy to them […]
Sometimes you have to take off the gloves in order to knock the empty air out of someone. In his February 6th column, National Review Online’s Economics Editor, Larry Kudlow, pointed out that stocks were trading high that Friday, in spite of a massive plunge in jobs. As one of the gurus of the old economy, […]
The word “depression,” which I was using a year ago, is the only thing about the economy that is gaining currency. This dismal word has now flopped off the lips of General Electric’s CEO and Great Britain’s Prime Minister like a dead fish. Another D-word, “denial,” still holds the teeth clenched when it comes to […]
Today begins the Chinese Year of the Ox. I wasn’t sure how much stock to put in the Chinese Year of the ___ stuff. (Right now I’m not buying stock in anything.) Then I had a brainstorm. I can easily see if there is anything to this Chinese New Year stuff by looking back at […]
I was still feeling kind of swishy in my belly this week as I read about various CEOs who brought down fat bonuses by bringing down their banks. And I was thinking, what is it that a top-of-the-line CEO does to bring down one of the world’s largest banks that makes him or her worth […]
When the present economic downfall was really getting under way last fall, Ken Lewis, the CEO of Bank of America, was lauded around the world for scooping up Merrill Lynch in a fire sale. What a brilliant man, the world thought, for picking up a Rolls Royce like Merrill Lynch for pennies on the dollar. […]
The Congressional Budget Office recently announced that the United States will be running its first trillion-dollar deficit this year — $1.2 Trillion if we count the pocket change. That’s about three times more than it’s been in any other year. Most Americans seem ready to agree with congress that this is necessary in order to […]
In June of 2008, U.S. President George Bush taught us that “one of the things important about history is to remember the true history.” With that as our guide, and this being the final days of a truly historic presidency, I’d like to reflect on the wisdom of the previous year that got us where […]
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