This is a shockingly absurd story. Goldman, Citi and the rest of the gentlemanly, altruistic global banks invented yet another disgraceful product at or around the peak of the stock market a couple of years back and they aimed it, not unlike a loaded gun, squarely at the foreheads of wealthy Chinese businessmen. The fact that…
Joshua M Brown
Hot Links: Playtime is Over
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… Gold breaks $1000 this morning! World stocks rally overnight! (no one has a job). (Bloomberg) A Kraft-Cadbury merger could be a bonanza for lawyers and bankers working on the deal. (DealBook) Christopher Hitchens on the current state of the War on Terror. (Slate) Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Dick Fuld. …
Enjoy Your Communist Holiday, Komrades
Knights of Labor Parade Labor Day began as a celebratory parade thrown by the Knights of Labor, a socialist organization for union workers here in New York City. The Socialist Party itself already had a May Day (May 1st) tradition, and the Knights adapted it to their own purposes in the 1880’s, deciding to always…
Hot Links: Phonehenge
Hot Links for Labor Day Reading… The 8 worst mutual funds that should be dumped now. (Morningstar) John Carney on the Kudlow Report talking about the FHA’s financial condition. (Clusterstock) Speaking of the FHA, Trader Mark sees some ominous signs in the default rate of loans. (FundMyMutualFund) Did inflation help bring down the Roman Empire? …
FINRA's Smart Move on Leveraged ETFs
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has been warning brokerages and investors of the dangers that leveraged ETFs pose all year. This past week, they announced a raising of the margin requirements for these products and I think this was a very smart move. By now, most investors are aware of the erosion involved when…
Fighting Recession With More Debt
This one will take you a second, but it’s very apropos of our current administration’s recession-fighting strategy. Sources: Cagle.com
The Kids Aren't Alright
Teenage unemployment at 25.5% has worse consequences than just the lack of a minimum wage paycheck for the kids. When I was a teenager, I worked at a local hardware store a few nights a week after high school. I was a stock boy and then a cashier. My co-workers were miserable people, stuck in…
Hot Links: UNG, AT&T and Wal-Mart People
Hot Links for Weekend Reading… Think bankers are in low regard now? In 16th century Holland, they were banned from the church and treated like pawnbrokers and brothel keepers. (CreditSlips) Happy bicentennial to Elbridge Gerry, the man who ran the dollar printing presses to pay for the Civil War. (NYT) Big PR problems for AT&T‘s…
The "Real" Unemployment Rate is All Ewwey and Stuff
EconomPic did the graphic above and I think that this is the best way to look at the current unemployment sitch. The scale on the right includes unemployed people that are not counted in the official number, such as those who have picked up part-time work, are working on a task-by-task basis or who have…
Leprechauns on Parade
Moment of truth time for the gold bulls and bears. The Will it or Won’t It Break $1000 polemic is every bit as suspenseful as the buildup to Ross and Rachel’s first kiss was during Season 2 of Friends. I don’t share investment ideas or make market calls on this site for compliance and business…
