This week I attended a webinar sponsored by a major investment firm.  One of the company’s chief advisors, with 33 years of experience, gave his thoughts on where the world economy is right now and what might happen in 2012. I am certainly not an economist.  And not all economists are in agreement as to [...]

Wall St Journal, by way of Calculated Risk had some housing comments recently along the lines of markets “improving from the bottom up“. They referenced some data suggesting a surge in buying activity within lower price sectors of real estate in New York and New Jersey. They continued with analyst commentary suggesting that it was [...]

I don’t agree with the premise – see here. But, John Carney get some credit for a smart analogy: So this guy from (let’s say) Morgan Stanley walks into a bar. He orders drink after drink. Downs a dozen or so high-quality glasses of Scotch. Does a few shots of tequila. Maybe grabs a beer [...]

QOTD: Give a man a gun . . . | The Big Picture. A friend sends this quote, which I really like but have been unable to verify: “Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he can rob the world.” -Jim Trotter

Last week, Bloomberg news dropped a bombshell that The Fed had secretly-lent $7.7 trillion to the banks during the credit crisis of 2008. Given the incredible dollar amount, it’s been a surprise that the story hasn’t been more widely-discussed. Today, Ben Bernanke issued a scathing response. First, from Bloomberg: The Fed didn’t tell anyone which [...]