Second post today about the SIV mess. To sum up what has happened so far, HSBC (one of the largest UK banks) has decided to move some of its funky SIVs onto the balance sheets in an attempt to build investor confidence. In response, Citigroup, who has many times more exposure to this garbage than […]
Recessions are interesting things, the most interesting part of which is just how the world financial powers have been able to avoid any significant ones for quite some time. The minor one just after September 11th, 2001 was avoided by the central banks opening up the flood gates and swamping the economies with easy money. […]
Freighters with sails — or, in this case, one very large sail that flies like a kite: A kite the size of a football field will provide most of the power for a German heavy freight ship set to launch in December. The Beluga shipping company that owns the 460-foot Beluga said it expects the […]
[UPDATED 11/27/07: Here’s an article from the CNN/Money web site that is raising the same issue: given current supply and inventory levels, there’s not much justification for oil approaching $100/bbl.] No, I’m not talking about whether or not the Peak Oil phenomenon exists, even though the Wall Street Journal seems to have jumped on the […]
InsideCRM has a list of the 20 Worst Capital Investments of All Time. As someone who actually helped successfully raise venture capital for a software startup — a total of $7 million, which lasted us for five years — it hurts to see the vast sums squandered on some of these companies: Pets.com: This icon […]
I wrote a month ago about the formation of a strange new entity called the M-LEC or “Super Conduit”. At that time the main forces behind this were Citibank, JP Morgan / Chas and Bank of America. Once again obscure, seldom mentioned work behind the scenes is having a profound effect upon all of us, […]
Once again we are looking at a strange tidbit of information from a far away corner of the world, and how it can have a substantial impact on the US and world economy. From the Financial Times of London: Fukuda warns on rapid rise in yen The yen is appreciating “too fast” and speculators need […]
Word today that investment company E-Trade is feeling the effects of toxic mortgage and credit portfolio. E-Trade has almost $500 Million exposure to mortgages and other credit investments, known as CDOs. From Market Watch: Shares of E-Trade Financial Corp. lost more than half their value Monday after the company said it faced more subprime-related write-downs […]
At the beginning of the month there was a story in Reuters about distribution problems for fuel in China: China fuel crisis spreads Diesel shortages in China’s political heart, which escaped previous supply crunches unscathed, highlight tensions between the government and its increasingly independent oil firms about who should pay for the country’s generous fuel […]
DC: the house of cards starts to crumble
I lived in Washington DC — yes, right in the District itself — for just under six years (1989-2005). To say that DC is bipolar and disfunctional doesn’t begin to capture the true weirdness of how the city runs (or fails to). This is a city with one of the highest per-student spending rates in […]
Read More