Piling On
Make no mistake about it; Bernanke is a student of the Great Depression. He wrote a paper in 1983 specifically about what the Fed should have done at the time. “The financial crisis of 1930- 33 affected the macroeconomy by reducing the quality of certain financial services, primarily credit intermediation....
End of the World or Buying Opportunity?
When the House declined to approve the bank bailout plan today, a stock market that was already headed downward went into a nosedive. The S&P 500 posted its biggest single-day percentage loss since 1987. The losses were broad and deep: 490 of the S&P 500 companies were down, and volume was...
Bailout Dies A Painful Death: Good Riddance?
This afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected the Bush/Paulson $700 Billion Bailout on a vote of 205 to 228. In partisan-laced rhetoric, House leaders blamed each other for the measure’s failure. Was it really the Republicans fault? Granted, they voted against their President 2 to...
There When You Need Them
Inverse mutual funds and ETFs are, in theory, useful alternatives investors can use in difficult times. But not always. Last week the SEC imposed new restrictions on short-selling of certain financial services stocks. This created problems for inverse funds that specialize in that sector. The 2X-leveraged...
Triple Your Money!
I received the following ad today in my inbox: Worried about the economy? Become an elite Charter Member of and you could… TRIPLE YOUR MONEY IN A MONTH TURN $5,000 INTO $16,000 EVERY 30 DAYS XXXX is the guru who gave us… The $2.8 billion IT infrastructure provider that’s up 4,745.20%....
Tom Tomorrow: Behind The Scenes
Ever wonder what goes on behind closed doors at the White House? There are numerous explanations for how Paulson’s Bailout deal went down. No doubt economic historians will someday pen tomes on the subject. Until then, a cartoon will have to suffice. AKPC_IDS += "428,"; [Read more...]
ETF Death Count Surges to 45
There are 15 fewer ETFs trading today. Friday was the last day of trading for 15 HealthShares ETFs, bringing the official ETF death count to 45. Calendar year 2008 has not been kind to un-popular ETFs, with 40 of the 45 ETF deaths occurring this year. The year is only 73% over, and at the current pace,...
Wildness Rules
If the geological evidence is to be believed, dinosaurs ruled the Earth for millions of years. Then one day, for reasons that remain unclear, they just went away. In a similar manner, only two years ago Wall Street was ruled by five mighty beasts. Their names were legend: Lehman, Bear Stearns, Merrill...
Madness Takes Over
The SEC has decreed that anyone who attempts to sell short a financial services stock will be burned at the stake. The decision was made following a late-night séance in Washington D.C., at which officials including Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank sought the advice of...
When Bazookas Don’t Work
Apparently, the bazooka didn’t work to fight the current financial crisis. This was Hank Paulson’s term for the U.S. Treasury cash ready to be deployed for troubled government sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) couldn’t stop...
