» Posted by Martin Weil on January 21, 2010

So writes Reuter's columnist Felix Salmon this AM. And while I have at least one colleague who is skeptical that this is anything more than window dressing, I say it is a long overdue and important step in the right direction.

Simon Johnson, outspoken critic of the mega-bank bailout, concurs "Paul Volcker prevails."

» Posted by Martin Weil on January 16, 2010

Say you order a Venti Caramel Brulee Creme with nonfat milk? That's 480 calories, 70 of which are fat. Or how about a Venti Double Chocolaty Chip Frappucino Blended Creme with whipped creme? Friend, you just inhaled a whopping 670 calories, 200 of which were pure fat....

Some of these things are like pouring rendered tallow directly down your throat. I'm actually not kidding: If you ate a half stick of butter you still wouldn't come close to the calorie count of a Venti Pumpkin Spice Frappucino Blended Creme.

So writes Clive Thompson on his blog.

» Posted by Martin Weil on January 14, 2010

So says Jon Stewart as reported here

» Posted by Martin Weil on January 10, 2010

Bob Farrell, chief market strategist at Merrill Lynch until 1992, penned this particular list. Pretty much a summary of the collective wisdom on markets that every investor should understand.

1. Markets tend to return to the mean over time.
2. Excesses in one direction will lead to an opposite excess in the other direction.
3. There are no new eras - excesses are never permanent.
4. Exponential rising and falling markets usually go further than you think.
5. The public buys the most at the top and the least at the bottom.
6. Fear and greed are stronger than long-term resolve.
7. Markets are strongest when they are broad and weakest when they narrow to a handful of blue-chips.
8. Bear markets have three stages.
9. When all the experts and forecasts agree - something else is going to happen.
10. Bull markets are more fun than bear markets.

Reprinted from The Big Picture

» Posted by Martin Weil on January 07, 2010

we have descended in the clutches of corporate and other special interests to a second world state defined by K Street instead of Independence Square. Our government doesn't work anymore, or perhaps more accurately, when it does, it works for special interests and not the American people.

No not Arianna Huffington, but Bill Gross, Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO (Newport Beach, CA.), the US' largest fixed income manager. Gross continues in his January "Investment" Outlook":

What amazes me most of all is that politicians can be bought so cheaply. Public records show that combined labor, insurance, big pharma and related corporate interests spent just under $500 million last year on healthcare lobbying for what is likely to be a $50-100 billion annual return. The fact is that American citizens have never been as divorced from their representatives - and if that description fits the Democratic Congress now in control - then it applies to Republicans as well - past and present. So you watch Fox, or is it MSNBC? O'Reilly or Olbermann? It doesn't matter. You're just being conned into rooting for a team that basically runs the same plays called by lookalike coaches on different sidelines. A "ballot box" pox on all their houses - Senators, Representatives and Presidents alike. There has been no change, there will be no change, until we the American people decide to publicly finance all national and local elections and ban the writing of even a $1 check for our favorite candidates.

Add Gross to the angry chorus of voices from financial professionals of all description regarding the stranglehold on DC politics by the largest industry players. Should be interesting to see where this leads.

» Posted by Martin Weil on January 01, 2010

A healthy financial system cannot be built on the expectation of bailouts.

Current head of President Obama's National Economic Council, Larry Summers, in a 2000 speech referencing the emerging market crisis of the late 1990s.

Simon Johnson, former chief economist for the IMF and outspoken critic of the Bush-Obama bailouts of major banks, wishes that Mr. Summers would simply employ the same advice he found appropriate for South Korea circa 1998 to the USA in 2009.

And with that, I bid adieu to 2009 and the Oughts.