Recession possible, but economists hopeful - March 28, 2008 11:03

The US government confirmed today (March 27) that the gross domestic product grew at a miniscule .6% during the fourth quarter of 2008.  This matched previous analyst forecasts for the October through December quarter.  Many economists will be watching closely during April, as the government issues its estimate for the first quarter 2008 GDP.

Moral Hazard, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Spiders and Margin requirements - March 27, 2008 9:56

Now if that title doesn’t cause Google bots to have a happy hour I don’t know what will? There is a lot of talk about moral hazard being assumed in the Markets, what with the intervention of the Fed with Bear Stearns, the Bank of England with Northern Rock and the Bundesbank with a whole [...]

Existing home sales up, home prices down - March 26, 2008 9:41

The last few weeks have seen some big developments in housing and credit markets, which continue to fight an uphill battle.  The Fed jumped in to assist JPMorgan in its buyout of Bear Stearns, which had been on the verge of bankruptcy.  Markets were inspired initially by the news, but were even more enthused when [...]

The Federal – Structured Investment Vehicle – Reserve LLC - March 25, 2008 10:34

So, in the end the Fed decided to copy Enron and become a Special Purpose Vehicle, more commonly known these days as a Structured Investment Vehicle. (SIV) The Fed has granted itself the ability to morph by expanding its short term lending and borrowing facilities to such an extent it is now the market.

Oil and gold drop sharply as dollar rises - March 23, 2008 20:43

Oil and gold continued their brief, but sharp declines on Thursday (March 20) as US stocks regained much of their Wednesday losses, and the dollar remained firm in the midst of its hiatus from its long-term downward fall.  Oil had been on a relentless climb up until three days ago when it peaked at $111 [...]

A Reply to John Mauldin’s Outside The Box – Let’s Get Real About Bear - March 20, 2008 9:50

I have been, and still am, a long time fan of John Mauldin (JM). I enjoy his take on the bigger picture, even if there are areas I disagree with, from time to time. Generally my disagreements are more to do with the severity of a particular problem or the benefits of a highlight. For [...]

Fed makes markets move with .75 point rate cut - March 19, 2008 13:55

In spite of the fact that a deep rate cut was widely expected to come out of today’s (March 18) Fed meeting, financial markets of all kinds reacted with much exuberance to the .75 point rate cut announcement that came in the early afternoon.  Stocks, which had been up already with anticipation (Dow well over [...]