Wall Street versus ‘Bama… who gonna win?
From Reuters via the Grey Lady…
~~ ” Jefferson County in Alabama and its lenders pulled back from the brink of a threatened bankruptcy filing on Friday after the county proposed restructuring $3.2 billion of sewer debt.
Gov. Bob Riley of Alabama, who this week entered the months of talks, [...]
Saturday, August 30, 2008
It’s Labor Day holiday… and we celebrate and acknowledge the role of the labor movement in improving working conditions for Americans…
But it is a new time… and a new form of resource use and production has arisen… it’s information consumption and production… and it’s key to using resources efficiently and pleasurably…
Now I’m all for adding women to the upper ranks of our government… but experience is really important especially for anyone aspiring to the highest office… I’m afraid with Governor Palin’s “light” resume this is one sort of criticism that will be directed at her… the camera magnifies “perkiness” Governor…
From CBS… ~~ “ The Governor of Alaska [...]
One of the most important stories of the week related to the policies of the Federal Reserve and tri-party repo lending among the primary dealers …from the FT.com…
~~ “… Fear of a system-wide collapse focuses on the fact that two clearers are responsible for tri-party trades and that, in a period of intense market stress, [...]
Thursday, August 28, 2008
No one… small retail investor nor corporate entity was exempt from the ravening hoard of auction rate securities brokers and dealers… from the WSJ.com…
~~ ” …Yet a close look at the experience of 4Kids shows that even corporate professionals like Mr. Foster were ill-informed about the auction-rates they were sold. Many also had a difficult [...]
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Yield and transparency…
The yield on many types of corporate and asset backed debt has increased significantly … this makes much of this paper very attractive to investors who can assume higher levels of risk… from WSJ.com …
~~” … Financials aren’t the only ones luring junk-bond investors away from their traditional hunting grounds. Andrew Feltus, a portfolio [...]
Thursday, August 28, 2008
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is reported to be looking into the marketing of auction rate securities by Fidelity… the probe revolves around whether Goldman Sachs “incented” Fidelity in an inappropriate way…
Gifts?
Fidelity went through a brutal gifts and “incent” process on the equity side of the business… remember the midgets being “lobbed” at the [...]
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
BBG reports…
~~ “…Moody’s Investors Service is stepping up scrutiny of all prime-jumbo mortgage securities issued in 2006 and 2007 as the surge in U.S. foreclosures spreads beyond subprime loans.Moody’s is studying its rankings on the securities after late payments started increasing more quickly in recent months, according to a statement today from the New [...]
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The bottom of Jupiter…
When the world’s largest bond fund raises $ 5 billion dollars to buy senior tranches of asset backed securities does that signal a bottom? From BBG…
~~ “… The new Pimco fund, dubbed Disco, will focus on commercial loans as well as residential debt that doesn’t carry explicit government guarantees or the implied [...]
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
FIX Protocol (FPL) and the Object Management Group (OMG) have announced a Statement of Understanding.
~~ “ This agreement outlines a collaborative approach to help the global financial services industry achieve greater efficiencies within the securities transaction life cycle.
Both organisations have agreed to join efforts and work together strategically to promote the increased usage of standards [...]