On Friday, Goldman Sachs was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud in the formation and marketing of a mortgage backed product, a so-called Collateralized Debt Obligation.The gist of the allegations is that Goldman Sachs failed to disclose that a major hedge fund...
Barack Obama is claiming credit for "saving" the economy from a full-blown depression based on passage of the stimulus plan.As with most Obama claims of success, Obama simply is exhibiting his prowess at using strawman arguments.Obama compares where the economy is now, versus where the...
The NY Times reports on whether the Treasury's "Pay Czar" will try to break the contract Citigroup has with a Phibro commodities trader, under which the trader is owed $100 million. There apparently is no dispute that absent the Treasury lending Citigroup money, and the...
Sarah Palin's announcement that she will resign as Governor of Alaska has kicked off a new round of attacks on Palin's intelligence and integrity from pundits on both sides of the political spectrum. For most of the commentators, the resignation signals an end to Palin's...
The financial crisis seems hard to understand. How did we go from a robust economy to "the worst economy since the Great Depression"? (h/t Barry O)There are 27 visualizations which make things easier to understand. I like this one in particular (click on picture to...
Larry Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser, says we must overcome the "excess of fear":President Barack Obama's top economic adviser said Friday the nation's economic crisis has led to an ''excess of fear'' among Americans that must be broken to reverse the downturn.National Economic Council Director...
I think the British paper The Times of London has it right, in its article, "Barack Obama bets the farm in $4 trillion poker game."One of the most seductive elements of Barack Obama's ascent to the White House was his unshakeable conviction that he was...
Jim Cramer, the television investment personality, has been in the news recently since he criticized Barack Obama's economic plans as a destroyer of wealth. The petty White House reaction to Cramer has put Cramer on the White House enemies list, along with Rick Santelli and...
Back in the day, when the alpha male Clinton roamed the White House, the high tech stock bubble grew, and grew, and grew. That bubble began to burst in March 2000, nine months before "W" took office, and caused the S&P; 500 to head almost...
Will AP's cheerleading never stop? AP cheers the "audacity" of Obama's speech to Congress last night, while Marketwatch reports on the reality of Obama's massive plans for spending. ---------------------------------------------------UPDATE: Drudge Report gets it right:...
Second time this week, I'm in agreement with a NY Times columnist, at least on the language I quote if not the overarching Obama-maniacal subtext. First, it was Maureen Dowd writing on the cowardice of Eric Holder. Now David Brooks, warning that the administration's economic...
The beginning of a protest movement against Barack Obama's redistributive policies is underway. Though still small, every movement starts somewhere. While called the "Tea Party" after the Boston Tea Party, this movement is similar to movements throughout history where the producers of society refuse to...
Another Obama "I told you so," this time from Investor's Business Daily:Last Oct. 13 [2008], in trying to explain why the market had sold off 30% in six weeks, we acknowledged that the freeze-up of the financial system was a big concern. But we cited...
Hillary Clinton went to China to assure Chinese investors (i.e. the Chinese government) about the safety and security of investing in the U.S. (video here). Great. What about assuring U.S. investors? Don't we matter?With the export-heavy Chinese economy reeling from the U.S. downturn, Clinton sought...
There's an old saying on Wall Street that a bear market has not bottomed out until the last bull capitulates. News flash. The last bull has capitulated. Me.I'm a true believer in capitalism and markets. There is no better measure of what an item is...
The day before the presidential election, when Barack Obama's victory seemed all but certain, I predicted that I would be able to say "I told you so" about what lay ahead:When this bubble bursts, I will be able to say "I told you so." Unfortunately,...
Pre-Election prediction by one of our nation's most insightful commentators foresaw the devastating effects of an Obama victory, but no one listened:"The stock market will not rebound unless and until it is clear that we have a president-elect who believes in the markets. Someone who...
Ron Coleman