Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 16th, 2010 3:32 PM |
Is the White House now in charge of both fiscal and monetary policy?
The Federal Reserve just released its March statement confirming no change in its monetary policy and little change in economic outlook. A brief overview of the Fed’s statement includes the following:
>> Maintains the Fed Funds range at 0-.25% for an extended period.
>> The quantitative easing program used to purchase $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities and $125 billion in federal agency debt is nearing completion at the end of this month. The Fed will monitor economic conditions and employ policy tools as necessary to promote economic recovery and price stability.
>> Economic activity is generally improving. The overall pace of economic recovery is moderate. (more…)
Tags: Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Christina romer, economic activity March 16 2010, extended period, extended period in White House statement, Fed statement March 16 2010, Fed's independence, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve statement March 16 2010, Federal Reserve's independence, fiscal policy, inflation March 16 2010, Is the Fed independent, labor market March 16 2010, monetary policy, Peter Orszag, quantitative easing, sell the dollar, Tim Geithner, Wall Street Main Street March 16 2010, White House coordiantion with Federal Reserve
Posted in Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve, General | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 16th, 2010 11:43 AM |
Is the White House reading Sense on Cents?
While I ask that question in a self-effacing fashion, I will allow others to pass muster as to whether my commentary deserves attention in Washington. Why do I ask that question now though? I wrote this morning, “What Happened to Focus on Jobs?”:
The ‘talking points’ utilized by those in Washington project that our economy and markets are experiencing cyclical unemployment. I firmly believe they are wrong. Our economy and markets are experiencing structural unemployment.
Now it appears as if the White House ‘talking points’ have changed. (more…)
Tags: Bloomberg, Christina romer, Council of Economic Advisers, cyclical unemployment, disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street, discouraged workers, elevated unemployment for extended period, Employment, job outlook, job prospects, jobs, Main Street, Obama Administration, Peter Orszag, structural unemployment, Tim Geithner, Unemployment, Wall Street, White House
Posted in Employment, General, Obama Administration, Unemployment, jobs | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 16th, 2010 9:38 AM |
If America and Americans are not at work, then how can we truly expect any other initiatives and undertakings to gain a foothold? There is nothing that generates more personal and collective confidence than a job. In fact, I would go even further and state that a job not only generates personal confidence for individuals, but ultimately a job very often defines a person’s self-worth.
Then why is it that the topic of jobs is not the OVERWHELMING focus in Washington eight days a week? While President Obama elevated the focus on job growth in his State of the Union speech, the topic seems to receive front page coverage only on the first Friday of the month when unemployment statistics are released. (more…)
Tags: CFOs outlook, confidence, Consumer Confidence, cyclical unemployment, Economy, Employment, focus on jobs, increasing payrolls, Obama State of the Union, self-worth, structural unemployment, Unemployment, when will job focus happen, where are the jobs
Posted in General, jobs | 2 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 15th, 2010 10:54 PM |
Journalism is not dead.
I find it easy to critique financial journalists and journalism these days for not digging to expose the charades within the Wall Street-Washington incestuous liaisons; however, a few journalists are not beholden to the financial industry, do dig, and truly distinguish themselves in the process. The two finest journalists in this realm both happen to work at Bloomberg. One is Jonathan Weil. The other is Susan Antilla.
While many journalists have written about the finer points of repo financing and how Lehman cooked their books, Susan Antilla took the time to delve deeper into Anton Valukas’ expose on the inner workings of Lehman. (more…)
Tags: Anton Valukas report on Lehman, David Goldfarb Lehman chief strategy officer, Dick Fuld and Warren Buffett, Dick Fuld Lehman CEO, Don't Bluff Buffett, FINRA oversight of Lehman, Kaushik Amin Lehman liquid markets, Lehman board of directors, Lehman President Joe Gregory, Lehman regulatory oversight, Lehman report Anton Valukas, Madelyn Antoncic Lehman chief risk officer, OTS oversight of Lehman, Plus Other Lehman Lessons Susan Antilla, SEC oversight of Lehman, Susan Antilla of Bloomberg, valukas report on Lehman
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 15th, 2010 3:37 PM |
Living beyond one’s means is not a path to long-term prosperity. While America is still the greatest nation on earth in so many regards, a glaring problem within our society is the predilection of our government to think that massive deficits do not have real implications. Washington politicians are forever spending what we as a nation do not have in order to maintain their own positions of power. That is a path to mediocrity, if not worse.
Who is sending a warning shot today across our fiscal brow on this most important of topics? (more…)
Tags: Credit Agency Warns U.S. and Others of Risk to Top Rating, Deficit, fiscal deficit, Moody's warning of AAA rating, Moody's warns U.S. and U.K on rating, ratings of Germany France Spain United states and United Kingdom, ratings of Western governments, U.S. AAA rating
Posted in Deficit, General | No Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 15th, 2010 12:51 PM |
Pricing power is everything.
What businessman wouldn’t like greater control and influence over the pricing of his goods and services? How are prices determined? In a capitalist system, prices are a function of the competitive forces of supply and demand. What happens when competition dwindles? Pricing power for the suppliers increases. How does competition dwindle? When barriers to entry are so high, or competitors go out of business. This economic reality is also known as an oligopoly and it defines the current state of our financial industry known as Wall Street.
Is Wall Street taking advantage of the lessened competition and flexing its muscle to drive revenue? Is the Pope Catholic? (more…)
Tags: capitalism, CNBC media appearance, crony capitalism, financial industry, financial lobby, FINRA, Goldman Sachs, Goldman Sachs Demands Collateral It Won't Dish Out, JP Morgan, oligopoly, over the counter derivatives, pricing power, Richard Lindsey, Street Signs, to the victors go the spoils, TRACE, Wall Street, Wall Street collusion, Wall Street lobby, Wall Street oligopoly
Posted in General, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Wall Street, oligopoly | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 15th, 2010 9:50 AM |
Bloomberg just provided a sneak peek at the Financial Regulatory Reform package to be proposed by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) this afternoon. What are some of the highlights and my thoughts? Let’s navigate.
From the top down, and without being overly cynical, I am extremely concerned that this proposed financial regulatory reform is a reshuffling of deck chairs with increased powers for both the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury. The very fears I voiced almost a year ago remain entrenched. What is the basis of my fear? The so-called reform is much more focused on the “sufficiency” of regulation of our financial industry and not nearly focused on the “transparency” of the regulation, the regulators, and the regulated.
Call me suspect.
What are the key highlights as reported by Bloomberg? (more…)
Tags: Ben Bernanke, CFPA, Consumer Financial Protection Agency, derivatives markets, Dodd's proposed financial regulatory reform, FDIC, Federal Reserve wins in proposed financial regulatory reform, financial regulatory reform, FINRA, leverage on Wall Street, merger of OCC and OTS, reshuffling the deck chairs, say on pay, SEC, sufficiency of financial regulation, systemic risk authority, Systemic Risk Committee, too big to fail, volcker rule, Wall Street-Washington incest
Posted in General, regulation | 1 Comment »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 14th, 2010 9:31 AM |
No rest for the weary given the slew of developments on Wall Street, in Washington, and around the world. That said, are the markets getting tired or are they preparing to receive another jolt of government caffeine?
Welcome to our Sense on Cents Week in Review where I provide a streamlined recap of the major economic data and news, along with month-to-date market returns.
ECONOMIC DATA
Overall, we did not receive a lot of economic news this week but what we did receive was decidedly mixed (although that is not exactly how it was presented). Let’s navigate.
1. Jobless Claims: remained stubbornly high at 460k jobs. Congress extended unemployment benefits until year end as the long-term unemployed remain at extremely high levels. This structural unemployment receives little media attention, but is THE critical issue in our economy. (more…)
Tags: bond market review march 14 2010, commodity market review march 14 2010, consumer sentiment review march 12 2010, currency market review march 14 2010, dove Janet Yellen, Economy, emerging markets msci index, equity market review march 14 2010, jobless claims review march 11 2010, March 14 2010 economic and market review, March 14 2010 economic review, march 14 2010 market week in review, markets, nasdaq review march 2010, retail sales review march 12 2010, S&P 500 review march 14 2010, structural unemployment
Posted in General | No Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 13th, 2010 6:47 PM |
UPDATE: This episode of NQR’s Sense on Cents with Larry Doyle has concluded. You can listen to a recording of the episode in its entirety by clicking the play button on the audio player provided below. Once the audio begins, you can advance or rewind to any portion of the episode by clicking at any point along the play bar.
Feedback from my initial conversation with Steve Megremis of The Daily Bail was so overwhelming that I am compelled to have Steve back on No Quarter Radio’s Sense on Cents with Larry Doyle this Sunday evening from 8-9pm ET.
I first spoke with Steve in mid-January. Given the pace of developments in Washington, on Wall Street, and at so many other points on our economic and political landscape, I am thrilled to have him back on the show. We will leave no stone unturned in discussing healthcare, financial regulatory reform, the Fed, Lehman Bros., and so much more. I guarantee we will pull no punches in promoting truth, transparency, and integrity in our discussion. Don’t miss it!! (more…)
Tags: No Quarter Radio, No Quarter Radio's Sense on Cents with Larry Doyle, Sense on Cents, The Daily Bail interview on Sense on Cents, The Daily Bail interview with Larry Doyle
Posted in General, No Quarter Radio, Sense on Cents | 10 Comments »
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 13th, 2010 2:34 PM |
Given the global interest in this story, I am bumping it up from the original posting on 3/12/2010. LD
*************
Former Lehman Bros. CEO, Dick Fuld
Reports that Lehman was effectively ‘cooking its books’ prior to its ultimate demise are not a surprise.
Reports that Dick Fuld, then CEO of Lehman, was not aware of the nature of this cooking are both ridiculous and pathetic.
The lifeblood of every financial institution on Wall Street is access to financing for its operations. That financing very often comes in the form of repurchase agreements (repo financing), in which the institution borrows funds while pledging assets. These short term loans, often overnight loans, are unwound at a preset date and preset prices. The rates borrowers have to pay for funds borrowed depend on the credit quality of the borrower itself and the quality of the assets pledged. (more…)
Tags: Amerivet Securities v FINRA, Anton Valukas, Bart McDade, Dick Fuld, Dick Fuld's career, FINRA, Fuld 'Negligent' as Lehman Hid Leverage, Herbert 'Bart' McDade, Lehman Bros, Lehman Bros. balance sheet, Lehman cooking its books, Lehman manipulated its books, Lehman's auditors Ernst and Young, Lehman's financials, Lehman's leverage, NASD, off balance sheet transactions, Repo 105, repo financing
Posted in General, Lehman | 12 Comments »
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