David Einhorn, who enjoys his considerable reputation for hard-fought battles against firms with shaky finances and dubious accounting (Alliance Capital and Lehman), has taken aim at a new and equally deserving target: credit default swaps. In an interesting bit of synchronicity, Einhorn’s comments in a letter to investors overlap to a considerable degree with a [...]
From the BLS : The unemployment rate rose from 9.8 to 10.2 percent in October, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline (-190,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The largest job losses over the month were in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade. Click on graph for larger image. This graph shows the unemployment rate and the year over year change in employment...
The DOL reports weekly unemployment insurance claims decreased to 512,000: In the week ending Oct. 31, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 512,000, a decrease of 20,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 532,000. The 4-week moving average was 523,750, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average of 526,750. ... The advance number for seasonally adjusted...
What a surprise. The the far left loons went out on the ledge WITHOUT having the EPA final data. Boxer pushes this through the Senate and ignores the fact it will raise the costs to each and every American Family on their energy and heating costs but doesn't want to spend money on conclusive EPA testing. That makes total sense for Boxer who really doesn't care about the facts, lets alone what this...
Republicans on the Senate environment committee made good on their vow to boycott this morning's first meeting on climate change legislation, leaving Democrats to poke holes in the GOP's insistence on a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analysis of the bill. Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) visited the environment panel this morning to read [...]
The Wall Street Journal’s surprising decision last week to close its Boston bureau left me wondering: Don’t they realize how much business news is generated every day in this town? Well, it turns out that the value that the Journal placed on Boston as a news hub is actually one of the main reasons the [...]
I don't usually respond to illogical cheap shots from around the blogosphere (life is too short). But when the cheap shot comes from a Nobel prize winner in economics, I will make an exception. Paul Krugman says I should be ashamed of myself for calling into question Obama administration estimates of how many jobs have been "created or saved." Here is what Paul says, The Obama administration’s...
When Ned Phelps wrote: >A fruitless clash of economic opposites: In the theory wars, which are as much wars over policy choices, two very bad kinds of theories are driving out good theories. Keynesian economics, which had been nearly forgotten inside the macro field, has found new voices from outside. They take the position that fiscal “stimulus” of all kinds is effective against slumps...
The return of risk-taking and end of the easy money trade. (Barron’s earlier Abnormal Returns, ibid) An updated look at the bull market’s pullbacks. (VIX and More) Checking in on investor sentiment at week end. (Trader’s Narrative, The Technical Take) Jeff Miller, “Proving causation requires more than showing a correlation. It requires solid evidence of timing, one variable...
It's still unclear how many former BusinessWeek editors will be hired by Bloomberg L.P., but one thing is increasingly clear: it could have been a hell of a lot worse. Peter Kafka describes the nightmare scenario: a purchase by private equity bloodhounds ZelnickMedia that would have been only marginally better than a simple shutdown of the magazine. This is how one-sided the Zelnick offer would have...
Jung von Matt just invented flyvertising . At the recent Frankfurt book convention they attached banners to 200 flies and set them loose to do their jobs as miniature sky ads around the convention center. In German, it's called a Fliegenbanner. Fliegenbanner , what a silly word. No flies were harmed during this stunt. But a lot of people laughed. <!--break--> The weight of the banner itself,...
In what should come as a shock to almost no one, the detailed negotiations to complete the Microsoft and Yahoo search and online advertising final agreement is more complicated that its authors anticipated and is taking longer than expected to complete. Relax, folks--it'll get done. But here's a more important thing that should wrap up sooner than later: Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz's jibes about former CEO...
Ex-A.I.G. Chief Is Back, Luring Talent From Rescued Firm (NYT) Wanna work at the next big thing, by which we mean the next too big to fail firm? Step right up! Hank Greenberg is said to be staring AIG: The Sequel, and it's gonna be huge. "Basically, he's just starting 'A.I.G. Two' and raiding people out of 'A.I.G. One,' " said Douglas A. Love, an insurance executive who has also hired A.I.G....
Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund billionaire accused of participating in a wide-ranging insider-trading scheme, on Monday changed his defense counsel from the law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher to Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld.
