The Desidooru SaloonThe Desidooru SaloonThe Desidooru Saloon is a blog from us editors over at The Daily Reckoning. Not being technically savy, it has taken us a while to get into this crazy blogosphere. But, we figure this is a good way to have a more open and organic dialogue that reader Articles
Chinese fuel shortages
2008-03-24 14:41:00 Tibet isn't the only crisis that has the powers-that-be in Beijing desperately trying to control the news cycle. Here's something they might find even more worrisome: Gasoline and diesel shortages. China's leaders are facing renewed pressure over shortfalls in diesel and gasoline, with lines growing at filling stations in major cities Monday as the gap widens between international ... More About: Fuel , Chinese , Headline News
Exxon projects flat production through 2012
2008-03-21 14:18:00 For a company that's gone to greater lengths than nearly anyone else in the Big Oil realm to pooh-pooh Peak Oil, Exxon Mobil's recent presentation to analysts sure doesn't do anything to boost the cornucopians' case. During the meeting, Exxon presented a chart projecting its worldwide oil production staying flat for the next four ... More About: Projects , Production , Headline News , Flat
The man who engineered the Bear Stearns bailout
2008-03-21 14:17:00 The Bear Stearns bailout was a major break with precedent — and not just because the Fed came to the rescue of an investment bank as opposed to a retail bank. Now, it turns out the man who did the most to bring it about wasn't Ben Bernanke, or Hank Paulson, or even anyone with ... More About: Headline News , Bailout
Why it?s still early in the commodities boom
2008-03-20 15:09:00 In retrospect, I should've seen this coming. All it took was for gold to take a $60 tumble in one day for establishment media to trot out the old line about how "commodities are risky." Sure enough, it's in the New York Times… The booming commodities market has become increasingly attractive to investors, with hard assets like ... More About: Commodities , Early , Boom , Headline News
An author?s impact?
2008-03-20 14:41:00 Starbucks chief Howard Schultz blames his company's current troubles on the United States being in an economic "tailspin." But is that the whole story? This is the week for Starbucks' annual shareholder meeting, and Schultz has trotted out no end of changes to try to bring business back — a new espresso machine, a new ... More About: Author , Headline News
Paul Volcker speaks up
2008-03-19 15:49:00 Ever since his book came out, it seems Alan Greenspan can't shut up. Even this week, he was pronouncing the current economic crisis the worst since World War II. His predecessor, in contrast, has kept a lower profile. So it's worth noting that Paul Volcker went on Charlie Rose this week to discuss ... More About: Headline News
Noting an anniversary
2008-03-19 15:05:00 This month marks the fifth anniversary of one of the most disastrous steps the U.S. government has taken in our lifetimes, a step taken in response to irrational fears stirred up in the wake of 9/11, a step with historic consequences that will do lasting harm to our republic for decades to come. I speak, of ... More About: Anniversary , Headline News
Explanations emerge
2008-03-18 18:29:00 In the wake of the Bear Stearns meltdown yesterday, Bill Bonner wrote… Little noticed in the Bear affair is the role of Chinese investment firm, Citic. The Chinese were going to put up some money to prop up Bear Stearns. There might be many explanations for why the Citic deal didn't go forward, but here we suggest one that is ... More About: Headline News , Emerge
Evening in America
2008-03-18 14:49:00 As I write, the New York Stock Exchange has been open for about ten minutes, and the Dow Industrials have risen nearly 200 points. Traders must be pricing in one whopper of a cut in the discount rate come 2:15 this afternoon. The futures markets are betting on a full percentage point: Traders predict the Federal ... More About: America , Headline News , Evening
Monday, Monday?
2008-03-17 15:12:00 Bear Stearns has just been marked to market — 7 cents on the dollar, give or take. Is the U.S. Empire next? Unfortunately, the only way we could find out what Bear was actually worth was for Empire itself to assume the accompanying risk: Acting quickly to prevent a run on major global financial firms, the Federal Reserve ... More About: Monday , Headline News
Breaking news: Fed signs off on Bear bailout
2008-03-14 16:58:00 Wow, three breaking news posts this week — surely an indoor record. In any event, fire up the helicopters: The Federal Reserve said Friday that it has voted to endorse an arrangement to bolster troubled Bear Stearns Cos. and stands ready to provide extra resources to combat a serious credit crisis. The Fed announcement came in a brief two-sentence statement ... More About: News , Breaking News , Signs , Breaking , Headline News
WSJ calls BS on core CPI
2008-03-14 14:35:00 We pause, in what is too often a chronicle of economic idiocy, if not illiteracy, to bring what is genuinely good news. It comes on the front page of the Wall Street Journal's markets section, where reporters Mark Gongloff and Scott Patterson declare simply, boldly… Many economists and Federal Reserve officials like to dismiss energy and food prices ... More About: Calls , Core , Headline News
Pitting one half of America against the other
2008-03-14 14:08:00 The first shot was fired yesterday in what promises to be a years-long battle over which of the Bush tax cuts will be allowed to expire come 2011. And the way the battle is shaping up, politicians are pitting half of the country against the other half. I almost hesitate to write about this, simply because ... More About: America , Headline News , Half
?Don?t mention the dollar!?
2008-03-13 14:53:00 Does failed businessman and now President George W. Bush actually know more about economics than Princeton prof and now Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke? Before you react to this by saying, "Who cares? They're both idiots!" (that's a given), please understand I'm just trying to be provocative (or maybe just smart-alecky) in light of the day's news. US ... More About: Dollar , Headline News
The latest bailout
2008-03-12 15:29:00 Head still spinning over the Fed's latest bailout — er, excuse me, "capital injection" — for the big banks? If you missed yesterday's 5 Min. Forecast , Addison and Ian put it in refreshingly plain English: …instead of firing up the printing presses and going about business as usual, the Fed has unveiled a whole new plot, and a ... More About: Headline News , Bailout
Dispatches from the housing meltdown
2008-03-12 15:00:00 It's even worse than I thought. Not only are people borrowing from their 401(k) plans to hang onto their homes, USA Today reports some of them are actually taking "hardship withdrawals." Now don't let that terminology fool you. It's not some sort of special program under which you can avoid the taxes and ... More About: Housing , Headline News , Dispatches
Breaking news: Fallon gone
2008-03-11 20:53:00 Is this what sends oil to $110, if only briefly? In any event, this didn't take long to go down: Less than a week after the head of U.S. military operations across the Middle East got written up in Esquire as basically opposing an American attack on Iran, he's toast: Adm. William Fallon, the top U.S. ... More About: News , Breaking News , Breaking , Headline News
Help the blogger
2008-03-11 15:16:00 So we know food costs are rising. And of course, it's not just for consumers, as the Wall Street Journal points out: Sara Lee Corp. is reformulating some of its regional bread brands with cheaper, lower-protein wheat. General Mills Inc. has reduced the number of Hamburger Helper varieties to about 40 from 75 and has cut the number ... More About: Blogger , Headline News
Euro acceptance spreading?
2008-03-11 14:58:00 It's not just in New York where they're accepting euros for cash payment now. One of Washington, D.C.'s most renowned falafel establishments is doing so, too: According to Falafelier Pete Barich, it was because tourists from out of town would come into the restaurant late in the evening after banks and other currency exchange storefronts had closed. Rather ... More About: Euro , Acceptance , Headline News
More about Spitzer
2008-03-11 14:47:00 The more we learn about Eliot Spitzer 's evident penchant for high-priced hookers, the thicker the irony. And there's an important lesson in here about financial privacy — or the lack thereof. What originally tipped off the feds had nothing to do with sex. Rather, it was "suspicious" transactions that Spitzer's bank reported to the IRS. ... More About: Headline News
Here comes Peak Coal
2008-03-07 16:49:00 And you thought we had abundant, nay, inexhaustible supplies of coal? Think again, says Britain's Guardian: …a clutch of recent reports suggest that coal reserves may be hugely inflated - a possibility that has profound implications for global energy supply and climate change. A report published last year by the EU Institute of Energy pointed out that as demand ... More About: Coal , Headline News , Peak
The end of the beginning
2008-03-07 16:17:00 The establishment media's coverage of Ron Paul's announcement to his supporters is perhaps a microcosm of why his campaign never caught on in the establishment media — he just doesn't speak their language. The most common headline I see is that he's "hinting to supporters" that he's giving up his presidential campaign. Well, yes ... More About: Headline News
The Fallon flap
2008-03-06 16:51:00 All of a sudden, the prospect of a U.S. attack on Iran is making headlines again. An Esquire profile of CENTCOM commander Adm. William Fallon — the man who oversees pretty much everything the U.S. military does in the Middle East, and a skeptic of military action against Iran — includes this eyebrow-raising paragraph: …well-placed observers ... More About: Headline News
OPEC?s finger of blame
2008-03-06 16:16:00 Maybe OPEC ministers are smarter than I've been giving them credit for. For months, they've been blaming "speculators" and "geopolitical tensions" for the persistently high price of oil. But this week, as oil reaches within a hair of $106, OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna have come a little closer to the truth as they defy ... More About: Headline News , Finger , Blame
The elephant in the room
2008-03-05 17:08:00 Seems to me Joseph Stiglitz's critics are ignoring the elephant in the room. Stiglitz, as Bill Bonner noted on Monday and I mentioned last week in the context of William F. Buckley Jr's death (by all means, read to see the connection), is out with an updated study estimating the costs of the wars in ... More About: Room , Elephant , Headline News , The Elephant in the Room
Political potpourri (with apologies to John McLaughlin)
2008-03-05 16:33:00 We briefly interrupt this blog to bring you an update on political happenings that may or may not interest you: Ron Paul will serve another term in Congress. He handily won the primary last night for his Congressional seat in Texas, and he faces no Democratic opponent in the fall. Meanwhile, rumors abound that ... More About: Political , John , Potpourri , Headline News
Invest Like a Dealmaker
2008-03-04 16:43:00 Shameless self-promotion time-out: Our managing editor Chris Mayer's new book, Invest Like a Dealmaker, is #1 on the business and investing list at Amazon. Chris drew on a lifetime of reading and real-world banking and investing experience to put this together. You need expend less than a day of pleasant reading to glean ... More About: Headline News
An election that counts
2008-03-04 16:06:00 Yes, because I'm a political junkie and intellectual masochist, I'll be watching the primary election returns from Ohio and Texas tonight. But this morning I'm pondering the results from an election yesterday… one that says a lot about our future in fossil fuels. Voters in Alberta, the Canadian province that's home to the massive oil sands, ... More About: Election , Headline News
Breaking news: Oil reaches inflation-adjusted high
2008-03-03 19:30:00 It was only a matter of when, not if: $103.95, topping the 1980 figure. Byron King from Outstanding Investments has commentary at our sister blog, Energy and Oil. More About: News , Breaking News , Inflation , High , Breaking
Message from Moscow
More articles from this author:2008-03-03 17:24:00 In a shocking development, Russian President Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor has won election with 70% of the vote. OK, so much for the sarcasm. Russia, rich in natural resources, will remain a power to be reckoned with for the years ahead. How does an informed investor to try to stay on top of what's happening ... More About: Moscow , Message , Headline News 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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