Vigilant Investor Vigilant Investor Surfing the Great Credit Bubble and its unwind. Discussions about how your investment evironment and economy are changing. Don't be a fall guy! Articles
What Drives Markets? Exuberance? Capitalism? Bad policy?
2007-11-14 04:28:00 Are manias the byproduct of irrational exuberance, as Yale prof, Robert Shiller’s same titled book asserts? That’s an idea correctly refuted by one of my favorite economists, Frank Shostak, in a worth article that discusses the real reasons behind why so many investors and entrepreneurs end up making the massive errors that Shiller wants ... More About: Economy , History , Markets , Currency , Myths
Bernanke On Testimony Hot-Seat Gets Trading Pits Cheering
2007-11-12 19:18:00 That’s a clilp from an interesting CNBC discussion regarding Ron Paul’s criticism of Ben Bernanke and Fed Policy last Thursday during the testimony to Congress. Turns out the Traders in the pit of the Chicago Board of Trade were pleased to hear someone actually challenge the inflationary monetary policy that is debasing the currency ... More About: Video , Economy , Trading , Seat , Testimony
The Window is Closing
2007-11-11 19:24:00 Our long–term readers know we have continually cautioned about serious economic consequences to come. Not because we?re ?doom and gloomers? ? but because we feel the best way to take advantage of the truth ? is to first acknowledge it. Our opinion has been that when these truths gain increasing acceptance ? the ... More About: Economy , Finance , Real Estate , Inflation , Housing Bubble
?May You Live in Interesting Times.?
2007-11-09 03:48:00 You know, we?re continually amazed as we witness an extremely interesting phenomena. Really amazed. Turn on any evening financial television show and you?ll hear the pundits demagogue on how Treasury Secretary Paulson must defend the Dollar. Bemused, we ask ??with what?? Today, Mr. Paulson accused the Chinese of unfair competition for ... More About: Interesting , Live , Times , Eres
Yukon Cornelius!
2007-11-08 06:17:00 ?Silver and gold, silver and gold Everyone wishes for silver and gold How do you measure its worth? Just by the pleasure it gives here on earth!? – Yukon Cornelius from ?Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer? Ah memories?Good old Yukon Cornelius from the classic, ?Rudolph.? He certainly was a man who understood the value of real money. You?d ...
Foreclosure Pandemic: Case Example Cleveland
2007-11-06 21:58:00 “A wave of foreclosures and evictions is about to sweep the United States in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage lending crisis. This could destabilise the US housing market and may also lead to further turmoil in financial institutions, who collectively own $1 trillion (£480.6bn) worth of sub-prime debt.” That’s nothing new there, although ... More About: Economy , Housing Bubble , Foreclosure , Case , Pandemic
$ 1 Trillion in Toxic Debt Hanging on Markets
2007-11-06 15:04:00 “A new phase in the credit crunch, one of ?$1 trillion losses? seems to be dawning. The crisis at Citigroup and renewed doubts about some of the world?s leading banks disquieted stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic yesterday, with the fractious mood set to ... More About: Economy , Markets , Currency , Debt , Crash
Supermodel Bundchen Dumps Dollars
2007-11-06 00:11:00 We talk often of tipping points when it comes to the dollar’s health and inflationary expectations. So far, many Americans remain blissfully unaware that the dollar is growing weaker against most everything not made in countries supporting the dollar at the expense of their own currencies, ala China and its yuan. But, if ... More About: Economy , Finance , Currency , Debt , Crash
Funny Enough, Subprime Truth Hurts
2007-11-05 23:06:00 Is a bailout rewarding greed and stupidity? Of course not! It is rewarding your pension fund! Above’s another cutting piece of humor from Fortune and Bird describing the seedy truth behind the supbrimes leading the current credit crisis. Act vigilantly! Share This More About: Video , Truth , Economy , Funny , Inflation
The Dollar Demise: Soft or Swift?
2007-11-02 21:17:00 The dollar has continued its precipitous decline this week with the USDX trading at 76.267 as we write, yet many U.S.-based investors appear oblivious to what this may imply. The USDX is a measure of the value of the U.S. dollar relative the currencies of six major trading partners: the euro, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, ... More About: Economy , Dollar , Currency , Debt , Soft
New Home Sales Overstated as Economic Consensus Misses the Boat (Again)
2007-10-25 23:01:00 Don’t read too much into the reports that housing is on the mend based on yesterday’s numbers showing new home sales have picked up. As we’ve reported before, new home sales number never include the cancellation numbers that have been running at a very brisk pace according to homebuilders’ disclosures. Bary ... More About: Economy , Sales , Housing Bubble , Home , Currency
Consensus Momentum Misses Crucial Details
2007-10-24 23:22:00 If you read our archives, you’ll find our comments on housing bubbles much in agreement with Peter Schiff long before the December 2006 interview above. What we hope you take from this post is an understanding of the incredulity our camp was exposed to from high profile analysts and pundits all the way down ... More About: Economy , Real Estate , Inflation , Housing Bubble , Debt
The Super SIV & the Role of the Treasury
2007-10-22 14:58:00 “At least one bank representative suggested that Treasury step in with some money to help bail out the firms, the people who attended say. Mr. Steel told the group that wasn’t an option: Treasury would only back a private-sector, market-based solution. “We bought the sandwiches, and that’s it,” Mr. Steel told those assembled.” I’ve seen the ... More About: Super , Currency , Role , The Super
Housing, Credit, Oil, Geo-Politics: Don?t Make For Good Economic Prognosis
2007-10-22 06:36:00 Nice news for a Monday a.m. to leave you wondering if confidence in the global and U.S. economy is going to last: US loan default problems widen to credit cards, auto loans, and more Fed Gives Barclays and RBS $30bn Credit Line for client Bailout World oil production has already peaked and will fall by half as ... More About: Politics , Economy , Housing , Make
Sovereign Wealth Funds: A Threat?
2007-10-19 19:00:00 Dude has a simple but important observation on SIVs and Sovereign Wealth Funds , over at “Dude… Where’s my Dharma?” SWFs are the recently popular response for foreign nations to diversify their massive U.S. dollar denominated reserves, which continue to build in response to the U.S. propensity to spend and not save (e.g. ... More About: Reign , Threat
As Dollar Slides, Many Feeling a Recession
2007-10-19 02:55:00 Nothing new or surprising here: Dollar Drops to All-Time Low Against Euro on Weak Economic News From Washington IMF says dollar ?overvalued? We expect that eventually Euro policy makers will worry about loss of exports and work to destroy the gained purchasing power of the Euro, thus inflating away the benefits to European citizens. Meanwhile, despite official government stats ... More About: Economy , Inflation , Feeling , Recession
Cheyne Finance = First SIV Default
2007-10-18 19:04:00 The short-term credit markets took a blow with the announcement yesterday that the liquidity troubled Cheyne Finance fund would seek protection. While still filled with cash, the fear is — as is so common among all players riding the Mortgage Backed Security (MBS) high wire — that it would be forced to put assets ... More About: Economy , Inflation , Oil , Gas Prices
Social Insecurity to be raised a paltry sum
2007-10-18 05:13:00 We wrote recently on how inflation is much worse than many suspect, with grocery prices far exceeding CPI, and equity indexes — thought performing well in recent years — still far behind the rapid advance of hard assets like oil and gold. With that in mind, we found news that Social Security benefits will be raised ... More About: Finance , Inflation , Myths
The Crunch Still Has Legs ? and too much secrecy for confidence
2007-10-18 05:00:00 Peter Eavis has a good update on why folks ought to still be concerned about the credit bubble problems that many assume are water under the bridge. Share This More About: Economy , Currency , Legs , Debt , Confidence
New Super SIV Just Buying Time?
2007-10-16 21:10:00 The big news since it broke on Sunday has been the talk of the world’s biggest banks getting together to support their failing SIV business with an $200 billion bailout fund, with the intention of providing ongoing liquidity for the credit markets. This is not just the free market working this out on ... More About: Economy , Buying , Finance , Inflation , Time
Easy Money Breeds Excess and Fraud
2007-10-15 21:10:00 “The losses of Sentinel Management Group Inc. and its customers “clearly exceed” $200 million and might surpass $350 million because of a “leveraging scheme” and “alleged misconduct” by insiders, according to a report by a forensic accountant examining the Aug. 17 collapse of the Northbrook-based cash-management firm.” When easy money is flowing from the banking system ... More About: Money , Fraud , Housing Bubble , Crash , Easy
The Dollar Drop Not Just a Currency Problem
2007-10-13 00:12:00 In America its very common to think of the dollar in a vacuum. You actually hear pundits dismiss the dollar drop, saying “Who cares! In America we spend dollars. Well, while we believe the dollar dropping vs. other currencies has some serious implications for the debt addicted U.S. economy, the dollar has ... More About: Economy , History , Inflation , Dollar , Oil
The Dollar Drop Not Just a Currency Problem
2007-10-13 00:12:00 UPDATE: Oops! We crossed our labels in our DJIA and S&P500 vs. Oil Charts. Those are now corrected. If those barrels per unit seemed off before, they’re now corrected! 10-14-2007 In America its very common to think of the dollar in a vacuum. You actually hear pundits dismiss the dollar drop, saying ... More About: Economy , History , Inflation , Dollar
Oman and Dubai Say Bye to Dollar Peg
2007-10-12 00:12:00 To maintain trade parity with the U.S., foreign nations choose to print their own currencies so that the dollar does not weaken dramatically against theirs. If they didn’t, the dollar earned from the U.S. would be sold into the marketplace (increasing supply while reducing the demand) in exchange for their own currency (increasing ... More About: Economy , Dollar , Dubai , Oman , To Do
Oman and Dubai Say Bye to Dollar Peg
2007-10-12 00:12:00 To maintain trade parity with the U.S., foreign nations choose to print their own currencies so that the dollar does not weaken dramatically against theirs. If they didn’t, the dollar earned from the U.S. would be sold into the marketplace (increasing supply while reducing the demand) in exchange for their own currency (increasing ... More About: Economy , Dollar , Dubai , Oman , To Do
Comedy as Consultant
2007-10-09 20:53:00 Are you learning anything? Seek vigilant advice! Share This More About: Video , Comedy , Economy , Humor , Consultant
Comedy as Consultant
2007-10-09 20:53:00 Are you learning anything? Seek vigilant advice! Share This More About: Video , Comedy , Economy , Humor , Consultant
Clodhopper Dropping!
2007-10-05 06:09:00 Well, we?ve warned about what?s now going down for a long time. The other shoe is dropping right through the floor — and it?s a Clodhopper! Just this week we?ve learned from the National Association of Realtors that the number of Americans signing up to buy previously owned homes in August dropped 6.5 percent from ... More About: Economy , Finance , Real Estate , Inflation , Housing Bubble
Clodhopper Dropping!
2007-10-05 06:09:00 Well, we?ve warned about what?s now going down for a long time. The other shoe is dropping right through the floor — and it?s a Clodhopper! Just this week we?ve learned from the National Association of Realtors that the number of Americans signing up to buy previously owned homes in August dropped 6.5 ... More About: Economy , Finance , Real Estate , Inflation , Housing Bubble
Stewards of World?s Reserve Currency ?Too Promiscuous?
More articles from this author:2007-10-04 18:50:00 Here’s a good Bloomberg TV interview on what’s going on with rates and the broader economy from a non U.S. perspective, with comments about the U.S. dollar, and in particular, concerns about global inflation. Is the guest correct when he says that printers of the world’s currency are too promiscuous in their efforts to trust? ... More About: Economy , World , Currency , Reserve , Serve 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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