When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do? -- John Maynard Keynes

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Barry Ritholtz Interviews Jim Chanos (audio)

Barry Ritholtz Interviews Jim Chanos - Aug. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg View columnist Barry Ritholtz interviews James Chanos, the hedge fund manager of Kynikos Associates. They discuss short selling and the excess of Wall Street. Masters In Business airs on Bloomberg Radio.

    

Saturday, August 30, 2014

DoubleLine's Jeffrey Gundlach, US 10-year yields, future QE



DoubleLine's Gundlach: Could see US 10-year yields go to 2.2%: "Gundlach (DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach) thinks the Fed's zero interest rate policy will be with us longer than most think."

Jeffrey Gundlach: QE will return to American by 2020- LocalUKNews" The so-called 'King of bonds' Jeffrey Gundlach warns of trouble down the line for the US economy.The post Jeffrey Gundlach: QE will return to American by 2020"...




Friday, August 29, 2014

Europe, Economic Reality, Markets, Magical Thinking

Markets Are Making a Sucker's Bet on Europe - Bloomberg View: ".... further ECB actions, on their own, will prove insufficient to decisively change the euro area’s economic situation. So financial markets are really betting on is: 1) a better regional policy response to the fundamental causes of the muted recovery and 2) an easing of geo-political tensions surrounding Russia. Unfortunately, there is little to suggest that either of these will materialize, let alone the two together."

Not a good combination: Europe, Economic Reality, Markets, Magical Thinking



Thursday, August 28, 2014

What State is the Biggest Loser?

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: What States are the Biggest Job Winners and Losers in the Recovery?: "Illinois was hit with a series of misguided tax hikes to the point Caterpillar threatened to leave the state. Illinois has no redeeming features to offset high taxes and other mistakes."

But although the politicians appear clueless, some people are paying attention--

"Population also migrated away from the states at the bottom of the job recovery rankings: Of those in the bottom 10, New Jersey, Maine, New Mexico, Connecticut, Michigan, Rhode Island, and Illinois all lost population to domestic migration." (source supra)

In other words they are "getting out of Dodge."



Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Military expenditure as percentage of GDP


Military expenditure as percentage of GDP
Military expenditure as percentage of Gross Domestic Product--will the US align with the world average?



Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Why Would the US Want to Militarize Its Police?

America is great because America is good; and if America ever ceases to be good, she will no longer be great. --an old adage

A troubling trend in a once great nation:

Terrifying Trend Of Police Militarization - Business Insider: "... Journalist Radley Balko, now with the Washington Post, covered the "militarization of the police" in his 2013 book "Rise of the Warrior Cop." Balko also helped produce an interactive map online at the CATO Institute, which records instances of botched paramilitary police raids across the nation. Both SWAT and paramilitary police actions are included in his research.  Balko deems a raid as being "botched" when it is conducted on an innocent suspect, results in the death or injury of a police officer or nonviolent offender, targets a doctor or a sick person, or otherwise involves excessive force...." (read more at links above)




Monday, August 25, 2014

Geopolitics Only Cloud for Global Economy, Fred Neumann video

Geopolitics Only Cloud for Global Economy: Neumann: Video - Bloomberg:
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HSBC Co-Head of Asian Economics Research Fred Neumann and Bloomberg’s Andrew Davis discuss President Obama authorizing air strikes in Northern Iraq, oil prices and the impact of geopolitical tensions on global economies with Zeb Eckert, Angie Lau and Rishaad Salamat on “Asia Edge.” (Source: Bloomberg Aug 8)


Sunday, August 24, 2014

Absurd US Government Programs to Overthrow Cuban Government (video)

US Going to Absurd Lengths to Overthrow Cuban Government - YouTube:

Abby Martin speaks with Eugene Puryear, an organizer with the ANSWER coalition, about a new AP report concerning the recruitment of foreign nationals by USAID to stir dissent in Cuba through HIV prevention programs on college campuses. (Aug 8, 2014)

LIKE Breaking the Set @ http://fb.me/BreakingTheSet
FOLLOW Abby Martin @ http://twitter.com/AbbyMartin





Saturday, August 23, 2014

Barry Ritholtz interviews Jack Brennan, former Vanguard CEO




Bloomberg View columnist Barry Ritholtz interviews Jack Brennan, former Vanguard chief executive officer and current chairman emeritus. They discuss changes in investing over the last two decades. Aug 9, 2014


    

Friday, August 22, 2014

China Hasn’t Really Averted a Crash - Jim Walker, Asianomics (video)

China Hasn’t Really Averted a Crash: Walker: Video - Bloomberg:
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Asianomics Founder and Managing Director Jim Walker discusses Chinese Markets and economy , Japan’s economy and where he’s putting his money with David Ingles, Zeb Eckert, Angie Lau and Rishaad Salamat on “Asia Edge.” (Source: Bloomberg-Aug 11)




Thursday, August 21, 2014

Bull vs Bear Debate, Where Do Stocks Go From Here? (video)

Bull vs. Bear Debate: Where Do Stocks Go From Here?: Video - Bloomberg:
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Gina Martin Adams, senior equity analyst at Wells Fargo, Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. market strategist at RBC Capital, and Bill Rhodes, president and CEO of William Rhodes Global Advisors and author of "Banker to the World," debate the outlook for U.S. stocks with Trish Regan and Matt Miller on "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg Aug7)




Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Stock Prices High, Global Risks, Investor Anxiety


Stock Prices High, Global Risks, Investor Anxiety



Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Yahoo Sports, Marissa, Woj

Time is running out for Marissa Mayer at Yahoo--

Why Is Yahoo Sports Hiding Its Best Asset In Woj?: "... A year ago, here, I talked about how Yahoo Sports had recently passed ESPN.com again in terms of users. According to recent reports, Yahoo Sports is still the big dog in the digital sports space, #1 with 125 million monthly uniques. Yet, how can it be that the number 1 digital sports property is not doing more to promote its number 1 asset in Woj? When I go to Yahoo Sports today, I don’t see much in terms of innovative graphics. I don’t see video. In short, it looks like the top sports website from, say, 2007...." (read more at link above)

    

Monday, August 18, 2014

Arrogance Is Good, In Defense of Silicon Valley (video)

Silicon Valley Bro Reacts to Businessweek Cover: Video - Bloomberg:
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Bloomberg Businessweek Art Director Robert Vargas discusses this week's cover story, "Arrogance Is Good: In Defense of Silicon Valley," with Bloomberg Businessweek Tech Bro Toph Tucker. Read Joel Stein's story here: http://bloom.bg/1sFzD02. (Source: Bloomberg Aug8)




Sunday, August 17, 2014

Michael Mauboussin, Barry Ritholtz Interview (audio)

Barry Ritholtz Interviews Mauboussin: Masters in Business by Bloomberg View:



Bloomberg View columnist Barry Ritholtz interviews Michael Mauboussin, head of global financial strategies at Credit Suisse. They discuss the role of luck in investing. Masters In Business aired on Bloomberg Radio August 2, 2014.


Saturday, August 16, 2014

Nobu Master Chef, Making Perfect Sushi (video)

Nobu Master Chef Shows Art of Making Perfect Sushi: Video - Bloomberg:
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Japanese celebrity chef, Nobu Matsuhisa, shows Bloomberg’s Manus Cranny how to transform raw fish into the celebrated sushi dish that his global restaurant business was built on. (Source: Bloomberg Aug 8)




Friday, August 15, 2014

How Top 1% Hoard Cash Offshore (Bloomberg video)

How the Top 1% Hoard Their Cash Offshore: Video - Bloomberg:
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Bloomberg’s Matthew Miller and Olivia Sterns discuss the top billionaires offshore financial wealth and the difficulty of tracking down their assets. They speak with Betty Liu on “In The Loop.” (Source: Bloomberg August 7)




Thursday, August 14, 2014

Time to Be Opportunistic in Investing says Lisa Shalett (video)

Time to Be Opportunistic in Investing: Shalett: Video - Bloomberg:
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Morgan Stanley Investment and Portfolio Strategies’ Lisa Shalett discusses her investment ideas on “Bloomberg Surveillance.” (Source: Bloomberg Aug8)




Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Yazidis from Iraq Tell of Harrowing Escape From Islamic State Militants (video)



Video - Iraq's Yazidis Tell of Harrowing Escape From Islamic State Militants - WSJ.com: "Salwah Khalaf and her family fled Sinjar in Iraq last week when they heard insurgents from the Islamic State were about to attack. WSJ's Nour Malas reports.

Still think ANYONE in Washington DC knows what they are doing? Republicans, Democrats, Bush, Obama--they are all responsible for what is now happening in Iraq and Syria and the rise of ISIS (members of which the Obama administration trained and armed to oppose Syria's Bashar al-Assad. Regime change, nation-building--what a disaster!


    

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Who's in Charge of Iraq Right Now? Washington Clueless (video)

Who's in Charge of Iraq Right Now? We Don't Know: Video - Bloomberg:
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Bloomberg’s Phil Mattingly updates the latest news out of Iraq as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki deployed troops and tanks on the streets of Baghdad as the U.S. continues air strikes against Islamic militants in the north of the country. He speaks on “Bloomberg Surveillance.”(Aug. 11 --Bloomberg) 

    

Monday, August 11, 2014

Russia Can Endure Pain More Than EU or US says JPMorgan (video)

Russia Can Endure Pain More Than EU, JPMorgan Says: Video - Bloomberg:
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Russia has a history of being able to endure pain and can do so more than the U.S. or Europe, according to Andrew Goldberg, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management. He speaks with Jonathan Ferro on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move." (Source: Bloomberg - Aug 6)

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: How About Them Apples?"The Ukrainian economy is in ruins over the war and the collapse in trade with Russia as the cry from President Obama and Senator John McCain for for more sanctions on Russia grows. Sanctions are not not very bright. No one wins in a trade war. And Europe is about to find out in a big way."

Yes, US policy has been "stuck on stupid" ever since 9/11 and even the change of administrations (from Bush to Obama) hasn't really changed this -- the sanctions of the Obama administration against Putin's Russia were really stupid and ineffective-- and could lead to really damaging counter-sanctions. Read a little history and you will discover Russia (Soviet Union) sacrificed more than 20 million lives defeating Hitler's Germany. Dealing with the Obama administration's sanctions will be like a cakewalk in comparison.

    

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Snapchat Really Worth $10 Billion? (video)

Is Snapchat Really Worth $10 Billion?: Video - Bloomberg:
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TBG Digital CEO Simon Mansell discusses Snapchat’s valuation on “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg July 30)




Saturday, August 9, 2014

Housing recovery is over, plus underwater mortgages

Housing recovery is over, reason #4--

It's over: "4. Paying in cash takes a tumble. Meanwhile, according to real estate data site Zillow, the share of buyers paying for homes in cash has fallen year-over-year in 102 of the 126 biggest metro areas. The fact that the number of cash buyers is declining shows that investors no longer believe that buying residential real estate will continue to provide big returns."

Then check out Barry Ritholtz's RealtyTrac chart: Another Look at Underwater Mortgages: Ritholtz Chart - Bloomberg View


Friday, August 8, 2014

Jeremy Grantham, M&A Boom, Bubble, It Will All End Badly

“My recent forecast of a fully-fledged bubble…remains in effect”--Jeremy Grantham

Jeremy Grantham: M&A Boom Poised For a ‘Veritable Explosion’ - MoneyBeat - WSJ: "... He expects that institutions will find few attractive opportunities besides deal-making, which will act as additional fuel for the stock market to keep rallying in the months ahead. There is “little in the way of attractive investments or yields,” Mr. Grantham said. “So, the returns promised from deal making are likely to appear, relatively at least, exceptional. “I think it is likely (better than 50/50) that all previous deal records will be broken in the next year or two,” he added. “This of course will help push the market up to true bubble levels, where it will once again become very dangerous indeed.” Mr. Grantham reiterated his call that the S&P 500 will climb to at least 2250, about 14% above current levels. But then, it will all end badly. In May he predicted that the rally would continue through the 2016 presidential election before a crash ensues." (read more at the link above)


Thursday, August 7, 2014

Hong Kong, Singapore, Popping Housing Bubbles (Video)

Hong Kong, Singapore Popping Housing Bubbles: Video - Bloomberg:
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Prompted by concerns over potential property bubbles and affordability for the middle class, the governments of Hong Kong and Singapore have been reining in home prices by imposing measures including mortgage caps, taxes on property flippers and levies on foreign buyers as high as 15 percent. Rosalind Chin reports on "On The Move Asia." (Source: Bloomberg July30)




Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Who Will Buy Yahoo and Solve the Marissa Problem?

Alibaba, SoftBank?

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Marissa?: "... Mayer has been CEO at Yahoo for two years now.  She was absolutely dealt a tough hand, which I think any other CEO, whether Ross Levinsohn or anyone else, would have been challenged to turn around.  In fact, I spoke out in her defense early on after her hiring, asking several critics to give her more time to work at her turnaround.  Two years after her hiring, however, I think it’s fair to point out that she has made a number of costly and largely self-inflicted errors since taking over... She hired Henrique De Castro as her top lieutenant for big money and no results... $58 million in severance... She has increased headcount since she came aboard two years ago, not decreased it, which it still desperately requires... None of the $2 billion in acquisitions Mayer has spent in M&A since arriving at Yahoo are reflected in the valuation of Yahoo’s deteriorating core business...  The increase in value of Yahoo’s mobile users would have happened regardless of Mayer’s leadership, given the secular adoption of mobile devices... Excessive stock compensation in light of declining EBITDA... The only reason for the increase in value of Yahoo shares in the past two years is because Alibaba’s value has gone up from $35 billion to (by some estimates) $200 billion and Yahoo Japan’s value has doubled since the start of 2013 to $26 billion today.  Yahoo’s core business has only dragged down the value of Yahoo shares from where it would otherwise be trading..." (read more at link above)

It looks bleak. Yahoo isn't Google.




Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Barack Obama, Ted Cruz, Trolling

"How Ted Cruz Trolls Obama's Foreign Policy," by The Daily Beast's Eli Lake: "One way to understand Ted Cruz's foreign policy, particularly if you are a Democrat, is through the prism of the social media phenomenon known as trolling. The best trolls are provocateurs. Their language is meant to expose a fallacy or weakness in the opponent's position as opposed to offering a constructive alternative. ... [But despite] the barbs and the major differences between Cruz and Obama, the two politicians both agree that America should be out of the nation-building business. ... Ted Cruz is an American exceptionalist who is wary of [trying to remake] remaking the world in America's exceptional image." via Politico (my edit and emphasis)

Monday, August 4, 2014

Wall Street: Rules of the Game OR Rules Gamed

"Rules are made to be gamed, and games are played to be won. That is at the core of the culture of Wall Street. If you don’t understand that, you don’t understand Wall Street." (source infra)

Wall Street's revenge of the nerds means fooling all the people all the time | Money | theguardian.com: "The Senate can have all the hearings they want. Regulators can throw all the huge fines at banks they want. That isn’t going to change Wall Street’s behavior. That kid in elementary school who was never tagged, who never lost a bet. They always won. They didn’t care about being popular. Wall Street doesn’t care about being popular either. Wall Street is just playing a game. A game with huge payouts for winning. And Wall Street is winning." (read more at the link above)




Sunday, August 3, 2014

Stephen Roach, US View on Currency and Trade (video)

U.S. View on Currency and Trade Is Myopic: Roach: Video - Bloomberg:
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July 24 (Bloomberg) –- Yale University Senior Fellow Stephen Roach discusses the U.S. trade deficit with China and risks in the Chinese economy. He speaks with Bloomberg’s Stephen Engle. (Source: Bloomberg)




Saturday, August 2, 2014

Rob Arnott interviewed by Barry Ritholtz





Rob Arnott who turned the world of passive index investing upside down,  interviewed by Barry Ritholtz

Rob Arnott turned the world of passive index investing upside down. Best known for creating “smart beta,” Arnott creates models weighted b y four factors: Sales, profits, book value and dividends. Market cap is not relevant to him.Funds running Arnott’s models manage about $200 billion dollars in smart-beta strategies. Assets have increased by 59 percent last year. Produced by Bloomberg View, on July 19, 2014


    

Friday, August 1, 2014

Argentina Default, Ripple Effects (video)

What Are the Ripple Effects if Argentina Defaults?: Video - Bloomberg:
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Atul Lele, chief investment officer at Deltec International Group, and Bill Janeway, managing director at Warburg Pincus, discuss how a default by Argentina’s government could impact emerging markets and global economies. They speak on “Bloomberg Surveillance.” (Bloomberg July 30)




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