The Consumer Spending Myth
Ben Bernanke, in a speech at the Brookings Institute, declared this past week that the recession is likely over, but that the recovery will be muted. Specifically, he said: Having said that, I’ve seen some agreement among the forecasting community at this point that we are in a recovery, that we will see growth in the .. read more
Radical Reform
Anthony Evans makes the case for radical free market reform in the Guardian: 1. Legalise insider trading. The regulators have failed spectacularly. They did not foresee the systemic risk created by excess credit creation and over-leveraging, and it would be naive to expect any single organisation to steward an entire industry. Demonising hedge funds and .. read more
Geek Roundup
Time to satisfy my inner geek again. Here’s a few technology related items I found interesting: Superefficient Solar from Nanotubes: Today’s solar cells lose much of the energy in light to heat. Now researchers at Cornell University have made a photovoltaic cell out of a single carbon nanotube that can take advantage of more of .. read more
Insider Selling
Insiders are selling en masse: NEW YORK (Fortune) — Can hundreds of stock-selling insiders be wrong? The stock market has mounted an historic rally since it hit a low in March. The S&P 500 is up 55%, as U.S. job losses have slowed and credit markets have stabilized. But against that improving backdrop, one indicator .. read more
A Recession Proof Industry
From the Christian Science Monitor: Atlanta – It’s harvest time again for the marijuana plant, and US drug eradication officers are busier than usual. An ever-tightening southern border, high unemployment, and a steady, even growing, appetite for the illicit plant have all led to a surge in marijuana acreage in the country’s chief pot-growing regions, .. read more
No Child Left a Dime
The title of this post is from a placard at the DC march on 9/12 (HT: Chris Edward, Cato). From Edwards post comes this chart which shows federal spending as a percentage of GDP assuming no changes in spending: Several things to note here. First is that President Obama is right – spending on medical care .. read more
Mutual Fund Investors Still Piling Into Bonds
90% of mutual fund flows this year have gone to bond funds: BOSTON (MarketWatch) — Mutual-fund investors still smarting from the beating they took in stocks last year are continuing to pile into the relative safety of bond funds, causing many to miss out on the market’s roughly 50% bounce from the March low. Through .. read more
Investment Advisors Bullish on Stocks
Almost 3/4 of investment advisors are bullish on stocks: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Investment advisers are more bullish about U.S. stocks than they’ve been in more than two years, with many seeing the recession ending soon. Almost three of every four advisers expect the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock-index /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:inx (SPX 1,053, +3.34, +0.32%) to .. read more
