Archive for the ‘Investments’ Category
Who Cares What Paulson Was Doing?
Paulson made billions on the subprime fallout. I don’t think anyone would care about Paulson or his alleged prowess in subprime BEFORE the collapse. It’s only after the fact that anyone would care and that’s because he made $$$ on the trade.
The exchange is key in that the Securities and Exchange Commission is charging that the failure to disclose Paulson’s position was a “material” factor that could have caused both ACA and German Bank IKB to back out of the CDO investment. When the CDO failed, Paulson reaped a gain of more than $900 million, the government has said.
I don’t know why ACA or German Bank IKB would care what anyone would think about an investment they were considering…they were acting in their own best interests and they got it terribly wrong.
Is The SEC Corrupt?
Plenty written and spoken about Goldman Sachs since the SEC has come forward with charges. Now, CNBC has learned that Paolo Pellegrini has insight that contradicts what the SEC has alleged.
Paolo Pellegrini told the government that he informed ACA Management that Paulson intended to bet against, or short, a portfolio of mortgages ACA was assembling.
CNBC has examined documents in which a government official asked Pellegrini whether he informed ACA CDO manager Laura Schwartz about Paulson’s position.
“Did you tell her that you were interested in taking a short position in Abacus?” a government official asked Pellegrini, referring to the name of the CDO portfolio.
“Yes, that was the purpose of the meeting,” Pellegrini responded.
Here is the full article at Yahoo! Finance.
Much Ado About Agriculture?
SEC’s Mary Schapiro testified today before the House Agriculture Committee on ways to regulate over-the-counter derivatives, which present a number of risks, “chief among them is systemic risk.”
Has anyone else wondered, Why did Mary Shapiro testify before the House Agriculture Committee?
Murdoch: CNBC is “No Good”
On CNBC’s talent, which he hasn’t hired away for his fledgling FOX Business Network, Murdoch pulls no punches, saying, “We don’t think they’re all that good.” Best way to increase your profitability in your trading is to turn off the TV…unless you are looking for financial infotainment.
You Can’t Invest Like Buffett
Morningstar ran a report about how you can get Buffett-like returns by blending two funds…hmmm?
Buffett has been the luckiest investor the world has ever known. You cannot invest like Buffett. He gets calls, dealflow, that you’ll never get. He gets terms that you’ll never be offered. He’s also 78 and has invested through the largest and longest bull market the world has know.
What you see here, is an issue of Causation: Buffett is the richest man, therefore he has made nothing but prescient decisions during his life. This is of course a logical fallacy. I felt so strongly about this, and feel that the investing public is misled about how to trade and make money from investing, that I recorded a web tv episode on Buffett.
If you want to get returns like Buffett, buy the Berkshire Class A’s or B’s. That’s the ONLY way you’ll get Buffett-like returns – because he’s the only one getting them.
Nevin Sanli Interview
Mr. Sanli is President of Sanli Pastore & Hill, a business valuations firm in Los Angeles. He has a very unique vantage point on the US economy and I always learn something from speaking with him. Check out the full interview in the Featured Video section of the blog.
Market Top For Gold
Now that you can buy gold out of vending machines, this has to be a top for Gold.
Financial Regs Moving Along Slowly
The regulatory plan also will include new oversight over largely unregulated derivatives markets and requirements on how banks turn their investments, such as mortgages, into complex securities — two issues that led to the crisis.
Citibank spend over $100 million in lobbying fees to have Glass-Steagall repealed. That figure puts it close to 22 cents per share. At least they didn’t repeal the FDIC back in ’92 with the rest of the Act – the FDIC was created in the original Banking Act of 1933. I’m surprised that no one has stood up and taken credit for that. Maybe they’re reading their history…
I wonder how the current lobbying is hastening or slowing down the process? Maybe the Government is just going deliberately slow because they understand that they are capable of putting out the fire with gasoline.
I know Jamie Dimon and JP Morgan are in no hurry to see it completed…
Reich: Forget Manufacturing Jobs
Robert Reich just wrote an interesting article in Forbes:
It doesn’t make sense for America to try to enlarge manufacturing as a portion of the economy. Even if the U.S. were to seal its borders and bar any manufactured goods from coming in from abroad–something I don’t recommend–we’d still be losing manufacturing jobs. That’s mainly because of technology.
When we think of manufacturing jobs, we tend to imagine old-time assembly lines populated by millions of blue-collar workers who had well-paying jobs with good benefits. But that picture no longer describes most manufacturing. I recently toured a U.S. factory containing two employees and 400 computerized robots. The two live people sat in front of computer screens and instructed the robots. In a few years this factory won’t have a single employee on site, except for an occasional visiting technician who repairs and upgrades the robots.
What does this say about the falling trend in Union membership?