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Australian Dollar, British Pound and Siemens Emerge Stronger Post-Cyprus

(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on March 24, 2013. Click here to read the entire piece.) {snip} The reaction to the Cyprus news was swift in financial markets starting with currency markets on that Sunday. By the end of the week, the S&P 500 (SPY) remained down … Read more

The Federal Reserve Finally Tries to Fight A Bubble…In the Price of Farmland

(Originally published in Inflation Watch) Under Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve was known to stand on the sidelines while bubbles in asset prices grew and grew. Greenspan had a lot more faith in the Federal Reserve’s ability to mop up the subsequent mess caused by a bubble’s collapse than in its ability to stop a … Read more

Spain’s Turn to Bring A Frown to Markets

The stock market has already started cooling off from overbought conditions, but the weakening euro, increasing bond yields, and widening spreads have markets on edge yet again. After listening to a Planet Money segment on the financial problems in Spain called “A Theme Park, An Airport And The Next Banking Crisis” by Chana Joffe-Walt, I … Read more

Still Expecting Housing to Bounce Along the Bottom Until 2013

For the past few months, I pestered my youngest brother to write a review of his cogent 2009 analysis of the housing market. In that post, he predicted housing would bottom in April, 2010 and as late as 2013 in a worst case scenario. He has finally produced the follow-up, and I post it below. … Read more

Geithner “Doesn’t Understand” How Bankers Can Earn Such Large Bonuses

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner did not sound like much of a Treasury Secretary as he tried yet again to speak about the financial pains of the American people and express empathy. In a CNBC interview with John Harwood, Geithner claims he “doesn’t understand” how bankers can earn such large bonuses given these dark economic times … Read more

Making A Case for A Housing Bottom…As Late As 2013

My brother and I go back and forth in our discussions about the dynamics of the housing industry. He is good on the fundamentals, and I substitute my weakness on the fundamentals with technical analysis, sentiment analysis, and the information I can glean from earnings calls. Today, he wrote out his latest case for the … Read more