links for 2009-12-22

The euro is overvalued by between 7% and 8% relative to other major currencies, and a further rise could be a "serious concern" for the more open euro-zone economies, the European Commission said.

A closely watched bond-market measure of investor optimism hit a record Monday, amid signs the U.S. economy's recovery is strengthening. That measure is the yield curve — the difference between short-term and long-term interest rates on government bonds. That number is at its highest level ever, surpassing the record set in June, and signals that investors are expecting a stronger economic turnaround ahead.

A hedge-fund manager who is betting against First Solar Inc.’s stock wants his $9 cab fare back after he was invited to a company analyst event then turned away at the door.

Investors are yanking money out of money funds and moving to bond funds — but some are just cashing out.

Borrowing the dollar cheaply to fund purchases of higher-yielding assets was a no-brainer in 2009, thanks to the Federal Reserve's repeated assurances that U.S. interest rates would stay low "for an extended period."

Early this year, I wrote a post “We are in depression”, which called the ongoing downturn a depression with a small ‘d.’ I was optimistic that policymakers could engineer a fake recovery predicated on stimulus and asset price reflation – and this was bullish for financial shares if not the broader stock market. But, we are witnessing temporary salves for a deeper structural problem.