Stimulus Projects for the Double Dip Recession

As fears mount that the United States is dipping into a double-dip recession and headed down the road of deflationary Japan, Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke tip-toed, tap-danced, and downright side-stepped these landmines during his testimony to the Senate today. The market still did not like what it heard, sold off nearly the instant the Semiannual … Read more

Handwringing Distracting Investors from Good Economic News

I am always intrigued by the words of optimism and the steadfast bullish arguments in the midst of market sell-offs. I am not talking about technical assessments calling for a short-term bounce. I am talking about the “everything is just fine” variety. Monday’s Nightly Business Report provided a picture-perfect example of such talk from Bernarnd … Read more

Market Oddities Abound in This Era of Globalization

(This is a guest post written by “Chenzo” of forexcharts.net) If any lesson was clear during the past few turbulent weeks of trading, it was that our markets are more closely entwined than ever. Perhaps this is a sign of our continuing globalization path, but the waves created by any financial event are traveling across … Read more

“Collateral Damaged” Tackles America’s Addiction to Debt and Credit

“Collateral Damaged: The Marketing of Consumer Debt to America” by Charles R. Geisst is a detailed and captivating examination of the history and growth of consumer debt in America. The book scrutinizes the political, cultural, social, and financial forces that converged to inflate America’s tremendous bubble in consumer credit. Geisst reaches all the way back … Read more

SEC Makes Up for Lost Time By Going for Maximum Impact on Goldman Sachs Fraud Charge

The news has rippled across the globe that the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) finally got around to charging Goldman Sachs with fraud: “The SEC alleges that Goldman Sachs structured and marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) that hinged on the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Goldman Sachs failed to disclose to … Read more