ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) Alix Steel, a reporter for thestreet.com, discussed gold on Nightly Business Report, July 26. She claimed that gold’s low volume, summer rally is being fueled by fears of a default on U.S. debt. Nevermind that … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) On Friday, July 15, Evergreen Solar (ESLR) filed a Form 8-K with the SEC to announce that the company has suspended payment of $4.1M in interest on some of its debt. If interest remains unpaid … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) It has been a while since I last looked at Deutsche Bank (DB). At that time, I was focused on a pairs trade strategy versus Goldman Sachs (GS). So when I noted last week that GS … Read more
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), its 33 member countries will almost double government borrowing from 2007 to 2011 to the tune of $19 trillion. In the face of this ramp in borrowing (and spending) bond investors are supposed should sit back and calmly continue to absorb all the sovereign requests … Read more
Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass, managing partner at Hayman Investments, earned his claim to fame by predicting the crash in housing prices and the financial crisis that would follow. Now, he has focused his cold stare on the bubbles in sovereign debt in developed economies. The folks at CNBC’s Strategy session interviewed Bass last week … Read more
PBS Newshour aired a segment on Tuesday’s show called “Mortgage Defaults” as part of its “Making Sense” financial series (click here for video, segment aired 25:45 to 35:00). I highly recommend that anyone interested in real estate watch this segment. Newshour picked three example Floridians who are dealing with defaults on their mortgages: A restaurant … Read more
“The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7, New International Version) This proverb is understood all too well by anyone who has become impoverished by severe indebtedness. I thought of this proverb as I read a Reuters article titled “Eurozone gives Greece 30 days to show good … Read more
LDK Solar (LDK) dropped 15% today as the company announced it will issue 18.9 American Depository Receipts as part of a larger bid to remain a going concern. LDK filed a 6K with the SEC summarizing its problems with cash flow, and its plan to arrest its descent into bankruptcy. The introduction states: “We are … Read more
Now that major markets worldwide have completely recovered from the Dubai debacle of last week, it is easy to consider this episode just another blip on the way to eternal bliss. Not even the U.S. dollar could sustain more than a mirage of strength on this “temporary crisis” (I had thought that even after the … Read more
The Washington Post issued an alarming article today titled “Housing Agency’s Cash Reserves Will Drop Below Requirement.” In what seems like yet another case of “here we go again,” Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Commissioner David H. Stevens tells us not to worry about his agency’s dwindling reserves even as mortgage delinquencies rise. The Post explains … Read more