With a record of poor shareholder returns, why do the TBTF banks (JPM, C, BAC) even exist, writes Sheila Bair. Capital markets certainly wouldn't finance such "unstable behemoths" if it weren't for their de facto government backstop. Jamie Dimon can provide a better return to shareholders by recognizing his bank is worth more in smaller pieces. [View news story]
While I agree with the sentiment that these TBTF banks are a disaster waiting to happen, the choice of examples here is atrocious. JPM and BAC actually bailed out taxpayers during the financial meltdown, not the other way round. BAC swallowed Merrill and JPM swallowed Washington Mutual. Both took TARP monies but that was more due to Bernanke and Paulson wanting to obscure which banks needed them. The funds were paid back as quickly as the Fed allowed.
Catalan President Artur Mas appeals to Madrid for a rescue, saying his region (home to Barcelona) is running out of debt financing options. "We don't care how (Madrid helps), but we need to make payments at the end of the month." The euro falls to session lows at $1.2510. [View news story]
Thomas,
From left field (whatever that means)? How about from the libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute, founded by Charles Koch: http://bit.ly/JyvFz3 Or are the Koch brothers too far left for you?
Catalan President Artur Mas appeals to Madrid for a rescue, saying his region (home to Barcelona) is running out of debt financing options. "We don't care how (Madrid helps), but we need to make payments at the end of the month." The euro falls to session lows at $1.2510. [View news story]
Angel, California isn't asking for a bailout from the federal gov't. That would be Texas: http://read.bi/w0afiz
Catalan President Artur Mas appeals to Madrid for a rescue, saying his region (home to Barcelona) is running out of debt financing options. "We don't care how (Madrid helps), but we need to make payments at the end of the month." The euro falls to session lows at $1.2510. [View news story]
Schumpeter's Creative Destruction And Nokia's 41 Megapixel Camera Innovation [View article]
"We could quit spending more than we make"
The time to have done that constructively was during the housing bubble. Where were you then? Were you calling for Bush to rein in the deficit? Or were you cheering for the wars that were being charged to the national credit card? Were you worried that the apparent economic boom was based on accumulating debt? Or were you trumpeting the triumphs of tax cuts as having unleashed the "capitalist" genie?
You don't demonstrate that and in fact you demonstrate your own belief to the contrary. Your own example is based on the idea that gold and only gold exists in a fixed amount while everything else is increasing in quantity. You further posit that scarcity, which applies only to gold in your worldview, is the only market force. No other market forces, including demand, exist in your belief system. There would therefore never be a point at which you would be motivated to dispose of your gold.
We can do an definitive demonstration. I presume you have been acquiring gold for a long time and have a stash. How willing are you right now to dispose of your gold? If you're unwilling to sell, you prove my point because you will have demonstrated that you're unwilling to dispose of gold even after it's risen in price v. 10 years ago.
WMW, there's the further problem that you're not ever going to be willing to shave off slivers of your gold bar to use as pocket money. You believe the worth of that gold is going to increase indefinitely and therefore you will never touch it. Your belief in its ever-increasing value makes it worthless to you.
Except that people don't circulate Gold and Silver Eagles as money. They're collector items, not currency.
"having a few ounces that I could use for walking around money"
You missed my point. No one is going to accept your gold shavings as currency because they don't know you and therefore have no reason to take you at your word as to the worth of those shavings.
"All I have to do is present my gold or silver coin to the cashier, they accept it"
You left out the part about where that gold coin comes from. I presume you plan to mint these yourself because otherwise it's just another form of government-issued currency. In that case, you need to explain why any cashier anywhere would be willing to take your word on the content and value of the WMW Coin. If your say-so is that highly regarded, you can skip the part about having to mint gold coins and just issue WMW IOU's. There's no law against that and you can start right away with zero investment overhead.
The Case For 'Dollar Backwardation' [View article]
eabyrd, if that ever happens, then you can talk about how gold is a used *in* a currency. Even then, it wouldn't *be* a currency. If you doubt that, ask yourself how much of that coin's volume would be due to the 0.1 g of gold it might contain and whether or not you can shave off small slivers of your gold bar on your own and use them in the same way without some government having minted a coin out of them.
U.S. Flash PMI (first ever) for May 53.9 vs. April's final read of 56.0. It indicates the slowest level of expansion in three months. New Orders 54.8 Vs. 56.9. Backlogs of Work 51.7 vs. 52.2. Input prices 56.3 vs. 63.1. Output prices 52.8 vs. 53.9. [View news story]
David, I don't doubt that one can question the number. I don't need to read any articles to know that. My point is that there are large regions of the world where exports may have had opportunity to increase. I expect someone will soon lecture me as to how this will soon change because all these economies are about to crash. That also wouldn't change the fact that exports to those economies may have increased during the period of the most recent PMI survey.
The Case For 'Dollar Backwardation' [View article]
I'm not aware of any gold currencies. Gold has collector value, speculative value, and a small bit of industrial value. There's no use of it as a currency.
U.S. Flash PMI (first ever) for May 53.9 vs. April's final read of 56.0. It indicates the slowest level of expansion in three months. New Orders 54.8 Vs. 56.9. Backlogs of Work 51.7 vs. 52.2. Input prices 56.3 vs. 63.1. Output prices 52.8 vs. 53.9. [View news story]
Economies of both China and Indonesia are still growing. "China slowing" still means 8% growth (so far).
With a record of poor shareholder returns, why do the TBTF banks (JPM, C, BAC) even exist, writes Sheila Bair. Capital markets certainly wouldn't finance such "unstable behemoths" if it weren't for their de facto government backstop. Jamie Dimon can provide a better return to shareholders by recognizing his bank is worth more in smaller pieces. [View news story]
Catalan President Artur Mas appeals to Madrid for a rescue, saying his region (home to Barcelona) is running out of debt financing options. "We don't care how (Madrid helps), but we need to make payments at the end of the month." The euro falls to session lows at $1.2510. [View news story]
From left field (whatever that means)? How about from the libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute, founded by Charles Koch: http://bit.ly/JyvFz3 Or are the Koch brothers too far left for you?
Catalan President Artur Mas appeals to Madrid for a rescue, saying his region (home to Barcelona) is running out of debt financing options. "We don't care how (Madrid helps), but we need to make payments at the end of the month." The euro falls to session lows at $1.2510. [View news story]
Catalan President Artur Mas appeals to Madrid for a rescue, saying his region (home to Barcelona) is running out of debt financing options. "We don't care how (Madrid helps), but we need to make payments at the end of the month." The euro falls to session lows at $1.2510. [View news story]
Alpha Natural Resources: Estimating Risk Using The Altman Z-Score [View article]
Why Halliburton May Not Be As Undervalued As You Think [View article]
Schumpeter's Creative Destruction And Nokia's 41 Megapixel Camera Innovation [View article]
The time to have done that constructively was during the housing bubble. Where were you then? Were you calling for Bush to rein in the deficit? Or were you cheering for the wars that were being charged to the national credit card? Were you worried that the apparent economic boom was based on accumulating debt? Or were you trumpeting the triumphs of tax cuts as having unleashed the "capitalist" genie?
Why I Am Short Gold: 5 Reasons [View article]
You don't demonstrate that and in fact you demonstrate your own belief to the contrary. Your own example is based on the idea that gold and only gold exists in a fixed amount while everything else is increasing in quantity. You further posit that scarcity, which applies only to gold in your worldview, is the only market force. No other market forces, including demand, exist in your belief system. There would therefore never be a point at which you would be motivated to dispose of your gold.
We can do an definitive demonstration. I presume you have been acquiring gold for a long time and have a stash. How willing are you right now to dispose of your gold? If you're unwilling to sell, you prove my point because you will have demonstrated that you're unwilling to dispose of gold even after it's risen in price v. 10 years ago.
Why I Am Short Gold: 5 Reasons [View article]
Why I Am Short Gold: 5 Reasons [View article]
"having a few ounces that I could use for walking around money"
You missed my point. No one is going to accept your gold shavings as currency because they don't know you and therefore have no reason to take you at your word as to the worth of those shavings.
What are FRN's?
Why I Am Short Gold: 5 Reasons [View article]
You left out the part about where that gold coin comes from. I presume you plan to mint these yourself because otherwise it's just another form of government-issued currency. In that case, you need to explain why any cashier anywhere would be willing to take your word on the content and value of the WMW Coin. If your say-so is that highly regarded, you can skip the part about having to mint gold coins and just issue WMW IOU's. There's no law against that and you can start right away with zero investment overhead.
The Case For 'Dollar Backwardation' [View article]
U.S. Flash PMI (first ever) for May 53.9 vs. April's final read of 56.0. It indicates the slowest level of expansion in three months. New Orders 54.8 Vs. 56.9. Backlogs of Work 51.7 vs. 52.2. Input prices 56.3 vs. 63.1. Output prices 52.8 vs. 53.9. [View news story]
The Case For 'Dollar Backwardation' [View article]
U.S. Flash PMI (first ever) for May 53.9 vs. April's final read of 56.0. It indicates the slowest level of expansion in three months. New Orders 54.8 Vs. 56.9. Backlogs of Work 51.7 vs. 52.2. Input prices 56.3 vs. 63.1. Output prices 52.8 vs. 53.9. [View news story]