Tag Archives: investing ideas

Setting Rules for Capital and Liquidity

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Felix Salmon submits: Kevin Drum and I had a thrilling discussion about liquidity risk and capital ratios over lunch on Friday. He sums up: Getting Congress and the Fed to impose higher and more rigid capital requirements on big financial institutions is important, but what’s even more important is getting an international agreement in place to make sure everyone else does it too. However, there’s really no one who does a good job of reporting on this. Largely this is because the discussions are all held behind closed doors, so we only hear about the status of negotiations when someone like Larry Summers or Mervyn King drops hints in a speech. It’s like reporting on the intelligence community, except worse. Complete Story

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Today in Commodities: Closing the Curtain on Q1

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Matthew Bradbard submits: Yes folks, believe it or not Q1 is over this week. Crude is convincingly higher, closing above the 9 and 20 day MA for the first time in 8 days. We are abandoning all short strategies, as we said we would on a close above $82 in May. That is not to say we are getting long; we have advised clients to move to the sidelines. Buying was rejected in natural gas today with prices, as of this post, off their lows but 10 cents off their highs. We are almost at our threshold for pain on longs, so we most likely are close to turning around. New entries are advised to look at 50 cent call spreads in June; i.e.$4.00/4.50 or $4.25/4.75. Indices were all higher on the day but have yet to get above last Thursday’s highs. Whether we move higher or lower from here will likely be up to Friday’s NFP number. Complete Story

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Oxygen Bio Takes Big Step Forward

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Zacks.com submits: This morning, Oxygen Biotherapeutics ( OXBT ) announced that the company has begun distribution of its new formulation of Dermacyte (perfluorocarbon oxygen concentrated gel) for the beauty and skin care market. This is essentially the full-scale rollout of Dermacyte following the pilot launch in the fourth quarter 2009 when the company made available 5,000 boxes on the company’s website, www.BuyDermacyte.com. According to management, the product sold out in the first month after the initial stock became available online. The new formulation, which will be manufactured in continuing batches, incorporates a smoother and more effective concentrate to provide oxygen to the skin. The product helps promote the healthy appearance of skin by minimizing the appearance of fine lines, brightening and smoothing the complexion, and by keeping skin moist and oxygenated. Complete Story

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The Regulatory Revolving Door

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Ira Stoll submits: In the post about Paulson & Co.’s $32 billion in assets under management we mentioned that one benefit of being that big is that you get invited to meetings like the one the FDIC held last week . Representing Paulson & Co. at the meeting, according to a participants list , was a senior vice president, Allen Puwalski, whose “Linked In” resume reports that he was chief of bank analysis at the FDIC from 2003 to 2005. Other participants included John L. Douglas, a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell. Mr. Douglas, who was general counsel of the FDIC from 1987 to 1989, lately has been “counseling Citigroup with respect to FDIC matters,” according to his law firm’s Web site . Complete Story

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Rising Consumer Spending Is Boosting ETFs

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Tom Lydon submits: The money isn’t exactly flying around yet, but consumers opened their wallets a little wider last month. The news, which is what economists had anticipated, is sending exchange traded funds higher this morning. With consumer spending being two-thirds of the economy, you’d better believe that any improvement on that front will be greeted with a measure of jubilation. Consumer spending rose for the fifth straight month in February. The 0.3% growth matched economists’ expectations. Later this week, the Labor Department will deliver its monthly employment report. The consensus is that it will show jobs growth. Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ( XLY ) is up slightly this morning. [ Retail ETFs Have Their Work Cut Out. ] Complete Story

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Why I Don’t Like the ‘Saving the World Forever’ Approach to Financial Reform

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Rortybomb submits: Paul Krugman writes about the current financial reform efforts, and uses a great metaphor for regulatory regimes. Greek armies were specialized and fought better when they had great leaders, while Roman armies were more generic but robust to poor leadership. “And in the end, since mediocre leaders are the norm, the Roman way prevailed.” Heh. Complete Story

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An Update on 10-Year Treasury Yields

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Calafia Beach Pundit submits: (Click to enlarge) As 10-year Treasury yields work their way slowly higher (first chart), I thought it would be appropriate to revisit the long-term context (second chart). Yields are up almost 200 bps from their lows, but they are still very low by historical standards. To think that yields of 4% or even 5% pose a threat to the economy seems rather farfetched, when you consider that the economy grew strongly in the 1980s despite yields of 8% and higher, and despite yields being significantly higher than inflation. Similarly, it’s hard to see how the recent emergence of trillion-and-a-half dollar deficits has had any meaningful upward impact on yields. Complete Story

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