so republicans don’t want new regulations for the finance industry

22Mar08

hmmm. i guess it pays if the secretary of the treasury is a former investment banker. well besides this, i think if tax payers are bailing out these large organizations then we (as tax payers and the people in power should be just our extended arm) should be able to ask for a bit more [...]

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Tags: bush, compliance, economy, fed, regulations, republicans

understanding risk … and on avoiding loosing the house

22Mar08

the wall street journal has an interesting interview with edward thorp and bill gross in its weekend edition. they talk about how to beat the casino in black jack and how investors can use those learnings to make sound investment decisions — i guess it seems some people didn’t get that message. the advice thorp gives investors [...]

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Tags: economy, hedge funds, stock market, wall street journal

the picture of the day — upside down hockey sticks

18Mar08

i guess despite all of it in german you get the drift (picture below is from german daily faz. what a day! 

 

on the one side i wish the fed would not have bailed out bear stearns and shown the same kind of toughness they show towards all of the low to medium income people who find [...]

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Tags: bear stearns, dollar, economy, euro, fed, stock market

impact of global warming on national infrastructure

16Mar08

as global warming is becoming reality it will be more important to understand all of its consequences. yes, there is the growing water levels that will impact coastal regions/cities. there will be the changing weather patterns. also, these changing weather patterns will impact the spread of diseases (as people living in the US are probably well [...]

Filed under: environment, mid to long term risk   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: global warming, infrastructure, national research council, transportation

could derivatives mean the end for the economy as we know it?

13Mar08

i stumbled across this market watch story on the threat that financial instruments like derivatives could pose for the global economy, especially the financial markets. the article starts with a quote from a berkshire capital  letter to shareholders: 
“We try to be alert to any sort of mega-catastrophe risk, and that posture may make us unduly appreciative about [...]

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Tags: derivatives, economy, financial markets, sub prime, warren buffett