Mon 20 Apr 2009
Prieur’s readings
Posted by Prieur du Plessis under Investment, Markets, Money
The following are some thought-provoking articles I have read over the past few days that readers may also find of interest:
• John Hussman (Hussman Funds): Wishful thinking, April 20, 2009.
At present, the advance we’ve seen over the past several weeks is looking increasingly speculative. We certainly cannot rule out a further advance, but the basis for expecting one is currently weak. Better internals, higher-quality leadership, broader sponsorship, and needless to say, a credible foreclosure abatement plan, would all be helpful “legs” if this advance is to be durable. For now, we don’t observe enough of that evidence.
• Martin Feldstein (Financial Times): Inflation is looming on America’s horizon, April 19, 2009.
The link between fiscal deficits and money growth will be exacerbated by “quantitative easing”, so when the economy begins to recover the Fed may be faced with an inflationary explosion, writes Martin Feldstein
• Sarah Childress (The Wall Street Journal), South Africa’s delicate dance, April 18, 2009.
As Jacob Zuma prepares to take power, the controversial populist tries to soothe business.
• Charles Millard (Financial Times): Vampire pensions could be a corporate nightmare, April 16, 2009.
The law that was designed to protect worker pensions runs the risk of draining the very companies workers depend on for their livelihood and retirement benefits.
• (Knowledge@Wharton): Hope, Greed and Fear: The Psychology behind the Financial Crisis, April 15, 2009.
• Mark Kiesel (Pimco): US Credit Perspectives - opportunities in high-quality credit, April 2009.
Financial turmoil, economic weakness and widespread deleveraging in global markets over the past year have raised some historical opportunities in high-quality corporate bonds for investors that know where to find them.
• Viral Acharya, Matthew Richardson and Nouriel Roubini (Financial Times): Concorde’s fate offers a lesson for finance, April 15, 2009.
The goal is not to have the most advanced financial system, but one that is reasonably advanced and robust.
• Edmund Phelps (Financial Times): Uncertainty bedevils the best system, April 14, 2009.
The future of capitalism: Unfortunately, there is still no wide understanding among the public of the benefits that can fairly be credited to capitalism and why these benefits have costs. This has left capitalism vulnerable to opponents and to ignorance within the system. Regaining a well-functioning capitalism will require re-education and deep reform.
• Martin Wolf (Financial Times): Cutting back financial capitalism is America’s big test, April 14, 2009.
Decisive restructuring is necessary, because bankruptcy - and so losses for unsecured creditors - must be a part of any durable solution to this economic crisis.
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April 20th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Thank you for the effort. Very helpful. Your weekend posts were also excellent. The time spent rivaled Barron’s. which rarely happens. There is so much misinformation being put out by MSM apparently trying to hype this rally, we are susceptible to being mislead. I suspect that is their game. So now I get the vast majority of my information from financial blogs, select independent websites and Barrorn’s. And content of the financial porn networks (as Doug Short calls them) is taken as suspect. I’ve come to mistrust CNBC (and the others) and rely on folks like you. Thanks.
April 20th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I second basehitz comments. You are doing all your readers a great service by giving us a balanced view of the financial scene (as opposed to the conflict of interest riddled MSM)!
Many thanks,
Rick
April 20th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Vampire pensions . . . I guess contracts with employees aren’t as sacrosanct as those in the banking industry.
It’s not like the major financial firms really do have any tallent. Theyre own people created this mess, who says they can get us out of it.
It’s such a shame that people confuse brains wiht a bull market, and would slaughter their neighbor to support a thieving banking system. All for the hope of getting rich.
Please give us more rounded reporting. It feels as if you’re pandering to the upper class, a group that of potential clients that is shrinking.