Prieur’s readings (December 25, 2009)

By Prieur du Plessis, on December 25th, 2009 posted in: Investment, Markets, Money

This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.

• Randall Forsyth (Barron’s): What I learned in 2009, December 23, 2009.
Cheap valuations and high yields make for low risks, even during a panic. Now valuations are rich, yields have fallen and complacency has spread.

• John Crudele (New York Post): Move over, Ben, meet a real Man of the Year, December 24, 2009.
Time Magazine has its Person of the Year. And, now, I have mine. Meet Trinie Jestine, who in 2009 accomplished what a lot of people couldn’t: He landed a job.

• NPR: Geithner voices confidence about economic rebound, December 22, 2009.
Pointing to signs that the economy is growing and on the path to recovery, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says Americans can be more confident about their financial security, their financial future and their employment outlook.

• Gretchen Morgenson and Louise Story (The New York Times): Banks bundled bad debt, bet against it and won, December 23, 2009.

• Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (Telegraph): Charles Goodhart warns of return to recession as bank lending falls, December 22, 2009.
The contraction of bank lending and the M3 money supply in the US and Europe over recent months has become a serious concern and raises the risk of a slide back into recession, according to one of Britain’s most celebrated economists.

• Nouriel Roubini & Rachel Ziemba (Forbes): Commodities will crawl in 2010, December 24, 2009.
Oil and product demand are recovering, but they’re still way off decade-high levels.

• Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (Telegraph): Fitch warns that Britain and France risk losing their AAA rating, December 22, 2009.
Fitch Ratings has given its bluntest warning to date that Britain and France risk losing their AAA status unless they map out a clear path to budget discipline over the next year.

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