Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Is This the End of Cheap Food?
January 21st, 2008Via: Guardian: ‘It’s going to be interesting,’ says James Walton, chief economist with the food retail industry’s education body, IDG. ‘UK shoppers aged under 50 have so far never experienced food-price inflation.’ Essentially, throughout most Britons’ lifetimes, food has become cheaper. But, in December, the inflation rate (by the government’s preferred consumer price index, the […]
Costly Fuel Means Costly Calories
January 21st, 2008Mainstream media playing catch up… Via: New York Times: Rising prices for cooking oil are forcing residents of Asia’s largest slum, in Mumbai, India, to ration every drop. Bakeries in the United States are fretting over higher shortening costs. And here in Malaysia, brand-new factories built to convert vegetable oil into diesel sit idle, their […]
“This Is Going to Be Worse Than Anybody Thinks”
January 21st, 2008I guess that analyst hasn’t been reading Cryptogon. Via: The Street: Recession is no longer the taboo word on Wall Street. It’s being tossed around like confetti. The new phrase that can’t be uttered is “systemic risk,” and with bond insurer Ambac losing its triple-A credit rating from Fitch Ratings on Friday, the real risk […]
UK: Panic Selling Shuts £2 Billion Real Estate Fund
January 20th, 2008Via: Guardian: One of Britain’s biggest property funds was forced to shut its doors to withdrawals yesterday after the slump in commercial prices triggered panic selling by small investors. The move prompted fears of a Northern Rock-style run on billions of pounds invested in once high-flying funds which many savers have seen as a safe […]
And Now: The AAA Rated Bonds
January 19th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: Ambac Financial Group Inc. scrapped a plan to raise equity capital after the bond insurer’s shares plunged 70 percent in the past two days, putting its AAA credit rating in jeopardy. Without new money, New York-based Ambac risks losing the top ranking it depends on to sell bond insurance. Ambac, the second- largest […]
Opium Fields Spread Across Iraq
January 18th, 2008Do you get it yet? Via: Independent: The cultivation of opium poppies whose product is turned into heroin is spreading rapidly across Iraq as farmers find they can no longer make a living through growing traditional crops. Afghan with experience in planting poppies have been helping farmers switch to producing opium in fertile parts of […]
Forget Helicopter Ben: Bush and Congress Set to Drop Thermonuclear Confetti Bombs
January 18th, 2008Let me get this straight: My wife and I are going to owe no federal income tax and the maniac state is going to give us $1,600!? I don’t remember smoking crack this morning, but that’s what the Bloomberg piece tells us! Wow, now I know what it’s like to be an evil U.S. corporation! […]
Greenspan Joins Hedge Fund that Made Billions Shorting Subprime Derivitives
January 18th, 2008Imagine my shock at the coincidence! Via: Telegraph: Alan Greenspan, the 81 year-old former chairman of the Federal Reserve, is set to join the US hedge fund Paulson & C. as an adviser. Dr Greenspan will advise Paulson on the global financial markets, and under the terms of the agreement he will not advise any […]
A Look at the U.S. Dollar Index
January 17th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. I’m still bearish, overall, on the U.S. Dollar, but I have slightly less confidence in the bets that I’ve made. There’s no point in trying to parse all the bullshit in the financial press. Let’s look at the chicken entrails instead. […]
Gold Support Holding
January 17th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. For everyone who’s not trading this thing… Near term support might be in at around $876, as per this recent post: If it can manage to breakdown below $888, look for support around the first fib fan line. Now, a current […]
