Monthly Archives: May 2008

US Sugar: No Victim of Nafta

Posted on May 31, 2008 by Felix

Mary Williams Walsh, in the NYT, has a good investigation of US Sugar, and the way that its managers seem to be enriching themselves at the expense of their employee-shareholders. It is unfortunate, however, that one sentence, buried in her … Continue reading →

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Import-Export Datapoint of the Day

Posted on May 31, 2008 by Felix

Justin Fox: Starting early this year, though, things changed. Loaded outbound containers outnumbered empties in February, March, and April, the first such three-month run, Wong says, since the spring of 2000. The totals so far in 2008 are 1,033,655 loaded … Continue reading →

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Extra Credit, Friday Edition

Posted on May 30, 2008 by Felix

Drinking and Driving: The relative cost of beer and gasoline. Drink more, drive less! A Road Map for Natural Capitalism: Amory Lovins on how to make money by being planet-friendly. Brazil wins second key investment rating: From Fitch. Is the … Continue reading →

Posted in remainders | Leave a comment

Seared

Posted on May 30, 2008 by Felix

Evan Newmark has a good analysis of Sears Holdings today. I really can’t see any reason to hold this stock: all the old reasons don’t seem to pertain any more. Eddie Lampert has given up on the idea of running … Continue reading →

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CDOs Return

Posted on May 30, 2008 by Felix

Accrued Interest has a very good post in defense of CDOs, explaining that they make a lot more sense than SIVs or hedge funds playing in the credit space: In most cases, SIVs collapsed not because they took on too … Continue reading →

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Silverjet, RIP

Posted on May 30, 2008 by Felix

Another airline bites the dust: this time it’s Silverjet, the all-business-class airline: it lasted just a few months longer than MaxJet. The official statement from Silverjet is pathetic, in the literal sense of the word: We extend our sincerest apologies … Continue reading →

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How Bear Failed

Posted on May 30, 2008 by Felix

Did you have time to read more than 10,000 words by Kate Kelly on the fall of Bear Stearns? It’s an interesting series, full of color. My favorite bit is Jamie Dimon vs Vikram Pandit: Late Sunday night, as lawyers … Continue reading →

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Defending Libor

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Felix

Carrick Mollenkamp and Mark Whitehouse got some pretty heavyweight backing for their Libor investigation today: before running it on the front page of the WSJ, they got sign-offs from Darrell Duffie of Stanford, Mikhail Chernov of London Business School, and … Continue reading →

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Marking to Last Year’s Market, Charity Ball Edition

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Felix

In the very first issue of Portfolio, last year, Tom Wolfe reported on the annual charity ball held by the Robin Hood foundation. After listing the excesses of the auction (ten "power meals" for $650,000; a "five-day “Surf and Sun” … Continue reading →

Posted in consumption, economics, housing | Leave a comment

The Economics of Rick Mishkin

Posted on May 29, 2008 by Felix

This, from Brad DeLong, seems relevant, somehow, in the wake of Rick Mishkin’s resignation from the board of governors of the Federal Reserve: In other disciplines to leave your university because another offers to pay you more entails personal humiliation … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, fiscal and monetary policy, pay | Leave a comment