Author Archives: Felix

Is it a Good Time to Sell Gold Yet?

Posted on March 4, 2008 by Felix

With gold topping $980 an ounce, talk of the IMF selling some of its gold reserves is resurfacing again – apparently the US is in favor of "limited" sales, but might still veto any gold-sale proposal, if that makes any … Continue reading →

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Are You a Global Visionary?

Posted on March 4, 2008 by Felix

There’s nothing quite like wading through a pile of backed-up email after a long day of travelling. I get my fair share of vapid press releases, but the one I got at 1:36pm this afternoon is in a class of … Continue reading →

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Auction-Rate Securities, RIP?

Posted on March 4, 2008 by Felix

Do auction-rate securities have a future? I’m not sure myself, so I put a couple of questions to Floyd Newton, a partner in King & Spalding’s finance practice. Floyd has a long history in the auction-rate market, and seems to … Continue reading →

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Watch Out Below!

Posted on March 4, 2008 by Felix

Enjoy.

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Extra Credit, Tuesday Edition

Posted on March 4, 2008 by Felix

I’m on assignment (or travelling, or at a board meeting) for most of Tuesday, so posting will be light to nonexistent. In the meantime… Against ambition: "Ambition is counter-productive for those who possess it, and for the economy generally." A … Continue reading →

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Homeownership Datapoint of the Day

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

James Surowiecki: A study of several major developed economies between 1960 and 1996, by the British economist Andrew Oswald, found a strong relationship between increases in homeownership and increases in the unemployment rate; a ten-per-cent increase in homeownership correlated with … Continue reading →

Posted in housing | 1 Comment

Can Municipalities Wrap Themselves?

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

The Prince of Wall Street has an intriguing idea: why can’t municipalities set up their own monoline? Why do we not see the big issuers of municipal bonds i.e. the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the State … Continue reading →

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NY’s Proposed Foreclosure Moratorium: Too Early

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

Manny Fernandez reports that a pair of New York State lawmakers is attempting to implement a one-year-long moratorium on foreclosures. He illustrates the extent of the problem with this graphic: Now have a look at what Hank Paulson said today: … Continue reading →

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How Spain Avoided a Housing Recession

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

Francisco Torralba has a fascinating look this week at the differences between the mortgage securitization markets in the USA and in Spain. Spain has experienced a much bigger housing bubble than the US, but the problems there are tiny compared … Continue reading →

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Why Airstrikes Don’t Move Markets

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

There’s a lot of big news on the geopolitical front right now: Russia has elected a new president, Israeli forces have pulled out of Gaza, the US has launched airstrikes in Somalia. How come the markets can plunge in reaction … Continue reading →

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Stocks: Lots of Room to Fall

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

Tony Jackson has a good overview of the divergence between the stock market and the bond market. In Europe, the iTraxx Europe index of investment-grade credits has hit an all-time high of 138bp, which seems like a screaming buy over … Continue reading →

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A Bear Market for IPOs

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

Justin Fox reckons that the present financial crisis can’t be all that bad if it’s coinciding with the biggest IPO in US history – especially when that IPO (Visa) is a financial one. It’s a good point, but it’s also … Continue reading →

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Magazine Website Datapoint of the Day

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

I knew that magazines, as a rule, don’t get it when it comes to the web. But I didn’t realise it was this bad: Fewer than 10% even draw as many people online, where their content is free, as they … Continue reading →

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Why Congress Can’t Fix the Ratings Mess

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

Credit ratings wonks will love the detail in Christopher Whalen’s interview with Drexel University’s Joseph Mason today. But my favorite bit is a remark near the beginning: Mason: I have been meeting with some large pension funds outside the US, … Continue reading →

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Municipal Ratings: S&P and Moody’s Diverge

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

The NYT does a very good job of moving the municipal bond ratings story forwards this morning – and making it the newspaper’s lead story, no less. One thing it does is answer my question for John Carney and provide … Continue reading →

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Sawdust Datapoint of the Day

Posted on March 3, 2008 by Felix

Joel Millman’s front-pager on sawdust in the WSJ is everything a WSJ A-hed should be. As the construction industry slows down, there’s much less sawdust to go round, and that’s having devastating consequences in all manner of unlikely places: The … Continue reading →

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Ben Stein Watch: March 2, 2008

Posted on March 2, 2008 by Felix

I have to admit I harbored some hope that Ben Stein wouldn’t have a column in the NYT this week. After all, he had three columns in December, two in January, and only one in February – simple extrapolation would … Continue reading →

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Extra Credit, Weekend Edition

Posted on March 1, 2008 by Felix

The MacBook Air chronicles #4: success with VMWare: "Someday a business historian will figure out whether Microsoft’s decision to release the obviously-unready version of Vista one year ago was a minor bump that will soon be forgotten, or instead a … Continue reading →

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Warren Buffett: No Foe of Sovereign Wealth Funds

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Felix

Warren Buffett, in his annual letter to shareholders: There’s been much talk recently of sovereign wealth funds and how they are buying large pieces of American businesses. This is our doing, not some nefarious plot by foreign governments. Our trade … Continue reading →

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Wine Datapoint of the Day

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Felix

Krug’s new single-vineyard Champagne, the 1995 Clos d’Ambonnay, will sell for between $3,000 and $3,500 a bottle. And it will sell all 3,000 bottles with ease; indeed, the price will be higher on the secondary market than it is on … Continue reading →

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Apple Buybacks: Still a Bad Idea

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Felix

Back in December, I wasn’t a fan of Apple buying back its stock. I’m still not a fan, despite the fact that Apple stock has dropped 40% since then and the fact that Arik Hesseldahl says that a buyback is … Continue reading →

Posted in stocks, technology | 1 Comment

The Irrational Allure of Free Stuff

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Felix

How irrational is our love of Free Stuff? Dan Ariely runs a thought experiment: Consider how long you would be willing to stand in line for a free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream cone. Let’s assume that your answer is … Continue reading →

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Vulture Funds: Homeowners’ Best Friends?

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Felix

I don’t think I persuaded many people with my 5,550-word defense of vulture funds this time last year. Maybe Kambiz Foroohar will have better luck, with his heartwarming story of vulture funds saving homeowners from foreclosure. Or, you know, maybe … Continue reading →

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EMI: Where the Owner Assails the Staff, and Vice-Versa

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Felix

What happens when you cross a creative industry with a private-equity shop? Ask Guy Hands, who just bought EMI: What we are doing is taking the power away from the A&R guys and putting it with the suits – the … Continue reading →

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The Unjustified Google Panic

Posted on February 29, 2008 by Felix

Remember the panic which ensued when comScore announced that Google’s paid-click rate was declining? Henry Blodget went so far as to call it a "Google Disaster", and the shares plunged. But it turns out that the comScore data aren’t nearly … Continue reading →

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