Author Archives: Felix

Pearson Sells a Paper

Posted on December 26, 2007 by Felix

The good news is that Pearson has finally, officially, sold off a financial newspaper it really had no business owning in the first place. The bad news is that it hasn’t sold the FT; it’s merely sold Les Echos, in … Continue reading →

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The Economics of TV Advertising

Posted on December 26, 2007 by Felix

Holly Sanders has found a TV paradox: as ratings fall, ad rates rise. Specifically, ad rates in both the fourth quarter and the first quarter are running 18% above their previous-year levels, even as ratings are 14% lower than they … Continue reading →

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Merry Christmas, Apple Shareholders!

Posted on December 26, 2007 by Felix

For those of you who like round numbers, Apple shares broke the $200-a-share barrier today. 18 months ago, in July 2006, they closed at $50.67. Which I think works out to an annualized growth rate of about 250%. Nice.

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Riccardo Rebonato on the Credit Crunch

Posted on December 26, 2007 by Felix

I have a piece elsewhere on portfolio.com today looking back at this summer’s credit crunch. In it, I quote Riccardo Rebonato, the author of my favorite finance book of the year, Plight of the Fortune Tellers. The quote comes from … Continue reading →

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Why is Temasek Buying Into Merrill?

Posted on December 26, 2007 by Felix

Pranay Gupte has an excellent profile of Temasek, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund which has just invested $4.4 billion in Merrill Lynch. Nobly, he uses the word “nepotism” – which is more than the Financial Times is happy doing. But … Continue reading →

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The Economics of Wine Prices

Posted on December 26, 2007 by Felix

David Leonhardt says that we’re living in a “golden age of inexpensive wine,” and I’d agree, although I might take issue with anybody who describes Yellow Tail as “terrific”. I’d also agree with Leonhardt’s main point, which is that alcohol … Continue reading →

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Luxury Air Travel: Still Not Proven

Posted on December 26, 2007 by Felix

MaxJet is dead, and it’s blaming high oil prices for its demise, as well as “the resulting impact on the credit climate for airlines”. It might, on the other hand, have simply blamed the fact that three different all-business-class airlines … Continue reading →

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Merry Christmas! Buy a Lottery Ticket!

Posted on December 25, 2007 by Felix

Market Movers wishes both all its readers a very merry Christmas. Today, I think, is a good day to go out and buy a lottery ticket. For one thing, buying lottery tickets can be an economically rational thing to do. … Continue reading →

Posted in economics | 1 Comment

Merry Christmas Bleg

Posted on December 25, 2007 by Felix

Merry Christmas to you. As for me, all I want for Christmas is… …a very simple WYSIWYG HTML editor. Why can’t I find one? I spend most of my days writing blog entries. Mostly it’s just text inside <p> tags, … Continue reading →

Posted in Not economics | 5 Comments

Extra Credit, Tuesday Edition

Posted on December 25, 2007 by Felix

Alphabet Soup and the Subprime Crisis: Did SWFs kill the M-LEC? Free Fernando Vina (part two) The NYT Invents “Basic Economics” To Hide Upward Redistribution Mud-Luscious: Balloons for UberNerds Now, Even Borrowers With Good Credit Pose Risks: The risk that … Continue reading →

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Merry Christmas Bleg

Posted on December 24, 2007 by Felix

Merry Christmas to you. As for me, all I want for Christmas is… …a very simple WYSIWYG HTML editor. Why can’t I find one? I spend most of my days writing blog entries. Mostly it’s just text inside <p> tags, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The Denomination Fallacy, Coffee Edition

Posted on December 24, 2007 by Felix

The denomination fallacy normally rears its economically-illiterate head with respect to oil prices. But in the Washington Post today, Anthony Faiola manages to apply it to coffee: For untold millions worldwide, the weak dollar has emerged as a troubling dark … Continue reading →

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Lawsuits as an Asset Class

Posted on December 24, 2007 by Felix

Patrick Hosking has news of two new hedge funds which seek to invest in lawsuits. I don’t think this is new; in fact, I believe that US hedge fund Elliott Associates has been doing it for some time. The problem … Continue reading →

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The Economics of Sports Writing

Posted on December 24, 2007 by Felix

If you know many print journalists, you’ll know they love nothing more than complaining about how underpaid they are and how word rates for freelancers haven’t risen for half a century. So it’s mildly encouraging for all of us that … Continue reading →

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Ben Stein Watch: December 23, 2007

Posted on December 23, 2007 by Felix

Oh yes he did. Not content with penning what was probably the most thoroughly fisked column that the NYT ran all year, Ben Stein has now revisited the scene of his embarrassment, only to compound the crime. Stein has a … Continue reading →

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Extra Credit, Weekend Edition

Posted on December 22, 2007 by Felix

FHA Secure: Wait, How Do 600 Applications Become 35,000? How Rich Is China? New York Condos Lure Deal-Seeking Europeans Bali Schmali? No Cliff Diving for 08-1: There aren’t enough subprime bonds for a new ABX series. Bain, TPG to Buy … Continue reading →

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Subprime: The Class Action Suits

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Felix

NERA Economic Consulting has a new report out on class-action lawsuits. They dropped a lot from 2005 to 2006, but jumped back up again in 2007, thanks in part to 38 – count ’em – lawsuits relating to subprime lending. … Continue reading →

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The Subprime Boom: Was There a Silver Lining?

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Felix

Paul Krugman, today: The explosion of “innovative” home lending that took place in the middle years of this decade was an unmitigated disaster… I use the words “unmitigated disaster” advisedly. Krugman says that the explosion in subprime lending did not … Continue reading →

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Munis Back Away From Ratings-Agency Domination

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Felix

In the world of credit ratings, it’s generally acknowledged that the most overrated securities are structured products, while the most underrated securities are municipal bonds. (You have no idea how nice it is to be able to use the words … Continue reading →

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Silly Idea of the Day: A Micro-Finance CDO

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Felix

Is there something very weird about this? Citigroup has announced a new $165M CDO backed by 30 micro-finance loans to entrepreneurs in 13 countries including Bosnia, Tajikistan, Mexico and El Salvador. What does the “micro” mean in “micro-finance”? Less than … Continue reading →

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A Good Investment for You is Not Necessarily a Good Investment for Me

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Felix

According to Michael Lewis, one of the standard ways in which a stockbroker tries to sell a stock to a small investor is by invoking the hallowed name of Warren Buffett. The intuition is clear: Warren Buffett became a multi-billionaire … Continue reading →

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How to Avoid Jinxing a Conference Call: Don’t Show Up!

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Felix

Did Jimmy Cayne learn a lesson from Al Lord’s disastrous earnings call on Wednesday? Lord was largely responsible for a 20% fall in his company’s share price after he was overly aggressive with analysts. Yesterday, Cayne, who’s not exactly noted … Continue reading →

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Blogonomics: Spelling Things Out for James Ledbetter

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Felix

Is James Ledbetter really incapable of using his remarkable schnozz to sniff through a blog entry and find out what SWF might stand for? The words “sovereign wealth funds” are in there, if you look hard enough. But even if … Continue reading →

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Your Guide to SWF Bank Investments

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Felix

Here’s a handy cut-out-and-keep guide to SWF bank investments, in the wake of the latest speculation about Merrill Lynch selling a stake to Singapore’s Temasek. Date Bank Fund Country Size March 06 Standard Chartered Temasek Singapore $4 billion November 07 … Continue reading →

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Extra Credit, Friday Edition

Posted on December 21, 2007 by Felix

A battle Bush’s EPA can’t win: California is extremely likely to win its appeal of the EPA’s carbon-emissions decision. Citi Lays Off 30 C.D.O. Bankers The Bond Insurance Barge Scam: “For years the investment banks’ internal credit and risk departments … Continue reading →

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