Author Archives: Felix

It’s not often that currency moves have an obvious explanation. But every so often, you can apply the laws of supply and demand to FX. For instance, when Citigroup announced that it was buying Mexico’s Banamex for $12 billion, the … Continue reading →

It was probably inevitable, but that doesn’t make it any less depressing. Barney Frank has now come out and said that investors in mortgage-backed bonds should be liable for the underlying loans. “More money was being lent than should have … Continue reading →

It’s not easy to become a billionaire — making a billion dollars over the course of just one lifetime. On the other hand, if you’re a hedge-fund manager, it seems that making a billion dollars over the course of just … Continue reading →

Merrill Lynch announced last month that it was severely restricting the distribution of its research to journalists. How’s that working out for them? Well, Alphaville today has got its hands on Merrill’s latest ABN Amro report, and is happy to … Continue reading →

John Carney and Thorold Barker agree: Goldman might be a glorified hedge fund, but it sure ain’t valued like one. (If you can’t get past the FT subscription firewall, there’s a decent summary here.) Carney’s solution? Goldman should spin off … Continue reading →

It’s taken five months, and the fat lady (a/k/a Sydney-based Perpetual Investments) hasn’t sung quite yet, but it very much looks as though Mexican cement company Cemex has finally snagged Rinker. Cemex is arguably the best-run company in Latin America, … Continue reading →

Index funds are a smarter bet than mutual funds for retail investors, just because their fees are lower. So why do big institutional investors invest in private-equity companies which charge enormous fees, and which in turn hire investment banks which … Continue reading →

Gordon Hanson is causing quite a stir with his study for the Council on Foreign Relations entitled “The Economic Logic of Illegal Immigration”. (Press release, WSJ op-ed, abstract, paper.) Economically speaking, he concludes, there’s really very little reason to believe … Continue reading →

Brad Setser notes that Brazil just issued a new 10-year bond at 122bp over Treasuries. “I remember when…” he writes — I’ll finish the sentence for him — “Brazil was at 2,400bp over Treasuries”. The official JP Morgan Brazil index … Continue reading →

Via Alea, a Reuters story about a new Citigroup product where you can apparently buy default protection at zero initial cost, paying only if and when the defaults start happening. There’s just enough information in the article for it to … Continue reading →

Gretchen Morgenson had another dreadful column this weekend: the housing “nightmare grows darker,” according to the headline, but Morgenson adduces not a single piece of evidence to that effect. If Morgenson wanted to find real reasons for worry, as opposed … Continue reading →