Author Archives: Felix

SEC vs Chanos: Another Silly Sideshow

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Felix

Has the SEC learned nothing? Its investigations of David Einhorn, rather than the companies he was shorting, were idiotic. Its ban on short-selling financial stocks was idiotic. (The XLF financials ETF was at $22 when the ban was implemented; it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in regulation | 1 Comment

Stanford: The MSM’s Caution

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Felix

While it’s somewhat heartening to see the MSM pick up the Stanford story, one can’t help but be struck by the ultracautious way in which they’re doing so. The WSJ, for instance, finally gets on the case today, under the … Continue reading →

Posted in fraud, Media | 1 Comment

Extra Credit, Thursday Edition

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Felix

Confessions of a Reluctant Whistleblower, Or how the Blogosphere took on Stanford: Alex Dalmady blogs! Lots of interesting inside-media tidbits, too, if you like that kind of thing. Half of all CDOs of ABS failed: Looks like the markets were … Continue reading →

Posted in remainders | 1 Comment

The Moody’s USA Downgrade

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Felix

Can the yield on US Treasuries be considered the "risk free rate of return" if there are other securities which are lower-risk than US Treasuries? Moody’s now admits two things: firstly that triple-A doesn’t mean risk-free (thanks, guys, I think … Continue reading →

Posted in credit ratings | 1 Comment

The Tragedy of Political Reality

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Felix

I taped a Bloggingheads diavlog with Jesse Eisinger this afternoon, which should go up on Monday. We ended up in a pessimistic place: a Japanese outcome to this economic and financial crisis seems much more likely than a Swedish outcome, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | 1 Comment

Stanford’s Self-Incriminating Memo

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Felix

Memo to Allen Stanford: Be careful what you write in memos, because they leak. Bloomberg’s Alison Fitzgerald has her hands on his latest missive to employees: R. Allen Stanford, the billionaire chairman of Houston-based investment firm Stanford Group Co., said … Continue reading →

Posted in fraud | 1 Comment

Malaria: Easterly vs Gates

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Felix

Bill Easterly is on the warpath, accusing Bill and Melinda Gates of using "phony numbers" when they claim small victories in the war on malaria: False victories can mislead and distract critical malaria efforts. Alas, Mr. and Mrs. Gates are … Continue reading →

Posted in development | 1 Comment

Low-Probability Disaster of the Day, Exosphere Edition

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Felix

From Andy Pazstor: Pentagon brass, satellite industry executives and NASA leaders for years have publicly expressed concern about the dangers of orbital debris. But the odds of a direct hit between satellites were considered so small as to be basically … Continue reading →

Posted in statistics | 1 Comment

Stanford Update

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Felix

The Stanford Group story is finally, slowly, making its way into the mainstream media, with BusinessWeek and Bloomberg both reporting that the group is undergoing a new SEC investigation. BusinessWeek’s Matthew Goldstein also has the news that Charlesworth A.S. Hewlett, … Continue reading →

Posted in banking, fraud | 1 Comment

Extra Credit, Wednesday Edition

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Felix

Dalmady to Stanford International Bank: Show Me The Money! Alex Dalmady comes right out and says that the $8 billion doesn’t exist. Right now, I’m inclined to agree with him: I asked the Stanford spokesman this afternoon if he was … Continue reading →

Posted in remainders | 2 Comments

Suze Update

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Felix

I’ve been blogging for a good seven years now, and I’ve never — not even close — received anything like the amount of positive feedback that I got today for my blog entry on Suze Orman. I clearly touched a … Continue reading →

Posted in personal finance | 1 Comment

Kanjorski and the Money Market Funds: The Facts

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Felix

With the Kanjorski Meme still spreading (see Ben Smith, Andrew Leonard, Moldbug, and more), I think I’m finally able to squash it with some hard figures: there never was a $500 billion outflow from any asset class in the space … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, Politics | 1 Comment

In Praise of Suze Orman

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Felix

The kind of people who read Portfolio.com — or, for that matter, The Big Money — are not Suze Orman’s target audience. You, dear reader, are likely an urban sophisticate; you’re probably male; there’s a very good chance you work … Continue reading →

Posted in personal finance | 5 Comments

Brandeis, UMIFA, and UPMIFA

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Felix

The WSJ has a good article today on the UMIFA vs UPMIFA endowment debate, although it sensibly avoids even mentioning the acronyms. In case you’re not a non-profit legislation nerd, it basically comes down to when you can spend your … Continue reading →

Posted in art | 1 Comment

McGraw Hill vs Ritholtz

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Felix

In the annals of unconvincing excuses, McGraw Hill’s stated reason for dropping Barry Ritholtz’s book comes pretty high up the list: McGraw Hill spokesman Steven Weiss this afternoon said the publisher dropped the book because of a conflict with Ritholtz … Continue reading →

Posted in publishing | 1 Comment

Extra Credit, Tuesday Edition

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Felix

Starting Public-Sector Jobs With Parting Gifts in Hand: Tim Geithner is getting about $500k from the New York Fed; Mary Schapiro is getting $7.2 million from Finra. Disfarmer — The Puppet Version: Richard Lacayo says that bunraku-puppet photographer-bioplays with live … Continue reading →

Posted in remainders | 2 Comments

Barack Obama for Treasury Secretary!

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Felix

After Tim Geithner’s uninspired and uninspiring performance today, Barack Obama stepped up to show him how questions about nationalization should be answered: TERRY MORAN: There are a lot of economists who look at these banks and they say all that … Continue reading →

Posted in bailouts, banking | 1 Comment

Can We Trust Statistics?

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Felix

The Numbers Game, which was something of a surprise bestseller in England, has finally made it stateside. It’s probably the clearest book I’ve yet seen on all the different ways in which numbers can lie or mislead, and as such … Continue reading →

Posted in statistics | 1 Comment

The Kanjorski Meme

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Felix

This is the way that memes propagate: after appearing on LiveLeak and being picked up by Zero Hedge (twice), Paul Kedrosky, and Clusterstock, it hit BoingBoing, and now it’s everywhere: Panzer, Alphaville, SAR, the Economist, you name it. I’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, Politics | 1 Comment

Geithner’s Vague Plan

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Felix

I like the symmetry here. On November 21, when Barack Obama announced that he was nominating Tim Geithner to be his Treasury secretary, the Dow rose 494 points and broke through the 8,000 barrier. On February 10, when Geithner gave … Continue reading →

Posted in bailouts | 1 Comment

What’s Going On at Stanford International Bank?

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Felix

Ray Pellecchia and I think that if Harry Markopolos had put his theories about Bernie Madoff online, Madoff would not have been able to continue his scam much longer. Against that, a lot of people are saying that no matter … Continue reading →

Posted in banking, fraud | 2 Comments

Sorkin’s Questions Answered

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Felix

Andrew Ross Sorkin has a great list of questions this morning for Congress to ask the big banks’ CEOs when they appear in Washington tomorrow. He’s too polite to provide the real answers, so let me try. 1. Try to … Continue reading →

Posted in banking | 2 Comments

Extra Credit, Monday Edition

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Felix

The case for bonuses: "The answer is the one given by the Tory leader David Cameron today, which is that if taxpayers hadn’t rescued those banks then those employees wouldn’t have jobs, let alone bonuses." CNBC vs. Barrons: The Complete … Continue reading →

Posted in remainders | 2 Comments

The CNBC Cacophony, Taleb-Roubini Edition

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Felix

Josh Marshall points to a classic case of people talking past each other, when Nassim Taleb and Nouriel Roubini appear on CNBC to talk about big-picture economic crisis, while the anchors in the studio are interested in things like why … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | 1 Comment

Why Micropayments Won’t Work for the NYT

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Felix

I’m not sure why the micropayments-as-the-savior-of-journalism meme seems to have taken off of late, but I’m glad there are lots of people trying to squash it: I’d particularly recommend Gabe Sherman and Clay Shirky. But in the case of Steve … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | 1 Comment