The Dow, as of this posting, is below 9000 points. I think it would be in everyone’s best interest if the markets took a day off. I know Columbus day is Monday, but a four-day weekend would do everyone wonders.
On the plus side, there’s a three-day weekend coming.
UPDATE: The Dow ended up losing 679 points today, closing at 8579. Good grief.
Comments rssPBS’s FRONTLINE program, which always achieves an incredible level of journalism, recently ran a program on healthcare systems around the world. The premise of the program is whether the U.S. could learn anything from other modern, post-industrial, capitalist societies. The answer, of course, is “yes, the U.S. has a lot to learn.”
Comments rssFormer Countrywide executives are forming a new company that will restructure sub-prime mortgage debt (at their discretion) by buying it from banks (at a discount) and profiting on the new loan.
Why is no one else complaining that the executives who created this mess are not only allowed to profit both from the creation of the problem and cleaning up their mess?
Comments rssThe Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) cut the federal funds rate by 75 basis points today, on continuing concerns that the US economy is going down the tubes fast. With inflation on the rise, the dollar on the slide, and more and more jobs simply ceasing to exist, it’s hard to argue.
According to the BBC, the Bank of New York is quoted as saying that “By cutting 75 points rather than 100 points, the Fed sought to restore leadership over the market and indicate that its actions would not be entirely dictated by market expectations.”
How exactly is this not giving in to “market expectations” entirely? Its as if the Fed said to the (stock) market: “Okay. We’ll bake you a cake. We’ll ice the cake for you. We’ll even put candles on the cake. But you better believe we’re not going to light the candles for you. You can’t tell us what to do.”
From [BBC NEWS | Business | Federal Reserve slashes US rates]
Comments rssBetween studying for the bar exam and sleeping, I find a few moments out of my day to read the newspapers. In particular, I like to read the French newspapers to help develop my language skills.
Today, I encountered an article in Le Monde stating that the SEC is investigating possible securities fraud in connection with the Société générale fiasco.
While the news of a “rogue trader” who gambled more than 50 billion € ($74 billion) and is reported to have lost at least 7 billion € has not had much press in the US, it is a major story in France.
What I find interesting is the possibility that the SEC will be able to have a direct regulatory impact on a French bank. Such transnational regulation is becoming more commonplace; see, for example, my discussion of the European Commission’s merger control investigation of Google’s DoubleClick acquisition.
(Update: forgot some zeros on M. Kerveil’s fraud. Should be 7 billion Euros, not 7 million).
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