Economy Blog » 2008 » January

Economy Blog
Everything about the economy in a single blog

RSS | Visita nuestra web

(January 30, 2008 03:56 PM, by Arnold Kling) Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand and The Dismal Science by Stephen Marglin……
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 23:56

Economists React: Fed Racing to Tie

Economists and others weigh in on the the Fed’s half-percentage-point reduction in interest rates.

We anticipate that Bernanke and his FOMC will continue with an aggressive course of rate cutting in order to boost economic growth. It?s looking less certain, however, that Fed action will be able to help the economy avert a recession. Think of the situation like this: the Fed is in a footrace with the economy, but their goal isn?t to win, it?s to tie. When the two racers are in step, the Fed can move and cut rates at a steady pace, so long as the decline in economic growth remains consistent with expectations. With recent volatility, however, the Fed has been forced to take aggressive action and, given the deterioration in economic conditions, further aggressive action seems likely. &…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 23:42

William Poole: Fed Guy Sez, I Don’t Like Mondays

Maybe it’s just me, but there is something sort of bizarre about Federal Reserve board member William Poole’s dissent on last week’s rate cut, and then non-dissent on this week’s cut. In short, he dissented on the 75-basis-point cut, saying he wanted it to happen on the Fed’s regular schedule. And then he didn’t dissent on today’s 50-basis-point cut, even though the Fed had cut so much last week. What are we to make of this? If Poole originally thought 125-basis points in cuts in a week was warranted, as he apparently does, based on today’s non-dissent, then he clearly thought the economy was in dire straits. But he didn’t want to make the cut last week, despite wanting 125-basis points in cuts. …
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 23:31

Write-Offs: 01.30.08

$$$ New Fed Policy: ‘No Rogue Trader Left Behind’ [Jeff Matthews]

$$$ Jerome Kerviel (almost) did what brother Olivier could not. [Telegraph]

$$$ The Big R [WallStrip]

…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 23:22

Department of Improbable Statistics, Beer Edition

Parmy Olson on beer drinking in Germany:

Things will get worse as a new, national smoking ban takes hold across the country. Pub sales should drop by a third this year because of the ban, according to the German Brewers Association.

Why do journalists insist on gullibly regurgitating such obviously false and alarmist statistics? Smoking bans have been enforced everywhere from New York to Newcastle, and nowhere has consumption fallen by anything approaching a third. Many people actually are actually prone to spending m…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 23:22

Intuitive Surgical Braces For Earnings (ISRG)

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) is set to report earnings after the close on Thursday. Shares closed at $235.00 Wednesday, down from a 52-week high of $359.59 and down from a December 31 close of $323.00. First Call has estimates at $1.04 EPS on $175.9 million in revenues. As far as Q1-2008, estimates are $0.98 EPS on $172.6 million revenues. Its fiscal-2008 estimates are $4.70 EPS on $811.1 million in revenues, representing an estimated 34% earnings per share growth and 38% revenue growth for 2008. While everyone will be focused on Google earnings, this is at a critical juncture as…
…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 23:12

Google: Thoughts on Earnings, and Q4 Cheat Sheet

Search and ad kingpin Google reports Q4 results tomorrow, and it will be a lightning rod. While most people are expect a solid quarter, there is a chance of a hiccup given reported weakness in U.S. search inventory toward the end of December. Similarly, most agencies are reporting slackening demand in the period, with marginally less growth than they expected. On the other hand, the search-related end of the online ad market, as currently constituted, is looking increasingly like at a winner-take-all market — and Google looks like the company that is taking it all. It grows search share, it’s piece of ad spend, and pretty much everything else at everyone else’s expense every damn quarter. And, with Yahoo’s results now in-hand, we know that it didn’t do much to unsettle the GOOG in the quarter. Okay, it didn’t do anything to unsettle Google, and it guided down, suggesting that has no near-term plans to get in Google’s financial face either. …
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 23:07

Bank Executives…The ONLY Free Lunch Recipients and AMAZON flows BLOOD RED

Is there a better freaking job than a bank executive. When times are good, you lend, wine and dine recklessly. When they are bad, you keep your job and pocket FED money while doing nothing. You wait. You wait some more and than when the spread is disgusting again, only than will you dip your toes back in the lending water.
Basically, the government subsidizes you. You add no value to the system. You are catching up to lawyers and fast.
…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 23:03

FX: Asian Currencies Rise after Fed Rate Cut

Interest rate differential favours regional currencies….
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 23:00

The Lone Dissenter: Dallas’s Fisher

The latest fad in monetary policy: Dissenting on the Federal Open Market Committee. Today’s Federal Reserve decision marked the fourth straight meeting in which a Fed official has voted against his colleagues, an unprecedented willingness among FOMC members to object so openly to Fed decisions.

…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:59

Why Investors aren’t Being Aggressive Enough

Good missive today from Tom Sowanick of Clearbrook Financial arguing that most investors are filtering out good economics news, ignoring the Fed’s highly stimulative econo-therapy, and their portfolios are therefore not aggressive enough: Consider that the recession mongers feasted on last month’s anemic employment gains of only 18,000 and then gorged themselves on the unemployment rate increase from 4.7% to 5%. Since then, initial unemployment claims have fallen every week and are currently at their lowest levels since last May. In addition, this morning’s ADP employment report came in at 130,000, versus the consensus estimate of only 40,000. This data strongly suggests that either last month’s employment report will be revised higher, or this month’s report (due out on Friday) will be stronger than the consensus expectation of 65,000….
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:45

Fun Weather Factoids

From a Planalytics email today, some wild weather across the U.S.: There was a 105 degree F. difference in high temperatures between the -17 measured at Devils Lakes, North Dakota and the 88 degree reading at McAllen, Texas. Many cities across the Plains, Midwest, and Great Lakes experienced a 40-50 degree temperature drop within a six hour period along with storm force winds of 35-60 mph. I…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:35

Accuray, Neither Recession Proof Nor Credit Proof (ARAY)

Accuray Inc. (NASDAQ: ARAY) is being punished in after-hours trading. The company posted earnings at $0.04 EPS on revenues of $52 million. The problem is that First Call was at $0.09 EPS on $58.2 million. The company also gave 2008 revenue guidance of $210 to $230 million, down from a prior guidance of $250 to $270 million and down from consensus estimates of almost $265 million. This represents 50% to 64% revenue growth projected over 2007, but it isn’t enough. Accuray was in a position that you would think is recession-proof and full of growth ahead. Its own CyberKnife Robotic…
…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:35

Tax Cuts Under Price Controls

(January 30, 2008 02:23 PM, by Bryan Caplan) Yesterday I was explaining Singapore’s clever approach to fiscal stimulus to Russ Roberts at lunch. During the explanation, I realized……
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:23

The Fed and Markets Agree

In the end, the Fed did what the market wanted, which was to cut by a half-point, dropping the federal-funds target to 3%, putting the rate at its lowest level since June 29, 2005. In its statement the committee even cited financial market stress — odd considering that the major indicators of credit stress, LIBOR rates and commercial paper rates, have rebounded.
“Financial markets remain under considerable stress, and credit has tightened further for some businesses and households,” the Fed …
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:19

Top 10 Most Searched Stocks on TheStreet.com, January 30

addslashes(Top 10 Most Searched Stocks on TheStreet.com, January 30

…
Original Source
)

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:16

They Just Don’t Get Microsoft and Yahoo!

They Just Don’t Get Microsoft and Yahoo!

…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:16

Starbucks Earnings, Ammo For Bulls & Bears Alike (SBUX)

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) is seeing shares trade slightly lower in after-hours trading after earnings. The coffee inflating retailer posted earnings of $0.28 EPS on revenues of $2.8 Billion, yet First Call estimates were $0.27 EPS on $2.77 Billion revenues. Its margins contracted 160 basis points, a 1.6% total drop, down to 12.0%; and same store sales growth was 1% for the quarter. As far as its slowing growth plans, it slowed the pace of U.S. store growth to 1,175 stores for this fiscal year, down from a revised target of 1,600 stores; while it increased International store openings to 975…
…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:13

The Real Story Wrap, January 30

addslashes(The Real Story Wrap, January 30

…
Original Source
)

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:08

Hedge Fund Replication: Delicacy or a bunch of baloney?

We’ve been writing about hedge fund “replication” for a while and tracking the latest news on this topic. Now it’s your turn to sound off on the issue. Is it a genuine threat to the hedge fund industry or is it a sad attempt to discredit hedge funds? Or is it something in between?
Click here (or […]…
Original Source

30 January, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 22:00

Siguiente página

Sitios de Webalalza

Sites of Webalalza

Categories:

Economy

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
« Dec				Feb »
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Economy Blog Everything about the economy in a single blog

Sitios de Webalalza

Sites of Webalalza

Economy Blog
Everything about the economy in a single blog