Economy Blog

Global slowdown will take some of the wind out of Korea?s export sales in 2008.…
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As the Bank of Thailand claims there are ?complex issues?.…
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With further interest rate hikes likely.…
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Much has been written about the negative impacts of the subprime mess and the knock-on credit crisis. But what about the flip-side; who stands to gain from general economic and capital markets uncertainty? I’ll tell you - those who have balance sheet capacity and abundant liquidity to pick up bargains while others are suffering. Where capital was once incomprehensibly cheap and available it is now both dear and scarce. And this about-face took less than six months to unfold. Quite simply, capital is no longer a commodity. …
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Much has been written about the negative impacts of the subprime mess and the knock-on credit crisis. But what about the flip-side; who stands to gain from general economic and capital markets uncertainty? I’ll tell you - those who have balance sheet capacity and abundant liquidity to pick up bargains while others are suffering. Where capital was once incomprehensibly cheap and available it is now both dear and scarce. And this about-face took less than six months to unfold. Quite simply, capital is no longer a commodity. …
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Chief Economist Mark Zandi discusses the U.S. outlook with the Moody’s Economy.com research staff.…
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One of the more subtly irritating things about Ben Stein’s NYT column is the fact that he seems so cavalier and ungrateful about the fact that he has such an influential pulpit from which to broadcast his biweekly blather. The amount of time and effort he put into this week’s column, for instance, was probably less than he expends on trimming his nose hair on a monthly basis. It’s an incoherent mess which any self-respecting NYT editor would immediately reject out of hand if it came from anybody else.
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We'll see books  written about this epic battle of  the  3 tech behemoths - Microsoft, Yahoo and Google.  Another chapter was written this morning as Yahoo defiantly rejected Microsoft's bid indicating it "massively undervalued" the company and that the company isn't likely to consider an offer below 40.  There has been talk of Yahoo [...]
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The mutual fund industry is particularly brutal because each fund is graded every day on performance. The cruelty of that system hit small finance house Morgan Keegan especially hard in the second half of 2007. Research firm Zacks did a study for Barron’s which tracked the “best stocks” lists of the major brokerages. Morgan Keegan was honored as the worst stock picker of the July 1 to December 31, 2007 period. Its favorite stocks fell an aggregate 17.3% against an average return for all brokers in the survey of negative 2.9%. Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC), which did not have much…
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Lots of right-thinking sorts are worried about cellphone use among teen drivers, but judging by a semi-amusing new study about sensation-seeking among Finnish equity market participants, we should be more worried about auto-based stock trading. Why? Because it turns out that speeding and over-trading are highly correlated, and both are tied to age. Note to self: Avoid teenage Finns in cars. …
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Hedge fund managers are a bunch of meanies. They won’t even let mutual fund managers liquidate their failing funds in peace. Evidence from a recent paper: This paper explores the question of whether hedge funds engage in front-running strategies that exploit the predictable trades of others. One potential opportunity for front-running arises when distressed mutual funds — those suffering large outflows of assets under management — are forced to sell stocks they own. We document two pieces of evidence that are consistent with hedge funds taking advantage of this opportunity. First, in the time series, the average returns of long/short equity hedge funds are significantly higher in those months when a larger fraction of the mutual-fund sector is in distress. Second, at the individual stock level, short interest rises in advance of sales by distressed mutual funds….
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Amusing faux note from Yahoo’s Jerry Yang to Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer. Turns out the impending buyout rejection has something to do with Star Trek collectibles. [via NY Post]
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Like some many unsuccessful companies before it, Chrysler wants to cut its way to profitability. The privately-held company, run by Home Depot (NYSE: HD) exile Robert Nardelli, will probably chop its number of brands 50% and dealerships by a third. According to The Wall Street Journal “over the next three years or so, the now closely held auto maker plans to drop as many as half of the approximately 30 vehicles it now produces, a move likely to cut sales at least for a while.” A while may be forever. It is not believable to think that Toyota (NYSE: TM),…
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Here is a sneak peek at some links from my weekly Weekend Reading column over at TheStreet.com. Loew’s Joe Rosenberg on the Microsoft-Yahoo deal’s bad numbers (Fortune) Auto dealers preparing for rough times as they are in San Francisco for major convention (S…
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(February 10, 2008 08:02 AM, by Arnold Kling) Kristopher Gerardi, Adam Hale Shapiro, and Paul S. Willen write, We attribute most of the dramatic rise in foreclosures in……
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The past week witnessed a turnaround in sentiment as renewed recession fears dominated investors’ actions. Stock markets across the globe were subjected to selling pressure, while credit spreads scaled new highs. “What the market giveth [the previous week], it also taketh away [last week],” was Briefing.com’s very apt description of events.

Read all about this in my regular weekly blog post, highlighting some thought-provoking news items and quotes from market commentators during the past week, and briefly reviewing the week’s market action on the basis of economic statistics and a…
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On 7th February Yahoo (YHOO) officially launched new section at Finance page. Section is called Tech Ticker. Site will cover daily text and video news from the world of technology.I…
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This week Prague Stock Exchange welcomed two companies from abroad. First is from Austria, Vienna Insurance Group which is traded in main segment SPAD. Next emission is on second (electronic) market RM-SYSTEM. This time is coming from Finland, it is Nokia (NOK). After Deutsche Bank AG (DB), Nokia is second foreign stock listed on electronic exchange. Share prices are converted to Czech Koruna CZK.The intention for listing foreign stocks on electronic market and lowering trading commissions helped to increase trading volume on RM-SYSTEM and reached record turnover in 2007. Secondary market has enough liquidity now and it is right place to be for small and mid size investors.h…
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ETF market is booming. On the other side the old kind of exchange traded mutual funds are loosing vogue. Currently you can find plenty of ETF specialty like global equity, sector’s niche, currency ETF and also with fixed income. But the offer for fixed income ETF is quite limited. Mostly focused only on US government, corporate and municipal bonds. Investors looking for global exposure can choose among closed end funds. Except US and other major economies you can find also very exotic investment. I’ve listed below the highest yielding CEF. Majority of them are keeping bonds from emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Eastern Europe. High yield is compensated by lower rating than US bonds are having….
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By Vipin Agnihotri According to my estimate, around 37,000 hotel rooms will be added in the next three years in India. First and foremost, Best Western will establish 100 hotels and 10,000 rooms under its umbrella in India. …
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