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Risk Appetite Improves in Emerging Markets

Credit spreads narrowed as investors warmed to regional bonds….
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 16:15

Phil Schoonover was pretty sure it would be a bad idea to sell Circuit City. At least that’s what he told Reuters back in February.

Schoonover came over to Circuit City three years ago from rival Best Buy, to increasingly underwhelming investor enthusiasm. Of course, by the time Schoonover was talking to Reuters, Mark Wattles, head of Wattles Capital Management had disclosed a 6.5% stake in the retailer along with a vague warning that he might press for a sale, or buy more stock, or both, or neither. This had the effect of turning some heads. Wattles owns a controlling interest in Ultimate Acquisition Partners, that, in turn, owns Ultimate Electronics, and that owns 32 consumer electronics stores.
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 16:06

Bear Stearns Crisis Brings Out The Softer Side Of Whip-Toting Hooker

Hey all you sad Bears—this ought to cheer you up: Manhattan’s preeminent dominatrix, Mistress Victoria X is slashing prices! The S&M professional is offering a session discount of $10/hour (originally $2/hour but she increased the markdown after JPMorgan increased their bid) for a variety of scenarios sure to get your minds off the week you took it up the tailpipe (‘cause MVX is not proffering anal). On the menu: domestic service training, spanking combined with verbal chastising, cane stroking, interrogation and master/slave roleplay. Added value: Miss X k…
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 15:41

Bear Stearns Sues Former Brokers

The Bear Stearns deal is getting messier. Wall Street rivals are poaching the best talent, forcing JP Morgan to promise lots of compensation money to keep them in place or face acquiring Bear with only the losers left. Unfortunately for the best laid plans of the Fed and JP Morgan, the uncertainty over the deal is leading many Bear employees to figure they’d be better off taking offers from competitors.

So now Bear is fighting back, asking a New York State court to issue restraining orders against departed brokers who Bear claims are soliciting the firm’s clients to do move their business to the new company, Kate Kelly and Robin Sidel of the Wall Street Journal are reporting. These solicitation lawsuits are nothing new on Wall Street but they come at a very awkward time for Bear and JP Morgan. Morale is already low. The lawsuit puts a spotlight on the fact that many of the best employees and customers may have already left the firm, and doesn’t exactly reassure worried employees that Bear is friendly toward its cubs.
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 15:07

Opening Bell: 3.27.08

A Decade Later, John Meriwether Must Scramble Again (WSJ)
The recent struggles at John Meriwether’s (ex-LTCM) have been documented elsewhere, though the WSJ brings everything up to speed. His big bond portfolio is down a cool 28 percent this year, though more significantly they’re dealing with a potential wave of redemptions that they’re trying to stem. There’s a lesson here. It’s not that Meriwether is a bad money manager. We have no idea on that count. And it’s not that he’s unlucky. Again, same. It comes back to the old, old cliche: that you’re better off losing a ton of money in one of the biggest high profile fund collapses of all time then in just a moderately bad one. Cause any fool can lose $100 million of OPM.

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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 13:22

TSLF: Success

Dealers will get fat on that one.
Cover was 1.15 [the lower the better]
Stop out: 0.33 [as above]
0.33 is the difference between 2 repo rates, good treasury collateral and junk fed to the Fed.
Overnight the spread is over 1.00
Fed link
E…
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 11:50

News You Need: Lennar Corp, Texas Industries

News You Need: Lennar Corp, Texas Industries

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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 11:01

Judge Fights Credit Crunch

A Texas district court judge has ordered investment banks to fund the imperiled $19 billion buyout of Clear Channel Communications by two private-equity firms.
Judge orders banks to fund Clear Channel deal
C…
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 10:33

Seasonal Factors Raise Brazilian Unemployment

The labor market remained robust in February….
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 10:00

#Links

Ten Days That Changed Capitalism
Taleb Outsells Greenspan as Black Swan Gives Worst Turbulence
I…
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 9:59

March 27, 2008 - Do Informed Traders Tip Their Hands Via Option Purchases?

Evidence supports beliefs that informed traders distort the relationship between the prices for put and call options on individual stocks and that others may be able to exploit these distortions. Relatively expensive calls (puts) predict stock outperformance (underperformance)….
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 8:00

High Energy Thursday: Power for countries in a hurry

The Cambodian economy is expanding so quickly that it has outgrown its power-generating capacity by a third. Prices for electricity are much higher than in Vietnam or Thailand, its bigger neighbors. In order to keep the investment and construction going, Cambodia has to keep the juice flowing. But how?
Results of Cambodia’s earlier […]…
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 6:11

ETF’s Showing Greatest Demand: iShares Taiwan (EWT) Breaks Out

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Tracking ETF's is a great way to track the flow of big money and spot sector/industry rotation. It's said that half the move in a stock is directly related to the health of the industry it's in, so sticking to stocks in industries where the money is flowing keeps you outperforming! Of course, you […]
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 5:26

Calling Mr. Blackwell…..

In our continuing efforts not to lose touch with popular culture, the daily reading includes a taste of what is happening and we also listen to the excellent NPR news quiz program, Wait, Wait, …Don’t Tell Me.

In our lecturing days, we would listen to the top bands and watch the most popular shows. Fifteen minutes with M…
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 4:02

A Reader Responds: Yes, there is Alternative Beta (and Alpha) in Alternative Energy

Last fall, we questioned whether alternative energy could produce alpha. Today, one leading environmental technology investor takes issue with that assessment….
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27 Marzo, 2008| Economy | Comments (0) @ 3:00

Food Price Inflationary Pressures Likely to Intensify

As farmers in Argentina go on strike….
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