Economy Blog

Gaming has been ALL about boys…until NOW. The Wii has changed things and not in some ‘itsy bitsy’ couple year trend kind of thing, but in a big ball busting trend kind of way. I have seen the future and the future is…Rachel fighting Max for the Wii.
With Nintendo (NTDOY), the boys and ‘man boys’ markets are a LOCK. If you buy the stock today you need another catalyst…I mean the cats out of the bag no? They don’t do their own retail like Apple, you can’t play the games on an iPhone and you don’t play them on Macs. That said, I think they have a giant catalyst in girls, women and the family unit. If you are skeptical and refuse to buy a Wii, go to a friends house with your family and play Mario Kart.
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(May 31, 2008 09:36 PM, by Bryan Caplan) Heard of Riptopia? It’s a CD-to-mp3 conversion service - just what every iPod junkie needs. Good news: I’ve tried it,……
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(May 31, 2008 09:14 PM, by Bryan Caplan) was riding the Hasenhorn in the the Black Forest town of Todtnau. Fifteen minutes in a skilift to the top……
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(May 31, 2008 09:08 PM, by Bryan Caplan) I’ve often heard Robin Hanson called a "space cadet" or even a "replicant." So it’s pretty dramatic to see him……
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Extreme stocks: Seaboard and E*Trade

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News You Need: Lululemon, Wal-Mart

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What Would You Say to Jimmy Cayne?

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The official video for “Pork and Beans” from Weezer stars quite a few familiar YouTube faces.

New Weezer disc Red Album” out Monday, June 3rd, 2008

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Kirk Kerkorian may be able to join Carl Icahn as a billionaire who has taken a lot of mad gambles recently. According to Reuters, “Kerkorian’s investment vehicle Tracinda Corp said it would continue to tender for 20 million Ford (F) shares at $8.50 each, despite an 18 percent decline in the shares since the offer was launched on May 9.” Over the last year or so, Icahn managed to dump money into Motorola (MOT) on the assumption that its handset business could be fixed or sold. Neither has happened. Its global share has gone from a peak of 22% to…
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At the moment I am attending Rob Arnott’s Research Affiliates’ annual gathering of its advisory panel at Laguna Beach, California. A rather full schedule will unfortunately result in my not being able to put together “Words from the Wise” for the past week. My apologies for any inconvenience caused, but rest assured that the normal blogging service will be resumed this week.

Please visit my website (by clicking on the heading above) for the full article, as well as other interesting investment snippets.
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Alan Greenspan has frightened away the specter of economic “bubbles.” He spoke and the economy must obey. According to Reuters, the former Fed head said “he does not expect another “bubble” in world markets for a long time, and that central banks at any rate do not control the long-term interest rates that can be related to bubbles.” The statement, along with others about housing and the recession, are likely to help him sell his new book. Greenspan’s point, which may have the benefit of being true, is that central banks cannot always stop sharp increases in market prices simply…
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Pension funds are outstanding when it comes to losing money. Tired of the old ways of just putting money into stocks and bonds, they now invest in private equity, venture capital, derivatives, and commodities futures. Perhaps they have forgotten that they invest on behalf of old people who need that money. Recently the managers of cash for the retired and future retired have put money into mortgage-backed paper and auction-rate securities. No risk is too good for them. Now, it appears that the funds have loaded up on bets that commodities and oil will move up. With these prices finding…
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Tivo (TIVO) was such a promising consumer electronics start-up. The firm owned the digital video recorder business and then that was taken away from it by the cable companies, satellite companies, and products ranging from PCs to the Slingbox. There isn’t much of Tivo left. Tivo has been able to get a few licks in with the competition by taking them into court for patent infringement. The fighting over IP issues has gotten so bad that it extends to suits over what each company says in public about the others. According to The Wall Street Journal “Dish Network Corp (DISH)….
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Wall Street started a short week off with a bang, as U.S. stocks rose Tuesday on upbeat new home sales data and falling oil prices. Wednesday saw better-than-expected durable goods data, which kept the Dow slightly in the green. On Thursday, Wall Street continued its uptrend as oil prices fell once again and encouraging GDP data was released. The TSX was quiet Monday with Wall Street closed for Memorial Day, kept in positive territory by oil and gas stocks. However, on Tuesday, weak earnings releases from both BMO and Scotiabank brought the Canadian markets down. Energy stocks picked the TSX…
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CSX (CSX) is raising freight rates. So is Burlington Northern (BNI). Their diesel costs are up, and they need to pass them on to customers. Dow Chemical (DOW) said it would raise the prices of some of its products by 20%. The firm’s commodities and component costs have gone through the roof. The latest American icon to say it would have to push up prices to customers is Eastman Kodak (EK). Unlike many other companies that want to recoup costs of goods, Kodak is financially weak and has customers who may simply walk away. According to The Wall Street Journal,…
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(May 31, 2008 02:21 PM, by Bryan Caplan) How would people’s preferences change if they knew more? Political scientists usually attack this question using the so-called "Enlightened Preference"……
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Lots of people have been talking about the collapse of the auction-rate securities market, but related troubles in the catastrophe reinsurance market have gone largely overlooked. With credit markets gone AWOL, you won’t be entirely surprised to hear that finding buyers for catastrophe-related bonds has become increasingly tough, at least at non-usurious yields. It is a bigger subject, and I will return to it in future, but here is the latest revelation: Government is thinking of back-stopping the cat-re market by being the insurance provider of last resort. Lovely. …
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Traders who learn to use these contra-signals are better able to deploy capital, manage risk, and anticipate market reversals….
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Foreclosure filings surged 65 percent and bank seizures more than doubled in April compared with a year earlier as rates on adjustable mortgages increased…
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The current fallout associated with DB Zwirn is causing a renewed focus on both mark-to-market practices and, by association, pay-for-performance practices. The way it’s being depicted in the media it’s almost as if someone woke up and realized, "Hey, if hedge funds have illiquid investments kind of like private equity firms, then shouldn’t they get paid like private equity firms (e.g., upon realization)?" 
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