I was looking for some new Bird and Fortune videos and came across these. They’re not related at all to finance and are well done. We all need a break from figuring out how to save the world. Once again, if you don’t like British humor don’t bother with these.
Archive for March 4th, 2009
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Quote Of The Day
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 4th, 2009
Every man wishes to pursue his occupation and to enjoy the fruits of his labours and the produce of his property in peace and safety, and with the least possible expense. When these things are accomplished, all the objects for which government ought to be established are answered. Thomas Jefferson
Tags: Mark-To-Market: The Last Desperate Fix
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 4th, 2009
A House Financial Services subcommittee has scheduled hearings for next Thursday to consider changes to mark-to-market accounting. A report from Reuters is somewhat vague but suggests that changes might be afoot. The usual suspects have been besieging the committee with letters in support of relaxing the rules. What difference does this really make? No one […]
Pension Plans: How Long Can We Sweep The Problems Under The Rug?
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 4th, 2009
Despite the influx of fiscal stimulus money, the governor of Arizona is appearing this afternoon before a joint session of the legislature to lay out the sobering facts about the fiscal condition of the state. The stimulus money only plugged the current hole. It does nothing to address the systemic hole that Arizona has dug for […]
A Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund Craters
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 4th, 2009
When I first started reading this article about Morgan Stanley taking some big write-offs in a real estate fund my attitude was just more of the same. The article turned out to contain a little more information than I thought. First, the loss. Morgan Stanley told its investors in MSREF Vl International fund that it […]
Fed’s Beige Book Provides No Reason To Hope
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 4th, 2009
The Fed is out with its Beige Book report and – big surprise here – it’s generally awful. Reports from the Fed’s 12 regional banks “suggest that national economic conditions deteriorated further” in January through late February, the Fed said in what is known as the beige book, which summarizes largely anecdotal economic conditions in […]
The New Foreclosure Prevention Plan
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 4th, 2009
The government is out with its foreclosure prevention plan. Officially it is called Making Home Affordable (really, that’s what they named it). There seem to be two components, The Home Affordable Refinance (HAR) program and the Home Affordable Modification program(HAM). HAR is for Fannie and Freddie borrowers who are making their payments on time. It’s […]
