Simon Johnson has an excellent post on the Baseline Scenario regarding the state of the bank bailout/restructuring. Mr. Johnson is a highly respected economist with many years of public policy experience. His assessment. The banks have emerged stronger than ever and its back to business as usual. Take a moment to read it. It’s only […]
Archive for March 12th, 2009
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TALF Investors Pushing For A Better Deal
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 12th, 2009
I wonder if we will get a look at these agreements. According to the WSJ, hedge funds aren’t exactly lining up around the block to participate in the first round of TALF financings. In fact, there appears to be more than a little concern about the risks of participation. The main question many hedge funds […]
A Little Central Planning For Wall Street
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 12th, 2009
Today’s “sleep with dogs and you get fleas” lesson is courtesy of Barney Frank and Andrew Cuomo. These two charming gentlemen are going full steam ahead on devising a plan for Wall Street compensation. In other words they’re putting together legislation to dictate how much money and in what form a private company may pay […]
Mark-To-Market Marches Towards Extinction
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 12th, 2009
Mark-to-market is going to go the way of the dodo so let’s at least give it at least a decent eulogy. The meme is that marks are at the heart of our banking problem. A convention dreamed up by diabolical accountants intent on making financial institutions statements purer than Caesars wife. Get rid of the convention, […]
Retail Sales Have Some Positive Surprises
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 12th, 2009
I’m a little late with things today, so let’s get what you probably already know out of the way. The stock market extended its rally to three days. The Dow was up 239 and the S&P up 29. As you know, I don’t give a lot of credence to moves over a couple of days […]
