Well, I guess the Europeans now know where the Obama administration stands on stimulus. If there was any doubt, the Fed sent the message pretty clearly that it’s “damn the torpedoes …” There is no end to the chatter about what this means for the yield curve, bank earnings, how we get out of this […]
Archive for March 18th, 2009
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What’s The Point In Outing The AIG Bonus Babies
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 18th, 2009
Is there a point in divulging the names of the AIG executives who received bonuses? There seems to be a frenzy on the part of some blogs and the MSM to identify the recipients and even publish their pictures. Given that credible threats have been made towards AIG and those that received bonuses, publishing information […]
Economists React To The Fed’s Moves
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 18th, 2009
Here is some initial reaction from economists to the Fed’s move. This is a huge step forward, which we have thought inevitable for some time but did not expect to see in the statement today… The point here is to drive new marginal capital flows out of Treasurys, by making them relatively unattractive, and into […]
The Fed Makes A Major Move
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 18th, 2009
I usually don’t concentrate on the news of the moment but the Fed’s action is too big, too important and having such an immediate effect, I at least feel obligated to post their statement. Here it is. Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January indicates that the economy continues to contract. […]
Fannie And Freddie Have Their Own Bonus Problems
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 18th, 2009
Fannie and Freddie are jumping on the bonus train. The WSJ reports that Fannie and Freddie are set to pay bonuses to executives of from $470,000 to $611,000. Apparently there are hundreds of employees in line for retention bonuses of some size. The logic for the payment of these bonuses and the history of how […]
Still No Evidence Of Deflation
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 18th, 2009
Deflation talk was deflated again today as consumer prices rose 0.4% in February following a 0.3% increase in January. Stripping out food and energy prices, the index was up 0.2% the same increase as was seen in January. Energy prices rose 3.3% and curiously apparel prices were up 1.3%. Here are some economists reactions from […]
Surprising Fed Numbers On Business Lending
Posted by Tom Lindmark on March 18th, 2009
A report from the Fed contradicts the meme that banks aren’t lending. The Survey of Terms of Business Lending asks banks to disclose details on commercial and industrial loans they make during a given week in time. The results for the week chosen — Feb.2-6 — seems to demonstrate that banks are indeed lending. Here […]
