Blogroll Addition and Weekend Must Read
I find myself checking in with the site Zero Hedge around 3-4 times a day. The writer, alias Tyler Durden of "Fight Club", has key insight and what seems to me to be very insider type information. I recommend stopping by and taking a look.
Going further, Zero Hedge has a post up today titled "The Incredibly Shrinking Market Liquidity; Or the Upcoming Black Swan of Black Swans" which is the weekends must read piece.
I have to admit, the concepts detailed in the post are extremely over my head, and thus I will need to review the article in full over the weekend before I can have a write up. I would appreciate any readers leaving their impressions in the comments section.
Stock Offerings; Ready, Set, Go!
It has been the central theme here at Economic Disconnect (as well as other venues, I am not unique!) that the whole pumping up of the banking sector by government was a crass effort to get the banks stocks in some kind of shape to sell stock in offerings. One could argue that the only coordinated effort this government has been a success at has been the elevation of banks stocks. Cast your mind back to when Ben "Boom Boom" Bernanke said one sign of a recovery would be for private investment to buy into bank stocks. Well, some untold Billions of dollars and a fake stress test later, we have arrived!
One may argue that there is no substansive difference in buying Citi stock at sat $1 or $3, or buying Bank of America at $3 or $8 but that is another debate. I think that the earnings reports (not the pre announcements) in the next couple of weeks will have their work cut out for them: Every major bank needs to make it past the $10 mark. For some they are already there, others need serious pumping, I mean help.
Perhaps the best of the bunch, Goldman Sachs, an investment house based in Washington DC, is not waiting for the others and seems ready to go on a big offering. While dilution of shareholders IS a bad thing, in the current market getting diluted really means you are in demand, so the stock reacts very strongly to the upside. Bizarro world indeed. Some details:
Goldman mulls big equity offering: report
Investment bank may use the money to repay government investment
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Goldman Sachs Group is considering a multibillion-dollar equity offering as the investment bank tries to repay a $10 billion investment it got from the U.S. government in the midst of the financial crisis last year, according to a Wall Street Journal report Friday.
The share sale, which could be announced as early as next week, comes as the firm prepares to report "solid" first-quarter earnings Tuesday. Goldman executives haven't determined the exact size of the offering, but it is expected to carry a value of at least several billion dollars, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified people it called familiar with the matter.
If a Goldman offering were to succeed, that could suggest private investors are increasingly willing to invest equity capital in the U.S. banking sector. That appetite has been sorely lacking in the past year, as the financial crisis pushed several firms into bankruptcy or the arms of the government.
The main reasoning for repaying the TARP has been to get out of government manipulation imposed for taking the money. As GS runs the Treasury anyway, I fail to see the point in this!
A Reason to Save General Motors
Economic Disconnect is of course opposed to any and all bailouts of any kind anywhere on earth, or in our local group of galaxies. Still, if I had to find a reason to save General Motors, I would have to submit the 2010 Chevy Camaro:
That thing is just sexy!
You can read a nice take on the car, that made me want to run out and buy one, from Autoblog called "One Night Stand: Taking Home the 2010 Chevy Camaro SS". What a machine.
Friday Night Entertainment
I know, a little light on material this evening. Still, we must have some fun to start the weekend off right.
Boxing History
I am a huge boxing fan. I have no idea why, but I was thinking about Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns today. I found clip of when Hearns won his first world title, the WBA Welterweight Championship back in 1980. Hearns stops defending champ Pipino Cuevas in the second round with two of the biggest right hands you will ever see. Right at the 2:30 mark of the video the bombs are let loose:
Wow.
Rock Blogging
A little music to start the weekend.
Loyal reader Watchtower expressed a desire to hear some classic Journey with Steve Perry, not that imposter they have in the band now. Who am I to say no to such a request? Here is "Only the Young" Please note this song was featured in the awesome film "Vision Quest":
One of my favorite albums was "The Sound of White Noise" by Anthrax. One of the best songs on it was "Only". Speed changes, great vocals, and a thunder baseline all rock:
While not a real song, the song by Adam Sandler in the film "The Wedding Singer" about his breakup with his fiance is totally hilarious! WARNING: some bad language, skip if easily offended!:
One of my favorites is John Denver. Truly a tragic loss. Any song is great, but take a listen to "Back Home Again":
Last call! Close the show with The Ramones and "I Wanna be Sedated":
Have a good night.
If the 70's had Rocky's Theme in the movie Rocky, then the 80's had Only the Young in the movie Vision Quest.
ReplyDeleteTwo songs that will help pump you up thru a difficult workout for sure or when you just want to be lifted up.
Watchtower,
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. While not an oscar film, Vision Quest captures so much about so many things young. Glad you caught that.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Sadly, neither the Camaro or Volt are gamechangers for GM, the Malibu is a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteIf my feet were held to the fire and I had to pick one muscle car that was my absolute favorite then it would have to be a first generation Camaro, especially if it was in the navy blue color with the hockey stripe.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that I am anxiously awaiting the new Camaro's release, but there is one thing that bothers me after reading the early reviews and that is the relatively stiff ride that the new SS is said to have.
There are few things in life that I enjoy (to each his own) more than going around corners (I mostly did this on a sportbike) but I would be lying if I said that I enjoy having the fillings shaken out of my teeth while traveling to one of my favorite twisty roads and I am afraid that the new Camaro may lean that way just as the 4th generation did.
If you look at an 02 F body (in Z28 or T/A configuration) and compare it to an 02 Mustang GT there is not much of a comparison between grunt and handling (the F body being the hands down winner IMO) but you will notice that Ford sold a ton of the "inferior" GTs.
Why?
I believe it's because your average person doesn't like to feel every tar strip shoot up his or her spine while rolling over it.
Plus the 4th generation F body always looked too big in overall size IMO.
I did go to my local Chevy dealer and found out that the six Camaros that they have coming are all spoken for but the local Chrysler dealer still has both Challengers for sale so maybe Chevy will catch a break on the new Camaro.
Time will tell.
I just hope the new Camaro doesn't turn out to be another "Holden" GTO.
ReplyDeleteUS sea captain freed in swift firefight
ReplyDeleteMOMBASA, Kenya – An American ship captain was freed unharmed Sunday and three of the pirates who held him for days in a lifeboat off the Somali coast were killed in a operation by U.S. Navy Seals that was approved by President Barack Obama, officials said.
http://tinyurl.com/5vsjbd
Way to go Navy SEALs!
Pentagon Preps For Economic Warfare
ReplyDeleteBy EAMON JAVERS | 4/9/09 4:18 AM EDT
"And second, Bracken says, the event left him questioning one prevailing assumption about economic warfare, that the Chinese would never dump dollars on the global market to attack the US economy because it would harm their own holdings at the same time. Bracken said the Chinese have a middle option between dumping and holding US dollars – they could sell dollars in increments, ratcheting up economic uncertainty in the United States without wiping out their own savings. “There’s a graduated spectrum of options here,” Bracken said."
http://tinyurl.com/cehm9v
So glad they rescued that captain.
ReplyDeleteRe China economic terorism, I cannot remember where I read it so full credit to the source I cannot cite, but a writer said that the China-dollar situation is like a boxing match. China knows that dumping the dollar will hurt them too (they will get punched in the nose) but it will be a knockout to the US, so they will come out ahead. Who knows, but something to keep in mind.
Thai forces crack down on protesters
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/dksze8
One Night In Bangkok
http://tinyurl.com/dk4s3y
May as well have some tunes with the slide show.
Kevin
Hi all. I am back on my site, made a few posts. I think you will see by them how I am spending most of my time now. Hopefully, I will be back to reporting on charts and company earnings soon. My best to all. Great blogging, GYSC!
ReplyDeleteYou are being lied to about pirates
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/cchab7
Like a coin laying on the table there are two sides, one side can be seen the other is hidden.
Kevin
British police said they had arrested 114 people on Monday on suspicion of planning to cause criminal damage to a power station operated by Germany-based power generator E.ON AG.
ReplyDeleteThey said they believed the group posed a serious threat to the safe running of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire in the English midlands.
A spokeswoman for E.ON confirmed the company believed station was "the planned target of an organised protest during the early hours of this morning".
"While we understand that everyone has a right to protest peacefully and lawfully, this was clearly neither of those things so we will be assisting the police with their investigations into what could have been a very dangerous and irresponsible attempt to disrupt an operational power plant," she said.
http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=7267020&action=article
Uh-Huh
Kevin