http://www.realclearmarkets.com/ en Copyright 2008 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:24:03 -0600 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:24:38 -0600 Early on in this most difficult year for the global corporate community, business leaders were given exemplary lessons about the personal qualities and practical imperatives that define leadership. On Jan.15, Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger successfully ditched US Airways (LCC Quote) Flight 1540 on the Hudson River, saving the lives of all 155 passengers aboard. We don't have to surmise what those lessons in leadership are. There's a black box bearing eloquent testimony. The first lesson is all about speed and transparency. After deciding immediately that it was...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/wall_street_leaders_should_learn_from_sully_95743.html 95743 PM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:34:26 -0600 John Talks Joe: McCain on How Lieberman 'Marches to His Own Drummer'Hot Topics: Galleries, Sarah Palin, Big Fat Story, Giving Beast, Hungry Beast, Art BeastEnter your email address:Enter the recipients' email addresses, separated by commas:Message: AP Photo A new CEO for Bank of America could be chosen as early as Sunday, reports Charlie Gasparino. Inside a selection process beset by rivalries, government pressure—and most of all a lack of interest from top candidates.The board of directors of Bank of America is...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/bofa_ceo_the_best_job_no_one_wants_95746.html 95746 PM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:17:11 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/when_in_doubt_blame_ben_bernanke_95741.html 95741 PM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:32:32 -0600 Sign inBecome a MarketWatch member todayMark Hulbert Nov. 20, 2009, 12:01 a.m. EST · Recommend (5) · Post: View all Mark Hulbert "º "¹ Previous ColumnAnother Dow Theory buy signal?First Take "ºHong Kong warns it's time to ease off the gas By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch ANNANDALE, Va. (MarketWatch) -- The average gold timer is now more bullish than on each of the past four occasions in which the gold market has topped out. This...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/overly-bullish_gold_timers_a_bad_sign_95745.html 95745 PM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:35:55 -0600 Many investors are deeply suspicious of the 60% run-up in stocks this year and are itching to sell. But then what? Here's how to take some gains now while setting up a profitable 2010.Feeling twitchy?Your portfolio is probably full of stocks trading at 52-week highs, and a correction seems overdue. I'll bet you've thought about selling. How to read a company balance sheetWhat to do? Let me lay out a three-part strategy for you and suggest a few stocks with strong fundamentals and good upside potential in 2010.1. Build a cash management plan -- and put it to use There's a...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/setting-up_a_winning_portfolio_for_2010_95747.html 95747 PM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:40:58 -0600 Should investors continue chasing equities in the extended market rally? These brokerages weigh in.Who's Talking: Tobias Levkovich, Chief Equity Strategist, Citigroup Global MarketsThe Gist: Stock prices may go higher in 2010, but some of next year's upside may already be priced into 2009.Levkovich has considered the momentum of the market’s rally to be "too much, too fast" and "fierce and unrelenting." Looking to the first half of next year, Nevertheless, Levkovich says his earnings analysis "supports a fairly strong start" led by rising...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/does_the_current_rally_still_have_legs_95748.html 95748 PM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:46:27 -0600 Before heading out to the mall during the pre-dawn hours with a post-Thanksgiving hangover, arm yourself with some shopping strategy and knowledge"”like that a "sold out" sign may be just a marketing ploy, and that you don't have to wait for Black Friday for great Black Friday-esque deals. As the biggest shopping day of the year approaches, here's what we know:You can make your shopping list now. There have been a bunch of circulars leaked early to various shopping sites, but by now, most retailers have just gone ahead and posted their ads on their own...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/black_friday_what_we_know_so_far_95749.html 95749 PM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:15:30 -0600 (Fortune magazine) -- On July 1, A.G. Lafley woke up at 6 a.m., worked out, showered, and headed to the office in downtown Cincinnati, just as he had for nearly a decade. But this was the first morning in more than 3,000 days that he was no longer the chief executive of Procter & Gamble. He walked through the main entrance, passed by the café in the lobby, pressed his key card against the metal scanner, and ... nothing. Lafley felt a momentary shiver. He'd stepped down as CEO the night before, turning the reins over to longtime P&G-er Robert...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/proctor_amp_gamble039s_79_billion_ceo_swap_95740.html 95740 PM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:26:22 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/nokia039s_new_netbook_so_close_yet_so_far_95744.html 95744 PM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:22:37 -0600 By Kenji Hall Chairman and CEO of Japan's Sony Corporation Howard Stringer smiles during a press conference at the headquarters in Tokyo on November 19, 2009. Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images Sony (SNE) is taking a page from Apple's playbook (AAPL). On Nov. 19, Sony said it plans to launch an online store selling music, movies, and books as well as other downloadable applications for mobile products. Sony's top executives didn't specify when the Internet store, tentatively called Sony Online Service, would go live or what it would look like. But the online storefront,...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/sony_unveils_its_answer_to_apple039s_itunes_95742.html 95742 PM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:06:32 -0600 Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commerical use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool on any article or visit www.djreprints.comBy RANDALL W. FORSYTH | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR IT'S THE CRASH YOU DIDN'T HEAR. Not in the price of any security market, but in short-term U.S. Treasury yields.Treasury bills once again were trading at negative interest rates Thursday, a mind-boggling state of affairs that hasn't existed since the panic late last year....]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/treasury_yield_plunge_sends_bulls_a_warning_95736.html 95736 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:15:52 -0600 By Peter Coy Browse the BusinessWeek Archive Illustration by Daniel Adel America's super-easy monetary policy has drawn a blast of criticism lately from the high and mighty of Asian finance. President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke stand accused of blithely ignoring the risk of new asset bubbles and more economic mayhem. As critics see it, the Fed helped inflate the tech and housing markets over the past decade and is setting up the global economy for another doozy with its near-zero short-term interest rates. Global investors can borrow dollars cheaply...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/is_super-easy_money_fed_creating_new_bubbles_95735.html 95735 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:07:56 -0600 A growing contingent of financial professionals and members of the media have called for the Federal Reserve to withdraw the liquidity it has injected into capital markets to prevent inflation and asset bubbles. Such discourse brings up a key question: does the Fed have the ability to remove the excess liquidity it has added to the markets? As alarming as it may seem, the answer may be "no". First, a brief primer on interest rates and monetary policy: the 0.25% interest rate quoted by the Fed is known as the federal funds rate; this is the interest rate established by the Federal...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2009/11/20/the_fed_couldnt_hike_even_if_it_wanted_to_97520.html 95697 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:19:08 -0600 Media Inquiries and Reprint...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/the_unintended_legacy_of_friedman_and_schwartz_95713.html 95713 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:03:34 -0600    Products & Services   About PIMCO   Press Center   Bond Resources   Career Information   Content Archive   PIMCO Foundation   Anything but .01%I'm not so much concernedabout the return on my moneyas the return of my money.                    - Will Rogers, 1933Toothpicked, straw-hatted Will Rogers was a...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/in_dogged_pursuit_of_a_higher-yielding_nirvana_95712.html 95712 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:29:14 -0600 Earlier this week, the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, a k a, the bank bailout fund, released his report on the 2008 rescue of the American International Group, the insurer. The gist of the report is that government officials made no serious attempt to extract concessions from bankers, even though these bankers received huge benefits from the rescue. And more than money was lost. By making what was in effect a multibillion-dollar gift to Wall Street, policy makers undermined their own credibility — and put the broader economy at risk. Paul Krugman For the...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/the_real_tragedy_of_aigs_botched_bailout_95730.html 95730 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:27:04 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/what_was_geithner_thinking_on_aig_95731.html 95731 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:33:24 -0600 Life After Oprah: How Her Exit Changes EverythingHot Topics: Galleries, Sarah Palin, Big Fat Story, Giving Beast, Hungry Beast, Art BeastEnter your email address:Enter the recipients' email addresses, separated by commas:Message: Gerald Herbert / AP Photo Tim Geithner hotly defended his job Thursday in front of angry Republican congressmen who asked him to step down. "What I can't take responsibility is for the legacy of crises you've bequeathed this country," he shot back.It is not easy being the secretary of the...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/geithner039s_stock_is_plummeting_95738.html 95738 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:40:05 -0600 COMMENT Breadcrumb trail navigation:By William Donaldson and Arthur Levitt Published: November 19 2009 22:44 | Last updated: November 19 2009 22:44A buoyant stock market and glimmers of recovery are dispelling many of the more dire scenarios for the economy. Despite the intensity of the financial storm that has just passed, there appears to be a waning resolve to address the larger lessons learnt about systemic risk. Policymakers, perhaps out of a sense of misplaced optimism, seem increasingly ready to concede the inevitability of future bubbles and a status quo approach to their...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/tackling_systemic_risk_95733.html 95733 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:37:24 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/why_not_tax_wall_street_break_up_banks_95732.html 95732 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:11:45 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/big_banks_beware_of_desperate_democrats_95729.html 95729 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:47:21 -0600 Welcome Home This week's print edition Daily news analysis Opinion All opinion Leaders Letters to the Editor Blogs Columns KAL's cartoons Correspondent's diary Economist debates World politics All world politics Politics this week United States The Americas Asia Middle East and Africa Europe Britain Special reports Business and finance All business and finance Business...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/america039s_fiscal_deficit_may_require_radical_solutions_95734.html 95734 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:14:37 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/the_republicans_are_hypocrites_on_deficits_95728.html 95728 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:40:48 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/why_no_one_expects_a_strong_recovery_95726.html 95726 AM Update Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:19:04 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/20/paul_krugman_is_wrong_about_the_yuan_95727.html 95727 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:51:29 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/four_lessons_we039ve_learned_from_the_recession_95698.html 95698 PM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:01:49 -0600 The current circumstances in the U.S. stock market remind me of one of my favorite bands from college, Supertramp, and its song, Nothing But a Dreamer. It appears that individual investors and many of the financial advisers who take care of them have their "head in their hands, oh no!" This was pointed out to us in one of Mark Hulbert's columns in The New York Times on Nov. 8, and in a piece on Nov. 12 by Hays Advisory's Mark Dodson. In his missive, Dodson calls stocks "Public Enemy No. 1." His charts show that we had fund flows in October (bond flows...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/dreaming_of_a_multi-year_bull_market_95701.html 95701 PM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:25:40 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/interest_on_us_debt_4800000000000_95705.html 95705 PM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:59:39 -0600 Snyder calls a $120 million fee facing tiny Hoosier "a huge challenge" By Theo Francis, Ben Levisohn, Christopher Palmeri and Jessica Silver-Greenberg Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is struggling to save his city from fiscal calamity. Unemployment is at a record 28% and rising, while home prices have plunged 39% since 2007. The 66-year-old Bing, a former NBA all-star with the Detroit Pistons who took office 10 months ago, faces a $300 million budget deficit—and few ways to make up the difference. Against that bleak backdrop, Wall Street is squeezing one of...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/wall_street_plays_hardball_w_local_gov039ts_95700.html 95700 PM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:27:26 -0600 Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commerical use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, use the Order Reprints tool on any article or visit www.djreprints.comBy RANDALL W. FORSYTH | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR THE ONLY REAL SURPRISE in the latest disastrous batch of data on housing is that anybody is surprised.With the $8,000 tax credit originally set to expire, housing starts plunged nearly 11% in October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529.000 units. That put new home construction...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/entire_housing_recovery_is_built_on_sand_95706.html 95706 PM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:30:27 -0600 Sign inBecome a MarketWatch member todayRobert Powell Nov. 19, 2009, 12:01 a.m. EST · Recommend (4) · Post: View all Robert Powell "º "¹ Previous ColumnThe 10 vital rules for inherited IRAsFirst Take "ºFAA glitch grounds more than planes By Robert Powell, MarketWatch BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Glancing through the headlines, it might seem like an epidemic. No, we're not talking swine flu; we're talking investment scams. Consider just a few...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/even_after_madoff_investor_scams_abound_95707.html 95707 PM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:56:22 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/fighting_your_broker_should_you_go_it_alone_95699.html 95699 PM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:22:00 -0600 Stock analysts should carry pom-poms, for all the cheerleading they seem to do for the companies they cover. For S&P 500 companies, 49% of recommendations say “buy” and 44% say “hold.” Just 7% say “sell.”Perhaps analysts find S&P 500 companies or the broader stock market particularly attractive now, but the dearth of “sell” recommendations is nothing new. Maybe “hold,” as vaguely positive as it may sound (investors tend to hold stocks they like), has become an unlikely...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/three_stocks_analysts_say_you_should_sell_95704.html 95704 PM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:08:35 -0600 These are grim times for American executives. The public is angry, and consumers are holding on to every nickel. It's hard to escape the sense that the economic future may be less comfortable than the past. But not all American managers are gloomy. "Optimism is higher than it was last year," says Brenda Lei Foster, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. A survey of its 370 members found that more than 90 percent are optimistic about the next five years. The reason: instead of simply shipping goods made in China back to the U.S., "companies here [are]...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/made_in_china_--and_sold_there_too_95702.html 95702 PM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:20:06 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/obama_needs_hu039s_help_on_our_green_future_95703.html 95703 PM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:09:58 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/we_deserve_a_transparent_fed_95683.html 95683 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:56:53 -0600 Sign in or registerThursday 19 November 2009 | Blog Feed | All feedsBy Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Economics Last updated: November 19th, 20094 Comments Comment on this article The last parabolic spike in gold took off when central banks joined the fray in the 1970s, hoarding bullion with the same enthusiasm as gold bugs.Dylan Grice from Société Générale says it smells much the same today.He sees an eery similarity between the decision of India’s central bank to buy half the IMF’s entire sale of gold, and the move by France’s central...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/is_6300_fair_value_for_gold_95690.html 95690 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:24:23 -0600 The era will be remembered for 2 burst financial bubbles and a rogue's gallery of scoundrels who rewarded themselves well and delivered very little.As 2009 winds to a close, we bid good riddance to a decade on Wall Street that we can sum up with just one word:What's happened to business ethics?Hubris is defined as haughty behavior by people who are arrogant enough to think they might rank up there with the gods. It's a bad attitude that inevitably leads to a fall. It's the perfect word for a decade in which Wall Street experts and company chiefs told us they knew what was...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/wall_street039s_decade_of_exuberant_hubris_95696.html 95696 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:42:38 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/profits_explain_wall_street_pay_pie_95688.html 95688 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:05:20 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/obama_must_back_dodd039s_wall_street_reforms_95693.html 95693 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:51:17 -0600 COMMENT Breadcrumb trail navigation:By Francesco Guerrera and Tom BraithwaitePublished: November 18 2009 23:28 | Last updated: November 18 2009 23:28From a telescope on the 10th floor of its Washington office at 101 Constitution Avenue, Goldman Sachs staff can look straight into the dome of the Capitol, legislative hub of the US government.You have viewed your allowance of free articles. If you wish to view more, click the button below.]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/gs_lost_its_luster_95689.html 95689 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:34:48 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/wells_fargo_needs_tarp_more_than_it_admits_95687.html 95687 AM Update Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:02:51 -0600 "Never let a good crisis go to waste," said President Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanual. For Democrats, the H1N1 pandemic is as good a crisis as they come.Congress seeks to use this crisis to do what Democrats have wanted to do for years-to write into federal law, for the first time, a requirement that employers give workers paid sick leave.On Tuesday Connecticut Democrats Senator Chris Dodd and Representative Rosa DeLauro released the Pandemic Protection for Workers, Families, and Businesses Act, which would require that all employers with more than 15 workers offer...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2009/11/19/sick_leave_mandates_make_us_ill_97519.html 95674 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:17:32 -0600 By Josh Lerner Thursday, November 19, 2009 Filed under: Economic Policy, Boardroom, Government & Politics, World Watch Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tel Aviv—the global hubs of entrepreneurial activity all bear the marks of government investment. Yet, for every successful public intervention spurring entrepreneurial activity, there are many...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/jamaica_vs_singapore_why_the_disparity_95695.html 95695 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:10:50 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/as_electric_cars_arrive_where_will_they_plug_in_95694.html 95694 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:31:34 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/obama_may_bring_a_trade_war_home_from_asia_95686.html 95686 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:15:13 -0600 The coroner’s report left no doubt as to the cause of death: toxic loans. Haven Trust Bank of Duluth, Ga., founded in 2000, quickly increased a risky commercial real estate portfolio, despite many red flags from regulators. The bank failed last December. A sign noting the takeover of Haven Trust. Regulators told the bank to reduce its risky loans, but the warning came too late. That was the conclusion of a financial autopsy that federal officials performed on Haven Trust Bank, a small bank in Duluth, Ga., that collapsed last December. In what sounds like an episode of...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/post-mortems_reveal_obvious_risk_at_banks_95684.html 95684 AM Update Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:19:42 -0600 ]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/19/don039t_let_banks_hide_bad_assets_95685.html 95685 AM Update Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:37:12 -0600 Say what you will about the stimulus package, but it certainly has created one kind of job: a reporter who writes about how stimulus job creation numbers are bogus.The federal government released a report on October 30 announcing that the $787 billion stimulus package had "created or saved" 640,000 jobs to date. The report has admirable specificity, reporting job creations and savings down to the employer and zip code. Trouble is, a lot of the data are wrong. Since the release, reporters at papers all over the country have busily written takedowns, picking out nonsensical factoids...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2009/11/19/jobs_saved_stats_are_worse_than_meaningless_97518.html 95673 AM Update Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:19:03 -0600 The pattern is all-too familiar as a new marginal buyer of an asset class dominates the market until they don't. Keep dancing if you will, but I continue to sit out the melt-up in stocks and the bubble in other asset classes. When investors/traders are arguably overinfluenced by prices (not fundamentals) that dominate the markets, and are all on a similar side, it has the potential to lead to a treacherous and slippery slope, as it did in 2007-08. Remember, it is some of the same momentum-based quant funds that sold in March 2009 that have been buying over the past few months. I...]]>http://www.realclearmarkets.com/2009/11/18/another_slippery_slope_we_could_fall_down_95657.html 95657 PM Update