“Opportunity of a Lifetime”?

One phrase that I have heard mentioned a few times is that the economic and market declines of 2008-early2009 created a “Opportunity of a Lifetime” to buy stocks, businesses, and other assets. I am not sure what reasoning is used to justify the “Opportunity of a Lifetime” phrase (and no reasoning has been provided).  It would …

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Foreclosures

Here is an interesting New York Times editorial regarding foreclosures.  Please note that I don’t necessarily agree with many of the recommendations, but the editorial does a nice job of summarizing some of the problems: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/opinion/02tue1.html?_r=1 “Solving” our residential real estate problems is going to be most difficult, in my opinion.  It is a very complex …

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Redefaults

This was an interesting editorial in The Wall Street Journal a few days ago concerning the “redefault” rate: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124338503008056785.html These statistics are problematical, especially if one believes the economy will stagnate or worsen from this juncture. It also raises the question as to the effectiveness of intervention measures on default rates and housing prices.  Many of the current …

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Rep. Barney Frank interview – my comments

Here is a recent interview of Rep. Barney Frank on CNBC.  I found the first few minutes to be interesting, as well as disconcerting in many ways: http://www.cnbc.com/id/30980892 What nearly everyone, especially the decision-makers in Washington, don’t seem to grasp is the risks inherent in large-scale market interventions.  One question to ask might be, “If large-scale market …

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10-year Treasury Yield

It is interesting that there has been relatively little commentary on the increase of the 10-year Treasury yield. In my opinion the rise is significant in many ways.  Perhaps chief among them is the fact that the yield has risen sharply (to a current 3.46%) despite a large-scale intervention designed to bring yields lower.   This divergence is significant because it …

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