Description: Stifel Nicolaus Portfolio Manger Chad Morganlander and JPMorgan Chief U.S. Economist Michael Feroli discuss markets, the economy and Fed rate policy. They speak on “Street Smart.” (Source: Bloomberg) Source: Bloomberg .com – video report Date: August 21, 2014 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/video/is-it-smooth-sailing-for-wall-street-s-bulls-KQPMTzQeQLCO7VQfYY0VHw.html Questions for discussion: What do the people interviewed in this report say that favors… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Economic Analysis
Too Much Corn With Nowhere to Go as U.S. Sees Record Crop
Description: The ripening corn and soybean fields stretch for miles in every direction from Dennis Wentworth’s farm in Downs, Illinois. As he marveled at his best-yielding crops ever, he wondered aloud where the heck he’ll put it all. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: Aug 22, 2014 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-22/too-much-corn-with-nowhere-to-go-as-u-s-sees-record-crop.html Questions for Discussions: How does this article illustrate the… Read more »
Blackstone CEO: Regulation making markets safer
Description: Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman says regulations have eliminated risk: ‘We probably have a safer world, but a world that will grow slower.’ Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: August 06, 2014 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/investing/2014/08/06/stephen-schwarzman-blackstone-financial-regulations-safer-markets.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: What does Stephen Schwarzman have to say about the current environment with respect to risk and growth? Do… Read more »
Two cheers for ‘too big to fail’
Description: Had the government not rescued the big banks during the 2008 financial crisis, the public’s expense would surely have been far greater. Source: Fortune.com Date: August 07, 2014 Link: http://fortune.com/2014/08/07/two-cheers-for-too-big-to-fail/ Questions for Discussions: Summarize the arguments put forward in this article. Do you agree?
Bond Rally Is Squeezing the Trading at Big Banks
Description: Wall Street’s biggest firms this year made an extraordinary wager that they probably now regret. Source: NYTimes.com Date: June 05, 2014 Link: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/bond-boom-is-squeezing-the-trading-at-big-banks/?ref=business Questions for discussion: Why did the big banks take the position they did earlier in the year? Can they be blamed for their thinking? How should they go forward in terms… Read more »
Golf Market Stuck in Bunker as Thousands Leave the Sport
Description: The golf industry is in the rough. Once the go-to activity for corporate bonding, the sport is suffering from an exodus of players, a lack of interest among millennials and the mass closure of courses. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: May 23, 2014 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-23/golf-market-stuck-in-bunker-as-thousands-leave-the-sport.html Questions for Discussions: What does this report say about the reasons… Read more »
Tim Geithner responds to critics
Description: Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner says the banking industry is like ‘the power grid’ and that the economic recovery from the financial crisis is ‘moderate.’ Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: May 15, 2014 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2014/05/15/n-tim-geithner-financial-crisis-economic-recovery-criticism.cnnmoney/index.html Questions for Discussions: Summarize the explanations provided by Tim Geithner for the way he handled… Read more »
Companies Choose Profits Over Productivity
Description: When the U.S. economy emerged from the recession in June 2009, productivity was rising at a fast clip. Companies had spent the downturn cutting jobs and were lean and efficient. Productivity—output per hour worked—jumped 5.5 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier as workers did more with less. But as the recovery has chugged… Read more »
Why Oil Prices Haven’t Gone Crazy
Description: The oil markets have plenty of reasons to be spooked. In Libya, home to Africa’s largest reserves, production has fallen more than 80 percent since militias seized control of the country’s biggest ports last summer. Most of Iran’s oil remains trapped as well. Sanctions aimed at punishing Iran for its nuclear weapons program have crippled… Read more »
Top Clinton Aides Blew a Chance to Avert the Financial Crisis
Description: The U.S. economy and the stock market were booming on April 21, 1998, when the heaviest hitters of the Clinton administration met to discuss a controversial topic: whether the government should regulate a profitable but risky corner of the financial markets. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, the former Goldman Sachs (GS) co-chairman, attended. So did… Read more »
