In case you think I am exagerating all this about local govt problems, click DISD for the story on mass layoffs just two months in to the current school year. This is of course absurd, all salaries should have been cut district wide so that everyone could retain their job in a slowing economy. This is…

Dispatches from the Market Front We consistently warned of a top in oil prices this summer, now it is here.  Oil prices have dropped 50% since June. Now what?  Look for support at $60-70. OPEC, which has never shown the ability to stop prices from falling, has moved its emergency meeting to Oct. 24.  While…

Progress in Socionomics references our comments on the Dark Knigth. Click on Fall 2009 to see the full newsletter after you click on the Progress link. Socionomics seeks to link the causality of popular culture and human emotion with how society views and shapes its responses and reactions to events. It holds that mood shapes events,…

Yovela Rico posed a good question to my observation that Russia may well loan money to Iceland. What does it mean in their relationship?  Well, the creditor pretty well owns the debtor. If the debtor fails to do what the creditor wants, no more credit, just like the bank loaning a business money. The lady…

VIctor Hanson explains the housing crisis in plain English. People that could not pay for their house and cannot now are no help to the rest of us that might and do  pay.  A house indeed is a place to live, not an investment to flip.   But I do not hear either candidate saying that.

Iceland banks offered high interest rates attracting lots of deposits from Britain and Europe. Those banks then made loans on high risk projects. Now the loans are not paying and depositor money is at risk. This is a microcosm of what is happening around the world. Now Russia is considering bailing out Iceland. Why? It…

Does 2 + 2 = 3? GM is trying to make a deal out of this. The article suggests that giving Cerberus the remaining GMAC stake in exchange for  Chrysler and its cash might be acceptable, probably so. Oddly the article only examines laying off workers. It does not mention what to me is more obvious, a…

Bertrand Russell observed that the big change in his life, from the late 1800s till after WW II, was the decline of his country, England, in influence and power in the world.  I suspect we are at that point for the US. Pat Buchanan  lays out what has to go in this column. Is this…

I always love to hear newbies to trading tell me they are long term investors. I mentioned in class that BRKA was liable to hit $100,000 per share, it did hit $105K, with a $35K drop in one week, take a look. ENjoying long term investing are we?  Each bar represents one day  of trading. Note…

Victor Davis Hanson on what constitues a worthy bonus, great piece. All this money hustling has resulted in just that. It is easy in retrospect to see why Buffet owns furniture and brick companies passed on MSFT, what was it that they made?  Hanson's analogy with the bridge built in Minneapolis is a good one, those…