Category Archives: Curiousities

QE2: Bernanke Cuts Geithner Off at the Knees

The Fed’s announcement of $600 billion of intermediate and long Treasury purchase, informally dubbed QE2, teed off a peppy rally in stocks, and led to further weakening of the dollar. These trends were already well in motion thanks to the central bank’s winks and nods that it was going to embark on another round of […]

Read more...

In Case You Had Any Doubts As To Who Is Really In Charge

From an alert reader: The United States of America in one short scene, from Politico: MILITARY OFFICERS TOUR JPMORGAN — JPMorgan Chase yesterday hosted about 30 active duty military officers (across all branches and agencies) from the Marine Corps War College in Quantico, Va. The officers met with senior executives, toured the trading floor and […]

Read more...

We are Number One on Technorati!

Well, at least we are number one as of yesterday, when Richard Smith noticed our rating, and today among business blogs. Don’t know how long this will last. But look how we beat blogs with a lot more people as dedicated contributors! And if you look at the Technorati ratings for business blogs + news […]

Read more...

Song of the Robber Baron

The latest Versus econoparody: And since this is a Friday night, let me give you a couple of personal faves. This one from O Lucky Man! is similar philosophically but very different stylistically. This Lindsay Anderson film (with Malcolm McDowell) has the interesting device of treating the band as a Greek chorus. During the picture, […]

Read more...

Meet GMAC’s Robo Signer Jeffrey Stephan

See this video ofthe deposition of GMAC’s famed robo signer, Jeffrey Stephan, who estimates that he signs 10,000 documents a month. If nothing else, you need to watch from 5:00 to the end of the first segment. Hat tip reader Barbara W, from 4closureFraud.org. I wish the sound quality were better; you can also read […]

Read more...

More on China’s Renminbi Headfake

It was hard to miss the Chinese central bank’s announcement last weekend that it was implementing a ore “flexible” policy toward managing its currency. Numerous Western officials and analysts declared the statement to be a major move, signaling China’s willingness to allow the renminbi to appreciate to a meaningful degree. We, by contrast, called it […]

Read more...