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Wanna buy some toxic waste?
Filed under: Financial CrisisJust when I think I have heard it all, they come up with something even more eye-poppingly incredible. That's right folks. First they sucked you into the dot-com boom; then...
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Is the IRS giving banks the kid glove treatment?
Filed under: Employees, Scandals, Financial CrisisIf I could be reincarnated, I would come back as a banker. The world revolves around them. They get multi-million dollar bonuses, live in Fifth Avenue...
View ArticlePlunge a spike into securitization's heart
Filed under: Financial CrisisThe global economy is imperiled because of toxic waste. But what exactly is that? Simply put, it's securities backed by loans backed by assets like houses, shopping malls,...
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Why newspapers are like cigarettes
Filed under: Management, Competitive Strategy, Marketing and Advertising Last week someone asked me to go on TV to talk about the future of newspapers based on my comment on how to save the Boston...
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$77 billion more to bail out bankrupt GM?
Filed under: General Motors (GM)Thanks to decades of mismanagement, General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) is on the brink of bankruptcy. It has about six weeks to accept the outlines of a Treasury plan and...
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Will Fannie Mae's Allison head TARP?
Filed under: Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Politics, Financial CrisisThe follically challenged Herb Allison is likely to take over from Neel Kashkari, the former Goldman Sachs...
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Are tea baggers traitors or spitballers?
Filed under: Politics, Financial CrisisThere seem to be a few folks with too much time on their hands and a huge amount of frustration over losing last November. And tomorrow they're going to have a...
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If Fiat dumps Chrysler, will GM and Chrysler merge?
Filed under: General Motors (GM)It's beginning to look like the cozy little plan of salvaging Chrysler through an investment from Italy's Fiat is going to fall flat on its face. And if it does, this...
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Have banks bottomed out? Think again
Filed under: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Wells Fargo (WFC), Financial CrisisAfter three better-than-expected bank earnings announcements, investors are beginning to act as though...
View ArticleAnother market freezes up -- $479 billion in VRDNs
Filed under: Bad News14 months ago, I learned about the $330 billion market for Auction Rate Securities (ARS) -- bonds sold as cash-like whose yields reset in periodic auctions. But in February 2008,...
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Was the teabagging ceremony a News Corp marketing event?
Filed under: News Corp'B' (NWS) As I posted Tuesday, some people took time off to protest yesterday. I am not sure what exactly they object to or what they want. It appears that they don't like paying...
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Citi's $1.6 billion profit based on $2.5 billion accounting trick
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Citigroup Inc. (C)Today we have another example of why it is such a huge mistake to let companies write their own report cards. That's right folks, Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE:...
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Letting banks pay back the TARP could further endanger the financial system
Filed under: Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Politics, Financial CrisisAs I posted, some of the largest recipients of Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) money want to pay it back. TARP was originally...
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Is President Obama a better stock picker than Bill Gross?
Filed under: Indices, DJIA, Financial Crisis, Obama Picks In February I interviewed Bill Gross back when the Dow traded at 7,182. Gross's message? Equities are dead. Or more specifically, in light of...
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With $4.24 billion profit, is Bank of America out of the woods?
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Bank of America (BAC)With apologies to Buffalo Springfield, there's something happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear. But if Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) first...
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Oracle pays $7.4 billion in cash for Sun Microsystems -- really?
Filed under: Deals, International Business Machines (IBM), Sun Microsystems (JAVA), Oracle Corp (ORCL)Today's announcement that Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) would acquire Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) for...
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Add $590 billion from TARP, cut lending 23% -- What gives?
Filed under: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), Wells Fargo (WFC)Last fall, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson decided it would be good to buy the toxic waste off...
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How's that $787 billion stimulus plan working out?
Filed under: Politics, Financial CrisisOne of President Obama's accomplishments during his first 100 days was the passage of a $787 billion stimulus plan. I think the idea of economic stimulus makes...
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$150 billion for 650,000 jobs: Is it worth it?
Filed under: Politics, RecessionCNNMoney reports that after $150 billion in stimulus spending, tens of thousands of states, cities, and private companies have saved or created 650,000 jobs. At $230,769...
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Was Goldman Wrong to Take Both Sides of the Mortgage Market?
Filed under: Goldman Sachs The New York Times re-reported Monday a story that originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal in December 14, 2007 about how Goldman Sachs' (GS) bet against the mortgage...
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