Video-o-rama: Let’s move beyond the “N” word
While the stock market indices are floundering with multi-year lows, “nationalization” was the key word spooking investor sentiment during the past few days.
Also on the video front, “hot-under-the-collar” discussions, featuring James Galbraith, Sheila Bair, Marc Gaber, Nouriel Roubini, Nassim Taleb and Richard Bove, took place on whether or not to nationalize large US banks.
David Reilly (Bloomberg) added the following perspective: “The nationalization debate is a smoke screen. We’ve already nationalized the big banks. Let’s just accept it and move on”. From across the pond, David Fuller said: “Politically … this is a case of [even more] damned if you do [than] damned if you don’t.”
In lighter vein, this week’s compilation kicks off with Jon Stewart’s take on the stimulus package.
Jon Stewart (The Daily Show): GOP govs at odds
“Republicans are against the stimulus bill, but that doesn’t mean they won’t take the money.”
Source: Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, February 23, 2009.
Charlie Rose: A conversation with Morgan Stanley’s John Mack
Source: Charlie Rose, February 23, 2009.
MarketWatch: James Galbraith – stimulus not enough
“Economist James Galbraith talks to MarketWatch’s Ruth Mantell about the future of the US banking system and what the Federal Reserve can, and can’t, do help shore up the economy.”
Source: MarketWatch, February 26, 2009.
CNBC: FDIC’s Bair on banking
“FDIC chairman Sheila Bair discusses bank nationalization, the creation of a so-called ‘bad bank’, home foreclosures and mark-to-market accounting with CNBC’s Albert Bozzo.”
Source: CNBC, February 25, 2009.
Bloomberg: Marc Faber on bank nationalization
Source: Bloomberg (via YouTube), February 23, 2009.
CNBC: Roubini – banks need temporary nationalization
“‘In the long run, we don’t want government ownership of the banking system. In the short run, temporary nationalization – cleaning up the banks and selling them back to the private sector – might be the right policy,’ Nouriel Roubini, chairman of RGE Monitor & NYU professor, said Tuesday.”
Source: CNBC, February 24, 2009.
Bloomberg: Taleb says US banking system is “designed to blow up”
“Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the best-selling finance book ‘The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable’, and founder of Universa Investments, talks with Bloomberg’s Pimm Fox about conditions in the US banking industry. Taleb also talks about the outlook for the financial system and the potential nationalization of some troubled US banks.”
Source: Bloomberg, February 23, 2009.
Bloomberg: Bove sees “no need” for nationalization of banks
“Richard Bove, an analyst with Rochdale Securities, talks with Bloomberg’s Erik Schatzker about the outlook for the US banking industry. Bove, speaking from Tampa, Florida, also discusses why he favors Bank of America Corp.”
Source: Bloomberg, February 25, 2009.
Financial Times: Obama addresses joint session of Congress
Source: Financial Times, February 25, 2009.
CNBC: Wilbur Ross’ reaction to Obama’s speech to Congress
Source: CNBC, February 25, 2009.
Bloomberg: John Bogle – recession may last another two years
“The 53% plunge in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index indicates investors expect the recession to last another two years, according to John Bogle, who created the $68.8 billion Vanguard 500 Index Fund in 1976.
“‘These are certainly the times that try men’s souls, and particularly investors’ souls,’ he said during a Bloomberg Television interview from Washington. The stock market has ‘got to be discounting an awful lot of the bad economy that we see ahead. We’ve got to be getting close to the lows in the stock market finally’.
“Bogle, in Washington to testify before the House Education and Labor Committee on weaknesses in the 401(k) retirement planning system, said workers will need to put more of their retirement savings into the stock market in the future rather than relying on pensions.
“‘Defined benefit plans are going the way of some extinct bird,’ he said. ‘In the long run, we have a retirement security system that is facing a train wreck.'”
Source: Bloomberg, February 24 2009.
CNBC: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony
“Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke presents his semiannual monetary policy report to Congress.”
Source: CNBC, February 25, 2009.
CNBC: President Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget
Source: CNBC, February 26, 2009.
Financial Times: FT’s Martin Wolf on US budget
Source: Financial Times, February 26, 2009.
CNBC: S&P/Case-Shiller – home price fall to record lows
“The new report shows record declines of existing home prices, with David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committe at Standard & Poor’s.”
Source: CNBC, February 24, 2009.
Bloomberg: Faber says stocks may develop rally “relatively soon”
“Marc Faber, publisher of the ‘Gloom, Boom & Doom Report’, says US stocks may still develop ‘some kind of rally relatively soon’. Faber also discusses the possibility of nationalizing US banks.”
Source: Bloomberg, February 23, 2009.
Yahoo Finance, Tech Ticker: Shiller – stocks not yet cheap enough for me
“Yale professor Robert J. Shiller, the author of ‘Irrational Exuberance’, created one of the most useful and predictive measures of stock-market valuation: the cyclically-adjusted price-earnings ratio (CAPE).
“As Professor Shiller explains here, the CAPE mutes the impact of the business cycle by averaging 10 years of earnings. It thus provides a good picture of the market’s value regardless of where we are in the business cycle.
“As you can see in the attached chart, Professor Shiller’s P/E has finally dropped below fair value for the first time in 15 years. The S&P 500 is down significantly since this chart was created, moreover, so the market’s cyclically adjusted PE is now under 14X (compared to a long-term average of about 15X).
“So is Prof. Shiller going all-in? No. He’s waiting until the P/E drops below 10X, which it has done at major market lows in the past. That could happen either through an additional severe drop or a long period in which the market moves sideways and earnings grow again.”
Source: Yahoo Finance, Tech Ticker, 24 February 2009.
Bloomberg: Comstock’s Minter sees possibility S&P may fall to 300
Source: Bloomberg, February 25, 2009.
John Authers (Financial Times): Fundamentals and the yen
“It looks as though the financial crisis has now given way to the economic crisis that it caused. Japan gives the best evidence.”
Click here for the article.
Source: John Authers, Financial Times, February 25, 2009.
Financial Times: World Bank’s Zoellick urges EU to help east Europe
Click here for the article.
Source: Financial Times, February 17, 2009.
CNBC: UK house prices keep falling
“UK house prices fell a bigger-than-expected 1.8% in February. Fionnuala Earley from Nationwide Building Society considers the outlook for British real estate.”
Source: CNBC, February 26, 2009.
The Wall Street Journal: Secret no more – UBS causes first cracks in Swiss banking
“WSJ’s Deputy Markets editor Dennis Berman discusses the latest on UBS, which handed over 250 accounts to Swiss authorities as part of a US investigation into tax evasion. He tells colleague Adam Najberg the Justice Department is making an example out of UBS and how the loss of secrecy will affect its future.”
Source: The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2009.
Bloomberg: Virgin’s Branson sees expansion into mortgages, banking
“Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson speaks with Bloomberg’s Bernard Lo about his expansion strategy for Virgin Money. Branson, speaking yesterday in Hong Kong, also discusses the global recession and government funding for ailing companies.”
Source: Bloomberg, February 23, 2009.
What's been said:
Discussions found on the web: