Video-o-rama: Risk appetite rekindled on hope of better days
Following Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s “nuclear option” announcement of last week, the action stayed on Capitol Hill with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner outlining his Public-Private Investment Program as well as “new rules of the game” for the financial services industry.
Whereas Nouriel Roubini’s reaction to the administration’s new plan to buy toxic assets was surprisingly positive, James Galbraith and Paul Krugman were not impressed. These gentlemen are included in this week’s harvest of video clips, sharing the platform with the likes of Bill Gross, Paul McCulley, John Bogle, Wilbur Ross and Jeremy Siegel.
As stock markets look set for a straight third week of gains, the debate as to the longevity of the nascent rally rages on. The featured video material sees Mark Mobius saying “the next bull market has begun”, Jeff Saut arguing the “odds are pretty good stocks have seen their lows”, but Laslo Birinyi taking a bearish stance and advising to sell stocks that gained in the rally.
The selection starts with a great discussion across the pond on the “future of capitalism” and ends with an educational clip about the ins and outs of quantitative easing.
Financial Times: Future of capitalism – London panel
“Does the financial crisis signal the end of the Reagan-Thatcher model of free markets and globalisation? FT editor Lionel Barber leads a discussion with Howard Davies, director of the London Schoof of Economics, Donald Brydon, incoming chairman of the Royal Mail, and John Studzinski, of US private equity firm Blackstone.”
Source: Financial Times, March 26, 2009.
CNBC: Geithner & toxic assets
“Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner discusses his plan to deal with financial institutions’ toxic assets, with CNBC’s Erin Burnett.”
Part 1
Part 2
Source: CNBC, March 23, 2009.
Financial Times: Geithner’s toxic asset plan
“The government has given the financial sector what it has wanted for a long time; it will pay investors to take the toxic assets off banks’ balance sheets. But the supercharged political environment could endager the program, says FT’s Francesco Guerrera.”
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Source: Francesco Guerrera, Financial Times, March 23, 2009.
CNBC: Bill Gross buys in
“Pimco is intrigued by the potential double-digit growth from the toxic asset plan, says William Gross, co-chief investment officer/founder.”
Source: CNBC, March 23, 2009.
CNBC: Market masters wigh in on the Treasury’ plan
“The economy’s performance utimately drives stock prices, with Abby Joseph Cohen, Goldman Sachs, Paul McCulley, PIMCO, John Bogle, The Vanguard Group, and Bob Doll, BlackRock.”
Source: CNBC, March 24, 2009.
PBS News: Toxic asset plan may woo investors, but long-term impact is unclear
“While markets rose Monday on details of the toxic asset plan, critics voiced concern over taxpayer risk and the need for a long-term fix to financial sector troubles. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and Donald Marron of Lightyear Capital debate the details.”
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Source: PBS News, March 23, 2009.
Bloomberg: Roubini says Geithner plan won’t stop nationalizations
“Nouriel Roubini, economist and professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, talks with Bloomberg’s Maithreyi Seetharaman about US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s plan to remove toxic assets from the books of the nation’s banks. Roubini, speaking in London, also discusses the outlook for the meeting between the Group of 20 leaders in London.”
Source: Bloomberg, March 26, 2009.
Tech Ticker (Yahoo Finance): James Galbraith – Geithner plan “extremely dangerous”, banks “massively corrupted”
“Professor James Galbraith didn’t pull any punches on TechTicker this morning. He hates the Geithner plan, calling it ‘extremely dangerous’. He says the banks may game the plan to bid up the prices for their own crap assets and that getting bad assets off their books won’t get them lending again. Like Paul Krugman, Galbraith thinks the FDIC should just put the banks into receivership and have the banks’ subordinated bondholders pick up some of the cost of restructuring them.
Part 1: Getting crap assets off bank books won’t save economy
Part 2: Massive corruption
Source: Tech Ticker, Yahoo Finance, March 23, 2009.
CNBC: EU politician slams US economic recovery plan
“A top EU official slams the US economic recovery plan, calling it a way to hell, reports CNBC’s Carolina Cimenti.”
Source: CNBC, March 25, 2009.
CNBC: Ross: Due diligence integral to success of US plan
“The key issue would be how much due diligence the US government allows private investors to conduct in its toxic asset plan, says Wilbur Ross, chairman & CEO of WL Ross & Co. He speaks with CNBC’s Martin Soong & Sri Jegarajah.”
Source: CNBC, March 23, 2009.
Financial Times: “New rules of the game”
“Treasury secretary Tim Geithner’s regulatory overhaul is ambitious, but the question is whether he can follow through, says FT’s Helen Thomas.”
Source: Financial Times, March 26, 2009.
CNBC: Restoring investors’ trust
“The stress test on banks is an essential step in restoring trust for investors, says Jeremy Siegel, Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania professor of finance.”
Source: CNBC, March 26, 2009.
CNBC: AIG hearing – Timothy Geithner’s statement
“Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says AIG’s failure would have caused catastrophic damage.”
Source: CNBC, March 24, 2009.
CNBC: AIG Hearing – Ben Bernanke’s statement
“Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke discusses the importance of bailing out AIG.”
Source: CNBC, March 24, 2009.
Bloomberg: FDIC’s Bair says goldman should return US aid if able
“Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair talks with Bloomberg’s Kathleen Hays about the possible return of government bailout funds by Goldman Sachs Group. Goldman Sachs is talking with US regulators about repaying the $10 billion it received from the government by mid-April, a person familiar with the matter said. Bair also discusses Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s plan to remove toxic assets from the books of US banks.”
Source: Bloomberg, March 24, 2009.
Charlie Rose: An update on the economy with Krugman et al
“An update on the economy with Paul Krugman, Joe Nocera and Andrew Ross Sorkin.”
Source: Charlie Rose, March 23, 2009.
John Authers (Financial Times): Credit market gloom
“Perhaps the greatest cause for concern amid the equity rally is that credit markets, the target of all the rescue operations, are still working on the assumption of absolute disaster, says John Authers.”
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Source: John Authers, Financial Times, March 27, 2009.
60 Minutes: President Barack Obama
“From the AIG bonuses, to the economic meltdown, to the war in Afghanistan, it has been an eventful two months in office for President Obama. Steve Kroft has the behind-the-scenes interview.”
Part 1
Part 2
Source: 60 Minutes, March 22, 2009.
Bloomberg: Mobius says stocks at beginning of a bull market
“The next bull market has begun and there are bargains in every emerging market following a record slump in stocks, Templeton Asset Management’s Mark Mobius said.”
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Source: Bloomberg, March 23, 2009.
Bloomberg: Saut says odds “pretty good” stocks have seen their lows
“Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James & Associates, talks with Bloomberg’s Julie Hyman about the outlook for US stocks. Saut, speaking from St. Petersburg, Florida, also discusses the Treasury’s Public-Private Investment Program and financial stocks.”
Source: Bloomberg, March 23, 2009.
Bloomberg: Laszlo Birinyi – sell stocks that gained in rally
“Laszlo Birinyi, president of Birinyi Associates, talks with Bloomberg’s Betty Liu about his equity investment strategy. Birinyi, speaking from Westport, Connecticut, says investors who own stocks that rose as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rallied 20% since March 9 should consider selling them.”
Source: Bloomberg, March 26, 2009.
John Authers (Financial Times): Reading copper leaves
“Recovering commodity prices may signal that we have reached the bottom of this bear market.”
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Source: John Authers, Financial Times, March 24, 2009.
Financial Times: Benita Ferrero-Waldner on eastern Europe
“Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU’s external affairs commissioner, says eastern Europe is important to the European Union. Ms Ferrero-Waldne also says the EU must re-engage in a broad dialogue with Russia to avoid another energy crisis.”
Source: Financial Times, March 23, 2009.
Marketplace: Quantitative easing
“Now the Federal Reserve has effectively cut the target lending rate to zero, it only has one more weapon in its arsenal. Quantitative easing. Senior Editor Paddy Hirsch explains what this ‘nuclear option’ is, and what the Fed hopes it’ll do.”
Source: Marketplace (via Vimeo), December 2008.
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