Recent comments

  • and I didn't go digging around into an online database with subscriptions yet...we can get this information from other sources.

    Merrill does have a global wealth report online, for public viewing, free. There it also shows how the financial crisis was not only 10 years in the making, but also fueled by increased leverage of the middle class (debt).

    Read both posts linked have a depth of info, the LA Times story as well as Baseline Scenarios additions. Baseline Scenario also reviews a large report done by Zero hedge.

    Reply to: Don't Expect that Consumer to Save you   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • I think. I strongly encourage people to read the LA Times story because the author raises a very important policy question.

    RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.

    Reply to: Don't Expect that Consumer to Save you   15 years 2 months ago
  • I just posted this and looked over at the title RSS feed to find this post on NC .

    I just scanned it and the approach is different, describing various macro economic theory as being all wrong....

    but the focus is almost identical to my post....it's all because the middle class, i.e. the consumer is getting royally screwed here and the focus should be on income.

    Maybe everyone will scream in unison, it's about income people! Focus on policies to increase median income, generate high paying jobs!

    Reply to: Don't Expect that Consumer to Save you   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • With our leaders willing to deficit spend their way out of this mess, why are our they so fixated on banks and auto dealers? Oh, I forgot, poor people don't vote as much and don't make campaign contributions. But they also don't save. Perhaps the TARP funds could be reprogrammed so that assistance to the poor and disabled could be built into increasing their benefits under existing programs. Sure, you'll never see it paid back to the program, but you will see demand created -- they don't save.
    Frank T.

    Reply to: People in poverty increased at least 12.7% in 2008   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • Understanding that capital pools have chased high returns and leverage, isn't it time to remind these pension funds that they have been given a "trust" responsibility for employee pension funds? What does the Governator have to say on the subject? Will they pay their retirees with IOUs? Just when we begin to fret that some entities are "too big to fail," we get the news that our venerable state leaders are standing on the tracks, waiting for the Las Vegas express to arrive. Will Uncle Ben and Uncle Tim be called upon to devise yet another clever program to rescue these American institutions?

    Frank T.

    Reply to: "Pensions' Private Equity Cash Reduced 59%"   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • I added the Pension Pulse RSS title feed to the middle column. I try to put exceptional insight, original writing and also blogs that are maintained (unfortunately some economists abandoned their fantastic information blogs....understandable, a lot of work for no money!), new posts...in the middle column.

    I also added the IMF blog, where I'm putting the government affiliated blogs in the right hand column. If you haven't checked out the Atlanta Fed blog....these guys are awesome...

    Just generally speaking while I know all are blasting the Fed...on the other hand they give so many cool tools, data and exceptional commentary reports...well, I'm personally thrilled at what they have been doing in that end.

    I hope all realize you can just click on the title and it will launch a new tab, (should be a tab!) to read that particular blog post.

    Reply to: "Pensions' Private Equity Cash Reduced 59%"   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • I noted this sometime ago (and since I'm somewhat slow, I'm sure I'm probably repeating old news), that private equity firms, utilizing pension funds for the funds of funds (CFOs, etc.), went about on their raping and pillaging of companies (leveraged buyouts, loss of employment, shredding of viable companies), thus the pension funds were helping in the descaling of the American economy.

    I've noted some others mentioning that this "healthcare reform" may be nothing more than a backdoor bailout of the insurance industry, and given the amount of insurance-linked securities utilized in the AIG bailout, it's beginning to make a lot of sense.

    Reply to: "Pensions' Private Equity Cash Reduced 59%"   15 years 2 months ago
  • it doesn't specify if it is Residential or Commercial.

    I think that's a key, I trust CR on housing and while they are projecting more price drops, there is also evidence a bottom is in, or close...whereas CRE is just getting started.

    Rebel, if you want your post on the front page, hit the up arrow on the left...

    people aren't using these arrows to promote to the front page enough.

    Reply to: "Pensions' Private Equity Cash Reduced 59%"   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • BiModality of Markets: Why Mean-Variance Doesn’t Work.

    Ritzholtz log distro projected actual DOW returns
    Src: The Big Picture, click to enlarge

    I'm not sure what his reference is to people don't understand the difference between logs and percentages, except perhaps people do not realize a logarithm does average, or act as a low pass filter, it smooths those spikes that one would normally see in a % graph. So, he's implying those 2x inverse return ETFs have drift...
    and on this score, I've been wondering about DUG, SKF (Proshares ultrashorts).

    Reply to: Bayes, Markov, and Conditional Probability in Finance Models   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System saw its total assets grow by 3% to $50.2 billion year-to-date through June 30, but real estate was a big drag on its results. The fund’s real estate assets, which account for about 8% of the fund’s total assets, dropped 12.2% during the same period to approximately $4.2 billion. The decline was beat only by the drop in private equity holdings, which declined 18.22% for the year.

    Or CALPERS

    The bellwether institutional investor reported that the value of total assets under management at the end of June was $180.9 billion, down from $237 billion a year earlier, or a drop of 23.6%.

    Real estate values accounted for the biggest chunk of the decline, falling 35.8% during the period, followed by private equity with a 31.4% decline.

    Link

    RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.

    Reply to: "Pensions' Private Equity Cash Reduced 59%"   15 years 2 months ago
  • What it says is that pensions are attracted to CRE because of the deep discounts. But then you have articles like this:

    "Tanking Real Estate Values Take Toll on Pension Funds"

    "Real Estate Woes Threaten Oregon state pension fund"

    Are pension funds too desperate?

    RebelCapitalist.com - Financial Information for the Rest of Us.

    Reply to: "Pensions' Private Equity Cash Reduced 59%"   15 years 2 months ago
  • great article. But,sadly, it never helped the Japanese increase money velocity. Although, without The Japanese requiring the pension system to hold 67% in JGBs, its not clear how the JGB market would have turned out.

    Reply to: The 3 Ds: Deflation, Debt & the Dollar   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • I'm kind of surprising you aren't commenting on this audit.

    This is a pretty damn large chunk of change, no one knows how much losses the U.S. taxpayer really took...

    Think about it, $300 Billion dollars at risk...all to prop up one corporation, Citigroup.

    Reply to: Citigroup Gets Audit by SIGTARP   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • Honestly I'm not so sure how taking on a new car payment helps that much....that said, it's better than nothing and it sure seems to have jacked up durable goods as well as industrial production and that's all very good because it implies U.S. jobs.

    Someone bought gas futures options (not oil, natural gas) to triple in the next year (large hedge fund) so if oil jumps back to insane prices AND someone bought a super fuel efficient car with the cash for clunkers, it will help out in the long run.

    Reply to: Time to "Put some Jam on the Bottom Shelf where the Little Man can Reach it!"   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • WSJ has subscriptions so how much are they investing...which is incredible because CRE is being reported as the next neutron bomb or at minimum has not "hit a bottom".

    Reply to: "Pensions' Private Equity Cash Reduced 59%"   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • You are right when you say that there most consumers are not seeing any of the effects promised by the stimulus. They had a perfect opportunity with the cash for clunkers system to make it good for those without cars but they even dropped the ball with that. online casino

    Reply to: Time to "Put some Jam on the Bottom Shelf where the Little Man can Reach it!"   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • $158 T down from $184 T, claiming some money set aside for bail outs "won't be used".

    I'll believe it when I see it but if true, is some good news on the deficit at least.

    Reply to: The 3 Ds: Deflation, Debt & the Dollar   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • LOL

    One never knows who is reading EP. I just we have a lot of lurkers.

    I agree, I never looked into any of these financial modeling papers or anything and the one straight out of the box...I was/am horrified!

    I've said many times on here they should be regulating the mathematics and software, technology itself because it's clearly increasing an influence in finance yet it looks like the wild west...whatever someone can get away with...flies as "innovation"....reminds me of that "innovation" during the dot con era of Enron going to "manage and "auction" Internet bandwidth.

    Reply to: Bayes, Markov, and Conditional Probability in Finance Models   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • was I don't believe Buffett or Pimco on this. Not immediately, not as long as the economy is getting these kind of deflationary EIs.

    Although yeah, long term it's scary as hell.

    Reply to: The 3 Ds: Deflation, Debt & the Dollar   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:
  • Surely all EP readers are above average!

    Reading through the Li paper now. Interesting. It makes me even more skeptical of money managers -- didn't think that was possible.

    Reply to: Bayes, Markov, and Conditional Probability in Finance Models   15 years 2 months ago
    EPer:

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