Weekend Reading

Quote of the Week: As commercials for Fram oil filters used to say, “You can pay me now or pay me later.” In our case today, “pay me later” is a perpetuation of weak banks, substandard growth, persistent unemployment and stymied productivity. Better to do takeunders of banks now than to hire an undertaker for [...]

Hussman: Bubble, Crash, Bubble, Crash, Bubble…

Hussman’s weekly market comment is a must read. He does not mince words in arguing that QE is utterly misguided and Bernanke’s leadership at the Fed has bordered on criminal. Excerpts below (emphasis mine) but please read the entire comment. Given that interest rates are already quite depressed, Bernanke seems to be grasping at straws [...]

QE2 through the lens of QE1

A survey released yesterday on the subject of the markets’ expectation for the future size Federal Reserve balance sheet has me curious regarding what another round of quantitative easing (QE) would mean for the equity markets. 70% of survey respondents believe the Federal Reserve will resume QE with the average expected increase in balance sheet [...]

Big Banks Loosen Lending Standards: Does it Matter?

The front page of the Wall Street Journal today proclaimed that “Big Banks Loosen Lending Standards”. Further reading revels that while credit standards are becoming more liberal, demand is still weak; especially among businesses with annual sales less than $50 million. So the question is, will the easing of lending supply also spur demand or [...]