How and Why Do Bubbles Form?
What causes bubbles? Here's one set of views: Bernanke's Bubble Laboratory, by Justin Lahart, WSJ [Open Link]: First came the tech-s...

Wisdom Tree Puts Forth New ETF Shoots, But Shows Some Earnings Blight
ETF provider WisdomTree (WSDT.PK) and Dreyfus Corporation announced the launch of four currency income ETFs yesterday based on the Chi...

ECB Concerned Over Swap-O-Rama Exit Strategy
I have come across an interesting difference of opinion between the Fed and the ECB in regards to various Swap-O-Rama-Programs. Let's s...

Forced rebalancing
It s not clear that there s much useful to be blogged about from a distance on the catastrophes in China and Burma. But one dif...

Want To Fix The Fed? Get Rid Of It
Inquiring minds have been pondering Volcker's latest statements regarding stagflation, the CPI, regulation of banks, and even the need ...

California Leads Way To Consumer Bust
The International Herald Tribune reports Californians leading the way to consumer bust.As it did when the housing bubble began to burst...

How to Default on Your Mortgage and Stay in Your House
Floyd Norristoday finds one of the worst bonds ever underwritten: a securitization,by Merrill Lynch (MER), of second-lien mortgages mos...

Interest rates too low?
Some observers say the Federal Reserve is once again over-stimulating the economy because real ... Click here to read more...

Petro-Canada new debt issue will underperform: Gimme Credit
On Sunday, EnCana Corp. announced its plan to split into two separate oil and natural gas firms. On Monday, Petro-Canada said it agreed...