Weekend Reading

• The theory of rockets and parachutes: a primer on US gasoline prices (The Barrel) • What the Mafia teaches about fiscal policy (Olaf Storbeck) • The Bond Vigilante (The Atlantic) • Faulty Towers: The Crisis in Higher Education (The Nation) • The great corporate tax swindle (Guardian) • A Crude Guess About The Future…

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Was it Worth It

I was just scanning this little piece on Raj Rajaratnam the billionaire who has just been found guilty of insider trading. It states that he made around $60 million over about six years by using his highly placed network. This raises the question of if you are worth a billionaire bucks is a further $60…

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Just Looking

Have you ever fired up the Google box for the purposes of finding something pertinent and relevant to your next task only to find yourself four hours later amazed by your new found knowledge that a crocodile cannot stick out its tongue or that there is no Betty Rubble in The Flintstones chewable vitamins. Seeking…

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PIIG’s

An interesting graphic from The Economist depicting who is picking up the bill for bailout of Portugal, Ireland and Greece. The price of having a government that cannot run a hot bath is very high…for others.    

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China

This chart of the Shanghai Composite interests me. If we accept that markets are forward pricing mechanisms then this presents an interesting picture of the true internal dynamics of the Chinese economy. As opposed to the state sponsored data shows this chart by derivation an economy that is actually slowing not expanding. The Shanghai Composite…

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The Short Long

Interesting speech by a Bank of England official about the demise of the notion of a long term time horizon in investing, a sentiment I would tend to agree with. It is a constant battle to get traders to think about where they will be next year ass opposed to where they will be will…

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