UPON REFLECTION, REGULAR OLD WHITE-SWAN FUNDS ARE PROBABLY THE WAY TO GO
I suppose I can understand why an investor might want to put money into a black-swan fund as a way to hedge fat-tail risk. But I…
NEWS FLASH: BIG-BANK BREAKUP WILL MAKE FINANCIAL SYSTEM MORE COMPLEX, NOT LESS SO
At Naked Capitalism, Yves Smith takes some potshots at Peter Wallison and his recent takedown of the break-up-the-big-banks zealots: While it would clearly be desirable to…
IN MASS., SUBSIDIZED LOW-INCOME MORTGAGE LENDING JUMPS 21%. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
The second time, it’s farce. From the Boston Globe: MassHousing, the state’s affordable housing bank, provided a record-breaking $965.3 million in financing in fiscal year 2012…
DOG BITES MAN–FOUR TIMES!
Non-Surprise 1: The five organizations whose employees have given the most to the Romney campaign are all banks. . . . Non-Surprise 2: Goldman tops the…
CONFIRMED: IT SURE ISN’T THE 1990S ANYMORE
A sign of the times: at Fidelity, whose Magellan fund was once the biggest in the land and symbolized Americans’ late-20th-Century celebration of equities, more than…
THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION PROCEEDS APACE
To those of us of a certain age, this is a vaguely unsettling development: Manhattan’s Plaza district, the area near Central Park that commands the nation’s…
IN VICTORY FOR CONSUMERS, THEY NOW GET TO PAY MORE FOR CHECKING ACCOUNTS THAN EVER
Bankrate.com’s annual survey of bank fees is out. Get ready to not be surprised: The average monthly maintenance fee for a non-interest-bearing checking account rose to…
ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST. SIGH.
The Smith Barney brand goes to Wall Street heaven. RIP, old pal. . . . If John Houseman were still around, this never would have happened.…
THERE’S JUST NO STOPPING AN IDEA WHOSE TIME STILL HASN’T COME
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel chronicles the relentless rise of credit unions: Florida’s credit unions added thousands of new members in the past quarter, pushing membership beyond…
ANOTHER GREAT MOMENT IN AMERICAN JOURNALISM
Blaming everything on the Internet only goes so far. Note to major media outlets: If only 26% of Republicans and 31% of Independents have a lot…