Judge Forces the SEC to Actually Do its Job
In a previous blogpost, I wrote about how the phrase “settled without admitting or denying wrongdoing” should be the mantra of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). So many traders, hedge fund...
View ArticleTo Anyone Reading About Paulson Tipping-off Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Managers
Bloomberg released a piece today titled:“How Paulson Gave Hedge Funds Advance Word” which reports that former Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs CEO, Hank Paulson gave nonpublic sensitive...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Trillion Dollar Bailouts Equal Crony Capitalism
Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sent a letter to Congress where he tried to counter the idea that the Fed secretly lent trillions of dollars to banks during the financial...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Federal Reserve is Buying Euro Debt and We are All Going to Pay
Two-weeks ago the Federal Reserve announced a coordinated effort by six central banks to make it cheaper to borrow dollars in emergency situations. The premium to borrow dollars overnight via foreign...
View ArticleCongress Plays Charades with Insider Trading
Congress‘ approval rating hit another historic low when a recent Gallup poll found 76 percent of registered voters think congressional incumbents don’t deserve re-election. That’s the highest...
View ArticleThe Cordray Appointment
Either Obama just overplayed his hand or the White House has baited the Republicans into looking like the party of "no" without much in the way of alternative ideas. This morning President Obama made...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Greek Debt Talks Stall, Again. What About Portugal?
After another attempt failed to get commitment from private investors on forgiving a portion of their Greek debt, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) maintains that a deal will be finalized...
View ArticleFreddie Didn't Bet Against Homeowners, It Gambled With Taxpayer Money
This is one of the last places you will find me defending Freddie Mac, but as much as I would like to pile on to the recent story that Freddie "bet against homeowners" the reality is that the nature of...
View ArticleSenate Approves Lawmakers Insider Trading Ban. Whatever.
After a “60 Minutes” report brought to the attention of the American public that Congress was capitalizing on non-public information, lawmakers quickly collaborated with one another and proposed two...
View ArticleLandslide! STOCK Act More Popular than Hepatitis
In what has been called a “legislative speed record,” the STOCK Act has been passed in both the Senate and House with 96-3 and 417-2 voting “yay” respectively after just two-and-a-half months of...
View ArticleOccupy the SEC
So as not to be remembered as mace-enticing defilers of public property, the more productive members of the “Occupy” movement have collaborated to produce the most comprehensive, coherent, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bernanke and You: Charting His Control
Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke is largely responsible for the 1 percent interest rates under Greenspan in 2003-2004 that contributed to the housing bubble, and Bernanke is absolutely...
View ArticleThe Coming Greek Default
Over at Reason.com this afternoon, I have a new column on the Greek debt crisis. Last year we looked at the numbers on the blog and came to the conclusion that no matter what happens, Greece is going...
View ArticleHow Justice Broke Down in the Mortgage Settlement
Following on the commentary we published last week calling out the politically oriented nature of the mortgage settlement between state attorneys general and the top five mortgage servicers, I had an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Japan Reports Huge Current Account Deficit. Should the U.S. be Worried?
Last January we highlighted that Japan was stepping up their foreign exchange borrowings through the Federal Reserve. They currently stand at $18.1 billion and have remained about that size since...
View ArticleSecurities Regulation Continues to Frustrate
Ask any trader their opinion about regulators at the SEC or CFTC and they’ll respond with variants of one of the following two responses:1.) “Great people. My son’s godfather is a director at the...
View ArticleThe IRS Gets Sued for an Illegal Licensing Scheme
Most people don't like to fight the IRS, but the Institute for Justice is not most people. Last week IJ sued the Internal Revenue Service for authorizing an illegal licensing scheme that is driving...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Goldman Sachs Scams Federal Reserve Operation Twist
Last October we penned a post pointing to the failed policy of the Federal Reserve through Operation Twist. We noted that since the first day of long bond purchases under Bernanke, interest rates have...
View ArticleSTOCK Act Ready for Obamas Signature
Following weeks of delays, Harry Reid and the Senate finally sent the worthless legislation that is the STOCK Act to Barak Obama. Barring a staffer dropping it into the toilet en route to his desk, it...
View ArticleA Financial Products Agency is a Bad Idea
Back in February Eric Posner and Glen Weyl, both of the University of Chicago and deservedly respected economic and legal minds, wrote a paper proposing a Financial Products Agency. The idea is...
View Article
