June 29, 2011 – Investment News reports that Bank of America, the nation’s biggest bank, has agreed to pay $8.5B to resolve claims about soured mortgages after mortgage bondholders demanded refunds. Investors, which include Pacific Investment Management Co. and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York…
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“Raymond James to pony up $300M to buy back ARS”
June 29, 2011 – Bruce Kelly reports for Investment News. “B-D said to agree to settlement with states, SEC over auction-rate securities; also will pay $1.7M fine.” Raymond James had been dealing with the ARS mess since the market for these securities froze in the winter of 2008. Raymond James has been under investigation by regulators regarding ARS sold by its registered reps to clients…
(Read More)A “Breakthrough” Electric Motor?
June 2, 2011 – A real breakthrough in automobile engine design not dependent on fossil fuels would impact everyone’s lives in a dramatic way. Toyota is leveraging the design of a Serbian-American inventor, Nikola Tesla, to develop it’s “Tesla Roadster.” Ironic that Tesla came up with this “alternating current (AC) induction” motor design in 1888. …
(Read More)“The People vs. Goldman Sachs”
May 26, 2011 – Reading this article written by Matt Taibbi for Rolling Stone, is like Neo choosing to take the “red pill” in the 1999 sci-fi cult movie, “The Matrix.” In the movie, the main character Neo is offered the choice between a red pill and a blue pill with the red pill leading to his “escape” from the Matrix, a fictional computer-generated world, while the blue pill will allow him to remain in the world with no knowledge that anything is wrong. Taibbi is offering readers a “red pill” that could possibly strip the veil from individual investors eyes about how Goldman Sachs, and its brethren operate. The article is written in an raw, outraged tone, with a few expletives strewn throughout at appropriate times. But don’t let any of that put you off. Taibbi has done his research…
(Read More)“If You Have the Answers, Tell Me”
May 7, 2011 – Economist Gregory Mankaw wrote this article published in the N.Y. Times. Here’s a great, honest quote to start the article: “After more than a quarter-century as a professional economist, I have a confession to make: There is a lot I don’t know about the economy.” Noting that most people don’t run into humble economists, Mankaw declares that economists confidence in their predictions is more often based on bravado than true knowledge. He then goes on to discuss the three questions that perplex him…
(Read More)“Mythical Nirvanas”
March 2011 – In this article by Mitch Anthony for Financial Advisor Magazine, the author makes the case that “people strive for certain lifestyles in retirement, but often find they offer diminishing returns.” He boldly states that there are three mythical nirvanas that people strive for only to later awake to empty, banal and unimaginative realities. The asserts that these three are…
(Read More)“Addiction to Prediction”
January 1, 2010 – Financial Planning Magazine – (Abstract) Allan Roth writes shares his key takeaways from reading “The Little Book of Safe Money” by Jason Zweig: 1) People don’t like uncertainty or randomness so they look for experts who can make predictions about the markets…
(Read More)“Patience, Please, With That Investment Plan”
December 27, 2009 – The New York Times – (Abstract) Those of us who stayed invested in the market and didn’t liquidate their holdings by fleeing into cash captured the most value from the dramatic market rebound…
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