At Last, Death!
Alas, but all good things in the human sphere come to an end. Penn Treaty is the biggest insurer failure since 2004. Now, don’t cry too much. The state guaranty funds will pick up the slack. The banks are jealous of an...
Read MoreAuthor: David Merkel
Financial Versus Real
I wrote the following this morning for Finacorp clients: “One of the keys to understanding the current environment is that there is a lot of financial liquidity, which obscures a lack of demand for products that are not staples....
Read MoreMiscellaneous Notes
When I wrote for RealMoney, I would sometimes do Columnist Conversation [CC] posts that would be entitled “Miscellaneous Notes,” or “Odds and Ends,” etc. Occasionally my editor would chide me saying that I should be able to...
Read MorePlan for Failure
Imagine for a moment that you are managing a large corporate bond portfolio for a major institution. One of the first things you should internalize is that you will be wrong. You will buy bonds of companies that will get into...
Read MoreRecent Portfolio Actions
Sorry, it’s been a while since I listed my equity portfolio moves. I made the following trades yesterday: New Buys: Chubb Computer Sciences Corp Dominion Resources Northrup Grumman National Presto (beware, less liquid) SCANA...
Read MoreOn Vanilla Products
Though Congress may not mandate the sale of vanilla financial products to consumers, it is worth thinking about the concept in general. I have written two articles that argued that consumers should only simple products from...
Read MoreBook Review: Fallen Giant
I am glad I read this book, but I found it less than satisfactory. Why? Wait a moment on that question, while I tell you about the book’s strong points, which I appreciated. AIG’s founder was Cornelius Vander (C.V.) Starr,...
Read MoreName Your Poison
Last night I wrote a longish post, and the system ate it. Probably I had not established a firm connection with the server, and when I hit the publish button, it disappeared. My main point was to ask where the limits were for...
Read MoreRedacted Version of the September FOMC Statement
August 2009 September 2009 Comments Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June suggests that economic activity is leveling out. Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in...
Read MoreFree E-Book
TraderPlanet’s Quick Guide to Candlesticks
