Gisele Bündchen the world’s richest model has given up on the dollar. She now requires that contracts are priced in euros because she does not want to suffer depreciation. Well done Gisele. Now if the oil market can be de-coupled from the US dollar too and central banks diversify their currency holdings, economies around the …
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Category:3 The World of Money
“Resignation” of Prince (and others) looking Enronesque
With a massive parachute and reputation intact Chuck Prince walked away from atrocious job performance smiling. The memos relating to Prince’s resignation are reproduced here but the comments below the memos are more telling: there is little integrity among the rich and powerful. While both exits needed to be strategically managed to reduce stock price …
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Food prices rising – eat less meat.
The natural constraints of land are beginning to be felt, as this slide show illustrates. Meat consumption is rising. Meat demands 5-10x more land per calorie. Arable land is shrinking. More people are eating more. The solution: eat less and eat less meat.
US interest rates eased again, of course …
The Fed lowered the federal funds rate by 0.25% to 4.5%, as the markets expected and desired. The vote was not quite unanimous with one governor voting to hold. The discount rate was also reduced by 0.25% to 5%. The reduction in the fed funds rate was almost required given the anxiety of the market …
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How low can you go, U S Dollar?
A graph of the Euro/Dollar exchange rate puts us in the picture. I expect it to continue its trajectory for at least three months.
Gyrating markets
Despite unattractive economic fundamentals, US stock markets are still pushing highs. In early October Indexes posted highs: On October 1, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 14,087.55 – the first climb above 14,000 since mid-July. On October 5, the Standard & Poor’s 500 rose to a record 1,557.59, while earlier in the day the …
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October VC deals and data
A123Systems, which is developing nanophosphate lithium ion batteries to be used in everything from power tools to hybrid/ plug-in and electric vehicles, completed a $30 million round of funding, bringing the total capital invested in the company to $132 million. Investors include General Electric, Procter & Gamble, Alliance Capital, Motorola, Qualcomm, North Bridge Venture Partners, …
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China seeking stakes in more global investment businesses
The FT reports that China’s $61.5 billion social security fund has held talks to acquire ownership stakes in Carlyle Group, KKR and TPG. It’s unclear how far along any of these discussions are, but China has already acquired positions in both The Blackstone Group and Bear Stearns. This further supports the view that China (and …
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Easy online investment in microfinance
eBay launched MicroPlace, a microfinance website that provides an easy way for the average person to invest in the world’s working poor. Investors can loan a minimum of $100 through about a dozen microfinance institutions in countries like Bolivia, Cambodia, Ecuador and Ghana. 150 people invested on the day of the launch.
US housing depression, wealth erosion and consumption recession
This linked economic review by Van Hoisington and Lacy Hunt (shared by John Mauldin) makes for another very sobering analysis of the outlook for the US economy. Some of the choice passages include: In the last twelve months, real U.S. imports of goods rose a minuscule 0.5 %, down from the 8.5% growth rate in …
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