We hate to interrupt yet another rendition of the Wall Street chorus singing “Happy Days Are Here” again but today’s rally could use a little sobriety. We’re sure it is wonderful news that the Federal Reserve has convinced the central bankers of the world to cooperate with its plans to snatch, well, something or other from the jaws of recession. But no amount of coordination, no amount of monetary injections, no new levels of central bank creativity is likely to solve the underlying problem of mispriced assets.
The now popped real estate bubble unleashed a torrent of malinvestment so deep that it seems a new class of credit products freezes up (or melts downs) ever week. The newspapers read like a bowl of alphabet soup each morning. Some days we half-suspect that we’re being put on, that the best and brightest of Wall Street cannot really have fallen for things such as auction rate securities.
Apparently the central bankers are convinced that what must be avoided at any cost (or at any inflation rate) is a reckoning of values. They believe they can control stock prices and prop up credits until, well, indefinitely it seems. When one bubble pops, start blowing another.
The Fed’s moves today, following so closely on the Dow Jones falling to its lowest levels of the year, smacks of desperation. We avoid as best we can speculation about market movement. But as the euphoria of the moment wears off, we cannot help but expect the rally will fade as well.
But back to the chorus, lads and lasses. Pop that champagne. The central bankers are riding to the rescue, doling out the punch, and the grand Wall Street nemesis Eliot Spitzer has been laid low. Enjoy it while it lasts.
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Umm, perhaps someone can answer the simple question:
What sort of asset bubble can be blown up large enough to displace the popping mortgage bubble?
An answer escapes me…
I would suggest tulips.
Energy, agriculture…
What the Fed did is like the local Pawn broker lowering his standards for lending!
I’m thinking alt-energy..
Oil-backed securities.
The price of oil has been going up. Therefore, it will always go up. Why not securitize the oil?
Investing in OBS (oil-backed securities) is the guaranteed path to wealth for millions of middle- and lower-income families and Congress should enact tax policies to encourage OBS ownership.
High-priced hookers. Long in size. Those are some assets I’d definitely like to securitize, so-to-speak…
Does anyone else have this weird feeling that what they are doing (the Fed) is really going to fuck shit up worse?
This article is shocking – at least to me:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080311/ap_on_he_me/teen_stds
If it was this easy they should of done it from day one. I’ve seen this story before.
@4:12 I sure hope you’re talking about the boring Carney article and not the 4:10 article.
This is even more shocking to me
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1157399920080311
“quarter of teen girls have sex-related disease”
This is most shocking to me:
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0854496320080310?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
“Chuck Norris the only WMD in Iraq, say U.S. troops”
Yeah since when is HPV a real STD? So like 1 in 200 chicks can get cervical cancer from it…so who the fuck cares? Tempest in a teapot
Now the low doses of prescription drugs that people have pissed out and show up in our drinking water…yeah thats some shit
Anal_yst,
I like where your head’s at.
I’m just assuming it’s at “in high-priced hookers.”
Which I like.
And I’m surprised nobody touched the “Long in size” comment.
Which I also like.
@5:10 Spoken like someone who has sores all over their body… Nice. Too bad you can’t pay someone $4,400 to sleep with you. Oh well, you’ll always have Rosie Palms.
Hilt,
more or less where my head is at, ahem
also, this is by far the most scariest/shocking/appalling to me
“Al Gore’s fund to close after attracting $5 billion”
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/11/business/gore.php
Oh
my
god
Holy f… that’s gotta be a typo right? $5 billion? How did that happen