Tag Archives: White Shoe Boys

Doug French: The Market Is Rigged

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“In the end, the controversy surrounding high-frequency trading is likely much ado about nothing. For one thing, the industry peaked five years ago, pulling in $5 billion in profits. In 2012, it pulled in $1 billion. That might sound like a lot, but JPMorgan Chase made $5 billion just last quarter. As far as influencing markets and costing the average person money, HFT doesn’t compare to the Fed’s quantitative easing and zero interest rate policy.  A more sound currency, whether metallic or digital, would spread a healthier culture: one not so obsessed with speculation, wealth, material goods, and nanoseconds.”

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/the-market-is-rigged

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NSA and Stocks: Paranoia Outstrips the Meme

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“The NSA’s comprehensive effort to create ‘dragnet’ software aimed at investor data could give it the power to manipulate major stock markets comprehensively. That’s the charge over at alternative media website Infowars, in an explosive article that was posted at the popular Drudge Report. It sounds plausible, as well. If the NSA has software that can ‘mine’ FINRA data, the possibilities for market mischief rise dramatically.  Our bet would be that such a resource would be used in the near term to drive markets higher. But in the long term, the kind of reckless disregard for people’s privacy that the NSA continues to show is fairly destructive to elite control.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/35285/NSA-and-Stocks-Paranoia-Outstrips-the-Meme/

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Bill Bonner: Don’t Be Fooled By the Wealth Inequality Debate

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“QE is supposed to be the weapon in the Fed’s fight against unemployment. The Fed is still buying $45 billion of bonds via QE every month… in addition to holding short-term interest rates to the floor.  Where does that $45 billion go? The insurance companies and pension funds that sell bonds to the Fed use this newly created money to buy the real assets of America – houses, companies, commercial property, resources, farmland… everything. And that drives up the prices of everything for everyone else.  The Fed says QE is meant to help create jobs… and ‘stimulate’ the economy.  It does nothing of the sort. Instead, it lines the pockets of those at the top of the heap.”

http://www.bonnerandpartners.com/dont-be-fooled-by-the-wealth-inequality-debate/

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Apple, Inc. spent $18B to buy back 31.7 million shares of AAPL in Q2

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“The $18 billion remainder funded two types of stock buybacks: first, $6 billion in ‘open market purchases,’ where the company simply bought its stock from existing investors at prevailing prices; and secondly, two rounds of ‘Accelerated Share Repurchase’ programs.  Under an ASR, a company like Apple buys its shares from an investment bank, which essentially shorts the stock by borrowing shares (typically from its clients) which it then delivers to the company for a fixed, upfront price. Over the term of the ASR agreement, the investment bank then seeks to buy shares to replace those it has borrowed.”

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/04/25/apple-inc-spent-18b-to-buy-back-317-million-shares-of-aapl-in-march-quarter

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Looking to play the rental market? Blackstone wants you

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“After investing close to $7 billion in rental properties through its Invitation Homes unit, Blackstone is offering cash to smaller investors wanting to get into the game. The firm is in the closing process on the first deals.  Blackstone is originating loans of $500,000 to $50 million to small and midsize investors buying a minimum of five single-family rental properties. Each home must be worth at least $50,000, and Blackstone will do a lot of homework, using local appraisers to determine if the property’s cash flow covers the debt service.  Though large investors have poured $14 billion-plus into the single-family rental market recently, they represent only about 2 percent of property owners.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101276543

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Argentina to receive $1 bln loan from Goldman Sachs, says newspaper

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“Argentina is closing in on a deal to receive around $1 billion in loans from investment bank Goldman Sachs and is in talks with other international banks about similar deals, local newspaper Pagina/12 reported on Sunday.  The paper, which has close ties with the government of President Cristina Fernandez, said the two-year loan would be announced in the next few days and carry an annual interest rate of 6.5 percent.  It would be the first time in more than a decade the country has received a substantial loan from international creditors and comes as the government seeks cash to avoid a further devaluation of the peso.  The Economy Ministry did not provide immediate comment on the report.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/30/argentina-debt-goldman-idUSL1N0MR09W20140330

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Argentina’s Bond Yields Lure Back Buyers [March 2014]

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“Since the beginning of February, U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued by Argentina’s government and companies have returned 12.7% to investors.  Some investors say they are encouraged by the steps Argentina has taken to shore up its finances, following the government’s decision in January to devalue the peso and raise interest rates amid increasing concern that the nation won’t be able to pay its debts.  ‘There’s a window of opportunity to invest in Argentina,’ said Pierre-Yves Bareau, global head of emerging-market debt at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, which oversees $1.5 trillion and has boosted its holdings of Argentine dollar bonds this year.”

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304026304579449283459471874

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Big Hedge Funds Roll Dice on Puerto Rico Debt

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“Several large hedge funds doubled down on Puerto Rico in last month’s giant bond sale despite the U.S. territory’s financial struggles, according to confidential documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.  Hedge funds and other nontraditional buyers of municipal bonds bought around 70% of the deal when it was offered, according to calculations based on the document—an atypically high level for municipal-bond offerings. Many investors said they were drawn by the high yields and discounted price, though market participants said another major draw for buyers was the prospect of boosting the value of their existing investments in the island.”

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303873604579491992862363698

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Former US Consumer Finance Watchdog Voices Support for Bitcoin

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“Raj Date, the former Deputy Director of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a consumer finance watchdog, said in an interview this week that he supports – and is now investing in – bitcoin.  During a segment of Bloomberg Television’s ‘Street Smart,’ Date commented that, on a personal level, he sees a lot of potential in digital currencies like bitcoin.  In the interview, Date said that bitcoin has the potential to deliver faster and more secure payments than is currently possible for most consumers, and remarked that the pace of innovation could result in a broader evolution in digital currencies.”

http://www.coindesk.com/former-us-consumer-finance-watchdog-voices-supports-for-bitcoin/

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Tim Draper: Why Bitcoin Is the Smart Bet in Tech Investing

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“Draper Fisher Jurvetson Founding Partner Tim Draper discusses his tech investment ideas on Bloomberg Television’s ‘In The Loop.'”

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/is-bitcoin-the-smart-bet-in-tech-investing-3eLyFaGTQOe_XQUoKGp6Kw.html

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