Good explanation – Harvard Swaps Are So Toxic Even Summers Won’t Explain – By Michael McDonald, John Lauerman and Gillian Wee – … “For nonprofits, this is going to be written up as a case study of what not to do,” said Mark Williams, a finance professor at Boston University, who specializes in risk management and has studied Harvard’s finances. “Harvard throws itself out as a beacon of what to do in higher learning. Clearly, there have been major missteps.” … – Bloomberg
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not enough money – Harder to buy US Treasuries – Zhou Xin and Jason Subler – IT is getting harder for governments to buy United States Treasuries because the US’s shrinking current-account gap is reducing supply of dollars overseas, a Chinese central bank official said yesterday. … “The United States cannot force foreign governments to increase their holdings of Treasuries,” Zhu said, according to an audio recording of his remarks. “Double the holdings? It is definitely impossible.” … – Shanghai Daily
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Is David Tepper The John Paulson of ‘09? – by Christopher Glynn – David Tepper pulled a John Paulson. Appaloosa Management, his New Jersey hedge fund, made $7 billion in 2009 betting big banking would do an about-face, according to The Wall Street Journal. Tepper himself earned $2.5 billion, the newspaper reported. – HedgeFund.net
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Big Drops Par for Course During Commodity Bull – … Bottom line: Commodities are volatile. Investors holding commodities during a secular commodities bull market should expect a violent ride with scary drops along the way. … – Plan B Economics
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Securitization Systematic Risk to Lessen in 2010, Barclays Says – By JACOB GAFFNEY – … “2010 promises to be an exciting year,” they write. “It will just not be the heart-pounding, spine-chilling excitement that we saw in early 2009; and for that, we should be thankful.” With all of this taken into consideration, the analysts are predicting the 2010 rate of growth, above Fed predictions, at 3.5% to 4% … – HousingWire
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Longer Treasury Yields Reaching Critical Juncture – … Many market pundits have called longer-dated bond prices the next bubble that will burst. If that occurs, then it won’t just be the 4.00% yield for the 10-Year Treasury and 5.00% yield for the 30-Year Treasury that will be debated. … – 24/7- Wall Street
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8 reasons Gross’s ‘New Normal’ is old news, bad news – PAUL B. FARRELL – Just 5-6% returns in 2010? Warning: Buffett-Bogle’s 2002 ‘New Normal’ failed – MarketWatch
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That shrinking third quarter GDP – Tim Iacono – TheMessThatGreensapMade