about Facebook: How To Split Up The U.S. – Pete Warden – … . My latest visualization shows the information by location, with connections drawn between places that share friends. For example, a lot of people in LA have friends in San Francisco, so there’s a line between them. Looking at the network of US cities, it’s been remarkable to see how groups of them form clusters, with strong connections locally but few contacts outside the cluster. … Silicon Alley Insider at Business Insider
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A Bubble in Search of a Pin – By John Mauldin – Thoughts From The Frontline
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THE TREASURY BUBBLE BLOWS ON – by Paco Ahlgren – … Who is going to buy the manifold trillions of dollars more the United States intends to auction this year? I think the brilliant minds at Treasury have fallen victim to the if-you-build-it-they-will-come affliction. Somebody needs to send them an email and let them know that Kevin Costner is a weenie, and none of his movies should be the basis for projected demand at Treasury auctions. Ever … – The Bottom Violation
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Federal Reserve hopes clear exit strategy will boost market confidence- By Neil Irwin – Washington Post
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The Exit Strategy, Again – .. reserves should be removed from the system using normal open market operations. So why isn’t the Fed employing this method? Well, I have long suspected that the reason the Fed was employing this strategy was because of the change in the composition in the Fed’s balance sheet away from traditional Treasury holdings and toward mortgage backed securities … – Every Day Economist Blog
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End of the bull market for bonds? – Kurt Brouwer – I do not personally think the bull market for bonds is over, but this chart is an excellent reminder of how far we have come in terms of interest rates on U.S. Treasury bonds. The chart also covers my entire career in the financial services industry, which began at Merrill Lynch in San Franccisco in 1980. Interest rates peaked close to year-end in 1981 and are now bottoming out. – FundMastry Blog at MarketWatch
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THE PROBLEM OF EXPONENTIAL DEBT – thoughtful – … In sum, the idea that you can turn on the debt spigot every time your economy gets into trouble is deeply flawed. The major flaw in the Keynesian approach is that it ignores exponential growth in debts. As a government continually spends and prints to get themselves out of one recession the debt they incur slowly hinders their ability to overcome any impending economic woes. … – The Pragmatic Capitalist
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The Total Miss Pricing of Risk – … I came to the following idea as I watched the reaction to the possible Greece bailout over the weekend: Instead of being scared or fearing the need for another large scale bailout of an entire bankrupt country the reaction was one of joy over another financial rescue. This is important because I think that financial risk is severely miss priced right now. Market (stocks, bonds, currencies, etc) operators are basing their decisions on a perceived backstop of all things at all times. – Economic Disconnect Blog
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China just loves oil and gold – Tim Iacono – Bloomberg reports that the giant Chinese sovereign wealth fund is now the number four holder of the United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO), the world’s largest crude oil fund, and a major holder of the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSE:GLD), the world’s largest gold fund. – The Mess That Greenspan Made