Greek bond holders will get 50%. Which is good since many hedge funds bought their bonds at 36%. Handsome short-term profit. Read this piece Greek Bonds Lure Some, Despite Risks.
Now all the Europeans have to do is to print vast quantities of Euros. Super good for inflation. Says the Financial Times this morning:
The deal does not, and was not intended to, have any effect on the core problems facing the eurozone. There is still an urgent need to restore growth to economies which are hamstrung by uncompetitive business sectors, and continuous fiscal tightening. Recession still looms, especially in the southern economies.
What the deal is intended to provide is adequate medium term financing for sovereigns and banks which have been facing urgent liquidity problems. On that, it is notable that the summit has not really raised any new money, apart from an increase in the private sector’s write-down of Greek debt by some €80bn.
All of the remaining “new” money, including €106bn to recapitalise the banks and over €800bn to be added to the firepower of the EFSF through leverage, has yet to be raised from the private sector, from sovereign lenders outside the eurozone, and conceivably from the ECB.
There is no guarantee that this can be done. The eventual out-turn of this summit will depend on whether this missing €1,000bn can actually be raised.
Nice 2.5% GDP growth for third quarter. This number is for show, for “feel good.” The number will be revised downwards. Remember our government is in the statistics maniupulation business.
European stockmarkets are up big this morning. And hopefully, our markets will do nicely, also. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Gold is also bouncing back and is still a good deal. It’s still below its August highs.
Before it all fell apart recently, there were two new mortgage REITs. One was MITT and the other MTGE. I have both. MTGE just reported earnings for its “stub” period — its first quarter. Earnings were slightly above Wall Street estimates. Last night’s closing price of $17.94 is way below the September 30 book value of $19.96. which is a good thing for investors.
Even better is a conference call MTGE is hosting this morning at 11 AM. The dial in number is 877-569-8701 and the passcode is 16829626.
Dial in. Ask what could go wrong? When will interest rates rise? Will their margins get squeezed? See if management is convincing.
Big is Beautiful by James Surowiecki in the latest NewYorker. He argues big companies produce more productivity benefits than small ones. hence our obsession with small businesses is misplaced.
Click here.
How to save small on FedEx.
Harry asks Muriel: How do we save money on FedEx shipping?
Muriel replies: Harry: FedEx says go to Fedex.com. Fill in their form. Print out a shipping label. You will save 8% on ground and 16% on express using their online services. FedEx says they will periodically review our accounts and give us a bigger discount if they feel in their hearts that we’re good people.
That’s the good news. The bad new is that FedEx (and for that matter also www.UPS.com) have web sites that give bad design a whole new meaning. I have never been able to log onto FedEx or UPS on my first try. My password doesn’t work. They re-set it and re-set it and eventually I get in. UPS is the worst.
My dream is that it’s all my fault and eventually I’ll learn their idiotic web sites and save the billions in shipping fees. But, for the moment, I’m not buying anything from any web site that doesn’t offer free return shipping. Hence, I like Zappos.
This the big hole across the road from my endo-dontist. Four earth moving and digging machines were making so much noise. they blocked my dentist’s noise.
I have no idea how big this building will be — except that there’s another building going upacross the road (57th Street, between 6th and 7th):
This one will be 80 stories, according to one fellow who seemed to know. It will have a hotel.
It looks like New York’s real estate business is back with a vengeance.
You can’t make this stuff up. There’s a TV channel G4. It has a series called “Cheaters.” During the show, one crawl line read:
Quincy describes how infidelity changed her life forever for the better.
Opt out: I was not watching the show. I flipped to G4 because every Tuesday night at 10 PM, it has a one-hour show on the American troops in Afghanistan whose job is to clear IEDs. This is not a job I want. But some of the troops love it. Hint: It’s bloody dangerous. More of our people are being killed or hurt by these thngs than from bullets in combat.
Latest favorite New Yorker cartoons.
Harry Newton who wonders why he’s so smitten with the family’s new addition, a 12-lb Havanese called Rosie.
She has hair, not fur. Which means she doesn’t shed. But her trips to the groomer cost five times more than my trips to the groomer, also called a barber.
All photographs today by iPhone4.
It's interesting that James Surowiecki in the latest NewYorker uses four weak mediocre socialisticly oriented countries, Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Italy, to make his point about big is better, since these struggling countries have the highest percentage of employees in their small businesses. I might point out that because of their government policies and politics, these four also don't generally have any significant big companies, or for that matter any innovative small companies, since these countries are not competitive in world markets or supportive of innovation. More important is their guarenteed 8 week vacations.
Productivity and jobs are two different things. Big companies have efficiency opportunities that let them “increase productivity”. However, most new jobs in the US, well over 50%, are created by new companies frequently venture capital backed that have successfully “gone public”, i.e., done an IPO, and are now growing like mad with their new and innovative products/services. Meanwhile, the Fortune 500 have cut around a million jobs over the last 10-12 years. Productivity versus jobs. Both are important, reflect the best of capitalism, and are part of the proud American story.