Sorted Weekly Tweets – The Aleph Blog

Posted on 11 January 2013 by David Merkel

Basel III

Betrayed by Basel http://t.co/dzH7crDt Additional Liquidity & Capital will always lower the bank’s ROE; banks always protest over safety $$ Jan 12, 2013
International rules & regs r also easier to co-opt, b/c the normal political opponents r easier to shut out of the process $$ Jan 10, 2013
BaSell Illiquid Liquidity Rules (Under Basel 3) http://t.co/mIww29wC International acctg rules & regulations r easier 4 companies 2ignore $$ Jan 10, 2013
Banks Win an Easing of Rules on Assets http://t.co/8eealPyW If u want stronger banks, their costs go up b/c liquidity reduces profits $$ Jan 08, 2013
Rules for Lenders Relaxed http://t.co/HIaunjdU Basel III Regulators Cave 2 Banks;Ease Requirements for Meeting Guideline on Liquidity $$ Jan 07, 2013

Rest of the World

Morocco Stalled Tourist Drive Traps Lenders http://t.co/pUdxfQUg Is there anyplace in the world that hasn’t overlent on real estate? $$ Jan 12, 2013
A Protest Unites Far-Flung Activists http://t.co/hGR0J8IQ China does not tolerate protests that seem to be coordinated $$ Jan 12, 2013
Google Chief Urges North Korea to Embrace Web http://t.co/XjXOBr4c Wait till they learn how poor they r compared 2 the rest of the world $$ Jan 10, 2013
Gold Lures Japan?s Pension Funds as Abe Targets Inflation http://t.co/ORqqGIuu Didn’t think Gold, Japan & inflation allowed in 1 sentence Jan 09, 2013
Japan to Buy European Debt With Currency Reserves to Weaken Yen http://t.co/qTW7RbqA Make a bunch of bad investments w/your monetary base $$ Jan 09, 2013
The Oslo Housing Bubble Syndrome http://t.co/UbXKjTvE Keep interest rates low to protect your exporters, and so inflate a housing bubble $$ Jan 08, 2013
Pakistan Loving Fatburger as Fast Food Boom Ignores US Drones http://t.co/TlNm0DGc Something endearing about Pakistanis eating burgers $$ Jan 08, 2013
Inconvenient Truths About Al Jazeera http://t.co/F8JdS1Co Perhaps it should be renamed “The Wahhabi Islam Ministry of Propaganda” $$ Jan 07, 2013
Record India Deficit May Limit Rate Cuts as Rupee Drops http://t.co/B9e24zwt India badly-run compared2 other EM Countries; feeling stress Jan 05, 2013
Ch?vez’s Appointed Heir Prepares 4 Battle http://t.co/JEvNVwJa Maduro Faces Factional Infighting Amid Campaign 2Win Venezuelan’s Hearts Jan 05, 2013

Fixed Income

Fitch Places Illinois GO Bonds on Negative Watch, Says Large Unfunded Pension Liabilities Unsustainable http://t.co/73qh5vg8 No Surprise $$ Jan 12, 2013
Is High Yield Overvalued? http://t.co/8ATkkF8B The high-yield category has increased risks and low absolute yields $$ High yield nulla est Jan 10, 2013
Fed Governor Tarullo pressing 4 banks 2fund themselves w/more long-term debt. http://t.co/vCT1tyy1 Good idea, I may have misjudged him $$ Jan 10, 2013
Banks to Boost Liquidity With Illiquid Assets http://t.co/CzObiq31 Chart of the Day http://t.co/wD6VJRLi BBB bonds illiquid in crises $$ Jan 08, 2013
Junk Bonds’ Fire Is Poised to Fade http://t.co/zSLNRXX3 Avg yields dropped below 6% 4the 1st time ever; Avg prices highest since 2004 $$ Jan 07, 2013

Jack Lew

?? 10 Things You Need 2 Know About Jack Lew, Obama’s Next Treasury Secretary http://t.co/5kaGstrc Interesting summary of an influential guy $$ Jan 10, 2013

Is Jack Lew A Friend to Wall Street? http://t.co/SoK6kyw1 Like Tim Geithner, the new Treasury nominee may owe his views to Robert Rubin. $$ Jan 10, 2013
Trading 1 type of cronyism 4another http://t.co/vCT1tyy1 & http://t.co/gx4cTK4U Lose Fed crony [Geithner], get political crony [Lew] $$ Jan 10, 2013
Obama to Nominate Lew as Treasury Secretary http://t.co/D6rAids5 Strategy: nominate a lot of controverial ppl & wear down the Senate $$ Jan 09, 2013

Debt Ceilings, Platinum Coins, Etc.

This impresses me as 6 of one, a half dozen of the other. Both try to make something out of nothing. http://t.co/5afNZxY9 Jan 10, 2013
Platinum-Coin Punditry Poses Threat to Dollar http://t.co/0pyjh2x3 Takes my view that it will decrease demand in the Treasury market $$ Jan 10, 2013
Only Thing Wrong With the Debt Ceiling Is the Lag http://t.co/L7LFyqeD First Congress decides on how much 2 borrow, then sets budget $$ Jan 09, 2013
Why we won?t mint a platinum coin http://t.co/xbDdI5IA The reaction of foreign $$ obligation holders would be swift & negative #rsvcurrency Jan 08, 2013
Rebranding the ?trillion-dollar coin? http://t.co/YoqGgFWQ You can’t get something for nothing; this will makes foreigners distrust the $$ Jan 05, 2013

Economic Policy

Fed?s Plosser Says Stimulus May Backfire, Fuel Inflation http://t.co/qtp04uVT “?stimulus? may not help speed up the process…may prolong” Jan 12, 2013
James Buchanan, a Star Economist Who Understood Obamacare http://t.co/qn34aQPO Bureaucrats have a natural interest in seeing gov’t grow $$ Jan 10, 2013
Economist Who Argued Public Officials R Ruled by Self-Interest Dies http://t.co/fx8ss0r7 James Buchanan founder of Public Choice Theory Jan 10, 2013
Button-Down Central Bank Bets It All http://t.co/Udzx5QCF What does it mean when central banks downgrade asset quality? Very trendy $$ Jan 09, 2013
US Consumers Obligation to spend http://t.co/stw01ER3 America’s Cars and Appliances Are Getting Old, may presage demand 4 durable goods $$ Jan 08, 2013
Why Austerity Works and Fiscal Stimulus Doesn’t http://t.co/nJhXmjFK Austerity exalts free actions of humans; stimulus exalts bureaucrats Jan 08, 2013
The Education of John Boehner http://t.co/OgUWkXUw Leverage 4the next clash: GOP willingness 2let the spending sequester take effect $$ Jan 07, 2013
Ending the Era of Ponzi Finance http://t.co/oaPG7s8h 24 pgs PDF | John Mauldin has Daniel Stelter describe what’s unsustainable in policy $$ Jan 05, 2013

Companies

Mohawk Chief Lorberbaum Emerges as Billionaire With Tiles http://t.co/lQeR5B45 $MHK CEO owns 14% of the company; he’s a clever acquirer $$ Jan 12, 2013
What?s at the Center of the Debate Over Herbalife http://t.co/B4GV7Fi5 Ackman is hoping the FTC will declare $HLF 2b a pyramid scheme $$ Jan 10, 2013
News Corp. Tabloid Swaps Sex for Cats Among Brands Buffing Image http://t.co/4wILocCG No one is immune from aiming 4 irrelevance $$ Jan 10, 2013
Buffett Railroad Sees Crude Cargo Climbing 40% http://t.co/JmbE7HmT Makes up for a loss of revenue in hauling coal $$ FD: + $BRK.B Jan 08, 2013
Secret Goldman Team Sidesteps Volcker After Blankfein Vow http://t.co/mTCwjoZ8 Wagers ~$1B $GS own funds on unaffiliated stocks/bonds $$ Jan 08, 2013
Bill Ackman Says Just Getting Started Exposing Herbalife http://t.co/Cp40Zuqu Most of my summary acctg test #s look okay on $HLF. ?? $$ Jan 07, 2013

Housing? Finance

The latest foreclosure horror: the zombie title http://t.co/b7hkmKDX Long article about people stuck w/homes b/c banks won’t foreclose $$ Jan 12, 2013
Rules Set for Home Lenders http://t.co/jg7QqiwQ Rules seem overly lenient; has the CFPB been co-opted already? That was fast $$ Jan 10, 2013

Market Impact

Hedge Funds Squeezed With Shorts Beating S&P 500 http://t.co/55EpCxpb Positive momentum has led many shorts to cover, performance drags $$ Jan 08, 2013
Finra to Shine Light on Dark Pool Trading http://t.co/Nt9OjmIb Does FINRA have the talent to analyze this? That would surprise me. $$ Jan 08, 2013
In Search of Family Ties http://t.co/g5SGaY1Z Families w/control can b valuable if they r interested in growth & not milking da biz $$ Jan 08, 2013
What’s Hot?And What’s Not (in mutual funds) http://t.co/W3blerlL Hot: Low Vol, Local $$ EM bonds, Active Bond ETFs Not: Vol ETPs, 130/30 Jan 07, 2013
Above the Market?s Leading Investment Indicators http://t.co/j54Dl3vu Long-term val’n measures like Q-ratio, CAPE10, Total Cap/GDP, etc $$ Jan 07, 2013

Other

Well done, Henry. I write this as one who enjoys BI, though I was won over bit-by-bit. Keep up the good work. http://t.co/cWecMkPh Jan 10, 2013
Check These Out at the Library: Blacksmithing, Bowling, Butchering http://t.co/teaqR76s Who knew Libraries would try 2b so relevant? $$ Jan 08, 2013
Excellent Police http://t.co/qKpoliWR What the Baltimore P.D. can teach your office about multitasking and incentives. $$ #whoknew Jan 07, 2013
East St. Louis Cops Outgunned as Cuts Let Killers Thrive http://t.co/zHGmesXX Cut the Federal budget; don’t cut the local budget $$ Jan 06, 2013
Keystone Pipeline Clears a Big Hurdle in Nebraska http://t.co/Y1WqqCiE Local review says small impact on the environment at most $$ Jan 05, 2013

Wrong

Wrong: Buffett Says Banks Cleared of Excess Risk Pose No Threat to US http://t.co/KWtOOcxo Excessive reliance on Fed funding $$ Jan 10, 2013
Wrong: Why we need a currency war with China (and Denmark and Singapore ? ) http://t.co/b8XqDqfa You may as well say “Smoot-Hawley” $$ Jan 07, 2013

Replies & Retweets

RT @cate_long: While savers forgo ~$200B in interest payments “@nytimesbusiness: Fed transferred $88.9 billion to Treasury in 2012 http: … Jan 10, 2013
@NickTimiraos Steep yield curve helps too, though it isn’t *that* steep thanks 2 QE-infinity Jan 10, 2013
@Kathleen_Hays Not necessarily. My friend Caroline Baum shared this article w/me: Is Jack Lew A Friend to Wall Street? http://t.co/SoK6kyw1 Jan 10, 2013
RT @ajkurki: @AlephBlog Absolute yields below 1st percentile of all observed observations since mid-90s (BofAML data). What could go wrong?! Jan 10, 2013
@cabaum1 Dear Caroline, thank you for replacing my bias w/a good article. Rubin’s influence is significant; didn’t know Lew was part of it Jan 10, 2013
@CharlesSizemore That it did. Jan 10, 2013
@CharlesSizemore I’m sorry, Charles. In my busyness, I didn’t catch that, and I should have. Apologies. Jan 10, 2013
Not a chance $$ RT @CharlesSizemore: Is Sears the Next Berkshire Hathaway? http://t.co/NNro3uuu $SHLD $BRK-A $BRK-B $WMT $HD #WarrenBuffett Jan 10, 2013
@EddyElfenbein Just a general mindset, but the penny stock promoters irritate me to the max. Jan 10, 2013
Investment banks r bull market babies $$ RT @ReformedBroker: Morgan Stanley still searching for a reason to exist $MS http://t.co/Zux43Z7C Jan 10, 2013
@howardlindzon @researchpuzzler Happy new year to both of you as well. May you have joys and constructive challenges. Jan 10, 2013
@howardlindzon @researchpuzzler Have fun reading tonight’s Aleph Blog piece then 😉 $$ (Not published yet) Jan 10, 2013
Eisenstadt discovers momo RT @researchpuzzler: “Go to it then.” Arnold Bernhard, in 1959, sounding like @howardlindzon http://t.co/jyCz1Fhi Jan 10, 2013
@Kelly_Evans It’s okay… given all that you do, an occasional blip is fine. I make lots of mistakes…. Jan 09, 2013
@Fullcarry I *don’t* think it will be an equilibrium. Besides, equilibria are rare in economies, they are ultracommon in journals though Jan 09, 2013
@Kelly_Evans Perhaps you mean inversely? Jan 09, 2013
@Fullcarry My problem is that most of the major central banks r doing this, not just Japan. What happens when all CBs have corrupt $$ bases? Jan 09, 2013
@moorehn @katierogers There were more revenues behind the Bowie bonds than the worth of the platinum in a coin. $$ Jan 09, 2013
@macrotourist Thanks, did not have time to listen to the webcast, but the slides are interesting. Jan 08, 2013
@LaurenLaCapra you’re right, wasn’t thinking — tweet deleted Jan 08, 2013
You can say that again. $$ RT @profithuntergrp: @AlephBlog agreed Iceland proved it early on – do the hard thing! Jan 08, 2013
Something looks wrong w/slide 3 — the bar lengths don’t compare with the numbers next to them. $$ http://t.co/kECnkBA0 Jan 08, 2013
Shouldn’t black holes be stable? They exist because all mas in a given area collapses under its gravity… http://t.co/4xJVsykF Jan 08, 2013
@JacobWolinsky It is more accurate, so I made the change… Jan 07, 2013
@munilass Do you have any opinion on BAM? I’m a little skeptical because credit risks r more correlated than life, P&C, etc. Jan 07, 2013
I just left a comment in “Lou Simpson’s top stock picks – MarketWatch” http://t.co/uTBPy1QW Jan 07, 2013
@JacobWolinsky That’s a fair point. I’ll delete the last tweet, & send out a better one. Jan 07, 2013
I just left a comment in “Lou Simpson’s top stock picks – MarketWatch” http://t.co/nC1KnTr2 Jan 07, 2013
RT @ModeledBehavior: A trillion dollar coin really feels like the U.S. jumping the shark. We’ve been on for too many seasons, the plots … Jan 05, 2013

FWIW

My week on twitter: 63 retweets received, 2 new listings, 50 new followers, 56 mentions. Via: http://t.co/SPrAWil0 Jan 10, 2013

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