Sorted Weekly Tweets – The Aleph Blog

Posted on 8 February 2013 by David Merkel

Currency Wars

Battling the unknowns of currency devaluation | Reuters http://t.co/3kiN75eT A tough game to play, particularly w/changed policy in Japan $$ Feb 09, 2013
This is what a currency war looks like http://t.co/ibWgIZTg Japan is leading the #currencywar by no longer sterilizing monetary policy $$ Feb 08, 2013
The Dark Side of Japan’s Creating Inflation http://t.co/3O384dKU Risk is interest rates rise and Japan can’t finance itself. #tippingpoint Feb 07, 2013
Japan Inc.?s appreciation of the yen?s depreciation http://t.co/zdYFkcYR Japanese stocks rally as their exports get relatively cheaper $$ Feb 07, 2013
Falling yen set to spark renewed currency wars http://t.co/1QXtUFoA Japan has finally “thrown the hammer down.” No more sterilization $$ Feb 05, 2013

LBOs

Dell?s largest outside shareholder thinks it?s worth $10 more a share – Quartz http://t.co/1gr8dTZb Let Southeastern et al bid 4 control $$ Feb 09, 2013
The Three Scariest Letters for Bondholders: L-B-O | Fox Business http://t.co/wEEHVJUR Note: junk bonds r protected from this, not invt grade Feb 09, 2013
New Worry for Bondholders: LBOs http://t.co/KumxFjws Company is cheap & has good Bal Sheet, it could LBO, harming current bondholders $$ Feb 04, 2013

Pensions

Danger Seen in Pension Fund Cuts on Abe Inflation http://t.co/wDu6fWjE Guess what? Inflation can harm pensioners. Sad 4 them. $$ Feb 07, 2013
Pension Funds Cut Back On Commodity Indexes http://t.co/ZSvFgIoG Hoarding not a panacea, also, can get clipped on the roll $$ Feb 07, 2013
The Asset Mix (Stocks-Bonds) will make the Difference – 2 many Bonds Mr Abe? http://t.co/AOHm6p5X On pension asset allocation globally $$ Feb 07, 2013
Baby Boomers Sicker Than Parents? Generation, Study Finds http://t.co/Xy7VIs0n Will live longer too; big reason to reshape Medicare $$ Feb 05, 2013
Americans Rip Up Retirement Plans http://t.co/s5UARuld Nearly 2/3rds of Those Between 45 & 60 Plan Delays, Steep Rise From 2 Yrs Ago $$ Feb 05, 2013
Low Rates Force Companies to Pour Cash Into Pensions http://t.co/32JNXekQ Low long rates push pension liabilities higher, req $$ payment Feb 04, 2013

High Yield

US High Yield Bonds: HYG On the support http://t.co/Gcj35TAJ In order 4 HY 2 rally from here, need dumb buyers 2 apply leverage $$ Feb 08, 2013
Fed?s Stein: Signs of Overheating in Credit Markets http://t.co/TAT7QcwB Junk yields less than in June 2007. Replace CDO bid w/Fed $$ Feb 07, 2013
Two Things about High-Yield Bonds Investors Must Understand Today http://t.co/w3n4IODi Low yields & spread relatives & high $$ prices Feb 07, 2013
A Mad Rush Could Be Coming In The Corporate Credit Markets http://t.co/KFGkM3gQ Possible, but it depends on how levered investors are $$ Feb 05, 2013
No, there probably isn?t a bond bubble http://t.co/92p5SJBz Misses key question: how much debt is being issued to acquire other debts? $$ Feb 05, 2013
US Higher Yield Bonds: A Corrective Update http://t.co/RITd5UGl Corrections may be happening w/ both credit & high-quality long-duration $$ Feb 04, 2013

S&P Lawsuit

State Lawsuits Could Add to S&P Exposure http://t.co/oQSwfYFR Attorneys General for states become profit centers; opportunistic thieves Feb 07, 2013
Wrong: Levitt Says McGraw-Hill ?Foolish? to Not Settle S&P Lawsuit http://t.co/dEL4g1ja There’s a good chance that S&P will win, y give up Feb 07, 2013
S&P Lawsuit Undermined by SEC Rules That Impede Competition http://t.co/GCUE01zz Will not be simple for the govt to win its case $$ #FTL Feb 07, 2013
S&P Lawsuit Portrays CDO Sellers as Duped Victims http://t.co/rAI69G1G Stretching truth; CDO sellers knew credit better than agencies $$ Feb 07, 2013
S&P feels Justice’s lash, but can law ever conquer greed? http://t.co/SVDZVZtG Diffcult 2 single out people/firms 2 prosecute in big crisis Feb 05, 2013

Companies

Top NY court throws Travelers asbestos award into question http://t.co/GAujEmCH Case started in 1948, when USF&G insured Western Asbestos Feb 08, 2013
Buffett?s Son Says He?s Prepared Whole Life for Berkshire Role http://t.co/xYWVlMu8 As Chairman, Howard will be “cultural guardian.” $$ Feb 08, 2013
San Francisco Gasoline Rises as Tesoro Seen Cutting Rates http://t.co/4Rmvbcz1 It’s tough when state governments discourage refineries $$ Feb 07, 2013
Bond insurers aren’t the only winners in Rakoff’s Flagstar ruling http://t.co/6A2IICLD All can rely on reps & warranties of mtge origin8rs Feb 07, 2013
Berkshire-Insured Muni Sees Good Demand http://t.co/yKX1lGPy Nothing amazing; some $BRK.B businesses r part of the development borrowing Feb 07, 2013
Life Insurer CFOs Say Their Financial Models Fall Short: Survey http://t.co/zJ3f2DJc Surprising, another reason 2b bearish on life ins Feb 07, 2013
BlackRock Cautious as Sales End Dollar Bond Rally: China Credit http://t.co/4LZDSoMf Questions over credit quality, maybe 2 much supply $$ Feb 04, 2013
Herbalife Drops After Report of Law-Enforcement Probe http://t.co/zC0a9GGv $HLF rises today. $$ Worries over being named “pyramid scheme” Feb 04, 2013
Was the AIG Rescue Legal? http://t.co/LUTVHQa9 Of course not. Gov’t should not play favorites; emergencies b a DIP lender of last resort Feb 02, 2013

US Politics & Policy

House Speaker: Washington Has to Address Spending http://t.co/lZcQcinD Yes it does, but will the Senate and President ratify that? $$ Feb 07, 2013
Party Eyes ‘Red-State Model’ to Drive Republican Revival http://t.co/qrlp6Zn5 First balance budget on an accrual basis; no state does $$ Feb 05, 2013
House Leaders Weigh US Spending Bill Below $1T http://t.co/0nBcoURd Good luck w/Senate & President on that, you will need it $$ Feb 05, 2013
Study Says States Lose Billions in Offshore Tax Avoidance http://t.co/qTnlUpTX Just an effect of federal tax policy, which needs change $$ Feb 05, 2013
The Fed?s Worst Fear http://t.co/nanNt52c Losing control of long interest rates; the bond market will eventually trump the Fed $$ Feb 04, 2013

Market Impact

Americans Are Tapping Into Home Equity Again http://t.co/gLLrlDEx Does this mean a return to the reckless equity withdrawals? Likely not $$ Feb 08, 2013
Banks Should Defer Bonuses for Up to 10 Years, Jenkins Says http://t.co/udabGhNT Better that banks become partnerships; creates caution Feb 08, 2013
Insiders now aggressively bearish http://t.co/vWogX2LF Last Fri: sell-to-buy ratio for NYSE-listed shares listed stood at 9.20-to-1 $$ Feb 08, 2013
SP500 Complacent Divergence – Risk Factors http://t.co/CPqaNYY4 Decelerating earnings growth threatens valuations. Econ surprises falling 2 Feb 08, 2013
Interdealer Brokers Emerge as Key Enablers in Libor Scandal http://t.co/bTgMtUOa & http://t.co/yBo7oxKJ Them & Rain Man Tom Hayes $$ Feb 08, 2013
Schwab Unveils Game-Changing Commission-Free ETF Platform http://t.co/yqCaunnJ Part of the ETF’s fees go to $SCHW . No free lunch here $$ Feb 07, 2013
H-P Aside, Corporate Splits Are Wholly Worth Investors? While http://t.co/e9dptR0E Managements gain new focus; Behemoths lack true mgmt $$ Feb 07, 2013
U.S. to Offer Floating-Rate Notes Within a Year http://t.co/eXCUd3Ni Money-market funds take heart; yield (w/spread duration risk!) $$ Feb 07, 2013
Small lenders ride US mortgage wave as big banks cut back http://t.co/KbACkvJk Interesting 2c little independent mortgage brokers return $$ Feb 04, 2013
America’s Baby Bust http://t.co/CaWPjZVU Heard on Radio C-SPAN yd http://t.co/Ow86Jsfs ?Economies don’t work well when popul shrinks $$ Feb 02, 2013

Rest of the World

Mind the Liquidity Gap – Credit Gap http://t.co/m2xTMEIs 3 factors: global monetary policy, global credit supply & global credit demand $$ Feb 08, 2013
German Hope French Despair and EU Rescue: PMIs http://t.co/qioLvblN Eurozone PMIs r rising, but economies r still contracting $$ #France Feb 07, 2013
Basel Seen Rotten in Denmark as Banks Bypassed http://t.co/HX9a6vOI Denmark has many covered mtge bonds; Basel doesn’t care much 4them $$ Feb 07, 2013
Shades of ’80s for Japan’s Stocks http://t.co/68rhfLmX What, Japanese stocks can go up after the demographic dividend has faded? Feb 07, 2013
Desperate Greeks scuffle at free food handout http://t.co/XpQUEBMM Total desperation. Democracy started there, and it may end there too $$ Feb 07, 2013
Canadians back2borrowing: avg consumer debt hits new hi http://t.co/wtSpy1pB overall debt low | cred: evergreen http://t.co/ndpBH0Ch Feb 07, 2013
Last tweet derives from this article http://t.co/wjSwNztf I believe in freedom, and small biz capitalism, with equality 4 all. $$ Feb 06, 2013
We need Obama/Hollande 2create economic barriers average people can’t surmount, so the clever rich can get richer. Cynical, but true $$ Feb 06, 2013
ECB Executive Board Member Asmussen: ‘German Interest Rates Will Rise Again’ http://t.co/oIJZtFtK Thinks *real* interest rates will rise $$ Feb 05, 2013
Top Iranians Trade Barbs in Rare Public Feud http://t.co/W1uR6M1p Corruption is endemic to Iran; rare 4 the mafiosi 2 fink on each other Feb 05, 2013

Other

An Insider’s Guide to Counterfeiting Wine – Businessweek http://t.co/SoVp0OrF 3 ways to counterfeit expensive wines & how to avoid them $$ Feb 09, 2013
Most Australian Wine Exports Ship in Giant Plastic Bladders http://t.co/jL1S9KLF ?We don?t ship glass around the world, we ship wine.? $$ Feb 09, 2013
Super Bowl Blackout Caused by Faulty Relay, Entergy Says http://t.co/GKd5619I That was what I guessed; weak spot in many power grids $$ Feb 08, 2013
Asteroid to Traverse Earth?s Satellite Zone, NASA Says http://t.co/ZnpmCxXD Interesting we only get one week’s notice on the near miss $$ Feb 08, 2013
What Abraham Lincoln Liked About Richard III http://t.co/oAp8PQjg Lincoln was Shakespeare buff; 1 controversial man’s thoughts on another Feb 08, 2013
Lease Surprise in Stuyvesant Town http://t.co/O7DQsILq “clause that allows landlord to increase the rent in the middle of the lease” $$ Feb 07, 2013
Nine Questions for Peter Levine, Andreessen Horowitz?s Enterprise Dude http://t.co/yiubWsqj How SDN commoditizes much special hardware $$ Feb 07, 2013
On Pins and Needles: Stylist Turns Ancient Hairdo Debate on Its Head http://t.co/RgrZqc80 Kinda of a quirky story, but interesting $$ Feb 07, 2013
‘They Owe It to Me’: FBI Identifies Top Email Phrases Used by Fraudsters – Compliance Week http://t.co/9FtlTkEH Set up filters, compliance Feb 06, 2013
Legacy of Benjamin Graham: http://t.co/GztBNt53 via @youtube In last minute, BG anticipates the Efficient Markets Hypothesis years ahead $$ Feb 05, 2013
Legacy of Benjamin Graham: http://t.co/GztBNt53 via @youtube Fascinating video w/Buffett, Kahn (2), Schloss, & other students of his $$ Feb 05, 2013
US Construction Jobs – A very Constructive Story http://t.co/Gqy8YIU0 Construction jobs coming back, looks like a dead cat bounce $$ Feb 04, 2013
Sending electronic money to friends catching on http://t.co/zRBh8tkT Creating next great avenue 4 money laundering; cheap & convenient $$ Feb 04, 2013
Hitler Awakes in 2011 Berlin, Becomes YouTube Hero http://t.co/ore3XtWB Hard 4 me 2 believe. Does humor have any limits anymore? Funny $$ Feb 04, 2013

Replies & Retweets

@dpinsen 16x deteriorating free cash flow @ $24/sh. There’s some bluster there. Wouldn’t want to be a bondholder here $DELL $$ Feb 08, 2013
Commented on StockTwits: Wait, I’m wrong. Didn’t look far enough — they have 8.5% of shares, but 7.5% of votes. Onl… http://t.co/18jIZ94S Feb 08, 2013
Commented on StockTwits: Here: http://t.co/a3SdyNFq http://t.co/4OBGCIp0 Feb 08, 2013
‘ @ampressman Thanks, Aaron. Reading it now. http://t.co/aGpdRr8R Good stuff. SE recently bought more http://t.co/UGh12nkp $$ $DELL Feb 08, 2013 ?(This tweet was wrong, SE has been a seller of $DELL shares, and even recently?)
Owns 7.5%, what could they b thinking? $$ RT @BloombergNews: BREAKING: Dell holder Southeastern Asset plans ‘All Options’ to stop deal Feb 08, 2013
Worth the read RT @cate_long: Is the U.S. growing, or just issuing debt? – #MuniLand http://t.co/KLB1838k Feb 08, 2013
Seems reasonable to me $$ RT @TFMkts: @AlephBlog the high yield market is on cusp of some stop losses getting triggered Feb 08, 2013
@GaelicTorus Did not know that, thanks Feb 08, 2013
Small caps +7% http://t.co/ewRvffTb $$ RT @credittrader: Gentle Reminder Japan Nikkei 225 +0.75% YTD in USD http://t.co/cxxhjMoG Feb 07, 2013
@anatadmati Twitter is too small for this. Read: http://t.co/JDnLfhJ5 & http://t.co/yo7C05d0 Biggest problem isn’t capital, but liquidity $$ Feb 07, 2013
@Nonrelatedsense @credittrader Thanks, missed that Feb 07, 2013
@BlandDexter In a word, yes. Feb 07, 2013
@The_Analyst What floors me are professional investors that don’t read the prospectus the first time they analyze a new type of investment. Feb 07, 2013
@SapienQuis A lot of investment banks got pinned w/crud they could not sell whether due to secondary trading or origination Feb 07, 2013
@The_Analyst Yes, they did have staff. If u r a professional firm, you must independent vet out credit quality; ignore rating read writeup Feb 07, 2013
Well done! RT @jasonzweigwsj: 2 things about high-yield bonds investors should understand today, from @DavidSchawel http://t.co/EYo8KSEQ $$ Feb 07, 2013
@anatadmati A better idea would be double liability, where mgmt & directors lose their capital before shareholders do. Change incentives Feb 07, 2013
@anatadmati At current margins, banks could not earn their cost of capital w/30% E/A. Banks & credit would shrink a lot -> crisis Feb 07, 2013
@DavidSchawel Where will it be? Feb 06, 2013
Bondholders will get badly hurt $$ http://t.co/i7Fxa10p RT @DougKass: HPQ mulling a break up. $HPQ Feb 05, 2013
It’s starting $$ RT @LisaCNBC: The Japanese are going to overdo it and create an inflation problem. #Yen will spike in 2013. @PeterSchiff Feb 05, 2013
@TFMkts People made absurd predictions about capital mkts off of the experience 1982-2000, culmination ing tech bubble / lost decade $$ Feb 05, 2013
Mersenne Primes RT @motokorich: Largest Prime Number Discovered, and it’s 17,425,170 digits long. http://t.co/U8GzYFj1 via @sciam Feb 05, 2013
@TFMkts Would be interesting 2c a firm try that. The wind seems to still b blowing the wrong way there, w/discount rates so low. Feb 05, 2013
He was/is a bright guy $$ RT @munilass: Picking on S&P just isn’t as much fun without @EconOfContempt around. Feb 05, 2013
RT @LaurenLaCapra: “big exchanges therefore stand to gain tremendously from even a relatively small shift twd futures & away from sw … Feb 05, 2013
“I only want to add one thing: its not what pundits say that matters, it is what people rely on economically… http://t.co/zAPlxIHU $$ Feb 04, 2013
RT @moorehn: Pffft. MT @nycjim: Washington Post says it, too, was victim of hacking attack that appeared to originate in China. http://t … Feb 03, 2013
Good marketing kills bad ideas, people & products $$ RT @MattVATech: Marketing is never a substitute for substance. Feb 03, 2013
“Only if you think that by waiting a little while you might have higher yields to invest at. Can’t?” ? David_Merkel http://t.co/Vt16DKeU $$ Feb 02, 2013
“Hi, KD… my bond mandate is unconstrained, so I just aim for total returns. Right now I am pretty?” $$ David_Merkel http://t.co/4x41D4D2 Feb 02, 2013

FWIW

My week on twitter: 77 retweets received, 4 new listings, 86 new followers, 81 mentions. Via: http://t.co/SPrAWil0 Feb 07, 2013

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