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The best content, commentary and analysis selected from the web on a wide range of financial topics.
An invaluable tool for capturing themes, tracking strategies and developing tactics.



Charlie Ergen, patriot, scoundrel, thief: some comments on the Softbank vs DISH battle for Sprint

May 26th, 2013
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It seems fitting that the best case that Charlie Ergen and DISH can muster for their bid for Sprint is false patriotism. Softbank they say will be a national security risk. Fitting because Samuel Johnson warned us almost 240 years ago that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel - and Charlie Ergen is a scoundrel. The misdirection from DISH was from the beginning. Here was the pitch for the DISH offer from the beginning:

iPhone App Reads Your Emails Out Loud

May 26th, 2013
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Finally … an iPhone App That Will Read My Emails Out Loud! Listen and Talk to Your Emails   As an iPhone power user, I’ve been frustrated for years by the inability to have my emails spoken out loud … in the same way that Siri can read text messages out loud. A new, free app fixes that.

Credit spreads are moderately attractive

May 26th, 2013
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Corporate credit spreads today are at post-recession lows, which makes them much less attractive than they were four years ago. However, they are still above the levels that prevailed during the strong growth phases of the previous two business cycles. Spreads are thus only moderately attractive. Investment grades spreads offer only a modest cushion against an increase in Treasury yields, while high-yield spreads offer substantially more.

Effective aid in conflict zones

May 26th, 2013
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Eli Berman, Joe Felter, Jacob N. Shapiro, Erin Troland, 26 May 2013Can foreign aid help countries emerge from civil war? This paper presents new research that suggests that injecting lots of money into conflict zones may in fact encourage corruption and violence. The aid community should focus on what it can do well: working closely with communities to target small-scale, modest improvements that can be implemented in conflict zones.

How to Calculate Q2 Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Growth

May 25th, 2013
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In the schedule for the coming week, I mentioned that the consensus is for personal consumption expenditures (PCE) to be unchanged in April compared to March. Does this mean PCE might not grow in Q2?

Analysts Chart Stocks’ Voyage to the Unknown

May 25th, 2013
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Click to enlarge Source: WSJ   Fun take on our uncharted territory via the WSJ

Overcoming adversity

May 25th, 2013
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Russell Redenbaugh, a good friend of mine for the past 20 years or so, has been a great source of inspiration. He has triumphed over great adversity—losing his sight and the normal use of his hands—to become a successful investor, a world champion at jiu jitsu, and an influential voice in conservative political circles. I struggled with the loss of my hearing about 10 years ago, but that's nothing compared to what Russell has managed to accomplish.

Debt Dynamics: Track Global Debt Levels

May 25th, 2013
in
Very cool look at recent decades and the fluctuations in public and private debt loads around the globe.   Click to see how global economic forces have affected debt-to-GDP ratios

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