BlackRock Solutions provided the key granular analysis underlying the landmark 2011 PCAR study of the Irish banks;  the NYT reports on its role in the Greek banking sector here.

By Olivier Blanchard (Version in ????????,  ????)

After finishing off 2011 down by 70% from its high of the year, the spread between the price of Brent and WTI crude oil is back on the rise in 2012.  After starting off the year at $8.55, the spread between the prices of a barrel of Brent and WTI is now up to $17.55.  Although this is down from last week's high of $19.54, at current levels the Brent-WTI spread is now up 105% on the year.

The "Smart Money" Indicator suggests that the so-called "smart" money trades at the end of the day, while the "dumb" money trades at the open.  Below we highlight the average hourly percentage change of the S&P 500 since the start of the year to see how the index has gotten to its 12%+ gain on an intraday basis.   Since the index opens at the half hour mark at 9:30 AM ET, we use the prior day’s close through 10 AM ET as our first “hour.” As shown, the index has posted gains...