First Pass

Do what this guy does [Clusterstock]
Interesting advice for AIG [Reuters]
A workaround for the gov to recoup the AIG bonus money [Dealbreaker]
Surprising housing numbers out of the US [Bloomberg]
Lance calls out his teammate [Cyclingnews]
Large decrease in worldwide upstream energy deals [Oil & Gas Journal]

First Pass

Declining nat gas rigs in the US [Bloomberg]
A view on the eventual recovery [Econbrower]
Encouraging numbers from Canadian investors [Report on Business]
Not so encouraging Canadian housing numbers [Report on Business]
Interesting goings on at the weekend OPEC meeting [Oil and Gas Journal]

First Pass

AIG just can not stay out of the news. Now, there are publicizing their counterparties who are getting bailout money and their bonus program is coming under harsh criticism. [Bloomberg]

This gets a little technical, but it is a good explanation of credit spreads, CDSs and broader view of the industry. [A Credit Trader]

Canadian growth will not be in line with the Bank of Canada's most recent estimate. [Report on Business]

An unexpected move by OPEC. [Bloomberg]

An Interesting Take On Stewart Vs Cramer

[via Kreepie Kats]

Mixed Bag

I read Madoff's allocution the other and was immediately struck by the fact that he deposited large sums of cash into accounts at J.P. Morgan Chase. How did the bank not know that something was? Maybe they did... [Portfolio.com]

An interesting piece on magnesium bikes. My bike is a carbon fiber monocoque and I've heard of titanium bikes, but I've never heard of a magnesium bike [velonews.com]

I watched Cramer get trashed by Jon Stewart. Stewart did a good job of asking relevant questions and Cramer did a good job of not really answering them while at the same time admitting he may have made a mistake or two. I think CNBC is in a bad position. They can't decide whether or not they want to be an entertainment channel or a news channel. One could argue that they've managed a decent balancing act until now, but that their perceived position is changing.

It was easy to fly all over the world with the CEOs of various banks and go on rants about companies and yell at the government when the markets were going up. But ever since the market has gone down, CNBC is seen more as part of problem rather than an impartial entity reporting on the problem.

They would argue that in order to get the best stories they have to be tight with the Wall St. inner circle, that there is no other way and that this is part of the territory. Wall St. is run by insiders and so CNBC promotes and rallies behind the companies and people it wants to remain close to in order to maintain a competitive advantage over the other financial news organizations.

I can understand why Stewart thinks that CNBC contributed to the current financial mess. They were bullish up until the very last second and started up again as soon as they could. The part that bugs me, though, is that Stewart thinks that CNBC is responsible for the drop in his mother's retirement fund.

Why are investing and finance areas where it's ok to be ignorant? You don't drive a car with knowing the rules of the road, how to operate it and what the risks are. If you don't understand the risks involved, that's fine, just don't invest and instead, put all of your money into a savings account. If you do invest, you must be prepared that crazy stuff will happen. People must take responsibility for their actions. That is the key point. Everyone wants to be absolved of responsibility and play the blame game. Granted, derivatives got out of hand and everyone bet against them all being in the money at once. But, the probability isn't zero. It's larger than we'd initially think, but it's definitely not zero.

And don't give me some story about an investment professional telling you that your money would grow at 7% indefinitely and you just did what they said and now your portfolio is down 50%. You could have not invested. If you are shocked at being down 50% you should never have invested. No one forced you to. You did it because you got greedy just like the Wall St. CEO's that are taking all the heat (I am in no way defending what they did. They got super greedy and bet the farm without fully understanding the risks and that was stupid.).

You could have put your money under the mattress and not participated in any of the craziness.

First Pass

The contango in the crude market is almost completely gone [ftalphaville]
Will crude follow nat gas on its march to zero? [clusterstock]
This does not bode well for consumer confidence [Reuters]
Hayek wrestling with the economy [Taking Hayek Seriously]

It's A Good Thing She's Got Such Valuable Insight

...to balance with her good looks.

First Pass

Your information is about to be divulged [NYTimes]
Grim Canadian housing outlook [Globe And Mail]
Tiger may be in the hole [Clusterstock]
Record Unemployed in the US [Reutuers]

Now That's What I Call A 'Contraction'

Japan’s GDP Shrinks 12.7%, Most Since 1974 Oil Shock [Bloomberg]