Daily Kos is a left-wing political blog, but they have a pretty good writeup of what is happening with these "credit swaps" and AIG, etc. It reminded me of reading about mortgage-backed securities about this time last year, just as the shit was hitting the fan in the mortgage market. Now I'm...

A couple of days ago Cramer ranted on how the SEC should do something about shorting. On July 30 of this year I complained about naked shorting! I have had debates with many people on this issue. What the SEC has done is superb! Before any of you start talking about socialism, and market...

The market is down because of the de-leveraging taking place. They are selling because they have to sell... How do I know? Whispers and those stocks that have been heavily shorted are up. I also don't think that there is money waiting on the sidelines. I think that is a fairytale! BTW I am putting...

The financial community right now is in melt-down and many think that the world is coming to an end. The question many are asking if the investment banking model is dead? Answer, no, it will just morph. The thing about finance is that it works until it does not work anymore. So right now things are...

This financial crisis has many people saying it was this that or the other thing. I want to present this FAQ as a reference point of what happened. If anybody wishes to add something please send me an email or comment and we can discuss it. Who is at fault There are two main culprits, the...

In the fall I am giving a class at a conference that is an introduction to financial engineering for software developers. I have talked to my clients, and talked to people at the IB I work at. Yet all of their answers results in what could be called statistical insignificance. So I thought, why not...

The question is if Fanny and Freddie is the right action at the right time or if it is socialism? Many like to say hey this is an act of the USSR or what have you. Let me give the perspective of a non-American. Though let me give you the perspective of somebody who likes America, has American...

Before I continue, look at the following image which represents my political leanings (courtesy of www.politicalcompass.org). I have repeatedly taken this test and it always comes out to the same thing: Slightly right, quite a bit libertarian. So my political views being what they are why is...

I get a magazine called Stocks. In last week's stock magazine there was a short article on the investing habits of 2,300 private people worth a total 60 million USD. This study was commissioned by Barclays Wealth. What was interesting in this study is that the people willing to take on the most...

Ok what to do with Russia? It seems that there is a new power struggle yes? Between the West and Russia, yes? Well, not so quick. My brother who works in Russia and keeps me up to date with the events within the land has a different story. Essentially what is happening in Georgia is very similar to...