Monthly Archives: February 2011

Irish Opposition Balks At Bank Bailout, Moody’s Downgrades

Posted on February 11, 2011 by macromon

The Irish Times is reporting this morning that the two main opposition parties, Fine Gael and Labour, want to delay the banking system’s recapitilasation until April, when the stress testing of lenders is complete. The Labour Party is taking an … Continue reading →

Posted in Euro, PIIGS, Policy, Politics, Sovereign Debt, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Nonlinear Thinking: 3D Printing To Revolutionize Manufacturing

Posted on February 11, 2011 by macromon

The Economist has a great piece out today on the coming revolution in manufacturing with 3D printing, which could have as a profound impact on the world as the factories once did. It works like this. First you call up … Continue reading →

Posted in BRICs, China, General Interest, Japan, Nonlinear Thinking, Technology | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Deep US-Saudi rift over Egypt – Debka

Posted on February 10, 2011 by macromon

Another must read from Debka.  These guys give a good inside scoop of what’s happening and explains why Mubarak is not stepping down and it’s not good, The conversation between President Barack Obama and Saudi King Abdullah early Thursday, Feb. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Crude Oil, Egypt, Energy, Geopolitical, Gold | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Ken Rogoff Expects “Serious Social Unrest” in the U.S.

Posted on February 10, 2011 by macromon

Now this is depressing but not surprising.  Forbes writes, Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff, co-author of a best-selling book on financial crises, This Time It’s Different, told Forbes today in an exclusive interview that the high unemployment rate and high levels … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment, Geopolitical, Politics, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Sarkozy and G20 to Crackdown on Food Specs

Posted on February 10, 2011 by macromon

The following is an excerpt from the recently released European Commission report on commodity derivatives   The two charts, from the St. Louis Fed,  illustrate the parabolic rise in Commodity Index-Funds  over the past 8 years and the huge increase … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Crude Oil, Food Prices, Policy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Quote of the Day

Posted on February 9, 2011 by macromon

The Stone Age did not end because of lack of stones, and the Oil Age will end soon and not because of lack of oil. –  Sheik Ahmed Yamani, 2000 Saudi Arabia

Posted in Crude Oil, Quote of the Day | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Egypt’s economy close to meltdown – Debka

Posted on February 9, 2011 by macromon

We highly recommend you read the latest from Debka on Egypt.  Here is the money quote: A high-ranking US source in Washington told debkafile’s sources that the situation in Egypt is so appalling that a military takeover of the regime … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Egypt, Geopolitical, Politics | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Nonlinear Thinking: The Skin Gun

Posted on February 9, 2011 by macromon

We’ve written about our belief of the coming explosion of new technologies.  Go no further than this video.   If governments will balance their budgets, minimize the economic distortions of their actions,  provide quality education,  and stay out of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonlinear Thinking, Policy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Risk Management: Watch the Hang Seng

Posted on February 9, 2011 by macromon

You know our schtick by now that we view the Hang Seng Index as the indicator species for global risk appetite and a signal as to whether the Mainland’s economy will land hard or soft.  Since returning from the Lunar … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Equities, Monetary Policy | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Measuring Arab Unrest: The Shoe Thrower’s Index

Posted on February 9, 2011 by macromon

Here’s something interesting from the Economist, An index of unrest in the Arab world IN THIS week’s print edition we ran a table showing a number of indicators for members of the Arab League. By adding a few more and … Continue reading →

Posted in Egypt, Geopolitical, Policy, Politics, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment