The 18-year Round-trip Journey of Greek Bond Yields

Posted on October 9, 2011 by macromon

(click here if chart is not observable)

Posted in Black Swan Watch, PIIGS, Policy, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Italians Protest Austerity

Posted on October 9, 2011 by macromon

(click here if video is not observable)

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Budget Deficit, Euro, Fiscal Policy, PIIGS, Sovereign Debt, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Those were the daze….

Posted on October 7, 2011 by macromon

(click here if photo is not observable)

Posted in Euro | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Italy and Spain Downgraded by Fitch

Posted on October 7, 2011 by macromon

The ratings agencies are a complete joke, the last to the party, and usually a contrarian signal, but the Fitch downgrade did cause some market volatility today.   What concerns us more is that Moody’s has put Belgium on watch for a possible downgrade.    Is France next?   How they construct the banking recap/bailout is the key issue.  More later on this.  Stay tuned.

(click here if video is not observable)

Posted in Black Swan Watch, PIIGS, Sovereign Debt, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

U.S. September Job Creation by Industry

Posted on October 7, 2011 by macromon

(click here if chart is not observable)

Posted in Demographics, Employment | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Nonlinear Thinking: iPhone Can Detect Blood Disorders

Posted on October 7, 2011 by macromon

The legacy of Steve Jobs will live long and reach wide.   It’s amazing to think the transformation his vision and technological genius had, is having, and will continue to have on the global economy and society at large.  What a loss.

We’ve posted several pieces on how the iPhone can be transformed into an EKG monitor, cataract detecting device and how the iPad or iPhone has the potential to become a medical clinic in a remote village in Africa, for example.   How about a device to detect blood disorders?

Technology Review reports,

A cheap lens that enables a cell phone’s camera to discern the shapes of cells in a blood sample could make it easier to diagnose conditions such as sickle-cell anemia in places without medical infrastructure.

The system was developed at the University of California, Davis, and is designed to allow field workers to photograph blood samples from patients, and then send the micrographs to doctors via the cellular network for interpretation.

Although others have coupled microscopes to cell phone cameras, the Davis group aimed to make its device inexpensive. It did this by using a very simple lens that is made from a single ball of glass about one millimeter in diameter and held in position in front of the camera with a small piece of rubber. That small size results in a high curvature that provides good magnification, says Sebastian Wachsmann-Hogiu, a physicist with Davis’s Center for Biophotonics, Science, and Technology, and the leader of the research team. Because a cell phone camera also uses lenses with a short focal length and a miniaturized sensor with very small pixels, it’s optically compatible with the small ball lens. “You couldn’t do this with a regular camera, the distances there are too big,” says Wachsmann-Hogiu.

The world is in the midst of a major technological revolution led by the Apple infrastructure,  which is transforming everything from how we protest, do politics, shop, read, communicate, pay bills, manufacture, trade and invest,  and just about everything else you can think of.   Let’s hope the policymakers recognize this when thinking how to generate growth and deal with unemployment.

(click here if picture is not observable)

Posted in Apple, Nonlinear Thinking | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Nobel Peace Prize Update

Posted on October 7, 2011 by macromon

The  Nobel Peace Prize for 2011 was awarded in three equal parts to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman for “their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”   The official announcement reads,

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa’s first democratically elected female president. Since her inauguration in 2006, she has contributed to securing peace in Liberia, to promoting economic and social development, and to strengthening the position of women. Leymah Gbowee mobilized and organized women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women’s participation in elections. She has since worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after war. In the most trying circumstances, both before and during the “Arab spring”, Tawakkul Karman has played a leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen.

It is the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s hope that the prize to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman will help to bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realise the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent

We thought the prize may go to one of the Facebook revolutionaries of the Arab Spring.  Wrong!

Bravo for the Nobel Committee, however.  As a father of several daughters  we always cheer the empowerment of women.  By the way,  here’s our Christmas wish list if you find this blog useful and would like to give a little in return for our 12 16 hour days in the blogging salt mine.   Feel the guilt?  Thanks in advance!

Posted in General Interest | Tagged | Leave a comment

Hang Seng Confirming

Posted on October 6, 2011 by macromon

Granted there is still a few hours of trading in Hong Kong but the Hang Seng is confirming the moves in the U.S. and Europe, up 9 percent in just a little less than 1 1/2 trading sessions.  The S&P is up a stunning 90 points or 8.3 percent from its low on Tuesday.   Given a decent U.S. job numbers and no tape bombs on Friday the Shanghai should have a nice catch-up rally when it reopens next week.

The world was ending earlier this week.  Have the fundamentals changed that much or was the fast money just too negative and short?   Remember,  bulls eat, bears eat, and PIIGS get bailed out or take orderly haircuts as their bank creditors get recapitalized.

At least that’s the hope of this snap back.   The Eurocrats have recognized the problem and now need to deliver a plan that won’t damage the core countries’ sovereign credit ratings.

We like rallies and we like our parachute.   So we’re keeping one hand on the ripcord as the S&P500 – the global equity and risk proxy – approaches the red zone.

(click here if chart is not observable)

Posted in Equities, PIIGS | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Local Government Financing in China

Posted on October 6, 2011 by macromon

Yikes!  Look what California’s dependence on tax revenues from the dot.com and housing bubbles did to that state’s fiscal health.   We’re going to see some fugly naked bodies when the tide recedes in China.   Keep this one on your radar.

(click here if video is not observable)

Posted in Black Swan Watch, China, Muni Market, State and Local Government | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Angry Greeks

Posted on October 6, 2011 by macromon

(click here if video is not observable)

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Policy, Sovereign Debt, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , | 5 Comments