Straight Shooting from Someone Who Got It Right

June 9, 2010

Here is a video interview of Michael Pento. I like Pento because he called the market crisis before it happened as well as the market’s rise. For the recent rise, he knew it was nothing more than a stimulus induce high, but it was going to happen. Now, he is saying the high is over, [...]

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Another Major Fraud Case with Money Managers

June 3, 2010

Kenneth Starr, not the blue dress, Monica Lewinsky one, was indicted on a $30 million fraud charge last week. Like Bernie Madoff, Starr was known as an advisor to the stars with clients such as Al Pacino, Sly Stallone, Martin Scorcese, Diane Sawyer, Henry Kissinger, and others. Also like Madoff, these clients violated the number [...]

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Despicable Default Behavior

June 2, 2010

I have stated several times here and elsewhere on the web that a homeowner should have no remorse from defaulting on a mortgage if it makes economic sense. The mortgage is a contract, not an oath or vow. Contracts cover all actions including non-payment. So, if you are way underwater on a house and renting [...]

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Good Bank, Bad Bank

May 30, 2010

If you want some impartial analysis about local and national banks, you should head over to Weiss Research. The folks at Weiss is offering free access to the banks on their trouble list as well as the top rated banks by state. Unlike Standard and Poors, Moody’s, and A.M. Best, Weiss Ratings is not paid [...]

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Love to See an Economist Put in His Place

May 28, 2010

Interesting video from a show where money manager Hugh Hendry puts an economist in his place. Economists are like weathermen IMO. They can be completely wrong, but they can continue to make predictions and listened to so long as they get published, make tv appearances, or look like Paul Krugman. So it was fun to [...]

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Fix the Banking System by Letting Bankers Fail

May 22, 2010

An excellent op-ed piece by Jim Grant, author of Jim Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, in the Washington Post. Grant looks back at the past and finds that bankers use to be personally liable for a bank failure. The government didn’t step in and bail out the banks in the olden days. From 1848 to 1913, [...]

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Another Article on Fiduciary Standard

May 16, 2010

I have been following the debate in Congress about a fiduciary standard.  Here is another article from the Wall Street Journal discussing this very topic. The article begins describing the standard, which essentially means a legal requirement to put your client’s interest first, above all others, including your own.
At issue is whether a financial adviser—which [...]

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13 Things Your Advisor Won’t Tell You

May 14, 2010

Good article in Yahoo today about things your advisor won’t tell you. Being a fee-only financial planner, I agree with all of them. I really see no reason to work with a commission planner anymore. That is so 1950s. You should be hiring someone to provide objective advice, not sell you product. My big piece [...]

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Backdoor Bailout for Banks

May 12, 2010

Here is a video segment by Yahoo Tech Ticker featuring Barry Ritholtz, whom I am a big fan, where a theory is discussed about a backdoor bailout of the banks. It deals with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both of these organizations are losing billions every quarter, and we, the taxpayers, are acting as an [...]

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Landscapers Choose Unemployment Over Work

May 11, 2010

An upsetting article in the Detroit News about folks turning down landscaping jobs so they can keep collecting unemployment. Even more discouraging is this is in Michigan. People should jump over backwards for a job there.
I hope these landscapers find some hard working teenagers to fill these jobs and tell these adults to hit the [...]

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