Archive for the ‘Idea Jar’ Category

These are today’s most interesting videos and stories:

• Gold is precious, but not as a hedge against inflation
  “One of the enduring dogmas of global finance holds that gold is a haven. Gold is billed as a hedge against inflation, the ultimate insurance policy against geopolitical risk and protection during periods of turmoil in the financial markets. . . .Investors who buy into these suppositions — and there are many of them — might as well believe in the tooth fairy.”
• Cyclical Dollar Weakness: Still in Its Seventh Inning
  We like risky assets and believe that the dollar will remain on its back foot. This is a view we’ve held since the financial crisis of July/August. For the next three months or so, we share the market’s consensus opinion, which is also positive on risky assets and negative on the dollar. However, on a 6-12-month perspective, we believe that the preferred trades will evolve: while EM currencies may continue to perform well, we are less convinced that GBP/USD and EUR/USD can keep overshooting and stay above 2.10 and 1.50 or so.
• Doll of BlackRock Says ‘Premature’ to Buy Financials
  Robert Doll, who helps manage about $1.3 trillion as chief investment officer of global equities at BlackRock Inc., talks with Bloomberg’s Matt Miller from Princeton, New Jersey, about the performance of and outlook for the U.S. equity market, investment strategy for financial stocks and the outlook for Federal Reserve monetary policy. Bloomberg’s Ellen Braitman and Julie Hyman also speak.
• Mishkin Says Fed Can Reverse Rate Cut If ‘Unneccesary’
  Federal Reserve Governor Frederic Mishkin speaks in New York about last week’s interest rate cut by the Federal Open Market Committee, the ability of the Fed to reverse its decision if proven “unnecessary” and the importance of “anchored” inflation expectations in responding to economic shocks. The FOMC lowered the benchmark interest rate a quarter-point last week to 4.5 percent, which followed a 50 basis point reduction in September. Mishkin speaks at Risk USA’s 2007 Risk Management Conference.
• Kroszner of Fed Says Subprime Mortgage Market May Worsen
  Federal Reserve Governor Randall Kroszner speaks in Arlington, Virginia, about the subprime mortgage market, the outlook for loan delinquency rates and the U.S. housing industry. Kroszner speaks at the Consumer Bankers Association’s Fair Lending Conference.
• I can’t let 7 yrs’ hard work go waste: Musharraf
  Editor: I almost feel sorry for the guy, caught between a rock and a hard place with Condi Rice on his back. We in the West operate under the assumption that democracy = freedom = the forces of “good”, yet democracy can also facilitate the election of governments endowed with mandates to destroy liberty by those who hold a vastly different world view.
• Will Shipping Sector Remain Buoyant?
  DP World, one of the world’s largest container terminal operators, launched an initial public offering in the Middle East on Sunday. CNBC’s Geoff Cutmore asks James Leake, head of research at ICAP Hyde, what this IPO says about the shipping industry, especially looking at dry-freight rates.
• Tech Sector is Booming
  Technology is back in vogue with investors. Jeremy Gleeson, fund manager at Axa Framington, speaks to CNBC’s Geoff Cutmore about investment opportunities in the sector.
• PetroChina’s Value Tops $1 Trillion, Surpassing Exxon
  The rally makes PetroChina shares four times more expensive relative to earnings than those of Exxon, whose sales are almost four times higher. China’s entire stock market was valued at less than $1.1 trillion before tripling this year and giving the communist nation five of the world’s 10 biggest companies. . . .Exxon is worth $488 billion on the New York Stock Exchange and trades at 13 times earnings.
• PetroChina Undervalued (Editor: What?)
  PetroChina is undervalued says Yang Liu, managing director at Atlantis Investment Management, speaking to CNBC’s Maura Fogarty and Steve Sedgwick.