Bob Morris @ Jun 10th 2008 23:30 - Category: Unfiled Tags: biofuel;
Seaweed could be grown commercially in the ocean using wastewater as a nutrient source, producing feedstock for biofuel as well as animal feed and fertilizer.
Bob Morris @ Jun 10th 2008 19:30 - Category: Unfiled ;
A total of three million balls will be put into the Ivanhoe Reservoir for four years to block sunlight from forming a carcinogen found in the water there.
(I just can’t help but think that the Law of Unintended Consequences will kick in here and the three million balls will create some undesirable environmental effect that no one could have predicted.)
Bob Morris @ Jun 10th 2008 15:30 - Category: Unfiled Tags: gas prices;
NY Times chart shows impact of gas prices hit rural poor in the South and Midwest the hardest. In some counties motorists are spending 16% of their income on gas.
This can’t continue. Those counties will empty out as businesses close and residents move to cities.
Bob Morris @ Jun 10th 2008 11:33 - Category: Credit crisis Tags: FHA;
FHA loses $4.6 billion - denies insolvency, but says, um, we need to do something to stop the losses.
Not making more idiot loans would be a good start.
Bob Morris @ Jun 10th 2008 11:30 - Category: Credit crisis ;
The author of “Flipping Houses for Dummies” has a new book out, “Foreclosure Investing for Dummies.”
Bob Morris @ Jun 10th 2008 07:30 - Category: Unfiled Tags: bonds;
Almost every corporation and government in the world issues bonds. The bond market dwarfs the stock market, when measured in dollar volume. In addition, while stocks are issued solely in the private sector, both corporations and governments can issue bonds. For governments, issuing bonds or other similar securities is the only way they can borrow money.
Emphasis added.
Yet most people, including investors and traders, often don’t know much about bonds, and to complicate things more, bonds come in a multitude of often confusing types.
If you’ve thought about investing in bonds or are just curious about them, Bonds: The Unbeaten Path to Secure Investment Growth provides a clear explanation about how the various types of bonds work, what to invest in, and what to avoid.
Their somewhat controversial thesis is that a 100% bond portfolio is less risky and ultimately more profitable than stocks. They do repeatedly say they are talking about “plain vanilla” bonds, not high risk corporate debt or mortgage-backed securities, advising that investors buy such bonds and hold them to maturity.
The bond market has a huge if sometimes indirect effect on the stock market and interest rates. It’s finally dawned on me that to really understand the financial crisis we are in, you need to understand bonds. This book helps do that, and also details a logical, well-thought-out method to make money by buying and holding them long-term.
Bob Morris @ Jun 10th 2008 03:30 - Category: Credit crisis ;
It may seem irrelevant financial esoterica but it’s not. The yield curve is acting strangely and interbank swap rates are widening. These can be signals that Big Money is getting seriously nervous about what’s coming down the road.
The yield curve is the difference in interest paid for the various lengths of US government Treasury securities. When it starts getting hiccups, then, well, some hedge fund somewhere (or maybe several of them) might explode because they were betting the wrong way, something which can create further carnage, as they are forced to liquidate which in turn can cause other entities in the house of cards called international finance to crumble too. More importantly though, the yield curve influences interest rate paid by consumers and businesses. So, it’s not really irrelevant at all.
Swap rates are the rates that banks charge each other for short-term loans. When they widen, banks are getting nervous. A number of such interest rate indicators are becoming problematic.
“Money markets continued to show clear signs of extreme stress” said Bank for International Settlements in their quarterly report.
Is your variable rate mortgage pegged to LIBOR? It might well be. And most people with such mortgages probably don’t even know what LIBOR is.
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