"The ocean was too big for the old man," was The Wall Street Journal's epitaph in 1906 for J.P. Morgan's flop of a shipping trust, International Mercantile Marine. Just as the elder Morgan's financial crown slipped in the wake of his failed merchant-banking gambit, so has Jamie Dimon's reputation suffered with revelations of JPM's imperfect hedge. But there is a difference. |Download Article
According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, nominal Chinese GDP, sparked by a 20.9% surge in urban fixed-asset investment, grew at a year over year rate of 12.1% in the first quarter. Yet, according to China's heavy construction machinery trade group, sales of heavy equipment plunged in the same quarter--and in the same China. |Download Article
Once upon a time, the phrase "gold mine" had a happy connotation, as in, "Apple Inc.--now there's a gold mine!" Lately though, you hear the once magical words and what you're likely to think is, "margin call." Many ask: is the gold bull market over? |Download Article
The market isn't expecting much from a certain mining company when it reports first quarter results on Wednesday, the shares being as cheap as they are unloved. On channeling a certain nationally prominent LBO veteran. |Download Article
An outbreak of 2008-on-the-brain--a disturbance characterized by obsessive fear of collapsing debts--has pushed bond yields back to record lows. Yes, Mr. Market seems to reason, the Federal Reserve has vowed to whip deflation. But what if deflation whips the fed? |Download Article
The Bank of Japan has found the yen to print again. Governor Masaaki Shirakawa rejoins the ranks of the ECB and the Bank of England in quantitative easing. But not everyone is participating in the current round of central bank largesse. |Download Article
