Thursday, May 13, 2010

What do you think we will learn from this market turmoil (the 2008 credit crunch)?
“We will learn an enormous amount in the very short term, quite a bit in the medium term and
absolutely nothing in the long term. That would be the historical precedent.”
Jeremy Grantham

Initial Jobless Claims: Survey 440k Actual 444 Prior 444 Revised 448

• On the sovereign front, Portugal agreed on tax hikes to help the budget and followed
Spain’s announcement of add’l austerity measures yesterday. The FT Alphaville has an article on
the ECB bond buys and says that so far, the ECB’s purchases have been mostly Greek,
Portuguese, and Irish debt.
• Wall St investigations – three articles this morning talking about how inquiries are
widening; WSJ and Fox Business say more firms being looked at re CDO practices; NYT says
Wall St firms being invesigated to see if they misled rating agencies to secure better ratings (the
NYT article may be viewed as a mild pos. for the rating agencies)
• S&P methodology changes – S&P Tues night announced eligibility criteria changes for
inclusion in the S&P US index family. The new rules allow companies that are incorporated
outside of the US (for tax purposes) to be eligible for inclusion in the S&P US indices.
• Republicans make gains in recent poll – the GOP alliance appears to be “firmer and more
substantial” than earlier in the year; could help the party into the Nov elections; independents
shifting to the GOP by 38% to 30% margin – WSJ
• JNY - is eyeing more acquisitions in what it calls the "accessible luxury" segment (WSJ)