Professional Documents
Culture Documents
• Robert C. Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat who became the longest‐serving member of Congress,
died at 3 a.m. Monday at Inova Fairfax Hospital, his office said. – Washington Post
• Senate vote on financial reform was delayed until Thursday after Senator Byrd was rushed to
the hospital. It is not clear when the vote will be now. The measure passed with just 60 votes the first
time through, and it appears 60 will be needed again now as Republicans are planning a filibuster. Four
Republicans voted for the measure, including Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. Brown says he may
vote against the bill now because he does not like $18 billion in new fees added in conference. – FTN
• By 53% to 30%, Americans approve of President Obama's decision to remove Gen. Stanley
McChrystal from command of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, as many say it would have been
better to reprimand (37%) as to remove (38%) McChrystal; 12% say Obama should have taken no action.
• Obama told the G‐20 he expects significant yuan appreciation. China warned its exports would
be hurt if it allows the currency to appreciate too fast. – FTN
• The WSJ says new mortgage rules in the financial reform bill likely mean mortgage lending will
remain about as restricted as it is today for years to come. The bill stipulates that underwriters of Alt‐A
or subprime loans must retain exposure equal to 5% of the loan when securitizing, which in turn means
these loans are not likely to be made in large numbers. Still, the rules are not as strict as they might have
been. Mortgage lenders won concessions so that the new rules do not apply to conforming loans, and
loans that meet an income test and do not include the option to postpone principal payments. – FTN
• Corporate cash levels at near record levels but the money isn’t expected to be spent – a new
survey out Mon reveals that many large companies expect their cash balances to remain flat or grow
over the next 6 months (FT) – that is still a lot of kindling for a Capital spending cycle. With cash yields
resembling the shape of a donut, Corporations are punished for doing nothing with it. Traditional
options are: 1. Share buybacks, 2. Dividends, 3. Capital Investment. All of these are positive for equities.
• US Fed – “monster” money printing coming from the Fed – given that the latest batch of
economic numbers have been disturbing, many think Bernanke will ramp up his asset purchases again.
London Telegraph. The NYT (Krugman) says officials (inc. those at the G20 over the weekend) are much
too focused on austerity and inflation when the real threat to the world is deflation. Krugman thinks the
world is heading for “The Third Depression”. Europe has been front‐and‐center in pushing fiscal
austerity measures, but this is catching on in the US too (witness last week’s failure to pass extended
unemployment benefits).
Federal Reserve Money Supply M2 YoY % Change
The ‘printing presses’ have not been running as much as conventional wisdom might think. Money
supply growth has not been this low since the early 90’s.