Specifically, maybe we should blame Harvard Business School. Hmm, were these not the same folks who pushed Russia into hypercapitalism, then the ditch, in the early 1990s? That's you, Jeffrey Sachs.
Speaking of Sachs, how many top brass at Goldman Sachs went to Harvard Biz?
Showing posts with label 2008 financial analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2008 financial analysis. Show all posts
October 23, 2009
September 24, 2008
‘The computers did it’ — the latest ‘goat’ for the financial flop
Yessiree, expect various current and former head honchos of Wall Street to spread this line as fast as they can.
But, to the complaint that computers underestimated the risk of derivatives manipulation, I add two rebuttals.
One is that plenty of people were flagging the potential problems two years ago or more. I’d rather blame Wall Street “rock stars” for not listening to Warren Buffett than for having faulty computers.
No. 2 is the old programmers’ acronym of GIGO. Hell, for all I know, Wall Street quantitative analysts may have even gamed their computers, which would then give us LIGO:
Lies In, Garbage Out.
Indeed, Leslie Rahl, the president of Capital Market Risk Advisors, says something along those lines, although she’s more charitable on the issue of intentionality than I am. And, I didn’t have to read that far down the Times financial blog post to guess that.
Of course, you know the next step will be to discriminate between Republican and Democratic computers or programs, or something along those lines. And since John McCain can’t e-mail, allegedly, well, then, he can’t vote on the bailout, one way or the other, either, can he?
And, if Democrats in the Senate are really stupid enough to believe Crazy Uncle Henry that Schmuck Talk’s vote is in the bag, well, I’ve got a CDS with liquidity to sell them.
But, to the complaint that computers underestimated the risk of derivatives manipulation, I add two rebuttals.
One is that plenty of people were flagging the potential problems two years ago or more. I’d rather blame Wall Street “rock stars” for not listening to Warren Buffett than for having faulty computers.
No. 2 is the old programmers’ acronym of GIGO. Hell, for all I know, Wall Street quantitative analysts may have even gamed their computers, which would then give us LIGO:
Lies In, Garbage Out.
Indeed, Leslie Rahl, the president of Capital Market Risk Advisors, says something along those lines, although she’s more charitable on the issue of intentionality than I am. And, I didn’t have to read that far down the Times financial blog post to guess that.
Of course, you know the next step will be to discriminate between Republican and Democratic computers or programs, or something along those lines. And since John McCain can’t e-mail, allegedly, well, then, he can’t vote on the bailout, one way or the other, either, can he?
And, if Democrats in the Senate are really stupid enough to believe Crazy Uncle Henry that Schmuck Talk’s vote is in the bag, well, I’ve got a CDS with liquidity to sell them.
February 20, 2008
Inflation watch: It ain’t going down, Mr. Bernanke
The 2007 numbers are in and inflation hit 4.3 percent last year. And, if it’s going anywhere, right now, that number is up. Numbers for this January show a rise of 0.4 percent. Multiply by 12 and you get 4.8 percent, just a tad bigger than 4.3.
It’s clear that Big Ben Bernanke the Clueless, Big Ben the Bubble Builder, has not an idea about just how much a problem inflation could be. Five bucks says that, in spite of the inflation news, he’ll try to ram through another rate cut before the end of May at the latest.
The only good news, or perhaps stupid news, is that new home groundbreakings edged up in January. Good in the sense of economic activity. Stupid in the sense of a slowing economy and a huge backlog of unsold homes.
It’s clear that Big Ben Bernanke the Clueless, Big Ben the Bubble Builder, has not an idea about just how much a problem inflation could be. Five bucks says that, in spite of the inflation news, he’ll try to ram through another rate cut before the end of May at the latest.
The only good news, or perhaps stupid news, is that new home groundbreakings edged up in January. Good in the sense of economic activity. Stupid in the sense of a slowing economy and a huge backlog of unsold homes.
January 03, 2008
Financial managers smoking crack?
Despite the fact that a recession seems likely this year, financial managers predicted the S&P 500 would finish the year up 8 percent.
Nice to see that De Nial is a river still flowing strong in today’s financial world.
Confidence ran high for the S&P in 2008, with 33 percent saying it would gain 8 percent and 23 percent estimating a surge of more than 10 percent. The S&P closed 2007 up about 2.1 percent.
Nice to see that De Nial is a river still flowing strong in today’s financial world.
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