Market

Occasionally we receive comments along the lines of ‘you try to push the market lower’ or ‘talk the market down’. Some mistake our realism for grumpiness. Or assume we just don’t like it when the stock market goes up. While flattering, we must admit we have no control over the stock market whatsoever.

The actions need to try to stabilize the European debt crisis are well recognized. But Even if measures could be implemented as soon as possible, success is not assured. However without them, the chance of a disorderly collapse is increasingly significant.

For once, we agree with the insiders at Goldman Sachs. The company’s stock is a “Sell.” Okay, so the insiders didn’t exactly say their stock is a “sell,” but they didn’t need to. Their feet did all the talking. Nine Goldman insiders scurried away from their stock as fast as the law would let them.

Moody’s has just released a report claiming that Australian banks are the “most exposed” banks in the Asia-Pacific to a worsening of Europe’s sovereign-debt problem. What exactly does that mean?

Matt Taibbi — like many other cynical financial market observers — has learned to regard every pronouncement from Goldman Sachs with suspicion. Recent experience has demonstrated that “tame” and “harmless” are attributes that rarely operate within the Goldman Sachs business model.

The movement in the price of gold seems to be heading up again — almost no matter what else is happening. So, let’s look at what might be going on…

There is a delicious irony in the world of economic policy at the moment. The Asian crisis back back in 1997 and 1998 was brought on by the same things that led to the current crisis in Europe and the US (and the one I believe is coming to China).