Major player in the financial meltdown resigns

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Oct 1, 2009 in Blog | 0 comments For almost a year now I have been saying that one of the things that will lead to a solid recovery and lasting change is a change in the people who led us into this deep recession. Today it was announced that Bank of America’s CEO Ken Lewis will resign at the end of the year. The reason given to the Board of Directors was that he is tired of the criticism he has received subsequent to the...
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Let the economic data flow

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Oct 1, 2009 in Blog | 0 comments A couple of important economic stats came in today, our old friends: consumer spending and jobless claims. Here’s how the data shook out… * Consumer Spending August consumer spending was up a robust 1.3% – the highest spending surge in 19 months. This increase was in excess of an increase in personal income of 0.2%. The rise in spending is being attributed to both a robust...
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The toll

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Sep 30, 2009 in Best of the Blog, Blog | 0 comments Yesterday the International Monetary Fund (IMF) disclosed its estimate of future bank losses due to the BURSTING of the mortgage bubble. The number: $1.5 trillion. Not exactly chump change. This amount is, however, $600 billion less than its April forecast. The reduction in the estimated losses is due almost entirely to a rise in the value of securities held by banks. Meaning that the estimated...
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What does that mean to the big picture?

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Sep 29, 2009 in Blog | 0 comments Not surprisingly consumer confidence dipped slightly in September. Given that there has not been a big improvement in the unemployment rate most consumers likely still feel gun shy. We have talked before about the virtuous or vicious cycle that exists between the stock market and consumer confidence. Typically there are no big corporate earnings announcements in September because it is so late...
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Of rationality and window dressing

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Sep 28, 2009 in Blog | 0 comments Hello everyone! I hope that everyone’s weekend was relaxing. Here in Santa Fe we had our first Indian Summer weekend with temperatures in the high-70s/low-80s. It was awesome. Last week’s stock market performance was the worst weekly performance since the beginning of July…thankfully. I say thankfully because it is evidence that investors are still cautious about investing....
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Beyond belief: G-8 becomes the G-20

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Sep 25, 2009 in Blog | 1 comment Wow! In an extraordinary development the Group of 8 (G-8) is diluting its power to become the Group of 20 (G-20). The G-8 is a collection of the 8 most economically developed countries in the world. This group has coordinated the economic policies of its members for most of the post-World War II era. In addition to NATO and the Warsaw Pact (old skool); and the United Nations; the G-8 has been...
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Some brief comments about the environment

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Sep 25, 2009 in Best of the Blog, Blog | 1 comment Happy Friday everyone. I hope that this post finds all of you doing well. I wanted to make a few brief comments about the environment, especially as it applies to our modern capitalist economy. Primarily the focus is on two things that dramatically affect the environment: The “dead end” nature of artificial chemicals and other people-made products. The importance of accurate pricing...
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