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I am not in the habit of posting vanities, but I consider this an important topic, and I have not seen any articles in the MSM or alternative media about it. As an investor, I try to consider the probability of various outcomes happening, and plan accordingly. Rather than react when it is too late, I prefer to plan well ahead and consider contingencies. I regard the potential change in power in DC in 2008 as a distinct threat to individual financial security, and perhaps even to individual liberty. First, although McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee, claims that he will...

Interesting comments about Obama as a law professor in the comments section of this article. We should be careful to take these comments with a teaspoon of salt unless they can be verified. Selected items: ******************************* I took his Voting Rights Class at UChicago Law at the crack of dawn. His class was still packed. He was incredibly charasmatic and engaging, but is really, really, far-left liberal in the socialism completely rocks kind of way. I got a 80+ from him though, so no specific dirt-dishing on my part! ******************************* I took Con Law III, Equal Protection and Due Process,...

LONDON (Reuters) - The automated teller for home loans is empty and Americans are relying increasingly on credit cards to pay their living costs, indicating tough hurdles ahead for U.S. consumer spending and markets. Federal Reserve data released on Friday showed U.S. consumer borrowing rising by $12.18 billion in August, more than 20 percent more than economists had forecast. Most striking was an 8.1 percent increase in borrowing on revolving credit lines, mostly credit cards, to a record $909 billion. Credit card borrowings rose at the sharpest rate since early 2002. So what was it that persuaded consumers to rack...

That CNBC/MSNBC debate on Tuesday, the one ostensibly pegged to "Your Money '08," was supposed to be Ron Paul's Passchendaele. "There are plenty of people to whom Paul's anti-war, limited government message appeals," The Scotsman's Alex Massie wrote, "who might pause to reconsider their enthusiasm if he's seen banging on and on about returning to the gold standard. It may be a dangerous moment for the campaign." The dangerous moment came early, after the top three Republicans had fielded their first questions and Chris Matthews asked Paul about "the bonanza in the hedge fund industry." "There's transfer of wealth from...

It was only last summer when stock markets plunged nearly 10 per cent, shocked by a sudden credit crunch emanating from the implosion of the American housing bubble. It seemed that the era of easy credit and ever-rising stocks had ended. Now, all this appears to be just an unpleasant memory. The Dow Jones industrial average has more than erased its earlier losses, closing well above a previous record set in July. Other major indexes are well on the way to recovery. With the Fed in easing mode, what could go wrong? Even dour old Alan Greenspan seemed on the...

Appalling standards of care and a catalogue of failures contributed to the deaths of 331 patients in the worst outbreak of a hospital superbug ever recorded in the NHS, a report has found. Crowded wards, a shortage of nurses and financial problems led to 1,176 people contracting Clostridium difficile over two and half years at three hospitals in Kent. Though the superbug was rife on the wards, managers failed to act. Isolation units were not set up, nurses were so rushed they did not have time to wash their hands and patients were left in soiled beds. Bedpans were not...

The roller-coaster career of maverick trader Victor Niederhoffer took a sharp downturn after losses mounted and a key investor withdrew money from his firm, demonstrating how the market's recent volatility has shaken even some veterans. Mr. Niederhoffer's hedge-fund firm, Manchester Trading LLC, ran into difficulties a decade after Mr. Niederhoffer lost most of his personal savings when his previous hedge fund collapsed. Last month, Mr. Niederhoffer's largest hedge fund, Matador Fund Ltd., was liquidated after suffering losses of more than 70%, according to people close to the matter. Adding to Mr. Niederhoffer's problems, according to a person close to the...

It's been called the most important securities fraud case to reach the Supreme Court in years, with fortunes riding on the decision and the scandal of Enron just in the background. But after oral arguments yesterday, it doesn't seem like much of a cliffhanger. In this artist's rendering, attorney Stephen Shapiro argues before the Supreme Court on behalf of Charter Communications shareholders. In this artist's rendering, attorney Stephen Shapiro argues before the Supreme Court on behalf of Charter Communications shareholders. (By Dana Verkouteren -- Associated Press) TOOLBOX Resize Text Save/Share + Digg Newsvine del.icio.us Stumble It! Reddit Facebook Print This...

Cargo containers crammed with foreign-made goods that were supposed to set a record in August at major U.S. ports took an unexpected turn, with imports sinking 1.4% in another sign of the slowing of the economy. Imports of items as diverse as toys and tiles could also be lower in September and October, when retailers will be stocking shelves for the holidays, because shell-shocked shoppers are expected to continue to pull back. Entry point click to enlarge Graphic Is trade boom over? click to enlargeThe falloff "reflects the consumer-demand-driven weakness in the U.S. economy," said Paul Bingham, an economist with...

The market volatility of late summer, which included a huge drop in stock prices from August 6th to August 9th, prompted the financial press to look for a scapegoat. Several journalists and commentators settled on quantitative hedge funds, or “quants,” as the culprits. But did the media get it wrong? New research suggests so. Quant funds are part of the revolution in finance that has taken place over the last 30 years. They employ sophisticated computer models to select long and short trading positions. But the late-summer market turbulence bruised their image. One Wall Street Journal article detailed “How the...

Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation urged Thursday that mortgage servicers should force mortgage pools to reduce the long term interest rate at which subprime mortgages refix after the first few years, fixing the rate instead at the initial “teaser” rate. I trust no Bear’s Lair reader is remotely surprised at this development; it is typical of the soft-option-mania that has infested financial thought in the last decade. On the idea itself, to misquote Elizabeth Barrett Browning (who deserves to be misquoted) “How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways…” Once upon a time, governments...

QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. - Out on Phoenix’s suburban fringes, where cement mixers are fast colonizing hay and cotton fields, the day is winding to a close. The home hour has arrived. But sundown gives away a troubling secret: Behind dark windows and unanswered doors, it’s clear nobody is coming home. The ranch home on Via del Palo where the newspaper in the driveway has been sitting unclaimed since April. The house at the corner of 223rd Court with faded fliers stuck in the door. They’re empty, left behind by a rising tide of foreclosures. This neighborhood has a still-unfolding story...

CHICAGO -- In his curriculum vitae, Austan Goolsbee lists as his "other interests" -- other than teaching at the University of Chicago -- two activities: triathlons and improv comedy. Evidently he is a masochist with a sense of humor, so he is suited to participate in presidential politics, which he is doing as an adviser to Barack Obama. Before they met in person, Obama, running for the Senate in 2004, asked Goolsbee a perplexing question. Obama's opponent, Alan Keyes, an African American imported from Maryland by Illinois' shambolic Republican Party, had been asked whether he believed in reparations for slavery....

On Monday morning, as fresh news of severe losses by the giant financial groups, UBS and Citigroup, revealed even more damage inflicted by this summer's credit squeeze, the reaction of stock markets was clear. They rallied. In Monday's trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, still the most widely watched index of the US stock market, managed to top the all-time peak itreached on July 19. This was broadly representative of the most important developed market indices. The US S&P 500 index and Germany's Dax index are within 1 and 2 per cent respectively of their mid-July highs. Neither the S&P...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- One consumer group estimates that 600,000 foreclosures could be avoided over the next two years by making a simple change to the bankruptcy code. The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) calls it a tweak, but it could be a significant change for homeowners and the market for mortgage-backed securities. CRL's proposal - reflected in a House bill recently introduced - would make changes to the regulations for Chapter 13 bankruptcies, which don't wipe out debts, but rather establish a repayment plan. Under current law, when a person files for Ch. 13 bankruptcy, judges cannot reduce mortgage...

NEW YORK - Toy sellers' fears of a widespread boycott of Chinese-made toys have not taken hold so far, despite the recall of more than 20 million playthings made there. Merchants are reporting an improvement in business, including strong early sales of certain key holiday items. Still, shoppers' concerns over safety are still high. And mounting financial concerns could force shoppers to pull back. "Consumers are still confused," said Ron Boire, president of Toys "R" Us Inc.'s North American division, noting that there are some parents still concerned about where products are made. But he is not seeing "a sea...

What made Hugo Chavez possible? How does a country let a man whose credentials are those of a coup leader who tried to topple a legitimate government become the unbridled ruler of the nation? What kind of people applaud a president who would replace the republican institutions with a system -- socialism -- that was so discredited in the 20th century? Some of the answers to these troubling questions can be found in a paper written by professor Hugo Faria and sponsored by the Institute of Superior Administration Studies and Monteavila University in Caracas -- "Hugo Chavez Against the Backdrop...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Falling home prices will dominate Federal Reserve policy for the next several years, despite "false hopes" of a bottom in housing, "faux economic strength" or worries about the dollar, says Bill Gross, managing director of Pacific Investment Management Co. The Fed will probably cut the federal funds rate from 4.75% to 3.75% within the next six to 12 months, Gross wrote in his monthly outlook. Newport Beach, Calif.-based Pimco is one of the largest managers of fixed-income assets in the world, with more than $650 billion in assets under management. Read Gross' outlook. Policymakers will have to...

LONDON (Reuters) - The housing market has a long way to go before stabilizing after the subprime crisis, spelling bad news for consumers in the world's biggest economy, former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan said on Monday. Greenspan, who has been outspoken throughout the credit crunch, said more house price declines were likely given a surfeit of supply but pointed to signs the lending crisis could be coming to end as demand for more risky assets grows. However, he warned any speculative market fever must be allowed to run its course to enable a full recovery. "As in similar situations...

Imagine that a cardiologist told you that aside from the irregular heartbeat, the stratospheric cholesterol count and a little blockage in your aorta, your core heart functions are just fine. That's precisely what the government's cardiologist—Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve—has just done. The central bank is supposed to make sure the economy grows fast enough to create jobs and make everybody richer, but not so fast that it produces inflation, which makes everybody poorer. "Readings on core inflation have improved modestly this year," the Federal Open Market Committee said in justifying its 50-basis-point interest-rate cut last month, while...