Finance Trends Letter

Santa Cruz, Bolivia's richest region, has voted on a referendum to demand greater autonomy from the country's central government. More details from Reuters : "SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivia's richest region of Santa Cruz voted overwhelmingly for autonomy on Sunday in a vote widely seen as a rejection of President Evo Morales' leftist reforms, exit polls showed. The vote was the first of four referendums on greater autonomy from central government being planned by Bolivia's eastern lowland provinces, deepening a divide between Morales' supporters and the conservative opposition. According to the pollster Focaliza cited by local television, Santa Cruz residents voted 86 percent in favour of autonomy and 14 percent against. The result had been widely expected because Morales backers vowed to boycott the polls and the exit polls did not estimate turnout." While Evo Morales has rejected the referendum's legitimacy, Reuters notes that the vote c...

All the news that's fit to blog. Enjoy our, "Features of the week" . 1. LBO titans Schwarzman, Kravis sitting on cash . 2. Federal Reserve may want inflation , says Axel Merk. 3. An abundance of paper money is causing food prices to soar. 4. Wilbur Ross joins FT's "View from the Top" to talk about the economy, stagflation and recession, mortgages, and buying a bank. 5. Worries over increased farm debt in a time of soaring land values. 6. European farmland hits record prices, as h edge funds muck in down on the farm. 7. Grain companies' profits soar as global food crisis mounts. 8. Saudi Arabia steps cautiously into SWF arena . 9. Indian exporters face ruin from derivatives losses . 10. Bovespa rises to record on Brazil's investment grade credit rating. 11. The LME introduces its billet steel futures contract , but producers in Russia and China shy away for now. See also, "The bell rings time for the steel market" . 12. Fed expands ...

Bloomberg recently aired a one-hour television special on the current economic environment entitled, "Surviving the Slowdown" (Click link to watch). Here's a quick rundown of the program guest list , from Bloomberg. "April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow, Roger Altman, co-founder of Evercore Partners, former Federal Reserve Governor Susan Bies, former St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President William Poole, Charles "Wick" Moorman, chief executive officer of Norfolk Southern, Marc Faber, managing director of Marc Faber Ltd., Laszlo Birinyi, president of Birinyi Associates, and Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management, talk with Bloomberg's Kathleen Hays about the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve monetary policy and investment strategy." I'm watching the opening of this video, and it strikes me again how ridiculous this reliance on government economic statistics is. Why? Kathleen Hays notes that recess...

Thomas E. Woods talks with the Mises Institute's Jeffrey Tucker about some of the topics and themes in his book, "33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask" . I've been meaning to put this clip up for some time, and having watched it again yesterday, I am reminded again of why I so enjoyed this discussion. There's a little bit of everything here, from discussion of states' rights, the policies that came out of Progressive era, the founding of the Federal Reserve, the Great Depression, deification of certain American historical figures, and more. I hope you enjoy this clip, and that it opens up some curiousity and interest in some of the topics that are covered here.

Ron Paul talks to CNN about his Presidential campaign, the importance of sound money, finding free-market solutions to our national problems, adherence to Constitutional values, and the wisdom of the Founding Fathers in this American Morning interview segment. Paul's comments on the Fed's control over interest rates and monetary policy are especially relevant and timely, as traders and market-watchers await the Fed's decision on interest rates due later today. Thanks to Colleen for sending this clip!

Nassim Taleb, Kevin Phillips, Warren Buffett, and Jeremy Grantham. These are just some of the subjects (and authors) of today's wrap-up of recent news, articles, and interview features. There's a lot of great stuff here that I couldn't fit into last Friday's "Features" post, and some very recent posts and news items found in the last 24 hours (including news of the Berkshire Hathaway-financed Mars-Wrigley deal). We'll provide a quick summary of each item; the rest is up to you! 1. Mars, Buffett to buy Wrigley for $23 billion . Berkshire Hathaway will help finance Mars' buyout of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. at $80 per Wrigley share. Excerpt from the MarketWatch piece: "Wrigley will become a stand-alone, separate Mars subsidiary, in which Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) (BRKB) will make a minority investment, Mars said. Specifically, Berkshire Hathaway will make a $2.1 billion equity purchase in Wrigley. It will be bought at a discount to the ...

Welcome to this Friday's edition of, "Features of the week" . Enjoy! 1. US consumer confidence falls to a 26-year low . 2. The SEC fines a trader for spreading false Blackstone deal rumors . Funny how some individuals are targeted and fined for spreading false rumors, while media outlets seem to get a free pass (and a possible ratings-boost to boot)! For added perspective, here are some past comments on moving the markets with rumors , and companies blaming short sellers for their demise, from Gary Kaltbaum (via BMB ). Plus, this post on the SEC targetting short-sellers in the Bear Stearns bust, and one blogger's take on bear raids . 3. The Shanghai Composite Index has fallen 50 percent from its peak. 4. Star subprime trader Josh Birnbaum has left Goldman Sachs to start a $1 billion hedge fund. 5. Superstar hedge fund trader Greg Coffey will leave GLG Partners , and forgo $250 million in compensation, to start his own fund. 6. UBS to start freight futures ...