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Daily Dispatches
Hedge fund borrowing examined by U.S. and European regulators
Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2007-01-09 14:45 Section: Daily DispatchesBy Rich Miller and Jesse Westbrook
Bloomberg News Service
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aMFZqx2S1aWg&refer=us
U.S. and European regulators, turning a spotlight on one of Wall Street's most profitable businesses, are conducting a joint probe into whether banks and securities firms set strict enough limits on loans to hedge funds.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Financial Services Authority in London met last month with some of the biggest lenders to the hedge-fund industry, seeking information on how they decide the amount of collateral required, SEC Commissioner Annette Nazareth said in an interview in Washington. Swiss and German authorities were also involved.
William Pesek: Time for Asia to kick its strong-dollar habit
Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2007-01-09 14:05 Section: Daily DispatchesBy William Pesek
Bloomberg News Service
Monday, January 8, 2007
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_pesek&...
We all start January pledging to kick this or that bad habit. It is always a tough promise to keep, and how much more so when the bad habit is decades old, like the Asian addiction to raising economic growth by keeping currencies weak.
As the 10th anniversary of the Asian financial crisis approaches, it is high time for the world's fastest-growing economic region to get out of the trap of export dependence.
Butler and Friedman on silver's logic and dreams
Submitted by cpowell on Tue, 2007-01-09 13:39 Section: Daily Dispatches1:30p ET Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Dear Friend of GATA and Gold:
Silver market analysts Ted Butler and Israel Friedman team up to offer "The Logic of Silver" and "Making Dreams Come True," two essays at GoldSeek's companion site, SilverSeek, that aim to build the airtight case for investing in the metal. You can find them here:
http://news.silverseek.com/TedButler/1168365148.php
CHRIS POWELL, Secretary/Treasurer
Chavez to socialize Venezuela, shuts opposition TV, promises 'permanent revolution'
Submitted by cpowell on Mon, 2007-01-08 21:42 Section: Daily DispatchesChavez Will Nationalize Power, Telecoms
By Ian James
Associated Press
Monday, January 8, 2006
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070109/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/venezuela_chavez
President Hugo Chavez announced plans Monday to nationalize Venezuela's electrical and telecommunications companies, pledging to create a socialist state in a bold move with echoes of Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba.
Chavez, who will be sworn in Wednesday to a third term that runs until 2013, also said he wanted a constitutional amendment to eliminate the autonomy of the Central Bank and would soon ask the National Assembly, solidly controlled by his allies, to give him greater powers to legislate by presidential decree.
Thailand won't lift capital controls
Submitted by cpowell on Mon, 2007-01-08 16:26 Section: Daily DispatchesFrom The Associated Press
Monday, January 8, 2007
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070108/ap_on_bi_ge/thailand_capital_controls_1
Thailand has no immediate plans to lift remaining capital controls imposed last month to curb the baht's appreciation, the central bank governor said Monday amid growing calls from foreign brokers to ease the restrictions.
Bank Gov. Tarisa Watanagase told reporters that the bank was considering revisions of "minor" measures but that the baht's relative stability since controls were imposed Dec. 19 shows that the much-criticized move was effective and necessary for the time being.
Thank Goldman Sachs, not weather, for oil price plunge
Submitted by cpowell on Mon, 2007-01-08 15:39 Section: Daily DispatchesInvestment House
Slashed Energy
in Commodity Index
By Michael Norman
New York Post
Monday, January 8, 2007
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01082007/business/energy_dumped_business_mic...
It might be a better idea to thank Goldman Sachs, not the weather, for the recent plunge in oil prices.
While recent balmy temperatures have certainly played a role in last week's dip in oil prices, a lesser known but equally powerful move by Goldman at the start of the year might bear some responsibility as well.
Hedging hangs in the balance
Submitted by cpowell on Sun, 2007-01-07 18:37 Section: Daily DispatchesBy Mandi Zonneveldt
Herald-Sun, Melbourne, Australia
Monday, January 8, 2007
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21023721-664,00.html
Market master Warren Buffett famously said: "A group of lemmings looks like a pack of individualists compared with Wall Street when it gets a concept in its teeth." The same anecdote has been used to describe the Australian resource industry's approach to hedging -- a risk minimisation strategy.
Bolivia reported ready to increase mining taxes 600%
Submitted by cpowell on Sun, 2007-01-07 14:20 Section: Daily DispatchesFrom Reuters
Sunday, January 7, 2007
http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reut...
LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Bolivia plans to raise the taxes paid by mining companies six-fold in a shake-up of the industry set to be announced in the coming weeks, a newspaper reported on Sunday, citing the country's mining minister.
Digital gold and a flawed global economic order
Submitted by cpowell on Sun, 2007-01-07 12:39 Section: Daily DispatchesBy Benn Steil
Financial Times, London
Friday, January 5, 2007
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/518a0102-9c61-11db-9c9b-0000779e2340.html
It is remarkable how the world's short history of floating exchange rates has affected popular thinking about what is eternally normal and proper in the economic system. Recently, China-bashing U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham wrote matter-of-factly that "one of the fundamental tenets of free trade is that currencies should float."
Bond market derivatives now offer profit without risk
Submitted by cpowell on Sun, 2007-01-07 12:20 Section: Daily DispatchesA Billion-Dollar Game
By John Dizard
Financial Times, London
Monday, October 23, 2006
http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto102320061114181979&re...
Free money. Profit -- profit on billions of dollars of capital -- without risk. Too good to be true, right? Tell it to the people putting on "negative basis trades."