Twice burned, once shy?

Hedge Funds Take Another Look at Greek Debt

LONDON — Twice burned, once shy? Maybe not for hedge funds looking to make money in Greek bonds. Ever since last summer, when it became clear that private sector bond investors would need to take a loss to ease Greece’s debt burden, some hedge funds have been betting large sums of money on different outcomes. And for the most part, the funds have lost their collective shirt as the value of the investments sank.

The stock act is passed and in effect

Congress stops stalling on Stock Act

Earlier this month, both chambers of Congress passed versions of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (Stock) Act, banning insider trading for members of Congress and their staffs. The bill had been introduced in various forms since 2006, but it wasn’t until a “60 Minutes” investigation that it was able to gain any traction. In his State of the Union speech, President Obama even said, “Send me a bill that bans insider trading by members of Congress, and I will sign it tomorrow.”

Canadian currency slackened through parity with the U.S, what's this aboot?

Canadian Currency Drops Below Parity with U.S. Dollar First Time in 4 Days

Canada’s dollar slackened through parity with its U.S. counterpart for the first time in four days as risk appetite ebbed and stocks dropped on bets global economic growth may stall.

Iran Keeps Oil Hanging In The Balance

Oil hanging on Iranian geopolitical factors - Commodities - Futures Magazine

Iran, Iran and a little bit more Iran has been the main price driver pushing Brent and WTI price to the highest level since May of 2011 when the Libyan civil war was in full swing. Geopolitics drove prices higher in early 2011 and geopolitics are once again driving prices higher in 2012. Tensions rose again yesterday when Iran refused to let the UN IAEA inspectors visit Iran's nuclear sites resulting in this round of inspections and meetings to be deemed a failure. Certainly the actions by Iran yesterday raises concern that Iran has something to hide and what they are hiding might possibly be work toward developing nuclear weapons. The UN communiqué said that there was still no agreement on how to begin the clarification of unresolved issues in connection with Iran's nuclear program, particularly those relating to possible military dimensions. So the tensions continue to rise and the price of oil is continuing to follow higher with each event evolving from the region. Although there have been several conciliatory signals, like the Iranian letter calling for a meeting with the west, the situation between Iran and the west is not getting any better and in fact is deteriorating even further.

Goldman Lowers Commodity Forecast

Goldman Lowers Forecast Commodity Returns, Keeps Overweight Recommendation - Bloomberg

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) cut its 12- month prediction for commodity returns, while forecasting gains for crude oil and gold and keeping an “overweight” allocation in raw materials. The bank reduced its estimate for returns to 12 percent from 15 percent after prices rallied this year, analysts led by Jeffrey Currie said in a report today. They kept their predictions for Brent and gold at $127.50 a barrel and $1,940 an ounce compared with $121.23 and $1,755.30 today.

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

Oil hanging on Iranian geopolitical factors

Iran, Iran and a little bit more Iran has been the main price driver pushing Brent and WTI price to the highest level since May of 2011 when the Libyan civil war was in full swing. Geopolitics drove prices higher in early 2011 and geopolitics are once again driving prices higher in 2012. Tensions rose again yesterday when Iran refused to let the UN IAEA inspectors visit Iran's nuclear sites resulting in this round of inspections and meetings to be deemed a failure. Certainly the actions by Iran yesterday raises concern that Iran has something to hide and what they are hiding might possibly be work toward developing nuclear weapons. The UN communiqué said that there was still no agreement on how to begin the clarification of unresolved issues in connection with Iran's nuclear program, particularly those relating to possible military dimensions. So the tensions continue to rise and the price of oil is continuing to follow higher with each event evolving from the region. Although there have been several conciliatory signals, like the Iranian letter calling for a meeting with the west, the situation between Iran and the west is not getting any better and in fact is deteriorating even further.

New sheriffs in town

NFA has a new sheriff in town

“No promise or assurance for future safety will have much meaning or credibility unless the 38,000 [MF Global] customers get 100% of their money back.” That quote is part of a 14-page memo delivered to the National Futures Association (NFA) Board of Directors by its two newest members, Doug Bry and Ernest Jaffarian. The memo highlights many of the sordid details of the MF Global debacle and includes recommendations but it boils down to one thing, making customers whole.

The worst is over

Solar panel makers recovering from dreadful 2011

Last year was dreadful for solar panel makers as a glut of supplies in world markets drove down prices. So far in 2012, there have been a few developments that have given some hope that the worst is over. Most recently, shares of solar power companies jumped to end the week after two of them reported encouraging results in their earnings and a third company said it had regulatory approval to continue building a new solar power project in California.