Measuring the Incalculable; Valuing the Intangible

Wolfensohn on Subprime

Published on 2008-04-01 09:48:00

Tonight, Kerry O'Brien interviewed James Wolfensohn, the former president of the World Bank. I found it quite interesting to hear his views on the subprime fiasco, as well as other matters, but especially the subprime issues and Greenspan. Also very interesting for anyone interested in the "decoupling" theory. Here is the transcript:KERRY O'BRIEN: After 10 years as World Bank president, and a year as special envoy to the Middle East for the so-called quartet: the UN, the European Union, the US a

Ben Bernanke Banking

Published on 2008-03-30 14:13:00

Bank customers queue round the block as cash machine pays out DOUBLE their money14:43pm on 19th March 2008Bank customers couldn't believe their luck when a cash machine began to double the money they requested.The faulty machine finally ran out of notes at about 8pm.Two for one: Customers queue outside the cash machine in Hull last night which paid out twice the amount requested before running out of cash"I parked up and learned that it was paying out double. I joined the queue and when I finall

Current Holdings

Published on 2008-03-30 13:08:00

Before I get into what I hold etc. again, I just want to express the thought that it might not be a good idea to be posting my trades. Simply because I don't have the time to be writing them in here as soon as I do them. Which to some, could be seen as hindsight trading. Not that I think this is true in this instance, because I do generally post my entries and exits on Aussie Stock Forums, mainly, just not regularly enough on here.However, soon, I want to start some experimental portfolios, whic

Current Holdings

Published on 2008-03-22 09:45:00

Thought I should give a run down of my current holdings, given my recent workload, I haven’t been able to be here much. Currently my open trades are shorts on AMP and QGC, with longs on IPL, NXS and ORI. I have quite a few other holdings, but I don’t consider them open because they are free carried. I also sold out of Potash on Thursday night, which was a small gain in USD, but probably a loss with currency conversion. … IPL, NXS and ORI are not in any huge danger, so there is

Is Australia Exposed?

Published on 2008-03-13 01:18:00

Thanks to gfresh, giving me the inspiration or impetus for this post. I had been meaning to right about this for the last week now. But such is the life of a student with multiple assignments due. So what danger do Australian banks have with mortgage reinsurers? Gfresh wrote on the 3rd march: Numberchruncher's post #27 in here is worth noting carefully, however I'll repeat it here. ANZ, Westpac, St George, and Bendigo have their own mortgage insurance business.. That is they back their own

Current Holdings and Recent Trades

Published on 2008-03-09 07:55:00

I thought I’d take the time to have a look at my current trades, and my rationale for the next little while. Currently my open trades are shorts on AMP and QGC, with longs on IPL, NXS and ORI. I have quite a few other holdings, but I don’t consider them open because they are free carried. I also sold out of Potash on Thursday night, which was a small gain in USD, but probably a loss with currency conversion. It’s the two shorts that I’m mostly interested in. I entered the short o

View Resources Continued

Published on 2008-03-07 04:08:00

Seems to be a bit of interest in the old Carnilya Hill...Just goes to show how incompetent view management are/ were, to try and get rid of this instead of Bronzewing.

Captain Bernanke!

Published on 2008-03-06 05:19:00

And in his first episode, Captain Bernanke takes on the evil Ron Paul and his economically and fiscally sensible ways!

Tobacco, Super Funds and Ethical Investing

Published on 2008-03-05 00:00:00

Today, this story has been given quite a bit of publicity in the news:Most say no to tobacco in super fundsBy Tamara McLean | March 05, 2008 TWO out of three Australians don't want their superannuation funds to invest in tobacco, even if it returns good profits, a study has found. But contrary to their wishes, the Cancer Council NSW research also shows nearly one third of funds do hold tobacco shares, while most of the rest failed to respond to questions on the topic. And o

Sustainability Reporting

Published on 2008-03-03 06:15:00

It's good that a lot of sustainability and environmental reporting is becoming the norm. And it makes a lot of sense economically - socially responsible workers want to work at places that do this kind of reporting and customers are becoming increasingly environmentally aware (well, at least on a superficial level). So, by adopting this level of reporting and these systems, businesses are maximising their staff recruitment appeal, and customer base. At the same time adding to corporate governanc