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And this one dwarfs what’s going on in the Oil patch.
A Chinese hedge fund manager just paid $2.1 million for lunch with Warren Buffett. As the figures show (source: Bloomberg), the value of this “asset” has absolutely exploded.. more than a 100-bagger since the 2001 low !

2000 Anonymous $25,000
2001 Anonymous $18,000
2002 Edward Jones Co. […]

The latest Case/Shiller S&P data (for April — seems dated but whatever) showed home prices down an average of 15% from the year before. That’s huge. Vegas was the worst, losing 26.8% ! Interestingly, Charlotte fared the best, at breakeven.
Even NFL players’ homes aren’t selling well. Ousted Cincinnati Bengal Chris Henry’s […]

The SEC found that mutual fund giant Fidelity — including legendary manager Peter Lynch — failed miserably in that area.
The gist:  Fidelity portfolio managers and traders apparently paid Wall Street brokers inflated commission in exchange for lavish gifts — some not exactly kosher.  Those commissions, of course, are paid out of the assets of each […]

This bond insurer saga is quickly growing old. Now even the most vocal ABK/MBI short seller is proposing “solutions.” Of course like the others, it basically involves shifting around assets, liabilities, and cash flows in fun & creative ways.
The New York insurance regulator doesn’t like this plan because it’s “bad for the banks.” […]

Wednesday’s market news was dominated by a hot reading in the United States government’s monthly CPI report, and speculation about its effect on the FOMC’s interest rate reduction campaign.
As most readers know, I reside firmly in the “CPI is baloney” camp, although it is tough sharing the philosophy of a grown man sporting a mullet […]