http://www.lateralthinking.biz Value added Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:43:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Treasury Bonds Since 1990 Treasury bond yields have steadily moved downward in line with a more benign inflationary environment (Chart 6). Those yearly declines in yields continued last year with an average interest rate of 4.07% versus 4.28% in 2008. To remain fully invested in long Treasuries in this high volatility environment ... http://www.lateralthinking.biz/treasuries-maybe-not-so-bad.html Europe’s leaders are struggling to avert the biggest financial disaster in the euro’s 11-year history... Whether the EU has time is an open question. Credit Suisse says Greece must raise €30bn (£26bn) in debt by mid-year, mostly in April and May. Greek banks have been ... http://www.lateralthinking.biz/eu-bluff-on-greece.html We would like to come again to This Time is Different by Rogoff and Reinhart and how the authors enumerate the possible factors bringing Deflation : " First, financial imbalances occur when aggregate domestic debt is excessive relative to income, regardless of whether the government or private sector is accumulating the ... http://www.lateralthinking.biz/the-coming-deflation.html How Europe chooses to deal with the problems of the countries on the edge, among them Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, may determine the future political shape of Europe, and the future of the euro itself. World markets sank Thursday in the face of signs that skittish investors were growing ... http://www.lateralthinking.biz/flaws-in-europe.html The yield on 10-year Greek bonds rose to 7.15 percent yesterday, the highest level since October 1999 and up from 4.99 percent on Nov. 30. The yield is more than 3.9 percentage points higher than benchmark German bunds, the biggest gain since October 1998. The nation’s government bonds are the world’s ... http://www.lateralthinking.biz/clock-is-ticking.html We would like to present today  This Time is different from  Carmen M.Reinhart and Keneth S.Rogoff . They have catalogued over 250 financial crises in 66 countries over 800 years and then analyzed them for differences and similarities. The book gives evidence that we have a lot of pain to ... http://www.lateralthinking.biz/this-time-is-different.html On January 1 , 2010 ,Spain took over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU. Spain’s biggest ambition for its turn is the launch of a “2020 strategy” for Europe. This is a ten-year plan for boosting competitiveness and growth to help pay for Europe’s generous welfare systems. It follows ... http://www.lateralthinking.biz/spain-eu.html IT IS DELEVERAGING STUPID !!! The reason this recession is different is that it is a deleveraging recession ( depression kind ?). We borrowed too much (all over the developed world) and now are having to repair our balance sheets as the assets we bought have fallen in value (housing, bonds, ... http://www.lateralthinking.biz/the-d-word.html "Security researchers said they have discovered software capable of stealing information installed on computers in 103 countries from a network that targeted government agencies.The software infected more than 1,200 computers, almost 30% of which were considered high-value targets, according to a report published Sunday by Information Warfare Monitor, a Toronto-based ... http://www.lateralthinking.biz/cyber-attacks-china.html PHOTO: AP  CRASH 1929 Today the prices of many assets are being held up by unsustainable fiscal and monetary stimulus.Interest rates of 1% or less in America, Japan, Britain and the Euro zone, have persuaded investors to take their money out of cash and to buy risky assets. For all the panic ... http://www.lateralthinking.biz/land-of-bubbles.html