Tuesday, February 02, 2016

The Bull (Taurus) market era on borrowed time


Sadly, that rare insightful Observer of rises and fall and another fall of markets and social networks Historian Forrest McDonald has passed away

Red-Hot Property Markets Cool as Rich Investors Retrench WSJ


The financial relationships between multinationals and their subsidiaries can be labyrinthine, involving several countries and jurisdictions. Take transfer pricing, for instance, which essentially covers transactions within multinationals as a firm buys goods and services from subsidiaries or vice versa. Think of automotive components shipped within Toyota, or customer services in Apple. In financial terms, these transactions can be substantial: it is estimated that around two-thirds of all cross-border transactions occur between entities belonging to the same group. Tax inspectors without borders

The World Has Discovered a $1 Trillion Ocean Bloomberg

Roo links


The low tricks of high finance: how greedy bankers, weak politicians and timid journalists could cause a new crash Spectator. Michael Lewis interview


Central counterparties, also known as central clearinghouses, were supposed to reduce systemic risk. That story, like the tale of smarter data, is not playing out according to its script Central counterparties the new locus of systemic risk

Why Robots Mean Interest Rates Could Go Even Lower In The Future Bloomberg

Chicago Public Schools Bankruptcy? Credit Slips

 Research suggests that over the past decade, Google has earned more than £24 billion in the UK, with its taxable profits leaving it with a projected bill of more than £2 billion, according to Reuters. In reality, Google has paid just 10 per cent of that throughout that time period. Politicians question cosy tax deals




Michael Simkovic (Seton Hall) presents The Knowledge Tax, 82 U. Chi. L. Rev. ___ (2015), at NYU today as part of its Tax Policy Colloquium Series hosted by Daniel Shaviro and Chris Sanchirico

“I keep hearing about whistle-blower protections,” he tells Salon, exasperatedly. “It certainly didn’t happen for me.”
Czech out the whole Story of the Man Who Knew Too Much ... Countrywide really did have this pose about integrity; meanwhile they didn’t only sell toxic loans but they housed their staff in toxic buildings. What Countrywide, and then BofA, did to Winston is inexcusable. I admire how he’s channeling this into the cause of bank accountability more generally, among the others.

Leslie Meisels, Suddenly the Shadow Fell (Toronto: Azrieli Foundation, 2015), p. 59:
The psychological effects of my experiences [during the Holocaust] taught me certain things that formed a philosophy that I have lived ever since. Life in the concentration camp [Bergen-Belsen], especially watching the leadership in our barracks and acquiring the simple knowledge of how to measure and cut bread rations precisely, taught me a great deal. I saw how people who were well educated and broad-minded stood out from the crowd, how they were able to adapt to their situation more easily than others. People looked up to them and they became leaders. I came to the conclusion that no matter what circumstance life puts a person in, even if everything you have is taken away, as long as you live, no one can take away your knowledge. Everything you have learned remains yours and can help you. For me, this produced a thirst for knowledge and a will to learn, which has never changed.
CLOs, Save Our Souls Bloomberg



Big U.S. banks will be rolling out ATMs that take smartphones, not cards LA Times. I can think of about 36 mostly privacy-related reasons why this is a terrible idea.