No More Dylan Ratigan on CNBC

They mentioned this during tonight's episode, so I had to confirm. It appears it's true. Melissa Lee's not awful, but the show's not the same.

Kindle, Snip and Staying Home

3 unrelated items here...

First, I'm still already on the hunt for information about a 3rd generation Kindle and so far only finding rumors and speculation. These rumors are hopefully better that the ones I started following last year, which originally predicted the Kindle 2 would be out in time for the holiday shopping season (for the record they missed that by a good 2+ months).

An unrelated item of interest that I found amusing, you never know what you'll find in an economics blog.

Finally, something I actually sought out and was surprised I could not find more articles on...NCAA tournament attendance. Here's a couple I did find- an AP Story and the Fan Box blog. I'll keep looking for articles to support what I see on TV, which is a lot of empty seats.

The textbook of the future? - Opinion

The textbook of the future? - Opinion

Roubini's latest thoughts

Today's Nouriel Roubini update is from his Op Ed in the NY Daily News. Roubini and Richardson lay out some scary thoughts. Although they are firmly behind the Geithner plan they also provide the ultimate question to be answered...will selling toxic assets push banks over the edge? They argue that the government needs to push the banks to sell. I say, if banks are really convinced that their valuation models are reasonable (and hence a rational alternative to MTM), then let them keep the allegedly toxic assets. The irony is that if banks subject their assets to the PPIP (Public Private Investment Plan) and don't like the market price they prove the value of MTM and should therefore right down anything they are holding immediately, however if they withhold assets from the market they would seem to be legitimately supporting their model valuation approach. In other words, banks can't have their cake and eat it too...should be fun to watch.

Check out this Economist.com article for more on whether banks will really sell.

Treasury auction update

I think I'm going to start monitoring the Treasury auctions to see if they detect on-coming weakness that could cause significant problems as the government attempts to raise funds to pay for all the economic stimulus. Here are the results of today's auction, which shows that there's still strong demand as bid to cover remains over 2 (actually 2.52).

It could be worse

Looks like the UK is taking a bigger hit in the public debt market then the US. Quick check today's US 5 year auction shows that there's still over 2 bids for every offering. Let's hope it stays that way or we won't be dependent upon the Fed printing money and then it's all downhill.

Doom = Good

Nouriel Roubini is apparently a fan of the Geithner plan, however the FT thinks it may take banks under.

I like the FT piece because it takes the heat off of MTM as the cause, it's essentially saying that if Geithner's plan yields a market price that banks can't sustain then it proves the value and necessity of having MTM in the first place. Welcome to zombie banks if that's the case.