Monthly Archives: July 2017

 

Macroeconomic Terms: Free Rider Problem

In economic policy, a free rider, is a type of market failure in which a person or entity takes advantage of a public good without paying for it, like a bus passenger that does not pay their ticket. The free rider problem only applies when supply is not significantly diminished by the number of people […]
Posted in Finance Glossary

Big challenge looms for Republicans

President Trump and the Republican Congress have failed to pass any significant legislation over the past six months… Kate Davidson of the Wall Street Journal asks the next logical question: What if they cannot pass the debt ceiling increase in September: Next Up for GOP Congress: Raising the Debt Ceiling…

Utility help their customers compete

There is a growing trend for local electricity utilities to encourage local and residential power… It takes pressure off the grid, and the utility can still earn a reasonable rate of return… Diane Cardwell of the New York Times has an example: Utility Helps Wean Vermonters From the Electric Grid

Spain re-emerges

Spain is starting to grow again, from a very low base… The country is once more competitive in the world economy… It’s a reasonable place to do business again for two reasons: A decade of recession has made skilled labor and rents competitive in price… And the low euro has made the prices affordable… Peter […]

Reorg whispers dog tech giant

How the mighty have fallen… Anonymous “people involved in talks over the workout” have told the Wall Street Journal that Toshiba may file for bankruptcy: Toshiba Bankruptcy Filing Pushed by Some Involved in Workout… Rumors like this can become self-fulfilling prophecies…

Twitter has a simple problem

Twitter continues to have the same issues, an inadequate revenue model… Miriam Gottfried of the Wall Street Journal has the story: Investors Don’t Believe in Twitter’s Turnaround…

SPECIAL: Lessons learned in direct lending

Reuters’ Lawrence Delevingne has a long, thoughtful piece about the new extremes of the direct lending market.  The business of lending to middle market companies which are too small to issue syndicated loans or high yield bonds has exploded since 2010, with numerous new entrants.  Some of them are too leveraged, and others are offering […]

Reasons to be nervous? Let Oaktree’s Marks count the ways

Bearish Howard Marks of Oaktree has issued another warning… As per his style, he has lots of excellent examples, including the enormous $100 billion fund raised by SoftBank on the back of one great investment (Alibaba)… And what he calls the “unfounded fad” of bitcoin… Devin Banerjee of Bloomberg has the details: Howard Marks Sounds […]

There’s hidden risk in Boeing’s cash hoard

Julie Johnsson of Bloomberg has a very thoughtful story today: Boeing’s ‘Monster’ Cash Haul Gives New Boost to Top Stock on Dow… The cThe hidden rompany has been building cash, and using it to buy back shares, which has been very good for the stock price… But there is a hidden cost… Downstream suppliers are […]

Greece is the word in sovereign market

After Argentina, now Greece returns to the world bond market… Liz Alderman of the New York Times has the story: In Sign of Progress for Greece, Investors Eagerly Snap Up New Bonds…
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