Monoline Explained

Mark Dalton — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 12:31:40 -0500

The Financial Times put together an interactive web page about the Monoline insurers. You can watch and listen here

As an aside, one of the great things about News Corp's purchase of Dow Jones, is that the FT is now online for free. You'll have to create an account, something well worth the time doing.

The Buffet Put

Mark Dalton — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:37:29 -0500

Señor, señor, can you tell me where we're
headin'?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?
Seems like I been
down this way before.
Is there any truth in that, señor?

Bob Dylan -- Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)

OK, so I am a huge fan of Bob Dylan's music. As a wise man once
told me, sometimes our vices, can in fact be a virtue. If Bob Dylan's
music is all I have going against me, then I think I'm doing pretty well....

Hedge Funds

Mark Dalton — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:16:53 -0500

She says, "You can't repeat the past." I say, "You
can't? What do you mean, you can't? Of course you can." -- Bob
Dylan, Summer Days

Yahoo and Microsoft

Mark Dalton — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 11:08:05 -0500

Anyone who has ever purchased a car
knows that you always reject the first offer. There is almost a sense
of disgust that the offer was even put on the table. But the bottom
line is that both parties know the outcome that they desire. This is
the sort of camel trading that is now playing out in Microsoft's bid
for Yahoo. The problem for Yahoo, is, they don't know what they want.