Skip to main content

Features of the week

The most interesting stories in business and world events are right here. Let's begin!

1. Ocean freight rates (Baltic Exchange Index) hit an all time high, as capacity in dry bulk shipping is outpaced by global demand.

2. Nicholas Vardy at Seeking Alpha asks, "Are We Currently in the Middle of a Commodities Super Cycle?".

3. Bloomberg speaks with global investor Mark Mobius about emerging markets and US and world GDP figures. Thanks to Ivan of At These Levels for his comments on this clip.

4. More on the upcoming launch of uranium futures contracts on the NYMEX from MarketWatch. They pulled together some interesting quotes for this story, and its good to see them speaking with people who have been watching this market closely for the past several years.

5. Financial Times investigates the true state of the carbon trading market and finds "widespread failings in the new markets for greenhouse gases".

6. Biofuels are speeding up deforestation, but the UN is backing an EU plan for mandatory biofuel blending in automotive fuels.

7. Philanthropy steps in where the state failed. This report will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with libertarian philosophy or pre-welfare state history.

8. Entrepreneurs say business conditions are harder. A survey of British entrepreneurs shows dissatisfaction with excessive red tape and poor worker education, key among concerns over future UK competitiveness.

Interestingly, a quarter of the survey respondants seem to think that the government should do something to better the education system. Wasn't it government that gave them the education system and regulations that are currently in place?

9. In praise of entrepreneurs. The Economist reviews a new biography of economist Joseph Schumpeter.

While their review suggests that Schumpeter's work on business cycles "is little read today because the idea at its heart has not stood up to scrutiny", some observers have apparently taken notice of Schumpeter's writing on this subject.

For more, see Dr. Marc Faber's reading list in our link section.

10. Businessweek's Spencer E. Ante on David Halberstam's Last Speech. Audio tape and transcript of Mr. Halberstam's final public speech is available.

11. Reuters: Scientists find most Earth-like planet yet. Unfortunately, a search for intelligent life on the planet has only revealed the existence of a toy-dog-in-purse toting race.

12. Economist special report on credit derivatives.

13. Bloomberg columnist Caroline Baum says, "France's Sarkozy Is No Maggie Thatcher".

14. Hedge funds for the masses? Christian Baha's Superfund Pitch.

15. Gary Dorsch and Ty Andros discuss the rise in China's dollar reserves and the rise of global inflation.

16. Bear Mountain Bull on Dow 13,000.

Read and enjoy, my friends!

Popular posts from this blog

Nasdaq credit rating junked.

S&P cut Nasdaq's credit rating to junk status citing debt burdens and its questionable strategy to buy a controlling interest in the London Stock Exchange. Financial Times reported that the exchange's counterparty credit & bank loan rating were lowered fromm BBB- (lowest investment grade rating) to BB+. The change will increase Nasdaq's borrowing costs should it wish to pursue aquisition targets. For an earlier look at the exchange consolidation trend that brought about Nasdaq's push for a stake in the LSE, please see "Exchange fever" .

Clean Money - John Rubino: Book review

Clean Money by John Rubino 274 pages. Hoboken, New Jersey John Wiley & Sons. 2009. 1st Edition. The bouyant stock market environment of the past several years is gone, and the financial wreckage of 2008 is still sharp in our minds as a new year starts to unfold. Given the recent across-the-board-declines in global stock markets (and most asset classes) that have left many investors shell-shocked, you might wonder if there is any good reason to consider the merits of a hot new investment theme, such as clean energy. However, we shouldn't be too hasty to write off all future stock investments. After all, the market declines of 2008 may continue into 2009, but they may also leave interesting investment opportunities in their wake. Which brings us to the subject of this review. John Rubino, author and editor of GreenStockInvesting.com , recently released a new book on renewable energy and clean-tech investing entitled, Clean Money: Picking Winners in the Green Tech Boom . In Clean ...

Seth Klarman: Margin of Safety (pdf)

Welcome, readers! Signup for free email updates at the Finance Trends Newsletter . Update: PDF links removed due to DMCA notice. Please see our extensive Klarman book notes below. New visitors, please check the Finance Trends home page for all new posts. Here's something for anyone who has been trying to get a look at Seth Klarman's now famous, and out of print, 1991 investment book, Margin of Safety .  My knowledge of value investing is pretty much limited to what I've read in Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor (the book which originally popularized the investment concept of a "Margin of Safety"), so check out the wisdom from Seth Klarman and other investing greats in our related posts below. You can also go straight to Ronald Redfield's Margin of Safety book notes .    Related posts: 1. Seth Klarman interviews and Margin of Safety notes     2. Seth Klarman: Lessons from 2008 3. Investing Lessons from Sir John Templeton 4. ...