The board will discuss aspects of the epic American credit and bond bubble and it's ramifications for investors. Emphasis will be on how to profit from (or at least survive) a bond bear market and/or a credit collapse.  Basic entry prerequistes to take this lab: 1. the knowledge that bond prices move inversely to interest rates. 2. an understanding that bonds can lose value if credit conditions deteriorate.
  Food for thought:
  "A sound banker, alas, is not one who forsees danger and avoids it, but one who, when he is ruined, is ruined in a conventional and orthodox way along with his fellows, so that no one can really blame him". - John Maynard Keynes
  Lab tools:
  Terminology important to understanding the impending US-Asian maladjustment Train Wreck: Message 21107936
  Economic releases and data (NBER): nber.org
  2yr Treasury/Vanguard High Yield Corp ratio to track credit spreads.  stockcharts.com[m,a]daclniay[pd20,2!b50][vc60][iUc20!Lf]&pref=G
  2yr Treasury/Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Debt stockcharts.com[l,a]dallniay[pd20,2!b50][vc60][iUc20!Lf]&pref=G
  Chart showing 10 year/BAA credit spread: naic.org
  Gold/Euro ratio: stockcharts.com[w,a]daclyiay[dc][pc9!c13!c20!d20,2!c50!c100!c200!f][vc60][ila4,9,5!lh5,5!li10,10!lp14,3,3!ll14!lo14!lb14!le5,10,1]&pref=G
  Japanese Government Bond (JGB) quote: futuresource.com
  Treasury rates and Agency spreads: rbsgc.com
  Bloomberg interest rate quotes: bloomberg.com
  Libor and Constant Maturity Treasury yields, used to price "house as ATM card" reset costs on Adjustable Rate Mortgages: libor-loans.com federalreserve.gov
  Treasury Dept Auction Announcements and Results: publicdebt.treas.gov
  Paul Kasreil's (Northern Trust) presentation "Inevitable Rebalancing of the US Economy". A must read. northerntrust.com
  Economic Policy Institute chart and synopsis of the degree foreign CBs "finance" US trade and debt imbalances. epinet.org
  Nouriel Roubini's Blog site including his key work, Bretton Woods II Regime to Unravel Soon? rgemonitor.com
  Peter Warburton's Debt and Delusion, although written before the serious arrival of heavy handed foreign central banks, still offers a concise overview of "Boyz" synthetic finance: financial assets inflation, gearing, management of expectations, and corruption of savings: Message 21008670
  Daily Treasury Statement; withholding tax receipts: fms.treas.gov
  Key measure of cheap loosey goosey easy credit to consumers; mortgage application index, purchase index, refi index, out every Wed. I'm looking for a chart/graphic: mbaa.org
  Rasmussen consumer and investor confidence. rasmussenreports.com
  AMG mutual fund flows: amgdata.com
  Investment Institute, mutual fund cash levels come out end of month: ici.org
  Fed repurchase pool: bullandbearwise.com
  Fed permanent operations: ny.frb.org
  Treasury TIO auctions: fms.treas.gov
  Some original thinking on how Fed repos impact markets: financialsense.com
  St. Louis Fed data and updates: treasure trove: research.stlouisfed.org
  research.stlouisfed.org
  Assets (loan data) and Liabilities of US commercial banks, released Fridays: federalreserve.gov
  Fed govt securities bought outright (monetized): federalreserve.gov
  Federal Reserve flow of funds data: federalreserve.gov
  Foreign transactions in US securities (Updated on the 11th business day of each month, with a 1.5 month lag.) in 2005: Jan 18, Feb 15, Mar 15, Apr 15, May 16, June 15, July 18, Aug 15, Sept 16, Oct 18, Nov 16 and Dec 15. treas.gov
  Federal Reserve Economic Data: St. Louis Fed research.stlouisfed.org
  Baltic freight index(BDIY): quote.bloomberg.com
  Railcar loadings: aar.org
  LME and Comex metal inventories, another good "maladjusted economy" indicator: kitcometals.com
  Spectrum Commodites: one of best wealth of information sites on commodities markets. Education section is especially worthwhile: spectrumcommodities.com
  CBOT ag reports: cbot.com
  AgWeb: agweb.com
  Bureau of Labor Statistics, general: bls.gov
  Bureau of Labor Statistics, with focus on food and energy inflation: data.bls.gov
  Life in the trenches with purchasing managers (Purchasing.com): manufacturing.net
  Fed fund forwards, implied rates: trendmacro.com
  Committment of traders (COT) reports: futuresemail.com
  Prudent Bear commentaries; key on Doug Noland's Credit Bubble Bulletin (updated weekends), Marshall Auerback, and Richard Duncan: prudentbear.com
  Financial Sense Online (Jim Puplava), some very good weekend interviews and links to other sites: netcastdaily.com
  Excellent commentary and graphics from Contrary Investor: contraryinvestor.com
  Wall Street Examiner, exceptional "liquidity" tracking and commentary: wallstreetexaminer.com
  Sage Capital: sagecapital.com
  FX Street futures.com: futures.fxstreet.com
  Bill Fleckenstein: moneycentral.msn.com
  Bank Credit Analyst:  bcaresearch.com
  Futures market quotes: mrci.com
  My Inflation Train Wreck Essay: financialsense.com
  Ild's charts and graphs: idorfman.com
  Jesse's charts (very good chart collection and comments, intervention meter, etc): geocities.com
  Calculated Risk's and Mish's Blog site, good articles, and links to relevant sites: calculatedrisk.blogspot.com globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
  Tracks California residential real estate conditions: dqnews.com
  Ben Jones housing Bubble Blog: thehousingbubble2.blogspot.com
  Prof. Piggington San Diego bubble watch: piggington.com |