stlplace

Obviously the big 3 auto makers came back to news with the Congressional hearing today. This big 3 Washington show started before the Thanksgiving with the “corporate jet gate”, in which the reporters and some congressmen questioned the 3 CEOs taking corporate jets to ask for money: it like one begs for money while wearing […]

It’s travel time. Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest travel seaon in the US. But due to weak economy, the holiday travel will slow down a bit (compared to same period last year). AAA Chicago estimated the trend in this thanksgiving. (source: marketWatch)
China
Slowdown in China: Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRIP), the leading online travel consolidator in China, already […]

My initial thought
China announced a giant $586 billion economy stimulus package a few days ago. My first response was not warm to it: I always think the Chinese goverment should invest in “Education and healthcare”. Infrustructure? Did not China already get really good infrustructures in the coastal areas including Beijing? China’s economy problem is more […]

Ten years ago I did a bit research on the imbalance of China US trade, for a speech to be given in Public Speech class. The imbalance (US deficit, China surplus) grew significantly in last 10 years, with the American manufacturing jobs moving to China, this is again a hot topic in the election […]

Maybe things are not as bad as it seems. This afternoon we visited West County mall to check out things. We have not been to the malls for quite a while.
Apple Store
At the Apple store, I saw a big crowd as usual. This made me wondering: what recession? Although I am happy with my 2nd […]

Ron Paul had an interesting perspective on this topic.

The root causes for current crisis
Credit default swap: Wiki entry, the weapon of mass destruction Buffett referred a while ago. Obviously Bear Stearns, Lehman and AIG are all brought down by that.
宋鸿兵: 金融海啸来袭 美国金融危机可能进一步升级. Mr. Song was the author of Currency War (in Chinese), and he […]

and here is President Bush has to say this morning (source: yahoo):
“We are working to reduce disruptions and minimize the impact of these financial market developments on the broader economy,” Bush said in the Rose Garden, choosing to address the market turmoil at the top of an appearance with visiting Ghanian President John Kufuor. […]

Today is a special day, the seven anniversary of 9-11. I still remember that morning, when I watch the morning TV as usual, I saw the smoke coming out of World Trader Center Tower, and wondering “what absent-minded pilot fly his/her plane into the tower”?
We all know what happened after that. The war against Talian […]

Greenspan (regulators): for he kept interest rate too low (1%) for too long, during the recession after dot com bubble.
Bush (politicians): for his failed Iraq war which cost American tax payers more than 500 billions so far. He asked American “go shopping” after 911, in addition to buying a car or a house. Democrats are […]

Fannnie and Freddie crisis
I read Burham’s beat Fannie Mae’s Golden Goose article last Friday, after seeing the dramatic stock actions of FNM and FRE on that day. Following that, I also reviewed Barrons March 11 article, IS this Fannie Mae Toast?
Yeah, it looks like it. The bad thing is, those executives at Fannie […]