by Jeff McCord of The Investor Advocate “Fear and Loathing” of Wall Street, 2012 To-date, the presidential primaries have studiously avoided reference to the unfolding catastrophe brought to the American public just four years ago by the financial services industry. The political issues contested thus far bring to mind Hunter Thompson’s reporting of the 1972 […]

Felix Salmon writes on the question of appropriate pension plans for state systems (emphasis on teacher retirement systems) in Reuters…however, the comment section offers a superb range of thoughts by non-experts on the matter of state pensions as well. 1. Is a 7-8% return reasonable to expect (smoothed over time) in the future?2. If a […]

The opening chapter of Jack Cashill’s Popes and Bankers relates his version of the tale of Melonie Griffith-Evans, a woman who in 2004 borrowed her way to losing her house.  Ms. Griffith-Evans accepted loans in order to buy a house priced at $470,000 that resulted in her having to pay “roughly $3,500 a month.”  Of […]

The Epicurean Dealmaker notes that the stock market “game” is irrevocably rigged against the individual investor, and the best thing anyone can do is realise that is so: I believe [Leo E. Strine Jr, vice chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery]’s analysis should conclusively disabuse participants in the current debate over financial regulatory reform […]