http://pineapplewatch.com Australian Finance News, information, and investing ideas Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:14:18 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As we all know, residential real estate in many countries such as the US, Europe, and some Asian countries shows signs of deteriorating price rises. Coupled with a slowing economy which gives less people the opportunity to buy into the market (or at least, pay a premium), this leads to ... http://pineapplewatch.com/2008/01/14/retail-real-estate-the-next-to-fall/ Yes, Australian banks do have some exposure to the US subprime crisis. It turns out, for some reason, that the big 4 decided to join a consortium that injected liquidity into the hardest hit of the mortgage backing companies, Countrywide. At first glance, it seems like the Australian banks lied ... http://pineapplewatch.com/2008/01/10/look-whos-been-telling-fibs/ According to Morgan Stanley: The US has entered its first full-blown economic recession in 16 years, according to investment bank Merrill Lynch. Merrill, itself one of Wall Street's biggest casualties of the sub-prime crisis, is the first major bank to declare that a recession in the world's biggest economy is now underway. David ... http://pineapplewatch.com/2008/01/08/us-economy-already-in-a-recession/  From slate. • Barack Obama is the alternative-energy sector. Hybrid, next-generation upstart, unafraid of entrenched market leaders, and embraced by corn-growing Iowans, Silicon Valley venture capitalists, and East Coast moneymen. • Mike Huckabee is Chick-fil-A. Cheaper, healthier Southern alternative to steak and prime rib dished up by urban rivals. Explicitly fuses religion ... http://pineapplewatch.com/2008/01/08/if-presidential-canidates-were-stocks/ Oil and Gold have both hit new highs. Like I commented before, I see no real fundamental reason why oil continues to climb, other then the strong bullish trending that seems to creating a huge reluctance for anyone to sell or short. Commodity markets are not like stock markets. Commodities ... http://pineapplewatch.com/2008/01/04/oil-and-gold-continue-to-make-people-rich-and-spook-others/ I doubt any of the investment bank heads even knew/cared about Bhutto's death. They cared about taking profits after a planned short squeeze. http://pineapplewatch.com/2007/12/28/financial-press-continues-to-hack-away/ Economics and net returns can make strange bedfellows during weird and wonderful economic events. Stagflation has been one of the possible scenarios touted as a consequence of the sub-prime mess, which is just a more complex form of hyper inflation that also brings low growth rates. Those looking to make ... http://pineapplewatch.com/2007/12/28/78/ I'm speechless. That was outstanding. It's my birthday today, so I'll be taking a week long break from blogging. Don't worry, I'll be working long and hard on some ardeous tasks over the Christmas period, because the true spirit of Christmas is working off the indebtedness one has to Mastercard! http://pineapplewatch.com/2007/12/21/wallstrip-does-it-again/ Many people I talk to are intimidated by the thoughts of financial planners. They see it as something only upper class people do, and only necessary if your assets are over an exaggerated figure, like $2 million. Truth is, everyone can benefit from a financial planner. Even just managing your ... http://pineapplewatch.com/2007/12/19/a-financial-planner-that-sounds-expensive/ Television has existed for more than 60 years, but like all mediums of communication, there comes a time when the model just doesn't fit in with new release technologies. The writer's strike could very well be the death of the format known as television. As we speak, Venture Capitalists and ... http://pineapplewatch.com/2007/12/19/could-tv-as-we-know-it-be-dead/