Yesterdays big news story in busienss revolved around findings by third parties that the government stimulus money did little to aid the recovery . Most Canadian small, medium, and probably somelarge business owners also knew this all along . I think I saw numbers saying that when the current govt came into power they had a 10B surplus and now its a 50B dollar defecit, so we will be crawling out of this one for another ten years I would think . Unlike purchasing something , paying for it, and now owning it somehow I dont feel I got what I paid for .
Most business owners probably agree .
See Fianncial Post - STIMULUS DID LITTLE TO AID RECOVERY STUDY FINDS' BY John Morrissy.
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2718674
Stan
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Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
RATINGS AGENCIES and me ..
I haven't railed against much recently and got my adrenaline going today - article on BNET.COM about rating agencies, a la Moody's, S&P, etc ..
The article is below - it somehow got lost in the shuffle but the whole world wide debt/liquidity crisis has in part been attributed to the ratings agencies who failed to call our fiascos that were underlying to all the stuff they were recommending and rating as ' investment grade ' - So the world implodes, partly because of them, and then they now issue a downgrade on the world .. or U.S. - or whatever ..
Bottom line, what a joke, dont get me started ..
STAN
Asleep During Debt Crisis, Moody's Wakes Up and Threatens to Downgrade U.S. Rating
Moody’s, which was asleep at the switch when the U.S. debt crisis was brewing, seems to have finally woken up. And the debt that it’s sounding a warning on, unfortunately for us, is that of the United States government. The U.S., Germany, Britain, France and Spain are all “substantially” closer to losing their top-notch debt ratings, a Moody’s report warned recently.
Until 2007, Moody’s, along with fellow debt-rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, was guilty of - at the very least - monumental stupidity. The two firms routinely rated packages of sub-prime mortgages “Triple A” when they should have been called worthless. Or toxic. Or worse than junk.
It was the debt market’s misplaced reliance on their flawed ratings that caused AIG and others to buy trillions of dollars of the stuff. This brought down the giant insurer, helped send the country into a recession and now, according to Moody’s, could threaten the bond rating of the entire country. That, in turn, means U.S. debt would cost taxpayers more to service, in the form of higher interest rates.
Moody’s and Standard & Poors have expressed regret for their role in the creation of the financial crisis, but they continue to conduct business the same way: In effect, they are are paid by the companies whose products they evaluate. As Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short, put it on 60 Minutes, the rating agencies were “incentivized” not to see the looming problems. Only a few debt raters, such as Egan-Jones, rely on investors rather than companies to pay them.
Insurers, who were badly burned during the debt crisis, have gone outside the rating agencies purview and are having Pimco rate many of their mortgage bonds in a move approved by the National Council of Insurance Commissioners. With a giant portfolio of bonds, Pimco is not conflict-free, but it’s a step in the right direction, because it’s not beholden to the debt issuers.
No one can deny that U.S. debt is burgeoning. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the national debt will be $13.8 trillion by the end of this year, or close to 90% of GDP. Moody’s, in fact, could be right this time: growth alone won’t get the U.S., or any of the other developed nations, out of their long-term debt problems.
But it’s still galling to hear the bad news from this particular messenger.
The article is below - it somehow got lost in the shuffle but the whole world wide debt/liquidity crisis has in part been attributed to the ratings agencies who failed to call our fiascos that were underlying to all the stuff they were recommending and rating as ' investment grade ' - So the world implodes, partly because of them, and then they now issue a downgrade on the world .. or U.S. - or whatever ..
Bottom line, what a joke, dont get me started ..
STAN
Asleep During Debt Crisis, Moody's Wakes Up and Threatens to Downgrade U.S. Rating
Moody’s, which was asleep at the switch when the U.S. debt crisis was brewing, seems to have finally woken up. And the debt that it’s sounding a warning on, unfortunately for us, is that of the United States government. The U.S., Germany, Britain, France and Spain are all “substantially” closer to losing their top-notch debt ratings, a Moody’s report warned recently.
Until 2007, Moody’s, along with fellow debt-rating agency, Standard & Poor’s, was guilty of - at the very least - monumental stupidity. The two firms routinely rated packages of sub-prime mortgages “Triple A” when they should have been called worthless. Or toxic. Or worse than junk.
It was the debt market’s misplaced reliance on their flawed ratings that caused AIG and others to buy trillions of dollars of the stuff. This brought down the giant insurer, helped send the country into a recession and now, according to Moody’s, could threaten the bond rating of the entire country. That, in turn, means U.S. debt would cost taxpayers more to service, in the form of higher interest rates.
Moody’s and Standard & Poors have expressed regret for their role in the creation of the financial crisis, but they continue to conduct business the same way: In effect, they are are paid by the companies whose products they evaluate. As Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short, put it on 60 Minutes, the rating agencies were “incentivized” not to see the looming problems. Only a few debt raters, such as Egan-Jones, rely on investors rather than companies to pay them.
Insurers, who were badly burned during the debt crisis, have gone outside the rating agencies purview and are having Pimco rate many of their mortgage bonds in a move approved by the National Council of Insurance Commissioners. With a giant portfolio of bonds, Pimco is not conflict-free, but it’s a step in the right direction, because it’s not beholden to the debt issuers.
No one can deny that U.S. debt is burgeoning. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the national debt will be $13.8 trillion by the end of this year, or close to 90% of GDP. Moody’s, in fact, could be right this time: growth alone won’t get the U.S., or any of the other developed nations, out of their long-term debt problems.
But it’s still galling to hear the bad news from this particular messenger.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Where's the Funding, and Me ..
Globe and Mail, March 13 - a great article about equity and private equity financing in Canada - one of the bylines of the article is ' Wheres the Funding ' - Some great info on the tech / dot com meltdown, and the current state of VC Capital and private equity in Canada . We work with some private equity firms and more often than not the U.S firms exhibit a more aggressive attitude in funding Canadian deals .
Private equity deals in Canada seem much more rate, and of course smaller . Once again the Americans have us beat, so let's catch up, with or without the help of the government . ( The article highlights Canadian equity capital players wanting more government involvement .
Stan
Private equity deals in Canada seem much more rate, and of course smaller . Once again the Americans have us beat, so let's catch up, with or without the help of the government . ( The article highlights Canadian equity capital players wanting more government involvement .
Stan
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
MICROCREDIT, and me ..
The Globe and Mail had a great article written by Anna Paperny today on ' MICROCREDIT ' - I have been hearing about this term for a couple of years now, a lot of times the term seems to be used in connection with third world countries . The premise is very simple, and unbelievably, seems to be a powerful winner . It is simply the process of providing small , ( very small ) loans to small business owners and underprivileged people who utilize the loans to become self sufficient in a small business . The great news is that it's not some community bank or something like that, but its ROYAL BANK OF CANADA - RBC , behind the program in Toronto's ' tough' Regent Park area.
I continually write about small business financing, but this is ' small ' at it's best .
Stan
I continually write about small business financing, but this is ' small ' at it's best .
Stan
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