Currencies having stocks quoted in cents

I think this is exhaustive list for now:

BWp	Botswana Pula
GBp	British Pound
ILs	Israeli Shekel
KWd	Kuwaiti Dinar
MWk	Malawian Kwacha
SZl	Swaziland Lilangeni
ZAr	South African Rand

Insiders sell like there's no tomorrow …

How flash order works

Taken from this post.

Information Arbitrage with SkyGrid

Link to the invitations (around 70 left right now) to join SkyGrid: http://www.parkparadigm.com/2009/05/24/welcome-to-skygrid/ "SkyGrid filters the real-time web with high quality financial content from trusted sources. Founded in 2005, SkyGrid creates innovative technology that lets people have a simple way to see what information is having the most impact on the financial world at every moment of every day. " P.S. Post-mortem written by the Roger Ehrenberg - co-founder of Monitor110 - company that was developing similar product. Really worth reading. Look for 7 anti-amendments: http://www.businessinsider.com/2008/7/monitor110-a-post-mortem/

Bear market durations

Bear market durations (from the stock market peak to the lowest point): Period From Till Duration (months) Great Depression August 1929 June 1932 35 Dot Com Bubble March 2000 October 2002 32 Financial Meltdown September 2007 Now is May 2009... 22 months and rolling down...

"Good Enough" Counterrevolution

This post is essentially my comment to the "Good-Enough" Revolution post which I think worthwhile to be turned into separate article. Besides - I didn't wrote anything non-technical for a long time... "Good-Enough" Revolution stands that many contemporary goods are "good enough" to be used and hence consumer often do not have motivation to buy a new version of the same good (e.g. man using Windows XP wouldn't go for Window Vista as XP is good enough for most of every day tasks, like e-mail, Internet or editing some office documents). While this observation is absolutely correct I think that important point is missed - contemporary goods are deliberately created not to be durable to compel consumer to, well, consume. A silent "Good-Enough" Counterrevolution is in its high. Producers do not create goods that are designed to last any more. Almost anything you are buying nowadays is deliberately designed to last for a short, programmed time and then broke. I think that the only consumer strategy to deal with it is to buy the cheapest version of an appliance you need - it would usually serve you the same time as its high-end version, while cost a half of it. Your washing machine served you for 10 years? – I bet that a new one would not stand for more than 2-3 years. Your old electric kettle worked for 5-7 years? - Buy a new one and it would leak in a year or so. Talk to guys who are working in electronics service/repair centers and they would tell you that stuff nowadays is PROGRAMMED to work for a predefined time and then broke. A friend of mine who works in a big car repairs firm told me that every car accumulator that occasionally served significantly more than a guaranty period is sent to the lab for examination to check out why did it lasted so long and didn’t broke. An observation about "good enough" was correct, but it's not applicable to the new goods - manufacturers are not interested in you wiping yourself with the same towels till your golden years. No, you should buy towels, use them and then buy new ones. We all are squirrels that have to rotate wheels of economy. No one asks squirrel whether it wants to get our of a squirrel-wheel marathon, right?

Today vs Great Depression

Two interesting charts I've came around:

Very interesting interview with Jeremy Grantham

Над финансовой системой кризис тучи собирает.

(Really good black humor - in Russian). Над финансовой системой кризис тучи собирает. Между долларом и евро гордо реет Неликвидность, конфискации подобна. То обрушивая рынки, то зашкаливая ставки, Неликвидность торжествует, - спекулянты чуют гибель в её воплях громогласных. В этом стоне - жажда денег! Обрушенье котировок, экономики паденье и уверенность в банкротстве слышат рынки в этом крике. Глупый Минфин перед бурей робко мечется по рынкам, в девальвации готовый спрятать страх перед дефолтом. Олигархи тоже стонут, - олигархам недоступно наслажденье дерзким рынком, чудной рыночной стихией: разоренье их пугает. Все мрачней и ниже индекс опускается над биржей, и бегут прочь капиталы, в бездну сбрасывая курсы. Гром грохочет. Все сверкает. Это рухнул "Леман Бразерс". В пене гнева конгрессмены принимают план спасенья. И с размаху в дикой злобе миллиарды выделяют для спасенья "Голдман Сакса". Неликвидность с криком реет, черной молнии подобна, как стрела пронзает биржи, банки в бездну отправляя. Кризис носится, как демон, - гордый, черный демон рынка, - и смеется, и хохочет... Над банкирами смеется, над правительством хохочет! В общем стоне "волатильность!" демон зрит давно усталость. Он уверен: центробанки не спасут от краха биржи. Пресса воет... Дети плачут. И инвесторы рыдают... Красным пламенем пылают биржевые котировки. И сгорают триллионы: - Кризис! Скоро грянет кризис! Это смело и свободно реет дух Стихии Рынка над ревущим гневно миром; то кричит пророк победы: - Пусть сильнее грянет КРИЗИС!

Joseph de la Vega on credit crunch

Joseph de la Vega was a Portuguese Jewish author who at first described practices of stock exchange in Amsterdam (including usage of derivatives). He came to his own financial fiasco in crisis of 1688. Following to this blog - I want to re-quote him… Joseph de la Vega, 1688: "This year too was a year of confusion for many unlucky speculators declared in one voice that the present crisis was a labyrinth of labyrinths, the terror of terrors, the confusion of confusions...". Doesn't that mean that this 2008 year wasn't a labyrinth of labyrinths in a backward perspective? I promise to return to it in 1 year.