Michael Panzer

Contributor since: 26 Feb 2010

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Biography

• All Wet

  Published 12 August 2008 | viewed 3,639 times

  Share prices have come alive in recent weeks, aided by a number of ostensibly positive developments. Providing a big boost, of course, has been sell-off…

• Continuation Point

  Published 21 March 2008 | viewed 4,347 times

  For the bulls, the events of the past several days have marked a major turning point for the U.S. equity market. Share prices staged their…

• Bipolar Disorder?

  Published 29 September 2007 | viewed 5,801 times

  While there is a chicken-and-egg debate about which comes first, historically there has been a strong relationship between economic conditions and the national psyche. In…

• Revenge of Frankenstein Finance

  Published 06 August 2007 | viewed 5,545 times

  A chimerical force has been rampaging through global markets in recent months, wreaking widespread havoc. Cobbled together from myriad agreements, assumptions, and transactions by academics,…

• The Same Old Shortcomings

  Published 10 July 2007 | viewed 4,387 times

  On the face of it, it seemed like a great idea: an insurance policy for investment portfolios. No wonder it was popular with the Wall…

• The Smell of Contagion in the Air

  Published 02 July 2007 | viewed 6,324 times

  An ill wind swept through Wall Street last week, seeping into trading rooms, cubicles, and offices on every floor. All of a sudden, people began…

• Goodbye to the Good Old Days

  Published 10 June 2007 | viewed 7,713 times

  Last week, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note recorded its biggest one-day jump in years and breached the five percent level for the…

• Eau de Liquidity

  Published 20 May 2007 | viewed 5,314 times

  Recent news reports highlight the difficulties some troubled borrowers are facing when trying to renegotiate payment and other terms with lenders. In many instances, the…

• Dead Market Walking

  Published 29 April 2007 | viewed 9,049 times

  "Dead man walking" is the phrase shouted by guards when a condemned prisoner is taken down to Death Row. The words have also been used…

• Cliff-Risk Nation

  Published 08 April 2007 | viewed 7,948 times

  In the credit derivatives market, certain instruments are exposed to what is known as "cliff risk." This ominous sounding phrase describes a situation where the…

• Rise of the (Selling) Machines

  Published 09 March 2007 | viewed 5,967 times

  In the popular 1984 film, The Terminator, current California governor and former actor Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a cyborg sent back in time to eliminate the…

• Tip of the Iceberg

  Published 23 February 2007 | viewed 5,525 times

  In last Tuesday's Ahead of the Tape column in the Wall Street Journal, "After Subprime: Lax Lending Lurks Elsewhere," Justin Lahart speculates on whether other…

• A New Understanding

  Published 31 January 2007 | viewed 5,734 times

  It looks like David Lereah, the buffoonish and pathologically optimistic chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, now faces stiff competition in his quest…

• Surprise, Surprise

  Published 07 January 2007 | viewed 6,919 times

  Last Wednesday, Byron Wien, the thoughtful and well-regarded chief investment strategist of hedge fund Pequot Capital Management, issued his list of Ten Surprises for 2007.…

• An Era of Unintended Consequences

  Published 02 December 2006 | viewed 5,189 times

  Over the past decade, lenders dramatically loosened underwriting standards and aggressively marketed an assortment of exotic mortgage products designed to make home ownership more "affordable."…

• A Sudden Recognition of Risk?

  Published 23 September 2006 | viewed 5,154 times

  This past week, the commander of Thailand's army unexpectedly staged a coup d'état and ousted the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The military declared…

• Be Careful What You Wish For

  Published 23 April 2006 | viewed 5,681 times

  The U.S. stock market has held up remarkably well in recent weeks, despite surging commodities and precious metals prices, bond yields hitting new 4-year highs,…

• The Joy of Neutrality?

  Published 24 March 2006 | viewed 4,738 times

  There is a widespread belief that the U.S. Federal Reserve remains on track to boost interest rates back towards more "neutral" levels. The only question…

• Are We at the Cusp of a Major Asset Allocation Shift?

  Published 04 March 2006 | viewed 7,468 times

  According to a recent article in Crain's New York Business, "consumers are rushing to park their money in New York banks" as 12-month CDs hit…

• Liquidity Fire Trap?

  Published 23 January 2006 | viewed 8,134 times

  Following a near melt-up in share prices at the beginning of this month, markets have suddenly become unstuck. Rattled in part by disappointing results from…