French and German banks have almost $1 trillion exposure to Southern European economies according to a Bank of International Settlements (BIS) report released last Monday (Download BIS report). “Exposures” include loans, loan commitments, and derivatives contracts, and represent the cost to the banks if there were a default. All in all, Europe's banks have almost…
Could we have forecast the credit crisis? Yes. Lots of thoughts on this, including last week's comment, but here's some more new stuff. Ten years ago in the US of A, Sandy Weill put great pressure on Bill Clinton's office to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act with some success. This was because Sandy had a vision…
In an impressive speech back in 1963, a week before JFK was assassinated, Benjamin Graham – the first proponent of value investing – gave a speech in San Francisco. Value investing world has posted the original typewritten script in full. In the first half of the speech (to page 9) he outlines the challenges of…
Just found a psychology blog and thought I would look up what articles they have on the psychology of money, one of our favourite subjects. Interesting headlines … People will spend more money when they feel down, but are often unaware of it Spending money on other people makes us happier than spending it on…
I love finding websites that provide fodder for the blog, such as jokes and quotes. When you find both, it’s even better, so here’s thirty of my favourite funny quotes about money, finance and banking courtesy of Karlonia.com: Money can’t buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery. —…
Australians call Brits Poms. More appropriately spelt, it would be POHMs: Prisoners of Her Majesty. They think we're a whiny, cynical and sarcastic nation of complainers which, of course, we are and this is no better demonstrated that the refreshingly honest new book by John O’Farrell: An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain, or Sixty…
After four years of anticipation, the football (or soccer) World Cup starts today in South Africa. As a result, there will be random quotes and notes thrown into the blog relating to football rather than banking. Many are humourous and come from the excellent book: "tell him he's Pele". Here's a few of my favourites…
My second book of reading for the holidays is "Slurls: They Called Their Website What?!" by Andy Geldman. This is a collection of the weird and wonderful names firms gave their websites. In reality, these names reflect their company well. Online, they kinda fail because we forget that the name on the sign may translate…
As mentioned yesterday, the Sumerians invented writing, accounting, money, credit and debt. 1500 years later, interest on debt was causing a lot of issues. For example, Aristotle wrote: “The most hated sort (of wealth getting) and with the greatest reason, is usury, which makes a gain out of money itself and not from the natural…
