Search results

I think it's a valid point, atticus, but I do think that in this case it's a matter of choosing between several unpleasant alternatives. I don't think it's a case of the Fed willfully deciding that QE2 is going to consist of purchases of shorter-dated paper, no matter what the cost and no...

OKI, makes sense, thx... I don't have a disagreement with the point you're making. IMHO, they're doing what they're doing for a reason, but that's a different discussion altogether.

Not mine, they ain't... Merv's (mis)managing mine at the moment. Fair 'nuff, though, I see your point. Would it be accurate to say that, if, hypothetically, they had chosen a "better" way to administer the stimulus, you wouldn't find it objectionable? So if they were in the mkt buying more...

atticus, come on. Firstly, will you please answer my question? Secondly, as we all know, realistic solutions are rarely the same as perfect solutions. Yes, I agree with you that QE2 is hardly optimal, but it's a compromise among very many different interested parties. At any rate, forget...

It was very specific, but uninteresting and not very logical... It's all good, I don't mind. Apologize for peevish response, it's been a long day.

Get out the way of what? Be more specific, if you will... Generally, pls don't feel like you need to answer my question, especially if you have nothing of any substance to say.

This makes no sense... Why would you want them to close shop if you conclude they're doing the right thing? As to Jim Rogers's comment, that's plain silly, primarily because there's an obvious counter-example.

In other, more momentous news, Uncle Axel is out of the race!!!! There were rumors circulating earlier that he's joining Deutsche, which would be the ultimate sellout. Shocking, innit?

One question for you, denner (and maybe atticus), if you're so inclined. What, if anything, will you need to see to conclude that the Fed is doing the right thing?

You can also thank Fisher, who didn't exactly help...

Looks like the guy from Friday covered his short today... Exact same size block trade went through today in FV.

I can give you a general idea, but if you want ideas specific to equities, you'll have to ask someone wiser in the ways of stocks. like atticus. I believe the answer (similar to most of my answers) is actually "It depends". There may be something there worth exploring, IMHO, and, even if the...

Well, ultimately it depends not so much on the puts, but on your long equity strategy. You can calculate the returns on your protective puts easily during different regimes (regardless of a very long-term return, which isn't too interesting a number). Then, depending on the drawdown...

Well, just like the adage itself it doesn't really prove anything. It does correctly point out that the situation described has nothing to do with debt and solvency, but is instead all about liquidity and clearing.

I think I am now confused, jazzguy... What precisely are you trying to achieve? Are you looking to determine what a randomly selected portfolio of long ATM puts is likely to return over a sufficiently large number of iterations?

Here's a very good response to this old and tired adage from Barry Ritholtz... http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/01/how-banking-works/

Very hard to extract meaningful information from this. Could be reflecting just one side of a whole variety of trades.

Generally, I have agreed with you in my earlier post. I don't think the odds of something viable coming out of the Europeans are great and I, for one, am rather skeptical. However, I also don't want to exclude the possibility of a real positive development, 'cause I am aware of the Euro's sunk...

Jazzguy, I think you're taking the whole concept of mkt efficiency to a rather uninteresting extreme. In theory, a randomly chosen portfolio of any instruments, not just options, will return the risk free rate less transaction costs, if sampled over a large enough number of iterations. If...

Apart from many other things, modern day USA is a currency union. It took more than a century and a lot of armed conflict (incl the Civil War) to get this ccy union to function as well as it does today. It's also clear that the fallout from the crisis has created (or maybe just exposed)...