Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- A network of lenders, brokers and opaque financing vehicles outside traditional banking that ballooned during the bull market now is under siege as regulators threaten a crackdown on the so-called shadow banking system.Big brokerage firms like Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers , Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch, which some say are the biggest players in this non-bank financial network, may have the most to lose from stricter regulation. The shadow banking system grew rapidly during the past decade, accumulating more than $10 trillion in assets by early 2007. That made it roughly the same size as the...

The world economy is at the end of a "super-boom" in asset prices and debt which has lasted since the end of the Second World War, billionaire investor George Soros has warned. Speaking in a BBC documentary, Mr Soros said that at the heart of the financial crisis was the culmination of a 60-year-old boom in leverage, the result of which will be a far deeper downturn than many expect. He also warned that the financial services industry now faces a painful crunch. "I think that the financial industry will have to shrink... and of course the indebtedness of the...

Today's Financial Times headline ("Spitzer to Streamline Rules for Wall Street") is an example of government allowing good old Yankee free enterprise to become more competitive with other international challengers. The Financial Times also contains additional evidence of increasing inflationary pressures and of interest rates around the world, particularly in the European Union (E.U). Meanwhile, in face of growing inflationary evidence and increasing interest rates among our key competitors, our Fed has kept our rates on hold. While it warns of inflation as its main concern, our Fed appears "frightened" to compete either against inflation or with the rising interest...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Dow industrials rallied to a record close Friday afternoon, finishing at a new high for the third consecutive day, after a slew of upbeat earnings reports that also drove the broader market higher. The Dow Jones industrial average (up 136.85 to 12,945.48, Charts) jumped 153.35, or 1.2 percent, to 12,961.98, setting intraday and closing highs, according to early tallies. The Dow finished the week up about 2.8 percent higher. The broader S&P 500 (up 11.88 to 1,482.61, Charts) index also added about 1 percent and hit a fresh 6-1/2-year high. The Nasdaq (Charts) composite gained...

Did anyone hear Bob Brinker yesterday? I heard snippets, but was unable to hear the whole program. I am curious as to what his take on the current General Motors situation is. I wonder at some point will the situation foster his "model" to change his sentiment as to the direction of the market.

A Bronx Cheer For Crooked C.E.O.’s by Terry Golway There’s a reason why the real world ought to be more like the world of sports, and here it is: Sports fans get the chance to boo their villains. Where else in America can you scream epithets at millionaires and not be hauled away as a threat to peace and prosperity? Where else are incompetents forced to suffer public humiliation at the hands—or throats—of honest and true citizens? In the sporting arena, if you drop the ball, the world knows about it instantly and reacts accordingly, and there’s no place for...

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - The euro rose to its highest level against the dollar in more than two years Thursday, climbing above 96 U.S. cents as traders dumped the greenback over fears about the growing U.S. trade deficit and wobbly stock market. The currency reached 96.45 cents in afternoon European trading, its highest since March 2000, when it traded at 96.53 cents. New figures that showed the U.S. trade deficit at a record dlrs 35.9 billion in April helped push the euro up from levels just below 95.60 cents early in the day. "That was the spike that took it...