A reader asks what to make of mortgage REITs given the possibility that the Fed is nearly done hiking interest rates. Put simply mortgage REITs profit from in large part from the difference between short-term rates and mortgage rates. Many of them essentially engage in a form of interest rate arbitrage. They borrow, issue
Just a quick thought on Bernanke and monetary policy. The biggest criticism of Bernanke before he took over the chairman position was that he might be soft on inflation based on previous statements about deflation. Not surprisingly the first time Bernanke spoke he came across hawkish. But how much of that was intended to
I wouldn't crack on the mainstream media (MSM) so much if they didn't make it so easy so much of the time. I'm not expecting them to be brilliant and genius. All I want is for them to report the news factually without trying to manipulate me. Instead of trying to spin the news into something it's not, I just want more of
"Stock MarketThe ball is back in the bulls' court, since -- for the second time in recentmonths -- the latest downside breakout failed miserably. We highlighted this information in last week's Hotline update, noting that
It's been a while since I've heard as much nonsense reporting on the markets as I've heard today. Simultaneously, earlier today Yahoo! Finance was running headlines reporting that stocks were up on inflation news and stocks were down on inflation concerns. The latter headline was later changed to say that stocks were mixe
