Austrian Angst

The Austrian School is at pains
To hinder that stimulus reigns,
But to make matters worse
They're bested in verse,
For much less rhymes with Hayek than Keynes.

Mortgage Defaults, Then & Now

The first wave of mortgage foreclosures
Was related to ARM-loan exposures,
But more so of late
The relevant rate
Is the instance of factory closures.

Thanks to Nick Timiraos for his analysis of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures in The Wall Street Journal.

The Hindenburg Omen

A little-known stock chart formation 
Claims to presage a market deflation;
Did the ominous name
Bring the "Omen" to fame,
Or is there a true correlation?  

Existing Home Sales Report

Though recov'ry was said to depend on
The sales of old homes that banks lend on,
They collapsed in a rout
When the tax break ran out,
And revealed an Achilleus tendon.

Opposites Don't Attract

Said an analyst, mulling a deal, 
"Fixed income is losing appeal; 
If inflation would grow 
Then prices would go 
In the other direction from yield."

Trade War 101

To gainfully utilize labor, 
Export nations play "Beggar Thy Neighbor;" 
While the deficit spenders, 
Resenting their lenders, 
May rattle the trade-tariff saber.  

Thanks to Prof. Michael Pettis of Peking University (no, that's not a typo) for his timely comment in the FT.

Dr. Goose on Marketplace Radio

Bill Radke of Marketplace Radio featured Dr. Goose (or his alter ego, David Lefkovits) on the Marketplace Minute.  Round One of the Limerick Smackdown goes to Goose, er.. Lefkovits, but look out for Round Two!

Phish and Chips, with Vinegar

When Intel announced they'd buy McAfee,
The market reacted with apathy:
With mass unemployment,
More PC deployment
Looks doubtful, despite being hacker-free.

With apologies to the Wall Street Journal for recycling their bad pun.

Overheard at the US Treasury

"When its value had sunk to iotas,
We took over General Motors;
With a value correction
In time for elections,
We'll sell on behalf of the voters."