Well, the Bank of America results reported today show that the financial crisis is far from over. And with another weekend here, let's get right to five items for your consideration over the next couple of days.
- I'm a dedicated Mac user, though I've worked with numerous Macs and PCs over the years. But my personal preference for Apple products didn't prevent me from investing in Microsoft (MSFT) earlier this year. The new Windows 7 has been getting generally great reviews (I've yet to work on a system using it). Here's another on Bloomberg.
- John Dizard writes in the Financial Times about gold and goldbugs. "One of the advantages of being a goldbug now, or becoming one soon, is that it is one commodity whose price is not likely to be manipulated below its market-equilibrium level by the US government ("Them", if you prefer). There will be attempts to limit speculation in such essential commodities as oil, grains, or base metals, but a gold price rise would simply represent a successful devaluation. So while the goldbugs' conspiracy theories are chimerical, their investment strategy is at last aligning with that of the real world." I have exposure to gold through the SPDR Gold ETF (GLD).
- Famed UK fund manager Anthony Bolton proposes his 7-point banking plan in the Financial Times. "The past 12 months has been a near-death experience for the global financial system. If governments had not acted as quickly and aggressively as they did we might now be in a global depression. Although we can’t stop such financial crises recurring, we may be able to ensure that they occur less frequently and that they have a less universal impact than the crisis we have just lived through."
- Long-time Controlled Greed readers know I'm a big fan of Breakingviews.com and The Lex column (appearing in the FT). News broke this week that Thomson Reuters is buying Breakingviews. Here's a profile of Hugo Dixon, Breakingviews' founder (who used to edit Lex), in the Times of London.
- John F. Wasik argues in his latest Bloomberg column that -- unless someone will be living in the same neighborhood the rest of their life -- renting may make more sense than buying.
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