3Q08 GDP Negative

Today the advanced GDP estimate for the third quarter was released from the Commerce Department. GDP is released three times- as an "advanced estimate", a "revised estimate" and a "final". Today's release is the advanced or rough, rough draft. It should come as no suprise to anyone that GDP contracted this quarter.

Additional URL

For those of you who don't use an RSS reader, we have a new URL that redirects to the blog. www.TLRblog.com will now take you to the blog.  So spread the word and pass out our more convenient address. Thanks!

Free Energy and Free Lunches

The famous economist Milton Friedman is attributed the quote "there is no free lunch". Say a salesperson offers you a free lunch just for coming to his seminar. Obviously, he hopes to sell his wares at the seminar. The profits on those sales pay for the "free lunch" and so collectively, the free lunchers are paying for their own lunch- hence it is not really free.

Not This Email Again: Gas War!

I just keep getting this email forwarded ad infinitum.  You know the one- that email that tells us how to beat the oil companies at their own game by starting a price war.  Here are the pertinent excerpts from the email:

GAS WAR! Join the resistance!

Hedge Funds

You hear the term quite a bit these days, in all sorts of contexts. What is a hedge fund and why are they so special?

China, Debt and Currencies- huh?

We received an interesting question via email. I will paraphrase:

1) Is it true that China owns a significant portion of America's debt, and if so what are the implications of this? Is having China as one of our primary backers a necessarily bad thing, or are bonds bonds, regardless of the holder?

2) Is it true that China's currency is artificially tied to the value of the dollar, and should they choose to remove this pin from the cork board, it could drastically devalue the dollar even more than it already has?

The P/E

No, I'm not talking about Phys Ed. As exciting as those high school hours playing softball or dodgeball were, it is unfortunately not the subject of this post. The P/E we refer to now is the Price-to-Earnings ratio. We never said there wouldn't be math at TLRB.

Acquaintances always seem to ask me what I think of this or that stock.