InvestingFreak

Market Summary:
DOW      +45.50 (10,779.17)
S&P        -0.39 (1,165.82)
Nasdaq  +2.19 (2,391.28)

Nightly News Links

US Economy:

CPI Shows Lack of Inflationary Pressure (Econompic)
U.S. consumer prices were unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis in February, with falling energy prices offsetting increases in prices of cars, medical care and food, the Labor Department reported Thursday.In the past year, the CPI has risen 2.1%. The core rate is up 1.3% in the past year, the smallest year-over-year increase in six years.

World Economy:

Portugal Prepares To Sell $1 Billion Of Dollar Denominated Bonds In Goldman-Led Deal (ZeroHege)
Yet more rape and pillaging of US taxpayers as Portugal now plans to join the long and exalted list of nearly bankrupt countries who wish to join the dollar devaluation bandwagon, and issue debt denominated in dollars. The P in PIIGS is in the same position as the US, needing to plug a massive budget deficit, so it has decided to do what the US does so well – issue bonds with a $ sign on them.

China’s Exporters Hanging by a Thread? (Naked Capitalism)
China cannot tolerate much inflation. Remember, inflation will push up the price of good in local currency terms, which in a fixed peg currency regime, translates directly into price increases. Price increases from a country whose selling proposition is cheap prices would lead importers to look for substitutes in other emerging economies.

Greece Gives Germany And E.U. One Week Bailout Deadline (Bloomberg)
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou set a one-week deadline for the European Union to craft a financial aid mechanism for Greece, challenging Germany to give up its doubts about a rescue package. Papandreou said he may turn to the International Monetary Fund to overcome Greece’s debt crisis unless leaders agree to set up a lending facility at a summit March 25-26.

Interesting Reads:

Read The Harvard Thesis on The CDO Market Meltdown (Distressed Volatility)
“A.K. Barnett-Hart, a Harvard undergraduate who wrote a thesis about the market for subprime mortgage-backed CDOs Inspired Michael Lewis to write “The Big Short”. It is an unbiased report about the subprime mortgage-backed CDO meltdown by a Harvard undergraduate last year.  The report is 115 pages long and packed with charts.

Have a Good Night

-K