Joseph Weisenthal

Meet me for drinks in DC!

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:31:56 -0400

Hey y ‘all, gonna be in Washington DC on Friday.

If you want to get together, and talk economic policy (inter alia), I plan to be at The Boxcar Tavern @ 9 PM tomorrow.

I don’t know anything about the place, but someone told me it was cool, so, be there.

http://boxcardc.com/

I dreamed about an internet slideshow last night.

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:56:00 -0400

So I dreamed about a slideshow on the internet last night.

You might think this has something to do with my work pervading my dreamlife. But I don’t really care about that. Work entering a dream is hardly novel.

What happened was, someone on the internet got angry with me, and decided to take an email correspondence that we had had, and make it public in an attempt to embarrass me. And they made it into a slideshow.

As I clicked through the slideshow in my dream, I cringed at each new slide, realizing how bad the whole thing made me look.

The really fascinating part, to me, was how I obviously had two levels of consciousness in my dream.

There was one level of consciousness that was worried at each click, anxious to see about what embarrassing fact would appear on the next slide.

And then there was the other level of consciousness, a deeper one, that was creating the content in advance.

So one part of my brain had built a slideshow of embarrassing information about myself, while the other part of my brain didn’t know what was going to be revealed on each additional slide.

The two parts of the brain only interfaced in the reality of the dream.

It seemed kind of weird that that’s possible.

Portrait by Jeremy Goldstein

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:40:38 -0500

Portrait by Jeremy Goldstein

COME HANG OUT WITH JOE WEISENTHAL IN WASHINGTON DC AND TALK FISCAL POLICY

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 11:34:00 -0500

Hey Washington DCers.

I’m going to be in town tonight (Monday, December 17) and tomorrow (Tuesday, December 18).

I don’t know many of you, but I’d love to hang out and talk Fiscal Policy (not monetary policy, since the Fed’s stance is currently unambiguous). You should bring your friends also.

As such, I’d like everyone in town of all political persuasions to come out and meet me at The Passenger at 8 PM Tuesday night.

The address is: 1021 7th Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

If you can’t make it then, ping me (jweisenthal@businessinsider) and may be we can hang out some other time when I’m in town.

And if there’s something cool I should do tonight let me know.

Obligatory.

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:45:00 -0400

Obligatory.

Madonna’s American Pie. One of the greatest covers of all...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:25:10 -0400

Madonna’s American Pie. One of the greatest covers of all time. Happy Cover Friday!

peterfeld: Miley Cyrus, “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:08:45 -0500

peterfeld:

Miley Cyrus, “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.” That’s when the taxi man turned on the radio and a Bob Dylan song was on.

Awesome.

Goldman Basically Buries NGDP Targeting

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:54:24 -0400

“Of the devices that may be used to buttress the commitment to a new target, several—fiscal policy most obviously, but in the Fed’s case any expansion of the kinds of assets being purchased—would need legislative approval even if the target itself did not.” — Dominic Wilson, Jan Hatzius and Sven Jari Stehn

Nomura On The Import Prices Data

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:15:36 -0400

Some interesting commentary on the basically in-line data from this morning…

——-

Import prices declined by 0.4% in August (+13.0% y-o-y), in line with Nomura expectations, but less than consensus (-0.8%). Two volatile headline price categories, petroleum (-2.1%) and food (-0.8%), were responsible for the decline in August. Barring the effect of a lower petrol price, non-petroleum prices increased by 0.3%, bringing them to their fastest year-over-year pace (5.5%) since September 2008. Elsewhere, industrial supplies (affected by lower petrol prices) declined by 0.9%. Import prices for consumer goods excluding autos increased by 0.3% in August and were up 2.0% y-o-y. In a recent article, New York Federal Reserve Bank economists found that “U.S. import prices for consumer goods shipped from China have been rising rapidly in recent quarters—by 7 percent between 2010:Q2 and 2011:Q1”. Export prices increased by 0.5% in August with a large contribution from sharply higher food prices (+3.4%) and a rebound in industrial supplies (+0.4%). We expect producer prices, which are the next measure in the inflation pipeline, to increase by 0.5% in August with core PPI increasing by 0.4%.

3 Short-Term Recommended Currency Trades From Goldman Sachs

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:12:58 -0400

This morning, Goldman put out these three currency trades

—————

The following trading ideas from the Global Markets Group reflect shorter-term views, which may differ from the longer-term ‘structural’ positions included in our ‘Top Trades’ list further below.

In FX:

1) Close long EUR/TRY, opened at 2.1620 on 9 February 2011, after closing below the trailing stop for a potential return of 9%.

2) Stay long EUR/$, opened at 1.4085 on 18 March 2011, with a target of 1.50 and a stop on a close below 1.35, now at 1.3611.

3) Stay short USD against a basket of NZD, RUB, SEK, KRW, MYR and CLP, opened at 100 on 10 August 2011, with a target of 105 and a stop on a close below 98, now at 98.3.

BREAKING: DOJ In Criminal Of eBay Employees

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:10:52 -0400

Reuters bombshell.

FUTURES DRIFTING LOWER AFTER HOURS

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:08:59 -0400

Just modestly at this point, but a bit of a slide after two wild up-days.

Why The Rumored Brazil Bailout Of The Eurozone Is Outrageous

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:04:00 -0400

Amid a rumor-filled day, one that stood was the chatter about the BRICS nations possibly working together to bail out Europe.

The rumors seemed to be emanating out of the Brazil camp, but there were also rumors relating to China and Russia, so maybe that’s not that important.

Regardless, the whole thing is scandalous and absurd because, despite the European sovereign debt mess, Europe is actually very rich, and Brazil and China and Russia and South Africa are very poor.

Brazil, for example, is 71st on GDP per capita. China is 94

The only reason they’re in a position to bail out Europe is because Europe has a screwed up economic system, where countries don’t control their own currencies, and because we’re a slave to accounting and the idea of central bank credibility, preventing the ECB from going whole-hog on the monetization front.

So because of totally contrived institutions — these dumb pseudo countries that don’t have their own currencies — and a silly belief in numbers, we’re getting this situation where the poor most pony up to bail out the rich.

Outrage.

STOCKS MAKE GIGANTIC COMEBACK ON RIDICULOUS DAY OF NEWS: Here's What You Need To Know

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:39:48 -0400

What a ridiculous day.

But first, the scoreboard:

Dow: +44.73
NASDAQ: +37.06
S&P 500: +10.60

And now, the top stories:

Yesterday was wild, as markets saw gigantic Europe-selling in the morning, followed by a huge comeback. Today was similar, except there were tons more headlines, and the entire seesaw took place before the market even opened.

Things were briefly positive when the opening bell rang in Europe, as markets raced to catch up with yesterday’s big rally. But things collapsed really quickly, as markets keyed off of a controversial column in the Wall Street Journal, citing an anonymous BNP Paribas executive saying that the bank had run out of dollar-funding options. French bank stocks, which have already been getting slammed on Greece fears/downgrade rumors got crushed for the second day in a row. BNP Paribas fell over 10% at one point. Not long after the article came out, the company came out and said it was still able to access dollar funding, and that put a floor on the market, which rebounded.

Then in the early going, a rumor came via Reuters that Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel were going to give a press conference on some matter related to Greece. One report even indicated that they were going to announce some sort of action. Stocks surged on that, moving from violently negative to significantly higher. And then not long after that, the rumor was denied! There would be no Merkel/Sarkozy press conference, just the possibility that Sarkozy might make some comments to the press later in the day — certainly falling short fo any real action.

But that wasn’t it for European headlines. Later in the day it was reported (and confirmed!) that on Wednesday Merkel, Sarkozy, and Papandreou would hold an emergency call. It’s not clear whether that’s really good or bad, but at least it’s definitely happening. In the early afternoon, there was a report about how Geithner would urge the Germans to expand the EFSF, but then later in the day that was denied. And finally, there was a rumor about how the Dutch Finance Minister had called a Greek default inevitable, but then that was denied, with the Dutch claiming that all they were doing was exploring the various options.

Oh, and also, there are rumors about a bailout of Europe from the BRICs (possibly in coordination with each other!), but who knows. And remember that rumor from yesterday about China buying Italian bonds. Well it turns out that the only talks have been about China buying Italian industrial assets, not bonds.

In terms of domestic news, it was mercifully pretty quiet. Shares of Best Buy got slammed to the tune of 6.3% after reporting bad earnings. There continued to be more jousting on the matter of the President’s jobs bill, with Republicans getting a bit more aggressive in their opposition. Also: Late in the day, Harry Reid talked about introducing a new anti-China currency bill in the Senate, and that briefly seemed to rattle equities, though ultimately not for very long.

In the end: We got a big rally, and are set up for more furious days ahead, with gigantic uncertainty.

Meanwhile, for the best reading of the day, Check out Citi’s WIllem Buiter on what happens if Greece leaves the Euro >

Drinks tonight

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:00:41 -0400

I’m having a big Chinese feast next Thursday (details here), but tonight (9/2/11) is my actual birthday.

So I’m gonna do the cliche thing and get drinks at Tom & Jerry’s at 8 tonight.

Y’all should come. I promise to engage in non-stop talk about the economy, the debt, the fallacy of the 90% debt-to-GDP ration, and the deleveraging cycle. Will be very fun.

YOU'RE INVITED! Joe's 31st Birthday Chinese Food Feast

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:32:11 -0400

Dear everyone,

I’m turning 31*, and I would be thrilled if you would join me to eat a monster Chinese feast at my favorite restaurant in the city: The Grand Sichuan on Canal Street at 7:00 PM on September 8th (a Thursday).

The idea is this: We’ll pack the place to the gills, and then order a gigantic variety of dishes on the menu so we can try everything.

Because I want to try so many different dishes, you should come even if I barely know you, or you don’t live in NYC, or you don’t like me and don’t want to talk to me (very plausible, and totally fine).

Afterwords, we’ll go Karaokeing for the rest of the night until around 4:00 AM at which point I’ll just head to my office and start covering the early going in the European markets.

Anyway, we did this last year, and it was awesome, and I want this year to be 10 times better.

Bring anyone you want, or anyone I’ve forgotten or whatever.

Joe

*You may not think 31 is a big milestone, but I like prime numbers, and I won’t be a prime again until 37.

Why The NYT Is Wrong About Its "Death Of Blogs" Story

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 19:24:23 -0500

TKTKTKTKTKTKTKT.

(Will link and flesh out argument once the article is live on NYT.com,)

2011 New Year's Resolutions

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 15:17:00 -0500

God, is there anything more trite than being anti-New Year’s resolutions? Being anti-prediction comes in a close second.

If nothing else, resolutions make for a good way of measuring your frame of mind at a given time. For example, for 2009 I resolved to read all of Human Action. I didn’t do it, but as a reflection of where my mind was at in late 2008 — during the worst of the financial crisis — it makes for an interesting mile-marker.

So, blah blah blah, here are my resolutions:

See the movie Country Strong.
Get washboard abs.
Start writing music again. Write, perhaps, a whole country album or a gospel album.
Stay better in touch with family. Call Mother, father, and sister more regularly.
Unplug from the internet/phone more frequently when I’m at home.
Get out and meet people more and drink with people more like actual reporters do
Play more poker, and perhaps learn a new game like Go or Backgammon.
Crank up the effort on hygiene and attire a notch. More frequently be at the office wearing a shirt that’d be appropriate for going on TV or meeting semi-serious people. Shave more.
Cook more at home, and eat out less. Specifically learn to cook some more basic meals, like, say, a pork roast.
Eat more Korean food (big one!).
Discover some more Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and in Queens.
Get into more fights on the internet.
Reorganize finances. Start trading currencies because everyone else is doing it and it looks like a lot of fun.

2011 New Year's Resolutions

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 15:00:00 -0500

God, is there anything more trite than being anti-New Year’s resolutions? Being anti-prediction comes in a close second.

So, blah blah blah, here are my resolutions:

See the movie Country Strong.
Get washboard abs.
Start writing music again. Write, perhaps, a whole country album or a gospel album.
Stay better in touch with family. Call Mother, father, and sister more regularly.
Unplug from the internet/phone more frequently when I’m at home.
Get out and meet people more and drink with people more like actual reporters do
Play more poker, and perhaps learn a new game like Go or Backgammon.
Crank up the effort on hygiene and attire a notch. More frequently be at the office wearing a shirt that’d be appropriate for going on TV or meeting semi-serious people. Shave more.
Cook more at home, and eat out less. Specifically learn to cook some more basic meals, like, say, a pork roast.
Eat more Korean food (big one!).
Discover some more Chinese restaurants in Chinatown and in Queens.
Get into more fights on the internet.

We Have Some News!

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:20:51 -0500

We Have Some News!:

fashism:

Fashism, a social shopping site and mobile application, has gained a following for letting its users get instantaneous feedback from fellow fashionistas on ensembles and clothing items they want to purchase.

On Friday, the New York-based company announced it came into a little cash to help fuel the company. Fashism, which has been self-funded until now, raised around $1 million in a Series A round of venture financing.

For the funding, however, the company sought out investors beyond the traditional financier circuit.

Ashton Kutcher, a well-known actor and former model who has gained credibility in the technology community for his social media mastery and keen investments, led the round for the start-up.

His wife, actress Demi Moore along with fashion critic and Project Runway judge Nina Garcia, also participated. Highline Venture Partners and SV Angel, managed by noted Silicon Valley investor Ron Conway, also contributed to the funding.

We are totally honored and thrilled to have not only a great group of investors, but a kick-ass team and community full of Fashists! Thanks to everyone for all the support!

Fuck yeah!