The Year 2008: While Atlas Shrugged, Buffett Bought

(Buffetologist.com) In almost every conversation I have these days, the topic of Ayn Rand’s epic novel, Atlas Shrugged, seems to rear its head. I happened to dust it off of my bookshelf early this past summer, and what a time to re-read it, as the parallels to what happened in 2008’s market panic were stunningly ironic.

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Cash at 18-Year High Makes Stocks a Buy at Leuthold

(Bloomberg.com) There’s more cash available to buy shares than at any time in almost two decades, a sign to some of the most successful investors that equities will rebound after the worst year for U.S. stocks since the Great Depression.

The $8.85 trillion held in cash, bank deposits and money- market funds is equal to 74 percent of the market value of U.S. companies, the highest ratio since 1990, according to Federal Reserve data compiled by Leuthold Group and Bloomberg.

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Merrill’s Rosenberg Inspired by Farrell in Foreseeing Crash

A little about David Rosenberg of Merrill Lynch. One of the few to get 2008 right.

(Bloomberg) David Rosenberg drew on inspiration from market-rules theorist Robert Farrell and asset-bubble historian Charles Kindleberger to predict the economy’s demise this year.

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They Told Me That Madoff Never Lost Money

When things look too good to be true, they usually are. Ben Stein was dead on with his Madoff analysis.

(NY Times/Ben Stein Column) ABOUT two years ago, a little delegation from a major investment bank arrived at my home in Beverly Hills. These nice young people were from the bank’s “wealth management division.” I told them straight away that I didn’t have anywhere near enough wealth to make their trip worth their time, but they smilingly insisted that we could help each other.


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2008 Lookback: Surprise, Surprise

(MarketBeat Blog/Wall Street Journal) It is often said that markets hate uncertainty, but in 2008, one of the few certainties was just that — uncertainty. Even investors who believed they had witnessed every strange trick and bizarre outcome found their head spinning after some of what occurred in 2008. “In 28 years in the business, I’ve never seen a year quite like this,” said Don Galante, senior vice president at MF Global. Here, then, is a list of the most surprising moments of the year, the jaw-dropping events that left many speechless. Feel free to include your own overlooked moments in the comments.

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Doug Kass's 20 Surprises Of 2009

(Clusterstock.com) Seabreeze partner Doug Kass was kind enough to send us his 20 surprise predictions for 2009. As Doug explains, these predictions are outliers, not events that have a high likelihood of occuring (if they did, they wouldn't be surprises).

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Christopher Cox Comes Out Swinging; Slams Bernanke And Paulson

Now Cox comes out and says Bernanke and Paulson pressured him into the short-selling ban. Interesting article.

(Clusterstock.com) Wow, guess Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke won't be spending Christmas at Christopher Cox's party tonight? The outgoing SEC chief, whose agency was under extreme fire since well before the Bernie Madoff affair, used an interview with the Washington Post to defend his reputation and lay some blame on the other guys. It's not subtle:

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