DEAD TIME

I have nothing to write about because nothing happened.  Oh yeah, Italy got itself down graded again and there is talk of Burlusconi running for office again.  Old boy has heart which may get stopped if he tries it.  Just kidding.

The Chinese posted some great economic numbers and the market shot ahead, then during the day someone said, "Hold on, this is China," and down they went, only to roar back at the close with the DOW up 200 and change.  Shorts getting square for the weekend?  Beats me.

Yesterday, Warren Buffett joined with Erskin Bowles and the Wyoming Wing Nut Alan Simpson in calling for the adoption of something like the plan put forward by the two old boys last year.  You might remember the Simpson/Bowles plan was commissioned by The Leader who promptly ignored it when published.  Between then and now Buffett has been making a fool out of himself, wandering about the country with The Leader in every "tax the rich" scheme The Leader can dream up.  Where the hell was he when we needed him?

Sooo, having nothing to do I decided to search the web to see what is being written about Libor and the "scandal." The latest piece of breaking news is that The Suit, then head of the NY Fed in 2008, wrote the Bank of England that something was up with Libor.  Had you been paying attention--and I know you were--this space told you that last week or at least that the Fed was aware of irregularities in 2007.  Needless to say, the Bank of England and the Fed filed this great revelation and got about the business of saving the world which was considerably more important at the time.  But in addition to this piece of nothingness, I became aware of the fact that pretty much everything that has been written about Libor, especially in regard to it's history, is wrong.  Dead wrong.  Including Wikopedia.  I mentioned this once before, but if you wish to fully understand the history of Libor and the role it has played in International finance, start with Moscow Narodny Bank--yes, the trade bank of the Soviet Union back in the good ol' days--for it was this entity that first started lending dollars in London as far as anybody can tell and it was this activity from which came Libor.
NMB had some pretty good bankers and a goodly assortment of Moscow Center hoods, and for special friends used to have terrific lunches in their office on Moorgate which usually ended the woorking day around 3:00pm.

Anyway, I'm killing time.  We are baby-sitting out in the Beltway next week so coverage will be spotty, but I'll try to keep in touch.  Looking out the window in looks as though it might rain.  That's that wet stuff, isn't it?  We in the fly-over zone have a hard time remembering.