| Do Bond Moves (Good) Outweigh Home Sales (Awful)?
Vince Farrell, managing director at Scotsman Capital and a CNBC contributor, made some interesting observations today about LIBOR and the credit markets. See his comments below. For the Friday before New Year's, there is a lot going on. The TED spread is down to 1.13%, or 113 basis points. Remember, this is the difference between the LIBOR rate and the three-month U.S. Treasury bill rate, and is a measure of "fear" in the market place. The higher the number, the more fearful -- and the more money flowing to the safety of Treasurys, thus lowering the interest rate. A higher LIBOR indicates an unwillingness on banks part to lend. This was 2.2%, or 220 basis points, a short while ago, so the improvement has been significant. Still not back to its 10-year average of 0.48%, or 48 basis points, but a lot better than it was.
Kenya: Helb Plans Sh7 Billion Bond At NSE to Boost Revenue
The Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) is set to float a Sh7 billion education bond to raise money it needs cope with rising demand for its services among university students. The board plans to package its Sh7.4 billion performing loans portfolio into sizeable corporate bonds products that can be listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. .
Giving Social Security data
From the local gym to the utility company, almost everyone wants your Social Security number before they'll do business with you. Some have a legitimate reason: for example, credit reporting agencies if you're checking your credit history or requesting a credit freeze. Some don't, like the electric company and phone company. .
The trouble with trust
Many of the politicians who have talked to me about trust are pessimistic about whether either the political parties or the media are really in a position to change, even if they wanted to. Tony Blair ended his Reuters speech with some thoughts about the future regulation of the press. I have to say it's difficult to see how any new regulation consistent with press freedom could significantly address the ills he listed that day. And if my diagnosis of the problem is right, tighter regulation might actually increase rather than decrease public distrust. So what can be done? The issue calls for reflection from everyone: politicians, media, public. I'm certainly not going to attempt to lecture anyone else this afternoon on their duties or on the ways in which they should change.
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