As many of you know, I now live in Mongolia and am focused on building Mongolia Growth Group Ltd. (YAK:Canada or MNGGF:USA). As it is a public company, I have always felt that this website was not the appropriate venue to discuss the company. I will host a corporate update presentation and reception for shareholders and interested investors on May 9, 2013 at New Read More

In the history of bank bailouts, the government always has some inspiring social message to justify spending taxpayer money. Usually, it’s in the name of stability; we’ve made the system stronger, we’ve rescued depositors, we’ve inspired confidence. Even the mundane; we simply had no choice, sometimes is sufficient. After reading dozens speeches and articles on the subject, the ECB’s mantra on the Cyprus bailout Read More

In the slow motion train wreck, which is the gradual disintegration of the Euro, the only thing that never ceases to amaze me, is the determination of the bureaucrats to create perpetual crisis. Despite all of the indecision and lack of cohesion on strategy, nothing like Saturday’s Cypriot bailout had seemed possible. In the end, a continent of socialists seemed unlikely to actually go Read More

With the world drowning in debt, there is rarely a dull year in finance. 2012 will go down in history as the year when a politician, Shinzo Abe, campaigned specifically on the platform of weakening his voter’s currency. I’m not sure if that has ever happened before. Think about this for a second. You own Yen. You can use your Yen to buy all Read More

Last month, I attended a property conference in Hong Kong for senior management of Asian property companies. The conference was mundane and dull, but there was one thing that never ceased to amaze me—panel after panel spoke about the same issue. In a 4th tier Chinese city, how do you differentiate your million square foot mall from the two dozen other ones that are scheduled Read More

Almost a quarter millennia ago, the founders of this country decided to break with the king and go their own separate way. Their gripes were many and varied. They didn’t like their sugar, playing cards or tea to be taxed. They grew sick of quartering British soldiers. In general, they grew frustrated with a cadre of blowhards in London who appeared indifferent to the Read More

$40 billion a month? That’s their big plan? I came in from my canoe trip to watch this? Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of how an economy actually works will realize that our economy does not suffer from a lack of liquidity. In fact, there is too much of it. The banks have so much excess cash, they don’t know what to do with Read More

A few weeks ago, I was having a chat with a commercial real estate broker here in Miami. We were both baffled by the stratospheric rise in trophy properties in Miami, so he gave a quick example. A wealthy client wanted to get a property “priced out.” This meant that he wanted to have a bidding contest to see where others thought the price Read More

John Paulson has a problem—his own investors. As long as it’s his problem, it could be a problem for all of us as well. Let me note that I have never met Paulson, but I certainly admire his skill at navigating the markets in 2008 and before then. Unfortunately, in 2009 and 2010, lots of other investors also admired his skills. His funds ballooned Read More