"Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday" Links

Credit Bubble Stocks is still catching up on reading. Here is a big block of stuff for the weekend:

China Bubble

• Excellent article on Sino Forest: "In the bear case the size of the fake forest estate grows over time just because the fake profits need to be deployed somewhere. Ultimately - in the bear case - Sino Forest becomes a fake giant and someone (in this case Muddy Waters) asks if you own so much timber how come we can't see it? It becomes 'See No Forest'."
• ZH: "[Chanos] laid out his case for believing that China is in the midst of a bubble of enormous proportions, and answered questions. He often gets criticized for never having been to China. His response is that you did not need to live in Miami to know there was a bubble in Miami real estate."
• AR: Paulson explains Sino Forest loss.

The Next Leg Down

• Why Greek default is inevitable: the cuts needed are too big.
• Commitment of traders once again favors the long bond. Commercials have gotten long and specs short. Also, TLT has exceeded the Jun 1 intraday high.
• "Lipper reported that high yield saw its largest weekly outflow EVER, with $3.4 billion leaving high yield funds on the week."

Energy

• Wired: "Five Ethanol Myths"
• Nevada Passes Law Authorizing Driverless Cars
• Norwegian Electric Vehicle company files BK.

Philosophy of Success

• In 2010, for example, Americans spent an average two hours and 31 minutes watching television on weekdays, up 5.4 minutes from 2007.
• "In fact, the world is more and more aligned in favor of those who find motivation inside, who would do what they do even if it wasn't their job."
• Falky on Keynesian Macro "Logic": "To think that one can, top down, spend $50B and create value anywhere near $50B highlights a total indifference to incentives and a reliance on macro aggregates (C, I, G, M, v etc) that have proven as useful as Marxist conceptions of capital and labor: fun to talk about, but ultimately meaningless."

Slope of Hope Posts

• "This Isn't 1995 : As most of you know, my home is in the heart of the Silicon Valley, and I am thus in the center of the current lunacy (last enjoyed back in 1999)."
• "Just two days ago, everyone was convinced - absolutely convinced - the S&P was heading toward 1400 or 1450. Nonsense. The bull run ended in April, and the bears are back in control."

Misc

• Via PK, A Brief History of the Corporation: 1600 to 2100, which mentions The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 and The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress.
• "Wendy’s/Arby’s franchiser said on Thursday that it would now open 192 restaurants in Russia over the next 10 years, or 12 more than originally planned."
• Google Offers Holding Its Own Against Groupon in Portland