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Feature Article #1

Extreme Challenges May Destroy Next President’s Agenda

When one looks at the enormity of the extreme challenges that the next President of the United States will face one has to question the sanity of John McCain and Barack Obama. It is highly likely that during the next term severe consequences will take place as a result of the misdeeds, misjudgements, incompetence, fraud, and in some cases inaction on the part of the Bush administration.

taipan | August 2nd, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #2

End of Warren Buffet Era?

Warren Buffet is a skilled communicator in all aspects of life. Communication is the real key of leadership and has been key to Buffet’s long term success. Along with having the right investment strategy at the right time. However, in an age of rapid change and a restructuring of the world investment order Buffet’s buy and hold strategy may not produce nearly as good results in the future.

Warren communicates openly and frankly with his investors and makes sure that he can communicate effectively with the managers of a company before he buys it. In a global market that level of communication may be difficult to emulate when you may be interested in buying stock in a company located half a world away and immersed in an entirely foreign culture.

taipan | June 22nd, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #3

America Motoring to Disaster

America has been motoring towards disaster ever since its economy was structured around the automobile and cheap energy supplies. Now that energy is no longer cheap disaster is imminent. Like the airlines, the American business and lifestyle model is broken with oil above $125 a barrel and probably headed higher, perhaps much higher, as peak oil all too soon kicks in with a vengeance.

Gasoline prices at $4.00 a gallon have started to force Americans to cut back on their driving. Even middle class families are having a tough time making ends meet with rising gas prices, rising food prices, double digit increases in the cost of health care, stagnant incomes, and falling house prices occurring all at the same time. So some effort at energy conservation is finally underway.

taipan | May 28th, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #4

Hammering Hank Paulson Wall Street Reformer

The former CEO of Wall Street’s largest investment bank, Goldman Sachs, now US Secretary of the Treasury, has proposed new legislation that would be the greatest Wall Street reform act since the Great Depression.

The short take on Mr. Paulson’s bank bailout plan is that the Federal Reserve Bank would become an extremely powerful entity, not that it’s not already, but it would become even more powerful with almost unlimited powers to regulate the nations financial affairs, banks, brokerage firms, hedge fund industry, you name it.

taipan | April 3rd, 2008 | Continued

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Feature Article #5

Masters of Wall Street Universe Exposed

These days the masters of the Wall Street universe are exposed for what they really are, grossly overpaid overly aggressive master salesmen who usually make bad managers.

But never worry for their future. The top people who brought to the world the securitization of mortgages and all sorts of wild derivative instruments may be out of work for the moment, or barely hanging on, but most will go on to other positions taking a considerable amount of their plunder with them. One thing that they know very well is how to take care of themselves.

taipan | March 30th, 2008 | Continued

About this Site

Taipan is the nickname for the owner and publisher of the Taipan Investor financial series of blogs. Taipan is an American who lived and worked in  Asia for over twenty years.  It was in Hong Kong that the nick name Taipan was born.

There are blogs that cover the forex market, stock market, real estate market, and the commodities markets. Since politics have so much to do with the investment world Article Discovery Politics Blog covers the political scene and world events. With the world financial markets in so much turmoil these days, and with the expectation that the turmoil will continue for a long time,  Taipan is going to be a very busy fellow trying to cover world markets.

Other Recent Articles

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FASB Eases Mark to Market Rules - Wall Street Cheers

The Financial Accounting Standards Board ( FASB ) bowed to congressional and financial industry pressure on Thursday by allowing more flexibility in valuing toxic assets, a move expected to boost bank earnings and improve their capital levels.

While Wall Street welcomed the change which will allow banks to use a mark to model  method of setting a value for their toxic assets the move will only cover up the horrible loans and derivatives already on the banks books. The banks will certainly use their own model to carry nearly worthless assets, perhaps in some cases, entirely worthless, at values far in excess of current market value.

2Apr2009 | taipan | 0 comments | Continued
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Major US Banks are Insolvent

President Obama promised during his campaign to make government processes much more transparent to the American public. Yet so far his administration has chosen to keep dirty little secrets from the public — one of them is that major US Banks are insolvent and that the government has no current credible plan to fix the problem.

Here is the TheFreeDictionary definition of insolvent:

1.
a. Unable to meet debts or discharge liabilities; bankrupt.
b. Insufficient to meet all debts, as an estate or fund.
2. Of or relating to bankrupt persons or entities.
n.
A bankrupt.

12Feb2009 | taipan | 1 comment | Continued
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Goldman Sachs New Operating Environment

Goldman Sachs, the long time home of former Secretary of State, Hammering Hank Paulson, is moving forward on a slippery slope of financial survival. The good old happy go-go days are over, never to return.

The damage rendered to the world’s economy and financial system by the toxic brew of derivative financial instruments conceived and unleashed upon the world by Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street investment banks is beyond measure. Losses are already in the trillions of Dollars yet there are likely more even larger trillions of losses to come during 2009.

3Feb2009 | taipan | 0 comments | Continued
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Obama Will Try to Sustain the Unsustainable Consumer Economy

It appears that the Obama leadership team is already off on the wrong foot and once in office will do everything in their power to sustain the unsustainable US consumer economy and the premier position of the automotive culture as a major component of that economy.

Unfortunately, this is predictable as the typical US citizen/consumer has little if any idea as to the vast changes in lifestyle that will soon be a coming. It is highly doubtful that Obama and his “experienced” team see the need to completely transform the American economy from one of debt and consumption to one of savings and manufacturing. The odds are great that within a few years from being the largest consumer economy in the world the US will migrate at blinding speed to a survival economy where millions of citizens will not be able to hang on to a decent lifestyle. This process is already underway.

1Jan2009 | taipan | 0 comments | Continued
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Selling the US Economy Short

What? Have I lost my mind? Selling BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC short, the primary investment vehicle of a man who is considered by many to be the greatest investor of all time? Isn’t selling BRK.A short kind of like shorting the best of the US economy?

Well, we shall soon see. In my view 2009 is going to be a very rough year in the financial world. Many analysis and investors, I believe Mr. Warren Buffet, included, still really don’t get it. They are still talking about America pulling out of the recession sometime during 2009 and on we go to even greater things in investment land. In fact Warren Buffet recently made a highly public disclosure that he was once again bullish on stocks.

26Dec2008 | taipan | 0 comments | Continued
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Peak Oil to Take Center Stage After Financial Meltdown

With all of the attention that the financial meltdown is receiving from the media the tale of peak oil has been placed far in the background. Yet, within three years it is likely that Mexico, the second largest exporter of crude oil to the United States, will be forced to halt oil exports in order to have enough oil to support its own energy needs.

That event will gain quite a lot of attention for the peak oil concept. Even now, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, many Americans believe that peak oil is only a myth and should be of little concern. The next great crisis, after the global financial meltdown, will kick in about the time that the consequences of climate change will become too obvious to ignore. The convergence of disasters, a financial meltdown, climate change, and peak oil, will be difficult for any government to manage, even one headed by Barack Obama.

19Dec2008 | taipan | 2 comments | Continued

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