Dr. Doom is back. Last week, New York University economist Nouriel Roubini decided to speak out about the current economic recovery, warning that it cannot last. I'm not quite sure how this blog missed my radar screen, so I must thank Robert J. Samuelson for bringing it to my attention yesterday.

Roubini contends that while there was a massive rally in "all sorts of risky assets" has caused the dollar had weakened sharply and government bond yields have "increased but stayed low and stable." These risky assets that Roubini discusses are equities, oil, energy, and commodity. Dr. Doom believes that the prices for these risky assets have risen too far and too fast compared to macroeconomic fundamentals.

Continue reading Dr. Doom Nouriel Roubini believes the bubble is about to burst

Dr. Doom Nouriel Roubini believes the bubble is about to burst originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Some of the jobs that have disappeared through this recession are gone forever, it seems. Even when the market turns, and even gains momentum, we could be stuck with a fairly weak employment market for a while. The recovery will take longer than we'd like, putting more distance between now and the top of the next market run. We've lost 7.2 million jobs since December 2007, and the predictions of some economists that we'll get them back by 2014 may actually seem optimistic.

Why is the recovery going to be such a grind? Check out the four major reasons after the jump.

Continue reading Four reasons we're stuck with high unemployment for a while

Four reasons we're stuck with high unemployment for a while originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As the dust settles from Google's $1.65 billion purchase of Internet video hub YouTube, serious questions remain. Such as: What on earth were co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen thinking when they had these silly photos taken? The same question could be asked of the founders of Google Inc.(NASDAQ:GOOG), PayPal, Digg and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) after their big payouts. Is it a symptom of striking it rich, or a carefully planned public relations scheme we just don't understand?

You decide: Check out our analysis of what went right with these promotional shots... and what went certifiably wrong.

After review, we must ask: What have we learned? Is it simply that young tech titans will forever be geeks at heart? Or could it be that -- suddenly rich and famous -- they feel the need for self-depreciation, to "keep it real" so-to-speak with the millions who obsessively use their products?

That may be unfair. Instead, we place the blame on the photographers -- these mysteriously esoteric people with an arsenal of bright turtlenecks, cargo pants and Jungle Gyms -- whose sole responsibility is to make sure that our beloved dot com billionaires look... well, not silly.

Then again, who are we to judge? Might one of us become unbearably silly in front of the camera, like Hurley and Chen did recently in front of a TGI Friday's, were we to find ourselves with the ability to purchase five -- that's right -- five Cadillac Escalade SRX Crossovers? Possibly. Though not in front of a Friday's.

B. Brandon Barker is the author of the novel Operation EMU.

Silly Valley Portrait Studio: What were these young billionaires thinking? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.