Thought I’d post this, for a chuckle:
"The cost to hedge against losses on U.S. Treasuries surpassed the price of default protection on bonds from Campbell Soup Co. and drugmaker Baxter International Inc. as government spending on stimulus packages grows.
Credit-default swaps on U.S. government debt in euros for five years are trading at 67 basis points, according to CMA Datavision, meaning it costs 67,000 euros ($87,24 0) to protect 10 million euros of debt.
Contracts on Campbell of Camden, New Jersey, were quoted at a mid-price of 50.4 basis points today, and Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter contracts were at 54.2 basis points, CMA data show.
The Federal Reserve?s assets have more than doubled from a year ago to $2.14 trillion as the central bank seeks to revive credit markets. The Fed?s balance sheet may reach $4 trillion, according to strategists including Ira Jersey at Credit Suisse Group AG in New York.
Economists including Harvard University professor Kenneth Rogoff and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz say President-elect Barack Obama should push for a stimulus package of at least $1 trillion to lift the economy out of a yearlong recession.
?It?s a certain absurdity, but it?s also a question of supply and demand,? said Scott MacDonald, head of research at Aladdin Capital Management LLC in Stamford, Connecticut, who expects between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion of Treasuries may be issued over the next 18 months.
?We have another massive stimulus package coming. Does Campbell?s Soup have a stimulus package coming? No.?
anyone still doubt the Great Depression II?