A common diagnosis of the housing debacle is that lenders lacked “skin in the game,” and so made loans without regard to risk. A proposed overhaul of financial regulation being debated in Congress would require securitizers of mortgages to […] Continue Reading…
In a recent interview, Clint Eastwood referred to the current generation of young Americans as a pack of teenage twits. That may or may not be a fair opinion. Clint may simply be cranky. However, Eastwood just summed […] Continue Reading…
Like the old story about the reports of Mark Twain’s “death,” current news stories on the end of independent movies may be slightly exaggerated. Granted, it doesn’t look good and the damage has been absolutely gawd-awful, but indie film […] Continue Reading…
There’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that 2012 scored over $225 millions across the globe for a blow-out opening that will convince the nitwits that run Hollywood that they are making money. Of course the […] Continue Reading…
We live in strange, absurd times. And everything keeps getting weirder. How else can you explain the recent release from SNL Kagan concerning their projected analysis for Hollywood movies? I mean, any press release that can keep a straight […] Continue Reading…
There are those who are born to greatness and those who have greatness thrust upon them. Then there’s Harvey Weinstein. He sort of rented greatness. Drove a hard bargain, too.
With the recent news stories about Weinstein’s old company, Miramax […] Continue Reading…
The doom-saying business is getting ridiculously competitive. Oh sure, during the past year I had a decent run at spreading gloom and earning such catchy nick names as “Dr. No,” “The Dark Prophet,” and “Mr. Doom.” But that was […] Continue Reading…
Somebody asked me recently how the cost of movie tickets is determined. I told them “Good question.” Then I realized that they were serious and actually waiting for an answer. After staring blankly for a few minutes, I excused […] Continue Reading…
R&R Consulting’s Ann Rutledge notes that the financial crisis has demonstrated the need for new fraud risk models to facilitate sound economic decisions within the capitalist framework. Paradoxically, while improper use of securitization brought on the financial crisis, properly […] Continue Reading…
R&R Consulting principal Sylvain Raynes is quoted in a ground-breaking expose by McClatchy Newspapers on how Moody’s compromised the integrity of its credit ratings:
“As the housing market collapsed in late 2007, Moody’s Investors Service, whose investment ratings were widely […] Continue Reading…