Thursday links

• Two good articles related to credit default swaps (CDS) and worthy of keeping an eye on. The first article from Bloomberg and the second article from FTAlphaville

• Teri Buhl over at Forbes discusses Paul Tudor Jones, a hedge fund with poor performance recently.

• Another story by Teri Buhl of Forbes talking about another troubled Hedge Fund executive arrested on a felony charge.  

• Was the May 6 flash-crash caused intentionally???  Looking at the "mini flash-crash" just 6 trading days earlier on April 28 gives reason to believe it was caused intentionally.  But by whom?? From ZeroHedge blog

• Hedge Fund managers looking dumber and more inept each passing day.  From ZeroHedge blog

• Illinois Teacher's Retirement Fund in big trouble.  Looks like the shit will hit the fan in about 10 years. From ZeroHedge blog

• Scams and cons to watch out for.  From LA Times writer Stuart Pfeifer

• President Obama speaks out against taxes for the rich.  Republicans want to keep a tax cut for the top 2%, millionaires and billionaires, who in fact are the least likely to spend it and inject the savings back into the economy.  The 400 best-off American taxpayers only paid 16.6% of their income in federal taxes in 2007 (the most recent year the numbers are available).  Are you paying more than 16.6%?? President Obama thinks this is wrong, and wants to make this more  fair to the middle class.

• The #1 Leader of Germany, Angela Merkel, is getting kudos for her economic leadership.  Interesting to note that Merkel introduced an overnight ban on some types of naked short-selling. And I quote directly from the Bloomberg article written by Catherine Dodge:

"She also alienated markets when her government introduced an overnight ban on some types of naked short-selling. Short sellers borrow assets and sell them, betting the price will fall, buying them later and pocketing the difference. In naked short-selling, traders never borrow the assets, so betting is unlimited.  Since then, the European Commission recommended bloc-wide curbs on naked short-selling of stocks and government bonds. And her commitment to cutting budget deficits has won support from countries including Spain and France."   

          Merkel got the highest favorability rating in the poll, 70%, compared to the 49% rating she got in        
          June.

• Adair Turner says new Basel III banking rules not stringent enough.  From Bloomberg.
• Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna Insurance, and other big name insurance companies will stop selling child-only policies as early as today (Thursday).  They will stop offering the insurance in many states, not just California.  From Journalist Duke Helfand of the Los Angeles Times.
• Democrats want more public disclosure on campaign donations from corporations.  Republicans of course, fighting against it.  From LA Times
• Our Female Vision of the Day. Guess Who??  Pic from fanpop.com