Good Reads

When it comes to links, I believe in quality over quantity. Here's some of the best of what I read this week:

Reuters reports on the major commodity trading houses (here). Seems like their volume would really move markets. Given that a lot of these firms are traders as well as producers, it is possible that are classified as "commercial hedgers" in the CFTC commitment of traders data. Maybe this is why Peter L. Brandt pays so much attention to this classification?

FT Alphaville brings a unique take on deleveraging (here).

The London Stock Exchange is padding their bottom line by lending to Italian banks in need of liquidity (here). While the way the have structured the lending (as a depositor rather than a creditor, thereby placing their claims higher in the capital structure) is prudent, regulators must hate this as it is another possible channel for contagion.

The Economist considers the challenges facing Mario Draghi, the new head of the ECB (here). A little dated, but well worth the read.

Boeing delivers 32,000 pound, $15.7 million bunker-busting bombs to the U.S. Air Force (here). Given all the recent rhetoric surrounding the IAEA report on Iran's nuclear weapons program and the possibility of an Israeli air strike, the timing of this release is interesting. Granted, the first of the bombs were delivered relatively recently.