"Amazon reviewers were more likely to give a favourable review to a debut author, which the Harvard academics said suggested that "one drawback of expert reviews is that they may be slower to learn about new and unknown books".
Professional critics were more positive about prizewinning authors, and "more favourable to authors who have garnered other attention in the press (as measured by number of media mentions outside of the review)"."
M Stanley reassesses downgrade impact - FT.com: "The additional collateral needed could reduce Morgan Stanley’s fixed income derivatives revenues by almost a third, analysts at AllianceBernstein estimated in a recent note. In addition to having to stump up extra collateral to its trading partners, Morgan Stanley could also face a higher cost of funding, the analysts said."This also gives some indication of the importance of the economies of scale in investment banking.
Bank adequacy: weight and see - FT.com: "But what would be the effect of removing the zero weighting on banks’ domestic sovereign debt holdings? In its latest stability report, the IMF takes a stab at estimating the “correct” risk weightings to use, via default rates embedded in sovereign credit default swap spreads. Doing this lowers the average capital adequacy ratios across banks in emerging countries by 2-3 percentage points – no small sum. Ratios for European banks fall by less, between 0.5-2 percentage points. The reduction for US lenders is smaller still. Even so, more capital would be needed.""It is the second time this week a UK insurer has provided debt finance for a property deal, with Legal & General issuing its maiden property loan on Tuesday.
The relationship between the two sectors is deepening rapidly as insurers snap up opportunities created by the shortage of bank lending."
