This development takes the bond insurers out of the headlights for now, although Moody’s still rates MBIA as having a negative outlook. Credit default swaps on the monoline have fallen 240 basis points to 615, according to Bloomberg.
Note also that the rating agency is cool on the idea of a split.
From Reuters:
Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday ended its immediate threat to cut the top “Aaa” rating of MBIA Inc.’s insurance unit, citing the company’s efforts to strengthen its capital.
But downgrades are still possible especially if the company splits its business lines, Moody’s said…..Any plans to split the company’s municipal bond and structured finance business would increase the risk of a downgrade for the non-municipal business, Moody’s said. The action on Tuesday did not reflect a possible split of MBIA’s business, Moody’s said.
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What if we all find out, down the road, that The Plunge Protection Team was a way for The Bush Insiders to use illegal insider trading as a way to enrich themselves? What if this operation is a de facto way to help connect lobby groups to policy and insider favors???? National Security may be impacted or compromised if Bush or Cheney have trust funds that fall in value, just before they leave office…. Never fight the Fed!
The group soon became known as the Plunge Protection Team, and for those who were following its stealthy pursuits, the Working Group seemed to be using a blueprint set down by a former Federal Reserve official named Robert Heller.
Soon after Heller had left his government job in 1989 he gave a widely disbursed speech proposing that the Fed be given authority to rig the stock market in case of emergencies.
The Plunge Protection Team – a. k. a. Working Group – probably remained mostly dormant during the good years. But there were sneaking suspicions that it came out of its shell a couple of times, especially after 9/11.
So it’s interesting that now – seemingly out of the blue and far removed from any obvious crisis – Paulson is activating the Plunge Protection Team and someone wants us to know about it.
The Journal’s Monday piece started: “With just two years to make his mark, new Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is focusing much of his attention on making American financial markets more competitive . . .
“Since taking the reins in July, the Wall Street veteran has reinvigorated the President’s Working Group on Financial markets, which had languished.” The article went on to say that before Paulson’s arrival, the group met every few months, and sometimes only once a quarter. Now Paulson is insisting that it meet every six weeks.