Folks, 24% is a simply breathtaking number for credit card losses, and JP Morgan is saying that is what it may see on its WaMu portfolio. Even keeling-over-and-dying Advanta is up to only 20% losses. Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase chief executive, warned on Wednesday that loss rates on the credit card loans of Washington Mutual, […]
Read more...One of our oft repeated pet peeves has been that the effect of a bankruptcy filing on buyer appetite had not been assessed in the Chrysler or GM bankruptcy plans. We had argued it was vital to get a handle on it, since it would affect how much financing would be required in court and […]
Read more...Submitted by Rolfe Winkler, publisher OptionARMageddon During a press conference today, FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair was asked about the Journal’s report that banks are lobbying to buy assets under Geithner’s toxic asset plan, the PPIP. She says banks will not be able to bid on their own assets, but clearly leaves open the possibility that […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. You have to hand it to Marc Faber; he knows how to grab your attention. Earlier this year, I posted a video of him saying “don’t underestimate the power of printing money“, a quote that has become mantra for me. Basically, he believes a rising tide […]
Read more...Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. On Monday, Sheldon Filger wrote an article in the London Telegraph stating that the U.S. economy risks the dire prospect of hyperinflation: … though not downgrading the danger of deflation, I believe policymakers are ignoring other factors regarding this economic and financial condition. Furthermore, the U.S. government […]
Read more...Giant dinosaurs ‘held heads high’ BBC Tiger mauls NZ zoo keeper to death Times Online Banks Aiming to Play Both Sides of Coin Wall Street Journal. A more accurate title would be “Banks Shamelessly Ask Permission to Game PPIP in the Open.” After all, if they did it through friendly intermediaries, it just reduces the […]
Read more...To be perfectly clear (as one discredited President was fond of saying), It would appear that the Treasury has a pretty considerable supply problem that is starting to hit now. Longer dated bonds slid in a serious way late last week and had another bad day today (although the 2 year action went well). And […]
Read more...We have for some time been concerned about the odds of a GM bankruptcy. While bankruptcy in theory offers some compelling advantages, GM is so large that only certain operations could be hived off. The thought, as with a traditional Chapter 11, is to skinny up the company and a have a new sleeker version […]
Read more...Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. I just came back from the movies where I saw Terminator Salvation. Not bad, but nowhere near as good as Terminator 2 – Judgment Day, which was a classic in this series. But far away from Hollywood, real life pension terminators are hard at work. Canadian Auto […]
Read more...An interesting piece in Bloomberg contends that the record low level of Libor, which would say that everything is hunky dory as far as banks lending to each other is concerned, is in fact giving a misleading picture. The spread among rates quoted is close to its highest level for the year, indicating some banks […]
Read more...Study unlocks history of the seas BBC When It Comes To Charity, Poor Give Too Much, Get Too Little Consumerist Texting May Be Taking a Toll New York Times Polaroid Lovers Try to Revive Its Instant Film New York Times More Newspaper Bad News: Public Notices Look Elsewhere BNET Media Zombie banks walk among us […]
Read more...We all know the question in the headline is strictly rhetorical. If the US cannot stand to make risk capital like bondholders take a whack (heavens, no, we cannot make hapless funds take losses, better to dump it on taxpayers who have no ready way to complain), it goes without saying that we are wildly […]
Read more...Yosemite’s giant trees disappear BBC Goods Orders, Home Sales in U.S. Probably Rose, Signaling Recession Waning Bloomberg, Reader Michael D saw the headline as an Orwell watch item. China stuck in ‘dollar trap’ Financial Times and The (almost) $2.5 trillionaire … Brad Setser A Fight to Protect Americans From British Libel Law New York Times […]
Read more...Uncharacteristically for an economist, Wolfgang Munchau questions the conventional remedy for the debt millstone: use inflation to trash its value in real terms. Bondholders so often get shafted that it’s a predictable outcome. But is it wise? Munchau argues that regardless, the piper must be paid. If the powers that be succeed in creating meaningful […]
Read more...Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, addressed graduates at the the 2009 commencement of the Boston College School of Law on Friday: I am very pleased to have the opportunity to address the graduates of the Boston College Law School today. I realized with some chagrin that […]
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