June 2008

I am hearing from multiple sources that the large property company Drac, based in Mallorca in Spain, has filed for bankruptcy. The company had 600 or 700 million euros of debt at the time of its bankruptcy, depending upon the source. Drac…

Mervyn King correctly assessed inflation risks to be temporary and the downside to come from the real economy. It sounds like he is not hawkish. Chances of a rate cut are down now. I believe the BoE wants some inflation to help do the…

Regional banks have not suffered the writedowns suffered by the major banks and investment banks due to their lack of derivatives exposure. But, loose lending standards are starting to bite. The LA Times has an excellent story out, which…

Jeremy Grantham, a hedge fund manager based in the Boston area, is one of the more respected money managers who has had a cautious view on equities during this past economic cycle. The Canadian daily Globe & Mail has a good interview…

The Mess That Greenspan Made has a blog entry with good visuals giving you a sense of how price appreciation, median prices and housing sales have changed over the past 4-5 years. I recommend it highly.

This newsletter from John Mauldin arrived in my inbox this morning. If you haven't read his newsletters they are very good, including those from Guest commentators like this one from James Montier. I will add the text in full. It is…

U.S. regional bank M&T has sued Deutsche Bank because of losses M&T suffered on CDOs sold to it by the German bank, according to the German website Der Spiegel. Deutsche Bank allegedly told M&T that the CDOs were "safe" and…

According to the Telegraph, UK housing starts hit their lowest level in 63 years. With a lack of new business, how will Barrat's and Taylor Wimpey survive? The Telegraph suggests that investors will save them, much as they have saved the…

These two charts are interesting just for historical purposes. This tracks the FTSE All-share index from 1800-2007. While there were a number of peaks and valleys, the FTSE went pretty much nowhere until after World War II. At that…

Below is the inside scoop according to famed Washington insider Robert Novak (It remains to be seen whether his sources are reliable). At the bottom is a link to an article from the Telegraph quoting Morgan Stanley's economic team…