June 2008

Michael Panzner has a good post on his site about regional banks being the next front in the Credit Crisis. He mentions home equity lines (HELOCs) as a crucial piece there, referring to an article in the Financial Times. His blog entry…

The Telegraph reported that UBS, the giant Swiss Bank, had its shares suspended twice yesterday as it tried to mount a share rights issue while its shares plummeted to a 52-week low. UBS is trying to raise 16 billion Swiss Francs (about $16…

So the Federal Housing Administration is the latest victim of the housing bust. If they weren't a government agency, they might actually be bust.The projected loss is the highest in the home loan program since 2004, and officials said the…

It has been my assertion for some time that writedowns and the attendant unraveling of the financial system is the most troubling problem during this credit crisis. This process is deflationary by its very nature because credit contracts.…

My blog title comes from the title of an article, "Bank failures to surge in coming years" by MarketWatch on 23 May 2008. I highly recommend reading the full article. It mentions that only 3 banks have actually failed so far in…

This is what consumer inflation has looked like in the United States.

Why does the media report month to month statistics like they mean anything? It's the year-on-year trend that is important. Note the headline in this item versus the reality. April pending home sales rise as prices tumble The…

Citigroup, Merrill, UBS Face Further Writedowns, Whitney SaysBy Jeff KearnsJune 9 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and UBS AG may post further writedowns of $10 billion on their debt holdings after the two biggest bond…

RBS failed to get all the money it needed for its rights issue with 300 million shares still in the hands of its underwriters, reports the FT. These shares are to be sold today. This massive $24 billion (£ 12 billion) shows the limits of…

This sounds a lot like Bradford and Bingley in the UK. Lehman is really on the edge of collapsing. They need the money....NOW! One must believe the second leg down in bank credit write-offs and the credit crunch has started.By Steve…