July 2008

Financial collapse edges closer - Martin Hutchinson, Asia TimesMortgage squeeze tightens further - BBC NewsJim Bunning's Capitalism Pitch Is in Strike Zone: Caroline Baum - BloombergGoogle shares slump after ad warning - Irish…

With the earnings season only halfway done, it is clear who the big losers are: Merrill Lynch and Citigroup. They have reported over $15 billion in additional writedowns for the quarter. What is increasingly clear is that those who had…

Senator Jim Bunning's classic line, "when I picked up my newspaper yesterday, I thought I woke up in France," was delivered before the Senate Banking Committee as Ben Bernanke, the Fed Chair, gave testimony. He was rightfully upset that…

Just because the financials are in for a few further rounds of pain doesn't mean that quality financial institutions in the U.S. don't exist. There is a stark difference in the level of risk some institutions took during the heydays of the…

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), which played such a vital role in the recapitalization of U.S. financial institutions during the first go around, are looking to cut their U.S. exposure.Basically, the U.S. is running an extremely inflationary…

Merrill Lynch reported abysmal financial results yesterday, in marked contrast to JP Morgan Chase. The company was forced to take $9.5 billion in writedowns, leading to a loss in excess of $4.5 billion. The writedowns also forced Merrill…

"Prime looks terrible." Those are the words of Jaime Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase regarding the future of prime mortgage loans. Wall Street analysts were ecstatic at the largely positive news in JP Morgan's earnings report even though…

Below are the latest writedown stories from the web. For the full timeline of news, visit my credit crisis timeline.Also see my list of Bankrupt Global Financial Institutions.2008 07 08 IndyMac Falls After Regulators Say It Isn't `Well…

As you know, the CPI registered a whopping 5% yesterday. Year-on-year inflation hasn't been this high since the Gulf War. So much for the 'Great Moderation.' But the increase in inflation begs another question: why are interest rates so…

Should William Poole Say "I Told You So"? - Economist's ViewUnderwriters braced for hit as HBOS slides - FT AlphavillePhony Accounting on Fannie, Freddie Rescue Legislation - Naked CapitalismEuropean Storms - Market MoversTo Walk Away or…