2008

A month ago, the market was rampant with crazy speculation, not about if the Fed was going to raise rates, but when and by how much."Fed Funds futures now imply a near certainty of two 25 basis point rate increases by November."-FT, 10 Jun…

George W. Bush certainly has chutzpah. Ever the opportunist, he has taken advantage of high oil prices to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling. Americans continue to allow this President free reign and Congress as allowed him creeping…

Looking at today's selling wave, a number of bank shares are down over 10% including Washington Mutual (WM), National City (NCC), Wachovia (WB), Zion (ZION). Many other shares are trading well into negative territory with share prices…

Given the fact that the FDIC lost a massive $10.7 billion on the IndyMac transaction, I am re-posting this blurb from July. I said then, I still believe, the FDIC needs a lot more money or it will be bust. Sheila Bair has already requested…

We knew that didn't we? Well, in response to a questionnaire by Nationwide, the building society, consumers basically said savings is not important and that they don't save as a result. I'm willing to bet UK consumers will change their…

The global economy is gripped by its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. People are losing their homes and their jobs, banks are going bankrupt, and stock markets in the U.S. and elsewhere have fallen significantly from…

On the heels of a story about Spanish giant Santander buying Alliance & Leicester in the UK, it comes as good news in the marketplace that another Spanish giant, BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria), is on the prowl as well.After…

Banco Santander of Spain is using the down market to snap up some UK assets on the cheap. It has announced the acquisition of Alliance & Leicester, the former building society which demutualised in 1997, for £1.3 billion ($2.6 billion)…

Warren Buffett is a confident investor who believes in the companies he buys. As a result he said the following at his recent Annual General Meeting:"If a stock goes down 50%, I'd look forward to it. In fact, I would offer you a…

I am here on my computer in anticipation of the morning market sessions in Asian trading. Certainly, this will set the tone for an important week. While I was looking for more news on the GSEs, I was reminded of the slowing economies…