April 2009

When the United States closed the gold window in 1971, the world entered a new era in which nearly all money was supported by nothing more than the full faith and credit of the governments issuing it. If one looks back to the history of…

The Wall Street Journal is running a front-page story about John Thain today in which he  accuses Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis of lying about events surrounding the Bank of America - Merrill transaction and the ouster of Thain as a top…

On Friday, the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) leaked a bombshell - a confidential report by Bafin, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, found that German banks were sitting on over 800 billion euros in toxic assets. Just…

We are starting to get a sense of who the winners and losers of the Great Unraveling are. Spain is definitely a loser. Just think, a few years ago Spain was the envy of Western Europe with a dynamic and booming property market and…

I don't much like Ken Lewis. It should be fairly obvious to everyone that he is a man who has only his own interests at heart. But, his revelation that BofA bought Merrill Lynch for the agreed-upon September price, despite Merrill's having…

Optimism and the world economy | A glimmer of hope? | The Economist Apparently the Economist thinks this is a Fake Recovery too. "Optimism is one thing, but hubris that the world economy is returning to normal could hinder recovery and…

Marshall Auerback here. Yesterday, Ed made a big to-do about China's increase in gold reserves. I am going to take a different view here. CLSA is saying that the increase is from purification and miscellaneous transactions since all…

Markets Cheer Stress Test Double Speak - Yves Smith I think the title speaks for itself. Auctions for Troubled Property Loans Jump to the Web - NY Times Perhaps this additional channel for the loans will help clear the underlying…

George H. W. Bush's National Security Advisor talks with Charlie Rose and Carlos Pascual, Brookings Institute vice president and director of Foreign Policy. They opine on "the Obama Doctrine" as Barack Obama nears his 100-day mark in…

It looks pretty clear that the U.S. regulators are going to clean house this year -- at least with small banks.  Hundreds of small banks and credit union will go into receivership in 2009.  However, big banks are getting a free ride. First…