October 2009

There is mounting evidence that bubbles are forming again everywhere across the globe as easy money makes itself felt in asset prices. The latest evidence comes from Sweden where Europe’s lowest home loan rates have pushed up the price of…

This is probably my fourth post on the tangled web woven by securitization, which puts a considerable distance between home owners and mortgagees which own a mortgage.  The issue is causing huge problems in bankruptcy and foreclosure…

This is good. H/T Michael Panzner.

Richard Bernstein has done a huge reversal in the last few months from touting low-risk stocks to high-beta ones. He has gone from a preference for consumer staples to one for consumer cyclicals (XLY). And he has gone from lugubrious…

GM puts Opel sale signing on hold "European Union concerns that Germany rigged the sale to Magna to save jobs" Despite the recession, Westfield London is celebrating its first anniversary Same thing is happening in the…

This is my translation of a Dutch-language article which appeared today in Belgian daily De Tijd. Let’s see if this news is picked up in the U.S. Citibank Belgium never should have recommended the controversial Lehman Brothers…

A sign that the commercial real estate (CRE) market continues to cause headaches comes this weekend in the form of news of Capmark Financial’s imminent demise. Capmark is one of America’s largest commercial property lenders with about $10…

This contribution from Daniel Berger is a letter to Michael Smerconish in response to a commentary Smerconish wrote on 10 May 2009 in the Philadelphia Inquirer “Head Strong: Did Hollywood inspire the meltdown men?” A shorter version of…

US Treasuries: "Risk free" for How Long? - Megan McArdle This is the widely-believed default canard. Latin America nations defaulted because of foreign currency debt. Japan issue debt in their own currency. They cannot…

This is the biggest weekend for FDIC seizures yet. Seven banks have been shut down. Below is the list of banks. Partners Bank, Naples, Florida (Stonegate assumes assets) As of September 30, 2009, Partners Bank had total assets of…