2009

The data are in for house prices in the United Kingdom and they are not good. Prices have now fallen 18% from their peak in October 2007 according to the latest Nationwide Building Society survey. They were down a massive 2.5% in December…

Every time I write a links post this year, I fear getting the year wrong and writing 2008. It is hard to believe we have a new year already. It has kicked off with a bang too. Did you see treasuries yesterday? They were bloody awful.…

FT Alphaville, one of my favorite blog sites, has the latest on Glencore and its credit default swaps. They are exploding to the downside for firms issuing insurance against Glencore's default. Here's Alphaville's chart:

Raghuram Rajan is a bloody good economist, that's who he is. Rajan, who succeeded Kenneth Rogoff at the International Monetary Fund as Chief Economist, is also a prescient voice of reason on any number of different subjects. Recently,…

The numbers for December are in and they are grim. 2008 was a year to forget in the auto industry. Sales plummeted around the globe as recession took hold. In the United States, every major car company saw sales fall at least 30% compared…

As the New Year unfolds, it is time for predictions. I have done my part, giving a full account of where I see things headed in 2009 in my post "Top ten predictions for the 2009 global economy" and where I want to see them headed in 2009 in…

Given the fact that this site is called Credit Writedowns, you would expect me to take a fairly skeptical view about the growing consensus regarding a rapid recovery in 2009. I do, in large part because I understand that banks face many…

The video below is an addendum to my post on Andrew Barry's Barron's cover story piece regarding Treasury Bonds and the growing consensus to avoid them. While I agree with the consensus about Treasury bonds being a bubble, I expect the…