Economy

Whenever I wade into a new topic like digital photography, gardening or what have you, I visit the local bookstore and get a "For Dummies" book to guide me. I figure that it's the best way to get up-to-speed quickly without…

By now, you have probably heard that Warren Buffett has made his bet and invested billions of dollars in Goldman Sachs. The market reacted positively and Goldman is now trading at near $133 a share (up 6% on the day). While I do see…

The U.S. and the UK are not the only countries suffering from a housing bust and a credit crisis. Ireland and Spain have had massive busts as well and it is only a matter of time before we begin to see effects on the banking sector. And…

Below are the latest major credit crisis stories from the web that I have seen. Most of these stories have more to do with raising capital, merging, and bankruptcy than writedowns. Quite honestly, I have been caught up in the bailouts so I…

Apparently Lehman not only failed, it left a gaping hole its accounts. The UK pension scheme is missing £100 million. UK regulators certainly need o investigate whether the shortfalls are the result of criminal activity.However, pensions…

With Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley becoming bank holding companies, the traditional U.S. investment banking model has come to an end. But it bears remembering that investment banks are highly leveraged institutions. Both Goldman…

Hank Paulson seems to be everywhere these days. However, it does seem that U.S. President George W. Bush has vanished since the credit crisis began.The result? The lowest approval rating of the Bush Presidency, with a full 78%…

Just in case you thought the crisis was over, I have to remind you that there are still firms out there that are very concerned about their futures. Principal among them is the UK buy-to-let specialist Bradford & Bingley.The word on the…

The Federal Reserve is pulling out all the stops to stop the spread of the financial meltdown contagion that claimed Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG. The latest move is to allow both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to become bank…

Recently I wrote a post on the safety of investment assets in the wake of the Lehman and AIG meltdowns. Even still, retail and individual investors are noticeably nervous about the safety of their funds.Last night on the radio, I heard a…