Economy

Marshall Auerback here.Equity investors, perhaps unlike credit investors, don't get the fundamental insolvency of the financial sector, an artifact of mega-leverage.This is a culture that responds to visual clues and marketing jingles.…

Today, after the markets closed, in another Friday Night Special, the FDIC announced the failure of Ameribank. This represents the 12th bank failure this year and the 14th since the credit crisis began last August.See my list of Bankrupt…

Why did Lehman really fail? The equity window is effectively closed for most financial services companies. This fact was the true trigger for the meltdown in AIG and Lehman and the problems at WaMu, HBOS and Merrill Lynch. Moreover, it…

The latest government intervention into the capitalist system is the move by the UK and U.S. governments to ban short-selling of all financial stocks outright.In the wake of the severe market turbulence unleashed by the failure of Lehman…

The meltdown of the world's largest insurer AIG (AIG) makes the stakes of this credit crisis plain to all. In my view, the AIG situation and the subsequent turmoil in financial markets could have been avoided. The markets were clearly on…

Edward Harrison here.In the last post, Marshall commented on the need for the U.S. Presidential candidates to show their mettle in a time of financial volatility. As I write this, the Dow Jones Industrial average has just finished the day…

Marshall Auerback here. This crisis is an audition for the presidency in real time -- and an opportunity for a candidate to step up to the plate. If handled the right way, it could decide the election. If it is treated like another…

U.S. jobless claims registered an increase to 455,000, bringing the widely followed 4-week average to 445,000, its highest level since 2002. Recently, the jobless claims numbers have been creeping up indicating the labor market in the U.S.…

Dick Fuld, the Chief Executive of the beleaguered and now bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers, finally addressed staff after the worlds largest bankruptcy in history. He told staff he felt horrible for their personal and financial…

Lloyds TSB has announced that it will buy rival HBOS for 232 pence a share. Back in May 2007, just over a year ago, HBOS shares were trading for almost £17 each. However, HBOS closed trading today at £1.47, sustaining a loss of over 90% in…