Markets

I received a note from U.S. Airways in my inbox today asking me to contact my Congressman to stop those evil speculators from causing oil prices to rise. Last time I checked, U.S. Airways is an airline, not a consumer advocacy group.Dear…

The day is almost over for the market (thank goodness) and it seems that financal service investors are in panic mode again. The market is down over 250 points and some shares in financial services are down over 15%. What gives?As we may…

Consumer credit quality is weakening across the US, especially in the former housing boom states. While over $450 billion in credit writedowns have already been taken by the global financial sector, most of these losses ave been…

I certainly believe they have. Price action speaks to this. The Wall Street Journal's Market Beat had this quote about the price action in commodities:The price of many commodities and commodities stocks — from gasoline to coal to…

I just picked up on a MarketWatch article about 401(k) debit cards through Tim Iacono's blog. It marks a pretty astounding trend in financial innovation.Debit cards are straightforward. You use them for purchases and money is deducted from…

Have we, too, not suffered at the hands of what used to be called The Interests? Have the stewards of other people's money not made a hash of high finance? Did they not enrich themselves in boom times, only to pass the cup to us, the…

Just because the financials are in for a few further rounds of pain doesn't mean that quality financial institutions in the U.S. don't exist. There is a stark difference in the level of risk some institutions took during the heydays of the…

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), which played such a vital role in the recapitalization of U.S. financial institutions during the first go around, are looking to cut their U.S. exposure.Basically, the U.S. is running an extremely inflationary…

"Prime looks terrible." Those are the words of Jaime Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase regarding the future of prime mortgage loans. Wall Street analysts were ecstatic at the largely positive news in JP Morgan's earnings report even though…

Stories of commercial real estate distress in the U.S. are mounting. As the residential real estate fallout takes form, commercial real estate has come under pressure as well. The Wall Street Journal has a front-page story out today that…