Credit Writedowns

How many AAA companies do you know of that have seen 80% declines in their market value?Two that I can think of:Fannie Mae (FNM)and Freddie Mac (FRE)

If you haven't heard yet, you will soon. The Chrysler Building was snapped up by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council (otherwise known as the government of a foreign country). With the U.S. still sporting a current account deficit over 5% of…

One reason many pundits feel this particular downturn will be quite nasty is the level of debt consumers have versus their savings. Since July 1982, when the stock market bottomed, Americans have been dis-saving and leveraging up like…

From all accounts, it looks like Australia is set for a wicked slowdown. Four global industrial economies have been protected by commodity prices. They are Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. This Goldilocks scenario looks…

Yesterday, oil fell the most in one day since the start of the Gulf War in January 1991 to close at $136.03 in New York trading. Now is the time to evaluate whether we have seen the top in oil prices? On Thursday in my post "Oil close to…

Latest Major Bankruptcy News 2007 06 13 IndyMac Sued Over Investor Claims It Hid Loan Losses 2008 06 30 IndyMac to Trim Operations, Not Shut Down, Perry Says 2008 07 01 IndyMac Chief Financial Officer A. Scott Keys Resigns 2008 07 07…

Real economyWhy GM Should Embrace Bankruptcy - Market MoversUK not OK - FT($)Real worldMuch of U.S. West Coast Under `Explosive' Fire Threat - BloombergAnglican Vote on Female Bishops Sparks Threat of Separation - BloombergAmerican Obesity…

Zeitenwende, a German-language blog from Switzerland I subscribe to made a very good point this past holiday weekend after the Dow reached bear territory. U.S. investors had lost 20% on the Dow, but European investors would have lost much…

Who says producers can't pass on rising costs? This is one of the reasons many economists fear commodity inflation; somehow it gets embedded into the system if it goes on too long.Procter & Gamble Co., the maker of Tide laundry…

We have lost one of the greatest stock pickers of all time. John Templeton passed away today.Global investor and philanthropist John Templeton has died at a hospital in the Bahamas. Spokesman Don Lehr said Templeton died Tuesday from…