Credit Writedowns

L. Randall Wray has a post up at New Deal 2.0 which puts forward an idea which is pretty innovative. I would label it a private sector replacement for unemployment insurance. It’s the kind of thinking that might bring Obama out of a policy…

You could see this one coming given the humiliating circumstances under which the German Chancellor learned that GM was pulling out of the Magna deal. The BBC is now reporting that Germany will give General Motors no aid to restructure…

Tim Geithner has issued a Code Red on the U.S. dollar, but he doesn’t think Americans can handle it. I believe deeply that it’s very important to the United States, to the economic health of the United States, that we maintain a strong…

Citigroup has been losing tens of billions of dollars over the past two years as the financial crisis has unfolded. If one considers the government capital that Citi has not paid back, the bank is clearly the weakest of the four largest…

You have probably heard the term money illusion.  I want to coin a related new term called unemployment rate illusion because I think it is significant in light of some of the things David Rosenberg said earlier today about the…

David Rosenberg thinks the unemployment rate is headed much higher than anyone anticipates.  If you recall, back in January when the stimulus package was crafted, the Obama Administration felt that passing the bill would mean an…

Bear Juror Says U.S. Case So Weak She’d Invest With Defendants - Bloomberg.com Russia Warns of Gas Crisis as Ukraine Faces Financial Turmoil - Bloomberg.com Staatsbank HRE verliert 1,7 Milliarden Euro - Spiegel Online WNYC -…

I have really started to dislike municipal bonds as an asset class. They have seen a huge rally along with almost every other financial asset but the underlying fundamentals are weak because of financial distress at states and…

Bond insurer Ambac Financial has warned bankruptcy is a distinct possibility, sending its shares plummeting more than 30% today. What is intriguing about this pending bankruptcy is how this company escaped bankruptcy in 2008, was…

Tilson is saying what I have been saying, namely that March saw an increased number of attractive buys, but most of these are now fully priced. As a result, he is selling equities - even building up his net short positions. Unlike bear…