Credit Writedowns

Barack Obama’s health insurance reform initiative is clearly foundering. So, his administration has pulled out the big guns. Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius on the Sunday morning talk shows. Obama himself had a prime time press…

Cockroaches future-proofed against climate change - New Scientist The G1 Burned Out Long Before The Android Ever Did I just bought a G1 literally two days ago. So far so good, but... I passed up a chance for the G2 because it has no…

Right now many economists believe the US economy is poised for recovery.  Even I believe the economy will recover by year’s end. But for the man in the street, things hardly look like a recovery right now. Harried by falling house…

Today, Swedbank, a Swedish bank with huge Baltic loan loss exposure, surprised investors with a second rights issue in less than a year.  In going to investors for more money, the company said its doing so in a fully underwritten deal…

Stock markets are seriously overbought right now.  But, the rally in shares has been bolstered by better than expected economic data and earnings reports.  I first pointed to a rally in shares in March, but I didn’t get fully onboard until…

Clive Crook - Obama took wrong turn on health Housing affordability at the highest level since 1996 - Telegraph This article uses the term 'undervalued.' You have to sceptical about that kind of terminology given how expensive housing…

It has been my thesis for some time that we are seeing a secular change in consumption patterns in the United States.  This will have grave implications for a world economy used to seeing the American consumer as an economic growth engine…

Many economic prognosticators believe Chinese consumption growth is key to a global economic recovery.  The US consumer, who had been the buyer of first and last resort during the bubble years, is tapped out and indebted.  The new engine of…

As I promised, I have more links. This time they all come from posts on top finance blogs over the past day or so.  I do expect to hit some of these topics in the coming days. Five questions for David Wessel | Free exchange |…

I am still playing catch up as I return from a two-week hiatus, but I do expect to be posting more starting next week.  There were a lot of interesting stories about recovery, health care, industrial production, consumer confidence…