Credit Writedowns

This came in overnight via the FT.  Most of the shortfall in revenue is made up through spending cuts.  Below are the relevant paragraphs: The agreement involves cutting nearly $6bn from schools and community colleges and…

No Longer Alone, Ron Paul Fights the Fed - Real Time Economics - WSJ Paul's bill to audit Fed has 274 co-sponsors. Some bailout firms up lobbying spending in 2Q - Yahoo! Finance Increased lobbying plus climb in shares equals no…

This just hit the wires. NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), a leading provider of financing to small businesses and middle market companies, today announced that it entered into a $3 billion loan facility provided by a…

The bloggers at bloggers at UMKC’s economics blog have been making the case that California’s IOUs are a currency.  Randy Wray’s entry last Monday was particularly provocative because he suggests a movement to loosen national…

This comes via Brown Brothers Harriman. I have highlighted the parts of particular note. Macroeconomic Update: The economy has slowed along with the rest of the world, as China has become much more dependent on trade as it integrates…

This comes via David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff. The week that was After four weeks of decline with a total loss of 7.0%, the equity market turned in a like-sized gain this past week re-igniting the bulls. With tech leading the…

Back in April, I mentioned a story about BTA, a bank in Kazakhstan that had been nationalized by the state in February.  The interesting bit about the story was that interested parties from abroad (including Morgan Stanley) had…

Why is it that Jon Stewart, a comedian, has become the most able and trusted voice of investigative journalism into finance on television?  He spoke with the French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, something I find remarkable given…

The Best Bank You've Never Heard Of - Barrons.com "If you aren't familiar with Banco Santander yet, you soon will be. The Spanish giant is becoming one of the most profitable banks in the world." CIT near to sealing rescue…

Every country has a problem child or two in the financial services sector. America has Citigroup and Bank of America. Britain has RBS and HBOS/Lloyds.  And Germany has Hypo Real Estate.  I have been chronicling problems at the…