Credit Writedowns

In reaction to recent comments about more stimulus by Laura Tyson, an advisor to President Obama, we have seen a host of commentators make their opinion known.  Here are two more  well regarded pundits: James Galbraith and Warren Buffett. …

This comes via the Nationwide website: As a responsible lender which aims to support its borrowers Nationwide has responded to market conditions and made an option available which enables some existing customers in negative equity to move…

Yves had a very good post yesterday called “Why Big Capital Markets Players Are Unmanageable” on banks: the former i-banks and commercial banks.  The biggest takeaway for me came from her statements regarding the level of responsibility…

The latest figures on claims for unemployment insurance in the United States were released this morning.  The data showed Initial claims of 565,000, putting the figure under 600,000 for the first time since January.  But, continuing claims…

The Nationwide, the world’s largest building society, is now bringing back the dreaded 125% mortgage.  While the lender claims these mortgages are a “niche product” designed for customers of Nationwide in negative equity, the Financial…

When news first broke regarding the ethnic tensions and violence in Xinjiang, China, I was not familiar with the situation there.  I have gotten up to speed and wanted to post a few videos and links for you on the situation there.…

Harlem’s Real Estate Boom Becomes a Bust - NYTimes.com It's not just luxury in Manhattan that is getting killed More losses are reported by Alcoa - BBC News Alcoa beat estimates. So, long story short, people like numbers. The…

The Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes alchemy as “a power or process of transforming something common into something special” or “aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold.”  Well, it seems Morgan…

The U.S. has been using the weakness of the UBS banking franchise to shake down the organization for the names of American clients suspected of using the bank to dodge taxes in the United States. As far as the Swiss government is concerned,…

I have been looking forward to the Alcoa (AA) earnings report, due out later today, because of what it suggests about the economy.  As the economy bottoms, the fortunes of cyclical companies that are leveraged to the overall state of…