Credit Writedowns

GM details plans to wipe out current shareholders | Reuters General Motors Corp on Tuesday detailed plans to all but wipe out the holdings of remaining shareholders by issuing up to 60 billion new shares in a bid to pay off debt to the…

Jeremy Grantham is out with his quarterly update. And he has a number of investment themes worth mentioning.  First, I should mention that his global outlook is fairly downbeat: We are experiencing the most severe synchronized global…

I have been making bullish noises of late, but I am fully cognizant of all the downside risks.  So for the sake of presenting both sides to this argument, I want to highlight the ‘dark’ side in this post based on a book I have just read.…

I am watching Bernanke at the congressional hearing.  You can see his prepared testimony at CR here.  But, the general take on what he is saying is that the economy has reached its worst rate of decline and should improve steadily until it…

Today, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) released its Non-Manufacturing Survey on Business. The overall index increased to 43.7 in April from 40.8 in March.  As 50 is the demarcation line for a growing economy, these numbers…

As developments in the global auto industry continue apace, it is becoming increasingly evident that Fiat has fashioned itself as a change agent in an industry rife with overcapacity. While eyes in the U.S. are fixed on a Fiat-Chrysler…

FT.com - Spanish banks lead the way in risk management Spain's banks are beig praised for risk management, much as Canadian banks are. The Cajas are a different story. "Managers believe that this intense board-level focus on risk is one…

A post from Reuters in overnight trading in Asia caught my eye.  It proclaimed “Asia faces up to challenges of global crisis." What I found particularly interesting about the post was the fact that the Asians had set up a $120…

This comes via the Washington Post: The New York Times Co. said last night that it is notifying federal authorities of its plans to shut down the Boston Globe, raising the possibility that New England's most storied newspaper could…

Kate Kelly and Jon Hilsenrath have a story on the front of the Wall Street Journal today demonstrating the real problems with the revolving door between Wall Street and the regulators.  The essence of the story is this:  new York Fed…