Credit Writedowns

In the wake of recent statements by Chinese officials about the dollar and dollar assets (see our previous comments here, here and here), it does seem like the Chinese are avoiding dolar-based transactions: China and Argentina have made…

The website You Walk Away has become pretty popular because it teaches mortgage holders how to dump their properties on banks and get out from under their mortgage without losing everything. Apparently, banks are getting into the act too…

I like the fact that President Obama has drawn a line in the sand and signaled that no more funds will be given to U.S. automakers without their presenting a viable long-term plan for restructuring. Ultimately, the automakers cannot…

Standard and Poors had their hands full today cutting credit ratings.  They cut Ireland. But, they also cut Hungary, putting the country just above a junk credit rating.  I don't think these will be the last sovereign debt ratings…

In 2 hours I will be on BBC World News Today talking about the recent government actions involving the auto industry. Afterwards, I will have more to say about this here. In the meantime, here is what Barack Obama had to say.

Dunfermline, the largest uilding society in Scotland was forced into the hands of the Nationwide.  This happened only after the U.K. government was forced to pony up 1.6 billion pounds - not the best of news for Gordon Brown before a major…

Two weeks ago, the Fed roiled bond markets by signalling it would start to purchase Treasury bonds with printed money - the very definition of inflation.   Now, its the ECB's turn to show it can inflate with the best of them.  They have…

Spain is one of the original four bubble economies to implode.  This group includes the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland.  Unfortunately for the Spanish, in the wake of their property crash, things in Spain are looking particularly bleak with…

Zero Hedge: Exclusive: AIG Was Responsible For The Banks' January & February Profitability Basically Citi and BofA may have been telling tall tales about profitability in January and February. How a Modern Depression Might Look -- If…

While this bear market has been difficult, it does not compare to the 1930s as the graphs in this post indicate. And it's time to consider that the 2007-2009 bear market is almost over.