Credit Writedowns

Here's a good little measure to see how far we've fallen: Just more than 1 year ago Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) paid $100bn for ABN Amro (80% cash). For this amount, RBS could buy:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics just released this month's unemployment report and the data were grim.  The unemployment rate rose to 6.7%, while the economy shed 533,000 jobs - the largest decline since 1974.  The result was widely expected…

I wrote a few weeks back about how your bailout money was being used for mergers and acquisitions to line bankers' pockets instead of for making loans to desperate homeowners. After receiving $25 billion in bailout funds, Citigroup…

Snowbound Marshall is doing an admirable job running things while I sun myself in the Bahamas (rubbing it in, eh?). You may remember Marshall from his days as a writer for Prudent Bear. Please do comment on his posts as he will respond in…

Marshall here. Slowly but surely, the Treasury is beginning to move more aggressively on providing help to homeowners, as opposed to bankers. This makes sense: A financial meltdown and housing deflation cannot be cured simply by pumping…

Quite a punchy speech from the Fed Chairman, especially the conclusion, which suggests big support ahead for housing: In this regard, reducing the number of preventable foreclosures would not only help families stay in their homes, it…

Marshall here, as Ed is busy sunning himself in the Bahamas, whilst I am stuck in snowy Denver! It sounds as if JMP Securities has also read the California report that I discussed recently. This is the first outside source that I have…

U.S. Jobless claims are out again and the data are mixed. The past week saw a drop in seasonally-adjusted claims from 530,000 to 509,000. Meanwhile, continuing claims rose on a seasonally-adjusted basis from 3,962,000 to 4,087,000. While…

I wanted to leave you all with a few links to interesting articles while I am away on holiday.