Credit Writedowns

I want to spread the love today, so I am highlighting some of the posts of my fellow bloggers out on the Internet. Most of us have noted that the economic data coming out recently really confirms the fact that we're in recession. What…

Recently, the U.S. Treasury forced government capital injections onto nine U.S. financial institutions (JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Citigroup, Wachovia, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley). While…

The U.S. industrial production numbers for September came out at 9:15ET this morning and they were very weak. However, it should be noted that the numbers were very distorted by lost production due to two hurricanes. Nevertheless,…

CNBC and other media sources are reporting that a number of hedge funds are collapsing under the weight of poor performance and massive fund redemption. Given the market volatility in credit, sick, bond and currency markets, it was only a…

Inflation was unchanged from the previous month in September, bringing the annual rate of inflation down to 4.9%. While the inflation rate is still elevated, the drop in oil and commodity prices combined with lower consumer spending is…

As we move beyond the market panic, we can zero in on the data that define the economy. Employment is one of four key areas that define the economy -- the others being production, earnings growth and consumer spending.So, jobless claims…

Jon Stewart had another very funny take on the political scene last night. He sees John McCain as a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein whose creation (an angry Republican base) has taken on a life of its own. Watch McCain's reactions to angry…

My last post's title "The panic is over" was a bit cheeky given the Dow was down an astounding 700-some points today. The crux of the matter is continued economic weakness due to slowing consumer spending. And that means more writedowns…

In 1999, Edward Chancellor wrote a wonderful book called "Devil Take The Hindmost," which I recommend to anyone who is interested in the history of bubbles, financial speculation, and market panics. In it, Chancellor traces the origins of…

Just moments ago Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a speech in which he said the following about Lehman Brother: "there was not enough collateral to support the lending." This was Bernanke's response to a question about whether…