Credit Writedowns

EU governments have woken up to the need to defend the banking system by guaranteeing all or some of their citizens' bank deposits. After Germany, Ireland and Greece, Denmark is the latest to do so. And Denmark may also be the one country…

If you were away on Holiday this past week or just away from the hustle and bustle of civilisation this past weekend, you may have missed the firework in Europe. Basically, over the past week, what started as a U.S. subprime crisis and…

Fortis, the nationalised Belgo-Dutch bank and largest private employer in Belgium. This is a good thing as I have a distinct preference for mergers over bankruptcy or long-term nationalisation as a way to hep consolidate and rationalize…

I have been a bit on edge of late because of the credit crisis that is making headlines. Recently, a lot of people have been duped into believing that the economic crisis we are experiencing is not critical and have their eyes focused…

Facing a potential breakdown in its banking system, the German government has decided to offer a blanket guarantee to private savings deposits (see comments below from German blogger egghat about this distinction), much as Ireland and…

Very funny!

If you want a good laugh, take a look at what Graham Norwood reports in today's Guardian. House prices in Britain are going to rise -- a lot! Apparently, he forgot that house prices are falling at double digit rates and we are in the…

According to the Times of London, that's what Lehman's creditors seem to suggest in Lehman's bankruptcy filings. Apparently, JP Morgan cut Lehman off the night before it filed for bankruptcy and creditors are blaming this action for Lehman…

The NBC News anchor apparently has a sense of humor. I found this video on Brian Williams mimicking Sarah Palin via the Huffington Post. Maybe Brian was miffed because Palin decided to talk to Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson but left him…

Politico is reporting that the Democrats are on track to potentially reach a super-majority of sixty seats in the U.S. Senate. Sixty is a very important number in the Senate because it neuters any attempt by the opposing party to block…