Credit Writedowns

Richard Fisher of the Dallas Fed shows that some of the Fed Presidents get it. He is now on record for saying that interest rate cuts won't solve America's credit crisis problems. In fact, interest rate cuts will make them much worse. If…

Judging from today's open on Wall Street, it looks like that's the question people are asking. Wachovia and NCC are the two companies under the heaviest selling pressure, both down about 20% already at 9:45.Remember that National City is…

I am going to do this round-up of news early because the news cycle is very fast. Top billing today is the WaMu bankruptcy and asset seizure by the FDIC and immediate asset purchase by JP Morgan Chase. Please see my synopsis here.There is…

JP Morgan Chase has taken over the deposit taking subsidiary of Washington Mutual. The transaction is effective immediately, meaning it has closed. This is the biggest deal in FDIC activity yet. Note: I originally heard this story just…

I caught this quote via Political Wire. It reminds me of Paul Wolfowiz's quote for why the Bush Administration used WMDs as the rationale for war in Iraq.Some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use…

Marshall Auerback here. Ed has had a few posts on the Swedish bailout plan with which I agree. I think the main political argument (made by Bo Lundgren in yesterday's NY Times) is that you have ZERO political legitimacy unless everybody…

The big news is about Paulson's Economic Patriot Act, which looks set to pass Congress. The ultimate question is in what guise the plan passes. Will it give the U.S. Treasury carte blanche or will Congress have oversight? What provisions…

When Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went bust, a number of major players were stung as the value of Fannie and Freddie preferred shares plummeted. Principal amongst these players was Gateway Bank, which had a huge percentage of bank capital…

I just watched a great clip of an interview Jim Chanos, the famous head of hedge fund Kynikos Associates, did with the FT's Gillian Tett (Hat tip FT Alphaville). Chanos does a very good job of arguing hat short sellers are being unfairly…

The interesting thing about the Paulson proposal is that it gives the U.S. Treasury carte blanche to buy any of these toxic assets at any price it chooses. This is relevant because of mark to market rules in FAS 157. I have posted a few…