bankruptcy

The credit default swaps (CDS) market is going to be a nightmare in 2009 because corporate bankruptcies are really picking up in the new year. The first major CDS settlement occurred yesterday and it was a near complete loss for sellers of…

As the New Year unfolds, it is time for predictions. I have done my part, giving a full account of where I see things headed in 2009 in my post "Top ten predictions for the 2009 global economy" and where I want to see them headed in 2009 in…

There has been a general outcry for economic stimulus on the part of the North American, U.K. and Eurozone federal governments to counteract the fall in private sector consumption. In the U.S. and the U.K. in particular, this message is…

In my most recent post, I gave a fairly comprehensive retrospective of the year that was. Near the end of that post, I listed a number of posts I wrote in Octobr and November which point to how I see 2009 shaping up. Let me give you a…

It wasn't until I read about a massive writedown by a German bank associated with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers that I started to connect the dots. But, there is a hidden flaw in our accounting system which accounts for some of the…

Another Friday night in America means another bank goes bust. This week, it's two banks: Haven Trust of Georgia nd Sanderson State of Texas. BB&T is stepping in for the deposits at Haven Trust. And Pecos is taking the deposits at…

The Economist does a very good post-mortem on Iceland and its spectacular collapse with a number of lessons for other countries, especially those with oversized financial sectors like Ireland, Switzerland and the U.K.  Below is a snippet…

The Tribune was simply over-leveraged with a balance sheet made for this age of debt, leverage and bubbles. Note the lack of equity and the enormous debt load. Why would anyone, especially someone as savvy as Sam Zell load up a declining…

In a shocking news story, the Wall Street Journal reports that the media company Tribune Company, which publishes the Chicago Tribune, is exploring bankruptcy.  While advertising revenue has contracted significantly, impacting all major…

When a bank with $2.2 trillion in assets is saved from potential ruin, it is big news. So, as you can imagine, every one and his brother has a take on what went wrong at Citigroup and whether the solution to 'fix' Citi was the right one.…