banks

UBS reported a loss of 358 million Swiss Francs ($332 million) after writing down a further $5.1 billion in debt.In my post yesterday, I said the market expected as much. But, more importantly UBS has confirmed plans also mentioned in…

I wish it were not so, but it is increasingly obvious that every part of the financial sector in the United States is infected by this menacing plague of credit losses and writedowns. Now it comes to light that the five biggest U.S. credit…

Let's hope the UBS earnings report is not as bad as Merrill. If you recall, Citi, Merrills and UBS are the three worst offenders when it comes to writedowns. Given the recent asset sales by RBS and Merrill, one would expect to see some…

A credit writedown is a reduction in the value of an asset as it is carried on a company's balance sheet. As these losses must also be reflected on the income statement, credit writedowns result in massive losses.

After RBS's writedowns on Friday, Bloomberg estimated that we have had nearly $500 billion in writedowns in the so-called 'sub-prime' crisis to date.Barclays, Britain's third-biggest bank, had first-half writedowns of 2.8 billion pounds, it…

Another blurb on David Rosenberg of Merrill Lynch, this time from the Globe & Mail in Canada where Rosenberg is from. This one is more about Merrill and its culture than Rosenberg. The paper points out the irony of Rosenberg being the…

National City is one of the regionals under the greatest pressure and scrutiny. This Friday afternoon announcement has to make deposit- and shareholders alike very nervous.National City Corp., Ohio's largest bank, said the U.S. Securities…

When we have a major economic dislocation, there is always some aspect of criminal behavior involved. As a result, the governmental authorities look for specific companies and individuals to use as scapegoats for all of the ills of the…

The auction rate securities lawsuit bonanza is the gift that keeps giving for litigation attorneys. Bank Of America is the latest bank to be caught up in this dance. Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. commercial bank, said Thursday…

After a week's holiday, I have a huge backlog of stories on offer. Below are the latest writedown stories from the web that I have seen. For the full timeline of news, visit my credit crisis timeline.Also see my list of Bankrupt Global…