bonds

I named my blog "Credit Writedowns" because I anticipated an historic wave of credit writedowns in the global banking system which would lead to a wave of deleveraging, systemic risk, and bank failures -- in short, a massive financial and…

Recently I wrote a post on the safety of investment assets in the wake of the Lehman and AIG meltdowns. Even still, retail and individual investors are noticeably nervous about the safety of their funds.Last night on the radio, I heard a…

Why did Lehman really fail? The equity window is effectively closed for most financial services companies. This fact was the true trigger for the meltdown in AIG and Lehman and the problems at WaMu, HBOS and Merrill Lynch. Moreover, it…

While everybody's focused on the 'good' news about the Fannie-Freddie bailout and they are partying like it's 1999, it might be a good time to slip in that bad news you were going to announce next week. Let's see if any company is crafty…

Last month, Hank Paulson, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, was waxing prosaically about covered bonds and their benefits to mortgage markets. From his comments, one gets the impression he sees this a potential solution to preventing a future…

Since June, bond yields have fallen to the point where the U.S. government is getting paid to borrow money right across the entire yield curve. The 10-year is 3.8%, while inflation in the U.S. is 5.6% . What gives? This is either a flight…

Warren Buffett has done pretty well for himself, amassing a net worth north of $50 billion. Yet, for all his detailed analysis and combing through financial reports, he has never said he models things out to the nth degree.In fact, Buffett…

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…

Berkshire Hathaway, the company led by Warren Buffett, is offering a five-year debt deal for the highest spread over treasurys in its history. As Berkshire is a low-risk AAA company, this fact reinforces the magnitude of credit market…

Hank Paulson, the U.S. Treasury Secretary has decided that the German Covered Bond is a solution to many of the woes of the U.S. housing market meltdown. He is backed by four large U.S. banks: Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase…