credit cards

The problem is if “markets become skittish about Spain or Italy, which cannot be bailed out. So EU leaders will cut Greece loose” and indeed, there is talk about doing just that – allowing Greece to default. The policy of extend and pretend…

The mitigating factors are the recent manufacturing data and the pickup in small business credit. I especially like to see small business with access to and take up of credit because that could mean renewed hiring. The jobless claims…

Michael Pettis writes that in the current environment is that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are hurting, and last week’s minimum reserve hike – which came out the same day as the CPI number – will undoubtedly make things worse since…

The Chinese Seven Day Repo Rate has skyrocketed to a 3-year high, suggesting a cash shortage as credit tightens.

Legislation to modify debit-card interchange fees cannot compete with celebrity gossip. It is not surprising that lobbying efforts have changed the minds of 19 senators who formerly aligned themselves with consumers and small banks (to…

Listen to what Jeffrey Gundlach has to say about subprime bonds -- yes subprime. Hint: he thinks banks will have to take more credit writedowns.

An unsustainable rise in debt is, for me, one of the key indicators that the investment-driven model has passed its useful life and is generating negative growth while posting positive growth numbers. This is why I spend so much time trying…

You should notice that the title of this post is “make accounting gains” instead of “earned” because it is not clear at all that US banks earned $29 billion. After all, the FDIC has indicated that these accounting gains are driven by lower…

There is a difference between economic growth from mere factor mobilisation and economic growth from increased productivity. One requires a lot more capital investment and debt than the other. If and when capital investment growth slows,…

Frederick Sheehan argues that we are overleveraged, undercollateralized, and accentuating these unsustainable imbalances through economic policy to smooth out volatility.