credit

Last week, we heard that Australia's NAB had to take a massive writedown due to American CDO exposure (apparently triggered by Merrill Lynch). Yesterday, we heard about Australia's ANZ Bank taking it on the chin to the tune of $1.2 million…

I fully anticipate this will happen, so the question becomes: what will the Fed do?The FDIC stepped in at two banks over the weekend, 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank. These banks failed as a result of construction loans…

After the United States started its 'Guns and Butter' exercise under President Johnson and eventually de-linked from gold in 1971, its economy has become ever more leverage- and debt-propelled. Interestingly, the result has been a…

1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank, operating in Nevada, Arizona and California were taken over by the FDIC on Friday. They always wait until Friday night to do their business. This marks the first FDIC closure action…

The day is almost over for the market (thank goodness) and it seems that financal service investors are in panic mode again. The market is down over 250 points and some shares in financial services are down over 15%. What gives?As we may…

I just picked up on a MarketWatch article about 401(k) debit cards through Tim Iacono's blog. It marks a pretty astounding trend in financial innovation.Debit cards are straightforward. You use them for purchases and money is deducted from…

As the downturn gathers steam, lawsuits against financial firms are going to rise. Below is the latest in lawsuits. The associated WSJ article is available only to subscribers.New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is preparing to…

As an unofficial Eurosceptic, I always view EU power grabs through a lens of distrust. Now, the EU is looking to increase its power by further regulating financial markets. But, the heavy-handiness of the regulation surely will be…

In the aftermath of the Meltdown of the GSEs and the heavy-handed regulatory solution used to stem the tide, regional banks are in focus for investors as they stand to the take the brunt of short-selling. Financial services bears know full…

Just because the financials are in for a few further rounds of pain doesn't mean that quality financial institutions in the U.S. don't exist. There is a stark difference in the level of risk some institutions took during the heydays of the…