deleveraging

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…

Recently, the SEC restricted short selling on a list of 19 stocks because of turmoil following the Fannie-Freddie worries last week. In effect, the SEC was signaling that these institutions are too big to fail because a number of these…

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…

Merrill Lynch reported abysmal financial results yesterday, in marked contrast to JP Morgan Chase. The company was forced to take $9.5 billion in writedowns, leading to a loss in excess of $4.5 billion. The writedowns also forced Merrill…

Remember the money center banks' ludicrous attempt to pretty up those off-balance sheet vehicles via the 'Super SIV?' Well, that was a clear bust. But, the toxic waste in those vehicles is still there. Some of these vehicles have been…

Back in June, I wrote about financial investors in bank shares having lost $10 billion. Then, I predicted that losses would mount and bank shares will fall. It seems that one part of that equation is true already as bank shares have…

Looking at today's selling wave, a number of bank shares are down over 10% including Washington Mutual (WM), National City (NCC), Wachovia (WB), Zion (ZION). Many other shares are trading well into negative territory with share prices…