derivatives

A massive $61.7 billion loss for AIG - that is the quarterly loss for the insurance giant, a record for the world. That comes to a loss of $465 $465,000 every minute of every day in that quarter. The full-year loss comes in over $100…

In my post TALF: A bailout if one reads the fine print, I did not make any comments about the quality of the assets to be used as collateral or the mechanics of the operation. While much of this information has already been supplied by the…

The TALF is a way for any and all comers, domestic and foreign, with toxic asset-backed securities, to dump those assets on to the U.S. government at taxpayers expense. This is happening right now right under your noses. At least the Fed…

Danielle, a European reader, recently asked what is going on in the European Union regarding mark-to-market. Basically, the EU has already relaxed mark-to-market requirements as an outgrowth of the market turbulence surrounding Lehman…

If you had read the Telegraph on February 12, you would be inclined to believe there might be even more toxic assets on European bank balance sheets than on American bank balance sheets. However, anyone who read the Telegraph later would…

Judging from recent events, the bond vigilantes are right to suspect that Ben Bernanke is all talk and no action when it comes to keeping long-term rates low. If you recall, I had actually believed the Fed would support bonds because it…

There is a lot of anecdotal fodder in support of my last post tagging deregulation as a root cause for the build up of excesses in the financial services industry. Let me give you one example from 1998.

With the economy weakening significantly around the globe, the budgets of sovereign nations are coming under increased pressure. As a result S&P has put a number of countries under review for potential credit downgrades. However, now,…

The credit default swaps (CDS) market is going to be a nightmare in 2009 because corporate bankruptcies are really picking up in the new year. The first major CDS settlement occurred yesterday and it was a near complete loss for sellers of…

FT Alphaville, one of my favorite blog sites, has the latest on Glencore and its credit default swaps. They are exploding to the downside for firms issuing insurance against Glencore's default. Here's Alphaville's chart: