derivatives

The meltdown of the world's largest insurer AIG (AIG) makes the stakes of this credit crisis plain to all. In my view, the AIG situation and the subsequent turmoil in financial markets could have been avoided. The markets were clearly on…

In yet another move by ratings agencies likely to roil markets, HBOS has been cut by S&P. Given the fact that HBOS is the biggest loser to date in the European banking sector in the wake of Lehman's collapse. This cannot be seen as…

Update Mar 2009: There is a pernicious little piece of historical revisionism going around that the Lehman bankuptcy did not matter. I am reposting this as a retort. Note the piece by James Suriowiecki which induced me to re-post: In…

In case you missed it, the financial system in the U.S. is near collapse. This weekend was unbelievable. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. The world's largest insurer AIG is looking for the Fed to help it avoid collapse and Merrill…

Update: 810 PM EDT: Rush Is On to Prevent A.I.G. From Failing Update: 1045 PM EDT: A.I.G. Seeks $40 Billion in Fed Aid to Survive Update: 810 AM EDT: See my post on what to expect this morning in the market and my (cursory) analysis of the…

The world of financial services in not looking terribly stable in the wake of the Frannie nationalization. In fact, things are as jumbled as they have ever been. The latest news has AIG down 30% and both WaMu and Lehman brothers on the…

Apparently, the answer is yes. Thirteen "major" dealers of credit-default swaps agreed "unanimously" that the rescue constitutes a credit event triggering payment or delivery of the companies' bonds, the International Swaps and Derivatives…

I posted yesterday that Nationwide had confirmed it was in advanced talks with both Cheshire and Derbyshire. Now, it seems the mergers are complete. However, it should be noted that these deals were done under duress (see post mentioned…

AIG has long been one of the largest and best-capitalized insurance and financial-services organization in the world. Before recent scandals, it was one of a few S&P 500 corporations in the U.S. with a AAA rating. Yet, it just reported…

In today's Financial Times, former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has taken the unusual step of playing market pundit even while his successor struggles to deal with the mighty financial turmoil he engendered. It is highly…