ECB

Yesterday morning, I did the first weekly newsletter on my ten surprises for 2012. Here's a brief version of the list.

Welcome to Credit Writedowns Pro. This is the first post in a series here. Let me start this Byron Wien-style and make a predictions list. Wien defines his surprises as events to which investors assign 1-in-3 odds of happening but which he…

It is my view that the ECB is now the only thing between the economy and widespread bank failures, but I also concur that the consequence of this is a permanent outsourcing of the interbank market in Europe to the ECB's balance sheet and,…

This morning’s swan dive in the euro stopped the Santa rally right in its tracks. We have two questions: 1) Has the ECB shot its wad as the lender of last resort providing massive liquidity to the banking system and leaving little…

Yet another rescue plan for the EMU is making its way through central Europe—with the ECB acting as lender of last resort to Euro-banks. It is trying the tried-and-failed Fed method of rescue. As we now know the Fed lent and spent over $29…

The bottom line is that Italy is both too big to fail and too big to be bailed out, which is why it is still hanging dangerously in limbo-land. Since, as I argue in this article, some sort of restructuring or other is well nigh inevitable…

News links for 22 December 2011 including stories on the tech world, Europe, and the ECB

Who says the ECB can't keep up with the Fed. As the euro crisis has caused liquidity for euro zone banks to dry up, the ECB has taken on the intermediation role. In essence, they have taken on the dollar liquidity function that the US money…

Listen: they can go kicking and screaming all they want to but, unless they’re on board to with ending the euro, it seems likely that the rich nations in Northern Europe will end up bailing out their poorer brethren. Whether they call it a…

The end of year is usually a good time for markets. There was a lot of angst about the European situation a few weeks ago, but there is less of that now because we're hitting year-end (tape painting). Does that mean the credit crisis…