financial news

Berkshire’s Munger Favors ‘100% Ban’ on Credit Swaps - Bloomberg.com Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Vice Chairman Charles Munger said he supports an outright ban of credit- default swaps to prevent speculators from profiting on the failure of…

Australian real estate values rise House and flat prices in Australia increased in value by 1.6% in the first three months of the year, according to RP Data-Rismark, helped by a scarcity of supply, lower interest rates and incentives to…

Obama has what he needs to restructure Chrysler - Telegraph President Barack Obama has what he needs to restructure Chrysler. With banks holding 70pc of Chrysler's secured debt agreeing to the US Treasury's 30 cents on the dollar offer,…

Holdouts Jeopardize Debt Plan for Chrysler - DealBook Blog - NYTimes.com You sorta knew this was coming: "some smaller banks and hedge funds are still balking at the terms, setting the stage for a tense final two days in which the fate…

Now on YouTube, an Outcry Against BofA’s Lewis - DealBook Blog - NYTimes.com "Ahead of Bank of America’s annual meeting on Wednesday, the activist filmmaker Robert Greenwald is helping lead the charge to fire Kenneth D. Lewis, the…

FT.com - How libertarian dogma led the Fed astray - Henry Kaufman The original Dr. Doom speaks. Hat tip Yves Smith. "The Federal Reserve has been hobbled by at least two major shortcomings that were primarily responsible for the current…

FT Alphaville » Just how big a problem is falling capacity utilisation? Nice reference to Austrian School economist Josef Steindl. "Former commodity mega-bulls Goldman Sachs are expecting markets to continue to pull back from current…

Optimism and the world economy | A glimmer of hope? | The Economist Apparently the Economist thinks this is a Fake Recovery too. "Optimism is one thing, but hubris that the world economy is returning to normal could hinder recovery and…

Markets Cheer Stress Test Double Speak - Yves Smith I think the title speaks for itself. Auctions for Troubled Property Loans Jump to the Web - NY Times Perhaps this additional channel for the loans will help clear the underlying…

FT.com - German business confidence rebounds A surprisingly sharp rise in German business confidence has provided further evidence that Europe’s largest economy is over the worst of its recession and is closer to returning to growth…