foreclosure

This is a very good explanatory piece from CNBC on how counterparty credit risk makes the credit default swap market a financial weapon of mass destruction.  Note they are not talking about eliminating the CDS market, but merely…

This is a video from Bloomberg Television yesterday. It underscores the fragility of this incipient recovery. You will notice that California is leading the way in terms of foreclosures, one reason the state will 00 bankrupt or be bailed…

Press reports coming out of Germany are suggesting that the Germans are looking to hook up Opel with Fiat in order to prevent a lot of job losses when General Motors goes under.  In my view, this means curtains for both Chrysler and GM and…

Marshall Auerback here. Remind me again what Larry Summers was talking about when he spoke of the US as being a "nation of laws", where "sanctity of contract" is sacrosanct? In a case of first impression that could have far-reaching…

The website You Walk Away has become pretty popular because it teaches mortgage holders how to dump their properties on banks and get out from under their mortgage without losing everything. Apparently, banks are getting into the act too…

I like the fact that President Obama has drawn a line in the sand and signaled that no more funds will be given to U.S. automakers without their presenting a viable long-term plan for restructuring. Ultimately, the automakers cannot…

In 2 hours I will be on BBC World News Today talking about the recent government actions involving the auto industry. Afterwards, I will have more to say about this here. In the meantime, here is what Barack Obama had to say.

Dunfermline, the largest uilding society in Scotland was forced into the hands of the Nationwide.  This happened only after the U.K. government was forced to pony up 1.6 billion pounds - not the best of news for Gordon Brown before a major…

It is looking like Saab is toast. This comes from Dagens Nyheter, a Swedish daily (note: I originally saw this covered in the Austrian daily Kurier):

Update: 18 Mar 2008. I am reposting this entry from Feb 10th because it is relevant to the need to liquidate insolvent institutions like AIG that are now getting bailouts.