Germany

A week into the European leg of the meltdown of the global financial system, Germany has hit major turbulence. Hypo Real Estate, a member of the DAX-30, Germany's equivalent of the Dow Jones Industrial Average looks to be on the verge of…

Below is an article I wrote that appears in this morning's Guardian Newspaper in the UK. The crux of the article is that European politicians need to realise that their banks are not immune from the crisis that has hit the United States and…

I have only seen this story in Germany so far. The long and short is that this is a done deal. Deutsche Bank is expected to close the deal tomorrow. Helping to seal the deal is the fact that no layoffs are anticipated initially. This will…

In Germany, there are two major concerns at the momentThe biggest banking merger in Germany's history involving their #2 and #3 banks and Germany's largest company AllianzThe slowdown in the economyCommerz-DresdnerFirst is the…

In the biggest German banking merger in history, Commerzbank, the third largest in Germany, has reached an agreement with Allianz to buy its banking subsidiary Dresdner Bank, Germany's second largest, beating out an alleged better bid from…

Last month, Hank Paulson, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, was waxing prosaically about covered bonds and their benefits to mortgage markets. From his comments, one gets the impression he sees this a potential solution to preventing a future…

In Europe, there has been a lot of talk about Germany's second largest bank, Dresdner Bank, which is looking to get sold by its parent Allianz. Allianz, which also owns U.S. bond giant PIMCO, has had only trouble with Dresdner since it…

As far back as May, I had warned that commercial property was destined for a bust -- collateral damage in the real economy. In particular, I mentioned the U.S. commercial real estate (CRE) market as a particular problem for local and…

With sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) trolling the world for decent places to park their overflowing coffers of cash, the Germans have decided to stop them before they start.The German government has approved legislation that would enable it…

It's pretty much official now: Europe is in recession. As I predicted late last month, the Eurozone has hit stall speed with Germany now reporting a fall in GDP for the second quarter.The German economy, Europe's largest, contracted for the…