Monthly Archives: March 2008

March 31, 2008

• Links April Fools Day
  by Yves Smith 11:54 pm

• "Fed eyes Nordic-style nationalisation of US banks"
  by Yves Smith 3:48 pm

• Bill Gross: New Regulation Will Lower Investment Bank Profits
  by Yves Smith 2:57 pm

• Lessons from Japan Versus Wishful US Prescriptions (Summers/De Long Edition)
  by Yves Smith 5:21 am

• Quelle Surprise! Selling Fads to Investors Backfires
  by Yves Smith 2:53 am

• Citigroup to Separate Card Business
  by Yves Smith 1:25 am

• Food Stamp Use to Reach Record Level
  by Yves Smith 12:45 am

• Links 3/31/08
  by Yves Smith 12:09 am

March 30, 2008

• "The Little Administration That Couldn’t"
  by Yves Smith 1:56 am

• Links 3/30/08
  by Yves Smith 12:58 am

March 29, 2008

• My Nomination for Lie of the Year
  by Yves Smith 11:15 pm

• Hedge Funds: "It’s a bloodbath"
  by Yves Smith 11:06 pm

• Credit Crunch Leaves No Debt Market Unscathed
  by Yves Smith 2:55 am

• Paulson’s Cosmetic, Cynical Financial Regulation "Reform"
  by Yves Smith 1:39 am

March 28, 2008

• Links 3/29/08
  by Yves Smith 11:23 pm

• SEC Gives Permission to Fudge Mark-to-Market
  by Yves Smith 11:05 pm

• Bloomberg Pronounces Hope for Subprimes Based on Single Deal
  by Yves Smith 8:40 am

• Chinese Avoiding Dollar as Invoicing Currency
  by Yves Smith 7:33 am

• Lack of Arbitrage Producing High Futures Prices for Ag Commodities
  by Yves Smith 7:21 am

• Links 3/28/08
  by Yves Smith 7:12 am

March 27, 2008

• "India’s love affair with gold tarnishing"
  by Yves Smith 11:09 pm

• Quelle Surprise! Credit Card Delinquencies Rising
  by Yves Smith 4:18 pm

• Cayne Throws in Towel on Bear Sale
  by Yves Smith 4:16 pm

• Robert Shiller Makes Bogus Defense of Financial Innovation
  by Yves Smith 6:15 am

• The Failure of Finance
  by Yves Smith 3:50 am

• "Why Did Financial Globalization not Deliver the Goods?"
  by Yves Smith 2:28 am

• Links 3/27/08
  by Yves Smith 12:45 am

March 26, 2008

• AIG: "Paulson Calls For Weaker Dollar"
  by Yves Smith 5:09 pm

• More Bad News About Bank Earnings
  by Yves Smith 4:23 am

• Wolf: Free Market Capitalism Just Passed Its Peak
  by Yves Smith 4:06 am

• Is the Latest Liquidity Crunch in Remission?
  by Yves Smith 3:30 am

• Links 3/26/08
  by Yves Smith 2:36 am

• So How Much Will the Public Pay for Those Bailouts?
  by Yves Smith 12:29 am

March 25, 2008

• Goldman: Wall Street Faces $460 Billion in Debt Writedowns
  by Yves Smith 5:19 pm

• Are the Feds Manipulating the Stock Market?
  by Yves Smith 12:08 pm

• Junk Bond Losses at $35 Billion This Year, Expected to Rise
  by Yves Smith 11:10 am

• "Grim Outlook" for JP Morgan
  by Yves Smith 3:28 am

• Zombies Stalk Private Equity
  by Yves Smith 2:41 am

• Fitch Repeats Error that Led to Bad Subprime Calls
  by Yves Smith 2:17 am

• Links 3/25/08
  by Yves Smith 12:52 am

March 24, 2008

• Bear: Did the Fed and Treasury Push Too Hard?
  by Yves Smith 11:01 pm

• Setser: Foreign Buys of US Assets Increasing Dislocation
  by Yves Smith 9:38 am

• It’s Official: JP Morgan Capitulates, Raises Bear Offer to $10 a Share
  by Yves Smith 9:17 am

• Some Subprime Debt Valued at 5 Cents on the Dollar
  by Yves Smith 3:30 am

• Japan Says US Financial Crisis Worse Than Its Bust, Urges Government to Recapitalize Banks
  by Yves Smith 3:16 am

• Does Bear Have JP Morgan Over a Barrel?
  by Yves Smith 1:28 am

• Links 3/24/08
  by Yves Smith 12:24 am

March 23, 2008

• Traders Expect Intervention Following Further Dollar Decline
  by Yves Smith 11:02 pm

• Willem Buiter: Sanctity as Idolatry
  by Yves Smith 3:29 am

• Did the Fed Prevent a Financial Chernobyl?
  by Yves Smith 2:52 am

• Why an Economic Slowdown May Not Contain Inflation
  by Yves Smith 2:34 am

• "How sovereign wealth funds were left nursing multibillion losses"
  by Yves Smith 1:22 am

• Links Happy Easter
  by Yves Smith 12:52 am

March 22, 2008

• China Tries to Goose Flagging Stock Market
  by Yves Smith 3:13 am

• Overlevered Brits Facing Their Day of Reckoning
  by Yves Smith 2:14 am

• Links 3/22/08
  by Yves Smith 2:04 am

• Desperate Central Bankers to Bail Out MBS Market? (Not Yet, Perhaps….)
  by Yves Smith 12:08 am

March 21, 2008

• Why Didn’t Bear Use its Credit Lines?
  by Yves Smith 3:28 pm

• Links Good Friday
  by Yves Smith 2:49 am

• IMF: Commodity Prices "Part Speculative"
  by Yves Smith 12:32 am

• Extreme Measures V and VI; Drop Mark-to-Market; Beg Oil Producers to Rescue Banks
  by Yves Smith 12:16 am

March 20, 2008

• Treasury Hoarding Leads to Dramatic Increase in Repo Fails
  by Yves Smith 4:20 pm

• Dead Cat Bounce?
  by Yves Smith 3:58 pm

• Commodities Plunge Continues
  by Yves Smith 10:13 am

• Credit Suisse Bombshell: Surprise Warning of 1Q Loss
  by Yves Smith 3:19 am

• Deflation Watch: US Short Term Rates Fall Below Japan’s
  by Yves Smith 2:58 am

• Link 3/20/08
  by Yves Smith 1:17 am

March 19, 2008

• Primary Dealers Get Flattering Marks on Collateral for Fed Loans
  by Yves Smith 11:42 pm

• Citigroup: The "Great Unwind" Has Begun
  by Yves Smith 11:28 pm

• Are European Banks in Trouble?
  by Yves Smith 3:14 pm

• Banks Cut Unsold Buyout Loan Inventories
  by Yves Smith 2:41 pm

• Are Hedge Funds a Scam?
  by Yves Smith 5:56 am

• Quelle Surprise! Wall Street Reluctant to Borrow at New Discount Window
  by Yves Smith 4:18 am

• "Falling Interest Rates Explain Rising Commodity Prices"
  by Yves Smith 2:56 am

• Link 3/19/08
  by Yves Smith 1:13 am

March 18, 2008

• Systemic Risk From an Outsized Fannie and Freddie?
  by Yves Smith 5:33 am

• Mohamed El-Erian Argues for Propping Up Asset Prices
  by Yves Smith 5:17 am

• "The euro could surpass the dollar within ten years"
  by Yves Smith 3:50 am

• Commodities: "The big fall is coming"
  by Yves Smith 3:10 am

• Links 3/18/08
  by Yves Smith 1:42 am

March 17, 2008

• Veterans Granville, Stovall See More Declines; Abby Joseph Cohen Muzzled
  by Yves Smith 1:50 pm

• Commodity Price Break?
  by Yves Smith 1:36 pm

• "US losing confidence vote as investors flee"
  by Yves Smith 4:29 am

• How the Prisoner’s Dilemma and Unintended Consequences are Accelerating the Credit Crisis
  by Yves Smith 3:08 am

• Greenspan Now Blames the Risk Models
  by Yves Smith 2:22 am

• Links 3/17/08
  by Yves Smith 1:34 am

March 16, 2008

• 2016 Oil Contract Rise Above $100 a Barrel
  by Yves Smith 11:10 pm

• Fed Opens Discount Window to Broker Dealers
  by Yves Smith 11:07 pm

• Bear Buy, Fed Moves (Update 2)
  by Yves Smith 11:01 pm

• Scramble to Put a JP Morgan-Bear Deal Together
  by Yves Smith 4:22 pm

• Bear Death Watch: Update and Nightmare Scenarios
  by Yves Smith 5:22 am

• "We may just have started to feel the pain"
  by Yves Smith 5:16 am

• "A world addicted to easy credit must go cold turkey "
  by Yves Smith 1:57 am

• Links 3/16/08
  by Yves Smith 1:21 am

March 15, 2008

• "Character and Capitalism"
  by Yves Smith 5:00 am

• "Financial system must tap the taxpayer"
  by Yves Smith 3:22 am

• Links 3/15/08
  by Yves Smith 2:40 am

• "Debt Reckoning: U.S. Receives a Margin Call"
  by Yves Smith 1:41 am

March 14, 2008

• Bear Death Watch: Why It Failed
  by Yves Smith 11:59 pm

• Bear Bailout: Is No One Too Small to Fail?
  by Yves Smith 12:53 pm

• Krugman: Fed is Running Out of Tricks
  by Yves Smith 3:48 am

• How Will Washington Finesse a Bailout?
  by Yves Smith 3:16 am

• Links 3/14/08
  by Yves Smith 12:52 am

March 13, 2008

• "War costs and costs and costs"
  by Yves Smith 11:14 pm

• Is That S&P Forecast of Subprime "Bottom" Good News?
  by Yves Smith 11:04 pm

• The Administration’s Cosmetic Credit Market Reform
  by Yves Smith 2:53 am

• "Is US Inflation at 8%?"
  by Yves Smith 2:41 am

• Dollar, Asian Stocks Tank on Carlyle Capital Collapse, Credit Market Worries
  by Yves Smith 1:37 am

March 12, 2008

• "‘Lopsided’ CDS market poses danger"
  by Yves Smith 11:26 pm

• Links 3/13/08
  by Yves Smith 11:19 pm

• Monoline Death Watch: Moody’s to Grade Munis on Same Scale as Corporates
  by Yves Smith 11:10 pm

• Dolphin Rescues Beached Whales
  by Yves Smith 6:20 pm

• Barney Frank Threatens to Kill Muni Bond Insurance Business
  by Yves Smith 11:20 am

• Hamilton: The Fed Cannot Solve the Credit Crisis
  by Yves Smith 2:32 am

• Martin Wolf Reads Too Much Roubini and Freaks Out
  by Yves Smith 1:34 am

March 11, 2008

• Links 3/12/08
  by Yves Smith 11:55 pm

• Will Bank Recapitalization Require US Government Sponsorship?
  by Yves Smith 11:06 pm

• Clinton/Obama Video
  by Yves Smith 8:41 pm

• Fed to the Rescue of Fannie and Freddie
  by Yves Smith 11:25 am

• Moody’s and S&P Avoid Cutting Ratings on AAA Subprime
  by Yves Smith 4:08 am

• Self-Inflicted Wounds and Mutual Assured Destruction
  by Yves Smith 2:55 am

• CDOs: Murky Deal Documents Compound Woes
  by Yves Smith 1:34 am

• Asian Bonds Hit by Credit Panic
  by Yves Smith 12:22 am

March 10, 2008

• Links 3/11/08
  by Yves Smith 11:55 pm

• Hedge Funds Hit As Banks Impose Tougher Margin Requirements
  by Yves Smith 8:28 am

• No Exit: Will "A Short Financial Crisis Become a Long One"?
  by Yves Smith 3:33 am

• "Financial Models Should Come With Health Warnings"
  by Yves Smith 2:53 am

• Links 3/10/08
  by Yves Smith 2:13 am

• Banks Clamp Down Harder on Credit Card Borrowers
  by Yves Smith 12:16 am

March 9, 2008

• Ambac Updates: Spitzer Twisted Arms; More on Tape Painting
  by Yves Smith 11:29 pm

• On Krugman’s Worries and the Breakdown of the Securitization Model
  by Yves Smith 3:41 am

• Why Investors Are Down on Fannie Mae
  by Yves Smith 3:29 am

• Mirable Dictu! A Good Column by Ben Stein!
  by Yves Smith 1:09 am

• Links 3/9/08
  by Yves Smith 12:03 am

March 8, 2008

• Covert Nationalization of the Banking System
  by Yves Smith 4:29 am

• Hamilton: Negative Real Interest Rates Feeding Commodities Bubble
  by Yves Smith 4:09 am

• "Sense of crisis haunts trading floors"
  by Yves Smith 3:09 am

• MBIA Tells Nasty Fitch to Go Away; Ambac’s Friends Manipulate Market
  by Yves Smith 2:34 am

• Links 3/8/08
  by Yves Smith 1:57 am

March 7, 2008

• Fed Fund Rate Predictions
  by Yves Smith 9:33 pm

• Fed Increases the Term Auction Facility
  by Yves Smith 10:59 am

• Fisher: Don’t Expect the Fed to Bail You Out
  by Yves Smith 5:32 am

• "Vicious spiral haunts debt markets"
  by Yves Smith 5:03 am

• Honey, I Blew Up the Bank
  by Yves Smith 4:46 am

• Credit Swaps Feedback Loops Raising Corporate Borrowing Costs
  by Yves Smith 3:57 am

• LInks 3/7/08
  by Yves Smith 2:51 am

March 6, 2008

• Citi To Shrink Mortgage Portfolio by $45 Billion
  by Yves Smith 5:15 pm

• Credit Markets "Utterly Unhinged"
  by Yves Smith 3:36 pm

• Blankfein Upbeat; Gross Distorts Data and Calls for Federal Rescue
  by Yves Smith 4:50 am

• "The Mother of All Writedowns"?
  by Yves Smith 2:33 am

• The Fed: A Pollyanna on Inflation
  by Yves Smith 1:58 am

• Time for the Post-Friedman Era?
  by Yves Smith 12:37 am

• Links 3/6/08
  by Yves Smith 12:08 am

March 5, 2008

• Ambac Equity Raising Only 60% of Earlier Target
  by Yves Smith 2:25 pm

• Interbank Lending Squeeze May Be Back
  by Yves Smith 2:07 pm

• "Fears of a commodity crash grow"
  by Yves Smith 4:40 am

• Martin Wolf Worries About Rising Commodity Prices
  by Yves Smith 3:41 am

• Unemployment Stats Attracting More Skeptics
  by Yves Smith 2:57 am

• Monoline Death Watch: California Sells Big Unisured Issue; Marty Whitman Sounds Off
  by Yves Smith 2:25 am

• Links 3/5/08
  by Yves Smith 1:01 am

March 4, 2008

• Banks Plan Pay Code to Head Off Backlash
  by Yves Smith 5:59 pm

• Commodity Prices Reverse Sharply
  by Yves Smith 2:17 pm

• Five Year TIPS Yields Below Zero
  by Yves Smith 2:09 pm

• Credit Market Woes: Don’t Count on Foreign Rescuers
  by Yves Smith 2:35 am

• Willem Buiter Savages Wishful Thinking in Lieu of Banking Reform
  by Yves Smith 1:46 am

• Links 3/4/08
  by Yves Smith 12:49 am

• Ambac Reverses Course, Decides Not to Split
  by Yves Smith 12:36 am

• Brokerage Firms Cut Back Lending, Increasing Credit Crunch
  by Yves Smith 12:05 am

March 3, 2008

• MBIA Financials in Doubt
  by Yves Smith 9:12 pm

• Rating Agency Conflicts in Munis Coming Under Fire
  by Yves Smith 4:54 am

• Surprise! Commercial Real Estate Woes Will Hit Wall Street
  by Yves Smith 3:33 am

• Links 3/3/08
  by Yves Smith 2:07 am

• Did Increased Income Disparity Help Cause the Depression?
  by Yves Smith 12:53 am

• Yen Rises Above 103; Carry Trade Unwinding
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

March 2, 2008

• Ben Stein is Exxon Mobil
  by Yves Smith 3:24 am

• Spare the Rod, Spoil the Sexual Deviant?
  by Yves Smith 3:10 am

• Surprise! It’s Rough Out There in the Job Market
  by Yves Smith 12:52 am

• Links 3/2/08
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

March 1, 2008

• US Bankruptcy Trustees Ask for Sanctions Against Countrywide
  by Yves Smith 5:29 am

• Krugman: Trade Data Not Good Enough to Analyze Impact on Wages
  by Yves Smith 5:17 am

• Links 3/1/08 + Pic
  by Yves Smith 5:05 am

• Buffett on the Dollar and Trade Deficits
  by Yves Smith 3:56 am

• Unhappy Investors Seize Failed Bear Stearns Hedge Funds
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am