Monthly Archives: December 2007

December 31, 2007

• "Banking system’s problems at heart of the bear case"
  by Yves Smith 3:52 am

• Holiday Special: Something That Changed My Perspective (#6)
  by Yves Smith 2:55 am

• Links New Year’s Eve
  by Yves Smith 2:34 am

• WSJ on Mortgage Lender Lobbying to Limit Regulation
  by Yves Smith 1:36 am

December 30, 2007

• New York Times on Innovation: Old Medicine in New Bottles
  by Yves Smith 4:45 am

• Holiday Special: Something That Changed My Perspective (#5)
  by Yves Smith 3:50 am

• Links 12/30/07
  by Yves Smith 2:33 am

December 29, 2007

• How the Republicans Have Become Prisoner of Their Own Ideology
  by Yves Smith 4:08 am

• Caps on Medical Malpractice Awards Deter Lawsuits, Perhaps Too Well
  by Yves Smith 3:14 am

• Holiday Special: Something That Changed My Perspective (#4)
  by Yves Smith 1:10 am

• Links 12/29/07
  by Yves Smith 12:05 am

December 28, 2007

• Drake Restricts Withdrawals From Largest Hedge Fund
  by Yves Smith 6:47 pm

• Is the Future of the Euro in Doubt?
  by Yves Smith 2:52 am

• More Money Funds Being Rescued
  by Yves Smith 2:33 am

• Dow Jones Pubs Tell Us Financiers are Hurting
  by Yves Smith 2:26 am

• "Citigroup, Goldman Cut LBO Overhang With Discounts Up to 10% "
  by Yves Smith 2:21 am

• Holiday Special: Something That Changed My Perspective (#3)
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

December 27, 2007

• Links 12/28/07
  by Yves Smith 11:32 pm

• Goldman Forecast: Citi, Merrill, JP Morgan May Write Down $34 Billion
  by Yves Smith 4:10 pm

• Wall Street Journal’s Cursory Story on Collateralized Debt Obligations
  by Yves Smith 3:57 am

• Edward Glaeser on Whether Open Markets Contribute to Growth
  by Yves Smith 2:28 am

• Holiday Special: Something That Changed My Perspective (#2)
  by Yves Smith 1:04 am

• Links 12/27/07
  by Yves Smith 12:41 am

• Train Wreck Coming: Companies Can Cut Retiree Health Benefits at Age 65
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

December 26, 2007

• Case-Shiller: Home Prices Fell 6.1% in October
  by Yves Smith 10:36 am

• Holiday Special: Something That Changed My Perspective (#1)
  by Yves Smith 12:55 am

• Are the Recent Central Bank Liquidity Injections a Sham?
  by Yves Smith 12:46 am

• BlackRock Cash Fund Suspends Some Redemptions, Downgraded to Junk
  by Yves Smith 12:15 am

• Links 12/26/07
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

December 25, 2007

• Menzie Chinn: The Role of Looting in the Subprime Mess
  by Yves Smith 1:59 am

• SIV Cheyne in Refinancing Deal with Goldman
  by Yves Smith 12:52 am

• Links Christmas Day 2007
  by Yves Smith 12:10 am

• Christmas Extravaganza in…..Orlando
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

December 24, 2007

• It’s Official: $6.2 Billion Investment in Merrill by Singapore’s Temasek, Davis
  by Yves Smith 10:12 am

• Ben Stein Addendum
  by Yves Smith 3:34 am

• Holiday Internet Sales Fall Short of Forecasts
  by Yves Smith 3:17 am

• "Superfund collapse ‘embarrassing’ to Treasury"
  by Yves Smith 2:54 am

• Links: Christmas Eve 2007
  by Yves Smith 12:49 am

December 23, 2007

• "The NYT Doesn’t Get It on Trade"
  by Yves Smith 2:59 am

• Links 12/23/07
  by Yves Smith 2:39 am

• Saudis Plan Mother of All Sovereign Wealth Funds
  by Yves Smith 2:27 am

December 22, 2007

• Are High Oil Prices Worsening Global Warming?
  by Yves Smith 1:56 am

• Will the Subprime Borrower Salvage Operation Reduce Mortgage Lending?
  by Yves Smith 12:20 am

• Links 12/22/07
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

December 21, 2007

• SIV Rescue Plan: RIP
  by Yves Smith 9:53 pm

• Investors No Longer Value Muni Bond Insurance
  by Yves Smith 6:47 pm

• Possible Threat to WTO Structure Defused
  by Yves Smith 6:41 pm

• "No more easy cash: banks must take their losses"
  by Yves Smith 3:56 am

• Links 12/21/07
  by Yves Smith 3:33 am

• UBS Shareholders Oppose Investment
  by Yves Smith 3:12 am

• Merrill May Get $5 Billion Cash Infusion From Singapore Investment Company
  by Yves Smith 2:09 am

• Wall Street Journal’s Cursory Story on Mortgage Fraud
  by Yves Smith 1:37 am

• "Fatwa Against the Dollar?"
  by Yves Smith 12:22 am

December 20, 2007

• MBIA’s $8.1 Billion CDO Squared Bombshell
  by Yves Smith 6:29 pm

• Links 12/20/07
  by Yves Smith 2:20 am

• Yet More Trouble For Bear?
  by Yves Smith 2:05 am

• "Here Comes Another Bubble"
  by Yves Smith 1:17 am

• So How Did Morgan Stanley Lose That $9.4 Billion?
  by Yves Smith 12:13 am

December 19, 2007

• We Are One Year Old
  by Yves Smith 1:47 pm

• S&P Lowers Outlook on Bond Insurers
  by Yves Smith 1:33 pm

• Morgan Stanley 4Q Loss Bigger Than Forecast: China Invests $5 Billion
  by Yves Smith 12:46 pm

• Martin Wolf on the Implications of a Zero-Sum Future
  by Yves Smith 5:33 am

• Further Reactions to the ECB’s $500 Billion Operation
  by Yves Smith 3:36 am

• Munis Post Worst Results Since 1999
  by Yves Smith 2:44 am

• Bear Does the Right Thing on Executive Comp
  by Yves Smith 12:03 am

December 18, 2007

• Failed Hedge Fund Manager Cioffi, Now Target of Federal Probes, Leaves Bear
  by Yves Smith 9:35 pm

• SIV Rescue Plan Still Lumbering Forward
  by Yves Smith 5:16 pm

• Fed Takes Half-Hearted Measures to Halt "Unfair and Abusive" Mortgage Practices
  by Yves Smith 3:58 pm

• Shark Kills Kangaroo
  by Yves Smith 3:03 pm

• Are Central Bankers Providing Needed Liquidity or Capitulating? (ECB Intervention Edition)
  by Yves Smith 8:51 am

• New SIV Liquidity Problems to Hit Starting in January
  by Yves Smith 3:22 am

• Brad Setser Parses the Treasury International Capital Report
  by Yves Smith 2:29 am

• Is Goldman Insuring Against a Banking Industry "Disaster"?
  by Yves Smith 12:19 am

• Links 12/18/07
  by Yves Smith 12:10 am

December 17, 2007

• SEC, Feds Said to be Investigating Insider Withdrawals from Failed Bear Hedge Funds (Updated)
  by Yves Smith 7:57 pm

• Sharp Fall in Current Account Deficit in 3Q Not Enough Yet to Take Pressure Off Dollar
  by Yves Smith 9:55 am

• US Stand on Online Gambling Threatens WTO System
  by Yves Smith 9:04 am

• The FT Misses the Mark on the "Shadow Banking System"
  by Yves Smith 4:01 am

• "Hold tight, the central banks have no plan"
  by Yves Smith 2:54 am

• Food Inflation Escalating
  by Yves Smith 1:59 am

• Links 12/17/07
  by Yves Smith 12:20 am

• London Home Asking Prices Fall 6.8% in One Month
  by Yves Smith 12:05 am

December 16, 2007

• "When Coral Reefs Turn Brown"
  by Yves Smith 3:39 am

• Further Discussion of the Central Banks’ Attempts to Stimulate Interbank Lending
  by Yves Smith 3:03 am

• Links 12/16/07
  by Yves Smith 2:13 am

December 15, 2007

• Moody’s: MBIA Not Out of the Woods, FGIC, XL on Downgrade Notice
  by Yves Smith 5:41 pm

• Franco Zeffirelli: Pope Needs an Image Makeover
  by Yves Smith 5:37 pm

• The Grinch Speaks
  by Yves Smith 6:46 am

• Gotcha! (Willem Buiter’s Market Maker of the Last Resort Edition)
  by Yves Smith 4:50 am

• Links 12/15/07
  by Yves Smith 3:51 am

• Mirable Dictu! A Climate Deal in Bali!
  by Yves Smith 2:44 am

• SIV Rescue Plan: R.I.P; Is Paulson’s Process to Blame?
  by Yves Smith 2:19 am

December 14, 2007

• Freddie Mac Hosts "Decadent" Bash Despite Large Losses
  by Yves Smith 2:26 pm

• Interbank Lending Rates Still Fail to Respond to Central Bank Action
  by Yves Smith 12:26 pm

• Mr. Minsky Moment Calls for Rate Cuts
  by Yves Smith 3:09 am

• Kenneth Arrow Makes the Climate Change Math Work
  by Yves Smith 2:17 am

December 13, 2007

• Links 12/14/07
  by Yves Smith 11:51 pm

• Citigroup to Rescue Its Own SIVs
  by Yves Smith 8:57 pm

• No Change in Libor After Central Bank Action
  by Yves Smith 11:44 am

• Maybe the Real Reason for the Central Bank (Especially the Fed’s) Actions Wednesday
  by Yves Smith 5:11 am

• Climate Change Prediction Markets Launched
  by Yves Smith 4:24 am

• Links 12/13/07
  by Yves Smith 2:14 am

• Three Japanese Banks Asked to Back SIV Rescue Fund And Decline
  by Yves Smith 1:02 am

• Red Florescent Cat Cloned
  by Yves Smith 12:48 am

December 12, 2007

• AAA Bond Insurer Security Capital Put on Watch by Fitch
  by Yves Smith 4:56 pm

• Central Banks Coordinate to Inject Liquidity, First Time Since 9/11
  by Yves Smith 4:25 pm

• Parallels Between the Health Care and the Credit Market Messes
  by Yves Smith 3:43 am

• Martin Wolf on the Credit Crisis as a Turning Point
  by Yves Smith 2:55 am

• Menzie Chinn Asks if the Dollar is Near Bottom (Answer: Maybe Not as Close as Most Think)
  by Yves Smith 2:22 am

• Links 12/12/07
  by Yves Smith 1:25 am

• Is the Fed Using the Wrong Playbook?
  by Yves Smith 12:09 am

December 11, 2007

• Some Revealing Charts
  by Yves Smith 2:08 pm

• Human Evolution Accelerating Rapidly
  by Yves Smith 1:43 pm

• More Worries About the Fragility of the Dollar
  by Yves Smith 2:32 am

• "America faces day of reckoning with debt"
  by Yves Smith 1:32 am

• S&P Downgrades Capital Notes of All SIVs It Rates
  by Yves Smith 12:31 am

• Links 12/11/07
  by Yves Smith 12:16 am

• How Citigroup Reduced Its SIV Exposure
  by Yves Smith 12:07 am

December 10, 2007

• MBIA To Receive $1 Billion Equity Infusion From Warburg Pincus
  by Yves Smith 4:06 pm

• Bank of America to Liquidate $12 Billion (Down from $40 Billion) Enhanced Cash Fund
  by Yves Smith 3:42 pm

• Wolfgang Munchau Argues Against Over-reliance on Monetary Policy to Stem Subprime Crisis
  by Yves Smith 9:49 am

• Societe Generale to Take $4.3 Billion of SIV Assets on to Balance Sheet
  by Yves Smith 5:06 am

• UBS: $10 Billion in Writedowns, Selling Stake to Foreign Investors
  by Yves Smith 3:48 am

• SIV Rescue Plan "Increasingly Irrelevant"
  by Yves Smith 1:16 am

• Links 12/10/07
  by Yves Smith 12:51 am

• Maybe I Am Too Cynical (Wall Street Journal Edition)
  by Yves Smith 12:20 am

• US at Bottom of Climate Change Ranking
  by Yves Smith 12:13 am

December 9, 2007

• UBS May Take Further Subprime-Related Writedowns
  by Yves Smith 10:29 pm

• "The trouble with the Paulson plan"
  by Yves Smith 8:56 pm

• Rising Inflation Expectations Conflict With Fed Rate Cut
  by Yves Smith 8:15 pm

• "Superfund pill fails to treat the SIV illness"
  by Yves Smith 1:36 am

• Risk of a Run on UK Property Funds
  by Yves Smith 12:17 am

• Links 12/9/07
  by Yves Smith 12:10 am

December 8, 2007

• Bank of America Affiliated Cash Fund Reported to Halt Redemptions
  by Yves Smith 9:02 pm

• Wall Street Journal Versus the Financial Times on the SIV Rescue Plan
  by Yves Smith 3:58 am

• Sheila Bair Launches Ad Hominem Attack on Subprime Plan’s Critics
  by Yves Smith 3:08 am

• Further Confirmation of the Political Motivations for the Subprime Rescue Plan
  by Yves Smith 2:07 am

• Links 12/8/07
  by Yves Smith 12:44 am

December 7, 2007

• Traders Cut Estimates of 50 Basis Point Rate Cut, But Asset Backed Commercial Paper Rates Rise
  by Yves Smith 5:41 pm

• More Global Alpha, Hedge Fund Woes
  by Yves Smith 5:32 pm

• Subprime Rescue Plan: Investors Indeed Have Grounds for Lawsuits
  by Yves Smith 5:49 am

• Quant Fund AQR Down 5.8% in November
  by Yves Smith 5:23 am

• Links 12/7/07 (Pearl Harbor Day)
  by Yves Smith 12:43 am

• Home Equity Loans: Source of Systemic Risk?
  by Yves Smith 12:04 am

December 6, 2007

• "S&P Says Mortgage Freeze Plan May Cause Downgrades"
  by Yves Smith 3:18 pm

• Subprime Relief Deal Spurred by Fear of Pending Democratic Legislation
  by Yves Smith 10:16 am

• Saving Face (SIV Rescue Edition)
  by Yves Smith 2:50 am

• "Market insight: Markets ill-prepared for stagflation"
  by Yves Smith 2:22 am

• US Recession May Be the Best Medicine
  by Yves Smith 2:16 am

• Links 12/6/07
  by Yves Smith 1:50 am

• Why Do Subprime Investors Wind Up in Foreclosure?
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

December 5, 2007

• Saudis, Indonesia Buy Arms From Russia
  by Yves Smith 5:56 pm

• A Wee Update on the Subprime Rescue Plan
  by Yves Smith 5:29 pm

• Moodys: MBIA, Ambac, "Somewhat Likely" to Suffer Capital Shortfall
  by Yves Smith 2:52 pm

• Orange County Redux
  by Yves Smith 12:56 pm

• Martin Wolf on the Difficulties of Combatting Climate Change Inertia
  by Yves Smith 2:38 am

• Subprime Calculus: Citi, UBS Losers; Goldman, Deutsche Winners
  by Yves Smith 1:48 am

• Links 12/5/07
  by Yves Smith 1:45 am

December 4, 2007

• Fed Funds Futures Say Traders See Odds of 50 BP Rate Cut at 50%
  by Yves Smith 7:58 pm

• Fitch Cuts Ratings on One Citi SIV’s Junior Debt by 12 Grades
  by Yves Smith 7:54 pm

• Yet More Doubts About the Subprime Rescue Plan
  by Yves Smith 5:22 am

• "Fundamentals, not liquidity conditions, are behind MBS crash"
  by Yves Smith 3:29 am

• More UK Credit Market Worries (Plus Further Discussion of the Likely Efficacy of Rate Cuts)
  by Yves Smith 2:31 am

• Banks Refuse Dollar Loans to Exporters in India
  by Yves Smith 12:37 am

• Links 12/4/07
  by Yves Smith 12:22 am

December 3, 2007

• Wall Street Sell Ratings Even Scarcer Than Four Years Ago
  by Yves Smith 11:00 pm

• Connecticut and Montana Own SIVs Downgraded or Put on Review
  by Yves Smith 4:11 pm

• "Rate cutting will not get us out of this mess"
  by Yves Smith 1:34 am

• Warning: Inflation > Ten Year Treasury Yields = Bond Price Plunge
  by Yves Smith 1:12 am

• Liquidity in European Government Bonds Evaporating
  by Yves Smith 12:19 am

• Loss Implications of E*Trade’s Mark to Market
  by Yves Smith 12:08 am

• Banks Ask UK Clients Not to Borrow
  by Yves Smith 12:02 am

• Links 12/3/07
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

December 2, 2007

• Ben Stein Takes on Goldman and Loses
  by Yves Smith 5:48 am

• Addenda on the Subprime Rescue Plan
  by Yves Smith 4:26 am

• Credit Crunch Charts
  by Yves Smith 3:53 am

• Links 12/2/07
  by Yves Smith 3:45 am

December 1, 2007

• A Few More Thoughts on Subprime Rescue Plan
  by Yves Smith 4:56 am

• The Economist and Brad Setser on the Dollar
  by Yves Smith 4:39 am

• Links 12/1/07
  by Yves Smith 2:26 am

• "Should the Fed raise interest rates?"
  by Yves Smith 12:53 am