Monthly Archives: February 2008

February 29, 2008

• The Bernanke Tightrope Fantasy
  by Yves Smith 3:40 am

• Did Mark-to-Market Accounting Create the Credit Bubble?
  by Yves Smith 3:18 am

• Leveraged Funds Hurry to Sell $100 Billion of Debt
  by Yves Smith 2:19 am

• "Chairman Greenspan’s Legacy"
  by Yves Smith 1:34 am

• Links Leap Year Day
  by Yves Smith 12:53 am

• Is the US Following in Japan’s Footsteps?
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

February 28, 2008

• Did the Rating Agencies Push the Monolines Into the Structured Finance Business?
  by Yves Smith 3:37 am

• "Turmoil reveals the inadequacy of Basel II"
  by Yves Smith 2:37 am

• Paulson Says No Go on Housing Bailouts
  by Yves Smith 2:04 am

• Auction Rate Securities: Manipulated From the Get-Go?
  by Yves Smith 12:38 am

• Links 2/28/08
  by Yves Smith 12:05 am

• World Water, Visualized
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

February 27, 2008

• Surprise! Investors Don’t Buy MBIA AAA Rating
  by Yves Smith 2:59 am

• Martin Wolf: "The government can rescue the economy"
  by Yves Smith 2:45 am

• Auction Rate Securities Issuers Beg SEC for Help
  by Yves Smith 1:39 am

• Thomas Palley: "The Debt Delusion"
  by Yves Smith 1:26 am

• Links 2/27/08
  by Yves Smith 12:03 am

• Olympics Worsening Water Crisis in China
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

February 26, 2008

• Another Off-Balance Sheet Time Bomb: VIEs
  by Yves Smith 5:52 pm

• MBIA Aaa Affirmed by Moody’s
  by Yves Smith 3:59 pm

• Are High International Capital Flows a Bad Thing?
  by Yves Smith 4:56 am

• Governors to Lobby Congress for Muni Debt Assistance
  by Yves Smith 3:29 am

• The Sham of Sovereign Wealth Fund Negotiations
  by Yves Smith 2:45 am

• "$60bn Qatar fund to shun US banks"
  by Yves Smith 12:53 am

• Links 2/26/08
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

February 25, 2008

• "Antidepressant drugs don’t work"
  by Yves Smith 9:54 pm

• MBIA "Questions" 2007 Preliminary Reports, Plans to Split, Pause in ABS
  by Yves Smith 9:29 pm

• S&P Takes MBIA Off Downgrade Review, Approves Ambac Plan
  by Yves Smith 3:59 pm

• Monoline Death Watch: A "Bad Insurer/Worse Insurer" Split?
  by Yves Smith 5:39 am

• Real Estate Porn
  by Yves Smith 4:15 am

• Larry Summer’s "Prevent US foreclosures" Sanity Check
  by Yves Smith 4:08 am

• The Fed Says Its Collateral is Fine, Thank You Very Much
  by Yves Smith 2:10 am

• Journal vs. Financial Times on HSH-UBS Subprime Dispute
  by Yves Smith 1:47 am

• Links 2/25/08
  by Yves Smith 1:16 am

February 24, 2008

• Rising Worries About Fannie Mae Creditworthiness?
  by Yves Smith 5:42 pm

• Good Bailouts Versus Bad Bailouts (Housing Edition)
  by Yves Smith 3:15 am

• Sachs: Government Push Needed to Spur Environmental, Anti-Poverty Technologies
  by Yves Smith 12:42 am

• "Antarctic glaciers surge to ocean"
  by Yves Smith 12:15 am

• Links 2/24/08
  by Yves Smith 12:09 am

February 23, 2008

• Barclays: Counterparty Risk in Credit Default Swaps Only $36 to $47 Billion
  by Yves Smith 4:43 am

• Will Ambac Have a Deal Next Week?
  by Yves Smith 3:32 am

• Is the Heyday of Hedge Funds Over?
  by Yves Smith 2:19 am

• No More Home-Grown Bacon in the UK?
  by Yves Smith 12:23 am

February 22, 2008

• Some Banks Can’t Foreclose, Unable to Find Loan Documents
  by Yves Smith 4:18 pm

• The End of the Current Model of Financial Capitalism?
  by Yves Smith 3:31 pm

• "When Bankers Fear to Act"
  by Yves Smith 4:00 am

• The Treasury Doth Speak With Forked Tongue (Housing Bailout Edition)
  by Yves Smith 2:35 am

• The Fed’s Self-Delusion (Inflation Edition)
  by Yves Smith 12:35 am

• Links 2/23/08
  by Yves Smith 12:19 am

• Links 2/22/08
  by Yves Smith 12:03 am

February 21, 2008

• Desperate Measures: Treasury May Support Housing Via "Negative Equity Certificates"
  by Yves Smith 5:25 pm

• The Wall Street Journal Fulminates About Dinallo
  by Yves Smith 3:34 am

• Monoline Capital Finesse?
  by Yves Smith 2:34 am

• "Fresh credit market turmoil"
  by Yves Smith 2:05 am

• Calculating the Damage of a Monoline Meltdown
  by Yves Smith 1:47 am

• Links 2/21/08
  by Yves Smith 12:10 am

February 20, 2008

• Ackman Proposes Breakup Plan
  by Yves Smith 3:18 pm

• Standard Chartered Drops Plans to Rescue $7.15 Billion SIV
  by Yves Smith 7:59 am

• On the Continuing Equity/Credit Market Disconnect
  by Yves Smith 3:00 am

• "Sliding into the Great Deflation"
  by Yves Smith 1:51 am

• Why is Friendship on the Decline?
  by Yves Smith 1:28 am

• "America’s Economy Risks the Mother of All Meltdowns"
  by Yves Smith 12:47 am

• Links 2/20/08
  by Yves Smith 12:15 am

• Will Paulson Come to Regret His Words?
  by Yves Smith 12:06 am

February 19, 2008

• CEO Dunton is Ousted at MBIA; Breakup Under Consideration
  by Yves Smith 11:48 am

• Monoline Death Watch: Is There Really a Plan Here?
  by Yves Smith 8:55 am

• Yet More Auction Rate Securities Distress
  by Yves Smith 2:19 am

• Term Auction Facility: Confirmation of Financial Stress?
  by Yves Smith 1:56 am

• Dean Baker: How to End Corruption in the Drug Industry
  by Yves Smith 12:20 am

• Wall Street: More Writedowns Coming
  by Yves Smith 12:15 am

• Links and Quick Takes 2/19/08
  by Yves Smith 12:04 am

February 18, 2008

• "The Dark Side of Optimism"
  by Yves Smith 1:00 pm

• Bank of America: Monoline Breakup Will Produce "Years of Litigation"
  by Yves Smith 10:32 am

• Tim Duy: Fed Would Like to Stop Cutting, But Lacks Nerve
  by Yves Smith 1:58 am

• US Rate Cuts Leading to Economic Controls and Subsidies in Asia
  by Yves Smith 12:34 am

• Northern Rock Nationalization: The Best of Bad Options
  by Yves Smith 12:09 am

• Links 2/18/08
  by Yves Smith 12:02 am

February 17, 2008

• Total Lunar Eclipse Map
  by Yves Smith 5:40 pm

• Credit Default Swap Worries Go Mainstream
  by Yves Smith 1:52 am

• "The Breakdown of Wall Street Alchemy"
  by Yves Smith 1:49 am

• "Marginalism As A Reaction To Marxism"
  by Yves Smith 1:08 am

• Links 2/17/08
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

February 16, 2008

• Monoline Death Watch: Breaking Up is Hard to Do
  by Yves Smith 3:34 am

• Private Sector Cooling on the Dollar
  by Yves Smith 2:45 am

• "Bangladesh bank offers loans to US poor"
  by Yves Smith 1:35 am

• Bush Administration Hides Economic Data
  by Yves Smith 12:10 am

• Links 2/16/08
  by Yves Smith 12:06 am

• UK Chancellor Attacks City Bonuses
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

February 15, 2008

• UBS: Banks at Risk for $203 Billion in Writedowns
  by Yves Smith 9:50 am

• Securitization Reform: Don’t Hold Your Breath
  by Yves Smith 4:57 am

• Hedge Funds Questioning the Soundness of Investment Banks
  by Yves Smith 3:18 am

• Spitzer to Monolines: Drop Dead
  by Yves Smith 3:10 am

• Citi Freezes Hedge Fund After Losses
  by Yves Smith 1:48 am

• Links 2/15/08
  by Yves Smith 1:13 am

• Banks Advised to Renege on LBO Commitments
  by Yves Smith 12:14 am

February 14, 2008

• Spitzer: Bush Administration Blocked Curbs on Predatory Lenders
  by Yves Smith 11:06 am

• Dinallo Considers Breaking Up Bond Insurers; MBIA Doth Protest
  by Yves Smith 10:21 am

• Bankers: The New Socialists (Real Estate Bailout Edition)
  by Yves Smith 4:51 am

• Bond Insurer Shockwaves Expand
  by Yves Smith 4:46 am

• Links 2/14/08
  by Yves Smith 3:28 am

• UBS Posts 4Q Loss After $13.7 Billion Writedown
  by Yves Smith 2:55 am

• Setser: Foreign Central Banks Still Vacuuming Up Dollars
  by Yves Smith 2:42 am

February 13, 2008

• Fed Rate Cuts Fail to Reduce Borrowing Costs
  by Yves Smith 11:40 am

• Muni Auction Bond Failures Lead to Turmoil, High Rates
  by Yves Smith 11:04 am

• Buffett Bond Insurer Offer a Possible Template?
  by Yves Smith 2:04 am

• Leveraged Loans: Where Have All the Buyers Gone?
  by Yves Smith 1:30 am

• Hope Now = False Hope
  by Yves Smith 12:44 am

• Links and Quick Takes 2/13/08
  by Yves Smith 12:22 am

• $175,862.27 in Credit Card Debt on an $85,000 Income
  by Yves Smith 12:06 am

• "Bankers, like gangs, just get carried away"
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

February 12, 2008

• Buffett Proposes Cherry-Picking Bond Insurer Risks
  by Yves Smith 5:15 pm

• Grading Central Bank Performance in the Credit Crisis
  by Yves Smith 4:46 am

• Wall Street Journal on Payday Lenders Targeting the Elderly
  by Yves Smith 2:41 am

• Credit Suisse 4Q Profit Falls 72%; Writedowns Only $1.2 Billion
  by Yves Smith 1:43 am

• Links 2/12/08
  by Yves Smith 1:31 am

• New Treasury Mortgage Borrower Salvage Program: More Smoke and Mirrors?
  by Yves Smith 12:49 am

February 11, 2008

• Nouriel Roubini Calibrates His Degree of Bearishness
  by Yves Smith 11:42 pm

• Apologies for Outages
  by Yves Smith 11:00 pm

• Spanish Banks’ Dependence on ECB Increases
  by Yves Smith 10:17 pm

• Surprise! Wall Street Firms More Prudent as Partnerships
  by Yves Smith 7:08 pm

• On Blogging Economics and Aesthetics
  by Yves Smith 4:32 am

• More Signs of Credit Market Stress
  by Yves Smith 2:32 am

• Treasuries Forecast Economic Recovery Before Election
  by Yves Smith 1:44 am

• Sovereign Wealth Funds Say No on Transparency
  by Yves Smith 1:33 am

• Links 2/11/08
  by Yves Smith 12:53 am

• G7: Subprime Losses Could Reach $400 Billion
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

February 10, 2008

• "Breaking the Neoclassical Monopoly in Economics"
  by Yves Smith 1:53 am

• Is Japan Starting to Suffer a Subprime-Induced Credit Crunch?
  by Yves Smith 1:16 am

• Links 2/10/08
  by Yves Smith 12:27 am

• On the Sorry State of General Motors
  by Yves Smith 12:20 am

• More Debt Stress: Aggressive Leveraged Loan Liquidations
  by Yves Smith 12:08 am

• "Wall Street Meltdown"
  by Yves Smith 12:07 am

February 9, 2008

• Thomas Palley: The Implications of Debt-Fueled Business Cycles
  by Yves Smith 2:08 am

• SEC Proposes Cosmetic Regulations for Rating Agencies
  by Yves Smith 1:40 am

• Links 2/9/08
  by Yves Smith 12:44 am

February 8, 2008

• UBS Raises Concern About Negative Non-Borrowed Bank Reserves
  by Yves Smith 3:13 pm

• Bear Stearns Short Subprime to Tune of $1 Billion
  by Yves Smith 2:34 pm

• Sovereign Wealth Funds Cool on Further Bailouts of Western Banks
  by Yves Smith 4:21 am

• Increasing Inflation and Recession Pressures Weigh on the Fed
  by Yves Smith 3:35 am

• Warning: Anger at Financiers Rising
  by Yves Smith 2:50 am

• Bill Gross: Let the Monolines Sink
  by Yves Smith 2:27 am

• Chinese Think Globalization Happening Too Quickly
  by Yves Smith 12:18 am

• Links 12/8/08
  by Yves Smith 12:12 am

February 7, 2008

• Deutsche Bank CEO: Bond Insurer Downgrade Will Create Debt " Tsunami"
  by Yves Smith 2:47 pm

• On Blogging Economics and Aesthetics
  by Yves Smith 4:27 am

• S&P Announces Changes to Forestall Criticism and Regulation
  by Yves Smith 3:49 am

• Ambac, FGIC May Be Put in Runoff Mode
  by Yves Smith 1:52 am

• Rogoff: "America needs foreign advice on its ailing economy"
  by Yves Smith 1:26 am

• Links 2/7/08
  by Yves Smith 12:03 am

• Buffett Bearish on Dollar, Blames Banks for Credit Mess
  by Yves Smith 12:01 am

February 6, 2008

• MBIA to Sell $750 Million in New Shares, Increase Loss Reserves
  by Yves Smith 8:03 pm

• Hot Ladies Talking With Bald Dudes
  by Yves Smith 5:45 pm

• Self-Employment Takes Biggest Hit in 15 Years
  by Yves Smith 4:54 pm

• Rating Agencies May Face Restrictions in Structured Finance
  by Yves Smith 4:31 pm

• Willem Buiter: "Why the US may well need a recession, 2"
  by Yves Smith 2:11 am

• Martin Wolf: Can We Corral the Financiers?
  by Yves Smith 1:11 am

• Warning: Credit Default Swaps May Not Work As Advertised
  by Yves Smith 12:40 am

• Evidence Wachovia Knew of and Profited from Theft
  by Yves Smith 12:32 am

• Links 2/6/08
  by Yves Smith 12:15 am

• Sharp CMBX Move Signals Heightened Worry
  by Yves Smith 12:07 am

February 5, 2008

• Nouriel Roubini’s Doomsday Scenario
  by Yves Smith 11:05 pm

• Another Scary Chart from Krugman (ISM Non-manufacturing/Employment Edition)
  by Yves Smith 6:30 pm

• Monoline Updates: S&P Says Downgrade Will Hurt Banks; Fitch Downgrade of MBIA More Likely; XL Capital Takes Hit
  by Yves Smith 6:12 pm

• CDO Trading in Deep Freeze
  by Yves Smith 12:29 pm

• Fitch Plans to Downgrade up to $220 Billion of CDOs
  by Yves Smith 12:03 pm

• New Bond Insurer Storyline: Downgrade Likely, But Not So Terrible
  by Yves Smith 3:59 am

• Should We Be Worried About China’s Growth?
  by Yves Smith 3:57 am

• New York Times Calls a Sea Change in Consumer Attitudes Towards Debt
  by Yves Smith 2:42 am

• Links 2/5/08
  by Yves Smith 1:12 am

• Scary Credit Tightening Chart
  by Yves Smith 12:15 am

• Sudden Shifts in Climate Likely
  by Yves Smith 12:06 am

February 4, 2008

• Private Equity Firms Snub Monoline Rescue
  by Yves Smith 1:45 am

• Have Ethics Come to Wall Street? Firms Impose Standards on Coal Projects
  by Yves Smith 1:29 am

• Leveragd Loan "Disarray" = More Losses for Wall Street
  by Yves Smith 12:55 am

• Links 2/4/08
  by Yves Smith 12:48 am

• Peculiar Washington Post Article on Japan
  by Yves Smith 12:02 am

February 3, 2008

• "Bernanke Makes Bulls From Dollar Bears"
  by Yves Smith 9:43 pm

• Stiglitz: On the Fallen Standing of the US High Finance
  by Yves Smith 3:32 am

• Monoline Update: Are the Rating Agencies Moving the Goalposts?
  by Yves Smith 3:00 am

• Links 2/3/08
  by Yves Smith 1:54 am

February 2, 2008

• Will Foreign Exchange Losses of China’s Central Bank Matter?
  by Yves Smith 3:32 am

• Under-the-Radar Rescue of Spanish Mortgage Banks
  by Yves Smith 2:50 am

• Lying With Statistics (Financial Services Lobbying Edition)
  by Yves Smith 2:36 am

• Links 2/2/08
  by Yves Smith 2:18 am

February 1, 2008

• UBS Under Investigation for Mortgage Bond Valuations
  by Yves Smith 10:52 pm

• Moody’s Cuts Rating of XL Capital
  by Yves Smith 4:56 pm

• Ambac HIgher Priority of Dinallo’s Rescue Effort; Progress Claimed
  by Yves Smith 3:49 pm

• Merrill Sued By Massachusetts on CDOs Gone Bad
  by Yves Smith 3:46 pm

• MBIA: The (Rating) Agency is Not Amused
  by Yves Smith 4:42 am

• "Buyers, not savers, caused America’s deficit"
  by Yves Smith 4:08 am

• Merrill Makes Springfield, MA Whole on CDOs Gone Bad
  by Yves Smith 2:28 am

• Links 2/1/08
  by Yves Smith 2:25 am

• "China’s Inflation Hits American Price Tags"
  by Yves Smith 1:15 am