Word today from MarketWatch that the CEO of E-Trade is hitting the bricks as part of a $2.55 Billion deal with Citadel to pump enough money into the online broker to keep it running in face of losses connected to their Asset Backed Securities (ABS): NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The subprime crisis claimed a new […]
Recessions are interesting things, the most interesting part of which is just how the world financial powers have been able to avoid any significant ones for quite some time. The minor one just after September 11th, 2001 was avoided by the central banks opening up the flood gates and swamping the economies with easy money. […]
![Oil: irrational exuberance [updated 11/27/07]](http://andstillipersist.com/wp-content/themes/wp-prosper204/images/def-thumb2.jpg "Oil: irrational exuberance [updated 11/27/07]")
[UPDATED 11/27/07: Here’s an article from the CNN/Money web site that is raising the same issue: given current supply and inventory levels, there’s not much justification for oil approaching $100/bbl.] No, I’m not talking about whether or not the Peak Oil phenomenon exists, even though the Wall Street Journal seems to have jumped on the […]
I wrote a month ago about the formation of a strange new entity called the M-LEC or “Super Conduit”. At that time the main forces behind this were Citibank, JP Morgan / Chas and Bank of America. Once again obscure, seldom mentioned work behind the scenes is having a profound effect upon all of us, […]
Once again we are looking at a strange tidbit of information from a far away corner of the world, and how it can have a substantial impact on the US and world economy. From the Financial Times of London: Fukuda warns on rapid rise in yen The yen is appreciating “too fast” and speculators need […]
Word today that investment company E-Trade is feeling the effects of toxic mortgage and credit portfolio. E-Trade has almost $500 Million exposure to mortgages and other credit investments, known as CDOs. From Market Watch: Shares of E-Trade Financial Corp. lost more than half their value Monday after the company said it faced more subprime-related write-downs […]
The Federal Reserve on Friday reported that consumer credit rose at an annual rate of 5.9% in August, the biggest increase in three months. The increase in consumer credit was led by an 8.1% increase in revolving credit, which is the category that includes credit cards. Non-revolving credit, which includes auto loans, also rose at […]
If you believe some of the negative financial press the American masses are a fickle mob of spendthrifts that mindlessly blow everything they have and then some without a care. In contrast to that, I offer a story from the Wall Street Journal: Food Makers Struggle To Pass On High Costs High commodity prices have […]
I’m in the middle of making a large batch of spaghetti sauce last week, and a commercial comes on for something called “Equity Repositioning.” The basic idea is to borrow against your house and invest the money in something else. Of course, that “something else” has to provide enough regular income to make the payment […]
Here comes the bubble, redux
Some months back I raised a cautionary flag over what I considered to be the excessively high valuation of VMWare (“Uh oh…Tech Crash 2.0?”). I got caught in the original (though largely unacknowledged) tech crash in the 1988-1991 time frame and so was able to see (and avoid) what is largely (if incorrectly) termed the […]
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