Category: Credit Crisis 2009
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Russia Expects New Financial System Crisis Outburst / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Pravda
Russia's Finance Ministry is expecting another outburst of problems in the financial system. The problems are going to be connected with the credit default in the real sector of economy and with the reduction of oil prices , Russia's Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin said Tuesday. Russian stock indexes collapsed after the minister's statements.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Who Created The Financial Crisis And Why / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Steve_Selengut
"The Big Takeover" by Matt Taibbi is probably the best article written to date explaining the financial crisis and how we got to where we are now. Taibbi's necessarily lengthy article explains the problems, names the "poipetrators", and exposes all of the conflicts of interest--- absolutely a must read.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Failure of Capitalism, Didn't We All See This Coming? / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Submissions
Timothy V. Gatto writes: The country is coming to conclusions that a year ago would be unthinkable. The current turmoil on Wall Street has convinced many Americans of something that has been said for years, but nobody really believed…entirely. That something was that lawyers and bankers cannot be trusted. The American people know by now that the advice is largely true, they can't be trusted. Neither can politicians, stockbrokers and financial advisors. In fact, people are starting to realize the entire concept of capitalism can't be trusted, not just for the average Joe, but for the entire country.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, March 19, 2009
GE and Berkshire Credit Rating Downgrades / Companies / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Money_and_Markets
Nilus Mattive writes: Last week saw two publicly-traded companies lose their AAA credit ratings. That might not sound like a lot … until you realize that there were only seven to start with!
First, Standard & Poor's downgraded General Electric on March 12. Then, later the same day, Fitch took Berkshire Hathaway down a notch, too.
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Credit Crisis Biggest Victims Get No Bailout / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Submissions
Amy Goodman writes: Taxpayers' bailout money for AIG bonuses has rightfully provoked a massive backlash against AIG, Wall Street, President Barack Obama and his economic advisers, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers. The U.S. public now owns 80 percent of AIG. The outrage is bipartisan: Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley even suggested that AIG executives "resign or go commit suicide." New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo just released details on the bonuses, exposing AIG's ridiculous claim that they are "retention bonuses" aimed at keeping key employees, since 11 of those who received bonuses of $1 million or more are no longer employed by AIG.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Mark-to-Market Isn't the Problem / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Mike_Stathis
It seems as if many have been fooled by those supporting the banks. The general argument that has been made is that mark-to-market accounting has been largely responsible for the banking mess since it creates price transparency for assets held on the books daily. Given the problems in real estate, mark-to-market has been particularly harmful to mortgage-backed securities. Therefore, as the argument continues, we should eliminate, suspend or revise mark-to-market rules because the price transparency it offers is not necessarily indicative of asset values. Finally, removing mark-to-market would help rescue the banks. I challenge these views. Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
AIG Larry Summers and the Politics of CDS Deflection / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: F_William_Engdahl
Finally US authorities have gotten ‘tough' with the predator financial institutions. The world has been waiting for such decisive intervention since an unending series of Government bailouts of financial institutions began early in 2008 amounting to now trillions of taxpayer dollars. Now, with the world's largest insurance giant, AIG, the White House Economic Council chairman, Larry Summers has expressed ‘outrage.' President Obama himself has entered the fray to promise ‘justice.' US Senators have threatened a law to change the injustice. The only problem is they are all exercising ‘politics of deflection,' taking attention away from the real problem, the fraudulent bailout. Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Best of the Gold and Silver ETF's / Commodities / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Peter_Degraaf
Among the Gold and Silver ETF's there is one that is superior to all the rest.
Early on March 17 th Max Hulbert reported that his Gold Newsletter Sentiment Index (which tracks leading gold advisories), had dipped into negative territory.
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Shadow Fed Agencies Threaten Solvency of U.S. Banking System / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Money_Morning
Shah Gilani writes And it's the next potential hot spot in the ongoing financial crisis. But few outside the Federal Home Loan Bank system, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp . (FDIC) the U.S. Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury Department are remotely aware of the problems that are smoldering. Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The Financial Sector: "A House Burning Down" / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Global_Research
Ben Bernanke’s False Analogy - Prof. Michael Hudson writes: On the March 15 CBS show "60 Minutes", Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke used a false analogy already popularized by President Obama in his quasi-State of the Union Speech. He likened the financial sector to a house burning down – fair enough, as it is destroying property values, leading to foreclosures, abandonments, stripping (for copper wire and anything else recoverable) and certainly a devastation of value. The problem with this analogy was just where this building was situated, and its relationship to "other houses" ( e.g ., the rest of the economy). Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, March 13, 2009
Eureka! Creative Accounting Solves Banking Crisis! / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Money_and_Markets
Mike Larson writes: Who knew it would be so easy? Who knew we could solve the banking industry's collapse by simply changing how we account for assets. Eureka! Problem solved!
That seems to be the conclusion Wall Street came to earlier this week, judging by the reaction to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments at the Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday. During that speech, Bernanke weighed in on “mark to market” accounting, saying the following:
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Friday, March 13, 2009
Reforming the Global Financial System by Flushing Out the Parasites / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Submissions
Nikki Alexander writes: When Benjamin Franklin was called before the British Parliament in 1757 and asked to account for the prosperity in the American colonies. He replied, "That is simple. In the colonies we issue our own money. It is called Colonial Scrip. We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry to make the products pass easily from the producers to the consumers. In this manner, creating for ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power, and we have no interest to pay to no one." It was the struggle for financial sovereignty that precipitated the American Revolution when the (Rothschild) Bank of England forced the colonists to give up their own currency. Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Geithner "Deus ex Machina" Salvation from Debt Deflation / Economics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Adrian_Ash
"Deus does not exist."But if he does, He lives above me,
"In the fattest largest cloud up there..."
- The Sugarcubes, Deus
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Citigroup Reports Profits Whilst Banks Continue to Go Bankrupt / Companies / Credit Crisis 2009
By: John_Browne
This week Citigroup shocked Wall Street by announcing that the company would be profitable in the current quarter. At the same time, the Obama Administration indicated that it would be unlikely to nationalize American banks, preferring to provide low cost funding to encourage the private sector to buy distressed assets from the banks. The two developments sparked a vigorous rally in financial stocks, which had been drifting downward for weeks, caught in what appeared to be an unending death spiral. But have the good times really returned?Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Credit Default Swaps, Wall Streets Worst Invention Ever / Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes:
When it comes to naming a winner in the competition for “the worst product ever invented by Wall Street,” there is quite a list of worthy candidates. With just the current financial crisis alone there are such “inventions” as subprime mortgages, auction rate preferred stock and asset-backed commercial paper, which all have a good claim to this title. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, March 06, 2009
Quantitative Easing Means Quantitative Failure of Monetary Policy / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Mike_Shedlock
The Fiscal Insanity Virus has struck again. See if you can spot the occurrences in BOE's King ‘Groping in the Dark' as U.K. Expands Money Supply .
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King, criticized for his initial response to the credit crisis, is now embarking on one of the biggest risks in British economic history.
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Friday, March 06, 2009
Frank Talk on Outlawing the Monstrosities of Debt Securitization / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Mike_Shedlock
Barney Frank is in the news. As is typically the case with "Frank News", Barney is throwing stones in the wrong direction. Please consider Frank Seeks to Curb ‘Phenomenon of Securitization' . Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Bank of England Ignites Quantitative Inflation / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Economic Shock and Awe as Interest Rates are cut to 0.5% coupled with £75 Billion conjured out of thin air by Mervyn King Waving his "Central Bank Magic Wand". The government through what should be more accurately termed as "Quantitative Inflation" than "Quantative Easing" sanctioned £75 billion in the initial print run which will have a multiplier effect through fractional reserve banking and leverage of anywhere from between X10 to X20 the amount depending on how it filters through the economy, therefore £75 billion increase in the money supply implies the supply of credit should jump by anywhere between £750 billion to £1.5 trillion, but more probably in the region of X10 at £750 billion over the next few months, with expectations of several more doses of "Quantitative Inflation" during 2009 that seeks to devalue the British Pound towards parity to the U.S. Dollar.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Financial Crisis Big Picture: What Can We Do? / Politics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Rudy_Avizius
In Part 1 of this series, we examined how our “leaders” and “experts” ignored the warning signs of an impending economic storm and ended up with huge trade deficits, growing budget deficits, rising consumer debt, the collapse and loss of trust for our financial sector, the erosion of our middle class, significantly increased corporate debt levels, the United States as the world's largest debtor nation, a planet on the verge of potentially catastrophic climate change, and out of control population growth. We essentially had a system that was not sustainable. Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
When Debt Securitization Blew Up So Did the Economy / Economics / Credit Crisis 2009
By: Mike_Whitney
"Nothing we do for banks is for banks. It's all for the benefit of the people that depend on banks -- the businesses, the families, the students -- that require credit in order to do things that are important to their future." Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner PBS Jim Lehrer News Hour
One thing is certain, this isn't a normal recession. In a normal recession aggregate demand declines, economic activity slows, and GDP shrinks. While those things are taking place now, the reasons are quite different. The present slump wasn't brought on by a downturn in the business cycle or a mismatch in supply and demand. It was caused by a meltdown in the credit system's central core.
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