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When looking at the 20 biggest markets in the US, home prices have risen at a rate far above the rate of inflation since Jan. 2000. Prices would need to fall 26% nationally to move back to the trendline.

However, looking at the 10 biggest markets, using data back to 1987, the inflation trendline shows that [...]

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2008 05 19 Crédit Agricole boosts risk controls after writedowns hit €3.3bn2008 05 19 Subprime Losses Top $379 Billion on Balance-Sheet Marks: Table2008 05 19 Banks Keep $35 Billion Markdown Off Income Statements2008 05 19 AIG to raise roughly $20 billion in capital2008 05 20 Credit Crisis Will Extend Into 2009, $170 bn in additional [...]

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Surprise, surprise. Consider this a holiday surprise as many are out in the U.S. for Memorial Day and in the UK for the Bank Holiday. Multiple sources were reporting that UBS warned in its 985-page capital raising prospectus late on Friday that it anticipates potential further losses in its non-U.S. property portfolio. [...]

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Dear Readers,
In honor of Memorial Day and the Bank Holiday in the UK, I have given my blog a bit of a makeover.

The look and feel is quite different. Hopefully, you find it easier on the eyes and better for navigation.
The title has changed from “Ed’s Forum” to “Credit Writedowns: Ed’s Forum” to reflect the [...]

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George Soros talked to the Telegraph, and in an article released today, sounded very downbeat about the prospects for the UK economy. M. Soros also said that their were many fundamental supports for the price of oil, including supply ad denand as well as inflation arguments. But ultimately speculative fervour has driven the [...]

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From today’s Guardian Newspaper:

House prices carry on falling

Larry Elliott
The Guardian,
Monday May 26 2008

House prices [...]

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Warren Buffett is in Germany looking for large acquisitions of German companies. He’s been forced to go global as his size and the US’s competitive position has limited his options in the US. I caught a German-language article from Der Spiegel regarding his activities in Germany. While the article wasn’t particularly revealing, [...]

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The Telegraph notes today that Vulture Funds are circling the London Commercial Real Estate (CRE) market. Prices have fallen, but funds are waiting for the other shoe to drop before stepping in. I imagine this will mean credit losses for financial companies in both residential and commercial property markets before all is said [...]

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Another side effect of the credit crunch is the lack of availability of cheap debt financing for businesses. Companies have two alternatives: they can hold off on needed financing until the credit markets are more inviting or they can raise money through alternative means like convertible bonds and rights issues (equity offerings). According [...]

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The Guardian has a brilliant piece out today about how widespread the housing bubble’s downdraft has become. We’re not talking just the South east here but idyllic countryside villages like Ely just north of Cambridge. This should highlight how widespread price and transaction declines are in the UK. The piece is called, “Coming soon [...]