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A prediction I first broached here in May in my post Question: How is Fannie Mae a AAA company? is finally coming to pass: Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are getting nationalized.
UPDATE: The U.S. Government takeover is now a done deal. See my post on the details of the merger with a [...]

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This time it is Silver State Bank of Henderson, NV to go bankrupt. Read the press release below. This one is pretty large with assets of $2 billion and it has ties to Republican Presidential nominee McCain.
See my list of Bankrupt global financial institutions for major bankruptcies and my Credit Crisis Timeline for [...]

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It was about 4 weeks ago now that I said I thought the dollar rally was not a fundamental move, but a monster bear market rally which will end up hurting dollar shorts. Back then, the Euro was trading for 1.5164 dollars. Today, the Euro will only get you 1.426 dollars. That’s a move [...]

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For every business cycle since 1929, when U.S. unemployment data was first calculated, when the unemployment rate has gone up more than 1% in one year’s time, this has spelled recession. Moreover, the unemployment rate has never risen 1.0% in a year’s time without a recession (no false positives). The unemployment rate, therefore, [...]

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The unemployment rate in the U.S. jumped 0.4% to top 6.1% for the first time in five years. This rise was much, much larger than expected and makes it almost certain that the United States is in recession. Updates to follow as I crunch the numbers.The change in the unemployment rate over the last [...]

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It seems like the global economy is in a holding pattern right at the border of recession and slow growth. The writedowns continue to trickle in drip by drip, unemployment is rising ad retail sales are sluggish, but there has yet to be a trigger event for the doom many have predicted. Are [...]

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The troubled French bank Natixis is asking its shareholders to pony up billions in additional funds — but at a huge 61% discount. This is a bank that is in deep trouble. Every country has one bank on the brink from Bradford & Bingley to IKB to Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers to [...]

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I received this e-mail from a friend that was originally penned by a resident of Wasilla, Alaska where Sarah Palin was mayor before becoming Governor of Alaska. It gives a fairly intimate look at Palin and how she got to where she is. Take it for what it is.
Democrats, beware.
UPDATE:apparently, this e-mail has [...]

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ECB governing council member and Dutch National Bank head Nout Wellink said two weeks ago that the ECB was going to stop lenders abusing ECB’s credit crisis policy of accepting lower credit quality. The ECB is going to make good on Wellink’s promise – but not until Feb 1st. So, get your free money [...]

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Mark Thoma has a thoughtful post on the news swirling around the Sarah Palin pick as VP candidate for the GOP. His point is that the Dems risk looking condescending and elitist toward small town America in their attacks on Palin and had better be careful.
I grew up in the big city, [...]