A conversation about AIG on Charlie Rose

This video from the Charlie Rose show should give one a fairly complete view of most of the relevant finance and political issues surrounding the AIG situation. (hat tip Calculated Risk)

Participants include bank analyst Meredith Whitney and Gretchen Morgenson of the NY Times, and Carol Loomis of Fortune. Why is Hank Greenberg in this panel? It seems incongruous since most of these problems happened while he was the head of AIG. Very strange

AIG: Bankruptcy would have avoided the bonus debacle

The large bonuses at AIG have sparked yet another wave of revulsion amongst American taxpeayers. And rightfully so. This company has cost taxpayers $170 billion and counting and yet the bonuses of the same individuals complicit in the losses is still to be paid due to contractual obligation. While Ben Bernanke, Larry Summers and others have expressed their contempt for this state of affairs, I suspect there will be consequences down the line

Fitch statement on downgrading Berkshire to AA

By now you have heard that Warren Buffett’s bets on GE, Goldman, and Swiss Re and his derivatives positions have earned him a downgrade from Fitch Rating Agency. Below is the Fitch statement. I have highlighted the key sections

Marc Faber makes bullish comments on Bloomberg

Marc Faber is a definite bull right now, despite his title as Dr. Doom. In the video below he makes his case for gold miners and for a general equity rally through April. His main points are

Warren Buffett on Bloomberg Television

Warren Buffett seems to be making the rounds on television media appearances these days. Last week it was CNBC. This week it is Bloomberg. Below is the video from the first parts of his Bloomberg appearance. Well worth a look

More bullishness from Jeremy Grantham

Jeremy Grantham, who is chief investment strategist of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co and manages over $85 billion is telling clients to get out of cash.  His March newsletter had this to say: Every decline will enhance the beauty of cash until, as some of us experienced in 1974, ‘terminal paralysis’ sets in. Those

More Warren Buffett on CNBC

Warren Buffett answers questions from viewers on CNBC. He talks about his investment philosophy and recent stock picking performance. He bought ConocoPhillips at the top. And he made poor investments in Irish banks. About Wells Fargo, he says “the spreads are enormous.” And he still likes US Bancorp and defends his S&P 500 derivatives bet.

Warren Buffett: we have to be sure all debt liabilities of Citigroup are met

Warren Buffett spoke with CNBC about the U.S. economy and the banking system in an interview televised this morning. His basic message was that the economy cannot function without confidence in the banking system. The FDIC can work its magic with smaller institutions and that is a good thing. However, some banks are too big

Marc Faber: “The feds poured the gasoline and lit the match. Now they’ve joined the fire department

The quote of the day comes from Marc Faber via Fleet Street News: Meanwhile, the cop who had the Wall Street beat when the biggest heist in history was going on… and who engineered the loans to AIG and GM… is now the chief of police. Tim Geithner said he was working night and day

Marc Faber: Dr. Doom goes bullish

In keeping with my the-sky-is-not-falling meme, I want t present yet further evidence that major market bears are increasingly seeing this market as a stock picker’s dream. We’re talking about Steven Leuthold, Bill Fleckenstein, Fred Hickey, Jeremy Grantham and Marty Fridson. Let’s add Marc Faber here as well

Louise Yamada: Dow could hit 4,000

This prediction does make for a scary headline and gets Louise Yamada some buzz. But, Yamada is a technical analyst and is saying absolutely nothing about the fundamentals here. You should also note that Jeremy Grantham has said similar things about the S&P hitting

PIMCO: “Stay under the umbrella”

I was just discussing the recent revelation by the Federal Reserve’s Don Kohn that the Fed has secretly been aiding the banking sector via AIG (here, here and here), when it was pointed out to me that a number of smart investors have been following the “follow the bailout money” meme. Witness Warren Buffett. He