Credit Writedowns

Bundesbank President Weber has been the most candid to date about what the ECB could do in case Greece is downgraded again, especially by Moody's.  Recall the problem:  Prior to the crisis, the ECB would take as collateral only…

Highlights The US dollar is mixed against the major and emerging market currencies.  The euro is consolidating in yesterday’s range as bonds stabilize and despite a smaller than expected German trade surplus.  Comments from EU…

The Bloomberg video is a bit sensationalist in my opinion. But it gets to the heart of the problem in Europe, namely Spain. Spain has an economy and debt which is an order of magnitude larger than Greece. That means that problems in Spain…

FT Alphaville – Tracy Alloway – Some useful things I’ve learned about Germany’s hyperinflation’ Another Real-Time Economic Indicator Is Rolling Over And Showing Contraction FT.com – Martin Wolf – Germany's eurozone crisis nightmare…

Ann Lee and Dan Alpert joined Bloomberg’s Pimm Fox today to talk about the housing market recovery. Lee, a professor of finance at New York University, was sceptical that population growth predicts any substantial increase in housing…

You!   Hat tip Prieur du Plessis. Source Dave Granlund, Comics.com

According to Bundesbank President Axel Weber, Germany’s economic recovery is “essentially intact”, and is now set to benefit from stronger demand in countries outside the euro region. “I firmly believe that the recovery process that…

About a month ago I wrote a post called “The coming wave of second mortgage writedowns” the gist of which was that the big four banks (Citi, JP, BofA, and Wells) had a shed load of exposure to now worthless second mortgages. With many first…

I almost have to laugh at this. But, a proposal is afoot to require all employed persons in America submit biometric data as a control against illegal immigrants. This is part of an Immigration Bill now wending its way though the Senate.…

This 30 Rock parody almost has it down.