March 2008

Acting as an anvil around the stock markets’ neck are the damaged bond insurers, MBIA, Ambac Financial Group and Financial Guaranty Insurance. They’ve added extra chop to an already volatile market hurt by the subprime mess. The bond market is severely damaged, but it can and will get up off the mat, once housing finds its bottom, and as soon as the bond insurers get a grip. But new ... read more

Lots of talk today about oil hitting record inflation-adjusted highs. Gold is going up too. A grain drain around the world has food prices rising, and gas could cost more than $4 by this summer. The Federal Reserve is not happy that the rate of inflation now sits at the top of its comfort zone. Rising inflation could reduce the purchasing power of the government's rebate checks coming this ... read more

A growing number of banks are in trouble. The question is, which ones? And how long will the downturn last? It’s a debate we’ve been hammering away at on Money for Breakfast. I’ve got the names of banks you ought to take a look at, read through to the bottom. First, don’t be fooled by the growing chorus of critics making inapt comparisons between the current US crisis and the one ... read more

I previewed a few weeks ago that Angelo Mozilo, head of Countrywide Financial (CFC), the nation’s biggest mortgage lender, E. Stanley O’Neal, former chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch (MER), and Charles Prince, Citigroup’s (C) former chief executive were scheduled to testify before the House to answer questions about their rich pay at a time when investors have lost billions in their ... read more

Some final thoughts on the hearing last Friday on the rich compensation given to Angelo Mozilo, founder and chief executive of Countrywide Financial (CFC), E. Stanley O’Neal, former CEO of Merrill Lynch (ML), and Charles Prince, former CEO of Citigroup (C). There were dozens of questions I wanted asked, which I’ve noted below. We have reported this story on Money for Breakfast, and I ... read more