September 2008

Ok, those who know me understand I detest all things self-referential. My family actually gets an allergic skin reaction from any such behavior, including those who take themselves seriously. Treacly emotion, not for us, even a Hallmark card puts us in a diabetic coma. But I can't help it, not today. Like too many other towns in the New York area, the 9/11 terrorist attacks killed loved ... read more

The numbers are in, and they are worse than the $2.2 bn loss expected, a deeper $3.9 bn loss at Lehman Brothers, the biggest in the history of the fourth largest investment firm, founded in 1850. Make no mistake, Lehman is in serious trouble and is fighting for its life. But Lehman is making restructuring and accounting moves to avoid withering writedowns in the future, historic ... read more

The Treasury Department's bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could ignite a cascade of sizable writedowns and losses at up to 40 banks around the country, analysts say. The reason is the Treasury did not adopt in its rescue of Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) a plan that would protect the value of the preferred shares, or the common stock, in the two mortgage giants. Fannie and ... read more

What was implicit now has become explicit. What was feared, and desperately needed, has now become reality. The world's largest government bailout has begun. Finally, after years of ignoring the fire-engine-red alarms clanging at the world's biggest mortgage-finance giants, the government has seized Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) and tossed their executive management team. I warned ... read more

Fears that another hedge fund could blow up, along with higher unemployment figures and poor retail sales data, are giving stocks their worst showing in two months. Investors are watching with accelerating alarm as a growing number of hedge funds are treading water. With $1.9 tn under management, hedge funds are big players in the stock market, so any problems in the sector could leave the ... read more