October 2008

A little understood but very important accounting rule being blamed for the $523 bn in losses and writedowns at financial companies around the globe is now being retooled by market and accounting regulators, in a last-ditch attempt to stop the steam pipes bursting and to get banks lending again. However, the move matters greatly to taxpayers, because analysts now say that banks who own severely ... read more

General Electric fell nearly 10% in trading today amid concerns about its earnings and after it sold $12 bn in common stock at $22.25, a 9% haircut to its close on Wednesday. The news that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway will buy $3 bn in preferred stock, which sport a rich 10% dividend, in General Electric (GE) isn't enough to stop the downturn in the conglomerate's shares. Also, ... read more

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous to be led to safety, by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”--H.L. Mencken The $700 bn bailout of the financial system, what Congress wants you to call a rescue, even though the bulging $850 bn piece legislation is now a well-lit Christmas tree of gimmes, has been ... read more

If there's anyone in Congress who should feel like he has been shouting into a field of cotton, it should be Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas). And sometimes a journalist just needs to yield the platform for once, for God's sakes, to someone who is trying to bring some common sense to the debate. Because God knows we TV gasbags have done enough, doing our part to add to global warming, taking ... read more

Last Wednesday, the same day General Electric (GE) announced that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway planned to invest $3 bn in the conglomerate and that it planned a new $12 bn stock offering, GE shot a little noticed filing over to the Securities and Exchange Commission that gave fresh detail on the unhealthy state of the company. In the filing, GE warned it may not succeed in its desperate ... read more