December 2008

Another quarter horribilis is upon us. Fasten your wallets, the next quarter's earnings are going to be a bumpy ride. Which is why the call to get mortgage rates down much more dramatically, to stop foreclosures, to put money in homeowners' pockets and a floor under damaged mortgage-backed securities, has gained increasing urgency as unemployment rises. Analysts' estimates for bank losses ... read more

At a time when the US taxpayer is bailing out Wall Street with record capital injections, US firms lag European banks when it comes to executives forgoing bonuses. UBS, Deutsche Bank and Barclays PLC have either pulled bonuses for top executives, or executives there have voluntarily forfeited them. In the U.S., only New York-based Goldman Sachs Group is pulling bonuses for top executives. ... read more

There's a lot at stake in a potential $34 bn bailout of the automakers, as their chief executives head to Capitol Hill to ask for taxpayer funds. That could include the personal stakes that elected officials own in the automakers. Twenty-five members of Congress have reported on their financial disclosure forms that they own stock or other capital interests in the Big Three automakers, based ... read more

The Securities and Exchange Commission passed new rules to rein in the credit rating agencies, amidst a growing chorus of Congressional and market critics who demanded a crackdown. But the new rules are still shot through with holes, putting investors at risk, market analysts say. The SEC's proposed changes come about a month and a half after Congress held hearings overseen by Rep. Henry ... read more

Blame the record bailouts on Mister Rogers. Mister Fred Rogers, the children's TV star, who, beginning in 1968, started every show telling us that we were "special" just the way we were. When we weren't.   Blame all of those preening child-rearing experts who encouraged an excruciatingly costly culture of entitlement, a culture of narcissism, of excessive self-righteous ... read more