Archive - Feb 2009

• Stimulus package contemplates total $9.7 trillion of U.S.

The newsflow from D.C. over the next two days will make the lives of capital markets participants very exciting. Among the key expected news items is the rumored (temporary) abandonment of Mark-To-Market accounting principles, which caused quite a market rally on Thursday of last week. So as we prepare to say goodbye to the last relic of what was once an efficient market, it might make sense to reevaluate just what it is in the current accounting rules that is so inconvenient for the administration and Wall Street. Among these, chief is the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.

The newsflow from D.C. over the next two days will make the lives of capital markets participants very exciting. Among the key expected news items is the rumored (temporary) abandonment of Mark-To-Market accounting principles, which caused quite a market rally on Thursday of last week. So as we prepare to say goodbye to the last relic of what was once an efficient market, it might make sense to reevaluate just what it is in the current accounting rules that is so inconvenient for the administration and Wall Street. Among these, chief is the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.

LiveLeak has caught a scary moment of previously undisclosed insight by Paul Kanjorski where he reveals some facts that have not been captured by the media previously. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds in the video below, Democratic Representative Kanjorski explains how the Federal Reserve told Congress members about a "tremendous draw-down of money market accounts in the United States, to the tune of $550 billion dollars." According to Kanjorski, this electronic transfer occurred over the period of an hour or two.

In what could go down as the sad conclusion to the dumbest acquisition of all time, ball-bearing maker Schaeffler, which acquired Europe's second-largest auto-supplier Continental AG, has said in an e-mailed statement that it is seeking an investor, after being saddled with $14 billion of debt as part of the acquisition.

As Detroit's automakers burn in the 7th circle of debtor hell, people have been wondering - where is Steve Rattner?

As Detroit's automakers burn in the 7th circle of debtor hell, people have been wondering - where is Steve Rattner?

As Detroit's automakers burn in the 7th circle of debtor hell, people have been wondering - where is Steve Rattner?

This week's run up in the market was, without doubt, purely an exercise in front-running the government's pumping of more taxpayers' funds into financial "assets" and the pricing in of yet another rally (as well as some greater fool expectations thrown in for good measure) in light of continuing depression-worthy economic releases. The two main expectations for Monday's Treasury announcement revolve around an "aggregator" bank and toxic asset "ring-fencing." These are unique in that both perform crisis intervention before recognition of bank insolvency, or apriori triage.

This week's run up in the market was, without doubt, purely an exercise in front-running the government's pumping of more taxpayers' funds into financial "assets" and the pricing in of yet another rally (as well as some greater fool expectations thrown in for good measure) in light of continuing depression-worthy economic releases. The two main expectations for Monday's Treasury announcement revolve around an "aggregator" bank and toxic asset "ring-fencing." These are unique in that both perform crisis intervention before recognition of bank insolvency, or apriori triage.

More on the commercial real-estate bubble pop as vacancies skyrocket and rents plunge (NYT)

More on the commercial real-estate bubble pop as vacancies skyrocket and rents plunge (NYT)

While the markets keep chugging along, bank failures continue to accelerate (all FDIC recorded bank failures listed here).

While the markets keep chugging along, bank failures continue to accelerate (all FDIC recorded bank failures listed here).

This is unbelievable. Verizon thinks math is a matter of opinion.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJ3Oz5JVKs&hl=en&fs=1]