Archive - Jun 22, 2009

Not a single buy-program in da house today.

hat tip permabullish knockout optioned, kilt wearing dude

Not a single buy-program in da house today.

hat tip permabullish knockout optioned, kilt wearing dude

Not a single buy-program in da house today.

hat tip permabullish knockout optioned, kilt wearing dude

Not a single buy-program in da house today.

hat tip permabullish knockout optioned, kilt wearing dude

Trust GM to try to slide a fast one. In an attempt to get all the dealers who did not receive the "thin letter" to get on board with the restructuring process, the bankrupt automaker had sent to the surviving dealers highly secretive amended Participation Agreements (presented below) with extensive "No Protest" clauses, which would require dealers to stock more inventory, stop selling non-GM vehicles and accept new or relocated GM dealerships nearby without protest.

No, not with regard to who can put more money into struggling Hell's Angels' favorite company Harley Davidson, or who can launch another failed bond wraparound insurance company... No, we are talking Becky Quick of course, who somehow has a knack for attracting males 2-4 times her own age. In the clip below pay attention to Kit Bond's last words.

The toxic grabfest is ending. This is best seen by the inversion in the secured/unsecured classes. While the loan universe moved 9 bps tighter over last week, the slow HY bus is still trying to load up on those Neiman Marcus bonds, hoping to see this piece of paper get taken out at par. Here's a hint - it won't.

The toxic grabfest is ending. This is best seen by the inversion in the secured/unsecured classes. While the loan universe moved 9 bps tighter over last week, the slow HY bus is still trying to load up on those Neiman Marcus bonds, hoping to see this piece of paper get taken out at par. Here's a hint - it won't.

The high/low beta stratification seems to have finally worked out for RIEF, although likely too late as anxious investors have said "basta", and also just in time to watch RIFF get annihilated with a -7.79% absolute (ly disastrous) performance MTD. No surprise all fees there have been waived. At this rate of decline the "Futures" Fund certainly has no future.

• Asian stocks rose, led by automakers and financial companies,
• European Central Bank’s Ewald Nowotny said the bank is likely to keep interest rates steady.
• European stocks fell as the World Bank said the global recession will be deeper than it predicted in March
• Federal Reserve is considering creating a utility to replace the Wall Street banks that handle US repo market transactions.
• German business confidence increases in June, signaling an end in recession.
• Unemployment and consumer debt are reducing home ownership by would-be buyers.
• US
  

• Wallgreen's conference call: Consumers shopping closer to payday, saving more, using less credit
• Insiders apparently don't watch CNBC, don't smoke greenery, as they sell shares at fastest pace in two years (Bloomberg)
• The truth - Nobody has any idea what is going on: World Bank, Roubini
  

A lot has been said recently over the much-maligned traditional rating agencies: S&P and Moody's. The rampant conflicts of interest over the past decade which everyone on Wall Street was all too aware of, somehow were a shock to politicians such as Barney Frank. In fact these very conflicts have been proposed to be the root of the credit and mortgage crisis (one can see how that is not a futile argument: if an excel workbook crashes your PC if you try to assume declining housing prices someone should have raised a red flag somewhere).

Bloomberg out with an article disclosing what every "tinfoil" hat wearer has known for a long time, namely that it was precisely Goldman's collateral extractions out of AIG that were the cause for the firm's collapse, and the ensuing financial catastrophe that to this day has been propped up only thanks to the US government's backstop of nearly $10 trillion in various worthless assets.

Submitted by Terence Doherty, guest author (via Phil's Stock World)

Here’s some recent news about the real estate markets in China. I think it is fascinating watching how these things unfold. This proves once again that the lesson of history is that we don’t learn the lessons of history.

Submitted by Terence Doherty, guest author (via Phil's Stock World)

Here’s some recent news about the real estate markets in China. I think it is fascinating watching how these things unfold. This proves once again that the lesson of history is that we don’t learn the lessons of history.