Archive - Feb 2009 - Story

• Latest: S&P Futures down 10.3 bps, Yen at 91.83
• GM told by administration to address bankruptcy option as part of Feb 17 report (WSJ)
• Krugman on the biggest Ponzi of the past 10 years, the U.S.
  

Large scale under the radar derisking occuring in Japan.

In G-7 risk, virtually everything wider

A group of disgruntled Sirius creditors has threatened to fire Mel Karmazin and other senior execs if the company does not cut a deal with EchoStar or John Malone (who has offered to provide bridge financing) and instead files for bankruptcy. Edward Weisfelner, a lawyer with Brown Rudnick was quoted as saying:

Just out on Bloomberg

*ADMINISTRATION WON'T NAME AN `AUTO CZAR, PEOPLE FAMILIAR SAY
*GEITHNER, SUMMERS TO HEAD PANEL ON U.S. AUTO RESTRUCTURING

Link to full NYT article.

pretty much means Chapter 11 most likely done deal. At least Rattner's wife's DWI news will be burried for ever.

Luxury automaker Porsche, which in October briefly became the world's largest hedge fund after it disclosed stock and derivative holdings in fellow car maker Volkswagen, prompting a massive short squeeze, and propelling Volkswagen to the status of largest company in the world by market capitalization, may be in some deep trouble after brand new disclosures by Porsche CFO Holger Härter.

In what could be the final blow to California's crumbling economy as it faces a $42 billion budget deficit, the WSJ reports that a vote to reach a complex plan to close the budget was unsuccessful by 1 vote.

Along the lines of our expectations, Naked Capitalism has a good piece on whether Eastern Europe will trigger a Financial Meltdown

Rolfe Winkler's take on the paradox of the Stimulus package (OptionArmageddon)

The topic of whether China has decided it has had enough of U.S. Treasuries, or is just posturing, has gained significant traction recently. The latest development comes from Luo Ping, an official at the China Banking Regulatory Commission, who said holding U.S. government bonds "is not the only option for investing reserves." According to Bloomberg:

Stimulus bill caps banker bonuses to 1/3 of total comp, compliments of Chris Dodd (NYT, Naked Capitalism has great comment on this)

Berkshire Hathaway propaganda - first Warren, now Charlie Munger on restoring confidence... After S&P drops another 300 points it may well be Becky Quick (Washington Post)

The WSJ is out with a muchly regurgitated piece, which may, however, finally end up being right. Turns out the negotiations between bondholders, the company and the intractable UAW are going nowhere in a hurry, and as the company has a February 17 deadline to report on its progress (of which there has been none), it may finally be time to pull the plug.

While everyone is busy arguing over the stimulus bill, without having a clue what its over 1000 pages of "stimuli" include (it is actually split into a 496-page appropriations section and a 577-page tax package), the government is making sure that corporations with public

Friday the 13th was not a good day for banks, as regulators shuttered 4 more, after last week's 3, bringing the 2009 total to 13. This is already more than half of 2008's total closings of 25, when it took until September to get to a cumulative 13 shutterings.

Developing story... and the end of an era. Ivanka gone too...

This effectively means the Trump Atlantic City Casinos are 4 days away from bankruptcy.

European semiconductor maker NXP, formerly Philips' semiconductor unit which was LBOed in 2006 by a consortium of KKR, Silver Lake and AlpInvest,

When Reuters yesterday released the rumor of the mortgage subsidy program, the market shot up to close unchanged after being down over 3%. But was the market, as usual, ahead of itself in its optimism? While the news of subsidies may result in some marginal benefits to the most at risk homeowners, it is at best a temporary solution as it does nothing to impact the real toxic asset overhang - the staggering notional size of unserviceable mortgage debt. Additionally, subsidies will obviously not come free.