Archive - Mar 2009 - Story

The latest bankruptcy comes from Milacron, a supplier of plastics-processing technologies and industrial fluids. Preventing the company's immediate liquidation is an $80 million DIP ($40 million in new money) obtained from Avenue Capital and DDJ which together held 78% of the Company's $225 million 11.25% now defaulted notes. Additionally, GE would provide Milacron with a $55 million DIP revolver.

Kirk Kerkorian's former GM board of directors watch dog is apparently dying to say "I told you so" when discussing GM's faulty strategy which is currently costing taxpayer billions to keep the zombie car maker on life support. Jerry however, had little to say about how Tracinda lost boatloads of money in failed investments with both GM and Ford over the past several years. In an interview with Reuters, York had this to say:

As Mark Haines calls yet another market bottom (what 8.1% unemployment? Citi says absent all its losses it will make a profit) and bases his conclusion that "this one is really the one... it is a real big rally" on his gut, things elsewhere are getting ugly. Ukraine's hryvnia currency plunged today despite the central bank's warning to 17 lenders not to buy or sell the hryvnia for less than its set exchange rate.

According to latest holding disclosures Bill Gross is elbow deep in the U.S. mortgage mess. Of $138 billion in total assets under management, PIMCO has 86% invested in mortgage-backed securities. Additionally, the recently demustachioed Newportian has been buying treasuries through the nose: from January to February, his TSY holdings have increased from -2% (oops, someone was short Uncle Sam. j/k: he is merely another fan of the repo trade) to 15%.

Vik is angry and he is not gonna take it anymore. All those jokes about Citi, 99c stores, the cost of a roll of toiler paper, etc. have incensed the former Old Lane founder to the point where he... will write a letter to describe just how incensed he is. Without further ado we present Vikram's missive to his dear citi colleagues, entitled "Capital Strength and Earnings Power".

• United Technologies poops on futures pre-market party: fires thousands, slashes guidance (PR)
• Citi having best quarter since 2007...
  

Moody's, which has long been criticized for sleeping through the credit bubble and, by many accounts, causing it in the first place, just came out with an attempt at absolution. In a quarterly publication called the "Bottom Rung", the rating agency list 283 companies which it believes are the most likely to default. Criteria for inclusion in this list include primarily liquidity and credit risk. Among the sectors most represented are media, automotive, retail, manufacturing, gaming and consumer products.

• Chinese deflation accelerates: CPI at -1.6% versus -1.0% consensus (Bloomberg)
• Barclays warned of toxic asset dumping ahead of potentially applying for gov't insurance (FT)
• No more banker jobs for foreigners (

• Chinese deflation accelerates: CPI at -1.6% versus -1.0% consensus (Bloomberg)
• Barclays warned of toxic asset dumping ahead of potentially applying for gov't insurance (FT)
• No more banker jobs for foreigners (

• Chinese deflation accelerates: CPI at -1.6% versus -1.0% consensus (Bloomberg)
• Barclays warned of toxic asset dumping ahead of potentially applying for gov't insurance (FT)
• No more banker jobs for foreigners (

I touched briefly this morning on the paradox of the strong dollar as the economy collapses. After all it is none other than Ben Bernanke who acknowledges that one of the key things Roosevelt did to drag the U.S. out of the first great depression was the dollar devaluation, i.e. taking the U.S. off the gold standard.

I touched briefly this morning on the paradox of the strong dollar as the economy collapses. After all it is none other than Ben Bernanke who acknowledges that one of the key things Roosevelt did to drag the U.S. out of the first great depression was the dollar devaluation, i.e. taking the U.S. off the gold standard.

I touched briefly this morning on the paradox of the strong dollar as the economy collapses. After all it is none other than Ben Bernanke who acknowledges that one of the key things Roosevelt did to drag the U.S. out of the first great depression was the dollar devaluation, i.e. taking the U.S. off the gold standard.

Goldman analysts today provide a very useful checklist to keep tabs of where we stand on the proverbial road out of hell. As GS says, its US economic forecast calls for stabilization by middle 2009, and after annualized declines of 7% and 3% for Q1 and Q2, the bank expects real GDP to inch up at a 1% rate over the second half of the year.

Goldman analysts today provide a very useful checklist to keep tabs of where we stand on the proverbial road out of hell. As GS says, its US economic forecast calls for stabilization by middle 2009, and after annualized declines of 7% and 3% for Q1 and Q2, the bank expects real GDP to inch up at a 1% rate over the second half of the year.