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Failed fugitive and successful criminal mastermind Allen Stanford, together with his wife Susan, who may or may not be the "girlfriend" he was with during his Virginia capture, owes the U.S.

Failed fugitive and successful criminal mastermind Allen Stanford, together with his wife Susan, who may or may not be the "girlfriend" he was with during his Virginia capture, owes the U.S.

S&P, which has recently improved from lagging by 3 years to being behind by only a month or so (amazing considering Moody's believes it is still in the 19th century), downgraded Clear Channel From B to B-, and kept it on CreditWatch Negative, expecting further downgrades.

S&P, which has recently improved from lagging by 3 years to being behind by only a month or so (amazing considering Moody's believes it is still in the 19th century), downgraded Clear Channel From B to B-, and kept it on CreditWatch Negative, expecting further downgrades.

Bank Of Countrywide Lynch memo leaked: Ken Lewis was last seen claiming that the bank does not need further assistance, and that it can survive the downturn on its own. He goes on to say how good the economy is, how the trading business has "vastly improved" in the quarter, how the corporate debt has shown signs of thawing, and how critics and cynics will soon be sued for shorting the stock and spreading malicious rumors (we kinda made that one up...although it could very well happen)

Kirk Kerkorian, through his holding Company Tracinda Corp today announced in a 13G regulatory filing that he was pledging an additional 48.8 million of his personal MGM shares as collateral under MGM's $500 million credit line, which he had used to buy Ford Motor stock.

Kirk Kerkorian, through his holding Company Tracinda Corp today announced in a 13G regulatory filing that he was pledging an additional 48.8 million of his personal MGM shares as collateral under MGM's $500 million credit line, which he had used to buy Ford Motor stock.

Chris Dodd's brilliance shone today, when he claimed that "short-term bank takeovers" may be necessary... uh???????? Short term nationalization? This is worse than little kids playing Dungeons and Dragons, coming up with rules on the fly. Unfortunately if they roll, well, poorly, on that cool 20 side die, U.S. taxpayers will end up bankrupt or worse.

Fresh out of Rochdale, the disgruntled former Ladenburg employee and Bank of America cheerleader claims that a wholesale nationalization of all Lewis, Vikram et al. toxic assets would blow out US sovereign debt to $30 trillion, kill the dollar and maybe even lead to an accidental crossing of the streams. Courtesy of his bearded visageness and CNBC.

Fresh out of Rochdale, the disgruntled former Ladenburg employee and Bank of America cheerleader claims that a wholesale nationalization of all Lewis, Vikram et al. toxic assets would blow out US sovereign debt to $30 trillion, kill the dollar and maybe even lead to an accidental crossing of the streams. Courtesy of his bearded visageness and CNBC.

Both out with rose-colored releases to CNBC: Citi claiming its capital base is strong and it continues to streamline business (coach class tickets likely to be verboten as well soon), while BAC claiming there is no reason to nationalize a bank that is profitable, well-capitalized and has the coolest office furniture this side of Sir Stanford's corner office cum cricket field.

Some other pessimism porn:

The proud owner of 218 million shares of Citi was down almost $200 million at one point today on his Citi position alone. Luckily he only has another $400 million to lose before the garbage heap becomes a problem of the taxpaying masses, most likely at 5 pm this Sunday.

The end of the good banker times is here. From elimination of first class airplane seats, to no more $1000 bottles of wine, to car service which actually has to compete based on price, the perks of being a banker are now a fond memory. Full bloomberg article is useful to give an idea of the carnage:

US CDS mid passes 100 basis points (full market 95/105)... obviously historic event. Some traders call this the doomsday count up as the higher it goes the dumber you have to be to buy it (as you will never collect on any insurance), and the likelier it is that the end of the world is nigh. If this had to be quanitified in terms of colors, the equivalent would be a deep shade of burgundy.

Law firm Sidley Austin was humiliated today, when Tribune Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey publicly chastised Sidley's bankruptcy practice for blatantly representing the stereotype of greedymoneygrubbing lawyers, demanding the highest known legal hourly fee ever of $1,100 per hour and limited the company to a maximum hourly