Instead of a Quote Of The Day, let me leave you with this piece from the WSJ. I don’t often do this but I’m going to simply past the whole article since some of you might not be able to get past the firewall. WASHINGTON — Paul Allen, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft and owner […]
Archive for February 18th, 2009
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Can We Get A Little Creative With The Auto Industry?
Posted by Tom Lindmark on February 18th, 2009
One day and the GM plan is already taking shots from one of the major stakeholders. The bondholders are questioning whether the plan adequately addresses the challenges facing the company. The recovery plan GM presented to the federal government Tuesday evening calls for cutting 47,000 jobs around the world, closing five additional plants in North […]
Cerberus Wants The Government To Throw Good Money After Bad
Posted by Tom Lindmark on February 18th, 2009
The Baseline Scenario has a post by James Kwak that draws a nice distinction between bailing out Chrysler as opposed to GM. Mr. Kwak effectively points out that as a privately owned firm, its owners should be willing to commit additional funds to the enterprise if they believe the viability arguments in the plan they […]
Is There A Pony In The Foreclosure Plan For The MI Companies?
Posted by Tom Lindmark on February 18th, 2009
Here’s an off the wall thought. Does the new Obama plan take some pressure off the mortgage insurance companies? Assuming that it works and some, what, four or five million borrowers with Agency mortgages refinance, that has to pull a lot of potential loss exposure off the books of the MI companies. As I read […]
First Thoughts On The Foreclosure Relief Initiative
Posted by Tom Lindmark on February 18th, 2009
Well I might as well join the crowd and post this. In true Orwellian fashion it’s called the Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan (HASP?). Here is an outline that’s somewhat intelligible. It’s from Washington Wire. 1. Refinancing for Up to 4 to 5 Million Responsible Homeowners to Make Their Mortgages More Affortdable 2. A $75 […]
Tyler Cowen Argues That This Is A Crisis Of Sectoral Shifts
Posted by Tom Lindmark on February 18th, 2009
Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution has a post up today which in my opinion is brilliant. He advances the argument that the concept of leverage extends far beyond the notion of debt. Here is a snippet from his post: You also may have heard that the Phoenix Suns have been trying to unload All-Star players […]
Why Did TARP Money Not Go To The Banks?
Posted by Tom Lindmark on February 18th, 2009
This one took me completely by surprise. Deal Book has a post which contends that the funds directed to the banks so far via TARP and I presume through the various guarantees of debt has been directed to the bank holding companies and not the bank operating subsidiaries. To see why, it’s important to understand […]
