Archive for May 4th, 2009

The Problems With Bank Nationalization

For all of you nationalize/don’t nationalize aficionados out there, here are some thoughts from Economics of Contempt on the subject. The author discusses Thomas Hoenig, the President of the Kansas City Fed, and his suggestions for resolving a seizure of a large bank and its holding company.  For those of you unfamiliar with Hoenig, he […]

Stress Tests And Commercial Real Estate Loans

The leaks surrounding the bank stress tests continues this evening. The WSJ is reporting that 10 of the 19 banks that underwent the test will be required to raise more capital. The Journal didn’t have any definitive list, just more of the same names being bandied about. Despite all of Warren Buffett’s praise this weekend, […]

Be Careful What You Read

A couple of bloggers deserve a hat tip today for pointing out how far off base some recent reports circulating about the Internet have been. Felix Salmon and Deal Book did a nice job of taking a lot of the steam out of the meme that the Obama auto team had threatened to unleash the […]

Pending Home Sales Are Up: Does That Mean Anything?

The housing market seems to be sprouting green shoots right and left — or is it? Reuters reports that the NAR’s pending home sales index was up for March: The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in March, rose 3.2 percent to 84.6 as first-time buyers waded […]