Archive for June 4th, 2009

Sheila Bair Exacts Payback From Citi

Never piss off a regulator. Citi’s executives are now paying the price for having done so. From the WSJ: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is pushing for a shake-up of CitigroupInc.’s top management, imperiling Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, people familiar with the matter said. The FDIC, under Chairman Sheila Bair, also recently pressed a fellow regulator […]

Good Post On Why The Fed Isn’t Causing Inflation – Yet

Accrued Interest has a really good post up about why the Fed’s actions aren’t inflationary — at least for now. It’s got plenty of neat charts and the author makes a wonky argument easy to understand. Check it out. Update: I’m not a big links type blogger — I think it’s a lazy way to […]

GM To Use Bailout Money To Finance LBO Of Delphi

What else haven’t they told us? The WSJ is reporting that GM plans to use some of the $30 billion of DIP loans it’s set to receive from the Government to finance the the leveraged buyout of auto-parts company Delphi. This transaction is part of the GM viability plan that the government’s auto task force […]

Countrywide’s Mozillo Charged With Fraud By The SEC

You are probably aware that the SEC has accused former Countrywide CEO, Angelo Mozillo, and two of his chief lieutenants with fraud. The SEC complaint document makes for fascinating reading. It demonstrates that Mozillo and others were acutely aware and concerned with the risks they were running while steadfastly painting a different picture to investors […]

European Banks Facing Increasing Losses From The Baltics

Are the chickens finally coming home to roost for European banks? As Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia bleed to death trying to maintain their currency pegs, Sweden’s finance minister has warned his country’s banks that they will face partial or complete nationalization if they turn to the government for help. Many fear that this is just […]

Holman Jenkins Explodes Some Myths Of The Crisis

If you read this blog often you know that I’m a pretty big fan of Holman Jenkins. I don’t always agree with him but I like the way he strips the veneer away from issues and makes you think about the essence of problems or the real motivation and direction of policy. He has a […]

News Flash: California Housing Now Undervalued

Call your realtor, now! According to L.A. Land it’s time to go all in on California housing. It seems that the decline in prices has overshot the bottom and houses are now undervalued. Based on data from IHS Global Insight these are the areas where you will find the deals: By those measures, Los Angeles […]