Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Gold Falls Nearly 4%, Breaks Through Support at $775
October 21st, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Just FYI: DBA is looking interesting again. Via: Reuters: Gold fell nearly 4 percent after the opening of the U.S. market as a stronger dollar curbed interest in the precious metal as an alternative investment, and as oil prices fell more […]
Family’s 401(k) Is Herd Of Alpacas
October 21st, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy sell or hold any financial instrument, or alpacas. Via: KMBC: With the volatile stock market and shaky economy, the Swikard family said they are glad their 401(k) comes on four legs. “They’re just gentle, curious, fun-loving animals. (They’re) safe around children,” said Dave Swickard of Lonesome Dove […]
Markets Hold Breath as $360 Billion Worth of Lehman Swaps Unwind
October 20th, 2008Can it all just be added to the tab? We’ll find out over the next 48 hours. Via: Telegraph: The $54trillion credit derivatives market faces a delicate test as $360bn worth of contracts on now-defaulted derivatives on Lehman Brothers are due to be settled on Tuesday. Due to the opacity of the market, which is […]
ECB’s Nowotny Sees Global ‘Tri-Polar’ Currency System Evolving
October 20th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: European Central Bank council member Ewald Nowotny said a “tri-polar” global currency system is developing between Asia, Europe and the U.S. and that he’s skeptical the U.S. dollar’s centrality can be revived. “What I see is a system where we have more centers of gravity” Nowotny said today in an interview with Austrian […]
Americans, Get Ready for an Enormous Tax Bill
October 18th, 2008Mmm hmm. Via: Yahoo Finance: “America’s economy is facing unprecedented challenges. We’re responding with unprecedented measures,” President Bush declared in a press conference Friday. Bush, of course, was speaking of the government’s coordinated efforts to tackle a financial crisis that has roiled global markets and brought down venerable financial institutions. “These measures will require us […]
Is Switzerland the Next Iceland?
October 18th, 2008Via: Independent: In an extraordinary move for a nation proud of its financial prudence and stability, Switzerland was forced to take emergency measures yesterday to shore up its two biggest lenders to prevent a collapse in confidence in the country’s banking system. The state will inject SFr6bn (£3.1bn) into UBS, its biggest bank, in return […]
Banks Borrow Record $437.5 Billion Per Day from Fed
October 17th, 2008Via: Reuters: Financial institutions ran to their lender of last resort for record amounts of cash in the latest week, under extreme pressure from the worst global financial crisis in a generation, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday. Banks and dealers’ overall direct borrowings from the Fed averaged a record $437.53 billion per day in […]
Gold Gap Down
October 16th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Just FYI. Via: MarketWatch: Gold futures tumbled Thursday, at one point down more than 5% to below $800 an ounce for the first time in one month, as nervous investors seeking cash sold futures contracts. Some hedge funds were forced to […]
Nikkei Down 11.4 Percent, Worst Fall Since ’87 Crash
October 16th, 2008Down 10%. Up 14%. Down 11%. Via: Reuters: The Nikkei average tumbled more than 11 percent on Thursday in its biggest one-day fall since the 1987 stock market crash, after weak U.S. data fuelled fears that bank rescue measures would not stave off a global recession.
SEC Agrees to Accounting Shift Sought by U.S. Banks Which Will Allow Them to Keep Pretending that They Haven’t Been Wiped Out
October 16th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to back an effort by banks that may let them delay writedowns on a type of security that has declined in value during the collapse of the credit markets. Banks in limited cases may account for so-called perpetual preferred securities as debt, letting them wait to […]
