Archive for April, 2008
200,000 U.S. Banking Jobs at Risk
April 2nd, 2008Via: AP: The U.S. financial industry has been shedding jobs at a record clip, and some analysts predict the pace will only accelerate over the next year-and-a-half as banks cut costs in the face of the housing market slump and the weak economy. Analysts at the financial research firm Celent LLC said in a report […]
New York Times: “Wall Street Shows Optimism That Crisis Is Fading”
April 2nd, 2008Can UBS and Merrill Lynch customers get their money yet? No. Via: New York Times: Stocks started the second quarter with a soaring rally on Tuesday that sent the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 400 points, its best performance in two weeks, as investors found reasons to take heart in a fresh round of […]
Military Report: Secretly ‘Recruit or Hire Bloggers’
April 1st, 2008“Hi, Kevin, um, yeah, this is Bob from U.S. Special Operations Command. We’re running an introductory offer over here that might interest you. We know that you’ve fled the U.S. for good and have several thousand pages of, well, unpleasant information on your site, mmkay. But, for a limited time only, the U.S. Government is […]
FBI Tracked King’s Every Move
April 1st, 2008Via: CNN: Hoping to prove the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was under the influence of Communists, the FBI kept the civil rights leader under constant surveillance. The agency’s hidden tape recorders turned up almost nothing about communism. But they did reveal embarrassing details about King’s sex life — details the FBI was able to […]
More European Banking Horror: Deutsche Bank Hit by Writedowns as Crisis Worsens
April 1st, 2008There’s an infamous Cryptogon post that doesn’t mention Deutsche Bank at all. Get me? * wink * * wink * Today’s Reuters article says, “Deutsche is facing hurdles in, for example, leveraged finance and structured credit.” * wink * * wink * Hint: I didn’t work for Deutsche Bank. Ok, that’s it. Comments are off. […]
Gold Sharply Lower, Significant Support Taken Out
April 1st, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. It’s all right here. Bearish engulfing on the weekly… $850 is the next notable support. That’s also right around your 61.8 fib fan. Via: Reuters: Gold tumbled to a two-month low below the key $900-an-ounce level on Tuesday as a jump […]
U.S. Credit Crunch Hits Education as Banks Abandon Student Loans
April 1st, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. I wonder what will happen to Apple’s stock price with so many students unable to buy those shiny Powerbooks and iPods with borrowed money… Ok, that may seem flippant, but I can’t really muster up too many good things to say […]
Analyst Predicts Corn Rationing in 2008
April 1st, 2008In 2008, food could become an out front national security issue in the developed world. My top concerns are wheat and corn. —Some Guesses About 2008 Mmm hmm. Via: Houston Chronicle: A BB&T Capital Markets analyst said Monday corn rationing may be necessary this year, following a U.S. Department of Agriculture report predicting farmers would […]
UBS Q1 Loss: $12 Billion
April 1st, 2008Via: AP: Swiss bank UBS AG says it expects to post first quarter net losses of $12 billion and to seek $15 billion in new capital. Switzerland’s largest bank also said in a statement Tuesday that it sees losses and writedowns of approximately $19 billion on U.S. real estate and related credit positions. Its chairman […]
Now Merrill Lynch Preventing Clients from Exiting Auction Rate Securities
April 1st, 2008I’m tired of typing EMERGENCY and story titles in all caps for situations that are becoming commonplace. I mean, I don’t know if there’s dope in the drinking water of the people who are holding these things, but when I read that major financial institutions aren’t allowing clients to exit trades worth—well, we don’t really […]
