Archive for September, 2008
GLOBAL FINANCIAL EMERGENCY
September 15th, 2008I’ll commence a crisis thread here. New information on top: Debt-Ridden Alitalia in Crisis Talks Via: CNN: Efforts to save debt-ridden Italian flag carrier Alitalia were continuing Monday night amid warnings that flights could be grounded because of the airline’s inability to pay for fuel. … On Saturday Alitalia’s bankruptcy administrator Augusto Fantozzi warned that […]
Lehman, AIG, Merrill: Is this December 1930?
September 15th, 2008Via: BBC: I am writing this in Washington at 3.33 am GMT. There’s been a dramatic day on Wall Street and it’s not even open (actually they had to open trading this afternoon to clear the decks for tomorrow’s potential meltdown). Here’s what we know so far: 1. The US government has refused to put […]
AIG, FACING LIQUIDITY CRISIS, SEEKS FED LIFELINE
September 15th, 2008Via: Reuters: Insurer American International Group Inc, working to stave off rating downgrades and shore up the capital of its holding company, has made an unprecedented approach to the Federal Reserve seeking $40 billion in short-term financing, the New York Times said. Chief Executive Robert Willumstad reached out to the Fed late on Sunday, according […]
BANK OF AMERICA BUYS MERRILL LYNCH
September 15th, 2008Via: Wall Street Journal: In a rushed bid to ride out the storm sweeping American finance, 94-year-old Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed late Sunday to sell itself to Bank of America Corp. for roughly $44 billion. The deal, which was being worked out in 48 hours of frenetic negotiating, could instantly reshape the U.S. banking […]
LEHMAN PREPARES BANKRUPTCY FILING
September 15th, 2008Teamwork. Via: Bloomberg: Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. prepared to file for bankruptcy after Barclays Plc and Bank of America Corp. abandoned talks to buy the U.S. securities firm and Wall Street prepared for its possible liquidation. Lehman and its lawyers are getting ready to file the documents for bankruptcy protection tonight, said a person with […]
Implications of a Ten Day Refinery Outage
September 14th, 2008Via: The Oil Drum: Where is our gasoline and diesel supply headed? Even before Ike hit, quite a few areas of the US were starting to see gasoline shortages. The impact of Ike can only make shortages worse. Most likely, it will take refineries at least a week or two to get production back to […]
Ike: Millions Without Power; Overnight Curfew in Houston
September 14th, 2008Via: Houston Chronicle: As the area endured another spate of potentially damaging thunderstorms a day after Hurricane Ike ravaged the area, Houston officials announced an overnight curfew for the entire city starting at 9 p.m. tonight. Police Chief Harold Hurtt said a curfew, previously only in effect for areas on the southeast side under mandatory […]
U.N. Agency Eyes Curbs on Internet Anonymity
September 14th, 2008The NSA and the Chinese government are working together, through the U.N., to draft plans for systems that would enable all Internet sessions to be authoritatively traced back to their origins. Man, if this one doesn’t get your tinfoil in a knot, nothing will. If you want to know what anonymous on the Internet actually […]
EUR/USD Near Term Bottom
September 14th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. As you know, fooling around with Forex systems is one of my hobbies. I happened to be fiddling with something when I noticed that, last week, EUR/USD put in a near term bottom on the morning of 9/11. On the 10:06 […]
Financial Elite Deciding Lehman’s Fate During Emergency Meetings in New York
September 14th, 2008Monday could be weird. Via: MarketWatch: The forced breakup of Lehman Bros. or even its liquidation became a possible scenario over the weekend as talks dragged on unsuccessfully Saturday between top U.S. financial officials and executives at major Wall Street firms trying to forestall the collapse of the investment firm and to keep weakness among […]
