Archive for October, 2008
SEVERAL CENTRAL BANKS CUT RATES SHARPLY
October 8th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. I was in the market yesterday, as the Dow was continuing to tank. I was looking to buy October call options on DIA, strike 115. In English, as the Dow was tanking, I was looking to make a very high risk, […]
Stock Markets in Russia, Indonesia Halted
October 8th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: Russia, Indonesia, Ukraine and Romania shut their stock exchanges after shares plummeted in the worst week for emerging-markets in at least two decades. Russia’s Micex Index dropped 14 percent, having already slumped 20 percent this week, before trading stopped at 11:05 a.m. in Moscow. The exchange won’t reopen until Oct. 10 unless the […]
Retirement Accounts Have Lost $2 Trillion So Far
October 8th, 2008Via: AP: Americans’ retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months — about 20 percent of their value — Congress’ top budget analyst estimated Tuesday as lawmakers began investigating how turmoil in the financial industry is whittling away workers’ nest eggs. The upheaval that has engulfed financial firms and […]
AIG Executives Pampered at California Spa After Bankruptcy
October 8th, 2008Via: Los Angeles Times: When the going gets tough, the tough get pedicures. Just days after the federal government committed $85 billion of taxpayers’ money to a bailout of insurance giant AIG last month, senior execs from the troubled company headed to Southern California’s ultra-swanky St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach for a week of […]
JAPAN: NIKKEI PLUNGES 9.4%
October 8th, 2008Via: AP: Japan’s stock market plummeted 9.4 percent — its biggest one-day drop in 21 years — Wednesday as investors rushed for the exits on deepening fears over the global financial crisis. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index nose-dived 952.58 points to 9,203.32, a five-year low. That was its third-biggest drop in percentage terms and the […]
And Now… MetLife
October 8th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: MetLife Inc., the biggest U.S. life insurer, withdrew its 2008 earnings forecast and said third- quarter operating profit fell as much as 48 percent as investment income declined. The company plans to sell 75 million shares. Operating earnings for the quarter that ended in September declined to between $600 million and $675 million, […]
People Line Up to Buy Gold in Britain
October 7th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. I’m concerned to be reading “selling the house to buy” gold stories… I hope people are taking a “Big Picture” view of the situation. And I say that as a BullionVault client and affiliate. Many eggs. Many baskets. Now, with caveats […]
U.S. Mint Halts Some American Eagle Coin Production
October 7th, 2008Via: Reuters: Unprecedented demand for precious metals and volatile markets forced the U.S. Mint to cease production for the half-ounce and quarter-ounce popular American Eagle gold coins for the rest of this year and to supply other bullion coins on an allocation basis. “Due to the extreme fluctuating market conditions for 2008, as well as […]
Fed to Buy Massive Amounts of Short-Term Debt
October 7th, 2008Ben’s Dodgy Loans—While You Wait! No bankers left behind. Call now! Via: AP: The Federal Reserve has announced a radical plan to buy massive amounts of short-term debts in a dramatic effort to break through a credit clog that is imperiling the economy. The Federal Reserve said Tuesday it will buy “commercial paper,” a short-term […]
Iceland: Government Seizes Landsbanki; No Withdrawls for UK Savers
October 7th, 2008Via: AP: The Icelandic government this morning seized control of Landsbanki, the second-largest bank in the country, as it sought to avert a financial meltdown. The government moved quickly to use sweeping powers over the country’s banks granted in the Reykjavik parliament last night. The board of directors at Landsbanki has been dismissed and the […]
