Month: September 2008

Despite all the politicking this week, it looks like a bipartisan deal on the $700 billion bailout package (now titled the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) has been reached. In the revised approach the government immediately provides $250 billion to start buying the MBS and CDO clogging up the…

Despite the woes of the domestic aviation industry, a new type of plane is finally coming into mass service across the globe. Airbus' much publicized and long delayed A380 hit the skies down under in Australia this week. Singapore Airlines was the first to launch earlier this year, and Dubai…

Looks like the financial crisis is taking the much anticipated criminal turn with the FBI starting to seriously probe allegations of fraud by a number of Wall Street firms whose recent collapses sent markets into turmoil. The ones that received the most media coverage - Lehman Brothers, mortgage giants Fannie…

Much of the past and current financial market crisis is blamed on two main factors – poor risk management by company executives and the ultra-depressed housing market. Company management is paying the penalty with most failed CEO's fired and years of lawsuits and regulatory probes ahead for implicated senior executives.…

In my previous post I wrote about the long term fall out and adverse impacts from all these government bailouts. Tony Parker, a regular contributor to this site and an experienced investor, offers a different view as to why the bailouts could end up being a success and even realize…

To save our economy and the financial future of America, the US government is taking over our financial system by changing the rules and becoming the backstop for all the junk in the current financial system. While this may save our skins in the near term I think it is…

In a follow up email discussion with Tony, on his post 10 tips on getting a good deal when buying a car, an interesting point came up as to whether gender makes a difference in getting a good/better deal. Tony, argued that his wife actually went for the final negotiations…

Well, the next big company on the chopping block this week was insurance company AIG. Unlike Merrill and Lehman, it was able to secure government assistance through a $85 billion emergency cash injection. The government and fed officials justified the loan by saying AIG was another “too big too fail”…

A number of employees in the financial services industry have even more reason to be concerned about their jobs after the collapse of storied financial institutions Lehman Brothers (LEH) and Merrill Lynch (MER). This follows on the heels of the Treasury Department's seizure last week of the nation's two mortgage…

Bloomberg reports that US banking committee senators have asked regulatory bodies (FHFA) now controlling mortgage giants Freddie and Fannie to freeze foreclosures for 90 days in order to "provide immediate relief to many homeowners'' and let the companies "turn these non-performing loans into performing assets to minimize losses". Lawmakers and…

In America we can get Annual Percentage Yields (APY) or savings rates between 0.01% and 1% for money kept in high yield on-line saving accounts. This range is quite pathetic but when compared to the volatility of returns from stock markets over the last few years some would take the guaranteed low…

With all the doom and gloom headlines splashed across the financial media it is no wonder that everyone thinks we are headed for the next great depression with little hope of a recovery. Yet there are definitely some positive economic signs out there amid all the negative press - you…

After driving the same family car for the last 7 years, my wife and I decided it was time to get a new car that provided better fuel efficiency and some of the nice to have modern features. Not having bought a car for quite some time meant that I…