Archive for November 21st, 2008

Should Citi Be Nationalized as a Warning to Others?

Andy Spero | November 21, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) |

Note: We’ll likely expand and edit this post in the morning, but wanted to circulate the idea before bedtime.

We’re rather diligent–but not obsessed– about keeping up with financial new.1  We’ve heard many financial firms announce lay-offs and have read how at a few, like Goldman, senior managers have decided to forgo bonuses.

As we recall, most banks have announced withdrawals from subprime mortgage origination and loans, which seems like a wise move, but given the magnitude of their errors and mistakes, we’re very surprised that we haven’t read… Read the rest

When the Going Gets Tough…Quit.

Andy Spero | November 21, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) |

We very much enjoyed the article, As Firms Flounder, Directors Quit, in today’s (November 21) Wall Street Journal.

The title completely summarizes the content: as many firms have faced financial difficulties, outside directors have quit because they’re “too busy” to direct the firm that they agreed to help direct before it was in such dire trouble.

A week ago Thursday, we wrote The Failure of Boards to Direct in response to a different WSJ article about… Read the rest

Increases in CMBX Spreads as Evidence of "Financial Projection in a Crisis"

Andy Spero | November 21, 2008 | 0 Comment(s) |

If It Is Much Ado About Nothing, Then It Is an Indictment of Congress.

Since we wrote CMBS Is Like Lumpy MBS and That’s Not Good on Wednesday, AAA CMBX spreads have increased another 300 basis points to a level about ten times greater than where they started the year.

That means that there has been either a large increase in the number of buyers of the insurance or a decrease in the number of sellers… Read the rest