September 2008

How could it be? Last week I felt like I was living in a dream or, better yet, a nightmare. I have never been more shocked by what I experienced, witnessed, heard and saw. As many of you know, I spent the lion’s share of my career at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. At Morgan Stanley, I was an institutional equity trader for five years, trading the banks, brokers, ... read more

As the week comes to a close and the nations wisest economists, legislators and politicians debate the need for a modernized Resoultion Trust Corporation, I thought it might help to see what some of the pro's and con's are to a government plan as big as this. In the two interviews below a former FDIC chairman weighs in, a global economics editor, a banking regulatory specialist and a financial ... read more

Yesterday I got the phone call that sent shivers down my spine. Never have I listened so intently to someone speak. I took my time writing this note. Lives were affected, jobs were lost and more tales will be told. I can only tell you what I was told. I have no agendas. My job is to report the news. This is what I am doing, based on an interview with a source who had an inside look at the week ... read more

On September 9th, I wrote a blog called “Bailout and the Taxpayer: Where Do You Stand?” In that blog, I posted an interview with former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros who recommended bringing back the Resolution Trust Corporation, a government-owned asset management company established in 1989 to help liquidate housing inventory, mortgage loans and financial assets that were taken over or ... read more

In my last blog, I wrote a story, from a source, about why Washington Mutual is too large to fail. In that story, I mentioned the amount of FDIC insured deposits, $181 billion dollars, at Washington Mutual. I also talked about a loan that the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco gave Washington Mutual to the tune of $58 billion dollars. The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco sent me the ... read more

This morning a source tells me that Washington Mutual, the 6th largest bank and largest savings and loan bank in this country, cannot legally fail. Here is why: They have $181 billion in deposits with the average bank account balance of $5,200. The FDIC is responsible for those deposits. How much or what percent of those deposits is unclear. We don’t know for sure. Just this morning I saw a ... read more

Today I interviewed New York Gov. David Paterson. Forget your political beliefs, your ideologies and your affiliations and watch this interview. You may not agree with everything the governor stands for, but this man is incredibly bright, unbelievably well-spoken, and he gets it. The "it" in this situation is AIG (AIG) and Wall Street. Look at why he made the decision to allow AIG to move $20 ... read more

As we speak, the market appears to be closing at its lows. Frankly, I am not surprised. The action in the market today has been far too complacent. This afternoon, Treasury Secretary Paulson hosted a press conference at the White House. He looked exasperated. There is no doubt in my mind that the history books will be changed because of today. What happened over the past year will change the way ... read more

In the blog entitled “Bailout and the Taxpayer: Where do you Stand?” I asked you to tell me whether the Treasury made the right decision on FNM and FRE or whether there was any other option. Sheldon and Andy, I give you both tremendous props for what you said in the comment section of that blog. Sheldon, you hit the nail on the head. How is it that the percentage of foreclosures in this ... read more

On Monday, March 10, on Money for Breakfast, in our weekly “Americas Greatest Business Rivals” series, we looked at the rivalry between Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers (LEH). Each Monday we take two companies in the same field and compare them. Why are they such bitter rivals? How have they tried to ... read more