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CNN is claiming BoA has made a deal to buy Merril Lynch. Lehman is probably toast.
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"The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists."
-Joan Robinson -
Given that Merrill was bought (I still don't understand why BoA paid so much), it looks like AIG may be next.
The WSJ reports that AIG is looking for a $40 billion cash infusion. Not too many people can write a $40 billion check. Worldwide, maybe a dozen.
Interestingly, they may have a large exposure to Hurricane Ike.I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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Am I missing something when already large financial institutions that are 'too big to fail' are merging to create even larger institutions that are 'too big to fail'. As much as a free-marketeer that I am, isn't it about time for the feds to maybe look at breaking up/reregulating these guys?If you look around and think everyone else is an *******, you're the *******.Comment
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HeheheheAttached FilesOnly feebs vote.Comment
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Yeah, it's real funny Aggie.
Lehman's dying hours
As the clock ticks down, workers file out of a Times Square skyscraper carrying what they can.
By Andy Serwer, managing editor
September 14, 2008: 11:41 PM EDT
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The last hours, minutes really, of one the world's largest investment banks make for a pretty unusual spectacle.
I'm standing outside Lehman Brothers (LEH, Fortune 500) headquarters on 7th Ave and 50th street in New York City watching Lehman Brothers die.
Employees, some in suits, others in casual clothes, are filing out with all they can carry as time runs out.
They are walking down the sidewalk past police barricades as scores of New Yorkers and tourists gawk, some asking, "Which star is coming out?" - not knowing what's going on.
A big cop issues the standard "keep moving" line to those of us who stop to gaze. He tells the crowd, "Go home. There is no one famous coming out. You are looking at a whole bunch of people who just lost their jobs."
Some of the people behind the barricades are loved ones - their faces distraught, their cars waiting to pick up their significant others and their boxes. One banker carries out a pair of green Lehman umbrellas, a paltry trophy.
Few parting employees are in a mood to talk - either they're still adhering to CEO Dick Fuld's tight-lipped, 'We're all in this together' policy or they're just exhausted and in major pain.
"No comment," is the standard line. A TV producer tries in vain to get interviews. I managed to ask one guy how he felt: "Look at all of us with boxes," he said with a grimace. "What do you think?"
As the night wears on, dozens of younger workers start coming out of the building. One yells, 'Jackals," not knowing that the crowd is made up mostly of relatives or clueless onlookers. A pair of employees walk out carrying orchids.
Six months earlier and five blocks away, a similar scene played out as Bear Stearns collapsed. Tonight I'm wondering how many more crash and burn nights like this Wall Street, the markets and our economy can take."The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "Comment
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Am I correct in assuming that American authorities were willing to take a hit, step in, and save one (the first one, OK two, but mortgages are mom and apple pie) in an effort to put the finger in the ****, but are able to recognise they can not hold back the flood?(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your signature to help him gain world domination.Comment
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Fannie and Freddie is an entirely different situation, so it doesn't really apply here. They are both more far-reaching than Lehman, and already government-sponsored, so in some ways it was in the Government's best interest to bail them out. Also, mortgages are different in that they hurt people more than a bank (which is FDIC insured, for those elements of it that are deposits and not investments).
But yes, I think you are accurate, unless you misspelled dike for a reason...
<Reverend> IRC is just multiplayer notepad.
I like your SNOOPY POSTER! - While you Wait quote.Comment
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From what I've read, Bear Sterns gave the rest of the financial industry a few weeks/months to get their house arranged in order to forestall a failure cascade in the industry. If Lehman files, the ripple effect will probably be far less severe than it would have been otherwise.If you look around and think everyone else is an *******, you're the *******.Comment
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Of course it is. A few upper-middle class people have lost their jobs and we are supposed to feel sorry for them, when every day many times more jobs of ordinary working people, who have much less in the way of financial security, are shipped off overseas, often because of decisions made by people in institutions like this.Originally posted by Asher
Yeah, it's real funny Aggie.
Forgive me for being less than sympathetic. The tedious-ignorant-****wit accountant class are a pox.Only feebs vote.Comment
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Come now, snoopy. The eve of a financial meltdown is hardly the time to quibble over a vowel or too.Originally posted by snoopy369
But yes, I think you are accurate, unless you misspelled dike for a reason...
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your signature to help him gain world domination.Comment
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I think it's probably an exaggeration. Some banks will go bust and there will be "soul searching", but we'll be back here within the decade. It is inherently unstable. What rational person would build their home on an active fault?Only feebs vote.Comment
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On the bright side, this is going to mean a few more votes for Chegitz.
Only feebs vote.Comment
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A bit more than a decade, I should think.
By the time this is done, banking sphincters will be knotted up thighter than Ms. Priss' knees and should remain that way for about the next 25 years.(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your signature to help him gain world domination.Comment
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I was being conservative. It is only 10 years since LMT and ten years before that was Black Friday.Originally posted by notyoueither
A bit more than a decade, I should think.
By the time this is done, banking sphincters will be knotted up thighter than Ms. Priss' knees and should remain that way for about the next 25 years.Only feebs vote.Comment
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Banks, when properly capitalized, are profitable organizations that can fix a lot of bad deals.Originally posted by Timexwatch
Am I missing something when already large financial institutions that are 'too big to fail' are merging to create even larger institutions that are 'too big to fail'. As much as a free-marketeer that I am, isn't it about time for the feds to maybe look at breaking up/reregulating these guys?
So long as the resulting institution is properly capitalized, there's nothing wrong with a strong bank taking over a weak one.I came upon a barroom full of bad Salon pictures in which men with hats on the backs of their heads were wolfing food from a counter. It was the institution of the "free lunch" I had struck. You paid for a drink and got as much as you wanted to eat. For something less than a rupee a day a man can feed himself sumptuously in San Francisco, even though he be a bankrupt. Remember this if ever you are stranded in these parts. ~ Rudyard Kipling, 1891Comment
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