Banks Searching for Cash, Economy a Debacle as Mr. 28% Bush Calls It a Slowdown
As Chris at AmericaBlog writes, Lehman Brothers and Wall Street cheerleaders can say whatever they like but we are nowhere near the end of this.
"Anyone who says they know the full extent of the losses is either a liar or a fool. The range continues to grow but it's only a range and could be considerably worse."
He is responding to a NYTimes article reporting more bad financial news: "The bill for the credit mess keeps rising.
"American mortgage market began to tear through the financial world, the cost to banks, in terms of their own sinking investments, is approaching $300 billion. To shore up their weakened finances, one bank after another is racing to raise capital — a total of $160 billion so far.
"The pain is far from over. Even the most optimistic forecasters say banks will suffer billions of dollars in additional write-downs on mortgage investments and other debt in the months ahead. The final figure for the banks write-downs could eventually exceed $750 billion — twice some early estimates — if the economy sinks into a prolonged recession, some analysts say.
"Another round of grim results from major banks added to the gloom hanging over the industry on Monday. The day opened in New York with Bank of America reporting another decline in quarterly profits and ended with Citigroup hurriedly raising $6 billion in the capital markets.
"In between, National City, Ohio’s biggest bank and a big subprime lender, posted a $171 million loss, slashed its dividend and agreed to sell a $7 billion stake to investors led by Corsair Capital."
While Bush's flunkies, Paulson and Bernanke, keep bailing out the perpetrators of the mortgage financial debacle, Alfred E. "What me worry!" Neuman Dubya says this is only a "slowdown" not a recession.
"President Bush has set a record he'd presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.
"In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt."
Yo, Pelosi. Why is impeachment still off the table?
"Anyone who says they know the full extent of the losses is either a liar or a fool. The range continues to grow but it's only a range and could be considerably worse."
He is responding to a NYTimes article reporting more bad financial news: "The bill for the credit mess keeps rising.
"American mortgage market began to tear through the financial world, the cost to banks, in terms of their own sinking investments, is approaching $300 billion. To shore up their weakened finances, one bank after another is racing to raise capital — a total of $160 billion so far.
"The pain is far from over. Even the most optimistic forecasters say banks will suffer billions of dollars in additional write-downs on mortgage investments and other debt in the months ahead. The final figure for the banks write-downs could eventually exceed $750 billion — twice some early estimates — if the economy sinks into a prolonged recession, some analysts say.
"Another round of grim results from major banks added to the gloom hanging over the industry on Monday. The day opened in New York with Bank of America reporting another decline in quarterly profits and ended with Citigroup hurriedly raising $6 billion in the capital markets.
"In between, National City, Ohio’s biggest bank and a big subprime lender, posted a $171 million loss, slashed its dividend and agreed to sell a $7 billion stake to investors led by Corsair Capital."
While Bush's flunkies, Paulson and Bernanke, keep bailing out the perpetrators of the mortgage financial debacle, Alfred E. "What me worry!" Neuman Dubya says this is only a "slowdown" not a recession.
"President Bush has set a record he'd presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll.
"In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove. The approval rating matches the low point of his presidency, and the disapproval sets a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt."
Yo, Pelosi. Why is impeachment still off the table?
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