[Part I of a three-part series looking at how so-called “credit default swap” derivatives could ignite a worldwide capital markets meltdown.] By Shah GilaniContributing Editor Are you shell-shocked? Are you wondering what's really going on in the market? The truth is probably more frightening than even your worst fears. And yet, you won't hear about […]
Archives for September 2008
September 2008 - Page 5 of 11 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From
Warren Buffett Favorite Kraft to Replace Sinking AIG in Dow
By Jennifer YousfiManaging Editor As the financial sector continues to roil with uncertainty and unease, Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT) has been selected to replace American International Group Inc. (AIG) in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. AIG stock plunged today (Thursday) after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s $85 billion bailout of the flagging insurer, taking the 112-year […]
If the Fed Keeps Swimming Against the Tide, it Will End up Drowning
By Keith Fitz-GeraldInvestment DirectorMoney Morning/The Money Map Report If there's one lesson you can take away from this financial crisis, it's this: Whenever the U.S. Federal Reserve squares off against the financial markets, it ends up as the loser. In recent weeks, I've written several articles suggesting that the credit crisis isn't over and detailed […]
Russia's Politics of Isolation Leave it Economically Stranded in a Time of Crisis
By Jason Simpkins Associate Editor While U.S. financial turmoil has seeped into virtually every global market, Russia has been devastated, as the country's largest stock exchanges, the MICEX and RTS, have suffered their biggest losses since the 1998 financial crisis. However, Moscow only has itself to blame after heavy-handed economic, political, and military tactics scared […]
Global Investing Roundups
Primary Fund "Breaks the Buck;" Samsung's Hostile Bid; Gold Shines; Oil Rebounds; Construction Slowest in 17 years; Barclays Could Buy More Lehman Assets; GE and Google Go Green; Wachovia Reaches Out to Morgan Stanley The Reserve's Primary Fund (RFIXX), one of the largest and oldest U.S. money market funds was forced to place a 7-day […]
Fed Steps in and Bails Out AIG to the Tune of $85 Billion in Taxpayer Funds
By Jennifer YousfiManaging Editor In a stunning reversal, the U.S. Federal Reserve offered American International Group Inc. (AIG) access to $85 billion in exchange for a 79.9% stake in the largest domestic insurer. After AIG shares were violently whipsawed in the market, first on reports of a possible bridge loan, then later on reports that […]
Fed Holds Rate Steady in Face of Volatile Markets
By Jennifer YousfiManaging Editor Citing balanced threats from weak economic growth and inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve yesterday (Tuesday) voted to hold the benchmark Federal Funds rate at 2.0%, despite a financial market that has been rocked in recent days by the continued fallout of the credit crisis. “Downside risks to growth and the upside […]
Federal Reserve Policymakers Stand Up to Wall Street's Easy-Money Crowd
By Martin HutchinsonContributing Editor The U.S. central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) yesterday (Tuesday) left the benchmark Federal Funds rate target at 2.0%, after many had expected the central bank policymaking committee to cut rates in the wake of the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH) collapse. What’s more, the statement that was issued after […]
Global Investing Roundups
Oil Continues Slide; FDA Blocks Ranbaxy, Best Buy Profit Declines; Bristol-Myers Bid Uncertain; Pandit’s Reassuring Memo; GM Showcases the Volt; Adobe Beats the Street; Constellation Plunges on Debt Worries Oil prices extended their decline yesterday (Tuesday), falling $10 a barrel in a dramatic, two-day slide as the outlook for U.S., as well as global, energy […]
Goldman Weathers Storm, Barclays Bargain Hunts
By Jason Simpkins Associate Editor Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Barclays PLC (BCS) yesterday (Tuesday) continued to avert the perils posed by the economic catastrophe that has ensnared the financial sector, as the former reported earnings that, again, topped Wall Street estimates and the latter endeavored to pick apart the remains of the languishing […]