Category

Financial Crisis Investing

Warning: This is Not Another Wall Street Conspiracy Theory, These are the Facts

By , Chief Investment Strategist, Money Morning • @ShahGilani_TW - • Print | Email

Just last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to directly pay billions of dollars to banks as part of its scheme to bail out insurance giant American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG).

According to committee Chairman Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, the testimony that congressmen heard just didn't "pass the smell test."

What really stinks about the whole mess is not only the cover-up of what really happened and why, but the inability of anybody in Congress to actually do their homework and be able to frame pointed questions and get to the truth.

It's not complicated, but it is convoluted. Here are the facts and some questions that Congress needs to ask – and that the American people deserve straight answers to.

For the inside story on AIG's collapse, read on...

My Confrontation With Ben Bernanke: The One Question He Refused to Answer

By , Money Morning - • Print | Email

The Secret Service agents watched me warily as I approached U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

I didn't waste any time. After introducing myself, I showed him a copy of the talk he gave at the American Economic Association (AEA) meetings in January 2007. I circled all the times he used the words "panic," "crisis," and "stress" in his speech, entitled "Central Banking and Bank Supervision of the United States."

A total of 36 occasions.

I asked him point-blank: "Did you know in advance that a financial crisis was headed our way?"

He looked nervous. I could tell he was uncomfortable with my question. He looked at me stoically and smiled.

And he refused to answer.

But there was no doubt in my mind what the correct answer was. I think he was worried about his job if he said, "Yes."

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The High Cost of Greed ...

By , Chief Investment Strategist, Money Morning • @ShahGilani_TW - • Print | Email

Money Morning subscriber Ted Kubichek wrote and asked if one of our experts could comment on the underlying cause of the financial crisis whose fallout will affect the U.S. economy for years. Here's an edited version of that question, as well as the reply by Money Morning's Shah Gilani, an internationally recognized expert on the global credit crisis.

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Anatomy of a Scam: This "Prime Bank Program" Has Already Cost Investors Billions

By , Chief Investment Strategist, Money Morning • @ShahGilani_TW - • Print | Email

Two years ago, an associate of mine lost $100,000 because he didn't listen to me. A year ago, I saved a manufacturing company from the same scam. And just last week I saved a friend of mine $300,000. For several years now, a far-fetched but seemingly plausible investment opportunity has been wreaking havoc across the […]

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Looking For the Next Global Profit Play? Take a Look at These Emerging Market ETFs

By , Money Morning - • Print | Email

By Mike Caggeso Associate Editor Money Morning Like most investors, Harvard University's billion-dollar endowment fund took a beating during the global financial crisis. Many investors cashed out, opting for the safety of the sidelines. But Harvard called a new play. During the first quarter, Harvard engineered a dramatic shift in its endowment-fund investment strategy – […]

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Market Moves Will Remain on Hold Until Bank Stress Test Results Are Released Thursday

By , Executive Editor, Money Morning - • Print | Email

By William Patalon III Executive Editor Money Morning/The Money Map Report Barring some dramatic – and unforeseen – news this week, expect investors to tread water until Thursday, when the government is expected to release the results of the bank stress tests it conducted on the 19 largest U.S. banks. The stress-test results are expected […]

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Money Morning’s Bank Stress Test Says These Three Banks Are the Strongest

By , Money Morning - • Print | Email

Why wait for the U.S. Treasury Department's bank stress test when Money Morning can highlight the four secrets that will let you separate the winners from the losers in the U.S. banking system?

Call it the "Money Morning Bank Stress Test."

Back in February, I looked at the Top 12 U.S. banks, to determine whether it was really necessary – as U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was proposing at the time – to devote the enormous sum of $1.5 trillion of our money to bail them out. I came to the conclusion that such a huge bailout was unnecessary, and that only a few of the Top 12 banks seemed in any danger of collapse. Fortunately, policymakers and the market have now come to agree with me.

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Controversial Stress Tests Reveal Only One Bank Needs Capital, but Worries Remain

By , Executive Editor, Money Morning - • Print | Email

By William Patalon III Executive Editor Money Morning/The Money Map Report Only one of the 19 financial institutions that received a bank stress test would require additional capital, the controversial government initiative has reportedly concluded. The identity of the bank that is alleged to have failed the bank stress test was not revealed. The bank-stress-test […]

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Stress Tests Put Obama Administration in "No-Win" Situation

By , Contributing Writer, Money Morning - • Print | Email

By Don Miller Associate Editor Money Morning The Obama administration may have backed itself into a corner when it released the details of the "stress test" methodology being used to evaluate the health of the nation's big banks.  With final results not expected to be released until May 4, releasing the testing methods for Citigroup […]

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