Interview with an Anonymous Head Fund Manager

Part 1 and part 2 of an interview with an anonymous head fund manager about the current state of the economy. (via noah)

Cramer Vs Stewart

Last night’s Cramer Vs Stewart was either the end of Cramer’s career or Stewart’s finest hour. (video and transcripts via Calacanis)

How Things Just went Wrong in the Crisis

The latest Reckoning article is up over at the NY Times and tells us how Wisconsin school boards were actually behaving like high-risk hedge funds to cover their pension funds.

Tribulations of a Bankrupt Nation

Tribulations and life in Iceland while their country has essentially gone bankrupt.

Gordon Brown Declares Iceland Terrorist State

Gordon Brown declared Iceland a terrorist state to freeze all of its assets in the UK.

Daily Financial Crisis Recap 01.11.08

Stocks end higher in the last day of October after a tumultuous month of trading. October was a wild month.

Dow Jones industrial average up 144.32 points, or 1.57 percent, to 9,325.01. It was the first time the Dow had back-to-back gains since the end of September.

Barclay’s is seeking $11.8 billion from Abu Dhabi and Qatar. As much as 32% of the company would be owned by Middle Eastern interests.

Bernanke says that the mortgage system needs more safeguards. Consumer spending slowed to its slowest in four years in September.

Bank of Japan cuts its key interest rate for the first time in 7 years. Banks alter loan terms to forestall upcoming mortgage foreclosures.

The country is showing signs of entering a fierce global recession, with deflation running rampant.

Daily Financial Crisis Recap 30.10.2008

Consumers are already feeling the next crisis, the credit card crunch. It’s normal. In North America, people live beyond their means thanks to credit cards. That’s how people accumulate thousands of dollars of bad debt.

The money is disappearing out of AIG. Analysts wonder where the $123 billion went.

The biggest portion of the Fed loan is apparently being used as collateral for A.I.G.’s derivatives contracts, including credit-default swaps.

Doesn’t sound good. That and exec pay. However, they were asked by Cuomo to halt any bonuses or exec compensation

The economy is showing signs of a slowdown. No shit. It’s at the lowest it has been 17 years. The Dow was up thanks to a report on the economy. It finished at 9,180.69, a gain of 189.73 or 2.11%. This morning, stocks are up as well. The Fed lowered its key interest rate by half a percentage point. Taiwan and a few other Asian countries followed suit.

Japan plans to invest $51 billion into their economy.

Daily Financial Crisis Recap 28.10.08

Stocks soared while expecting a Fed rate cut. The Dow closed at 9,065.12, a gain of 889.35 or 10.88%. Crude oil is still falling. It closed at $62.73. Consumer confidence is at a low point. Some analysts believe it’s the start of a consumer-led recession, but ultimately the problem rests with the banks and their derivatives schemes for making a quick buck.

Iceland raises its key interest rate to 18%, a gain of 6%. The hike is part of a deal Iceland struck with the IMF. It’s also a tactic to prop up frozen credit and currency markets. Two weeks ago, it cut the rate by 3.5% to 12%. British PM calls for more contributions by China and the Gulf States to the IMF to help out.

Huntsman/Hexion merger not going ahead as planned because banks won’t finance it. Washington considering helping GM and Chrysler merge.

Denmark is rethinking its spurn of the euro. Hedge fund traders take VW stock up to $1,256 a share, after Porsche announced that it had taken control of VW with 75% of the voting shares. This partly happened because short-sellers were betting that VW shares would fall. The shares closed at $1,215.38. On Friday, the shares were at $261.76 on the Frankfurt exchange.

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Relevant Posts (check out the finance category for more)

• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 10.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 11.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 12.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 13.10.08
• Late Daily Financial Crisis Recap 13.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 14.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 15.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 16.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 17.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 19.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 21.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap End of Day 21.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 22.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 23.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 25.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 26.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 27.10.08

Daily Financial Crisis Recap 27.10.08

The Dow plunges during the last ten minutes of trading. It closed at 8,175.77, down 203.18, a loss of 2.42%. Oil closed at $63.22, over a dollar less. A barrel of crude is at its lowest in the last 18 months.

Policy makers worldwide try to shore up their economies.

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Relevant Posts (check out the finance category for more)

• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 10.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 11.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 12.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 13.10.08
• Late Daily Financial Crisis Recap 13.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 14.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 15.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 16.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 17.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 19.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 21.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap End of Day 21.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 22.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 23.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 25.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 26.10.08

Daily Financial Crisis Recap 26.10.08

Many US businesses are cutting jobs. I don’t know about you guys, but my freelance work from the US has also been cut down. Not completely, but by 30%. It might be cut down even further. Still, this gives me the opportunity of exploring other forms of freelancing and other gigs that I couldn’t pursue while writing 5 posts a day for one site. Spending is also stalled. As with most hard times, people are cutting back everywhere. This is forcing Americans to reevaluate their priorities and come up with new solutions. I’m glad I don’t have a mortgage right now. I used to, but we sold in 2006 when we left for Asia.

GM cutting down on SUVs. GM shares are down 76% as of this Friday. Workers are stunned that SUV plants are shutting down. Americans finally realize that SUVs aren’t the best cars.

The markets had another brutal day Friday. The Asian markets got crushed. Germany and England were down more than 5 percent. In the hours before the United States markets opened, all the signals suggested it was going to be the worst day yet in the crisis. The Dow dropped more than 400 points at the opening, but thankfully it never got any worse.

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Relevant Posts (check out the finance category for more)

• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 10.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 11.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 12.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 13.10.08
• Late Daily Financial Crisis Recap 13.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 14.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 15.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 16.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 17.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 19.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 21.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap End of Day 21.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 22.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 23.10.08
• Daily Financial Crisis Recap 25.10.08