US Companies Financial Meltdown - Capitalism at its best?

[Game Theory]

WSJ article: U.S. Plans Rescue of AIG to Halt Crisis;
Central Banks Inject Cash as Credit Dries Up

The primary option being hammered out involved the Fed providing AIG with a short-term "bridge" loan of $85 billion ... In exchange, the government would receive warrants in AIG representing the right to buy its stock, under certain conditions. That could put the government in a position to potentially control a private insurer, a historic move, especially considering that AIG isn't directly regulated by the federal government.

So, hunting begins on WaMu and Wachovia tomorrow? It's starting to look to me like Americans, the Chinese and the Russians are all weaving Americas way towards a very similar form of gorvernment, the complete merger of corporate and government interests.

Fascism on the march in the 21st century! Who would have thought?

 

[Steve Dii]

GT, naona wamewaokoa AIG, shame kwanini waliachia Lehmans waporomoke kinamna hiyo hali just a week ago they opted to buying Freddie and Fannie... BoE nao wamekuja juu kuzuia institution zao zisiende na maji kama lilivyokuwa kasheshe la Northern Rock.... wanazidi kushusha pounds tu kwenye circulation...

Suprised though, why European banks aren't suffering as their counterparts in US or UK?....

 

[Game Theory]

Lehman Brothers Jennifer Roeder writes a message on a portrait of the company's chief executive Dick Fuld's in New York on Monday

'Greed is good': Michael Douglas as ruthless financier Gordon Gecko in director Oliver Stone's 1987 film Wall Street

 

[Game Theory]

GT, naona wamewaokoa AIG, shame kwanini waliachia Lehmans waporomoke kinamna hiyo hali just a week ago they opted to buying Freddie and Fannie

STEVE, check this out: Little more than 18 months ago, AIG walidai kuwa wana $20 billion more capital than it needed sasa wale mabsi waka declare why not throw cash left and right? guess what? jamaa waliplan kungeza dividends by 20 per cent a year – indefinitel!!!

Sasa hawa jamaa wa Lehman’s biggest unsecured creditors walikuwa those well-capitalised Asian banks with relatively small holdings of its bonds.

Lets say Fed isingeachia AIG iporomoke kwa sababu $169 billion ambazo AIG ilikuwa nazo of bonds were core holdings for US public sector pension funds, which treated them as almost as safe as US Government debt....sasa katika hali ya kawaida kama AIG went under, it would leave a nasty hole in those funds.

If AIG collapsed, the impact on those institutions that had taken out financial insurance with it could be even worse...lakini I cant wait maybe by friday huu mjadala tutaendelezafocus on WAMU....

... BoE nao wamekuja juu kuzuia institution zao zisiende na maji kama lilivyokuwa kasheshe la Northern Rock.... wanazidi kushusha pounds tu kwenye circulation...

By the way nina vijisent vyangu pale HBOS lakini what more can i say zaidi ya ile quote from thatfilm Apocolypse Now kama unakumbuka

"I love the smell of Napalm in the morning"

Suprised though, why European banks aren't suffering as their counterparts in US or UK?....

mhhh kasema nani au ushasahau ule msema kuwa when America sneazes Britain catches cold?

soma hapa:

HBOS plight puts pressure on Bank to extend special liquidity scheme - Telegraph

 

[Mzee Mwanakijiji]

Nilidhani kuwa katika ubepari soko linaamua kila kitu, na mwalimu wangu wa PE (not physical education silly, Political Economy) alisema (akimnukuu jamaa mmoja) kuwa kwenye Ubepari "kila mtu na lwake ila Mungu wetu sote".

Cha kushangaza Wamarekani ambao ndio taifa kubwa zaidi la kibepari mambo yakiwa magumu wanakimbilia ujamaa!!

Kitendo cha serikali kuu (federal govt) kuingilia kati kwenye operations za sekta binafsi na kununua hisa na kuwa mmiliki mkubwa (kwenye AIG imechukua karibu hisa za asilimia 80!) ni wazi kuwa Lenin na Marx wanarukaruka kaburini kwani wangewakumbusha Mabepari kuhusu kile kinachojulikana kama "internal contradictions of the capitalist system".

So, where do Tanzania stand baada ya kuachana na Ujamaa na kujaribu kukimbilia na kukumbatia Ubepari?

 

[Rev. Kishoka]

Sorry guys,

With Ike Maboksi yalikuwa yamenizidi jana kukaa chini na kuandika.

As for AIG, they have just received an $85bil bail out from FEDs! Lehman waache walie lakini wengi ambao wako kwenye Investment watalia mwaka huu!

I am proud of the only US AAA ranked Financial Giant WFC! Gained almost $4 today!

It is good time to buy the damn penny stocks from these companies that are going belly up!

As for economy, I do not expect a turn around until a little after January 20th 2009! Watch out for second quarter Financial Perfomance ya US 2009, that will be a good indicator ya recession!

 

[Rev. Kishoka]

Mwanakijiji,

Hizi thread tatu zilizomo humu ambazo zinazungumzia mambo ya uchumi hawa wa Marekani, ni heri zingeachwa kule kwenye Siasa ili kila mtu ajue kuwa Kumkoma nyani Giladi kwetu si kuhusu KaLoRoKI au ufisadi, bali ni reality!

Kuna mada ya Azimio la Arusha, na kila ambaye hajalisoma Azimio, anakimbilia kulisaaga, leo Marekani wana Nationalize kila shirika linalchechemea. Walianza Bear Stearns, wakakwapua IndyMac, wamekuja Freddie na Fannie, kaingia Lehman sasa AIG. Bado Wamu, Wachovia, GM, Ford, na sitashangaa mwakani kusikia Chevron au Exxon wakiwa hoi bin taabani na wakakimbila kwa Hugo Chavez kuomba mikataba mipya!

 

[Game Theory]

The bbc glossary has got to have a counter.

BBC NEWS | Business | Glossary of the credit crunch


The US government is now a hedge fund. A hedge fund with unlimited taxing authority.

 

[Game Theory]

Russian Stock Market Crash Continues, Trading Halted Again
From Bloomberg: Russian Markets Halted as Emergency Funding Fails to Halt Rout (hat tip Stefan)
Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
Russian markets stopped trading for a second day after emergency funding measures by the government failed to halt the biggest stock rout ...

The ruble-denominated Micex Stock Exchange suspended trading indefinitely at 12:10 p.m. after its index erased a 7.6 percent gain and plunged as much as 10 percent within an hour.

Russia halted trading yesterday after the market collapsed 17%. Oh well, over one fourth of the markets value gone in two days ...

 

[Icadon]

Unconfirmed News ni kuwa Wachovia inaweza kununuliwa na US Bank.....after all ma CEO wa hizi banks ni best buddies..as of WaMu hali yao ni ngumu.

 

[Icadon]

 

[Game Theory]

Unconfirmed News ni kuwa Wachovia inaweza kununuliwa na US Bank.....after all ma CEO wa hizi banks ni best buddies..as of WaMu hali yao ni ngumu.

Well, it's hard to ignore the cliff diving today:

Morgan Stanley off 32%.

Goldman Sachs off 21%.

Wachovia is off 25%.

WaMu is only off 10%.

Even GE is off 9%.

 

[Icadon]

Washington Mutual's (WM.N) board would seriously consider a merger offer even at a discount to what the Seattle-based thrift believes it is worth, as it faces mounting pressure to pursue options amid credit-rating downgrades, an analyst at Merrill Lynch said.

"Recent markets disruption and lack confidence that Washington Mutual can withstand the credit cycle are increasing the likelihood that it will need to seek shelter from the storm through a merger," analyst Kenneth Bruce said in a note dated Sept 16.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's downgrade of the thrift to "junk" status, "is likely to add more impetus to Washington Mutual to act quickly," Bruce, who lowered his price target on the stock to $1 from $3, said.

The S&P downgrade came on Monday, and followed downgrades last week by Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings.

S&P had expressed concern about the thrift's share price, and said "it increasingly appears that market conditions could overtake credit fundamentals and leave the company with greatly diminished financial flexibility."

Washington Mutual's stock has lost almost 94 percent of its value from its 52-week high of $39.25 on September 19, 2007, to its close on Tuesday of $2.36, as investors worry about continued losses related to risky real-estate loans.

The company's woes has led to speculation that it is primed for a takeover.

On Wednesday the New York Post reported, citing sources, U.S. federal regulators recently called a number of banks asking if they would consider buying Washington Mutual should it eventually falter.

In recent days federal banking regulators contacted Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), HSBC (HSBA.L) and several other financial institutions to gauge their interest in a possible acquisition of the largest U.S. savings and loan institution, the paper said.

Merrill's Bruce said the retail-bank footprint of the company remains attractive to potential buyers, but the poor quality of its balance sheet may hinder prospects getting full-value from a sale.

Shares of Washington Mutual were trading down 20 cents at $2.16 Wednesday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.

 

[Koba]

....seems mmefurahi na mnataka kusema communism ni bora kuliko capitalism au? mbona hamsemi China ambako market imepoteza almost 60% in less than 6 months...wakuu hii ni across the board hakuna wa kupona na Tanzania lazima itatuumiza tuu,ila sio mchezo kinachotokea sasa watu wanasaga meno na subiri ianze kuingia kwa wananchi ndio wamarekani watajua nini maana ya third world!

 

[Koba]

Well, it's hard to ignore the cliff diving today:

Morgan Stanley off 32%.

Goldman Sachs off 21%.

Wachovia is off 25%.

WaMu is only off 10%.

Even GE is off 9%.

...nani atapona sasa? subiri sasa waarabu waanze kulia sasa maana mafuta soon tutanunua dola moja kwa pipa...haha ahaha ahaha!

 

[William J. Malecela]

Nimeiona hii thread kwa muda kidogo, naomba kuweka thumni yangu kidogo maana mimi sio mchumi ila ni Capitalist, kwenye shughuli zangu za kila siku nilipo, Lehmans Bros na Goldman and Sachs. ni moja wa client wangu nimewafanyia kazi kwa contract kwa muda mrefu sana, na bado ninaendelea Lehmans sasa wamesitisha contract na mimi kwa muda lakini bado ninaendelea na Goldman,

Physically, Goldman wanaonekana kuwa ni wazima zaidi ya Lehamns, maana mimi nilikuwa ninaningia mpaka kule ndani kabisa ya ma-center yao, nilipokuwa NY kabla sijahamia nilipo sasa, nilikuwa nina-service jengo lao pale 7TH avenue na 50 West Street yaani Lehmans na Goldman, kule Wall street kwenye Greenich Street na pia kule Newark Downtown kama unaenda kwenye mnara wa Liberty, Jersey City, all the time wanakupa mbwa kama watatu wa kukuchunga wakati unatia mzigo,

Sijui maneno makubwa sana ya uchumi, lakini ninajua kwa kuongea sana na wakulu mle ndai kuwa haya mashirika hasa Lehmans, wameadhirka kwa irresponsible lending, na kwama wakulu wao wamekuw ana tabia ya kugawana bonus nzito sana kwa kutumia mikopo, kabla haijatoa faida, na pia kitendo cha serikali ya Bush kuwapa free hand na big decisions za kuyaendesha makampuni hayo, badala ya kuya-reguleta accordingly, sasa serikali iemtumia hel;a za walipa kodi dola biiliioni 85 kuikoa AIG, in the process serikali imenunua share 80% za hilo shirika lakini kwa masharti kuwa litailipa serikali in 24 months, kama ninaelewa sawa sawa.

My point hapa ni kwamba serikali yetu ijifunze haya, kuanzia ya stimulus package mpaka the wall street bail out, sio kukaa tu na kusubiri kodi ndio maana kodi inakuwa ni ndogo sana, tunaishia kutegmea wafadhili, serikali iwasaidie wafanya biashara au mashirika ya biashara, badala ya kuachia mafisadi tu wakiiba hela za wananchi, ambazo hata kuzi-invest hawawezi.

Hiyo tu thumni yangu wakuu, Ahsanteni!

 

[TanzanianFemale]

Duh! Kazi ipo. Finance is not my forte so I never really even thought about investing in the stock market (not that I have the money to invest). But I try to keep up with the financial world market even though I understand only 10% of it.

Question. And the answer might seem very obvious to most of you. Does that mean the investors' money goes down the drain or there is some kind of insurance since the company went kaput?

 

[Game Theory]

...nani atapona sasa? subiri sasa waarabu waanze kulia sasa maana mafuta soon tutanunua dola moja kwa pipa...haha ahaha ahaha!

YOU ARE CLEARLY MISGUIDED...SOLUTION IKO KWA HAO HAO WAARABU KUPITIA KITU KINACHOITWA SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS

KABLA HATUJAENDELEA HILI NDILO MAGAZINE AMBALO KAMA NIKILIKOSA HATA KWA WIKI MOJA BASI SIJISIKII VIZURI...NAJUA SOMETIMES LIKO BIASED LAKINI UKWELI UNABAKI NI MAKINI SANA

KAMA UNAWEZA KUPATA COPY YA ISSUE HII WEWE NUNUA AU ORDER KISHA USOME KWA MAKINI KWA NINI THE ONY SOLUTION MIGHT COME FROM THOSE TINY GULF STATES

SASA NAJUA KUNA WATU WAO WANA UGOMVI NA WAARABU KWA SABABU YA IMANI ZAO LAKINI HILO KWA SASA TULIACHE. THE REAL PLAYERS HI HAWA JAMAA.....WENYE SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS ZILIZONONA.

BEN BERNANKE once spoke of dropping money from helicopters, if necessary, to save an economy in distress. The chairman of the Federal Reserve probably did not envisage that choppers bearing the insignia of oil-rich Gulf states and cash-rich Asian countries would hover over Wall Street. Yet just such a squadron has flown to the rescue of capitalism's finest.

On January 15th the governments of Singapore, Kuwait and South Korea provided much of a $21 billion lifeline to Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, two banks that have lost fortunes in America's credit crisis. It was not the first time either had tapped the surplus savings of developing countries, known as sovereign-wealth funds, that have proliferated in recent years thanks to bumper oil prices and surging Asian exports. Since the subprime-mortgage fiasco unfolded last year, such funds have gambled almost $69 billion on recapitalising the rich world's biggest investment banks (far more than usually goes the other way in an emerging-markets crisis).

then check out these figures:

Foreigners Buying Stakes In The US At A Record Pace »

New York Times | PETER S. GOODMAN and LOUISE STORY | January 19, 2008 at 01:18 PM

Last May, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate bought a Massachusetts plastics maker. In November, a French company established a new factory in Adrian, Mich., adding 189 automotive jobs to an area accustomed to layoffs. In December, a British company bought a New Jersey maker of cough syrup.

For much of the world, the United States is now on sale at discount prices. With credit tight, unemployment growing and worries mounting about a potential recession, American business and government leaders are courting foreign...

mioisikumalizieni uhondo...bora mnunue tuu hilo Time ndio mtaelewa where i was coming from

 

[Game Theory]

Ooops sorry caps lock

 

[Game Theory]

WaMu: For Sale​

From the NY Times: Washington Mutual Begins Efforts to Sell Itself

Goldman Sachs, which Washington Mutual has hired, started the auction several days ago, these people said. Among the potential bidders that Goldman has talked to are Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and HSBC.
Washington Mutual Begins Efforts to Sell Itself - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds -- DealBook - New York Times

MS eats WB, dies from food poisoning.

WFC swallows WAMU - lodges in trachea.

All dead.

GS laughs and laughs and laughs.

lakini on a serious note:


The real questions should be:

1. How did GS get to be in charge of finding a buyer;

2. Why is more due diligence going to finding a suitor for Ms WAMU than MS AIG;

Hawa jamaa wanaonekana ni wasomi lakini the truth remains hawana tofauti kubwa na wale wa TWIN TOWERS ( BOT) pale magogoni Dar es Salaam,