Paulson 2 months ago:
We need $700 billion to buy the bad mortgages straight from the banks.
Paulson 1 month ago:
Ummm, instead of doing that thing I said above, we’re going to just buy portions of these banks.  The banks in turn will use the new money to fix the loans and do new loans.
Paulson Yesterday:
Sup guys. [...]

American Express, often referred to as Amex, has decided it will become a commercial bank. Like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs before it, Amex has determined it is better off under the more regulated role of a bank holding company. With it comes the good and the bad.
The good:
The Fed will loan you [...]

Come on Bernanke!  Is it still irony when it’s so absurd you never considered it?  Alanis Morissette at least had subtle irony.  I don’t expect Canada to hire George W. Bush as a foreign policy advisor.  I don’t expect Google to hire Ted Stevens as a technology advisor.  I don’t expect Barack Obama to hire [...]

What really bothers me is when “respected” media start out with the greatest of intentions and end up sending the wrong message.  Who am I kidding, what media outlet has good intentions?  They only aim to incite fear and anger.
I can’t think of many media outlets more well respected than the NY Times.  Though known [...]

Ever wondered what behavioral finance is?  This is a great example:
As I signed the check to my most recent car payment, I noticed the current balance on the loan and my emergency fund were almost exactly the same.  ”I could pay off the car now and save some money” I thought.  I would save money [...]

Did you feel the tremor in the force?  Grab your lightsaber something big has happened.  Remember the bazooka metaphor with Paulson & Co?  Well, bang bang my friend, that trigger was pulled.
Imagine your government has just written you the first of many checks that will total $700 billion or more.  This one is worth $250 [...]

Well that was interesting.  Earlier last week I told you about Citi and the takeover of Wachovia.  Well forget most of that.  Late evening on Thursday (10/2) Wells Fargo came to the Wachovia table with an offer.  A much better proposal than Citi.  Wachovia accepted the ring and they were about to run off into [...]

Remember yesterday when I talked about Wachovia remembering my original post about them hunkering down?  Looks like they hunkered a bit too far.  To the template!
What Happened?
Amid the fallout of the WaMu failure and takeover, rumors about a Wachovia failure came to the front.  The funny thing about these failures is they’re self-fulfilling.  Over the [...]