housing-market
Prophetic Cartoon – Housing Crushes Economy
I created this cartoon in 2006. The following year marked the top of the real estate market, and as it turns out, the end of excessive financial leverage. In early 2005 I began studying the effects that the explosion of exotic loan products and the deterioration of lending standards were having on home prices. I [...]
AIG Needs $12.5 Billion – Time to Pay Attention, Wall Street!
The stock market rumbled ahead on greased rails of delusion cheered by the glimmer of light perhaps flickering at the end of the credit crisis tunnel. But, the news Thursday afternoon signaled that the frail twinkling they thought meant hope may be an oncoming freight train instead.
After the closing bell Thursday, American International Group, the [...]
Hillary’s Rate Freeze Screws New Homeowners
Hillary Clinton has been touting her bold plan to save the crumbling housing market, which would call for a halt on foreclosures for 90 days and, most alarmingly, an interest rate freeze on mortgages for five years. There’s only one problem: her plan will screw new homeowners by increasing mortgage interest rates. It would also [...]
The credit bubble blew up in ‘05
Sales of new homes fell 2.8 percent from December’s levels, and the median price of an American castle dipped to $215,000, which amounts to a 15 percent decline from year ago levels. I am actually tired of writing about the continuing dismal saga that is this nation’s housing market.
I wrote a rather long-winded essay in [...]
Citigroup smacked by reckless bets
Citigroup reported a 57% decline in profits for the third quarter of 2007. Apparently it received some nasty wounds from souring fixed-income investments and sinking consumer loans. This sad quarter reflected approximately $5.9 billion of write-offs; once light was shed upon faltering securities prices and proprietary trades gone terribly wrong.
Much of the damage inflicted upon [...]
Main Marbles
- No categories
