Financial Crisis Monitor

People often ask how many subprime mortgages are out there, how big the problem is, and why is it such a big deal. Today we shall look a a relatively small state by size. Connecticut had 71,000 subprime mortgages totaling $15 billion, with about 8 percent — or 5,680 totaling $1.2 billion — [...]

Republicans wearing blinders want four more years as they claim the United States has experienced eight years of growth. What’s up with that? Consumer confidence sank to its third-lowest level ever in June, according to a study released Friday by Reuters and the University of Michigan. Democrats look back to a balanced [...]

Attorney’s General and others are piling on as they focus on Countrywide in the subprime debacle. Countrywide was not the only lender involved. Some insiders at HSBC claim HSBC (HSBC Finance) was just as bad. There’s no question that Countrywide made billions in high-cost loans to risky borrowers that have ended up [...]

Hedge funds may also face scrutiny. Routine SEC inspections during the subprime crisis have uncovered cases in which investment advisers, including hedge funds, didn’t live up to pledges to implement risk controls, a person familiar with the findings said. Lapses include failures to vigilantly track asset values, cap leverage and avoid concentrating bets.
“We’ve had some [...]

Testifying to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management said that the price of oil would quickly drop closer to its marginal cost of around $65 to $75 a barrel, about half the current $135. Fadel Gheit of Oppenheimer & Co., Edward Krapels of Energy Security Analysis and Roger Diwan [...]