Saturday 12 July 2008

Bank failures and bailouts

The word for today is "collapse" - Freddie Mac, Fannie May, IndyMac, the FTSE, Spain and the UK consumer are all crashing.

US housing bailout moves forward

The US is about to embrace socialism. The senate has just passed a bill that will see the government insure some $300 billion of home loans. It won't be long before this mad idea washes up here in the UK.

Spanish inflation hits a 13 year high

Spain has it all; inflation, a housing crash, insolvent banks and a massive external deficit. It even has a least one very hot tennis player.

FTSE down 20 percent from 2007 peak

Given the horrors of the housing market, the FTSE crash barely gets a mention. That is how much trouble we are in right now.

The baby milk bubble

A 70 percent in the price of formula milk; the kiddies need some deflation urgently. Please, no jokes about how the breast is best.

John Lewis is struggling

The retailer reports another fall in weekly sales. The UK consumer is folding; the recession is probably already here.

2 comments:

Mark Wadsworth said...

"The new program would let the FHA insure as much as $300 billion in new mortgages, helping an estimated 400,000 homeowners."

Wot? Mortgages of $750,000 each? Surely house prices aren't that high?

Mark Wadsworth said...

My full response here.