Alice's bubble wrap

It is difficult to know where to start, but a fashion story might be a good place.

Buyers ignore credit crunch at London Fashion Week

"Turmoil on the financial markets hasn't made small buyers timid at London Fashion Week."

When things get really difficult, there is nothing like a new handbag to calm the nerves.

Fannie, Freddie, Ben, and Alan

Aren't you just sick of hearing Greenspan say it wasn't his fault.

A Crash Course in Economics

"Each week, sometimes daily, we slide by a new warning sign, by another wreck that's already off the road. The new one is Lehman Brothers. Before that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Before that Bear Stearns. In August, "one in every 416 U.S. households entered the foreclosure process."

Wall Street crisis could put Fed rate cut in play

"Wreckage from a massive crisis on Wall Street could prompt the Federal Reserve to do an about face and once again cut a key interest rate this week or possibly later this year, economists said Monday."

Wasn't it excessive rate cuts that put banks into this mess?

Wall St drops but rate cut hopes prevent widespread panic

Even a sniff of rate cut is enought to calm Wall Street down.

Investment Banking Will Survive The Crisis

Gloria Gaynor was signing in the background "I WILL SURVIVE".

AIG Stay of Execution: Holding Company Can Access $20 Billion of Subsidiary Capital

From Naked Capitalism:

"AIG appears to have fended off the immediate threat of a downgrade with the granting of permission by New York State for the parent to gain access to subsidiary capital. While certainly quite a waiver, it is also possible that AIG has overcapitlaized subs and thus this move may be defensible as far as policyholders are concerned."

Pimco, Vanguard Are Biggest Bond Fund Losers in Lehman Collapse

"Pimco Advisors LP, Vanguard Group Inc. and Franklin Advisers Inc. are among the investment companies that will face losses of at least $86 billion stemming from the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the biggest bankruptcy in history."

The losses had to fall somewhere.

US bank crisis alarms Europeans

"The deepening crisis in the US banking system is causing alarm in Europe. There are worries that if a huge European bank, equivalent in importance to Lehman Brothers, faced failure, there would be no way to rescue it. "

Then European Banks should be a little more careful than their American counterparts.

Obsession with property must end, says Cable

No more housing bubbles? What would we Brits talk about?

Financial chaos does not rule out economic recovery

The dumbest headline of the day from Kaletsky of the Times. Just take a look at this paragraph:

"Last Monday I wrote on this page that the US Government's rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac probably marked the low-point of the global credit crisis and was “unqualified good news for the US economy”. Four days later, I wrote that this very same rescue “signalled the complete failure of the biggest, most dynamic, most innovative markets that have ever existed in the history of capitalism — the Wall Street stock market and the market for US bonds”.
Are these statements absurdly contradictory? Or did something change dramatically in those four days? Or was I just talking rubbish?"

I think you answered your own question, Anatole.