Boom2Bust.com Boom2Bust.com The Most Hated Blog On Wall Street. Boom2Bust.com is an independent financial blog that seeks to warn and educate its readers about the coming U.S. financial crash. Articles
Damage Report: $232 Billion In Credit Losses And Write-Downs
2008-04-02 20:59:00 According to Bloomberg?s Shamim Adam today, the damage from credit losses and write-downs in the financial sector has now surpassed $200 billion. Adam wrote: The world?s biggest financial companies have reported about $232 billion in credit losses and writedowns since the start of 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg show. UBS AG said yesterday it will have ... More About: Credit , Write , Report , Housing , Mortgages
The Specter Of Recession
2008-04-02 19:50:00 Earlier today, Fed Chair Ben Bernanke put a stake through the hearts of Pollyannas with his comments about the U.S. economy. The Wall Street Journal?s Sudeep Reddy wrote: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has uttered the ?R? word. Responding to a question at today?s Joint Economic Committee hearing, Mr. Bernanke said publicly for the ... More About: Congress , Economy , Government , Politicians
Economic Woes Force Baby Boomers To Put Off Retirement
2008-04-02 13:43:00 Some years ago I remember reading an article that said how the employment outlook was incredibly bright for Generations X and Y, as the Baby Boomers were fast approaching retirement age. Because economists and demographers were predicting a huge exodus of Boomers from the workplace, companies were trying to figure out ways to retain ... More About: Economy , Retirement , Stocks , Force
Corn Rationing?
2008-04-02 03:21:00 Apparently, the following is not an April Fool?s joke as the story was run in the Houston Chronicle yesterday (March 31). The Associated Press wrote: A BB&T Capital Markets analyst said Monday corn rationing may be necessary this year, following a U.S. Department of Agriculture report predicting farmers would plant far fewer acres of corn ... More About: Corn
Next Stop, Depression?
2008-04-02 00:32:00 Back on March 29, ABC News? David R. Francis talked about the economic forecast of Robert Parks, a finance professor at Pace University and former chief economist at three Wall Street firms. So, what?s so special about Parks that ABC News would be covering him? According to Francis, Parks is predicting that there ... More About: Economy , Food , Japan , Stocks , Depression
Cruel To Be Kind
2008-03-31 22:26:00 All the talk about ?bailouts? in the news lately reminds me of a weird episode in my life. It was the summer of 1994. I was back from college and was making ends meet by teaching tennis to children and adults at a park district in a suburb of Chicago. During one ... More About: Housing , Cruel , Bailout
Quote For The Week
2008-03-31 06:25:00 The bottom line is we don?t think the government should get in using taxpayers? dollars to bail a large number of people out for decisions that they made on their own and contracts that they signed. -Representative Tim Walberg (R-Mich), whose state ranks among the top 10 for mortgage foreclosures. Could be one of the last brave ... More About: Week , Quote
Weird Housing Tales, Part 5
2008-03-29 05:49:00 Call it poetic justice. The circus atmosphere that surrounded the U.S. housing boom shows no signs of abating as the bust takes hold. This afternoon I came across an Associated Press piece on MSN Money which described how potential foreclosure buyers are crowding onto buses for day-long expeditions through empty homes in the ... More About: Weird , Housing , Tales , Part
Big Oil, Big Enemy
2008-03-27 23:53:00 How many times have you heard this about the soaring cost of energy lately? ?It?s all Big Oil ?s fault.? On Monday, MarketWatch?s Peter Brimelow talked about the investment newsletter Outstanding Investments, which is currently the fourth-best performing letter over the past 12 months according to the Hulbert Financial Digest (up 45.06%) and which ... More About: Media , Commodities , Energy , Politicians
Leave Hillary Alone!
2008-03-27 21:48:00 On Tuesday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she made a mistake when she claimed she came under sniper fire during a trip to Bosnia in 1996 as the first lady. According to Reuters? Jeff Mason: In a speech in Washington on March 17 Clinton said of the Bosnia trip: ?I remember landing under sniper ... More About: Politicians , Leave , Election
Vacation Day!
2008-03-26 15:48:00 After spending what seems like weeks upgrading Boom2Bust.com, I will be taking a ?vacation day? to make improvements to my other weblog, Investorazzi.com. Therefore, no new posts on B2B today. If you haven?t taken a look at Investorazzi yet, by all means, stop by. I?ve always been interested in the investment activities of legendary ... More About: Warren Buffett , Vacation , George Soros
Ominous Signs For The Economy
2008-03-26 05:19:00 All around I see ominous signs for the U.S. economy. I guess I could live in a state of denial, but that wouldn?t be fair to the realist in me. Besides, Wall Street already has that angle covered. Yesterday, Louise Story wrote in the New York Times: Some New Yorkers said their neighbors ... More About: Economy , Signs
Goldman Sachs Predicts $460 Billion In Credit Losses
2008-03-26 03:43:00 According to Bloomberg today, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Wall Street institutions are now looking at $460 billion in credit losses stemming from the subprime mortgage debacle. Bloomberg?s Zhao Yidi wrote: ?There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it is still rather dim,? Goldman analysts including New York-based Andrew Tilton said in ... More About: Credit , Losses , Subprime
For Whom The Bell Tolls
2008-03-25 02:12:00 The first in a new ?series? on Boom2Bust.com, similar to ?Signs Of The Time? and ?Weird Housing Tales.? Bloomberg?s Yalman Onaran tallied up the job losses so far on Wall Street since July 2007, when securities firms started letting go mortgage-related personnel: Firm & Positions Cut Citigroup 6,200 Lehman Brothers 4,990 Bank of America 3,650 Morgan Stanley 2,940 Washington Mutual 2,600 Merrill ... More About: Unemployment , Bell , Brokerages , Investment Banks
Forget Tomorrow, It?s A Hard Knock Life
2008-03-24 21:57:00 The following headlines appear on a financial news website this afternoon: ? ?As Stocks Rally, What Should You Buy?? ? ?A Dollar Rebound? Assume A Best-Scenario? ? ?It?s a Good Time to Buy Your First Home? ? ?Is the Financial Crisis Over? Some Believe It May Be? Spring is in the air, and with it, a renewed sense of optimism ... More About: Life , Hard , Tomorrow , Knock
Signs Of The Time, Part 8
2008-03-24 04:21:00 Prior to today?s Easter activities, I happened to read the Chicago Tribune real estate column by Mary Umberger. Ms. Umberger had this to say regarding Florida?s battered housing market: Real-estate ravaged Florida has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. This month, the civil court system in St. Lucie County announced it would set ... More About: Foreclosures , Time , Signs , Housing , Part
Quote For The Week
2008-03-23 16:47:00 Bear Stearns has made it obvious that things have gone too far. The investment community has morphed into something beyond banks and something beyond regulation. We call it the shadow banking system. -PIMCO?s Bill Gross, manager of the world?s biggest bond fund, in a New York Times piece this morning. Source: ?What Created This Monster?? Julie Creswell, ... More About: Week , Quote
The Failing Fed
2008-03-21 21:55:00 Following through on a recommendation yesterday, I read the post ?5 Reasons Why the Federal Reserve is a Failure!? from Bankaholic.com. It?s a great piece (especially the part about the Fed awarding gold stars to those deserving detentions), and I think you?ll enjoy reading it over the Easter weekend. Having obtained permission to ... More About: Europe , Economy , Government , Stocks , Credit
Internet TV For Finance Junkies
2008-03-21 19:46:00 Print media giving you headaches? For all you finance junkies out there with high-speed internet access, you might want to check out this post on the CurrencyTrading.net website that was recommended to me. ?Must-See Investing TV: 20 Free Online TV Channels for Finance Junkies ? has a list of the top 20 free online ... More About: Internet
All Rhyme, No Riddle For U.S. Economy?
2008-03-21 05:08:00 I?ve always been a student of history. Even when I was a child, I loved reading about history so much that I needed permission at my local library to access the ?adult? section with its shelves full of historical texts (and no, it wasn?t that adult section). In fact, upon satisfying the coursework requirements for ... More About: Economy , Government , Credit , Depression , Wall Street
Signs Of The Time, Part 7
2008-03-20 22:33:00 As Wall Street flees from precious metals, I noticed the following message today on the home page of the American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX) website: Dear Valued Customer, Due to the OVERWHELMING demand for precious metals, our online ordering system has been unable to keep up with our customers? needs. We have had to disable the APMEX ... More About: Time , Signs , Part , The Time
Jedi Mind Tricks
2008-03-19 23:06:00 The following was posted (separately and distinctly) on Market Watch ?s home page today: The commodity bubble is bursting, and the party is over -Phil Flynn, Alaron Trading MarketWatch is a subsidiary of Dow Jones and Company, which publishes the Wall Street Journal and Barron?s. In all the time I?ve been visiting MarketWatch, I can?t recall another quotation being displayed in ... More About: Commodities , Tricks , Mind
The Fed And Bear Stearns: Moral Hazard Or Crisis Mitigation?
2008-03-19 22:35:00 Earlier today, Greg Ip from the Wall Street Journal?s Economic Blog picked up on former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker?s appearance on the ?Charlie Rose Show? last night. Volcker, who I talked about in a post back on January 18 and who is credited with ending the rampant inflation of the 1970s by aggressively ... More About: Economy , Mitigation , Bear Stearns , Crisis
Latest Reuters/Zogby Poll Shows Americans In Foul Mood
2008-03-19 21:27:00 According to Reuters /Zogby poll results released earlier today, the Reuters/Zogby Index, which measures the mood of the country, fell sharply from 99.3 last month to 87.7, which is the lowest level since its inception last July. A score above 100 indicates the public mood has improved since July (the benchmark). A score below 100 (like ... More About: Congress , Economy , Government , President Bush
French Bank: 1% Fed Fund Rate And Recession Until Mid 2009 For U.S.
2008-03-19 20:24:00 MoneyControl.com (India) is reporting today that according to a CNBC-TV18 interview with Glenn Maguire, Chief Economist at Société Générale, the French bank sees the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates to 1% and a U.S. recession lasting until the middle of 2009. From the financial portal: Q: Where do we go from here with the Fed policy? A: ... More About: Economy , Interest Rates , Fund
When Martin Feldstein Talks, Smart People Listen
2008-03-18 18:45:00 No— Martin Feldstein was never affiliated with E.F. Hutton. Rather, Dr. Feldstein is the George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University and the outgoing President and CEO of the National Bureau of Economic Research, which is the group that determines whether or not the U.S. economy is in a recession. Ros ... More About: Economy , People , Credit , Smart , Employment
The Great American Con
2008-03-18 17:15:00 In the early days of Boom2Bust.com, the amount of material I encountered on a daily basis which was pertinent to the blog?s focus (educating/warning about a coming U.S. financial crash) was more than manageable. In fact, there were days when a lot of the material that came across my desk was way too Pollyannaish ... More About: Economy , Depression , Great , American , Housing
Charting A U.S. Financial Crisis
2008-03-18 13:59:00 I came across some excellent Wall Street Journal charts this morning which show how the present financial crisis in the United States came to be. Like that old saying goes, ?A picture is worth a thousand words.? Sources: WSJ Market Data Group, Federal Reserve, Dealogic, Equifax, Moody?s Economy.com, National Association of Realtors, St. Louis Federal Reserve, ... More About: Stocks , Interest Rates , Dollar , Financial , Housing
Paulson, Bernanke: Coin-Operated Boys?
2008-03-18 05:46:00 This morning, Bloomberg interviewed commodities investor Jim Rogers from Singapore (Bloomberg video link here). The chairman of Rogers Holdings spoke with Bloomberg?s Rishaad Salamat over the telephone about the U.S. Federal Reserve ?s actions to calm financial markets, JPMorgan Chase?s buyout of Bear Stearns for $240 million, and his investment strategy. While I talked ... More About: Government , President Bush , Dollar , Politicians
Quote For The Week
More articles from this author:2008-03-17 05:29:00 I love my job. I love GAO. But I love my country more. I?m really concerned about the future of the country. -David M. Walker, 56, Comptroller General of the United States, on leaving the Government Accountability Office for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, with its focus on addressing the federal budget deficit, ... More About: Week , Quote 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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