November 2008

Ever notice that when we talk about GM and Ford these days there is almost no mention of cars?     All the discussion now is on how much money they are losing, why they are losing it and how they are going to stop losing it.    Now that Congress is debating more aid for the automakers, it's important to understand why more aid may not help in the long-term.   The problems that these ... read more

Opinion piece in today's Wall Street Journal following up on the Detroit story... A Detroit bailout would also be unfair to other companies that make cars in the U.S. Yes, those are "foreign" companies in the narrow sense that they are headquartered overseas. But then so was Chrysler before Daimler sold most of the car maker to Cerberus, the private equity fund. Honda, Toyota and the rest ... read more

Quick thoughts from Virginia... The local CBS station in NYC is reporting that New York City is considering tolling every major bridge or roadway into New York City: http://wcbstv.com/politics/michael.bloomberg.east.2.859306.html For those outside the New York City area, right now about half of the bridges and tunnels into NYC are tolled and about half are free.   CBS is reporting that the ... read more

A big issue in the Presidential election revolved around the notion of "fairness."    The thought that those who can afford it should pay their "fair" share in taxes.  It was a word that came up frequently.  If there must be "fairness" with taxes, we must have the same concept in mortgages. This morning Citigroup became the latest mortgage lender to announce a plan to rework mortgages and ... read more

The stock market is a discounting mechanism.  It looks at all available data, adds that to what it believes will happen in the future and makes a prediction by buying or selling a stock. Most in the market that we have spoken with at Fox Business expect that Congress will authorize some kind of greater bailout/loan for GM and/or Ford & Chrysler. Consider that: if the market expects a ... read more

Congress continues to debate where to dole out the latest round of taxpayer bailout monies.   GM (GM) and Ford (F) are pushing for cash.   Fannie Mae (FNM) may need more dough because the billions it's already been given have vanished like a cat burglar.   And apparently there are only a few of us paying our monthly AmEx (AXP) bills on time because American Express is the latest company ... read more

Seems an odd time to have a dinner that costs $1,500 per person (is there ever a good time for a $1,500 dinner??) but that's exactly what happened in New York City the other night. If you are wondering what $1,500 buys you, here's the menu.   My favorite: lamb with "coffee-scented air." read more

"...and just like that - POOF! - he was gone" - Kevin Spacey in "The Usual Suspects" talking about Kaiser Soze The Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as we know it is dead.   I would only half-jokingly suggest to the government marketing folks that the TARP should now be called the Consumer Asset Relief Program, or CARP. Today Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced that the $700 ... read more

The bull rides again! Not really, but believe it or not there are winners in the American stock market this year. We are reporting that Wal-Mart (WMT) is the only Dow component that is higher for the year.   Sad but true, and says a lot about the weakness of this market. The Dow and big caps get an unfair share of attention.   Time to tell stories is limited on TV.   But ... read more

The mortgage lenders and banks have taken their fair share of heat for the mortgage crisis, so I think it's appropriate to show a side of the mortgage story that doesn't get as much attention: borrower fraud. Of course, this story from the Washington Post may be the ultimate example, but if someone can pull this off one can imagine it's a lot easier for a borrower to fib just a bit on the ... read more