How much of this is due to government purchases of paper? This seems to me like the measure is less valid when it's not exactly the "market" making the price.
But isn't a tight A2/P2 spread also logically consistent with "they are all subprime now", i.e. the ratings are not very helpful?
I suppose the spread relative to Tbills is low again, which is favorable and might be more important, except that's being manipulated by the Federal Reserve and the Government: your tax dollars at work (and your dollar being devalued...)
Finally, since the current spread is well above the previous "crisis" levels, it looks like we're still in a crisis.
@Basel Too: "do you guys wan't it to be cloudy every day?"
Only if it means we'll get some good, honest rain.
What I'm sick of is market spinners trying to blow sunshine up my ass. (To borrow a phrase from either "Pearl Harbor" or "Midway", can't remember which movie it was.)
BTW, apropos of prior thread questioning Buffetts use of "Economic Pearl Harbor" rather than "Second Great Depression" -- on the one hand, maybe he's trying to pick words that will rally the public to constructive action....
...On the other hand, maybe he knows something we don't about the possibility of international economic competition/warfare. Everyone knows the U.S. can be easily challenged military, but our enemies surely recognize that we can certainly be tripped up by our own excesses of greed and stupidity. Do we even have the industrial base to maintain our own war machine, or did we outsource that as well?
You need to look at the oversight of Rezko's affordable housing portfolio to understand the payoff received. Essentially Rezko bled numerous affordable housing projects of their cash flow without making the necessary reinvestments to prevent degradation of those properties. This was a well known fact within the Chicago Department of Housing and within Alderman Preckwinkle's ward. It is my understanding that these issues were raised to the State Senate level where Mr. Obama was the elected representative for this portion of the City of Chicago. Needless to say enforcement measures by the City to bring these buildings up to code were not taken. This is my brief take on where Rezko received its "payback" for the land deal.
-Vert
mock turtle writes:
and now to my friend..comrade jg
much of what you said above is worth considering
but im put out , like gary, with one of your comments
you have no reason that i am aware of, to say that obama is influenced or connected with chicago mob...re economics or otherwise
as for rezco... yeah obama got a sweet deal on the purchase of one parcel of land
show me decisions obama made that constitute a payback and ill cry foul along with you
mock turtle | 01.22.09 - 3:20 pm | #
posting credit metrics is beside the point,. When the subprime gov't drives everyone into the sewer it is nothing more than circiling the drain. the "O"
What I'm sick of is market spinners trying to blow sunshine up my ass. Wisdom Speaker | Homepage | 01.22.09 - 4:14 pm | #
OT: my favorite craigslist post ever: Death Ray - Once in a lifetime opportunity! Date: 2008-12-07, 12:10AM EST
This is a genuine Death Ray, aka home made solar oven. This thing is badass. You know how the economy's been sucking? Well, burn up your least favorite politicians in a fiery ray of destruction and cook your dinner with the same device. Slick, eh? Since there's a good chance, because a.) you're reading Craigslist and b.) you're reading the Northern Michigan section - that you're homeless or close to becoming so, this is the perfect oven for you--it requires no electricity, and flip it over (it's shaped like a parabola) and use it as a house. (more)
Strange factoid of the day:
At the SEC, the greater resources would mean a $200,000 salary for an enforcement employee, including other costs such as office space and computer systems.
The SEC's budget increased substantially in 2003, growing to $716 million from $514 million in 2002. The agency's enforcement staff also rose significantly during that period, up to 1,144 people in 2004 from 935 in 2003. In 2000, the SEC employed 824 enforcement officials, and in 2008 1,152 enforcement officials worked at the agency. End of Story
Marketwatch
Just what did these extra enforcement officials enforce?
Staff parking rules?
"There may be plenty of bad news, but this is definitely good news for companies that issue lower quality commercial paper."
But what, exactly, are they doing with the paper? Buying inventory, expanding... or just paying salaries and the phone bill, just barely staying alive?
CR, I understand why it may be useful to continue to post these stats. It's a little disingenuous for you to point out how lively these muppets are though.
is there a distress level indicator that takes into account the absolute level + the duration/time it reamins there? for example, if there is a huge spike that lasts for a week maybe it's not so bad if it comes back down soon and companies can effectively delay financing so as to not experience the pain of the high rate. compare that to a slightly elevated rate that remains for a long time such that no companies can effectively escape the impact.
which would be worse? not sure, but maybe the level + duration measure would account for that. what do I know, i just swallowed 37 boiled eggs in 1 hour.
I also post comments to an irc channel as they appear on haloscan. Click for a web irc interface: Mibbit IRC client widget (Or join the irc server directly: irc.realize.org:9996 #calculatedrisk)
Yesterday: "The investors like Obama's plan"
Today: " The bank crisis continues..."
Even Pravda reporters would blush a little bit.
P.S. I know Bush is going to be blamed for the next 150 years. But who is going to be blamed in England?
As for that claim about Rezko helping Obama buy his house, well, we've dealt with that one before. The gist of the story: In 2005, Barack and Michelle Obama found a house that they wanted to purchase. The property had been divided into two parcels, one containing a house and the other undeveloped land. The owner had listed the properties separately. After considerable haggling, the seller accepted the Obamas' third bid of $1.65 million for the parcel containing the house. Tony Rezko's wife, Rita, purchased the adjoining lot for $625,000.
When the Obamas wanted to increase the size of their yard, they approached the Rezkos about purchasing a strip of the adjacent parcel. Obama told the Sun-Times that a 10-foot strip of the 60-foot lot appraised for $40,000. The Obamas nevertheless paid Rita $104,500 (or 1/6 of the total purchase price of her lot) for the strip. In 2007, Rita sold the remaining lot for $575,000 (or roughly a $54,500 profit on the overall property).
McCain's ad, however, is worded in a way that could leave a false impression. It says Rezko "helped him buy his million-dollar mansion" by "purchasing part of the property he couldn't afford." That's true, but only because the seller wanted to sell the two parcels as a unit and the Obamas couldn't afford both. Rezko did not make a gift of any property to the Obamas. Furthermore, the fact that his wife sold her lot for more than she paid for it contradicts any suggestion that the Rezkos overpaid for their part of the deal as a way of getting the seller to lower the price to the Obamas for their part.
"Basel Too writes:
do you guys wan't it to be cloudy every day?"
I love how when ever CR posts something even remotely positive, a bunch of people show up to say something negative about it - almost as if they are angry that some indicators suggest the credit crisis has past.
You can imagine what these guys are like at cocktail parties!!!
The easing of the credit crunch, along with the deep losses reported by BofA with regard to MER's "assets" suggests that the difficulting in pricing these assets is not "illiquidity" - it's the fact that the MBS, CDOs, CDOs-squared, etc. are all one-off deals. Thus, without standardization, due diligence has to be performed on every one of the securities - no wonder no one wants to touch those things.
Commercial warehouse and foreclosure anecdotes from Miami-Dade County:
Got to talking to a couple of foreclosure defendants, while waiting for a foreclosure hearing. I represented the lender for once.
One had had a thriving fence business, which suddenly went to zero, and had lost pretty much everything, except a lot in another county. Was in his early 60s. Losing his home. Went to see a business friend of his in a formerly flourshing warehouse area. Only 15 of about 100 of the warehouses in the development were occupied. All those small businesses gone.
Foreclosure, according to a clerk who had heard of certain calculations a few days ago, said that the no of foreclosures was in the 80k range for Miami Dade County for 2008. And remember the foreclosures for 07 were already high.
Dead thread, I know, but the Fed is supposedly not supporting A2/P2 paper at all. Actually, since they are supporting AA, Fed actions would make this spread artificially bad.
Foreclosure, according to a clerk who had heard of certain calculations a few days ago, said that the no of foreclosures was in the 80k range for Miami Dade County for 2008. And remember the foreclosures for 07 were already high. lawyerliz | 01.22.09 - 5:10 pm | # Maybe so: http://www.realtytrac.com/MapSearch/MapSearch/MapSearch.aspx?CriteriaType=address&criteriaValue=Miami,%20FL#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
The narrowing spread has been on really light volume of A2/P2 issuance. My guess is that spreads were high long enough that businesses with low credit ratings gave up issuing CP and found other ways to survive (cut payrolls).
Volume of A2/P2 nonfinancial issuance can be found here.
When demand for issuance falls so do spreads. It's supply and demand stupid!
Obama effect.
Life is not a race...
and, Mr. Market closed..... I'm going to visit Mickey Mouse until after the Super Bowl. Left some miracle GTC orders in for my puts.
Off to stimulate the economy!
Yeah, only 8x what it was before the Aug '07 credit shock.
What would it be if the Fed withdrew its life support?
How much of this is due to government purchases of paper? This seems to me like the measure is less valid when it's not exactly the "market" making the price.
But isn't a tight A2/P2 spread also logically consistent with "they are all subprime now", i.e. the ratings are not very helpful?
I suppose the spread relative to Tbills is low again, which is favorable and might be more important, except that's being manipulated by the Federal Reserve and the Government: your tax dollars at work (and your dollar being devalued...)
Finally, since the current spread is well above the previous "crisis" levels, it looks like we're still in a crisis.
do you guys wan't it to be cloudy every day?
isn't the fed buying all this now?
I see many minds thinking alike here. But I got more ideas into my comment faster.
Any chance this is the Fed buying lower rated paper?
It's a veritable Star Wars Holiday Spectacular.
A2-P2
3-CDO
Darth Paulson
Princess Maria
Who have I missed?
Paper is worth is proportional to the length of time that it will burn baby.
And yes, during hurricanes you can't see the sun until the storm has passed....or from start to finish.
The Great Economic Shit Storm of the 21st Century....
You are here X.
Start...X................Finish
JP Morgan, When I Say Insolvent, I Really Mean Insolvent
Reggie Middleton's Boom Bust Blog - Re: JP Morgan, when I say insolvent, I really mean insolvent
China to U.S.:
What have you done for me lately?
::::::Sound of Crickets and Coyote howling:::::::
@Basel Too: "do you guys wan't it to be cloudy every day?"
Only if it means we'll get some good, honest rain.
What I'm sick of is market spinners trying to blow sunshine up my ass. (To borrow a phrase from either "Pearl Harbor" or "Midway", can't remember which movie it was.)
BTW, apropos of prior thread questioning Buffetts use of "Economic Pearl Harbor" rather than "Second Great Depression" -- on the one hand, maybe he's trying to pick words that will rally the public to constructive action....
...On the other hand, maybe he knows something we don't about the possibility of international economic competition/warfare. Everyone knows the U.S. can be easily challenged military, but our enemies surely recognize that we can certainly be tripped up by our own excesses of greed and stupidity. Do we even have the industrial base to maintain our own war machine, or did we outsource that as well?
Repost from the last thread:
@ Mock Turtle
You need to look at the oversight of Rezko's affordable housing portfolio to understand the payoff received. Essentially Rezko bled numerous affordable housing projects of their cash flow without making the necessary reinvestments to prevent degradation of those properties. This was a well known fact within the Chicago Department of Housing and within Alderman Preckwinkle's ward. It is my understanding that these issues were raised to the State Senate level where Mr. Obama was the elected representative for this portion of the City of Chicago. Needless to say enforcement measures by the City to bring these buildings up to code were not taken. This is my brief take on where Rezko received its "payback" for the land deal.
-Vert
mock turtle writes:
and now to my friend..comrade jg
much of what you said above is worth considering
but im put out , like gary, with one of your comments
you have no reason that i am aware of, to say that obama is influenced or connected with chicago mob...re economics or otherwise
as for rezco... yeah obama got a sweet deal on the purchase of one parcel of land
show me decisions obama made that constitute a payback and ill cry foul along with you
mock turtle | 01.22.09 - 3:20 pm | #
posting credit metrics is beside the point,. When the subprime gov't drives everyone into the sewer it is nothing more than circiling the drain. the "O"
What I'm sick of is market spinners trying to blow sunshine up my ass.
Wisdom Speaker | Homepage | 01.22.09 - 4:14 pm | #
OT: my favorite craigslist post ever:
Death Ray - Once in a lifetime opportunity! Date: 2008-12-07, 12:10AM EST
This is a genuine Death Ray, aka home made solar oven. This thing is badass. You know how the economy's been sucking? Well, burn up your least favorite politicians in a fiery ray of destruction and cook your dinner with the same device. Slick, eh? Since there's a good chance, because a.) you're reading Craigslist and b.) you're reading the Northern Michigan section - that you're homeless or close to becoming so, this is the perfect oven for you--it requires no electricity, and flip it over (it's shaped like a parabola) and use it as a house. (more)
best of craigslist: Death Ray - Once in a lifetime opportunity!
Police: Angry customer rammed Pa. bank with pickup http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/news-70/1232647799250050.xml&storylist=pe
Strange factoid of the day:
At the SEC, the greater resources would mean a $200,000 salary for an enforcement employee, including other costs such as office space and computer systems.
The SEC's budget increased substantially in 2003, growing to $716 million from $514 million in 2002. The agency's enforcement staff also rose significantly during that period, up to 1,144 people in 2004 from 935 in 2003. In 2000, the SEC employed 824 enforcement officials, and in 2008 1,152 enforcement officials worked at the agency. End of Story
Marketwatch
Just what did these extra enforcement officials enforce?
Staff parking rules?
Just wait until late 2008 is just barely a blip.
"There may be plenty of bad news, but this is definitely good news for companies that issue lower quality commercial paper."
But what, exactly, are they doing with the paper? Buying inventory, expanding... or just paying salaries and the phone bill, just barely staying alive?
scone,
the second. survival. mostly salaries. employees better use their own cell phones to make calls.
--bh
Scone,
You gotta problem with low quality borrowers borrowing?
Just wait until late 2008 is just barely a blip.
Back to the future!
GOOG] CORRECT: Google Q4 net income $1.21 vs $3.79 a share
I can't wait for commercial paper and t-bills to mean the same damn thing.
--bh
GOOG] Google Q4 rev $4.83 bln vs $5.7 bl
Just what did these extra enforcement officials enforce? (re: SEC, zendiet)
a cordon around Bernie Madoff's offices prior to the "fraud" disclosure telling people to "move along, nothing to see here"
When police asked what happened, Smorey said, "I drove through the bank," according to a criminal complaint.
Straight talk, my friends.
"The vehicle's black box indicated it was going 44 mph at the point of impact".
Cars have black boxes? Better drive more carefully.
CR, I understand why it may be useful to continue to post these stats. It's a little disingenuous for you to point out how lively these muppets are though.
Video: Anti-government protests in Iceland |
World news |
guardian.co.uk
the shape of things to come
is there a distress level indicator that takes into account the absolute level + the duration/time it reamins there? for example, if there is a huge spike that lasts for a week maybe it's not so bad if it comes back down soon and companies can effectively delay financing so as to not experience the pain of the high rate. compare that to a slightly elevated rate that remains for a long time such that no companies can effectively escape the impact.
which would be worse? not sure, but maybe the level + duration measure would account for that. what do I know, i just swallowed 37 boiled eggs in 1 hour.
What would it be if the Fed withdrew its life support?
JS
CR would need a bigger chart and I would need a bigger laptop
Who have I missed?
anonym | 01.22.09 - 4:12 pm | #
Luke Skyfutures?
"Yancey Ward writes:
Scone,
You gotta problem with low quality borrowers borrowing?"
Hey, that's my government you're talking about, buster.
New Thread: Rail Freight Traffic Off Sharply in 2009 ( 4 comments )
I also post comments to an irc channel as they appear on haloscan. Click for a web irc interface: Mibbit IRC client widget (Or join the irc server directly: irc.realize.org:9996 #calculatedrisk)
LIBOR ticking back up. Much more accurate metric
Scone,
You can have it, but they won't let me give it away.
Yesterday: "The investors like Obama's plan"
Today: " The bank crisis continues..."
Even Pravda reporters would blush a little bit.
P.S. I know Bush is going to be blamed for the next 150 years. But who is going to be blamed in England?
CRbot,
Uh oh, undelivered hobos is a real problem.
FWIW...I'm not even sure Obama got a "sweet deal" on that land:
FactCheck.org: Rezko Reality
Million-Dollar Mansion
As for that claim about Rezko helping Obama buy his house, well, we've dealt with that one before. The gist of the story: In 2005, Barack and Michelle Obama found a house that they wanted to purchase. The property had been divided into two parcels, one containing a house and the other undeveloped land. The owner had listed the properties separately. After considerable haggling, the seller accepted the Obamas' third bid of $1.65 million for the parcel containing the house. Tony Rezko's wife, Rita, purchased the adjoining lot for $625,000.
When the Obamas wanted to increase the size of their yard, they approached the Rezkos about purchasing a strip of the adjacent parcel. Obama told the Sun-Times that a 10-foot strip of the 60-foot lot appraised for $40,000. The Obamas nevertheless paid Rita $104,500 (or 1/6 of the total purchase price of her lot) for the strip. In 2007, Rita sold the remaining lot for $575,000 (or roughly a $54,500 profit on the overall property).
McCain's ad, however, is worded in a way that could leave a false impression. It says Rezko "helped him buy his million-dollar mansion" by "purchasing part of the property he couldn't afford." That's true, but only because the seller wanted to sell the two parcels as a unit and the Obamas couldn't afford both. Rezko did not make a gift of any property to the Obamas. Furthermore, the fact that his wife sold her lot for more than she paid for it contradicts any suggestion that the Rezkos overpaid for their part of the deal as a way of getting the seller to lower the price to the Obamas for their part.
"Yancey Ward writes:
Scone,
You can have it, but they won't let me give it away."
It'll all come out in the end. Here, have some commercial paper. Soft yet absorbent.
Scone,
Yikes!! No sitting for me afterwards.
"Yancey Ward writes:
Scone,
Yikes!! No sitting for me afterwards."
Hey, man, like the big O says, we gotta share the load and share the pain.
Honey, where's my Preparation H?
"Basel Too writes:
do you guys wan't it to be cloudy every day?"
I love how when ever CR posts something even remotely positive, a bunch of people show up to say something negative about it - almost as if they are angry that some indicators suggest the credit crisis has past.
You can imagine what these guys are like at cocktail parties!!!
JP Morgan, When I Say Insolvent, I Really Mean Insolvent
From what I can see, all the big banks are insolvent.
Uncle Ben and the U.S. Treasury are going to great lengths to keep them from failing though.
The easing of the credit crunch, along with the deep losses reported by BofA with regard to MER's "assets" suggests that the difficulting in pricing these assets is not "illiquidity" - it's the fact that the MBS, CDOs, CDOs-squared, etc. are all one-off deals. Thus, without standardization, due diligence has to be performed on every one of the securities - no wonder no one wants to touch those things.
Commercial warehouse and foreclosure anecdotes from Miami-Dade County:
Got to talking to a couple of foreclosure defendants, while waiting for a foreclosure hearing. I represented the lender for once.
One had had a thriving fence business, which suddenly went to zero, and had lost pretty much everything, except a lot in another county. Was in his early 60s. Losing his home. Went to see a business friend of his in a formerly flourshing warehouse area. Only 15 of about 100 of the warehouses in the development were occupied. All those small businesses gone.
Foreclosure, according to a clerk who had heard of certain calculations a few days ago, said that the no of foreclosures was in the 80k range for Miami Dade County for 2008. And remember the foreclosures for 07 were already high.
Dead thread, I know, but the Fed is supposedly not supporting A2/P2 paper at all. Actually, since they are supporting AA, Fed actions would make this spread artificially bad.
Low quality commerical paper? Is that like the USA Today?
your tax dollars at work (and your dollar being devalued...)
Wisdom Speaker | Homepage | 01.22.09 - 4:09 pm | #
You say that like it's a bad thing-
And yes, during hurricanes you can't see the sun until the storm has passed....or from start to finish.
The Great Economic Shit Storm of the 21st Century....
Darth Paulson | 01.22.09 - 4:12 pm | #
So when will we be in the eye of the $#!t storm, and will we be able to see the sun then?
But who is going to be blamed in England?
Broker | 01.22.09 - 4:32 pm | #
Bush, of course-
FWIW...I'm not even sure Obama got a "sweet deal" on that land:
http://www.factcheck.org/ electio...ko_reality.html
query_tool | 01.22.09 - 4:33 pm | #
LOL- From the uber-Liberal, Chicago based Annenburg Foundation. Puleeezee
Foreclosure, according to a clerk who had heard of certain calculations a few days ago, said that the no of foreclosures was in the 80k range for Miami Dade County for 2008. And remember the foreclosures for 07 were already high.
lawyerliz | 01.22.09 - 5:10 pm | #
Maybe so:
http://www.realtytrac.com/MapSearch/MapSearch/MapSearch.aspx?CriteriaType=address&criteriaValue=Miami,%20FL#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
"you have no reason that i am aware of, to say that obama is influenced or connected with chicago mob...re economics or otherwise"
Oh, my God! (By the way, when I lived there, it was called the syndicate and its beer was Foxhead 400. All bars had to carry it.)
The narrowing spread has been on really light volume of A2/P2 issuance. My guess is that spreads were high long enough that businesses with low credit ratings gave up issuing CP and found other ways to survive (cut payrolls).
Volume of A2/P2 nonfinancial issuance can be found here.
When demand for issuance falls so do spreads. It's supply and demand stupid!
What a surprise