Day: September 15, 2008

Worldwide Markets Are Tanking

According to the Wall Street Journal the FTSE 100 is down 3.92%, the Nikkei is down 4.71%. The DAX closed down 2.74% as of 7:55 Central time.

The current feature story in the Wall Street Journal special coverage section runs under the headline AIG, Lehman Shock Hits World Markets:

The U.S. stock market suffered its worst daily point plunge since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Financial markets were rattled by the rushed sale Sunday of Merrill Lynch & Co. and the bankruptcy-court filing of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which scrambled Monday to sell its most-prized businesses before too many employees and customers walk out the door………. Continue reading “Worldwide Markets Are Tanking”

Sell in May and Go Away……..

So advises the old Wall Street adage. Q3 is the worst historically and today keeps the trend firmly intact.

The special news page in the Wall Street Journal website today states the obvious: “Wall Street in Crisis”

Lehman filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch sold itself to Bank of America on a day in which the U.S. financial system was shaken to its core. The federal government’s refusal to provide support to potential Lehman buyers prompted Barclays and Bank of America to walk away from talks.

So what are investors who have been absolutely pummled to do a reader might ask? I have two thoughts:

  1. Buy microcap stocks that trade on the pinks. That way you lose your shirt before everyone else and can then boast that when the Dow, S&P and NASDAQ cratered in 2008 that one of your holding went up almost 29% the same day. (No joke that happened to one of my losers today) Continue reading “Sell in May and Go Away……..”

Hope here at the end of the day – Ike survivor floats 17 hours in the Gulf

It’s been a long day of bouncing from Katrina to Gustav to Ike and then Wall Street and back – and a story with a happy ending is a welcome addition to the news of the day.  For those of you who haven’t read about Sop’s roof surfing adventure and Katrina survival, I recommend reading that story as well.

Now from Crystal Beach, Texas – or what was Crystal Beach before Ike – we have A retired U.S. Coast Guard diver told a Chambers County official that Hurricane Ike swept him from his home into the raging Gulf of Mexico, where he survived for more than 17 hours.

Mark Davidson found a kayak, a child’s life preserver and a bottle of Gatorade during his ordeal, said Chambers County Clerk Heather Hawthorne. He was released from Bayside Memorial Hospital in Anahuac. His wife said he was fine except for a few scratches and bruises.

Davidson recounted his story to Hawthorne, who is compiling a historical account of the hurricane. He declined to speak to the Chronicle except to say the story he told Hawthorne was accurate.

According to Hawthorne, Davidson, 48, opted to remain in his home on Crystal Beach while his wife evacuated. As the house began to collapse, Hawthorne said, water was coming in through the floor and he knew he wouldn’t last there much longer…

“He told me he knew what he had to do,” Davidson said of her husband. “He had the skills to do it. He’s alive. That’s all that matters, even though we lost everything we owned.” Continue reading “Hope here at the end of the day – Ike survivor floats 17 hours in the Gulf”

Parts of Galveston "just a memory" and the peninsula, "it's gone"

Information from Texas is a challenge to those of us who see destruction in the context of Katrina and know that much remains unknown at this point.  Nonetheless, here are two stories – the first from the Times Picayune reporting Parts of Galveston just a memory now.

With floodwaters largely receded, National Guard troops ushered hundreds of downtrodden residents aboard buses off this battered barrier island Sunday, where electricity and basic utilities are likely weeks away from being restored…

When Galveston Police announced the arrival of buses to San Antonio on Sunday morning, the high school quickly emptied out, with elderly people in wheelchairs jockeying among hundreds of others trying to get to the front. More than 500 people waited in line outside the school, and the crowd grew as word of the buses spread across town…

Capt. Randy Saldivar, a Texas Military Force spokesman, said they’d be busing until they “get the last body out of here that wants to leave.”

The evacuation was a much smaller, much more organized version of the post-Katrina diaspora. Military officials repeatedly asked whether families were on the same bus, keeping meticulous lists. Officials constantly passed out water and delivered lunches…

We go to the New York Times and Rescuers fear for those stuck on Texas Pininsula, however, for the story on the Bolivar Peninsula as there is little news closer to home. Continue reading “Parts of Galveston "just a memory" and the peninsula, "it's gone"”

Parts of Galveston “just a memory” and the peninsula, “it’s gone”

Information from Texas is a challenge to those of us who see destruction in the context of Katrina and know that much remains unknown at this point.  Nonetheless, here are two stories – the first from the Times Picayune reporting Parts of Galveston just a memory now.

With floodwaters largely receded, National Guard troops ushered hundreds of downtrodden residents aboard buses off this battered barrier island Sunday, where electricity and basic utilities are likely weeks away from being restored…

When Galveston Police announced the arrival of buses to San Antonio on Sunday morning, the high school quickly emptied out, with elderly people in wheelchairs jockeying among hundreds of others trying to get to the front. More than 500 people waited in line outside the school, and the crowd grew as word of the buses spread across town…

Capt. Randy Saldivar, a Texas Military Force spokesman, said they’d be busing until they “get the last body out of here that wants to leave.”

The evacuation was a much smaller, much more organized version of the post-Katrina diaspora. Military officials repeatedly asked whether families were on the same bus, keeping meticulous lists. Officials constantly passed out water and delivered lunches…

We go to the New York Times and Rescuers fear for those stuck on Texas Pininsula, however, for the story on the Bolivar Peninsula as there is little news closer to home. Continue reading “Parts of Galveston “just a memory” and the peninsula, “it’s gone””

Breaking news but no surprise – McIntosh settles for $250,000 (Updated)

Anita Lee brings us back from today’s troubles in Texas and on Wall Street with a reminder that Katrina is still an active disaster.

Almost two years after Thomas and Pamela McIntosh sued State Farm, charging that the company altered a damage report to intentionally underpay their Katrina claim, the lawsuit has been settled confidentially. (Judge Senter’s Judgment of Dismissal)

“I can say that the State Farm counsel have done an extraordinarily good job protecting State Farm,” said William F. “Chip” Merlin, the McIntoshes’ attorney.

Well, Chip, what about the McIntoshes and other policy holders? Continue reading “Breaking news but no surprise – McIntosh settles for $250,000 (Updated)”

The Lord helps those who help themselves – keep going AIG and maybe the Fed will as well (Updated 2X)

I’m impressed with the approach AIG is taking – finance I don’t know but faith I know well and I pray all goes well for the folks at AIG and note the help AIG provided others is a factor in the problem it faces today.

The turmoil in housing and credit markets has hammered AIG, largely because of contracts it sold protecting others against losses tied to subprime loans and other risky assets.

I also take note of the difference in what they’re asking the Fed to do and how it differs from other requests.

…During a weekend scramble to shore up its finances, AIG turned down a capital infusion from a group of private-equity firms…The proposed option would have allowed the firms to acquire AIG for $8 billion under certain conditions. That price is just one-fourth of AIG’s current market value….

When AIG’s board rejected the capital infusion, the company’s recently appointed chairman and chief executive, Robert Willumstad, took the extraordinary step of reaching out to the Federal Reserve for help. Mr. Willumstad asked New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner if the Fed could backstop some asset sales. Continue reading “The Lord helps those who help themselves – keep going AIG and maybe the Fed will as well (Updated 2X)”

Making ends meet as Wall Street goes Main Street

Making ends meet – the paycheck to paycheck life of those who live on Main Street, USA – is also descriptive of what’s taking place on Wall Street today and described in this nowdy/sop tag team post.

Draw courage from the slabbed and their faith that things will be better even if never the same.

When Wall Street woke up Monday morning, two more of its storied firms had fallen.

Lehman Brothers, burdened by $60 billion in soured real-estate holdings, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after attempts to rescue the 158-year-old firm failed. Bank of America Corp. said it is snapping up Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. in a $50 billion all-stock transaction.

The demise of the independent Wall Street institutions came as shock waves from the 14-month-old credit crisis roiled the U.S. financial system six months after the collapse of Bear Stearns.

Like the woman in NOLA who used her car payment to cover the cost of Gustav evacuation and had no money to leave when Ike threatened, these companies were challenged to make ends meet when time ran out.  Insurance giant AIG is running the clock now – take it from there, Sop. Continue reading “Making ends meet as Wall Street goes Main Street”

They're saying the "F word" in Texas and "F" is saying not us but you!

Seems there was a bit of confusion and the First Responders got left without food and water!

It didn’t take long for the finger-pointing to begin.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency came under fire Sunday as emergency workers were left undernourished and dozens of trucks of water and food had yet to be set up at distribution centers around Houston and surrounding communities.

And no sooner had the agency — widely condemned for its glacial response to suffering after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — drawn sharp criticism as its leaders and spokesmen began to say it was someone else’s fault.

Earlier in the day, a FEMA spokesman said delays in setting up staging points to hand out needed provisions had been caused by blocked roads.

By the evening, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it was the fault of state officials who handed his department the “unexpected challenge” of having to prepare distribution points in addition to delivering supplies.State officials said that was a local responsibility, which came as a surprise to Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. Continue reading “They're saying the "F word" in Texas and "F" is saying not us but you!”

They’re saying the “F word” in Texas and “F” is saying not us but you!

Seems there was a bit of confusion and the First Responders got left without food and water!

It didn’t take long for the finger-pointing to begin.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency came under fire Sunday as emergency workers were left undernourished and dozens of trucks of water and food had yet to be set up at distribution centers around Houston and surrounding communities.

And no sooner had the agency — widely condemned for its glacial response to suffering after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — drawn sharp criticism as its leaders and spokesmen began to say it was someone else’s fault.

Earlier in the day, a FEMA spokesman said delays in setting up staging points to hand out needed provisions had been caused by blocked roads.

By the evening, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it was the fault of state officials who handed his department the “unexpected challenge” of having to prepare distribution points in addition to delivering supplies.State officials said that was a local responsibility, which came as a surprise to Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett. Continue reading “They’re saying the “F word” in Texas and “F” is saying not us but you!”