Monthly Archives: October 2008

Did Buffett Kill the Wells Fargo-Wachovia Deal?

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Felix

Why did the Wells Fargo deal to buy Wachovia fall through at the last minute? The WSJ reports that Wells Fargo CEO chairman Dick Kovacevich blamed perceived weaknesses in a surprising area of Wachovia’s loan portfolio: Wachovia’s advisers were surprised … Continue reading →

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Libor Update: Still Frozen

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Felix

Overnight Libor came down today, to Extremely High from Utterly Ridiculous. But three-month Libor went up: it’s now 4.15%, which means that TED’s at 334bp — or as it’s referred to these days, "frozen". (No interbank lending is actually going … Continue reading →

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The Lloyds-HBOS Arbitrage

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Felix

Robert Peston is on form this morning, writing about the proposed takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB: If you believe that the terms of the deal won’t and can’t be changed, the current HBOS share price is an opportunity to … Continue reading →

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Food Price Datapoint of the Day

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Felix

David Chang: Farmer Michael’s feed costs have risen 400 percent in the last twelve months. To make a profit on the beautiful turkeys his family is raising in time for Thanksgiving, he’ll have to charge a hundred bucks a bird. … Continue reading →

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Annals of Legislative Incompetence, Pennsylvania Edition

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Felix

It’s not just federal legislators who are good at screwing up carefully-negotiated deals. Pennsylvania’s governor, Ed Rendell, faced with a $1.7 billion transportation funding shortfall, came up with a very bright idea: selling off a concession to run the Pennsylvania … Continue reading →

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Lehman Bust Hits NYC Commercial Property

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Felix

One of the main drivers of New York City’s commercial property boom was Lehman Brothers. Now that Lehman’s gone bust, the NYC commercial property market seems to have ground to a halt. It was probably going to happen sooner or … Continue reading →

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Extra Credit, Tuesday Edition

Posted on October 1, 2008 by Felix

Why Main Street should support this rescue: A good, clear explanation. Where Will the Money Come From? DeLong Krugman explains why a bailout won’t need outside funds. Congresswomen Explain "Nay" Vote: This is how the sausage fails to get made. … Continue reading →

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