by Calculated Risk on 11/21/2008 01:57:00 AM

From MarketWatch: Singapore falls into recession, cuts 2009 outlook

Singapore became the third major Asia-Pacific economy to fall into recession after data released Friday showed the economy had contracted for two straight quarters.
...
The contraction, which followed a revised 5.3% fall in the second quarter from the first, means Singapore technically follows Japan and Hong Kong into recession.

Pretty soon it will be easier to list the countries NOT in recession ...

by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2008 08:29:00 PM

From the WSJ: Citi Weighs Its Options, Including Firm's Sale

Executives at Citigroup ... began weighing the possibility of auctioning off pieces of the financial giant or even selling the company outright ...

Citigroup's board of directors is scheduled to have a formal meeting Friday to discuss the options ... In addition to pondering a move to sell the entire company to another bank, executives have started exploring the possibility of selling off parts of the firm, including the Smith Barney retail brokerage, the global credit-card division and the transaction-services unit, which is one of Citigroup's most lucrative and fast-growing businesses, the people said.

Here is the CNBC story: Citigroup May Seek Merger as Stock Plunges Further

by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2008 07:36:00 PM

A couple of images of the day ...

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

Doug Short of dshort.com (financial planner) sent me this graph of "Four Bad Bears".

The current stock market decline is the worst since the Great Depression.

Click on cartoon for larger image in new window. This cartoon from Eric G. Lewis, a freelance cartoonist living in Orange County, CA. was inspired by Professor Duy's post last night: Fed Watch: Policy Adrift

by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2008 05:38:00 PM

Here is the site for the TARP data (hat tip Ras Stash)

Here are the details released as of Nov 17th:

CAPITAL PURCHASE PROGRAM: $158,561,409,000 Total

$15,000,000,000	Bank of America Corporation
$3,000,000,000	Bank of New York Mellon Corporation
$25,000,000,000	Citigroup Inc.
$10,000,000,000	The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
$25,000,000,000	JPMorgan Chase & Co.
$10,000,000,000	Morgan Stanley
$2,000,000,000	State Street Corporation
$25,000,000,000	Wells Fargo & Company
$10,000,000,000	Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
$17,000,000	Bank of Commerce Holdings
$16,369,000	1st FS Corporation
$298,737,000	UCBH Holdings, Inc.
$1,576,000,000	Northern Trust Corporation
$3,500,000,000	SunTrust Banks, Inc.
$9,000,000	Broadway Financial Corporation
$200,000,000	Washington Federal Inc.
$3,133,640,000	BB&T Corp.
$151,500,000	Provident Bancshares Corp.
$214,181,000	Umpqua Holdings Corp.
$2,250,000,000	Comerica Inc.
$3,500,000,000	Regions Financial Corp.
$3,555,199,000	Capital One Financial Corporation
$866,540,000	First Horizon National Corporation
$1,398,071,000	Huntington Bancshares
$2,500,000,000	KeyCorp
$300,000,000	Valley National Bancorp
$1,400,000,000	Zions Bancorporation
$1,715,000,000	Marshall & Ilsley Corporation
$6,599,000,000	U.S. Bancorp
$361,172,000	TCF Financial Corporation

by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2008 04:43:00 PM

Press Release from Fannie Mae (no link yet): Fannie Mae to Suspend Foreclosures Until January

In order to support the streamlined modification program announced on November 11, 2008, Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) today issued a notice to its loan servicing organizations and retained foreclosure attorneys directing them to suspend foreclosure sales on occupied single-family properties as well as the completion of evictions from occupied single-family properties scheduled to occur from November 26, 2008 until January 9, 2009.

The temporary suspension of foreclosures is designed to allow affected borrowers facing foreclosure to retain their homes while Fannie Mae works with mortgage servicers to implement the streamlined modification program scheduled to launch December 15.

Freddie Mac also announced they are suspending foreclosures.

by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2008 04:31:00 PM

Check out Doug's site - he has added some tabs to see other crashes and recoveries ...

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

Doug Short of dshort.com (financial planner) sent me this graph of "Four Bad Bears".

Note that the Great Depression crash is based on the DOW; the three others are for the S&P 500.

by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2008 03:53:00 PM

I'll have the graph soon ...

DOW off 430

S&P500 off 53 at 11 1/2 year low (April 1997).

NASDAQ off 70

Another day of cliff diving.

by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2008 02:16:00 PM

The front page (pdf) of the LA Times has this picture of building equipment for sale in the Inland Empire. Click on photo for larger image in new window.

From the LA Times: Housing slowdown spurs auction of construction equipment

Sellers said they were purging their inventories to pull in operating capital. Buyers said they were lured by cheap prices, although several expressed reluctance to spend money on equipment that could remain idle for months.

"These are the worst prices I've ever seen," said Steve Thompson, 52, who was there to make bids for Chuck Green & Associates Inc., a San Diego County company that buys, resells and rents heavy equipment.

Back in 2005, during the boom, the company sold a used hydraulic dirt excavator for $309,000. That same excavator changed hands Tuesday for just $50,000.

Not much demand to move dirt in Southern California!

by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2008 01:13:00 PM

From DataQuick: Bay Area median price tumbles to $375K; sales reach high for '08

Bay Area homes sold at their fastest pace in 17 months in October as buyers favored more affordable inland areas where depreciation and foreclosures have hit hardest. As a result, the median sale price continued its steep, months-long decline, falling a record 40.6 percent, or $256,000, from a year ago, a real estate information service reported.
...
Last month's sales were the highest for any month since June 2007, when 7,964 homes sold. But sales were still the second-lowest for any October since 1995 and were 14.2 percent below the average number sold during October since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin.
...
Last month 44.8 percent of all existing homes sold in the Bay Area had been foreclosed on at some point in the prior 12 months, up from 41.9 percent in September and 8.2 percent a year ago.

Be careful with the median price - the mix has shifted to more homes in lower priced neighborhoods with significant foreclosure resale activity - and that reduces the median price. The Case-Shiller index is a better measure of house price declines.

by Calculated Risk on 11/20/2008 12:41:00 PM

From the Detroit Free Press: Compromise reached on $25-billion auto bailout

Key senators reached a compromise today on a $25-billion bailout of Detroit's automakers, but questions remained as to whether there were enough votes or time to pass the bill today.
...
A draft of the compromise being worked on by Michigan Sen. Carl Levin and Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., would have used the $25 billion set aside by Congress in September for retooling auto plants over the next several years and lend it to automakers immediately.

It is not clear there are enough votes to pass this compromise bill - and if President Bush will sign it.