“Spyker [the tiny exotic automaker who has long been negotiating for Saab ownership] has agreed to pay $74 million in cash and $326 million in preferred stock in a new Saab that will emerge from this deal. The Swedish government has agreed to guarantee a $563 million (400 million Euro) European Investment Bank loan for [...]

Someone lost their balance, fell and ripped a Picasso at the Met.  (I am so glad it wasn’t me….)  “The accident occurred in a second-floor gallery of early Picasso works when a patron participating in one of the museum’s art classes lost her balance and fell on the canvas, the museum said.  It happened during [...]

The best prognosticators I know of are at Elliott Wave.  I have referred to their work here many times.  If I have not made their views clear before, then I shall do so now.  From their January 14, 201 Theorist: “the fact that investors are still giddy – which is an apt word for today’s [...]

As a follow up to the post on Jan. 19, 2010 regarding the increase in hate crimes and “us versus them” mentality during a major bear market, which is what we are in now (according to the folks at Elliott Wave Int’l. – the group I most respect on matters financial), news out today says [...]

Here is a great article which provides insight into the new rules on banking:  “At its heart, Volcker’s plan restricts banks from making speculative investments that do not benefit their customers. He has argued that such speculative activity played a key role in the financial crisis. The administration also wants to limit the ability of [...]

Goldman Sachs has announced that it “earned” 13.4 billion in profit in 2009 and was set to pay 16.2 million in bonuses, which equates to around a half million per employee, although the bonus money will not be evenly spread around the firm.  “Since the financial crisis, all Wall Street banks have benefited from an [...]

According to some of the authors I read, the coming economic melt down, which will dwarf the recent downturns we have experienced thus far, will be accompanied by massive social unrest and a return to an “is verses them” social mentality.  The latest monthly publication of The Socionomist states that: “as the negative mood increases, [...]

You can now text “Haiti” to 90999 if you are a Sprint user to donate $10 to the red Cross for Haiti earthquake relief.  At one time, the phone companies were getting 1,000 texts per second.  So far these and similar donations made through cell phones have raised 10 million dollars.  “The donation is charged [...]

Did you know that there is a Congressional Oversight Committee which is assigned the grim task of overseeing TARP money?  It is headed by Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law Professor and prior to being a professor, a bankruptcy practitioner.  She is bright and articulate and has loudly criticized the lack of the transparency on the [...]

The government bail out money has recently been dubbed an “investment” however, this is one investment which the taxpayers did not chose to make!  The net result of these investments was to shift the loss from those who chose to take the risk (shareholders and stakeholders in failing businesses) to those who did not chose [...]