Crisis on Wall Street: Lehman to file for bankruptcy protection, Merrill Is Sold

[brendan]

Where did you get the Brendan?

You can get the Brendan from all leading supermarkets

[brendan]

Here is popular measure of volatility: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=^VIX&t=2y&l=on&z=l&q=l&c=

[Collin Li]

Is the failure because of a lack of regulation? What were the roots of the problem? It was the sub-prime housing market. If the government didn't get in the way (regulate), then firms would have an interest not to give out reckless loans.

What actually happened was that governments wanted to ensure anyone could get a housing loan. Through public-private partnership (i.e.: corporatism), firms like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were able to secure government guarantees on the most idiotic and reckless of loans.

The bottom line: there is no such thing as a free house. Try to make it look that way and the costs will catch up to you.

[brendan]

TED spread: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/cbuilder?ticker1=.TEDSP%3AIND

[Noblesse]

Good gracious, The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 936 points, or more than 11 per cent, to 9387.61 at the close.

US stocks have surged more than 11 per cent overnight, with the Dow index registering its biggest point gain ever.

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24493575-462,00.html

[brendan]

What Neel Kashkari Learned in M.B.A. School
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/10/08/the-mba-experience-that-may-help-neel-kashkari-manage-700-billion/
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1848055,00.html
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/10/10/neel-kashkari-a-portrait-of-the-700-billion-man-as-a-young-banker/

BEN S. BERNANKE
http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20081007a.htm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122394360912831019.html

[bubble sunglasses]

   Chicago-Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert's review of the documentary I.O.U.S.A
  http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080821/REVIEWS/329/1001/reviews

[Collin Li]

Peter Schiff - Don't Blame Capitalism
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/15/AR2008101503166.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Peter Schiff is some kind of a predicting genius. You can YouTube him to find videos of him a couple of years back making spot-on predictions, despite being laughed at by other economists.

Here's a clip of Peter Schiff vs. Art Laffer (former advisor to Reagan Administration) in 2006 (2 years ago!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfascZSTU4o

[brendan]

WARREN E. BUFFETT, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, a diversified holding company.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17buffett.html?_r=1&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink&oref=slogin

Charles W. Calomiris is Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions at Columbia Business School.
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/10/14/foreclosures-punto-final-oped-cx_cc_1014calomiris.html

WILLIAM POOLE, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, was president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis from 1998 to March 2008.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17buffett.html?_r=1&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink&oref=slogin

Richard Sylla is the Henry Kaufman professor of the history of financial institutions and markets and professor of economics at the Stern Business School at NYU.
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/10/15/federal-banking-hamilton-oped-cx_rs_1015sylla.html

Kenneth Arrow is emeritus professor of economics at Stanford University. He was joint winner, with Sir John Hicks, of the Nobel prize in economics in 1972
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2008/oct/15/kenneth-arrow-economy-crisis

ALAN S. BLINDER and R. GLENN HUBBARD
Mr. Blinder, a former Federal Reserve vice chairman, is a professor of economics at Princeton University. He is also affiliated with Promontory Interfinancial Network, which could be affected by changes in FDIC rules. Mr. Hubbard, former chairman of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, is the dean of the Columbia Business School.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122403056396434697.html

Kevin Hassett, director of economic-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_hassett&sid=a5KUGp59X7og

Doug Diamond and Anil Kashyap
Doug Diamond is the Merton H. Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Anil Kashyap is the Edward Eagle Brown Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-financial-crisis-a-guest-post-by-diamond-and-kashyap/

[brendan]

Most Pundits Are Wrong About the Bubble
Charles W. Calomiris is the Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122428270641246049.html

[brendan]

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2008/10/14/a-thumbs-up-from-the-ivory-tower/

[brendan]

The Mortgages of the Future
Robert J. Shiller, Arthur M. Okun professor of economics at Yale and co-founder of MacroMarkets LLC, is the author of “Subprime Solution: How Today’s Global Financial Crisis Happened and What to Do About It.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/business/21view.html?partner=rssnyt

Three Trends and a Train Wreck
Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/business/19view.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[brendan]

Pressured to Take More Risk, Fannie Reached Tipping Point
A decision, made under pressure from Congress and investors, to steer Fannie Mae into dangerous corners of the mortgage market proved to be disastrous.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/business/05fannie.html?pagewanted=all

[brendan]

The Guys From ‘Government Sachs’
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/business/19gold.html?em=&pagewanted=all

[brendan]

A Hemline Index, Updated
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/weekinreview/19lewin.html?ref=business&pagewanted=all