Banking, finance, and taxes

Vegas Odds: Another Large Financial Firm Will Fail (LEH)(WB)(WM)

Bear_stearnsBear Stearns was not the end of it. Institutional investors think at least one more large firm will fail, probably over the next six months. Although those surveyed did not name a company, at this point those mentioned most frequently in the press are Lehman (LEH), Washington Mutual (WM) and Wachovia (WB)

According to the FT, "Nearly 60 per cent of US and European institutional investors surveyed by Greenwich Associates believe there will be such a failure within the next six months. Another 15 per cent think it will happen in six-12 months"

Recent estimates of the total damage that will be done by the mortgage-paper disaster put the final amount of write-offs at between $1 trillion and $2 trillion. Perhaps $500 billion of that amount has already been booked.

Sentiment within the industry has moved heavily toward worst-case thinking. There is not much of a defense for the opposite side of the argument being true.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Credit Card Companies Are Doing Something Nuts

Credit card companies are at war. The biggest issuers are handing out free rewards and benefits to win the best customers.

It’s possible to find cards paying unlimited 1.5%, 2%, and even more today. That’s free money for qualified borrowers, and the type of thing that would be crazy to pass up. Those rewards can add up to thousands of dollars every year in free money, and include other benefits as well.

We’ve assembled some of the best credit cards for users today.  Don’t miss these offers because they won’t be this good forever.

 

Flywheel Publishing has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Flywheel Publishing and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

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