Research Zeitgeist: Top Posts & Hot Topics
It’s no great surprise that the writing down of subprime-mortgage-related losses was by far the most popular topic on Research Recap in the last week. More Bank, Brokerage Writedowns, Ratings Cuts Inevitable topped the charts, followed by Research Roundup: Writedown Wrapup. Readers of this post would have benefited from CreditSights estimate of a $3.8 billion writedown at Morgan Stanley, very close to the $3.7 billion announced later by the company. Might be worth checking back on CreditSights writedown estimates for other banks and brokers.
Asia-Pacific Region To Weather US Economic Slowdown showed that in S&P’s view, the subprime related woes in the US should not have much impact on Asia’s economic growth. Part of the rationale for this view is that the ailing US housing market is not a big consumer of imports from Asia. Still, imports of home furnishings from Asia are significant, leaving open the question of how they will be affected.
And speaking of ailing, our Research Roundup: M-LEC Superfund continued to attract interest. The struggling rescue fund for Structured Investment Vehicles may have a new lease on life, according to today’s Wall Street Journal. The WSJ says a new detailed financing plan could be in place within a week. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports that SIVs may not survive the current turmoil, according to Moody’s. Thursday, Moody’s issued a Summary of its SIV Ratings Actions, while Standard & Poors released its Third Quarter Roundup of Global SIVs.
Citigroup Shakeup Provides More Questions Than Answers rounded out the top 5 posts and the topic continues to attract attention. The FT reported Thursday that a close reading of Citi’s 10Q accounts would have given investors some clues as to the bank’s exposure.
Still it’s good to know that Citi is looking to recover at least a portion of its exposure. In an article handicapping the candidates for the top spot at Citi, the New York Times notes that “retiring” chief Chuck Prince will not receive any severance pay and will have to make do with about the $104.7 million in pension payments and shares he’ll walk (or be driven away) with. He’ll also get use of an office, a car and a driver for five years or until he gets another job. At least he’s being asked to pay the balance on his Citigroup business credit card “ as soon as practicable” after he leaves.
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November 13th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
[...] assets of Structured Investment Vehicles was questioned two weeks ago. Last week it looked like the Superfund was being [...]