Posted on 08/04/2007 4:44:59 PM PDT by aimhigh
The US sub-prime crisis that has so far wiped $2,100bn (£1,030bn) from the value of global stock markets still has a long way to go, investment guru Jim Rogers claimed yesterday.
'This was one of the biggest bubbles we've ever had in credit' said Jim Rogers
Mr Rogers, a New York-based fund manager and former partner of George Soros, who predicted the start of the commodities rally in 1999, said US banks and homebuilders would feel the effect of the crisis for years.
"This was one of the biggest bubbles we've ever had in credit," Mr Rogers, chairman of Beeland Interests, said in an interview from Hong Kong. "I have been and still short the investment bankers in America. I'm also short homebuilders.
"This is only time in history when people were able to buy houses with no money down. In some cases, builders gave down payments."
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
FRANKFURT: Prosecutors in Düsseldorf and government regulators in Berlin are looking into how a German bank became overexposed in the U.S. subprime mortgage lending crisis, but stopped short Friday of announcing a formal investigation.
Smaller-scale shock waves continued to reverberate, however, even as financial heavyweights like Allianz sought to reassure their investors they would not be hit.
Union Investment Asset Management Holding, one of Germany's top three mutual fund managers, said it had halted redemptions from a fund holding subprime mortgages after clients withdrew about 10 percent of the assets in the past month.
Investors redeemed €100 million, or $136 million, from the €950 million ABS-Invest Fund, Markus Temme, a spokesman, said. The fund, sold to institutional investors across Europe, has about 6 percent of its assets in securities related to subprime mortgage loans, Temme said. Union Investment, which is owned by Germany's cooperative banks, has taken the steps "because of illiquidity in the market," he said.
This train wreck is only starting.
bump
WHY DOES THE GOVERNMENT IGNOR REGULATING THIS SLIME BALLS?
FYI ping
The US sub prime crisis - stopped reading right there.
some liberals - well all liberals under a GOP WH see a crisis in every event.
The media cranks it up and you good little drones feed on it like there is no tomorrow, along with the smoking man on the grassy knoll.
Don’t worry little ones, you will be told what to think LOL!
Nothing like making a case for your own defense. "I'm short and the world will continue to end for many years."
I started laughing out loud right there!!!
Jim Rogers, a guy who once hit it big in the markets and now is a full time kook.
I am not up on everything Rogers has said and done to make him a kook. But he was and is dead on with the commodities story and the BRIC story (Brazil/Russia/India/China). His two books where he went around the world are pretty interesting regardless of agreeing or not with his opinions formed from it.
Think back to the 1980's and substitute the words saving and loan with sub prime.
Think back to the 1980's and substitute the words saving and loan with sub prime.
George Soro’s plan to drive down prices so he can gobble up more companies cheaply. Look for Soro’s to buy some home builder as soon as he can knock another 40% off the price.
These days Rogers will say whatever he can to get his name in print.
Think back to the 90's and Clintoon, Reno, and their punk flunkie Deval Patrick. Does the "Fair Lending Act" ring any bells? The scars on this country left by Bubba and his posse will take generations to fade.
Why? Sub-prime is only 15% of the housing market. So what if people now must have a down - that’s the way it has always been with no ill effects. One good effect of the sub prime, many people who could never buy a house bought one, and the majority of those loans are not in default.
Could be much worse. The Feds have been loose and fancy free on flooding the market with greenbacks. I have never seen money so easily loaned in my lifetime (I am sure my grandpa life too). Cash is King at the moment.
I was just watching a panel on c-span on this. Defaults have increased from 7-15% in sub prime loans. This has been way over hyped. They are collateralized loans, after all. Those who went in without down payments have nothing to lose.
I think that the best thing to do is absorb these defaults, and get those houses re-sold to someo who will make the payments. Nobody is making money on empty houses, so the most charitable thing to do is foreclose, and resell it as fast as possible.
The lending markets need to clean house, so it is no shame that some of these companies are going under.
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