Excerpt:
The mood in credit derivatives markets turned ugly on Thursday, with the cost of insuring corporate debt hitting multi-week highs on both sides of the Atlantic.Oh, its not that scary. Wait a few weeks. You ain't seen anything yet.Speculation was rife that leading major investment banks were facing additional losses linked to complex mortgage-backed securities, while worries mounted over the health of major financial guarantors.
"It's scary out there - there's blood on the streets," a trader at a US brokerage said. "It's a real mess." * * *
Rating Agencies Are Downgrading CDOs
The prospect of rating downgrades on complex debt instruments, along with massive writedowns at big banks, are raising fears that the credit crisis may deepen.
Collateralized debt obligations backed by mortgage securities are triggering another wave of worry on Wall Street. Banks have been hard-hit by a decline in the value of these securities, and investors and traders worry that more losses could result if prices fall further. * * *
The three major rating companies - Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch - have put an estimated $70 billion worth of collateralized debt obligations, including those with the highest ratings, on review for downgrading. * * *
178 Mortgage Lenders Have Imploded ! Since December, 2006.
Remember the great line in the "Ghostbusters" movie? When you need to refinance --
"Who Are You Gonna Call ?
That must mean we're doomed. Yet our GDP still grew 3.9% last quarter. I guess we didn't need those 178 mortgage lenders. LOL!