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Articles by Ryan Chittum | Email the Author

 

1. The Audit

   Opening Bell: Ripple Effect

   March 21, 2008 07:45 AM

   Commercial-finance firm CIT Group said it’s in trouble yesterday, having had to tap more than $7 billion in emergency loans from its backup credit line, and forced to sell off up to $7 billion in assets. After its credit... Continue reading

2. The Audit

   Opening Bell: Hang On To That Bomb Shelter

   March 20, 2008 07:14 AM

   The papers go big with the government making it easier for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to bolster mortgage lending—allowing them to buy $200 billion more of mortgage securities. The New York Times says on C1 that “the... Continue reading

3. The Audit

   Opening Bell: One-Day Wonder?

   March 19, 2008 07:41 AM

   The papers lead with the stock market going manic yesterday on bolstered confidence in Wall Street banks and another big rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up more than 420 points (3.5 percent),... Continue reading

4. The Audit

   Opening Bell: The Street Freaks Out

   March 18, 2008 07:52 AM

   Wall Street continued to reel yesterday from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression as the formidable Lehman Brothers saw its share price fall by half in panicked selling before ending down 19 percent on the day. Everyone... Continue reading

5. The Audit

   Opening Bell: Bear Meat

   March 17, 2008 07:58 AM

   Bear Stearns collapsed into the arms of JP Morgan Chase (and the Federal Reserve) last night, ending the stunningly fast fall of one of Wall Street’s legendary names. The credit crisis just got its biggest victim and its biggest... Continue reading

6. The Audit

   Opening Bell: The Economy’s Toxic Blend

   March 14, 2008 07:33 AM

   The business press piles on the economy this morning with The New York Times saying it faces a “Toxic Blend of Ailments”, The Wall Street Journal reporting 70 percent of its surveyed economists say it’s recession time, and... Continue reading

7. The Audit

   Opening Bell: The Great Hedge-Fund Unwind

   March 13, 2008 07:48 AM

   The hedge fund Carlyle Capital all but collapsed last night, stunning investors with the speed of its fall from being one of the biggest-name investment vehicles spawned by the late credit bubble to its latest victim. Bloomberg reports the... Continue reading

8. The Audit

   Opening Bell: Bailout!

   March 12, 2008 07:35 AM

   Stocks posted their biggest one-day gain in five years yesterday, after the Federal Reserve said it would dump $200 billion in cash into the frozen mortgage-backed securities market. Essentially the Fed is going to lend money to Wall Street... Continue reading

9. The Audit

   Opening Bell: The Roof Is On Fire

   March 11, 2008 07:35 AM

   While Wall Street was busy celebrating the sudden fall of its crusading nemesis, Eliot Spitzer, yesterday, shares of one of its top five banks were taking a dive on rumors that the company is out of cash, while mortgage... Continue reading

10. The Audit

    Opening Bell: Negative Yield

    March 10, 2008 07:45 AM

    If it's Monday, it must be analysis time. Bloomberg says that the sudden proliferation of belly-up hedge funds shows the industry is “reeling from its worst crisis in a decade.” This crisis has been sparked by the hedge funds’... Continue reading

11. The Audit

    Opening Bell: Notice of Default

    March 7, 2008 06:55 AM

    Carlyle Capital, a publicly traded hedge fund-like company, failed to meet margin calls from its banks on some of its $22 billion portfolio of AAA-rated mortgage bonds, sending markets tumbling and causing trading in its shares to be suspended... Continue reading

12. The Audit

    Opening Bell: “Pretty Crazy”

    March 6, 2008 07:42 AM

    The price of oil hit a new high yesterday and President Bush lashed out at OPEC for deciding not to boost production. The New York Times on page one says OPEC lashed back, blaming high prices in part on... Continue reading

13. The Audit

    Opening Bell: Bernanke v. Paulson?

    March 5, 2008 06:53 AM

    Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke came down firmly on the side of government action on Tuesday, urging banks to forgive part of the principal on loans they’ve made to borrowers who are now under water on their mortgages, and... Continue reading

14. The Audit

    Opening Bell

    March 4, 2008 07:47 AM

    The price of oil briefly hit a new all-time high yesterday in a landmark event that finally pushed petroleum past the inflation-adjusted record set in 1980. The Wall Street Journal leads its Business & Finance column and fronts its... Continue reading

15. The Audit

    Opening Bell

    March 3, 2008 06:28 AM

    The New York Times leads its front page with a report that cities and states are beginning to squawk at the system Wall Street has set up to rate the bonds they issue. Wall Street almost always rates... Continue reading

16. The Audit

    Opening Bell

    February 29, 2008 08:10 AM

    Lots of scary news yesterday, including the implosion of a major UK hedge fund from Peloton Partners. In a sign of how quickly things can go wrong in leverage land, just last month Peloton was named “best new fixed-income... Continue reading

17. The Audit

    Opening Bell

    February 28, 2008 08:10 AM

    The New York Times and the Financial Times lead with the dollar tumbling to record lows on Fed chief Bernanke’s testimony that he’s more focused on fighting a recession than taking on rising inflation. The euro... Continue reading

18. The Audit

    Opening Bell

    February 27, 2008 08:15 AM

    After something of a reprieve from bad news on Tuesday, the business pages all lead with negative economic reports. In what we can only consider a foreboding economic indicator, they each came up with a different bad-news angle. The... Continue reading

19. The Audit

    The Opening Bell

    February 26, 2008 08:07 AM

    Stocks rallied after the Standard & Poor’s ratings agency decided not to downgrade monoline bond insurers MBIA and Ambac Financial, saying their efforts to shore up its business had succeeded for now. Wall Street’s sigh that it... Continue reading

20. The Audit

    Opening Bell

    February 25, 2008 08:03 AM

    The New York Times leads its front page with an interesting report that inflation is causing (um, more) turmoil in the Middle East. We’ve read all the stories about how our gas money is paying for a new... Continue reading

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