Banks Hoard Cash as Credit Card Defaults Rise

Consumers are increasingly unable to pay off their credit cards, forcing banks to hoard cash to protect against future losses and lend to fewer people, according to reports yesterday from several of the nation’s largest banks.These financial disclosures showed a spike in credit card loans going bad, putting further pressure on already-stressed balance sheets. J.P. [...] continue reading the breaking news

Run on Russian bank heightens fears

Globex on Wednesday banned depositors from withdrawing their money as confidence in the Russian banking system began to show signs of evaporating.Globex, a mid-sized retail bank with assets of $4bn (€2.95bn, £2.32bn), is the first Russian bank to experience a run on deposits during the crisis. It lost 13 per cent of its deposits last [...] continue reading the breaking news

Banks borrow record $437.5 billion per day from Fed

A trader counts his money on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange October 7, 2008. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidNEW YORK (Reuters) - Financial institutions ran to their lender of last resort for record amounts of cash in the latest week, under extreme pressure from the worst global financial crisis in a generation, Federal Reserve data [...] continue reading the breaking news

Financial crisis: Christine Lagarde warned Hank Paulson to bail out Lehman Brothers

Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, warned her US counterpart Hank Paulson that he had to bail out US investment bank Lehman Brothers or face global financial collapse, but her advice went unheeded.Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, warned her US counterpart Hank Paulson that he must bail out US investment bank Lehman Brothers or [...] continue reading the breaking news

Police clash with police in Brazil violence

Striking police officers were embroiled in a mass-melee with hundreds of their own colleagues in riot gear who policed their protest, amid bizarre scenes in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.The clashes between state police and plainclothes investigators last night came after the demonstrators tried to break through a barrier protecting the state [...] continue reading the breaking news

Lahde quits hedge funds, thanking “stupid” traders for making him rich.

NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Andrew Lahde, the hedge fund founder who shot to fame with his small fund that soared 870 percent last year on bets against U.S. subprime home loans, has called it quits, thanking “stupid” traders for making him rich.In a biting, but humorous letter to investors posted on the website [...] continue reading the breaking news

Hedge Fund Manager: Goodbye and F—- You

From the Scorched Earth Files:Andrew Lahde, manager of a small California hedge fund, Lahde Capital, burst into the spotlight last year after his one-year-old fund returned 866 percent betting against the subprime collapse.Last month, he did the unthinkable — he shut things down, claiming dealing with his bank counterparties had become too risky. Today, Lahde [...] continue reading the breaking news