Items of Interest:
AIG Reports Largest Loss, $61.7 Billion, in US Corporate History
New York Times:
A.I.G. Reports $61.7 Billion Loss as U.S. Gives More Aid — The federal government agreed Monday morning to provide an additional $30 billion in taxpayer money to the American International Group and loosen the terms of its huge loan to the insurer, even as the insurance giant reported a $61.7 billion loss …
related:discussion:
Joe Nocera / New York Times: AIG: Propping Up a House of Cards
Brian Katkin / The BLT: Morning Wrap — Expensive Fire: Latham & Watkins conducted …John Cole / Balloon Juice: Slide — by John Cole And on a serious note, AIG is still...John Bacon / On Deadline: News roundup: More bad news from AIG
Brady Dennis / Washington Post:
AIG Receives Up to $30 Billion in New Bailout Funds --
discussion:Mark Murray / MSNBC: FIRST 100 DAYS: AIG, YEAH YOU KNOW ME
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FederalReserve.gov:Treasury and Federal Reserve announce participation in AIG restructuring plan -- Washington, D.C. -- The U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board today announced a restructuring of the government's assistance to AIG in order to stabilize this systemically important company in a manner that best protects the U.S. taxpayer. Specifically, the government's restructuring is designed to enhance the company's capital ...
New York Times:
U.S. Is Said to Offer Another $30 Billion in Funds to A.I.G. — The federal government agreed Sunday night to provide an additional $30 billion in taxpayer money to the American International Group and loosen the terms of its huge loan to the insurer, which is preparing to report a $62 billion loss …
discussion:James Kwak / Baseline Scenario:
We Still Don't Know the Extent of the Damage at AIG --Well, it’s done. AIG is getting another bailout [its fourth one].
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute: AIG, Round FourJay Stevens / Left in the West: Oops! How did I miss the University of Montana …Tom Bevan / Real Clear Politics: The Calamity That Is AIGSusan Duclos / Wake up America: Throwing Good Money After Bad To AIGJennifer Rubin / Commentary: Didn't We Do This Before? — I know it seems like we've done …Yves Smith / naked capitalism: Black Hole Alert: AIG to Get as Much as $30 Billion MoreBrady Dennis / Los Angeles Times: AIG may get up to $30 billion more in federal bailoutFausta / Fausta's Blog: AIG joins cast of Shaun of the Dead: Too much is never enoughEchidne / ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES: The Most Humongous LossLambert / Corrente: Somehow, I don't think FDR would have distributed wealth upwardCreature / The Reaction: 61.7 — That's the number of dollars, in billions …Wall Street Journal: U.S. Revamps Bailout of AIGTruthdig: Bigger Bailout Expected for AIG
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MSNBC:Mexico: Spring Break, Beaches -- and Bloodshed -- Thousands of American college students will flock to Mexico for spring break as that country's drug war grows more bloody.
The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory Friday warning of an "increasingly violent" conflict between the government and drug cartels.
"Some recent Mexican army and police confrontations with drug cartels have resembled small-unit combat," the advisory said. "Large firefights have taken place in many towns and cities across Mexico." ...
Last week, the University of Arizona formally discouraged students from traveling to Mexico for spring break....
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Jeff Matthews is Not Making This Up:This Just In: Berkshire Equity Portfolio Back to its Cost Basis -- The 2008 Chairman’s Letter from Warren Buffett is in, and while it contains much of what you’d expect—a self-confession or two, that old Mae West “Snow White” joke, one humorous new aphorism (“beware of geeks bearing formulas”) and a metaphor that associates derivatives with social diseases, not to mention a sober assessment of the world economy, one no-punches-pulled prediction on inflation, as well as plenty of cheerleading for Berkshire’s managers and businesses—the biggest shocker in the letter is not actually highlighted, or even mentioned, by Buffett.
The shocker is this: Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio of equities—the stocks such as Coke and P&G and Washington Post that Warren Buffett himself, the “Oracle of Omaha,” famously purchased over the years at bargain prices—appears, as of yesterday’s market close, to be worth not much more than Buffett's cost.
That’s right...
related:
Bill Feingold / Minyanville: The Snake-Oil Oracle of Omaha?
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- Do the Money Gurus Know About Money? - Joel Lovell, Washington Post
- The Most Powerless Wall Street Power - Joe Hagan, New York Magazine
- Bank Policy Means U.S. Risks a Lost Decade - James Baker, Financial Times
- What's Holding Tim Geithner Back? - Noam Scheiber, The New Republic
- Some Banks Must Die So Economy Can Live - Caroline Baum, Bloomberg
- Treasury's Flawed Plan for Citigroup - Peter Morici, RealClearMarkets
- Bank Nationalization Isn't the Worst Fear - Bill Fleckenstein, MSNMoney
- California Voters: Paving the Road to Ruin - Bill Frezza, RealClearMarkets
- GOP Errs In Fighting Obama's Stimulus - Mark Nelson, Los Angeles Times
- Alternatives to Obama's Economic Plan - Paul Ryan, Wall Street Journal
- Americans Are Angry and Divided - Joseph Calhoun, RealClearMarkets
- Do Taxpayers Owe Nadya Suleman Financial Help? - John Tamny, Forbes
- Revenge of the Worldwide Savings Glut - Paul Krugman, New York Times
- What Comes After a Golden Age? - David Warsh, Economic Principals
- These Twenty Graphs Say Economy Will Get Worse - Calculated Risk
- How Low Will Stocks Go, and How Worried Should You Be? - Econbrowser
- A Note on the President's Plan for Mortgage Relief - Becker-Posner
- From Rags to Riches: 10 Remarkable Fortune 500 Companies - Biz Pundit
- Why the Economic Stimulus Plan Will Fail - John Chapman, TCS Daily
- A Trust Deficit Is Driving Down Our Economy - Sapienza & Zingales, CJ
