Archive for the ‘Typepad’ tag
National City drops pants for $7 billion in liquidity [Blown Mortgage]
National City took on $7 billion in additional capital at a 40% discount to market price, sending shares tumbling as the beleagured bank looks to shake off bad mortgage bets and make it through the crisis. National City was reportedly looking to sell itself and has now turned to opportunistic Corsair Capital.
It’s interesting to see these banks eviscerated by these capital infusions. Talk about hard money. When a borrower doesn’t have FICO scores above 500 but still needed financing there is hard money which is based on equity rather than credit. The fees are typically exorbitant and the interest rate will make you blush; but at least the financing was available. Many people called hard money lenders “loan sharks” and other pejoratives.
I got to tell you - those guys ain’t got nothing on these institutional investors buying up positions in these ailing banks at 60 cents on the dollar.
From the Bloomberg article on National City’s sell-out:
National City Corp. joined Wachovia Corp. and Washington Mutual Inc. to tap what KBW Inc. calls “an abundance” of capital, after losses tied to the slumping housing market made U.S. financial companies a bargain for investors.
National City, Ohio’s biggest bank and subprime lender, agreed to sell a $7 billion stake to a group led by Corsair Capital LLC yesterday, at a 40 percent discount to market price. The move, which would dilute existing shareholder value by more than half, sent the stock plummeting.
“There’s an appetite out there for risk, but at a price,” Jason Arnold, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in San Francisco, said yesterday in a phone interview. “Companies themselves are really desperate to get capital.”
Rolling Up the Sidewalks [St. Paul Real Estate]
The Ordway on a Saturday night.
People out enjoying the spring weather and the Minnesota Wild game, they lost. You can’t hear it by looking at the picture but there is a tail gate party on the top of the parking ramp too.
The bars were packed. This is PATi on West 7th, Saturday night. Sports, theater and drinks just seem to go together.
St. Paul, Minnesota is kind of like a big city and kind of like a small town. They say we roll our sidewalks up early in the evening. That has not been my experience. There are places to go and things to do at night. People like me can even wonder around with cameras at night and take pictures. The pictures I can take are like looking at a city but the way people will stop and talk is more like a small town.
I apologize to anyone who might be a shadow in one of my pictures for not asking permission before posting.
Dilbert is Funny Because It Is Truthful [financeambition.com]
There is a great post on Dilbert’s blog, called Time Management. Below is an excerpt for your enjoyment. It is a great illustration of all the commitments we must address or face the consequences. Enjoy, it sure hit close to home for me.
One time management strategy is to be independently wealthy, freeing up eight hours a day. But that option isn’t available to many. And apparently it isn’t fulfilling because most rich people continue to work full schedules.
Another strategy is to ignore the fact that you are slowly killing yourself by not sleeping and exercising enough. That frees up several hours a day. The only downside is that you get fat and die.
A third path is to work less than you could, live economically, enjoy each day as it comes, and try not to think about living on cat food when you retire.
Which strategy have you picked?
