I really should have charted this data. Maybe tomorrow.....
"Banks granted 21,086 loans for house purchase, down 64 percent from a year earlier, the London-based BBA, which represents the U.K.'s biggest banks, said today in a statement. The reading is the lowest since records began in September 1997. The value of mortgages for homebuyers fell to 2.8 billion pounds ($5.2 billion), also the lowest on record."
Keith Marsden: The bubble that burst a Chancellor's proud reputation
From the Yorkshire post (my small contribution to reminding everyone that there are regional daily newspapers in the UK.)
Irish stocks fall 8 pct
Wow, that has got to hurt.....
"Shares on the Irish Stock Exchange fell 8 percent Tuesday to an 11 1/2-year low, driven by fears over the profitability of Ireland's property-exposed banks amid a real estate slump — and as troubled U.S. investment banks dump their holdings."
Of Interventions and Conservative Principles
Left is right and right is left:
"What’s a principled conservative to think of the Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion authority to allow the U.S. Treasury buy illiquid securities? On the one hand it would appear to be a necessary step to solve a systemic crisis in the U.S. banking system. On the other, it promises to be an enormous expansion of government power and commitment of taxpayer dollars."
Dubai Real Estate: Beset by Scandals and Uncertainty
After Spain crashed, the really dumb money is moving to Dubai..
"Amid fears of an overheating real estate market in Dubai, a chain of legal and management scandals involving property firms threaten to shake investor confidence and ruin the city state's stellar business reputation."
Sweden offers a lesson for U.S. banking bailout
The banking crisis is the second most famous thing from Sweden; after Abba, of course.
"Hedge funds suffer mass redemptions
One sign the crisis is getting worse; from nakedcapitalism.com
What happened to oil markets on Monday?
Good question; econobrowser tries to answer.
The Innovator, the Imitator, the Idiot
From Big picture
"Buffett once told me there are three 'I's in every cycle. The 'innovator,' that's the first 'I.' After the innovator comes the 'imitator.' And after the imitator in the cycle comes the idiot."
-Theodore Forstmann, quoting Warren Buffett
Lehman pension shortfall is a foreshadowing
"Apparently Lehman not only failed, it left a gaping hole its accounts. The UK pension scheme is missing £100 million. UK regulators certainly need o investigate whether the shortfalls are the result of criminal activity."
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