Nobody's crying for you, America. | 106 comments (106 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Nobody's crying for you, America. (4.00 / 2)

Great diary, but Europeans will be fleeced too: remember the German banks among the first victims of the subprime crisis. It will be for us to cry over our losers and our losses, never mind those who were paid to know better. They and many others around the world have been propping the US accounts under the guise of financial investment. The fall of the dollar is already eating into the value of their dollar-denominated assets. And we are no strangers to inflation either.

You're clearly a dangerous pinko commie pragmatist.

by Vagulus on Wed Mar 19th, 2008 at 03:41:10 AM EST

Agreed. (none / 1)

Europeans (mostly Spaniards via some major banks) were also "fleeced" in Argentina.

Far less than the Americans will be, though.

I don't know if this is a fact, but I suspect major European banks have already reserved what they needed to - it's not a liquidity issue for them, so why hide the magnitude?

OTOH, in the US, this isn't necessarily true. I note Lehman Bros started off a rally y'day announcing better than expected earnings, but also tht their operating cash flow was nearly negative 50 billions (thru Nov.). They have 30 billions cash les, another 60 billions equivalent securities they could sell off to stay afloat, so I don't know what the cheering's about - they might be less than a year from going tits up like Bear.

It's not a liquidiy issue in the Eurozone. For USD, it surely is.

The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill

by r------ on Wed Mar 19th, 2008 at 05:10:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Agreed. (4.00 / 2)

I don't believe the Spanish banks and corporations were "fleeced" by Argentina: they went in and bought assets, and invested, and they're still there as far as I can tell. Losing $1.5bn was the cost of doing business, I guess.

It'd be nice if the battle were only against the right wingers, not half of the left on top of that — François in Paris

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Mar 19th, 2008 at 05:24:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Agreed. (none / 1)

You are quite right, though I seem to remember that whoever got large chunks of Argentine Telcoms via the IMF firesale also took a big bath, it was more than just the 1.5.

The Hun is always either at your throat or at your feet. Winston Churchill

by r------ on Wed Mar 19th, 2008 at 05:32:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Nobody's crying for you, America. | 106 comments (106 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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