GLG News in Financial & Business Services

As Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) triple by 2013, the question for investors is "Where will the money go?" At a conference this spring at Stanford, I discovered that the Fed thinks SWF investors may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer when it comes to investing in U.S. financial services firms. Unless SWFs start to make money off of their investments, they may wise up. And the expensive...

Merrill Lynch and XL, Citigroup and Ambac "Commutations" illustrate problem of blindly applying P&C Insurance concept to CREDIT risk and the CAPITAL MARKETS.   Grappling with one issue at a time, in  separate policies, silos and islands DOES NOT solve the problem, when they are ALL tightly related. It's all about CREDIT [NOT "insurance"]. Like Merril and SCA, AMBAC paid $850 million...

There are also many weaknesses to the India HRO/BPO and regarding this article RPO markets. Many of the drawbacks to HRO providers based in India make the Phillippines a safer bet.

1.  Banks in Dubai have limited credibiity in the eyes of USA investors.

1. Leadership: Decision Making Looks Rusty! 2. Operational-Excellence:  Not hitting on all 8!  3. Distribution:  Out of Alignment!

This article is important because it announces and describes: a) the US Treasury's support of covered bonds, an on-balance sheet method of funding mortgage originations, as an alternative to off-balance sheet mortgage securitizations or mbs b) Four major US banks announcements of their intentions to bring covered bond issues to market in the near future and and their commitment to provide pricing...

The idea of regulation for ratings agencies can appear a seductive panacea but it is riddled with dangerous implications...

25% reduction in approvals? It's going to be a lot worse. We'll hit bottom when Wachovia and Wamu close or are bought out (again for WAMU). We've seen home equity lines come to a grinding halt. Down to virtually zero approvals. Forget demand - there is simply no supply. SunTrust, Chase, Citi, GB Home Equity, and many others are done. They've blindly made 100% LTV "no doc" heloc loans and it's caught...

1. China and India are two of the fastest growing markets and turbulence is expected. 2. Ups and downs form stock theatrics in any stockmarket.

India.......... invest for long term , and in service equities  unless you are a day trader.  Currently Indian stocks are on the high side and one can expect considerably volatility short term.  National elections are due in nine months and there will be considerable pressure to throw out the current regime due to high food prices and lack of sufficient trickle down to...