Reenita's Wisdom

The failure of Lehman Brothers is seen as the last straw that broke the credit market. Did Paulson make a big mistake?

read more | digg story

Everyone is petrified of losing even more money than they have already lost. Yes, I mean even more, because I do not think that that there is anyone out there who has not lost something in this crazy whirlwind of stock market yo-yo-ing lately. And by anyone, I mean the average Joe out there…I am not referring to ex Lehman folks who have lost all of what they worked for these last several years, or the Morgan Stanley/Goldman Sachs folks who seem to be following in footsteps of their cousins at Lehman.

The good news is that according to Ron Lieber, NYTimes money guru, some investments might just be safe. “Banks like HSBC Direct and Capital One are offering online savings accounts paying more than 3 percent,” says Lieber. “These accounts have all the normal Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation protections of at least $100,000. Also, the Treasury Department is currently insuring investors who had holdings in money market mutual funds as of Sept. 19, as long as the fund company pays to participate.” (NYTimes.com: Your Money, September 29 2008)

The bad news is that when it comes to investing in stocks….or wondering which stocks are going to hold up…hmmm well don’t hold your breath on that one!

Now might just be the time to think greener when it comes to your investment strategy than you have before. The U.S. Senate just passed, at long last, extensions of crucial renewable energy investment tax credits and other goodies to goose green tech, such as a tax credit worth up to $7,500 for buyers of plug-in electric cars. Solar projects, for instance, would qualify for a 30% investment tax credit through 2016.

Related stories:

A green credit crunch?

Is my money safe? And other questions to ask

The beginnings of another new economy are taking shape as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs prepare to close the curtain on investment banking.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest bank, will inject 900 billion yen ($8.4 billion) into Morgan Stanley to help it transition to a bank holding company. Goldman Sach’s strategy is slightly different albeit with the same ultimate objective i.e. to become a commercial bank. According to Bloomberg, Goldman already has in excess of $20 billion in customer deposits in two subsidiaries and is creating a new one, GS Bank USA, that will have more than $150 billion of assets, making it one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S.

[...]

In view of the current financial crisis, it is hard to grasp the fact that overnight investment banks once regarded the kings of Wall Street, are teetering on the edge of stability. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers has threatened the survival of Morgan Stanley in spite of the fact that it has just declared great earnings. All eyes are on Morgan and Goldman Sachs, the two big I-banks left standing. Will they go next? What will this mean for corporate social responsibility in the investment banking sector?

Investment Banks have long been the entrepreneurs of Wall Street. Sure they take risk but then look at the return that they bring. In a capitalistic society, who doesn’t respect the work of an entrepreneur? Time and again they have been instrumental for fueling the economy. A high return on investment has enabled many of the investment banks to show a solid to commitment to corporate social responsibility in the last few years:

• Lehman Brothers partnered with Spelman College a year ago to create a center for Global Finance and Economic Development at the college to prepare women of African descent for successful careers and leadership in the corporate world.
• Morgan Stanley announced last year the creation of the Morgan Stanley Carbon Bank to assist clients seeking to become carbon neutral.
• Goldman Sachs has just announced 10,000 women, a series of non-profit and academic partnerships that provide business an d management education to women in Brazil, India, China and the Philippines.

There has been much question about the Fed refusing to bail Lehman out for a paltry amount in comparison to what it was willing to pay to bail out AIG. Although their claim is that it is not socially responsible to bail out an investment bank with taxpayer dollars, the larger questions lies in that is it socially responsible for the Fed to allow the entrepreneurs of Wall Street to fail when they are actually working to serve society by demonstrating commitment to CSR? [...]

I received an email from a friend in Hong Kong this morning:

Asia is watching in shock and wondering why if the problems are in the US, are the markets here selling off more dramatically.

It is back to fear tactics which immediately offset the fight or flight syndrome. In this case it is definitely all about flight. Asia in particular appears to be more volatile than other markets. It is based on sentiment according to Dan Parr, the Asia-Pacific head for BrandRapport, a consulting firm. Morgan Stanley might have released very positive third quarter earnings but nobody wants to believe that this is any indicator of their health. It is like withdrawing your bet from the fastest runner in the race because everybody else tells you that he’s surviving on steroids. Morgan and Goldman stock has come under such selling assault that their share price has gone down drastically. Investors are instead snapping up three-month Treasury bills with virtually no yield pushing gold to its biggest one-day gain in nearly 10 years. The only truly happy person must be the Indian housewife who has become rich overnight by virtue of her stridhan (gold jewelery inherited by an Indian woman at the time of her wedding).

My friend continues her email:

Also America’s credibility as bastion of free markets has fallen hard.

Indeed the Fed’s bail out of AIG, Fannie and Freddie are perceived by many as a free market detour. A free market economy refers to a system where the buyers and sellers are solely responsible for the choices they make. Free market gives the absolute power to prices to determine the allocation and distribution of goods and services. However, the notion of free market is mainly a theoretical concept as every country, even capitalist ones, places some restrictions on the ownership and exchange of commodities.

Whether the bailouts were a good idea or not remains to be seen. Some remained concerned about the depletion of the Fed’s resources, others remain incensed about the use of tax dollars. However one has to consider the the ripple effects of the failure of a Fannie, Freddie or AIG on the US and then global markets. Shockwaves in Asia are case in point. Personally, I am still annoyed that the Fed would not put up a paltry $4 billion to bail out Lehman Brothers. Had it done so, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs might be having a better day. Not to mention the 15,000 Lehman employees who did not get bought by Barclays.