ChartingTheEconomy.Com

August 28, 2007

Credit Card Defaults

Filed under: Calling the Crash — admin @ 2:07 pm

Email to Investment Partner

I saw this coming a couple months ago and it is going to get worse.  Credit card defaults are rising, so are number of unprofitable bank loans.  People were using their homes as cash machines (as we have said many times) to fund their overindulgent lifestyles.  They will try to continue the lifestyle as long as they can (using credit cards now).  But, it will eventually pop.  Many companies have done the same thing.  They were buying back stock and using cheap/easy money (debt) to finance it.  As a CEO it was easy to announce a buy back in your stock would pop 10%.  But, the cheap money always comes to an end.  Private equity, companies, individuals all took out debt they shouldn’t have and banks and brokers were lending to them in many cases without looking at Cash flows and assets, and without getting guarantees.  And even allowed them to make payments on loans with more debt (payment-in-kind loans).  No way this doesn’t end BAD.  Dow 10,000 within 12 months.

Companies with big debt and no cash flow are going to be in a bad position going forward…. Companies with little debt and good cash flow will benefit long term

Here It Comes - August 28, 2007

Filed under: Calling the Crash — admin @ 12:13 pm

Email to Investment Partner:

Dow is going to 10,000 w/in 12 mos.  I think having a lot of cash is a good thing.  One other thought is to make sure your cash is secure.  Is it in money market accounts?  If so, make sure the money market fund invests mainly in Treasuries and not CDOs, mortgage debt, and corporate debt.  Or that your cash is in CDs that are FDIC insured.  I think CDOs are in many Money market funds and people don’t even know they own these.  Also, if credit problems increase I think some bank failures are possible.  FDIC insurance provides safety.  Okay, this is worse case, but the whole point of cash is safety - so it’s important to make sure it’s safe. 
 
This credit problem is way worse than most everyone thinks.  Just like everyone thought housing bottomed at beginning of year and they were way off.  I think most people do not understand how bad and deep the credit issues run.  We will see.
 

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