U.S. Stock Futures Tumble on Lehman Bankruptcy Speculation

[NeoConsSuck]

Source: Bloomberg.com

U.S. stock-index futures tumbled on concern a potential Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. bankruptcy will add to banks' $514 billion of subprime-related losses.

Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury officials met in an emergency session as Barclays PLC abandoned talks to acquire Lehman, the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm until last week. Bank of America Corp. also ended takeover discussions, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December retreated 38.90, or 3.1 percent, to 1,219.60 at 6:07 p.m. in New York. The benchmark index for U.S. equities declined 15 percent this year, led by a 28 percent plunge in financial companies.

``The collapse of this deal casts a dark cloud over Wall Street,'' said Frederic Dickson, who helps oversee $25 billion as chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon. ``It also sends a message that the government is getting out of the bailout business and makes financial institutions like AIG and WaMu look even more vulnerable.''


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aj2YoIEqVGOE&refer=home

---

Stock futures are tumbling? Boo-hoo.

What would the futures of our country and our children and grandchildren be if taxpayers were forced to bail out these fat cats? Mind you, these are the investment banks who hand out multi-million dollar bonuses each year. Yet they're crying because the government won't allow Joe Middle Class to pay for their greed.

[gordianot]

1. A disaster of epic proportions is coming sooner or later.

It is coming.

[DJ13]

2. Agreed

It was going to happen no matter what, better to flush out the system now while Republicans are in charge so the voters know who to blame.

[indepat]

5. Enough to make one wonder how many billion dollars have been paid out in bonuses to commercial bank/

investment bank execs for the bad loans made/bad paper or other bad investments bought? :shrug: :P

[inanna]

3. recommend n/t

[central scrutinizer]

4. Palin will shoot the bears from helicopters

if they try to sell and drive the stock market down. Maybe that is her economic plan.

[Bozita]

6. LIVE special on the Lehman meltdown -- 8pm ET on CNBC

[AndyA]

7. Anyone want to venture a guess as to what the stock market is going to do tomorrow?

I have a feeling that it won't be pretty. :(

[MsLeopard]

12. The furtures are looking dim

http://www.futuresmag.com/cms/futures/website

If I'm reading it right (no expert here) the Nasdaq is down nearly 38 points, and gold is up almost $20. A very bad omen for the stock market tomorrow. The coming weeks will be pivotal in American economic history, I believe - the house of cards built by Rethug rule is crumbling before the election (despite their best efforts to keep it from happening until after) and now We the People are going see and, more importantly, feel the results of the massive upward redistribution of wealth we've been experiencing for the past 7+ years.... I, for one, am :scared:

[ozymandius]

14. Oh, there'll be panic.

Everyone will be looking over their shoulders in fear of who has exposure to this mess. Uncertainty is always toxic.

[54anickel]

8. Holy Shit! Check 'em out... at 7:16 ET

http://money.cnn.com/data/premarket/

S&P -28.90
NAS -33.50
DOW -251.00

:hurts:

[ozymandius]

11. Asian markets will state the theme for North America for once.

Let's see how overseas banks will insulate themselves from liquidity runs.

[54anickel]

27. Looks like Asian markets are closed Monday - Holiday?

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/14/news/companies/lehman_brothers/index.htm

snip>

Investors are also likely to await more data about troubled savings and loan Washington Mutual (WM, Fortune 500), which sought to provide assurance about capital levels on Thursday.

What could help temper a market selloff is the widely-anticipated Bank of America-Merrill deal, said one expert.

"This sort of offsets the Lehman thing," said Dan Alpert, managing director of the boutique New York City-based investment bank Westwood Capital. "But the reality is that it is just a short-term impact."

Lehman dark and light
Still, much of the market's focus ahead of Monday was on the endgame for Lehman. The hope is that some solution can be agreed upon by early Monday morning in the U.S. - before financial markets open in Europe. Most Asian markets are closed for a holiday Monday.

But the abandonment of Barclays and Bank of America left a Lehman Brothers bankruptcy a very real threat. As of Sunday evening, the Wall Street firm was reportedly on the verge of filing for protection.

Separately, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association staged a special trading session so that big brokers could limit their Lehman Brothers risks.

[Gregorian]

28. It appears that it is a Japanese holiday. You'll never believe this.

Respect-for-the-Aged Day

it was changed to the third Monday of September in accordance with the Happy Monday System.


I've been checking the Nikkei, but there is nothing. So it's a holiday.


Edit- You know, now that I've said Happy Monday System ten times, I suddenly feel like going on a mass killing spree.



:)

[54anickel]

29. Bwahaha! After tomorrow there may be a whole new meaning to

Happy Monday System Syndrome!!!!




http://bp2.blogger.com/_1V7wnZxPqok/Rg0s-jlpveI/AAAAAAAADbs/ay7ojC4HYAI/s400/cartoon+china.jpg

[Gregorian]

30. Haha. I love that first one. The second is far too real.

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/KF/2006/10/open/Max_D_Barnes_-_Dear_Mr_President.mp3


Edit- This is a hideous right wing nut job singing a song. So you might want to be warned before clicking.

[54anickel]

32. Oh man, sorry I just couldn't get thru the first few bars......n/t

[ozymandius]

9. It's no longer speculation.

From the NY Times: Lehman to File for Bankruptcy Protection

As for the rest of tomorrow's events: we're in uncharted territory, folks. Money this big was merely a dream in 1929.

[Demeter]

13. You Gonna Stay Home form School Tomorrow, Ozy?

The SMW will be humming!

[ozymandius]

16. As it turns out - I, at the moment, do not have a teaching assignment.

This could change in a moment. But I'll be on board for the insanity if my roster is empty.

[Pale Blue Dot]

23. I don't know how I'm going to concentrate on my students tomorrow.

My prep period starts at 9:30. I'll be checking in then.

:scared:

[Yavin4]

15. oz, You May Want To Start The SMW Now

We're going to need your insight into this.

[ozymandius]

19. Thank you.

My insights are bolstered by the aggregate insight of fellow marketeers and bloggers. You might be surprised what a wealth of insight through practical experience we have on the thread. Some fellow marketeers have worked in the banking industry through financial crises past. That is not experience that I can claim. My insights are purely academic: intensive study of American economic history from Specie Circular through the New Deal. What scares the shit out of me is that all this rhymes with the mind numbing excesses of eighty years ago.

I'll start the SMW early tomorrow morning. Probably around 5:30. I may, in fact have to post two threads as the first will probably fill up to the point at which a DSL modem will have trouble loading the thread.

As for now: there's still some tricks that Lehman can pull out of its hat to avert blood curdling disaster despite the fact that they're over and done with. All that's left is to decide how to serve them at the dinner table.

[Yavin4]

21. Our Lonely Eyes Turn To You

On a side note, I actually took a trip down to the Fed here in NY where all of the big chiefs were meeting. There were only four journalists outside covering the event.

There are probably 4000 journalists outside of Britney Spears' home.

[Yavin4]

22. Our Lonely Eyes Turn To You

On a side note, I actually took a trip down to the Fed here in NY where all of the big chiefs were meeting. There were only four journalists outside covering the event.

There are probably 4000 journalists outside of Britney Spears' home.

[UpInArms]

17. check out this "special Sunday session"!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3489103

[ozymandius]

20. ayeshahaqqiqa's question could benefit from your expertise, my friend.

Loads of good questions there. I could take a swing at some answers but your life experience would offer much better backstory knowledge.

[Imagevision]

10. Today, Bush heads for Texas to offer sympathy to Ike victims...

[Turbineguy]

18. The smart money guys

figured out long ago that you could not prop up this fake Bush administration for long. They left already. It's now moving down to people who have worked hard to build a nest egg to retire on.

The only people left to support the Bush Admin are those who have nothing to retire on anyway. And they don't need it. They live in their Mother's basements and pontificate on FR.

So as for a "tax payer bail-out" we're already there.

The Congress may feel the need to pass a "Bentley and Rolls Royce Dealers' Reconciliation Act" to save the situation.

But then again, maybe this is already priced into the market.

Lehman shares have been dropping like a stone for a while.

[Zech Marquis The 2nd]

24. oh shit...

my 401k is with ML...tomorrow I'm going to call and demand that they just send me my damn money! It's not a whole lot, but is MINE...I'd rather have it than to let those idiots keep it from me any longer...

[AndyTiedye]

25. -314 Now

[Ghost Dog]

26. U.S. asset prices whipsaw as Lehman talks falter

Source: Reuters

Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:25pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures and the dollar sank late on Sunday as the first official trades of a new business week took place while talks to sell Lehman Brothers (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) faltered, shaking confidence and pushing dollar-exposed investors towards safe haven U.S. Treasuries.

U.S. Treasury yields fell sharply in early Asian trade on Monday and Eurodollars surged as concerns about the stability of the U.S. financial system sparked talk of emergency liquidity measures by the Federal Reserve or even a cut in interest rates.

Two-year Treasury notes jumped 20/32 in price, driving yields down to a five-month low of 1.90 percent, from 2.22 percent late in New York on Friday while yields on 10-year notes dropped to 3.56 percent, from 3.72 percent.

U.S. stock index futures pared earlier falls in New York late Sunday, but still pointed to a steep drop when trading begins on Monday, with S&P 500 futures down 28 points and the Dow Jones industrial average futures off 211 points and Nasdaq 100 futures 31 points softer by 7:30 p.m. EDT.

The U.S. dollar fell around a cent versus the euro in opening trade in Sydney and was quoted around $1.4300 at 7:40 p.m., compared with $1.4225 in late U.S. trade on Friday. Against the yen, the greenback dropped to 106.70/75 yen versus 107.86 yen and the Australian dollar extended gains above U.S. 82 cents.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSN1244441420080915

---

Whipsaw? A new stenographers' euphemism, for the coming new times, if you please.

[depakid]

31. Perhaps a little sanity?

An old friend of mine called about another matter tonight and reminded me about some things we talked about.

While she didn't exactly agree with my analogy re: CNBC = ESPN, she did put things into perspective with respect to Drexel and the excesses of the 80's.

[Hekate]

33. You don't think this affects you? The ripple effect is going to be more like a tsunami...

... before this is over.

Hekate