Could AIG, Lehman and WaMu all go poof this week?

[marmar]

:nuke:



from MarketWatch:



AIG to sell assets, overhaul business
Insurer reportedly to unveil big changes on Monday
By Alistair Barr & John Spence, MarketWatch


WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Insurance giant American International Group, beset by a record stock slump, could announce the sale of its aircraft-leasing business and other assets on Monday.

The company had been preparing for a major reorganization announcement on Sept. 25, but The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that AIG was hurrying to complete a plan that it would present Monday morning.

Last Friday, the firm said it was reviewing its operations and that "everything was on the table," suggesting it might sell assets to raise capital and avoid a crippling downgrade. Standard & Poor's said it might cut its rating if AIG didn't take steps to shore up its business.

Aside from potential asset sales, AIG is also seeking to raise more than $10 billion in capital, the Journal said. AIG has already raised about $20 billion in 2008.

AIG shares slumped a record 31% Friday on concern the world's largest insurer may be downgraded by ratings agencies, triggering billions of dollars in new capital needs.

Standard & Poor's put AIG's ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications, suggesting the agency may downgrade the insurer in the future. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/aig-sell-assets-overhaul-business/story.aspx?guid=%7BF588B80C%2D2D77%2D43A2%2DA2B8%2D85BE4CC2C85B%7D&dist=hplatest

[BlooInBloo]

1. As a modeler who left WaMu 2 years ago, I can confidently say....

that I made the right choice.

[barbtries]

3. what does a modeler do?

thanks

[BlooInBloo]

5. Using state of the art mathematical techniques, I flipped a coin to guess...

what tomorrow's interest rates and other numbers of interest would be.

In a nutshell.

[barbtries]

8. thanks

[bemildred]

9. How well did that work?

Seriously. I used to work with models and sims. It was always a matter of what you put in determined what you got out, but sometimes it could be useful.

[BlooInBloo]

11. Worked fine. Unfortunately the eggheads are't the policy-makers.

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. lol. I worked 4 an investment co yrs ago. 'modeling' went on there also...flipping coin wked as well

[progressive_realist]

7. One of my friends applied for a risk management job there.

After the interview, he said he was glad he didn't have any stock or deposits with them. The department manager was completely clueless. In my friend's opinion, they didn't even do what he would consider risk management -- they were just creating useless (backward-looking) spreadsheets to show to upper management.

[BlooInBloo]

13. It's a big company. What your friend said is/was simply false...

as applied to the MBS trading floor, and its attendant eggheads.

[progressive_realist]

15. I figured that. A company that large couldn't have survived as long as it did

Without functioning risk management in the key departments. But the mere fact that they had completely clueless risk managers like this one guy is a bad sign. I also worked for WaMu many years ago and saw that they had rampant waste and redundancy at the management level. Most large organizations struggle with this, but companies like WaMu that are cobbled together from numerous acquisitions have a particular problem with it. In all likelihood, the guy my friend interviewed with was probably working in some unimportant sector of the bank and so it didn't matter that he was basically contributing nothing in the way of value to the company. But like I say, the mere presence of this loser is a bad sign in and of itself.

[JitterbugPerfume]

16. I got a credit card application from WAMU

yesterday LOL

[mudesi]

2. They could, and they will

Lehman, in particular, is going to be forced to sell all its hard assets just to cover their liabilities. The shareholders will be left with nothing.

[dkf]

4. Everybody wants to sell assets.

The question is who wants to or can afford to buy anything.

[annabanana]

6. oh China.. Saudi Arabia... guys like that., , ,n.t

[alcibiades_mystery]

10. Lehman is FINISHED at midnight eastern...the real worry is Merrill

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. All those 401-k's and other pension plans

tied up in investment firms like AIG, Lehman, Merrill, etc.....
gone.
Moved mine 2 years ago, tried to get my brother to move his, he did not want to think about it.

The gov't was trying to avoid the Ponzi scheme from collapsing when it traded our money for bad debt with Fannie/Freddie.
Now there is too much bad debt and not enough good money for further bailouts.
And even countries awash in money do not want to touch Lehman and other collapsing firms.

This is not a good sign.

btw....Bloomberg.com is an excellent source of info.