I Was Gambling In Havana

I took a little risk. Bloomberg (01.22.08):

"Bank of America Corp., the second- largest U.S. bank, said earnings dropped 95 percent after $5.28 billion of mortgage-related writedowns and higher provisions for future loan losses."

Bank of America Earnings Plummet After Loan

Send lawyers, guns and money. Bloomberg (01.22.08):

"Wachovia Corp., the fourth-largest U.S. bank, said profit fell 98 percent to its lowest since 2001 after writedowns for bad loans and mortgage-backed securities."

Wachovia Net Falls 98% on Mortgage-Linked Writedowns

Dad, get me out of this. Bloomberg (01.22.08):

"Ambac Financial Group Inc., the first bond insurer to be stripped of its AAA credit rating, reported its biggest-ever loss and said it is talking to 'a number of potential parties' to help overcome a slump in the value of subprime-mortgage securities it guarantees.

The second-largest bond insurer posted a $3.26 billion loss after writing down the value of guarantees on subprime debt by $5.21 billion, according to a statement by the New York-based company today."

Ambac Reports Loss, Talks With 'Potential Parties'

Now I'm hiding in Honduras. NYTimes (01.22.08):

"The Federal Reserve, responding to an international stock sell-off and the likelihood of a sharp drop in America on Tuesday morning, cut its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point.

The Federal Open Market Committee lowered its target for the federal funds rate on overnight loans between banks to 3.5 percent, from 4.25 percent."

Fed Makes Emergency 0.75% Rate Cut

I'm a desperate man. The Guardian (01.22.08):

"Hopes of more interest rate cuts lent much-needed support to leading London shares today but they failed to erase yesterday's savage losses as talk of an impending US recession continued to rattle nerves.

Following steep sell-offs in Asian stock markets overnight, the FTSE 100 plunged more than 200 points within minutes of the open, adding to a sharp fall the previous session."

Global share rout continues

Send lawyers, guns and money. Bloomberg (01.22.08):

"U.S. stock-index futures tumbled on concern an emergency interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve will fail to halt a worsening global economic slowdown."

U.S. Stock Futures Drop on Concern Rate Cut Won't Stop Slowdown

The shit has hit the fan.

"'People may see it as an extreme step and feel that it's a sign the situation is worse than they had anticipated,'" said John Carey, who helps oversee about $13 billion at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston. 'This will definitely wake people up who were thinking the economy was just fine.'"