Wall Street Welfare

Free market capitalism at its finest. This is not rewarding greed and stupidity, but rather an example of the ingenuity of the markets (h/t AmericaBlog). Bloomberg (01.23.08):

"MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc., the biggest bond insurers, are likely to be bailed out to avert worsening credit-market turmoil, according to analysts at UniCredit SpA.

'A kind of bailout supported by monetary authorities or governments is the only chance for the industry to survive,' Jochen Felsenheimer, the Munich-based head of credit derivatives research at UniCredit, Italy's biggest bank, wrote in a note to investors today.

MBIA, Ambac Likely to Get Bailout, UniCredit Says

"'This bailout seems to be highly likely given the important role of bond insurers in the current market environment.'"

They're hammering out the deal as we speak. WSJ (01.23.08), via Calculated Risk:

"Regulators at the New York Insurance Department met Wednesday with banks that are parties to contracts with bond insurers to discuss ways of stabilizing the business and bringing in additional capital and capacity."

New York Meets With Banks On Stabilizing Bond Insurers

Gee. Wonder who'll pick up the tab for all of this?

Also from Calculated Risk, this is priceless.