UBS Will Write Down $19 Billion

[DeSwiss]

Source: Associated Press

UBS will write down $19 billion

By ONNA CORAY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 43 minutes ago

ZURICH, Switzerland - UBS AG's chairman abruptly resigned Tuesday as the Swiss bank reported a first-quarter loss of $12.1 billion and said it would seek $15.1 billion in new capital.

UBS revealed more serious damage from exposure to the U.S. subprime crisis and said it expects write-downs of approximately $19 billion. As UBS Chairman Marcel Ospel stepped down, Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's largest bank, announced similar write-downs of about $4 billion.

It was the latest indication of how far the severe plunge in U.S. housing prices and a credit crisis triggered by rising mortgage defaults has reached. UBS write-downs for the past nine months have reached $37.4 billion, the largest reported by any bank to date.

Standard & Poor's cut the bank's credit rating one notch to AA-, citing "risk management lapses, earnings volatility and need for new capital."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/switzerland_ubs

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- Hmmm... there was no mention about how many millions he got as a parting gift....
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DeSwiss


http://atheisttoolbox.com/">The Atheist Toolbox

[Doctor_J]

1. Another domino falls

global realignment is in progress. People who work for a living will take over from those who own for a living.

[DeSwiss]

2. We can only hope.

Although I noticed in the article that they're undaunted by their losses and immediately intend to "seek $15.1 billion in new capital."

- Now there's a great investment....

[Baby Snooks]

3. And the stock market rises...

The Dow Jones went up by almost 400 points. Not to worry. Never fear, the Federal Reserve is here. To bail everyone out. And keep bailing everyone out. Welcome to the oligarchy.

As for "people who work for a living will take over from those who own for a living: forget it. Thems that's got shall continue getting. And everyone else will keep paying for it.

And as for the thems that's got has anyone bothered to ask how much Chelsea Clinton made last year as a hedge fund "manager" which is probably a diversionary title for trader?

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. Out of curiosity....

Just for a second, lets suppose Chelsea made $250,000 last year. Would that bother you? If she has a talent for the business and the smarts to be successful and therefore is, would it strike you as being somehow undeserved?

[aquart]

5. Yes, dear. She IS being paid for the value of her name.

Just like Paris Hilton, except for actually working.

[trof]

6. But...but "Stocks Surge on Hopes Financial Woes Are Easing"

NYT

"Only on Wall Street can billion-dollar bank losses be a good thing.

Stocks started off the second quarter with a soaring rally on Tuesday that sent the Dow Jones industrials up nearly 400 points, its best performance in two weeks. Investors seemed to take heart in a fresh round of mortgage-related write-offs at UBS and Deutsche Bank and a capital infusion at Lehman Brothers, the brokerage firm.

Despite the discouraging numbers — $19 billion in write-downs at UBS and nearly $4 billion at Deutsche in the first quarter alone — investors appeared hopeful that the bad news could signal the last of Wall Street’s subprime woes."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/business/01cnd-stox.html?em&ex=1207281600&en=c751aab1e3fc99a5&ei=5087%0A

Whew. That was a close one.
Glad it's all over now.
:sarcasm: