From CNBC , that bastion of financial news stuffs:
Pimco’s legendary bond investor Bill Gross said during “Street Signs” Thursday that his firm would be staying out of any and all bank offerings for the foreseeable future.
Banks the world over have raised $400 billion in capital, Gross said, and may need to raise much more. The problem, though, as yesterday’s $1.5 billion preferred offering at Wells Fargo showed, is that the institutional buyers are full, leaving only small investors to pick up the slack.
As Gross said, “There’s only so many billion and a half small investor bank capital deals that can be done from this point forward.”
Don't say I didn't warn you about Wells Fargo (no wonder why they're raising capital) - see my Wells Fargo work: drill down, the forensic analysis and the Q2 highlights.
Main Bank of China Is in Need of Capital
HONG KONG — China’s central bank is in a bind.
It has been on a buying binge in the United States over the last seven years, snapping up roughly $1 trillion worth of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Those investments have been declining sharply in value when converted from dollars into the strong yuan, casting a spotlight on the central bank’s tiny capital base. The bank’s capital, just $3.2 billion, has not grown during the buying spree, despite private warnings from the International Monetary Fund.
Now the central bank needs an infusion of capital. Central banks can, of course, print more money, but that would stoke inflation. Instead, the People’s Bank of China has begun discussions with the finance ministry on ways to shore up its capital, said three people familiar with the discussions who insisted on anonymity because the subject is delicate in China.
This is actually an interesting article and I urge you to read the rest . As you know, I have been bearish on the Asian nations and the chickens are finally coming home to roost. See my China macro update .
The FDIC said Tuesday it reserved $10 billion in the second quarter to cover the costs of bank failures — a 2,000% increase over the first quarter. The massive provision shaved 18 basis points off the Deposit Insurance Fund's reserve ratio …
The cost to bailout IndyMac bank has risen to a full 25% of the FDIC's available funds. Keep in mind that this is just one failure. Can one imagine if/when WaMu goes kaput.
Troubled banks on the FDIC list rise to 177
FDIC May Borrow Money from Treasury (as if we couldn't see this one coming
Don't Expect Asia to Grow this Quarter 
Cramer Calls the Housing Bottom (contrarian indicator flashing - read the logic behind this article, seriously - now I have to charge for content :-))
Temasek Raises Stake in Merrill Lynch, Has `Great Confidence' in CEO gThain (contrarian indicator flashing again - reference the success SWFs have had during the credit crisis investment cycle)
Dubai M&A Oasis Lures London Bankers With Bigger Bonuses From Desert Deals - Do you see a bubble?
New Hurdles Loom for Banks: U.S. and European banks face a new challenge in coming months: how to pay off hundreds of billions of dollars they borrowed before the credit crunch hit. Spreads on rates are about 4x as high as they were last year, and quite frankly, many banks can't afford it.
Housing Market Still Under Pressure
For the regular readers of my blog, you saw this coming last year and hopefully benefitted from the foresight. See the latest credit crisis summary: The Asset Securitization Crisis Series to date 08/19/2008
By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor Last Updated: 11:22pm BST 12/08/2008
Interest rates have fallen below the cost of living for the first time in 27 years.
In a landmark moment for the Bank of England, Britain now has negative real interest rates, news which will heighten calls for the Monetary Policy Committee to raise borrowing costs.
Retail price index inflation (RPI) - the most comprehensive measure of living costs - rose to 5pc last month, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The rate was actually slightly above 5pc - the current level of the Bank's base rate - although it was rounded down to one decimal place.
RPIX, the measure which excludes mortgage payments and was until recently targeted by the Bank, rose beyond even this to 5.3pc. Not only are the inflation rates all at their highest level since the early 1990s, before British economic authorities started targeting inflation, this is the first time mainstream inflation measures have risen above the official bank rate since 1981.
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