The financial crisis - we are not done yet by any means with the pain

What a Sunday - Lehman Brothers struggling to find a suitor or the doors probably close on Monday their annual report in 2007 recording its book value at 24 billion dollars 28,000 plus employees worldwide. They proudly announced returns of 25% plus over the last years while doubling assets and increasing borrowings 4 fold. Now all the retained earnings wiped out and sitting on the doors of bancruptcy......................so interesting that their property portfolio is meant to be the saving grace. Watch now as no one wants it at the really knocked down prices. The cascade on property prices has only just started all this stuff coming on the market with few people capable or wanting to raise the money to buy them. Leverage is now really the dirty word - Leverage means also buy today and pay tomorrow. Well the first to pay are 28,000 employees then the rest of us will pick up the tab over time !

"The strength of Lehman Brothers’ culture has helped us to achieve wonderful success. Both our culture and our success depend on the quality and breadth of the people who are part of our Firm. It is critical that our organization continue the momentum to broaden the representation of our employees — to ensure that diversity of thought and perspective is brought to our clients. At Lehman Brothers, we see diversity as good business practice."

Richard S. Fuld, Jr. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

See what corporate gobbly gook this guy can come up with a few months ago....... if you read more on the Lehman Brothers web site it is enough to make you realise how lacking in credibility these peope are so proud of doing business with themselves, taking huge salaries and watching the world go by out of their office windows with no idea of what is around the corner when you can't support the debt you have ! They have won prizes and accolades from all the right places so what qualification have the judges got??

UBS the Swiss banking giant also used Sunday to announce yet another big slice of write off....enough rumours in switzerland of account holders quitting them in droves. Could it be another Swissair taking all its shareholders for a ride from bad management?
Meanwhile the travel industry starts its first wave of bankruptcies stranding the cheap ticket holidaymakers in the wake.........
I have a feeling we will see some major corporations that were bought and leveraged by the Private Equity companies being extremely vulnerable soon ...not able to support the huge debt they were saddled with while the Private Equity merchants tried to squeeze some more value out of them ! Not easy with the economic downturn already started and demand falling off. Without their cash flow and no funding from their parents from one day to the next they can shut the doors too. The pack of cards is wobbling........