Sunday, 22nd November 2009

 

30 July 2008 - Press Briefing

Gross sees $1 trillion in financial writedowns amid housing woes

Bill Gross, manager of the world's biggest bond fund, PIMCO Total Return, has forecast writedowns worth $1 trillion (€636bn) by financial firms amid the continuing decline in US house prices, according to a report in Chicago Tribune.

Gross said that about $5 trillion of mortgage loans, or almost 50% of the entire US home loan portfolio, belonged to "risky asset categories" such as sub-prime and Alt-A.

He warned of a cutback in bank lending and a wave of asset liquidations, if the writedowns were not accompanied by the requisite fundraisings to recapitalise the banks, said the report.

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Brummel

Relocation, relocation, relocation

Banks have never been shy of firing staff at the merest whiff of a downturn. First the fat, then the muscle and finally the bone. In the past, cuts have been so deep that firms have found it hard to benefit when the markets rebounded, paying over the odds to restaff at speed. Such wild oscillations in staffing numbers are known as “doing a Merrill”.

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