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Bankruptcy

Texas Lawyer Blog

Bankruptcy law: adversary proceedings, fraudulent transfers, preferences, creditor representation.
By J. Michael McBride

Post Frequency: 6.9/day

Last Entry: March 29, 2011 at 11:47:27

It?s Good to be Big, too Big to Fail

Posted on November 24, 2008
Hot on the heels of last week’s devastating slide in its stock value, now comes the news that Citigroup will be rescued by the federal government. The rescue plan which was hammered out over the weekend is similar to the one which almost happened with Wachovia when Citi was going to buy Wachovia...

Unemployment Benefits Extended

Posted on November 21, 2008
The number of unemployed jumped at its highest rate in 16 years. The jobless rate is at a 14 year high. Thus, the Congress has extended unemployment benefits – perhaps figuring in part that it might help consumer spending in December, which would benefit the economy at large...

Bailout Not Working; Case in Point: Citigroup

Posted on November 21, 2008
Despite all of the money and all of the deals between the big banks and the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department which have taken place in the last year or so, the market continues to fall and the prices of bank stock as a specific case in point also have continued to fall...

Markets Continue to Fall, Deflation Spreads(?)

Posted on November 20, 2008
Yesterday, the Dow fell 430 points to close below 8,000 for the first time since March of 2003. It has been down this morning so far some 200 points to swing back up for a loss of only 80 points or so at present. If the past is any indication, the last few minutes of trading can change the whole day’s performance since there have been huge swings in the hour (minutes) before the closing bell...

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Consumer Prices Fall Precipitously

Posted on November 19, 2008
Primarily due to the fast drop in the prices of oil and gas, the latest statistics show that there has been the largest drop in consumer prices in 61 years. “Consumer prices plunged by the largest amount in the past 61 years in October as gasoline pump prices dropped by a record amount...

Why Did Wells Pay So Much For Wachovia?

Posted on November 11, 2008
“But why? Why was Wells Fargo so eager to ante up a deal that was leaps and bounds sweeter than Citi was willing to pay? After all, Wells Fargo has a stellar reputation of keeping underwriting standards in check, so why would it want anything to do with a shoddy bank drowning in subprime mortgages? Taxes...

More Economic News?.Still Crazy After all These Bailouts

Posted on November 11, 2008
My apologies to Neil Simon for that title. It is hard to keep up with all the economic news and even harder to put it into some perspective. This is especially true since as to many of these events, no one knows the full story and the story changes as the bailout de jour morphs...

One of the economists which I look

Posted on November 06, 2008
One of the economists which I look to for information and advice is Dr. Marc Faber. Here is a quote from his latest market Commentary dated November 1, 2008: “What I want to make perfectly clear is that Mr. Bemanke’s inept monetary policy actually increased volatility and led to greater losses compared to what would have occurred had rates not been prematurely cut in September 2007...

Foreclosure Crisis Becomes Health Problem

Posted on November 06, 2008
The growing number of foreclosures has begun effecting more than our economy, it now may be leading to a growing health crisis. In Bakersfield, California the large number of foreclosures have been corresponding to the spread of the West Nile virus. Mosquitoes have been breeding in the plethora of abandoned swimming pools and have so far led to 140 diagnosed cases of the virus in Bakersfield alone in 2007...

Legal Work on Refco May Cost Mayer Brown

Posted on November 06, 2008
Mayer Brown partner Joseph Collins has become the target of federal prosecutors and charged with playing an “‘active and crucial part in perpetrating the Refco fraud.’” Collins, the chief outside legal counsel for Refco, maintains that he had no knowledge of the enormous fraud taking place within the company...

Finally, Credit Default Swaps Explained

Posted on November 04, 2008
I was listening to our local NPR radio station and heard one part of an interview/story which explains Credit Default Swaps. It was excellent and very helpful in really understanding these financial products. Here is the link to listen to the NPR broadcast about Credit Default Swaps: http://www...

Financial Crisis Continues to Affect Automotive Industry

Posted on November 03, 2008
This October, the automotive industry experienced its worst month of sales in over twenty five years. Leading the charge into the abyss are General Motors, with a sales plunge of 45%, and Ford, with a sales plunge of 30%. Not far behind, Toyota and Honda are also on track for an October sales plunge of 23% and 35%, respectively...

Circuit City Announces Store Closures

Posted on November 03, 2008
Circuit City announced Monday that it will close 155 of its stores, or roughly 20%. The company will also seek to limit future store openings and renegotiate a portion of its leases. The current flailing economy and a period of flagging business has led the store to take such measures in an effort to conserve resources and assets...

True Numbers on Inflation and Jobs

Posted on October 31, 2008
As previously noted, the government provided figures on inflation show that it is not an issue and running at a low rate. However, those who compile these statistics changed what items are included in the “core” inflation figures, thus making the picture look much more positive than is reality...

Tracking the Government?s Response to the Economic Crisis

Posted on October 30, 2008
Historians will someday write about these economic times and will ascribe to the current administration and the federal reserve either praise or approbation or perhaps both. At this point in the crisis, it is hard to get a good perspective on the matter...

Bailout Goes World Wide

Posted on October 29, 2008
In another of those “say what?” moments, here is a report that the Federal Reserve has agreed to make loans (open the window??) to … Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore. This would be “in exchange” for other countries’ currencies...

Bailout Goes World Wide

Rates Cut Again

Posted on October 29, 2008
The rate cut of .5% to bring the bring the benchmark to 1% shows again that the Fed realizes we are in a large mess. It also is interesting to note that the Fed can only cut rates so far, until there is no more interest rate to cut! “The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 1 percent, matching a half-century low, in an effort to avert the worst U...

Tracking the Government?s Response to the Economic Crisis

Posted on October 29, 2008
Historians will someday write about these economic times and will ascribe to the current administration and the federal reserve either praise or approbation or perhaps both. At this point in the crisis, it is hard to get a good perspective on the matter...

Markets Soar, all is well?

Posted on October 29, 2008
Yesterday, the US markets, the Dow in particular soared, up 11% Here is an informative article on yesterday’s advance. It contains a great chart that shows the percentage up’s and down’s in the Dow since Oct. 13 of this year. “At about 2 p...

Industries Lobbying for Bailout Aid

Posted on October 27, 2008
Think about the irony of that headline. Companies are paying lobbiests to assure that they get bailout money. Recently a number of economic sectors have begun lobbying for a slice of the largest government bailout in history. Industries hit hard by the financial crisis (such as insurers, automakers, and American subsidiaries of foreign banks) have all begun lobbying the Treasury Department for financial support...

Michael McBride has given many

Posted on October 27, 2008
Michael McBride has given many talks about the different aspects of bankruptcy over the years. Just recently, Mr. McBride spoke at a conference sponsored by the University of Houston Law Center. It was held both in Dallas and in Houston and discussed the foreclosure process and collecting deficiencies...

World Markets Down

Posted on October 27, 2008
Japan’s index (the Nikkei) has hit a 26 year low. “"Worries about the impact of the surging yen on Japanese export earnings have hit the Nikkei hard," said Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics. "This in turn has led to sharp falls in European markets even when, as on Friday, the U...

Market Turmoil Continues

Posted on October 24, 2008
So far, so bad – but the day may see huge swings up as well as down. Too much excitement either way! “Markets were so jittery early Friday that the New York Stock Exchange felt it was necessary to post a statement on its blog confirming that trading would open as normal at 9:30 a...

Loans From Fed Hit an all Time High

Posted on October 24, 2008
The Federal reserve has been “opening the window” more and more over the past 6 months. Now banks and brokerage firms are taking full advantage of these low interest loans. (Whether they are lending any money as a result of the loans is another story...

Another Investor Loses Billions

Posted on October 23, 2008
“Renowned [Texas] investor Harold Simmons is no wimp when it comes to a fight. He played a central role in the development of leveraged buyouts and corporate takeovers and once tried to gain control of Lockheed Martin (LMT, Fortune 500). He's funded Republican candidates and conservative attack-ad campaigns, including the current one linking Barack Obama to one-time domestic terrorist Bill Ayers...

New Lawsuit Puts Fannie Mae Regulator in Awkward Position

Posted on October 23, 2008
Despite the enormous drop in their stock value, Fannie Mae shareholders might just yet receive a silver lining to their cloud. Currently a class action lawsuit alleging securities fraud is underway in the U.S. District Court in Washington. A similar lawsuit was filed against Freddie Mac that in 2006 yielded the eighth largest settlement in a corporate securities fraud case in United States history with a payout of $1...

Who got the Better Deal, Citi or Wells?

Posted on October 22, 2008
Recall the fight between Citi and Wells over Wachovia? Citi had a deal which involved an asset purchase as well as offloading much of Wachovia’s bad debts onto the government. Wells came along and offered to buy all of Wachovia (debts and assets…) in a stock purchase which exponentionally trumped the Citi deal...

Chinese Workers Demand Wages for Work on Island

Posted on October 21, 2008
Question: What do an idyllic Caribbean island, an unfinished Ritz Carlton, the largest bankruptcy ever filed and Chinese workers for an Israeli builder have in common? On Thursday, October 16, 2008 a nasty brawl broke out on an otherwise peaceful Atlantic island...

How to Destabilize a Country

Posted on October 21, 2008
In these times when investors are extremely uneasy and with good reason, it is particularly easy to tip a country into financial chaos. Here is an article which addresses just this subject. Quote with emphasis supplied: A month ago, in the first round of this crisis, panicky rumors brought down banks...

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