From what I know its the entire sub-prime mortgage lenders that are hurting in a big way. They are giving mortgages (and very large ones) to people that can't afford A mortgage let alone a big one for a short period, lower interest rate (hence the sub-prime). Eg. Prime is 6%, they get the first 3 years at 3% and then the last 27 years at 7%. When the banks come calling for the higher mortgages they cant pay. I hope these guys all go bankrupt. Its horrible and bad business.
These companies then collapse, which in turn causes the hedge funds and others to collapse. This causes the capital markets to really tighten up because so many of them are tied into hedge funds. I think the banks are trying to make capital more available for companies in terms of mergers, acquisitions, spending, etc. This should stop/limit the bleeding across the entire market.
I have been slaughtered lately and it still boggles my mind how a financial sector issue can absolutely crush resource companies.
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