Monday, September 15, 2008

Roubini: "No Major Independent Brokers Left Standing"

Roubini consistently takes the pessimist's angle, but he has proven wiser than just about anyone. He's been warning us of this for ages. And he's still deeply troubled:

After failing to find a buyer this weekend, Lehman Brothers filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history while Merrill Lynch agreed to be acquired by Bank of America for $50 billion. Such extraordinary events set the stage for a wild Monday on Wall Street, and most likely beyond.

These incredible, once unthinkable developments have caught a lot of people off guard, but not Nouriel Roubini, of NYU's Stern School and RGE Monitor, whose alarming predictions about the housing market and finanical system have been coming to pass with alarming frequqency.

This morning, Roubini forecast another 20% drop in stock prices, and reiterated a prior view that there will be no major independent broker/dealers standing before this crisis ends. In other words, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley should be seeking suitors today, or face a similar fate as Lehman later.

No comments: