http://monolineinsurer.com Pondering the stability of the municipal bond market Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:07:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Financial Security Assurance (FSA) was sold by Dexia as the European bank reported a $1.9 billion loss.  Assured Guaranty, Wilbur Ross), purchased the monoline insurer for $1.45 billion.  It is important to note that this sale did not include Dexia's exposure to some 16.5 billion Euro exposure to toxic US ... http://monolineinsurer.com/dexia-finds-a-buyer-for-financial-security-assurance/ It seems likely that losses from monoline exposure could impact second quarter earnings by nearly $10 billion, nearly doubly the previous loss amount.  The hardest hit among financial companies will likely be Citigroup (NYSE: C), Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), and UBS (NYSE: UBS).   Such is the latest from Meredith Whitney ... http://monolineinsurer.com/monoline-exposure-will-hurt-2q-earnings/ Finally.  Standard & Poor's downgraded monoline bond insurers MBIA (NYSE: MBI) and Ambac (NYSE: ABK) to AA from AAA on June 5.  This seemingly went over as a nonevent on Wall St. yesterday and one has to wonder - Moody's (NYSE: MCO) what are you waiting for now?  The credibility ... http://monolineinsurer.com/monoline-insurers-downgraded/ Dealbreaker has an interesting post today regarding bond insurance and how average retail investors, who own most of the municipal bonds out there, may be prone to thinking that this insurance means more than it actually does. http://monolineinsurer.com/the-unmagical-nature-of-bond-insurance/ Some of the most esteemed investors have already joined the municipal bond business - Buffet and Ross.  Now enters California & Co.  The California Public Employees Retirement System has included said creation on the May agenda.  Given the large amount of cash in pension funds and the high need of ... http://monolineinsurer.com/california-co-to-join-municipal-bond-insurance-business/