by Calculated Risk on 10/21/2007 06:23:00 PM
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Financial Times: Containment Lost
From the Financial Times: US loan default problems widen
Poor quarterly results from banks across the US over the past two weeks suggest credit problems once confined to high-risk mortgage borrowers are spreading across the consumer landscape, posing new risks to the economy and weighing heavily on the markets.
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Banks are adding to reserves not just for defaults on mortgages, but also on home equity loans, car loans and credit cards.
“What started out merely as a subprime problem has expanded more broadly in the mortgage space and problems are getting worse at a faster pace than many had expected,” said Michael Mayo, Deutsche Bank analyst.
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Dick Bove, analyst at Punk Ziegel, said bank earnings indicated “there are problems with consumer debt that extend beyond the well-known issues in the real estate markets. Auto loans are clearly a new area of concern”.