Bankruptcy good

"What's good for GM is good for America" is a phrase that's moved into legend. For the record it was coined by Charlie Wilson, then Chairman and CEO of GM, back in 1955.

Expect to hear that phrase quite a lot over the next few days. If you're daft enough to be hooked on CNBC, why not start your own ClicheWatch and see how many times you hear it. Personally, I'll be chanting "four legs good, two legs better" under my breath every time I see it in print. The funniest thing for us down here is to watch the way you guys up there insist that we need to follow your lead in all things financial. We're getting to the embarrassed laughter stage, I'm afraid.

Lehman Brothers Files for Bankruptcy

According to the NYT's "dealbook" blog (that's pretty sharp on these things), Lehman (LEH) is filing for Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection after failing to find a buyer/saviour. Quoting Dealbook:

According to people briefed on the matter, Lehman Brothers will file for bankruptcy protection on Sunday night, in the largest failure of an investment bank since the collapse of Drexel Burnham Lambert 18 years ago.

Lehman will seek to place its parent company, Lehman Brothers Holdings, into bankruptcy protection, while its subsidiaries will remain solvent while the firm liquidates its holdings, these people said. A consortium of banks will provide a yada yada etc etc click the link for the rest

Think this has nothing to do with Latin America? Think again. Think Venezuelan bonds, think FONDEN, think LEH underwriting, and think that without a shadow of a doubt Señor Moris Beracha is not a happy person tonight. Guaranteed. You wouldn't be either if you were in the hole to the potential tune of U$300m. Your forward-looking Otto says that this one might unwind in a direction you couldn't possibly imagine.

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