Is Snoopy On The Ropes?

MetLife Hindenburg? Oh the humanity!

Harry Reid shit the bed yesterday with this gem, “One of the individuals in the caucus today talked about a major insurance company. A major insurance company -- one with a name that everyone knows that's on the verge of going bankrupt. That's what this is all about." Loose lips sink ships.

Everybody stay calm, there’s nothing to see here.

Later, Jim Manley, spokesman for Reid said, "Senator Reid is not personally aware of any particular company being on the verge of bankruptcy. He has no special knowledge about [a bankruptcy] nor has he talked to any insurance company officials."

Fail.

Maybe he was talking about Prudential, or Hartford, or Principal Financial. Who the hell knows? Well, apparently, Harry Reid does. The counterparty risk of these behemoths is staggering. At this point, all bets are off. The odds are probably in favor of several more big names either declaring bankruptcy or going into receivership. It wouldn’t surprise me if MetLife was next. Why? No valid reason, really. I don’t know much about them but I used to be a customer, until they fired me. On August 6, in regards to my house, MetLife sent me a letter saying that they were “unable to continue to insure you”. I thought this was more than a little strange since nothing has changed on my end. The house is only four years old. I’ve never missed or made a late payment. Maybe something has changed on their end? I don’t know, but I’m going to be mighty pissed if they soil Snoopy’s image.

Clearly, lots of things have changed in the credit markets. And in other news, water is wet.

I’m going to add American Express to my watch-list. On September 25, I received a letter from Amex saying “we are temporarily suspending the payment flexibility feature of your American Express Platinum Card”. I didn’t even know that my card had a payment flexibility feature. If I’d known, I would have been much more flexible with my payments, but I’ve (ignorantly) always paid my bill in full each month. So what has changed?

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Today, according to Dow Theory, the Transports confirmed a primary bear market by closing at 4,134 just 6 points below the critical 4,140 level. The Dow was plus 250 when the House passed the bailout bill, then promptly sold off about 400 points to close down 157 to 10,325. All arrows are now pointing down, some of them wooden.

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The Pakistani military is now engaged in full-scale battles with militants in the Peshawar province. The New York Times is reporting that an estimated 250,000 have fled the fighting and many are crossing the border into Afghanistan. It’s comforting to know that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are in safe hands…

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Citigroup is threatening legal action after getting cock-blocked by Wells Fargo.