Meanwhile, in banking reserves news... Over at
RGE Monitor, down in the comments of the linked post, a reader notices
this graph (last updated December),
this graph (same notation), and
this table, last updated January 3
rd through January 2
nd. The graphs are seasonally adjusted, so look at the seasonally-adjusted table for comparison purposes. To have the graphs reflect the newest data in the table, take those large downward spikes at the ends and, roughly speaking,
double them.
The data basically show that the major banks are having a reserve crisis, and that most of the liquidity injections into the system (including a surprise US$30B auction just recently) are going in no small part to keep the banks from failing to meet reserve requirements and getting shut down. This would presumably be part of all those CDO (and SIV and etc) writedowns. The question needed, I suppose, is how much will these banks need, as well as how much can the Fed throw at them credibly?
Current Mood:
yeek!