- The Golden Gate Bridge is a huge structure spanning the entry way into the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose Bay Area. It is a tremendous landmark and a beautiful piece of engineering. Today, protesters climbed the wires and held up two massive banners proclaiming a message of “Free Tibet”. I applaud these individuals’ bravery as well as their message in support of freedom. You can read more, and see an amazing picture here. In addition to this, protesters in Paris stopped the running of the Olympic torch. With unease at injustice growing around the globe, it will be interesting to see what happens in the Olympics this year.

- Today, bond rating service Fitch Ratings, downgraded bond insurer MBIA (MBI) as well as the bonds this company insures. This is a huge domino in the chain of events of the global credit readjustment. With ratings agencies having been asleep at the wheel for so long, we will likely see a growing rash of downgrades and defaults on un-diligently-conceived credit/debt agreements. Be wary of the paper you or your organizations own.

- Large savings and loan Washington Mutual (WM) secured $5 billion in generally distressed, dilutive capital financing today. The market cheered and WaMu jumped. The problem is, this equity infusion greatly dilutes the ownership of current stockholders. The market has been cheering these events over the last several weeks, however the celebration may be short-lived. What is happening is these banks are trying to re-capitalize at any cost to shore up their balance sheets and prevent total insolvency. While these deals may delay the day of reckoning for these institutions, it is highly unlikely that the equity-diluting cash infusions will prove to be a panacea for current investors. My speculation is that within a couple of years, WaMu will be in much deeper trouble, if not insolvent or bought out in a fire sale. Mish analyzes today’s deal.

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