Money Talks
Airbus is having a currency crisis because all their orders are in dollars ($220 billion) and their costs are in Euros.
"As Airbus chief Thomas Enders warned in a speech to the Hamburg workers last night, Europe's champion plane-maker - the symbol of European unification, in the words or ex-French president Jacques Chirac -- is now facing a "life-threatening" crisis.
And Fortune magazine is covering the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis that brought down leaders of several of US most visible and respected financial institutions.
"As Airbus chief Thomas Enders warned in a speech to the Hamburg workers last night, Europe's champion plane-maker - the symbol of European unification, in the words or ex-French president Jacques Chirac -- is now facing a "life-threatening" crisis.
Mr Enders said the company's business model is "no longer viable", and "massive losses" are on the horizon. So much for all those currency hedges that analysts like to cite. Have they ever tried to buy a currency hedge? They would discover how expensive these instruments are. Hedges cannot protect a company with $220bn in delivery contracts priced in dollars, when the euro/sterling cost-base is leaping into the stratosphere." (Telegraph UK)
And Fortune magazine is covering the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis that brought down leaders of several of US most visible and respected financial institutions.
posted by Dody G. at 10:15 AM
7 Comments:
just like all the other sad stories, common people who know little about business are asking, "didn't they see that coming?"
3:11 AM
if you haven't already... read the black swan by nassim nicholas taleb...
This guy's theories have probably made him very rich in the past 6 months...
8:59 AM
A lot of people saw it coming, except those "conservative bankers"
9:51 AM
doesn't matter if rationally you think it is coming or not. as long as you think you can make it to january when the next bonus comes in, keep slicing and dicing them products and stamping a AAA rating that gives you 10 times more than a govvie! all us rational shmos have to pay the price when the s*** hits the fan.
9:48 PM
contessa, did you get your bonus before or after? pierre, i checked out that book and it's very entertaining. the guy is funny.
11:51 PM
I had a chance to interview Taleb for our magazine. Besides the book, he told me that he thought all economists were a bit loony and that boring speakers make him want to stuff rats down their shirts... :)
1:29 PM
a funny quote from his book: "84% of french people consider that their lovemaking skills put them in the top half of french lovers"
5:23 PM
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