Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Sovereign Wealth Funds

I suppose it's time to think about the implications of foreign government nationalizing US companies buying up assets.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Morgan Stanley, the No. 2 U.S. investment bank, reported a $9.4 billion writedown on Wednesday from bad bets on mortgage-related debt, leading it to take a $5 billion infusion from an arm of the Chinese government.

The writedown, nearly triple what Morgan Stanley warned of in November, pushed the investment house to the first quarterly loss in its 73-year history. Chairman and Chief Executive John Mack accepted blame for the fiscal fourth-quarter loss, and said he would forgo his annual bonus.