"Interest rate cuts will be like Viagra – an artificial stimulus that doesn’t cure the underlying problem"
A trader doubts that the markets’ recent rise can last...
"People are actually being nice to us for a change!"
A balance sheet lender sees the upside to the stalling of the CMBS conduit market
"Perfect hedge? It’s perfect until tested. Everything is perfect while you mark to model as opposed to marking to a buyer or a seller. I can do that! I bet it’s a very clean price, very precise and a very round number – looks something like par!"
A senior DCM banker takes a sceptical view of current approaches to valuing illiquid securities
"All these bankers telling you no one could predict this credit market crash and, oh, how extraordinary it all is: well, they all knew it was coming; they just couldn’t care less. They got paid massive bonuses for originating this junk in 2005 and 2006. They don’t care about quality. They only care about volume"
A private client wealth manager sounds almost bitter
"It strikes me that the UK has become like Spain without the sun: no real manufacturing base, and a booming property market fuelled by cheap mortgages – don’t you think?"
A US-based structured finance official weighs up an island economy