Blog retrospective: 2008

Overall, 2008 was the year when a bull market suddenly turned into a bear and when the situation for thousands of MBA students changed in a nano-second. Suddenly, good and high paying employers started to implode, banks such as Lehman Brothers, Kaupthing, Fortis and UBS all took massive hits. Car makers all around the world are now trembling, which will affect thousands of laborers in Germany and in Sweden. Where is Lee Iacocca when you need him the most? Will Lou Gerstner save yet anohter company? What is going to happen to Steve Jobs Apple? - These are all questions that belong to 2009. It all started out with a different tune.

January: the Oil price for a barrell of crude passes the USD 100 mark, Tata Nano - the worlds cheapest car goes into production, The FED cuts its interest rates by 75 basis points and the stock exchange drops by 3,5 % since investors are afraid the US is heading for a recession, Heath Ledger dies, the Dem's and GOP primary are both up to speed - will Hillary make it?, I am waiting for answers from business schools

February: President Bush announce the new budget - a deficit of 410 billion USD, Super tuesday arrive - Hillary is weakened, Obama strengthened and McCain seems like a winner, Ukraine and Russia solves the dispute they have had over the gas pipelines, Fidel Castro retires, UK bank Northern Rock goes belly up, the nation Kosovo is born, I have my interview for Norwegian School of Management

March: Russia votes - Dimitry Medvedev is elected president, Obama and Hillary battle, Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt visits Kosovo, the USD trades below 100 to the Japanese Yen, Hu Jintao is elected President of China for a second term, JP Morgan Chase announce that they will buy BearStearns and world markets plummets on this news, Pernod Ricard purchase Swedish Company Vin&Sprit (and thus the brand Absolut), I get accepted to business school and accept my spot at BI

April: Swedish post will merge with the Danish counterpart, Albania and Croatia are invited to join NATO, Hillary sees a lot of commotion in her campaign for the White House and calls on Bush to boycott the ceremony of the Olympic games, Silvio Berlusconi is elected president of Italy - again, Josef Fritzl is revealed to have incarcerated her daughter for a very very long time, GM cut production of SUVs and pick ups in detroit - they dont sell, 1-year T-bill is introduced to cope with the budget deficit in the US, I decide to sell my apartment in Stockholm

May: Microsoft withdraws their bid for Yahoo! - Jerry Yang later resigns, a near perfect tie in the Dem's race for the White House, US banks seem to tighten their lending policies - apparently too late, Crude oil breaks the USD 120 barrier, Earthquake in China, HP buys Electronic Data System - a service branch, Manchester United wins the Champions league, questions are raised regarding if Ehud Olmerts has taken bribes, I sell my apartment after some minor restoration

June: bank crisis seems to arise in the US - Wachovia fires their CEO, the price of a barrell of crude reaches a new record with an increase of more than 11 USD in one day - new price: in excess of 138 USD!, Hillary suspends her presidential campaign and Obama is in a small lead over McCain, in Sweden - the FRA law allowing emails to be stored and read by the government is put into affect, Spain wins the Euro, I am buying books of ebay.com

July: Starbucks announce that they will close shops, the US Fed tightens mortgage regulations - something seems to smell, UBS announce that they have taken losses of more than 180 billion Swedish SEK (more than the entire Swedish bank crisis 1990-1992), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in no danger according to Ben Bernanke, The Dark Knight - the second new installment of Batman sets several box office records worldwide, the politicians in the US seems to have understood that the financial system needs helping and several laws and plans are made public, I am waiting and reading

August: Conflict between Georgia and Russie erupts, Beijing Olympics start, UK home repossessions rise by more than 48%, Michael Phelps manages to reach 8 gold medals in one single olympic game, Obama secures the democratic nomination, Italian airliner Alitalia is now broke, Sarah Palin enters the national political scene in the US - could the GOP take the white house?, I move to Oslo and start at the MBA program at BI Norwegian School of Management

September: Unemployment rate is now at its record height in the US since 2003, Washington Mutual - a US bank - is hit hard in the financial crisis, oil prices rise through cut in OPEC production, Lehman Brothers together with AIG and other companies are hit HARD in the financial crisis - it will not just blow over, trading is hindered at the Russian stock exchange due to some heavy losses, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are turned into ordinary banks to increase their cash flows, firs presidential debate between Obama and McCain, I am sweating at school - its a lot

October: Biden and Palin debate - its a tie, the 700 bn USD bailout planned is signed by Bush, OJ Simpson is sentenced to jail, the noise coming from the financial markets is tedious and horrible, the Icelandic financial sector is blown to pieces, IMF warns of a global meltdown, Danish Sterling files for bankruptcy - the Icelandic owners could not afford to keep it afloat - a case of a bit aggressive gearing?, I start to feel the pressure in school

November: Obama secures the race for the White House and becomes the 44th president of the United States, Swedish I-bank Carnegie is taken over by the Swedish government due to malpractice, the Euro-zone officially enters recession, crude is now down to approximately 40 USD - a more than 100 USD decline since the record prices during the summer, pirates operates off the coast of Somalia, I finish up the first block of school and get ready to study in China

December: Manny Pacquiao defeats Oscar De La Hoya and is considered the best pound-for-pound boxer from Asia - ever, insane interest rates all over the world - Australia, Sweden and the US, the US automotive industry is biting the dust - could this be the end of the Big 3 from Detroit?, Switzerland joins the Shengen Agreement with the EU, the US economy is seeing signs of entering a depression - the Great Depression II?, fighting erupts between Palestine and Israel with catastrophic consequences, I celebrate the holidays in Shanghai and Beijing

The end of 2008 - lets hope for a good 2009 - I wish all the readers a very happy New Year!