Merrill Lynch, Citigroup scour the globe for cash

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Wall Street's worldwide tour, which could be called Bailout '08, continued Tuesday as two of the nation's largest financial-services firms announced investments of about $20 billion from everyone from the Kuwaitis to a New Jersey investment fund.

The banks clearly have found some quiet partners with deep pockets, and at least so far, concern over the mostly foreign funds has not sparked much of an outcry from politicians or investors.

Most of the money is coming from overseas because it is kind of discrete," Claire Gruppo, co-founder and managing director of Gruppo Levey & Co., said Tuesday. "They are not necessarily going to talk to the U.S. media."

Still, the deals, which sweeten the returns for the new investors at the expense of current shareholders, are not universally loved. In some circles, they have triggered concerns about potential market manipulation and ceding ownership of key national assets like banks or energy companies to foreigners.

In addition, in at least one deal, a potential investor backed out. Citigroup Inc. (C: news) had unsuccessfully sought money from the government of China, a person familiar with the situation said Tuesday.

Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, commented that such deals are just making it more apparent that the U.S. is dependent on foreign capital.

"While these deals are necessary," he said, "they are nothing to celebrate. After all, Americans are simply selling off assets to satisfy our debts and to fuel consumption. This is known as selling the cow to buy milk," Schiff wrote in opinion piece published this week.

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........related article.........

Sovereign wealth funds' buying spree spawns new concerns


Buying spree by government-controlled investment funds raises eyebrows

By Murray Coleman, MarketWatch
Last Update: 1:45 PM ET Dec 11, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Enriched by a white-hot surge in commodities prices and the world's emerging markets, sovereign wealth funds in Asia and the Middle East have been on a buying spree around the globe.

Now a torrent of controversy about investment vehicles controlled by governments is grabbing the attention of investors and regulators alike. Critics point out that assets owned by nations from Abu Dhabi to China now dwarf the $2 trillion hedge-fund industry, even as they operate mostly outside the reach of market and monetary authorities

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with our currency in the dump, they can buy us out dirt cheap.

is on the verge of a financial collapse witch will make 1929 look like a fucking picnic!!!