Top 15 For 2008

StreetInsider.com has put together its 'Top 15 For 2008' which chronicles our view of the most significant news on Wall Street during the tumultuous year.

Number 3: Bank Runs

A "bank run" was something we only read about in history books or saw watching holiday favorite "It's A Wonderful Life", but all that changed in 2008. With the collapse of the financial system, bank runs again were back in our vocabulary. A bank run is a mass customer exodus of assets from a financial institution on fears of insolvency. Because banks only keep a small amount of deposits on hand and lend the rest out, a bank run can force a failure of the institution.

The U.S. subprime debacle exposed the balance sheet of the world's banks, and what people ...

StreetInsider.com has put together its 'Top 15 For 2008' which chronicles our view of the most significant news on Wall Street during the tumultuous year.

Number 4: Global Stocks In Free Fall

With credit market frozen and fears of a deep global recession, 2008 ...

StreetInsider.com has put together its 'Top 15 For 2008' which chronicles our view of the most significant news on Wall Street during the tumultuous year.

Number 5: Fannie and Freddie Implode

In 2008, the crashing housing market and mounting foreclosures finally caught up to mortgage giants Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE). Collapsing balance sheets, liquidity issues and the wavering faith of foreign investors finally forced the U.S. government to nationalize the two government sponsored enterprises.

Created as federal agencies during the period following the Great Depression, to provide liquidity and stability to the U.S. housing and mortgage markets, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were chartered by Congress as private shareholder-owned companies in 1968 and 1970, respectively.

Although separated from the government, Fannie and Freddie held on to one key thing after the split - the implicit guarantee of the U.S. government. There was an implied view ...

StreetInsider.com has put together its 'Top 15 For 2008' which chronicles our view of the most significant news on Wall Street during the tumultuous year.

Number 6: Hedge Fund Meltdown

'Hedge fund' has been the buzz-word in the investment community over the last decade. Everyone either wanted to be running one or invested in one. The billions being made by hedge fund managers made even some of the top-paid Wall Streeters envious. If you were lucky enough to be invested with one of the top managers you were considered 'golden'. In 2008, the shine of the hedge fund world ended - and when it ended it was UGLY!

On average, hedge funds lost 18.3% in 2008. This number ...

StreetInsider.com has put together its 'Top 15 For 2008' which chronicles our view of the most significant news on Wall Street during the tumultuous year.

Number 7: The Big 3 On Their Knees

With Detroit's Big 3 automakers already in a huge mess, the 2008 credit crisis brought two of them, General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler, to their knees. Both companies needed emergency loans from the government by year-end or they would have had to file bankruptcy. Ford (NYSE: F) also asked for some cash, but that was 'just in case the others fail.'

Heading into '08 the problems the Big 3 automakers were facing were widely known: unfavorable union contracts, bloated white collar workforce, insane health care costs, large legacy costs, bad products, and a horrible public image. Everyone knew that the companies were a slow-motion train wreck and were bad investments, but no one could have imagined ...