Your Evening Briefing: Credit Suisse Turmoil Spurs Wild Market Ride

Credit Suisse shares briefly turned positive in a wild day of trading that saw them drop as much as 12%. With yet another restructuring looming, several analysts countered market fears by bolstering bank claims that it has sufficient capital and liquidity to weather seas of uncertainty and volatility. The gyrations came on a day in which the cost to insure the bank’s debt against default jumped to its highest-ever level. But Paul J. Davies writes in Bloomberg Opinion that, while Credit Suisse is indeed in a tight spot, it isn’t as some would contend “on the brink.” The Swiss bank, Davies says, is experiencing its darkest hours at precisely the worst time, when everyone is nervous about what comes next.

Home prices in the US are now posting the biggest monthly declines since 2009. Median home prices fell 0.98% in August from a month earlier, following a 1.05% drop in July.