Breakfast of Champions

Guambat hasn't eaten cereal for breakfast in yonks, but as a kid recalls those ads touting something - Wheaties, maybe? - as "The Breakfast of Champions".

And thus the title of this post as FT Alphaville serves up a heaping big bowl of Credit Crunchies for morning tea:

CDS report: fears of credit crunch spillover send spreads wider (Sarah O'Conner)

But analysts at BNP Paribas said the widening trend had much further to run.

Banks to UK corporates: Stop borrowing - now! (Sam Jones)

More evidence that the credit crunch is only just getting into its swing.
Citi has taken massive writedowns; wildly exposed itself to structured mess; lost its CEO and is still headless; found itself in cahoots with the US government organising a SIV bailout; narrowly shirked a dividend cut by selling a massive call option to Abu Dhabi; and now is pleading with clients not to borrow money from it.

German banks forced into new $15bn SIV rescue (Sam Jones)

Two German Landesbanken - WestLB and HSH Nordbank - have been forced to offer huge support lines to two troubled SIVs. More evidence that SIVs are plumbing new lows. [See, Leaking like a SIV]

And this by Gwen Robinson

[E]ven as institutions in the west are showing more nervousness about hedge fund investments, Japanese financial institutions are planning to expand their commitment to hedge funds and other alternative investments such as private equity and real estate over the next four years.

That oughta hold Guambat 'til lunch.