recent M&A's

I do keep up with financial news (news in general, in fact). But TV is never a perfect platform for gaining full coverage. Newspaper websites still are one of the main sources of information for my investment decision.

Some recent mergers and acquisitions
Mars merging with Wrigley to form even bigger candy kingdom
BestBuy temporarily 'eats' CompUSA

Wow! It's good to know that merger and acquisition suddenly got hot again. While the US sub-prime crap still hinders the global finance, the rejuvenation of the M&A activities may just symbol that the bottom has been seen. And it could be a sign of buy-in.

But then the sub-prime crap had been hidden for so many years before it was uncovered in 2007. Should I just assume that the tiny M&A noise recently could quick-fix the crap? My wild guess on the sub-prime crap is:

1. down trend of the US property market, people have no money to repay
2. they start to make use of the credit limits of their credit cards
   
3. when the card loans become such a load for them, there are student loans (if they have kids that are in school)
4. then, car loan, anyone?
   
5. at the end, they run away ... no bankruptcy needed in the US because the US is so damned huge ... in the US, serial killers (連環殺手) can hide several years before being arrested, some even never arrested ... let alone the debtors

So, no! My money should be put in some safer place like bank, but the rate is oh-so-low nowadays. Buy a flat? If only I have enough money and monthly income to fulfill the mortgage requirement.

All I can do is sigh.