Write-Offs: 08.08.11

$$$US Senate Banking Committee Looking Into S&P Downgrade of US Credit Rating (Reuters)

$$$S&P 500 Extends Worst Slump Since 2008 Bear Market (Bloomberg)

$$$ Noting public concerns about the economy, Obama declared: "Markets will rise and fall, but this is the United States of America. No matter what some agency may say, we've always been and always will be a triple-A country." (CNN)

$$$Global Banks Poised to Slash 101,000 Jobs in Fastest Reductions Since 2008 (Bloomberg)

$$$Hedge Funds Unload Shares (WSJ)

$$$ Dick Bové: "BAC can go to one dollar and it won't need to raise capital." (SI)

$$$ John Carney: Actually, the Blame Game Is Exactly What We Need Right Now (NetNet)

$$$Costs Rise On France Debt Insurance (WSJ)

$$$BofA Retreats on AIG Lawsuit, Capital Speculation (Bloomberg)

$$$ Charlie Gasparino: S&P Tipped Off Traders to Downgrade Sparking Selloff? (FBN)

$$$Violence Escalates In London (Reuters)

$$$ Kanye West: "I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street, and people look at me like I'm [expletive] insane, like I'm Hitler," West, 34, said on stage before some 40,000 fans. "One day the light will shine through and one day people will understand everything I ever did." (Radar)