Many dates to watch

Anglo Irish Bank will announce their preliminary full year 2008 results tomorrow (3 December).  Two things to look for.  Will they signal an even worse property market than their forecasts for earlier in the year had indicated (and the exchequer returns today indirectly confirm)?  And will the results be sufficiently bad that the bank will announce a capital-raising measure?  This is the first of a series of events in which the government may have to show its hand.

UPDATE 4 DECEMBER: The results didn’t look so much worse when announced and there was no capital-raising but with a day to think about it, the Irish Stock Exchange is taking them badly.  Note that bank could be purchased outright today for less (€417.5 million) than its 2008 profits.

FINAL UPDATE 19 DECEMBER: It took a while, but all hell breaks loose.