Congratulations Taxpayers, you now own an insurance company [Archive] - Page 4

Methanolandbrats

10-14-08, 10:49 AM

Go back and check your definitions. Anything over 20% is a bear or a bull. Dead cats do bounce, but not very high. All the old school definitions are useless now that everything happens instantly. All I use is the AD line, new highs/new lows and watch the SP Futures.

Edit: the country is broke, consumer spending will be down for years, earnings will suck, inflation is headed up because of massive government debt. The bailout was as effective at fixing these problems as standing on a stepladder and pissing on a house fire.

SurfaceUnits

10-14-08, 11:53 AM

Commentary: Why this bailout is as bad as the last one
# Investors aren't willing to back banks because of problem loans
# Government investments will mask the banks' problems for a while
# Other failing industries will now seek similar bailouts
# Government's role in economy will spread inefficiency and crony capitalism

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/14/miron.banks/index.html

Methanolandbrats

10-14-08, 11:55 AM

Gangrel

10-14-08, 01:19 PM

Go back and check your definitions. Anything over 20% is a bear or a bull. Dead cats do bounce, but not very high.

Depends on how tall the building was...

we've never seen a 3000 point drop in such a short time, so we don't know how bouncy the cat is.

I can tell you that the posters on the boards focused on CFA exam discussion are not very optomistic about this...being a CFA candidate myself, my optomism is very cautious at best...

Insomniac

10-14-08, 01:52 PM

Depends on how tall the building was...

we've never seen a 3000 point drop in such a short time, so we don't know how bouncy the cat is.

I can tell you that the posters on the boards focused on CFA exam discussion are not very optomistic about this...being a CFA candidate myself, my optomism is very cautious at best...

I think the trend will still be down. It may not be precipitous, and perhaps for now the mob mentality is out and some proper valuation is going on, but earnings are coming. They won't be pretty even with revised forecasts and I'd expect forecasts for future quarters to be cut.

Methanolandbrats

10-14-08, 01:59 PM

The fed is shovelling money hoping to stimulate the peasants to buy useless **** and fuel economic growth. Did'nt we just try that for a decade or so? A sure path to longterm prosperity :shakehead

Sean Malone

10-14-08, 02:52 PM

The fed is shovelling money hoping to stimulate the peasants to buy useless **** and fuel economic growth. Did'nt we just try that for a decade or so? A sure path to longterm prosperity :shakehead

They should spread the wealth around instead. ;)

Stu

10-14-08, 03:13 PM

They should spread the wealth around instead. ;)

:yuck:

trish

10-14-08, 06:31 PM

It looks like we may own a few more banks.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=97876

Of course the funds ($250 billion) are coming out of the $700 billion bailout.

Edit: We're in trouble. I bought my first 50 lb bag of rice today to kick of my WTSHTF planning.

nrc

10-14-08, 07:16 PM

Can I have another stimulus check? :D

Methanolandbrats

10-14-08, 07:41 PM

Can I have another stimulus check? :DSure, but only if you spend at least twice the amount of the check. :)

nrc

10-14-08, 08:52 PM

Sure, but only if you spend at least twice the amount of the check. :)

Can I have a gv't loan for the other half? :)

Methanolandbrats

10-14-08, 08:56 PM

Can I have a gv't loan for the other half? :) No problem, just sign and buy :thumbup:

Methanolandbrats

10-15-08, 10:11 AM

Oil demand down 6% in sept.....uh, oh.

Stu

10-15-08, 10:50 AM

Oil demand down 6% in sept.....uh, oh.

isnt that what people wanted?

Methanolandbrats

10-15-08, 11:09 AM

isnt that what people wanted? I have no idea who "people" are or what they want, but the 6% drop is huge. It indicates a severe slowdown. $2.50 gas is cool if you've got a job. :(

JLMannin

10-15-08, 12:38 PM

Oil demand down 6% in sept.....uh, oh.

Question - is that 6% drop in volume delivered or a 6% drop in the churn rate of delivery contracts?

dando

10-15-08, 12:42 PM

Go back and check your definitions. Anything over 20% is a bear or a bull. Dead cats do bounce, but not very high.

How's that bull doing now? $10 the so-called 'Dow Wow' is gone by the end of the week. :(

-Kevin

dando

10-15-08, 12:43 PM

Oil demand down 6% in sept.....uh, oh.

Down 6% vs. what? Last Sept? Aug?

-Kevin

SurfaceUnits

10-15-08, 02:23 PM

How's that bull doing now? $10 the so-called 'Dow Wow' is gone by the end of the week. :(

-Kevin

:laugh: looks like the recovery will be over by the end of TODAY

Methanolandbrats

10-15-08, 02:24 PM

Down 6% vs. what? Last Sept? Aug?

-Kevin Don't know, don't care. The pit and the SP guys thought it was a big number and that with retail sales rolled her over. OEX puts looking good.

SurfaceUnits

10-15-08, 04:06 PM

Good interviews on current and future economic status

http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/10/14/1/a-conversation-with-jon-hilsenrath-of-the-wall-street-journal

SurfaceUnits

10-15-08, 05:26 PM

Did it really go down 1400 points in two days?

http://chart.bigcharts.com/custom/cnnmoney2/interact-chart.img?ClientID=44711&symb=djia&sid=1000001643&pg=ch&time=2dy&freq=1dy&comp=%2C&maval=60&lf=1&type=2&mocktick=1&symbtype=0&country=US&rtsid=1000001643&style=2108&size=2&rand=7955

Methanolandbrats

10-15-08, 05:31 PM

The buyout is not going to do any good. All they did is hand a fresh box of crayons to the crooks who caused this and say have at it. They should either have let them fail and picked up the pieces or do as Britain did and nationalize the banks and fire all the officers. Everyone is figuring that out now. We are so screwed.

SurfaceUnits

10-15-08, 05:46 PM

and it does nothing for the mortgage mess :shakehead
one analyst said it will take a half trillion more to stabilize the banks
and then who knows how much for the mortgage mess

Indy

10-15-08, 07:24 PM

I am really just to the point of wanting to see heads roll. Lots of them.

But that is not going to happen, because the first heads should be those of Congress. :shakehead

dando

10-15-08, 08:09 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/14/miron.banks/index.html

Alas, the new approach is no better than the first. Here's why.

If banks were fundamentally sound but temporarily in need of cash, they could sell stock on their own to private investors. Few investors now want bank stock, however, because they cannot tell which banks are merely illiquid -- short of cash for new loans because their assets are temporarily sellable only at fire-sale prices -- and which are fundamentally insolvent -- short of cash and holding assets whose fundamental values are less than the bank's liabilities.

This lack of transparency is a crucial impediment to new investment, and therefore to new lending.

Government injection of cash, however, does little to improve transparency. A bank with complicated, depreciated assets is in much the same position after the government gives it cash as it was before, since outside investors will still have limited information about the solvency of any individual bank.

Perhaps the new cash will spur the sale of bad assets, or nudge banks to reveal their balance sheets, but that is far from obvious. Banks, moreover, might remain cautious even with this increased liquidity simply because of uncertainty about the economy. Thus it is hard to know whether cash injections will actually spur bank lending.

*sigh*

-Kevin

SurfaceUnits

10-15-08, 08:40 PM

Enron was a decade ahead of the curve

Sean Malone

10-15-08, 08:41 PM

and it does nothing for the mortgage mess :shakehead
one analyst said it will take a half trillion more to stabilize the banks
and then who knows how much for the mortgage mess

I agree with the guy in trish's link; f'em. You can't pay? Go live with your mother and give the bank back your Escallade.

SurfaceUnits

10-15-08, 09:44 PM

Work Ethics Code for the New Economy

SICK DAYS:
We will no longer accept a doctor statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

SURGERY:
Operations are now banned. As long as you are an employee here, you need all your organs. You should not consider removing anything. We hired you intact. To have something removed constitutes a breach of employment.

PERSONAL DAYS:
Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday and Sunday.

Methanolandbrats

10-15-08, 10:51 PM

cameraman

10-16-08, 12:12 AM

With unemployment over 10%, make that 52 personal days, Sundays are off, saturday is mandatory.

The unemployment rate here is 3.5%.

Methanolandbrats

10-16-08, 08:00 AM

The unemployment rate here is 3.5%.It is where I live too. Nationwide it's 7 and headed up.

Stu

10-16-08, 08:20 AM

It is where I live too. Nationwide it's 7 and headed up.

actually its 6.1% nationwide.

Methanolandbrats

10-16-08, 08:43 AM

You stat freaks sure do have a hell of a time looking at the big picture and figuring out trends.

SurfaceUnits

10-16-08, 08:44 AM

Cuomo to AIG: No more parties

The New York AG says he has the power under state business law to review and possibly rescind inappropriate spending.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is telling American International Group Inc. to do away with golden parachutes for executives, golf outings, overseas hunting trips and parties while taking government money to stay afloat.

Cuomo says he has the power under state business law to review and possibly rescind any inappropriate AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) spending as long as the Federal Reserve is propping up the huge insurer with almost $123 billion in loans announced since Sept. 16.

Federal lawmakers and the White House have castigated AIG for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a posh California retreat just days after getting the federal bailout. The retreat included spa treatments, banquets and golf.

AIG didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ex-AIG chief Greenberg takes the Fifth

Hank Greenberg declines to answer questions in civil case about his role in a transaction with General Re that resulted in convictions of others.

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the legendary former chief executive of AIG, declined to answer questions Saturday from the New York Attorney General's office about his role in a controversial transaction between AIG and another insurer. Instead, Greenberg invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, his defense lawyer confirmed.

Questions about the deal led to Greenberg's forced retirement from the once-mighty insurance giant three years ago. Since 2005, lawyers on Greenberg's civil defense team had insisted that their client was eager to testify about the transaction, a reinsurance deal that AIG made with Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKB) Gen Re unit.

They said repeatedly that as long as he was provided with the results of AIG's internal investigation of the deal - which he eventually was - he would answer all of state regulators' questions.

Greenberg's chance to testify finally came on Saturday, but he declined.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/15/news/companies/greenbergfifth_boydband.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008101522

SurfaceUnits

10-16-08, 08:54 AM

Question: Where does 'economic rut' line up on the scale of economy measurements?

Stu

10-16-08, 09:10 AM

You stat freaks sure do have a hell of a time looking at the big picture and figuring out trends.

i saw a forecast predicting 7% by February 09 at the earlist. Of course the stat with 80% confidence had a +/- .9% swing. Also, it was done in July and predicted that October would be at 6.3%, while we're still at 6.1.

7% could be possible sometime next year, as that's the current trend. We'll see what kind of impact the markets have on individual corporations in about 4-6 months.

Methanolandbrats

10-16-08, 09:11 AM

Question: Where does 'economic rut' line up on the scale of economy measurements?
What's a rut line? Here's what I know. Inflation and unemployment are going up. Earnings, the dollar and equity prices are going down. Might be a monsterous window dressing rally near the end of the fourth quarter as mutual funds trip over each other piling into a few winners and proving how savvy they are :D Could be triggered by a relief rally when the election is over no matter who wins. We'll see. Disclaimer: all observations are subject to change and modification....sticking to an outlook when the market goes against you is how you go broke :D

Insomniac

10-16-08, 10:38 AM

actually its 6.1% nationwide.

Or 11%.

U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.

NOTE: Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not looking currently for a job. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule.

All economic numbers are manipulated because they aren't calculated the same way they were in the past. You should be especially concerned when they reach "recent" highs because they are artificially lowered as is.

They even refer you to "see "BLS introduces new range of alternative unemployment measures," in the October 1995 issue of the Monthly Labor Review."

Stu

10-16-08, 10:47 AM

Or 11%.

U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.

NOTE: Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not looking currently for a job. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule.

All economic numbers are manipulated because they aren't calculated the same way they were in the past. You should be especially concerned when they reach "recent" highs because they are artificially lowered as is.

They even refer you to "see "BLS introduces new range of alternative unemployment measures," in the October 1995 issue of the Monthly Labor Review."

its not about the specific number, its about how that number compares with history.

do you have a link to historical unemployment rates calculated using that method?

trish

10-16-08, 01:05 PM

I agree with the guy in trish's link; f'em. You can't pay? Go live with your mother and give the bank back your Escallade.

They should read this guys (http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20081010/news_lz1e10schiff.html) take first.

This really burns me up.:flame:

Insomniac

10-16-08, 03:26 PM

its not about the specific number, its about how that number compares with history.

do you have a link to historical unemployment rates calculated using that method?

I don't have that information. I just pulled that number right out of the BLS report from September (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm).

I think you'd be hard pressed to get a historical comparison that uses the same method over a long period of time.

FTG

10-16-08, 05:33 PM

There's no rule that says a bull needs to last more than half a day. Anyway, this bounce came at 8,500, the previous one at below 8,000. I don't know if there will be a recession or how long it'll last, but I know it'll be over before I need to sell my stock.

oddlycalm

10-16-08, 06:33 PM

sticking to an outlook when the market goes against you is how you go broke :D

Sticking to an ideology after it's been thoroughly discredited doesn't have similar consequences unfortunately. The government is not insisting on mark to market asset valuation so apparently transparency will remain optional...:shakehead

On the subject of who foots the bill, someone I normally don't hold in high regard has suggested that we levy a 0.5% tax on derivative trades as they do in the UK which would result in $500 billion per year revenue. It does seem right that those that broke the system recapitalize the treasury after the treasury recapitalizes the banks.

oc

dando

10-17-08, 11:55 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17buffett.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

Buffet's $.02 on what to do.

I’ve been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I’m talking about, in which I previously owned nothing but United States government bonds. (This description leaves aside my Berkshire Hathaway holdings, which are all committed to philanthropy.) If prices keep looking attractive, my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 percent in United States equities.

Why?

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. To be sure, investors are right to be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions. But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation’s many sound companies make no sense. These businesses will indeed suffer earnings hiccups, as they always have. But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

I feel sorry for the poor bastard that wins the election. It's going to be Jimmy Carter deja vu. :(

-Kevin

oddlycalm

10-17-08, 02:56 PM

A gaggle of economists advising the government is now recommending a stimulus package of 335 billion partridges in pear trees for the holidays. Nursury stocks are soaring as all available pear trees have disappeared literally overnight. A spokesbird for partridges has said they are fleeing en mass to Canada where they will need international relief during the coming harsh winter....:gomer:

oc

dando

10-17-08, 05:18 PM

oddlycalm

10-17-08, 05:33 PM

Andrew Lahde, the hedge-fund manager who quit after posting an 870 percent gain last year. He sent out a letter to his wealthy clients along with their redemption checks.
"I was in this game for money,'' Lahde, 37, wrote in a two-page letter today in which he said he had come to hate the hedge-fund business. "The low-hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government."

"All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy, only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other sides of my trades. God Bless America.''

He goes on to call for using hemp to replace synthetic products made from oil and the legalization of marijuana, which should be booming for the next few years... :gomer:

oc

Lahme quits hedge fund (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aVUE96d.HKyw&refer=home)

eiregosod

10-18-08, 08:58 AM

attention taxpayers, 10% of your bailout will pay ofr the bonuses of the failed banks

STD

10-18-08, 11:57 AM

"I was in this game for money,'' Lahde, 37, wrote in a two-page letter today in which he said he had come to hate the hedge-fund business. "The low-hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government."

"All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy, only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other sides of my trades. God Bless America.''

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

SurfaceUnits

10-22-08, 10:04 AM

The never bare money tree:

Accountants named for rescue program
9:50am: Treasury selects two big name accounting firms to help it run the $700 billion rescue plan for financial system.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/21/news/economy/meltdown_treasury.ap/index.htm

Fed adds step in mutual fund help
9:16am: Federal Reserve will tap Depression-era emergency powers, providing up to $540B to back purchases of short-term debt from mutual funds.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/21/news/Fed_mutualfunds.ap/index.htm

I need to find a way to get on this money train. :eek:

trish

10-26-08, 07:06 PM

Tune into 60 Minutes now if you want to hear more about these credit default swaps that will probably bankrupt our country.

SurfaceUnits

10-26-08, 11:15 PM

attention taxpayers, 10% of your bailout will pay ofr the bonuses of the failed banks

How Washington's Wall Street Bailout Will Boost Bonuses

Uncle Sam has a new name on Wall Street — Sugar Daddy. Bonuses for investment bankers and traders are projected to fall by 40% this year. But analysts, compensation consultants and recruiters say the drop would be much more severe, perhaps as much as 70%, had it not been for the government's efforts to prop up the financial firms. "Year-end pay on Wall Street will be higher than it would have been had it not been for the government and mergers," says Alan Johnson, a leading compensation consultant. "You would expect it to be down much more."

Johnson predicts the average managing director at an investment bank, a title typically earned around eight years on the job, will receive a bonus of $625,000. That's down from nearly $1.1 million last year, but it is still 15 times the income of the average American household. Top bankers could receive as much as $1 million. Even a bond trader just out of business school could see his or her bank account enriched by as much as $170,000 this Christmas. "The firms have had an extremely difficult year," says Joan Zimmerman, a Wall Street career coach. "But they can't afford to lose talent either."

SurfaceUnits

10-26-08, 11:17 PM

Tune into 60 Minutes now if you want to hear more about these credit default swaps that will probably bankrupt our country.

The Bet That Blew Up Wall Street

Steve Kroft examines the complicated financial instruments known as credit default swaps and the central role they are playing in the unfolding economic crisis
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/26/60minutes/main4546199.shtml

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4546583n

This is the 50 trillion dollar bomb that no one has an answer for

eiregosod

10-27-08, 05:03 AM

keep in mind that the total GDP of the world is about $40tr

eiregosod

10-27-08, 01:28 PM

Greencock dont look well

http://www.independent.ie/multimedia/archive/00214/greenspan2310_214072d.jpg

SurfaceUnits

10-30-08, 11:23 PM

David M. Walker is CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and served ten years as Comptroller General of the U.S., heading the Government Accountability Office.

The deteriorating financial condition of our federal government in the face of skyrocketing health-care costs and the baby-boom retirement could fairly be described as a super-subprime crisis. It would certainly dwarf what we're seeing now.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), noting that the federal balance sheet does not reflect the government's huge unfunded promises in our nation's social-insurance programs, estimated last year that the unfunded obligations for Medicare and Social Security alone totaled almost $41 trillion. That sum, equivalent to $352,000 per U.S. household, is the present-value shortfall between the growing cost of entitlements and the dedicated revenues intended to pay for them over the next 75 years.

Why call it a super-subprime crisis? Besides its gigantic scale, there are very disturbing similarities between the current mortgage-related crisis and our next potential disaster.

First, like the securitized investment vehicles that blew up, federal programs were launched without adequately thinking through who would bear the ultimate cost and related risk. Just as originators of mortgages let themselves off the hook by unloading packages of dubious loans onto others, lawmakers have increased spending, expanded entitlement programs, and cut taxes while expecting future generations to pay the bill.

Second, just as a lack of transparency associated with mortgage-backed securities resulted in big surprises and large losses for investors, our nation's huge off-balance-sheet obligations for Social Security and Medicare present a threat wrapped in camouflage. After all, the government's "trust funds" don't really provide much security since they don't hold anything but more government debt.

Third, in the same way that private sector "risk management" executives failed to prevent the subprime mortgage crisis, overseers in Congress and the executive branch have turned a blind eye to costs associated with entitlement programs and tax cuts. While lax regulation of banks fed the current subprime crisis, a lack of statutory budget controls has led to a widening gap between the government's revenues and costs.

At the heart of these problems is our leaders' collective failure to act in the face of known challenges. Our country has veered from its founding principles, which held to individual responsibility and accountability today in order to create more opportunity tomorrow. When our constitution was written, the concepts of thrift and prudence were no less at the center of the American spirit than liberty and justice.

got your hip waders on yet?

JLMannin

10-31-08, 04:19 PM

David M. Walker is CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and served ten years as Comptroller General of the U.S., heading the Government Accountability Office.

. . . . .the present-value shortfall between the growing cost of entitlements and the dedicated revenues intended to pay for them over the next 75 years . . . . .

got your hip waders on yet?

Right, and the present value shortfall between my primary mortgage and my checking account over the next 30 years is greater than $250,000.00. Should I just file bankruptcy now? :shakehead

If I add all utilities, taxes, food, college, clothing, leisure, car payments, discretionary spending, money I accidently drop, monel that falls in my couch, et al, my present value shortfall is likely millions of dollars.

So what?

It's a meaningless number. A real big number, but utterly meaningless.

Stu

10-31-08, 11:30 PM

Right, and the present value shortfall between my primary mortgage and my checking account over the next 30 years is greater than $250,000.00. Should I just file bankruptcy now? :shakehead

If I add all utilities, taxes, food, college, clothing, leisure, car payments, discretionary spending, money I accidently drop, monel that falls in my couch, et al, my present value shortfall is likely millions of dollars.

So what?

It's a meaningless number. A real big number, but utterly meaningless.

david walker's number accounts for the present value of not only the promised entitlements, but also the dedicated revenues coming in to pay for them.

your statement about your mortgage accounts for the present value of the mortgage only, but not the revenue you will be earning from future wages.

Stu

11-01-08, 08:22 AM

http://perotcharts.com/

dando

11-01-08, 12:40 PM

Meh. Just keep paying the monthly minimum and we'll be fine. :gomer:

-Kevin

SurfaceUnits

11-01-08, 03:57 PM

It's a meaningless number. A real big number, but utterly meaningless.

meaningless eh? it's the amount your politicians have spent that was supposed to fill up that trust fund your pathetic politicians refer to

JLMannin

11-03-08, 10:10 AM

david walker's number accounts for the present value of not only the promised entitlements, but also the dedicated revenues coming in to pay for them.

your statement about your mortgage accounts for the present value of the mortgage only, but not the revenue you will be earning from future wages.

I did not see the part about projected incoming revenues until I read it again.

trish

11-03-08, 11:40 AM

Good news for Goldman Sachs employees! (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1081624/Goldman-Sachs-ready-hand-7BILLION-salary-bonus-package--6bn-bail-out.html)

chop456

11-10-08, 07:31 AM

A Few More Tens Of Billions For AIG (http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=6218910&page=1)

JLMannin

11-10-08, 09:25 AM

I'm not sure if the linked article mentioned it, but I read in another article this weekend that indicated that the goverment would back the credit default swaps that AIG sold.

These financial wizzard have done far, far more economic damage to the industrialized world than the terrorists attacks did. I know I am living in a fantasy world, but I would like to see the kingpins behind this mess be held accountable with a level of legal force that rivals the military force that was directed towards those who orchestrated the terrorists attacks.

Stu

11-10-08, 09:40 AM

lead on drudge:

FED REFUSES TO IDENTIFY $2,000,000,000,000.00 BANK LOANS

bailout now over 2 trillion dollars overall.

trish

11-10-08, 09:48 AM

It's going to get higher than that, I'm sure. Meanwhile we have inflation to look forward to. My savings will be slaughtered. :cry:

dando

11-10-08, 10:53 AM

Good news for Goldman Sachs employees! (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1081624/Goldman-Sachs-ready-hand-7BILLION-salary-bonus-package--6bn-bail-out.html)

I saw a story a few weeks back about all of the major investment houses setting aside billion$ for bonuses. :saywhat: :irked:

-Kevin

Insomniac

11-10-08, 11:17 AM

I saw a story a few weeks back about all of the major investment houses setting aside billion$ for bonuses. :saywhat: :irked:

-Kevin

Which is further proof that the shareholders have no power. The boards are stacked with management yes men.

Methanolandbrats

11-10-08, 12:24 PM

Good news for Goldman Sachs employees! (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1081624/Goldman-Sachs-ready-hand-7BILLION-salary-bonus-package--6bn-bail-out.html)

The USA could borrow a page from the Chinese for situations like this. It takes about 30 minutes to round up a firing squad. That would pretty much guarantee it never happens again. :mad:

SurfaceUnits

11-10-08, 01:44 PM

eiregosod

11-10-08, 02:06 PM

financial terrorism

SurfaceUnits

11-10-08, 02:13 PM

The USA could borrow a page from the Chinese for situations like this. It takes about 30 minutes to round up a firing squad. That would pretty much guarantee it never happens again. :mad:

then they would have to spend six months burying all the dead

Insomniac

11-10-08, 04:40 PM

It didn't take long to really screw over the taxpayers.

The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention.

But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the enormous implications of the document: Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion.

The sweeping change to two decades of tax policy escaped the notice of lawmakers for several days, as they remained consumed with the controversial bailout bill. When they found out, some legislators were furious. Some congressional staff members have privately concluded that the notice was illegal. But they have worried that saying so publicly could unravel several recent bank mergers made possible by the change and send the economy into an even deeper tailspin.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/09/AR2008110902155_pf.html

oddlycalm

11-10-08, 05:21 PM

It didn't take long to really screw over the taxpayers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/09/AR2008110902155_pf.html

Don't hold your breath, but I'm guessing there may be some aspects to the recent looting of the treasury subject to revision come February.

oc

SurfaceUnits

11-10-08, 08:54 PM

AmEx becomes bank to stabilize funding

The Federal Reserve grants company's request to become bank holding company, givign it access to better funding at time when securitization dries up.

NEW YORK(CNNMoney.com) -- Seeking shelter amid a global credit crunch and consumer spending slowdown, American Express announced Monday it is becoming a bank.

Acting swiftly with emergency powers, the Federal Reserve granted approval for AmEx and American Express Travel Related Services to become bank holding companies.

The move will give AmEx the ability to grow its deposits -- a more stable form of funding -- and provide it greater access to Fed funding and government rescue programs.

"Given the continued volatility in the financial markets, we want to be best positioned to take advantage of the various programs the federal government has introduced or may introduce to support U.S. financial institutions," said Chief Executive Kenneth Chenault in a statement.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/10/news/companies/amex/index.htm

SurfaceUnits

11-10-08, 08:59 PM

GMAC moves to convert to a bank holding company

Altering its status could boost the firm's access to capital through the federal $700-billion rescue package.
By Ken Bensinger and Kendra Marr
October 30, 2008
GMAC, the financing arm of General Motors Corp., is taking steps to become a bank holding company, potentially giving it greater access to the government's $700-billion financial bailout package, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The lender, 49% owned by GM, is currently regulated as an industrial bank by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. but might switch to a commercial bank holding charter regulated by the Federal Reserve, said the people, who did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to speak about the effort.

dando

11-12-08, 11:20 AM

More bailout fallout goodness.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27641538

The United States may be on course to lose its 'AAA' rating due to the large amount of debt it has accumulated, according to Martin Hennecke, senior manager of private clients at Tyche.

"The U.S. might really have to look at a default on the bankruptcy reorganization of the present financial system" and the bankruptcy of the government is not out of the realm of possibility, Hennecke said.

:saywhat:

Mebbe we can all move in with Steve. :gomer:

-Kevin

KLang

11-12-08, 11:40 AM

More bailout fallout goodness.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27641538

:saywhat:

Mebbe we can all move in with Steve. :gomer:

-Kevin

Is this from the same people that rated all those mortgage securities?

Methanolandbrats

11-12-08, 11:42 AM

Paulson is on now. He says "we have taken steps to avoid a major systemic event". Alrighty, good job ****er....I think what you mean is Wall Street Bonus checks are flowing again. :thumbup:

trish

11-12-08, 11:50 AM

Do you think we should be paying attention to what's happening in Iceland?

Sean Malone

11-12-08, 11:53 AM

Do you think we should be paying attention to what's happening in Iceland?

What's up? :confused:

Methanolandbrats

11-12-08, 11:58 AM

What's up? :confused: Iceland can't pay it's bills, whole country is bankrupt, nobody will loan them any money.

trish

11-12-08, 12:06 PM

What's up? :confused:

Wake up.

Iceland Bankrupt (http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2008/10/iceland_goes_ba.html)

Iceland's new cold war with the UK (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=30d_1223716658)

Terrorist state (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9c0_1223590325)

Stunned Icelanders (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/world/europe/09iceland.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin)

Sean Malone

11-12-08, 12:36 PM

Wake up.

Iceland Bankrupt (http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2008/10/iceland_goes_ba.html)

Iceland's new cold war with the UK (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=30d_1223716658)

Terrorist state (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9c0_1223590325)

Wake up? maybe CNN should wake up too as there isn't even a blurb about it on the main page.;)

Methanolandbrats

11-12-08, 01:12 PM

Wake up? maybe CNN should wake up too as there isn't even a blurb about it on the main page.;)
The news cover Iceland? :saywhat: Iceland doe'snt have any oil, WGAF about them. It's just a big sauna filled with drunks hobbling each other in the dark nine months out of the year. Pretty much a useless country unless somebody needs a big, remote rock for target practice.

nrc

11-12-08, 02:50 PM

Does this mean no more Icelandic Honey Week? :confused:

dando

11-12-08, 03:26 PM

Wake up? maybe CNN should wake up too as there isn't even a blurb about it on the main page.;)

This made news a few weeks ago, but the bailout, the market meltdown and the election trumped the news over the past month or two. It got coverage, but it was page 6 news and a 30 second blurb on the nightly news.

-Kevin

trish

11-12-08, 03:29 PM

The New Slave

That's right, the American Taxpayer.

First we have this trillion dollar bailout that I don't even remember who it was originally supposed to help. I don't even care, didn't want it. But I'll have to pay for it anyway if I don't want to go to jail.

The government is not only discussing stealing our 401k's (how long before they raid them like they did social security?) they also want to tax us to "contribute" to it (I bet there's no opt out) for a whopping 3 % interest.

On top of that us savers have to worry about inflation (the invisible tax) eating up our life savings. That's if those aren't confiscated too. How long before they decide some big corporation could make better use of the money I saved than I can?

They've already been given the green light to rob citizens of their PRIVATE PROPERTY if a big corporation can use it for the greater good of the community.

We have been sold out to corporate interests. This government isn't for the people by the people anymore, we just pay all the bills while GOD know who is pulling the strings. But American Idol should be on soon, so who cares? :irked:
How did we get to this point?

I really don't think I'm overreacting and I'm getting pretty darn angry. :flame: