Federal Government Asks Banks to Lead AIG Lending Facility
Submitted by
CalculatedRisk on Mon, 09/15/2008 - 11:32am (228 comments)
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Can't be 1st can I?
i will say it tommorow
Wow! Beat Nemo!
Well done
tick tock tick tock tick tock
Is this the same facility the 10 banks were putting together over the weekend?
Fed won't owe GS and JPM a favor for this. No siree.
$75 billion.
300M U.S. Citizens.
That's $250 per man, woman, and child.
Good lord.
Feds ask Goldman, JPMorgan Chase to lead AIG lending
Define "ask".
Question . . . As far I understand the law, Insurance Companies and Pension Funds are only allowed to by AAA rated securities. In addition, they don't have to revalue these securities unless they sell them (no mark to market). So, here's my question . . . Wouldn't you think the insurance companies and pension funds have bought a ton of these so-called AAA tranches of these CDOs and have not marked these securities to market? And if that's the case, aren't there potentially huge losses for these entities and for people nearing retirement? And, if that's the case, isn't this the biggest freakin' elephant in the room?
CR you working up a sweat over there?
Just hammering these posts out!
Cheers!
.....
Hmmm.. USD moved down a bit.. so it must be true.
Nemo,
Its like when your mother use to ask you to clean your room....
......
Thought it was $7MM per bank.
Well, this should make Roubini's prediction about the death of the IBs come true faster.
This is for AIG only?
Oh dear.
Nemo,
Ask- tell GS and JPM to lend with a secret guarantee to back the loan 100%. Can't have people thinking (knowing) it is another bailout.
Where will these guys get the money? GS could be ugly tomorrow.
SR
AIG can't tap the FED window so U.S. Gov't permits remaining IBs to borrow from FED and lend to AIG. I would have to think both GS and JPM are going to earn some great fees on the back of this FED-orchestrated shell game.
ades, right now I'm just reacting to the news. IMO, AIG really goofed by not making some sort of statement this morning.
Now everyone is wondering how bad it really is. I expect some sort of announcement later today ...
With Lehman going BK, and BofA buying Merrill, I would have thought those would be the biggest stories of the day!
Best WIshes.
FED is getting smart. Take equities as collateral and ask the banks to bailout other financials instead.
Why doesnt treasury just open up a tip jar? global reach
People must be feeling better about AIG. It hit $3.70 this morning, and now it's at $5.76.
Calculated Risk writes:
I expect some sort of announcement later today ...
Definitely before asia opens.. AIG is even bigger than LEH.
does goldman then get Wachovia with a hall pass to dump half the otpion arms on the FHLB system?
Nostradamus --
Good thinking. The devil is in the details of the loans.
Long financials, short everything else is starting to sound reasonable at this juncture.
Dollar index just went a lil negative.
Bailout imminent.
Is this what those commercials mean when they say:
"Whoohoo!"
?
I'm just reacting to the news.
Its been a hell of a 24 hours....
......
Nipsy Russell writes:
Question . . .
That was an astute question, but there is another question that supercedes yours, at least as I see it.
And, I submit that it is important.
We have existing rules, and should expect an immediate response.
The other question that supercedes yours is... given those models were made in a different world, "" how soon will those old rules collapse "" ?
People must be feeling better about AIG. It hit $3.70 this morning, and now it's at $5.76.
That's kind of like Freddie and his fat little sister Fanny did, however it didn't work out real well for anyone that held over the long term.
wow, the number on Haloscan here is rising exponentially in the last 5 minutes or so.
Another bridge to nowhere.
This is being played out exactly as was done GD.
We're almost there.
These lending facilities and stock swaps for FED cash is not new.
So this is completely separate from the 10 bank consortium that was created last night?
I am confused.
What did I miss? 1000 up.
Do they have the ability to do this? Their balance sheets are alreay pretty tapped out...
Pump done, run for exit, DOW under 11K
Mrkt just figuered out what I said...wont work...5 more minutes for the next stupid plan..
10963...
Rock Lobster... Down! Down! Down!
Napster, Inc. NAPS +85.29% 120.71M
See every cloud has a sliver lining....
.....
Why is it I think Cramer is out yelling Buy, Buy, Buy, right about now and screaming at the FED for a rate cut. I don't watch TV and haven't for several years but that dude is an ass.
People are getting crushed at the trading floor exit door...
How long after the close are they going to be processing orders lol
CR--
you've got just over a thousand people watching, as I type this. Congrats!
Today's market close reminds me of the WWF pro wrestler, King Kong Bundy.
Bundy would never accept just a three count when he pinned an opponent. He always told the ref "I WANT FIVE!"
As in a 5 handle down. Or maybe even Dow 5000!
Turn the machines back on! Turn the machines back on!
Disbelief in MER + BAC growing into the close.
The spread is widening.
10-year yield is at a 60-year low.
Even counting last March.
Everyone is here for the close. Hi everyone.
energyecon writes:
Turn the machines back on! Turn the machines back on!
energyecon | 09.15.08 - 4:00 pm | #
Hahaha, that was great.
Long financials, short everything else is starting to sound reasonable at this juncture.
Long BAC, Long SDS. For the Long Haul, 2010.
OT:
Cubs thru 6 with ANOTHER no-hitty going. Would be back2back no-nos if completed.
Now return to your regularly scheduled financial chatter.
RationalJeff:
I asked the same thing. No response as yet.
SP500 gonna close below $2000. DJ below 11,000
I'm still listening to Ike coverage on and off. Can you imagine being in Houston, no communications except storm coverage, and that's what you're focused on, then towards the end of the week you finally look at the financial news ... and
look at Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act. The Fed is "asking" for the banks to provide credit b/c its a precondition to it making the loan itself.
Section 13
3. Discounts for Individuals, Partnerships, and Corporations
In unusual and exigent circumstances, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, by the affirmative vote of not less than five members, may authorize any Federal reserve bank, during such periods as the said board may determine, at rates established in accordance with the provisions of section 14, subdivision (d), of this Act, to discount for any individual, partnership, or corporation, notes, drafts, and bills of exchange when such notes, drafts, and bills of exchange are indorsed or otherwise secured to the satisfaction of the Federal Reserve bank: Provided, That before discounting any such note, draft, or bill of exchange for an individual, partnership, or corporation the Federal reserve bank shall obtain evidence that such individual, partnership, or corporation is unable to secure adequate credit accommodations from other banking institutions. All such discounts for individuals, partnerships, or corporations shall be subject to such limitations, restrictions, and regulations as the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System may prescribe.
does smith and wesson trade? get me long
Thank you to whoever it was who was warning about insurance companies here a year ago. It might have looked safe to me otherwise.
whoops, SP below 1200, not 2000$
If AIG needs $75b, they are done. Put a fork in.
Pass the horseradish.
Which Federal Government, the one I pay taxes to?
oh nooo, wait just a minute...
first of all, the IB's job is to form a syndicate...
where is the syndicate of dollars going to come from to raise 75 BILLION>?
10,957.49
-464.50 (-4.07%)
That's gonna smart
Dow broke 11K, how long till real closing.
Whats the final close for S&P?
LEH 0.20 -3.45 (-94.52%)
AIG 4.76 -7.38 (-60.79%)
WB 10.76 -3.51 (-24.60%)
Come on... is this all you got?
4% haircuts on DJ, SP500, R2K, NYSE Comp.
Nemo writes:
10-year yield is at a 60-year low.
Even counting last March.
Nemo - think it was low 3%s in the refi wave of summer '03
What a day!!
Wow Dow down just below 500
S&P
1,195.38
-56.32
Still sinking
People have to understand. AIG is a bookie. A go between. It isn't the company, it is the possibility that its customers, upstanding corporate citizens, might be exposed as both gamblers and whelchers. It is settling time and all the good old boys buying rounds for the pub are discovered to have no money, only IOUs from other bar patrons.
DJIA -493 and oil is at $95! Hey look at that..trickle down economics does work!
Suckers..
Bottom?!?
Anonymous writes:
S&P
1,195.38
-56.32
thanks.
Rob Dawg,
Well written.
Ho-Hum, were only half way there and there are a lot of handgernades sitting around with the pins pulled. Stay tuned.
We just cracked 500!
Wamu: 2.00 down .73 (26.7%)
DJIA -500.16
JJ --
Nemo - think it was low 3%s in the refi wave of summer '03
Yup, I missed that one when I scanned the list. Thanks for the correction.
That dingbat Jim Cramer is still batting 1000 (always wrong). His July bottom call in stocks is now officially part of his (im)perfect record.
Dow 10,921.83 -500.16 (-4.38%)
Nasdaq 2,179.91 -81.36 (-3.60%)
S&P 500 1,194.05 -57.65 (-4.61%)
Only the start, boys and girls, won't be over till my handle applies
LEH 0.20 -3.45 (-94.52%)
AIG 4.76 -7.38 (-60.79%)
WB 10.76 -3.51 (-24.60%)
Come on... is this all you got?
Interesting Times | 09.15.08 - 4:07 pm | #
lol. Please consider your new handle: Tis but a flesh wound.
smells like 1929.
GLD up 2.67%, but CBOE Gold down 4.38%? WTF?
wow
Does anyone else wonder how much debt Leh has, and who does it owe?
Answer:
FT.com / In depth - Lehman’s outstanding debts total $600bn
500! How/Why's it still moving so fast? Huge numbers of trades right at the close?
energyecon - I second that. That was some last minute rush for the doors...I think some of the stragglers are still exiting.
Asia and Europe is going to get killed.
Where's that announcement for AIG???!!
CNBC going to do special this evening "Is Your Money Safe?" at 7pmET. Between the news that's beginning to filter out on MSM, and today's happening I think J6P is beginning to get a clue. If WAMU blows this Friday????
Didn't they try this back in 1929 with the old Bank Pools? That didn't work out so well back in the day - why do they think it will work now?
I am certain all the folks who traded today found it harrowing. I'm not convinced any of you thinks the pain is done.... I could go on, but that will be your own torture... I am confident you all did your best, and I'll leave it at that.
7M+ trades at the end
JP - I'm the guy who's tied up to a pole in the middle of a hurricane smoking a cigar.
And the Cubs' no-hitter is gone on a Mark Loretta single.
Think we'll see $90 oil tomorrow?
1022 visitors. WTF?
Where do you all see trading volume?
I just use google finance...
.....
Backhat writes:
Rob Dawg,
Well written.
Thanks, wait until somebody gets enough time to look at price earnings going forward. It doesn't even matter prices anymore, firms like AIG aren't doing any business while retaining operating costs.
Hey, is something up with Wells Fargo?
They don't look like they're done for the day.
AIG is a bookie. A go between
Not so. One of my companies used to be insured by AIG. They provide insurance for free in hopes of making money off the float. Similar to GM & Ford.
That's the way the insurance business is now run. During the dot.com boom, they were literally giving away the insurance to get the up front money. Rates soared after the dot.com stock market crash. My premiums for umbrella quadrupled in one year.
Nipsy Russell: ... isn't this [insurers' exposure to CDOs] the biggest freakin' elephant in the room?
Not quite. The biggest one is the fact that foreign central banks started dumping agencies two months ago.
Anybody wanna join in a chorus of "The Party's Over"? (grin)
Calculated Risk - and all..
I have rev'd a lot of historical stuff w/r/t AIG I simply cant find anything that screams "oh S***".
Summary:-
U.S. Stocks Tumble, Sending S&P 500 to Worst Drop in Six Years
U.S. Stocks Drop, S&P 500 Sinks Most Since 2001 Terror Attacks - Bloomberg.com
I WANT FIVE!
mp,
You better break out those Scrooge McDuck cartoons and I mean right away!
I saw 1035 visitors a few minutes ago.
Market down 4.5%. Bobbleheads on CNBC promptly call for a 100 bp FFR cut.
Wall Street welfare != capitalism.
Is the 75 billion just to meet the new oversight requirements for their ratings? Is that number fixed or does it increase with further stock price loss? Are they not related at all? I'm wondering what this 75 billion is actually for and if in a week it could be 100 billion or 50 billion.
Analysts are still going on about liquidity.... That's not where it's at... It's SOLVENCY now!
1022 visitors. WTF?
That would be caused by all the LEH, MER and AIG people trying to get real news on what's going to happen next.
That would be caused by all the LEH, MER and AIG people trying to get real news on what's going to happen next.
RayOnTheFarm
All the other bloggers and columnists looking for their next headline;)
It was the lack of relevant market information that lead to the adoption of the Securities Act of 1933. That's just a fact.
26,000 newly unemployed with myPhones Crackberries that haven't yet turned off are all here pushing the visitor count up.
CR, see if you can get some monster dot com sponsorship.
I cant wait until this weekend...
Headline:
"Lehman finds out there is no undo button after bankruptcy."
What does Sarah Palin think about this?
I cant wait until this weekend...
I don't think you'll have to.
I smell a bank failure this coming weekend.
So I suppose it will be easier to get into Bungalow 8 this weekend
Not long until the number of visitors on CR is higher than the S&P.
Dow down 504.48
S&P 59.00
wow, the number on Haloscan here is rising exponentially in the last 5 minutes or so.
Some of us still have jobs.
The doctors will let me out of here as soon as I quit thinking everyone is plotting against me.
So in the middle of the day's maelstrom, somebody posted about lines at WaMu. Is it true?
Not long until the number of visitors on CR is higher than the S&P.
Touche!
......
J6pack is going hear about this for a few days...
Rob Dawg
Funny you say that, I'm looking at nytimes/monster.com banner on CR's front page right now
So I suppose it will be easier to get into Bungalow 8 this weekend
alybaba
Restaurant reservations should be wide open in Mahattan this weekend, too.
Hey, is something up with Wells Fargo?
They don't look like they're done for the day.
They looked great until 3:30...
The doctors will let me out of here as soon as I quit thinking everyone is plotting against me.
But we are.
When does Greenspan come on TV with Ben/Hank and talk about the market being just a little frothy?
JP it was lawyerliz but she said she heard it thru someone and didnt see it...
....
I wonder if Manhattan private schools are seeing a sudden outflux of students.
Won't someone, anyone, thinks of the trust funds?!
CR breaks 1000!
Are you smug GOP supporters thrilled about your lame ass party and the financial meltdown that it has primarily been responsible for ?
As Mother Jones reported in June, eight years ago, Phil Gramm ( McCain's guy ) then a Republican senator chairing the Senate banking committee, slipped a 262-page bill into a gargantuan, must-pass spending measure. Gramm's legislation, written with the help of financial industry lobbyists, essentially removed newfangled financial products called swaps from any regulation. Credit default swaps are basically insurance policies that cover the losses on investments, and they have been at the heart of the subprime meltdown because they have enabled large financial institutions to turn risky loans into risky securities that could be packaged and sold to other institutions.
The fall in oil is just astonishing. Stick a fork in California. It's done.
NYC retailers report emergency shortage of Depends...
They've called for FEMA backup
thanks nades.
999 visitors
Can only mean one thing.
Emergency!!!(youtube)
I wonder if Manhattan private schools are seeing a sudden outflux of students.
Funny you mention that. Curbed NY : The New York City neighborhoods and real estate blog had an article about housing on the island getting cheaper. I'd expect a lot more people selling their overpriced townhomes soon...
.......
Won't someone, anyone, thinks of the trust funds?!
Interesting Times
They still have their legacy admission to Harvard. They'll just have to earn some money, poor babies;)
So - the leading IBs plan to create a massive unprecedented cooperative emergency lending facility - in spite of a forest of conflict of interest and cooperative action issues -
and it gets soaked up by ONE COMPANY before they're even done setting it up!
NYC retailers report emergency shortage of Depends
Too funny!
Nanook...can you elaborate please?
So does today put to rest the theory that lots of visitors on CR the night before means a rally the next day?
dia de muerte
I honestly wouldn't mind if the government stepped in and nationalized these stupid, insolvent insurance companies. It'd be a backdoor to national health insurance.
As per my forecasts last month, the USD/YEN has decisively broken its weekly uptrend from the March 17th lows (click on my homepage, go to weekly view, extend time to MAX and see for yourself).
With that breakdown comes terror to the markets - DJIA off over 500 points on all time record volume (volume confirms price). Next stop: INDU 9600.
I dub today the "Whack a Mole Day"
(of course there could be more moles to whack tomorrow)
.........
The Dean of Penny Stocks | CollegeStock
TED spread spikes to a 6-month high
WAMU: Made a deposit today. No lines at all. Not the least hint of a problem. Well, the lobby was full of makeshift signs - asking people to be polite about cellphones.
re: lines at WaMu
Where are the major cities that they have a lot of branches? Besides Seattle, obv.
If it's true, the local papers might have something about it.
Just wait till the carnage shows up in 401k and IRA cliff dives in FMV at the end of the 3rd Q.
J6P isn't going to be happy....
1056...
can i haz a
i was there when CR cracked a 1000 visitors
t-shirt?
Now i'm paraphrasing here:
BOA head just said LEH going down no big deal (they didn't get the Fed backing on LEH) BUT,
if AIG goes down
watch out
J6P isn't going to be happy....
That's J1P now...
(of course there could be more moles to whack tomorrow)
We are all moles now. whack
The next Pres. will have to sell to the American a bail out plan similar to RTC -- the only way out of banking insolvency. Sorry US taxpayers, no other way around this mess. The FED might lower rate to limit the constrictive effect on liquidity and on the general economy which needs to roll over loans. They have some wiggle room now that oil and other commodity have fallen off. Treasury and FED must contain the contagion to other healthy parts of the economy.
"can you elaborate please?"
Expanded drilling operations in SoCal were the last best hope. A new derrick went into Beverly Hills this summer. Even offshore was getting a second look. Now, what's the point?
black dog, it cracked a thousand last night. We are testing new highs today.
1042 a few minutes ago.
BARNYARD ALCHEMIST RECIPE (AKA WALL STREET CHICKEN SALAD):
FIRST: Gather 10 lbs. chicken shit
SECOND: Grab a 5 lb burlap bag
THIRD: Stuff the chicken shit into the bag
FOURTH: Shake well.
FIFTH: Spread on saltines & garnish with parsley
Serve with Manhattans for authenticity.
-- Hiding out
There have been at least two attempts to start a run on WAMU with bogus rumors of lines. If there every actually is a run on WAMU, there are multiple WAMU customers here, including me, and I would post a personal account with imageshacked pics if anything ever happened. No doubt many others here would do the same. The "run" is still dump monkey rumors.
1046...
I was here last night for the 1000+.
Can I haz t-shirt.
The next Pres. will have to sell to the American a bail out plan similar to RTC -- the only way out of banking insolvency.
Yes yes yes.
And the sooner the masses realize this, the faster we return to normal. Otherwise, it's the Japanese-style recovery.
WhyTF are we talking recovery when we are clearly still on the downslope?
I'm thinking a tee-shirt that has ZIRP with one of those ghost-busters signs around it....
....
Nothing new to report at the WaMu bank branches here in Seattle. Will drive by a few more on the way home and will report in if I see anything interesting. Should I bring my videocam?
ew post.
Yes yes yes.
And the sooner the masses realize this, the faster we return to normal. Otherwise, it's the Japanese-style recovery.
JP
One of Obama's off-paper advisor's is Volcker. I suspect he will be duking it out with Reich if Obama gets in. Anyone think he would take Fed Chair if Obama asked? Talk about discipline!
AIG has a ratings & liquidity problem, which they're trying to fix. But when insurance companies have ratings & liquidity problems, money usually goes out the door faster than it comes in.
I mean, how many customers of AIG of all stripes and sizes are working right now to get their money out as fast as they can. It's not a bank, there's no FDIC, and its way to big to fall back on NY State Guaranty Fund.
Suppose the govt. came out and said: "Sorry, no redemptions from AIG for a couple of weeks until we get these loans negotiated??" It could happen.
Agree on the RTC style approach. Onl;y thing missing is leadership. Shocking.
The whole thing gives the term "Quarterly Witching" a whole new meaning....
Hardog
Hell-of-a-day.
Where's my f&*kin nothingburger?
Waitress!
Fed injects $70 Billion in liquidity, AIG gets loan. No direct bailout just a stealth(snark)bailout. Move along, nothing to see here.
ades writes:
Not long until the number of visitors on CR is higher than the S&P.
Give it a month or 2 and maybe higher than the Dow
"I honestly wouldn't mind if the government stepped in and nationalized these stupid, insolvent insurance companies. It'd be a backdoor to national health insurance.
You had better get this and you had better get it soon. The US is already borrowing money just to pay the interest on the national dept. The US is well on it's way to having top print money therefore monetize the debt especially as the rest of the world slow and the dollar rises as wealth is vaporized making out export more expensive and cutting demand. We can't afford none of this crap and if some dumb ass particularly a politician say they can they are full of crap.
I watched Mayor Bloomberg on TV...It's the evil speculators...
It could not be our "financial engineering" that is terrorizing us, because that would mean... we might not fully understand what we are doing..
"I suspect he will be duking it out with Reich if Obama gets in. "
Big if. Realistically...
Goldman's earnings are tommorrow pre-opening...
I closed two savings accounts at WaMu on Thursday and walked across the street and opened accounts in BA. The accounts manager said I was the third person that week that did so and we deposited a total of 500 k. He also said he did a million dollar week a few months back when the first WaMu news hit the fan.
Just an anecdote, but someone is gaining from WaMu's sorrows.
Any predictions for tomorrow?
I closed out some short positions today as I've learned nothing make sense on Fed announcement days.
steelhead, where did you get that news?
Just an anecdote, but someone is gaining from WaMu's sorrows.
syvanen
This meshes with Roubini "trickle" bank run statement today.
speculator - that makes two of us. Closed a ton today, of course, a bit too early, but that's ok. I did not want want to give it all back tomorrow on some crazy Fed talk and a rate cut.
State insurance guarantee funds are only for "admitted" and are not available to "non-admitted" policies. Most commercial insurers sell both. If you or your broker don't know the difference, then "ruh roh"
Pavel Chichikov writes:
"I suspect he will be duking it out with Reich if Obama gets in. "
Excuse me, our professional class is not some "Lucha Libra" show..
I will gladly trade you this option on a pony for a CR 1K t-shirt!
BoA is the last place I'd switch my money to at this point.
Lucha Libra USA...
Reich v Bloomberg...
Lucha Libre USA
Excuse me, our professional class is not some "Lucha Libra" show..
Harndog
I don't know, I thought that's what they were doing at the NY Fed this weekend...
Good afternoon tiny players. There was a little bottleneck this morning, but our VIPs have cleared out and we're on our way. Please remain seated while we accelerate to terminal velocity. If you're seated on the left, the next thing you'll see is prison camps and a police state. If you're on the right side, be watching for traitors, terrorists, and anyone named after a dictator. Enjoy the ride down, folks. And welcome aboard the Flaming Handbasket.
Currently Smoking Cannabis...
As long as it is entertaining...
"nades, right now I'm just reacting to the news. IMO, AIG really goofed by not making some sort of statement this morning.
Now everyone is wondering how bad it really is. I expect some sort of announcement later today ..."
Better to be quiet and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt?
Currently Smoking Cannabis, is my seat cushion a floatation device???
Where are the major cities that they have a lot of branches? Besides Seattle, obv.
Can you imagine how many FDIC people it would take, if they have have to cover every branch on the same day ?
Someone post the clip from 'Aliens' - "We're on an express elevator straight to hell!"
RayOnTheFarm
I think that and the fact the FDIC only has enough to cover about 50% of insured deposits is what's holding back the shut down.
In the event of a graph that resembles a parrot's beak, a bag of delusion will drop from overhead. Please put on your own delusion before placing delusion on your child.
Chip Diller: Remain calm. All is well!
Animal House, 1978
I'm angry! I'm going to go kill,gut,skin,and then eat a Moose and then maybe do the same thing to a IB,whatever that is!
BAC reported some 300% increase in deposits over recent months. People truly believe BAC is too big to fail. This happens as BAC bought CFC and now MER. Flight to safety. Long on BAC is the bet.
For your comfort, we provide blankets of empty promises and false hope if you require one. Blankets do not need to be paid for on delivery, a fee of both your legs will be collected at a later time.
I withdrew my 30 grand from Wamu Thursday and will keep my check under my pillow till this whole thing blows over.
Whew, Dow closed down 504, glad we dodged that bullet. Infortunatly the gun it was fired from was not a single shot bolt action, but an AK-47 with a full clip
I withdrew 99,999.99 from my Wamu Today and will keep the check in a lockbox under my bed
I got my last $1.60 out of the bank and spent it on gum.
Dope,
I wouldn't keep that check under the matterss for long, lest the paper it be written on more valuable than its notational.
I keep most of my money in my Schwab account these days. Mostly invested one way or another (SKF, QID, DXD TWM etc. for now). I don't think they are going under anytime soon.
You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on.
George W. Bush
George W. Bush Quotes
I wouldn't keep that check under the matterss for long, lest the paper it be written on more valuable than its notational.
JS
It could have value as a souvenir of the Investment Economy.
Oh boy, we have the Asian markets opening tonight. Wonder what they're going to think of all the goings on.
I'm pretty old fashioned.
I hold part of my wealth in tulip bulbs.
Got gold?
Who thinks if the markets start to really tank tomorrow that they'll give them a .25 point lollipop to suck on?
Yeha me too, but their margin rates are killing me. 7% at Schwab, 4% at Fido. I see a switch to Fido in my near future.
I don't think the rate cut would matter much at this point. But what do I know?
Some sociologist should do a survey of voting registration, oh around November 1, in the NY financial district and associated bedroom communities to see if there is any change from, say, before the Demo convention and post Lehman BK.
Looking at just what has happened since July 2007, objectively, how does one remain a staunch Repub and a one of 25,000 former Lehman employees at the same time?
And yes, got glod. And brass and lead and other ingredients.
Went to a WAMU branch in Santa Monica over lunch. Lines were mostly normal, maybe a little on the long side. I've seen longer and shorter.
Currently, the banks are insolvent and since they are the conduit for liquidity their hoarding cash and unwillingness to roll over loans or make new loans begin to affect the general economy. Cut rate will not help the banks but ease the credit flow to the rest of the economy.
McCain said the economy is fundamentally strong today. Talk about poor timing. He needs a new catch phrase.
Currently my BOFA 0% interest CC balance is 5x my checking account balance - if they go down and eat my checking account, I'll just call us even.
John McCain: September 15
"The fundamentals of the economy is strong" \
"aren't they, Sarah?"