Ambac and MBIA seem like one of those
second tier bowl games. Were into the BCS now with WAMU and Wachovia, AIG and Lehamans and waiting for the champion to be named. Goldman? Citi? who will be the big bankruptcy of the season.
So when do we the taxpayers provide a backstop to MBIA and AMBAC.
Sounds like we are taking some kind of acid reflux medicine regime.
"Ask your doctor about AMBAC or AIGMBIA..."
Side effects include nausea, vomiting, uncontrolled bowel movements, incontinence, impotence, sexual dysfunction, dizziness, and strong, uncontrollable urges near sheep.
Seriously folks. Does this not mean a huge huge Cluster Bomb and that Bill Ackman finally makes a killing on shorting AMBAC and MBIA?
If you recall, Mr. Ackman has a large short position in the shares and credit default swaps ( CDS) of AMBAC and MBIA and making a very public campaign to have them properly rated by the rating agencies.
Vanguard has combined "insured" long term tax-exempt bond fund and long-term tax-exempt bond fund, saying that the distinction between insured and uninsured MUNI bonds are not longer useful.
Investors are fleeing Michigan MUNI bonds given the auto industry's weakness.
Kona, did you hear that? Apparently marketing has been goofing off.
Just had a dim-witted thought. Over at Richard Green's blog where Mr. Stiff made some corrections to how Case-Shiller is thought to be worked up -- was this done to let us know in no uncertain terms that Fiserv was running the index, and not S&P? As in... don't blame S&P for any confusion? Eh, will have to revisit during the evening shift.
Whoa! For you long time listeners out there. Remember a few threads ago how we talked about the size of Prof. Krugman's biblical headline? Go check 'er out. Shrunken back down to earthly proportions.
"MI could easily raise the sales tax to 20 or 30% and increase property taxes.
It's working for CA, isn't it?"
Thank Jarvis for Prop 13. Is Barely here? Curious about prior post that said Prop 13 was criminal attack on younger people. Why is it a generational issue? How about the criminal state employee unions, their compensation and worse of all, the DBPs with COLAs. (like $300K/year for 1,000 prison shrinks). Who still gets DBPs in private sector? We're on our own. Government employees are the new economic elitists. And they soon be growing.
Beside the current discussion here, but as there was lively discussion during the Georgian incident: isn't it nice that finally America starts to get access to the truth again, as the republicans will soon be like last winters snow.
Also the massive revisions in past labour figures shows that the elections are over now. No more need nor pressure to cook the books to mislead the sheeple.
CR: A little noticed element of the Moody's story today was that in a separate announcement, Moody's said that it is reversing its old position, and now agrees with Copernicus that the Earth actually does revolve around the Sun, rather than vice versa.
Essentially, what used to be a lucrative grip on the financial markets of central and Eastern Europe - which contributed 42 percent of Austrian bank profits in 2007 - has now been transformed into a strong risk. The situation has even made it relatively more expensive for the Austrian government to borrow - since the spread over 10 year German bund has been sriven up - and has also driven up costs to insure against the seemingly unlikely even of an Austrian sovereign default.
Austrian banks are owed $290 billion by borrowers across the CEE, from Albania to Russia. Its exposure is much higher than that of Italy, Germany and France, and almost on par with what Spain has lent to Latin America, according to the Bank for International Settlements.
Relative to Austria's size, the exposure - roughly equal to its entire gross domestic product - is daunting.
Put another way, should the recent central European hiccup turn into a crisis of Asian or Latin American proportions, with currencies devaluing and debtors defaulting en masse, Austria would be in trouble, and more so than any other western country.
This underlying reality has evidently shaped how the Austrian government is using its 100 billion euro ($129 billion) banking package. The finance ministry last week agreed to boost the capital of Erste Group Bank by 2.7 billion euros, even though the bank, emerging Europe's third-biggest lender, is well-capitalized and funded.
The state money came cheaper and with fewer strings attached than similar deals in Germany or Belgium. There are few rules on how to use the capital - just enough to allow the government to present the measure as boosting domestic credit.
In reality, most of the capital is going to underpin lending in countries including Romania, where Erste owns the biggest bank, or Hungary, where it is number 6.
My translation of the Austria Banking article: Watch out - Austria is Number 1 with a bullet on the Icelandic Charts of Doom. Soon the hills will be alive with the sound of whimpering.
I have raged before at the ability of the players to move the market up in the face of dismal news. Trying to stop the panic but the truth will out. Watch out below sheeple!
I liked Obama because I thought that here was a guy, at last, who could hold a press conference and give a speech. Quite a contrast to so many years of President's storming off the state or obviously telling a pack of lies. Then, with so many Republicans endorsing Obama, I thought, "oh, oh." Then seeing some tendency to fraternize with Clinton administration officials, I thought, OH, OH." Today, I heard him have an excellent news conference, so I am somewhat relieved. I am not poor, but I do think that he needs to roll-back the Bush tax cuts, cut taxes for those making less than 250K, raise taxes for those making more than 250K, and raise/elimminate the social seccurity cap. Also. Also, raise corporate taxes and put a stop to the jobs exports. If he does that I'll be happy, even if I have to pay more taxes. You see, paying taxes isn't unpatriotic. It was a Republican, T. Roosevelt that introduced us to progressive taxation. Even with tax increases, the wealthy won't pay nearly as much as they did 50 years ago when they might pay as much as 90%.
Junk Territory: the area roughly 12-18 inches above the knees and 6-9 inches below the beltline. Marked by appurtanences and valleys with a peculiar odor.
Moody's/Fitch/S&P: burn, baby burn.
Any ideas on how to put in place a ratings system for bonds that is not driven by the rater's profit margin and growth?
are we gonna have a black monday? berkshire profit down 77%. greenspan says we're in a bad recession. wonder what else will surface before the weekend is out.
I just spent 28 minutes on hold with Blue Cross, an organization that needs to be nuked on general principals. This after being on hold for 20 plus minutes on two other occasions. My goal: change my credit card billing number. My crime: having my credit card number changed by the asshats over at Citibank, due to a sceurity breach.
Turns out after waiting all that time, my numbers had been switched on the last call, but the computer spit out a letter anyways. For shits and giggles, I reckon. On questioning the customer service gal, I asked if 28 minutes was an acceptable wait. She explained that they are being flooded (her actual word) with partial payments by phone. The man on the street's way of saying "this suckers going down".
It was then I realized all the feedback loops are cascading, and S&P 600 is all but guaranteed. No jobs begets fewer jobs, more government spending in the face of less gov't revenue. There is no way out. None.
Anonymous writes:
Beware the Obama Expectation Bubble.
From late in the last thread:
We have 2 1/2 months before PEBO takes office. The man is smart and has gathered other recognizably smart folks around him. There is reason for hope. There is also reason for fear. Perhaps too much reason.
I have listened with interest to the debate on this thread between the inflationists and the deflationists. I'm not "entirely" sure who wins that argument, but it's certainly not clear. To my ears the loudest sounds remains 30:1 leverage.
To understand where we are, all I need do is consider how much buying power that gave the shadow banking system, to look at the "damage" that has been done with the information we have been allowed thus far, and to understand that hope does not overcome gravity.
Anonymous, those are nothingburgers, ' berkshire profit down 77%, greenspan says we're in a bad recession.'
Awesome, that folks are buying gold and guns.
Maybe fellow paranoid rightwingers got out of the stock market -- selling their cheapened stock to Rockefeller Republicans and other Obamaniacs -- and bought gold and guns with the proceeds.
"There is alcohol in my very near future.
dr munch"
I'll have a drink to your miserable insurance experience. Somethings I don't like include waiting on the phone for 28 minutes for a 10 second problem, incompetent clowns at rodeos, and three headed dogs with only 1/2 a brain.
reptillian: nice post, but there's just one little problem...the 250k figure in the debates has since dropped to 200k, and other prominent liberals have even said 150k and 120k, so it will be interesting to see where it lands.
Another thing...if too many people are employed by the government, then a condition will form where the people vote to preserve their jobs. This is a completely failed idea and had led to some of the worst nepotism and bloated government the world has ever seen (Western NY is a good example). I fear that this is where we're heading.
Introduction
Press Release
Acquiring Financial Institution
Question and Answer Guide
En Español
Banking Services
Loan Customers
Possible Claims Against the Failed Institution
Priority of Claims
Dividend Information
Brokered Deposits
I. Introduction
On November 7, 2008, Franklin Bank, SSB, Houston, TX was closed by the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed.
The FDIC has assembled useful information regarding your relationship with this institution. Besides a checking account, you may have Certificates of Deposit, a car loan, a business checking account, a commercial loan, a Social Security direct deposit, and other relationships with the institution. The FDIC has compiled the following information which should answer many of your questions.
Just look at the top 100 in CDS contract that I posted the other day. They can start going under with the top of the list and work their way down. The world will be a better place for it.
As of September 30, 2008, Franklin Bank had total assets of $5.1 billion and total deposits of $3.7 billion. Prosperity Bank agreed to assume all the deposits, including the brokered deposits, for a premium of 1.7 percent. In addition to assuming all of the failed bank's deposits, Prosperity Bank will purchase approximately $850 million of assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.
Just one? A week like this, and you're telling me ONE failure? Whats that make it 18? When exactly do we get the double digit numbers...whats taking em so long? Commercial construction loan bustup?
A heads up on actual crime stats would be appreciated, if we have any law enforcement types or spouses of law enforcement types (or criminal defense attorneys) ... would be nice to be a bit ahead of that curve.
The FDIC estimates that the cost of today's transaction to its Deposit Insurance Fund will be between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion. Prosperity Bank's acquisition of all deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund compared to alternatives. Franklin Bank is the eighteenth bank to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Texas since Bank of Sierra Blanca, Sierra Blanca, Texas, on January 18, 2002.
DK writes:
Just look at the top 100 in CDS contract that I posted the other day. They can start going under with the top of the list and work their way down. The world will be a better place for it.
In the pre bailout days, that would have hurt: "...The FDIC estimates that the cost of today's transaction to its Deposit Insurance Fund will be between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion..."
Bob Dobbs: do you have any concern about BHO's idea for a new civilian military force as large and expensive as the US military? Sounds like thought-police to me.
Anoddamoose writes:
A heads up on actual crime stats would be appreciated, if we have any law enforcement types or spouses of law enforcement types (or criminal defense attorneys) ... would be nice to be a bit ahead of that curve.
Here is your heads up. When there are very few actual shoppers, the thieves are much easier to spot.
"Another thing...if too many people are employed by the government, then a condition will form where the people vote to preserve their jobs. This is a completely failed idea and had led to some of the worst nepotism and bloated government the world has ever seen (Western NY is a good example). I fear that this is where we're heading."
DK, my point exactly! In CA we have run away government employee unions who hide behind the cute cardboard cutouts of "First Responders" to justify the most ridiculous comp and pension packages imaginable.
Hey, I'm ready to pay more taxes because that's the reality, but all this talk about "tax the rich" is one big feint to distract the private sector to the absolute rape in government comp. If we're gonna all be "fair" lets be fair on both sides of the aisle.
" DK writes:
Bob Dobbs: do you have any concern about BHO's idea for a new civilian military force as large and expensive as the US military? Sounds like thought-police to me.
DK | 11.07.08 - 7:25 pm | # "
Not familiar with that one, no. Some talk of a national service corps, yes; I have no problem with that, and wouldn't necessarily see it as a force for civil control. If you have a more or less mainstream link, I'd be happy to read it.
Interestingly enough, back in the '30s there was a large amount of controversy over the old Civilian Conservation Corps for a vaguely similar reason. People thought there was a covert plan to shunt all the CCC enrollees into the army.
Blackhalo writes:
"it would be down like matter into a black hole."
Where is the event horizon on the CDS though?
Ahhhh, back to the quad- - --rillion dollar question. Lot's of bets will settle in the next 2 1/2 months. I'm cheering for PEBO, and praying vested interests can't last the tick, tick, tick of time.
Jim Winer is so confident the gold- mining town of Elko, Nevada, will sidestep the recession barreling down on the U.S. that he's developing houses, offices and a shopping mall. ...
Why does Prosperity Bank have to disclose that it took over the assets of Franklin Bank, along with the terms of that takeover, but banks receiving loans against collateral that they choose to post with the Fed are entitled to keep the nature of that collateral a secret?
This is just cover the asses of the "truly important people". Bloomberg I hope you uncover and reveal everything.
The FDIC will go BK sooner than anyone thought. Frank will be happy to see banks using TARP capital to acquire other failing banks by the end of next year.
"Franklin Bank is the eighteenth bank to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Texas since Bank of Sierra Blanca, Sierra Blanca, Texas, on January 18, 2002."
WTF? I was looking at Franklin as a likely place to move to in the event the WF started looking risky. What were those clowns in to that brought them down? Housing has not gone down in Texas, yet. CDS?
DK writes:
"the 250k figure in the debates has since dropped to 200k, and other prominent liberals have even said 150k and 120k, so it will be interesting to see where it lands."
I already arranged to dial down my AGI for next year, but it looks like I didn't make adequate arrangements.
I predict a bubble in CPA fees, charitable foundations, and non-profit orgs.
The FDIC is busted already. That is why WAMU and Wachovia were shifted onto to the TBTF banks.
Sheila is cleaning up the little messess with her pocket change. She's been crooning and pining for bigger and better things and her ability to sweep huge piles of excrement under the carpet and perfume the air to camoflage the stink has attracted Barney Frank's notice.
BTW Chris Whalen says the TBTF banks will be nationalized next year.
"I'll have a drink to your miserable insurance experience. Somethings I don't like include waiting on the phone for 28 minutes for a 10 second problem, incompetent clowns at rodeos, and three headed dogs with only 1/2 a brain."
Ahh yes brings me back to my year long struggle in 2006 I had with Blue Cross California.
1 year long, minimum 100 hours spent on the phone, countless 1 inch stack high letters faxed over supplying all medical records.
Step 1) Deny my claim. Claims adjustors bonus is based on amount of claims denied.
Step 2) Call and request it be looked at again. Wait on phone 10++ minutes each time.
Step 3) Get medical provider to send in documentation.
Step 4) Call multiple times
Step 5) Sorry we didn't receive your claim
Step 6) Call medical provider who provides fax receipt proving documents were received.
Step 7) Fax documents one or 2 more times.
Step 8) Blue Cross denies claim as it's past 30 day due period even though I have proof they received it the first time.
Step 9) File petition.
Step 10)Blue Cross pays between 10-20% of claim.
Step 11 thru 100, file multiple times with multiple departments. Each department having no knowledge of what previous person on phone said or did.
Rinse and repeat. Get denied each time but magically get further payment each time I petition.
Final step after Blue Cross refuses to open case further is file arbitration case with California Medical Ombudsmen.
Magically rest of claim is filled.
Yes my AAA rated $1500/mos 15% deductible on every medical procedure cause no decent specialist in my area takes HMO is worth every cent I paid.
sm_landlord writes:
DK writes:
"the 250k figure in the debates has since dropped to 200k, and other prominent liberals have even said 150k and 120k, so it will be interesting to see where it lands."
I already arranged to dial down my AGI for next year,..."
Its interesting what you can do when not all income is W2. Take gains now, losses later ...
The rumours that either Larry Summers or Tim Geithner will be made Treasury Secretary made me even queasier. The appointment of either of these architects of the current global financial disaster, these arch-deregulators and serial-forbearance artists, would be a great middle-finger to Americas foreign creditors and the global investors suffering asset deflation. Both men have been instrumental in, first, the Feds exported inflation via massive monetary bubble-blowing and, now, the Fed/FDIC/SIPC exported deflation through Chapter 11 and margin call orchestrations ensuring more pain abroad than at home.
Summers would be particularly egregious. Not only did Summers promote the Friedmanite export of toxic debt to the rest of the world at the Clinton Treasury, at the World Bank he promoted the export of toxic pollution to underdeveloped nations to add poison to poverty. To quote from his 1991 memo, "I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that."
Blackhalo writes:
"Yes my AAA rated $1500/mos 15% deductible on every medical procedure cause no decent specialist in my area takes HMO is worth every cent I paid."
Methinks I would have been lawyered up at step 2 for breach of contract/class action. YMMV."
Summers' dad was a pretty nice guy when he taught econ...not sure where his son went off the rails. But man, I will be so disappointed if he ends up Treasury Sec.
Speaking of insurance, it's become clear to me that my own health insurance might be best characterized as "a weasel." On the first visit to a Dr., they sent a letter, "as you know we have a pre-existing condition condition, blah, blah, blah, so please sign and send the enclosed authorization form, with a list of Dr.s previously consulted." I began to think about the insurance business. I thought, "don't the insurance companies have actuaries to ensure that they're premiums are large enough to cover their costs. Don't they know their risks, and charge accordingly?" Apparently not. It's a weasel's game. So I thought that I should start an insurance company and collect premiums. It is the American way, no?
Having to actually use your health-insurance for anything other than a minor procedure has a way of making one jaded over the whole health-care system.
Anyone remember how Colin Powell went up to the UN and spoke darkly of atom bombs and chemical poisons. For that matter so did Bill Clinton when he was in office.
When you hold public office you are given a script and if can't stick to it you are so 'outta here'.
Call me cynical but when a 'Contract
For America' elects a GOP Congress pledged to fiscal sanity ends up in a few years with Denny Hastert as the Speaker and I think I have every right to be.
"This is a completely failed idea and had led to some of the worst nepotism and bloated government the world has ever seen (Western NY is a good example). I fear that this is where we're heading."
you talkin buffalo? care to share? who employed them, the state of NY or local?
Don't fault yourself, its a Federal statute that stacks the deck against all pliantiffs who bring suits. Pre-emption: you can only sue in Federal court - no jury, no class actions (no punis). They didn't want the widows and orphans suing in front of home town juries.
Very tough to find anyone who will take these cases on contingency, and the statute is complicated as all heck.
My health insurance is pretty good except that the deductibles reach every higher.
The money folks know what the public relations people try to convince you otherwise of. Don't see the doctor. If you have health problems... wait. Everyday you avoid medical care is money saved. The disease is the same, the prognosis not improved, by seeing the doctor early. In most cases I should caveat.
The outcome is pretty much the same. Modern medicine might be able to treat a broken limb or patch up a wound but when it comes to disease and health, nature still wins.
perfect unit472 - youve smashed your own cynical argument to bits. The reason Colin did what he did, was because he had a weasel leading him by the balls. This is without a doubt the biggest reason you dont put a douchebag in charge. Power rules, and corrupted power corrupts all below. Now, I dont excuse Powell, for he should have quit, but he bears that cross. The power of Obama is to not put people in such untenable positions. If he does, I'll gladly turn on him in a heartbeat.
i sort of thought that georgia banks would be on bbf.
question? i thought that any and all banks could go to the drive thur @ the fed. so why are we still having bbfs?
There was chatter several threads ago about restarting production of A4 Skyhawk fighters.
There is no need to do this, the New Zealand Defence force has some for sale.
A former pilot told me that this aircraft was basically a series of flying triangles. He held the aircraft in high regard.
Be prepared for difficulties. As part of the original sale Lockmart-Pentagon has to approve any resale and has stubbornly refused to do so even when the purchaser was an American who wanted to operate the aircraft in the USA.
Note to the rest of the world; When you buy stuff from Lockmart-Pentagon the stuff has no resale value.
I am NOT amused. I am not a big fan of PEBO's proposals for health care as I would prefer the U.S. Gov to just subsidize via bid by last SSN for insurance for ~50% coverage - a modest deductible. As that would make the U.S. workforce much more competitive globally but if we get fucked on the back end due to insurance Co. lobbying. WTF to do.
UB - please don't start this again. Everybody , and I mean everybody, has skeletons in the closet, even you. We're only human. We do the best we can. Even Bush and his crew. They did what they thought was best. What would YOU like to see?
"Everyone has good memories of Volker, but its a little like Space Cowboys; I wonder if he's up to it. Probably advisory role at most"
I dunno, my memory was that he was more than willing to fuck the privileged few for the benefit of the downtrodden many. Might be the rose colored glasses at work. But that is how I recall it. Does being old diminish that insight?
Cannot a Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs speak his own mind? Why in the world would a distinguished 4 star general with ample pension and memoir
money allow some academic or 'intelligence' community veteran to prevail upon him to go forth and dissemble upon the world stage?
Is the 7th floor or whatever of Foggy
Bottom so prestigious that such a man
would disgrace himself so?
For that matter, why would a coke snorting, skirt chaser from Little Rock, work himself up into a ( public)
lather about Saddam Hussein as well?
Why does a man with $500 million plus
go down to Washington to be Treasury Secretary just as the bottom if falling out of the Wall St. he presided over.
I mean, why not become a network 'expert and get fawned over by pretty anchorettes? Gotta be better
talking to Becky Quick than Mervyn King and Ben Bernanke.
I have no real answer except that some people have ego's so large they cannot accept that they are not indinsensible and that once in the job they are captured by those around them.
Their every instinct may tell them they are being lied to, that things are not as they are being told but the trappings of power compel them to go forth and, without a clue in the world of what is really the truth, they utter what is expected of them.
A-4 was an Ed Heineman design. First rate aircraft of limited capability.
Lots of bomb load, low cost, agile but not fighter material.
The Argies used them to great effect against the Royal Navy in the Falklands. Problem was they came in so low to avoid British AAA the fuzes on their bombs did not have time to arm and they holed more British ships than they sank.
Unit 472 - well spoken. In the case of Gen. Powell, I have to think he was truly duped. Remember the times. A man with more integrity you could not find. If he had been on McCain's ticket, I would have voted for him, myself. And I consider myself a hard core Dem.
"I dunno, my memory was that he was more than willing to fuck the privileged few for the benefit of the downtrodden many. Might be the rose colored glasses at work. But that is how I recall it. Does being old diminish that insight?"
V dished out the tough love when it was needed and I'm cool with him if he wants a shot, but why would he? Been there done that, and why screw up great rep? Better to whisper from behind the curtain. I think BO is trotting him around just for window dressing, but what the heck do I know sitting 3000 miles from I-495.
I dunno, because he could save our asses? Too much punditry, no end to the corrupt. One guy who in the past did the right thing, damn the consequences. One can only hope.
Re: past wisdom that being an MD is recession proof.
Major BS. Maybe in the 80s. People are not having semi elective procedures (knee scopes, hernias, tubal ligations) because of co-pays, deductibles, and fear of losing their jobs for taking time off.
Omen?
First
Scissors cuts paper.
Sheep are offended.
Catorce!
Who's gonna cut Moody's rating?
in the mood
. . . diminished business prospects
Are they sure?
We need a bank failure. The weekend just doesn't work otherwise.
Hey, the big socialists are taking hits to earnings:
Berkshire Hathaway Profit Falls 77% to $1.06 Billion (Update2) - Bloomberg.com
Breaks my heart.
Ambac and MBIA seem like one of those
second tier bowl games. Were into the BCS now with WAMU and Wachovia, AIG and Lehamans and waiting for the champion to be named. Goldman? Citi? who will be the big bankruptcy of the season.
Ok see, they're supposed to downgrade assets insured, and banks need to write them down as well. Hmmm...except for the Fed.
I think we have a lead into what's in the Fed's wallet now.
Knurd!
Nostrovia,
Does this one go to 11 too?
Counter Party Party anyone?
So when do we the taxpayers provide a backstop to MBIA and AMBAC.
Sounds like we are taking some kind of acid reflux medicine regime.
"Ask your doctor about AMBAC or AIGMBIA..."
Side effects include nausea, vomiting, uncontrolled bowel movements, incontinence, impotence, sexual dysfunction, dizziness, and strong, uncontrollable urges near sheep.
"citing diminished business prospects and a weaker financial profile."
Gee, Do you think!!
So now we have to settle for "Insurer Failure Friday"?
IFF
and
CFF
no
BFF
Bummer...
Is Junk Territory up there by the former Yukon Territory? Is it similar to Siberia, but without the vodka?
Seriously folks. Does this not mean a huge huge Cluster Bomb and that Bill Ackman finally makes a killing on shorting AMBAC and MBIA?
If you recall, Mr. Ackman has a large short position in the shares and credit default swaps ( CDS) of AMBAC and MBIA and making a very public campaign to have them properly rated by the rating agencies.
A relatively bloodless Friday.
I've come to expect more from a failing state.
November is shaping up like Geraldo's unveiling of Al Capone's vault.
Markets have nothing to do with fundamentals. Stocks are a commodity! It is one of the lessons I learned from financialtraders blog.
I was also able to buy at the bottom and sell at the time.
Most recent trades:
Stock Trading | Forex | Financial Markets: stock price predction: QQQQ, NDX, DOW, SPY, NQ Trading (November 6, 2008)
Stock Trading | Forex | Financial Markets: stock price prediction (tomorrow's stock price): QQQQ, NDX, NQ, SPY, DIA trading
Stock Trading | Forex | Financial Markets: stock price prediction (tomorrow's stock price): QQQQ, NDX, NQ, SPY, DIA trading
PS: while at the blog, also check the nailing of October 10, October 16, and October 24 bottoms, and the nailing of the top that followed.
Aww....BOOO SPAM!
BOOOO.....
If you're not making $1000 every day,
CALL ME NOW!!!!!!!!!
November is shaping up like Geraldo's unveiling of Al Capone's vault.
Currently Smoking Cannabis
HAHAHAHAHA
I watched that live!
FOR NOTHING!
"PS: while at the blog, also check the nailing of October 10, October 16, and October 24 bottoms, and the nailing of the top that followed.
Anonymous"
Is this available on video, too. I like a good porn movie on the weekends.
Vanguard has combined "insured" long term tax-exempt bond fund and long-term tax-exempt bond fund, saying that the distinction between insured and uninsured MUNI bonds are not longer useful.
Investors are fleeing Michigan MUNI bonds given the auto industry's weakness.
Michigan Debt Costs Surge on Weakening Auto Industry (Update1) - Bloomberg.com
001: "Who's going to cut Moody's rating"?
Kona, did you hear that? Apparently marketing has been goofing off.
Just had a dim-witted thought. Over at Richard Green's blog where Mr. Stiff made some corrections to how Case-Shiller is thought to be worked up -- was this done to let us know in no uncertain terms that Fiserv was running the index, and not S&P? As in... don't blame S&P for any confusion? Eh, will have to revisit during the evening shift.
CSC re: kwesi -- all his stuff is tight. browse around youboob. ingland is a biaaaatch is especially brilliant.
still early november. they don't call it black friday for nothin.
call this one the red for retail editio
Wonder what that means for CIBCs fortunes?
"Investors are fleeing Michigan MUNI bonds given the auto industry's weakness."
A little late, don't you think?
From the last discussion, a reprint as these move along way too fast for me:
At least two Euro countries issued paper this week. Ireland in 3 years at punitive 25 over swaps, or about a 120 bp over Germany.
And Finland in 4 years at 36 bp over Germany.
Different countries are in different situations. But none would be better without Euro.
Even Iceland and England now would like to join in, of course they cannot be accepted in their current state.
Whoa! For you long time listeners out there. Remember a few threads ago how we talked about the size of Prof. Krugman's biblical headline? Go check 'er out. Shrunken back down to earthly proportions.
What about CA muni bonds- do you think they are any better?
Cheney dead yet?
"Investors are fleeing Michigan MUNI bonds given the auto industry's weakness."
A little late, don't you think?
No. MI could easily raise the sales tax to 20 or 30% and increase property taxes.
It's working for CA, isn't it?
At least 20 percent of the vessels most commonly hired to haul coal and ore are sitting empty as steelmakers cut output and dwindling trade credit halts deliveries.
While the Market pretends, the real world plods through reality.
OT: Interesting that ABC Nightly News has a segment on the big rise in gun sales in our country. Once again, heard it first on CR.
"Broward Horne writes:
"MI could easily raise the sales tax to 20 or 30% and increase property taxes.
It's working for CA, isn't it?"
Thank Jarvis for Prop 13. Is Barely here? Curious about prior post that said Prop 13 was criminal attack on younger people. Why is it a generational issue? How about the criminal state employee unions, their compensation and worse of all, the DBPs with COLAs. (like $300K/year for 1,000 prison shrinks). Who still gets DBPs in private sector? We're on our own. Government employees are the new economic elitists. And they soon be growing.
s_puttnick writes:
Scissors cuts paper.
Rock, paper, SHOTGUN!
It's almost Friday 4:20 folks.
May your glass be clean, your water clear and your baggie full of kind for today's thread music.
Brian Robbins Marijuana music video Video by HerbFriendlyProd. - MySpace Video
What is the half-life of bad propaganda?
Beside the current discussion here, but as there was lively discussion during the Georgian incident: isn't it nice that finally America starts to get access to the truth again, as the republicans will soon be like last winters snow.
- NY Times
Also the massive revisions in past labour figures shows that the elections are over now. No more need nor pressure to cook the books to mislead the sheeple.
CR: A little noticed element of the Moody's story today was that in a separate announcement, Moody's said that it is reversing its old position, and now agrees with Copernicus that the Earth actually does revolve around the Sun, rather than vice versa.
Anonymous writes:
...
Most recent trades:
Statistics prove that Anonymous posters have the best backwards looking returns on the internet. This IS investment advice.
More on Austria....
From an interesting Blog
Baltic Economy Watch
Essentially, what used to be a lucrative grip on the financial markets of central and Eastern Europe - which contributed 42 percent of Austrian bank profits in 2007 - has now been transformed into a strong risk. The situation has even made it relatively more expensive for the Austrian government to borrow - since the spread over 10 year German bund has been sriven up - and has also driven up costs to insure against the seemingly unlikely even of an Austrian sovereign default.
Austrian banks are owed $290 billion by borrowers across the CEE, from Albania to Russia. Its exposure is much higher than that of Italy, Germany and France, and almost on par with what Spain has lent to Latin America, according to the Bank for International Settlements.
Relative to Austria's size, the exposure - roughly equal to its entire gross domestic product - is daunting.
Put another way, should the recent central European hiccup turn into a crisis of Asian or Latin American proportions, with currencies devaluing and debtors defaulting en masse, Austria would be in trouble, and more so than any other western country.
This underlying reality has evidently shaped how the Austrian government is using its 100 billion euro ($129 billion) banking package. The finance ministry last week agreed to boost the capital of Erste Group Bank by 2.7 billion euros, even though the bank, emerging Europe's third-biggest lender, is well-capitalized and funded.
The state money came cheaper and with fewer strings attached than similar deals in Germany or Belgium. There are few rules on how to use the capital - just enough to allow the government to present the measure as boosting domestic credit.
In reality, most of the capital is going to underpin lending in countries including Romania, where Erste owns the biggest bank, or Hungary, where it is number 6.
My translation of the Austria Banking article: Watch out - Austria is Number 1 with a bullet on the Icelandic Charts of Doom. Soon the hills will be alive with the sound of whimpering.
MBIA is still a company?
Could someone with an electrical engineering or similar background lend some help:
Regarding "nailing bottoms", there's got to be a 'bot ohms joke somewhere in here.
I think whatever the punch line is, it should conclude with, "You should have seen the sparks!"
I'm afraid he is still alive.
Might outlive Detroit, Wall Street and the insurance industry.
I have raged before at the ability of the players to move the market up in the face of dismal news. Trying to stop the panic but the truth will out. Watch out below sheeple!
/Off topic
I liked Obama because I thought that here was a guy, at last, who could hold a press conference and give a speech. Quite a contrast to so many years of President's storming off the state or obviously telling a pack of lies. Then, with so many Republicans endorsing Obama, I thought, "oh, oh." Then seeing some tendency to fraternize with Clinton administration officials, I thought, OH, OH." Today, I heard him have an excellent news conference, so I am somewhat relieved. I am not poor, but I do think that he needs to roll-back the Bush tax cuts, cut taxes for those making less than 250K, raise taxes for those making more than 250K, and raise/elimminate the social seccurity cap. Also. Also, raise corporate taxes and put a stop to the jobs exports. If he does that I'll be happy, even if I have to pay more taxes. You see, paying taxes isn't unpatriotic. It was a Republican, T. Roosevelt that introduced us to progressive taxation. Even with tax increases, the wealthy won't pay nearly as much as they did 50 years ago when they might pay as much as 90%.
Beware the Obama Expectation Bubble.
Currently Smoking Cannabis writes:
It's almost Friday 4:20 folks.
May your glass be clean, your water clear and your baggie full of kind for today's thread music.
GREAT Song, I sware watching that video I could smell my apartment and hear my friends laughting. Berkeley was crazy in the 60's.
for those interested in reading some alternative austrian history:
Local Currencies - Wörgl in the Great Depression
Local Currencies – Wörgl in the Great Depression | Dismantle Civilisation
tho the right is reserved to agree that the state & the banksters need to be so attached.
that remains to be seen but soon.
Junk Territory: the area roughly 12-18 inches above the knees and 6-9 inches below the beltline. Marked by appurtanences and valleys with a peculiar odor.
Moody's/Fitch/S&P: burn, baby burn.
Any ideas on how to put in place a ratings system for bonds that is not driven by the rater's profit margin and growth?
are we gonna have a black monday? berkshire profit down 77%. greenspan says we're in a bad recession. wonder what else will surface before the weekend is out.
Anyone caught Misean today? Good read from The Financial Ninja...
[ The Financial Ninja ]: Can this Mess be Fixed?
Friday rant, OT.
I just spent 28 minutes on hold with Blue Cross, an organization that needs to be nuked on general principals. This after being on hold for 20 plus minutes on two other occasions. My goal: change my credit card billing number. My crime: having my credit card number changed by the asshats over at Citibank, due to a sceurity breach.
Turns out after waiting all that time, my numbers had been switched on the last call, but the computer spit out a letter anyways. For shits and giggles, I reckon. On questioning the customer service gal, I asked if 28 minutes was an acceptable wait. She explained that they are being flooded (her actual word) with partial payments by phone. The man on the street's way of saying "this suckers going down".
It was then I realized all the feedback loops are cascading, and S&P 600 is all but guaranteed. No jobs begets fewer jobs, more government spending in the face of less gov't revenue. There is no way out. None.
There is alcohol in my very near future.
I wonder what the laid off IBers are doing right now? My guess is juggling. Anybody else have a guess?
berkshire profit down 77%.
Poor Mr. Buffett. It will be at least another couple weeks before no one remembers his blown time to buy American equities call.
I wonder how long it will take for the History Channel to run Nostradamus/Buffett marathons.
Actually, I'm sure you could find a quatrain or two telling you exactly how long...in hindsight.
It's pronounced...boo-fay....
Ooh, ooh, Dr. Munch!
I too recently received a call from Citi about a card breach.
< strongbad voice >Wonder which soon-to-be-laid-off employee got greedy with the...databases... < / strongbad voice>
Wow what a day. we have learned:
The Queen is not a happy camper & that horse-faced Camilla will probably be pulling Her carriage due to financial losses.
The White House press corp reporters are jockeying for the job of Obama's dog walker.
Santa Claus is(or will be soon)laying off all of us eleves. And we shouldn't look for Keebler to hire us either.
Anonymous writes:
Beware the Obama Expectation Bubble.
From late in the last thread:
We have 2 1/2 months before PEBO takes office. The man is smart and has gathered other recognizably smart folks around him. There is reason for hope. There is also reason for fear. Perhaps too much reason.
I have listened with interest to the debate on this thread between the inflationists and the deflationists. I'm not "entirely" sure who wins that argument, but it's certainly not clear. To my ears the loudest sounds remains 30:1 leverage.
To understand where we are, all I need do is consider how much buying power that gave the shadow banking system, to look at the "damage" that has been done with the information we have been allowed thus far, and to understand that hope does not overcome gravity.
Anonymous, those are nothingburgers, ' berkshire profit down 77%, greenspan says we're in a bad recession.'
Awesome, that folks are buying gold and guns.
Maybe fellow paranoid rightwingers got out of the stock market -- selling their cheapened stock to Rockefeller Republicans and other Obamaniacs -- and bought gold and guns with the proceeds.
Yes we can!
"There is alcohol in my very near future.
dr munch"
I'll have a drink to your miserable insurance experience. Somethings I don't like include waiting on the phone for 28 minutes for a 10 second problem, incompetent clowns at rodeos, and three headed dogs with only 1/2 a brain.
Elvis writes:
I wonder what the laid off IBers are doing right now? My guess is juggling. Anybody else have a guess?
Mimes, custom muffins for kidz, writing a screenplay, getting in touch with their inner emptiness...
Michigan debt reflecting rising risk premiums?
I thought Robyn said munis were safe?
Yes we can!
reptillian: nice post, but there's just one little problem...the 250k figure in the debates has since dropped to 200k, and other prominent liberals have even said 150k and 120k, so it will be interesting to see where it lands.
Another thing...if too many people are employed by the government, then a condition will form where the people vote to preserve their jobs. This is a completely failed idea and had led to some of the worst nepotism and bloated government the world has ever seen (Western NY is a good example). I fear that this is where we're heading.
I bet shoplifting stats at the malls have begun the ascent into the designer label stratosphere.
"We need a bank failure. The weekend just doesn't work otherwise."
I'd be happy with GM, followed by GMAC.
Pizza Pizza
FDIC: Failed Bank Information - Bank Closing Information for Franklin Bank, SSB, Houston, TX
CR, pssst
Franklin Bank, SSB, Houston, TX
Failed Bank Information
Information for Franklin Bank, SSB, Houston, TX
Introduction
Press Release
Acquiring Financial Institution
Question and Answer Guide
En Español
Banking Services
Loan Customers
Possible Claims Against the Failed Institution
Priority of Claims
Dividend Information
Brokered Deposits
I. Introduction
On November 7, 2008, Franklin Bank, SSB, Houston, TX was closed by the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed.
The FDIC has assembled useful information regarding your relationship with this institution. Besides a checking account, you may have Certificates of Deposit, a car loan, a business checking account, a commercial loan, a Social Security direct deposit, and other relationships with the institution. The FDIC has compiled the following information which should answer many of your questions.
Down Goes Franklin!
LOL!!!
Just look at the top 100 in CDS contract that I posted the other day. They can start going under with the top of the list and work their way down. The world will be a better place for it.
Asked this earlier, ask again:
there is an observation of the fed assets, even graphs, but no serious discussion
Why?
Whats up?
where do the assets come from?
How?
What are the mechanics?
Seems like a big bubble to me.
"I liked Obama because I thought ..."
The way I saw it, neither candidate put forth good ideas: because of ignorance, electoral pandering, or whatever.
My key metric: which if them would be most likely to abandon all the crap and face reality when the sh*t hits the fan. On that basis, I chose Obama.
If it had been McCain, and Obama had been more, say, Kerry-like, I would have backed McCai
Bank failure alert: Franklin Bank, SSB, Houston, TX
"I bet shoplifting stats at the malls"
Perhaps I will spend my Friday night at the mall. Nothing but good times there. I will have to bring a flask to spike my Orange Julius, though.
Franklin bank will do.
I hope Bush and his extended family had their money there.
Enabler of schmucks, shysters, and shylocks, he is.
As of September 30, 2008, Franklin Bank had total assets of $5.1 billion and total deposits of $3.7 billion. Prosperity Bank agreed to assume all the deposits, including the brokered deposits, for a premium of 1.7 percent. In addition to assuming all of the failed bank's deposits, Prosperity Bank will purchase approximately $850 million of assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.
Just one? A week like this, and you're telling me ONE failure? Whats that make it 18? When exactly do we get the double digit numbers...whats taking em so long? Commercial construction loan bustup?
A heads up on actual crime stats would be appreciated, if we have any law enforcement types or spouses of law enforcement types (or criminal defense attorneys) ... would be nice to be a bit ahead of that curve.
Geoff, it is only after 4pm on the West Coast
Max - I finally beat you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Huge loss ratio:
The FDIC estimates that the cost of today's transaction to its Deposit Insurance Fund will be between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion. Prosperity Bank's acquisition of all deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund compared to alternatives. Franklin Bank is the eighteenth bank to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Texas since Bank of Sierra Blanca, Sierra Blanca, Texas, on January 18, 2002.
Damn, I forgot, Im on the east coast this week. Wretched! I cant wait another hour plus. Argh!
Oh my God I have to have an Orange Julius right now.
DK writes:
Just look at the top 100 in CDS contract that I posted the other day. They can start going under with the top of the list and work their way down. The world will be a better place for it.
GO GRAVITY !!
In the pre bailout days, that would have hurt: "...The FDIC estimates that the cost of today's transaction to its Deposit Insurance Fund will be between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion..."
Now, it is a nothingburger.
Damn my 5 minute delay!
Max - I finally beat you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
crispy&cole
I hope it wasn't at the sperm bank.
Bob Dobbs: do you have any concern about BHO's idea for a new civilian military force as large and expensive as the US military? Sounds like thought-police to me.
Wow that is a lot of assets that were assumed by FDIC.
Why not report the spammer from above:
Stock Trading | Forex | Financial Markets
here:
I'm receiving email spam from blogspot.com addresses - Blogger Help
Franklin bank in Houston has failed per FDIC
popeye: If gravity worked on CDS contracts, it would be down like matter into a black hole.
Anoddamoose writes:
A heads up on actual crime stats would be appreciated, if we have any law enforcement types or spouses of law enforcement types (or criminal defense attorneys) ... would be nice to be a bit ahead of that curve.
Here is your heads up. When there are very few actual shoppers, the thieves are much easier to spot.
You kicked my ass this time. I glanced at the last few posts, but you were way ahead. Oh, well. More failures next week.
I'll get you next time, crispy. Next time...
DK writes:
"Another thing...if too many people are employed by the government, then a condition will form where the people vote to preserve their jobs. This is a completely failed idea and had led to some of the worst nepotism and bloated government the world has ever seen (Western NY is a good example). I fear that this is where we're heading."
DK, my point exactly! In CA we have run away government employee unions who hide behind the cute cardboard cutouts of "First Responders" to justify the most ridiculous comp and pension packages imaginable.
Hey, I'm ready to pay more taxes because that's the reality, but all this talk about "tax the rich" is one big feint to distract the private sector to the absolute rape in government comp. If we're gonna all be "fair" lets be fair on both sides of the aisle.
DK, Gravity works.... have patience.
Where is CR? Maybe he had some money in Franklin and he is trying to get it out...
Just look at the implode-o-meter page for bank failures.
Your 4:20 Freedom Clip
YouTube - Doug Stanhope on Freedom
DK, put another way.... inflation doesn't have a chance.
I think CR is getting tired of posting lately. See his response to Rob Dawg earlier. I sense he's at a bar getting hammered right now.
"it would be down like matter into a black hole."
Where is the event horizon on the CDS though? Banks? Big 3? GMAC/Ford Credit? Poland? Fed Reserve?
Franklin bank in TX closed. What happened to Alpharetta, Ga. this week?
" DK writes:
Bob Dobbs: do you have any concern about BHO's idea for a new civilian military force as large and expensive as the US military? Sounds like thought-police to me.
DK | 11.07.08 - 7:25 pm | # "
Not familiar with that one, no. Some talk of a national service corps, yes; I have no problem with that, and wouldn't necessarily see it as a force for civil control. If you have a more or less mainstream link, I'd be happy to read it.
Interestingly enough, back in the '30s there was a large amount of controversy over the old Civilian Conservation Corps for a vaguely similar reason. People thought there was a covert plan to shunt all the CCC enrollees into the army.
Anoddamoose | 11.07.08 - 7:24 pm | #
Spouse of criminal defense attorney here. Busiest he has ever been. Anticipates getting busier--might need to hire new staff.
What recession?
Blackhalo writes:
"it would be down like matter into a black hole."
Where is the event horizon on the CDS though?
Ahhhh, back to the quad- - --rillion dollar question. Lot's of bets will settle in the next 2 1/2 months. I'm cheering for PEBO, and praying vested interests can't last the tick, tick, tick of time.
perhaps I should have suggested the quantdrillion dollar question.
Krugman on CNN now.
We will see... I have quite a bit of money riding on his bet as well.
Elko Glitters as Town Avoids `Going to Hell in a Hand Basket' - Bloomberg.com
Jim Winer is so confident the gold- mining town of Elko, Nevada, will sidestep the recession barreling down on the U.S. that he's developing houses, offices and a shopping mall. ...
PSgirl writes:
"Krugman on CNN now"
The cheerleader for wealth destruction. "Ignore deficits"!!! We're in charge now and lets blow out every penny we can lay our hands on.
I hate Swedes for giving this so-called economist a halo.
Why does Prosperity Bank have to disclose that it took over the assets of Franklin Bank, along with the terms of that takeover, but banks receiving loans against collateral that they choose to post with the Fed are entitled to keep the nature of that collateral a secret?
This is just cover the asses of the "truly important people". Bloomberg I hope you uncover and reveal everything.
The FDIC will go BK sooner than anyone thought. Frank will be happy to see banks using TARP capital to acquire other failing banks by the end of next year.
Something wonderful is going to happen.
Anonymous asks what happened to Alpharetta, GA this week?
Banks in the area are now voluntarily turning into upscale pawn shops.
"Franklin Bank is the eighteenth bank to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Texas since Bank of Sierra Blanca, Sierra Blanca, Texas, on January 18, 2002."
WTF? I was looking at Franklin as a likely place to move to in the event the WF started looking risky. What were those clowns in to that brought them down? Housing has not gone down in Texas, yet. CDS?
popeye writes:
... The man (O) is smart and has gathered other recognizably smart folks around him.
...Biden...
DK writes:
"the 250k figure in the debates has since dropped to 200k, and other prominent liberals have even said 150k and 120k, so it will be interesting to see where it lands."
I already arranged to dial down my AGI for next year, but it looks like I didn't make adequate arrangements.
I predict a bubble in CPA fees, charitable foundations, and non-profit orgs.
The FDIC is busted already. That is why WAMU and Wachovia were shifted onto to the TBTF banks.
Sheila is cleaning up the little messess with her pocket change. She's been crooning and pining for bigger and better things and her ability to sweep huge piles of excrement under the carpet and perfume the air to camoflage the stink has attracted Barney Frank's notice.
BTW Chris Whalen says the TBTF banks will be nationalized next year.
"I'll have a drink to your miserable insurance experience. Somethings I don't like include waiting on the phone for 28 minutes for a 10 second problem, incompetent clowns at rodeos, and three headed dogs with only 1/2 a brain."
Ahh yes brings me back to my year long struggle in 2006 I had with Blue Cross California.
1 year long, minimum 100 hours spent on the phone, countless 1 inch stack high letters faxed over supplying all medical records.
Step 1) Deny my claim. Claims adjustors bonus is based on amount of claims denied.
Step 2) Call and request it be looked at again. Wait on phone 10++ minutes each time.
Step 3) Get medical provider to send in documentation.
Step 4) Call multiple times
Step 5) Sorry we didn't receive your claim
Step 6) Call medical provider who provides fax receipt proving documents were received.
Step 7) Fax documents one or 2 more times.
Step 8) Blue Cross denies claim as it's past 30 day due period even though I have proof they received it the first time.
Step 9) File petition.
Step 10)Blue Cross pays between 10-20% of claim.
Step 11 thru 100, file multiple times with multiple departments. Each department having no knowledge of what previous person on phone said or did.
Rinse and repeat. Get denied each time but magically get further payment each time I petition.
Final step after Blue Cross refuses to open case further is file arbitration case with California Medical Ombudsmen.
Magically rest of claim is filled.
Yes my AAA rated $1500/mos 15% deductible on every medical procedure cause no decent specialist in my area takes HMO is worth every cent I paid.
sm_landlord writes:
DK writes:
"the 250k figure in the debates has since dropped to 200k, and other prominent liberals have even said 150k and 120k, so it will be interesting to see where it lands."
I already arranged to dial down my AGI for next year,..."
Its interesting what you can do when not all income is W2. Take gains now, losses later ...
What a Moody's rating means in picture form
Everyone should read what London Banker (http://londonbanker.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default)has to say about Summers:
The rumours that either Larry Summers or Tim Geithner will be made Treasury Secretary made me even queasier. The appointment of either of these architects of the current global financial disaster, these arch-deregulators and serial-forbearance artists, would be a great middle-finger to Americas foreign creditors and the global investors suffering asset deflation. Both men have been instrumental in, first, the Feds exported inflation via massive monetary bubble-blowing and, now, the Fed/FDIC/SIPC exported deflation through Chapter 11 and margin call orchestrations ensuring more pain abroad than at home.
Summers would be particularly egregious. Not only did Summers promote the Friedmanite export of toxic debt to the rest of the world at the Clinton Treasury, at the World Bank he promoted the export of toxic pollution to underdeveloped nations to add poison to poverty. To quote from his 1991 memo, "I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that."
"Yes my AAA rated $1500/mos 15% deductible on every medical procedure cause no decent specialist in my area takes HMO is worth every cent I paid."
Methinks I would have been lawyered up at step 2 for breach of contract/class action. YMMV.
Baldrik:
So who should he pick?
Its never about the decision, its all about the choices.
Blackhalo writes:
"Yes my AAA rated $1500/mos 15% deductible on every medical procedure cause no decent specialist in my area takes HMO is worth every cent I paid."
Methinks I would have been lawyered up at step 2 for breach of contract/class action. YMMV."
Think ERISA first.
Blackholo,
I'm a cheap bastard and would rather fight myself then pay someone else to fight the claim.
There are services that you can actually hire that take a cut of the claim to get you back what was already owed to you.
"Think ERISA first."
Color me clueless. What does this mean?
My guess is that IF the USG can't sell
its debt then it will do what they did in the UK and nationalize private
pension funds to finance it.
The USG doesn't like big piles of private capital. They sit there as a silent rebuke to our national debt. So convert them.
"The USG doesn't like big piles of private capital. They sit there as a silent rebuke to our national debt. So convert them."
That explains the drooling over the 401(K)s then. What is left of them.
Vistualian,
If he only has Summers and Rubin to pick between, he's already in trouble. Volcker would do in a pinch.
ERISA - Employment Retirement Income Security Act - google for full info
Summers' dad was a pretty nice guy when he taught econ...not sure where his son went off the rails. But man, I will be so disappointed if he ends up Treasury Sec.
001, thank you very much. It is good for one to learn something new.
Speaking of insurance, it's become clear to me that my own health insurance might be best characterized as "a weasel." On the first visit to a Dr., they sent a letter, "as you know we have a pre-existing condition condition, blah, blah, blah, so please sign and send the enclosed authorization form, with a list of Dr.s previously consulted." I began to think about the insurance business. I thought, "don't the insurance companies have actuaries to ensure that they're premiums are large enough to cover their costs. Don't they know their risks, and charge accordingly?" Apparently not. It's a weasel's game. So I thought that I should start an insurance company and collect premiums. It is the American way, no?
reptillian,
Having to actually use your health-insurance for anything other than a minor procedure has a way of making one jaded over the whole health-care system.
Treasury Secretary, Smeasury Secretary.
Anyone remember how Colin Powell went up to the UN and spoke darkly of atom bombs and chemical poisons. For that matter so did Bill Clinton when he was in office.
When you hold public office you are given a script and if can't stick to it you are so 'outta here'.
Call me cynical but when a 'Contract
For America' elects a GOP Congress pledged to fiscal sanity ends up in a few years with Denny Hastert as the Speaker and I think I have every right to be.
Now Krugman's latest headline "Note to Commenters" is huge like the biblical headline was.
Do they always do this? Make the leading headline huge and then shrink it down when the new post takes the top spot?
Who cares, right?
Health insurance is a way to reward management for restricting care
"I bet shoplifting stats at the malls have begun the ascent into the designer label stratosphere."
i'll buy that CDS with you (as long as i can buy on inside info).
any sellers?
DK,
"This is a completely failed idea and had led to some of the worst nepotism and bloated government the world has ever seen (Western NY is a good example). I fear that this is where we're heading."
you talkin buffalo? care to share? who employed them, the state of NY or local?
Blackhalo writes:
"Think ERISA first."
Color me clueless. What does this mean?"
Don't fault yourself, its a Federal statute that stacks the deck against all pliantiffs who bring suits. Pre-emption: you can only sue in Federal court - no jury, no class actions (no punis). They didn't want the widows and orphans suing in front of home town juries.
Very tough to find anyone who will take these cases on contingency, and the statute is complicated as all heck.
My health insurance is pretty good except that the deductibles reach every higher.
The money folks know what the public relations people try to convince you otherwise of. Don't see the doctor. If you have health problems... wait. Everyday you avoid medical care is money saved. The disease is the same, the prognosis not improved, by seeing the doctor early. In most cases I should caveat.
The outcome is pretty much the same. Modern medicine might be able to treat a broken limb or patch up a wound but when it comes to disease and health, nature still wins.
perfect unit472 - youve smashed your own cynical argument to bits. The reason Colin did what he did, was because he had a weasel leading him by the balls. This is without a doubt the biggest reason you dont put a douchebag in charge. Power rules, and corrupted power corrupts all below. Now, I dont excuse Powell, for he should have quit, but he bears that cross. The power of Obama is to not put people in such untenable positions. If he does, I'll gladly turn on him in a heartbeat.
"Where is the event horizon on the CDS though?"
the LHC -- LHC_Homepage
We ask, and Gawker answers:
These People Will Fix Your Money - Barack Obama - Gawker
Baldrick writes:
"Vistualian,
If he only has Summers and Rubin to pick between, he's already in trouble. Volcker would do in a pinch."
Everyone has good memories of Volker, but its a little like Space Cowboys; I wonder if he's up to it. Probably advisory role at most.
i sort of thought that georgia banks would be on bbf.
question? i thought that any and all banks could go to the drive thur @ the fed. so why are we still having bbfs?
There was chatter several threads ago about restarting production of A4 Skyhawk fighters.
There is no need to do this, the New Zealand Defence force has some for sale.
A former pilot told me that this aircraft was basically a series of flying triangles. He held the aircraft in high regard.
Be prepared for difficulties. As part of the original sale Lockmart-Pentagon has to approve any resale and has stubbornly refused to do so even when the purchaser was an American who wanted to operate the aircraft in the USA.
Note to the rest of the world; When you buy stuff from Lockmart-Pentagon the stuff has no resale value.
@Comrade Vistulian
I am NOT amused. I am not a big fan of PEBO's proposals for health care as I would prefer the U.S. Gov to just subsidize via bid by last SSN for insurance for ~50% coverage - a modest deductible. As that would make the U.S. workforce much more competitive globally but if we get fucked on the back end due to insurance Co. lobbying. WTF to do.
"A4 Skyhawk fighters."
Been a long time since I served. Is that an Intruder?
UB - please don't start this again. Everybody , and I mean everybody, has skeletons in the closet, even you. We're only human. We do the best we can. Even Bush and his crew. They did what they thought was best. What would YOU like to see?
"Everyone has good memories of Volker, but its a little like Space Cowboys; I wonder if he's up to it. Probably advisory role at most"
I dunno, my memory was that he was more than willing to fuck the privileged few for the benefit of the downtrodden many. Might be the rose colored glasses at work. But that is how I recall it. Does being old diminish that insight?
Weasels don't lead men by the balls, Geoff.
Cannot a Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs speak his own mind? Why in the world would a distinguished 4 star general with ample pension and memoir
money allow some academic or 'intelligence' community veteran to prevail upon him to go forth and dissemble upon the world stage?
Is the 7th floor or whatever of Foggy
Bottom so prestigious that such a man
would disgrace himself so?
For that matter, why would a coke snorting, skirt chaser from Little Rock, work himself up into a ( public)
lather about Saddam Hussein as well?
Why does a man with $500 million plus
go down to Washington to be Treasury Secretary just as the bottom if falling out of the Wall St. he presided over.
I mean, why not become a network 'expert and get fawned over by pretty anchorettes? Gotta be better
talking to Becky Quick than Mervyn King and Ben Bernanke.
I have no real answer except that some people have ego's so large they cannot accept that they are not indinsensible and that once in the job they are captured by those around them.
Their every instinct may tell them they are being lied to, that things are not as they are being told but the trappings of power compel them to go forth and, without a clue in the world of what is really the truth, they utter what is expected of them.
In my opinion.
A-4 was an Ed Heineman design. First rate aircraft of limited capability.
Lots of bomb load, low cost, agile but not fighter material.
The Argies used them to great effect against the Royal Navy in the Falklands. Problem was they came in so low to avoid British AAA the fuzes on their bombs did not have time to arm and they holed more British ships than they sank.
"For that matter, why would a coke snorting, skirt chaser from Little Rock, work himself up into a ( public)
lather about Saddam Hussein as well?"
What the huh?
Coke snorter=Bush
Skirt chaser=Clinton
Saddam Hussein=Bush
Little Rock=Clinton
I can not make sense of this.
Security Pacific bank now owned by FDIC.
FDIC: Failed Bank Information - Bank Closing Information for Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles, CA
That's a big one!
I shall treasure my Security Pacific suede document bag that I still keep my insurance papers in as a relic of this once proud bank.
Unit 472 - well spoken. In the case of Gen. Powell, I have to think he was truly duped. Remember the times. A man with more integrity you could not find. If he had been on McCain's ticket, I would have voted for him, myself. And I consider myself a hard core Dem.
Blackhalo writes:
"I dunno, my memory was that he was more than willing to fuck the privileged few for the benefit of the downtrodden many. Might be the rose colored glasses at work. But that is how I recall it. Does being old diminish that insight?"
V dished out the tough love when it was needed and I'm cool with him if he wants a shot, but why would he? Been there done that, and why screw up great rep? Better to whisper from behind the curtain. I think BO is trotting him around just for window dressing, but what the heck do I know sitting 3000 miles from I-495.
The FDIC estimates that the cost of today's transaction to its Deposit Insurance Fund will be between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion.
Finally, a bank that takes losing money seriously.
But we can do better. Come on, Citi!
"I have to think he was truly duped."
This rings true for me, as he was not long for the administration after the fact.
My impression was that the guy has some smarts and quite a bit of integrity but fell in with the wrong crowd.
Who?
@Comrade Vistulian
"but why would he?"
I dunno, because he could save our asses? Too much punditry, no end to the corrupt. One guy who in the past did the right thing, damn the consequences. One can only hope.
Blackhalo - yeah, Powell got shafted.
Pissed Off In Ca.: I'm an MD, and I get it both ways from Blue Cross. They suck.
Re: past wisdom that being an MD is recession proof.
Major BS. Maybe in the 80s. People are not having semi elective procedures (knee scopes, hernias, tubal ligations) because of co-pays, deductibles, and fear of losing their jobs for taking time off.
And plastic surgery is dead. Flat out dead.
FDIC: Press Releases - PR-113-2008 11/7/2008
Houston
Prosperity Bank Acquires All the Deposits of Franklin Bank, S.S.B., Houston, Texas
L.A.
FDIC: Press Releases - PR-114-2008 11/7/2008
Pacific Western Bank Acquires All the Deposits of Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles, California
(I called a Dallas, TX FDIC supervisor today about a job and her voice mail directed me to her email due to the high call volume.)
Doesn't that automatically make the insurance and thus the bonds held by a large swatch of retirement and other funds, non-conforming ?
Moody's ???
Who would care about theese clowns anyway ?
(except CR, hihi)