Unofficial Problem Bank Lists Increases to 584
Submitted by
CalculatedRisk on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 7:43pm (144 comments)
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If they keep closing more than 5 banks a week, I am going to have to stop drinking and start sniffing glue.
Casino's closed ladies and gents. Collect your chips....
And once again my home state has no one on the list.
Georgia's really pissing me off. I had six on the BFF poll.
Those Georgia bankers really are on a bunch of slackard rednecks.
I'm gonna have a beer and watch the Conan fireworks before Pinewood Derby tomorrow. Three more years and I'm done, woot!
Two biggies on the list from Puerto Rico - RG Premier & Westernbank - combine for almost $20B. Sheila better get after them soon - best possible time of year down there right now. Who knew PR was a warm Iceland.
Captain Ned wrote:
When they have banks there they will.
Pigged:
Black Star Ranch wrote:
That is a question I cannot answer. I've not been around long enough to have seen the budgets in the 60's. I only have a relative understanding of the levels of service provided. You didn't have IDEA back in the 60's, so you didn't have the financial outlay for special ed like you do today. You also didn't have ELD programs or computer labs. That said, as a student in the 70's we had school nurses, music, art, and athletics, lower counselor caseloads, school sponsored bus transport, robust school lunch programs, summer school, etc.
I'm sure there is data available on changes in per pupil expenditures adjusted for inflation over the past 50 years. I'll see what I can track down.
What I know about today is that were are cutting into core Instruction now. There comes a time when operational efficiencies diminish with further consolidation and increased staff to student ratios. Safety and educational method and efficacy are eventually degraded. If we continue on the path of American economic powerdown, deeper cuts are going to eventually require a society wide rethink on how public education is provided. I mean deep rethink. We're not there yet, but were close to the bone now. We're just cutting days of instruction now...there aren't any supplemental programs that exist at our district to cut excluding special ed and ELD. GATE is already gone. I imagine ELD may be rolled into the general fund in a couple years if the state budget continues on its current trajectory.
CRE Troubles Hurting Big/Small Banks Alike
FDIC-insured banks now hold the largest share of mortgage debt and their exposure is “at historic highs.” As of September, CRE loans backed by income-producing properties - nonfarm, nonresidential properties or multifamily real estate - totaled $1.3 trillion, or nearly 18% of total loans and leases. Banks and thrifts also held almost $500 billion in construction and development loans.
It seems that every 5 minutes some commentator on the major business news networks mentions that smaller banks are the ones most at risk from CRE loans. But Bair threw cold water on that notion.
“Despite what you may be hearing, CRE credit problems are affecting big and small banks alike. In fact, CRE noncurrent and charge-off rates are higher at banks with over one billion dollars in assets than at community banks. Industry analysts expect CMBS delinquency rates to continue climbing.”
Here's a tip I taught my boys when they were in pinewood derby. Hollow out the pinewood and put steel pellets or fishing sinkers in there. Then, putty over the hole with wood dough so the judges can't see it.
My boys didn't win. But their cars went faster, and they didn't finish last and embarrass me.
Assuming no more failures this late, BOOYAH. I picked 9.
aleister perdurabo wrote:
Woooooo dude! That's a great idea! Make loans to income PRODUCING properties...DOH!
In the last thread, SNAFU wrote:
**SNAFU (profile) wrote on Fri, 1/22/2010 - 7:55 pm replyIgnore userOT
Watched on the national and local news, they are bringing out hundreds of Haitian orphans to the US. Miami is preparing for thousands to be boatlifted soon. I hope this ends well, but it will not. Orphan or not, human children cannot be uprooted without unpleasant consequences. Thinking out aloud! **
I'll repeat my question, "Snafu -- do you think these unpleasant consequences will be worse than their deaths by hunger and thirst and lack of medical care?"
How did it pass weight?
How many is that total?
I had six too homedad...better luck next week..
I know you never would have thought of that by yourself.
Hub has the barfs. Hope I don't get it. Might just be a variant
of motion sickness.
There is some kind of stomach virus going around up here liz...I've managed to avoid it so far...
Ever hear of operation Pedro Pan? Parents willingly sent their kids
out of Cuba. One of my clients and his bro came here that way.
Neither was mad at the parents, and my client is quite outspoken
and is convinced he would be dead or in jail if he hadn't been sent
away.
Florida will do its part.
Nitey nite Kristina.
aleister perdurabo wrote:
I believe our esteemed host, CR, also has said that smaller banks are more at risk from CRE loans. He may have phrased it that smaller banks made a higher proportion of CRE loans than the national banks.
Either way, though, Bair does not "throw cold water" on the notion that smaller may be at more risk by just citing statistics on loss ratios. The issue is whether the losses will cause the banks to fail. In the case of smaller banks a lower loss ratio on a higher proportion of CRE loans could well be fatal. For the larger ones, not so much.
Hubby and I have discussed adoption. I would consider adopting one of the Haitian children. I'm afraid I'd lose my mind though. I worry obsessively about everything. I would drive me, the hubby and the child crazy.
Did or did not Reid say he would oppose Bernake? NPR said
he was pro, and I was in the car.
rich wrote:
You used steel or lead? Heh - no wonder they didn't win - the winners filled the holes with tungsten... unless they were Army brats - then their dads will get spent uranium for them. Pinewood derby teaches kids more about life than anything except 'science fairs'.
You'd be surprised. And crazy is better than starved.
And diseased.
CR, do you have any thoughts as to the discrepancy between regionals and big-cap banks this week? Do you think the stability of the likes of RF is overstated?
My clients parents eventually got here.
The dad died a couple of years ago at 98.
The client said oh, he died too soon. 98?
But I wanted him to live to be a 100!
dryfly wrote:
Only if they have a broken scale.
And in that case, the density of the filler matters less than the placement.
Fun with icons?
That was my thinking as well liz. With hubby being black he could at least help with the process of assimilating into this society as well. And he loves kids. I don't dislike them really, they just terrify me. Hubby would be a great Dad though. Now I really have to go to bed GRRRRRR.
dryfly wrote:
Careful with that son, it'll take out a BMP at about the half way point on the track.
Title: Ménage à trois with a side of doom.
Author: LLiz.
Comrade Kristina wrote:
Kids are pretty resilient in the right setting - it might be good for you as well as them. Understand a lot of these kids have seen a lot - much of it beyond bad, even before the earthquake. One of our friends adopted a child from the ghettos of Rio - he was severely malnourished and very much abused. He's had a rough go of it here but better than he had there.
Oh yes.
I was more thinking of the catz eating the squirrel, but ok.
dryfly wrote:
Then winter rolled in...
lawyerliz wrote:
A solid 'aye'...
Reid supports BB.
The kid would prolly be emotionally ok-well as much as you can
be with the earthquake. Lots of them have lost their parents. You
would be infinitely better than nothing.
OK, you're the artist...
Title: Deux chats mangeant un écureuil with a side of doom.
Artist: LLiz.
And why pray tell is the mkt going down solely because
of possible non apptment of BB? Bad unemployment have
nothing to do with it?
Gosh, if the icons get dense enough I could do a drip swirl
painting.
How about ranks of different colored dots?
lawyerliz wrote:
It keeps the "marks" at the table...
In the 80s, I had a temp job moving plumbing fixtures around a new school construction site. Now, as I swim the waterways of the East Bay, I see only "learning cottages". Even in the good neighborhoods, I see piles of "learning cottages".
J6P's kids in a decade will a mass of idle hands.
lawyerliz
has nothing to do with that, more to do with foreign credit bubbles and oil
Comrade Krstina, in case you check back in:
YouTube - Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (Live 1969)
You could do worse in life.
relax.
Hmmm, does ken have a foot fetish?
lawyerliz wrote:
Even before the earthquake - it was not so good in Haiti. These kids have seen a lot. BTW - the husband of one of my wife's coworkers does missionary work there [not all preaching either - clinics, schools, basic infrastructure]. It was bad before, unbelievable now. He was there when the quake hit - took them a week to get out - just got home. It was beyond bad.
dryfly wrote:
I know. The winners were doing things smarter and more unethical than me. That's why I told my boys they had to cheat. The goal wasn't to win but to participate, have a great time, and not look stupid.
They are gonna start getting cholera soon
if the water and poop issue isn't addressed.
I'll just tell you what my wife said, and maybe it will make you feel better. She participates in a parents support group where there are several people who adopted kids from Russia or Ukraine, and they grew up to do beserk things almost daily.
She said that's because orphans in those countries are put in cages and abused. But in Haiti, the kids are loved. They run around on the ground like free-range chickens, and they turn out well adjusted when adopted.
rich wrote:
LOL - life's lessons.
Well it's not cheating if it's expected.
There are the rules and then there are the real rules.
The
breaks all of them.
The Haitians I've represented (not many) and know are
really nice people. There are some scum of course, but
mostly they are nice. Don't know why the country is so
screwed up and the trees all cut.
Also, nobody should give them another cinderblock.
They need some sort of flexible building material.
rich wrote:
That is if they weren't malnourished when young - in Haiti that is possible. Like I said - friends of ours adopted a child from a ghetto in Brazil - he had lots of issues from that. Some he was never fully able to overcome. Having said that - he got a FAR better shot at a future here than he would have ever had there. And his adopting parents never regretted doing it. But it was a tough road.
lawyerliz wrote:
Figure that out [and fix] and you'll be heading off to Oslo next summer.
Wall Street seems to be coalescing around the view that:
The financial crisis was caused by:
- Sub-prime excesses due to a) ill-conceived Government policies and b) lax Government regulation
- AIG -- an Insurance Company, not a bank -- that make big/bad credit bets
"No harm, no foul"
So, the banks and IBs don't see any reason for stepped up regulation because they were not at fault, They see Obama's reforms as motivated purely by politics.
Sympathetic ears might think these arguments have some merit. But what about Citi's off-balance sheet SIVs? (Others?) What about the failure of bank risk management to consider the possibility for the subprime bubble to burst resulting in having too little equity/reserves? The banks arguments seem to confuse cause and effect. If the bubble had not burst when it did, it just would have just become a bigger problem when it DID burst. Talk (hope) of the time of a "soft-landing" was BS, I think, that rationalized the growing bubble, As bubbles get bigger, I think, they become more and more frail so that at some point even a minor "event" can pop it.
The banks will always get into trouble collectively. Obama's/Volker's fairly mild reforms seem a small effort to reduce, if not eliminate, that risk.
Haiti is the only nation in the world whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion. As a result of that hard-fought "freedom", for much of the last 200 years Haiti has been paying reparations to France for the loss of their slave labor. Even very recently up to 80 percent of their national budget went to paying off these and other ancient, immoral debts. Talk about being upside down on a mortgage! These enormous debts are in large part responsible for Haiti's tumultuous leadership and rapacious extractive industries. The country has been sucked dry of it's natural resources since Christopher Columbus landed in 1492, to the benefit of most everyone but the Haitians themselves. In other words, Haitians have been behind the eight-ball for quite a long time now.
Wikipedia page about Haiti.
Rachel Maddow segment that covers some of that history.
In short, much of the "new world" from the Unites States all the way to South America would be a radically different place today if Europe's expansionist efforts hadn't been stymied by Haiti's "freedom fighters" more than two centuries ago. France is now leading an effort to erase Haiti's debts, and Italy has recently joined the call. One can only hope that Haitians find a way to take advantage of this horrible disaster, if only the rest of the world can finally give them the economic and social justice that they deserve.
Rachel Maddow segment with Jubilee USA, which advocates forgiving the debts of very poor countries.
'Financial innovation'
The network co-risk...banks lending to banks...interbank collapses...funding contagion...has lead to hoarding...
Back in March 2008...this network was co-linked through inter-bank business and transfers:
Lehman Bros.-Wachovia-Wells Fargo-Merrill Lynch-Bear Stearns-Morgan Stanley-BofA-AIG-Citigroup-Goldman Sachs-JPMorganChase
What's the regulatory plan to reduce 'systemic risk' for what left of this group of 'systemically important entities'?
Jackrabbit above is basically looking at the same issues of how to regulate this TBTF group.
Reducing the 19 to 10 or 5 only increases 'systemic risk' to a smaller pool of giant institutions...
There hasn't even been a way to measure the risk of this this huge and growing 'systemic risk' group. If some of the remaining TBTF giants are hoarding reserves and can survive...we'll just end up with Super-Sized systemic risk to be threatened with all over again...
There's no risk; Lehman, Bear Stearns, and AIG all failed and look where we are now.
It's simply a way to mask "holy **** if we have any deflationary shocks we are all *****"
Think about it this way; instead of TBTF or "systemic risk" I like a better phrase: "systemically important".
Do you think anything or any one is too important that they can't be replaced?
dryfly wrote:
Sheila's crew has been down there for months. Local politicians are getting in the way. FDIC can't close a bank on its own, it needs the chartering authority to make the decision and name FDIC as the receiver. The best the FDIC can do without help from the locals is to revoke the deposit insurance, an action that's full of Washington DC lawyering with all of the implicit costs. Section 8(a) actions are very rarely started and almost never run to completion.
JP wrote:
Weight? No such thing as Peak Fat- it is a liberal conspiracy, like global warming-
ere.
First off, there is no "obesity problem". It only exists in the minds of dieticians and doctors who want more research money to combat a bogus obesity "epidemic" they've invented. The politicians also want to use it as an excuse to grab even more power and restrict our God-given FREEDOMS to consume mass quantities of junk food, all as part of their evil goal of a Marxist one-world government.
Extra body fat is good not bad. It serves many useful purposes: insulates us from cold, stockpiles calories in case of emergencies, cushions us during automobile accidents, and naturally discourages unwanted sexual advances from liberal pervert politicians like John Edwards and Barney Frank. And there's no real evidence of a correlation between consuming mass quantities of so-called "junk food" and being overweight. These "blame America" liberal food Nazis just want to discredit good old-fashioned American chow made by productive well meaning American companies, like Monsanto and Kraft, and force us all to eat effeminate European food, like arugula and quinoa.
Professor Gold has a theory about abiotic fat. He says we become fat, not because of alleged overeating, poor diet or laziness, but because of a naturally occurring process whereby vast amounts of abiotic fat dissolved in the earth's mantle are slowly leaching upwards and being aborbed through our skin. Over time, this ether-fat builds up into the luxurious robe of surplus calories that arrogant liberals disparage as "morbid obesity". This process occurs more rapidly and noticeably among Americans --especially Red State True Americans-- because we are GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE. He clearly favors us by providing an extra thick layer of protective nutrients.
For more information, I recommend reading Thomas Friedman's "The World is Fat", the late Julian Simon's "The Ultimate Cheeseburger", and the late Michael Chrichton's "State of Flab".
--HARM
Woohoo:
Next TARP COP hearing was announced, field hearing on CRE in Atlanta! Those field hearings are awesome... especially when they take questions from the people in the crowd.
On Wednesday, January 27, the Congressional Oversight Panel will hold a field hearing in Atlanta on the state of commercial real estate lending, the potential effect of commercial real estate problems on the banking system, and the role and impact of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in addressing that effect. The Panel will hear from government witnesses as well as local bankers and investors about their perspectives on commercial real estate, the financing markets, and the performance of the TARP.
The Panel is currently scheduled to hear from the following witnesses:
Jon Greenlee, Associate Director, Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
Brian Olasov, Managing Director - Atlanta, McKenna, Long and Aldridge
David Stockert, Chief Executive Officer, Post Properties
The full witness list will be announced in advance of the hearing.
No...and I was also thinking you can put lipstick on a pig (reforms lite) but now it'll be a 'bigger' pig (owning a shitload of properties).
YLSP,
'Systemically important'...I like that...the 'risk' was taken out for some TBTF's...but important to whom? The public? There's not much lending to the public now. No mods per se. Systemically important to the systemically important. That's it!
Maybe its just me but CR have you changed type faces?
But some states and nations seems to be feeling the 'risk' of failing because of deflation and the credit freeze. Some states may have to start their own 'State Banks' to start over while defaulting on the TBTF.
merchants of fear wrote:
Paulson looked em straight in the eye ... congress flinched.
mof wrote:
LOL (but feeling kind of weird doing so)
I suggest we embark on a letter writing campaign for Geithner.
Currently there are 4 letters from Geither into the Treasury regarding questions on TARP (3 of them addressed to Timmy, 1 to Allison).
Letters can be found here.
I suggest as a prank on the TARP COP panel everyone just compose faux letters and send them to the panel pretending to be from Geithner.
For instance, here is one letter Mrs. Warren sent:
During and after your testimony before the Congressional Oversight Panel on September
10, you said that you would be willing to provide the Panel with the inputs and formulae for the
stress tests, including the loss rates you referred to in your testimony. I followed up with a letter
to you on September 15 to request that information as soon as possible. A copy of my original
letter is enclosed.
Although I sent my letter in advance of the Panel’s questions for the record, emphasizing
the urgency of my request, I have not yet received any reply. By contrast, Treasury has already
sent the Panel the formal responses to the questions for the record.
Effective oversight depends on timely response from the Department of Treasury to the
Panel’s requests for information. This is especially true of the stress tests, which have been a
critical part of your strategy to assure bank stability. I would appreciate receiving the
information I requested more than two months ago so that our Panel can continue its work.
Here's a response:
Dear Madame TARP COP,
I apologize for not responding earlier to your letter. We really didn't run any useful stress' tests, we simply pulled numbers out of the air, hand-waved some graphs that we thought could pass for being from the stress tests and bluffed the whole way through. So far we've gotten 8 months out and everyone still believes we ran a meaningful stress test. For instance, our stress tests assumed that my pal Ben would inject $3T in liquidity into the financial sector through various Federal Reserve acronym programs designed to disguise that the Federal Reserve is simply doling out cash for trash. We also assumed that the economy would make a stellar 4th quarter recovery.
In truth; the stress tests weren't performed by Treasury, they were actually outsourced to Goldman Sachs, we handed over all the information entrusted from us by the 19 large banks. They spit out the nice looking report. Lloyd however has been ignoring my calls lately; I'm not sure but I suspect that he's in the process of hand-picking my replacement. I'm going to hang around the Goldman offices next Friday and see if I can catch him coming to or leaving work, because I really don't want to be dragged before your panel.
Your primary prisoner,
TurboTax Tim
lawyerliz wrote:
You and Jackson Polllock
┌─┐
┴─┴ Chinese Village Constructing World’s 15th Tallest Building | chinaSMACK
ಠ_ರ
328m or 1076ft, 74 floors, Asia's tallest rotating restaurant, 5 floors of just gardens
fyi -- remember the spat about China's urbanization statistics, this is just one of the funnier albeit less inaccurate examples of a rural area
fyi 2 -- that's taller than the Chrysler building. built with public money. imagine if Jefferson County Alabama built a Chrysler building instead of some dinky little sewer bond + swap agreement.
ps -- once this one is done, they want to build another mega-project that is 118m or 1765ft, 118 floors, take 12 years to build. estimated cost at 6bn RMB, but this 'rural village' plans on raising 10bn RMB in the next 3 years, so don't worry about it. 3.5mn people... a rural village... suspiciously dependent on steel and construction at the superficial level, but basically cheap government loans and the ability to re-circulate the ponzi through the commune ownership/accounting structure
If Bernanke goes, how long can Geithner and Summers last?
'Contrary bets' or 'prudential risk management'...or just 'exotic bets against the housing market'
(Posted earlier)
It's all in how you describe it...
Goldman under investigation for its securities dealings - Yahoo! News
The US women played China in the soccer World Cup. Mia Hamm. Brandi Chastain. They used their elbows and size to intimidate the opponents, but wound up in a tie after regulation. The goalie, Briana Scurry, came out of the crease early to make the winning save on a penalty kick. She said, "It's not cheating if the ref doesn't call it". The US won the World Cup.
Rah rah rah.
Cheating is cheating, win or lose.
Obama has to ask if he's in for one term...by keeping those other guys (handlers, planners, advisors, etc.) on the big banking support 'team' around...but going against the big banking support policies O supported so far won't look so good either...it's a pickle.
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Why Is California Broke?
TJ and The Bear wrote:
As Tainter has pointed out, we are reaching a point of diminishing returns on supporting this much complexity.
We need to make other arrangements--
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Fluorinated water
Once thing's for sure...the propaganda spin and shill PR has to be improved dramatically and be more convincing...to keep the same exact system in place (with a little tiny bit of tinkering)...which is systemically important to the system operation.
Massive RE bubble bust?
They aren't spending enough.
Decline in tax revenues?
Spin this puppy! Save the Squid!
Maybe Mish should ask, "Why is California not [still] part of Mexico?
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Fluorine??
TJ and The Bear wrote:
ide.
Comrade Misean is Dope wrote:
I know, just razzing EHP.
Hey Evil... seems to me that the US ought to BUY Canada. Not buy Canadian, mind you; just buy the country. All of a sudden all that imported oil, gas, timber & beef would be "domestic"; wouldn't that be cool? Can't be that expensive, really.
p.s.: BTW, did you catch the Brock Lesnar interview?
Fluoride is the name of a compound with Fluorine which is the chemical element. Fluoridated is adding Fluorides, and Fluorinated is adding Fluorine. Either way it's a communist plot, I avoid it and women sense my power, but I do deny them my essence
Well both of you just razzed yourselves re: Fluorine & Fluoride
As for Lesnar, I did hear about it briefly on the radio because there was some suggestion that he might be conveniently ready for the first UFC fight in Vancouver this summer. Meh, not offended at all. Even sounded funny because apparently his US hospital had misdiagnosed him that led to the problem. I can understand though, if I was in Seattle and hurt, I would go back to Canada as soon as I was stabilized.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Well, we know you're definitely not Broward.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
I hear mixing it in the oceans will make sea creatures teeth very sharp.
YouTube - Dr. Strangelove - Precious Bodily Fluids
mish's list for CA...
And oh yeah, the cost of living is high in much of CA's high population urban areas and the RE bubble made it a lot more expensive...
Mish questions the basic fractional reserve money system we have and then says taxes and unions (keeping up with inflation and bubble price cycles from 'easy money' and deregs) are doing the state in...
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Or we could refight the War of 1812 in 2012. 200 years later, the empire strikes back.
Systemic linkages from CA to the credit cycle machine...systemic linkages from states to TBTF institutions and monetary 'interest rate' policies creating nationwide cycles but especially in some areas?
Anyway back to flouride.
Comrade Misean is Dope wrote:
lol, what is this fight going to be for. Seriously, are there going to be American slave masters whipping us in our cubicles? That's just an added cost because we're fairly open and those wages that would be eliminated are being spent freely. Productivity would go down too. Such a bummer. Not to mention the inevitable resistance led by lumberjack commandos
Besides, Canadians are already in the key positions of power within the US. Total ouroboros
Mish does have a handful of good commenters though.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
We got Rednecks.
However,
"Besides, Canadians are already in the key positions of power within the US."
I had forgotten the powerful impact of controlling SNL and several national news readers. I maaaay have to rethink this.
Huh, hoocoodanode - ran across this article by a former director of the IPE (International Petroleum Exchange), arguing the thesis I've been muttering about for months:
Asia Times Online :: Middle East News, Iraq, Iran current affairs
Saudi Arabia and the oil bank (this is the title on the page)
Some comments are interesting...
Like how much of the continuing 'official' TV drama and threats for reform is just orchestrated 'pump & dump'...it was kept high through manipulation pumping the markets...maybe the road down is 'helped' by official moves and speeches...next phase...or all of it could be random or 'accidental' or based on idiocy...haven't seen the 'idiocy' theories as much lately...now it's the theme 'if we only had _________, things would get better' or 'got rid of so-and-so, things will be better'.
I don't doubt something is going on. However, with commodities, or anything finite, these schemes bankrupt those who try them too long, or move prices too far out of whack. But if one were jerking the price around and consistantly lead the heard....
Growing opposition puts Bernanke approval in question - CNN.com
"Democratic concern about Bernanke boiled over in an all-Democrat private lunch Wednesday, the day after the party lost a Massachusetts Senate seat.
A senior Democratic source familiar with meeting said it got "raucous" as several senators stood and voiced opposition to confirming Bernanke for another term."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, said she has not decided how she will vote.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said he is undecided about Bernanke, too.
"we don't know from the Republican side whether they can provide votes"
I think those sitting on the fence may need nudging.
Senate Scorecard: Does Bernanke Have The Votes? SEE The Latest Tally
After losing his job, will Timmy be eligible for HAMP if his $1.6M [?] mortgage explodes?
Well, he'll only need his paystubs and not his tax returns.
"Obama has to ask if he's in for one term...by keeping those other guys (handlers, planners, advisors, etc.)"
Obama is screwed. If he starts imposing harsher rules on the banks they turn everyone's 301k into a 201k again. If he leaves the banks alone, it will be "more of the same" and he'll get Massachusettsed in 2012.
energyecon: Hope you are around- Thank you for that link. Very interesting indeed. I've spent an inordinate amount of time looking into the futures markets (disclosure-not invested or trader). This article puts an entirely new wrinkle on that.
Clearly the CFMA opened doors for abusive trading tactics which punishes suppliers and consumers in the futures markets and end market pricing. Wild swings and volatility are the earmarks not only in the oil markets but systemically in the futures markets. This is yet another way to manipulate pricing in addition to the ones which currently exist. Higher prices on high inventories and low demand is apparently acceptable to regulators/administrations. Its not an either/or situation in manipulation...but BOTH. This is why I have also argued that door needs to slammed shut and bolted-as Brooksley Born and others have argued as well. The Enron Loophole is only part of that story.
I've also argued that ETFs are counter-productive in markets and particularly futures markets/commodities. The structure of big oil and end products in this nation highly risky and not supportive of national interests in production of refined products necessary to literally keep the nation moving. Refineries are separated from oil companies themselves, working on thin margins for profit and without the lavish profits of their oil company counterparts to maintain current refineries which includes minimizing risk to the refinery workers or funds to build new refineries.
The profits are sheltered, executive compensation is similar if not more abusive than that of the large investment bankers and sheltered from investigation, likely like others, hidden away. A few years ago a panel investigating executive compensation included testimony by the oil execs. They smirked when they said they did not know what their pay was.
Good morning and we are soooo screwed.
REBear...thanks for the huffpo link...its both fascinating and scary at the same time. There are some very strange bedfellows in agreement of both political parties. I predict he'll still get appointed but maybe some golden bullets will get sweated out.
REBear wrote:
O!
Thanks for the link! I'm just back after traipsing through a bunch of stories and vids. Got lost for awhile with the Moment of Zen thing from the Daily Show.
As to what's happening...byzantine would be a euphemism. We have to figure how to make this look like it's not all the R's ganging up on poor Ben Bernanke. The R's are waiting for the right opportunity. Some of the best vote counters ever in that leadership, even if Mitch McConnell really does look like Howdie Doodie.
http://www.doodyville.com/images/doody_bob.gif
So we wait.
And the D's are cavorting about like ingenues in search of a mating opportunity, never wanting less than perfect, always willing to settle for something, even if it is an abusive relationship. So one or two commit to stab Caesar, a few more say, "Maybe, what's in it for me?" Once the deals are struck, and some very secret caucuses, klatches, get togethers, and maybe even a sneaked smoke across the street with John Boehner--just to be certain the 'people' are with us--enough will have moved to where the rest of the R's can say something appropriate as the blood is wiped from the marble and the body is whooshed away by trained professionals.
Affiliated Media Files for Bankruptcy Protection to Restructure - Bloomberg.com
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Toto,
I don't think we are in kick the cans us, anymore...
Hey JD, hows your weather and are you ok?
Here's your 5 day forecast:
YouTube - Mr Blue Sky
All is well on just the other side of nowhere...
I knew it was feeling worse here. I just read in the paper UE is over 11% in this county for December. There are a couple hundred people working out at the new airport that is being built. That will end a couple months and I've heard of no new projects around here coming up. 12% U3 by summer here?
Perhaps Sheila was unavoidably mentally detained with personal matters, otherwise I was thinking we'd get a bankers dozen on BFF, easy.
Oh goodie-goodie.
UBS Client Wins Case on Transfer of Tax Data to U.S. (Update4) - Bloomberg.com
So, the whole ball of wax the FBI/IRS spent years on just got melted into nothingness. Wonderful.
So, the whistleblower got Birkenfelded, and is doing time in the slammer, and he's the only loser in the deal.
What are the odds anything comes of this AIG/Fed mess?
Daily Kos: Naked Capitalism Guest Post: AIG Bailout Secrets Exposed!
I'm up to 1936 in the book i'm reading, and there is beaucoup banking and financial fraud being exposed, formerly well thought of banks, that in reality behaved very badly.
Keep in mind what they could hide back then, before computers?
Set of double books, etc. There weren't a lot of avenues to cheat...
Yup, this is money talking real big. What a travesty.
Globalization of everything including nice nest eggs hidden away, made off the backs of others, corporate and individual. No borders, no greed too large, nothing but a hollow shell that values themselves and their wealth above all to rule by virtue of their superiority. This is a pathology. UBS and Phil Gramm are likely celebrating this weekend.
me too jd picking baker dozen for couple weeks now
What Switzerland risked-if they gave those names up, was being relegated to meaninglessness financially, as the main reason people ever got a Swiss numbered account, was secrecy.
Thanks big AG. This comes on the heels of other suicides in the North Country related to the economic downturn. In my opinion, the wrong people are dying.
NY dairy farmer kills 51 cows, commits suicide - Yahoo! News
COPAKE, N.Y. – State police in New York say an upstate dairy farmer shot and killed 51 of his milk cows in his barn before turning the rifle on himself.
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Local farmers buried the cows outside the barn Friday. They would not discuss Pierson or what had happened, but one of the men said these are hard times to be a farmer.
volker the viking wrote:
So true! Ben will be reappointed.
R's like D's get complacent very quickly. I hope they do.
How i wish both Howdie Doodie and Barney Frank end up sitting at home for few years. 50-54 for republicans, 45-50 + 1[Lieberman] for Democrats will be a good mix.
I guess that's wishing for too much.
This development makes me exceptionally ANGRY and FRUSTRATED this morning.
I know I should expect differently, there is likely some well hidden brewery distribution money there and other linkages which if exposed would lead to mobs with
Big AG only gets to lose more moolah than little ag, out here on the left coast. Everybody is suffering, losing money hand over teat.
I keep seeing bumper stickers on cars that say "Dairying Is Not A Crime"
Big AG is highly subsidized as I am sure you know. While everyone is losing money, the fedgov is hemorrhaging money right along with states, we pay farmers not to grow a selected crop...except it isn't farmers, its their corporate masters. Just like in the financial industry, there are too many self-serving non-producers making money hand over fist, buying votes and special favors in pork laden bills.
We're the capitalist version of the USSR.
This guy is a piece of work. Poor people? Quit feeding them or they'll breed...
Bauer: Needy 'owe something back' for aid - South Carolina & Regional - Wire - TheSunNews.com
This coming from a guy in a state that has outrageous UE and high percentage of people living in poverty. By all means drug test the parents and take away the kids school lunch if the parents fail that test douchenozzle....
REBear wrote:
I dunno. We'll see. Big power being exerted in the haze. Could be the way to engineer the down leg in progress to test the lows.
Why? Flight to safety from PMs, stock market etc, to the dollar. After all, with at least 1.5 trillion in NEW debt to be issued in 2010, who else will buy them if not the CB's and sovereigns?
Don't listen to me, I'm stupid.
Crash Stew: Signs Point to Global Stock Market Meltdown by Mac Slavo
"Considering that the US Treasury needs to fund roughly $1.5 Trillion in new debt via Treasury sales in 2010, a global stock market collapse could be the US government’s saving grace, as Graham Summers recently pointed out:
“So how do you create interest? [In US Treasuries]
Simple, let the stock market collapse. The “flight to safety” that would follow would push billions if not hundreds of billions of dollars into Treasuries, soaking up the debt issuance and roll-over with little difficulty.”
It sounds mad scientist sinister, but quite realistic when you give it the consideration it deserves. The Fed, Treasury, Congress and the administrations have continually taken ridiculous, if not criminal, actions over the last several years. What’s to stop them now? It’s really a quite simple plan – pull back on stimulus in the US and China, have the big investment banks rip their profits out of equities and shift into US Treasuries, and leave panicked investors who thought the economic recovery was sustainable scrambling for the exits."
good gawd CK...what the hell is wrong with people and their thought processes??
There's a lot of spilt milk all over the place, but the bottom line is, an industry is slowly committing financial disembowelment in the new fashion of going out of business.
One day the roof caves in and there is no more money, and I herd it on the bovine, a bunch of heifers get turned into rubbery hamburger with or without pink slime, and fast food earnings go up for a few quarters, as they got a good deal on beef...
watch from here if you must
they're indicating a two seat pick up for the R's
for now, 53 - 39 with 8 toss ups
CQ Politics | Election 2010
In the diary i'm reading, the lawyer who wrote it searches for clues from the past, and an elderly gentleman he knows lived through the crash of 1873, and the only thing that was safe then, was government securities, as was the case in his time from the great crash onwards.
JD: I know you are reading about GD1. What is worrisome is today people do not have the same skill sets as then. The cities are vastly more concentrated now, the jobs then versus now cannot translate. This is why I get impatient with the portrayals of FDR new deal and the hoards who picked up shovels for food vs what the majority can do now and just who needs work.
I find it interesting that as poorly schooled in history as I am, history evidently wasn't the strong suit of Greenspan, Gramm, Clinton, Summers, etc., etc. Perhaps it needs to be re-written again, just like the Bible its thousandth iteration. grrrrrr. Obama just as academically stupid, hiring the architects of this fine mess to shore it up along with their egos and Harvard's Business School models.