Examiner: Lehman used undisclosed "balance sheet manipulation"
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CalculatedRisk on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 5:22pm (246 comments)
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Big deal.
Thank god for the quick pig, otherwise HG might notice the last post and close the BFF poll.
what's that line ? "i'm shocked".
I meant that ampiguously.
How'd the auditors swallow this? Prosecute the auditors!
REPO 105: is that like PT-109
Lehman's dead and gone, but the autopsy reveals traces of fraud.
No little hat?
I'm
had a closing. . .yes a closing. . .in Fort Lauderdale, so
snuck out early for my trek to Merritt Island. Hours of
really heavy rain. We are still under a tornado watch.
I almost nearly pulled over. Got down to 35 mph at some points on
I-95.
Couldn't see. Glad I didn't. . . I'd still be pulled over.
And if you had looked at the facts and ran away from LEH you would have missed a 5x rise over the last 52 weeks.
Sad. All Lehman needed was a little action from the Discount Window and their balance sheet manipulations would still be generating billions in bonuses today.
"“that the only purpose or motive for the transactions was reduction in balance sheet”;"
ah, isn't this exactly what the Fed is going to use repos for?
I am sure this was an isolated incident,no one higher than an E5 involved,unless it is simply a clerical error committed by a newly hired secretary.Time to put this behind us and on into the glorious future.
I was pigged!
Japan's Slashed 4Q GDP Means Hyperinflationary Policy Is Now Far More Plausible
ghostfaceinvestah wrote:
No, repos are used to temporarily increase the Fed balance sheet.
brewcrew wrote:
I'm still upset because by letting LEH implode the entire economy went with it. Right? Right?
What? There's gambling going on here? I'm shocked, shocked I'm telling you.
Gee, I guess this might be why, when Paulson called that weekend meeting, there were no bidders for LEH.
Yeah, it's ok if you are the government.
Tom Stone wrote:
Repo 105 shall lead us there.
And I'm sure Lehman was the only bank doing this kind of stuff.
Rob Dawg wrote:
Didn't someone with a straight face actually try to make that argument? I disremember.
Rob Dawg wrote:
Sure, like ripping a bandage off a puss filled sore.
Right dawg, right.
I read the official unemployment rate in most of the Central Valley is over 18% now, so is it really like 25%?
Yep Liz.
And the antibiotics aren't working.
Gambling! In a casino!
shocking.
We need a :fedgov: icon. Since we certainly know
won't do. 
that
josap wrote:
Bankster disease is multi-drug resistant.
Phew. Thank heavens they were the only major player to indulge in shenanigans like these, or we might expect more hidden problems to emerge in the future!
edit: Bond Girl beat me to this comment... not that it wasn't obvious! Bonus points for figuring out how Goldman finds a way to make money betting on this failing in the future, then actively working to spark the failure...
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Yes. The Central Valley has lots of casual employment. It is bad because with the depressed wages this means lower crop yields which means a cascade effect throughout the economy.
Lehman caused the earthquakes, rain, and tornadoes
too. Bad Lehman.
Oh, and an icon for :badbank:
Don't think we need one for :solventbank:.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Yup. My area, too. I posted the official numbers yesterday. Just about twice the national average.
Where are you again sports?
Euro Watch
He has a couple good posts on Germany. My summary: Double dip with only France doing semi well. Eastern Europe, well, as goes Germany -- they get whacked. What makes it interesting his thoughts on inventory builds. They built the inventory but the question is the same as here -- Can they move it?
What were wages in past recent years and what would you guess them to be now?
Was LEH a real bank at the time that happened ? I thought the stampede to apply for bank charters happened right after Lehman collapsed.
Southeast of the Central Valley and North of the Inland Empire, i.e., the road to Vegas or the middle of nowhere.
sportsfan wrote:
Unemployment: 8 California counties that top 20% - latimes.com
Re: California Unemployment.
The job gain category was......drumroll........local government
Central Valley Business Times
Ya know, sometimes one bad apple spoils the broth: I'll bet that Lehman was the only bank that did this.
YouTube - Fearsome Foursome's Merlin Olsen Has Died RIP
Pelosi just said on Charlie Rose that the American people do not understand finance.
I despise this women.
I'm actually kind of surprised this was under the radar. (This report makes for some really juicy reading - although I skipped straight to the Repo 105 part). The transactions required twice the normal haircut, which Lehman funded with long-term debt.
nova wrote:
Latvia's GDP has fallen 18% and they can't get up. The last thing they need is to get whacked again.
Oh, my.
Of course, I'm sure this will be the only roach that scurries out.
Check out the caption on the picture in this piece:
Unemployment tops 20% in eight California counties - latimes.com
Cali Prison Health Care Services is hiring....
I do too, but in this instance, she's right.
tg wrote:
That was the oldest of the Olsen triplets, right?
Latvia can't count on Sweden either.
Quite old for a football player. I tried to say his age, but
apparently the number of years one less than 70 is verbotten.
Maury the Credit Responsibility Panda wrote:
All they did was strike a match. Just wait until they turn the lights on.
"As one email succinctly states: 'Everyone knew 105 was is an off balance sheet mechanism so counterparties are looking for ridiculous levels to take them."
lawyerliz wrote:
It's not so bad. I can get to Monterrey without touching an interstate: 395, 58, 99, 46, 101, and so on.
According to Summers, Pelosi can't do math, so how can she understand!
Dr. Housingbubble cites some St. Louis Fed numbers on Cali employment in various industries-- pretty grim graph in the scroll down.
California Doing a Rendition of the Housing Industry on the Budget – $20 Billion Budget Deficit and Massive Amount of Distress Inventory. How Banks Raided the U.S. Treasury with the aid of the Federal Reserve and have Damaged Housing Further. &raq
That's good, right?
Socialized health care for convcts, but don't do the crime and none for you...
For those darn Canadians:
On the inconveniences of Ontario having high structural unemployment and rapid aging
demography.matters.blog: On the inconveniences of Ontario having high structural unemployment and rapid aging
sportsfan wrote:
Drivin' the backroads so you won't get weighed?
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
And, see, just like Sarah said, they have death panels!
I had a client who allegedly was mulling a short sale. . . to
a friend. He is hearing that the prices are dropping even further,
so no deal.
lawyerliz wrote:
Yes, Monterrey is good. Try it some time; you'll like it.
sm_landlord wrote:
LOL. I wish. I've always had the fantasy that being a long haul driver would give me just a little more freedom.
Of course diesel was well under a buck back then.
are those like Venetian blinds?
sportsfan wrote:
Just say Barstow and move on. No shame in that. Could be worse, you could be near Ridgecrest,
sportsfan wrote:
YouTube - Little Feat - Willin' sung by Lowell George Live 1977. HQ Video.
RIP Lowell
The U.S. taxpayer had to bailout the Fed's balance sheet. Why? Because those dingabats Geithner and Bernanke committed the entire Fed balance sheet and then some to bailout AIG.
Why would they do that? Because AIG derivatives were being used as bank capital around the world.
What a sham. Wall St. extracts wealth, they don't create wealth. The Fed is the enabler of the Wall Street's wealth extraction sham.
.
We non Kali people need a primer on Kali Good Places,
and Kali Bad Places.
Except we all know about the Inland Empire.
Anybody hear anything about Lithuania?
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Oh, that's hilarious. Thank you for the new neural pathway that I'll be unable to avoid using every time that phrase is mentioned again.
No, not Barstow. Too many wackos in Barstow. In fact I think they're all wackos.
On a related point, Barstow should have been a transportation Mecca, being located just where the mountains end to the South . . . and for a while it was with rail . . . but it lost it's innate geographical advantage somewhere along the line.
weed, whites, and wine...Dallas Alice. Great song sm_landlord.
"Lehman caused the earthquakes, rain, and tornadoes
too. Bad Lehman."
I hear Lehman caused the snowstorms that caused the cutback in hiring last month.
7 out 25 richest county surround nations capital
Trantor
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/35825701#35825701
nova wrote:
OK, now you've done it. Putting on Waiting For Columbus
Oh, yeah, I forgot that one.
CIS New York had an episode on fake gold bars.
Off to watch tv.
sm_landlord,
Well, I'm glad you chose:
"I've driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed."
. . . not the line that comes after.
But I suppose it all goes with the turf.
BTW, good tune, thanks.
First time I've noticed that google maps has a live traffic function-- looks like plain sailing once you're past Cucamonga.
On Americans not knowing math. A coworker sent an office wide email saying she was collecting empty potato chip bags. She said she was getting .02 an empty bag to donate to a charity.
I went in her office and she had a shoe box to collect them. I asked her what her goal was ? She said "I get 10 cents for five bags so I think it should add up fast!"
Angry Saver wrote:
You could stop right there. For the past year, the Fed has been enabling Fannie and Freddie to stay in business. Fannie and Freddie create a product called agency MBS. No one else wanted their product, so Bernanke stepped in. Without Bernanke, Fannie and Freddie would be in runoff today.
nova wrote:
just listened to your earlier Frank.... very pretty
tg wrote:
Indeed. Now where will we put the Foundation?
And is there a Second Foundation in Washington?
lawyerliz wrote:
They are doing much better than Latvia. Their economy only fell 14% in 2009 and actually grew in the final quarter. However, they have to live with Estonia getting to join the Euro zone in 2011, while they are stuck on the outside looking in.
What gets me is that my friends are clueless as to what is going on. They believe the propaganda. These are educated successful people. I don't believe it's denial. They really believe. Maybe we should come up with a new psychiatric term for this phenomena ? ............. fedillusional ?
tg, Yeah, a great song. I listened to it and went and played guitar for awhile. He really nailed the melancholy.
Rajesh, Isn't that about the same drop for Ukraine (-10%). Compared to them Poland must be a dynamo
Wow.
ers are out tonight.
sm_landlord wrote:
shhhh
He probably just polished the rods.
BUENA, N.J. – A spokesman for a group of nuclear power plants in New Jersey says a U.S. man charged in Yemen with being a member of al-Qaida had previously worked at the plants.
PSEG Nuclear spokesman Joe Delmar says Sharif Mobley worked as a laborer for several contractors at its three plants on Artificial Island in Lower Alloways Creek from 2002 to 2008 carrying supplies and doing maintenance work.
I'm not sure what a bond failure has to do with an Indian dude making gloves.
Is it telling me to go long latex gloves for the proctology test that a bond failure would be?
I think we need to convert Roosevelt Island (in the NY East River) into Financial Gitmo, but first we must deed the property half to the Somalia guys and half to the Nigerian army so we do full monty torture without tainting further the US undies. Rendition will be done at 2AM at night starting with a knock on the
's doors, then off to FG for maybe 6-10 years of waterboarding, walling, freezing showers, loud music 24/7 (intersperced with Happy Days are Here Again), and forced feeding. The Iron Maiden can be brought out and put to work again too.
Why Roosevelt Island? Pure symbolism....
"He probably just polished the rods"
hey don't talk about Elvis behind his back.
poic wrote:
Don't be dissing on the scram rod either.
"How Lehman Allegedly Manipulated Its Balance Sheet"
As distinct from the much bigger government-sanctioned manipulation of balance sheets that's been going on since then.
Forget Greece: Italy derivatives bomb also ticking
| Reuters
Bellissimo!
which reminds me: PIIGS has two i's.
GIPSI tranche and theives...
Tim waiting for 2012 wrote:
What was that about just one cucaracha?
Greece? Greece had a problem?
JimPortlandOR wrote:
the Committee of Public Safety,
Gallery View - Charting Tools - StockCharts.com
you all seem to be watching the wrong stories.
sportsfan wrote:
Well, I'm glad you chose:
"I've driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed."
BTW, good tune, thanks.
Lowell was something of a genius. On the melancholy side, I always liked "Fat Man in the Bathtub with the Blues."
bANK fAILURE wrote:
L.A. County Superior Court to lay off 329 staffers; hundreds more to follow | Comments Blog | Los Angeles Times
Looks like California courts may end up working like the Florida courts that lawyerliz describes.
brewcrew wrote:
I'm sure savvy Dimon and Blankfein never resorted to such tricks, (or resorted to many more).
[Scene: A New York apartment. Someone knocks on the door.]
Woman: [not opening the door] Yes?
Voice: (mumbling) Mrs. Arlsburgerhhh?
Woman: What?
Voice: (mumbling) Mrs. Johannesburrrr?
Woman: Who is it?
Voice: [pause] Flowers.
Woman: Flowers for whom?
Voice: [long pause] Plumber, ma'am.
Woman: I don't need a plumber. You're that clever squid, aren't you?
Voice: [pause] Candygram.
Woman: Candygram, my foot. You get out of here before I call the police. You're the squid, and you know it.
Voice: Wait. I-I'm only a dolphin, ma'am.
Woman: A dolphin? Well...okay. [opens door]
[Huge latex and foam-rubber squid lunges through open door, chomps down on woman's head, and drags her out of the apartment, all while the Jaws attack music is playing.]
If pure symbolism is what we're after, right next door in Jersey you can find Mount Misery, as well as The Dismal Swamp.
sportsfan wrote:
Ca is a Trust Deed state, no court forclosures.
JPMorgan, Citigroup Helped Cause Lehman’s Collapse (Update5) - Bloomberg.com
Wow, that is a lot of courtrooms. DC Superior handles a lot of criminal cases. If this is the same type courttThey will have to go with pleas and raise the bottom for what is considered a crime by the patrol officers. Not going to be able to pay juries so that will influence if the city wants to go to court or cut a deal too
josap wrote:
True, but actually, I was thinking about the persons charged with crimes who won't waive time.
Once courts can't even keep up with the filings, the whole system is on the brink.
AZ is a trust deed state also, isn't it. Do you have any judicial foreclosures there?
Yellen Said to Be Obama’s Pick for Fed Vice Chairman (Update2) - Bloomberg.com
Figures. Yellen is a reliable vote for more printing, after sufficient agonizing and analysis, of course.
sportsfan wrote:
Yes, Az has Trust Deeds. Faster and cheaper to do.
nova wrote:
Yeah, when criminal charges turn into settlement conferences, it's hard to claim justice is being served.
If I was a regulator of TBTF banks, I would conduct an audit to make sure none of the TBTF banks were using the same sort of gimmicks as Lehman. But, I am a financial super genius so I doubt the anyone at the Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC, or OTS will think of it.
Blogger: User Profile: OkieLawyer
is a known name that is a follower of sudden debt.
I really enjoy his comments.
patientrenter wrote:
I can relate edit poor taste
Rob Dawg; wrote:
I'm still upset because by letting LEH implode the entire economy went with it. Right? Right?
That and they took away any US competition to Goldman Sachs, once you see that, it all comes together.
Goldman... Paulsen..... Geithner..... Summers..... on and on and on .....
You have to remember that these California counties with ~20% unemployment have double digit unemployment in the best of times... I remember a few years ago, at the peak of the boom, a friend of mine who lives in Merced telling me that things were really booming there - the unemployment had dropped under 10% for the first time that he could remember.
Add in no OT for LE and a court system that will have to selectively try and prosecute a narrow range of cases and you get a place where private security companies is going to make money.
Bond Girl;
Lehman was not a bank, it was an investment house just like Goldman before Hank made it a bank holding company so it could access TARP.
Lehman was Goldman's only competition, now do you understand why they let it fail?
nova wrote:
from who?
Those of us who are making a fortune by doing each other's laundry.
broward,
Still some fat on the bone. Hell, even the 3rd world has its monied elite.
brewcrew wrote:
I always wanted to own an apartment complex and name it something honest like that.
"the Hive", "MosquitoVille', "Shitbox City"
nowhereman wrote:
I suspect that but I also suspect that bond girl's understanding is far greater than mine
nova,
Private judges (mostly retired judges - at whatever age) already do make a fortune hearing and resolving civil cases that the court system doesn't have the time or inclination to handle. It's an entire industry that started 35-40 years ago.
Private security is already moving in that direction. When the police layoffs kick in, it ought to get really interesting.
Fire, brimstone, CAPS and bold...
EXPLOSIVE: Lehman - Where Are The Cops? - The Market Ticker
Re: "In addition to its material omissions, Lehman affirmatively misrepresented in its financial statements that the firm treated all repo transactions as financing transactions – i.e., not sales – for financial reporting purposes.
Didn't they just do what Citi, AIG, BAC, Wamu, Bear, Goldman and all those other Wall Street off-shore mafia pigs do?
I'm so F'ing
nova wrote:
Why wouldn't they buy off the current justice system?
As dryfly would say - it's a variable cost instead of a fixed capital cost.
sportsfan wrote:
Police will not get laid off... They will just be retasked to full time revenue generation, irregularly enforcing, speed limits and other regs.
nowhereman wrote:
Lehman was not a bank, it was an investment house just like Goldman before Hank made it a bank holding company so it could access TARP.
Green, green, made by machine...
Financial pros made it go,
Hank, Hank made it a bank,
Legal arts gave it TARP
Let's blow the goddamn thing apart!
The FRBNY developed two new stress scenarios: “Bear Stearns” and “Bear Stearns Light.”5754 Lehman failed both tests.5755 The FRBNY then developed a new set of assumptions for an additional round of stress tests, which Lehman also failed.5756 However, Lehman ran stress tests of its own, modeled on similar assumptions, and passed.5757 It does not appear that any agency required any action of Lehman in response to the results of the stress testing.
blackhalo,
Exactly. No cell or court time. That costs money. Probably select areas will get 2005 era policing.
Blackhalo wrote:
We're seeing DUI checkpoints once a week or more now. Used to be major holidays only.
So they pull over 500 cars, maybe find a drunk or two, but issue lots of citations for little stuff.
There's really no justification for it other than revenue generation.
broward wrote:
"Violence Villas", "Roach Kitchens", "Rotten Siding", "Green Waters", "Pothole Palms"
Just thinking of the last time I lived in an apt complex.
sportsfan wrote:
A cash-discount model makes a lot of sense for that business. If you pay the fine and don't take it to court we'll knock it down to 2 license points.
Wasn't the line from Brazil: "Confess early, save your credit rating."
... Furthermore, yah can't F'ing tell me that if these same F'ing examiners that did look at Lehman's books, wouldn't find a boat-load of good clean things inside the Citi books ... no delete,edit
Yah can't F'ing tell me that these examiners have ever look at the Citi books, or ny other wall street bank, because the only reason they have this glorious opportunity to peek under the panties, is because Lady Lehman is dead!
broward wrote:
"Shitbox City"
-1
Blackhalo wrote:
yep, got a photo radar ticket and I was not speeding. But of course the camara is always right.
I am not surprised that there is so little on topic conversation. We all knew Lehman used off balance sheet accounting. Why is the MSM two years behind?
sportsfan wrote:
Mordor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
josap wrote:
Darn Robots!!
Robot Attacks.
Rob Dawg wrote:
So I rob a bank and I get caught and I go to jail
Now I get hired by Leham and cook the books and I getz a bonus. Woaaa good lesson for any B-school grad!
Barley wrote:
work program
Rob Dawg wrote:
Somebody told me
You had a boyfriend
Who looked like a girlfriend
That I had in February
Of last year
YouTube - The Killers - Somebody Told Me
Rob Dawg wrote:
Behind? Pshaw! I've seen several MSM articles so far this year stating home prices have hit bottom and it's time to buy once again. Based on that, they're not only not behind reality, they're five years ahead of it!
Barley wrote:
Somewhere there are financial statements attested to by the ex-CEO.
And somewhere there are audits by some Big 3 accountancy.
Perp Walks soon?
The thought has just occurred to me...if this mess really does take years to work itself out...it is going to get very boring...a good portion of us might really be insane by the time it is over...MSM are the water drops smacking us in the head over and over....
I guess Lehman wasn't a screaming buy after all.
sm_landlord wrote:
Vonbek777 wrote:
Welcome to the nuthouse:
YouTube - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Nurse Ratched
dont kid yourself, Txchick57 had a generation trade on 2 buck chuck.
-F*ck you you cant do what I do-Jeff Portnoy
sm_landlord wrote:
What say you, CR?
I might suggest this
Buz Accounting 604
The objective of this course is to examine the right and wrong way to calculate and set off balance sheet transactions. In conjunction with the Law Department we will discover how to do it, when to do it and what to do when there is some eventuality of discovery on the issue of accurate reporting. You will learn when, how and who to set up for the action you will need perpetuate to get ahead in a public enterprize
Mr Slippery wrote:
Don't forget that Sheila and crew @ FDIC walk away too, and IRS, and DOJ, FTC, FBI, DOL, FASB, ....
Rob Dawg wrote:
Oh, I'm sure they were the only ones...
sm_landlord wrote:
You gotta be kidding. When every other "bank"/bank is still doing it? Nothing to see here, move along.
tg wrote:
'America' is also a name cited in some Nordic mythologies referring to a land where its citizens practice evil without knowing it, imposed on themselves by the society long created for that purpose
The only financial person in America that has earned my trust (besides E. Warren ... maybe) is Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff, who was thoughtful enough to turn himself as a fraudster -- he's the man!
Rob Dawg wrote:
Latency, latency, latency.
I told you, you can see it the meme graphs.
People's mind have quality of service and finite bandwidth.
it's hard to displace existing beliefs because they've undergone a Darwinian filtering.
Is this not worthy of outrage? Am I just being reactionary? Is this a
?
Mr Slippery wrote:
Outrage is a function of expectation.
My biggest surprise so far is that the Feds actually kept the ship afloat.
Off to the movies, I guess.
MLM wrote:
And every biotech, chip-maker, hotel chain, car company, home builder, candy factory ... I'm thinking Warren -- the reason this is a systemic failure, is because this corruption and accounting fraud is the cancer that has kept the patient alive....
broward wrote:
Yes, it's been a long time since the last time
I snickered at your mention of QOS in that context. It's one of those buzzphrases that is particularly Orwellian.
Some day I'll tell the story of the development of MS's multimedia framework back in the mid-1990s.
broward wrote:
Rhetorical but thank you for saying it out loud.
Doc, you gotta calm down. I'm fairly (not completely) sure the candy factories aren't doing it.
The most challenging part of being an investor is dealing with material omissions ... Hoocoodanode?
Tom Stone wrote:
Nice!
MLM wrote:
They said that very same thing about Lehman a few years ago; trust no one under 14,000 feet!
Also look inside Warren B's jacket for some See's Candy derivatives...
Doc Holiday wrote:
And now the cancer is trying to kill the patient without killing itself in the process. Ain't evolution grand?
the reason this is a systemic failure, is because this corruption and accounting fraud is the cancer that has kept the patient alive....
If "balance sheet manipulation" and off-sheet entities exist, do balance sheets matter any longer? Cash flow or no go?
broward wrote:
OK, fixed. I have new expectations.
I am in my happy place.
edit: Yves is looking for her happy place...
NY Fed Under Geithner Implicated in Lehman Accounting Fraud « naked capitalism
yagij wrote:
Only on bad days. Of course, bad days are brought on by lack of trust.
MLM wrote:
That is my point. If you know the balance sheets are rotten because of fundamentals or because of fraud, does it not hurt other companies in that sector? Once you know someone is cooking their books, what does it take to be convinced otherwise? If the auditors signed off on the cooked books, do you just say a pox on all houses and avoid 'em all?
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Just read what Doc wrote and you quoted.
wow
we're fooked
yagij wrote:
Well I did, but I was apparently in the minority.
yagij wrote:
You pretty much have to, unless they have FedProps. If Lehman was doing this, their competitors would have needed to do the same thing to compete.
This is going to be the gift that keeps on giving. Sort of like STDs.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
We will find our way again.
Rob Dawg wrote:
One of my favorite reviews: "Young man, do you have a car? A job? If so, unlimited tail is available to you in....
MAJESTIC STOCKTON CALIFORNIA" City of Stockton - Stockton, CA
sm_landlord wrote:
so Lehman says, "Sorry about the rash"?
And who says Lehman was the progenitor?
sportsfan wrote:
OK, I hope this doesn't reveal who I am. I was a witness in a trial which resulted in life in prison for the defendant. LA courts. It took 4 and a half years to finish up. I showed up three times for hearings and testimony, each separated by over a year.
This was a serious case with cooperative witnesses and good evidence. I have no idea what will happen with those kinds of cutbacks.
Jeebus Dawg.Stockton? isn't that what Barstow wants to be when it grows up?
volker the viking wrote:
Prolly the
got the first case by eating raw monkey brains.
This is quite interesting:
Bruce Krasting: SS Trust Fund 1st Q 2010 Results - Still Slipping
This chart summarizes the payroll tax (both FICA and SECA) receipt numbers for 09 and 10.
2009 2010 $ Change % Change
JAN 65.9 64.5 -1.4 -2.17%
FEB 54.4 50.3 -4.1 -8.15%
MAR 55.6 51.4 -4.2 -8.17%
Tot/Avg 175.9B 4166.2B $-9.7B -5.84%
tg wrote:
There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil.
I was a little too hasty... There are other forces in this world, of course, they just haven't gained control of us through our obsessive dependence on money.
YouTube - Frank Zappa - Zombie Woof
RE wrote:
So the % Change, is MoM or YoY?
Madoff. The only crook in jail had to turn himself in. Eric "Space" Holder as AG.
Mozillo and Fuld are walking free. The Big O's inauguration speech implied otherwise.
sm_landlord wrote:
Dick Fuld is a dumb ass who has never been within a nuclear detonation of an original idea. And he is a bully.
He got back what he put out.
Screw him and everything he stands for.
Just because Kali doesn't do judicial foreclosures, doesn't mean
you can't ruin them by firing all the employees.
It's just that different kinds of cases will be delayed.
RealClearMarkets - What's Gross About Our Gross Domestic Product?
Our public debt is 40% of GDP according to the CIA 2009 World Factbook, down from 60% in 2007. Right? Well, they took the off-balance-sheet debt off the tally; apples-to-apples, we're at 85%, and rising fast. Add in the GSEs, plus state and local debt, and we're at 140% of GDP. Greece is at 115% of GDP. Add in the unfunded Social Security and Medicare obligations, and we're at 420% of GDP. Who has greasier accounting? Sadly, the US.
p.s.: Linked from Panzner... Financial Armageddon: Statistical Color
dr munch wrote:
How is Thain, still a free man, no less re-hired, given all the skulduggery BoA found, when going over the books?
It's supposed to keep raining.
It's Lehman's fault.
Blackhalo wrote:
Looks to be YoY. Quite significant, ain't it?
Nah, all those people are just working off the books. . .
I wish. . .
and Fuld is still a dumb ass bully
RE wrote:
F'n brutal. Kind of hard to be up though when 10% are on UE. Anyone know what % of federal revenues come from payroll taxes vs. income taxes?
Nevermind... What are the federal government's sources of revenue?
Isn't Mozillo being persecuted, err, prosecuted or sued or
something by somebody?
I probably should have posted the next para as well:
... The 1st Q 2010 YoY top line for the Fund is down by 6%. A very significant drop. There are 160mm workers that contribute to SS. The simple math would suggest that there are 9.3mm workers that are no longer contributing to the system (or are contributing at a much lower rate). The BLS NFP report, which looks at a different set of numbers for employment, suggests that the drop in payrolls is only 2.5mm during the same period. This is not an apples to apples comparison, however, I have looked at this from every which way and it is my conclusion that the BLS numbers have to be significantly understating the loss in jobs. The payroll tax receipt numbers can’t be that badly skewed. They are hard numbers. ...
For those outside of California, being in Stockton is pretty depressing - like being in Ohio - but with better weather.
Winston wrote:
WTF? Why you gotta bash on Ohio? A pretty nice state, except for Cleveland.
Tom Stone wrote:
The only thing I know about Stockton is the Barkley's from "The Big Valley." Audra... mmmmm.
RE,
From your link:
Good, once Congress gets Health Care and Financial Reform and all the other little stuff finished, I'm sure they can do something about this, too.
Depression comes to Bellevue mall
15 stores closed, almost no "coming soon" signs
women seem different, too, more demurr, submissive
could be my marine haircut
wow
Blackhalo wrote:
of course I was born there as was my frat bro Drew
For those outside of California, being in Stockton is pretty depressing - like being in Ohio - but with better weather
eh pleeze sezs that in englich, por fo vor
sportsfan wrote:
Watch for this having to be addressed by a Republican congress after the next election. It will be very popular with a key voting block... This is just one of the big reasons why I don't write Obama off in 2012.
That is a draw back to Stockton, but try getting a decent taco in Toledo.
lawyerliz wrote:
Isn't Mozillo being persecuted, err, prosecuted or sued or
something by somebody?
Every time a Federal prison cell door chings, Angelo gets his wings...
Was this mentioned today?
Geithner warns EU on hedge fund regulation plan - Yahoo! Asia News
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has warned the European Commission its plans to regulate hedge funds and private equity groups could spark a transatlantic row, a paper reported Thursday.
Geithner hit out at a draft European Union directive that would impose tighter restrictions on the investment funds in a letter to the EU's internal market commissioner, Michel Barnier, the Financial Times said.
Proposed new rules might damage US hedge funds, private equity groups and banks by curbing their ability to do business with Europe, Geithner argued in the one-page letter sent on March 1.
Blackhalo wrote:
YouTube - Look At Miss Ohio - Gillian Welch & David Rawlings -BBC4 Sessions
Source: Obama to tap Yellen for Fed vice chair - Yahoo! News
"
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama plans to nominate San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen to be vice chairman of the central bank, a source familiar with the process said on Thursday.
Yellen, reached by telephone, declined to comment. Neither the U.S. Treasury Department nor the White House were immediately available for comment.
Yellen, considered one of the more dovish Fed policymakers, would replace Donald Kohn, who announced earlier this month that he would retire in late June. The nomination would be subject to Senate approval.
"
ghostfaceinvestah wrote:
Geithner is interviewing?
Dracula strikes again....Epic Fail...
has this been ment'd part 2
Congressional panel says GMAC has no business plan; suggests break up
GMAC Inc. still has no business plan even after receiving a $17.2 billion investment from the government, and the Treasury Department has been lax in making sure that the bank repays taxpayers, a congressional panel said today.
"The panel is deeply concerned that Treasury has not required GMAC to lay out a clear path to viability or a strategy for fully repaying taxpayers," said the Congressional Oversight Panel,
Treasury should consider the possibility of breaking up GMAC and merging its auto-finance unit back into General Motors Co.,
Treasury, in a statement released this afternoon, said:
"Treasury continues to be a reluctant shareholder and to manage its ivnestment in GMAC in a hands-off commercial manner consistent with the administration's established principles that guide Treasury's management of financial interests in private firms."
As for its past decisions not to restructure GMAC, the federal agency said, "After considerable analysis and deliberation, Treasury viewed the course taken as the least costly and least disruptive of all the options available."
The congressional panel found that the government missed chances to increase accountability and ensure repayment of taxpayers' money with its early decisions to rescue GMAC rather than pursue other options as part of a broader auto industry bailout.
Treasury has said that it was necessary to support GMAC because of the company's dominant role in floorplan financing and that failure to do so would have undermined the government's investments in the auto industry.
Epic fail 2
SNAFU wrote:
My money is still on the young dumbass whipper snapper and obviously the
is just a headfake:
FRB: Governor Warsh
Tim waiting for 2012 wrote:
I was wondering about Italy last week. I figured it had been a few months since their poor economic performance had taken centre stage.
noob goldberg wrote:
Good Gawd man, you're spellin' like a Canadian.
will europe's defaults lead to a downward spiral of currency speculation?
Trip report
Arizona to Bay area.
Rail traffic definitely picked up more than prior trips over last year...
More ships in Oakland docks then I've seen in a year...
Truck traffic similar to rail traffic above....
More snow birds..
Cold in Arizona the whole week...Found some cool assay paperwork in great condition from old silver/gold mine from 1930's....
later need some rest...long drive....
creditcriminalslovetarp wrote:
i.e. It would be much more costly to just turn off this indiscriminate credit hose that is watering our
'ed up economy. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while, and GMAC will probably have a loan or two paid back. Therefore, cheaper than a fleet of 
MLM wrote:
My spell-check spits out an error if I try to spell it "center". Plus it looks funny.
Interesting perspective:
EconomPic: The Changing Face of American Debt
nova wrote:
I know you're in bed, nova, but I finally got a chance to read the blog you linked. I don't disagree with the data that's presented, but I can't agree with the conclusions. I guess my issue resides with the inherent and unchallenged assumption that Ontario is moving towards a 'knowledge economy', whatever that means.
Looking around the province, especially in Ottawa, and the 'knowledge economy' that was embodied by the giant Nortel research parks has virtually disappeared.
I guess I have to read his darned paper to figure out what his prescription is.
noob goldberg wrote:
Looks French to me, but I think that's just a sign of synaptic/marital problems on my part.
noob goldberg wrote:
I guess my issue resides with the inherent and unchallenged assumption that Ontario is moving towards a 'knowledge economy', whatever that means.
we sell our brains to zombies, who then eat them and gain our knowledge
MLM wrote:
No, it's definitely Canadian/French, you're right.
Although I really can't pass judgment on your marital situation. So I'll speculate and assume that she--like the rest of our wives--is too good for you.
Not only is she too good for me, she's French. She reminds me of both of those facts regularly, in ways both big and small.
MLM wrote:
Good lord, you married a French woman? You have both my envy and sympathy. Like the envy I would have for a friend who has purchased a beautiful boat, or the most wonderful little airplane. The sympathy I reserve for the amount of energy necessary for maintenance.
You're a stronger man than I.
Newsmax - Sir John Templeton’s Last Testament: Financial Chaos Will Last Many Years
written in 2005
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
I'm trying to arrive at a worthy response, but I'm lacking.
Unless I get some sleep soon, I'll have nothing to barter with the zombies.
noob goldberg wrote:
Suggestion: YouTube - billy and mandy brains
ghostfaceinvestah wrote:
What's the downside?
noob goldberg wrote:
British.
My banner ad is for something called 'CougerLife.com'.
Oh yeah ... late to the thread, but I'd be
if Lehmans hadn't cooked their books.
noob goldberg wrote:
Unless I get some sleep soon, I'll have nothing to barter with the zombies.
Yeah, likewise..