.

Reuters
Small Florida bank is 8th U.S. failure this year

Friday August 1, 9:51 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bank regulators closed a small Florida-based bank on Friday, the eighth U.S. bank to fail this year under pressure from a weak economy and a credit crisis precipitated by falling home prices.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said First Priority Bank had $259 million in assets and $227 million in deposits and its failure will cost the federal fund that insures deposits an estimated $72 million....

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080801/firs..._fdic.html?.v=3

.....more to come :confused:rolleyes

Exxon sees record profits, fishermen won't


Seattle's William Murray, with his scrap book of photos, maps and articles,
is one of the fisherman harmed by the Valdez spill. Grant Haller/P-I

So many fishermen took so personally the Supreme Court's recent decision to dramatically reduce the settlement compensating them for the damage caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill. I imagine they're going to be less than thrilled to hear that ExxonMobil this morning is reporting record breaking second-quarter profits. The Associated Press reports:

Excluding an after-tax charge of $290 million related to an Exxon Valdez court settlement, earnings amounted to $11.97 billion...

ExxonMobil owns the record for at least the top six most-profitable quarters for a U.S. company, as well as the largest annual profit.

Last month, a $2.5 billion settlement awarded by a jury to the fishermen, Alaska natives, fish processors and business owners was slashed by the highest court in the land to $500 million. :mad

The civil lawsuit against Exxon was brought following the 1989 accident in which a supertanker struck a reef and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound -- the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

The crash has provided impetus for improved oil spill protections in the U.S., including, finally, support to station an emergency tug year round at Neah Bay at Washington's Northwest-most tip.


Posted by document.writeln(showE2("lisastiffler","seattlepi.com","Lisa Stiffler"))Lisa Stiffler Lisa Stiffler at July 31, 2008 8:21 a.m.
Categories: Fisheries, Oil spills, Salmon, Water quality/pollution

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/...ives/144858.asp

Posted by fabric

unterwegs ...
 

... mit Biodiesel ?


p.s. posting heute Nacht

Insured deposits of small Florida bank assumed by SunTrust

http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual...ioritybank.html

die gibt es wohl nun künftig als Wochenendausgabe zum
Schnupperpreis, Herausgabe bzw. Redaktionsschluss je-
doch erst kurz nach Marktende ...

mal sehen, was die Schichtarbeiter um Pater Paul noch
bis Sonntag auf die Kanzel heben.

p.p.s.

..."despite the challenges facing all banks today, the current
environment also presents opportunities for strong institutions
like SunTrust to expand our client base," James Wells III, chief
executive of SunTrust, said in a statement.

source: comment by gwizz

James III. hat Nerven, sieht es mit Humor ...

:verbeug

.....Faktisch laviert das amerikanische Finanzsystem recht Nahe am Abgrund. Uns ist es ab und zu mal eine Schlagzeile wert, wenn mal wieder ein paar mittelgroße US-Banken geschlossen werden müssen. Da solche Insolvenzen immer an einem Freitag vorgenommen werden, gehen diese Nachrichten, wenn überhaupt, kurz vor dem Wetterbericht über den Schirm. So wurden, welch Zufall, auch die Fälle IKB und Bear Stearns gehandhabt. Den Deutschen ist aber das SPD-Sommertheater wichtiger als die Einbrüche ihrer Aktien- und Rentensparpläne. Nicht umsonst ignorieren Staatsfernsehen und Politik dieses Finanzthema.......

......Wer aber glaubte, dass vor dem Hintergrund der Implosion des US-Finanzsystems in Zeitlupentempo Gold als "harte" Währung steigen würde, sah sich enttäuscht. Der Goldpreis fiel seit der Ankündigung der Rettungsbemühungen durch Paulson um knapp 100 Dollar während der Dollar stieg. Ein Schelm, wer Böses dabei denkt. Natürlich hat Paulson mit den chinesischen Finanzbehörden telefoniert, die sich gezwungen sahen, den Dollar zu stützen. Ihre Treasury-Bestände sind zu gewaltig, um ein schnelles Abschmieren des Dollars zu erlauben.Und wer diese Woche den Wochenausweis des Eurosystems gelesen hat, hat sich, gelinde gesagt, verwundert die Augen gerieben. Just in der Woche nach Paulsons Rettungsaktion verkaufte das Eurosystem (EZB plus alle Notenbanken der EU) Gold und Goldforderungen in Höhe von 578 Mio. Euro. - in einer Woche wohlgemerkt. Dies ist etwa das Vielfache der "normalen" Wochenverkäufe. Auch interessant zu sehen, dass deutsche Finanzpolitiker offensichtlich nicht die geringste Ahnung haben, was hier im Hintergrund gespielt wird, und wo diese Erträge hin fließen.....


...nicht nur deutsche Finanzpolitiker :mad es ist einfach unglaublich wie (wir) alle ins offene Messer laufen :dumm

... boungiorno
 

Germania ...

stimme zu, an Harmlosigkeit der kriminellen Kompetenz
fehlt es den politischen Klassen nicht, – klar ist, dass wir
für jeden bail out in den US mitbezahlen.

Stupidity Award

Grotesk, dass die Clemens Geschichte nun mehr Raum in
den Medien einnimmt, als die inzwischen unverblümten
Finanzmanipulationen und Kreditvergaben durch öffent-
lich finanzierte Institutionen, the bill (oscar) goes to ...

Brisante Neuerscheinung: Die geheimen Macht des Weltbankenkartells

......»Manche glauben, die Banken des Federal Reserve Systems seien Institutionen der US-Regierung. Das sind sie aber nicht …, sie sind private Kreditmonopole, die Jagd auf das amerikanische Volk machen, zu ihren eigenen Gunsten und zugunsten ihrer in- und ausländischen Schwindler sowie der reichen und rücksichtslosen Kreditgeber. Die Plünderung der Vereinigten Staaten durch die Fed ist das größte Verbrechen der Geschichte. Die Fed hat jede erdenkliche Anstrengung unternommen, ihre Macht zu verbergen, aber die Wahrheit ist, dass die Fed die Regierungsgewalt an sich gerissen hat. Sie beherrscht alles hier im Land, und sie kontrolliert unsere gesamten Auslandsbeziehungen. Sie stützt und stürzt Regierungen, ganz nach Belieben.«
Kongressabgeordneter Charles McFadden, Vorsitzender des Ausschusses für Banken und Währungen im Repräsentantenhaus, 10. Juni 1932

Das Buch Der Dollar-Crash legt detailliert dar, wie solch ein Netz privater Bankiers das internationale Währungssystem geschaffen und dessen Herrschaft übernommen hat, und wie diese Bankiers mit dieser Herrschaft umgehen. Das liefert glaubhafte Beweise für die Existenz einer Machtelite, die fest entschlossen ist, die vollständige Herrschaft über die Welt und ihre Rohstoffe zu übernehmen. Das Lebenselixier dieser Machtelite ist das Geld, ihre Waffe ist die Angst........

......Dieses arglistige System wurde schon in den 1920er-Jahren entlarvt, und zwar von Sir Josiah Stamp, dem ehemaligen Chef der Bank of England und zweitreichsten Mann Großbritanniens. Bei einer Rede an der University of Texas ließ er 1927 diese Bombe platzen:

»Das moderne Bankensystem erzeugt Geld aus dem Nichts. Dieser Prozess ist vielleicht der erstaunlichste Taschenspielertrick, der jemals erfunden wurde. Bankgeschäfte wurden immer als ungerecht und sündhaft empfunden ... Die Bankiers besitzen die Erde. Wenn Sie ihnen diese wegnehmen, ihnen aber die Macht zur Geldschöpfung lassen, dann werden sie mit einem Federstrich genug Geld schöpfen, um die Erde wieder zurückzukaufen ... Wenn Sie ihnen diese große Macht nehmen, dann werden alle großen Vermögen, wie z.B. meines, verschwinden; und dann wäre dies eine bessere Welt, in der man glücklicher leben könnte … Aber, wenn Sie weiterhin die Sklaven der Bankiers sein und die Kosten Ihrer eigenen Sklaverei bezahlen wollen, dann lassen Sie es zu, dass die Bankiers weiterhin Geld schöpfen und die Kreditvergabe kontrollieren.«

Am treffendsten hat es Henry Ford ausgedrückt: »Gut, dass die Amerikaner unser Banken- und Währungssystem nicht verstehen; denn verstünden sie es, dann hätten wir wohl eine Revolution, noch bevor der morgige Tag anbricht.«

Begreift man dieses Bild in seiner ganzen Dimension, dann mag man die tragische Absurdität unserer hoffnungslosen Lage kaum glauben, aber es gibt einen Ausweg aus dem Schlamassel: Ellen Brown weist uns den Weg, wie wir unsere finanzielle Freiheit zurückerlangen. (....na da bin ich aber gespannt :rolleyes da müsste ja die Menschheit erwachen :schwitz)

ganzer Artikel: http://www.goldseiten.de/content/di...hp?storyid=7939


"Der Dollar-Crash" - Was Banker ihnen nicht erzählen
von Ellen Browns
Gebundene Ausgabe, 640 Seiten
ISBN: 978-3-938516-69-0
Preis: 24,95 Euro

Erhältlich in jeder Buchhandlung und im GoldSeiten-Buchshop.
© Kopp-Verlag


...wer ist Diverse :confused

...merkwürdig - das Wort Angst wird bei den Amis in deutsch verwendet (so wie zB Kindergarten) ....hmmmm, lässt ja auch tief blicken :rolleyes

hat das Buch schon jemand gelesen :confused wäre um einen Kommentar dankbar :)

bon dia
 

Helvetica ... :rolleyes

Silver State Bancorp Announces Management Reorganization

Last update: 8:45 a.m. EDT Aug. 1, 2008

HENDERSON, Nev., Aug 01, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Silver State Bancorp (SSBX:silver state bancorp com.
Last: 0.90-0.38-29.69% SSBX 0.90, -0.38, -29.7%) today announced the resignation of Corey L. Johnson as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and as Chief Executive Officer of Silver State Bank, the Company's wholly-owned bank subsidiary. The Company also announced the resignation of Silver State Bancorp's and Silver State Bank's Chairman of the Board, Bryan S. Norby......
......The deposit accounts of Silver State Bank are insured up to the applicable limits by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. :rolleyes:schwitz

full story: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...81%7D&dist=hppr

....hoffentlich nicht schon wieder ein Kandidat :gruebel

Henry Ford
 

see quote lunar


»Gut, dass die Amerikaner unser Banken- und Währungssystem
nicht verstehen; denn verstünden sie es, dann hätten wir wohl
eine Revolution, noch bevor der morgige Tag anbricht.«

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rZbvi6Tj6E

NY to file fraud charges against Citigroup

(CNNMoney.com) -- New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Friday that his office intends to file charges against Citigroup for the alleged fraudulent marketing and sale of troubled auction-rate securities to everyday investors. Cuomo outlined his intentions in a letter to Citigroup's general counsel dated Friday, saying that charges were imminent.

In the letter, the New York Attorney General's office alleged that the nation's largest bank "has repeatedly and persistently committed fraud by material misrepresentations and omissions" in the underwriting, distribution and sale of auction rate securities, touting them as safe, cash-equivalent investments.

Cheating investors is easy in up markets. But these frauds become obvious in down markets. And again: the same people who ran things last year are running them this year. Some heads of organizations have switched but most of this was pure churning. No 'new blood' has come into the system. Everyone is still trying to do the same things only slightly differently. The level of lying and obfuscation was vast during this last 7 years. And easy to spot! People wanted to hear lies. If anyone like myself told the truth, we were mocked or ignored. Now, of course, there are a number of people who listen to the nay sayers. But usually, hope springs ever eternal. And con men and con women take advantage of this.

http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/money_matters/

....on we go :rolleyes

4. August 2008, 08:33

Alexander Solschenizyn gestorben

Russischer Literaturnobelpreisträger erliegt einem Herzversagen

Der russische Literaturnobelpreisträger Alexander Solschenizyn ist in der Nacht auf Montag im Alter von 89 Jahren gestorben. Als sein Hauptwerk gilt der «Archipel Gulag» (1973), in dem er den stalinistischen Terror in der Sowjetunion darstellte. Solschenizyn war seit Monaten schwer krank. ...
Solschenizyn: Zwei Jahre in der Schweiz
Memoiren: Doppelte Erzählung

axstone :verbeug
SUPER GOLD BULL


Listen carefully what he says about how long intervention in the Dollar will last

8 Seconds he said


YouTube - Jim Rogers On Kudlow

Posted On: Sunday, August 03, 2008, 6:29:00 PM EST

Bank Withdrawals 2008 Style

The Story of Stuff - Ch.5: Consumption

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUeMVt3stAo

6:36 Minuten sollte man sich ansehen :cool

..hört wohl nimmer auf :rolleyes:schwitz

03 August 2008

Incoming: Another Significant Wave of Mortgage Defaults


The Fed and Treasury face wave after wave of defaults from the unwinding of the credit bubble. They have lowered interest rates to try and stem the incoming tide of collapse, and in doing so they will trigger inflation and perhaps yet another bubble elsewhere if they can. What will it be? It may be a bubble in certain commodities, and indeed even be an anti-bubble in the dollar and the imposition of draconian domestic measures.


August 4, 2008
Housing Lenders Fear Bigger Wave of Loan Defaults
By VIKAS BAJAJ

The first wave of Americans to default on their home mortgages appears to be cresting, but a second, far larger one is quickly building.

Homeowners with good credit are falling behind on their payments in growing numbers, even as the problems with mortgages made to people with weak, or subprime, credit are showing their first, tentative signs of leveling off after two years of spiraling defaults.

The percentage of mortgages in arrears in the category of loans one rung above subprime, so-called alternative-A mortgages, quadrupled to 12 percent in April from a year earlier. Delinquencies among prime loans, which account for most of the $12 trillion market, doubled to 2.7 percent in that time.

The mortgage troubles have been exacerbated by an economy that is still struggling. Reports last week showed another drop in home prices, slower-than-expected economic growth and a huge loss at General Motors. On Friday, the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate in July climbed to a four-year high.

While it is difficult to draw precise parallels among various segments of the mortgage market, the arc of the crisis in subprime loans suggests that the problems in the broader market may not peak for another year or two, analysts said.

Defaults are likely to accelerate because many homeowners’ monthly payments are rising rapidly. The higher bills come as home prices continue to decline and banks tighten their lending standards, making it harder for people to refinance loans or sell their homes. Of particular concern are “alt-A” loans, many of which were made to people with good credit scores without proof of their income or assets.

“Subprime was the tip of the iceberg,” said Thomas H. Atteberry, president of First Pacific Advisors, a investment firm in Los Angeles that trades mortgage securities. “Prime will be far bigger in its impact.”

In a conference call with analysts last month, James Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, said he expected losses on prime loans at his bank to triple in the coming months and described the outlook for them as “terrible.”

Delinquencies on mortgages tend to peak three to five years after loans are made, said Mark Fleming, the chief economist at First American CoreLogic, a research firm. Not surprisingly, subprime loans from 2005 appear closer to the end of defaults than those made in 2007, for which default rates continue to rise steeply........

bei DU gesehen - merci
 

:rolleyes

UpInArms (1000+ posts) Mon Aug-04-08 08:50 AM
Response to Original message 33. Companies Tap Pension Plans To Fund Executive Benefits http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121761989739205497.html...

At a time when scores of companies are freezing pensions for their workers, some are quietly converting their pension plans into resources to finance their executives' retirement benefits and pay.

In recent years, companies from Intel Corp. to CenturyTel Inc. collectively have moved hundreds of millions of dollars of obligations for executive benefits into rank-and-file pension plans. This lets companies capture tax breaks intended for pensions of regular workers and use them to pay for executives' supplemental benefits and compensation.

The practice has drawn scant notice. A close examination by The Wall Street Journal shows how it works and reveals that the maneuver, besides being a dubious use of tax law, risks harming regular workers. It can drain assets from pension plans and make them more likely to fail. Now, with the current bear market in stocks weakening many pension plans, this practice could put more in jeopardy.

How many is impossible to tell. Neither the Internal Revenue Service nor other agencies track this maneuver. Employers generally reveal little about it. Some benefits consultants have warned them not to, in order to forestall a backlash by regulators and lower-level workers.

The background: Federal law encourages employers to offer pensions by giving companies a tax deduction when they contribute cash to a pension plan, and by letting the money in the plan grow tax free. Executives, like anyone else, can participate in these plans.



...more...

This makes me sick. ozymandius Aug-04-08 09:10 AM #40
This should be illegal DemReadingDU Aug-04-08 09:12 AM #41
This is absolutely criminal. Dr.Phool Aug-04-08 09:21 AM #44
Greedy ass bastards. We need hearings on this! Joanne98 Aug-04-08 09:26 AM #47


....und wie ist es hier in Europa :confused hoffentlich macht das nicht Schule :rolleyes

Kauf Haus ...
 

:rolleyes


der ist gut !


... was zum lesen, auch für Analphabeten ( dies ist keine
Ironie hinsichtlich der verbalen Sprachproblematik eines
führenden Finanzexperten im Dienste der demokratischen
Führung eines 3. Weltlandes )

Amazon book store (Hardcover) :

Origami with Dollar Bills,
Another Way to Impress People with Your Money !

...zum Glück gibt's Google :rolleyes;)



...und hast Du schon was drin "gelesen" :confused;)

DemReadingDU (1000+ posts) Mon Aug-04-08 10:00 AM
Response to Reply #59 62. More about Meredith Whitney Edited on Mon Aug-04-08 10:08 AM by DemReadingDU
from another of my favorite blogs...

Edit to add the portion about Meredith Whitney from a couple days ago

8/1/08
Ilargi: In a CBNC interview, analyst Meredith Whitney gives her view of the credit and housing crisis, touching on a wide range of aspects. I think this is an important interview, because she makes a number of statements that contradict many claims and predictions published by the "respected" media on a daily basis. Even so, she very clearly looks to be holding back in what she says.

Still, while blogs may not always be taken seriously, an attitude that increasingly proves to be just plain wrong, Meredith Whitney cannot just as easily be shoved aside. It’s hard to name a high-level analyst on Wall Street with more credibilty than she has.

Here are some of the things she says:

* Merrill Lynch’s sale of $30.6 billion of its CDO’s will be a blueprint for all other financial institutions that own such instruments.
* 25 financial institutions will need to raise additional capital at some point this year.
* All the equity raised presently just serves to plug holes; it doesn’t improve banks’ financial positions.
* Stocks in financials will not rebound for at least 3 years.
* Fannie and Freddie are in the same quagmire as all the rest, they're just bigger.

While, as Whitney says, the Case/Shiller index predicts a 33% drop in residential real estate prices, and most other predictions claim an even - often much- smaller decline, she is sure it will be worse than 33%. She doesn’t say how much worse, but calls lesser claims "bad math".

Her reasoning is as follows:

* Since 2000, 85% of the liquidity in the US housing market has come from securitization. From 2005-2007, $2.5 trilllion worth of mortgages was securitized.
* Today, obviously, mortgage backed securities hardly find buyers. That is, except for Fannie and Freddie.
* A 33% drop in home prices would lead us back to the price level of 2002-2003. However, homeownership was higher then, and the securities trade was blooming.
* Today, banks have less capital, since their shares have lost 50% or more of their value. This will inevitable lead to less lending, which leads to less buyers, which results in lower housing prices.

Whitney therefore states that a drop in prices of 33% or less is not just unlikely, it is mathematically impossible.

Keep that in mind the next time you hear or read claims to the contrary: home prices will fall by more than 33%, and shares in financials won’t bounce back until 2012 at the earliest.

If you must, feel free to ignore my prediction for a drop in real estate prices by 80% or more; until it happens, that is. You will see.

Ignore Whitney at your own peril.
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2008/08/debt-ratt...

video
Maria Bartiromo with Meredith Whitney, executive director of equity research at Oppenheimer, discussing what's in store for the financial sector.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=808357964&play=1 :supi

Origami
 

...

oh, die Dollar-airplanes kannte ich nicht,
ist was für Ben, oder ?

Pinguine sind auch super, merci für Deinen
research !

Whitney's Wisdom

How her influence has landed her on the latest cover of Fortune Magazine, with Meredith Whitney, Oppenheimer & Co. director, equity research

Last Update: Mon. Aug. 4 2008

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=812131553&play=1

....homeprices are going much more to fall than people expect :rolleyes

Subject: File No. S7-19-07
From: Gary D Markoff
Affiliation: Senior Vice President Citi/Smith Barney

July 29, 2008

Dear Sirs,
I've been participating in the financial markets for nearly 30 years advising clients on both the long and short sides of the market. I'm deeply concerned over the imbalances created since the 'uptick rule' was removed 12 months ago,the subsequent explosion of short interest and the Bear Market that has followed.
It's either unusually coincidental or more probably causal with the broader market meltdown we've been experiencing since the rule change. I have no objection with shorting, but I do have an objection to hedge funds (or anyone else) manipulating the process and the price of securities by selling shares that haven't at least been borrowed first and then slamming the bid with short sales on rapid downticks. I am not allowed to do that for clients at my firm, and can't understand why anyone else should be allowed. Returning to the Uptick rule and requiring prior authorization on a Borrow need to appply and be enforced for ALL publicly traded companies and not just FRE, FNM and the primary dealers.
The ability to sell 'market on close' for a short seller is major unintended consequence of the 'uptick' removal, especially in smaller cap (say under $5 bill but more significantly on market caps below $1 billion). This has enabled shorts to dominate the end of day trading and 'mark' the closing price (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly) which is illegal for both shorts and long side players. The difference is that longs must identify themselves in filings to the SEC at least once per quarter and anytime positions go up or down thru 5, 10 or 15% thresholds. Short sellers DO NOT have this requirement and because of this ability to be anonymous, the SEC does not have effective control of surveillance nor do the shareholders and the company itself know who is short.
My request and recommendation is that for transparency purposes, ALL positions both long and short be filed equally and size restrictions be implemented on shorts the way they are on longs. As a shareholder, I should be able to know in the proxy statements who the short sellers are that are short more than 5% of a company just the same way I can see who is long greater than 5%.
I also can't understand why stocks that are showing up on the Reg SHO lists aren't subject to immediate buy-ins after a minimum grace period. It's the SEC's job to enforce this and hasn't. Why have a rule if it is not going to be enforced?
I also take issue with short interest getting up to over 50% in some companies. Again, without transparency as to WHO is short, it's possible that one player can corner the market (short) in a declining environment. Position limits apply in commodities for a reason, they should apply in equities,too.
All of these factors have gone on to raise the cost of capital for companies unnecessarily, and to bring about a broad disengagement from public participation. It's time to turn those factors around before we create another Depression.
Thank you for your consideration, Gary Markoff
Senior Vice President, Smith Barney- Boston

http://sec.gov/comments/s7-19-07/s71907-1248.htm

:eek:gruebel ob das von den Herren :bad Paulson-Bernanke & Co. beabsichtigt war :rolleyes

....und es wird wieder wohl gelesen (hoffentlich wenigstens das :rolleyes) und es wird wiederum nichts passieren - das ist doch wirklich :dumm

***********************

....ich bin sonst kein Cramer-Fan, da lag er aber richtig :supi

von einem Yahoo-Board:
1-Aug-08 09:07 pm jcrxp5
I shall post this yet again.

Reaction to SEC's Elimination of Rule 10a-1

On the March 20, 2008 episode of Mad Money, Jim Cramer launched his campaign to reinstate the Uptick Rule. Citing the wild swings of the market since its elimination, Cramer pointed out that the SEC eliminated the rule during a bull market, when liquidity was not a problem. Cramer believes that, without the Uptick Rule in place, short sellers are devaluing perfectly solid stocks. As a former hedge fund manager, Cramer admitted to making millions short selling with the Uptick Rule in place. Without an impediment such as the Uptick Rule to slow down the pace of short sellers, Cramer believes it puts the market at risk for the very problems that lead to the Great Depression.

:schwitz

Jesse's Café Américain


04 August 2008

LEH in Talks to Sell Asssets and Sell New Equity to Raise Capital


Lehman may have to raise capital if sells assets
Mon Aug 4, 2008 12:48pm EDT
By Dan Wilchins

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is expected to follow in Merrill Lynch & Co Inc's footsteps and sell a lot of risky assets at a loss. But shedding the assets may create another headache for Lehman -- the need to raise large amounts of new capital, including common equity.

Any capital raise would be painful for Lehman and its shareholders, given that the company just raised $6 billion in June and trades at a significant discount to its book value, or the net accounting value of its assets.

But Lehman, the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, may have little choice as it wrestles with roughly $65 billion in mortgage-related assets, particularly after Merrill Lynch agreed to shed $30.6 billion in toxic assets at a fire-sale price of 22 cents in the dollar, analysts said......


***************************

:schwitz

Posted by Jesse at 3:09 PM

Citi Takes a Serious Hit on Credit Card Losses - Sees Defaults Rising


Citigroup Posts Loss on Credit-Card Securitizations
By Bradley Keoun

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. reported its first loss since at least 2005 on credit-card securitizations, signaling that risks may be growing in a business that generated $3.5 billion of revenue in the past three years.

The biggest U.S. credit-card lender lost $176 million in the second quarter packaging card loans into securities, the company said in an Aug. 1 regulatory filing. The New York-based bank completed fewer deals and was forced to mark down its own $9 billion stockpile of the debt instruments and other stakes the company amassed while selling them to investors......


...man kommt aus dem :schwitz gar nicht mehr raus :rolleyes

...es geht hier zwar um GM - aber hat wohl allgemeine Gültigkeit :rolleyes


General Motors and the Intellectual and Moral Bankruptcy of Wall Street



.....Let’s step backwards a bit. On June 25, 2007, Wall Street powerhouse Morgan Stanley put out a “buy” recommendation with respect to General Motors’ common stock. Robert Barry, Morgan Stanley’s star analyst, proclaimed a 52-week target price of $42 per share. Less than five months later, on November 7, 2007, Wall Street analysts were stunned by General Motors’ staggering third-quarter (9/30/07) loss of $39 billion – one of the largest bookkeeping losses in history, which was mostly related to the writedown of deferred tax assets. Fifty-three weeks after Morgan Stanley’s buy recommendation, GM’s stock hit a 54-year low of $9.98 per share – on July 2, 2008, after Merrill Lynch’s recommendation had gone from a “buy” to “underperform” (i.e., sell) on that day. In one sweeping move overnight, Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy cut his target price on GM by a whopping 75%, reducing the target price from $28 to $7. So how is it that GM suddenly went from respectability to mediocrity – in one analyst’s mind – overnight? In fact, why did it take until July 2008 to concede that GM was on life support? Wall Street, belatedly, is willing to acknowledge the fact that General Motors is teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.

Accordingly, key questions come to the forefront. How did any stock analyst, worth his salt, get blindsided by the aforementioned $38.3 billion writedown of deferred tax assets? Are Wall Street’s Ivy League-educated MBAs able to comprehend advanced accounting and finance? Has rigorous security analysis, on Wall Street, been supplanted by self-serving cheerleading and inane platitudes with the objective of transferring wealth from the masses to the Wall Street elites?

As Benjamin Graham and David L. Dodd so eloquently stated in their classic 1934 book Security Analysis, “The correct calculation of the asset values and their relationship to securities or creditors claims depends on the purposes of the analyst.” Therefore, to answer the above-posed questions is simple. Wall Street has little to do with disseminating competent securities analysis and advice to average “investors,” and has much to do with transferring wealth from Main Street to Wall Street – and, for the most powerful Wall Street brokerage houses, doing the bidding of the government’s Plunge Protection Team.......

......So, just how savvy are some of Wall Street’s best :bad and brightest :bad analysts :bad ? Nine days before GM’s deferred tax asset writedown bombshell, UBS upgraded its rating of GM to a “buy.” On September 13, 2007, Citigroup initiated coverage and issued a buy recommendation. Other Wall Street heavyweights, in 2007, that had weighed in with “upgraded” opinions of GM included Banc of America Securities, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, and Deutsche Securities. One must heed Graham and Dodd’s words as to what purpose is behind a securities analyst’s recommendation. But then again, Wall Street analysts long ago abandoned their roles of providing independent expertise, and instead turned to selling their firm’s investment banking services. Mark Reutter writes:

Stock analysts have long been fixtures at investment banks that both broker (that is, sell) stocks and bonds to the public and underwrite new security issues for companies. With deregulation of brokerage commissions in 1975, which ended the practice of fixed-rate minimum commissions, investment banks found their brokerage business drying up, undercut by Charles Schwab & Co. and other discount brokerages.

Trading fees plummeted and analyst reports no longer paid for themselves. As a result, the role of the analyst shifted from providing relatively impartial information for brokers and their clients to boosterish tie-ins with corporate clients, such as using the research reports to hype a company’s prospects and promoting initial public offerings (IPOs) on investor "road shows."

So now, with the two services – investment banking and stock analysis – conveniently commingled, and thus creating a huge conflict of interest, a dealmaker’s sales literature is passed off as serious and useful analysis of the financial markets, leading Main Street investors – who tend to follow these recommendations – seriously astray.....

full story: http://www.lewrockwell.com/decoster/decoster133.html

:verbeug


Today's market action looked like a major Wall Street insiders push to break the traders/funds who were playing the long oil-long metals - short dollar-short financials cross trades. They were leaning awfully hard on them. Just as an update we took down our short oil - long gold cross trade the past couple days. We wanted to be in a stronger cash position to be a able to move quickly in case some things unfold as we expect they might.

The volumes are just not there so far to justify this run up in the stock indices. The Fed did not do anything today to justify a 300+ point rally. The spin on financial television is running hard from the 'chief strategists.' Wall Street wants to get the market up and offload more shares to mom and pop to further damage the economy for their own benefit. That's what they do. This is why our economy is sick. It is being run by shills and gamblers for the benefit of 'the house.'

We will be very surprised if the market does not sell off tomorrow, but we have an open mind and will start considering the notion of government intervention which could sustain a prolonged 'reflation rally.' If the Fed and Treasury can get behind this in a meaningful way then all bets are off.

But for now this just looks like the Wall Street wiseguys peeking at the other players cards from their seating vantage points as insiders and limit raising the bets against the prevailing trades on the trend fundamentals. If this is the case, the prior trends should reassert themselves within the week. If not, then we might be in a new ballgame.

We will WAIT for a sign that this is the case, although we did put on a few Sept. Index shorts into the close. There is no point jumping in front of this in case it is something more profound than just the usual Wall Street shenanigans.


Posted by Jesse at 3:58 PM

05 August 2008

When the Going Gets Weird, the Weird Turn Pro

We just don't have the words.

Morgan Stanley to Advise U.S. Department of the Treasury Regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

NEW YORK -- (Business Wire) --

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) confirmed today that it has been

retained by the United States Department of the Treasury to provide

capital markets advice to support the Treasury's responsibilities

associated with its new authorities regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie

Mac. As part of that assignment, Morgan Stanley will support the

Treasury's work to promote market stability and the availability of

mortgage credit.




Morgan Stanley Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John J. Mack

said, "Morgan Stanley is honored :bad to have been asked to serve :bad as

financial advisor to the U.S. Treasury as it evaluates various

alternatives for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We are pleased to be able

to offer our services to the government and look forward to working

with Secretary Paulson and his team as they work to restore stability

to the global capital markets and confidence in the U.S. housing

market." Morgan Stanley will accept no fees for this assignment and will

receive only $95,000 from the Government toward its expenses.

($95,000 for expenses? That's a lot of Taittinger at The Palm and VIP lapdances at Camelot. Or are we talking something a little more Spitzeresque? We'll take that job in a Manhattan minute for free. It would put a certain 'edge' to our blog. Think about it Hank. - Jesse)



Posted by Jesse at 6:56 PM - http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/

.....es stinkt zum Himmel - who cares :bad

lunar/hoka
 

Jesses' statement

:verbeug


agree exactly with last chapter ...

photography
 

Hi Lunar,

might be of interest:

Photographien von Dorothea Lange,
evtl. engl. bookstores in Züri ...


silverbay

and the games ...
 

... could beginn




Photograph from the National Archives,
courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives

Silverbay danke :) werde mich umschauen :cool

*********************************

....ist beim Güldenen auch drin ;)

Gold Manipulation by Central Banks (1 of 3)
Bill Murphy of GATA.org and LeMetropoleCafe.com...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okvztfu0-PQ

(2 of 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e0J...feature=related

(3 of 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSoU8jiFFYU

Hiroshima: Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit

Am 6. August 1945 werfen die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika auf die japanische Stadt Hiroshima die erste Atombombe ab. Durch die Explosion und die frei gesetzte radioaktive Strahlung kommen schätzungsweise bis zu 150.000 Menschen grausam ums Leben. Etwa 80% der Stadt Hiroshima werden zerstört.
http://www.aktivepolitik.de/hiroshima.htm

Zitat des Tages - Trader's Daily

„Treten Sie ein, sonst verhungern wir beide!" ;)

- Gesehen an der Tür einer Gaststätte

Freddie Mac swings to 2Q loss

By J.W. ELPHINSTONE, AP Business Writer 24 minutes ago


NEW YORK - Freddie Mac on Wednesday posted a second-quarter loss more than three-times larger than Wall Street expected as more homeowners fell behind on their mortgages.

The loss comes just weeks after the government threw a financial lifeline to Freddie and its sister company Fannie Mae to ward off fears the pair could collapse and take down the U.S. mortgage market. Together, the two hold or guarantee nearly half of outstanding U.S. mortgage debt.....

full story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080806...rns_freddie_mac

(NYSE: FRE)NEW Real-time: 6.85 1.19 (14.80%) 9:58am ET

.....der Steuerzahler :verbeug dankt :rolleyes:mad

Quote of the day

John Kerry to reporters: "John McCain is looking for someone for vice president who has more economic expertise than he does. So congratulations to all of you, you're on the short list."

gesehen bei ---> Jesse's Café Américain
 

Posted on August 5th, 2008 in Daily Mortgage/Housing News - The Real Story, Mr Mortgage's Personal Opinions/Research

I have been preaching that the ‘Pay Option Implosion’ will make the ‘Subprime Implosion’ look like a hiccup in states in which this loan program was widely used such as CA. This is because this loan program knows no socio-economic boundaries and was very heavy used in more affluent areas because of its ultimate affordability feature, negative amortization.

The Pay Option ARM (POA) is the most toxic of all loan programs with up to 80% of borrowers making the minimum monthly payment and acruing negative. Combine that with a house price crash of 32% in the past 13 months in CA and most of these borrowers owe more than their home is worth and are at an exponentially greater risk of loan default. Remember, these were once PRIME borrowers in many cases......

......The Alt-A universe is much larger in unit count and dollar volume than subprime so even though we are just at the beginning of the ‘Alt-A Implosion’, they have already filled in the subprime default void. Scarier yet, roughly 65% of all Alt-A defaults are POA’s. The ‘POA Implosion’ is upon us........

.......Below is an accelerated recast schedule for the POA. You can see how the recast numbers have just begun to grow and do not peak until Dec 2009!



The Wall Street Journal just came out with a story about how First Federal has been hurt badly due to the POA. It has already been a leading contributer in the take-down of American Home, IndyMac, Countrywide and arguably Bear Stearns. If not for this loan WaMu, Wachovia, Lehman, Downey Savings, Bank United and Capital One would be in much better shape than they are today.....

full story: http://mrmortgage.ml-implode.com/20...deral-featured/

pay-option arm --->http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQjY8xVewrPg

:gruebel ...ich kapier nicht alles - scheint aber brisant zu werden :rolleyes

OLYMPIA- UMWELTSCHUTZ

Pekings Luftwäsche- Experiment fasziniert Smogforscher

Von Markus Becker Olympioniken mit Atemmasken, Dreckwolken über Peking - um in letzter Minute bei den Spielen doch noch saubere Atemluft zu bekommen, haben Chinas Behörden das größte Luftwäsche-Experiment der Geschichte gestartet. Forscher sind fasziniert: Sie hoffen auf neue Erkenntnisse im Kampf gegen Smog. mehr...