:verbeug

:verbeug

...na ja - das Übliche :o

.....ja - dann woll'n wir mal ;):hihi

exercise tip to help survive

-> Posted by GoldBalloon @ 16:32 pm on September 25, 2008


EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OVER 50

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side. With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax. Each day you’ll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags. Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I’m at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.

B R E A K D O W N

Jim Rogers Calls Paulson’s Plan `Welfare for the Rich’

September 25th, 2008 http://www.bloomberg.com/avp/avp.htm?N=av&T=Jim%20Rogers%20Calls%20Paulson’s%20Plan%20%60Welfare%20for%20the%20Rich’&clipSRC=mms://media2.bloomberg.com/cache/vbGb5KNYrBKo.asf

If you have 8 minutes - listen to this!

bluevoter4life (138 posts) Fri Sep-26-08 12:46 AM
Original message J.P. Morgan Buys WaMu After U.S. Seizes Thrift
Source: Washington Post

Washington Mutual, the nation's largest thrift, was seized by federal regulators last night and sold immediately to J.P. Morgan Chase for $1.9 billion, avoiding the need for a government bailout of depositors in the troubled company.

The deal was facilitated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which said there would be no payment from its insurance fund.

Washington Mutual, based in Seattle, made thousands of mortgage loans that its borrowers cannot repay. That has left it saddled with billions of dollars in bad debts. It has been unable to raise the money it needs to survive.

Last week, the company placed itself on the auction block, but bidders failed to materialize. That forced federal regulators to encourage a deal for the company.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...


I am sick of this fucking bullshit. I have all my money in WaMu. What's next for me and fellow customers? This shit needed to be addressed years ago but all this partisan bickering has taken its toll on the economy. The largest thrift in the country just went under and no one is still doing much about it. What the FUCK is it going to take to get some goddamn action in this country. I apologize for all the profanity, but I've had it.

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

Waiting For Everyman (909 posts) Fri Sep-26-08 01:26 AM
Response to Original message 7. JP Morgan owned 1/3 of the $45 Trillion swaps market, BEFORE buying Bear Stearns, which owned another $2.5 Trillion of it... so that's $17.5 Trillion in swaps JPM had already... and now WaMU and however much they have in swaps. It looks like most of this fraudulent market is being corraled into JP Morgan.

26 September 2008

Fed Puts Pedal to the Metal - Adjusted Monetary Base Rises at Record Levels


It will be interesting to see how the lagged effects of this begin to exhibit in the broader monetary supply measures over time.

And the presses go rolling along....







Posted by Jesse at 12:08 AM :verbeug

25 September 2008

Bipartisan Senator Group Calls for Special Investigator to Oversee Bailout Operations


This could be useless smoke, or it could have some teeth and be useful.

If this position was filled by Eliot Spitzer it might be interesting, maybe for no pay as a community service deal. He would surely be up for that. Payback is a bitch after all. Probably a little outré for Washington.

Maybe George Soros, Noriel Roubini, or Paul Krugman? No their knuckles are not hairy enough for this task. Karl Denninger of Tickerforum or Gata's Bill Murphy could do it if they had strong staff support. There would not be a bank left unscathed after they hit their stride. The press briefings would be fun.

The most significant talent for a Special Inspector General in addition to being able to build and organize a large administrative problem with loads of special influence-peddling interference would be to sniff out fraud and roll the small fry over on the heavy hitters.

The Senate would probably want to consider someone NOT nominated by short-timer Bush. As they say in boxing that nominee would be a 'tomato.' Someone like Tom Kean, Rudy Giuliani or Phil Gramm. Hey, Sara Palin is a reformer and knows finance; she has a checkbook.

It would best be someone with significant experience in RICO investigations and a serious lack of sympathy for Wall Street, but with a familiarity with their methods and a spotless reputation.


Does such a person exist?

RTT Global Financial News
32 Senators Call For Creation Of Special Investigator General To Oversee Bailout
9/25/2008 3:50 PM ET

(RTTNews) - A bipartisan group of 32 senators is calling for a special auditor for any federal bailout program for financial institutions......

full story: http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspo...-calls-for.html

25 September 2008

Investment Banks Help Drive Discount Window Lending to a Record $262 Billion This Week


Tell us again why we need to give $700 Billion of taxpayer money to Wall Street?

The report attached references the 'investment banks.' We hear that Goldman and Morgan are the only remaining investment banks while they are in the five day 'waiting period' to be bank holding companies.

While we obviously cannot be sure the implication is that they are both insolvent in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and without support would be bankrupt.

:bad Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and the other investment banks are among the prime actors that caused the problems that have been plaguing us since the 1990's.

They devastated multiple industrial sectors in the US through the distortions of asset bubbles while stuffing hundreds of millions of dollars into their pockets.

They corrupted the financial and political systems with their unbridled greed and shameless pursuit of excess and ego.

And now they need three quarters of a trillion dollars to maintain the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed.

Their spokespuppets tell us if we don't give it to them, they will crash the global economy. :bad

The deal on the table is that they sell us nearly worthless assets and derivatives for $700 Billion dollars, and then they loan that money back to us at interest.

Would you like to buy a vowel?

We'd rather give the money to every family that made less than five million dollars on a sliding scale last year. what would that be, about $36,000? And let you wait for it to trickle up.

Oh no, we couldn't do that, it would be inflationary. It would be socialism. But if we give it to the Bush crony capitalists that is good business.

The best Wall Street should hope for is a head start, if there is any justice left in this land.

Discount Window Borrowing Jumps to $262 Billion
By Steven Sloan
September 26, 2008

WASHINGTON — During another turbulent week on Wall Street, lending through the Federal Reserve Board's discount window skyrocketed to $262.3 billion on Wednesday, thanks to new lending programs unveiled during the week.

It was the second record in as many weeks and more than double from the previous high water mark.

The heaviest lending was centered on the primary dealer credit facility, which was established in March to give investment banks access to the discount window. The Fed eased terms on the facility on Sunday when it approved requests from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to convert to bank holding companies.
The Fed said Goldman and Morgan, the last of the major investment banks, could borrow on the same terms as commercial banks and with the same collateral. In response, lending through the PDCF totalled $105.662 billion on Wednesday, from $59.8 billion a week earlier.

Commercial banks were also very active at the discount window. Loans to banks increased 17.7%, to $39.9 billion, a new record.

Meanwhile, the Fed issued loans to weak banks for the second week in a row. These loans increased 5.6%, to $19 million on Wednesday.

The Fed's efforts to backstop the market for money market mutual funds appears to have been met with initial success. The Fed said Friday it would lend against asset backed commercial paper held by the funds. It distributed $72.7 billion by Wednesday.

The central bank also said American International Group Inc., the insurance giant the Fed bailed out on Sept. 16, drew $44.6 billion of its $85 billion government loan by Wednesday. A week earlier, the company had tapped $28 billion of the loan.

As the Fed continues to boost and widen its lending programs, concern has grown that too much of its balance sheet is being dedicated to helping banks survive the credit crunch. With these concerns in mind, the Fed grew its balance sheet by 22%, to $1.2 trillion.

The Fed was helped in these efforts by the Treasury Department, which began a program earlier this month to sell Treasury bills and send the cash generated to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The central bank said it received $159.8 billion from the Treasury through this program.
Posted by Jesse at 9:41 PM :verbeug

full story: http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspo...help-drive.html

...also echt - man kommt aus dem :bad gar nicht mehr raus

Posted On: Thursday, September 25, 2008, 6:21:00 PM EST

In The News Today

Author: Jim Sinclair

...von der GoldBullenSeite ;) gehört ja auch ins Geschehen :rolleyes

http://www.stock-channel.net/stock-...&postcount=3544

Washington Mutuals Zusammenbruch verschärft die Krise - US-Rettungsplan in Fokus

EUR-USD eröffnet heute morgen bei 1.4635, nachdem gestern im US-Handel Tiefstkurse bei 1.4562 markiert wurden. USD-JPY notiert aktuell bei 105.70. "Carry-Trades" stehen unter Druck. EUR-JPY stellt sich auf 154.70, während EUR-CHF bei 1.5890 oszilliert.

Die FDIC hat bekannt gemacht, dass JP Morgan Washington Mutuals Aktiva in einem Notverkauf für 1,9 Mrd. USD übernommen hat. Washington Mutual brach gestern zusammen und wurde von der Augsicht und FDIC Donnerstag geschlossen.

Der Notverkauf an JP Morgan an Stelle einer Insolvenz erspart der FDIC (Einlagensicherungsfonds) für 143 Mrd. USD Einlagen einspringen zu müssen. Die Summe wäre dreimal so hoch wie das Volumen des Fonds gewesen.

Die Situation spitzt sich in den USA weiter zu. Die Tatsache, dass eine Insolvenz von WaMu den US-Einlagensicherungsfonds vor nachhaltige Probleme gestellt hätte, darf als Indiz der Qualität der aktuellen Finanzkrise gewertet werden.

Mit der Übernahme durch JP Morgan tritt JP Morgan damit das zweite Mal nach Bear Stearns als Retter in der Not auf. Mithin ist die Bank mit dem größten Derivatebuch der Welt in der Lage, Rettungsaktionen wie von der Stange zu produzieren. Chapeau und gleichzeitig "Food for thought!" Der US-Rettungsplan mit einem angedachten Volumen von 700 Mrd. USD ist noch nicht unter Dach und Fach Die Diskussionen gehen hier weiter. Der Widerstand aus der republikanischen Partei ist derzeit noch nicht gebrochen.

Es ist durchaus verständlich für aufrechte Demokraten, sich diesem Gesetz zu widersetzen. Die Freizeichnung für die Rechtsfolgen aus diesem Programm zu Gunsten des US-Finanzministers und der nachgeordneten Protagonisten in der Umsetzung kommt einem Ermächtigungsgesetz gleich, das für ein Volumen von circa 5% des US BIP rechtsstaatliche Verantwortung aushebelt.

Rechtsstaatlichkeit ist aber Grundlage der freiheitlichen Ordnung der Demokratie. Mithin würde hier die Demokratie in den USA markant angegriffen.

Der Kongress (Repräsentantenhaus) hat gestern der US-Automobilindustrie vergünstigte Kredite in einem Volumen von 25 Mrd. USD genehmigt. Senat und US-Präsident müssen noch zustimmen. Offensichtlich genießen US-Automobilbauer öffentliche Gewährträgerhaftung in den USA. Wir sind gespannt, welche Interpretationen uns das US-Wettbewerbsrecht bei den zu erwartenden Klagen der internationalen Konkurrenz auftischen wird.

Die Aktionen seitens der US-Regierung liefern Steilvorlagen die USA in U.S.S.R. umzubenennen, "United States Socialistic Republic".

Diesbezüglich ist auch eine Einlassung von Hugo Chavez, Venezuelas Präsident, einer der aktuellen Erzfeinde der USA, unterhaltsam: "I nationalize strategic companies and get criticized, but when Bush does it, it is okay." (TV 21. September)

Die globale Willfährigkeit, ordnungspolitische Sündenfälle von der Stange aus den USA zu ignorieren, ist durchaus als erstaunlich zu bezeichnen. Wo sind die lauten US-Anwälte freier Märkte nur geblieben, die in arroganter Manier "old Europe" gestern noch in Grund und Boden redeten? Offensichtlich ist in der "Neuen Zeit" Opportunismus eine Tugend und keine Sünde. Oder wie sagten die drei Hexen in dem Drama Macbeth von Shakespeare noch: "Foul is fair and fair is foul!" Dazu passt auch die klassische Einlassung Adenauers: "Was interessiert mich mein Geschwätz von gestern!".......

ganzer Artikel: http://www.goldseiten.de/content/ma...hp?storyid=8518

http://www.stock-channel.net/stock-...503&postcount=4

Morgan Stanley suffers cash flight :eek:rolleyes


By James Mackintosh in London

Published: September 25 2008 23:15 | Last updated: September 25 2008 23:15

Morgan Stanley lost close to a third of assets in its prime brokerage last week, amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars, as hedge funds fled after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and moved to rival banks.

The losses, confirmed by several people familiar with the business, will deal a big blow to Morgan Stanley as its prime brokerage is one of its most profitable and successful businesses.

The flight of cash and stock out of the division occurred as spreads in the credit default swap market ballooned, but has since slowed to a trickle, these people said. Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

Several of Morgan Stanley’s hedge fund clients said they were likely to return to the bank once markets stabilised. The prime brokerage, which provides hedge funds with custody and loans and assists short selling, is highly rated by many managers.

Many of the world’s biggest hedge funds moved their assets to commercial banks regarded as safer last week, as they and their investors worried that Morgan Stanley could follow Lehman into trouble.....

full story: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fc0e74be-...00779fd18c.html

von Milly ;)
Nixda 700 Milliönchen, sind Milliärdchen, sooo billich machen's die Gängster nicht, 2.500 $$$ pro US-Bürger (haste mal 2500 Dollar? ), die Witwen und Waisen eingerechnet

....übrigens auch Babies eingerechnet :rolleyes

Mulmiges Gefühl
von Michael Vaupel

Ein amerikanischer Kollege (Frank Holmes) hat mir eine Grafik geschickt, welche mich gerade beeindruckt bzw. nachdenklich macht.

Diese Grafik setzt den aktuellen „Wert" aller Derivate in Relation.

Und zwar in Relation zu zwei Dingen:

1.) Dem GDP der Welt - also dem Bruttoinlandsrodukt ALLER Staaten der Welt. Die gesamte Wirtschaftsleistung aller Staaten der Welt, innerhalb eines Jahres.

2.) Der Marktkapitalisierung ALLER Aktien und Anleihen weltweit. Alle Staats- und Unternehmens-Anleihen der Welt, und alle Aktien, die es von Lettland bis Vietnam gibt.

Dazu nun der grafische Vergleich in der Grafik. Schauen Sie mal:

Grafik siehe Anhang)
Quelle: Frank Holmes, U.S. Global Investors

Der „Wert" aller Derivate beträgt demzufolge mehr als das 10fache der gesamten Wirtschaftsleistung der Welt.

Und mehr als das 5fache des aktuellen Kurswertes aller Aktien und Anleihen, weltweit.
Ich muss sagen, da wird mir schon mehr als ein wenig mulmig.

Das Volumen der ausstehenden Derivate ist in den letzten 6 Jahren zudem um rund 500% gestiegen. Kann das noch weitergehen? Ist das eine gesunde Entwicklung?

Mein Bauch sagt mir, dass ich da ganz klar meinem Idol Warren Buffett zustimmen sollte. Der sagte, das Derivate die „finanziellen Waffen der Massenvernichtung" ("financial weapons of mass destruction") seien.

Und wenn ich drüber nachdenke, dann sagt mir mein Hirn dasselbe.

Denn wenn wir hier bei den Derivaten mittlerweile Volumina erreicht haben, die einem 10fachen der Wirtschaftsleistung der Welt entsprechen...dann geht das weit über das Maß hinaus, was gesund wäre.

Gesund sind Dinge wie Absichern bestehender Positionen, Arbitrage-Geschäfte, natürlich auch gewisse Spekulation (spekuliere ja selber mit Zertifikaten = Derivaten!). Aber ein Volumen in Höhe des 10fachen der Wirtschaftsleistung der Welt?

Wie gesagt, mulmiges Gefühl...
(Und vielleicht ist es wirklich nicht so verkehrt, mal ein wenig physisches Gold zu kaufen. Für alle Fälle. Für den Fall, dass die „finanziellen Massenvernichtungswaffen" tatsächlich mal hochgehen.)

Mulmigen Gruß, hätte ich beinahe geschrieben. Nein, Ihnen natürlich: Herzlichen Gruß!

Ihr - Michael Vaupel

...aktueller Wert :rolleyes wenn das jetzt immer noch so viel Wert haben sollte - dann :schreck

I reckon ‘they’

-> Posted by illusion @ 6:13 am on September 26, 2008
….. are outa time. This deal is unravelling too fast for a controlled descent, and holding gold down is like trying to stand (no hands) on a bar of soap in the shower.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inzC...feature=related

I just love this youtube !!

...es stösst eben immer wieder sauer auf :rolleyes und warum sollte man Herrn Paulson - als gross garnierender ex GSler - gauben wenn er meint trust me :bad und schiebt endlich die Kohle rüber :mad

ozymandius (1000+ posts) Fri Sep-26-08 05:58 AM
Response to Original message 11. Wall Street Executives Scored $3 Billion as Banks Rose and Fell Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Wall Street's five biggest firms paid more than $3 billion in the last five years to their top executives, while they presided over the packaging and sale of loans that helped bring down the investment-banking system.

...

Democrats and Republicans in Congress are demanding that limits be placed on executive pay as part of the $700 billion financial rescue plan proposed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO, who received about $111 million between 2003 and 2006, said in testimony to Congress on Sept. 24 that he would accept such limits as part of the plan, after initially opposing them.

....

Wall Street firms have shared profits liberally with employees. The five biggest -- Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Merrill, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns -- paid their 185,687 employees $66 billion in 2007, as problems with subprime mortgages mounted, including about $39 billion in bonuses. That amounts to average pay of $353,089 per employee, including an average bonus of $211,849. The five firms had combined net income of $93 billion during the five years through 2007.

CEO Pay Doubled

The $3.1 billion paid to the top five executives at the firms between 2003 and 2007 was about three times what JPMorgan spent to buy Bear Stearns. Goldman Sachs had the highest total, with $859 million, followed by Bear Stearns at $609 million. CEO pay at the five firms increased each year, doubling to $253 million in 2007, according to data compiled from company filings.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a96...

Thursday, September 25. 2008


Posted by Karl Denninger at 22:32
(Page 1 of 271, totaling 542 entries) » next page
Goodbye Ben - How Many in Congress Have a Pair? (VIDEO:supi)

You have to love this. Here is the story as originally posted on Bloomberg:

"Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said the proposed $700 billion rescue of financial institutions backed by Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke would plunge the U.S. government deeper into a fiscal abyss.

The plan by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to buy troubled assets from financial institutions would put ``one more straw on the back of the frightfully encumbered camel that is the federal government ledger,'' Fisher said today in the text of a speech in New York. ``We are deeply submerged in a vast fiscal chasm.''

Now here is how it reads after "Update 1"

"Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said the U.S. Treasury's proposed $700 billion rescue of financial institutions would be ``a critical first step'' toward calming markets even while adding to the U.S. government's fiscal burden.

The plan by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to buy troubled assets from financial institutions ``is an incremental addition to the federal government ledger,'' Fisher said today in a speech in New York. Existing federal obligations in Medicare and Social Security mean ``we are deeply submerged in a vast fiscal chasm,'' he said. "

Hmmm.

The actual speech is here; this is what it says:

"Even before tackling the task of cementing capital adequacy, we need to bear in mind that the TARP places one more straw on the back of the frightfully encumbered camel that is the federal government ledger."

The words "a critical first step" do not appear in the speech. Anywhere. The Bloomberg reporter made them up and removed his actual words about a camel's back.

The rest of Mr. Fisher's speech should be required reading.

He has, in essence, endorsed my view of this crisis and how we get out of it. He said:

"But I digress. The problem that has been ailing capital markets and, by extension, the economy has not been the fed funds rate. It has been and remains risk aversion and uncertainty about counterparty risk and capital adequacy."

Exactly.

Again, for the peanut gallery:

1. Level III assets must be fully disclosed along with all formula and models for their marks, quarterly, in the 10Q/10K.
2. Derivatives must all be moved to a regulated exchange with a central counterparty to guarantee margin supervision. No exceptions.
3. Leverage must be reduced to no more than 12:1 across the system. No exceptions.

Encode these three points into law or regulation and what Mr. Fisher has identified (correctly) as the root of the problem disappears.

Oh, and let's not forget:

"Since the beginning of the year, I have been worried about the efficacy of reducing the fed funds rate given the problems of liquidity and capital constraints afflicting the financial system. As I see it, the seizures and convulsions we have experienced in the debt and equity markets have been the consequences of a sustained orgy of excess and reckless behavior, not a too-tight monetary policy."

A sustained orgy of excess and reckless behavior that neither The Fed nor Congress has been willing to address.

Now we are out of time while both Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson have attempted to exploit a crisis of their own making in order to ram-rod a haphazard coronation of a new King under the guise of "fixing the problem" when in fact following their prescription - or anything like it - will make the situation markedly worse.

Never mind the intentional drain of the slosh the last several days which, as I predicted, exposed a dead body - Washington Mutual, which was "assisted" into a new life under JP Morgan. How convenient! But some Senators - apparently including Mr. Shelby, have figured it out as he in particular made a comment to that effect this afternoon.

Thank God for the Internet and a few intrepid bloggers.

To our Senators and Reps - do the right thing.

That "right thing" is not to pass a $700 billion bailout or anything like it, irrespective of what Paulson tells you. Secretary Paulson was one of the architects of this mess when he was at Goldman Sachs, creating the very debt instruments that are now blowing up and threatening our economic security.

The right thing is to address the root cause of the problem as identified in the three points above, then for any firm that cannot make it on their own, force it through involuntary receivership and execute the conversion of debt (bondholder stakes) to equity.

For most of these firms this will leave them standing but with the common and preferred stock wiped out. The bondholders become the new equity holders at whatever haircut comes from satisfying creditors. For the few firms that cannot survive this (the bondholder equity is an inadequate cushion against liabilities) they are liquidated and leave the scene.

Yes, we are going to have a nasty recession. This is unavoidable. We've been in recession since the 4th Quarter of 2007, whether the politicians want to admit it or not.

But if we act prudently we will get through this with less pain and less debt for ourselves, our children and grandchildren than if we take the alternative and do something foolhardy that fails to address the cause of this mess.

Down the alternative, foolhardy road lies the potential for a deflationary credit collapse and a lack of funds to protect the government and citizens, as we will have expended them "liquefying" the Wall Street crooks who caused this in the first place. They will literally take the $700 billion and run from the United States with it before we know what happened, saddling us with both the nasty recession and an inability to spend what we need on America, within America, and on Americans, to cushion the blow.

To Congress: Does this make it clear enough?



(Not my original work; credit to Cobra on the forum)

Call Congress - again - and tell them: KILL THE BILL.

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/

The Market Ticker :supi

Commentary On The Capital Markets


Friday, September 26. 2008


Posted by Karl Denninger at 07:47
(Page 1 of 271, totaling 542 entries) » next page
CONGRESS: STOP AND THINK!

McDonalds has a lower risk of default, as expressed in the Credit-Default Swap market, than the United States Federal Government.

Think folks.

Think long and hard.

This is what the threat to blow $700 billion has done to America. We now have a higher risk of default on our national debt than a company that sells hamburgers has on their private debt.

Rick Santelli nailed it this morning. This is a man who is a trader on the floor of the exchange that provides primary liquidity to some of our most important capital markets in Chicago.

He said, and I quote, that "confidence has been shattered because the rules of the game keep changing."

That is exactly correct.

Banks and other institutions have been hiding the truth, they have claimed "protection" against events that is in fact not present (the other guy doesn't have any money to pay) and leverage in the system remains excessive. Then, when the correct bets made (being short those institutions) are paying off, Chris Cox comes in and literally destroys them on purpose.

As a result The Fed is literally holding up every bank in the nation but this is not because of a "loss of confidence"; it is because everyone involved is lying, including The Fed and Treasury.

Art Cashin, who has been on the floor of the stock exchange for a very long time, said that The Fed would cut today except that it would take pressure off our officials.

In other words Ben Bernanke is blackmailing Congress by spreading gasoline all over the floor of the US Financial System and then holding a lit match and chortling that if Congress doesn't do as he demands he will drop it.

I agree. The Effective Fed Funds rate has been trading 50 basis points or more below the 2% target for five straight days now, and for the last two days, it has traded 75 basis points under. The IRX is demanding an immediate rate cut. The Slosh has been intentionally drained by over $125 billion in the last week and lowering the water in the swamp exposed one dead body - Washington Mutual - which was immediately raided on a no-notice basis by JP Morgan. Not even WaMu's CEO knew about the raid until it was done.

Congressional response to this sort of blackmail should be a bill to repeal The Federal Reserve Act and/or to remove Ben Bernanke from office.

The Fed claims to be an "independent central bank." They are nothing of the kind; they are now acting as an arsonist. The Fed and Treasury have claimed this is a "liquidity crisis"; it is not. It is an insolvency crisis that The Fed, Treasury and the other regulatory organs of our government have intentionally allowed to occur.

There is massive stress in the credit markets because of this intentional mismanagement.

We can and must fix it but spending taxpayer money will not do so.

The Democrats claim they have the votes to pass the original bill. Then pass it Democrats. Bush will sign it.

The Democrats will NOT pass it without The Republicans because they are afraid that the plan won't work (and in this they are correct) and refuse to put their heads on the chopping block if they spend $700 billion or more and the economy collapses anyway. They demand that Republicans march into the furnace with them.

Republicans are wise to say NO.

The solution is simple, it is elegant, and it will work.

1. Force all off-balance sheet "assets" back onto the balance sheet, and force the valuation models and identification of individual assets out of Level 3 and into 10Qs and 10Ks. Do it now.
2. Force all OTC derivatives onto a regulated exchange similar to that used by listed options in the equity markets. This permanently defuses the derivatives time bomb. Give market participants 90 days; any that are not listed in 90 days are declared void; let the participants sue each other if they can't prove capital adequacy.
3. Force leverage by all institutions to no more than 12:1. The SEC intentionally dropped broker/dealer leverage limits in 2004; prior to that date 12:1 was the limit. Every firm that has failed had double or more the leverage of that former 12:1 limit. Enact this with a six month time limit and require 1/6th of the excess taken down monthly.

Once 1-3 are put in place then send in the OTS and OCC examiners and look at every financial institution in the United States. All who are insolvent and unable to raise private capital immediately are forced through receivership where the debt is converted to equity and existing equity is wiped out. With the CDS monster caged the systemic risk is removed, the bondholders provide the cushion for recapitalization (as it should be) and the restructured firm emerges with no debt while the former bondholders are now the owners (of the equity) in the resulting firm.

With a clean balance sheet the restructured firms remain in business and open the next morning able to raise and attract capital.

For the few firms that have an insufficient debtholder capital cushion to successfully complete this process, they are liquidated instead. There will be few of these and in fact each of those firms is a regulatory failure, as we should have never permitted a firm to become so far "underwater" that the bondholder's capital is insufficient to capitalize a restructuring.

Finally, drop the silly shorting restrictions. Liquidity in the market right now stinks and this is a big part of why. Start prosecuting aggressively the rumors and other manipulation that leads to stocks both rising and falling.

This plan will work, it will instantaneously stabilize the credit markets as balance sheets will be transparent, the CDS monster will be permanently de-fanged, leverage will be returned to reasonable levels and the forcibly restructured firms will have no debt on their balance sheets and be able to immediately access the capital markets.

Best of all, it will require exactly zero taxpayer dollars.

Get on the phone and fax machines now - this is a solution that addresses ALL of the outstanding issues and most importantly WILL WORK.

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/

ERIN BURNETT

"Squawk on the Street" Co-Anchor
"Street Signs" Anchor


Burnett anchors CNBC's "Street Signs" (2-3 pm ET) and co-anchors CNBC's "Squawk on the Street," (9-11 am ET) with Mark Haines. She also appears regularly on NBC's "Today" and "Nightly News with Brian Williams" and is a contributor on MSNBC's "Morning Joe". She anchored CNBC's first live programs from the Middle East and India.

Burnett joined CNBC from Bloomberg Television where she anchored two hours of programming daily. Prior to Bloomberg, Burnett was a Vice President at Citigroup, where she built an online financial news network targeted at institutional and retail investors.

Burnett also worked at CNN as a writer and booker for CNN's "Moneyline." She began her career at Goldman, Sachs & Co. as an investment banking analyst focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance.

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was a member of the team awarded the 2006 Deadline Club Award for Business Reporting.

Burnett holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy from Williams College in Williamstown, MA.

:schwitz hmmmmmm.....:kotz GS all over - aha, jetzt dämmert mir einiges :rolleyes

WaMu, All Aboard The Failboat Edition

Posted by alyx under fail
No Comments
The faiboat, where there’s always room for one more! Susannah! sends me this:

LOL

-> Posted by ipso_facto @ 11:28 am on September 26, 2008
Snagged off Voy forum, posted by Winston

:schwitz ...wie heisst es so schön - Totgesagte leben länger :rolleyes

....aber man kann es ja mal probieren :gruebel

Wachovia, Nat'l City tumble on bailout, WaMu news

Friday September 26, 11:18 am ET
By JuanLagorioandJonathanStempelNEWYORK (Reuters) -
Shares of Wachovia Corp (NYSE:WB - News) and National City Corp (NYSE:NCC - News) tumbled on worries about heavy mortgage losses after talks on a $700 billion financial sector bailout bogged down and federal regulators seized Washington Mutual Inc (NYSE:WM - News) in the largest bank failure in U.S. history.

A collapse of the bailout talks in Washington could prolong and deepen the freeze in various parts of the credit markets and could deepen losses on banks' balance sheets from troubled mortgages and other loans....
full story: http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080926/busi..._stocksbiz.html

Rescue Plan ;) Posted by honey :supi

Another Friday, Another Bank Failure

By twist

Here’s what this year’s failed bank list looks like, as per the FDIC:

Dr. Doom Turns Bullish :rolleyes

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=868863712&play=1

physical gold you should own, outside the US

....das scheint die Amis schwer getroffen zu haben :rolleyes es wird immer und immer wieder erwähnt :eek

German Finance Minister: US 'Will Lose Its Superpower Status'

Financial Times | Bertrand Benoit | September 25, 2008 07:04 PM




The US will lose its role as a global financial "superpower" in the wake of the financial crisis, Peer Steinbrück, German finance minister, forecast on Thursday in the most outspoken comments by a senior European government figure since Wall Street plunged into chaos two weeks ago.

Mr Steinbrück, a Social Democrat and long-time champion of tougher financial market rules, said the US government was to blame for the severity of the crisis because it had resisted European calls for stricter regulation until it was too late.

Read the whole story here.

Posted by goldielocks @ 16:30 pm on September 26, 2008 Bush’s Brain Scan

George W. Bush went to see the doctor to get the results of his brain scan. The doctor said: “Mr. President, I have some bad news for you. First, we have discovered that your brain has two sides: the left side and the right side.”

Bush interrupted, “Well, that’s normal, isn’t it? I thought everybody had two sides to their brain?”

The doctor replied, “That’s true, Mr. President. But your brain is very unusual because on the left side there isn’t anything right, while on the right side there isn’t anything left.” :rolleyes

George Bush and Hu’s on first

-> Posted by goldielocks @ 16:50 pm on September 26, 2008


Hu’s On First (We take you now to the Oval Office.)

George: Condi! Nice to see you. What’s happening?

Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.

George: Great. Lay it on me.

Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.

George: That’s what I want to know.

Condi: That’s what I’m telling you.

George: That’s what I’m asking you. Who is the new leader of China?

Condi: Yes.

George: I mean the fellow’s name.

Condi: Hu.

George: The guy in China.

Condi: Hu.

George: The new leader of China.

Condi: Hu.

George: The Chinaman!

Condi: Hu is leading China.

George: Now whaddya’ asking me for?

Condi: I’m telling you Hu is leading China.

George: Well, I’m asking you. Who is leading China?

Condi: That’s the man’s name.

George: That’s who’s name?

Condi: Yes.

George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader
of China?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the Middle East.

Condi: That’s correct.

George: Then who is in China?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir is in China?

Condi: No, sir.

George: Then who is?

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Yassir?

Condi: No, sir.

George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of
China. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.

Condi: Kofi?

George: No, thanks.

Condi: You want Kofi?

George: No.

Condi: You don’t want Kofi.

George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk.
And then get me the U.N.

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.

Condi: Kofi?

George: Milk! Will you please make the call?

Condi: And call who?

George: Who is the guy at the U.N?

Condi: Hu is the guy in China.

George: Will you stay out of China?!

Condi: Yes, sir.

George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the
U.N.

Condi: Kofi.

George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.

(Condi picks up the phone.)

Condi: Rice, here.

George: Rice? Good idea. And a couple of egg rolls, too. Maybe we
should send some to the guy in China. And the Middle East. Can you get Chinese food in the Middle East?

Source: James Sherman

Bailout Protesters Send a Strong Message from Wall Street

Posted by Jeremy Scahill, AlterNet at 2:37 PM on September 25, 2008.

Photos from today's NYC protests against Bush's bailout.

18 COMMENTS

Updated: These photos were sent to us by Jeremy Scahill who attended the protests against Bush's bailout in New York City:




Tagged as: protests, wall street, bailout

Jeremy Scahill is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.

more photos: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/...018392#c1018432

September 26, 2008, 5:13 pm
Believe It or Not, Bailout Won’t Substantially Expand the Deficit :eek :gruebel :bad
The Treasury’s plan to buy troubled assets has a $700 billion price tag, and it will mean a huge amount of government spending. However, due to accounting rules it likely won’t have any effect on the 2009 budget deficit.


In congressional testimony earlier this week, Peter Orszag, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, told lawmakers that the program should be treated on net-expected-cost basis. The cost wouldn’t be recorded as gross outlays, but as “the purchase cost minus the expected value of any estimated future earnings from holding those assets and the proceeds from the eventual sale of them.” Since the value of the assets will be set by what the government pays, the program should at least be budget neutral in the near term. That approach would be similar to the current budgetary treatment of other programs such as student loans or lending to farmers.

The program does still have to be funded, and that likely means debt issuance from the Treasury. The government will have to borrow to buy the assets, but it’s no different than borrowing to buy anything else. Once the purchase is done, the buyer owns something that has value and can liquidated. Of course, right now those assets don’t have a market, but Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke expect that to change.....

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2008...nd-the-deficit/

Komentare lesen ;)

:(.

TPG's Bank Bet Goes Awry as WaMu Costs $1.3 Billion (Update2)

By Jason Kelly and Jonathan Keehner Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) --

TPG Inc. lost $1.3 billion with yesterday's seizure by regulators of Washington Mutual Inc., showing why most private-equity firms won't come to the rescue of the nation's troubled banks.

``For a private-equity firm to wade into the banking sector now with anything less than control would be crazy,'' said Michael Holland, chairman of Holland & Co. in New York, which manages $4 billion of assets. ``If that's done, it's at the peril of investors.''

TPG, like other leveraged buyout investors, usually acquires control of a company and works to improve performance so it can later sell at a profit. With WaMu, the firm bought common stock as part of a $7 billion capital-raising in April by the Seattle-based thrift aimed at remaining independent. While TPG founder David Bonderman joined WaMu's board, the Fort Worth, Texas-based firm was a passive minority investor.

Bonderman made the unconventional deal because U.S. law limits how much of a bank outside investors can own without having to submit to regulations that private-equity firms seek to avoid. His experience may strengthen the conviction of most LBO firms that it's not worth pumping money into a struggling bank unless they can guide a turnaround, Holland said.

The U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision yesterday took over WaMu, saying it became ``unsound'' after customers withdrew $16.7 billion since Sept. 16. WaMu's stock had fallen 86 percent this year amid rising losses on mortgage-backed securities and loans. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought its branches and assets for $1.9 billion, leaving equity and debt holders with uncertain prospects for recovering any of their investments.....

......The third-largest shareholder was hedge-fund firm Tosca Asset Management LLC, which controlled 6.2 percent of WaMu as of July 16, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Washington Mutual's failure is a blow to its London-based Toscafund, which had already tumbled 39 percent this year through Sept. 19. Martin Hughes, who runs the fund, was traveling and couldn't be reached for comment......

....``Bonderman is one of the smartest people ever in private equity,'' Holland said. ``For him to be hit like this shows how perilous the environment has become and how critical control is.''.....

full story: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?...uNOM&refer=news

...trifft ja sicher keinen Armen - dennoch, wer will unter diesen Verhältnissen investieren und grosse Risiken eingehen :o

Paul Newman
 

... a legend,

«What a truly beautiful human being, inside and out»
Lucy, New York

.

Demand that the Bailout Legislation Be Rejected

We are witnessing a bankers' coup d’etat. In the name of saving the economy from a crisis created by their own greed and immense profits, the biggest bankers have taken a country and a people hostage.

“Give us your money and tear up what’s left of your Constitution or we will sink your economy,” is the message from Wall Street and the Bush Administration. “Give us the power and money we demand or you will be left jobless from a new economic depression."


When more than 1,000 workers
demonstrated on Wall Street,
VoteNoBailout.org volunteers
were there with signs and flyers.

Under the pretext of the banking crisis, the Bush Administration is changing the way this country operates. This is not simply taking trillions of dollars from the people and giving it to the richest bankers to do with as they see fit.

Click here to send your letter to Congress

Congress is poised to vote to give the Executive Branch of government, and specifically the White House’s political appointees in the Treasury Department, the absolute right to take our money and give it to domestic and foreign banks and corporations without any oversight of elected officials, from the courts, or from the people.

The new legislation states: “Decisions by the Secretary [of the Treasury] pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.” The Legislation allows the Treasury Department to appoint the same bankers who created the crisis to administer and dictate the use of trillions of our tax dollars.

We will not stand by and let the Bush Administration formalize its vision of a “government of, by and for the richest bankers."

The new system institutionalizes theft on a grand scale. Lehman Brothers bankers will receive $2.5 billion in bonuses after their company went bankrupt last week, but the new dictatorial authority under the White House and Treasury Department has ruled out any relief for the millions of working families who are being foreclosed.

We live in a $15 trillion annual economy. Instead of taking our tax dollars and giving it to the already rich and powerful, these funds should be used provide to decent paying jobs, affordable housing, health care and a good education for our children. There is another way!

Now is the time to hear the voice of the people. A spineless Congress authorized Bush’s illegal war in Iraq and rubber-stamped the Patriot Act. Now they are being herded like sheep again to give the White House and Wall Street dictatorial control over the people’s money.

http://votenobailout.org/

Peter Schiff :supi - Bulls & Bears - 12/16/2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoB4BS7CGAw