Clipmarks | Securities Clips

Markets Fall: Government Throws Away More Money

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:46:07 GMT

clipped by: citizenbfk
clipper's remarks: You don't have to be a lawyer to know if someone is lying -- But when a lawyer catches a witness in a lie it is often the beginning of the end.

What caught my eye in this clip is: the government (USA) "will begin paying interest on the reserves that banks leave on deposit."

Humm....we print the money...we give the money to the banks at super low interest rates...now the banks can give us back the money and charge us interest!?

The next big part of the plan is to buy unsecured loans for threatened banks that may go out of business.

Humm...Note: Other countries are buying assets
or Number One Preferred Stock...meaning they get paid first if these banks fail.

Also, rather than seeking to "inspire confidence," some suggest it would be better to dole out the cash for every new loan the banks make...which is what we want them to actually do.

Other lies: "optional," warrents; & "mark to market," valuations.

While our house burns, these alleged "firefighters," are steali

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

Markets Fall on Doubts Rescues Will Succeed

The Fed, 12 months into a sometimes makeshift campaign that is rewriting textbooks on central banking, unveiled more measures Monday to unblock the stoppage that has plagued short-term-lending markets for the past few weeks. It said it will begin paying interest on the reserves that banks leave on deposit with the central bank,

It has also undertaken a steady stream of unorthodox measures: backstopping money-market mutual funds, creating new borrowing facilities for investment banks, taking on troubled assets from Bear Stearns Cos. and American International Group Inc., to name a few. In the process, its own balance sheet has been radically transformed. Once a bland storehouse for Treasury securities, the Fed's coffers are now filled with loans to a wobbly financial system, often backed by collateral few other financial institutions want to hold.

"Over"-Regulatory KOOTIES !!

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:51:49 GMT

clipped by: davboz
clipper's remarks: Never been more important to UNDERSTAND this issue.
Before more coercion, maybe we could try a little more freedom.

Clip Source: www.tcsdaily.com

The fact is that this issue has been mis-framed by most of the press (and the administration) and therefore it has been misunderstood by the people. Freedom didn't lead us to this crisis ? central planning did. We weren't under-regulated; we were over-regulated. There has not been a single piece of deregulatory legislation passed in the last eight years.

But there was a major piece of re-regulatory legislation passed under Bush ? Sarbanes Oxley.

By upping the penalties on financial executives largely from civil to criminal sanctions it put the whole multi-thousand page regulation manual on steroids. No more fines; next time handcuffs.

No wonder, nobody wanted to hold politically tainted paper. Owning a mortgage backed security in this environment is like owning a pointy hat and a black cat in colonial Massachusetts.

securities which the government invented (through Fannie Mae), and foisted upon the banking community (through the Community Reinvestment Act), now has regulatory kooties.

Innocent Govt Bailing out Evil Industry=NOT !

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:38:51 GMT

clipped by: davboz
clipper's remarks: Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, placing some very stringent, inappropriate, and inflexible reporting rules on financial institutions. Under this law, financial assets must be valued at fair market value--- even if they are not for sale! The Working Capital Model eliminates this problem entirely, but it is difficult to apply when the individual securities are not identifiable.
More than 95% of Americans are making their mortgage payments right on schedule, yet there is no market for the financial products that contain these mortgages. Consequently, balance sheets reflect trillions of dollars less than the maturity value of the securities held by the financial institutions.

Clip Source: www.tcsdaily.com

Every new controversy demands a look at similar situations of the past.

Lee Iacocca arranged a government loan and tax concessions to bring Chrysler

from the brink of bankruptcy-

The economic domino effect of a major corporate death was clear, and Congress acted wisely

But was it poor management or shortsighted government that caused the problem.

Bailout or fix-up?

. But the average Joe's investment in the success of these perennial scapegoats for bad government has risen from zero dollars to all of our dollars. Every failure takes a piece of your retirement program with it.

all taxpayers are investors

Most politicians still can't connect the dots, and seem to be formulating policy based on the latest consensus of public blogs.

It wasn't the financial institutions that decided to make mortgage money available to practically anyone who wanted to own a home--

they enabled the predatory lending practices that misguided many first time homebuyers.

flipping became as popular as Monday Night Footbal

U.S.Treasury's Kashkari to Lead Bank Bailout Office (Update1)

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:02:14 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: ``We need to think through what's the best for securities, for loans, to help strengthen the balance sheet of the institutions.'' Anthony Ryan, the Treasury's acting undersecretary for domestic finance, said in an interview today on CNBC. ``We are focusing on the broader issues, the mortgage- related assets.''

Senate confirmation is required to fill the position for which Kashkari will be nominated. The Treasury hasn't specified the length of Kashkari's tenure, or whether the White House would nominate him officially. The Bush administration remains in office until January.

Ben Dover, "Dewey Screwem and Howe" via tom mcguire

Clip Source: justoneminute.typepad.com

Nice to see the that Hank Paulson and the US Treasury have a sense of humor - the bailout will be run by Neel Cash-n-Carry. Legal counsel to be provided by Dewey Screwem and Howe, I have no doubt.

Clip Source: www.bloomberg.com

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury will name Neel Kashkari, assistant secretary at the department, to run the $700 billion Wall Street rescue program on an interim basis, according to a Treasury official.

Kashkari will be designated the interim head of the new office of financial stability, created in the bailout legislation Congress passed last week. The Treasury aims to buy troubled assets such as home loans and mortgage-backed securities from banks and other financial institutions in an effort to shore up global credit markets.

Kashkari, a former vice president at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is currently assistant secretary for international economics and development. He has been one of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's key advisers on housing issues.

Tags: paulson, treasury, new office of financial stability, neel kashkari, former vp goldman sachs

Great New Hedge Fund

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:51:55 GMT

clipped by: Joshua Zumbrun
clipper's remarks: Saw this humor site in WSJ's Heard on the Street this morning. Here's one of Strategery's top competitive advantages:

"We are not limited to looking for opportunities with positive expected returns and so can cast a broader net across the investment universe, thus extending our efficient frontier beyond what other hedge funds can offer."

Clip Source: www.strategerycapital.com

StrategeryCapital Management LLC

The people's hedge fund

Strategery is a unique hedge fund.

It is the largest in the world, with expected initial capital of $700 billion. It has a free and unlimited credit line should it need more. It has no fixed mandate, though it is expected to initially focus on mortgage-backed securities. And it is the only fund backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.

Tags: strategery, bailout, paulson plan, wall street, main street

Deflation Threat Returns as Asset Markets Decline

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:11:45 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.bloomberg.com

As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his global colleagues fight the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, one danger is looming larger by the day: deflation.

With asset markets tumbling, commodity prices plunging the most in 50 years and banks keeping a tighter grip on credit, the ingredients for a sustained period of falling prices are coalescing.

The deflation scenario might go like this: Banks worldwide, stung by $588 billion in writedowns related to toxic assets -- especially mortgage-related securities -- will further reduce the flow of credit, strangling growth. That will push house prices lower, forcing additional losses and making banks even more reluctant to lend. As the credit crisis worsens, businesses will find it almost impossible to raise prices.

Oil, copper and corn drove commodities toward their biggest weekly decline since at least 1956 on Oct. 3, with the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials tumbling 10.4 percent. T

Tags: economy, currencies, i-deflation, i-risks, i-increase

JP Morgan ‘brought down’ Lehman Brothers

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:08:18 GMT

clipped by: sunstreak509

Clip Source: business.timesonline.co.uk

JP MORGAN has been accused by its Wall Street rivals of dealing the final hammer blow that forced Lehman Brothers into collapse in a sensational claim that threatens to spark a colossal legal battle.

The giant American bank is alleged to have frozen $17 billion (£9.6 billion) of cash and securities belonging to Lehman on the Friday night before its failure.

According to Lehman’s biggest creditors, this was what precipitated the liquidity crisis that embroiled the firm, forcing it into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on the morning of Monday, September 15.

Tags: markets, business, economy

And so the bailout begins...

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:26:55 GMT

clipped by: Brian Wingfield
clipper's remarks: If Mr. Kashkari, is only going to be in his post for three months, that's a pretty good indication that the administration plans to use all $700 billion right away.

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is expected to tap Neel Kashkari, a key adviser on whom he has come to rely heavily during the financial crisis, to oversee Treasury's $700 billion program to buy distressed assets from financial institutions, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Kashkari, 35 years old, a Treasury assistant secretary for international affairs and a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker, is expected to be named interim head of Treasury's new Office of Financial Stability as early as Monday. The position confers substantial power on Mr. Kashkari, who will oversee Treasury's effort to buy bad loans and other distressed securities clogging the books of financial institutions and making them reluctant to lend.

Tags: bailout, treasury

The truth about SEC chair Cox

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:58:26 GMT

clipped by: deb2012

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Christopher Cox had been a close ally of business groups in his 17 years as a House member from one of the most conservative districts in Southern California. Mr. Cox had led the effort to rewrite securities laws to make investor lawsuits harder to file. He also fought against accounting rules that would give less favorable treatment to executive stock options.

“The last six months have made it abundantly clear that voluntary regulation does not work,” Mr. Cox said

But critics say that the commission could have done more, and that the agency’s effectiveness comes from the tone set at the top by the chairman, or what Mr. Levitt, the longest-serving S.E.C. chairman in history, calls “stakes in the ground.”

“If you go back to the chairmen in recent years, you will see that each spoke about a variety of issues that were important to them,” Mr. Levitt said. “This commission placed very few stakes in the ground.”

Tags: politics, regulation, cox

The truth about Henry Paulson

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:45:10 GMT

clipped by: deb2012
clipper's remarks: With the stroke of a pen, capital requirements were removed

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Many events in Washington, on Wall Street and elsewhere around the country have led to what has been called the most serious financial crisis since the 1930s

But decisions made at a brief meeting on April 28, 2004, explain why the problems could spin out of control.

the five members of the Securities and Exchange Commission met in a basement hearing room to consider an urgent plea by the big investment banks.

They wanted an exemption for their brokerage units from an old regulation that limited the amount of debt they could take on.

Those funds could then flow up to the parent company, enabling it to invest in the fast-growing but opaque world of mortgage-backed securities; credit derivatives, a form

The five investment banks led the charge, including Goldman Sachs, which was headed by Henry M. Paulson

Two years later, he left to become Treasury secretary.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

It’s a fair criticism of the Bush administration

said Roderick M. Hills, a Republican who was chairman of the S.E.C.

Tags: paulson, politics

Citizen Journalism And Steve Jobbs

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:48:32 GMT

clipped by: conches
clipper's remarks: It is simply silly to decry "citizen journalism" because one "citizen journalist" got the story wrong, intentionally or otherwise. Actually, the term "citizen journalism" is silly. It is a way for big media to differentiate themselves from the "citizens".

People say things on the street. People say things in their home, at work, on the train, and in email, Twitter and on their blogs. This is all information. The fact that it continues to be necessary to think about what you hear and run it through filters is no different for any information source.

I certainly would never take a CNN, or Fox or MSNBC news story as gospel. Would you?

Clip Source: bits.blogs.nytimes.com

October 3, 2008, 12:46 pm

Apple Denies ‘Citizen Journalist Report’

By John Markoff

The report raised questions on several blogs about the role of citizen journalism, and there was speculation that the incident would lead to an investigation by securities regulators.

Apple’s shares abruptly declined as much as 5.4 percent after the post on iReport, CNN’s citizen journalist Web site, stated that Mr. Jobs had had a “major heart attack.”

The bailout is a sham favoring foreign investors

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:06:47 GMT

clipped by: spirithiker
clipper's remarks: There isn't any provision to prevent Secretary Paulson from defining any other financial asset as "promoting financial market stability", and while he must notify Congress, they cannot block his purchase.

Why is the cut off date for mortgages to be helped so far in the past? March 14, 2008 seems a bit arbitrary to me.

Clip Source: supportedthebailout.org

THIS BAILOUT BILL IS NOT ABOUT AMERICAN BANKS OR ASSETS; IT IS A SELLOUT TO FOREIGN INVESTORS AND BANKS. THE TRUTH WAS OUTED ON KUDLOW'S 9/30 SHOW BY BRAD SHERMAN (D-CA). UPDATED ON 10/4 TO INCLUDE THE EVENTS SURROUNDING THE PASSAGE OF THE NOW-LAW.

"Hundreds of billions of dollars are going to bail out FOREIGN INVESTORS. They know it, they demanded it, and the bill has been carefully written to make sure that can happen." - Brad Sherman , D-California.

(A) residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages, that in each case was originated or issued on or before March 14, 2008, the purchase of which the Secretary determines promotes financial market stability;

Note carefully - there is no "Made in the USA" requirement, and nothing prohibits a non-US institution from "selling" a security to a US bank, which then immediately resells it to the TARP.

Tags: politics, wall street bailout

Simpsons Episode Features Rigged Voting Machine

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:55:15 GMT

clipped by: paleblue
clipper's remarks: Well you know something is terribly wrong when we support the axes of EVIL with our American Oil dollars then support the Communist or rather letting the Communists support US..

And to think the American people are caring, loving people who let the greedy folks run our country to the ground while we happily played games, watched t.v., watched three sports stadiums be built, and worried about t.v. personalities and all for what ?? The t.v. personalities, sports stars are rich and live the life we don't have yet we pour our over taxed, hard earned dollars to them anyway.. ha ha so who's still laughing?? ha haaa

Clip Source: www.infowars.com

The New American Century; Cut short by 92 years

“I think that, sooner rather than later, this empire will fall - to the benefit of the whole world, enabling a balance in the world to be created: polycentric and multi-polar. That will guarantee peace in the world. To the creation of this multi-polar world we are making our small contribution.”

Whatever good faith was left after the invasion of Iraq and the shrugging off of international treaties, is now gone. The United States has polluted the global economic system with worthless mortgage-backed securities and, by doing so, has pushed 6 billion people closer to a long and painful recession. That’s not something that’s easy to forgive.

'Bailout' speculators

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 15:52:29 GMT

clipped by: oldephartte
clipper's remarks: Open theft and false alternatives

Clip Source: digg.com

Nader warned us about this. Time to stop thinking that it is a waste to go third party and realize that the BOTH the DEMS and REPUBS are selling us out. http://www.votenader.org/media/2008/10/03/backward ...

Nader called for the speculators to fund their own bailout:

"Ask why they didn't require speculators to fund their own bailout while you, the taxpayer, pay 5-10 percent sales tax for necessities. Speculators buy $500 trillion of securities derivatives each year and don't pay one penny. A mere 1/10 of 1 percent sales tax on purchases of these derivatives would raise $500 billion per year to pay for their bailout. Let the speculators fund their own bailout."

Obama and McCain want us to pay for it.

Tags: economics crash

Bash the Bailout: Government is Not the Answer

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 09:30:10 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: ......banking crisis, they make things worse. This is a long paper, but see p. 4 in particular.
[pdf]

10. One of the oldest forms of government intervention in the financial markets has been deposit insurance. Yet globally it destabilizes capitalism, impedes innovation and makes a bad regulatory regime worse. British economist Andrew Lilico explains how.

11. Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron puts it bluntly: “The fact that government bears such a huge responsibility for the current mess means any response should eliminate the conditions that created this situation in the first place.”

12. Government has been becoming more intrusive when it comes to lending over the years. John Berlau looks at how they want to fingerprint anyone originating a home loan.

The bailout bill is now law, but it does little or nothing to solve the problems government created. As long as they persist, the financial markets will be at serious risk. In the end, we may need to bailout the bailout.

Clip Source: www.openmarket.org

These are the top twelve articles, stories and papers that we think demonstrate this fact.

1. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are at the heart of the crisis

Read what happened here.

2. Steven Malanga outlines the “long road to slack lending standards”

3. Thomas Sowell explains how economic-populist politicians used their power to help create the problem.

4. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires firms to value their assets in a way that has vastly accelerated the liquidity problem.

explains why here.

5. A detailed examination of why mark-to-market accounting distorts the market

6. Back in 2000, City Journal warned that the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

7. Earlier this year, Michelle Minton looked at how the CRA had indeed helped contribute to the subprime crisis

8. Dan Mitchell argues that government created the problem, and more government will make things worse.

9. Even the International Monetary Fund recognizes that government “bailouts” don’t just merely postpone the inevitable in a

Tags: fm/fm, government, economic-populist politicians, cra, imf