July 20, 2008
Elaine Meinel Supkis
All over the mainstream media is a sense of rising hysteria. Finally, after two years, the realization that we are screwed is finally sinking in. Even the top gnomes running the global financial and political systems are admitting something is wrong. Only they say, they can FIX this mess they created due to their own greed and lust for busty, pretty goddesses. So they are going hard to work to save...THEIR OWN GREEN HIDES! And we have to stop them. But stopping them is difficult, of course. They have most of the power. They do fear the wild rages in the streets and countryside of places filled with peasants and workers. Oh, oh, if they fail in saving everyone, they might DIE. Like, in a historical upsurge of rage from below.
Banker Leaves Goldman Sachs To Aid Paulson
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s most senior financial-institutions banker, Ken Wilson, is temporarily leaving the firm to advise Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on how to resolve the country's banking crisis, according to people familiar with the matter.
Paulson left his billion dollar presidency of Goldman Sachs which last year, I called 'Gollum Sachs' [Gollum being the green skinned grasping gnome of Lord of the Rings]---he left GS because he KNEW the whole thing was crashing. He replaced Snow who fled the battlefield, his Republican tail between his legs. Paulson announced upon his arrival that the US was the strongest economy on earth and he would make it stronger. It was obvious that he moved to DC in order to protect his considerable wealth and investments in Goldman Sachs.
Here is my 11/13/7 story called 'Goldman Sachs Shorted Their Own Customers':
Dear readers, thank you for all the emails about the Goldman Sachs business today. I am frankly quite amazed by the news mix and astounded the stock market responded the way it did today. But this is normal in a collapsing market. Every tiny tidbit causes huge movements. But the people buying in are the least informed, not the best informed. Goldman Sachs claims they have no financial problems because they basically shorted the financial instruments they sold to people who had no idea how crummy these things really were! Isn't that charming? I hope someone sues them.
*snip*
So, Goldman Sachs sold a lot of their stocks today and so much so, the entire market shot up very fast. And on this SAME DAY, Moody's DEGRADED 81 Alt A and Residential Mortgage Securities CREATED BY GOLDMAN SACHS? EIGHTY ONE???? Gads! Is there anything that DIDN'T degrade like a rotting carcass of some giant whale? P.U. So the good news is, not one of these stupid 81 'securities' are held by Goldman Sachs, they not only off-loaded them to unsuspecting investors, Goldman Sachs KNEW these were stinkers and was SHORTING THEM???Um, I think this calls for a police investigation. We need some guy in a trench coat, lollipop and notebook to grill these smart alecks. 'Oh, and another thing, just one more question...' heh. There is no way this news can exist in the same universe as the happy news about Goldman Sachs. I would now think it is time for us to start placing bets for when Goldman Sachs collapses in ignobility like Enron, its mirror model. These guys really think the road to riches is paved by the dead bodies of anyone who trusts them and believes what they say.
He got a hold of the entire US banking system just in the nick of time! If he delayed by even a day, he would have failed in his mission to protect the gnomes running Gollum Sachs. His 'sacrifice' was no sacrifice, it was a coup. Here is yet another story from last fall:
Here is my 11/29/7 story, 'Gollum Sachs Cannibal Vultures Eat Own SIVs':
As usual from Mr. Liu, a very good synopsis of the mess created by the biggest banks, lenders and investment houses. He even mentions Japan as the ultimate source of much of the funny money, for that alone, this is a stellar article. Nor does he blame China. Again, bravo! I also like his 'Vulture Capitalism.' I drew a cartoon of vultures discussing a dead vulture and wondering if they should eat it. Referring, of course, to these hedge fund chiefs. For they are pirates, hell hounds and of course, vultures. They not only smell out dead bodies, money being very connected with death, they also eat themselves. This would be more like Cronos eating his sons until Zeus killed him. Then Zeus had a big headache and out sprang his Valkyrie daughter, Athena. Athena became the goddess of trade and manufacturing. But I digress, as usual.A number of readers like the notion of calling Goldman Sachs, 'Gollum Sachs'. This is a good name for them. They are an army of grasping Smeagols, storming the walls and sacking cities. Leaving smoldering ruins and everyone in bankruptcy including ultimately, the USA. They are NOT clever traders. Oh, no, Precioussss. They are MANIPULATORS of the entire system. They and only they can get rich coming and going because everything will go their way since they control the LEVERS OF POWER. This is where Liu's analysis fails to fully appreciate the power of Gollum and the Rings of Invisibility. Whenever Paulson appears in public or Rubin is in the news, I remind everyone where these guys were spawned. Who they owe allegiance to. All financially sensitive sectors of the public system of government is thoroughly infested with an army of Gollums seeking gold, yessss. And they can cannibalize even themselves if they must. For they control the flow of information in many ways as well as the actual levers of power.
Both of these links take us to long, convoluted stories I posted about SIVs and CDOs and other arcane matters. The entire month of November is good reading here. It reminds us of the frantic attempts by the Wall Street gnomes as they strove to protect THEIR wealth while destroying everyone else's wealth around them. They never were saving the US economy. This 'economy' has been running very deep in the red for much of my life! The dire effects of this hidden inflation....FOR ALL DEBTS ARE INFLATIONARY...was via the simple strategy of depression working wages while moving all jobs possible, offshore to cheap labor markets.
NO nation does this without destroying itself! The US gnomes got very rich doing this. But this destroys the economy here at home and most of the gnomes have homes here in the US. They also have homes overseas, too. But the peasants of these other countries hate American gnomes. Even the rich rulers hate them. Everyone despises the American gnome due to these creatures being full of hubris and having annoying mannerisms and no taste. They trample the Queen's rose beds while wiping their noses on their sleeves. They do marry goddesses who have good taste and these wedding prizes try to cover over the messes as best they can. But they have to LIVE with these gnomes. Which is why they have more than two houses. Hahaha.
I digress: the Gollum Sachs Übergnome, Paulson, has to tweek things so that he saves his own bank while pretending to save us. The promise is, all people in the US who are in debt can stay in debt! HAHAHA. That, dear readers, is how they will 'save' a people who are deep, deep, deep in debt. Not through bankruptcy which at least would release the bondage, no. They will save us so we have to pay them back!
Paulson: Banking system sound, deposits protected
(AP) — The treasury secretary says the list of troubled bank will grow longer as they struggle to cope with big losses on bad mortgages.But Henry Paulson is trying to reassure people who might be worried about their bank accounts. He says the U.S. has a safe and sound banking system and that regulators are on top of things. He calls it a manageable situation.
Oh, the banking system is 'sound' alright: it is making a tremendous roar as it crashes to the ground! Paulson says, no one who has less than $100,000 is losing a penny! But the 'rescue' has increased inflation and weakened the dollar so we are ALL losing many pennies! And worse: the interest rate set by co-conspirators in the Federal Reserve have knocked down the interest rates to hundreds of basis points below the rate of inflation! So anyone who holds standard CDs are being HAMMERED. The losses are daily, every hour, these CDs are losing money, not growing money. NO banking system can run for long with such a system. Who is insane enough to hand over money to them? And thanks to the low lending costs which are basically giving away free money, we are deep in debt and going deeper. As fast as people give up and go bankrupt, the lending increases.
Normally, when people give up and an economy contracts after going through a lending frenzy, things slow down, the excess money vanishes finally as it is not replaced faster than it vanishes and people pick up the pieces and start all over again. But this time around, the mess is so huge, the debts are 25 years worth of rising, rising, rising debts, the debts are at every possible level and all are up to their highest possible limits, when this thing blows a tire, the entire global financial vehicle goes right off the cliff.
From Mish: The naked short selling saga continues.
As long as the investment banks and brokers were making money engaging in naked shorting of stocks, there was no problem. However, when the bears began using the tactic against the broker dealers and investment banks, it became time to selectively enforce the existing regulation.(Dow Jones)--An emergency order issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission to impose new restrictions on short sales in 19 stocks will not apply to bona fide market makers, the SEC announced Friday.The SEC amended the order at the recommendation of its staff to shield market makers from the new restrictions, which will take effect on Monday and could last for up to 30 days. It said the change was made to allow market makers "to facilitate customer orders in a fast-moving market without possible delays" that might come from complying with the emergency order "and to prevent substantial disruption to securities markets."
HAHAHA. I remember last year when the Fed and Paulson both claimed there was no such thing as 'naked short selling' even as an army of naked gnomes were nuking the markets. Up markets don't feature naked short selling to the degree that down markets show this activity. In up markets, the gnomes keep most of their clothing on even if they moon everyone periodically. But in down markets, all pretense to civilization vanishes and the gnomes tear off their suits while screaming like the Hulk. AAAARGHH. Me kill everyone!
No wonder we have all these goofy Marvel movies that are so popular. Next is what Gollum Sach's President, Paulson, contrived:
SEC May Ease `Naked-Short' Sale Ban for Market Makers
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to exempt market makers in stocks from an emergency rule aimed at preventing manipulation in shares of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and 17 Wall Street firms.The agency staff, after conference calls discussing the rule that limits the ability of traders to use abusive tactics when betting on a drop in share prices, agreed to requests from exchanges and brokerages. Exchange officials told regulators that without an exemption, market makers in equities and options responsible for pairing off investor orders would struggle to keep transactions flowing and may raise costs for investors.
The staff recommended exceptions from the requirement to borrow shares in advance of a short sale ``to avoid constraining the market makers' provision of liquidity,'' SEC spokesman John Nester said in an e-mail from Washington. The full commission may vote as soon as today.
And here, dear readers, is the list of entities we CANNOT SHORT:
HAHAHA. The top tiers of the gnome world! The same clowns who boasted they are better than us mortals because they are demons and can see into the Cave of Death and they know so much and are so powerful, they DESERVE the billions they give themselves as a reward for being smarty pants! HAHAHA. They also created the atmosphere and the systems that allow a party of pirates, hell hounds and others to raid the world's wealth systems. They are, themselves, pirates and hell hounds!
And now that they stumbled, their own gnome buddies are pulling out knives and stabbing THEM in the back! HAHAHA. This brings to mind the saying, 'There is no honor amongst thieves and gnomes!'
So the raging naked short selling gnomes can destroy everyone else but the founders of and controllers of the Federal Reserves which is this list of goon organizations, they can sail away from all this, protected by their own within the US government and the Federal Reserve?
ARREST THEM ALL!
As a reminder, Bloomberg tells us about this naked short sales stuff:
In a short sale, an investor borrows and then sells the shares in anticipation of a price decline. If the trade works as planned, the investor is able to buy back the stock at a lower cost and return the shares to the lender, pocketing the difference as profit.Traders are sometimes unable to actually borrow the shares and complete a ``naked short-sale.'' If the loaned shares are never repaid, investors can sell more shares short than legally allowed and put pressure on a stocks' price.
And this should be illegal. But let's look at our government's response to all this:
SEC Short-Sale Rule Gets Negative Reviews
The Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule designed to limit certain negative stock bets is set to start Monday. Already, a political backlash is brewing.Last Tuesday, the SEC said it would tighten short-selling rules for 19 financial firms, including mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, by requiring traders to "pre-borrow" stock before initiating a so-called short sale. The SEC said it had concluded "there now exists a substantial threat of sudden and excessive fluctuations of securities prices generally" that could affect orderly markets.
Shares in financial stocks on the list soared, in part because of the SEC's move, prompting a chorus of complaints from firms that weren't included, many of which have been equally battered in recent weeks.
HAHAHA. I have to keep warning short sellers to beware: the US government, the entire banking system is set to stop you when you short Gollum Sachs or J.Pirate Morgan! These organizations were set into motion by very brutal, nasty men who wanted to rule the markets and played hardball all the time. The demand that the government regulate these monsters nearly took them out but they retaliated at Jekyll Island and devised a system whereby they could rule forever by rigging the rules all the time to favor only them. In other words, THEY can be predators but no one may hunt THEM.
The need for this is obvious: we are forced to BUY their damn stocks and HOLD or else. We can't buy and SHORT them. They are playing this rigged game because they need CAPITAL to fund their leveraged naked short sales of the rest of the planet. This gets them lots of loot via fees and bonuses. We can join the fun and get a few pennies. But lord help anyone who dares to slit these guy's throats.
And HOW DARE the SEC protect ONLY these clowns! The SEC could outlaw all naked short selling! But they will not do this because Goldman Sacks and Pirate Morgan need to do this naked short selling until the market is as dead as turtle run over by a semi on a hot summer highway! Then and only then, will any protections kick in for the rest of the survivors.
But during this dark period when the top pirates steal everything in sight, they need to be protected. Gah. Arrest everyone!
Why No Outrage? by James Grant:
The doctrine of activist central banking owes much to its progenitor, the Victorian genius Walter Bagehot. But Bagehot might not recognize his own idea in practice today. Late in the spring of 2007, American banks paid an average of 4.35% on three-month certificates of deposit. Then came the mortgage mess, and the Fed's crash program of interest-rate therapy. Today, a three-month CD yields just 2.65%, or little more than half the measured rate of inflation. It wasn't the nation's small savers who brought down Bear Stearns, or tried to fob off subprime mortgages as "triple-A." Yet it's the savers who took a pay cut -- and the savers who, today, in the heat of a presidential election year, are holding their tongues.
*snip*
For every dollar of equity capital, a well-financed regional bank holds perhaps $10 in loans or securities. Wall Street's biggest broker-dealers could hardly bear to look themselves in the mirror if they didn't extend themselves three times further. At the end of 2007, Goldman Sachs had $26 of assets for every dollar of equity. Merrill Lynch had $32, Bear Stearns $34, Morgan Stanley $33 and Lehman Brothers $31. On average, then, about $3 in equity capital per $100 of assets. "Leverage," as the laying-on of debt is known in the trade, is the Hamburger Helper of finance. It makes a little capital go a long way, often much farther than it safely should. Managing balance sheets as highly leveraged as Wall Street's requires a keen eye and superb judgment. The rub is that human beings err.
*snip*
It's just happened, in fact, under the studiously averted gaze of the Street's risk managers. Today's bear market in financial assets is as nothing compared to the preceding crash in human judgment. Never was a disaster better advertised than the one now washing over us. House prices stopped going up in 2005, and cracks in mortgage credit started appearing in 2006. Yet the big, ostensibly sophisticated banks only pushed harder.Bear Stearns is kaput and Lehman Brothers is reeling, but Morgan Stanley perhaps best illustrates the gluttonous ways of Wall Street. Having lost its competitive edge on account of an intramural political struggle, the firm, under Chief Executive John Mack, set out to catch up to the rest of the pack. In the spring of 2006, it unveiled a trillion-dollar balance sheet, Wall Street's first. It expanded in every faddish business line, not excluding, in August 2006, subprime-mortgage origination (the transaction, intoned a Morgan Stanley press release, "provides us with new origination capabilities in the non-prime market, which we can build upon to provide access to high-quality product flows across all market cycles"). Nor did it pull in its horns as the boom wore on but rather protruded them all the more, raising its ratio of assets to equity to the aforementioned 33 times at year-end 2007 from 26.5 times at the close of 2004. Naturally, it did not forget the help. Last year, Morgan Stanley paid out 59% of its revenues in employee compensation, up from 46% in 2004.
There is no rage because Congress is owned by gnomes and pirates. There is no rage because the media is owned by gnomes and pirates. It is interesting that Bloomberg stands nearly alone in simply reporting the news as it happens. Bloomberg took over NYC to run it 'better'. And perhaps he has a dim idea that running things on falsehoods and lies leads to disaster? Still, he is unable to fix anything since he can't see any real solutions. All solutions are 'let's save my buddies' sort rather than, 'arrest everyone who is doing this mess.'
IndyMac cashier checks not good enough?
More strange doings tonight surrounding the failure and federal takeover of IndyMac: some rival banks are refusing to honor cashier's checks written by IndyMac -- even though those checks are backed by the federal government.John Bovenzi, the FDIC official now running IndyMac, tells the Los Angeles Times today he is "deeply troubled by reports that there are financial institutions that are refusing to honor or are placing excessive holds on IndyMac Federal checks."
And even as Paulson claims the banks are solvent and all is well, all is obviously not well. Holding cashier's checks from the FDIC for eight weeks is normal? HAHAHA. Not! This means the other bankers KNOW the Federal government is NOT solvent at all. And the only reason anyone overseas, and they are mostly OPEC, Russia, China and Japan, hold our Treasuries is so they can hammer us behind the scenes when they want to yank the President on their collective short leashes. Only they all are yanking in different directions. But not for long. Slowly, OPEC, Russia and China are yanking in the same direction. This leaves Japan only, yanking the opposite. Japan will lose this tug of war.
And the US will be strangled.
Fed's Stern Says Rate Rise Can't Wait for Crisis End
(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve shouldn't wait until financial and housing markets stabilize to raise interest rates, central bank policy maker Gary Stern said.``We can't wait until we clearly observe the financial markets at normal, the economy growing robustly, and so on and so forth, before we reverse course,'' Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said in an interview today. ``Our actions will affect the economy in the future, not at the moment.''
The comments by Stern, a voter on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee this year, reinforced traders' forecasts for a rate increase by year-end. Stern indicated that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's rescue plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will help prevent a deeper housing and economic slump.
``We're pretty well-positioned for the downside risks we might encounter from here,'' said Stern, 63, the Fed's longest- serving policy maker. ``I worry a little bit more about the prospects for inflation.''
Prospects for inflation: hyperinflation is building. The present push this month is to resolve the Iran business and then the price of oil will drop and thus, much of the present worst forms of inflation will slow down somewhat. But at the last minute, the Israelis who have a very, very short leash on the US government, yanked very, very hard. And so the US barked at Iran rather than made peace. To the great disgust of the Iranian kitty, I may add. This is all so pathetic. The US and Japan have flooded the world with Funny Money™ and the only way to contain this is for there to be cheap energy. Sans this, we get immediate and terrible inflation that is visible to the working classes. Who then, in turn, get very restive.
UBS Stops Offshore Banking Services for U.S. Clients
(Bloomberg) -- UBS AG, the world's largest wealth manager, will stop offering offshore-banking services to U.S. clients through non-U.S. branches, said Mark Branson, chief financial officer of UBS's global wealth-management unit.``We have decided to exit entirely the business in question,'' Branson said today in Washington. ``UBS will no longer provide offshore banking or securities services to U.S. residents through our bank branches. Such services will only be provided to residents of this country through companies licensed in the United States.''
And thanks to people being arrested, the gnomes at homes here can't bank overseas with the ultimate gnomes in Switzerland? HAHAHA. The UBS gnomes are facing prison time. So they slam the window shut. Please remember, everyone, that all schemes to evade government raids can and will be rapidly closed, one way or another. To end inflation or to fix a depression, the governments always resort to simple theft or muscle everyone. This is why the solutions are all political, not economical.
Auction Prices Cheyne at 44% Of Face Value---
Creditors cashing out of SIV Portfolio PLC, the $5.86 billion structured-investment vehicle better known by its former name, Cheyne Finance, stood to get only about 44% of their current claims from an auction of assets Thursday.
And see how investors fare! They get a massive haircut and then have to duel with the naked short sellers from Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and other SEC protected entities! Gads. All inflation ends this way: savers and investors get a sheering and the sheep workers get slaughtered while the big boys use the government to protect themselves and only themselves. This is why history is punctuated by wars, revolutions and riots and other mayhem.
Spain economy is imploding. UK is imploding right behind it.
(housing bubble burst. I think Europe is about to sink.)
Posted by: Anthony | July 21, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Yuan Falls Most in Six Weeks; Pace May Ease on Slowing Growth
``The People's Bank of China will slow down appreciation as inflation is easing and export numbers are moderating too,'' said Nizam Idris, a currency strategist with UBS AG in Singapore. ``We are not likely to see the kind of appreciation in the first quarter,'' when the yuan advanced 4.2 percent.
The currency declined 0.19 percent to 6.83 a dollar in Shanghai as of the 5:30 p.m. close, from 6.8169 at the end of last week, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. That's the biggest drop since June 4.
Today is the third anniversary of the end of the yuan's 8.3 link to the dollar, during which time the currency has gained 21 percent.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=azyRAVxI.SsU&refer=china
Oh yeah. China is done with playing nice in forex. they are lowering the yen again.
Posted by: Anthony | July 21, 2008 at 10:30 AM
1) The bank refusing to accept IndyMac cashier's checks is WAMU ( Well's Fargo also apparantly ).
2) WAMU is not "on the list" of non-shortable if naked entities.
3) WAMU is a good place to owe money not so good a place to place money.
4) Local banks and ( even better ) local credit unions are somewhat safer places to keep your rapidly depreciating Federal Work Permits stored.
5) No bank can pay off its depositors. It is probably better to be first in line, than to wait until the legacy media tells the tale.
6) FDIC the I stands for INSURANCE. The insurance premium is set by actuaries, based on historical data regarding bank failures. There is not enough $ in the FDIC accounts to pay off depositors in the situation where many banks fail simultaneously. The INDYMAC failure has already eaten a HUGE portion of the FDIC insurance fund.
7) The treasury can print money to make up for the FDIC shortfall, but that is just inflation disguised. The FED RES can borrow money into existance ... more inflation and the first recievers ( Institutions on the LIST) get the seignorage profit to boot.
8 ) There is no Santa Claus; there is also no sanity clause.
Posted by: CK | July 21, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Excellent article,
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/loeffler/2008/0718.html
A local gas station here was offering a discount on gas if you paid in cash!!!
Posted by: Royal Dutch Paper | July 21, 2008 at 01:00 PM
Like many investors who were naive about the true workings of our parasitic banking system, I feel betrayed and am becoming cynical to the point that damages my spiritual well being.
The many fine articles and comments emanating from this blog are both wonderfully informative and therapeutic (the realization that I am not entirely alone).
I want to share my plan for dealing with the coming calamity with you; Elaine, and the fine group of people who post comments with the hope of getting some feedback.
My plan is to move most of my investments offshore (I sold off most of my stocks during last week's rally). It's a simple plan:
1) Hedge against the declining dollar by investing directly in foreign markets - of course the problem is what currency does one select. My original plan called for the Euro but I suspect the Euro will also tumble.
2) Buy foreign stocks that have a good record of paying dividends.
3) Buy some precious metals (maybe 20% of portfolio).
Any suggestions or tips will be most greatly appreciated.
Posted by: DrKrbyLuv | July 21, 2008 at 01:24 PM
1) All fiat currencies will tumble. Some more quickly than others some less quickly.
2) All the major currencies are fiat currencies.
3) Anything that can be substituted for a paper ( fiat ) currency can be confiscated and will be confiscated.
4) Skills cannot be confiscated, but you can be forced to practice your skills if you have given hostages to fate.
5)If that DR in your sig means you are an MD of some sort; learn to barter your skills for stuff.
Posted by: CK | July 21, 2008 at 01:51 PM
Somethings to consider:
There is approximately $300 in cash and currency/person circulating. ( not bank accounts just cash and currency ).
In inflationary and hyperinflationary times, people who receive cash try to dispose of it immediately, so the velocity of the money in circulation speeds up.
Useful Stuff depreciates slower than fiat money.
A working axe will last a lot longer than a handful of rapidly depreciating paper with funny pictures on it.
It is good to trade, good to barter, good to rid yourself of cash to people who still think that paper money is "real."
Posted by: CK | July 21, 2008 at 02:01 PM
Several things: when a major empire especially one dead center in the middle of the global economic trade, goes down the tubes, all others do too.
The dynamics of the present situation are obvious: we will have wars because the US will launch intimidation/looting expeditions. This always is the outcome. The US can't do this to China or Russia but can do this to Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc. This is why all the parties in the crosshairs of a desperate empire are now rapidly triangulating with nuclear Russia and nuclear China.
As individuals we have one direction we can go in: we can politically organize. Of course, we keep losing our leaders such as Ron Paul's retreat due to various circumstances. But we have to keep seeking some platform which we can use to unite and protect ourselves.
All great revolutions happened when the middle class stopped supporting the ruling class and joined with the 'peasant' class! Right now, we are about only half way there. It will be quite a while before both are in the same boat.
Until then, understanding history, understanding money and understanding how markets work is useful because we can teach our children so they can rebuild things. This is a major tool! One that is invaluable.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | July 21, 2008 at 02:45 PM
Here is nice mainstream article preaching against debt: Yahoo - Dave Ramsey on Debt in Retirement
So if you want to send it to friends and family as a favor, bookmark it and email.
Posted by: RobG | July 21, 2008 at 02:58 PM
I have to disagree with Elaine.
There is no evidence that any political organization has ever been beneficial.
If it is one's goal to be a follower, then of course organize yourself into having a leader. There will always be someone whose great desire is to be a model for park statues. The closest the world came to a beneficial political organization was the confederation of states that existed for 10 years after the treaty of Paris was signed.
Wealth are the creations from work, money is not wealth.
Posted by: CK | July 21, 2008 at 03:40 PM
As I am sure everyone here knows, the current goings on also explain why there is such a push from banks for a "cashless" economy. If one has cash in their pocket, they can choose when to make a purchase AND on what to purchase. If you have a cash debit card, the banks can cut you off anytime of their choosing. And the banks can liquidate your assets easier. They may do this when inflation is not enough.
Posted by: Paul S | July 21, 2008 at 03:49 PM
A fed reserve bank of SF speech, May 28:
Posted by: RobG | July 21, 2008 at 04:23 PM
Hi, Elaine,
CK says, "There is no evidence that any political organization has ever been beneficial."
Aristotle pointed out that "Man is the political animal". Aristotle is saying that politics is what differentiates humans from other animals, and that nothing else does.
Aristotle was wrong, a bit, in his generalization, because modern research shows that most (maybe all) vertebrates organize themselves in political ways. It is not a stretch to say that many insects do also. So what that insects communicate chemically instead of verbally?
Politics is always about who gets and who pays. Who dominates, and who submits. This obviously can become a bloody affair.
Anthropologists currently hold that "primitive", non-literate societies had something like a 70% death rate, amongst the males, to political violence, that is, to war.
Very possible a true (unlike what we saw in 1861 - 1865, which was more a war of conquest) civil war is coming up. Much depends on how "reliable" the ruling class finds the military organizations leaving quite a lot of room for hope for us little people. We live in interesting times.
Posted by: Market Watcher | July 21, 2008 at 06:11 PM
America becoming poor: Here is the study, Emaine.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9621
Posted by: PJSV | July 21, 2008 at 06:26 PM
All our military people take a solemn oath upon entering service.
They swear to protect our Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.
Posted by: PLovering | July 21, 2008 at 07:11 PM
Here is a great read from the Overstock.com CEO Robert Byrne concerning naked short selling. Peace
http://www.deepcapture.com/
Posted by: HGKrebs | July 21, 2008 at 07:12 PM
Elaine,
We long ago passed the "Minsky Moment" and have entered the territory of the "Marx Moment." Our government has now made it explicit that our financial system does not exist to meet the needs of we the people, but rather we the people must meet the needs of our financial system - or else.
Posted by: Michael | July 21, 2008 at 07:46 PM
No, not the 'financial system' but the GNOMES. They must be serviced or their wives will divorce them. So they are willing to destroy all the economic systems if need be to keep their ill-gotten wealth.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | July 21, 2008 at 08:35 PM
I have already hit the bottom, through medical bankruptcy and then death of my spouse. My strategy: 1. have a small backyard garden and fruit trees for shade 2. have power tools and hand tools to craft other tools 3. know how things were done before the industrial revolution (there are some really good websites with this info) 4. know where the files are, to keep the pitchfork sharpend
Posted by: norcalkid | July 21, 2008 at 09:06 PM
Norcalkid, I'm so sorry to hear this. Medical problems should not destroy or enslave us financially! This is one of many systems that need desperately to be reformed.
And the loss of loved ones is always a hammer blow no matter how we try to prepare ourselves for this loss.
My heart goes out to anyone who suffers so. Good luck, hang on there and keep faith in the future.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | July 21, 2008 at 10:45 PM
OMG, you are on to the next post and we haven't yet 'laughed' ourselves into a tizzy over the naked shorts: (
How Naked Short Sellers and CNBC Bamboozled the SEC
)
Posted by: RobG | July 21, 2008 at 10:52 PM
oogly oogly oogly! HAHAHA.
Correct analysis, indeed, Rob G. But this leaves out the sex parts.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | July 21, 2008 at 11:33 PM
Paulson promises to return power to the Congress once peace and
stability is returned to the markets.
1) Staff Wall Street with my pals.
"Bobby, it will be like the Mellon Days. Let's stuff it with
Blankfein's level 3 assets."
2) Short squeeze the market so hard they will never sell FRE or FNM
when I speak.
"Kneel to Paul!"
3) The most crowded shorts probably will report the worst numbers.
Let's squeeze them so hard they will be celebrating multi-billion
dollar losses.
"Wachovia lost $9 billion, missed estimates, AND slashed their
dividend? Excellent..."
4) No one stuffs garbage down people's throats better than a Goldman
guy.
"George, not even your father would dream that such a thing could be
possible. Kenny can sell anything."
5) Make sure my pals unload risk and raise fresh capital before the
market realizes that we are not "months" but "years" away from a
bottom.
"Get to the Choppa!!! Now!!!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUjtQm2Ty8U
Posted by: 5U | July 23, 2008 at 01:07 AM
Who (by name) was doing the short selling ?
Posted by: bob | September 25, 2008 at 02:04 PM