Bits Bucket For October 3, 2008
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I was just wondering how many of our congresscritters will switch sides if they are planning a vote today? I am blown away that the MSM has reported every potential cause of the vote falling through, except the fact that many of us J6Ps believe the bailout probably won’t help anyone but Wall Street, and certainly won’t help the economy like they think it will.
I am not voting for either Presidential Candidate because they both supported this bill, and strong armed their fellow party members.
I plan to write in Mickey Mouse as a protest vote on the presidential ticket. if everyone who feels the same did this, Mickey could easily get enough votes for matching federal funds
“I am not voting for either Presidential Candidate because they both supported this bill, and strong armed their fellow party members.”
Agreed. I find it rather surprising that no member on either side of the isle has publicly called for Bernanke or Paulson to step-down prior to any bail-out vote.
Why anyone would want to waste their vote is beyond me…it’s like a toddler who can’t call the shots on the playground taking his toys and going home. Big effing deal.
Why even bother to vote at all? Why not just vote for Ron Paul?
… Or Ralph Nader. Or Bob Barr.
If you can’t stomach either major party candidate, that’s fine, but a vote for one of the higher profile alternates raises the chances for some viable third party choices in this country, on both sides of the fence.
Some competition would be good for democracy.
When I lived in Canada, I thought the Parliamentary System was probably a superior one. Six political parties, with needing to form a coalition to maintain power. Elections can be forced by votes of “no confidence” or realignments of coalitions.
Can you imagine? GWB would never have survived for 8 years if we had a system like that. I think it makes democracy stronger.
Hasn’t Italy had 70 governments since WWII? How can you accomplish anything in 12 months. It seems like you would just finish buying a house in Rome and re-decorating your office before you would tossed out.
How about power of central govt be so limited that it hardly matters who wields it?
Yes, the Italian system has a major flaw there. Part of the problem is that they have a huge number of parties, like 10 or 20 or something. However, the Germans came up with a very simple solution. In Germany, a party needs to get at least 5% of the popular vote to get seats in the parliament. This cuts down on the number of parties makes the whole system more stable.
I think that we would benefit if we could have some sort of European proprtional representation and 4 or 5 political parties. If there was a Ron Paul party and a Ralph Nader party and they each had 10% of the seats in House of Reps. it would be more difiicult for the MSM to dismiss them as kooks on the fringe.
Agreed.
The current 2-party system is a failure. They easily divide up the questionable to meaningless issues into pro and against stances while ignoring the important issues since they both have exact same stance. So, while people will argue about everything that isn’t important and draw lines in the sand, they go on supporting things like illegal immigration, outsourcing our jobs, Bailout Bill, etc.
Don’t throw your vote away, but instead vote 3rd party - if even 1 state or 2 ends up going to the 3rd party, at least it’ll make a statement.
Yes, voting or writing in for any viable alternative candidate is a must at this point. Big things always start out slowly - that’s why the parties in power have always likened a third party vote to a wasted vote.
Who are they to say?
“Some competition would be good for democracy.”
And a huge AMEN to that. Watching the “debates” last night (really, how could anyone call that exchange a debate?) made me realize that we have a one party system in the country, it is just that the window dressing is a little different. So I plan on voting for Ron Paul.
“So I plan on voting for Ron Paul”.
That’s been my plan all along, however I have thought of voting for Barr simply because he’s on the ballot. Either way I refuse to vote for Dumb or Dumbo.
Me, too, Ron Paul.
Unless I do go for Pat Paulsen, he’s still in the running. I don’t care if he’s dead, he can preside by proxy. Hey, Ron P{aul could be his proxy, go team.
‘I don’t care if he’s dead, he can preside by proxy. Hey, Ron P{aul could be his proxy, go team.’
Thanks for the early morning merriment you caused over here at Chez Olympiagal.
I wrote in Ron Paul on my absentee balot. I also wrote, “no bail out!” on the envelope, and under that: They made this poop sandwich, make them eat it!
Count me in on that. I plan to write in Ron Paul. This two-party system needs shaking up.
I’m sure any efforts to do so will be fruitless - but I’d rather be a counter-party than a contributor to perpetuating the problem.
Change tends to happen much faster than anyone would have ever expected.
At some point, good Black Swan hits a tipping point and then tumbles down into our world, and a new and powerful political party is born.
Hopefully it will be one based on real liberal principles - freedom of all kinds - in the traditional American sense.
Me too, but if enough do so, it will get noticed. They obviously take it for granted that we will all march to their music.
I’m also writing in Ron Paul. He would have done much better had all of this unfolded during the primaries.
Everyone tells me the same bullshit line. That writing in a candidate is ‘wasting’ my vote. I believe the complete opposite. This two party, scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours, system has to go.
Ron Paul would be lucky to get as many votes as John Anderson did in 1980, about 7%.
Does anybody remember John Anderson, other than me?
I remember John Anderson.
It’s unfortunate that the only effect third-party candidates have had the last 25 years or so is to determine which of the main two candidates gets elected, by taking votes from the other. Primarily Nader in 2000 who got Bush elected, and Perot in 1996 who got Clinton elected.
Bingo!
I remember John Anderson. In 6th grade, we had to hold a mock debate, with different groups assigned to represent different candidates. My group was assigned John Anderson.
Yes will be touring without John Anderson this year.
That’d be Jon Anderson.
(one strange dude, but has a great voice - I saw him/them from the 12th row in Chapel Hill years ago)
Another write-in for Ron Paul here. BO is going to win IL (his own home state) anyway (no danger of taking votes away from McCain), so if my vote can help make a statement, its worth it.
“Does anybody remember John Anderson, other than me?”
He was my first vote for President.
Blano,
I voted for John Anderson
I voted for Perot
I’d be all for writing in Ron Paul, but I think I’ll have to vote for Bob Barr (Libertarian) just because he’s actually on the ticket, and with the hope that we can get some Federal funding for a third party.
and Perot in 1996 who got Clinton elected.
Clinton was 9% ahead of Dole in the popular vote at 49.2%. Are you serious suggesting that if Perot had not run all his votes would have gone to the Dead Man Walking?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1996
“I lost my virginity to you!”
“Well, there’s a lot about the 70s that I don’t remember….”
How about considering voting for this guy?
http://tinyurl.com/5xyg2y
Everyone should vote for McCain. He is going to drop dead of a heart attack several months into his presidency, and then Sara is going to take over. She is a no nonsence kind of leader and is the best kind of leader to guide us through the coming trials, IMHO.
How in the world did you find your way to this website?
It looks like House of Rep members are lining up for or against the bailout along party lines, with Democrats overwhelmingly in favor of the $700 bn ad hoc Republican tax proposal, and the Republican house members overwhelmingly opposed. Politics breeds strange bed fellows.
What time is the vote?
any time now, pelosi is giving her speech.
“any time now, pelosi is giving her speech.”
I hope they give her some extra time. Maybe she can derail the vote again.
They all rolled over and passed the damn thing……sold us all down the river
I stand by my name! The USA is a BANANA REPUBLIC.
… with an over-reliance on imported bananas.
I think we should focus more on Goofy. I just came back from the “happiest place on earth” and Goofy was by far a harder worker than Mickey. He was not only at every event Mickey was, but was also seen out and about on his own. I have photos to prove this. I think he’s more in tune with the average American than the big mouse. So I strongly urge a Goofy write in.
Well, we already had various actors as politicians. Might at well write in fictional characters as well. Could things actually get worse?
Anyhow, for the presidential, I’m voting Nader or Bob Barr. If we could get enough support I’d vote Paul.
What you need to do, and I’m talking to the extreme liberals and conservatives on this board, is vote against your representative if they voted for the bailout. Put them out on their ass and make a statement.
Hold your nose and vote in a new congress. You want a voice then make a strong statement. Otherwise, you partisan hacks might as well just bend over and take it like they bitches you are.
Market Watch
Wachovia Statement: Wachovia’s Board Approves Wells Fargo Merger Proposal
Last update: 7:04 a.m. EDT Oct. 3, 2008
…Under the Wells Fargo proposal, each share of Wachovia common stock will be exchanged for 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo common stock, representing a value of $7 per share, based on Wells Fargo’s closing stock price on Oct. 2, 2008.
Prior to receiving this proposal, Wachovia had been negotiating with Citigroup to complete a transaction supervised by the FDIC that included assistance from the government. Wachovia’s Board approved Wells Fargo’s offer last night. (Cont’d)
Dang, didn’t see this one on the radar.
Leigh
If you were a WB shareholder, whose stock would you rather trade for? WFC or C? I know my answer.
Orwell’s Fargo has to come in as a late night ersatz “buyer’ of a bank that should have been closed down by the FDIC, and failed muster with it’s previous suitor from last week?
We are on the verge of the meltdown…
Lad, 13 days ago you said something about utter collapse happening within 2 weeks…time’s running out
I see your comment below about “maverick” as the drinking game. I hope your liver is doing better today, but I’m sure the alcohol made watching that a bit more palatable. I remember trying to do it with “The Force” while watching Star Wars in college. With Boku fruit juice and Vodka. Lasted about 45 minutes, but the vomiting lasted about 18 hours.
Time is on my side, yes it is.
Why? If FDIC had closed it down the taxpayers would be on the hook for billions and FDIC would be running out of funds faster…. oh wait, I forget, you ARE actively rooting for the collapse for FDIC and all US banks and financial systems so your out-of-country gold may go up, so yes I can see how you don’t like this deal. Personal gains outweighs the cost to tax payers, I see?
I could care less what happens to our banking system, as it’s fraught with deceit and dishonor, just like every other aspect of our economy.
The faster it falls apart, we quicker we can start again…
Does anybody believe that there aren’t a ton of backroom deals that are facilitating these deals? You know The Fed, or Treasury, is going to take all risk away from the banks that are doing the buying. The government will add this to their mountain of debt, one way or another. These deals all stink to high heaven.
Look at The Countrywide deal. Does anybody think BofA did that deal without knowing it could offload all of the garbage? If so, I have a bridge or two to sell.
“Does anybody think BofA did that deal without knowing it could offload all of the garbage?”
Good point, didn’t think of that.
Yes, and KKR knew that investing $7B WaMu was a bad idea, but they felt their portfolio needed the loss?
We’re getting to the conspiracy theory of the mess. I believe that there are plenty of backroom deals, yes. But not from 6-months ago. Many very smart people honestly didn’t believe it would get this bad.
NYCityboy - Excellent point, it seems that the chosen few (BofA, JPM) get to survive in exchange for acting as proxies for the Fed.
> Yes, and KKR knew that investing $7B WaMu was a bad idea, but they felt their portfolio needed the loss?
It wasn’t KKR, it was TPG. The head of TPG was a WaMu insider, sort of, and his judgement may have been clouded by that inside relationship. There are plenty of big, smart shops got burned recently by the financial meltdowns by jumping in too early (Jo Lewis in Bear, to name a few).
>Many very smart people honestly didn’t believe it would get this bad.
Surely that’s the case. But if one understood the gross imbalance of the US economy and the leverage/bad loan issue then I guess one should not be all that surprised. You can’t run a healthy economy based on borrowing and spending more than your output for too long before it catches up with you.
My bad on the KKR miscall…
Are you rooting for the continuation of an unjust kleptocracy?
Listen, all forms of gov’t or institutions have faults and short-comings that many people can complain about and rightly so in many cases, I am not going to deny that. A lot of people in the world thinks their own gov’t or institutions are much worse than everyone else’s (lawn is greener on the other side perception), but that can’t be all true. US needs to work out its structural imbalances in a painful way for the next several years, but I don’t subscribe to the theory that we have to destroy the entire system and all the institutions in it in order to end the “injustice” or “inequality” inherent in any man-made system anywhere.
Am I a “counter-revolutionary” for saying such non-sense?
No, it’s just not so exciting as “burn, baby burn!”
Last week the banks borrowed 1.8 Trillion from the Fed’s new window for a 28 day rollover. Gee wonder where that money came from. Now they are debating less than half that? Something doesn’t smell right here.
Nor did anyone else, though I do know some that bought the stock solely because it was going to be a pure investment banking house after it was taken over by Citigroup. Wachovia Securities has good analysts. (If Wachovia’s bank had followed their securities analysts advice, they never would have bought Golden West.)
I wonder in Wells case what “Fair Value” is going to be? A gloss over in the reports, Wells needs to sell either $20B in stock or $20B in Bonds. To be safer Wells should sell $31 B of either bonds stocks or combo.
Thought it would be Wells b/c of retail reach. With all the SIV trouble, didn’t understand C. What’s more, it shows Mr. Buffett’s appetite for Continentals is insatiable.
So they did this because all that toxic Wachovia paper will become a veritable goldmine after the scumballs in DC vote ‘Yea’ today? Yes?
So they did this because all that toxic Wachovia paper will become a veritable goldmine after the scumballs in DC vote ‘Yea’ today? Yes?
After this vote don’t many banks who are previously on the verge of takeover become recapitalized because all this crap paper now returns to it’s initial fantasy valuations?
Sorry if I’m stating the obvious. I’m just trying to wrap my head around what happens after the vote today.
Personally:
- I see this as a good thing. Too much consolidation is happening with the Big Three (JPM, Citi, BofA).
- I do not think the story will end here. Look for changes with regards to Wells Fargo down the road. I can’t say what, but I believe that they are not exactly on firm financial ground either.
I spoke with a banker at WFC the other day. I don’t think they are in trouble. If WFC goes down, we might as well wipe the slate clean and all start our own banks.
they act as though they are supprised about this.
Citi has demanded Wachovia and Wells Fargo terminate the transaction.
FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said “The FDIC stands behind its previously announced agreement with Citigroup. The FDIC will be reviewing all proposals and working with the primary regulators of all three institutions to pursue a resolution that serves the public interest.”
Should I be concerned about having my money in Wells Fargo now? I don’t understand the workings of these things. I’m curious about other people’s opinions. There are all these banks that turned into sick little fish and are now being swallowed by larger (healthier?) fish. But what happens in the next few years when the foreclosure rate continues to rise? Is it possible that some of these big fish will become sick little fish by then, and be all the more sicker because they swallowed those little fish?
Carp Diem?
Crap Diem.
Riddle me this: Why did Citi need the feds to guarantee 300+ billion of Wachovia debt while Wells doesn’t?
They’ve been quite simply breaking and making new rules as they see fit.
Is your parachute packed?
Doesn’t Buffett have an interest in Wells, could this be payback for his actions last week?
This bailout bill is supposed to make the bigger fish healthy. So you should be all right, as long as you pick one of the Chosen bigger fish (Wells Fargo will probably be all right IMO one way or another).
Problem is that the act of making the bigger fish healthy will serve to further sicken the Biggest Fish. If the Biggest Fish doesn’t survive, then who knows the fate of the previously healthy bigger fishes.
A chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link, and it’s only a question of which link gives way first.
Bigger fish will also become too-bigger-to-fail.
I looked at banks’ exposure to mortgages a LONG time ago…Wells had taken the least risk–most of their mortgage related trouble had to do with LOC exposure. If I remember correctly, they were 10-20% below their nearest competitor on the LTV scale.
Today, on commercial loans, they are only going up to ~55-60% LTV and getting very good spreads, and getting their fill of new loans. These are very safe, very profitable loans.
I’d keep my money at below the FDIC at Wells, and always have a secondary banking relationship, but if I were to pick what I felt was the strongest of the bunch (Citi, Wells, BofA), I’d pick Wells.
Well, it’s easier for Citi to just get them both at the same time at the end of the next quarter.
A big shout out to all you Realtors. Just for reading this blog, you’re gonna git extra credit on you next test!
You guys ready for the Warren Buffet Bailout this morning? I went to buy gas for my car and they told me that I was too late and Warren Buffet had just bought all of the gas for $20 a gallon.
Brad Sherman (D) Congress Critter says $700B is for foreighn investors who bought toxic MBS.
China Declares Economic War
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/2008/04/caution-mortgage-explosions-just.html
Peter DeFazio said that, too, yesterday. Frig China. We just traded some crappy products with them.
The bailout is about Henry Paulson pitting his shants that if it doesn’t go through, he’ll be forced to eat some poison pork fried rice.
Very sobering program today on This American Life, with Ira Glass, “Another Frightening Show About the Economy”. He did a pretty thorough job of walking listeners through the last 8 years, how we went from a 78 trillion dollar global pool of money, to a housing bubble, to where we are today. He kept calling NINJA loans, NINA loans, but everything else seemed spot on.
http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=365
BJ Lawson is running in the Raleigh, NC area for Congress. He gave the opening speech at the Ron Paul rally at UNC Chapel Hill in May. Here’s an interview about the bailout bill he did with a financial planner. It’s aimed at teaching average people why the bailout won’t work and that we can’t avoid the consequences of the housing bubble.
I found it very helpful in explaining what “naked short selling” and other terms I see used here mean. Surprisingly, the financial planner seemed to understand what’s going on and rather than recommend stocks, recommended looking into precious metals.
I don’t know if BJ Lawson reads this blog or not, but he sounds informed - unlike the Democratic Incumbent, David Price.
Manhattan real estate: Pricey but headed for a fall
The average sales price continues to climb - it’s now $1.4 million - but the number of buyers is falling fast.
By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer
October 3, 2008: 4:23 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The crisis on Wall Street hasn’t hit the high cost of Manhattan real estate, but the economic slowdown has curbed the number of deals in the Big Apple, according to reports out Friday.
Sales figures from four major New York real estate agencies showed the average price for a Manhattan apartment rose in the third quarter over last year. At the same time, the number of apartments sold in the quarter declined sharply.
…
But the rise in third quarter sale prices was skewed by a large number of deals in new luxury buildings, which went into contract as much as a year or two ago, before economic conditions deteriorated, but only closed recently, according to Corcoran Group CEO Pamela Liebman.
(Cont’d)
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/02/real_estate/manhattan_real_estate/
Leigh
The pattern has now repeated itself all across the country: first falling sales - then falling prices. Still, these Manhattanites need further convincing over what comes next?
Lies, lies, lies. It’s all lies, I tell you. Manhattan will never fall. I will not let it. I have my musket at the ready. We will defend our right to high apartment prices to the death.
“I will not let it. I have my musket at the ready.”
You have the right to bare arms, as in lose your shirt.
A non-NY person (former NJ) was arguing to me earlier this week that NY prices will stay up because “the culture is so special” that others will come in to buy anything vacated by former Wall Streeters…I said I thought not, who has $5M to spend on an apartment, other than WS fraudsters? I don’t need a NYC apt, so I don’t really care, but I become impatient with people who have not thought about economics at all.
SCHWARZENEGGER: CALIFORNIA MAY NEED EMERGENCY LOAN
Considering the size of California’s economy, I’d say a 7 billion dollar lifeline is pretty reasonable when compared to the banks and Detroit. I’m think the title should be spun “California asks for a Mere 7 Billion…”
The collapse of public services and soaring taxes will affect us all.
Today California cannot find anyone to lend it money to spend more than it takes in. Tomorrow New York. And then the United States of America.
There are going to have to be some serious adjustments, particularly for those with special privileges, or there is going to be an institutional collapse.
You mean Medicare won’t be able to pay for scooters for middleaged overweight people anymore?
Barbarism!
Will we see a rash of motorized cart thefts from Walmarts across the country?
Give the (morbidly obese) people what they want! Or they shall seize it!
The collapse of public services and soaring taxes will affect us all.
Despite my Motorized Fat Cart jokes, this is a serious issue — one that’s been underreported, IMO.
State and local governments are standing at the edge of a precipice, budgetary-wise. Falling tax revenues, tighter credit, and the difficulty of issuing new bonds will impact every municipality in some way.
“State and local governments are standing at the edge of a precipice, budgetary-wise. Falling tax revenues, tighter credit, and the difficulty of issuing new bonds will impact every municipality in some way.”
Don’t forget that the state PERS systems are heavily invested on Wall street, and their taxpaying citizens are not in a position to absorb any tax increases when those investments fail.
The state budget crunch in Florida has been the talk of the town everywhere.
The most recent story of the public defender in Dade County dumping their caseload has been the biggest buzz lately….
Personally, I find California’s inability to find any lenders pretty damn scary. Being the large individual economy that it is, it really doesn’t bode well for the United State’s own future ability to find willing lenders.
Reading folk like Jim Willie and Engdahl, to mention only two, foreigners have had it up to here with our fraudulent financial activities, and have lost interest in helping, at least beyond the beleaguered handful of central banks still trying to keep the game going.
Big players are meeting internationally, and the U.S. is not invited. From China to various Middle Eastern governments to Russia and now Germany, they are meeting to form a new financial system, sans input/control/fraud from us.
I hear the opening of the United Nations was a cacaphony of dissent against the US fraudsters. Personally, I think it’s hilarious.
Yeah, and there are rumors of another Fed rate cut.
I quit!
Leigh
I don’t claim to be a monetary policy expert, but I have a serious question:
Does it make sense to cut interest rates when there is a supply shortage of loanable funds (aka credit crunch)? Doesn’t a lower price (interest rate) normally result in a reduced supply (worse crunch)?
I don’t know much of anything Palmy.
The rules are changing faster than I can keep up with them (banksters, congresscritters, IMF, etc).
Leigh
If the goal is to hyperinflate and render the dollar worthless so that debt in dollars becomes meaningless, than cutting makes perfect sense.
Or, if one is a clueless academic who studied the Great Depression only to given the unique opportunity to create something far worse - then it also makes sense.
But like you said, for anyone who can do math and who understands the difference between liquidity and solvency, cutting rates is a dumb idea.
No kidding! But now that hundreds of billions have already been summarily thrown down the banking industry rat hole, with a proposed $700 bn additional to come, is there $7 bn available for a small state like California? Don’t they need the money back on Wall Street to stave off financial panic among bankers and brokers?
Who believes that this $7 billion would be the final “emergency” loan?
Paulson to California - “Drop dead!”
This century’s Austrian ex-pat artiste strongman leader isn’t much of one right now…
Like Republicans are going to give Calif anything other than the middle finger
“Plans by several state and local governments to borrow in recent days have been upended by the credit freeze. New Mexico was forced to put off a $500-million bond sale, Massachusetts had to pull the plug halfway into a $400-million offering, and Maine is considering canceling road projects that were to be funded with bonds.”
“California finance experts say they know of no time in recent history when the state has sought an emergency loan of this magnitude from the federal government. The only other such rescue was in 1975, they said, when the federal government lent New York City money to avoid bankruptcy.”
“State officials now fear they face a potential cash crisis worse than California confronted in 2003, in the final days of Schwarzenegger’s predecessor, Gov. Gray Davis.”
“At that time, the precipitous decline of state revenue in the middle of a budget year forced officials to pay a syndicate of banks a premium of hundreds of millions of dollars for what amounted to an expensive “payday loan.”"
Can’t even get a “payday” loan. The issues now are mostly cash flow. What happens when the large budget shortfalls happen in the next 2 to 3 years?
Is there any way to short California?
Ca.
we need to pull out of calif
Not Ca, it’s CA
“SCHWARZENEGGER: CALIFORNIA MAY NEED EMERGENCY LOAN”
Got to pay for those illegal alliens in-state college tuition bills.
California is a sanctuary state, and proud to have you pay for it.
Regarding Schwarzenneggar’s whining for $7 billion - there goes my desire of buying a Vanguard California tax free money market fund - the short term one is closed anyway. I’ll be working in California for a period of time starting one month from today and want to brace myself for the taxes. But I found the next best thing to a tax free California fund:
Goodbye Vmmxx and hello to VMLTX!
Is Gold bubbleicious! Going down quicker than home prices.
You were so much more entertaining plying us with misinformation about Las Vegas & Cruella Clinton…
Premium on gold is getting as big as silver and gold is getting hard to source as well.
Current premium on silver (which I can only find in 100 oz bars) is $3 per oz. A year ago you could buy those near spot. If you want eagles the premium is $6 (an amazing 50%!!) with an estimated 6 month wait to delivery. IMO these eagles will never be delivered because they will never be minted.
Gold spread: I can’t find one ounce krugs or eagles. Maples for $875, so $50 spread there seems to be the best deal there. Half ounce krugs for $450. Get them while they last.
I think the metals are a decent insurance policy. I’m definitely not a zealot. But I don’t know if, “buy now or be priced out forever” is really what we should be shouting right now.
I’m not buying AU at these prices but I have held my nose and bought silver recently. Got some nice 100 oz bars which are not my preferred form because I have to dig such big holes to hide them from the Roaving Hoardes of Starving Masses.
IMO it is now too late for people to try to get PMs. Them that don’t have it will have to ride things out with Uncle Buck. Expect the Hoard to swell in numbers.
Lol. You should do standup.
Do you mean the hoard of people who horde there stash of PMs out their in the back yard?
Hey Watcher, that might be the most overly dramatic post on the metals, to date. You can still buy gold and silver. Anybody that wants it, and has cash, can get it. And a lot of people still have cash.
Nycboy, if you can still get it please post a link to where I can buy some silver eagles, one ounce krugs or gold eagles or silver rounds. And I mean for immediate delivery, not for some dim future date. Otherwise I will assume you are making things up. Thanks.
The problem with putting it in your backyard is you will not be able to sell it when the government makes it illegal to own. Hiding it in your backyard will not help you when you need to use it to survive. And last time it was illegal for 40 years in the USA.
I think the best option is to hold it offshore in a Swiss vault. The Swiss would never turn your gold over to the USA because that would ruin their reputation. I like GoldMoney.com because you own the gold at the vault so there is no counterparty risk. It is in your name.
If anyone has an issue with this please speak up.
“And last time it was illegal for 40 years in the USA.”
Not true.
Americans could not legally own Gold Coins struck after 1933, or in ingot form, but that was it.
Foreign mints got around this silly law by minting older coins with frozen dates, like Austrian 1915 100 Coronas, 1 Ducats, 4 Ducats, Hungarian 1908 100 Koronas, and many more like examples.
The only older U.S. Gold coin that was illegal to own was a 1933 $20 Saint Gaudens, otherwise you could legally own ANY U.S. Gold coin dated from 1795 to 1932.
Banrep:
I don’t know if not having possession and trusting that company is any better than the GLD ETF. The ETF buys/sells physical gold to match their value. Here all you have is claim against some gold held in foreign country, albeit in “your name.” I understand the intellectual difference, but am not sure it would really help in a crisis situation. In either, you are looking for a transfer of $$ back to you. Do they offer the option of taking possession yourself of “your” gold they are holding?
Oh, you don’t just want gold, you want gold sold in a specified form, such as a specific coin.
Lol.
Now you’re entering the realm of the Beanie-Baby effect of coin prices.
Banana,
Ever seen a black market after an economic collapse? Generally speaking, the more illegal an item is the more value it has on the black market. They can have my AU when they can pry it from my….er, when they can find it.
http://golddealer.com/bullionpage.html
this one has only Swiss 1oz bars and eagles too. And the coins with the certificates. watcher, you quoted better prices, where from? Thanks. Tutto
My PM’s are right behind my 45 ACP’s. Good luck on getting your hands on it.
I see your point aladinsane, thanks for the clarification. But for most people, what they hold would be considered illegal. So for most people, they would have a problem.
Skeptic, the gold or silver you own is stored in the vault in Switzerland in your name. I don’t think anyone at GoldMoney can get the gold out without your consent. They have very specific rules in place for that. It is allocated, audited, and insured against theft.
But that is no absolute guarantee. I understand that. But neither is burying it in your backyard. And remember, owning gold or silver carried a 10 year prison term. You screw with their paper pyramid and they will slam you.
I just want to be able to flip them the bird when the SHTF. Again, if you guys know of anything better I am all ears!
I also checked out BullionVault.com, but the gold is stored in their name. I also didn’t like the fact that it was a closed system, meaning you were buying and selling with other members. In a panic on the downside, there could be no bids.
JMHO
Bloomberg:
“Commodities, as measured by the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials, have tumbled 9.9 percent this week, the most since at least 1956.”
Looks like the speculative party is over. Run for the exits is on.
Really?
Robert Hartman sounds a bit breathless as he answers his phone. “This is already a state of emergency,” the CEO of the Munich-based gold dealer Pro Aurum tells SPIEGEL ONLINE. For two weeks, he has been unable to fulfil all the gold orders his company has been receiving. Customers are storming its online shop. And the banks the company usually services just keep on ordering. At the company’s fulfilment center, orders are packaged seven days a week. “I’m just happy our employees have been willing to do this,” he says.
Roger Breitkopf, a precious metals dealer at German banking multinational Deutsche Bank adds: “Compared to August, (gold) sales have increased tenfold.”
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,581923,00.html
The party was sure fun while it lasted!
I read that gold is going down because hedge funds need to raise cash to meet redemptions, and gold is the only thing they can sell.
Remind me again — what is cash?
I waited decades for this moment, and stupid hedge funds bailing out on fool’s gold that never existed except on paper, doesn’t worry me the least.
I only wish I could buy at the fantasy ’spot’ price.
I have to call BS on that. You were peeing your panties with grandiose glee when speculation pushed the spot price to all time highs. Now this is the moment you’ve waited decades for, to see your goddess fall?
I guess sometimes mood has no basis in logic or reality.
Don’t worry, there is speculative support at $700, and again at $450, and anything under $250 would be just silly. I do wonder how low moods will sink as the greatest expansion of credit in the history of the universe unwinds. Gold is the distilled product of the earth, and earth’s fair market value is taking a nose dive like we’ve never seen.
Destruction of the dollar is going to take some time, maybe longer than we can imagine.
You have confused paper markets with real markets. I will buy all the gold and silver you can get and I will pay you the spot price. Since you expect prices to fall you should take me up on this offer. Physical only.
No deal Watcher. My position is not a speculative one, or I’d have sold and taken profits when I sold my miners. I doubt there is a worldwide shortage of metal, really. Gas is in short supply in the SE, but that makes gas worth a premium only if you are desperate. If you are desperate, pay the premium. If you are sure that price will only go up and supply will only go down, you will make a profit on the premium too. You’re a specuvestor, so specuvest.
Apparently for them cash is what they have to pay their bills in.
Uhhh, King?
You rang?
That day when gold sold off hard a few weeks ago, cnbc had a news streamer that said that.
Funny thing was the next day, one of the cnbc reports was asking “why the big sell off in gold yesterday?” You’d think they’d use their own news to stay informed.
“Remind me again - what is cash?”
Cash is the Ultimate Solution to one’s financial problems. Nothing else compares.
“Is Gold bubbleicious! Going down quicker than home prices”
Not in the real world of the physical market. Have you tried to get some lately? Can’t find it…sold out everywhere. Hmmm, I wonder why.
It is just possible that when something becomes the “thing to do” that it is actually the thing not to do at that time.
Take buying houses for example.
The time to buy a house will be when everybody thinks they are the worst investment ever. When everybody told you houses were the only way to get rich, how many did you buy?
Did you buy your gold at low prices when nobody was interested in it, or after the moonshot?
It just seems to me that in order to profit from a moonshot, you need to get in on the front end, not the downside. If you hold gold for some fundamental survival end of civilization reason, who cares what the price is.
Blue Skye,
If mellow yellow’s such a bad investment, put your money where your mouth is, and divulge your investment plan?
It is great to have a family that owns silver mines
Alad,
Well, I’m sure not buying a house in the short term!
Ships flock to port when they fear a storm. If that is all they do, they fail. I am sure you are in a pretty good position, as it sounds like you paniced early (like me). Telling others to invest in a falling yellow knife is irresponsible IMO. I point to the risk of one way bets is all. The ancients warned us that burried gold is a dead asset, not an “investment”.
One of my greatest friends, Mr. Bill Kuzetta, was a refuge of Hitler cum Stalin’s benefice in Czechoslovokia, wealth, property, jail and all. A braver man or better friend I never knew. He escaped on a May Day night in an icy cold river. I respect what he went through, but I respect more that he did not crawl under a rock, broken. He lived his life with enthusiasm, generosity and innovation. That is the model for me.
Hey, my family is the rightful heir to the throne of Scotland. Lot of good that will do me!
The same reason AIG has to pay a 12.5% interest rate, and GE has to pay Buffett huge. Cash and gold are in short supply. In theory interest rates are low and gold is relatively inexpensive as compared to what it costs physically. But if you actually want money, or gold you need to pay through the nose to get it, since there is panic.
The answer is panic.
YOU CALL THIS PANIC?
Bha ha ha ha ha… have you been through the depression (I have not), but I have been through the colapse of the communist block. price of food changing hourly to the point where there is not need to write it down anymore. It is more pain than panic, but it does teach people a great deal and certain human qualities come out better. I am looking forward to the schooling that some need desperately.
I doubt that; from what I hear the problem only exists for small denominations like coins. If you buy physical metal in bars stored in a vault (like the stuff that banks trade) there is no shortage at all.
I remember being slammed for calling for deflation, but it sure looks like that is happening. Commodities are plunging. Housing is plunging. The dollar is stronger. If the PM’s were an inflation play we could be in a long-term bear market, as the dollar strengthens.
When I went to Japan in 1984 $1 dollar bought 280 Yen. Today it buys 105. There has been massive deflation in the dollar for over 20 years. Does it have to go 50% lower? Hard to say, but it has been in a long decline for many years.
Strong dollar policy my ass.
But I will add this. I think the next few days are critical for PM’s. I think they are going to break either up or down shortly, and that should give you an indication of the direction for the near term.
I Think you mean massive inflation, no?
There are only two ways to finance this $700 billion bailout, and the $200 billion bailout a couple months before that, and the $95 billion bailout and the others that occurred this year:
1) Significant tax increases or
2) print more money (cause inflation).
Number 1 is not feasible. It will increase unemployment (since wealthy people will have less money to invest because they pay higher taxes) and it will greatly decrease consumption, since the middle class will be squeezed more.
This leaves number 2. That is why you need to have at least 10% of your assets in gold. I think 15% is a preferable amount. But you need to also be in an opposing investment just for a hedge.
I’m not suffering financially, even though all my retirement investing is in growth stocks. Diversification into savings bonds, a AAA muni bond fund, and precious metals has helped me keep a good base of wealth in this government-caused monetary crisis.
going down quicker?
maybe in dollars because there is a temporary dash for dollar cash … but not in euro’s. I purchased gold for just EUR 535 a few weeks ago. It has gone up to EUR 640 a few days ago, and is now hovering around EUR 600. The all time high for euro gold is EUR 650. It’s all a matter of perspective …
of course if you compare to Dutch home prices yes, gold has not done well over the last 25 years. But I’m confident that relationship is going into reverse soon.
A big shout out to all you Realtors. Just for readin’ this blog, you’re gonna git extra credit on your next test!
Hahahaha. LOL too funny!!!
very nice!
and that test “has got to be taken”
Eff this!
Steve Holmes, chief executive of Wyndham Worldwide, told Reuters on Wednesday that “all that matters is that Congress needs to come together and pass a bill that addresses the immediate problem.” His statements about the current financial crisis and the necessity of the government’s bailout plan came on the heels of the Senate reworking the plan to make a second attempt at pushing the bill through Congress.
Bail out Marriot? What the er…
Leigh
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/10/02/marriott-hotels-closer-markets-equity-cx_lal_1002markets32.html
“On Marriott’s conference call with investors on Thursday, the company’s chief financial officer echoed Holmes’ concerns. “We urge the ranking members of both parties to develop and enact a comprehensive stabilization plan. It is important that the plan be big and enacted very, very soon,” said Arne Sorenson. “There are thousands, maybe tens of thousands of jobs at stake in our company alone, and we are typical,” he added.”
Marriott’s already shedding jobs. I had a neighbor whose job at the Marriott Residence Inn in Mission Valley was terminated last week. Previously, they’d been led to believe there might be problems in December. Terminated with no notice last week. This wasn’t an out of the way location, but a good centrally-located property. It sure looks like the slump in housing and financial services is spreading into other sectors of the economy (tourism, auto sales, e.g.). How much longer before this is a very broad-based and deep recession?
We decided the drinking word for last night was “maverick”, and most of the damage to our livers occurred when Biden said it about 5 times in the course of a minute.
Dang Alad!
Told ya to go for Dude!
You’d be sober as a judge!
Leigh
dude, where’s my liver?
I thought the drinking word was “also”. She uses the word “also” a lot, also in ways that don’t add any context to what she is saying.
Now that I’ve pointed it out, it’s going to drive you crazy when you listen to her also…
I played the game with “maverick” as well!
Ouch, still hurts.
as a WB customer, I feel slightly better about WFC than I did about Citibank. Had it been Citibank, I was going to pack up shop and move elsewhere. This marks the 4th time in the last 8 or 9 years that my primary bank has been acquired. I wonder if I should look more closely at the regional banks here in DC?
“Had it been Citibank, I was going to pack up shop and move elsewhere.”
Me, too. I was really bummed when I heard about Citi, today I’m willing to keep my deposits there.
I want Citi to keep its balance sheet strong so they can go through with the BCE buyout. After that…..
Foreclosure victim, 90, apparently shoots self
At the age of 90, Addie Polk found herself in foreclosure this week, about to be forced from the home she’s lived in for nearly 40 years.
So, with a gun in her hand, the Akron widow apparently shot herself in the chest Wednesday afternoon as deputies were knocking on her door with eviction papers in hand.
Court records show Polk took out a 30-year, 6.375 percent mortgage just four years ago for $45,620 with a Countrywide Home Loan office in Cuyahoga Falls. She took out a line of credit that same day for $11,380.
Her La Croix Avenue home was appraised by Summit County in 2004 at $31,230.
The Countrywide branch did not return a call for comment Thursday.
http://www.ohio.com/news/top_stories/30240349.html
Sickening. There are just so many things wrong with this story I don’t even know where to begin.
You can have my house when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
depressing.
What a sad way to end your life, in circumstances you feel you can’t control, so you shoot yourself. I don’t care if she brought it on herself, it’s still very sad.
“What a sad way to end your life, in circumstances you feel you can’t control, so you shoot yourself. I don’t care if she brought it on herself, it’s still very sad.”
Yes, indeed it is sad. My “nose” tells me that she did not bring it on herself. Many elderly people, desperate for a “friendly”
voice, are easily manipulated .
The people that work for Countyrwide are clueless and have no souls. I was walking past a Countrywide Branch that is located in a strip mall a couple of weeks ago just as a couple was walking out along with the employee. THe employee was explaining “the power of your mind” I kid you not. She told them that they need to stop thinking they are going to lose their house or they will. If they start believing they can keep it they can. UGH. I felt so bad for these people. I know they made a bad choice at some point to get them to where they are now, but they were at the bank trying to figure something out and the “workout plan” they are offered is to believe hard enough that they can pay their mortgage and somehow it will get paid. You have got to be kidding me. Some financial advice that is!
Not to be insensitive, but
At least they asked the question, even if they didn’t get an answer. I see an alternative scenario… you’re 86 years old, you know you won’t live much longer. Get $ from the bank and live it up somehow, then off yourself when they come to toss you out. I could see doing that.
Of course, there were no outward signs of the $ being spent. But that $ went somewhere. Maybe she got taken by a huckster who talked her into getting the loan for an “investment opportunity”.
Um, maybe she never saw the money.
I find myself thinking ‘and that for just 55k’, as if suicide over a 550k house was more worthwile. Shame on me.
From the cite: It is unclear how [foreclosure victim] Polk used the loan money. [next-door neighbor Robert] Dillon said he didn’t notice any work being done on the property, and deputies said her front porch was soft from years of neglect.
”Where’d the money go?” Dillon asked.
Probably for things like food, water, sewer, heat, & RE taxes. The article mentions she had no children or regular visitors. She probably outlived everyone near & dear to her. OTOH her late husband was a tire company retiree & she may have had his Social Security plus a company pension to live on. Her predicament might have been mostly due to lousy financial judgment, she ignored all the foreclosure notices she got until the day before the county officers showed up. The mortgage sounds like a regular 30-year one.
Somebody had to realize something was not right in giving a 30 year loan to someone that was 87 years old.
Did I hear Biden say he wants bancruptcy judges to be able to amend the principal AND interest terms of mortgages to stave of foreclosure? Lord help us all.
Yeah, that was pretty shocking. Except it won’t be possible because of the Commerce clause of the US Constitution. The gubmint can’t modify contracts at will without a constitutional amendment. That was just a naked vote grab from the FB crowd.
BTW, did anyone catch that Palin wanted “expanded powers for the Vice President”…WTF? If that woman isn’t the most power hungry yotch I’ve ever seen, then I’m the king of China.
I don’t follow your constitutional logic. Bankruptcy judges already modify every other kind of contract. They call it the “cram down”.
Sorry, I was being a dumb*ss. I meant the “Contracts clause”
From Wikipedia:
The Contracts Clause prevents only substantial impairments of contract, i.e. destruction or loss of most or all of a party’s rights under an existing contract. However, not all substantial impairments violate the Contracts Clause.
To determine whether state legislation is valid under the Contracts Clause, the following three part test applies:
(i) Does the state legislation substantially impair a party’s rights under an existing contract? If it does not, the state legislation is valid under the Contracts Clause. If it does, such impairment will be valid only if it:
(ii) Serves an important and legitimate public interest; and
(iii) Is a reasonable and narrowly tailored means of promoting that public interest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract_Clause
“I don’t follow your constitutional logic. Bankruptcy judges already modify every other kind of contract. They call it the “cram down”.”
And the handwriting is on the wall. Minorities will have their mortgages modified downward while the rest will remain unmodified or foreclosed. This is more redistribution of the wealth or liberal engineering.
Thank you. And I don’t care if the rest of you are politically correct, but this $700 billion bailout is actually the reparations that minorities have been fighting for all along. This is Marxist.
…and BIM, that was nothing but a winger talking point. Hate media is heaving its chest and pointing fingers, by way of distraction, at the community reinvestment act. As this was nothing more than a counter-measure to red-lining, and not an effort to hand out houses to any transient or welfare mama.
It’s not even Marxist…..it’s Soviet, as in centralized control. Fact is, many sectors of our government have been run like criminal enterprises for a long time, from the cesspool of HUD, to the swindles of Pentagon contractors, not to mention no-bid contracts, to the unified budget, to you name it.
Minorities didn’t bring down this house of cards. Crooks did, and got either very wealthy in the process, or in the case of minor players like the mortgage brokers, only a little bit rich.
The constitution also says..
“only gold and silver” may be used as money.
“the right to bear arms shall not be infringed”
“powers not explicitly delegated by the constitution are reserved by the people and the states”
“no warrantees searches”
It required a constitutional amendment to ban Alcohol, but nothing to ban other drugs… hrmn.
The income tax is unconstitutional… for many reasons.
only congress can declare war
Don’t think for one second that the constitution limits what those in power can or will do.
Bingo
I’m always amused when people say that the income tax is unconstitutional. Pray tell, let’s hear a few of your many reasons.
I suggest you read “Cracking the Code”. Further more, Ron Paul agrees that the income tax is unconstitutional and he understands the constitution better than most.
Power to tax 1% means power to tax 100% which is slavery. The constitution was written to LIMIT government power, and the income tax gives the government ‘unlimited’ authority to tax.
It is a non-apportioned direct tax. An the supreme court ruled that the 16th amendment conferred no new taxing power to the government (meaning that if the government didn’t have the power to tax before the amendment, then it didn’t have it after the amendment).
The power to tax is the power to destroy. If congress does not have the power to regulate something, then they do not have the power to tax something. Last I checked the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness (working) were protected.
There are MANY other reasons why it is unconstitutional and all you have to do is go back in time to see why laws were written how they were written and then learn that the income tax code, as written (vs how it is enforced), only has scope in DC and the territories not the States of the union.
the supreme court ruled that the 16th amendment conferred no new taxing power to the government
That’s basically all it comes down to.
the supreme court ruled that the 16th amendment conferred no new taxing power to the government
That’s basically all it comes down to. The income tax is the government saying that they own you and your output, which is clearly a violation of your freedom/liberty.
There are all sorts of taxation that are fine and fair game. The income tax just isn’t one of them.
BTW, did anyone catch that Palin wanted “expanded powers for the Vice President”…WTF?
That was equal parts funny and frightening.
She is clearly not too familiar with the first two articles of the Constitution. Either that or she’s ready to follow Dickie Boy’s credo, that the law is whatever he says it is.
I think that she is so naive that she was either “coached” into this stance, thinking it was normal and/or she really doesnt understand the constitution. She is in way over her head
AK is a small state
Unfortunately I see Palin as I see Bush (well, with the exception of appearance - whoo) - a relatively clueless pawn that can be manipulated at will by the true PTB. That’s why the potential for her to be president *really* scares me.
“… a relatively clueless pawn that can be manipulated at will by the true PTB.”
A description of Obama as well.
Some said it so well (can’t remember for the life of me who):
Palin is Bush with BOOBS!
Is this really any different that Ford, Reagan, Chimp or Quayle? They all were intellectual light weights.
They do, however all say “yesa masta!” very well.
Nobody should take contract law too seriously going forward, after this mortgage debacle. The tricky thing is knowing when enough people are going to be adversely affected by a contract in order to bank on blanket Big Brother modification going forward.
“Contract” has been deleted from the American dictionaries this week.
What I find interesting is that current bankruptcy law allows judges to amend the terms of second homes, yachts, and other luxuries, but not primary residences.
Funny how the rich always have their derriers covered, while the middle class gets endless lectures about “personal responsibility.”
I was kinda looking forward to having my interest rate reduced. He meant everyone’s right?
WHEDA Suspends Lending
Wisconsin’s affordable-housing agency has temporarily stopped issuing mortgages for single-family homes because it’s having trouble raising the money needed to make the loans — a situation it said is a direct result of the national financial system crisis.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=802099
They dressed her up like it was for a funeral,[missed that red dress].Sent her out to Spout party -line stuff she probably didn’t understand,or believe herself.Sadly,She came in 3rd.,[after the moderator].Sarah Palin is a better woman then that.Alaska is a great state too.
“Sent her out to Spout party -line stuff she probably didn’t understand,or believe herself.”
Isn’t that pretty much representative of what her job would be if she became VP?
She was dressed for a funeral, wearing CFM pumps.
What was up with that?
One of her sisters in arms (the blonde on McLaughlin, I forget her name) called her “Kitty with a whip”.
S & M?
Sadism & McMasochism
Yes, Alaska is a great state, in spite of its gov. But as for the debates, it doesn’t matter who/where/why, they are intended to display one’s acumen and knowledge. A smart person can wing it, no matter what party line they’re supposed to spout.
Cut off all of the Federal welfare flowing to that state and we’ll see how great it is.
In case you missed it, the Senate version of the bank bailout bill contains $223 million for Alaska fisherman.
I just wish those Alaska mavericks didn’t cost us soo much money.
” . . . Sadly, She came in 3rd.,[after the moderator].Sarah Palin . . . ”
heh heh, ironic how I was thinking along the very same lines last night of how damn smart & professional the debate moderator appeared. hell, I’d rather have HER running for office instead of that perpetually grinning idiot ser-rah palin !
palin obviously had gotten by on her looks & charm. sure she’s “personable” but lacks any firm substance. she actually makes me appreciate hillary. and I dont say that lightly, lemme tell ya, because they both have that annoying nasally droning voice but at least hillary is freakin QUALIFIED for the job & is unlikely to pose in a flag bikini w/firearm in front of slack jawed cletus.
I’d be more embarrassed by this white trash person getting into high office than I was by Bill’s endless sexcapades !
just once it would be nice to be proud of america, instead of making excuses for our leaders. arent we supposed to be the shining example for the world?!
Absolutely true about Palin, her looks and her act of charm has carried her in general. Personally, I think she’s not that attractive. I mean, an Angelia Jolie or a Christine Brinkley, she’s not.
And that folksy cr*p just gets on my nerves. She has no substance. She is “Bush with Boobs.”
I was esp. annoyed with her winking. What was that for?
Seriously! I thought I was seeing things!
For someone who supposedly posesses “looks” she is very unattractive in the most ghastly way. Possibly because of her mindless words and empty skull?
And oddly enough, I’ve always thought Tina Fey is beyond attractive in a mysterious way.
The bikini and rifle picture is a hoax. Check it on snopes. Almost everything sent about her has been faked.
Her hunting grosses me out, but, then, I didn’t grow up in a freezer. The wolf hunt videos actually date from her predecessor, who also authorized the practice (culling the packs, supposedly, to prevent winter starvation, blah, blah). She is not the shooter.
I thought she did fine for going up against a lawyer with decades of experience bull—tting, and with the entire Democratic Party trying to destroy her (For what? If she’s a lightweight, why are they bothering? Me thinks the partisans protest WAY too much). Could anybody here debate Biden or Obama about the housing bubble and its causes? They would shoot us all down, and the Press would declare us idiots, and millions of viewers would pour in e-mail and cellphone votes against us. No matter that that would have to falsify data and Biden would be quoting plagiarized speeches.
Remember, the bailout is to save the world, and all of the viewers’ 401K plans. Biden said so, Obama said so, McCain said so, and Bushy said so. Who are we to doubt their wisdom?
I’m writing in a vote for somebody, because the two candidates su-k. But, Palin reminds me of everyone I’ve ever met from Ohio, except that she isn’t fat or have frizzy hair, bad skin, and a box of Twinkies in her chubby hands. And she isn’t hanging out at theme parks or moving to Florida. But, she definitely has the accent and the relentlessly cheerful attitude.
What happened to Biden’s hair plugs? I though transplanted hair wasn’t supposed to fall out too.
Long time lurker, please stop with the partisan B.S. democraps and repubicans both suck and are merely two different sides of the same coin. Just to even things up a bit, didn’t Bidet Biden say that him and old Barry wanted to mix it up with Hezbollah in Lebanon? There are a lot of smart folks posting on here until it comes to politics. Just sayin’
back to your bass boat, Cap’n
Amen Bro. They’re all CFR whores.
Thank you Captwwweedwacker. Most people here will vote for much more drunken spenders on the Democrat side only because they hate one man in the Republican Party. Instead they should vote for small government by writing in Ron Paul or voting for Libertarian Bob Barr. Fools!
Paulson-Bernanke Steps Created `Big Ripples,’ Leading to Rescue
Paulson’s Goal
The Treasury is gambling that the $700 billion plan now being debated in Congress will kick-start capital markets and lending. If the government is a buyer of mortgage securities, they will trade higher, Paulson told Congress. If the banks are cleansed of bad assets, they will find new capital and the cycle of lending will start again.
Investors say once again the government’s big-footing in the financial markets could create more problems than it solves.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aFzDKV89fQ0g&refer=news
Pork can delicious, even when served cold…
From The Times
October 3, 2008
US loads $700bn bailout bill with ‘pork barrel’ tax breaks
Local Observations… Tehachapi House Listing
This house looks nicer than a house in the same area that sold for $400K early this year and it has a bigger lot (4 vs 2.5). Home prices are falling fast.
Jas
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?sby=2&sdir=1&zp=93561&ml=3&mnp=18&mxp=38&bd=2&bth=2&typ=1&sid=c2e8665c37da40cc8abb1624a974e4a2&pg=25&lid=1102648944&lsn=245&srcnt=488
$299,900; 4 Bed, 2 Bath; 1,751 Sq. Ft.; 4 Acres
20395 Mountain View; Tehachapi, CA 93561 — MLS ID# 9957718
Goldman Sachs paid out a whopping US$16.5
billion in year-end bonuses to its employees (roughly US$620,000 per employee) last year.
What a joke.
Think of that as an advance out of the $700 bn bailout.
Yet, if they don’t get bailed out, economy go boom?
If this year’s bonuses are even a quarter of that amount, there’s going to be people in the streets with pitchforks demanding retribution…
Link?
(Not doubting - just would like the direct info - thanks)
How much did they and are they and others paying in dividends?? I mean if you are short on cash stop paying dividends.
I have some simple but serious questions for anyone in the House of Representatives who believes that handing over $700 bn to Hank Paulson will provide some kind of magic bullet to fix problems in the credit market.
1) A great deal of money has already been thrown at the problem by Bernanke and Paulson, with no apparent success in ending it. Is more of the same approach likely to produce a different result?
2) Are there other qualitatively different alternatives that have not been considered which might actually work far better to solve the fundamental problem, which is evaporation of trust in the banking system?
3) Given massive distrust of the bailout, as evidenced by widespread voter disapproval, what will its passage do to solve the fundamental problem of trust in the banking system?
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
–Albert Einstein–
I don’t think the fundamental problem is lack of trust in the banking system. It’s bank insolvency.
I was thinking the opposite. If the government cares to throw enough taxpayer money at big finance, the solvency issue goes away. It’s the trust issue that can’t be forced.
I guess we will soon learn whether you are right. $700 bn on top of all the other money already thrown at the insolvency problem certainly ought to be enough to fix that aspect of the situation, no?
On the other hand, no amount of money thrown at the problem would be sufficient to fix a fundamental loss of trust, which would require systemic overhaul the likes of which have not yet been proposed.
And now for the complicated and scary stuff.
…
Today is the beginning of “auction season”, when the International Swaps and Derivatives Association starts a series of auctions to settle who pays what to whom on a plethora of credit derivative contracts relating to businesses that have gone into default.
It’s settlement time on those humungous insurance policies for corporate debt, called credit default swaps, which I’ve mentioned to you as being another potentially lethal flaw in the financial economy.
In the coming three weeks, payouts of hundreds of billions of dollars may be made - or at least demanded - to cover losses arising from the defaults on the debt of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman and Washington Mutual. (Cont’d)
Uh Oh.
Leigh
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/robertpeston/2008/10/smack_smack_were_dead.html
They tried it last month too. It worked so well all the investment banks failed. Heh.
Kudos in advance to any House of Rep members who have the courage and conviction to stand up to demagogues.
Others will be munching on pork, lots and lots of pork.
I second that, though their numbers are rapidly dwindling. I have more contempt for those that changed their vote from no to yes, the pork whores, than I do for those who voted yes to start. These pols are despicable. I don’t think either party represents the peoples interests as I have yet to meet a single individual who is in favor of the “bailout”.
Those who opposed the bailout may still get the last laugh and before the election. The best minds seem to think that, at most, this plan doesn’t do great harm and possibly buys enough time to get this to the next administration. That my prove to be overly optimistic.
I’d be more than happy to see this implode before the election, forcing those that supported this bill to explain why they ignored advice to bring in better economists and craft a better plan. I don’t think there’s any great love for this plan, even among supporters.
I am much more angry at those that created these problems than with the inadequacies of this plan, though those inadequacies are considerable and to some degree avoidable.
Oh, well…. they just voted.
It’s all good! If the bailout had failed to pass, those who claimed it was the only option to fix things would have had a ready-made scapegoat for any and all economic problems going forward. Now we have a natural experiment to test whether those who claimed the bailout was the only way to save the economy were telling the truth.
Congress to American voters: F-U!
A great video by G Edward Griffin.
http://tinyurl.com/2u92jf
About 2 minutes in there’s discussion that’s very pertinent to the current bailout action. However note that the video was made in August 2007!!
Has anyone pencilled out an analysis of how much Bank of America, Wells Fargo, J P Morgan and other megabanks that have swalllowed toxic debt stand to gain when the Treasury buys up the toxic debt at a huge premium to market value?
That would be nice. Don’t expect it from the MSM, especially not *before* the bill is voted on by the House.
Maybe after though. A little “tee hee - look what you guys just did” moment may hit some of the back pages of the newspaper, so as to remove any culpability.
I’ve done the math on my fingers and the total comes to approximately $200 zillion.
You must be assuming the $700 bn will be used to fund tomorrow’s highly leveraged Wall Street gambles…
…and you’re not?
How will the rescue restore trust in the banking system?
* OCTOBER 3, 2008
Uncertainty Over Rescue Intensifies Credit Crisis
By LIZ RAPPAPORT, SERENA NG and PETER LATTMAN
A slew of new data suggest the effects of the credit crisis are ricocheting around the globe as lenders grow increasingly distrustful of their own customers and each other.
In both the U.S. and Europe, uncertainty about the ability of governments to push through comprehensive financial-system rescue plans continued to weigh on bond and stock markets. On Thursday, the rate on government debt maturing in three months fell to just 0.6% — indicating investors are willing to accept low returns simply to avoid the risk of losing their principal.
“How will the rescue restore trust in the banking system?”
-Wait…There was trust in the banking system??
I would bet the pink collar crowd at GS got crumbs. The people who do the grunt work, and keep the financial mafia from having to do any real work.
Our VP was my direct report (I was middle mangement), and all I ever saw was a free lunch and an occasional small bonus.
Kind of OT, but not really when you consider it’s a housing issue.
Question: Would one be stupid to trade a perfectly nice new (2007, 4,000 miles) Toyota Tundra 4X4 pickup with 8 foot Lance self-contained camper for a larger (21 foot) Class B (on a truck chassis) Gulfstream motorhome with low mileage (20k)?
Am thinking about getting something larger so I don’t have to rent through the winter and can move around, but motorhomes are white elephants right now. This one’s nice, but they can’t sell it, it’s been for sale for 5 months. Mpg is same for both, about 16, and its gas, not diesel.
Any comments appreciated. I don’t want to go from the frying pan into the fire, but this way I could be more self-sufficient, maybe. It would be a straight trade and would save me from renting. Mine blue books out cheaper than theirs, but we’re talking RV, but then, it’s a good time to buy one (maybe if you’re a fool?). Tons of places to camp out here, free.
Always something going on…squatting to RVing to ???? I need to hear some common sense opinions, my dogs are all stoked, they could see out the windows, which they can’t now, and they’re influencing me bigtime (bringing my hiking boots, licking my hand, being really good, not chasing the squirrells). Thoughts? Thanks in advance, will be gone all day, so will check in later for the HBB wisdom.
The Gulfstream’s a 2005.
http://www.motorhomeadvice.com/mhreviews/view_forum.php?id=38
here I found this on the Gulfstream motorhome.
Great site, cactus, thanks!!
Don’t jump into the deal. Consider towing a trailer instead if your Tundra can do it. A good RV-type house trailer should be as comfortable in the winter as a class B & you would still be able to get around with the truck.
Gasoline is better than Diesel in freezing weather otherwise I like Diesel engines they last longer and get better gas mileage.
RV ing sounds kinda cool though I would research web sites on Motorhomes which are good verus bad etc.
Can’t help you but I like your thinking. Tresho might have it.
I think so too, thanks guys.
http://www.businesscycle.com/news/press/1708/
U.S. FIG [Future Inflation Gauge] Dropping Faster
Reuters
3-October-2008
(Reuters) - NEW YORK, Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. inflation pressures fell in September to a more than six-year low indicating policy makers should focus on economic growth, a research group said on Friday.
The Economic Cycle Research Institute’s U.S. Future
Inflation Gauge (USFIG), designed to anticipate cyclical swings in the rate of inflation, slipped to 103.7 in September from 107.3 in August, revised from 109.3.
The reading was the lowest since May 2002, when the index stood at 102.1.
“With the USFIG diving to a new 76-month low, underlying inflationary pressures are clearly in rapid retreat,” said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director at ECRI, in an instant message interview.
“The (index’s) well established downturn strongly counters any inflation fears that may still be concerning Fed officials.”
The slide in the USFIG was due to disinflationary moves in measures of commodity prices, labor market conditions, loans and interest rates, and was partly offset by an inflationary move in a measure of vendor performance, Achuthan said.
The USFIG annualized growth rate, which smooths out monthly fluctuations, fell in September to minus 17.8 percent from minus 13.9 percent in August, revised down from negative 11.0 percent.
USFIG: just another totally useless manipulated indicator ?
Paulson plan will fail, merely postpones day of reckoning.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aMaWyNFImi4o&refer=home
Our partner in dysfunctional co-dependency, China, is going down with us.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aglZNvpnT6KU&refer=home
Doesn’t anybody have a Moo Goo Gai Plan to get us out of this mess?
Last week I saw a little blurb about Asian central bankers getting together to discuss not panic selling US Treasuries.
I own a lot of Treasuries. Anybody have any ideas on what the effects of said panic selling would be? My guess would be catastrophe.
If you are thinking of panicking, be first to do so.
Sage advice…
I thought she did very well. This woman has never been in national politics and was up against Biden who has been in politics all of his life. Why are people so critical of her? She’s smart and personable. She was under an emormous amount of pressure. Every word that comes out of her mouth is disected a million times. I just wish the public would be fair with her. No one is critizing him.
She did better than I thought she would, but at the end of the day she’s still an evang that speaks in tongues and wants the end of the world sooner, rather than later.
Yeah, but… the rapture sure would be cool.
sure, this woman sometimes sounds to me like someone coming right out of the nuthouse … but apparently she has a lot of enthusiastic followers. Even in my country she seems to be an inspiration to many religious people (especially women).
She did ok I suppose. I think she was nervous as she never paused at all between sentences. Anyway, I was mostly annoyed that she rarely if ever answered a question and changed the subject very frequently.
She had her talking points and she didn’t answer a lot of the questions. If she had been able to answer all of the questions or at least hit upon the basic topic she would have been more impressive. But if thinking she did a good job just means she didn’t screw up, well then she did a good job
She’s a inexperienced lightweight, from a die-hard Republican state. The only reason she is on the ticket is because she will bring out the die-hard, one-issue Republican base (evangelists, gun owners, the anti-abortion crowd).
She doesn’t really matter. If McCain is elected, the Republican brain trust and power structure will remain in place. The Republican Party has demonstrated repeatedly that it will take care of the monied interests (domestic and overseas) rather than looking after the interests of Main Street, USA.
I’ve been buried under e-mails from my acquaintences slandering Obama for everything under the sun, even ridiculous ones saying that he is the coming of the Anti-Christ. Nobody can tell me that a lot of this isn’t orchestrated by the Republicans (or their camp followers) behind the scenes. Having been back-stabbed a few times in my life, the fundamental unfairness of it really bothers me. He must have the Republican powers-that-be scared. Good.
I’ve been a registered Republican for 35 years plus. Didn’t vote for either candidate in 2004 (IMO they both stunk). This could be the first time I’ve voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate
Me too, Repuke since I was 30.
2000 voted for W.
2004 stayed home.
2008 staying home.
Ron Paul is our answer, but Americans are too under developed (notice I didn’t say stupid) to understand what the man is saying.
At least Obama and Biden might have new puppet masters. Palin is scary. No thanks McSame- taxing employee based healthcare, and giving a tax credit. Add deregulation. OMG, the man has no clue.
I thought she was embarrassing. I was clear to me that she was taught a bunch of catch-phrases, without understanding what they mean.
I liked the shout out.
That has to be the first time in a presidential or vp debate that a candidate gave a shout out. Between that and all the winking and golly shucks I thought I was watching the Montel Williams show. If they are elected and she becomes president that will clearly mark the end of the USA.
McCain gambled with Palin. And it will lose him the race.
Personally, I am getting a “Palin for President 09!” bumper sticker.
ROFLMAO!
“I thought she did very well. This woman has never been in national politics and was up against Biden who has been in politics all of his life. Why are people so critical of her?”
DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN THIS IS NOT A SELF-ESTEEM CONTEST.
Can’t you see how out of her league this woman is.
If someone offered you a job teaching quantum physics, would you not shrink back and decline, because you are not qualified. Why does she not have the same realistic self-assessment as any normal person would have. Either complete shameless hunger for power, or she is really so stupid to think that being able to ’see Russia from Alaska’ makes her qualified.
Both are very very scary, and to me, her nomination is a complete insult.
Why can’t you see that the media, for once, has a point?
I don’t know about that.
Bill Clinton was an Arkansas governor and did pretty well. Reagan was an actor before becoming a gov in Clownafornia. Carter was govenor of Georgia.
I’d guess you are one of those jackasses from the coasts and thinks the rest of the country is a bunch of useless hicks. The only people that can succeed are people from big name universities.
I guess the intelectual snobs will tell us we need one of our Harvard law educated betters to lead us. We common folk just aint much good at anything.
Take a look at a lot of presidents from the past. Some of the least sucessfull were former senators. LBJ pushed the greater society BS through with its long term welfare problems and got us stuck in Vietnam for a long time.
Obama has never managed anything but some bullshit community groups. And he talks pretty.
Do everyone a favor. Go take out a big mortgage and then shoot yourself.
I actually don’t think she is smart or personable. Maybe I am a bit more critical of her, since McCain is in his 70’s. She could very well be president in a few years. So I want to know she can handle the job, and will not blow it. I consider this a security issue.
As for the debate, it was OBVIOUS that she dodged almost every question addressed to her. The strategy was…when you get a question you don’t know, just talk about energy or something the folks will relate to. This was embarrassing, and it was an outrage. Is John McCain crazy? WTF was he thinking selecting Palin as his VP? She doesn’t know anything. And I saw right through her winks, and other folksy BS. She wasn’t fooling me.
Let me just say this. Honest to God, if you voted for Bush just stay home on election day. You don’t know enough about people to make such a big decision. Your last pick was a disaster, and we cannot afford another one.
Please do not vote this time. Leave that to those of us having a clue.
Palin is a joke.
are people so critical of her? She’s smart and personable.
Because she was obviously heavily coached and a few times veered WAY off topic when answering a question winding up on the same old overplayed talking points. That’s not debating.
Although I disagree with her Bible thumping and all, I think most of you are being too harsh on her. I would wager that she can debate 20 times better than you can.
I’m a liberal atheist capitalist, so I cannot vote for McSame/Palin and certainly will not sanction socialist Obama and Biden (”It’s patriotic to pay taxes” LOL).
Obama is consistent in his support for government intervention and a move away from capitalism. I don’t this is the right direction of the United States, but at least it is stable and predictable direction.
McCain is described as a maverick anti-pork hardliner yet he strongly supports the biggest pork bill in history and tries to ram it down the throats of junior Republicans. This seems to be no strategy at all, just a haphazard role of the dice.
If a true conservative Republican would have a stand and said “no bailout” that person might have been able to overcome Obama and win the election. It is too bad McCain is not that man.
Shouldn’t the Fed be considering a rate increase, given rampant inflation in consumer staples?
Basic grocery items rise 10.5% from last year
By Matt Andrejczak, MarketWatch
Last update: 10:36 a.m. EDT Oct. 3, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Families have been feeling increasing financial pain at grocery-store cash registers, exacerbating their difficulties in the souring U.S. economy.
Here’s how much it hurts: A basket of 16 basic food items cost $48.68 over the past three months, up 10.5% from a year ago, the American Farm Bureau Federation said Thursday.
The latest survey from the nation’s largest farm organization underscores the pressures reverberating throughout the food chain, from the American farm to the executive suites of the largest U.S. packaged-food manufacturers.
Besides the elevated costs for basic food ingredients, rising energy prices have boosted processing, hauling, and refrigerating expenses for food makers including Kraft Foods Inc. and Campbell Soup Co.
Potatoes, cheddar cheese and apples posted the largest price gains from the second quarter of this year. A five-pound bag of potatoes cost $3.38, up 83 cents. Cheddar was $4.91 a pound, up 31 cents. Apples fetched $1.80 a pound, up 26 cents.
Among other items that rose are the following: pork chops, up 22 cents to $3.62 a pound; ground chuck, rising 10 cents to $2.95 a pound; and whole milk, costing 4 cents more at $3.92 a gallon.
I bought a pear yesterday in a grocery store. It cost $1.25. Now you know why the Roaving Hoard will be Starving.
So the PPT has successfully pushed the DJI back about 11,000 on Friday for several weeks straight now. They’ve got their work cut out for them today though. Can they do it?
Go… Go… Go…
DJIA = Smoke & Mirrors
I know that, and you know that - most of the people on this board know that. The key is that the American public doesn’t know that.
Same for CPI, UNRATE, etc. etc. etc. They are headline numbers that drive public opinion. So while they are manipulated to no end - don’t think that they don’t matter. They do.
Running a ponzi scheme must be hard work.
i wonder how many 401k holders have their sell button set for 11,000. if it makes it back up to that #?
I hit the sell button at 11,800. In 2006.
I hit mine in Dec 07, I think it was around 13,600 at the time. I’ve held on to all my gains and am still ahead even with the inflation factored in. *whew*
Boy am I glad I read this site.
Why would a smart 401k holder be in and out of the stock market if he has over 20 years until retirement? It’s dumb to think you can time the market. 100% of my retirement funds have been in stocks since 1989.
We are in a market cycle, maybe more severe than usual. But a cycle is a cycle.
You guys are acting as if it’s the end of the world. There are several dozen nations in this world. One of them has the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence and has a legacy based on the age of Reason. It’s the fifth freest economy in the world and maybe the 10th now, but it will climb back out. You folks here on this blog are not the only ones p.o.’d at this bailout.
So - once again the markets plummet right after the bill passes. Same thing happened with futures the other night when it passed the Senate.
I thought this bill was supposed to help the markets?
(scratches head)
Agreed. A total headscratcher. Does anybody have a logical explanation? One explanation might be that the huge drop on the bills failure was artificially created but they’re unable to create an artificial rise of the same magnitude? Doesn’t really make sense. I have no ideas…
My theory is that Wall Street actually realizes that this bill wasn’t really about helping Wall Street, or the economy - despite all the media hype. That in fact the bill was about helping a small segment of bankers - and that the bill will indeed hurt the overall economy in the long run, and maybe even in the short run.
In other words - Wall Street apparently saw through the Treasury, MSM, and Federal Reserve smoke screen.
I have renewed faith in the intelligence of Wall Street. Well, at least some anyway.
Rothchild dynasty?
Does anybody have a logical explanation?
maybe they are waiting for the verdict in the O.J. case. the jury started deliberating about 25 minutes ago.
Buy on rumor, sell on news. It has been that way forever.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/business/03sec.html?pagewanted=1&hp
Interesting article about the SEC. From the article:
“We have a good deal of comfort about the capital cushions at these firms at the moment.” — Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, March 11, 2008.
“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 agency’s failure to follow through on those decisions also explains why Washington regulators did not see what was coming.
On that bright spring afternoon, 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. The exemption would unshackle billions of dollars held in reserve as a cushion against losses on their investments. 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 of insurance for bond holders; and other exotic instruments.
The five investment banks led the charge, including Goldman Sachs, which was headed by Henry M. Paulson Jr. Two years later, he left to become Treasury secretary. “
Prosecutors Expected to Spare Wall Street Firms
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/02/AR2008100203631.html
That’s the Justice Department’s line now, while still operating under the guidance of The Deciderer and Fat Alberto’s successor, the better but less-than-stellar Michael Mukasey.
It’ll be interesting to see whether that policy changes a few months from now, with a new leader and growing populist sentiment from all quarters.
I’m not saying this tactic will change, necessarily, but you don’t have to be a Deciderer to see which way the wind is blowing. Populism and revenge-taking will be on the rise.
If i am a regular HBB does that mean i vote dem?
absolutely not, vote your conscience. And anyway, does either side really have a plan that is going to fix this mess?
Don’t think so Ann - Ron Paul seems to be the flavour of the day, judging by the posts upstream
Nope it means you better be able to defend your choice.
Ohhh… like your answer!
“Nope it means you better be able to defend your choice.”
To whom?
and
Or What?
If i am a regular HBB does that mean i vote dem?
I suggest you read three party platforms: The Democrat Party platform, the Republican Party platform, and the Libertarian Party platform.
Since you are on this blog, I assume you do not like bailing out irresponsible banks or borrowers or anyone else irresponsible. With that in mind, which of those three platforms want to redistribute more wealth from the Wills to the Will nots? Which the least? When you get your answer, you vote for the least Marxist. I already know which one is most Marxist and which least. I do not want to sanction Marxism unless it’s Groucho, Harpo, or Zeppo.
If you have been paying attention these past eight years you would have been disgusted with ALL of the corruption and incompetence. The housing bubble is just one part of a huge pile of crap. Look at both of the tickets. Judge for yourself the competency of the candidates.
And please acknowledge that the man at the helm for the last eight years was the guy that America wanted to share a beer with. John McCain has shown a terrible sense of judgement in choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. She is incompetent and a COMPLETE embarrassment to this nation. She couldn’t even name ONE reading/newspaper source.
We’ve just dumbed down the general population. Not only can people not do basic math, they can’t see through political BS as well.
Hard times, from Chicken Little Soup for the Soul:
BUY the pantry
SELL the phone book
HOLD the fetal position.
I was shocked to see that Progresso chicken little soup is now $3+ a can in the supermarket, it used to be around $1.75 not so long ago…
The sky isn’t falling, it just costs more.
You have to know where to shop these days. We shop at FoodMaxx when we can. Seems like most items are a full $1 cheaper at FoodMaxx than at the regular supermarkets. That adds up.
I just bought 30 cans of Progresso soup for $1.29 per @ Grocery Outlet.
It’s hard to beat the Groutlet when it comes to low prices…
It is now possible to short state and local governments.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/business/03swap.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print
I’d be tempted, except like all derivatives the counter-party risks are too great. The problems are systemic, and once some of them go down, they all will go down.
US Mexicans send less money home
Many Mexican small towns depend on the income from remittances
The slowing of the US economy has seen the amount of money that Mexicans are sending home continue to drop sharply, official figures show.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7647132.stm
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/memories.html
A depressing look at what is behind left in foreclosed properties in California and what has to be done to physically clean them up.
Official unemployment rate holds at 6.1%
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Strangely - that doesn’t seem to jive with the past few weeks’ increase in jobless claims.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/cbuilder?ticker1=INJCJC:IND
(continuing claims)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/cbuilder?ticker1=INJCSP:IND
(initial claims)
They are counting fewer people as “looking for work,” and thus unemployed. Some may be retiring, some giving up, and many immigrants are going home. If laid off, I doubt I’d “look for work” in this environment.
There’s nothing like hopelessness to boost the numbers.
Hey! Housing prices in the Phialdelphia area have only a 2% chance of dropping over the next 2 years! It was reported by PMI Mortgage Insurance Company, so it must be true, right?
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20081003_Philadelphia_area_at_low_risk_of_housing-price_drops.html
Well Lord knows they haven’t budged much yet. At least not in my ‘burbs.
Toyota pushes 0% financing
The financing deal, available to customers with good credit…..
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/03/autos/toyota_zero_percent/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote
i wonder how well this will go? its going to be awful hard to find someone with good credit willing to take that leap.
In February 2002 I found myself in a tight spot and really needed a car. I wanted a Toyota or Honda for their durability, but they weren’t offering any deals.
Not long after that I vowed to go car-less ASAP and began taking steps to do just that. Today, I don’t need a car at all - Toyota, Honda, or otherwise.
Perhaps the toughest decision I now face is trying to figure out which makes me happier - failing RE agents or failing auto dealers. Believe me, it’s a really, really tough choice!
Last time I bought a car? Zero % interest on a toyota, October 2001
Honestly, if you did need something now that’s a pretty darn good deal, although I think they made me pay off the loan in 3 years (which was fine with me). I remember going in there and they asked me what I wanted to put down for the down payment. I said “Zero”. The guy walked to his “manager”, walked back and shook my hand and said it was a deal. Still running like a charm.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akRlc4ks5mDc
“The U.S. Federal Reserve may lose as much as $6 billion on a portfolio of mortgage-backed assets it took over from Bear Stearns Cos., according to Bank of America Corp. analysts.
The Fed will announce its quarterly estimate of the fair value of Maiden Lane LLC’s $30 billion of holdings that JPMorgan Chase & Co. considered too risky when it acquired Bear Stearns in March, Bank of America analysts Jeffrey Rosenberg and Hans Mikkelsen wrote in a client note. The central bank valued the assets at $29 billion as of June 30, according to the report.”
I remember a place called America. America once stood for integrity and innovation and a willingness to work hard at something to conquer hardship to earn reward. Now, we live in a hell where laziness and greed are topped off with a strong expectation of getting something for nothing and somehow that is ok. The new commercial for CNBC says that first and foremost we need to concentrate on America’s Business through this difficult time - nothing is more important. How about putting Right and Wrong first and foremost instead - what ever happend to that. Have we completely sold-out justice in the name of supporting the nation’s bogus finances? Apparenty the politicians have. The senate ought to be lined up and shot for voting for that pathetic bill.
The new American dream is to not have to work, acquire great wealth, and relax on a beach somewhere. As a former company exec, I can attest to the fact that in some companies, the less you work, the more you make. The people actually working get paid the least.
“I can attest to the fact that in some companies, the less you work, the more you make. The people actually working get paid the least.”
Sounds like a GOP utopia.
Been my experience in universities and non-profits too. I think it’s a near-universal rule.
Trickle down economics and now Trickle down wellfare for the elite. Tax breaks for the elite, inflation for the poor through upper middle class that work for a living.
We must have read different History books.
The house of cards will be voting on the bill soon…
I hope there’s a nice bounce from this - I’d like to buy some cheddar cheese this weekend. That’s the least they can do for me.
well, from the looks of it, you are going to be forced to eat the crackers without cheese.
Wall Street said,
No Cheese For You!
stolen words from The Soup Nazi
Remember last year when my DEPRESSION talk seemed like, gloom & doom, tinfoil hat stuff.
Today, the MSM is saying well, we need to bail out the old system, otherwise we could slip into a DEPRESSION.
The single truly most alarming aspect of the whole Housing Bubble phenomena is how absolutely nobody wants to connect the dots NOW.
You don’t solve a problem of unaffordable debt by plunging deeper into unaffordable debt.
Every idiot CONgressthug who votes FOR this “plan” destined to FAIL and bankrupt us all should be voted out of office and hunted down and arrested for treason, IMHO.
I’d like to know what’s on the next level down once we barrel straight through Great Depression II.
Something out of “The Road”?
My wife called this morning. She found a house in Mount Sinai, NY (Long Island) that she wants to lowball. Asking is 400k, she is thinking 300k. Taxes are 10k. Rents in the area are obscene.
Long Island will fall hard (only to the extent that Long Island is dependent on _bankers_ who (used to) work in NYC).
Any advice? If you say don’t do it, please suggest some ways to ensure a lowball is not accepted. I am already worried….think of that lady on e-bay who bought a house for $1.85. She probably didn’t expect to buy a house either.
Why would you submit a bid at all if you don’t want it accepted? To appease the wife? If so, lowball at a price they’ll never accept. Like $150,000 on that $400,000.
Taxes are 10k
10K! Gulp! A 300K house out here would be taxed at 3K (or less).
3k in maryland
LIL, email me with the house address and your phone number if you like. I have a RE license and can research the public record for you, and look up some direct nabe comps, etc. I live and work in Islip, NY.
editor AT carbuyersnotebook DOT com
“please suggest some ways to ensure a lowball is not accepted”….
Offer 150K.
Sister lives in Farmingdale. We have vigorous heated arguments about LI housing prices that will ‘never go down’ because of the financial industry - ‘everyone wants to live here’.
What’s triple the average household income (his&hers, his&his, hers&hers, etc) in the neighborhood of interest? 100K? 300K is OK then. For a bargain, $250K.
Press release: The word ‘ACCOUNTABILITY’ has been censored from all Ameican dictionaries from this day on - it is on the bill right after the one about the wooden arrows…
Timely movie tip:
Americathon
My vote for the worst movie in history, but yes it is timely. Can you even get a copy?
Perhaps they can update it, and do a better job this time!
Pelosi just invoked Mr. & Mrs. Jones on Main Street…
Got Kool-Aid?
The scam passed.
Yep.
And, the DOW barely makes it into 3 digits on the wonderful news.
Just heard a pundit on CNN say they may need more money. Bimbo newscaster wrinkles nose, and looks quzzical - ‘you mean, they may need more money?’
Time to take the aged Nissan out into the desert and shout at some Joshua Trees.
One nugget of happiness in an otherwise dismal day - Brad Sherman p0wnd them all, and he’s my congressman
Brad Sherman rocks and I wrote him last night applauding his efforts to shed light on the true flawed nature of this BILL that was just passed . Brad Sherman is the type of man that we need as a President ,because he has some brains and he has some guts .
I view him as a true American ,not one of these bought off Politicians . There are others that wouldn’t vote for a Flawed Bill
where it was clear there were other alternatives . Any other alternatives were not favored by Wall Street ,so it had to be
the WALL STREET plan . Does the Wall Street plan make you feel warn and fuzzy inside ,the parties that created the mess ?
The Housing Wizard
What cities does Mr. Sherman represent in the SFV?
Don’t know ,hes has a big section in California . On his web site you can see a whole article he wrote on the Bill . Interesting he has a quote by 250 high power Professors saying no to the Bill .
Just Goggle his name and it brings you to his official web site
awaiting wipeout . Hes not in my district ,but I write him anyway .
Actually the Dow was up 290 points before passage, and promptly dropped 250 points when the bill was passed. Now it’s down 60 for the day - a 350-point post-pass drop.
Doh.
Buy the rumor - sell the news…once again.
If there’s going to be bailout approved, these morons in congress should follow the Swedish bailout model- Force the banks to write down all of their bad paper then have gubmint offer to recapitalize them in exchange for majority equity positions. We’ll be doing this anyway in a few years but we will have wasted $2T ($700B is just the down payment folks) on idiotic Paulson Bailouts of toxic waste.
I wish I could go take a nap.
–
http://www.reuters.com/article/gc03/idUSTRE4925AI20081003
Yearly economic growth rate at 33-year low: ECRI
Fri Oct 3, 2008 10:38am EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A measure of future economic growth in the United States edged up slightly but its annualized growth rate fell to a 33-year low, hitting severe recession levels, a research group said on Friday.
The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group, said its Weekly Leading Index edged up to 122.2 in the week to September 26, from 122.1 in the previous period, revised from 122.2.
Its annualized growth rate slid, however, from minus 12.3 percent to negative 13.3 percent, its lowest since February 25, 1975, when it was minus 13.7 percent, according to ECRI data.
“With WLI growth plunging to its lowest reading since the severe 1973-75 recession, the 2008 recession is set to get noticeably worse,” said Lakshman Achuthan, managing director at ECRI.
]The index level ticked up due to higher commodity and stock prices but was mostly offset by weaker housing activity and higher interest rates, he said.
None of this matters. The bailout has passed, and the economy is now saved.
Bailout bill just overwhelmingly passed.
The $700 bn no longer just include trouble mortgage asset, but it is to include credit card and car loans.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/03/news/economy/credit_cards/index.htm?postversion=2008100307
We are all debt slaves now.
Cinch
Great commentary
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aMaWyNFImi4o&refer=home
It amazes me that our elected officials are dumb enough to pass this POS.
Long Live the Republic!!!! Woohooo! Condos and Hummers for everyone!
Trailer parks for the savers.
We savers will win in the end, but that will be somewhere between 4 and 8 years from November.
In the meantime, avoid as much taxes as possible. Squeeze the turnip and be very stingy, otherwise you will be sanctioning socialism.
Remember, remember the third of October,
The Congress, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the giveaway treason
Should ever be forgot.
Double plus doom ~
++ ungood.
Preserve and Remember O Bard
Forever and ever, amen.
Trying again:
A nice article on Snopes about credit and Fannie Mae:
http://www dot snopes dot com/politics/business/easescredit dot asp
For those of you who blame this stuff on Bush, check out the bottom portion.
Wall Street cheerleaders already demanding a rate cut . The power of
the people that own us knows no bounds .
I’m all for it - nothing kills consumer spending dead like high gas prices. Go for it Boom Boom - let’s light this candle!
Congress doesn’t pass this cockamamie Bill on Monday: -777
Congress passes this cockamamie Bill on Friday: -11
Does anything make sense anymore?
Congress passes this cockamamie Bill on Friday: -146
what happened to the PPT? did they call in sick today?
I’ve seen our future and if you have 2 hours to spare, you can too…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH6_i8zuffs&eurl=http://ferfal.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-09-22T20%3A47%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7
Trailer parks will be too upscale for the savers. Pole barns with bunk beds is more like it. That concentrating the masses whole bit ya know. Get those wild people off the land too, round up those RVs and shuck the owners into mega-story complexes. All for the greater good of course.
-is that a mouse?
I wonder sometimes what it means anymore to be “free”.
Have we slipped into some kind of parallel universe, where the only people really “free” are the people with the nerve, audacity, or lack of consience who to borrow and spend money, then default on what we quaintly used to call “obligations”?
While the “enslaved” ones are the people who live within their financial limits, and are trapped by their desire to limit their exposure to debt, and feel obligated to pay back what they owe?
At the same time as governments worldwide are forgiving the debts of the people that borrowed and squandered the most?
I have personally been working for the last four years to reduce my debt exposure, and have deferred the “pursuit of happiness” but it looks like, in the end, the money-borrowing party-goers and I are both going to be in the same boat. In fact, it looks like our government is going all out to try to get the debt-kegger pumped up again, while obligationg the good little scouts who avoided the party to step in and clean up the mess.
So you could say that I am the slave.
Good post. Essentially you’re suffering from the realization that much of what you were taught or told was a lie. That good things come to those who tell the truth and live by the ‘golden rule.’ It hurts to find out–in reality– it works the other way around.
Some of us still refuse to play that game. Don’t think of yourself as being duped. You’re not alone. It’s just that there is much more evil at work in the system than we’ve seen for a century.
Stay true to yerself.
Today I feel like a genius.
Nearly 4 years ago, I stumbled on this site and have been a devotee ever since. All my financial decisions came from reading here. That has included offloading 2 houses and not buying.
For years I’ve been derided by family members, including a very wealthy hedgie BIL, living on the upper east side.
This morning he called me and asked for advice. I thought he was taking the piss, until he told me their hedge fund was basically imploding in front of him.
I knew like most of you this was going to end badly.
However, this seems a lot worse than I had ever imagined.
“he told me their hedge fund was basically imploding in front of him.”
Too much leverage is my guess. Now its crash time as panic sets in. all this new money the government needs to make by selling treasuries can’t be good for low interest rates.
It will really get bad when the treasury buys its own debt.
EU bubble fallout:
Last weekend the Dutch and Belgian governments took a share in banking conglomerate Fortis to protect it against major trouble, but within two days it was already clear that this didn’t help. Savers and especially business customers were leaving the bank in droves (EU has only 20K deposit insurance).
Today (after close of the stockmarket) there was a surprise announcement that the Dutch government purchased the complete (Dutch) part of the Fortis banking/insurance business, including ABNAMRO bank for 17 billion euros. The banks are now 100% owned by the Dutch government, so for the moment I have a free Treasury and my lousy 20K deposit insurance is suddenly 1M+. The bad thing of course is that I will have to worry more about inflation. Government plan is to sell ABNAMRO and/or Fortis to another bank when times are better, but seems they didn’t have another choice because otherwise the whole banking system would have tumbled down.
Then there is this weekends Sarkozy summit which spells severe trouble for the euro, either the end for the stability pact (Trichet is already talking about rate cuts …) or some countries leaving the euro (plus we probably get some nearly bankrupt countries like UK and Iceland who suddenly want to join).
new developments every day … the euro is close to the technical level that spells severe trouble ahead.
NHZ,
I have always enjoyed your post and updates on the situation in Euroland.
When they introduced the Euro I had always imagined it would implode on the first severe recession that hits Europe.
People said I was foolish after 2001 because it did not implode. As we all know, interest rate/market manipulation did not make 2001 that severe.
This is the Euro’s first real test…and it is failing badly.
Wow, the Shrub can really move fast when he needs to.
How many minutes was it between the passing of the Bill and Shrubby signing it into law?
dident even take the weekend to think things over? what a moron!
Please just give it a rest, they are all morons!
A subtle reminder…
If selling your stocks & bonds, it takes 5 working-days to get paid.
My stocks are dropping faster than Monica’s panties in the Oval office in the late 90s.
But strong earnings are why I’m still in my stocks. Prices eventually catch up with earnings.
I just don’t want to incur capital gains and then finance any of Obama’s socialist programs the next 4 years.
Wow quite a response on Wallstreet to the bailout bill.
Crickets
Here is a list of the traitors ie those that voted yes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/house_rollcall_financial_meltdown;_ylt=AsE8NOxusvF7N8ucK7kGUTCs0NUE
Where is my fainting couch?
well, i sorta feel like these reptiles today.
Boy fed zoo reptiles to crocodile
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7649876.stm
Wall Street ought to be ashamed of themselves for pushing a Bill in the manner they did really causing people to panic .The stock market went down based on general knowledge of the state of affairs ,not because a Bail out Bill was passed or not passed . It will all play out as misdirected funds in a time where well placed funds could of helped a lot . I give up you guys ,I just give up .
For those that commented negatively on Sara Palin.
Heres why I think she would be a great vice-president. In question form..you answer.
1. How many friends of Obama, Biden and McCain make less than 24k annually?
2. How many houses and cars does Sara Palin own?
3. If you knew someone had the presidents ear, wouldnt you prefer it is someone who insn’t a spoon fed politician?
4. Does your wife handle your family finances?
5. Do all candidates have to be born from the elite?
6. If you said the same things about your wife, that you stated on the blog about Palin, would she be angry?
7. If you belive that Biden, Obama and McCain are representing your interests, why did they vote for this bailout?
8. If you do believe they voted in the countries best interest are you a fool?
9. If your not a fool, will you vote for one of them anyway?
10. It takes a fool to know one?
This is a waste of time.
Do you like having interns perform brain surgery on you?
Central Valley Guy, the ol’ ad hominem logic approach always provides credibility for what one is saying. Use it early and often.
What do you think about this: (sorry for the formatting):
Top Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008
Name Grand Total
1. Dodd, Christopher J $165,400
2. Obama, Barack S $126,349
…
62. McCain, John S $21,550
lmao. I think they already did. Or maybe the orderlies closed him back up. lmao.
Why do we need a Vice President that is incompetent and lies?
Lies about “The Bridge to Nowhere” among many others.
Incompetent in her only position of power. Taking a small village from 0 debt to over $3000/ person long term debt as a result of her ego. (The debt is still increasing due to increasing legal fees.) And since she was nominated has been shown to have abused that power solely for the benefit of herself and friends.
Hasn’t this country lived through 8 years of lies already? Why do we need 4 more?
My god, she doesn’t even know which paper she reads! So claimed she reads them all. She is only an ignoramus and we have enough of those in Washington now.
I have a real problem with her trying to get a book banned by the library, then trying to fire the librarian who rebuffed her request.
To recap: shortly after becoming the mayor of Wasilla, she called the city’s librarian and asked her how she would respond if she were asked to remove a certain book from the library. (The book in question was about the religious beliefs of an openly gas pastor). The librarian responded that she would not honor such a request.
A week later, she asked for the librarian’s resignation, on the grounds that she had not been supportive of the mayor’s office.
After the ACLU got involved, the mayor withdrew her resignation request.
To me, this IS George Bush, part deux. She appears NOT to have any understanding of the Constitution and the protections it affords to citizens and the rights (such as free speech) that apply to individuals.
As much as I dislike lawyers in general, I would prefer to have a lawyer in office who at least carries some understanding of Constitutional law so that we do not see a repeat of the overreaching of the Executive branch such as we have seen under the Cheney/Bush administration (Cheney did most of the overreaching, IMO — but Bush should have had the cajones to stop it, but he didn’t know it was part of his job description).
Palin is being groomed as a neo-conservative puppet just like Bush. You lose.
I haven’t commented on Palin. But I don’t think she is qualified.
She too often won’t address questions that are put to her. Instead she responds with (pick one or several of) double talk, avoids the question, or side tracks into a Mom & apple pie kind of statement. I have not heard everything she has said but I don’t think I’ve heard a straight answer yet out of her.
All politicians do that to some degree but she raises it to an entirely new level.
She is either too dumb to know she is doing this or she knows but thinks we are too dumb to notice. Either way disqualifies her IMO.
You are under the impression Palin earns -24K annually? If so, she’s one heck of a saver, given her net worth is 1.2 million.
I think he meant that she has FRIENDS who earn under $24k. Which is probably true in Alaska. But then again, in Alaska every man, woman, and child receives an oil company REBATE each year that I think comes to something like $1600 a person. So a family of four receives a rebate of $6,400 tax-free.
So, the question is: what is the relevance of having friends who are low income? As I’m thinking about it, it probably helps somewhat to know that she can put a name and a face on lower income people and will understand the impact it will have on those kinds of people if she were to sign a bill that takes away some of their meager benefits…
“The Excesses of MAIN Street”
Perhaps all the letters we’ve been sending to NPR pointing out that “Main Street” needs to share the blame and share the costs of cleanup have done some good! Starting in a half hour is this show on NPR:
4:00 pm
Marketplace
Kai Ryssdal
The Excesses of Main Street — The notion of the vices of Wall Street and the virtues of Main Street has been tossed around lately, but just how economically virtuous has Main Street, USA been? The program talks with Andrew Samwick, professor of economics at Dartmouth College on the excesses of Main Street.
5PM on Bank Bailout Friday, and the reports are already in:
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/88089/Roubini%3A-Much-More-Radical-Action-Needed-as-Bailout-Fails-to-Lift-Confidence
Roubini: ‘Much More Radical’ Action Needed as Bailout Fails to Lift Confidence
Unfortunately, we are one accident away from a systemic financial meltdown,” says NYU economics professor Nouriel Roubini of RGE Monitor, whose predictions about this credit cycle have been scary - and frighteningly accurate. “It is a situation of generalized panic.”
In a conference call Thursday evening, Roubini noted government interventions this year have been getting increasingly bigger - starting with the $29 billion for Bear Stearns-JPMorgan in March to $700 billion today - with increasingly diminished returns, as detailed here.
—–
Roubini can phone in his analysis before they even vote.
“It is a situation of generalized panic.”
I am thinking the President’s speech may have been the first exposure to the dire economic picture for many TV-addicted Americans. I am wondering whether the TV spot will inadvertently lead to accelerated housing price declines going forward. What household wants to buy a home when the global economy is facing a catastrophic meltdown? Who wants to buy stocks in this dire time of crisis, for that matter?
“Bush, Bernanke, Paulson — we call them leaders. The Chinese think of them as the customer service department. I suspect the Chinese get straighter answers from them than we ever do.”
Tyler Cowen
Colbert: Paulson created Gonzales-like efficiency at Treasury
Stephen Colbert gave his thoughts on Henry’s Paulson’s proposed economic bailout plan.
This video is from Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, broadcast September 23, 2008.
odd conversations at at work.
A retired business owner come in and asked my opnions on a survey today. Seems the well-healed retired folks are considering pooling funds of local business to create a “new” “imporved” “local” Health Insurance plan in 2009.
Question: Why are the retiring Boomers soliciting data regarding a plan for securitizing local health managment systems?
Answer 1. They are scared. They are scared that the health system that appears to be a coming at America is the socialized kind you get in Canada….
In the coming years, the boomers will continue to “decide” for the poor, the young, the fragmented XYandZ generations that are trying to achieve the same types of living standard the boomers themselves are so fond. Retiring at 45, half pay, full benefits… Who is going to support that?
why, all you non boomers of course.
When you hold all the cards, you make up the rules as you see fit. The bulk of the voters are the bulk of the assets…..
dont fade the boomers. They are still in it to win it.
Either that, or they’ve listened carefully to Catherine Austin Fitts, and decided they’d rather invest in their community than hand over their cash - and your cash - to those fine Wall Street gamblers.
What exactly is wrong with Universal Health Care? It seems to me that about 40% or more people in the U.S. already have it. That includes: Federal employees, State employees, retired Federal employees, retired State employees, Military personnel, and former military personnel, as well as virtually all elected officials.
I had a conversation recently with a couple retired military officers who are so against universal health care. And my response to them is “WTF? Why shouldn’t everyone have access to the same lavish benefits that you’ve been feeding at the trough for your entire adult lives?”
Republican politics sure makes for some strange bedfellows. The entire cadre of current and former military officers are 95+% Republican. These are all (predominantly) college-educated individuals. Most of whom received at least one college degree on the public’s dime, whether it was in an ROTC program or at one of the academies, or even a graduate degree at a top-flight university.
These people have access to lifetime VHA benefits. What gives them the right to bitch about universal health care?
Another thing I’ve noted as I’ve recently worked among a number of former military personnel, is the lavish disability benefits many of these people avail themselves to. One guy, retired after 20 years in the Wisconsin Nnational Guard, receives 100% disability pay for a “back problem” he received when he fell off the back of a military vehicle. He goes to therapy twice a week (paid-for) and says he has to do stretching exercises every morning. Doesn’t keep him from holding down a full-time $60k-a-year job.
Another guy, early 30’s, former Marine with 4 years of service, receives a 20% disability. He said he has 10% for a wrenched back, and 10% for some arthritis he has in his wrist. Again, holds a full-time $60k a year job, and this guy is the picture of health. He bench presses 165 lbs and works out twice a day, seven days a week!
I read an article in Readers Digest about a year ago that said veterans can receive a 10% disability for any venereal disease they might have, as long as they have medical records indicating that they initially contracted the disease while they were serving in the military.
When politicians say we need to “support our veterans” they need to be careful of what they say they’re supporting. There’s a lot of porky-smelling handouts and taxpayer giveaways hiding under that umbrella….
Ha ha! The bailout bill passed, and the stock market sold off. I guess Wall Street doesn’t think the bailout is such a panacea after all.
Poor Humpty-dumpty…
Fall in markets as bail-out is approved
The US Congress passed the Bush administration’s $700bn financial rescue package after a tense week on Capitol Hill, but stocks fell sharply afterwards amid continuing turmoil in the credit markets - 23:01
Technically, isn’t it an ad hoc Republican-sponsored tax?
Outside Edge: No other word for it but a bail-out
By Jurek Martin
Published: October 3 2008 19:14 | Last updated: October 3 2008 19:14
The Bush administration is not very good at communicating with the public any more, but surely it has never had its foot so solidly in its mouth as this week when it asked Congress to approve a financial rescue package universally known as the “Wall Street bail-out”.
For centuries, the name of the political game has been to dress up the unpalatable with grand euphemisms. In 1215, a weak king and a bunch of robber barons signed a shabby power-sharing deal and called it, pretentiously, the Magna Carta. Now it is a foundation of democracy.
I need a hug P’Bear.
Are European banks too big to fail?
By Cynthia O’Murchu and Emma Saunders
Published: September 30 2008 18:46 | Last updated: September 30 2008 18:46
Some banks are bigger than governments: their assets are greater than their home countries’ economies. The chart below shows the size of major European banks as a proportion - or multiple - of their home countries’ GDP. This measure illustrates the comparative sizes of business and governments.
(Please note the graphic gives only a basic comparison: the asset values refer to the whole bank, and should not be viewed as contributing toward any particular economy.)
Mommy!
Leigh
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/61d7e148-8f15-11dd-946c-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1
“Magna Carta”
What’s in your wallet?
They should have called the bill: “Federal Action Insuring Lienholders of Underwater Real Estate”. Of course, the snappy acronym for the bill would then be FAILURE…
Mind numbing.
http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php/commentary/creditbubblebulletin?art_id=10125
HBBers tell me to look for opportunities.
Fact is I’m not that complicated.
No debt, (temporary) renter, old car.
Cash and PMs.
Heat, Ammo, and baybee, I can shoot. (Not that I would).
But, dang, I’m having a bad day.
CONcritters just…er…peed themselves.
OH, OT, my kitten broke her leg to the tune of $800.00+ Frack the $$.
She’s in pain and that is not fun.
On the upside, life is good.
Grams (91 yo) is my mentor and inspiration - they don’t make many like her - a strong one.
My point?
Regardless of what I learn, I know not much.
Hubby (I love him so) wants a house.
Math is fun - my love learned we spend +-$22K rent two years vs saving $$$ in a downward spiral (Thank you HBB).
Soon we will break ranks to purchase a home. We’re retired and know the area - no big deal.
To the young ones lurking ~
- save
- beans and rice w/tomatoes are easy to cook
(tasty too)!
- the best debt is no debt
- keep the day job and position yourself
- look for opportunities
- invest in YOU
- give
Best,
Leigh
The Picture that says it all
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AL2FXcy6tvw/SObu13CDF9I/AAAAAAAAAH0/JFO5PU6JD7U/s1600-h/pic01569.jpg