Autumn. A wonderful time of year which brings welcome relief from heat and the return of football. Traditionally, on Mondays, fans sought out the collegiate and NFL results but this year, many of us also look to see the weekend banking results. This Monday, the US loser
Wachovia has European company.
Europe Sees Three Bank Bailouts in Two Days
The crisis sparked by the collapse of Wall Street investment banks continues to spread through Europe. Three major banks were bailed out by private banks or governments on Sunday and Monday, including Germany's Hypo Real Estate, the Dutch-Belgian Fortis and Britain's Bradford & Bingley.
A consortium of banks has stepped in to bailout Munich's Hypo Real Estate.
Getty Images
A consortium of banks has stepped in to bailout Munich's Hypo Real Estate.
As Washington lawmakers came to an agreement on an unprecedented $700 billion taxpayer-funded financial market bailout aimed at bringing the current crisis under control, Europe saw three massive bank bailouts on Monday. A consortium of banks has stepped in to save Germany's Hypo Real Estate, the British government has nationalized mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley and the governments of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg have taken 49 percent stakes in the national assets of Fortis, the largest European bank to be hit by the global crisis yet.
In Germany, a consortium of banks has stepped in to save Europe's largest mortgage lender from collapse. On Monday morning, the Deutsche Bundesbank, the German central bank, and the financial supervisory authority BaFin said the German finance sector had provided Munich's Hypo Real Estate with a credit line "sufficiently high" to save the company from insolvency.
The previous evening, Hypo Real Estate announced it would have to write down the goodwill in its stake in Depfa, an Irish bank, and would forego a dividend payment. The company did not state the scope of the write down. "This impairment will have a significant material effect on our profit and loss calculations for the group," Chairman Georg Funke said.
However, the Bundesbank and BaFin said the rescue package would be sufficient to save the company from failing as a result of problems created by the turmoil in the international financial markets. The organizations did not state which banks were involved in the bailout. Kerstin Vitvar, an analyst with UniCredit, told Reuters she estimated the value of the credit line at between €25 and €30 billion ($43 billion).
On Monday, Hypo Real Estate's Funke said the package would cover the group's refinancing needs for the foreseeable future, and that the short- and middle-term credit lines of "more than several billions of euros" would be enough to shield the company from the influence of the "currently largely inoperative international money markets."
As late as Sunday evening, the company -- the first amongst Germany's DAX index of blue chip firms to fall into the grip of the worldwide financial crisis -- appeared on the verge of declaring insolvency.
Nationalizations of Bradford and Bingley and Fortis
Meanwhile, underscoring the Europe-wide exposure to the crisis, the British government on Monday announced it would nationalize mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley. The Treasury said it would take over the troubled company's mortgage and loan books for £50 billion (€62.7 billion or $89.8 billion.) The government said it would take over the company's mortgages and facilitate the sale of its £20 billion pound savings and branch network to Spanish banking giant Santander.
"We are standing behind the system to stabilize it because to let Bradford & Bingley go down would have destabilized the entire system, especially given what's gong on in the world at the moment," British Finance Minister Alistair Darling told BBC radio.
The bank focused on so-called buy-to-let mortgages for rental properties, whose owners have been hit hard by troubles in the United Kingdom's housing market, where falling property prices and rising mortgage rates have left many unable to cover their monthly mortgage payments.
Benelux Bailout
The news came one day after the Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg governments announced an €11.2 billion bailout of troubled Fortis bank, which saw a partial nationalization of the company. Fortis is Belgium's largest bank, and the government in Brussels is providing €4.7 billion for a 49 percent stake in the company's Belgian operations. Luxembourg is providing €2.5 billion for 49 percent of Fortis Bank Luxembourg, and the Dutch are investing €4 billion for 49 percent of Fortis Holding Netherlands.
Negotiations over the partial nationalization were led by Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, underscoring his concern over the financial stability of the euro zone, the area where Europe's common currency is used, if Fortis were to collapse. With over 85,000 global staff and cross-border structures, the governments felt it could not be allowed to fail.
The company's chairman has resigned and the governments are also forcing it to sell its stake in ABN Amro, the bank's main competitor, which it purchased as part of a consortium with Royal Bank of Scotland and Spain's Santander one year ago. The consortium paid €70 billion, the greatest amount ever paid to acquire a bank. Since the purchase, Fortis shares have lost more than three-quarters of their value. Last week the company's shares dropped by a third over investor concern about its liquidity.
Fortis itself paid €24 billion for its share in ABN Amro, reducing its available capital. As a result of the current credit crisis, the company has had trouble getting capital increases or selling off assets.
-- dsl, with wire reports
URL:
* http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,581068,00.html
The worst thing we can do is panic.
ReplyDeleteNeal Boortz weighs in on how to curb the panic gas buying in the southeast.
BTW - Unfortunately, business brings me to ground zero in the gas panic. Atlanta, Georgia. 4 million people chasing gas for their cars.
ReplyDeleteThe EU has been very reluctant to coordinate efforts with the US financial situation. Up until a few weeks ago, the European central bankers were looking for the inflation boogie man.
ReplyDeleteNotice you do not hear a word about the huge holders of US debt saying one word about moving that paper onto market. The US is now the uncontested world leader in "Debtor's Leverage."
A coordinated banking and financial move by the entire G-7 cannot be more than days if not hours away. I would not advise betting against that by liquidating good investments.
McCain should announce his cabinet of financial advisers today. He should call a press conference and introduce them one by one and explain how his plans will work. He needs to do this before Obama beats him to the punch.
ReplyDeleteIf Obama gets there first, my guy is going down for the count.
He won't, only a miraculus performance by Palin, or an act of God can save us now.
ReplyDeleteNewman Racing Pics
ReplyDelete"lous"
ReplyDeletePalin should go on the attack over freddie and fannie and the Democrats. If they ask her who the second under secretary's assistant to the President of Togo is she should smile and say that unlike Barack Obama and Joe Biden the undersecretary did not object to investigating freddie and fannie.
ReplyDeleteShe needs to attack like a female sled dog.
Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood, men's men.
ReplyDeleteCalled that shot...
ReplyDeleteAP
Fed takes fresh steps to battle credit crisis
Monday September 29, 10:01 am ET
By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer
Fed, other central banks takes fresh steps to battle credit crisis
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve and other countries' central banks have announced fresh steps to battle a worsening credit crisis that threatens to unhinge the U.S. economy
The Fed said Monday the action is intended to "expand significantly" the availability of cash available to squeezed banks and other financial institutions in an effort to provide relief to the worst credit crisis since the Great Depression.
The Fed cited "continued strains" in the demand for short-term funding.
The Libor-OIS spread, a closely watched measure of tensions in the money market, widened to a record 219 basis points -- the equivalent of 2.19% -- on Monday after hitting 208 points Friday, news reports said. A wider spread signals increased reluctance by banks to lend to each other.
ReplyDeleteStating the obvious, apparently, banks are hoarding whatever cash they can get their hands on. Can't blame them.
ReplyDeleteI despise the credit game, anyway. I resent the credit reporting companies with their carte blanc to gather information. Of course, I realize the necessity of credit for business purposes, having taken my share of construction loans but for some time now, we've needed a correction on the rampant materialism compliments of Visa and their ilk. Talk about predatory lenders...
I agree with you on the credit companies. A person should be able to opt out and have a report disclosed only with your written permission on a one time basis.
ReplyDeleteIsraelis discover cure for bee colony collapse-associated virus
ReplyDeleteBy Rachel Neiman
September 22, 2008
It is a real-life nightmare scenario that makes any horror movie pale by comparison. The honeybees are in trouble and, by extension, so is the human race. Last winter, over 36 percent of the US bee colonies collapsed, affecting honey production, but more significantly, affecting the one-third of all food production that requires pollination - from fruits and nuts, to the dairy and beef cows that feed on alfalfa.
Now, an Israeli-US company Beeologics is taking rapid measures to bring to market a proprietary anti-viral agent that promises to alleviate the effects of the virus strongly associated with Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), with full-scale FDA trials commencing next month.
So far 60,000 hives are committed and Beeologics aims to have 100,000 hives enlisted in the trial which will run in several locations in the US from October to February. The season is critical, Eyal Ben-Chanoch, CEO of Beeologics, tells ISRAEL21c, because the bee keeping industry cycle follows the seasons of the bees which strengthen in spring, and summer and naturally weaken during fall and winter.
Vanishing bees
CCD is characterized by the mysterious and inexplicable loss of worker bees in managed honeybee colonies. There is often still honey in the hive, and a few immature bees, but the adult bees have vanished. It was first noticed as a problem in the winter of 2006/7, when beekeepers began reporting losses of 30 to 90 percent of their hives, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Since then, the crisis has grown. Last winter, a survey by the US Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS) and Apiary inspectors showed that 36% of America's 2.4 million hives were lost to CCD. The survey covered almost 20% of America's 1,500 commercial beekeepers, and suggested an increase of 11% over the losses of 2007, and 40% over the losses of 2006. Similar losses are being reported in Italy, Spain, Greece, the UK, and other countries across Europe.
There is much at stake. "Today it's not about honey but about pollination," says Ben-Chanoch. Pollination using managed honeybees is a critical element in modern agriculture; more than 130 crops in the US require pollination, with an annual crop value of $15 billion.
The cause of CCD is still unclear. Some are convinced it is connected to the Varroa bee mite, others suspect a single cell parasite, or a virus. Some even blame pesticides or cellphones. None of these suspected causes bear up to close scrutiny, according to Ben-Chanoch.
"So far, there is no solution because no one has even come to an agreement as to what the problem is," adds Nitzan Paldi, chief technology officer of Beeologics.
One virus strongly associated with CCD, however, is Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV). Identified by Hebrew University of Jerusalem plant virologist Prof. Ilan Sela in 2004, the virus causes honeybees to suffer from shivering wings, followed by paralysis and death outside the hive. In 2007, the journal Science published research by a prestigious team of US scientists and researchers that found a significant connection between IAPV and CCD in honeybees.
A contagious virus
At Beeologics, scientists are convinced that IAPV is the primary cause of CCD. "If you look how the disease spreads, it's very reminiscent of flu. Flu also starts in the fall and hits hard in the winter, the same is true of this bee virus," explains Paldi. "It's very contagious like a flu. In our opinion, we have something that's interacting very strongly with the environment to cause CCD. It could be interacting with pesticides, with improper nutrition, general stress - but that's not what's killing the bees. What's killing them is a virus and we believe that virus is IAPV."
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http://web.israel21c.net
Sept. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve will pump an additional $630 billion into the global financial system, flooding banks with cash to alleviate the worst banking crisis since the Great Depression.
ReplyDeleteThe Fed increased its existing currency swaps with foreign central banks to $620 billion from $290 billion to make more dollars available worldwide. The Term Auction Facility, the Fed's emergency loan program, will expand to $450 billion from $150 billion. The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan are among the participating authorities.
How bout them skins?
ReplyDeleteRush thinks the vote has failed.
ReplyDeleteMeans some DEMOCRATS voted against.
ReplyDelete...afraid of voter blowback, among other things.
Holy Shit!
ReplyDeleteI just got home, and look what's on my TV screen. Is it the "End of the World?"
Wow!
Pass the Popcorn. Pop me a Beer.
Pressure now on members to change their votes.
ReplyDeleteDrudge says plunge "as vote fails" but it was way before that!
ReplyDeleteSo Kuchinch and Bachman were right!
ReplyDeletePelosi Ball-Busting Time.
ReplyDeleteHow can they bring that to a vote without enough votes? Amazin.
ReplyDeleteJes freakin' amazin.
I'm getting the distinct feeling we're all living under an active volcano, in all sorts of ways.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the credit companies.
They don't make any sense to me. I noticed once my score got bumped down for not making any home payments.
And all the time I thought the idea was to own your home.
Coast to Coast has been all over that bee colony collapse story for years. Hope the Israelis have it figured out.
ReplyDeleteAround my house here the bees are buzzing away like normal, damn them. I'm really allergic to bees, have to pack a kit, and got through this season, so far, it's not done yet, without being stung.
Night has become my favorite time of day.
"Night has become my favorite time of day."
ReplyDeleteI claim copyright on that sentence.
"How can they bring that to a vote without enough votes? "
ReplyDelete---
Meet Madam Pelosi.
The Senate was going to wait two days to get a read.
ReplyDeleteHouse supposed to take the shaft.
Rat's View From His Redoubt In The Mountains After The Machines Fail, Society Collapses, And Chaos Rules In The Great Cities
ReplyDelete23 votes in the House.
ReplyDeleteThis is heartening in a way, as it shows who pilots the 747 :)
At least right before an election.
Pelosi and the Democrats have been sticking it in the Republican's eyes all weekend. The federal Reserve and the G-7 banks will just have to continue feeding the money supply. It is silly to say that they have a limit. They do not.
ReplyDeleteThe people have spoken.
The bill will have to be redone.
CNBC Blaming Pubs repeatedly.
ReplyDelete"Pelosi and the Democrats have been sticking it in the Republican's eyes all weekend."
ReplyDelete---
While wanting their votes.
They have decided to ride it the hurricane out. We will see how it goes. Any word from Obama and McCain?
ReplyDeleteOOPS>>
ReplyDeleteMcCain Pounds Obama Over Response to Financial Market Crisis
Updated 1:10 p.m.
By Michael D. Shear
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Despite having insisted that his announcement last week of a temporary campaign suspension was not political, Sen. John McCain made it clear today that he plans to use his return to Washington, D.C., as campaign fodder in the last five weeks before election day.
In a hard-hitting speech here before several thousand very enthusiastic supporters, McCain bragged about having played a leading role in the congressional agreement on a $700 billion financial sector bailout package.
Where do you find the roll call of the vote? Like to see how my guy voted.
ReplyDeleteThe dems are going to make McCain look like a chump unless McCain gets to DC asap.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if this is "Armageddon," or not. But, "God Bless the House of Representatives."
ReplyDeleteHell, Roy Blunt said the Dems had 94 Nos.
ReplyDeleteThe roll call of the vote is Here
ReplyDeleteThank you Michelle Malkin, who is feeling good about herself today.
heheh--my Rep. Sali voted against, as I knew he would. He has been called a neanderthal republican.
ReplyDeleteIf I Were Pelosi [Ramesh Ponnuru]
ReplyDeleteI would figure out if there were a bill to the left of the one the House just voted on that could pass on a party-line vote and reassure the markets.
Update: Manzi (and Millman) beat me to the punch.
No matter WHAT Happens from here til the election, it's all gonna be the Pub's fault.
ReplyDeleteGood idea Doug. They may do just that.
ReplyDeleteHere's A Little Pelosi
Makes you wanna throw up.
Don't go blamin' Rufus and me. We were on the bench the whole time.
ReplyDeleteLike One Blogger Says, The Left Views The Constitution As A Pain In The Ass
ReplyDeletehow does this affect oil?
ReplyDeletehow does the potential crash of investments hurt the chinese, russians and arabs?
how does this effect the world economy?
If we have a recession, they have a depression....
If we have a depression, they get fucked...
So how does this HURT OPEC?
hopefully really, really badly.....
How does this effect demand for oil in india and china?
hopefully this will cripple iran & oil income
Yeah, me and Bob wuz on de binch.
ReplyDeleteI shot two skwirels, and three beevers. I got the skwirel skins to prove it. I'd a got more skwirrels if it hadn't been fer them coed beevers. They wuz sumthin. I kudnt consentrate to shoot after that.
On the other hand, if the folks back home are so strongly against this, passing a bill with democratic support only might really hurt themselves at the elections.
ReplyDeleteIn Pelosi's own district most everybody was against it.
We dun made soup an shared stuff all round.
ReplyDeletePost-Zionist Jewish Academic Converts to Islam
ReplyDeleteby Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) Dr. Uri Davis, who has often termed Israel an "apartheid state" and refused to serve in the IDF, has converted to Islam and married a Fatah activist in Ramallah. The conversion ceremony involved two oaths in which Davis recognized Allah and the Muslim prophet Mohammed. Davis said he plans to follow the laws of Islam, but not devoutly.
The conversion took place in a Moslem religious court in Baka el-Garbiye, an Israeli-Arab town just outside northwestern Samaria (Shomron).
.
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==
Putin is right. If it walks and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.
Y'all Can Find Ruf An Me Here, Squirrel Huntin'
ReplyDeleteWhen is duck hunting season?
ReplyDeleteJust use steel shot, Mat, helps the environment.
ReplyDeleteMy whole face smells like Beaver,
ReplyDeleteDon't blame me!
You and T. Where is T? She hasn't been around for a few days.
ReplyDeleteShe declared the whole process too much to Bear, and went back home to the Beaver.
ReplyDelete...the rest of us will fall out in fits, starts, and farts.
In a manner appropriate to our age.
ReplyDeleteI might be really, really wrong about this (of course, it doesn't matter. I'm just a lowly retired gent, typing on a blog,) but, I'll be damned if I'm not happy about this.
ReplyDeleteLook, we've got a couple more failures on the tarmac. Nat City, and Sovereign. The thing is, and this is important, NO ONE will know just how much of this toxic junk they really have until it's curtains-time.
If the Gov would make them disclose what they have, then say, "Okay, we'll Insure that shit to a certain amount (somewhere between the firesale price, and the "fantasy" price, and we're going to charge every bank, thrift, and mortgage lender in the country a fee to cover any losses we might incur, I believe it would work.
This might be similar to what the Pubs were wanting to do.
I think if you took it ONE bank at a time, and the people saw what you were doing, and where the money was going they would accept it.
BUT, all I saw as an outsider was the gov was just going to throw an ungodly amount of MY money at every special interest group on Wall Street, K Street, and Wash DC.
I think the House guys are close enough to the "People" that they realize some times the folks just say, "Fuck it. Take your best shot. Whip my ass if you can; But, Motherfucker, you're just going to have to Do It."
I nominate Rufus for Sec of Treasury.
ReplyDelete{Bob for Sec of Ag.)
Linear, you might consider joining Rufus and me on the bench at "Hello Walk". We'll make you Sec. of the Interior, you'll be in charge of the forests.
ReplyDeleteI respectfully decline the nomination. Me and Bob's goin Beaver Hunting on Hello Walk.
ReplyDeleteAnd, if we see one that looks like Pelosi I guarantee I'll bring back the "skin."
If the Gov would make them disclose what they have, then say, "Okay, we'll Insure that shit to a certain amount (somewhere between the firesale price, and the "fantasy" price, and we're going to charge every bank, thrift, and mortgage lender in the country a fee to cover any losses we might incur, I believe it would work.
ReplyDeleteThat nails it. Up or down.
Don't be too hasty, Ruf.
ReplyDeleteWith a mind like yours, there's ample time to enjoy the Hello Walk. Just email your instructions back to DC.
I lived across the street from a zone like the Hello Walk...in Corvallis when I was at OSU a few decades ago. There's a reason the folks in Oregon are proud of their Beavers!
The Beavers beat the mighty Trojans of USC last week. USC, University of Spoiled Children.
ReplyDeleteFresno State Bulldogs beat UCLA.
I think FSU plays the Rainbow Warriors next week, Doug. At home.
There is no doubt that there is no finer "beaver" in the world than Oregon Beaver.
ReplyDeleteEven "Ole Miss" Rebels have been known to straggle their way back down to the Southland with Wondrous Tales of Wild, Oregonian "Pelts."
ReplyDeleteIt's all true, ruf.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the "Other" side of the coin is: Sometimes that attitude causes "Certain Americans" to take, absolutely, Horrible Ass-Whuppins.
ReplyDeleteThis might be one of them times.
Taking your prescription as a start, hold the line.
ReplyDeleteThen, every time there's an amendment proposed by the tax eaters, tack on one more provision, like a firm penalty for all dealers in toxic products as a starter.
Toss in an amendment outlawing the credit reports as described up above, too.
The longer they hold out, keep upping the ante.
Some times an ass whuppin is a good thing. Seems we've had our share, and look how well we've turned out.
What have they done to the old home place?
ReplyDeleteWhy did they tear it down?
And why did I leave my plow in the field,
To look for a job in their town?
Ever go over to the fiddlers' contests in Weiser, Bob?
ReplyDeleteThe whole point of democratic politics right now is to pin the blame for their mistakes on the republicans so that the democrats can win in november.
ReplyDeleteProbably chuck shumer's efforts in the last several months can be explained by his desire to see this problem accelerated in so that its in the news before the election. But this can't be proved. Nor is this the point.
The point is that McCain's people need to be running ads that show that the democrats were the ones who were responsible for this problem.
They need to do this over and over again.
Because right now the democrats are pinning the republicans to the wall on this.
And its a freakin lie.
There are several other videos that are floating around. The McCain team needs to splice these sound bites into attack ads.
Right now.
Forget the Chicago stuff.
Paulson looks like a big, tall, baldheaded, Panicked, Charlie Chaplin.
ReplyDeleteHe's, obviously, "All Shook Up." Thing is, No one trusts the Judgement of someone who's "All Shook Up."
Paul Krugman on the Bailout vote failure:
ReplyDelete"OK, we are a banana republic
House votes no. Rex Nutting has the best line: House to Wall Street: Drop Dead. He also correctly places the blame and/or credit with House Republicans. For reasons I’ve already explained, I don’t think the Dem leadership was in a position to craft a bill that would have achieved overwhelming Democratic support, so make or break was whether enough GOPers would sign on. They didn’t.
I assume Pelosi calls a new vote; but if it fails, then what? I guess write a bill that is actually, you know, a good plan, and try to pass it — though politically it might not make sense to try until after the election.
For now, I’m just going to quote myself:
'So what we now have is non-functional government in the face of a major crisis, because Congress includes a quorum of crazies and nobody trusts the White House an inch.
As a friend said last night, we’ve become a banana republic with nukes.'"
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
If history's any guide we should see a huge sell-off, tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the over-under on the number of on-air heart attacks/strokes among CNBC Newsies?
UTube Pulls Popular Anti-Obama Video
ReplyDeleteThe World's coming to an End; but Congress can't work tomorrow, because of a "Jewish Holiday?"
ReplyDeleteAnd, they wonder why we're "Skeptical?"
Rep. John Culbertson, R. Texas was just on Fast Money. He was like a grown-up among children. (of course he was. He said the same thing we've been saying; the bill would have given Hank Paulson An enormous amount of money to give to whoever in the damned world he wanted to give it to, for whatever in creation he disired, period.
ReplyDeleteThen he patted them on their cute little heads, and assured them that they would pass something thursday, or Friday.
They looked like little kids that have been told that daddy would replace the ice cream cone that they had, carelessly, dropped on the gravel parking lot.
"The World's coming to an End; but Congress can't work tomorrow, because of a "Jewish Holiday?"
ReplyDeleteAnd, they wonder why we're "Skeptical?""
---
???
That's why Clinton isn't campaigning for Obama:
It MUST be important!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBobal,
ReplyDeleteAnnenberg Fact Check:
Har de har
Ever hear of the Annenberg Challenge?
Could easily have refered to when Obama Said he would meet Iwannajihad w/o preconditions,
IN THE DEMOCRAT DEBATE.
Instead, they parse and parse, and parse, doing their best never to portray Obama as FLAT OUT WRONG.
Thermobaric Bomb Used On Marriot?
ReplyDeleteI think Palin's much maligned statement about Alaska being a refuge of last resort may carry a heck of a lot of truth.
ReplyDeleteWe may elect a commie black liberationist metrosexual jive artist.
The Constitution may not be suitable for an urban libertine 'society' such as ours has become.
Gentlemen, we look to be running out of morals, energy, respect, good sense, and the will to defend our borders and our country all at the same time.
Repost: A Cave With A View
ReplyDeleteAll that may be true, bob, but look at who's been in charge.
ReplyDeleteIt surly ain't been Obama.
Look no further than the alumni of Harvard and Yale.
Look to the Skull & Bones and those of that pedigree, their connection to US Presidents, at least back to Roosevelt. Franklins' grandpa, who was related to Teddy, since Franklin and Teddy were cousins of a sort.
We're watching the latest attempt to grab economic power in the United States. A grab as majastic in scale and scope as was the Federal Reserve System itself.
The lineage is clear, let's not pander to electoral presumptions, not when those accused are as inept as knaves. Not capable of the creation of this mess, by happenstance. Not when just months ago Mr Paulson and Company said there was no risk of this, at all.
It was known by those that cared to know.
Habu knew.
I'll give credit to ole fatulance that.
Linear,
ReplyDeleteI loaned Sonia to Brennan for the good of the team:
---
"Brennan stood out at Hawaii by learning to blend in. Hawaiian culture values humility, which Brennan had plenty of after his spring break in jail.
He took three semesters of Samoan as a way to bond with his offensive linemen, all of whom are of Polynesian descent.
(Morrison, the quarterbacks coach, beamed when telling of Brennan calling an audible in Samoan last year.)
He dated a woman from the Big Island who grew up without electricity and running water, and learned to spearfish on one of his visits there. "
Here's a nice little machinations flow chart, so we can try to keep up on the maneuverings on the left.
ReplyDeleteSonia, a myth in the making :)
ReplyDeleteIdaho got clobbered by San Jose State this weekend, expectedly.
Our football team really really SUCKS this year.
An exercise in futility and comedy.
Check out this Gal!
ReplyDelete(video)
ReplyDeleteIdaho got clobbered by San Diego State.
ReplyDeleteJose, Diego, whatever....
Looks like UH ain't too hot either.
ReplyDeleteLost to San Jose too.
Close, at least.
"Now is not the time to fix the blames." John McCain
ReplyDelete"Now is the time to blame the fix."
Michael Savage
He don't like the bailout bill.
Maybe we could buy Zimbabwe's bad debt. Or trade it around a bit, do some creative high grade enhanced bailout capitalism trading. We got to widen our horizons to make this thing work.
ReplyDeletePelosi is a disgrace.
ReplyDeletePelosi, Reid, Obama, Franks, Dodd are a disgrace.
ReplyDelete...but Pelosi takes the cake.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSome guy on Medved said most younger voters don't even know about the three branches of Govt.
ReplyDeletePelosi, the choice of those with an NEA education.
The Bill died, her constitutents are happy, she stands fore square in the political arena. Rallying her troops, 36 days before the big enchilada.
ReplyDeleteMaverick stands down his campaign, for a Jewish holiday, his promise to America of a solution by today, busted.
Praise be.
My Congressman says there is no "Credit crisis", as to payroll loans I keep hearing the fear mongers bemoan, they do not happen unless the Company and the Bank are joined at the hip. The Bank becomes liable for the payroll taxes on those payroll loans.
Calls to sic the pit bull with lipstick on the Dems go unheard, falling upon deaf ears.
The ears of a Maverick.
Welcome to the World of McCain.
Pennsylvania: McCain vs. Obama
FOX News/Rasmussen 09/28 Obama +8
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ReplyDeleteFOX News/Rasmussen
ReplyDeleteColorado: Obama 49, McCain 48
Florida: McCain 47, Obama 47
Ohio: McCain 48, Obama 47
Pennsylvania: Obama 50,McCain 42
Virginia: Obama 50, McCain 47
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ReplyDeletetrish had such little faith in Mr Shadegg and his cadre of Republican stalwarts, Dems and Pubs, alike.
ReplyDeleteShe who announced the "Deal" done.
The Federal collective let her down, the pieces did not fall into place, again. Mr Buffett of Omaha, too
Guess we'll see what comes next, soon enough.
95 democrats voted against the bill, Nan didn't crack that whip hard enough. Failed by 23 votes. How many of those democrats would vote for an even worse bill?
ReplyDeleteHouse has adjourned til Thursday. Don't want to work too hard on these things. Need to talk to the voters, too.
We lost a trillion dollars in equities today. That trillion will not be made back quickly. I guess our rulers and masters thought somebody was kidding them about the consequences of their stupidity.
ReplyDeleteNancy Pelosi is a fool. She is the choice of the Democratic Party. The pundits say that this will work for Obama. The Democrats will then control all of the US Government.
McCain has one issue, the economy. He has to run against the disaster of the Republican Bush Administration. I hope he is up for the job.
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ReplyDeleteSimpson R ID legislator Aye
ReplyDeleteIdaho's two man House delegation split the vote. My guy Sali voted Nay.
If you've got some free time look up 'Bonusgate', a big state level scandal in Pennslyvania, where every democrat and his dog was on the take, with the scandal threatening to widen to even include some republicans, too.
ReplyDeleteAn honest man is good to find.
Pretend to not know that, about three Branches, here at the Bar, doug.
ReplyDeleteObama will do ... (fill it in)
When the worse of the fears, are things he cannot do alone. As Ms Pelosi, Obama, Bush & McCain cannot do together, either.
This Crisis stands testament to the power of the people, to effect short term political outcomes.
As it did with the Wild Horse Act.
The Law that emerges, it is of the utmost importance. The Federals will break it, but it'll set a tone, the people can play the tune, if they want.
Trillions have already been lost, duece.
Let some of those other take their hair cut, too. No need for bail out, not by the Federals.
Keep the window open at the Fed for Regional Banks and relax the mark to market rules, as Newt suggested.
The Paulson/Pelosi "Solution" was nothing of the sort.
Help find another.
Now you can feel the way I do about unlicensed migrants driving, and drawing no sympathy, because it is "Amnesty".
Well, there is no sympathy, no not a lick, for a "Banker Bail Out"
Bankers did not lose a trillion today. Retirees, pension funds, mutual funds did.
ReplyDeleteHow about exempting these stressed properties from any future capital gains taxes? Maybe that would drive their value up.
ReplyDeleteThe Democrats and Republicans who voted against this bill, twelve of them, cost American stockholders $80 billion each.
ReplyDeleteJust like John Bird and John Fortune said.....bail us out or it's your pension.
ReplyDeleteOnly if they sold, duece.
ReplyDeleteOnly if they sold.
The "Real Value" of the equities, remained the same.
Unless you are forced to mark to market.
Technically you are correct, practically no.
ReplyDeleteSomeone's 80 year old parent or grandparent will not have the luxury of time to repair the damage done by fools.
Which 12, out of the 152 NAYS?
ReplyDeleteWho stands more guilty than the others, which Members bear greater responsibility?
Community Reinvestment Act--Carter
ReplyDeleteLower the standards--Clinton (credit history is an outdated concept) (lenders are threatened) (Obama sues to lower standards even further) (HUD wants Fannie and Freddie to buy more loans)
Bush says let's get some control--7years turned down, 17 times this year alone.
Freddie and Fannie becomes piggy bank for politicians, Obama near the top.
It's all the Republicans fault.
It's all Bush's fault.
Obama wins election.
Life isn't fair.
80 year olds should be in Government Bonds, or rent producing real estate, not equities.
ReplyDeleteIt's okay, Deuce. Sometimes the market goes down. That's when you BUY Stocks.
ReplyDeleteI kept hearing some goofy story, today, about a car dealership whose bank denied his loan to pay employees. Horseshit.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a banker, and some idiot car dealer wanted to borrow money for "payroll" I'd shoot his ass for wasting my time.
In Times of Crisis, Trust Capitalism
ReplyDeleteBy Joseph Calhoun
There has been much commentary recently about the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the creation and expansion of the sub-prime mortgage market which many believe to be the cause of this mess. That criticism is certainly warranted, but little attention has been paid to the real culprit – the Federal Reserve. Furthermore, what attention there has been is concentrated on the role of Alan Greenspan rather than Ben Bernanke. While Alan Greenspan deserves his share of the blame, Bernanke’s contribution to this mess should not be minimized or excused.
Bernanke obviously does not trust the market to sort the winners from the losers. When this erupted last year, the Fed lowered interest rates, including the discount rate, which is the rate charged by the Fed to lend directly to banks. There has always been a stigma attached to borrowing directly from the Fed and for good reason. If a bank can’t get other banks to lend it money, that tells the market something about the condition of the bank in question. Last August, Bernanke convinced three large banks to borrow at the discount window in an effort to remove that stigma. When that didn’t work, he concocted a scheme to allow banks to borrow from the Fed in anonymity via a mechanism he called the Term Auction Facility. When Bear Stearns blew up, he added the Term Securities Lending Facility for investment banks. By removing the stigma of borrowing from the Fed and hiding the identity of the borrowers, Bernanke removed important information from the market.
Now we face a situation where banks are not willing to lend to each other and have therefore become dependent on the Fed for daily liquidity. This is a direct result of the Fed’s actions. Banks will not lend to each other because they don’t know which ones are really in trouble. The rise in inter-bank lending rates is a rational market response to a lack of information. Furthermore, why pay those inter-bank rates when the Fed or ECB is offering easier terms?
These opaque lending facilities are just part of the problem created by the Fed and Treasury. ...
As for me, I'm immune to the immediate effects of a stock market crash. It's what comes after that worries me some.
ReplyDeleteBut, I think we'll muddle through.
Bailout Options
ReplyDeleteThe defeat is bipartisan. Talk of trying to get a bill through the Senate first, where the concept seems more likely to pass.
real estate?
ReplyDeleteI thought that was how we got here.
ReplyDeleteNot rent producing real estate.
ReplyDeleteYou're talkin' mortgages, I'm talkin' Real Estate.
The kind you own, like bob does.
Secure, rent producing property.
Which can be sold, if need be, if management becomes difficult, a fella like bob becoming both seller and lender.
Like in the "Good Old Days"
Real estate?
ReplyDeleteDepends on the kind. And where. Helps to have it paid for. Also good if it has some apple trees, and deer hanging around.
Here's a guy that needs help :)--
A moonbat writes to Salon's Cary Tennis confessing that his reaction to Sarah Palin
was immediate, visceral, and indeed, vicious. I have crossed every line I believed should never be crossed in public discourse — I have criticized not only her policies and her record, but her hair, her personal style, her accent, her abilities as a mother, etc. I've also begun to suffer personally and professionally. I bore my friends with my constant tirades against her, and am constantly distracted from my work by my need to continually update myself on the latest criticism, and indeed, ridicule, of her. In my hatred for her, I have begun to hate myself.
The moonbat pleads for help.
McCain missed a critical day. Obama is going to have to help him beat Obama.
ReplyDeleteIf things really melt down, it will be good for my hometown. People always come back to the university looking for a new marketable degree. We are counter-cyclical here. Down means up for us, more or less.
ReplyDeleteOr Biden.
ReplyDeleteMcCain suspended his campaign to return to Washington in order to save Amercia by securing the Bailout bill. He failed. What else is new?
ReplyDeleteLook at it this way, if Palin doesn't look too terribly horribly bubbly and knowledge lacking she'll have won the debate. Palin for Pres! She'll save US all!!
Ash, maybe you would like to try the Hot chili ?
ReplyDeleteAndrew Lee, 33, suffered heart failure the morning after he ate chili.
Toxicology tests are now being carried out to see if the fork lift truck driver suffered a fatal reaction to the dish or whether anything else contributed to his death.
Mr Lee, of Edlington, Doncaster was apparently in perfect health and had just passed a medical at work, the opening of the Doncaster hearing was told.
Cooking was one of his main interests and he went to his girlfriend Samantha Bailey's house to make a chili.
His father John Lee told the inquest: "He had a bet with Samantha's brother who could make the hottest chilli then went back to her house to stay."
McCain wasn't able to save Pelosi from herself, and 95 democrats, forget the pubs.
ReplyDeleteDid you write to Salon's Cary Tennis recently, Ash?
Here's one for you,
ReplyDeletebob.
I bore my friends with my constant tirades against her, and am constantly distracted from my work by my need to continually update myself on the latest criticism, and indeed, ridicule, of her. In my hatred for her, I have begun to hate myself.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds oddly familiar, like I recognize it, the symptoms, from somewhere. But where?
Big government frustrates Idaho, fuels Libertarian interest
ReplyDeleteMOSCOW, Idaho — Dylon Starry, a senior at University of Idaho here, used to be a Republican, but on Nov. 4, he'll vote for Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate for president.
Barr's message of less government and more individual rights fits the self-described "recovering Republican" like a new suit. The Democrats and Republicans spend too much of the public's money, he says. "That just brings us down, and Bob Barr would curb that significantly," Starry, 22, says in a chat at a coffee shop just off campus.
By Karl Puckett, USA TODAY
The bank's failure has capped a miserable year for the lender which has seen boardroom turmoil, botched funding attempts and a slump into the red.
ReplyDeleteB&B's problems stem from its decision to uses money markets to help fund its business.
Lending rates between banks have soared as banks fearful of losses refuse to lend to each other and this raised worries over B&B's future.
What Went Wrong
Maybe we should just vote when we go to MacDonalds:
ReplyDeleteCourts Allow Same-Day Vote Window to Go Forward in Ohio
By Mary Pat Flaherty
"A weeklong window in which Ohio residents can to register to vote and cast their ballot in person on the same day can get underway Tuesday after courts today rejected challenges to the process.
The one-stop voting, which will end Oct. 6, had become a heated partisan issue in the battleground state, with Republicans disputing a legal interpretation by Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
Get out the vote efforts have been mobilized to take advantage of the window, in which the new voters use absentee ballots, and lock down votes from individuals who otherwise might not register or send in the absentee forms.
The absentee ballots won't be counted until Election Day, but campaigns treasure them as votes in the bank. Voting centers located at boards of elections offices and their satellite offices will handle the one-stop voting.
Numerous drives to register college students, minorities, residents of homeless shelters and other groups during the weeklong window have been announced, prompting Ohio Republicans to argue Brunner had issued orders that would benefit her party's candidate, a contention she strongly denied.
Three courts cleared the way for same-day voting to proceed. A 4-3 ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court in Brunner's favor, and decisions by two federal judges in Cleveland and Columbus...."
:)
ReplyDeleteBut, Tat, I don't think the quality of that one was up to the original one, which was really good. It kinda dragged a little.
I quess they had one on saying First Dude was commiting incest with the kids, which they pulled, recognizing it went too far.
Thank God for standards!
Have they ever gotten around to mocking Obama? Michelle?
Or is Reverend Manning the only guy with balls enough to really take them on?
Thank God for standards!
Here you go, bob
ReplyDeleteObama and Michelle
Toasted
My wife was going to get an absentee ballot via a form I got from the republicans, but then I read that Brunner, who should be in jail, was disallowing them on some technical ground concerning some check box on the form. So, she's applied to her home county directly.
ReplyDeleteThere's going to be massive vote fraud in Ohio. Already is, voting starts tomorrow, I believe.
But the governor also is no stranger to adversity and determination. She helped her high school basketball team win the state's small school championship in 1982 by sinking a critical free throw in the final seconds of a game despite an ankle stress fracture.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Palin, a marathon runner whose intensity and tough play earned her the high school nickname "Sarah Barracuda," sometimes went moose hunting with her father before school and found time in 1984 to finish second in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant, where she won a college scholarship and the "Miss Congeniality" contest.
The couple met at Wasilla High School and eloped in 1988 because they had no money for a wedding.
No Ordinary Alaskans
I know y'all just really really want McCain to win (well, 'cept'n rat) but he's been so Bush like it's a friggin' shame. Poor, poor strategic thought. If that's how he runs his campaign then it's darn likely that's how he'll run the nation. We saw what happened when Bush did it to the nation. We're livin' it daily.
ReplyDeleteOn a completely different note, I do find the punditry (MSM and bloggers) kinda funny today. Becareful of what you wish for. Here we have all the chest thumpin' and hair pulling against the Bailout bill (deuce a notable exception) and now that it tanked there is a plethora of ... second thoughts.
The world didn't end, most all of us got a haircut (world markets are way off) but still the world turns - still the ATM card works - my credit line still credits. Tomorrow's another day though and we may see a few jumpers on Wall Street -- and main street...or not.
But hey, a congressional day off and they still have a chance to save the world on Thursday.
I'd concluded it was probably necessary, Ash. But it is kind of nice to see some representatives actually vote as their constituents wanted. If they'd do that on immigration, we wouldn't have some of this money problem either, as some of the loans seem to have gone to illegal immigrants, I read. Kind of hard to believe, that, but I quess it's true.
ReplyDeleteIt's disgusting seeing it help Obama, is my main thought.
P.J. O'Rourke Has Cancer [Mark Hemingway]
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that it appears entirely treatable, and he's written an hilarious op-ed about it for L.A. Times. Get well soon, P.J.
Pelosi's speech is as low class as they come.
ReplyDeleteHuman debris, no matter how it's stretched and lifted.
Cadence CEO Peter Harris said “people are buying fewer things and when people are buying fewer things industrial orders are hard to come by.’’
ReplyDeleteHarris said the feedback has heard in the past several months from industrial customers “is that we will buy from you when we need product again.”
Harris senses the great anxiety about the economy, and he wonders the effects the changes in banking will have , such as Monday’s announced sale of Wachovia.
Braced for Crisis
Wall Street said -- vote for the bailout.
ReplyDeleteObama said -- vote for the bailout.
McCain said -- vote for the bailout.
Bush said -- vote for the bailout.
The House Democratic leadership said -- vote for the bailout.
The Republican Democratic leadership said -- vote the bailout.
But in overwhelming numbers and with outrage, the American people said -- if you vote for this bailout, we will vote against you in November.
And so, today the House voted 228 to 205 against the bailout.
Do we have a pulse yet?
Maybe yes.
And if we do have a pulse, we're going to have to transfer that energy and outrage from Capitol Hill into the Presidential electoral arena.
Today, the American people rose up and slapped down the two Wall Street controlled political parties.
In October, we must keep up the energy.
And support the one national candidate for President untouched by Wall Street.
His name is Ralph Nader.
And were he President, we would not be in this mess.
Nader Campaign, still looking for a pulse.
The risk of a big bailout always was that it would make investors think the banks were in even worse trouble than they appeared to be. Henry M. Paulson Jr., the Treasury secretary, tried to structure this bailout as a purchase of assets, so that banks taking the money would not be tarnished by doing so.
ReplyDeleteBut the decision to force those banks to turn over equity may have killed that move, and the changes to be made in the bill now could well make it more punitive. That could be good for a sense of justice, but bad for containing the crisis.
This is looking like a very interesting week in the markets, which were doing none too well before the September Surprise.
September Surprise
Cloward-Piven
ReplyDeleteStrategy
Not much new here, though it's talked about alot recently.
I go for Gingrich's proposals:
ReplyDeleteGingrich's four-point plan includes: (1) suspending immediately mark to market provisions (the accounting practice of valuing a financial position in an investment at its current market price) in the hopes of stopping the downward spiral in asset values and eventually replacing it with a three year rolling average; (2) repealing immediately Sarbanes-Oxley, the 2002 accounting law Gingrich described as "an enormous drag on small business"; (3) setting the capital gains tax rate at zero "matching the Chinese and Singapore" (to encourage private capital to flood into the market picking up properties without the taxpayers being at risk); and (4) passing an "extraordinarily powerful" energy bill ("to return $500 billion a year to the American economy that are currently going overseas").
"I was just in Atlanta yesterday. There is no gasoline in Atlanta, in Charlotte, in Chattanooga. It's like a Third World country"
ReplyDelete-Gingrich
Couple days ago, I agreed with #3 and #4, now I think I'm with you, Charles, agreeing to all four.
ReplyDeleteCapital gains = a tax on the passage of time.
It takes a village, Sam.
ReplyDeleteSave the Planet.
Chattanooga and Atlanta leading the way. :(
Oregon Beavers?
ReplyDeleteOregon Ducks?
Oregon turkeys--
Wild Turkeys Take Over Oregon Town
Philomath, Ore. AP--Turkeys may seem awkward, comical and not too bright, and any charm they retain is wearing thin on residents of Philomath.
The city is looking into trapping or killing them. At issue is the paperwork.
"Councilors want to take definitive action to help folks", said City Manager Randy Kugler. "The council still, very clearly, is not taking a kill permit off the table."
Trapping or killing would require a permit from the Oregon Fish and Game Department.
About 20 of the big birds hang out in west Philomath, scratching or tearing up landscaping and roofs, leaving calling cards on lawns and decks and making noise during the early morning.
Charlene Hendricks says the birds wiped out her strawberries in her garden and made a play for her blueberries.....
Final Solution Considered
Nancy Taylor, a state wildlife biologist, said trapping would likely provide only a temporary fix, and they would return.
"My take on her response is that we should expect to kill many turkeys to eliminate them permanently. This may not sit well with some citizens," Kugler said.
Philomath and Corvalis are considering enforceable feeding restrictions.
Yeah? What's PETA got to say about that?
ReplyDeleteThe Dow suffered its worst one-day point loss ever on Monday after the House of Representatives failed to pass a $700 billion financial bailout plan aimed at rescuing Wall Street from the most serious credit crisis since the Great Depression.
ReplyDelete...
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 777.68 points, or 6.98%, to 10365.45. The broader S&P 500 Index dropped 106.85 points, or 8.81%, to 1106.42, while the Nasdaq Composite Index slid 199.61 points, or 9.14%, to 1983.73.
...
The House voted 228 to 205 to defeat the bailout bill, rejecting urgent appeals from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and President Bush.
Rescue Vote
State of the Race--McCain Needs The Financial News Off The Front Page
ReplyDeleteWell, at least Obama's flatlined and McCain is gaining.
ReplyDeleteAccording to that chart.
When the great lord passes, the wise peasant bows deeply, and silently farts.
ReplyDeleteEthiopian aphorism
I wish Obama really would flatline.
Are These The Stars On The Australian Flag, Sam?
Nite, down under.