tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post5121181267765081577..comments2024-03-28T03:47:46.544-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: The End is Near - from The Weekly StandardDeuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-42914055467774603952011-10-26T05:31:49.343-04:002011-10-26T05:31:49.343-04:00New York (CNN) -- Former Goldman Sachs Director Ra...<i><br /><br /><br />New York (CNN) -- Former Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta is expected to turn himself in to the FBI Wednesday morning to face federal charges, a source familiar with the case told CNN.<br /><br />The investigation against Gupta, who led McKinsey & Co., stems from the trial of hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam, the source said Tuesday.<br /><br />It was not immediately clear what charges Gupta may face. An FBI spokesman declined comment.</i>desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-19396195242785570212011-10-26T05:28:27.702-04:002011-10-26T05:28:27.702-04:00Say, boobie, did you see where that Catholic Bisho...Say, boobie, did you see where that Catholic Bishop, in Missouri, was indicted for failing to report a sex crime that he had knowledge of?<br /><br />Misprison of Felony.<br /><br /><i>the indictment sent "two clear signals: One is that the church hierarchy continues to act carelessly and recklessly in terms of ensuring children's safety, and the second is that <br /><b>at least some in law enforcement are finally willing to vigorously pursue both the predators and their enablers.</b>"</i><br /><br />Enabling any rapists, lately, boobie?desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-84659474255828501232011-10-26T00:57:15.663-04:002011-10-26T00:57:15.663-04:00“There has been just another powerful aftershock,”...<i>“There has been just another powerful aftershock,” Fehmi Adiguzel, a resident of Van, said in a telephone interview as he sat in a restaurant with his wife. The couple spent Sunday and Monday nights in the lobby of a hotel.<br /><br />...<br /><br />The aftershocks also panicked inmates at a prison in Van, and they burned blankets and demanded to be let out. Some of the prison’s walls collapsed on Sunday, allowing more than 150 inmates to escape.<br /><br />Fifty of them returned, NTV television reported.</i>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-3620679265182562142011-10-26T00:14:28.738-04:002011-10-26T00:14:28.738-04:00I just wish they'd thrown a few thousand of th...I just wish they'd thrown a few thousand of the thieves in jail.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-70579440971943218062011-10-26T00:13:35.753-04:002011-10-26T00:13:35.753-04:00Of course, if we forced the banks to sell all thos...Of course, if we forced the banks to sell all those foreclosed houses at Market value it would probably bankrupt several, if not all, of those banks.<br /><br />Then, we'd have to start all over.<br /><br />Let's face it, they blew a monumental amount of money. It's just going to take a lot of years to get it back. <br /><br />There isn't any "good" plan, here. Just one that's, maybe, slightly "less awful" than the rest.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-14631631304221607472011-10-26T00:00:51.366-04:002011-10-26T00:00:51.366-04:00.
The zero rate does help the Treasury. It can c....<br /><br />The zero rate does help the Treasury. It can continue to finance our deficits selling securities with very low interest rates. But this is primarily short term financing.<br /><br />Are we merely kicking the can down the road?<br /><br />Some more.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-39306030686664381462011-10-25T23:58:45.957-04:002011-10-25T23:58:45.957-04:00Q, I think you did hit on one thing, possibly the ...Q, I think you did hit on one thing, possibly the most important thing. The Fed is allowing those Big Banks to keep their pretend assets on their books, ans as long as they're doing that the market can't clear.<br /><br />W/O the Free money the banks would have to start selling those assets at MARKET value, thus reducing the glut of abandoned houses sitting there at make-believe high prices.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-7544387606506290032011-10-25T23:55:58.404-04:002011-10-25T23:55:58.404-04:00.
Keeping rates low is supposed to encourage busi....<br /><br />Keeping rates low is supposed to encourage business borrowing and resulting economic expansion. However, there is little evidence this is happening.<br /><br />Businesses are flush with record profits. They don't need to borrow. They are not investing because there is not sufficient demand. The FED's rate policy has done nothing to spur that demand.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-45820165745712531292011-10-25T23:51:50.496-04:002011-10-25T23:51:50.496-04:00.
Low interest rates in the US encourages investo....<br /><br />Low interest rates in the US encourages investors to seek higher investments elsewhere. This drives down the value of the dollar.<br /><br />This is a good thing for US exports. However, the US imports more than it exports at present and the weak dollar makes those imports more expensive.<br /><br />Holding rates low and putting pressure on the dollar results in a tax on US citizens.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-69462882720892413412011-10-25T23:44:46.521-04:002011-10-25T23:44:46.521-04:00.
Further the FED's policy is designed to hel....<br /><br />Further the FED's policy is designed to help the banks and encourage them to lend money for investment, thus spurring GDP growth and subsequently job growth.<br /><br />In three years, it has accomplished none of these things.<br /><br />Most of the money the FED is lending at zero percent is finding its way overseas and not helping the US economy.<br /><br />The financial and construction sectors are typically key sectors that lead us out of recessions. Both are still suffering.<br /><br />The financial sector continues to be hit hard because of the big banks. Their stock prices have tanked because of uncertainty. The FED rate policy has allowed them to continue operating without addressing their toxic assets problems. Few people want to invest in the banks when they don't know how bad those toxic asset problems are.<br /><br />Construction remains down because of housing. The banks have tightened requirements on lending, probably a good thing. However, they have also failed to do anything to clear the bad mortgages and foreclosed housing inventory off their books. This contributes to the glut of empty houses out there and depresses construction.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-34445669748919868252011-10-25T23:26:26.578-04:002011-10-25T23:26:26.578-04:00.
Damn, you take a little time off to watch a hoc....<br /><br />Damn, you take a little time off to watch a hockey game, come back, and it's the Ash and Bob hour.<br /><br />:)<br /><br /><i>Ash said,<br /><br />The US Fed is essentially saying "we won't let the banks go bust" "Your deposits, your money, won't disappear". In these trying times of falling dominoes that is quite helpful.</i><br /><br /><br />"We won't let the banks go bust"? Yes, thus inducing moral hazard. "Your deposits, your money won't disappear"? Isn't that the job of the FDIC?<br /><br /><i>Ash said,<br /><br />"I think you are misguided in laying the bank bailouts at the FED's feet. That was Bush and Paulson and TARP's doing.</i><br /><br /><br />You are right about the initial bailout. And in my opinion, the initial bailout of the banks was necessary. Yet nothing has changed since then. No one was punished. The too big to fail banks have gotten even bigger. The regulations that have been passed are a joke. They do very little to reign in the very practices that got us into the mess we are in now. In fact, the banks are continuing those same practices to the extent allowed under the law.<br /><br />So why blame FED policy? <br /> <br />The FED is playing the role of enabler. <br /><br />I don't know the percentages but a great many economists think the FED zero interest policy and their quantitative easing are essential for getting us out of the mess we are in. I disagree for the following reasons (in no specific order or priority).<br /><br />1. The FED's zero rate policy allows the banks to continue operating just as they have in the past. Executives are not punished. There is no reason for the banks to write down their toxic assets. The housing industry suffers. Moral hazard rises.<br /><br />2. The big banks no longer have to take on risk in offering loans to businesses, investors, or borrowers. Why should they when they can borrow money for nothing and then purchase bonds and other securities overseas that offer higher returns, "the carry trade”. The effect of this, of course, is to draw money out of the US economy. This goes against one of the key mandates of the FED, to induce growth in the US.<br /><br />3. I mentioned moral hazard. Zero Fed rate is an incentive for the banks to invest their free money in speculative derivative schemes, emerging markets, questionable loans, etc. in order to report higher profits, pay bigger dividends, demand higher salaries and bonuses. And if the gambles don’t work out, why worry? They are too big to fail.<br /><br />4. The FED, in order to benefit the big banks, is telling every other investor or senior citizen out there that has a 401k that bonds and other rate-sensitive financial assets (CD's, money market funds, etc.) have no value, thus forcing them into riskier investments if they want to overcome the effects of inflation.<br /><br />5. While banks can earn money on the carry trade, they can't do it in traditional ways by earning money on deposits. With a zero FED rate, banks can't earn much on their depositor’s cash. Currently, the banks' loan portfolios and assets are shrinking not growing.<br /><br />6. This also reduces cash deposited at banks making it harder for them to lend, whereas, higher rates would add to deposits, increase the bank's cash reserves, and allow them to start the lending required for growth.<br /><br />In summary, the zero FED rate does not accomplish its intended purpose. It creates neither demand nor growth, encourages risk, and it increases moral hazard.<br /><br />.Quirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00272168240606512672noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-29753476737408221962011-10-25T22:53:22.930-04:002011-10-25T22:53:22.930-04:00In a related development, Diallo’s lawyer, Kennet...<i>In a related development, Diallo’s lawyer, Kenneth Thompson, also has submitted papers disputing DSK’s claim that as the then-head of the International Monetary Fund, he has diplomatic immunity from the potentially multimillion-dollar suit.<br /><br />Thompson argued that the married former French presidential candidate would have immunity only if the incident occurred while he was acting in official IMF capacity.<br /><br />The lawyer indicated he has already subpoenaed a slew of people to bolster his case, including workers for Air France, which DSK regularly flies and whose flight attendants DSK has reportedly sexually harassed.</i>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-8608327342540574032011-10-25T22:06:00.035-04:002011-10-25T22:06:00.035-04:00Bob said...
“We are on the verge of a global trans...Bob said...<br />“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.” - David Rockefeller<br /><br />Tue Oct 25, 09:42:00 PM EDT<br /><br /><br />No such "quote" exists. What does exist are unproven and unsourced claims of Rockerfeller having said this. These are readily found on Youtube under the general rubric - "Nut Jobs - David Rockerfeller".<br /><br /><br />This just in from Larry Flynt (2009) - It might have been said...Wait, Larry seems to have been on a trip at the time of his account.<br /><br />Oh, yes, now I recall: The quote was supposed to have been made at an ultra-secret Bilderberg Group meeting during 1991. Let that roll around a little while; you'll catch on.<br /><br />Rockerfeller most certainly said this, however,<br /> "There have been people — ever since I've had any kind of position in the world — who have accused me of being ruler of the world. I have to say that I think for the large part, I would have to decide to describe them as crack pots."<br /><br /><br />Well, duh...<br /><br />"Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead."allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-19216915327152807112011-10-25T21:51:11.699-04:002011-10-25T21:51:11.699-04:00DR's life would not be affected by pulling the...DR's life would not be affected by pulling the plug and settling for 22 hours per day of Bunga Bunga… <br /> - Bunga BobBobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-85368538518312771712011-10-25T21:46:48.307-04:002011-10-25T21:46:48.307-04:00Surely it is our human rights to be able to live i...Surely it is our human rights to be able to live in a debt free society. <br /><br />We have a moral obligation to be mindful of the wants of others.- El K. BobBobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-62296547921904595882011-10-25T21:44:46.057-04:002011-10-25T21:44:46.057-04:00Take the politicians and their advisors/bankers to...Take the politicians and their advisors/bankers to the criminal courts.Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-80036588830910024282011-10-25T21:43:45.299-04:002011-10-25T21:43:45.299-04:00Okay, company's coming, someone escort Uncle B...Okay, company's coming, someone escort Uncle Bob back down to his cellar.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-23626306710755633992011-10-25T21:42:21.760-04:002011-10-25T21:42:21.760-04:00“We are on the verge of a global transformation. A...“We are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.” - David RockefellerBobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-71360645080949981012011-10-25T21:39:46.468-04:002011-10-25T21:39:46.468-04:00But I must give you warning. Time may be short.But I must give you warning. Time may be short.Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-13568596235890240572011-10-25T21:37:49.150-04:002011-10-25T21:37:49.150-04:00Unless of course, Darwin, Medical Science and econ...Unless of course, Darwin, Medical Science and economic science ALL got it wrong??? Thoughtful responses will be enjoyed and, in some cases, will elicit a response. All others - including those from trolls, wind-up merchants, conspiracy theorists and the willfully ignorant (DR) will be ignored. Thank you. - BobBobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-45272899112533848042011-10-25T21:34:48.931-04:002011-10-25T21:34:48.931-04:00My Grandmother used to say - if your buy "Che...My Grandmother used to say - if your buy "Cheapest" - you buy TWICE.Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-45038903845116632402011-10-25T21:32:12.725-04:002011-10-25T21:32:12.725-04:00Okay, let's get this over with. We are broke....Okay, let's get this over with. We are broke. The fed is corrupt. Country in severe financial distress, inflation making people more poor by the week, government getting engaged in unpopular wars, pols caught in scandals, government making wildly unpopular and ineffective decisions, government expressly going against the voiced wishes of many of the population.<br /><br />Remind me how modern-day dictators exploited a failed political system to rise to power? I am sick of hearing about it. All thesepoliticians do is talk, talk, talk, talk. The whole miserable creation is starting to come apart at the seams and the backstabbing will now begin. Let's move on.Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-70558037837580064742011-10-25T21:29:00.664-04:002011-10-25T21:29:00.664-04:00ok, ok, it isn't a contradiction. They both a...ok, ok, it isn't a contradiction. They both are propping up the banks (and AIG and GM and...)Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-48054438943460224622011-10-25T21:16:29.356-04:002011-10-25T21:16:29.356-04:00Ash wrote:
"I think you are misguided in lay...Ash wrote:<br /><br />"I think you are misguided in laying the bank bailouts at the FED's feet. That was Bush and Paulson and TARP's doing.<br /><br />The US Fed is essentially saying "we won't let the banks go bust"<br /><br /><br /><br />c'mon, guys, please call me on the inherent contradiction here!!Ashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16688752302081088907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-6222794571694360162011-10-25T21:11:39.685-04:002011-10-25T21:11:39.685-04:00DR,
Re: Mrs. Rothschild
Well there is a Mrs. Rot...DR,<br /><br />Re: Mrs. Rothschild<br /><br />Well there is a Mrs. Rothschild, who you reported as saying in reference to Mr. Obama,<br /><br />“America needs a president who understands the special sauce of what it is that makes this country great,” she said. “The fact of his personal story of being half black and all that is a wonderful, inspiriting story. But it doesn’t qualify him to be president.”<br /><br /><br />Now, pray tell, what has that to do with the cost of mellons in Tangiers?allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.com