Archive for the ‘Finance’ Category

Anyone Understand This?

September 29, 2008

Congress shoots down the $700 billion. And then the Federal Reserve pumps in $630 billion at their own discretion? What in carnation is going on?! What was the purpose of the bill in the first place if the Fed Reserve can do this without any input from the American taxpayer?

And the Award for…

September 29, 2008

…Worst Bailout Analogy goes to Representative Meeks from NY. Click here, scroll down to 12:45 on left and click MR. MEEKS.

You Must Watch This Clip

September 26, 2008

From 2006. A bunch of Fox Business goons making fun of Peter Schiff for saying that the economy isn’t strong, that American’s don’t save enough and that our “wealth” is essentially smoke and mirrors from inflated housing prices. The mockers look like total idiots in light of recent “revelations.” A must watch for sure.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner on Bailout

September 25, 2008

“Instead of furthering the inevitable liquidation of the maladjustments brought about by the boom during the last three years, all conceivable means have been used to prevent that readjustment from taking place; and one of these means, which has been repeatedly tried though without success, from the earliest to the most recent stages of depression, has been this deliberate policy of credit expansion.”

- Nobel Peace Prize winner F.A. Hayek writing in 1932 about the cause of the Great Depression

I thought Bernake was a “student of the Depression”…

Our Fearless Leaders

September 23, 2008

“Republicans, for their part, quietly hate the proposal but can’t get in the way of it this close to an election. “They think the market’s going to melt down and we’re going to get blamed,” says the disgruntled GOP staffer, “so they’re going to take their usual chicken-s___ approach and vote for it.”"

Read the rest of it here.

Fed up with the Fed

September 22, 2008

That’s the name of my new Facebook group where I am attempting to resurrect the idea that “we the people” are in control.

Visit the Facebook group page. Join if you agree. And spread the word as fast and as far as you can before Congress makes an egregious error and gives “dictatorial power unreviewable by the third branch of government, the courts” to Henry Paulson.

Paulson Plan Thoughts

September 20, 2008

Various comments from a financial blog this morning.

“Republicans try to say the left is socialist, yet they are the ones supporting socialist polices.”

“Hopefully, those who espouse a “conservative” philosophy will no longer believe that this philosophy is embodied in the Republican party.”

“Republicans and Democrats have been running this country into the ground for decades. They are dinosaurs that should be extinct. Why do Americans keep voting for these entrenched political machines? If you really want a change, vote both parties out of Washington for good.”

I couldn’t say it better myself.

Derivatives?

September 18, 2008

I’m not the smartest person in the world and so it should go without saying that derivatives made absolutely no sense to me in business school. My exposure to them was limited to a class dedicated to their study - MGT 476. I remember this class vividly. First, because the (take home) mid-term required an average of 30 hours to complete. Second, because the professor lectured me when I decided to drop it (hey, I had two kids and was starting my own business. I didn’t really have 30 hours to complete a test.) Third, because derivatives didn’t make any sense to me at all.

Apparently, Warren Buffet knew enough about them to diagnose potential hazard and as a result directed the insurance arm of his company to exit the business several years ago. Probably one, of many, many reasons he is a multi-billionaire and I am not.

Class Action, Anyone?

September 17, 2008

Who wants to join me in suing the Federal Government for the following damages? I’m game. You can read about the damage here. Oh and by the way, I’m totally serious. Leave a comment. I’ve got a lawyer friend who is willing. Don’t be duped. This money is not magically appearing. These bailouts are being laid squarely on the back of the American tax payer. And that doesn’t even begin to take into account inflationary effects which are soon to follow. In a word (or four), they are greedy bastards.

The Pot(s) Calling the Kettle(s) Black?

September 15, 2008

First, we have Karl Rove saying (I begrudgingly link to Fox simply so I’m not accused of further McCain hating - which is another post all together) the McCain campaign has “gone one step too far” in recent ads attacking Obama and that the Obama campaign took a “deliberate slap” at Governor Palin. Ok, first… duh. And, second, this coming from the man who orchestrated the character assassinations of a slew of Bush opponents over the last eight years, including McCain in 2000.

Second, we have Alan Greenspan criticizing McCain’s tax plan by saying that he is “not in favor of financing tax cuts with borrowed money.” Really? I never would have known this by observing your policy decisions for the nineteen years you served as Federal Reserve Chairman. Need I remind you that our multi-trillion dollar debt is largely due to your policies, Mr. Greenspan?

So why do I bring this up? Is it because I believe that Mr. Rove and Mr. Greenspan have undergone radical transformations on political tactics and monetary policy?

Not in the least.

I mention it because it is one more example, in an alarmingly large pile of evidence that we, the general populace, are stupid. And by stupid, I mean we have the memory of an overly loving mutt. You know, the one that everyone is mean to, but that keeps coming back for more love and attention - its tail wagging, tongue slobbering and eyes brightly lit every single time there is hope of a new tasty treat.

We often assign positive connotations to the term “soundbite generation”, but the resulting short term memory and failure to hold people accountable for their actions is destroying our country, one soundbite at a time. To make it worse, I don’t think we have even begun to see the full, mortally wounding effect this loss of accountability will have on building character, establishing and growing wisdom and critically analyzing and responding to a slew of things that comprise the fabric of our society - foreign, monetary and economic policy; education and the family; freedom and civil liberties; the role, size and powers of the government (I could go on and on.)

However, one thing is for certain, if the douche bags people running the campaigns (and the media and wall street and…) are any indication a day of reckoning is not that far away. But, apparently, if the next “Kibble and bit” is tasty enough then who the hell cares?

Woof, woof. Wag, wag.