Blog entry Sun 2010-10-10 09:51 EDT

Crony Capitalism: Wall Street's Favorite Politicians

Zach Carter

A full 90 members of Congress who voted to bailout Wall Street in 2008 failed to support financial reform reining in the banks who drove our economy off a cliff. But when you examine campaign contribution data, it's really no surprise that these particular lawmakers voted to mortgage our economic future to Big Finance: This election cycle, they've raked in over $48.8 million from the financial establishment. Over the course of their Congressional careers, the figure swells to a massive $176.9 million. The full list of these Crony Capitalists is below, along with the money they pulled in from Big Finance, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics (opensecrets.org)...

blog entry; Crony Capitalism; Wall Street's Favorite Politicians.

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis Tue 2010-06-01 19:42 EDT

FHA Volume Sign of `Very Sick System'; Fannie, Freddie, FHA Account for 90% of Mortgage Market

Michael Shedlock

The US mortgage market is extremely sick and getting sicker every month. For the first time ever, the FHA is issuing more mortgages than Fannie and Freddie. The reason is the FHA has lower down payments...Recovery my ass.

90; Fannie; FHA accounts; FHA Volume Sign; Freddie; Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis; mortgage markets; Sick System.

Calculated Risk Thu 2010-05-06 13:59 EDT

96.5% of Mortgages Backed by Government entities in Q1

CalculatedRisk

...Government-related entities backed 96.5% of all home loans during the first quarter, up from 90% in 2009, according to Inside Mortgage Finance...The government-sponsored enterprises--Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae--now own or guarantee an overwhelming share of originations. At the same time, non-agency mortgage securitization and loans retained in lender portfolios have largely dried up...Without the government backed entities there would be almost no mortgage market.

5; 96; Calculated Risk; government entity; Mortgage Backed; Q1.

zero hedge Sun 2010-04-25 14:23 EDT

Exclusive: Second Whistleblower Emerges - A Deep Insider's Walkthru To Silver Market Manipulation

A second whistleblower speaks. As the topic of physical delivery has gained prominent attention recently, it is crucial to complete the circle and show how this weakest link in the PM market is (ab)used by the big boys: Phibro and Warren Buffet. Pay particular attention to the analogues between the methods employed in the 90's commodity market and how the PM (and equity) market is being gamed currently. And to think that each new generation of traders believes it has discovered something new...As a market maker in silver options from 1989 to 2000 I was present during both the 1994 and 1997 silver events. They were seminal in my education of gamesmanship in trading and how probabilities can come up short...

Deep Insider's Walkthru; exclusive; Silver Market Manipulation; whistleblower emerging; Zero Hedge.

zero hedge Fri 2009-10-23 19:30 EDT

A Stern Opponent Of Funding The FDIC's Depleted Deposit Insurance Fund, And Monetization Is... Alan Greenspan?

What a difference twenty years makes. The man whose actions basically lead to the eradication of the American middle class in its aspirational pursuit of buying massive SUVs, Prada bags, and 3rd investment properties, compliments of cheap credit, in order to appear ever so much like the upper class yet ultimately drowning itself in debt, Alan Greenspan, is probably the most critical reason why America's debt service will be nearly 90% of GDP within several decades. The adoption of his actions by the current deranged operator of the reserve currency printing press, is merely a continuation of a multiple decade long process of keeping inflation contained at the expense of devaluing the US currency, as the global liquidity pyramid recently hit one quadrillion, and continues to grow exponentially, yet...

Alan Greenspan; FDIC's Depleted Deposit Insurance Fund; funds; monetize; Stern Opponent; Zero Hedge.

THE PRAGMATIC CAPITALIST Sun 2009-09-20 12:29 EDT

CHINA WILL BE A BIGGER BUBBLE THAN JAPAN >> Most Recent Stories >> THE PRAGMATIC CAPITALIST

SocGen analysts Dylan Grice says the Chinese economy has many similarities to the Japanese economy before it imploded in the 90's...the real cause of Japan's deflation is probably more demographic than debt-related...Japan has been the first industrial economy to begin demographic contraction. Indeed, thanks to Deng Xiaoping's 1979 one child policy, China will soon face the same problem...Japan's experience also hints at what may be the future catalyst unleashing this frenzy: capital account liberalisation. Financial history is filled with financial liberalisations gone wrong and Japan's bubble can be traced directly to the removal of controls on international capital flows and banking in the early 1980s. Seeking a larger international role for the renminbi, China is now, albeit tentatively, embarking on a similar path. Full liberalisation, when it occurs, could be the starting gun for the biggest bubble the world has ever seen.

bigger bubble; China; Japan; pragmatic capitalists; recent story.

The Economic Populist - Speak Your Mind 2 Cents at a Time Fri 2009-09-11 17:54 EDT

90% of Residential Loans U.S. taxpayer backed

Buried in a Washington Post article: 90 percent of all new home loans are funded or guaranteed by taxpayers...taxpayers are on the hook for most of the loans that are still being made if they go bad. And they are also on the line for any losses in the massive portfolios of old loans at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or back more than $5 trillion in mortgages.

90; economic populist; Mind 2 Cents; Residential Loans U.S. taxpayer backed; speaking; Time.

ClubOrlov Wed 2009-08-26 10:59 EDT

The new new money

kollapsnik

It's official: The government in Beijing has announced that the Yuan can now be used in international trade. Their mouthpiece for this occasion was the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, a private entity, which made the announcement on their behalf. By the end of this year, it is expected that fully 50% of all transactions with Hong Kong will be denominated in the Yuan. In turn, Hong Kong re-exports 90% of its Chinese imports. Importer #1 is the European Union; importer #2 is the United States. Some of these countries may soon find themselves hard-pressed to earn enough Yuan to continue importing Chinese-made products. This is only the next small step in Beijing's "policy of small steps." Already the Chinese government has ramped down its purchases of US... US dollar losing reserve status; yuan-denominated accounts available in Hong Kong.

ClubOrlov; new new money.

Thu 2009-07-30 00:00 EDT

Zero Hedge: The Exuberance Glut Or The Dollar-Euro Short Squeeze Race

-- David Roche ``the securitization of debt, and creation of derivatives amounted to a huge virtual printing press, primarily fueled by a massive increase in risk appetite which allowed for a huge expansion in the value of claims on financial assets and goods and services...the Fed has little to no control over this "printing press" at this point, which at last count was responsible for over 90% of the liquidity in the system''

Dollar-Euro Short Squeeze Race; Exuberance Glut; Zero Hedge.

Tue 2008-10-28 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: Baltic Dry Index Continues to Fall, Now 90% Below May Level, Ships Sitting Idle

90; Baltic Dry Index continues; Fall; levels; naked capitalism; Ships Sitting Idle.

Sun 2008-10-26 00:00 EDT

Joe Bageant: Moving to the Center of Elite Consensus

by "the masked political consultant"; ``what "Moving to the Center," means is: moving towards power and money''; ``What voters are expected to believe is that after a 30-year class war against the bottom 90% of income earners, the source of their troubles are black rappers and inner city fathers and not criminality on Wall Street or a corrupt political system.''; 2008-08-27

center; elite consensus; Joe Bageant; move.

Wed 2008-08-06 00:00 EDT

Business Spectator - Apocalypse NAB

National Australia Bank's small portfolio of US residential mortgage-backed securities marked down 90%; CDO price discovery

Apocalypse NAB; Business Spectator.

Thu 2008-06-12 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: So Much For Free Markets: Federally Sponsored Mortgages at 90% Share

90; Federally Sponsored Mortgages; free market; naked capitalism; shares.