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.

Calculated Risk Sun 2009-10-11 15:57 EDT

A Policy: Supporting House Prices

CalculatedRisk

As Representative Frank notes, the policy of the U.S. appears to be to support asset prices at almost any cost...

Calculated Risk; policies; supporting house prices.

zero hedge Sat 2009-10-10 14:13 EDT

Albert Edwards On The Upcoming Economic "Abyss"

As always, Albert Edwards provides a solid dose of economic observations based on facts, not hope...unless you truly believe that the stock market is its own isolated bubble, which many do, at some point cash from assets will have to support equity and debt valuations. And once the government cash funding vacuum pops, the market-economy divergence will also collapse. At that point, every dollar used by the government via stimulus and Federal Reserve pumps will have an equal and opposite effect on stocks, thereby throwing America not just into a debt funding crisis, but a complete economic and capital market tailspin. Alas, it appears impossible to prevent this, as the administration and the Federal Reserve Chairman are dead set on executing their inherently flawed experiment...and the American middle class.

abyss; Albert Edwards; upcoming economic; Zero Hedge.

Calculated Risk Sat 2009-10-10 13:33 EDT

FHA Bailout Seen

CalculatedRisk

From Bloomberg: FHA Shortfall Seen at $54 Billion May Lead to Bailout...The Federal Housing Administration, which insures mortgages with low down payments, may require a U.S. bailout because of $54 billion more in losses than it can withstand, a former Fannie Mae executive said. ``It appears destined for a taxpayer bailout in the next 24 to 36 months,'' consultant Edward Pinto said in testimony prepared for a House committee hearing in Washington today. Pinto was the chief credit officer from 1987 to 1989 for Fannie Mae...

Calculated Risk; FHA Bailout Seen.

naked capitalism Thu 2009-10-08 16:47 EDT

Latvia in Crisis; Threatens to Stiff Swedish Banks With Mini-Jubilee

Latvia and to a lesser extent Estonia and Lithuania had a massive and unsustainable current account deficit...Foreign benefactors have just put the choke collar on Latvia. The government was unable to roll over its debt this week...Sweden on Tuesday put pressure on the tiny Baltic nation to fulfill required spending cuts, threatening to withhold payments [from a] euro rescue loan put together by Nordic countries...But Latvia does not appear to be ready to accede to Sweden's demands. The immediate cause for concern is that Latvia will simultaneously devalue its currency and provide a mechanism for its consumers to partially default on mortgages held by foreign banks.

Crisis; Latvia; Mini-Jubilee; naked capitalism; Stiff Swedish Banks; threatens.

Bogarty Files Sun 2009-09-20 14:22 EDT

Bogarty Files: The Postmodern Explanation

...Every time there is a gap between what appears to be reality, and what mainstream seems to believe, I get this uneasy feeling. Is it me, I wonder, am I missing something?...I ordered a few books on postmodernism...So now everything is starting to make sense. This is the Obama strategy -- the ``Geithner plan''. While I'm busy studying the balance sheets of the banks, unemployment data etc. they acted, creating a new reality, one without another great depression. Are the banks insolvent? What is insolvency? My definition or Ken Lewis's? There is no universal meaning for insolvent, there is no transcendental signified, just some archaic meaning handed down to us. We don't have to accept it, we can define it anyway we want, especially if another great depression hinges on its meaning...

Bogarty Files; Postmodern Explanation.

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis Sun 2009-09-20 11:08 EDT

Bank of America, Citigroup, Credit Card Defaults Soar To New Highs

Michael Shedlock

Last month's improvements in credit card defaults appears to be an outlier. Credit card defaults have resumed their natural tendency to track rising unemployment...Unemployment is likely to rise for another year, then flatten out so it is likely that card defaults keep rising for quite some time.

America; bank; Citigroup; Credit Card Defaults Soar; Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis; new highs.

Jesse's Café Américain Thu 2009-09-17 09:39 EDT

"It has now become clear that this was no ordinary crash."

Jesse

Here is an informative piece on the banking crisis in Iceland...in all banking collapses of this sort, fraud and duplicity are always at the heart of it, as larceny is in most great fortunes through history. Investigating Icelandic banking collapse, Icelandic economist Jon Danielsson believes the root of Iceland's problems that have now decimated its economy appear to have started when the government decided to privatize the banks in the early 1990s...the government had no understanding of the dangers of banks or how to supervise them. They got into the hands of people who took risks to the highest possible degree...Central banking IS an old boy's network. It is the best and biggest network of all. In this one, you actually get to print money...

becomes clear; Jesse's Café Américain; ordinary crash.

Asia Times Online Sun 2009-09-13 10:25 EDT

THE BEAR'S LAIR : Possible October surprises

Martin Hutchinson

The inflation that might be expected in the United States from unprecedented expansionary monetary policies has failed to appear, while huge budget deficits have yet to produce higher interest rates. Far from being signs of a new economic paradigm, this merely means new bubbles are forming...Commodities and gold therefore are the destination of this year's hot money and are forming the new bubble...a fair-sized bubble has developed in the T-bond market...however...a modest resurgence in US inflation or difficulty in a long dated T-bond auction could cause confidence to flee the Treasury bond market and yields to leap uncontrollably upwards...the long-term costs of excessively cheap money are beginning to be seen in the US economy itself. By allowing money to remain so cheap for so long, and by running incessant payments deficits, the United States has surrendered the advantage of its superior long-established capital base, narrowing its capital cost advantage over emerging markets and exporting that capital to countries with less profligate approaches. Huge budget deficits, themselves worsening the trade deficit, merely export yet more US capital to the surplus nations. That makes it inevitable that the years ahead, in which the United States will no longer enjoy a capital advantage over its lower-wage competitors, will see highly unpleasant declines in US living standards.

Asia Times Online; BEAR'S LAIR; Possible October surprises.

Jesse's Café Américain Fri 2009-09-04 19:42 EDT

"Let's Just Whack the Oil"

Jesse

``The markets used to be about capital formation,'' said Mr. Quast, the consultant. ``Now 80 percent of trading is driven by some form of statistical arbitrage. We are buying into a statistical house of cards that could unravel very quickly.'' ...this manipulation is getting so blatant and widespread and regular that it is crippling daily market operation, not to mention robbing the general public of millions of dollars every day in their 401K's, pensions, and investment accounts. It has more of the appearance of organized crime than it does of a financial system.

Jesse's Café Américain; Let's Just Whack; Oil.

zero hedge Wed 2009-09-02 20:01 EDT

Money On The Sidelines... 1930 Versus 2009

There is a saying, that everything new is just well-forgotten old. The same apparently is especially applicable to propaganda that seeks to part fools with their money. Today's brownie point question is: was the statement below just uttered by Larry Kudlow, or did it appear first more than 79 years ago? There's a large amount of money on sidelines waiting for investment opportunities; this should be felt in market when ``cheerful sentiment is more firmly intrenched.'' Economists point out that banks and insurance companies ``never before had so much money lying idle.'' If you answered "the latter" you were correct. It first appeared on August 28, 1930 to be precise (and who knows how many times prior...

1930 Versus 2009; money; sidelined; Zero Hedge.

Zero Hedge Wed 2009-08-26 15:52 EDT

The Goldman VaR Exemption Question Escalates

Tyler Durden

It seems only yesterday that Zero Hedge had some questions in regard to Goldman's VaR Fed exemption. No response was received from 85 Broad. Today it appears several Congressmen, lead by Alan Grayson, are willing to drive a sharp stick pretty deep into the hornets' nest, by sending a letter directly to Wall Street Don Ben Bernanke, demanding an explanation exactly to the question of Goldman's VaR Exemption. Posted 2009-07-27.

Goldman VaR Exemption Question Escalates; Zero Hedge.

Thu 2009-01-15 00:00 EST

naked capitalism: Has Beggar Thy Neighbor Started?

``we have often been faced with counterparties with mercantilist objectives, and our responses appear not to have served us well in the long term''

Beggar Thy Neighbor Started; naked capitalism.

Fri 2008-11-07 00:00 EST

naked capitalism: Paulson vs. Bank Execs: Who is Telling the Truth?

2008-10-15; ``Early in his career, Paulson was a staffer for John Erlichman. It appears that imprinting stuck.''

bank exec; naked capitalism; Paulson; tells; truth.

Thu 2008-05-22 00:00 EDT

Jesse's Café Américain: Moody's Stock Craters on Revelations it Marked Dodgy Debt Aaa for Sale to Europe - Blames a Computer

Jesse's Café Américain: Moody's Stock Craters on Revelations it Marked Dodgy Debt Aaa for Sale to Europe - Blames a Computer; "appearance of a collusion to defraud European investors"

blames; computers; Europe; Jesse's Café Américain; Marked Dodgy Debt Aaa; Moody's Stock Craters; revelations; sales.

Tue 2008-01-08 00:00 EST

Winter (Economic & Market) Watch >> This is Not a Drill

Winter (Economic & Market) Watch >> This is Not a Drill: "...since transparency in American finance has to be at rock bottom, it appears lending is seizing up, and capital is being destroyed. Thats what we would expect at the terminal phase of a massive credit Bust."

drilling; economic; Market; watch; winter.