New Economic Perspectives Fri 2010-07-16 14:28 EDT

Goldman Vampire Squid Gets Bitch Slapped: JP Morgan Bitch Slaps the Dow; and Geithner Tries to Bitch Slap Elizabeth Warren

L. Randall Wray

Ok here were three pieces of news today. First, Goldman Sachs was fined $550 Million for duping customers...For Goldman it was a tiny slap on the wrist--it still controls the Obama administration, with its moles, Timmy Geithner and Larry Summers still in charge of fiscal policy, thus prepared to funnel whatever money is necessary to prop up their firm--and the fine amounts to just 14 days of Goldman's earnings...The other remaining investment bank, JP Morgan announced that its profits rose by 76%. Funny thing is that in all banking categories, JP Morgan's results were horrendous...the profits supposedly came from ``trading''. In reality they mostly came from reducing ``loan loss reserves''...Our favorite Timmy has weighed in on Elizabeth Warren...Timmy Geithner (let me repeat that: Timmy! Geithner!) the most incompetent and conflicted public official since ``heck-uv-a-job'' Brownie has dared to oppose Ms. Warren to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...Actually I agree with Timmy. Elizabeth Warren ought to be gunning for Timmy's job. Fire Geithner. Now. Elizabeth Warren for Treasury Secretary! And in 2012, Warren for President...Time for a new face in the White House. Elizabeth is our man, or woman.

Bitch Slap Elizabeth Warren; bitch slaps; Dow; Geithner trying; Goldman Vampire squid; JP Morgan Bitch Slaps; New Economic Perspectives.

Fri 2010-04-09 08:08 EDT

charles hugh smith-The Contrarian Trade of the Decade: the U.S. Dollar

charles hugh smith

The majority of economic observers seem convinced that the dollar is doomed, and not in some distant future...But perhaps this thinking is wrong on virtually every important count...While the Federal Reserve successfully goosed money supply in their massive "quantitative easing" campaign, money supply is no longer expanding at a fast clip...It seems the money "created" by the Federal Reserve and lent to private banks at near-zero interest rates is simply sitting in the banks as reserves to offset their continuing horrendous losses. As a result, it is not flowing into the economy, and thus it cannot trigger inflation...Indeed, as has often been noted by Mish and others, this is what has happened in Japan for the past two decades: the central bank shovels money into private banks, who either engage in "carry trade" activities (borrowing at near-zero interest and then moving the money overseas to earn a decent yield elsewhere for easy profits) or they stash the funds to offset their ongoing losses in defaulted/impaired portfolios...

Charles Hugh Smith; Contrarian Trade; decades; U.S. dollar.

Sun 2010-02-28 13:43 EST

"Sultans of Swap" by Gordon T Long, FSU Editorial 02/24/2010

...When asked why there are $605 Trillion derivatives outstanding (1) how do you articulate an answer to this horrendous and almost unimaginable number? The US is the largest economy in the world but tallies only 2.3% in comparison. Global bank reserves amount to only 1.2% of this accumulation. The gargantuan size appears to defy all logic...we discover the Sultans of Swap. The Bond Vigilantes are of a previous era. They are dead -- RIP. Through the magic mix of Credit Default Swaps, Dynamic Hedging and Interest Rate Swaps the Sultans of Swaps effectively control interest rate spreads. Through Regulatory Arbitrage they extort tremendous political sway globally. They live in the world of risk free spreads. Low interest rates simply attract more volume for their concoctions. We have had an explosion in Money Supply globally as the charts (right) indicate. The parabolic rise matches the increase in these derivative products along with their ability to turn Interest Rate Swaps into high powered bank lending...Everything is based on tax payers paying, GDP expanding and interest rates staying low...

FSU Editorial 02/24/2010; Gordon T Long; sultans; Swap.