Thursday, September 18, 2008

Open Forum

Starting a new one here. Feel free to post up links, comments or whatever else is on your mind.

69 comments:

Justin_n_IL said...

I just got done reading "Brains Filled with Mush while Nation Crumbles". I'm not sure if I ever read that one before or not. I actually ran across it on The Silver Bear Cafe. I then noticed it under your most popular articles archive. Very well said Randy.

Anonymous said...

Lehman fate in balance as talks extend to third day

Anonymous said...

Think tank puts Las Vegas on list of losers

A California think tank has put a fresh spin on the city's "Lost Wages" nickname.

The Las Vegas Valley's rising joblessness and unimpressive salary gains earned it a place on the Milken Institute's list of "Biggest Losers," a collection of erstwhile high fliers that crashed when the housing economy ground to a halt.

http://www.lvrj.com/business/28344494.html

Justin_n_IL said...

Might want to add this to the next funnies post Randy.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nSTO-vZpSgc/SMwrJkz9uGI/AAAAAAAADTs/G5mtGKdqGic/s1600-h/comics-you-lose.png

Justin_n_IL said...

"You can trust us"

The Justice Department made public on Friday a plan to expand the tools the Federal Bureau of Investigation can use to investigate suspicions of terrorism inside the United States, even without any direct evidence of wrongdoing.Justice Department officials said the plan, which is likely to be completed by the end of the month despite criticism from civil rights advocates, is intended to allow F.B.I. agents to be more aggressive and pre-emptive in assessing possible threats to national security.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/terror-plan-would-give-fbi-more-power.html

Randy said...

just heard through Bloomberg breaking news: BOA pulled out of Lehman talks. Possible Lehman bankruptcy in the cards now.

Could be a bad week...

Justin_n_IL said...

Yahoo being my home page I always glance at the top 10 searches. It's almost mind boggling what you see on that list day in and day out. I thought this particular list was humorous with "gas prices" being on it. The only thing the public is concerned about is things that hurt "right now". As long as it doesn't hurt right now then who cares. What beautiful priorities. The lobster is nearly boiled without ever knowing it was on the stove top.

1. Eva Mendes
2. Jennifer Lopez
3. Leslie Bibb
4. Amy Winehouse
5. George Takei

6. Gas Prices
7. Fantasy Football
8. Entourage HBO
9. Rock Band 2
10. Lourdes

Anonymous said...

Hey Justin,

What do you expect? (Regarding American's top Yahoo! Google searches that are truly mindless and trivial.)

The American society is, at least, 50% in a fog, dumbed down, clueless, lacking in reality, possibly suffering from mental illness or other psychiatric conditions that are not being treated, obsessed with mindless activities, such as texting, and more.

Most Americans cannot figure out they are in trouble. And their kids are in trouble. They think Sarah Palin is just like them, when, in reality, she is so far from what they are like, in most ways, they cannot see it. And don't want to. Take your Sarah Palin medicine and go to bed. It will all be worse in the morning!

Most Americans are living hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, close to foreclosure, one step away from a job closing, don't know why their food bills are creeping higher and higher each month, fill up their SUVs half-way because they cannot face their gas tank completely full, desire the biggest screen t.v. they can buy from Wal-Mart in order to drown themselves in surround sound, technicolor, digital stimulation.

This is the majority of Americans. We newshounds are the minority. We absorb ourselves in what could be the worst economic disaster in our lifetime, and cannot get enough of it. We are glued to our computers, cannot walk past a magazine rack without checking out the cover of our favorite political rag, click on the foreign exchanges before we hit the bed, and wake up wondering if the Asian market dropped 200 points overnight.

We turn up the car radio everytime we hear Hank "the paulie" Paulson, and BadaBing Bernanke make a statement about the headbanging they are engaged in.

Most Americans don't do this to themselves. We are the few. Here we are commenting on this blog, instead of trying to make friends on Facebook.

We spend our extra time jotting down notes on scraps of paper, note pads, Post-It notes, pocket spirals for our own blog postings. We keep a list of our treasured blogspots, websites, and Youtube addresses safely put aside, in full view, by our computer.

We keep a list of our user names and passwords available for an easy look-see in case we forget one or two or more in order to make a urgent comment at the bottom of some article we just read on a site or news site to which we have to sign in!

We are the obsessed citizens. Sitting on the edge of our desk chair, comfy couch, or kitchen table stool, we are compelled to know what is the latest breaking news.

We are the people who are more likely to know the names of Jim Rogers, Noriel Roubini, Michael Hudson, Peter Morici, Michael Whitney, Paul Craig Roberts, David Michael Green, James Howard Kunstler, F. William Engdahl, Robert Perry, instead of Jennifer Lopez, Leslie Bibb, and Eva Mendes.
(Everybody knows Amy Winehouse!)

So, like I said in the beginning...what do you expect?

Justin_n_IL said...

RFLMAO

Excellent description of the 2 types.

Randy said...

Justin/Jerry - Spot on with the analysis! Ignorant till the end.

The masses will eventually wake up, but with nationwide panic setting in, it will be far too late to do anything about it.

BTW: Breaking News - No Lehman deal reached - Lehman now seeking bankruptsy.

DOW futures currently down 331 for tomorrow's open.

Anonymous said...

Jerry,

I expected you to climax from your rant with, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!"

Dare to dream...hehehe. Well said regardless.

Pica

Anonymous said...

.....who's Amy Whitehouse??

Black Star Ranch

Unknown said...

Jim Rogers lives in Singapore

Noriel Roubini financial bear, heavy accent

Michael Hudson, Peter Morici, Michael Whitney, Paul Craig Roberts, David Michael Green - who?

James Howard Kunstler - saw him in person in Ottawa

F. William Engdahl ?

Robert Perry - think he went to Antartica

Jennifer Lopez - like her

Leslie Bibb, and Eva Mendes, Amy Winehouse - who ?

Anonymous said...

"We are working to reduce disruptions and minimize the impact on the [broader economy]," said Bush, speaking at the White House Rose Garden.

.......that sure makes ME feel better about the situation...

Black Star Ranch

Anonymous said...

anonymous,

It only took 9 words to speak volumes!

Anonymous said...

I agree with you, Jerry.

I've learned, to my astonishment, that most people flee from troubling news or anything that upsets their incorrect idyllic view of the world.

I feel the impulse to do that too - I guess it's human nature - but I always remember that I value truth more than I fear it.

Of course, bad news also provides the same pain/pleasure titillation as does wiggling a sore tooth.

Dave

Matt said...

Kudos Jerry!

Justin_n_IL said...

My favorite quote of the day.

"This isn't the beginning of the end, but it might be the end of the beginning."

http://www.moneyweek.com/news-and-charts/economics/the-bank-that-wasnt-too-big-to-fail-13636.aspx

Justin_n_IL said...

WaMu is just about over the cliff. Down graded to junk by S&P today. It's shares took a 27% hit today.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/15/news/economy/wamu/?postversion=2008091516

Justin_n_IL said...

I'm sure this cynical crowd will enjoy this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kQxnut5RVw

Anonymous said...

Justin,

Great video. I will have to review that site! It is true. We as a people have been so manipulated by the two biggest political parties that it is near impossible to correct it. I personally believe that the only way to elect a viable third party president, who could rebuild the damage, would be through chaos. Through chaos comes order.

Because of the corrupted congress, and many within its boundaries who collude with each other, the chances of a third party president to get anything done would be near impossible.

The only way possible, would be through a landslide victory. And the only way that would happen would be through economic chaos.

We just might be heading there now. BadaBing Bernanke, no doubt, was manipulating the stock market today, but just could not over power the overwhelming strength that brought it down to a negative 500. Had he not been stuffing our monies into the system trying to keep it around a -200, it would have dropped to -500+ within the first hour.

There is no trust left in the system. It is so obvious that they are using spoons to bail out hurricane force gales.

Will tomorrow bring the same? Only if the foreign exchanges run for the hills. High oh silver! (or gold for that matter.) And away!

Gary Near Death Valley said...

I think as the history books will be written down the road, that today Sept 15th, will be recognized as the official beginning of the 2nd Great Depression.

Of course with Fannie/Freddie being saved (more or less), and with the other trouble the stock market has had, and of course the few bank failures that have happened yet (alot more to come I am afraid), that history will look back on this date and say "Yep,,,,,,,Sept 15th is the day it officially began!" And how long will it last? My guess is 5 to 7 years.

Anonymous said...

As Gary has so wisely predicted, today will go down in Infamy! Tomorrow --will be ushering in another Tums day.

Already this evening, when I looked, and it will likely bounce up and down, the Asian Nikkei 225 market has dropped -618.67 or -5.06%, and it is only their beginning. Europe's FTSE 100 is down -212.50 or -3.92%. And the night is still young. Our DOW was DOWn -504.48 or -4.42%, which was better than what the Nikkei is currently doing.
My guess is that there will be manipulators trying to prevent their own meltdowns, just as our PPT was doing today, but with little success.

As Justin has already stated, this may be the beginning of a long ending, or maybe the end of what might evolve into as a new beginning.

Dave, the tooth may end up falling out tomorrow. But as Justin has inferred, there could be a new tooth poking through the gum line.

Randy said...

Just heard through Bloomberg: Fed getting ready for huge REPO injection while 96% of analysts expect rate cut today.

Premarket futures for AIG, Morgan Stanley, and Wachovia looking bleak

Justin_n_IL said...

http://www.wallstreetwindow.com/content/node/7828

Justin_n_IL said...

Some perspective.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2008/09/crime-in-buying-aig-time.html

Justin_n_IL said...

OH boy, The Fed to the rescue. Or is it the taxpayers to the rescue. Wait a second. How can a bunch of people in debt to their eyeballs lacking jobs come to the rescue? The David Blaine monetary show lets out another big plume of smoke.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/business/17insure.html?partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

Justin_n_IL said...

Have yall seen this Peter Schiff interview on Australian T.V.? Excellent Excellent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1V5iu715rc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DMgAc_RX3o

Justin_n_IL said...

Iran tidbit

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/17/iran.usa

Anonymous said...

As if things aren't bad enough, now we're on the verge of war with our recent ally in the "War on Terror"(tm), Pakistan!

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hkiMxbHNH0BqgpWA2ZG6VD6wVTmAD9383AJ00

Anonymous said...

Justin/Chris - good stuff to know...

This next one does a pretty good job of tying all the pieces together:

US to invade Iran any day now?


A few weeks ago the Russian newspaper Izvestia, a well-known and authoritive daily published nationwide and abroad, came forward with something that would have been looked upon as a conspiracy theory if published by a tabloid.

The paper suggested that by attacking South Ossetia, the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had badly damaged a planned U.S. military operation against Iran. In the newspaper's opinion Georgia was supposed to play the role of another "unsinkable aircraft carrier" for the U.S., i.e. an operational and tactical base for U.S.
aircraft that would be making bombing raids into Iran. Something akin to what Thailand was in the Vietnam war.

Thailand certainly benefited from the arrangement, and Georgia would have too, insists the paper, if its President hadn't put his ambitions above the US national interest and ended up beaten, disarmed, chewing on his neckties and totally incapable of providing whatever the U.S. needs from him.

That's why, according to Izvestia in yet another article on the matter, the U.S. response to the Russian retaliation was harsh in words but very mild in action. The latest on the issue suggests that Mikhail Saakashvili may be replaced any day now by direct order from Washington.

Having read the story in Izvestia I decided to try to figure out the extent of improbability and impossibility of the assumptions. As I was doing that, I remembered that early in August CNN had started showing U.S. generals who cried for more troops and hardware for Afghanistan which, in their opinion, was rapidly becoming a more intensive conflict than Iraq.

Shortly after that, a phone call came from a college friend who had just come back from Kandahar in Afghanistan, where he had seen American battle tanks being unloaded from a Ukrainian-registered Antonov-124 "Ruslan", the heaviest and largest cargo airplane in the world. The friend asked if I had any idea what tanks would be good for in Afghanistan, and I said I didn't. It's an established fact from the Soviet war in Afghanistan that tanks are no good for most of the country's mountainous territory. They are good for flatlands, and the main body of flat land in the region is right across the border in Iran.

Later in August there was another bit of unofficial information from a Russian military source: more than a thousand American tanks and armored vehicles had been shipped to Eastern Afghanistan by Ukrainian "Ruslans" flying in three to five shipments a day, and more flights were expected.

Somehow all this, together with the series of articles in Izvestia, the information that all U.S. troops in Afghanistan are going to be reassigned and regrouped under unified command, the arrival of NATO naval ships in the Black Sea, the appointment of a man used to command troops in a combat environment as the new commander of the US Central Command and other bits and pieces. To my total astonishment, when they all fell together the Izvestia story started looking slightly more credible than before.

Today the U.S. media reported that there had been a leak from the Pentagon about a secret Presidential order in which President Bush authorized his military (most of which is currently on Afghan soil) to conduct operations in Pakistan without the necessity for informing the Pakistani government. The U.S. military in Afghanistan - or shall we say in the whole region neighboring Iran - is getting a freer hand by the day. And it is getting more and more hardware to play with.

Of course it's quite clear now that Georgia has lost its immediate potential as a nearby airfield, but after all, the aircraft carriers in the Gulf are not so far away.

Believe me I'm not saying that the U.S. is going to start an all-out war against Iran tomorrow. But aren't there indications that it may happen the day after tomorrow, a month from now, or on any date before the official handover of Presidency in the U.S.? Or, as some suggest, before the election?

I'm just asking the questions. But there are some people, like those working for Izvestia, for instance, who answer them with a "yes".

Justin_n_IL said...

LMAO,

Hey Jerry. Fed Reserve made the top ten(barely).

1. Megan Fox
2. Olivia Wilde
3. Ellen DeGeneres
4. Nelly
5. Chevy Volt

6. The Biggest Loser TV...
7. Hells Angels
8. MTV TRL
9. Deep Vein Thrombosis
10. Federal Reserve

Anonymous said...

Hey Justin,

Federal Reserve was beaten out by deep vein thrombosis? Damn! How could that be? Or maybe, we should be happen that Federal Reserve is rising up to the consciousness of nervous, thrombiotic Americans.

Here is a Youtube you, and the rest of the late nighters should watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XQan1qo8T4

It is Scott Ritter talking about what will happen if Bush/Cheney bomb Iran. Scott Ritter was a US weapons inspector and is an expert on the subject.

Nothing is predictable today! We are riding the roller coaster of time.

Anonymous said...

Realestate prices down 20% in Stockholm, Sweden in a few days!

Anonymous said...

Russian stock market collapsing, down %25 in two days. They've had to stop trading yesterday and today.

Anonymous said...

As seen from Yemen today, American imperialism was attacked.

The Dow is unwinding, as of 11:55 A.M, Pittsburgh time!

The next benchmark will be 9999! Isn't that telling for those who focus on such things.

These Times They Are A Changin'...

Anonymous said...

Gold is up $80, reacting to the events of the day! I am not saying anything new with this group.

Unknown said...

US to invade Iran any day now

But aren't there indications that it may happen the day after tomorrow, a month from now, or on any date before the official handover of Presidency in the U.S.?

or next year or the year after?

Matt said...

Megan Fox... now that's something worth looking at to take your mind off of everything!

I just read a couple articles on Yahoo news. The first was about the White House stating that our economy is sound... we can handle this... blah blah blah. The second about our "candidates" opinions on the current events. All of it garbage. I'd rather just watch Peter Schiff or Jim Rogers talk all day.

Good to see gold make a jump like it did today!

Justin_n_IL said...

Hey Jerry,

Look what made number 5 today...hehe

1. Katie Holmes
2. Heidi Klum
3. Jessica Pare
4. UFO Pictures
5. Naked Short Selling

6. Knight Rider
7. R. Kelly
8. Hitchhiker's...
9. Millet Recipes
10. Yemen

Anonymous said...

Rising in the charts, from number 11 to number 5 is that great hit single from that terrific new band, Naked Short Selling, is "Ain't Got a Penny to My Sale".

Thanks to that great caller, Justin for giving us the lastest 10 ten hits of the day.

Coming in at number 10, that great new South Asian band, Yemen, playing their new hit song, "Let Me Explode For You!"

My Fellow Americans, I feel your pain. Now let me say, it is time to go shopping. We shouldn't let a little pain disrupt stimulatin' the economy.

It is really hard for me to say anything.

FOFOA said...

Hyper Drive Engaged - Destination Zimbabwe

Justin_n_IL said...

Blame? It amazes me how people scamper about to put forth blame. I blame the citizenry of the U.S.A. Was there intentional deception put forth by the fat cat elitists and their bought and paid for politicians? Of course, but at the end of the day it is the citizenry who is to blame. They are reaping what they have sown. Does this include everyone? By no means. It does however include the vast majority. It can be traced back to "priorities". If the citizenry's priorities had been of the intelligent and tasteful sort would this nation be in the predicament that is now in? Talk about ripe for a demagogue. Brace yourselves for the mother delusion.

Justin_n_IL said...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/sep/17/merrilllynch.executivesalaries

Justin_n_IL said...

A perfect snapshot of that which is going to lead the Mother of all Demagogues.

http://www.sovereignsociety.com/2008Archives2ndHalf/91608TheSecretAdventuresoftheOffshoreHypo/tabid/4585/Default.aspx

FOFOA said...

Randy,
What do you make of this chart?

I have an idea that it's not good, but that's about all I can surmise.

Justin_n_IL said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Justin_n_IL said...

Excellent video guys. Minus the talk near the end about the Bible .

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3702181847213988991

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1UtsCYioy0

Someone please tell me this is just a really bad dream.

Unknown said...

Check this article out about Charles Keating & S&L meltdown. Familiar names involved - Greenspan & McCain- as we experience recent history repeating itself now:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Keating

Is there no shame in some people?

Anonymous said...

The Keatings continue to give McCain campaign contributions.

I guess the foreign banks really threatened the PPT today!!! They must have said to them "You ripped us off big time!. We are calling in our credit default swaps and we want them now!!! And if you don't shower us with cash, we will stop funding your debt, your current accounts, and your wars! We will stop buying your treasuries and your economy will come to a screeching halt!!"

So, because of this, the market leaped up. This is an extortion racket. Bada Bing Bernanke is now victim to the other foreign banksta gangstas and their extortion racket. Amazing!

FOFOA said...

At first I thought this was a joke headline. Kraft to Replace AIG on Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Now the Dow can be as accurate as Govt. inflation numbers.

And as people get poor and eat more mac n cheese the Dow will go up, just like it should.

Can they add Food Stamps to the S&P500?

FOFOA said...

Here's some new Jim Willie for the Jim Willie fans out there.

Anonymous said...

Check out these Youtube videos from a Canadian Guy speaking about US banks gold shorts and a DOW drop to 10,000.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p73ZeiOdG-w&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBPTOWRM548&feature=related

Interesting. I have put many Youtubes on my blog in case you want to check out the Russian view of an attack against Iran, and both of the Canadian guys stuff. But it is fun to scroll the Youtube website for related videos. This Canadian guy seems to know what he is talking about and did predict a few days early that the DOW would drop big time.

He is saying get out of the dollar and get into indexes I am not familiar with. He refers to Peter Schiff. Canadian Guy does not see gold breaking above $1000 an ounce. Check it out.

FOFOA said...

MERKX and MEAFX are the foreign currency funds Peter Schiff uses. It's a good, low cost way to get out of the dollar.

Justin_n_IL said...

Isn't this cute? What beautiful priorities.

WASHINGTON - People would rather watch a football game with Barack Obama than with John McCain — but by barely the length of a football.
ADVERTISEMENT

Obama was the pick over McCain by a narrow 50 percent to 47 percent, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Friday that generally mirrored each presidential candidate's strengths and weaknesses with voters. Women, minorities, younger and unmarried people were likelier to prefer catching a game with Obama while men, whites, older and married people would rather watch with McCain.

Anonymous said...

Justin,

It's no different from the '00 election, when "Who would you rather have a beer with?" was a decisive factor.

Let's face it, we're in Plato's Cave. Only too few of us realize that all the chatter out there is about shadows on the wall.

Anonymous said...

for one euro one would get 1.4 dollars as of today. the massive infusion of dollars into further bailouts, and protection to bank depositors has not done a thing for the dollar. gold prices seem to have gone up and held strong.

what is our national debt today? More than yesterday.

I agree, this election feels like 2000. I cannot get upset over it all, now. So much is yet to happen before the election.

Justin,

Today's top ten hits now at #5 is the new song, "Credit Crisis", by the Bail House Rockers.

Anonymous said...

check this out- apparently bush is going to declare an economic emergency the week of october 5th and suspend the elections- check out the link for yourselves and post feedback if u think its legitimate:

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1141.htm

Anonymous said...

apparently bush is going to declare an economic emergency the week of october 5th and suspend the
elections- heres is the link- scroll down the page and the story is towards the middle of the page- apparently the federal reserve has already given the bank of england a notice that bush will declare an emergency the week of october 5th- check it out guys:

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1141.htm

Anonymous said...

anonymous: "check this out- apparently bush is going to declare an economic emergency the week of october 5th and suspend the elections- check out the link for yourselves and post feedback if u think its legitimate"

I think it's complete rubbish. Look at the header at the top of the page. It's all apocalyptic end times conspiracy crap ... Freemasons, tarot cards, the Virgin Mary, etc.

Yes, things are bad, but let's try to stay sane and rational.

Anonymous said...

September 16, 2008

US To Declare October ‘Economic Emergency’, Suspend Elections

By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers

The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) is reporting in the Kremlin today that the Bank of England has received from the United States Federal Reserve Bank a ‘notice’ that President Bush is preparing to declare an ‘Economic Emergency’ during the week of October 5th and will further announce that the American Presidential election due to be held on November 4th will be ‘indefinitely suspended’.

These reports state that the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, had expressed his ‘shock and outrage’ to his American counterparts at the US Federal Reserve after the catastrophic collapse of one of the largest financial banks in the World, Lehman Brothers, and which caused both the Band of England and the European Central Bank to rush $42 billion into the European economy yesterday to keep it from collapsing, and their own banks from running out of money, necessitating the response from the US Central Bank leader Ben S. Bernanke.

As Prime Minister Putin had previously warned, and as we had reported on in our September 13th report “Hurricane Ike To Completely Destroy United States, Says Putin”, the horrific hurricane storm that has devastated the State of Texas, and where a humanitarian crisis is presently unfolding, has, indeed, proved to be the proverbial ‘straw that broke the camels back’ as the catastrophic damage from this storm raced beyond the Gulf of Mexico coast and ravaged the heartland of America to such an extent that the Governors of Ohio and Kentucky have declared States of Emergency as millions have been left without power.

The significance of this historic storm damage to the American economy, these reports say, led to the unprecedented pressures put upon the World’s largest insurance company American International Group (AIG) and its halt in negotiations, during a rare Sunday meeting in New York, to support the near bankrupt Lehman Brothers on Sunday, but which was then allowed to collapse and is now threatening to also destroy AIG itself.

Not being explained to the American people is that AIG, the World’s largest player in the $45 Trillion derivatives market, during the past two weeks had bet heavily on the World Markets against the damage from Hurricane Ike exceeding $2 billion in property damage, lost oil and gasoline production, lost wages and payments to companies forced to close, etc., it is obligated to pay, but which the actual damages are now being estimated will exceed $1 Trillion as the damages throughout the United States are finally tallied.

[Note: Derivatives are financial instruments whose value changes in response to the changes in underlying variables. The main types of derivatives are futures, forwards, options, and swaps. The main use of derivatives is to reduce risk for one party.]

Such a calamitous action by AIG has basically shattered the Western economic system, and as we can read as reported by The Australian Business News Service in their article titled “Global banks brace for derivative blow-up”, and which says:

“So here we are on the morning of D Day. The world's major couterparties on the $US455 trillion derivatives market go into technical default and no one is sure what is going to happen.

Lehman Bros yesterday formally petitioned the State Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District Court of New York for Chapter 11 protection.

Lehman would also have filed what are called "first day motions", which allow the bank to pay salaries and wages, while it continues to market its non-toxic, broker-dealer operations and work out what on earth to do with its highly toxic $US53 billion residential and commercial mortgage portfolio.

But, as scary and Spartan as it might sound, failure is as essential to the workings of an effective marketplace as is success.

Which means only that, given this shattered, battle-weary investment bank is unable to find itself a new owner or think its own way through the current calamitous circumstances, then one of the legendary brands of Wall Street should be left to fail.

In a weekend of unprecedented drama, the Fed seems to have been forced to play Solomon and choose between Merrill Lynch and Lehman. Both were facing mortal threat. But it seems only one could survive intact.”

Even worse for the American people during this unprecedented crisis is that one of their top economic experts, Wilbur Ross, chairman and CEO of WL Ross & Co, is now warning that over 1,000 US banks are nearing collapse, and one of their top economists, Nouriel Roubini, of NYU's Stern School and RGE Monitor, if further warning that “there is already a "slow-motion run on retail banks" occurring nationwide.”

Russian Military Analysts commenting on these reports state that though it is unlikely that the American President can suspend US elections solely on the basis of an Economic Emergency alone, it is entirely probable that he could do so should their Nation suffer another 9/11 type attack, and which they ‘cryptically’ observe could place as early as September 22nd as American Military Forces begin to conduct their World-Wide tests of their new nuclear alert system as they conduct another test of their so-called Star Wars Missile Defense System.

It should be further noted that as their once great Nation continues sliding towards the abyss of total ruin, these American people still refuse to acknowledge the substance of the many warnings being issued to them from all corners of the World as if even with eyes and ears they do not see and do not hear anything other than what they are programmed for by their masters.

How sad for these people, how much sadder for the rest of us these people are now all but lost.

© September 16, 2008 EU and US all rights reserved.

[Ed. Note: The United States government actively seeks to find, and silence, any and all opinions about the United States except those coming from authorized government and/or affiliated sources, of which we are not one. No interviews are granted and very little personal information is given about our contributors, or their sources, to protect their safety.]

Anonymous said...

I understand that the suspension of one's ability to short the financial sector stocks will allow those stock prices to rise without accountability inflating their net worth until the election when then, it could all implode.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand. Is this true?Last night I heard that only thirty selected companies make up the Dow. Today I've been having difficulty getting more information re the comment validity and process.

FOFOA said...

Friday, September 19. 2008
Posted by Karl Denninger at 06:43

Welcome To The USSA

Our government is truly unbelievable.

Election + Fear = Stupidity.

The sort of ban that we saw this morning on shorting - 800 stocks - is both foolish and unprecedented.

There are many, many reasons to short a stock that have nothing to do with trying to drive a stock into the ground.

For example, if you're concerned about a preferred stock issue, you might short the underlying while being long the preferred. This gives you a 100% safe coupon - that is, dividend - while exactly balancing (or close to it) your risk.

This ability to hedge off that risk just disappeared.

More...

Anonymous said...

Feels like the rush of wind that brought us the patriot act is starting to blow again...

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/19/news/economy/what_lawmakers_heard/index.htm?postversion=2008091920

Would have loved to be in that room... -rip

Anonymous said...

The reason, as from where I sit, why shorting was made illegal, and the "bail-outs" occurred, was because since Reagan, the Republicons have had a trickle down, free market, deregulated bonanza with America's money in order to go on a wealth acquiring frenzy. This all collapsed on Monday. Trickle down was pronounced dead on arrival. It failed. It was unsustainable.

These ultra-rich Republicon CEOs and the like told Bush that this was unacceptable. They MUST remain at the top of the Pyramid Scheme no matter what!

So what did Bernanke do? He created a government sponsored trickle down policy. He put into play a near $1 trillion bail-out, and a drain hole program to stuff the toxic derivatives and credit default swaps into for the public to hold on to.

Then the fat cats told Bada Bing Bernanke that in addition to their demand to stay at the top of the trickle down spigot, they wanted further "mob" protect from investors who might see through the falsified value of their financial bank companies and short sell against them. These crooks wanted government protection so they were given their wish.

This was why it happened so quickly. This plan still needs to get past congress and we must call our representatives and explain to them what this plan really means.

The value of the dollar cannot hold up. Who will pay for this debt? Not the cash strapped American worker. They're pissed out of cash. The rich are getting their bonuses for Xmas and salary raises.

This is not like Russia or communism. This is more like fascism, the type that Mussolini ran in Italy. Putin took over the companies and owned them. Mussolini allowed business and finance to exist but answered to him. With HLS given a free reign to spy on Americans, and follow them around without warrants and with a minimum of suspicion, as well as torture and imprison, this administration resembles fascism and not communism.

These guys are all criminals. They work for the Bush Crime Family.

Where is the extremely restrictive contingency plan to go along with the bail-outs, the freeze on salaries and bonuses, and the taking of stock options? If these bankstas want the government sponsorship, the socialization of their losses, and cash infusions, then they must answer to the American people and pay the price?. I don't see it. Therefore, I cannot help but to believe my theory is correct.

Now, that article about Bush declaring a type of economic Marshall Law in October, is laughable. Don't you all remember such a rumor spread when Clinton was on the way out?

Why would Bush want to stay on another day? He has brush to clear. He has more important things to do. He has a Bush library to build or drag in on the back of 8x10 foot utility trailer. He is already the worst president in modern times. Why would he want further humiliation? He is only trying to secure McCon's victory and then tell him, "Seeya later sucker!"

Anonymous said...

The below is a recap of last weeks meetings (link below) the second group is needed on a much wider scale into many more institutions and at a deeper level... drilling into the web of dirivitives and creating transperancy is manditory to minimize the blood letting.

"Saturday morning, in the same room, Mr. Paulson and Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Fed, ordered the assembled Wall Street titans to break into three groups and start cooking up some solutions.

One group included top brass from Morgan Stanley, Merrill and Citigroup Inc. It was dubbed the "LTCM Group," and its task would be to propose something modeled on the 1998 bailout of Long Term Capital Management, a huge hedge fund that collapsed and was bailed out when Wall Street firms contributed some $3.63 billion.

The second group, including executives from Goldman and Credit Suisse Group, began poring over Lehman's commercial real-estate business, which has caused huge losses. Their job: Figure out the assets' actual value.

The third group, dubbed "Lights Out," was charged with studying the fallout of a Lehman failure."

ttp://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/105802/Street-Scenes:-The-Players-Remaking-Financial-World?mod=weekend

-rip

Randy said...

Great Discussion guys. I really enjoy reading your perspectives.