Comments on Anthony M. Freed's articles RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.com/author/anthony-m-freed/articles http://seekingalpha.com/article/98319-was-wamu-worth-it?source=feed#comment-530317 530317 Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:21:25 -0400 seekingalpha.com/artic...

You might want to edit your article again...

Look at JPM's recent 10-K and read the above article...that should settle the question "Was WAMU worth it?" ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/126360-aig-obligated-to-pay-bonuses-bull?source=feed#comment-430142 430142 Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:21:03 -0400
My gains as a futures trader are no more "ill-gotten", as you purport, than any other investor's, including yours. I am no Wall Street banker. I've never worked on Wall Street, neither literally nor figuratively. I have never received a single penny of bailouts from the taxpayers. All of my gains in the futures market are honest trades that I've made without any help from the taxpayers. I have always been opposed to all the bailouts throughout the entirety of this imbroglio. If I had my way, ALL of the trillions of dollars of taxpayer funds wasted on bailouts would never have occurred.

However, I believe that when a company signs a contract with its employees, it has a duty to keep that contract. I also believe in the Constitution, and I have clearly indicated in this forum how abrogating those contractual obligations are a violation of three clauses in the US Constitution. Once again, since you can't win the argument, you hurl insults and false accusations at me!

Your repeated abuse tells no one in this forum anything of me. Your abusive behavior is the greatest testament to not only your nature, but your ideas as well. It reveals to everyone what type of person you are. I don't need to say anything in retaliation against you. You've done a fine job of accomplishing that yourself.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/126360-aig-obligated-to-pay-bonuses-bull?source=feed#comment-429933 429933 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:48:09 -0400
I have found that people engage in insult, straw man, and name-calling because they can't win their "case" with persuasion and good argument. Thus, they must engage in personal attacks and insults.

"Profanity is the effort of a weak mind to express itself forcefully." Spencer W.Kimball]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/126360-aig-obligated-to-pay-bonuses-bull?source=feed#comment-429927 429927 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:38:40 -0400 Case closed!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/126360-aig-obligated-to-pay-bonuses-bull?source=feed#comment-429922 429922 Contracts made under false pretenses, while withholding material > information, or with the intent to defraud are null and void. > > Case closed. > > If you actually read it, dipsht, no one used the NY Times to support > an argument, only to relay the background story material. > > And they are a hell of a lot more successful than you are, regardless > of their current financial state. > > And what are you sucking on in your picture? It's hard to tell, > but I have a few guesses.]]> Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:34:23 -0400
Case closed!

By the way, the Constitution also prohibits Congress from passing legislation ex post facto (after the fact) to punish an individual or group for doing something. It is called the "bill of attainder clause". So when the same Senators that placed the provision into the (mis-named) "stimulus" bill to protect those contracts, and now vow to tax the entire bonus at 100% in punitive legislative, it will be challenged in the courts, and they will strike it down under the "bill of attainder" clause of the Constitution.

Case closed!


On Mar 17 03:54 PM A.M. Freed wrote:

> Contracts made under false pretenses, while withholding material
> information, or with the intent to defraud are null and void.
>
> Case closed.
>
> If you actually read it, dipsht, no one used the NY Times to support
> an argument, only to relay the background story material.
>
> And they are a hell of a lot more successful than you are, regardless
> of their current financial state.
>
> And what are you sucking on in your picture? It's hard to tell,
> but I have a few guesses.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/126360-aig-obligated-to-pay-bonuses-bull?source=feed#comment-429864 429864 And you called me a troll? Charming]]> Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:16:38 -0400
Cheers!


On Mar 17 05:55 PM TXB wrote:

> And you called me a troll? Charming]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/126360-aig-obligated-to-pay-bonuses-bull?source=feed#comment-429840 429840 ...If you actually read it, dipsht.... > ....And they are a hell of a lot more successful than you are, regardless of their current financial state.... >... And what are you sucking on in your picture? It's hard to tell, > but I have a few guesses......]]> Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:55:47 -0400

On Mar 17 03:54 PM A.M. Freed wrote:

> ...If you actually read it, dipsht....
> ....And they are a hell of a lot more successful than you are, regardless of their current financial state....
>... And what are you sucking on in your picture? It's hard to tell,
> but I have a few guesses......]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/126360-aig-obligated-to-pay-bonuses-bull?source=feed#comment-429485 429485 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:02:36 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/126360-aig-obligated-to-pay-bonuses-bull?source=feed#comment-429465 429465 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:53:17 -0400
Like everyone else, I am indignant that taxpayer funds have been used to pay out huge bonuses in a company that has received a bailout out of my pocketbook. However, I also believe that the when employees of a company have earned bonuses through their toil and have lived up to their side of a contractual agreement, they deserve to be paid the bonuses they've earned. I doubt they deserve it, but if they've earned it based upon existing contracts and in good faith, they should be paid. The laborer is worthy of his hire.

If AIG had been allowed to fail, and had used the bankruptcy courts under a Chapter 11 filing, these contracts would have been dissolved by the Bankruptcy Court. The whole argument would have been a moot point. We probably wouldn't have even heard about it, because taxpayer funds would never have been used in the first place.

(By the way, our Constitution also empowers Congress to create bankruptcy laws under the "bankruptcy clause", which, in the wisdom of the Founders, creates an environment in which bad assets based upon bad decisions can be liquidated in a civil and fair manner for all stakeholders. Unfortunately, few people in Washington or Wall Street care about the Constitution any more. The further we stray from the principles embodied therein, the more trouble we create for ourselves! The further we stray, the more the successful American experiment becomes a failure. That's the natural consequence of an arrogant straying from the success formula they gave us.)

Your insistence that lawyers should simply look for loopholes in contractual agreements so they can break their word say much about your character and that of the macro society in which we live today, but nothing about the validity of those contractual agreements and obligations. The more legalistic minds seek to break not only their contractual agreements, but their WORD, the more a tyrannical government is required to reign in all our immoral behavior. Gradually, but surely, the crushing weight of more and more laws and legalistic language makes "criminals of us all".]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/126360-aig-obligated-to-pay-bonuses-bull?source=feed#comment-429246 429246 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:36:37 -0400 ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/126360-aig-obligated-to-pay-bonuses-bull?source=feed#comment-428973 428973 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:23:25 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/125849-visa-puts-heartland-on-probation-over-security-breach?source=feed#comment-428936 428936 Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:03:06 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/125550-what-might-happen-in-a-big-bank-failure?source=feed#comment-426883 426883 Are you saying that the FDIC lost $200 MM on this closure? That > is not what I heard.]]> Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:42:55 -0400
Combine that level of uncertainty with the idea that all of this money is "fungible" - you know, like none of the TARP or TARF money went to parties, bonuses, or to foreign Sovereign Wealth funds - that was all different money than the money took from us to keep from folding.

Who knows up from down anymore.

BTW - this wss written by my friend Scott Wilson, I was just asked to publish it for him through several channels.

Thanks!


On Mar 12 03:45 PM Briber wrote:

> Are you saying that the FDIC lost $200 MM on this closure? That
> is not what I heard.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/125849-visa-puts-heartland-on-probation-over-security-breach?source=feed#comment-425793 425793 Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:56:11 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/125849-visa-puts-heartland-on-probation-over-security-breach?source=feed#comment-425156 425156 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:51:54 -0400 solidcore.com]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/125849-visa-puts-heartland-on-probation-over-security-breach?source=feed#comment-424399 424399 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 10:33:29 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/125550-what-might-happen-in-a-big-bank-failure?source=feed#comment-423551 423551 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 15:45:17 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/125550-what-might-happen-in-a-big-bank-failure?source=feed#comment-423394 423394 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:38:50 -0400
Seriously, it's Tyler. Tyler Durden.

Really seriously. Apologies for the wuss. Splitting your assets up among banks makes sense if you are over the limit. If under, maybe, but likely finding out what banks are considered safe is a good idea too. Although that's tough. Go ahead. Split away.

Now excuse me, my real name is George Bailey and there's a run on the Building and Loan.

Here's some investing advice. Mattress Default Swaps.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/125550-what-might-happen-in-a-big-bank-failure?source=feed#comment-423354 423354 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:12:39 -0400
]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/125550-what-might-happen-in-a-big-bank-failure?source=feed#comment-422783 422783 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:43:59 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/124845-bankrupting-leverage-is-the-u-s-a-zombie-nation?source=feed#comment-420038 420038 If we want to feed those 100 thousands you mention it is more than > equity and debt we have to give up; it's our consumerist oriented > society. Do some have to starve so that another can consider car > and house a normal part of life? I'm afraid so because with 7 bil > and growing, I can't imagine the alternative. Furthermore, the alternative > will not work, some countries already tried it.]]> Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:33:30 -0400

On Mar 09 09:41 AM fabien hug wrote:

> If we want to feed those 100 thousands you mention it is more than
> equity and debt we have to give up; it's our consumerist oriented
> society. Do some have to starve so that another can consider car
> and house a normal part of life? I'm afraid so because with 7 bil
> and growing, I can't imagine the alternative. Furthermore, the alternative
> will not work, some countries already tried it.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/124845-bankrupting-leverage-is-the-u-s-a-zombie-nation?source=feed#comment-420034 420034 the plan orange could have worked if this whole financial crisis > was simply a housing bubble based on excessive prices. > > 1) the housing bubble is more than just price. there are too many > houses (baby boomers and vacation homes). they are the wrong type > (shift from suburbs to inner city). > > 2) there are multiple bubbles - housing, consumer credit, financial, > employment shift. > > 3) there is a global recession. > > housing has been moved out of the center rings and is now a side > show. > > people keep pointing out it is my best interests to spend my money > to help the neighbor pay off their mortgage with public debt i will > end up financing. you do realize i have to use money from my pocket > to pay off debt. i need to pay nothing to pay off my house.
> ]]> Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:32:36 -0400

On Mar 09 07:38 AM The hand wrote:

> the plan orange could have worked if this whole financial crisis
> was simply a housing bubble based on excessive prices.
>
> 1) the housing bubble is more than just price. there are too many
> houses (baby boomers and vacation homes). they are the wrong type
> (shift from suburbs to inner city).
>
> 2) there are multiple bubbles - housing, consumer credit, financial,
> employment shift.
>
> 3) there is a global recession.
>
> housing has been moved out of the center rings and is now a side
> show.
>
> people keep pointing out it is my best interests to spend my money
> to help the neighbor pay off their mortgage with public debt i will
> end up financing. you do realize i have to use money from my pocket
> to pay off debt. i need to pay nothing to pay off my house.

> ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/124845-bankrupting-leverage-is-the-u-s-a-zombie-nation?source=feed#comment-420032 420032 LOVE IT, if only because your plan of action is bold and forces us > to face the consequences of our actions. IMO, that is the main thing > needed to start us moving in the right direction.]]> Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:30:14 -0400 power and magic in it.” Goethe


On Mar 09 11:38 AM freddyv wrote:

> LOVE IT, if only because your plan of action is bold and forces us
> to face the consequences of our actions. IMO, that is the main thing
> needed to start us moving in the right direction.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/124845-bankrupting-leverage-is-the-u-s-a-zombie-nation?source=feed#comment-420029 420029 Anthony M. Freed: > > Thank you for putting some actual numbers to the debt problem (I > hate to use the overused media/government favorite word "crisis," > although it does fit better). > > Having used a low debt-to-equity/assets ratio as one of my investing > criteria for over forty years, I can tell you that the debt most > companies are carrying has greatly increaed. > > But it is easier to find companies that have resisted the easy money > temptation. In the 1960s & `70s, it was nearly impossible to > find companies with zero long term debt and debt-to-equity ratios > of less than 10%, but these are plentiful today in a relative sense. > > > The fact remains, however, in my view at least, that most companies > are overleveraged and must take the pain to get out from under such > debt and resist retrenching themselves with it. > > Debt is America's problem; the results have been asset-price crashes > the world over. > > The nation can get out of this mess without settling its debt problem, > but without extremely high inflation wiping the value of that debt > away, some day we're going to have to pay the piper for this excess. > > > Thank you again for the thought-provoking article. Keep up the good > work!]]> Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:25:35 -0400

On Mar 09 12:56 PM ArtfulDodger wrote:

> Anthony M. Freed:
>
> Thank you for putting some actual numbers to the debt problem (I
> hate to use the overused media/government favorite word "crisis,"
> although it does fit better).
>
> Having used a low debt-to-equity/assets ratio as one of my investing
> criteria for over forty years, I can tell you that the debt most
> companies are carrying has greatly increaed.
>
> But it is easier to find companies that have resisted the easy money
> temptation. In the 1960s & `70s, it was nearly impossible to
> find companies with zero long term debt and debt-to-equity ratios
> of less than 10%, but these are plentiful today in a relative sense.
>
>
> The fact remains, however, in my view at least, that most companies
> are overleveraged and must take the pain to get out from under such
> debt and resist retrenching themselves with it.
>
> Debt is America's problem; the results have been asset-price crashes
> the world over.
>
> The nation can get out of this mess without settling its debt problem,
> but without extremely high inflation wiping the value of that debt
> away, some day we're going to have to pay the piper for this excess.
>
>
> Thank you again for the thought-provoking article. Keep up the good
> work!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/124845-bankrupting-leverage-is-the-u-s-a-zombie-nation?source=feed#comment-420027 420027 You cavalierly suggest that we can unilaterally let these institutions > go bankrupt. > > These stocks suffer low valuations due to mark-to-market eggheaded > idiocy and gross stock manipulation. > > We don't have the above option unless we'd enjoy a near financial > dark ages around the world and the spectre of war with, say, China. > > > Understand the full implications of what you promulgate. > > It's all well and good to try mental experiments, but be grounded > in reality, please. > ]]> Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:23:21 -0400

On Mar 09 12:36 PM ironpants wrote:

> You cavalierly suggest that we can unilaterally let these institutions
> go bankrupt.
>
> These stocks suffer low valuations due to mark-to-market eggheaded
> idiocy and gross stock manipulation.
>
> We don't have the above option unless we'd enjoy a near financial
> dark ages around the world and the spectre of war with, say, China.
>
>
> Understand the full implications of what you promulgate.
>
> It's all well and good to try mental experiments, but be grounded
> in reality, please.
> ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/124845-bankrupting-leverage-is-the-u-s-a-zombie-nation?source=feed#comment-420026 420026 Wouldn't massive inflation work just as well? WOuldn't that make > all of the mortgages work? Wouldn't we be paying back our debt with > cheaper dollars? Isn't that what we are doing by printing our way > out of this?]]> Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:19:42 -0400

On Mar 09 07:52 PM User 372907 wrote:

> Wouldn't massive inflation work just as well? WOuldn't that make
> all of the mortgages work? Wouldn't we be paying back our debt with
> cheaper dollars? Isn't that what we are doing by printing our way
> out of this?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/124845-bankrupting-leverage-is-the-u-s-a-zombie-nation?source=feed#comment-420025 420025 A fatal mistake is committed in your analysis. Who cares about the > excessive debt when the carrying cost of the debt is close to zero? > So long as the debtor has access to the liquidity and so long as > the debtor is not insolvent, the excessive debt can be winded down > over time. > > Fear is running wild these days! Considering the bank, with the spread > over 5% (loan at 5.5% with cost of the funding 0.5%), over time, > banks can repair their capital base especially when banks suspend > dividend payout. Consumer credit loss will peak and then come down, > given the fact consumers are building up saving rate to over 5% now. > > > For other corporations or individuals without access to the zero > cost funding, things will be different. Corporations with excessive > debt without liquidity access to the zero cost funding will eventually > face bankruptcy. But failure in corporations is widely anticipated > and bankruptcy is routine. What happened in the bankruptcy? Most > likely the plan you described as orange. creditors don't want to > run the company in the first place. Creditors will take whatever > the money they can recover from liquidation and walk away.]]> Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:17:46 -0400

On Mar 09 06:48 PM vaughn wrote:

> A fatal mistake is committed in your analysis. Who cares about the
> excessive debt when the carrying cost of the debt is close to zero?
> So long as the debtor has access to the liquidity and so long as
> the debtor is not insolvent, the excessive debt can be winded down
> over time.
>
> Fear is running wild these days! Considering the bank, with the spread
> over 5% (loan at 5.5% with cost of the funding 0.5%), over time,
> banks can repair their capital base especially when banks suspend
> dividend payout. Consumer credit loss will peak and then come down,
> given the fact consumers are building up saving rate to over 5% now.
>
>
> For other corporations or individuals without access to the zero
> cost funding, things will be different. Corporations with excessive
> debt without liquidity access to the zero cost funding will eventually
> face bankruptcy. But failure in corporations is widely anticipated
> and bankruptcy is routine. What happened in the bankruptcy? Most
> likely the plan you described as orange. creditors don't want to
> run the company in the first place. Creditors will take whatever
> the money they can recover from liquidation and walk away.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/124845-bankrupting-leverage-is-the-u-s-a-zombie-nation?source=feed#comment-419889 419889 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:52:12 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/124845-bankrupting-leverage-is-the-u-s-a-zombie-nation?source=feed#comment-419849 419849 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:48:24 -0400
Fear is running wild these days! Considering the bank, with the spread over 5% (loan at 5.5% with cost of the funding 0.5%), over time, banks can repair their capital base especially when banks suspend dividend payout. Consumer credit loss will peak and then come down, given the fact consumers are building up saving rate to over 5% now.

For other corporations or individuals without access to the zero cost funding, things will be different. Corporations with excessive debt without liquidity access to the zero cost funding will eventually face bankruptcy. But failure in corporations is widely anticipated and bankruptcy is routine. What happened in the bankruptcy? Most likely the plan you described as orange. creditors don't want to run the company in the first place. Creditors will take whatever the money they can recover from liquidation and walk away.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/124845-bankrupting-leverage-is-the-u-s-a-zombie-nation?source=feed#comment-419355 419355 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:56:17 -0400
Thank you for putting some actual numbers to the debt problem (I hate to use the overused media/government favorite word "crisis," although it does fit better).

Having used a low debt-to-equity/assets ratio as one of my investing criteria for over forty years, I can tell you that the debt most companies are carrying has greatly increaed.

But it is easier to find companies that have resisted the easy money temptation. In the 1960s & `70s, it was nearly impossible to find companies with zero long term debt and debt-to-equity ratios of less than 10%, but these are plentiful today in a relative sense.

The fact remains, however, in my view at least, that most companies are overleveraged and must take the pain to get out from under such debt and resist retrenching themselves with it.

Debt is America's problem; the results have been asset-price crashes the world over.

The nation can get out of this mess without settling its debt problem, but without extremely high inflation wiping the value of that debt away, some day we're going to have to pay the piper for this excess.

Thank you again for the thought-provoking article. Keep up the good work!]]>