Tim McPartland

Face It: The FDIC Is Broke

Karl---but why should the FDIC be any different than AIG, Fannie or Freddie---or Citi for that matter. We are in a land of financial folly--but no one cares--either domestically or internationally. No one can stop the music because there are not nearly enough chairs for all to sit on.

Institution Confidence in Rally Fades

If they are not allocating additional capital because of perceived risk why would they not be selling to lock in gains? Something smells in this recent up move--I just haven't quite figured out what it is yet.

eBay Finally Spins Off Skype

Skype is likely to never make a profit and will wither away over time.

MLPs: Reaching for Yields

Good article. Reaching for yield on MLP's can certainly cause portfolio issues--witness Atlas Pipeline (APL). Great yields mean nothing if you lose 60 or 70% of your capital.

More Foreclosure Sales, Please

I don't think that anyone with a house for sale over $100,000 is going to be begging for more inventory. Yes, more inventory in the 'giveaway' zone (foreclosed , short sales or otherwise distressed) would be desired by those utilizing the government incentives--especially by the realtors---because that is all they are selling.

Existing Home Sales on a Sugar High

Housing remains a very local issue, but in general I would agree with the conclusions of the article. Also would agree with 'old trader' that houses are shelter and should be viewed as such.

Markets Heading Higher or Lower This Holiday Week?

Certainly the patterns recently have seemed obvious--almost always meaning they will change in the near future.

Why the Stock Market Should Crash

Well written article--but maybe a bit too logical--one can go broke trying to pick tops in markets.

Geithner's Bad Judgment Leaves Taxpayers Holding the Bag

The claim that the treasury secretary is a bad negotiator is likely incorrect---by bailing them out at 100% they were promptly free to pay their counterparties in full which likely kept a bunch of the counterparties from going belly up. Too bad we are now watching as some of the counterparties are paying record bonuses--when they would have been insolvent a year ago.

Charity Begins at Blankfein's Goldman

If you have ever worked on Wall Street (I mean really Wall Street---New York) you know the attitude---bravado--gr... those that work so hard to figure out how to extract your money from your account and get it in theirs. I don't really care about these greedy jerks (I protect my $$$)---but I do care about the bonuses being paid for earnings that became possible as a result of zero interest rates. These rates never would have happened if Goldman and others like them weren't trying to fleece all of us.

Goldman's Human Face

I think it is correct to say that Goldman does what is good for Goldman--of course most businesses do the same.

This Is What a Housing Recovery Looks Like?

I think we will get a chance to find out about lower lows in housing when the winter winds blow into the midwest. While there have been many modest priced houses being built in the cities--the rural areas have zero new housing activity and virtually zero arms length sales of existing houses (only short sales and give away foreclosed properties). The winter winds always bring sales to a near halt and only the draw of a tax credit should give one hope---unfortunately employment conditions in many areas are poor and without jobs there is no reason to believe that a tax credit is of use to someone who is unemployed.

Electric Utilities: Thus Far a Relative Safe Haven

Hi Bosun---I am a lucky real estate appraiser---haven't touched business from sub prime lenders since 2003. In fact mostly doing estate and legal work now.


On Nov 20 07:53 AM bosun.j wrote:

> One must ask whether these utilities will continue to operate when
> they can no longer afford, or find the credit for that matter, to
> purchase the coal, gas or oil they need to generate electricity?
>
>
> This guy is a real estate appraiser. Can you say sub-prime?

Digging into Shipping

A couple of random items here. Time charters are not worth much if the company that has chartered the vessels has gone bankrupt--and a number of them have already. And secondly most of the covenants of the loans on these ships have a provision that would put companies in dafault if their asset value falls below a certain percentage of carrying value--meaning they would need to put up more money to stay out of default. Anecdotal evidence is that ships are now selling at 55% of book

Provident Energy Trust: Income for Today and Tomorrow

Thanks for the correction oilsands