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American Banks Looking Japanese

That is so wrong. The loans banks own were not originated for securitization. Indeed what got many banks in trouble were construction loans which were never securitzable. The writer does not understand banks.

Options Trader: Thursday Outlook

What is it with the Reagan slam? To take the onus of Obama who appears to be a Pelosi and Reid stooge? FYI; Reagan also broke the back of Soviet domination of eastern Europe restoring democracy to half a continent; broke the back of inflation; restored an entrepreneurial culture; grew the economy dramatically when the world thought we were dead; did the right thing in Europe despite being castigated by the LEFT (who now emulate him in Obama) and negotiated the first ARMs treaties that actually REDUCED/DESTROYED nuclear weapons (as opposed to simply limiting their growth). Read his farewell letter (as he was drifting into Alzheimer hell) to get a sense of how remarkable a leader this man was to all of us.

Beware of Sending Fannie and Freddie Stock to Zero

You are 100% correct. The govt doesn't have to buy anything; just say we will not make them raise any common here...that we will let them sell preferred only for the next year or two with the promise to do common when the smoke clears. This is all about confidence as the situation; whatever it is; did not deteriorate that dramatically in the last 40 days. In the very 1980's the govt gave loan guarantees in exchange for warrants to Chrysler. The govt made a ton of money and saved the company. FRE/FNM are 100 times as important as Chrysler so I see trhe saME RULES APPLYING HERE. Placing the GSE's into conservatorship would be an unmitigated disaster and paulson - and i am saying this as a former GS employee - cannot be that stupid.

Trichet, ECB Missing the Point with Crude

This is a great article and spot on. trichet is an arrogant jerk and all he is doing is covering up for the massive growth in the ECB's balance sheet. German exporters are getting badly squeezed and the spanish and irish economies are in trouble. That govt needs to act intelligently is not anathema to free markets at all. Look at how well Brazil did with sugar based ethanol jump started by govt policy. we should start there by allowing imports of brazilian ethanol as a way to diversify our imported sources of energy; build nuclear (govt needs to allow it); and limit corn based ethanol subsidies (lessen food inflation).

Did Barron's Really Pan All Commodity Investing?

Barron's was absolutely right.
Commodities; particularly oil and prescious metals; are in a bubble.
Look how far gold has fallen already.
Oil is next....

Commodities Gone Wild

doug - u r so right.....parabolic upward ,ovrements are ok when u r long i guess eh? This is the next bubble and my guess is oil breaks first; than the euro and then finally gold....

Friday's Turnaround: Raid on the Shorts

You are a joke. CNBC is a total tool for Ackman and the shorts on mbia and abk. They consistently have spun the story on the monolines in a negative direction; led by Cramer and to a lesser extent Gasparino. Yet they now report a TRUE story that is bullish and you whine like a pathetic school girl? Grow some balls please....

MBIA Waits for Good News to Announce Bad

CDO squared even if worth zero does NOT yield 9bn loss on a PV basis as they only guarantee ULTIMATE payment of principal; which can be 30 years down the road; and is worth a small fraction - cents on the $$ - in losses. The interest payments they would have to pay are negligible in the interim; usually less than 100bps. These guys are talking their shorts up and are looking to cover.