Alan von Altendorf

http://www.cwsx.org
Total Rating:
+22 / -20

256 Comments

    • Mon Sep 22nd 20:56 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Bond Expert: Monday Wrap
      Speaking for many who hesitate to comment, I thank you very sincerely for these vital daily snapshots of the credit markets.
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    • Mon Sep 22nd 07:35 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      In Defense of the Paulson Plan
      "600 million fingers are then crossed in the hopes that it did not overpay, something that won't be known for years" -- because it will be done in secret, no transparency, no bids, no reports, unlimited churning and flushing through intermediaries.

      "toxic waste off the books, it improves the likelihood that an outside investor--Treasury itself, a sovereign wealth fund, even our man in Omaha--now feels able to value the enterprise." Observe that he forget the concept of a market altogether, and the allusion to Buffett was a throwaway, window dressing to hide the agenda of Paulson as sole arbiter of what's worth what henceforth.

      "Hold your nose and admit it: the relatively few franchises that manage the capital raising and M&A activities of Corporate America are worth a lot." He means GS, Paulson's shop. Everyone else second in line, and they better say pretty please with sugar on top. Are the regional banks and brokers anywhere on the radar. Hell no. That's where Mom and Pop have checking accounts and CDs. What about the pension funds? No M&A, no bail-out. You heard it here first.
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    • Mon Sep 22nd 03:23 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Why the Blogosphere Has Turned on Paulson
      "Okay. Let's leave no room for ambiguity here. The Treasury's draft plan for saving the world is breathtakingly awful. It would give the Secretary of the Treasury entirely unchecked discretion over up to 700B dollars. Even that "limit" has a loophole big enough that you could drive a truck through it, so the Secretary could in effect spend up to 1.8T dollars, right up to the newly raised Federal debt ceiling, without further Congressional action. This act would be such a wholesale delegation of the power of the purse that I wonder whether it is even constitutional. Of course, the act explicitly puts the Secretary's actions beyond any judicial review, so perhaps questions of legality or constitutionality are merely academic." (Steve Waldman, companion SA article published today)
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    • Mon Sep 22nd 03:10 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Why the Blogosphere Has Turned on Paulson
      You're kidding, right? Freezing SKF and throwing option trading into chaos is "conceivably a necessary idea"? Handing an individual (not an agency) $700 in capital, no questions asked, no limit on what he does or doesn't do, who he hires, who he pays off, who he ignores and destroys is "conceivably a good idea"? And Treasury should "a better job of explaining" why no court of law can review this coup d'etat?

      Felix, lemme ask you, man to man, no personal criticism, just curious -- are you employed by Another Government Agency?
      View article »
    • Sun Sep 21st 22:30 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Complete Transparency Is a Requirement To Restore Confidence
      Gentlemen, I think you're dreaming pipe dreams about transparency or oversight of any kind. I expect it to pass both houses of Congress by a voice vote Monday or Tuesday. No thumbprint roll call of ayes and nays on the record when they abolish the rule of law. You know why this has to be done in a hurry? So no one has time to read the letters pouring in from angry constituents. No one has time to think about consequences. SKF was frozen Friday. What's next -- confiscation?
      View article »
    • Sun Sep 21st 11:15 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Money Supply: 'If You Start a Fire, Put it Out'
      Treasurys are money, too. The metric is called L, total Liquidity.
      View article »
    • Sat Sep 20th 23:10 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Preserving U.S. Economy Over Free Markets (Short Sellers)
      Thank you, Yakk.
      View article »
    • Fri Sep 19th 13:31 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Here Go the Short ETFs
      About $5 billion frozen. Not counting tens of billions frozen in options. The following comment appeared at Yves Smith's blog...

      >as of 1159 pm today option market makers are not permitted to short.

      >period end of story.

      >no short, no put options.

      >or the put options are available only by matching naturals.

      >and if they go up huge in price, that means the call options must go >up in price by parity (arbitrage will guarantee that they do).

      >and black scholes cannot price this because it assumes >continuously trading liquid and complete markets

      >so for the time being there will be no options market in these stocks.

      >anyone who doesnt understand what i just wrote is not qualified to >trade options, seriously, and i say this for your own protection.

      >September 19, 2008 12:12 PM

      View article »
    • Fri Sep 19th 12:17 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Armageddon Postponed
      Something very screwy going on in the options market. Indices have no ask. JPM puts all over the place, no volume on crazy quotes. And then there's a press release explaining why SKF was frozen at 9:30 this morning...


      Bethesda, MD, September 19, 2008 – Due to the emergency action
      announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 18, 2008, temporarily prohibiting short sales of shares of certain financial companies, Short Financials ProShares (SEF) and UltraShort Financials ProShares (SKF) are not expected to accept orders from Authorized Participants to create shares until further notice. Unless notified otherwise, shares will be available for redemption by Authorized Participants as normal. The shares of these ProShares are expected to continue to trade in the financial markets today, but may trade at prices that are not in line with their intraday indicative values.


      Media contact:
      Tucker Hewes, Hewes Communications, Inc., (212) 207-9451
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    • Fri Sep 19th 04:35 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Peak Oil - Are We There Yet?
      Excellent. Thank you. One comment, however. Roughly half of all recently "proven" reserves are Monte Carlo hot air. The metric to watch like a hawk is production.
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    • Fri Sep 19th 04:23 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Real Reason Behind the Global Financial Crisis
      Good work. Thank you. Needs to be reprinted in Newsweek.
      View article »
    • Thu Sep 18th 08:00 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Making Sense of the Brokerage Bust
      Absolutely excellent. Thank you.
      View article »
    • Wed Sep 17th 21:52 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      America's Ad Hoc Fiscal and Monetary Policy
      "Unlimited amounts of money." Like Zimbabwe, in the sense of more zeroes on the bank notes? Or more chits against future tax revenue? More foreign ownership of US assets?

      Get real.
      View article »
    • Wed Sep 17th 10:44 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Turmoil in the Money Markets
      Treasury announced special auction to inflate Fed balance sheet. The first of many transfusions to come, prolly. Gold jumped.
      View article »
    • Wed Sep 17th 10:03 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Banks on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
      Great stuff. Pure delight. I owe you $5
      View article »
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