oldgoldbug

Total Rating:
+12 / -1

81 Comments

    • Fri Oct 3rd 14:41 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Drowning in Illiquidity
      ping_kong : yeah whatever you said I agree! Seriously, you seem know your stuff; keep posting (but put some explanations in for the mortals here).
      View article »
    • Fri Oct 3rd 14:11 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Sell Signal of the Day, Greenspan Edition
      billddrummer - that was in the back of my mind too; though this market is far too interesting to spend much time on the thought. As huge as $700B is it may not be near enough. I think this is Paulson's way of priming the pump - jack up the prices and let every else mark to the market and hope it stays positive until poor John or Obama gets to deal with the mess.
      View article »
    • Thu Oct 2nd 11:26 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Financial 'F-Word' That Needs To Be Said
      How is it that "mark to the market" is the greatest thing since sliced bread when it works for you and must be changed immediately when it works against you?
      Since the author brought up the "fraud" word, let's just think about old Hank Paulson for a minute. He takes his half billion dollars in stock from GS, sells it and pays no capital gains because of a little known law that encourages qualified people to work in government at a miniscule fraction of their private sector salaries, but gives them a nice carrot as a reward. Then he comes up with a plan to buy assets with government money with no review and no legal liability. GS, MS, BAC et al are lined up to help Hank with his little project because they will get to double, triple or quadruple dip on $700 Billion. After all, aren't these the same guys that made up these investments in the first place and got paid fees and commissions to put them together and sell them? Now supposedly they will fix them?
      Come on folks, this is the most blatant fraud perpetuated on the public in a long long time. The public smells a rat and is inundating the Congress with negative opinions. They are right.
      If Warren Buffett doesn't understand these investments, I humbly suggest not many others do either. Let them fail, let the market go wherever it is going to go. We have bankruptcy laws that are good enough to handle LEH, others can participate also. Eventually entrepreneurs in each locality will buy up the houses from the bankruptcy courts, fix them up, sell them at reasonable prices or rent them out. Intervention in this process by the government is unnecessary and counterproductive.
      People working in governments seldom get it right because if they could they would be making part of the $66 Billion paid to the employees of the investment banking companies in 2007. These are the people that are going to set prices?? Good luck.
      View article »
    • Wed Oct 1st 11:04 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Update: Crude Oil, Priced in Gold
      SWRichmond - For a long while I thought the most logical reason for the Iraq war was to disrupt oil supplies and push prices higher, given the damage occurring to pipelines during a war. Your thesis makes far more sense and explains why the neocons were so willing to jump into a manufactured war. The rise of the Iranian "threat" provides a very convenient excuse for our forces to remain in the region.
      It sure did seem to me that oil's movements were related more to moves by hedge funds than anything else. Now that hedge fund redemptions are beginning in earnest it will be interesting to see how the price of oil holds up.
      By the way, with the huge amounts of dollars floating around out there, it might even be difficult for really big players to move in and out of the gold market without totally disrupting it. I would think the oil market is far bigger and able to absorb money more readily.
      View article »
    • Mon Sep 29th 16:38 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Naked Shorting Rule Means Time To Buy Stocks
      Hmm, guess the market missed the all out buy signal.
      View article »
    • Mon Sep 29th 16:28 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The U.S. Banking System is Effectively Insolvent
      The whole charade of consumerism, multiple homes, $100000 cars on lease, Madison Avenue inspired wants and "needs", farm subsidies, tobacco subsidies, etc etc etc is ripe for elimination. The charade of George W. Bush is over - his legacy as the worst President ever is secure. Let us hope Dividends Anonymous is right and this economic meltdown will presage 70 years of real growth like the Great Depression. Our inheritance from our hard working forefathers has been squandered; we will have to rebuild for our children and grandchildren. Of course, in today's world there is only the "now" and the "me"; the future be hanged. Evidently bills of the future are coming due now.
      View article »
    • Sun Sep 28th 12:47 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Wall Street Bailout: Making a Deal With the Devil
      Well said.
      View article »
    • Sun Sep 28th 12:37 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      The Fed Has Made the Entire U.S. a Hedge Fund - Get Your Portfolio Ready
      otbricki - Good point about gold being an alternative currency. Even though the gold supply is relatively small, it does act as an effective counterbalance, absorbing dollars at different price levels, giving those of us who believe in such things a fairly good gauge of just "how bad" or "how good" things are and in what direction they are heading. Of course it is probably prone to manipulation by miners, governments, hedge funds and entities I don't even know about but in the end you can still plop it on the counter and get cash. That is not be denigrated.
      View article »
    • Sun Sep 28th 12:07 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Bailout: Reaching a Deal
      young retired guy - that approach has been in the back of my mind for awhile, thanks for putting it out there. The probable reason it isn't being implemented is that it is too simple and doesn't involve making or losing gobs of money.
      Maybe what's going on is a nifty little combo pack based on charles hopfl's post - get some big bucks to GS, MS, BAC et al to manage this charade, give the downward spiraling instruments an artificial floor, and stop having to mark everything to a declining market. Paulson may be a really good and sharp guy, but the leopard doesn't change its spots. He's got to see this as a great opportunity to make some serious bucks especially with a giant checkbook. I only hope he's making it for the taxpayers who are putting up the money.
      View article »
    • Sat Sep 27th 12:19 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Markets Are 'Free Fallin'
      sorgmot - believe it was $35/oz; though probably governments more concerned about collapse of financial systems that price of gold
      View article »
    • Sat Sep 27th 10:29 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Bailout Talks Lose Sight of the Cost Question
      Good point by gramps2, deep pocket investors sitting on lots of cash are not picking up these distressed securities. Somewhere I read that Buffett thought it was too difficult to analyze the securities, especially the derivatives of derivatives.
      Wall Street has made plenty on these deals, paid out the profits to their staff and then the firms were caught short of capital when the deals went south. Many of the big winners, like Mr. Paulson, took their chips and went home. Now we are asking the guys who had the luck to participate, make a lot of money, evidently not object to what was going on and the good fortune to leave early, to come back and clean up the mess they made. I love this country!
      Lo and behold, GS, MS et al are lining up to get a piece of this very big $700 Billion pie. With friends like this who needs enemies?
      Regular folks who have lost their homes, jobs, etc are saying "let 'em fail". I guess they are upset because no body bailed them out from their bad decisions.
      View article »
    • Fri Sep 26th 10:05 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      No Wonder the $700 Billion Bailout 'Deal' Failed
      Thank you. The Devil IS in the details. Spent quite a bit of time reading about the creation of the Fed last nite; the bill is consistent with the reasons why the Fed was created in the first place so none of the provisions should surprise any of us. Good for Ron Paul and the rest of the rebels - they are showing real backbone when everyone else is just rolling over.
      Its interesting that those who created the problem are now going to solve it. It sure looks like they are trying to save their buddies. Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of buyers for the pieces of the failed enterprises that are sound and worth something.
      Finally, all the usual suspects (GS, MS, JPM etc) are lining up to get a piece of managing the biggest pie even they have seen in a while. Would they possibly skim off the best parts for themselves and their favorite clients? Nah, they're way too ethical for that.
      View article »
    • Mon Sep 22nd 15:51 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Feddie Pay: The Reality of the Bailout World
      A well thought out analysis. I'm not so sure the deflation won't occur but the actions of the markets today make it more likely down the road than immediately. It doesn't look like it will be a fun party.
      View article »
    • Mon Sep 22nd 10:13 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Why I Got Gold Wrong
      One additional point regarding gold as money. Back in 1993 I purchased my house for the equivalent of 300 ounces of gold. Today my house is worth: yep, 300 ounces of gold. That is money, not the fantasy that somehow the value of my home has tripled as I have used up over 15 more years of its useful life. My house has tripled in dollar terms because the dollar is worth substantially less than it was 15 years ago.
      View article »
    • Mon Sep 22nd 10:04 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Why I Got Gold Wrong
      Massive inflation is the only weapon the FED/Treasury has to try to keep the system from crashing. But the FED/Treasury can't force the banks to loan money. Money velocity slows as fear takes hold at all levels and a crash becomes possible in spite of inflationary actions. The markets evidently aren't sure how this will play out so we see the gold and bond markets both moving up as bets are placed. This does happen from time to time - witness early 80's when the stock and gold market moved up together before gold dropped and stocks moved into a long term bull market.
      View article »
Loading...
Symbols:
Authors:
Quick Links:
Contribute an Article Become a Seeking Alpha Contributor

Transcripts

More Transcripts»