simplesimon

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

More negativity from myopic SA contributors. Am I to presume it's okday with everyone that JPM impoverished all shareholders of WaMu?...and then paid out one point five billion in million dollar bonuses? It's okay for these 'too big to fail banks' to borrow at a half percent interest, and lend at 200 times that percent? It isn't JUST the administration that is fleecing the public. And still, business, and individuals cannot catch a break from these lenders. THIS is where the real hemorhaging of our personal finances are taking place.

Paul Volcker: The Voice in the Wilderness

T.Mark is developing quite a following, and for good reason. Knows history, and speaks plainly..with more than a little whimsey to keep a faint smile twinkling in our minds...meaning fun, and certainly enlightening at the same time.
Lots of us recall Paul Volcker...many of us were lithe and eager youths then...but a little alarmed at his, Volcker's, setting in place a staggering prime interest rate. It was the bullet that shot Pres. Carter in the foot. We also recall what seemed an endless round of hostile takeovers and greenmail mergers following Carter's demise and the 'deregulating GOP's' rise to stardom... the term "hostile" not nearly the melifluous sound of "mergers and acquisitions".
The picture is becoming more clear. Write on, Trader....
( hmm...sounds almost like (shudder ) "Right On"!

Corruption in the Executive Branch?

Re: Chicago politics. "stumbling bumbling liars"...or" look you in the eye and lie with a serious and sincere look of -ahem-compassion for your best interest". I was one of the complainers early on asking, "Why is it we all think lawyers have cornered the market on gifted leadership, and genuine trustworthiness?" I think everyone has forgotten all the shocking lawyer jokes I used to hear almost constantly. I still urge any and all, if they would, please...to plea for a dramatic turn from lawlessness ( Brian Ross' comment that over 100 Ponzi schemes are under investigation ), and a dramatic turn from immorality ( refresh yourself...watch the Maury Povich show a few weeks, until that sinks in, people. ). Any theologue worthy of the name knows there are grave consequences to an entire society for losing its moral compass. Theologians are detested enough as it is, but honestly friends, there are grave consequences. Anyone noticed fires ravaging homes? Floods, Hurricanes? Tornadoes? Earthquakes?...how about a volcano on U.S. soil anyone? One blogger I mentioned this to back during the campaign, said "This is the 2oth century; morality is not important anymore"...to which I replied, "Isn't it sad when cousins marry?"


On Jun 22 10:33 AM fireball wrote:

> chicago politics, actually chicago has just been caught more often.
> a man that can look you in the eye and lie without flinching is destined
> for high political office.
> a phrase the media coined which caught on comes to mind. "character
> isn't an issue?" it has always been the number one issue for me.
> without good character there is no "hope" for honesty, duty, honor
> or integrity.
> as i watched obama stand and lie so smooth and with such an altruistic
> demeanor it was chilling. at least mccain was a stumbling bumbling
> lier. these two were the best our nation could offer? i guess they
> were the best at the slime of politics.

The $700 Billion Disconnect: Lost in Translation

I have this contributor on 'save' for his eloquence and acumen re both human behaviour, the political 'act' we all see unfolding - so revealing of congress's lack of real understanding - ("truly frightened by the fact these were the people in charge " ) . I too applaud Ben and Hank for doing the best they know how to do, far more ready with a solution than any of their 'grillers' ever thought about having. ( they're lawyer elitist, for God's sake; what could they possibly understand about macroeconomics? ) . Yes Hank Paulson is not eloquent...not, e.g , like your average, golf buddy, gated community 100K /yr car salesman, or million a year 'top real estate agent'. Thank God, neither of those two types are in charge of anything. Congress...approve the package and step away from these two guys, Hank and Ben; and shut the hell up.

Don't Be Fooled - Short Selling Restrictions Do Work

Excellent article -I'm tempted to say silver lining back lighting some dark clouds. I too was astounded to see such ire re. the temporary ban on short selling...at least long enough to reinstate the uptick rule; and perhaps add a few detectives (at the SEC ) to discover/ uncover collusion. Things are different now with, as one contributor described it, whippersnapper dufusii with a blackberry and a lunch break hitting the panic sell button as he sees his share price slide. We like to pride ourselves on being against the govt. - but they are applying every tool in the box to stop the slide/panic. I remember when the DJIA was below 8,000. Should valuations fall back to that? Would you still blame your current whipping boys, Paulson and Bernanke if that happens, and without any remedy it certainly will.
When will any of us blame ourselves. We're the ones who thought we'd all move to Boardwalk and Parkplace with our Humvees, 50 miles or more from town....with our high maintenance women drooling over the Sex and the City designer outfits, and charging it all on high interest charge cards. Credit cards, by the way that your Congress approved laws that allow them to charge you 30% interest if you are late with another creditor? Or allow GMAC to repo your car for only 30 days arrearage,and sell it to Carmax , on a short sale, and legally be allowed to bill the previous owner the difference, and keep the 'profit' for yourselves?....Isn't this similar to short selling? Isn't this like "I'll borrow your car, without your knowledge, bash it up, then sell it, and keep the difference between its former value and the bashed up value?
Yes...we hear a chorus of short sellers crowing about the valuable service they provide re. "true valuation". But trust me, the vast majority of us see these institutional short sellers as grand theft auto repo kings, snorting and chortling with slobbering greed and utter disregard for any 'weakling' who gets in their way to Boardwalk and Park Place.
Keep boasting of your right to naked short selling, so we can identify you , round you up, and send you to camp......camp penitentiary.

Wake Up America, You’re Sinking

My summer in Norway 5 years ago was an eye opener in many respects. I was astonished to see $7 a gallon gas even that long ago. Naturally, I saw few cars, very tiny ones at that, and fully adequate mass transportation...along with grey haired folks riding bicycles, and lots of walking...and healthy strong people I might add- not 2/3rds of them obese as Americans have become, I recently heard reported. Obese in part, owing to the fried food, and mystery meat -lots of fish in Norway-the purest spawning grounds for fish in the world, with glacier fed fjords mingling with the sea-and a mighty Navy, I might add, arresting and impounding any and all rusty-hulk fish poachers -one with a 50 mile long purse net, that took the Norsk navy 5 days to reel back in! ) That is to say, an unimaginably strict immigration policy and enforcement. Although they have their offshore rigs in deep water ( and the sharpest looking boats and seamen in the world ) extracting oil by injecting hot water into the sands below and pumping up that slurry and cleaning it up is not cheap. Something we need to think about before we dive into deep waters off our shores to do the same. The Norwegians are close to being socialist with their medical care system, and a hefty 25% tax on everything, even Christmas gifts required an original invoice for the purpose of taxing those items imported. So medical care is not free, is it?. And the one medical doctor I met lived in a modest duplex of less than 800 sq. ft just like all the rest of the working stiffs. Things to think about. Our American banks all adored raking in all that dough, as large scale developers built hundreds and hundreds of homes all exactly alike and the same color, by exploited illegal alien ( translate dirt cheap ) labor; in farmer's fields where not even a bulldozer was needed...huge homes far larger and with more bathrooms and garage space than was needed at all; but the point, you see, was maximum price, and maximum profit, and maximum interest, at a maximum rate of sales. It all looked so good on paper.
well, so did the 'dot-com' IPO's, and their non existent profits, yielding millions in gains overnight.
All this points to slobbering human greed and utter lack of restraint or mitigation of national identifying trait of one upmanship, conspicuous consumption. Did we really think that our $750K home would impress our friends and poorer relations? Or did it just foment resentment and envy and familial strife; in tandem with our ludicrous spending habits, only serving to drag everyone, including those who could never afford a home, into deep financial crisis?
On Good Morning America just this morning, Aug. 8th, on their so called "Recession Rescue", the gals demonstrated how to go find 'bargains' in the brand racist clothing stores, where $2,000 worth of high fashion garments, like $120 jeans, could all be had at a savings of $500! Wow..whoopee. Only Robin had any voice of reason at all during this stupid reportage...asking how is it, and why is it considered 'smart shopping' if we buy a pair of jeans for over $100?
Thank you , Robin...for the love of God, may we all return to something remotely resembling sanity and reason in this country before we are all body slammed into the poor house.

Under The Radar News - Friday

Re: "goggle eyes" and yoohoo, the world desperately needs some real competition in this amrekt place. Most of us have found that it is becoming increasingly problematic to find a useful website resulting from a tedious search. In part owing to the 'pay per click' advertising /get rich quick scheme' where if you expect your page to be viewed on the front page, you better be prepared to budget at least a grand or even several grand a month for the priveledge of beign "seen". A goggle/yoohoo merger might be a flash in the pan fast buck opp...but in the end, it will not help anyone. It will just provide us with scores of pages of useless webpages to scroll through to find something useful. And while I'm at it...ebay desperately needs a viable competitor. Seven billion a year gross for ebay, for a 'virtual store', with no real ovehead, is unconscionable. Of course, who cares about consciousness, or integrity, or true worth today? Let's just keep appointing our golf buddies to the board, who will approve a 20 million dollar severance package for us once we drive the corporation into bankruptcy. And damn the torpedoes...full speed ahead.

Main Street Sacrificed to the Gods of Wall Street

It is refreshing to read a financial opinion relevant to the real world. I sometimes wonder if any of the -as described above-NYC pundits ever worked as a self employed working stiff in small town USA? I have. I can tell you frankly that all that is required for your small scale, but "actually build something for America" business to stumble into " kick you out in the street arearrages" is a week or so of bad news from the desks of, again, NYC news producers. And we have had more than a week or so of grim news, and even 'grimmer' forecasts.
I've heard more than one astute advisor remark on these pages, that a good deal of the very real capital vanishing in the market can be traced to the old fashioned term 'panic'. Yes...vanity, and excess did indeed run us into the ditch. ( who among us has not seen the Hummer turn in front of us at the intersection without the slightest hint of a turn signal...(too busy talking on their cell phone with comments like "Have your little people get in touch with my little people" ) ..are the term "vanity and excess" starting to emerge out of the inchoate gas of our manifold reasons for economic woes? We don't really need 8 mile a gallon behemoths, while Norway, for instance suffer $9 a gallon gas! We don't really need a house with 8,000 square feet...but the banks "need" the large derivitives from lending money to the vain and extravagant, don't they?
It may sound over simplistic...but some leadership with vision, inspiring self discipline, could help...like return to working on realistic vehicles and homes, and renewable energy, like geothermal and wind...and there are crops that yield more fuel energy, such as "tropical maize"...never heard of it, huh? All you have heard is doom and gloom, n'est ce pas? So some natty ( translate arrogant, and greedy ) financial demigods ran us in the ditch...with the media 'fanning the flames' of fear...the world will not come to an end. In tandem with the efforts to 'shore up the markets', we could all use a little less fearmongering, which we receive every day, even on Good Morning America...something frightening and disturbing every single day...less of that, please. For the love of God!

Warning Signs of a Modern Depression: See 1990 Japan

This dose of reality is 'refreshing' the way taking a shower with the electricity cut off, and having no hot water on tap. We wish more cautionary remarks were extant a few years ago. It was, in a small way-vis the general reaction of the public over such things as "Do we really need a 'hummer"? A home at a cool million? It seems over simplistic, but some leadership in Washington that knows what it's like to live on a modest income. What is it , exactly when we tune in to Barbara Walter's "Ten Most Fascinating People"-aren't we all being led and ancouraged to idolize the lives of the rich and famous; and in so doing, throw volatile organic compounds on a tinder dry economy already breaking out in fires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, while we wave permanent goodbye to our industrial base? It seems all we have left now is the great breadbasket. Let's hope those folks are still 'living right', and a drought, crop failure, that is to say, is not in the offing. For that is connected to the food chain, vis, overall health of our economy the way exorbitant cars, trucks, and housing is all tied to imprudent credit consumption to feed our unrestrained appetite for things we think we 'deserve'. What we deserve is a cold shower, and a thousand things for supper...every one of them beans.
May I suggest a $2500 car ( TaTa Motors-TTM )...geothermal, and perhaps wind energy (GE already with billions in contract for them ). Cheer up, sleepy Jeanie...we can do this.