Anandakos

Jon Stewart Takes on Goldman Sachs [Video]

Hedge Fund,

That swipe against Judge Sotomayor was uncalled for.

On Jul 18 02:15 PM Mad Hedge Fund Trader wrote:

> ) I am frequently asked where I find my best sources of market data.
> Well here they are: Saturday Night Live, David Letterman, and the
> Jon Stewart Show. Unfortunately, Jay Leno retired and won’t be back
> until his new show starts in September. I’ve found my investment
> returns are much better when I keep the Comedy Channel on all day,
> instead of CNBC, which is basically a giant fan club for its owner,
> General Electric (seekingalpha.com/symbo...). How else would
> I know that Jim Cramer argued vociferously that Bear Stearns wouldn’t
> go under, or that Dora the Explorer had been appointed to the Supreme
> Court? For a perfect example of this, take a look at the video clip
> above outlining John Stewarts take on the Goldman Sachs (seekingalpha.com/symbo...)
> earnings

Jon Stewart Takes on Goldman Sachs [Video]

Wisdom,

Actually, they are ("writing the laws and hiring the bureaucrats"). Or at least, supplying them.

On Jul 18 03:37 AM Wisdom vs. Information wrote:

> GS is not writing the laws and hiring the bureaucrats that are taking
> away your money and rights-- that would be the politicians (that
> jon stewart supported, BTW). stewart is funny, but he is a symptom
> of the problem

5 Reasons Bank Shareholders Will Take a Hit

It's NOT "YING". It's YIN.

On May 06 03:13 PM Ying & Yang wrote:

> Bankrupting For Profit-JPM-87.4T in Derivatives-G/S 30.2T-B of A
> 38T-C-31.9Trillion
> Feb.6, 2009 the Kazakhstan Tenge went poof and was devalued by 18%
> in a single day.
> “But last week Morgan Stanley and another bank suddenly demanded
> repayment.BTA was unable to comply, and thus tipped into partial
> default.
>
> Morgan Stanley also asked ISDA to start formal proceedings to settle
> credit default swaps contracts written on BTA.”
> CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS
> A credit default swap (seekingalpha.com/symbo...) is a credit
> derivative contract between two counterparties. The buyer makes periodic
> payments to the seller, and in return receives a payoff if an underlying
> financial instrument defaults.
> Wall Street banks derivative outstanding as 31 December 2008- JP
> Morgan$87.4T-Goldman Sachs-$30.2T-BofA-38.C 31-$ Trillion.
> The Financial Times reports, “As a result speculation is rife that
> Morgan might have deliberately provoked the default of BTA to profit
> on its CDS, since a default makes the US bank a net winner, not a
> loser as logic might suggest.
> In theory, lenders should have an interest in avoiding default. At
> worst, it creates the risk of needless value destruction as creditors
> tip companies into default.”
> Politically privileged banks with worse than worthless toxic assets
> sell them for cash at an inflated fair value lying price to a self-funded
> Special Investment Vehicle (seekingalpha.com/symbo...
>
> For the sake of argument and simplicity assume that Bank G loans
> Company M $1M in either a leveraged buyout or some other type of
> deal that was common over the past few years when credit flowed freely.Then
> Bank G purchases a CDS on Company M’s loan for $30,000 from Bank
> B and the CDS is reinsured by Insurance Company A.
>
> Company M deteriorates because its free cash flow and a little more
> all goes to service debt and Bank G sells 90% of its loan to Bank
> J. Because credit risk has increased Company M’s bond now trades
> in the market for $25,000 and Bank J purchases a CDS from Bank L
> for the current market price of $60,000 and reinsured by Insurance
> Company A.Banks B and L go bankrupt, the trader at Bank L who sold
> Bank J the CDS now either goes to work at Bank J or receives consulting
> fees and the privileged creditors of Banks B and L, such as subsidiaries
> of Bank J and G, receive government bailout payments through Insurance
> Company A.
> Company B, while still able to service its debt, does violate some
> provision of its debt covenant.
> Second, they fund a SIV with $25,000 of cash which borrows another
> $825,000 from the Bank’s government puppets.
> Third, the SIV pays Banks G and J $850,000 of cash for the Company
> M loan which, while trading for $25,000 in the market is being carried
> on their balance sheet for $600,000 and consequently results in a
> $250,000 gain on the income statement for the quarter after having
> written down a couple quarters ago.
> Fourth, Banks G and J receive $2M in bailout funds for the failed
> CDS contracts.
> Fifth, Company M is completely evaporated and thousands of workers
> lose their jobs.
>
> Total profit for Banks G and J:2.85M-$1M-$30k-60k=$... pay for a
> days work
> FINANCIAL WMDs AND FINANCIAL TERRORISTS
>
> The GLD ETF Auth.,Parties-Bear Stearns-Lehman Brothers-Citigroup-Mer...
> Lynch-Goldman Sachs-J.P. Morgan-Morgan Stanley-will use the language
> in the prospectus to do ?
> Derivatives, infest balance sheets of almost every publicly traded
> corp.
> Many local, state and national governments.
> POTENTIAL REMEDIES
> When confronted with financial terrorists society has often had to
> take powerful measures.
> when John Law co-opted the French economyFrench Revolution was sparked.
>
>
> In the United States of America Section 19 Act of 1792 provided,
> “That if any of the coins shall be debased or made worse through
> the default or with the connivance of any of the officers every such
> officersaid offences, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and shall
> suffer "Death.”

5 Reasons Bank Shareholders Will Take a Hit

What is so "evil" about the SPX going back to 1000? My guess is what's so bad is that you missed a VERY tradeable rally.

On May 06 04:58 PM archman82011 wrote:

> It is a traders market.
> Simple as that.
> Hedge funds have driven this rally, they will end it when they want
> to make money on the other side.
> I have a long term buy list with entry points all set for that day,
> when the stocks I want, head back to those prices.
>
> BTW: 25 year continuation trend line on the S & P 500 is 750
> as of today.
>
> As of today's close the S & P is absurdly overvalued. Every single
> time for the past 40 years the S & P has reverted to its continuation
> trend line at some point. As I spoke about in another post, months
> ago, I feared that this market was going to be driven straight back
> up to 1000 on the S & P by all the evil forces (hedge funds,
> FED, Treasury, and all it's partner trading desks) and sadly I appear
> to be right.

5 Reasons Bank Shareholders Will Take a Hit

You are missing one significant point: the common stockholders are ALREADY diluted! Who in 2009 cares about "voting rights" except the big institutional guys? What do your 500 or 5000 shares of C or BAC mean to their management. Squat!

The preferred dividend has to be paid completely before common holders get one cent of dividends. So it really doesn't matter if the preferred is converted to common; the cash flow from holding is going to be nil for years in either case. It's only selling to the next Greater Fool that might be impacted.

But how far can C fall from $3.50? Really.

Credit Default Swaps May Be Playing a Supporting Role in Chrysler Bankruptcy Filings

Woo-hoo! Tin foil hat time! So glad you stopped in; all your friends here at Seeking Alpha wish you the best as you drive your brain into the ditch.

On Apr 30 02:11 PM bigbadbeethoven wrote:

> SOBama is trampling the constitution RIGHT AND LEFT, and has from
> the start---and you're upset that they called him "Barry O"? Why
> shouldn't they call him Barry----Barry Soetoro is his legal name,
> not Barack Obama. He's not even a citizen of this country, and has
> steadfastly refused to provide any proof that he actually is. No
> Secretary of State and no ethics committee has EVER verified that
> he's actually a citizen.....it came out in court in the CA/Keyes
> suit that no SOS has ever qualified him and the CA SOS said it's
> not her job and they don't verify candidates (which is a complete
> LIE because they at least twice have removed candidates from the
> ballot after verification failed- they just wouldn't touch the MESSIAH)---the
> system is actually an honor system where Barry Soetoro signs a sworn
> affadavit that he is Barack Obama and is a citizen of this country---and
> they take his word which is only the word of a lying criminal traitor.....So
> the spoiled brat potus has gotten anything he wants even though he
> deserves NOTHING----Nothing will surprise me with this IDIOT who
> refused to stoop to prove to REAL US CITIZENS that he is even a citizen----
> And now the SOBama wants to be a hedge fund manager---and since anything
> Barry S wants, SOBama thinks he should get----so now he's playing
> hedge fund manager by nationalizing the banks, mtg houses, car companies,
> ins companies--he's firing CEO's right and left and deciding what
> companies will survive and which will fail----when he's never run
> ANYTHING and is a completely CLUELESS IDIOT without the least bit
> of sense about economics (remember his big attempt at being a market
> guru when he kept talking about P/E ratios and calling them "Profit
> and Earnings ratios" lol the guy is CLUELESS)----but in spite of
> it all, anything he wants is given to him because he has the most
> redeeming qualifications of being a lying criminal non-citizen traitor
> up to his big ears in Chicago Combine kickbacks and corruption---which
> is why he had to pass the almost $2 trillion joke-of-a-stimulus bill
> FAST---he had KICKBACKS to make and so he ditched "hope and change"
> and became Chicken Little---which actually fits the lying criminal
> non-citizen traitor much better than "Hedge fund guru" lol

Credit Default Swaps May Be Playing a Supporting Role in Chrysler Bankruptcy Filings

This was a good analysis until the snarky, egregious reference to "Barry O". And the big banks you enumerated aren't supporting the work-out because they "are doing the bidding of the administration". They're the ones who SOLD those CDS that you've rightly pointed out give the hedgies a perverse incentive to force a bankruptcy.

Given the completely unregulated nature of CDS, there may be twice or even ten times the exposure to CDS issued against Chrysler debt a couple of years ago when the automakers were riding high. Sure, the banks probably BOUGHT CDS to hedge against the ones they sold, but the circle can only go around so many times; somebody will be left without a chair.

The banks have a big incentive to get a work-out; the hedgies have the opposite incentive. This is one time that the banks are the "good guys".

Seething Over Liddy's AIG-Goldman Connection

Mr. Rines,

Do you honestly think that "the citizens" will "take care of one another" if the sort of cataclysmic crash you so gleefully predict occurs? You are a fool if you do.

With the stupendous volume of hateful bile unleashed by the election of an "other" and directed at the poor, at minorities, at immigrants, at LGBT folks, at scientists -- at anyone except religious Caucasian heterosexuals -- you can expect all those guns flying off the shelf to be used on your fellow Americans.

This is not the 1930's when Americans still had a commitment to shared sacrifice and genuine love of country. Today people are motivated by selfish narcissism and filled with raving lunacies from people whose mental circuitry is clearly dysfunctional. Because of the mass media people who have enormous public platforms but no real connection to the world of cause and effect, consequences, and real responsibility can infect impressionable anti-social people on an unprecedented scale. You know who they are and the hateful things they advocate.

Be careful what you wish for. Sometimes fulfillment comes in a pretty box; sometimes it comes in a coffin.

On Apr 17 02:00 PM Jason Rines (iThinkBig) wrote:

> The current economic system will collapse in mid 2011 or early 2012.
> The citizens will flush the 'no-oversite' committees, default on
> the debt, face a couple of tough years and move on. Take care of
> one another in-between. Government's version of 'sharing' is wealth
> contraction across the board when in conjuction with Financial market
> collusion. You as gentlemen will need to take care of neighbors.
> I am doing my part already as some of you will find out soon enough
> - Viva la Liberty.

Let's Hurt the American Financial Services Industry

Morph,

The complications you foresee will not occur if regulated and insured depository institutions are FORBIDDEN from any activity other than taking deposits and making loans up to their statutory capital ratio maximum. Not if they are FORBIDDEN from owning any subsidiary or being owned by a holding company that does unregulated activities. Not if any single institution is FORBIDDEN from holding more than 5% of the total deposits in the United States. Not if they are FORBIDDEN from loaning any amount to unregulated financial institutions. Not if they are FORBIDDEN from packaging their liabilities and selling them as opaque derivatives. Allow them to sell the liabilities one at a time as they used to before Freddie Mac invented the MBS, but prevent them (and Fannie and Freddie) from packaging and selling their liabilities in artificial securities.

In other words, make banking the utility it was until the 1970's and should be again, and let the sort of person who today runs a credit union because he or she is interested in public service run the a bank tomorrow.

At the same time, allow the descendants of investment banks and hedge funds to do what they want with invested money, not loans. And make it very clear that there is no Federal guarantee explicit or implied backing any of those investments. Caveat investor.

This would result in the shrunken financial sector Felix envisions operating at the service of the economy, not as its master.

And a fantastic "unintended consequence" -- well, in truth very much intended -- would be the humbling of a large group egregiously smug and reactionary opportunists. Rick Santelli, I'm lookin' at you and your millionaire trading buddies howling for the blood of poor people who listened to shysters in the mortgage origination business.

Volcker's Capital Idea: Getting Back to Real Banking

What shall we call the new legislation limiting the activities of depository institutions, "Steagall-Glass"?