Just The Facts

Feddie Pay: The Reality of the Bailout World

Feddie Pay. I like that - LOL!

Lehman Files For Bankruptcy

You and I both. I hope Cox has enough sense to immediately ban all short selling - of everything. Or as a minimum, all naked shorting.

The Lehman Situation: Brutally Logical, or Patently Illogical?

The way I see it, one of two things is going on.

1 - Either there's a concerted effort to create mass hysteria and drive LEH stock (and a few others) down hard for a short-term gain by market participants (or so the company(s) can be stolen for a few pennies on the dollar), or

2 - The whole house of cards has started falling and all the smart money knows it and is now running for cover.


Option # 2 would be supported with FNM and FRE, as well as recent action with WaMu and AIG. And starting a day or two ago, also with MER. And all the talk of Citi and others to soon follow, which has been going on for a while now. And I saw Goldman and JPM mentioned for the first time today as prime candidates for a huge drop. So far, they've managed to stay largely above the fray. If they start losing 20 to 30 percent of their value every day or two, then there can be no doubt that Option # 2 it is.

Lehman, How Much Is Your Headquarters Worth?

What is "anything" worth? At what value should assets be carried on a balance sheet?


Someone posed the question a day or two ago (on another site I believe):


"If you live in a home that you paid $250,000 for and your neighbor defaults and his home is sold in a foreclosure auction for $20,000, does that then mean that your home is worth only $20,000?" (or words to that effect)


I said "yes".


If I'm right, then our real estate correction still has a long ways to go. And quite a few of our major banks are worth zero or less.


Would you be interested in buying Goldman shares for $3.00 or $4.00 apiece, if all credit on the planet were dissolved and everything is only worth what someone holding gold or silver is willing to pay for it?

Financial Crisis: Getting Old

The article has merit, if one assumes that current circumstances are simply a rehash of what has happened in the past.


My money is bet on that, which pretty much guarantees that we are now writing new rules for future generations to ponder - LOL!


:)

IRS Ruling Benefits Real Estate Derivatives

Yep, that one is going to save us all!



Did I understand it correctly?



It will allow foreign investors to sink their money into domestic real estate funds, but not to own the actual property?


Basically, to place a bet as to whether the values of US real estate will go up or down from here? All they need do is to send a check, first?


Welcome to Capitalism Casino!



LOL!

Point of No Return or Perfect Buying Opportunity?

In my limited experience of 8 or so years, public companies will never pay a dividend over what can be gotten on Treasuries for more than a quarter or two. Regardless of their cash flow or profits, if Mr. Market drops their price so low that they start cutting into the money going to buy our national debt because they are pating way more, then they will slash their dividend.


Not sure why, but that seems to be the case. Pressure from "above", perhaps?