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James Grant in the WSJ: Eloquent, But Wrong

Actually, this recent recession is very similar to the 1981-82 recession. The Fed dialed up short term rates, inverted the yield curve for a record 20 months, and only dialed them down after it precipitated the mortgage crisis.

Cramer Grilled on Jon Stewart

It didn't take long for the Obama administration to take CNBC to task for Cramer's insults of "Timmy" and Pizanni's
"Mr. President, are you listening?" Stewart showed that Cramer has no back bone, just wants to please.

FAS 157: Let the Tweaking Begin

Appraisers never liked FAS 157 either, as it provided little room for judgment, let alone professtional judgment.


On Mar 15 04:26 AM John Petersen wrote:

> FAS 157 was issued in September 2006 and effective for fiscal years
> beginning after November 15, 2007. As soon as the rule took effect,
> the Dow started its decline. As a one time practitioner of the dark
> arts, I believe FAS 157 is wholly inconsistent with the "going concern
> principle." If we are going to abandon the basic principals that
> give periodic financial statements value, why not turn the entire
> process over to qualified appraisers and be done with it? Seriously,
> what good is a consistent application of generally accepted accounting
> principles if the core valuation of assets changes from quarter to
> quarter?

The Wonders of Mark-to-Market: Simultaneously Well-Capitalized and Insolvent

In my experience, most large banks have a strong well-defined provision for loan loss discipline.


On Mar 06 09:59 AM biomedlives wrote:

> I take your point about the havoc MTM has created. Nonetheless, I'm
> sense that banks are often unrealistic when they set decide their
> quarterly loan loss allowances. As the current crisis was developing,
> many were setting nothing or almost nothing aside, even though loan
> balances were increasing.

The Wonders of Mark-to-Market: Simultaneously Well-Capitalized and Insolvent

SEC rules don't allow excess reserving for loan losses


On Mar 06 09:59 AM biomedlives wrote:

> I take your point about the havoc MTM has created. Nonetheless, I'm
> sense that banks are often unrealistic when they set decide their
> quarterly loan loss allowances. As the current crisis was developing,
> many were setting nothing or almost nothing aside, even though loan
> balances were increasing.

The Wonders of Mark-to-Market: Simultaneously Well-Capitalized and Insolvent

Derived from page 122 of the COF 10-K


On Mar 06 06:46 AM Eric J. Fox wrote:

> Where did you get the MTM adjustment of 12,044,507...I searched the
> 10-K and found no such number in the filing.
>
> idea.sec.gov/Archives/...
>
>