TBill

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Left over TARP money??? Like there is a safe full of it and it's just collecting dust??
There's no such thing. If they spend more money, they have to go out and borrow it.
That's like planning to borrow and buy a $200k house, finding one for $150 and saying 'gee, we got $50K left over, what are we going to do with it?'

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

I don't think AIG would have much problem finding replacements.
Note to AIG: I'm available!


On Dec 07 07:48 AM BPYHO wrote:

> Why is AIG executives threatening to leave even news!? Clip their
> salaries and let them leave! Other people can step up. I'm sure the
> heads of all the other divisions have vice-presidents, ect..... That's
> the whole point in HAVING a vice, to step up in place of the head/president!
> I'm so sick of hearing the news talk about these idiots working for
> companies that went bankrupt threatening to leave!

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

The problem is the CEO's for the most part write their own pay checks. In the old days where fat cats controled big blocks of stock, they would put a brake on it. These days, only their nerve limits their pay. Hey, what would you pay yourself if you could get away with it?

Why Are Banks Paying Back Loans They Can't Afford?

It all makes perfect sense if you remember the purpose of these corporations is line the pockets of the CEO. All else, including the health of the company, is very secondary. When exec comp limitation suddenly appeared, there was a collective "Opps" and a rush to pay these things back.

Greenspan testified that his error was to think the bank CEO's would not put their company's at risk chasing a quick and easy profit, and therefore took their word that their complicated trading rooms were adequately hedged. All sorts of nasty stuff was hidden from us. That Greenspan and his regulators couldn't find it makes me feel better that I couldn't either... but not much.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

So why the rush to pay back the TARP money? Not often a company turns away from free $$$. How does this benefit the stockholders? ANS: it doesn't. It's all about getting rid of the government strings that come with it, specificly the limits on CEO pay. Hits them where they live, right in the name of the game.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

That's exactly right. These bonuses were contractuallly made a year ago, everyone knew they were coming and how much they were, including the Congresscritters, before the bailouts were made. If they were interested in stopping them, that would have been the time to do it. The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee inserted an ammendment in the bill allowing all bonuses contracted before Feb. Now he is one of the loudest voices. Shame on him. Seems the political strategists marked everyone's calender "protest the bonuses today".

TBill
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On Mar 17 11:26 AM charles hopfl wrote:

> If Geithner knew about these bonuses to AIG financial group's crooks,
> and said nothing until he knew they would be paid, he has lost all
> credibility. To even suggest that they could not have been stopped
> because of contractual requirements is an erroneous argument. These
> culprits had committed fraud, on the company and the American financial
> system (worldwide actually) by selling insurance without assets to
> back it up and hiding these facts from the world. IF it was with
> the encouragement of the US financial system and equity traders,
> it is easy to see why Paulson, Geithner and the various insiders
> on Wall Street do not want to rock the boat. That being said, it
> is not easy to see where the fraud and criminality will stop.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

The mark to market rule needs AT LEAST some revision. Formerly AAA rated mortgage backed tranches not likely to lose more than 10% of principle have to be moved to risk capital, which is forcing banks to sell into a market with little liquidity at 50 cents on the $. Hedge funds seem to be the only ones with funds to buy, and will get rich on these deals.
So, taxpayers are bailing out banks who are being forced to sell assets for half of what they are worth. And the powers that be can't see that? Come on, they are smarter than that!
Follow the money....

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

I've been advocating this for some time now. You can see it, I see it, but our Congresscritters are so ignorant.... What do we have to do to wake them up? Problem is these actions require them to admit they made a mistake.

On Dec 04 08:46 AM eddie64 wrote:

> REAL SOLUTIONS for the economy --- still not considered:
> [1] Rescind Mark-to-Market accounting;
> [2] Rescind Sarbanes/Oxley;
> [3] Reinstate UPTICK RULE by SEC;
> NONE OF THESE COSTS A DIME!!!!!!!!!!
>
> But why do them CONGRESS IS SPENDING their way out of this mess......
> Isn't that what CONGRESS' DO??????? Hey, Congress acts as though
> they have money.........too ignorant to even know that AMERICA IS
> BANKRUPT!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Being a MILLIONAIRE once meant something--a significant amount of
> money symbolizing wealth and success. NOW, being a BILLIONAIRE has
> replaced the peasants who only have a million. Heck, TRILLIONS is
> the new amount designate for REAL MONEY ------ IN AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!
>
>
> After all, America is the strongest, richest, smartest, well educated,
> most productive, innovative, ethical and moral country in the history
> of the world.......... AREN'T WE?????????
>
> That's what we keep getting told............

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Agree completely with 1 - 5, but 6 was actually a good idea. Buying up junk is not the way to go... government getting into the hedge fund business ... without a profit motive just doesn't make sense. I heard he couldn't find managers who would do the job with the government looking over their shoulders, dictating.
Problem is the banks are sitting on whatever cash they can get, buying T bills yielding .25 %. Buying their junk doesn't help.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

I agree with just about everything said so far, with that counterproductive must mark to market when there is no market being what really pushed this mess over the edge. Greed is good. It's what makes the system work. Government is there to see that fraud is not resorted to, otherwise needs to stay out as much as possible.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Considering the lack of knowledge of business, markets, and the economy displayed here, I am somewhat cheered by the fact that my competition in the stock market game is so weak. However, all these people vote, and have been electing congresscritters that seem determined to kill our golden goose and reduce us to third world status. More and more, international investing makes sense.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Jersey, you are quite right. For the first time we have a huge political risk that outweighs even the usual earnings risks. Political risk used to be something we only worried about if we invested in 3rd world countries. Now it is right here at home. Go to the web sites of the candidates, see what they have in mind, and calculate the damage. The very best senario is McCain wins, doesn't cave to the Dems [very much out of character], and the Bush tax cuts expire. Even that will have a depressing effect on the market, tax revenues, and the ever ballooning budget deficite.