Amerlafrance

Paulson/Bernanke: $700 Billion at 'Hold to Maturity' Pricing

Agreed, the hold to maturity price is artificial and they intend to create an artifical market that will allow banks to avoid writing down loans based on the "fire sale" prices. The assumption is that the market is not properly valuing the debts and likely recovery upon them and that the government experts will know better what they are worth. Of course, if the experts are wrong the taxpayer pays and the banks benefited by the purchase (including foreign banks!) do not repay a penny. This is a charade at best.