ain't no fortunate son

An End to 'Too Big to Fail'

meanwhile the ones doing the steamrolling are the ones getting the biggest government bailouts as a reward for their failure to survive on their own in a capitalist system


On Nov 11 10:02 AM john s. gordon wrote:

> mr. sanders has the right idea.
> but common sense does not necessarily prevail over big $.
> in today's political context anyone who is at all concerned about
> the rights and interests of the common man and objects to getting
> run over by the corporate steamroller gets tarred with the label
> 'socialist'.

An End to 'Too Big to Fail'

Alan, thanks for bringing this topic up. I spend half the year in VT and yes, Bernie is a "socialist" (so what, after what we've experienced the past few years?) but this goes beyond politics - its common sense for crying out loud. I put a link to the Bill and the following on my Facebook page the other day and urge anyone interested to do likewise:

Too Big to Fail = Too Big to Exist! Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) has a petition for Treasury Secretary Geithner asking that the "TBTF" banks that caused the near destruction of the world's financial system in September 2008 be "downsized" and broken apart so they cannot threaten the world financial system with systemic meltdown again, or blackmail US taxpayers with threats of such an event in order to extort more free taxpayer money from us. The concentration of financial and POLITICAL power in their hands is terrifying, and they are already pulling the same stunts that we spent TRILLIONS bailing them out for just one year ago! I am a big supporter of this petition, and I ask that you consider taking a moment to sign it and let our government know how you feel about the menace these banks hold for us, our children, our grandchildren. Thank you,

Nine U.S. Bank Stocks for Right Now

Hey, great unemployment numbers today!!!! Economy's hitting on all cylinders!!!!

Just curious... I don't hear much about the bank stress tests lately... where do these numbers today line up with the most adverse scenarios Mr. Geithner?

Again, just curious... because, I seem to recall, people thought the banks might have a few problems getting people to pay their loans in this magnificent green shoots recovery if unemployment kept jacking up... but it musta just been my imagination I guess.

Business Trends: Banks, Cars, Healthcare and Safe Vermont Mortgages

wherever we live the longer number of days - in my case FL, by about two weeks... that is determined by my knees, not the electoral process.


On Aug 26 08:35 AM john s. gordon wrote:

> there re people who spend summers in vermont & spend winters
> in florida. they are called snowbirds. where do they vote?

Expecting a Sell-Off: 35 Ways to Protect for Less

Since I posted this on a couple of blogs here, a number of people have mentioned it happened to them as well... at least one (TheresaE) complained to the webmaster about it.

The cause is a spammer.. taking an educated guess, I would say in all probability the same "iamned" guy who has been spamming the site relentlessly for months now, and who management has been totally unable to get rid of.


On Aug 18 12:25 PM Atypical wrote:

> I have had one similar occurance. Never happened before last week.
> Would like to know what caused it.

Expecting a Sell-Off: 35 Ways to Protect for Less

There has been very little reason to put up with the immature cetin annoyances, but in and of itself it wasn't the end of the world, and so I have complained to management and then kept on posting.

Recently, however, I've been getting virus and spyware warning messages and actual screens popping up trying to hijack my PC and force it into doing virus scans. They appear randomly when I access different articles on this site. They've been happening off and on for a week or two, no rhyme or reason to when they occur. They do not occur on any other programs of the hundreds I access weekly.

I have no idea whether others are receiving similar stuff but I have no interest in subjecting my system and my records to crap like that.

Hence, I will not be contributing comments to this site anymore - its just not worth it.

I've enjoyed reading and participating in what have usually been serious subjects and discussions that have taken place here, and I've developed respect for a number of authors and commenters, like swashbuckler, john gordon and trader mark, etal.

I wish you all good fortune on your investing and personal lives... and as the sarge used to say in Hill Street Blues, "Be careful out there!" because we are far from home and there are many miles to go before we sleep.

Expecting a Sell-Off: 35 Ways to Protect for Less

Until Obama, Summers, Geithner and Bernanke relinquish control of the markets to the market participants, and take it away from Lloyd, Jamie, and Immelt (thru CNBC), shorting is just a death sentence. Fundamentals weaken daily in the broad economy, and those entities print vast amounts of money and cycle it into the equity markets daily.

Fundamentals don't matter, technicals don't matter, nothing matters in the least until they return the markets to the real participants, and they show no interest in doing so whatsoever.

Weekly Preview: Last Week's Rally Should Be Viewed with as Much Suspicion as Relief

"The point is, as long as the financial sector remains the driver of global stocks, which in turn drive commodities and currencies, and the fundamental longer term outlook for the financial sector continues to worsen, what kind of longer term picture for world markets can we foresee?"

Look to the East, young man, specifically eastern Europe, Spain, Italy... for that is where the financials may find their next Waterloo... tick tick tick

When Things Got Tough, Hank Paulson Went Skiing

Now now, let's not forget that Paulson was simply taking a much needed rest - after all, he had accomplished much in the prior year, and he's not a young man anymore.

He had overseen the total destruction of two of Goldman's biggest competitors.

He was in the process of assuring the total emasculation of MER, another of Goldman's biggest competitors.

He had placed AIG firmly on the government tit, assuring that when the time was right Goldman would receive its $13 Billion CDS payout from the US taxpayer.

He had enabled Goldman to become a bank holding company, thereby allowing the world's largest hedge fund to receive TARP bailout $$ as well as many billions of dollars of "walking around" money from the FED discount window.

All in all, he had put in place all the mechanisms that Goldman would need to achieve hegemony over the US and, arguably, world financial markets for as far into the future as anyone can see.

Give the guy a break - that's a lot of work. The stress must have been terrible - no wonder the man needed a short respite.

All work and no play...

Ranking U.S. Banks by Insurance Income

There are many different types of insurance, and many different sub-groups. It would be helpful to know whether the income derives from property/casualty, life, accident & health, title, mortgage, etc etc etc., "all of the above"?

Goldman's Profits Soar

"With the positive surprise from Goldman...?"

Surely you jest... their monopoly supplemental liquidity position in NYSE program trading thru SLP (supplemental liquidity program), the destruction and emasculation of most of their major market competitors, their self-admitted manipulative code sitting right adjacent to the NYSE computers reading and in position to front run every order that comes through for execution, and their alumni spread through the key leadership of financial and governmental infrastructure thicker than flies, and you consider this Q's results a surprise?

I think not.

"Goldman’s results bolster the belief that the condition of financial markets is stabilizing now, though the overall economy continues to be very weak."

No, see comments above - it merely proves that monopolists make lots and lots of money at the expense of formerly free markets.

Meredith Whitney Ratings

no borrows at Fidelity


On Jul 13 10:49 PM ZeroCred wrote:

> AIG is up b/c everyone and their sister is short the PoS and covered
> some. Worth a look if you can get a borrow.

The Next Major Financial Crisis

And yet the day after Buffett's morose comments the DJIA rose 170 points, spun up on less than great news, and the band played on, and the buy programs from the JPM and GS trading desks came rolling in, just as they have for nearly 2 months now.

The government's chin deep in the markets via their two proxies who know where all the bodies are buried, because THEY buried them, and until that changes news, good, bad or ugly, won't matter a whit.

Ken Lewis: The Government Made Me Do It!

Listening to Lewis over the past 6 months, I get the sense that he would make a great community banker in a city like Charlotte... if his bank didn't extend beyond the city limits. I think he was just in way over his head and got strong-armed by some slick guys like Paulson and Bernanke (and where was Geithner in the original negotiations, serving tea????).

When Paulson got through stuttering his way through 2008, two of Goldman's biggest competitors had ceased to exist, and a third, Merrill, was tied up and emasculated to some extent as the merger of two very disparate corporate structures and cultures stumbled to its conclusion.

I seem to recall dimly that news stories right after the marriage indicated that when nobody came jumping out of the woodwork to take Merrill, Geithner and Paulson grabbed them both by the neck, hustled them into a room and said... "Listen, this is what you're gonna do and you're not leaving this room until you do it" or words to that affect.

And now, 8 months later, Goldman slaps a buy and a $15 price target on BAC - with friends like this, who needs enemies?

Bear Market Rally: Hoping Cramer's Not the Ultimate Contrarian Indicator

I've heard that some pretty smart folks think of Crammer as an inventory liquidator... for his ex company (which was also the company that set him up in the hedge fund business)... they seem to find it amazing how many times his picks seem to skyrocket for a few days after his grand recommendation, then revert right back to their former price level.

I guess the question would have to be, who'd be taking the other side of THAT trade, hmmmm?

And it seems to work on his sells (in reverse) quite a bit.

Probably just a coincidence.