User 218984

The Duplicitous Sheila Bair

Seems to me like Bair has her priorities straight. I frankly don't care if a bunch of bankers throw a tantrum over being double crossed. They do it enough to the common man. Go Sheila. She has greatly improved her standing in my eyes.

Did the FDIC Sabotage WaMu's Management and Erode Investor Confidence?

So what? WaMu's fate was sealed a long time ago by their incompetent management. FDIC's primary and secondary responsibilities are to depositors and taxpayers. Wamu shareholders, bondholders, employees and management are way down the list on their order of priority. When the FDIC has to be called in, things are pretty desperate and the value has already been destroyed. You have to look to Kerry Killinger and WaMu's board if you are going to point fingers. Besides, this is one of many bank failures to come and they don't have the time to deal with subtle distinctions. Get a sense of proportion.

The Real Wall Street Doesn't Deserve to Be Ruined

Get over yourself. Paulson doesn't give a flying f**k about you or any other shareholders or creditors. He cares about his cronies and perhaps secondarily about payrolls being met, day to day business operations continuing and the Treasury being able to roll over debt and obtain new funding. All the rest, yourself included, are going to be thrown overboard or under the bus. Hope is not a strategy.

It's Only the End of the Beginning

That comment from Churchill was after the conclusion of the Battle of El Alamein, which was the first great British victory against the Nazis after a long string of failures. I don't see a parallel here - for the analogy to hold, we would need to see a victory over the staggering incompetence that has gotten us to this point. Instead these fools are strengthening their control over the prudent and modest who have resources (available credit) to staunch the bleeding. Failures of this kind should be punished with shame and penury.

Lehman Follows Good Bank/Bad Bank to Redemption

How can the "good" bank be truly decoupled from the "bad" bank when the "good" bank provides financing for the deal? How likely is it that crappy assets can be transferred along with all of the associated risks? Sounds like something that cynical financial engineers cook up to defer the inevitable reckoning until after management has cashed out their latest slug of stock grants/options while they still have some value.

Canadian Oil Sands: Gates and Buffett Visit

Sour gas has hydrogen sulphide in it - the sulphur has to be removed before the gas can be burned. Hydrogen sulphide will kill you or livestock. The biggest problem with the Alberta tar sands is the limited regional and overall Canadian labour force. There is plenty of capital but labour of all kinds, especially skilled trades, is in relatively short supply. The mines are remote and housing is hard to find and expensive.

The Unfair Treatment of Certain Common Equity Holders

Government policy towards the GSEs is driven 100% by, surprise, *POLITICS*. Suppose an outgoing administration has the opportunity to put a cork on a bad situation for a few months. Suppose they will be out of office shortly and hand the reins over to their enemies. Whose problem is it then? Who will be blamed by a voting public that largely does not understand economics, credit markets and finance?