Who's the patsy

Obama's Green Obsession: More Harm Than Good?

What a bloviator this guy is. Hard to take the great Gerard Jackson seriously when he feels it necessary to insert in every paragraph a sentence about how dumb Obama is (and therefore, by definition, how much smarter Gerard Jackson is). Funny, how I have never heard of Gerard Jackson before: he must be the most unsung genius in the United States. Him and the Unabomber.

He trots out the same old tired Fox News/CNBC/Larry Kudlow ideological premise that the Church of the Free Market is the Way, the Truth and the Life BUT I guess he hasn't been paying attention to what has actually been happening in the markets where his dearly beloved free enterprise banks have managed to bankrupt themselves misapplying capital. Maybe, just maybe, the free markets aren't perfect. And maybe, just maybe, government seed money does invest capital wisely. Like all the government seed money funding medical research; all the NASA money that produced so many improvements in technology; the Internet; the Eisenhower interstate system. Et cetera. At least there are enough successes when the government invests, and enough failures when the private sector invests, to warrant more than mere sloganeering on these issues.

We are a nation of pragmatists. Let us flush Gerard Jackson, George Bush, the Cato Institute and their coterie of ideological cranks down the toilet and get back to figuring out SOLUTIONS, not SLOGANS.

Worst Two-Day Decline Since the '87 Crash

Hey redstaterob, why don't you take your red states and just leave already. really: since your genius from alaska doesn't think we should bother with the environment either, we would be happy to just ship all our garbage and nuclear strike that nuke-ula waste up there. Either that, or have those red state hicks stop sucking all our federal dollars to pay for you and that trashy woman's excess babies. seriously, sayonara dude. let us get on with the job of fixing the mess you folks have made of OUR country.


On Nov 06 07:51 PM redstaterob wrote:

>
> The deficit is due to our ongoing war on terror. 9/11 took about
> seven years of planning....90% of which took place during Clinton's
> term. Of course, Clinton was too busy doing 'other things' in the
> Oval Office rather than going after the terrorists. And he was impeached
> for it. Two wars? Yes, fighting two wars because of 9/11....a Democratic
> debacle. Regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie? Yeah....those regulations
> were blocked by Chris Dodd, Obama, and Barney Frank. Hey, did you
> know that Rahm Emmanuel was on the board of directors of Freddie
> Mac right after he left the Clinton White House?
>
> The Democrats are so corrupt it is incredible. We are screwed with
> this southside Chicago political hack in the White House.
>
> Get ready for a wild ride and JUST ONE TERM for this charlatan...
>
>
> just my very humble opinion
>
> On Nov 06 07:01 PM oldgoldbug wrote:

Julian Robertson: Some Buying, but Bearish on the Economy

socioObamaists? funny. I will take Obama's policies over the Palincomparison McFascists, Alfred E. Bushwhackers ("what? me worry?), Disappearin' Dick ("gone huntin'") Cheney disciples and Republican deficit spenders .
At least the Dems will spend $ on the US instead of sending it down an Iraqi rabbit hole.

Fannie/Freddie Bailout 'Disastrous Fiasco'

I bought the preferred FNM.S in May, relying on broker's assurances and the companies representation that the company was more than adequately capitalized.
Management repeated this lie in a conference call in August 2008.
Anyone know of a class action lawsuit commencing against the company?

A Closer Look at the Treasury's GSE Preferred Stock Purchase Plan

This reminds me of Warren Buffett's story - when you are playing poker, if you don't know who the patsy is after 10 minutes, then you're the patsy.

I listened to my Morgan Stanley broker and bought FNMA preferred last year, without really examining his contention that the company had an implicit government guarantee.

When the preferred fell to 10 this August, I bought some more figuring that the government would not let all the US banks that owned preferreds fail - that they would save the banks now rather than saving them later (through the FDIC).

Little did I realize that when it came to a showdown between US banks (preferred holders) and foreign central banks (debt holders), the foreign banks would win. The US can afford to let US banks fail, but cannot afford to alienate the foreigners who have been financing our government for the past decade or more.

Bill Gross was smart enough to figure this out long before me. I was the patsy. Shucks. And I thought I was being smart by not investing in real estate. Turns out the Treasury is going to take my money and invest in a McMansion for me.

Now what? The equity ticket-holders have been allowed to keep their ticket-stubs, in case FNMA emerges from this crisis with anything left. Common has been diluted 80%, but will probably be further diluted if the Treasury's exit strategy is a sale to private capital down the road.

What is a preferred share worth without any dividends? Can I get some share certificates for my wall, or maybe on second thoughts, for my bathroom?

Maybe it won't be so bad. There is $22 billion outstanding preferred, with dividend obligations of $1.7 billion. As I understand this plan, this will stand behind the Treasury's up to $100 billion in 10% senior preferred. If the full $100 billion is called upon, there probably won't be anything left to pay the ticket stub-holders. So this forces us shareholders to hope that the country's housing problems turn around, that the government can sell off non-performing assets, improve management and avoid dipping too deeply into the taxpayer's pocket. If the company emerges from conservatorship, shrunken yet profitable, with $30 billion or less in senior preferred, then the existing preferred (and possibly common) shareholders will get a decent return.

But maybe I am just being a patsy again.

In any event, we won't know for years. Any predictions for what will happen on Monday?

Just How Terrible Is Housing as an Asset Class? Roubini Weighs In

Home is an essential, yes, but as a home, not as an investment. It is dangerous to become emotionally attached to any investment. Sadly, this principle is forgotten when people make their home their biggest investment. Egos get caught up in "keeping up with the Jones' s" . As a result, the decision to invest in a house isn't based on sound investment principles at all, the most basic of which is surely not to put all of your eggs in one basket.
I have owned six homes in my lifetime and I have never made as much money on any of them as I have in the stock market, particularly when you adjust for risk.
Since most people sell their homes within 5 years anyway, the idea of "ownership" is a psychological illusion. Especially when it is mortgaged to the hilt (The bank owns it then; you just own a leveraged option). I sold my last home in 2003 and have rented ever since. No single asset accounts for more than 10% of my investment portfolio. And I find it is perfectly possible to feel at home in a place you have rented for years. Actually, my ideal "home" would be a hotel. An apartment in the Carlyle in New York.

Proposed Solution to Decline in American Wealth: Free Trade

Excellent, in theory. I believe that free trade should be applied across the board: not just free trade for capital, and goods, but free trade for labor. Immigration controls are huge artificial constraints on the labor market, but good luck getting rid of them. Americans hate foreigners, especially dark ones. They will never agree to this.

Bond Expert: CDs and Agency Spreads Today

What is happening with the FNMA preferreds. Is the market anticipating that they will get wiped out with the common?

Fear of Higher Taxes a Cause of Sell-off

Utter nonsense. The market has been in the tank for months. There are 3 trillion reasons more important than the possibility of a slight increase in capital gains. Budget deficits under Bush, the destruction of American influence abroad and concomitant loss of interest among foreign investors in the US market, restrictions on the inflow of immigrants who have fueled innovation here for decades, the decline in foreign students coming here to add their intellectual capital to our society, the rise in inflation because of Bush's deliberate policy of devaluing our currency, Bush's active encouragement of expanded credit (you don't have to sacrifice for my war, just go shopping)....you can go very far down a very long list before you reach the Bogeyman Obama.