Rich S.'s Comments RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.comuser/229527/comments http://seekingalpha.com/article/142856-bailout-beneficiaries-8-key-companies?source=feed#comment-544006 544006 Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:56:52 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/96106-the-financial-crisis-explained?source=feed#comment-258047 258047 I personally know two bank managers who predicted this mess years ago after being forced to approve loans to high-risk minority buyers simply because they were minorities (affirmative action, anyone?). Those buyers often had zero savings in addition to low incomes and/or unstable employment, so any financial hiccup would prevent them from making a payment. The banks would sell those loans as fast as they could, knowing they were too risky. Ironically, and unfortunately, those banks would invest their customers' money in the big Wall Street firms who were leveraging the same bad mortgages. These are global institutions and investment vehicles with many foreign investors, which is why it affects the entire world economy. It's a delicate house of cards.]]> Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:00:05 -0400 I personally know two bank managers who predicted this mess years ago after being forced to approve loans to high-risk minority buyers simply because they were minorities (affirmative action, anyone?). Those buyers often had zero savings in addition to low incomes and/or unstable employment, so any financial hiccup would prevent them from making a payment. The banks would sell those loans as fast as they could, knowing they were too risky. Ironically, and unfortunately, those banks would invest their customers' money in the big Wall Street firms who were leveraging the same bad mortgages. These are global institutions and investment vehicles with many foreign investors, which is why it affects the entire world economy. It's a delicate house of cards.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/85916-the-us-auto-crisis?source=feed#comment-210572 210572 I agree that a 20MPG hybrid sounds unimpressive, but considering that many of these behemoth SUVs are driven around town by soccer moms, it represents a 40% improvement over their normal city-cycle fuel economy. The key is to convince people that they really don't need a vehicle like that in the first place. If only minivans looked cooler...]]> Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:31:37 -0400 I agree that a 20MPG hybrid sounds unimpressive, but considering that many of these behemoth SUVs are driven around town by soccer moms, it represents a 40% improvement over their normal city-cycle fuel economy. The key is to convince people that they really don't need a vehicle like that in the first place. If only minivans looked cooler...]]>