SnPTrader

The Crazy Lehman Share Price

There is no conspiracy. The sell off is because their portfolios are risky. Fannie, Freddie are government pawns used to prop up the housing market. LEH, like so many other investment banks, got caught like snake oil salesmen selling product that was generating millions of dollars in fees and now they want to be victims. How about the 10,000s wanne homeowners who should have been renters? These people, some very unsophisticated where offered loans that would not have past the sniff test 15 years ago. They have my sympathy not the investment bankers. Now the shareholders of the investment banks are suffering. I feel your pain but the culprit is not some special interest group, it's the government, bad policy (fox in the henhouse regulators) who allowed this to occur to prop up Wall Street (remember Paulson was the Man at Goldman). Paulson, Bernanke etal get air time to assure investors/ the world that the US government will stand behind this mess. Yeah, print money (WHOOSH goes the value of the USD), oops not print just bonds that the taxpayer will payoff in 10 - 30 years. Oh, yeah the taxpayer doesn't want any taxes so we'll end up printing the money. We've been living on leverage, read debt, now we need to pay. We need some Volcker sense to stop this nonsense. You can't spend your way out of this.

U.S. Savings Rate To Increase, Finally

BTW, regarding home equity. What equity? How many of you have home equity loans? Goldilocks has more shoes in her house than she has equity.

U.S. Savings Rate To Increase, Finally

locke, as Bearfund mentioned, Social Security is a fund that the government has used to cover other expenditures to such as the war or any expense the government is obligated to pay but it lacks funds because of the lower of revenues (taxes). The government then places its IOS in the fund for later pay back. We have a deficit (period). If you expect SS payments we need taxes to cover its payback otherwise the government will just print money and cause inflation, then your SS will be inflated and worthless if you get any. IRAs and 401Ks are possible savings but home equity look at the present market and true value. We ARE NOT the biggest savers in the world we just want to believe we are as we use credit to wipe out our savings. You can't leverage your future. Go to Vegas if you believe that.

U.S. Savings Rate To Increase, Finally

Bearfund, right on. Frank Rong sounds like Larry Kudlow who believes you can manipulate any figure to be sure that the "Goldilocks" economy is well fed. Americans have forgone savings to continue to bolster an economy and government that has deceived them. We no longer produce most of the goods we use and service, through low paying jobs, America's corporate elite (who by the way stash their money off shore). We continue to make guns however.