bthomas

Why Chrysler Represents the Ills of the New America

The bankers must be reined in. We should start with rational regulation where responsible adults can trust the veracity of what comprises AAA rated securities. Those irresponsible parties must be held accountable. Conflict of interest is pervasive on all sides, from government to regulator to business . This seems to escape everyone's attention. It's all public money now folks, the public trust must be upheld. We are ten years hence from repealing Glass Steagall. Everything is in shambles now because greed overrode every other aspect of life. The Fed has too much power. congress should work to rein this in. Glass Steagall, or whatever replaces it, must be enacted to require people to do what greedy people cannot do for themselves: -the right thing. Split them up. Preserve the public trust.

Friday Outlook: Commodities, Global Markets

The bankers must be reined in. We should start with rational regulation where responsible adults can trust the veracity of what comprises AAA rated securities. Those irresponsible parties must be held accountable. Conflict of interest is pervasive on all sides, from government to regulator to business . This seems to escape everyone's attention. It's all public money now folks, the public trust must be upheld. We are ten years hence from repealing Glass Steagall. Everything is in shambles now because greed overrode every other aspect of life. The Fed has too much power. congress should work to rein this in. Glass Steagall, or whatever replaces it, must be enacted to require people to do what greedy people cannot do for themselves: -the right thing. Split them up. Preserve the public trust.

Citigroup Questions

I recently observed a Citi commercial in which the characters were each describing how they are cutting back their expenses by doing things differently. The point apparently is that Citi will be there to help us through this down turn. Seem a little audacious? Maybe it's just me? I guess we should just thank Sandy and his minions.

Grand Illusion: The Federal Reserve (Part 3)

This is a very petty critique.


On Mar 10 05:24 PM error fixer wrote:

> correction: I accidentally cut the quote of yours that I was criticizing.
> The first criticism should read like this:
>
> ERROR #1) In part 1, you said, "The Federal Reserve System is owned
> by the largest banks in the United States."

How Innovation Sustains Prosperity

So was it B schoolers or engineers who created the derivative market with such convoluted complexity that rating agencies can't/couldn't properly assess risk? We need that type of innovation why? Go to engineering school kids. The world needs you.

How Innovation Sustains Prosperity

So was it B schoolers or engineers who created the derivative market with such convoluted complexity that rating agencies can't/couldn't properly assess risk? We need that type of innovation why? Go to engineering school kids. The world you.

Thursday Outlook: Commodities, Emerging Markets

Dave,
Thanks for the diligence despite the ssdd syndrome. You're always my first read. Perhaps less government. Perhaps agencies which do their jobs? A Department of work ethic enforcement? We can dream. Can't we? Ah! Idealism.

Allen Stanford, Ponzi Operator

Please explain how CDO's laden with high risk mortgages garner AAA ratings. No amount of accounting subterfuge with complex statistical models can make it true . It is crooked.



On Feb 18 12:37 PM matthutch wrote:

> "truly, the REAL crooks are the investment bankers who concocted
> every kind of oddball derivative imaginable in order to have something
> that they could make a commission from selling"
>
> how can you call a person who does this a crook? do you ever see
> infomercials or pass the home shopping network on the way to another
> station? i see a bunch of pretty oddball stuff for sell, all to help
> them "make a commission [of sorts] from selling". back in their respective
> days, cars, radios, tvs, personal computers, cell phones, etc were
> all fairly oddball such that many people never expected them to catch
> on commercially. just b/c you don't (and it turns out they and many
> people who bought them) understand them, doesn't mean they are crooks
> for coming up with them, even as we look back and see there were
> problems.

Two Standards by Which to Judge Peter Schiff?

So decoupling and hyper inflation will not occur? I also believe this is just the beginning. As Mr. Schiff posted earlier.confidence Funny money is no policy for instilling confidence, and confidence is most lacking at present.

Marc Faber on the Economy, Gold, WWIII

Canned goods and ammunition. Anything but the dollar. Once the Epic Inflation Machine finally kicks in.


On Jan 08 04:41 PM curbs-in wrote:

> Marc Farber, sadly, is not gloomy enough.
>
> If much of what these guys (Peter Shiff, et.al) tell you comes true,
> do you really think the investments like gold, etc will be worth
> anything?
>
> First of all, I do believe that the United States and our economy
> will fail. There is no way the Obama administration can prop this
> economy up unless they spent $1trillion a month for a decade or more
> (that is just about the levels of loss that is going on right now).
> You won't be able to live on hope.
>
> Buy gold? You'd be richer with canned food, firearms and ammunition.
> In the not too distant future, that's what you'll really NEED. That
> is where the DEMAND will be.
>
> I went to a couple of box stores today. Nobody and I mean there
> was NOBODY in them. It was sorta spooky, but it tells me that things
> are going to spiral down rather quickly.
>
> Be ready.

Credit Started This Recession; It Will Also Help End It

Debt is money. Ask a banker. Credit is still overextended. Banks are holding (hoarding) Treasury's rescue (bailout) cash because of fractional reserve requirements. New loans will be made (Albeit fewer) to qualified borrowers then the current stricture in credit will ease, and new money will be made. Let's hope it is soon.

Gold: Not an Effective Hedge Against Inflation

Excellent, insightful comment. (rebuttal)


On Dec 24 08:18 AM ABG wrote:

> The author arbitrarily uses 1980, at the top of the 1980s market
> cycle, to support the idea that gold is a bad hedge against inflation.
> But, we are near the bottom of the gold cycle right now, not the
> top. The last 8 years of gold's appreciation happened in a time
> of deep calm and steady economic growth. It was not the result of
> fear and panic, as in the 1970s. The first year of panic was the
> second half of 2007 to 2008. So, the gold cycle is now just beginning,
> not ending.
>
> Arbitrary choice of 1970, at the bottom of the 1970s gold cycle,
> as a date upon which to base an analysis will give a completely different
> picture, compared to the choice of 1980. The price for gold on the
> Swiss market was $42 per ounce. If you had bought gold in 1970,
> keeping it stored in Switzerland (because Americans were not allowed
> to own bullion until 1974), you would have had incredible gains to
> date, exceeding the official measures of inflation.
>
> Of course, there would have been yearly storage charges, but, if
> you owned the S&P 500 index, you would have needed to pay taxes
> on the dividends, and on all the sales that you are constantly forced
> to make when various stocks are removed from the indexes. If you
> owned a passive mutual fund, you would have been more seriously impacted
> by taxes.
>
> If the index creators just left all stocks on the index that started
> on the index, and never got rid of the dogs, your gains in stock
> investing would be non-existent. So, companies are always added,
> and removed, and funds that follow the indexes, or you, need to buy/sell
> in sympathy with these moves to keep your portfolio consistent with
> the index. This creates taxable events, and taxes reduce return.
> In comparison, gold is not taxable until it is sold. Most people
> never sell it, so the capital gain is never taxed.
>
> At any rate, after taxes, you would have had a much bigger gain from
> a static gold investment, dated from 1970, than from investing the
> same amount of money in the S&P 500 in 1970.
>
> That is not to say investing in the stock market is a bad idea.
> It is simply a bad idea at this moment in time. There will come
> a time for stock investing, but not is not that time. Right now,
> smart people will opt for gold. Even though the stock market will
> go up a lot in the next few years, from current depressed prices,
> all of these gains will be for show only. They will likely be merely
> nominal gains, even though I do think we will be seeing DOW 30,000
> by 2011.
>
> Because of the circumstances that surround us, over the next 5-10
> years, stocks will arise primarily out of inflationary pressure created
> by the Fed in its quantitative easing program. In other words, after
> adjustment for the reduced buying power of the dollar, stock gains
> will be non-existent, at least for many years. Gold, in contrast,
> will probably go up in real terms, because of the increased levels
> of world instability, a continuing decrease in mine production in
> spite of higher prices, and simply that almost everyone wants at
> least a little bit of it (whether in bullion or jewelry) and the
> world population is growing much faster than the world's stockpile
> of gold.

Gold: Not an Effective Hedge Against Inflation

In an inflationary environment gold is and has been and will continue to be a stable marker as the respective currency is in value decline. We are not currently in such an environment, but will soon be. Bernanke at the Fed an Paulsen at Treasury have been trying their damndest to ensure it is so. Look at the dollar index since mid Nov. Look at GLD same period. Long term gold wins. Short term gold wins. End of story.

Gold: Not an Effective Hedge Against Inflation

bollocks.

Why Gold Hasn't Been a Hedge Against Inflation

It is still early for long oil. As the global conditions worsen, the economies most dependent on oil export are 'over a barrel'. Despite promises and pledges to reduce production their nationalized oil economies cannot afford it. As an inflationary hedge stick with aurum. As conditions improve (months away) oil will slowly rise as the shorts are squeezed. Fed policy helps gold as well. Ben's helicopter is really an inflation machine.