dw57

Financial Regulation: How Would You Have It Work?

well that was engineered by one person. Phil Graham. and he isn't a democrat


On Nov 05 11:57 AM Techtrader10 wrote:

> The was a great law in place that was removed during the Clinton
> Admiinistration because it was said to "hinder" the banking industries
> competitiveness. The Glass Steagall Act was a way to separate the
> banking and investment firms. It was a good idea and should be reimplimented.

Speculative Trading Indicates Rally Losing Steam

its the same as those who keep trading in the old GM stock. and nobody really knows why it keeps going and going.

Questioning Conventional Wisdom on Credit Default Swaps

maybe require any cds seller to treat like its insurance. have to have a license. have to have a reserve large enough to cover the contract. and make it illegal to have a cds/cdo for some thing you don't own. and you loose the payout if you actively cause a lose or its found out you don't have it. and if some one really just needs a cds/cdo thats custom they pay a heavy tax to do so. and are subject to even more onerous (both seller and buyer have to report on the wmd).

Why Congress Is Asking Bernanke Bogus Questions

i think you forgot Citi. its has the most government support (with an exception of maybe AIG).

but i am not sure that leaving the rescue of the economy to the CEOs is like leaving the foxs in charge of the hen house after they raided it killing all but a few chickens. they created the debacle to begin with, and putting them in charge of fixing it, leaves the hen house empty. we have seen how well they perform. and its not pretty at all.

To What Degree Were AIG's Operating Insurance Subsidiaries Sound? (Part 4)

not sure that almost all of this debacle can't be laid at the feet of the rating agencies. after all, they were rating stuff they didn't understand (obviously) and were getting paid well for and would rate any thing. and insurance companies and banks were required to buy only stuff that they had rated as great!

How Bailouts Are Messing with Capitalism

not sure that capitalism hadn't already been messed up long before the bailouts started. and that problem was self inflicted and aided and abetted by their friends in government. capitalism works fine when there are rules and some one actually enforcing them. since capitalism is based on humans, we can end up with any and all issues from that (can you say crime? or fraud? or both?).

Added Debt Won't Rescue the Great American Ponzi Scheme

not sure that if we continue the former plan of pumping up the GDP using credit will work. Since wage destruction has been in full force for decades, and has in fact increased how will the economy do any thing but drift lower. after all, there is one rule that can't be over ridden in economics. business need willing customers will can buy and PAY for their products. business has been so enamored of pushing the wages of their customers down, that at some point there was going to a whirlwind for them to reap. that being the lack of customers at all. and that will keep inflation in check since it can only keep going if customer's can keep up. maybe this is that great equalization of the world economies with the US collapsing down to match others?

Bonus Backlash Is Upon Us, But a Well Structured Plan Benefits Shareholders

not sure that equities as part of executive compensation has really done what every one thinks it does. it really has not aligned management with the shareholders. all it does at best is make decision making be based on a time line of one month to a max of 6 which isn't always best in the end. and then of course we can point to the facts that shareholders are not as rule not allowed to do much of any thing at all. but that is in part because almost none keep the stock for long any way. so what we have with equities or bonuses is the worst of both worlds. and executive salaries are out of control as it is and usually have no basis in how well the company does.

The Bane of Broken Balance Sheets

a question not asked, are there any companies that truly do not have a broken balance sheet?

The Economy, And Why It's Taking So Long to Fix It

i think it was longer than that. try 30 years


On Feb 27 06:06 PM User 365859 wrote:

> The mess we got into is 20yrs in the making. It started with the
> most favorite nation status to China(by Bill Clinton). Since then
> we have shipped 7 million manufacturing jobs to China. and the 20
> million support jobs that go with them This was done with the help
> of wall street and complicity of our managerial and political class.
> In order to maintain the standard of living in the face of these
> losses of good paying jobs american middle class borrowed too much
> and again wall-street was complicit in selling mortgages credit cards
> and every other form of debt that they knew people would not be able
> to laon back.
>
> Let the larger banks fail and create an RTC which will then sell
> those assets that are worth something to the next tier of banks.Wipe
> out the common share holders and start over. There would be much
> less pain in the medium term and we could make the medium banks the
> abilityh to make good profits and grow.
>
> The individual howeowner like me who has 70 percent equity is just
> going to suck it up. There are a few million too many homes in this
> country and we have to work through the inventory which could take
> a long time.
>
> I am my brothers keeper so we the better off have to help those less
> fortunate.
>

The Economy, And Why It's Taking So Long to Fix It

this is a fraud. there was no rules that forced the mortgage brokers to make the notes they made. in fact there very federal regulation of mortgage companies or brokers. there is some state regulations, but in a lot of cases the states couldn't be bothered with performing their jobs. and allowed felons to be brokers and mortgage companies even though that was forbidden

On Feb 27 06:06 PM al-shaf wrote:

> Yea, and it could be the government, specifically the Democrats like
> Barney Frank, who opposed ANY regulation of the home mortgage GSE's
> so that lots of unqualified "poor" folks could buy expensive houses...
>

The Economy, And Why It's Taking So Long to Fix It

not sure that this is part of that cycle. this was a mess created by big business. by their fraud and stupidity.

it doesn't fit that business cycle


On Feb 27 04:28 PM drevno wrote:

> The only thing that is certain is that the recovery is coming. The
> business cycle (or the Kondriateff's long cycle, or whatever is happening
> now) is exactly what is says: a cycle. What goes up, will go down.
> And vice versa.
>
> The question for an investor is: what to do in the meantime? Time
> the cycle? Buy at this seeming through - even though we are likely
> going to be in a see-saw pattern for a few months more - and hold
> for the long term? What can be considered a save "bet" now? No one
> has a crystal ball. And as long as more and more unexpected items
> are coming to light, this is no ordinary recession or a simple bubble:
> this is the chickens of many excesses of the past coming home to
> roost.
> But it will come to pass, too. Give it another quarter or so. However,
> depressed levels of consumption (and their impact on investment)
> will likely remain for a longer period of time. Still, the opportunities
> to innovate, restructure and modernize are here, perhaps more obviously
> and urgently than ever before. And thus, clear opportunities for
> a productive use of the money on the sidelines.
>

The Economy, And Why It's Taking So Long to Fix It

i think that the down shift in consumption is good. but its also very bad. as just why would the economy come back? the biggest driver is gone or badly shrunk (last I saw consumer was up %77 of the economy. and the government was probably %10. which doesn't leave much of any thing.

and then there is this,

baby boomers (the biggest spenders) are retiring (or were) and they are cutting back (and would have been anyway). and none of the other generations have come any where close to being as big a contributors to the economy.

and of course there is also the collapse of wages.

where will the new consumer come from and why?

On Feb 27 04:12 PM Lilguy wrote:

> Couldn't agree with you more on the key issues in the economy and
> the time it will take to resolve them.
>
> One nuance I would differ slightly with you on is consumer confidence.
> Yep, it's in the pits and it will stay there for quite some time.
> But I see that as an effect of the loss of wealth from the housing
> bust and family financial investment--especially 401Ks--evaporating
> as well as the reality or threat of layoffs. People now see that
> they will have to work longer (or elders having to come back to work)
> and be more thrifty.
>
> And--on this latter point--I think we're going through a cultural
> shift from spendthrift to ol' fashion thrift. That is what I see
> as the key consumption driver that will have an adverse effect on
> economic growth well after the housing and financial system busts
> have been stabilized. So, even when confidence starts rising, I
> wouldn't look for much increase in personal consumption.

What Do We Need In 2009? More Failure

not sure why we think the 'market' will fix this. it created it. with help from those who were suppose to be regulating them. and just when the 'market' ever recover from its own self created mess (which it seems to always do). while some may like the disaster that the Feds may have averted to occur. They might not like the real consequences. it could of ended up with not just economic crises but also a political one as the majority discovers that their leaders have thrown them under the bus. and the revolt happened to replace the corportacity with democracy again.

Government's Next Lesson: Small Is Beautiful

have we not learned that a wild west version of the a 'free' market (not that it has or will exist) is guaranteed to do what it has done before. we have doe this before, right before the great depression, and the one in 73 (as in 1873). the results have always been the same. many years (minimum was about 10 years) to recover. and that was caused by lax regulations. and not enforcing what did exist. i guess those who advocate this fake free market, must be taking it from the the illegal drug trade cause thats the best example of their free market!