Dweezil

Weekend Madoffs

All I can think of with Madoff is George Carlin's "Capital Punishment" bit from "Back in Town". Sure he was talking about laundering drug money, but I like to think the idea applies here.

Look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about, but Monday Night Crucifixion sounds like a plan.

Another Day Without Precedent

aswo,

Citizens are the problem. Just because someone offers you a loan or credit card doesn't mean you should take it. Ultimately the taxpayer took the money that it couldn't pay back and now doesn't want to pay for it. So wanting accountability is going to make things worse across the board.

Now is the time to grease the wheels and try to get things moving again. Hopefully people have learned from this, but I doubt it.

Why Punish the Whistle Blower?

"As a long term investor I wish I could loan my shares to them."

Whoever your brokerage is probably did that for you, you just don't know it and don't profit from it.

Capitulation Is Here (Again)... Good Times to Follow

I think it may be a little early to call capitulation, but I think your right about averaging down. This may not be a capitulation bottom marking the beginning of a new bull, but it sure feels close. The only thing I'm looking for is the VIX over 40, and a few days of it with spikes up to or over 45 and I'm buying as fast as I can.

AIG Bailout: Over to Congress

Knowitall, AIG has written huge ammounts of CDS's from what I (and everyone else) have read. They were bets AIG was willing to make and if they didn't adequately price the risk or sold more than they could handle that's not my problem.

I look at it the same as writing unsecured puts, no matter how remote the chance there's still the possibility you end up with stock you don't want at a price higher than you can afford. Lesson is don't write something you can't back up. If AIG can't back up the CDS's that were written then they should be left on there own to sort it out.

If other companies suffer from contracts they wrote and get exercised because of it, let them all fall apart. There's nothing backstopping the individual if they make bad calls, what makes a multi-national any different?

America Buys AIG

I want a bailout for making bad bets in the market, now!

The market's only been telling people for over a year that there were problems in the credit market.

Lehman can fail, but AIG somehow can't because of potential problems that may result? Where is the actual proof of the financial armageddon that will result from letting people make bad decisions and having to live with it?

Let these companies fail, show them that there are consequences to there actions. If it throws the system in turmoil for a while, at lest it ends the perception that no matter how bad you screw up the government will come to you rescue.

Seems questionable that there wasn't funding available to Lehman Brothers but somehow it's there for AIG. Why should one company be spared and the other left to die when they both made the same bad bets on the same instruments.