charles hopfl

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

If Geithner knew about these bonuses to AIG financial group's crooks, and said nothing until he knew they would be paid, he has lost all credibility. To even suggest that they could not have been stopped because of contractual requirements is an erroneous argument. These culprits had committed fraud, on the company and the American financial system (worldwide actually) by selling insurance without assets to back it up and hiding these facts from the world. IF it was with the encouragement of the US financial system and equity traders, it is easy to see why Paulson, Geithner and the various insiders on Wall Street do not want to rock the boat. That being said, it is not easy to see where the fraud and criminality will stop.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Everyone wants a tax change for 2009. It would only be fair and prudent to allow (at least) individual stockholders to take their losses on security sales as ordinary losses instead of capital losses. This would only apply for 2009 and would allow these individuals to lessen their tax burden on other income including wages for 2009 and clear the air for the future. The argument that the government could not afford to take such a lessening of income in 2009 falls flat when looked at against the trillions the government is giving out in bail out money and war effort (all of which does not help the majority of taxpayers in the country one bit). The majority need some help desparately.