Adam O.

Steve Forbes calls on the administration to rethink nationalized health care: "President Obama says he wants to make health care affordable for all. Applying free-market principles to health care would do just that."

I think Forbes missed the point somewhere along the way. The ideological difference lies with the belief that healthcare is fundamentally different from other good and services; you shouldn't have to pay more money the sicker you are.

The Plight of the Overpaid Banker

"But I don’t think it’s fair to say Wall Street is paid too much."

I would just love to hear that guy's definition of fair.

Taxpayers vs. Investors: The Imminent Disinformation Schism

The extent of the Times article's research is looking at what the bank CEOs are saying in public...

"There is enough evidence in comments from the CEOs of Citi and B of A and in the Wells Fargo earnings to show that the idea that banks are insolvent and probably in need of nationalization is no longer part of the consideration of how the problems with the system will be settled."

And the printed media is wondering why no one reads its stuff anymore.

The Ever-Expanding FDIC

Do you know if the FDIC will be fronting this cash to complement the purchases of the PPIP? Because that's what is sounds like.

If so, why are they calling it a 'guarantee'? If they're flat out paying for it up front, it's not really a guarantee. It's a plain subsidy.

Interesting comment from Quasar71, who thinks Sun Microsystems (JAVA) has a lot more going for it than just "Javascript."

Yea, sometimes research means more than just looking at the ticker symbol and the financials.

It's little wonder why Mr. Brown is looking for new clients [thereformedbroker.com/.../].

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank says he supports allowing banks to roll back mark-to-market writedowns on certain assets.

Going back and changing all the numbers will definitely increase transparency and foster an environment of financial trust. Hell, might even cause people to pay their mortgages again.

Why didn't we think of this before???

The leading plan to fix GM and Chrysler would use bankruptcy filings to purge the companies of their biggest problems, in essence splitting both companies into their "good" and "bad" components. (WSJ)

Why, Timothy Geithner's magic hedge fund of course.


On Mar 30 03:11 PM Tricky wrote:

> Hmm, I wonder who gets to fund the "bad" component? I have the feeling
> it will be me.

Call it Uncle Sam's hedge fund: "The rescue of the American financial system proposed by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is, in all but name, a gigantic hedge fund."

Where is the FDIC getting > 80% portion of the capital for its hedge fund? What are they leveraging? They're insuring financed debt, ya? Who owes this debt?

This sounds like a magic hedge fund.

The Mighty Greenback, In Transition

Recent reporting from Bloomberg (www.bloomberg.com/apps...) and others would indicate this move is most at least partially motivated by a dropping off in treasury demand.

I wonder how the analyst justifies an "earlier recovery" in the face of massive supply and zeroing demand. I mean this is basic economics, no?

Why Felix Should Walk Away

Felix should stay in his house and sue his lender for fraud. That way, he might be able to keep the house and his money.

How can the justification that "Felix should've known better" be taken seriously when the lender told him he qualified for the loan?

If the should-have-known-bett... blame should be placed on anyone, it should be the financial professionals that told Felix he was qualified.

Take bankruptcy over nationalization: "Equity-holders, preferred-stock holders, senior creditors and junior creditors will each get exactly what they bargained for when they invested in these banks."

Here here.

And Santelli's angry over paying to help "losers" keep their houses?

I'm angry over paying to keep my neighbor's multibillion-dollar-tr... of a business afloat. If he were more competent with securitization, balance sheet arithmetic, and credit risk, the real estate market probably wouldn't have dropped out from under my neighbor's feet.

Parsing Treasury

In general, shouldn't the administration be trying to make the situation more transparent and less convoluted?

Releasing statements like this really isn't helping anything.

Market Currents Poll: Should the U.S. give automakers the extra aid they're asking for or push for bankruptcy? Speak up in comments.

Bankruptcy.

So we can move on and start fixing things. In this environment, we don't have the luxury of waiting to see if the company that drove itself off a cliff can engineer a miraculous turnaround.

Rethinking Fractional Banking

If you get rid of credit, how does the economy grow?

You honestly believe that economic expansion should slow as a nation's population and wealth increase?

Rethinking Fractional Banking

"Credit is not essential to commerce."

This is old world thinking. Use of fiat currency requires credit. Otherwise its economic model is unsustainable.