k9s-4-k8

What Should a 'Bad Bank' Pay?

The problem is what the alternative might be. Currently, the government is throwing around the idea of putting the ratings in the hands of regulators. That means government. These are the same people that opened the door to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac holding exponentially more sub prime slime and alt a mortgages than they had ever owned in the past. These are the same people that blocked the oversight of the GSEs so that low income homeowners wouldn't be shut out of homeownership. Do you think the government would do a more effective job?


On Feb 03 09:35 AM Larrysyr wrote:

> How did these securities ever earned a AAA rating? I think that
> S&P's (and Moody's and Fitch's) track record in rating MBS disqualifies
> them from having any hand in evaluating the current worth of these
> securities. On this one, the market has spoken ... and we should
> listen.

Is Buffett Really Losing His Touch?

I think too much expectation has been placed on Buffett. Clearly, he has never had quite as much influence as he is enjoying today. But with that, our ears are perked up to hear anything he says. When he stepped up and made the much ballyhooed investments in Goldman Sachs and General Electric, much was made about the most favorable terms he received. Nothing has changed regarding the terms except that his short term timing has somewhat tarnished his investments. Warren Buffett isn't a momentum trader, he's a value trader. His favorite holding period is till death. He has made plenty of value investments in the past that looked bleak before they reemerged to produce great gains. He hasn't lost his touch. People are just mixing up value investing with momenum or growth investing.