davidbdc

Mike Shedlock responds to Marc Faber's "gloomiest prediction yet" - which, among other cheery events, includes the collapse of capitalism: "Capitalism will not collapse, because we are not practicing capitalism. Instead, we are practicing a perverse blend of corporate fascism, socialism, corruption, and padding of the pockets for and by those running the country. Yes, that will collapse."

Capitalism will not collapse, because we are not practicing capitalism. Instead, we are practicing a perverse blend of corporate fascism, socialism, corruption, and padding of the pockets for and by those running the country
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He's right about what is going on.....Wall Street and the Government are one and the same....a bunch of elites stealing the wealth of the average person while at the same time selling Main Street out for their own gain.

The time will come and we will rise up......

Putting a cap on credit-card interchange fees means banks will just find other ways to make up the revenue - and that's a good thing, says Felix Salmon: Putting more fees in the open will let consumers make clear decisions about how they want to use cards, including the likely outcome of using them less.

Agree 100%. The problem with credit cards is that it is almost mandatory to have one if you want to be mobile. You can't fly without one, can't book a hotel without one, can't rent a car without one, etc.
Anything that shows the true cost is good.

But we should realize that lowering the fees just means more money going into Walmart/Target/etc pockets. The consumer won't ever see any savings.

A lawyer for employees of AIG's (AIG -1.3%) Financial Products unit - the CDS-selling division that was the source of the company's meltdown - threatens "instant litigation" and mass departures in March if promised bonuses aren't paid.

How about instant one way passes to JAIL...do not pass go...do not collect $200.

Oh, and we'll also be stopping by your homes to take all your valuables and sell your house - so tell your wife she might want to skip the afternoon at Nordstroms and pack a few things before sleeping on whomever's couch she'll soon be on.

I think it would be good if we could start publishing these people's addresses and let the masses take care of this.

Mort Zuckerman backs the Fed as systemic-risk regulator, saying there's "no other institution - certainly not Congress - with the sophisticated understanding and detailed knowledge to monitor the financial health of the banking firms." Should Congress undermine the Fed, he says, we could face a world-wide collapse of confidence in the dollar.

I'd take just about anything over Congress being more involved. And Zuckerman is right that the rest of the world would dump the dollar - our Congress is the laughingstock of the world. Everyone watched their incompetence starting with the first TARP bill, the second TARP bill, their endless hearings asking stupid questions, their promising changes while ignoring the obvious, their handing out money to their preferred interests in the bailout package, etc, etc, etc.

They make Putin look like a good choice.

Oct. Durable Goods: -0.6% vs. +0.5% expected and +2% in September (revised from +1.4%). Ex-transport -1.3% vs. +1.8% prior (revised from +1.2%).

Not good......this is one of the key numbers that is needed to spur employment. Without a turnaround in manufacturing we will not get the unemployment numbers back to a reasonable level.

Third Quarter Growth Revised Down 2.8%, Much Lower than Original Estimate

I think its pretty much irrelevant. We all know we have huge problems to fix and a long way to go. If anything its kind of good to know that there wasn't as much growth, because if we grew at 3.5% and unemployment went down another percent we'd be in even more trouble. Hopefully we pick up the pace from here and soon get a month of job creation!!

23% of all U.S. homeowners with mortgages - 10.7M - now owe more to the bank than their house is worth, according to a report from First American CoreLogic this morning. More than 5.3M of those mortgages are at least 20% higher then the home's value. Noting the close correlation between negative equity and foreclosures, firm calls the trend "an outstanding risk hanging over the mortgage market."

I think this issue is way overblown. Unemployment is the big problem. Thats why people leave their homes.

I own many stocks that are "underwater", doesn't mean I'm not going to put more money into stocks.

Former CBO director Douglas Holtz-Eakin says the U.S. is headed toward a deficit iceberg. Obama's lukewarm reception in China may be a sign foreigners are interpreting the suicidal rush to increase healthcare spending as "a dramatic statement to financial markets that the federal government does not understand that it must get its fiscal house in order."

Agree with DW.

I believe Obama's heart is in the right place, but he isn't dealing with the tough issues around health care. If he wants to be a leader and not just a cheerleader this better turn around quickly. Focus on cost containment and be honest with the tough choices. Force those that feed at the trough of health care to get less (ie lawyers, insurance companies, etc). And scale back the spending on existing programs.....its not what people want to hear, rather its what we need to hear.

There are no excuses for the deficit. I can balance my checkbook and make tough choices. The federal government needs to do the same. There will need to be more taxes. There will need to be cuts in social spending, in the military, in every area we currently spend money on......and the president needs to lead to see that actually happens. Our "representatives" in Congress are collectively a bunch of idiots and can't be relied on to get anything done on their own that is actually in the best interest of the entire country.

Boeing's (BA) incentives for building its 787 Dreamliner plant in South Carolina could go from $250M up to a little over $400M, "depending on how you cut the apple," says Governor Mark Sanford. The facility will be Boeing's first outside Washington state, and the company has about 840 orders for the new plane.

If they allow the governor to take free flights to Argentina they get the full amount!!!

Bonds - $4B in bonds. Suitors including News Corp. (NWS), Time Warner (TWX), Sony (SNE) and Qualia Capital are beginning to circle around the MGM film studio - owner of the "James Bond 007" franchise as well as a 4,100-film library - which considers a sale among its options to get out from under $4B in debt.

The Bond girls alone are worth the $4 Billion :)

Paul Curbo: REIT Rally Is Sustainable

I agree there is opportunity in the regional mall sector. But SPG is actually now more valued than during 2007. They have issued equity twice this year. So investors are taking it as given that they will be able to buy distressed properties. While I agree its likely, its by no means guaranteed.

My preference in retail REIT's is PEI, which has not diluted their shareholders and has indicated they are near a refinancing of their outstanding non-secured debt. At $7.50 they are trading at only about 3 times FFO for 2010 versus an industry average in the teens.

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker say they're opposed to auditing the Fed, noting the measure would destroy the central bank's independence (.pdf). Fed chief Ben Bernanke told Congress in June that Sen. Ron Paul's provision "would effectively be a takeover of policy by the Congress and would be highly destructive to the stability of the financial system, the dollar and our national economic situation."

I'd like to see some sort of delayed review. The actions of the FED should be made public say 3 years afterwards. That would ensure that the decision makers know that there will be full transparency in the future.

I trust Paul Volker as one of the few in Washington not beholden to special interests, nor is he impressed by the "masters of the universe" Wall Street crowd. If he says it will damage the FED's independence then I'll go along with him. I don't want the idiots in Congress making monetary policy thats for sure.

Copper, Gold and Coal Poised to Break Out

Well I won't complain if it goes higher, but I can't see PCU really getting as high as $40. The dividend has improved last quarter but its still fairly low.....maybe if next quarter we see high twenty cents then we could continue to advance. Its already had a great run.

E*Trade Takeover Chatter: How Should an Investor Respond?

Brokerage is prime beef.....bank is solid.....mortgage business is still high risk. I think most major financial players will want to wait. Regional banks or even national banks have enough mortgage problems of their own to work off before taking on more mortgage headaches.

I agree its worth owning, but you need to be patient....to the tune of 12-18 months.

Whitney Gets Bearish: Will She Be Right Again?

Don't think she'll be right or wrong this time around. I get the feeling that profits are improving at most companies and if that carries into 2010 stocks aren't overvalued nor undervalued. And since I don't foresee an incredibly strong recovery we'll probably spend some time above where we are now (=she's wrong) and some time below where we are now (=she's right).

I avoid the financials and stick to dividend paying companies......which makes the gyrations of the market on a day to day basis much less relevant.