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Also buried in Fannie Mae's (FNM) SEC filing yesterday was that it agreed to sell $2.6B in unused tax credits to unnamed buyers, and received approval (.pdf) for the deal from its regulator, the FHFA. The Treasury is thought to be leery of signing off on the sale, reportedly to Goldman Sachs (GS) and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A).

"Sometime when the team is up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper!"

Goldman is down, Hank Paulson comes onto the field. They've lined up! Wow, it's Paulson to TARP to HankBank to PartnerPocket. What a play. They're going for the extra billions. Warren is holding. The kick, it's good they score tax credits. What a game folks.

Also buried in Fannie Mae's (FNM) SEC filing yesterday was that it agreed to sell $2.6B in unused tax credits to unnamed buyers, and received approval (.pdf) for the deal from its regulator, the FHFA. The Treasury is thought to be leery of signing off on the sale, reportedly to Goldman Sachs (GS) and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A).

Gawd! This theft and government corruption is so blatant, that I don't know what to say. There is just nothing. I'm stunned! It must be how the Romans felt when Commodus became their emperor. How did we end up here.

Sources say Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) has joined Goldman Sachs (GS) in a bid to buy $3B in tax credits from Fannie Mae (FNM); the credits are virtually worthless to Fannie Mae. The government, which controls Fannie, is thought to be reluctant to approve a deal that would allow Goldman to save on taxes, but taking widely-respected Buffett as a partner could reduce the tension.

Buffett again? We've got a reinsurance scandal. . . quick call Buffett he'll assuage the uproar. Hey, let's merge Wells Fargo and Wachovia. . . Get Warren, he'll make the medicine go down. Goldman Sachs is nothing but a factory that manufacturers and distributes misrepresented "mortgage" products. Let's get Warren he'll take the stink off. Hey Immelt wants to hide toxic assets from the other stockholders at GE. . .Let's get Warren. . . he'll fix it.

Cramer Does It Again with CIT Call

"I wrote that on the fly late last night after a long day watching football and having a few brews with the family ."

Okay then "fun" article in that spirit and context.

Last fall's investment of $125B in taxpayer money into nine banks gets an unlikely endorsement - from two Chicago-school economists, who say "Paulson's Gift" (.pdf) didn't just redistribute value, it created value.

Gee, thanks Mr. Paulson, you're swell! At least two vanity press type professors writing for a conservative think tank have claimed.

Here's Why Asia Must Eventually Ditch the Dollar

The problem with blind ideology is that it is blind. Obama did not break the trust required for international acceptance of the dollar as the reserve currency. We all know that certain US politicians in cahoots with certain individuals spread across the international financial community, destroyed that trust by creating and misrepresenting dollar denominated mortgage instruments. we know their names and we know their games. Unfortunately, rather than breaking with this Cabal, Obama has embraced them. Until he he turns his back on them like he did the reverend; bye dollar.

In a letter to the SEC (.pdf), Goldman Sachs (GS) dispels five common myths about so-called 'dark pool' anonymous trading exchanges. The rest of the 56-page document - which summarizes a Sept. 24 SEC/Goldman meeting - sheds light on short selling, high-frequency trading, flash trading and naked access.

Tarzan like efficiency and liquidity. Tarzan no like misrepresentation, manipulation, government corruption.

How long is the long-run? According to this table, the 30-year timeframe is the narrowest in which stocks currently beat long-term goverment and corporate bonds. Of course, contrarians will say that recent weakness is precisely why stocks are poised to outperform going forward.

Is there a study that compares only dividend paying stocks to bonds?
I'm sure there not comparing junk and worthless MBS on the bond side of the equation, so why load the stock side up with junk stocks?

The U.S. could lose its AAA rating if it fails to reduce its deficit over the next 3-4 years, Moody's says. Earlier this year, markets were spooked after S&P cut its outlook on Britain to Negative from Stable. Meanwhile, Moody's said today European countries' rising debt won't trigger across-the-board downgrades.

Just call Warren. He will arrange a special treasury bond at 8.9% interest, with priority over all other bondholders and secured by all federal income tax revenues.

The idea of solving too-big-to-fail by splitting banks back into investment and lending components won't work, says Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo: It doesn't prevent risky lending, and the investment sides would then become too big to fail themselves. He says higher capital levels, special charges related to systemic importance, and covering all systemically important firms (not just commercial bank owners) are all required.

I wonder how much they would shrink if people and institutions just took their paper profits and sold off JPM, GS, Deutches bank, and Societe General? Maybe that's the answer. It worked for the Ivory trade.

The idea of solving too-big-to-fail by splitting banks back into investment and lending components won't work, says Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo: It doesn't prevent risky lending, and the investment sides would then become too big to fail themselves. He says higher capital levels, special charges related to systemic importance, and covering all systemically important firms (not just commercial bank owners) are all required.

Maybe, everybody should move all of their liquid deposits to credit unions; the government should beef up the deposit insurance for credit unions; and then let the big banks play with the money of anybody who really trusts all their "innovative" crap.

The government says it'll be a few weeks before it has the data to decide whether to extend the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. The IRS' internal watchdog is about to warn the agency for the fourth time about fraud related to the credit - up to $489M possibly granted to unqualified applicants. And Rex Nutting says to kill this ineffective, wasteful subsidy.

Pretty clever filter technique, i.e, home mortgage interest deduction plus first time credit claim equals tax cheat. The IRS should assess everyone of the cheats a $1000 penalty payable immediately or $5000 plus legal expenses if found guilty in court.

P.S. Will the homebuilder stocks bounce if and when the credit is extended?

FDIC head Sheila Bair warns community banks are struggling to compete against their too-big-to-fail rivals. "Too big to fail has become worse," she said, "it's become explicit when it was implicit before." Bair contends government guarantees create competitive disparities between large and small banks, because "everybody knows small institutions can fail," making it more expensive for them to raise capital and secure funding.

Psssst! Sheila, we need to have a little talk. Just keep quiet and close the small banks on the weekend. You're not their advocate, you're our hatchetwoman. Please do not call attention to the big bulge that we've swept under the rug. We're trying to clean this mess up.

FDIC head Sheila Bair warns community banks are struggling to compete against their too-big-to-fail rivals. "Too big to fail has become worse," she said, "it's become explicit when it was implicit before." Bair contends government guarantees create competitive disparities between large and small banks, because "everybody knows small institutions can fail," making it more expensive for them to raise capital and secure funding.

The only piece of information that I as an ordinary investor can glean about JPM is that Jamie Dimon is some kind of god that has political connections, otherwise, I have no idea about what is really on the market value of assets are at JPM. With GE, its the god Warren Buffett, who is the only one who really knows what GE financial holds. And of course with Goldman, it seems like a reprise of the "smartest guys in the room" scenario a la Enron. So I think government and financial executives are trying to keep a big ugly secret.

Inflation and the Hierarchy of Needs

I have a question. How can I invest in the dollar? I don't consider currency speculation investing. Psychologically, I feel more comfortable looking at visible earnings. Hence I will invest in international companies like MCD and INTC. What the dollar's relation is to other currencies doesn't bother me psychologically in the least. I think this is because it is an accounting of group action as opposed to anything that meaningfully affects any individual investor (other than currency speculators).