STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday September 26

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday September 26, 2008

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 115
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2804 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2529 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 2820
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 10
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54

---

U.S. FUTURES &
MARKETS INDICATORS>
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES

---

AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.
$1 USD = EUR 1.06678
$1 USD = JPY 116.6200

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON September 25, 2008

Dow... 11,022.06 +196.89 (+1.82%)
Nasdaq... 2,186.57 +30.89 (+1.43%)
S&P 500... 1,209.18 +23.31 (+1.97%)
Gold future... 882.00 -13.00 (-1.47%)
30-Year Bond 4.41% +0.04 (+0.82%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.86% +0.09 (+2.41%)






GOLD,EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver

---

PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

---

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. Market WrapUp

Horrid Data: Housing, Jobs, Durable Goods
BY MIKE SHEDLOCK

In December 2007 I stated that every jobs report this year would be bad. So far we have had 8 consecutive horrid jobs reports. We have lost jobs every month this year. September will be the 9th month in a row. One cannot blame hurricanes for this data series.

August Home Sales Drop 34.5%

The disaster in home sales continues. The U.S. Census Bureau has just issued the New Residential Sales Report for August 2008. Let's take a look.

Sales of new one-family houses in August 2008 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 460,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This is 11.5 percent (±11.7%) below the revised July rate of 520,000 and is 34.5 percent (±7.3%) below the August 2007 estimate of 702,000.

The median sales price of new houses sold in August 2008 was $221,900; the average sales price was $263,900. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 408,000. This represents a supply of 10.9 months at the current sales rate.

....

The durable goods report was an absolute disaster. Orders plunged and inventories continue to rise.

Housing, jobs, and durable goods were all disasters. Expect to see production cutbacks and rising unemployment. Anyone who thinks the US is not in recession is in absolute fantasyland.

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[ozymandius]

2. Today's Reports

08:30 Chain Deflator-Final Q2
Briefing.com 1.2%
Consensus NA
Prior 1.2%

08:30 GDP-Final Q2
Briefing.com 3.4%
Consensus 3.4%
Prior 3.3%

10:00 Mich Sentiment-Rev. Sep
Briefing.com 71.0
Consensus 70.9
Prior 73.1

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm

[SarahB]

7. If that GDP number is anywhere near 3.4% I call bullshit.

What an asinine number.

[ozymandius]

9. I thought the same.

That is utterly insane to suggest that our economy is expanding at that rate when every component of our aggregate economic health has been in the crapper.

[tama]

14. It seems to me

that the US GDP number has lost any and all credibility long time ago. US (real) economy has been in de facto recession since the dotcom collapse, depression started year ago. And now it's getting even worse.

[TalkingDog]

60. Ding!!! Ding!!! Ding!!!

We have a WINNAH!!!

[tama]

74. Came up with a definition

This what US is now entering is not the (second) Great Depression, it's worse (or better, if you take sides with Mother Nature :)): The Post Peak Depression (PPD aka gradual collapse of the modern technocratic civilization).

[unblock]

103. we're exporting a LOT of OIL

and other commodities. a few companies are making a killing exporting, due to the weakness of the dollar.

gdp is an average, and the huge boom in exports more than offsets smallish declines in a LOT of sectors.

gdp does NOT say how the expansion is distributed (or not) throughout the economy.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

79. Carve out Defense Spending...

Which is generally around 3-3.5% and tell me what you get.

[UpInArms]

41. U.S. Q2 GDP up 2.8% vs 3.3% prev est. (still a bad joke)

01. U.S Q2 corporate profits down revised 5.4% vs down 3.8% prev
8:30 AM ET, Sep 26, 2008

02. U.S. Q2 core PCE up 2.2% vs 2.1% prev est.
8:30 AM ET, Sep 26, 2008

03. U.S. Q2 revisions due to weaker consumer, business spending
8:30 AM ET, Sep 26, 2008

04. U.S. Q2 GDP below 3.4% forecast
8:30 AM ET, Sep 26, 2008

05. U.S. Q2 GDP up 2.8% vs 3.3% prev est.
8:30 AM ET, Sep 26, 2008

[tama]

75. Hey,

but the investor sheeple are happy, so what's the problem? ;)

[UpInArms]

121. U.S. Sept. UMich consumer sentiment 70.3 vs. 71.5 expected

51. U.S. Sept. UMich consumer sentiment 70.3 vs. 71.5 expected
9:57 AM ET, Sep 26, 2008

[ozymandius]

3. Oil falls in Asia as bailout talks falter

SINGAPORE - Oil prices fell below $107 a barrel in Asia Friday on investor concern that faltering negotiations in Washington may sabotage a bailout plan to stabilize the U.S. financial system, which could drag on global growth and undermine crude demand.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery was down $1.32 to $106.70 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midday in Singapore. The contract rose overnight $2.29 to settle at $108.02.

.....

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 2.58 cents to $3.00 a gallon, while gasoline prices dropped 3.13 cents to $2.666 a gallon. Natural gas for October delivery fell 0.2 cents to $7.722 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, November Brent crude fell $1.17 to $103.43 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

[ozymandius]

4. WaMu becomes biggest bank to fail in US history

NEW YORK - As the debate over a $700 billion bank bailout rages on in Washington, one of the nation's largest banks — Washington Mutual Inc. — has collapsed under the weight of its enormous bad bets on the mortgage market.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized WaMu on Thursday, and then sold the thrift's banking assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $1.9 billion.

Seattle-based WaMu, which was founded in 1889, is the largest bank to fail by far in the country's history. Its $307 billion in assets eclipse the $40 billion of Continental Illinois National Bank, which failed in 1984, and the $32 billion of IndyMac, which the government seized in July.

One positive is that the sale of WaMu's assets to JPMorgan Chase prevents the thrift's collapse from depleting the FDIC's insurance fund. But that detail is likely to give only marginal solace to Americans facing tighter lending and watching their stock portfolios plunge in the wake of the nation's most momentous financial crisis since the Great Depression.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080926/ap_on_bi_ge/washington_mutual_future

[Buttercup McToots]

12. WaMu CEO Hilarity $19.1 million for 3 weeks work? This is insane...

WaMu CEO Hilarity
Atlanta

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/busine....


Quote:

But the seizure and the deal with JPMorgan came as a shock to Washington Mutual’s board, which was kept completely in the dark: the company’s new chief executive, Alan H. Fishman, was in midair, flying from New York to Seattle at the time the deal was finally brokered, according to people briefed on the situation. Mr. Fishman, who has been on the job for less than three weeks, is eligible for $11.6 million in cash severance and will get to keep his $7.5 million signing bonus, according to an analysis by James F. Reda and Associates. WaMu was not immediately available for comment.

$19.1 million for 3 weeks work?
:wow:

[ozymandius]

16. The insanity is WaMu's board agreeing to this contract.

The genius is Fishman's contract attorney selling the board this agreement.

It's nuts.

But then look at the terms that Warren Buffett shoved down Goldman's throat for his $5 billion investment.

He picked up Constellation Energy for half of what it had been worth a week earlier after financing concerns knocked down the company's stock. And he will collect a 10 percent dividend on his preferred shares of Goldman Sachs -- and a 10 percent premium if the firm ever decides to buy them back from him.

Opportunism abounds.

[radfringe]

37. But the seizure and the deal with JPMorgan came as a shock to Washington Mutual’s board,

which was kept completely in the dark....??????

don't they read the papers? WAMU's problems have been in the news for the past few weeks

no wonder the financial markets are f***ed up - they drive their companies at night with the lights off

[wordpix]

51. OMG---a CEO can do that without board approval? Would never fly in my workplace!

[Demeter]

29. Why Thursday Night, Instead of Friday?

Word of the seizure and sale were leaking out, and the FDIC didn't want to distress the stockholders.

I can't type that with a straight face. Don't ask me how the NYTimes managed.

[Dr.Phool]

39. People, especially here, have been talking about a WaMu takeover for weeks.

Even months.

It came as a total surprise, and the stockholders never noticed their shares plummeting.

I think it was a distraction from Karl Rove's failed McCain Rescue Plan.

[AnneD]

77. So this would be all the press talked about....

instead of the debate. It also puts more pressure on congress for the bail out bill cause WS will have another bad day. I am watching Faux (not voluntarily) and they just can't find a way to spin this-you can hear the panic in their voices. They want to spook the cattle.:tinfoilhat:

[DemReadingDU]

91. and to show that banks are in crisis, failing

and you better hurry up and pass this bailout bill, or it's going to get worse.

[Dr.Phool]

105. Bingo.

If the crisis don't work, create a bigger crisis.

I'll bet another bank goes today.

[happyslug]

113. Yesterday, September 25, the NYT said this "Washington Mutual to sell its deposits" ...to JP Morgan"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3512123&mesg_id=3512172

I noted there was something strange about a bank "Selling Deposits", banks sell ASSETS (i.e loans) NOT liabilities (Which is what a Deposit is to a bank). Something was up, and now we know.

As said on that threat someone wanted out of Washington Mutual and JP Morgan could not afford it (i.e. WaMu would have to come up with cash to pay off the Depositor, cash WaMu could only get by selling its loans at a huge lost, a lost that every other bank would have to take into consideration as to the value of similar loans (i.e. Assets are held at the lower of Cost or Market. the force sale would have lead to JP Morgan and other banks having to devalue their own loans to the Market price set by Washington Mutual. No one wants that, JP Morgan tried to do something about it yesterday, and today it was found that was NOT enough, thus the force sale of WaMu to JP Morgan to prevent any force sale of the worthless loans WaMu, JP Morgan and the rest of the banks are holding.

[Demeter]

134. You Are Making My Head Hurt.

[ozymandius]

5. HSBC to cut 1,100 jobs worldwide

HONG KONG - Banking giant HSBC Holdings PLC is cutting 1,100 jobs worldwide in the wake of the financial turmoil, a spokesman said Friday.

The London-based lender is laying off 4 percent of the global banking and market operations, with half of them taking place in the bank's operation in the United Kingdom, said spokesman Gareth Hewett in Hong Kong.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080926/ap_on_bi_ge/as_hong_kong_hsbc_job_cuts

[TalkingDog]

59. Local NC plant to close. Leaves over 500 jobless.

http://www2.statesville.com/content/2008/sep/26/canac-close-leave-more-500-jobless/news-local/#comments

Kohler Co. announced Thursday that it was closing its Canac kitchen cabinetry business, a move that will leave 522 workers at its Statesville plant jobless by year's end.

The management at the Speedball Road plant met with employees around lunchtime to break the news that they would gradually be laid off until Nov. 25. The company cited the weak U.S. housing market, recent construction softness in Canada and rising raw material and energy costs as the driving reasons behind the business closure.

One Statesville cabinet maker, who asked that his name not be used, said employees had known their jobs were in danger for some time. The plant has been using temporary labor while it was under a hiring freeze, he said.

Approximately 807 Canac employees from across the U.S. and in Canada are expected to lose their jobs.

[ozymandius]

6. Central banks attempt money-market rescue

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The world's central banks took steps Friday to aid the crucial interbank lending market as nervous banks remained reluctant to lend to each other beyond overnight.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank announced joint efforts to pump dollars into money markets through one-week loans aimed at easing funding tensions through the end of the quarter.

....

Fears of further turmoil in the financial sector and uncertainty over the fate of the bailout plan have left the interbank lending market virtually frozen beyond the overnight range, traders say. While massive central-bank intervention through overnight loans has brought down one-day rates since last week, other short-term rates have soared along with spreads that are a key measure of tensions in the money markets.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/central-banks-aim-avert-money-market/story.aspx?guid={342E2AF0-33FA-4FA9-93E8-5AFE1FF18AF0}&dist=hplatest

---

Watch the Ted-spread if you like watching a numbers ballet.

[UpInArms]

38. Investment, commercial banks borrow $218 bln from Fed

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/investment-commercial-banks-borrow-218/story.aspx?guid=%7BE652ED45%2D52C1%2D4DBC%2D8701%2D860BF99EF1DE%7D

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Investment and commercial banks had borrowed a total of $218 billion from the Federal Reserve as of Wednesday, the Fed reported Thursday. As of Wednesday, the investment banks had borrowed $105.7 billion. This includes credit to domestic and London-based broker-dealer subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. Commercial banks borrowed $39.3 billion. In addition, banks have tapped $73 billion to buy asset-backed commercial paper from money market mutual funds.

[ozymandius]

8. House Republicans Undercut Bush on Rescue, Slow Talks (Update3)

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Negotiations on the $700 billion rescue of the U.S. financial system stalled as House Republicans undercut the Bush administration and left it to congressional leaders to hammer out a compromise to calm markets.

Lawmakers were to meet again today in Washington after some House Republicans led by Virginia's Eric Cantor, said they wouldn't back a plan based on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's approach. The stalemate came after an unprecedented meeting of the two presidential candidates, the president, congressional leaders and Cabinet officers.

....

The setback unnerved investors, coming after the U.S. government closed Washington Mutual Inc., the largest U.S. savings-and-loan institution. Standard & Poor's 500 stock index futures declined 1.3 percent in European trading and the yield on the two-year Treasury note fell 12 basis points to 2.04 percent, just above the Federal Reserve's target rate.

....

Republican lawmakers offered a plan calling for Wall Street firms to purchase insurance on mortgage-backed securities and advocating tax cuts and relaxed regulations. Treasury officials had previously rejected a plan focusing on insurance in favor of one that purchased troubled assets, Cantor said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=azwqk86I6nbk&refer=economy

---

Damn! These Republicans believe in nothing if it's not tax cuts and deregulation. What shit is this? How the hell did they expect to sell deregulation?

[ozymandius]

13. Krugman: Madness on Pennsylvania Avenue

I hate nights like this — the news kept changing as I tried to finish the column. But this White House meeting was obviously one for the ages:

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) angrily accused House Republicans — with the tacit support of Republican presidential candidate John McCain — of crafting an alternative to undercut Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Both McCain and his Democrat rival, Sen. Barack Obama, left without any joint endorsement. A beleaguered President Bush had to struggle to maintain order and reassert himself. And when Democrats left after the meeting to caucus in the Roosevelt Room, Paulson pursued them, begging that they not “blow up” the legislation.

The former Goldman Sachs CEO even went down on one knee as if genuflecting, to which Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) is said to have joked, “I didn’t know you were Catholic.”

I don’t even want to think about what tomorrow’s TED spread will look like.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/madness-on-pennsylvania-avenue/

---

This is Krugman's entire blog post. I think it's curious what catches Krugman's attention during these days of fiscal calamity and high political drama.

[Zenlitened]

10. Farmers having little problem getting ag credit

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Farm-Scene-Farm-Credit.html

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 26, 2008
Filed at 5:11 a.m. ET

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- The economic turmoil on Wall Street has not reached the dusty country roads in the nation's Heartland, where a rural economic boom has meant farmers are not having much trouble getting loans to plant crops, buy land and replace equipment.

''The fundamentals of agriculture right now, in terms of income and opportunities, is good. There are profits to be made, so I think that is underpinning the willingness to lend to that sector,'' said Jason Henderson, a branch executive with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

(snip)

Henderson, the Omaha branch executive who writes that quarterly snapshot, said although the official third quarter report will not be available until later this year, they have found anecdotally in talking to bankers that Wall Street's financial troubles have not affected rural banks' funding sources or changed their farm lending practices much.

(snip)

So many Kansas farmers have been able to obtain loans through their hometown banks that the agricultural loan volumes of government lenders like the Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency have actually gone down.

[tama]

17. Let's see

At the cost of gallon of tractor diesel, how many ex Wall Street employees can a farmer hire to dig weed roots (yummy!) from the fields? Lipstick or without...

[Rosie1223]

69. This is because farmland prices have yet to burst the bubble

Land prices (at least here in Illinois) are still skyrocketing, much like home prices on the coasts in the past years. It won't last, we're just a little behind the ecomomic curve.

[tama]

76. Don't expect

land prices - especially farming land - to drop. In times of trouble, capital flees to safety and finally to the ultimat safe haven, the land that produces the food that we eat.

Only revolution with redistribution of land to landless masses can threaten the land owning aristocracy.

[Rosie1223]

85. You would be surprised

My husband and I are family farmers and members of the 'land owing aristocracy'. Land that sold 5 years ago for $2000/acre is now going for $9000/acre. Even with current record high commodity prices, you cannot make enough money to pay a mortgage on that amount. If the landowner does not farm, they will not be able to get rent high enough to cover the mortgage. There will be farm forclosures next, especially if interest rates start to rise. That's my prediction, FWIW.

[AnneD]

93. Land prices have been skyrocketing...

near my brother's farm. Fortunately, he owns it and just does subsistence farming, so there is no pressure from the bank. He may not have monetary wealth, but he he has assets out the wa-zoo. He has pigs, goats, chickens, and a couple of cows. SIL has a big kitchen garden and brother's latest project was to sink a small fishpond/tank. It has really taken off.

Nice to have family to fall back on when you have hard times.

[ThePowerofWill]

149. Thats my position.

I'm cash poor but land rich. My worth is supposed to be in the millions. Ha! most of the time i barely have two nickles to rub together. I farm enought to feed myself some livestock and pay the taxes, well help pay the taxes, I still end up having to put money from my publc job into it.

[ozymandius]

11. Wall Street Executives Scored $3 Billion as Banks Rose and Fell

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Wall Street's five biggest firms paid more than $3 billion in the last five years to their top executives, while they presided over the packaging and sale of loans that helped bring down the investment-banking system.

...

Democrats and Republicans in Congress are demanding that limits be placed on executive pay as part of the $700 billion financial rescue plan proposed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO, who received about $111 million between 2003 and 2006, said in testimony to Congress on Sept. 24 that he would accept such limits as part of the plan, after initially opposing them.

....

Wall Street firms have shared profits liberally with employees. The five biggest -- Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Merrill, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bear Stearns -- paid their 185,687 employees $66 billion in 2007, as problems with subprime mortgages mounted, including about $39 billion in bonuses. That amounts to average pay of $353,089 per employee, including an average bonus of $211,849. The five firms had combined net income of $93 billion during the five years through 2007.

CEO Pay Doubled

The $3.1 billion paid to the top five executives at the firms between 2003 and 2007 was about three times what JPMorgan spent to buy Bear Stearns. Goldman Sachs had the highest total, with $859 million, followed by Bear Stearns at $609 million. CEO pay at the five firms increased each year, doubling to $253 million in 2007, according to data compiled from company filings.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a96vQtgKS3BM&refer=exclusive

[antigop]

62. "It's a big club and you ain't in it." -- George Carlin n/t

[Buttercup McToots]

15. Did you see this? Latest Bush Executive order...Succession changes

Should we be ready for something?...

Latest Bush Executive order: Order of Succession changes...


"...each agency shall take all appropriate actions to establish, maintain, and, as necessary, revise an order of succession, or to propose presidential action to establish or revise an order of succession."

"(b) "order of succession" means a list of officials by position who shall act as and perform the functions and duties of the office of the head of the agency in the event that the office-holder has died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform the functions and duties of the office. "Order of succession" does not include any order, rule, memorandum, or other document delegating or partially delegating the authority of an office."

"(b) Each agency described in subsection 4(a) of this order shall update and revise its order of succession as necessary. Before implementing any revisions to its order of succession, such agency shall send the proposed revisions to the Counsel to the President for review and comment."

"(c) Not later than 30 days from the date of this order, and not later than 7 days from the issuance date of any subsequent final revision to an existing order of succession, each agency described in subsection 4(a) of this order shall provide a copy of its order of succession to the Counsel to the President, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget."

"(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to delegate the President's authority under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., to designate individuals to perform the functions and duties of a vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity."

- GEORGE W. BUSH, THE WHITE HOUSE, September 11, 2008.
Here it is:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/....

Available at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/relea...0....


:tinfoilhat:

[ozymandius]

18. It does not strike me as something so sinister as the Paulson economic coup.

This sounds like a continuity plan to me. The Bush administration folds in a little more that 100 days. The vitriol and constant rain of crises continue. During these times, history has shown that people, particularly people in leadership roles, quit because of the stress.

Do not be surprised in Paulson resigns when his gambit fails. Who is second at Treasury? And third? What about Commerce?

It makes sense that every agency needs to have a list like that specifying presidential succession. Try not to worry.

[Buttercup McToots]

27. Am I getting freaked out over nothing? Chilling Arabic communication.

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/

Chilling Arabic communication: "When School Bus turns to Hell Bus"
"Rakan Bin Williams may be your neighbor and may be your colleague at work or a member of the local police... Imagine if "Uncle Brian," the school bus driver carrying your children to school every morning is someone other than he claims to be? Just imagine, you very, very stupid American."

By Douglas J. Hagmann, Director

25 September 2008: Among Muslims who have immigrated to the United States over the last quarter century, there is a certain element that has not arrived with the intention to adapt, to make a new life for themselves or their families, to make a living, or to be thankful for the country that has openly accepted and embraced them.

That particular element has arrived with the surreptitious agenda of Islamizing America; to convert our country that is rooted in Judeo-Christian principles to Islam. They are here to corrupt our country from within, exploit the freedoms they have been granted, our multicultural tolerance, and our laws for the purpose of eradicating our democracy and establishing a one-world caliphate. They have, in fact, admitted as much.

This process has increased exponentially over the last decade, and consists of the influx of a much more dangerous portion of the element referenced above. While the former group consists of individuals who are cunning but patient, supportive of terrorism but covertly so, the latter group is arriving to avenge what they perceive as the evils committed by the Great Satan and our friends and partners in the Middle East, Israel.

read more »

Directives for Islamic terrorist attack in U.S. appear on the Internet


SPECIAL REPORT: "Commandments Before The Strike"

ALERT: Instructions for actions Muslims are to take before, during & after an attack in the U.S. posted;

Message suggests activation of worldwide jihad following U.S. attack;

Message indicates large-scale attack within the U.S., perhaps early October;

Text, posting under analysis by U.S. Intelligence officials

Analysis by Douglas J. Hagmann, Director & By Randy Taylor, Independent Analyst

Intelligence provided by "Archangel"

24 September 2008: A posting uncovered in an Arabic language Internet forum is currently raising a few eyebrows in the intelligence community. The single posting, which is presently being scrutinized by intelligence officials, appears to provide detailed instructions for Muslims living within the United States, giving them specific actions to take before, during and after an upcoming attack in the U.S. The communication was discovered by "Archangel," a well-known independent intelligence analyst active within the intelligence community.

The post was initially published on August 2, 2008 under the title “Commandments Before the Strike,” and appears to be a sort of a conflict management guide, or instructions on what Muslims should do prior to the attack, actions that should be undertaken concurrent with the attack, and well as additional instructions following the attack.

The text addressing the nature, location and timing of the planned attack, although specific to the U.S., appears otherwise ambiguous. For instance, the timing appears to focus on the Tuesday following the end of Ramadan, which would be October 7, 2008. The nature of the attack is less clear. Although the author appears to talk about a strike greater in magnitude than the 9/11 attacks and makes reference to the possibility of it being nuclear in nature, the text references to the nuclear aspect of the attack appear somewhat muddled.

In terms of the location of the attack, it is clear that the author identifies both New York, as the financial capital of the U.S., and Washington, DC, as the nation’s capital, as being both desirable and affected. It is interesting that under analysis, the details of “the attack” referenced by the author are nestled within the text of instructions, rather than being prominently placed to serve as an overt warning as seen in the past. The relative subtlety in which the targets and type of attack was referenced is most interesting from a historical and analytical perspective.

The author who wrote the posting appears to be well established and respected by the community of terrorists and their supporters who frequent such forums. Research of the various membership profiles within that community indicates the author could be a sheik or other Muslim with leadership status. To be clear, research indicates the author has a level of credibility within the forum community. Accordingly, it would be completely consistent for the author to be able to issue a set of instructions that could be expected to be followed by the readers of the forum.

An investigation of the post, in terms of placement, links and replies, also provides significant insight with regard to its weight and credibility. Looking at a specific patterns of posting on Arabic language forums over the last seven years, investigation and research takes into account the number, type and authorship of follow-up postings or replies, for example to the original communication.

What makes this post particularly interesting is the limited number of replies to date – a total of three- despite the length of time it has been posted. Further, the replies in this case are general blessings, such as “May Allah Bless You” and general wishes of support for the operation. Based on extensive research of historical posting patterns over the last seven years suggest that this posting could be classified, recognized and acted upon as an order, as opposed to being a point for further discussion.

The commandments or directives are written as a set of instructions to an audience the author has divided into six groups as follows, most if not all having some presence in the United States:


1. Muslim scholars, students, followers of Islam;
2. Various Islamic movements.
3. Islamic peoples not belonging to any specific movement.
4. “Dubai Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus” the Islamic State of Iraq and other jihadist movements;
5. Sleeper cells and potential recruits;
6. The general command of al Qaeda.

Various directives are issued to each of the groups referenced above, providing direction to each group on activities that need to be conducted before and after “the” attack. For example, members of “sleeper cells” should immediately seek out those who are already activated – known by some Islamic scholars and religious leaders – for further tactical advancement.

Specific instructions were also given to the Muslim people to move Muslim children to the safety of training camps at a time that would correspond to the Tuesday after Ramadan – a date that was established as the potential attack date within this posting.

In addition to the varied instructions within this post, there is an additional directive that appears to serve as a worldwide activation order for Islamic terrorists to carryout maritime missions subsequent to the attack, with the obvious intent on disrupting all major maritime supply routes.

Instructions were given to jihadists in the following areas for such operations:

"he Philippines - Indonesia - Maldives - the coast of Yemen - the coast of Somalia - the coast of Chinguetti - and perhaps the coast of Algeria;"

"The skyline of the Islamic many important straits and sea lanes that have articulated by the march of trade and military forces of infidelity:"

"The Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Sumatra, one of the most important corridors of the world trade."

" Torres Strait, which lies between New Guinea and northern Australia..."

Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of this posting might not be the message itself, but the message when viewed through the prism of historical patterns exhibited subsequent to the 2001 terrorist attacks. While the contents of the message are revealing, they become even more relevant when analyzed in tandem with the threat of worldwide jihad in advance of the bombings in Yemen and Pakistan.

We are seeing a resurgence of Islamic jihad previously before unseen, with few notable exceptions. Those exceptions, however, are indeed notable: the time periods before the London & Madrid bombings, both described as each country's own 9/11.

Additional information and further analysis will be published as developed

[Demeter]

30. What? We Are Letting Republicans in Arab Guise Into the Country?

[Shipwack]

32. I wouldn't put much credence in that website....

It looks to be one step up from a Geocities page.

The ads on there suggest that they cater to the survivalist/end times crowd; if their readers were professionals in the intelligence/ counter terrorism field they would have more higher end ads, not advertisements from "The Freeze Dry Guy".

Heck, their main contributing writer is only 20, but has been doing "open-source geopolitical research, where his work was often passed along to intelligence and law enforcement agencies." Since he was 16... I think that translates to reading the web and mailing the local police and FBI office about "secret" terrorist plans he has "deduced"...

Even if they are genuinely concerned, these are the same kinds of people who would get panicked when they saw two dark skinned people sitting together on a plane.

I suppose they make money by publishing articles about how imminent danger is near, then suck up the revenue from ad clicks.

[Buttercup McToots]

35. Thank you so much...

whew...

[eowyn_of_rohan]

111. 2nd O.of S. order this year - why? - 2 parts seem ominous to me

Funny you should bring this up
I have several pages of notes from a marathon research session Wednesday on this subject

This past February he issued Executive Order 13461.
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=76589

Sec. 3. Exceptions states:
(a) No individual who is serving in an office listed in section 2 of this order in an acting capacity, by virtue of so serving, shall act as Secretary pursuant to this order.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this order, the President retains discretion, consistent with the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, to depart from this order in designating an acting Secretary. February 15, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re A & B -
a) If no individual who is serving in the office can act as Secretary , or I assume be among those listed in a succession order, than who can? Where will the eligible ones come from? Am I reading this right?

Re b) prez retains the right to depart from this order in designating an acting Secretary - hooks into (a), above?

These bother me...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, on September 11, 2008, he issues ANOTHER order of succession:

September 11, 2008
Executive Order 13472 - Executive Branch Responsibilities With Respect to Orders of Succession
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=78626

Is this order standard operating procedure , or why was it issued at this time? That's the big question.

Two parts of this order that stood out to me were,
1) Orders of succession must be determined, submitted and reviewed by prez within 30 days (about 2 weeks from now)- is this not short notice?

2) Sec. 5. General Provisions.
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i)authority granted by law to a department, agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to delegate the President's authority under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, 5 U.S.C. 3345 et seq., to designate individuals to perform the functions and duties of a vacant office temporarily in an acting capacity.


Does this sound like he is trying to defuse any concerns about a power grab? ...

[ozymandius]

19. What was Senator Shelby waving like a white flag of surrender?

Let's backup a minute. Yesterday, Senator Richard Shelby walked onto the Senate floor waving a paper signaling 'no deal'. Here's the poop:

Today Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, said he has ``five pages of the leading economists in America that wrote to me and the leadership saying the Paulson plan is a bad plan. It will not solve problems. It will create more problems.''

Here's the bulk:

Hundreds of Economists Urge Congress Not to Rush on Rescue Plan

By Matthew Benjamin

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- More than 150 prominent U.S. economists, including three Nobel Prize winners, urged Congress to hold off on passing a $700 billion financial market rescue plan until it can be studied more closely.

In a letter yesterday to congressional leaders, 166 academic economists said they oppose Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan because it's a ``subsidy'' for business, it's ambiguous and it may have adverse market consequences in the long term. They also expressed alarm at the haste of lawmakers and the Bush administration to pass legislation.

....

``It doesn't seem to me that a lot decisions that we're going to have to live with for a long time have to be made by Friday,'' said Robert Lucas, a University of Chicago economist and 1995 Nobel Prize winner who signed the letter. ``The situation may get urgent, but it's not urgent right now. Right now it's a financial sector problem.''

The economists who signed the letter represent various disciplines, including macroeconomics, microeconomics, behavioral and information economics, and game theory. They also span the political spectrum, from liberal to conservative to libertarian.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNKGD.bJwmRA&refer=home

---

The Senate, for the moment, is doing its job as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington mused.

There is a widely quoted story about the ``coolness'' of the Senate
involving George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was in
France during the Constitutional Convention.

Upon his return, Jefferson visited Washington and asked why the
Convention delegates had created a Senate. ``Why did you pour that
coffee into your saucer?'' asked Washington. ``To cool it, `` said
Jefferson. ``Even so,'' responded Washington, ``we pour legislation
into the senatorial saucer to cool it.''

The Framers intended the Senate to deliberate, to thoughtfully review
legislation, not be a rubber stamp.

[paparush]

99. Professionals? BAH unto your experience, data, and so called FACTS!

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. Meanwhile, in Brussels, Fortis Bank shares sink again

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Belgian financial authorities said on Friday they were refraining from action for now on Fortis as shares in the Belgian-Dutch financial services group fell for a fifth straight day.

Traders said they were worried about the liquidity and funding of the bank, which scheduled a news conference in the morning but said nothing special would be announced.

Its shares were down 10.3 percent at 5.86 euros as of 4:50 a.m. EDT after touching a 14-year low of 5.5 euros on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSTRE48P2PI20080926

By revenue, Fortis Bank is bigger than any American bank - 14th biggest company in the world: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2008/screener.html?query=00010

[BelgianMadCow]

127. Thanks for that info about Fortis.

I didn't have the right perspective of Fortis.

[ozymandius]

21. Have a nice day Marketeers.

:donut: :donut: :donut:

I am teaching, oddly enough, a high school AP economics class today as I'm covering for the regular teacher. The lesson plan is set but I have been told that there are always questions about daily events. It will be extremely interesting.

Have fun!

:hi:

[TalkingDog]

61. I'm just glad they are taking an interest. Good one to you to Ozy...n/t

[Ghost Dog]

22. European stocks open lower led by financials

Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:22am EDT FRANKFURT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - European stocks fell sharply in early trade on Friday, with banks hit hard by persistent uncertainty about the U.S. government's $700 billion financial sector rescue plan and the collapse of Washington Mutual (WM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

At 0715 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 1.8 percent at 1,105.72 points, with banks the leading losers.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) dropped 4.2 percent, Swiss UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 3.5 percent and Dutch ING (ING.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost 3.2 percent.

Insurers were also weak, with French AXA (AXAF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) falling 3.1 percent.

Energy shares slumped as the crude oil price CLc1 fell more than 1.5 percent towards $106 a barrel. BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was down 1.7 percent, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) dipped 1.4 percent and Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) traded 1.5 percent lower.

/.. http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idCALQ40574520080926?rpc=44

[Ghost Dog]

26. European stocks extend losses on US bailout woes

Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:58am EDT FRANKFURT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - European stocks extended losses in late morning trade on Friday, with banks weighing heavily amid worries about the U.S. government's $700 billion financial sector bailout plan, and oil stocks hit by lower crude. At 1053 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 1.9 percent at 1,103.84 points, having hit an intra-day low of 1,102.22 earlier. U.S. stock index futures DJc1 SPc1 NDc1 were down between 1.5 and 1.8 percent.

"You see the nervousness in the overall market and it is a question what will come next and how quick can we get the programme from the U.S.," said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, equity strategist at Postbank in Bonn, Germany. U.S. congressional leaders were due to try again on Friday to save the $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan after talks broke down in acrimony on Thursday.

Banks were the leading weighted losers in Europe. Shares in Dutch-Belgian bank Fortis (FOR.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 12 percent, having dropped to a 14-year low on Thursday, amid concerns over the group's liquidity, traders said. The stock did not recover even though Fortis Bank President Filip Dierckx said Fortis had no liquidity issue. The bank said it was looking to sell more non-core activities than anticipated.

Amomng other banks, Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 5 percent and in insurance Dutch ING (ING.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was down 5 percent and French AXA (AXAF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) dropped 4.2 percent.

Energy shares fell as crude oil prices CLc1 eased 2.5 percent to below $105.5 a barrel. BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was down 2.2 percent and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) both traded 1.8 percent lower.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idCALQ42626620080926?rpc=44

[Ghost Dog]

23. Interbank dlr rates, spreads high; US bailout plan eyed

Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:15am EDT LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Interbank dollar borrowing rates remained high and premia paid over U.S. government borrowing rates stayed wide on Friday, with money markets clogged up as U.S. political wrangling appeared to stall the passing of a $700 billion financial crisis bailout plan.

...

To help ease the unprecedented strains in money markets, central banks around the world on Friday pumped in billions of dollars of extra liquidity into the global banking system.

Central banks in Asia provided dollar and local currency liquidity, the Federal Reserve said it is expanding its currency swap operations with the European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of England said it will extend its dollar liquidity provisions.

In early London trade on Friday the interbank cost of borrowing dollars for three months was indicated at the upper end of a wide range between 3.7 and 4.8 percent <USD3MD=>.

Thursday's fixing of three-month London interbank offered rates by the British Bankers Association was 3.76875 percent <USD3MFSR=>, and ICAP's three-month dollar New York Funding Rate was 4.2182 percent <USNYFR3M=>.

The closely-watched TED spread, or the difference between these market-based dollar rates and three-month U.S. government borrowing rates, fluctuated in a range of around 350 to 400 basis points in early London trade on Friday. That spread had ballooned last week to almost 500 basis points, the widest in over a quarter of a century.

Three-month U.S. T-bill yields hovered around 0.75 percent <US3MT=RR>.

Talks in Washington aimed at reaching agreement on the U.S. Treasury's $700 billion Wall Street rescue package broke down in acrimony late on Thursday, and will resume again Friday.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINLQ41255220080926?rpc=44
________

ECB, BoE, SNB step up money market efforts
Fri Sep 26, 2008 3:07am EDT FRANKFURT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank, Bank of England and Swiss National Bank stepped up their money market efforts on Friday, with a new plan to pump in one-week dollar funds. The moves add to the overnight funds the trio are already pouring into markets as part of a joint offensive with the U.S. Federal Reserve to try and unjam and restore confidence in interbank lending markets.

The ECB said it would provide $35 billion of the new one-week funds via a variable rate auction over the quarter end. At the same time it will scale back its overnight dollar funding to $30 billion from $40 billion during this week. The BoE said it would lend $30 billion of one-week funds and also pump in as much as 40 billion pounds ($73.53 billion) on Monday, the latter to address its own particular money market strain. The SNB said it would inject $9 billion as part of the new one-week plan.

"These operations are designed to address funding pressures over quarter end. Central banks continue to work together closely and are prepared to take further steps as needed to address the ongoing pressures in funding markets," a statement from the Fed said.

...

Central banks have been employing extraordinary coordinated measures in the last week designed to address the pressures in global money markets which have flared up following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the sale of Merrill Lynch and an emergency $85 billion prop up of insurer AIG by the U.S.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINLQ41631820080926?rpc=44&sp=true
________

Fed statement on coordinated liquidity provision
Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:46am EDT LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) The U.S. Federal Reserve on Friday expanded its foreign exchange swaps facilities with the European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank to pump billions of dollars of liquidity into the banking system to ease unprecedented strains in global money markets.

The Fed said on its website that will increase its temporary swap facility with the ECB by $10 billion and extend its facility with the SNB by $3 billion.

Following is the text of the Fed's statement.

"Central banks have been employing coordinated measures designed to address the pressures in global money markets. Most recently, central banks have acted together to inject dollars into the overnight markets. Using their reciprocal currency arrangements (swap lines) with the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Swiss National Bank today are announcing the introduction of operations to provide U.S. dollar liquidity with a one-week maturity. These operations are designed to address funding pressures over quarter end. Central banks continue to work together closely and are prepared to take further steps as needed to address the ongoing pressures in funding markets.

To assist in the expansion of these operations, the Federal Open Market Committee has authorized a $10 billion increase in its temporary swap facility with the ECB and a $3 billion increase in its facility with the Swiss National Bank. These expanded facilities will now support the provision of U.S. dollar liquidity in amounts of up to $120 billion by the ECB and up to $30 billion by the Swiss National Bank.

/Continues... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINLQ40754520080926?rpc=44
________

[Ghost Dog]

25. Money market frozen as bailout stalls, cbanks act

Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:31am EDT LONDON, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Money markets remained paralysed on Friday, despite increased liquidity injections from central banks around the world, as U.S. political wrangling appeared to stall the passing of a $700 billion bailout plan.

Dollar borrowing rates stayed high and premia paid over U.S. government borrowing rates wide, particularly for three month money, as nervous investors awaited to see if the U.S. government plan will be passed, and if so, how it will look.

The money market stress was exacerbated by the looming quarter end is looming. Any three-month lending now will mature over the Christmas period, when markets are either closed or highly illiquid.

"There is no term lending of note between counterparties. Any term funding there is coming from the central banks," said Meyrick Chapman, rates strategist at UBS.

In early London trade on Friday the interbank cost of borrowing dollars for three months was indicated at the upper end of a wide range between 3.7 and 4.8 percent <USD3MD=>.

Thursday's fixing of three-month London interbank offered rates by the British Bankers Association was 3.76875 percent <USD3MFSR=>, and ICAP's three-month dollar New York Funding Rate was 4.2182 percent <USNYFR3M=>.

The closely-watched TED spread, or the difference between these market-based dollar rates and three-month U.S. government borrowing rates, was at the upper end of a range between 350 and 400 basis points.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINLQ42337920080926?rpc=44&sp=true

[Ghost Dog]

24. GLOBAL MARKETS-No US bailout yet sends dollar, shares down

Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:49am EDT HONG KONG, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Asian stocks and the U.S. dollar fell while Treasuries rose on Friday after talks over a $700 billion plan to save the financial system hit a snag and the biggest ever U.S. bank failure dashed hopes for a quick recovery.

...

The U.S. dollar weakened against the yen and Swiss franc, two currencies associated with stability, as a bipartisan deal to get what is called the Troubled Assets Relief Program turned into a law may have to wait until at least the weekend.

...

"The Congress doesn't really want the plan -- no one really wants the plan -- but the alternative is too bad to contemplate."

...

With commercial banks hoarding cash and reluctant to lend to each other, central banks have stepped in to fill the void. In a coordinated move to ease money market tension, the European Central Bank and the British and Swiss central banks said they would offer tens of billions of dollars for one week.

In South Korea, the Finance Ministry said it would inject $10 billion or more into the local swap market until the middle of October to stave off persistent dollar funding shortages.

STRESS IN ASIA MARKETS

Lending between banks remained sluggish and confidence low. The spread of 3-month eurodollar rates over 3-month U.S. Treasury bill yields, also known as the TED spread TED, widened slightly from late Thursday to 275 bps, but is lower on the week. The spread is used as a gauge of risk aversion and tightness in short-term lending. Short-term U.S. dollar borrowing rates among banks have been relatively stable this week after a series of currency swaps were set up with the Federal Reserve and persistent liquidity injections.

However, money markets across Asia showed evidence of increasing stress. In Singapore, 3-month interbank rates jumped to 3.77 percent <SIUSD3MD=>, the highest since January. Hong Kong's 3-month interbank rates eased slightly to 3.39 percent after hitting a 2008 high on Thursday of 3.80 percent <HIHKD3MD=>.

Equity markets reflected growing malaise ahead of further developments in Washington. Japan's Nikkei share average .N225 finished down 0.9 percent and has traded in a very narrow range this week. The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 1.7 percent and on track for a fourth consecutive week of declines.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index .HSI fell 2 percent, with shares of Ping An Insurance (2318.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), China's second-largest insurer, falling 9.7 percent. Ping An owns 5 percent of European financial firm Fortis FOR.BA, whose shares tumbled on Thursday on market talk the Dutch Central Bank asked a rival bank to supply Fortis with capital.

...

The online prediction market Intrade reflected a 61.5 percent chance Congress would approve the White House bailout plan by Sept. 30, down from a better than 90 percent chance on Thursday. Many congressional officials will leave at the end of the month to campaign for the presidential election in November.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINSP24191620080926?rpc=44&sp=true

[Buttercup McToots]

28. CHINA TOLD TO STOP LENDING TO THE US

CHINA TOLD TO STOP LENDING TO THE US

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.reuters.com/article/marke...16693720080925

BEIJING, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have told domestic banks to stop interbank lending to U.S. financial institutions to prevent possible losses during the financial crisis, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.

The Hong Kong newspaper cited unidentified industry sources as saying the instruction from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) applied to interbank lending of all currencies to U.S. banks but not to banks from other countries.

"The decree appears to be Beijing's first attempt to erect defences against the deepening U.S. financial meltdown after the mainland's major lenders reported billions of U.S. dollars in exposure to the credit crisis," the SCMP said.

A spokesman for the CBRC had no immediate comment

[Ghost Dog]

31. China's banking regulator denied this:

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- China's banking regulator denied a media report that it had banned the nation's lenders from offering credit to U.S. financial institutions.

...

The banking regulator ``never, through any channel, announced or notified domestic banks to ban lending to U.S. financial institutions,'' China Banking Regulatory Commission spokesman Liao Min said in a statement on the commission's Web site today. The commission condemned the ``irresponsible'' report and reserves the right to take legal action, the statement said.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601089&sid=aaxM3V9YhAwA&refer=china

[Buttercup McToots]

33. I'm getting dizzy, GD

information overload...:crazy:

hysteria will abound taeday, me thinks...
Trying to make sense of whats going on, and to
find some direction seems impossible...

[MadinMo]

54. Me too --- I read SMW for some clarity!

Thanks to you folks for providing that clarity!

So......What does the halt to China money lending mean? Or was it falsely reported after all?

[Demeter]

135. If The China Halt Is True, It Means the Bailout Is Off!

Since the Fed and Treasury have nothing left, they were going to have to go borrow it from a neighbor......

[MadinMo]

138. That's kinda what I thought.

I also wondered if it means most money in the system will grind to a halt.

I was at my bank today, depositing a paycheck the old fashioned way via a teller, and it took forever...... I found myself wondering if "this is it" and the money had all been frozen.

Thankfully, my transaction was completed slowly, but without a hitch.

[UpInArms]

34. dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=i

Last trade 76.996 Change -0.020 (-0.03%)

Euro Open: US Sees Largest Ever Bank Failure, Rescue Plan Falters

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/topheadline/Euro_Open__US_Sees_Largest_1222409658387.html

New Zealand’s economy shrank for a second consecutive quarter in the three months to July, putting the island nation formally into recession. Quarterly Gross Domestic Product fell -0.2% to bring annualized growth to 1.0%, the lowest in 2 years. The release only confirmed what had been a working assumption of New Zealand’s monetary authorities: RBNZ Governor Alan Bollard has already slashed interest rates by 75 basis points over the last two policy meetings and the market is pricing in an additional 150bps in monetary easing over the next 12 months. To that effect, the New Zealand dollar actually rose about 70 pips after the release because quarterly growth declined less than economists had forecast.

The pace of Japanese inflation slowed in September as the Consumer Price Index printed at 2.1%, down from 2.3% in the preceding month. That prices grew at all owed squarely to lingering price pressures from record commodity prices over the summer. Indeed, the core reading which excludes feed and energy stalled at 0.0%. Headline consumer prices are likely to decrease substantially into the second half of the year as sharply lower crude oil filters into the broad economy. The Bank of Japan has been adamant in asserting that their primary focus remains sagging economic growth rather than inflation. To that effect, bond yields forecast interest rates to remain unchanged until at least the fourth quarter. The world’s second largest economy has slipped into recession a negative GDP reading in the second quarter. Yesterday, we saw the Trade Balance fall into deficit on dwindling exports while the newly appointed Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa announced the possibility of fiscal stimulus, saying the government will consider cutting taxes and increasing spending.

Just when a final deal was within reach, US lawmakers fell short of securing agreement on the Treasury Department’s $700 billion rescue plan to shore up the financial markets. Congressional leaders worked late into the night with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to finalize provisions only to have efforts dashed by Republican members of the House of Representatives who said the plan would mean too much of a commitment of taxpayers’ money and too great of an intrusion into private enterprise. The dissenters circulated an alternative proposal, whereby the government would insure unstable financial institutions rather than outright buying their holdings of problematic assets. Meanwhile, regulators stepped in to seize Washington Mutual in what marks the biggest bank failure in US history. JPMorgan Chase & Co., the third-largest US bank, stepped in to buy Washington Mutual’s deposits for $1.9 billion.

...more...

Dollar Rallies After Word Congress Has Agreed On Fundamentals Of Bailout

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/bio1/Dollar_Rallies_After_Word_Congress_1222385743498.html

The U.S. dollar was relatively strong through Thursday on speculation the U.S. Congress will approve a $700bn plan that will enable banks to clean up their balance sheets from leveraged investments in mortgage backed securities. Indeed, traders are betting that the measures proposed to the U.S. congress by the U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke could lead to a world wide recovery in the appetite for risky assets like stocks and higher yielding currencies. To some extent, this explains why we saw the Dow Jones rallying more than 300 points on Thursday and the USD/JPY rising to as high as 107 yen per dollar from a low of 105.35 on Wednesday. In addition, a rapid weakening of economic growth in Europe continues to benefit the U.S. dollar against the sterling and the euro. At the time of this report the GBP/USD is being quoted at 1.8375 dollars per sterling from 1.8446 on Wednesday. Nonetheless, despite the recent wave of dollar strength, the U.S. economy could slow down faster than many investors expect. The U.S. Commerce Department said today in Washington that sales of new homes fell to a 17 year low. In fact, sales dropped 11.5 percent in August to the lowest annual rate since the 1991. The Federal Reserve has been taking a number of actions to increase liquidity and stabilize markets and the $700 billion dollar rescue plan, if approved, is likely to help the demand for housing in the form of lower mortgage rates. However, much more is needed since the U.S. economy will continue to slide until we see a much larger correction in the supply side of the housing sector in the form of lower prices. Currently, the average American can’t afford to pay for a mortgage and we are still far from reaching a bottom in the U.S. housing market.

...more...

[UpInArms]

36. Stocks point lower on bailout clash, WaMu failure

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080926/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street

NEW YORK - Wall Street headed for a sharply lower open Friday as efforts to approve a $700 billion financial bailout unraveled and Washington Mutual Inc., one of the nation's largest banks, was seized by federal regulators in the largest failure ever of a U.S. bank. Clogged credit markets remained tight as fears of a deepening economic crisis fed safe-haven buying.

Investors also seemed tense after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized WaMu on Thursday, and then sold the thrift's banking assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $1.9 billion. It was the largest bank by far to fail in the country's history and the latest financial firm to collapse under the weight of enormous bad bets on the mortgage market.

The grim although expected development came as government efforts to avoid an economic meltdown fell into chaos. Confusion reigned on Capitol Hill after Republican lawmakers rejected the emergency financial rescue package over the enormous price tag of the White House-backed proposal, hours after congressional leaders from both parties announced they were nearing agreement on a deal.

The rescue would remove billions of dollars of bad mortgages and other risky assets off the books of financial firms in a bid to free up lending and revive the economy. Some Republican lawmakers want an alternative plan under which the government would provide insurance to companies that agree to hold frozen assets, rather than have the U.S. purchase the assets.

With the prospects of a deal uncertain, negotiations in Washington were set to continue Friday as investors kept close watch on the proceedings. Wall Street cautiously showed its pleasure with the apparent progress Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrials closing 196 points higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 178.00, or 1.6 percent, to 10,840.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 22.00, or 1.81 percent, to 1,191.40, and the Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 24.00, or 1.43 percent, to 1,656.

...more...

[Buttercup McToots]

40. GhostDog,Demeter, Smart People...Explain this to me?

Quote:
What is going to shock the crap out of everyone is when the EFF goes to ZERO, and the liquidity drain to defend the FFT causes the FOMC to lower the FFT to ZERO, while the TNX is heading toward 15% due to out of control deficit spending to keep the starving homeless from tearing down the White House gates when they find out that every bit of the “bailout” money that was supposed to keep credit flowing to them, actually went to the Primary Dealers to enable them to bid at Treasury auctions in a failed attempt to suppress the cost of .gov debt (Treasury yields)

I am reading this all over, and I need the English Version....please?

[Buttercup McToots]

42. More...

Quote:
There’s no money available to cure the insolvencies and the weak hands, like WM, are losing their grip in the rope, and falling off one by one. The “bailout” was never meant to cure the non-PD insolvencies, the oligarchs thought if they could ram it through fast, it would get clueless money flowing into the banks and delay the inevitable liquidations, like WM.

The FED has maxed out it’s balance sheet. It is resorting to borrowing from the .gov to keep the money laundering for the “IBs” going, to keep the lights on, and not monetize and devalue existing debt.

[mcollier]

43. The Root Cause of the Financial Collapse:

Credit Default Swats and Derivatives Market.... MUST READ!

http://www.pimco.com/LeftNav/Featured+Market+Commentary/IO/2008/IO+January+2008.htm


"That's the sound of inevitability!"

ASK Congress What Will They Do About This "Shadow Market"...

[Buttercup McToots]

46. The whole point of this $700 billion 'gift'

Quote
The whole point of this $700 billion 'gift' to the primary dealers is to keep the US Treasury bubble from bursting.

Even at today's ridiculous artificially low Treasury yields, the interest on the Federal Debt is over $400 billion per year.

This year's budget deficit was around $400 Billion. With next year's budget deficit expected to approach or maybe exceed $1 TRILLION, they will need to have the primary dealers be able to absorb an ADDITIONAL $600-$700 Billion.

Do you think they plucked that $700 Billion figure out of thin air?

Paulson's plan is to give the primary dealers $700 billion of balance sheet relief with the understanding that they replace DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR the toxic mortgage securities they offload to the Taxpayer with newly issued US Treasuries.

Makes getting through next year's "challenging Treasury calendar" a heck of a lot easier.

[Tansy_Gold]

66. Seriously seriously seriously

Is there a book or website or SOMETHING that would lay out -- in simple terms that the average dumb Tansy Gold can understand -- what really would/will/might happen if there is no $700B gift to Wall Street?

I mean, for one thing, if there is all this money floating around to give all these execs $10M here and $15M there, the money has to be there. . . . somewhere. . . . .doesn't it?

Where's the "Yes, sir, we know you have a contract to be paid ten million dollars upon severance if you don't last the year, but the company is bankrupt and you'll just have to wait your turn in line."

Okay, so AIG has to start paying on its CDS contracts. What if it doesn't? What happens? Who goes broke? Who goes out of business? Is it anyone who actually makes something useful?

Why are the Mozillos and other rapist shruggers not volunteering to shore up some of the small businesses that are going to fail? (Buffet? Soros? Gates?)

I've been thinking ever since Enron first put derivative trading in the headlines -- and that's EIGHT FUCKING YEARS AGO, coinky dink, coinky dink -- that there have been those who did not want the light shone on that aspect of "the market". There's a reason it's called "the shadow market" isn't there?

And what happened when Enron failed? Did the lights go out in Georgia? No. When WorldCom failed, did the whole telephone system collapse? No. Dozens and maybe hundreds of economists are saying there's no crisis, and I have this niggling suspicion now that any massive bailout would not only HASTEN the collapse but make it much, much, much, MUCH worse.


http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/eft/eft03.htm


Tansy Gold

[Buttercup McToots]

70. I don't know Tansy...I'm just trying to read all opinions...

:crazy:

[Buttercup McToots]

81. Tansy...Read Denniger...CONGRESS: STOP AND THINK!

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/593-CONGRESS-STOP-AND-THINK!.html

Friday, September 26. 2008
Posted by Karl Denninger at 07:47

CONGRESS: STOP AND THINK!
McDonalds has a lower risk of default, as expressed in the Credit-Default Swap market, than the United States Federal Government.

Think folks.

Think long and hard.

This is what the threat to blow $700 billion has done to America. We now have a higher risk of default on our national debt than a company that sells hamburgers has on their private debt.

Rick Santelli nailed it this morning. This is a man who is a trader on the floor of the exchange that provides primary liquidity to some of our most important capital markets in Chicago.

He said, and I quote, that "confidence has been shattered because the rules of the game keep changing."

That is exactly correct.

Banks and other institutions have been hiding the truth, they have claimed "protection" against events that is in fact not present (the other guy doesn't have any money to pay) and leverage in the system remains excessive. Then, when the correct bets made (being short those institutions) are paying off, Chris Cox comes in and literally destroys them on purpose.

As a result The Fed is literally holding up every bank in the nation but this is not because of a "loss of confidence"; it is because everyone involved is lying, including The Fed and Treasury.

Art Cashin, who has been on the floor of the stock exchange for a very long time, said that The Fed would cut today except that it would take pressure off our officials.

In other words Ben Bernanke is blackmailing Congress by spreading gasoline all over the floor of the US Financial System and then holding a lit match and chortling that if Congress doesn't do as he demands he will drop it.

I agree. The Effective Fed Funds rate has been trading 50 basis points or more below the 2% target for five straight days now, and for the last two days, it has traded 75 basis points under. The IRX is demanding an immediate rate cut. The Slosh has been intentionally drained by over $125 billion in the last week and lowering the water in the swamp exposed one dead body - Washington Mutual - which was immediately raided on a no-notice basis by JP Morgan. Not even WaMu's CEO knew about the raid until it was done.

Congressional response to this sort of blackmail should be a bill to repeal The Federal Reserve Act and/or to remove Ben Bernanke from office.

The Fed claims to be an "independent central bank." They are nothing of the kind; they are now acting as an arsonist. The Fed and Treasury have claimed this is a "liquidity crisis"; it is not. It is an insolvency crisis that The Fed, Treasury and the other regulatory organs of our government have intentionally allowed to occur.

There is massive stress in the credit markets because of this intentional mismanagement.

We can and must fix it but spending taxpayer money will not do so.

The Democrats claim they have the votes to pass the original bill. Then pass it Democrats. Bush will sign it.

The Democrats will NOT pass it without The Republicans because they are afraid that the plan won't work (and in this they are correct) and refuse to put their heads on the chopping block if they spend $700 billion or more and the economy collapses anyway. They demand that Republicans march into the furnace with them.

Republicans are wise to say NO.

The solution is simple, it is elegant, and it will work.

Force all off-balance sheet "assets" back onto the balance sheet, and force the valuation models and identification of individual assets out of Level 3 and into 10Qs and 10Ks. Do it now.
Force all OTC derivatives onto a regulated exchange similar to that used by listed options in the equity markets. This permanently defuses the derivatives time bomb. Give market participants 90 days; any that are not listed in 90 days are declared void; let the participants sue each other if they can't prove capital adequacy.
Force leverage by all institutions to no more than 12:1. The SEC intentionally dropped broker/dealer leverage limits in 2004; prior to that date 12:1 was the limit. Every firm that has failed had double or more the leverage of that former 12:1 limit. Enact this with a six month time limit and require 1/6th of the excess taken down monthly.
Once 1-3 are put in place then send in the OTS and OCC examiners and look at every financial institution in the United States. All who are insolvent and unable to raise private capital immediately are forced through receivership where the debt is converted to equity and existing equity is wiped out. With the CDS monster caged the systemic risk is removed, the bondholders provide the cushion for recapitalization (as it should be) and the restructured firm emerges with no debt while the former bondholders are now the owners (of the equity) in the resulting firm.

With a clean balance sheet the restructured firms remain in business and open the next morning able to raise and attract capital.

For the few firms that have an insufficient debtholder capital cushion to successfully complete this process, they are liquidated instead. There will be few of these and in fact each of those firms is a regulatory failure, as we should have never permitted a firm to become so far "underwater" that the bondholder's capital is insufficient to capitalize a restructuring.

Finally, drop the silly shorting restrictions. Liquidity in the market right now stinks and this is a big part of why. Start prosecuting aggressively the rumors and other manipulation that leads to stocks both rising and falling.

This plan will work, it will instantaneously stabilize the credit markets as balance sheets will be transparent, the CDS monster will be permanently de-fanged, leverage will be returned to reasonable levels and the forcibly restructured firms will have no debt on their balance sheets and be able to immediately access the capital markets.

Best of all, it will require exactly zero taxpayer dollars.

[antigop]

87. "Force all OTC derivatives onto a regulated exchange..."

"Force all OTC derivatives onto a regulated exchange similar to that used by listed options in the equity markets. This permanently defuses the derivatives time bomb. Give market participants 90 days; any that are not listed in 90 days are declared void; let the participants sue each other if they can't prove capital adequacy."

That's EXACTLY what my partner recommended yesterday.

[BelgianMadCow]

119. antigop, Buttercup, wouldn't you consider rewriting that solution

in understandable language and post it as an OP in GD? Or post it as is? I think it is worthwile of more consideration...

:hi:
bmc

[Hugin]

94. Speaking of coincidinkses...

I was reading this today... It has nothing to do with the Markets or an answer to your question.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/stle/stle00.htm

STOLEN LEGACY
Greek Philosophy Is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy
by GEORGE G. M. JAMES
New York: Philosophical Library
<1954>

[Wednesdays]

110. This fella might be one...

You might ask him, because he REALLY wants this bailout thing to pass...now. :shrug:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7189694

[Demeter]

136. This Is What I Found:

Effective Annual interest rate or EFF = the amount to which a $1 grows to in year with compounding taken into account.

usfca.edu/economics/veitch/CFANotes/CFA Quant Review - Time Value.ppt

TNX = Interest on 10 Year Treasury Bill

http://elainemeinelsupkis.typepad.com/money_matters/2008/01/killing-savings.html

I Believe FFT is the interest rate for banks from the Fed. Funds.

FOMC = Federal Open Market Committee or some such thing (Bernanke, et al.)


The gist of it is, in an effort to force the market to bend to their will, Paulson, Benanke, Bush, etc. will destroy the dollar and the economy, precipitating the Second American Revolution, and those clowns will be hanging from lamp posts.

[Festivito]

44. DEBT: 09/24/2008 9,788,080,661,828.23 (DOWN 3,488,582,847.72) (Yes, down.)

(Debt actually decreased 3.5B$ since yesterday. This happens occasionally. Had heavy borrowing for last three days, e.g. 5.7B$ increase in debt was lowest of last three days. Today's surplus doesn't even pay that back. Yesterday, probably more in treasury bonds were cashed than written.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
5,614,420,276,276.55 + 4,173,660,385,551.68 (Public, I think now includes China and Brazil et. al.)

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

HISTORICAL:
01/19/1993 4,187,806,610,369.16
01/20/1993 4,188,092,107,183.60 BC Inaugural
01/21/1993 4,174,218,594,232.91
01/22/1993 4,175,229,095,992.95

01/19/2001 5,727,776,738,304.64
01/22/2001 5,728,195,796,181.57 GB Inaugural

Fiscal Year ends: Sep 30
Borrowed in 2007: 500,679,473,047.25
Borrowed in 2008: 780,427,289,565.75 so far.
(You can see why a 3.5B$ yesterday surplus is meaningless compared to the 780.4B$ deficit borrowed so far this year. That of course would not stop a RW outlet like NewsMax from running an article about how fiscally responsible GWB really is... gag me! They did that once several years ago the supercilious superfluous shills.)

Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3510453&mesg_id=3510549

[Buttercup McToots]

52. Federal Reserve Actions...Fri, September 26

Bailout part deux T.G.I.F. 9-26-08

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Federal Reserve, other central banks announce operations to address funding pressures over quarter end
Fri, September 26

Federal Reserve Actions
To assist in the expansion of these operations, the Federal Open Market Committee has authorized a $10 billion increase in its temporary swap facility with the ECB and a $3 billion increase in its facility with the Swiss National Bank. These expanded facilities will now support the provision of U.S. dollar liquidity in amounts of up to $120 billion by the ECB and up to $30 billion by the Swiss National Bank.

In sum, these changes represent a $13 billion addition to the $277 billion previously authorized temporary reciprocal currency arrangements with other central banks. In addition to the swap lines with ECB and the Swiss National Bank, temporary swap lines previously have been authorized with: the Bank of Japan ($60 billion), the Bank of England ($40 billion), the Reserve Bank of Australia ($10 billion), the Bank of Canada ($10 billion), the Bank of Sweden ($10 billion), the National Bank of Denmark ($5 billion), and the Bank of Norway ($5 billion).
These arrangements have been authorized through January 30, 2009.

Wow, so now we have $130B + $160B + $180B + $85B + now $300B = $855 BILLION and that's withoug a Bailout.

[Roland99]

96. Holy Mother of Milking the Taxpayer, Batman!!

[Festivito]

154. 09/25/2008 9,849,249,966,383.92 (UP 61,169,304,555.69) (A lot, again)

(At this rate, we could hit ten-trillion in three days. Doubtful, but possible.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
5,674,500,268,592.36 + 4,174,749,697,791.56
(Public, I think now includes China and Brazil et. al.)

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

HISTORICAL:
01/19/1993 4,187,806,610,369.16
01/20/1993 4,188,092,107,183.60 BC Inaugural
01/21/1993 4,174,218,594,232.91
01/22/1993 4,175,229,095,992.95

01/19/2001 5,727,776,738,304.64
01/22/2001 5,728,195,796,181.57 GB Inaugural

Fiscal Year ends: Sep 30
Borrowed in 2007: 500,679,473,047.25
Borrowed in 2008: 841,596,594,121.44 so far.

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3512791&mesg_id=3512952

[NMDemDist2]

45. I thought I'd take a look at some old Economy forum threads-Read em and weep as you see the dates

flashl (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-10-08 09:38 AM
Original message
Paulson:Banks need to raise capital quickly
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x34256


Dover (1000+ posts) Fri Feb-01-08 10:23 PM
Original message
Fed helpless in its own crisis - saving the markets at the expense of the economy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x33804

utopiansecretagent (1000+ posts) Wed Mar-19-08 09:54 PM
Original message
The Great Unwind has begun, Citigroup warns
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x36637


The writing was on the wall even 6 months ago, why is it a 'crisis' now??

I tried to get back in the Archives but can't for some reason, but this is no 'news'

:banghead:

[NotGivingUp]

47. It was timed for now so that McCain would get elected.

Dems came out and did the wrong thing by agreeing to the bailout. We are getting screwed by both sides.

[wordpix]

49. Since House repukes have ended the nicey nice, Dems should write their own legislation

Why should Dems accept BushCo's in the first place, even with revisions?

WRITE OUR OWN!

[Zenlitened]

63. I completely agree. Start from scratch on...

... The Democratic Economic Recovery & Financial Reform Act of 2008.

[Pale Blue Dot]

48. PEIHOLE ALERT: 9:35 (5 minutes after the markets open)

It's a banner headline on MSNBC.com now.

[radfringe]

50. PIEHOLE ALERT PIEHOLE ALERT

Piehole scheduled to spew at 9:35am this morning...

I'm betting that he blames the dems and praises gopers - especially mccain

[wordpix]

53. oh yeah, good guess pRes Deer-in-Headlights will praise McBush for derailing the deal

[Buttercup McToots]

57. What the hell was that? 30 seconds of...

???

[radfringe]

58. drive-by tinkle

his way of saying "piss on you"

[TalkingDog]

64. aaaahhhhh....missed it!!!!! what..what???? n/t

[radfringe]

67. first he was late

then he smirked, did that winky smirky thing, told us it was hard work for 30-45 seconds, then went to hide

[TalkingDog]

78. oh...same old, same old .... nevermind. Thanks any way n/t

[Buttercup McToots]

55. Illegal Aliens and the Mortgage Mess

Illegal Aliens and the Mortgage Mess


http://www.nypost.com/seven/09242008...ess_130482.htm

September 24, 2008

AS panicked politicians prepare to fork over $1 trillion in taxpayer funding to rescue Wall Street, they've fingered regulation, deregulation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Community Reinvestment Act, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, both Bushes, greedy banks, greedy borrowers, greedy short-sellers and minority-home-ownership promoters for blame.

But there's one villain that has slipped notice: how illegal immigration, crime-enabling banks and open-borders Bush policies fueled the mortgage crisis. It's no coincidence that the areas hardest hit by the foreclosure wave - Loudoun County, Va., California's Inland Empire, Stockton and San Joaquin Valley, and Las Vegas and Phoenix - also happen to be some of the nation's largest illegal alien sanctuaries. Half of the mortgages to Hispanics are subprime. A quarter of all those subprime loans are in default and foreclosure.

Regional reports across the country have decried the subprime meltdown's impact on illegal-immigrant "victims." A July report showed that in seven of the 10 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates, Hispanics were at least one-third of the population; in two of those areas - Merced and Salinas-Monterey, Calif. - Hispanics comprised half the population. The National Council of La Raza and its Development Fund have received millions in federal funds to "counsel" their constituents on obtaining mortgages with little to no money down; the group almost succeeded in attaching a $10 million earmark for itself in one of the housing bills passed this spring.

For the last five years, I've reported on the rapidly expanding illegal-alien home-loan racket. The top banks clamoring for their handouts as their profits plummet, led by Wachovia and Bank of America, launched aggressive campaigns to woo illegal-alien homebuyers. The quasi-governmental Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority guaranteed home loans to illegal immigrants.

The Washington Post noted in 2005: "Hispanics, the nation's fastest-growing major ethnic or racial group, have been courted aggressively by real-estate agents, mortgage brokers and programs for first-time buyers that offer help with closing costs. Ads proclaim: "Sin verificacion de ingresos! Sin verificacion de documento!" - which loosely translates as, 'Income tax forms are not required, nor are immigration papers.' "

Fraudsters also have engaged in house-flipping rings using illegal aliens as straw buyers. Among many examples the FBI cites: a conspiracy in Las Vegas involving a former Nevada First Residential Mortgage Company branch manager who directed loan officers and processors in the origination of 233 fraudulent Federal Housing Authority loans valued at over $25 million. The defrauders made and submitted false employment and income documentation for borrowers; most were illegal immigrants from Mexico. To date, the FBI reported, "Fifty-eight loans with a total value of $6.2 million have gone into default, with a loss to the Housing and Urban Development Department of over $1.9 million."

It's the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to lax Bush administration policies allowing illegal aliens to use "matricula consular cards" and taxpayer-identification numbers to open bank accounts, mortgage fraud has grown. Money-lenders still have no access to a verification system to check Social Security numbers before approving loans.

In an interview about rampant illegal-alien home-loan fraud, a spokeswoman for the US General Accounting Office told me five years ago: "Considering the size of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston and other large cities throughout the United States known to be inundated with illegal aliens, I don't think the federal government is willing to expose this problem for financial reasons as well as for fear of political repercussions."

The chickens are coming home to roost. Law-abiding taxpayers are going to pay for it.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09242008...ess_130482.htm

[fascisthunter]

68. OMG... I Had No Idea Illegal Immigrants Were Such a Problem

[Buttercup McToots]

71. It's more the crooks taking advantage...

of anything they can...

[fascisthunter]

73. that's true

but that's already true of most Americans who can speak english.

[hatrack]

72. How cunning! The way those non-English-speaking illegals created CDOs and ARMs and Neg-Ams!!

And then sold them to homebuyers all across America, just to wreak their horrible illegal alien vengeance!!!

BWA-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!!!!!!

[hunter]

89. Damn, I wanted to blame GOP house flippers...

:eyes:

[readmoreoften]

141. Um. The hispanic populations of California are even MAJORITY illegal.

There have been Chicano folks as long as there has been a California. I don't doubt that these bastards have targeted illegal immigrants--in fact I experienced this with the purchase of my own home-- but this is just a racist rant.

[Marrah_G]

56. Ouch... open and falling.

[dweller]

65. what a dismal looking day

bank failure, no deal in sight on the bailout that *moron HAD to have by today, and it appears the pool is empty for today's date.

hmmm
dp

[TalkingDog]

83. They rigged that too....n/t

[Gen. Jack D. Ripper]

80. I'm kind of surprised we haven't seen a greater decline in the DJIA this morning

with all the bad news from last night. That's good, I suppose Wall St. isn't panicking. It would be a first, but it's still good news.

[blueclown]

97. The markets are still holding out hope for the bailout.

President Bush did a good thing for once and calmed the markets at open.

[AnneD]

82. The Pool is open for a quick dip.....

I am betting today. I think they want to pressure Congress over the week end for a bailout. I must be channeling the ghost of Jimmy the Greek but there you have it. Get your bets in ASAP. I'll be making corrections from yesterday> I think the pool will be closing soon.

The winners of the pool have to hit the mark at the close of the day, but those that guessed yesterday will not go unrecognized. They will be inducted into the prognosticators hall of fame and will receive a virtual case of lipstick in their choice of colours-because they know how to put lipstick on the pig or pit bull-whatever....

Guess the date the DJIA rolls back to the level it was when the chimp took office-10,578.24. You can revise your dates until the DJIA hits(IMPORTANT CHANGE) 10700 (got to have a cut off). Anyone can join, just give a date and your reasoning for that date. Note the change on the cut off. That should make for a good horse race. I will check the post date/time for last minute posters but those that guessed the date way in advance get extra points. The earlier posters are at the top in the cases of multiple guesses on the same day.


AnneD.....9/26 cause Jimmy told me to
Buttercup McToots.....9/26 cause something gunna happen
JuneBourder.....9/29
radfringe.... 10/09/08 (Countdown!)
Birthmark....10/10
Mojorabbit.... 10/11
Tansy_Gold.....10/13
Demeter.....10/13
Karenina.....10/20
dweller....10/14 (Note: Standby Date)
DemReadingDU.....10/16
Roland99.....10/17
AnneD....10/24
Neshanic.....10/24
Talking Dog.....10/24
Ozoneman.....10/28
UpInArms.....10/30
MsLeopard.....10/31
Wordpix.....11/3
Passingfair.....11/4
Ship wrack.....11/5
Wednesdays.....1/16/2009

Remember-you can change the dates as we learn more. If your date isn't on the list, e-mail me and I'll add it the next time I post. I erased expired dates so you can guess again. I post about one a week-more often the closer we get to the number. The winner get the praise and admiration of those on the Stock Watch Thread. We have also kicked in for a years worth of bragging rights and Karl Rove as your own pool boy if we can find Speedos to fit. There is still time to place your bets.....And please-no Reggie bars in the pool.

IMPORTANT ADDENDUM: I believe, as an investor, one day does not a trend make. So as activity coordinator of the pool, additional guesses are allowed should it dip down but pop up above the cut off. Call it the Indian Summer Clause. I personally think that 11000 is their PIN, but the fact that it cannot be pumped up any further anymore points to weakness in the system-for my $0.02.

The Roulette ball is in play now....place your bets before it stops.



Prognosticators Hall of Fame


Ghost Dog ....9/18 (You may just get it GD!)
uppityperson... 9/18 (Note: Because it's a special day.)
FinnFan.....9/18 a last minute add on.

Honorary inductees....They could have been contenders

Ozy.....9/19 (Note: Ozy picked this date a couple of months ago.)
AnneD..... 9/19 (Like the quadruple witching thang.)
readmoreoften... 9/19
Karenina.... 9/19

They had to change horses in mid stream to beat this date. I think 9/19 was the date Paulson crapped his pants. Their rigging the system became so evident that it couldn't be hidden, even from the average Joe. Prize awarded...1 case of Depends/Pampers-you'll need it when you and your kids and grand kids get the tax bill for this bail out.

[Buttercup McToots]

84. Bloody hell...I'll take today...

Somethings gonna happen, one way or another...

[Hugin]

88. Look! Look! The Dow's only down 40 now!

The morning after the largest failure in U.S. history, no less.

:eyes:

[ozone_man]

90. Put me down for 10/28.

Red Tuesday will be late this year.

I figure a month ought to be enough time for the bailout euphoria and $700B to dissipate.

[Neshanic]

120. I am holding on my date.

[progressive_realist]

131. Wonder where the DJIA would now stand if they hadn't removed AIG?

I still think it is blatant manipulation to pull failing (or failed) companies off the index. Of course the DJIA will always keep showing positive returns if you constantly replace poor performers with the best ones.

Just my two cents. I'm not joining the pool again because in this heavily manipulated environment I really have no clue when things are going to happen.

As a side note, my buddy and I were talking over drinks last night and complaining about how all the free-market types we know enthusiastically support this Paulson bailout plan, while all of us liberals oppose it. How is it that shruggers now support government bailouts while semi-socialists want the market to kill off the failing companies? My answer: Shruggers only believe in bootstraps until they see their own investments going to hell and then they start whining about how unfair it is and how someone should do something to help them. F**king selfish hypocrites.

[antigop]

86. Krugman: Demolition Accomplished

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

How did we get to this point? It’s the culmination of many past betrayals.

First of all, we have the Republican Study Committee blowing things up with a complete nonsense proposal — solving the crisis with a holiday on capital gains taxes. How is that possible? Well, if a party runs on economic nonsense for 25 years, eventually many of its foot soldiers will be people who actually believe the nonsense.

More specifically, though, the failure to get a deal reflects the betrayals of the Bush years. Democrats weren’t going to trust Henry Paulson, because behind him they see the ghost of Colin Powell (and Paulson’s “all your bailout are belong to me” proposal, aside from being bad economics, showed an incredible tone-deafness.)

And after the way the Bushies and their allies double-crossed the Democrats again and again in the aftermath of 9/11 — demand national unity, then accuse you of being soft on terrorists anyway — there’s no way Pelosi and Reed will do the responsible but unpopular thing unless the Republicans agree to share ownership.

So what we now have is non-functional government in the face of a major crisis, because Congress includes a quorum of crazies and nobody trusts the White House an inch.

As a friend said last night, we’ve become a banana republic with nukes.

I just mentioned to my partner yesterday that we have a non-functioning government.

Is it time to grab the passports and head for the border? (I'm serious).

[Demeter]

139. Only If You Are a Bushbot!

The jig is up! If we want to catch the war criminals and traitors, we should pull their passports and lock their credit cards, tow their cars and confiscate their jets.

It's time for the people to overcome the government of the oligarchs.

[Robbien]

92. Hedge funds flee Morgan Stanley as financial fears mount

Hedge funds, fearing Morgan Stanley may have a fate similar to that of Lehman Bros., have pulled hundreds of billions of dollars from the bank's prime brokerage. The substantial losses hit one of Morgan Stanley's most profitable businesses. However, several of the firm's hedge fund clients said they would likely return once markets had stabilized.

http://www.smartbrief.com/news/sifma/storyDetails.jsp?issueid=C7F8A38D-EA40-442B-9AD3-2359D03BFD3D©id=75AABB5C-3B33-41AD-97D3-C7C9FD7C4277

[Buttercup McToots]

95. BACKDOOR BAILOUT $187 Billion A Day!!

BACKDOOR BAILOUT $187 Billion A Day!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


(US) Fed discount window borrowings averaged a record $187.8B/day in Sept 24 week v $48B/day prior week; M1 up by $16.2B and M2 up by $20.6B

http://www.tradethenews.com/forex-ne...s/story/465012

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1222...googlenews_wsj


That's almost a Trillion dollars last week for those poor in math.

People are squabbling about $700 billion while the Fed's quietly lending $187 billion a day in exchange for worthless assets and indefinite repayment schedules.


Quote:
Jim Sinclair's Commentary

Stay the course! This is it and it is now.

The Fed lends nearly one trillion in a single week. The next credit instrument to be downgraded is US Treasury instruments.

The end isn't near. It has already happened. Ladies and gentlemen, have you prepared, and can you defend yourselves?

http://jsmineset.com/


Quote:
Originally Posted by *****

If these links are true, then that would mean this whole $700 billion bailout package before Congress is nothing but a distraction.

Wow, people get it,
We rant about the sheep, but as soon as the sheep baa and move, we baa and move with them.

IF THEY put it on the TV box it's for entertainment and distraction.

This whole bailout plan is a distraction to get your attention while they conduct the real operations out the back door.

If you can't understand what the articles above mean, I'll try and put in simple words.

LAST week the Federal Reserve gave out $935 BILLION DOLLARS in exchange for worthless assets. Thats more than FOUR TIMES the amount they gave out the week before, and SIXTEEN TIMES the week before that.

It means $700 billion is a drop in the bucket. They now need a trillion dollars a week to keep the panic at bay. They are monetizing the debt by creating loans for worthless assets at an exponetial rate.


If we strike down the bailout and the economy crashes guess who gets the blame. If you're really concerned ask your Congress person about the FED DISCOUNT WINDOW and tell him/her you don't want a TRILLION DOLLARS monetized next week.

[kickysnana]

98. Speech: Responding to Turbulence Richard Fisher FRBT

http://dallasfed.org/news/speeches/fisher/2008/fs080925.cfm

New York City
September 25, 2008

[Pale Blue Dot]

100. Cliff Diving: Wachovia and National City

Wachovia's (WB) stock price is off 22%.

National City (NCC) is off 19%.

With WaMu seized, investors are now asking who is next ...

http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/09/cliff-diving-wachovia-and-national-city.html

[Dr.Phool]

102. I was going to ask that earlier.

If they grabbed WaMu on Thursday, Who's set for Friday?

It's probably one of those two.

[LuckyStrykes]

101. Palin lives near a bank. Maybe she can solve this.

[Dr.Phool]

104. Yeah, but it's the bank of a polluted lake.

[antigop]

106. Protesters against bailout plan picket White House

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Protesters_march_againt_White_House_bailout_0926.html

Chanting "Main Street first" and carrying signs and colorful umbrellas, a few hundred protesters marched in front of the White House on a rainy Thursday afternoon to demand the rejection of Treasury Secretary Paulson's Wall Street bailout plan.

The demonstration was one of hundreds organized by TrueMajority.com and UsAction and was timed to coincide with a meeting between President Bush and Congressional leaders.

According to the Boston Globe, "A coalition of groups calling itself the Main Street Coalition marched from the Treasury Department down Pennsylvania Avenue, chanting 'No deal for Wall Street, New Deal for Main Street' and handing out copies of a 'Taxpayer Invoice' for $700 billion."

Skip Roberts of the Service Employees International Union told the Globe, "Something has to be done, but this is going to be put on the backs of the average taxpayer when they had nothing to do with it."

[antigop]

107. Krugman: Where are the grown-ups?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/opinion/26krugman.html

Many people on both the right and the left are outraged at the idea of using taxpayer money to bail out America’s financial system. They’re right to be outraged, but doing nothing isn’t a serious option. Right now, players throughout the system are refusing to lend and hoarding cash — and this collapse of credit reminds many economists of the run on the banks that brought on the Great Depression.

It’s true that we don’t know for sure that the parallel is a fair one. Maybe we can let Wall Street implode and Main Street would escape largely unscathed. But that’s not a chance we want to take.

So the grown-up thing is to do something to rescue the financial system. The big question is, are there any grown-ups around — and will they be able to take charge?

[Buttercup McToots]

108. "Wall Street Should Be Looking for Bail, Not a Bailout"

"Wall Street Should Be Looking for Bail, Not a Bailout"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...2%7D&dist=hppr


"Wall Street Should Be Looking for Bail, Not a Bailout"

LIUNA Opposes Any No-Strings Raid on Taxpayers; Calls for Congress to Seize the Opportunity to Build America So America Works Again

Last update: 3:42 p.m. EDT Sept. 25, 2008

WASHINGTON, Sep 25, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- As the Bush Administration and Congress craft a $700 billion Wall Street bailout, LIUNA -- the Laborers' International Union of North America -- is rejecting any no-strings raid on taxpayers and calling on Congress to seize the opportunity to build America.
"Wall Street has been allowed to run wild for eight years and they've acted like pigs at a trough. They should be looking for bail, not a bailout," said LIUNA General President Terence O'Sullivan. "The most important asset in America is not Wall Street -- it's Main Street and working people. Unfortunately all Americans are stuck in the same boat with those at fault and if they sink, they will drag us down with them. But this bailout cannot be another Bush Administration, no-strings raid on taxpayers and the Treasury."
Acknowledging the reality of an economic crisis requiring emergency action, LIUNA strongly opposes any bailout that does not protect working people or does not include restraints and controls on those who caused the crisis.
LIUNA believes any bailout must include help for the 3 million working people who are facing foreclosure, protections for worker pensions which have suffered large losses because of Wall Street irresponsibility and ensure that taxpayers receive any future profit from mortgages that are bought by the Treasury. In addition, the bailout cannot come without caps on executive pay for firms that take advantage of the plan or without new regulations to prevent this from happening again -- including more transparency, limits on leverage, increased capital requirements, stricter conflict of interest protections and prohibitions on the ability of certain industries to write mortgages, such as corporate homebuilders who helped cause the crisis by pushing risky loans.
"Showering Wall Street with $700 billion will not get our economy back on track. For this to have a positive impact, we need real economic stimulus that creates jobs," O'Sullivan said. "The Bush Administration may have just discovered the economic crisis last week, but it is not new to working Americans."
LIUNA is calling for an immediate $100 billion investment to stimulate our economy, create good jobs and build America -- our roads, bridges and mass transit systems that we all rely on but are crumbling due to years of neglect.
Investing in America has an immediate impact on our economy. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that 47,500 good jobs can be created for every $1 billion investment building America. According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, there are more than 3,000 crucial projects ready to begin within 30-90 days if funded. These projects, valued at $18 billion would create 855,000 jobs.
A $100 billion investment in needed projects would create nearly 5 million good new jobs at a time when 9.4 million workers are unemployed.
"The Wall Street bailout must not be used as an excuse to say we can't take care of the basics of America and help working people who have been hurt the most in this economic crisis," said O'Sullivan. "Instead of just helping Wall Street, this is an opportunity for our nation to resolve to enact real economic stimulus that will build America so America works again."
The members of LIUNA -- the Laborers' International Union of North America -- are on the forefront of the construction industry.
SOURCE: Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA)

[bread_and_roses]

114. Buttercup, can you get me a better link for the LIUNA story?

That link doesn't work. I've tried several sorts of searches and can't find it. Would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

[Buttercup McToots]

123. Try this...

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/wall-street-should-looking-bail/story.aspx?guid=%7B4A7AC707-C99B-4FA6-B2F5-F0D2FCFB9322%7D&dist=hppr

[bread_and_roses]

133. Thanks! (n/t)

[Buttercup McToots]

109. A Clue?

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/shedlock/shedlock031208.html

The Fed's Swap Meet
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
Mar 12, 2008

Stocks soared on Tuesday as Central Bankers "Pulled Out All The Stops". Certainly the market was bleeding and some primary dealers, notably Bear Stearns (BSC) and Lehman (LEH) were getting pounded over liquidity and leverage issues.

In an attempt to restore liquidity the Fed came up with a new facility called the Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF). This program allows primary dealers to exchange a total of $200 billion mortgage backed securities (MBS) for treasuries. The period is 28 days instead of the traditional overnight lending. Why $200 billion? Because primary dealers hold $139.7 billion agency securities and $60.2 billion mortgage-backed securities. Minyanville cited Tony Crescenzi at Miller Tabak for those numbers early Tuesday.

Unlike the Term Auction Facility (TAF), which swaps cash for MBS and therefore requires sterilization so as not to affect the target funds rate, the TSLF is simply a swap of one instrument for another. It is not printing, and it injects no cash into the system even though there are misleading headlines such as this one bandied about by MarketWatch: Fed turns on the spigot of money again.

Lee Adler in Bandaid on a Ruptured Jugular explains what the Fed is up to with the TSLF.

"The Primary Dealers are heavily short Treasuries at all times. They are heavily long all other debt securities simultaneously. The level of securities lending in recent months is unprecedented in all of human history, by an order of magnitude of 10.

Quote
"Back then the PD's got caught shorting Treasuries in a huge squeeze. The Fed had enough of the stuff to loan to them to patch them up but now the Fed is out too.

Maybe they got caught short again. So, they'll get the Treasury to print up $700B worth of the stuff, and essentially swap them for the trash that is stuck on the asset side of the PDs.Then they will cover their shorts with the new Treasuries. The net result is that the PDs reduce both assets and liabilities by $700B, freeing up their balance sheet to absorb more Treasuries.

[Hugin]

112. It's certainly interesting.

The time frame is correct.

[antigop]

115. "Lord only knows why primary dealers were short treasuries when interest rates were falling and ..

the Fed was cutting rates."

Curious...

IF (and I say IF) they were shorting treasuries were they expecting
1) The Fed to increase rates instead of cutting them? (highly doubtful)
2) A lot of treasuries to get dumped by someone somewhere?
3) The rating on the Treasuries to be downgraded?
4) Foreign countries to stop buying them?
5) something else...?

Also, "The level of securities lending in recent months is unprecedented in all of human history,..."

I'd sure like some more info on WHOM they were (are) borrowing these from? I know some of the funds in our 401(k) do securities lending. (And it bugs the HELL out of me, as I have often stated on the SMW.)

[Roland99]

116. DJIA up neglibly; NASDAQ/Russell2K down about 1%. DEV lead ADV 24-4

[Renew Deal]

117. Up slightly on no bailout news

Interesting...

[Roland99]

118. But it's a C R I S I S ! ! ! ! !

[Hugin]

122. And on the day of the largest bank failure in US history to boot...

Looks like any other day at the office.

[dweller]

124. hey, maybe they don't need that 700KB afterall...

(yeah that's Kabillions).

dp

[Roland99]

125. Before the final settling...DJIA up big...flight to safety?

Dow 11,158.26 +136.20
Nasdaq 2,183.34 -3.23
S&P 500 1,215.13 +5.95
10-year 3.83% -0.04
Oil $106.89 -$1.13
Gold $888.50 $6.50


:wtf:

[Buttercup McToots]

126. All right All right...somebody knows something...Bastards...

Excuse my french...Market just zoomed...
There is no way you can tell me that somebody
got leaked something...:mad:

[nolabels]

128. My google news says "Dow 11,149.02 +126.96 (1.15%)"

So when is the meltdown of Wall Street scheduled to commence :popcorn:


The billions and the billionaire keepers are going to hang around at least till the election, so if you hear a lot of noises before then, just consider the source

[Buttercup McToots]

129. From Mish...Washington Mutual Bond Holders Wiped Out

Minyanville Professor Bennet Sedacca is the brightest fixed income mind I know. Inquiring minds are tuning in to see his take on the Credit Rout for Wachovia, WaMu.


Welcome to the credit market, folks, it is officially closed.

After Lehman, Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac(FRE), AIG (AIG) and Washington Mutual (WM) debt and preferred holders have been unmercifully tossed under the bus so
Jamie Dimon can be given banks, do you really think many want to get in front of this train wreck.

Me thinks not.

For what it's worth, I was just offered Wachovia (WB) 5.8% hybrids at $0.10 on the dollar, and I passed. A block of 30-year Wachovia paper just traded at $0.35 on the dollar. This is not preferred stock or hybrid, folks, this is subordinated debt.
Washington Mutual sub paper? $0.01 on the dollar. This is what a credit rout looks like. And until this ship is righted, watch out. There are others trading similarly, like Morgan Stanley (MS) and, while I have no positions, it's quite interesting to watch.
So the few that can raise capital, like JPMorgan (JPM) and Goldman Sachs (GS) will survive, but many failures lie directly in front of us.
Many regional banks are likely next.
Washington Mutual Bond Holders Wiped Out

[fedsron2us]

130. US less credit worthy than burger vendor

The US has been so hurt by the financial turmoil that markets now view its credit worthiness as akin to - or even worse than - that of McDonald’s, a shocking fact even if you believe that both are fronted by clowns.

One broker quoted McDonald’s CDS at about 26.5 basis points, compared with 30bp for the US, on Friday morning and another desk quoted both about 25bp. The picture has worsened since the news that politicians and public servants in Washington failed to seal a financial bail-out deal on Thursday night. McDonald’s closed at 28bp versus 25bp for the US on Thursday, according to Markit.

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/09/26/16388/cds-report-big-mac-and-fried-in-the-us/

[Roland99]

132. CNBC's Rick Santelli lets it rip >>>>>

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=868551308&play=1

[fedsron2us]

142. Amazing TV for the usual cheer leading on CNBC

I agreed with a lot of what Santelli said.

This crisis has been running for over a years so why does a solution have to be rushed through in less than a week.

Key point the banks are nearly all insolvent.

[Buttercup McToots]

145. Wow...That was sooo good...

I love Rick...:applause:

[sarcasmo]

137. Let's hope they only have 115 days, don't forget their new executive powers.

All it will take is a bank breakdown, that is happening now, or another calamity, oh let's say another TERRA attack.

[Dr.Phool]

140. My personal uninformed opinion. I don't think there will be a bailout now.

The house repukes who revolted yesterday, are the hard-core, kool-aid drinking lunatics. They've spent years sucking on the dogma that the only solution to anything is less regulation and tax cuts. Yeah, you know, the clowns who caused this mess in the first place.

And that's just what they demanded yesterday. Again. Lower taxes and less regulation.

You just can't deal with crazy people. And the Dems would be insane to be seen publicly crawling into bed with these weasels who can only make a bad bill worse.

I really hope Dodd, Frank, Pelosi, and Reid are not this stupid.

[Demeter]

143. I Haven't Any Hope

Dodd, Frank, Pelosi and Reid are that stupid. My hope is that the rank and file rebel, and nothing happens.

[Dr.Phool]

147. Thanks for dashing my hopes.

[Buttercup McToots]

144. A hypothetical Question? Spose I won a 2 million dollar lottery...

A hypothetical Question?


Spose I won a 2 million dollar lottery...
What do I do?
I mean...just deposit the check?
Wait till it clears and then?
Break up into a thousand little accounts?
Where do you put it for safety?
Sure pay off all debt, buy some gold/sliver but still left with a big enough amount...
What do you do? Where do put it?

[Dr.Phool]

146. I'll hold it for you.

Pay you lots of interest. Even insure it. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Buttercup McToots]

150. Seriously...Dr. Phool...

What to do?

[Dr.Phool]

151. I'd find out if it could be deposited in a bank in the Caymans.

It seems to work for everyone else. And, you'd be paying the withholding up front, so there wouldn't be a tax problem.

[DemReadingDU]

152. I would get some solar panels to heat my house

or some other alternative form of energy to generate heat and electric too.

I'm just starting to research, so don't have any specific ideas yet. But I'm getting worried that in a few years the supply of electric, natural gas, petrol for our cars, and even food in the grocery stores, all these things are going to be in short supply.

[Dr.Phool]

153. A good place to start your search is Home Power magazine.

Good articles, ratings for different systems, cost.

http://www.homepower.com/home/

[Demeter]

148. For Those Masochists Who Haven't Had Enough

The Weekend Economist is open for business:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x388001