This will be my last post for a few days Marketeers. My partner has urged me to take a break from all this stuff, and to be honest, she is right. I'm suffering from severe outrage fatigue, and even DU is far too poisonous with delusion and willful ignorance for me to deal with right now. I need to take some time. We are getting a new Kitten today, and this is the perfect time to heal the soul and the mind.
Now back to The Great Disintegration, Already In progress.....
Well, we have officially moved into the territory of true Economic Terrorism.
Last night, as they have done every night since this whole nonsense began, the Futures immediately dove off a cliff to -60, and were VERY quickly deteriorating.
Then of course, it happened.
"The Plan" heard round the world.
Goofy announced his new and improved "Toxic Assets" plan, (you know, the one he previously abandoned because the "Costs were too high", along with the Japanese announcement of their "Stimlus" (Well, they HAD to do something now that their Export Market has collapsed and they have NOTHING to sustain growth on), and of course we got one of the silliest, most obnoxious days in the Market any of us have ever seen.
Treasury Presses Ahead With Plan For Toxic AssetsThe Treasury Department will unveil the next step in its financial rescue efforts tomorrow, announcing that it intends to create a government body, called the Public Investment Corp., to finance the purchase of as much as $1 trillion in soured loans and toxic assets from ailing banks, according to sources.
The plan calls for the new entity to combine its resources with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve and private investors to buy those loans and other assets. But the government will put far more money into the deals and take on more risk than the investors, which could include hedge funds, private-equity firms, pension funds and foreign investors with U.S. headquarters, the sources said. The corporation will be funded with $75 billion to $100 billion from the $700 billion financial rescue package.
Key details of the toxic asset purchasing program are not yet finalized, said officials in contact with the Treasury. Some expressed concern that the markets would expect too much out of Monday's announcement. When Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner first sketched out the administration's rescue plan last month, he was criticized on Wall Street and on Capitol Hill for being too vague and creating uncertainty in the markets.
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The Obama administration also risks a backlash from lawmakers and ordinary Americans who expressed outrage over $165 million in bonus payments by American International Group to employees of its most troubled unit -- despite the firm receiving more than $170 billion in federal aid.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/21/AR2009032102246_2.html?hpid=topnewsMost who are awake can see Goofy's plan for what it is. A huge gambling stunt at the expense of the rest of us, and more kowtowing to the Banks. I have yet to hear a sane explanation of how this would help the economy, other than repeated, robotic like parroting of Propaganda, and INSANE rationalizing that makes even LESS sense than the way Goofy explained it.
But once again, vaguely worded and mostly detail free Plans were able to drive the Market up yet another 7% based on NOTHING.
Now, onto other atrocities. I would now ask all of you, at least those of you who are lucky to have some in this economy, to reach inside your pockets and pull out any spare cash you have and look at it.
See that weird chalk outline around your precious green bills. I've bet you've been wondering what that is. Well, it's there because Helo Ben committed Murder last week.
By way of his unprecedented Monetization, he has effectively put the Dollar in play to be euthanized. I know the awake have been following the progress of the Dollar the past few days. After a 2.5% Death Spiral right after the announcement, it has steadily continued upon it's downward course.
Now, of course, the Sheep who keep lathering themselves in "Hope" and sucking off their State Sponsored Propaganda Juice Boxes, don't want to talk about this. And who can blame them? TPTB and The Financial Media haven't given them any talking points or told them how to think about that particular issue, and besides, it makes them feel uncomfortable, so it doesn't exist.
Another thing that doesn't seem to exist is the escalating talks between Russia, China, and other developing countries about REPLACING the Dollar as the World's Reserve Currency.
Here's more insight into that. Now remember, it doesn't exist, so you aren't actually reading this. The Recession is over, the Recovery is in full swing, and everyone who tells you differently is a Conspiracy theorist, and a Bullshit Artist.
Got it? OK, read on (but not really. Reuters doesn't exist.)
China backs talks on dollar as reserve -Russian source By Gleb Bryanski
MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) - China and other emerging nations back Russia's call for a discussion on how to replace the dollar as the world's primary reserve currency, a senior Russian government source said on Thursday. Russia has proposed the creation of a new reserve currency, to be issued by international financial institutions, among other measures in the text of its proposals to the April G20 summit published last Monday.
Calls for a rethink of the dollar's status as world's sole benchmark currency come amid concerns about its long-term value as the U.S. Federal Reserve moved to pump more than a trillion dollars of new cash into the ailing economy late Wednesday.
Russia met representatives of China, India and Brazil ahead of the G20 finance ministers meeting last week, as the big emerging powers seek to up their influence on decision making globally. Their first ever joint communique did not mention a new currency but the source said the issue was discussed.
"They (China) did not formally put forward their position for the G20 summit but unofficially they had distributed their paper regarding the same ideas (the need for the new currency)," the source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
http://www.reuters.com/article/usDollarRpt/idUSLJ93633020090319http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13682035&PageNum=0Wow, I'm certainly glad that doesn't exist or we would all need to be a little worried, huh? I'm SO Glad it's JUST a kooky CONSPIRACY THEORY. :mad:
Here's another interesting snippet that doesn't exist:
The Russian source said Moscow was aware that the emergence of the
new global currency would not happen overnight and said its goal was to initiate a discussion about it at the G20 summit in London on April 2.
Now isn't it INTERESTING That this little issue that doesn't exist comes about after the announcement that the Fed is going shopping in it's own house?
The biggest problem with this scheme, which also doesn't exist, is that it will have a dangerous devaluing effect on The Dollar. IF THIS DEVALUING GETS OUT OF HAND, then China will be force to consider DIVESTING in it's debt that it holds.
Checkmate.
And if you thought THAT was bad, it turns out that NOW they have introduced a Bill that would allow them to come after your Pensions as well. (It doesn't exist of course, but let's take a look)
US Rep Proposes Bill To Use Pension Assets For Banking System WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee has proposed legislation that would allow public pension funds to buy preferred stock from ailing U.S. banks, prompting apprehension from public pension plan trustees.
The legislation introduced by Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., offers public pension funds a guaranteed rate of return in exchange for buying the preferred stock, or for loaning the government their money to loosen the credit freeze.
"By guaranteeing public employee pension fund investments in financial institutions, the federal government will use its balance sheet as a way to inject much needed funds into the nation's banking system rather than using more public money," the New York Democrat said.
However, trustees of pension funds for teachers, police officers, firemen, and state and local municipality workers are fretful that the attractive arrangement could lead to some government restrictions on funds down the road.
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200903181422DOWJONESDJONLINE000870_FORTUNE5.htmHere a couple of more things that don't exist:
U.S. Central Credit Union may form "bad bank": CEOBy Carey Gillam
KANSAS CITY (Reuters) - Two days after regulators seized the largest U.S. corporate credit union, the newly installed CEO said he is considering a variety of options, including setting up a "bad bank," to handle a mixture of troubled mortgage assets.
Several options are on the table at the $34 billion-asset U.S. Central Federal Credit Union, said new CEO James Nance, who quit as chief administrative officer at Icap Capital Markets Llc in New Jersey to helm the Lenexa, Kansas-based institution at the request of regulators.
In addition to setting up a separate entity, a so-called "bad bank," to take toxic assets off the books of U.S. Central, Nance told Reuters in an interview that he will look at options for securitizing the troubled assets in ways that would allow for them to be held for an extended periods, and he will explore the sale of certain assets to non-credit union buyers.
"We want to try to avoid having the situation deteriorate," said Nance, who prior to his work at Icap, oversaw asset and liability management at U.S. Central from 1993-1996.
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE52L1S920090322And remember How GE didn't need anymore help and was doing just fine?
Moody’s downgrades GE and GE Capital to Aa2http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2009/03/23/53907/moodys-downgrades-ge-and-ge-capital-to-aa2What does it take to get people to wake up? What does it take to get people to stop wandering aimlessly toward the slaughterhouse?
Probably the most sickening thing about today was all the celebrating by the Public. They actually BELIEVE there is some "there" there, and they are not interested in the details, and if they bother to look under the hood, they are taking everything at face value. The "Toxic Assets" were not the only thing hazardous today. I have never seen DU this poisoned and drunk on Propaganda, and caught up in full faith of what is nothing more than yet another fleecing by TPTB.
Many people seem to lack the simple understanding that they can manipulate and inflate the markets all they want, even back up to the level it was at before the Collapse. But if there is NOTHING FUNDAMENTAL AND TANGIBLE to support these inflated prices, and there is no change in the fundamentals of the economy itself, and MAIN STREET continues to worsen with failed businesses and high unemployment, falling wages, deteriorating incomes, record bankruptcies, etc. THEN THE MARKET WILL COLLAPSE AGAIN. And it's all irrelevant anyway, because the Stock market artificially inflating is not going to pay people's bills, put food on the table, create jobs, and provide the economy with a REAL FOUNDATION for true sustainable growth.
But so much of our population is no longer interested in any kind of real reality. They are interested in feeling good, and the heroin high of manged perception. And if you try to explain what is really going on, you will be met with hostility, insults, and general childish bullying that sounds like being cornered at a party by an obnoxious drunk.
After sparring with a few of these sad, misguided people last night, I have pretty much made the decision that all of my posting from here on out will be regulated to this thread, because frankly I can no longer deal with empty heads who would rather treat this like supporting your favorite NFL team, than the Fate Of the Country Itself.
They live in a Bubble that has about as much substance in reality as the current Stock Market Bubble.
And I have something to say to those "Good Americans", who not only continue to cheer this on, but are harassing, shouting down, and even going as far to THREATEN (This has not happened on DU, to be clear. YET) those of us who refuse to go along with the charade, and silence our voices:
SHAME. ON. YOU.
It has become crystal clear that you have no interest in the truth.
It has become crystal clear that you have no interest in looking past the surface of the Propaganda, and that you put more trust and value in those that have LIED to you and FLEECED you with RECKLESS ABANDON, time and time again than those who are guilty of nothing more than GIVING A SHIT ABOUT YOUR BEST INTERESTS, and the Interests of OUR COUNTRY.
It has become Crystal clear that You would rather be told by TPTB what to think, so you can strut around with your chests out, preening like ridiculous looking Peacocks, and ensconce yourselves in the protective womb of whatever false paradigm you adopt, so you don't have to THINK, or actually take ACTION, or have to CONFRONT any kind of difficult Truth.
It has become crystal clear that you would willingly sacrifice the well being and the futures of not only yourselves, but your family, your children, your neighbors, your countrymen, YOUR COUNTRY, and not only your generation, but the generations of those who will come after you. All so you can glide along in the heroin high of the Con of the Quick Fix.
Oh, you don't care HOW anything gets fixed, or what the consequences or details are, you just want to GET YOUR FIX.
You just want it taken care of, and you'll blindly believe and follow whatever you're told, and go along with whatever is done, and never look past the surface to see if there is a danger or a threat of creeping fascism or the red flags of tyranny, EVEN IF THE THREAT COMES FROM YOUR OWN PARTY.
You know, there was another people who thought this way, long ago in a far away land, about 80 years ago. They blindly followed, and willfully ignored too.
Are you so wedded to delusion that you have forgotten the history of how that worked out?
Or does history have to repeat itself AGAIN, to give you a gentle reminder of the importance of GIVING A SHIT?
You are acting like Sheep.
You are displaying disgusting COWARDICE.
And you just can't be bothered to look Past the Propaganda and the lies to stand up for yourself, stand up for your COUNTRY, or STAND FOR ANYTHING.
You DISAPPOINT me.
There was a poster on another thread last night that put it pretty succinctly.
The lines have been drawn and the sides have been chosen, between the Sycophants and The Patriots.
And in the end, it all comes down to a single question.
WHY, at the very least metaphorically and philosophically, do the rest of us have to DIE, because you refuse to LIVE, or even be bothered to LOOK past the Surface to make sure that beautiful new Porsche you bought this past fall doesn't have a Yugo engine in it?
This is not a fucking Football Game.
This is not a spectator Sport.
This is not March Madness.
This is NOT a Party, Nor is it A Disco, and We The People MUST Stop Fucking Around.
This is LIFE and DEATH.
This is the future of OUR COUNTRY. And it will be decided based on the circumstances and the environment we currently find ourselves in, whether you choose to wake up to them or not.
STOP being part of the PROBLEM.
Because if we are ever going to reach any real solutions, WE NEED YOU. We need EVERYONE.
Are you REALLY willing to sacrifice the entire future of your country, just so you can feel good about a few weeks, maybe a few months AT BEST of another fake Stock market bubble that will eventually collapse, leaving in it's wake even WORSE problems than before?
Are you so invested in "The Football Team" that you are willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING just to support them, even though it is becoming crystal clear they do NOT support or REPRESENT YOU?
Stop LISTENING to what they are SAYING, and PAY ATTENTION to what they are DOING.
It is almost TOO LATE.
LEARN From History.
And it appears for many of us, before we can do that, we must first take one very important step.
UNLEARN.
There are days when I just want to throw my hands up and give up on this Propagandized Purgatory that has become our Nation.
But as Samuel L. Jackson once said in Pulp Fiction:
"I'm trying, Ringo.....I'm Trying REAL HARD......
To Be The Shepherd."
Democracy don't rule the world,
You'd better get THAT through your head.
This world is ruled by violence
But I guess that's better left unsaid.
From Broadway to the Milky Way,
That's a lot of territory indeed
And a man's gonna do what he has to do
When he's got a hungry mouth to feed.
Well, it's sundown on the union
And what's made in the U.S.A.
Sure was a good idea
'Til greed got in the way.-Bob Dylan