Good idea.. lets pass an amendment that all government officials use common sense and treat our tax dollars prudently.
That sounds easy enough...
JR
That sounds easy enough...
JR
Money Masters
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For those not paying attention to business news, Ra Ra was found guilty on 14 counts of securities fraud (insider trading).
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-galleon-verdict-20110512,0,310455.story
This is mostly a good thing and congrats to the prosecutors who haven't been very successful in past prosecutions. I am not enthusiastic about more wire tap fishing expeditions, but with a warrant, and justifiable suspicion, these old laws need to be prosecuted.
IMO this doesn't justify the prosecutorial excesses of Elliot Spitzer, while there was probably insider trading going on back then too, he was just making political hay by charging well known public figures, and it was working for him, until his personal behavior revealed his true lack of moral compass.
So here here.. for catching some bad guys (in addition to Ra Ra some tens of co-conspirators pled guilty). We don't need more new laws, just enforce the old ones already on the books. Bernie Madhoff was breaking very old laws.
A good day for the little guys in stock markets everywhere.
JR
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-galleon-verdict-20110512,0,310455.story
This is mostly a good thing and congrats to the prosecutors who haven't been very successful in past prosecutions. I am not enthusiastic about more wire tap fishing expeditions, but with a warrant, and justifiable suspicion, these old laws need to be prosecuted.
IMO this doesn't justify the prosecutorial excesses of Elliot Spitzer, while there was probably insider trading going on back then too, he was just making political hay by charging well known public figures, and it was working for him, until his personal behavior revealed his true lack of moral compass.
So here here.. for catching some bad guys (in addition to Ra Ra some tens of co-conspirators pled guilty). We don't need more new laws, just enforce the old ones already on the books. Bernie Madhoff was breaking very old laws.
A good day for the little guys in stock markets everywhere.
JR
living sounds
Well-known member
Time to send wall street execs to jail:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-people-vs-goldman-sachs-20110511?page=1
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-people-vs-goldman-sachs-20110511?page=1
living sounds said:
Apparently the silly season (campaigning for 2012 elections) has already begun, so the senate will do what they can to make the Salem witch trials look like a garden party. Yesterday they were publicly flogging the big oil companies for getting tax breaks and making large profits, while poor consumers were paying high pump prices for gasoline. There are almost too many misrepresentations in that premise to list. #1 as non US readers know, we don't pay high prices for gasoline here. #2 the reason big oil companies make high dollar profits, IS BECAUSE THEY ARE BIG... Perhaps it wouldn't sound so bad, is we didn't allow all the consolidations in the industry over the last decade or so. Considering the liability they are exposed to (spills, tankers, etc), perhaps being large and having deep pockets is not all that bad. #3 Another lie is that they actually set the high prices. If anything the politicians are more responsible for the high (futures) prices which are high because the market doesn't see new supply coming to meet the growing demand. Simple market dynamics. Drill more, means more supply which will reduce prices. Raising the oil companies costs, will only make gas prices go up. How dumb do they think we are? Actually The human desire to punish, can rise above simple self interest, so this is positioned as punishing the evil oil companies, hoping the public will ignore the negative result. The craft of politics, they just want to get their greasy fingers on another few $B to spend unwisely.
Re: Goldman and the like... if they did something illegal, put them in jail like Ra Ra... but stop the demonizing... the government is in bed with these folks, and it's impolite to complain after you've already had sex. I object to giving these big investment houses access to the fed borrowing window. While this is part of the ongoing bail-out (letting investment houses merge with savings banks), it is another twisted prostitution of how the markets should operate.
Arrest the criminals, don't criminalize businessmen for political ends. IMO this mostly arm waving so the public doesn't realize how irresponsible the congress has been, and the unintended consequences of Dodd-Frank, that hasn't even been completely defined.
Of course i could be wrong....
JR
Rather than start a new thread I have some new data to contribute to the speculation story.
I saw a recent report this week about how much money the top ten banks had invested in commodity futures. http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112847/banks-commodities-wsj?mod=bb-budgeting%20%20%20&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=
While short of conspiracy these guys are all jumping on the same side of the obvious long oil futures trade, betting against the administration's energy policy having any ability to reduce future projected supply/demand shortfalls.
We (they) created this monster when we forced shot gun marriages between investment houses and consumer banks to "rescue" the financial system. This gave the big investment houses access to federal interbank lending and cheap capital. The FED has been pumping all this liquidity into the banking system expecting them to make business loans and productive investments that would stimulate the economy and employment. The Dodd/frank clamps down on some of their traditional business practices, so instead we are getting taxpayer supported capital chasing the long oil (gold,copper) futures bet. While not an actual conspiracy, I'll bet all 10 banks have their thumb on the same side of the scale.
This too can be managed by tightening further margin requirements, but rather than making new special rules to deal with the monster we created by meddling to prevent failures, why not break up these mega banks into smaller entities than they were before, perhaps small enough so they can be allowed to fail next time. Investment banks don't need access to the FED overnight window.
I've said this before, the government can't micro-manage economic cycles. I hate to be right about this, but we aren't going to fully recover until the government gets out of the way and allows housing to bottom, and lets the economy clear so it can reset. There is still too much uncertainty about what the government will try next, for business to make serious investment in the future.
You can't borrow and spend your way out of a hole. It doesn't work for individuals, and won't work for a nation. That doesn't stop some from arguing for more of the same that hasn't worked yet. Sure it would have been more painful a few years ago to take our lumps, but we'd be on the road to recovery by now.
Of course opinions vary... but i worry the political discussion now will be more about getting elected and less about making the tough choices. I expect there will be a little more truth telling in the primaries, but by the time we get to the general election both sides will be trying to look indistinguishable from each other on popular issues.
I am optimistic that more are paying attention to things like the debt ceiling now. I posted about the last debt ceiling increase a few years ago, but that one did not get the air time, it is this time around (IMO an important thing to pay attention to).
JR
I saw a recent report this week about how much money the top ten banks had invested in commodity futures. http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112847/banks-commodities-wsj?mod=bb-budgeting%20%20%20&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode=
While short of conspiracy these guys are all jumping on the same side of the obvious long oil futures trade, betting against the administration's energy policy having any ability to reduce future projected supply/demand shortfalls.
We (they) created this monster when we forced shot gun marriages between investment houses and consumer banks to "rescue" the financial system. This gave the big investment houses access to federal interbank lending and cheap capital. The FED has been pumping all this liquidity into the banking system expecting them to make business loans and productive investments that would stimulate the economy and employment. The Dodd/frank clamps down on some of their traditional business practices, so instead we are getting taxpayer supported capital chasing the long oil (gold,copper) futures bet. While not an actual conspiracy, I'll bet all 10 banks have their thumb on the same side of the scale.
This too can be managed by tightening further margin requirements, but rather than making new special rules to deal with the monster we created by meddling to prevent failures, why not break up these mega banks into smaller entities than they were before, perhaps small enough so they can be allowed to fail next time. Investment banks don't need access to the FED overnight window.
I've said this before, the government can't micro-manage economic cycles. I hate to be right about this, but we aren't going to fully recover until the government gets out of the way and allows housing to bottom, and lets the economy clear so it can reset. There is still too much uncertainty about what the government will try next, for business to make serious investment in the future.
You can't borrow and spend your way out of a hole. It doesn't work for individuals, and won't work for a nation. That doesn't stop some from arguing for more of the same that hasn't worked yet. Sure it would have been more painful a few years ago to take our lumps, but we'd be on the road to recovery by now.
Of course opinions vary... but i worry the political discussion now will be more about getting elected and less about making the tough choices. I expect there will be a little more truth telling in the primaries, but by the time we get to the general election both sides will be trying to look indistinguishable from each other on popular issues.
I am optimistic that more are paying attention to things like the debt ceiling now. I posted about the last debt ceiling increase a few years ago, but that one did not get the air time, it is this time around (IMO an important thing to pay attention to).
JR
Continuing my monologue...
An interesting development in the oil market/speculation story is the "emergency" release of oil from the US strategic reserve. I am not sure what the actual emergency is/was, which makes this even more unexpected, and therefore a very bad day for investors who were long speculating in oil, since the short term result will drop the price of oil at least for the near future.
This is either very smart, or another arm waving attempt to stop a tide with a tea cup. So time will tell. I don't trust the government to outsmart markets very often so this won't be as easy or effective next time around, and the strategic reserve only holds a modest amount of oil in the context of the larger market and amount used.
Looking at this politically, if they can soften energy costs, that will stimulate the economy just as it appears headed for another very soft summer and high unemployment. Just like we have used up all our interest rate bullets already, and QE has just about run it's course (while it still must be unwound), this is also limited as ammunition, so IMO they really need to address the fundamental issues underlying the economic malaise (which I won't bore you with by repeating yet once more.).
In line with my watch what they do, not what they say, i will give them an attaboy for back sliding on earlier positions and quietly approving more drilling, even it is just to get re-elected, because it is the right thing to do. In an interesting twist, Barney Frank and Ron Paul are proposing legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level... probably a good idea since Holder stopped prosecuting it some time ago. The suggestion that sates can turn pot into a revenue source with taxation seems little and late, but I am in favor of defunding the drug cartels that have caused so much havoc in mexico and our SW states. Having more legally stoned workers will has a less than positive impact on productivity, but slackers will always be slackers with or without weed.
Interesting times, sure to get even more interesting as we approach 2012... I didn't think stoners voted, but who knows. 8)
JR
An interesting development in the oil market/speculation story is the "emergency" release of oil from the US strategic reserve. I am not sure what the actual emergency is/was, which makes this even more unexpected, and therefore a very bad day for investors who were long speculating in oil, since the short term result will drop the price of oil at least for the near future.
This is either very smart, or another arm waving attempt to stop a tide with a tea cup. So time will tell. I don't trust the government to outsmart markets very often so this won't be as easy or effective next time around, and the strategic reserve only holds a modest amount of oil in the context of the larger market and amount used.
Looking at this politically, if they can soften energy costs, that will stimulate the economy just as it appears headed for another very soft summer and high unemployment. Just like we have used up all our interest rate bullets already, and QE has just about run it's course (while it still must be unwound), this is also limited as ammunition, so IMO they really need to address the fundamental issues underlying the economic malaise (which I won't bore you with by repeating yet once more.).
In line with my watch what they do, not what they say, i will give them an attaboy for back sliding on earlier positions and quietly approving more drilling, even it is just to get re-elected, because it is the right thing to do. In an interesting twist, Barney Frank and Ron Paul are proposing legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level... probably a good idea since Holder stopped prosecuting it some time ago. The suggestion that sates can turn pot into a revenue source with taxation seems little and late, but I am in favor of defunding the drug cartels that have caused so much havoc in mexico and our SW states. Having more legally stoned workers will has a less than positive impact on productivity, but slackers will always be slackers with or without weed.
Interesting times, sure to get even more interesting as we approach 2012... I didn't think stoners voted, but who knows. 8)
JR
