“When you’re running a company, you do what you think is right for the stockholders. Right now I’m looking at this as a citizen.”
When you pick private interests over what’s right for the country, isn’t that treason?
Tag: Recession
How Do You Pull Off a Ponzi Scheme? : Stupid Regulators | Securities and Exchange Commission Files
Don’t worry about government regulating health care, get them to regulate the financial markets:
Madoff said it was “amazing to me” that he didn’t get caught … because they specifically asked him, “Are these securities at DTC? (Depository Trust and Clearing Corp.)” They further pressed, “What is your account number.” He replied, “646.” Madoff stated that it was “obvious they thought that something was amiss.” He went on to say that when they asked for the DTC account number, “I thought it was the end game, over. Monday morning they’ll call DTC and this will be over… and it never happened.”
Madoff stated that when … Enforcement did not follow up with DTC, “I was astonished.”
But the real question is, can the industry be regulated at all:
Madoff noted that the industry is growing incredibly complicated. He gave the example of when his firm put up a credit default swap and didn’t know how to do the books. Madoff said he didn’t know … He said he called Merrill Lynch, Lehman Bros, five firms total, all of which didn’t know. He said the NASD had no clue. Madoff stated that today, lots of trades are done off the books because people don’t know what to do with them.
The Value of the “Too Big to Fail” Big Bank Subsidy | Dean Baker and Travis McArthur
‘Too Big to Fail’ banks have nearly a one percent advantage over small banks, a $34 billion dollar subsidy.
This piece deals with one of the many consequences of the bail out.
Consumer Spending Falls In September, Biggest Drop In Nine Months
By Martin Crutsinger – Huffington Post
WASHINGTON — Consumer spending plunged in September by the largest amount in nine months, reflecting the end of the government’s Cash for Clunkers auto sales program. Incomes, the fuel for future spending, were flat.
While the government reported that the overall economy grew in the July-September period, signaling the end of the worst recession in seven decades, the weakness in spending and incomes as the quarter ended underscores the fragility of the recovery.
Continue reading “Consumer Spending Falls In September, Biggest Drop In Nine Months”
Recovery Task Force Announces $156 Million in Recovery Act Funds Now Available for Energy Efficiency and Solar Projects
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s California Recovery Task Force today announced that more than $156 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funds are now available for application for energy efficiency and solar projects in California. A package of options under the State Energy Program (SEP) and the Energy Efficient and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) Program offer local jurisdictions, non-profits and private organizations the opportunity to invest in energy efficiency and photovoltaic energy projects – while helping to stimulate their local economies. Governor Schwarzenegger announced that California was the first state in the nation to apply federally for SEP funding available under the Recovery Act.
S.B.A. Softens New Good-Will Rules | NYTimes.com
We just ran across this issue with one of our clients, so I thought this would be good information to pass along. Note that the ‘good will’ limitation was $250,000 or 50% before, so this is a big policy change.
As always, all SBA deals are done according to individual bank policies so it remains to be seen if this change will actually help someone.
Effective Oct. 1, good will and other intangible assets can amount to up to $500,000, with no limit on the percentage of the loan. When intangibles exceed $500,000, the S.B.A. will recommend that banks limit the S.B.A.-backed loan to 75 percent of the purchase price.
US foreclosures’ flurry of activity | fst
The effects of the credit crunch have been clear for all to see: from bank failings to government bailouts, to a full-blown economic fallout, the recession continues to hang over us – now with just spots of recovery on the horizon.
As such, the American people are now facing unprecedented levels of layoffs and cut backs, and US mortagage foreclosure filings remain near a record high. This comes despite news that foreclosure filings had actually fallen for a second straight month last month, largely thanks to ongoing government efforts to keep borrowers in their homes. But, while foreclosures in September were down four percent when compared with August, they remain up by 29 percent from the year-earlier month.
The RealtyTrac US Foreclosure Market Report, which is behind the current findings, provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing reported during the month (or quarter). The data, collected from ore than 2000 counties nationwide, accounts for more than 90 percent of the US population.
As a result, for those people actually facing foreclosure filings – 343,638 in all throughout September – which include mortgage default notices, house auctions and home repossessions by banks, the problem seems both very intense and very, very real…
Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation Increasing Opportunities for Small Businesses
This article announces changes to how small business and Disabled Veterans Businesses are treated as it relates to state contracts. Also has a lot of nifty research information hidden amongst AHARNALD’s self congratulation. – Ed.
Bill Increases Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Eligibility for State Contracts and Recovery Act Projects
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed AB 31 by Senator (former Assemblymember) Curren Price (D-Inglewood), expanding small business and disabled veteran business enterprise participation in state contracts and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) projects. Small businesses and disabled veteran business enterprises make up 98 percent of all California enterprises, employ over half of our workforce and are projected to create 99 percent of the state’s future jobs. A recent study commissioned by the Procurement Division of the Department of General Services found that these firms produce about 50 percent more overall California economic impact for each dollar spent than large enterprises. Continue reading “Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation Increasing Opportunities for Small Businesses”
The End – How Wall Street Did Itself In | Portfolio.com
I just reread this piece and decided to share it. If you were wondering how we got where we are today, this article combined with Matt Taibbi’s “Great Bubble Machine” (next article) will provide you with every thing you need to know.
To this day, the willingness of a Wall Street investment bank to pay me hundreds of thousands of dollars to dispense investment advice to grownups remains a mystery to me. I was 24 years old, with no experience of, or particular interest in, guessing which stocks and bonds would rise and which would fall. The essential function of Wall Street is to allocate capital—to decide who should get it and who should not. Believe me when I tell you that I hadn’t the first clue.
PASS THIS ARTICLE ON.
The Great American Bubble Machine | Rolling Stone
Another post on our blog, ‘The End’ by Michael Lewis, is prologue for this piece. It’s instructive and frightening. Especially when you take in to account the number of individuals setting American financial policy that have come from Goldman Sachs.
The Great American Bubble Machine
From tech stocks to high gas prices, Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression – and they’re about to do it again
PASS THIS ARTICLE ON.
Dispatches From The Front 