Blasphemy! Jon Najarian of Fast Money would feign condescending laughter and pffffftttt at such ideas (at least that’s how he treated Bill Fleckenstein the other day). His Goldman buddies doubtless advise him to dismiss such nonsense. This recovery is real, didn’t you see Big Ben’s victory speech from Jackson Hole? The guy saved the freaking world, give him some respec’.
Banks Want to Continue Rope-a-Dope Accounting – (Wallstpitt.com) “If a financial position is hidden, disguised, or in some manner unreported, does that mean it does not exist or is not impactful? Will the American taxpayer continue to bear the burden of unsafe and undisciplined lending and investment practices on behalf of our banking system without being able to demand truth and transparency?” Don’t have much to add there, well said.
Top .01% earn 6% of all wages – (Commondreams.com) It’s not necessarily the gross imbalance itself, it’s the corrupt ways these profits are being reaped. I’m all for free markets, but this ain’t it. Robert Rubin and Angelo Mozilo are in that .01%. Their reward for wreaking havoc on the taxpayer dime.
Buffet’s Imaginary Economy – Thanks for killing Santa, Rolfe. Seriously though, this is important stuff. How can we take Buffet seriously when he says we need to be fiscally responsible and slash deficits drastically, yet he supports bank bailouts and the ridiculous intervention taking place?
IMF sees slow growth, tax hikes soon – (TheStar) Tax hikes?! To pay for our corruptionlicious pseudo-recovery, fueled by deficit spending and lacking the positive effects of free-market corrections? HAH. “The International Monetary Fund says most countries will need to raise taxes to pay off the trillions of dollars they spent fighting the global recession.”
CA 668 sq ft. house for $539k, while unemployment at 11.9% -(Dr Housing Bubble) Real homes of genius, love it.
RIP Guaranty Bank – Big Ups! Estimated loss to DIF $3b.
10-year Deficit prediction raised to $9 trilion – (Reuters) Good to see Mr. Obama’s team acknowledging reality at some level, but keep in mind that these government estimates are invariably optimistic.
The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to approximately $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday
Just got done watching Watchmen. It probably would have been enjoyable if not for the god-awful spikes in volume. I understand sound engineers put a lot of effort into the movie, but please don’t ram it down our ears. It’s like being in a tiny bar where some awful band is trying to force you to like their music via loudness. Click here to read more »
[Editorial of the year candidate] Deflation theory is lemon we have been sold – (Bloomberg) Thank you, Matthew Lynn.
“Deflation may be bad for particular interest groups, which happen to be very powerful. It is bad for chief executives. It is easier to keep your profits rising in a mildly inflationary environment. You can just jack up your prices a bit, and you can often cut workers’ wages by stealth by holding wages steady.”
The banking industry, which has come to rely on inflation to make highly leveraged loans sustainable, also dislikes deflation. Likewise, it is bad for governments, which use inflation to reduce the value of their debts.
Will It All Come Tumbling Down? – (Karl Denninger) “This much we know for certain – you’re being screwed – systematically – to cover the sins of these banksters who made loans to people who they had no reason to believe could pay:”
Tim Geithner will Answer Diggers’ Questions – This should be good. One the questions that TTT will have to answer, “Are you, yourself, troubled by the massive amount of government spending? What do you think will happen to the dollar over the next 10 years?”
China reduces US debt holdings by most in 9 years – (BBC) In June, China cut its holdings of US securities by about $25bn, a fall of 3.1%.
Does deflation really cause depressions? – (Minn Fed, PDF) Or does it fix them? Deflation is a natural market reaction to disastrous policies and past binges. Drinking off a hang-over doesn’t work, either. Well, maybe for a bit…
