Mark Cuban on CEO and Wall Street games.........

There is a game played by CEOs with the corporate issuance of lottery tickets. Otherwise known as stock. Stock can be issued in any number of ways, shapes or forms. Warrants, options, restricted or unrestricted stock. No matter what you call it, every CEO hired, is asking for equity knowing that their only goal is to hit the jackpot and create a pool of wealth that puts them in the "fuck you" wealth category. Thats enough money to buy or rent just about anything you can think of and put you in position to never have to work again. You just live off the cash in the bank.

Put another way, every hired CEO is looking to be in a position to look in the mirror , smile and tell themselves they have made it. They are living the American dream. The only way to do that is to grab as much equity equivalents as you can and do everything you can to get that stock price up as high as you can while periodically liquidating the stock and stuffing the cash in your bank account.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing so. Any CEO who doesnt take advantage of this golden ticket opportunity is an idiot. In fact, although I don't have actual numbers, I would hazard a guess that more than 95pct of CEOs hired to run companies with a billion dollar plus public market caps probably do get themselves to the position of having more than 10mm dollars in equity very quickly. While those who manage to hold on to their jobs a while and not screw up too bad, can relatively quickly get past the 25mm dollar in equity mark and reach the 50mm dollar mark with in 10 years. Its actually pretty tough to screw up and not get there if you have any brains at all.

Why ?

Because you have the entire Mutual Fund, Hedge Fun and Brokerage industry doing everything they can to get you there. Think about it.

You can't turn on CNBC or Fox Business without them cheerleading the market to go up. Every man, woman, child, fund, index or interested party who buys the stock is doing everything they can to get the stock of the company to go higher. They don't really care how you run the company and they care less about the results of the company than they do about the performance of the stock. Heck, even if they did care, shareholders dont really own anything and have zero say in the company. If you really dig into it, its the ultimate in social networking. Everyone who owns the stock belongs to the fan page or group for the stock and they are telling everyone they can how wonderful the company is and why the stock will go up, all while praying it does so.

Its the American way and it works ! Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year by brokerages telling every American that the stock market over time will go up 7pct per year. All you have to do is diversify and hold onto your stock long enough. For better or worse, everyone believes it.

With all of that social networking power, call it stocksourcing behind stocks, how can CEOs not get rich ?

The problem with all of this is that there is a huge disconnect between the CEO and shareholders doing well and those who work for the company doing well

Yes, its true, particularly in markets like we are experiencing now, stocks can hit 52 week, or even multi-year lows.(although more often than not, in spite of low stock prices, market caps have increased).

Yes, its true that CEOs see the value of their holdings shrink. However, unlike lottery tickets whose value goes to zero when you dont hit the number, the CEO equity positions retain their upside and history has shown us that if they go far enough underwater, they will get repriced and /or reissued. All in the name of keeping the CEO happy. So while CEOs may get "less rich" for awhile, the game is stacked so that a downturn gets them happy real fast when the upturn comes.

The disconnect is that there is a big difference between not making Wall Street happy and not making money.

The pressure from Wall Street is to grow earnings forever. Not matter what it takes. This isnt a problem when a company is doing well. EVeryone is happy. But when the economy hits a bump like it has now, when the market is hitting a bump and stock prices are declining, like it is now, the pressure comes. Everyone owning the stock reacts and whats to know what the CEO will do to get the price back up. This, as they say "is where the CEO earns their pay" Unfortunately, what this really means is that everyone who works for that company is at risk. At risk of losing their jobs, benefits, raises, you name it. Its at risk.

All of which is a long winded way of saying that employees live in the corporate cash zone, CEOs and the top few in management live in the equity/lottery ticket zone.

Those in the cash zone always take the first hit. People,places and things that consume cash are the first things to go because cash expenses immediately reduce earnings. If you or anyone like you consumes cash, unless someone upstairs thinks you generate a straight to the bottom line return on the cash expenditure, you are about to become a corporate ghost. Your person, place and thing will be memorialized as a cut to increase earnings mentioned in a press release that wall street will cheer and use to push up the stock price.

What makes me sad about all of this is that I really think that in this country if there truly was a connection between shareholders and management, that if given a choice by profitable companies, most of us would choose to hold on to our shares and accept an expanded PE for some period of time in exchange for people keeping their jobs.

I would love to receive an email from a company I own saying something to the effect of:

Dear Shareholder,
We are facing a very difficult decision that we would like your feedback on . Our earnings per share last quarter were 20 cents, and for the entire last year, 80 cents. Because of a downturn in business caused by XYZ factors, we face the choice of making 10 pct less, or cutting headcount and related expenses in order to maintain our earnings and possibly even grow our earnings a couple cents this year.

As a shareholder, we would like to ask you whether you would consider allowing us to retain these valued employees. We recognize that it would require you accepting a PE multiple 10 pct higher than the current market. We hope you would be willing to make this concession. We think that the jobs this will save will return far greater value to shareholders over the long run.

We look forward to your vote.

Personally, Im willing to give a higher multiple in exchange for saving people's jobs. At least once.

Unfortunately, this of course is a fantasy that can't happen in this country.

Which brings us back to CEO Pay.

As long as CEOs live in the equity/lottery ticket zone and employees in the cash zone, CEO pay is going to be outrageous relative to everyone else.

The only possible way to change this is to put CEOs in the cash zone. Make companies generate 100pct of their compensation in cash that is 100pct expensable in the quarter paid. Thats not to say they cant own stock. Hell yes they can own stock. But make them buy it either on the open market, or as part of the programs that make stock available to every company employee, on the same terms. They are getting paid enough in cash and if they believe in their ability to run the company, they can put their money where their mouth is. Eliminate all the free lottery tickets. Make them buy stock, options, warrants, whatever, on the same terms as everyone else can.


Shareholders tend to ignore how much stock is given to management, they don't ignore cash. Companies will always be a lot more stringent with their cash, whether its paid to the CEO or anyone else. CEO cash compensation will go way up, but total compensation will come way down. More importantly , CEOs getting paid huge sums in cash will stand out like a sore thumb when things arent going so well. They will be treated like everyone else in the cash zone and held far more accountable for their work.

Of course this is all just my opinion, but to me its a good thing for all involved. The rich can still get richer, but everyone shares in the risk.

Yahoo Microsoft

Is a Google chase.........

Native American Focus, Global Reach

Our mission speaks clearly of economic development for Native Americans. In the traditional native system, kinship was the basis for distributing wealth and assets, as well as the culture and its values. Native Americans have traditionally used their culture, land and natural resources to grow their economic position. Today, for both reservation and urban Native Americans, capital and human development must be the critical first step to empowerment.

We know Native Americans must work hard to cultivate business relationships with Native American businesses that offer high quality, competitive products and services. We know this growth of infrastructure is a positive development for what affirmative action stands for.

Chippewa Partners is deeply committed to the growth of Native American wealth, even for the generations of Native children yet unborn. Further, the American Indian Trust Fund Reform Act places further responsibility on Native American fiduciaries to make certain that Native American financial assets are invested prudently.

We encourage Native American fiduciaries, foundations, tribal finance officers, tribal council members, 401-k directors and Native American tribal college administrators to examine our experience, track record and mission.

We manage investment portfolios from Alaska to the United Kingdom. We can be reached in confidence at 877-772-1621 or at ChippewaPartners@aol.com

Native American Advisors philanthropic interest is in the area of educational scholarship. Dean T. Parisian has endowed a significant scholarship at the University of Minnesota specifically for Native American students. He believes with his own money to help others.

The firm has a formal policy of establishing permanent endowment funds, that are funded with a dedicated percentage of investment management fees, to create scholarships for Native American students at the college level. When you engage Native American Advisors, Inc., Inc. to handle your investments you are truly investing for the future of Native America.

“To see the universe through the eyes of Indian America,
Through the vision of the Indian,
Was to see it whole,
To see it as a complex of animal, human, and spiritual beings,
Woven together in a delicate, intricate and indivisible web.
....unknown

"both sides of the aisle"

How many others simply tune out any statement coming from any politician when they lie about working with both sides of the aisle to effect legislation to "help" America?

ABB

Yesterdays trading action in ABB was classic. We've owned a fair amount of the shares and the action through the cups pivot-point yesterday was a beautiful sight.

Clients of Smith Barney

If you are one of the many unfortunate clients buried in their hot-shot hedge funds we would love to talk to you. In fact, if you are sick and tired of dealing with any Smith Barney broker/salesman for your serious retirement assets give us a call.

877-772-1621 is the only number you'll need for your investments.

Eli Broad

His comment today at his old pal, Michael Milken's conference was pure Eli, honest.

He said 16,000,000 homeowners owe more on their homes than the homes are currently worth.

It will be 2010 before the ship gets off the reef, maybe not even then.

Obamanomics.............

Obama has stated he will raise the capital gains tax rate from 15% to 28%. If he is elected, many Americans (and 20 million criminal aliens) who have never experienced a prolonged, acute recession will get the opportunity to do so.

The Bail-out Nation.........

America, I call it now "the bail-out nation". Our liberal media and their cohorts in Congress seem to have devised a plan to "save" everybody from everything. Katrina, the Bear Stearns financially engineered debacle, low interest rates, high interest rates, predatory lenders, it goes on and on and on; have you ever met a politician who "couldn't" save us from any issue given enough time and money?

It is truly such an affront to common sense and financial literacy it defies explanation.

And many Americans think the "government" is something other than my tax dollars and yours. God help us when they finally figure that out. I love the Chinese, yes there are a billion-plus of them that have somewhere in the vicinity of a 35% savings rate compared to what we have in America where the savings rate may average between a negative 2% and 2%. You see boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, the Chinese don't have Social Security to bail them out in their old age. There is nothing social nor secure with Social Security. It's a cruel hoax. And the baby boomer generation is going to get a rude wake-up call when it comes time to retire. You see, inflation today is eating their lunch. They are not saving what they need to save to even come close to continuing the same or nearly the same life-style in retirement as they have while working full-time today. In fact most of them have no clue on how to structure a retirement plan or even plan for it investment-wise. Many dont' want to pay for professional advice and do-it-yourself. That's fine but on some of the biggest financial decisions of your life you may need some help, from people who can take you through all the different scenario's. There's a reason dentists don't perform root canals on themselves and heart docs dont' crack their own chests. Many spend more time planning their vacations and working their deer lease than planning for a successful retirement and more power to them. I meet people every week who tell me the stock market is too risky (stock market indexes only go one way long term), that they can't contribute to their 401-k accounts because the new plasma TV and new vehicle payments are too expensive or gas and food costs are spiraling. Probably the same people who will expect to be bailed out from a lack of personal responsiblity in their financial decisions.

I'm one of the fortunate few who won't be getting a $600 check next week. I could use it as much as the next guy but you see, the duds who make the laws say that I make too much money, I've been far too successful to share in my own tax payments. Hard work, my years of education, paying off school loans, my building a business all have contributed to the simple fact my own government won't allow me the same financial advantage as someone who doesn't make as much money. My business wasn't built on 40-hour work weeks. Double that for starters. Most of you who are self-employed can easily understand that statement.

I'm going back to work. Enjoy your checks and maybe save some for your retirement down the road because inflation, deer leases, taxes and energy/food prices are only going one way.

Care to guess which way they are going?

They are going the same way Obama and Hillary are telling you they are going.

Recession in Indian Country?

"A lot who used to play dollars are playing quarters or nickels or pennies now," Pala chairman Robert Smith said.

Here's the problem........

Commission based stockbrokers need "velocity" of clients assets. As in the infamous words of the friend who hired me in the securities business way back in 1982, brokers need to "make the book sing". The hundreds of millions of auction-rate securities that duped retail investors into thinking they were safe, after being told by their brokers that they were "safe" shows precisely how Wall Street needs to operate. You see, cash is king and often enough as a money manager, doing absolutley nothing with a clients assets except sit in a cash fund or money-market fund is the proper and prudent course of action.

Unfortunately brokers need to twirl some commissions to pay THEIR bills. Very seldom will a broker ever recommend a client go to cash with a huge percentage of a clients assets because cash doesn't pay commissions. If you are tired of being "twirled" for commissions give us a call.

It may be the smartest call you will ever make for your retirement money.

Perfect Timing.........

I'm putting in a swimming pool and jacuzzi and weather permitting, will be done by the summer heat's arrival. Maybe I should turn it into a rice paddy and pay for the pool in one growing season.

A versus B versus C

An old friend of mine, Gretchen Morgenson is a business writer at the New York Times. Gretchen and I go back to the days of Patsy Ostrander's transgressions with Fidelity before running the New American High Income Fund. She is probably one of the most talented business writers in the world. I share a recent article she wrote because it pertains to so many who read this blog. Enjoy her words written in the New York Times. Reprinted without permission of Rupert Murdock but as a subscriber to several Dow Jones publications I doubt if he would mind. Call me Rupert if you are miffed!!!

Conflicts of interest among mutual fund brokers have been the subject of considerable regulatory action. Investigations have turned up brokers selling funds at full price, without regard to “break points” — jargon for the purchase amount at which investors are entitled to a discount. Some brokers have recommended particular shares so that they can win exotic trips. Banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies have paid regulatory fines approaching $85 million recently to settle such cases.

Yet biases remain a hurdle for investors who buy mutual funds with sales charges. That’s because brokers and financial advisers selling these funds make different commissions, depending upon which share class they sell.

Class A shares are by far the most widely sold, perhaps because they are generally more lucrative for brokers when they make the sale. Class B shares often turn out to be a better deal for investors but are shunned by many brokers.

Despite four years of on-and-off work on the issue, the Securities and Exchange Commission has not yet enacted rules that might shed light on fund sales conflicts. As a result, these biases remain largely hidden from view.

“It is absolutely bewildering to try to figure this stuff out,” said Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America. “Brokers and fund companies use complexity as an excuse not to do good disclosure. Investors have not asked for that complexity, and it has not been adopted to benefit investors.”

Under current rules, fund prospectuses are permitted to show total return figures that do not factor in sales charges. Even expense ratios, the numbers that most investors look to as a proxy for costs, do not indicate how much of an investment is actually being used productively in a fund, after deducting fees and sales charges.

Prospectuses for load funds make it even harder because, in most cases, they do not disclose the commissions brokers receive when they sell various classes of shares. These include Class A shares, with upfront loads that can run to 5.75 percent, B shares with deferred charges that start at 4 percent and decline over time, and C shares, with charges based on assets under management and the timing of redemption.

INVESTORS can avoid these problems by buying no-load funds from firms like Vanguard, T. Rowe Price and Fidelity. But sales of load funds remain high; according to the Investment Company Institute, the lobbying organization for the mutual fund industry, roughly one-third of new fund sales in the first three quarters of 2007 were load shares. It is those investors who are most exposed to hidden sales conflicts.

Class A shares are often assumed to be cheaper than other classes of load funds. The A shares generally have lower operating expenses, which can sometimes offset their upfront sales loads. New sales of these shares rose to $420 billion in 2006, Investment Company Institute figures show, up from $340 billion in 2000.

But Class B shares are often actually less expensive, especially for investors who place $50,000 or less in a fund that they intend to hold for five years or so. One reason is that the high front-end load of the Class A shares means that investors have less money at work from the moment they invest.

And because brokers often waive the deferred loads when investors have to sell as a result of a divorce or disability or to meet required minimum distributions out of an individual retirement account, Class B shares become even more attractive.

The growth in Class A shares has followed a raft of regulatory actions, beginning in 2001, against brokers who sold Class B shares improperly, such as when another share class would have been more suitable. Such regulatory actions brought notoriety to the B share class.

As a result, some firms and fund companies have limited the amount of B shares that brokers can sell; others have barred sales of them altogether.

“Prohibitions against selling B shares may have been a mistake,” said Russell E. Planitzer, chief executive of NewRiver Inc., a firm in Andover, Mass., that helps financial companies comply with regulations. “If you are a long-term investor, B shares are best in most cases.”

In mid-2005, MetLife Securities revised its policies on the sale of B shares, prohibiting sales of $50,000 or more in one fund family over a 13-month period. The next year, Morgan Stanley limited to $25,000 the B shares its brokers can sell in the same fund family. Dreyfus halted sales of B shares to new investors in 2006, and last week, Nuveen Investments said it was eliminating them in four of its funds.

Not surprisingly, B shares accounted for only 4.7 percent of load shares sold in 2006. Back in 2000, that portion was 22 percent. To be sure, Class A shares are sometimes sold within 401(k)’s and in so-called wrap accounts in which loads are waived. But measured in dollar amounts, Class A shares sold with loads probably equal those sold without, fund analysts say.

While it is possible for investors to get a glimpse of how brokers are paid for each share class, it is complicated and tedious work. Here is how it might be done:

First, dig through fund documents — not just prospectuses but also the statement of additional information, or S.A.I. Investors can also consult the mutual fund expense analyzer on the Web site of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the securities firm regulator. The analyzer allows investors to compare the costs of various funds and share classes for expected holding periods and estimated returns.

Consider what a broker earns selling $40,000 worth of Class A shares in the Lord Abbett Affiliated fund, a $18 billion value stock fund. According to its prospectus, which describes how sales representatives are paid, buyers of A shares are charged a 5.75 percent load. On $40,000, that would amount to $2,300, so only $37,700 remains at work in the fund.

Of the $2,300 sales load, according to the fund’s documents, $2,000 would go to a sales representative and his firm, while the fund company would keep $300. Annual asset-based trailing commissions of 0.25 percent begin in the first year. After a year, if the fund earned 8 percent, the trailing commissions would be $98. So during the first year the investor holds the Lord Abbett fund, the brokerage firm that sold it would receive $2,098.

Now consider the commissions paid on the same size trade in the fund’s B shares. With an upfront load of 4 percent, the brokerage firm takes away $1,600; annual trailing commissions of 0.25 percent often do not start until the second year. And on C shares, the pay is even less in the first year — $400 — with trailing commissions of 1 percent a year beginning in the second year.

Brokers split these payouts with the firms that employ them, typically earning 45 percent for themselves. Nevertheless, it is simple to see that in this example, Class A shares produce more revenue for the firms and the brokers, even if investors hold their shares for less than five years.

A Lord Abbett spokeswoman declined to comment.

A second example of a fund that appears to pay considerably more to representatives who sell its A share class is the First Investors Growth and Income fund. On a $40,000 investment, brokerage or advisory firms would receive almost $2,000 on A shares, versus an estimated $1,600 on B shares in the first year. The prospectus is silent on how sales representatives are paid, but the fund’s statement of additional information discusses some information on A share commissions.

Robert Flanagan, president of First Investors, said the industry was moving away from B share sales because of regulatory actions against other firms.

Another example is provided by the AllianceBernstein Global Bond fund, a $1.7 billion fund. Investors buying $40,000 of that fund’s A shares would pay $1,700 to the brokerage firm or financial advisory firm in the first year. Buying B shares would cost them $1,300, and C shares, $400.

Increasing the potential for investor confusion, commission structures among different share classes sometimes vary even within the same fund family. For example, while AllianceBernstein Global Bond pays considerably more to those who sell A shares, its International Value stock fund pays essentially the same commissions on both A and B shares.

Indeed, on a $40,000 investment, the fund would pay commissions of $1,699 on A shares and $1,703 on B shares. The commission on C shares would be $400.

An AllianceBernstein spokeswoman said, “They are structured differently because of the return ability of bonds relative to the return ability of equities.”

Interestingly, not all funds pay representatives more to sell their A shares. The American Funds Amcap fund, the $25 billion large-capitalization growth stock portfolio, would pay the sales representatives’ firms the same $1,600 on a $40,000 purchase of A shares or B shares. American Funds’ prospectus also provides a detailed description of what it pays sales representatives.

Of course, if an adviser earns more money on a certain class of shares that is best for the investor, there is no problem. But load fund prospectuses do not state in plain English when commissions might conflict with share class choices or how costly those conflicts can be, so investors are left in the dark.

MR. PLANITZER of NewRiver says that shining a light on conflicts in fund sales representatives’ pay is long overdue. He urged the S.E.C. to put forward, after the past four years of discussion, regulations requiring brokers to give clients a document disclosing their commissions and outlining some potential conflicts. The document would be provided when the mutual fund shares are bought.

“Investors are entitled to a simple point of sale rule that says, ‘Before I sell you something, I will disclose all this information,’ ” Mr. Planitzer said. “But until this rule shows up, investors should insist that their financial advisers provide them with this information.”

A spokesman for Morgan Stanley said the firm would soon install a calculator system that would let its brokers analyze share class differences.

Using the mutual fund fee analyzer from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as well as fund prospectuses, can help investors tell when Class A shares pay more to sales representatives than B shares. Investors who choose to buy load funds may want to ask their brokers or financial advisers how their pay differs among share classes. Brokers and financial advisers know what the various share classes pay. At the moment, investors need to do their homework to get the same information.

Hard times are here........

Merrill Lynch said that between the first and fourth quarters of 2007, the number of general-purpose loans from 401-k's increased 14%, while residential loans decreased 40% and hardship withdrawals jumped 43%.

It's here, it's now and it's real. And the Democrats want to tax more of every dollar you earn. Go figure.

Rumors and short-selling.........

Listening to Chairman Cox of the SEC speak of "throwing the book" at transgressions of manipulative behavior makes for great comedy.

If only they could work so fast at throwing brokers out of the industry who year after year, float around from shop to shop and rip the heart and soul out of investors nest-eggs. It's 2008 and you can't even log onto a SEC website and find out all there is to know about the regulatory fines and judgements that have been thrown at stockbrokers who are able to impoverish clients and elude regulators for so long.

Pre and Post..........

Trading thousands of times every year does a couple of things. Like all my coaches have told me, practice and practice some more. All of the great traders I know personally, trade every day. This week has produced some amazing results in both pre-market and post-market trading sessions.

Some luck, yes, but eye opening. And thank the Creator for Level II quotes.

Hythiam

Terren's tears on the 60 Minutes program will always be in the collective memory bank. With the stock up over 20% today he's no doubt smiling.

ReneSola

Piper Jaffray initiated coverage on ReneSola Ltd. with a Buy rating and $25 price target.

Analyst Jesse Pichel expects long-term margin expansion as the product mix shifts toward multi-crystalline wafers from mono and as tolling revenue grows. Pichel sees potential upside in the tolling biz due to the recent JASO supply contract with GCL.

Pichel also likes the current valuation of SOL, which is about $18 per share.

Simplicity.........

Author Dan Millman says, “The key to happiness isn’t in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” How true! Enjoying the simple things and teaching your kids to do the same enlarges the soul and uncorks the wellspring of joy. Some examples are:

• Watching the sun set as a family
• Going on a picnic this weekend
• Fishing
• Bike riding
• Looking at leaves under a microscope
• Laying out in the backyard and identifying the constellations

The possibilities are endless. Commit to do one simple and fun thing with your kids for the next four weekends -- and enjoy!

Do statistics lie?

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen:

1) Consumer confidence plummet;
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon;
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase);
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses);
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars;
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!

Remember it's Congress that makes law not the President. He has to work with what's handed to him.

Quote of the Day........'My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it.' -- Barack Obama

Taxes...Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing.
www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html

Taxes under Clinton 1999 Taxes under Bush 2008
Single making 30K - tax $8,400 Single making 30K - tax $4,500
Single making 50K - tax $14,000 Single making 50K - tax $12,500
Single making 75K - tax $23,250 Single making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 60K - tax $16,800 Married making 60K- tax $9,000
Married making 75K - tax $21,000 Married making 75K - tax $18,750
Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250

Both democratic candidates will return to the higher tax rates.

It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever. If Obama or Hillary are elected, they both say they will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen. This is like the movie The Sting with Paul Newman; you scam somebody out of some money and they don't even know what happened.

You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much?

Boy am I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to be RIDICULOUS. I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I have included the URL's for verification of all the following facts:

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.
Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US .
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt..01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of dru gs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S. from the Southern border.
Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National Policy Institute, estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.
Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin.
Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14. The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States .
Verify at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

Are we THAT stupid?

If this doesn't bother you then just delete the message. If, on the other hand, if it does raise the hair on the back of your neck, I hope you forward it to every legal resident in the country including every representative in Washington, D.C. - five times a week for as long as it takes to restore some semblance of intelligence in our policies and enforcement thereof.

Trader Monthly

Probably the best single source of trading views anywhere.

What a fantastic job they have accomplished in these few short years.

To say nothing of the inspiration.

NASDAQ ........

I always have several Level II quotes open on one of my trading monitors, usually stocks that I am interested in buying or selling. Watching the algo trading that goes on in the big-cap tech names is a game of deception. Watching the inside offerings ramp up and pound bids down to a round number is like watching John Arnold of Centaurus Energy move in the ICE.

Native America and NAA Focus..........

Chippewa Partners is the oldest Native American investment management firm, founded in 1995, with 100% Native American ownership. Our scholarship for Native American students speaks clearly of our promotion of Native American economic development and empowerment. Today, for both reservation and urban Native Americans, human capital development is the critical step in building an economic base in Native American communities.

Why should Native Americans do business with Chippewa Partners? We believe that Native American tribes, institutions and individuals should endeavor to cultivate relationships with other Native American businesses that offer high quality, competitive products and services. We know this growth of business enterprise is a positive development for the Native American community.

Native Americans helping Native Americans.

At Chippewa Partners we are committed to the growth of Native American wealth, even for the generations of Native children yet unborn. The American Indian Trust Fund Reform Act places further responsibility on Native American fiduciaries to make sure that Native American assets are invested prudently with investment management firms and not Wall Street brokerage firms.

Our philanthropic interests lie in the area of Native American scholarships. The Chairman of Chippewa Partners, Dean T. Parisian has endowed a significant scholarship at the University of Minnesota specifically for Native American students in the areas of business, economics and finance.

Please consider this unique and important proposal when considering professional investment management services. Chippewa Partners, when managing Native American assets, has a policy of establishing permanent endowment funds that are created with a dedicated percentage of our investment management fees as well as a unique commission recapture program. This is a very unique and valuable program whereby over 70% of all trading commissions are rebated to Native American clients to create scholarships for Native Americans students for that specific tribal organization. We utilize not only the largest New York Stock Exchange specialist firm, LaBranche & Co. but also one of the largest NASDAQ market-making firms, Knight Trading for trade execution.

We encourage tribal fiduciaries to examine our 25 years of experience and study. Portfolios are separately managed and customized to meet specific investment objectives. For further information please call us in strict confidence at 770-772-1621 or contact us at ChippewaPartners@aol.com.

Obesity and dying young are related, imagine that......

While life expectancy in the United States has risen steadily since the 1960s, a new study finds that in certain geographic areas of the country, life expectancy has stagnated, and even declined, especially among women.

From 1960 to 2000, life expectancy in the United States rose by seven years for men and six years for women. However, beginning in the 1980s, large geographic disparities began to appear.

The study analyzed health data from every county in the United States. According to lead author Majid Ezzati, Associate Professor of International health at Harvard School of Public Health the "worst off" were among lower income Americans concentrated in the southern states.

He says in these communities race did not seem to affect life expectancy. "It is something associated with the way policies are implemented, with the way health systems are providing health services to people in different parts of the country or not providing services to people."

Ezzati points to chronic disease related to increases in smoking, high blood pressure and obesity as factors driving the trend. He says while much is known about how to manage these conditions, care is not reaching the people who need it the most. Women have experienced the most serious declines.

Over the last 20 years, life expectancy has either declined or stagnated for one of out every five women compared with four percent of men. Ezzati finds this a grim statistic for an industrialized nation. "We don't associate worsening of health, worsening of life expectancy with something that happens in a developed high-income country."

Ezzati says he saw such disparities after the fall of the Soviet Union and after the social networks fell apart in Eastern Europe. "That is the sort of thing that we see over long periods and what is happening with HIV/AIDS in some countries in Africa."

Ezzati says he hopes the study raises awareness about health care in America and pushes health officials and the public to monitor those being left behind. "That monitoring should be telling us something about what sort of interventions, what sort of policies can reverse this and then hopefully provide the resources for it."

Totally disgusted...........

The rhetoric emanating from the filth of the Democratic Party sums up the intelligence level of America.

T ---- You go girl !!!!!!!!!!

Net income rose to $3.46 billion, or 57 cents a share, from $2.85 billion, or 45 cents a share, in the 2006 first quarter. Revenue increased 6.1% to $30.74 billion from $28.97 billion. Wireless sales were up 18% to $11.8 billion. AT&T, the exclusive provider of the Apple iPhone, ended the first quarter with a nation-leading 71.4 million mobile customers.

Some Wall Street analysts, however, were expecting the company to add as many as 1.5 million subscribers. AT&T said net additions were reduced by 330,000 customers related to the shutdown of the company's older TDMA wireless network.

Excluding acquisition-related expenses and other one-time costs, AT&T earned $4.5 billion, or 74 cents a share, compared with $4.1 billion, or 65 cents, a year ealrier.

The adjusted profit exceeded Wall Street's forecast. AT&T was expected to earn 72 cents a share on revenue of $30.67 billion, according to the average of analysts surveyed by financial-data provider FactSet Research.

AT&T added 491,000 high-speed Internet customers to bring its total to 14.6 million, also the No. 1 market position in the U.S. And AT&T gained 148,000 customers for its new U-Verse fiber-TV service to finish with 379,000 in service.

Great idea for kids.........

The 32nd president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was related either by blood or by marriage to 11 former presidents. And the majority of Americans are 15th generation descendants from the Mayflower Pilgrims. It’s important for you and your children to know your ancestors. Yet very few of us can even name our great, great grandparents.

So why not assign your kids some homework this summer to find out more about your predecessors? There are many great resources on the Web. Also, have your kids ask their grandparents more about family history and write everything down for your future descendents to benefit.

Franklin Raines

is the poster boy for any new kid entering law school.

There is no justice when government pressure is involved. This guy and his Fannie Mae cohorts should be wearing stripes. Isn't a $10 billion scandal enough??

Nothing attracts a Redneck.........

like "The Foxworthy Store"........

Coming soon to Pigeon Forge and Myrtle Beach.

7 years has passed already............

Deborah Strauss
The Ojibwe News
05-11-2001

Native American Advisors, Inc. has announced the inception of the first Native American mutual fund, a mechanism which could offer significant investment opportunities to tribally designated housing entities. The newest addition of the 4 Winds Family of funds - the 4 Winds Treasury Money Market Fund - will be guided by the same Native American social and ethical principles.

Metatarsalgia

I've been under the above condition for a couple of months. If anyone has any home remedies outside of getting shot up by a doc let me know.

Like Grampa Walt always said, getting old is hell.

Wall Street analysts and GOOGLE

Google shares ramped up about 80 points on Thursday after the close of the market when their earnings were announced. Putting blind faith in Wall Street earnings estimates takes a leap of faith, just ask any stockbroker worth his commissions who gets his clients "killed" on analysts calls.

Analysts frequently get it wrong, they aren't paid to be right, something we all agree on is how they get paid on how much they are right and how much commission flow is generated by their calls or how much fee revenue is generated because of their research coverage that drums up investment banking fees. An illustration of this is clear in Google's earnings that beat estimates on Thursday. Most analysts on the stock had issued negative outlooks, citing the economy and slowing paid clicks as reasons for reducing estimates and price targets.

Hard to believe but...........

we are more than 1,200 points from January's intraday low in the Dow.

It never fails........

It was a great week for the bulls on Wall Street. Optimism fueled a rally.

For years I have laughed with a friend of mine, Jon in Colorado about the prescient ability of NASDAQ market-makers to have the microscope trained on specific stock orders. When we sell shares, though the stock could trade millions upon millions of shares daily, either with limit or market orders, though I normally always use limits, the absolute worst price of the day-week-month is ours.

It happened to me today.

Owned the stock for years. The reason the stock should have been attracting more buyers was clearly out in the open and the shares weren't trading up to the levels I figured they should be at. With the market ramping and no shortage of other opportunities the "sell" decision was made. Maybe the worst fill of my entire week-month-year for sure. That's Wall Street.

Auction Rate Bonds

"We're all getting complaints on a daily basis from retail investors and they all have the same story: they were told by their brokers these were safe as cash and they're not,'' said Bryan Lantagne, the securities division director for Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin and head of the task force.

Regulatory scrutiny of Wall Street has been growing since the $330 billion auction-rate market collapsed in February, leaving some issuers paying higher penalty rates and investors unable to sell their securities. The Securities and Exchange Commission last week said it is working with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which oversees brokerages, to examine firms' disclosures to clients who purchased the bonds.

The Massachusetts Secretary of State's office said on March 28 that it subpoenaed information from UBS AG, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Bank of America Corp. regarding the sale of the securities to investors in the state. A number of individuals have also filed lawsuits against Wall Street banks that sold the bonds.

Auction-rate securities are long-term bonds sold by municipalities, student loan corporations and closed-end funds with interest rates that are reset on a weekly or monthly basis. Much of the debt was guaranteed by bond insurance companies that also backed subprime mortgage-related securities.

In addition to Massachusetts, the nine-member task force includes regulators in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Texas and Washington, according to a news release from the North American Securities Administrators Association. Other states are prepared to participate in the task force, Lantagne said.

"If the product was represented as a cash equivalent going in, it must be treated as a cash equivalent coming out," Karen Tyler, the securities commissioner in North Dakota and president of the North American Securities Administrators Association, said in a statement.

from Colin Powell............

"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier"

Something to keep in mind, forever..........

If you’re on top of your deficiencies, your decision making improves exponentially.

That phrase reminded me of Bill O'Neill of IBD fame and I'd like to thank him for an interview he conducted with me about 12 years. It was the only interview I ever had in my life where the single focus and question put to me was about what things I couldn't do so well in life and needed to work on.

And my thanks to Bill for IBD and to Dave Davidson in San Francisco for not only showing me the light but also explaining to me the finest way to flip the switch.

America, wake up............

The dismal mud-slinging of our presidential hopefuls pales in comparison to what is emerging in the Far East. China will be the next great country. Everything you have they want. In China they save and invest more than 35% of their income. In America, we save less than 2%. The Chinese work from dawn to dusk. Americans don't seem to want to work. They only want to look busy. When Chinese come to work, they don't say, "How many holidays do I get?" They want to live like we do in America.

And they are willing to pay the price.

China owns a tremendous amount of US government obligations. America is now the largest debtor nation the world has ever seen. We owe trillions, not billions. The real problem is that America's debt to foreigners is increasing at a rate of $1 trillion every 15 months. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, you do the math.

And the gutless SEC and Federal Reserve Bank spend all their time and OUR money intervening to save all their friends instead of letting market forces and supply and demand work properly.

Parents..........

The best skill you could probably give your children is to have them completely fluent in Mandarin.

Worth the fee's? Not a chance.........

Hedge funds, world-wide across all investment styles posted losses of 2.8% on average, after fees, in the first quarter of 2008 according to Hedge Fund Research, the Chicago firm that tracks fund performance.

Your 401-k in serious trouble?

First, take a deep breath. Get some perspective. If you don't have any, may I kindly offer up some for free. First, review these FACTS:

1982: Double-digit unemployment
1983: Record budget deficit
1984: Technology new issues bubble bursts
1985: Dollar too strong
1986: Dow at 1800 - "too high"
1987: Stock market crash
1988: Worst drought in 50 years
1989: Savings & loan scandal
1990: Iraq invades Kuwait
1991: Recession
1992: Record budget deficit
1993: Clinton health care plan
1994: Rising interest rates
1995: Dollar at historic lows
1996: Greenspan "irrational exuberance" speech
1997: Asian markets collapse
1998: Long Term Capital collapses
1999: Y2K problem
2000: Dot-com stocks plunge
2001: Terrorist attacks
2002: Corporate scandals
2003: Gulf War II
2004: High oil prices
2005: Trade deficit - KATRINA hits
2006: Commodity prices spike- T buys BLS
2007: New Fed Chair, inflation, energy, metals, int’l

Now consider the following;

SAVERS PROCESS THE FUTURE THROUGH THE EMOTION OF FEAR.
INVESTORS PROCESS THE FUTURE THROUGH THE EMOTION OF FAITH.

SAVERS THINK THAT PAPER MONEY HAS REAL VALUE, IE. A $100 BILL.
INVESTORS KNOW THAT PAPER MONEY IS ONLY A MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE.

HARD CURRENCY IS NOT A STORE OF VALUE, PURCHASING POWER OF MONEY IS.

SAVERS THINK THAT LONG TERM RISK IS THE LOSS OF PRINCIPLE.
INVESTORS KNOW THAT LONG TERM RISK IS OUTLIVING YOUR MONEY.

REMEMBER, THE CPI OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS HAS TRIPLED, WHO TRIPLES THEIR INCOME? RISK IS THE EXTINCTION OF THEIR PURCHASING POWER. SAFETY IS INCREASING THEIR PURCHASING POWER.

SAVERS DO NOT KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOSS AND FLUCTUATION.
INVESTORS KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

IF THE MARKET INDICES FALL 25%, THAT DOES NOT MEAN A LOSS OF 25%.
IF YOU DON’T PANIC, THERE IS NO LOSS. IF YOU DO NOT SELL, YOU HAVE NO LOSS.

THE DOWNS IN THE STOCK HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TEMPORARY. ALWAYS HAVE BEEN. THE UPS IN THE STOCK MARKET HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PERMANENT, ALWAYS HAVE BEEN. THE REAL RISK IN STOCKS IS NOT OWNING THEM. THE LACK OF INTELLIGENCE IS NOT THE SAVERS DOWNFALL. FEAR AND THE LACK OF STOCK OWNERSHIP IS!

Now, remember, stocks solve long-term problems and should be owned for the long haul. If you are going to puke them up every time America stumbles into a mild recession or correction you deserve your investment fate. Listen up and pay attention here.

At the end of an investor’s life, less than 5% of total lifetime return will come from what the investments did versus other investments. The other 95% will come from how the investor behaved. I have a firm belief that there is no relationship between investment performance and investor performance.

Stock market success is a function of two things: first, recognition that the markets will go down and sometimes go down a lot and two: preparation to regard those declines as either non-events or buying opportunities, and never as an occasion to sell in a panic.

With all certainty, the most boring and mediocre stock fund in your portfolio, the one that you hold onto during a vicious and severe bear market is infinitely better than that world-class stock fund that you sell out of at the bottom of a temporary decline.

Now, if your serious retirement portfolio is making you feel uneasy and you feel it needs professional, unbiased attention, let’s talk for a moment on what you might do.

The first thing you should do would be to shut off CNBC. I hope someday CNBC will be required by law to flash on the TV screen a graphic that says “Nothing that happens in the market in the next 30 days will matter in 10 or 15 years”.

You also might want to stop reading the financial press. I read three papers every morning before the average guy gets out of bed, but journalism always gets it wrong. It has a relentless bias to the negative. I call it financial pornography. Reporters never report my reasons the stock market is headed up in our lifetime and it isn’t the job of journalists to make people great investors. It’s their job to make people come back for more journalism.

The simple lesson to remember is that markets are not logical or reasonable; they are emotional and unstable. Markets are crowds of people. As we know from attending sporting events or concerts, the normal rules of behavior do not apply when we are in large groups. If we try to predict what a crowd will do based on logical behavior of a single person in isolation we will most likely be mislead.

And so it goes with the stock market. Today the black boxes at a handful of firms scan the exchange order books every millisecond and automatically execute algorithmic trades, ripping any conceivable advantage away from the public. They are the casino, with structurally embedded multi-billion annual profits — leaving everyone else on the other side of the zero-sum game. We think that sitting and doing cold and hard calculations on valuation levels and the reasonableness of gains is as futile as predicting what a teenager might do at a rock concert. The market is not an exercise in calculus. It is primarily an experiment in crowd psychology.

Today, stocks are on sale, we are in a recession and stocks are starting to come down to more attractive buying levels.

Stay the course, stay smart and keep contributing to your 401-k.

Georgia's Masters at "the system"

I just got home from the local emergency room. One of my sons had the misfortune of breaking a bone in his hand. That's it for his 2008 baseball season.

The emergency room is probably as close to an international setting as one can find in Georgia or probably any other state. If they want free medical care they come.
No wonder Hillary wants "free" health care, those folks all represent potential liberal, tax-the-rich-and-take-care-of-poor me voters someday. Unfortunatley America hasn't figured out nothing is "free" from the government because of our screwed up tax structure. The percentage of Americans who don't pay tax is increasing, leaving those who do pay to pay more. My health care insurance runs in the vicinity of $500 a month. Do the math, it isn't cheap with an after-tax dollar.

It's 2008 and not a presidential candidate is talking immigration problems, tax code change, social security or real health care reform for the Medicaid bankruptcy to come. One guy is only talking about "change", the other two sit back and seem to be waiting for the others to make a linguistic mistake. The system is broken.

At least a broken finger mends quick. America's problems may never go away.

Vail............

We spent the past week between 8,000 and 11,250 feet above sea level. With over 440 inches of snow year-to-date, Vail is still locked in a winter wonderland. Spring skiing is yet to come and all Vail lifts close up show tomorrow. It was some tremendous skiing conditions, the best I have ever experienced. It doesn't get any easier as one gets older. I still have a tough time skiing powder. And spending 700 days between riding a ski lift doesn't help.

Rumors, shorts and inducing panic..........

How can the SEC protect against rumors and short-sellers?

Easy. Very easy.

Start with oversight of the massive leverage used by investment banks to prop up their trading inventory.

Ho-Chunk from The Economist

NESTLED in the hills of eastern Nebraska is Ho-Chunk Inc, owned by the Winnebago nation. For years visitors from other tribes have come to study the firm—one of Indian country's success stories, and a model for how tribal businesses can move beyond casinos. But these days Ho-Chunk is more popular off the reservation than on it.

On April 4th Ho-Chunk's chief executive, Lance Morgan, was due to meet with tribal leaders to defend his company. The spat was caused by a financial review, leaked to the Associated Press on March 14th, which questioned the company's stability. Mr Morgan, not one to mince his words, says the review is a politically motivated “crock of crap”.

Ho-Chunk was born from the fear that gambling money—the Winnebago have a small casino in Iowa—would dwindle. In 1994 the tribe gave Mr Morgan, a Winnebago and a graduate of Harvard Law School, $9.7m in casino money to start a new venture. Ho-Chunk now has 16 subsidiaries, from tobacco and petrol distribution to government contracting and a news website, Indianz.com. Revenue for 2006, the most recent year available, was $113m. Mr Morgan admits that Ho-Chunk has ventured into industries where it lacked an obvious edge, and some businesses are stronger than others. But he insists that its debt, $12.7m in 2006, is sustainable.

Until recently, Ho-Chunk's structure insulated it from tribal politics. The tribal council appoints a board of directors to oversee Ho-Chunk, but Mr Morgan runs the firm, which pays the tribal council a 20% dividend. In 2006 the company paid the tribal council about $86,354 in dividends and $436,472 in taxes. But some council members wonder why these figures are not higher. There is also concern that the firm has too few Indian employees (127, about 30% of the total). Mr Morgan says he would hire more, but that “people with doctorate degrees and MBAs aren't falling out of trees here.”

The board of directors suspended Mr Morgan and his chief operating officer for two days last August for allegedly failing to co-operate with financial reviewers. But tribal members then ousted the board in October. Now the financial review's release has stirred tensions once more. Ken Mallory, who serves on the new board, fears that the conflict will deter investors.

Regardless of the financial review's accuracy, perhaps the worst outcome of all this would be for the tribal council to take control of Ho-Chunk. The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development conducted surveys of some 125 tribally owned companies, and found that when daily operations were shielded from tribal politics, they were five times more likely to be profitable.

Bear and the SEC

The drivel coming out of the head honcho's at Bear Stearns is mindboggling.

Lay the blame on every one except themeselves. Just more of the same.

Overpaid morons too busy not doing what they were supposed to do.

Control their risks and protect shareholder value.

They're criminals.

Our financial ZOO.........

The BEAR/JPMORGAN interrogation on Capital Hill today is so far beyond any modicum of common sense it defies explanation.

Timothy Geithner is a total bullshit artist as the New York Federal Reserve President.

Soros on swaps...........

George Soros is a smart guy and my library contains the majority of his writings. Although we differ dramatically in political leanings and net worth (by billions) I have great respect for his market intelligence. Although his firm was credited with making a billion dollars in one day on a bet against the English pound, the trade was profitable only because of the complex currency play with the German mark. That trade was a trade with massive leverage, not a chance foray into the realm of high finance for the average trader.

I agree totally with his current analysis of the counter-party risk in derivative swaps.

There are some huge firms that are behind the eight ball in their clearing operations that will be hit so hard Congress won't have a clue where to start when it unwinds.

Just wait and watch. It's about as unregulated as Panama City Beach on Spring Break.

Bear Stearns

Note to employees.

When you leave, take the employee directories. They will come in handy down the road. Time will dull the memory. You'll want to GOOGLE some names because former Bear employees will hang together. Just watch.

You GOTTA see this...........

www.cagw.org

This site lays it out. The massive waste of our money. Your money. My money.

Hollywood on the Hill........

Capital Hill's grilling of Ben Bernanke on television today is rather farcical. Comedy, for sure. Sad, you bet. The questions put forth to the Fed Chair from Congressmen and Congresswomen today are so elementary that they should embarass the politicians. It takes alot to embarass a Congressman and his retirement perks.

How can Americans sit around and discuss the billions and billions of taxpayer dollars being used to prop up Wall Street, banks, the housing market and the mortgage market without discussing punishments for those who abused the law?

This appears to be the largest give-away program on earth this side of US farm subsidies.

IRONY...........

Watching UBS advertising on CNBC while the caption on the tape under the ad announces UBS having to take a $19,000,000,000 write-down shows the irony of how Wall Street operates. Do as we say, not as we do is the mantra.

UBS blows out their hedge fund customers, kicks their Chairman out the door and wants to manage your money. Just another clue that they are far more concerned about their income than an investors outcome.