My son, Jordan loves this game and here he is getting a touchdown in Saturday's season opener.
Congratulations to the coaches, all the parents and these fine young men who played so hard in their first victory.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Never quit...........
My son, Jordan loves this game and here he is getting a touchdown in Saturday's season opener.
Congratulations to the coaches, all the parents and these fine young men who played so hard in their first victory.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tyler Durden at ZEROHEDGE rocks it out of the park...............
Dear Senator Kaufman, we at Zero Hedge applaud your effort to bring transparency to, and evaluate the various new forces that, for better or worse, determine the modern market landscape. However, we would like to bring to your attention a fact which renders your entire approach of seeking fair and unbiased commentary from the SEC irrevocably moot. The reason is that the SEC, in alignment with many of the very industry players who may be abusing market structure for their own tiered benefit, stands to benefit significantly from an increased amount of daytrading volume across all markets, and, in fact, based on actions as recent as 4 months ago by the SEC, the regulator is well aware of the monetary benefits that ever-increasing churn creates for the commission and is fully intent on capitalizing on them. We thus suggest you bypass any protocol that has an SEC intermediation and go directly to penning a Bill which, we trust, will prove to be more fair and objective than anything the SEC would ever provide you with. The reason for the SEC's insurmountable conflict of interest is the so-called Section 31.
Section 31
As Mary Schapiro has often noted, the SEC is "woefully" underfunded, regardless that for its $900 million FY 2009 budget, which comes to over $250,000 per commission worker, the agency has terminally underperformed and has been the object of repeated and justified public ridicule due to its countless lapses, backward looking methodology and overall lack of "regulating" any improprieties in the market. A fresh example of the SEC's pathological incapacity to uncover malfeasance on its own (and, what's potentially worse - pandering cronyism), is its reliance on media sources such as the recent Wall Street Journal article highlighting potential client-abusive practices at none other than Goldman Sachs.
Yet for all its complaining about being underfunded (and one can argue for hours about whether there even is a need for an agency to exist whose primary purpose these days it seems, in the words of Judge Jed Rakoff, is to "curry favor" with various prominent TARP recipients) the SEC is well aware that it needs to be self-sufficient in order to exist. Enter Section 31.
From the definition of Section 31
When you sell a stock, you may have noticed that a small transaction fee, often just a few pennies, appears on your confirmation slip. Although some broker-dealers have described this charge as an "SEC Fee," the SEC does not actually impose this fee on individual investors.
The SEC does not impose or set any of the brokerage fees that investors must pay. Instead, under Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, self-regulatory organizations (SROs) -- such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and all of the national securities exchanges (including the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange) -- must pay transaction fees to the SEC based on the volume of securities that are sold on their markets. These fees recover the costs incurred by the government, including the SEC, for supervising and regulating the securities markets and securities professionals.
The SROs have adopted rules that require their broker-dealer members to pay their fair share of these fees. Broker-dealers, in turn, pass the responsibility of paying the fees to their customers. Thus, a broker-dealer that has questions about how its fees are calculated should contact its SRO, and a customer who has questions about how his or her fees are calculated should contact the broker-dealer.
Section 31 requires the SEC to make annual and, in some cases, mid-year adjustments to the fee rate. These adjustments are necessary to make the SEC's total collection of transaction fees in a given year as close as possible to the amount stipulated for that year by Section 31. If transaction volume in a given year increases, the SEC will lower the fee rate because each transaction has to contribute less to the target collection amount. But if transaction volume falls, each transaction will have to be charged a higher fee in order for the SEC to collect the target amount required by Section 31. To find the current rate for Section 31 transaction fees, please visit the Division of Market Regulation’s Frequently Requested Documents webpage, and click on the most recent Fee Rate Advisory under “Section 31 Fees.” You’ll also find Fee Rate Advisories in the Press Releases section of our website. For official Commission Orders concerning fee rate adjustments, please visit the Other Commission Orders, Notices, and Information section of our website.
The charges on most securities transactions are known as Section 31 "fees." But the charges imposed by Section 31 on transactions in security futures are termed "assessments." As of fiscal year 2007, the assessment charged is $0.0042 for each round turn transaction (i.e., one purchase and one sale of a contract of sale for future delivery).
Now Section 31 fees are nothing new. However, a recent quiet amendment that slipped under the radar indicates just why the SEC sees HFT as the money cow it is, for a select group of investors, and for the Securities and Exchange Commission itself.
On March 4, 2009, the SEC issued a Fee Rate Advisory #3 for Fiscal Year 2009. The jist of the advisory is the following:
Washington, D.C., March 4, 2009 — Effective on April 1, 2009, or 30 days after the date of enactment of the Commission's regular appropriation for FY 2009, whichever is later, the Section 31 fee rate applicable to securities transactions on the exchanges and over-the-counter markets will increase to $25.70 per million dollars. Until that date, the current rate of $5.60 per million dollars will remain in effect. The Section 31 assessment on security futures transactions will remain unchanged at $0.0042 per round turn transaction.
Time for a little math.
Using the same back of the envelope analysis we did when we evaluted the cost of high frequency trading, and focusing exclusively on exchange traded stocks (and for the purpose of simplicity ignoring OTC transactions and other OTC products), we postulate 6 billion shares traded daily at a $20 average price for 250 trading days per year. Applying the old fee of $5.60 per million dollars results in an annual revenue stream of $168 million to the SEC. Applying the new fee of $25.70 per million dollars, and the SEC now would receive $750 million dollars- three quarters of a billion, and more than 80% of the SEC's annual budget. And keep in mind we did not include all other various exchange traded and OTC products that the SEC collects fees on. Did the SEC specifically request the fee increase in March as it became aware of the potential windfall that HFT driven churn, pardon, liquidity provisioning, could be for the Commission?
Now Senator Kaufman, you obviously realize, in referencing your letter to the SEC, that High Frequency Trading in its various forms now accounts for well over half of total volume in domestic and international markets. An objective analysis of HFT, as you have demanded of Ms. Schapiro, could have one of two outcomes: a favorable one, and an unfavorable one. Assuming a hypothetical outcome is indeed, unfavorable, it would have dramatic repercussions not only on the market landscape, but on overall market transaction volume, potentially impacting it to the tune of the estimated 70% of volume that HFT accounts for.
At this point it bears pointing out the flagrant conflict of interest that the SEC is faced with. An objective, unbiased and impartial analysis of HFT would leave the "cash strapped" Commission exposed to losing up to 70% of this primary revenue stream. Using the conservative estimate above, do you, Senator Kaufman, realistically believe, that Ms. Schapiro and her assistants would be able or willing to provide unbiased data on information that could impair over half a billion worth of annual revenue for the SEC.
We think not. As would no other rational human being.
Which is why, while we applaud your effort for a data mining mission with the SEC, the results ultimately presented to you by Ms. Schapiro will be highly conflicted, irrelevant and moot. We hope and are confident that you have a contingency plan for this situation, which is nothing less than one in which conflicts of interest will play the primary role in shaping the data mining and presentation.
And, as an aside, this example merely goes to show just what a cash cow HFT has become not just for governmental agencies but by implication, the key market players, as it is no secret that the government is always most willing to extract its tithe out of industries that are significant cash cows in their private sector context and would not be impaired by such comparable "fee increases." We hope you manage to read between the lines in any and all interactions you have with proponents and regulators of HFT. Yet we are confident that you do, based on your admirable dedication to your noble cause to date.
Section 31
As Mary Schapiro has often noted, the SEC is "woefully" underfunded, regardless that for its $900 million FY 2009 budget, which comes to over $250,000 per commission worker, the agency has terminally underperformed and has been the object of repeated and justified public ridicule due to its countless lapses, backward looking methodology and overall lack of "regulating" any improprieties in the market. A fresh example of the SEC's pathological incapacity to uncover malfeasance on its own (and, what's potentially worse - pandering cronyism), is its reliance on media sources such as the recent Wall Street Journal article highlighting potential client-abusive practices at none other than Goldman Sachs.
Yet for all its complaining about being underfunded (and one can argue for hours about whether there even is a need for an agency to exist whose primary purpose these days it seems, in the words of Judge Jed Rakoff, is to "curry favor" with various prominent TARP recipients) the SEC is well aware that it needs to be self-sufficient in order to exist. Enter Section 31.
From the definition of Section 31
When you sell a stock, you may have noticed that a small transaction fee, often just a few pennies, appears on your confirmation slip. Although some broker-dealers have described this charge as an "SEC Fee," the SEC does not actually impose this fee on individual investors.
The SEC does not impose or set any of the brokerage fees that investors must pay. Instead, under Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, self-regulatory organizations (SROs) -- such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and all of the national securities exchanges (including the New York Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange) -- must pay transaction fees to the SEC based on the volume of securities that are sold on their markets. These fees recover the costs incurred by the government, including the SEC, for supervising and regulating the securities markets and securities professionals.
The SROs have adopted rules that require their broker-dealer members to pay their fair share of these fees. Broker-dealers, in turn, pass the responsibility of paying the fees to their customers. Thus, a broker-dealer that has questions about how its fees are calculated should contact its SRO, and a customer who has questions about how his or her fees are calculated should contact the broker-dealer.
Section 31 requires the SEC to make annual and, in some cases, mid-year adjustments to the fee rate. These adjustments are necessary to make the SEC's total collection of transaction fees in a given year as close as possible to the amount stipulated for that year by Section 31. If transaction volume in a given year increases, the SEC will lower the fee rate because each transaction has to contribute less to the target collection amount. But if transaction volume falls, each transaction will have to be charged a higher fee in order for the SEC to collect the target amount required by Section 31. To find the current rate for Section 31 transaction fees, please visit the Division of Market Regulation’s Frequently Requested Documents webpage, and click on the most recent Fee Rate Advisory under “Section 31 Fees.” You’ll also find Fee Rate Advisories in the Press Releases section of our website. For official Commission Orders concerning fee rate adjustments, please visit the Other Commission Orders, Notices, and Information section of our website.
The charges on most securities transactions are known as Section 31 "fees." But the charges imposed by Section 31 on transactions in security futures are termed "assessments." As of fiscal year 2007, the assessment charged is $0.0042 for each round turn transaction (i.e., one purchase and one sale of a contract of sale for future delivery).
Now Section 31 fees are nothing new. However, a recent quiet amendment that slipped under the radar indicates just why the SEC sees HFT as the money cow it is, for a select group of investors, and for the Securities and Exchange Commission itself.
On March 4, 2009, the SEC issued a Fee Rate Advisory #3 for Fiscal Year 2009. The jist of the advisory is the following:
Washington, D.C., March 4, 2009 — Effective on April 1, 2009, or 30 days after the date of enactment of the Commission's regular appropriation for FY 2009, whichever is later, the Section 31 fee rate applicable to securities transactions on the exchanges and over-the-counter markets will increase to $25.70 per million dollars. Until that date, the current rate of $5.60 per million dollars will remain in effect. The Section 31 assessment on security futures transactions will remain unchanged at $0.0042 per round turn transaction.
Time for a little math.
Using the same back of the envelope analysis we did when we evaluted the cost of high frequency trading, and focusing exclusively on exchange traded stocks (and for the purpose of simplicity ignoring OTC transactions and other OTC products), we postulate 6 billion shares traded daily at a $20 average price for 250 trading days per year. Applying the old fee of $5.60 per million dollars results in an annual revenue stream of $168 million to the SEC. Applying the new fee of $25.70 per million dollars, and the SEC now would receive $750 million dollars- three quarters of a billion, and more than 80% of the SEC's annual budget. And keep in mind we did not include all other various exchange traded and OTC products that the SEC collects fees on. Did the SEC specifically request the fee increase in March as it became aware of the potential windfall that HFT driven churn, pardon, liquidity provisioning, could be for the Commission?
Now Senator Kaufman, you obviously realize, in referencing your letter to the SEC, that High Frequency Trading in its various forms now accounts for well over half of total volume in domestic and international markets. An objective analysis of HFT, as you have demanded of Ms. Schapiro, could have one of two outcomes: a favorable one, and an unfavorable one. Assuming a hypothetical outcome is indeed, unfavorable, it would have dramatic repercussions not only on the market landscape, but on overall market transaction volume, potentially impacting it to the tune of the estimated 70% of volume that HFT accounts for.
At this point it bears pointing out the flagrant conflict of interest that the SEC is faced with. An objective, unbiased and impartial analysis of HFT would leave the "cash strapped" Commission exposed to losing up to 70% of this primary revenue stream. Using the conservative estimate above, do you, Senator Kaufman, realistically believe, that Ms. Schapiro and her assistants would be able or willing to provide unbiased data on information that could impair over half a billion worth of annual revenue for the SEC.
We think not. As would no other rational human being.
Which is why, while we applaud your effort for a data mining mission with the SEC, the results ultimately presented to you by Ms. Schapiro will be highly conflicted, irrelevant and moot. We hope and are confident that you have a contingency plan for this situation, which is nothing less than one in which conflicts of interest will play the primary role in shaping the data mining and presentation.
And, as an aside, this example merely goes to show just what a cash cow HFT has become not just for governmental agencies but by implication, the key market players, as it is no secret that the government is always most willing to extract its tithe out of industries that are significant cash cows in their private sector context and would not be impaired by such comparable "fee increases." We hope you manage to read between the lines in any and all interactions you have with proponents and regulators of HFT. Yet we are confident that you do, based on your admirable dedication to your noble cause to date.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Truer words were never spoken.......
“In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a Congress.”
-- John Adams
-- John Adams
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Joe Garcia on Ted Kennedy today..........
WASHINGTON—August 26, 2009—National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) President Joe A. Garcia released the following statement on the untimely death of Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA):
“On behalf of Indian Country, I extend my condolences to Senator Kennedy’s family during this most difficult time. We have lost a strong, true leader in Congress and an unyielding supporter of tribal sovereignty for all Indian nations. Sen. Kennedy was a champion for all Americans, and specifically for Native people and communities. He supported the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and ensured federal funding reached schools on reservations. Sen. Kennedy’s door was always open to American Indians and Alaska Natives. He provided an excellent model of leadership in Congress, and he will be dearly missed throughout Indian Country. May Sen. Kennedy’s work and legacy live on through those whose own leadership is inspired by his example. May we take up his own words as our charge: ‘For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die.’”
“On behalf of Indian Country, I extend my condolences to Senator Kennedy’s family during this most difficult time. We have lost a strong, true leader in Congress and an unyielding supporter of tribal sovereignty for all Indian nations. Sen. Kennedy was a champion for all Americans, and specifically for Native people and communities. He supported the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act and ensured federal funding reached schools on reservations. Sen. Kennedy’s door was always open to American Indians and Alaska Natives. He provided an excellent model of leadership in Congress, and he will be dearly missed throughout Indian Country. May Sen. Kennedy’s work and legacy live on through those whose own leadership is inspired by his example. May we take up his own words as our charge: ‘For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die.’”
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The Greatest Market Risk Today.........
is very simple.
The greatest risk is to NOT be in the market, fully leveraged, balls to the wall.
The insanity must end at some point.
The greatest risk is to NOT be in the market, fully leveraged, balls to the wall.
The insanity must end at some point.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Senator Ted Kaufman
Thank you very much for your work on much needed reform for the entire Wall Street community.
No one else will do it. Goldman Sachs puppets are everywhere. Your honest effort to clean up this mess is what American politics should be about.
Good luck, the road will be long and hard and full of lobbyists.
No one else will do it. Goldman Sachs puppets are everywhere. Your honest effort to clean up this mess is what American politics should be about.
Good luck, the road will be long and hard and full of lobbyists.
YTD 81 Bank failures.......
Alot more to come. Remember that 589 banks failed in 1989 the year that I left California for Georgia.
The number of problem banks jumped by 36% in the second quarter, hitting 416, while assets held by such banks also saw a whopping increase, rising 36% to $300 billion.
This will get real good before the large sucking sound is heard 'round the globe.
The number of problem banks jumped by 36% in the second quarter, hitting 416, while assets held by such banks also saw a whopping increase, rising 36% to $300 billion.
This will get real good before the large sucking sound is heard 'round the globe.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
AIG
Mom n Pop in Mandaree are trading this baby like there is no tomorrow.
Watching a third of the outstanding shares trade every day is rather amazing.
No shortage of liquidity in the dark pools and HFT is alive and well.
The shorts are getting gunned down, day by day.
Watching a third of the outstanding shares trade every day is rather amazing.
No shortage of liquidity in the dark pools and HFT is alive and well.
The shorts are getting gunned down, day by day.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Five years ago..... the IPO price was $85
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Couldn't get in on the Netscape IPO? Missed out on Microsoft? Got frozen out of taking a plunge on eBay? Now there's Google.
After months of speculation, the company announced on Thursday that it is going public.
According to its filing, Google seems willing, eager even, to start off life as a publicly traded company on the right foot, hoping to steer clear of some of the sweetheart dealmaking that characterized the last wave of go-go IPOs.
Instead, Google plans an auction of its shares to raise up to $2.7 billion; a process open to all bidders.
A spokesperson from underwriter Credit Suisse First Boston declined comment, but here's how the filing describes the process for buying shares in the auction:
Open an account with one of the two underwriters, CSFB or Morgan Stanley.
You must obtain a prospectus detailing the investment's risks, as well as an underwriter's account eligibility and suitability requirements. This will be available electronically, according to the company.
After receiving the prospectus and sometime before the auction, bidders must obtain a "unique bidder ID." Bidder IDs will not be available after the bidding begins.
Once you qualify, you're able to bid when the auction starts. The bid you make must include the number of shares you want and the price you're willing to pay for them. You may bid below the price range if you believe that there'll be lower demand than has been speculated. And you can also bid higher if you think there'll be more.
The final IPO price will be determined after the auction closes. The underwriters will calculate it by gathering all the bids and calculating the cut off point at or above which all the shares available can be sold.
Say Google settles on an allocation 150 million shares, and it receives bids for one billion at a range of prices. Only the highest bids adding up to 150 million shares will count as winning bids.
The IPO price will equal the lowest price bid on any of those 150 million shares. The price all bidders pay will be the IPO price -- even if they had bid higher.
So it seems that you may be able to buy shares of Google, but should you?
Ideally, the auction process enables sellers to price the issue "right." That is, its price should reflect the reasoning of thousands of investors who will determine for themselves how much they are willing to pay for a share.
This type of auction should cut down on the huge run-up in share price experienced during the first days of trading experienced by other tech IPOs during the 1990s.
So bid on shares if you believe in the company -- remembering, of course, that few companies make it from start-up to titan without experiencing big setbacks along the way. But don't count on being able to flip your shares for a large gain the day after the IPO.
After months of speculation, the company announced on Thursday that it is going public.
According to its filing, Google seems willing, eager even, to start off life as a publicly traded company on the right foot, hoping to steer clear of some of the sweetheart dealmaking that characterized the last wave of go-go IPOs.
Instead, Google plans an auction of its shares to raise up to $2.7 billion; a process open to all bidders.
A spokesperson from underwriter Credit Suisse First Boston declined comment, but here's how the filing describes the process for buying shares in the auction:
Open an account with one of the two underwriters, CSFB or Morgan Stanley.
You must obtain a prospectus detailing the investment's risks, as well as an underwriter's account eligibility and suitability requirements. This will be available electronically, according to the company.
After receiving the prospectus and sometime before the auction, bidders must obtain a "unique bidder ID." Bidder IDs will not be available after the bidding begins.
Once you qualify, you're able to bid when the auction starts. The bid you make must include the number of shares you want and the price you're willing to pay for them. You may bid below the price range if you believe that there'll be lower demand than has been speculated. And you can also bid higher if you think there'll be more.
The final IPO price will be determined after the auction closes. The underwriters will calculate it by gathering all the bids and calculating the cut off point at or above which all the shares available can be sold.
Say Google settles on an allocation 150 million shares, and it receives bids for one billion at a range of prices. Only the highest bids adding up to 150 million shares will count as winning bids.
The IPO price will equal the lowest price bid on any of those 150 million shares. The price all bidders pay will be the IPO price -- even if they had bid higher.
So it seems that you may be able to buy shares of Google, but should you?
Ideally, the auction process enables sellers to price the issue "right." That is, its price should reflect the reasoning of thousands of investors who will determine for themselves how much they are willing to pay for a share.
This type of auction should cut down on the huge run-up in share price experienced during the first days of trading experienced by other tech IPOs during the 1990s.
So bid on shares if you believe in the company -- remembering, of course, that few companies make it from start-up to titan without experiencing big setbacks along the way. But don't count on being able to flip your shares for a large gain the day after the IPO.
WallstreetPro2
If you are ever in Atlanta pal, dinner at BONES is on me.
Magnificent humor and only the truth. Thanks.
Magnificent humor and only the truth. Thanks.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Chaos coming..........
Yo, Mr. Sparky, trading your KASH 4 KLUNKER ticket in for a $40,000 VOLT built by none other than Government Motors (GM) will not stimulate the economy.
You don't qualify for the car. You can't afford it. It made no sense to get rid of a car you could afford and was nearly paid for to assume payments on such an overpriced vehicle as a VOLT.
Mr. Sparky, watch your wallet better. You are now on the hook for car payments for a long, long time. May your VOLT still be running smooth when it's paid off in full.
You don't qualify for the car. You can't afford it. It made no sense to get rid of a car you could afford and was nearly paid for to assume payments on such an overpriced vehicle as a VOLT.
Mr. Sparky, watch your wallet better. You are now on the hook for car payments for a long, long time. May your VOLT still be running smooth when it's paid off in full.
Gasparino of CNBC
The talking heads on CNBC are once again, doing a tremendous disservice to the investors who still watch CNBC. Charlie Gasparino's nonsensical rant yesterday on how John Paulson had taken a multi-billion dollar position in shares of Bank of America should have been qualified to say that those shares were purchased in the second quarter of 2009, which ended at the end of June.
This was old news and yet by his reporting antics made it appear that Paulson had just taken the position. Who cares if the shares jumped up 5%?
I do, that was probably Paulson selling to the masses yesterday and booking massive profits. Good for you John. Nothng like adding to the $17 billion you made last year for your investors.
This was old news and yet by his reporting antics made it appear that Paulson had just taken the position. Who cares if the shares jumped up 5%?
I do, that was probably Paulson selling to the masses yesterday and booking massive profits. Good for you John. Nothng like adding to the $17 billion you made last year for your investors.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Tuesday ramblings.......
The congressional vote FOR the jets was 400 to 30.........just imagine. One can't find the names of the biggest proponents of the spending anywhere in the media. Funny how that works huh? Only the naysayers who had the interests of the American people in mind are mentioned. They should be singled out and given medals (or money) because incentives work.
The SEC settlement for quick and final settlement with Bank of America is a joke. This federal court judge has it right. I guess he isn't on the payroll of the insiders and wants to get to the bottom of the slime. Good luck judge, it's awful deep and you are looking in all the right places.
Watching Hannity last night was a hoot. Hearing how the liberals jammed the town hall meetings with "their own" says it all.
HUD Secretary Ron Sims should go to Mandaree or Pine Ridge and see what happens to established neighborhoods when the "opportunity for choice so people are able to enjoy what I call the fruits and benefits of an established neighborhood". What a disaster for real estate prices and the fine folks who BUILT and MAINTAINED those communities from Day 1. Talk about a disaster for the County Commissioners and the tax base in years to come. Ugh.
The health-care deformity, yes, you read that right, will do more to divide this country. Much more. It will get wild before it gets any better. And thinking about robbing Peter to pay Paul, the finest example of Medicare and Social Security today is the criminal enterprise of Bernie Madoff. Pure and simple theft.
Walter Williams said it best today in IBD (Investors Business Daily for those of you in Twin Buttes, Porcupine and Lodge Grass). And his point is as true for Indian Country as it is for say, Mexico. Today, only 35% of black children are born inside a marriage. And as in Indian Country, the welfare state is an equal-opportunity family destroyer. The steady expansion of welfare programs goes hand-in-hand with the deterioration of the family unit in Indian Country.
The SEC settlement for quick and final settlement with Bank of America is a joke. This federal court judge has it right. I guess he isn't on the payroll of the insiders and wants to get to the bottom of the slime. Good luck judge, it's awful deep and you are looking in all the right places.
Watching Hannity last night was a hoot. Hearing how the liberals jammed the town hall meetings with "their own" says it all.
HUD Secretary Ron Sims should go to Mandaree or Pine Ridge and see what happens to established neighborhoods when the "opportunity for choice so people are able to enjoy what I call the fruits and benefits of an established neighborhood". What a disaster for real estate prices and the fine folks who BUILT and MAINTAINED those communities from Day 1. Talk about a disaster for the County Commissioners and the tax base in years to come. Ugh.
The health-care deformity, yes, you read that right, will do more to divide this country. Much more. It will get wild before it gets any better. And thinking about robbing Peter to pay Paul, the finest example of Medicare and Social Security today is the criminal enterprise of Bernie Madoff. Pure and simple theft.
Walter Williams said it best today in IBD (Investors Business Daily for those of you in Twin Buttes, Porcupine and Lodge Grass). And his point is as true for Indian Country as it is for say, Mexico. Today, only 35% of black children are born inside a marriage. And as in Indian Country, the welfare state is an equal-opportunity family destroyer. The steady expansion of welfare programs goes hand-in-hand with the deterioration of the family unit in Indian Country.
Monday, August 10, 2009
EBAY and General Motors
There's a match that reminds one of Madoff and the NASDAQ.
Think they might be a fit?
Think they might be a fit?
Friday, August 07, 2009
DeepCapture.com and ZeroHedge.com
Many of you know my "love affair" with DeepCapture and what they have uncovered amongst the chicanery in our financial system. Today, those wonderful anonymous genius's over at ZeroHedge.com, arguably the best place on earth to find daily examples of government and Wall Street run amok have had their say on DeepCapture and I respectfully reprint it here without their permission. It's too good not to share with you if you haven't yet found the "light" and zeroed in on ZeroHedge.
These two sites are without question, the best out there. Enjoy.
For those of you out of the loop, www.deepcapture.com, winner of the 2008 weblogs award for best business blog, has at long last made headway in its relentless and noble crusade against naked short seller abusers.
The blog sums up its recent accomplishments as follows:
The SEC recently enacted permanent restrictions on illegal naked short selling, which include greatly enhanced disclosure of delivery failures and shorting activity.
Today, the SEC brought its first enforcement cases against illegal naked short selling.
Also today, FINRA expelled a member firm for engaging in illegal short selling.
Unfortunately, as the blog explains, the battle against corruption, manipulation and fraud in the financial markets is far from over:
Yes, the pendulum is now unambiguously swinging in our direction, but the job is not done. Indeed, we can only be assured of progress to the extent that we each recognize our responsibility to continue pushing.
---
The story of DeepCapture.com is quite unlike any other business blog (at least that I know of). After publishing remarkable, stunning and factually-supported investigative research covering the inner-workings and dealings of a vast network of political and financial 'miscreants,' the blog and its (non-anonymous) authors have been the target of journalistic attacks, unwarranted legal action, public mockery and even physical violence and threats.
The blog implicates Michael Milken, Eliot Spitzer, Jim Cramer, Steven Cohen, Gary Weiss, James Chanos and literally hundreds of others in wide-ranging efforts to manipulate everything from stocks to public perception (notably through the tampering of Wikipedia pages). Virtually every allegation is backed by well-sourced facts and findings, and when clearcut evidence is lacking, correlationary and circumstantial evidence is provided extensively.
Recently, the blog has unleashed a 15-part case study of heavily shorted firm Dendreon Corp, known for its prostrate cancer treatment drug Provenge, which details the immense financial struggle this David has had to overcome in the midst of the most ruthless hedge fund Goliaths. Indeed, the blog alleges that this very struggle has indirectly caused the hastening of over 60,000 deaths of men with prostrate cancer.
Further, Zero Hedge readers may be interested in gleaning the full extent to which media outlets such as cnbc as well as institutions such as the FDA have been infiltrated by sleazeballs allied with manipulative and fraudulent hedge funds. Hence the phrase 'Deep Capture,' which has come to define those in the media / political / legislative realms who have become 'captured' by dangerous financial forces and have actively worked to blur the lines between reality and fiction.
Perhaps the most frightening of the blog's contentions is that the mafia has come to play quite a significant role in the financial dealings of hedge funds. To prove this case, perpetrators of various well-documented cases of mafia violence are systematically linked to hedge fund operators and/or cronies.
But don't take my word for it --- check out the blog yourself right now: www.deepcapture.com.
Unless, of course, you'd rather just opt for the blue pill.
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Side Note: One of the two founders of DeepCapture, Patrick Byrne, has quite an alluring biography as well as mental faculties, as told by this CNN Fortune article 'The Renaissance Man of E-Commerce.'
"He earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford and black belts in hapkido and tae kwon do. He has bicycled across the U.S. three times, studied moral philosophy at Cambridge as a Marshall fellow, and briefly pursued a career in boxing. Byrne also speaks Mandarin--not to mention four other foreign languages--and translated Lao Tse's Way of Virtue during his senior year at Dartmouth. He has a nearly photographic memory, which he is fond of demonstrating with what he calls his memory trick: If he studies a deck of cards for a couple of minutes, he can recite them back, one by one, in either direction. He can even recite the same list again six months later."
These two sites are without question, the best out there. Enjoy.
For those of you out of the loop, www.deepcapture.com, winner of the 2008 weblogs award for best business blog, has at long last made headway in its relentless and noble crusade against naked short seller abusers.
The blog sums up its recent accomplishments as follows:
The SEC recently enacted permanent restrictions on illegal naked short selling, which include greatly enhanced disclosure of delivery failures and shorting activity.
Today, the SEC brought its first enforcement cases against illegal naked short selling.
Also today, FINRA expelled a member firm for engaging in illegal short selling.
Unfortunately, as the blog explains, the battle against corruption, manipulation and fraud in the financial markets is far from over:
Yes, the pendulum is now unambiguously swinging in our direction, but the job is not done. Indeed, we can only be assured of progress to the extent that we each recognize our responsibility to continue pushing.
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The story of DeepCapture.com is quite unlike any other business blog (at least that I know of). After publishing remarkable, stunning and factually-supported investigative research covering the inner-workings and dealings of a vast network of political and financial 'miscreants,' the blog and its (non-anonymous) authors have been the target of journalistic attacks, unwarranted legal action, public mockery and even physical violence and threats.
The blog implicates Michael Milken, Eliot Spitzer, Jim Cramer, Steven Cohen, Gary Weiss, James Chanos and literally hundreds of others in wide-ranging efforts to manipulate everything from stocks to public perception (notably through the tampering of Wikipedia pages). Virtually every allegation is backed by well-sourced facts and findings, and when clearcut evidence is lacking, correlationary and circumstantial evidence is provided extensively.
Recently, the blog has unleashed a 15-part case study of heavily shorted firm Dendreon Corp, known for its prostrate cancer treatment drug Provenge, which details the immense financial struggle this David has had to overcome in the midst of the most ruthless hedge fund Goliaths. Indeed, the blog alleges that this very struggle has indirectly caused the hastening of over 60,000 deaths of men with prostrate cancer.
Further, Zero Hedge readers may be interested in gleaning the full extent to which media outlets such as cnbc as well as institutions such as the FDA have been infiltrated by sleazeballs allied with manipulative and fraudulent hedge funds. Hence the phrase 'Deep Capture,' which has come to define those in the media / political / legislative realms who have become 'captured' by dangerous financial forces and have actively worked to blur the lines between reality and fiction.
Perhaps the most frightening of the blog's contentions is that the mafia has come to play quite a significant role in the financial dealings of hedge funds. To prove this case, perpetrators of various well-documented cases of mafia violence are systematically linked to hedge fund operators and/or cronies.
But don't take my word for it --- check out the blog yourself right now: www.deepcapture.com.
Unless, of course, you'd rather just opt for the blue pill.
--------
Side Note: One of the two founders of DeepCapture, Patrick Byrne, has quite an alluring biography as well as mental faculties, as told by this CNN Fortune article 'The Renaissance Man of E-Commerce.'
"He earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford and black belts in hapkido and tae kwon do. He has bicycled across the U.S. three times, studied moral philosophy at Cambridge as a Marshall fellow, and briefly pursued a career in boxing. Byrne also speaks Mandarin--not to mention four other foreign languages--and translated Lao Tse's Way of Virtue during his senior year at Dartmouth. He has a nearly photographic memory, which he is fond of demonstrating with what he calls his memory trick: If he studies a deck of cards for a couple of minutes, he can recite them back, one by one, in either direction. He can even recite the same list again six months later."
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Welch of GE
Welch leaves GE in 2001.
The derivates debacle that GE so quietly coughed up $50,000,000 was in the 2002 timeframe.
The massage of the earnings started under the Welch watch.
Another near-billionaire avoiding financial disaster. Lucky guy and good work if you can get it.
The derivates debacle that GE so quietly coughed up $50,000,000 was in the 2002 timeframe.
The massage of the earnings started under the Welch watch.
Another near-billionaire avoiding financial disaster. Lucky guy and good work if you can get it.
Tea Party guy here..........
It is amazing, well it really isn't, after all, it is THEM spending OUR money that the health-care DEFORMITY that is in progress is shrouded in such secrecy.
Where is the open-ended debate? Where are the experts? Where is the comparative analysis of countries that have socialized their medicine?
And for all to ponder, where are incentives for good health? What is the incentive to stay healthy versus obesity and smoking and god-knows-what-else?
This will be one of the better train-wrecks of our times. Climb aboard the Obamatrain, it won't be pretty before nor after the abyss opens wide.
Where is the open-ended debate? Where are the experts? Where is the comparative analysis of countries that have socialized their medicine?
And for all to ponder, where are incentives for good health? What is the incentive to stay healthy versus obesity and smoking and god-knows-what-else?
This will be one of the better train-wrecks of our times. Climb aboard the Obamatrain, it won't be pretty before nor after the abyss opens wide.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Joe Saluzzi of Themis Trading
This cowboy deserves a Medal of Honor for his role in bringing the gangsters to light.
The slime from the white-shoe firm who play the role of rule-maker, player and referee now will be on the same page. Or will they?
The slime from the white-shoe firm who play the role of rule-maker, player and referee now will be on the same page. Or will they?
Monday, August 03, 2009
Anybody have a lay-over in Atlanta?
Jerry Doyle, swing on by, the "Wild Turkey" is in my liquor cabinet!
John Stockton, prior to your Hall of Fame induction, come on by, lets go 1 on 1!
Karen Finerman, there's a seat here on the trading turret. You make far too much sense.
John Stockton, prior to your Hall of Fame induction, come on by, lets go 1 on 1!
Karen Finerman, there's a seat here on the trading turret. You make far too much sense.
Let's get this straight......
B of A gets TARP money. Alot of it. They buy Merrill with TARP money or are told to buy Merrill or some combination of the two. The SEC says someoby lied. The B of A neither admits nor denies guilt and pays $33 milliion so obviously somebody lied and was guilty. The $33 million (say it was taxpayer money) was paid back to the government for their sins.
You really can't make this crap up.
You really can't make this crap up.
Mixed up??
Everybody over 64 years of age is left off the list for the swine flu vaccine when it comes to rationing vaccine.
This is the same Administration that wants to provide health-care for all Americans and millions of criminal aliens.
This is the same Administration that wants to provide health-care for all Americans and millions of criminal aliens.