It is a slow day in the small Saskatchewan town of Pumphandle, and streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody is living on credit.
A tourist visiting the area drives through town, stops at the motel, and lays a $100 bill on the desk saying he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs to pick one for the night.
As soon as he walks upstairs, the motel owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher. The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer. The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill to his supplier, the Co-op. The guy at the Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer her "services" on credit. The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner. The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, picks up the $100 bill and leaves.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything... However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how a Stimulus package works.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Miltons Boys of Fall
The Milton High School 8th Grade Feeder Team was out and about Saturday afternoon doing what they do best. Putting a "W" on the board and enjoying themselves. Here is Jordan Parisian, #25, on a pass play to rack up another first down.
Catching a ball is one thing, hanging on to it is another. Nice job son!!
Catching a ball is one thing, hanging on to it is another. Nice job son!!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Loons and I ain't talking webbed feet........
One of the greatest examples of hypocrisy is the Roger Clements fiasco in the hallowed halls of America's finest lawbreakers, the United States Congress.
If Clements is looking at doing 15 years in the slammer, the scum in Congress should all get life for the lies they perpetrate on the American citizenry.
If Clements is looking at doing 15 years in the slammer, the scum in Congress should all get life for the lies they perpetrate on the American citizenry.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Let me say it again...........
ZeroHedge.com is the most important financial source of information on the world-wide web, period.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Frederic Mishkin
As a former Fed governor this loon is as useless as the tits on a boar hog.
What a complete crock of shit this guy is.
The best website on the planet, ZeroHedge.com calls him out. Watch him lie.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/watch-former-fed-governor-fred-napoleon-dynamite-mishkin-dire-need-diaper-change
What a complete crock of shit this guy is.
The best website on the planet, ZeroHedge.com calls him out. Watch him lie.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/watch-former-fed-governor-fred-napoleon-dynamite-mishkin-dire-need-diaper-change
It just doesn't matter.............
Spread the word, it won't matter what party gets control of Congress in November, there will NOT be any change with the economy for a very good while.
No change in unemployment. No change in taxation. No change in consumer confidence. No change in savings rates. No change in the quagmire of health care. No change in immigration. NO change in social security structural change. No change in the real estate picture. You get the drill ladies and gentleman.
You might vote in Casper the Ghost or Lady GA GA and nothing will change over the short term. Or maybe the long term.
Prepare accordingly.
No change in unemployment. No change in taxation. No change in consumer confidence. No change in savings rates. No change in the quagmire of health care. No change in immigration. NO change in social security structural change. No change in the real estate picture. You get the drill ladies and gentleman.
You might vote in Casper the Ghost or Lady GA GA and nothing will change over the short term. Or maybe the long term.
Prepare accordingly.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Business as usual for the bankers.......
Why Franklin Raines isn't in jail is beyond me. They bounce Madoff in the slammer after a year or so and this guy is living high on the hog. Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Angelo, Congress far beyond anyone going to jail. It's like an elephant sat on their head and they were none the wiser. Obama's PET bank in Chicago took itself down yesterday and the big bankers make out like bandits. The manipulation by government policy is truly staggering. The sheeple are bent over and they don't even know it.
With 113 closures nationwide so far this year, the pace of bank failures far outstrips that of 2009, which was already a brisk year for shutdowns. By this time last year, regulators had closed 81 banks.
The pace has accelerated as banks' losses mount on loans made for commercial property and development. Many companies have shut down in the recession, vacating shopping malls and office buildings financed by the loans. That has brought delinquent loan payments and defaults by commercial developers.
The number of bank failures is expected to peak this year and be slightly higher than the 140 that fell in 2009. That was the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. The 2009 failures cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. Twenty-five banks failed in 2008, the year the financial crisis struck with force; only three succumbed in 2007.
The growing bank failures have sapped billions of dollars out of the deposit insurance fund. It fell into the red last year, and its deficit stood at $20.7 billion as of March 31.
The number of banks on the FDIC's confidential "problem" list jumped to 775 in the first quarter from 702 three months earlier, even as the industry as a whole had its best quarter in two years.
The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to total around $60 billion from 2010 through 2014.
With 113 closures nationwide so far this year, the pace of bank failures far outstrips that of 2009, which was already a brisk year for shutdowns. By this time last year, regulators had closed 81 banks.
The pace has accelerated as banks' losses mount on loans made for commercial property and development. Many companies have shut down in the recession, vacating shopping malls and office buildings financed by the loans. That has brought delinquent loan payments and defaults by commercial developers.
The number of bank failures is expected to peak this year and be slightly higher than the 140 that fell in 2009. That was the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. The 2009 failures cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. Twenty-five banks failed in 2008, the year the financial crisis struck with force; only three succumbed in 2007.
The growing bank failures have sapped billions of dollars out of the deposit insurance fund. It fell into the red last year, and its deficit stood at $20.7 billion as of March 31.
The number of banks on the FDIC's confidential "problem" list jumped to 775 in the first quarter from 702 three months earlier, even as the industry as a whole had its best quarter in two years.
The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to total around $60 billion from 2010 through 2014.
Friday, August 20, 2010
If you bow hunt you'll understand...........
So lately my wife has been working a lot of late shifts and the past couple of months she's been carpooling with a male co-worker. At first I didn't mind as it saves gas and in case she has car trouble or something like that, but it seems like they've become a little bit more than friends. You know....the phone calls that hang up, she starts wearing nice clothes to work and talking about him all the time...then abruptly stops leaving an uncomfortable silence.
If I'm out in the garage when she gets home (usually after midnight) he just drops her off and leaves, but if the lights are off in the garage and I'm in the house (they think I'm sleeping) they sit out in the car for about 20 minutes.
I asked her once what they were doing and she said, "Just talking". Whatever!
So, last night I decided to see what's really going on out there. So, I leave the garage door open and turn all the lights off. I go out in the garage and wait. In a few minutes his car pulls into my driveway and as I'm hiding behind some of my hunting stuff the headlights shine through my garage and I see something that I just can't believe.
The string, on my bow is fraying! Not real bad, but enough. How long should I let it go before I replace it?
If I'm out in the garage when she gets home (usually after midnight) he just drops her off and leaves, but if the lights are off in the garage and I'm in the house (they think I'm sleeping) they sit out in the car for about 20 minutes.
I asked her once what they were doing and she said, "Just talking". Whatever!
So, last night I decided to see what's really going on out there. So, I leave the garage door open and turn all the lights off. I go out in the garage and wait. In a few minutes his car pulls into my driveway and as I'm hiding behind some of my hunting stuff the headlights shine through my garage and I see something that I just can't believe.
The string, on my bow is fraying! Not real bad, but enough. How long should I let it go before I replace it?
Friday humor........
A young boy went up to his father and asked him, 'Dad, what is the difference between potentially and realistically?'
The father thought for a moment, then answered, 'Go ask your mother if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars.
Then ask your sister if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a Million dollars, and then ask your brother if he'd sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars. Come back and tell me what you learn from that.'
So the boy went to his mother and asked, 'Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?'
The mother replied, 'Of course I would! We could really use that money to fix up the house and send you kids to a great University!'
The boy then went to his sister and asked, 'Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?'
The girl replied, 'Oh my Gawd! I LOVE Brad Pitt I would sleep with him in a heartbeat, are you nuts?'
The boy then went to his brother and asked, 'Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?'
'Of course,' the brother replied. 'Do you know what a million Bucks would buy?'
The boy pondered the answers for a few days and then went back to his dad.
His father asked him, 'Did you find out the difference between 'potentially' and 'realistically'?'
The boy replied, 'Yes, 'Potentially' , you and I are sitting on Three million dollars .
But 'realistically' , we're just living with two hookers and a queer.
The father thought for a moment, then answered, 'Go ask your mother if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars.
Then ask your sister if she would sleep with Brad Pitt for a Million dollars, and then ask your brother if he'd sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars. Come back and tell me what you learn from that.'
So the boy went to his mother and asked, 'Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?'
The mother replied, 'Of course I would! We could really use that money to fix up the house and send you kids to a great University!'
The boy then went to his sister and asked, 'Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?'
The girl replied, 'Oh my Gawd! I LOVE Brad Pitt I would sleep with him in a heartbeat, are you nuts?'
The boy then went to his brother and asked, 'Would you sleep with Brad Pitt for a million dollars?'
'Of course,' the brother replied. 'Do you know what a million Bucks would buy?'
The boy pondered the answers for a few days and then went back to his dad.
His father asked him, 'Did you find out the difference between 'potentially' and 'realistically'?'
The boy replied, 'Yes, 'Potentially' , you and I are sitting on Three million dollars .
But 'realistically' , we're just living with two hookers and a queer.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
This is what America is up against........
When your friends can't explain why they voted for Democrats, (voting for Obama comes to mind), give them this list. They can then pick a reason .
10. I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.
9. I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.
8. I voted Democrat because Freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.
7. I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.
6. I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I
don't start driving a Prius.
5. I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies through abortion so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.
4. I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits.
3. I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the democrats see fit.
2. I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.
1. I voted Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my @$$ that it's unlikely that I'll ever have another point of view.
10. I voted Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.
9. I voted Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.
8. I voted Democrat because Freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.
7. I voted Democrat because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.
6. I voted Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I
don't start driving a Prius.
5. I voted Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of millions of babies through abortion so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.
4. I voted Democrat because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits.
3. I voted Democrat because I believe that business should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the democrats see fit.
2. I voted Democrat because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.
1. I voted Democrat because my head is so firmly planted up my @$$ that it's unlikely that I'll ever have another point of view.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
from Neal Boortz, indeed the Talk Master!
Union goon Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO thinks that America’s deficit problem is just something created by the media and evil right-wing politicians. Here are a few quotes from an interview with Townhall.com.
“We don’t have a short term deficit problem .. and every economist in the country knows that.”
“The Republicans have done a marvelous of creating fiction and making it seem like fact.”
“We have a jobs crisis in this country. We don’t have a deficit crisis.”
The fact is that since Democrats have taken over the Congress, the federal budget has increased 38%, from $2.77 trillion to over $3.8 trillion, all of it in deficit spending. Not to mention that, according to the CBO, PrezBo’s fiscal 2011 budget will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits over the next 10 years and raise the federal debt to 90% of the nation's economic output by 2020. Has it ever occurred to this union goon that the more government grows, the more it crowds out the private sector – the same, evil, private sector which creates jobs and doles out paychecks and ultimately generates tax revenues?
Armed with this knowledge, tell me you are not shocked by the fact that federal employees' average compensation has grown to more than double what private sector workers earn. According to a USA Today analysis, the compensation gap between federal and private workers has doubled in the past decade – “Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation … the federal compensation advantage has grown from $30,415 in 2000 to $61,998 last year.” Union mentality, government’s out-of- touch payment of employees, unabandoned spending, pension promises, entitlement spending … these are all entwined. They are all a part of a culture which is on the verge of crippling our nation. With union goons like Richard Trumka at the helm, it isn’t going to be easy.
“We don’t have a short term deficit problem .. and every economist in the country knows that.”
“The Republicans have done a marvelous of creating fiction and making it seem like fact.”
“We have a jobs crisis in this country. We don’t have a deficit crisis.”
The fact is that since Democrats have taken over the Congress, the federal budget has increased 38%, from $2.77 trillion to over $3.8 trillion, all of it in deficit spending. Not to mention that, according to the CBO, PrezBo’s fiscal 2011 budget will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits over the next 10 years and raise the federal debt to 90% of the nation's economic output by 2020. Has it ever occurred to this union goon that the more government grows, the more it crowds out the private sector – the same, evil, private sector which creates jobs and doles out paychecks and ultimately generates tax revenues?
Armed with this knowledge, tell me you are not shocked by the fact that federal employees' average compensation has grown to more than double what private sector workers earn. According to a USA Today analysis, the compensation gap between federal and private workers has doubled in the past decade – “Federal civil servants earned average pay and benefits of $123,049 in 2009 while private workers made $61,051 in total compensation … the federal compensation advantage has grown from $30,415 in 2000 to $61,998 last year.” Union mentality, government’s out-of- touch payment of employees, unabandoned spending, pension promises, entitlement spending … these are all entwined. They are all a part of a culture which is on the verge of crippling our nation. With union goons like Richard Trumka at the helm, it isn’t going to be easy.
1952 miles..........
I completed 1952 miles across Minnesota and the size of the state's corn crop is indeed staggering. It appears that the record 1968 crop will be exceeded.
Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. corn crop will be 1.9 percent larger than a year ago and the biggest ever, the government said, after farmers planted the second-most acres since 1946 and warm, wet weather boosted yields.
Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. corn crop will be 1.9 percent larger than a year ago and the biggest ever, the government said, after farmers planted the second-most acres since 1946 and warm, wet weather boosted yields.
Another beauty from ZEROHEDGE.com
For anyone remotely connected with the financial services business in America the number one place to be, bar none, is at the trough of truth and honesty.
www.zerohedge.com
These guys and gals have done more to expose the crap and greed and corruption of our politicians and regulators than any rag in existence. Here's another beauty.
SCHUMER TO SEC: IMPOSE TOUGHER RULES ON HIGH-FREQUENCY TRADERS TO CURB STOCK PRICE VOLATILITY AND PREVENT ANOTHER FLASH CRASH
In Letter To Schapiro, Schumer Urges Update To ‘Market Maker’ Definition To Ensure High-Frequency Traders Acting Like Market Makers In 25 or More Stocks are Subject to Affirmative Obligations
Enhanced Obligations Would Prevent High Frequency Traders From Withdrawing From Markets En Masse—Sudden Loss of Liquidity Contributed to Market Meltdown on May 6
With SEC Mulling Reforms To Prevent Another Market Crisis, Schumer Says Proposals Could Represent ‘Consensus’
WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) today urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to place certain high-frequency trading firms under a uniform set of rules to prevent them from pulling out of markets en masse as they did during last May’s flash crash that sent stock prices tumbling. Schumer said updating the agency’s 17-year-old “market maker” definition so that more of these traders had affirmative obligations when it comes to providing liquidity could go a long way towards preventing future volatility in stock prices.
“The Commission should require any market participant effectively making markets in 25 or more symbols to be subject to market maker obligations. Requiring more high frequency traders to be legally obligated to step in and provide liquidity would go a long way in helping to avoid sudden, rapid price plunges like the May 6 Flash Crash,” Schumer said in a letter to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro.
Schumer proposed a number of new obligations that would be imposed on all traders who are dealing in 25 or more stocks. These include a best price obligation that would require market makers to quote between the highest bid and lowest offer price for a minimum amount of time during each trading day, and require that market makers quotes be reasonably related to the market price, which would effectively ban so-called “stub quotes”, which are widely believed to have contributed to market volatility on May 6. Many of these obligations are currently imposed on designated market makers by the New York Stock Exchange, but not all trading venues have designated market makers or impose affirmative market-making obligations on market participants. Schumer also said the proposed obligations should apply uniformly across all trading platforms to ensure a level playing field and avoid the kind of disorderly markets experienced on May 6.
Since many of these proposed requirements enjoy preliminary support from leading market makers and market participants, Schumer suggested a “consensus” was already emerging around these ideas.
A copy of Schumer’s letter to Schapiro appears below.
August 11, 2010
Mary Schapiro, Chairman
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street NE
Washington, DC 20549
Dear Chairman Schapiro,
The causes of the May 6 Flash Crash are still under investigation, but we have learned a number of important lessons about our markets and how they have dramatically changed in the past few years, presenting new risks. I am writing to express my concern about certain of those developments and to respectfully suggest that the Commission consider steps to address the risks they pose to investors and to the integrity of our markets.
One of the most important new developments – and one that many observers and market participants think contributed to the market’s volatility on May 6 – is the role that high frequency traders now play as de facto liquidity providers. The traditional definition of bona-fide market makers developed to describe the upstairs specialists of the old trading floors is now largely irrelevant. During the May 6 Flash Crash many high frequency traders pulled out during the freefall, leaving a dearth of liquidity and exacerbating market volatility. This disappearance of high frequency traders and their withdrawal of liquidity reveal a serious problem with our market regulation. The players in our markets have changed but our regulations have not kept pace.
Accordingly, I respectfully urge the Commission to consider the following proposals to restore confidence in our markets and reduce the likelihood that another, potentially more severe Flash Crash, occurs.
First, the Commission should update its definition for “bona fide market maker”. The definition of “bona fide market maker” has not been updated since 1993 and therefore does not reflect the new market landscape of high frequency traders and alternative trading systems. The reality is that many high frequency traders are today’s de facto market makers. However, they are not subject to the legal obligations of market makers.
The Commission should require any market participant effectively making markets in 25 or more symbols to be subject to market maker obligations. Requiring more high frequency traders to be legally obligated to step in and provide liquidity would go a long way in helping to avoid sudden, rapid price plunges like the May 6 Flash Crash.
Second, the Commission should bolster the obligations of such market makers to provide meaningful liquidity and stability in the markets. I respectfully request that the Commission consider incorporating the following market maker obligations:
• Best Price Obligation: Market makers should be required to quote between the highest bid and lowest offer price for a specified percentage of time during the trading day depending on stock price, trading volume and other characteristics of the stock. This would ensure that market makers provide meaningful liquidity at market prices.
• Maximum Quoted Spread: Market makers should also be required to post quotes that are reasonably related to the then-current market price, presumably within the percentage triggers for circuit breakers. This would eliminate the practice of posting so-called “stub quotes”, widely believed to have led to many of the cancelled trades on May 6.
• Depth Obligation: Market makers also should be required to provide multiple price levels below the best price obligation depending on volume, stock price and other characteristics of the stock. Making markets should not be limited to the superficial level of the best price. In order to be strong, resilient and less volatile, markets should be as deep and liquid as possible.
• Uniformity Across Trading Venues: Perhaps most importantly, the eligibility requirements and obligations of market makers should be uniform across all exchanges and trading venues. Some exchanges require fewer obligations of their market makers than others. It is important that there is a level playing field between all trading venues and that this playing field has high standards that protect the best interests of long-term investors.
A consensus is emerging around many of these proposals, not only among exchanges but also among many leading market makers and other market participants, who sent you a letter advocating many of these proposals on July 13.
The above obligations are burdensome and making markets is voluntary, so the Commission should consider appropriate incentives for high frequency traders to become market makers.
I commend the excellent work you and your staff are doing, and I look forward to working with you on these important issues.
Sincerely,
Senator Charles E. Schumer
www.zerohedge.com
These guys and gals have done more to expose the crap and greed and corruption of our politicians and regulators than any rag in existence. Here's another beauty.
SCHUMER TO SEC: IMPOSE TOUGHER RULES ON HIGH-FREQUENCY TRADERS TO CURB STOCK PRICE VOLATILITY AND PREVENT ANOTHER FLASH CRASH
In Letter To Schapiro, Schumer Urges Update To ‘Market Maker’ Definition To Ensure High-Frequency Traders Acting Like Market Makers In 25 or More Stocks are Subject to Affirmative Obligations
Enhanced Obligations Would Prevent High Frequency Traders From Withdrawing From Markets En Masse—Sudden Loss of Liquidity Contributed to Market Meltdown on May 6
With SEC Mulling Reforms To Prevent Another Market Crisis, Schumer Says Proposals Could Represent ‘Consensus’
WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) today urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to place certain high-frequency trading firms under a uniform set of rules to prevent them from pulling out of markets en masse as they did during last May’s flash crash that sent stock prices tumbling. Schumer said updating the agency’s 17-year-old “market maker” definition so that more of these traders had affirmative obligations when it comes to providing liquidity could go a long way towards preventing future volatility in stock prices.
“The Commission should require any market participant effectively making markets in 25 or more symbols to be subject to market maker obligations. Requiring more high frequency traders to be legally obligated to step in and provide liquidity would go a long way in helping to avoid sudden, rapid price plunges like the May 6 Flash Crash,” Schumer said in a letter to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro.
Schumer proposed a number of new obligations that would be imposed on all traders who are dealing in 25 or more stocks. These include a best price obligation that would require market makers to quote between the highest bid and lowest offer price for a minimum amount of time during each trading day, and require that market makers quotes be reasonably related to the market price, which would effectively ban so-called “stub quotes”, which are widely believed to have contributed to market volatility on May 6. Many of these obligations are currently imposed on designated market makers by the New York Stock Exchange, but not all trading venues have designated market makers or impose affirmative market-making obligations on market participants. Schumer also said the proposed obligations should apply uniformly across all trading platforms to ensure a level playing field and avoid the kind of disorderly markets experienced on May 6.
Since many of these proposed requirements enjoy preliminary support from leading market makers and market participants, Schumer suggested a “consensus” was already emerging around these ideas.
A copy of Schumer’s letter to Schapiro appears below.
August 11, 2010
Mary Schapiro, Chairman
Securities and Exchange Commission
100 F Street NE
Washington, DC 20549
Dear Chairman Schapiro,
The causes of the May 6 Flash Crash are still under investigation, but we have learned a number of important lessons about our markets and how they have dramatically changed in the past few years, presenting new risks. I am writing to express my concern about certain of those developments and to respectfully suggest that the Commission consider steps to address the risks they pose to investors and to the integrity of our markets.
One of the most important new developments – and one that many observers and market participants think contributed to the market’s volatility on May 6 – is the role that high frequency traders now play as de facto liquidity providers. The traditional definition of bona-fide market makers developed to describe the upstairs specialists of the old trading floors is now largely irrelevant. During the May 6 Flash Crash many high frequency traders pulled out during the freefall, leaving a dearth of liquidity and exacerbating market volatility. This disappearance of high frequency traders and their withdrawal of liquidity reveal a serious problem with our market regulation. The players in our markets have changed but our regulations have not kept pace.
Accordingly, I respectfully urge the Commission to consider the following proposals to restore confidence in our markets and reduce the likelihood that another, potentially more severe Flash Crash, occurs.
First, the Commission should update its definition for “bona fide market maker”. The definition of “bona fide market maker” has not been updated since 1993 and therefore does not reflect the new market landscape of high frequency traders and alternative trading systems. The reality is that many high frequency traders are today’s de facto market makers. However, they are not subject to the legal obligations of market makers.
The Commission should require any market participant effectively making markets in 25 or more symbols to be subject to market maker obligations. Requiring more high frequency traders to be legally obligated to step in and provide liquidity would go a long way in helping to avoid sudden, rapid price plunges like the May 6 Flash Crash.
Second, the Commission should bolster the obligations of such market makers to provide meaningful liquidity and stability in the markets. I respectfully request that the Commission consider incorporating the following market maker obligations:
• Best Price Obligation: Market makers should be required to quote between the highest bid and lowest offer price for a specified percentage of time during the trading day depending on stock price, trading volume and other characteristics of the stock. This would ensure that market makers provide meaningful liquidity at market prices.
• Maximum Quoted Spread: Market makers should also be required to post quotes that are reasonably related to the then-current market price, presumably within the percentage triggers for circuit breakers. This would eliminate the practice of posting so-called “stub quotes”, widely believed to have led to many of the cancelled trades on May 6.
• Depth Obligation: Market makers also should be required to provide multiple price levels below the best price obligation depending on volume, stock price and other characteristics of the stock. Making markets should not be limited to the superficial level of the best price. In order to be strong, resilient and less volatile, markets should be as deep and liquid as possible.
• Uniformity Across Trading Venues: Perhaps most importantly, the eligibility requirements and obligations of market makers should be uniform across all exchanges and trading venues. Some exchanges require fewer obligations of their market makers than others. It is important that there is a level playing field between all trading venues and that this playing field has high standards that protect the best interests of long-term investors.
A consensus is emerging around many of these proposals, not only among exchanges but also among many leading market makers and other market participants, who sent you a letter advocating many of these proposals on July 13.
The above obligations are burdensome and making markets is voluntary, so the Commission should consider appropriate incentives for high frequency traders to become market makers.
I commend the excellent work you and your staff are doing, and I look forward to working with you on these important issues.
Sincerely,
Senator Charles E. Schumer
Robert Rubin........Con Artist
Robert Scheer | August 11, 2010
This story originally appeared at Truthdig [1].
The corruptions of journalism were on full display when CNN’s Fareed Zakaria turned to Robert Rubin this past Sunday for advice on how to fix the financial crisis that he, as much as anyone, caused. I was trapped on a treadmill in front of an overhead television and unable to turn the thing off in time to avoid this assault on my mental and physical health.
As a result I was forced to hear Rubin, Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary, insist that he always favored regulating toxic derivatives and is therefore not at all responsible for the ensuing economic meltdown. He was responding to the sole critical question from the CNN host, who quoted a question by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman: “Did all the senior members of the [Obama] economics team have to be protégés of Robert Rubin, the apostle of financial deregulation?” Unfortunately, Zakaria just rolled over when his guest simply lied in response:
“First of all, I am not the apostle of financial deregulation. Quite the contrary. On derivatives…I developed a deep concern about the systemic problem that was created. When I was back at Goldman Sachs, it was a concern I had…a concern I had when I was in government. And in fact, when I wrote my book in 2003, I was so concerned about it that I actually included that discussion in there.”
Zakaria ended the show recommending it as his book of the week: “He wrote a great memoir that covered his two distinguished careers, both…on Wall Street and in Washington.… It was written with Jacob Weisberg, a great writer, the editor of Slate, and the two men weave a compelling tale that has many lessons for today.”
To be charitable, I will assume that Zakaria has not actually read that book, which omits any discussion of the radical deregulation legislation that Rubin ushered through Congress and got the president to sign. Bill Clinton is on record stating that he got bad advice from Rubin and his handpicked successor, Lawrence Summers, on derivatives regulation: “On derivatives, yeah, I think they were wrong and I think I was wrong to take it,” Clinton told ABC News last April 10.
Rubin and Summers were responsible for forcing Brooksley Born out of the Clinton administration because as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission she had the temerity to suggest regulating the mortgage-backed securities that eventually proved to be so toxic. Instead, Rubin and Summers pushed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which Clinton signed into law in his last month in office, categorically exempting those suspect derivatives from any government regulation.
By then, Rubin had moved on to a $15-million-a-year job at Citigroup, which became a prime exploiter of the subprime housing market. As a result of its massive involvement with toxic securities, Citigroup, with Rubin in a leading role until early 2009, had to be bailed out by the federal government with a $45 billion direct investment and a guaranteed Fed protection for $306 billion in potentially toxic assets.
Citigroup, a merger of the old Citibank and Travelers insurance company, was made legal only by the Financial Services Modernization Act, which Rubin backed while treasury secretary. Then, in one of the most egregious conflicts of interest in US history, he went to work for the new bank, which took advantage of the changes in the law to buy up the infamous subprime lenders, beginning with Associates First Capital. The Economist magazine wrote of that purchase that “it extends Citi’s already huge credit card operation to a lucrative new niche (price insensitive, if default prone, borrowers)” and questioned whether investors would see Citi’s bold new venture “as something smart, such as ‘evolved credit extension,’ or something seamy such as loan-sharking.”
Rubin was a major proponent of the firm’s seamy expansion into the mortgages that proved to be toxic, and by 2007 Citigroup was the second-largest subprime servicer, after the only slightly more infamous Countrywide. As the New York Times pointed out on November 22, 2008, after a decade of flattering portraits of the man, finally acknowledging Rubin’s role in Citi’s disgrace: “The bank’s downfall was years in the making and involved many in its hierarchy, particularly [CEO Charles O.] Prince and Robert E. Rubin, an influential director and senior adviser.”
There is much more, and I haven’t even touched on Rubin’s shameful role in Enron’s shenanigans. Enough said, though, to question not only Zakaria’s journalism but, far more important, Barack Obama’s leadership in first turning to Rubin as a key campaign adviser and then putting his disciples in charge of the U.S. economy.
Robert Scheer is the author of The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street [2](Nation Books).
This story originally appeared at Truthdig [1].
The corruptions of journalism were on full display when CNN’s Fareed Zakaria turned to Robert Rubin this past Sunday for advice on how to fix the financial crisis that he, as much as anyone, caused. I was trapped on a treadmill in front of an overhead television and unable to turn the thing off in time to avoid this assault on my mental and physical health.
As a result I was forced to hear Rubin, Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary, insist that he always favored regulating toxic derivatives and is therefore not at all responsible for the ensuing economic meltdown. He was responding to the sole critical question from the CNN host, who quoted a question by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman: “Did all the senior members of the [Obama] economics team have to be protégés of Robert Rubin, the apostle of financial deregulation?” Unfortunately, Zakaria just rolled over when his guest simply lied in response:
“First of all, I am not the apostle of financial deregulation. Quite the contrary. On derivatives…I developed a deep concern about the systemic problem that was created. When I was back at Goldman Sachs, it was a concern I had…a concern I had when I was in government. And in fact, when I wrote my book in 2003, I was so concerned about it that I actually included that discussion in there.”
Zakaria ended the show recommending it as his book of the week: “He wrote a great memoir that covered his two distinguished careers, both…on Wall Street and in Washington.… It was written with Jacob Weisberg, a great writer, the editor of Slate, and the two men weave a compelling tale that has many lessons for today.”
To be charitable, I will assume that Zakaria has not actually read that book, which omits any discussion of the radical deregulation legislation that Rubin ushered through Congress and got the president to sign. Bill Clinton is on record stating that he got bad advice from Rubin and his handpicked successor, Lawrence Summers, on derivatives regulation: “On derivatives, yeah, I think they were wrong and I think I was wrong to take it,” Clinton told ABC News last April 10.
Rubin and Summers were responsible for forcing Brooksley Born out of the Clinton administration because as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission she had the temerity to suggest regulating the mortgage-backed securities that eventually proved to be so toxic. Instead, Rubin and Summers pushed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which Clinton signed into law in his last month in office, categorically exempting those suspect derivatives from any government regulation.
By then, Rubin had moved on to a $15-million-a-year job at Citigroup, which became a prime exploiter of the subprime housing market. As a result of its massive involvement with toxic securities, Citigroup, with Rubin in a leading role until early 2009, had to be bailed out by the federal government with a $45 billion direct investment and a guaranteed Fed protection for $306 billion in potentially toxic assets.
Citigroup, a merger of the old Citibank and Travelers insurance company, was made legal only by the Financial Services Modernization Act, which Rubin backed while treasury secretary. Then, in one of the most egregious conflicts of interest in US history, he went to work for the new bank, which took advantage of the changes in the law to buy up the infamous subprime lenders, beginning with Associates First Capital. The Economist magazine wrote of that purchase that “it extends Citi’s already huge credit card operation to a lucrative new niche (price insensitive, if default prone, borrowers)” and questioned whether investors would see Citi’s bold new venture “as something smart, such as ‘evolved credit extension,’ or something seamy such as loan-sharking.”
Rubin was a major proponent of the firm’s seamy expansion into the mortgages that proved to be toxic, and by 2007 Citigroup was the second-largest subprime servicer, after the only slightly more infamous Countrywide. As the New York Times pointed out on November 22, 2008, after a decade of flattering portraits of the man, finally acknowledging Rubin’s role in Citi’s disgrace: “The bank’s downfall was years in the making and involved many in its hierarchy, particularly [CEO Charles O.] Prince and Robert E. Rubin, an influential director and senior adviser.”
There is much more, and I haven’t even touched on Rubin’s shameful role in Enron’s shenanigans. Enough said, though, to question not only Zakaria’s journalism but, far more important, Barack Obama’s leadership in first turning to Rubin as a key campaign adviser and then putting his disciples in charge of the U.S. economy.
Robert Scheer is the author of The Great American Stickup: How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street [2](Nation Books).
My taxes at work..................
:34 a.m. Thursday, August 12, 2010
East Point housing officials begain accepting Section 8 applications 90 minutes early Wednesday morning after crowds of people showed up to turn in the forms.
A day after a crowd of 30,000 mobbed a shopping center to pick up the forms, a small crowd of less than a dozen people began lining up around 5 a.m. The group was dispersed by East Point police about an hour later. But shortly after 7 a.m., officials allowed people to line up on the sidewalk adjacent to the building. There were about 50 people in line at 7:30, when officials brought out boxes and began to accept the applications. That process had been scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
Authorities had blocked off the parking lots at the East Point Housing Authority offices on Norman Berry Drive and were encouraging applicants to return their forms by mail, but that didn't stop people from queuing up outside the doors at 5 a.m.
Marissa White arrived at the Housing Authority office about 6:25 a.m. and walked up to the front door to wait to turn in her application.
Within minutes, an East Point police officer drove by and told White she could not wait outside the office.
“They want us to mail it in, but most folks aren’t going to mail theirs in, thinking they will get lost in the mail,” she said. “And they said first come, first served, so I’m going to be there first,” she said.
White said she lined up at Tri-Cities Plaza just after midnight Wednesday morning to get her application.
“It was so disorganized,” White said. She said authorities had set up barricades to keep the lines orderly, “but those folks knocked them down in 30 minutes.”
“It was crazy,” she said. “It was a sight to see.”
An estimated 30,000 people suffered through hours in the hot sun, angry flare-ups in the crowd, and lots of frustration and confusion for a chance to receive a government-subsidized apartment.
The massive event sometimes descended into a chaotic mob scene filled with anger and impatience. Some 62 people needed medical attention and 20 of them were transported to a hospital, authorities said. A baby went into a seizure in the heat and was stabilized at a hospital. People were removed on stretchers and when a throng of people who had been waiting hours in a line was told to move to another line, people started pushing, shoving and cursing, witnesses said.
Still, officials of East Point declared the day a success. Nobody was arrested and nobody was seriously injured, they said.
East Point housing officials begain accepting Section 8 applications 90 minutes early Wednesday morning after crowds of people showed up to turn in the forms.
A day after a crowd of 30,000 mobbed a shopping center to pick up the forms, a small crowd of less than a dozen people began lining up around 5 a.m. The group was dispersed by East Point police about an hour later. But shortly after 7 a.m., officials allowed people to line up on the sidewalk adjacent to the building. There were about 50 people in line at 7:30, when officials brought out boxes and began to accept the applications. That process had been scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
Authorities had blocked off the parking lots at the East Point Housing Authority offices on Norman Berry Drive and were encouraging applicants to return their forms by mail, but that didn't stop people from queuing up outside the doors at 5 a.m.
Marissa White arrived at the Housing Authority office about 6:25 a.m. and walked up to the front door to wait to turn in her application.
Within minutes, an East Point police officer drove by and told White she could not wait outside the office.
“They want us to mail it in, but most folks aren’t going to mail theirs in, thinking they will get lost in the mail,” she said. “And they said first come, first served, so I’m going to be there first,” she said.
White said she lined up at Tri-Cities Plaza just after midnight Wednesday morning to get her application.
“It was so disorganized,” White said. She said authorities had set up barricades to keep the lines orderly, “but those folks knocked them down in 30 minutes.”
“It was crazy,” she said. “It was a sight to see.”
An estimated 30,000 people suffered through hours in the hot sun, angry flare-ups in the crowd, and lots of frustration and confusion for a chance to receive a government-subsidized apartment.
The massive event sometimes descended into a chaotic mob scene filled with anger and impatience. Some 62 people needed medical attention and 20 of them were transported to a hospital, authorities said. A baby went into a seizure in the heat and was stabilized at a hospital. People were removed on stretchers and when a throng of people who had been waiting hours in a line was told to move to another line, people started pushing, shoving and cursing, witnesses said.
Still, officials of East Point declared the day a success. Nobody was arrested and nobody was seriously injured, they said.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Freebies for the masses...........
The Obama administration is providing $3 billion to unemployed homeowners facing foreclosure in the nation's toughest job markets.
The Treasury Department says it will send $2 billion to 17 states that have unemployment rates higher than the national average for a year. They will use the money for programs to aid unemployed homeowners. Some of those states have already designed such programs.
Another $1 billion will go to a new program being run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It will provide homeowners with emergency zero-interest rate loans of up to $50,000 for up to two years.
The administration was required to launch the programs by the financial regulatory bill signed by President Barack Obama last month.
The Treasury Department says it will send $2 billion to 17 states that have unemployment rates higher than the national average for a year. They will use the money for programs to aid unemployed homeowners. Some of those states have already designed such programs.
Another $1 billion will go to a new program being run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It will provide homeowners with emergency zero-interest rate loans of up to $50,000 for up to two years.
The administration was required to launch the programs by the financial regulatory bill signed by President Barack Obama last month.
My life of specificity.................
"There is some "hamburger seasoning" in the round corner bottom cabinet in the middle top shelf in a black tin can."
Monday, August 09, 2010
Common sense in short supply...........
The owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team, Robert Sarver, opposes AZ's new immigration laws. Arizona's Governor, Jan Brewer, released the following statement in response to Sarver's criticism of the new law:
"What if the owners of the Suns discovered that hordes of people were sneaking into games without paying? What if they had a good idea who the gate-crashers are, but the ushers and security personnel were not allowed to ask these folks to produce their ticket stubs, thus non-paying attendees couldn't be ejected. Furthermore, what if Suns' ownership was expected to provide those who sneaked in with complimentary eats and drink? And what if, on those days when a gate-crasher became ill or injured, the Suns had to provide free medical care and shelter?"
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer
"What if the owners of the Suns discovered that hordes of people were sneaking into games without paying? What if they had a good idea who the gate-crashers are, but the ushers and security personnel were not allowed to ask these folks to produce their ticket stubs, thus non-paying attendees couldn't be ejected. Furthermore, what if Suns' ownership was expected to provide those who sneaked in with complimentary eats and drink? And what if, on those days when a gate-crasher became ill or injured, the Suns had to provide free medical care and shelter?"
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer
America has gone canine....or is it K-9??
This morning I went to sign my Dogs up for welfare. At first the lady said, "Dogs are not eligible to draw welfare." So I explained to her that my Dogs are mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and have no frigging clue who their Daddys are. They expect me to feed them, provide them with housing and medical care, and feel guilty because they are dogs.
So she looked in her policy book to see what it takes to qualify.
My Dogs get their first checks Friday.
So she looked in her policy book to see what it takes to qualify.
My Dogs get their first checks Friday.
The robber dished out some justice to himself................
11:22 p.m. Sunday, August 8, 2010
An airport hotel clerk was wounded and another man was killed during a Sunday afternoon attempted robbery, Atlanta police said.
Police initially said the clerk pulled his own gun and shot and killed a would-be robber. But a review of surveillance video apparently changed investigators' conclusions.
The incident happened about 1 p.m. at the Travelodge Atlanta Airport.
Maj. Keith Meadows said Sunday afternoon that the clerk was shot in the abdomen and rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was in stable condition.
A gunman "attempted to rob the establishment and during the course of that robbery, we believe the clerk pulled his handgun and at that point they exchanged gunfire," Meadows said at the time. "It seems the would-be robber was struck once in the head and killed on scene."
But late Sunday night, wsbtv.com reported that the robber may have killed himself. Citing unnamed investigators, the news website reported that only one gun was found at the scene and that investigators said the hotel surveillance video of the incident shows that when the robber pulled his gun back, he actually shot and killed himself.
Police did not release the name of the clerk, and the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office said late Sunday that the dead man was still unidentified.
Police continue to look for a man they believe was the gunman's accomplice. He was seen speeding away from the Travelodge at 2788 Forrest Hills Drive, Meadows said.
An airport hotel clerk was wounded and another man was killed during a Sunday afternoon attempted robbery, Atlanta police said.
Police initially said the clerk pulled his own gun and shot and killed a would-be robber. But a review of surveillance video apparently changed investigators' conclusions.
The incident happened about 1 p.m. at the Travelodge Atlanta Airport.
Maj. Keith Meadows said Sunday afternoon that the clerk was shot in the abdomen and rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, where he was in stable condition.
A gunman "attempted to rob the establishment and during the course of that robbery, we believe the clerk pulled his handgun and at that point they exchanged gunfire," Meadows said at the time. "It seems the would-be robber was struck once in the head and killed on scene."
But late Sunday night, wsbtv.com reported that the robber may have killed himself. Citing unnamed investigators, the news website reported that only one gun was found at the scene and that investigators said the hotel surveillance video of the incident shows that when the robber pulled his gun back, he actually shot and killed himself.
Police did not release the name of the clerk, and the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office said late Sunday that the dead man was still unidentified.
Police continue to look for a man they believe was the gunman's accomplice. He was seen speeding away from the Travelodge at 2788 Forrest Hills Drive, Meadows said.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Just call it what it is..........
Here is an apt analogy to describe the proposed Mosque at Ground Zero.
"It's radical Islam performing an endzone dance for a touchdown scored in 2001."
"It's radical Islam performing an endzone dance for a touchdown scored in 2001."
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