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Ben Bernanke Responds To Why Goldman Sachs Needs Fed VaR Exemption, And Other Questions
Many moons ago, July 15, 2009 to be specific, Zero Hedge asked a rather simple question: why does Goldman need a Fed exemption for VaR calculations even though it is a Bank Holding Company. That question, and some others, prompted several members of congress, among whom Alan Grayson and Ron Paul, to shortly thereafter pass our query on to Ben Bernanke.
Ben Bernanke
Chairman
Federal Reserve System
20th Street & Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20551Dear Chairman Bernanke:
In the fall, Goldman Sachs secured access to government funding by
converting from an investment bank into an ordinary bank. Despite this
shift, the CFO of the company, David Viniar, said last week that the
company is continuing to operate as if it were still a high-risk
investment bank: “Our model really never changed,” he noted in a quote
to Bloomberg. “We’ve said very consistently that our business model
remained the same.”This statement seems accurate. Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve granted a temporary exemption to Goldman Sachs from standard bank holding company Market Risk Rules,
allowing the company to continue operating as if it were an investment
bank. The company and its employees have taken full advantage of its
new government subsidies, and the retained ability to bet big. In its
most recent quarter, Goldman Sachs earned high profits of $2.7 billion
on revenues of $13.76 billion, with 78 percent of this revenue derived
from high-risk trading and principal investments. It paid out much of
this revenue in compensation, setting aside a record $772,858 for each
employee at an annualized rate. The company’s own measurement of risk,
its Value-at-Risk model, recently showed potential trading losses at
$245 million a day, up from $184 million last May.Despite its exemption from bank holding company regulations, Goldman
Sachs has access to taxpayer subsidies, including FDIC-backed bonds,
TARP money (since repaid), counterparty payments funneled through AIG,
and an implicit backstop from the taxpayer that allowed a public equity
offering in a queasy market. The only difference between Goldman Sachs
today and Goldman Sachs last year is that today, the company is
officially gambling with government money. This is the very definition
of “heads we win, tails the taxpayers lose.”It is worth noting that there sometimes might be good reasons to
grant temporary regulatory exemptions, considering that companies
cannot instantly change their business model. Still, given Goldman
Sachs’s last quarter results and public statements that it is not
changing its business model, we are worried that the company is using
its regulatory freedom to evade capital requirements and take outsized
risks with taxpayers on the hook for losses.With this in mind, our questions are as follows:
1) In the letter granting a regulatory exemption to Goldman Sachs,
you stated that the SEC-approved VaR models it is now using are
sufficiently conservative for the transition period to bank holding
company. Please justify this statement.2) If Goldman Sachs were required to adhere to standard Market Risk
Rules imposed by the Federal Reserve on ordinary bank holding
companies, how would its capital requirements differ from the current
regulatory regime?3) What is the difference in exposure to the taxpayer between these two regulatory regimes?
4) What is the difference in total risk to the portfolio between these two regulatory regimes?
5) Goldman Sachs stated that “As of June 26, 2009, total capital
was $254.05 billion, consisting of $62.81 billion in total
shareholders’ equity (common shareholders’ equity of $55.86 billion and
preferred stock of $6.96 billion) and $191.24 billion in unsecured
long-term borrowings.” As a percentage of capital, that’s a lot of
long-term unsecured debt. Is any of this coming from the Government?
In this last quarter, how much capital has Goldman Sachs received from
the Federal Reserve and ot
her government facilities such as FDIC-guaranteed debt, either directly or indirectly?6) Many risk-management experts, most notably best-selling author
Nassim Taleb, note that VaR models can dramatically understate risk.
What is your overall view of Taleb’s argument, and of the utility of
Value-at-Risk models as regulatory tools?As we work through legislative conversations regardling systemic
risk, these questions are taking on increased significance. We
appreciate your time and the efforts you are making to explain the
actions of the Federal Reserve to Congress, and to taxpayers.Sincerely,
Alan Grayson, Ron Paul, Walter Jones, Brad Miller, Dan Lipinski, Elijah
Cummings, Tom Perriello, Maxine Waters, Jackie Speier, and Maurice
Hinchey.
Today Ben Bernanke has responded. We present his response. We will share our commentary and views on this response shortly.
»
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blah blah blah we're corrupt - The End.
blah blah blah, we're corrupt, our puppetmasters are making money - The End
blah blah blah, we're corrupt, our puppetmasters are making money, we'll get jobs at GS soon - The End
lol touche!
LOL. Douche-(ae)!...
Sorry I don't have an acute accent symbol...
Translation: we know VaR doesn't work at all and that it is a starting point for doing something that we just cannot describe and what "that is" takes a very long time "to do" and to not describe.
But boy is it Good!
Trust us--we are the Federal Reserve Bank!
They would love it if everyone trusted them.
Hey citizens,
The Federal Reserve Bank is an independently owned banking cartel.
It prints money whenever it wants.
It loans money to whomever it wants.
It answers to no one (except the banks that own it).
So who EXACTLY is the Federal Reserve?
See below.
N.M. Rothschild , London - Bank of England
______________________________________
| |
| J. Henry Schroder
| Banking | Corp.
| |
Brown, Shipley - Morgan Grenfell - Lazard - |
& Company & Company Brothers |
| | | |
--------------------| -------| | |
| | | | | |
Alex Brown - Brown Bros. - Lord Mantagu - Morgan et Cie -- Lazard ---|
& Son | Harriman Norman | Paris Bros |
| | / | N.Y. |
| | | | | |
| Governor, Bank | J.P. Morgan Co -- Lazard ---|
| of England / N.Y. Morgan Freres |
| 1924-1938 / Guaranty Co. Paris |
| / Morgan Stanley Co. | /
| / | \Schroder Bank
| / | Hamburg/Berlin
| / Drexel & Company /
| / Philadelphia /
| / /
| / Lord Airlie
| / /
| / M. M. Warburg Chmn J. Henry Schroder
| | Hamburg --------- marr. Virginia F. Ryan
| | | grand-daughter of Otto
| | | Kahn of Kuhn Loeb Co.
| | |
| | |
Lehman Brothers N.Y -------------- Kuhn Loeb Co. N. Y.
| | --------------------------
µ
| | | |
8
| | | |
Lehman Brothers - Mont. Alabama Solomon Loeb Abraham Kuhn
| | __|______________________|_________
Lehman-Stern, New Orleans Jacob Schiff/Theresa Loeb Nina Loeb/Paul Warburg
------------------------- | | |
| | Mortimer Schiff James Paul Warburg
_____________|_______________/ |
| | | | |
Mayer Lehman | Emmanuel Lehman \
| | | \
Herbert Lehman Irving Lehman \
| | | \
Arthur Lehman \ Phillip Lehman John Schiff/Edith Brevoort Baker
/ | Present Chairman Lehman Bros
/ Robert Owen Lehman Kuhn Loeb - Granddaughter of
/ | George F. Baker
| / |
| / |
| / Lehman Bros Kuhn Loeb (1980)
| / |
| / Thomas Fortune Ryan
| | |
| | |
Federal Reserve Bank Of New York |
|||||||| |
______National City Bank N. Y. |
| | |
| National Bank of Commerce N.Y ---|
| | \
| Hanover National Bank N.Y. \
| | \
| Chase National Bank N.Y. \
| |
| |
Shareholders - National City Bank - N.Y. |
----------------------------------------- |
| /
James Stillman /
Elsie m. William Rockefeller /
Isabel m. Percy Rockefeller /
William Rockefeller Shareholders - National Bank of Commerce N. Y.
J. P. Morgan -----------------------------------------------
M.T. Pyne Equitable Life - J.P. Morgan
Percy Pyne Mutual Life - J.P. Morgan
J.W. Sterling H.P. Davison - J. P. Morgan
NY Trust/NY Edison Mary W. Harriman
Shearman & Sterling A.D. Jiullard - North British Merc. Insurance
| Jacob Schiff
| Thomas F. Ryan
| Paul Warburg
| Levi P. Morton - Guaranty Trust - J. P. Morgan
|
|
Shareholders - First National Bank of N.Y.
-------------------------------------------
J.P. Morgan
George F. Baker
George F. Baker Jr.
Edith Brevoort Baker
US Congress - 1946-64
|
|
|
|
|
Shareholders - Hanover National Bank N.Y.
------------------------------------------
James Stillman
William Rockefeller
|
|
|
|
|
Shareholders - Chase National Bank N.Y.
---------------------------------------
George F. Baker
Chart 2
Federal Reserve Directors: A Study of Corporate and Banking Influence- Published 1983
The J. Henry Schroder Banking Company chart encompasses the entire history of the twentieth century, embracing as it does the program (Belgium Relief Commission) which provisioned Germany from 1915-1918 and dissuaded Germany from seeking peace in 1916; financing Hitler in 1933 so as to make a Second World War possible; backing the Presidential campaign of Herbert Hoover ; and even at the present time, having two of its major executives of its subsidiary firm, Bechtel Corporation serving as Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State in the Reagan Administration.
The head of the Bank of England since 1973, Sir Gordon Richardson, Governor of the Bank of England (controlled by the House of Rothschild) was chairman of J. Henry Schroder Wagg and Company of London from 1963-72, and director of J. Henry Schroder,New York and Schroder Banking Corporation,New York,as well as Lloyd's Bank of London, and Rolls Royce. He maintains a residence on Sutton Place in New York City, and as head of "The London Connection," can be said to be the single most influential banker in the world.
J. Henry Schroder ----------------- | | | Baron Rudolph Von Schroder Hamburg - 1858 - 1934 | | | Baron Bruno Von Schroder Hamburg - 1867 - 1940 F. C. Tiarks | 1874-1952 | | | marr. Emma Franziska | (Hamburg) Helmut B. Schroder J. Henry Schroder 1902 | Dir. Bank of England | Dir. Anglo-Iranian | Oil Company J. Henry Schroder Banking Company N.Y. | | J. Henry Schroder Trust Company N.Y. | | | ___________________|____________________ | | Allen Dulles John Foster Dulles Sullivan & Cromwell Sullivan & Cromwell Director - CIA U. S. Secretary of State Rockefeller Foundation Prentiss Gray ------------ Belgian Relief Comm. Lord Airlie Chief Marine Transportation ----------- US Food Administration WW I Chairman; Virgina Fortune Manati Sugar Co. American & Ryan daughter of Otto Kahn British Continental Corp. of Kuhn,Loeb Co. | | | | M. E. Rionda | ------------ | Pres. Cuba Cane Sugar Co. | Manati Sugar Co. many other | sugar companies. _______| | | | | G. A. Zabriskie | --------------- | Emile Francoui Chmn U.S. Sugar Equalization | -------------- Board 1917-18; Pres Empire | Belgian Relief Comm. Kai Biscuit Co., Columbia Baking | Ping Coal Mines, Tientsin Co. , Southern Baking Co. | Railroad,Congo Copper, La | Banque Nationale de Belgique Suite 2000 42 Broadway | N. Y | __________________________|___________________________|_ | | | | | | Edgar Richard Julius H. Barnes Herbert Hoover ------------- ---------------- -------------- Belgium Relief Comm Belgium Relief Comm Chmn Belgium Relief Com Amer Relief Comm Pres Grain Corp. U.S. Food Admin U.S. Food Admin U.S. Food Admin Sec of Commerce 1924-28 1918-24, Hazeltine Corp. 1917-18, C.B Pitney Kaiping Coal Mines | Bowes Corp, Manati Congo Copper, President | Sugar Corp. U.S. 1928-32 | | | John Lowery Simpson ------------------- Sacramento,Calif Belgium Relief | Comm. U. S. Food Administration Baron Kurt Von Schroder Prentiss Gray Co. J. Henry Schroder ----------------------- Trust, Schroder-Rockefeller, Chmn Schroder Banking Corp. J.H. Stein Fin Comm, Bechtel International Bankhaus (Hitler's personal bank Co. Bechtel Co. (Casper Weinberger account) served on board of all Sec of Defense, George P. Schultz German subsidiaries of ITT . Bank Sec of State (Reagan Admin). for International Settlements, | SS Senior Group Leader,Himmler's | Circle of Friends (Nazi Fund), | Deutsche Reichsbank,president | | Schroder-Rockefeller & Co. , N.Y. --------------------------------- Avery Rockefeller, J. Henry Schroder Banking Corp., Bechtel Co., Bechtel International Co. , Canadian Bechtel Company. | | | | Gordon Richardson ----------------- Governor, Bank of England 1973-PRESENT C.B. of J. Henry Schroder N.Y. Schroder Banking Co., New York, Lloyds Bank Rolls RoyceChart 3
Federal Reserve Directors: A Study of Corporate and Banking Influence- Published 1976
The David Rockefeller chart shows the link between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,Standard Oil of Indiana,General Motors and Allied Chemical Corportion (Eugene Meyer family) and Equitable Life (J. P. Morgan).
DAVID ROCKEFELLER ---------------------------- Chairman of the Board Chase Manhattan Corp | | ______|_______________________ Chase Manhattan Corp. | Officer & Director Interlocks|--------------------- ------|----------------------- | | | Private Investment Co. for America Allied Chemicals Corp. | | Firestone Tire & Rubber Company General Motors | | Orion Multinational Services Ltd. Rockefeller Family & Associates | | ASARCO. Inc Chrysler Corp. | | Southern Peru Copper Corp. Intl' Basic Economy Corp. | | Industrial Minerva Mexico S.A. R.H. Macy & Co. | | Continental Corp. Selected Risk Investments S.A. | | Honeywell Inc. Omega Fund, Inc. | | Northwest Airlines, Inc. Squibb Corporation | | Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. Olin Foundation | | Minnesota Mining & Mfg Co (3M) Mutual Benefit Life Ins. Co. of NJ | | American Express Co. AT & T | | Hewlett Packard Pacific Northwestern Bell Co. | | FMC Corporation BeachviLime Ltd. | | Utah Intl' Inc. Eveleth Expansion Company | | Exxon Corporation Fidelity Union Bancorporation | | International Nickel/Canada Cypress Woods Corporation | | Federated Capital Corporation Intl' Minerals & Chemical Corp. | | Equitable Life Assurance Soc U.S. Burlington Industries | | Federated Dept Stores Wachovia Corporation | | General Electric Jefferson Pilot Corporation | | Scott Paper Co. R. J. Reynolds Industries Inc. | | American Petroleum Institute United States Steel Corp. | | Richardson Merril Inc. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. | | May Department Stores Co. Norton-Simon Inc. | | Sperry Rand Corporation Stone-Webster Inc. | | San Salvador Development Company Standard Oil of IndianaChart 4
Federal Reserve Directors: A Study of Corporate and Banking Influence- Published 1976
This chart shows the interlocks between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York J. Henry Schroder Banking Corp., J. Henry Schroder Trust Co., Rockefeller Center, Inc., Equitable Life Assurance Society ( J.P. Morgan), and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Alan Pifer, President Carnegie Corporation of New York ---------------------- | | ---------------------- Carnegie Corporation Trustee Interlocks -------------------------- ---------------------- | | | Rockefeller Center, Inc J. Henry Schroder Trust Company | | The Cabot Corporation Paul Revere Investors, Inc. | | Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Qualpeco, Inc. | Owens Corning Fiberglas | New England Telephone Co. | Fisher Scientific Company | Mellon National Corporation | Equitable Life Assurance Society | Twentieth Century Fox Corporation | J. Henry Schroder Banking CorporationChart 5
Federal Reserve Directors: A Study of Corporate and Banking Influence- Published 1976
This chart shows the link between the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Brown Brothers Harriman,Sun Life Assurance Co. (N.M. Rothschild and Sons), and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Maurice F. Granville Chairman of The Board Texaco Incorporated ---------------------- | | Texaco Officer & Director Interlocks ---------------- Liggett & Myers, Inc. ------------------------------------ | | | | | L Arabian American Oil Company St John d'el Ray Mining Co. Ltd. O | | N Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. National Steel Corporation D | | O Brown Harriman & Intl' Banks Ltd. Massey-Ferguson Ltd. N | | American Express Mutual Life Insurance Co. | | N. American Express Intl' Banking Corp. Mass Mutual Income Investors Inc. M. | | Anaconda United Services Life Ins. Co. R | | O Rockefeller Foundation Fairchild Industries T | | H Owens-Corning Fiberglas Blount, Inc. S | | C National City Bank (Cleveland) William Wrigley Jr. Co H | | I Sun Life Assurance Co. National Blvd. Bank of Chicago L | | D General Reinsurance Lykes Youngstown Corporation | | General Electric (NBC) Inmount Corporation** Source: Federal Reserve Directors: A Study of Corporate and Banking Influence. Staff Report,Committee on Banking,Currency and Housing, House of Representatives, 94th Congress, 2nd Session, August 1976.
lol.
In a better world ZH would sweep the prize pool - the Pulitzers, etc., etc. In this world these awards are all hollow self-confirmatory prizes for masturbation, so who cares.
Nevertheless this response is a tribute to the power of ideas, and the clear and effective way Tyler et. al. make use of the great leveler that is the Internet.
Rock on. Long live the 1st Amendment (and all the rest of the Bill of Rights.)
speaking of the bill of rights,
will the 10th amendment save some states from having to pay for others?
California is America's Greece.
10th Amendment?
That was ruled unconstitutional a long time ago. And by "ruled unconstitutional", I mean "ignored and disregarded".
To be precise, the Tenth Amendment was repealed by the Civil War.
"California is America's Greece."
Actually:
Greece = 2% EU GDP => Maryland = 1.9% US GDP
Calif = 13.2% US GDP => Italy = 12.6% to Britain = 15.3%
2008 numbers... take your pick.
Perhaps he was referring to the sodomy?
It's nice to know that bernanke has a doctor's signature. All we need is a piece of federal reserve letterhead and we can have all you can eat foie gras for the rest of our lives :)_
Ok, now I've finished reading and I am confused. Here's why:
1. It seems like this letter just intimated that there is fundementally no difference between sound lending to small businesses and first time home owners, and walking into a casino with an eightball in one hand and a hooker's ass in the other.
2. It appears that these "BHC's" were going to get a full years worth of access to the benefits of being a commercial bank before they ever had to produce any evidence that they were adhering to the requirements for being one.
3. How could it possibly take a year for regulators to realize what goldman's business model was? They all frickin worked there
How could it possibly take a year for regulators to realize what goldman's business model was? They all frickin worked there
Charmingly said.
They Sure Frickin Did .
When did the bar on plausible deniability drop on the floor to never be raised again. LOL
Public: I saw you reach into the cookie jar. Your hand was in it.You stole cookies!
Wall Street: No I didn't.
Public: But I saw you!
Wall Street: No I didn't.
Public: Yes you did.
Wall Street: No I didn't.
Yes you did...
No I didn't....
That's what we've degenerated to. That's the level of deniability that we're at.
And they are saying, "No, I didn't," with cookie crumbs smeared all around their mouths.
"1. It seems like this letter just intimated that there is fundementally no difference between sound lending to small businesses and first time home owners, and walking into a casino with an eightball in one hand and a hooker's ass in the other."
Funniest take of the month. And this is a very witty, intelligent site.
It appears to me that the only thing hoolding the stock market up right now is Bernanke Bucks, and the expectation of QE 2.0 in some form or another, despite Ben's denials the other day. If it becomes clear that Bernanke will not be printing anymore BB's, then expect another Black Monday. If extended, watch the dollar die.
Tyler...have you responded to Goldman's response? I don't remember seeing it.
GS got special fed approved exemption for VAR last year, they were suppose to reign it in starting in Dec.
either way, moot point, ben is excellent an avoidance of reality
Dang, his in box must be overflowing, took him long enough to answer.
The actual answering is the easy part. It's the checking every single nuance of the answer to make sure it fits most (and ideally all) of the prior lies and most of the already planed future lies that takes so much time.
You're obviously not a lawyer or a politician. God bless you! There are some innocents left in the world. ;>))
So true. I can only imagine how many billable hours were spent crafting the response letter.
I think they probably created a test group to make sure your eyes would glaze over by the end of the first sentence.
He's probably snowed under signing SPY buy and GLD sell contracts...
he replied but didn't answer
Aristocracy will answer the commoner on it's own time.
I love zh because every day I read it, I keep hoping to find that one piece of news that will end the ponzi scheme. But for every ounce of bad news, the market always ignores it and goes higher. The market is simply a computer run arena. There is no logic. Charts don't make a difference. The market goes where JPM or Goldman wants it to. That is why I can't understand why ZH is so shocked when the markets defy the charts. The computers that drive the markets don't give a fuck about charts.
There is no market...only Xul.
A great read on the story behind the "we're corrupt end of story" head line can be found in a Salon article entitled: "Larry Summers, Tim Geithner and Wall Street's ownership of government"
I would add, Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson, Dick Cheney, Ben Bernanke and Allan Greenspan to the title but it might a little too long for editorial purposes.
All of the above are just puppets,..the real whippers have yet to show their face.
End the Fed !
....what a bunch of cheaters.....
I suppose the Fed credo is if the make a mistake they do not backtrack and fix the problem. They instead make it worse by continuing to pour more effort into it.
All the mumbo jumbo translated = Um, er, Mr. Grayson, we need to keep them exempt or at least have one mother of a long transition period in the best interest of the public and the entire financial system...move along, nothing to see here.
P.S. I'll have some other staff prepare direct answers to your more specific questions as I don't want to bother myself with questions from little people who think they're important representing even more uninteresting and bothersome people, also known as the masses. Besides I might trip up over one of my earlier lies and SNAFU myself. After witness Paulson do that too many times, discretion is my chosen course of action.
A year from now when this blows up in his face he will say, "I had no direct involvement in any of it", i.e., "staff" answered the questions.
Goldman is a bank now,. Time to regulate the living shit outta them!
If you were to publish lies about Goldman Sachs, you would be hit with lawsuits.
If you publish the truth about Goldman Sachs, you have to read this sort of tripe.
I guess it took 7 months to get a proper manicure on the middle finger he just gave to Congress.
This was completely non-responsive (except perhaps for item 7, which was an opinion).
And people complain about the waiting period that exists under socialized health care...
The switch to "whom" is appreciated, but it's still wrong. Just replace "among XXX" with "including."
Thanks :)
aint America truly the greatest country in this world ? put the third world countries look like "gold"
Question to the Fed (actually those that run it)
Is it in fact true that you nourish yourselves exclusively on the semen of the Giant Squid????
must read....http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/32255149/wall_streets_bailout...
Tyler - GS is doing "god's work" by effectivelly managing asset prices and interest rates for the Treasury and FED- beyond that what else do you need to know? VAR? Comon we cant effectively manage with rules that would apply to mere mortals....
I did not see one answer in there, excuses maybe, but not answers. My star is for the comments! Tyler! there's some splaining to do! Maybe you can give them multiple choice the next time.
These nopn-responses from the FED truly show how FUC@#$'d we are!!
We are so beyond Fucked, we can't even catch the bus back to FUCKED!!
If you can't provide a direct answer to a direct question Federal Reserve, then don't even bother!!
AUDIT THE FED END THE FED!!!!
It appears to be designed to be difficult to understand
OK readers, if this doesn't demonstrate how hopelessly CORRUPT the FED and Goldman is, nothing will.
Collusion and Corruption as far as the eye can see.
Why do we stand for it?? Time to GET GREEK!
Under the SEC, the sham oversight was conducted off-site.
Under the Fed, the sham oversight is conducted on-site.
We hope this information has been helpful.
Have you ever worked in an institution that was under Fed regulation? It's anything but a sham - they're very meticulous, strict and intrusive,
Who regulates the regulators?
Goldman Sachs, of course. Haven't you noticed?
You people talk as if you want the squid to pay the going rate.
Wow what a dance. They basically said the VaR is determined differently on each type of investment. GS has 191B thats unsecured that would be from the gov. or the fed (same thing) I would assume.Thats my take anyway. So what is the VaR for each investment instrument?
If you need a Var for each investment instrument it is essentially a useless measure--importantly what about the cross impacts over various investments under stress scenarios? How are those measured?
Obviously you are right, but if you have their formula for each VAR then you can start to discredit their policies regarding this obfuscation.
Thank you very little, Ben.
You lecture like Obama...talk a lot while saying nothing.
The one question the Congressman failed to ask was, "Why should we continue to grant you, Ben, the power to subjectively pick private sector winners and losers?"
Here is what Bernanke is really saying ...
It's gone! Not only does he make BennyBux, he also mysteriously deletes deleterious posts on the Internet!
Good lord. When will congress admit out loud what it already
knows that Lord blankfein tells Ben what They will or will not get, do or say?
When will TD wake up to the fact that the FED is not the horse. The FED is the cart?
Until this fundamental fact is understood all other references to the FED are mired in the mud.
EXACTLY...
"When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes... Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain."
Napoleon Bonaparte, 1815
Do i really need to post this?
Many of you have seen it.
My good friends @ ZH, it is time..........
Are you there yet?
Are you ready to finally pull out all your funds from banks and Wall Street?
Sell off all stocks/trades?
Perhaps even go on a labor strike with your co-workers and picket your State government?
Or are you just sitting there like a good sheeple?
"There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt." John Adams 1826
**********************
NATIONAL STRIKE
APRIL 15 to APRIL 18TH
TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW
POST THIS ON EVERY DISCUSSION BOARD
www.taxfree15.com
**********************
Ben Shalom Bernanke attended Harvard University, where he lived in Winthrop House and graduated with a B.A. in economics summa cum laude in? 1975. Coincidentally, another Winthrop House resident at the time was fellow 1975 graduate Lloyd Blankfein, future CEO of Goldman Sachs. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the MIT in 1979 and his thesis adviser was Stanley Fischer. Stanley Fischer is an economist and the current Governor of the Bank of Israel.
I for one am getting a little exhausted with the "It's Very Complicated" - "An Extremely Complex Issue" without a comprehensive knowledge and background of this issue you just wouldn't understand Answer.
Just TRUST US -- our model is VERY ROBST - but to be honest these things are Extremely Comprehensive and time Consuming - and damn it - we were too busy saving the world to spend time on it so we just punted it for a year.
Any other questions we can help you with.
YES JUST ONE - when are you going to answer the first questions and why did GS receive BHC status over a weekend while most other banks applying for BHC status have to jump through hoops for 12 -14 months to receive the same status.
Next time any of you and your significant other bed down with the possibility of creating a new life, don't forget that the resulting child will be paying for all the things none of us had the courage to stop.
Now take another sip of the Dom, crank up the Barry Whyte, and get back to getting it done!
This is one of the finest pieces of nonmenklatura double speak I have seen, and I have seen plenty during my adventures as a lawyer in Central Europe and China.
BANANA HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC
(America the Beautiful)
WilliamBanzai7
O beautiful and spacious lies,
For fraudulent Wall Street gains,
With pinstriped swindling tragedies
Upon your 401k!
America! America!
God won't shed this disgrace from thee
And crown those hoods--the banksta brotherhood
From scheme to ponzi scheme!
O beautiful political, thievery and lies
Whose two faced impassioned distress
A thoroughfare of lobbying and greed
Across the populist wilderness!
America! America!
God send thine every corrupt and crony flaw,
Confirm thy soul without self-control,
Their liberties above the law!
O beautiful for heroes screwed
In bungled economic strife.
Those who love themselves above their land
And moral hazard more than life!
America! America!
May God's work Goldman's Blankfein refine
Till all success be Fat Cat nobleness
And bailout gains divine!
O beautiful for patriots reamed
That sees beyond the tears of subprime slime
Thine asset bubble cities gleam
Undimmed by quantitative legerdemain!
America! America!
God won't shed this disgrace from thee
And crown those hoods-- the banksta brotherhood
From scheme to ponzi scheme!
ZH should apply for a bank charter. Then we can all do some serious damage!
It's nothing earth-shaking but it seems - reasonably responsive to the questions.
This is an amazing work of bullshit.
First of all, they were given until 2 months ago to operate as usual. Therein lies the rub. So basically, we have no data to operate off of since the Fed gave the 3 new BHC's plenty of time to play biz as usual. This entire work needs to be reintroduced by said Senators and Congresspeeps as of Jan 1, 2010. Otherwise, it means nothing.
A man in a balloon lands in the middle of a field on a cloudy/foggy day.
Another man in a business suit runs up and says can I help?
"Sure sir, can you tell me where I am?"
"Most certainly, you are in a balloon, in the middle of a field, probably somewhere within a calculable radius of the exact coordinates of your departure."
"Pardon me, but are you a Fderal Reserve risk analyst."
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Because what you just told me is totally logical, well thought and, given a specified range of probable outcomes, most certainly useless."
Tyler, is the VAR number really an accurate barometer of the risk GS is taking? If their business consists primarily of front running customer order flow (whether what they do offically meets the definition or not) and market making in fixed income with enormous bid ask spreads, are they really taking a lot of risk? The fact that they make a fortune literally every day would seem to argue against the idea that they are taking huge risk. I am not advocating, I am really asking the question (and hoping for an answer from you), because most of the content on Zero Hedge seems to argue against the idea that GS is taking real risk, at least as ordinary people use the term.
As Taleb might say, the first hundred days of the Thanksgiving turkey's life are pretty risk-free. It's that last one that changes everything.
What outrageous doublespeak and dereliction by Bernanke and the Fed. In 2008 the Fed and Treasury (taxpayers) rescued Goldman Sachs from bankruptcy and total collapse. It was the failure of Goldman Sachs risk management that caused the crisis.
How in the wide world of banking regulation could Bernanke and the Fed allow GS, a proven failure at risk management, to operate under GS risk management regime?
As soon as GS was allowed to convert from an IB to a regulated bank, why didn't Bernanke and the Fed immediately impose the strictest, most draconian risk management requirements on this known failure at risk management.
In addition, in 2008 the Fed knew that Goldman Sachs was a notorious perpetrator of systematic risk, and yet treated GS with kid gloves. Time for a Congressional investigation of Ben and the Fed, with an eye on possible criminal charges.
The crisis wasn't caused by the failure of Goldman's risk management - it was caused, for example, by idiocy at the FHA under Andrew Cuomo.
Goldman's is anything but a failure at risk management - eg their hedging in their dealings with AIG.
My favorite from this week...
Wednesday WSJ "Business Lending falling through Floor"
Thursday - Bernake "Credit Unions shouldn't expand their lending cap to make more business loans"
So we shut down those who want to lend while supporting those that can't and won't.
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