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Fed Will Now Monetize The Most Recently Issued Agencies

Tyler Durden's picture




 

The Federal Reserve announced earlier a shift in its strategy in purchasing Agency debt, whereby it would purchase almost exclusively the most recently issued Agency paper:

Prior to August 31, 2009, purchases were focused on off-the-run securities in that category. Going forward, purchases will include on-the-run securities in that category. This change represents a technical adjustment designed to mitigate market dislocations and to promote overall market functioning. Over the course of the program, the Federal Reserve may change the scope of purchasable securities.

"Overall market function" is a wonderful euphemism for attaining a sufficiently high stock price for commercial banks so that when the FASB requires off-balance sheet items to be reincorporated on their respective balance sheets at the end of the year, we don't have another massive bank raid once every single emperor's clothes are proven to be non existent as Tier 1 Capital Ratios start collapsing like dominoes, and the Stress test is determined to be a government sponsored fraud.

John Jansen provides the following expansive explanation:

“…That approach had several consequences. It made the agency market less liquid as the Open Market Desk soaked up off the run paper and owned increasingly large pieces of those issues. Dealers would be quite hesitant to offer bonds to clients as covering the short position would be hazardous to a traders health.

So by shifting focus to recently issued bonds the Desk will be able to procure bigger blocks of bonds without further disrupting already damaged liquidity.

In addition, in my experience the Federal Reserve has always bought that which is cheap on a yield to maturity basis. There purchase activity has made off the run paper expensive to on the run paper and this new procedure will allow the Desk to buy that which is cheap on the curve…”

Zero Hedge has a simpler one: monetization (and after all the Fed is already doing this with Treasuries; did anyone think that Agencies, which as TIC showed recently, are being shunned by all CBs are any different - it was only a matter of time before the Fed tipped its hand in "advising" foreign purchasers that it will now backstop virtually every piece of US-issued paper, even those from the dreaded GSEs).

And lest we forget, the Fed is already facilitating the rotation of MBS and Agencies by foreign CBs into Treasuries. At this rate a $5 trillion Federal Reserve balance sheet by this time next year is looking conservative.

 

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Tue, 09/01/2009 - 18:57 | 55577 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

By hook or by crook, they will not give up the manipulation.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:07 | 55594 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

More like CAN NOT give up the manipulation.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:33 | 55612 KeyserSöze
KeyserSöze's picture

This will be THE CURRENCY CRISIS OF 2010....As I have been saying for a month now the FED will by all the Agency Paper from every garbage real estate venture in the past decade.

I suspect they would not have been this obvious...I thought maybe they might buy the level 3 assets directly from the banks and then the banks would be good to go....perhaps this is why the banks are getting bid up because the VAMPIRE squid knows what "THE PLAN" is in Washington.  Dollars to donuts that is the game plan.  Why else would PAULSON and the gang load the boat on BOFA et all?  This is the only rational explaination that I can come up with ....the insiders who control everything know what the game plan is...but not us minions.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:53 | 55642 phaesed
phaesed's picture

Beware.... The Fed did the same thing to Irving Fisher, the creator of the econometric methods of the Federal Reserve... And then he died broke, penniless and discraced.... despite the fact he created our entire economic system which they thoroughly subverted. What makes you think they will have any better regard for Paulson?

 

http://www.dallasfed.org/research/ei/ei0501.pdf

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:39 | 55665 KeyserSöze
KeyserSöze's picture

Paulson the hedge fund manager....the guy who has one of his largest positions in Gold and added BAC to his portfolio

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:08 | 55844 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

What good is gold if the zombies are scarfin on your brains for breakfast.

Too many zombies, too little bullets.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:57 | 55683 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

Keyser I definitely agree.  I'm not sure BofA stock will be worth anything, but his gold definitely will.

 

In terms of Fed owning all the agency paper, I think this is the game plan.  Actually I see two game plans.

 

PLAN A:  What you said.  Fed balance sheet grows like cancer to swallow up GSE and possibly Treasury debt.

PLAN B:  Fed implodes in controlled demolition -- authority is handed over to the IMF to 'rescue' the system.

 

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:15 | 55697 KeyserSöze
KeyserSöze's picture

The Fed will pick up all the garbage...once it started down this road it can't simply stop...he is like a drug addict, nothing can ever fail again that is the new administrations policy.

The problem though is that it will cause a race to the door to sell dollars assets, bonds, treasuries, currencies.  I don't believe the USD will catch a REAL bid if the equity markets sell off.  The invisible hand will come in and jam the USD shorts...Ben HAS TO KEEP THE DOLLAR UP.  He can't let the USD collapse or forget even trying to sell a UST, note, bond even at 10%-20% if your currency is effectively worthless and Ben knows this...look at the DXY...will not go down period.

AFTER the US currency collapse (and all other countries who have all printed money to keep the game going) will all approach the IMF with a reset formula.  I believe it will be a debt swap formula.  How? I am still thinking but some kind of forgiveness/minimizing of debt, perhaps some ideas from readers.  The US will have way to much debt by that time with the with SS/medicare right behind all of this .......and the debt has to implode and it MUST be deflated...we are past the point that we can inflate out of this thing.  Mathmatically impossible (of course I am adding in the CRE collapse onto the Feds balance sheet as well)

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:29 | 55708 TumblingDice
TumblingDice's picture

My theory: it is either massive liquidation or war at this point. The time for reasonable negotiation has passed. Maybe the IMF will come in and make everyone happy but that seems unlikely to me, they just don't have the funds or the clout to implement a "solution" what ever it can be. SDR's are great (not really) but they need to grow very rapidly to a significant percentage of central bank reserves and even then it is just another way to leverage something that shouldnt be leveraged.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:12 | 55752 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Just because they shouldn't doesn't mean they won't.

You've heard of KaPoom theory, my take on it involves conspiracy and more extreme measures, I call it SuperNova theory, perhaps in part because six hedge funds in NoVA are involved integrally. When money can be typed into existence, deflation ends up manifesting itself in the end-game as hyperinflation, though perhaps not nominally.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:18 | 55805 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

Agreed.  Supernova sounds like an apt comparison.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:06 | 55841 agrotera
agrotera's picture

first massive deflation, then hyperinflation--the worst of both worlds.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:20 | 55755 KeyserSöze
KeyserSöze's picture

Did you see what the IMF did last week with the SDR and 5 of the worlds central banks?

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:19 | 55806 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

TumblingDice I agree with you as well.  I think they will start a war in Pakistan to be perfectly honest.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:00 | 55840 Marley
Marley's picture

Also keep an eye on Equatorial Guinea.  Huge oil reserves which are desired by all, including China.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:07 | 55842 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Look further south. Venezuela. Building 5 bases in Columbia as we speak. They Ben settin up that one for years.

But, could be right about Pakistan, maybe that's why China pulled out of Gwadar.

Hell, why not multiple wars all over the planet.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:19 | 55851 jdun
jdun's picture

War consume it doesn't produce.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 08:42 | 55955 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Google V2 rocket wiseguy.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:46 | 55858 dot_bust
dot_bust's picture

Don't forget Iran. For the past two weeks, the U.S. newswire services have been running articles about the hijacked Russian ship. These articles accuse the Russians of attempting to ship missles to Iran.

Since we have troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, the waters of the Persian Gulf, and now Pakistan, we have unoffically surrounded Iran on four sides -- something that's absolutely necessary in a full-scale invasion.

I see the scenario playing out as follows:

1. A false flag attack takes place in the U.S., and
the stock market collapses.

2. The U.S. attacks Iran.

3. Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off all shipments.

4. Oil skyrockets to $300 per barrel.

5. Bernanke says, "Don't blame me for the stock market crash.
The Iranians did it."

 

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 04:46 | 55916 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

this is a reasonable scenario however the action
is in syria...it will be demolished before any
action on iran...and in fact may be bait...

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 12:28 | 56223 dot_bust
dot_bust's picture

That's possible. Syria is a possible kick-off place.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 09:39 | 55987 Marley
Marley's picture

What has been learnt successful will be repeated!

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 10:53 | 56060 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

1. A false flag attack takes place in the U.S., and
the stock market collapses.

 

Replace with "U.S." with Israel and the rest is about right.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:46 | 56168 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

US = Israel = US ...

You can often replace Israel with US, or
"US backed Israeli" in news reports and
they read accurately.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:29 | 55710 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

I think Bernanke will be shot some hot tempered dude and Ben will be sipping beer in hell and watching US from there..

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:41 | 55718 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Some type of forgiveness...hmmm.

Well they could just let Beijing walk ashore on Taiwan without lifting a finger. How much would that be worth to China?

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:18 | 55804 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

Keyser you really should write an article

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:58 | 55736 Econocataclysm
Econocataclysm's picture

I agree that the U.S. getting "Structural Adjustment" from the IMF just like the third world toilet we have become is a strong possibility, but I'm not sure it's as premeditated as you seem to think it might be. I could be wrong, and in the end there is no telling for sure until some historian writes a book 50 years from now based on the personal letters of the people most centrally involved in this who will have just died.

 

Either way, kiss the world's only Superpower bye-bye. Either SDR's or Euros become the new reserve currency, petrodollar recycling ends and takes our overinflated stock market with it, the Pax Americana fades, The Sunnis and Shiites sack Tel Aviv and then fight amongst themselves over Jerusalem, and the PRC settles the "One China" question once and for all with military force against Taiwan.

 

And I move to Canada lolz!!!

MORE BLOOD!!! MORE BLOOD!!! MORE BLOOD!!!

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:28 | 56129 JR
JR's picture

On your list of ground zero falling hot spots from the “over-inflated stock market” to “Taiwan,” I wouldn’t have included “Tel Aviv” since it represents the Middle East’s major superpower armed to the teeth by American taxpayers.

Stalin said of the Pope: “How many divisions does he have?”  Sunnis, Shiites and Persians?  How many nukes do they have?

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:59 | 56180 bpj
bpj's picture

Israel has over 450 nukes and they possess the nuclear troika, missiles, planes and subs.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 20:45 | 56956 Econocataclysm
Econocataclysm's picture

I dunno, how many nukes did Russia "lose" over the last couple of decades? How many of them could have been bought with Arab state oil money? Quite a few. In any case, the Rumble in the Desert will be quite a thing to watch, from a distance.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:29 | 55765 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

plan b is the solution....

how many noticed that the imf issued in 250b
in "liquidity" last month via sdr - the first
time ever of that magnitude....

the four horsemen of the apocalypse gallop
harder and harder...

just as nanothermite brought the wtc down in a
controlled demolition, so will debt and derivatives
do to the fed....

nothing happens by accident....

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:21 | 55807 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

No I didn't notice that.   Where are you getting the statistics on the growth of the IMF SDR?  This is a critical story in my opinion.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 01:29 | 55871 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Nathan/aug312009.html

paul nathan is the author...he said it was
unprecedented....

and you are absolutely right that it is important
because it is a prelude to supranational
and nwo type amalgamation of the world's money
supply and management...

the final act is unfolding right before our eyes....

this is about the 3d time i have read this information

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:45 | 55828 KeyserSöze
KeyserSöze's picture

That is exactly what I was referring to in my post above...slipped 'under the radar'...but remember the SDR is just for the CB banks.  (not for the minions)

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:47 | 55780 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

The IMF doesn't have the horsepower to bail anyone out of this, at least not with real capital.  There will be a gentlemen's agreement among the ruling classes worldwide to debase currencies somewhat equally, and lower the living standards of all the serfs everywhere. There is no other way out that retains the ruling class, so that is what they will try to do.

What we're doing right now is consolidating economic power into fewer hands, especially banks.  The serfs are being heaped with sovereign debt to provide cash so that the big banks can survive and buy up the little banks.  When this consolidation is complete, the agreement will be implemented via global "austerity" measures whereby all the promises that have been made to retirees will be reneged on via inflation.  Costs of living will rise but wages will not.  The middle class gets destroyed, and the chasm between the rich and poor widens dramatically.

Corruption will become commonplace and open.  Protests will be dealt with harshly; excuses will not be found wanting.  Argentina, except with a police state.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:13 | 55802 ghostfaceinvestah
ghostfaceinvestah's picture

Well said.

 

The ONLY thing you can do, the ONLY way you can save the country, is to starve the beast immediately. 

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:21 | 55808 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

Man there is some great intellectual content on this thread I am impressed heheh.  I have to read this carefully when I get back home.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:42 | 55825 Econocataclysm
Econocataclysm's picture

The problem with "New World Order" conspiracy theories like this is that they deny not only present political realities, but historical precedents as well.

Yes, the Council on Foreign Relations puts forward lots of baroque schemes for world government. Half of them never come off because they can't get the parties involved to cease squabbling over old issues. The CFR is in reality an arm of the Anglo-American Empire and as such everything they publish and all of the backdoor deals they make are oriented towards that end.

But, look at it objectively: all of the parties that the US is counting on to fund the Empire have much to gain and nothing to lose from a US collapse. OPEC nations? Their biggest goal in life, the Arab ones at any rate, is to burn Israel to the ground and solidify the Middle East as a Pan-Islamic Union of some sort. Their only stumbling block? The United States. China wants to become a true regional power in East Asia, dominating the area both economically and militarily. They want to clean the Nationalists out of Taiwan once and for all. Who is stopping them? The United States. The European Union would like nothing better than to have their currency as the next world reserve currency, just like the Dollar is now and the British Pound used to be. And the IMF would LOVE to be the primary issuers of SDR's for a true "World Bank", assuming they could get everybody to agree to it: good luck there, they can't even get the diplos at the UN to agree on what's for lunch most of the time let alone getting the whole world to abandon their national currencies.

I see not world-wide political unity out of the present crises (plural form intended), but global fragmentation based on already well established regional lines and long-standing grievances and prejudices. This is nothing more or less than everyone's opportunity to eliminate the world's policeman (the US) once and for all and get down to the business of settling their old scores at last. And honestly, world political unity is just too optimistic an outcome at this point in history and with all the old grievances that are still in play. I firmly believe that anyone who thinks there is one unified class of "The Rich" that are going to enact global control is just giving these people too much credit. Yes, there are some in that strata who would like that and yes, many of those are high-level bankers. But I think those bankers will be very disappointed by what happens next on the global stage.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 08:45 | 55956 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

What you say is correct, IF you believe that the relevant governing entities believe they can survive a severe downturn independently and stay in control of their own local spheres of influence. 

I have my doubts.  Of all the areas you mention, China appears to be the most capable (and certainly willing) to deal ruthlessly, forecully and immediately with any internal problems arising from joblessness, hopelessness, etc.  China can certainly deal with Taiwan, but can it deal with the U.S. Navy?  Nope.  Why not?  Submarines.  China cannot defend its lines of trade; this is not a good position for a mercantilist nation.

The EU is a freaking economic basket case that is totally dependent on a mortal enemy for energy; the Euro is a dead issue.  The House of Saud would love to destroy Israel, but with what?  Iran?  The only thing the Saudis hate more than the Jews is Iran, and the thought of a nuclear-capable dominant Iranian state in the ME is terrifying to them.

The IMF has no large supply of real capital; the IMF was designed as a tool for looting small nations of their natural wealth; it is totally inadequate to the task of issuing a world currency.  SDR's are a basket of sovereign currencies, and as such printing SDR's is the equivalent of printing sovereign currencies.  Printing unbacked currencies by the basket is no better than printing unbacked sovereign currencies except for the added layer of obfuscation.  It's still not real capital.

The world bankers fear loss of control more than anything.  I expect them to attempt a coordinated, rather than competitive, debasement of currencies. I expect it to work for awhile and then blow up.

 

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 12:23 | 56216 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Sorry... hedge fund for you too!

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 20:52 | 56965 Econocataclysm
Econocataclysm's picture

Just remember, we DON'T KNOW what the nuclear capability of Arab oil states is like. We have an IDEA that most of them aren't close to producing their own weapons, however this says nothing about them having been able to buy up loose Russian nukes. Not6 to mention possible sales of Pakistani nukes.

And what happens to Isreal if they actually USE their nukes? Hard to say. We don't THINK Pakistan has the missile range to hit them, but load one good city buster onto a semi truck...

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:33 | 56142 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

You MUST start a hedge fund.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 12:28 | 56225 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Brilliant insight... both!

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 08:33 | 55951 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

this seems the likely scenario, though I can't quite get my arms around the extent of middle-class destruction that will occur.

however, obama's policies seem intent on leveling the playing field between the poor and the middle-class, including anyone who happens to have 2 feet on the ground in the US.

in addition, his policies seem suppressive with regard to freedom of speech (control of the internet in extraordinary circusstances in no different than some dictator taking control of the TV and radio stations).

and a couple other things meant to keep a disgruntled populace in place are on the horizon.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 01:09 | 55864 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

I keep hearing all this talk of "The Fed" buying this and that and owning toxic assets, etc. in a bid to "save" the economy. What they are doing is spending OUR money as taxpayers in order to "save" a few large financial institutions. The ones holding the bag won't be Paulson but you and me. It's really gonna suck for America at some point.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:44 | 55723 Econocataclysm
Econocataclysm's picture

Reading Zero Hedge these past months and watching the antics of the Plunge Protection Team through the eyes of ZH contributors, I've come to the inevitable conclusion that the political leadership of the United States (and that includes the corporations, tis is a Fascist government after all) is in a deep state of psychological denial due to severe psychic shock at their subconscious realization that their elite status is about to end, both as a nation and, more importantly for them, as individuals. This is the only thing that even remotely makes any sense out of the moves coming from Washington and New York these days.

The plan is simple: monetize debt as fast as they can by buying their own Treasuries with this agency swap shell game, use the Plunge Protection Team's access to HFT algos to immediately dump all that money into Fannie, Freddy, Citi, CIT and AIG to create the impression of a "new bull market", get the cheerleaders at CNBC to treat any and all bears the same way the mainstream media treats flying saucer witnesses (actually worse than that, considering that what Peter Schiff says is actually rooted in provable reality), and hope the Chinese don't notice this.

And it's that last part that convinces me they're in denial. In other words, it's not just that they're lying to us. They're lying to THEMSELVES about this strategy having any hope whatsoever of working. I mean, come on: if ZH readers and contributors can see through this bullshit so easily, don't they think the Chinese can as well? Not to mention every other country now holding our worthless paper? It's not as if these countries don't have their own ways of knowing things, their own well developed economic intelligence departments. This foolishness is decieving nobody except American citizens, but it's not the AmCits who need to be conned into believing in this, it's our foreign creditors.

What a world. I actually took a break from my blog for the last few days because I was just flabberghasted by the bullshit coming from all sides these days. Look at the "health care" mayhem: those people, both sides, are like Hitler in the Bunker in April of 1945, pushing around units that don't even exist anymore. I'm convinced for my own reasons that universal health care can work, it DOES work in most of Europe and Canada and I am well aware of the lies perpetuated by insurance companies to the contrary, but that having been said, a Dollar collapse renders the point moot. Insurance companies ARE spending buku bucks to maintain their legal monopolies over the health system. This is truth. But again, once the commercial real estate market blows up and a whole bunch of other things start to sink in it won't matter. They can make all the hyperinflated Dollars they want from human suffering, they still won't be able to buy anything with them.

I'm with Project Mayhem: I'm also diversifying into canned food and ammunition lolz!!! Actually, if you've read my website then you know this is the literal truth. The central economic planners in the Soviet Union didn't see their demise coming any more than our central economic planners at the Fed see theirs coming.

And I say: MORE BLOOD!!! MORE BLOOD!!! MORE BLOOD!!!

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:39 | 55776 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

i think you have drawn the right conclusion
about the fascist elite who rule this nation...
but i would add that not only do they themselves
see collapse, they are looting us on their way
out the door....the top 1% of americans
own 57% of the nation's wealth....

the ultimatum they gave congress last year in
terms of forking over trillions more or else was
to get the remaining 43%....just like scrooge's
raid on whoville....

health does not work overseas - there are many
shortcoming which have been well documented
not the least of which being their wealthier
people coming here to get health care lest they
die before treatment....

very few report the increase of murder in holland
- the so-called "assisted suicide."

the point of universal health care is not altruism
but more control....control over your body, your
mind, and your soul....this is what access to
medical information provides....

this is the eugencists wet dream - the ability
to control breeding , living, and dying to
create the utopian state....all elite are
desperate for population control and reductions
the purpose of which is too get rid of the
unworthies.....

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 01:04 | 55862 agrotera
agrotera's picture

Hear-Hear Anony!

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:30 | 55813 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

Well I do agree with a good amount of what you are saying.  Our elites are corrupt and probably desperate.  They are also very arrogant.

 

I don't agree that I want to see more blood though.  That would be just more tragedy.

 

As for health care, the libertarian in me wants/conservative in me wants to see laws passed mandating disclosure of prices, and let the free market sort things out.  The liberal in me wants universal health care if we purge the corruption and put everyone under Medicare (without bullshit "national health ID cards" or other totalitarian nonsense).  Another solution would be to fund nonprofit charity hospitals.  So there are definitely solutions from all across the political spectrum.

 

The problem is that our elites are so corrupt it's become a sick joke.  You saw the memo from Huffington Post right?

 

Internal Memo Confirms Big Giveaways In White House Deal With Big Pharma

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/13/internal-memo-confirms-bi_n_258285.html

 

On the positive side, the fact that this nonsense is getting so much exposure on the Internet is really encouraging.   So it's not a total wash.  I think things will get much better over the next decade after the corrupt elites are exposed and thrown out and prosecuted for their crimes.

 

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:18 | 55849 Econocataclysm
Econocataclysm's picture

First, when I say "More Blood" I mean more NECESSARY carnage in the financial markets and NOT more of the actual jolly red stuff being spilled, unless of course it is the blood of the well-bred freaks that are running this show and that I would be okay with. They need to be held accountable for their crimes and as far as I'm concerned a mob will do just as well as a court of law. A mob is more likely since they control the courts, honestly.

By necessary carnage, I mean the incompetent economic actors being allowed to fail like they should have been allowed to in the first place. I mean the Fed pulling a Volcker and actually attempting to stabilize things instead of Bernanke exacerbating the problem by trying to reinflate the stupid bubbles.

No, I didn't see that specific memo but I was aware of Obama's sellout maneuver in terms of Big Pharma in more general terms. I actually voted for Obama: the whole thing is really starting to make me so sick I can barely stand to even look at it anymore. This, on top of the outsourcing gurus and Robert Rubin/Goldmanite disciples that Obama has surrounded himself with and the sheer volume of blatant doublespeak coming out of the Obama White House right now makes me want to turn away.

I won't even give the "Death Panels" nonsense any creedence.

The Libertarian in me realizes also that, were insurance companies not allowed a legal monopoly under the McCarran-Ferguson Act, free market competition would drastically lower the cost of health insurance and health care. The only way Fascists know how to make a buck is by capturing Government agencies and handing monopolies to themselves and this is the REAL stock in trade of the GOP despite any rhetoric to the contrary. A real Free Market would threaten their corporate interests too much for them to ever allow it to happen. Furthermore, if the US simply did quid-pro-quo trade agreements with countries that won't allow us equal access to their markets then this would go a long way towards curing the "sucking sound" of jobs going overseas. But again, the Fascists want to destroy the earning power of ALL labor by any means necessary even if it means destroying their base of support (the US) because they are quite frankly unable to see past the next quarter.

On the other hand, nothing in a Free Market is guaranteed and buisnesses will go through cycles both macro and micro and for this reason I believe in a safety net. An economic crisis or cyclical downturn should NOT screw people out of being able to see a doctor. So I am not really a strict Libertarian although I FIRMLY believe that private sector business shouldbe regulated by market forces alone, no legal monopolies, no corporate welfare.

Hope this clarifies my positions a little better.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 01:36 | 55875 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

It does -- thanks

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 08:50 | 55960 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

They need to be held accountable for their crimes and as far as I'm concerned a mob will do just as well as a court of law. A mob is more likely since they control the courts, honestly.

http://www.chronofus.net/wargames/piracy/images/gibbet.jpg

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/images/dd_gibbet.jpg

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 12:55 | 56264 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Perhaps an activity the whole family can enjoy...

http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/gunpow.jpg

 

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 01:34 | 55874 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

>>I'm convinced for my own reasons that universal health care can work, it DOES work in most of Europe and Canada and I am well aware of the lies perpetuated by insurance companies to the contrary<<

Complete crap! Total bullshit! There is no propaganda needed to refute it. The statement is patently false and ignorant to make. Good f-in grief....what's wrong with you?

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 14:09 | 56393 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Let's not forget the 54 Million Americans which
have absolutely no health care.

Health care in America is rationed not by your
health, but by the size of your wallet.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 14:43 | 56460 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

It's also rationed by your health, e.g., pre-existing conditions. It can be impossible to get insurance if you have health problems. Further, as a disabled person, I know that dcctors don't order the same tests or procedures for me as they would for a more productive person, even if we have the same insurance, money, are the same age, etc.

Health care is also rationed by your race, gender, geographic location, age, etc. Doctors don't treat patients equally, even when they have the same insurance, the same income, etc. Numerous studies have shown that.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 05:32 | 55918 Spartacus
Spartacus's picture

Spectacularly Offensive comments by Swindler Benmosche(I am sure this man must have been a  rapist in his young days. Look at the way he talks. Ready to rape anybody who talks against "FAT BONUS")

AIG’s Benmosche Says Cuomo’s Bonus Tactics ‘Unbelievably Wrong’

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By Hugh Son

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche told employees that New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was “unbelievably wrong” for drawing attention to staff who got retention bonuses.

Benmosche criticized Cuomo and lawmakers during a town-hall style meeting this month for life insurance workers in Houston. Cuomo subpoenaed AIG in March during a national furor about $165 million in retention bonuses sent after the firm’s bailout and said those who returned the cash wouldn’t have their names published. That month, some employees received death threats and protesters visited the Connecticut homes of two AIG executives.

“What he did is so unbelievably wrong,” Benmosche said during the Aug. 11 remarks, according to a record obtained by Bloomberg. “He doesn’t deserve to be in government, and he surely shouldn’t be the attorney general of the state of New York. What he did is criminal. You don’t create lynch mobs to go out to people’s homes and do the things he did.”

After being approached by Bloomberg today about the remarks, AIG said that Benmosche “regrets his comments regarding Mr. Cuomo and the tone of those comments.”

Benmosche has been blaming regulators for the company’s near collapse in remarks he’s made to employees since being appointed CEO this month. While comments in an earlier address focused on unnamed officials at the Federal Reserve and Treasury, Benmosche in Houston singled out Cuomo, the chief prosecutor of New York, where some of the world’s largest financial firms are based.

Closed Door Meeting

The worst thing that will ever happen to him is when he and I meet in the room and I close the door,” Benmosche, 65, said of Cuomo. “I ain’t going to meet with him with anybody else in the room. I won’t tell you what I’ll say to him, but I will tell you, there won’t be a nice word.”

Cuomo said in March that staff of AIG’s financial products unit, blamed for the insurer’s near-collapse and subsequent U.S. bailouts, returned at least $50 million of the $165 million in awards. He said that “if a person returns the money, I don’t believe there’s a public interest in releasing their name.”

“Mr. Benmosche now recognizes that the New York Attorney General resisted public pressure to disclose the names of AIG employees during the controversy in March regarding compensation, and with emotions running high, he noted the importance of all parties to proceed with care and sober judgment,” AIG spokeswoman Christina Pretto said in a statement today. Cuomo’s office had no immediate comment.

‘Innocent Families’

“Since joining AIG earlier this month, Mr. Benmosche has held several employee meetings around the country in which employees have repeatedly voiced concerns about the threats and harassment they have experienced,” the statement said. “Mr. Benmosche vowed to do everything he can so that innocent families are not put at risk again.”

Benmosche’s predecessor Edward Liddy, who took over after AIG’s September rescue, was grilled during congressional hearings in March and May over his handling of the bonuses, which were designed to prevent valued workers from leaving.

I would never, ever let them talk to me the way they talked to him,” Benmosche told employees. “I would have told them what to do with this job, and I would have said it on TV: ‘You can stick it where the sun don’t shine.’

‘Nice, Sophisticated People’

Benmosche said that AIG Chairman Harvey Golub, the former CEO of American Express Co., would work with lawmakers while he focused on operations and decides which units will be kept.

Golub “is going to run interference for me in Washington, because I’ve got to tell you, I can’t be running the business here and dealing with all those crazies down in Washington,” Benmosche said, adding “actually, they’re not. They’re very nice, sophisticated people. Vote for them. Please. And give them your money.”

Also in the meeting, after suggesting that employees challenge their managers over a salary freeze, Benmosche said, “I create so much trouble, don’t I? That’s my job.”

Benmosche told staff in an Aug. 4 meeting that he plans on rebuilding businesses and won’t be pressured by regulators into selling assets at unfavorable prices.

“I’m appalled at how much pressure has been put on all of you to just sell it no matter what, because the Fed wants out, or the Treasury wants out,” Benmosche said. “If they want out in a hurry, they shouldn’t have come in in the first place.”

Benmosche, who was CEO of MetLife Inc. for eight years, transformed that company into the largest publicly traded U.S. life insurer from a mutual owned by customers.

AIG’s $182.5 billion federal bailout includes a $60 billion credit line, a Treasury Department investment of as much as $70 billion and $52.5 billion to buy mortgage linked assets owned or backed by the company.

State Probe

Cuomo’s predecessor as attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, sued AIG in 2005 for allegedly misleading investors about the company’s financial health. AIG agreed to a $1.64 billion settlement of state and federal probes into improper transactions to inflate reserves and hide underwriting losses. The company later restated earnings lower by $3.4 billion.

Cuomo, 51, may run for governor of New York, according to speculation by pollsters. Cuomo has a 4 to 1 lead over New York Governor David Paterson in a 2010 Democratic primary, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 13:15 | 56291 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Bernanke had better watch out... looks like Benmosche is after his job.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:09 | 56091 topshelfstuff
topshelfstuff's picture

"""the insiders who control everything know what the game plan"""

its illuminating to enter in a search for "Obama Buy Stocks March 3", the DOW @ 6726, S&P500 @ 683 this day

you all will then remember how shocked and surpised the Media was to hear Any President sound like an analyst, check the Headlines on this day. this hasn't been mentioned in the MSM since, despite his stunningly accurate bottom call. i use that date to start my Timeline for this, the most Orchestrated run-up of all time, and of couse the 2 Big Touts that helped the kick-off; 1) Citi's Pandit March 10, followed by BofA's Lewis on March 12, the same Tout Script, just changed the names. some 3 months later, connected to the release of the Stress Test the gains in the Market dwarfed by the gains by the big banks, like BofA's 5-fold increae, and the Options on those banks and FAZ & FAS prodicing gains of over a thousand percent--sure they could return the TARP seeding funds <<< that's peanuts now

i found this youtube and when i just went to pull it i found that Karl Denninger added a new one. i'll leave both here, in case anyone wants to take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF0h229eoH8

FED using foreign banks to monetize debt behind closed doors

Bob Chapman talks about the dirty tricks pulled by Ben Bernanke for the federal reserve to manipulate the dollar /// recorded on August 14th 2009

[ me: i had already noticed that China acknowledged the plan to "Invest" all these $Billions this year, and most of it in the East/Asia, ASEAN 3+10 Nations, add to this the potential that exists now, after the elections in Japan days ago, for a much tighter, more friendly, relationship with China and Japan --- think regional Currency or Yuan tied Asian currencies. The vast majority of Nations already have the ability to return to the system of Settlement of Annual Balance of Trade...Yes, the use of Gold & Silver for Settlement ]

Aug 26, 2009, 11:19 p.m. EST

China wealth-fund chief tips buying spree

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- The president of China's well-financed sovereign wealth fund said his group plans a massive, ten-fold expansion of its overseas investment this year, according to reported comments from an interview Thursday.

============================

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iclRD3zt_V4&feature=sub

2009 09 01 Flying On Air / Karl Denninger

China threatens to repudiate derivatives contracts and the market floats on air - until today, when suddenly the fake "buying" (that is, computer passing of shares back and forth) in bankrupt firms (AIG, Fannie and Freddie specifically) disappears in a puff of smoke and oops - down she goes!

Why do Americans allow this sort of blatant rip-off to continue?

[[[ me: i think we all here know that 99% of Americans just don't have a clue as to whats going on. my only defense [excuse] for these 99% is that they're not supposed to, by Plan, by Intent, a huge, well planned procedure of the dumbing down of now a third generations, each one sequentially easier to do than the last ]]]

 

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 04:49 | 55917 Spartacus
Spartacus's picture

CEO Pay at Rescued Banks Exceeds S&P 500 Average, Study Shows

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By Steve Geimann

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Chief executive officers at 20 banks that got U.S. aid received compensation 37 percent higher than the average for leaders at Standard & Poor’s 500 companies and are poised for gains as stock values rise, a study showed.

Lenders including Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. paid CEOs an average of $13.8 million last year, topping the $10.1 million for S&P 500 leaders, according a report released today by the Institute for Policy Studies. Average CEO pay was 430 times larger than for typical workers, and at nine of 20 banks the value of stock options soared $90 million in a year, the Washington-based research group said.

“Compensation packages for top executives, in short, remain at levels completely disconnected from any real underlying value that executives may offer,” the report said. “Outrageously large rewards for executives give executives an incentive to behave outrageously.”

Compensation at U.S. financial companies is being scrutinized after Congress adopted a rescue plan and pumped $300 billion into the 20 troubled lenders. The Obama administration named Kenneth Feinberg as a pay master for seven U.S. companies, including Citigroup Inc. and General Motors Co. that got more than one bailout.

Bank executives may be “poised for spectacularly rapid recovery” as rising share prices for nine of 20 banks getting Troubled Asset Relief Program aid led to a $90 million gain in stock-option values. JPMorgan Chase & Co. led with a $20.6 million gain for five executives, followed by $17.9 million each for American Express Co. and PNC Financial Services Group Inc., the study showed, based on calculations using proxy statements.

$3.2 Billion in Pay

The top five executives at the 20 banks had a three-year pay total of $3.2 billion, with $1.2 billion in 2006 and 2007, and $800 million last year, the study showed, citing corporate proxy statements.

The institute said government efforts to rein in pay focus on companies that got aid from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and said results may be modest as firms such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan repay aid to avoid pay limits.

“The federal government has, to this point, not moved forward into law or regulation any measure that would actually deflate the executive pay bubble that has expanded so hugely over the last three decades,” the study said.

The Institute for Policy Studies, whose Web site bills it as “Washington’s first progressive multi-issue ‘think tank,’” releases its “Executive Excess” report each year.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:06 | 55587 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

The Fed says:  "Prior to August 31, 2009, purchases were focused on off-the-run securities in that category. Going forward, purchases will include on-the-run securities in that category. This change represents a technical adjustment designed to mitigate market dislocations and to promote overall market functioning. Over the course of the program, the Federal Reserve may change the scope of purchasable securities."

 

Let me run this throught the FedSpeak translator.

 

FedSpeak Translation: "Prior to August 31, 2009, we were running our usual scam, which we have been getting away for quite some time -- minus the unwanted publicity from ZeroHedge and Denninger. Going forward, we will change things up a bit and hope the sucker-dupes do not notice. You didn't think we were gonna stop gaming the serfs, did you?  Lol.  Over the course of the program, the Federal Reserve may change the scope of the scam, but the underlying scam will remain until five or six megabanks control all the productive assets in the real economy."

 

 

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:07 | 55595 Printfaster
Printfaster's picture

Big banks need big government and big corporations.  Big government needs big corporations, big banks, and big unions.  Big unions needs big government and big corporations.

None of the them need individuals, families, or small business.  Tax the hell out of them and make them go away.

 

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:20 | 55700 Marshal Ney
Marshal Ney's picture

When billionaires are outlawed, only outlaws will be billionaires.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:37 | 55773 Mr. Anonymous
Mr. Anonymous's picture

Eat the Rich

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:34 | 55770 Dogfather
Dogfather's picture

So right, man! Kudos.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:10 | 55598 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Hey; I got almost the same translation from Babblefish. Except at the ending sentence it came out "fuck you, your dead."

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:43 | 55779 Dogfather
Dogfather's picture

Fuck yourself, you wanker!  BTW it's Bablefish idiot and "fuck you, your dead." should be "I'm an idiot and a product of the U.S. education system"....

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 14:35 | 56443 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Perhaps you mean Babel Fish, a reference to the Tower of Babel which you seem to have missed. Glass houses, stones, pot, kettle, etc. And I think the poster meant that s/he was fucked, along with the general populace.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:13 | 55652 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

I doubt the FED would "Lol".

and

"but the underlying scam will remain until five or six megabanks control all the productive assets in the real economy."

They already do....

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:35 | 55772 Bob
Bob's picture

Not yet, but the past 10 months have been a dress rehearsal, a proof of concept wrt the gullibility of the populace. 

It does ultimately, on the basis of the test run, look like a done deal, however. 

 

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:42 | 55824 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Crash it all. Bunkers, farmland, subsistence. Firearms.

Then extortion via biological, chemical, immunilogical agents.

Too few producers, too many eaters. ZombieLand cometh.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 01:20 | 55867 3greenlights
3greenlights's picture

PM, excellent posts. Keep up your great thoughts. One question: are those known-known, known-unknown or unknown-known off-the-run securities?

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 04:00 | 55904 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

I don't know -- I'm sure Tyler does.  I think they are GSE paper, so that would be whatever garbage Fannie and Freddie produce.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:04 | 55589 leathaface
leathaface's picture

Does anyone wonder why the English language has so many words (something like 26,000 i think)?  Is it just to say the same bullshit and make it sound intelligent to where most people won't understand it?

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:19 | 55600 TumblingDice
TumblingDice's picture

Federal Reserve budet progoljat vorovat tvoi dengi, no seichas daje bustree chem ranshe.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:48 | 55639 leathaface
leathaface's picture

is that fed res. speak for "bend over"?

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:51 | 55680 TumblingDice
TumblingDice's picture

close enough

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:29 | 55707 Tyler Durden
Tyler Durden's picture

xoposho cka3a^

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:00 | 55738 tewkatz
tewkatz's picture

chaka kahn

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:56 | 55789 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Tut pochti vse govoriat po russki. Dumaete J6P zamorachivaetsya poiskom istiny? :-)

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 04:41 | 55915 TumblingDice
TumblingDice's picture

Smeshno...

Nedeust chto da. Ya veru chto Istina ne zavisit ot yazuka y sposoba poiska.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:24 | 55809 Bob
Bob's picture

It really doesn't sound like it to me . . .

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:07 | 55745 TumblingDice
TumblingDice's picture

spasibo...

A teper, pora polzovatsa moyei valutoi y pit(mahkiy 3nak).

Ha zdorovye!

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:49 | 55782 Dogfather
Dogfather's picture

Wen's der Arsch brummt, ist dass Herz  Gesund...

 

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:52 | 55861 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

more accurately, if you can shit/fart, no worries about your heart.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:55 | 55837 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Then my wife'll live to 120, but I'll need a clothespin.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:10 | 55694 Marshal Ney
Marshal Ney's picture

Pardon the serious answer, but the big reason is that the British Empire was everywhere, and they incorporated colonial words wherever they went. For instance, "pajamas" is an Urdu/Hindustani word. Not sure where they got "bullshit".

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:08 | 55746 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Most bulls think we are in a new bear market so there has been a "bullshift" so to speak. Perma bears can be heard uttering... Pardon but thats "bullshit".

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:56 | 55788 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

500,000 - 1,000,000 words (including scientific terms)

"The statistics of English are astonishing. Of all the world's languages (which now number some 2,700), it is arguably the richest in vocabulary. The compendious Oxford English Dictionary lists about 500,000 words; and a further half-million technical and scientific terms remain uncatalogued. According to traditional estimates, neighboring German has a vocabulary of about 185,000 and French fewer than 100,000, including such Franglais as le snacque-barre and le hit-parade."

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/JohnnyLing.shtml

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:59 | 55792 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

500,000 - 1,000,000 words (including scientific terms)

"The statistics of English are astonishing. Of all the world's languages (which now number some 2,700), it is arguably the richest in vocabulary. The compendious Oxford English Dictionary lists about 500,000 words; and a further half-million technical and scientific terms remain uncatalogued. According to traditional estimates, neighboring German has a vocabulary of about 185,000 and French fewer than 100,000, including such Franglais as le snacque-barre and le hit-parade."

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2001/JohnnyLing.shtml

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:04 | 55590 Printfaster
Printfaster's picture

It is called credit repudiation.  The fed will keep shortening the yield curve until we get to zero maturity.

It is the only way to keep the cost of credit for the government from ballooning.  But then no want will want any governemtn credit.  Even greenbacks.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:05 | 55591 lizzy36
lizzy36's picture

What are the repercussions of a $5T federal reserve balance sheet?

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:34 | 55618 KeyserSöze
KeyserSöze's picture

Currency crisis...

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:02 | 55687 Rollerball
Rollerball's picture

Wrong.  Inflation.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:35 | 55817 ghostfaceinvestah
ghostfaceinvestah's picture

Hyperinflationary currency crisis.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:16 | 55847 KeyserSöze
KeyserSöze's picture

Remember inflation is the velocity of money....THERE IS NO VELOCITY HERE IN THE US!

If you want to see what happens when you cut loose a TRILLION USD dollars into the REAL economy and GIVE IT TO PEOPLE TO SPEND...you have inflation....pull up a chart of china, and then copper ...this is what happens when there is a FLOOD of cash in the system given to PEOPLE...alot of money chasing a few goods.

Uncle Ben has cut TRILLIONS loose and gave it to banks -to then deposit in the FED (to earn interest on-first time in history BTW).....jam up markets (GS) (convince the stupid american population that all is good) and hopefully earn their way back to health.  Tyler points this out day after day....

Last time I checked our credit has collapsed and THERE has been NO MONEY put into the "REAL" economy (as ZH points out article after article, validated by Top Line Corp. Rev's Q/Q).........people have no money here in the US...they are broke!  Period.

China is text book inflation caused by wreckless lending.  They will jam oil and commodities because they see their worth not paper.  We are feeling it here this is why we feel inflation but I can assure the american consumer is not the cause...it is the CB's and Wall Street trying to fool everyone  but what they fail to realize is that people are broke ...the stimulus is the only way they can literaly "GIVE people money to spend"...stimulus checks, CFC....it is not working...and won't work.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:35 | 55623 Steak
Steak's picture

As all your money is a "federal reserve note" any losses on Fed holdings debase said currency.  Larger the balance sheet more potential losses.  Thats just one angle but I'm sure the more sophisticated here can say more.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:41 | 55670 KeyserSöze
KeyserSöze's picture

I do not have anymore US dollars...only what I need to live off of for the next year....everything else has been moved OUT of the country not just hedged....

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:26 | 55706 berlinjames02
berlinjames02's picture

@ Steak:

Where have you been? Haven't seen many comments out of you recently.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:28 | 55811 Steak
Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:05 | 55648 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

$5K+ gold

Oh, and "All your banks are belong to us."

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 06:38 | 55932 Mediocritas
Mediocritas's picture

As much as I'd like to see precious metals go to the moon, let's not forget who's on the other side of the trade here. It has a bag of money that never runs out.

As a side note: people *really* need to have a close read of the prospectus for GLD and SLV. An investment in those scams is an investment in the prices of precious metals going nowhere fast.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 08:57 | 55964 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

It has a bag of money that never runs out.

We've seen the markets' reaction to the threat of actually using the bottomless bag of money.  Keep taking delivery.  Gold goes into hiding.  Currency crisis ensues, Leviathan chokes, opportunity arises for restoration of liberty.  Keep taking delivery.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 13:42 | 56344 Mediocritas
Mediocritas's picture

I agree. TAKE DELIVERY. Stay away from these damned ETFs. This is especially the case for silver, the short position there is ludicrous.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:21 | 55669 thomd (not verified)
Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:52 | 55681 TumblingDice
TumblingDice's picture

Jubilee!

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:09 | 55693 TumblingDice
TumblingDice's picture

I think the better question to ask is, what are the reprecussions of an insolvent federal reserve?

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:25 | 55705 lizzy36
lizzy36's picture

That is sort of what i was getting at. At what point does (time wise) does sovereign default become a a decent possibility?

Or do they just continue to devalue the dollar?

$2000 gold = $200 oil? in which case the U.S is economical dead anyway?

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:02 | 55741 sgt_doom
sgt_doom's picture

Over the preceding 7 days I'm observing a definite pattern here (although some may call me crazed):  the delay asked for by the NY Fed from that Bloomberg FOIA on those trillions, the appointment of that AFL-CIO union guy, Hughes, to chair the NY Fed, the recent Fed grab to oversee credit default swaps, and that recent creation of theirs, the Tradable Insurance Credit (TIC -- they also refer to it as a contingent-CDS, but others might describe it as yet another securitization layer, CDSes upon CDSes).

I extrapolate this to be a Hail Mary pass (which may even turn out successful) to allow the manipulation of the pricing of commodities, precious metals, and various other items, by centralizing it under the auspices (covertly, sort of) of the Fed.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:25 | 55760 Assetman
Assetman's picture

Very interesting thought.

I'm wondering, though, just how long the Fed will be able to manipulate global commodities-- without it having a direct (negative) effect on the dollar.

The problem is that the Fed can be as "covert" as they want.  But many here have figured out the shell game... and from all appearances, the Chinese have figured it out as well.  They're just wondering how in the hell they can manage to weasel out of their newly issued Treasury holdings.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:37 | 55819 Bob
Bob's picture

+200

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:53 | 55787 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

At what point does (time wise) does sovereign default become a a decent possibility?

IMO we've already crossed the event horizon for a U.S. soveriegn default and we are approaching the singularity now.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:40 | 55820 Bob
Bob's picture

(dire)^n

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 01:30 | 55872 agrotera
agrotera's picture

One of the Fed's mouthpieces (CNBC) is having an all day propaganda fest tomorrow on the Fed...YIPPY, more lies on the vomited out as truth! 

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:06 | 55592 Manfred
Manfred's picture

Coming up a little after 4pm Pacific time there should be live streaming video of the gigantic Martin Marrs Flying Tanker (sea plane) over the LA fires (it carries a quarter million gallons and is a sight to behold).

It would be ideal for Ben Bernanke compared to the puney helicopter he uses to dispense dollar bills.

http://www.martinmars.com/images/large_images/77.jpg
http://www.martinmars.com/images/large_images/8.jpg

Streaming Live at http://www.thestreet.ca

Also I hear that in lieu  of payment with  an I.O.U., Arnold has offered Canada a 99 year lease on Santa Monica including the  exclusive use of Venice Beach for Canadians.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:22 | 55655 VegasBD
VegasBD's picture

20,000 gallons.  http://www.evergreensupertanker.com/

Was in La Crescenta last night helping granny evacuate. those fires are a lot bigger and ominous in person than they are on TV lemmie tell ya.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:59 | 55685 cbxer55
cbxer55's picture

Apparently they are not using planes right now, just helicopters. So may not see the old Mars today.

 

Speaking of fires being scary, we were evacuated in April from a wildfire in Midwest City, OK. Several homes in our neighborhood burned to the ground. Not fun at all, and I feel for those having to live through this.

 

Hopefully mother nature will cooperate and they get these out. Fire season is only just beginning for CA.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:12 | 55593 TumblingDice
TumblingDice's picture

Jubilee.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:08 | 55596 RobotTrader
RobotTrader's picture

The O-Team better get on the stick ASAP to reverse this slide.

If I were Goldman (or other appointee), I would pay Dan "The Greaseman" Niles $100,000 to utter an upgrade of all semiconductor stocks tomorrow A.M., based on an increasing "book to bill" (aka Bra Size to Panty Size Ratio).

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:27 | 55602 Manfred
Manfred's picture

I like Dan - I rembember him during dot com days and he called it like it was - could he have gone over to the other side?

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:22 | 55674 thomd (not verified)
thomd's picture

You could add another bar for Citi as they were forecasting 15MM.

good articles; good articles 4 slow news day ..http://www..
hat tip: finance news & finance opinions

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:01 | 55830 Bob
Bob's picture

One of your most inspired arguments ever, rbt! 

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 07:13 | 55935 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

He who surrounds himself with pictures, isn't getting the real thing.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:11 | 55599 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

WFC CEO all is well!?

Men who famously denied rumors of imminent collapse:

-Allan Schwartz (2 nights before illiquidity forced Bear Stearns seizure)

-Richard Fuld (loudly and consistently up to the eve of Lehman bk)

-John Thain (denial of need for additional capital 2 days before famed swap arrangement and Temasek stock sale)

-Directors of WaMu, Wachovia, BofA, Ambac, Citi.

There's a requirement to lie: for fear of a crisis of counterparty risk aversion. Hedge fund managers have to lie or else simultaneously tell the truth and pull the phone out of the wall, mail the keys to the SEC.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:28 | 55603 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

This isn't really the fed taking the agencies into receivership, that has to wait until BAC, WFC, et al can dump the rest of the trash off into phoney, fraudie, and the fha. Until then they are trying to make it look like the agencies are a going concern in a liquidity squeeze. That FNM & FRE equities are still traded is a sign that yes, the guvmint is perpetrating fraud (was there ever any doubt?). They will be jettisoned when they are no longer useful to the pig men, with the 2010 election contributions nearing it will probably be years.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:08 | 55650 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

hahahahah

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 04:30 | 55912 Mediocritas
Mediocritas's picture

Too true. We bitch and moan about the Powers That Be, but if WE were the PTB I bet we'd be doing our utmost to keep business as usual. Human nature.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:34 | 55621 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

So now
U S Government = Countrywide
Ginniemae = Fanniemae
FedReserve = Lehman Bro/Bear
US Tres = AIG

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:52 | 55640 arnoldsimage
arnoldsimage's picture

well mr. janjuah, did you get stopped out... and, are you now long?

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 19:54 | 55644 orange juice
orange juice's picture

The saddest part is the addmittance that it is not a neutral strategy.  I'm really interested in seeing what happens when these programs peak; a revolving 200bln dollar credit line is gonna just freeze up?  That would spell disaster faster than they could fire it back up again, remember all it takes is one or two bad days just ask anyone who worked at BS or LEH.  What the f@#k will they do when hedging strategies begin to fall apart?  I think today we got a taste of who are the buyers...oh wait... the market has been floating because of dollar bashing, and treasury pushing, when the training wheels come off it won't matter how many helments, knee pads and mouth guards you've put on it's gonna crash a little.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:10 | 55651 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

Orange Juices when you gonna start writing articles for zerosludge?  or I am gonna have to come up to NYC and steal your tv ?

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:43 | 55778 orange juice
orange juice's picture

I'll write something this weekend, email it to you so you can check it out and if you think it's okay then I'll forward it.  But I should probably turn off my tv, I feel like all I'm doing recently is watching screens.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:21 | 55848 Bob
Bob's picture

When you gonna start courting a representative voice from your insane, unamerican, socialist,  tax money from the haves to give to have nots, flaming fucking liberal mikey moore loving freak flock to represent your missing side, man? You'd be surprised what it could do for business . . . not that the pravda links every blue moon aren't all there is to say, just sayin'

the freaks just don't seem to go away . . .

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 01:43 | 55876 Project Mayhem
Project Mayhem's picture

What in the fuck are you talking about, Bob?  Are you drunk?  Can I have some of whatever you are drinking?

 

By the way -- if you are talking to me I am registered independent and I voted for Ron Paul so you are WAY off base in terms of politics.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:35 | 55662 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

there are some brilliant and insightful minds who post here.

however, a lot of the commentary reminds me of a programmer friend in the early to mid 90's who hated microsoft. His dislike led him to conclude Microsoft would fail.

Forget whether you like what the Fed is doing. Is has been obvious for some time that monetization was the only path that could be followed that would alleviate the immediate downfall of the financial system.

It is also the only path that preserves the power of those in control. He who controls the cash...dictates what others shall do. After all, we can't have the farmers dictating what people should do just because they feed everyone. Cash is the control and the yardstick. I presume that is what is commonly referred to as a "civil society."

So, given that monetization will occur and the dollar is the reserve currency, who actually gets hurt if the balance sheets of the wealthy are magically restored?

The answer has been stated here many times. The serfs. Well, no general uprising will occur if adequate food, clothing and shelter is available. Society is too complex, so that will have to be part of their solution.

Inflation? It's not really necessary. Because from the Fed's perspective, only the relative purchasing power of the wealthy relative to everyone else need be preserved. They may not say it that way, but they ARE the people in control and deciding which assets shall be preserved.

Would it really surprise anyone if they saved their assets first. And then the assets of their friends. And so on and so forth until no more saving can be done.

I'd like to see a groundswell among the population of peaceful resistance.

Everybody stop paying their mortgage and keep their house. Just monetize the debt.

And then stop paying their credit cards, keep their stuff and have new lines of credit to keep all those lattes flowing.

That's what they are doing for themselves.

One mental block on these boards is you accept economic theory as fact, when it is hardly so.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 21:56 | 55735 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

"Inflation? It's not really necessary."

Oh, but I think it is. There is no other way to avoid a solvency crisis than to re-inflate. The banks need it, the fed needs it, the treasury needs it, and congress has to have it to continue maxing out the country's credit.
It is reflate or die, IMHO, but the death of the sovereign US economy may also be part of the plan...

Wilderman

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 00:28 | 55855 Bob
Bob's picture

" . . . but the death of the sovereign US economy may also be part of the plan..."

Indeed.  But inflation might well be avoided if, as you hint, an international rebalancing of accounts were to occur.  Interesting, to my mind, is the question of whether the Chinese would cooperate. 

What's it say about us when we have to hope the semblence of reality is defended by China?

 

 

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:05 | 55743 KeyserSöze
KeyserSöze's picture

Alot of people said the EXACT same thing in the UK at the turn of the century.  Which by the way was also the worlds reserve currency at the time...history is a bitch.  

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:37 | 55774 Cindy_Dies_In_T...
Cindy_Dies_In_The_End's picture

I understand your position. However most people here can literally do the math.

 

The Treasury and the Fed Reserve sure ain't Bill Gates.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 11:22 | 55664 thomd (not verified)
thomd's picture

You could add another bar for Citi as they were forecasting 15MM.

good articles; good articles 4 slow news day ..http://www..
hat tip: finance news & finance opinions

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 20:40 | 55667 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

The fed commits to buy 1.5 Trillion in MBS. Can someone please explain the mechanics of how the Fed prints this money out of thin air to pay for the MBS? Secondly, of this 1.5 trillion are they also buying Agency debt and MBS? Are we talking about a debit/credit facility on the books of the Fed to buy this paper? It seems to me the Fed will never be able to get this paper off their books. How do they begin to EVER sell this paper back into the market draining liquidity from the system? I get the idea of the fed pushes money into the system and the same money comes back to buy treasury and stock. At what point does the music stop? Clearly there are a lot of bright people who see what is going on when does this end?

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 22:35 | 55771 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Bingo! You're getting it.

* The Federal Reserve and the federal government are attempting to "plug the gap" caused by a slowdown of private credit/debt creation.
* Non-US demand for the dollar must remain high, or the dollar will fall.
* Demand for US assets is in negative territory for 2009
* The TIC report and Federal Reserve Custody Account are reviewed and compared
* The Federal Reserve has effectively been monetizing US government debt by cleverly enabling foreign central banks to swap their Agency debt for Treasury debt.
* The shell game that the Fed is currently playing obscures the fact that money is being printed out of thin air and used to buy US government debt.

http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/shell-game-how-federal-reserve-moneti...

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 06:29 | 55931 Hephasteus
Hephasteus's picture

No. You don't understand. They are just adding it to the DEBT balance sheet so the money won't actually exist until it collects taxes. They are turning all those credit card defaults and overprices housing defaults that have been feed upped  and usuary upped to rediculous numbers into national debt. The fed will never forgive a debt as long as they can find someone to put on the hook for it and have sufficient military, deceipt, blackmail, manipulation forces to achieve thier objective of having at least controlling interest in every financial endeavor.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:01 | 55793 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

"It seems to me the Fed will never be able to get this paper off their books."

This is a very important and often-overlooked point.  Once the Fed is loaded to the gills with MBS, they will be an albatross around the Fed's neck like U.S. Treasuries are now around the neck of China.  Can't sell them too fast for risk of crashing the value of the remaining holdings, killing the Fed's asset values AND destroying the "recovery".  This renders them useless for monetary policy, except as a super-powerful damper.

Tue, 09/01/2009 - 23:17 | 55803 ghostfaceinvestah
ghostfaceinvestah's picture

They will never be able to sell $1.25T into a market that is only $5T in size.

If they even stop at $1.25T.  I am betting they keep going through $2.5T.

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 03:54 | 55902 theadr
theadr's picture

If AIG can go from 12 to 50 (and now 36) in a month, surely they can repackage and sell anything, just like KFN just did.  They'll just have the robo-traders shuffle them back and forth until the mutual funds jump in ... voila!

Wed, 09/02/2009 - 08:26 | 55946 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

I'd like to hear your thoughts if you factor in duration and default. What is a realistic timeline for this to work through and what may be the final loss tally?

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