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HFT And Goldman Sachs Boiling Point: NYT And Max Keiser
Great recap piece in the New York Times on whether or not Wall Street is picking the pockets of "non-club" investors (read - the guys who do not generate 80% returns with a Sharpe > 5.0 - can someone explain how risk/return works again). The consensus sure looks good for class action lawsuit lawyers.
The piece also recognizes the tremendous contribution that Zero Hedge's readership has had in this ongoing debate, once more highlighting the interactive nature of new media and how crowdsourcing is the new dominant paradigm for Media 2.0.
Even the New York Stock Exchange itself is acknowledging the HFT media campaign.
For anybody new to the site, please check out the Zero Hedge glossary for all the relevant articles on specific topics.
Additionally, should it be odd that Direct Edge, the company in the eye of the Flash hurricane with its ELP program, has the following reported ownership structure:
Yes. Direct Edge is an independent broker-dealer owned by a consortium that includes the International Securities Exchange (“ISE"), Knight Capital Group, Inc., Citadel Derivatives Group, The Goldman Sachs Group, and J.P. Morgan. Knight Capital Group was originally the sole owner of Direct Edge and the firm was spun off in the third quarter of 2007 when Citadel and Goldman made investments. With a 31.54% stake, the ISE is currently the largest shareholder of Direct Edge, followed by Knight, Citadel, and Goldman, each with 19.9%.
And here are the latest ruminations out of Max Keiser, who takes on a curious angle in his most recent Goldman Sachs attack:
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CNBC is keeping an eye on you:
"Apparently in a tit-for-tat response to some of our on-air colleagues' less than complimentary comments about various blogs and bloggers, someone over at Zero Hedge posted a take-off of our Web site."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/32124959
I would love to watch but have sworn off all things CNBC - the best message that could be sent to them is no visits to their site or viewers for their pathetic channel
Agreed, we're getting sucked in on any mention of ZI and playing their rev generating game by clicking on their links. Why watch 5 min of crap when ZH only gets a 15 sec soundbite. Better if someone transcribes and we just read IMO. (Unless you want to look at Michelle's fine rack of course - did I see CG tatooed on her right tit?)
Actually wasn't a tatoo but Charlie's lips, they photshopped the rest of his body out.
Now this goes beyond comical, just sad Dennis, just sad...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232/?video=1190689572&play=1
Thanks for the link. I was pleasantly surprised . . .
This is a Must Listen - Congressman Louie Gohmert ( R- Texas) -
"Paulson needed a couple of banks to fail to scare everyone enough to vote for that bill" Financial Terrorism "It was Machiavellian the way these auto dealerships were taken over" --------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO8_PgK-5U0&feature=PlayList&p=76211CFBD8...
****(try and disregard the conspiracy venue in which this is presented - the entire interview lasts a half hour this is the second segment.)
they used the same mo on the homeland security bill....fear and intimidation. is this activity somehow, conntected to the 911 event? yes it is......
Stock trading slowdown steepest in 2 decades: Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aW7WhLt3wHqk
Less and less suckers are dabbling in the Casino where the house always wins.
Having just come back from Vegas I can tell you the casino analogy is not apt. It is more like a mafia-run racetrack where the fix is in.
As "the stock guy" in conversation with my fellow gamblers I took every opportunity to remind them that they could trust the Nevada State Gaming Comission more than any DC regulator of markets.
Kick ass Mr. Durden on keeping this issue alive. Funny how you and us spacemonkeys are branded cynics when it was your dedication to exposing the truth bears fruit when others acceptance of the status quo would have continued screwing us all.
Hank Paulson should be in prison bunking with Madoff.
Bastard!
You're not very grateful for a guy who saved the world financial system.
Amen! Hak Paulson's a friggin hero! Not only did he stop on the side of the road to help me change a tire while we were on our way to the hospital to have a baby, he delivered the baby right there on the side of the road! In thanks I decided to name the kid Henry. Hank graciously shook my hand with those big meaty mitts of his, and politely informed me he'd rather I just gave him the baby to eat. He later wrote me a note saying it was the best baby he'd eaten all summer.
Both of you funny as hell! Satire seems to be the only way of getting your mind around the full tragic absurdity of the thing.
did you mean boinking?
Recommended this article on the NYT site as well. Log in and hit the recommend link.
Old News. CNBC already broke this on FRIDAY, don't ya know. "Bloggers are cowards, COWARDS I say!" Now then, where's IS that damn powder boy?
BTW, GOT BATS?
A Top-Down overhaul is needed in Wall Street right from their culture of greed to demangling their web of tentacles that reach far beyond their realm. Hey, I am for capitalism, but when people's retirement monies, college savings for kids' future etc are being held hostage to the whim and vagaries of these scum on wall street, they needs to be reigned in. Soverignty of this country is at stake. At the current pace of bonuses, "financial innovation" and financial engineering, it has become apparent that unless these guys are regulated heavily, confidence in the markets will never be restored.
I don't know what you are paying attention to, I mean you are commenting at Zero Hedge. Take a look around. The overhaul is coming from the bottom up. The Top-Down is exactly what is NOT working. The financial industry has achieved system capture. Top-Down? What are you smoking?
I'm worried about the unemployment that may ensue--what will our best and brightest sociopaths have to do?
Must read. A nice bow to ZH- how big your hat size must be getting, Tyler!
Oh wait, anonymous dudes have no ego.
http://www.oftwominds.com/blog.html
nice article, thanks. i actually speculated about this in april after a buy signal not given since 1974 was triggered, signalling a bull run. i thought it was all to convenient. problem is, now that zero hedge has gone mainstream, i am predicting dow 11000...easy. the volume issue will be resolved through reflexivity.
Max Keiser ROCKS!
Yes, Max and Stacy are superhero truthtellers!
Agreed (and by the way, Gekko, see the post of a classic clip of you right next to Mephisto, first entry @ www.faustomics.com).
His "this is a human rights abuse" issue perspective is brilliant and spot on. But is it just me or was diversion into including Friedman as part of our problem today more than just a bit whacky? (First clip, 3:45) Obama loves markets? He wants a "healthcare market" with government healthcare? Whaaaaa? You wouldn't think we'd have to state the obvious and say please Max, Obama wants Central Planning, not Free Markets. The Chicago School leaves something to be desired for sure (at least in economics), but come on Milton and Rose (still alive, thankfully) are some of the best thing to ever happen to us (America). Elevating compensated psychopaths is our issue, and at least based on the Merv interview of him (and all else we know of Friedman) he does not at all seem to be one of them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A
His grandson Petri is also at work at a great "out-there" idea for us:
http://seasteading.org/
In any event, what gives on the Friedman/free markets bashing and your Obama policy confusion, Max?
Great stuff! keep the pressure on these bastards. For some strange reason I am having visions of GS being swarmed with Federal agents and being effectively shut down.
Check out this Bloomberg Pimm Fox clip on High Frequency Trading from a couple of days ago -- ----
Interview with Former NASDAQ Chairman Alfred Berkeley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thq9Bqw_iuY
He states that 73% of all Trades are HFT done by 2% of the participants.
Bunking with MADOFF?? Hank Paulson makes Madoff look like a SAINT!!
The administration's silence on this is DEAFENING!!
I think one of the saddest parts of the Madoff episode was how in one single word, "guilty," Madoff became the most honest man on Wall Street. He did it, he admitted to it, he is doing his time.
The rest of em will go down in flames ceaselessly asserting their criminal acts saved the world and kittens and blowjobs for all humanity.
Maybe he was motivated properly to admit to it?
http://www.deepcapture.com/michael-milken-60000-deaths-and-the-story-of-...
God, Max Keiser is freaking relentless - I love it!
People are starting to realize that unless we take to the blogs, airwaves and STREETS with our message that we will not tolerate financial terrorism in this country, the GOLDMAN SACHS of the world will keep their terror going!
I urge everyone to email the White House and flood the switch board with calls on Monday demanding ACTION!
Keiser has been at it for a while now. I discovered him last year on Youtube, and have been following him since. The guy is completely irreverent and is never afraid to speak his mind - that's what I love about him the most.
I hate to bring this up because both parties are at fault and it is all the junior reps are all asking wth questions ..both of these dug in ticks (from both parties) aren't asking these questions...
We need a revolution in this country....
Route out the GOLDMAN CROOKS!!
Call the White House Monday to damand their silence on hundreds of allegations come to an END!
The American people deserve answers!!
WHITE HOUSE SWITCHBOARD:
(202) 456-1414
EMAIL:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
does anyone know if they have call display?
Of course they do. If you're in a highly sensitive position AND very paranoid (they route many millions of calls per day), use a pay phone.
"The piece also recognizes the tremendous contribution that Zero Hedge's readership has had in this ongoing debate."
I think a lot of credit for that also goes to ZH's policy of welcoming a diverse set of views - even if they don't conform to ZH's own. I have never seen ZH mock or ban anyone just because they had a different point of view, which, unfortunately, cannot be said of certain other blogs.
ISE is owned by Eurex which in turn is co-owned by Deutsche Boerse and SIX Swiss Exchange. Which means Direct Edge is in fact owned by Deutsche Boerse and SIX.
Also interesting. look at the board and management of Deutsche Boerse and SIX.
I think everyone is truly underestimating the genius, no matter how evil, of these guys.
I have no doubt when Hank Paulson claims that our country, the world for that matter, would've collpased had we not given them trillions of dollars and guaranteed tens of trillions more in worthless debt. No doubt, it would have.It's a brilliant plan, Wall Street ties their very existance around all of America, and if they do go under, they will drag us down into hell with them. Its the same kind of logic that the Swiss bankers use when they claim they can't disclose the names of Americans who are avoiding taxes by using Swiss banks because if they do, they'll face prison in Switzerland for disclosing the names. It's like, "We love to help you, but I just don't wanna go to jail..."
And the Paulsons of the world, "I dont wanna take this money, but if we don't, the whole country will collpase."
The point I'm attempting to make is this, if we do not fundamentally change the way Wall Street works, this will happen again. Before it was assumed TBTF companies would be bailed out by the taxpayers, now its guaranteed.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Agreed nice comment.
I think "these guys" may underestiamte the genius and impact of ZH and it's patrons.
The other day someone said words to the effect of "you can't hurt that which does not bleed".
Well - maybe not physically as in bleeding red blood but if "we" can make them bleed green and maybe shed some sweat in the pokey...they may be sufficiently hurt.
Pete
I'm about as cynical as anyone out there, but I think you might be right.
I think ZH might have some staying power and might be able to change the public discourse form subjective nonsense to logical, objective reasoning.
Let's hope so anyway.
Not just ZH. There are many other bloggers out there who've been calling bullshit on things for a while now. Scanning around the finblogs, its hard not find attitudes very contrarian to the smileys that the MSM and administration try to plaster all over everything.
The scheme reminds me of the mafia "protection" racket, kidnapping and ransom crimes, and suicide bombers willing to set aside the bomb for money (greater sociopathy and less balls than the middle-eastern types.)
The only genius of these guys is finding their way into the club and their evil imagination once connected. Once you let go of all morals, ethics, concern for your country, world and have access to power,muscle, then the rest is pretty easy, does not take brilliance, although it does take forward thinking and reasonable amount of experience and smarts.
I think the previously referenced Of Two Minds article spells out an example of a way to manipulate markets, and as he states, its not complicated, really quite easy once you have power concentrated to manipulate market.
Also, Cramer's video on manipulating futures markets as a hedge fund manager, the one that John Stewart jumped him on, is similar to what Of Two Minds describes, just on a much smaller scale. Again, does not sound like genius, just sounds simple once you decide to do something wrong and illegal (and you know no one will get prosecuted for)
What should continue to astonish us all, is that this story may be, no is, the biggest story of our lifetimes ( and I'm old ). This makes Watergate look like child's play. This is nothing short of internal destruction of our country, our economy, and the looting of trillions of dollars from the citizens of the US.
It should be incomprehensible that the MSM has nobody, not one soul, jumping on and shouting to the rooftops. The fact they are so bought and paid for, no better than Prava, is a story unto itself.
Do you realize, Tyler, you may go down in history books once this thing breaks out, and i'm sure now it will, it cannot be contained?
You really should start thinking about the next phase, perhaps a separate web-site, dedicated to an easy to use map of the US, where people can click their state, and the e-mail address to each representative pops up. We need a graasroots way to allow super simple access to the average Joe just now getting a whiff of this. I would further suggest for such a web-site ( this is rambling, I know, stream of conscieness ideas, but you'll get the gist ):
- Basic background information: definition and very concise history of Fed; Treasury Dept.; HFT; GS squid web and alumni etc. Most people are clueless. Just the absolute basics, no value judgements in this section. Then links for those who want more in-depth info.
- What we suggest we want from Congress. People need to forget labels like Dem, Rep, Ind, Libertarion; the only label that matters is"representative"; they need to start representing us, not lobbyists, special interests, etc.
1. The fed must be audited, and the money transfers accounted for and detailed on a specially created government web-site for anyone to see
2. Not one more added expense to the budget ( no stimulus, no health care, no cap and trade, no nothing ) until we see where we are.
3. We want our money back. Transparency is not enough; we want a plan to recover the bail-out.
4. Even if it's a ten year plan, we want a plan that reduces the deficit as quickly as possible, no matter how "painful' the cuts. We cannot kick this down the road anymore. The 10-15-20 year plan will show how we will get back to surpluses, and then pay down the national debt. The key will be spending cuts primarily, and then some sort of tax overhaul that makes sense i. e flat tax.
5. Fix the problems that led to the crisis; eradicate any financial vehicle where collateral is invisible or overstated; or too complex to track such; etc.
6. These problems are so pervasive, so complex, and so devastating to every citizen, we must act as if we are at war. We cannot be distracted by any other petty issues. We should create a Manhattan project for resolution; we put a man on the moon we can solve this over time.
7. We expect only one campaign promise going forward; yo are resolved to be a part of the above solutions, or you are gone. We don't care what party you belong to, only your stance on the issues.
You have the bully pulpit. Tyler. I was not kidding when I said you are making history. Ratchet it up a notch; providing information is one thing, providing a vehicle for the uprising is the next step.
This should be every Americans pledge. Our forefathers laid the groundwork for what could be a great country.
cowbell - watch the video/audio I posted above with Rep. Gohmert from Texas (interviewed yesterday) - listen to all of the segments - this guy along with a few others are being shut down by the House leadership and their masters.
I know- we are so in the minority here, the informed. If we don't take the juice we now have, and amplify it 10,000 fold, the cocksuckers win again.
We need action; the whole Tea Party thing came and went, it cant be allowed to happen again. I'm not smart enough to create the grassroots campaign we need, but I think collectively with a vehicle like ZH we can come up with something. People "know" something is totally fucked up, but it has to be broken down into digestible portions, and the average Joe probably doesn't even know the absolute basics about banking, Fed only around since 1913, Glass-Steagal, etc.
A web-site dedicated to education first, and then a way to easily e-mail reps is just my simplistic idea. Hope it engenders discussion.
But one thing I know- we are on the cusp of history here.
@I need more cowbell
I think a site that educates and mobilizes would be key not only in this major issue but many others as well. Thanks to the internet so far we have a ton of informational sites like Wikipedia and Zerohedge that we'd not have otherwise, but do we have tools that take advantage of the internet to spur action?
I think the first step is to see if any sites or infrastructure already exists that can provide a catalyst for action. Not simply facebook events, chain emails, viral youtube videos but a site that helps people genuinely pursue their ideas by connecting them with the like minded.
Does anyone know if such a site exists? How would we define the tools & functions such a site would have?
Thousands of such sites exist. I'm waiting for a knowledgable friend to reply with some links.
Looking forward to your knowledgable friend's links. I would think a lot of such sites exists, but I've not come across any personally. I would think what we need is a site that provides the tools and infrastructure to:
• Educate people on the issues.
• Connect people who have like-minded solutions.
• Enable these people to implement their ideas.
Anyone aware of sites existing that provide such services?
make it happen, many would support
I heard someone the other day say that there is plenty of competition in the US banking system, with 8000 (? i think that was the #) banks.
Sorry, i think this is a red herring. If the fact that the Federal Reserve is a privately held company, and anyone ever gets to the bottom of how much wealth is accrued by the 300 shareholders of this entity, the monopoly will be shut down. our government needs to take back ownership of the fed--and this does not mean shut down the fed, it just means, take back ownership and make provisions for independence that is true, untarnished by the HUMONGOUS interests that currently own the FED. This issue is at the heart of all the corruption that we are living through as a result of the big bailout bankheist...and the reason the policymakers aren't able to do anything real to stop this is that most are bought by the banking interests, and since they are career politicians, all that matters is who bought their job.
Uh, I agree with just about everything you say, but with all due respect, ratcheting it up a notch and providing a vehicle for the uprising is the job of you and me and everyone else, not just the ZH crew.
Ring the cowbell, you have good plan, just do it, tyler is already doing his part, I'm sure you can collaborate with those of like mind such as ZH if they are willing, and there are many other bloggers that would rally to the cause and assist you if you keep the it mass appeal enough for broad support but focused enough to be effective, Mike Morgan, Mish, Of Two Minds, HuffPost, Taibbi at true/slant would all likely assist a well-formulated plan.....you would be a great one to organize this, do it, do it.
The shipping guy at my work who hardly ever talks politics and has no education and has never ever expressed a conspiracy theory to me just started going off about Goldman Sachs in the lunch room on Friday, spouting how they took out their competition when Paulson let Lehman fail, listed GS alumni names, talked about how they were manipulating markets etcc...this is a guy with kids and two jobs and no connection to financial types whatsoever. This is going mainstream, the organization around it just has to catch up, fiscal conservatives, libertarians, and progressives are all screaming about the same thing.
Do it
Organizing real action is tough. I put out a call to storm the AT&T building in SF to remove the eavesdropping equipment ourselves since congress abdicated their responsibility to the people.
The plan was was very straightforward, and would have generated some interesting gamesmanship. The government really would have had to drop the charges because the last thing they would want was to defend the existance of the eavesdropping equipment in court.
It had to be a group of people. One person is just a crazy person asking to be shot. Nobody was willing to help.
'Stock Shock' movie & SEC
http://www.prlog.org/10282455-sec-requests-copy-of-financial-film-stock-...
I mean seriously, how pathetic has it gotten in this country when the main regulator the SEC has to learn of such corruption by watching a movie. Idiocracy
Screw that. Admire how good of crooks they are? Are you kidding me? Our Country is so fucked up and is doomed going forward. The living standard 5, 10, 15 years down the road is going to be horrible.
Just wait until we all pay for these games with taxes, a shitty economy, and a horrible living standard.
The USA is AIG right now. Broke, baildout, and no earning power going forward.
Good luck to all. We are going to need it.
White House eases stimulus lobbyist restrictions
In a significant change, the Obama administration will now allow lobbyists to meet and have telephonic discussions with government officials regarding economic recovery projects.
The lifting of the ban comes after K Street has cried foul for months and has challenged the White House on its restrictions.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/white-house-eases-stimulus-lobbyist-...
Doesn't matter what administration. Politicians say whatever the hell they can say to get elected. Repubs/Democrats - don't matter one bit. Both parties hell bent on destroying this country with a greater punch than the other. It is a competition for who will be left standing in the white house when this country is destroyed.
This HFT starts to puts the missing piece together about how Goldman Sachs is able to make so much money from proprietary trading (average of $178 million per day) with a daily VaR of only $230 odd million. Frontrunning is riskless so creates no VaR.
The HFT scandal is possibly the tip of the iceberg. Imagine what crimes would be uncovered if we could have a full investigation of the President Working Group's orders and all market activity associated before and after the orders are put in? Imagine what the public would think if they understood that since Regan signed this executive order ( Executive Order 12631) our govenment has stepped in to the capital markets to make transactions whenever they decided it was "necessary". Just like once the Dow hit 666, they must have thought it was "necessary" .
See Sprott Asset Management August 2005 Special Report, "Move over Adam Smith: The Invisible Hand of Uncle Sam" for a great piece on this subject:
http://www.sprott.com/main3.aspx?id=58
Taxes?
lmao.
There will be nothing to tax except wealth.
If they try that...
there will be tax revolts and real violence.
This could be why these big banks are staging a equities rally , to drawing in the very funding they need to cover their short positions with , once they hit their sell stops in equities , I mean really , the indicators of the equity markets are blinking over bought right now ........
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12289
Will Big U.S. Banks Be Forced to Cover Large Gold Short Positions?
Ok Everybody,
I have heard estimates that the owners of the trillion dollar monopoly, the privately held Federal Reserve Corporation, owns some big percentage of the DOW, and maybe also, a big portion of the biggest hedge funds. Anyone know about that?
If that is true, then, every corruption issue of our day, goes back to the power that has been accrued by private parties owning this monopoly.
Am i simplifying way too much to think that the 300 shares that comprise ownership of the Federal Reserve, could be revoked, or bought back, and that then our country could own the Fed, and make provisions to keep the decision making for monetary policy independent? At least that way, we would be doing the work of anti-trust legislation, and at the same time, reenact Glass-Steagall, and break up the TBTF entities?
As it stands the whole "conventional wisdom" of the Fed's independence is just a cover to the real issue which is that this privately held company BUYS all politicians, both parties, and all policy benifits this monster monopoly.
I bet it would be a nightmare job to try to follow the ownership links for the 300 shares--between trusts, and LLC's and LLP's one may never get even near to the actual people who own this wealth--at least with Buffet and Gates, they are not tied up in a million other names so we can understand their wealth--the owners of the privately held Federal Reserve corporation have wealth that is veiled.
I remember hearing and finding it very weird during TARP-I that some hedge funds would be given this money. May be it did happen but behind closed doors and secrecy but nothing was said about it after that initial blurt out.
then, every corruption issue of our day, goes back to the power that has been accrued by private parties owning this monopoly.
-------------------------------------------------
You are on to something. However, that would require the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 to be rewritten.
It might even be easier than this. My personal view is that the Fed authority is resting on shaky legal ground, or better said does not exist at all. The amount of power they have been delegated by Congress is to extensive to be constitutional. The Act is thus illegal and the void.
An "independent government agency" does not have a place in the US Constitutional order. Nowhere does it say in the Constitution Congress, President, Supreme Court and some independent governement agencies or anything like that.
The whole FRA and with it the Fed is blatantly illegal.Close it down.
http://zeropointfield.wordpress.com/2009/07/17/the-legality-of-the-feder...
zeropointfield, could you please expand your discussion?
Please fill in the blanks to your vision for the process that you suggest.
I only suggested the idea of "independent body" because this was a way of not upsetting the apple cart for currency, and monitary policy. The whole problem with making changes, is that the vision has to be in place of how to manage any change before it can ever be accomplished. Even as i said "independent" body, i immediately realized the potential corruption to this, but, at least the system would remain in tact, but the "owners" would stop extracting value away from our currency and as such our lives.
I admit "independent body" sounds good. It would be nice to have a body just be independent and then decisions become immediatly more sound.
However, I reached the conclusion that 'independent government agency' is a) an illusion; and b) unconstitutional.
Nobody and no body is ever fully independent. The Federal Reserve 'depends' on the banks and its monopoly for printing legal tender (USD). So the only thing they are independent of is Congress. But Congress represents the people, thus they are saying the people cannot have a say in what the Fed does.
Congress just cannot do that. But that's in fact what Congress in fact did in 1913. It delegate away more powers than it legally could.
I also might note that the idea of indepence of government activity from the will of the people is hogwash. In a democracy the government's institutions are supposed to be dependent on the will of the people and (un)fortunately not all people share the same view, but that's ok in my view.
The best and fastest thing to do is for Congress just to repeal the FRA as a whole and give monetary policy back to the Treasury where it belongs and nationalize all Federal Reserve banks and member banks, national exchanges and the DTCC. Why?
Then you restructure the banking system and re-privatize small parts of it, but that's for later. Maybe much later.
Restructuring the financial sector is only part of the solution. The financial institutions have to serve society and not dominate society. This means that we must first figure out what kind what kind of society we want.
Here is a quick idea: If the government would just be paying every US citizen over the age 18 years a lifelong 'guaranteed basic income’ of 2800$ (without any conditions attached), that would give you an economy of $7.8 trillion. Of course citizens would spend much of that money for housing, food, clothing, paying of debt, some leisure, etc and the money would end up in the economy, a $7.8trn economy.
That is still cheaper than backstopping the financial institutions only with $ 24 trn.
(There are around 230 million people over the age of 18 according to U.S. Census Bureau that would immediately create a market of some 7.8 $ trillion.)
Here is something I wrote some time ago about these ideas:
http://zeropointfield.wordpress.com/2009/04/26/idea-for-a-new-economy/
and
http://zeropointfield.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/basic-guaranteed-income/
Thank you zeropointfield! Remember, without a vision and framework for action, there isn't much of a chance for the space between where we stand, and where we want to go, to get filled in a positive way. Thank you for your vision, and i look forward to hearing more!
Veiled or not the big bitch is huge--extra reading --
Treasury finacial statement Fiscal 09--
http://www.fms.treas.gov/mts/mts0409.pdf
Not only that how about just the interest owed for just the month of JUNE 2009--------------
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/ir/ir_congressbo.pdf
Its time to sharpen the pitch forks and get the ropes ready...
Cheeky Bastard posted a link to an article that is a must-read. It is a long read but I would like to know what the experts think about its 'truthiness'.
http://www.deepcapture.com/michael-milken-60000-deaths-and-the-story-of-...
The whole system is rotten if this story checks out. If the mob is involved, it can help explain why people are afraid to come down hard on the industry.
Anony,
Deepcapture.com is completely legitimate, sorry to be the bearer of bad news... better to brace yourself with knowledge, than get hit without any concept of the storm that hit you.
Apparently Karl Denninger thinks like Paulson, Karl is always threatening that a collapse will cause riots, martial law, etc. In fact, nearly every week he has a ticker warning readers to be prepared because it could happen at any time.
Fear mongering, attention whores or truth?
If I had told you that the subprime market was going to implode, GM & Chrysler would go bankrupt - in 2007 - you would have called me a fear monger too.
The difference between Karls warnings and Paulson's warnings are this:
Paulson used the warnings as the final great nudge, at the zenith of his power, for the banking industry to accomplish what we have all seen. Paul B. Ferrell's shows the whole scenario best, in his article ( http://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldman-should-pay-paulson-a-1-billion-bonus?pagenumber=2) "Cheers for King Henry-World's Greatest Nudger":
While chief executive of the Goldman Conspiracy for years before he took over the U.S. Treasury, he helped create the global $523 trillion derivatives bubble building into the 2007-2008 credit meltdown.
Back in August 2006, he privately warned the White House: "Over-the-counter derivatives [were] an example of financial innovation that could, under certain circumstances, blow up in Wall Street's face and affect the whole economy." Yet to the last minute he said they were "contained."
Paulson left Goldman with a personal fortune of $700 million, which was put in a tax-free trust when he became Secretary. He needed to protect it, and his legacy.
Paulson was Wall Street's Trojan horse when the derivative markets collapsed last fall when he nudged Congress into protecting so-called "too big to fail" banks rather than protect the banking system itself and the American taxpayer.
When the meltdown pushed Paulson back in the center ring, he took command with a mini-memo nudging Congress into giving Wall Street $787 billion TARP money, with his old buddies in the Goldman Conspiracy in a favored position.
If you believe his critics, Paulson nudged two of Goldman's strongest competitors into bankruptcy, and nudged the system into protecting AIG's debt obligations to Goldman.
He nudged Bernanke's Fed into protecting the Goldman Conspiracy as a new "too big to fail" commercial bank, with guarantees on debt, which helped their stock triple from lows of $50, and helped in their recent $1 billion bond sale.
His nudges made possible ten $100 million trading days this year for their quants' use trading algorithms that they admit manipulate markets for insider profits.
Thanks in part to his nudging, the Goldman Conspiracy is already back with a whopping $3.4 billion quarterly profits, and average bonuses on track to hit a record $700,000.
And it'll get worse. In his recent Rolling Stone story, "The Great American Bubble Machine," Matt Taibbi details Goldman's "gangster economics" strategy, which has worked for them since the 1930s Great Depression. They are already setting up a new global derivatives bubble: "As envisioned by Goldman, the fight to stop global warming will become a 'carbon market' worth a trillion a year."
Karl Denninger, on the other hand, is suggesting that their will be civil unrest once the country actually comes out of DENIAL and realizes that they have been victim to the biggest, most massive financial crime of all eternity--so when you think about Max Keiser's suggestion about HFT of Goldman Sachs being a crime against humanity, it all starts fitting together.
Here is a link the the article Stacy mentions in the clip:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article6719692.ece
Just like these poor victims of a ponzy in the UK, i don't think American's are all that different--they are indenial because of the scare tactics from last fall about the world ending as we know it if we didn't meet the demands of the banking interests.
Where there is money there is fraud. What's happening here is fraud of mega proportions. The collusion between wall streeters, their regulators and the policitians is the definition of Organized Crime - Looting taxpayers of their hard earned wealth left and right.
This issue is a symptom of behaviors we're seeing with big businesses. All ya'all want to kick-it-up-a-notch, then think about how it relates to Net Neutrality. How do you feel about your Telco's "front running" your I-net content? This is simply big biz shifting the technology paradigm with their (deep pocket books - um no) tax payer pocket books. Help your elected's understand the similarities. If it's not OK for T and VZ to "front run" content, then why should it be legal for GS? Also it seems to me that GS could be putting it's toes into some anti-trust gray areas. T's been split once. Needs to happen again. Lot's of similarities between GS and old/new T.
Net neutrality has to do with ISPs wanting to charge content providers for premium service. The only way that this is even remotely similar to front-running is that it is something businesses want to do to make money.
Seriously, wtf are you talking about?
I agree at a high level. It is all about Telco's/ISP's (the dominant players are one in the same) expanding their biz to make profits on "new" premium content. For example, it's an ISP eventually wanting their and/or their partners content to take a priority over non-partners. They can do this by differing quality of services (through packet priorization or hey maybe via longer latencies). Comcast recently got call on the carpet for interferring (maybe a bad choise of words) Bit Torrent users in the east. My understanding is CMST looked at BT users packets and gave those packets a slower path across the I-Net. The similarities in the Comcast situation and the HFT situation is that all cos involved got access to the data stream to better benefit their biz. So it is similar by how both companies have taken advantage of their data network architecture. GS places their servers next to a content provider thus getting first crack at the content. ISP's/Telco's (CMST) places their servers/routers and switches on the edge so that they inturn can get first peek at the content. NN, IMHO, is attempting to put in place controls to prevent dominent players from getting that early peek at content hence why I believe there are similarities.
Seriously. There are all sorts of crazies on this site now. Tyler always offer great article links. These comments range from hilarious to a little frightening.
enjoy and move on.
Pardon my ignorance, but what evidence is there that HFT is a recent scam inflating only the latest quarter? Most of the information I've been reading about in the past 2 weeks says this is a recent phenomenon-- the only thing that I've read that makes it recent is Sergey Aleynikoy.
I don't think anyone is implying it was ONLY this quarter, but the fact that so many others are busted or out of the market makes for a lot less trading volume. I think with less overall volume the manipulation is more apparent.
What is the correlation, if any, between the naked shorting that brought down Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns and HFT? Is the cesspool filled with a number of scum species bilking the system? Do we have one group, GS making their money frontrunning while another group, a group of hedgefunds, short companies for profit? Is GS the only bad guys or are there a number of unscrupulous hedgefund operators gaming the system? Enquiring minds need answers. The public needs to know the truth.
Bear Raids: http://www.deepcapture.com/michael-milken-60000-deaths-and-the-story-of-...
Wow the conspiricists have really extrapolated this with familiar misunderstanding- Please be circumspect enough to realise the 'evil shorters' line is erroneous. Shorting has been a legitmate price discovery vector for many many years -it is not implicitly evil!!!! Before publishinf some ill concieved bile about an essential market mechanism ensure you understand the finer details. Impassioned calls for 'the truth' prefaced by a broad misunderstanding will not help anything or anyone.
Shorts ensure that the market has elasticity and furthermore their motivations theoreticlly encourage efficiency and lean business practises at the front line. Shorts precipitate the exposure of that which is not in the shareholders interests and provide a mechanism that encourages market efficiency. Shorts are the fuel where negligent business is the combustion.
Vague cynicism is the bane of those that tirelessly seek out the facts.
You are quite right in your description of Short Selling; however this explanation does not apply to NAKED short selling. If you really want to see how deep and dark the rabbit hole is then do some serious reading at DeepCapture. The DTCC is a scum filled black hole that needs to be taken down. Who owns the DTCC? Oh yeah, the big banks of Wall Street.
Pulling back the curtain has to be done to really appreciate the collusion and corruption that is rife on Wall Strret.
Game Over ?
They have until October.
Politics always trumps Free Markets and it's all calculated!
If this fiasco hasn't turned-around by then, the O-Team will send in "The Cleaner" and the Election Cycle will rein.
Result:
- misallocated Capital encouraged overcapacity and the Social Contract with Labor is null & void
- End of '09, Bargaining & Hope is lost and Anger causes heads to roll (i.e., B.B., L.S. and T.G. are out as the nation moves closer to socialism)
- 2010 will bring Depression and will end with Acceptance
- 2011 re-election campaign kicks in with promises to Labor of a "Road to Recovery"
- 2012 Capital gets the backseat, Labor is in the driver's seat. O-Team is re-elected with a majority in the House
The fate of capitalism as we know it, will forever have changed!
Election Cycles:
...note election year Novembers, the February following election year Novembers has been an excellent indicator as to whether the election year November would mark[s] an important top. In every case since at least 1968, when February following election year November moves to a higher high than the January following election year November, the market has proceeded to do very well.
Conversely, when the post-election year February is unable to move higher than the post-election year January, a significant market decline has always followed. This may be coincidence but it has proved prescient for at least the past 40 years.
Oh i get it, GS has done all this to give Labor ascendancy, yeah that makes since...
"The American people are in shock. They are in shock that their entire wealth has been confiscated [by the bankers]"
Bingo. Believe me, when the Americans come out of their shock induced stupor and denial, the anger will be like a tsunami. This is the calm before the storm. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Garbage.
I found this line (attributed to TD) particularly disappointing: "retail investors get suckered into a rising market that has nothing to do with green shoots or some Chinese firms buying a few hundred extra Intel servers".
Retail investors get 'suckered' in iff (if and ONLY if) they are dumb enough to 'invest' without doing their due diligence.
It's like the "the nasty mortgage market made people 'buy' houses they can't afford to pay for.". It assumes that people aren't endowed with the ability to form sensible guesses about the future - and that people made the biggest financial commitment of their lives without thinking about it very hard at all. I have no sympathy for such folk.
Note - in no way do I support the crony-capitalist mechanism that Wall Street represents: I have railed against market corruption since the mid-90s, and I am an akrato-capitalist who thinks that for humanity to advance, politicians and their thug squad drones should be killed off (at least until the surviving parasites get the message and leave us all alone).
However... people who do dumbass things (like 'investing' based on what CNBC says rather than valuation) are creatures of will and they own their decisions.
If someone's brain is sufficiently plastic that they can be encouraged to do stuff with a negative long term rate of return (e.g., smoking cigarettes, buying a house on a 110% NegAm Option ARM, or 'investing' based on CNBC) then it's probably best if we let the system take their money. That way they will face evolutionary pressure (lower budget equals fewer calories, and thus a reduced breeding efficacy).
If I do something stupid, I eat the loss. IF CNBC tells me that the Chineee are buyin' 'puters, that's not going to make me blindly dive in and buy INTC at market. HFT might change people's entry price, but not by much (Denninger's BRCM example seems to assume that the only person on the offer is the HFT bot... which I think is just silly) - and anyone who is long at this juncture deserves everything they get (disclosure: I was long DAX from Feb 22 (having been short since mid 08), and am short INTC, GS, YMU9 and SPI-U9 as of eight days ago... I've been short 30-yr bond futs since ZB was above 127).
Cheerio
GT
GT's Market Rant
Wow TD and Zerohedge, you've certainly come a long way since early March when I was lucky enough to find you. Can't thank you enough for your dedication and everything you're doing for America. I am very very leery, however, of all the attention paid to Goldman while JPM and others are left relatively alone. Scapegoats don't solve underlying problems. They are an easy expedient for the gubment to crucify and then sweep the real problems without fixing a fucking thing. GS can burn to the ground as far as I'm concerned, I just don't want them to be lonely at the bonfire. . .
but GS is the biggest hotdog out there to cook over the campfire (by biggest, I am including the unquantifiable but hugely valuable asset of having so many alum in positions of power in the US gov't and elsewhere). if they can be brought to the bonfire, lots of matters in regards JPM, State Street, DTCC, et al will also get the corresponding heat.
I would also note that the Obama administration true base is also on the "bring Goldman to justice" movement and that is an interesting, ironic, and very powerful force.
Goldman is buying the market up. The sign that that they are about to reverse their bet was already given when they 'forecast' that the S&P will go above 1,000. If Goldman says you must buy they are actually looking for someone to offload to. Don't play into their hands!!!
Goldman is buying the market up. The sign that that they are about to reverse their bet was already given when they 'forecast' that the S&P will go above 1,000. If Goldman says you must buy they are actually looking for someone to offload to. Don't play into their hands!!!
Max reminds me of Norm MacDonald on Weekend Update. That's not because I think the arguements are incorrect or bad, but because of his voice and pace of diction.
In one of the PBS reports, they said the cause of that Fateful Sept. morning they saw $500B move out of the market. I think if we truly found out who, what, where, when and if that was true, what the consequences of that would have, as that seems to be what scared them, unless this was selfinflected too and just another part of the plan to come up with the massive scheme. I would want to know that info FIRST.