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The long weekend is upon us. Please use this space to discuss anything that is relevant, or that may need our focused attention. Also, a reminder that there is a forum for extended threads for more focused discussion.
The soapbox is yours.
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Pay attention Zero Hedgies.
Not all bags are equal!
ANONYMOUS = Facing left and three eye holes.
Anonymous = Facing right and two eyeholes.
Zeropointfield = bag with character!
Does everyone already know about this and I am merely late to the game? That would not surprise me.
i can't say for others here; but i have noticed the various bag versions
it's all so confusing
So whats up Mr. 3 eyed, left facing, ANONYMOUS (versus 2 eyed, right facing, anonymous)... I bet you set up your user as ANONYMOUS and then had a graphic designer do up the bag for you... just rustle the bag if I am right :-)
:)
I heard a faint rustle... aren't you clever...
Thanks for the follow up! And yeah, clever!! But is ANNONAMOUS in fact annonamous any more? Could still be a sock puppet used by many (kind of like a congress person). The mystery may not be solved.
But the bag did rustle, didn't it.
MsCreant MsSpelled Anonymous.
I wrote #61191. Funny how that posted as anonymous, instead. Hmmm
Michael Moore film debuts in Venice. The reviews are in. Here is a tasty morsel from the HollywoodReporter.
The second half of the film is even more chilling in suggesting, through interviews with a number of worried members of Congress, that the country's $700 billion bailout was legalized bank robbery, a "financial coup d'etat" run through Congress just before elections and engineered principally by Goldman Sachs and Henry Paulson.
Jeez, I though Moore was just an idiot . . .
I'm sure he'll be stupid enough to present this issue in a partisan light.
It will be another orgy of ignorance here as we attempt to explain away how a so-called left wing, socialist nutjob can reach the same conclusions about the important things as we do while remaining a worthless propagandizing moron.
I hope his next movie addresses the American religion of label-mongering.
Gotta admit he is a fat mofo. FWIW.
As long as he doesn't try to paint the picture that one party is on the side of the people, doing their darnest to fix the boo boo that the bankers have inflicted then I will probably agree with the conclusions. Otherwise I am simply afraid that the movie will give a great summary of events but then try to isolate a specific part of government from any rongdoing by focusing on the other side. Who knows though, maybe the guy is capable of making a documentary while keeping his politics out of it. To me, he's a hack until proven otherwise.
He's not a straight-up documentary film maker, that's a fact. Actually, I've never regarded him as a documentary maker at all, given how deliberately he plots his films. We'll see how much, if any, restraint he shows this time.
He may be ready to refute the simple-minded division of Republican and Democrat on this one.
I certainly hope so. It's about time for such radical ideas to be presented in the mainstream.
I agree... it is not one parties fault... and I find it interesting to watch Michael Moore and his cleverness (esp when he took the 9/11 survivors with no health insurance to be treated in Cuba)... he REALLY needs to step out of his partisan history and show the system for what it really is... can he do it?... I don't know... I can only hope...
Yo Chick,
I like your bag! Very elegant. Certainly MinnesotaNice. It says particle and wave. I'm groovin' on it! (And LMAO).
Have you noticed the change in ANONYMOUS since we caught em. He/she has a new bag too! Or same ole bag and a jaw line.
Yep... I put the Super-Saver's bag in the recycle bin... I'll give this one a try... but with no eye holes I'm stumbling around in the dark... and it's getting stuffy without a nose hole... so we will see how I feel about it in the morning... every time I look at it I laugh... so I am going to try the Northern Lights instead.
So yes, I see that the 3-eyed, left-facing ANON had sneaky plastic surgery this afternoon... maybe he/she is planning on a strip-tease reveal.
And I caught your comment under "Stealin"... but then I couldn't bear to go back through the jungle to find it again and respond... so I will do it here... his/her rant from Friday was over the top in my book and I nailed him/her on it then... so I had less tolerance than usual for his/her ideas on Saturday... that is the one and only thing that will send me to the moon is intentional hurtful discriminatory rant... I would guess that there are minorities who enjoy this site also and in our country we should be past that imho... how I got that way living in MN where there a very few minorities I will never know.
Got the message. Northern lights it is until it isn't. :-)
Great fun.
You are quite funny... nice dry sense of humor...
Common decency isn't about geography, but about the person who possesses it. Or doesn't, it seems to me. Kudos for asserting yours. If more people were to do so as situations require, this would be a different kind of country . . . and I suspect that holds even in the financial industry, where the moral failures of so many paved the way to our present national and world predicament.
I think that at ZH especially it is vital that we be vigilant about responding to bigotry clearly and forcefully. This is now the most important site on the web (and perhaps the planet) for combatting the corruption that has taken hold of our nation. Consequently, it is a prime target for freaks who would discredit this community by any means possible. And what is easier or more effective than racist rantings . . . especially if they are simply accomodated without comment?
+10,000
XO !
from the front page of the sunday times:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6823300.ece
if correct, it will confirm that Iran is clearly trying to upgrade their air defence system with some sort of help from mother Russia. Israel aviation force on the 5th of May 2009 flew without refuelling to Gibraltar and back, which is the same distance to Iran and back and this prove their capability to strike far away but not the ability to successfully halt any nuclear program.
Imho an unsuccessful strike would have even worst consequences than a successful one, as a prolonged and multilateral conflict war will engulf the region for many months in a very virulent form, followed by many years of renewed tensions
CB I think your original question is a very pertinent and always important one to keep in mind as the consequences could be far reaching and not easily calculated. I wish also to bring back a subject previously touched by ZH which I think could have a very sinister impact on the markets within a very short time frame and that I think has been overlooked by many
http://thefundamentalview.blogspot.com/2009/09/china-and-buzz-of-pending-bank-default_03.html
"...I think could have a very sinister impact on the markets within a very short time frame and that I think has been overlooked by many
http://thefundamentalview.blogspot.com/2009/09/china-and-buzz-of-pending-bank-default_03.html "
Seems to me that any impact is dependent on how much coin is involved. Firstly, are there any estimates? or is it even possible to know the amount? Secondly, yes, the chinese got snookered and they are pissed. Thirdly, their annoyance can be tempered depending on sentence number one.
I just adore ZH, its like Gone with the Wind on Mescalin...everybody is heavily armed and drugged..what makes southern parties such a success...
Frankly, my dear, I don't
Ooooh, coookies!!!
yum yum yum yum yum
Once they have let all these cats out of the bags, can you ever herd them back in??
Look, it's Palin with a lampshade on her head, stripping with Nancy Pelosi doing a lesbian act. Over there, John McCain is having a heart attack and reaching for his asprin. Should we help him? What is Barney Frank doing? Uh, nevermind.
What's that song playing???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPkOZp5NWKo
The Roof, the roof...
OK, Sqworl, Chumbawamba, and MsCreant,
...now that we are on the subject of the devil and the South...
Little Johnny was sitting in his Sunday school class when his teacher said to the class, "Raise your hand if you want to go to heaven." All of Johnny's Sunday school classmates raised their hands. Then his teacher said, "Johnny, don't you want to go to heaven?" Johnny looked around the class, and finally said, " yea...but not with this bunch."
Nietzsche was writing about immortality, and suggested looking around at everyone you know, all your friends, enemies and family. He asks if you really want to know them forever? And even worse, he says, imagine being with YOURSELF forever!
...or maybe like... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_yWNawGPd8 ?????
The China derivative issue does fit a similar sequence of the blackmail by bankers that took place last year here. 1-After probably buying hedging on oil at $140(which is stupid if you ask me with my humble knowledge of options and futures,whereby I always thought that hedging beyond a quarter where you have to adjust prices after that,will turn you into a financial institution which is not your core of business)and sufering huge losses,they probably told banks that we might pull out of those contracts.2-Big bankesters reply in tried and succeeded fashion;let the market fall a bit,just to show those orientals what worked for us in the anglo saxon world.3-China,having heared that there might be legal backlash if they went ahead with their plan,decide to pull their gold form London,under the pretence that they will establish an exchange in Hong Kong.4-The market gets a whiff,and gold fly high.So who will blink first?China or banksters?Somebody will have to ask TG if he was the go inbetween in London.
I was going to pay to see Michael Moores new movie "Capitalism"
Instead I'm gona wait till a decent torrent comes out and watch it for free.
This is going to be my "anti-capitalism" moment. I'm sure it is just a phase I will soon pass along with the undigested piece of tomato I had earlier.
I received an email from a friend at the VFF and apparently Michael's movie got a great reception! Let's hope the sheeple watch it and realized they have been shagged by a skidmark on the Devil's leotard....
So you're sayin' David Lee Roth is the Devil?
Extremes in ether direction never lead to reasonable solutions. While seldom a society needs extreme views to push it out of status quo, I doubt it is the case. Indeed MM is bright , talented and creative. Unfortunately his work often is manifestation of his anger and self serving agenda rather than a desire to find the practical solution to any particular problem.
Well I would like to see it. For free (capitalism is bad)
So, when should we expect ZH internet talk show/radio? It seems to be the next logical step. :)
I'll listen on condition everyone has to breath helium.
I'll listen on condition everyone has to breath helium.
Geez, my stutter is back. Sorry.
This is a stupid question, but will seque into my next question...which will seque into another question.
What is the difference between "credit" and "leverage"?
Credit is something that can be leveraged. Leverage has a much broader and applicable definition than credit IMO.
No...The only thing you can leverage "credit" with is more "credit" which is debt.
Leverage is a derivative of credit, which is a derivative of debt (infact in traditional terms you can consider "credit" debt...can we all agree on that?
leverage can be applied in many places outside of credit. Barney Frank leverages his position of Chairman of Finacial committee for continuous campaign funds and gifts. I don't see leverage as a derivative but rather a function (although that doesnt quite capture it either IMO).
Credit is credit, but debt is created if credit is used. Credit is the ability to make debt.
Just like wood is not the same thing as the smoke that occurs when it burns. Credit may be available, but things happen when credit is used (transfer of money and responsibilities) when credit burns into debt.
Or you could say that credit is like potential debt creation energy, and leverage is debt energy.
We can have lots of credit, but not use it, like a company that has no debt and a ton of cash so, they have a ton of credit available to take out if they decided to lever up their balance sheet. Or a company that is leveraged highly, may have no more credit available and (unlike our country that is printing money) eventually, unchecked, too much leverage can break companies and people and force them into bankruptcy.
The two are mutually exclusive.
You can't have one without the other.
Is that correct?
NO! Leverage can exist without credit. Thinking about leverage in our social structure in purely financial terms does a disservice to the word.
I would say leverage is a degree of credit. For example, if you take $ 100 as assets and have $ 300 as credit, your leverage is 3 (300%).
Can bubbles be created without credit/leverage?
You can't have leverage without credit.
If you mean those two in a strictly financial sense, then yes, but if not then no.
If I make a lever then all I need to create leverage is a couple of rocks.
Seeing as I am commenting on a financial blog, one can assume, that I am not talking about a see-saw.
don't tell that to CB.
no! to what?
I think bubbles can be created with liquidity absent credit.
Agree or no?
If I am correct there could be a huge bubble in gold being created. This would be a terrible study seeing as there is some leverage in this investment category.
It seems to me that gold (down the road) has the potential to ruin countries and huge funds when this asset class implodes (which it will)
In any enviroment with a fiat currency there will be bubbles.
The trick is to identify the bubble (if you are in the business of profitting from it)
I would have to take the other side of this. TULIPS. bubble, no credit, just perception.
So there IS a BUBBLE....FORMING....in GOLD....and Treasuries, but Treasuries will IMPLODE before gold.
not sure about that. im not an expert on the topic but i'm sure there were people that borrowed to buy tulip bulbs....that would be an instance of a credit bubble.
If we look at gold/silver...and consider it the only option vs. a fiat currency than I am sure people are borrowing to buy gold...It may be young in it's making or it could be nearing it's peak but it IS a bubble.
The point of this is...you don't wanna be the last person buying a tulip bulb....or an ounce of bullion.
Dude, gold has been money for thousands of years now. And the fact that gold has held its value throughout all the bubbles and manias through the ages ought to inform you. But no, you want to confuse the issue with an idiotic discussion of credit, leverage, debt, etc.
Gold, like anything, can be overbid, and the price can rise beyond fundamental value if a mania hits, but a) we're so far from this that it's silly trying to call it now and b) even after any mania that might come up subsides, gold will return to being a stable store of value.
If you don't buy it, grow a garden and STFU.
I am Chumbawamba.
The demand curve for gold has shifted and it is really cheap at this point, sorry to burst the antigoldbug bubble.....
well you can. When a company issues financial obligations (bonds, commercial paper, etc) those are liabilities as well and they create leverage. So leverage is not necessary bad, it is only bad when degree of it is unsustainably high.
When it comes to consumers (and certain industries), leverage is bad. It has negative consequences because humans (all of us) are much better in short run decision making than long run. We put much more emphasis on today than distant tomorrow and as the result the long run (time frame) benefits are negative.
deleted, got out of control rather fast :)
deleted
You know. I've been wondering for some time. Has the leverage, allowed by the US Gov't for some time, creating a supply of money? If so how would this be measured? Derivatives or otherwise.
People love her. Why? 1.Talent 2.She don't give a fuck what people think.
http://perezhilton.com/2009-09-06-gagas-battery-operated-boyfriend
She takes the big risks that no one else would take. She is making a ton of money.
If you have a dream then go for it.
http://cocoperez.com/2009-09-06-gagalicious/?from=PH
it is possible to have a bubble without high financial leverage however such a bubble would have less negative consequences. Bubbles are formed due to our irrational behaviors and society being a complex system. High leverage makes the bubbles much more deadly.
I guess this question can be clearned up if we determine whether the Tulip bubble developed through the leveraging of credit. I don't think it did. Although people borrowed money to by tulips, they bubble perpetuated itself without being fueled by new credit. It is hard to seperate I guess, seeing as you can't really tell which money is credit(debt if you would argue over semantics) and which isn't. The tulip bubble hadcredit involved but as far as i know I don't thin it was the source of the bubble. Tulip mania was one of those magical moments of human insanity where it was just a pure buy buy buy kind of situation feeding upon itself.
In the absence of bank credit at that early stage of financial develpoment, downpayments were frequently made in kind. N.W Posthumus, Schama, the historian, notes the fact in a single sentence; Simon Schama, the historian provides examples. In one case a pound of White Crowns (Witte Croon in Dutch, sold by weight because of it's ordinariness) Fl 525 was to be paid on delivery (presumably the next June), but four cows at once. other downpayments consisted of tracts of land, houses, furniture, silver and gold vessels, paintings, a suit and a coat, a coach and dapple-gray pair; and for a single Viceroy (rare), valued at FL. 2500, two lasts (a measure that varies by commodity and locality) of wheat and four of rye, eight pigs, a dozen sheep, two oxheads of wine, four tons of butter, a thousand pounds of cheese, a bed, some clothing, and a silver beaker.
Source: Manias, Panics and Crashes by Charles P. Kindleberger; From ch 7: Domestic Contagion: The Tulipmania
Anyone see this . . . or is this old news?
http://www.boston.com/business/markets/articles/2009/09/06/renewed_case_peers_at_hedge_fund/?page=1
I dunno how old the news is, but we should chip in for a case of scotch for Gary Aguirre. We need a cadre of lawyers like him to replace the current Enforcement Division; hand them a license to collect a % of fees collected for illegal activity, and sit back to watch the chips fly.
BTW, it seems he is/was getting screwed again by the Gov't, despite the glaring obviousness of the SEC's incompetence and cronyism:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/02/sec-gary-aguirre-business-beltway-sec.html
so you took notice of the tulip bulbs holy fucking mackerel.
I'm off folks...
Know the tulip bulb...Your best friend/worst enemy.
Did you guys see this?
2,000 Washington State Students Report Signs of Swine Fluhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/health/06flu.html
Must mean that Fall has arrived... that is a big break-out... little concerning because it was not that contagious this past Winter... hopefully the mortality rate will stay low...
the most useful bail out application of them all, is running out of money:
http://www.portfolio.com/business-news/2009/09/07/SBA-running-out-of-sti...
sad.
What do you guy think will happen to CITIGROUP after the conversion on 10 september?
At this point, it will be the largest capitalized bank in the world.
Will that be the next market mover for the next few weeks?
Oil be damned.
So just as every fiat currency has failed, so has every gold based one failed. Based on my reading, I have a theory. Each system fails through corruption. An Austrian pure gold standard, through tight monetary control, does not allow for the cost of corruption to maintain power. Or expressed another way, when I invest in a politician, I expect a certain return on my investment. I would like to receive dividends and growth rather than maintain a status quo. As campaigns increase in cost, the amount of return that they get is decreased hindering the politicians ability to be reelected. So the corrupt elements then remove the country from the gold standard. A Keynesian model has no controls on corruption (ROI) and will always end with rampant corruption that will always collapse a currency. Maybe I am oversimplifying here, but as I understand it, any money put in to an economy will stimulate it from a Keynesian view. This implies a certain randomness that has not been seen in the current crisis. To find corruption in a Keynesian system you just need to follow the flow of the blow it seems. I don't think either school has adequetly factored corruption in their formulas, maybe its a subset under value or something that needs to be defined. Let me know if you think I am full of shit.
Beautiful insight regarding corruption! I cant think of any theories that have formally recognized, much less accounted for it, except in their rejection of competing theories and systems. In a sense I suppose that Nash's game theory could be said to have been built upon a cynical foundation of greed as the basic motivating factor, but that's not quite the same thing you seem to be mulling over.
Well gold based fractional reserve monetary systems do the same thing they did at the very first one. The very first one was the goldsmiths in england. They noticed that not much gold was used from the storage at any one time and started loaning it out at interest. Well before that they started doing gold receipts. They would give you a reciept of gold so you didn't have to carry it. But when they started loaning it out at interest what happen was the receipts versus the underlying assets would "inflate" and eventually after loaning out enough gold at enough interest they had reciepts for twice as much physical gold as they had in stock. This is where the term fractional comes from because they magically doubled the amount of gold in the vault.It's kind of interesting that around the time this became widely adopted there was alot of talk about alchemy and turning lead to gold and etc. Probably just people trying to mathematically figure out why things don't add up. LOL Under a fractional reserve fiat currency you get the same inflation but at much faster rates and it's too tempting to try to hide the effects of it through market and perception manipulation. US has had 10 plus percent inflation since 1970 it's just all been hidden and manipulated so much that it has to snap to reality and correct.
Corruption is a function of power and usually size. As something gets bigger and bigger ecomically it starts putting more time and attention into one specific spot of activity. It's involvement in so many lives and ability to gain so much money makes it harder to keep control of it. Eventually it becomes arrogant because everything and everybody seems so unable to limit it's growth or activities so it becomes harmful and eventually becomes sociopathic and indiferent to society outside of it's sphere of influence. This is why you get so many reports of mistakes happening that affect people that get covered up and seem so callous and wreckless. Be it drugs that hurt people from big pharma or ford pinto's that explode and burn people and the company decides it's too costly or too much trouble to fix the problem. It's just human nature, if a person bullys a kid at school and gets away with it then the behavior continues. Which is why you constantly see the central banks bullying and corporations bullying and asserting thier rights. Trying to expand thier own rights while diminishing everyone elses rights around them. But it can never come into harmony as there is always a core and periphery and it's always monolithic in structure, though the monolithic core may involve up to thousands of people. It eventually sets up enough resistance to it's existance that external forces come in and rip it to shreads because nobody can tolerate the injustice and bullying any longer. The only thing that can keep corruption down is limitations of power, but the people who want it will not accept the responsibility of disciplining themselves and they always put it out on society to do it for them. Since they are subject to so much external discipline they want the power to "discipline" others that is why the people who fight back the least are pushed around the most. I mean look at he jewish bible. God's a dick corrupts everybody the whole world turns evil and it has to be destroyed, start over. God tries a softer approach, the forgiveness fake out and then tells people how awful it will get in the end and that the world will have to be destroyed again. Over and over it's a pattern of madness, corruption grows, aggressiveness grows, then theres an impasse and destruction.
That is really good... a new fresh idea...
Link: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2009/09...
I smell reality show. "Housewives" of Goldman Sachs.
Good articles and daily updates on H1N1, survivalist stuff and articled from the Economatrix.
http://www.survivalblog.com/
Schools may provide snapshots of absenteeism to come-
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/08280902/H1N1_Sticker.html
11% of WSU Pullman Campus (2000 peole) infected with H1N1. But yAy, football game at WSU will go on!! S-p-r-e-a-d VIRUS!!
See also
Misinformation Linked to Explosion of Swine Flu in US Schools
Recombinomics Commentary 22:42
August 26, 2009
A high number of students at Sylacauga city schools are reporting being sick, but it appears to be a stomach virus doing most of the damage right now instead of the H1N1 strain of influenza that has worried health officials around the world.
Lisa McGrady, the school system's registered nurse, said students are fighting off strep throat, the flu and a stomach virus which are all making the rounds right now.
McGrady said her main complaint has been the stomach virus with students complaining of headaches and being nauseated but without any signs of fever.
The above comments describe a rapidly spreading pandemic H1N1 outbreak in Alabama (see map), but similar statements have been made by others regarding other swine flu outbreaks. 10-20% of the schools population is ill, and only a portion of the illnesses is attributed to swine flu. However, swine flu causes sore throats, has a gastrointestinal component, and over 50% of infections have no fever. Consequently, the above comments suggest there is little swine flu, even though step throat and upset stomachs generally do not affect 10-20% of the student population in August.
In addition to the above outbreak, there are similar outbreaks throughout Alabama, as well as other states in the south (see map) where the school season started several weeks ago. These other outbreaks include students that are influenza A positive and have flu-like symptoms. However, even in those outbreaks officials are stating that swine flu hasn't been confirmed, even though there is little seasonal flu in August, and over 99% of influenza A positive infections are swine H1N1.
Thus, although it is clear that swine flu is spreading rapidly, the general public is confused by false statements by officials, testing limited to influenza A determinations, or the lack of any testing.
However, at this time of the year, it is clear that swine flu is accounting for the vast majority of absenteeism, and the infections include college as well as younger students. The older students are told to remain in their rooms and avoid health care centers because those facilities are being overwhelmed, and therefore cannot treat the more serious cases.
Because of the lack of testing, it remains unclear how many students are infected with Tamiflu resistant H1N1. Many schools are now recommending prophylactic Relenza, suggesting that Tamiflu resistance is more widespread than reported. Indeed the resistance may be contributing to the rapid spread and may be causing more significant problems in cases at risk patients.
The confusion caused by media broadcasts of misinformation should be addressed now, when diagnosis of swine flu can be accurately made in the absence of lab confirmation, and students lacking fever can be isolated.
Similarly, more information on the anti-viral sensitivity of the rapidly spreading H1N1 would be useful.
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/08260901/H274Y_Misinformation.html
WOW....LOL!
http://aaronandmoses.blogspot.com/2009/09/china-flips-off-goldman-sachs....
From the WSJ:
SHANGHAI -- China's government on Monday offered public encouragement to state-owned companies challenging foreign banks over huge losses from derivative contracts, a move that bankers say has raised the risks of dealing with some of China's largest enterprises.
Some of China's biggest airlines and shippers lost hundreds of millions of dollars last year on derivative trades when the price of oil plunged. They are now seeking to claw back those losses.
In a statement on its Web site, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said it supported moves by unnamed Chinese enterprises to seek recourse for their losses in structured financial derivative contracts tied to the price of oil and reserved the right to file lawsuits itself...
With concern already rising in recent weeks that Beijing might challenge the fuel-derivative losses, bankers have been scurrying to protect themselves. One day last week, trading in certain contracts all but shut down in China, bankers say. Now, bankers are discussing how to impose stiffer collateral requirements for Chinese airlines and other companies that seek derivative contracts.
------------
Here is the link for the English version of China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
Forbes story here on same. China Eastern Airlines lost $906 million on their oil hedges.
Isn't it amazing that no-one reports how Goldman Sachs screwed the Chinese? So I will! (And what is more amazing, is that Goldman Sachs reputation is so tarnished that they and the Chinese are mentioned in the same breathe!)
Goldman Sachs Singapore commodity unit, Aron & Co. was the counterparty to Shenzhen Nanshan Power Station Co., which refused to pay Goldman Sachs tens of millions of dollars. They said the transactions were unauthorize. People probably forgot about this story, because it happened last December:
--------
HONG KONG -- A face-off with a small Chinese power company over its losses on oil-related derivatives is turning into a big headache for Goldman Sachs Group Inc., a counterparty for a number of such trades in China.
Arguing that the transactions with the Wall Street firm were "unauthorized," Shenzhen Nanshan Power Station Co. is refusing to pay Goldman for the losses it has incurred, which people familiar with the situation said amount to tens of millions of dollars.
The sum at stake is small compared with losses at some other companies that hedged their oil exposure, but the downside could be significant for Goldman. Its Singapore commodities unit, J. Aron & Co., has acted as counterparty for several Chinese companies that are claiming bigger losses from oil hedging, including Air China Ltd. and China Eastern Airlines Corp. Although these companies aren't disputing their recent losses, offering Shenzhen Nanshan a break could set a precedent for Goldman if ever confronted in the future by other corporate clients.
-----
Notice what Goldman Sachs had to say: "We are confident that these contracts are valid, and that we will reach a resolution with the company."
Goldman never fesses up, until they are forced to. Now the Forbes article indicates that China Eastern Airlines had a loss of $906 million. Their counterparty? Goldman Sachs.
A few days ago, I had a story on this blog called Conspiracy Theory. Part of my postulation was that Goldman was pimping oil prices higher, because they knew they were the counterparty on bad derivative transactions.
Now we know that they are the party of bad derivative transactions.
And we also know, the Goldman had pimped oil down, after they facilitated the transactions, but they pimped oil up, before they sold them. Now we know that Goldman is pimping oil up, coincidentally, at the same time, they are facing billions of losses from soured derivative transactions.
When AIG's bets went sour, Goldman Sachs was paid back by Treasury, and you the taxpayer, paid Goldman Sachs back at the behest of Treasury.
Now Goldman Sachs is pimping oil higher, attempting to offset their bet on the taxpayer again. But this time, they want the taxpayer to pay higher prices at the pump to offset their losses.
So China should go and tell Goldman to go and f*ck themselves. Let Goldman sell the futures and hedges on the exchange to drive down the price of oil, and give the taxpayer a break.
And what does it say about financial markets, when we have to turn to the Chinese, in order to reign in Goldman Sachs and their unbridled greed and egregiousness?
Maybe because China has the world's largest bird nest!
Stocks Cheapest Since ‘89 Show Why Analysts Dismiss Economists
By Eric Martin and Michael Tsang
STORY TO FOLLOW.Last Updated: September 7, 2009 19:01 EDT
Can't wait to see how BBg justifies this headline...
I am not sure if this is correct, but it appears that Bernanke may not have done all that much printing yet. He has managed to extract $1 Trillion from the banking industry by "enticing" Banks to park their "excess reserves" money at the FED. This is more money than TARP supposedly put into the banking system. Then the FED used the money to support the Treasury auctions by buying up Treasuries and Agencies. He also bought up quite a few MBS and somewhere along the lines has loaned over half a trillion to foreign entities, whose names, he told the Congress, he does not know. So now that he has used up his cash, will he turn on the printing presses? Will he sit on the sidelines and stop propping up the FED auctions and let interest rates go up? I don't think he can extract significant new "excess reserves" from the banking sytem unless he can get them from GS or other such FED members that fall under the new definition of "banks". Geithner and the current administration have been looking the other way (or maybe even collaborating) as they allow GS and other financial institutions to extract huge amounts of money from the markets using HFT, predatory Algos, Dark Pools, flash trading, front running, etc. I believe that this behavior is being condoned by the administration so that these insitutions can quickly raise money and return the TARP funds, allowing Geithner to deploy them elsewhere. Then Geithner and Bernanke, and maybe some other parties, can all collude on another convoluted scheme to divert money from the economy and/or TARP to continue to prop up the Treasury Auctions, or maybe funnel it directly into the Treasury's coffers. What happens when the banks start to need their "excess reserves" to cover additional write-downs? Will Bernanke start dumping the securities or print new money? Or is there something else I have not thought of? Or are my observations way off base? I am interested in hearing other people's opinions.
Thanks to the Zero Hedge crew for being the most informative and educational website out there. Sometimes you are a little hard to read because I do not have a Wall Street background and have to educate myself on the lingo. But I am learning. I would never have known that GS and a handful of others had an oligarchical control over the markets, which the government seems to be condoning. I was under the delusion that our markets were operated under the principals of capitalism, that stock prices reflected the value of the underlying business, and that everyone had the same rights and opportunities when it came to participating in the markets. My eyes are wide open now.
For someone who doesn't know a lot about financial matters... you seem to know a lot about financial matters... nice summary :-)
http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX motherfuskers
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