I found this via Financial Armageddon.
I had a master’s degree. I had a job. But to feed my three children, I had to swallow my pride and go to a soup kitchen.
I could segue into some political rant here, a slick dismissal of the Bush administration, perhaps, or a paragraph declaring my support for Barack Obama. But the moment I walked into the soup kitchen — the moment I acknowledged, publicly, that I could not provide food for myself or my children (which is why the soup kitchen is so much more difficult than the food bank) — is the moment that my ability to believe in the politics of this country was forever altered. I know why poor people have historically low voter-turnout rates. If you vote, you acknowledge that you believe in the system. And to believe in the system when you’re at the very bottom, when you’ve watched the chrome and ink-black SUVs drive by while you’re packing your own beater with dried beans and lentils, to believe at that point is fucking painful. [Heather Ryan, "Our Cupboard Was Bare"]
More and more people I know are being affected by the hidden inflation tax and are having trouble surviving in this strange economic environment. People I know, who in the past were down on their luck, couldn’t give a damn about the President or any political races. Their primary worry was where to get food, shelter, and clothing first.
Somewhere we’ve lost the American Dream for the masses and replaced it with the American Dream for the Political and Financial elite. Did I hear Benny say, “let them eat cake?”
I just read this from google news,
Aug 28, 2008
More than 100 US banks in trouble
Number of ailing banks shoots up to five-year high, with no relief in sight
WASHINGTON: The number of troubled United States banks shot up 30 per cent in just three months to 117, the highest level in five years.
A top regulator also warned that conditions will worsen as the housing slump and credit crisis continue to pound the industry.
More than a year after the credit crisis first flared up, Ms Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), warned on Tuesday that the outlook for the ailing banking industry was bad – and getting worse.
The FDIC said it continued to see stress in the commercial real estate market, especially in construction and development areas.
Delinquent loans – those more than 90 days past due – jumped by almost 20 per cent during the quarter to US$162.9 billion, it said.
IndyMac is now expected to cost the fund US$8.9 billion, topping the agency’s prior estimates of US$4 billion to US$8 billion, the FDIC said.
REUTERS, NEW YORK TIMES
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/Breaking%2BNews/Money/Story/STIStory_272767.html
to anyone interested (on short selling news)
though we are interested in eliminating naked shorting this could be the begining of righting the ship.
FROM ANOTHER BOARD
SEC to act on abusive short selling: source By Rachelle Younglai
Mon Sep 15, 2:36 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. securities regulators plan to take action on abusive short selling of stock before the end of the week, a source briefed on the matter said on Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The measures came as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEH.N) filed for bankruptcy protection, intensifying concerns that other major financial stocks would accelerate their losses.
The Securities and Exchange Commission will likely adopt proposals to strengthen its short-selling rule, including one that deems it fraudulent for customers to deceive broker-dealers about their intention or ability to deliver securities in time for settlement.
The SEC will also move forward with a plan that would shorten the time in which traders must buy back stock if they fail to deliver a security by the settlement date.
But the SEC will not reinstate and broaden a temporary emergency rule that required traders to preborrow stock before executing a short sale.
Two months ago, regulators were faced with similar market turmoil when IndyMac bank was seized by regulators and investors were concerned that Lehman and mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) were veering towards insolvency.
At the time, the SEC announced plans to crack down on rumor-mongering and issued an emergency rule aimed at curbing illegal naked short selling in 19 major finance stocks, including Lehman, Freddie and Fannie.
A “naked” short sale occurs when an investor sells stock that has not yet been borrowed.
Broker-dealers will sometimes accidentally fail to deliver stock to investors who have arranged to borrow it. If this is done intentionally, it is illegal.
That rule proved to be controversial, however. Broker-dealers said the requirement was onerous, companies whose stock was not on the SEC’s list wanted the same protections, and short sellers complained about being targeted.
When the emergency order ended in mid-August, the SEC set about crafting rules — which it had been expected to adopt late in September — to be applied to all stocks.
Mortgage giants Fannie and Freddie have since been taken over by the government. Lehman has been forced to file for bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer.
(Editing by Quentin Bryar)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080915/bs_nm/sec_shortselling_dc
P.S.> IN MY OPINION IT IS A BEGINING, but might not be enough to close all the loop holes that need to be closed to get our markets back.
THOUGH IT;S A START IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION we probably will need some future adjustments as we go that will put back the fear of the SEC back into the mix.
“NOW ENFORCEMENT OF ANY NEW REGULATION HAS TO BECOME OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE WITH NO EXCEPTIONS” if the SEC blinks or in any way shows weakness the wall street boys will go back to their old ways I”m sure most know that fixing the market is in their best interest too (like a child that doesn’t like to take baths but has to)old habits are hard to break.
TO ANYONE INTERESTED (ON NAKED SHORT SELLING)
Cramer on the SEC –.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=858359962&play=1
FIRST THE DOT COMS NOW THE INFRASTRUCTURE STOCKS,WHEN WILL THIS END?
P.S.> Cox this is getting out of control.Anytime an infrastructure stock like AIG is taken down like a dot com we are in trouble,and the SEC better quit looking the other way.
Start by implementing and enforcing regulations NOW,because the short selling hedgies are smacking their lips looking at the whole financial sector as easy pickens.
Even if it’s the hedgies of their own sector’s peer(s)(partners in crime) that will make them go out of buisness,it still will have a very negative impact on the whole market.(AS FAR AS MARKET STABILITY)
LETS GET THOSE REGULATIONS STARTED AND ENFORCED NOW!!!
There was an entire decade where endless derivatives were manufactured out of thin air to create leverage upon leverage, the SEC was asleep and this is the natural result of the whole house of cards falling down
sherry: Right and when you consider the market is at least $63 trillion dollars, they better fix it fast!
A LITTLE FUNNY FOR EVERYONE:
A board meeting mid week at GS,JP Morgan (the so called top of the financial food chain)wondering why they were being bear raided like everyone else
even hitler gets margin calls: OUCHY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVB-SSkkLnY
P.S.> what goes around sooner or later comes around.There is no honor among thieves.
an oldy but a goody on naked short selling,and an overall view of how serious the problem really is.
Real Player:
http://www.netcastdaily.com/broadcast/fsn2008-0712-2.ram
P.S.> Last thursday the SEC eliminated the T+13 rule and brought back the T+3 rule.
The question arrises will this make any impact on naked short selling.Remember as day trading most shorts won’t stay in the market more then 1-2 days anyways.The only impact it might make is on the FTD’S that they were kiting every 13 days during the T+13 rule.Shuffling millions of shares back and forth between brokerages every 3 days might become a hassle.Hopefully to much of one they will start to close their possitions.
“ONE CAN DREAM CAN’T THEY”
I often browse on some stock chat boards especially on RAGING BULL,and on one of these boards one person wrote about how LEHMAN was going to go under and that Merrill was going to get bought out. No big deal right, that sounds like last weekends news right.The big deal is he wrote that in March of 2008, not last week.
He also had a habit of saying how powers and nations will align in an effort to clean up the markets otherwise there would be a world wide economic dissaster.
Lets look at what happened last week in the markets> first LEHMAN goes bankrupt,Merrill gets bought by Bank of America,Then shorts go wild and bring the market down 500 and 450 on back to back trading days, SLIDE ENDS WED>
INFO:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=858994209&pla
the T+3 rule comes back thursday, the markets bounce back,the UK bans all naked shorting on all stocks till 1/16/2009 pre-borrow mandatory,Canada stops all naked shorting on it’s financials till further notice pre-borrow mandatory,Australia stops all naked shorting on all stocks and if you can’t locate to borrow by the end of the day you will get a forced buy in,and last but not least U.S. bans all naked shorting on 799 financial stocks till 10/2/2008.pre-borrow mandatory
So here we are watching the whole thing unfold in front our eyes,but by not knowing the behind the scene activaty all we can do is watch and maybe sip on a cold beverage. (like a glass of ice tea maybe,unless you’re nerves/worried becouse you’re short you’ll want to make that a long island ice tea)
P.S.> This is just the begining,we have a ways to go,but looks like everyone (except the shorts) is going in the right direction for a change.(speaking of direction the past 7 years it looked like the keystone cops were in charge )As long as these forces align and not just BS each other then we might eventually get there.
This could be a little more serious house cleaning then i thought.
LOOKS LIKE NO SHORT SELLING AT ALL ON THESE 799
STOCKS
IMPORTANT: Due to new Securities Exchange Commission rules, short selling on certain financial securities are not permitted from September 19, 2008 through October 2, 2008. The complete list of stocks which are unavailable for shorting can be found here. Any previous existing open orders to short sell these securities have been cancelled.
New Information for Options Customers: Due to the above new temporary SEC Rules on short sales, opening new positions on “uncovered calls” and exercising “long puts” on certain financial securities are not permitted. This temporary measure, currently in effect through October 2, 2008, is a result of the above new rules since an assignment of an uncovered call and exercise of a long put would result in a short sale position. Please use caution not to open the above mentioned uncovered call positions. Brokers reserves the right to close-out any uncovered options position at any time at its discretion. Any financial result of this transaction will be the full responsibility of the customer. Again, please note that the above circumstances are a direct result of the above described SEC regulation on short sales.
DC: I think the naked short selling was abused but I have no problem with covered shorting. I think everyone has gone overboard trying to find a scape goat. Shorting is important to the market environment, it punishes companies that try to put one over investors.
Hi tom
Regualr selling/shorting that is from your account with shares that you own,or even pre-borrowed shares that you want to short into the market are perfectly ok.Becuase that won”t add to the available float that’s used for trading purposes,But anything that incrases the float (like naked short shares) will have to be bought in/possition cancelled or covered by borrowing shares,so that we won’t wind up with fraud in the markets.Now with noone looking into this and forcing the naked shorts to borrow or to buy back/cacel their possition we have a runaway problem with FTD’s.
As far as punishing a company or CEO is like a thieve saying “THIS LIQUOR STORE SHOULD HAVE BEEN RUN BETTER IF IT DIDN’T WANT TO BE ROBBED”.Bear raids with paid of flunkies(news reps) nit picking about a company that’s trying to get past some hard times is not to supply liquidity ,but to destroy the company in order to make money nothing more.In fact if they would find themselves a CEO that wants to play pump and dump they would fleece the small invester much more efficiently.First they would announce a product coming out and short into the run up then a week later they could announce that the product failed to meet with some regulation standards etc.,and buy back their shorts as the stock tanked noone would even know.SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT
HERE IS A GOOD ANTI-NAKED SHORTING (OVERVIEW) ARTICLE
Naked In Wonderland
Patrick Byrne 09.23.08, 12:50 PM ET
Recent concerns about short-selling have culminated in a regulatory flurry of emergency orders and amended orders. What should be of concern, however, is not short-selling per se: As its devotees frequently remind us, short-selling is a vital and legitimate market activity. What should be of concern are specific types of stock manipulation that cloak themselves within legitimate activities such as shorting, and which, in one way or another, rely upon loopholes in our nation’s system of stock settlement.
“Settlement” is the moment in a stock trade when the seller receives money and the buyer receives stock. Our settlement system has huge loopholes that allow sellers to sell shares but fail to deliver them. In such cases, the system creates IOUs for shares, and lets those “stock IOUs” circulate in the expectation the seller will soon correct his error. This is harmless–as long as the IOUs are inadvertent, temporary and few.
Manipulators are exploiting these loopholes, however, selling stock they do not intend to deliver. This is often referred to as “naked short-selling” (short-selling because they feign selling borrowed shares; naked because they don’t really borrow shares, but instead deliberately rely on loopholes to generate and hide stock IOUs).
But naked short-selling is just one form this manipulation takes. Other forms include failed long-sales, abuse of the option-market-maker exception, failed offshore deliveries and ex-clearing abuses. The common denominator of these manipulations is that they flood the system with stock IOUs that are deliberate, persistent and massive.
By whatever name, these actions create small, medium and large problems.
The small problem is that stock IOUs corrupt corporate democracy because the system has trouble distinguishing real stock deserving real votes from stock IOUs with fake votes. In 2006, Bloomberg Markets wrote, “A robust market for stock loans puts into circulation billions of borrowed shares that can create multiple votes that corrupt corporate elections.”
Bloomberg quoted Registrar & Transfer CEO Thomas Montrone: “It is an abomination. … A lot of the time, we have no idea who’s entitled to vote and who isn’t. It’s nothing short of criminal.” Bloomberg suggested arbitrageurs are exploiting this, and concluded that until it is fixed, “double and triple voting on one share will continue to make a mockery of shareholder democracy.”
The medium problem is that manipulators selling millions of stock IOUs drive down share prices: If they choose the right target (e.g., a large financial firm already weakened by exposure to the mortgage crisis, or a small biotech company sipping at capital as it develops drugs), this can crash the firm.
According to former Undersecretary of Commerce for Economics Dr. Robert Shapiro, “There is considerable evidence that market manipulation through the use of naked short-sales has been much more common than almost anyone has suspected, and certainly more widespread than most investors believe.”
His research turned up at least 200 companies that were destroyed, for “a combined market loss of more than $105 billion.” Shapiro added, “we believe that this type of stock manipulation has occurred in many hundreds and perhaps thousands of cases over the last decade. … Illicit short-sales on such a scale or anything approaching it point to grave inadequacies in the current regulatory regime.”
The large problem is that unsettled stock trades create systemic risk. Imagine that a hedge fund generates IOUs on 5 million shares of a $1 stock and carries this as a $5 million liability. To settle these IOUs, the fund must obtain stock. However, the act of buying 5 million shares of a thinly traded stock forces its price up (i.e., a “squeeze”). The fund must pay more than $1 per share, so the $5 million liability balloons.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed that, during the second quarter of 2008, there were $14.9 billion in stock IOUs at just the tip of the non-settlement iceberg. The commission refuses to reveal (and, in fact, may not know) the size of the whole iceberg. Public data suggests the entire bucket may be over $150 billion; settling it would cost more than $150 billion, but perhaps far, far more.
Our settlement system lies within a black-box called the Depository Trust & Clearance Corporation. The DTCC is essentially unregulated, but is owned by those who benefit from seeing these activities continue–investment banks, which in return for prime brokerage fees, enable manipulative hedge funds.
When these loopholes began to be exposed this winter, Wall Street started to eat its own. In a moment of Shakespearean irony, Bear Stearns–with its legendary willingness to provide cover to manipulative hedge funds–became the target. Stock IOUs in Bear Stearns soared, as they subsequently did in Lehman Brothers (nyse: LEH – news – people ), Merrill Lynch (nyse: MER – news – people ), Fannie Mae (nyse: FNM – news – people ) and Freddie Mac (nyse: FRE – news – people ).
In an absurdity worthy of Lewis Carroll, the SEC promulgated a temporary (and now expired) emergency order against doing to these and 16 other firms what has been illegal for seven decades: selling non-existent stock and deliberately relying upon stock IOUs. That the 19 companies protected included prime brokers widely thought to be enabling naked shorting may fairly be described as “Kafkaesque.”
Since its Aug. 12 expiration, four of the 19 firms have been lost. The rest of the financial market balances on a precipice as the SEC temporizes, adopting half-measures with Nerf penalties, draconian measures (such as forbidding all shorting in financial stocks), contradictory measures (re-opening the option-market-maker exception for financial stocks), and “don’t ask, don’t tell” measures (such as yesterday’s, requiring option-market makers not to sell puts to someone they think is increasing a net short position in a financial stock).
While the SEC performs its best headless chicken imitation, we must not be distracted from the fundamental problem: Our system is rife with unsettled trades that are deliberate, persistent and massive.
Commenting on this last year, Warren Buffett’s partner, Charles Munger, said, “Those delays in delivering sometimes reflect tremendous slop in the clearance process. It is not good for a civilization to have huge slop. Sort of like how it isn’t good to have a lot of slop in nuclear power plants.” Charlie Munger is known for many things, but careless word choice is not one of them.
Patrick M. Byrne is the chairman and chief executive officer of Overstock.com and writes for DeepCapture.com.
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/09/23/naked-shorting-trades-oped-cx_pb_0923byrne.html
P.S.>If you look at the big picture the only short term sollution would be a forced pre-borrow on all stocks.Then slowly try to unwind the FTD problem.
If the government can’t stop the naked bear raids they will lose the 700 billion bail out money before they even know it.These major banks just these past 7 years were handing out tens of billions in bonuses per quarter,every quarter(getting a piece of 700 billion would make a nice bonus hmmm)
Plus there are thousands of hedge fund managers and their cohorts off-shore drooling all over themselves wondering how they could get at that 700 billion bail out money.
“IT’S JUST THE WAY IT IS” These soulless bas-turds don’t care about this country or anything else but themselves.Then when they were/ are taking down
America from their off shore accounts for trillions in pension money,and we dare to make the slightest remark against them, they protest through lobbies in washington.Also when they contibute to reelection funds of these same poloticians that are supposed to guard against any hanky-panky.They hope to safeguard themselves from anything that would disrupt buisness as usual.” WELL NOW YOU SEE THE CONFLICT OF INTEREST” (anyone that has studied naked shorting knows who the usual suspects are)
IT’S LIKE TRYING TO SAVE AMERICA FROM ITSELF (and COX gets the first try)
Even if COX becomes the most hated person (by hedge funds)in the world he has to implement the pre-borrow on all stocks and then slowly try to unwind the FTD problem.
STOP THE MADNESS, PRE-BORROW ON ALL STiOCKS NOW !!!
OTHERWISE SAY GOODBYE TO 700 BILLION (i wouldn’t even trust the banks you are bailing out especially the ones with off-shore hedge fund contacts)
from another board:
This will get your attention:
By: pleiadian
24 Sep 2008, 12:32 PM EDT
Msg. 34417 of 34419
(This msg. is a reply to 34411 by jcline.)
Jump to msg. #
The bailout
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S27yitK32ds
P.S.> At least we know one congress person(person=politically correct) that’s not getting her reelection money from Wall Street.You know if she ever gets to sit on the banking committee in the future she won’t remember (with her selective memory) this speach.
SIGN PETTITION BY PATRIC BYRNE: – To Our Elected Leaders – http://mainstreetamericans.info/
STOP NAKED SHORT SELLING NOW!
To: Our Elected Leaders
From: Patrick Byrne & Concerned Americans
America’s capital markets used to be the envy of the world. Now they are in turmoil — turmoil caused by manipulative and abusive naked short sellers! It is time for it to stop — and now.
You are charged with overseeing and policing our capital markets. As long as naked short selling continues, our markets will suffer and you are not doing your job. That is shameful. Start doing your job — and now.
Half-measures don’t work. We are in a deep enough financial crisis that you can’t waste any more time. Do the following — and do it now:
1. Put in place a market-wide mandatory pre-borrow requirement (like the SEC did in the 30-day July 15 emergency order that protected 19 financial institutions).
2. Create the obligation that if a naked short seller fails to deliver a share, the purchaser must force a mandatory buy-in (this is the rule in Canada where it works).
3. Track trades cradle-to-grave (rather than net blocks of trades against each other), so that it is obvious who the naked short sellers are and the total amounts they are stealing.
4. Provide regular and timely disclosure by naked short sellers of when and how many shares they are failing to deliver.
5. Then enforce these rules (which should include significant monetary penalties and jail time).
Our capital markets are too important to let greedy manipulators ruin them. Get these laws in place, police them, and help restore the economy you are charged with protecting.
Sincerely,
Patrick Byrne
& Concerned Americans
After you have added your name to this petition an e-mail will be sent to the given address to confirm your signature. Please make sure that your e-mail address is correct or you will not receive this e-mail and your name will not be counted.
Name:
E-mail address:
Join the 471 people who have signed this petition.
To anyone interested:
though a little old info(in these fast moving times) it’s still some down to earth info on whats happening in the economy.Why AIG can’t go bankrupt(credit swaps)because it’s a AAA guaranteer for the the paper floating out there. “INTERESTING”
“bailout 2008″,
Andrew Gause Radio Show September 17th 2008
andrew gause on one radion networks, bailout 2008, big banks shorts metals and oil to strengthen the dollar, breaking the buck, Federal Reserve, money changers, money market lose, scam-out,
P.S.> it looks like the banks with the FED’S (like J P Morgan,Bank of America)money can and probably will absorba any banks that go bankrupt.Wamu was the first but won’t be the last.(J P morgan is the main bank in the FED cartel)
Is this consolidation good or bad? It’s to early to say ,but if you centralize power it will sooner or later become oppressive.
you have to google the line
Andrew Gause Radio Show September 17th 2008
i can’t get it to go blue for easy access
Also if you haven’t signed the Patric Byrne’s petition please consider it. It will only take a few minutes.”WE MUST KEEP THE PRESSURE ON” (like the squeeky wheel)
here’s a good slap in the face of the dumbed down population (the chumps of america)”WAKE UP AMERICA” The offshore hedgies are going to eat you alive.
from another board
ot, Posted by: Argonath Date: Saturday, September 27, 2008 12:15:33 AM
In reply to: SOROS who wrote msg# 13294 Post # of 13305
The bank ‘liquidity’ scare is a SCAM.
You have to ASK the question.
If the investment banks leveraged over 100 times (each) their capital, and sold it as bundled paper (CDO, CLO, SIV etc…)
WHERE is the money now? Money in the system DOESNT disappear, it may be transferred from bank to bank to bank, but it MUST go somewhere.
A. Bank loans money for a mortage to a person
B. Person takes money and pays off existing loans, thus, money goes to Bank B
C. Investment banks buy the mortgages from Banks A, B, and C, thus moving money to Banks A, B, and C
D. Investment banks bundle up mortgages and sell them as Bonds (CLO, CDO, SIV), and receives money from bond purchasers
Wash, rinse, repeat
So WHY is there the farce of a liquidity crisis? There isnt. One step is missing of course.
Investment banks move ALL money offshore into Hedge Funds, thus removing cash from financial system. They still HAVE the money, but since hedge funds are NOT regulated, OR are required to file their assets with the FED or SEC, they can be completey out of the system.
Thus, Investment banks show liquidity problems on THEIR balance sheets, and come hat in hand for taxpayers… NOT to save them, but to give them ADDITIONAL free money.
The elite bankers win either way. If the govt DOESNT re-liquify them, they STILL control the assets of their offshore Hedge Funds, and lehman goes to bankruptcy (example), if the 700 billion dollar bailout occurs (Really 5 trillion), then they can move even MORE money offshore, and Paulson can say it wasnt enough and the credit markets are STILL frozen.
So… what has the investment bank Hedge funds been doing with this money?
Buying our infrastructure, commodities, water systems, etc…
The derivative numbers have been calculated at over 1 quadrillion dollars. But guess what?
61-100 billion dollars would pay for every mortgage owned by the public since 2004… the time frame that lenders opened up subprime lending.
Yet WHY do they need 700 billion? 61-100 billion would end foreclosures for Americans, and common logic says that money circulates in an economy, not disappears.
So you tell me… what smells rotten here in Denmark?
P.S.> even if the government does like the smell of freshly washed money.I”m getting the impession that the average american is going to get snaked out of his property and 700 billion.OUCH (“they’re taking/buying up everything that’s not nailed down ma” he says in his back woods southern drawl)
I wonder how much the toll roads are going to cost,and the water,and the carbon tax and etc.etc.etc.(i’m already broke) Say goodbye to the middle class.Say hello to elitism and their serfs.
WITH THE MIDDLE CLASS GONE
You know in order for the elitists to maintain law and order with the ever more widening gap between them and the hordes of peasants .they will have to implement an SS type of military police to prevent uprisings.
“FASCISM REARS IT’S UGLY HEAD AT LAST”. and if history showed us anything is that all the revolutionaries come from the peasantry.All the oppression comes from the elitists.But all the democratic values come from the middle class.
FASCISM AND LATER FUTALISM WILL BE AS BAD AS COMUNISM,with one differance with comunism you hated the nosey guy next door that was watching you because he was in the party.With fascism/futalism you hate the guy thats whole life is one big party while you’re starving.(maybe they will let us eat some cake crums of their table, maybe we might have to bring back the guilatien hmmm)
I TRYED TO GIVE YOU A BANKER OWNED WORLD LOOK INTO THE FUTURE (or back to the future,because history does repeat itself)
DO WE HAVE A GOVERNMENT THAT IS BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE, OR HAS IT SOLD OUT? and if they sold out,all i have to say is money won’t save anyone where we’re heading.
if you want to know more about the plans of the elitists since the early 1900′s
google “ENDGAME” by alex jones
and also take a look at the” FEMA camps” on youtube(someone is afraid of something)
to anyone who cares:
As soon as the senate passed the bailout bill .The markets sold off on the futures.(Talk about being contrarian)
Looks like when it’s gets to the house it should pass also,then it goes to Bush and then he”ll sign it.Then what?Well i guess, we watch the wall street boys do their magic,or should i say play trick or treat.But which one will it be?hmmm
IF THEY MANAGE TO PULL A THRIVING ECONOMY OUT OF THEIR MAGIC HAT, I WILL BE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED,AND EVEN APPLAUD.
FOR A NICE SUMMARY OF WHAT THE FUSS IS ALL ABOUT
CHECK OUT>youtube”700 BILLION BUYOUT” PT 1-2
Great solution and thanks from millions of honest investors Patrick!
Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne Sends Open Letter to President Bush
Friday October 10, 8:47 pm ET
‘Enact a market-wide mandatory pre-borrow requirement for all short sales’ writes Byrne
SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Overstock.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: OSTK – News) chairman and CEO Patrick M. Byrne sends an open letter to President George W. Bush.
October 10, 2008
Mr. George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Bush,
I was pleased to hear you say today that the SEC is taking action to stop manipulative practices in our markets. One such practice that the SEC must stop immediately is the insidious practice of naked short selling. In order for our stock settlement system to work so that trades actually settle, the SEC (or Congress) must take the following steps:
1. Enact a market-wide mandatory pre-borrow requirement for all short
sales;
2. Put in place a market-wide hard-delivery requirement on T+3 for all
sales;
3. Require that for any failure-to-deliver, broker-dealers must force a
mandatory buy-in;
4. Track each trade cradle-to-grave, so that prosecutors can go after
naked short sellers;
5. Require regular and timely disclosure by naked short sellers of when
and how many shares they are failing to deliver; and
6. Enforce these rules, including significant monetary penalties and jail
time.
In addition, I believe that Washington must conduct a 9-11 Commission kind of investigation into our nation’s entire clearing and settlement system.
Naked short selling is a significant issue. It has contributed to the recent fall of some of our financial institutions and exacerbated the current market crisis.
A well functioning capital market should settle trades. Only when there are laws in place that ensure settlement of all trades and when those laws are vigorously enforced, will the scourge of manipulative naked short selling stop.
Sincerely,
Patrick M. Byrne, PhD.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
P.S.>if you haven’t signed the Patrick Byrne anti-naked short petition please do so it will only take a few minutes
SIGN PETTITION BY PATRIC BYRNE: – To Our Elected Leaders – http://mainstreetamericans.info/
STOP NAKED SHORT SELLING NOW!
To: Our Elected Leaders
From: Patrick Byrne & Concerned Americans
to anyone interested:(new rule effective Oct.17,2008)
The new rule is located between summary and the Oct.17,2008 date.The rest after that are just a reference of the previous rules that didn’t have any teeth. (NOT ENFORCED BY THE SEC)
If this rule is ENFORCED then small companies that are the survivors of the naked short carnage will have a much better chance to flourish/continue growing,and become the employers of the future.
Finally some good news for investors: October 17th is close at hand!
http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2008/34-58774.pdf
P.S.>(JUST THINKING OUTLOUD W/A WAIT AND SEE SCEPTICISM)I was sort of thinking to give the SHO list a quick look to see which surviving companies might start seeing/getting a little MM cleaning of their FTD’s.
(most market makers short a company on the way up to make a market and stall the run,but may not have realized the company was a survivor and would eventually continue up)
“THOUGH TO EARLY TO TELL SOME OF THESE SURVIVORS COULD SEE A MINI SHORT SQUEEZE (MAYBE)”
Some of these survivors have a good revenue ,a good buisness plan,and a good management.They just got shorted into the ground, “BECAUSE THESE ARE THE TIMES WE LIVE IN, AND THE SHORTS RULE THIS UNREGULATED MARKET”. There was (is) no other reason.
(GOOD LUCK IN YOUR HUNT FOR A WATCH LIST OF THESE SHO CANDIDATES)But don’t work too hard though,because it all boils down to the SEC enforcing something, anything first.
(EXCUSE MY SCEPTICISM OVERFLOW MODE)
correction
should have said in first paragraph
The meat of the new rule is located between summary and the Oct.17,2008 date.The rest after that is just a reference of the previously FAILED rules and how it ties into them. (like SHO etc,that didn’t have any teeth AND WAS NEVER ENFORCED BY THE SEC)
to anyone interested: (more new rules on shorting stock)
New SEC rules go into effect this friday 17th.”IF ENFORCED” naked shorters will have to cover ! IMHO
http://www.sec.gov/rules/final.shtml
P.S.>Now that wild idea earlier about browsing through the SHO list for short squeeze candidates and making a watch list,maybe doesn’t sound to naive.
When we see large volume with upward movement of dormant stocks for no reason.Then and only then we will know they’re starting to cover.(ENFORCMENT OF THESE RULES IS ALL IT WILL TAKE TO GET THE BALL ROLLING) IMHO
THE LIBOR AND IT’S IMPACT ON MORGAGES IN THE U.S.A.
Crunch-ometer: Libor rate latest
Andrew Oxlade, This is Money
17 October 2008, 12:13pm
What is Libor?
It is the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) – the rate at which international banks lend to each other. It is calculated every business day in 10 currencies and 15 timespans, ranging from overnight to one year and is based on the level at which banks have been lending to each other.
When is it set?
It is set and announced at around 11am for the UK rate. Operating since the mid-1980s, it normally sits marginally higher than the central bank rate.
Why is it important?
It influences the level at which lenders set rates on loans, especially mortgages, to consumers. It also impacts on the amounts they will lend. It is the rate at which banks lend to each other and is therefore a measure of how much they trust each other and a measure of the credit crunch.
What would Libor be in normal conditions?
The three-month Libor rate should be just 10 or 20 basis points higher than the bank rate, currently 4.5%. So in normal conditions it would now be 4.6% or 4.7% But it soared far higher in August 2007, marking the start of the credit crunch. It recovered over the summer of 2008 (see the figures below) as some trust returned but then spiked on the collapse of Lehman Brothers (15/16 Sept 2008).
But shouldn’t bank bailouts help bring down Libor?
That’s the idea. But news of the $700bn US bank bailout failed to move Libor in the UK and it actually rose, heading above 6%. However, the UK’s £40bn cash injection into banks on 13 October appeared to have had a positive but moderate effect with rates starting to ease.
LIBOR (THREE-MONTH RATE): 6.09% (expected for 20 Oct) | 6.16% (17 Oct) | 6.18% (16 Oct)
6.21% (15 Oct) | 6.25% (14 Oct) | 6.27% (13 Oct) | 6.28% (10 Oct) | 6.28% (9 Oct) | 6.28% (08 Oct)
• These are announced at 11am on these dates and reflect borrowing rates from the previous day
Libor – is forecast to fall more steeply to 6.07% next week when the Bank of England says it will make it easier and cheaper for banks to borrow money from the Government which should pave the way for more competitive new mortgage deals within days – a welcome boost for first time buyers
P.S.>So let me get this straight,are you saying,some guy in the City of London wearing a tweed suit can influance,as to when and if i can refinance my 30 yr. morgage and at what rate? (you know a person in the U.S. that’s about to get his property forclosed on can get pretty uptight about that.After all we did declare independence did’nt we?)OK,OK I MUST BE READING A LITTLE TO MUCH INTO THIS,SO LETS INVESTIGATE.
Well first of all these banks are in trouble. (of their own making off coures)So it appears that they don’t trust each other.In other words they don’t trust that the bank that they will lend money to won’t go out of buiness.So the only conclusion we can reach is, make these loans backed by the government as soon as possible,and start bailing out/refinancing that 2.5 million home owners that are about to be forclosed on.
So what about that libor rate? Well we know it is traded on the CME futures.So we could short the crap out of it(what goes up will come down,especially with a little persuasion).Coupled that with the government secured loans we would get past this sub-prime crises in no time.(1-2 yrs.)
There is one thing that you will notice in all this is, that these banks are working more on an international level then an independent sovereign country level.They are becoming more and more connected.
So you could conclude globalization/interconnection is here to stay at least at some level.Is that good or bad? Only time will tell,and we do hope for the best.
SOME GOOD INFO:
GOOGLE>”MONEY MASTERS” it’s over 3 hours long.made in 1995.
It sheds some light on international bankers in the past and present and their influence on world affairs for at least the past two centuries. Also talks about gold and money based on the gold standard, fractional lending,the boom and bust economic cycle and how it’s mostly manipulation,credit boubles,and in the end how to fix the huge credit bouble that we have now. (A TWO THUMBS UP MUST SEE, maybe with some popcorn)
REVIEW OF THE LIBOR RATE
Hey dumby your going the wronge way.
(OH YEAH YOUR RIGHT,I FORGOT @#+*^#)
THE BACKWARDS WORLD OF INTEREST RATES/BONDS
If it’s interest rates, you do the opposite then commodities you sell when you should buy ,and buy when you should sell to see a profit.(GOLLY YOU DON’T SAY,NO WONDER THOSE BANKERS ARE SO SNEEKY.THEY PROBABLY SAY ONE THING BUT MEAN THE OPPOSITE)
BAD NEWS
Also Libor futures look to be only for hedging not for persuading. (GOD-DANGIT,YOU MEAN THE GUY IN THE TWEED SUIT DOES HAVE THE UPPER HAND?,WELL I’M NOT A HAPPY CAMPER THEN)
HOW ABOUT THIS?
What if we run the libor futures to 99.9999 and we look down our noses at them,think they may become embarrassed enough to lower their LIBOR rate?
THERE IS NO SUGGESTION TO SILLY AT THIS POINT.WE GOT TO PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS.THEY HAVE TO LOWER THEIR LIBOR RATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. (i’m running out of suggestions at least for now,but i’m attacking this problem like pitbull 24/7grrr)
“BANKS DOING WHAT THEY WANT TO,WHAT A FREAKEN PREDICAMENT TO BE IN,ANY CONTRACTION AND WE’RE LOOKING AT A DEPRESSION WITH MAJOR UNEMPLOYMENT”
more on the interbank credit freeze/economic outlook
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=899694294
P.S.>The LIBOR rate is at about 3.6. The 30yr. mortgages/interbank loans are at about 6.00.
Nomal spread should be .20 not 2.40.So we should see 30yr. mortgages/interbank loans at around 4.00 not 6.00 hmmm.
I DON’T NORMALLY DISCRIMINATE BUT>
Maybe the bad investment banks do deserve the big spread,but what about the buisnesses with good credit,and the home owners looking to refinance.( hey don’t drag them into it)
“LOOKS LIKE EVERYONE HAS TO SUFFER JUST BECAUSE THE BANKS SCREWED UP”. You know truth of the matter is, most of main street won’t care if some of the investment banks go the way of BSC (in a shake out) as long as the 30 yr. mortgage rate start to come down and the economy starts to pick up. (sorry if i hurt some rich investment bankers feelings, emmm not really, remember it’s not main streets fault)
IT’S NOT TO LATE TO JOIN THE PARTY!
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=902993960
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=902455191
Austalis,Hungry,UK,New Zealand,India,has already cut rates and look to continue.The BCE looks to cut the euro rate now.
P.S.>SHORTING ON THE RATE CUTS: Why because countries all over the world are cutting rates.The result is sharp declines in their currencies.
You can short any currency futures that shows weakness or that cuts it’s rates outright with a futures account.(easy pickens)
WHAT ABOUT FOREX?
THE USD AND JPY ARE THE STRONGEST CURRENCIES OUT THERE.
So if you have FOREX you could probably find the cross of that weak currency and usd or jpy and trade on the rate cut news, and cash in nicely.
(IMPORTANT: always use a stop)
should read:
The ECB looks to cut the euro rate now.
i’m getting everything backwards these days.hope i don’t hurt myself.
ARE YOU SURE IT’S TIME TO BUY STOCKS?
(or do we need just a little bit more confirmation)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=903529499
P.S.>Deleveraging is a sign of the times.The volatility is proof,but there is something else in the mix.With hedge fund regulation/transparency looming in the distance they say that 25% of the hedge funds are going to call it quits.(makes you wonder what unscrupulous activaties they were filling their coffers with)
Also redemptions coming in at record highs, they obviously have to liquidate their holdings to let their customers cash out.So with DELEVERAGING,REDEMPTIONS,AND UP COMING RREGULATIONS WE HAVE VOLATILITY.
The next shoe to drop is watching to see if the big mutual funds will start buying stocks after november 15 (hedge fund redemption heads up day)
“LOOKS LIKE NOVEMBER WILL BE A VERY INTERESTING MONTH”
(you know if you just have to get your gambling fix you could trade the spyders till then, and with these huge swings big money can be made)
A CHARTIST SPINNING HIS MAGIC;
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=906292459
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=906259291
P.S.> So your one of those people that want to be in the stock market,but always bought at the top and sold at the bottom.
WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS THE CASE?
It’s because you hear about how everyone is getting rich while the market is at it’s peak.(last few months before the sell off) So you buy only to see the market take a tumble,and lose your investment.Also you probably panic, and sell at the very bottom. OUCH
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED BECOMING A CHARTIST/TECHNICAL TRADER?
If your’e intersted in not losing money maybe you should consider it.With computers these days every imaginable charting software can be downloaded off the internet.Some is free,and some you have to pay for.
Say you start by downloading a free charting system and you keep track of some of your investments etc.NOW WHAT? Well i don’t know,maybe you’ll spot some trends or peaks or bottoms,and so maybe you won’t buy at the top any more (hopefully) right.
OR MAYBE THAT’S JUST NOT ENOUGH. “THEN IT’S ALL ABOUT HOW MUCH TIME AND ENERGY YOU PUT INTO IT, LIKE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO BE GOOD AT.”
Some people that want trading to become their career usually get the charting program that comes with a chartist/guru.But since it comes with a monthly fee they want/need to be better prepared to trade right away to pay for it,so therefore the guru.Then some people reason since the internet is full of information on the stock market they want to make a go of it on their own.
EITHER WAY BE PREPARED TO STUDY CHARTS 6-9 MONTHS TO GET OVER THAT HUMP/LEARNING CURVE.
Even the best chartists/guru’s have a 3 out of 4(75%) record,though they may run into some (80-85%)streaks.The good ones will show you their trading records, and if they do show you their past trading records,you’ll notice that, (75% wins)is about all they can reliably admit to.
IT’S NO PIPE DREAM IT’S HARD WORK
Many(pro chartists) will even admit to you that charting is a 15 hour a day job with only saturdays off.They say it’s probably the hardest job they ever had, But they also admit that after they became successfull(gotten over the hump) that they wouldn’t do anything else. (to them it’s not a job it’s an addiction)
But when you look at it realistically becoming exposed to charting (without the addiction) should at least improve your normal buy at the top and sell at the bottom current record right?
(CONSIDER THAT YOUR SMALL VICTORY)
TO THOSE INTENT ON GOING INTO THE DEPTHS OF CHARTING.
GOOD LUCK EMBARKING ON A CHARTING ADVENTURE THAT MAY OPEN YOUR EYES TO NEW FOUND OPPORTUNITY/WEALTH THAT WAS THERE ALL THE TIME,BUT THAT OF WHICH YOU WOULD NEVER BE AWARE OF, WITHOUT THIS NEW FOUND KNOWLEDGE.
(JUST IN MY OPINION)
NAKED SHORTS ARE TAKING A BEATING IN VOLKSWAGEN
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=908435286
P.S.>Here is a classic squeeze on a stock that has no shares to lend,and every shoert is scrounging for cover.Looks like it can bounce within a 500.00 pt. range all day long.one minute it can be +450.00 next it drops to +150.00 then 2 minutes later back to +375.00.Shorty is taking the rollercaoster ride from hell. ha,ha,ha,ha (i just gotta laugh knowing how desperate they are right now,you could say theyr’e not in the drivers seat this time)
VW trade leaves hedge funds in tears
Posted Oct 31st 2008 1:11PM by Peter Cohan
Filed under: Short stories, Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS)
A little noticed trade on shares of VW may cost hedge funds billions of dollars in losses. And several investment banks are also rumored to have been on the losing end of the trade. What happened is that these investors bet that VW shares would fall and they were spectacularly wrong. Besides their own poor judgment, German financial reporting practices are coming in for some of the blame.
Losses could top $38 billion for 100 hedge funds that sold 13% of VW shares short. Specifically, traders shorted the common shares and bought the preferred. The logic was that since the common traded at a 50% premium to the preferred, the common would drop so the spread would narrow. Instead, the common shares soared and the preferred ones collapsed.
Why the short squeeze? This weekend Porsche revealed that it had lifted its stake in VW from 42.6% to 75% using derivatives. This was a problem because it meant that the free float available to cover a short position was reduced from 45% to 5.8%. The resulting panic buying drove VW’s market capitalization above that of ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM). Now shareholders are angry at how Porsche could use derivatives to gain a 45% stake in VW without disclosing them.
Also not disclosed, why stock in Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) is down so much given rumors that they will bear some of the losses. And one car analyst said, “I have hedge fund managers literally in tears on the phone.”
It is sad — and it wouldn’t surprise me if this causes some big surprises for investors around the world. Let’s hope the money losers don’t come begging Congress for a bailout.
P.S.>13% SHORT WITH ONLY 5.8% AVAILABLE TO COVER AND THE PHONE RINGING OF THE HOOK WITH MARGIN CALLS(can you say desperation)
THE (SHORT SQUEEZE) STORY (or self funding story)
RUMOR WAS PORSCHE WANTED TO BUY VW>
SO PORSCHE BOUGHT/TIED UP 38% OF THE 45% AVAILABLE POOL IN NON EXERCIZABLE CASH SETTLED VW CALLS>
THEN THEIR BUYOUT OF VW SELF FUNDING PROCESS WENT LIKE THIS>
First you fund your puchase of VW by buying calls to the point to where you start a short squeeze,during which you cash in your non exercizable calls at the high.Then with 20-25%(in this case probably 50%) free money (from the sale of calls)you put toward the puchase cost of the shares after the squeeze,and when the price is shorted back down to it’s normal shorted level.
A 50% SELF FUNDED BUYOUT THROUGH A SHORT SQUEEZE.(“GENIUS”)
(is that possible? if so then the shorts will hate their lives for the next year or so,because companies that are a flush with cash,instead of doing a share buyback might be tempted to pull a Porsche)OUCH
As far as the shorts are concerned,”YOU PLAY YOU PAY”.
“IF THIS WAS A PERFECT WORLD WITH AN EVEN PLAYING FIELD THIS (short squeezes)WOULD HAPPEN EVERY 5 WEEKS,ESPECIALLY ON BEAR RAIDED STOCKS”.IMHO