Banks...............

[Paladin]

Well, it isn't helping my portfolios any

As for the wall st types getting their just desserts - did anyone check out the "severance packages" that fannie mae and freddie mac execs got

AIG is 93% down YTD - that's going to hurt a LOT of folks in a lot of countries

Lehman - largest bankruptcy in history

ML - sucked wind so bad that BOA had to buy them.


And that was only one day this week !

I don't know how much more of this i (or my wallet) can take.

And jen paris is asking for 1500 / hr - good luck if you can get any takers (then again only a few per month would suffice).

[yodajazz]

no more lap dances

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/15/mark...ork2/index.htm

Looks like hard times ahead.

[bsting]

This is the beginning of a meltdown. The banks invested heavily in CMO's - collateralized mortgage obligations. The lowest tranch was propped up through hedge funds - yes, they're still around. The Chicago School of Economics ascended and unrestrained free markets did what they will do. Greenspan kept the champagne flowing and now is the hangover.

Obama is a traditional socialist. Bush is a welfare capitalist dressed as a free marketeer. McCain is supposed to be the next Bush.

The dollar will fall and inflation will run rampant. There isn't any savior on the ballot. Welcome to the Third World, America.

[hondarobot]

This is the beginning of a meltdown. The banks invested heavily in CMO's - collateralized mortgage obligations. The lowest tranch was propped up through hedge funds - yes, they're still around. The Chicago School of Economics ascended and unrestrained free markets did what they will do. Greenspan kept the champagne flowing and now is the hangover.

Obama is a traditional socialist. Bush is a welfare capitalist dressed as a free marketeer. McCain is supposed to be the next Bush.

The dollar will fall and inflation will run rampant. There isn't any savior on the ballot. Welcome to the Third World, America.

Heh. You apparently don't even understand what "socialism" is, as a concept. Do you really think that Obama would stand a chance of being elected if he was actually following a "socialist" objective?

Beyond that, Socialism actually works in some nations. I don't think we're heading for "The Third World", just correcting problems caused by stupidity and greed.

[Solitary Brother]

Wall Street Bond traders caused this fiasco.

[Justawannabe]

Not sure you can blame an aspect of the financial world more than others. Everyone signed onto this fiasco over the past couple decades.

We had a administration that was obsessed with an 'ownership' society without actually working out how that could happen. You couldn't have falling real incomes and rising adjusted market values of homes and increase home ownership.

Investment in jobs only works in a consumer society if the money gets back into the general public's hands. We were continuing to concentrate wealth at the top instead.

Eh... net result is this isn't the end by far. We'll see a lot more of these at various levels before its over. I'm not sure we'll see general bank runs... but I wouldn't be surprised to see localized incidents.

We're still one of the biggest economies on the planet, but we need to recover our work in real properties and hard products... we've lost our ability to correct back to hard values and the effects of deregulation has turned the markets into even more of a game 'can't catch me' than it was before.

Sean

[NYBURBS]

Capitalism is fueled by selfishness (or better yet self-interest) but this is not a bad thing in and of itself. Two of the large problems though have to do with gov't intervention to bail out companies that make poor decisions, the other being the central bank and it's monetary policies.

Darwinian style weeding out of weak businesses, and also consumers who make poor choices (Balloon style mortgage borrowers for instance), would go a long way toward strengthening our economy. There also needs to be more accountability toward the executives who perpetuate frauds in order to profit themselves before the business goes under. They should be in jail the rest of their life and everything they own should be fair game to plaintiffs in civil suits. Truth is though that none of this will happen; sadly we will simply continue down this self destructive path of debt and taxpayer funded gov't intervention into the markets.

[stewmeat]

Ok I waited all fuckin day for someone to make a thread about this shit. No one did, so once again...................Johnny'll do it

What does the failure of Lehman Bros. and Merrill Lynch mean to the U.S. & global economy?

Good question. But what does it mean for my money that I have in the bank now?

[NYBURBS]

Ok I waited all fuckin day for someone to make a thread about this shit. No one did, so once again...................Johnny'll do it

What does the failure of Lehman Bros. and Merrill Lynch mean to the U.S. & global economy?

Good question. But what does it mean for my money that I have in the bank now?

It means you had better make sure you're within the FDIC insured limit on your deposits. There are a couple of banks that have a lot of rumors flying around about them (Washington Mutual being one of them).

[bklynboy]

Its very simple what happened.

1) Phil Gramm - yes that Phil Gramm who is advising McCain on economic policy, was the moving force in deregulating these swaps. It means that the fed had no teeth to stop abuses. It became a shell game you package shitty loans and sell them back and forth and roll them into bigger tranches.

2) The banks/credit card companies were predatory when it came to consumers. Pie in the Sky to an unwitting public meant fees. Large fees. Great big fees and interest rates and restrictions on loans were so out of whack that people were peanilzed for paying early. Again, as much as I am a democrat, both parties were asleep on the wheel. The republicans moreso because of their laisse faire attitude. Oh yeah, the free market forces will correct abuses. Right. I've also got ocean front property in Kansas for sale.

3) Short sellers. Short selling should be illegal, period. Oh yes said a republic economist on Bloomberg the other day, it adds liquidity to the market. Only naked short selling should be eliminated. Bullshit. You are betting against America and its companies and hurting innocent people who have invested. Anyone short selling should be banned from the securities industry for two years. You want to bet against something? Go to fucking Vegas.

4) Greed. When people realize their houses will be worth a little less and not try to glom every house on the open market and become slum lords, we can all get back to work. On another note, Lehman (and I worked for them early in my career), bet on the direction these made up securities would go. How utterly stupid. If there is one thing that is true, very, very few people pay back on time and in full. Lehman got what it deserved but . . .

5) This goes back to the short sellers. Soemone out there, whatever hedge funds, wanted Bear Stearns, Lehman and Merrill out of business. They need to be found and brought to justice. Innocent people - many people who were secretaries, word processors, people who served the firm lost everything because of the greed of these short sellers. They must go. String 'em up by their balls I say.

Having said that, the worst thing anyone can do is panick. OK, you lost your job. Cut back, be frugal, be smart. If you work as a temp, take it day by day. Be smart about it. The smart survive. eBay is a very effective wa of cleaning stuff out you don't want and making money. Price things efficiently, make contacts, make deals offline with other eBayers. Be smart and don't panic.

Right now we have what is called a buying opportunity. Apple is cheap, banks are cheap, consumer cyclicals are cheap. If you are American and truly believe in this country we buy and support this country and go after the short sellers.