Even though HP'ers predicted it, I'm still amazed at the incompetence or corruption of Bernanke cutting 3/4 point one hour before the stock market was about to open down big last week.
"Stop stock prices from falling on any given day" was NOT part of the Federal Reserve Act as I read it.
But, this is who we have in charge of the world today. And nobody should be surprised, like Hitler's Mein Kampf, Bernanke told us in advance through his writings before he was Fed Governor what he was going to do, and now he's doing it, and everyone acts shocked.
Meanwhile, central bank heads around the world don't play follow the leader this time, knowing if they did they'd send inflation soaring in their own countries, and their currencies plummeting. You know, like the United States. Hey, you see that gold price yesterday? Nuff said.
I think he cuts again, which really makes no sense as he just cut a few hours ago. But that's what the stock market and bankers wants, so that's what their "moral hazard? what moral hazard?" poodle will do. And this meeting should tell you everything you need to know about Bernanke. Don't fight him I say. Join him. And enjoy The Next Bubble, whatever it is.
Time for Bernanke to 'man up' - The Fed needs to show Wall Street that it - and not the markets - is calling the shots.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- "This was a sad day for Bernanke," a bond fund manager told me the day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by an aggressive half-point back in September.
The manager's argument at that time was that the Fed chairman was showing that it could be bullied by Wall Street.
Since then, the Fed has gotten even easier to push around. The central bank's dramatic three-quarter of a percentage point rate cut last Tuesday was the equivalent of shoving a pacifier in a crying baby's mouth.
January 29, 2008
Now THIS should be an interesting Fed meeting. What do you think Shock & Awe Helicopter Ben will do this time?
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23 comments:
Bernanke is Wall Street's whore - he is a disgrace.
It is interesting that right before the past few meetings stocks go up on "anticipation of another rate cut by the FED". The implication is of course that "you had better cut rates or else..."
Right now the best way to describe our economy is a "black hole". You can throw all the rate cuts and $600 rebates you want into it and the "hunger" is still there.
This economy is so out of whack and "sick" that one cannot apply "yesterdays fixes" to the mess we are in today and hope for any meaningful relief. We NEED to crash to get back to reality. These cuts just prolong the inevitable. Gravity ALWAYS wins in the end.
I predict the DOW will drop below 10,000 before summer...In fact it is all so "tense" right now that a HUGE drop occur on any day. The worst is still to come...its only the late 2nd inning of the ballgame.
I predict another .75 cut.
Some outrageous solutions to boost housing:
- Allow people to buy homes paying only 10% and the rest can be guaranteed through a Federal govt. sponsored future bailout if you go underwater on the house. Since risk is eliminated, demand will soar and homebuilders, realtors all will make more money than ever until even that 10% becomes unaffordable.
- Eliminate or subsidize the property taxes for the next 5 years for new purchases.
- Bailout builders for their losses so that they get back to building mode and make everyone get back to work boosting the economy.
- Boost the $600 tax rebate to $600,000 by printing more money. The immediate effect will be a demand for housing unparalleled in history. People who already have a home will splurge on fancy electronics and new cars and those that don't will buy a house.
- Inflate away our foreign debt. Whoever loaned the money to us ( mostly foreigners) are suckers for our piece of paper. We did not force them to accept our dollars. They voluntarily did.
- Sell pieces of uninhabited land to foreigners. A $1M investment will get you US citizenship. We need only about 52M ( just one person in 50 of the combined population of booming India and China ) such people to wipe out our foreign debt.
- Federal Govt. can sell Green cards to the highest bidder on eBay.
- For each dollar you spend on housing , the Federal govt. will match 100% and deposit the amount on your 401K
Rate cut? Not nearly enough. I want the free money AND the helicopter thrown in as well.
That would make a great video game:
"Grand Theft Savings", you are BB and you have to fly your helicopter around NYC, dropping piles of liquidity on burning hedge funds, before your dollars are ineffectual. Doubles as a flight sim.
Brian
How long is it going to be before people riot and crush the Fed?
When gambling, which is what investing is, the number one rule is - don't bet against the house.
In this case, the house is trying to inflate away the housing crisis.
And...word on the street is that people are starting to believe.
Yeah, the smart ones get it. Inflating got us to this point. And it would be smarter to just bite the bullet now.
But - think back to high school. Did the smart ones rule or the pretty/ handsome (generally dumber) ones rule?
Yep - might be time to pick up some XLF to counter-balance that GLD/ that American Eagle you picked up.
(all advise is strictly for entertainment purposes much like Bush's State of the Union ( of Man and Woman Only) Speech.
In the immortal words of Chappelle - "thas right beyatches!"
I'm an HPer, RPer, and GLD bugger up the wazoo - but you gots to hedge your betches!
The next bubble will be in gold.
He's a pussy, so there is at least a 0.5% cut in the works
Correction:
Bernanke is Wall Street's bitch.
Inflation Ben.
I still don't understand why our Fed is cowering to Wall Street. Everything that they demand they are getting, on the backs of the middle class and our eroding dollar value. This must stop! Interest rates need to rise and people need to fess up about all the organized fraud that is being committed everyday in the mortgage industry. (It is still going on. Countrywide has not stopped writing bad applicants and approving them loans.) Where is the prosecution for this?
"Fed chairman was showing that it could be bullied by Wall Street."
It's all about the big banks and their huge derivatives exposure.
Wall Street is a side show.
"How long is it going to be before people riot and crush the Fed?"
Count me in, when do we start?
;-)
The question remain to be answered yet is:
1) Can Ben Burrito save the Americano's ass by making more taco ?
2) Can Ben Burrito save the snapper turtle from being skewered on a bamboo stick from head to ass all sizzling, fat popping, juices dripping nicely with that pungent aroma hanging in the air, over a bed of white hot charcoal ?
3) Can Ben Burrito do more of the "Enter the Dragon" to Joe6Pack + JaneZinfandel by making more taco ?
4) Will Ben Burrito become Dubya Shrub Number Two some time not long distant in the future ? God and Buddha and Allah have mercy on the Americano if that prediction ever come to fruition...
Can we grill Ben Burrito just like we grill the Americano snapper turtle ? Can we ? Can we ? Can we ???
I say another 25 pts
I think he'll cut 1/2 point. That's what Wall Street expects and it appears so far that Ben can be counted to deliver what the street wants. He's also afraid Cramer will yell at him again if he doesn't cut. He's been luckey so far that the dollar didn't fall as badly as it should have after all his rate cuts.
ALL OF THEM ARE CRIMINALS! I speak with Americans all the time and these crazy nuts do not represent the will of the people.
The are defying us.
Allow people to buy homes paying only 10% and the rest can be guaranteed through a Federal govt.
Not going to cut it, most aspiring homedebtors are broke. Allow no downpayments.
The FED can reduce the fund rate to zero. It isn't going to accomplish jack in the long run. But then what does it matter? When the threat of a complete dollar collapse becomes imminent, we'll just heed the call of those economists like Herbert Grubel and Canadian billionaire investor Stephen Jarislowski, and create a regional North American currency. The FED will just be folded into a new North American Central Bank, the NACB, and our national debt will be effectively refinanced, albeit at the cost of our freedom and sovereignty. So go Bernanke! Keep the party going! Who needs the dollar? It's all just bank credit anyway.
What will happen if he does nothing? Which I believe he should Do, Since the cut came last week...
They do nothing or a quarter point...
If there's a half point cut Bernanke is signaling to everyone in American he's playing from his "book" on avoiding a depression. What company is going to be dumb enough to hire new employees, make capital improvements or borrow money?
The FED is basically saying have money and will borrow if you think you'll last long enough to repay. If you don't think you will last we don't care just borrow the money, please.
Have the TAF's been opened up to average American's yet? What's the rate? Is it dropping too?
Jewels benefit from inflation. It gains value with no effort on its part.
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