BEAR STEARNS MELTDOWN OPEN THREAD

March 17, 2008

BEAR STEARNS MELTDOWN OPEN THREAD

Save us Plunge Protection Team, save us!

105 comments:

Anonymous said...: So what happens to the put options when the writers of the contracts can't pay?; March 17, 2008 7:53 AM
Gerard said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; March 17, 2008 7:58 AM
Anonymous said...: Liquidity

What does it Mean?

1. The degree to which an asset or security can be bought or sold in the market without affecting the asset's price. Liquidity is characterized by a high level of trading activity.

2. The ability to convert an asset to cash quickly. Also known as "marketability".; March 17, 2008 8:05 AM
Trevor Cordes said...: Exchange traded options (CBOE) are guaranteed by the exchange (CBOE). They are NOT the same as OTC derivatives (CDS, etc) you hear so much about.

CBOE and their brokers determine and require valid levels of margin from the writers. Many (most?) contracts are not "naked" and are written by experts using market-neutral techniques. If Bear can't keep up with the requirements, the positions are unwound, using the posted margin to cover any shortfall. If CBOE was doing its job, even if the counterparty goes bankrupt, the losses should be minimal or non-existent.

The only way this would change is if the entire market (say S&P500) went down 20% in one day. The Fed won't let that happen (we hope). In fact, most people think the Fed is trying to make the market go up, but what they really are doing is making sure it goes down in an orderly manner (no 1929 or 1987). Of course, they want it to go up, but when that's impossible (as it is now), they just want it to go down slowly. They (and CNBC) keep cheerleading to sucker in all the bulls ("buy on the dips!") at each stage so that the smart money can keep selling out.

SHORT ALL RALLIES! If you don't believe me, look at a chart of 2000-2002, or 1981, 1973, 1970, 1946, 1937, or 1934. History shows us what to do, ignore at your peril.; March 17, 2008 8:09 AM
Anonymous said...: If Bear Sterns value goes from $4 billion on Friday to $260 million on Sunday, we can all assume that nobody knows the value of any stock and shouldn't believe this market anymore. Huge red flag, huge panic mode!; March 17, 2008 8:23 AM
Anonymous said...: *cough* narc *cough*; March 17, 2008 8:24 AM
Anonymous said...: JPM can pay for BS shares just with the ATM $2 fees. bwahahaha

No more escorts and blow for you, Bern Sterns high fliers. I heard McDonalds is hiring. bwahahaha; March 17, 2008 8:39 AM
blogger said...: This is Northern Rock on steroids and the Fed's involvement is historic - first time since the great depression that they had to bail out an investment bank

Bear Stearns employees who had their retirement in Bear stock are double-screwed

The ripples from this will be felt for years; March 17, 2008 9:09 AM
Anonymous said...: RUN ON BANKS STARTS TODAY; March 17, 2008 9:10 AM
Anonymous said...: For the love of god Keith you have got to find someone in the states you can trust to allow posts while you're asleep. To much shit is going down to be waiting on posts to go through moderation while we're all up here!; March 17, 2008 9:18 AM
blogger said...: Jim Rogers just predicted the death of the US Federal Reserve system on Bloomberg; March 17, 2008 9:24 AM
Anonymous said...: Will the BS (Bear Stearns, but the other meaning is appropriate) deal actually go through? Or will it be like with Countrywide - something that "will" happen, until it doesn't?; March 17, 2008 9:51 AM
Anonymous said...: kieth, and everyone else, calm down, yes we will have a major crash but by some miracle all will be well in the coming months that is unless 3 million of this nations rich have another country to live in.

If not I am sure as the sun sets that our govt will be forced to print up more money, price fix the properties, and manipulate our financial system so that we have a soft fall, then again maybe we are out of miracles ? I wonder if the illumati, super rich can stop this, or if they planned it all along for a one world govt ? lol just joking....; March 17, 2008 9:55 AM
Mark said...: Like everything else in America 90%of the population is totally clueless to any of the troubles in the markets. I can see the logic in keeping a slow decline vs a crash. It keeps the majority of America from making that run on the bank. That is why the MSM is not trumpeting the house of cards our financial system has become. The owners of the media, the government to for that matter, have a lot at stake financially and it's not in their personal interest to let the public in on how bad a mess we're really in.

I started reading the blogs a year ago researching a relocation west and have been educated. If I hadn't stumbled onto sites like this one I'd be just as much in the dark as the rest of America. Many here want to throw all the FBs into one basket and blame them for being stupid. The reality is that many didn't have the information that would have saved them and simply wanted a home. Most people don't Google housing Panic as part of there home buying research. For evey foreclosed 600 FICO deadbeat, key mailer who can afford to pay and ARM teaser rate minimum wager in over their head there are dozens more who are upside down but can afford to and will keep paying. Now not only are they in negative equity with their homes but they are about to see their savings and retirement accounts tank too. For the speculators and idiots, F@ck them. For the rest, it's not by any means amusing and quite sad how they were let down by the goverment which let this thing get so badly out of control.; March 17, 2008 10:01 AM
Стивен said...: BSC is so 8pm last night.

Just wait a day or less until LEH goes caput too:

Will Lehman Brothers drop 93% to $2.75 a share on Monday?
Is Lehman Next?
Fed Fails To Halt Debt Meltdown

Who will be the ultimate bag holders? Anyone who holds US dollars. This is what's coming, and fast:

Krugman: The B Word; March 17, 2008 10:04 AM
Anonymous said...: Shouldn't the Fed be putting handcuffs on them instead of bailing them out? Look at the SEC filings of some of the toxic securities that they created... They had to have known that they would blow up.; March 17, 2008 10:16 AM
Anonymous said...: People like Mish Shedlock are still in total denial about this. People like Jim Sinclair and Peter Schiff and Jim Puplava are looking like the gods they are.

Deflationistas still cant get their heads around these "loans", that were 30 day, now 90 day.... These things will never be taken back. The fed will take all of this toxic waste onto its sheets. Trillions. 10s of trillions will never be marked to market -- it will just be nationalized, monetized by the fed. And that leaves us, the people of the US holding the old maid. The bag.

Man, I was watching the FRN collapse disorderly last night. Breathtaking. I guess we've had some g7 CB intervention here, But its just going to stair step now. Gold at 1000+ is looking very cheap suddenly. Don't see how we can get our sell in May drop.

Good luck out there to all HPers. Hope yer rigged.

-Matt C; March 17, 2008 10:50 AM
Anonymous said...: Bobo:

There were rich folks living in NO durring Katrina. I don't think they felt taken care of either. No, I think this is out of control. They will try to bring this in softly, but it will just make it worse. Much worse. Because they will sacrifice the full faith and credit. And then there will be nothing left. No wealth. No producive capacity. No military. Science infrastructure gutted. Energy infrastructure in tatters. Just a bunch of monkeys squaballing about gays and celebutards, wondering why they cant buy gas? Then the mobs will form, and Katrina will look like a walk in the park.

Got passport?

-MattC; March 17, 2008 10:55 AM
Anonymous said...: >> So what happens to the put options when the writers of the contracts can't pay? You're counterparty is the exchange. The sellers post margin.

*SO* glad this esoteric financial bullshit is finally coming to an end! Time to get real jobs folks, producing real products instead of moving numbers from one part of a computer screen to another.; March 17, 2008 11:40 AM
Anonymous said...: Bear who?

What I want to know is who's going to be eliminated from American Idol this week.; March 17, 2008 11:55 AM
Anonymous said...: JP Morgan bought BEar Stearns for about 20 bucks a share.

PJ; March 17, 2008 12:06 PM
Anonymous said...: I feel better and better every time news like this comes out. It's amazing how much you can zoom ahead of the pack when you don't get caught up in the hype, don't get greedy, and borrow within your means. They're jacking up interest rates here in Australia, meanwhile I'm on 7% fixed interest (most banks are offering 8-9% minimum variable at the moment). My superannuation is in straight cash, ready to move back into high-growth shares once this all blows over. I'm going to borrow 50-100k in the next year or so (once all of this crap is over and everyone owns up to the toxic debt on their balance sheet, once the public's confidence in equities is at rock bottom and blue-chip stocks can be had for dirt-cheap prices) and buy up quality Australian shares to hold forever. 20 years time, the repayments on my interest-only, tax-deductible loan will be neglible, while the returns from 20 years of dividend re-investment should have me set for life.

It feels odd to be cheering on this economic meltdown while the masses are in panic mode. People will lose everything, due to greed, corruption and their quest for status in a superficial world, I'm just glad I made the choice to rise above the game.; March 17, 2008 12:14 PM
Deb said...: As the ex-wife of a former Bear Stearns analyst, I can tell you that employee compensation consisted of a LOT of Bear stock, so yeah, a lot of folks have lost everything.

On the other hand, everyone I knew who worked at Bear was an arrogant, narcissistic asshole, so it's what they deserve.; March 17, 2008 12:22 PM
tater said...: Oil hits another record. The dollar hits a new low against the euro. Gold just keeps setting records.

I wouldn't want to wake up this morning owning a share of Bear Stearns stocks. The Fed really gave those investors a good screwing. Doesn't it bother you to see JPM walk in and gets the cream of Bear Stearns for chump change, all with the blessings of the Fed? It should, because the toxic shit from this buyout will be shouldered by whom? You guessed it: The U. S. taxpayer. We taxpayers will be funding this scam buyout for years to come.

And, there will be more. Stay tuned for the next Fed arranged buyout, coming soon. As each firm is raped and pillaged by another "buying" firm, just think about all the toxic shit that we, the U. S. taxpayers, just bought, and how all the valuable parts of the "bought out" company becomes the property of the rapist.; March 17, 2008 12:31 PM
Anonymous said...: " The fed will take all of this toxic waste onto its sheets. Trillions. "

You are wrong. The Fed has a balance sheet. The Fed has under 900B of market cap.

The Fed cannot save us this time.

The only way to get anything costing "trillions" onto the government's hands is to pass a bill through Congress.; March 17, 2008 12:40 PM
Anonymous said...: Steve Forbes says "suspend mark to market".
There is no loss until it actually goes bad.
Wow!; March 17, 2008 12:53 PM
Anonymous said...: IT'S OFFICIAL!!! TODAY IS THE FULL START OF THE HOUSINGPANIC!!!! NOW THEY ARE TRYING TO TAKE AWAY MARK TO MARKET!!!!!!; March 17, 2008 12:55 PM
Anonymous said...: Unless u have powerful machine guns and plenty of ammo + a cabin in the Rocky Mountains + a survival kit and food reserves for five years, it's going to be really tough for anyone out there in the coming years. The problem is that it's going to be a worldwide phenomenon triggering civil wars and social unrest. Watch out HPers!; March 17, 2008 1:08 PM
Anonymous said...: I feel really sorry for the bear folks.

They needed to make a few trips to fill the trunks of the limos.

We are on the hook for $30 Billion now. It will be handed to Fannie or Freddie to manage I bet.

Who is next to live large and suck the life out of the economy.; March 17, 2008 1:10 PM
Anonymous said...: I think the term "PANIC STAGE" begins in earnest today, St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, 2008. A day to remember in US History.; March 17, 2008 1:15 PM
Anonymous said...: >> As the ex-wife of a former Bear Stearns analyst, I can tell you that employee compensation consisted of a LOT of Bear stock, so yeah, a lot of folks have lost everything.

GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! GOOD! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!; March 17, 2008 1:24 PM
Anonymous said...: How much money is the Fed allowed to print up by law?; March 17, 2008 1:24 PM
Anonymous said...: thank you keith...for waking us up
thanks man; March 17, 2008 1:28 PM
Anonymous said...: I am new to this board, and definitely one of the ignorant masses trying to LEARN...

So WOW...this whole B/S blowup is wild...Does this mean their shareholders are absolutely SCREWED???

Stupid question, I am assuming the answer is YES, but have they essentially lost everything?; March 17, 2008 1:28 PM
Anonymous said...: All of this happening, and Cheney, the cave man,has suddenly resurfaced in Iraq! He must have needed some respite from all the worries in DC. In Iraq, there is no housing bubble, coz most houses have been demolished. There is no financial collapse and no spending concerns, as most Iraqis now live on dates and goat milk--better perhaps than a lot of folks back in Cheney's hometown.; March 17, 2008 1:33 PM
Anonymous said...: Anonymous said...

RUN ON BANKS STARTS TODAY

You are assuming that Americans are paying attention. I don't know any that are, except for the few on this blog. If I even bring this subject up I get told to stop being negative, talk about happy things, like St Paddy's Day, are we wearing green today?; March 17, 2008 1:35 PM
Miss Goldbug said...: "For the love of god Keith you have got to find someone in the states you can trust to allow posts while you're asleep."

I Agree! Hey Keith- I'm absolutely positive you wont be sleeping much this week, but can we get more postings up because this thing is really starting to unwind!; March 17, 2008 1:48 PM
Anonymous said...: On the plus side - all their employees' mcmansions should be coming on the market soon - so much for new york realtors claiming "new york is different" - of course I won't have a job and my money will be worthless...I'm going to the bank right now to take out $10,000 and buying lots of bottled water and canned goods; March 17, 2008 2:01 PM
Anonymous said...: Anon at March 17, 2008 12:40 PM said:

"The Fed cannot save us this time.
The only way to get anything costing "trillions" onto the government's hands is to pass a bill through Congress."

You don't think congress is pissing themselves trying to make this happen ASAP? This will happen lickety split, tuit suite, mach schnell! Biparisanship will drip from the walls. Watch it happen!; March 17, 2008 2:05 PM
Anonymous said...: A little tongue in cheek, but can someone with knowledge please address this "run on the bank" stuff. Who uses a bank anymore? Do people still go to an actual bank, take out cash, and spend it? I can't remember the last time I actually stood in a bank. I buy things with my BofA VISA. My pay gets automatically deposited somewhere (god only knows where). I haven't written a check since 1999. My bills get paid automatically out of the same place my pay goes to. I don't think there is a BofA in my state. If I was to "run on the bank", where would I go? I could see how in 1929 when everyone paid everything with cash how that would happen. But today? Today, it will probably more of a "run on the credit card", aye?; March 17, 2008 2:13 PM
Anonymous said...: leh is next.; March 17, 2008 2:27 PM
Anonymous said...: PPT is in FULL BATTLE MODE this morning...Let the air out slowly so the Sheeple will not panic...Keep the crash contained!!!; March 17, 2008 2:48 PM
Anonymous said...: PPT meeting today at 2:10pm

http://tinyurl.com/32onde; March 17, 2008 2:52 PM
Anonymous said...: da bear is out; March 17, 2008 3:03 PM
Anonymous said...: Casey serin is buying bear stern stock according to his website.

I thought the ceo said all was well early last week.I wonder how many shares management dumped last week?More work for the sec and fbi I guess. Now I know where broke realtors can find work.They can help investigate all the fraud out there form the housing bubble.; March 17, 2008 3:14 PM
Anonymous said...: To quote another poster,

"Some crash"

DOPES; March 17, 2008 3:33 PM
Bryan said...: The most important thing to remember is that the rating system has been flawed from the beginning and that true value has never been determined correctly.

Vanderbilt at 4? I'm happy - I went there. Tennessee a 2 seed? Undervalued. Georgia a 14 seed? Appropriate.

Wait, the banks didn't close for NCAA Selection Sunday?; March 17, 2008 3:45 PM
Anonymous said...: I'M FLYING INTO NEW YORK TO BUY ME SOME BEAR STEARNS EMPLOYEE HOMES...

I HEAR THEY'RE A BARGAIN...

.02 CENTS ON THE DOLLAR!!!

DOPES!!!; March 17, 2008 4:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey! It's not just Cheney; McCain is apparently also in Iraq! I saw a pic of him and Cheney meeting in Baghdad-- unless they have flown his statuette from the Wax Museum in London for a photo op with Cheney. But a friend of mine who has recently visited Madame Thusseau's Museum said he didn't think McCain's effigy was in there. Another friend of mine believes McCain's statue will never make it to that high-profile hall of fame, as the museum is reportedly thinking of taking Bush's wax figure out of the exhibition-- causing them too many protests, it seems!!!; March 17, 2008 4:24 PM
AndrewHac said...: Americano = Albusto Bear Stearns
.....

The freaking God-D*mn chicken are coming home to roost now in the land of the Great Snapper Turtle
.....

And there are ASS-HEAD out there whom still think this Albusto nation is the greatest nation on Earth.

Talk About Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest.
.....

So, is the Americano toasted yet ? And if not, when do you people, Joe and Jane of the SHRUB's Ass-Head Clan, think the Americano will be toasted ? Will they be toasted lightly as a marshmellow or juicely as a snapper turtle skewered on a stick from head to ass all sizzling nicely, fat popping, juices dripping over a bed of red hot charcoal fire ?

Please vote:
Is the Americano now = Roasted Snapper Turtle ?

Is the Americano = "Little Boy" + "Fat Man" Arse-Kisser ?

Is the Americano "has been entered the dragon" up in the kazook by the very government that they ignorantly, stupidly, dumb-assly voted for in the last 8 years ? And last but not least, is the Americano's kazook painfully hurt by the "entered the dragon" action or is he/she loving and liking it to death due to FAGGOT's lover dream ?; March 17, 2008 4:28 PM
Anonymous said...: Y'all better beware of the snap back rally tomorrow when the Fed cuts another 750 bp. Somebody (BoJ?) is playing games with the USD too, so look for a double-whammy rally that will absolutely kill the shorts on Tuesday.; March 17, 2008 4:36 PM
Anonymous said...: Here's how you get a fighting chance at fixing this mess.

Put some of the smartest investors and independent economists at the helm of policy making.

Warren Buffett, Richard Daughty, Jim Rogers, David Tice, Jim Puplava, Peter Schiff, guys like that.

Thing is, such an idea is pure fantasy because the powers that be are corrupt and would never allow intellectually honest people to take control of policy making.; March 17, 2008 4:38 PM
Anonymous said...: Just another step in the road to the NAU.; March 17, 2008 5:08 PM
Anonymous said...: "'all better beware of the snap back rally tomorrow when the Fed cuts another 750 bp."

I think you mean 75bp but the market now wants at least 100bp and probably won't rally unless they get more than that. The crack rocks aren't having much effect any more.; March 17, 2008 5:27 PM
Anonymous said...: Save us PPT!!!!!

Save uuuuuuuusssssssss!!!!; March 17, 2008 5:41 PM
Anonymous said...: Y'all better beware of the snap
back rally tomorrow when the Fed cuts another 750 [sic] bp. Somebody (BoJ?) is playing games with the USD too, so look for a double-whammy rally that will absolutely kill the shorts on Tuesday.

______

Wow, no kidding? What insight you must have!

Please be sure to tell us what you're buying for tomorrow's rally...

D|pst|ck.; March 17, 2008 5:45 PM
blogger said...: looks like a violent sell-off in commodities right now too - sugar, wheat, zinc, aluminum, etc

and again, I'm reminded of this:

· The final phase is a self-feeding panic, where the bubble bursts. People of wealth and credit scramble to unload whatever they have bought at greater and greater losses, and cash becomes king.

But for heaven's sake, where's the safe haven?

2-year US t-bills are paying like 2% - AND THAT'S IN US DOLLARS!

Yen is up 2.6% today. Yen is the liferaft? come on; March 17, 2008 5:46 PM
blogger said...: Oh, Lehman is now trading like it wants to go out of business

Man, what fireworks today. People are getting destroyed; March 17, 2008 5:47 PM
Anonymous said...: Keith,

Make these postings real time instead of having us wait hours for updates. F*ck moderation, this shit needs to be real time!

Its like watching the SuperBowl in slow motion! WTF?

We want real time!; March 17, 2008 6:03 PM
Anonymous said...: "2-year US t-bills are paying like 2% - AND THAT'S IN US DOLLARS!"

I just bought some CD's from penfed.com; they're paying 5% if you'll leave your money there for 7 years. I did the 4.25% three year deal.; March 17, 2008 6:08 PM
Anonymous said...: "Liquidity, What does it Mean?"

the situation where people believe that the assessed valued of something is fundamentally sound and a fair exchange of value is possible.; March 17, 2008 6:11 PM
Стивен said...: Keith,

Here's your picture for this thread. [From CR.]; March 17, 2008 6:21 PM
Anonymous said...: More to come. Lehman then Merrill then Citi then JP then Morgan etc...; March 17, 2008 6:28 PM
Anonymous said...: LOL all major world indices down 3.5% or more, Dow down 40 points. Hats off to the PPT for avoiding disaster for one more day.; March 17, 2008 6:31 PM
Anonymous said...: All I have to say is when the CEO or President tells you "Everything is OK". You can be sure it isn't!; March 17, 2008 6:37 PM
Anonymous said...: But for heaven's sake, where's the safe haven?

What happened to your idea to go short a few weeks back?

Someone should start a Jim Cramer ultra-short fund. You coulda made a fortune shorting a basket of his 100+ P/E tech picks from last year. Especially some of the stocks in the PV sector - look at some of the charts...; March 17, 2008 6:47 PM
Anonymous said...: But for heaven's sake, where's the safe haven?

BTW I hate shorting, you are betting against the odds long-term. In times like these, there is no safe haven, this is where being diversified is helpful in protecting at least some of your wealth.; March 17, 2008 6:50 PM
Anonymous said...: I started reading this blog a few months ago with glee. Living in California, in my means, I thought "Yes, let the housing market crash, so I can watch these yahoos get kicked out and I can move into a place I can afford."

Today I wake up and read the blogs, and I feel this panic many of you are so gleefully hoping everyone will feel. It's not the panic of losing my house, it's the panic of all of my savings disappearing in the stock market where I have conservatively invested it for the last 10 years. I have a nice 5.5% fixed mortgage of 300K, and no other debt. This morning, I think, maybe I should convert it all to cash, purchase a house outright in the boonies, pre-pay the taxes for the next ten years and buy a share in an organic farm to guarantee food.

This would mean I would give my three employees their two week notice today. If things are going tits up, I can't risk the expense.

If everyone panics this way, then I can't count on having any income come in. I can't count on my small business bringing income in for me for the next couple of years. Rent somewhere? That's not safe, the only safe thing is having something no one can take away from you.

My family DID survive the great depression, and what they said to me was "You can only count on having what you actually own."

I hope for all our sakes that what you're goading to happen does not. The wealthy people who owned in the great depression did fine. The renters, the people who had to work to get by, they were toast. The way my hard-working employees are going to be if I panic, OR if I get wiped out because everyone else panics.

Living within my means? Sure I can. But that means nobody else is getting my money.; March 17, 2008 6:58 PM
Anonymous said...: Seeing how today's stock market behaves, I finally understood what the United States runs on.

It runs on Creative Bullshits.

The Goal is to provide investors with new bullshits they never heard of before everytime the outlook looks bad.

Lastly, the rate of innovation is simply outstanding : FED dealing Treasuries for crappy debt; FED getting over its mandate in financing an investment bank short term liquidity needs by interposed JP Morgan; FED cutting rates in the middle of the night; FED forcing JP Morgan into buying a crappy company for 1/15 th of its valuation to hide obvious bankruptcy...

I keep telling myself, one day, the will run out of creativity, or people will see through the lies of the FED. In fact, I was quite confident these 4 desperate "actions" would open their eyes. But no, it didn't. Maybe when the Martians show up with unlimited US$ credit.; March 17, 2008 7:03 PM
Anonymous said...: You can't make this sh!t up man. 'Reads like a book.

Let the good times roll
Let them knock you around
Let the good times roll
Let them make you a clown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqmejG6xgDs&feature=related; March 17, 2008 7:29 PM
Anonymous said...: But for heaven's sake, where's the safe haven?

______

You have to ask?

Gold and silver, natch.

What part of "buy gold and silver on dips" did you fail to comprehend?; March 17, 2008 7:34 PM
Anonymous said...: Folks, don't panic. Invest for the long term. If you invest for the long term then you have nothing to worry about. America is still the land of opportunity and we are still the shining city on top of a hill that every soul in the world looks up to. Current events today may scare a lot of people, but our nation will face these current challenges and emerge as a strong nation.; March 17, 2008 8:07 PM
flavorpacket said...: BSC fails and the market is up 20 points. All we need is 50 more investment banks to fail and the dow will be back to 13,000.; March 17, 2008 8:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Greenspan: "The crisis will leave many casualties. Particularly hard hit will be much of today's financial risk-valuation system," he wrote.

Not sure I have ever seen a bigger POS than that guy. If he was still fed chief, he would NEVER say that. He always blabbered about productivity and this and that even when the crap was hitting the fans. But now it all he does is say how bad things are. If I was bernake I would stomp that old fart into the ground and shut his piehole.

Not that he's wron about the above statement but the turd wouldn't say it that way if he was in charge. He would have said there will be bumps along the road but productivity blah blah blah.; March 17, 2008 8:28 PM
Anonymous said...: Larry Kudlow was just on Michael Medved trying to sooth everyone. He called people like HPers "alarmists and Cassandras." He conveniently left out that alarms ring when there is a fire, and that Cassandra was right.

He said Bear Stearns wasn't bailed out - conveniently leaving out that the Fed didn't allow it to go bankrupt and leaving out that the Fed gave JPM a guarantee of no liability.

And he said NAFTA created more jobs than were destroyed, conveniently leaving out that the jobs that were lost paid 20 or more an hour, with good benefits are were replaced with 8 dollar an hour jobs with no benefits. But the CEOs made millions more, even if the companies end up going bankrupt, so Larry is happy.; March 17, 2008 8:51 PM
Anonymous said...: price fix the properties,
---

Won't help unless you give everyone a raise! The reason I did not buy a house is bec I cannot afford it now!; March 17, 2008 8:54 PM
Anonymous said...: Anonymous said...
A little tongue in cheek, but can someone with knowledge please address this "run on the bank" stuff. Who uses a bank anymore? Do people still go to an actual bank, take out cash,
--

Good Q. Well, for starts if your bank isn't even in your state (find that hard to bleieve) YOU WILL GET NOTHING. Your ATM has a limit on how much you can withdrawl. If it does not now, it will SOON. Considering the US has a negative savings rate, You might not even have anything in the bank any way so who cares??; March 17, 2008 9:03 PM
Anonymous said...: Anyone else find it "convenient" that the only index that joe six-pack follows (DJIA) seemed to be the only one that didn't fall today?

Nothing to see here America... Hey look, American Gladiators is on!; March 17, 2008 9:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Wait and see what all this is gonna do to Europe.

Europe is toast
This time for good

I just hope that when Africa occupies the Europeans that they are crueler then the Europeans were to them, not sure if that is actually possible, but with the help of Middle Easterners, they will sure put those rotten snobs were they belong.

No sweeter image then seeing a few German under-nourished men woman and children raking camel dung at the rifle tip of a grinning dark skinned man.

In the end, Europe did not get away with it.; March 17, 2008 9:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Put some of the smartest investors and independent economists at the helm of policy making.

Warren Buffett, Richard Daughty, Jim Rogers, David Tice, Jim Puplava, Peter Schiff, guys like that.

Don't forget Robert Shiller. (author of Irrational Exhuberance)

I want him to be made either Fed chairman or treasury secretary.; March 17, 2008 9:57 PM
Refuse to buy overpriced said...: What is the safe thing to own right now? Stock in companies which do not own any worthless mortgage backed securities, and never have. Financial companies run by people with common sense, who aren't foolishly greedy and didn't run with the herd. They will take over and clean up the mess, eventually.; March 17, 2008 10:54 PM
Anonymous said...: Asia and Europe are tanking.; March 17, 2008 11:34 PM
Anonymous said...: Keith,

As Mish puts it, treasuries are telling you it's deflation buddy. If you want to be save, treasuries is problably the best place to be.

The only commodities holding up are the metals.

Oil will take a dive here guys.; March 17, 2008 11:36 PM
Anonymous said...: Good Lord...I've never seen so many doom-sayers in one place. Short of all-out war with China, things are just not as bad as you folks make it sound.

Get a grip folks and just be smart with your money.

Peace; March 17, 2008 11:41 PM
Anonymous said...: OH MY

DOW UP 75

MUST BE A DEPRESSION COMING; March 17, 2008 11:43 PM
Paul E. Math said...: Seriously, since the govt will not tell us, can someone present a plausible explanation for what the ppt does and how it does it?

I can't see how the us stock markets could end today in positive territory without outside intervention. To me, the whole system seems rigged.

My guess is that the ppt has an official mandate to counteract any overall losses greater than, say, 150 points on the dow and try to bring the market to finish the day as close to even as possible.

Am I just paranoid? Should I be wearing a tinfoil hat? Why does the market, on horribly bad news, act appropriately at the beginning of the day and then, for some reason reverse course. This has been happening for months now.; March 18, 2008 12:24 AM
Anonymous said...: This past weekend the game went "TILT". The Fed's forced marriage of BSC and JP Morgan was the next ball in pinball machine.

The crisis continues. No root causes are cured. What will be the next TILT event??????

Meanwhile the Fed is almost out of next balls.; March 18, 2008 12:42 AM
Anonymous said...: This was all planned. Greenspan now saying "We need a whole new global financial system." Blow this one up, and the public begs for another.....a global one, BANK ONE. One step at a time, Iraq war causes housing bubble, bubble burst, stock market blows up. Iraq calling for NATO troops now.

Ever see the card game "Illuminati" back in 1995 the guy had the WTC falling down, the Pentagon in flames, Financial collapse. Then the secret service came and took all his computers away. He knew the plan, and it gets way worse for us.

New World Order; March 18, 2008 12:56 AM
Anonymous said...: Cramer declares all bank stocks worthless :

http://www.cnbc.com/id/23681280; March 18, 2008 1:17 AM
Anonymous said...: Keith, the only safe havens are gold and the Chinese yuan. Problem with the former is you can't carry it around the world with you and it's likely to be confiscated anyway. The problem with the latter is the Chinese government has now placed $50K limits on the annual amount of USD an individual can bring to China (they're sick of our dollars).

Bottom line, we all saw this common, anyone trying to rush to save havens now is too late.; March 18, 2008 1:21 AM
EconomicDisconnect said...: I hate to use biology type analogies, but I think that two fit;
1.) the FED's efforts to provide "liquidity"- the FED is trying to treat a SYMPTOM, not a cause by giving out cash. The cause is insolvency, the symptom is lack of fluid cash due to declining asset values. As an analogy, if someone presents with chronic bad high blood pressure, say 150/110 constant they need treatment. I can find the CAUSE (renal failure, diabetes, vascular disease) which may or may not be treatable, or I can just treat the symptom. One treatment is puncturing the vena cava artery, which will drop blood pressure in short order, but the patient will die. See what I am saying.
2.) As far as things seeming to be fine on main street, realize that the usual 1st sign of a coronary blockage (ie heartattack) is sudden death or major cardiac event. No pain, no other symptoms exist prior. Things can be great until they are not and it can be very sudden.
Sorry for the biological analogies, but I felt they fit.; March 18, 2008 1:41 AM
Anonymous said...: nonymous said...
A little tongue in cheek, but can someone with knowledge please address this "run on the bank" stuff. Who uses a bank anymore? Do people still go to an actual bank, take out cash, and spend it? I can't remember the last time I actually stood in a bank.

the "run" on the bank wasn't at the retail (individual) level, but from other banks that did business with B/S.. the principle was the same though, loss of confidence caused others to stop dealing with them.
Macaca; March 18, 2008 1:49 AM
Anonymous said...: Jim Rogers nailed it when he framed the move by the FRB to provide financing to meet JPM's newfound capital requirements as socializing the rich. b/c w/o that cash Bear would have BK'd and all those 6-figure bonuses paid out six weeks ago would have to be paid back and their recipients put at the back of the line behind the creditors scrapping for a meaty piece of Bear's hide. so basically the taxpayer paid for, in Roger's words, mazerattis. in my words, we paid for hookers and blow for a bunch of 20-something NY broker scumbags. i could give a flying f*ck what they spent it on, but some people of faith may have a problem w/ subsidizing hookers & coke- maybe?? who knows, i don't recognize this country anymore.

kill the bankers.; March 18, 2008 2:48 AM
Anonymous said...: Keith, check this link; Tent cities near LA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwRIzNyArRY; March 18, 2008 3:33 AM
Anonymous said...: We need a new HP poll:

Who's more articulate on the topic of financial meltdown?

1. buzzsaw
2. andrew hac
3. dopes
4. tater

True, all are towering geniuses, but I'd have to go........(drum roll please)..... Buzzsaw! Three cheers for the Buzzmeister!!!!; March 18, 2008 4:32 AM
Anonymous said...: Selloff in commodities.....

OK but wait,
every day you say "INFLATION IS ROARING!"

Proves you are an idiot.; March 18, 2008 4:50 AM
Lost Cause said...: Blue Light Special on aisle four. It's a top tier investment bank, only slightly damaged. 98% off.; March 18, 2008 5:58 AM
Lost Cause said...: are we wearing green today?

Today, a lot of investment bankers had a greenish tint to their whitish faces.; March 18, 2008 6:12 AM
Lost Cause said...: Like many of my fellow citizens, I had no relationship with Bear Stearns.

I did, however, get robbed by Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Washington Mutual.

I will reserve my glee for the day that they all crater.; March 18, 2008 6:21 AM
Anonymous said...: Yen is up 2.6% today. Yen is the liferaft? come on

Keith, I'm in Japan. Really glad I'm not on the expat contract right about now!!!; March 18, 2008 6:35 AM
Anonymous said...: Quote Of The Day:

“Why not set an example of Bear Stearns, the guys who have this record of dog-eat-dog, we’re brass knuckles, we’re tough?” asked William A. Fleckenstein, president of Fleckenstein Capital in Issaquah, Wash., and co-author with Fred Sheehan of “Greenspan’s Bubbles: The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve.” “This is the perfect time to set an example, but they are not interested in setting an example. We are Bailout Nation.”; March 18, 2008 8:27 AM
Anonymous said...: Don't you guys forget that it was the Rockefellers who created the Fed, ya know, the same ones running JP Morgan not too long ago. Helloooo??? Do you understand now why JPM bought BSC for peanuts with a loan from the Fed?

Welcome to the Secret Society.; March 18, 2008 8:36 AM
Anonymous said...: anon March 18, 2008 3:33 AM:

thanks for the link on tent cities in LA.

sad ;(; March 18, 2008 10:02 AM
Anonymous said...: Selloff in commodities.....

OK but wait,
every day you say "INFLATION IS ROARING!"

Proves you are an idiot.

It hath been foretold in our HP bible. Panic selling of assets to cover the holes. Schiff had also foretold this temporary event on his book years ago. It's unfolding as expected.

Have you seen gold today?

Now look yourself in the mirror and ask loud, "Who's the idiot in front of me?"; March 18, 2008 11:01 AM
Anonymous said...: will my tax money pay those hundred million dollar salaries of those "working" the bailout; March 18, 2008 4:57 PM

HousingPANIC - The Housing Bubble Blog with an Attitude Problem, 2005 - 2008

March 17, 2008

BEAR STEARNS MELTDOWN OPEN THREAD

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