WASHINGTON (AP) — With little explanation, President Bush on Tuesday scrapped a statement he planned to give on the tumultuous financial markets, abandoning any press coverage of his meeting with key economic advisers as more developments roiled Wall Street.
As announced by the White House, Bush was scheduled to make comments to a pool of reporters after huddling with a key financial working group led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Its members include Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other key government figures in the field of commerce.
Yet after the session began, the White House told the media to never mind.
Spokesman Tony Fratto said only, "We decided it would be best to limit public comment about markets today." He declined to offer any explanation.
September 17, 2008
FLASH: Make of this what you will: Associated Press - Bush suddenly scraps comments on financial markets
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46 comments:
That photo is insulting
To the monkey
Remember Bush's campaign pledge in 2000?
"We will lead!"
and
"We will restore dignity and honor to the White House"
Reminds me of his performance on 9/11 when he was nowhere to be found
So will Wamu be around next week? Bets?
___________________________
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSBNG35155320080917
U.S. regulators try to find WaMu buyer
(Reuters) - U.S. federal regulators recently called a number of banks asking if they would consider buying Washington Mutual Inc should it eventually falter, the New York Post said, citing sources.
Federal banking regulators, in recent days, contacted Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase & Co, HSBC and several other financial institutions to gauge their interest in a possible acquisition of WaMu, the paper said.
No merger discussions are currently under way between the Seattle-based bank and anyone else, the sources told the paper.
Washington Mutual could not be immediately reached for comment.
Being President is hard work, especially when you preside over the worst economic meltdown in history.
Give the guy a break he is probably shitting his pants somewhere.
Maybe he quit? Or maybe he's curled up in the fetal position in the corner of the oval office?
Or maybe he's back on the sauce?
Poor guy. Hope he doesn't harm himself.
History will not only not be kind - history will be F*CKING BRUTAL
Thank you American voters for putting this idiot in office for eight of the most destructive years in the history of the nation
It's time to talk turkey about the prices on your screen and recall another time when things felt like this -- the crash of 1987. In 1987, we believed that all the major firms in the brokerage industry were going to go belly-up. Many of them were not in compliance with paperwork, others were simply not even picking up the phone. It felt like the end of the world. It wasn't. But it was eerie.
We are in that mode again. I don't think anyone looking at Morgan Stanley (MS Quote - Cramer on MS - Stock Picks) or Goldman Sachs (GS Quote - Cramer on GS - Stock Picks) today would dispute that. These companies are clearly reflecting that they are in severe straits, much worse than I think they are. In many ways, this time it is worse than 1987 because AIG (AIG Quote - Cramer on AIG - Stock Picks) and Fannie (FNM Quote - Cramer on FNM - Stock Picks) and Freddie (FRE Quote - Cramer on FRE - Stock Picks) and Lehman (LEH Quote - Cramer on LEH - Stock Picks) still haven't been sorted through. We have too many aftershocks that we must worry about, and there is too much damage in the system. Plus, there is now a sense that the U.S. government has become a cartoon government with a cartoon currency and a cartoon Fed. No rate cut? Oh my! How wrong!!
I think the Fed is in shock that we are not doing better today, but what they failed to recognize is that the erosion in confidence from their worrying about inflation is staggering. I think also, right now, they should be on the phone to the big repositories of capital in the Middle East and Asia and urge them to take advantage of these prices.
I want to make it clear: In many ways this period right now is worse than 1987. AIG, Lehman, FNM, FRE, Bear, and who the heck knows what else? Right now we are experiencing a true meltdown in financials. There is very little hope at this moment that we can turn it around ourselves.
I think that unless we get some outside help from the Middle East or China, it won't end. Our government has made so many mistakes, our Fed has made so many mistakes, that I can understand why people would panic.
I simply have to believe, though, that there is outside capital that wants in. I believe that money does exist that can come in and stabilize things. But I also want to point out that without it, we are most likely not done going down.
Again, without it, we were down 508 points from the 2300 level in 1987, and we had a much more capable Fed and government. So I can't rule out a big percentage decline from here. It could happen again unless we get some grownups from outside our own universe to come and put money here right here.
Without it, we cannot take 1987 off the table, even though I think the situation is not as perilous given the incredible liquidity of so many companies and the moves that have been made to preserve the system already.
What happened in 1987 that turned things around? The major Wall Street firms with capital came in and bought the market at about 1400 on Terrible Tuesday. They had the capital to do so. We don't anymore. The foreigners do, I do hope that we are making calls to the major sovereign funds from companies more flush than ours.
Without it, you can figure that history can always repeat itself even though the pain is in one sector only -- finance -- and the rest can be handled given the cash in the corporate coffers and the sidelines. To save finance, we need more than just our own help -- we need major intervention from the incredibly tight EU. We also need major infusions of cash into financials from the likes of the big Middle East sovereign funds.
Logically, we should bottom at some point, just like we bottomed in 1987. That bottom did not occur until we declined more than 50% from our highs. But then we caught bargains of a lifetime. I think some capital should be kept for that moment.
I also think that we need to be on the lookout for major buys caused by panic, too. Not a sop to the bulls, just a statement that fear is so prevalent that there have to be some opportunities in rock-solid companies with no debt that are down way too much at this very moment. Some stuff isn't down enough, some stuff has much further to fall, but some stuff can be bought right around here if the companies do not need cash and can withstand this assault.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10437942/2/cramer-were-in-1987-mode.html
Hey Keith
The voters DID NOT put him in office
keith said:
"Thank you American voters for putting this idiot in office for eight of the most destructive years in the history of the nation"
Hey, don't look at me! I voted anti-chimp twice and look where it got me!
And to think that Jimmy Carter was able to be worst than this president. The Gen Y-ner has no idea what was like with Jimmy Carter. YOU KNOW NOTHING!
And the priority for the Democratic party:
GIVING AMNESTY TO MILLIONS OF ILLEGALS SO THEY CAN BE SUCKING WELFARE AT TAXPAYER'S EXPENSE.
Michelle Obama even mentioned it on her convention speech. The country is broke but the democratic party wants to put 20 million illegals in the welfare system, since there won't be as many jobs to support all those people. Please note that when you have free housing and free food, paid by the taxpayer, you have a lot of free time to breed like flies. Then those 20 million illegals will become 60 million and then 120 million, in no time. Guess who are they going to put in government offices? You got it, the Mexican high school dropouts who just crossed the border a few years back. Good luck San Francisco elite, because the Mexicans will start taking over all the government jobs and turning your "sophisticated" city into a Tijuana. So black people, better learn Spanish because your new bosses from Mexico won't be cutting any slack. You've been gamed!
What Bush did not say the gold price chart did. +11% was a pretty concise comment from an independent source.
Like I said folks, the zionist PPT is hard at work right now to turn the rotten market positive today.
IT'S ALL RIGGED!
Monkeys I tell you, Monkeys!
2pm PPT here we go
Don't insult the ape...
Bush is the greatest president in modern times.He gave you the best chance to sell your real estate at the top.He freed millions of iraqi's from terror and torture.He had saddam walk the plank.He chased terrorists back into packistan.I give you the greatest president ever.
Expecting the same cast of characters who have been at the helm of the Titanic as it sinks, to suddenly rescue the ship....is laughable.
When are we going to kick the arse of the entire PPT? Please, let's kick their arses all the way back to that POS sandbar.
Look at these crooks trying to turn the market positive today. They have no shame!
>> Hey, don't look at me! I voted anti-chimp twice and look where it got me!
Your words speak a greater, and sorry, truth: voting doesn't matter anymore in America. Yes, you voted for the "other" guy, but you still got screwed.
I believe that many Americans are *finally* waking up, but unfortunately, they overslept, and it's too late to do anything about it.
Wow.
Dangerously close to breaking an 8 year unbroken run of mistakes.
I have confidence.
Bushco will find a way to Fuck that up too.
I'm glad he didn't say anything.
One more:
"I believe the fundamentals of our economy are strong" and someone's gonna have to clean up a lot of puke.
Will Bush be forced to flee the country before his time is up? Doesn't Paraguay allow deportation of war criminals now?
-Matt C
>Maybe he quit.
I think Cheney actually has quit. Haven't seen him in years. Last night Glen Beck had on Lin Cheney who was shamelessly peddling her book. I guess they need money or something.
I wanted to scream in her face to write a book about what her husband has been doing for the last two years. He wasn't at the office bitch. If I miss a couple days of work my girlfriend gives me grief. We're contractors in aircraft design and it's always feast or famine. Better gorge when you can.
And yet dick and ball's darling Lin could give a shit.
As for Bush, it's probably a good idea. Just shut up and let the shit hit the fan.
market is now lower than when he came into office!!
I guess even George figured out that nobody believes his nonsense about the economy being sound. Maybe Paulson told him it's "game over, thank you for playing".
You may not agree with everything Paulson does but thank God the treasury job didn't go to someone like Brownie.
"And to think that Jimmy Carter was able to be worst than this president."
You obviously flunked history.
They called it off because I sent the White House a nasty email. No threats just anger. I am pissed!
The bail-outs must stop! Now! The fed and the White House are not helping confidence in the markets. They keep saying everything is fine and then they bail somebody out with billions!
Stop the bail-outs! Now!
"...And the priority for the Democratic party:
GIVING AMNESTY TO MILLIONS OF ILLEGALS...
...better learn Spanish."
I speak a fair amount myself; care to tell us what McCain says?
"Nou están al ladou del inmigrantay"...(Perou nosohtrose ¡SEE!)
CÁLLENSE con lows GreenGoes, ¿eh?
Insiders tell me that the reason the press opp was cancelled was because Bush was going to say:
"HOLY CRAP!!! WE'RE RUINED! RUN AWAY FROM STOCKS! RUN!"
But Paulson clued him in to the fact that:
1) This would not be helpful and calming to the markets.
2) It would be a truthful, sincere, and unspun statement, which is directly against the standing policy of this administration since the beginning (or any other Republican administration, or candidate, for that matter.)
Actually, MY insiders say that it was cancelled because Bush planned to bring Paulson, Bernanke, Mozillo and Yun out, pat them on the back, and say:
"Paulie, Nankie, Mozie, Yunnie, yer doin' a great job!!!"
During the Carter Administration I was getting 13% on my CD's.
Granted, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed but when inflation was rampant in those days, I got a return on my money. Not today.
Here is a serious question? WHO in the hell is getting the return on my money? It's not me.
" I am now more concerned about the return of my money than the return on my money." - Mark Twain
...Because showmanship was more important than whatever "message" he had to give about how his administration was approaching this crisis.
What a piece of trash.
Anon said...
market is now lower than when he came into office!!
Actually, the Dow was at 10,300 when he took office. So we're close, but not there yet!
Jymkata
"The U.S. financial system faces a grave crisis as investment giants teeter on the edge of collapse. These institutions aren't merely made of paper and percentages, though. They're led by people - people who've made some rotten decisions in recent years. Whereas we'll hear much in the coming weeks about the federal regulators who are scrambling to avert a disaster, we should also hear about the CEOs who got very rich while their firms crumbled."...
http://tinyurl.com/49cvts
consultant said...
"And to think that Jimmy Carter was able to be worst than this president."
You obviously flunked history.
and grammar....
JaneZ
"Anon said...
market is now lower than when he came into office!!
Actually, the Dow was at 10,300 when he took office. So we're close, but not there yet!"
Err, what about adjusting for inflation?
The Dow would have to be around 14,000 today to compare with 10,300...
k
Wire tapping of citizens, nationalization of private enterprise at will.... Is it East Germany? Is it North Korea? Oh no, hang on! It is the United States of America!
I start to understand why the NRA insists on keeping their guns.
That says it all.
You can always count on a market dive when Bush talks up the economy, so there was really no need for that today.
Afterthought said...
...Because showmanship was more important than whatever "message" he had to give about how his administration was approaching this crisis.
--------------------
"Liar Nation: Finally Reaping What We Have Sown (Sept. 16, 2008)
http://tinyurl.com/4xm55d
JaneZ
We're still better than Russia and Cuba. Obama's role models.
They probably canceled it because the market seems to have a funny habit of shitting the bed whenever this president opens his mouth and starts talking about said market. The gang in charge is well aware that we couldn't afford another Bush induced bowel movement at this critical juncture.
Is it you on the right, Keith?
B747
Bush's final act: Bank runs, weekly bank closings, and serial bankruptcy rolling down Wall St. What more could a President ask for as he walks off the stage? [*]
All that's left on his to-do list is to bomb Iran and pardon Scooter Libby.
Mars, bitches!
[*] methinks that Bush library at SMU is gonna' consist of nothing more than a collection of used coke spoons and thank you notes from Tony Blair.
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