tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37583306783904191292008-11-22T01:37:58.723-05:00Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.comBlogger1355125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-291924689210200412008-11-22T01:30:00.002-05:002008-11-22T01:37:58.735-05:00

Citi has around $773 billion in deposits, only $100 billion are FDIC insured. According to John Carney, most Ctit deposits are held outside the US, for tax and accounting reasons or because they are accounts owned by foreigners or ex-pats, and are therefore uninsured. As Carney notes, there are certainly the seeds for an overseas led depositor bank run if uninsured investors get nervous.

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-90140194664490690952008-11-22T01:08:00.003-05:002008-11-22T01:24:33.443-05:00

...Ashely Dupre speaks to Diane Sawyer.

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-85213097134152093722008-11-22T00:49:00.003-05:002008-11-22T01:25:06.446-05:00

Tim Geithner clearly does not understand free markets. He sees market failures where the government must intervene to fix things. In Geithner, the Treasury will be run by a micro-managing interventionist. Here Geithner's own words about financial regulation.

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-23809578950672601542008-11-22T00:37:00.004-05:002008-11-22T00:42:07.489-05:00

“Most consequential choices involve shades of gray, and some fog is often useful in getting things done." From WSJ as quoted by NYT. Sounds like a real open truth teller, along the lines of Dick Nixon.

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-16903665876397033772008-11-22T00:29:00.002-05:002008-11-22T00:37:03.810-05:00

Barack Obama's choice for Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, should be called the Bailout King. According to NYT: [H]e was involved in the bailouts of Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Brazil and Thailand.This is in addition to his recent roles in the bailouts of Bear Stearns and American International Group, and Treasury Secretary Paulson's $700 billion boondoggle.

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-60194474789620228382008-11-21T23:55:00.005-05:002008-11-22T00:20:16.506-05:00

The government has a new "shovel money to privileged banks" program that will launch next week. It will come through the FDIC and the final rules were just announced. The program is called Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program, or TLGP(Pronounced "Teelgup"). This program is designed to allow banks to issue FDIC insured debt, which pretty much means it's guaranteed by the U.S. and will be AAA

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-48648608329666925622008-11-21T19:34:00.002-05:002008-11-21T19:40:29.108-05:00

On Monday,Senator Inhofe introduced legislation to amend Section 115 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) to require an affirmative vote on the part of Congress to approve Treasury's plan for the remaining $350 billion and require a freeze on any remaining funds of the first $350 billion, stating, "It is imperative that we not allow that amount of money to be added to a deficit

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-55632385729393707622008-11-21T19:09:00.007-05:002008-11-21T23:30:48.171-05:00

According to various news sources, Tim Geithner will be nominated as Treasury Secretary by Barack Obama. An official announcement is expected Monday. Judging by his actions it does not appear Giethner believes in free markets. For him, the government needs to stand by with buckets and buckets of money. According to reports, in 1997 he was instrumental in pushing then Treasury Secretary Rubin to

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-82169822463742417712008-11-21T16:54:00.002-05:002008-11-21T16:57:18.545-05:00

Thomas P.M. Barnett explains what it is like in D.C. right now: There is always the feeding frenzy when a new president takes office, especially if the break for the party in question is 8 years or more. You have this entire universe of super-talented, ambitious and supremely focused players who’ve gone into the exile of think tanks for the long winter, cranking all manner of—admittedly—pretty

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-84779554164379124752008-11-21T15:51:00.008-05:002008-11-21T23:33:55.125-05:00

President-elect Barack Obama plans to announce his economic team on Monday and will name New York Fed President Tim Geithner his nominee for Treasury Secretary, NBC News is reporting.

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-14913870703684258332008-11-21T12:47:00.002-05:002008-11-21T12:49:38.352-05:00

Here are the details released as of Nov 17th: CAPITAL PURCHASE PROGRAM: $158,561,409,000 Total $15,000,000,000 Bank of America Corporation $3,000,000,000 Bank of New York Mellon Corporation $25,000,000,000 Citigroup Inc. $10,000,000,000 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $25,000,000,000 JPMorgan Chase & Co. $10,000,000,000 Morgan Stanley $2,000,000,000 State Street Corporation $25,000,000,000 Wells

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-48340926237130268042008-11-21T11:48:00.004-05:002008-11-21T12:13:08.857-05:00

Citigroup stock is trading below $4.00 this morning, way off its all time high of $54.00. Yesterday during a telephone conversation, investment advisor Bill Smith of SAM Advisors pointed out to me the absurdity of the current Citigroup situation. Since Citi is crashing, you would think that the board of Citi would spend extra time focusing on Citi to right the ship. Instead 20% of Citi's board

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-37641374690419979872008-11-21T09:28:00.005-05:002008-11-21T09:51:28.213-05:00

Platinum Grove Asset Management LP, the hedge-fund firm co-founded by Nobel laureate Myron Scholes, temporarily stopped investor withdrawals from its biggest fund after it lost 29 percent in the first half of October. The decline left Platinum Grove Contingent Master fund with a 38 percent loss this year through Oct. 15, according to investors. Funds employing a similar approach of exploiting

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-34648836499775289792008-11-21T08:38:00.004-05:002008-11-21T09:15:43.243-05:00

At WSJ, Andy Kessler makes a number of important points with regard to the market between now and the end of the year. First, we are likely to see huge tax selling. Stocks that are down will see even more downward pressure between now and the end of the year, as investors sell stocks that are down to lock n tax losses. And this goes for mutual funds as well. Kessler writes: Mutual funds are

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-69790406916308360342008-11-20T23:35:00.003-05:002008-11-20T23:44:15.270-05:00

"You have to wonder if this helps or hurts investor confidence. When executives keep blaming shorts, it just shows they aren't taking the challenges to their company seriously. And it certainly implies they aren't planning any management shake-up." -John Carney From personal experience,I would say 95% of the CEO's, who have complained to me about short sellers, just didn't understand markets,

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-15534372275399396532008-11-20T23:01:00.003-05:002008-11-20T23:20:15.410-05:00

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., revealed to a Tulsa radio station details of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's conference call as Paulson pressured to get the "bailout" bill passed.Clip is approximately one minute. (Via LRC)

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-61089076117753888292008-11-20T22:01:00.002-05:002008-11-20T22:11:25.439-05:00

Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. will get $150 million in capital through the Paulson "Bailout" program. This comes on top of $173 million Boston Private raised in July from private investors, including $75 million from the Carlyle Group. According to Chris Carey at BailoutSleuth, the total number of institutions that have been selected to receive taxpayer money from Paulson's $250 billion

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-17044312890655506062008-11-20T21:38:00.004-05:002008-11-20T21:48:48.047-05:00

The 30-year U.S. Treasury bond climbed 5 points during the regular session today and is up another 4 points in after hours trading. The big question is who is the aggressive buyer? Is it a short seller caught in a squeeze? Is there someone who actually believes that inflation over the next 30 years will not climb above 3.44%? Could it be the Fed? Dramatic moves like this usually have a story to

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-46663897365771175432008-11-20T11:28:00.004-05:002008-11-20T11:57:50.502-05:00

There's a battle between fear and the Fed. Fed money printing is likely to win out in the long run. M1 nsa for the week ended November 3 increased by $42.5 billion. This indicates that fear remains in the system. It is unlikely we will see a rebound in the economy until individuals stop pulling money out of other money components and putting the funds in cash and checking accounts, i.e. M1.

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-80799887646155039372008-11-20T11:14:00.003-05:002008-11-20T11:19:49.367-05:00

You know global inflation can't be too far away when even the Swiss are getting into the aggressive rate cutting act. The Swiss National Bank on today made a surprise and steep one percentage point rate cut. The Swiss National Bank said it's lowering its three-month Libor target range by one percentage point to a 0.5% to 1.5% range. The move "will provide the Swiss franc money market with a

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-38501031450055539412008-11-20T08:51:00.003-05:002008-11-20T09:17:26.785-05:00

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by 27,000 last week to their highest level in 16 years, according to the Labor Department. Much of the job losses are comng from the fnancial sector, the high tech sector and, of course, Detroit's Big Three auto firms. Here is A list of recently announced job cuts, as compiled by CNBC: Boeing announced plans on November 19

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-30060198633784504462008-11-20T08:32:00.004-05:002008-11-20T08:41:40.142-05:00

Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding said Alwaleed will increase his Citigroup stake, his largest holding, to 5 percent. His holdings in Citi are currently less than 4%. In his mysterious role at Citi as "Director and Senior Counselor", since joining the bank n 1999, Rubin has pulled down $150 million in salary and bonuses.

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-66010117029340676322008-11-20T08:07:00.002-05:002008-11-20T08:11:23.784-05:00

Fear continues strong throughout the economy. Average yields on US junk bonds have topped 20 per cent for the first time. The yield on the benchmark Merrill Lynch US High-Yield index hit 20.81 on Wednesday after climbing to 20.27 per cent on Tuesday. Before Tuesday, the previous high for the index was 18.66 per cent in January 1991. The risk premium, or spread over comparable Treasury securities

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-43093458094351335742008-11-19T14:12:00.005-05:002008-11-19T14:48:47.079-05:00

You have to take this news out of the Fed with a ton of salt, since they didn't see the recession or the housing crisis coming, despite the fact that they caused it by their money supply manipulations. That said, according to minutes of the closed-door meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on Oct. 28 and 29. The Fed governors and Fed bank presidents "generally expected the economy to

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-45909304309986421012008-11-19T13:44:00.003-05:002008-11-19T13:50:40.422-05:00

Lew Rockwell sees four years of gridlock, with Republican leaders returning to their free market, limited government roots. Let's hope that is the case and not just wishful thinking on Lew's part because of the current lame duck Congress dragging its feet on a bailout of the auto industry. Without gridlock, it is a continued march towards totalitarianism.

Robert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12653378186315529211rw@economicpolicyjournal.com0