Old and still drinking water and eating dry white toast.
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GREED kept me froming closing out my LOSS at a PROFIT during the beginning of the WEEK....
...rode a $30K paper loss to a $2K PROFIT....then watched it go the other way.
Caught up in the OBAMA dream and living the FX-nightmare
FX-trading is FUN and the FISH is FREE till the TSUNAMI wave hit the shore....
....add another 500K LONG AUD/USD position to ride out the storm.
It's a omen....
...of the things to come after the testing of the DOUBLE BOTTOM DOW.
Hiding under the BED cleaning the DUST BUNNIES today.
The pain goes away after about 200 pips...
...the Mark to Market rules have changed - I keep telling myself I have over $61K.
Currency Market is trying to decide the color of the OBAMA GREEN back...
...but the bathroom is a pastel green and natural gray trim
Nope, painting the bathroom GREEN...
...because I'm not big enough to paint the tape on AUD/USD with real money.
The DOW was disconnected from USD/JPY, and the DOG ran off withouts it's tail.
It helps - but I always watch the DOG nose and tail (USD and EUR) before placing my wager. AUD/USD is only a flea on the dogs tail so you need to be careful.
It seem lately that the DOW and USD/JPY are no longer tracking each other...
Closed out LONG AUD/USD - for a quick $1500....waiting for MAMA to rollover so I can ride her again.
Dogs and God go together, it's time to paint my doghouse.
I'm collecting San Diego sea shells....
...how many bags do you want at $5.00 DOLLARS A POUND
I keep my trading system simple....
LONG - AUD/USD - all the disbelievers have gone home for the day - time for Jester to bank his gold coins.
.....................
Nope, Dow will rally and USD/JPY will test 97.50.
Just watching Congress browbeat the US economy to ZERO.
AUD/USD trending DOWN
We prepared the Penthouse for you...
...Good-luck
Not as BIG as the BAG I'm holding
Learning to fight the feeling and bank the small profit....
Celine Dion Can't fight the feelin'
Link -
Banked 30 pips last night and 30 pips in the morning on additional LONG AUD/USD position to help offset my LONG AUD/USD (paper loss)...waiting for the worm to turn.
So far banked $9K for the month and riding a $12K paper loss.
It's not PARK AVE, but it's a PENTHOUSE.
LONG AUD/USD.
$60 dollars a day interest for the PAIN and suffering.
Maybe preserve the Middle East Shareholder - Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Rules of Pillow fight Club...
...time to LET the inner child out
Double Doji AUD/USD
Double Doji
This formation is formed by two similar Doji that appears one after another. It can be considered as a common phenomena and it is more useful if compare with single Doji as double Doji show us more about the indecision market. So, with this double Doji, it can be strongly sure that there would be a breakout for the current trend.
For me "Taking Pain" and "Standing Loser"
I get both the $100/month on my 26 week Base, 33 week EUC and 13 week EB of unemployment checks, and then a $10/week TAX reduction on the entire 72 weeks of fully paid OBAMA Vacation.
OBAMA is giving me the first $2400 tax free, a $2500 College tax credit, a $300 moving expense to my FREE San Diego Vacation Home, and a $1400 Earned Income Credit.
Living the GOOD life, drinking FREE coffee, eating DRY white toast, and earning a nice GOLDEN sun tan.
Now get back to WORK, I need YOU to support my Extended OBAMA Vacation.
Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) – this is a federally-funded program and is payable for up to 33 weeks.
Extended Benefits (EB) – this is a state-funded program and is payable for up to 13 weeks.
Obama tells Treasury to begin cutting taxes
Sat Feb 21, 6:26 am ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama ordered the U.S. Treasury on Saturday to implement tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans, fulfilling a campaign pledge he hopes will help jolt the economy out of recession.
The tax cuts are part of a $787 billion economic recovery plan passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress over Republican opposition. The aim is to put more money in the pockets of Americans and stimulate the economy by increasing consumer spending.
"I'm pleased to announce that this morning the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks, meaning that by April 1st, a typical family will begin taking home at least $65 more every month," Obama said in his weekly radio address.
"Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hard-working Americans," he said.
With tens of thousands of Americans losing their jobs in the midst of a global economic meltdown, Obama has said fixing the U.S. economy is his top priority. He has acknowledged that his success or failure in that will define his presidency.
Obama campaigned for the White House last year on a pledge to roll back his predecessor George W. Bush's tax cuts on the wealthy few and implement a cut for 95 percent of Americans.
His announcement came a day after one of his top economic advisers, former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, said the global economy may be deteriorating even faster than during the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Since being sworn into office on January 20, Obama has sought to reassure Americans that his government is tackling the economic crisis boldly and swiftly -- holding near-daily events to announce measures to stem mortgage foreclosures, prop up failing banks, rescue the ailing auto industry and drive his stimulus package through Congress.
The measures have received a mixed early reaction from gloomy financial markets uncertain whether they will succeed in arresting the downward economic spiral.
The package includes $282 billion in tax cuts -- the Republicans pushed unsuccessfully for more -- and $120 billion for public works projects including highway and rail projects.
'HAZARDOUS ROAD AHEAD'
"But as important as it was that I was able to sign this plan into law, it is only a first step on the road to economic recovery," Obama said in his address.
"None of this will be easy. The road ahead will be long and full of hazards. But I'm confident that we, as a people, have the strength and wisdom to carry out this strategy and overcome this crisis," he said.
His announcement on the tax cuts capped a week that saw him sign the stimulus package into law and announce new measures to help families facing foreclosure and those struggling to make mortgage payments.
He will step up the pace next week when he holds a summit at the White House on Monday to look at how to rein in the country's ballooning deficit and bring government spending under control as the economy starts to recover.
Lawmakers, academics and business leaders have been invited to share their ideas on how to cut the $1 trillion deficit that Obama inherited along with two costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama will follow the summit with a major speech on Tuesday to a joint session of Congress in which he will lay out his domestic and foreign policy agenda. Inevitably, the economic crisis will loom large.
After a short breather on Wednesday to host a concert honoring Stevie Wonder, Obama on Thursday will unveil his proposed budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which will reflect the big increases in public spending as part of the economic recovery plan.
Stevie Wonder - You are the sunshine of my life
The second error is assuming that the "fair market value" and the "stock trading value" are the same....the traders speculating in this stock are assuming that a future reward is present.
Speculation (in a financial context) is the assumption of the risk of loss, in return for the uncertain possibility of a reward.
Keep to your trading rules and the pips and tips will be good to you.
U.S. Lawmakers Clash Over Nationalizing Banks to Stem Declines
Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senate and House Democrats who steer financial-industry legislation clashed over having the government take over some banks as a way to help lenders that have been hammered by the worst economic slump in 75 years.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said yesterday some banks may have to be taken over for “a short time,” and his House counterpart, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, along with Republican Senator Jon Kyl rejected having the government step in to run banks.
“I don’t welcome that at all, but I could see how it’s possible it may happen,” Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” broadcast this weekend. “I’m concerned that we may end up having to do that, at least for a short time.”
Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., which received $90 billion in U.S. aid in four months, tumbled as much as 36 percent yesterday on concern the U.S. may take over the banks. The Obama administration in response said a “privately held” banking system is the “correct way to go.”
Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, also said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has “an awful lot of leeway” in interpreting how the executive compensation restrictions he wrote into the economic stimulus legislation will be applied for banks that take federal aid.
Dodd’s statement gives Geithner the flexibility to say the rules don’t apply to firms that participate in the public-private partnership Treasury announced Feb. 10 to buy banks’ toxic assets, but only to companies that get cash injections under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Treasury Questions
“That’s one the Treasury has to respond to,” Dodd said. “That’s the kind of question that really ought to be reserved for them.”
Dodd softened his Feb. 5 opposition to nationalizing U.S. banks, when he told reporters he didn’t think it was time for the government to take over Bank of America, which had fallen to the lowest level in New York trading since 1984.
A possible government takeover has gained support. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told the Financial Times this week that the U.S. may have to temporarily nationalize some banks until the industry is restructured. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a member of the Budget Committee, said on ABC’s “This Week” Feb. 15 he wouldn’t reject the idea of nationalizing the banks.
The Obama administration turned aside questions about a U.S. takeover of banks, saying a “privately held banking system is the correct way to go, ensuring that they are regulated sufficiently by this government,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said yesterday at a briefing. “That’s been our belief for quite some time and we continue to have that.”
Frank, Kyl
Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who heads the House panel that crafts banking legislation and often collaborates with Dodd, said he didn’t see the likelihood U.S. banks would be nationalized, and Geithner’s bank bailout plan should be given time to take effect.
“If that works, then we don’t have to go beyond it,” Frank said in a telephone interview yesterday.
Senator Jon Kyl, the second-ranking Republican and a member of the Finance Committee, agreed with Frank, saying nationalizing U.S. banks is “out of the question” and isn’t going to happen.
“I don’t think it’s something the market has to worry about,” Kyl, an Arizona Republican, said yesterday in a telephone interview, after Dodd spoke. “There are plenty of tools that we have short of that to deal with the crisis.”
Bank Shares Tumble
Citigroup tumbled 22 percent yesterday, to $1.95, the lowest in 18 years. Bank of America, the biggest bank by assets with $883 billion in deposits, recouped most of a 36 percent loss after Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis said the bank can survive “on our own.” The KBW Bank Index of 26 companies fell for a sixth day, extending its decline this year to 51 percent.
Dodd said the executive-pay restrictions on banks that get TARP funds are necessary to draw taxpayer support for more government action.
“As long as they think their money is being squandered on bonuses or super salaries at a point like this, the job of getting people to support what we need to do is going to be that much more difficult,” Dodd said.
Dodd wrote a provision into the $787 billion stimulus bill that restricts bonuses for senior executives and the next top 20 employees at companies getting more than $500 million from the government rescue package. Limits on bonuses apply to other companies on a sliding scale based on how much aid they received.
Dodd said additional aid to the automobile industry should come from TARP, as there is “zero” tolerance in Congress to offer more funding for the government aid program.
General Motors Corp., the biggest U.S. carmaker, or Chrysler LLC could end up being forced into a merger, or a prepackaged bankruptcy filing, Dodd said. “I’m fearful it might turn into just a liquidation,” he said.
It's been that type of week in the market - hopefully with the option expiration we can have a 500 point rally on Monday...it's all about the WALLSTREET pickpockets and which pockets to pick this year.
FOREX IHUB CONTEST - 02-21-2009
Looks like we have the BLIND leading the Dondoodit
......time for the SPRING chickens to HATCH.
Focus on the GOOD no matter how small and it will only get better, focus on the BAD no matter how small and it will only get worse....everybody have a GOOD weekend.
Dodd FLIP-FLOP on Nationalization from prior post
Dodd Says Obama Administration Trying to Avoid Nationalization
By Steve Geimann
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said the Obama administration is seeking to avoid nationalizing banks, and said that he doesn’t want the government to take that step.
Dodd said on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt” that President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are “working hard” on programs to help rescue the financial-services industry.
Last Updated: February 20, 2009 11:47 EST
Coming Attraction: Bank Nationalization?
Friday February 20, 2009, 2:15 pm EST
Bank nationalization may not be the policy preference of Democrats and Republicans alike, but it may well be the last resort of both parties, as more and more analysts say nationalization is no longer a matter of "if" but "when."
With the banking sector in a quagmire of bad assets, poor demand and weak cash flow, and government policy initiatives to date showing meagerly results, the concept of nationalization-long considered anathema-is now a real policy option in a growing number of quarters.
"I think nationalization makes an awful lot of sense," says Walker Todd, a former Federal Reserve official now with American Institute for Economic Research. "Not only is it a viable alternative to keep going with TARP or bad bank solutions, eventually you reach the point where the money needed surpasses the capacity of the taxpayer."
Nationalization has always had its share of high-profile supporters, such as Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, but when free-market champions such as former Fed boss Allen Greenspan mention the possibility, the concept has clearly moved to another level of policy debate.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is among those who admit nationalization may soon be on the table.
"The tolerance for throwing good money after bad has ended," says Kevin Bishop, a spokesman for Graham. "We're talking about certain banks ... temporary surgical stabilization."
Nationalization Meaning What?
Phrases like that illustrate how the current debate over nationalization may be as much about semantics as it is about political ideology.
Nationalization means different things to different people. By one definition the U.S. government has been doing it for decades, and mostly quite successfully.
Slideshow: Bank Failures Of 2008
Typically, the FDIC shuts down what it's determined to be an insolvent bank and briefly assumes control while finding a buyer. The government supplies the necessary capital to satisfy the needs of the buyer as well as regulatory requirements. Insured deposits are protected and the bank reopens under new management.
"We did 1,000 savings and loans and 1,000 commercial banks, 20-years ago," says Lawrence White, a savings and loan regulator at the time, who's also served as a White House economist. "If you want (you can) call it nationalization. That's not how I thought of it."
And that's exactly what a growing number of people would have the government do with a limited number of banks-big ones-if the current rescue measures fail to pay off.
"Short term, given the alternatives, it's not such a dreadful thing," says White, adding the government needs to "make it clear it would be sold back into the market."
White and others make it clear they are not talking about the primary alternative-outright industry nationalization, best illustrated by the socialist French government of Francois Mitterand in the early 1980s. That was direct government control of the banks' operations. Later, the banks were privatized.
The growing talk of nationalization also reflects a standard progression of crisis management, say experts.
"It's common that when countries go into a financial crisis, they follow a piece meal approach, partly because of constraints in the political arena," says Luc Laeven, a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund, who co-authored a 2008 study of systemic banking crises and government policy responses in the past four decades.
"Considering nationalization as an option is the right thing to do. It is better to save a bank after you write down the shareholders and take control and have direct control over how the money spent."
The Bush administration struggled over those issues from the moment the financial crisis began causing direct and collateral damage on a major level-the Bear Stearns collapse-shotgun marriage to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) in early March-while they also appear to have influenced the Obama administration's significant revisions to the original TARP program
Thus far the effort has centered on injecting capital for government equity and protecting shareholder value, while also protecting taxpayer exposure. Neither, however, has succeeded.
The market capitalizations of Citigroup (NYSE:C - News) and Bank of America (NYSE:C - News),two of the big financial firms struggling the most under the weight of bad assets, are now well below the amount of government assistance.
"Pay out the shareholders and move on," says Gerald O'Driscoll, a former official at the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank and former vice president at Citigroup. "You could do it that way-the Bear Stearns model. Give them something nominal, so they don't resist."
O'Driscoll, who's now with the Cato Institute, is among those who support the nationalization model on a case-by-case basis as part of the solution. "I think they're going to end up with a certain number of cases, even though they procrastinated, hoping the situation would work itself out."
Past Cases
Proponents of nationalization cite the Sweden government's use of the concept in the 1990s, which is widely regarded as successful crisis management. Though the crisis was much smaller in size and involved traditional real estate assets and also didn't happen to coincide with a global calamity, the Swedish government injected capital into some institutions, separated bad assets from good ones, replaced management, ran them as long as necessary and sold them back into the market.
"A number of aspects worked well, others did not," says Laeven. "The management of assets was done well. They recovered a lot of value and were able to sell back into the market as the economy grew back. The ultimate cost to the taxpayers was low."
The US accomplished much of the same in resolving the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Previous to that, the federal government took control of Continental Illinois (1984), then one of the nation's largest bank, and Penn Central (1976), a major railroad company, and ran them for a considerable amount of time before selling them back to the private sector.
More recently, the FDIC took over the failed thrift IndyMac in July and is now waiting to close on a sale to private investors. In the fall of 2008. Washington wound up with a near 80-percent stake in AIG (NYSE:AIG - News) in exchange for massive federal assistance.
Some say AIG is worse off because of the government's involvement and are adamantly opposed to nationalization.
"I don't believe it is the answer to today's problems because I believe if we attempted to do it with one or more major banks today we would essentially destroy the franchise. These are much larger and complex institutions" says William Isaac, who was chairman of the FDIC from 1978-1985, and now is chairman of chairman of the Secura Group.
"I think the talk of nationalization is very, very harmful," adds Isaac. "Look what it's doing to [bank] stock prices. I think the government needs to make it clear that is not on the table."
Fed boss Ben Bernanke tried to do that in a major speech the other day, but a slip of the tongue only added to the uncertainty, some say (Watch the video).
The Obama administration's recent announcement that it would start using a "stress test" for banks with assets over $100 billion as part of the financial aid process is seen as a prelude to some nationalization process. Such thinking has dragged on financial stocks in recent days, but that is not thought to be the Treasury Department's purpose.
"If you run it properly you find out how big the hole is," says Todd, who's also an economic historian.
He points to the Great Depression, when the government's Reconstruction Finance Corporation used something resembling a stress test and a national bank holiday to sort out the weak and strong banks.
Some 12,000 of the 17,000 banks reopened. About half of them received federal loans to boost their capital, based on a government formula, and had ten years to get their capital back up to par.
"We have to start naming names," says independent bank analyst Bert Ely. "We have a bunch of smaller banks that the FDIC can take over. When you get past Bank of America and Citigroup who are we talking about? People need to start talking specific cases and approaches tailored to those situations."
That may well be necessary, given the different balance sheets and problems of Citigroup and Bank of America, the latter of which acquired troubled companies such as Countrywide and Merrill Lynch, with the government's blessings and financial inducements.
In the meantime, the nationalization clock is ticking. A change in government is often a condition for dramatic action.
As one industry insider puts it: "We are in the land of last resort."
Hold'n the other WHITE MEAT (long AUD/USD) over the weekend...FEAR will drive the USD lower and EUR higher.
Conflicting Bank Nationalization information floating on the News wire....Bank of America is saying the complete opposite.
THIS MAY BE ONLY THE BANK STRESS TEST
Dodd Says Short-Term Bank Takeovers May Be Necessary (Update1)
By Alison Vekshin
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said banks may have to be nationalized for “a short time” to help lenders including Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. survive the worst economic slump in 75 years.
“I don’t welcome that at all, but I could see how it’s possible it may happen,” Dodd said on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt” to be broadcast later today. “I’m concerned that we may end up having to do that, at least for a short time.”
Citigroup and Bank of America, which received $90 billion in U.S. aid in the past four months, fell as much as 36 percent today on concern they may be nationalized. Citigroup, based in New York, fell as low as $1.61. Bank of America, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, tumbled as low as $2.53.
Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, also said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has “an awful lot of leeway” in interpreting the restrictions on executive compensation included in an economic stimulus bill and opposed by the banking industry.
Treasury officials are still examining how to implement the new compensation restrictions and have not yet determined whether they will apply to participants in the administration’s rescue plan or only to banks and companies that get cash injections from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Regulations resulting from the new law are expected within weeks.
Compensation consultants including Alan Johnson, founder of Johnson Associates Inc. in New York, said the rules may be “catastrophic” to Wall Street’s talent base. The caps made top- producing employees “nervous,” and those who can find other jobs will probably leave, said James Reda, who heads an eponymous compensation firm in New York.
“I’m sort of stunned in a way that some people are reacting the way they are about all of this,” Dodd said. “At a time like this, everyone needs to pull in the same direction.”
Dodd also said he doesn’t want U.S. automakers to go through a prepackaged bankruptcy or a “forced merger.” General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. or Chrysler LLC risk liquidation with such actions, Dodd said on the broadcast.
....I looked in the TOILET and the WORLD is NOT coming to an END.
Hold'n my LOTS...
...will just have to accept WORN EGO walk for a few more days....