Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Urgent work on $700B bailout plan appears to stall
Thursday September 25, 8:46 pm ET
By Jennifer Loven and Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Associated Press Writers
$700B bailout plan appears stalled; Congressional leaders, economic chiefs to work into night
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Urgent efforts to lash together a $700 billion rescue plan for the national economy appeared to be stalling Thursday night, hours after key lawmakers had declared they had reached a deal.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080925/financial_meltdown.html
Fed.(2)1day Reverse RP 2.00B [net drain -22.00B ]
http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/omo/dmm/temp.cfm?SHOWMORE=TRUE
The Slosh Report:
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Fed.1day Reverse RP 20.00B [net drain -20B ]
http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/omo/dmm/temp.cfm?SHOWMORE=TRUE
The Slosh Report:
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Futures (3) + World Indices
http://www.cme.com/trading/dta/del/globex.html
http://money.cnn.com/data/premarket/
http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/futboard/current/
- Has links for quotes and charts.
World Indices (2) Mini Charts
Updates every 60sec ~ Watch the dates!!
http://www.wwfn.com/commentary/oscharts.html
http://www.allstocks.com/markets/World_Charts/Asian_Stock_Markets/asian_stock_markets.html
Nice one old pal /e
Crude (Nov)
Temp Ops: click reply to chart damage
they stole 25b to improve position
asking for blank check...l don't get either.
90% cash here
guys are out of control, sorry miss spell
l was so mad.
Fed.1day Reverse RP -25.00B [net takeath -25.00B
http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/omo/dmm/temp.cfm?SHOWMORE=TRUE
The Slosh Report:
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
W@G2 QQQQ 09/24/08 for a 09/26/08 close
44.50 rayrohn
41.25 bob3
39.25 Myself °¿°
38.60 Kookiekook
Fed plows $30 billion in money markets overseas
Wednesday September 24, 1:42 am ET
By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer
Federal Reserve plows $30 billion into money markets overseas to ease credit stresses
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve, in coordinated action with foreign central banks, plowed $30 billion into money markets overseas Wednesday, part of an ongoing effort to fight a global credit crisis.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Fed's action -- taken at 1 a.m. EDT -- sets up temporary "swap" arrangements to supply dollars to the central banks of Australia, Denmark, Norway and Sweden in exchange for their currencies.
"These facilities, like those already in place with other central banks, are designed to improve liquidity conditions in global financial markets," the Fed said in a brief statement.
"Central banks continue to work together during this period of market stress and are prepared to take further steps as the need arises," the Fed added.
The new swap arrangements will provide up to $10 billion each to the central banks of Australia and Sweden and $5 billion apiece to the central banks of Denmark and Norway.
Last week, the Fed and other foreign central banks pumped as much as $180 billion into money markets overseas. The European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Canada participated in that maneuver.
The global credit crisis poses a danger not only to the U.S. economy but also the world economy.
Finance officials from the world's major economic powers pledged this week to do all they can to provide relief.
The Group of Seven countries said they welcomed the extraordinary steps by the United States to stem the crisis, including a plan for the Treasury Department to buy $700 billion in bad mortgages and other toxic assets held by banks and other financial institutions. Those dodgy debts are at the heart of the crisis. Besides the United States, the Group of Seven is made up of Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada.
US Senate Passes Energy Tax Credit; Solar Stocks Jump in After-Hours Trading (FSLR, LDK, SPWR, SOLF)
Bloomberg is reporting that the U.S. Senate today passed a $17 billion energy tax credit which will affect solar and wind power companies, as well as refineries that process heavy oil. The tax break will be extended through 2016 for solar projects, by one year for wind-power production and by two years for other renewable sources like geothermal. The measure will also include breaks for coal projects that mitigate carbon emissions and for cars such as plug-in hybrids.
Investors are responding to the announcement in after-hours trading. Shares of First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) are now trading around $217.70 after closing today's session at $210.89. SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR) is up nearly 5% to $91.45 and LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) shares are currently about 3% higher at 6 PM ET. Also, after closing the day down nearly 10%, shares of Solarfun (Nasdaq: SOLF) are now trading about 5% higher to $13.38.
News Provided by Acquire Media Corporation
The Killers Are With The Patient
-- Posted Tuesday, 23 September 2008 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com
There is nothing more dangerous than when those responsible for a nation’s troubles are believed to be its savior.
The Wall Street Journal had one fact correct regarding Wall Street’s accelerating collapse when on September 20th they wrote: When government officials surveyed the failing American financial system this week, they didn't see only a collapsed investment bank or the surrender of a giant insurance firm. They saw the circulatory system of the U.S. economy—credit markets—starting to fail.
http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1222169093.php
The Wall Street Journal was correct in that the circulatory system of the US economy was failing. Because the Wall Street Journal is the house organ of Wall Street investment banks and their co-conspirators in government, the Wall Street Journal blamed deteriorating credit markets for America’s troubles, not those responsible—to wit, Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, and their cohorts at the Federal Reserve Banks.
Fed.28day 1dy forward + 20.00B [net even ]
http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/omo/dmm/temp.cfm?SHOWMORE=TRUE
The Slosh Report:
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Gold~ Silver~ HUI~ XAU~ US$~ €uro~ Crude~Pd
Live Charts ~ Bookmark this page –
Refresh anytime during the day.
PoG
PoS
Pd
HUI
XAU
3day $US:
€uro
Crude (Nov)
Gold~ Silver~ HUI~ XAU~ US$~ €uro~ Crude~Pd
Live Charts ~ Bookmark this page –
Refresh anytime during the day.
PoG
PoS
Pd
HUI
XAU
3day $US:
€uro
Crude (Nov)
RUN Forrest Run / EGO
Fed. 1day RP + 20.00B [net even ]
http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/omo/dmm/temp.cfm?SHOWMORE=TRUE
The Slosh Report:
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
MSFT boosts dividend to $.13 from $.11 and adds a $40 Billion stock buyback
Radical Shift for Goldman and Morgan
By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and VIKAS BAJAJ
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last big independent investment banks on Wall Street, will transform themselves into bank holding companies subject to far greater regulation, the Federal Reserve said Sunday night, a move that fundamentally reshapes an era of high finance that defined the modern Gilded Age.
The firms requested the change themselves, even as Congress and the Bush administration rushed to pass a $700 billion rescue of financial firms. It was a blunt acknowledgment that their model of finance and investing had become too risky and that they needed the cushion of bank deposits that had kept big commercial banks like Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase relatively safe amid the recent turmoil.
It also is a turning point for the high-rolling culture of Wall Street, with its seven-figure bonuses and lavish perks for even midlevel executives. It effectively returns Wall Street to the way it was structured before Congress passed a law during the Great Depression separating investment banking from commercial banking, known as the Glass-Steagall Act.
By becoming bank holding companies, the firms are agreeing to significantly tighter regulations and much closer supervision by bank examiners from several government agencies rather than only the Securities and Exchange Commission. Now, the firms will look more like commercial banks, with more disclosure, higher capital reserves and less risk-taking.
For decades, firms like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs thrived by taking bold bets with their own money, often using enormous amounts of debt to increase their profits, with little outside oversight.
They were the envy of Wall Street, dominating the industry’s most lucrative businesses, landing headline-grabbing deals and advising companies and governments around the world on mergers, stock offerings and restructurings.
But that brash model was torn apart over the last several weeks as investors lost confidence in the way they made those bets during the recent credit boom, when investment banks expanded with aplomb into esoteric securities, the risks of which were not easily understood.
Over several harrowing days, clients started pulling their money, share prices plunged and these banks’ entire enterprises were brought to the brink.
In exchange for subjecting themselves to more regulation, the companies will have access to the full array of the Federal Reserve’s lending facilities. It should help them avoid the fate of Lehman Brothers, which filed for bankruptcy last week, and Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch — both of which agreed to be acquired by big bank holding companies.
The decision also raises questions about whether the Federal Reserve will seek to regulate hedge funds, many of the largest of which closely resemble investment banks like Goldman.
Just a year ago investment banks, the titans of global finance, considered bank regulation a millstone to be avoided at all costs. Commercial banks have to subject themselves to restrictions on how much money they can borrow and what kinds of businesses they can be in. Lobbyists for firms like Goldman spent years fending off closer supervision of their business.
As bank holding companies, the two banks, whose shares have lost about half their value this year, will have to reduce the amount of money they can borrow relative to their capital.
That will make them more financially sound but will also significantly limit their profits. Today, Goldman Sachs has $1 of capital for every $22 of assets; Morgan Stanley has $1 for every $30. By contrast, Bank of America’s has less than $11 for every $1 of capital.
JPMorgan Chase acquired Bear Stearns this spring in a fire sale brokered by the federal government, while Bank of America has agreed to buy Merrill Lynch for $50 billion.
As bank holding companies, Morgan and Goldman will have greater access to the discount window of the Federal Reserve, which banks can use to borrow money from the central bank. While they were allowed to draw on temporary Fed lending facilities in recent months, they could not borrow against the same wide array of collateral that commercial banks could. The discount window access for investment banks is expected to be phased out in January.
It will take time for Goldman and Morgan to transform into fully regulated banks because they cannot quickly reduce how much money they borrow relative to their assets. The Fed and the Securities and Exchange Commission have had examiners at investment banks since March, giving regulators huge insight into their operations.
Both banks already have limited retail deposit-taking businesses, which they plan to expand over time. Morgan Stanley had $36 billion in retail deposits as of Aug. 31 and Goldman Sachs had $20 billion in deposits.
“We believe that Goldman Sachs, under Federal Reserve supervision, will be regarded as an even more secure institution with an exceptionally clean balance sheet and a greater diversity of funding sources,” Lloyd C. Blankfein, the chairman and chief executive of Goldman, said in a statement on Sunday night.
John J. Mack, the chairman and chief executive of Morgan Stanley, said: “This new bank holding structure will ensure that Morgan Stanley is in the strongest possible position — with the stability and flexibility to seize opportunities in the rapidly changing financial marketplace.”
In recent days, Morgan Stanley had sought other ways to bolster its capital and had been in advanced talks with China’s sovereign wealth fund and others about raising billions of dollars, people briefed on the matter said Sunday night. It had also been talking about a merger with Wachovia, a large commercial bank based in Charlotte, N.C.
With their transition to operating as bank holding companies, those talks are likely to take a different form, because now Morgan Stanley can buy a commercial bank.
Michael J. de la Merced and Edmund L. Andrews contributed reporting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/business/22bank.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
mispositioned, 42.25 /e
Federal Reserve changes status of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to bank holding companies
Sunday September 21, 10:30 pm ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve said Sunday it had granted a request by the country's last two major investment banks -- Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley -- to change their status to bank holding companies.
The Fed announced that it had approved the request of the two investment banks. The change in status will allow them to create commercial banks that will be able to take deposits, bolstering the resources of both institutions.
The change continued the biggest restructuring on Wall Street since the Great Depression.
Shares of both institutions had come under pressure ever since the bankruptcy filing last week by investment bank Lehman Brothers and the forced sale of investment bank Merrill Lynch to Bank of America.
Investors feared that the last remaining independent investment banks would not be able to survive in their current form. There had been speculation that both institutions would be acquired by commercial banks, whose ability to take deposits would give them a stable source of funding.
The decision by the two giants of finance to get approval from the Fed to change their own status represented another dramatic development in one of the most turbulent periods in Wall Street history.
In the surprise announcement late Sunday, the central bank said that to provide increase funding support to the two institutions during the transition period, they would be allowed to get short-term loans from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York against various types of collateral.
The Fed said its action would take final effect after a five-day waiting period required under law.
The decision means that the Goldman and Morgan Stanley will be able not only to set up commercial bank subsidiaries to take deposits, giving them a major resource base, but they will also have the same access as other commercial banks to the Fed's emergency loan program.
After the collapse of Bear Stearns and its forced sale to JP Morgan Chase last March, the Fed used powers it had been granted during the Great Depression to extend its emergency loans to investment banks as well as commercial banks. However, that extension was granted on a temporary basis.
But as commercial banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will have permanent access to emergency loans from the Fed, the same privilege that other commercial banks enjoy.
The action by the Fed's board of governors in Washington came on a day when the Bush administration continued to campaign for quick congressional approval of its request for authority to use $700 billion to purchase a mountain of bad mortgage debt held by financial companies. The effort represented the boldest action yet aimed at stabilizing chaotic financial markets.
Democrats in Congress said they would demand provisions in the bailout measure to protect people in danger of losing their homes as well as seeking to cap executive compensation at firms who get to unload their bad mortgages debt onto the government. But the proposal was expected to win quick congressional passage because both parties are concerned about the adverse reaction in financial markets should the measure look like it was being delayed.
W@G1 QQQQ 09/22/08 for a 09/24/08 close is
45.00 frenchee
43.95 Kookiekook
43.56 rayrohn
42.25 bob3
42.39 Farooq
Some perspective on Millions, Billions and Trillions:
-------------------------------------------
A Million dollars in crisp new thousand $ bills tightly wound stack would be about 4 ½ inches high.
A Billion dollars would stack over 365 feet high, roughly the height of a small skyscraper.
A Trillion dollars would stack 69 miles into the blackness of sub orbital space, beyond the sight of the human eye, and perhaps the human imagination. A trillion is a ridiculously large number.
------------------------------------------
The next time you hear a politician use the words "billion" casually, think about whether you want that politician spending your tax money. A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases:
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate Washington spends it.
•• Earnings Calendar for the Week Ahead ••
B = Before-Market Hours
D = During-Market Hours
A = After-Market Hours
REPORTS TO BE ANNOUNCED FOR WEEK OF SEP 22 - SEP 26
#msg-32306174
Courtesy...Bullwinkle
Congressional Leaders Stunned That Bernanke Finally Admits The Truth
http://www.safehaven.com/article-11295.htm
Schiff: Paulson Goes All In
By: Peter Schiff
Euro Pacific Capital, Inc.
Friday, 19 September 2008
Just three days ago, after looking at the prospect of bailing a string of distressed financial institution in the country, the government seemingly drew a line in the sand, and refused to bail out Lehman Brothers. The authorities clearly saw Lehman’s demise as a trial balloon to see how the markets would react if the government stayed on the sidelines. That trial balloon quickly turned into the Hindenburg. Immediately reversing course, the Government has decided to go “all in” and bail out every institution with financial exposure to U.S. mortgages. Simply put, Americans will not be allowed to visibly suffer losses after the greatest asset bubble in U.S. history. But make no mistake, the losses are real and Americans will pay one way or another.
Moving beyond the guided munitions of selective bailouts, the Government is now trying the financial equivalent of carpet bombing (for AIG, Merrill Lynch, and especially Lehman Brothers, this gives new meaning to being a day late and a dollar short). To continue with the military analogies, Paulson's bazooka turned out to be a nuclear tipped ballistic missile.
By committing trillions of tax payer dollars (not the “hundreds of billions” that Paulson predicts), the plan will save commercial and investment banks from certain bankruptcy. In his statement today, Paulson made clear that Congress must pass new legislation to allow the Government to acquire even those loans too poorly collateralized to currently qualify for GSE or FHA absorption. The losses baked into these mortgage products, which Wall Street has been reluctant to even estimate, will now be borne wholly by taxpayers.
In his press conference, Paulson assured us that this plan was designed to safeguard our savings. But in typical government fashion, the plan will have the reverse effect as savings is wiped out through inflation. He also claims that the plan will safeguard home equity by keeping real estate prices high. Since when did high home prices become a strategic national priority? If the plan succeeds, the gains for home sellers will simply be matched by losses for homebuyers, who end up paying inflated prices, and taxpayers, who get stuck with the losses when those buyers default.
Paulson’s distress and confusion was clearly evident when he fielded questions from reporters. The first asked Paulson to describe his fears regarding the probable economic consequences of government inaction. Paulson provided no answer and promptly exited stage right.
When the U.S. government owns all mortgages, the real estate market will be completely subject to political, rather than financial, concerns. Will foreclosures be outlawed? Will loan term easements and principal reductions become standard campaign issues?
While it is dizzying to predict how this plan will be implemented, it is fairly simple to foresee the macroeconomic consequences. The U.S. dollar will be shattered beyond repair. The government simply has no means to make good on the trillions of new liabilities. Interestingly, while both Paulson and President Bush acknowledge that the plan will put “significant amounts of taxpayer dollars on the line,” they did not mention any tax increases. Given the politics, no such move is forthcoming. The printing press is their only solution.
The government has also decided to insure all money market funds, adding trillions more in unfunded liabilities to the Federal balance sheet in the blink of an eye. Of course, since bad real estate loans are not the only toxic assets on the balance sheets of financial institution, we will also need to absorb other classes of asset-backed securities, such as those backed by credit card debt and auto loans. So while the move ensures that depositors will not lose money, is does insure that the money itself will lose value. Is the trade-off really worth it? Washington thinks so.
Further, since I assume the plan will apply to all mortgage debt, U.S. taxpayers will also be on the hook to bail out foreign institutions that loaded up on the financial sludge. However, once the government takes them off the hook, do not expect them to re-invest the windfall back into other U.S. dollar denominated assets. This get-out-of-jail free card will likely scare them straight. The global mass exodus from the U.S. dollar and Treasury debt is about to begin: do not get caught in the stampede.
Although gold initially sold off as the apparent need for a financial safe haven ebbed, look for a spectacular rally to commence as its traditional role as an inflation hedge returns with a vengeance.
http://news.goldseek.com/EuroCapital/1221845122.php
Puts Instead of Shorts? Today's Activity
http://seekingalpha.com/article/96382-puts-instead-of-shorts-today-s-activity
Fed. Ops: 45.00B Matures this week.
Mon: 20.00B 3day
Wed: 20.00B 28day
Thu: 5.00B 14day
========================================================
Temp Ops: [has not updated from Tuesday ]
=======================================================
Public Debt:
Limit ~ $10,600 T
9/18 ~~ $9,664 T [less than last week ]
New $10.6 Trillion debt ceiling.
#msg-30998680
=========================================================
Fed:
http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/omo/dmm/temp.cfm?SHOWMORE=TRUE
The Slosh Report:
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
=========================================================
No problem here, nice win Farooq,
you owe all members a free trade. ;))
Comex Raises Margin Rates: Gold Contracts by 47%, Silver 20%
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?
same here 90% cash 80B drain
looking @ puts next week....this is bullsh!t save the banks.
Fed.3day RP + 20.00B
The Slosh Report:
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
U.S. financial companies whose shares can't be shorted http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/list-us-companies-whose-shares/story.aspx?guid=%7B2A9A51F5%2D621E%2D47F8%2D81DA%2DD0E8811E4D12%7D&dist=msr_5
Paulson, Bernanke Seek `Comprehensive' Crisis Plan (Update2)
By Alison Vekshin and James Rowley
Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke pledged to work through the weekend on a plan requiring legislation aimed at alleviating the financial market turmoil.
The two regulators, in talks with lawmakers late today, sought support for a plan to help financial institutions remove from their balance sheets illiquid mortgage-related assets at the root of the yearlong credit crisis. Congressional leaders said they intend to work to pass such legislation within days.
``Absolutely, this is good news,'' said Marilyn Cohen, who manages $185 million in bonds as president and chief executive of Envision Capital Management in Los Angeles. ``It will be like New Year's Eve for the market tomorrow morning. Hopefully, this will give the trading desks the confidence to start making markets again.''
The Treasury and Fed chiefs, after months of trying to aid failing financial companies case by case, seek to prevent a credit crunch that has led to $518 billion in global losses and writedowns from spreading through the U.S. economy.
``What we are working on now is an approach to deal with the systemic risk and the stresses in our capital markets,'' Paulson told reporters after the meeting. ``We talked about a comprehensive approach that will require legislation to deal with illiquid assets on financial institutions in the United States on their balance sheet.''
Lehman Bankruptcy
An increasing number of lawmakers are advocating a stronger response to the crisis sparked by record homeowner defaults. The turmoil swept Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. into bankruptcy three days ago and prompted government takeovers of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and American International Group Inc. this month.
``I'm hopeful that in the coming days we'll have a proposal that will pass this Congress,'' House Minority Leader John Boehner told reporters.
Paulson, Bernanke and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox ``asked us would we agree to do legislation that would create the authority within the federal government somewhere to buy up these illiquid assets,'' said Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee ``We said `yes,' we think that's important to do because the consequences of not doing it are so bad.''
The Fed's takeover of AIG followed its March agreement to take on $29 billion of Bear Stearns Cos. assets to secure the company's takeover by JPMorgan Chase & Co.
`Insulate Main Street
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was a ``very productive'' meeting on an ``initiative to help resolve the financial crisis in our country.''
The goal of the proposal is to help ``insulate Main Street from Wall Street,'' she said, adding she was ``very eager'' to see the Treasury-Fed proposal.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat, said the plan would come within ``hours,'' not days. ``We have all committed to work with them on their proposal,'' Reid said.
``I thank the congressional leadership for a very, very positive meeting,'' Bernanke told reporters after the meeting. ``We look forward to working closely with Congress to resolve this financial crisis and get our economy moving again.''
Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase Co., Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. alone had more than $500 billion as of June 30 of so-called Level 3 assets, or ones whose values they say can only be determined through internal models because of illiquid markets, according to data in a Sept. 15 report from New York- based bond research firm CreditSights Inc.
Senator Christopher Dodd, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, said it was a ``sober'' gathering. The plan would likely come from the Treasury and Fed this weekend and ``nothing is more important than this,'' Dodd said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alison Vekshin in Washington at avekshin@bloomberg.net; Jim Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: September 18, 2008 21:16 EDT
all out dia
That guy's a nut case..100B Matures Fri
Fed.(3)[sorry i didn't look back again
Operation Close Time: 11:35 AM
Fed. 1day RP + 50.00M
The Slosh Report:
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx
Fed.(2) 14day RP + 5.00B [sofar
The Slosh Report:
http://www.gmtfo.com/RepoReader/OMOps.aspx