this is interesting

a bunch of people are blaming the democrats for our financial crisis right now. how silly is that? president obama has only been in office a month and a half for goddesses sake. no it's not the democrats (ALONE) and i'm not a fool, i know it's not just the republicans who caused this either. it's a COMBO of all greedy power hungry people. they're on BOTH or let's say ALL sides. we saw it coming, we did nothing to stop it until it was too late

How the Rules Were Rigged

By Josh Marshall

I'm sure the knowledgeable people already know this. But it turns out that one of the features of the 2005 Bankruptcy bill was to put derivative counter parties at the front of the line ahead of other creditors in bankruptcy proceedings. Actually, from what I can tell, they don't just go to the head of the line. They got to skip the line entirely. As the Financial Times noted last fall, "the 2005 changes made clear that certain derivatives and financial transactions were exempt from provisions in the bankruptcy code that freeze a failed company's assets until a court decides how to apportion them among creditors." As the article notes, ironically, this provision which Wall Street pushed for and got to protect investment banks actually ended up hastening the collapse of Lehman and Bear Stearns last year..........

once again our king george

does NOT disappoint. he and big big big bid-nez (i.e. the good ol' whiteboy network) are suckling off each other. we? well we're not getting fed at all

not only are the fat cats getting fatter, but rome is burning. on top of ALL OF THAT, we don't know how this money is being spent OR where it went

Executive Pay Limits May Prove Toothless
Loophole in Bailout Provision Leaves Enforcement in Doubt
By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules.

But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision, congressional aides said. The change stipulated that the penalty would apply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to the government in an auction, which was the way the Treasury Department had said it planned to use the money.

Now, however, the small change looks more like a giant loophole, according to lawmakers and legal experts. In a reversal, the Bush administration has not used auctions for any of the $335 billion committed so far from the rescue package, nor does it plan to use them in the future. Lawmakers and legal experts say the change has effectively repealed the only enforcement mechanism in the law dealing with lavish pay for top executives. ........

we were told the other day

we were NOT going to get raises this year (well our review period for raises comes up in march). i'm not shocked by that and i guess i understand. i'd rather have a job than a raise (and i'd rather my coworkers have THEIR jobs too).

BUT THIS my dears takes stones (and NOT the good kind i mentioned a post or two ago)

Disgusting: Bought Out Merrill CEO Wants $10 Million Bonus
Posted by Staff, Huffington Post
From the Wall Street Journal:

Merrill Lynch & Co. chief John Thain has suggested to directors that he get a 2008 bonus of as much as $10 million, but the battered securities firm's compensation committee is resisting his request, according to people familiar with the situation.

The committee and full board are scheduled to meet Monday to hear Mr. Thain's formal bonus recommendations for himself and other senior executives of the New York company. No decision has been reached, and it isn't known what Mr. Thain will recommend, but the compensation committee is leaning toward denying the executives bonuses for this year, these people said.

Reuters points out that several other Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs, will not be giving out bonuses to top executives this year. Though Thain's company was sold to Bank of America after losing a net $11.67 billion this year, Thain argued that it could have been worse........

i don't know...should i

(and YOU) be worried? what do ya think?

we're up shite's creek and king george took our paddle

Markets in Disarray as Lending Locks Up

Federal Intervention Fails to Stem Crisis of Confidence on Wall St.

By Neil Irwin and David Cho

Washington Post Staff Writers
The flow of money through critical parts of the financial system all but stopped yesterday, prompting the stock market to plunge again as banks lost faith in one another and investors rushed to U.S. government securities to protect their savings.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the only major investment banks still standing amid the wreckage of Wall Street's old order, tottered.

In one of the most tumultuous days ever for financial markets, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 449 points, or 4 percent, and so much money fled into safe U.S. debt that buyers were at one point willing to accept interest rates for Treasury bills of only 0.2 percent, the lowest since World War II.

The financial toll continued to mount despite a series of escalating steps taken by the government in recent weeks. .............

so let me get this straight

(if and) when women's hormone levels surge (i hate using the word surge now. i wonder why?), they're unpredictible, uncontrollable, crazy, stupid, dangerous and their emotions get the better of them. yet, if MEN'S hormone levels surge, THEY ARE WARRIORS AND MAKE MONEY and their emotional outbursts are ok? f**k that shite
(where are the women in this study i say to myself? hmmmmmmm back home having babies and baking brownies? - nothing wrong with either of those things by the way, just making a point)

Hormones Tied to Traders' Deal-Making, Study Finds

By Rob Stein Washington Post Staff Writer
It should come as no surprise that Wall Street traders work in a testosterone-saturated world, but scientists now have the first direct evidence that these Masters of the Universe may be bigger slaves to their hormones than anyone realized. By measuring young male traders' hormone levels as they brokered high-stakes deals, the researchers showed that they tended to make more money on days when their testosterone levels were high. That suggests that the hormone makes them more likely to take profitable risks, but also that it may play a role in pumping up economic bubbles.
The small study also found that traders' levels of the stress hormone cortisol tended to fluctuate with the volatility in markets, indicating that it could be a factor in making brokers more cautious during downturns, helping to puncture speculative bubbles. .......