Congratulations wasder on your new home and new baby. What are your plans for the garden?

Posted by: bridges at November 14, 2008 12:52 PM in response to The Wasdies--best of my renovation

This thread's probably finished, but here's a relevant snippet from Paulson's wiki:

In 2004, at the request of the major Wall Street investment houses, including Goldman Sachs, then headed by Paulson, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission agreed unanimously to release the major investment houses from the net capital rule, the requirement that their brokerages hold reserve capital that limited their leverage and risk exposure. The complaint that was put forth by the investment banks was of increasingly onerous regulatory requirements -- in this case, not U.S. regulator oversight, but European Union regulation of the foreign operations of US investment groups. In the immediate lead-up to the decision, EU regulators also acceded to US pressure, and agreed not to scrutinize foreign firms' reserve holdings if the SEC agreed to do so instead. The 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, however, put the parent holding company of each of the big American brokerages beyond SEC oversight. In order for the agreement to go ahead, the investment banks lobbied for a decision that would allow "voluntary" inspection of their parent and subsidiary holdings by the SEC.

During this repeal of the net capital rule, SEC Chairman William H. Donaldson agreed to the establishment of a risk management office that would monitor signs of future problems. This office was eventually dismantled by Chairman Christopher Cox, after discussions with Paulson. According to the New York Times, "While other financial regulatory agencies criticized a blueprint by Mr. Paulson, the Treasury secretary, that proposed to reduce their stature — and that of the S.E.C. — Mr. Cox did not challenge the plan, leaving it to three former Democratic and Republican commission chairmen to complain that the blueprint would neuter the agency."[11] Changes to the net capital rule are thought to be an important factor in the credit market meltdown of 2008.

In late September 2008, Chairman Cox and the other Commissioners agreed to end the 2004 program of voluntary regulation

Posted by: bridges at November 14, 2008 12:41 PM in response to what the....

sitmd, I think realtors' role was more opportunistic, in a superheated market they were able to position themselves better. In fact, I don't think housing "caused" the current meltdown at all. In short, an unprecedented amount credit was pumped into the system, which is now getting wrung out. (Picture the world economy gorging on credit, which worked its way through the economic digestive tract as bizarre derivatives, subprime and bubbles of which the MAB was but one. Yep, the current various disasters are our cow paddies). At least, that's how I see it

Posted by: bridges at November 13, 2008 2:42 PM in response to Pigs at the tough

That's what I thought, thank Biff. Wow, that takes me back! CostRevs! DrinkyCrow!

Posted by: bridges at November 13, 2008 1:56 PM in response to what the....

Weren't Itchy and Scratchy from Matt Groenig?

Posted by: bridges at November 13, 2008 12:15 PM in response to what the....

Mr What have you seen this little gem about GE receving FDIC protection? Talk about socializing corporate losses!

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE4AC0JJ20081113

Posted by: bridges at November 13, 2008 11:41 AM in response to Hedge-Fund Assets Shrink by $100 Billion! That's why everything has gotten cheaper. No more Hedge Funds driving up prices!

At least there're no granite countops.

Posted by: bridges at October 24, 2008 2:05 PM in response to The What - Revealed!

Well I suppose foreclosure-driven sales are better than nothing!

Posted by: bridges at October 24, 2008 11:40 AM in response to Oh no.. World markets collapse..

I say introduce a true free market to NY: no controls on rent and no tax breaks for unrented spaces (because it encourages warehousing and keeps rents "high" even during downturns). Only when BOTH those conditions are met will NY ever have anything approaching a free rental market.

Posted by: bridges at October 23, 2008 3:01 PM in response to For Post-Rent Control Real Estate, Leave Brooklyn

As a Ron Paul democrat, please, allow me:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul484.html

We in the midst of the greatest transfer (thieving) of wealth in history--brought to you by the party that finally killed America, the Republicans.

Posted by: bridges at October 22, 2008 4:33 PM in response to A McCain Outpost in Blue Park Slope

God I love this blog. And props to you What.

To Adam no predictions, although I've been making money this week shorting the Dow. Aside from that I'm all cash, gold (accumulated since late 2005 props to me) and bonds.

Posted by: bridges at October 10, 2008 2:21 PM in response to I told you so...

sorry I have to chime in about neighborhoods being immune--there's no such thing, not in NY. I had a brownstone in the 70s (bought for $30K between RSD and WEA in Manhattan), then moved to CPW--the entire upper west side was flat out dangerous, with pockets of relative safety. These were grand areas that went down in flames with the 70s era, then only gradually recovered. The boosterism is kind of sweet, but please don't kid yourself about what's going on right now.

Posted by: bridges at October 8, 2008 3:16 PM in response to A Brownstone for $272,000?

Hoboken, the 700B is only a limit in that it is the maximum that Paulson can demand at one time. I'm sure another trillion will be pumped into the system this month, why not?

Posted by: bridges at October 3, 2008 4:06 PM in response to No Bailout!

Miserable sons of bitches have keep Sec. 112 the same too: "...To the extent that such foreign financial authorities or banks hold troubled assets as a result of extending financing to financial institutions that have failed or defaulted on such financing, such troubled assets qualify for purchase under secion 101."

Posted by: bridges at October 3, 2008 2:52 PM in response to No Bailout!

Dow's up 53.44 at the moment - so much for euphoria.

Posted by: bridges at October 3, 2008 2:05 PM in response to No Bailout!

You're welcome setancre

Posted by: bridges at October 2, 2008 3:45 PM in response to The heist of America

Some folks are hung up on "how" he expresses it, but What is describing the "what," a deflationary depression:

http://www.elliottwave.com/deflation/

Btw, there are key differences between the USv2008 and the largely agricultural society of 1832 or the baby industrial economy of the 30's with decades of growth ahead of it.

Posted by: bridges at October 2, 2008 2:40 PM in response to The heist of America

Hoboken, thanks. And I think we're heading for both.

Posted by: bridges at September 29, 2008 4:34 PM in response to The end of the America's Banking system.

But all that printing and printing lowers the purchasing power of the dollar, while inflating prices. Wouldn't that in itself eventually contribute to deflation? Especially since wages aren't likely to keep pace with inflation?

Posted by: bridges at September 29, 2008 4:11 PM in response to The end of the America's Banking system.

Thanks Hobokenrocks...you wrote:

"At one point in the future the rest of the world will look to disconnect themselves from the USA."

By that do you mean that the dollar will no longer be the reserve currency? But if all the countries concerned are also printing like mad why would they do that, and what would they change to, the Euro?

(As you can see I'm a rank newbie)

Posted by: bridges at September 29, 2008 3:25 PM in response to The end of the America's Banking system.

But won't all this printing eventually cause the dollar to crash?

Posted by: bridges at September 29, 2008 2:52 PM in response to The end of the America's Banking system.

Welcome back What.

Posted by: bridges at September 28, 2008 1:40 AM in response to WAMU Ka-Boom!!!!!

I doubt any of this will prevent the putsch-excuse me, bailout--Nevertheless, I've been emailing and faxing our elected representatives to express my, er, reservations. This little taxpayer will go down swinging!

Kevin Phillips' new book Bad Money is a good one-stop explanation of this unfolding disaster and why we are all affected, even supposedly bullet-proof New York City. Not hatin', just sayin

Posted by: bridges at September 25, 2008 4:40 PM in response to The end of the Mutant Asset Bubble...

What's a presence even in his absence. Especially in his absence perhaps? I think he's amusing, but take away the rococo expletives decorating his posts and he's never said anything about the meltdown that isn't readily available (not to mention more intelligible) elsewhere. We may not be in the midst of a financial collapse, but it sure looks like one.

Posted by: bridges at September 17, 2008 3:51 PM in response to The end of the Mutant Asset Bubble...

Hi, I am new to the forum. Been reading Brownstoner for a while and now seems as good a time as any to chime in. I'm looking to buy, but waiting until prices fall more into line with salaries. I'm certainly no expert, but it seems to me that all free and ez credit bloated prices so it makes sense to wait until prices return to a mean, no?

Also, I'm curious about Mr. What's countdown that you tease him about -- is it 52 (or 63) days until alt-a resets?

Posted by: bridges at September 2, 2008 3:13 PM in response to Open House Picks Open Thread

There aren't margin calls on up days fool.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at November 13, 2008 2:28 PM in response to Hedge-Fund Assets Shrink by $100 Billion! That's why everything has gotten cheaper. No more Hedge Funds driving up prices!

wow this market moves fast, had to sell my position, the chart started looking bullish so i had to sell.. When you get greedy you always lose. Even though I did really well I lost about 25 percent from the top of my gain

Posted by: HOBOKENROCKS at November 13, 2008 2:32 PM in response to Hedge-Fund Assets Shrink by $100 Billion! That's why everything has gotten cheaper. No more Hedge Funds driving up prices!

"wow this market moves fast, had to sell my position, the chart started looking bullish so i had to sell.. When you get greedy you always lose. Even though I did really well I lost about 25 percent from the top of my gain"

See.. Look what happen!!!

"There aren't margin calls on up days fool."

Hey Assfuck Hedge Funds are getting request NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are selling everything to get the Piper his money...

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at November 13, 2008 2:37 PM in response to Hedge-Fund Assets Shrink by $100 Billion! That's why everything has gotten cheaper. No more Hedge Funds driving up prices!

"she too is probably a tofu eater and a latte sucker."

True enough, DIBS, she was up sucking me latte last night.

Posted by: Biff Champion at November 13, 2008 2:38 PM in response to Hedge-Fund Assets Shrink by $100 Billion! That's why everything has gotten cheaper. No more Hedge Funds driving up prices!

"Slope you don't see this rapid change of direction disturbing? this is a whole new direction!!this is a new dialogue."

That's not the question you posed to start this thread. Whatever I think about Paulson and the economic situation, I do not yet see a good reason to engage in dialogue with you about it and your post was hardly thought-provoking.

Had you started the thread with a reasonable fact presentation and a thoughtful question, you might get more real discussion and less mockery on this site from those that are so inclined. But then there is still the question of why here? Why on this site? Why is it so important to you to try to impress this community of brownstone Brooklyn homeowners, renters, appraisers, plumbers, architects, and realtors etc. with your views on national economic policy? And why get so shocked, shocked that there's sarcasm and snark on this site? Why do you gripe about it when people don't play along with your game? And why do you keep doing it when you know the cast of characters here and you know you are going to get snark? Forget the merits of any argument you think you are making -- what is your purpose here?

Posted by: slopefarm at November 13, 2008 2:40 PM in response to what the....

Biff please I trying to change my image here and you are not helping matters. If you don't have anything constructive to say them leave me alone. I'm not cursing and I'm being civil..

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at November 5, 2008 9:13 AM

Posted by: Biff Champion at November 13, 2008 2:41 PM in response to Hedge-Fund Assets Shrink by $100 Billion! That's why everything has gotten cheaper. No more Hedge Funds driving up prices!

"Biff you are too light in the ass to bang my sister! Believe me! You are a tofu eating latte sucking asshat and she is a big black beautiful woman. You are no match for her..."

Don't you mean "a big black beautiful SOON TO BE UNEMPLOYED woman"?

Posted by: Biff Champion at November 13, 2008 2:43 PM in response to Hedge-Fund Assets Shrink by $100 Billion! That's why everything has gotten cheaper. No more Hedge Funds driving up prices!

Hope this market goes up I would really like to short it again. China holds our futures in its hands. They sell those treasuries while the USA is trying to sell them than the bond market will implode. Interest rates will skyrocket. And I am thinking of a good way to short all this... HMMMM

Posted by: HOBOKENROCKS at November 13, 2008 2:43 PM in response to Hedge-Fund Assets Shrink by $100 Billion! That's why everything has gotten cheaper. No more Hedge Funds driving up prices!

HOBOKENROCKS you are in a secular bear market! You need to be very carful and have short stops long/short in your positions. The data is not to be trusted and you will have to use your instincts in trading. Good luck I hope this helps..

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at November 13, 2008 2:48 PM in response to Hedge-Fund Assets Shrink by $100 Billion! That's why everything has gotten cheaper. No more Hedge Funds driving up prices!

What we are in a long term bear. And as much as I tell myself not to get greedy I still sometimes do so. I am going to try to listen to that part of the brain that says don't get greedy ,more often... One thing that is sure is that when the market hits close to 1000 on sp 500 or 9600 on the dow its time to short it..

Posted by: HOBOKENROCKS at November 13, 2008 2:56 PM in response to Hedge-Fund Assets Shrink by $100 Billion! That's why everything has gotten cheaper. No more Hedge Funds driving up prices!