Tag: regulation

Apr 21 2010

With Derivatives, you can Bet on anything — Even the Weather!

Introduction To Weather Derivatives

by Felix Carabello, Associate Director, Environmental Products, Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Weather: Risky Business

It is estimated that nearly 20% of the U.S. economy is directly affected by the weather, and that the profitability and revenues of virtually every industry – agriculture, energy, entertainment, construction, travel and others – depend to a great extent on the vagaries of temperature. […]

In a 1998 testimony to Congress, former commerce secretary William Daley stated, “Weather is not just an environmental issue; it is a major economic factor. At least $1 trillion of our economy is weather-sensitive.”

[…]

If there were only some way, to “Hedge that Bet” — against the ever present risk of Foul Weather.

No Worries — Where there’s a Market Risk, there’s always a Wall Street Way!

Mar 27 2010

Yesterday’s Memorial for the Triangle Factory Fire Victims



Cross-posted at DailyKos.

At 11:30 yesterday morning on the corner of Greene St. and Washington Pl. I met Firefighter James M. Sorokac for the first time. I’d never met him before but being the keeper of “The Last Alarm” and a member of the of the FDNY ceremonial unit, his face was far too familiar to me.

In the shadow of the Asch Building he explained that the bell that is rang for the fallen dates back to a time when there was one bell at every NYC fire house. He told me the story of the four fives. When firehouses would communicate to each other across the city by ringing five times in a series of four the message that “a brother has fallen in the line of duty.”

Today that bell is rang once by a white gloved firefighter at funerals and memorial services.

Yesterday Firefighter James M. Sorokac rang that bell 146 times.  

Feb 18 2010

What zombie banksters learned from destroying capitalism.

First, they learned that financial markets are hyper-sensitive to steroids, lack of law enforcement, and time-tested shock doctrine principles, and that they can profit mightily from destroying capitalism.


Insert a shitload of obscene charts about here.

Second, they learned that they “own the place,” “the place” meaning “the potemkin government,” “no longer applicable laws,” “the future wealth of all dispossessed generations of slaves, thralls, and hostages;” and “owning” meaning “complete mastery of all worldly possessions unto the end of the earth and beyond.”  Third, they learned that no lies are too big to tell.  Fourth, they now keenly understand that the religion of financial growth is the most powerful Kool-Aid invented, and now it’s just a matter of getting everyone on the plane to Jonestown.

Dec 18 2009

Bank CEOs Pledge to Push for Re-Regulation

Chief executives of the largest U.S. banks acknowledged Monday the “disconnect” between their expressed support for re-regulating financial markets and the work of their lobbyists to weaken any new rules.

In later comments, one CEO elaborated as follows:

There’s a yawning chasm between what we say and what we do.  It’s unconscionable.

How big is this disconnect?  Well, say you had a choice between measuring it in angstroms or light years…take a guess!

It’s absolute, two-faced hypocrisy.

Let me give you an example: On one hand I’ve got Barney Frank’s balls in a vise, which I guess is why he’s always raising his eyebrows at everything we say, and on the other I’m drawing upon every inch of will power not to burst out laughing in the President’s face when he asks us to comply with greater lending and restraining our bonuses.  I mean, he can’t be serious.  And we know he’s not.  That’s what makes it so hard not to laugh.  Remember how Tim Conway used to crack-up Harvey Korman when he’d go off script?  God forbid that Lloyd Blankfein starts busting up, because it’s contagious, ya know?  That man is a riot.  The White House publicly said Blankfein showed contempt for the President in refusing to come to the last meeting, but privately they asked him not to come because of that comment about “doing God’s work.”  He even had the President laughing his guts out with that one.  And the President knows that’s no way to run a meeting to dress down us “fat cat bankers.”  I loved how the Wall Street journal played up the meeting as a no amenities, all business and brass tacks sort of thing: “The executives were served glasses of water — and nothing else -” as if we’re not milking it for all it’s worth, but that’s just Axelrod’s attention to detail. The President himself is damned good at keeping a straight face, but I’ve $300 million bucks that says we’re gonna make him laugh again, with or without Lloyd.

Dec 16 2009

When the rules don’t fit Wall Street

  You might have heard about how Washington is going to crack down on Wall Street banks. It was something about regulations and Fat Cats.

  Yet if you look at what is going on today, you would come to the exact opposite conclusion.

 The Internal Revenue Service on Friday issued an exception to long-standing tax rules for the benefit of Citigroup and a few other companies partially owned by the government. As a result, Citigroup will be allowed to retain billions of dollars worth of tax breaks that otherwise would decline in value when the government sells its stake to private investors.

 I bet you were starting to worry about the TARP banks, and if they could still afford to give out multi-million dollar bonuses to their executives. I know I was. Thanks to an IRS rules change, they still can.

Dec 13 2009

Should Wall Street Speculators, have to pay their Fair Share? w Poll



H.R. 1068, the Let Wall Street Pay for Wall Street’s Bailout Act.

Wall Street Transaction Tax Proposed by Democrats

Ryan J. Donmoyer

Dec. 3, 2009 (Bloomberg) — A group of congressional Democrats proposed taxing large transactions in stocks and derivatives, an idea that has received a cool reception from the Obama administration. […]

.25 Percent for Stocks

The measure would be based on legislation DeFazio proposed in the House that would apply a tax of 0.25 percent or 25 basis points to stock transactions in excess of $100,000, and a levy of 0.02 percent or 2 basis points on derivatives including futures, options, swaps and credit default swaps.

Harkin and DeFazio said the proposed new levy is backed by more than 200 economists, the AFL-CIO labor union federation and business leaders including Warren Buffett and Vanguard Group Inc. founder John C. Bogle, now president of Bogle Financial Markets Research.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…

Dec 13 2009

The Economic Bill of Rights — and the long March of History

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “The Economic Bill of Rights”

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all-regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

Nov 20 2009

DeFazio: Sacrifice 2 Jobs to get back Millions of Jobs for Americans

Pete DeFazio Slams Tim Geithner & Larry Summers  (TheYoungTurks)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

Is it finally Time to Bail Out — MAIN Street ?

Wall Street HAS gotten all their Trillion Dollar Bail Out $$$$$$$$$$$$$

AND so far NOT much of it has Trickled Down to Main Street — Where it’s Most Needed!

Something ‘s got to give — and Soon!

Before Small Town America, (and Metro-America) rolls up the welcome mat, and fades into history.

Nov 19 2009

Say What?, you freakin wallstreet crook

Morgan Stanley’s Mack: ‘We Cannot Control Ourselves’

Say What?? But you clowns are supposed to be the best of the best of the best……………………………………., which is supposedly the reason you get Extreme Compensation and ever growing Company Perks, writeoffs by the way, No One Else Can Do What You Do, or so the crap is stated and You Can’t Control Yourselves, say it ain’t so you freak!!!

Oct 24 2009

Ratigan reviews Frontline’s Warning, labels Wall Street as Legalized Gambling

If you missed Dylan Ratigan’s interview today with Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) — well you missed a lot!

They spell out in stark relief the very REAL need for serious Wall Street Regulation — NOW!   (and still!)

Or we risk a repeat of the same Bubble-driven collapse of Trillion Dollar Derivative Bets, that occur in the dark, beyond the reach — or even the Watch — of any Govt Regulator, or even the Public scrutinity.

Nothing has changed, they can STILL Gamble Trillions in Derivatives, and let US the Taxpayers pick up the Tab, whenever their Bets GO Bad!

Link to MSNBC Clip to the Ratigan Cantwell Interview

Definitely a “Must See”, in my opinion.

So much so, I transcribed much of it, to help peak your interest …  

Oct 20 2009

FRONTLINE Presents: The Warning (on the economic meltdown)

FRONTLINE INVESTIGATES THE ROOTS OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

FRONTLINE Presents

The Warning

Tuesday, October 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS

In the devastating aftermath of the economic meltdown, FRONTLINE sifts through the ashes for clues about why it happened and examines critical moments when it might have gone much differently.

In The Warning, airing Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Inside the Meltdown, Breaking the Bank) unearths the hidden history of the nation’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. At the center of it all he finds Brooksley Born, who speaks for the first time on television about her failed campaign to regulate the secretive, multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market whose crash helped trigger the financial collapse in the fall of 2008.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/…

Sep 15 2009

Elizabeth Warren: Lobbying on behalf of the American People

We have been told that Wall Street Investment firms are “Too big to Fail” — But that does NOT Mean they are “Too Big for Accountability”!

The Question boils down to,

Who Does the Congress Represent anyways —

The American People, or the Global Bankers (and their Lobbyists) ?

And Will the People bother to care about Wall Street Regulation this time around?

Since I’m assuming we will, here’s some essential background on the Wall Street Meltdown mess:

Credit Default Swap (CDS)

What Does Credit Default Swap (CDS) Mean?

A swap designed to transfer the credit exposure of fixed income products between parties.

http://www.investopedia.com/te…

CDS’s are an easy way to transfer Credit Risk — Check!

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