Dr King's courage & "saluting" the cowards

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the US where the nation honors a courageous man who wasn't afraid of adversity, difficulties or challenges; a man who spoke direct and forthright with words of conviction and sincerity.  And since Wall St. is closed today,  we decided instead we would draw comparison by focusing the areas where few to none possess Any of Dr. King's traits:  finance, investing, politics, banking and media

And we 'honor' these people a with sarcastic 'toast'--

The Sour MiLK face Salute!

A coward by definition is a person or entity which lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; to be timid or easily intimidated.  Anyone who fits this criteria, deserves the Salute, but because we don't wish to write endlessly for hours to compile such a list, here are mere highlights...

** All Quotes below in blue font are from Dr King...

"A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan."

To Fitch credit rating agency -- For not having the courage or 'balls' to downgrade France's undeserved AAA credit rating until 2013 when it was obvious to anyone with open eyes that their finances are a complete mess, but were afraid of criticism and blowback from Europe.

"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict."

To S&P credit rating agency -- For while getting credit for downgrading France when Fitch would not, you still get the 'Salute' for only downgrading one notch, allowing that lying ferret Sarkozy and other french leaders the opportunity to minimize your downgrade and thus minimize the significance of your agency.  A two-notch downgrade would have had Europe's leaders and banks in a much deserved Panic.  Instead, you punted.

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'


To Goldman Sachs --  The most despicable, Evil corporation in the US, if not the world, which is really saying something when compared to all the other multinational corporations and banks such Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase 100% financially propped up by the Treasury & Fed i.e. US taxpayers.  While commonplace that corporations donate to both parties to 'hedge' their bets so in the loop no matter who is President, it still is pretty Pathetic that you were Obama's #1 financial supporter in '08 and still donate heavily to his re-election campaign and Yet are the #1 donor to Republican challenger Mitt Romney's campaign, already giving him over $300k in donations and it not even the end of January.

Double MiLK face Salute to you...

"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus."

To President Obama -- Who seems to have forgotten that his political party affiliation is Democrat and the vast majority of those who support the Party have nothing but hate and mistrust for Wall St, and expect their leaders to represent them- the middle class & working people.  The American people also desire justice and fairness-- under your leadership, not one vile scumbag Wall St big-wig has been arrested, cuffed and humiliated like Bernie Madoff and former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn was.   Your Dept of Justice has failed or refused to indite anyone that matters in this economic criminal enterprise and that's on you Mr President as much as your Attorney General.

"Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness."

To all Republican nominees -- Who refuse to talk about the US economy in their speeches and debates unless to criticize the President.  They are either too gutless or clueless to come up with real solutions to get millions of people back to work in good paying jobs that will allow the American Dream to continue.  Cutting corporate taxes and those on the rich don't solve anything-- they simply get liars and phonies elected.

"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."

Creating jobs means taking risks- you as a business owner are hiring people and expanding your business in the hope that you will be able to sell enough product or service to make that hiring economically beneficial.  And if it doesn't work out and the economy is still in a rut, you as the owner are forced to let people go.  Cowards do not make good business owners.  They make for great politicians though. Honestly-- how can cowardly politicians seeking election, re-election or a nice Presidential library be built for them, ever have the courage and strength to risk innovative ideas to get people working when every aspect of who they are is controlled by 'handlers' who tell them everything from what to say to what color tie to wear?

Think about that..

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

To Greece's leaders -- For not having the courage to default and leave the Eurozone a long time ago.  Yes, the conversion back to the drachma would have been painful and securing foreign loans & credit even more so, but think of it this way- your beautiful nation is in such horrible circumstances now that it still will end up defaulting if not pushed out of the EU, and you experienced an additional 12-18mths of needless pain for nothing.  What you did is akin to ignoring and stalling treatment of a tooth needing root canal

"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."

To CNBC --  I guess I could include Bloomberg & Fox Business but CNBC is the Worst at being lying propagandists for Wall St and finance.  As an entity they are more corrupt than North Korean TV.  Here's the CNBC mantra:  When stocks go up, encourage more buying.  When stocks go down, encourage viewers to buy more.  And when market plunges, tell viewers its best to 'hold', then wait for bottom and invest Hard!  Everything is a buying opportunity.

Everything is a money making opportunity to CNBC  And yet they state at end of show segments that investing is a risk and essentially if you lose Everything, don't blame or sue them.  Everyone who appears on the network including guests all are uber-capitalists who are blindly loyal to free market and trickle-down as the Only way to preserve freedom and save the economy.  Of course its not, but that's the kool-aid they push.  No one criticizes the Fed or US economic policy itself for the depression we're in- they're all too ingrained in the System

"There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty. The real question is whether we have the will."

Global Investors -- Nope, we didn't forget about them.  In some ways the most disgusting, putrid cowards of them all.  When things are going well and they're making huge profits off their investments, you will not meet a more Arrogant and Cock-sure person.  And when they start losing money and the market drops too far and too quick for their liking, they are the Biggest Babies, screaming for the Fed to enact Quantitative Easing and any other policy that will help them recoup their money at the financial expense of their countrymen and women. And when they do invest, most of the time it is not based on logic or analytical data, but rather on fear and how the masses are reacting.

Every day the investor wakes up with one singular goal- to make money; to have more at the end of the day then at the start.  They are sociopaths.. they are scum.  They are investors.

Well, like we said, we could have written for hours upon hours... Soooo many cowards in the realm of finance, banking, investing, politics and the media.

So many to MiLK face Salute... only one MLK

"We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive"

Friday the 13th- semi scary & semi-funny

So much to write about this Friday the 13th, but since I am a little bit under the weather, we'll stick to highlights and summaries- enough information to keep my readers well-informed without ruining their weekends...

~  File this under "Too Funny.." -- we mentioned earlier in the weekend that Fitch's credit rating agency promised France it would not lower its undeserved AAA pristine credit rating until at least 2013.  And markets rejoiced, and the snotty, snooty French became more smug...

Well it turns out there isn't just one credit rating agency that determines how nations are to be rated, but three-  Fitch, Moody's and S&P which today announced they will cut the credit ratings of France along with Austria and two notches cut for Italy, Spain and Portugal.   S&P would spare Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Luxembourg the axe this go-round.

The official announcement will come at around 4:30 pm ET, after the US stock market has closed, (though the roaches who profit on Wall St. aren't taking it well so far) so there's always a chance things can be altered, but if sources are correct...

 Hawww Hawww Hawww~

~  Next topic: Greece...  Here's the quickest, most concise summary I can give as to where things are at moment:  Greece is virtually bankrupt. It needs another 130bill Euro to survive. Its running out of bare necessities like aspirin.  Parents literally putting children on streets with notes saying they can't take care of them anymore....

Germany says "Greece, you must negotiate with bondholders and banks to come to an agreement First.  Bondholders and banks say: Fuck you & your problems Greece- we're not taking any more cuts--give us our money!  So Stalemate for now.  IMF- US owned & run finance arm doesn't want to keep helping Greece; looks horrible for Obama in election year.  No one wants to prop Greece anymore but everyone scared of consequences if they don't...

Will more billions upon billions be poured into Greece's caverns?  And what about Ireland, Hungary, Portugal, etc...  Stay tuned folks and keep a clean pair of panties or undies nearby.

~ The NY Times wrote a good article today entitled, Inside the Fed in 2006: A Coming Crisis, and Banter.  Its a long article which you can read in its entirety by clicking the link below via Yahoo! Finance:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/inside-fed-2006-coming-crisis-124207691.html

Here are a couple of my favorite nuggets:

"“We think the fundamentals of the expansion going forward still look good,” Timothy F. Geithner, then president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, told his colleagues when they gathered in Washington in December 2006.  Some officials, including Susan Bies, a Fed governor, suggested that a housing downturn actually could bolster the economy by redirecting money to other kinds of investments."

"And there was general acclaim for Alan Greenspan, who stepped down as chairman at the beginning of the year, for presiding over one of the longest economic expansions in the nation’s history. Mr. Geithner suggested that Mr. Greenspan’s greatness still was not fully appreciated...  "I’d like the record to show that I think you’re pretty terrific, too,” Mr. Geithner said in adding his voice to the chorus of tributes at that final meeting (of Greenspan's- Jan '06). “And thinking in terms of probabilities, I think the risk that we decide in the future that you’re even better than we think is higher than the alternative.”

 And lastly.. "“It’s fitting for Chairman Greenspan to leave office with the economy in such solid shape. The situation you’re handing off to your successor is a lot like a tennis racquet with a gigantic sweet spot.”" -- Janet Yellen, then president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Is it any wonder this nation, and the entire global economy is in such dire straits with such soulless incompetents like Greenspan running things then, and in the case of Golden Boy Timmy Geithner, running things still today?

Time Magazine - Feb 15, 1999; Cover Text: "The inside story of how the Three Marketeers (Robert Rubin, Alan Greenspan & Larry Summers) have prevented a global economic meltdown-- so far"

Basic 101: Derivatives and Credit-Default Swaps

I wanted to use this posting to explain the terms 'derivatives' and 'credit default swaps' (CDS) in the most easy to understand manner possible and connect them to what's going on in Greece so people can really understand what the terms mean and what's going on currently in the news.  But rather than write like a dry economics textbook  and put the reader to sleep, I will do my best to explain using real-world everyday examples.

Let's start with derivatives.  The best way to explain what they are is to take you with me on a magic trip to a casino, specifically the roulette table.  If you're not familiar with roulette and how you bet, etc, hopefully you can still follow along and understand.

The picture above shows what the roulette table looks like.  You can bet on anything- whether the ball on the roulette wheel will land on a specific number, odd or even, black or red and so forth..

Let us say for this example you take $50 in chips and place on the 'Even' box.  This means if the ball lands on an even number between 2-36, you win, if its Odd, you lose.. BUT..your odds are not 50-50.  There are two other numbers on the wheel, 0 and 00 and if the ball lands on either, you will lose your $50

So what do you do to prevent the possibility of the ball landing on 0 or 00 and losing your $50?  You 'hedge' your bet so as to minimize your potential losses.  If you were to place a $10 chip on the 0 and 00 boxes separately, you've just created two derivatives i.e. insurance bets.

Now you're still open to risk because the roulette wheel's spin can land on an Odd number and you lose everything, but the risk has been minimized.  Now usually those entities that engage in derivatives make sure they're protected as much as possible.

So using this example, say you placed a $10 chip on 'Odd' as well, then you have all scenarios covered- 'Even', 'Odd' and 0 & 00.  Your chance at a big payday is greatly minimized but if you were in roulette for the long term, and not just 3-4 spins, then its a safe way to bet and gradually make money.  

Banks and financial  entities are not in the investing game for the short term. They are constantly investing and as long as nothing puts them at risk of a Lehman Bros-type collapse, they will continue wheeling & dealing, and using derivatives as stopgaps against big losses.

Now that you understand what basically derivatives are, let's focus our attention on credit default swaps (CDS).

In this example, we have 4 people- Amy, Beth, Cindy and Dara.

Amy needs money badly so she borrows $500 from Beth at high interest.  Beth lent it to Amy because the profit potential at high interest was too great to pass up, but she really doesn't have a lot of faith she'll get her $$ back.  So Beth contacts Cindy.

Cindy says to Beth for a $25 fee she will insure the loan so that if Amy defaults, she will pay whatever portion of the $500 + interest wasn't repaid if Amy stops paying Beth.  So for the nominal fee, Beth feels secure she'll get all her money back no matter what and at this point it doesn't matter Who the money comes from.  Cindy is acting as an insurance agent.

Now Dara believes Amy will never repay so she wants to get in on the action.  She is a speculator.  Dara also pays Cindy $25 because if Amy defaults, Cindy will be now responsible to two people, Beth and Dara, to cover the portion of the original $500 loan + interest which Amy stops paying.

So here's where it gets tricky...

If Amy pays on time and Beth gets her money back, then Cindy profited $50 while Dara lost her $$ on a speculation bet.  BUT- if Amy stops paying after let's say $100, then Cindy is on the hook for $400 + interest to Beth and Dara EACH!

Oh yes- I forgot, Cindy only has $300 in her life savings so there's absolutely No way she will be able to make good on the insurance to both Beth and Dara.  She only offered the CDS as a means to get quick money and never imagined she'd have to cover the loan!

So Cindy is now forced to 'loan' Amy the $$ she needs to pay Beth even if Amy never repays her back, so as to not trigger the CDS making Cindy on the hook to repay both Beth And Dara, the speculator, which Cindy is in no position to do.
_____________

Now let's tie this all into what's currently going on in Greece.

Investors purchased Greek bonds or 'debt' at high interest rates because Greece's credit rating was so poor.  Because they felt a bit insecure as to what happens if Greece stops paying i.e. default, investors made hedge bets in the form of CDS to banks and financial institutions in Europe who received money at this point for doing nothing but giving assurances to insure the Greek debt so investors would not take a loss or 'haircut'

If Greece pays their debts, the banks keep the money with no losses.

If/when Greece defaults, it means the CDS trigger in... this means they have to pay back the difference of the billions in euros the Greeks defaulted on, not only to the investors, but also speculators who do not directly hold Greek debt but still got in on the action to bet on Greece's default.

Now the European financial institutions thought to themselves, "Maybe we've over-extended ourselves with all these CDS".  So they made insurance bets or sold derivatives to US banks and financials so that if Greece did default, it would somewhat minimize their losses because these US banks would have to pick up the difference.

This exposed US banks and financial institutions to risk from Greek default while keeping 100% of the money if Greece pays their debts.

So basically what's happened is this-  Greece is pretty much insolvent.  It needs more loans to keep making its payments to the investors who hold its debt.  The money is lent by the IMF and ECB not because they expect Greece to pay them back.  Its because its more financially beneficial to give Greece 100 billion euro, let's say, then to have to pay out trillions of euro in CDS to all the investors and speculators upon a default.

I hope this helps people understand what's going on with Greece, the Eurozone, the US and why everyone is so scared of Greece defaulting even though realistically the nation has no chance to survive on its own, and this everyone is in a great quandry.