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+--- Thread: Financial Shakeup this weekend (/showthread.php?tid=1090)
- emayer - 06-23-2008
Looks like I'm not the only one that thinks present oil prices are due to supply/demand alone:
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnnm/080623/062308_energy_speculation.html?.v=4
- emayer - 06-24-2008
I think the impact of this statistic is evident:
To underline his case, Stupak said speculators now control 71% of oil on the market. That means only 29% control the physical oil being traded, down from 61% eight years ago.
No doubt more investors competing for the same supply will drive prices upward. As I'm sure you've gathered from previous postings, I'm not in favor of governmental intrusion in most affairs and I do not agree with Stupak's draconian proposals. I would consider a reversal to legislation in existence prior to the 2000 "Enron" changes. I'm not sure there is evidence those laws were adversely affecting the market and in fact this would bring oil futures back into the fold with others. This may not greatly alter prices, but I suspect this will reduce the volatility we currently experience.
- ccm911 - 06-24-2008
You know, there really is no "conspiracy theory" here at play(as Wayne keeps harping on)
I don't think that folks realize that oil has peaked. We have entered the downside. From here on in, it will cost more to recover the existing supplies from the earth. And we will eventually(read soon) hit the point where it will take more energy to remove that barrel from the earth than would be provided by said barrel.
With that in mind, we really need to conserve to get over the hump. It is not just a suggestion, rather the reality, that we must break our dependency on oil for once and for all.
Coal stocks/futures are beginning to look like the shrewd investment.
- Ccns23 - 06-24-2008
Let's not forget another key ingredient of oil prices.....the falling american dollar. The first thing our wonderful legislature needs to do is RAISE INTEREST RATES!!! No one wants the dollar anymore. When the dollar is weak, people (i.e. investors) tend to put their money in tangible goods. Oil, gold, pork, OJ, etc. Don't believe me? Pick any one of them and see how much they are up over the past year. All the schmucks who bought houses they couldn't possibly afford have all contributed to this mess. And the weakness of the Fed to raise rates has all but doomed us for the next few years. They need to start raising rates and raising them fast. Once we are at the 5-6% levels as they were prior to 2000, you'll see things turn around. Well, at least IMO.
- catchacab - 06-24-2008
It is time to look to other energy sources. I have started to investigate solar for my business and home. I will keep everyone updated on my research. Cost, ROI, reduction in CO2 emissions, etc
If only I could direct the hot air from my wife to a windmill
hock:- nplenzick - 09-22-2008
Democrats want pay limits, loan aid in bailout
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago
Judges could rewrite mortgages to lower bankrupt homeowners' monthly payments as part of congressional Democrats' proposal for a $700 billion financial system bailout.
Also, companies that unloaded their bad assets on the government in the massive rescue would have to limit their executives' pay packages and agree to revoke any bonuses awarded based on bogus claims, according to a draft of the plan obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
The proposal by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee chairman, gives the government broad power to buy up virtually any kind of bad asset — including credit card debt or car loans — from any financial institution in the U.S. or abroad in order to stabilize markets.
But it would end the program at the end of next year, instead of creating the two-year-long initiative that the Bush administration has sought. And it would add layers of oversight, including an emergency board to keep an eye on the program with two congressional appointees, and a special inspector general appointed by the president.
The plan also requires that the government get shares in the troubled companies helped by the rescue.
Wall Street didn't seem comforted by developments as the Dow Jones industrial average fell more than more than 200 points while the credit markets remained nervous. Not only that, oil prices rose by more than $7 a barrel, indicating the fractiousness still present in trading after a week of huge volatility.
Investors were uncertain just how successful the administration's plan will be in unfreezing credit markets, which many businesses depend on to fund day-to-day operations, and for propping up the still-weak housing market.
Congressional aides said the House could act on a bailout bill as early as Wednesday. President Bush earlier Monday issued a statement saying "the whole world is watching" how the U.S. government moves on the legislation that has come in response to business turmoil that has roiled markets at home and abroad.
"Obviously, there will be differences over some details, and we will have to work through them. That is an understandable part of the policy making process," Bush said.
But he also said "it would not be understandable if members of Congress sought to use this emergency legislation to pass unrelated provisions, or to insist on provisions that would undermine the effectiveness of the plan."
The proposal that Dodd has sent to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would let judges modify the mortgages of homeowners in bankruptcy to allow them to keep their homes.
It also would require that the government come up with "a systematic approach for preventing foreclosure" on the mortgages it acquires as part of the bailout. That would include the home loans held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the troubled mortgage giants now under the control of a government regulator.
Asked about Democrats' demands, Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said, "There are lots of issues but the discussions we are having are good."
Asked if the negotiations could slow down passage of the measure, she said, "We are confident that we can get a bill done this week."
Dodd, interviewed on CBS's "The Early Show" on Monday, said taxpayers should be "first in line" to get money back once conditions in the industry stabilize and recover.
"We want oversight," he said, adding, "It's important that we act quickly, but it's more important that we act responsibly."
Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services panel, said that Paulson "is being entirely unreasonable" to expect that Congress will pass a bill right away without examining the proposal thoroughly and adding provisions Democrats want, such as the curbs on executive pay.
"We want to limit those as a condition for giving them aid," Frank, D-Mass., told ABC's "Good Morning America."
"If Secretary Paulson would agree to that," he said, "we could move quickly."
Meanwhile, the Group of Seven, an organization of the world's leading economic powers, pledged Monday to do all it could to help ease the crisis. The group said in a conference call that it welcomed the extraordinary steps the United States has taken so far.
The fast-moving negotiations between the administration and Congress unfolded a day after the government approved a request by investment houses Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to change their status to bank holding companies.
That change will allow the two venerable institutions to set up commercial banks that will be able to take deposits, significantly bolstering the resources of both institutions. It will also grant them permanent access to emergency loans supplied by the Fed rather than the temporary loan status they have had since last March when the Fed moved to prop up investment banks following the forced sale of Bear Stearns.
Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke kept up their outreach with Congress, holding meetings over the weekend aimed at convincing lawmakers to move quickly to approve the relief package.
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., who also serves on Frank's committee, said members "need enough time to debate this" and echoed Frank's concerns about executive pay. "We don't have these great golden parachutes and so on. In the end we're doing it for the taxpayers."
Frank said that lawmakers "are building strong oversight" into the measure.
"The private sector got us into this mess," Frank said, "The government has to get us out of it. We do want to do it carefully."
Republican presidential candidate John McCain, speaking Monday morning on NBC's "Today" show, said, "We are in the most serious crisis since World War II."
He also said that despite the ballooning national debt, he would not raise taxes if elected.
Congressional leaders have endorsed the main thrust of the administration plan, but say it must be expanded to include help for people on Main Street as well as the big Wall Street financial firms who have lost billions of dollars through their bad investment decisions.
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.
I guess this is making the Bear Stearns bail out seam like a kids birthday party. Some of you who suggested that a depression actuly might help this country might get to test your theory as in my opinion we are on the brink of one right now!
- nplenzick - 09-22-2008
I don't necessarily disagree with you, no one's bailing my ass out right now as this is one of the worst economic years I've ever had. But the alternative? A depression so sever it would make the great depression look like happy days. Your science research will be stopped ........unless you want to do it for free. 25-50% of people unemployed. Possibly a brake down in society. Not a pretty picture my friend. Luckily most economists know that the only one that has deep enough pockets to prevent this is the government. We ALL better hope their right. If they pull it off I am sure there will be a least a dozen books about "how we came so close" in a few years.
- nplenzick - 09-22-2008
Wellardmac wrote:
Quote:nplenzick wrote:
I'm not yet convinced. Right now the problem is one primarily centered on the financial sector. All the technology companies I follow still have robust earnings (including my own).
Your company may have robust earnings at the moment, however I highly doubt they use there own money when engaging in any kind of capital improvements. It's my understanding last Thursday that all funds could have been frozen, no credit for anyone. It was so sever that the feds had to get involve. How many times have you seen the president , Congress, Republicans and Dems, work together on a weekend! You know that's some serious $hit if their doing that!
- ccm911 - 10-03-2008
700 billion divided by 50 thousand equals 14 million Porsche Boxsters(or 14 million struggling American folks getting help with their financial woes).
Wake up Amerika, someone is asleep at the wheel.