Say bye bye to Merryl Lynch, Lehman Bros, AIG

FRE

Admired Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Posts
3,053
Media
44
Likes
833
Points
258
Location
Palm Springs, California USA
Sexuality
99% Gay, 1% Straight
Gender
Male
I hope that the Merrill Lynch debacle doesn't affect me too much. Most of my holdings are in Merrill Lynch and Fidelity. However, as I see it, I don't own any stock in either. Rather, they are holding the securities that I own so even if they went belly up, I'd be OK.

On the other hand, I don't trust Bank of America; they bought out Merrill Lynch. Approximately 30 years ago, BOA made it difficult for people to withdraw their money. BOA claimed that the accounts didn't exist, and depositors had to prove that they did have accounts in BOA before they could get their money out. I don't know for sure what caused the problem, but my broker at Merrill Lynch said that it was caused by a computer problem at BOA and is unlikely to recur.
 

Elmer Gantry

LPSG Legend
Joined
Sep 1, 2006
Posts
48,180
Media
53
Likes
265,198
Points
518
Location
Australia
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
Check your contract with them. A lot of people thought that of Opes Prime down here only to find that Merrill Lynch and the ANZ bank had control of their money.

The customers got nothing.

The current crash is a case of the big getting bigger, isn't it? Lloyds look like walking out of this mess as the biggest in the world if they are to swallow HBOS, which they will be allowed to do as Gordon Brown let everyone know this morning.
 

B_VinylBoy

Sexy Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Posts
10,363
Media
0
Likes
68
Points
123
Location
Boston, MA / New York, NY
Sexuality
90% Gay, 10% Straight
Gender
Male
they also insured Angelina Jolie's lips. seriously. it's an mega insurance company. i'm sure you'll find some tie with Halliburton while your at it.

I don't care if they were insuring Mandingo's balls. Not all insurance companies protect things like Offshore Drilling Centers. At least Lehman Brothers didn't. Which is why I brought up the topic.

and while you are at it... go find how much Fannie n' Freddie contributed to Obama...

Irrelevant. We're talking about AIG right now. Stick to the issue. Besides, last time I checked Fannie & Freddie didn't protect the interests of oil. I could be wrong...

dude, get a grip. last i checked there is a democrat led Congress that's been power for more than enough time.

They only have a majority by a few people. That means unless they're able to convince a handful of Republicans to vote for them, their initiatives can still be blocked.
 

lucky8

Expert Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Posts
3,623
Media
0
Likes
193
Points
193
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
The coming economic earthquake is going to be worldwide. US citizens have been spending like mad, saving little, and foreign capital has been funding everything. The well is beginning to run dry.

Foreign markets are currently plunging again...as in, right now, as im typing this

http://finance.yahoo.com/
 
Last edited:

Phil Ayesho

Superior Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2008
Posts
6,189
Media
0
Likes
2,792
Points
333
Location
San Diego
Sexuality
69% Straight, 31% Gay
Gender
Male
vehemently incorrect. this has been one of the most liberal Republican administrations in years and years.

and a huge part of the mortgage crisis was allowing, no REQUIRING, for more minorities and low-income ppl to get loans, reagardless of qualification. a common liberal agenda.

bald faced falsehood.

Bush admin PUSHED the housing bubble to artificially shore up the GNP. ( because, in this NEW. neocon Economy, DEBT incurred is counted as "product"!)

Just like he encouraged Americans to fight terrorism after 9/11 by going shopping. on credit.


There was no democratic push to fund housing to lower income people....
Housing PRICES were in the stratosphere. The ONLY way MOST people could even hope to qualify for a loan was to seriously reduce the normal qualifications for loans.

And Bush and the republican congress de-regulated the mortgage industry for one reason only--- to CREATE the inflated housing prices that would LOOK like a recovering economy on paper.

This debacle was not built on poor inner city ethnic folks buying a low income starter home...

It was founded on young and not so young couples trying to buy a 4,000 sqft Mini-Mansion on a 4004 sqft property that was inexplicably and insupportably priced at a million dollars....


Like ALL republican pyramid schemes... the folk in on the ground floor made out well... at the cost of everyone who came to the party later.

The REMOVAL of regulations on lending enabled banks to lend money to people who were brainwashed by media to believe that "property" was a can't lose lock on profit.

And for a while it worked.
The frenzy of folks who could, for the first time, get a home loan... and the folks who could, suddenly, trade up to a much grander house... making money by turning over those homes to the next person in line, perfectly willing to pay 30% more because they were sure they could pull the same stunt on the NEXT guy in line.

Its AMWAY economics.

But dontl even start with the idea that it was a democratic move to get poorer people into houses..

Democrats support low income housing initiatives... but that is strictly aimed at building houses that are within the means of the poor...

Stripping government oversight of lending to enable middle class folks to get into upside down million dollar loans to support wild speculation in real estate prices...
That's purely a republican move...


You can always tell....
just follow the Greed until you come to the folks screaming about the ultimate wisdom of the private sector when the government isn't in their way.....

Right there on the corner of Graft and Deregulation.... you will find a bar called the Republican Plutocrat...
 
D

deleted15807

Guest
A decade ago, Sen. John McCain embraced legislation to broadly deregulate the banking and insurance industries, helping to sweep aside a thicket of rules established over decades in favor of a less restricted financial marketplace that proponents said would result in greater economic growth.

Now, as the Bush administration scrambles to prevent the collapse of the American International Group (AIG), the nation's largest insurance company, and stabilize a tumultuous Wall Street, the Republican presidential nominee is scrambling to recast himself as a champion of regulation to end "reckless conduct, corruption and unbridled greed" on Wall Street.


McCain Embraces Regulation After Many Years of Opposition
 

D_Fiona_Farvel

Account Disabled
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Posts
3,692
Media
0
Likes
72
Points
133
Sexuality
No Response
One of McCain's economic advisers, Donald Luskin, thinks the bad economy is a case of mass hysteria brought on by the liberal media's biased reporting...

Quit Doling Out That Bad-Economy Line

I'm sure, in a sense, he's right. I suspect that in a few years I'll look back on 2008 and think, ''ahh, those were the good days". :yup:

P.S. Phil Ayesho, your last post was great.
 

lucky8

Expert Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Posts
3,623
Media
0
Likes
193
Points
193
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
One of McCain's economic advisers, Donald Luskin, thinks the bad economy is a case of mass hysteria brought on by the liberal media's biased reporting...

Quit Doling Out That Bad-Economy Line

I'm sure, in a sense, he's right. I suspect that in a few years I'll look back on 2008 and think, ''ahh, those were the good days". :yup:

P.S. Phil Ayesho, your last post was great.

I have been thinking this for months. The media has been doing a great job of freaking people out this year, particularly investors
 

B_New End

Experimental Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2007
Posts
2,970
Media
0
Likes
20
Points
183
Location
WA
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
I have been thinking this for months. The media has been doing a great job of freaking people out this year, particularly investors

it aint the media. God dammit. There is a liquidity crisis. Fucking banks are failing, and somehow its still the medias fault. the economy is a mess... or have you not noticed your food, service, and gas prices?
 

D_Fiona_Farvel

Account Disabled
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Posts
3,692
Media
0
Likes
72
Points
133
Sexuality
No Response
I have been thinking this for months. The media has been doing a great job of freaking people out this year, particularly investors
Was my clear contempt for Donald Luskin dulled by my use of the :)yup:)? :biggrin1:

If I may impugn his intelligence and common sense - he's a fool. Further, I disbelieve any claim of influence by a biased media, whether it be liberal, conservative, or other.

The dude isn't event scapegoating, he simply fails to identify and acknowledge our deep, global economic issues. Beyond that, I find the fact he speaks as an authority and as an insider in McCains camp troubling.
 

lucky8

Expert Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Posts
3,623
Media
0
Likes
193
Points
193
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
Lol I caught it, but I actually do believe that towards the beginning of this year, the media was drastically overstating things, at least market wise. Not so much anymore
 

lucky8

Expert Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Posts
3,623
Media
0
Likes
193
Points
193
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
it aint the media. God dammit. There is a liquidity crisis. Fucking banks are failing, and somehow its still the medias fault. the economy is a mess... or have you not noticed your food, service, and gas prices?

Oh please, it's pretty obvious i was referring to just the stock market, and yes, it's true, the market is unpredictable because of the fear investors have. Part of this fear was instilled by the media reporting everyday on how bad the market is...the market didn't get really bad until a couple months ago, the media has been saying it's bad since at least last December. You know damn well i wasn't saying the media is responsible for every aspect of our poor economy
 

B_VinylBoy

Sexy Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Posts
10,363
Media
0
Likes
68
Points
123
Location
Boston, MA / New York, NY
Sexuality
90% Gay, 10% Straight
Gender
Male
I have been thinking this for months. The media has been doing a great job of freaking people out this year, particularly investors

I don't think it's the media. Most people have been feeling the crunch with each passing year. If anything, Republican sources & media did everything they could to ignore the pending crisis, and now that it's really become something to worry about they're starting to take notice.

The warning signs were there, and instead of looking into it they brushed it off. Kinda like how the Bush Administration ignored 8 months of.... nah, I'm not gonna go there. :eek:
 

B_New End

Experimental Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2007
Posts
2,970
Media
0
Likes
20
Points
183
Location
WA
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
Oh please, it's pretty obvious i was referring to just the stock market, and yes, it's true, the market is unpredictable because of the fear investors have. Part of this fear was instilled by the media reporting everyday on how bad the market is...the market didn't get really bad until a couple months ago, the media has been saying it's bad since at least last December. You know damn well i wasn't saying the media is responsible for every aspect of our poor economy

I hear this junk all the time from investors. Every time their investments go sour, good economy or bad, many want to blame the media. The media just reports what is going on. This real estate bubble was obvious from day 1. I have been warning my family and friends about it for over 5 years. It had to pop some day. Add to that the disastrous inflation and the war, and we got a real mess. (which I also had been warning about for years).

And I apologize for getting snippy with you. :)
 

Drifterwood

Superior Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2007
Posts
18,678
Media
0
Likes
2,812
Points
333
Location
Greece
I agree New End, it really is as simple as the post dotcom model of central banks printing money model failing. It had to slow down but never did, now with other factors imposed, it has burst. It's not rocket science.

What I would be interested to know is your opinion on our ability to have a sustainable economic model based upon real intrinsic value.
 

B_New End

Experimental Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2007
Posts
2,970
Media
0
Likes
20
Points
183
Location
WA
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Male
I agree New End, it really is as simple as the post dotcom model of central banks printing money model failing. It had to slow down but never did, now with other factors imposed, it has burst. It's not rocket science.

What I would be interested to know is your opinion on our ability to have a sustainable economic model based upon real intrinsic value.

Yeah. I don't know about Gold standard, but I don't think credit is a fair way to value money. It only awards those who are front in line to get the money.

Perhaps something as simple a limited pool of cash, where the US only prints $1 Trillion* a year or something like that. Then let the bankers place closed % bids every January 1st, or every quarter, or maybe even, in a utopia, let any citizen with a regulated credit score, that include mortgage payment and bill payment history, bid for some, say any amount from $1000 to $100,000.

I dunno, thinking outloud.

*random, baseless number.