Why So Angry About Health Care?
Maybe you, dear reader, can help me. I am trying to figure out why people are so upset about the proposed health care reforms. I see the angry mobs on TV shouting and screaming at congresspeople, Senators and cabinet members. Obviously there is a lot of passion about this issue. The primary claims...
Ron Paul: Why The Fed Must Be Audited
The history of the American banking system is a fascinating subject. Filled with intrigue, late-night Congressional approvals, and Presidential populism, our country’s official banks are not without scandal. Before the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, there were two other successful attempts to monopolize...
Market Maker – Home Edition
Do you ever dream about being a market maker? You know, one of those “savvy” traders making a few pennies from other people’s trades and keeping the markets liquid. I bet you thought only the big dogs could do that. Not anymore. Now it’s possible for everyone to be a market...
Citigroup: Dangerous Penny Stock
For decades, agencies like the SEC have warned investors about the dangers of “penny stocks.” There is even a special statement your broker is required to give you before you can buy such a stock. It tells you scary things like this: “Penny stocks are low-priced shares of small...
Geithner Burns Up More Of Your Cash
In the “Your Tax Dollars At Work” department: Today Tim Geithner’s Treasury Department announced plans to convert $25 billion of your preferred-stock position in Citigroup (C) into common stock at a price of $3.25 per share. Congratulations. Your preferred stock earned a nice...
Not a Touchdown, Timmy!
What an appalling day. Our U.S. Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner (aka Turbo Tax Timmy – I like that moniker), tells us how the Treasury is fully on the crime scene today, with additional capital injections and some sort of murky public/private program to buy toxic assets. All this noise sounds...
Stressed Banks Need No Test
Today the new Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, unveiled the administration’s New & Improved but remarkably non-specific plan to save the banks from themselves. It is simply more of the same throw-money-at-the-banks strategy the Bush team tried last fall. It didn’t work then, and it won’t...
Obama: King Of The Stimulus
Last week, researchers unveiled findings about a giant snake from South America. This prehistoric reptile is thought to be the largest terrestrial vertebrate ever discovered. Measuring over 40-foot long, this snake probably ate full-grown alligators for breakfast. To appreciate its size, any snake you’ve...
Do We Really Need More Bad Banks?
The Obama administration is reportedly considering the establishment of a so-called “Bad Bank” under the management of the FDIC. Other plans are also on the table, and it appears no final decisions have been made. If it happens, the Bad Bank (more polite commentators are calling it the...
Banks: The Final Countdown
Something strange is happening – or about to happen. Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) all moved up their quarterly reports to this week. None have offered any coherent explanation for doing so. What are they trying to get ahead of? Meanwhile, today BAC received...
