Jim Chanos has been right on for the last three years. His insights about the consequences of getting rid of mark-to-market are correct. By the way, this recent rally is not about Geitner's plan, as the press would have you believe. It is about the hope that mark-to-market will be suspended on April 4th. I do not believe it will.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
I Know.....
I know I haven't been posting enough lately. I will not be able to spend the time to give you quality posts until the end of tax season - some time after April 15th.
But please, if I am lucky enough to have your readership; hang in there with me. I hope after that date I will be back with a vengeance.
I have much to say about my wonderful children and the parenting journey I have been taking with them.
I know I have neglected that part of this blog...but it is coming, and I hope it will be good.
Enjoy this Spring - it is so beautiful! Enjoy those you love, spend as much time with them as possible.
Live in gratitude - I am trying to. It is a great place to be.
But please, if I am lucky enough to have your readership; hang in there with me. I hope after that date I will be back with a vengeance.
I have much to say about my wonderful children and the parenting journey I have been taking with them.
I know I have neglected that part of this blog...but it is coming, and I hope it will be good.
Enjoy this Spring - it is so beautiful! Enjoy those you love, spend as much time with them as possible.
Live in gratitude - I am trying to. It is a great place to be.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Spiritual Thought
I promised one of the things I would write about was the journey toward inner peace. Here is a line that popped out at me this morning.
From ACIM:
"The association of truth and fear, which would be highly artificial at most, is particularly inapporopriate in the minds of those who do not know what truth is"
Any thoughts?
Mine are this: Try not to let the truth bring forth fear in you, even when it seems scary. The greater truth is that there is nothing to fear. Which part of you fears the truth? Why?
From ACIM:
"The association of truth and fear, which would be highly artificial at most, is particularly inapporopriate in the minds of those who do not know what truth is"
Any thoughts?
Mine are this: Try not to let the truth bring forth fear in you, even when it seems scary. The greater truth is that there is nothing to fear. Which part of you fears the truth? Why?
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Denial?
Are the majority of people in this country in denial? Do they not understand that Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda pose a serious threat to the world as we know it? Do they not understand what we are up against? Or do they just not care? Perhaps it is to scary, too horrific for them to wrap their minds around.
I do not generally believe that war and violence are a good thing. However, I do believe that violence in self-defense is morally permissible.
Here is where the ethical and moral considerations get sticky: Let's say you consider yourself a non-violent, peaceful person. You consider the use of force wrong. I can dig that. Really. The greater part of all violence perpetrated on our planet is completely ego driven and totally unnecessary. However, what if someone broke into your house, crazed on drugs and threatened the life of your wife and children? Wouldn't you consider it necessary to stop them? Wouldn't you use whatever force necessary to protect your family? Is this wrong?
On 9/11, Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda broke in to our house. They have every intention of doing it again. They have every intention of establishing a 'caliphate' across the globe. If you don't know what a caliphate is look it up - do your homework.
If I sound angry, it is because I am. And, I am scared. I really believe we are doing a terrible job of winning over moderate Muslims and offering a viable alternative to the extremists. We have failed and the extremists are going to take over a massive portion of the globe. I fear women are going to live in slavery in many nations in the near future. I fear a wider war and the destruction of Israel.
I know, when I said the housing bubble was going to burst, the stock market was going to crash, and we were going to enter a period similar to the Great Depression, it was hard to swallow. It was not just me; many, many people saw this coming. No one wanted to listen to them. No one wanted to take action before the problem got to large to handle.
The same thing is happening in the Middle East, Indonesia, and Africa. Only the threat this time is an ideology as radical as Nazism that threatens to enslave women around the globe and prompt WW III.
I don't have any answers here, I just know the threat is rising. All you have to do is read the news consistently and you begin to piece it together.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123708585480031541.html
What should we do? I am not sure. I do not know. But I am going to spend time thinking about it.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123704440044730481.html
A true feminist (the good kind):
http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.28883/pub_detail.asp
http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.29157/pub_detail.asp
Sleep well.
I do not generally believe that war and violence are a good thing. However, I do believe that violence in self-defense is morally permissible.
Here is where the ethical and moral considerations get sticky: Let's say you consider yourself a non-violent, peaceful person. You consider the use of force wrong. I can dig that. Really. The greater part of all violence perpetrated on our planet is completely ego driven and totally unnecessary. However, what if someone broke into your house, crazed on drugs and threatened the life of your wife and children? Wouldn't you consider it necessary to stop them? Wouldn't you use whatever force necessary to protect your family? Is this wrong?
On 9/11, Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda broke in to our house. They have every intention of doing it again. They have every intention of establishing a 'caliphate' across the globe. If you don't know what a caliphate is look it up - do your homework.
If I sound angry, it is because I am. And, I am scared. I really believe we are doing a terrible job of winning over moderate Muslims and offering a viable alternative to the extremists. We have failed and the extremists are going to take over a massive portion of the globe. I fear women are going to live in slavery in many nations in the near future. I fear a wider war and the destruction of Israel.
I know, when I said the housing bubble was going to burst, the stock market was going to crash, and we were going to enter a period similar to the Great Depression, it was hard to swallow. It was not just me; many, many people saw this coming. No one wanted to listen to them. No one wanted to take action before the problem got to large to handle.
The same thing is happening in the Middle East, Indonesia, and Africa. Only the threat this time is an ideology as radical as Nazism that threatens to enslave women around the globe and prompt WW III.
I don't have any answers here, I just know the threat is rising. All you have to do is read the news consistently and you begin to piece it together.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123708585480031541.html
What should we do? I am not sure. I do not know. But I am going to spend time thinking about it.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123704440044730481.html
A true feminist (the good kind):
http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.28883/pub_detail.asp
http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.29157/pub_detail.asp
Sleep well.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Are you listening now?
Roubini predicted this. Roubini has been right on for a long time. It is time for us to listen to him. If we don't, this depression will last a long, long time.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The Real Threat to Capitalism
The biggest threat Capitalism faces is not Socialism. The biggest threat capitalism faces are scummy sales people who lie to inflate the value of assets. It is scandals like Enron, people like Bernie Madoff, and scoundrels like Joe Nacchio who pose the greatest threat to capitalism. They give Socialists all the ammo they need to attack freedom and Capitalism.
Why? Because they put profits before people. They lack a moral compass which tells them they should only be compensated for creating real value. They want the upside of capitalism, but don't want to be held accountable when things don't go their way.
I love capitalism because it creates value, improves living standards, requires innovation, and is the best support of freedom I know. I love the market because it is like gravity, you can't fight it, or you can, but eventually, it will win. The market is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less. If you make stupid mistakes, put profits before integrity, try to screw people over by pretending like you are adding value when you really are not, it will punish you. If you create true value it will reward you. I know, sometimes it takes a while for the market to right itself - but it always does, eventually.
This is why I am vehemently opposed to the suspension of mark-to-market accounting rules. In any game, you need rules. If players don't follow the rules, no one will play with them any more. Eventually, they will be revealed as untrustworthy, and they will be kicked out of the game. When Enron exploded it was because they were inflating the values of their assets on their books. The same was true for Qwest, when they were run by Nacchio. They LIED about the value of their assets. This made all their enormous debt look palatable to what was at the time US West. Nacchio is in prison now - that is where he should be.
Mark-to-market accounting requires firms to tell the truth about the value of the assets on their balance sheets. It prevents fraud. It establishes the rules of the game so everyone can play.
The suspension of mark-to-market accounting for the banks that are in trouble is a terrible idea. The theory is that it is unfair for them to have to write down the value of the loans they hold on their books. The logic goes this way: if we just give it some time, the value of the bad loans on their books will increase. Then, they will be able to sell them, the economy will recover, and everything will be hunky dory!
NOT! Please, let's not give capitalism a bad name by legalizing fraud! Lying about the value of your assets to artificially increase your share price is nothing short of criminal - it is fraud. Do we want Wall Street run by people of integrity or greedy, unscrupulous people like Gordon Gecko? COME ON PEOPLE!
I am very irked with Karen Finerman (CNBC's Fast Money). I really used to like her. I am completely disturbed by her call for an end to mark-to-market accounting by the banks. I know in general she is a very smart lady. However, she was stupid enough to buy CITI shares, and recommend that viewers do the same about 6 months ago! If you listened to her you lost your shirt. My guess is that she lost tons of $ too, and is desperate to maintain her standing on the Street. Therefore, she has decided that we should suspend mark-to-market rules so she personally can regain some of her fortune. Don't listen to her. She is in this for herself.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29549920
Citi is bankrupt - it will be nationalized. Stay out. If you were unlucky enough buy on her recommendation six months ago sell the bounce when they unfairly change the accounting rules.
The emperor has no clothes!
Why? Because they put profits before people. They lack a moral compass which tells them they should only be compensated for creating real value. They want the upside of capitalism, but don't want to be held accountable when things don't go their way.
I love capitalism because it creates value, improves living standards, requires innovation, and is the best support of freedom I know. I love the market because it is like gravity, you can't fight it, or you can, but eventually, it will win. The market is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less. If you make stupid mistakes, put profits before integrity, try to screw people over by pretending like you are adding value when you really are not, it will punish you. If you create true value it will reward you. I know, sometimes it takes a while for the market to right itself - but it always does, eventually.
This is why I am vehemently opposed to the suspension of mark-to-market accounting rules. In any game, you need rules. If players don't follow the rules, no one will play with them any more. Eventually, they will be revealed as untrustworthy, and they will be kicked out of the game. When Enron exploded it was because they were inflating the values of their assets on their books. The same was true for Qwest, when they were run by Nacchio. They LIED about the value of their assets. This made all their enormous debt look palatable to what was at the time US West. Nacchio is in prison now - that is where he should be.
Mark-to-market accounting requires firms to tell the truth about the value of the assets on their balance sheets. It prevents fraud. It establishes the rules of the game so everyone can play.
The suspension of mark-to-market accounting for the banks that are in trouble is a terrible idea. The theory is that it is unfair for them to have to write down the value of the loans they hold on their books. The logic goes this way: if we just give it some time, the value of the bad loans on their books will increase. Then, they will be able to sell them, the economy will recover, and everything will be hunky dory!
NOT! Please, let's not give capitalism a bad name by legalizing fraud! Lying about the value of your assets to artificially increase your share price is nothing short of criminal - it is fraud. Do we want Wall Street run by people of integrity or greedy, unscrupulous people like Gordon Gecko? COME ON PEOPLE!
I am very irked with Karen Finerman (CNBC's Fast Money). I really used to like her. I am completely disturbed by her call for an end to mark-to-market accounting by the banks. I know in general she is a very smart lady. However, she was stupid enough to buy CITI shares, and recommend that viewers do the same about 6 months ago! If you listened to her you lost your shirt. My guess is that she lost tons of $ too, and is desperate to maintain her standing on the Street. Therefore, she has decided that we should suspend mark-to-market rules so she personally can regain some of her fortune. Don't listen to her. She is in this for herself.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29549920
Citi is bankrupt - it will be nationalized. Stay out. If you were unlucky enough buy on her recommendation six months ago sell the bounce when they unfairly change the accounting rules.
The emperor has no clothes!
I Think He Might Be Crazy
Apparently, Obama either does not understand the Taliban's philosphy, or he thinks he is Jesus.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/us/politics/08obama.html?_r=1&hp
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,506810,00.html
I am seriously starting to question his sanity.
Remember the Nazi's? The Taliban make them seem like pretty nice guys. What if Roosevelt would have come out with a plan to reach out to moderate Nazi's during WWII? Perhaps they could have talked Hitler out of murdering 6 million Jews. Perhaps if we are really nice we will be able to convince the "moderates" among the Taliban to stop murdering women who refuse to wear the Burqa, burning down girls schools, throwing acid at young girls who represent the love and life they so hate, stoning to death old women in public, raping young boys and girls, etc. etc. Oh, by the way they want to finish up with the holocaust where Hitler left off.
But Obama will be nice to them and everything will be OK! He must be F-ing crazy.
We will not be able to defeat the Taliban by making friends with the moderates among them.
This is the height of irresponsibility and just proves that cultural relativism has run amok in the minds of Liberals. It is a JOKE to me that they have the guts to call themselves Liberals when they are so anti-freedom. What a joke!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/us/politics/08obama.html?_r=1&hp
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,506810,00.html
I am seriously starting to question his sanity.
Remember the Nazi's? The Taliban make them seem like pretty nice guys. What if Roosevelt would have come out with a plan to reach out to moderate Nazi's during WWII? Perhaps they could have talked Hitler out of murdering 6 million Jews. Perhaps if we are really nice we will be able to convince the "moderates" among the Taliban to stop murdering women who refuse to wear the Burqa, burning down girls schools, throwing acid at young girls who represent the love and life they so hate, stoning to death old women in public, raping young boys and girls, etc. etc. Oh, by the way they want to finish up with the holocaust where Hitler left off.
But Obama will be nice to them and everything will be OK! He must be F-ing crazy.
We will not be able to defeat the Taliban by making friends with the moderates among them.
This is the height of irresponsibility and just proves that cultural relativism has run amok in the minds of Liberals. It is a JOKE to me that they have the guts to call themselves Liberals when they are so anti-freedom. What a joke!
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