Its amazing what you find floating around the intertubes: How awesome is this page?
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http://www.aiginvestments.com/AIG/Fixed+Income/Strategies/Structured+Products.htm
Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data, ability to repeat discredited memes, and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Also, be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor even implied. Any irrelevancies you can mention will also be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.
Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof. —John Kenneth Galbraith
Retail Sales in Jan rose .4% headline m/o/m, .7% ex auto's, .6% ex auto's and gasoline and .7% at the core. The headline figure was less than expected while the rest were slightly better. But, with respect to non headline sales, because Dec figures were revised lower, taking the two months together were about in line with forecasts overall. Sales rose in electronics, building materials, food/beverages, clothing, sporting goods, dept stores and restaurant/bars and fell interestingly for online retailers, health/personal care, furniture and motor vehicle/parts. Bottom line, headline sales were below expectations due to the greater than expected fall m/o/m...
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March 18th, 2009 at 7:03 am
This one is amusing too:
http://www.aiginvestments.com/AIG/Fixed+Income/Strategies/Mortgage+Capital/About+Us.htm
About AIG Mortgage Capital
Local Expertise
AIG Mortgage Capital’s three offices are strategically positioned throughout the country. Each office is comprised of seasoned production officers, loan administrators, and analytical support staff with extensive real estate experience. All of our products are accessible through a single loan production officer, located in your regional market.
Broad Range of Capital
As a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIG Investments, AIG Mortgage Capital can offer a variety of capital sources to meet a Borrower’s needs. Whether it is a standard portfolio execution or a highly structured, customized approach, AIG Mortgage Capital can provide the necessary capital for your needs.
Experience
AIG Mortgage Capital is headed by Alan Nussenblatt, who has more than 30 years of industry experience. Bill Petak, head of production and new business, has nearly 25 years of real estate experience and Keith Honig, head of loan administration, has 20 years of industry experience.
Management
William Petak
Managing Director, Mortgage Lending and Real Estate
AIG Investments, Los Angeles
Mr. Petak joined AIG Investments with the merger of SunAmerica in 1999 and is currently Managing Director of Mortgage Lending and Real Estate. He is responsible for the nationwide production of real estate investments and mortgage lending program. Mr. Petak joined SunAmerica in 1990 and was most recently Senior Vice President responsible for SunAmerica Investments national mortgage lending and real estate investments and its leveraged lease real estate acquisitions. Mr. Petak has served as a Loan Committee Member and as a member of the Board of Directors of Greenpark Financial, one of the nation’s largest Fannie Mae Designated Underwriter and Service lenders for multifamily properties. Prior to SunAmerica, he was Director of Acquisitions for a Southern California apartment developer responsible for acquiring and arranging the financing of all construction projects and land acquisitions. He also worked with Pacific Financial Group responsible for locating, analyzing and structuring new real estate acquisitions throughout California, as well as coordinating the financing and refinancing of existing portfolio properties. Mr. Petak’s experience in the real estate industry began in 1983. Mr. Petak received a BS in Finance and Business Economics from the University of Southern California and is a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Keith C. Honig
Managing Director, Mortgage Lending and Real Estate
AIG Investments, Los Angeles
Mr. Honig is a Managing Director of Mortgage Lending and Real Estate. He is the head of loan administration and has responsibility for loan servicing, performance, refinances, asset management and overall portfolio management. Mr. Honig started with SunAmerica Inc. in 1994 as an Associate Counsel. As a member of the legal department, Mr. Honig, among other things, provided support for the investment group, worked on mergers and acquisitions, managed litigation and handled a variety of insurance regulatory matters. He is a Certified Public Accountant and an attorney. Previously, he practiced accounting with KPMG, performing audit and tax services. Mr. Honig practiced as an attorney with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, focusing on real estate lending, foreclosures and bankruptcy. He also served as a law clerk to a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Nebraska. Mr. Honig earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business with an emphasis in accounting from the University of Southern California, a Master’s of Accounting from the University of Southern California, and a JD from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.
Todd Bedingfield
Managing Director, Southwest Region
AIG Investments, Los Angeles
Mr. Bedingfield joined AIG Investments with the SunAmerica merger in 1999 and is a Managing Director specializing in commercial real estate mortgage loans and CMBS investment. Mr. Bedingfield is responsible for managing and directing AIGMC’s Southwestern region, overseeing all commercial real estate activities in the Pacific Southwest, including; Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Hawaii.
Todd received a Bachelor of Arts degree in marketing from Oklahoma State University. He attended the Masters in Business Administration program at Central State University, Edmond, Oklahoma and the Masters in Commercial Real Estate program at New York University, New York, NY.
David Moore
Managing Director, Northwest Region
AIG Investments, Los Angeles
Mr. Moore joined AIG Investments in 2001 and is a Managing Director responsible for loan originations throughout the Northwest region of the United States. Prior to AIG, Mr. Moore was Vice President of Lincoln National’s (LNC) structured finance portfolio which included CMBS, ABS and Real Estate Investment Trust.
Mr. Moore received a BBA in finance from The University of North Texas. He is a founding member of the Board of Governors of Commercial Mortgage Securitization Association and is a member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
Rembert Owen
Managing Director, Southeast, Texas & Ohio
AIG Investments, Houston
Mr. Owen joined AIG Investments with the acquisition of American General Investment Management in 2001. He is a Managing Director responsible for loan originations in the South, Southeast, and Ohio. Mr. Owen has been running the Houston office since 1989.
Mr. Owen earned a BS degree in Industrial Management from the University of Tennessee. He is a Fellow of the Life Management Institute and past Chairman of the Life Mortgage and Real Estate Officer Council (“Dutch Treat”).
Michael Medvin
Managing Director, East Coast
AIG Investments, New York
Mr. Medvin joined AIG Investments in 1997 and is a Managing Director responsible for loan originations throughout the Eastern region of the United States. Mr. Medvin has been running the New York office since 2000.
Mr. Medvin holds his BA from Rutgers College and an MBA in Finance from Rutgers Graduate School of Management. He obtained a Certified Property Manager designation from The Institute of Real Estate Management. He is a licensed real estate sales person in New Jersey, a Notary Public, and a guest lecturer at NYU Real Estate Institute.
Todd Wexman
Managing Director, Midwest
AIG Investments, Los Angeles
Mr. Wexman joined AIG Investments with the merger of SunAmerica in 1999 and is responsible for loan originations throughout the Midwest. Originally brought on in 1993 to manage workouts, foreclosures and dispositions, Mr. Wexman has been responsible for real estate mortgage and mezzanine originations for the past 13 years.
Mr. Wexman graduated from Lawrence University with a BA in Economics and earned his MBA from the University of Southern California where he graduated with honors. He is a Licensed California Real Estate Broker.
March 18th, 2009 at 7:26 am
One thing I have noticed that does seem different this time. As the banksters and their agents(eg timothy) try to put some bs spin on things via MSM, it doesn’t work as well as it used to.
I think this is due to places like this putting out the truth. Keep up the good work. (this includes some commenters as well. thanks to all)
March 18th, 2009 at 7:41 am
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/haque/2009/03/heres_why_we_should_let.html
Looting 2.0 – And the saga continues…
March 18th, 2009 at 8:22 am
BR: You know I have this vision of Ed Liddy at today’s house hearings saying something like “I’m working for a dollar a year and getting a mountain of grief as I navigate my way through this huge mess that could torpedo he world financial system so I’m pleased to announce that Barry Ritholz ably assisted by many posters at his site has volunteered to work for a buck a year and come and sort all this out. I’m leaving now.”…….. Sorry for the satire but for better or worse this is the guy whose been hired to sort this out but I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t sometimes consider walking. He’s the only one in possession of all the facts about the legality of the contracts or the value of the employees involved and he made decisions which are his alone to make. Not Tim Geithner’s, not Larry Summer’s, not Andrew Cuomo’s, and not the vast horde of self appointed politicos, media scribblers and other assorted experts. This incident is to me a perfect example of why we don’t want nationalization of these financial institutions so every decision by the CEO is politicized and Barney Frank, Chuck Grassley or Bill O’Reilly gets to sound off about it. You know as well as I do that much of this posturing in congress is totally meaningless, they will never pass any laws clawing back these bonuses, and even if they did any such narrowly drawn law would be thrown out by the courts. I wonder if you’d like to be subjected to this constant second guessing as you run your business, I rather doubt it. Liddy has the job, let him get on with it.
March 18th, 2009 at 8:31 am
“Proactive Idea Generation”….That sounds more like a 70′s Rock band than it does an investment philosophy.
March 18th, 2009 at 8:44 am
@ otto-
My guess is you have all your money in financials- either that or maybe you have a soft spot for mismanaged highly leveraged companies. You keep bringing up this idea that any claw back would be thrown out of court- so why bother right? If a tax law is tailored towards bonus money received by employees of a company that was predominantly owned by the US taxpayers- I think that law would fly and only be applicable to the guilty parties. I know in the scheme of things the bonuses are not a large sum of money but I think public perception is key- and it is important that the USG is perceived as an arbitrar of justice.
March 18th, 2009 at 8:50 am
its like a blueprint for how to fuck up an economy
March 18th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Snapshot: good find
nice to see the eggheads weigh in on the side of reason for a change
March 18th, 2009 at 8:58 am
call me ahab Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 8:44 am
…….Actually I haven’t…….I’m not a lawyer but my son who is tells me there’s not a chance a narrowly drawn law would pass muster and even a widely drawn one would be shaky and make all sorts of collateral operational waves…….I’m as unhappy about these bonuses as anyone but as a stockholder in this mess I want it sorted out….. Liddy has been hired to do it and has only been on the job since last September…..Those wanting cosmic justice should go to church and pray……what this incident tells me is that we need to get the govt out of the task of managing risk capital as soon as feasible.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:00 am
I just had to share this very interesting article by David Greising from the Chicago Tribune about Edward Libby. “The last time Edward Liddy faced a vexing compensation issue, as chief executive of Northbrook-based Allstate Corp., he cut costs with all the finesse of a blunderbuss: He axed 6,000 of Allstate’s highest-paid agents.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/columnists/chi-tue-greising-aig-liddy-0317-mar17,0,1566068.column
March 18th, 2009 at 9:00 am
AIG seems to be a ‘Bankster Gangster” revolving door that takes taxpayer bailout dollars in the front door, and launders it out the back door to Goldman Sachs, Euro Banks and Hedge Funds.
Today the Fed will let us know if they’re going to start buying long dated Treasuries. Between the need to keep a lid on mortgage rates and what the Chinese just said, I’d say it’s – when, not if.
It’s starting to look like Central Bankers are going to go nuclear with the IMF going to print billions of dollars worth of SDR’s and join central banks around the world in the mother of all reflations.
Gold’s sure looking good here, and gold mining stocks are looking even better.
John Paulson thinks so.
He just put $1.3 billion in CASH into Anglo Gold Ashanti.
What should you do when the 3 smartest guys in the room all think alike?
John Paulson who made the highest profit in history of any hedge fund, with the single most profitable trade in the history of financial markets – shorting subprime mortgage bonds, just paid $1.3 Billion Dollars in Ca$h
for the remaining stake Anglo American held in gold miner Anglo Gold Ashanti.
http://www.mineweb.net/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page504?oid=80417&sn=Detail
Online gold trading guru SliderOnTheBlack just said that the G-20 & The IMF are about to unleash a “generational” PERFECT STORM for gold.
http://www.sliderontheblack.com/goldsilvercharts/a-generational-perfect-storm-for-gold/
And the patriarch of gold himself, Mr. Jim Sinclair has predicted that the IMF’s new ‘multi billion dollar’ SDR’s will create global hyper-inflation.
http://jsmineset.com/index.php/2009/03/17/notes-on-special-drawing-rights/
And gold stocks are STILL nearly 45% less than they were last year when gold was at these levels. I’m thinking this might be a good time to follow the smart money and load the boat in anticipation of “the perfect storm.”
Is the answer to AIG – GOLD?
I think so
Michael Cerulean
March 18th, 2009 at 9:00 am
My favorite part is the ‘business graph’. This one in particular is just average, but it is an excellent example of business puff and operational phoniness. Graphs such as these are a source of constant fascination to me because they tell me a lot about either the people who run the office and/or how the crooks running the business troll for suckers.
To create a good one you need boxes or circles or triangles ( 3, 4 or 5) … something that makes you think of Greek stone architecture or something similar on a subliminal level. Then you need these forms (all the same form, don’t mix them) to fit into a pattern that implies growth, something cyclical, or coverage (as in something roof like). Then you add the arrows, using them to create the suggestion they they are interconnected. Blue is always a good color. Add some meaningless business action words.
Then you have someone present it who will see to it your ass is seriously kicked if you don’t agree that it is an expression of total brilliance.
If you look at a graph like this one and are impressed so much that you want to become a customer, then the trolling for suckers worked. If you are in a meeting and someone is just making you look at it, sorry. Just don’t say anything good or bad about it. Don’t even mention it. If you say anything complimentary without first being asked, you run the risk of looking like the office idiot. Even the ass kicker knows it was a waste of time, but he got paid to it do. So when you make fun of the graph you are putting his job at risk.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Barry – You mentioned earlier in the month that we needed to fix the AIG/Citi problem because we had “more problems coming later in the month.” You did not extrapolate. Care to provide some insight now? Everything is going to hell anyway.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:09 am
“Surveillance”?
March 18th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Excuse me! I should have said, “You did not elaborate.”
March 18th, 2009 at 9:15 am
http://www.aig.com/fraud-warning_20_19321.html
You missed a page.
I couldn’t think of anything big enough to write that would compete with the irony.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:17 am
The US guarantees of AIG “insurance” of global short bets against US real estate allows those bettors to hold those positions and contribute to the continuing decline in RE values, the illiquidity of bank assets, the credit freeze and the rising tide of foreclosures. So in the name of systemic risk the US government has made risky bets safe and is underwriting destructive bets against the US economy.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Do we even KNOW if AIG has discontinued writing new time bombs? How about CITI, are we underwriting any destructive high risk bets for them? Just to avoid systemic risk of course!
March 18th, 2009 at 9:27 am
otto says
“what this incident tells me is that we need to get the govt out of the task of managing risk capital as soon as feasible”.
agreed- but where you and I disagree is that you appear to be in favor of government involvement with USG largess to the banks to keep them afloat but no input as to how taxpayer money is used- I would have rather seen the banks go bankrupt- ugly yes- but necessary- the US economy has been dependent on over-leveraged consumers for decades to keep the hamster wheel spinning.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:33 am
http://www.aig.com/fraud-warning_20_19321.html
There’s an email address at the bottom. You can use it to inform the company of suspicious activity you may have encountered regarding AIG . They will probably thank you for informing them if you notice anything shady. It’s good to be helpful.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Those wanting cosmic justice should go to church and pray……what this incident tells me is that we need to get the govt out of the task of managing risk capital as soon as feasible.
1. We’re not talking about “cosmic justice,” anymore than expecting to be reimbursed for any improperly spent public monies is asking for “cosmic justice.” Nice strawman, though.
2. Yes, because this debacle has been entirely the fault of big, evil government. Private financial corporations had nothing to do with this at all. If we could only restore control of the helm to the Masters of the Universe, albeit using our money, everything we be fine.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:42 am
call me ahab Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 9:27 am
“agreed- but where you and I disagree is that you appear to be in favor of government involvement with USG largess to the banks to keep them afloat but no input as to how taxpayer money is used- I would have rather seen the banks go bankrupt- ugly yes- but necessary”
………Unfortunately, you’re oblivious to the consequences of mass bankruptcies across the US banking system…..you use expressions like “ugly yes” to describe economic consequences that would be catastrophic for most Americans not to mention he world financial system ……you then say there’s no input which is absurd of course there’s input but this was an operational decision by the CEO…..and btw household debt has only really gotten out of control over the past decade not decades…..And at about 70% of GDP consumer spending is a bit too high but it’s not off the charts by comparison with peer groups, it needs to go back to the low/mid sixties as % of GDP.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Macro man has some of the best commentary i’ve read yet on the AIG show toward the end of today’s piece:
http://macro-man.blogspot.com/
March 18th, 2009 at 9:46 am
None of these guys will be hurt by this at all. They will just move to something else just as good or better. One big corporate circle jerk.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:50 am
For those like ahab who might be interested here’s a link to US household debt 1966-2006
http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/crisis/tradedeficit/tables/household.htm
As you’ll see it really took of about eight years ago
March 18th, 2009 at 9:54 am
otto says:
It’s not the end of the world- companies go bankrupt all the time- let it be sorted out- contracts voided- shareholder wiped out, bondholders taking losses, counterparties taking losses- so what- we’ll never know will we? Armageddon is Soviet tanks destroying the city of Berlin- hey- I was in Berlin a couple years ago and they seem to be doing pretty damn good. So- let’s don’t be too dramatic.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Forcing AIG to repay $160 million to Treasury with a $160 million additional penalty is a joke. Tinkering with the Tax Code definition of excessive compensation to impact corporate tax on AIG bonus expenditures, a joke.
AIG = straw man
Bad, bad straw man. Naughty straw man.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Karen, thanks for introducing us to Macro Man, he is awesome.
The American people now realize that AIG is a very simple story, after all:
Once upon a time, there was a bookie, see, called Maurice, only they called him Hank, and he worked with Joey “the Numbers” Cassano in a shop called AIG. A lotta the guys in da neighborhood, they liked to bet on the horses. Guys like Lloyd, Jimmy C, Rick the Dick, all those guys on the Street, it was like a syndicate, see.
Only some guys like Johnny Paulson started betting against the syndicate’s horses – and then Lloyd see, he was smart, he sees that Johnny is eating their lunch, and he starts betting against the other guys while Jimmy was playing cards. Pretty soon, Jimmy C and Rick the Dick are broke, and then Joey finds out he figured the odds wrong and then the cops come in and all these guys from the neighborhood want their money…
March 18th, 2009 at 9:59 am
ottovbvs Said:
March 18th, 2009 at 9:50 am
For those like ahab who might be interested here’s a link to US household debt 1966-2006
As you’ll see it really took of about eight years ago
Reply
————————–
On a chart like this, you need to use a logarithmic scale. Otherwise, all charts like this will go parabolic.
For example, assume a 10% annual increase on a linear chart. The nominal amount of the increases close to the axis appear linear. When the 10% is applied towards the higher numbers on the right, all charts scaled like this will go parabolic.
If you were look at a log chart, it would probably look very linear.
Also, these do not appear to be constant dollars. You need to factor out inflation.
March 18th, 2009 at 9:59 am
“what this incident tells me is that we need to get the govt out of the task of managing risk capital as soon as feasible.”
Precisely. Which, of course, means allowing the market to regulate the management of risk capital. Which, of course, means forcing AIG and the rest to do what any other insolvent business must do–face the music alone with its creditors or through the helping stasis of a bankruptcy filing.
The great lie in all this (besides the cock-eyed notion that an 80% majority shareholder of an enterprise is powerless to effect any change in the enterprise) is that it was necessary to “save” the financial system. Baloney. It was necessary to save the plutocrats that run the financial system. If the present financial system so balefully failed us, as it has, then saving it is just throwing good money after bad in order to maintain a corrupt and feckless system for the benefit of its operators.
And to think that we, the taxpayers who are being asked to save these organizations (AIG, et al) and the financial system itself, should not have any input into the actions of an organization for which we’ve provided $170 billion plus, with more on the way, shows a total disregard for the foundations of the republican government that we purport to be.
Someone that argues the taxpaying public should have no say because it is just too daft to understand the implications and complexities of the issues are themselves too daft and elitist to understand that the reason the taxpayers are being asked to save this system is because its too-clever-by-half operators did not understand how to manage risk. It is we, the taxpayers, who should be condescending and patronizing to the idiots that now need our help. If the plutocrats don’t like, then perhaps they should quit asking for the product of our sweat and tears.
If we pay for the rescue, we should get to determine its terms, and thereby have a right to be informed of them. There could be nothing more egalitarian and commensurate with the principles upon which this republic was founded. Failing that, it may be time to rethink the value of this republic purportedly of, by and for the people.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Transor Z Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Forcing AIG to repay $160 million to Treasury with a $160 million additional penalty is a joke. Tinkering with the Tax Code definition of excessive compensation to impact corporate tax on AIG bonus expenditures, a joke.
AIG = straw man
comment:
—————————-
That straw man can go f*ck himself up the a** with a broken bottle. I won’t stop him.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:10 am
sorry folks- forgot to put in otto’s comment under “otto says”- the text below is mine (trust me otto would not like this to be attributed to him)
It’s not the end of the world- companies go bankrupt all the time- let it be sorted out- contracts voided- shareholder wiped out, bondholders taking losses, counterparties taking losses- so what- we’ll never know will we? Armageddon is Soviet tanks destroying the city of Berlin- hey- I was in Berlin a couple years ago and they seem to be doing pretty damn good. So- let’s don’t be too dramatic.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Karen,
Thanks for the hat tip on macro man. His camparison of corporate america to a private partnership underscores my circle jerk premise. Modern day corportations seem to exist for the private benefit of the top executives. They get paid first and paid well regardless. If the company goes under they just plug into the circle jerk network and move on to the next windfall bonus day.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:18 am
@ Curmudgeon: Amen, brother. If we wanted a landed gentry, disenfranchisement, and zero social mobility we would have kept King George III.
@ dead hobo: Even anal wreckage cannot harm the straw man. You must find the Builders of the Straw Man and then — and only then –will you find vulnerable poop chutes upon which to wreak your savage revenge.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:23 am
dead hobo Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 9:59 am
…….Forget the charts…..look at the actual numbers…. Are you saying it didn’t take off in relative terms at the start of this decade?….And the CPI rose just under 20% in the period 2002-2008 so it didn’t make that much of a ding in it…..
March 18th, 2009 at 10:35 am
ottovbvs Says:
“………Unfortunately, you’re oblivious to the consequences of mass bankruptcies across the US banking system…..”
If oblivious is what it takes to give these boys what they deserve then fine let’s be oblivious..
I think you are oblivious to the consequence of continuing to support blood sucking vampires on the neck of this nation.
I see my pitchfork encouragements have gotten a bit trendy these days, I think I’ll switch to talking about stakes, wooden stakes. Barry I think you should go long on wooden stakes now.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:40 am
call me ahab Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 10:10 am
……..In economic terms the bankruptcy of the top ten deposit taking and investment banks plus a couple of the insurance majors would have produced a catastrophe far greater for every town and city in the US than the fall of Berlin which had zero impact in Minneapolis…..I was in Berlin in the early sixties btw…..By and large the Berliners who experienced it didn’t find immolation a particularly useful experience….and it was sixty year ago so they probably were able to get your ice cream ready by the time you visited a couple of years ago.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:41 am
http://www.keegy.com/post/consumers-delay-purchases-poll-shows/
“A new national poll indicates that six in 10 Americans have postponed a major purchase such as appliances or furniture over the past six months. ”
….but surely this won’t continue…..
March 18th, 2009 at 10:44 am
@otto-
it was more like a beer- and catastrophe? says who- you? As long as I and my kids are breathing air and my home is not crumbling from bombardment I think I’ll make it.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:45 am
bman Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 10:35 am
“If oblivious is what it takes to give these boys what they deserve then fine let’s be oblivious..”
…….I wonder when people make statements like this they understand the concept of collateral damage….When the Titanic went down it took Paddy in Steerage along with John Astor….In fact it took a lot more Paddy’s than Astors.
March 18th, 2009 at 10:49 am
call me ahab Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 10:44 am
@otto-
it was more like a beer- and catastrophe? says who- you? As long as I and my kids are breathing air and my home is not crumbling from bombardment I think I’ll make it.
……Say’s quite a lot of people actually……I can see you focus on the big picture.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:04 am
but otto I am looking at the big picture- because the time bandit is out for all of us- we are only here for a finite period of time- what is a catastrophe to me and what is a catastrophe in the eyes of the financial experts are two different things- they want to keep the circus going at all costs- I on the other hand think this country needs to shake off all the phony expectations, rid ourselves of all these global military bases, retrench from our global empire and put our efforts elsewhere. Countries have suffered many staggering setbacks including financial and global implosion (Soviet Union) but so what- let’s push on- why is it that our expectations and viewpoints must remain unchanged to avert a catastrophe? Let’s start fresh.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
@karen: Thanks for sharing. If only our clownish political “leaders” were capable of this kind of common sense but political demogoguery is much easier, I guess.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:17 am
The Treasury owning 80% of AIG and not seeing their way toward shutting down the AIG Structured Investment Products business unit ASAP is similar to the situation that would exist if the Dept of Health and Human Services found itself the 80% owner of Philip Morris and trying to figure out how to best apply the tobacco revenue stream toward a rising tide of lung cancer. The obvious answer is to STOP DOING BAD THINGS! Shut down the organizations that are creating damage.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:53 am
call me ahab Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 11:04 am
……You know Ahab I don’t totally disagree with some of your notions, like reducing our international military presence for example, but when I read a lot of the vaguely millenarian ideas advanced by yourself and others I alway remember that these notions have invariably ended in disaster for the average Joe….It’s all emotion driven and not based on data, legality or empiricism which should be be the foundation for any properly functioning polity…..Don’t you ever ask yourself why is Liddy putting up with all this sh#$ for a dollar a year as he tries to defuse what is basically an unexploded financial bomb…..I’m expecting to see him lectured by a load of clowns on tv tonight and I’ll be thinking tell them to stick it up their ass ….You clearly don’t care if the bomb goes off but most people even if they dont understand the small print of contracts have a sense that if this doesn’t get sorted bad things will happen…..I wonder if you’ve ever read Conrad’s The Secret Agent where there’s a cell of Russian revolutionaries and anarchists…one walks around with a bomb strapped to his body…..they’re oblivious to the consequences and their attitude seems to me not very different from yours… it’s just not a philosophy I buy into…..sorry if this sounds a bit harsh…it’s a brilliant book btw by Conrad who has a fairly pessimistic outlook on life.
March 18th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
otto-
you are too sensible- let’s shake it all off- what’s the worse that could happen?
March 18th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
I love that this is under “Fixed Income”. $0.00/mo is indeed a fixed number.
March 18th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
here is my edited version of the original screenshot:
[IMG]http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t136/doug86_bucket/aig-inv2.jpg[/IMG]
March 18th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
ottovbvs Says:
” …….I wonder when people make statements like this they understand the concept of collateral damage….When the Titanic went down it took Paddy in Steerage along with John Astor….In fact it took a lot more Paddy’s than Astors. ”
I wonder when people make statements like this if they expect proven wrong ideaologies like ‘Trickle Down’ are supposed to sound better when they are turned from hopeful jingles into fear mongering threats.
What a lot of people overlook is that there are a whole lot of people who couldn’t afford to even get near the Titanic let alone get aboard it, and when it goes down, their lives would be largely unaffected, except now they are the people that are being asked to stop it from sinking.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
bman,
w/ this: “What a lot of people overlook is that there are a whole lot of people who couldn’t afford to even get near the Titanic let alone get aboard it, and when it goes down, their lives would be largely unaffected, except now they are the people that are being asked to stop it from sinking.”
you’ve succeeded in ruining a perfectly good delusion..
I hope you will not apologize.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=acX51iehm6og&refer=home
“March 18 (Bloomberg) — American International Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy told employees that some critics of the company went too far, including a senator who suggested executives kill themselves. ”
Boohoo. It’s called hari kari, bitches. We’d LOVE to see you do it on a reality show. If you had any sense of honor you would.
March 18th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
call me ahab Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
otto-
you are too sensible- let’s shake it all off- what’s the worse that could happen?
……Rather what my kids used to say….A re-run of the great depression?……Not really a risk we want to take, is it….Public indignation is a poor guide to good public policy……My two favorite examples are Prop 13 in CA which untethered the state’s tax base from property values and tied it to income and purchase taxes so that every time there’s an economic downturn CA has a huge budget crisis…..the other one is those feel good three strikes and you’re out laws which have filled the prisons forever with ten of thousands of check bouncers, shoplifters, car thieves, and drug addicts all costing about $90,000 a year to keep at the public expense…..but boy did we feel good when we passed those laws….you take my point.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
ottovbs ( Is that an acronym for On To The Old Verbal Bull Shit? );
Here’s another “useless” feel good thing. We don’t need no fucking government, right? Anarchy would suit you just fine. How’s the perimeter security system doing, huh pal? You better keep checking it regularly.
The Harlem Children’s Zone Project has a goal of helping in all the challenges of life, from birth to taxes. Described by The New York Times as “one of the most ambitious social-service experiments of our time,” it had humble beginnings.
1970: Started as Rheedlen, the city’s first truancy prevention program.
1990: Geoffrey Canada becomes president and CEO. A one-block pilot Harlem Children’s Zone Project begins.
1997: HCZ Project sets to cover 24-blocks in Central Harlem and address a range of problems faced by poor families.
2000: Baby College opened with parenting workshops.
2001: The Harlem Gems preschool opened.
2001: HCZ Asthma Initiative.
2004: Promise Academy, a public-charter school.
2006: An obesity program for kids.
2007: The Zone grows to 97 blocks, serves 7,400 children and over 4,100 adults.
March 18th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Barry,
Off topic but since you mentioned Beverly Hills and money management the other day, I thought I’d pass along the news that an outfit from Beverly Hills called Platinum Equity just but a newspaper in San Diego.
March 18th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
AGG Says:
March 18th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
……If you’d contain your ire for a moment you misread me completely dear boy…..neither do you seem to be able to tell the difference between good public policy and bad…..I’ve no doubt all the programs you list are excellent although I’m not familiar with them….I am however quite sure that my couple of examples which were essentially the product of public indignation are total bummers…..Or are you in favor of three strikes laws?
March 18th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
ottovbvs,
For drug users there should be no laws. For Bankers and ANYONE who engages in fraud exceeding $1,000,000 I favor a ONE strike rule. The three strike rule is bull shit anyway. It was put there to help judges game the system so they could jail whoever they wanted and leave the rest free. You didn’t know that?
i’ll tell you something else that I’m in favor of that elitists like you would cry havoc about: Everyone with a social security number who is over 18 votes via computer on every bill before congress. If a person doesn’t vote, his “vote” is counted as an abstention. Let’s see the lobbyists try to buy all of us.
Just curious, but are you a medical doctor? Your negative attitude towards “feel good” stuff sounds like the AMA these days. They’re into closet sadism, I think. Why else do they wail about giving too much pain medication to patients. The new Hyppocratic oath is “First of all, make sure it hurts”. It’s a great business model gauranteed to keep em’ coming back for more business. Wall street has executed great leadership in the training of our doctors in appropriate pain response. Just ask Blue Cross.