Tuesday, September 30, 2008 |
|
A Little Perspective |
|
Posted by:
Jonathan Garthwaite at
10:50 AM |
When days like yesterday happen, I always go back to the advice I got years ago as a teenager -- save and invest for the long term, avoid the emotion of the short-term, don't buy what I can't afford, avoid debt and adjust my investment risk taking downward as I get closer to my desired retirement date. Pretty much basic Dave Ramsey advice.
A 770 point drop in the DOW is certainly nothing to ignore but it's important to remember that on a percentage basis, it is was only 7% (Oct 1987 was over three times that and you can hardly detect the crash on a 75 year chart). The DOW is where it was three years ago -- it's lost some value against inflation -- BUT it hasn't seen some sort of catastrophic drop either. Yes, a trillion dollars of market value was lost yesterday, but it's a trillion dollars of market value that didn't exist three years ago before the market jumped 4,000 points during the housing crisis.
And the market has gained back over 37% of the trillion dollars by 10:30am...
|
|
|
Monday, September 29, 2008 |
|
The Duplicity and Cynicism Of House Democrats: 95 Democrats Vote No |
|
Posted by:
Hugh Hewitt at
3:52 PM |
Yesterday I actually wrote that the Speaker was to be congratulated for working to get a bipartisan solution hammered out.
I actually thought that the enormity of the problem facing the country's and the world's economies had led her and her colleagues to a responsible middle position. Dozens of Republicans lined up behind their leadership today to vote for a bill that most in the GOP caucus understand to be fixing the consequences of policies conceived and executed by the friends of Bill Clinton and the advisors of Barack Obama when they ran Freddie and Fannie, policies which were protected from review and correction by none other than Barney Frank and Chris Dodd and the like. I thought the Administration's and John McCain's refusal to launch partisan broadsides combined with the near-uniform advice of financial experts had finally impressed the Dems enough that they would lay down their cudgels long enough to pass the law necessary to the functioning of the credit markets.
I was wrong. The bill failed in the House by a 228 to 205 vote, with 95 Democrats voting against it, a cynical exercise in manipulating the financial crisis for the Dems perceived political advantage. They think that blame for the worsening credit market will fix to Republicans and John McCain. That Pelosi et al stampeded tens of thousands of panicked investors out of the market today at some considerable loss to their hard work over the years means nothing to them. The jobs they are sacrificing to panic means nothing to them.
The only thing that matters to the Pelosi-Reid-Obama Democrats is power.
This is the bottom line: Democrats defeated this bill, and cooly walked out to denounce the House Republicans. Just as the Dems demonstrated during the long debate over off-shore drilling, they do not care a whit about the impact of their Beltway doings provided they think it will bring them more seats and greater power and perhaps the presidency.
The voters of this country would be insane to turn more power over to this bunch, much less to the irrelevant Obama, standing on the sidelines doing nothing to bring the party he allegedly leads to the responsibilities of governing.
|
|
|
Monday, September 29, 2008 |
|
"The First Bank Run of the Non-Bank Era" |
|
Posted by:
Hugh Hewitt at
9:17 AM |
A guest column from Clark Judge:
The First Bank Run of the Non-Bank Bank Era
by Clark S. Judge
According to a late night email from the House GOP leadership, floor debate on the financial rescue bill may begin as early as 8am Eastern Time and will be limited to three hours. So the House will almost certainly be discussing the bill by the time this column is posted.
No one needs to be told that this is unpopular legislation. As of early last week, Rasmussen found a large plurality of Americans (44 percent) opposed to it, with only 25 percent in support. Opinion was moving against the proposal, and probably still is.
Read More... |
|
|
Sunday, September 28, 2008 |
|
Pence Opposing The Bailout |
|
Posted by:
Jonathan Garthwaite at
4:55 PM |
From Congressman Pence's Office
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman Mike Pence sent the following letter to his colleagues today in opposition to the deal struck last night on the bailout of the financial services sector:
Dear Colleagues:
Our nation has been confronted by a serious crisis in our financial markets. The President and this Congress were right to act with all deliberate speed in addressing this crisis.
We now have a deal that promises to bring near-term stability to our financial turmoil, but at what price?
Economic freedom means the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail.
The decision to give the federal government the ability to nationalize almost every bad mortgage in America interrupts this basic truth of our free market economy.
Republicans improved this bill but it remains the largest corporate bailout in American history, forever changes the relationship between government and the financial sector, and passes the cost along to the American people. I cannot support it.
Before you vote, ask yourself why you came here and vote with courage and integrity to those principals.
If you came here because you believe in limited government and the freedom of the American marketplace, vote in accordance with those convictions.
Duty is ours, outcomes belong to God.
We have fought the good fight. Now we need to finish the race and make sure that posterity and the American people know there were conservatives who opposed the leviathan state in this dark hour.
And if you do this I promise you, I will stand with you and, I believe with all my heart, the American people will stand with you as well.
MIKE PENCE
|
|
|
Friday, September 26, 2008 |
|
"A Wall Street Rescue that Makes Every Player a Winner" |
|
Posted by:
Hugh Hewitt at
10:17 AM |
|
A guest column on the financial crisis:
A Wall Street Rescue that Makes Every Player a Winner
By Clark S. Judge
With the Wall Street rescue talks on the ropes, there is a deal waiting to be done that fixes the Paulson Plan’s problems and gives each key player a win.
Read More... |
|
|
Friday, September 26, 2008 |
|
A Review of the Financial Crisis |
|
Posted by:
Michele Bachmann at
9:32 AM |
For those who want to learn some more about the roots of the financial markets crisis we are experiencing today, check out this editorial from Investors Business Daily. I think it's important to examine the past to prevent a similar crisis in the future.
'Crony' Capitalism Is Root Cause of Fannie and Freddie Troubles
"In the past couple of weeks, as the financial crisis has intensified, a new talking point has emerged from the Democrats in Congress: This is all a "crisis of capitalism," in socialist financier George Soros' phrase, and a failure to regulate our markets sufficiently."
|
|
|
Friday, September 26, 2008 |
|
Memo To House Republicans |
|
Posted by:
Hugh Hewitt at
8:26 AM |
Here's a shocker: No one likes the risks involved in Paulson 2.0 or the precedent of using so much public money to rescue reckless bankers, both private and semi-private..
But there is a very good chance that (1) it will actually make money for the Treasury and (2) without it the financial crisis will spread and the small businesses of America and the people who own and staff them will be deeply injured. These businesses are the backbone of the economy, and they are in danger. This isn't just a bailout of Wall Street; it is a breakwall for Main Street.
The GOP lost the majority and therefore doesn't get to shape the bailout except on the margins. That's the cost of past fecklessness, and intransigence in the minority during a crisis is nothing except a suicidal indifference to both the economic emergency and the reality of the possibility of panic. Gather with John McCain this morning --he is the leader of the party--- and invest him with the authority to conclude or walk from the deal. And then work to get the majority back that will allow a greater role in the future by going to the country with a persuasive case on the origins of the crisis and the reality of future crises unless serious fiscal conservatives replace Nancy Pelosi and her gang.
Some of you will say you cannot make such a case on the heels of a bailout. Wrong. You are at a fork in the road, and the public can be trusted to understand exactly how this crises evolved and why Paulson 2.0 was the best of the options available to you and why urgent action is needed to both use tax cuts and energy exploration to recharge the prosperity of the past twenty years.
But you cannot stand by and watch people's business and savings hemorrhage and expect them to reward you for your purity of purpose and incompetence of execution.
|
|
|
Friday, September 26, 2008 |
|
JOBS CREATED BY SMALL BUSINESS, NOT BUREAUCRACIES |
|
Posted by:
Michael Medved at
1:51 AM |
In the midst of the crisis in the financial markets it’s crucial to remember that our prosperity rests ultimately on the entrepreneurial spirit of small business, not globe-straddling corporations or mammoth bureaucracies. John Sununu of New Hampshire, often hailed as “the smartest man in the Senate,” makes the point succinctly. “Jobs in America,” he says, “are not created 200,000 at a time. They’re created two at a time, five a a time, one at a time by those small businesses that drive our economy. You help those businesses not with government spending programs but by holding taxes steady. You can’t raise taxes without hurting millions of people in this country.” While too many leaders focus on ambitious and expensive new initiatives, this common sense perspective should remind us of the real source of economic growth and resilience.
|
|
|
Thursday, September 25, 2008 |
|
How Did We Get Into This Mess? |
|
Posted by:
Michele Bachmann at
1:29 PM |
The country is buzzing with news of a potential $700 billion bailout of our financial services sector by the taxpayer. I've received hundreds of calls this week from constituents who share my skepticism about this potential bailout. Most of them have asked how we got into this problem in the first place, and they deserve an answer.
Fox News has does a nice job tracing the steps of this crisis. You'll notice that many of the Congressional leaders responsible back then are now the ones trying to steer us out of this mess. Scary, huh?
|
|
|
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 |
|
My New Favorite Business |
|
Posted by:
Hugh Hewitt at
4:04 PM |
One of the reasons I am a confirmed optimist about the American economy even in the midst of the financial panics of the past two weeks is that I come across extraordinary young entrepreneurs almost every week. This past Saturday as I wandered around the campus of my wife's alma mater, UC Davis, I met the founders of The Collegiate Bicycle Company (www.CollegeBikes.com), and they gladly told me their story.
They married their experience in bike shops to the obvious love of alma mater around the country and have arranged for the licensing and production of bikes that reflect the old school ties. They were hawking Cal Aggie bikes at Davis on Saturday and by early afternoon they were down to two remaining models. Most often they sell through bike stores, but the advantage they gain from meeting and greeting customers is of course crucial to tweaking their business.
Visit their site at collegebikes.com. Warning: There is no USC bike in stock in recognition no doubt that if the band can't march and play at the same time the alums can hardly be expected to stay up[right on a bike.
|
|
|
Friday, September 19, 2008 |
|
Who Pays For The Bailout? |
|
Posted by:
Jonathan Garthwaite at
3:50 PM |
So, the banking bailout is going to cost taxpayers as much as $1,000,000,000,000.
While the media discusses the "bad-debt bailout" being put together over the next few days and how much it's going to cost all of us taxpayers, it's worth taking a look at who will actually be paying that bill when it comes due.
Based on the 2006 IRS "Who pays taxes" data, the top income brackets will be the ones bailing out all the bad decisons of home-mortgage lenders and home-owners.
|
Percentiles Ranked by AGI |
AGI Threshold on Percentiles |
Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid |
|
Top 1% |
$388,806 |
39.89 |
|
Top 5% |
$153,542 |
60.14 |
|
Top 10% |
$108,904 |
70.79 |
|
Top 25% |
$64,702 |
86.27 |
|
Top 50% |
$31,987 |
97.01 |
|
Bottom 50% |
<$31,987
|
2.99 |
|
Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service 2006 |
|
|
|
Friday, September 19, 2008 |
|
"Get Shorty" |
|
Posted by:
Hugh Hewitt at
8:36 AM |
I really wouldn't want to be a short-seller the next few days and weeks.
From the early reports:
Shares of financial firms also surged. Morgan Stanley was recently up 31%. Wachovia, which is said to be in possible merger talks with Morgan Stanley, jumped 28% premarket after climbing by 59% Thursday. Goldman Sachs Group, which along with Morgan is the last of the remaining big independent brokerages on Wall Street, gained 25% Friday before the bell.
American International Group added 28% premarket. New CEO Edward Liddy said that he hopes to keep intact as many of the company's largest insurance operations as possible in a publicly traded company, after selling assets to pay back a federal loan.
Amid talks that Citigroup is considering making a bid for Washington Mutual, Citigroup rose 18% premarket while WaMu climbed 42%.
Bank of America, which agreed to buy Merrill Lynch & Co. over the weekend, rallied 11% premarket after climbing 12% a day earlier.
|
|
|
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 |
|
A Thought ... |
|
Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
9:50 AM |
President Bush has often said, "I don't believe the government is to try to pick winners and losers ..." Aside from the fact that this is grammatically incorrect, the bigger point is that this is precisely what his administration did in deciding to bail-out Bear Sterns, AIG, Fannie & Freddie -- but not Lehman Bros. Activist government is dangerous for many reasons, not least of which is the fact that it is patently unfair ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Your Blog Postings:
|
|
Last updated 11 Minutes 12 Seconds Ago
|
|
Last updated 11 Minutes 53 Seconds Ago
|
|
Last updated 12 Minutes 12 Seconds Ago
|
|
Last updated 20 Minutes 20 Seconds Ago
|
|
Last updated 22 Minutes 52 Seconds Ago
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Archives Archives
|
|
| | | |