Worldwide Inequality Becomes More Pronounced Both Wealth and Income continue to skew in favor of privileged 1% as seen in these reports and charts: First there is the trend of income inequlity shows three disturbing trends: First, the top 10% of the population continues to increase its disproportionate percentage of National Income giving substance to […]
Payback on the Front Burner Read More »
Make America Great Again has a half-life of about 1-2 years at most. Then disastrous economic decision making will have the Political Fiddler on the Roof calling the End Tune. And nowhere has this become more obvious in the cobbled together, greed and revenge ridden “GOP Tax Plan”. The “Plan” is in quotes because it
Its The Economy By The Stupidly Greedy Read More »
The following post from John Mauldin Economics hit my inbox by way of an MBA buddy. The almost palpable angst and uneasiness of the post is worth examining in more detail. Here is a capsule summary of the article which can be seen in its entirety here. Central Banks and the Rise of Extremism John Mauldin
Malaise in the Investment Community Read More »
Frank Bruni at the NYTimes raised 5 questions about telling issues in the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders debate in Brooklyn last night. As the GOP is hacking itself apart in a grisly dismemberment over who controls the perverse loyalties of its Base, Bruni notes that the Democrats face fundamental schisms of their own. Specifically, Bruni cites the major
Hiding In Plain Sight Behind Barack Obama Read More »
Protection money is everywhere in society – but nowhere greater than in the relationship of Wall Street and Washington. And it all has to do with “asymmetrical payments”. For Wall Street bankers and investment houses, being able to dictate the Rule of Financial Law is priceless. Thus, just six large Wall Street banks are willing
Political Protection Money Thrives on the Street Read More »
This Monday there was a classic Larry Summers story. It started with an editorial in the Washington Post calling for tax reforms that would redress a fraction of the income inequality that has accumulated over the past 30 years in the US. Larry called it the Downton Abbey economy. He also scuttled the argument that
Seen on Google + – More Political Irony Read More »
This is the best information by far on the nature of wealth in the USA and the series of problems spawned by ever-widening disparity in wealth. This has occurred before in the USA during the Gilded Age, then again in the Roaring 20’s. But World War II seemed to bring a new deal – an
The Best Explanation of Wealth in the USA Read More »
WhatNowCartoons The GOP has been attacking President Obama for all the Wrong Reasons: Benghazi Libyan embassy fight when the GOP had previously cut the State Departments defense funding. Or No New Taxes when there is general consensus that tax revenues have dried up and tax reform is way overdue. Or the constant return to Obama’s birth
The Real Obama Flaw: Wall Street Now Too Big To Jail Read More »
The NYTimes had a recent story, The Infinite Pool of Executive Pay. It is a little hit and miss. The report comes down on the increase of 18.7% percent in corporate perks. But then we also learn that overall median pay for the top 100 CEOs increased by just 2.8%. However, I had a devil
One More Time: How Goes Executive Pay? Read More »
Tom Wolfe’s book Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers is about PR and Spokespersons who seemingly can turn any criticism to the advantage of their client. But “flak catcher” had a second nuanced meaning – those who bore the brunt of public scorn diverting attention away from client and upon themselves. As well, attention
Banks as Flak Catchers for Major Corporations Read More »
I dread reading the following headlines in the NYTimes or the Wall Street Journal – Gargantuan Fines Imposed on Wall Street Institution or Record Breaking Damages Inflicted on Bank. It might as well read => Hugest Biggest Historically Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious Compensatory Damages Imposed on Piteous Bank because of course it means the opposite. The Federal Government
Historic Financial Penalty = Feds Cave Again Read More »
David Einhorn, the tiny $7Billion Hedge Fund manager, has tweaked the nose of computing’s Goliath, Apple. Since a week Thursday, David has shocked the US business world with his direct, loud, and “uncivil’ attack on Apple’s huge cash hoard of nearly $130Billion. And Apple’s cash hoard islikely getting bigger on a growth rate of 10%per quarter for the
Where is the David Einhorn for America Read More »
The Hostess Twinkies demise is a business case study that also has political implications. I would love to see if any of the major Business Schools like MIT, Harvard, Univ. of Chicago have taken this defining case on. David Weidner of WSJ and Marketwatch tells the story on who killed the Twinkie: Modern finance is
No less an authority than the Economist shows that under Democratic Presidents the stock market has outperformed by a wide margin what was accomplished by Republican Presidents. And this GOP poor economic and stock market performance goes back 80 years. The fundamental problem is that Republican Presidents have had poor economic policy and tolerated
Daily Fact: GOP Presidents have worst record for Stock Market Performance Read More »
Bank of America is reported in the Dealbook of the NYTimes as settling a class action suit by Bank of America shareholders for $2.43B. An earlier Dealbook story decribees the reasons for the lawsuit. This lawsuit, brought by Bank of America shareholders, claims that Bank of America and its executives, including its former chief executive, Kenneth
US Banking:Bank of America Is Sc**wing Shareholders Again Read More »
Each quarter the Kellogg School of Northwestern University and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business do a survey of more than 1,000 American households examining the trust in US Financial institutions. The latest results for June 2012 are labelled Too Big To Trust. The Stock Market has the lowest confidence level at 15%
Daily Facts: Trust in US Financial Institutions Read More »
Shark Week was last week and I am not talking about the GOP Convention. But Financial Shark Week is being resurrected this week in the Wall Street Journal and the NYTimes. It started with Andrew Ross Sorkin noting in the Dealbook section of the NYTimes, that Facebook’s IPO-Initial Public Offering of stock was priced too
Business as Sharks Read More »
NYTimes headline – Iran Sentences Four to Death Over $2.6 Billion Bank Fraud. Hmmmmm – Sharia or Islamic Law has more bite on white collar crime than in the US. This is the number one festering financial problem in the World. The top ranks of the Financial community in the US,and all the developed world, appear to
Iran To Execute $Billion Bank Fraudsters Read More »
Financial turnaround Tall Tales from the Banking Community are not hard to find because the Banksters are creating scandolous headlines at an ever faster rate this year. Yet these same parties and much of the Financial Press continue to insist that everything is a-okay. The apologists make very hollow arguments: 1)financial markets are the
Weill Weill Weill – the Financial Tall Tale Gold Medal Read More »
The following is a rotten prediction based on the LIBOR Scandal. It is “rotten” becuase it has huge implications not just for the US Presidential elections but also for worldwide governance. And the situation is not pretty. First take a look at the LIBOR Scandal here: The whole problem is this. If banks and Financial
Dirty Rotten LIBOR Prediction Read More »
What possible connection can one make with convicted child molester, Penn State Assistant Football coach Jerry Sandusky, and the LIBOR interest rates set in London by a select list of 18 banks lead by Barclays Bank? Another bit of trash journalism or is there a possible connection? Jerry Sandusky, convicted child molester This last week, the
Moral Vacuum: Jerry Sandusky and the LIBOR Scandal Read More »
When you think of the English, Justice and “Doing the Right Thing” they are almost synonymous. One has to think that near-failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock during the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis was just an anomaly. Just a whiff of the Wall Street Flu. The British run Wimbledon, the Olympics and
LIBOR = Continuing Corruption in Banking and Finance and Governance Read More »
The Big 3 in Consumer Computing for the next 3-8 years have declared themselves. With Microsoft and Google now committing to hardware as well as software they have joined Apple as all-in in Consumer Computing. In effect the Apple Model, compete in any and all hardware and software segments while holding the critical OS keys
Apple, Google, Microsoft Now Dominate Computing Read More »
Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone is noted for his investigations of the Financial Community particulary since the Financial Meltdown of 2007 to 2009. In an article in Rolling Stone for February 2011 Matt asked the question Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail?. he concluded that it was two major factors – The Obama administration and
On Financial Meltdown Prosecutions Read More »
Well I saw the Jamie Dimon performance on Meet The Press on Sunday Morning and he looked good in a Black Swan motif. Here is what some commentary had to say: LATimes – What Jamie Dimon Didn’t Tell You on Meet the Press NYTimes – What the Banker Did Tell you in StageCoach FinancialTimes – Jamie Dimon creates a
Sign of the Banking Times Read More »
The following letter of resignation by Greg Smith from Goldman Sachs published at the NYTimes appears to provide proof that the Finance Vulture Culture has survived despite the onslaught of Bush and Obama administration legal prosecution cases against the financiers responsible for the Mortgage Meltdown and Financial Crisis. Now to be sure this Survival of the Fittest extends beyond
The Culture of Finance Read More »
If the Republicans want a bona fide issue to tar and feather President Obama on, its his kowtowing to the banks exemplified most recently by the Housing Settlement. Once again, “for the sake of the economy”, banks get away with major white collar financial crime. Anything for a settlement. The $25Billion is peanuts in comparison to the the
The Housing “Settlement” Stinks Badly Read More »
The five major problems facing not just the US but almost all developed countries are the following: 1)Jobs are going to the developing countries with very favorable rates of exchange and wage level relative to prosperous developed countries. Wages in China, India, Vietnam, Brazil and others across the board are a fraction of the developed
5 Major Wicked Problems and US Election Politics Read More »
Nicholas Kristoff at the NYTimes, has a very telling piece about the Bankers who brought about the 2007-2008 Financial meltdown. Recent disclosures by Bloomberg and others have made it clear that the $0.70 Trillion TARP bailout was just the tip of the iceberg as 10 time the TARP, or $7.0trillion has been spent to bailout
Occupy Wall Street’s Enduring Message Read More »
Harry’s Law, in yesterday’s episode called Head Games, takes up the Occupy Wall Street Message in full form.The episode deals with a woman whose home is foreclosed; so in desperation she goes and robs one of the bank’s branches. The team’s defense for the woman is the so called Outrageous Government Misconduct defense. In the
Occupy Wall Street Moves to TV? Read More »
In options market trading ye Editor has always wondered why Naked Puts are allowed as transactions. Naked Puts mean I don’t own the underlying stock but I am guaranteed being able to sell it at a fixed price up to a fixed date. Why the transaction? If I own the underlying security a Natural Put
Wall Street as a High Risk Gambling Den Read More »
Is it a tenor of the Times that only an American writing for a British paper, the Guardian, could produce a plausible story of why the Occupy Movements, predominately peaceful, non-violent protests, were shutdown? Naomi Wolf writing for the Guardian,has produced a story that shows that Federal Homeland Security officials worked in co-ordination with 18
How and Why the Occupy Wall Street Camps Were Shutdown Read More »
