Booman Tribune ~ A Progressive Community

Deep Thought (Irrational Exuberance ed.)

by Steven D
Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 05:33:32 PM EST

Yay! I'm rich[er] today than I was yesterday, i.e., my 401K is less poor. Thank you Old Europe.

The governments of Europe today embarked on their biggest financial gamble since the launch of the euro single currency by pledging to buy tottering banks, underwrite their lending and flood the markets with liquidity in a package that could cost up to €2trillion (£1.5trillion) across the EU.
In a closely coordinated rash of announcements, Germany, France, Austria and Spain unveiled packages worth hundreds of billions of euros aimed at shoring up their banks and financial systems, while Italy, Sweden, Poland and Norway prepared parallel action.
The radical and risky moves followed an emergency summit of the 15 single currency countries in Paris on Sunday night which agreed a set of rules and instruments for the unprecedented state interventions modelled on the British government's triple-whammy strategy unveiled last week.
The scale, ambition and potential costs of the programmes suggested European leaders were determined to rise to the challenge of the financial crisis through concerted action, displaying a degree of leadership that put Washington, the global economic leader, in the shade.

So, how long will the good times last? And how will Bush, McCain and the GOP spin this as all their doing?

Deep Thought (Irrational Exuberance ed.) | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Thanks to Old Europe (4.00 / 2)

No thanks required - we're always glad to give a buddy a dime. Just don't sell us any more of those damn sub-prime mortgages!

"We reported back to hearts what we had seen, and told our footsteps all about where we had been."

by Frank Schnittger (Frankschnittger at hotmail dotty communists) on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 06:05:24 PM EST

Re: Thanks to Old Europe (4.00 / 3)

I'm certain the GOP will want freedom fries with that;-)

"Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live." Dorothy Thompson, Journalist

by Indianadem on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 06:14:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Deep Thought (Irrational Exuberance ed.) (none / 0)

so....does this actually "fix" anything?

by Brad on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 06:55:29 PM EST

Re: Deep Thought (Irrational Exuberance ed.) (none / 0)

No, not really. But it made the traders on Wall Street happy. For today anyway.

John McCain hates my wife because she's a "gook."

by Steven D on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 07:20:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Deep Thought (Irrational Exuberance ed.) (none / 1)

A little cold water on the high fiving.

Newsflash: All that money, $2.546 bn, came from the US Feds -

it was a currency swap -
The feds allowed the world central banks to flood the world markets with $$, offering swaps in unlimited amounts...an infinite supply. The Feds' cursor is working 24/7. From where do USD$ originate?

Bloomberg Link:
The Federal Reserve led an unprecedented push by central banks to flood the financial system with as many dollars as banks want, backing up government efforts to revive confidence and helping to reduce money-market rates.
The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank will offer European banks unlimited dollar funds with maturities of seven, 28 and 84 days at fixed interest rates against ``appropriate collateral,'' the Washington-based Fed said today. Previously, the Fed had capped at $380 billion the currency it would swap with the three central banks.

A currency Swap

is a foreign exchange agreement between two parties to exchange a given amount of one currency for another and, after a specified period of time, to give back the original amounts swapped. Currency swaps can be negotiated for a variety of maturities of up to 30 years.
Unlike a back-to-back loan, a currency swap is not considered to be a loan by United States accounting laws and thus it is not reflected on a company's balance sheet. A swap is considered to be a foreign exchange transaction (short leg) plus an obligation to close the swap (far leg) being a forward contract.

Today was the day for creating miracles. A loan becomes a swap. The same old off-balance sheet techniques that brought us to this financial meltdown.

Gold at $2,000 an ounce will be a good bargain buy.

Get prepared for what is being framed as hyper-inflation Zimbabwe style.

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"

by idredit on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 07:07:36 PM EST

Re: Deep Thought (Irrational Exuberance ed.) (none / 1)

But we're Too Big To Fail! If they don't bail us out, we all sink, and if they remain tied to the dollar at those hideous exchange rates as the dollar plummets over the next few months due to the massive liquidity trap we've laid for ourselves, we all sink too!

I mean it's not like we've spent the last eight years under an administration full of idiots who have never heard of the law of unintended consequences, right?

More at Zandar vs. The Stupid.

by Zandar1 on Mon Oct 13th, 2008 at 07:22:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Deep Thought (Irrational Exuberance ed.) (none / 0)

What an illusion?

The game plan, Monetary stimulation, is designed to get BushPaulsonMcPalin pass the finish line on November 4.

Enjoy the next 22 days.

If we do the same things by a factor of ten we get CONSEQUENCES times, maybe 100.

Fool the world for 22 days.

Hey when others do it, it's Nationalization. When we do it it's bank-buy-in.

I heard NPR reporting that Paulson told the nine banksters, "you have no choice, I hate doing this" !!!!?!!!!

Oh my. What fools we are. Where's Karl Marx?

Here's a headline you just can't make up

The Times, UK
Bush: bank buyout needed 'to preserve free market'
President Bush today confirmed a $250 billion plan for the US Government to buy shares in America's largest banks, insisting that the move was "not intended to take over the free market but to preseve it".

I can't find my begging bowl. But then it doesn't matter, I'd be refused.

Well, "You can't vote for war and disown the results"

by idredit on Tue Oct 14th, 2008 at 09:46:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Deep Thought (Irrational Exuberance ed.) | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Go to: [ Booman Tribune Homepage : Top of page : Top of comments ]

. Home
. About
. Contact
. Advertise
. FAQ
. Search

Username:
Password:

. Make a new account
. Reset password

Gift Cards * New Arrivals

NOTE: Overstock bests Amazon's prices and is "blue."

THE BOOKS WITH "BUZZ":
______________

Learn the real story behind the CIA's War on Terror:

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals
by Jane Mayer

Read Barack Obama's vision for America:

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by Barack Obama

DaveW recommends:

I Am a Strange Loop
by Douglas Hofstadter

Need some laughs?

I Am America (and So Can You!)
by Stephen Colbert

rae recommends:

Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire
by Morris Berman.

On BooMan’s shelf:

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This looks interesting:

Adventure Divas
by Holly Morris

Here’s a good one from
Elizabeth Gilbert:

Eat Pray Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert

"Crash" * Best Motion Picture, Academy Awards * Only $11.79 at Overstock * 2006 SAG Winner, Best Ensemble

Check out
Powell's new section:
NEW FAVORITES
Selected new arrivals at 30% off

Recommended by Indianadem and ejmw:
The Conscience of a Liberal
by Paul Wellstone

From northcountry’s bookshelf:

The New Golden Age:
The Coming Revolution Against
Political Corruption and Economic Chaos by Ravi Batra

A novel about contractors in Iraq from the woman that runs The Spy That Billed Me:

Outsourced: A Novel
from RJ Hillhouse.

Download Sleeper Cell on iTunes

(Better than "24") Download Weeds on iTunes

(Hilarious 1/2-hour adult comedy starring Mary-Louise Parker) Download Late Nite with Conan O'Brien on iTunes

Download South Park on iTunes

James Hunter - People Gonna Talk:

Great Deals
----- * ^ * -----

Find mystery novels by Nancy Pickard ("Kansas")

Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power by Phyllis Bennis (interviewed on DN!)

Featured by Keith Olbermann, New (Powell's Sale): Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower by William Blum (whose other books merit serious consideration)

"Explosive" State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
by James Risen

The book the CIA doesn't want you to read: Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
Larry Johnson's review

BT's all-time best seller:

PERMACULTURE:
A Designers' Manual
$79.95 * Sale: $59.95

Unequal Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women's History (Third Edition)

The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor And Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by Timothy Egan

Green Press Initiative
----- * ^ * -----

Journalistas: 100 Years of the Best Writing and Reporting by Women Journalists by Eleanor Mills * NYT review

Bury Me Standing: the Gypsies & Their Journey

1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus

Brokeback Mountain
by Annie Proulx
----- * ^ * -----
Check out Powell's
"At The Movies"

Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World by Noam Chomsky (Power & Terror: Post 9-11 Talks)

The Price of Privilege:

How Parental Pressure and
Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of
Disconnected and Unhappy Kids
by Madeline Levine

Save 35-70% on
name brand clothing,
footwear, and outdoor gear
at SierraTradingPost.com
:

We listened to PEN American Center's "State of Emergency" and found 1940s books by Curzio Malaparte only at Alibris. (Selection (MP3) excerpted from "The Skin.")

Banned Books * Are you a fan of Film Noir, Art House, Documentaries or Hong Kong Action? * Searching for a long-lost children's book or a first printing of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on vinyl? Find it at Alibris!

:
:

Booman Tribune Homepage
admin@boomantribune.com
powered by Scoop

More blogs about Blogs at Technorati.

Technorati Profile