An Update June 3, 2008
Posted by baxtersbrother2 in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
Well, because of funding issues, The Main Author of this blog has been officially laid off as of the end of the month. It was really a blow because of the quality of the office environment and the tremendous progress that has been made during the short tenure. And while I wasn’t let go from Sam Adams for performance reasons, it still stings a little.
The blog will be continued in another paradigm once the “dust falls.”
The Bear Stearns Situation, play by play. May 29, 2008
Posted by baxtersbrother2 in Accounting, Economy, Social Discourse, Tax Policy., US Government, Uncategorized.Tags: Bear Stearns, Federal Reserve, Government Intervention, JPMorganChase, Sub-prime mortgages, Wall Street Journal
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There is a very indepth series of articles from The Wall Street Journal that goes into great detail about the failure and “bailout” of Bear Stearns. The articles paint a picture that is nothing short of breath-taking. The beginning of the article has a vision of a trader, confronting the CEO, Alan Schwartz, and asking “How could this happen to 14,000 employees?” “Look into my eyes, and tell me how how this happened!” This is the 64,000 question.
Many large financial institutions have failed. One, was Drexel Burnham, Lambert, for example. But what makes this interesting is that this is the first time that the Federal Reserve responded.
Bear Stearns had alot of mortgages on their books, mortgages that were defaulting. The risk that Bear Stearns was assuming was great along with the fact that they had a cashflow problem.
Wikipedia explains it well…. As of November 30, 2007 Bear Stearns had notional contract amounts of approximately $13.40 trillion in derivative financial instruments, of which $1.85 trillion were listed futures and option contracts. In addition Bear Stearns was carrying more than $28 billion in ‘level 3′ assets on its books at the end of fiscal 2007 versus a net equity position of only $11.7 billion. During 2007, Bear Stearns had several funds that invested heavily in Sub-prime mortgages, and as the market tanked, the value evaporated. This was noticed in releasing earnings, when it was shown that net profits dropped 61%. Then in November, Bear Stearns wrote down another $1.2 billion. This caused more skepticism of the group, as many other brokerages (faced with their own problems) wanted to not do business with Bear Anymore.
In March, clients were dropping like flies. Cash was disappearing. Bankruptcy was definitely on the table, even though it would decimate the business. Then someone called the Federal Reserve. Then in an act of governmental interaction, the Federal Reserve, in connection with JPMorganChase issued an emergency 28 day loan. 4 days later, Bear Stearns and JPMorganChase agreed to a merger at $2 per share ( which got raised to $10, because of threat of shareholder lawsuits.)
What this blog found interesting was that the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was leery. The Wall Street Journal reports that “given the unprecedented level of government intervention in rescuing the troubled firm,& appearing to bailout Wall Street Investors while many were facing foreclosure.
GOT ALL OF THIS…. It is the opinion of this blog that this was a bailout that is unprecedented. The Congress is having a dreadful time regarding the Mortgage crisis, but can scope out a deal over a weekend. It furthers the question of how much governmental intervention is appropriate. There are two schools of thought, one is that Ok, you invested, got over extended, and failed; the second is that this needed to be done, otherwise the economy would have been driven further into recession.
The Bear Stearns situation is a situation that is the sign of the times. The sub-prime and other mortgage crisis not only effected the borrowers whose homes are repossessed, but large institutions as well. However, what is different, is that the government was quick to come to Bear Stearns aid and has been not as quick in coming to those effected by the sub-prime crisis. What is good for one, should be good for the other. Many, Many people lost billions of dollars because of the situation and there is empathy. The true effects will be felt for many years to come.
Media Matters & John McCain. May 21, 2008
Posted by baxtersbrother2 in Uncategorized.Tags: John McCain, Libertarian, Media Matters, NYTimes, Oregon
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The attached was sent to me by Media Matters. It comments about a NYTimes article.
The Title of the posting is :
Ignoring flip-flops, NY Times cited McCain’s “history” on immigration, relationship with “religious conservatives” as appealing to Oregonians’ “libertarian streak”
All I got to say is this: I know Libertarians, I work with Libertarians, Libertarians are friends of mine and there is no way in hell that John McCain is a Libertarian!
A New Resource May 21, 2008
Posted by baxtersbrother2 in Uncategorized.Tags: Sunshine Review
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There is a great NEW resource that may be of interest. It is called the Sunshine Review. Check it Out
Obama gets the Delegate Majority, Now what? May 21, 2008
Posted by baxtersbrother2 in Uncategorized.Tags: Barack Obama, Election 2008, Fox News, Hamilton Jordan, Jeremiah Wright, Jimmy Carter, John McCain, Liberal Media, Michelle Obama
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Subtle as a sledgehammer would like to extend condolenses to the Friends & Family of Hamilton Jordan who passed on last night of Cancer. Hamilton Jordan was President Jimmy Carter’s chief of staff from 1977 to 1981. His death was announced on Fox News last night while examining the Kentucky Primary and the Oregon Caucuses.
It is timing that is incredible because many believe that a Barack Obama Presidency would be similar to President Jimmy Carter’s. Here is an example of some of the maliaseness of the Carter Administration before delving into the post.
Oh Yes he did. Jimmy Carter sounds very weak. Now my question is that does Jimmy Carter sound anything like Barack Obama? The reason why this is pulled together is because Barack Obama has the delegate majority as reported in The Washington Post, and it looks like he will be the Democratic Nominee. However the official event has not been unfolded. The speech from Iowa last night was quite inspiring.
There are alot of issues that will be addressed by the Nominee of each party. These issues range from the economy, terrorism, health care, global warming. The list goes on and on. There has been alot of things that have been heightened over the last Eight years. Michelle Obama is not a political issue and neither is Jeremiah Wright. This blog has commented extensively about Jemimah Wright, (Here), and (Here). This blog has commented about the relationship or acquaintance of Barack and William Ayers. (Here). Therefore, it is not value adding to rehash these concerns. Barack Obama was correct in his defense of his wife. The video in question that led to the questions is below:
Note, that she has said, hope is making a comeback, people are hungry for change and desperate for change. Now, the comments that are heard over and over (Fox News) are below:
Notice the difference! She is illustrating how in need of hope the nation is. Some of her words could be taken out of context, but she is not someone angry who “Hates America.” When is it politically acceptable to attack the families of candidates?
Furthermore, she is not the person running, he is!
This has been the most bizarre primary season in history and Barack Obama has to confront racial issues. This blog has commented extensively on that issue also, (Here). He has made some mistakes (Blog post) but so has John McCain. Some of the liberal media have tried to put Barack on a pedestal, (Blog Post)
This post is not endorsing Barack Obama for President. However, when is the election going to be determined by actual issues instead of distraction? It is not helping the dialogue at all to have to waste time on issues like this. People are turned off. America is yearning for hope.
Mrs Schlafly and Washington University May 19, 2008
Posted by baxtersbrother2 in Election 2008, Resources, Social Discourse, Uncategorized.Tags: Commencement, ERA, Feminism, Phyllis Schlafly, Washington University
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Oh Lord, it is commencement speech time again and dreadful person Phyllis Schlafly was to be awarded an honorary doctorate on Saturday at Washington University. In response, half of the graduating class turned their backs and many faculty just walked out.
Here is the Youtube:
She is quite frankly, very dreadful. However, as a massive protest, it appears that the Graduating class of 2007 is attacking a “little old lady.”
She did campaign heavily against The Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970’s which seems distant now. Now People are making strides in equality. Some may view her as quite libertarian. America do not believe it!
Some of the things that have been said are from La-La Land or something. Check this out…
- By getting married, the woman has consented to sex, and I don’t think you can call it rape.
- People think that child-support enforcement benefits children, but it doesn’t.
- Men should stop treating feminists like ladies, and instead treat them like the men they say they want to be.
- And the first commandment of feminism is: I am woman; thou shalt not tolerate strange gods who assert that women have capabilities or often choose roles that are different from men’s.
- ERA means abortion funding, means homosexual privileges, means whatever else.
Got that. It is just bizarre, and she does have the right to her opinions, but when there is a platform, where she is given substantial influence about American discourse, it causes concern.
However, given the actual situation at Washington University, it is surprising that Mrs Schlafly was granted an honorary doctorate. Her views are outdated and quite frankly, do not represent much of the American discourse. If ordinary people state the comments that are listed above, then they would isolate their friends and family quite quickly. It may be a symbolic measure to grant someone who has had influence ( Which Mrs Schlafly has had), but it is symbolism, not substance.
Watergate: The Gift that keeps on Giving, 35 years later. May 19, 2008
Posted by baxtersbrother2 in The press, US Government, Uncategorized.Tags: C-span, John Dean, John Mitchell, Richard Nixon, Watergate
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Ok, I will admit it. Sometimes over the weekends, I do not have a life. However, it has been a Watergate Weekend. I have linked this to Wikipedia for those who do not know what Watergate is. First of All, it is interesting, but even after 35 years, and after most of the men who were involved are deceased (Except G. Gordon Liddy & John Dean), there are similar themes.
First of all, there was a conversation about Watergate on “American Prespectives” on C-SPAN. The link would not attach, so I will attach this link and then go down and select the American Prespectives link.
Second, there is a new book, The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate, In this book, as explained in Q & A, this is the first biography about John Mitchell, President Nixon’s right hand individual. It is interesting. Here is the Q & A Link.
An Article about McCain May 18, 2008
Posted by baxtersbrother2 in Uncategorized.1 comment so far
There is a very lengthly article in The New York Times Magazine about Senator John McCain. It is definitely in-sightful.
Bush’s Comments in Israel May 16, 2008
Posted by baxtersbrother2 in Uncategorized.Tags: Golf, Iraq, Keith Olbermann, President Bush
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The comments that President Bush has said in multiple parts has infurated this blogger so much that I can not even analyze it. Here is the article from : The New York Times.
There are two videos from MSNBC’s Countdown by Keith Olbermann which made me the most insane. I am not a fan of Keith Olbermann, and he can be slightly pissy. However, the way that everything comes together and what was said is something that has upset me enough that I can not even comment.
Here is Number two, it goes back a little, but emphasizes the golf point.
I could not have said it better myself. I think that now silently, Many of the GOP are just counting down the days until January 20th 2009. There will be no “Thank you Mr Bush” or “4 more years” demonstrations at the GOP Convention this summer. If so, it will be fake.
Bush’s arrogance will be coming to an end soon!
Minute Waltz May 16, 2008
Posted by baxtersbrother2 in Uncategorized.add a comment
The Minute Waltz is a story from the NY Times that is a great read, enjoy.
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