Today you will learn that Wamu has now joined the list of financial institutions to disappear. Did that happen last night because yesterday afternoon Paulson, and co didn't get their way so by making things appear more urgent today they are hoping to be given unprecedented and unnecessary funding and authority with no recourse? hmmm
Below is a response I received yesterday from Senator Mel Martinez notice the phrase "a financial crisis perhaps bigger than the Great Depression." Perhaps? no perhaps, reality is this is far bigger than the great depression, making it the Greater Depression! We are not alone in this, Canada and Europe will soon follow, Asia will only be a few years behind them.
In times of rapid and significant changes we find monumental opportunities. do you know what they are or where to find them? if not email "help" to info@trgcoaching.com
Financial Rescue Plan
Speech to the U.S. Senate
U.S. Senator Mel Martinez
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
This Congress is about to consider the most important legislation affecting our financial markets – certainly for a generation – possibly in our country’s history.
The American people must understand exactly what is at stake as we begin consideration.
What has happened is that the credit markets have quit functioning. Credit cards, car loans, home equity loans, home mortgages, business loans.
Business loans to keep large and small businesses operating have ceased to exist. The financial markets are not functioning putting in jeopardy our entire economy.
Without timely government intervention, the financial system as we know it will no longer exist.
This isn’t a Wall Street versus Main Street argument. This is about every American’s ability to pursue his or her American Dream. Without liquidity in the marketplace, financial transactions come to a halt – and that will create a complete collapse of the financial system.
So the need to act has become clear. Treasury Secretary Paulson has asked for the authority to purchase illiquid assets from financial institutions in an attempt to get the markets functioning again.
But with that authority, comes great responsibility and Congress has an obligation to the US taxpayer to ensure that any program is crafted and carried out with appropriate oversight.
Congress should consider limiting executive compensation in any package we discuss.
Congress will have to engage in active oversight of Treasury as they implement whatever plan we approve. So there should be no blank check. There will be no blank check.
Let me also mention I am pleased to learn of ongoing investigations into the activities of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, and Lehman Brothers. This is the worst financial crisis that our country has encountered in recent history and we owe it to taxpayers to get to the bottom of any wrong doing that occurred.
We need to prosecute any inappropriate behavior on the part of these companies to the fullest extent of the law. If we are going to have to fix this problem, those that created need to be held accountable.
After the dust clears, Congress cannot lose sight of one of the main reasons why we are so heavily encumbered by this crisis – why our financial system is so deeply troubled at this moment in time.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were huge contributors to the problem because of their thin capitalization, ever-expanding portfolios and risky practices.
They fueled and funneled the risky securities that Wall Street bought and sold and made lots of money while ignoring the systemic risk their moves posed to the financial system.
In 2003, when I was HUD secretary, I came before this Congress with Treasury Secretary Snow and warned of the loose regulation of the GSEs and the risk posed by their undercapitalization.
We asked Congress to create a world class regulator to properly provide oversight to these financial entities that had become so large that they had an implied government guarantee and they were deemed too big to fail.
In 2005, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress how urgent it was for it to act in the clearest possible terms: If Fannie and Freddie, “…continue to grow, continue to have the low capital that they have, continue to engage in the dynamic hedging of their portfolios, which they need to do for interest rate risk aversion, they potentially create ever-growing potential systemic risk down the road.”
We are now at the end of that road.
As we go forward, not only will Congress have to determine the future role of these entities, we need to take a very close look at the practices that brought us to this place.
Throughout all of this work, we cannot lose sight of the root cause of this financial debacle – the housing crisis.
Floridians are among the hardest hit in the nation.
Housing prices continue to fall; inventories continue to rise; and a growing number of homeowners are facing their own personal foreclosure crisis.
To find the bottom of the housing crisis, to stabilize prices, we need to act. Congress can approve home buying incentives. Congress can approve a tax credit for down payments. That would at least encourage people to enter the marketplace, would reduce housing inventories, and get the money flowing back into the market.
As Congress debates this package, let’s remember who we work for – the American taxpayer. Our priority should be making decisions that serve their best interest. No blank check. Strict oversight. Accountability. Taxpayer recourse.
It is in every American’s best interest that we act. I look forward to creating the right legislation that averts a financial crisis that will affect every American – a financial crisis perhaps bigger than the Great Depression.
It is a time for responsible leadership. It is not a time for an easy out or a pulpit for populist rhetoric. We need to rise to this moment – for the good of our country.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Rich Dad speaks . . .
for those of you who are familiar with the "Rich Dad" series, Robert Kiyosaki recently penned this for yahoo.com so simple, so sad, yet so true!
As we all know, the world changed drastically on Sept. 11, 2001, when the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell.
This year, on the eve of Sept. 11, the twin towers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac crumbled. Then, on Sept. 15, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch disappeared. Actually, that was a triple-tower collapse if you count AIG.
In a few years, the biggest pair of towers will collapse: Social Security and Medicare. Even today, they're looking shaky. How many ground zeros can we as people, a nation, and a world withstand before we admit something is very wrong with our global financial systems? What will it take to wake us up?
Government Can't Fix It
Personally, I believe the biggest it's a problem that so many Americans are looking to this year's presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, to save our financial system. How did we become so financially weak that we surrender our economic independence to politicians? Where does it say in the Constitution that the government should solve our financial problems?
And why have so many people throughout the world come to expect financial life-support from their political leaders? It seems most people will vote for anyone who promises a chicken in every pot and a guaranteed mortgage payment.
We're in the midst of a problem neither candidate can solve: A lack of comprehensive financial education in our school systems. What else explains the economic blunders committed by our political and financial leaders? Or why so many consumers are in debt up to their eyeballs? Or why millions of people expect a quick government fix of some kind?
Under Water
A few months ago, a friend of mine from Hawaii asked me if I wanted to buy his new powerboat with twin motors. Apparently, in late 2007, he purchased it brand new for approximately $85,000. His plan was to refinance his house when it appreciated in value and use the difference to pay for the boat.
Failing to obtain new financing, he called to ask me if I would buy the boat from him -- just take over the payments and it was mine. I passed, and the bank eventually repossessed his boat. Later, his wife called to tell me he's now having problems making his mortgage payments. Apparently, my friend planned to pay for his house the same way he planned on paying for the boat, by refinancing his debt.
I mention this story because it illustrates the problem Obama or McCain face: Limited financial education and diminished financial common sense. Apparently, my and the nation's business leaders all went to same school of finance.
A Cynical Aside
If you want to know why the towers of American capitalism are crumbling, I recommend reading "The Creature from Jekyll Island" by G. Edward Griffin. It's not an easy book to find, but once you start reading it's to put down. In fact, in many ways it's a murder mystery about the financial "murder" of the middle class.
A very important lesson in the book is how political leaders use financial spin to deceive the public. The very, very rich use the system to legally steal from the rest of us by appealing to our sense of patriotism. When our leaders say, "We're bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because we want to protect the American people," they really mean "We're saving our rich friends."
All the bankers and politicians have to do is wave the red, white, and blue, play a few bars of "Yankee Doodle," and the masses get teary-eyed and pledge greater allegiance to legalized robbery. Yes, it's true that ignorance is bliss -- but ignorance is also expensive, and it cost us our freedom.
Freedom at Peril
A bailout can be different things. First, printing more money is a kind of bailout that leads to higher inflation. Rather than protecting people, it makes life for the poor and middle class more expensive. The other kind of bailout is protection for our rich and incompetent friends. If you or I fail at business, we fail. If we cheat and fail, we go to jail. But if you're rich and politically connected, your incompetence may be protected by a government bailout.
As a former Marine and a Vietnam War veteran, it saddens me to see some of the freedoms I thought I went to war to protect being stolen from us by bankers and politicians. Unfortunately, few Americans know the difference between the words "nationalize" and "socialize." Socialize means we turn more of our personal powers over to Big Brother, not free enterprise. It means we as a people grow weaker and need a higher power -- the same power that got us into this mess -- to protect us.
In short, when the towers of Fannie, Freddie, Merrill, Lehman, and AIG came crashing down, more came down than just money. What we're losing is the very freedom this country was founded on, and what most of the world yearns for.
Are you doing anything to improve your personal situation? If not start today by contacting: www.MooreHelpTrust.com
and if you are looking for help growing your business email the word "Help" to info@trgcoaching.com
As we all know, the world changed drastically on Sept. 11, 2001, when the twin towers of the World Trade Center fell.
This year, on the eve of Sept. 11, the twin towers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac crumbled. Then, on Sept. 15, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch disappeared. Actually, that was a triple-tower collapse if you count AIG.
In a few years, the biggest pair of towers will collapse: Social Security and Medicare. Even today, they're looking shaky. How many ground zeros can we as people, a nation, and a world withstand before we admit something is very wrong with our global financial systems? What will it take to wake us up?
Government Can't Fix It
Personally, I believe the biggest it's a problem that so many Americans are looking to this year's presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, to save our financial system. How did we become so financially weak that we surrender our economic independence to politicians? Where does it say in the Constitution that the government should solve our financial problems?
And why have so many people throughout the world come to expect financial life-support from their political leaders? It seems most people will vote for anyone who promises a chicken in every pot and a guaranteed mortgage payment.
We're in the midst of a problem neither candidate can solve: A lack of comprehensive financial education in our school systems. What else explains the economic blunders committed by our political and financial leaders? Or why so many consumers are in debt up to their eyeballs? Or why millions of people expect a quick government fix of some kind?
Under Water
A few months ago, a friend of mine from Hawaii asked me if I wanted to buy his new powerboat with twin motors. Apparently, in late 2007, he purchased it brand new for approximately $85,000. His plan was to refinance his house when it appreciated in value and use the difference to pay for the boat.
Failing to obtain new financing, he called to ask me if I would buy the boat from him -- just take over the payments and it was mine. I passed, and the bank eventually repossessed his boat. Later, his wife called to tell me he's now having problems making his mortgage payments. Apparently, my friend planned to pay for his house the same way he planned on paying for the boat, by refinancing his debt.
I mention this story because it illustrates the problem Obama or McCain face: Limited financial education and diminished financial common sense. Apparently, my and the nation's business leaders all went to same school of finance.
A Cynical Aside
If you want to know why the towers of American capitalism are crumbling, I recommend reading "The Creature from Jekyll Island" by G. Edward Griffin. It's not an easy book to find, but once you start reading it's to put down. In fact, in many ways it's a murder mystery about the financial "murder" of the middle class.
A very important lesson in the book is how political leaders use financial spin to deceive the public. The very, very rich use the system to legally steal from the rest of us by appealing to our sense of patriotism. When our leaders say, "We're bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because we want to protect the American people," they really mean "We're saving our rich friends."
All the bankers and politicians have to do is wave the red, white, and blue, play a few bars of "Yankee Doodle," and the masses get teary-eyed and pledge greater allegiance to legalized robbery. Yes, it's true that ignorance is bliss -- but ignorance is also expensive, and it cost us our freedom.
Freedom at Peril
A bailout can be different things. First, printing more money is a kind of bailout that leads to higher inflation. Rather than protecting people, it makes life for the poor and middle class more expensive. The other kind of bailout is protection for our rich and incompetent friends. If you or I fail at business, we fail. If we cheat and fail, we go to jail. But if you're rich and politically connected, your incompetence may be protected by a government bailout.
As a former Marine and a Vietnam War veteran, it saddens me to see some of the freedoms I thought I went to war to protect being stolen from us by bankers and politicians. Unfortunately, few Americans know the difference between the words "nationalize" and "socialize." Socialize means we turn more of our personal powers over to Big Brother, not free enterprise. It means we as a people grow weaker and need a higher power -- the same power that got us into this mess -- to protect us.
In short, when the towers of Fannie, Freddie, Merrill, Lehman, and AIG came crashing down, more came down than just money. What we're losing is the very freedom this country was founded on, and what most of the world yearns for.
Are you doing anything to improve your personal situation? If not start today by contacting: www.MooreHelpTrust.com
and if you are looking for help growing your business email the word "Help" to info@trgcoaching.com
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Ask your elected officials to PLEASE . . .
DO NOT allow Band-Aids to be produced and continuously applied to our economy, as it is the burden on our future generations appears to be almost insurmountable. PLEASE DO NOT allow Sec Paulson to make the situation worse. Allow free market forces to run their course. There will absolutely be pain; it will be incurred by those who have also received the pleasure. NO ONE should be in a position as he has recently requested:
Sec. 8. Review. Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency
if not because it is the right thing to do, please do it for our children!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Top 10 Lessons being taught by our government . . .
#10 our elected officials aren’t really in control or making decisions, they want to be re elected so they delegate responsibility for difficult choices to non elected officials (Paulson, Bernanke, et al)
#9 create the perception of stability at any cost immediately prior to elections – how else could you maintain your extreme lifestyle without providing anything of value to our society?
#8 Promise whatever you feel like promising knowing that in a few months it will be someone else’s headache and the buddies you helped to make a fortune by putting on a band aid will certainly reward you with a cushy private sector position as a consultant or advisor
#7 if you want to keep up with The Joneses we will encourage you to lie about your income and assets so you can get in over your head financially, and then we will look for ways to relieve you of your responsibilities
#6 Why think for yourself or learn to be fiscally responsible at home, your leaders certainly don’t
#5 Creative accounting (aka lying, cheating and stealing) is acceptable behavior and if you do enough of it, thereby screwing lots of people in the process we will support your receiving a bonus as you are removed from your post.
#4 you don’t need to consider the consequences of your actions, encouraging and supporting a housing and credit bubble was great when everyone thought they were better off and now we had no way to know it was going to happen (Why have my clients known it since 2004?)
#3 if you want someone to take care of you, and you feel entitled to public assistance, scream loud enough and someone will throw money at you just to make you go away
#2 No need to worry about tomorrow, our kids are smart let them figure it out (oh wait we have dropped educationally in almost each of the last 40 years when compared to other countries) maybe my priorities are faulty but if we spent less than $80 Billion on education last year and we just threw $85 Billion at AIG, what message are our actions clearly sending?
And the #1 lesson being taught by our government . . .
if you are completely irresponsible on a big enough scale we will not only look the other way, we will step in and spend tax payer dollars to bail you out! (See AIG, Fannie/Freddie/Bear Stearns, etc)
#9 create the perception of stability at any cost immediately prior to elections – how else could you maintain your extreme lifestyle without providing anything of value to our society?
#8 Promise whatever you feel like promising knowing that in a few months it will be someone else’s headache and the buddies you helped to make a fortune by putting on a band aid will certainly reward you with a cushy private sector position as a consultant or advisor
#7 if you want to keep up with The Joneses we will encourage you to lie about your income and assets so you can get in over your head financially, and then we will look for ways to relieve you of your responsibilities
#6 Why think for yourself or learn to be fiscally responsible at home, your leaders certainly don’t
#5 Creative accounting (aka lying, cheating and stealing) is acceptable behavior and if you do enough of it, thereby screwing lots of people in the process we will support your receiving a bonus as you are removed from your post.
#4 you don’t need to consider the consequences of your actions, encouraging and supporting a housing and credit bubble was great when everyone thought they were better off and now we had no way to know it was going to happen (Why have my clients known it since 2004?)
#3 if you want someone to take care of you, and you feel entitled to public assistance, scream loud enough and someone will throw money at you just to make you go away
#2 No need to worry about tomorrow, our kids are smart let them figure it out (oh wait we have dropped educationally in almost each of the last 40 years when compared to other countries) maybe my priorities are faulty but if we spent less than $80 Billion on education last year and we just threw $85 Billion at AIG, what message are our actions clearly sending?
And the #1 lesson being taught by our government . . .
if you are completely irresponsible on a big enough scale we will not only look the other way, we will step in and spend tax payer dollars to bail you out! (See AIG, Fannie/Freddie/Bear Stearns, etc)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Goodbye to Lehman, Merrill Lynch and Wamu . . .
There will be more to come, but here are two more from our entry “How do the dominoes fall?” which was added last month. Sorry we didn’t included Merrill, mistake on our part, but if we were to include all the banks and financial companies (oh yeah builders too watch as those dominoes begin their tumbling act) who will soon be read their last rights the list would simply be too long to comprehend. Buckle up the ride starts to move faster in the very near future.
Below are lists we first started sharing with clients about 18 months ago, sometimes right on, sometimes not so much . . . at least not yet :)
Positive things ahead for:
pawn shops
paycheck advance stores/check cashing
consignment shops
medical (more sick people coming but long term govt caps this area)
solid small and regional banks
Target
Wal-Mart
silver
"green" technology
Toyota
Mc Donald's
Chik fil a
Home depot
Hemcon
smart creative non risk adverse people
smaller more agile companies
Blockbuster
fast food
alcohol
tobacco
vices of any sort
medical providers
funeral homes
cemeteries
Negative things ahead for:
most large financial service companies
mortgage companies
Starbucks
most insurance companies of any sort
high end retailers
builders
construction related fields
developers
most prop mgmnt companies
domestic auto
real estate related companies
idiots, those who can't think or refuse to do so
big slow to maneuver entities
movie theaters
amusement parks
high end restaurants
Enjoy the week – learn something to improve yourself and your life and then share it with others!
Below are lists we first started sharing with clients about 18 months ago, sometimes right on, sometimes not so much . . . at least not yet :)
Positive things ahead for:
pawn shops
paycheck advance stores/check cashing
consignment shops
medical (more sick people coming but long term govt caps this area)
solid small and regional banks
Target
Wal-Mart
silver
"green" technology
Toyota
Mc Donald's
Chik fil a
Home depot
Hemcon
smart creative non risk adverse people
smaller more agile companies
Blockbuster
fast food
alcohol
tobacco
vices of any sort
medical providers
funeral homes
cemeteries
Negative things ahead for:
most large financial service companies
mortgage companies
Starbucks
most insurance companies of any sort
high end retailers
builders
construction related fields
developers
most prop mgmnt companies
domestic auto
real estate related companies
idiots, those who can't think or refuse to do so
big slow to maneuver entities
movie theaters
amusement parks
high end restaurants
Enjoy the week – learn something to improve yourself and your life and then share it with others!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
It really is simple . . .
Lehman is following Fannie and Freddie (yeah, I know they claim to have saved the day with these two, it’s just a band aid that will hopefully be pulled off by whomever takes office after the election as it is ludicrous and unsustainable. If they don’t pull it off and instead replace it with another band aid the suffering will be even worse) Fannie and Freddie followed Indy Mac who was following Bear Stearns. Get used to it; many, many more are already dead and just waiting to topple. Bank and other financial institutions will fail lots and lots of them. People will loose jobs, loose homes, loose families, lots and lots and lots of them. It really is already done. Everything being proposed now is akin to closing the proverbial barn door after the horses have run off.
Accept it, don’t be that big flightless bird that when threatened buries its head in the sand! Picture that bird for a minute, what part of its body is sticking up in the air when it buries its head? For the entire world to come along and kick!?! You have choices. The time to make wise choices is now. You can bury your head and hope that your government will, for the first time in history, address a problem without making it worse. Or you could put down the crack pipe and realize that the only one looking out for you and your loved ones is you. So do it. Get yourself as financially solid as you can (www.moorehelptrust.com) and then work to maximize your human potential – be the best you can in order to help others who simply don’t yet get it! Put a note in your calendar to check www.allthebluewhales.com in about 10 days, it’s not out there yet, but from what I hear it will be dedicated to helping those who want to help themselves and then once you have helped yourselves you will be able to help others.
PS anyone willing to bet that we see Dow 8,500 before we see Dow 12,000 again?
Accept it, don’t be that big flightless bird that when threatened buries its head in the sand! Picture that bird for a minute, what part of its body is sticking up in the air when it buries its head? For the entire world to come along and kick!?! You have choices. The time to make wise choices is now. You can bury your head and hope that your government will, for the first time in history, address a problem without making it worse. Or you could put down the crack pipe and realize that the only one looking out for you and your loved ones is you. So do it. Get yourself as financially solid as you can (www.moorehelptrust.com) and then work to maximize your human potential – be the best you can in order to help others who simply don’t yet get it! Put a note in your calendar to check www.allthebluewhales.com in about 10 days, it’s not out there yet, but from what I hear it will be dedicated to helping those who want to help themselves and then once you have helped yourselves you will be able to help others.
PS anyone willing to bet that we see Dow 8,500 before we see Dow 12,000 again?
Monday, September 8, 2008
Thomas Jefferson hundreds of years ago.
"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world."
yeah, what did he know? I mean why pay today what you can ignore or avoid and leave for someone else tomorrow? U.S. economy + U.S. balance sheet + U.S. housing mess + global credit crisis + very little real leadership worldwide capable of making hard choices = _____________
(fill in the blank.)
yeah, what did he know? I mean why pay today what you can ignore or avoid and leave for someone else tomorrow? U.S. economy + U.S. balance sheet + U.S. housing mess + global credit crisis + very little real leadership worldwide capable of making hard choices = _____________
(fill in the blank.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)