"Recession takes a deeper bite; Jobless rate at 16-year high as Washington seeks a solution" by Robert Gavin, Globe Staff | February 7, 2009
.... President Obama seized on the staggering job losses to urge Congress to quickly pass an $800 billion package of tax cuts and spending programs aimed at creating jobs and halting the economy's slide. On Wall Street, investors bet the worsening employment picture would spur Congress to get the package through.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 217.52 to 8,280.59....
--more--""US sets massive bank rescue, stirs worries on Wall Street; Markets find details lacking; Effort could cost trillions" by Robert Gavin and Ross Kerber, Globe Staff | February 11, 2009
The Obama administration yesterday unveiled a plan to provide up to $2 trillion to shore up the faltering US banking system, but the proposal was not specific enough for Wall Street, where stocks fell sharply.
On top of the 8 TRILLION we've already shelled out?
The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 382 points, or nearly 5 percent, to 7,888.88, its worst day in more than two months....
The plan, unveiled in Washington by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, continues the $700 billion financial bailout approved during the waning days of the Bush administration. It would combine the remaining portion of that money with up to $1 trillion from the Federal Reserve and aims to use federal investment to attract billions more from private investors....
Yeah, right:
"Investors said they were unlikely to buy into the idea unless the government puts up a lot of the money and promises to absorb a lot of the losses....
The first loss has got to be the government's" -- Wall Street veteran Muriel Siebert, who runs the brokerage Muriel Siebert & Co."
You know whom the GOVERNMENT is, right, readers? That's TAXPAYERS!!!
Markets opened lower yesterday over skepticism about the Obama plan, and the sell-off accelerated after Geithner failed to provide many details of how key components of the bank rescue would work. For example, the Obama plan calls for a partnership between the federal government and private investors to buy mortgage-backed securities and other so-called toxic assets that are undermining banks' financial positions. But it provided few details of how this partnership would be structured, how it would attract private capital, or how assets would be bought.
See: Taxpayer Bailouts Never End
"It's like getting a beautifully wrapped present that you open and find out it's an empty box inside," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial, a Chicago financial services firm. "There was so much build-up, but it's still a skeleton of a plan."
Barney Frank, the Newton Democrat who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, called Geithner's revised plan "clearly a very substantial improvement over the Bush approach."
Does Barney Frank think he can just exhale hot fart mist and we won't notice? He is one of the scummiest congresss***s I've ever seen!
But the lack of specifics, analysts said, fed investor worries that the plan could take too long to implement when quick action is needed to shore up a rapidly deteriorating banking system. Without healthy banks, the credit that fuels consumer spending and business expansion can slow to a trickle, undermining the economy as consumers stop buying and businesses cut jobs....
Obama's plan to revive credit would continue the Bush administration's practice of injecting capital directly into banks in exchange for ownership stakes.
Yeah, too bad:
U.S. Banks Driving Credit Crunch ON PURPOSE!!
Bush Administration Created Credit Crunch Crisis
Banks Cut Off CreditYou like being unceasingly lied to, America?
It would also include an element that was scrapped by the Bush administration: buying mortgage-backed securities and other assets backed by consumer and business loans, including credit cards and auto loans.
These assets are considered toxic because banks can't sell them to investors, who worry the loans backing the assets will default. As the economy and housing market worsen, the value of the these assets declines, creating losses for banks and leaving them with less to lend.
Yeah, THEY AIN'T WORRIED about YOU, American!!
It is ALWAYS about the BANKS!!!!!!
See how the FED has the GOVERNMENT'S BALLS in its hands?
The Obama plan would use public money to attract private investors, and use its borrowing power to raise up to $1 trillion to buy these assets.
Which means TAXPAYERS take it in the bung hole!
Geithner did not specify what the initial public investment would be and provided few details about the plan....
Yeah, and we know why! Public is outraged enough about all the rip-offs. One more and we are going to start dragging people from offices and stringing them up!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Federal Reserve, working with the Treasury Department, will also expand its programs to keep credit flowing. The Fed said it would lend up to $1 trillion to banks and take highly-rated securities backed by consumer and small business loans as collateral.
All BORROWED MONEY after CREATING a CRISIS ON PURPOSE so they can LOAN YOUR MONEY BACK TO YOU -- with interest going to the banks, who skimmed off billions from Bush!!!!!
How's that poop chute, AmeriKa? Widening out from all the reaming, isn't it?
Frank said he would support a moratorium on foreclosures once money is dedicated to helping struggling homeowners to keep their residences....
WHY WAIT, and WHY WASN'T THIS DONE right from the start? We got such a screwing from these shitbags in Congress it is un-fucking-believable!
"Now the time has come for a foreclosure moratorium," Frank said.
--more--"The banks still waited three days, Barn. I'll bet Barn likes getting balled by the banks.
"Lenders agree to foreclosure moratorium" by Globe Wire Services | February 14, 2009
WASHINGTON - Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to suspend foreclosures while the Obama administration crafts a housing plan to modify mortgages for troubled borrowers....
Could have done that EIGHTEEEN MONTHS AGO, you duck farts!!!!!!!!
JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Wells Fargo & Co., State Street Corp., and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. got $125 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program in October. Citigroup and Bank of America each received an additional $20 billion.
Look at the list of looters, huh?
And about that housing plan:
"Housing rescue proposals get boost; Bailout would lower rates; Senate backs tax credit for buyers" by Jenifer B. McKim, Globe Staff | February 11, 2009
Home buyers looking for lower mortgage rates and borrowers struggling to keep their homes may soon receive help as Congress and the Obama administration yesterday moved closer to delivering a boost to the troubled real estate sector.
In separate actions yesterday, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner disclosed a new financial industry bailout package that includes $50 billion to help refinance mortgages of homeowners at risk of foreclosure, and the US Senate passed an $838 billion economic stimulus bill that includes a $15,000 tax credit for home buyers.
Refinancing, huh? See: The Help Homeowners Got
Both measures drew praise from the real estate industry as necessary to stimulate home buying, mitigate foreclosures, and create jobs....
Yeah, that's why stocks dumped.
Meanwhile, as the long-awaited Obama financial industry bailout was unveiled yesterday, Geithner said the government would expand a new effort by the Federal Reserve Bank to drive down mortgage interest rates by buying as much as $600 billion in mortgage-related securities and debt....
Meanwhile, other elements of the administration bailout still need to be fleshed out. For example, the plan commits $50 billion to prevent avoidable foreclosures of owner-occupied middle-class homes by helping to reduce borrowers' monthly payments.
What is taking them so long with YOUR HELP, Amurkn? It's been SIX MONTHS and the MORTGAGE BAILOUT was the ORIGINAL PREMISE they used to shove this abomination up your ass!!
Geithner also proposed bringing order to the growing world of loan modifications, in which lenders agree to change terms on mortgages of struggling homeowners. Under various approaches adopted by lenders, a significant number of borrowers end up with larger monthly payments. Geithner said the government would create consistent guidelines and standards for government and private lenders.
Yeah, I KNOW!!! Did you SEE the LINK ABOVE? The "help" homeowners got?
Also, lenders and other mortgage holders that receive government funds as part of the financial industry bailout would be required to participate in programs to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure. The Treasury Department said it would provide more details of its foreclosure plans in the coming weeks.
Pffft!
While he praised the plan, US Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said he is still awaiting those details. He also said $50 billion likely would not be enough to help stop the country's growing foreclosure crisis and hoped more money would be made available if the program worked.
Well, YOU GUYS WRITE the CHECKS so.... ?????????
"$787b stimulus bill approved" by Sasha Issenberg, Globe Staff | February 14, 2009
WASHINGTON - .... The outcome amounted to the first significant fruits of November's Democratic landslide, in which Obama handily won the presidency while his party expanded its congressional majorities. For the first time in 14 years, Democrats have been empowered to legislate without serious Republican interference, and yesterday reveled in what many described as a new dawn for liberalism.
Great. Just what we need.
Related: From the House Floor: NOT ONE MEMBER HAS READ THIS BILL
???????????????????????????????????
But what the hell, the globalists like it so eat s***, Amurka!
"Group of Seven finance ministers reject protectionist measures" by Colleen Barry, Associated Press | February 15, 2009
ROME - The Group of Seven finance ministers pledged yesterday to avoid resorting to protectionism as they try to stimulate their own economies in the face of the world's worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
So let's keep running the system that caused all these problems. Yes, financiers are certifiably insane.
The meeting marked the international debut of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who assured his counterparts that President Obama's $787 billion plan to resuscitate the economy, approved Friday, would not violate in any way the United States' commitment to free trade.
Geithner appealed to the "common imperative" to sustain open trade. "These are global challenges and it is imperative that we work together to address them," Geithner told reporters afterward. "Effective global response will require sustained action by governments working with the international financial institutions."
You know what that all is!!!!
The meeting's host, Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti of Italy, affirmed "strong agreement" among the ministers on rejecting protectionism. "It is a concrete danger, not only for economies that depend heavily on exports," he said.
Even as the gloomy economic news piled up - with Europe sinking deeper into recession and the G-7 itself saying the crisis will continue at least through the end of the year - the ministers touted in their final statement "the exceptional measures" that had been "collectively taken."
So WHAT DID THEY DO behind those CLOSED DOORS?
The meeting was largely an affirmation of actions already being taken - from the importance of stimulus packages to the need to isolate bad assets - but the final statement didn't indicate how that would happen....
Oh, the agenda-pushing papers assures me it was nothing. Whew!
--more--"
