Let's see how the market reacts to the realization that the Student Loan Bubble is starting to burst. Would that lead to yet another taxpayer funded bank bailout?

No. It will lead to a lot of*****ed off young people, which isn't very smart.

On election day I wrote (and still believe):
"We can now expect higher probability of: Cap gains tax increase (thus profit-taking), perhaps estate tax change (may also be causing selling for estate adjustments) after big media/pol-generated noise around "Fiscal Cliff." This cliff does not exist- there will be some additional revenues, some budget cuts, and slow growth with a large deficit that will remain to be monetized by Bernanke who will continue to hold rates down. The two parties will agree to tinker with assumptions (growth, etc.) so that they can both tout a balanced budget (based on estimates). When those estimates don't pan out and deficits persist they will point fingers in 2014, 2016. That is not to say that there will not be a big charade that roils the mkts, there may be one going on right now. Sell rumor, buy news once bad economy is accepted and bottom-up growth estimates come down. Budget flexibility due to monetization will allow FNM/FRE/FHA being used to subsidize housing, bail out mortgage holders- banks will somehow win, holders of mortgage paper will be losers. There will also be bail-outs surrounding student loans. Pensions and states will be bailed out, either directly or indirectly through goosed asset markets and/or other political machinations."

Genesis wrote..

No. It will lead to a lot of*****ed off young people, which isn't very smart.

Darn straight.

One thing that unites my generation right now, left or right (in terms of collectivization vs. individualism), authoritarian vs. libertarian is that we consider the baby boomer generation to be a pox upon this nation.

Overwhelmingly they have an attitude of "got mine, **** you" towards people our age; not just when it comes to government spending, but also when it comes to jobs and regulations that making starting up a business much more difficult than when they were our age.

Social programs and free healthcare for the old and you get to pay for it despite it being obvious that it wont last more then a few more years, now go get to work to help pay our retirement you entitled young person.

AND to top this all off no matter what you do you're screwed, you're either jobless or any wealth you manage to create through your work will be destroyed or stolen through government insanity so the only sensible strategy is to have friends you can trust, only keep assets of inherent value that you can physically protect and party till it all ends.

People get exactly the country they deserve.

Quote:

One thing that unites my generation right now, left or right (in terms of collectivization vs. individualism), authoritarian vs. libertarian is that we consider the baby boomer generation to be a pox upon this nation.

Overwhelmingly they have an attitude of "got mine, **** you" towards people our age; not just when it comes to government spending, but also when it comes to jobs and regulations that making starting up a business much more difficult than when they were our age.

If you were born a Boomer, you would have done the same thing.

Why?

Because this behaviour is hard-wired to our spinal cord and cerebellum and brain stem.

Look at all of the empires in history. They all get to the exact same point.

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency; <<--- Baby Boomers
6. From complacency to apathy; <<--- Baby Boomers
7. From apathy to dependence; <<--- WE ARE HERE
8. From dependence back into bondage”

This always happens. ALWAYS.

Americans think we are immune from history.

We are not.

The Boomers are a symptom of a larger human cycle, one that has repeated itself many times over the past 20,000 years.

Quote:

One thing that unites my generation right now, left or right (in terms of collectivization vs. individualism), authoritarian vs. libertarian is that we consider the baby boomer generation to be a pox upon this nation.

It is dine and ditch and they are not done dining on your dime yet.

Your generation needs to pay for...

Student loans
All those busted union pension funds
Everyone's medical and SS.
All those state and federal bonds

All with no jobs.

Take heart, they were counting on you to buy their stocks and homes for their retirement nest eggs.

Look I've been saying for a while now to my friends/family that the "fiscal cliff" (I despise that term; can-kick-a-palooza is a better description) is not a solvable problem. It's a direct consequence of years of bad leadership, can-kicking, hard choices put off, and procrastination.

For decades DC politicians have seen their job as giving the masses what they want. And the masses want to be slaves ... they crave comfort over liberty. So we get payroll tax cut nonsense, carve outs for every special interest under the sun, and more wars and military adventures.

There is no political solution ... Karl has pointed out that you can't balance the budget merely by raising taxes, nor can you by cutting domestic programs to the bone. It's going to require massive sacrifices on multiple fronts. And the public just re-elected a bunch of clowns whose entire careers are based on the lie that no such sacrifice is needed.

Expect the mother of all can-kicks ... there is no way out. Whether or not the market sniffs out the bull**** or decides to party like it's 1999 is an open question ... my guess is that due to seasonality and pure ignorance we keep the beer goggles on until after New Year's.

Quote:

It's a direct consequence of years of bad leadership, can-kicking, hard choices put off, and procrastination.

Bingo Zap, you nailed it right there. Clinton sucked, W sucked, Obama sucks (harder and worse). NO ONE wants to make the hard, necessary changes needed, so they won't.

And yes, you're right - this does NOT end well, everyone.

Quote:

Take heart, they were counting on you to buy their stocks and homes for their retirement nest eggs.

Sold mine already and hunkered down.

For those whose assets get taxed from here on out, too bad, so sad.

Quote:

One thing that unites my generation right now, left or right (in terms of collectivization vs. individualism), authoritarian vs. libertarian is that we consider the baby boomer generation to be a pox upon this nation.

Now that's just retarded - congrats for playing right into the banksters' hands. Divide and conquer, alive and well. Your generation needs some critical thinking skills.

This is a lose, lose situation. They will temporarily extend this for 3-6 months, come up with some bull**** compromise and we will borrow ourselves another year or so. Same story over and over.

When is the REAL **** going to hit the fan? Yes I know anyone can argue it already has, but I'm talking about a real collapse. I have been hearing "30 days, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years" for what 8 years now. I know its impossible to predict given the faux tools available to the US government, but man if their plan is to wear us all down first, it sure is working on me.

I dont see that really big selloff as being caused by the passage of TARP. When the TARP vote initially failed, I think a lot of people made the decision to get out at that time. This was a lot of big slow money that took many days to complete its transactions. It took almost 10 business days for the market to wash out all these transactions. That's how I see it anyway. I dont think the market responds in any way positively to us getting our fiscal house in order, because if it did then that would involve taking actions that would most likely return the stock market to historical levels (around 400 on the S&P500).