.... on SIeVes, that is!
The weekend buzz in the Wall Street Journal said it all, highlighting the final piece of what was called "Frankenstein" on CNBC this morning;
Bloomberg has also picked it up.The market didn't like it one bit.
What am I talking about? The idea what a bunch of banks, spearheaded by ****ibank, were going to basically "cooperate" in "backstopping" their respective conduits and SIVs.
As noted by Rick Santelli this morning, that's kinda like you and I, both of us severely underwater on a short position, getting together and deciding among ourselves that "our stock really isn't selling for $50 a share, its worth $25" and then marking "to market" (ourselves!) our shorts at that price.
Heh, is that even legal? Hmmmm...
Guess what - the ABX doesn't like it.... .check these out:


Wow, that's impressive. Anyone want something at 30 cents on the dollar? Better, anyone want to take a bet on whether the "real value" is in fact zero?
Anyway, the short answer is that the market appears to finally be paying attention to what is objectively "bad news" and is calling it what it is - bad news! Today the selling started and off it went, saved only by MOC orders from 401ks towards the close. Nonetheless we had a nasty day - check it out in the Technical video.
Oh, and if that's not enough,
the market might be waking up to our upcoming financial
nightmare - entitlement programs. Suddenly, people are getting the idea - we can't possibly pay the nearly $75 trillion (in "today's money" as "contingent liabilities") that we have promised people through Social Security and Medicare. While today was symbolic in this regard, it nonetheless is a reality - we've got a major problem coming in the not-so-distant future.
AOL is losing customers (still) and cutting employees. Awwwwww.... PS: AOL always did suck.
Oh, and Hank Paulson is likely to find himself "
on the grill" this week in the G-7 meetings. There is widespread discontent with the out-and-out fraud perpetrated upon the markets in the form of CDOs, CLOs and other "marked and sold to dreams" instruments, along with the Dollar's malaise. Heh heh, its about damn time. So is this why Hankie thinks its a good idea to heap even more bull**** on the market in the form of their SIeVe bailout program?
I'll bring the BBQ Sauce, you bring the matches. I want the buttsteak; leave the ******* out please.
Oh wait - I'm gonna go hungry if I leave the ******* out, aren't I? Oh well.
And finally.... the grand finale on the day (other than the Technical).....
The Ticker's Petition is ONLINE!What is the petition? An attempt to wake Congress up to the recent abuses. Insane mortgages. Hiding liabilities in banks via "SIVs" and "conduits". Insider trading. Willful ignorance of the weak dollar and real inflation.
Do you want to try to solve these problems? You can. Its on me. All you have to do is sign. I'll spend the money to fax your signature to your Senators and Representative. I'll keep the database here. And if we can get 100,000 signatures, I'll print the entire shooting match and pay for a nice FedEX of the entire thing to President Bush - and maybe a few other key people - like BenDover Bernanke.
Let's make this thing viral. Its on its own domain, with a single purpose. Its run by me, on my own infrastructure. Politics Fax is a system I've had for over seven years, and have used successfully in other political campaigns. While it was a bit crusty (heh, 7 years of disuse will do that!) it has been resurrected and put back into active service - a bit of spit and polish and its back to its old glory.
You
can make a difference. Tell your friends. Spread the word around other blogs. Post the link - not to the ticker per-se, but to the petition.
In short - let's make it happen.
Here's your technical!