Category: Government Intervention
The analysis published under this category are as follows.Friday, July 18, 2008
Fannie and Freddie Bailout Trigger New Chapter in American History / Stock-Markets / Government Intervention
This week, with the nation's financial infrastructure crumbling before our very eyes, the nation's top two economic policy makers made their way to the Congress for an extraordinary episode of political theater. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the quasi-government entities that form the backbone of America's gargantuan mortgage market, appeared to be cracking. To the somewhat bewildered members of Congress, Ben Bernanke and Henry Paulson offered radical remedies to save the lenders. Despite the fact that the proposed policies would thoroughly redefine America's supposedly capitalistic pedigree, the moves were presented as wholly inevitable, and in the end, benevolent and costless.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Nationalization Fiasco Forced Upon US Economy, US Dollar and Gold / Stock-Markets / Government Intervention
A grotesque grandiose nationalization initiative is gradually being forced upon the US Economy, US financial system, US political system, and the hapless US citizenry. Its crucible for construction comes from the desperate situation unfolding for the banks, the mortgage holders, and homeowners. Rising costs, falling incomes, failing banks, declining home values, eroding mortgage bonds, interfered financial markets, corruption in Congress, endless war, destructive economic counsel, an unconstitutional US Dollar without gold backing, these factors all contribute toward a crisis without remedy.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
US Government Selective Enforcement of Regulation Short Sales / Companies / Government Intervention
This is a followup to posts SEC Restricts Shorting 19 Financial Stocks and Tossed To The Dogs?I hinted at this before but I am going to spell it out explicitly in response to several questions I have received. There is already a restriction on naked short shelling. The restriction is called Regulation SHO .
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Thursday, July 17, 2008
SEC Shorting Restrictions Results in Some Banks Tossed to the Dogs / Companies / Government Intervention
While pondering SEC Restricts Shorting 19 Financial Stocks I could not help but notice the financial institutions conspicuously absent from the ruling.With that in mind let's recap the list of shorting curbs placed by the SEC.
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Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Exchange Controls Are Proposed For the United States / Stock-Markets / Government Intervention
In a long week in which attempts to lower the oil price and talks about the $ were disappointed [G-8 meeting and the oil producer's meeting in Saudi Arabia], the threat of much higher oil prices, a weaker $ and perhaps a vicious fall in equity market in the next few months, the Joseph Lieberman the head of the Senate Banking Committeee is proposing what in effect are Exchange Control measures on commodity markets and foreign exchanges that host commodity dealing. This week we saw a glimpse of what is to be proposed and is proposing as we send this out.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Danger of Government Intervention in the Commodity Markets / Commodities / Government Intervention
Just a week ago gold and silver were well placed to begin a new uptrend and while they are still are, we have over the past week witnessed severe testing of - and erosion of - support at a critical level that is leading to rapidly increasing downside risk.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Forced Commodity Long-term Investment liquidations Coming? / Commodities / Government Intervention
The CFTC is looking at changing commodity rules to force big funds to disgorge multi thousand contracts positions.
The CFTC stated the commodity markets are not geared to have big funds sitting on long term positions of thousands of commodity contracts for long periods for foods and so on.
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Fed Lending Facility Opens Rift Over Risk Taking Limits / Interest-Rates / Government Intervention
In mid-September the Fed is placing new restrictions on the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, a swap-o-rama with broker dealers as opposed to banks.The Financial Times picks up the story in Investment banks split over Fed loan facility .
Investment banks such as Goldman Sachs (GS) that have been less affected by the credit crisis are said to be leaning against accepting any significant new limits by the Fed, while those that have been somewhat more affected, such as Lehman Brothers, are seen as more eager to maintain access to the Fed facility even if it means new limits on risk-taking.
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Friday, May 23, 2008
Cash for Crap- Fed Strategy of How to Fix Everything / Interest-Rates / Government Intervention
United States Senate, 23 May 2008
Findings of the Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs "Trading Commodities – a Very Bad Thing"
AFTER DOZING OFF through the expert testimony of five young visitors from the financial and farming communities this week, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Anything Else That Takes Our Fancy was today persuaded by the opinions it had already formed in the cab on the way over.
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Thursday, May 22, 2008
Immoral Hazard- Incompetence at the Fed / Interest-Rates / Government Intervention
So says Jeremy Grantham, co-founder of Boston-based investment firm Grantham, Mayo and Van Otterloo, now known as GMO. Some call him the philosopher king of Wall Street because of his highly insightful views on markets and the economy, usually with a longer-term perspective. In a profession of touts, fast-buck and scam artists, Grantham's commentaries are notably refreshing. They're detailed, scholarly, sober, clear and especially important at a time of unparalleled excesses, great economic uncertainty, voices ranging from gloom and doom to blue skies and all clear ahead, so who knows what to believe. Few people sort things out better than he, and whether right or wrong, he makes consummate sense and should be taken seriously.He calls his latest commentary "Immoral Hazard" and takes straight aim at the perpetrators. It's not the first time, and with good reason. Bad policy yields bad results with former Fed Chairman Greenspan Exhibit A.
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Sunday, May 04, 2008
Fed Expands Term Auction Facility For Junk Mortgage Backed Debt / Interest-Rates / Government Intervention
Welcome to the Weekly Report. This week we look at moral hazard and I show you how it's about to unleash forces that no Central Bank or Government can control and we look at next weeks trend indicators and targets.
I have spoken about moral hazard before, especially in relation to the current actions carried out by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England after the bailouts of Bear Stearns and Northern Rock. To avoid moral hazard arising strict controls have to be placed upon the facilities that are created and the use of the assets supplied from those facilities. A failure to control the results of centralist intervention will encourage the very behaviour that caused the original problem.
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