None of that is as good as rated. Much of it is untradeable as a security, thus has no value and must be written down. Here’s where the accounting comes in, via “mark to market” accounting requirements.

Additionally, Wall Street sold credit coverage on anything and everything. When a mortgage security quit paying, the person who promised to make them whole had to step up. The public became aware of credit default swaps when Lehman Brothers failed. That process rolled up oddly, with only a small part of the obligation fulfilled.

To sum up, there is lots of junk in America’s financial systems. That includes local foundations, school board investment funds, and municipal retirement/pensions. It has to unwind, and the process is just beginning.

Wall Street’s big jump and stable week is a ruse. The investor class wants to calm the water’s a bit to help the McCain camp. Much pain awaits.

They also want to keep their huge amounts of government work. While Barack Obama enjoyed record small donor support, he also took in record big dollar contributions.

He’s not going to change the ship overnight, assuming he even wants to. Lobbyists know this and are spending to keep their influence.

More billions from Uncle Sam for economic stimulation? A likely the bonus.

…Party before country is the conservative daily mantra, in word and deed.

This can be clearly seen in the recent news articles stating that Republican Party leaders will be meeting after the election. They are doing this in an effort to salvage the conservative philosophy and image.

Seems to me unless there is some miracle in the next day and a half, the country and it’s economy, will still be a mess and need to be saved.

So why aren’t these Republican Party leaders meeting to save the country as opposed to their own party and hides!

“So then, their windfall profits tax, which gives $3200 of oil profits to each Alaskan to spend has saved their economy from Recession?”

Wow now there is a non-government funded, yet government mandated, Stimulus package for Alaskan residents. And if memory serves me right $3200 is about $700 more than the last federal tax payer funded Stimulus package. And this one happens every year as opposed to the Federal one that was a one time payment.

hmmmm, Good enough for her state, not for her country! So at home in Alaska it is take from the rich and give to the poor or rich depending on circumstance, but for America it is take from the poor and give to the poor or rich depending on circumstance.

Seems a little elitist to me! What was that about sharing being BAD SOCIALISM!

November 3rd, 2008 at 10:20 am
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Because the companies that sold these people the mortgages then went on to sell the debt to larger and larger banks, who then bundled these mortgages into Collateralized Debt Obligations, in essence mortgage mutual funds. Big domestic and international investors could buy shares of this debt and be guaranteed a return – either through mortgage repayments, or ownership in a share of properties that were rising in value.

So when the housing market tanked and homeowners began foreclosing, it hit these CDOs on two fronts – the payments stopped coming in, and the properties began losing value, so now all these CDO shareholders were stuck with a share of debt that they thought would be a safe investment, that they can’t sell because nobody wants to buy a piece of toxic debt. And a lot of big banks such as Lehman Brothers and Nationwide, had a lot of money in these CDOs, in addition to money market accounts and other very “safe” investments. When these banks tanked, it froze up the money market accounts and the commercial paper market and all the other fundamentals of the economy.

This American Life’s recent shows, The Giant Pool of Money and Another Frightening Show About the Economy explain what happened in lay terms.

His legacy can be summed up in four words:
GETTING OUT OF DODGE

I saw this painted on a 75 foot long hay bale ‘wrapper’…

‘McCain – Paline ‘08′

I believe that pretty well sums up a liv, or low information voter…misspelling a four letter word.

I understand all that. I just don’t understand how it is contributing to the financial crisis.

November 3rd, 2008 at 9:31 am
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AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The problem is that these homeowners were talked into paying an inflated price for their home by greedy realtors, based on what the value of the house would be in the future, based, again, on an inflated perception of what the value could potentially be in the future.
The realtors pocketed their inflated commission checks, and went in search of the next sucker.

And why would that be? I’m sure that Obama will let go those who there is no evidence against and prosecute those who do have evidence against. And that should not include body guards unless it can be proven that the body guards did something bad to us other than providing a service to OBL.

The problem the US has is that many of these men are innocent and were not enemies of our country when they went in. All will be enemies of our country when they live. Bush has created way more enemies of our country than he has taken out. Perhaps if Obama apologizes to these people for how badly we have mistreated them, they will find it in their hearts to forgive us.

I hear this all the time like this is what is causing the financial crisis. Am I missing something here? It seems to me that if you are upside down with your mortgage, it doesn’t really mean anything unless you are planning on selling your house. Then you would be in trouble. But if you are not planning on selling and make your regular monthly mortgage payment, where is the problem?

I’m betting that Alaska is none to happy with Sarah Barracuda. She has shone a spotlight on Alaska that they would rather have avoided. We now know that Alaska is right at the top of “pork” states and that they take much more from the US government than they give in return. I have a real problem with that considering how wealthy the state is.

BTW, is that huge “spread the wealth” check every Alaskan gets every year taxed by the Federal Government? If not, why not?

And yes the ‘Palinites’ would be the perfect audience.

Nail on the head. Both posts.

But let’s call it what it is: Alaska has a socialist (or even communist) doctrine of paying its citizens (all of them) simply for being citizens, with no regard for any other factor.

And why don’t the so-called conservatives see these things? Because they believe only what the GOP tells them. Party before country is the conservative daily mantra, in word and deed.