Items on the Desk

I am exhausted because I stayed up to watch that game last night. Some small items and then it is early bed time.

Monday Night Football Postmortem
First off, what an amazing performance by the New Orleans Saints! Many thought that a huge game against a proven team may rattle the Saints, but after the first 7 minutes they were never really threatened. Drew Brees is lights out and Marques Colston may be the best big play wide receiver in football.

So what about the Patriots? In the modern era of this franchise I have never seen the total blown coverage that resulted in Saints score where there was not a Patriots defender within 30 yards of the play. Never. The defensive issues are clear now and I do not recall ever seeing a team's secondary look like they were several gears slower than an offense like last night. I think the Patriots can win their division, but I really cannot see them beating a playoff team this year. It has been 4 years of "rebuilding" the defense, how long are we going to have to wait?

About What You Would Expect
Up front I have no idea if this thing is real (probably fake) but it would not surprise me in the least to see a banker flaunting the abuse of the US taxpayer in such a way as this:

No wonder bankers are arming themselves with firearms!

A Sure Winner
Want to make a blog post that catches fires and goes big time? This post from Bubble Meter shows how it is done:

Law Professor: Walk Away
Scenario #1: You walk into a bank and take a bunch of money that doesn't belong to you. This is called theft.

Scenario #2: You take out a loan, promising to pay it back. Then, after you have the money, you decide not to pay it back. How is this not also theft?

I can completely understand not paying back a loan if you lose your job and are unable to pay back the loan. I can also understand if you get sick and end up with huge medical bills that make it impossible to pay back a loan. I can even understand not paying back a loan if the bank deceived you regarding what your payments would be.

However, if you decide not to pay back the loan simply because you overpaid for your house, then I consider that the moral equivalent of theft.

Of course the comments section is ablaze and you know you want to weigh in on this!

Currency Devaluation Rumblings
Two small players devalue, but nobody cares.

Vietnam with a 5.4% move

North Korea goes for 100:1
Choice quote:

"I worked like a dog for two months for the winter, but the money became useless paper overnight," a resident of Sinuiju, a city that borders China, was quoted as saying on the web site of Good Friends, a Seoul-based aid organizations with informants in the North.

Poor fellow.

Remember North Korea is a crackpot state and Vietnam is Too Small to Matter (TSTM) so move along, nothing to see here.

Give us the Carry Trade Back!
Clearly appalled that the carry trade may become US dollar based, Japan rides to the currency manipulation rescue with Quantitative Easing version 25.0 for the island country:
BOJ Offers ‘Minimum’ Deflation Response Before Hatoyama Meeting
Again, nothing to see here its only $115 Billion after all.

You Think I am Gloomy?
If you think I am all gloom and doom, this guy will make you pee in your pants (hat tip today's Some Assembly Required):
Farreaching Decision of the Federal Reserve: Banks which received TARP funds are to restrict commercial lending
Do not read right before bed or to children!

Have a good night.