Two Clips; You Make of It What You Will

I voted tonight. In Massachusetts my vote is worthless as the resident here seem to love being the joke of the nation, and vote accordingly every year in huge numbers. There was an actual referendum to abolish the state income tax, but polls were running about 70% against that idea! Cannot make this stuff up.

Two Clips; You Make of It What You Will
I have seen two clips tonight that were enough to get my blood boiling. I offer them here, you can make comments if you like.

Clip One
An Obama victory will mean that this lady will not have to pay for gasoline in her car and her mortgage will be taken care of. Well, she may be right about the mortgage no matter who wins the election, but I fear this kind of baffoon thinking is fairly widespread:


Clip Two
Two fools dressed in Black Panther garb acting like morons in front of an election office. Voter intimidation? Honestly, if this ever happened at my voting site I would be going to jail for cracking the skulls of such dumb asses:


Enjoy the election night!

Election Eve

Last night's NFL contest between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots was one of the best games I have seen in a while. With Tom Brady hurt and a super depleted secondary, the Patriots fought for all 60 minutes last night and never gave the Colts any room for mistakes. The Colts needed to win last night to have any playoff chance, and Peyton Manning did not let his team down. As a Pats fan I wish they would have won, but a loss in a great game can be accepted.

Election Eve
It seems like this presidential campaign has been going for forever. Well, it all ends tomorrow night. While Economic Disconnect stays out of things political, I have a few observations about this election that have bearing on the financial world. You have been warned, somewhat political discussion to follow!

Democrat Super majority
If the latest poll are correct there is a solid chance the Democrat party may attain as many as 60 seats (or more) in the Senate, and further extend their edge in the House. Both super majorities will be "filibuster proof" as they can end any Republican efforts to stop legislation.

Anytime either party has a major edge, I think that is a bad thing. Gridlock and compromise keep crazy things from passing, but a big majority may embolden the Dems to go for even the most left ideas. While those on the right deserve a drubbing for supporting the bailout bills, I can see a cascade of new spending bills going forward. Add all that to the already strained US finances and I think you can see where I am going with this.

Will Anything Change?
One of the main reasons I do not do political commentary is because I do not believe our system works. The total failure of the entire government to stop the housing bubble shows that our leaders have no ability or knowledge about finance. Heads should roll. Anyone that voted for TARP should be gone. Anyone talking about stopping foreclosures should get gonged.

None of that is going to happen. Barney Frank will get re elected in a walk. So will Charles Schumer. So will almost every incumbent this election. I am a firm believer in the old line "you get what you deserve" and the US as a whole certainly will have the government they deserve after this election.

As far as an endorsement, I do not have one. Neither Obama nor McCain has presented a coherent strategy to do anything about the economic debacle we are in. Both seem content to allow the FED/Treasury to do whatever the hell they want. Both candidates are looking to spend big money going forward. I do not think there is much difference between the two, so vote as you will.

I know democracy is great and we should all be excited about election time. It stinks that there are so few good candidates to choose from. Let us all hope that whomever wins (Obama leads all pols I have seen) it will be by the large margin so that a repeat of the Florida recount does not happen.

Have a good night.

Eternal Happiness Guaranteed!

Tonight's post will be a bit short on deep thought as the parade of trick or treaters has been pretty solid. Having never had a house of my own, it is kind of nice to see the neighbors and their children come to the door all dressed up. It is the little things that make you smile sometime. Now if my Pug Dog would stop going berserk every single time the doorbell rings.......

I Will Believe it When I see It
One of the plethora of issues facing the markets is that there is zero transparency in regards to what kind of toxic crap banks may or may not hold. Throw in derivatives and CDS obligations and there is no way to get a read on anyone's bottom line. The banks like it like this.

So imagine my surprise when I saw this headline story this evening on Yahoo Finance:
CNBC
Regulators to Approve Derivatives Clearinghouse
Friday October 31, 2:27 pm ET

Regulators are expected to approve a clearing house for credit derivative swaps in the next several weeks, CNBC has learned.
Regulators and industry participants have voiced concern that the private nature of the $55 trillion market for credit default swaps poses systemic risks because no one knows the size of a counterparty's derivative portfolio, and the failure of a large counterparty can create massive losses globally.
Creating a clearing house would remove the risk posed by a counterparty failure, provide price transparency and offer simpler, more standardized settlement of contracts when an issuer defaults, proponents argue.

This idea makes sense and is a strong positive for the system going forward. Are you stunned? Are you shocked? I am. But allow me to offer two observations that should temper any wild enthusiasm:
1.)The chance this thing gets off the ground is pretty small I believe
2.)This may be another bullshit play. By this I mean the kinds of swaps and derivatives listed will only be the best looking, most positive of the lot. the exchange will then function as a fake "price discovery" mechanism to allow crazy valuations of more mark to myth items.

Between number 1 and number 2 I would say number 2 seems the most reasonable. Another sick move by the banking industry with the full backing of the government. Cue the tears.

Eternal Happiness Guaranteed!
With the FED/Treasury (which will now be referred to as the Feasury to save typing on my behalf!)in the process of putting guarantees behind, well, everything, what else can we add to the list? I mean the commercial paper market? Check. Fannie and Freddie bogus debt? Check. Bank deposits? Check. What else can the Feasury do to make life even more awesome than it has been? Here is a top ten list:

Top Ten Guarantees the Feasury Should Provide
1. Fresh Young Turkey guarantee for all Americans in November
2. A Super Bowl title for every states NFL team (rotating basis)
3. Pocket Aces dealt at least once every ten hands in a poker game
4. Have said aces hold up and win the hand
5. Guarantee that your fries will be "in the bag" when you get home from the drive thru; you know that is annoying!
6. Provide a guarantee that we will always have one more roll of toilet paper left no matter what (the dollar backing is akin to the toilet paper gurantee, I know!)
7. A ban on hangovers on Sunday morning, effective immediately
8. A guarantee that Rap Music will cease to exist in 2009
9. Hank Paulson will grow a mullet; Business up front, party in the back!
10. No headaches, no tiredness, and no excuses by the wife for Saturday night action!

Leave your own list ideas in the comments section.

Friday Night Entertainment
We can have a bit of fun on Halloween, yes? Fun is still allowed.

Nightmare on Elm Street Poker Hand
My poker reference in the top ten list got me thinking about my poker days. I used to play online, before the so called "Port Security Bill" got US players banned from most of the top sites. The idea was that online poker sites skirted the tax laws because they were an online franchise and the government hated that.

Anyways, I used to do pretty well. Poker, just like life is filled with mostly dumb people and all you have to do is take advantage of their mistakes. I was in a large tournament of Texas Hold Em poker which started off with about 3000 people. You bought into the tourney for $5, and if you made the top ten you could make some serious cash. Online poker moves very fast and a game like this usually takes about 6 hours to complete.

I was dealt pocket Kings (K-K)fairly late in the tournament (about 400 players left), and an aggressive player 2 seats before me lead out the betting pretty hard. I figured him for some kind of an ace, so I would be in great shape if no ace was on the flop. The player right before me went "All-In"! Now there was a raise, and then a re-raise of all in. Looking at K-K, that is a tough call. But I knew, just KNEW the second raiser had an ace as well, probably A-Q or something. I called the all in, and then TWO MORE players behind me called as well! I was excited because if I won this hand I would have had enough chips to coast to the final 10 and win some good money.

Well, everyone's cards were flipped, and here is where I stood:
Me: K-K
player one: A-10
player two: A-J
player three: A-Q
player four: A-8 (not uncommon online, people play CRAZY!)

I was in amazing shape. There was No ace in the deck to help these guys, and they were a long shot on the hand.

The flop came down: 2-4-K
I had triple Kings (called a set), but I already had a terrible feeling in my stomach. That 2-4 was just scaring me to death.

The turn card was, of course, a 5.
Now I was very scared. I was looking at 2-4-5 and all four guys had an ace. If one of the four threes fell on the turn, all my chips would be split between these bums and I would be out.

I am sure you know how this ends, with the 3 falling on the river, completing the A-2-3-4-5 straight for the four donkeys. I only was out $5, but I missed out on a shot at at least $1000. Oh well, where is the Feasury when you need them!

Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
A little music to get the weekend started, yes?

One of my favorite Iron Maiden songs is the tune called "Running Free"; the song just pumps me up and is a true pure rock experience. Take a listen:


Full disclosure: I am an Ozzy worshipper. His early solo albums were pure magic, and the Randy Rhoades live "Tribute" album is the single greatest music piece in existence. I know you agree! Ozzy's later albums were not as powerful, but there were some standout songs. "See You On The Other Side" is a very strong song, and so I offer it here:


The wife's favorite band is Depeche Mode. I like a bit of their stuff, and the great guitar work in "Personal Jesus" is worth a listen:


I am not a fan of David Lee Roth as a solo artist, but I thought the video for "California Girls" may be eye candy, we all deserve candy on Halloween, yes?:


Have a good night.

ZIRP is Not Just a State of Mind

I am real short on time this evening, so just a few quick words.

Only 1% Left Until ZIRP is Reached
Boom Boom Bernanke and pals delivered the goods and cut rate by 50bps to 1%. This matches the cryptic 1% that ignited the credit bubble that is now the credit bust. Will doing what caused the problem fix the problem? Only time will tell but I think that is a stacked deck against!

With only 1% left to before we are in the Japanesque Zero Interest Rate Policy stage, what other tricks can the FED/Treasury pull out? Already there is some baloney plan of guaranteeing 3 million mortgages providing the "owners" can pay any amount at all on a mortgage. Great stuff.

New Addition to Blogroll
There are simply so many blogs out there nobody has the time to pour over all the material out there. In the blogroll to the left I try to list the sites that I check every single day on multiple occasions to get the best and most thorough analysis. All the sites listed offer the very best in thought and value for your time spent. Tonight I am adding another.

I have been stopping by the site called "Jesse's Café Américain" quite a bit, and now it has become a daily read. No nonsense, by the numbers insight along with macro forecasting that I feel has been very good. Website is at:
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/

Or use the blogroll. One recent post hit upon something related to my recent rants about the Treasury issuing massive amounts of debt as if there is no upper limit. Jesse takes this on in the following post:
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-2009-us-may-be-forced-to-selectively.html

Key Excerpt:

"We have seen estimates that next year the US will have to finance a $2 Trillion annual deficit. They may be able to push it further into the next Administration than that by the forbearance of the world, but not by much. We'd expect a significant drop in Treasuries by 2011 at the latest.

It should be obvious to anyone that we are approaching the apogee of the Treasury bubble, with the credit bubble having broken already.

When the Treasury says they are facing unprecedented challenges in financing the US public debt next year that is an understatement.

Once the deleveraging of the markets subsides, the dollar and Treasuries will drop, perhaps with some momentum, as the rest of the world realizes that the US has no choice but to default. This can be resolved in several ways, including continued subsidies from foreign sources in the form of virtual debt forgiveness, devaluation of the dollar, raising of taxes, and higher interest rates on debt.

The problem now is that the US has breached the point where it can service its debt out of real cash flows, and turning this around will require a severe devaluation of the US dollar.

Devaluation and selective default are the only foreseeable systemic alternatives. There are other exogenous paths of a more political nature such as consolidation and war that may color the default a slightly different color, but a selective default it remains.

This is the fundamental situation. Everything else is speculation and commentary."

Great Stuff!

Have a good night.

Government Bemused by Lack of Lending

I saw the Tennessee Titans play for the first time last night. They moved to a record of 7-0 after beating the Indianapolis Colts. The Titans have an amazing defense, and a solid offense. They look pretty good to me. The Colts lost back to back games for the first time in a while, and they now play my New England Patriots next Sunday night. I do not think the Colts have ever lost 3 games in a row with Peyton Manning, so I guess that is a bad omen!

Government Bemused by Lack of Lending
It seems the White House and others in the government are puzzled by the fact that all the cash that has been handed out to the banks so far is still sitting there. What happened to all that credit and lending we were promised? What about the golden new era of bank lending the bailouts were supposed to provide? We were assured that a simple lack of liquidity was the culprit, and a money tsunami was just the fix! What happened? Here is the headline form Yahoo Finance (no not from the comedy site "The Onion":
AP
White House to banks: Start lending now
Tuesday October 28, 5:44 pm ET
By Jennifer Loven, AP White House Correspondent
White House tells banks getting federal aid to quit hoarding money and start lending it
"Hoping to thaw the credit freeze that has chilled the economy, the Bush administration sent banks an unmistakable message to put aside fears and open up loan windows for cash-starved businesses and consumers who have pulled back on spending.
"What we're trying to do is get banks to do what they are supposed to do, which is support the system that we have in America. And banks exist to lend money," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. While there are limits to Washington's power to affect banks' behavior, the White House decided it was time to use its bully pulpit.
"They (regulators) will be watching very closely, and they're working with the banks," Perino said."

Soon this administration will be gone and while I am sure the next one coming in will be no better on things economic, at least we might get statements that make sense! I mean reread this one and see if you can spot the problem:
"the Bush administration sent banks an unmistakable message to put aside fears and open up loan windows for cash-starved businesses and consumers who have pulled back on spending."

So which is it? Are people cash starved and in dire need of credit, or are they pulling back on their spending? I guess the idea is to "take a loan, it is patriotic!" or something.

What is escaping the powers that be and the smart guys running the Treasury and the FED is that we need a clearly defined and tangible bubble to put any new credit to work on. Houses are dead money for a while. The stock market is too jumpy. Commodities are busted. Bonds seem too weak. What is needed is a clear national goal of a new bubble. Maybe antique cars will do? That way GM and Ford may get a boost as well! Beanie babies? Cabbage Patch Kids? What will do the trick?

I have repeated my question about all of this bailout cash, so i guess one more time will do:
To whom and for what will all this money be lent out to?

I still hear crickets.

Opposing Headlines
While finding totally opposing statements in the text of an article is great fun, sometimes you can do it with just the headlines. Consider these two headlines on the main Yahoo Finance page:
"Dow jumps nearly 900 points as bargain hunters grab stocks in anticipation of a Fed rate cut"
and
"Treasury official says rescue operation will generate unprecedented borrowing needs"

So we have a big rate cut in the works for tomorrow, but the US government will need to borrow massive amounts of money going forward. See the issue? I thought that when you need to borrow big money, the rate on that stuff goes up, not down. So the FED is on their way to a FED rate of 0% (hello Japan!) while at the same time getting ready to sell treasuries by the cargo load. I am so sure that is going to go well and work out.

Maybe the banks can lend the US government money right back to them! Now there is an idea that Paulson needs to look at. Can the US take taxpayer money and debt, loan it to the banks, and have the banks loan it to the US in a closed loop? Maybe I should get a Nobel Prize with this kind of powerful insight.

Market Rally Banana Republic Style
Look, one cannot deny that solid, efficient markets just do not gyrate to the tune of 10% and and down on a daily basis. That kind of volatility means only bad things. Things like market participants have zero idea what is going on. Things like government intervention makes panic moves happen almost daily. Things like no underlying fundamentals to support a move up or down. Those kind of things.

A rate cut tomorrow is viewed as a positive, but the FED may have only 1 or at most 2 moves left after tomorrow. All the rate cuts to this point have done nothing, so maybe this one does the trick? Whatever. Almost all the action has been happening in the last 30 minutes of the day, and that means something. What I do not know, but I imagine it will be interesting to find out.

Good Financial Poem
James over at Bubblemeter had a great original poem up yesterday. Check it out:
Real estate was
The way to get rich.
Just buy a home
And give it a flip.

If you bought more house
Than you can afford,
Helicopter Ben
Will dump cash your door.

He's Helicopter, Helicopter,
Helicopter Ben,
The money-throwing man
Who works at the Fed.

Money from the clouds,
Money from the sky,
Manna from heaven,
Thank that helicopter guy.

Full post:
http://bubblemeter.blogspot.com/2008/10/helicopter-ben-makes-good-on-nickname.html


Have a good night.

We Had a "Market Crash" Party but Nobody Showed Up!

As if the wild turns of the financial world were not painful enough, when I was lifting the top section of the new coffee table out of the box my right shoulder made a bad sound and really hurt last night! I have full range of motion, but the shoulder is very sore. This whole getting older thing is starting to be a real drag.

Treasury To Stake Insurers at the Texas Hold Em Tournament
Last night I asked if we could go even one day without a new bailout plan, and today it seems to be answered. While this move falls under the TARP, there was never a discussion about plowing cash into insurance firms, so this counts as a new plan to me!

Mr. Paulson now sees the "systemic risk" posed by all kinds of insurance companies the world over and has decided that direct cash injections are just the thing. Maybe they could even lend it out to banks overnight! Then Paulson could say "While the banks are not lending to each other in this credit crunch, the insurers stand ready to fill the void! HOO RA!"

Now reasonable people thinking clearly may wonder why it seems a good idea to push money into the insurers right now. With CDS blowups, currency meltdowns, and various other calamities making forecasting losses by the insurers impossible, the Treasury thinks putting money into the game blindly is a good idea. Hard to argue with that logic.

The Treasury has now become in fact a deep pocketed poker player stake holder. Taxpayer money is being given to many firms to keep playing is the World Series of Poker Tournament. I can attest that there is nothing like playing No Limit Texas Hold Em with the house's money. You have this great feeling of aggression because you have nothing to lose. I think this is all going to end up good, don't you?

We Had a "Market Crash" Party but Nobody Showed Up!
I got up this morning at 5am, got some coffee, fed the dog, and sat on the couch. I turned on the TV to the local news for the weather report. I then flipped to CNBC to check the futures, and holy moly! DOW futures at 5:15am were "lock limit" down 550 points! I was sure my tired eyes had not seen the right numbers, but the shrill sounds coming from the CNBC host made me confident they were correct.

In the car I checked a few radio stations, and things were looking pretty bad. As bad as that Friday from a few weeks back at least. On the way to work I was wondering if this was the big one. Lots of blogs were calling for the end of the world. People on TV seemed scared. Everything looked like an Icelandic moment for the US. The pressure was on, and I waited for the market open.

And then nothing happened. Do not get me wrong, the DOW shed over 500 points at the open, but a huge spike up came right behind it. There was no panic. There was no capitulation. There was never any danger of the markets being shut down or "circuit breakers" being tripped. It was just another in a long line of down days. Nothing more, nothing less.

So what happened? The same thing that always happens in bear markets. I have seen this phenomena during the Tech bust, so I remember it well. What happened is that too many people are so conditioned to buy "at the bottom" that buy orders were cascading into the system almost non stop. It can be termed "panic buying" and what that means is that more people are worried about missing "the bottom" than they are of missing their last chance to sell. On cue at about 11am all the rage was the "successful test" of the lows. I saw many calls of a reinforced "W" triple bottom or other such nonsense.

Today was no bottom. The bottom comes when nobody even asks what the averages did. The bottom comes when after a week of solid gains, people want to sell the next Monday because they think the market cannot hold the gains. A bottom comes when ALL the dirty laundry is on the table and any not scared away are all that is left to rebuild. Today was not that day. Today was yet another large scale entry by institutions, mutual funds, and others chasing their losses down. As the title of the Led Zeppelin song says, "The Song Remains the Same".

The same pattern is now at work across the US financial system. Instead of opening the books and figuring out which banks are finished and which can go on the FED/Treasury buys them time with taxpayer money. Instead of a market wash out we see many trying to play the next bailout or interest rate cut for a leg up. The entire system is doggy paddling in the middle of the ocean and wasting both every one's time and all of our money.

Until after the elections and probably not until early 2009, I think the "Song Remains the Same". I would prefer we get to the root of this mess. Faster Please!

Friday Night Entertainment
No comments for anything in particular, so I guess it is all my choice!

Book Passage

"The Kurgan liked modern cities. They were seething with violence, always ready to explode. He liked the fever of the streets, especially in New York. Everything was close to the surface. If you stopped to listen, you could hear the city screaming, in a thousand different ways, through a thousand separate mouths. You could feel the tension in the air. You could sense it was ready to snap. There was always a climate of despair hanging over the false gaiety. Drunks had sudden insights into the deeper layers of the city, and tried to warn others, but people took no notice. People thought they had control. Then, occasionally, something happened-like a series of decapitations-which showed them they did not, and the normal quiet panic moved into the hysteria zone."

from the novel "The Highlander" by Garry Kilworth

Film Clip
A true modern comedy classic was the film "Old School". If you have not seen this film, you simply must! Too many laughs to even count, but here is a scene which should show why drinking too much at a wild party usually ends up bad:


Music for the Masses
I broke down and bought an Ipod. In the process of transferring my music to the computer, it was nice to come across tunes I had not heard in a long time. I had a Bette Midler album and I was like "What the heck??" The album is from the soundtrack to the film titled "The Rose" which was a loosely based Janis Joplin biopic. I then remembered the title track named "The Rose" and listened to it. I can say the song really hit me hard. Rarely will you hear a song that can elicit such emotion as this one. If this song does not truly move you you must be dead, or British. Enjoy "The Rose":


Ok, now enough sappy stuff! Never let it be said that Economic Disconnect is heartless!

When KISS reunited and came out with anew album in 1998, I figured it would suck. Luckily one of may favorite KISS tunes came from that album. Take the great song "Psycho Circus" out for a spin (complete with 3-D video to boot!):


For one of the sickest opening riffs of all time, get excited with Jimi Hendrix and "Voodoo Chile":


Have a good night.

Can One Day Go by Without Another Bailout Plan?

It was about 33 degrees this morning when I embarked on my trek to work at 6am. I know I live in New England and I should just shut my mouth, but that first cold snap really takes something out of me. My long lost ancestors had to be from a warmer climate, I am just not made out for the cold! A little short on time and way too long on material tonight, so I will have a bit of links with commentary. Should have a full post tomorrow night complete with all the entertainment, so leave suggestions in the comments.

World Getting Wise to the Crap we Sell Them?
The following article could just be an outlier, but if it is a sign of things to come, the US is in for a world of hurt.
from the AsianInvestor:

Taiwan insurers ordered out of US agency MBS
By Liz Mak | 23 October 2008
The FSC has not only limited insurance company exposure to Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie bonds and mortgage-backed securities, but has decided that existing credit ratings are meaningless.

Full article here:
http://www.asianinvestor.net/article.aspx?CIaNID=87297

It seems that the Taiwanese have come to the conclusion that the rating agencies here have no idea what they are doing. If they watched the testimony today of a bunch of industry insiders, they found no solace. The US main export is crafty debt packages and now those very instruments have been deemed "public enemy number one" by Taiwan. If others follow suit, things are going to get bad. Very bad. Without constant inflows of cash the US is a dead duck. See what happens when fools run wild?

Cheaper For Ships to Sit Than Deliver Cargo
The Baltic Dry Index is a item I have just recently been watching. The action has been, well lets just say, vicious to the down side. The Baltic Dry Index is known as a proxy for international shipping and international manufacturing, as it captures shipping lease rates for all kinds of goods worldwide. The excellent blog Naked Capitalism has some rough data tonight, full link here:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/10/baltic-dry-index-continues-to-fall-now.html

What the article recounts is that the index is 90% below its peak in early May. Key excerpt:

"Dry bulk shippers are going the way of the global economy: under water. Among the shippers, DryShips and Excel Maritime Carriers have been hit particularly hard because of their large debtloads and significant spot market exposure. For the 13th straight day, the Baltic Dry Index, which measures dry bulk shipping rates on 40 routes across the world, tumbled Wednesday, falling 71 points to 1,221.
The BDI began its slide over the summer, and it has been taking shipping stocks down with it...
“Day rates have fallen below costs for some ship owners,” Landsberg said. “Rather than take inadequate fixtures, they are anchoring their vessels and letting them sit idle.”

No money to made by shipping goods, and letters of credit are not being honored by many shippers. Keep in mind that the US is always about 3 meals away from a crisis if shipping breaks down and we have yet another ominous blinking light.

Can One Day Go by Without Another Bailout Plan?
Today the FDIC chair Sheila Blair was blabbing about some stupid plan to get modifications on home loans so you the taxpayer can pay for the poor choices of others in the spirit of "it will hurt you worse if you do not." It seems every single day there is a TARP, TLSF, PCP, LSD, plan being rolled out to calm markets and promise salvation for debt. It put me in mind of the film "The Godfather: Part III"

In the film the Godfather Michael Corleone hatches a plan to take over Società Generale Immobiliare, the Vatican controlled mega conglomerate that holds various real estate and debt instruments. It is implied in the film that Immobiliare can forgive debt through Vatican influence, hence the interest by the Godfather.

My plan for the US financial system is to ask the Vatican to forgive all the debt of our homeowners, all the crap paper we sold all over the world. In addition I would implore the Vatican to guarantee all the money market funds, all the commercial paper, all overnight bank lending, all modified mortgages, all 401k's, and all stock market losses going back to last August. This plan is called "God Ordains No Eventual Responsibility" or G.O.N.E.R for short.

I am not poking fun at religion here, but I am trying to make a point. The lengthy laundry list of bailouts and wild guarantees above are in fact being attempted by our bankrupt government. Another day, another acronym. If total absolution seems silly to you, then why does false guarantees by a broken government make any more sense?

Couple this concept with the two prior items, and it is not a pretty picture. Let us all hope the game can go on, at least until it does not matter to me!

Have a good night.