Housing Crisis | Political Byline

Dow Plunges, Global Markets suffer as well…

Posted onOctober 6, 2008October 6, 20084 Comments

I haven’t posted today, because I have been watching the market and doing a little paper trading (fake money…not real)

Here’s the official story via the AP:

Wall Street tumbled Monday, joining a selloff around the world, as fears grew that the financial crisis will cascade through economies globally despite bailout efforts by the U.S. and other governments. The credit market remained under strain, and investors piled into government bonds. The Dow Jones industrials skidded more than 300 points and fell below 10,000 for the first time in four years.

The markets have come to the sobering realization that the Bush administration’s $700 billion rescue plan won’t work quickly to unfreeze the credit markets, and that many banks are still having difficulty gaining access to cash.

Here is the Dow Chart:

The line to the left of the vertical slash, is the market today. Oh yeah, it’s that ugly…

On the other hand, Gold is looking very promising:

(charts from thinkorswim.com)

My advice to everyone, if you nervous, sell what you’ve got and invest in Gold.

More gold Charts:

So much for that “Bailout” eh?

Technorati Tags: Gold Prices, Government, Housing Crisis, Opinion, Politics, Silver Prices, Stock Market, Sub-Prime Loans, Wall Street, Wall Street Crisis, Wealth

President Bush Says Bailout is not a quick fix for the Economy

Posted onOctober 4, 2008October 4, 2008

This via the AP:

"Bail out" Bill passes first hurdle, goes to the house

Posted onOctober 2, 2008October 2, 20082 Comments

Hurdle one passed, now let’s see if it makes it out of the House.
Senate endorses bailout as economy stutters (Via Reuters):

The Senate endorsed a revised $700 billion plan to tackle a financial crisis that has shaken world markets and drawn warnings of approaching economic catastrophe.

The plan now faces a final hurdle in the House of Representatives, which rocked global markets this week by rejecting an earlier version. President George W. Bush, speaking after Wednesday night’s 74-25 Senate vote, called the bailout “essential to the financial security of every American”.

Personally, I expect the bill to pass the House. Because Democrats and Republicans both agree that this thing is needed, badly. What I do expect to continue to see is a resistance amongst fiscal conservatives amongst the grass roots. Not that I think that there’s anything wrong with it. Because personally, like I’ve said on here before. I am just not that thrilled with the idea of our banking system being nationalized. However, from a middle class stand point and from the standpoint of someone who lives in a state where unemployment is higher than the rest of the country. I think allowing our economy to grind to a halt is just not a smart idea.

Blogs 4 Borders! 09/29/08

Posted onOctober 1, 2008October 1, 2008

I missed this on Monday. Hopefully I will remember next week….

Our weekly vlog/podcast on illegal immigration and border security. In this weeks edition…

Vigilance Dispatch: Everyone is talking about the massive bailouts. How has illegal immigration fed into the financial crisis that Washington plans to fix using our taxpayer dollars?

100% Preventable! Americans continue to pay the bloody price for open borders, when will the madness end?

Blogs For Borders 09/29/08

Download for your Ipod here.

Make sure to visit this weeks sponsor….

Click on image

If you’d like to sponsor a show contact us here.

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.

Here are some books that I highly recommend that everyone read, related to this subject:

Technorati Tags: America, Blogs, Bob Barr, Books, Borders, Bush, Cheney, Chuck Baldwin, Communist, Congress, Conservative, Consitution, Corruption, Democrat, Democrats, Economy, Election ’08, Election 2008, First Admendment, Freedom of Speech, Globalism, Government, Housing Crisis, Identity Politics, Jobs, John McCain, Law, Liberal, Liberals, Libertarian, Libertarian Party, Mark Levin, Michelle Malkin, Michigan, Nationalism, Neo-Conservatives, News, Opinion, Politics, Race Baiting, Religion, Republican, Republicans, Stupidity, Sub-Prime Loans, Terrorism, Wall Street Crisis, War on Terrorism, Washington DC, Waste, Wealth, White House, Whites, constitution party, crime, deportation, illegal immigration, justice, mexico, open borders

More thoughts on the Bailout and it’s effect on our Economy

Posted onSeptember 30, 2008September 30, 20082 Comments

I hate to admit it, but I agree with this…. Sort of…

Via RealClearMarkets – “In Times of Crisis, Trust Capitalism”:

The biggest bank failure in the history of the United States happened last Thursday night and by Friday morning, it was business as usual. The only difference was the name on the door and the losses suffered by those unfortunate enough to invest in Washington Mutual bonds or stock. The taxpayers didn’t lose anything and depositors didn’t lose anything, only investors. That is how capitalism works in case everyone has forgotten.

The “crisis” we face today is not a creation of the market. Government intervention over many years (but especially the last year) is what brought us to the point where we’ve placed our hopes for economic recovery on the good intentions of a Congress facing re-election in a few weeks. There has been much commentary recently about the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the creation and expansion of the sub-prime mortgage market which many believe to be the cause of this mess.

That criticism is certainly warranted, but little attention has been paid to the real culprit – the Federal Reserve. Furthermore, what attention there has been is concentrated on the role of Alan Greenspan rather than Ben Bernanke. While Alan Greenspan deserves his share of the blame, Bernanke’s contribution to this mess should not be minimized or excused.

I have something to add to this as well. The biggest problem with this all is, most of this money, that’s being lost, is not even our money, it’s China’s money! Also half of the money being printed, does not have any gold to back it up! This is why our inflation is so high. As Joseph notes above, our biggest problem with our nation’s Economy is the Federal Reserve. If we got rid of the Federal Reserve, and went back to the 100% Gold Standard, much of our Nation’s Economic problems would be solved. Not to mention, if we stopped getting money from China.

The only thing that I really disagree with here, in a way, is the assessment that this all will not affect the American Taxpayers. In a sense, it will affect the taxpayers. Because it will cause a overall stall in the economy. This will translate into a crunch in the business world, small and mid-size businesses that do not have a great deal of capital will not be able to barrow money for needed expenses. This will cause a overall tightening of the financial belt amongst the Small to mid-sized business and will force them to dump employees.

Locally here in Michigan, our unemployment is at 7%, last I checked, I expect that to soar and get even worse, if this continues. Personally, I have family members who are paranoid about their jobs being lost. I assume that those jobs will get even more unstable, if this wears on.

Not to mention the fact that Taxpayers are watching their 401K’s and retirement nest eggs go down the tubes as well. That affects Conservatives who do not believe in using Social Security as a form of income. So, in a matter of speaking, this is going to effect everyone. In the form of Jobs, Retirements, 401k’s and more much.

Technorati Tags: Detroit ,Economy ,Housing Crisis ,Local ,Michigan ,Opinion ,Politics ,Wall Street ,Wall Street Crisis

A reason why this bail out failed…

Posted onSeptember 30, 2008September 30, 2008

I can understand this…

Via Andy McCarthy @ The Corner on National Review Online

This was a terrible bill. To take just a few particulars, why is there no reform of the government interventions that got us to this point in the first place? Why aren’t Fannie and Freddie being wound down — even after we’ve now had to make explicit the implicit, disastrous government guarantee? Why is Pelosi saying (as I noted in an earlier post) that the authority in the bill will allow the Treasury Department (perhaps soon an Obama Treasury Department) to take bad debt off the hands of mismanaged state and local governments?

Some would say that a bad bill would be better than no bill at all. I disagree. I believe that it is better to have a bill that works for the American people and does not bailout Wall Street and screw the American people and the small businesses over.

So, for once, I agree with something written over at the NRO. Mark this on your calendar, because it does not happen often. 😉

Others: Power Line

Technorati Tags: Economy, Housing Crisis, Opinion, Politics, Republican, Republicans, Wall Street

Bailout failure, politics and stupidity

Posted onSeptember 29, 2008September 29, 2008

Yes, I am aware of the failure of the bailout. I also see where John McCain took credit for it, before it flopped. Loser

The stock losses were unbelievable. Surprise Here’s the final numbers:

Dow

10,365.45
-777.68
(-6.98%)

Nasdaq

1,983.73
-199.61
(-9.14%)

S&P 500

1,106.42
-106.59
(-8.79%)

The really stupid part about this whole thing is Democrats and Republicans are blaming one another. Which is absolutely idiotic. They should be working to find solutions, instead of pointing fingers. I mean while the people in Washington D.C. were squabbling over $700 billion, the markets lost $1.2 trillion. Folks, that’s more money than most of us will ever see in a lifetime. Money Eyes Hypnotized

Of course, the far left Anti-Capitalists are happy that this is happening. Which about par for the course with the Liberals. They hate anything related to Conservative values in America. Like making a profit. Waiting

Personally, I believe we need to get rid of the Federal Reserve Bank and go back to the 100% Gold Standard, that would get rid of all this excess money in our system and bring value back to the dollar. I posted a video to that effect here. Because 90% of this money, that we are losing, is China’s money. Plus, 90% cannot be backed up with gold, thereby making it valueless anyhow. I would not be surprised if China stops all money imports here. That would really put us in a bad spot. I have books on this subject are available at my blog Bookstore.

Hopefully, Congress will pass something here this week. Because sooner or later, this will begin to affect the American people. Which will not be good at all. Striaght Face

Technorati Tags: Banking Crisis, Banks, Conservative, Democrat, Democrats, Election ’08, Election 2008, Housing Crisis, John McCain, New York Times, News, Photos, Politics, Republican, Republicans, Stocks, Stupidity, Wall Street

The Wall Street Bailout drama continues….

Posted onSeptember 29, 2008September 29, 2008

Just a word of warning, I’m still nursing my first cup of coffee. Coffee-cup Sleepy Yawn So, hopefully, this article will make some sense. Hee hee

But the good news is, I got my emoticons back here. Dancing So, I can at least show a little emotion in my writings. Big Grin

Some people say that if you use the Emoticons, people tend to not take you as serious. Well, to that I say, well, Phbbbttt Because I feel you would not take me serious either way, if had the emoticons or not.

The “Mother of all bailouts” is creating it’s share of drama in the Blogosphere and on Capital Hill. For instance, Minority Leader John A. Boehner called the deal a “crap sandwich”. Sick and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee said of the Bill, “It sucks”. Michelle Malkin is just flat out encouraging her people to “Kill the Bill”. However, Jack Fowler at the Corner is saying:

Conservatives should support them in backing the bailout plan. And then, when that is completed, roll up our sleeves and join Cantor & Co. as they work to craft and enact a broader strategy to improve America’s fiscal health.

So, obviously, this thing is dividing Conservatives.

Another interesting tidbit of information, according to “The Hill”, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). says: “I will tell you right now I don’t know if they have votes,” “If the votes were there, this would be on the floor. The votes aren’t there.” An interesting development indeed.

Obviously, there’s a ton of opinions and angles on this story. Most of which can be found at Memeorandum.

Technorati Tags: Banking Crisis, Banks, Bush, Business, Congress, Conservative, Democrat, Democrats, Economy, Federal Reserve Bank, Housing Crisis, Liberal, Liberals, Libertarian, Neo-Conservatives, News, Opinion, Politics, Republican, Republicans, Sub-Prime Loans, Wall Street, Washington DC, White House

A very interesting video on our Nation’s banking system

Posted onSeptember 28, 2008September 28, 200818 Comments

This video, made by the Ludwig Von Mises Institute, makes the case of why the United States of America should go to a 100% gold standard.

I highly recommend that everyone watch this video.

Also, I recommend everyone go to my bookstore and check out the section on the gold standard.

Trackposted to Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Rosemary’s Thoughts, A Blog For All, Right Truth, DragonLady’s World, Shadowscope, Leaning Straight Up, Cao’s Blog, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, , Allie is Wired, Faultline USA, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Walls of the City, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Wingless, Dumb Ox Daily News, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Technorati Tags: America, Autos, Banking Crisis, Banks, Barack Obama, Biden, Bill Clinton, Bob Barr, Bush, Business, Canada, Cheney, Chris Dodd, Chris Matthews, Christanity, Chuck Baldwin, Commodities, Congress, Conservative, Consitution, Democrat, Democrats, Economy, Education, Election ’08, Election 2008, Federal Reserve Bank, First Admendment, Food, Food Prices, Fox News, Fred Thompson, Freddie Mac, Fundraising, Globalism, Gold Prices, Government, Guns, Hillary, Hillary Clinton, History, Housing Crisis, Huckabee, Israel, Jerusalem, Jewish, Jews, Jobs, Joe Biden, John Edwards, John Gibson, John Kerry, John McCain, Judaism, Keith Olbermann, Kwame Kilpatrick, Labor, Laura Ingraham, Law, Liberal, Liberals, Libertarian, Libertarian Party, McCain, Media, Michael Savage, Michelle Malkin, Michigan, Mike Huckabee, Military, Misc, Mitt Romney, Money, NAFTA, Nationalism, Neo-Conservatives, Netroots, New York, Obama, Oil Prices, Opinion, Platinum Prices, Politics, Ralph Nader, Religion, Republican, Republicans, Ron Paul, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Silver Prices, Social Security, Stock Market, Stocks, Sub-Prime Loans, Taxes, Technology, Terrorism, U.A.W., Unions, Video, Wall Street, War, War on Terrorism, Washington DC, Waste, Wealth, White House, foreign oil, mexico, oil, vote, voting.

Now here’s a smart idea….

Posted onSeptember 28, 2008September 28, 2008

Now the Democrats are using their brains.

U.S. Democrats seek Wall Street tax in bailout plan (Via Reuters):

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are pushing for a new Wall Street tax that would cover the potential costs of a $700 billion bailout being negotiated by Congress and the Bush administration.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking to reporters after a meeting with fellow Democrats, said the fee could be assessed after five years if the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office determined taxpayers had lost money in the bailout.

“If after five years … the CBO decides that the American taxpayer has lost money in this, then there would be a fee on financial institutions,” Pelosi said, adding that she hoped the provision could be part of a final bailout deal.

Pelosi said that the Secretary of the Treasury could determine how to assess the fee.

It is a about damn time the Democrats wised up. This would ensure that the taxpayer, (i.e. you and me) would not get stuck paying the bill on this “bail out”.

I know some traders will scream about this. But, you know what I say? screw ‘em! I say, let the assholes making the big money get the tax, instead of the working class, like me, who do not even play the markets.

I am all for free markets, but I’m also for responsibility. If greed caused all this, let the damn greedy ones pay for it in taxes, instead of the average American, like me!

Technorati Tags: Banking Crisis, Banks, Commodities, Congress, Conservative, Democrat, Democrats, Economy, Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve Bank, Government, Housing Crisis, Libertarian, Money, Nationalism, News, Opinion, Politics, Republican, Republicans, Stock Market, Stocks, Taxes, Wall Street, Washington DC, White House, justice

End of Day Market Numbers

Posted onSeptember 15, 2008September 15, 2008

As I reported earlier. It was going to be a bad day on the stock market. Unfortunately, I was right.

Dow

10,917.51
-504.48
(-4.42%)

Nasdaq

2,179.91
-81.36
(-3.60%)

S&P 500

1,192.69
-59.01
(-4.71%)

10y bond

3.39%
-0.15
(-4.24%)

USD-Euro

0.7044
+0.0004
(0.06%)

USD-Yen

105.8300
-1.8000
(-1.67%)

USD-GBP

0.5587
+0.0007
(0.13%)

Hopefully tomorrow will be better for everyone.

Technorati Tags: Banking Crisis, Business, Commodities, Economy, Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve Bank, Globalism, Gold Prices, Housing Crisis, Libertarian, Libertarian Party, Stock Market, Stocks, Wall Street, Wealth, foreign oil.

A possible dicey day on Wall St.

Posted onSeptember 15, 2008September 15, 20081 Comment

I knew about the problems that were happening over on Wall Street and in the banking world. I was just unaware of just how bad it is.

It turns out, that it is really bad. I mean, really seriously bad!

The Wall Street has a great Video and Story up over on their site.

Here’s the Video:

Quote from WSJ:

The American financial system was shaken to its core on Sunday. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said it would file for bankruptcy protection, and Merrill Lynch & Co. agreed to be sold to Bank of America Corp.

The U.S. government, which bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a week ago and orchestrated the sale of Bear Stearns Cos. to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in March, played much tougher with Lehman. It refused to provide a financial backstop to potential buyers. Without such support, Barclays PLC and Bank of America, the two most interested buyers, walked away. Barclays said Monday it pulled out of the potential deal after deciding it wasn’t in the best interest of shareholders.

Late Sunday night, Lehman said it intends to file for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Lehman said none of the broker-dealer subsidiaries or other subsidiaries of LBHI will be included in the Chapter 11 filing and all of the broker-dealers will continue to operate. Customers of Lehman Brothers, including customers of its wholly owned subsidiary, Neuberger Berman Holdings LLC, may continue to trade or take other actions with respect to their accounts, Lehman said.

On Sunday night, Bank of America struck an all-stock deal to buy Merrill Lynch for $29 a share, or $50 billion.

Though it steered clear of a bailout, the Federal Reserve is expected to take new steps to stabilize the broader financial system. These steps, expected to be temporary, would make it easier for banks and securities firms to borrow from the central bank by using a wider range of collateral. Bankers say these financial institutions might need short-term funds as they unwind their many trading positions with Lehman.

While I do not have anything invested on Wall Street, I know people who do, in fact, my parents have stock options in G.M. So, this may just affect them. I will be watching this story all day today. This Blog is mainly politics, but I also Blog about other news stories of interest. Anyhow, this could trigger panic selling everywhere and could trigger a massive crash of the stock market, rivaling the crash of the 1930’s or at least rivaling the mini-crash of the 1980’s.

I do realize that the FDR did put some protection in our bank system to prevent another major crash, as to just good those protections are, we will see I suppose. I do not claim to be a banking nor financial expert. But I can see the panic in the eyes of those men that made that video. So, I expect a horrible day on the stock market.

Of course, our communist liberals, especially the far left with their anti-capitalist mentality, will be cheering this little misfortune. I’m sure that B. Hussein Obama will be saying stuff like, “They deserve to be punished, for making the little people suffer!” and “It was George W. Bush’s fault that the stock market crashed!”

On the other hand, John McCain will most likely make some rather stupid comment and then blame his time as a P.O.W. on his idiotic gaffe. Like he always does. 🙄

Either way, this story is going to be interesting to follow. Stay tuned.

Update: Michelle Malkin says “The Fit has hit the shan” Indeed. But she also says:

And now is the time where I get to say, “See, I told you so.” From March 17, 2008, as the Bear Stearns bailout was underway:

I warned from the start of stimulus-palooza that we were headed in this direction. Both political parties support these massive government interventions–from empowering judges to meddle with private contracts to backing billions in mortgage securities. This isn’t the last step. It’s the first. And you know who will end up getting screwed: The responsible and the frugal.

True Michelle, But don’t you think that Mr. “Nation of whiners“, has to share some of the blame, because of his lobbying for the deregulation of the housing industry? Which caused all of this in the first place? I think so. What is really known, is the fact that it is going to get a hell of lot worse, before it gets any better. *gulp!*

Technorati Tags: Banking Crisis, Barack Obama, Bush, Business, Cheney, Communist, Conservative, Democrat, Democrats, Economy, Election ‘08, Election 2008, Fannie Mae, Federal Reserve Bank, Freddie Mac, Globalism, Government, History, Housing Crisis, John McCain, Liberal, Liberals, Libertarian, Money, Nationalism, Neo-Conservatives, News, Obama, Oil Prices, Opinion, Politics, Republican, Republicans, Stock Market, Sub-Prime Loans, Wall Street, Wealth, World News, foreign oil, oil

Palin Makes Her First Gaffe, or perhaps not….

Posted onSeptember 8, 2008September 8, 2008

Sam Stein is wetting his pants with glass that Palin supposedly Made Her First Gaffe.

Gov. Sarah Palin made her first potentially major gaffe during her time on the national scene while discussing the developments of the perilous housing market this past weekend. Speaking before voters in Colorado Springs, the Republican vice presidential nominee claimed that lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had “gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.” The companies, as McClatchy reported, “aren’t taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization.

Well, there’s only one little problem with that whole thing. It was not exactly a gaffe at all. Because now that the United States Government has bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it is going to start costing the tax payers money, not to mention that it will cause housing prices to rise, to cover the bailout. After all, the Government will have to cover that loss.

So, it looks like, while she might have been wrong in the past. In this case, considering what has happened to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Palin was absolutely correct.

Others:
michellemalkin.com, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Corner, Hot Air

Technorati Tags: Business, Conservative, Consitution, Democrat, Democrats, Election ’08, Election 2008, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Government, Housing Crisis, John McCain, Liberal, Liberals, Libertarian, News, Opinion, Politics, Republican, Republicans, Sarah Palin