Archive for Wall Street
By notjustdirt ( March 4, 2009 at 3:27 am) · Filed under AIG, Geithner, TARP, Wall Street, bailout, AIG, bailout, deregulation, Geithner, Hank Greenberg, TARP, US Chamber of Commerce
Hank Greenberg, former AIG CEO is suing his former company AIG for alleged misleading accounting. Mr. Greenberg is the single largest shareholder of AIG and was ousted largely for his responsibility leading up to the financial crisis. Further, it was Mr. Greenberg who as the AIG CEO funded the lobbying efforts by US Chamber of Commerce for deregulation of the financial industry post-Enron.
…AIG in particular was charged over $20 million by U.S. Chamber to fight for deregulation and strip post-Enron reforms, allowing AIG to more freely move in the markets (see case study below). This all took place at the same time that AIG and its CEO, Hank Greenberg, were being investigated by numerous agencies on a variety of fraud charges….
…Because of “the risks AIG poses to the economy,” Geithner told the committee, “the most effective thing to do is to make sure the firm can be restructured over time, so that we can get through this….
What that restructure may look like, nobody knows, but I’m sure Hank Greenberg led by his lawsuit will certainly have his input weighed more than taxpayers.
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By notjustdirt ( February 24, 2009 at 4:12 pm) · Filed under Geithner, Obama, Obama Administration, Obama cabinet, TARP, Wall Street, bailout, banking, banks, bernanke, economy, bailout, banks, chris matthews, credit, crisis, hardball, housing, jim cramer, mad money, mortgage, msnbc, peter morici
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By notjustdirt ( February 23, 2009 at 3:15 pm) · Filed under Geithner, Wall Street, bailout, banking, banks, bernanke, bailout, banks, bernanke, consumer debt, default, Federal Reserve, Geithner, mortgages, TARP, toxi assets, Treasury, Wall St
It’s great that President Obama has put someone in charge of accountability on how the stimulus money will be spent at the state and local levels. In addition, President Obama warned Governors and Mayors across the nation that they will be called out if they waste the stimulus money outside of its original intent.
However, who is watching Tim Geithner, US Treasury Secretary, Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman and the US banks on TARP money?
Americans owe a total of $17.4 trillion in debt. $14.8 trillion in mortgages and the rest in consumer credit such as credit cards.
Source: http://www.plunkettresearch.com/Industries/BankingMortgagesCredit/BankingMortgagesCreditStatistics/tabid/233/Default.aspx
How hard is it to figure this out? The government and the banks know exactly who owes what and where.
How can the banks blame the American consumers in one hand and be asking for bailout and tell Congress to arrest defaults in the other? In other words, banks and banking policies have no need to change?
If default rate is at 10% of debt value, that’s only $1.7 trillion that is at risk in principal. TARP is allocating $0.7 trillion so the difference is only $1.0 trillion. Why don’t we just put the $1.0 trillion of assets into bankruptcy courts and public auctions? Also, make it mandatory for all loans to convert all ARMs to Fixed. Toxic asset gone! Confidence restored! Unless there are more US banks are not telling on the commercial side as it relates to businesses and other toxic paper arrangements. If so, shame on the banks and further prove the current players need to be removed and further regulatory change is necessary.
All those in Washington and media are just making a simple problem more complicated than it needs to be so they can keep the same people in the banking industry in power.
The Federal Reserve have the exact numbers. Look at this pretty map:
http://www.newyorkfed.org/mortgagemaps/
Looking at the Fed’s own sampling data:
the “A” Pool of debt has the following:
ARM mortgages:
60+ days late = 12%
In Foreclosure Proceedings = 10%
Foreclosed = 5%
Fixed mortgages:
60+ days late = 5%
In Foreclosure Proceedings = 4%
Foreclosed = 2%
the “Subprime Pool”:
ARM mortgages:
60+ days late = 22 %
In Foreclosure Proceedings = 16%
Foreclosed = 10%
Fixed mortgages:
60+ days late = 12 %
In Foreclosure Proceedings = 4%
Foreclosed = 2%
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