Friday, December 12, 2008
7+ Trillion Wrongs Don't Make 15 Billion Rights
The FED is printing and lending trillions of dollars, and not even disclosing where the money is going.
So what's another 15 billion for some automakers who are bloated with corruption, private jets, and unions that have negotiated the sweetest deal in history (for its workers).
Everything is wrong with it. It's time for the government to understand they're making this situation worse with their intervention. The bailout is only creating an environment where success is punished and failure is reinforced with more money, so they can continue to fail.
Government: Get out of the way now. What are you trying to avoid, a recession? Too late. We're in hard times, this country was built on hard times. You can't have good times if you don't have the opportunities created by bad times. Name one country that experienced long term economic growth from government micro-management.
It's time for a little pain and purging. It's going to hurt, a lot. Then there is going to be opportunities like we've never had before. The little guy can't outsmart and outperform the big guy if the government is propping up the big guy with trillions of dollars and calling them too big too fail.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The People's Republic of Windows and Doors
So this company shut down because Bank of America made a business decision not to keep their line of credit open. The union is demonstrating a "sit-in" because they're not getting the benefits, back vacation etc. owed to them.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagovich said the State would no longer do business with Bank of America until they reinstate the line of credit, allowing the employees to get their benefits/paid vacation time. He claims the bailout money Bank of America received was designed specifically for this purpose.
Yeah... that makes sense. Extend a company credit that's not making any money. Isn't that how we got into this mess? Perhaps now that Governor Blagovich was caught trying to sell the vacant Illinois Senate seat to the highest bidder, he may have other things to worry about than extorting Bank of America.
To the workers at the plant: I'm sorry you lost your job - these are terribly tough times. But if Bank of America is forced to give in and lend money it will never get back, then the slippery slope continues - or maybe we're already off the cliff.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Transportation Bailout Scenario
Employees lost their jobs and companies went out of business. It was a pretty sad story for an industry that served so many for so long.
But these companies didn't get a bailout. If they did, we'd all still be driving horses and buggies.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Grand Theft Election Minneapolis
In GTE, you play Al. Al is a washed up, has been comedian who decides one day he wants to run for the US Senate. He appears to be a good fit, except that more people have been laughing at congressman than have ever laughed at Al's jokes.
At some point in the game after Al loses a close election, Al's election team needs to start challenging individual ballots in an effort to steal the election. Although this is a fictitious game with no reference to actual real life people, here is a good example of what one of those ballots would look like:
These codes put a large percentage of the media behind you regardless of how ridiculous you sound.
I get the feeling these codes also stack the deck with Al leaning judges and election officials, turning Grand Theft Election into an entirely winnable game.
Good thing it's only a game, because if this were to happen in real life it would be a terrible indication of how democracy is being flushed down the toilet and partisan politics is put before Country.
Good thing...
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
My Bailout's Bigger than yours
Ben: Hey Hank! Good to see you. This round’s on me.
Hank: Oh no, I’m buying – I just got an 800 billion dollar bailout deal.
Ben: Wow, look at you. Not bad for a cabinet member. But you can’t compete against the Fed.
Hank: No? How are you going to top 800 billion?
Ben: Try 2 trills.
Hank: Yeah right. I watched C-Span all month, not a single mention of giving 2 trillion to the Fed.
Ben: Yep, that’s the best part. No congressional oversight, no vote.
Hank (staring incredulously): You’re serious aren’t you? Do you realize I had to get on my knees in front of Nancy just to get 800 billion, and you more than double that?
Ben: That was great, I still have that picture in my phone. And it’s 2.5 times more, to be precise.
Hank: Two trillion? Where’d you get that kind of cash? They’re talking about massive tax hikes just for mine.
Ben: Easy, I just print the money. I got a great deal on a high speed color laser printer. I printed 50 billion last night for an auto company, it only jammed once!
Hank: Sweet. And no tax hike.
Ben: Yep, just mass inflation. Just think, this beer you’re drinking will probably cost about $900 at some point. It'll resolve the mortgage crisis too, since $500,000 won't even buy an SUV at the rate I'm printing.
Hank: Who are you lending it to?
Ben: That’s another thing, I don’t have to say.
Hank: This is too good to be true! But you can tell me, right?
Ben: I can but…
Hank: C’mon Ben. Remember that press conference when that reporter asked me if the Federal government could make money from this deal, and you were in the back trying to get me to laugh? You owe me!
Ben: Alright, next time.
Hank: Fine, I gotta go anyway.
Ben: Where to?
Hank: I need to wash Nancy’s car.
The above was a fictional satire. Any references to names, numbers, and economic situations are purely coincidental.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Timeline of a Cover Up
During this going away party, according to the LA Times story, poetry was read accusing Israel of terrorism, while others compared "Zionist settlers" to Osama Bin Laden. To put it plainly, there was plenty of Jew bashing going on that night.
On the second page of this story, the LA Times writes "The Event was videotaped, and a copy of the tape was obtained by The Times". No mention of a confidential source.
From October 24 to 28, there are multiple stories of various news agencies requesting a copy of this tape. All requests were denied without any mention of a confidential source.
On October 28, Ben Smith of Politico, gave the times the benefit of the doubt as he wrote:
Critics have suggested that the Times is witholding the video for political reasons, but there are other possibilities: competitive reasons, or simply out of tradition. In the mechanics of reporting, there's another possibility as well. The video may have been given to the paper on the condition it not be released, or releasing it could compromise its source.
This is the first mention of a confidential source, speculated by a reporter from a different news agency.
October 29: The Times makes a first mention that the tape was obtained from a confidential source on the condition it would not be released. The story actually says this was originally mentioned on the 28th, but after a thorough search I did not find any mention of this prior to the 29th. Hopefully The Times will send Mr. Smith a thank you card for inadvertently providing the idea of a confidential source.
Calling this BS is an understatement. Let's see the tape, because I'm sure if this had John McCain (or Sarah Palin) on it, it would have been out on the front pages back in April.
Friday, October 17, 2008
The Next 18 Days for Joe the Plumber
“Your new tax plan is going to tax me more isn’t it?”
Those twelve words, followed by Obama’s response of spreading the wealth may have a greater impact on this election as the Ponytail Guy did in 1992 (GHW Bush vs. BJ Clinton) when he asked the presidential candidates to “treat us as your children” and to promise to “meet our needs.”
Rather than try to argue ideology and attempt to explain why Obama feels that taxing certain economic levels is necessary, the media and the Obama Campaign is going to go after this guy. Until Election Day (and who knows how much longer) Joe is going to be called a Republic plant. They’re going to question his plumbing licenses and tax returns. If they can, they’ll bring out unhappy ex-girlfriends from high school or anything else they can do to turn Joe the Plumber into some monster who us peasants on Main Street can’t relate to.
But behind all of this vilifying, the truth is still there. Obama wants to take money from those who earned it, and give it to those who haven’t. He’s using this fictitious number of $250,000 as a point of envy, so those of us making 30k, 50k, or 100k look up to those mean rich people making 250,000 and say “yeah, they should pay up more”.
Let’s not fall for it. No one is going to prosper by punishing those with wealth. Economies grow when jobs are created, not when money is transferred from one party to another without the exchange goods or services in return. Economies grow when the government gets out of the way of people trying to succeed.
Thanks Joe, I hope I’m wrong about their plans for you.
Monday, September 29, 2008
The Other 630 Billion
Today the Federal Reserve injected a total of 630 billion dollars in the financial system in an effort to alleviate the lack of liquidity.
So while Congress is fighting back and forth over this bail out plan (or rescue plan, depending on which spinster you talk to), two miles away the Federal Reserve found 630 billion dollars and threw it into the market.
Odd how this story is being so widely ignored while the crash and burn of the 700 billion bailout makes the headlines. Is this 630 billion not as important as the other 700 billion? The 630 billion wasn’t here this morning – it’s being printed on high powered color printers as we speak.
No vote, no debate. Now we know who’s really running the Country.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Rome is not burning
This is where we stand today, with our esteemed leaders irresponsibly running around crying the sky will fall on Monday if we don't take 700 billion tax payer dollars and throw it at a problem. I don't buy it, and I'm far from alone.
While Congress, Paulson and the President plot to spend our money, take away whatever is left of capitalism, and still not have an inkling of a real solution, JP Morgan buys out Washington Mutual. Like Bear Sterns, JP Morgan got a great deal - this is the free market in action. This buyout did not cost taxpayers a dime.
So where's this 700 billion coming from? Two sources - our taxes or they're going to print more money. Is a massive tax hike or long term inflation in order to bail out companies that only deserve bankruptcy a better alternative than a recession that will likely occur anyway?
This 700 billion will be one of the largest government expansions ever, and we don't want our financial markets turning into the DMV. I'm not saying stand back and let Rome burn. But with buyouts like Merrill Lynch and WAMU happening on their own, let's not rush to interrupt the free market from correcting itself when there's still companies out there who can recognize an opportunity in the face of adversity.
If you agree, contact your congressman or congresswoman and let them know to slow down their 700 billion shopping spree.
Friday, September 19, 2008
The end of Free Market Capitalism
"We had to bail them out, otherwise there would have been a major financial meltdown."
"This is the purpose of the government, when the free market loses control."
WRONG AND WRONG.
The essential purpose of the free market is you have good times, and you have bad times. The mortgage and financial companies make irresponsible decisions. If you and I operated like they did we'd be in debt up to our ears with no lifeline. All because we're not "too big to fail".
So what's the moral of this? If you're going to make irresponsible decisions, just make sure you do it at a magnitude that can hurt the maximum amount of people possible. If you do it any less, nobody cares to help you. Just make sure you're too big to fail.
So, now that the government comes in and buys up all the debt. No big deal, they'll just print some more money. All the financial institutions face no punishment for their decisions, and get to do it all over again. You and I get to pay this for the rest of our lives.
Welcome to the United Socialist Republic of America.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Citigroup to Cut Costs
It’s clear as day that companies should be putting themselves under the microscope to see how and where they cut and costs. But some of these larger companies have no idea just how fat they really are. I love this article:
On first glance, it seems like a minor but prudent step being taken. Color copies cost upwards of 10 times the amount of black and white copies, and I know from experience that many copiers are simply set to color even if they don’t need to be. On further scrutiny, what types of policies (or lack thereof) were in place prior to these changes that allowed such wild spending?
Under the new policy, employee meetings must be held within Citigroup offices and client events will require approval, the memo said.
Oh well, I guess that means no more spontaneous sales meetings held at Scores.
Color photocopiers will be removed from some locations and their use will be limited to client presentations.
As opposed to printing of family photos and NCAA office pools.
Well, there goes advanced dinner party etiquette. Hopefully “introduction to Microsoft Excel” is strictly necessary.
Purchases of computer hardware and software must also be pre-approved under the new rules,
Seriously – were they really buying hardware and software without approval? I should have asked someone from Citibank to expense a new server for me – or an Xbox 360.
We will be conducting a review of our Blackberry usage,'' Citigroup said. ``In the interim, all new Blackberries will require pre-approval.'
Nice. So no one approved Crackberries previously, nor did anyone ever review usage.
I’m glad Citi’s making such responsible steps in limiting what seemed to be complete out of control unchecked spending. Too bad they didn’t do that before whacking 14,000+ employees.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Prince George County Police Murder 2 Family Dogs
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-mayor0807,0,4563211.story
Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo had his home invaded last week by a Prince George County SWAT Team because the Mayor was being set up with drug possession charges - the police even acknowledge there was no wrongdoing on his part. That didn't stop them from bursting into his home, tying him and his family up for 2 hours, and shooting down both of his labrodor retrievers.
Berwyn Heights is an incorporated town within Prince George County. So where was the Town's police force? Normally municipalities will cooperate with each other in these type of investigations. Instead, these guys rush in with guns blazing.
Sadly enough, this isn't an isolated incident. These thugs shot and killed an innocent family's dog back in November of 2007 in this story.
The Calvo family has my most sincere condolences for the loss of their two dogs. I hope this travesty of justice does not go unpunished.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Identifying Good Comparables
Intended Readers: Real estate appraisers, investors, brokers, homebuyers, and anyone else needing to understand real estate valuation.
Many of my clients and associates are appraisers and other real estate professionals; determining the market value of real estate is a critical component to them.
A typical (if not too ideal) search for sales comparables in a residential area of
- 1 mile radius or less from the subject property.
- Sold within the past 6 months.
- Same school district as the subject.
- Building square footage (or gross living area) within 10% of the subject's square footage.
- Similar number of rooms/baths.
- Same architectural style as the subject.
Of course, no two properties are identical. This is why appraisers and other valuation experts use adjustments, which essentially allows them to compare apples to oranges – actually let’s say
In addition to similarities, timeliness and physical characteristics, the circumstances of the sales need to be taken into consideration. Market value is determined by using arms length transactions, or a sale between two unrelated parties with no conflicts of interest sold under typical market conditions.
You can weed out a lot of these non-arms length transactions with a little due diligence. Look at the names of the parties involved in a transaction; if the last names are the same it’s likely a family transfer.
If a property was sold more than once in a relatively short period of time, it may have been flipped. Not all flips are bad, but flips have often been used to artificially inflate property values or to conceal ownership.
Other sales to watch out for are those that occur shortly after a bank files a lis pendens on the property. A lis pendens is usually a notification to the public from a bank that a borrower is in default of their mortgage loan. Properties sold in the wake of a lis pendens may be due to a short sale, foreclosure auction, or an REO sale. Any of those circumstances are viewed differently than a typical market sale.
Whether you’re an appraiser, investor, homebuyer, homeowner or real estate agent, knowing this and utilizing it to make sound real estate decisions can greatly affect your success in real estate. Many areas have online data providers that have some or all of this information for a few hundred dollars a year. If you’re in the business or just looking to purchase a property, such an investment can pay off with huge dividends.