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Our financial system is insolvent

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by poindexter, Sep 13, 2008.

Page 1 of 32
  1. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    I'm not using that as hyperbole. Not a metaphor. I mean insolvent in the real sense of the world..

    Lehman Bros could very well be liquidated this weekend.

    http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/09/fed-and-wall-street-discuss-possibility.html

    When their "orderly liquidation" is exposed, the junk they have on their balance sheet represents data points for the true market values for the junk that other firms have on their balance sheet. The prices will be pennies on the dollar.

    The stuff going on is staggering.
     
    poindexter, Sep 13, 2008
    #1
  2. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
    heyabbott, Sep 13, 2008
    #2
  3. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    I like to F around on threads, too, but this has nothing to do with Obama. Zero.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
    poindexter, Sep 13, 2008
    #3
  4. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    It does when he's promising to write checks that the government can't cash.
     
    Herbert Anchovy, Sep 13, 2008
    #4
  5. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Of course they'll do it on a Saturday.
     
    Football_Bat, Sep 13, 2008
    #5
  6. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    The national debt has gone from 5 trillion to 10 trillion in the last 10 years. Talk about writing checks that can't be cashed. Obama has nothing to do with this thread.

    This thread is about our financial system. Its in the SPORTS AND NEWS section.

    There is a whole new section for the Republican/Democrat jackassery. Its listed under "Child Boards".

    Here's the link.
    http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/forums/17/

    Use it.
     
    poindexter, Sep 13, 2008
    #6
  7. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    There's a black helicopter circling your house, Poin.

    They're gonna get you.

    Boo!
     
    three_bags_full, Sep 13, 2008
    #7
  8. poindexter

    poindexter Well-Known Member

    Maybe.

    Without the government plugging their fingers in the dike every single weekend like they've been doing (which reeks of third world, btw), what would we have?
     
    poindexter, Sep 13, 2008
    #8
  9. jgmacg

    jgmacg Guest

    Not to ratify stuff I don't entirely understand tbf, but it seems to me that the serial failure of some of the world's largest financial institutions is a cause for genuine concern.

    And as an aside to 'yab, didn't dubya just put $1200 in "stimulus" into the pocket of every taxpayer in America? Like three months ago? How'd that work out?
     
    jgmacg, Sep 13, 2008
    #9
  10. Herbert Anchovy

    Herbert Anchovy Active Member

    Oh, there's already a Gerber-bespattered highchair over there with my initials on it. Thanks for the directions. But if he wishes to become 44th president of the United States, Obama is part of this discussion. Same goes for the cancer-riddled old man.
     
    Herbert Anchovy, Sep 13, 2008
    #10
  11. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    http://lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/BreakingNews.html
     
    TheSportsPredictor, Sep 13, 2008
    #11
  12. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    jg, serious cause for concern. But it isn't armageddon. Our GLOBAL economy is much more sophisticated than it was in 1929 and Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers don't control the world, as much as it seems they did at times.

    Our economy is in trouble. These institutions are as much a reflection of that as they are a cause. In a way, firms like Lehman are dinosaurs. There is too much info out there for even little people and transactions can be made in seconds. We don't need big market makers who have a hold over markets with an iron grip to have a robust economy, and we haven't for quite some time. In a way, capitalism is really winning out and technology is making it possible for us to be more capitalistic with a more even playing field. I have played around with trading currencies on Forex, and a little with trading commodities through electronic systems, and it is amazing how a flea like me can step in and control large sums of money and make instantaneous transactions with the click of a button. You don't need Lehman or Goldman or any of the other dinosaurs to create those markets. I go on and there is a a fast-trading, very liquid market staring right at me (24 hours a day!) and no one is orchestrating it. Even obscure currency pairings have more liquidity than most people would have imagined 10 years ago.

    That is the way we are heading and it isn't a bad thing. The Lehman's of the world had too much power to sink the economy and they don't serve the purpose they once did before technology. They are naturally being sloughed aside. It was bound to happen. The big issue moving forward will be how to properly regulate electronic markets that are global in nature and are susceptible to manipulation. But markets are ridiculously liquid today and information spreads quickly. In theory, that creates ripe conditions for a level playing field and a free market.

    Right now, we are dealing with a bad economy that is going to get worse. It won't be Armageddon, but it won't be fun either--the economy is going to keep slowing and the inflation creep isn't done. The price of oil is going to keep trending upward putting a pall over the world. But it will be a cyclical downturn, just as all the good times are always cyclical.
     
    The Big Ragu, Sep 13, 2008
    #12
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