BUT

yo!..greatest story evva told...innit!


PALOOKAVILLE FINANCIAL
capitulation day
+117...


...the story so far...

...america has the worlds reserve currency...

...but...

...structural deficits, bust banks, national debt... an political malaise...

...are threatening to implode the dollar...


AMERICA HAS A NEW PRESIDENT

...but...

...he plans to borrow more money to solve the debt crisis...

...there is no plan to force the banks to declare, in full...

...their exposure to toxic assets...


ENGLAND EXPECTS

...britain has the devalued pound...

...but...

...the rest of the world is also in recession...

...so our trade gap still gets wider...


BRITAIN HAS A NEW DICTATOR

...but...

...he plans to borrow more money to solve the debt crisis...

...there is no plan to force the banks to declare, in full...

...their exposure to toxic assets...

FIRE IN THE HOLD


The US economy’s perilous condition calls for extreme fiscal activism. The new administration’s stimulus plans are by no means over the top. If anything, a fiscal injection of $800bn (€602bn, £543bn) over two years is too modest. But the implication of so strong a fiscal boost is a swift and severe worsening of the country’s long-term fiscal position.
clive crook


Gordon Brown’s government tightened its grip on Britain’s financial system...
...guaranteeing toxic assets and giving...
...the Bank of England unprecedented power to buy securities.
bloomberg

Firefighters are failing and we're all getting scorched

Unemployment will soar to 3.4 million, thinktank warns

‘Time to Sell’ Treasuries, Biggest Korean Fund Says

Help Ireland or it will exit euro, economist warns

A leading Irish economist has called on Dublin to threaten withdrawal from the euro unless Europe's big powers do more to rescue Ireland's economy.

Once again, Britain leads the world...

...in the macabre speciality of saving banks.

...but...

ambrose : ..."Taken together, the rescues may make the difference between global recession and a deeper slump that causes mass unemployment and social turmoil, perhaps destroying the open global order we take for granted. We can only guess....

...but...

There is no guarantee that the measures will succeed. The vast scale of government borrowing may exhaust the stock of global capital. Markets are already beginning to question the credit-worthiness of sovereign states. The Fed may find it harder than it thinks to disengage from colossal intervention in the bond markets...

...but...

In the end, the only way out of all this global debt may prove to be a Biblical debt Jubilee.

...but...

Creditors are not going to like that."

telegraph

THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE SAVER

y0!...long shot kikka buckit...innit!

PALOOKAVILLE FINANCIAL
capitulation day
+114...


...petethepainter is dead but still on the run...

...head shot with a sawn off, reactivated .45...

...he was under water at the end of 2008 by 7%...


...he has been tryin ta get to the bottom of the pension fund collapse...

...by swimming the pools of famous silent movie actresses in downtown palookaville...

...he hopes to find the...

...mother of all bottoms...

Distressed asset indices fall sharply

Indices tracking the value of the trillions of dollars of distressed assets that continue to blight bank balance sheets fell sharply this week as a negative spiral of financial distress and subsequent economic pain continued.

The declines – which signal further potential writedowns by banks – are fuelling fears that the first quarter of this year could herald further pain for the financial system, even as many banks reveal sharp losses for the fourth quarter of 2008.

SHORT FOR SHORT'S SAKE


Short for Shorts sake...

Money for Gods sake...

Gimme the readys...Gimme the cash...

Gimme a bullet...Gimme yo stash...

Gimme yo silver...Gimme yo gold...

Make it a million for when I get old..!

Short for Shorts sake...

Money for Gods sake!


SPECIAL LITERARY EDITION

mish : Huddling Under The TARP

Inquiring minds are reading Andrew Jeffery's column, Bank of America Huddling Under TARP.

To quote a recent op-ed in the Journal, which likened the government response to the current financial crisis to the circumstances described in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged...

"Politicians invariably respond to crises -- that in most cases they themselves created -- by spawning new government programs, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generate more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs . . . and the downward spiral repeats itself until the productive sectors of the economy collapse under the collective weight of taxes and other burdens imposed in the name of fairness, equality and do-goodism."

The similarities are so striking, it almost seems like regulators are using Atlas Shrugged as a playbook for their policy response to the crisis. They must not have waded through all 1,000 pages to see how the story ended.

Atlas Shrugged: Fiction To Fact

The Wall Street Journal article that Jeffrey quoted is Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years. Here is another snip.

The current economic strategy is right out of "Atlas Shrugged": The more incompetent you are in business, the more handouts the politicians will bestow on you. That's the justification for the $2 trillion of subsidies doled out already to keep afloat distressed insurance companies, banks, Wall Street investment houses, and auto companies -- while standing next in line for their share of the booty are real-estate developers, the steel industry, chemical companies, airlines, ethanol producers, construction firms and even catfish farmers.

With each successive bailout to "calm the markets," another trillion of national wealth is subsequently lost. Yet, as "Atlas" grimly foretold, we now treat the incompetent who wreck their companies as victims, while those resourceful business owners who manage to make a profit are portrayed as recipients of illegitimate "windfalls."

...Mike "Mish" Shedlock...


GROUCHO, HARPO, CHICO,

...KARL...

..."Owners of capital will stimulate the working class to buy more and more expensive goods, houses and technology, pushing them to take on more and more expensive debt, until their debt becomes unbearable.

The unpaid debt will lead to the bankruptcy of all banks, which will have to be nationalised, and the State will have to take the road which will eventually lead to communism.”

...So says the Karl Marx quote that has been whizzing round Wall Street and the City...

times :

"We seemed a step closer to that prospect yesterday.
Bank shares plunged again on both sides of the Atlantic amid concern that more capital injections will be required. Bank of America shares fell 20 per cent on reports that it needed further government help to complete the acquisition of Merrill Lynch. Merrill has suffered higher than expected losses in the fourth quarter and BoA is in talks with the American authorities about an infusion of capital.

Citigroup shares tumbled further, ahead of today's results, which are expected to be horrible.

These falls took the combined value of Citigroup and BoA - so recently the two most valuable banks in the world - below that of Wells Fargo, the conservative West Coast lender.

Back in Britain, bank shares were also under the cosh again, as ministers scurried to finalise another package of measures designed to get credit flowing again.

Gordon Brown said that the toxic assets of banks had to be dealt with, which could require more capital, while Capital Economics forecasts British banks will lose £85billion over the next three years and lending will be slashed by £400billion unless they get more capital.

At this rate, RBS will be fully nationalised before Sir Philip Hampton takes over as chairman.

According to the Marx quote, this means communism will not be far behind.

Except, of course, Marx didn't say that.

The quote is a fake. You just can't trust those bankers. times

1984 : THE WAY WE LIVE NOW

The Ministry of Truth...

wikipedia : ..."is where the main character of the book Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston Smith, works.^[1] It is an enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete rising 300 meters into the air, containing over 3000 rooms above ground.

On the outside wall are the three slogans of the Party:

"War is Peace,"

"Freedom is Slavery,"

"Ignorance is Strength."

There is also a large part underground, probably containing huge incinerators where documents are destroyed after they are put down...

memory holes.

For his description Orwell was inspired by...

the Senate House at the University of London.<sup>[2]..."




ANYONE FOR KAFKA ?</sup>

Adj.	1.	Kafkaesque - relating to or in the manner of Franz Kafka or his writings
	2.	kafkaesque - characterized by surreal distortion and a sense of impending danger; "the kafkaesque terror of the endless interrogations" unrealistic - not realistic; "unrealistic expectations"; "prices at unrealistic high levels"

<sup>http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Kafkaesque



THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE PENCIL


...so!...

...ayn rand, karl marx, george orwell, kafka...

...things are startin ta look serious...</sup>

BLOGGER OF THE YEAR

yo!...scrapin a barrel...innit?

PALOOKAVILLE FINANCIAL stardate : capitulation day+101


...in palookaville we take blogging seriously...


...as it is that most boring of times...xyear...we heah inna loft...


...are holdin a blogger o the yeah debate an vote...


peteypaint : welcome all yo dudes...ta the webs biggest blogfest...

zooneh : ahm gon vote fo mish...


beulah : WTF..!...zooneh!...yo gotta hear alla bullshit fo yo casts yo vote...

laverne : bighead git zoon...yo jus a tosssa...innit!


opkin : ninja gon be yo best fo hyper-bowl...i jus loves it when he ovva a top...

musky : he done some good posts man...

spidah : barry gotta fanciest new site innit?


halfcat : ah lak at gel from news an economics...she real sweet...
...anna stuff she write be...well good...

beulah : wimmen is smart man...they don jus bullshit...they research...

laverne : gon get me a blog one a these days...get some cred inna markets...


painteronnacisternceilin : don fo get armageddony...he done some good stuff...


zooneh : shoot! we done fo gotta market tikka...he really kicks ass man!

painteh : yeah...yo right onna moneh there zoon...

beulah : ha ha ha...thought yo woz votin fo mish?

zoon : f*ck off buely...yo stink is wot...


paintstain : cool it suckers...yo lettin a tone dahn...

opkin : wotta bout slopey and luny...they real good too...great charts...

zoon : then yo gotta include fraid ta trade...innit!


petey : (sotto voce) nb.dudes...alla these inna side bar...click em there...


LATER THAT SAME DAY



LATER STILL

painty : well i thank it be between mish anna tikka...but how will the votin go?

IT STARTED ON WALL ST.

PREVIOUSLY on capitulation day

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...................................................................

whahoppen? wattat ssahn?

sayin stop! hey..whats that sound? evvabody look whats goin down.....STOP! hey whats that sou...

itta DORKPRIZE innit.... enjin stopped...that the sahnd o silence man!

clouds hang over world stock markets and the ticking grows ever louder in the still silence...the countdown has begun and soon the alien HEDGE FUNDS will, in unison, start to attack the last surviving banks and financial stocks....

in NEW YORK the aliens are eatin skyscrapers an wall st. will nevva look a same agin....

DAY 2......PRESIDENT paulson has taken command of the United Flakes Dorkship... Turnerprize.... joined forces with the OLD EMPIRES and fired off a simultaneous $multi-billion mega liquidty torpedo.

President Paulson has also put out halucinogenic NEW IDEAS to thwart and destroy the alien HEDGE FUNDS before their relentless short attacks can liquidate WALL ST.

SUCKERS RALLY?

Markets have rallied by A LOT! on news of the emasculation of the SHORT SELLERS who have been stuck together by a Lepage glue gun fired from the Turnerprize by theWATCHER'S men.

The large bald dude inna toga takes action at last! the market, FIXED IN TIME FOR THE ELECTION, has FORGOTTEN the alleged recession and the fact that the workin stiffs is skint!

It is as if THE WIZARD OF OZ has waved his wand and all is now perfect inna perfec world!

WAIT A MO...WATSISS?

bazza's pal : " The bear raids on the banks and brokers were NOT a case of piling on by US based hedge funds. And from what he was seeing and hearing about in terms of order flow, the vast majority of the financial short selling the past week or so were being done overseas. It appears that the lion's share of shorting was coming out of overseas bourses such as London and Dubai.It may not be a coincidence that the financial short selling ban is both here and in London...

...Then there is another coincidence: The huge increase in shorting of the financials occurred on the anniversary of 9/11. And on top of that, the same institutions attacked on 9/11/01 were the ones suffering in recent days."

onna nother note...

bazza...The grand irony of all this is that Naked Shorting has been very profitable for the big broker dealers, like Morgan And Goldman and Merrill and Lehman. They have looked the other way for years, and the SEC has been AWOL on this issue.

Short sales require a locate (shares to borrow) and then a subsequent delivery. It should take less than 3 days to deliver the borrowed shares, but instead, delivery is often delayed indefinitely. Failure to deliver leads to a margin charge, which can be as high as 9-15%.

If you want to know who to blame for the past 5 years of naked shorting, you only have two places to look: The Financial brokers themselves, and the non-feasance of a feckless SEC." The Big Picture

to be continued...