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October 16, 2008

Joe the Plumber

Shadowcrash: I put the broke in brokerage account.

More popular Halloween costume: joe the plumber or joe sixpack?

about 13 hours ago from Twittelator

Posted 11:26 AM

October 14, 2008

U.S. Will Invest $250 Billion in Banks

The Treasury Department, in its boldest move yet, plans to invest up to $250 billion in banks, The New York Times reported. President Bush announced the measure on Tuesday morning after a harrowing week in which confidence in financial markets vanished.

NYT: Dealbook
CLusterstock: Treasury Seizing Stakes In Nine Big Banks
MR: The Deal
Bloomberg says none of the banks were given a choice.

Is this even constitutional?

Posted 09:01 AM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2008

Bailout Stream of News


Posted 10:51 PM

October 10, 2008

NYT on Buffett

Buffett made $8 billion from August 29 to October 1

Posted 10:03 PM

on Retirement

ShadowCrash: geriatric life of crime or geriatric gigolo(TM). What's yours?

Posted 02:21 PM

America the Banana Republic

Hitchens: A money class fleeces the banking system while the very trunk of the national tree is permitted to rot and crash.

The ongoing financial meltdown is just the latest example of a disturbing trend that, to this adoptive American, threatens to put the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave on a par with Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and Equatorial Guinea.

Posted 10:43 AM

Market Q&A

9:24 am
MBA: market is crashing today, down almost 700 already and oil is getting crushed
me: is it because short selling is back?

MBA: thats part of it. no confidence in the system; ok, only down 400 now - crazy
MBA: economy is in a recession and the credit markets are completely frozen. its simple

9:41 am
me: so who is pulling the money out of the market at this pace?
MBA: everybody at this point. today they are saying the large mutual funds are liquidating because small individual investors have started to stop putting money into their accounts or flat out withdrawing it. possible indication we're near a bottom since the small investors tend to be the least knowledgeable and savvy

me: but there are people that make money as it goes down correct?
MBA: yeah, short sellers or people who own puts

9:48 am
MBA: there are quite a few ways to make money in a declining market such as options

MBA: now the dow is positive!

Posted 10:02 AM

what to read during the banking crisis

Free exchange: No surprise that one of the best places to head for up-to-the-minute analysis of current events is over the Economist. Free exchange is smart, savvy and constantly updated. The regular roundup of news and analysis from all over the media ensure that, boom or bust, they never take their eye off the ball.

Brad Setser: Follow the money - From Iceland to Russia and back via Brazil. If you want the big picture on what's happening to your money right now, head over to this excellent Council on Foreign Relations blog. Brad Setser talks you through events in the world markets while making his own predictions. One for the globetrotter.

Stumbling and Mumbling: Only Chris Dillow could take a story about restaurants using monkeys as waiters and turn it into a post on how to save capitalism. The Investor's Chronicle writer has risen to the challenge over the past month with intelligent and often counter-intuitive theories on a variety of crisis-related topics.

Becker-Posner Blog: Boasting about your financial literacy down the pub comes much more naturally if you know you have the clout of a Nobel Prize winner behind you. Gary Becker (who scooped the prize for Economics) and Richard Posner (a high-flying judge) write weekly on a variety of issues. Recently, they've covered the crisis, government equity and bailout structuring - all for your cribbing pleasure.

Greg Mankiw: Ready for an economics class? Then head over to this Harvard Professor's blog. Originally designed to keep up with Mankiw's current and past students, it has become a must-read for those hoping to keep up with economic events. And as the former chair of Bush's economic advisors, Mankiw has an inside track on what's actually going on right now.

Real Time Economics: Reading Real Time Economics is like having the brains of the Wall Street Journal on speed dial. The journalists here put their fingers on the questions that everyone's wondering about. Better still, they actually take a stab at the answers.

Marginal Revolution: Two economists, one blog and an excellent cheat sheet. Marginal Revolution is one of the best-read economics blogs out there and has lived up to its reputation these past few weeks. During the crisis, they've provided a breakdown of events that is accessible to even the most credit confused customer.

Oliver Kamm's Blog: Oliver modestly says that his leaving the City and the collapse of the banking system were merely coincidental. But the Times is certainly blessed by the fact that he joined us shortly before the current crisis. Oliver has traditionally left finance alone on his blog. But now he's writing about it with his predictable brilliance. A must-read.

Source

Posted 09:03 AM

Shadowcrash on the Market

I'm abandoning the market and going back to sports gambling.

Posted 12:46 AM

October 09, 2008

Twitter on Buffett

shadowcrash: I know warren buffet's old, but his biography's 900+ pages. You'd think 50 billion could pay for an editor.

Posted 10:20 PM

Wall Street Bull Has Blue Balls

Gothamist has this pic of the Blue Ball Bull on Wall St.

Saw on Daily Show last night that the debt clock near MSG has run out of digits now that national debt is at tens of trillions of dollars.

Related: your moment of zen

Posted 06:27 PM

Alex P. Keaton for President

80s Tees

Posted 10:58 AM

October 03, 2008

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Text of the Act passed by Congress and signed by W this afternoon. The financial bailout package includes numerous tax breaks added to the bill by the Senate, including an AMT patch, individual and business tax extenders, energy incentives, and disaster tax relief. It also contains an extension for home mortgage debt forgiveness relief, and a tax crackdown on compensation and severance pay for certain financial executives, and parity for mental health coverage in group health plans.

Posted 08:58 PM