Who and What Are To Blame for Uncle Sam’s Imminent Shutdown?
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 30th, 2013 10:10 AM |
With the government mere hours away from an imminent shutdown, I commented over the weekend that a small proprietor would not run his hot dog stand in such a fashion.
Yet here we sit — with Uncle Sam sticking his mitt ever deeper into our pockets — faced with the prospect that the puppets in Washington on both sides of the aisle are incapable of managing our affairs not only to avoid a shutdown but to actually run things in a professional fashion.
So the questions beg: will Washington ever be able to regain a degree of statesmanship in running our country; are we to be faced with this same sort of pathetic gamesmanship every year; do they even really care? (more…)
Guest on Main Street Out Loud Today at 6PM
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 28th, 2013 8:01 AM |
I welcome the opportunity to return to Main Street Out Loud this afternoon at 6pm.
MAIN STREET OUT LOUD is hosted by Rudi. In his own words:“The show covers political issues, local, national and international. We also cover the daily issues that concern each of us on Main Street, whether resident or business owner.
Rudi is a resident of the metro Phoenix, Arizona area, and is passionately patriotic. An ardent supporter of our troops, he is a definite conservative in his politics. Nonetheless, he is open to other opinions. As he puts it, “If it touches you, it touches me.” He invites all callers, whether agreeing or disagreeing, to participate in this radio program which is by, for, and about Main Street Americans.
Be sure to listen in every Saturday starting at 3:00 pm (MST/Arizona time).
Listen to Main Street Out Loud on your radio:
KKNT conservative talk radio: 960 on your AM dial.To hear the show LIVE on the Internet: Just click this “Listen Live” link.
YOU ARE INVITED TO CALL THE SHOW AND LET YOUR OPINION BE HEARD!
Just phone 602-508-0960 or toll free (888) 960-9696 during the program.
Larry Doyle
Please pre-order a copy of my book, In Bed with Wall Street: The Conspiracy Crippling Our Global Economy, that will be published by Palgrave Macmillan on January 7, 2014.
For those reading this via a syndicated outlet or receiving it via e-mail or another delivery, please visit the blog and comment on this piece of ‘sense on cents’.
Please subscribe to all my work via e-mail, an RSS feed, on Twitter, or Facebook.
I have no business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own. I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.
Poll: Is an $11B Fine The Right Justice for JPM?
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 26th, 2013 8:56 AM |
The rap sheet that has developed on JP Morgan over the last few years might have made John Gotti proud.
But remember, even though the Teflon Don escaped justice for a long time, ultimately the Feds caught up to him and he spent his last days listening to this.
Oh how the Don wishes he could have been a Wall Street banker rather than in the carting business and other organized activities. If so, he probably wishes he could be Jamie Dimon. Why so? (more…)
Poll: Should Feds Settle with ‘Stevie Boy’ Cohen?
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 24th, 2013 9:12 AM |
News breaks in the past 24 hours that one of Wall Street’s largest traders, “Stevie-boy” Cohen of SAC Capital, is now looking to cut a deal with the Feds. Is the heat in Stevie’s kitchen getting a little too hot?
As Bloomberg Businessweek reminds us:
After a multiyear investigation conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, a grand jury indicted SAC Capital on July 25, accusing the firm of fostering a culture where employees engaged in rampant securities fraud.
Now Stevie wants to play Let’s Make a Deal. (more…)
Richard Bowen: The Corruption Extends to the Highest Levels of Government
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 23rd, 2013 10:02 AM |
I thank the many devoted readers of Sense on Cents who made sure I was aware of a riveting, must-read article in yesterday’s New York Times written by Bill Cohan, a Wall Street-Washington critic without peer.
Cohan writes of the travails of Richard Bowen, former whistleblower at Citigroup, who ran headlong into the fortress manned by Robert Rubin and friends. Bowen was a Citi employee who blew the whistle regarding the preponderance of defective mortgages running through the Citi pipeline.
He brought the knowledge of this activity to the highest perch within the bank including the attention of Robert Rubin. How was he treated? With what most would define as ‘the silent treatment.’ Once silenced, he was then subsequently shown the door.
While Bowen was pushed out of Citigroup back in 2009, he has not been silenced since then. (more…)
Weekend Reading: Rewriting the Lehman Postmortem
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 21st, 2013 9:13 AM |
This commentary is fully consistent with my opinions widely shared here at Sense on Cents.
I concur with this WSJ writer that relative to where we were 5 years ago,
Today, little has changed in our financial system.
Rewriting the Lehman Postmortem
Have a good weekend.
Larry Doyle
Please pre-order a copy of my book, In Bed with Wall Street: The Conspiracy Crippling Our Global Economy, that will be published by Palgrave Macmillan on January 7, 2014.
For those reading this via a syndicated outlet or receiving it via e-mail or another delivery, please visit the blog and comment on this piece of ‘sense on cents’.
Please subscribe to all my work via e-mail, an RSS feed, on Twitter, or Facebook.
I have no business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own. I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.
Global Financial System: Dangerous and Dysfunctional
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 20th, 2013 8:55 AM |
I truly appreciate reading the work and gaining the wisdom of those with informed insights and opinions.
Where do I always find people of this ilk? At one of my favorite stops while navigating the economic landscape: Project Syndicate.
While various and sundry lapdogs from both sides of the political aisle and others well-schooled in the inner workings of the Wall Street-Washington incestuous thoroughfare are touting how our financial system has been reformed, let’s go down a less traveled path and see what a noted observer has to say on this topic. (more…)
Sedating the Quantitative Easing Monster
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 19th, 2013 9:04 AM |
At what point does a patient become addicted to medication so that a subsequent malady is potentially as bad if not worse than the original condition the prescribing doctor was trying to treat?
How disturbing is it to learn of individuals strung out on pain medication or more specifically methadone to treat a debilitating condition or drug habit?
Very disturbing.
In a very similar fashion, our resident medic, that being Fed chair Ben Bernanke, found himself boxed in by our patient, supposedly our economy but really our markets, that had begun to convulse and palpitate when word that its QE medication was going to be lessened. (more…)
ARS Update: Investors Still Getting Screwed
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 18th, 2013 7:59 AM |
I am long overdue to address the ongoing — as in 5+ years — nightmare that defines the world of auction-rate securities, aka Wall Street’s greatest scam.
“You mean this is still going on” is a common refrain I have heard from a variety of media representatives, lawyers, investors, and even regulators.
Yes, indeed, the ARS nightmare continues with seemingly little evidence of meaningful support provided to those ARS investors still left standing in the cold wondering whatever happened to the concept of investor protection embedded in the securities reform legislation passed back in the 1930s.
We know that FINRA liquidated its own ARS holdings — all $650 million of them — back in 2007. If not for that fortuitous (??) stroke of luck (??), perhaps the regulator would also be waiting in line wondering if and when it might get its money back.
To check in on how the supposedly venerable firm of Goldman Sachs is partaking in the ongoing screwing of ARS clients, I thank a regular visitor to these parts who shared a commentary. (more…)
Simon Johnson’s Sense on Cents Classic
Posted by Larry Doyle on September 17th, 2013 9:15 AM |
On a daily basis we now get fed less than comprehensive if not fully distorted views of the last 5 years by an array of politicians, industry sponsored economists, and assorted other puppets.
While the airwaves and other outlets are filled with much of this noise, let’s take a step back so we can get the wide-angled view as to what has really transpired within our nation and the global economy. To do so, lets check in with Sense on Cents Hall of Famer Simon Johnson who provided a prescient view as to what was — and is — really going across a wide swath of our economic landscape.
In a Sense on Cents “past is prologue” classic, Johnson wrote back in 2009 in The Atlantic: (more…)