Way To Go Team
It is 12:40 am Pacific time and I am watching the Asian markets drop like a rock and reading articles about European banks being nationalized because our Congress did not get the job done before the Asian Markets opened bolstering some kind of confidence in the markets.
The Asian and Europeans markets are off 1-2% as of this writing. If you want to watch it happen, go here. Click on “for the text version of this page, click here” to give you streaming text of what each tabbed region is currently doing.
According to Reuters in a story titled Bailout Vote Nears As Crisis Hits Europe Banks:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers prepared to vote on Monday on a $700 billion government fund to buy bad debt as the global financial crisis kept markets on tenterhooks by forcing European authorities to rescue troubled banks.
As investors around the world hung on every twist and turn in Washington, Belgian-Dutch group Fortis was nationalized and British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley faced the same fate.
Fortis is the first major European bank to buckle under the financial turmoil triggered in August last year by U.S. mortgage defaults, and an early relief rally in markets at news of progress in Washington soon fizzled out.
Stock markets in Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong all retreated 1-2 percent, giving up initial gains led by financial shares. U.S. stock futures pointed to a drop at the opening bell as did European stock futures.
…snip
“It’s definitely moving toward Europe,” said Joseph Kraft, head of Japan capital markets at Dresdner Kleinwort. “It’s the beginning of the end and a necessary step, so we should see more institutions nationalized, absorbed or going into default.”
The latest upheaval will only worsen the severe strains in money markets as financial firms have all but stopped lending to each other, partly as they prepare to close their books on the third quarter on Tuesday, analysts said.
…snip
EUROPEAN BANK RESCUES
In a sign the credit crisis was spreading, the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments nationalized financial group Fortis after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet held emergency talks with government officials over the fate of one of Europe’s top 20 banks. (Make sure to click on credit crisis above and scroll down to the “U.S. Bailout Breakdown” showing the breakdown of 1.8 Trillion (700B is the start).
The governments agreed to inject 11.2 billion euros ($16.4 billion) into the banking and insurance company, which has 85,000 staff worldwide.
In London, regulators were also preparing to nationalize troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley and Spanish bank Santander was in talks to buy its retail deposits and branch network.
In Germany, Hypo Real Estate struck a last-minute deal with a consortium of banks to resolve a financing squeeze, saying the credit facility was sufficient to cover its capital needs well into the future.
…snip
The U.S. banking system also faced more upheaval. Wachovia Corp is in talks with rivals to be taken over, sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday.
Citigroup Inc is among the parties in talks with Wachovia, the two sources said, and one source said Wells Fargo & Co was also in discussions.
This is probably what Paulson got down on his knees for last week at the White House. He knew this was coming if the Dems and Republicans could not get their act together and get this bill passed before the Asian Markets opened. It is a Global Economy after all.
Since I started writing this post the Hang Seng has dropped another 2% in 17 minutes. I am hoping that our market holds this morning or someone steps in and shuts it down before it implodes.
Oh hell, cruised around for more data for this article and the Hang Seng is down another 1% in the following 10 minutes. The European markets are in worse shape; 2-4% loss across the board.
The crash I am historically watching in real time is due to the myopic vision of our Congress who obviously does not understand economics very well. I know that they are making an effort to look like they are protecting the American Taxpayer, but at what cost? What is the NYSE going to do in a few hours? Everybody better start praying…
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Quick Question:
Which one of these trains is the PUMA Express and which one belongs to the Democratic National Party?
Wouldn’t all of you really like to know just how much MONEY Barack Obama and the DNC have lost by pissing off 18 million+ voters to the point of PUMA and Just Say No Deal emerging, growing, and thriving? I know I would. I have been searching for those exact numbers for some time now and all I have been able to come up with is this.
Is the Democratic Suicide Train starting to run out of steam; or in layman’s terms, is the DNC running out of money? Oh yeah…yes..they..are. I know that their train hasn’t completely derailed yet, but I am thinking that we are watching the train wreck happen in slow motion right before out eyes; only difference is, and I can only speak for myself, I’m eating popcorn, drinking cola, and trying really, really, really hard not to quote Cusco from The Emperor’s New Groove…. uh-huh, uh-huh….uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!
We all knew that the money fountain was going to dry up when Michigan, Florida, and Clinton were disrespected at that meeting. I really don’t think that the DNC thought there would be such an outcrying from the American public about their breaking their own rules about fair reflection. Then add the last four weeks of flip-flops of the presumptive court jester, Barack Obama; NAFTA, FISA, Faith Based Initiatives, Abortion…I am wondering what will tomorrow bring. Barkety-bark declaring that he really is a Republican instead of just playing one on TV?
My commitment to burying the DNC in their own fascist garbage began with the very undemocratic closed door meeting and secret votes at the RBC on May 31st concerning Michigan and Florida’s disenfranchised voters. I have said before that watching that death of democracy was like hearing about the Challenger Space Shuttle crash in ’86. At that point, I watched PUMA/Just Say No Deal explode onto the scene due in part to the halving of votes and the theft of delegates, among numerous other issues.
How could anyone forget our heroine, Harriet Christian, whose YouTube video has 1,537,734 hits as of today? The MSM would like for Americans to think that Puma voters are all old, white, women who are angry and in the throes of grieving. Not Likely….I’m hearing from more and more PUMA Men, (a number of them former military), who take the Constitution, their military oath, and “one person, one vote” more seriously than the 2nd Amendment. According to a very close friend and one of these former military men, “the right to bear arms is not about hunting and fishing”….”the DNC is not representing their own people; they are only representing the elite, big business, big corporations and they are promoting the republicans more than their own party….and what is all that superdelegate sh** about?” To say they are not happy would be an understatement of gigantic proportions, but grieving….out of the question.
Here is the timeline on such matters.
Back on March 21st, the LA Times had this say:
As the host city, Denver must raise $40.6 million by June 16 for the party’s Aug. 25-28 convention. This week, the host committee missed its second fundraising deadline, and Mayor John W. Hickenlooper said he believed the drawn-out battle between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois had distracted potential donors.Denver’s host committee fell $5 million short of its goal to raise $28 million by March 17. Committee officials declined to comment, but said in a written statement that they had commitments for $28 million.
And then we have the Denver Post weighing in on June 18th,
No wonder taxpayers are getting antsy about exactly who might be stuck footing the bill for the Democrats’ four-day party here in August.
The host committee for the Democratic National Convention fell $11 million short of its total fund-raising goal, collecting just $29 million as of this week’s final deadline.
Right now, the only back-up plan is to continue raising money. And considering how difficult it’s already been, that gives us pause.
City Auditor Dennis Gallagher sent a letter to Mayor Hickenlooper last week saying that rumors are “swirling” that taxpayers could be on the hook if the host committee doesn’t raise the needed cash.
Hickenlooper has said no taxpayer money will be used to hold the event, and that’s good. His spokeswoman, Sue Cobb, reiterated that this week, saying the city wouldn’t loan money to the convention, either.
The host committee has begun combining parties and recently canceled a media walk-through of Pepsi Center to cut expenses. So be it.
It’s OK that Denver wants to put on its best face for the DNC but, as Hickenlooper has said, taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for it.
Also on June 18th, we read this in the Washington Post:
DENVER — The committee that will host the Democratic National Convention announced this week that it is $10 million short of the $40.6 million it promised to raise by mid-June.
According to the NY Times today:
For all Senator Barack Obama’s success at raising money and generating excitement among voters, he faces a daunting challenge as he prepares to claim the nomination in August: a Democratic convention effort marred by costly setbacks and embarrassing delays. For the Democratic Party, the danger is that a poorly run convention, or one that misses the mark financially, will reflect badly on the party and raise questions about Democratic management skills. And more worrisome for the Obama campaign is that it will be left with the bill for overruns or fund-raising shortfalls, and that the candidate will have to compete in raising money against a convention effort desperate for cash. (Emphasis: mine)
What hasn’t reflected badly on the Democratic Party and their management skills? That they want this to be a “green” convention?
Also, I read about the Invesco Field fiasco, but Shtuey over at Oh…My Valve! has a great story about that. Check him out on the Blogroll column on the left.
PUMAs, I will keep you updated as I search for the answer to that pesky money question.
UPDATE: July 9, 2008
Here is a video from CNN titled Clinton Donors Balk at Obama that might help confused Americans understand why Pumas exist. We Don’t Like Him, We Don’t Trust Him!
UPDATE: July 15, 2008 
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/us/politics/06convention.html?ref=politics
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/21/nation/na-denverdems21
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/17/AR2008061702282.html
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_9616627
Bullet train photo courtesy of Uwe Zimmer
Locomotive photo courtesy of Ribbon Rail
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As I cruised around the web today, I noticed there wasn’t as much 4th of July coverage as I would have expected. Do the news outlets think that we don’t care or wouldn’t notice our Independence Day this year. Maybe they thought we were too worried about the price of gas, food, and the war in Iraq to notice that we made it through another year of the great democratic experiment. Maybe they did not want to remind us that we live in a great democracy where free speech and the right to protest is still protected? Fortunately, for us free thinkers in the rest of the country outside the Washington Beltway and Big Corporate America, WE do know that we live in one of the greatest countries in the world, WE are proud of being Americans (every single day), WE have read and understand our Constitution, and WE are currently tending to and protecting our great democracy on many different levels with numerous raised voices. Our democracy is vital and strong and will continue to be so because of We The People.
I would like to personally thank the DNC and the RBC for igniting a firestorm of patriotic spirit and raising it to new levels. Since May 31st, I am hearing more and more people use the military oath phrase, “…that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”. Hey Howie, Nancy, Harry, Barry, and Donna; do you think you may have stepped in a big pile of guano with that closed door meeting and secret vote at the RBC meeting?
To our troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the world; kudos for stepping up and putting your lives on the line every moment for the rest of us. That is true patriotism that should not be overshadowed by any other news story on this day.
Ladies and Gentlemen; please rise for the National Anthem…..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A]
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Today’s Are You Freakin’ Kidding Me? Award goes to Rene Marie, a local jazz singer in Denver, when she sang the “Black National Anthem” at the annual State of the City Address. Please click Here for that news.
I’m not even going to comment on this one…….
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