Friday, October 16, 2009

Fox Guarding the Chicken Coop

In more disheartening than noteworthy news, a high ranking Goldman-Sachs executive has been hired as director of the enforcement division of the Security and Exchanges Commission. Goldman Sachs execs have been holding the Treasury Department Secretary position for this administration and the last, and widely occupy high ranking government positions.

It is not like we really lost anything, because the SEC has done nothing of substance during the entirety of the mortgage debacle, and has never been in danger of protecting the public or making a real difference, but it feels like rubbing salt in an open wound.

UPDATE [4/16/10]: Now that Goldman-Sachs has been charged with securities fraud, some more detail and an updated live link is warranted. The person in question was 29 year-old Adam Storch, who was appointed as chief operations officer of the enforcement division of SEC, who reports to director Robert Khuzami.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

10.000

Giving credit where credit is due, no pun intended, well maybe sort of—I mean there is a lot of government subsidy going into the system now—the DJIA peeked over 10,000 on a long trudge up from it's mid-6000 nadir. Anybody who bought in the 6000s and is still holding onto things knows a lot more than I do, is very lucky, or knows the right people.

I watched this show in the real estate market of 2006, patiently, and so I'm sitting back and watching the same show again now. As stocks rise the dollar will be unsteady, but gold is robust, comfortably above $1000/oz.

The fundamental premise of this blog is unchanged. In good times the dollar can be strong AND the market can be strong. But in a recessionary environment, one of them has got to give. Those holding onto bonds—treasury, corporate, or securities—will not sit idly by while their wealth is deflated away.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Lewis Voted off the Island

Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis announced his resignation yesterday. Mostly, heat has come upon him for the acquisition of Merril Lynch, possibly under the coercion of the Fed and Treasury Department, at a heavy cost to BAC shareholders. I would say his prior acquisition of Countrywide was a similar error of judgment, but he hasn't seen a fraction of the criticism for that. With those two acquisitions and all the toxic debt they held, BAC's viability relies on government subsidies and bailouts, in their multiple current forms.