As another poster and I were discussing. This pilot is really unfair considering that the season doesn't begin until Jan. I already feel like I am going through withdrawls.
Yes indeed, I am LOVING it.....nothing better than JACK telling off a gutless U.N. worker to go HIDE in a shelter with the other children!!!!! :eek:
Paulson will let C sink and then give it to GS essentially for free. As with everything in the Bush administration, analysis takes into account that Bush and his administration does its utmost best to fuck over the taxpayer. Which means GS will get the assets, the taxpayer footing the bill to pay off the debt. Paulsons' last favor to GS and also his last attempt to shore up his retirement fund stuck in GS stock.
Since nobody knows the extent of counter-party risk, and Lehman CDS sellers hedged losses all the way up, the argument for "systemic collapse" is pretty much a talking point. Do you know the specific extent of counter-party risk if Citi goes under? Does anybody know?? Or has the specter of "too big to fail" become a political Boogie Man to scare endless bailouts into Private Hands??? Historically, when has a bankrupt Corporation(s) ever brought down an entire Economy?? Has that ever happened? The Worst-Case scenario, as I see it: All the CDS SELLERS go bankrupt. Bond and Shareholders lose big-time. The Markets drop another 3K. And thats it. Then we return on our merry way to recovery. Also, keep in mind - most of the cash forked over to shareholders from CDS premium sold, is still out there. Either the shareholders spent it, held on to it, or reinvested in the market. If they still got it, it can be reinvested in the next Citi. If they reinvested and lost it - for every long their is a short. Short-Sellers have banked HUGE profits from the demise of these Shitty Companies. And they're just waiting for the next Citi to claim their stake, and presto. Thats how Capital Mobility is supposed to work - from losers to New Winners via the Smart Money who act as the Invisible Hand to the entire process. Market Capital is not destroyed, merely transferred. A Free Market resolve to all this is not that grim. We've already spent 5 Trillion. Guaranteeing bad mortgages - the cornerstone to this entire collapse - would have cost 2 to 3 Trillion. Yet, we've overspent by at least double that, and we're nowhere close to recovery. Its not even a Joke. Its a Public Looting by the Bankers.
Good point. Although, not before Paulson agrees to eat Citi's bad-paper so Goldman will "accept" the deal.