http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-feds-annual-profit-surges-to-817-billion-2011-03-22 Pure fantasy. MBS portfolio marked to par! Outright accounting fraud. What a great role-model for corp America. To be positive; at least they're not watching tube8.com on the job like those fine folks at the SEC.
I had a bet with some guys I trade with that you (Marty) would respond within the hour. I lost... it took you 90 mins. I'll pose my answer as a question. Would you pay par for the average credit in their MBS portfolio? I doubt anyone would.
Well, I've been busy, y'know... Lots of stuff flying arnd here in our neck of the woods. To answer your question, no, I wouldn't pay par for their MBS, but so what? Firstly, it's agency MBS we're talking about, which means these are liabilities of the US treasury (I think we can drop the whole implicit/explicit bullsh1t). If you have a credit issue with Geithner & Co, I am not sure what exactly we're discussing. Secondly, are you suggesting that the Fed should be marking its MBS holdings to mkt? Why?
The over/under that KrazyKarl and Kasszz007 respond within the hour? I've never seen a discussion about the Federal Reserve without Martinghoul, KrazyKarl and Kassz007 showing up to voice their support.
It's not about support, it's about being pragmatic. I trade what I see, I don't trade some bias I have that the Fed is Satan's spawn. If the Fed does something I don't agree with(happened many times in the past) then so be it. I call it like i see it, right or wrong, and don't let bias cloud my vision. The only reason you think I'm some Fed cheerleader is becuase I have no bias. You thinking I'm always pro-fed says more about this board and the context of my posts than anything else.
Well, you see, denner, you got me all wrong... I don't support the Federal Reserve. I support common sense as I see it. Most of the rabid unthinking attacks on the Fed contradict common sense, so I am obliged to respond (I consider it my karmic duty to try to reduce the amount of idiocy circulating arnd the Internet). Now atticus is, the way I see it, attempting smth quite a bit different (and logical), which means I am happy to discuss and to be proven wrong. BTW, you ignored a question I asked you on an older thread, which made me sad.
As Martin and Karl have already stated, it's not that I'm pro-Fed. I have no bias. It's that I'm pro-common sense. I do not blame the Fed for all of lifes problems, as many do. Most of the anti-Fed threads make no sense. The poster just has it in his/her head that the Fed is evil, reads an article that states the Fed is evil, and posts said article, without actually understanding what they're complaining about. I don't consider this to be one of those threads, which is why I haven't jumped in to refute any non-sensical comments about how the Fed is ruining the world.
cmon meng, you guys aren't fooling anyone with the common sense talk...just man up and do your pro fed thang.
Here you go... I'd like to quote/paraphrase the most excellent Macro Man (with all due apologies to the Christians): Our Ben, Who art in heaven, Hallowed Ber-nanke, Thy auctions come, Thy Bill's be done, In Twos as they are in Sevens, Give us this day our daily FED, And forgive us our Treasuries, As we forgive those that default against us, And lead us not into recession, And deliver us from deflation, For thine is the borrowing, the easing, and the printing, For ever and ever. In the name of the Ben, the Paul and ther Holy Alan, Amen.