[versa]

cnbc

Central Banks Scramble to Relieve Market Strain

Central banks and regulators scrambled on Tuesday to relieve the strain on financial markets frazzled by another hefty blow to confidence, this time from the rejection by U.S. lawmakers of a $700 billion rescue plan.

Global central banks more than doubled the amount of dollar funding to $620 billion, but the move showed no signs on Tuesday of thawing the freeze in money markets where banks are hoarding cash and bracing for more trouble ahead in the deepening year-long credit crisis.

Analysts said central banks may now be forced to cut interest rates in a coordinated move because their massive fund injections have done little to ease strains that are threatening to become a bigger systemic breakdown that could endanger the global economy....

http://www.cnbc.com/id/26949983

Probably pinning hope in an eventual approval of the rescue plan or some concerted efforts by the central banks around the world or it could just be quarterly window dressing, asian markets werel off lows with Hang Seng actually closing positive after initial sharp fall. European markets are also off their lows currently while US futures soared.

The volatility index of the US market was at historical high yesterday, signalling too that fear was at its most extreme. A market bottoming (or at least an intermediate bottoming) soon?

[versa]

cnbc

The U.S. Senate voted in favor of a revised $700 billion bailout bill Wednesday night, breathing life back into closely watched legislation that supporters say will revive paralyzed credit markets in the United States.

The White House and European policy makers have called the measure crucial to world financial health with recessionary signals mounting in the world's largest economy and the credit crisis reverberating among European banks.

Meanwhile, France and Germany clashed over the idea of a U.S.-style financial rescue fund for Europe amid further signs of contagion from the global credit crisis.

In Washington, Congressional leaders added two sweeteners to the bill—a tax cut and extended federal protection for bank deposits—in the hope that it would sail through the Senate and then return to the House for an up-or-down vote....

http://www.cnbc.com/id/26980684


Cramer: Economy Naysayers Are 'Dead Wrong'

Cramer’s in disbelief over the, well, nihilism he’s hearing from market pundits these days. Rate cuts don’t matter. Buying mortgages won’t work. It’s too late for a stimulus package. Listening to them, you’d think the world were going to end tomorrow and there was nothing we could do about it.

But that’s not how Cramer sees it. In fact, “these people are dead wrong,” he said, adding that such talk was “economy-destroying analysis.” He believes we should be throwing everything we can at this problem: rate cuts, tax cuts, rescue plans, home loans, you name it. “We can’t print money fast enough,” he said. And Wednesday’s rally in financials is proof that this stuff works.

We’ve been here before, though. The U.S. didn’t do enough to stop the Great Depression, and we could find ourselves there again if we take the same approach. Not only does Cramer think we have to do anything we can to avoid a similar fate, but it would be “heartless and punitive not to try.”...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/26975823

[versa]

cnbc

What the Pros Say: Coordinated Cuts Coming

Australia's Central Bank stunned the markets by cutting interest rates by a full point to 6 percent Tuesday, a reduction that was twice as big as economists predicted and the bank's biggest cut in 16 years.

There is lots of speculation that Australia's move is the first in a round of global coordinated interest rate cuts designed to boost world economies and markets.

Experts from around the world weigh in with whether or not a mass rate cut is in the works and whether investors can count on lower rates supporting stocks...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27061003


Markets Healing, But Much Work Needed

There's reason to believe the markets are showing signs of recovery, but much needs to happen before a full rebound can begin to take effect, an array of experts said Tuesday.

Coordinated action from the world's central banks, tightening in credit spreads and more work towards addressing the many ills in the housing market will be required, panelists said in a series of CNBC interviews.

There was some feeling that Monday's steep drop could be followed by an aggressive rebound, all happening while credit spreads were tightening. That provided some optimism.....

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27065369


Market Oversold, Short-Term Bottom Near: Dr. Doom

The stock market is as oversold as it has been since the crash of 1987 and the broader market could be start to rebound until early next year, Marc Faber, editor and publisher of the Gloom Boom and Doom Report, said Tuesday.

The market is possibly in "the most oversold condition" since perhaps Oct. 19, 1897, Faber told CNBC's "Squawk Box."

"Usually there is some seasonal strength between October and March" so it is possible the S&P 500 index will create a low between now and the end of the month, he said.....

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27063664

[RedForceRising]

Henry Paulson fought for investment banks and other financial institutions to be deregulated and now they have handed him 700billion dollars to bail out his buddies.

I'm not sure if this registered with many people, but part of the bail-out states that Paulson can NOT be reviewed by any court or any instituion how he uses the bail out money.

He is going to be financial dctator for a while.

If I were American I'd be standing in front of the white house right now. They will march for all sorts of stuff, but their economy is in big trouble and the government hads 700billion to the guy who caused it and he is not answerable for how he spreads the money.

UNBELIEVABLE!

[versa]

Originally Posted by RedForceRising

Henry Paulson fought for investment banks and other financial institutions to be deregulated and now they have handed him 700billion dollars to bail out his buddies.

I'm not sure if this registered with many people, but part of the bail-out states that Paulson can NOT be reviewed by any court or any instituion how he uses the bail out money.

He is going to be financial dctator for a while.

If I were American I'd be standing in front of the white house right now. They will march for all sorts of stuff, but their economy is in big trouble and the government hads 700billion to the guy who caused it and he is not answerable for how he spreads the money.

UNBELIEVABLE!

1. In the Asian Crisis 1997, US was 'advising' Asia to let the errant financial insitutions go under for the market to take care of its own problems and warned of any anti-market practices. Now they are doing otherwise.... for a good reason.

2. These sub-prime problematic low-grade loans were also cleverly repackaged under the umbrella of 'sophiscated' investment vehicles and exported outside US. Suckers included China, Japan, Europe etc.

3. But still, they have to do it or else the entire global economy would be worse hit for much longer recovery periods. Damned if they do it, damned if they don't. Call it catch 22 or my favourite, caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

[RedForceRising]

The problem is the bail-out is futile, if he's just using to bail out the institutions, which of course he;s going to do.

Unless he helps the ppl who defaulted on their loans, there are going to be homeless and unemployed ppl everywhere in big numbers. It is actually going to be big trouble.
He should rescue maybe a handful of important instituions and the rest help the verage American.

also where is America going to get 700b from? They already cannot pay the interest on their debt.

Are they going to print as much money as they want?

Are they going to borrow from China and Europe? If yes, then why should the US dollar remain the world currency.

This whole thing stinks.

On another level, they buy up homes on the cheap, while people becomes homeless.
What a nice way to keep people desperate.

[versa]

Originally Posted by RedForceRising

The problem is the bail-out is futile, if he's just using to bail out the institutions, which of course he;s going to do.

Unless he helps the ppl who defaulted on their loans, there are going to be homeless and unemployed ppl everywhere in big numbers. It is actually going to be big trouble.
He should rescue maybe a handful of important instituions and the rest help the verage American.

also where is America going to get 700b from? They already cannot pay the interest on their debt.

Are they going to print as much money as they want?

Are they going to borrow from China and Europe? If yes, then why should the US dollar remain the world currency.

This whole thing stinks.

On another level, they buy up homes on the cheap, while people becomes homeless.
What a nice way to keep people desperate.

Print money, sell some more government bonds, Treasury Bills.... And of course their national debts run into trillions.

I have not read into details how and what are they are going to do with this 700b.

The ironical thing I read today is in times of turmoil like this, global investors get lost themselves and decide that there is no safer place to park their monies accept in US itself! Hence US currency is actually appreciating now with this influx of foreign monies, making it easier and lighter to sell their bonds too. Funny.

[tony smyth]

Surely soon the world is going to see that, maybe not that the emperor has no clothes, but only has a tiny figleaf covering a shrivelled weeny. Why would anyone invest in the U.S. given the appaling state of their finances? It makes no sense.

[SALFORD RED]

This thread is easy to work out...

The banks were going under because taxpayers couldn't pay their mortgages, loans or interest on debts.

The government bails out the banks with $700b that will come from taxpayers.

The banks will then loan out that money to taxpayers for mortgages/loans etc.

The taxpayers will then pay back the banks ( plus interest) the money they couldn't pay back in the first place, plus higher taxes to fund the $700b bail out.

Then banks will thenpay back the $700b ( plus interest ) to the government.

Then the government keep the lot.

Makes perfect sense to me.

.

[RedForceRising]

Richard Fuld punched in face in Lehman Brothers gym
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/f...thers-gym.html

Richard Fuld, the disgraced head of Lehman Brothers, was punched in the face in the office gym amid the bank's collapse.



Mr Fuld, who has been testifying on the financial crisis before the US House Oversight Committee, was attacked on a Sunday shortly after it was announced that the banking giant was bankrupt.

Following rumours that the incident had occurred, Vicki Ward, a US journalist, said "two very senior sources - one incredibly senior source" had confirmed it to her. "He went to the gym after ... Lehman was announced as going under," she told CNBC. "He was on a treadmill with a heart monitor on. Someone was in the corner, pumping iron and he walked over and he knocked him out cold.

"And frankly after having watched [Mr Fuld's testimony to the committee], I'd have done the same too."

"I thought he was shameless ... I thought it was appalling. He blamed everyone ... He blamed everybody but himself."

Lehman Brothers, which was particularly badly hit by "toxic" mortgage debt, filed for bankruptcy last month. Its assets were later bought up by Barclays.

In a robust performance in front of the committee, Mr Fuld said that he would wonder "until they put me in the ground" why the US government had not rescued the 158-year-old firm. He said that regulators were fully aware of its plight well before its collapse.

Mr Fuld said: "I want to be very clear. I take full responsibility for the decisions that I made and for the actions that I took based on the information that we had at the time."

However he faced angry questioning from the committee's members. Henry Waxman, a Democrat, asked: "Your company is now bankrupt, our economy is in crisis, but you get to keep $480 million (£276 million). I have a very basic question for you, is this fair?"

Mr Fuld said that he had in fact taken about $300 million (£173 million) in pay and bonuses over the past eight years.