This says it all. They went to ask for US$25 billion without knowing how they are going to spend the money. What they were asking was merely money to tie them over for a few months. When asked if they can assure the lawmakers that they would not come back again for more money after the US$25 billion was given to them, they could not give such an assurance. This is like giving them a blank cheque now, and even more blank cheques after the first $25 billion is gone. The 3 automakers actually have been authorised to use the US$25 billion for re-tooling their production to be more competitive. But this pool of money has a plan, re-tooling their plants, which they do not seem to be really interested in. They don't like plans because then they would not be able to use their discretion on how to play around with the $25 billion. All they are interested in is money without questions or accountability.
The above should read : China has ......................bonds and the US is now China's biggest debtor. In contrast Japan......................treasury bonds.
Breaking News Story By Andreas Hippin November 21 (Bloomberg) -- The Somali pirates, renegade Somalis known for hijacking ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden, are negotiating a purchase of Citigroup. The pirates would buy Citigroup with new debt and their existing cash stockpiles, earned most recently from hijacking numerous ships, including most recently a $200 million Saudi Arabian oil tanker. The Somali pirates are offering up to $0.10 per share for Citigroup, pirate spokesman Sugule Ali said earlier today. The negotiations have entered the final stage, Ali said. ``You may not like our price, but we are not in the business of paying for things. Be happy we are in the mood to offer the shareholders anything," said Ali. > > The pirates will finance part of the purchase by selling > new Pirate Ransom Backed Securities. The PRBS's are backed by the > cash flows from future ransom payments from hijackings in the Gulf of Aden. > Moody's and S&P have already issued their top investment grade > ratings for the PRBS's. > > Head pirate, Ubu Kalid Shandu, said "we need a bank so that we > have a place to keep all of our ransom money. Thankfully, > the dislocations in the capital markets has allowed us to > purchase Citigroup at an attractive valuation and to take advantage of TARP > capital to grow the business even faster." > Shandu added, "We don't call ourselves pirates. We are coastguards and > this will just allow us to guard our coasts better." > > > Related stories: > > BN 10:24 *CITI IN TALKS WITH SOMALI PIRATES FOR POSSIBLE CAPITAL INFUSION > > BN 10:25 *WILL REQUIRE ALL CITI EMPLOYEES TO WEAR PATCH OVER ONE EYE > > *SOMALIAN PIRATES APPLY TO BECOME BANK TO ACCESS TARP > > *SOMALIAN PIRATES APPLY TO BECOME BANK TO ACCESS TARP > > *PAULSON: TARP PIRATE EQUITY IS AN `INVESTMENT,'WILL PAY OFF' > > *KASHKARI SAYS `SOMALI PIRATES ARE 'FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND' ' > > *Moody's upgrade Somali Pirates to AAA > > > SOMALI PIRATES IN DISCUSSION TO ACQUIRE CITIBANK > > FED OFFICIALS: AGGRESSIVE EASING WOULD CUT SOMALI PIRATE RISK * > > FED AGREED OCT. 29 TO TAKE `WHATEVER STEPS' NEEDED FOR SOMALI PIRATES >
Heard there's a new sheriff.. ..i meant Treasury Secretary in town for Mr. Obama....Supposedly a brilliant and very experienced money guy; even the stock market rallied today because of "the new guy", Tim Geithner...
Predictions for 2025.. (i'm sure some of you have probably read this).. ..this report is just a prediction for 2025 (i wonder who'll be the U.S. prez by then)....I guess U.S. & dollar will go down. And countries like Indonesia, India & China will be the ones rising up....hmmm.. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap_on_go_ot/intel_trends
yes, i read that. What this mean is that badminton popularity will rises up too Chances that IOC to cut out badminton from the OG?? ~0
Going to be a brutal market for sure. Sharks eating sharks. See who loose first. I will only consider investing if DOW hits 6000-6500 and some record lows on Tech stocks. Lets go DOW!!! You guys reckon CITI will go down or sold? They are sure not sleeping for now.
if ur broke and cold, here is a new low cost jacket to help u ride out the recession this winter. http://15belowproject.org/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjQjXcDXTU
China's provinces have just announced they plan to spend US$1.4 trillion in infrastructure over the next five years. This is separate from the US$586 billion to be spent by the central government in 2008 and 2009. Obama has also announced that he intends to spend lots of money on modernising infrstuctures and schools as well as alternative enrgy projects which will provide jobs for 2.5 million people. I think other countries will announce more capital spending in a concerted world-wide effort to help save the "sinking ship". There is real fear out there but with cool heads I believe the recession will be short-lived.
The Keynesian theory is at work now. Let's hope continued free trade and demand led by government spendings will substantially shorten this crisis.
are u man enough to admit that this 'get rich quickly scheme' aren't just a western concept? asians like HK'ers are just as vunerable. At least asians bank refunded their money, here we launch class action lawsuit. The investors did won in court but they still have yet see there money. Meanwhile, the lawyers who worked in that lawsuit got paid $89 million, every pennies of it. -------------------------------------------------- HONG KONG -- There are glaring parallels between the Lehman mini-bond debacle playing out in several Asian cities and Canada's ongoing asset backed commercial paper fiasco. There are some striking differences, too. In both cases, significant numbers of retail investors claim they thought they were buying low-risk savings products that turned out to be opaque financial derivatives. Both sets of investors are demanding their money back after the dud investments soured. That may be where the comparison ends. While hundreds of Canadians are still waiting to see if they will ever be reimbursed well over a year after the ABCP crisis broke, thousands of ordinary investors in Hong Kong and Singapore have taken to the streets to demand rapid action. Government buildings and the headquarters of banks that sold the mini-bonds have been beseiged by an angry, placard-wielding mob on a weekly basis. Similar protests are apparently planned for later this month in Taiwan. The result? Just weeks after the investors lost their savings, some banks in Hong Kong that sold the failed securities have already paid out to a handful of clients. In Singapore, too, banks have committed to reimbursing some investors soon, after the government said they should help "‘vulnerable customers" such as the elderly. In all, more than 100,000 people in Asia are thought to have bought in excess of US$4-billion worth of the duff investments between 2006 and the collapse of Lehman in September this year. The so-called mini-bonds, sold by banks and brokers across Asia, were actually not corporate bonds at all. The investments involved a complex structure of collateralized debt obligations and sometimes equity holdings managed by one firm -- often Lehman Brothers -- that handled a 'dividend' payment. The products offered a slightly better return than a standard deposit account, but ran into trouble when Lehman was forced into bankruptcy and could no longer meet its obligations. Products that were arranged by Merrill Lynch and others also collapsed because they had been backed by Lehman credit. While it remains likely some investors will lose at least a portion of their savings, governments in Hong Kong and Singapore are keen to show they are acting on the matter. Authorities in Hong Kong announced on Friday they had received almost 19,000 complaints alleging mis-selling related to the mini-bonds, and had referred 166 cases involving nine chartered banks to the city's securities regulator. Also, this week, the city's legislative council voted in favour of a special ordinance allowing lawmakers to force senior bankers and government officials to hand over confidential documentation and to appear at public hearings. The move follows a promise from Hong Kong's top politician Donald Tsang that the government will "punish" bankers or regulators found guilty of mishandling the saga. In Singapore, the government is taking a different tack and has said it is working with groups on efforts to restructure the investments. Meanwhile, some of Hong Kong's most high-profile lawyers, including Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho, have vowed to take the fight into the civil courts, too. Mr. Ho said this week that the banks involved had shown a poor attitude and had only approached investors under the threat of litigation, according to the South China Morning Post. The protesting investors have garnered much media attention with stories of life-savings lost and seem to have public opinion on their side. But that might not last, said David Webb, a former investment banker who is now a well-known governance advocate in Hong Kong. "If everything else is going down the pan, the sympathy for these people [who bought Lehman mini-bonds] will probably disappear," said Mr. Webb, who is also a member of Hong Kong's takeover and mergers committee. Already there are several facebook groups dedicated to pouring scorn on the investors, with many posters suggesting they should have looked more closely into their investments. Most of the minibond holders may end up getting a payout equivalent to the market value of their holdings, which would be significantly lower than their initial investment, Mr. Webb added. In Canada, several hundred retail investors were caught out when the country's $32-billion ABCP market froze up 16 months ago in August 2007. About $300-million is held by individual investors. A planned restructuring has missed several deadlines, and the group of lawyers and bankers tasked with resolving the crisis now claims it will do so by the end of this year. So far none of the noteholders have received a settlement. A report by investment industry regulators into the fiasco found that there were "inadequacies" in the selling of ABCP to retail customers. Investors march to the government headquarters during a rally in Hong Kong, China, on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008. More than 100 Hong Kong investors who purchased bonds issued by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ...
What would happen if all three largest automobile manufacturer of US collapses.... Will we still have badminton???
The Lehman minibonds saga in Hong Kong has been taken over by politicians. Of course the bond bearers could go for a class action suit. But they won't because they will lose. Like in any products being sold there might have been cases of the bond salesman stepping over the line, and if proven of course there is good cause for legal redress. But such cases are a very small minority. You could claim the same misrepresentation by your stock broker. As a matter of fact I did just that about 10 years ago and was compensated. But the majority of minibond holders are just greedy people and most of them are high networth individuals and they know exactly what they were in for. But they have no complaints if politicians volunteer to take up their cause, because they have nothing to lose. Most of these investors have a varied portfolio of fixed deposits in various currencies with the Aussie $ being the #1 choice, minibonds, US treasury bonds, stocks, stock warrants, etc, which they switch back and forth.
Of course... ..we still have the Hondas, Toyotas, Hyundais, BMWs, Audis & VWs of the world... A total transformation in American automobile industry is overdue...
i doubt US automakers will disappear. it will be alot different for sure. i still feel obama will give GM something.
serious cutback GM ends 9-year endorsement deal with Tiger Woods Reuters Monday, November 24, 2008 Chicago — General Motors Corp, which has warned it will run short of cash early next year without support, and popular professional golfer Tiger Woods said on Monday that they would end their endorsement deal at the end of the year.
A smart person indeed. I for one vote for Tiger to be next GM CEO. But he is too smart and know not to take the job.
