Global Investing News

post from Jutia Group on 11 March 2009 10:53:01 AM. © Jutia Group

IMF Predicts Global “Great Recession”; United Tech. Cuts 11,600 Jobs; Brazil Economy Grows 1.3% in 4Q; Malaysia Adds $16 Billion to Stimulus; GM to Sell Half of Opel; Big Corporate Bankruptcies Surge in 2009; Hedge Funds to Slash 20,000 Jobs; SEC Will Bring Back Uptick Rule

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of…

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Wednesday Open Thread

post from My Left Wing - Front Page on 11 March 2009 10:50:45 AM. © My Left Wing - Front Page

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools."

Douglas Adams - Born - March 11, 1952

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Who Says Buy and Hold is Dead How to Double Up on
Growth

post from Jutia Group on 11 March 2009 10:46:47 AM. © Jutia Group

A few days ago the Dow fell for the 14th trading day out of the past 18. The sharp downturn only caps off an already disastrous market downturn.

As we’ve been expecting, many commentators say it’s the nail in the coffin for “buy and hold” investing – a strategy which has worked…

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Not Working Out So Well

post from Talking Points Memo on 11 March 2009 10:43:00 AM. © Talking Points Memo

Almost the entire Republican political strategy in 2009 has been to stipulate to President Obama's popularity and get to work breaking down the popularity of "Congress" in general and congressional Democrats in particular. President Obama, after all,[...]

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_so_well.php

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How Obama Controls the Dow Jones

post from Open Left - Front Page on 11 March 2009 10:39:28 AM. © Open Left - Front Page

Lately there's been a lot of talk about how Barack Obama is responsible for the Dow Jones[...]

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Conditions As An Incentive For Bank Repayment Of
Gov't Bailout Funds

post from TalkLeft on 11 March 2009 10:39:00 AM. © TalkLeft

We may have stumbled on to a strategy for the financial crisis:

As public outrage swells over the rapidly growing cost of bailing out financial institutions, the Obama administration and lawmakers are attaching more and more strings to rescue funds. . . . Some bankers say the conditions have become so onerous that they want to return the bailout money. The list includes small banks like the TCF Financial Corporation of Wayzata, Minn., and Iberia Bank of Lafayette, La., as well as giants like Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo.

Good. These banks should only take government money if they absolutely have to. If they have other options, exercise them. That's why I do not like the reaction from this anonymous (naturally) Treasury official:

A senior Treasury official involved in the bailout effort said the administration was carefully trying not to do anything that could harm the banks and was giving financial incentives to modify mortgages. The official said the restrictions were part of a larger effort to clean up bank balance sheets and assist the economy. “We’re having to take some very unpleasant actions when the alternatives are so much worse,” said the official, who spoke on condition of not being identified.

Excuse me, but the government should impose any conditions it deems prudent. The idea of free government money is the problem here. This is, after, a bailout we are expounding. Some people seem to think that the purpose of the bailouts is to strengthen the position of these banks:

[A] growing chorus of industry experts are warning that asking weak banks to carry out the government’s economic and social policies could increase the drain on the public purse. These experts say that the financial assistance, while helpful in the short run, could force weak banks to engage in lending practices that will lose even more money, and that the government inevitably will become more heavily involved in dictating how banks do business.

“I honestly believe the people in power pushing this policy see it as a win-win — as something that is good for the banking industry and good for homeowners and others,” said Douglas J. Elliott, a former investment banker who is now an economics fellow at the Brookings Institution. “But there is a slippery slope and there are potentially significant negative consequences.” Mr. Elliott says that by modifying loans, banks that are already fragile could wind up losing more money. “What gets us in real trouble,” he said, “is when we try to fudge things and pretend that something is in the direct interest of both the government and the financial institutions when it in fact costs the banks money or increases their risk levels.”

(Emphasis supplied.) Precisely right Mr. Elliott. Do not confuse the purpose of the bailouts. They are to serve the COMMON GOOD, not the financial institutions. The financial insitutions should act in their own interests and if those interests do not coincide with those of the Common Good, then they should forego bailouts, if they can. What's so hard to understand about that?

Speaking for me only

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In Defense Of AIPAC

post from TalkLeft on 11 March 2009 10:36:00 AM. © TalkLeft

In describing a view that is often excoriated as "anti-semitic," Glenn Greenwald writes:

[T]here are powerful domestic political forces in the U.S. which enforce Israel-centric orthodoxies and make it politically impossible to question America's blind loyalty to Israel. . . . In the U.S., you can advocate torture, illegal spying, and completely optional though murderous wars and be appointed to the highest positions. But you can't, apparently, criticize Israeli actions too much or question whether America's blind support for Israel should be re-examined.

Of course there are such "powerful domestic political forces" (as for Glenn's characterization of such policy as "blind loyalty," to me that is beside the point for this discussion.) And there is such a "powerful domestic political force" on Cuba policy. And agricultural policy. And so on. That is politics. These are "political forces" after all. That is the way it works. And that is not a bad thing. More . . .

Consider what Glenn himself is trying to do with his Accountability Now project. Is he not trying to force a certain orthodoxy on policy? Is he not trying to change the fact that "[i]n the U.S., you can advocate torture, illegal spying, and completely optional though murderous wars and be appointed to the highest positions[?]" If not, then I withdraw my endorsement of it. It seems to me what what Glenn is really complaining about is the different way these two types of projects are treated by the Media. One is accepted and one is treated as an awful threat.

I never attack people for the fact that they try to dictate policy (be they pro-choice, anti-choice, pro-free trade or anti-free trade and so on.) I join the ones I agree with and criticize the views of those I disagree with.

What I find fault with is the Media's blessing of some "special interests" while criticizing others. What makes some ok and some awful? Is it mere disagreement or something more. I think Glenn's point is that there is something more going on - that there is an ingrained acceptance of some "special interests" while others are treated as bad.

Glenn may well be right to question the wisdom of AIPAC on Freeman and on US Israel policy generally. But it always bothers me when a critique on the substance slips into mindless attacks on the "influence" of "special interests" (to be clear, Glenn did not do that.) Everyone who cares and is involved is a "special interest" - the good ones have tremendous influence. I assume they all want to be as powerful as AIPAC. And that we will cheer if "special interests" we agree with become as powerful as AIPAC.

Speaking for me only

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Today in Congress

In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2009
House Meets At...10:00 a.m.: Legislative Business
Ten "One Minutes" Per Side

Last Vote Predicted... 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Suspensions (7 Bills)

1) S. 22 - Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (Sen. Bingaman – Natural Resources)

2) H.Res. 224 - Supporting the designation of Pi Day (Rep. Gordon – Science and Technology)

3) H.Res. 67 - Recognizing and commending the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Cornell University for the success of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, on the 5th anniversary of the Rovers' successful landing (Rep. Dreier – Science and Technology)

4) H.Con.Res. 64 – Urging the President to designate 2009 as the ‘‘Year of the Military Family’’ (Rep. Skelton – Armed Services)

5) H.Res. 226 - Recognizing the plight of the Tibetan people on the 50^th Anniversary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama being forced into exile, and calling for a sustained multilateral effort to bring about a durable and peaceful solution to the Tibet issue (Rep. Holt – Foreign Affairs)

6) H.Res. 125 - Calling on the central authority of Brazil to immediately discharge all its duties under the Hague Convention by facilitating and supporting Federal judicial proceedings as a matter of extreme urgency to obtain the return of Sean Goldman to his father, David Goldman, for immediate return to the United States (Rep. Smith (NJ) – Foreign Affairs)

7) H.Res. 194 - Supporting the goals of International Women's Day (Rep. Schakowsky – Foreign Affairs)

Postponed Suspension Vote (1 Bill)

1) H.Con.Res. 38 - Authorizing the use of the Capitol Grounds for the National Peace Officers' Memorial Service (Rep. Holmes Norton – Transportation and Infrastructure)

In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:

Convenes: 11:00am
Morning Business until 11:30am with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

11:30am proceed to Executive Session to consider the nomination of Peter Ogden, to be Deputy Attorney General.

Another day dominated by suspensions. That seems a little unusual for a Wednesday in the beginning of a new Congress that's been waiting to pass major legislation for so long. But the DC Voting Rights bill is bogged down in the House, with certain factions of Members (guess who!) threatening passage unless their various demands are met. The public lands omnibus (S. 22) also had been a problem, but apparently the threat there was Republican amendments and/or motions to recommit. Thus the bill's appearance on the suspensions calendar, where it's protected from such maneuvers, but requires a 2/3 vote to pass.

In the Senate, attention turns to executive nominations today, after a victory in passing the FY09 appropriations omnibus that was a week and a half in the making.

Full committee schedule appears below. Special note: Sen. Russ Feingold's (D-WI) proposed constitutional amendment requiring special elections for filling Senate vacancies has a joint hearing before the Senate and House Judiciary subcommittees on the Constitution, at 10 a.m. The hearing is viewable online here and/or here.

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SYMPATHY FOR THE IMP.

By Dylan MatthewsEzra has already written about Jonathan Krohn, and his fifteen minutes seem to be about up, but it's worth highlighting Ta-Nehisi's comments on the conservative wunderkind:If you're a conservative and you care about this kid, you don't[...]

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=sympathy_for_the_imp

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I Only Called Ben Hodge a Lunatic Once

I just got back from the Pizza and Politics forum hosted by the Dole Institute at the University of[...]

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