tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35975292024-03-07T15:38:55.130-06:00skimbleculture, politics, commentary, criticismskimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comBlogger2156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-73885940943063974262009-10-27T09:03:00.004-05:002009-10-27T09:18:00.518-05:00Throwing a drowning man a yacht.Throwing a drowning man a yacht. Why do we even bother prosecuting things like cannabis possession when criminal behavior like this is rewarded at the most lavish levels of luxury and unaccountability?Habayeb, 37, was chief financial officer for the AIG division that oversaw AIG Financial Products, the unit that had sold the swaps to the banks. One of his goals was to persuade the banks to acceptskimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-70887867229963677172009-06-11T15:31:00.013-05:002009-06-11T16:14:07.957-05:00The anonymous blogger responds to Leo Wells.The anonymous blogger responds to Leo Wells. Thousands of people have arrived at this site through Google to find impartial information about Wells Real Estate Funds, Wells REITs, and so on. Apparently Leo Wells & Co. are somewhat threatened by my observations because they have posted a special dedicated page, the Leo Wells Pathetic Defense Page, to respond to what appeared on this blog.Their skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-10567189272785938322009-05-05T14:43:00.005-05:002009-05-05T15:35:12.147-05:00How stupid is your financial advisor?How stupid is your financial advisor? Putting aside for the moment the difficulty of spotting the deliberate criminal activities of a Bernie Madoff, how can you know if the guy at the bank or the brokerage or the insurance company taking your IRA money has a brain in his head? How can you know if the financial advisor for your 401(k) plan, lecturing you from a script on the wisdom of asset skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-2635965710640368592009-03-30T15:32:00.002-05:002009-03-30T15:39:06.996-05:00It's ten years later.It's ten years later.November 5, 1999: ''The world changes, and we have to change with it,'' said Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, who wrote the law that will bear his name along with the two other main Republican sponsors, Representative Jim Leach of Iowa and Representative Thomas J. Bliley Jr. of Virginia. ''We have a new century coming, and we have an opportunity to dominate that century the same skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-61316941001432648362009-03-19T16:40:00.003-05:002009-03-19T16:50:50.427-05:00Just askin'.Just askin'. "Who were these people who wrecked AIG and other companies? How did it come about? And was the nature of their actions such that they should be permanently barred from the securities and banking industries?"And while we're clawing back AIG bonuses, why not a counterparty clawback for all the bailout banks? Why should Goldman Sachs bear none of the burden?skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-74631400048751755742009-03-17T09:22:00.003-05:002009-03-17T09:33:50.274-05:00Pulitzer for Gretchen too.Pulitzer for Gretchen too. While we're giving out nominations for Pulitzer Prizes, let's give one to Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times for her revelation of the identity of the puppetmaster Goldman Sachs behind the bailout puppets:Decisions made during the final months of the Bush administration created an environment in which the most politically connected investment banks, Goldman Sachs skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-18747591043441498082009-03-13T09:01:00.003-05:002009-03-13T09:03:07.226-05:00"It's not a fucking game.""It's not a fucking game." Skimble hereby nominates Jon Stewart for a Pulitzer Prize:.cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url('http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png') !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-36567840684311946482009-03-11T16:45:00.004-05:002009-03-11T16:54:20.956-05:00The future of human beings.The future of human beings. These observations about the global economy and how to make it work were written not years or decades ago, but yesterday...We have grown and enjoyed economic stability. Our growth has been accompanied by the inclusion of tens of millions of people in the consumer market. We have distributed wealth to more than 40m who lived below the poverty line. We have ensured that skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-33661857643308163812009-03-06T16:04:00.007-06:002009-03-06T18:04:05.466-06:00The complete and utter failure of financial journalism.The complete and utter failure of financial journalism. Jon Stewart's takedown of CNBC was so much more than a takedown of Rick Santelli's highly suspicious tantrum. It was a general criticism of the complete and utter failure of financial journalism in the US — the groupthink of "reporters" embedded in the machinery and chicanery they are supposed to be investigating.CNBC and the Wall skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-82317238963697578942009-03-04T16:08:00.003-06:002009-03-04T16:31:17.586-06:00Buying the bailout.Buying the bailout. While Obama is being blamed by mindless commenters and cable talking heads for the recent market turmoil and the halving of everyone's 401(k) accounts, it might be useful to take a look a bit further back to see where the blame really lies (InvestmentNews):The financial services industry spent more than $5 billion on political contributions and lobbying from 1998 through 2008,skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-47761153926382957842009-02-10T14:33:00.003-06:002009-02-10T14:42:24.204-06:00Decapitating executive pay.Decapitating executive pay. The more we learn about how the global banking industry has been managed in the last decade, the more we realize that simply limiting executive compensation will not be enough to match the profundity of the crimes committed against working people and taxpayers.We citizens should respond in more visceral terms, resulting in something like this for the CEOs and the risk skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-82444336369541857902009-01-30T15:29:00.003-06:002009-01-30T15:35:58.526-06:00Tax cuts make a lot of sense.Tax cuts make a lot of sense. The GOP's highly principled, widely celebrated and fetishistic tax cuts will stimulate the economy for four hundred people. Today's WSJ: "The nation's top 400 taxpayers made more than $263 million on average in 2006, as the stock market was rallying, but paid income taxes at the lowest rate in the 15 years that the Internal Revenue Service has tracked such data, skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-28274597713309403432009-01-19T11:31:00.014-06:002009-01-19T12:15:23.739-06:00Keeping score.Keeping score. This is one of the few chances we get to judge a pair of opposing-party, two-term presidents back to back. We limit our judgment to objective, quantitative, market-driven data.If the sum total of Americans assets is a portfolio, the president is like a portfolio manager — so let's look at how well they performed, using the Dow Jones Industrial Average as a yardstick.PRESIDENTskimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-65113309254865750852009-01-14T10:10:00.003-06:002009-01-14T10:17:02.626-06:00Fire sale on the USA.Fire sale on the USA. The net result of his administration makes the point quite clearly: whenever Bush talked about the "ownership society," he was ultimately referring to wealthy foreigners buying up the United States (InvestmentNews):January 12, 2009Foreign investors plan to spend significantly more money on U.S. real estate in 2009 than they did last year.A study released today by the skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-80250635083194074102008-12-13T10:25:00.004-06:002008-12-13T10:38:00.198-06:00Killing the watchdog.Killing the watchdog. I have yet to see this reported anywhere, but an anonymous commenter named trademonster on an investment forum said this (notice the dates): 01-09-06 06:49 AMI've heard that SEC is going to shut down Madoff financial and all of their hedge funds for SEC violations. Can anyone confirm this?And this:01-14-06 02:52 PMI actually got some update and found out that it's Spitzer's skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-32743660818907336992008-11-26T09:19:00.006-06:002008-11-26T09:39:41.024-06:00Prostitution is at least an honest profession.Prostitution is at least an honest profession. I'll show you my balance sheet if you show me yours. No? Well, let's insure our multibillion crap-loan transaction just in case. Hundreds of times over.Everyone agrees that the current financial crisis is a self-engineered affair, an circle jerk orgy of fantasy profits emanating from eight years of Wall Street masturbatory excess — unfettered skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-19039541780255597942008-11-12T14:14:00.003-06:002008-11-12T14:19:16.312-06:00Fixing the unfixable.Fixing the unfixable. All the hot air about who Obama should or shouldn't appoint to his cabinet won't do a damn thing about bringing to justice the people responsible for this.Click on each photographer's name if you want to be sick.skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-51705382091893224562008-10-09T16:22:00.004-05:002008-10-09T16:39:18.066-05:00Party like it's 1997.Party like it's 1997. I'm in the mood for a quick review of the Clinton years. Let's look at a few milestones in the S&P 500, with closings on the dates shown:S&P Closing Milestone date500.97 March 24, 1995600.07 November 17, 1995700.66 October 11, 1996802.77 skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-79930179243546780552008-10-08T10:09:00.002-05:002008-10-08T10:12:44.425-05:00More like this, please.More like this, please. Some guy spots former Lehman CEO Richard Fuld on a gym treadmill, walks right up to him, and knocks him out cold.skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-84782468966598568032008-10-03T16:28:00.002-05:002008-10-03T16:33:25.549-05:00Plutocrats win!Plutocrats win! From the shit-eating, high-five grins on these two men's faces, it seems clear that today's $700 billion bailout may end up being even a bigger legislative and strategic mistake for the taxpayers of this country than the Iraq war itself.skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-79746678564051715562008-07-31T12:34:00.004-05:002008-07-31T12:57:29.696-05:00Outrage fatigue.Outrage fatigue. I have ceased to care about McStupid's Britney video and Obama's acting presidency. Or the New Yorker cover. Or Cindy McCain's 20 painkillers a day. Or the endless hand-wringing about the fucking narrative.The 24/7 minutiae of yet another artificial campaign horserace cannot captivate me. The big story is this: The Democrats have failed to hold the existing administration skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-67233381610586951752008-07-17T09:27:00.004-05:002008-07-17T09:34:56.515-05:00Once again, the punchline is Texas.Once again, the punchline is Texas. WSJ:Texas had some of the cheapest power rates in the country when it zapped most of the state's electric regulations six years ago, convinced that rollicking competition would drive prices even lower.This summer, electricity there is some of the nation's priciest.Power costs are rising in the rest of the U.S., but everything is bigger in Texas: On a hot day inskimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-5498115634965014652008-07-09T14:33:00.003-05:002008-07-09T14:53:21.251-05:00Emergency retirement plan: elder suicide.Emergency retirement plan: elder suicide. "Emergency retirement plan: revolver with 3 bullets... in case the first 2 don't work. Coming soon to an America near you." A prophetic comment by Mike Hunt on an otherwise sober post called "Inflation and Its Impact on Retirement" by Rod Ferguson.With just 20 percent of today's working Americans expected to be financially secure in retirement, we will skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-35225090880478888602008-06-29T21:59:00.001-05:002008-06-29T21:59:48.559-05:00The pause that refreshes.The pause that refreshes. I'm halfway through my monthlong break. How about you?skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3597529.post-322481270141127652008-06-11T17:26:00.003-05:002008-06-11T17:34:49.917-05:00Healthcare Republican style.Healthcare Republican style. Here's a reason to vote for McCain: health insurance that doubles in cost while 15 million people lose coverage (InvestmentNews):Some 25 million U.S. adults with health insurance in 2007 faced financial stress due to insufficient coverage, according to a study from The Commonwealth Fund.The ranks of the underinsured have increased by 60% between 2003 — when the New skimblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744379010277000363noreply@blogger.com