Kou Jie writes:
"Fixer-uppers don't bother us."

Nice of him not to look a gift horse too closely in the mouth... but this kind of public musing is unconscionable.
Kou Jie | 03.25.08 - 8:11 am | #

Bill Melater writes:
Versed?

(expand your holascan window to properly appreciate The Bard's eloquence.)



They that have power to hurt and will do none,
That do not do the thing they most do show,
Who, moving others, are themselves as stone,
Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow,
They rightly do inherit heaven's graces
And husband nature's riches from expense;
They are the lords and owners of their faces,
Others but stewards of their excellence.

The summer's flower is to the summer sweet,
Though to itself it only live and die,
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.
William Shakespeare XCIV
Bill Melater | 03.25.08 - 8:11 am | #

Pondering the Mess writes:
Disgusting. So, now the Fed is going to fund the Pig Men directly. Wonderful. Yeah, yeah - the Fed is a private entity and thus is not "technically" taking our tax dollars, except when they force us into hyperinflation to cover for all the screwups and greed that have been driving the market.

So, when I can start turning in used tissues or whatever to get money directly from the Fed? Also, I'd like to buy a house someday - can I have a "Fed assisted" purchase of a house, where they pay for it and I don't have to? What a joke!
Pondering the Mess | 03.25.08 - 8:20 am | #

Pondering the Mess writes:
Oh, the Excel artwork is top-notch, as always. It's about the only bright spot in this dismal week of bailouts and "all is clear - buy, buy, buy!" BS from the media.
Pondering the Mess | 03.25.08 - 8:21 am | #

James Bednar writes:
Nice of him not to look a gift horse too closely in the mouth

Wouldn't the property terminology be "gift pony"?
James Bednar | Homepage | 03.25.08 - 8:27 am | #

Anonymous writes:
Fixer-upper?

What, are they bank flippers? Pick it up on the cheap, unwind the mortgage portfolio, and sell it back to the public later for a sweet profit.

I'm in the wrong business.
Anonymous | 03.25.08 - 8:30 am | #

Kou Jie writes:
Wouldn't the property terminology be "gift pony"?

Yes, I stand corrected, with sprinkles. But I thought there was some wood lined room with hunting pictures on the walls where this sort of wish list was contemplated. Not the media.
Kou Jie | 03.25.08 - 8:34 am | #

Tanta writes:
Fixer-upper?

That, actually, is the part of this that is unconscionable. Not Sumpf asking for federal assistance.

Look, Bear wasn't a "fixer-upper." Bear was going to get hit by the wrecking ball the next day if a deal couldn't be worked out with JPM. Like that deal or not, that's what the Fed was working with.

Stumpf is looking for the fed to help him buy "scratch and dent."

Either that or NCC is ten minutes away from total collapse, but you'd think if so, Stumpf would know better than to hint at it publically.
Tanta | 03.25.08 - 8:41 am | #

dryfly writes:
I'll be driving through Iowa later today (if my tentative meetings happen) and I can assure you - they will be spreading hog manure from all the CAFOs. Its that time of year. Looks like its 'that time of year' everyday all year long at the fed.

I'll try to think nothing but kind thoughts for mortgage pig though - nothing 'negative'.

dryfly | 03.25.08 - 8:42 am | #

rsj writes:
I feel a massive lump of solidarity with the pigmen now. They buy scratch and dent banks, and I buy scratch and dent food items from the grocery store these days.

I guess we are all scratch and dent shoppers now, eh?

Oh but when they finally hand out ponies I dont want any flaws, scratches or dents. Not the ponies.
rsj | 03.25.08 - 8:43 am | #

dryfly writes:
Stumpf is looking for the fed to help him buy "scratch and dent."

Have you no faith? Ask and ye shall receive.

dryfly | 03.25.08 - 8:44 am | #

Anonymous writes:
JPMorgan Chase & Co's revised takeover offer for Bear Stearns Cos Inc is a "high risk transaction," Punk Ziegel analyst Richard Bove said on Tuesday, a day after JPMorgan boosted its all-stock offer for Bear five-fold to about $10 a share.

"What is most disturbing about this deal is that it uses a great deal of Morgan capital to buy a company that is losing market share, in a series of businesses that are declining in size, with a top management team that is best described as sclerotic," Bove wrote in a note to clients.

"Every aspect of this transaction is likely to be tested in the courts with JPMorgan paying the bill all the way. This is not a lay-up at all."

http://www.reuters.com/article/ o...NG8809620080325

OK!
Anonymous | 03.25.08 - 8:45 am | #

dryfly writes:
I feel a massive lump of solidarity with the pigmen now. They buy scratch and dent banks, and I buy scratch and dent food items from the grocery store these days.

So is the fed backstopping your grocery bill? If not then maybe you need more liquidity to solidify your solidarity else tell them all to pass gas somewhere else.

dryfly | 03.25.08 - 8:47 am | #

rsj writes:
OOPS! Seems it was a massive lump of yesterday's lunch, not solidarity. My mistake. Sorry.

Good point dryfly.

I am thinking of handing my 7 year old some crayons and markers and saying draw me the money, go on honey, draw mommy some money. Oh, and some MBS lookin things to take to the fed.

I cant help but think of the scene from A Christmas Story, where the mom is trying to get the little boy to eat.

"Show mommy how the piggies eat, go on. This is your trough, and you are the piggie. Showw Bennie how the little piggies eat"
rsj | 03.25.08 - 8:58 am | #

Kp writes:
One step closer to critical mass.

May vestri own superbia exsisto vestri laxo
Kp | 03.25.08 - 9:04 am | #

rsj writes:
Oh forgot. Kind of adds a new immage to go alont with pass-through, doesnt it? Ok, ill stop.
rsj | 03.25.08 - 9:04 am | #

ipodius writes:
Stumpf is looking for the fed to help him buy "scratch and dent."

Stumpf mis-reads what's going on then, which I can believe looking at what his bank is holding now and his decisions that helped make that happen. Again, the Fed doesn't care about BSC, shareholders, or anyone on Wall St. It cares about he orderly unwind of a dangerous financial situation and will do whatever it takes to make sure there is no melt-down.

Stumpff (I'll add an extra f for f&*$3d) is an idiot of epic proportions for having said that. If I were on that board, he'd be on a plane now to explain to me in person what the hell he was thinking. It just shows that he totally misunderstood the situation, and if he can't understand what just went on, he doesn't belong in the position he holds. Perhaps he'll be on the receiving end of the Fed's largesse soon then. Moron.
ipodius | 03.25.08 - 9:09 am | #

Billy Hill writes:
Just trying to get the big picture:

Is the Fed bail-out to Bear's counterparties, or to a larger group? Does its commitment apply only to transactions made with Bear up to last friday, or also to future transactions?
Billy Hill | 03.25.08 - 9:18 am | #

Taos writes:
Tanta should put out a book filled with UberNerd posts, new lingo like "whocoodanode" and lots of cartoons explaining what is really going on...in my opinion it would sell like "Ponies"
Taos | 03.25.08 - 10:00 am | #

Ralph Cramdown writes:
If Wells Fargo's balance sheet is in better shape than other banks' (and I'm not asserting, just saying 'if'), then I don't know that I've got a huge problem with this guy saying so. Maybe he isn't entitled to a government backstop for an acquisition.

But he's sure entitled to remind people that some bankers were less reckless than others, perhaps implying that Washington's regulation of the sector was asleep on the job.

Some people figure Stumpf is hurting his bank's position by having the chutzpah to say something like this, but in these times it's the balance sheet that counts, and if there's only a few players with solid balance sheets, they're the only ones capable of digesting the carcasses of the also-rans, unless there are to be explicit Northern Rock style nationalizations.
Ralph Cramdown | 03.25.08 - 10:27 am | #

RNL writes:
Remember, it's not manipulation if you tell people:

http://thorns.org/rexandlulah/20...2008-03/ 21.html
RNL | Homepage | 03.25.08 - 10:39 am | #

Anonymous writes:
Re: "I thought it was a pony"

>> Can that be changed to "polo pony"?

Maybe "Beenie Baby"
Anonymous | 03.25.08 - 11:07 am | #

Anonymous writes:
Who is Warsh?
Anonymous | 03.25.08 - 11:09 am | #

scotty in the barnyard writes:
Actually, This version should only have 3 pigs as I recall! Go back to look at the original plea bargaining sunday, i.e, I think just 3 pigs were involved, in this version of The Fed that should have 7 pigs versus 3 and sometimes 5.
scotty in the barnyard | 03.25.08 - 11:11 am | #

Rob Dawg writes:
Mortimer and Mortica Mortgage Pig™ are about to be joined by "Ben-Paul Allan" the pink Moral Hazard Pony™.
http://bp0.blogger.com/_zqzPMzXN...h/ Picture+1.png
Rob Dawg | Homepage | 03.25.08 - 11:17 am | #

scotty in the barnyard writes:
OT, maybe:

In a first step toward challenging the bailout, Inner City Press questioned the legality of the Fed approving the deal without public notice, on the grounds Bear Stearns "is not a banking holding company and does not own a bank."

The Fed approved financing to Bear Stearns through JPMorgan in an emergency meeting Friday morning.

It was the Fed's first rescue of a broker since the Great Depression and its latest effort to soothe financial markets roiled by fallout from rising mortgage defaults.

But Matthew Lee, executive director of Inner City Press, vowed to take all needed legal actions against the deal.

"The Fed has hit a new low with this, they did nothing to protect consumers from predatory lending and now their response is to bail out one of the most notorious enablers of predatory lending with no benefit to struggling consumers," said Lee.
scotty in the barnyard | 03.25.08 - 11:26 am | #

scotty in the barnyard writes:
Tanta, et al,

I need your help again (as always). My memory is shot, but I thought only 3 Fed members voted on The Bear Stearns Debacle in The Emergency Bailout (sunday)? Does anyone have any braincells left which can be focused on this collusion?

I took a short journey to The Fed, but found no record of the vote on Bear, or who was involved in the meetings. I just thought since it is your money, you would know or remember

http://www.federalreserve.gov/ne...y/ 20080314a.htm


Release Date: March 14, 2008
For immediate release

The Federal Reserve is monitoring market developments closely and will continue to provide liquidity as necessary to promote the orderly functioning of the financial system. The Board voted unanimously to approve the arrangement announced by JPMorgan Chase and Bear Stearns this morning.


I feel as if the news is being sterilized:

The loan to Bear Stearns required a vote today by the Fed's Board of Governors because the company isn't a bank, Fed staff officials said. The central bank is taking on the credit risk from Bear Stearns collateral, lending the funds through JPMorgan Chase & Co. because it's operationally simpler to accomplish than a direct loan, the staff said on condition of anonymity.

Bernanke took advantage of little-used parts of Fed law, added in the 1930s and last utilized in the 1960s, that allow it to lend to corporations and private partnerships with a special board vote. The Fed chief probably sought to stave off a deeper blow to the financial system from a Bear Stearns collapse, former Fed researcher Keith Hembre said.

"The Fed really doesn't have any obligation to help a non- bank aside from its role or responsibility to keep the financial markets functioning," said Hembre, who helps oversee $107 billion as chief economist at FAF Advisors Inc. in Minneapolis. "They made a judgment, probably an accurate one, that they're not going to function very well if you've got a full-blown crisis with a major Wall Street firm."

Such votes require approval from five Fed governors. The seven-member Fed board currently has two vacancies, and one governor, Randall Kroszner, is serving past the Jan. 31 expiration of his term.
scotty in the barnyard | 03.25.08 - 11:45 am | #

michael schumacher writes:
The same Dick Bove that gave the "all clear siignal" last week......

Go away pumper...

Ciao
MS
michael schumacher | 03.25.08 - 11:48 am | #

scotty in the barnyard writes:
"The Fed really doesn't have any obligation to help a non- bank aside from its role or responsibility to keep the financial markets functioning," said Hembre, who helps oversee $107 billion as chief economist at FAF Advisors Inc. in Minneapolis. "They made a judgment, probably an accurate one, that they're not going to function very well if you've got a full-blown crisis with a major Wall Street firm."

Such votes require approval from five Fed governors. The seven-member Fed board currently has two vacancies, and one governor, Randall Kroszner, is serving past the Jan. 31 expiration of his term.



The Fed, under Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, voted unanimously to lend the funds through JPMorgan because it would be operationally simpler than a direct loan to Bear Stearns, the staff said on condition of anonymity. The regulator invoked a little-used law that allows it to make loans to corporations and private partnerships, which required a Board vote, according to the staffers.


Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Timothy Geithner worked into the night, grabbing just two hours of sleep near the bank's downtown Manhattan headquarters. His staff spent the night going over Bear's books and talking to potential suitors including J. P. Morgan. The hard reality was that even interested buyers said they needed more time to go over the company.

The pace and complexity of events left Bear's board of directors groping for answers. "It was a traumatic experience," says one person who participated. Sleep deprivation set in, with some of the hundreds of attorneys and bankers sleeping only a few hours during a 72-hour sprint. Dress was casual, with neckties quickly shorn.

Friday

At 5 a.m. Friday, Mr. Geithner, Mr. Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, calling in from home, joined a conference call to debate whether Bear should be allowed to fail or whether the Fed should lend it enough money to get through the weekend. At 7 a.m. they settled on the lifeline option. Mr. Bernanke assembled the Fed's other three available governors to vote for the loan, the first time since the Depression the Fed would use its extraordinary authority to lend to nonbanks.
The Fed announced that it would lend Bear money, through J.P. Morgan, for up to 28 days to get the venerable investment bank through its cash crunch. At 9 a.m., Mr. Geithner, Mr. Paulson and aides addressed a conference call of bond dealers and bankers. Mr. Paulson took the lead, saying the dealer community had "a stake" in the overall deal working out.


The Week That Shook Wall Street:
Inside the Demise of Bear Stearns
By ROBIN SIDEL, GREG IP, MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS and KATE KELLY
March 18, 2008; Page A1


The Fed could not immediately be reached for comment. Inner City Press, a nonprofit group that has challenged the nation’s key bank mergers over the past decade in an effort to ensure poorer communities are served fairly, also questioned why only four of the five Fed governors approved the measure. The Fed approved the deal between JPMorgan and Bear Stearns under Depression-era laws allowing it to do so under “unusual and exigent circumstances.” This provision, however, requires an affirmative vote of not less than 5 members of the board. At present, there are only five members on the board with two vacancies, but only four approved the measure because governor Frederic Mishkin was not present, according to the Federal Reserve. But current law mandates that no less than five members can vote on the matter and states that members can be contacted through any electronic means, including by telephone and e-mail. “There has been no showing that, given technology in 2008 (as opposed to the 1930s when this language was enacted), the required attempts to contact Gov. Mishkin were made,” Lee wrote in the complaint. Inner City Press also questioned whether the deal could be finalized without antitrust review. “Third, to allow this relation between the nation’s third largest bank and fifth largest brokerage, without any antitrust review, even with the required votes (which the Fed) did not have, is unlawful,” the complaint stated, requesting public hearings on the matter. The complaint also asks for a probe into Bear Stearns’ disclosure of its financial condition, citing an interview the firm’s chief executive gave on CNBC television earlier in the week during which no mention of the scope of the firm’s financial troubles were made.

>>> Never mind....... sorry to get you out of bed Tanta, et al
scotty in the barnyard | 03.25.08 - 11:59 am | #

scotty in the barnyard writes:
Ok,

One last idea.

Can you exchange the pony word for Bribery?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribery

Bribery, which is synonymous with pecuniary corruption, is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the person in ways not consistent with the duties of that person or in breach of law. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in discharge of a public or legal duty. The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the receiver's conduct. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, object of value, advantage, or any promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity.
scotty in the barnyard | 03.25.08 - 12:05 pm | #

Kp writes:
A friendly reminder...

Greasemonkey + Killfile = FTW!
Kp | 03.25.08 - 12:12 pm | #

Zarley writes:
I'm just glad the Fed is doing something. But really silly bloggers, do you think you have any answers?

To quote a famous poem...

Those who write on bathroom walls roll their shit in little balls. Those who read these words of wit, eat those little balls of shit.
Zarley | 03.25.08 - 9:39 pm | #