WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said on Sunday he would put strong new financial regulation at the center of his economic recovery program to force more accountability on the banking industry. Obama again warned that the U.S. economic crisis, which saw the country lose more than half a million jobs in November alone, would worsen before it gets better. "As part of our economic recovery package what you will see coming out of my administration, right at the center, is a strong set of financial regulations," Obama said in a taped appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" television show. "Banks, ratings agencies, mortgage brokers, a whole bunch of folks (will) start having to be much more accountable and behave much more responsibly. "We've got to have transparency, openness, fair dealing in our financial markets and that's an area where I think over the last eight years we've fallen short."
WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said on Sunday he would put strong new financial regulation at the center of his economic recovery program to force more accountability on the banking industry.
Obama again warned that the U.S. economic crisis, which saw the country lose more than half a million jobs in November alone, would worsen before it gets better.
"As part of our economic recovery package what you will see coming out of my administration, right at the center, is a strong set of financial regulations," Obama said in a taped appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" television show.
"Banks, ratings agencies, mortgage brokers, a whole bunch of folks (will) start having to be much more accountable and behave much more responsibly.
"We've got to have transparency, openness, fair dealing in our financial markets and that's an area where I think over the last eight years we've fallen short."
US President-elect Barack Obama says he will not allow the country's car industry to collapse, but any state help must come with strict conditions. The industry and its stakeholders would have to restructure, he told NBC television's Meet the Press. Congress and the White House have been holding talks on a plan to rescue the beleaguered US car industry. Mr Obama warned the economy would get worse before it improved, but any aid plan needed strong regulations. He also named Japanese-American General Eric Shinseki as Veterans' Affairs chief. He said Gen Shinseki was exactly the right person to honour returning soldiers.
US President-elect Barack Obama says he will not allow the country's car industry to collapse, but any state help must come with strict conditions.
The industry and its stakeholders would have to restructure, he told NBC television's Meet the Press.
Congress and the White House have been holding talks on a plan to rescue the beleaguered US car industry.
Mr Obama warned the economy would get worse before it improved, but any aid plan needed strong regulations.
He also named Japanese-American General Eric Shinseki as Veterans' Affairs chief.
He said Gen Shinseki was exactly the right person to honour returning soldiers.
"With that gesture, Obama, who took office pledging to instill a work-hard, get-rich ethos in a country known for its disdain for state aid, turned into something more familiar to the Democrats: a politician who intervenes in private companies, subsidizes jobs and bashes the bosses."
See above, about Dexia bank. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
This would be funny if it weren't so sad. It seems bankruptcy is not an option for GM or Chrysler, but not because they're "too big to fail", as we've been told, but rather it's because they can't even finance a bankruptcy. From Bloomberg:
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama said the economic crisis will worsen before a recovery takes hold, and the government must act swiftly to stimulate job creation. "Things are going to get worse before they get better," Obama said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" program broadcast today. Obama, who takes office Jan. 20, said his advisers are still working to determine the size of the economic stimulus package needed to pull the country out of the longest recession since 1982. "But it is going to be substantial," he said, without giving an estimate. While calling the federal budget deficit he will inherit "enormous," Obama said economic recovery is more important, "and that means that we can't worry, short term, about the budget deficit."
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama said the economic crisis will worsen before a recovery takes hold, and the government must act swiftly to stimulate job creation.
"Things are going to get worse before they get better," Obama said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" program broadcast today.
Obama, who takes office Jan. 20, said his advisers are still working to determine the size of the economic stimulus package needed to pull the country out of the longest recession since 1982. "But it is going to be substantial," he said, without giving an estimate.
While calling the federal budget deficit he will inherit "enormous," Obama said economic recovery is more important, "and that means that we can't worry, short term, about the budget deficit."
WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd said on Sunday General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) chief executive Rick Wagoner should resign to allow new leadership to restructure the faltering company. "I think he has to move on," Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is leading efforts to craft legislation to bailout U.S. automakers, said on CBS's "Face the Nation." U.S. lawmakers are close to a deal to provide $15 billion in emergency loans to help General Motors and Chrysler LLC avoid bankruptcy. Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), thought to be in best shape of any of the Big Three U.S. auto makers, is also seeking a line of credit from the U.S. government. Dodd said the legislation would buy the U.S. auto industry time to work through structural and financial problems. He said industry restructuring should be done under new leadership. Asked about Wagoner, Dodd said he should step aside.
WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd said on Sunday General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) chief executive Rick Wagoner should resign to allow new leadership to restructure the faltering company.
"I think he has to move on," Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who is leading efforts to craft legislation to bailout U.S. automakers, said on CBS's "Face the Nation."
U.S. lawmakers are close to a deal to provide $15 billion in emergency loans to help General Motors and Chrysler LLC avoid bankruptcy. Ford Motor Co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), thought to be in best shape of any of the Big Three U.S. auto makers, is also seeking a line of credit from the U.S. government.
Dodd said the legislation would buy the U.S. auto industry time to work through structural and financial problems. He said industry restructuring should be done under new leadership. Asked about Wagoner, Dodd said he should step aside.
Dan Quayle and Cerberus Holding American Economy Hostage But far more important, making a Chrysler bailout contingent on GM's acquisition basically bails a bunch of muckety-muck Republicans and pseudo-Republicans out of their stupid business decisions. As this article makes clear, Cerberus is a private investment firm loaded to the gills with Washington retreads: (...) Cerberus' MO is to buy companies cheaply, chop them up, re-package them, and sell them for a profit. Which is precisely what they intended to do when they acquired Chrysler last year for $7.4 billion (and more than half of GMAC in 2006). But, after a year-long hunt for someone to buy Chrysler and a further $2 billion investment, Cerberus is stuck with a company in a troubled sector hemorrhaging money. So they have been lobbying to have someone bail them out of their crappy investment. Which is where the Republicans in Congress comes in. We know that Bob Bennett (who has received $17,000 of Cerberus love of late) is getting lobbied to get Cerberus bailed out of its bad investment; and, surprise surprise, Bennett proposed exactly that at Thursday's hearing. We also know that someone--probably Snow or Quayle or someone like that--not only chatted up Bob Corker the other day, but induced him to publicly announce that Cerberus isn't going to help bail its own company, Chrysler, out (this was right before Corker slammed GM's stock by falsely stating its DOE application had been rejected). And though Richard Shelby doesn't want any kind of bailout, it's worth noting the $37,500 invested in him of late, as well as similarly large chunks to John Kyl and Orrin Hatch. (Cerberus also gives big to MI's legislators, both Democratic and Republican.) In other words, some of these Republicans who are so adamant that the Big Two and a Half shouldn't be bailed out also happen to be the same guys pushing to bail out their buddies at Cerberus.
But far more important, making a Chrysler bailout contingent on GM's acquisition basically bails a bunch of muckety-muck Republicans and pseudo-Republicans out of their stupid business decisions.
As this article makes clear, Cerberus is a private investment firm loaded to the gills with Washington retreads:
(...)
Cerberus' MO is to buy companies cheaply, chop them up, re-package them, and sell them for a profit. Which is precisely what they intended to do when they acquired Chrysler last year for $7.4 billion (and more than half of GMAC in 2006). But, after a year-long hunt for someone to buy Chrysler and a further $2 billion investment, Cerberus is stuck with a company in a troubled sector hemorrhaging money. So they have been lobbying to have someone bail them out of their crappy investment.
Which is where the Republicans in Congress comes in. We know that Bob Bennett (who has received $17,000 of Cerberus love of late) is getting lobbied to get Cerberus bailed out of its bad investment; and, surprise surprise, Bennett proposed exactly that at Thursday's hearing. We also know that someone--probably Snow or Quayle or someone like that--not only chatted up Bob Corker the other day, but induced him to publicly announce that Cerberus isn't going to help bail its own company, Chrysler, out (this was right before Corker slammed GM's stock by falsely stating its DOE application had been rejected). And though Richard Shelby doesn't want any kind of bailout, it's worth noting the $37,500 invested in him of late, as well as similarly large chunks to John Kyl and Orrin Hatch. (Cerberus also gives big to MI's legislators, both Democratic and Republican.)
In other words, some of these Republicans who are so adamant that the Big Two and a Half shouldn't be bailed out also happen to be the same guys pushing to bail out their buddies at Cerberus.
HSBC finds tidy profit in property slump HSBC has emerged as an unlikely beneficiary of the property slump after banking £250m in an 11th-hour deal to take back the keys to its Canary Wharf headquarters from its Spanish owner. Metrovacesa, the heavily indebted Spanish property company, bought the skyscraper, 8 Canada Square, from HSBC for £1.09bn last summer - using debt provided by HSBC. The deal, at the very peak of the market, was the UK's most expensive property transaction yet. The subsequent crash has eroded almost all the equity put in by Metrovacesa. The sale and leaseback of the tower, the second-tallest in the UK, was funded by a bridging loan of £810m from the bank topped up by about £280m of equity from Metrovacesa. Metrovacesa and HSBC on Friday finalised the terms of a deal under which the bank will buy back the building for £838m, meaning a loss of more than £250m for Metrovacesa. The Spanish company was left with few choices after finding it impossible to refinance the deal elsewhere. It also failed during the summer to find a buyer for the building or a stake in it.
HSBC has emerged as an unlikely beneficiary of the property slump after banking £250m in an 11th-hour deal to take back the keys to its Canary Wharf headquarters from its Spanish owner.
Metrovacesa, the heavily indebted Spanish property company, bought the skyscraper, 8 Canada Square, from HSBC for £1.09bn last summer - using debt provided by HSBC. The deal, at the very peak of the market, was the UK's most expensive property transaction yet. The subsequent crash has eroded almost all the equity put in by Metrovacesa.
The sale and leaseback of the tower, the second-tallest in the UK, was funded by a bridging loan of £810m from the bank topped up by about £280m of equity from Metrovacesa. Metrovacesa and HSBC on Friday finalised the terms of a deal under which the bank will buy back the building for £838m, meaning a loss of more than £250m for Metrovacesa.
The Spanish company was left with few choices after finding it impossible to refinance the deal elsewhere. It also failed during the summer to find a buyer for the building or a stake in it.
I remember thinking (and maybe writing?) that HSBC was doing the smart thing then. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
Deepwater Rig Rates Jump as Shortage Trumps Oil Drop Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Rental rates for deepwater drilling rigs continue to surge as a worldwide shortage of vessels used to search the oceans for oil outweighs the biggest drop in crude prices in a quarter-century. Transocean Inc., the world's largest offshore oil driller, agreed to lease its C. Kirk Rhein Jr. rig to Burgundy Global Exploration Corp. for $550,000 a day, a 52 percent increase from the previous rate, according to a public filing today. Burgundy's lease commences in February, after South African energy producer Sasol Ltd.'s current contract to use the rig off the coast of Mozambique expires, Transocean said. Burgundy, based in Makati City, Philippines, plans to search for oil in Filipino waters. "It is impressive," Brian Uhlmer, an analyst at Pritchard Capital Partners LLC in Houston, said today in a note to clients. The rate makes Uhlmer "more comfortable" about deepwater-rig operators' prospects for maintaining profits despite lower crude prices. The global credit crunch is a boon for rig operators such as Transocean because the lack of financing is preventing smaller rivals from following through with plans to build new vessels. As many as one-fifth of the new deepwater rigs on order in shipyards from South Korea to Norway will be canceled or delayed because of capital constraints, Uhlmer said in October. Demand for vessels that can explore more than 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) below the sea surface and hundreds of miles from shore has risen faster than the world's supply of the most- sophisticated drill ships, pushing day rates to a record. High Seas Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and other energy producers require rigs that can operate year-round in rough seas and shelter more than 100 employees for weeks at a time to find crude in places such as the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Angola and the Gulf of Mexico. Offshore exploration yielded the Western Hemisphere's biggest discovery in three decades when Rio de Janeiro-based Petroleo Brasileiro SA in 2006 found the Tupi field, home to the equivalent of 5 billion to 8 billion barrels of oil. Transocean also announced higher rental rates today for its GSF Adriatic VI rig off the coast of Gabon and the GSF 103 in Egyptian waters. Each $50,000 increase in daily rig rates adds $3.21 to Transocean's full-year per-share earnings, according to JPMorgan Securities Inc. Transocean, which is based in the Cayman Islands and run from Houston, is expected to boost 2008 profit by 47 percent to $4.61 billion, based on the average estimate of 19 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Rental rates for deepwater drilling rigs continue to surge as a worldwide shortage of vessels used to search the oceans for oil outweighs the biggest drop in crude prices in a quarter-century.
Transocean Inc., the world's largest offshore oil driller, agreed to lease its C. Kirk Rhein Jr. rig to Burgundy Global Exploration Corp. for $550,000 a day, a 52 percent increase from the previous rate, according to a public filing today.
Burgundy's lease commences in February, after South African energy producer Sasol Ltd.'s current contract to use the rig off the coast of Mozambique expires, Transocean said. Burgundy, based in Makati City, Philippines, plans to search for oil in Filipino waters.
"It is impressive," Brian Uhlmer, an analyst at Pritchard Capital Partners LLC in Houston, said today in a note to clients. The rate makes Uhlmer "more comfortable" about deepwater-rig operators' prospects for maintaining profits despite lower crude prices.
The global credit crunch is a boon for rig operators such as Transocean because the lack of financing is preventing smaller rivals from following through with plans to build new vessels. As many as one-fifth of the new deepwater rigs on order in shipyards from South Korea to Norway will be canceled or delayed because of capital constraints, Uhlmer said in October.
Demand for vessels that can explore more than 6 miles (9.7 kilometers) below the sea surface and hundreds of miles from shore has risen faster than the world's supply of the most- sophisticated drill ships, pushing day rates to a record.
High Seas
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and other energy producers require rigs that can operate year-round in rough seas and shelter more than 100 employees for weeks at a time to find crude in places such as the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Angola and the Gulf of Mexico.
Offshore exploration yielded the Western Hemisphere's biggest discovery in three decades when Rio de Janeiro-based Petroleo Brasileiro SA in 2006 found the Tupi field, home to the equivalent of 5 billion to 8 billion barrels of oil.
Transocean also announced higher rental rates today for its GSF Adriatic VI rig off the coast of Gabon and the GSF 103 in Egyptian waters. Each $50,000 increase in daily rig rates adds $3.21 to Transocean's full-year per-share earnings, according to JPMorgan Securities Inc.
Transocean, which is based in the Cayman Islands and run from Houston, is expected to boost 2008 profit by 47 percent to $4.61 billion, based on the average estimate of 19 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
From bad to worse As Henry points out, there's no way around it: We've got to kick our addiction to debt if the world is to regain some semblance of financial sanity. On that score, we might interject, one can detect a kind of grim upside to the economic horror afflicting us: It's already done wonders in raising the consciousness of just plain folks -- if not necessarily that of Washington and Wall Street -- to the perils of sinking deep into debt. Henry lays out with admirable coherence and relative brevity the various likely consequences of the hellish economic and financial bind we find ourselves in. We were particularly struck and disturbed by what he deems the most profound long-term effect of the credit crisis: The sharp acceleration in a trend that has already reached epic proportions -- the concentration that's radically changing finance as we've known it. The mighty wave of acquisitions, shotgun mergers and the like that has swept over the field has greatly increased the domination of the top 15 institutions, which now hold over half the nonfinancial debt in this fair land. "These were the very firms," Henry reminds us, "that played a central role in creating debt on an unprecedented scale through a process of massive securitization via complex new credit instruments" and who "pushed for legal structures that made many aspects of the financial market opaque." He warns that in the years ahead, these financial goliaths "will limit any chance for the U.S. to move toward greater economic democracy," and they are riddled with conflicts of interest springing from their multiple roles "in securities underwriting, in lending and investing, in the making of secondary markets and in the management of other people's money." Henry also balefully predicts that "through their global reach, these sprawling firms will transmit financial contagion even more quickly," and "when the current crisis abates, the pricing power of these huge financial conglomerates will grow significantly, at the expense of borrowers and investors."
As Henry points out, there's no way around it: We've got to kick our addiction to debt if the world is to regain some semblance of financial sanity. On that score, we might interject, one can detect a kind of grim upside to the economic horror afflicting us: It's already done wonders in raising the consciousness of just plain folks -- if not necessarily that of Washington and Wall Street -- to the perils of sinking deep into debt.
Henry lays out with admirable coherence and relative brevity the various likely consequences of the hellish economic and financial bind we find ourselves in. We were particularly struck and disturbed by what he deems the most profound long-term effect of the credit crisis: The sharp acceleration in a trend that has already reached epic proportions -- the concentration that's radically changing finance as we've known it.
The mighty wave of acquisitions, shotgun mergers and the like that has swept over the field has greatly increased the domination of the top 15 institutions, which now hold over half the nonfinancial debt in this fair land. "These were the very firms," Henry reminds us, "that played a central role in creating debt on an unprecedented scale through a process of massive securitization via complex new credit instruments" and who "pushed for legal structures that made many aspects of the financial market opaque."
He warns that in the years ahead, these financial goliaths "will limit any chance for the U.S. to move toward greater economic democracy," and they are riddled with conflicts of interest springing from their multiple roles "in securities underwriting, in lending and investing, in the making of secondary markets and in the management of other people's money."
Henry also balefully predicts that "through their global reach, these sprawling firms will transmit financial contagion even more quickly," and "when the current crisis abates, the pricing power of these huge financial conglomerates will grow significantly, at the expense of borrowers and investors."
Trash has crashed. The economic downturn has decimated the U.S. market for recycled materials like cardboard, plastic, newspaper and metals. Across the country, this junk is accumulating by the ton in the yards and warehouses of recycling contractors, which are unable to find buyers or are unwilling to sell at rock-bottom prices. Ordinarily the material would be turned into products like car parts, book covers and boxes for electronics. But with the slump in the scrap market, a trickle is starting to head for landfills instead of a second life. "It's awful," said Briana Sternberg, education and outreach coordinator for Sedona Recycles, a nonprofit group in Arizona that recently stopped taking certain types of cardboard, like old cereal, rice and pasta boxes. There is no market for these, and the organization's quarter-acre yard is already packed fence to fence. "Either it goes to landfill or it begins to cost us money," Sternberg said.
Trash has crashed.
The economic downturn has decimated the U.S. market for recycled materials like cardboard, plastic, newspaper and metals. Across the country, this junk is accumulating by the ton in the yards and warehouses of recycling contractors, which are unable to find buyers or are unwilling to sell at rock-bottom prices.
Ordinarily the material would be turned into products like car parts, book covers and boxes for electronics. But with the slump in the scrap market, a trickle is starting to head for landfills instead of a second life.
"It's awful," said Briana Sternberg, education and outreach coordinator for Sedona Recycles, a nonprofit group in Arizona that recently stopped taking certain types of cardboard, like old cereal, rice and pasta boxes. There is no market for these, and the organization's quarter-acre yard is already packed fence to fence.
"Either it goes to landfill or it begins to cost us money," Sternberg said.
Barack Obama's approach to foreign policy should be guided by three key insights. First, there are no military solutions to most of the nation's or the world's problems. Second, we will be welcomed as a good global partner or we will fail as a global bully. The world has changed. The United States has no capacity, and the Obama administration should make clear it no longer has any desire, to dominate the world. Finally, the United States is economically weak due largely to excessive militarization. Stated simply, living standards are declining for most Americans because our nation accounts for approximately half of world military expenditures. Although the present economic crisis is linked to casino capitalism and a deregulated market place, the nation's economic decline is best understood in relation to disastrous and costly wars, excessive military spending, and failed foreign policies. People throughout the nation and the world are hoping that under Obama's leadership the United States will choose new approaches and pathways to national and global security. U.S. citizens have spoken clearly. We want disastrous wars to end. We want our government to use its power and resources to help make the economy work for average citizens. Here are twenty practical changes to U.S. foreign policy that will help the Obama administration fruitfully reengage the world and fulfill promises to revitalize and promote greater justice in the U.S. economy:
First, there are no military solutions to most of the nation's or the world's problems.
Second, we will be welcomed as a good global partner or we will fail as a global bully. The world has changed. The United States has no capacity, and the Obama administration should make clear it no longer has any desire, to dominate the world.
Finally, the United States is economically weak due largely to excessive militarization. Stated simply, living standards are declining for most Americans because our nation accounts for approximately half of world military expenditures. Although the present economic crisis is linked to casino capitalism and a deregulated market place, the nation's economic decline is best understood in relation to disastrous and costly wars, excessive military spending, and failed foreign policies.
People throughout the nation and the world are hoping that under Obama's leadership the United States will choose new approaches and pathways to national and global security. U.S. citizens have spoken clearly. We want disastrous wars to end. We want our government to use its power and resources to help make the economy work for average citizens.
Here are twenty practical changes to U.S. foreign policy that will help the Obama administration fruitfully reengage the world and fulfill promises to revitalize and promote greater justice in the U.S. economy:
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
He needs to start doing a "Stranded Wind" and keep posting these ideas on dKos until they start getting traction there. then he needs to get the attention of beltway people and take it from there. keep to the Fen Causeway
I feel the same way and unfortunately, am sitting here wondering when it is going to be OK to start expecting more from the Big O'man. Jan 25? Feb 25?
I'll contact the author with your suggestions. If he likes them, I'll tell him to send you that pony. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
I do not think swedish banks are that much in the risk of collapsing but they are following the international trend and thus are tightening the credit market. A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!
Good Signs In The Downturn These are good signs: Laid-Off Workers Occupy Chicago Factory Illegal Activism: Moving Homeless People Into Foreclosed Houses in Miami I hope and expect to see more like this. Such activism is not only morally right, it is needed to change the direction of a capitalist system run wild back to a more social(ist) one.
These are good signs:
I hope and expect to see more like this. Such activism is not only morally right, it is needed to change the direction of a capitalist system run wild back to a more social(ist) one.
