Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
davelj
Participant“We are helpless people turning to a helpful God,” Vaggalis said.
More like, “We are clueless people turning to an either non-existent or otherwise completely ambivalent God.”
(Clearly this article begs the observation that God must be favoring those praying for more affordable housing at the expense of the Realtors. First He favors the Realtors and now he favors the buyers? I mean, whose side is God on anyway? He’s one fickle Deity-Dude.)
As for me, I’d like to fix eggs in the morning but have run out. Hopefully my prayers to the Easter Bunny will alleviate the situation.
Participant“We are helpless people turning to a helpful God,” Vaggalis said.
More like, “We are clueless people turning to an either non-existent or otherwise completely ambivalent God.”
(Clearly this article begs the observation that God must be favoring those praying for more affordable housing at the expense of the Realtors. First He favors the Realtors and now he favors the buyers? I mean, whose side is God on anyway? He’s one fickle Deity-Dude.)
As for me, I’d like to fix eggs in the morning but have run out. Hopefully my prayers to the Easter Bunny will alleviate the situation.
ParticipantI think this list of cognitive biases goes pretty far in explaining why we see such apparent madness in these polls:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
As humans we are deeply flawed where economic/financial decision making is involved.
ParticipantI think this list of cognitive biases goes pretty far in explaining why we see such apparent madness in these polls:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
As humans we are deeply flawed where economic/financial decision making is involved.
ParticipantNo, instead they’re a group of greedy, Johnny-came-earlies taking advantage of the outrageously loose money environment today. I don’t use the term “greedy” in a negative sense, however, despite the humorous, less-than-favorable profile of Schwartzman that was in the WSJ several days ago. Clearly these guys were innovators and have done well – I don’t begrudge them their billions. But I think the days of outsized returns by the large PE groups like Blackstone (and KKR, TPG, etc.) have passed. They’ve got the same problem as Warren Buffett: way too much capital chasing too few decent deals. At some point, the law of large numbers cripples even the financial geniuses. I think the music’s stopped for the big PE players but they’re all still dancing. But, hey, if they can monetize a part of their equity on the backs of dreamers (the IPO participants), why not?
ParticipantNo, instead they’re a group of greedy, Johnny-came-earlies taking advantage of the outrageously loose money environment today. I don’t use the term “greedy” in a negative sense, however, despite the humorous, less-than-favorable profile of Schwartzman that was in the WSJ several days ago. Clearly these guys were innovators and have done well – I don’t begrudge them their billions. But I think the days of outsized returns by the large PE groups like Blackstone (and KKR, TPG, etc.) have passed. They’ve got the same problem as Warren Buffett: way too much capital chasing too few decent deals. At some point, the law of large numbers cripples even the financial geniuses. I think the music’s stopped for the big PE players but they’re all still dancing. But, hey, if they can monetize a part of their equity on the backs of dreamers (the IPO participants), why not?
Participantsdrealtor, I’d join you at the firepit but I’m busy bathing in pigs’ blood whilst strangling kitties. Perhaps another time though…
davelj 666
Participantsdrealtor, I’d join you at the firepit but I’m busy bathing in pigs’ blood whilst strangling kitties. Perhaps another time though…
davelj 666
ParticipantNo clue as to what to do about Africa. But I have three observations. First, where standard of living is concerned, much of Africa is worse off today than it was under colonial rule; that’s an objective read on the situation. So I’m sympathetic to jg’s point where that’s concerned. Second – and this is no revelation – much of the aid sent to post-colonial Africa has been absconded by the ruling elites. Africans appear to really enjoy screwing each other over. Third, if there is a God, He doesn’t appear to like the Africans too much and I can’t for the life of me figure out what they’ve done to deserve such a fate. No God that I would ever worship would perpetrate such a clusterf*ck on such a large group of innocents.
ParticipantNo clue as to what to do about Africa. But I have three observations. First, where standard of living is concerned, much of Africa is worse off today than it was under colonial rule; that’s an objective read on the situation. So I’m sympathetic to jg’s point where that’s concerned. Second – and this is no revelation – much of the aid sent to post-colonial Africa has been absconded by the ruling elites. Africans appear to really enjoy screwing each other over. Third, if there is a God, He doesn’t appear to like the Africans too much and I can’t for the life of me figure out what they’ve done to deserve such a fate. No God that I would ever worship would perpetrate such a clusterf*ck on such a large group of innocents.
Participantjg… if you honestly believe that there is “a blessing wrapped up in the hardships” of the millions dying in Zimbabwe, Iraq and other war/despot-torn areas then you, my friend, have absolutely no sense of perspective or compassion whatsoever. That you can look at these situations and suggest that, “Hey, it’s all good – they’re trying to stay alive, aren’t they? Their lives can’t be that bad.” That’s a tortured logic worthy of a Nobel Prize in Denial. Yes, just what I’d expect from a Christian sitting on their sofa in middle America without a care in the world. (I’m sure you’d have a big smile on your face contemplating all the great “meaning” in your life if you were starving in Ethiopia. “I’m OK with this hellhole, God. It’s Your willllll.”) I guarantee that if it were YOU in one of these situations that you wouldn’t be nearly as flippant about the life and death travails of others. But I digress…
Steve and Bugs, thanks for the responses. I guess we’ll see how this whole mess pans out… I’m sure it won’t be pretty… regardless of the fact that Christians were involved. Oh my!! One wonders how God let this happen to all of these Good People…
Participantjg… if you honestly believe that there is “a blessing wrapped up in the hardships” of the millions dying in Zimbabwe, Iraq and other war/despot-torn areas then you, my friend, have absolutely no sense of perspective or compassion whatsoever. That you can look at these situations and suggest that, “Hey, it’s all good – they’re trying to stay alive, aren’t they? Their lives can’t be that bad.” That’s a tortured logic worthy of a Nobel Prize in Denial. Yes, just what I’d expect from a Christian sitting on their sofa in middle America without a care in the world. (I’m sure you’d have a big smile on your face contemplating all the great “meaning” in your life if you were starving in Ethiopia. “I’m OK with this hellhole, God. It’s Your willllll.”) I guarantee that if it were YOU in one of these situations that you wouldn’t be nearly as flippant about the life and death travails of others. But I digress…
Steve and Bugs, thanks for the responses. I guess we’ll see how this whole mess pans out… I’m sure it won’t be pretty… regardless of the fact that Christians were involved. Oh my!! One wonders how God let this happen to all of these Good People…
ParticipantA slice of Bill Fleckenstein’s commentary from today on this situation:
(go to http://www.fleckensteincapital.com – subscription required – for the full story)“Among the handful of news items worth covering, I think the most important one is Wall Street’s drive to bail out that mouthful of a Bear Stearns vehicle, the High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund. According to one report, Citigroup plans to infuse it with $500 million, with another $1.5 billion coming from Bear Stearns itself. (Yet another story today said that Blackstone was interested in bailing the fund out.)
“I have to wonder why Wall Street is working overtime to rescue a $600 million fund. On the other hand, I think we all know the answer: In a liquidation scenario, lots of people fear what would happen to leveraged portfolios across Wall Street and the world if sales of some of the fund’s paper were marked to market. And, if that were to occur, maybe even the mighty Blackstone might not get to go public.
“I can’t recall a fund of this size ever being bailed out. Liquidation is the usual outcome when a fund is down 25% to 30%, as this one supposedly is. Of course, it might be down a lot more if real prices were used. Considering that (a) the fund was allegedly worth $6 billion, (b) its managers have already sold $3.8 billion of AAA and AA paper, and (c) they’re now putting in $2 billion on top of the original $600 million in capital, it sure smells a lot worse than they have alleged. Apparently, all sorts of games are being played and attempts being made to avoid marking mortgage slices-and-dices to market — in addition to the fact that many funds aren’t required to mark their positions to market until the ratings agencies say so. You don’t have to be too smart to see that this is a ticking time bomb. One of these days, it’s going to detonate and there will be hell to pay. The only question is when.”
ParticipantA slice of Bill Fleckenstein’s commentary from today on this situation:
(go to http://www.fleckensteincapital.com – subscription required – for the full story)“Among the handful of news items worth covering, I think the most important one is Wall Street’s drive to bail out that mouthful of a Bear Stearns vehicle, the High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund. According to one report, Citigroup plans to infuse it with $500 million, with another $1.5 billion coming from Bear Stearns itself. (Yet another story today said that Blackstone was interested in bailing the fund out.)
“I have to wonder why Wall Street is working overtime to rescue a $600 million fund. On the other hand, I think we all know the answer: In a liquidation scenario, lots of people fear what would happen to leveraged portfolios across Wall Street and the world if sales of some of the fund’s paper were marked to market. And, if that were to occur, maybe even the mighty Blackstone might not get to go public.
“I can’t recall a fund of this size ever being bailed out. Liquidation is the usual outcome when a fund is down 25% to 30%, as this one supposedly is. Of course, it might be down a lot more if real prices were used. Considering that (a) the fund was allegedly worth $6 billion, (b) its managers have already sold $3.8 billion of AAA and AA paper, and (c) they’re now putting in $2 billion on top of the original $600 million in capital, it sure smells a lot worse than they have alleged. Apparently, all sorts of games are being played and attempts being made to avoid marking mortgage slices-and-dices to market — in addition to the fact that many funds aren’t required to mark their positions to market until the ratings agencies say so. You don’t have to be too smart to see that this is a ticking time bomb. One of these days, it’s going to detonate and there will be hell to pay. The only question is when.”
-
AuthorPosts
