SAR #9056

The dancing stops but the music plays on...

Quote: "It is time to for a real change. It is time to stop allowing the country to be held hostage by a relatively small number of financiers who have gamed the system. "

UP! The Market's Up! The overlord class is understandably encouraged by the news that the government is going to keep giving their failed banks and businesses taxpayer money without troubling to ask what they do with it, much less interfering with their operations.

Two from Column B: "Bernanke fears recession could extend to 2010" or "Stocks jump after Bernanke says recession may end."

Human Interest Story: About 10 million children under age 5 die every year, nearly 5 million from malnutrition. Global population is predicted to increase by 50% in the next 40 years. Food supplies are expected to fall 20% from today's levels as drought and other climate changes progress. Let's turn on the TV and watch the lady who had 8 more babies.

Short Form: To summarize the Chairman's Little Red Book, Ben's plan is to prop up the banks to the benefit of existing shareholders at the expense of taxpayers. Any questions?

Headline Only: "Japan Exports Fall By 46% in January, Producing Record Trade Deficit"

This-interested: PIMCO's Bill Gross says that Roubini, Dodd and Greenspan haven’t thought carefully enough about nationalizing BofA and Citi. Specifically, he didn't menton how much damage could be done to PIMCO's portfolio if they were nationalized.

Half Full, Half Empty? Shiller says whichever it is, we're going to drink the other half because housing prices have only fallen halfway so far.

Yes, But... : We all know that China's economic growth is responsible for much of the global increase in CO2 emissions. We decline to admit that China is warming the planet on our behalf, so we don't have to have those smelly factories and power plants around here.

Done Deal: Glaciers in Spain's Pyrenees have lost 90% of their ice in the last 100 years. Continuing global warming insures that they will completely disappear in a few decades. Most of Europe's glaciers are shrinking and overall have lost a quarter of their mass in less than 10 years.

Happy Days: According to Harvard economist Niall Ferguson, the collapse is far from being nearly over; it has just begun. Those who predict a recovery in the near term are simply lying to boost public confidence. Or to prevent violent political upheaval, which seems inevitable. Nassim Taleb agrees that the crisis will be more difficult to end than was the Great Depression.

The Neighbors: Mexico is losing its struggle to prevent large sections of the country - especially areas along the US border - from falling completely into the hands of the drug lords. The unequal struggle is being lost, and the violence is seeping into the US.

Check's In The Mail: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says there is no plan to nationalize banks. There's no plan to rescue them, either.

Changing Time: We tend to bad mouth "the big banks," but the big banks are just a front for their majority shareholders and debt-holders who are pulling for a rescue, not a take-over. But there are also major players who have bet on the failure of AIG, BofA and Citi - and they have a lot to gain in the failure of the system. I suspect that if those who are betting on failure are going lose even if they win - for when it all falls down, it will all fall down.

Bargain Bin: Citi claims to have 1.2 trillion in assets but has a street value of 12 billion. Fools, you can buy a $100 in assets for a dollar - don't just stand there!

Porn O'Graph: The declining decline, Shiller-Case version.