They're Selling, Mortimer
If you want to hear what it sounds like when you combine years of regulatory failure on market structure issues with a profoundly irresponsible monetary policy of permanent bubbles and zero interest rates, listen to this tape of trading in the S&P pit during last week's market crash (via ZH). Having been a market maker on one of the Street's largest trading floors, it sounded a little too familiar. And unless there is a substantive change in the status quo, it's just a prelude.
posted by The Cunning Realist at Saturday, May 08, 2010
8 Comments:
Brought back memories. I was Saloman's front month broker in Eurodollar futures at the Chicago Merc in 1987 during the crash. Of course, we headed up in a flight to quality, but after 30 point ranges in fairly active days, we exploded up over 350 points with Citi trying to buy 4000 contracts and nobody was selling. Thankfully, Saloman didn't ask me to stick my neck out and try to trade that mayhem. It was madness, to say the least.
ALOHA!!
HUGE PAPER SELLERS!!!
So much money is made and paid to just shuffle paper in America. From mortgages to Treasuries to currency to stock to taxes. There is this huge industry that does nothing but generate paper while the "real wealth" industry of manufacturing and production dwindle to nothingness.
President Bush, at the urging of one of the largest paper shuffling CEOs in history, Hank Paulson, spent $700BIL USD in a week to prop up the most unproductive sectors in American business. Tell a farmer in Iowa who toils away in the heat of the Summer producing food for America that his kids will have to pay off massive debt and face severe austerity for the rest of their life so that people who live in Greenwich,CT and Washington DC can live like Kings.
The most unproductive people in America make the most income. Whether it is Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPM, or Ben Bernanke or Pres Obama or Tiger Woods or Koby Bryant or Ben Stiller. Someone tell me what it is that Goldman Sachs produces that I can use in my daily life? Can you eat a CDS?
As far as movie starts, rock stars, sports stars and the likes none of need what the service they perform to stay alive. As far as Ben Bernanke and the US FED go they are totally expendable. Then in terms of politicians ... why so many? They don't represent WE THE PEOPLE anyway! We could get by with just 4 member of Congress. One for the North, one for South, one for the East and one for the West! Executive Branch ... nah ... just the Pres, everyone else can go home. Cabinet? No ... All we need is a GOGGLE poll for the people to make decisions in nano seconds.
Clearly if this is the best the "experts" of American politics, banking and business can do then they are obviously not "experts". In fact it appears their only "expertise" is marketing themselves. Marketing their way into the boardrooms and the money spigot at the US TREASURY.
In the end all this paper will be utterly worthless and its only utilitarian value will have been to transfer the "real wealth" of the farmers and doctors and factory workers to the pockets of those who produce "false wealth".
"Attention SafeWay shoppers ... We have a special on CDS in the produce department today, only 2 cents per metric ton!"
The best thing we could do is declare babkruptcy. Indenture the president(talk about being politcally incorrect), congress, and all federal employees until the debt is paid off !!! me? Still buying gold and silver. 1 ounce and two rolls every month. I have two rural properties. One in Ohio and one in Wa. Still working as an engineer in our quickly declining manufacturing industry... I keep forgetting. I have some insider info on how serious China is about attracting manufacturing. Blabbing from my stupid iphone though.
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