Some members of Congress made risky bets with their own money that U.S. stocks or bonds would fall during the financial crisis, a Wall Street Journal analysis of congressional disclosures shows.
Senators have criticized Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS - News) for profiting from the housing collapse. And Congress is considering legislation to curb Wall Street risk-taking, including the use of financial instruments known as derivatives and of leverage, or methods that amplify returns.
According to The Journal's analysis of congressional disclosures, investment accounts of 13 members of Congress or their spouses show bearish bets made in 2008 via exchange-traded funds—portfolios that trade like stocks and mirror an index. These funds were leveraged; they used derivatives and other techniques to magnify the daily moves of the index they track.
Wow! I am shocked!
ReplyDeletePoliticians with little or no integrity?!!
Unbelievable!
Ron Paul bet on financial collapse and bought gold. In fact, he's still buying gold and praying for collapse. Off with their heads!!!
ReplyDeletewith the people in charge of the white house everyone is buying gold to preserve wealth. only dummies would not. at least they are not betting on collapse of the economy by buying gold. i repeat buy gold is to preserve wealth. gold is not for investment or betting to get huge return.
ReplyDeletewhat does buying GOLD have to do with shorting a stock or the stockmarket? Dummy..
ReplyDeleteIf everyone bought gold then there wouldn't be enough gold to go around. It's a scam. Another Ponzi scheme. Try cashing it in for the real deal and you will get a wheel barrel full of polluted air. The Anunnaki have taken all the gold and they're not in the business of giving it back.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody on this site ever invest money ?
ReplyDeleteLike it or not people; that's what fuels your car; fills your belly and puts a roof over your head.
try doing the above with gold - I assure you; the blank stares you get while trying to pay for a fill up with an American eagle will be noteworthy.
I am NOT saying Precious Metals don't have a place for the investor; they do - so do ALOT of other investment vehicles.
Which brings me to my point. Goldman Sachs to the best of my knowledge did nothing wrong. It's what they do ! You know going in what the risks are ! Higher the risk - yada yada yada; you've heard it all before.
Gold looks great right now - if you had bought it at the highs of the late 90's however; you would have sat on it for 10 years watching it do nothing.
Our currency is paper I know; but you also have to acknowledge that it's what EVERY ONE of our domestic markets are priced in - and will be until it's demise and then guess what? Another Paper will take it's place. The mentality against these forces leave people angry at the wrong things ( and broke which just compounds the problem)
I know I said it probably ass backwards; I'm not a writer by any stretch - but average folks need to realize just how these elite get so damn rich - it ain't by buying gold pilgrim
6:40 you couldn't be more wrong and uneducated. If you bought in the 90's, with inflation, your GOLD would be worth more than your cash today in buying power, if converted into useless fiat money. The CHINESE, INDIA and RUSSIA have converted their US money into GOLD. WHY? Because the dollar will eventually COLLAPSE, be worth NOTHING. GOLD holds its value unlike fiat money that erodes daily. Learn before you post stupid comments. You don't have to be a writer just educated in INFLATION and how it works with fiat money. Take the chris martenson crash course and learn it!
ReplyDeleteEuro is toast and Federal Reserve Notes are benefiting from the ashes in Europe. Once the pale horse arrives on our shores, and it will, the poster at 640 will eat his words. Hopefully JP Morgan naked shorts the gold price down to 1100. If I dont buy the gold China will and Im not going to let China and the Fed steal my future.
ReplyDelete6:47
ReplyDeleteI love you gold bugs - you must be what ? Let me guess????????????????????????????????????????
Selling ???????????????????????????????????
Yeah; that's what I thought.
6:40 has the timeline a little off; but the point is accurate & your a schill.
Gold hit damn near 850 bucks an ounce in 1982 & everybody I know jumped all over it.
For the next 20 YEARS !
20 YEARS !
You lost you ASS in that investment !
Don't talk to me about inflation there buckwheat - I'm talking about buying at 850, then 800, then 750, then 700, then 650, then 600, then 550, then 500 & then EVERYBODY SOLD in 2002 & 2003 for the GOING SPOT PRICE OF $405/OZ.
AND LOST THEIR ASSES
Holds it's value !
Yeah - " sometimes "
Your hilarious man
Scared of Gold.
ReplyDeleteMust try to make them think gold is not a good investment. Must keep the price down and have gold nothing but garrish jewelry worn by swarthy men in movies and on tv.
Gold is disgustipating, don't wear it.
It's an ugly yellow metal , a barbarous relic. Gold is so yesterday!
How do you like that sucking sound now America ?
ReplyDeleteI warned you didn't I ? But you elected Clinton and Bush anyway instead of an Independent like me who wanted to save the country....
Enjoy your third world status America...
Sincerely,
- Ross Perot!
gee wait yes my gold has doubled
ReplyDeletethanks
for keeping the price down
Rate of INFLATION owning a dollar since 1982 is 125%. So lets say you bought something for $20 in '82 it would cost $45.10 today. Had you bought GOLD in '82 for $850 it would be worth $1200 in todays dollars...not losing 1 cent in 20 years. What is a better investment?
ReplyDelete7:43
ReplyDeleteYes, that's true; but the point that's being made here is that it was only at that high price for a matter of months
Then it basically collapsed into the $400.00 range for 20 years
Now what do your tricky little charts say ?
Congress is simply a banker-owned entity looking out for the corporate interests, not yours.
ReplyDeleteGood men should not seek office there is no point. Hear me now and believe me later. (Peter Schiff running for Senate makes no sense).
Learn to pass over the troll comments, they add no value to the blog and are pointless.
ReplyDeleteAnd that people is how these Elitests make their money while we're on here in the middle of the night calling each other names.
ReplyDeleteYour a Rothchild - you have 10 or 20 Billion
You see Gold spike to 850/Oz in 1982
You sell everything you had bought the previous 20 years at 400 and under.
You make 50% profit and buy Exxon stock
20 years later --------------- it repeats itself
You sell all the gold you've been accumulating since 1983 at 400/oz - only now it's trading at 1150/oz
Oh yummy !!!
Can anybody here spell
Lamborghini
To: 7:43
ReplyDeleteOh great !
yet ANOTHER timeline !
Your past 15 have really worked out great now;
haven't they ?
NOT !
The Euro is Collapsing right now, the dollar is next after that, how bout them apples?
ReplyDeleteThe Euro is Collapsing right now, the dollar is next after that, how bout them apples?
ReplyDeleteThis game of chess has been playing for decades. The BIS does not want the US$ as the world reserve currency. The 'Sting' is on. Watch and wait, sheople.
lol... i am a skeptic.. but because of this blog, when i watch the market react the way they are i almost feel clairvoiyant.. the truth is there isnt much anyone can do to bail out europe and try to throw money at it but unless the ecnomy kicks it into overdrive and tax revenue increase drastically overnight and can overcome the obstacles maybe we have a chance of climbing out of the hole, but as of right now were doomed.. and every point we lose on the DJI, it one less point the govt will get in tax revenue...
ReplyDeletecon't... and thats no good if the govt gets it but its the best option and the main concept behind a govt that collects taxes is to create unimaginable wealth.. unforunately they forgot about the equallity part.. but hey the govt is buying 40% of americans food... population correction.. maybe. oh that'd be horrifying. we'll see. im moving to a farm with trucks, guns, lake w/ fish. deer garneding.. and horses... horse are key.. EMP resistance. no processed fuel required. and they're not even 2 years old yet.. they got many miles to go.
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON (AP) -- Orders to U.S. factories rose a surprising 1.3 percent in March with widespread gains in many industries.Factory orders were up by the largest amount in more than nine years. The increase offers further evidence that U.S. manufacturers are a consistent source of strength driving the recovery.
ReplyDeleteA separate report Tuesday showed the number of buyers who signed contracts to purchase homes surged more than expected in March.
The strength in other industries was widespread. Orders for primary metals, including iron and steel, increased 4.7 percent while demand for machinery was up 8.6 percent, led by a 28.1 percent surge in construction machinery.
Orders for computers and other electronics products increased 22.7 percent.
Unum Group (UNM) posted first-quarter earnings that narrowly beat expectations as the company backed its previous view for the full year.
ReplyDeleteThe insurance company saw first-quarter profit of $229.8 million or 69 cents a share, up from year-ago earnings of 164.9 million or 50 cents a share. Adjusted earnings rose to 67 cents, up from last year’s 62 cents a share.
Revenue increased 4.6% to $2.56 billion, compared with revenue of $2.45 billion in the first quarter of 2009.
"Our first quarter results mark a continuation of many of the positive operating trends we have experienced over the past several quarters -- solid risk experience, excellent investment results, and a very strong capital position," said Thomas R. Watjen, president and chief executive officer, in a release. "While it is a challenge to grow our premium income in the present economic and employment environment, I am very encouraged by the profitability of our business combined with our solid new business activity and strong persistency levels."
onfidence among manufacturing exporters is at its highest level since comparable records began in 1996.
ReplyDeleteThe Chartered Institute for Purchasing and Supply (Cips) said yesterday that its managers' index of sentiment on export orders in April had risen to 60.71. Any reading of 50 and above signifies expansion, and it is quite a turnaround from the recent low of 38.12, reached in November 2008, in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and a dive in world trade volumes.
The picture of gradual recovery was confirmed in the latest Report on Jobs from by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG. This shows that permanent placements and temporary staff billings continued to rise "at marked rates", with faster increases in permanent salaries and temps' pay.
Construction spending rose in March for the first time in five months. The Commerce Department said Monday that construction activity increased by 0.2 percent in March, the first advance since last October. The small gain took economists by surprise. They had been forecasting a 0.3 percent drop.
ReplyDeleteAnalysts at IHS Global Insight believe things are beginning to improve slowly for residential construction.
Stimulus cash injection only. That will not last. Fake growth, fake profits.
ReplyDeleteOk - hold on a second
ReplyDeleteWhile I take my fake profits and go buy some fake gold
The anti-gold MENTALitiy on here is amazing.
ReplyDeleteWhat a bunch of jealous losers. Keep your fiat
idiots. More PMs for those who know...like
Northwest Life (400 million $) China (billions)
Buffet (millions) and me (Muhahahahaha)
My favorite B&B on 150 acres was bought with a
coin collection during the great depression...
The illuminati and the ignorami...perfect together
Whats wrong with them taking a trade? It could go either way. Some of the trades in question were in non-controlled funds. I agree with most all on this site, and I am no fan of the current situation, but this one isn't a big deal. I sold my house in California Oct 2005 and moved out of state due to what I beleived was coming. It wasn't that difficult to see the bubble.
ReplyDeleteManufacturing exports the highest since 1996? What? FRNs!Tell that to the unemployed dock workers? Long term salaries up? Ya! in washington DC! Construction up .02% ? compared to what? Oregon and Washington construction permits down 70%! check the records at BMDA! What a load of crap!! Please dont post that crap hear, i am only on this blog because i find the truth hear. If i want that crap i would buy a TV ,CNN,ABC,CBS,etc! Well of to paint houses today with bids down at least 50% so much for salary increase HA!
ReplyDelete9:42 wrote:
ReplyDelete(I also did a spell check and fixed your quote)
...the truth is there isn't much anyone can do to bail out Europe and try to throw money at it but unless the economy kicks it into overdrive and tax revenue increase drastically overnight and can overcome the obstacles maybe we have a chance of climbing out of the hole...
There is only one solution.
World War Three. I wonder who's gonna fire the first shot?
I was in the market yesterday and saw bags of frozen shrimp.
ReplyDeleteNot for long.
In a few weeks, shellfish will cost $40.00 a pound.
Oh, and I give it another day or two, but it will be 'proven' that Iran and/or al-CIA-Duh were somehow behind the 'attack'.
ReplyDeleteTime to bomb some more brown people!
USA! USA! USA! Hoo Rah!
Have you noticed that in all of these recent alleged terror attacks, the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber, the Times Square bomber, the explosives always failed to detonate? The suspect was always easily and conveniently apprehended? If these had been REAL terror attacks you can be sure the bombs would have detonated. This charade has been repeated so many times now that it is totally transparent and predictable. Yet, people believe it.
ReplyDelete"Have you noticed that in all of these recent alleged terror attacks, the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber, the Times Square bomber, the explosives always failed to detonate?"
ReplyDeleteYes, it's almost comical. The 'terrorists' in the Middle East are expert bomb builders, but when they try the same thing here they suddenly become bumbling idiots. Wouldn't you think, if 'Al-CIA-Duh' or Iran were really behind these 'attacks',they would take the exra effort to send someone who was properly versed in bomb building, with a secure escape route, or better yet, a suicide bomber??
Sssshh.. President Obama and Congress do not want you to know this because they are all International Globalist.
ReplyDeleteThey are the ones who was paid to push NAFTA and the WTO into law and it has been a dismal failure.
They want American workers to work for $2/day slave labor just like China and that is exactly where we are headed come HELL or HIGH WATER.
Whenever you find yourself in a hole: “STOP DIGGING”.
It seems Harry Dingey and Paul Krugman (an American economist and Nobel Prize Winner) are the only two people in America to understand we have a Trade Problem with China?
Make no mistake about it the International Trade Deficit must be balanced one way or another if America is to SURVIVE as a Nation.
There are only three ways to correct this humongous Trade Imbalance.
1. Increase the American Exports by $450.6 Billion Dollars per year. We been trying to do this since 1993 and this is absolutely impossible.
Or
2. Decrease the American Imports by $450.6 Billion Dollars per year, then manufacture the merchandise in America. Paul Krugman wants to add a 25 percent Tax on all Imports and hopes this will reduce Chinese Imports over time.
Or
3. Pull out of NAFTA and the WTO. Then close the Largest Consumer Market in the World to all Imports. Do not worry about Exports and this will create well over 15.02 million Jobs instantly and probably even more.
I am suggesting we do number three. This can be done by the American President and Congress and will automatically bring the large American Manufactured Goods Trade Deficit into BALANCE almost over night.
But, they would rather keep borrowing and printing money to support the Chinese Economy and hope things get better. They are pushing on a string because you cannot have a meaningful recovery without good high paying manufacturing and construction jobs.
There is NO substitute for good High Paying Jobs.
The real question is do we want to create Good High Paying Jobs in America again or continue letting the International Companies make large Profits off of cheap Chinese Slave Labor?
Toyota of Japan would be forced to totally manufacture in America, every car sold in America.
Every item sold in every store in America would be required to be manufactured right here in America.
I can remember this large sign posted in Wal-Mart: “EVERYTHING SOLD IN THIS STORE WAS MADE IN AMERICA”.
Sam Walton said: “Everything sold in all Wal-Mart stores will be made in America”.
I CAN CREATE 15 MILLION JOBS ALMOST OVER NIGHT right here in America !!!
Here is my Job creation Computations:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Total USA Imports in 2006:
----------------------------------
$ 2,211.7 billion ----- Total Imports.
$ - 309.4 billion ----- (Money spent on Imported Crude Oil)
--------------------------------------------------
$ 1,902.3 billion / 30 billion=63.41 million jobs lost from Imports.
==================================================
Total USA Exports in 2006:
----------------------------------
$ 1,451.7 Billion / 30 billion=48.39 million jobs America Created from Exports.
If USA Pulls out of NAFTA and WTO right now:
USA would absolutely gain a total of 63.41 million Jobs by Manufacturing all IMPORTS right here in the USA.
So, 63.41 minus 48.39 = 15.02 million NET JOBS GAIN. But, a lot of Exports must be purchased in the USA. That would mean an even larger number of jobs created in America than I have estimated.
Also, I should note that I have subtracted out the $309.4 billion dollars that America spent on Import Crude Oil in 2006. This is another problem that must be solved later.
My calculation means an ABSOLUTE 15.02 million Jobs gained if the rest of the world did not buy even one penny of USA EXPORTS.
SO MOTE IT BE. . . . .
Do you truly want to help straighten out the United States Government now? Then, copy and post this article everyplace on the Internet you can post.
BY: Harry Dingey
Have a good day my friends.