2009, Year of the Ponzi Scheme

It's official. Where it's Maddoff or Stanford or Cosmo or Theodule, The Pyramid Scheme is alive and well, ripping off individuals, banks, families, even whole nations. While many have lost a great deal of money to deceptive speculative practices, nothing speaks true fraud like the Ponzi scheme. There's every indication that sly old Bernie stopped investing peoples money years ago(13 years ago from all accounts) and that current rookie of the year Allen Stanford used his loot to buy a title, newscasters and a Stadium! Deadcorp once again acknowledges that all time money making scam, making billionaires out of crooks and helping to damage financial institutions beyond repair.


http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/mini-madoffs-pile-up/trends/

Salute to Brooksley E. Born

Brooksley E. Born


1998 Chairwoman of the CommodityFuture Trading Commission (CFTC) who sought to regulate the Derivatives market and meet with resistance from Rick Rubin, Alan Greenspan and Arthur Levitt. She is classy enough to not say "I told you so."

It's Official: Bankers are Thieves

Today finds me unable to suppress anger and stay dispassionate and detactched. Reading an article from the New York times, my anger was roused when I read an article that bankers who receives TARP monies meant to jump start our economy are instead using them to pay off debts, offer dividends to shareholder, perform mergers and all the same rapacious conduct that got us into our current economic horrorshow. Here we are dealing with a crisis of global proportions and much little like they have in the past decade, bankers have turn this into some magic payday .

Bailout Is a Windfall to Banks, if Not to Borrowers

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/business/18bank.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

I mean( inserting rant now) business are collapsing, millions don't have health care, people are losing homes(and everything else), can't send their children to school, buy a cars or start a new business, activities necessary to health of our economy. And against the background of looming economic collapse, a bunch of greedy bankers in an effort to keep the systems going were given OUR TAXPAYER MONEY to help the provide credit and loans. Instead, they are HOARDING money and enriching themselves once again at OUR EXPENSE. Many of these bloated, self interested, self serving banks received these monies with the spirit of helping solve the problem of investor confidence that afflicts us all, but as usual, these ethically challenged, greedy people are busy stripping the copper pipes and fixtures out out of the metaphorical burning house. Henry M Paulson Jr and Bernard Bernanke should be locked in one of the empty vaults they plundered to ensure banks, who contributed in large part to this financial disaster, could go on yet another buying spree of the very institutions they've helped to destroy

To quote the Time article

"At the Palm Beach Ritz-Carlton last November, John C. Hope III, the chairman of Whitney National Bank in New Orleans, stood before a ballroom full of Wall Street analysts and explained how his bank intended to use its $300 million in federal bailout money."


“Make more loans?” Mr. Hope said. “We’re not going to change our business model or our credit policies to accommodate the needs of the public sector as they see it to have us make more loans.”

i.e were not going to stop pillaging and looting because the Treasury gave us a blank check.

It brings to mind the toad and scorpion analogy!

If these people are not going to use the money the way that The TAXPAYER, whom lent intended it to be used, IT SHOULD BE PAID BACK IMMEDIATELY, WITH INTEREST!

DESPITE EIGHT SEPARATE PROBES OF MADOFF, SEC NEVER SAW SCANDAL

This from today's Think Progress


http://pr.thinkprogress.org/



"ETHICS -- DESPITE EIGHT SEPARATE PROBES OF MADOFF, SEC NEVER SAW SCANDAL: The Wall Street Journal reported today that although the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators examined Bernard Madoff's investment firm, they "never came close to uncovering the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme" that began in the 1970s. Despite the SEC's failure to uncover the massive fraud, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox insisted in a December interview that he and his agency deserve no blame whatsoever-"

the man kept documents on a seperate floor UNDER LOCK AND KEY!! His accountants, Friehling & Horowitz, are tiny storefront no bigger a Taco Bell!

As reported by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

"One of the principals, 80-year-old Jerome Horowitz, actually left the firm in 1997, state records show. He now lives in Florida and may be Friehling's father-in-law."

Wonder if the old man lives in Palm Beach

From the Progress Report

ECONOMY -- CHENEY: FINANCIAL CRISIS 'DEVELOPED' ONLY 'OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS': On CBS' Face The Nation yesterday, host Bob Schieffer asked Vice President Cheney whether Americans were "better off now than we were years ago." "I think we've done some very good things in the course of the last eight years," replied Cheney. After listing off policies that he claimed were accomplishments, such as No Child Left Behind, Cheney acknowledged that the Bush administration was leaving incoming Obama administration officials "with their hands full." But he was unwilling to admit any real culpability for the challenges that President-elect Obama will face, saying only that they are a "new set of problems." Cheney even claimed that the turmoil in the financial sector "developed" only "over the last six months." Cheney is following in the footsteps of right-wingers like Rush Limbaugh, who also claim that the country's economic problems only began recently under Democrats. But the financial sector's problems developed over many years and were pushed forward by the economic policies of the Bush administration. As the Center for American Progress's Tim Westrich has noted, the "root cause of the financial mess is the hands-off approach towards mortgage and finance markets by the Bush administration, and its lack of action when a disaster was imminent." Instead of taking responsibility for the challenges that President-elect Obama will inherit, Cheney simply claimed that "each administration has its challenges."

Thanks Dick! So good to know that much like torture and illegal wire tapping, you'll won't accept responsible for disasters you've unleashed upon the world

deadcorp salutes Charles Ponzi

Whether it's Abraham Kennard, fleecing Baptists ministers and Non-profits of hard won dollars or Bernard L Madoff scamming Wall Street, Banks and Country clubs out of Millions, the Ponzi Scheme is alive and well in America. One wonders if Charlie had any idea that con that bears his name would still be raking in untold billions of dollars and wreaking untold havoc upon hapless individuals and greedy speculators. Now, by comparison, people like Bernie Madoff make Ponzi look like an amateur, the fact we still label pyramid schemes by one of it's most colorful perpetrators says something about our need to put a face to things. Charles Ponzi, we salute you(just don't manage our investments).

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

This from the New York Time Article, a Quote from David Jolly

Worldwide, a Bad Year Only Got Worse

David Jolly

Published Jan 1 2009

"But that loss would prove trivial compared with what happened afterward. The bad news never seemed to let up: Bear Stearns in the spring, then after a bit of a summer lull, the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in mid-September, the takeover of Merrill Lynch, the bailout of American International Group, the collapse of Bernard L. Madoff’s business, the near-bankruptcy of General Motors. The names say it all for one of the most memorable years in financial history."

The Steel industry is asking for $1 Trillion dollars over the next two years. Only a trillion, hardly anything. CNN reports the purchase of piggy banks are up! Save those pennies, Kids, it's gonna be a rough ride!

Brilliant: Credit Suisse To Pay Top Execs With Illiquid Mortgage Securities

Or in the" you killed it, you cook it" category

From Joe Weisenthal, Huffington Post

http://clusterstock.alleyinsider.com/2008/12/brilliant-credit-suisse-to-pay-top-execs-with-illiquid-mortgage-securities

"We're shocked that nobody has suggested this before, but on its face this looks like a great idea... Credit Suisse announced today that bonuses for its top executives would be made in illiquid, mortgage-backed securities. Seeing as these guys are responsible for getting this stuff on the companies books, it makes sense to shove it back to them. And if the market gets liquid again, and the stuff goes up, that's going to be a huge windfall for execs:

Bloomberg: The bank will use leveraged loans and commercial mortgage- backed debt, some of the securities blamed for generating the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, to fund executive compensation packages, people familiar with the matter said. The new policy applies only to managing directors and directors, the two most senior ranks at the Zurich-based company, according to a memo sent to employees today.

“While the solution we have come up with may not be ideal for everyone, we believe it strikes the appropriate balance among the interests of our employees, shareholders and regulators and helps position us well for 2009,” Chief Executive Officer Brady Dougan and Paul Calello, CEO of the investment bank, said in the memo.-"

Yes! Hey, if you think this is such a great investment, hold on to it till it becomes more valuable!