I do believe it was predicted here several weeks ago.

(John? Ed? Somebody fess up and I'll go easy on ya)

I saw the first story on the news about Alt-A mortgages just yesterday.


--

Richard

(remove the X to email)

cavelamb himself wrote:
I do believe it was predicted here several weeks ago.

(John? Ed? Somebody fess up and I'll go easy on ya)

What did you see Richard?



--

John R. Carroll
www.machiningsolution.com

"cavelamb himself" wrote in message
m...

I do believe it was predicted here several weeks ago.

(John? Ed? Somebody fess up and I'll go easy on ya)

I saw the first story on the news about Alt-A mortgages just yesterday.


--

Richard

(remove the X to email)

It wasn't me; I know very little about it. I saw an article in the NYT about
it a few days ago, but it didn't look particularly spooky:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/bu...yzoGukSHolKMMA

--
Ed Huntress

John R. Carroll wrote:
cavelamb himself wrote:

I do believe it was predicted here several weeks ago.

(John? Ed? Somebody fess up and I'll go easy on ya)


What did you see Richard?


Whoa! Searching back for the link I saw, it looks like this has
been reported quite a bit.

I don't have commercial TV in the house, so I dunno if it has been
reported on the boob toob.

But here are a few links to CBS stories...


The subprime mortgage mess has dealt a blow to families across the
nation, but now a new mortgage disaster is percolating that's striking
those with good credit and good jobs -- people who took out mortgages
known as "Alternative A" loans.


http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Econo...5541259&page=1

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=5548578&page=1

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Econo...ory?id=5539884

--

Richard

(remove the X to email)

Ed Huntress wrote:

"cavelamb himself" wrote in message
m...

I do believe it was predicted here several weeks ago.

(John? Ed? Somebody fess up and I'll go easy on ya)

I saw the first story on the news about Alt-A mortgages just yesterday.


--

Richard

(remove the X to email)


It wasn't me; I know very little about it. I saw an article in the NYT about
it a few days ago, but it didn't look particularly spooky:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/bu...yzoGukSHolKMMA

--
Ed Huntress



It was John, wasn't it.

He'e like that some times...



--

Richard

(remove the X to email)

Ed Huntress wrote:
"cavelamb himself" wrote in message
m...

I do believe it was predicted here several weeks ago.

(John? Ed? Somebody fess up and I'll go easy on ya)

I saw the first story on the news about Alt-A mortgages just
yesterday.


--

Richard

(remove the X to email)

It wasn't me; I know very little about it. I saw an article in the
NYT about it a few days ago, but it didn't look particularly spooky:


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/bu...yzoGukSHolKMMA


"Fannie and Freddie may yet muddle through without an explicit bailout.
Their near-death experience seems to have wised them up. For instance, they
are now putting a greater effort into modifying the mortgages of
hard-pressed borrowers."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/op...hp&oref=slogin

This is the important observation of the weekend.
"Greater effort" is it? ROTFLMFAO
Lenders are working furiously to determine exactly which mortgages are
actuarially or statistically most likely to fail so they can discount them
the ten percent the law requires and refi them with Federal mortgage
insurance. This is the actual result of the latest act of our Congress.

Banks, IB's, S&L's as well as Freddie and Fannie, are unloading their
certain losses on the American Taxpayer.
The only beneficiary are the shareholders of these lenders. The folks with
the mortgages hadn't a prayer - under ANY circumstances - of paying their
mortgages and avoiding eventual forclosure. The benefit of what's going on
today inures completely to the benefit of the creditors involved and at the
expense of the American public.

From the Article:

"But in his desperation to avoid a bailout on his watch, Mr. Bush has
implied a willingness to do just that. At a recent news conference, he
indicated that as long as shareholders owned Fannie and Freddie, the
government's new authority could not be deemed a "bailout." "

Are you startin' to get it now? Sounds a little like we aren't really in a
recession a this point doesn't it.

You might remember a brief "plan" that I posted a while back that began with
the Feds just whacking Fannie and Freddie and sorting them out. I thought it
would be best to wipe the shareholders equity completely out as the only
fair and reasonable course and once everything had stabilized offer equity
in the new business to the public over time. That's how our system works or
it did anyway.

What is being done now is part of the reasoning behind my position. I also
think we will end up doing it anyway and it would be best to start the
medicinal dose of financial homicide sooner rather than later.

Another thing to consider is that this BS is keeping capital out of the
markets even though it's intended to have the opposite effect. Wishful
thinking that. Only an idiot would rush into anything not given the same
competitive advantage being extended by the Fed to mortgage lenders of
whatever stripe. GM, Ford and Chrysler won't ge a dime in fresh equity
before they too enjoy a federal loan gaurantee of some sort.

A federal gaurantee of some sort could become a sort of means test or due
diligence for investors and the effect of that would be catastrophic.


--

John R. Carroll
www.machiningsolution.com

on a different economic subject, what's with this???

http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:59:54 -0500, cavelamb himself
wrote:

on a different economic subject, what's with this???

http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif
==========
First off -- nobody knows for sure. [After the fact
rationalizations don't count.]

Second --
There has always been a flight to gold and other hard assets when
things get uncertain. This *MIGHT* have been an affect of the
Russian invasion of Georgia, which by Monday looked like it was
going to contained, it might have been something local to HK in a
thinly traded market, or even no reason at all.

What is clear is that all markets, stocks, bonds, commodities,
real estate, precious metals, etc. have become very volatile,
(which generally indicates problems). This appears to be greatly
exacerbated and amplified by significant capital flows between
these segments, which is unusual. The U.S. SEC/CFTC clamped down
on market speculation in several areas, and this may have forced
the "sporting players" into other arenas [such as precious
metals].

Another factor is the proliferation of derivative contracts which
links financial sectors [e.g. precious metals and foreign
exchange] in novel and unanticipated ways.

Good luck with your investments/savings [and don't take any
wooden nickles]

John and Ed -- what's your take on this?


Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).

"F. George McDuffee" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:59:54 -0500, cavelamb himself
wrote:

on a different economic subject, what's with this???

http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif
==========
First off -- nobody knows for sure. [After the fact
rationalizations don't count.]

Second --
There has always been a flight to gold and other hard assets when
things get uncertain. This *MIGHT* have been an affect of the
Russian invasion of Georgia, which by Monday looked like it was
going to contained, it might have been something local to HK in a
thinly traded market, or even no reason at all.

What is clear is that all markets, stocks, bonds, commodities,
real estate, precious metals, etc. have become very volatile,
(which generally indicates problems). This appears to be greatly
exacerbated and amplified by significant capital flows between
these segments, which is unusual. The U.S. SEC/CFTC clamped down
on market speculation in several areas, and this may have forced
the "sporting players" into other arenas [such as precious
metals].

Another factor is the proliferation of derivative contracts which
links financial sectors [e.g. precious metals and foreign
exchange] in novel and unanticipated ways.

Good luck with your investments/savings [and don't take any
wooden nickles]

John and Ed -- what's your take on this?

My take is that gold is a mostly useless metal that's priced according to
ancient superstition and mutual ignorance. It's the perfect hedge bet for
people who are scared and who don't know what the hell else to do, and it
provides plenty of financial game-playing for the kinds of people who prey
upon them.

Fortunately for the gold bugs, there are plenty of these people around the
world. There's always a buyer and a seller of gold somewhere. So the gold
game is a pure psychological play, like liar's poker. It's attractive to
plenty of people who like to play gambling games as well as to the people
who are scared.

If you want to get into commodities with a twist -- the twist being that
there's nothing there but material suited for fishing sinkers and sailboat
keels -- then it looks like great entertainment. And you don't have to worry
about all your pork bellies going rancid if things don't work out.

Now, as for why the price is finally taking a dive: since gold is purely a
psychological play, it's something psychological. My guess is that people
realized they were overpricing currency risk and the likelihood of general
economic collapse, finally realizing that the sky is not really falling
after all.

What *I* want to know about gold is why the TV commercials for the gold
brokers feature middle-aged women with British accents. Three-hundred-pound
mutant linebackers wearing layers of gold chains would be more appropriate.

--
Ed Huntress

cavelamb himself wrote:
on a different economic subject, what's with this???

http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif

Probably an Elvis siting.

--

John R. Carroll
www.machiningsolution.com

"John R. Carroll" wrote in message
...
cavelamb himself wrote:
on a different economic subject, what's with this???

http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif

Probably an Elvis siting.

--

John R. Carroll
www.machiningsolution.com

Here's what Forbes says about it:

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited...fx5312496.html

--
Ed Huntress

Ed Huntress wrote:
"John R. Carroll" wrote in
message ...
cavelamb himself wrote:
on a different economic subject, what's with this???

http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif

Probably an Elvis siting.

Here's what Forbes says about it:

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited...fx5312496.html

I think this

"The dollar hit a six-month high against a basket of major currencies on
Tuesday as mounting concern that the global economy is headed for a sharper
slowdown spurred more selling of the euro and higher-yielding currencies. "

is probably close to the mark. The USD is probably a good value given it's
current price and the money has to come from somewhere.

An Elvis citing, being equally likely, has the benefit of being a smart
assed response, something that I find appealing G

--

John R. Carroll
www.machiningsolution.com

"John R. Carroll" wrote in message
...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"John R. Carroll" wrote in
message ...
cavelamb himself wrote:
on a different economic subject, what's with this???

http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif

Probably an Elvis siting.

Here's what Forbes says about it:

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited...fx5312496.html

I think this

"The dollar hit a six-month high against a basket of major currencies on
Tuesday as mounting concern that the global economy is headed for a
sharper
slowdown spurred more selling of the euro and higher-yielding currencies.
"

is probably close to the mark. The USD is probably a good value given it's
current price and the money has to come from somewhere.

An Elvis citing, being equally likely, has the benefit of being a smart
assed response, something that I find appealing G

Always more fun. g Gold provides endless opportunities for it, too. I'm
waiting for us to go back to wampum.

--
Ed Huntress

Ed Huntress wrote:
"John R. Carroll" wrote in
message ...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"John R. Carroll" wrote in
message ...
cavelamb himself wrote:
on a different economic subject, what's with this???

http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif

Probably an Elvis siting.

Here's what Forbes says about it:


http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited...fx5312496.html

I think this

"The dollar hit a six-month high against a basket of major
currencies on Tuesday as mounting concern that the global economy is
headed for a sharper
slowdown spurred more selling of the euro and higher-yielding
currencies. "

is probably close to the mark. The USD is probably a good value
given it's current price and the money has to come from somewhere.

An Elvis citing, being equally likely, has the benefit of being a
smart assed response, something that I find appealing G

Always more fun. g Gold provides endless opportunities for it, too.
I'm waiting for us to go back to wampum.

Let me know and I'll get you in on the ground floor Ed.
You and Elvis.
We'll be incorporated In Algonac.


--

John R. Carroll
www.machiningsolution.com

"John R. Carroll" wrote in message
...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"John R. Carroll" wrote in
message ...
Ed Huntress wrote:
"John R. Carroll" wrote in
message ...
cavelamb himself wrote:
on a different economic subject, what's with this???

http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif

Probably an Elvis siting.

Here's what Forbes says about it:


http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited...fx5312496.html

I think this

"The dollar hit a six-month high against a basket of major
currencies on Tuesday as mounting concern that the global economy is
headed for a sharper
slowdown spurred more selling of the euro and higher-yielding
currencies. "

is probably close to the mark. The USD is probably a good value
given it's current price and the money has to come from somewhere.

An Elvis citing, being equally likely, has the benefit of being a
smart assed response, something that I find appealing G

Always more fun. g Gold provides endless opportunities for it, too.
I'm waiting for us to go back to wampum.

Let me know and I'll get you in on the ground floor Ed.
You and Elvis.
We'll be incorporated In Algonac.

Well, I already have all these clam shells, left over when I buy or dig
clams for bait...

I learned recently that the university my son attends is only 30 miles or so
from the part of Virginia where they do some panning and sluicing of gold. I
suggested that we make a sluice box for him before he goes back next month,
so he can do something constructive on weekends to pay his own way. d8-)

--
Ed Huntress

On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:11:30 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:
snip
My take is that gold is a mostly useless metal that's priced according to
ancient superstition and mutual ignorance. It's the perfect hedge bet for
people who are scared and who don't know what the hell else to do, and it
provides plenty of financial game-playing for the kinds of people who prey
upon them.
snip
=========
Some more info:

===========
Gold demand outlook dims

By Javier Blas, Commodities Correspondent

Published: August 13 2008 12:00 | Last updated: August 13 2008
12:00

Gold demand in the second quarter of the year plunged 19 per
cent, hit by high and volatile prices, the industry-backed World
Gold Council said on Wednesday, darkening the outlook for
precious metals.

The drop in consumption between April and June extended the fall
in first half of the year to 18 per cent compared with the same
period of 2007.

The fall in demand comes as gold prices have fallen back under
pressure from a strengthening US dollar. After peaking at a
record high of $1,030.80 an ounce in March, bullion hit $801.90
an ounce this week, its lowest since last December.
snip
======
for complete article click on
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1a95da72-6...0779fd18c.html


Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).