Headline of the day
Bob Morris @ Mar 16th 2008 20:30 - Category: Unfiled Tags: Spitzer;
Archive for March 16th, 2008
JPMorgan reported to be buying Bear
Bob Morris @ Mar 16th 2008 18:27 - Category: Credit crisis ;
Price will be about $20 a share. Bear Stearns closed Friday at 30, down 27. Talk about deep pockets. Will JPMorgan be getting government backing? Even if they do, it’ll stave off, at least for now, a calamitous collapse.
The real problem with Bear is the counterparty risk, the trillions of dollars (yes, trillions) of swaps, trades, agreements that Bear has with other institutions. A non-functioning Bear means all those trades go south for whoever is on the other end, and that could trigger cascading defaults.
Then, I’m guessing, the Fed will have to deal with a wobbling Lehman Brothers.
Antiwar protests this weekend
Bob Morris @ Mar 16th 2008 16:34 - Category: Anti-war ;
Iraq Veterans Against the War conclude their Winter Soldier testimony today in DC. There’s been practically no mainstream media coverage of it, and not even that much from the alt press and blogs. They did video everything, so hopefully edited snips of the best of the testimony will be on YouTube, etc. Still, the lack of media coverage is discouraging.
ANSWER LA had yet another antiwar march and rally in Hollywood yesterday. The police said 2,000 came, ANSWER said 10,000. Even if it was 10,000, that would still definitely be on the low end of size for their antiwar demonstrations.
People are distracted by the economy and the upcoming election. The wars aren’t central news now. Maybe new techniques and strategies are needed. Mass marches generally get ignored now, unless they are monumentally huge. Winter Soldier was a needed step in a new direction, but right now, the wars just aren’t much on people’s minds.
Bear Stearns deal must happen by Monday AM
Bob Morris @ Mar 16th 2008 10:27 - Category: Credit crisis Tags: Bear Stearns, Greg Palast;
Or else Bear does a bk. The contenders are JPMorgan and J.C. Flowers.
The stress level at Bear among executives whose life savings is tied up in the company’s stock was palpable Saturday as the meetings to determine the value of Bear continued.
The speed at which Bear Stearns imploded is quite staggering. Last Monday, Bear probably quite honestly said they were solvent. But the run on them had already started, and that just accelerated it, probably on the theory that if you have to publicly deny it, then it could be true. Billlions were withdrawn in the next few days.
The problem for a buyer is, Bear owns so much toxic garbage that putting a value on it is difficult at best.
And folks, ignore Greg Palast’s unhinged rant that Eliot Spitzer had to be eliminated because he, noble warrior acting alone, was going to unmask the devious plots of Bush and the Fed to bail out Bear. First off, it wasn’t a bailout, rather a 28 day maximum loan to keep Bear afloat. Second, and most important, it wasn’t a devious plot, but was right out there in the open. Of course they are doing it to prop up the banking system. Duh.
Convergence
Bob Morris @ Mar 16th 2008 05:42 - Category: Unfiled ;
TiVo plans to bring YouTube and RSS into the living room
In other words, the TV may soon become a primary means of accessing the Net.
Ireland could generate much of their energy from wind
Bob Morris @ Mar 16th 2008 00:39 - Category: Renewable energy, Wind turbines ;
“There is enough onshore-accessible wind for about 100 percent of our electricity requirements. In terms of our accessible resources, the biggest and most successful so far is wind.”
Ireland gets considerable wind, more than continental Europe. So, wind turbines sited strategically across the country could provide massive amounts of power with gas as backup. Development continues on ways to store power so it can be used when the wind isn’t blowing, such as batteries and hydro (use excess energy to pump water uphill, then create energy in non-peak hours by having it flow back down, powering turbines.)
