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A Year of Heavy Losses

nytimes.com — A year ago, financial companies were flying high. But as problems in the mortgage and credit markets have grown, the stocks of many Wall Street firms have been hard hit. Some of the biggest companies have been bought out, taken over by the government or gone bankrupt.

Who dugg this? Made popular Sep 17, 2008

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  • MachBoy, on 09/17/2008, -3/+36like map of the market - http://www.smartmoney.com/map-of-the-market/
  • hitmikey, on 09/17/2008, -0/+30That looks like a strong economy.
  • Zedizdead, on 09/17/2008, -6/+35So did McCain.

    If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.
    – John McCain, May 25, 2006
  • ryborg, on 09/17/2008, -0/+25The Terrorists have won :)
  • digitalunit, on 09/17/2008, -2/+244 More Years!
  • Jkind, on 09/17/2008, -3/+22Three years ago at Thanksgiving, a few of my older relatives & I called it. If you didn't notice the direction the economy was going, you haven't been paying attention or were in denial. Do you really need a politician to tell you?
  • pstroll, on 09/17/2008, -1/+20Americans are so tapped they're now spamming Nigeria with money deposit scams
  • MCA2142, on 09/17/2008, -1/+17Great chance for the FED(private corporation) to buy up other companies.

    As people suffer, the 6 co-owning banks of the FED which prints our money(NOT our government) gets richer.

    They own your money, and now they own your mortgages.
  • RMoore08, on 09/17/2008, -1/+15Til the next Summer Olympics!
  • drmangrum, on 09/17/2008, -0/+14That's what you get with strong fundamentals.
  • squeee, on 09/17/2008, -0/+14I sure am glad out fundamentals are strong otherwise we'd really be screwed.
  • OWNAGETIME, on 09/17/2008, -9/+22Ron Paul called it... although I bet not even he imagined the magnitude of the situation.
  • freezerburn666, on 09/17/2008, -0/+13that was their intended plan, right? to hit the usa financially... i guess occupying other countries wasn't the right move.
  • kevinmotel, on 09/17/2008, -1/+14I'm gonna give you a digg up for objectivity, zed.
  • inactive, on 09/17/2008, -0/+9All of this "money" is just made up out of nothing. There's no assets to back it up, just a bunch of bad credit.
  • slug007, on 09/17/2008, -0/+9WaMu is next!
  • chevyorange, on 09/17/2008, -3/+12Yeah because the last 8 years of fascism as worked out soooooo well. Why don't you quit spewing *****.
  • Zedizdead, on 09/17/2008, -1/+9It won't last. I'm just saying that Ron Paul wasn't the only one who saw it coming and I found it interesting that McCain specifically mentioned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back in 2006.
  • holzp, on 09/17/2008, -1/+9Fannie Mae : 0
    Freddie Mac : 0
    AIG: 0
    USA: - 5 trillion

    Being screwed for the next five generations piceless.
  • killerless, on 09/17/2008, -0/+8By bailing out AIG (loading AIG 80 billion in exchange for 80% worth of Warrants in the company) means that we have effectively destroyed the people who own the stock. The people running the company have done quite a bit towards this end, but the nail in the coffin was the fact that the govt drove the shares outstanding through the roof, diluting shareholder value, and killing their investments.

    Not to mention that this loan was made at an 11% interest rate. I've got credit card rates that are better than that.
  • heystoopid, on 09/17/2008, -0/+8So we have country with a combined national debt of approximately sixty two trillion and a market capital of a mere fifteen trillion !

    Man that is one big banana republic South American Style !
  • holzp, on 09/17/2008, -3/+10I wouldn't mind the socialism part if I actually got stuff from it. So far I still pay out the ass for health care, for my future retirement, for my kids college, for a war halfway across the world, and for large companies that make poor and greedy decisions.

    Uncle Sam? You wanna take my money? Can you at least give me something useful back for it? and no...roads, high school and the police are all paid for by my property taxes.
  • shredswithpiks, on 09/17/2008, -0/+6not clicking a link that has no discernible words or meaningful acronyms in the URL (even if it did buried for blogspam)
  • emland, on 09/17/2008, -0/+6but your cash is losing value by the minute
  • whoaohh, on 09/17/2008, -0/+6John McCain used to be a different person.
  • TotalDouche, on 09/17/2008, -0/+5"Do you know your 2008 credit score? Find out instantly!"
  • SpectreFire, on 09/17/2008, -0/+5Yay!
  • BESTenemy, on 09/17/2008, -0/+5To quote my favorite market advisor, Mike Shedlock:

    "Let's have the government run insurance companies, auto companies, banks, mortgage companies, home builders, brokerages, gas stations, and for good measure let's throw in pizza parlors."

    Welcome to the Socialist United States where property rights no longer matter and the FED is allowed to purchase anything it wants with the money it prints. AIG got confiscated from its shareholders. Freddie and Fannie were quazi-government, so their rescue was border-line illegal. The purchase of AIG, that wasn't even a bank, is completely illegal.
  • BadseedJR, on 09/17/2008, -0/+4All they did was set the precedent. Now if you make bad loans and go bankrupt, who cares? Big Brother will always be there for you.
  • onoitzphil, on 09/17/2008, -0/+3Anybody else scared when they read " Taken over by the government...." and "government backed deal" ?
  • eatsushi, on 09/17/2008, -0/+3I am seriously scared now not for the next year, but what next month will bring us...
  • rowlodge, on 09/17/2008, -0/+3in ancient times the whole economy just gave back everything that was under a loan after 50 years,completely cleaning the slate off their boards, this was just to keep the world from disintegrating.
  • paulieslim, on 09/17/2008, -0/+3I am reverting back to my piggy-bank...it's much safer
  • pedepy, on 09/17/2008, -1/+4the banks are just reaping what they're due: years of greedy ass reckless lending coulndt have ended any other way.

    Too bad their demise will bring the whole market down with them though..
  • sdwilly, on 09/17/2008, -0/+3Chase has been in talks to buy WaMu since last year, this will probably be the catalyst they need to close the deal.
  • drmangrum, on 09/17/2008, -0/+3You would be better off buying things like gold and silver...things little fluctuation in price.
  • DonnyW, on 09/17/2008, -4/+7I knew I should have invested my money in a large collection of tin cans scattered throughout my yard.
  • novask, on 09/17/2008, -0/+3I'm not sure how it works, but I think they sell the debt to someone else. You will still have to pay.
  • MrRoboto, on 09/17/2008, -0/+2Good thing the economy is on good shape right George.
  • whoaohh, on 09/17/2008, -0/+2As bad as the financial sector is, the best of the breed won't go under unless we're looking at a total economic collapse. Even though it sounds crazy, GS and MS might actually pick up some market share due to the total collapse of Lehman and AIG.
  • killerless, on 09/18/2008, -0/+2Turns out banks aren't free market. They're GSE's all along...
  • BESTenemy, on 09/17/2008, -0/+2 For starters, the FED has violated its own Federal Reserve Act section 23A that sets the limits on how much money can be injected at any single time.

    Second of all - AIG was a shareholder operated company. The so-called "rescue" initiative did not get put to a vote. The shareholders that were expecting an announcement got handed the decision: "Your company now belongs to somebody else. Your stock is now worthless."

    AIG is a private insurance company. The FED along with the Treasury are using public funds (taxpayer money along with printed cash) to buy a private organization. They are confiscating property from investors that did not agree to the move, paid by taxpayers that never got to share any of the profits of the company but will now have to foot the bill.

    Imagine if I had to use your money, without your consent, to buy and fix somebody else's car, with neither you, nor the owner of the car being aware of the deal until it was done. That is what government and the Fed are doing.

    The purchase of AIG is completely illegal. Conservatorship is the new word for confiscation.

    Haven't you heard the phrase: "Privatizing the gains while socializing the losses?" That describes US today. It is completely illegal.
  • TsarDusan, on 09/17/2008, -0/+2as someone who is not a resident of the united states, would you mind educating me why it's illegal (genuine curiosity)
  • jonshipman, on 09/17/2008, -1/+3HoooRAY US Bancorp!
  • dajuggernaut, on 09/17/2008, -0/+2time to start stashing some cash under the mattress
  • hydroplane, on 09/18/2008, -0/+2Government housing for all! Kool-aid and crack for all!
  • eigenweasel, on 09/17/2008, -0/+2WaMu has already happened - Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are next, judging by the spread on their Credit Default Swaps.
  • inactive, on 09/18/2008, -0/+1Coal is doing well in the energy sector. Very interesting link, thank you!
  • Chipsandsnacks, on 09/18/2008, -0/+1The Wells is my homeboy
  • chrisinsocalif, on 09/17/2008, -1/+2Anyone with half a brain knew it would happen eventually.
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