Evening Edition

All I can say is this is bad news, as far as I am concerned. Purchasing half a billion in mortgage backed securities from those that brought us here is not inspirational, even if you have some smart people managing the process. And if you believe the line about "minimal" risk, then you have to ask yourself, if there were truly minimal risk then why? Why relieve these companies of good securities? Does that help them? Of course not. So we continue this charade. Moreover, we seem to be trying to lower interest rates. Heeelllloooo! Too much lending got us into this mess. I can see helping some people reduce their rates to make current loans affordable and reduce foreclosures, but doing anything to foster more debt at the moment is foolish. When houses get to where they can be affordable at reasonable rates or people's incomes can get to where they can afford them, then we have achieved a bottom. Until then, artificial supports are doomed to failure, in my opinion.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a160y41WSJvk&refer=home

What really gets my goat about the actions to date by the Fed and Paulson are they are seeking to help the worst of the bunch. They are propping up those that foolishly created the mess in the first place. Moral hazard is totally out the window, but that aside, what about all the companies, large and small, suffering from a situation not of their own making. Where is the government support for the small businesses. It is truly lacking and that has my panties in a bunch.

This is one aspect of Obama's plan I like. Instead of throwing money at the culprits, we are spending money on things we need, like infrastructure, alternative energy and education. Perhaps this will not help the ecomony at all, or minimally, but it will have the good side-effect of a getting something done that is positive. If you can say that about the $152 billion we wasted on AIG, I am all ears. If you can say that about the tens of billions we gave away to financial companies under TARP, well the ears are still here. I think not. So doing something that solves the problem - or at least tries to - from the bottom up instead of the top down is a positive in my book.

Michael Panzner and Charles Smith do a nice couple of posts on how helping the big corporations is missing the boat as the backbone of our society is small business, not large, and they are in a whole lot of hurt at the moment. Think of how many can be helped by the money we have wasted on the financial sector alone.

http://www.financialarmageddon.com/2008/12/not-seeing-that-small-is-bigand-hurting.html

Year-End Edition

To end the year right tomorrow, I would like to do a top-ten list or two. I am open to suggestions here, so feel free to comment. Here are a few thoughts:

1. Top 10 list of stupid things done during the 2007 bubble.
2. Top 10 list of stupid things done in response to the bubble bursting.
3. Top 10 predictions of the stupid things the government will do next year in response to the bubble bursting.
4. Top 10 reasons to sell everything and move to some remote island where they cannot even spell recession.
5. Top 10 reasons to not have a top 10 reasons for anything.

Your thoughts/comments are more than welcome. I am looking for thoughts on additional categories. I am also looking for your contributions/votes on what qualifies for the top 10 lists above. Have fun!!