So Wednesday morning I slept in late and happened to get lucky enough to ride he same bus in as Black Socks from the gym. I have only ogled him from afar in the gym but I ended up standing right next to him and all I can say is wow. He is seriously hot and cute and has really nice guns.
Lots of crap happened last week and I was lax in writing. I think the thing that struck me most was the SEC finally going after Angelo Mozillo. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse is out; the horse was taking a huge steaming shit on the neighbor's yard! The SEC has proven how scared it is about losing it's mandate. They are going to have a very tough time winning that case I think because even though Mr. Mozillo is a bit of a dirtbag for knowing all along how this would end he is no dummy. I am sure he did everything by the book when he sold his stock and reaped somewhere in the neighborhood of $140 million. If the regulatory authorities had been doing their jobs all along they wouldn't need to go after him now with, what appears to my non-lawyer mind, very flimsy charges.
Last week the Fed dropped a little bomb on the banks. They changed the rules of paying back TARP yet again. The Fed said banks need more equity. What did I miss if the stress tests gave everyone a passing grade? So, no only did the banks have to pass the stress test (they all did), they also have to raise debt not guaranteed by the FDIC (some did) and raise new equity (above and beyond what the stress test told them they needed, which some did). The goal line keeps getting moved which tells me the Fed doesn't want any banks repaying the TARP because the ones that can't will be screwed. I keep thinking that Shitigroup has been real quiet the entire time and thinking about how they are basically nationalized already and if other banks are allowed to repay TARP it will prove Shitigroup is effectively nationalized.
I think it is safe to say that many on the street view Mr. Dimon as the smartest guy in the room. He has done a good job of avoiding many of the pitfalls that others got into during this crisis. On that assumption, what does it say when he has decided his bank will no longer have internal hedge funds and prop trading? Add to that that several very well known hedge funds are closing as well (Pallotta's Raptor, Pequot and one other I did not write down on my notes so can't remember) and I have to question if the markets are really healing and thawing.
Retail sales basically sucked last week. Then we had consumer credit drop approximately $17 billion. That tells me the consumer (who accounts for close to 70% of GDP) is still reining in everything and attempting to repair their own balance sheets. I don't see how the economy can bottom and actually grow with the consumer cutting their credit by that much of a number- which I think was a record drop or the second largest drop.
Seriously, what happens if GM and Chrysler emerge and start making crappy green cars no one wants to buy? There is a lot of hype about how the government is going to do this surgically and quickly. Sorry, but I think to reorganize both GM and Chrysler the old adage "Haste makes waste" is going to prove expensively correct for all of us who are footing the bill with increased taxes. I would also caution this has been tried before- by the Brits in the '70s when they took over British Leyland. If I read the history correctly that did not end well.
I had drinks Thursday night with a girl friend I have known since 1st grade. The husband and I will be attending a party she is having in a few weeks. She and I have been getting together regularly for about a year now.
Friday I drove out to the in-laws house after work. They live right across the bay from Fire Island and right around the corner from the ferry. I stopped by to pick up some slip covers my mother-in-law sewed for us for the beach house. (Three white couches with two kids and two dogs all ;last summer got a bit dirty.) She had dinner waiting for me which was nice. The husband was attending a college reunion function in the city and taking the train out later. As dinner was winding down we somehow ended up discussing politics. I am a firm believer that the government's job, other than national defense and what not, is to only make sure that everyone has the opportunity to succeed. I think a lot of Democrats believe the government's job is to guarantee everyone achieves success. For the record I am not registered with either party. I think they are both corrupt and just the opposite sides of the same coin. I also have voted for more Democrats, starting with Dukkakis, for President that Republicans. I am definitely a libertarian- less government is good for everyone.
The weather this weekend at the beach was really great. Saturday we planned on lounging by the pool the entire day. Our plans changed however when we realized the house across the way was hosting a huge party/benefit. It went form 1 PM to 5PM. The sound checks started at 11:30 AM.
We were at the house by ourselves. We had a great dinner then TK, WP and their new housemate for part of the season came over. We had a nice card game and then right to bed.
Today was just as good weather wise. We spent most of the day on the beach playing Scrabble with TK- the husband won, which seems to be the norm when we do play on the beach.
Mr. Clifford, his bf and some of his friends from DC are using the house this week. They got there when we were cleaning up and getting ready to leave. I think tomorrow is supposed to be nice but eh rest of the week may suck in the weather department.
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