Comments on: Putting Perfume on a Pig!!

By: Ellen D

Ellen D — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:41:33 +0000

Well here’s a first reaction:

So, those of us out here in the hinterlands across the “big pond”, are going to read into this: Now, the government approved lying has now extended to not only cover the ratings agencies, but now the accountants, auditors and CFO’s are allowed to lie now too. You Americans are really a riot, ya know it? Here’s what I believe you ought to do next: allow ALL liabilities on every balance sheet, actually be reflected as an asset! Get it over with! Additionally, you should make ALL retirement benefits, accounts payable, payroll, and ALL expenses look like “sales” on your audits. This way, you can get to the finish line faster. And…..now you expect us to all take you seriously. Your a RIOT America!!!

adios amigos

By: donjo

donjo — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:04:17 +0000

Whoops. Reading the title, I thought this thread was about Meechelle and the fawning articles now starting to appear. Especially from AP.

By: jbjd

jbjd — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:00:03 +0000

He is my Representative, too. In his last – I meant most recent, although I hope this was his last – campaign commercial, Mr. Frank told the voters to vote for him so that he could clean up the mess left by President Bush and the Republicans. I could not stop screaming at the t.v. That commercial confirmed for me that, the only way to stop BF was to get him out of office.

By: jbjd

jbjd — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:56:32 +0000

Well, this theory certainly would explain why we have no idea where all of the money resulting from the bailout bills is going; and why no accountability provisions were written into the bills.

By: WMCB

WMCB — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:40:04 +0000

The problem is that they are already doing so much to hide, obfuscate, and play a shell game with these assets and with the bailout money, that changing the accounting rules at this time comes across as more of the same.

Under different circumstances, perhaps it would be a wise move. But what most of the public is wanting is a thorough “coming clean” of what exactly is bad, and how bad it is.

No one is addressing that. No one is even TRYING to address that. The focus is on being hell-bent to keep all 10 balls in the air, with no one asking whether maybe we’d be better off in the long run with only 6 up there.

What the public is seeing pretty clearly at this point is that NO MAJOR LOSSES for Wall Street’s financial sector are going to be allowed, period. And that those in charge will do anything, no matter how convoluted, no matter how fiscally irresponsible, no matter how unfair to the taxpayer, to make sure that doesn’t happen. They’ve made that crystal clear.

By: Ellen D

Ellen D — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:39:05 +0000

THANK YOU LARRY!
Last week I tried at NQ to get an e-mail drive to stop this, even though I suspected the fix was in.

I am Comptroller of a mult-million dollar midsize company. I am not a professional in finance – I am an artist – but I have spent my whole life running creative companies. I smelled this one the first I heard of it. If there’s one thing I DO know it is the difference between creativity and hard dollars-and-cents.

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Canada was voted the most stable banking system and I am Canadian.

Please keep us let informed of world reaction. The U.S. is not an island.

You are doing a terrific job, Larry!

By: LD

LD — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:28:57 +0000

Please explain how mark to market had any impact on pushing asset values down? I don’t understand.

What the market is indicating on these assets is that ongoing delinquencies, defaults, and foreclosures will be higher than what the analysts and pundits would tell us.

Additionally, the amount of leverage embedded in the system via CDS has created a crisis both in terms of liquidity and also capital.

By: Ellen D

Ellen D — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:27:28 +0000

Barney was one of the ones against regulating Fannie and Freddie. Don’t expect him to go against more deregulation.

By: Lisabona

Lisabona — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:15:47 +0000

My mind stopped. I just can’t think anymore. I’m afraid to do that, afraid of the conclusion I will reach. What is happening? The thirst for money is bigger than the love for the Country? the future of our children, grandchildren. Who are this traitors?

By: jangles

jangles — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:06:31 +0000

Well frankly, I think you can make a very good argument that mark to market helped to make a mess of the financial markets by pushing asset values precipitously and way too fast down. So I think some modification of the rule was helpful. I note that those pushing for this did not get all they wanted. So I think your criticism has some merit but it goes too far.

By: WMCB

WMCB — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:57:40 +0000

Oh, Larry, this is worse than perfume on a pig. It’s a much bigger stench than that.

This whole thing is more like Weekend at Bernies.

By: owawa

owawa — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:20:19 +0000

One of the commenters (Buzzbomb) on Market Watch just offered the following brief analysis that I find very pertinent:

It is so glaringly apparent to anyone above the age of 4 that you cannot allow the bank to value its own assets. No more than you can let a homeowner value their own home. The true value of a home or any other asset is what the market will give you for the asset at that point in time. Just because you don’t like the current market does not mean you can just make up the value of the underlying asset. . . .
Can I go to the bank and pledge my 401k as assets…and use their July 2007 value? I mean assuming the economy improves and I don’t need to access that money … they are really someday going to be worth the value they were in July 2007. But they are not now. And NOW is when I live and their value is what it is.

Accounting tricks are not right.

By: bullmoosegal

bullmoosegal — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:17:26 +0000

A pig by any other name … is still in the trough.

By: Citizen70

Citizen70 — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:12:08 +0000

I wrote to my Representative, Barney Frank, a few weeks ago asking him to be a leader on this issue and stand against fiddling with mark-to-market. Haven’t heard back but after seeing him slap Geithner on the back, I fully expect that Barney was one of the pack pressuring the FASB. All they care about is short-term appearances and good will to get them through the next election. My retirement and college balances may rise with the stock market because of this but I’ll remember that our elected officials did not take the prudent path for the economic and political future of our nation.

By: Northwest rain

Northwest rain — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:03:06 +0000

Chicago is like a third world country —

So the creeps that Obama appoints think this is normal.