Zombie & Co.
By Larry Doyle on April 7, 2009 at 5:15 PM in Bank Bailouts, Bank Failure, FASB, Sense on Cents (Larry Doyle blog)
I am no fan of George Soros. I often believe he does not draw a hard line between his political interests and his business interests. His active support with MoveOn.org has made a mockery of any attempt to achieve campaign finance reform.
That said, for those involved in global finance, whether you like George Soros or not, you need to know what he is thinking. Why? George Soros can move markets via his own investment strategies. Additionally, there is little doubt that George is the epicenter in a massive flow of market sensitive information.
To that end, Soros gave a stinging indictment of the change in the FASB’s mark-to-market by stating in a Bloomberg interview,
the change to fair-value accounting rules will keep troubled banks in business, stalling a recovery of the U.S. economy.
“This is part of the muddling through scenario where we are going to keep zombie banks alive,” Soros, 78, said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It’s going to sap the energies of the economy.”
Is this statement a self-serving offering by Soros? Who knows? Is it an attempt to further promote the U.S. as a lessened power? Perhaps. That said, there are others, myself included, who believe the relaxation of the mark-to-market, especially for outfits like Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the 12 regional Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) is nothing short of a charade.
Did Soros’ statement have an impact on the market? Not today. The dollar has been improving of late. However, over the longer haul, the cost of having a number of zombie-like banking institutions will be pressure on the dollar along with increased borrowing costs for the zombie institutions or Uncle Sam who will be backing them.
From a personal perspective, would you lend money to a zombie?
And now, here’s a must-watch little treat. Crank up your speakers . . .
LD
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correct me if i am mis-understanding this…
Soros is basically knocking Obama’s economic recovery plan?
is that right?
Gerald: If he is, he can just shut up as far as I’m concerned. More than any other person in the world he’s responsible for Obummer being in office. This is a charade. If he doesn’t like “O”s policy, he just has to pick up the phone (or key onto the Blackberry) and tell him to do something else.
Thanks for the zombie bank vid.
Soros…all I can say is that I am glad he is 78 years old.
don’t get too excited…
he has already got a cloned body to transfer his brain into…
-=chortle=-
Please, we 78ers aren’t over the hill. Don’t confuse age with Soros’ moral condition.
Okay, so I’m confused. Soros earns his money by destroying countries like the UK’s monetary system, right? And that’s what he wants Obama to do to us, right? Soros has been manipulating the market, playing footsies with it, so that he can manipulate Obama, right? So what does this mean? I still think this is one big fat master plan by these freaks to collapse the dollar and subvert America to the Chinese, Russians, etc.
It means that he’s like Lord Voldemort and he has parts of his soul scattered all over the world hidden in horcruxes. He will live until someone locates all the horcruxes and destroys them with Basalisk Venom.
Don’t look at me. I’m not up to the job right now.
Gerard said:
“he has already got a cloned body to transfer his brain into…”
I wouldn’t put it past him. Soros is a very creepy character. And I’m surprised [and suspicious] of his recent comments, even though I agree with them. I just cannot see where the Zombie-bank model is going to take us except over the cliff. Or morphing into Japan.
Btw, Larry, I loved the vid. Might as well laugh while we still can!
I’m not scared of no zombies. I’m scared of where my next COBRA payment will come from. No job, no prospect of a job. Husband’s business is very slow. People putting off repairs and paying late.
Gonna have to dip into retirement savings.
I’m studying for my GRE’s and starting school in May. I’m going after a nursing degree. Hope it’s the right choice.
I just shake my head and wonder how we’ll all survive this mess.
You will surely be able to get a nursing job, but in how many years…? What’s your bachelor’s in?
Nurses seem to be overworked; too few nurses of any certification level, but in my observation, one degreed nurse to a floor/shift (if that) isn’t enough.
I have a BA in Biology and I am applying for an one year program for people who already have a degree. The program starts in January 2010.
I have to re-take some science courses. I’m taking Anatomy and Physiology over the summer, and chemistry and Microbiology in the fall.
My mom is 82 and she still works. I will have to work until I’m at least 75 or so.
My resume makes me suitable for any number of administration/teaching jobs when I get to tired of hands-on hursing. Or I could become a nurse practioner.
I can get my tuition paid for by the government as long as I agree to serve in a high need area for four years.
I am strong as a horse.
I just want a job.
I like your honesty in saying “I just want a job”. But nursing entails care of the sick and elderly. I have a mother in a nursing home and I have encountered too many people who are working there because it’s a job. In the last 6 months I’ve filed four complaints. Nursing is not a field for people who wouldn’t have considered it if other work had been available. The profession suffers when people “who just want a job” infiltrate. The patients and their families suffer as well.
Joanie – I am the oldest of nine children. I grew up with two handicapped brothers. (In an age of cloth diapers.)
I helped care for several terminally ill relatives. I know the brutal reality of filth, tedium, and physical labor involved in nursing.
But you know what? I don’t mind it. In a way I like testing my endurance. Even with people who are cranky or unreasonable.
I have the gift of patience. Maybe that’s my only gift.
You are making a great choice, Arabella. Here in AR, one can become an RN with a 2-year program. Two of my friends did that and it changed their lives.
In my myth-addled mind I keep confusing George Soros with Keyser Soze (The Usual Suspects)–both enormously powerful, shadowy, exotic, wealthy, enigmatic, elusive, manipulative, ruthless, and too sinister to believe . . .
PS I think Soros made money last year because he was steering the boat!
PPS; it was his race track.
why in the hell should i give a dang what soros says or thinks. this instant jump on the bad news band wagon is beyond me. it was dance around the maypole last week. come on! stop being a patsy for the media and soros. he is the “short” king for heaven’s sake.
check soros’s motives very carefully. i can assure you it has more to do with his income than our welfare. color me not impressed!
Is he the “puppet master” ?
I know we have read a lot about Soros, but one person I was surprised to read about was Warren Buffet and how much he benefited from the TARP.
Could it be that Buffet is our main man here in the US and Soros does Europe?
This article is about how much money Buffet make with the stimulus package. Hmmmmmmmm
http://www.sacbee.com/341/story/1756261.html
I will tell you this much. While we should all question Soros’ motives, the fact is that the “zombie” bank plan will most likely leave the US in the same horrid condition that Japan was in during the 1990’s.
The banks will take the money and hoard it and consumer/commercial lending will still be crawling at 3 miles an hour.
Unless, you clean up the bad/unpayable debts, nothing will be repaired. We do not have enough money to settle all of the bad debts.
Too late Larry. Obama will succeed in keeping the status quo. The bankers run everything and you can do nothing about it.
Don’t think there was any more reason we worked against Hillary. Bill and Hill are lovely, really, they are. They are, however, not team players. Bill played along to get along, not because he wanted too.
Who else better than a young charismatic ego-driven multiculturalite to make this plan successful.
The banks, hedgefunds and so on are the important people here, not the laborers and you PUMA’s.
Enjoy it, suckers!
Someone has to say it:
Your contempt for others reveals your incapacity for authentic compassion. Likewise, your inflated self-importance in comparison to others reveals your desperate need to be viewed as “the important person”. It adds up like this: you lack internal fortitude and bullying, threatening or destruction of others will not, and cannot, provide it. Like a drug addict, the high you get from bullying, threatening or destruction of others is but a short term fix which masks the pain of the knowledge that your psyche is defective.
ax10, i am no fan of the zombie bank idea either. however i trust nothing and i mean NOTHING soros has to say. there are other more qualified and learned voices who have commented at length on this. 50% of our problem is negativity and fear. soros is not our friend. that is my view.
Sorry Larry, but I can’t even look at a picture of Soros. I have to immediately turn my head. Interesting. Same identical response I have to photos of Rasputin, Hitler, or Manson et al…