Doom in the "real" economy

[AtW]

Well if you are an unsuccesful "entrepreneur"/doley in a bedsit in Brum, you need someone to feel superior to.

[sasguru]

So where do you think FSA, Feds and others who banned short selling were educated?

Politcians who don't know anything forced it through, like that middle-ranking solicitor from Edinburgh who is now our Chancellor (he would be better off conveyancing flats but there isn't the work at the moment)
Anyway it wasn't the problem and banning it didn't work.
It's like blaming the messenger for bad news.

[Moscow Mule]

Didn't he regularly take the moral high ground with the City money men and stock market practises though?

Yes, it's the "Daily Mail" line and it's bollocks. He's right (to a point) about the securitisation of sub-prime loans but he's not the only one- there are many banks who've steered clear of those and maintained rosy balance sheets.

And as to the Hedge Funds & market manipulation, it was proven (in HBOS case) that they were nothing to do with it. The amount of stock on loan was no more than usual to ensure liquidity (about 3%).

What needs to happen is that banks are made to maintain deposits (either from retail or bonds/rights issues) in sensible ratios. The highly leveraged market is a thing of the past.

[AtW]

Politcians who don't know anything forced it through

Which politician exactly forced this through in the USA? Please share your source or it would be yet another confirmed case of incorrect data from your big gob.

[AtW]

there are many banks who've steered clear of those and maintained rosy balance sheets.

Like who in the UK apart from Lloyds TSB? Even they lost some hundreds of millions.

I remember noticing IT ads for derivative junk in the City starting some years ago, maybe 5 - derivatives were around for a long time, but it seems that the City (and their chaps in USA and other places) went into it big time pretty recently, did not take long to have a major crash!

If I was in charge (as a regulator) this would not have happened. Naturally there would not be huge unearned bonuses in the City too, and yes IT contractors won't get rates they were getting, but what's good in short term good rate if your bank with your money drops dead?

[Moscow Mule]

Like who in the UK apart from Lloyds TSB? Even they lost some hundreds of millions.

Off a balance sheet of how many billions?

[sasguru]

Which politician exactly forced this through in the USA? Please share your source or it would be yet another confirmed case of incorrect data from your big gob.

You really are naive aren't you?
So you think the SEC and FSA which have been toothless in the past decided suddenly to assert their authority?
You think they didn't confer with and get permission from the respective treasury bosses?
I happen to know for certain they did, in the UK at least. And from how Wall St. works it is reasonable to believe that old Hank gave the nod.
Retard.

[AtW]

Off a balance sheet of how many billions?

Not much apparently - they did not get involved into this game of setting up hedge funds that ultimately would fall on bank balance sheet if hedge funds fail.

LTSB has always been rather convervative and their charges may have been higher than others, I resisted the temptation to move bank account because I thought that if bank can't earn money on their primary function (keeping money safe, transactions etc) then they would get into gambles and lose my money or sleep or both.

FYI I also had accounts in Barclays and Halifax, I stopped using both of them some years ago and clearly it was the right choice.

[sasguru]

If I was in charge (as a regulator) this would not have happened. Naturally there would not be huge unearned bonuses in the City too, and yes IT contractors won't get rates they were getting, but what's good in short term good rate if your bank with your money drops dead?

Your constant refrain of "If I was in charge" betrays your delusional mental state better than anything.
There's about the same chance of you being in charge of anything larger than a shoebox as there is of me becoming King of England.
HTH

[AtW]

You think they didn't confer with and get permission from the respective treasury bosses?

In the USA elected politicians do not take up Govt posts like in the treasury (at least not right now).

If you said Bush forced Treasury to force SEC then maybe, but so far you got zero evidence (as usual) support your claim.

The fact of the matter is that it does not even matter if politicians are misguided in this action - they did something that you and some others regularly accuse me of being "communist" about, yet those guys are as capitalist as they get and they cracked down on shorters - the only problem I have with this attitude is that they should have done it long time ago before crisis started.