How to take over the City

[Gordon Brown]

Step 1.

Announce you are going to bailout bank XXX as it is holding tonnes of toxic assets.

Step 2.

Await the inevitable collapse of the share price as investors panic sell and short the stock.

Step 3.

Pickup bank XXX at taxpayers expense at 95% off list price.

Step 4.

Rinse and repeat.

[Bagpuss]

I see, Gordon Brown lost RBS all that money

[tim123]

GB,

Why would you want to take over something that you have absolutely no idea what to do with, when you have it?

tim

[threaded]

GB,

Why would you want to take over something that you have absolutely no idea what to do with, when you have it?

tim

That'd be because he's a politician.

[Cyberman]

Today has been one of the most cynical planned thefts in history. This will have a massive knock-on effect with pension funds as Gordon manouvres himself to pick up all the banks for next to nothing.

I watched Sky News and they said that the demise of RBS was purely due to results. Not one mention of the fact that 'shorting' was reintroduced today, which I find astounding, as if shorting did not have an affect!! I predicted on various other bulletin boards last night that the bank shares would bomb, but it appears that many ignored this, gave me much abuse and have lost lots of money today.

New Lie are tyrants towards private businesses and pension funds IMO.

[Alf W]

Yawwnn!

Northern Rock went bust because it over-leveraged itself lending short term money to long-term borrowers at ridiculous loan to equity ratios.

RBS could go bust because it had a CEO with too big an ego (hence the ridiculous offer for ABN Amro).

Drop it. You gambled. You lost! You're not the first and won't be the last.

[expat]

GB,

Why would you want to take over something that you have absolutely no idea what to do with, when you have it?

tim

Because he thinks that it (and in fact nearly everything) should belong to the State.

[Doggy Styles]

How is it that Gordon Brown is only just finding out what's been going on?

It's no good pretending to be angry today. Why wasn't he monitoring the banks? Oh I forgot - he was.

[PM-Junkie]

How is it that Gordon Brown is only just finding out what's been going on?

It's no good pretending to be angry today. Why wasn't he monitoring the banks? Oh I forgot - he was.

"No no - it was the Tories' fault.

I mean it was the yanks' fault.

No hang on, I mean it was those incompetent bankers' fault. Yes, that'll do - they'll never twig it was me"

[dinker]

Clause 4 by the back door.