1 Yeah. So what. Rand Paul!!!!!!!!! Arizona!!!!!!!!

2 With trillion+ dollar deficits, the idea that we will have a recovery at all is a bit bizarre.

3 We're fucked. Smoke em' if ya got em'.

4 'Another round of fiscal easing?"

How the hell are they gonna do that?  The Fed is already giving the banks free money.  Are they gonna start giving 2% interest loans direct to consumers?

5 I didn't double dip.

6 2 Seriously, who are they trying to kid?

7 The notion that we'd have a "normal recovery" was always naive/foolish to begin with, as were the stock prescriptions that came out of Washington, because this was not, and is not a "normal" recession by any historical recession standards.

Add to that all the wrong things Washington has done attempting to bring us out of said recession and you get...only chaos.

8

Eat your Capitalism Cabbage to get big and strong.

 

9 We're fucked. Smoke em' if ya got em'. Posted by: Darth Rove at May 25, 2010 11:57 AM (t2WJv) I don't smoke? Well I guess I could take it up. Oh well, I quess this was a bad week to give up glue sniffing

10 I was seriously considering getting completely out of the market back in early April. I didn't. I may seriously never see that money again. Snooze.....lose.

11 Seriously, who are they trying to kid?

Even the dimmest among us are waking up.

12 Didn't The Vapid One™ tell us that, in addition to the receding oceans, he was going to end these unpredictable cycles of  "boom and bust"?

13 There's a good all-purpose quote at the end of the "no wonder Barry's getting all bitchy with his aides" article. It was talking about the oil spill: If you could control [Fill in the blank] with lawyers and regulation-writers, and by signing papers and obtaining court injunctions . . . then maybe the U.S. government could do something, but really, Uncle Sam has almost no institutional ability to control [Fill in the blank]. For that, you need people with technical authority, technical skill and firms with industrial capabilities."

14

11 Seriously, who are they trying to kid?

Even the dimmest among us are waking up.

But the demmest among us aren't.

15 You rang? 

16 6 2 Seriously, who are they trying to kid?

The majority of the 52%ers that are still enthralled by this guy.  But reality is a harsh mistress.

And so what does Cali try to do in a recession?  Raise taxes, of course!

California Democrats unveil tax-increase package

SAN FRANCISCO, May 24 (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers in California unveiled a plan on Monday for nearly $5 billion of tax and fee increases to help fill the state government's $19.1 billion budget gap.The plan by state Senate Democrats would raise $4.9 billion by raising California's vehicle registration fee, suspending corporate tax breaks scheduled to begin next year and boosting the state's tax on alcoholic beverages.Democrats control both chambers of the state's legislature and have said they would seek new revenue to help plug the shortfall.

17 Hey Man, Like this Obama guy is smart. That Bushy guy fucked up everything. Like I think we need to give him time, like 3-4 decades to fix the economy thing.

18 This double dip is without pudding, I assume?

19 8 Eat your Capitalism Cabbage to get big and strong.

And wash it down with a nice tall glass of self-reliance soda!

20 MFM:

It's getting better. The new normal is muchbetter than the old normal. Being unemployed means more time to devote to your hobbies. Inflation is good. We've never had it as good as we do under Uber Fuhrer Obama.

/I'm in Metro Detroit, and one of the am news radio stations (not the more conservative one) is playing a promo with the Beatles song "It's Getting Better", touting how good things are here.

21

At least when the adults resume control in Washington, we can show them how real economic stimulus is done: with tax cuts and deregulation, something that this administration refuses to do.

22 I've got to say, I'm glad I've kept what little money I have in a small, regional bank.  Knock wood mine will be among the last to fall.

23 OT.. Just a tip, be careful taking cough syrup that has hydrocodone during business hours.

24 Be not afraid.  Obama saved the economy once and he can do it again.

25 The notion that we can have a normal recovery without the line item veto is a  false choice between wreckless and foolhardy.

26 Recovery was never their aim. Cloward-Piven all the way. C'mon! Keynesianism in this day and age?!? Step 1: shift as much wealth as possible to their side. Step 2: crash the system. Step 3: take their chances on the other side (I pray that's all they're going to do, 'cuz they may have a Plan B).

27

I was seriously considering getting completely out of the market back in early April. I didn't. I may seriously never see that money again. Snooze.....lose.

Me, too, pendejo. Though I wasn't looking to get myself complete out, I was looking to cut my exposure way back. I didn't. Oops.

A couple pointers based on my sorry experience: This isn't a double dip. Stocks took their first dip in Oct. '08 and their secoind in March '09. It was March of '09 when I freaked out and sold like a madman. Now that's money I'll never see again. This time, I'm hanging on for the ride.

However, if levels get as low as they did in 2008 and 2009, that would make a triple bottom. And you know what they say about triple bottoms -- there's no such thing.

(Loins: girded. Head and kidneys: foolishly exposed.)

28 I'm in Metro Detroit, and one of the am news radio stations (not the more conservative one) is playing a promo with the Beatles song "It's Getting Better", touting how good things are here.

Posted by: shibumi

 

Are they playing this when they announce that Michigan is setting records for unemployment? Or as they knock down one of the 10,000 homes that they've slated for demolition? Ohh!! Even better. They can play that when they forcibly evict the few remaining homeowners in the neighborhoods that they've shceduled for obliteration

29 A little boy goes to his dad and asks, 'What is Politics?'
 
Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way:
 
I am the head of the family, so call me The President.
 
Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call her the Government.
 
We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People.
 
The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class.

And your baby brother, we will call him the Future.
 
Now think about that and see if it makes sense.'

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.

Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper.  

So the little boy goes to his parent's room and finds his mother asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to his father, 'Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now.'  

The father says, 'good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about.'

The little boy replies, 'The President is screwing the Working Class while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit.

30 Is this recession any more severe than the one in Reagan's 1st term?

The difference is not severity per se, rather in its causes and the nation's ability to recover in spite of the added shackles and chains we're wrapped in this time.

In the 80's we had the ability to bounce back fast.  This time we don't due to the underlying structural issues.

31 V-shaped recovery!!! V-shaped recovery!!! V-shaped recovery!!!1!1!!!11!!!!!!!

32 (I pray that's all they're going to do, 'cuz they may have a Plan B)

Who runs Russia, after the "collapse" of the USSR? Who were Yeltsin, Chernomyrdin, Putin and Medvedev before?

There's Plan B. It's Plan A.

33

In the 80's we had the ability to bounce back fast. This time we don't due to the underlying structural issues.

Add the increased interconnectedness of the world and people start freaking out because of what might be happening in Latvia.

34 Local radio news just gave an update on an Obamanomics story that's been amusing me. I'll keep it short: City is offered $100,000 in Stimulus money to install a solar-powered control system and gate for a railroad crossing. Just the idea that people thought it was a good idea to go "green" on something so directly tied to potential life or death circumstances made me sigh out loud. Anyway, in addition to the Stimulus money, the City was going to be on the hook for an initial $20,000 of initial expense and then all future maintenance/upgrade expenses. Oh, and the liability, too. All to replace a perfectly functional railroad crossing. As of this morning, The City rejected the deal outright, with the Obamoids taking it on the chin. This was their baby, of course. I'll see if the local paper does a story soon so I can be sure I got the details right, but I think we've had a triumph of common sense.

35

So the market conveniently tanked in 2008 just weeks before the November election, giving voters an excuse to let the democrats control the presidency, the US house, and the US senate. 

The market has been frantically pumped since then, to little avail other than to make FOO (friends of obama) richer, yeah we're lookin at you buffet, soros, et al.

Now the damage that has been done to the economy is becoming clearer every day, and they're calling it a "double dip".  Yeah right, it would have to have recovered in the first place to be called a double dip. 

36 If you turn the economy upside-down, you get a hockey-stick graph!

37

First of all, has any congress critter admitted their previous multiple attempts at regulation was wrong-headed ('but with the best intention for the little guys')?

No? 

 

Except it's all Bush's Fault?

38 In the 80's we had the ability to bounce back fast. This time we don't due to the underlying structural issues. Yep. That "entitlement tsunami" that everyone has been warning about for the last 20 years? It's here. The big story of the summer and fall, I think, is going to be a wave of city and county defaults as public-sector pensions drain the services budgets dry. There will be attempts to jack up tax revenue, but even doubling effective tax rates won't solve the problem. California will be the bellwether, with Illinois close behind.

39 ...so screwed, and on SOoooo many levels....

40

The big story of the summer and fall, I think, is going to be a wave of city and county defaults as public-sector pensions drain the services budgets dry.

That, and Camp Rock 2.

41 ah, it's too depressing to make a stupid snark about president sparklefarts. This sucks, this my prime earning time the leftoids are fucking up.

42 IF anyone believed any of this administration's recovery numbers they deserve the shit they are about to get.

43 I just hope CA can hold it together just long enough for me to finish school.

44 17 Is this recession any more severe than the one in Reagan's 1st term? I don't think so. The problem is the cure.

Posted by: Dr Spank at May 25, 2010 12:02 PM (HfesM)

 

And who the Leader is.

Does anybody think Obama will keep any of his words, inside and out of US?  That he is anywhere 'sincere' whatever he utters?

45 This rcession is worse in different ways than the one in 1979-82, and the options to fix it are much fewer and more painful in the short run.  The housing market is really completely fucked up now and the rest of the economy won't start recovering for real until the housing market finds a natural bottom.  That is politically explosive so it hasn't happened yet.  Capital is still artificially constrained by excessive government control of banking, and fear of the impact of all the new rules Congress is about to dump on the financial sector.  A hell of a lot of the jobs that have been lost in this one aren't coming back, ever.  And a lot of those jobs belonged to middle-aged people whose options for re-employment are very limited.  I personally know five people over the age of 50 who have been out of work for over a year and have no prospects.  I have another who just got his pink slip two weeks ago and has 3 kids in college.  I've had friends who have had to take their kids out of college because they are out of work and can't pay tuition or get a loan for them to pay it.  And the economy isn't that bad where I live.  I can only imagine the real despair in places like southern California and Michigan.

46 All done on purpose, comrads.

47 Shit.  I can totally see Barry and FKOTUS doing this. 'Cause they know what you should eat better than you do.

48 The essential problem in the economic markets right now is this: sovereigns are badly warping the markets. The private sector is trying mightily to put a proper price on assets, but they can't accurately judge the risk because the sovereigns are lying through their collective teeth. And since the sovereigns own the printing presses, they can work to undermine a market-based revaluation. This is why many private investors are simply getting out.

49 On the bright side, the Fed just got the okay to expand its balance sheet by more 2 trillion dollars.  That should help to keep things afloat until November.

Time is getting more and more expensive, these days.  *sigh*

I just want to know that there will be treason trials and all sorts of prosecutions of dems after this all blows out.  I'd settle for that, since this train isn't going to be stopped, anyway.

50 The notion that we'd have a "normal recovery" was always naive/foolish to begin with, as were the stock prescriptions that came out of Washington, because this was not, and is not a "normal" recession by any historical recession standards.

I was one of those dipshits who drank the stock market always goes up and they are not making any new real estate kool aid. I believed that.

Then this nightmare happened. And I realized that all of those beliefs did not amount to a pile of dogshit. That is what makes this depression different. Money only exists as debt on a ledger. It is a mirage. And Obama and this Congress are intent on destroying this country either purposefully or by dumbshittery by reducing our wealth to near zero and delivering what remains to world bankers.

I have been buying puts and shorting cyclicals, and up until a month ago, getting a fat lip. We are in the midst of a depression, probably a global one. And all the lipstick in the world will not cover up this pig. It ees different this time.

51

 

Aren't we due for another injection of 'stimulus' soon, i.e., another extension of unemployment benefits?

52 to expand its balance sheet by more 2 trillion dollars.

Er ... I was speaking Indonesian English, there.  I meant "more than 2 trillion"

53 #34 V-shaped recovery!!! V-shaped recovery!!! V-shaped recovery!!!1!1!!!11!!!!!!!

In fairness to Larry (I appreciate his optimism), he could not have figured that this administration would literally enact or pursue EVERY counter-intuitive policy to hinder recovery. It does make one wonder where the line between ineptness and malfeasance exists.

54

 suspending corporate tax breaks

 

Buh Bye businesses in CA.  Hey, all those Celebutards that love their decadent Californication life style and support all that gubamint spending, how about a special 20% tax on them?  It could be the nation's first Celbutard Tax.  I'm sure they would all love to do their patriotic duty and pony up some additional cash.

55

 

Unemployment is a lot higher in Obama's recession (which he's making worse), no inflation, and absurdly low interest rates.

The recession Reagan inherited had lower unemployment and real bad inflation and real high interest rates. Reagan appointed Volker and Volker curbed the inflation, which caused a worsening of (but of short duration) the recession.

But Volker's main priority was to get rid of the inflationary gap.

56 On second thought, we could have the Celebutard Tax be on a sliding scale--you pay more if you're an A-lister than a B-lister.  That would be more fair.

57

...A trade row between China and the U.S. on top of the growing concerns about a "double dip" in the West is the last thing markets will want to contend with. But they may have to.

 

Of course when all of this comes to fruition, we will be told it was "unexpected."

58
In fairness to Larry (I appreciate his optimism), he could not have figured that this administration would literally enact or pursue EVERY counter-intuitive policy to hinder recovery. It does make one wonder where the line between ineptness and malfeasance exists.

Posted by: BigDaddy1964

 

No one, including Kudlow, reported that we had truly hit the bottom in the residantial real estate market. No one, including he, thought that we had even truly begun the dip in commercial real estate. More than one observer said that the concept of a common European currency without effective control over each and every member economy was unfeasible. And, that a Euro crisis was then a matter of when, not if. Add to that the warnings regarding unfunded pension plans, states spending over the CPI for years, an unbroken trend in onerous regulation on business, policy makers blindly pushing global warming, no solution to Fannie/Freddi Mae except for multiple cash infusions and a flight of businesses, capital and individual tax payers.

 

With all of these in play, how can someone truly advocate the likelyhood of a 'V' shaped recovery? Please note that I omitted all foreign crises except for the Euro.

59 30 "It was March of '09 when I freaked out and sold like a madman." Me too. (sigh) Now I follow the moving averages. When the 50 day simple moving average drops below the 200 day SMA, I will sell. Until then, I'm holding on. This method won't preserve all your gains, but it does offer some protection. Historically it has produced better results than buy-and-hold. I'm still somewhat optimistic that the current downturn is only a short-term correction driven by news headlines (oil spill, Eurozone, Korea). The market is technically oversold now, so there may be room for a rebound.

60 Hey, all those Celebutards that love their decadent Californication life style and support all that gubamint spending, how about a special 20% tax on them?

runningrn for state legislature!

61 What are you guys so worried about?  If things get bad, Obama will just give you money from his stash.

62 How soon before Barry whines that he inherited the double dip?

63 I beginning to think the Mayans are wrong....we ain't going  to get to Dec 21. 2012.

64 I just got offered a used car loan at 5%. Is that good?

65 What is going on is the nation is in the early throws of the bankruptcy of Obama's New Class Order.  The NCO is composed of the

 Privileged (unions, politicians, greens, ...),
 Collectors (private sector successful earning over $250k),
 Serfs (everyone else in the private sector). 

The scam is to use the Collectors to take the Serf's life energy (thru higher private sector prices) and pass this life energy on to support the lifestyles of the Privileged.   A trickle of the Serf's life energy will be returned to the Serf's as essential benefits (like healthcare and free houses) to buy the Serf's votes to support this scam.

It all adds up great when counting votes, not so great when counting money.   It's a sure path to moral and fiscal bankruptcy for our liberty loving nation.  

66 I just got offered a used car loan at 5%. Is that good? It depends on your credit-score. If you have good credit, you can probably do better elsewhere.

67 What recession?

68 Stocks are getting scorched. I hate to tell you I told you so ... no, wait. That's someone else.

I told you so.

Not that I have anything to be smug about. I damn near liquidated at the top before the original crash because I saw how out of line P/E ratios were with where they should be historically.

But no ... I'm in for the long haul, I thought. Buy and hold. Buy and hold. Don't worry about the ups and downs. The trend is always up over the long haul.

So I stuck with it and took a haircut just like everyone else before riding most of this wave back up.

Then I smartened up. Because I knew the fundmentals didn't justify where we were at. And I sold almost everything.

Stay the hell out of this market. Nothing is a sure thing, but the downside risk sure looks worse than any upside.

This may turn into a global recession. This is no bullshit. We could be in for years and years of economic pain. Longs have been living off fantasies and cheap Fed money for approximately one year.

I'll be back in at some point. Not right now. Not even close.

Signed - a formerly buy and hold bagholder/dumbass

69

Is this recession any more severe than the one in Reagan's 1st term?

Yes.

Reagan could look forward to the peak of the Caucasian Baby Boom coming of age [born circa 1957 to 1962, so turning 25 years old in the heart of the Reagan presidency].

But Caucasian fertility has since collapsed, and there are literally not enough Caucasians left to fuel another recovery:

2008, Caucasian, aged 45-49 years: 15.964 million
2008, Caucasian, aged 40-44 years: 14.085 million
2008, Caucasian, aged 35-39 years: 12.981 million
2008, Caucasian, aged 30-34 years: 11.456 million
2008, Caucasian, aged 25-29 years: 12.740 million
2008, Caucasian, aged 20-24 years: 12.949 million
2008, Caucasian, aged 15-19 years: 12.903 million
2008, Caucasian, aged 10-14 years: 11.660 million
2008, Caucasian, aged 5-9 years: 11.222 million
2008, Caucasian, aged 0-4 years: 11.065 million

Source [see Table 9].

 

70 Latvia? Never heard of it.

71 74

The result of deferring procreation in favor of a career. You get enough people doing this, sure enough the birthrate falls. Funny how that works huh?

72 28 Small banks are not too big to fail and hence, expendable. Plus they aren't politically connected. 

True that. However, you can check a site called Bauer Financial that rates bank w/ a star rating, 5 being the best.  Check your banks rating there.   A 4 or 5 rating means your bank is likely sound. 

All banks call reports are on the FDIC website.  It is worth it to look your bank up.
Focus on Commercial real estate numbers (avoid heavy concentrations), loan losses/reserves (have they written off a butt load and their reserves are still expanding?) and net interest margin (below 3.5% is probably resulting in losses).
Oh, and capital ratios.  Are they above 10% without having taken TARP?

My greatest fear is nationalization of the system and then the resulting consolidation of the small communities into the hands of the TBTF's  by force.
With the FDIC technically insolvent, and the forced purchase of three year advance premiums, what is to stop them from just slurping up the profitable community banks and just doling out the spoils to cover the TBTF's butts?
I'm expecting the worst from Timmmayyy.

73 50 Shit.  I can totally see Barry and FKOTUS doing this. 'Cause they know what you should eat better than you do.

Marxists know all about starving the enemy.
Stalin and Mao were experts.  Gives plausible deniability to genocide.

74 74 "there are literally not enough Caucasians left to fuel another recovery" You mean only Caucasians know how to make money?

75 "You mean only Caucasians know how to make money?"

The historical evidence seems to point that way.

76 which has already seen the S&P 500 give up all its gains for the year

Yeah, so did I... if by "give up" you mean "watch the market tank, wondering why we continue to let these idiots throw trillions onto a giant hole and set it on fire".

But at least Conservatives can clearly see the way forward.
http://tinyurl.com/2fblmq7

Don't Forsake Europe By Robert Samuelson

America's interest lies in preventing a repetition. We ought to support Europe's rescue package.

...  A trillion dollars to Greece to pay for their unwillingness to accept cuts?  Well yeah, of course we've got enough money left after the fire for something like that.

Nevermind... Anyone have a decent bomb shelter for sale?  Preferably stocked with food and water for long enough to kill off the current brand of idiots?

77 Posted by: Gekkobear at May 25, 2010 02:20 PM (X0NX1)

Problem is, we've never been here before. 
The other huge looming problem is who is invested.  A lot of union pensions are in equities. 

Just read on some blog about the government being able to take up to 75% of your income in taxes.  My computer went off so I can't find the blog now but that scared the crap out of me, just the headline.  There will be no incentive to make money if you are only working for 25%.

78 the small community banks should fight to remain small community banks.  I think the people in their communities won't let them be swallowed up.  I think they don't want to be part of the global thingy, they want to be a part of their own community where they can add to how the community fairs.

79

You mean only Caucasians know how to make money?

Believe it or not, the situation for Asian-Americans is even WORSE - much, much worse - they just about completely stopped making babies altogether.

 

80 B-b-b-ut Larry frikkin' Kudlow assured us it was gonna be a serious, really real, V-shaped "recovery!"

81 #80 "The historical evidence seems to point that way." Yeah, I guess nobody in China or Japan ever made any money. Or in Persia during the Middle Ages, when the Saracens had the highest standard of living in the world. Or in Ptolemaic Egypt, which boasted the ancient world's most vibrant and cosmopolitan city, Alexandria. Meanwhile all those Caucasians in Russia are millionaires! (Hint: it's not about race. It's about culture and political systems.)

82

The system is geared so that only Caucasian people can prosper. That's why the people in the northernmost reaches of New York State go through their soft lives withour any cares, why the financial system in Iceland is so solid, and why someone in Bulgaria needs only a good book and a Snuggie to get through the winter. ...

( ... wait.)

(Does my argument hold up if I replace "Iceland" with "Peru"?)

83

Would it be legally justified for me to rip off Jim Kramer's arm and use it to cave in Larry Kudlow's skull?

84

Or in Ptolemaic Egypt, which boasted the ancient world's most vibrant and cosmopolitan city, Alexandria.

Say that name a few times slowly.

85 "Say that name a few times slowly." Yes, Alexandria was founded by Macedonians, and the Ptolemies were of Macedonian descent. But the people of Alexandria were of all races. Many, of course, were native Egyptians, but there were immigrants from all over the world. It was the first truly multinational city. If you want a more current example, how about India? Their economy is making great strides, and there are few Caucasians in evidence. Anyway, if some people here want to say that only Caucasians can be economically productive, they're welcome to that hypothesis. The surging productivity of India, China, and Brazil becomes a little difficult to explain, however.

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