Items by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Mr Squiggles, You Dirty Bastard!

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  Well. That didn't last long, did it?
  
  CNN:
  
  The maker of Zhu Zhu Pets, one of the hottest-selling toys of the holiday season, defended its product after a consumer Web site said one of the robotic hamsters carries high' [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 3:23pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Muni Cuts: Which One Hurts the Most?

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 2
  Pic credit: Murfins and Burglars
  
  
  Muni Diaries asks what's the most painful Muni cut of December 5th. I say the 7 Haight not because I ever ride it but because that was the first Muni I rode on when I got to [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 9:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• The Fed Will Raise Rates, Oh Wait No It Won't, Wait, Wait, Yes It Will

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  WSJ:
  
  Two Federal Reserve officials indicated that the central bank isn’t likely to take its foot off the gas pedal soon.
  
  Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said Friday he welcomes the improvement in hiring seen in November, [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 11:49pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Bernanke's Second Term: What Does the Fed Have to Give Up to Get It?

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  Bloomberg:
  
  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke left a Senate confirmation hearing with support for a second term heading a central bank that may be shorn of its powers to supervise financial firms.
  
  Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd of Connecticut [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 6:38pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Commence to Jerking Off: I'll Be Damned, Unemployment Numbers Were Good?

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  AP:
  
  Two years of steep job cuts all but ended last month, unexpectedly pulling down the unemployment rate and raising hopes for a lasting economic recovery.
  
  Federal figures released Friday showed that the rate fell from 10.2 percent in October [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 6:18pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• RIP: AmTrust in Cleveland (and More Bank Fail Friday Goodness)

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  WSJ has the post mortem on AmTrust bank in Cleveland, which is appropriate because I just mentioned doing a weekly wrap up on Bank Fail Friday banks here on JDA. I try to do what I can for our little BFF movement, [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 6:05pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Page Me When the Dollar is Dying Again and WTF Happened to Accounting Numbers?!

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  Then you gotta check my hip cause my beepers on blast
  Just got it activated
  You ain even gotta ask
  So if my phones off you can page my ass
  So I guess what is is I'm who I is
  N I'm well [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 1:16am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• You Can't Fake a Good £. Trust Me.

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  This story is only tangentially appropriate for me to cover but wtf, how did you expect me to pass this up? I'm on a roll after Jim Bunning and you can pretty much expect this out of me for the next 10 or' [...]
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  Posted: December 05, 2009, 12:36am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• To Birthday Boy Ben Bernanke, With Love from Jr Deputy Accountant

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 3
  
  
  Surely you are aware by now that December 13th is a special day not just for Ben Bernanke's mother who squeezed him out but for me since it is also my birthday. Granted, Bernanke appeared here 27 years before I did (old bastard)' [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 6:24pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Hugo Chavez: Over There Imploding Banks and Busting Up Capitalism... I Think

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  You know, if I didn't know where Bernanke's been lately, I might suspect he's been hanging out with our homie Hugo Chavez.
  
  WSJ:
  
  Worries grew Thursday that Venezuela is on the verge of a banking crisis, causing a run on' [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 11:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Don't Trip, People, Forbes Says the Unemployment "Turning Point" is Near

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 2
  
  
  
  We're saved because Forbes says we're saved. Bah. Has this ever been a legitimate media delivery vehicle?
  
  Forbes:
  
  As President Barack Obama huddled with a group of CEOs, unionists, academics, government officials and small business leaders at the White House [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 10:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Keep Your Summit, How About You Just Hand Over the Jobs?

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  WaPo:
  
  President Obama's jobs summit was aimed at producing ideas to battle a surging unemployment problem exacting ever greater economic and political toll, but the event only highlighted the tough dilemma he confronts.
  
  Obama says he does not have the [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2009, 8:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Citigroup: It's the Treasury's Fault We Can't Pay Back the Treasury

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  If this makes sense to anyone - ANYONE - please let me know. You can even call me out right here on JDA and call me an idiot for not understanding this but the problem I have is that it's the Treasury that [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 11:05pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• The PCAOB Wants an Increase in its Allowance

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 2
  
  
  Compliance Week:
  
  Amid some uncertainty about its own future, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board approved a five-year strategic plan and an increased budget for 2010 calling for more staff to beef up audit inspections and enforcement.
  
  The [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 8:00pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Sheila Bair to Mortgage Lenders: Swallow!

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  Hey mortgage lenders! The FDIC can't pay its bills and that is your somehow your problem.
  
  Bloomberg:
  
  Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair may ask lenders to cut the principal on as much as $45 billion in mortgages acquired' [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 6:50pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Senator Bunning Puts the Smack Down on Bernanke, Calls Him "a Failure"

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 5
  
  
  h/t WC Varones
  
  WSJ's Real Time Economics has the entire text of Senator Jim Bunning's rant to Fed Chair Ben Bernanke and holy shit, I nearly came all over myself just skimming through it.
  
  It is about time. That's all I [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 1:53pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• All I Want for Christmas...

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Now who would do a thing like that?!
  
  
  The San Francisco City Hall Christmas tree lighting ceremony was last night and the tree looks just as beautiful as last year's except minus one hopeful little piece of origami.
  
  I have no idea [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 1:37pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Instead of a Newspaper Bailout, Just Give it to Google. Nice and Slow.

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  Not quite sure who Pinky & Perky are
  but they're rad and they beat newspaper bailout morons
  
  
  Hey newspaper bailout asshats, did you know you can actually make money by playing Google instead of avoiding it?
  
  Sure, at first you feel' [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 1:00pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Bank of America Breaks the TARP Leash But Can They Find a CEO?

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  Duh, obvious. Let's play Hose the Shareholders! (Bank of America is awesome at this in case you don't know)
  
  Bloomberg:
  
  Bank of America Corp., the nation’s biggest lender, will repay $45 billion of U.S. government bailout funds, helping free the' [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 11:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Here, Let Me Translate That Fedspeak for You, WSJ. Richmond Fed's Lacker on, Er, Inflation Risks and Expansion?

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 4
  
  Pic credit: Neoncola
  (this is only funny to you if you played Silent Hill and with My Little Pony
  if not, sorry you missed the joke. I might be the only one who gets it)
  
  
  Step aside and let a professional handle [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 11:13pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Not So Fast, Zimbabwe Ben: Bernanke Confirmation Gets C*ckblocked in the Senate

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 3
  
  so. much. win.
  
  
  Ed Andrews has the scoop at NYT (and WTF, EA, do you ever sleep?!):
  
  Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont said on Wednesday that he would try to block the Senate from confirming Ben S. Bernanke to a second [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 10:37pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Annie Get Your Gun! And You Too, Goldman Rats!

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 3
  
  
  
  Now why would the Goldman rats feel the need to start ammo-ing up? Someone get a tip that the angry mob might be grabbing those pitchforks or what?
  
  Bloomberg:
  
  “I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,” said [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 8:45pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Breaking: Bank of America is Actually Going to Pay Back TARP. For Real This Time

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  What's the deal, Treasury?
  
  Via Charlotte Observer (November 24):
  
  Of all of Bank of America's problems, paying back the government's $45 billion loan is perhaps the most consequential.
  
  The bank is eager to free itself from the aid, which [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 5:29pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Geithner on TARP: We're Almost Ready to Start Using That Slush Fund Now

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 1
  
  
  
  These guys are totally out of their minds. For the record.
  
  WSJ:
  
  The Obama administration will outline its plan to end the government's $700 billion financial rescue program in the next few weeks, a top official said, though that doesn't' [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 2:25pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• SF Weekly: SFPD Use Their Prerogative, Arrest Bobby Brown in Muni Stabbing Case.

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  I want one of these in my room
  
  
  
  Damn you, SF Weekly, you beat me to the joke.
  
  The Muni stabber has been apprehended (thankfully, ride safe out there you nasty motherfuckers) and - no joke - his name is [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 12:00pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• GM's CEO Gone After 100 Day Review

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  LOL Chuck Devore!
  
  
  I mean really, what did they expect the guy to do?
  
  This explains the exit in technical terms but it doesn't seem very fair. Then again, surely Henderson went into it knowing that he was screwed no matter' [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 11:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Here Comes the Newspaper Bailout

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  WSJ:
  
  The head of the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday the agency will study whether government should aid struggling news organizations, which are suffering from a collapse in advertising revenues as the internet upends their centuries-old business model.
  
  FTC Chairman Jon Liebowitz's' [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 10:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Treasury to Sell Capital One Warrants (This Should be Fun)

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 1
  
  
  
  Who says the Treasury can't get in on a little Black Friday week action?
  
  Washington Business Journal:
  
  The Department of the Treasury will sell the warrants to purchase common stock that it received from Capital One Financial Corp. as' [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 9:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• The Geithner Penalty Waiver Act?

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 4
  
  
  
  Bwhahahahahaha is this for real?
  
  I got this via Rep Carter's own people via email tonight so I'm curious what in the hell this could be about. Hell, they knew who to throw the piece of Geithner chum at. Can this go' [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 10:18pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Catholic Archdiocese to Pay $14.4 Million in Taxes to City of San Francisco

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 1
  
  
  We're saved! The Catholics are going to pump $14 million into San Francisco's coffers in the second largest transfer tax in the city's history and that might just be enough to feed 14 city employees pulling a fat city pension for a month.
  [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 6:02pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• No Christmas for Goldman Sachs

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 3
  
  
  
  Clusterstock:
  
  Goldman Sachs employees received a voicemail announcement instructing them not to organize private Christmas parties for the firm's employees even at their own homes, a person familiar with the matter said.
  
  The firm has canceled its annual holiday party, [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 5:13pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Hal Turner: Independent Contractor for the FBI, Eh?

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 1
  
  
  
  If you recall, Hal Turner was also the one who claimed he'd been leaked stress test results before they were released. And I was cool with him (in America, it's your right to be a racist on your own website even if that' [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 3:45pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Dubai to World Investors: This Ain't No Federal Reserve Bailout

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  I find that advertisement to be a tad suggestive
  which means I like
  
  
  Score one for the government of Dubai, who obviously have a few more braincells to rub together amongst themselves than our own fearless leaders here at home.
  
  Reuters:
  [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 1:28pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Philly Fedhead Plosser: Jack Up Interest Rates or Get a Nasty Inflation Surprise

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  You tell those SOBs, Chuck! I love you again, yay!
  
  MW:
  
  Charles Plosser, the president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, became the first top central bank official to call for higher interest rates in this cycle. In a speech [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 12:31pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• And Soon, You'll Pay More for the Chance to Get Stabbed on Muni

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Muni purists might argue that this is actually a N Judah
  but they can pretty much kiss my ass
  
  
  Muni has always been a trashpit but this is getting just a little bit frightening. I'm sure The Commuting Capitalist wasn't made for [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 11:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Former FDIC Chairman Slams Handling of Financial Crisis (And Predictably Blames the Accounting)

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  We've seen Bill Isaac before. He's the former FDIC chair who taught me that the "fund" is little more than a Treasury cookie jar for things like tanks and big shiny guns. See also my December 12, 2008 The Fictional Accounting of' [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 9:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• The FDIC Puts the Smack Down on Firstrust and JDA Asks Where's Trusty?

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  Oooooh, I bet they are really shaking in their boots. $10,000 is a whole shit ton of money.
  
  Philadelphia Business Journal:
  
  Firstrust Bank was fined $10,000 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for regulatory violations, according to information released by [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 10:40pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Tim Geithner Killed Treasurys!!!

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Pic credit: Salon.com
  
  
  
  Uh, that's how Bloomberg made it sound. I could be blowing it out of proportion but come on now, this is me we're talking about here.
  
  In-Geithner-We-Trust Bond Market Gets Lowest Yield (way to report with fucking [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 1:00pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• What the Fed Can Learn from the Bank of Japan (Hint: It's Not "How to Have Large Cojones")

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  These numbers are too hard
  let's do 0, it's way easier...
  
  
  Pay attention, America, this is what happens when you have an impotent central bank who refuses to raise rates and pull in the reigns on sloppy, half-assed economic "recovery". This is exactly [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 12:00pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Removing the Stigma from Food Stamps (But Keeping the Same Scandalous Bloodsucking Bankers)

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  NYT has an interesting article on removing the stigma from the safety net of "food stamps" now that a pretty signifcant number of Americans rely on them to eat. The article doesn't get into specifics and much like unemployment numbers, I imagine "1'" [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 11:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Still Buying Nothing?

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  First of all, Cyber Monday is a perfect example of why this country is as fucked up as it is. An entire day spent on the boss's dime surfing Online sales, as if standing in line at Wal-mart at 3 in the morning' [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 10:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• China Would Be Funnier to Watch if I Weren't in the US

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  Is this offensive?
  
  I sure hope it is. Happy motherfucking Monday, kids! Keep the finger off of the "buy now" button if you can, ok? It's just 8 hours, you'll live.
  
  Bloomberg:
  
  Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao rejected “unfair” calls for' [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 9:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• An Apology to the People of Zimbabwe

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 3
  
  
  It dawned on me today that it isn't fair to called that helicopter-cash-dropping hack Ben Bernanke "Zimbabwe Ben" as it could be considered offensive to an entire country. This is what did it:
  
  
  
  You know, Zimbabwe.[...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 8:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• It's a Miracle! The Bailout Will Save Us All!

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  Whew! Crisis averted!
  Wait a second...
  
  
  That must be an awesome central banker power. Just mention a bailout and suddenly everything is under control. Fuck! I want that power.
  
  But I know my first thought after wielding it just once would [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 7:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• I'll Give You $1 for That Failed Bank

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  WSJ:
  
  People's United Financial Inc. wanted to buy failed banks on the cheap. Instead, it struck a deal to buy a healthy equipment-leasing company.
  
  Last Monday's change of plans by the Bridgeport, Conn., bank-holding company underscores a problem with the [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 6:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• The Fed is Not Your Punching Bag and It's Not Bernanke's Fault (No Really)

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 1
  
  
  
  Don't end the sinister Fed! It's a Pandora's box of unawesomeness, or so says Robert J. Samuelson in the Washington Post:
  
  Ever since its creation in 1913, the Federal Reserve has grappled with a daunting political contradiction. The Fed is charged' [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 11:53pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• Not to Wildly Speculate But the Fed *Does* Have a Homicidal History

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  The Greenspan Body Count, the census worker found dead with "FED" scrawled on his chest, that whole JFK conspiracy... the Fed appears to have the homicidal track record to back up my wild speculation so maybe I am not that far [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 11:28pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• HAMP: The Illusion of Loan Modifications Does Not Loan Modifications Make

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 3
  
  
  
  Yesterday I did the farce of loan mods and coincidentally asked for some actual numbers. Well Market Ticker has kindly provided them and they are - as suspected - low. As in zero. It doesn't take a mathlete to figure out that' [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 6:15pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• UAE Central Bank Pulls a Federal Reserve: It's Bailout, Dubai Edition!

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  
  
  Quick, better grease up Dubai with some cheap easy money before it seizes up like a 14 year old Islamic bride on her wedding night.
  
  WSJ:
  
  The United Arab Emirates' Central Bank has moved to calm fears of a' [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 5:34pm EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant

• United Commercial Bank of San Francisco: the Crime Scene

  —Jr Deputy Accountant

  Number of comments: 2
  
  
  
  SF Gate did the autopsy of San Francisco's United Commercial Bank - which I sort of took personally when it failed on November 6th - and this is so familiar that it's sad.
  
  SF Gate:
  
  United Commercial Bank of [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 9:00am EST
  by Jr Deputy Accountant