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  4. Taxpayers are now buying AIG

Taxpayers are now buying AIG

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Back Room
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  • K KaRl

    Oakman wrote:

    Taxpayers are now buying AIG

    Oakman wrote:

    Use your AIG stock for toilet paper, if you haven't already

    I don't get the connection :~ Why are stocks worthless?


    Where do you expect us to go when the bombs fall?

    Fold with us! ¤ flickr

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    Oakman
    wrote on last edited by
    #16

    Ka?l wrote:

    I don't get the connection Why are stocks worthless?

    Assume there were 1000 shareholders, each owning .001 of the company. Now there are 1000 shareholders, each owning .000002 and one shareholder owning .80 of the company. Since the company's stock had already lost around 98% of its value, the latest devaluation makes it worthless. The "purchase" of the stock was done as a loan which means that the balance sheet on the company doesn't change substantially, only its cash flow.

    Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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    • M martin_hughes

      Matthew Faithfull wrote:

      "The Money Masters"

      Is that the one that features that bloke who wrote "The creature from Jekyll Island"?

      Top Secret Plan for World Domination

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      Matthew Faithfull
      wrote on last edited by
      #17

      I don't think so, I'm pretty sure I'd have recognized his name in that case and I didn't. It was someone I'd never heard of previously. Aaron Russo's 'America, From Freedom to Faschism' is also worth a look for something slicker, simpler and more income tax focused. He covers some of the same ground but doesn't go nearly as deep into the history and mechanisms of the banking system.

      "The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage." Thucydides (B.C. 460-400)

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      • O Oakman

        Not afaik. However, they have a lot of subsidiaries. My 401K is now in money market funds and gold. Both have been hurt, but not badly.

        Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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        Chris Austin
        wrote on last edited by
        #18

        Good to hear. And good call with gold. Are you holding a fund or options on gold? Personally, I use goldmoney.com to buy and hold gold and silver.

        Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long

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        • C Chris Austin

          Good to hear. And good call with gold. Are you holding a fund or options on gold? Personally, I use goldmoney.com to buy and hold gold and silver.

          Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long

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          Shepman
          wrote on last edited by
          #19

          Chris Austin wrote:

          ersonally, I use goldmoney.com to buy and hold gold and silver.

          I just invested in leprechaun-finding gear. Pretty soon I won't care about the stock market at all.

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          • M Matthew Faithfull

            The milking of Fannie and Freddie in collusion with insiders, bankers and revolving-door federal officials from all sorts of agencies is one long running and not very secret conspiracy, see www.solari.com or Google Catherine Austin Fitts for her autobiographical account of it from the inside ( long, complex and very sad ). The current financial crisis, known in the UK as 'The Credit Crunch' is not 1 huge financial conspiracy it's more like a coordinated 'play' of the market by those who stand to benefit. They've not necessarily conspired in person but all those in the know have jumped ship at the same time because once the big boys go those who know who the big boys are go with them and so on down the chain. It's always the little guys left holding the hot potato at the end of course. Only in this case there are simply not enough little guys to carry a can this big. Some big names are being ostensibly sacrificed but what this means is that the assests will end up in the hands of those 'inside' and the debt on the books of those 'outside'. Has this crisis been 'engineered'? Yes Is it 100 times bigger than it might have been because of the actions of thousands of sheep/followers who are not part of any conspiracy but see the way the wind is blowing? Yes Does the small rudder steer the large ship ? Yes Are there people who have there hand on that rudder and stand to benefit from all this? Yes Will we see a new class of private Trillionaires emerge as the medium term result? Yes Will a global currency ( and a rejigged international system in the interest of the insiders ) be touted as the solution to this crisis? Yes Will it actually be a solution, i.e. fix the causes? No not at all Was this the point of engineering the crisis in the first place? Yes partly that and partly to wipe out and or dump on the poor large lumps of the accumulated debt which is inherent in the system. Is any of this surprising? No not really Why didn't anyone predict it? They did, accurately and over a decade ago. Search YooTube for "The Money Masters" to get the basics. I hope that helps :)

            "The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage." Thucydides (B.C. 460-400)

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            Shepman
            wrote on last edited by
            #20

            Matthew Faithfull wrote:

            Does the small rudder steer the large ship ?

            Wow. Suddenly it is all so clear.

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            • S Shepman

              Chris Austin wrote:

              ersonally, I use goldmoney.com to buy and hold gold and silver.

              I just invested in leprechaun-finding gear. Pretty soon I won't care about the stock market at all.

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              Chris Austin
              wrote on last edited by
              #21

              :laugh:

              Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long

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              • C Chris Austin

                Good to hear. And good call with gold. Are you holding a fund or options on gold? Personally, I use goldmoney.com to buy and hold gold and silver.

                Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long

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                Oakman
                wrote on last edited by
                #22

                Chris Austin wrote:

                Are you holding a fund or options on gold?

                SGDAX. I know enough about investing to know I don't know enough about investing.

                Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                • O Oakman

                  Chris Austin wrote:

                  Are you holding a fund or options on gold?

                  SGDAX. I know enough about investing to know I don't know enough about investing.

                  Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                  Chris Austin
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #23

                  Oakman wrote:

                  I know enough about investing to know I don't know enough about investing.

                  I'm pretty much in the same boat. I was just curios about how you invest in gold/metals since it's something I've been doing for a while and I am always curious to see somebody else's approach. I have a good friend who always gets onto me for buying bullion because he prefers options. I've considered his approach but I've never been comfortable trading options on commodities.

                  Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long

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                  • C Chris Austin

                    Oakman wrote:

                    I know enough about investing to know I don't know enough about investing.

                    I'm pretty much in the same boat. I was just curios about how you invest in gold/metals since it's something I've been doing for a while and I am always curious to see somebody else's approach. I have a good friend who always gets onto me for buying bullion because he prefers options. I've considered his approach but I've never been comfortable trading options on commodities.

                    Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long

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                    Oakman
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #24

                    Chris Austin wrote:

                    I've never been comfortable trading options on commodities.

                    Think about all the guys who bet that oil prices would be at 175 a barrel by now. . . and chuckle.

                    Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                    • C Chris Austin

                      Oakman wrote:

                      I know enough about investing to know I don't know enough about investing.

                      I'm pretty much in the same boat. I was just curios about how you invest in gold/metals since it's something I've been doing for a while and I am always curious to see somebody else's approach. I have a good friend who always gets onto me for buying bullion because he prefers options. I've considered his approach but I've never been comfortable trading options on commodities.

                      Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long

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                      Dan Neely
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #25

                      Unless you're also prepping for teotwawki, in which case options are as worthless as the electrons they're wired on; it probably doesn't make any real difference. :rolleyes:

                      Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

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                      • D Dan Neely

                        Unless you're also prepping for teotwawki, in which case options are as worthless as the electrons they're wired on; it probably doesn't make any real difference. :rolleyes:

                        Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

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                        Oakman
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #26

                        dan neely wrote:

                        Unless you're also prepping for teotwawki

                        I'm depending on Matthew to give us advance warning.

                        Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                        • O Oakman

                          dan neely wrote:

                          Unless you're also prepping for teotwawki

                          I'm depending on Matthew to give us advance warning.

                          Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                          Dan Neely
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #27

                          Oakman wrote:

                          dan neely wrote: Unless you're also prepping for teotwawki I'm depending on Matthew to give us advance warning.

                          How are you planning to differentiate teotwawki from days that end in y? :rolleyes:

                          Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

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                          • D Dan Neely

                            Oakman wrote:

                            dan neely wrote: Unless you're also prepping for teotwawki I'm depending on Matthew to give us advance warning.

                            How are you planning to differentiate teotwawki from days that end in y? :rolleyes:

                            Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

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                            Oakman
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #28

                            dan neely wrote:

                            How are you planning to differentiate teotwawki from days that end in y?

                            On teotwawki, Matthew will be wearing his tinfoil beanie, of course.

                            Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                            • O Oakman

                              dan neely wrote:

                              How are you planning to differentiate teotwawki from days that end in y?

                              On teotwawki, Matthew will be wearing his tinfoil beanie, of course.

                              Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                              Dan Neely
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #29

                              again, how is that different than days that end in y?

                              Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

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                              • O Oakman

                                Nope. We have fiat money.

                                Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                                Vikram A Punathambekar
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #30

                                Great answer :) Seriously, though, how do you say it's just printed off anew and doesn't come from elsewhere?

                                Cheers, Vıkram.


                                "if abusing me makes you a credible then i better give u the chance which didnt get in real" - Adnan Siddiqi.

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                                • V Vikram A Punathambekar

                                  Great answer :) Seriously, though, how do you say it's just printed off anew and doesn't come from elsewhere?

                                  Cheers, Vıkram.


                                  "if abusing me makes you a credible then i better give u the chance which didnt get in real" - Adnan Siddiqi.

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                                  Oakman
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #31

                                  Vikram A Punathambekar wrote:

                                  Seriously, though, how do you say it's just printed off anew and doesn't come from elsewhere?

                                  The Federal Reserve is licensed to print money. That's why paper currency is called Federal Reserve Notes. AFAIK there isn't anyone who has the authority to tell them to stop.

                                  Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                                  • O Oakman

                                    Use your AIG stock for toilet paper, if you haven't already. Bernanke and Paulson just printed up 87 million more dollars in exchange for 80% of a company that should have declared bankruptcy a couple of weeks ago. Strictly speaking the deal won't be annouced until the sun rises over the eastern US, but here's the details Now as soon as they put some red houses on the property they can start charging rent.

                                    Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                                    Bassam Abdul Baki
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #32

                                    Reminds me of a Simpson episode where stocks were used as toilet paper. Where do stocks come from? :doh:


                                    Web - Blog - RSS - Math - BM

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                                    • O Oakman

                                      Use your AIG stock for toilet paper, if you haven't already. Bernanke and Paulson just printed up 87 million more dollars in exchange for 80% of a company that should have declared bankruptcy a couple of weeks ago. Strictly speaking the deal won't be annouced until the sun rises over the eastern US, but here's the details Now as soon as they put some red houses on the property they can start charging rent.

                                      Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                                      jhwurmbach
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #33

                                      Can the USA be called a state-socialistic economy yet? Or would there be the need for yet another part of the finance sector to be socialized? Not that I would object to doing so, its just the staggering contrast to the vocalisations of the (current and future, whatever you elect) neoliberal government...

                                      Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.
                                      Douglas Adams, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"

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                                      • J jhwurmbach

                                        Can the USA be called a state-socialistic economy yet? Or would there be the need for yet another part of the finance sector to be socialized? Not that I would object to doing so, its just the staggering contrast to the vocalisations of the (current and future, whatever you elect) neoliberal government...

                                        Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.
                                        Douglas Adams, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"

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                                        Oakman
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #34

                                        jhwurmbach wrote:

                                        Can the USA be called a state-socialistic economy yet?

                                        When Fannie and Freddie were nationalised, I said it was state socialism, though some folks disagreed quite strongly.

                                        Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                                        • O Oakman

                                          jhwurmbach wrote:

                                          Can the USA be called a state-socialistic economy yet?

                                          When Fannie and Freddie were nationalised, I said it was state socialism, though some folks disagreed quite strongly.

                                          Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

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                                          jhwurmbach
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #35

                                          Oakman wrote:

                                          When Fannie and Freddie were nationalised,

                                          How was that sold, in domestic politics, when the administration had such a strong record of objecting against even the slightest governmental influence on the free flow of the market? Pure double talk and lies. Or, as Chomsky did put it: Noam Chomsky, April 13, 1996: "And the principle of really existing free market theory is: free markets are fine for you, but not for me. That's, again, near a universal. So you -- whoever you may be -- you have to learn responsibility, and be subjected to market discipline, it's good for your character, it's tough love, and so on, and so forth. But me, I need the nanny State, to protect me from market discipline, so that I'll be able to rant and rave about the marvels of the free market, while I'm getting properly subsidized and defended by everyone else, through the nanny State. And also, this has to be risk-free. So I'm perfectly willing to make profits, but I don't want to take risks. If anything goes wrong, you bail me out. So, if Third World debt gets out of control, you socialize it. It's not the problem of the banks that made the money. When the S&Ls collapse, you know, same thing. The public bails them out. When American investment firms get into trouble because the Mexican bubble bursts, you bail out Goldman Sachs." > http://www.chomsky.info/talks/19960413.htm

                                          Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.
                                          Douglas Adams, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"

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