Through the Looking Glass: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/todd-harrison-stock-market-economy-financial/12/8/2010/id/31559

Actions do speak louder than words,
It's time to end the game.
For the sake of all of our children

With that said, the DNA of global financial markets has changed. While the stateside averages are higher, the measuring stick (greenback) is lower, a fact not lost on foreign holders of dollar denominated assets. While they're swallowing austerity measures and digesting upward taxation, they look across the pond to see more "extend and pretend" by our elected leaders. And you wonder why social mood is shifting so quickly? (See: Will QE2 Trigger War Games?)

At the end of the day, we must ask ourselves an honest question: If the capital markets need an IV drip from the government to stay afloat -- or if the financial industry remains one FASB 187 accounting change away from technical insolvency -- how will that dormant toxicity and ever-expanding largesse manifest as we edge ahead?

We can only assess the forward spectrum and proactively position for what’s to come.

Conventional Wisdom: The Financial Crisis Is Over

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/todd-harrison-financial-crisis-headlines-stock/12/3/2010/id/31484

Point received, on a touchdown pass!

Old School Minyans know we don’t “do” acrimony in these parts. As my grandfather used to say, “Take the high road; it’s less crowded and has a better view.” Still, once in a while an item screams across our screens and it merits attention. Yesterday afternoon, one of those moments arrived.

Banking analyst Dick Bove openly offered that the financial crisis is “officially” over. While he correctly qualified his remarks by saying that “the only entity that needs this money any longer is the United States Government
,” the headline was too juicy to let slide by.

Insider's Take on the Insider Trading Scandal

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/insider-trading-todd-harrison-wall-street/11/23/2010/id/31300

I hear what Todd is saying, BUT and it's a big but to.
The world's taxpayers is continuously having to sign on the dotted line for the repayment responsibility for all the woes of Wall Street.
Do you know how you rid of termites?
You tent the house and fumigate it.
So we either shut the markets down and clean house properly in every nook and cranny or we deal with the riot.
I realise your profession of trade would be on hold, for as long as it takes to flush the fraud, but hey as far as an outsider can see regarding the picture that's come to light, there are no corners and no boundaries of borders, for the entire financial system.
As your so fond of saying, as well as a spiritual lesson of my own, learned long ago,
One must look at both sides of the coin.
Perspective is an interesting thing, as well the many degrees there are of it.
Have you yourself taken sustenance from the taxpayer's table, as an uninvited guest?


The easiest thing in the world to do is say "Wall Street
is evil" and throw every hedge fund under the bus.

I’ve read a lot of news reports overnight and virtually every one of them adopted the same populist cry. I even saw Inspector Kemp interviewed on this topic, where he said, and I quote, “A riot is an ungly thing... undt, I tink, that it is chust about time ve had vun!”

Earth to Matilda -- not all hedge funds are evil. The majority of the industry is comprised of good people making honest livings, or at least they were considered honest when free market capitalism had a positive connotation.

Don’t get me wrong; if someone crossed a legal line, throw the book at them and demand restitution but let's not try the industry in the court of public opinion and assume they’re all criminals. That's misplaced anger and endemic of a broader shift in social mood

Beware of the unintended consequences of Wall Street reform

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/


Sometimes "The Cancer" has to be cut out, because just taking "the drugs" won't fix it.
In the case of Wall Street, "The drugs" are only effective in mildly retarding "The Cancers" growth.
"The Cancer" lives and still grows because of the corrupt system that houses it.
It lives within the bone marrow of the world's governments, hidden by the skin, that only shows the Corporate melanoma.
Right now, whats happening with reform, will only serve as Chemo to eradicate the "skin cancer", without a complete "bone marrow transplant" in "completely sterile conditions" "the Cancer" no matter what we do, will continue to thrive.

In light of last week's 'flash crash', the European debt crisis, and the ongoing battle over U.S. financial regulation reform, policymakers around the world have found no shortage of ‘solutions’ for fixing the market and global capitalism.

“I'm concerned about free market capitalism, continuing to be free market capitalism, if we can even say that still exists anymore,” says Todd Harrison, CEO and founder of Minyanville.com.