BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com BloggingStocks http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/media/feedlogo.gif BloggingStocks http://www.bloggingstocks.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Before releasing the next $350 billion, what happened to the first?]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/01/13/before-releasing-the-next-350-billion-what-happened-to-the-fir/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/01/13/before-releasing-the-next-350-billion-what-happened-to-the-fir/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/01/13/before-releasing-the-next-350-billion-what-happened-to-the-fir/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

When Hank Paulson scared Congress into passing the Troubled Asset Relief Plan (TARP) last fall, he said that it would be used to buy toxic waste from banks. That never happened. All we know is that $350 billion of our taxpayer money is gone and that most of it went to banks and a bit to the auto industry. What are they doing with our money? How is the government measuring the success of TARP? Is it helping? Until we get those answers, we should not allow more good money to be thrown after bad.

What we have now is a bunch of talk. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) said "Without the first TARP, we may have a Dow at 4,000 right now and the economy in an absolutely free fall." Thanks Kent -- I'd like to see your proof for that claim. Why not Dow 400? Progress on finding out what happened to the money is coming from Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) who got Treasury to cough up contracts between the government and 10 financial institutions -- by threatening a subpoena.

Continue reading Before releasing the next $350 billion, what happened to the first?

Before releasing the next $350 billion, what happened to the first? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>barack obamaBarackObamaCARL LEVINCarlLevinHenry PaulsonHenryPaulsoninthenewsKent ConradKentConradobamaTARPTreasuryTue, 13 Jan 2009 09:48:00 EST<![CDATA[Bond rating firms to face greater scrutiny]]>http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/11/20/bond-rating-firms-to-face-greater-scrutiny/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/11/20/bond-rating-firms-to-face-greater-scrutiny/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/11/20/bond-rating-firms-to-face-greater-scrutiny/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Both the SEC and Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation want greater scrutiny of bond rating agencies and their role in the current financial meltdown. The Wall Street Journal reports today that the Senate subcommittee is set to begin an investigation focusing on whether competition among bond-rating agencies led to the issuance of misleading ratings so they could win lucrative contracts from investment banks selling these securities. The SEC wants to crackdown on this possible conflict of interest and is considering rules that would deal with conflicts of interest at bond rating agencies.

Senator Norm Coleman, ranking member of the subcommittee, told the Journal, "We're going to look at the root causes of this, looking at whether the inherent conflict clouded the judgment of these agencies. Somebody missed something here. Was it because of the complexity or was it in the zeal to make money?"

Even if the fault of the errors lie in the complexity of the product, the bond rating agencies still failed everyone who depends on them for making investment decisions. The bond rating agencies should not rate something they find too complex to competently rate. Unfortunately, by doing so they destroyed everyone's trust in their competency to rate securities in the future. Obviously, they were just looking to make the bucks with very little concern for the people who depended on their abilities to rate bonds.

Continue reading Bond rating firms to face greater scrutiny

Bond rating firms to face greater scrutiny originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bond rating agenciesBondRatingAgenciescarl levinCarlLevininthenewsnorm colemanNormColemanSECThu, 20 Nov 2008 15:44:00 EST