Yeah, I know this isn’t news at this point, but there is a reason why I try to avoid going anywhere near a store on the weekend after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas. It’s not just Black Friday, but the entire season.
In fact, if it were possible to not spend any money at all during this season, I’d likely do my best to do so. Christmas long ago lost its true meaning and became all about mass consumerism.
Regardless of one’s religious beliefs, the Christmas season should be a celebration of life and of family. It should not be about buying stuff.
(CNN) — Three violent deaths in two stores marred the opening of the Christmas shopping season Friday.
In the first, a temporary Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death in a rush of thousands of early morning shoppers as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a Long Island, New York, store at 5 a.m., police said.
In the second, unrelated incident, two men were shot dead in a Toys “R” Us in Palm Desert, California, after they argued in the store, police said.
Back to Wheeler Farm this morning … and I can’t believe it’s the second-last race of the season.
The weather is supposed to be overcast and cool, with temps in the low-to-mid 40s. We got a little bit of rain in the valley the past couple of days which should make the course nice and tacky, without a significant amount of mud. I’m predicting fast times, so hopefully we’ll have another stupid-long course.
Sly should be out there handing out the bills … he says he found $825 in his bag that he didn’t know he had, so there will be lots of cash to go around.
Categories/Times:
1:30 PM (60 Minutes)
Men A (Pro, Semi-pro, Expert, Cat 1, Cat 2,)
Masters Men A 35+ (Fast Old Guys [as opposed to Fat Old Guys, like Flahute]. You know who you are, and so do we. You have been racing your bike for years!)
12:30 PM (45 Minutes)
Women A
Masters Men B 35+
Single Speed (do we need to explain?)
11:45 AM (20 minutes) - ONLY $8.00!!!
Women C (First Season Cross Racers)
Junior Men 10-14 *
Junior Women 10-14 *
Junior 9 & under
* We found that Junior riders aged 15-18 would rather try and beat up on Mom and Dad!!!
10:45 AM (45 Minutes)
Men B
Master Men 45+ Open
9:30 AM (40 Minutes)
Men C (First Timers, Entry Level Racers, Cat 5, Beginner)
» by flahute in: Music on November 2nd, 2008 at 03:41:24 UTC |
TWO GALLANTS - STEADY ROLLIN’
You might have seen me ‘neath the pool hall lights.
Well baby I go back each night.
If you got a throat I got a knife.
Steady rollin’, I keep goin’.
I don’t mind how quick the seasons change.
You know to me they’s every one the same.
The sweetest sunshine drips the drain.
Death’s comin’, I’m still runnin’.
Well I come from the old time baby,
too late for you to save me.
If I remain then I’m to blame.
But if you should ever need me,
I’ll go where’er you lead me.
It’s all the same, the same old game.
My lovin’ lady she’s a ball and chain.
I still can travel but my speed has changed.
I bring the money, I take the blame.
Steady rollin’, I keep goin’.
But I shot my wife today,
dropped her body in the Frisco bay.
I had no choice it was the only way.
Death’s comin’, I’m still runnin’.
Well I come from the old time baby,
too late for you to save me.
If I remain then I’m to blame.
But if you should ever need me,
I’ll go where’er you lead me.
It’s all the same, the same old game.
Out waltzin’ with the Holy Ghost,
from the Bowery to the Barbary Coast.
The land I’m from you know I love the most.
Steady rollin’, I keep goin’.
And everyday is just another town.
The more I search you know the less I’ve found.
Me, I’m a sucker, just a slave to sound.
Death’s comin’, I’m still runnin’.
Well I come from the old town baby,
where all the kids are crazy.
If I remain then I’m to blame.
But if you should ever need me,
I’ll go where’er you lead me.
It’s all the same, the same old game.
A-train railing against free-market realities. Okay, so it’s not truly a free market, but there are limits to what banks receiving funds under TARP can do; limits designed to protect the American taxpayer as a senior investor (the investments are in preferred securities after all), whilst not placing excessive limits on free-market flexibility for the banks to make money.
Making direct investments by buying preferred securities which must pay an annual 5% dividend for the first 3 years, and then an annual 9% dividend thereafter, and effectively leaving the rest of the program to the free-market is a bad thing? Preventing golden parachutes for the top-5 executives is a bad thing? Paying performance-based bonuses to the bankers that actually bring business IN to the firm, generating revenue and profit to enable the firm to continue is a bad thing?
Would people prefer that the bankers leave and start hedge-funds instead, thus ensuring that TARP fails and the American taxpayer does not get paid back?
I love how the important paragraphs in the story that retreat from the headline and indicate that things aren’t quite as extreme the headline makes them sound are buried deep within the story, which most people won’t read from start to finish.
The rescue legislation included some limits on executive compensation. And it does not allow institutions receiving the money to increase dividends. Lazear said that Treasury officials will make sure those requirements are met.
But he also suggested that the government would go no further in placing conditions on banks in the program. Lazear said that to do so may hamper their voluntary participation, and may also dampen the kind of free-market flexibility the administration believes will work best to get credit moving again. The first checks moved out to big banks this week.
Instead, he said that incentives in the program as well as free-market realities will result in the program’s success. For instance, the law requires that banks pay “quite significant dividends” to the government, meaning they have every reason to start lending again to make the kind of money necessary to both make a profit and to pay back Washington. The law requires a quarterly 5 percent dividend to the government that increases to 9 percent after three years.
On executive pay, she said that participating banks are complying with the law’s requirements. Under the law, an executive who receives a bonus based on false financial statements must repay it. The law also says that “golden parachutes” are not available for the top five executives of a company.
At least the Wall Street Journal puts the important information front and center:
Wall Street is waking up to the political tempest over billions of dollars in year-end bonuses likely to be paid out at securities firms lining up for government infusions, top executives are in discussions to possibly cap their own compensation, according to people familiar with the situation.
While the discussions remain fluid and many details still must be agreed to, the talks underscore an emerging consensus among some of the securities industry’s most powerful executives that the escalating pay controversy is creating yet another public-relations mess for Wall Street.
“There are going to be some people in the financial-services industry who will show real leadership here and recognize the reality of the situation,” one senior Wall Street official said.
And as Wall Street firms examine their pay and bonuses, distinctions are being made between the highest-ranking executives and lower-level traders and investment bankers who aren’t widely known beyond Wall Street but could get plucked away by rival firms if compensation practices are significantly altered.
As a result, the most likely scenario in the firm-by-firm discussions is a sharp decline in compensation for chief executive officers, but fewer changes in how bonuses are paid to most employees, according to a person familiar with the matter.
» by flahute in: Music on October 19th, 2008 at 23:00:57 UTC |
BLACK EYED PEAS - WHERE IS THE LOVE?
What’s wrong with the world, mama
People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that’ll bring you trauma
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin’
In the USA, the big CIA
The Bloods and the Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you’re bound to get irate, yeah
Madness is what you demonstrate
And that’s exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love, y’all, y’all
People killin’, people dyin’,
Children hurt can you hear them cryin’?
Can you practice what you preach?
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love (Love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love
The love, the love?
It just ain’t the same, always unchanged
New days are strange, is the world insane
If love and peace is so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don’t belong
Nations droppin’ bombs
Chemical gasses fillin’ lungs of little ones
With ongoin’ sufferin’ as the youth die young
So ask yourself is the lovin’ really gone
So I could ask myself really what is goin’ wrong
In this world that we livin’ in people keep on givin’ in
Makin’ wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin’ each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin’ on but the reason’s undercover
The truth is kept secret, it’s swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love
Where’s the love, y’all, come on (I don’t know)
Where’s the truth, y’all, come on (I don’t know)
Where’s the love, y’all
People killin’, people dyin’,
Children hurt can you hear them cryin’?
Can you practice what you preach?
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love (Love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love
The love, the love?
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I’m gettin’ older, y’all, people gets colder
Most of us only care about money makin’
Selfishness got us followin’ the wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema
Yo, whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead in spreading love we spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity
That’s the reason why sometimes I’m feelin’ under
That’s the reason why sometimes I’m feelin’ down
There’s no wonder why sometimes I’m feelin’ under
Gotta keep my faith alive ’til love is found
Now ask yourself
Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love?
Sing with me y’all
One world, one world
(We only got) One world, one world
(That’s all we got) One world, one world
And something’s wrong wit it (Yeah)
Something’s wrong wit it (Yeah)
Something’s wrong wit the wo-wo-world, yeah
We only got (One world, one world)
That’s all we got (One world, one world)
This week was totally unreal. Over the course of the past 6 weeks, since the beginning of September, I have lost over 50% of my net-worth; almost all of which is in my retirement plan.
On the other hand, I have been averaging my cost-basis down in Morgan Stanley, picking up another 150 shares yesterday, and I think about 350 shares today … so I now hold about 1050 shares altogether. A year ago, my 500-ish shares was worth about $33,000.00 … my now 1050-ish shares is worth about $10,000.00.
I still find it hard to believe that Morgan Sanley has lost about 85% of its value per share in that time … and our share price is now about 41% of our book value. Yep, we’re selling for 41-cents on the dollar of our actual value.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average capped the worst week in its 112-year history with its most volatile day ever, as hopes for a major international bank-rescue plan were overwhelmed at day’s end by another wave of selling.
Some investors who normally would be jumping to buy beaten-down stocks after a 22% decline over eight trading days said the relentless declines have left them shell-shocked and unwilling to take new risks. Some spent the day trying to protect themselves from further declines.
The Dow fell 697 points shortly after the opening bell, and remained down most of the day. It surged to a 322-point advance less than half an hour before the close. Investors stampeded into bank stocks as reports circulated that the Group of Seven leading industrial countries were going to agree on a plan to rescue major banks, and that Morgan Stanley had been assured that it would receive funding from a Japanese bank. Hopes briefly blossomed that the worst might finally be over.
And then thing started plowing their way back down again. On the other hand:
Morgan Stanley’s stock has dropped 20% after falling as much as 35%. It is trading at around $9.50 each share. Moody’s is threatening a downgrade. People are nervous.
Should they be?
Deal Journal set out to find out. Morgan Stanley filed its third-quarter 10-K last night. The highlights of the filing show that the bank is not in trouble — or at least, it certainly was not at the end of the third quarter. Deal Journal took a look at some measures of Morgan Stanley’s health, and whether they improved or became sickly.
For now, the deal with Mitsubishi UFJ is still on:
Spokesmen for both Morgan Stanley and Mitsubishi UFJ reiterated on Friday that the deal is set to be completed by Tuesday. There has been speculation in recent days that the transaction could fall apart as the deepening credit crisis makes financial companies even more vulnerable.
Mitsubishi UFJ agreed to pay $6 billion for preferred stock and $3 billion for common stock at a value of $25.25 apiece. That’s 50% more than Thursday’s closing price.
Pressure on Friday also stemmed from concerns that Morgan Stanley’s counter-parties and trading partners could lose confidence and pull their business. That’s one of the reasons Lehman and Bear Stearns were unable to survive, but Morgan Stanley might be in a bit better shape.
The investment bank has about $900 billion of assets and an equity market value of about $8 billion, and is still considered to be one of the world’s most well-capitalized investment banks. A research report from Barclays Capital said Morgan Stanley has between $100 billion and $115 billion of liquid reserves.
And, rumor does have it that Morgan Stanley will be one of the first beneficiaries of the Treasury’s program to purchase equity stakes in banks to help inject more capital into the system.
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said Friday that the government would move ahead with a plan to buy stock in financial institutions in an effort to unfreeze the credit markets and resuscitate the economy, and it came at the end of the worst week that Wall Street had ever seen.
“We can solve this crisis,” President Bush said in an address at the Rose Garden on Friday.
Mr. Paulson made his comment shortly after he and the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, Ben Bernanke, met with the finance heads of the world’s major economies in Washington and promised to work together to try to ease the financial crisis that roiled the markets for the last week.
Although the Wall Street Journal is still raising some doubts.
Morgan Stanley is valued at about $10.3 billion, after its shares plunged 22% on Friday. Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has agreed to pay $9 billion for what was a 21% stake when the deal was announced last month.
The stock’s freefall during the past four weeks leaves Morgan Stanley facing what it is likely to be the most fateful weekend in the investment bank’s 73-year-history. Doubts that the MUFG deal will be completed by Tuesday are haunting Morgan Stanley, despite repeated assertions from both sides that it will go through.
A person familiar with the matter said Friday that Morgan Stanley isn’t renegotiating the terms of its deal. But that could change as MUFG officials pore over Morgan Stanley’s books in New York this weekend and government officials meet in Washington about finding a way out of the global financial crisis.
All in all, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens over the weekend, and how we start off the week on Monday.
Hopefully, it’s not just blind faith on my part, but I actually think that Morgan Stanley will make it through this crisis okay … bloody and bruised, but not out of the game … obviously, our business model is going to be different than it has been for the past 73 years; but change can be a really good thing.
» by flahute in: Music on October 7th, 2008 at 03:35:04 UTC |
ANTI-FLAG - ONE TRILLION DOLLARS
One trillion dollars could buy a lot of bling
One trillion dollars could buy most anything
One trillion dollars buying bullets, buying guns
One trillion dollars in the hands of killers, thugs
Woah-oh-oh woah-oh woah-oh-oh-oh
Fuck the world a lot of people gotta die tonight
Woah-oh-oh woah-oh woah-oh
Fuck the world
Fuck ‘em all
One trillion dollars in Africa, Iraq
One trillion dollars and it’s never coming back
One trillion dollars could buy some bad ass drugs
One trillion dollars makes me wanna kill myself
Woah-oh-oh woah-oh woah-oh-oh-oh
Fuck the world a lot of people gotta die tonight
Woah-oh-oh woah-oh woah-oh
Fuck the world, yeah, yeah
Fuck ‘em all
Until the sun burns from the sky
Until the sun burns so bright this world is no more
Sun burns from the sky…
And all the people are just dust on the ground
One trillion dollars could buy a heart, a soul
One trillion dollars buying nations … all the world
One trillion dollars could make the fat ladies sing
One trillion dollars, what a bullshit useless thing
Woah-oh-oh woah-oh woah-oh-oh-oh
Fuck the world a lot of people gotta die tonight
Woah-oh-oh woah-oh woah-oh-oh-oh
Fuck the world a lot of people gotta die tonight
Woah-oh-oh woah-oh woah-oh-oh-oh
Shit loads of money spent will show us wrong from right
Fuck the world
Fuck ‘em all.
@neilkod I do back-office operations work for a brokerage firm. Liaison between the branches and various processing depts. in reply to neilkod7 hrs ago
Back to work today ... am I looking forward to it? No, but it likely means I'll be tweeting more, so all y'all get to enjoy my presence! 9 hrs ago
