Showing posts with label finance reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label finance reform. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Betcha THIS doesn't show up in the mainstream media...

...Not enough gloom & doom.

"Banks' repayments of TARP preferred stock and warrants continue to turn a profit for the U.S. Treasury Department, according to analysis by SNL Financial.

As of March 30, the government has made an 8.5% annualized return on the 49 companies that have exited the Capital Purchase Program and the Target Investment Program, which was created to provide additional funding to Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. SNL defines "exiting" the programs as completely redeeming the preferred stock and repurchasing the warrants. Institutions that had their warrants auctioned by the Treasury are also considered to have exited the programs, as are institutions that declared bankruptcy.

The proceeds from both TARP warrant repurchases and auctions have largely fueled the profitability of the programs. The redemptions of the preferred shares alone generally only provide the government a 5% return, which comes from the dividends. American Express Co.'s and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s warrant repurchases in July 2009 helped create some of the largest annualized company returns at 23.3% and 20.0%, respectively. According to Linus Wilson, a finance professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Goldman Sachs' warrant represented one of the best deals for the American taxpayer, as reported by Bloomberg News on July 22, 2009. Wilson said that based on his calculations, Goldman Sachs paid 98% of the value of the warrants.

Overall, 64 institutions have fully redeemed their preferred stock issued under TARP. Of those, 39 have repurchased warrants, while seven have had their warrants auctioned by the Treasury. In sum, institutions that have exited the programs, plus those 18 that have fully redeemed their TARP preferred stock but still have their warrants held by the Treasury, returned 7.6%, as of March 30."


Full story here.

Wonder if this is going to help Goldman Sachs get themselves out of the fire they built for themselves...

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Could I have a show of hands AGAINST finance reform?

This from the Huffington Post:
Goldman Sachs put its own interests ahead of its clients in trying to profit off the souring housing market of 2007, documents released Monday show.

The firm, which had profited handsomely off packaging and selling securitized subprime home mortgages to investors during the housing boom, switched directions in early 2007, furiously shedding its home mortgage-linked risk and buying as much insurance as it could, effectively shorting the market throughout the year -- a move that netted the firm "billions and billions" at the expense of its clients, according to the documents released by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

"Goldman Sachs made billions of dollars from betting against the housing market, and it placed those bets in some cases at the same time it was selling mortgage-related securities to its clients," said the committee's chairman, Carl Levin (D-Mich.). "They have a lot to answer for."

Goldman says it always puts its clients' interest first. It's a position the firm has stuck by as Levin's investigation has produced emails and internal documents apparently showing otherwise.


Despite the fact that 67% of the American public favors action to reform the financial markets, Republicans in the Senate voted UNANIMOUSLY yesterday to prevent such a bill even being discussed on the floor of the Senate. Ironically, these same senators, who were VERY loud in proclaiming (about healthcare reform) how "we should not go against the will of the American People", have now voted against a 67% majority...is there any more doubt that the GOP is aligned with corporate interests, AGAINST the American Public?

It's worth pointing out that, prior to FDR and the New Deal, we had unregulated financial markets, and a "panic" every 20-30 years: 1797; 1819;1837(followed by a 5-year depression); 1857 (full effect didn't let up until the Civil War) 1873 (followed by a 6 -year depression);1893 (3-year depression); 1907, and 1929(perhaps you've heard of that one...).
Then came Franklin Roosevelt, and common-sense market reforms. There was not a major financial crisis in the USA from 1934 until the 1980's, when, under Reagan, moves were made to deregulate the financial industry. Then in the mid-late '80s, we had the S&L crisis/scandal, and in 2008 - well, you know.

Hmmm...crisis every 20-30 years (deregulated), or steady growth with no panic (regulated)? Seems the GOP likes the former...