Want to understand Wall Street crises before the next one? Then, look again at 2008 -- please!

Renew America ^ | 5/8/2010 | Arlen Williams

[Larry Lucido]

Apparently, you have a blog of some kind. Never heard of it. But, you are ostensibly a writer. And you seem to be in possession of news that you think we all need to know.

Suggestion: How about writing a detailed but concise article about it, and posting the entire article here (you should label it a vanity, of course). I mean, you are trying to help FR readers, right? As opposed to, say, redirecting them away from FR, right?

At the end of the article, you can post a direct link to a youtube video or to your blog. If we’re really impressed, we might navigate to that to see what other gems you may have written. If not, we’ll simply ignore future vanities from you.

Now, get going! There is great writing to be done!

[SonOfDarkSkies]

I got out of the market back on Jan 19th, thinking it was unsupported by economic fundamentals.

I will admit that the rally of Mar and Apr had me flummoxed but last week'S crash brought things back in line with expectations.

I am curious about your opinion of where the economy stands at present.

I don't see a recovery, unless it is a weak one...and think the jobs numbers last week are completely artificial.

As to the stock market, I wouldn't get near it at all unless I saw the chance to make a quick profit on options (with a VERY TINY amount of capital at risk).

[SonOfDarkSkies]

Well worth waiting til you get home.

The videos are short but will definitely open your eyes.

[1rudeboy]

Gotta' love some guy who starts his cartoon, "If you don't understand this, watch it again." I should send him a Flash Player 10 manual and tell him to read it, and if it is not understood, to read it again.

Bear Stearns was going down: it doesn't matter if the German torpedo hit the hold where munitions were stored (as some historians allege--don't remember if conclusively), the RMS Lusitania was destined for the bottom.

(That the Federal Government tried to keep the Lusitania afloat is a different issue altogether).

[flushing_kenny]

Sorry. I left bear stearns in 2005 and was at Lehman when it fell. Even in 2004, we were making fun of the sub-prime garbage Bear was spinning into deals. Yes it was hasty, but the brokerage side was complaining about the leverage many months before the fall, and the one member of the board who did the same was soon removed.

Lehman was playing games with its books at least 3 quarters before its bankruptcy. The FT had a great series on how only 1 law firm in the UK would sign off on the derivatives Lehman used to move liabilities off the books. On the floor, people were snickering in July when the CFo, Erin Callan, said we didn’t need support.

The shorts didn’t kill these firms, the arrogance of management did. Sorry, but Lehman at the very least deserved worse. Between Archstone and the sub-prime loans, LEH was a zombie by the spring.

[Walmartian]

Thanks, unspun. These videos do a very good service explaining the process. The use of fractal design was very appropriate in understanding this massive network. The small investor doesn't have a chance anymore being at the end of the fractal. I've been thinking more and more about vintage guitar investments as a result of the hanky panky going on on Wall Street.

[ChocChipCookie]

I am tired of being told that I have to watch some video. This has become pervasive on the internet. I just want the facts mam, just the facts in a few lines of text.

I agree!

[Toddsterpatriot]

This video presents how Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers were destroyed by massive naked short selling attacks.

Oh please. It was a run on the bank. When you borrow overnight to finance highly leveraged bond positions and the bonds start to tank and your lenders refused to roll over your loans, it doesn't matter if anyone is shorting your stock (naked or otherwise), your firm is going to fail.

[mad_as_he$$]

I went cash on 10-15-2007. Yes the recent run up has been painful but I am not in a position to stay on the market even hourly so I made a choice. Do not regret it.

As far as the economy I think the rest of the world is catching up to us. There will be more countries that “fail” and soon. Public sentiment runs 6 months behind the reality. The fact that more people applied for jobs etc in April tells me they are buying 0pium about the economy being better. I still think the market is poised to collapse again and have for sometime.

[21stCenturion]

...

[unspun]

FreeRepublic.com is not the world. Don’t be lazy. Heed what you have been told and view the videos. (Or, go ask everyone who wants to get something through you, to reiterate it, precisely for you to read, in your chosen fashion, here. Why even use email? Just ask people to log in and FReepmail you.)

FreeRepublic.com and I have offered you links.

FreeRepublic.com, however, does not accept the formatting, either for the video embeds, or for the way what I wrote is placed on the page, either in Investigating Obama, or in FreeRepubilc.com supported RenewAmerica.com.

Also, the producer of this video did not make it for FreeRepublic.com to publish. He made it, to be put in his blog, to be in YouTube, and to be available to technology that supports YouTube videos — including the aforementioned sites into which I publish.

[CodeToad]

The markets are HIGHLY manipulated. Firms with billions to move can crash or make a stock simply by buying or selling.

[humblegunner]

FreeRepublic.com, however, does not accept the formatting, either for the video embeds, or for the way what I wrote is placed on the page, either in Investigating Obama, or in FreeRepubilc.com supported RenewAmerica.com.

Blah blah blah.

Look, I can make it work just fine!

Hedge Funds and the Global Economic Meltdown (Part 1)

See? No need to draw traffic elsewhere.

[unspun]

Thanks, unspun. These videos do a very good service explaining the process. The use of fractal design was very appropriate in understanding this massive network. The small investor doesn't have a chance anymore being at the end of the fractal. I've been thinking more and more about vintage guitar investments as a result of the hanky panky going on on Wall Street.

Well said. During economic collapses, collectibles depreciate, but you never know. I suggest maintaining assets that are either productive (right down to a garden) or liquid.

[investigateworld]

A nickel for your thoughts?

[unspun]

If you don't quite "understand" the hedge fund problem, then please take a few minutes and go through the videos at RenewAmerica and InvestigatingObama. I picked them up also at The Patriot's Flag. We've got to get people to SEE what is happening. Unfortunately, "finance" is a boring subject, so to get peoples' attention on this one will take some effort. But in the end, when they reach for their billfold and it is not there, then it will be too late. I'll be keeping up the breaking links at The Patriot's Flag so folks can get to the information quickly, all summarized.

Good, thanks, please keep getting the word out. I also suggest you see the next item I've put in Investigating Obama, from Gerald Celente.

[unspun]

Excellent explanatory videos!

To people who complain about having to watch the videos instead of being able to read a short synopsis, I would say that this is a complicated issue and is best explained with graphics. And the graphics in the videos are quite clear and communicative.

BTW, I wonder if the activity in the Proctor and Gamble shares last week was the result of a manipulator using naked short selling to significant reduce its share price in the market. The PG activity was not remotely comparable to what happened to Bear Stearns, but its volume and price activity stood out noticeably in the crash last week.

Indeed. "Watch and pray." The new items about the Chicago trading location regarding P&G are interesting. As it stands, investing in stocks is leaving one's money open to theives, IMHV.

[unspun]

From what I can tell at this point P&G did not seem to have a large short pressure. There were however about 12 -20 stocks that had been loaded up to collapse - the most notable being 3m. I think the stage was set with these stocks and P&G was the trigger. If you look at the charts 3m collapsed after about two minutes. Then the other stocks on both the NYSE and the NASDAQ melted. Some are thinly traded and easily moved with massive short selling. I think you are a fool or a gambler if you are still in the market. That said there is massive downward pressure on the market and the people that try and prop it up clearly were outgunned last week.

Thanks for the information.

[unspun]

Blah blah blah. Look, I can make it work just fine! Hedge Funds and the Global Economic Meltdown (Part 1) See? No need to draw traffic elsewhere.

I do not write what I write, for FReepers to read it. I communicate with those willing to be communicated with and invite FReepers, along the way. Take it or leave it.

Or, should Aaron Klein, Jerome Coursi, Jack Cashill, etc. post all their books for you, in FR?

[unspun]

Sorry. I left bear stearns in 2005 and was at Lehman when it fell. Even in 2004, we were making fun of the sub-prime garbage Bear was spinning into deals. Yes it was hasty, but the brokerage side was complaining about the leverage many months before the fall, and the one member of the board who did the same was soon removed.

Lehman was playing games with its books at least 3 quarters before its bankruptcy. The FT had a great series on how only 1 law firm in the UK would sign off on the derivatives Lehman used to move liabilities off the books. On the floor, people were snickering in July when the CFo, Erin Callan, said we didn’t need support.

The shorts didn’t kill these firms, the arrogance of management did. Sorry, but Lehman at the very least deserved worse. Between Archstone and the sub-prime loans, LEH was a zombie by the spring.

Thank you for your contribution. One truth, when it does not obviate a second truth, presents aspects of the same truth, when they are seen together.

As I stated in the article, naked short selling was not the only factor. However, this does show how money in the stock exchanges is vulnerable to mega-criminal thievery, whether from dishonest C-levels and boards of directors, or from inside or outside manipulators, or both.

And whomever is guilty of what, at what stage, the stockholder is the victim of the theft, not just another trader taking a market risk.