Poster’s Paradise

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNQRfBAzSzo

By Caroline Salas

The exterior of the New York Stock Exchange

July 31 (Bloomberg) — On Wall Street, Bear Stearns Cos., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., are as good as junk.

Bonds of U.S. investment banks lost about $1.5 billion of their face value this month as the risk of owning the securities increased the most since at least October 2004, according to Merrill indexes. Prices of credit-default swaps based on the debt imply that their credit ratings are below investment grade, data compiled by Moody’s Investors Service show.

The highest level of defaults in 10 years on subprime mortgages and a $33 billion pileup of unsold bonds and loans for funding acquisitions are driving investors away from debt of the New York-based securities firms. Concerns about credit quality may get worse because banks promised to provide $300 billion in debt for leveraged buyouts announced this year.

“The market is being driven by fear,” said Mark Kiesel, who oversees $80 billion of corporate debt at Newport Beach, California-based Pacific Investment Management Co., manager of the world’s biggest bond fund.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aKsqEJVi3TZc&refer=home

Macquarie Says Fortress Funds Value May Fall 25%

Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) — Macquarie Bank Ltd., Australia’s largest securities firm, said investors in some of its high-yield funds may lose as much as 25 percent of their money amid the fallout in U.S. subprime mortgages. The bank’s stock slumped.

Macquarie Fortress Investments Ltd. was forced to sell assets and use the proceeds to reduce borrowings and comply with lending covenants, it said in a statement. Investors in notes from Sydney-based Fortress may lose A$300 million ($255 million), the Australian newspaper reported earlier.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahMhkiRGaITo&refer=home

“The fund also has less than 0.5% of its assets in subprime securities. Most of the assets are higher-rated mortgage-related securities.”

Note: the mortgage monster has completely spread to prime IMO.  How many more funds does Bear Stearns have that are in trouble?  This news is going to kill the financials and probably SM in general tomorrow.  Big down day is my guess.  Pick a short and go with it..

NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - MGIC Investment Corp. (MTG.N: Quote, Profile, Research), a mortgage insurer, said on Monday that it could be forced to write down the entire value of a $516 million investment it has made in a venture which invests in the credit risk of subprime residential mortgages.

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN3044635320070730?rpc=44

CNN Money is reporting Fund manager’s fun sailing away.

Hedge fund manager [John Devaney] whose fund ran into trouble from the sell-off in securities backed by subprime mortgages is having to put his huge yacht up for sale, seeking $23.5 million.

John Devaney, the CEO of United Capital Markets, a fund that specializes in buying and selling bonds that are backed by the mortgage payments, particularly adjustable rate subprime mortgages, has put his 142-foot yacht “Positive Carry” up for sale, according to a yacht broker’s Web site.

Devaney’s fund has run into trouble lately. A spokesman for the firm told Reuters on July 3 that it had stopped honoring request from some of its investors for redemptions, or withdrawal, of investments.

Devaney told Money magazine this spring that despite problems that the loans cause for borrowers, the assets backed by them provided a good return for his fund.

“The consumer has to be an idiot to take on those loans,” he said. “But it has been one of our best-performing investments.”

But with rising delinquency and default rates in the sector, investors have been scared away from the assets lately, hitting those like Devaney who made a big bet on the investment.

According to the yacht broker’s listing, the yacht has accommodations for 10 passengers in its five staterooms, along with space for a crew of seven. Its amenities include his and her baths in the master suite, and four guest bathrooms with Jacuzzi tubs and showers and cherry wood interior throughout.

It has two 2,250-horsepower engines and a range of 3,500 nautical miles.

The New York Post reported Monday that Devaney is also seeking to sell a home in Aspen for $16.5 million.

“It’s mind-boggling,” said Bradley Alford, a former investment manager at the Duke University endowment who runs Atlanta-based money-management firm Alpha Capital Management LLC. “This last week, the velocity of losses has picked up dramatically. The models work when they look at history, but not when history is all new.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aM7OYe1srRag&refer=us

By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch

Last Update: 7:36 PM ET Jul 31, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Another Bear Stearns hedge fund has been hit by turmoil in the mortgage market.

The $850 million Bear Stearns Asset-Backed Securities Fund has suspended investor redemptions and expects losses in July. During the first half of 2007, the fund was up roughly 5%.

“There are no plans to shut down the fund,” Bear Stearns (BSC :  spokesman Russell Sherman said in a statement late Tuesday.

“The fund portfolio is well positioned to wait out the market uncertainty. And we believe by suspending redemptions, we can ensure the best long term results for our investors,” he added. “We don’t believe it’s prudent or in the interest of our investors to sell assets in this current market environment.”

Bear Stearns has already been hit by the near-total collapse of two other hedge funds it runs. Those funds lost roughly $1.5 billion earlier this year after leveraged bets in subprime mortgage securities and other credit instruments went awry. See full story.

The Bear Stearns Asset-Backed Securities Fund isn’t leveraged, which means there’s little pressure for the fund to sell positions. The fund also has less than 0.5% of its assets in subprime securities. Most of the assets are higher-rated mortgage-related securities.

Bear Stearns shares slipped 2.7% to $117.98 in light volume during after-hours trading on Tuesday.

www.freedomworks.org/strawpoll/

    I might be able to meet in Reno whenever Ron Paul is there also.  Iam in central Idaho.  Everytime I wear my Ron Paul t shirt I get questions about who he is and what he stands for. I am running into more people who knows him as time goes on.

The only reason I posted “Uh… oh” when NAK stopped trading is because of the fact that I sold yesterday.  I suspect that the news is good and did not mean to imply that something was wrong with the company.   Rio Tinto through an affiliate upped their ante in the company about a month ago.

I have been into Roca bigtime since last summer at around .65. I actually did a mine visit last December. Production is just around the corner and I have a really good feeling about their deep drilling that is going on right now.

lately about SKI.  Sounds good.

So you into Moly?  Have any AUA or PBX?

Actually has been darn accurate of late.  We have a  chance at the true bull if we can back and fill testing last Friday’s low through the end of the week.  If not the true bull we have a chance at an intermediate high running through the month of August.   Right now we are in limbo, lets see what the rest of the week brings.

banksters?  I thought they were part of the cartel?

 IMF gold trading rule changes set to boost the gold price

http://www.ameinfo.com/108894.html

Breaking news!

EUROPEANS HEIGHTEN THREAT LEVELS

I also here tell that the Chinese are building a brand new navy, equipped with the latest weapons technolegy, capable of putting out huge bonfires of dollars and treasury notes.

Glad to here that you were able to see Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. Two of the ‘must see’ sights in the American west. You will have to start looking for those blueberry bushes along side of the road, worth stopping for a few, hard to stop with a ‘few’ though.

Cheers
Dusty

did he pack it in?

When and where is Ron Paul going to be in Reno?  Might be able to meet you there.  I’m just up the road in Oregon and want to see and support him in person somewhere.  In the meantime, I’m satisfied by talking him up and handing out bumperstickers to those who ask when they see mine, “Who’s Ron Paul?”  Boy do they get an earful!  That can result in a long conversation about a full range of things, sometimes including gold & silver.

I have not yet learned the real reason for the company-requested trading halt.  I was not suggesting that the trading halt was either good or bad, and certainly had no reason to suggest what you wondered about, a scam.  My assumption was simply that when the posted reason for the trading halt was “pending news”, and when the share price increased markedly on Friday and on Monday it looked to me as though enough persons knew what the ‘pending news’ was going to be and acted accordingly.  I realize that I should not have posted this unsubstantiated assumprion.  Sometimes it is just too simple to keyboard one’s thoughts or assumptions, and I regret doing so in this case.

and I will go with a dollar. Hey this is the “Price is Right Game Show” with Bob Barker, right? What do I win, if I win? I figured I covered all high bids with my lowball punch.

I know, I know….game guesses have already been taken….no more entries folks.

Careful not to mix up your metaphors.  Gas and hot air are different, a fact most everyone knows just by witnessing which end each comes out of in daily life!

Unbenthnau likened the PTB’s control to letting a little ballast over the side to raise it, then letting a little air out of the balloon to take it down.  That started the mix-up, because ‘ballast’ is only thrown out of a ‘gas’ balloon and ‘air’ is only let out of a hot air balloon.  To complicate matters, there’s a hybrid mix of the two, but still the above holds true.  I fly both gas and hot air.  This link explains the three different types of balloons:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_%28aircraft%29

Since we all like Irish, we better develop some other more appropriate rescue plan for him, in case the need ever arises. That’s because if I ever happened to land any kind of balloon next to him in the middle of some malaria infested jungle, then we’d both need to be rescued!  Or, if I reached him, hauled him on board and flew on, more likely than not we’d both need to be rescued from some new spot in the malaria infested jungle.

If Irish will hold off a while before needing to be rescued, there’s hope.  I’m in the process of developing small gas airships, sort of like a two-person version of the Goodyear blimp.  There’s a good chance it will be flying in Belize someday anyway.  Guess what color it will be?!

I wonder why the Canadian BNN news is showing the Dec. price for Au.

Its_Real

gold price guessing contest, I’ll go with 666.

I agree with you. It’s just a cabal paint job. HUI’s going to blast them eventually.