Comments on: Japan Slowdown Exceeds Expectations

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 09:02:00 +0000

That's just CDS. There's MBS investments that will never see the light of day. Gawd only knows what other investment vehicles were/are dreamt into existence. More like 1000 trillion worth (yes, I know what it converts to).

Plenty of gas guzzlers stockpiled on the docks already. Not enough people have the cash to buy and banks are not lending or the terms not attainable.

The Government will be doing the spending for us with our money we don't have but that they create.

We the people are in the exotic loans business, investment and banking business, then insurance business, then home loans, soon to be in auto manufacturing.......it's getting difficult to keep track anymore.

By: artichoke

artichoke — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 06:32:00 +0000

OTC derivatives: I have seen a number of $50 trillion associated with Credit Default Swaps.

That's over $160,000 for every single man, woman and child US citizen.

There is no way we can handle THAT burden. Default, one way or another, is the only option.

By: artichoke

artichoke — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 06:30:00 +0000

Croc,

We do not have to solve all the problems of energy and healthcare to reduce costs at automakers.

People lately are getting fired all the time, losing their healthcare coverage. Nobody says that we must solve all their problems. Hard-hearted I am, because I want (eventually) a solution for everyone; we all have problems these days.

By the way I think we should forget all the "green" stuff for a while and just build cars that people like. That probably means more SUVs. Whatever people want to buy, that is what GM, Ford and Chrysler should be able to build.

By: CrocodileChuck

CrocodileChuck — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:43:00 +0000

Artichoke: be careful what you wish for. The US Autos’ plight (and, any future scenario) is inextricably bound up in the US healthcare morass AND US energy policy (I know-there isn’t one currently). Failure to address each of these will result in disaster. This rescue won’t be just about building ‘K’ cars (see Chrysler, Lee Iacocca, early ’80’s). Success means grasping ALL the poisoned chalices of the US economy!

CrocodileChuck

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:38:00 +0000

Still waiting for that elusive number that states the losses for those over-the-counter derivatives. The principle could be a fix price but the interest on the non-existent payoffs is compounding daily. If it has no interest attached then the bailing out money will have compounding interest daily attached to it. A lose lose situation sending the world into depression.

By: artichoke

artichoke — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:34:00 +0000

They bailed out the banks without control. They really should do at least as much for the auto co’s. That’s what I feel right now at least. (But some way has to be found to eliminate many of the legacy costs, or the companies will never be competitive.)

This crisis is the banks’ fault. By no stretch of the imagination is it the auto companies’ fault.

By: bg

bg — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 04:55:00 +0000

This is a blip. We have had a storm of horrible news for 3 months. If Toyota revenues are down 35%, of course Japan is down 2%. What we can’t see is what happens next. If the government bails out the big 3, then we can expect nationalization of the airlines, farms etc. If that happens, and government is holding the bag for the ‘bad economy’, they will need to protect it (Smoot Hawley 2) and pay for it (69% marginal tax rates). Then we will see how bad it can get.