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[-]Citibank and Goldman Sachs are talking merger. Does anyone have info?
7 replies [ Reply | Watch | Options ]Some say GS had a hand in the fall of LEH and this is part of a conspiracy on their part, to become the all and mighty One. Having worked there, wouldn't surprise me. You can get more obsessed on dealbreaker.com if you have time.
[ Reply | Options ]I do believe GS had a major hand in this downfall. They were the first firm out there recommending major shorts on subprime and the firms exposed to it. I personally think dealbreaker.com is a stupid site that only 20 somethings post on. They try to post sensationalist stories that people will comment on. Just keep that in mind when you peruse the site.
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[-]So now that finance is in the toilet who will be the hot guys to date and marry? Give us a list of your top 3.
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LIRR Conductor - did you read about how 96% of the retirees are on disability. Retire early and collect 200K per yr. such a crock.
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Actually Plastic Surgeons business is up. My husband(doc) told me it was his busiest Oct. ever in 20 yrs. And he's a top NY doc. People that are older getting laid off need to compete with the youth. They are taking their savings and getting facelifts/chemical peels/lipo you name it.
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[-]When is the Hillary Clinton/ SOS thing going to be decided??
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[-]i want to have an affair. how do i go about meeting a hot sexy guy for nsa fun?
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[-]ATTENTION: do you have inauguration tickets? where did or will you get them? I really want need tix!!
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[-]what's the relationship bet corn and ethanol, why is the govt involved, and why is it important? (all reference to being under a rock are correct)
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Ethanol is made from corn (in the US - it can be made from other stuff, such as sugar cane). The gov't has been subsidizing ethanol, so that's pushed up the price of corn. It's intended to be a way or reducing dependence on oil, but is very expensive and has only a marginal effect on greenhouse gases.
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The government has been subsidizing all ag products for years. Keeps the family farmers in business. Industrial farming has taken advantage of these subsidies. Ethanol production has been subsidized by federal and state governments. Its getting propped up all the way around. Funny thing is, its costs more energy to create ethanol than what you get from burning the same amount of it. Its not an efficient source of energy. Better to invest in solar, wind, hydro, etc.
[ Reply | Options ]this is all basic economic theory girls - do some google and enlighten yourself.
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[-]has obama named clinton secretary of state? i hope he doesn't. i hope the buzz is just that - buzz.
39 replies [ Reply | Watch | Options ]Will it be likely that a SOS goes on to become President? Just wondering if that's her real goal.
[ Reply | Options ]i just think she'll undermine him all the way, let her do it from the senate. has he forgotten all the crap she said during the campaign?
[ Reply | Options ]I disagree. They are very much alike. She has no reason to undermine him. She can't run against him in four. She has to wait for eight. Besides, she may be "in it to win it" - but not at all costs like McCain. She isn't going to sell her soul- and she is a leader (via celeb not seniority) in the Democratic Party. She's a player.
[ Reply | Options ]I think HE'S the one trying to undermine HER, and protect his ass if she runs ... And, btw, he was a sexist bastard during the campaign.
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ita. He was in no way sexist. A friend said, well, he should have attacked the sexism of the media. Fair enough. But he never made a sexist statement or put her down in any way based on gender. Unlike Hillary, who played the Muslim card on 60 Minutes. Perhaps he should have made a speech attacking sexism in the media, and perhaps she should have told voters in West Virginia not to vote for her just because she's white, but that didn't happen. The election is over, and I hope Obama will be a great president and Clinton will continue to be a great senator.
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She can't run against him in 4 years (and have real shot of winning) and odds are it will be too late in 8 years. She can turn down anything he offers, but her prospects in the senate are not that good so she may be happy to entertain anything.
[ Reply | Options ]How many times have you seen someone from the same party run against and win with a sitting president?
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np: she is still a junior senator and is impatient with the fact that she will not be offered any plum committees yet. She can still do a lot of good and her time will come to have a Senate leadership role. I hope she stays in the senate and pushes Congress to do the right thing.
[ Reply | Options ]She does not have the seniority for a leadership position there, she tried but was shot down.
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You don't "try". She's a junior. It's just a fact and she is well aware of it. But that doesn't mean her prospects aren't good. Ted Kennedy was a junior too. Her prospects are fine in the Senate. Prospects meaning room for growth and seniority earned.
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?? She's a good senator, she's a good person. If she wants to spend 12 years in the Senate, she most likely can. I think its great she will have some options. I think she would be an VAST improvement over our current SOS - her celebrity worldwide would help - she is smart enough to learn any job. The tricky part is, if she says no to a president. That is hard. She's in a bind if she doesn't want the job.
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[-]i'm about to embark on an affair with a gorgeous younger man. i love my dh dearly but i just need this hot sexy affair to retain my sanity. so the question is not whether i should have an affair (i've already decided to) but what i've just found out about my prospective lover. he's been very honest about his past and has told me that he was in 4 yr affair with a much older man (who had a family with wife/kids)in his early twenties during a particularly vulnerable time when he needed a paternal figure. he says that he is now straight (early thirties now) and only interested in women and is quite sexually driven. is this even possible? am i just a square straight girl for being somewhat taken back by this revelation?
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btdt. i was once in a relationship with a total hottie who admitted he had been bi. gave me the same song and dance about college, older guy, experimenting, etc., but then said he occasionally still cruised, etc., but it was no big deal. i couldn't commit. we broke up. he later married and had a db. call me crazy, but i think i dodged a bulelt.
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[-]here's what i don't understand. why are the prices for groceries steadily increasing. if everyone is earning less and losing jobs, how are we supposed to pay for constantly rising groceries? i see the price for other goods and services going down.
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Shouldn't they be coming down a bit with the gas prices? That was the major reason they went up.
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prices change relative to supply AND demand. yes, demand has decreased, but so has supply (the redirection of corn to ethanol based on government subsidies has wreaked havoc on the food supply---EVERYTHING eats corn, and EVERYTHING that was growing anywhere corn could have been grown was switched to corn b/c of the subsidies.) also, and this is truly a sidenote, the cost of shipping stuff around has increased with gas prices. but the corn supply issue is the major driver.
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[-]I am an admitted economics idiot, so please be gentle with me. How can this country (or world for that matter) go from being incredibly flush with money to suddenly being in such dire financial straits in less than a year? Where did all the money go?- into investors pockets who have since flown the coop, or was it all just Monopoly money to start with?
20 replies [ Reply | Watch | Options ]stock money is paper money (not cash) - value can disappear when people don't believe in the stock, they are willing to buy it and indeed, decide to sell it - price goes down based on supply and demand. The reality of the "other" money disappearing is the fact that no one who has money wants to spend it or loan it - which is what it means when you hear "liquidity has dried up". does that help a bit?
[ Reply | Options ]its an excellent question, and gets to the heart of the matter. In a word, the "money" was a product of debt. It was borrowed money which was supporting asset prices. Of their own weight, the asset prices started to fall, and the owner/debtors hurried to sell to pay back their debts, further driving down asset prices etc. It was a debt bubble, supporting an asset bubble, that burst!
[ Reply | Options ]OP: Thanks for the explanations. Still find it hard to believe that we can bounce so quickly from 2 extremes, but I guess that's why I don't work in finance! :)
[ Reply | Options ]np: a lot of it is also the perception that creates a reality. e.g. i have the same amount of money i had last year. but i'm afraid of losing my job. i'm afraid of costs going up. i'm afraid my savings will be worth less. so i'm cutting back on spending. if everyone like me is doing that, businesses will be doing worse. more people will be laid off, more people will cut back, and so on
[ Reply | Options ]OP: It's really amazing to think that the US economy, which I always thought was built on solid bedrock, is really based on pipe dreams, bluster, and hearsay.
[ Reply | Options ]that's the thing though. It wasn't. All companies are working on borrowed money and the very thing that was generating so much money for Wall Street was debt that was chopped up and chopped up and spread to other companies to buy. They thought it was of greater value than it was because eventually much of that debt (subprime mortgages) was not valuable because people were not able to pay it back. Usually when there is a default, then there is collateral (aka house) that is of value, but the houses had lost value and were less than the actual mortgages. Because these bad mortgages had been sold and passed around to all of these companies, everyone was infected with these worthless loans.
[ Reply | Options ]^^^AIG's near fall was particularly dangerous because a huge part of these transactions were credit default swaps which were in effect insurance policies. But once AIG's credit rating went down and it couldn't get capital to pay off the defaulted loans, it was a signal that this was more than an isolated Bear Stearns or even Lehman collapse and couldn't be contained. And as the other posters said, then the banks were afraid to give capital to anyone. So now the economy has contracted and the world's in a recession. Really it's amazing that the people who traded these mortgages did this without really understanding what the possible implications were. HUBRIS.
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not true at all. my family has lost about 2 million dollars in the stock market. That was real money. Companies that were profitable have gone (or are about to go) bust. This is not like some mirage that we now see was never there. There really WAS lots of money in the system which is now gone. You better believe we are not shopping for Christmas the way we did last year. We are donating less as well. Dh may also lose his job soon.
[ Reply | Options ]If it was *real* money it wouldn't have disappeared. But it just went poof. Who has it now? Nobody, right?
[ Reply | Options ]The money would have been there if she had cashed it a year ago, so in that sense it was real money. Either way, it's gone now. The fact that Goldman has lost 70% of its value after riding high as the premier IBank is pretty scary.
[ Reply | Options ]itd. there are plenty of people who made the money that others lost. when stocks were at their high, somebody both bought AND sold it at that price. the person who sold it made money. the problem is that those who have money right now are sitting on it. they aren't investing it or lending it out.
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Depends on how you look at those stocks. If you look at your stock as, "I own 1/100th of Company X." Then the value of your stocks has not changed. You still own 1/100th of the factory. 1/100th of the Co X trucks, etc. BUT what Company X is worth IN DOLLARS has changed. How real this change is is up to you. When Co X stock value doubled two years ago, did you look at that increase as "funny money" too or did you look at that as legitimate?
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there is a multiplier effect when money is given out in loans. one person with one loan spends that money and it funds something else, and the person who gets that money has more to spend, etc. etc. DH is in finance and he says all that leverage at the banks created real opportunities for the country, and now the banks are hoarding their $$ and cannot leverage the way they did before, in a very real way billions of $ have been suddenly sucked out of the system, and everyone is feeling poor (it is reflected in so many accounts, etc.).
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[-]Oh well, it looks like NYC is going to try to revive the commuter tax with help from the new Democratic senate. I'd like to tell the mayor we moved from NYC because we couldn't afford it anymore. Now DH has a $300 monthly train ticket, parking, subway and potentially a commuter tax. NO WAY!! Please give us a break!
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[-]Dreading the subway in the morning. Is it just me or are they getting more and more crowded?!?!
40 replies [ Reply | Watch | Options ]The 1/2/3 on the UWS is terrible. WE are like sardines--poor ds cries and gets knocked about by peoples' bags.
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How the hell can the MTA claim it needs to raise fares when so many more of us are paying to use the thing daily?!
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The L is awful. At 1st ave I usually have to let at least one go buy before I can fit on one.
[ Reply | Options ]I think it depends when you ride. I started going half an hour earlier (8 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m.) because my destination changed, and I never have a problem getting on now. Going home at night (7 p.m. or so) it's never an issue.
[ Reply | Options ]I'm taking the subway at least once a day now. Trying to save money, used to rationalize time vs money before this recession hit.
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dd wet her paints a few days ago and thought I'd grab a cab to run home--20 dollars and 30 minutes later, I was very very sorry. She would have been better on the train (20 minute trip and would have "blended in with the smell
[ Reply | Options ]I live on York Avenue. So if you calculate time spent walking to the subway and then waiting for the train, it's better to call a private car service from the apartment. They cost the same, or a dollar more, from a yellow taxi. And every minute counts when you're getting breakfast ready for the kids and you have to get to work by 7am.
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Always seems more crowded in cold weather- coats and puffy jackets and wet umbrellas take up space.
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[-]Stop Joel Klein from becoming Secretary of Education: http://stopjoelklein.org/
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give examples. if you want someone to join your cause, gotta have good enough reasons, and "sucks" doesn't qualify
[ Reply | Options ]It's not my cause, but I still think he sucks. I moved dcs out of public and into private because of the changes that have been instituted under his reign - waaaay too much testing, schools overburdened with administration but little funding, hasn't increased seats commensurate with pop'n growth, dismantling/destroying g&t structure, etc etc. I'm not a fan.
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because he spends more money for testing kids than for teaching kids, lacks oversight for admissions policies and looks the other way for discrepency in PTA fundraising.
[ Reply | Options ]Are you seriously suggesting Klein should banish PTA fundraising in today's environment?
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You have to be kidding. So to reach equality, you will make sure even the schools that are decent today need to get worse, and wealthy parents have to use all their enrichment money afterschool. That is just brilliant. How exactly does this help the poor schools?
[ Reply | Options ]what happens to a struggling school that never even had enrichment to begin with when it's budget cuts its basics. And you wonder why these kids aren't at grade level in math and reading.
[ Reply | Options ]I don't wonder why those kids aren't at grade level - it's because of many factors, underfunding of the school possibly being one of them. But they're not going to get any better if parents stop fundraising and those who can, leave the system altogether, so that even the 'good' schools begin to deteriorate (even more than they have with Klein already)
[ Reply | Options ]The main reason these kids aren't at grade level is that they have uninvolved parents who don't value education. I am not talking about giving $$$, how many of them show up for P-T conferences or school events? Feed kids breakfast or bring them in early enough for the free school breakfast? make sure homework is done?
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Hey on the flip side we would be rid of him then. And there is no much done at federal level as far as education goes. Although I suppose they will need to do something with NCLB, but I don't think Sec of Education had anything to do with that. I actually have no clue who is it now, anyone knows?
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np: I think what he is trying to do with the G&Ts in the city is the right way to go.
[ Reply | Options ]even though the results show that it has lessened the diversity of existing g&t classes, eliminated g&t in some of the most underserved neighborhoods, and disenfranchised many within the parent body because of the lack of transparency and accountability throughout the application process? Wow - I wish I could claim success if I'd failed as badly as that.
[ Reply | Options ]Who is disenfranchised how? I don't think it has been perfect and I think Klein would agree it still needs to change BUT we are not at the final point he wants. And what we have right now is a hell of a lot less corrupt then the old system. Now granted, if you are on the PTA of your local G&T or have a sister in law who works in the district office, this new system sucks for you. But if you are just a hard working parent without any pull, it is much more fair.
[ Reply | Options ]I think that this board shows on some level the disenfranchisement within the parent body - many, especially those with older kids have just had enough of him. He he a highly polarizing individual, and I'm wondering exactly when he's going to be asked to show some real results of all his changes. So far, there haven't been many real successes that I've read about or even heard through the grapevine and he's been in his position for, what, 6 or so years!
[ Reply | Options ]You set up a board like this about a free soup program and it would read like the folks getting free soup were disenfranchised. "WHAT NO NAVY BEAN?!!" My kid goes to NEST. I listen to the parents and the PTA there complain about the sibling program being to restrictive. Then I listen to the UB people post ad nauseum about how it is too liberal. I pity Joel Klein.
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Joel Klein is the best schools chancellor in our lifetimes. He has done a superb job.
[ Reply | Options ]I asked the question above - exactly HOW has he done such a great job? I've provided lots of examples of how he's done a shitty job, but no one so far can say one thing that he's done well - other than changing the g&t process - which quite frankly is a pretty questionable accomplishment based on results so far.
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[-]Wall Street Bonuses are down this year! Managing Directors down 50% to 900k-1.1M. Foreign Exchange down 15% to 1-1.5M. Commodities Traders down 25% to 3.5-4Million (source Wall Street Journal) Please do not despair. The taxpayer funded bailout will cover these payments!
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incorrect, every Wall St bank got the bailout loan from the govt , Goldman received 25 billion
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yep, i work for Barclays (not a U.S. bank for those of you geographically deficient ) and we are getting money
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^^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1082006/Barclays-7billion-deal-Arab-investors-scandal-mammoth-proportions.html nice that you don't know how your employer operates.
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Yes, they are down but still obscene. I hear Morgan, Goldman and Merrill still have 20 billion set aside
[ Reply | Options ]Right. "Set aside". Meaning, accrued through the year and paid in the ordinary course and NOT out of TARP. And most of that amount reflects relatively small amounts being paid out to a lot of employees, not the numbers the OP cites above. But why let small things like facts get in the way of righteous outrage?
[ Reply | Options ]np: out of tarp, not out of tarp -- what is the difference once the money is comingled?
[ Reply | Options ]Because if the bonus money were tapped earlier, maybe the need for a bailout would not have been so great.
[ Reply | Options ]come on, if they had the money they should have used it to bail themselves out instead of waiting for handout from government. They better not to ask for another once they spend all this money.
[ Reply | Options ]how does one accrue and set aside bonus funds when ones shareholders have been decimated, when ones reputation has gone up in smoke, when one has been incompetent and perhaps criminal, and when one has had to go begging for help from the govt and taxpayer just to survive?
[ Reply | Options ]not condoning, but these firms need to retain key employees to keep the company functioning and to pull themselves out of this mess.
[ Reply | Options ]don't get it. if you dont pay these so called "key employees " their usual outsize bonus, where do you suppose they are going to go? they cant go across the street. that bank is bankrupt. they cant go up to Greenwich to work at the hedge fund. it just lost 35% this quarter and is facing massive redemptions.
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ok, what everybody doesn't seem to understand here is this: the bulk of these huge numbers cited are not IN CASH, they are in stock. they have always been in stock and now that the banks' stock is down 60% or more, so are the bonuses. and not just this year's bonus, but the ones these employees have been saving for years. so chill out with the vicious hatred.
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