Alex’s Notes: Personally, I find it comical that anyone even goes to the DTCC for data anymore. I mean seriously, we are looking to the company responsible to ensure the proper clearing of shares of stock on the US market, who clearly is in cahoots with major brokerages allowing massive naked shorting and letting them get away with it free and clear?

Ya..that makes alot of sense. Fox guarding the henhouse.

The current corruption in the financial centers of the USA is truly despicable.

You want to know how big the credit derivative problem really is? Go research what the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Basel Switzerland has to say about it .

Try over $500 TRILLION in notional value.

This beast who lurks in the shadows of the financial world is the boogey man under the bed that no one wants to acknowledge or talk about. But this boogey man is real. And

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Every new controversy demands a look at similar situations of the past. Just what is a bailout anyway? In the early 80’s, Lee Iacocca arranged a government loan and tax concessions to bring Chrysler Corporation back from the brink of bankruptcy— during the Carter Administration, to save you a Google.

The economic domino effect of a major corporate death was clear, and Congress acted wisely when it saved this American icon from extinction— the loans were repaid. But was it poor management or shortsighted government that caused the problem. Politicians massaged and empowered the labor unions, implemented minimum wage legislation, and protected the steel industry from foreign competition.

Similar financial problems existed throughout the automotive industry and lower cost, better product was just starting to come ashore. Bailout or fix-up? Voteless corporations were perfect patsies then, and remain so today. But …

Dateline Washington, October 19th (get it?) 2010: the Peoples Bank & Trust of America has now established itself as the only bank of any kind in the USA, totally owned and managed by the US House of Representatives. A 2/3 majority must now approve all investment banking transactions; your district representative’s staff reviews individual mortgage applications; and all 401(k), IRA, and remaining employer pension assets have been rolled into the Social Security Slush Fund.

Only federal and state elected officials are exempt from the 45% all purpose Income Tax. The estimated time to bring new companies public is 4.5 years; all individual account dividends and interest are paid directly into your IRS “grabber” account; CEO’s salaries are limited to 50% of the amount paid to a first year congressman, and any government budget shortfalls are withdrawn from corporate earnings before …

Yesterday, traders sent the Dow down a record 777 points. Today, the mood is more upbeat. The Dow is up 363 points. Traders clearly still want to believe the government can still help sort out Wall Street's problems.

Justice Litle isn't fully sold of the bailout. But he says it isn't an option to let Mr. Market sort himself out this time: the US is too leveraged to follow Andrew Mellon's "liquidationist" approach during the Great Depression.

That's why the feds will do whatever it takes to prop up the system... and run the dollar into the ground. And that's why you should buy gold now.

With global markets reeling and investors completely having lost faith in the financial system, the question needs to be raised whether Israel will turn into safe haven for investors fleeing financial turmoil. The Shekel continues to strengthen against the USD and many Israelis have been sending money back to Israel in droves.

But I can’t imagine that in this era of a truly global economy with global interdependence, Israel will remain largely unaffected by the surrounding turmoil. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s important to note that the Israeli banks have had some exposure to sub-prime as well as both Lehman Brothers and Wamu. While Israeli banks are know for their stinginess in lending money to ‘main street’, they tend to lend money no questions asked to the 10 powerful families the control the local economy. The question is how will these families be able to weather the storm. I hate

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Wall Street is still in chaos. Yesterday, regulators seized America’s biggest savings and loan bank WaMu (NYSE:WM) and sold it to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM). It was the most spectacular bank failure in US history.

The crisis, and the bungled attempts of the government to ‘fix’ it, is setting up some great contrarian investment plays.

“All it takes to make money on Wall Street these days is a ‘for sale’ sign,” says Andrew Snyder. “Companies in every industry are hurting from the financial crisis. Their only way out is to hope a buyer comes along. The action is creating a lot of great profit potential for investors.”

Wall Street is still in chaos. Yesterday, regulators seized America’s biggest savings and loan bank WaMu (NYSE:WM) and sold it to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM). It was the most spectacular bank failure in US history.

The crisis, and the bungled attempts of the government to ‘fix’ it, is setting up some great contrarian investment plays.

“All it takes to make money on Wall Street these days is a ‘for sale’ sign,” says Andrew Snyder. “Companies in every industry are hurting from the financial crisis. Their only way out is to hope a buyer comes along. The action is creating a lot of great profit potential for investors.”

After Bloomberg.com wrote this article, WaMu May Lose Suitors on Accounting Rule; Stock Plummets 30%, WM shares hit $2.30.  The Power of the Media, but this article is right on the money. The opening of the article made investors sell like crazy this morning: Chief Executive Officer Alan Fishman, who sold the last bank he ran, may not be able to repeat the feat because new accounting rules for devalued ...

Jamba, Inc. (NASDAQ:JMBA) shareholders are throwing up everything today after shares hit $1.58.  The 52-week decline is now at -82%, that's right, WaMu bad.  So do you keep drinking the juice even if your stomach can't take it?  Stan can't. Today's buzz kill came from Wedbush Morgan, they said a slowdown in ...

Big Banks are dying, WaMu (NYSE:WM) hit $6.05 and BofA (NYSE:BAC) hit $29.34 today. It's one thing for Crocs Inc (NASDAQ:CROX) to hit $9.03, but our U.S. financial institutions?  Good Lord. Other 52-week lows include (via 247WallSt.com): AMBAC (ABK) Sells off to $2.02 after downgrades. The 52-week high was $89.33. MBIA (MBI) Also hit by downgrades and drops to $4.78 from 52-week high of $68.98. Wachovia (WB) Flamed. Down to $18.22 from 52-week high of $54.54. Gatehouse (GHS) Newspapers still hit hard. Falls to $3.50 from 52-week high of $19.64. McClatchy (MNI) Another newspaper company sells off to $7.77 from 52-week high ...