Tim Geithner Has Completely Forgotten the Point of TARP, Calls it a Success
by ilene - June 22nd, 2010 6:23 pm
Tim Geithner Has Completely Forgotten the Point of TARP, Calls it a Success
Courtesy of Jr. Deputy Accountant
Maybe Tim Geithner was too busy scheming on backroom bailouts running the NY Fed around the time TARP was passed but it appears as though he has forgotten that its original intention was to foster improved credit conditions for US consumers. OK wait, its truly original intention was to buy up crap assets but that got ditched shortly after it was passed so let’s go with "bank lending" instead. Either way, he seems to be confused as to the definition of "working".
CNN Money:
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner defended the government’s bailout of the financial system on Tuesday, saying it has been a "critical" part of the economic recovery and will ultimately cost less than expected.
Geithner is testifying before the Congressional Oversight Panel, the main watchdog for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. The government enacted TARP in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis. The program is due to expire in October.
While the economy remains challenged, Geithner said TARP and other "extraordinary actions" taken to combat the financial meltdown "have helped stabilize the financial system and restore economic growth."
So what WAS the goal, exactly, Timmy? Free money for the bankers? Some kind of sick money laundering operation using the sick banks to buy up Treasury debt? You tell me since you’re the one who seemed to think it worked out the way it was supposed to.
I’ll be over here waiting for credit markets to unfreeze whenever you’re ready to talk.
Case-Shiller: housing double dip threat as only 4 of 20 markets rise
by ilene - February 23rd, 2010 3:11 pm
Case-Shiller: housing double dip threat as only 4 of 20 markets rise
Courtesy of Edward Harrison at Credit Writedowns
The December 2009 data for the widely followed S&P/Case-Shiller Indices were released this morning. The data are showing a mixed picture. On the one hand, the unadjusted numbers are down on both a month-to-month and year-over-year basis (Composite-10 and Composite-20 respectively down 2.5% and 3.2% versus December 2008). Only four of twenty
Below are the non-seasonally adjusted data:
What is clear from the numbers is that the markets in which prices are now doing the best are mostly the same ones that had both experienced the greatest carnage and had also experienced a prior price bubble. This includes Phoenix, LA, San Diego, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. You see yearly home
The breadth of price increases has now narrowed to 4 of twenty markets. And that has to be worrying whether you are looking at unadjusted winter month data or seasonally-adjusted data. Since June, the number of markets in the Composite-20 where prices have risen has gone from 18 in June to 18 in July, 17 in August, 10 in September, 8 in October, 5 in November and 4 in December.
Some analysts are unfazed by the fall in the number of markets with price increases. They believe the declines are seasonal in nature and that by Spring the market will be back to rising modestly. However, I believe a housing double dip is a distinct possibility given recent concerns about shadow inventory, strategic defaults and rising option-ARM resets.
The underlying U.S. economy sans fiscal and monetary stimulus is weak. Moreover, U.S. consumer confidence is fragile. In this environment, any renewed price declines in home