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March Madness

Friday, March 28, 2008 | 12:49 PM

Have fun with your brackets:

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Comments

"who's next?" Where are my darts....

Posted by: Stuart | Mar 28, 2008 1:01:21 PM

Friday fun for all :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2uErWWwQTo

Posted by: a | Mar 28, 2008 2:08:17 PM

J.P. Morgan Chase for the win!

Posted by: Jon Barry | Mar 28, 2008 2:56:46 PM

Hmmm..... Could this possibly be the time where the mattress is actually the best option?

True story: I once met a guy who refused to keep his money in a bank. He cited his grandfather's experience during the Depression, where with all of the bank failures, grandpa kept his money stashed in a coffee can and buried it in the backyard. As a deterrent to folks walking by, he urinated every night in the back so the place smelled so bad no one wanted to go back there.

Posted by: Chief Tomahawk | Mar 28, 2008 3:44:39 PM

ARS markdowns will be the coup de grace'

Why???

Because they will be done quickly to "investor accounts" which the very same banks have been VERY reluctant to do with it's own money.

That will be the trigger for bank runs....

watch for them to start next week.....

Pop some popcorn and grab a seat...should be fun to see what sort of spin they put on that...

Ciao
MS

Posted by: michael schumacher | Mar 28, 2008 3:56:20 PM

My wife's Grandmother was born around 1885. When she died (at 105) the family wanted to rehab her 100 yr.old home for sale or lease. In the basement they found a loose brick. Taking it out they found a handfull of $5 gold pieces and a bunch of rolled silver coins...

I guess Granny didn't trust the Gummit all that much. Remember, it was a felony to own gold in them thar days.

Posted by: Ross | Mar 28, 2008 4:27:18 PM

Sorry for the ignorance MS, but what do you mean by ARS markdowns?

Posted by: Whammer | Mar 28, 2008 4:46:23 PM

Could ARS = auction rate securities per chance?

Herb Greenberg has written of them:

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/greenberg/2008/03/auction-rate-angst-accelerates/?mod=MWBlog

Posted by: Chief Tomahawk | Mar 28, 2008 5:13:34 PM

Thanks Chief, that appears to make sense.

In other news, and OT, but since we are on a thread that references the NCAA tournament, here's something I thought was cool.

NCAA results based on average salaries of the graduates of each school:

http://digg.com/basketball/Who_d_Win_March_Madness_Based_on_Salary

Posted by: Whammer | Mar 28, 2008 6:19:37 PM

Ms is absolutely right about ARS mess. It'll be very ugly, because of the slew of lawsuits that will hit the courts (it already started btw) soon.

Some brokers and IBs may end up paying beaucoup bucks in settlements. I doubt very much that judges will look at this:

"The trouble, he says, was that these were securities that were bought from brokers whose only fiduciary responsibility was to the investment bankers that originated the securities -- not to the clients."

with kindness and tolerance, especially when disclosures were nonexistent.

The crux of the matter is that most clients bought these with the stated intention of easy access to cash being more important than rate of return, while, of course, brokers and IBs can't be bothered to listen to clients and care only about rate of return for their benefits.

From a big picture standpoint, it never cease to amaze me to watch the financial (dis)services industry claiming the virtues of "free market" (a.k.a. no restraint at all to our God-given right to make profits, the Universe be damned) while working so hard to receive a stiff and painful dose of socialism, the only natural reaction to their excesses.

To those who think that I'm preaching the virtues of socialism, please re-read the above. If you still think I'm for socialism after a 2nd reading, it'll be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, that Aristotles forgot the 5th element in his description of the Universe.

Theory of the 5 elements:

The Universe is made of Air, Water, Earth, Wind...and Bullshit.

Posted by: Francois | Mar 28, 2008 11:48:43 PM

Sadly the Supremes have already set the precedent that 3rd party co-conspirators
cannot be sued for defrauding investors.
They set the precedent twice this year,
in case we didn't get it the first time.

Now comes Paulson, preaching four new
Federalist agencies, consolidating all
fiscal power, all surveillance, in Rome.
DOW 300, when the brokers read of this.

(So what happened to Northern Rock's ARS,
their shareholders demanded of UK.gov?)

Posted by: Jerry Mander | Mar 29, 2008 1:24:00 AM