Someone Passed All This Legislation! Wasn't It President Obama?

 The article below reflects very much how I feel about President Obama's accomplishments since taking office. He may not have accomplished everything on everyone's to-do list, but he certainly has tried.   And he has indeed done more than any president in memory in a very short time. Below is a list of actual accomplishments. It's pretty impressive!
   . . . June



Too much irrational thinking about President Obama
 The Jackson Sun  August 29, 2010 

  "What are the underlying motivations causing so many Americans — partisan politicos aside — to blame President Barack Obama for every problem short of indigestion? Has the guy done anything right? Has he done what he said he would do when he ran for office? Has he done anything?

Hmmm, let's see. Based on a number of media reports, I have compiled a short list:

• Passed health care reform, which millions of Americans agreed needed to be done and was a major plank in his campaign.
   
• Passed a $789 billion economic stimulus package that saved millions of jobs and has been regarded a success by many economists who generally know a lot more about the economy than you and I do.
   
• Bailed out the auto industry, which saved more than 1 million American manufacturing jobs and enabled General Motors to return to profitability.
   
• Supported a Wall Street bailout that, had it not been completed, would have led to an economic depression like the one in the 1930, according to former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
   
• Passed the Wall Street reform and Consumer Protection Act to bring some order and new safeguards to the nation's financial system and consumer protection rules.
   
• Ended the U.S. combat mission in Iraq and withdrew combat troops as he promised he would do during the election.
   
• Won confirmation of two women, including the first Hispanic, to the U.S. Supreme Court with minimal political partisan bickering.
   
• Began phasing out the prison at Guantanamo Bay as he promised during the election.
   
• Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan that military leaders have been requesting for years.
   
• Removed many restrictions on embryonic stem cell research — currently stymied by a ruling from a conservative activist federal judge.

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Hindenburg Omen Tripped. Does this mean Stock Market Crash?

This is my first taste of the Hindenburg Omen. According to the article below, it's a technical indicator which foreshadows a stock market crash. Whether it works in actual fact, I think I'm very tempted to be out of the market for the moment.


  . . . June

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Yes Folks, Hindenburg Omen Tripped Again - MarketBeat - WSJ
"By Steven Russolillo

The Hindenburg Omen reared its ugly head late last week, signaling more doom and gloom as stocks plod along amid the dog days of summer.

The Omen, a technical indicator which uses a plethora of data to foreshadow a stock-market crash, was tripped again on Friday, marking the second time since Aug. 12 it has occurred. (It also came close on Thursday, but one of its criteria fell short.)"

The latest trigger has prompted the Omen’s creator, Jim Miekka, to exit the market. “I’m taking it seriously and I’m fully out of the market now,” Miekka, a blind mathematician, said in a telephone interview from his home in Surry, Maine. “I would’ve probably stayed in until the beginning of September,” depending on how the indicators varied. “That was my basic plan, until the Hindenburg came along.”

The Omen has been behind every market crash since 1987, but significant stock-market declines have followed only 25% of the time. So there’s a high likelihood that the Omen could be nothing more than a false signal.

But that isn’t stopping Miekka from taking any chances, especially as September, typically the market’s worst-performing month, sits only one week away.

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Fees Levied On The Mortgage Industry Could Cost You More

According to the article below, the government may levy fees on the mortgage industry which will likely be passed along to the borrower in return for federal backing of mortgage loans. Sounds like business as usual.

   ... June


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Reform of Fannie and Freddie Could Translate to Higher Costs For Borrowers

By Michael Kraus on August 24, 2010

Fairly interesting article by Deborah Solomon and Nick Timiraos in the Wall Street Journal today that says the government may levy fees upon the mortgage industry (which will likely be passed along to the consumer) in return for federal backing of mortgage loans.

Under the current system, mortgages are originated by mortgage companies, brokers, loan officers, etc.  These mortgage are then sold to investors or securitized and sold to investors.  Right now, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are pretty much the only investors who are purchasing mortgages.  Together they back more than 90 percent of single family mortgages in the United States.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were seized by the government in 2008 in order to avoid their financial collapse.  Since that time the Obama Administration has dumped $150 billion into the GSEs, and has pledged an unlimited amount of capital to backstop their losses.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates the total bailout could cost around $400 billion, and many analysts estimate the bailout could cost more, with a worse case scenario of almost $1 trillion.  In a nutshell, U.S. taxpayers back almost all of the mortgages in the country (congratulations, you’re an investor in the housing market!).

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