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Gawain

Now the Government is to Save AIG

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,423785,00.html

WTF?? An $85B loan gives the feds 80% control?

The CNN article is more indepth:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/16/news/companies/AIG/index.htm?cnn=yes
So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

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Instead of editing my post, I'm just adding since I'm quite miffed by this. This is a problem of the company's, and government's own making. All this "help" has one major flaw: Government programs/rescues rarely go away.
So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

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"'Management needs to address investor concerns now before the market sell-off becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,' said Rob Haines, analyst at CreditSights."

Really? Management needs to pay back its outlandish bonuses and salaries, and resign in disgrace, IMO.

Why are the architects of this fiasco allowed to keep their jobs?
...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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Really? Management needs to pay back its outlandish bonuses and salaries, and resign in disgrace, IMO.

Why are the architects of this fiasco allowed to keep their jobs?



Damn skippy. Why are the architects of this fiasco not in jail?
Owned by Remi #?

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The architects of this fiasco, if still employed by AIG, just lost a shitload of money in their stocks. Most of these cats gets their salaries in stocks. If the company does well, the stocks do well, so they do well.

I suspect there will be a lot of higher-end property foreclosures coming soon..


On another note, the loan will give the feds a 79.9 percent interest in AIG. There are a couple of thoughts here. The first is that the Feds are playing the stock market - buying up bargain stocks. Which to me is what th emarket is about. (Of course, doign so crowded out bargain investors like me, who were ready to pounce).

The other thought is - this is socialism. Perhaps it is a worhty experiment to see how the company performs in the long run. That way, we can see whether social health care will work. HA HA HA HA HA!!!!


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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>AIG would've gone the way of Leyman if the fed didn't step.

Agreed.

And so the next time a company like AIG decides whether or not to take a huge risk in a certain market, they will think "worst case, government bails us out" as opposed to "we lose the company, our stock and our jobs." Think that will increase or decrease the likelihood of them taking huge risks?

Sometimes you have to let them make bad decisions and then live with the consequences. It's a great way to promote better decision-making.

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It will increase it!

A company takes unreasonable risks? Bail it out, thus to wncourage similar conduct in the future.

A company doesn't take unreasonable risks? Tax it, to cover the cost of bailing out the former mentioned.

Note: the same holds true of individuals. Fuck up? The government will cover you. Do well? Excellent. You can pay for the fuckups.


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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Don't worry, be happy!
Obama The Great will make all things rosie again!
:S



It's lost what, 75% of it's value in the last couple days? And this brings the federal bailout money for the last week or two to nearly $300 billion? But don't worry, the fundamentals of our economy are sound. Not changing a fucking thing ought to work just great.

Blues,
Dave
"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

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Not changing a fucking thing ought to work just great.




And what would you change at this moment? All the regulation in the world cannot stop management from making bad decisions and driving a company into the ground. I am just pissed they use tax dollars to save them before they go splat!>:(
If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

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I'm by not stretch of the imagination an Economics scholar or owt but this is what you get by building our countries on a Myth - (Emperors new Cloths anyone?) 0f money.

In the old days when the money was based on something tangible like say an secure industrial based (good old "Making Stuff") we were O.K - but now, it seems to be built on foundations of sand (Money - stocks/bonds/futures(egh?) and shite like that)


Start making stuff that people want and need again people or we're fucked big time.


(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

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Maybe the government will move the AIG headquarters to Iraq. Great real estate options. The decision to stabilize a failing private company is only temporary, right? I wonder what sub-prime interest rate you could get for a few acres near Baghdad? Also, I wonder if the AIG execs feel this is their version of welfare. Those crazy republicans always gotta do things bigger. :P

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

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Not changing a fucking thing ought to work just great.




And what would you change at this moment? All the regulation in the world cannot stop management from making bad decisions and driving a company into the ground. I am just pissed they use tax dollars to save them before they go splat!>:(


I'm certainly no expert in this field, but are you referring to the tax dollars that were backing Frannie Mae and Freddie Mac so the investors could take on undue risk knowing the government would have their back? That would seem like something worth looking at ways to change.

Blues,
Dave
"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

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Sometimes you have to let them make bad decisions and then live with the consequences. It's a great way to promote better decision-making.



I agree with you 110%, but in this case I don't think the Fed could sit back and watch. After how the markets, domestic and intl, reacted with Leyman, AIG would've pretty much destabilized our already fragile markets. Look at it this way, AIG is a huge spiderweb that is intertwined in every aspect of Wall Street. AIG is the derivatives marketplace insurance company, it cannot fail. A failure would've set off a chain reaction that would be catastrophic. IMHO government oversight is needed and new regulations have to be put in place.

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Trust a government? Are you mad?

Interesting though. The most capitalist country in the world run by one of the most right-wing governments in the world, and as soon as the shit hits the fan, they go all communist and nationalise. Not that they could do much else without the economy imploding. Although I have a sneaky feeling, this mess could run on and on and on and on and on and on...

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Really? Management needs to pay back its outlandish bonuses and salaries, and resign in disgrace, IMO.

Why are the architects of this fiasco allowed to keep their jobs?



Damn skippy. Why are the architects of this fiasco not in jail?



I can't help but wonder how the mortgage backed securities were represented when sold to AIG. Were they sold as high risk securities, or were they sold as low risk (i.e. not sub-prime) investments? If the latter is the case, then AIG are essentially victims of fraud.
Math tutoring available. Only $6! per hour! First lesson: Factorials!

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