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House of Cards

Discussion in 'Alley of Dangerous Angles' started by Chandos the Red, Feb 17, 2009.

  1. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    Remove all ads!
    For anyone who is interested in the global credit crisis, this program, currently airing on CNBC, is a must see. It covers the entire event, starting with 9/11, the real origins of what started the whole thing, and how lenders (secondary mortgage outlets) in California began the mortgage craze that started from late 2001 until 2006, when the subprime market fell apart. The whole event unfolded within five or six years. This lays it all out - and with very little politics. Mostly, it was a "get rich quick scheme" started by a small group of start up companies in California that lured greedy Wall Street guys into a frenzy.

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/28892719/

    Here's a preview:

    http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1024219334&play=1
     
    Chandos the Red, Feb 17, 2009
    #1
  2. Drew

    Drew Arrogant, contemptible, and obnoxious Adored Veteran

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    Thanks for the link. I'll be sure to catch it the next time it comes on, since I'd rather not watch it piecemeal online when I already own a perfectly good television and pay for cable.
     
    Drew, Feb 18, 2009
    #2
  3. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    Drew - It's actually quite stunning. A guy with a 3rd grade education who was a car salesman, started his own mortgage outlet and within a few years, he was moving 500 million dollars a month in subprime loans to investment firms, like Bear-Streans. He had former pizza delivery kids working for him as "loan officers," who were knocking over 20K a MONTH.

    These loans were subprime and quickly bundled as "structured investments" (CDOs) by Bear-Streans, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and others, and sent to Moody's, which, for an incentive fee from the investment companies, stamped them as AAA investments (that was the fraudulent part), even though they were subprime. Then they were sold-off to investors in Europe and Asia. They were, of course, worthless. Amazing that most of this was perfectly legal.
     
    Chandos the Red, Feb 18, 2009
    #3
  4. Harbourboy

    Harbourboy Take thy form from off my door! Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    You can't legislate against stupidity.
     
    Harbourboy, Feb 18, 2009
    #4
  5. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    HB - That was essentially what Greenspan remarked in the program.
     
    Chandos the Red, Feb 18, 2009
    #5
  6. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Moody's should be destroyed after that. Why would anyone trust their opinions now? I'm sure they're doing just fine though :rolleyes:
     
    Blackthorne TA, Feb 18, 2009
    #6

  7. LKD Gems: 31/31
    Latest gem: Rogue Stone

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    You know the saying "if something looks too good to be true, it probably is!"? Usually it means that greedy people end up hosed over. But in this case the greedy people got away scot free and decent, hardworking little folks (the common taxpayers, also known as payus thrunoseus) got it in the butt hardcore.
     
    LKD, Feb 18, 2009
    #7
  8. Harbourboy

    Harbourboy Take thy form from off my door! Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Woohoo! Except I'm not sure I want to be agreeing with Greenspan as he was the architect of some of the infratructural decisions that allowed this whole mess to spawn in the first place.

    I am SO glad that the bank I work for in New Zealand spend the last decade focussing on normal banking things like, oh, taking deposits and lending money to worthy people. Maybe that's why we're still posting healthy profits when the so-called giants are all crumbling. It's hilarious, because every time one of the monster banks falls over, we keep rising up the ladder of the World's Biggest Banks. At this rate, we'll be number one in a couple of years! Then we can take over the world. Hahahahahahahahahaha!:borg:
     
    Harbourboy, Feb 19, 2009
    #8

  9. Nataraja Gems: 12/31
    Latest gem: Moonstone

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    Nataraja, Feb 19, 2009
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