Big Five tapped Fed for funds during financial crisis

Peacenik seems to recall lots of talk about how strong Canada's banking system is. How it is different from the U.S. banking system (which is bankrupt). Lots of talk about how Canada won't suffer the same housing meltdown that is occurring in the U.S. Peacenik didn't believe it then and Peacenik doesn't believe it now. The black hole of debt that is sucking European countries into its vortex right now is getting bigger and bigger. And of course the media accepts glib explanations from the banks. Peacenik wonders why it is not a matter of public record that a publicly traded company is borrowing big sums of money from the U.S. fed. What about all that superior Canadian bank regulation? Peacenik doesn't believe the banks and Peacenik doesn't believe the politicians. Something stinks.



Canada’s major banks were among numerous financial institutions across the globe which accessed funding from the U.S. Federal Reserve as part of its efforts to stave off economic collapse.

Among the thousands of transactions revealed by the Fed on Wednesday were a number involving Canadian banks, which took advantage of one program to borrow roughly $111-billion (U.S.) through their operations in the U.S.

Obliged to disclose the information under a new financial-reform law, the Fed provided an unprecedented look Wednesday inside a host of programs it used starting in 2007 to shore up a tottering U.S. banking system. The records show in stark terms how the Fed acted as a lender of last resort to a variety of players in the U.S. and beyond, extending low-cost loans and other sources of funding in a desperate effort to get financial markets functioning again.

Read on...

Fed Moves Spark Refi Madness!

by Mike Larson 03-20-09
Mike Larson

The Federal Reserve has done it now. In poker terms, it’s gone “all in.”

Specifically, the Fed said this week that it will ramp up its purchases of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) from $500 billion to a whopping $1.25 TRILLION in the coming months. The Fed is also going to double its purchases of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Federal Home Loan Bank bonds to $200 billion from $100 billion.

And for the icing on the cake …

The Fed will buy as much as $300 billion in longer-term U.S. Treasury securities. It’s going to focus on Treasuries with maturities between two and ten years, and make purchases two or three times a week.

Read on...

Peacenik sees these latest moves as more desperation from Obama. Obama desperately wants to re-inflate the housing bubble, or any bubble for that matter. Obama still can't accept that the status quo will never return. Peacenik doesn't offer financial advice other than to bury cash in your back yard. In this post Mike offers some insights on re-financing or buying a house. Meanwhile it is Friday and the bank death watch continues. (Banks die on Fridays) Do you have enough cash to get through the weekend?

Straight Talk at the Smokeshop

punditman says...

This morning Punditman went to his local variety store to pick up a copy of the Toronto Star, which sometimes contains some interesting content and perspectives that Punditman may have missed in his online probes. In fact, the Star is about as far as you can go within North America's old dead tree information and doctrinal system of media enslavement before the strictures of institutional self-censorship kick in. Europe of course is a different story with a wider range of permissable opinion. Enough Chomsky-speak.

As Punditman stood in line, the man in front of punditman (MFP) noticed that the debit machine said "Chase" on it. The store owner (SO) is East Asian and speaks broken English. Here is their conversation as heard by Punditman:

MFP (pointing to the debit machine): "Chase. They're the bad people. Money, money, money."

SO: "Money, money, money."

MFP: "That's the Rockefellers. They're the ones responsible for this 'national debt.'"

SO: (chuckles).

MFP: "But there's no national debt. It's bullshit. The MFP then gathered up his groceries and said, "Thank you sir," and departed.

Punditman considered adding his two cents worth but was not yet caffeinated; who knows what gibberish may have flowed from Punditman's logy Sunday morning brain? Punditman considered striking up a conversation, because he was interested in discovering how the MFP arrived at his conspiracy theory regarding Chase Bank (and no doubt the Federal Reserve Board too—as being responsible for yet another "engineered" economic crisis as well as every war since 1914—I'm guessing the MFP had heard that one too).

It occurred to Punditman that the MFP may be a reader of Punditman and perhaps MFP has read one too many of Peacenik's posts, followed a link or two and ended up at From the Wilderness' Peak Oil Blog? Then Punditman realized that if that were so, MFP would have been doing his grocery shopping at the Bulk Barn instead of a variety store. Punditman also noticed that the MFP was buying a copy of the Toronto Sun and so immediately dismissed the notion that the MFP was a Punditman reader. Perhaps the MFP has read the Turner Diaries and trains with some far-right, wingnut survivalist group on the edge of town? One never knows.

Punditman has decided there are three types of people in the world:

1. People who get most of their information and formulate most of their opinions by surfing the internet, which contains a broad range of perspective, including everything from wingnut to the best of the best. At least these people are thinking.
2. People who get most of their information and formulate most of their opinions by reading newspapers, which generally contain a narrow range of perspective. At least these people are trying to think (or think they are trying).
3. People who don't read but get most of their information and formulate most of their opinions by absorbing sponge-like, news soundbites from TV. These people have stopped thinking.

As far as reliable sources, Punditman trusts #1 more than #2 and laments the fact that #3 is even a category.