Dennis Kneale Takes On Zero Hedge...And Fails (Clip)

Watch the clip and then read this from Durden.

Zero Hedge vs. Dennis Kneale (you decide who is the Lone Ranger and who is P.T. Barnum):

• Tyler Durden and pals have chosen the completely insane profession of blogging
• He cares more about telling the truth than his own well-being (blogging eventually kills)
• He eviscerates Paulson, Blankfein and Goldman every chance he gets
• He understands that the real issue is the trillions in debt we are leaving our kids
• He is not a fan of generational rape
• He tells the truth about what he sees

Now Dennis Kneale's turn

• When his mouth is open Kneale is spouting useless nonsense
• Kneale cares more about his ratings and stature at CNBC than anything else in life
• He is an apologist for Wall Street and sucks up to Paulson, Blankfein and Goldman
• He believes Bailouts of Failure are a good idea
• He doesn't care about your kids, the debt or the deficits
• He is visually annoying and his voice wrenches my soul

Now to satisfy Dennis who asked in the clip for an argument against his incessantly annoying green shoot mantra, I offer the following:

Housing pain is just getting started; foreclosures will get much worse: ALT-A, Option ARMs, Jumbo Prime; credit card delinquencies on the rise; the tsunami of CMBS debt that will NOT be re-serviced; unemployment has yet to peak; imploding states; imploding municipalities; the soon-to-be-out-of-control federal debt; leveraged loan defaults; deteriorating health of regional banks; inept political leadership; much higher taxes on the horizon; consumer retrenchment; the continued debt de-leveraging; and zombie banks.

There is much more to our thesis but we don't wish to overwhelm Mr. Kneale.

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Lunchtime Links (July 1, 2009)

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The Great Market Manipulation: The PPT Did A Job On Me (Clip)

CNBC: Santelli and Liesman June 29, 2009.

The PPT is the Plunge Protection Team for newcomers to stock market manipulation.

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Righteous Ratigan Attack On Leverage And Regulation Leaves CEA Chair Dr. Christina Romer Mumbling Nonsense (Clip Of The Week)

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This is outstanding stuff from D. Rat.  It's from last week, before he debuted his own show, Morning Meeting on MSNBC yesterday.  He was brought in to assist talking head Mika Brezinski in her interview with Dr. Romer (another clueless Keynesian academic who advocates stealing from your children to theoretically jumpstart our rightfully moribund and de-leveraging economy), who chairs Obama's White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA).

Ratigan put on the gloves and knocked her senseless.  She thought she could float through with soft platitudes and financial phrasing that would leave Brezinski begging for the next hard break.  Not today, Dr. Romer, not today.

Yes.  I live for these small, seemingly 'nothing' moments.  It's my only nourishment as a bailout impaler, and when it comes, I freaking celebrate.  Pardon me while I strut around the desk.

Damn, I'm glad Ratigan is back on the air.

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Lunchtime Links (June 30, 2009)

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Dylan Ratigan Goes From Fast Money To Morning Meeting But The Song Remains The Same (Excellent Clip)

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Ratigan goes from Fast Money to Morning Meeting, but his blistering attacks and blustery style have not changed. And I for one am thankful.

Guests were Daphne Aviatar, William D. Cohan and Eliot Spitzer.

Yesterday Ratigan began new his MSNBC show with the same issues he flailed back at CNBC.  Any of these sound familiar: bank bailouts, financial de-regulation, rearranging the deck chairs, compromised regulators and politicians, oversight, leverage, Hank Paulson, the guilty staying in control, the Banking Oligarchy, too big to fail, Wall Street bonus and compensation structures, the revolving door, the SEC, Goldman Sachs, Larry Summers, derivatives regulation, Tim Geithner, and probably a few that I missed.

By far the funniest moment begins at the 4:25 mark, where Cohan says "There is a reason Spitzer was Governor..."  Make sure to see that part.

And the best bit for taxpayers occurs in the last 15 seconds when Spitzer, railing on the AIG bailout, demands to know why we didn't receive additional warrants and shares in Goldman and the other banks in exchange for payments they received through AIG.  He asks specifically why we didn't get $12.9 billion more of shares in Goldman since AIG was simply a conduit to Goldman:

"We took stock in AIG that is worthless.  We gave a 12.9 billion dollar check to Goldman Sachs. Why didn't we take stock in Goldman Sachs?  Why didn't, if they knew these were conduit payments, we should have taken stock in the institutions that had value, not wasted it on AIG.  Why didn't that happen?"

Bravo.  I wrote back in April that Eliot Spitzer deserves a 2nd chance.  Familial peccadilloes aside, the guy is a prosecutorial beast and US taxpayers desperately need him back in Albany as Attorney General for the Sate of New York.

My face mimics a smile as I imagine his hit list: Paulson, Rubin, Cassano, Athan, Mozilo, Dodd, Cox, Cramer (yes Jim Cramer, just for general douchebaggery), Blankfein, Lewis, Thain, Pandit, Fuld, Schwarz, Cayne. Do not deny this writer his dreams.

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No Bailout For Bernie: Madoff Gets 150 Years

This gesture crystallizes our thoughts rather succinctly, but there's much more inside.

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Monday Morning Bailout Links: R.I.P. PPIP (Sayonara Mothafu**kas)

I'm posting all the links in comments.  There are no text formatting issues that way.  I have 172 tabs open within 5 different firefox windows and am approaching this version of Thompson. I will aim to narrow it but that's only if things don't get too weird first.

It was a cool ride into the desert. Cool, I suppose if you think floating an inch from a buffalo's ass is a sane way to see anything...(me)

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Cuz We All Know That Jesus Didn't Turn Water Into Dr. Pepper (Song)

It's still officially the weekend so I'm putting up one last bailout protest song.

I have been asked frequently in emails from readers to post "Shuttin' Detroit Down" by John Rich, so I searched and found 2 good clips.  The first is in studio; in the last 30 seconds or so he talks about Wall Street and bailing out banksters.

The 2nd clip is live on stage and has an introduction that's pretty entertaining and includes the quote I used for the title: "Because we all know Jesus didn't turn water into Dr. Pepper."

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Photo And Drawing Essay On Thomas Jefferson ('Time Wastes Too Fast' By Maira Kalman, NYT)

See the entire wonderful essay HERE.  I have included 4 of the drawings inside.  It comes with my highest recommendation.  Even Jefferson scholars will learn something new.

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The Recess Ends: Recession Filmakers Austin & Brian Chu (Clip)

Brothers Austin and Brian Chu of Irvine, California travelled the country (all 50 states) filming scenes from the recession for a documentary to be released in September.  Austin contacted us and we're happy to showcase their work.  Visit their site for pages of beautiful photo essays and video shot while travelling.  We've got photos and 3 short trailers inside.

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Mocked By Moscow: Russia Understands What Geithner Does Not

Even Former Marxists Know How To Do Bailouts

First we were mocked by Pravda.  Now, if leaked reports are true, our bank bailouts will be further exposed as the morally-destructive giveaways to the banking class that you know them to be.  Even the former followers of Trotsky and Marx know how to conduct a bailout; you gain control of failed banks in exchange for government cash.  Russia will reportedly demand board seats and veto rights from all aggrieved institutions.

In a few months don't be surprised if you hear that Marx and Castro have embarked on a global-influence tour proposing debt-to-equity conversion for failed bank bondholders. Stranger things.

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Bailout Barney And Shrill O'Reilly (Clip)

Frank and O'Reilly Discuss Condos and Social Engineering

It's a short clip (2:24).  Bailout Barney actually makes a good point about Fannie Mae condo financing requirements.  It's a difficult issue but without some change to existing loan requirements, units will continue to sit unsold.  And more existing owners will be forced to sell because of their inability to meet the monthly association fees, which have skyrocketed in some cases due to fewer tenants per building.  See where this is headed--another trip back around the recessionary death spiral of foreclosure.

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Warren Buffett: I've Had Cataract Surgery And I Still Can't See Any Green Shoots (CNBC Clip)

I've always appreciated Warren Buffett's honesty. He did not disappoint yesterday, while discussing the economy with his favorite reporter, CNBC's Becky Quick:

"Well, it's (the economy) been pretty flat. I get figures on 70-odd businesses, a lot of them daily. Everything that I see about the economy is that we've had no bounce. In the (Berkshire Hathaway) annual report, I said the economy would be in a shambles this year and probably well beyond. I'm afraid that's true."

"I looked. I wasn't seeing anything. I had a cataract operation on my left eye about a month ago and I thought maybe now I'll be able to see green shoots. We're not seeing them. Whether it's retailing, manufacturing, wherever. We have a big utility operation. Industrial demand is down like we've never seen it for a simple thing like electricity. So it hasn't happened yet."

Photos, Interview and Transcript

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