A mad rush by Congress, Bush, the Treasury department and even foreign central banks to 'Do Something' is now underway. If the Fed, Congress, and Central Banks would just stop and think, they would realize they already 'did' something. They created the biggest credit bubble in history and we are on the backside of the credit bubble bust right now. It's too late to do anything about that now. Leverage Continues To UnwindMarket action now suggests leveraged hedge funds are selling what they can (oil stocks like Exxon Mobil (XOM) and tech stocks), not what they want (junk mortgage backed securities). The latter simply has no bid. Recent action smacks of margin call selling or a derivative blowup somewhere. A Tipping Point For Tech was reached and latecomers hiding out in Apple (AAPL), Research In Motion (RIMM), Cisco (CSCO), Amazon (AMZN), or Motorola (MOT) have been punished mercilessly. Tech is now catching up to financials on the downside. US Bureaucracy In ActionThe US is in a Mad Rush To Nowhere.'Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, the official, Peter Orszag, said workload issues at the Internal Revenue Service would prevent the mailing of rebate checks until after the peak tax filing in late May or early June. And then it could take 8 to 10 weeks to distribute the checks, meaning the impact of the action might not be felt until the second half of 2008 or early 2009.'Add that to the growing list of reasons the Fiscal 'Stimulus' Plan Doomed To Fail. ECB Attempts To Slay Dead DragonMeanwhile, across the ocean the ECB valiantly attempts to fight inflation.'The European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet moved to quash speculation that he'll follow the Fed's lead, saying he's committed to fighting inflation. Investors shrugged off the comments and raised bets on an ECB interest-rate cut. Yields on June rate futures dropped 20 basis points to 3.68 percent.'Those placing faith in the Fed, Congress, or foreign central banks to do something intelligent here need to think again. Faith in the Fed specifically and Central Banks in general has reached bubble proportions. It will be the last bubble to pop. Mike 'Mish' Shedlockhttp://globaleconomicanalysis. blogspot. comClick Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List
BEA 4th Quarter GDP 1st Estimate 0.7% Q&A: Why Did GDPNow Rise After Durable Goods? When are Construction Revisions Coming? Ambac Financial Group Inc., struggling to avoid the crippling loss of its AAA credit rating, took out insurance on $29 billion in securities it guarantees. The world's second-biggest bond insurer agreed to transfer the risk that the securities will default to Assured Guaranty Ltd., according to a statement today. Reinsuring the debt will free up capital backing those bonds, Ambac said. Ambac guarantees $556 billion of securities and the loss of its AAA rating jeopardizes the rankings on that debt as well as threatens the New York-based company's biggest source of revenue. 'Reinsurance is a valuable, capital-efficient and shareholder-friendly tool for managing risk and capital,' Ambac Chief Executive Officer, Robert Genader said in the statement. My Comment: Reinsurance on $29 billion out of $556 billion is unlikely to do anything but waste mone...
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