Comments on: Alan Kohler: Lehman end-game

By: BernardK

BernardK — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

And now with Ike having wrought an estimated USD24Bn in damage, we will see how robust the re- market is. And how many smaller US insurance players are now going to have to try and liquidate parts of their “investment portfolios” of toxic CDO’s et al to meet the payouts. Selling those instruments to generate cashflow aint a realistic option, but would be interesting to see the insurance and other NBFI segments report those holdings on M2M rather cost value.

By: gARy joHnSOn

gARy joHnSOn — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

So da richest men in babylon are no longer rich… i did say 3 months ago dat da financial veil was slowly being lifted but now she got her skirt up round her ears, and it stinks..pheeeww yuk..cover dat girl up.

By: JamesK

JamesK — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Lehman did file for bankruptcy……Jeremy vs. Bernard, Alan and Mark. Game on.

By: Rattler

Rattler — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I am a retired insolvency specialist. Let the market prevail & do not interfere with moral hazzard. Any “real” assets will still be there at the end of the day,priced to the “real” market. Who gives a f..k about the leech derivatives traders & their “something for nothing” parasite clients? We are witnessing a long overdue purging of greed & excess; let it happen; do not interfere. The “real” economy will shrug it off.

By: Mick

Mick — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I agree with Alan, Jeremy Smith.

This is quite possibly a massive deflationary event. On par with 1929.

By: Venise Alstergren

Venise Alstergren — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

It is ironic, is it not? Little Johnny (the barking frog) Winston Howard, who loved America to distraction, should, if he gives a f*ck, look at the destruction caused by their huge, and ultra-greedy, dare I say shonky financial companies on the Australian share markets. Perhaps his angular, acting-his-pants-off, tame poodle, Peter, should have tried to understand the undue influence of American corporations on the Australian market place. Perhaps he have made a greater effort to attain some financial stability in a country where a new bonanza is lying under the lazy next turn of a spade.

I wish I was going to be around when the last and final resource gives out, to find out how a country of 100,000,000 people, with little or no infrastructure, outside of city centres; Melbourne will have stretched to take in Frankston, Werribee, Ballarat, Bendigo, Avoca, Horsham, Hamilton, Warnambool, The Strezlekis , Dandenong, Geelong and Warracknambeal. It will devoid of arable land and covered with coast-to-coast concrete. At about that time even an Australian politician, if they can find one who isn’t a Catholic, will finally have the guts to bring in a one child policy. Australia/Victoria whose people have forgotten how to produce an intelligent workforce. But, cheer up! We will have had at least another four-six (whatever) generations of footy players.
BTW: John Brumby. A population’s growth doesn’t just double, it grows expotentially. As in, 2099 there will be about 100,000,000 Australians-All Catholic. Congratulations!

By: Rattler

Rattler — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

By: Edward James

Edward James — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I live in Umina NSW. I am a landlord who pays rates to Gosford City Council with thousands of others like me. The seventy four million dollar question we have, is understated by about forty six million dollars short of our exposure. $ 23m in Federation which I understand to be the first instance of my council investing our rates in sub prime loans off shore in the United States pursuing the 8.5% per annum. And then a whole lot more of our $120 m moved into Consolidated Debt Obligations. Which I understand was a package of Sub Prime Loans which clever operators were able to parcel up in a way which would be able to receive a triple AAA rating after a payment of a fee.. I read about two dollar companies and bank guarantees of ten million dollars . While I stand in the street and complain about my council Gosford City Council being corrupt. Is it fair to pick the pockets of a fool like me Edward James POB 3024 Umina 2257…0243419140 and others who give our votes in trust?

By: jeremy smith

jeremy smith — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Kohler says: 'The next 24 hours will be one of the most decisive and significant in our lifetimes.'

Overlooking his misuse of the singular and plural, the statement seems a little over the top. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the Asian tsunami, the end of apartheid, Pol Pot's rise and fall apparently pale in comparison to the state of US financial institutions at the moment.....Alan needs to get out more.