bargainman

I don't really track things in quite as much detail, but here's one website that might be of interest: http://icarra.com/

It seems to me that the only ones who didn't get killed where Watsa, who hedged and took the smart side of the CDS bet, some other Hedge funds who also did the CDS thing, and the folks at Renaissance Re who just seem to be head and shoulders above everyone. Everyone else got killed. Kinetics Funds just put out a conference call, and it's an interesting read/listen. One of the guy's points was that everyone got a giant collective margin call. The only place they could sell stuff to meet that margin call was the stock market. One of the only liquid regulated places left on earth. So that's where they went. So there are a pile of stocks that got killed for no fundamental business reason. They got killed cause someone had to raise a heck of a lot of money very fast. That said, there is a big difference in the way that these folks got blasted. For example Fairholme, and Kinetics stocks got killed but the companies they own are doing as well as ever. Bill Miller, Pzena, Dreman, Nygren, and others of the contrarian value line got killed with bets on financials like AIG, FRE, Fannie etc. I'm not so sure about Whitman. To me that makes a big difference even if the quotational loss is close. But maybe I'm deluding myself that there is a difference...

"So it was the lost of the uptick rule and not the over leverage and bad loans? " well not to go too out there, but between the uptick rule, and the FASB account mark to market rules, there's certainly a case to be made for some grand conspiracy ;)

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems to me they are moving things even further than where they were in the Clinton years. The tax brackets are the same as Clinton, which is fine. But... they are reducing the deductions for mortgage interest, charities, and state taxes. All of these moves are bad for high tax high cost states like California and New York. (both voted for Obama). I really wish they would start indexing these things to cost of living in different regions. Even their recent mortgage package proportionately helps the states who need it less than the states that need it more. They really don't seem to have a sense for regional economics out in DC. Strange since Pelosi is from California, you'd think they'd know better... :-P