Comments on: Closing Wall Street’s casino

By: KyuuAL

KyuuAL — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:11:33 +0000

@AdamSmith

“We need a fighter”. How about Elizabeth Warren in the future?

By: spiderbite

spiderbite — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:52:42 +0000

You forgot to mention that credit default swaps are INSURED! Who insures them- that’s another serious issue and should be outlawed. CDS’s almost wiped out Japan after the earthquake & are currently trashing the euro. Thety need to be stopped- they have more power than governments.

By: TheOldSodbuster

TheOldSodbuster — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 02:26:49 +0000

Great as always. I looked up the derivative market today and it was 167 Trillion, with a T. That is measured against a $15Trillion national debt, which is about the same as our GDP which is listed as a quarter of the worlds total output. (all measured in those stretchy US dollars. One of your commenters mentioned $670Trillion and another internet artilcle mentioned $1,200Trillion, but they said quadrillion and it all gets silly.)

Casino is the word; Betting two and a half times the entire house… if this world is a house. OK, I am not nearly as careful as Mr. Johnston, in sourcing my figures. But for crying out loud, aren’t vast amounts of those bets put down by what we used to call banks? Who handed the craps handlers our wallets, for some few of us still work for the stuff.

So here is my question Mr. Johnston. Who are the ‘bond vigilantes”? What responsible parties seem to have the economic reins over the political stability of Europe and are threatening, threatening.

Outta control, yet in control of our political levers. It is enough to make an old buzzard occupy.

They are more than betting the farm. Betting the other guy’s farm.

By: politediscourse

politediscourse — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:30:40 +0000

What a brilliant concept – all the better for being ‘conservative’ (difficult for at least one of the Parties to disagree with) and costing the taxpayer nothing to administer.

By: DanielKneal

DanielKneal — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:31:46 +0000

The errors and misconceptions in this article are so numerous it is laughable.

Does the author know or care to explain the difference between notional and vet value? Anyone with even a basic understanding of derivatives or how the financial markets work would make a clear distinction between the two and list net value, not notional value.

To all readers who don’t know the difference either, please contain you incredulity until you become better informed.

Shame on Reuters.

By: 742

742 — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:03:09 +0000

This has been going on for a lot longer than Obama, GW Bush, Clinto, GWHB have been Presidents. Until it is stopped by a new set of people in congress, it will go on as they are all beholden to their corporate masters. Or, until the people rise up and take their revenge.

By: Thorstein

Thorstein — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:40:51 +0000

“I cannot imagine Goldman Sachs hiring the likes of Harry to collect on bets when the losing party fails to pay up.”

Excellent article. But can you imagine Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse hiring Karatzaferis and Plevris to beat up on the Greek people?

By: AdamSmith

AdamSmith — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 06:07:12 +0000

Great article.

Sad to say, President Obama, whom I mistakenly voted for, is in the bankers’ pockets. He talked change. Then he changed almost nothing.

We need a fighter, like Teddy Roosevelt, or a Harry Truman, to take on Wall Street’s powerful casino. Obama doesn’t have the temperment.

By: stevez3

stevez3 — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:33:48 +0000

Further, what is really wrong is that CDSs are not conducted in an open market and are not regulated – no one know who and how much; so risk is impossible to assess. Further, it is said that 5 banks do more than 90% of the CDS on sovereign debt – are they is a financial position to cover potential claims? Probably not and who knows? Derivatives per se are a great thing, I like being able to limit my liability. What is needed is regulation/transparency.

By: stevez3

stevez3 — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:16:53 +0000

The problem is that you could make the same argument about the insurance industry or the agricultural futures market – these are bets also and CDSs can be looked at as an insurance policy. Maybe what needs to be addressed is whether something “tangible” is being insured, and not an insurance policy on an insurance policy on an insurance policy, etc.