RSS
Home
Yogi Berra meets the financial crisis
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.JPG)
I've never been a big fan of the New York Yankees, but if there is one Bronx bomber you have got to love it's Yogi Berra. After all, Berra could do it all in his day and he certainly had a way with words.
In fact, if he were asked about it today I'm sure he would have something funny to say about the absurdity our current economic mess.
But since he's not taking my calls, I thought I would put a few of his famous words in the mouths of some other famous people. I hope he doesn't mind.
Here they are:
Something Ben Bernanke would say:
"It's tough making predictions, especially about the future"
Something Toll Brothers CEO Bob Toll would say:
"If they don't want to come, you can't stop them"
Something General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner would say:
"If you don't know where you're going, you'll wind up somewhere else"
Something former Bear Stearns CEO Jimmy Cayne would say:
"The future ain't what it used to be"
Something short seller William Ackman would say:
"You can observe a lot by watching"
Something Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis will say to his shareholders one day:
"We make too many wrong mistakes"
A conversation between Richard W. Fisher and Fed Chief Ben Bernanke based on a conversation between Yogi and Phil Rizzuto:
Phil Rizzuto/Fisher: "I think we're lost."
Yogi/Bernanke: "Yeah, but we're making great time."
Something Economist Nouriel Roubini would say:
"It ain't over til it's over."
Of course, there is just one more:
"This is like deja vu all over again."
That is what the rest of us say every three months when banks release their earnings.
By the way, here’s the latest from the gloom and doom corner of the market.
It’s a prediction from Professor Nouriel Roubini, who has created quite a name for himself by correctly predicting each stage of the financial storm.
Needless to say, he’s still bearish.
From Bloomberg by Henry Meyer and Ayesha Daya entitled: Roubini Predicts U.S. Losses May Reach $3.6 Trillion
“U.S. financial losses from the credit crisis may reach $3.6 trillion, suggesting the banking system is “effectively insolvent,” said New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini, who predicted last year’s economic crisis.
“I’ve found that credit losses could peak at a level of $3.6 trillion for U.S. institutions, half of them by banks and broker dealers,” Roubini said at a conference in Dubai today. “If that’s true, it means the U.S. banking system is effectively insolvent because it starts with a capital of $1.4 trillion. This is a systemic banking crisis.”
Losses and writedowns at financial companies worldwide have risen to more than $1 trillion since the U.S. subprime mortgage market collapsed in 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
President Barack Obama will have to use as much as $1 trillion of public funds to shore up the capitalization of the banking sector, following the $350 billion injection by the Bush administration, Roubini told Bloomberg News. Congress last year approved a $700 billion rescue fund, of which half remains to be disbursed.
Bank of America Corp., the largest U.S. bank by assets, posted a quarterly loss of $1.79 billion last week, its first since 1991, and received $138 billion in emergency government funds. Citigroup Inc. posted an $8.29 billion fourth-quarter loss, completing its worst year, and plans to split in two under Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit’s plan to rebuild a capital base eroded by the credit crisis.
“The problems of Citi, Bank of America and others suggest the system is bankrupt,” Roubini said. ‘In Europe, it’s the same thing.’”
Related Articles:
- Obama Stimulus Investments
- "Economic Pearl Harbor" warns Warren Buffett
- A $1.2 Trillion Deficit Ahead
- A "foreclosure tsunami" in 2009
To learn more about Wealth Daily click here
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
The winds of change the that we have been warning about just keep on blowing. Since then the S&P 500 is down about 5.75% after falling from a …
Just when you thought the real estate market was showing signs of a recovery, reality rears its ugly head. According to the National Association of …
