Traci Gregory, Financier

Should you take Cramer's advice and quit the Market?

“Whatever money you may need for the next five years,” Jim Cramer told the legions of Cramericans yesterday, “please take it out of the stock market right now.”

From Agora Financial's 5 minute forecast:

"Mr. There’s always a bull market somewhere” officially checked out of the current market, suggesting that a the current drama could cause “as much as a 20% decrease in the stock market.”

You don't have to run screaming from the market and take losses today because Cramer said to.  You can take a loan against your portfolio to hedge against losses; non-recourse loans mean that if your stock tanks, you can walk away.

I don't recommend making any decision on the emotions we're experiencing now.  Check out your options, take a deep breath, then sleep on it. 

If you'd like a quote on a particular stock, I can give it to you  via e mail.  I'll need:

• symbol
• value
• state of your residence
• whether or not you are associated with the company

I'll get a quote for you as fast as I possibly can.  Loans tend to close in ten days or less, unless they exceed the ten million mark.

Common shareholders, non-affiliates and insiders who are holding stock that trades at least $25K a day in volume can access millions in cash simply using their stock as collateral.

Manage the risk of owing stock in this market by taking out a stock loan.  If you have $1 million in stock you can borrow $500,000.00 now and if the stock drops in value during the loan you can walk away from the loan without any negative impact on your credit.

If the stock increases in value you can capture that appreciation. There is NO fall-back position to selling your stock.

Done is done.

Use a stock loan to hedge your position instead of abandoning it.

“Whatever money you may need for the next five years,” Jim Cramer told the legions of Cramericans yesterday, “please take it out of the stock market right now.”

From Agora Financial's 5 minute forecast:

"Mr. There’s always a bull market somewhere” officially checked out of the current market, suggesting that a the current drama could cause “as much as a 20% decrease in the stock market.”

You don't have to run screaming from the market and take losses today because Cramer said to.  You can take a loan against your portfolio to hedge against losses; non-recourse loans mean that if your stock tanks, you can walk away.

I don't recommend making any decision on the emotions we're experiencing now.  Check out your options, take a deep breath, then sleep on it. 

If you'd like a quote on a particular stock, I can give it to you  via e mail.  I'll need:

• symbol
• value
• state of your residence
• whether or not you are associated with the company

I'll get a quote for you as fast as I possibly can.  Loans tend to close in ten days or less, unless they exceed the ten million mark.

Common shareholders, non-affiliates and insiders who are holding stock that trades at least $25K a day in volume can access millions in cash simply using their stock as collateral.

Manage the risk of owing stock in this market by taking out a stock loan.  If you have $1 million in stock you can borrow $500,000.00 now and if the stock drops in value during the loan you can walk away from the loan without any negative impact on your credit.

If the stock increases in value you can capture that appreciation. There is NO fall-back position to selling your stock.

Done is done.

Use a stock loan to hedge your position instead of abandoning it.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into a conservatorship

According to the New York Times,Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Fed, and James Lockhart, met with Daniel H. Mudd, the chief executive of Fannie Mae, and Richard F. Syron, chief executive of Freddie Mac to let Mudd and Syron know they didn't have jobs anymore and that the Federal Government is taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and placing them in conservatorship.

"The executives were told that, under the plan, they and their boards would be replaced and shareholders would be virtually wiped out, but that the companies would be able to continue functioning with the government generally standing behind their debt, people briefed on the discussions said.

"It is not possible to calculate the cost of any government bailout, but the huge potential liabilities of the companies could cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars and make any rescue among the largest in the nation’s history."

Read the entire article at U.S. Rescue Seen at Hand for 2 Mortgage Giants

You need to understand that their rescue is throwing your tax dollars away to fix their mistakes.  Your grandchildren will pay for this . . . And you probably should start thinking about buying foreign currencies . . .

I.O.U.S.A. the Movie

Feds move up from originators, go for IndyMac, Countrywide and New Century Mortgage

I've just heard today that those three, IndyMac, C'Wide and New Century have been issued subpoenas as the subject of a federal grand jury investigation. The Justice Department was focusing primarily on smaller operators thought to be defrauding homeowners and mortgage lenders . . . as if there could have been a coordinated effort across the country large enough to create the mess we're in. . . Now they've decided that it was fraud on the part of large sub prime lenders. According to Los Angeles Times, they have asked for e-mails, phone bills, financial records and other information. The Times said this is part of an investigation into whether fraud and other crimes contributed to the mortgage crisis.

I find this stuff small time compared to the creation of the programs that required a heartbeat and a signature to get a loan, but I'm just a loan officer . . . They didn't need fraud to lose money on those programs! There were such minimal requirements for loans an enterprising 12 year old could have made them work.

You already know about Countrywide and Angelo Mozilo, with the "friends of Angelo" mortgage program . . . interesting that the only "friends of Angelo" that we know about are politicians . . . who probably can't repay the favor for him now . . . too much daylight shining on their relationships . . . and you probably know by now that Countrywide is being sued in Illinois, Florida and California. I'm sure Cuomo will jump in there soon. After his win with Fannie Mae, he couldprobably take on any lender and win.

Countrywide and all its memories will fade though, except maybe for Angelo and anyone else who actually attends a trial. BOA bought it, and they'll swallow it whole. . . they're already changing the names of the divisions to "Anything But Countrywide".

I was surprised to hear that a court-appointed examiner has determined that New Century was involved in inappropriate accounting practices that inflated its profit and gave top executives the ability to acquire millions of dollars in undeserved or inflated bonuses. I guess I was surprised that I had not heard it sooner . . . I'm certainly not surprised at the charges.

They were not a lender that I sold loans to . . . they were quick to change program details, interest rates, etc, at the closing table and they only had to embarrass me once for me to take them completely off my list of possibilities. They filed Chapter 11 in April of 07 . . . and I felt almost the same way when I heard that news as I did when I heard Greenpoint had "bitten the dust." (What goes around comes around doesn't it? Couldn't have happened to anyone who deserved it more.)

The FBI is up to 21 cases against corporate and other large companies relative to subprime market defaults. They've inferred they want brokers, lenders, and now securities firms, hedge fund operators and credit rating agencies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly working closely with the fibbies to find and charge anyone who may have contributed to the credit crises . . .but because of deregulation they're struggling with making criminal cases about the subprime debacle.

I've recently thought of two youtube videos I think I'd like to make . . . Bear Stearns indictees, set to the tune of Dirty Laundry, by Don Henley

You may listen to it in the next post

2 Former Bear Stearns Executives Arrested

Staggering Arrogance??