crucial

and the fuckery propagates

This shit is serious, just know that. It hasn't bled out into the real economy yet, but this stuff is more significant than 9/11 in what its going to do to the real world economy and to the American psyche.

Massive amounts of companies and buildings and infrastructure are going to change. Joblessness goes way up. People act all "depressed" and shit and don't spend and don't hire.

Compared to 1929 its way more leveraged, has far less industry, far more debt. Its far far worse than the US was going into the 1930s. But its also smarter and more adaptable and there's so much money involved they will probably find a way to get out of it.

But its worldwide. Emerging economies (like uh... europe) are suffering as bad or worse than the US.

Iceland is insolvent.
Russia who have been annoying in their super-richnes... just got %20 wacked off in one day.
Brazil sadly got whacked. Lula said something like "its not our fault if America turned their stock market into a casino" and he's totally correct.

I enjoyed the anti-bailout protests (via youtube), but I also know from having examined the internals (I have a ghoulish fascination for that sort of thing) — there was no possibility to not do the "bailout".

There is a slo-mo train wreck happening and they need the loot to drag the last corpse away before the next one comes crashing in.

Its a huge interlocking ponzi scheme. There's $1400 trillion on the table in OTC derivatives and only $100 trillion on the planet. Its not so much to do with the stock market. Its much more complicated. I'm simplifying.

If AIG doesn't have the loot to pay the default insurance then they default and the next guy defaults and ... the fuckery propagates.

update: Somebody has to come up with $365 Billion to pay for the Lehman default. that's why no bank wants to loan, because they knew this was coming.

Just let me say this: the "bailout" isn't just for rich cats. Its for them, yes, there are payoffs and shock doctrine moves going on, sure yeah, business as normal. Go ahead and protest and jeer and all that, I'm with you. I'm totally with you. But for different reasons.

It won't change anything anyway, because the alternative is the total destruction of corporate and financial America, and of course they won't do that.

Financial Armageddon is on the table. A major dramatic world-wide collapse is a real possibility. Its understandable not to trust these people and their scare mongering. I'm here to tell you that everybody across the board — gold bugs, conspiracy freaks, free-market republicans, traders, leading economists, currency speculators, idiots like me who waste time on the internet — everybody is talking about the POSSIBILITY of IT. The big one.

Ok, that talk often happens when a crash is on. Its always scary. Its always the End, my friend.

But even Warren Buffet is saying "I've never seen anything like this in my adult life".

THE BIG ONE.

The $ and euro could collapse, taking with it all currencies. The fed could easily go insolvent like Bjorkland. They only have their rep to protect them. Not like China is going to come over there and get all gangster on the US. "Next thursday, I'mma see joo and u betta hav my money, m'kay ?"

Oh yeah, the other reason the world doesn't come beat the US up is that they can't. "The dollar is our currency, but its your problem". - Nixon. Still true. The euro does not have that luxury.

Interestingly Islamic banks are doing well now since they have kind of a Halal for money : banks are holding companies and cannot loan that money to anybody else. No interest. No toxic mortgages, so they are attracting non-muslim business now. But they do have loopholes. Well its more complicated and the Islamic business world were innovators throughout history. I wouldn't say they were completely clean.


So anyway I have many positive things to say about the way that social and economic structures can be rebooted, and I'm really excited to see how the western ingenuity adapts and moves forward. I think this is all a positive development, despite what it just did to your parents' life savings.

The Neo-Con idea was that a free-market social democracy was the ultimate form of society. Communism died. Now its proven (what WE have been saying for years) that free-market just means free run of the foul greed-fear parts of men in a fixed-game playground : if you obey these rules, you are good. That's not morality; its not just some rules to obey.

But you see I think the idea of a market isn't bad. Its like hip hop MCs battling or sports. There's a good side to competition. It causes you to innovate and get your game up. Capital is dynamically allocated to those with the most potential. Ideally.

But what the stock market has turned into is completely corrupt. Simple and honest investors are now getting killed by machine trading hedge funds that suck "alpha" out of the system. They don't give a fuck what the company is about.

Humans need to move beyond greed and fear (the principal emotions of the financial markets : Mainpura the 3rd chakra, the stomach — really that's pretty animal).

I understand people who get caught up in it, I fail so often at these basic levels.



Here, for you education and amusement, is the Fly:

http://www.ibankcoin.com/flyblog/

These are the traders that have aggressively shorted the fuck out of America all year long perhaps leading to its very destruction (and yes, so did I but not very profitably or very well. it was scary and I'm just a dumb musician.)

Oh, Jace wants to know what "short" means: you make money when it goes down. Technically you borrow the shares, sell them, then buy them back at a lower price to cover your borrowing. In practice, you click on the right side of the screen and hope it goes down and then PROFIT!.

A HUGE part of what is going on is that the financial industry is CHEWING ITS OWN BALLS OFF. Its betting on its own demise in order to make money. Desperate Hedge Funds who need to report numbers soon go for anything that moves. Its devouring itself. Beautifully sick.

I would like to proudly proclaim that I shorted Lehman for $150 dollars. And the banks in general (via SKF) for about $900. That's it. I lost $700 in about 15 minutes one time and scampered off into the corner. Made it back later. And now the economy is going to implode and I will lose far more paying elevated prices on my Warsteiners and lack of freelance work.

I'm just this little mouse over here trying to grab some of that cheese. HUGE trucks of the shit gets driven down this alley every day and I just try to grab some of that.

Its scary shit and I wish I had spent all that time making music or doing something productive in the world.

quotes from the always entertaining fly:

"i'm just waiting for hurricane ike to come slap those stupid oil rings around like tina" (betting on major damage to boost DIG)

"Instead of getting all “emo” and shit, regarding the pending death of America, “The Fly” will do the patriotic thing and buy Citigroup Inc. (C: 12.93 -10.21%) , as if my head was attached to my balls.

And, with regards to coal: I will make believe it is not down today. Yeah, that makes sense. Walter Industries, Inc. (WLT: 32.70 -9.82%) is actually up $6, as idiots from China add coking coal to their baby formula recipe.

In short, this cannot be the end of our moronic financial system. There are so many people left to rip off. My money is on “goldilocks” and her whorish ways being able to infect another generation of plasma loving malcontents."

About a year ago, “The Fly” started shorting stocks, with high hopes of a banking meltdown. It was fun back then because we weren’t really melting down. I made truckloads of coin shorting a variety of banks, including BSC, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEH: 0.00 N/A), Washington Mutual, Inc. (WM: 0.00 N/A) , and being long (SKF: 181.49 +20.99%) . It was the beginning stages of crisis and there were so many bullish fucktards to destroy: I thought it made sense to bet against popular wisdom. As a result, I was not only right, but exactly right. However, assholes, as everything falls apart in real time, it’s not that funny anymore.

Now, don’t kid yourself for one second. The stooges you read or see on the internet are talking their books, as I am. Believe me, if I were still short, I’d be calling for the blockage of the “bailout” too. I switched my position from perma bear to retardo bull because I felt it was time to fucking shred the losers who relish in the destruction of America.

I love this cesspool and would manslaughter a few hundred thousand people to prove it.

These “skull fuckers” I speak of are not interested in rebuilding America. They want the whole fucking system to come down, in order to make a few bullshit dollars in the market. Regular Macabres, they are.

Some people are afraid of depression and anarchy. Well, let me just say, without massive government intervention, you will get your depression and more. The bill HAS TO PASS— not because it’s good, but necessary. The market is expecting action. Without it, everything collapses.

Put aside your market bias: do you really want that to happen? If so, I have a few Brooklyn “fuck yoos” for you.

Once the government has control of the housing market, via buying the notes, they will be able to renegotiate terms and keep people in their bullshit homes. When able to reduce market supply, economics 101 dictates that demand will catch up— and prices will begin to rise again.

Look, I am no economist. I only play one on the internet. However, I know the market better than any of you morons out there. I am sure there is plenty of money to make on the downside, specifically in industrial and stupid ‘global growth’ plays. But, for now, it’s time for the government cheese makers to step up large and take down a trillion dollars of dicey assets.

Once they do that, confidence will return to the market place and Armageddon will be taken off the table. After all, with all the egregiously armed criminals in this country, you don’t really want chaos, do you?

Be careful for what you ask for.

http://www.ibankcoin.com/flyblog/index.php/20...

http://www.ibankcoin.com/flyblog/index.php/20...

Very good point, one I've been aware of recently: in Mad Max world, who's got all the weapons ? Not those cool democratic burning man fags. Its the Fundies.

The Word for 2008 is Egregious. Look it up.

Links and things

I am timeblind on myspace. thanks for the add.

I am crucialfelix on del.icio.us which is where I link to all the interesting shit I come across.

I put my photos up on flickr

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When I listen to music at home it all gets echoed onto here and on my Last.fm page. Most of the time I don't use that cause I don't want you to see me obsessively listening to my own mixes, really bad working titles.

You can read some posts I thought were interesting from various feeds.

I've been doing the Dance Music Business Resource since 1995, back when it was on hyperreal.org. Articles and info for artists and small labels. Recently I've been posting interesting industry news items and adding some new content about downloads etc.