comMITTed to Romney!

Here is a brief excerpt from an article in the Monday, Oct. 13, 2008 edition of the Wall Street Journal print edition. It is so ironic to see the same, not similar, but the same things that you have written about on Committed to Romney on the pages of the Journal. If you have not read the article, please take a few minutes to check it out.

~~John Cronin~~

WSJ Oct. 13, 2008

By: Judy Shelton

These days, it seem difficult to defend the efficacy, let alone the morality, of an economic approach to human interaction that is now blamed for having put the entire global economy at risk. But that is exactly what we need—-most importantly, from America’s next leader.

Sometimes it takes an outsider to help us gain perspective. Deep within the condemning speeches delivered by Mr. Sarkozy, ( President of France ) both in New York and Toulon, are the grains of a new approach to capitalism that should give Americans reason to hope, not only for economic salvation but for a sense of redemption on a deeper level. France’s President held out the possibility that all is not lost, that we can fix what is broken. “”The financial crisis is not the crisis if capitalism,” according to Mr. Sarkozy. “It is the crisis of a system that has distanced itself from the most fundamental values of capitalism, which betrayed the spirit of capitalism.”

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http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/shares-europe-plunge-again-tumultuous/story.aspx?guid={B5882B27-F163-4F02-B597-A19AB3B5E8A8}

German DAX down 8.2%, French CAC-40 down 6.8%, FTSE 100 down 6%

By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) – The main national European shares indexes all plunged on Friday, capping a week of carnage in equity markets when policymakers and central banks desperately battled to shore up financials and limit damage to the global economy.

The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index fell 6.2% to 208.11, a drop that ranks among the worst one-day falls for the index.

The Stoxx 600 has fallen more than 20% in the last week, leading some strategists to call it a bear market within a bear market. For the year, the Stoxx 600 is down close to 44%.

The European drops followed similar declines in Asia. Japanese shares plunged Friday, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 Average seeing the biggest one-day drop in more than two decades, as panic-stricken investors rushed to dump stocks to raise cash.

U.S. stocks on Thursday collapsed to fresh five-year lows, with the major indexes slammed for a seventh straight session as financial shares and General Motors Corp. tanked and global credit woes spurred panic-stricken investors to flee equities.

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http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-stocks-tank-close-dow/story.aspx?guid={2067E099-1A1C-4B3B-B193-D2B70F65B7D4}

Dow industrials down over 5,500 points, or 39%, from year-ago peak

By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

“There are only two things that will turn this market around: One is any sign that the credit markets are thawing out, and the second is we finally find a level at which stocks have finally become too cheap, sank 678.91 points, its third-largest point loss on record, to finish at 8,579.19, pushing the blue-chip index under the 9,000 level for the first time since August 2003.

One year to the day after climbing to its peak of 14,164.53, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 678.91 points, its third-largest point loss on record, to finish at 8,579.19, pushing the blue-chip index under the 9,000 level for the first time since August 2003.

The Dow’s close leaves it 5,585.34 points, or 39.4%, under its year-ago high.

All of the Dow’s 30 components closed under water.

“Indicators on the state of the credit markets have improved over the past two days but the improvement has not been enough to turn the tide on the equity market’s slide,” said Tony Crescenzi, chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak & Co.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 2 billion, and declining stocks outran those advancing 10 to 1. On the Nasdaq, nearly 1.4 billion shares traded, with decliners surpassing advancers nearly 5 to 1.

In commodities trade, gold fell, with the contract for December delivery dropping $20 to end at $886.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

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http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/shares-europe-skid-bank-sector/story.aspx?guid={EC779520-B001-4304-ACF2-A97B96D63899}

European shares staggered on Monday, with banks slumping as governments in Europe didn’t match a $700 billion bailout package from the U.S. and instead continued to shore up institutions on a piecemeal basis.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 5.1% to 248.27, with a 6.9% drop for the banking index.

“It’s all down to what’s going on in the banking sector or perhaps what’s not going on in the banking sector,” said Peter Dixon, strategist at Commerzbank Corporates & Markets.

“This is markets in pure panic mode. The financial system is seizing up and I think that there are major counterparty-risk fears out there in the market. Investors are cutting risk left, right and center,” he said.

“Investors are dumping commodities, they’re dumping equities. Anything with a cyclical or a risk-based element in the returns is somewhere not to be,” he added.

The share move follows an extraordinary weekend in which Germany backed its retail deposits, Iceland reportedly tried to hammer out a plan to rescue its distressed banking industry and the Danish financial sector agreed on a two-year guarantee scheme with the government to shore up confidence.

But a Paris meeting Saturday of top EU leaders — French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi — offered no pan-European plan for dealing with troubled banks.

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http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/wachovia-accepts-wells-fargo-deal/story.aspx?guid={2DC807F5-2B6B-41D4-AC2F-E53AB58AFADF}&dateid=39724.3021222569-939732479

By Michelle Donley

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) – Wachovia Corp. (WB)

Wells Fargo WFC 35.16, -1.54, -4.2%) presented Wachovia an offer Thursday night to buy it as an intact company without government help. In the stock-for-stock deal, each share of Wachovia common stock will be exchanged for 0.1991 share of Wells Fargo common stock, which represents a value of $7 a share, based on Thursday’s closing price of Wells Fargo stock. Wachovia said before receiving the bid, it had been discussing an FDIC-supervised deal with Citigroup Inc. (C

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As I was composing this post, I had Britt Hume on and I just heard Charles Krauthammer ( whose opinion I respect very much ) say that the new version of the financial system rescue plan is loaded with pork. Earmarks, to be really specific. Citizen’s savings are being wiped out, the unemployment lines are lengthening, we have seen several banks runs ( IndyMac, WaMu, etc. ) and these despicable pork barrellers are STILL AT IT!

If our readers see the names of any of their Congressional delegation involved in this, please do yourselves and your country a huge favor and throw these bums out of office.

This is the final straw. It is abundantly clear that these people will not stop. Not now, not ever. We need to purge Capital Hill. Maybe we need to reject this bill again. Then we will try one last time and this time we will tell these people to craft a basic rescue package, not a Christmas tree with stacks of presents for the special interest groups. If they come back with another sausage like the first two, maybe we will allow the markets to work their way out of this on their own. Maybe we are tired of being looted by this shameful collection of misfits and liars.

~~John Cronin~~

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/obama-opens-lead-three-key/story.aspx?guid={6FFE81CF-41D7-45E1-B9A2-1F32355D4B0B}

By Russ Britt, MarketWatch

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The economic crisis and a well-received debate performance have given presidential candidate Barack Obama a sizable lead in the three critical swing states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, according to a new poll Wednesday.

Obama now has the backing of at least 50% of the voters in all three states, Quinnipiac University said, with the senator from Illinois surging 15 points in Florida — ground zero in the tight 2000 election — in the relatively short span of 20 days. In the Sunshine State, Obama was down 7 points to Republican John McCain and now is up by 8.

The Democratic candidate also has widened his lead in Pennsylvania to 15 points and 8 in Ohio. Obama has gained ground somewhat due to his performance in Friday’s debate with McCain, but current economic woes have contributed most to his gains.

“Sen. Obama has had a very good couple of weeks,” said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac’s Polling Institute. “Frankly, what is bad for the American economy is good for Sen. Obama.”

The Quinnipiac findings are critical in that the three states are considered essential for either candidate if they are to pull out a victory on Nov. 4. They are the biggest of the swing states, each with more than 20 electoral votes — Florida has 27, Pennsylvania holds 21 and Ohio 20.

In national polls, Obama is getting a 6- to 8-point advantage, and Brown said the Democrat is beginning to pull away to the point where McCain may find it too challenging to catch up. The only candidate to win after being behind by several points leading up to the election was Ronald Reagan against Jimmy Carter in 1980, but there weren’t as many polls conducted back then. Further, McCain’s deficit is a little larger than Reagan’s was.

McCain officials maintain the election is still too close to call.

“Virtually every poll reflects this election as very competitive and too close to call,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement. “As Americans get closer to voting, they’ll see the obvious problem with voting for a candidate who wants to spend more money, take more taxes and turn the White House into an on-the-job training program.”

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In case we wild and crazy Americans think we are the only ones whose banks and stock markets fall apart like $2 watches every 20 years or so, check out my cousins over in the Emerald Isle. Seems like the dear lads have got themselves into a bit of a sticky wicket, so to speak.

Since we are on the subject of All Things Irish, as an added bonus, ( at least I’d like to think it’s a bonus ) I’d like to throw in one of my favorite Irish sayings.

“May those that love us, love us. And those that don’t love us, may God turn their hearts. And if He doesn’t turn their hearts, may He turn their ankles, so we’ll know them by their limping.”

~~John Cronin~~

By Aude Lagorce, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) — The Irish government Tuesday said it will guarantee domestic banks’ deposits and debt for two years to allay fears of an imminent collapse of its banking system after shares in the sector lost more than a quarter of their value in Dublin Monday.

“The government has decided to put in place with immediate effect a guarantee arrangement to safeguard all deposits (retail, commercial, institutional and interbank), covered bonds, senior debt and date subordinated debt,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The measure sent banking shares soaring. Anglo Irish Banks rose 16% in volatile Dublin afternoon trading. Bank of Ireland shares climbed 18% and Anglo Irish Bank added 41%. Irish Life and Permanent shares gained 26%.

The recovery in the banking sector lifted the ISEQ 20, which rose 6.1% to 521.04, after a drop of roughly 13% on Monday.

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http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/sep/27/romney-america-must-correct-course/

Sat, Sep 27, 2008 (9:57 p.m.)

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says the U.S. must fix its ailing economy and boost its military prowess or risk losing its status as a superpower.

Romney told delegates to the California Republican Party’s meeting Saturday that a secure economy is as essential as a strong military to the country’s safety.

He says it was inconceivable to him just a few months ago that financial powerhouses such as Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch would have collapsed.

Romney also gave the GOP base plenty of red meat, praising John McCain’s performance in the presidential debate Friday.

He stressed McCain’s knowledge of foreign policy knowledge and contrasted the freedoms America enjoys with the repression in other economically prosperous countries, such as China and Russia.

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I don’t have a handle on all the details, but from what little I know at this point, it looks like we are going to get at least some of the protections I had hoped for. There will be warrants in place, ( first dibs for the beleaguered taxpayer ) executive compensation limits, no multi-million dollar golden parachutes and, surprise of surprises, they are going to get a wheel barrow out and haul back the gigantic and totally unearned bonuses that the pirates tried to sail away with!! Yeeesssss!!

~~John Cronin~~

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122257682963083173.html

Top U.S. policy makers emerged from hours of tense negotiations with a clear message just after midnight Sunday morning: A deal to bailout U.S. financial markets has been agreed on and all that remains to be done is to commit the legislation to paper.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D.), were flanked by key negotiators in the Capitol as they announced that a $700 billion plan to have Treasury buy up toxic assets had been all but finalized after hours of exhausting negotiations.

“I think we’re there,” an exhausted Mr. Paulson said, a sentiment echoed in the statements of negotiators such as House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) and Senate Banking Committee head Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.).

A House Democratic aide said the government would be able to receive warrants it could hold until maturity from financial firms on assets received either through auctions or through direct purchases.

The summary also said the legislation would institute new executive-compensation requirements for participating companies, including “no multi million dollar golden parachutes,” limits on compensation generally, and the ability to recover “bonuses paid based on promised gains that later turn out to be false or inaccurate.”

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Drudge reports that McCain has suspended his campaign in order to devote more time to the bailout plan. One headline I just saw ( haven’t read the article ) said only 4 Republicans have signed on to support the bill that Congress is working on.

I hope for the countries’ sake that this is not a publicity stunt and a ruse to look “Presidential.” If any politician plays fast and loose with the public in a time of unprecedented financial danger, he will be swept away in November.

I don’t envy the nominees of either party at this critical juncture. To try to get your arms around a plan as massive as the one proposed by Sec’y Paulson and Fed chief Bernanke has got to be a daunting challenge, even if you had adequate time to consider all the details and make the decision to either rally behind the plan as proposed or do your best to change it.

Keep these men in your prayers, that they may be guided by Divine Providence as they attempt to restore confidence in the nation’s banking system.

~~John Cronin~~

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Wouldn’t it be great to have Mitt Romney as the new Treasury Secretary right about now? Financial market talking heads are saying that this would be a very bad time to raise taxes in an economy that is teetering on the edge of a very serious recession. I know that history shows us that financial panics don’t necessarily spread to become economic panics, but I remember that Gov. Romney’s prescription for a strong economy included keeping taxes low. Romney’s approach of a top down analysis of a company he was considering an investment in, is the same approach we need to take in regard to cutting the bloated federal budget. We are at the point, after the massive federal interventions in the Bear Sterns collapse and the seizure of Freddie and Fannie, that we no longer have the option of coming in the back door of these institutions with wheel barrows filled with tax payer money. We will now have to get back to the hard work of making money and running a business with the sure knowledge that if we get in a bind we can’t get out of, UNCLE SAM AIN’T COMIN’ WITH HIS CHECKBOOK!

~~John Cronin~~

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/lehman-files-bankruptcy-protection-historic/story.aspx?guid={50D06AF4-0AD5-4B38-8206-D4C8D6E62EC7}

Lehman files for bankruptcy protection

Wall Street titan goes under after frenzied search for buyer falls short

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) – Wall Street struggled Monday to adjust to a new industry order as Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy filing rocked investors and pulled down financial stocks around the globe.

Lehman (LEH:)
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc
News, chart, profile, more

Last: 0.20-3.45-94.52%

LEH 0.20, -3.45, -94.5%) on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, ending the 158-year-old Wall Street firm’s run and rattling the foundation of the global financial system.

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In one of the worst financial crises of our lifetime, the venerable Lehman Bros. investment bank has been told by Treasury officials that no public funds will be used to bail out the firm. Merrill Lynch has agreed to be purchased by Bank of America for $50 billion. The fate of insurance giant AIG is not known at this writing.

There are several stories about the situation in this morning’s Wall St. Journal and I have no doubt that the story will be widely covered, but IMHO, one thing must be kept in mind. Lehman has suffered the same fate that anyone of us as private citizens would suffer if we bet the farm on one roll of the dice. Lehman will now either be liquidated or will file for bankruptcy.

The only satisfaction that comes out of this situation is that the Treasury finally said no to a firm looking to tap taxpayer funds. The amount of risk these firms took and the hubris of their CEO’s is nothing short of stunning. After the colossal bailouts of the shamelessly mismanaged Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, if the Secretary of the Treasury has showed up this weekend with our checkbook in hand to cut another check to the pirates that have been running these companies the last few years, I believe that the next order of business would have been a tax payer revolt.

~~John Cronin~~

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In an affirmation of the pervasive power and far reaching influence of the Editorial Board of CommittedToRomney, President Bush, John McCain and Florida Governor Charlie Crist have now come around to our way of thinking about the energy crisis and have agreed with us that the policy of the United States of America needs to support offshore drilling to help alleviate tight oil supplies.:) (just kidding, but it was fun to write that sentence)

~~John Cronin~~

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080618/D91CDVG01.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - For a quarter-century, drilling for oil and gas off nearly all the American coastline has been banned in part to protect tourism and to lessen the chances of beach-blackening spills.

Then gasoline prices topped $4 a gallon this summer. Drivers and others began clamoring for federal lawmakers to do something about the record price of oil, much of it produced in foreign countries.

In response, President Bush is renewing his call to open U.S. coastal waters to oil and gas development, arguing that it’s high time to battle high prices with increased domestic production. He is planning to ask Congress on Wednesday to lift the drilling moratoria that have been in effect since 1981 in more than 80 percent of the country’s Outer Continental Shelf and to let states help to decide where to allow drilling.

“The president believes Congress shouldn’t waste any more time,” White House press secretary Dana Perino told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “He will explicitly call on Congress to … pass legislation lifting the congressional ban on safe, environmentally friendly offshore oil drilling.”

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By: Alexander Bolton THE HILL

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/downturn-hits-house-2008-06-16.html

Maybe the Pelosis should give Mitt Romney a call. I’ve heard he’s a pretty sharp portfolio manager. While they are at it, maybe they should ask him his advise on energy policy as well.

~~John Cronin~~

Congressional leaders lost millions of dollars in last year’s economic downturn.
New financial disclosure reports reveal, however, that while House members suffered losses, senators defied the odds and saw their profit margins rise.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Ca.) husband, the San Francisco financier Paul Pelosi, lost between between $880,000 and $7.4 million in various investments. As a result, the Pelosis earned only several hundred thousand dollars if income from their assets, which range between $29 million and $133 million, according to public records.

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We could sue the oil producing states when the price of gasoline gets “too high” for us, thereby encouraging the states to withhold supplies to the American market and also encourage another escalation in “protective” tariffs and other job destroying moves……or if push comes to shove we might consider drilling for oil right here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

Just a thought.

~~John Cronin~~

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSWAT00953020080520?
feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure.

The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust laws that U.S. companies must follow.

The measure passed in a 324-84 vote, a big enough margin to override a presidential veto.

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