Wallstreet Fatcats

What exactly did they do to earn these outrageous sums of money? ...
Destroy companies
Put people out work
Put house-debtors on the street
Precipitate an economic collapse
...

Forbes: What The Wall Street Titans Whores Earned

Richard Syron
Former chief executive officer, Freddie Mac
One-year total pay: $3.4 million
Five-year total: $29.06 million



Daniel Mudd
Former chief executive officer, Fannie Mae
One-year total pay: $8.79 million
Two-year total: $20.77 million

Martin J. Sullivan
Former chief executive officer, American International Group
One-year total pay: $10.9 million
Three-year total: $39.6 million
Shareholders pressured him to quit in June. Severance package plus bonus: $19 million

Alan D. Schwartz
Former chief executive officer, Bear Stearns (effective Jan. 8, 2008)
One-year total pay: $10.4 million
Long-time Bear employee replaced James Cayne as CEO in January 2008. At the time he took over, said Bear was "rock solid" with a "strong capital position." A few months later, the federal government pushed Bear into the arms of JPMorgan Chase.

James E. Cayne
Former chief executive officer, Bear Stearns
One-year total pay: $11 million
Two-year total: $49.31 million



John Thain
Chief executive officer, Merrill Lynch
One-year total pay: $15.8 million


John J. Mack
Chief executive officer, Morgan Stanley
One-year total pay: $17.7 million
Three-year total: $56 million
Mack took over in 2005 with plans to take on more risk.


Kenneth Lewis
Chief executive officer, Bank of America
One-year total pay: $20.13 million
Five-year total: $165.49 million


James Dimon
Chief executive officer, JPMorgan Chase
One-year total pay: $20.68 million
Three-year total: $88.88 million.



Richard S. Fuld Jr.
Chief executive officer, Lehman Brothers
One-year total pay: $71.9 million
Five-year total: $354 million

Rep. Laura Richardson, Part II

Laura Richardson, CA Representative

Guess who voted YES on the bailout?


Our very own Dirty Girl, Rep. Laura Richardson.

Vote tally, here.

STOP VOTING FOR HER, District #37 (L.A.).

Ashley Long, Part II

Ashley Long, Home Buyer / Knife Catcher
This was from an article featured on Jan 1, 2008, Ashley Long Part I. The average person was brainwashed during this bubble. They seemed incapable of thinking for themselves. Lets revisit to see if this buyer made the right decision.

This buyer thought...
“I got a pretty good deal. I know this is a low market and the house is worth more than that,” WRONG
and
“It’s the only time I’m going to be able to afford to buy in Sonoma County,” WRONG
and
“I can’t imagine it going down a lot lower, and eventually it has to come back up. I don’t want to gamble.” WRONG

Conclusion: FAIL

Here is Ms. Long's house:
7108 Hastings Pl Windsor, CA
4 beds, 3.0 baths, 2,032 sq ft
APN: 163-120-052-000
Sale History:
03/13/1998: $222,500
12/07/2007: $470,000

Lets see if her purchase and statements made sense. You can check the comps and properties for sale in this neighborhood. How about 210 Mali Ct: 2200 sqft for $370K. Check out that brown lawn. If it sells for $370K that is a 40% drop from the peak purchase price. What a joke. The sheeple need to start THINKING FOR THEMSELVES.

210 Mali Ct Sale History
08/06/2008: $415,840 * (bank taking it back)
03/30/2006: $629,000
03/10/1995: $225,000

What should Ms. Long do now?

Post your comments and let her and other knife catchers know.

MasterCard

MasterCard: Official Card of the Second Great Depression


Nation of Debt
The opening commercial makes me want to fu**in' puke.

Crazy Carnes'

Chandra & Michael Carnes, Loco House Buyers Debtors
(or Chaundra Carnes)
2008-09-23: Wow, just days later, their home is reduced in price another $60K. Desperation is setting in!!!

No Mas, Crazy Carnes'!!! No Mas!!! Looks like the family from the PBS video that prompted the creation of the Hall of Shame is back to wheeling and dealing houses. Although, I'm not sure they'll be able to find a greater fool to get them out of this mess. Could be the end of the road. If you haven't already, watch the PBS video, also available on YouTube. (NOW - PART 1)

Remember that buyers are also to blame for this bubble. With a household income of just over $100K, why would the Carnes' delve into no-interest loan for over $700K!! They can answer that question best:
Past Due and Pay Day
Michael runs production at a winery and Chaundra manages the office at an auto body shop. Together, they earn just over $100,000 a year.
Back in the days when 30 year fixed rate mortgages were the norm, the Carnes would've been advised to borrow about twice their annual salary - around $200,000. In this market, that old ratio of salary to loan seems positively quaint: the Carnes have borrowed $700,000 — seven times their yearly income.
CHANDRA CARNES: To have a 30 year loan almost seems like you're giving away too much of your money. If you have to take a loan out anyway, why not borrow the most you can borrow. You know if it helps you get the home that you really want to live in.
MICHAEL CARNES: With the value increasing the way, at the rate it is, why not get an interest-only loan to free up more spendable cash per month? And so we ran the numbers. And the guy says, "Yeah, it looks good." And we couldn't believe him. And so we did it. And here we are. And we're really happy. And like I said, we just barely made it. They told us that.
MICHAEL CARNES: In 10, 15 years, we'll have to be a little bit more conservative. But right now, we're living it up - have a house on a hill and we're very happy.
CHANDRA CARNES: You know, the only risk is if housing values go down. And I guess that's a risk we're willing to take. And I think a lot of other people are too. So we're not alone.

Sacrifice your future if it gets you what you want right now! And don't be afraid to do foolish things if "you're not alone." And would you believe they took some equity out of their home for decorating.
Why did the Carnes' risk their future on a $700K loan for a home? Cuz we wannit!!

---------- update: 11-12-2007 --------------
Looks like the Carnes' got lucky and found some bigger fools.
Found this on Zillow:
5903 Mountain Hawk Dr Santa Rosa CA 95409
Sale History:
02/25/2005: $951,000
09/17/2007: $925,000
153-580-003-000

Summarizing: The Carnes' were very, very lucky. They lost $25K on the price, and with their interest only loan, ended up renting that house for 2.5 years, also having to pay property taxes, upkeep, etc. They now live in a home (APN 161-410-040-000) at an assessed value of $280,698, however, the purchase price was $640,000. I love her comment above: "a 30 year loan almost seems like you're giving away too much of your money". How is paying rent on a $1M home any better? If her husband had any backbone, he'd 'smack that bitch up'.
1086 Elsbree Ln Windsor CA 95492
Zillow: 09/21/2007: $640,000

---------- update: 09-23-2008 --------------
Zillow: 1086 Elsbree Ln Windsor CA 95492
For Sale: $669,000 $659,000 $599,000 $540,000
Price Paid: $640,000
ZEstimate®: $552K
ZEstimate®: $545K (5/1/08)
ZEstimate®: $536K (9/19/08)
Tyrone-Est®: $335K

Looks as though the Crazy Carnes' are figuring out their house isn't worth what they paid. BWAHAHAHA

Listing site: Wine Country Dream (how apropos... Dream)

Other nearby houses for sale:
1026 Elsbree Ln, Windsor $599,000 (bigger lot, about same sqft for house) Taken off market
1032 Elsbree Ln, Windsor $749,500
1020 Lisa Ct, Windsor $649,000
1040 Elsbree Ln, Windsor $589,950 $559,950 $499,950
9950 Troon Ct, Windsor $974,500
317 Jessie Ct, Windsor $695,000

Richard Fuld

Richard Fuld, Destroyer of 158 Year Old Financial Instition, Lehman Brothers

$17,000 an Hour to destroy a company. Bravo, dumb-a**!

2008-09-17: $17,000 an Hour. No Success Required
Are you capable of taking a perfectly good 158-year-old company and turning it into dust? If so, then you may not be earning up to your full potential.

You should be raking it in like Richard Fuld, the longtime chief of Lehman Brothers. He took home nearly half-a-billion dollars in total compensation between 1993 and 2007.

Last year, Mr. Fuld earned about $45 million, according to the calculations of Equilar, an executive pay research company. That amounts to roughly $17,000 an hour to obliterate a firm.

Vijay Soni

Vijay Soni, Flipper/WaMu Customer

Successful realtor in the 1980s, but surrendered his license after being convicted of fraud in 2003. Now he's under investigation again.

Investigation Graphic

2008-09-19: Washington Mutual loaned millions to OC home flippers
In July 2007, Vijay and Supriti Soni of Corona del Mar paid $440,000 for a home at 2129 W. Civic Center Drive in Santa Ana.

Five weeks later, they resold the house to Javier Hernandez – the family gardener and handyman – for $660,000. That's a 50 percent gain in 38 days – at a time when real estate prices in Santa Ana were plunging.

Records show that Washington Mutual, America's largest savings and loan and one of its most precariously perched lending institutions, financed at least 43 mortgages worth $24.5 million on properties bought and sold by members of the Soni family since early 2007.

----------------

This is where our bailout dollars are going--thank you Housing Bubble and US Government.

Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual--WaMu, Subprime Lending Pioneer!

Not the only 'cockroach', says Peter Schiff.


Words/phrases used to describe WaMu:
'metastasizing'
'lethal damage'
'fundamental problems'

Who is going first: WaMu or Lehman?

2008-04-11: WaMu Estimates Cut by Goldman, Short Sale Recommended
April 11 (Bloomberg) -- Washington Mutual Inc.'s full-year loss will be wider than first estimated, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts, who recommended selling the shares short.

Washington Mutual, the biggest U.S. savings and loan, may lose $3.30 a share this year, said Goldman Sachs analysts including New York-based James Fotheringham in a note to investors today. Goldman previously forecast a 2008 loss of $1 a share for the Seattle-based company.

2007-12-10: Mortgage Crisis Forces Big Cuts at WaMu
Mortgage Problems Force WaMu to Close Offices, Fire Workers and Drop Subprime Loans
SEATTLE (AP) -- Washington Mutual Inc., the nation's largest savings and loan, said Monday problems in the mortgage and credit markets are forcing it to close offices, lay off more than 3,000 workers and set aside up to $1.6 billion for loan losses in its fourth quarter.

2007-12-21: WaMu Says Cooperating with SEC on Home Appraisals
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it is cooperating with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into the handling and reporting of mortgage loans that may have been based on inflated home appraisals.

"After spending a month and a half investigating these allegations, we can say with confidence that there has been no systematic effort by WaMu to inflate home appraisals. We take these allegations very seriously."

2008-04-08: Washington Mutual Gets $7 Billion Boost
Washington Mutual, the nation's largest savings and loan, said yesterday that it is getting a $7 billion cash injection from private investors to help shore up its financial position as it continues to weather losses from U.S. subprime mortgages.
------
Company Philosophy:
We constantly ask ourselves, do our products and services save time, save money and reduce hassles for our customers?

Perhaps they should have asked themselves if there was any chance that borrowers would pay back these ridiculous "loan products".

2008-09-10: Carnage continues for Washington Mutual
Washington Mutual shares plummeted to a 17-year low on Wednesday, hammered by investors who fear its metastasizing home loans could inflict lethal damage.

"They are a company with fundamental problems that is getting the worst of the brunt of the market," said Jaime Peters, an analyst with Morningstar in Chicago. "That is scary because finance is all about confidence."

The worst-case scenario would be WaMu failing - or coming to the brink, if Uncle Sam swooped to the rescue a la Bear Stearns. A collapse of the nation's largest S&L would be devastating. But Peters and others said they don't think the situation is that dire yet.

----- FAIL -----
2008-09-15: S&P Lowers WaMu Credit Rating to Junk
Washington Mutual Inc. ... had its credit rating cut to junk by Standard & Poor's because of the deteriorating housing market.

Lehman Brothers

Lehman Brothers
May as well add these bums to the Hall of Shame®.

Lehman, an innovator in global finance, serves the financial needs of corporations, governments and municipalities, institutional clients, and high net worth individuals worldwide. Founded in 1850, Lehman Brothers maintains leadership positions in equity and fixed income sales, trading and research, investment banking, private investment management, asset management and private equity. The Firm is headquartered in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Tokyo, and operates in a network of offices around the world.

Courtesy of Calculated Risk... Lehman, More Problems

2008-06-10: Lehman's Property Bets Are Coming Back to Bite
The stunning $2.8 billion second-quarter loss Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. announced Monday stemmed in part from two big real-estate investments made at high prices near the top of the market that are coming back to bite the investment bank.

2008-08-15: Lehman faces fight to shed real estate assets
Lehman's near-term fate depends in large part on whether it can attract buyers for the assets and securities in its commercial real estate portfolio, valued at $40bn at the end of May.

2008-08-18: Lehman Faces Another Loss
With the end of the New York company's fiscal third quarter less than two weeks away, some analysts are girding for a loss of $1.8 billion or more, instead of the modest profit they previously expected. If the dour projections come true, Lehman's losses since the start of March would total at least $4.5 billion -- or more than the firm churned out in profit during fiscal 2007.

2008-08-28: Lehman Eliminating as Many as 1,000 Jobs
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the investment bank that's trying to shed mortgage assets and raise capital, is poised to eliminate as many as 1,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, in the fourth round of cuts at the firm this year, people familiar with the matter said.

This is fu**ing embarrasing!
2008-09-09: Lehman Shares Fall After Talks With Korean Bank End
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fell a record 45 percent in New York trading after talks about a capital infusion from Korea Development Bank ended. The Wall Street firm is continuing to negotiate with other potential investors, a person briefed on the matter said.

The Korean bank is one of several companies that Lehman, the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm, has been in discussions with in recent weeks, said the person, who declined to name the other potential bidders. The New York-based bank is also continuing talks with private-equity firms interested in buying its asset-management business, the person said.

Bill Gross

Bill Gross, CIO, PIMCO
I guess it goes like this:
- Bet heavily on mortgage-backed securities
- When things get bad, demand that the government protect your bad bet

Calculated Risk:
2007-06-26: BONG HiTS 4 BILL GROSS!

2008-04-04: Bill Gross on a Bailout (CNBC video)

2008-04-10: Ticker Guy 'Savaging' Bill Gross (YouTube Video)

2008-04-10: Pimco's Gross Holds Most Mortgage Debt Since 2000
April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pacific Investment Management Co.'s Bill Gross lifted holdings of mortgage debt in the world's largest bond fund to the highest since 2000, while putting on the biggest bet against government debt since at least the same year.

The $125.1 billion Pimco Total Return Fund had 59 percent of assets in mortgage debt in March, up from 52 percent the prior month and 23 percent in March 2007, according to data on the Newport Beach, California-based firm's Web site. The fund's cash position dropped to 32 percent, the lowest since July 2006, from 34 percent in February.

2008-09-04: Bond Fund Manager Demands Bailout to Support His Profits
Bond manager Bill Gross wants to spread the bailout wealth. Gross says in a commentary posted on the Pimco Web site Thursday that the government must “open up the balance sheet of the U.S. Treasury” to support Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE) and, in a new twist, “Mom and Pop on Main Street U.S.A.” as well.

Gross has previously said he believes the Treasury will have to assist Fannie and Freddie in any efforts to raise new capital. His Pimco Total Return bond fund has major positions in mortgage-backed bonds issued by the government-sponsored enterprises, so it’s no surprise that he sees it that way. But now he’s calling on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to use federal funds to buy more housing-related assets, in the name of preventing asset-price deflation from spiraling out of control.

Gross writes that the government should be more aggressively issuing subsidized home loans and creating funds to buy distressed properties, to help inject cash into U.S. households and slow the plunge in home prices. He writes that federal assistance is required because the deleveraging sweeping the financial sector has moved from asset liquidiation to debt liquidation - a process, he writes, that “can turn a campfire into a forest fire, a mild asset bear market into a destructive financial tsunami.”

Bill,... FU** You!!
2008-09-07: Pimco’s Gross sees Fannie/Freddie rescue limiting housing losses
Bond guru Bill Gross at Pimco, who’s Newport Beach trading team has come as close as anybody in calling the housing debacle, says that the government rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should shave housing losses.

Gross, whose company manages $800 billion in fixed-income assets, says it’s too to early to call a bottom to a horrific housing debacle that’s shaved 15 percent or more off home values nationwide — losses that led to Fannie and Freddie’s downfall.

Karen Trainer

Karen Trainer, Failed House Debtor
And then the sheeple decided it didn't make "financial sense" and walked away. Walk, sheeple, walk.

(hat tip to Housing Panic)
2008-07-29: America's house price time bomb
In May 2006, at the height of the housing boom, Karen Trainer bought a $500,000 apartment in California - with money borrowed from her bank.

By this year, Karen still owed $500,000 on her mortgage, but her apartment was worth $200,000 less.

So she was deep in negative equity and, to make matters worse, the interest rate on her loan was about to increase.

"I thought 'this is crazy'," Ms Trainer says. "It just does not make financial sense."

As a successful professional, Karen could comfortably have managed the higher mortgage payments her bank demanded.

Instead, she decided to stop her mortgage payments altogether and let her bank repossess her apartment.

Her credit record will be badly damaged by the decision, but Ms Trainer expects this to recover soon.

"Generally speaking, within 5 years you are about back where you were, so my husband and I decided we'll take the hit and live with it."