Dear CIGAs,

Alf is right, Gold is going into the multi- thousands.

This is simply sick thinking. There are no words to express my disappointment in the lack of values amongst the banksters. They are the enemy within, driven by greed, caring nothing for the damage they do to others. They have truly sold their souls. They do not deserve to be considered human. Damn them for they do not deserve better.

Even Paul Volcker has finally been railed into the den of thieves. He too has sold his soul to the devils, now having blessed financial lying. By doing so it is clear who Paul has just done business with.

There is a message contained herein. The problem is worse than even I thought. Volcker would not have thrown away a life’s work publically, as he has done here, if he did not fear a total collapse of the world financial system immediately.

Shame on you Paul. You are no longer master of the financial universe. You have kept company with the financial whores, and now you have joined them.

A man is no better than the company he keeps.

There is no practical solution to this world financial problem. There is no ethical person to save the situation from unwinding completely.

Shame on you, Paul! 82 years work just went into the garbage can of history.

Alf is right, Gold is going into the multi- thousands.

New Rule Would Allow Banks To Choose Values Of Their Assets
March 26, 2009 12:00 PM

The Financial Accounting Standards Board quietly buckled to banking-industry pressure last week and proposed new accounting practices that would allow banks to value assets at a higher price than they could currently be sold for.

Banks have long demanded the "mark-to-market" accounting rule change, arguing that it’s unfair to require them to mark toxic assets down to current market prices because the very market for those assets is frozen.

The move marks a shift for Robert Herz, head of the FASB, who recently told a panel of lawmakers that the harshest critics of mark-to-market accounting practices have been the very same banks that have gone under when regulators would not let them adjust their accounting. Herz and other regulators have been under intense congressional pressure to reform the rules.

"I will tell you that I get calls and visits from some of those institutions that are now in government hands, about two weeks before they get taken over, trying to get the accounting changed," he said. "Clearly some of the most vocal opponents of fair value and mark-to-market have been some of those institutions that ultimately failed and have had to have billions of taxpayer dollars put into them."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that she’s been consulting with former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker regarding the reform.

"I’ve talked to Mr. Volcker about this, who knows a great deal about it. And I think caution is important in it, but I think attention is necessary," said Pelosi in a brief interview with the Huffington Post.

She said that she’s following the issue closely. "I think it has to be done with care. But we have to pay some attention to it because the current system is not working," she said. "It’s the whole thing: If you mark it too low, what’s the price?"

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