Ward on Words

Americans, dragged down by a sagging economy, high unemployment and a rather astonishing number of people living at risk of poverty , have new reality show to watch: Hoarders - the bank holding company version. Emboldened by bonuses supplied by the US taxpayer and bolstered by the lack of any oversight or consequences for reprehensible behaviors on Wall Street that led to the collapse of the economy, America's biggest " bank holding companies " are expanding their businesses. No longer content to supply loans and CDOs and synthetic CDOs , those clever Ivy-educated bankers are in the commodities storage business. And they're hoarding these commodities like those hoarders you can watch on A&E. What does this mean? Your cans of Pepsi, Budweiser and Heineken have just gotten pricier. And the hoarders on Wall Street have just gotten richer. This Business Insider story quotes a Goldman Sachs "commodities strategist" on how  "for investors, the...

Two interesting headlines in the WSJ: One headline says "J.P. Morgan Profit Jumps 47%. " The other reads: " New Hit to Strapped States ." So what is the new hit to the distressed states? Borrowing costs are on the rise. Here's an example of the duress states are feeling: In Texas, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has taken control of a debt that it back-stopped in a 2001 deal that requires the public agency running the Houston Texans' football stadium to pay back a 30-year bond over the next three-and-a-half years. "Think of having a 30-year mortgage, and then someone suddenly says you have to pay your house off in five years," said Janis Schmees, executive director of the Harris County Houston Sports Authority, which built the stadium. "That is pretty much our scenario." A representative for J.P. Morgan declined to comment. What shows as profit for bankers exerts an extremely heavy burden on everyone else.