jamess

Too bad we can’t get any submarines down there to start tracking all that Oil, which scientists previously reported, looked to be spreading far and wide, at the mid-levels of the Gulf waters.

Luckily, the Scientist behind the first effort to track the underwater oil plumes, is mounting a second effort, with some new sciencey gadgets …

But wait in both those stories the Percentage Number of Oil Recovered, was based against the initial estimate of the Amount of Oil Leaking daily, 5000 Barrels.

1000 / 5000 = 1/5 = 20%

2000 / 5000 = 2/5 = 40%

But I thought this “baseline” figure of 5000 barrels a day, was a gross underestimate by a Factor of at least 10?

So wouldn’t that change the math to at least:

1000 / 50,000 = 1/50 = 2.0%

2000 / 50,000 = 2/50 = 4.0%

Not such a rosy scenario, when the updated [rough] estimate numbers are used — No wonder BP resisted releasing those Videos. It makes their overly-optimistic sleight of hand, all that much harder to pull off.

4% vs 40% … which “success story” would you rather sell?

Warren Buffet gave a prophetic pronouncement back in 2003 about the Derivatives market, seeing the exponential dangers of this “paper-thin” type of investment.

Buffet did not mince words. He called them “financial weapons of mass destruction“:

Buffett warns on investment ‘time bomb’
BBC – 4 March, 2003

The derivatives market has exploded in recent years, with investment banks selling billions of dollars worth of these investments to clients as a way to off-load or manage market risk.

But Mr Buffett argues that such highly complex financial instruments are time bombs and “financial weapons of mass destruction” that could harm not only their buyers and sellers, but the whole economic system.
[...]

Some derivatives contracts, Mr Buffett says, appear to have been devised by “madmen”. [...]

BBC Link

If there were only some way, to “Hedge that Bet” — against the ever present risk of Foul Weather.

No Worries — Where there’s a Market Risk, there’s always a Wall Street Way!

How does your Obligation to make your Mortgage Payments, turn into some unseen Investor’s “Income Stream”?

Easy — thanks to Derivatives and CDO’s (Collateralized Debt Obligation).

For the mere Price of Admission, those unseen Investor’s get to divvy up your Mortgage Payments, among themselves — long as they “promise to pay off” that Debt, WHEN, for whatever reason, you are no longer able to make those Obligatory Payments …

Piece of Cake!

Geesh … WHAT could ever go wrong with this picture?

In the USA:

Why Small Business Loans Are Important

The economy has lost 8.4 million jobs since the start of the recession. Small businesses employ the majority of the American workforce, although the largest single employer is still the federal government.

When the economy starts to recover small businesses rely on loans to bring up their inventory levels. Large banks and smaller institutions have been reluctant to introduce new loans after the failure of a large number banking institutions.

Small banks do not have the resources to start lending again, and the number of new loans have gone down since the start of the recession.

Banks that received funds from the Troubled Asset Relief program. The larger banks that were branded as too big to fail have also reduced the number of new loans they make to small businesses. They have reinvested the funds in lower-return, lower-risk treasury bonds instead.

And elsewhere …

Bill Gross, head of PIMCO, is credited with coining the term “Shadow Banking System”. A few years ago he warned about its reckless behavior and how they could wreck the Economy.

Turns out this blunt-speaking Mutual Fund Manager — WAS Right!

During the 2000 debates, George W. Bush spoke at a sixth-grade level (6.7) and Al Gore at a seventh-grade level (7.6).

In the 1992 debates, Bill Clinton spoke at a seventh-grade level (7.6), while George H.W. Bush spoke at a sixth-grade level (6.8), as did H. Ross Perot (6.3).

Voltaire was the most famous man of the 18th century.

Today the most famous “person” is Mickey Mouse.

America the Illiterate
Chris Hedges — Nov 10, 2008 (pg 2)

I think, I’m detecting some sort of trend here …

Since Oil Corporations reap record Profits when everything “goes Right” –

Shouldn’t they also be responsible when everything “goes Wrong” too?

When Murphy’s Law strikes again — as it always does – will the Oil Drillers be READY to stop the environmental damage, caused by THEIR mining operations?

It’s NOT like they can’t afford it …