Comments on: Warren Buffett to FBN: "Shorting FNM/FRE Like Jumping Off a Pancake"

By: Rick La Pointe

Rick La Pointe — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:18:21 +0000

Dear Liz:
As you well know television is a visual medium, and though your writtings and
insightes are very well done,its your physical presence in the interviews,
that makes this site worth checking out daily.

By: Peter Voisin

Peter Voisin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:48:38 +0000

Congress (Dems & Repubs)is responsible for passing laws and spending money.
THEY DRIVE OUR FUTURE.

Presidents (Dems & Repubs) are responsible for executing our government (Executives).
THEY DRIVE OUR PRESENT.

Courts (bi-Partisan???) are responsible for reviewing our past (Court cases).
THEY DRIVE OUR PAST.

Now let’s look at our current situation.
Which branch of government has done the worst job with their “stewardship” of America?

THE COURTS? (not so much)
THE PRESIDENTS? (maybe some)
THE CONGRESS? (they have been the most irresponsible)

And the media has also taken a public trust and made things worse by not reporting the lack of accountability of our lawmakers.

When will the Warren Buffets of America hold the Congress to account?

MY SOLUTION:

Change your party affiliation to Independent and stop the flow of lobby and party money. That no-cost action alone will send panic to the corruption in our political system. Vote for who you want regardless of party affiliation.

Demand that your congressman commit to the following:

1. No congressional pensions. (Male ‘em save it like we do!)
2. Self-inflicted term limits.
3. No congressional health care (make ‘em buy it like we do!)
4. Full transparency of their finances: personal, congressional, and US Budget (with all of those published on-line for all to see including campaign contributions)

IT’S TIME TO CLEAN HOUSE.
IT’S TIME TO GET PUBLIC SERVANTS IN AND CAREER POLITICIANS OUT.

And one more thing.
Every reporter, every media talking head need to be held to account.
We need to hold every word they say or print to full account.
Each media person must have an email and web site.

We need full disclosure of their party affiliation, organizations, education, experience, and previous archived articles so we, the media consumer, can decide if the person is providing “journalism” (HA!!!) or personal or political agendas!

There, I feel much better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peter Voisin
Independent Voter
Hendersonville, NC

P.S. There are good ideas coming from Democrats, Independents, Republicans, and Libertarians. Anyone that says differently is not thinking for themselves but has been “brainwashed” somewhere along the line. The main thing here is that most folks want to arrive at the same destination ( we want our families to be safe and have opportunity without bias) but we seem to disagree on what road to travel to get there.

Leaders and effective executives find the common ground first, then define the differences and roll up their sleeves and start designing solutions. That’s what our Founding Fathers did. That’s what we need to do today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:32:17 +0000

My first job out of college was at an S&L in 1977. On my first day, all us new employees were taken behind the teller counter, the cash drawers were opened, and with tens of thousands in cash laying before us we were told two things: “This is other people’s money, they expect to get it back” and “If you take it or intentionally mishandle it, you’ll go to prison” . . .I’ve been a mortgage lender for 31 years and with every loan I originate I remember those words and where the money comes from. I hope Paulson takes the new FNM/FRE management team “behind the teller counter” for a refresher.

By: lew

lew — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:28:45 +0000

Frankly He’s right. FNM and FRE are crashing like crazy and while they MAY stabilize eventually its not gonna happen any time soon nor are they ever gonna reach the kind of level they were at before. Secondly for those who have questioned his picks on the basis that they are down . . . LOOK AT YOUR ECONOMY its down. . . down like crazy thanks too 8 years of the bush administration, war and mismanagement of businesses. as to unstable oil prices. Oil in the states comes from the middle east (quite a portion of it anyway.) so the region is unstable and therefore prices are unstable. Also OIL IS RUNNING OUT. its not a renewable resource (theres a fixed amount) and demand is going nowhere but up that means higher and higher oil prices until eventually the world runs out of oil.

By: Robert B. Eckhardt

Robert B. Eckhardt — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:58:27 +0000

No, Warren Buffett is NOT becoming more negative as he ages. Nor has he hung on past his prime, not by a very long shot indeed. My basis for this admiringly positive answer is based in part on the fact that my first investment in his company is up 40-fold in twenty-one years (and not only has been modestly higher in the recent past, but predictably will be notably higher in the future — it was up $2000 per share today alone). Imagine having the problem that Warren has to face as he arrives at the office in the morning: How to reinvest the river of cash flow that comes in each and every day. At a time when many companies are declining in price, markedly, this gives him the opportunity to use his vast experience to pick the very few wonderful ones as new investments for Berkshire Hathaway. No wonder he says that he tap dances to work every day. The Berkshire annual reports, freely available on line, still provide one of the best available educations in investing.

By: Jeff Yuna

Jeff Yuna — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 05:40:06 +0000

Buffett is wrong about one thing. This is not ANOTHER $200 billion in debt. This transaction does not change the government balance sheet $1.00. FNMA and Freddie are GSE’s. This debt was already the government’s. They simply took over ops. A little late in my book, but they finally did the right thing.

The bigger question is how much did affirmative action and political correctness contribute to this problem. After all, the outgoing managment inherited the problem. They did not create it. Enough said.

By: gp

gp — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 04:48:52 +0000

Tim @ 10:17 am: It is just you!

By: Chris Doran

Chris Doran — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:07:40 +0000

For a business show, you guys and gals seems to always arrive late to the party. Why as a business TV Show and Web site, you are not interested, investigative and down right upfront with all these so called know-it-alls. Maybe you should read the fine print and see what it really says. Let me give you a hint, “Investors are in it for themselves and they do not care how they get the money, because either you will tell us (FBN, you know Bulls and Bears, Your World with Cavuto, Forbes on Fox) where to put it or you will tell the goverment(we the people) where to put it.”

Warren Buffet is rich, because he is like all those people who hit the lottery. He was there at the right time and bought. He was there at the right time and did not buy. Why if Warren is so knowledgable, there are not others like him? Well, because Warren is in it for himself and he does not care how he gets the money.

Note: Do any of you, or is it just me, ask yourselves, why do all these shows tell us to stick around for the deal of a stock, then you get a bunch of blow hards killing each others picks and what do they all do… LAUGH and GIGGLE…. all the way to the bank.

Get a hint FBN, start interviewing for the people who watch your show and stop smooching the back ends of all your guest. This is serious and it is getting worse. And some of you really need to cover up some of those exposed areas or ask your boss for a raise so you can buy clothing that covers up what should be private.

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:02:33 +0000

free markets don’t fail. ultimately, it’s the government that will fail.

By: bhparkman

bhparkman — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:00:44 +0000

Both these companies were federal corporations; remnants of the New Deal. Now they are fully government programs. They were both scams to begin with, and we should allow failure and liquidate them.

We floated billions of dollars in bonds to pay for this. Bonds that must be insured and pay interest. This isn’t just $200 billion, it can easily become $300 billion or $400 billion (the yearly cost of public education). How much is the insurance costing us on all these bonds? How much interest must be paid after 1 – 10 years? Who is buying these bonds; good citizens, allies, neutrals, or enemies?

The fed must prove this is a good move. So far, it’s just been rhetoric and empty words without real proof to back up their actions to rescue two massive socialist scams.