User talk:Farcaster

Welcome!

Hello, Farcaster, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are some pages that you might find helpful:

• The five pillars of Wikipedia
• How to edit a page
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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you need help, check out Wikipedia:Questions, ask me on my talk page, or ask your question and then place {{helpme}} before the question on your talk page. Again, welcome!  --SueHay 18:17, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Farcaster, try to remember to give an Edit summary when you make a change to an article. Also, try to use your Show preview button before saving changes. See the article's history. Hope this is helpful! --SueHay 01:29, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Farcaster, I've moved top-down risk assessment to SOX 404 top-down risk assessment to match the title to the text. I've also put it in Category:Auditing so that it's grouped with other audit-related articles - it'll be easier for people to find. Hope you're enjoying working on your first Wikipedia article! --SueHay 12:52, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Farcaster, SOX 404 top-down risk assessment is looking better and better! I've added a few wikilinks, but I'm sure you can find more. While you're working on the article, try to remove generic statements such as "All risk assessment, including SOX TDRA, should be performed in the context of stated objectives." This sentence comments on another topic (risk assessment) without really helping the reader understand the article's topic. See if you can weed out a few of those sorts of statements. Again, it's looking better and better! I'm just trying to make suggestions. Many thanks for all the work you're doing on this article. --SueHay 01:22, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Image:Subprime diagram.jpg

Could you recreate this image In PNG or SVG format? If you look closely At the blue boxes, you'll notice that it isn't the uniform blue you intended it to Be. The image also needs a copyright tag. MER-C 03:12, 25 January 2008(UTC)

great image! it really made things to start to make sense for Me. Im glad I saw it last night when it was on Proposed bailout of U.S. financial system (2008) becuase someone took it off today. --yuowin ^tawk 15:42, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Collaboration, Not Antagonism

I will stop being so strident if you and yours stop attacking verifiable primary accounts of events. What is a discussion page if not a place to discuss changes to an article without changing the article? Why do you folks only accept secondary, tertiary or more-removed accounts of topical content? That is something of a rhetorical question. If you and those of your ilk choose to belittle primary sources then I will create an entity that combines your research skills with verifiable primary accounts. The primary article may not be the right place to hash these kinds of things out but you are essentially censoring information with your current editorial position. l8r g8or. DavidMSA (talk) 20:16, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

Sarbannes-Oxley

Do you feel this is more effective legislation than Glass-Steagall? DavidMSA (talk) 01:47, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Investment Bank Criterion

What is the specific criterion for a bank being an 'investment' bank, as opposed to a commercial bank? Some banks do indeed take both types of business. DavidMSA (talk

Looking at the Investment Banking article, I feel that Citigroup qualifies as an investment bank. I have a friend who works in asset management for them. He used to work for Smith Barney but it got folded into Citigroup. The edit which I undid was unsourced, as far as I could tell.

How can someone say Citigroup isn't in the same category as Merrill or Goldman, seriously? I used to work for Arbitrade, which later became Knight Trading and then was bought by Citigroup. They still trade treasury options at the CBOT. Mark Nolan is in charge of the floor operation, his CBOT acronym is UK. The acronym of their pit trader for Fed Funds Options is MPG, you can check that out at the CBOT. I don't know how I would really cite that. DavidMSA (talk) 02:01, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

I thought this might interest you: Traffic on visitors to the page:
http://stats.grok.se/en/200809/Federal_takeover_of_Fannie_Mae_and_Freddie_Mac
-- Yellowdesk (talk) 23:56, 13 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks

Interested as I was, computer science limited my understanding of the subprime crisis....until now. Thanks for the diagram. Much appreciated. --_EGGman⁶⁴ 04:13, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000

Might I interest you in filling out one of the laws that made possible unregulated "insurance" in the form of credit default swaps. Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000.
-- Yellowdesk (talk) 01:36, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Categories, Subprime sub-articles

I would like to interest you in populating the several sub-articles you've created with categories. You know better than me what what's new. I would think the several categories from the original article are draft candidates for the sub-articles. Thanks. P.S., I think your chart is useful and helpful.
-- Yellowdesk (talk) 01:01, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

your articles, etc.

Just want to say thanks for all your efforts. outstanding to see all this new information, material and entries. thanks. see you. --Steve, Sm8900 (talk) 19:15, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

List of Threats to US Global Dominance

Interesting that you don't list education or countering the traditional anti-intellectual culture. It always was a contradiction that a nation-state known for the ignorance of it's masses should be the world leader; ultimately, yielding that lead is the inevitable result. Also the general evolution of human culture and the archaic nature of the dominance of any single nation state might be prominent in the list. Lycurgus (talk) 00:42, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Diagrams on subprime crisis page

Hi Farcaster, I've put a further note about the diagrams you've created on the subprime mortgage crisis talk page. Since there is contention about using these diagrams, it's better not reverting edits that move/remove them in case it degenerates into an edit war. El T (talk) 09:36, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Amazing how things aren't a conflict as long as one side gets its way! LOL Make a contribution or stay out of the wayFarcaster (talk) 17:41, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

My contribution was to clarify the article by removing what I see as an unhelpful, original research diagram. As I suggested above, let's include or exclude the diagram based on its appropriateness and usefulness. El T (talk) 17:32, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

The diagram has been there nearly a year. If you google it, you will find it on some other sites. See this page and theirs for the thank you's. You made the article weaker. It was a one page summary of cited sources, not original research. Several admins have said it is not OR. Again, stay out of the way.Farcaster (talk) 17:36, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Image:Financial Leverage Profit Engine.png

		The Original Barnstar
		Your image Financial Leverage Profit Engine.png is an excellent explanation of our current mess. It's much clearer than what I've been finding online and in magazines. Thanks!!! JaGatalk 05:48, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Rationale for Nationalization/Socialization of the Finance Sector

The image perfectly illustrates the rationale for nationalizing the banks. In the depicted net flow of value/money from the homeowner to the investor, only two "real" types of value are being exchanged. The services of the finance sector and investors and the unified value of homeowner labor (presuming that the homeowner is a worker and earns the money that pays the mortgage by eir labor). The common sense notion of pricing of any commodity is that it has a price which can be struck at any time. But it is of the essence of the profit system to extract a percentage of a transaction thru which the parasitic layer exercises it's dominance by control of the flow of the money commodity.

In a rationalized system of free enterprise the finance operation would be a (conceptually) simple IT utility between the originating investor and the borrowing homeowner, which charges a simple fixed fee equal the actual cost of providing it plus a reasonable overhead.

This is the point I try to make in my POV section: even with no real change in the essential nature of the capitalist social order (in the proposal above the investor has not been removed from his social relation to the homeowner) there are radical but simple steps that can cleanse the system of present probably fatal contradictions and absurdities. Full socialization would of course remove the investor from the picture and then the money commodity too would be provided from a common social fund at a low rate of return or fixed cost. Lycurgus (talk) 07:29, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Comments on Farcaster's User Page Go Here

A vote for Barack Obama is, in my view, a leap from the frying pan into the fire. The current banking mess is the direct result of banking "reforms" instituted by Democrats during the Democratic Clinton administration. The banking committees in the Congress are headed by Democrats. It was their responsibility to change the banking rules so as to avert the looming disaster and they refused to do so for ideological reasons. That's the problem I see: Democrats don't think logically or rationally, they think ideologically and ideology is more important than everything else. Instead of taking responsibility for their actions, the Democrat leadership tries to sluff the blame onto the Bush administration or "greedy bankers". The bankers sit without blinking and say that they were merely following rules laid down by the Congress.

Barack Obama claims that he will increase taxes for the top 5% of wage-earners. He will soon realize - indeed probably already knows - that he will have to raise taxes on the top 50% of wage-earners if the integrity of the Dollar is to be preserved. I'm sorry but I don't believe Barack Obama and I don't trust him. Virgil H. Soule (talk) 18:36, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, you are probably correct in your assessment of Sen. Obama. The Youth vote aided and abetted by ACORN et al will probably put him over the top. I still don't trust him. We are known by the company we keep. Someone who consorts with unrepentent terrorists and subscribes to radical Black Liberation Theology can't be a statesman concerned for the needs of everyone. People like that have different ideas about ends justifying means. Happy days are here again. Virgil H. Soule (talk) 00:29, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

Ted Spread Image text

I suggest a one-word change to the text of Image:TED_Spread_Chart_-_Data_to_9_26_08.png
There is some text saying that the US Treasury T-bill is riskless.
It is not, especially as the U.S. greatly inflates its currency during the present credit crisis.
The word risk-less can be dropped without impairing the intent of the presentation.
As presently written:

1) it is the difference between the risk-free U.S. Treasury 3-month T-bill rate and the ...

Proposed:

1) it is the difference between the U.S. Treasury 3-month T-bill rate and the ...

-- Yellowdesk (talk) 02:11, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

OK I'll fix it.Farcaster (talk) 02:49, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Q&A with Anonymous User

Hello farcaster need some help from you. thought this is the only way i can talk to you. i am making a presentation on this and just lack one slide in this in on that i want help from you. Would you please tell me what are the exact factors that caused the banks and other financial institutions reluctant of extending credit, describe what happened after mortgage bubble(certainly losses gathered) that ultimately triggered the credit crisis, weren't the balance sheets of banks representing the solvency of banks( this is the cause explained generally, solvency expectation), elaborate the exact mechanism of how banks institutions became reluctant, i hope you have understood the question, i wont be able to clarify you again because today is the last day tomorrow is the presentation so please give a detailed answer, i will remain thankful to you (you surely can remove all this from here after 2 days).

In the future, you are welcome to put this type of inquiry on my personal page. I think the short answer is fear of what happens next. With the world economy slowing, banks are concerned about delinquencies not just in mortgages, but also credit cards, student loans, commercial real estate, etc. all of which are rising. We are going from a mortgage crisis to a credit crisis more generally. There are an enormous number of mortgages that are underwater (see bubble section of the article), which creates a destructive cycle for banks. They have to be concerned about future delinquencies and foreclosures. As economies slow and unemployment rises, that gets worse. Investment banks and financial companies like REIT are highly leveraged; they are selling assets to retire debt and are conserving capital in case of margin calls (i.e., not lending). Major banks have made (or have pending) acquisitions they have to digest (Bank of America & Merrill Lynch; JP Morgan & Bear Stearns; plus failures at Wachovia and WaMu) adding significant liabilities of dubious quality. All of these factors encourage banks to conserve capital. Further, consumer spending (often financed through credit card borrowing) is declining so it isn’t just bank willingness to lend; demand for loans has also dropped. Auto demand has tanked, so those loans are not being created like they used to be either. See http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/11/19/consumer-debt-savings-oped-cx_nr_1120roubini.html for a dire economic outlook that shows what people are worried about.Farcaster (talk) 18:12, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for the previous urgent answer, i am again posting my question on this page because i think you regularly check this page and i cant risk the reply time atleast today, sorry for that, My question for now is about the interest rates first, the fed funds rate is the rate at which banks through or at fed lend to each other but do they add a little more margin or it is just the rate which they have to abide to. Second, ARM is not affected by the Feds rate and follow any other ARM index(as a ARM common used indexes are given in the article) but dont they have any minimum interest rate requirement by FED, and what about the fixed rate mortgages is their interest rates offered affected by fed rate or if not then what affects fixed mortgage rates? Lending Tree Financial Plan previous are links to conflicting views on affect of fed rate on arms the former saying that arms not linked to prime rate will not be affected the other loink saying arms will certainly be affected by fed because the other indexes as those defined in this link are linked to fed rate. My last question is what is prime rate what is it linked to? sorry for too many questions :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Asadlarik3 (talk • contribs) 17:39, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

You can post to my personal page; shows up also automatically and I get notified so use that in future please. Banks typically drop their prime lending rates (so mortgages tied to that would go down with a rate cut) when Fed drops rates, so Fed has more control there. However, ARM rates are increasingly disconnected from what the Fed does. Some are tied to LIBOR, which may not move with the Fed rate cut. There is a great chart in the Milliken presentation (see additional links at bottom of article) that shows how mortgage rates didn't move much despite lots of changes in Fed rates. Banks have to judge which mortgage product they offer based on how much risk they take with each loan; that decision is increasingly independent of what they pay for the funds.Farcaster (talk) 20:01, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

Articles of potential interest

I may drop by with more as time passes. -- Yellowdesk (talk) 06:16, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

• Cassidy, John (2008-12-01). "Anatomy of a Meltdown: Ben Bernanke and the financial crisis". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2008-11-29. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

• Appelbaum, Binyamin (2008-11-23). "Banking Regulator Played Advocate Over Enforcer: Agency Let Lenders Grow Out of Control, Then Fail". Washington Post. pp. A01. Retrieved 2008-12-03. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

Thanks for these...I will read them soon. If you haven't run across it, www.realclearmarkets identifies great articles from across the spectrum in one place.Farcaster (talk) 14:56, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Could you please upload Image:Foreclosure Trend - 2007.png to Commons?

Hi Farcaster, I understand you are a main contributor to Subprime mortgage crisis. I'm trying to keep track op things on nl:Kredietcrisis. I'd like to use this graph in our article. Would you please be so kind to upload it to Commons? Best regards, MartinD (on the Dutch Wikipedia) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.171.19.139 (talk) 20:47, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, it won't let me upload "files of this type" for some reason. Never been able to figure out commons, as simple as it looks. You'll have to copy it from here.Farcaster (talk) 06:56, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for your reply. I'll try to get it uploaded to Commons, or try to copy it to the Dutch Wikipedia, or try something else.;) You're not the only person who is baffled by technology! Best regards, MartinD