ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And yes Zeb, he has certainly shown, time and again, that he doesn't "get it", on many things...
On Oct 9, 2:15 pm, Cold Water <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I liked it better when he had the fat singing. I will tell you something > and you can take it to the bank - fat doesn't sing. After I gave birth to > my third child I had 20 pounds of baby fat to lose and that baby fat didn't > sing!!! It took almost a year to for me to get rid of it. > > CW > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Zebnick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "PoliticalForum" <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 5:00 PM > Subject: Re: Iceland Takes Over Kaupthing as Biggest Banks Fail..........the > > fat lady sings > > I don't think you understand this whole "fat lady sings" analogy. > > On Oct 9, 4:24 pm, "\"Lone Wolf\"" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Iceland Takes Over Kaupthing as Biggest Banks Fail (Update5) > > > By Tasneem Brogger > > > Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Iceland's government seized control of > > Kaupthing Bank hf, the nation's biggest bank, completing the takeover > > of a financial industry that collapsed under the weight of foreign > > debt. > > > Iceland is guaranteeing Kaupthing's domestic deposits and helping > > manage the banks to provide a ``functioning domestic banking system,'' > > the country's Financial Supervisory Authority said in a statement on > > its Web site today. > > > Glitnir Bank hf, Landsbanki Island hf and Kaupthing are unable to > > finance about $61 billion of debt, 12 times the size of the economy, > > according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Their collapse has affected > > 420,000 British and Dutch customers, and frozen assets held by > > universities, hospitals, councils and even London's police force. The > > government is seeking a loan from Russia and may ask for aid from the > > International Monetary Fund to help guarantee deposits. > > > ``This looks like a total collapse,'' said Thomas Haugaard Jensen, an > > economist at Svenska Handelsbanken AB in Copenhagen. ``It'll take > > several years before the economy can start to return to growth.'' > > > All trading in Iceland's equity markets is suspended until Oct. 13 due > > to ``unusual market conditions,'' the country's exchange said today. > > The FSA said it planned to form a new bank with Landsbanki's domestic > > operations, keeping open branches, call centers and cash machines. > > > Currency Peg > > > Trading in the krona ground to a halt today after the central bank > > yesterday ditched an attempt to fix the exchange rate at 131 krona to > > the euro. Nordea Bank AB, the biggest Scandinavian lender, said the > > krona hadn't been traded on the spot market today, while the last > > quoted price was 340 per euro, compared with 122 a month ago. > > > Assets at Iceland's three biggest banks had grown five-fold since 2004 > > as the companies looked to expand beyond the confines of an island > > with a population of 320,000, half that of Las Vegas. Much of that > > growth was debt financed, helping send gross external debt to 9.55 > > trillion kronur at the end of the second quarter, equivalent to > > $276,622 for every person on the island. > > > The cost of borrowing in dollars for three months in London soared to > > the highest level this year today as coordinated interest-rate > > reductions worldwide failed to revive lending among banks for any > > longer than a day, partly on concern over who holds Icelandic debt. > > > U.K. taxpayers will probably face a bill of at least 2.4 billion > > pounds ($4.1 billion) to compensate about 300,000 U.K. holders of > > accounts at Icesave, a unit of Landsbanki, the Financial Times > > reported, citing unidentified U.K. officials. > > > `Severe Recession' > > > ``The economy may well contract more than 10 percent between now and > > the end of this crisis,'' said Lars Christensen, chief analyst at > > Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen. ``Inflation will jump to at least 50 > > percent to 75 percent in the coming months.'' > > > To avert the collapse, Iceland will start talks with Russia on Tuesday > > to secure a loan of as much as 4 billion euros ($5.48 billion), Prime > > Minister Geir Haarde said late yesterday. He added that loans from the > > IMF and Russia ``are not mutually exclusive,'' though the government > > hadn't, ``at this point at least,'' asked the IMF for a standby loan > > or an economic program. > > > Fitch Ratings Ltd. cut Iceland's long-term foreign currency issuer > > default rating to BBB- from A-. The rating remains on negative watch, > > Fitch said. > > > ``Iceland faces a very severe recession which will result in a further > > deterioration in banks' domestic assets,'' Fitch said in a statement. > > ``It remains uncertain as to the extent that the sovereign can > > distance itself from the foreign liabilities of failing Icelandic > > banks.'' > > > Kaupthing's entire board of directors has resigned and the FSA has > > appointed a committee to wind up the lender's business, the bank said > > in a statement today. > > > No Parallel > > > ``It's difficult to find any parallels to what's happening in Iceland > > in the industrialized world,'' Jensen said. ``You'd have to look to > > emerging markets, and after the Asian crisis, for example, those > > economies contracted about 10 percent.'' > > > The debts of the Icelandic banking system are too big for the > > government to repay. > > > ``There is no way that the Icelandic population can assume > > responsibility for the private debt'' that the banks have built up, > > Haarde said yesterday. > > > Other countries are in a better situation. The U.K.'s banks will get a > > 50 billion-pound ($87 billion) government lifeline and emergency loans > > from the central bank after the freeze in credit markets threatened to > > bring down the financial system. > > > The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and four other central > > banks lowered interest rates yesterday in a coordinated effort to ease > > the economic effects of the worst financial crisis since the Great > > Depression. > > > This year and next, Kaupthing has 5 billion euros of debt obligations > > maturing, according to Bloomberg data. Glitnir's debt obligations over > > the same period are about 4 billion euros and Landsbanki has about 2 > > billion euros to finance. > > > To contact the reporters on this story: Tasneem Brogger in Copenhagen > > at [EMAIL PROTECTED]; > > > Last Updated: October 9, 2008 14:26 EDT > > > Email this article Printer friendly format- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
