Saturday, February 02, 2008

Spygate Continues

Arizona (INEPT) - Despite the NFL's best efforts to squash the story (thanks Roger Goodell), the Spygate story continues to have legs. The latest is the appearance of Matt Walsh, the former video guru for the Patriots. Much to their displeasure, he has begun to talk. These quotes are from an excellent summary on ESPN (by Mike Fish).
  • Fact: A video guy has been with the team a long time. Quoting the article:
    Matt Walsh worked seven years with the New England Patriots before being let go on Martin Luther King Day in 2003. He was on the New Orleans Superdome sidelines when the Pats kicked off their dominant run, upsetting the St. Louis Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl. He wasn't a chiseled athlete, but a go-getter who climbed his way up the team's support staff ladder -- first as a public relations intern, then as a video assistant and later, in his last year, a college scout.

    Mostly, though, his years with New England were spent shooting football video.

  • Fact: The NFL doesn't seem to have done a very thorough investigation. Quoting again:

    Walsh told ESPN.com that, in the wake of the cheating scandal that broke early in the season, he has never been contacted by NFL officials to inquire about his insight into the Patriots' illegal taping practices, which he says date back to his time with the franchise. Nor, he said, has there been any communication with the Patriots.

    This news, plus the shredding of the evidence, confirms what many have felt: the NFL wants this to go away. But the truth has a way of coming out. Ask this guy.

  • Fact: Belichick has been cheating for a looooong time:

    As for the prospect of Adams sharing insight into the suspicious practices, Walsh said: "You've got a better chance of him telling you who killed JFK than anything about New England. There are lots of stories there. He told me stories of things they used to do in Cleveland [where Adams assisted Belichick with the Browns]."
    Yes, that's right, since Cleveland. Of course, you'd think that this might have convinced him that cheating doesn't help very much (overall record at Cleveland: 36-44)

  • Fact: ESPN is cheap, or chickenshit, or both.
    Walsh said he is fearful of possible legal action against him by either the league or Patriots if he details what he knows. He refused to provide evidence of potential wrongdoing unless ESPN agreed to pay his legal fees related to his involvement in the story, as well as an indemnification agreement that would cover any damages found against him in court. ESPN denied his requests.

    He [Walsh] said he fears the potential wrath of the Patriots, and their ability to tie him in up in court for an extended period of time. Although he stopped short of saying he has actual video evidence, he suggested he does; and so raised the possibility that it might be viewed as stolen property.
    Nice work, ESPN. Get the story, dammit! That's what you all are supposed to do! Well, that, and make stuff up.


So, my Friends, the story has legs. It is not going away. And somebody is going to get this guy to testify. Maybe our buddy Arlen Specter. Maybe our idols over at the New York Post. Or maybe some rich, dedicated Hater who wastes countless hours reading this blog.


Spygate has legs. Not nice like Giselle's, but legs.

At least, we won't have to hear lame arguments like this anymore:
Go and check out SI. And then watch some ESPN. You'll probably learn something (as hard as it seems) along the lines of that they found NO footage of us cheating during the Super Bowl.

Might want to rethink that one, huh?

Update: Unnamed sources suck. But they feed the Hatred, and we are Hungry. This article from ESPN news service:
An unnamed source has claimed a New England Patriots employee secretly videotaped the St. Louis Rams' pregame walk-through the day before Super Bowl XXXVI, the Boston Herald reported Saturday.

According to the report, an unnamed source close to the team during the 2001 season said that following the Patriots' walk-through at the Louisiana Superdome, a member of the team's video staff stayed behind and taped the Rams' walk-through -- a non-contact, no-pads practice at reduced speed in which a team goes through its plays.
Cheating is in the blood, apparently.

Update II: Video report from Michael Smith:



One word: Wow.

Alternate theory: Belichick is the unnamed source. He thinks his team isn't ready to play. He remembers earlier in the season when everyone was pissed off and was playing better. Evil genius at work again, or just cheaters?

Labels: , ,

27 Comments:

Blogger Chip Dawg said...

Oh no!! Not the Spygate Scandal!!! Not that!!! We're doomed!! There's no way we'll win the Superbowl now!! Not with all this controversy!! Bad karma!! Distractions!! Blah, blah, blah.

Did anyone ask Walsh why he waited until now to bring his information to light? Where is his evidence anyway? Moreover, even if the Pats did film a walk-through, was there a rule in place at the time that was broken? How about Arlen Specter? Why is the old fuck asking questions now and what does he expect to accomplish??

Again, there are more enemies thrown at Patriot Nation! Circle the wagons boys!! We're under siege. However, the number of enemies we have mean absolutely nothing. The Patriot Machine WILL bring the fight to the Giants tomorrow and history will be made -one way or the other.

NO PRISONERS!! NO MERCY!!!

9:30 AM  
Blogger Chip Dawg said...

I almost forgot. HIC, nice pic of Giselle. What an ass!!

NO PRISONERS! NO MERCY!!

9:32 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Nice pic of Giselle...Fuck Arlan Spector and fuck congress. Don't they have enough shit to worry about besides this crap? Besides...what the Pats did violated NFL rules and in no way broke any state or federal laws..Maybe Spector should concentrate on the Eagles and Steelers as they both suck..

Keep up the blog..it cracks me up..I am a loyal and die hard Pats fan and always will be..

1:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You guys have taken PatriotGate way, way too far by now. Only a couple writers at ESPN page 2 are talking about it anymore, because it happened 5 MONTHS AGO.
Only Patriot fans still talk about the bad calls in Super Bowl 41.5.
Only Browns fans still talk about the force-out against Arizona that was wrongly called an incomplete pass.
Only Chargers fans still talk about the touchdown they were denied at the end of the first half.
Only Colts fans still talk about the interception by Clint Session that was blown dead prematurely.
And I'm probably the only one here who's still angry at the bad calls in Super Bowl XL.
Sorry guys, but most of the football world has moved on by now. Every team in the NFL has been cheated at some point, and there are some injustices you just can't change.

2:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How predictable. More talk about the Pats cheating, and spineless Pats fans continue to trivialize their cheating ways.

The Patriots cheated. They got caught in week 1. They have apparently been cheating for awhile. All Belichick got for cheating was a slap on the wrist and one less draft pick.

in other circumstances, I wouldn't really care that much about the cheating. But in the case of an 18-0 team that's playing in the super bowl, this is a huge problem

5:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

!!!Congratulations Andre Tippett!!!

The Hatred just keeps gettin' SWEETER and SWEETER!

Speaking of empty calories...

Here we are, the U.S of A., teetering on financial ruin, and Alan Specter (An Eagle fan*) thinks that his Senatorial priority should be grilling Roger Goodell?

* Philly Fans (in general) are known to exhibit irrational, and often violent tendencies.

It comes with living in a shitty, rundown town that used to be the capital.

7:14 PM  
Blogger dolfanatic said...

Don't worry patsy fans krafty bob will open up his check boo and make this go away just like the fumble I mean tuck rule and every other call that shoulda gone against the Gaytriots roger goodell should be ashamed letting krafty bobs $$$ run the league again

8:25 PM  
Blogger dolfanatic said...

And oh yeah Why the hell would anyone who calls themselves a Gaytriots fan visit a site called I hate the New England gatriots on super bowl eve no less seams like bad karma to me(just sayin' is all)

8:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

it is both amusing and sad watching Pats fans try to deal with this as the dam starts to give way. each time they stop one leak, ten more spring up, and then they either pretend that there aren't any, or that the leaks are everyone else's fault. how many more ridiculous delusions are you guys gonna come up with??

so far we have:
(a.) "you're just jealous because your team sucks" (yes, completely impossible to think that NFL fans care about the integrity of their favorite sport, and way more likely that there is a mass conspiracy to 'get' the Patriots that every previous NFL dynasty has somehow avoided)

(b.) "Congress should spend their time on more important things" (of course, 'important' = 'doing nothing to tarnish the image of my beloved sports team')

(c.) "it's just a couple of loser sportswriters drudging it up and no one cares" (nevermind the fact the story is now on every major sports site, and even made it's way to drudgereport.com, one of the highest traffic news sites in the world)

(d.) "we don't care - it's funny to have absolutely no respect from anyone anymore. we like it that way" (uh huh, of course you do - who wouldn't want to hold accomplishments that everyone questions? i bet Barry Bonds could confirm how GREAT it is!)

i just wish one person in Pat Nation could put aside team loyalty for 5 minutes and admit that maybe there are good reasons to be disgusted with the Patriots, and maybe it's understandable why people people find your franchise so repugnant. i'm not really expecting that kind of honesty, but it would be nice...

8:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tom... AMEN!!!!

2:49 AM  
Blogger Chip Dawg said...

I just wish for once that you Donkeys (Haters) would perhaps wait for actual evidence before you made any judgement. Yes, I know this is a silly concept, since you clowns are like most folks who prefer to stick with the juicy rumor over the actual truth - long after the truth's come out.

Maybe, gasp, the Patriots did indeed film the Rams last minute walk-through. If that's the case, and there's a violation of league rules, then they should be held accountable whether it be by fines, suspension, whatever. If it's true, I'll be absolutely disgusted with the team if it's true since they should have come clean when they had the chance.

But, and I know this will be difficult for you all, we'll have to wait until these charges are proven to make any judgement. I think it's very strange that this story came out at this time, two days before the Superbowl and right after Arlen "I'm a bitter old fuck" Specter weighed in. This former cameramen could have been paid a large sum of dough to make this shit up. He never said that he had film of the Rams walk-through. I don't know if you know this, but that's kind of like the damning evidence you need to prove this case.

But for now, we've got a game to play and G-Men to put the torch to.

8.5 HOURS TO GLORY! NO PRISONERS!! NO MERCY!!!!

7:07 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

At this point, those who defend the Patriots and their rampant cheating while simultaneously attacking those people for justifiably bringing it up are akin to those who still go out there are defend George Bush.

The patriots and Belichick are cheaters. This is a stone cold fact. And we're now only seeing the tip of the iceberg. We all knew "spygate" was not all that ever happened. We all knew this went back years, and now here comes our proof.

Pats fans who say "this won't stop us, we'll still win" are of course correct. This latest news will not keep them from completing their 4th fraudulent super bowl run. Its silly to think the Giants have a chance. But as the truth of the cheating, and hopefully one day we'll know ALL of it, comes out, these 4 super bowl wins will always be tainted. ALWAYS!

Goodell will never strip them of their titles, even though he should. But I understand. He doesn't want this scandal to wreck a league that's a billion dollar industry. On that basis I also excuse the sports media for making lame excuses for the cheating. Tony Kornheiser did everything but stick his tongue in Belichick's mouth on PTI last week, and I just heard that goof Mike Golic go on an idiotic rant excusing the cheating. The NFL is their livelihood, and they can't afford either to see it suffer.

The one bit of comfort on this latest sad super sunday is that history is already revealing the patriots so-called dynasty to be at the least tainted, and at the most, a complete and utter lie.

btw guys, LOVE this site!

7:22 AM  
Blogger dolfanatic said...

All the talking heads are saying that this latest alligation will make the gaytriots more determined but I wonder if they could be thinking whats the use no matter how many points we score no matter the margin of victory people will just say its tainted what good does it do... better just lay down patsies maybe pull brady early ankle injury, at least you could say what woulda happened maybe spygate goes away (doubt it)
win if you can lose if you must but always always CHEAT
GO GIANTS



no dignity no character no dynasty

7:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey dolfanatic, tell your fifth-grade teacher to show you how to use an apostrophe, how to spell ... hell, how to articulate any coherent thought at all. Then get back to us.

No grammar
No brain
No credibility

9:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

From the Boston Herald, the very newspaper that broke the "story" on the Patriots allegedly taping the Rams' walk-through:

"NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league investigated the claim and found no evidence of wrongdoing."

As the saying goes, you can indict a ham sandwich. It's even easier to make a mere allegation.
If the haters and the government are trying to distract the Patriots with all this smoke so they'll be off their game today — why else is this BS coming out now, even though these false rumors were looked into months ago? — they've got another thing coming to them. Nothing will stop the Patriots on their path to perfection. I pity the Giants.

9:29 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Where's your magical Patriots now? In the annals of history as the worst 18-1 team in the NFL.

7:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

NO MERCY! NO PRISONERS!

NO SUPER BOWL RING FOR THE BIGGEST CHOKERS IN SUPERBOWL HISTORY!!!

7:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm here.
Congrats to the Giants. They played a great game and deserve this one. Turned out that Plax's prediction was nearly on the money, to the shock of most everyone, I would guess.
The Pats' offensive line just couldn't get the job done tonight. This one will hurt for a while, but catchers and pitchers report pretty soon. GO SOX!

7:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I should be happy now....the Patriots lost...

But I'm not :(

I just realized now I have no one to hate...just pity.

Tom Brady's gonna kill himself

7:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

7:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

7:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

YAHOO!!!!

I guess the Giants shut their critics up!

Leaving the Patriots with 18 wins and one GIANT LOSS!

8:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cool... now that the world is back to normal and the cheaters lost, it's on to the congressional hearings! This is the football season that just keeps on giving!

It will be a wonderful thing to watch the "dynasty" be chipped away as more and more of the truth is exposed. And then, free agency will rip apart whatever is left of this pitiful excuse of a football team and we can have our sport back.

Yes... things are indeed good in hater nation!

8:51 PM  
Blogger Maureen DeFrank said...

Chip Dawg: You, and your lack of rationale, are a joke. Your team, if the videotaping is true, are on the brink of becoming the worst scandal since the 1908 White Sox. Don't even DARE think that its a joke and that most of us out there don't care.
It's a joke how close minded and ridiculous you sound.

And to Steve, who claims "Steelers Suck" Guess what? Here is what Steelers fans can say that you, you goddamn ignorant POS can't:

5 Rings
No Cheating

And as for Arlen Specter, the NFL enjoys MANY a game in municipal funded stadiums (look that up if you need to) which entitles congress to investigate, in addition to being excused from many federal monopoly laws that they enjoy (see NFL network as an example). So therefore, Arlen Specter has every fucking right to challenge it. Read a book on the US Government to understand that if you need to.

18-1. Enjoy it. I am sure Mercury Morris is, as is this Giants fan.

9:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a joke!

Get over it!

8:42 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My Top 10 Favorite Things:

5. Matt Walsh
4. Sen. Arlen Spector
3. Eric Mangini
2. The NY Giants/Eli Manning
1. Gisele Bundchen's a**

11:23 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bigest fucking waiste of tax payers time and dollars. Does anyone write their congress reps or senators? I do. Get off your ass people and do something.

Here is what people should be pissed off and concerned about.

I have written to the Senate and Congress several times regarding the financial condition of our economy and banking system. Please address these problems. I will be voting every incumbent out of office if things do not change NOW.

Here is what I am talking about.

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/2008/05/fraudulent-friday.html

Friday, May 16, 2008
Fraudulent Friday

Me thinks you doth protest too much.....


"The European Central Bank on Thursday voiced its 'high concern' at growing evidence that banks are exploiting its efforts to unblock the frozen funding markets by using its liquidity scheme to offload more risky assets than it envisaged."

"Investment bankers who work in securitisation say that their main business is structuring bonds that are eligible for ECB liquidity operations. Some analysts have concerns about whether the bonds being created will ever be saleable if markets recover."

What in the Sam Hell did you think was going to happen?

Bernanke, by the way, did the same thing you know.

Both The Fed and the ECB set up these "liquidity conduits" to take collateral that nobody else will loan against and provide "liquidity."

Well, now suddenly there's a problem with swapping that garbage for perfectly-good treasury bonds?

Who'd a thunk that when you advertise that you'll take used toilet paper and treat it like its "money good" that you will get, indeed, used toilet paper?

And if its toilet paper (that is, nobody else will buy it for any amount of money) then is it really an "asset" or is it, in fact, a zero that someone is hiding? What sort of capital position do you think these banks might have if they were forced to value these things at what they could get for them in the open market?

Hell, there is evidence that Lehman has put together synthetics (e.g. CLOs, etc) especially for presentation to these facilities in the United States. That is, they took securities and created a synthetic specifically for the purpose of swapping it for treasuries!

What is with the ECB and Bernanke?

I am absolutely stunned that anyone would expect anything different out of these bankers.

You put together a system that is just screaming "scam me!" and then you complain when that is exactly what happens?

Three, four, five, eight years of these very same bankers claiming that "liar loans" are "prime paper" wasn't enough evidence that folks in the banking system would do the very same thing to the central banks, quite confident that in the end the taxpayers would get the bill?

I'm shocked that anyone is surprised. I'm even more shocked that there isn't an instantaneous reaction that goes far beyond these "yelps" - something on the order of an immediate "putback" of all this garbage followed by bank examinations to see exactly what sort of other games are being played!

Moral hazard? Hell, how about outright fraud! Moral my bupkis.

You want another example of the shining ethics in our banking system today? Try this:

"NEW YORK: Would you invest money - at a very low interest rate - to finance mortgage loans that allow risky borrowers to buy homes with no money down? What if you knew the company that made most of the loans had gone bankrupt because so many of its loans had turned bad almost immediately?

Now, no one would do that. But it was just a year ago that Merrill Lynch was wrapping up a securitization that met just those criteria. The securities were snapped up by such buyers as the Bond Fund of America, one of the largest mutual funds."

That's right, just one year ago, it is alleged, Merrill, one of those fabulous trustworthy bankers, apparently put together a securitization and sold it off to a huge mutual fund - with loans from a company that had gone under before the securitization was completed because they were writing bad paper!

Oh, and the best part?

That great securitization was rated "Aaa" by Moody's - the top investment grade rating.

Current estimates? 60% of the loans will default or already have.

How can you possibly invest anything in American securities, much less American banks, when this sort of garbage does not result in an instantaneous indictment and prosecution?

How can Moody's retain its "NRSRO" status or even be allowed to remain in business when they issued an "Aaa" rating to a securitization where the originator of the loans went bankrupt because it had been writing trash?

How can you justify leaving your money in the bank when this sort of game is played and nobody goes to prison for it? Do you really think the FDIC or anyone else in government will protect your money when they have failed to do anything about this behavior?

How is it that our "banking regulators" permit this sort of outrage to take place without revoking the involved bank's charter?

How is it that Congress does not subpoena all these clowns along with Bernanke and ask them, under oath, how they justify this sort of thing, and why they shouldn't be forced to eat these so-called "money good" instruments?

If that's not stupid enough now Fannie is going to scrap its "must have positive equity" rule in declining markets:

"Fannie Mae is expected to announce Friday that it is scrapping a policy requiring higher down payments on home mortgages in areas where house prices are falling.

The change comes in response to protests from vital political allies of the government-sponsored provider of funding for mortgages, including the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Home Builders and organizations that promote affordable housing for low-income people."

"In a recent letter sent to Fannie and Freddie, the Realtors reminded the companies that the trade group in recent years helped them fend off Bush administration attempts to impose tighter regulatory constraints."

Absolutely. The National Association of Realtors, who were prime architects of the housing bubble, along with the other clowns who were largely responsible for this problem in the first place, now are pressuring Fannie to do even more unsafe things.

Of course the Realtors remind Fannie that they were part and parcel of lobbying so that they could have a balance sheet problem in the first place. Why, regulation, that's bad! And now, having applied pressure when Fannie needed it, its time to call in our chips and put the heat on Fannie so we get what we want, whether its a sound lending practice or not.

The Taxpayer is always there to bail us out after we screw the American Public (again.)

The FHA scam is in full swing. You need only a 620 FICO and no more than one missed payment in 12 months, and you can refi virtually anything. Yes, all the way up to and in some cases beyond 100% LTV!

The banks are loving these deals as they take absolutely no risk - the government takes it all.

620 FICO and one missed payment? This is "good credit"? Oh, the only problem is that it actually is, apparently, hard to find people with only one missed payment!

The Taxpayer is always there to bail us out after we screw the American Public (again), and this time Congress wants to give the FHA even more buying power so we can screw the public even harder, faster, and more often!

Now let me tell you what I think, and make some predictions, based on the "observable inputs":

The bankers are lying about their exposure and delinquency rates in various real-estate loan experience categories. That is, whether through incompetence or outright fraud, real honest-to-God credit losses are being taken that are not being reported at the present time. The bankers are not pressuring their staff to be up front in this regard because they are quite sure they will not face prosecution for their "lack of attention", and they are right. This will become apparent over the next few months.
Foreclosures are not being pursued (intentionally) and REOs are being held off the market (intentionally) in a vain attempt to "wait it out." Cash flow will, in the next three to six months, make this tactic impossible and force the banks and servicers to act. Then we will see the real foreclosure and REO rates, which will be much higher than are currently being reported.
Consumer spending is being propped right now by people who are blowing off their mortgage, not being pursued by the banks or foreclosed upon, and as a consequence they are living "free" in their home and spending the difference, holding up consumer spending numbers. Consumer spending numbers will positively crater when the foreclosures and REOs are pursued actively in the second half of the year.
Commercial Real Estate is in much worse shape than is being reported. This will become apparent in the second and third quarter as retailer bankruptcies start to ramp.
Business credit defaults are beginning to increase. They will peak over 10%; on balance the credit quality of American Business is the worst it has ever been going into a slowdown in the economy. Don't believe the BS you hear on CNBC - look at the bond ratings, they don't lie.
There will be bank failures. Lots of them. If you have uninsured deposits in a bank at the present time, anywhere, you're an idiot. Fix that right now.
Average hourly earnings have been falling since October without so much as a single month of advances in real (inflation-adjusted) terms, and this is using the government's cooked CPI numbers! You can't have growing consumption and GDP without growing earnings; ALL of the consumption growth in the last six months has been fueled by increases in the debt to equity ratio among American households. This WILL blow up in the economy's face; it is a mathematical certainty.
The economy and the markets will be the issue by November and McCain will lose badly. In fact, I believe that The Senate is very likely to become filibuster-proof.
The only way oil prices will decline on a sustained basis is if we see an outright demand collapse in the United States. This may well happen - but if it does, you won't be talking about it being "bullish" as we'll have ramping unemployment and a deeply-negative GDP print to go along with it. Otherwise, I hope you like $4 or even $5 gasoline, because you're going to get it.
Government will attempt to increase its "bail out" actions, even though only a minority of people behaved badly or took foolish risks. Look for the government to continue this foolishness up until they are forced to stop by the bond market, and the bond market may go "overcenter" where long interest rates shoot the moon - this year.
There will be talk - if not outright action - by consumers that will border on a revolt against the fraudsters/bankers. As government continues to give "free passes" to the bankers at the expense of all there will be rumblings if not outright organized actions such as consumers banding together and simply refusing to pay good and sound mortgages as a protest action. There is already a hint of this with sites like http://thisjune5th.com/, which standing alone means little - but may be the start of a trend. This sort of "economic counterattack" is a totally-unappreciated risk to those who are trying to let the fraudsters get away with it. With even a few-percent uptake such protests could cripple the system and force immediate reform. The damage done from even 5% of all households refusing to pay their mortgages for a couple of months as an act of protest would be extreme and force the issue, should the people get sufficiently angry. Do not count out the people if they truly get pissed off!
Housing starts up 8% so they say, but guess what - its all condos! Here's what Bloomberg said:

"Builders broke ground on 692,000 single-family homes at an annual rate, down 1.7 percent from March and the fewest since January 1991, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Total starts jumped 8.2 percent to a 1.032 million pace that was higher than forecast as construction of multi-family units increased 36 percent following a 35 percent drop in March.

Lower prices and bigger incentives have yet to revive demand for houses, indicating builders will need to come up with even more discounts to attract buyers. Stricter lending rules, job losses and growing pessimism about the economy signal sales will not rebound quickly. "

Yeah, and the CNBC pumper Jack with his "GOP" badge was instantly on the boob tube crowing about how this was "great" for the market and the economy.

He didn't bother to actually read the report, did he?

Try getting a mortgage for a condo and tell me how it works out; you only think the foreclosure and default rate in single-family homes is high.

Every one of these clowns is going to go bankrupt playing this game.

I'm stunned that this is considered "good news", but do you actually expect reporting these days from Bubble TV? If so you're going to be disappointed - there is no reporting nowadays, only blatant falsehood and intentional misdirection.

Oh yeah, I'm sure these banks are securitizing the construction loans and sending them to The Fed for Treasuries, and will stick us with the bill for this stupidity as well.

Sentiment came in weaker than expected at 59.5, weakest in 28 years. Gee, what a surprise; you mean Joe Sixpack knows that the incessant CNBC pumping is a bunch of BS - he can see what's reality when he goes to the gas station and grocery store!

Funny that.

10:03 AM  

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