Residual Effects

Have you ever worked retail? Have you ever wanted to kill a customer, or at least beat them around the head with your cane? Last night (Halloween) this fellow, all too obviously not from around here, came in with his family. Two freaked out sullen kids, a wife that kind of reminded me of a demure Cousin It. The younger child, a girl of about 6, was wearing a mask. They group headed straight to the Halloween candy display, grabbed several bags and approached the counter to purchase them. As I was ringing up the sale, the father beamed as he gave the little girl the bags of candy and proclaimed "This was the quickest Trick or Treating we've ever done".

Yesterday there was a new poll which caught my attention. It asked what president you would like to see in office to deal with our country's current financial and job problems. The overwhelming choice (36%) was Ronald Reagan. FDR placed second at 29%. Thomas Jefferson placed third at 14%. Reagan was chosen by a crowd that was 68% Republican, 16% Democrat and 34% independent. FDR, meanwhile got 16% of the Republicans, 43% of the Democrats and 26% of the independents. Okay, I am frightened and horrified now.

Also in the news was an announcement that MF Global had filed for bankruptcy protections. The brokerage firm was in the process of being sold when a $700 million discrepancy in the books was discovered. CEO Jon Corzine had no comment. It was confirmed this morning that the brokerage had used customer money as their own. The best guess at the moment is that the missing funds were used in an attempt to save the company - which purchased massive amounts of European debt, betting that it would recover. It hasn't. If this sounds kind of familiar, it's because Mr. Corazine was the CEO of Goldman Sachs. He was ousted from that role in 1999. He had been the primary force behind taking Goldman public. His earnings from the IPO were estimated at $400 million dollars . You remember Goldman Sachs, don't you? That's the firm that made $4 Billion from betting on the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market. It was one of the bank-brokerages at the heart of the 2008 banking collapse.

Frightened yet? Mr. Corazine, between Wall Street employments, was a Senator and them Governor of New Jersey. Wanna notch that up a bit? Other former top Goldman Sachs people include  include Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson both of whom served as United States Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.Then there's  Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of Canada since 2008, and Mario Draghi, governor of the European Central Bank.

I can just hear these guys; "This was the best Trick or Treats ever!".