RTFA: http://www.abc15.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?conten…

To the outside observer, the 2008 Asset Management Conference held this week at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix was nothing out of the ordinary.

Conference participants, however, were notable because of the publicity they’ve received for their role in the ongoing financial crisis.

The conference at the posh resort included many senior managers at American International Group, or AIG, one of the world’s biggest insurers and recipients in September of more than $85 billion from the federal government.

AIG made significant efforts to disguise the conference, making sure there were no AIG logos or signs anywhere on the property.

Barf! Lemme get my pitchfork.

RTFA: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/

Energy Savers provides homeowners with tips for saving energy and money at home and on the road. By following just a few of the simple tips found on this Energy Savers Web site, you can make your home more comfortable and easier to heat and cool-while you save money. We bring you the latest information on energy-saving, efficient technologies. We even give tips for using clean, renewable energy to power your home.

We help you beat the high cost of fuel, with driving and car maintenance tips to save you money on the road.

Some of the tips are simple to do. Others require more effort and investment, but promise big savings over the years.

We encourage you to check out the Web site and make improvements today and this year that will contribute to your energy bottom line and make our planet healthier and cleaner!

Visit energysavers.gov to learn more about home energy efficiency initiatives.

The information on this Web site is also available in PDF format (PDF 2.7 MB).

Did you know that 100% of these United States have cold, craptastic weather much of the year? It’s true, according to the DOE “climate-zone” picture above. That’s why it’s so great to own: an energy company, stock in an energy company, or property containing natural energy resources (that you can rent to an energy company).

However, if you’re not among the lucky 0.1% of US expats who own a stake in the energy game, you don’t need to get reamed month after month by the energy company. Instead, transform your house (or, for the serfs – and only if your lord permits it – your apartment) from a gas-guzzling monster truck of an abode into something more like a mid-sized sedan… of an abode.

Here’s a neat illustration: if you convert 12 60-watt incandescent lightbulbs into 13-watt compact fluorescents, then you can reduce your light-related consumption by about 600 watts. (That’s 720 watts down to 156 watts) …then, if you use a 400-watt infra-red bulb to spot-heat your body, you’re still using less electricity than before, but you can comfortably lower your thermostat from 72 degrees to something more like 64 degrees.

The net effect is reduced electricity consumption combined with seriously reduced gas/oil consumption (depending on how your home works). Here’s why it matters: when winter rolls around, electricity can be generated by coal, gas, and eventually lots of renewable alternatives (or even nuclear – yes). Gas, on the other hand, is basically guaranteed to spike as supply is systematically manipulated to barely, but not quite, meet demand. Score a big win for energy deregulation! If you get a handle on your home gas consumption, then you won’t be subject to that form of fraudulent consumer exploitation.

To figure this one out, I got historical heating oil price-per-gallon data from http://www.theenergyco-op.com/OIL%20PRICE%20UPDATING/hhoil_pastprices.htm. Then, I plotted the 30-day moving average for the past 6 years, and sure enough, there is a small bump every fall. Why? I don’t know. This year might be weird since there was a major oil scandal over the summer, but guess what? It’s still going to be way more expensive than last year! …just look at the graph.

There’s a lot that can be done, and you should seriously do as much as will effectively lower your costs. Important note: if you spend more on “energy saving” than you will actually save in energy costs, then you lose… unless, of course, you can amortize the cost over multiple years, in which case you win!

Start by reading the Energy Savers guide, which I’ve helpfully linked to above. Then, use my links to buy light bulbs and a heater from Amazon. You will support RTFA with 4% of the purchase price.

RTFA: http://keatingeconomics.com/

The current economic crisis demands that we understand John McCain’s attitudes about economic oversight and corporate influence in federal regulation. Nothing illustrates the danger of his approach more clearly than his central role in the savings and loan scandal of the late ’80s and early ’90s.

John McCain was accused of improperly aiding his political patron, Charles Keating, chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. The bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee launched investigations and formally reprimanded Senator McCain for his role in the scandal — the first such Senator to receive a major party nomination for president.

At the heart of the scandal was Keating’s Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which took advantage of deregulation in the 1980s to make risky investments with its depositors’ money. McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating with federal regulators tasked with preventing banking fraud, and championed legislation to delay regulation of the savings and loan industry — actions that allowed Keating to continue his fraud at an incredible cost to taxpayers.

…so perhaps McCain does have some experience with financial crises. Here is some background on the Savings and Loan Crisis:

Savings and loan institutions (also known as S&Ls or thrifts) have existed since the 1800s. They originally served as community-based institutions for savings and mortgages. In the United States, S&Ls were tightly regulated until the late 1970s.[citation needed] For example, there was a ceiling on the interest rates they could offer to depositors.[citation needed]

In the 1970s, many banks, but more particularly S&Ls, were experiencing a significant outflow from low-interest rate deposits, as interest rates were driven up by the high inflation rate of the late 1970s and as depositors moved their money to the new high-interest money-market funds.[citation needed] At the same time, the institutions had much of their money tied up in long-term mortgage loans at fixed interest rates, and with market rates rising, these were worth far less than face value. That is, to sell a 5% mortgage to pay requests from depositors for their funds in a market asking 10%, a savings and loan would have to discount its asking price on the mortgage. This meant that the value of these loans, which were the institution’s assets, was less than the deposits used to make them, and the savings and loan’s net worth was being eroded.

Under financial institution regulation, which had its roots in the Depression era, federally chartered S&Ls were only allowed to make a narrowly limited range of loan types. Late in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, caps were lifted on rates and the amounts insured per account to $100,000. In addition to raising the amounts covered by insurance, the amount of the accounts that would be repaid was increased from 70% to 100%. Increasing Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) coverage also permitted managers to take more risk to try to work their way out of insolvency so the government would not have to take over an institution.

Carter left office in January 1981, a year in which 3,300 out of 3,800 S&Ls lost money. In 1982 under Ronald Reagan, the combined tangible net capital of the industry was $4 billion. The chartering of federally regulated S&Ls accelerated rapidly with the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982, which was designed to make S&Ls more competitive and more solvent. S&Ls could now pay higher market rates for deposits, borrow money from the Federal Reserve, make commercial loans, and issue credit cards. They were also allowed to take an ownership position in the real estate and other projects to which they made loans and they began to rely on brokered funds to a considerable extent. This was a departure from their original mission of providing savings and mortgages.

…by the end, the government bailed out the S&Ls that had failed, for a cost to taxpayers of around $120-160 billion. I haven’t adjusted for inflation, but I imagine that was still a bargain when compared to the $700 billion we’re talking about now – a figure which doesn’t even include the previous bailouts over the last 6 months.

RTFA: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7028503….

A Chilean judge has ordered the arrest of five children and the widow of former military ruler Augusto Pinochet on charges of embezzlement.

The warrants were among 23 issued as part of a corruption investigation into state funds held in US bank accounts.

Gen Pinochet, who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, died in December 2006 before he could stand trial on charges of corruption and human rights abuses.

That lovable South American fascist dictator, who is already dead, is still being hounded, karmically, through his living relatives. Even though his assets were frozen circa 2000, it seems Pinochet and his family still had access to millions of dollars, which were being laundered through (wait for it) Riggs Bank.

As you might have inferred from the stream of posts currently on RTFA (Riggs’ Pinochet guilty plea, Riggs sight-seeing, and Riggs ten dollar bill), this bank has a long and colorful history. Yet, the bank collapsed anyway, and this is rather surprising. You see, Riggs was such an important bank in Washington DC that it financed the Mexican-American war and the Alaska purchase.

Weird. It probably doesn’t mean anything, except that Pinochet’s family is currently being arrested for the money that came from accounts held at Riggs Bank.

RTFA: http://youtube.com/watch?v=DeL7nVwuLnU

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