Bernie Made-off with Christmas

As I sit here listening to CNBC and all of the talk is how "Bernie Made-off with Christmas".. Really?  (can't wait for that SNL skit) At some point, I'm wondering how anyone "in the know" could have allowed this to fraud to continue for so long. The statements to clients mentioned options purchased (calls) and sold (puts) on individual trading days where the total outstanding contracts were less than 20% of the totals that Bernie documented to clients.. Didn't someone check?

Now, it's getting into the real estate market in NY..

Indeed, at an industry fund-raiser at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Manhattan last weekend, much of the chatter over sushi and crudités was about money feared lost with Mr. Madoff, according to people who attended. And a Manhattan psychotherapist who counsels real estate leaders and bankers said most of the patients he has seen this week have close friends and relatives who lost money with Mr. Madoff.

The victims include executives at the global commercial brokerage CB Richard Ellis, most prominently Stephen Siegel, a major Bronx landlord who is chairman of worldwide operations at the brokerage and whose wife, Wendy, helped organize Saturday’s fund-raising dinner.

One of my new favorite blogs is London Banker and from last Friday's entry, Deflation has become Inevitable..

It is now clear to me that policy makers in the West are determined to apply every available resource to underpinning failure, misallocation and executive excess. As this discourages the honest saver from parting with cash, policy makers are ensuring that deflation will wreak its havoc on the financial and real economies of the world. Only when that deflation has played out and rational policies that reward market-based management and returns are restored will it be worthwhile to invest again. In the meanwhile, any wealth saved securely from state seizure will "swell" to buy more assets in future - a key aspect of deflation and a key means of restoring the control of the economy into the hands of more farsighted savers and investors.

The other interesting item from the WSJ - Economy section this morning, is the story about many towns, within an hour drive from where I sit, are going bankrupt..

The city of Vallejo, Calif., gained national attention earlier this year by filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. Now, two neighbors are fighting to avoid the same fate, as the state's economic crisis spreads.

Isleton and Rio Vista, small towns roughly 50 miles northeast of San Francisco, say they have begun consulting with bankruptcy lawyers as they draw up plans to deal with their mounting budget crises. The towns' leaders say they hope to avoid bankruptcy, but concede the move may eventually be their only option.