Register for Free
Post comments, receive updates via email, gain access to exclusive content, and more.
Spam Safe!
For enrolled members only. Enroll now to gain full access to all Martenson Reports.
EmailSunday, May 3, 2009
Executive Summary
- The bank stress tests are a sham.
- Reality is already worse than the worst case stress test scenario.
- The stress test results will be used as a “positive indicator” anyway.
- Don’t fall for it.
The bank stress tests, the results of which are to be announced later this week, have already failed. Why? Because the stress test is supposed to assess how a bank’s loan portfolio would fare under a variety of scenarios, but reality is already far worse than the worst-case scenario. The FDIC, Treasury, and Federal Reserve went ahead with their weak input assumptions to conduct the stress test, even though they knew that reality was outpacing their most dire scenario.
In other words, the stress test is a sham.
Your faithful information scout,
Chris Martenson
Copyright 2009, Chris Martenson. All rights reserved.
Print
Comments
My old neighbors and good friends didn't teach their kids about the Easter Bunny or Santa. I used to think they were cruel.
No longer.
Great report, thanks Chris.
BTW, here is some more stress headed the banks way. *Enroll to see Link*
I see more vacant lots where 33% of the trashed homes once stood, that should help their books...
Enroll today to read more.
What are your thoughts on Warren Buffets comments today?? Is he just part of the spin machine/ or is he mad??
This is why I subscribe. Thanks Chris for doing the research and pulling out reality from the junk we see on the front pages. I've learned to question what I see in the media and from the government, but actually digging in and putting real numbers over the fake is work, and I appreciate it...
Enroll today to read more.
SteveS wrote:
Funny, as I started reading your conclusion, in my engineering mind I got a mental picture of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge - just before I read the sentence: "Let’s all be thankful that the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department do not design bridges...
Enroll today to read more.
Great report Chris. I agree that this is intended as a confidence builder, not truth.
I do want to point out what I think might be an error in your GDP comparison. I believe the green and red lines on the GDP graphs represent the accumulated change since the beginning of the chart (Q4 2008) - I believe the end of Q4 2008, not the beginning...
Enroll today to read more.
SteveS wrote:
This is why I subscribe.
Ditto. Thanks Chris. Another great report. Keep up the good work.
Chris,
Another outstanding report, Chief! Keep 'em coming... You've been on a roll with just outstanding content lately.
I have an idea I'd like to propose to you. This is not hypothetical - I believe you know enough of the players (particularly John Williams) personally and could make what I propose below actually happen, and I encourage you to seriously consider actually doing so...
Enroll today to read more.
steveyoung wrote:
<snip>
I do want to point out what I think might be an error in your GDP comparison. I believe the green and red lines on the GDP graphs represent the accumulated change since the beginning of the chart (Q4 2008) - I believe the end of Q4 2008, not the beginning...
Enroll today to read more.
Thank you once again, Chris, for removing the spin from our government's economic reports...
I've often wondered how much the foreign investors have our stress tests, GDP reports, and inflated obfuscations of reality figured out. I think it's hard (or at least ulikely) enough for most Americans to pick through all of this information and I wonder if the exact same game is going on in other countries to the extent it is here...
Enroll today to read more.
I was a little confused by what the graph might have been intending to display, and I even thought about it the way you suggested, but am comfortable that I've got it right.
Here's why.
The table I posted in the report shows the yearly change in GDP, and the footnotes make this clear...
Enroll today to read more.