Is Citibank In Financial Trouble, China/Kuwait Rush Cash?

It wasn't that long ago that Citibank dispatched Robert Rubin to some Arab country in search of much needed cash to bail one of Americans largest banks out of financial difficulty because of the sub prime mortgage market. Then there are rumors today that Citibank is also in talks with China and Kuwait to give them even more cash, around $14 billion to be exact. There is something bad happening under the surface of the U.S. economy and Citibank may be the leading indicator as to what is wrong. For too many years, the American people have followed the lead of the U.S. government and spent well beyond their means.

While no one wants to talk about this problem publicly, in reality the United States of America is in a sad state of affairs, financially, right now because politicians and regular everyday citizens do not understand what it means to save money. The U.S. economy has been held in check from recession for years now by a consumer driven market of ever increasing spending and soon something will have to give and that will most likely be our own wallets. For most Americans, the problems at Citibank do not seem important to them. However, in reality the problems at a huge bank like Citibank are one of the most important things in their financial future.

The United States has not operated on a pay as you go system for a long time now. Instead, our economy and really our whole way of life is built on a credit system of buy now and pay later. When huge credit lenders like Citibank become so strapped for cash they they must go begging to foreign nations like China to bail them out, then the whole U.S. economy is in real danger of slipping into recession or even worse, depression. In the old days people use to look to General Motor as a guide of what was happening in the U.S. economy. Today, many people like myself look to large banks like Citibank to give us insight into what is happening behind the curtains of a complex and intertwined U.S. economy.

Keep a close eye on Citibank because I believe in this new Millennium, that one company might be the new General Motors to help the average American understand what is happening in the U.S. economy.

Read more about the Economy:

Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo's $100 Million Severance
Michael Dell Rebuilding His Computer Company
Wall Street Could Once Again Face - 'Black Monday'
Are American's Recession Fears Justified?
Stan O'Neal's 'Golden Parachute' Worth $160 Million

January 12, 2008 Archives

Cowboys/Giants Play Today, Who Will Win?

As most of you already know, I am a Dallas Cowboys fan and I'm hoping against hope that the Cowboys beat the NY Giants Sunday afternoon at 3:15 CST. I don't take anything for granted when the Cowboys play the Giants because over the years some of the best games I have ever watched have been when the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants hook up on the field. Since I was young, back in the 1970's, the Cowboys and Giants were 'must see TV' long before NBC adopted that slogan for their television network. Now we are only a few hours away from the Dallas Cowboys and NY Giants kick off and I think it will be hard to get any sleep for me tonight.

On Saturday, the Green Bay Packers won – so it will either be the Dallas Cowboys or the NY Giants that will face the Packers in the NFC Championship game next weekend. In any other year, I would be full of expectation at a Cowboys victory over the Giants on Sunday. However, I have not seen the Cowboys play or workout for the past two weeks and when I did last see the Cowboys play last they were less than spectacular on the football field against the Washington Redskins. The New England Patriots won once again today and it appears that they will be the team representing the AFC in the Superbowl this season. I sure hope that the Dallas Cowboys are the team that plays the Patriots in this years Superbowl and even if the Cowboys are not able to beat the unbelievable great play of the NE Patriots on the field, at least they can say they had a great season, overall.

In the 2007 NFL football season, head coach Wade Phillips and Tony Romo have given Dallas Cowboys fans something to smile about after each weekends game. The past month has been a little tough to watch, but I am hoping that during the past 14 days the Cowboys have once again found the spirit that helped them win so many games this season. Win or lose against the NY Giants, I am proud of the 2007 Dallas Cowboys season and look forward to many more great seasons in the years to come.

Read more about the Dallas Cowboys:

Anticipation Grows As Cowboys/Giants Playoff Game Nears
New York Giants Play Cowboys In Dallas Playoff Game
Redskins Playoff Defeat – Dallas Cowboys Next?
Dallas Cowboys Fans In Fear Of Playoff Games
Dallas Cowboys Face Hungry Redskins Sunday

Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo's $100 Million Severance

A few days ago, Bank of America announced that it is acquiring Countrywide Corp. The CEO of Countrywide, Angelo Mozilo has a 'golden parachute' package that will pay him over $100 million when he steps down as CEO when this deal is done. The news of this Bank of America take over will not be as sweet for thousands of other Countrywide employees as cutbacks and layoffs will most likely follow soon after this deal is complete. Some Members of Congress have urged Angelo Mozilo to give back much of his severance package in order to help Countrywide customers that are struggling to pay home mortgages through that company. However, if Mr. Mozilo does so it will be a surprise to almost anyone that watches the world of CEO's.

Every few months or so there is another big deal on Wall Street that earns CEO's that ran their companies into the ground millions of dollars in rewards for doing a bad job. No where else in American capitalism is poor performance rewarded more than with CEO's in public companies. While it would be easy to blame this problem on CEO's, in reality it is the board of directors at these publicly traded companies that need to be held to account for offering these crazy severance packages to CEO's in the first place. For too long, CEO earnings have not been tied to company success and this is wrong. When a CEO makes bad business decisions and a company suffers financially, usually it is the hard working employees below him or her that suffer.

The job of a Fortune 500 CEO is a win/win situation for the CEO because they are rewarded if they do a good job and sometimes they are rewarded even more when they make big mistakes that cost the company money. It is not only wrong, but in my view it is un American for board of directors at huge companies to continue to reward CEO's with $100 million plus 'golden parachutes' when they leave the company. The capitalist American in me says that the sky should be the limit when it comes to pay for a CEO that does an exceptional job managing a major company. However, if they lose the company money – they should be fired with very little future compensation just like the rest of the employees of that same company. I'm not trying to pick on Angelo Mozilo because only a fool would turn down a package like the one that was offer to him. However, I do fault the Countrywide Board of Directors for offering him such a package in the first place.

Read more about the Economy:

Michael Dell Rebuilding His Computer Company
Wall Street Could Once Again Face - 'Black Monday'
Are American's Recession Fears Justified?
Stan O'Neal's 'Golden Parachute' Worth $160 Million
Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O'Neal Out?

Sugar Free Gum Made With Sorbitol Causes Severe Weight Loss

Research scientist are reporting that some patients that chew too much gum that contains Sorbitol are suffering massive weight loss and diarrhea symptoms. Sorbitol is a sweetener that is added to chewing gum to replace sugar. Many major brands of chewing gum sold in the United States contain this sweetener substitute and consumers should read content labels and avoid this substance. Sorbitol is a laxative that is poorly absorbed in the small intestine which causes irritation and other problems that lead to diarrhea once it reaches the colon. People that chew several sticks of sugar free gum per day should consider cutting back if Sorbitol is one of that gums ingredients.

In recent years, there has been a worldwide obsession to remove simple sugar from almost all foods. As often times happens, when people get obsessed about a food ingredient to the point of wanting it totally excluded from the daily diet, new and sometimes more dangers products like Sorbitol are developed as food replacements. Many times, these sugar substitutes have been proven to be more harmful than natural sugar and even worse some sugar substitutes could even cause life threating conditions like cancer. While there is no current indication that Sorbitol causes cancer, there is pretty convincing proof that it is making some people sick.

I'm from the old school where rather than trying to reinvent the wheel with food substitutes that taste like sugar, why not just reduce the amount of sugar intake by personal self discipline? For over one hundred years, mankind has dreamed of a magic pill that would allow them to eat whatever they want and lose weight. Hundreds of companies have come up with thousands of products that claim to fit that bill, but in the end no such magic pill has been created. For some people, Sorbitol has caused massive unwanted weight loss. However, I hope that people reading this story both here and in other locations don't decide to use Sorbitol as a weight loss remedy because it could very well make them very sick. For the time being it might make sense to avoid sugar free gum containing Sorbitol just to be on the safe side.

Read more about Health Research:

Holiday's Bring Financial Stress/Depression To Some
WIC Updates Program For Better Mother/Child Nutrition Goals
Attacking Overweight People Different Than Cigarette Smokers
Antibiotic Resistant Staph 'Superbug' Threatens School Kids
Topps/Cargill/Sams Club - E. coli Meat Scare

GOP Candidates Compare Themselves To Ronald Reagan

I am personally quite tired of this years Republican candidates comparing themselves to Ronald Reagan and I have decided to not support anyone that does so in the future. Not that many years ago Ronald Reagan, one of the best President's ever, died and this current bunch of Ronald Regan imitators do not hold a candle to the way President Reagan served this country. To me, some of these poor quality GOP candidates are trying to use the name of a legendary American President, that is not around to disagree with them, for selfish short term political purposes.

It use to be that Democrats traveled the country pandering to one group or another for votes. However, in 2008 it is the GOP that is pandering not to groups of voters – but instead to people that were fond of President Ronald Reagan. As a young boy in high school I became a strong supporter of Ronald Reagan even before I was old enough to vote. When he lost his first attempt at the Republican nomination to Gerald Ford, I remember having deep feelings of anger and disappointment. Then four (4) years later when he won the White House against Jimmy Carter those feelings of sadness disappeared and I watched Ronald Reagan lead this country, in the right direction, for eight years.

The current field of GOP candidates come nowhere close to the opinions, leadership ability and communication skills of President Reagan. To me, for these pretenders to openly use the good name of Ronald Reagan just to win the Republican Nomination is wrong. Ronald Reagan was the real deal and he did not try and associate himself with dead Presidents in order to get elected. Instead, President Reagan ran and won the presidency on conservative ideas of a strong military, law and order and something that has been forgotten in America, stopping wasteful government spending. None of the current group of GOP candidates comes close to the strong conservative opinions of Ronald Reagan and I am tired of them bring down his legacy for purely selfish personal political goals.

Read more about 2008 Elections:

Massive Voter Turn Out In New Hampshire Primary
Ron Paul Supporters Are Angry At Media
Ron Paul/Duncan Hunter Snubbed By Fox/ABC News
Iowa's Thursday Caucus First Test For Candidates
New Poll Shows Clinton/Obama/Edwards Tied In Iowa

Will Barack Obama Win New York State Against Senator Clinton?

The pundits are at it again by trying to suggest that Barack Obama will beat Hillary Clinton in her home state of New York. Yes, it is possible that Obama could defeat her there – but at the same time it is not likely either. What's next? Are these same pundits going to try and say that Hillary Clinton will beat Barack Obama in Illinois? Probably so, but the Illinois democratic primary is further away. Right now, both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have one win under their belt which means that there are 48 state left to vote in deciding which candidates will represent the democratic party in next November's general election.

Personally, I look for a 'knock down drag out fight, between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as each major candidate works for votes in every state holding a primary election. Neither Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton strike me as quitters, so the battle for the democratic nomination for President might take longer than some of these daily pundits might like. I can see a possibility of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama splitting many of the upcoming democratic state primary's and on Super Tuesday they might both come out winners. If that happens, there will be an all out fight for the democratic nomination for President which will be a good thing for the American people, even if both the Obama and Clinton campaign would like to see an easier path to the democratic nomination.

A few days ago, these same talking head pundits on cable news programs had all but declared the candidacy of Hillary Clinton dead. Then came New Hampshire where their hype and faulty polling made them come across as foolish. Now some national political pundits are suggesting that Barack Obama will beat Hillary Clinton in her own State of New York. Fool me once, shame on you – fool me twice shame on me. I am not falling for any more hype from national pundits that either favor Clinton or Obama in this race. Right now, either one of these candidates could win the democratic nomination for President and no one and I mean no one really knows which candidate will still be standing at the end of the day.

Read more about Barack Obama:

Hillary Clinton Barack Obama's Vice President?
Hillary Might Go After Barack Obama's Muslim Religion
John McCain Running Against Barack Obama In New Hampshire
Barack Obama The Candidate To Beat In 2008?
Oprah Helps Barack Obama Win Iowa/New Hampshire?