Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Flaherty provides billion dollar Barrick Gold with schmuck insurance......Warren Buffett disagrees



Peter Munk on Jim Flaherty:

"Hell, I expect politicians to do what they think is right for their country and not do it for the sake of gaining two more points in the popularity contest. For me, and for some people I know, they give him credit for that," says Peter Munk, chairman of Barrick Gold Corp. "Some people take a selfish view, and if you run a big fund and you have been heavily involved in income trusts and, without warning, you lose 8%...you hate the son of a bitch. But to me, that's not the measure you take a finance minister by. You take him by what he does for the country” [ Editor’s note: Or his friends in high places who aren’t prepared to accept the risk inherent in their own actions” see Globe artice below entitled “Flaherty wades into Barrick's CIBC feud” ]


Warren Buffett on schmuck insurance for subprime lenders (like Barrick Gold):


Dumb subprime lenders and investors should not get help: Warren Buffett
May 06, 2008, by Jonathan Ratner

At the Berkshire Hathaway annual general meeting, company CEO and chairman Warren Buffett said he had enormous respect for a few [investment banks], but that some of the big investment and commercial banks are almost too big to manage. It is harder to see the risk and they’re very hard to manage, he noted.

Mr. Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger agreed that not every business or investment bank should be rescued, because failure is an important part of capitalism.

“Capitalism without failure is like Christianity without hell,” Mr. Buffett said. He added that “lenders and investors who were dumb enough to deal in subprime mortgages should not receive any special help,” but if homeowners were deceived about the terms of an adjustable mortgage, they should be helped.




Jim Flaherty extends schmuck insurance to Peter Munk:


Flaherty wades into Barrick's CIBC feud
Dustup threatens to delay ABCP restructuring


JACQUIE MCNISH
Globe and Mail
May 6, 2008

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has taken the unusual step of intervening in a sideshow spat in the ABCP drama, applying direct pressure on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to settle up with Barrick Gold Corp.

Sources say Mr. Flaherty's phone call to senior CIBC executives last week succeeded in bringing the bank to the table in a festering dispute with its gold miner client.

.....continued

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Peter Monk on Jim Flaherty :

"But to me, that's not the measure you take a finance minister by. You take him by what he does for the country”

Now if this is the case , then Flaherty is an utter waste of resources & should have been fired long ago.

He single-handedly removed almost 36 billion dollars from the economy with his Tax Fairness Plan---the majority of this has not returned----the anguish suffered by mere "bystander" investors is not calculable.

His unrelenting attacks on Ontario cannot be tolerated by a minister who should be promoting each region & not destroying it`s capital worth.

These are but two examples.

So , as far as what he has done for the country, we should be burning him in effigy until he is removed from office , nothing more.

Dr Mike.

Scramble said...

More of the Flaherty Flagrant Fixins!

Canada doesn't have a democratic government - Canada has a Corporate Government that CONS the commoner.

Why else would Flaherty connive to get BIG CIBC to "make good" with BIG Barrick? Why else would Flaherty connive and steal the choice and solid returns for Income Trusters?

That asset backed corporate paper toxic shit will, and in the end! just be packaged into a NEW glossed-over investment choice for the average investor. It might even be put into something like the CCWIP (canadian commercial workers pension plan)! Perhaps that is why outfits like that won't divulge their CURRENT assets to liabilities(Dec.2006 doesn't cut it)

Anonymous said...

Isn't Lyin' Brian Mulroney on the board of Barrick Gold?

Hmm...

Anonymous said...

Conservative MP Hid Limo Expenses

Updated Wed. May. 7 2008 7:51 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

The New Democrats have accused Conservative MP Bev Oda of hiding thousands of dollars in limousine-ride expenses, incurred during her time as the government's heritage minister.

Oda spent nearly $17,000 on limo rides in her party's first 15 months in office, according to receipts obtained by the NDP through an access-to-information request.

New Democrat MP Charlie Angus said about half of that amount was never proactively included in publicly disclosed ministerial travel and hospitality expenses.

"This is a government that ran on an issue of accountability and transparency, and yet we see this immediate move to secrecy and a Treasury Board that breaks guidelines shamelessly," Angus told CTV's Mike Duffy Live.

It would not be the first time Oda has disclosed various expenses without including travel costs, Angus added.

In 2006, Oda paid back $2,200 to taxpayers after the Liberals found that she had incurred nearly $5,500 in limo rides at the 2006 Juno awards in Halifax. The amount was never mentioned on the disclosure of travel and hospitality expenses posted on the Department of Canadian Heritage website.

"Bev Oda has already been caught once with outrageous spending at the Junos and had to pay money back," said Angus.

"Now we find out about thousands and thousands of dollars worth of undisclosed secret trips, like $1,300 for a limo ride in Toronto one day when she went to a Conservative meeting ... Where does she live?"

That specific limo ride happened on March 17, when Oda billed $1,291.88 for a drive from her home to a Conservative candidate training session.

Jhon smith said...

really nice post.. good blog.. thanks for sharing.. keep it up..

Bhima shankar said...

good blog. this will really affect insurance market. thanks for sharing.