Juggling Dynamite

Forget the cost to “ordinary Americans and investors”, no one at the top cares about them. The biggest cost to letting criminals profit and continue their schemes is that they are emboldened by their free pass and illicit pursuits go viral in the banking system, making a mockery of the rule of law and guaranteeing all of us the next, even larger, financial crisis.

JPMorgan whistleblower Alayne Fleischmann speaks to CNBC about her role in the U.S. government’s case against JPMorgan over mortgage backed securities.Here is a direct video link.

In the process, no one should be surprised that fraud and lack of personal accountability are surging at all levels of society today.

“Crazy” asset prices make no sense: “the numbers just don’t work.” Really??

Landry’s Chairman Tilman Fertitta explains why he sees a crash of the U.S. real estate market coming that’s similar to the fall experienced in 1986. Here is a direct video link.

Turns out spending on others and buying ourselves experiences and services that save time are more fulfilling than buying things…couldn’t agree more.

Latest research suggests wealth alone doesn’t provide any guarantee of a good life. What matters a lot more than a big income is how people spend it. Here is a direct video link.

I also appreciated this Suze Orman segment this week on the topic of buying ourselves things–in this case a mid-life present-car. Here is a direct video clip.

Here’s Suze (with my bold added):

“People, have we learned nothing from the financial crisis? Edmunds.com announced that in October the average length of a car loan was 67 months. And that’s just the average. Nearly one in four new loans earlier this year was financed with a loan that lasted between 73 and 84 months, according to Experian Automotive.

I want to be clear: Any car loan greater than 36 months is a sign of financial irresponsibility.

I am not at all surprised that lenders pushing car loans—especially the financing arms of auto manufacturers—are offering these insanely long loan terms. They are in the business of needing to sell their product, and given that household income has not gone anywhere for years, they know the only way to move cars off the lot is to entice buyers by offering longer loan terms that magically make an unaffordable car look affordable.

And it’s not as if a car dealer is ever going to recommend you buy a less expensive car to keep the payments affordable and get the loan paid off in just three years. No one with something to sell—something they sell on commission—is ever going to look out for your best interests.”

Suze started out life as a stock broker, she knows what she’s talking about re commissioned salespeople…She also took some heat a few years back when it was revealed that she keeps the bulk of her savings in Tbills rather than risk assets. People assumed someone syndicated as a “personal finance” expert should be loaded up on stocks and mutual funds…apparently Suze has learned how to hold on to her money better than most.