Fed Govt. to release dog-and-pony show "stress test" results

Ok, lets be real here. No one ACTUALLY believes that the so called "Stress Test" is to help the banks. the only way someone would believe it is if they are completely and totally ignorant, or feed off the party line like a buffet that's closing in 5 minutes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/us/politics/04stress.html?hpw

Here's what you need to know.

1. The Stress Test is to see if the banks have "At the core of the test will be a judgment about whether each of the country’s 19 biggest banks has enough money to withstand a deep recession and, if not, how much more capital it needs to be able to lend at a healthy pace, according to regulators."

2. The regulators are the ones that determine it. (Federal regulators)

3. If they fail, "The administration is expected to make the case that the needs of the troubled banks can be met with the bailout funds that Congress has already approved."

So to re-cap. The 19 largest banks have to go through a Federal Stress Test to see if they will make it. the Federal Regulators will determine if they pass or fail. If they fail, the Federal Government will try and force them to accept bailout money and thus be under the control of the Federal Government. No, that's not a conflict of interest. Not at all.

Here's the bottom line:

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"That would be a departure from what administration officials were saying as recently as March and evidently reflects the recent improvement in banks’ conditions.

“None of these banks are insolvent,” said a senior government official, who did not want to be identified before the public release of the test results.

The official added: “These are manageable losses.”

The stress tests are one more example of the extraordinary ways that the government is intervening in the economy, to cushion the blow from the current financial crisis and recession. Having already propped up the credit markets and the automobile industry, officials are now putting the finishing touches on an exercise with no obvious precedent."

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No. The government certainly isn't making things up as it goes for its own ends and means. Not at all. And btw, the Emperors's clothes - they're lovely. Pay no attention to what that small child in the front row is saying.