A Short-Lived Hoax

A group of young hackers from Syria,
Who set off a market hysteria,
Confounded the Street
With a single, fake tweet;
One may ask: were their motives ulteriah?

If their hoax has turned out to conceal
An elaborate insider deal,
They'll have done an offense
For which there's a sense
Of prosecutorial zeal.

They'd have carried it out with impunity
If they'd sunk the financial community,
As there's many a name
That's committed the same
And seems to get off with immunity.

Banking Bair

Sheila Bair, no longer at leisure,
Said: "The banks have collective amnesia,
As they're not really fit
For the capital hit
That would come with the next global seizure."

Former FDIC head Sheila Bair has come out of semi-retirement to head a new watchdog group, the Systemic Risk Council. Backed by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Council will monitor and encourage financial regulatory reform. In an interview with Kai Ryssdal of Marketplace, Ms. Bair voices concern that the major banks have forgotten the lessons of the financial crisis, and spend more time trying to water down reforms than strengthening themselves for the next crash. In a related piece, Marketplace's Heidi Moore explains that the major US banks alone require $500 billion of additional capital to withstand a major shock. In this, America is just the tip of the iceberg, as the greatest global systemic risk lies with banks in Europe and Japan.

Equestrian Tactics

Greek Finance Minister Papaconstantinou
Says: "The EU did not know what WE knew;
Our deft fiscal ploy
Is as ancient as Troy,
Or at least not in every DEGREE new."

Super Bawl

Said Hank Paulson, with trembling knees,
"Lehman's crisis blew in with the Brees
From the blue like a bolt -
Though I'm no Saint nor Colt,
'Twas un-Manning how credit might freeze."

The New American Dream

The Smiths, of 212 Willow Lane,
Thought their mortgage a terrible strain;
They defaulted and then
Moved next door to 210,
Where they rent, and are solvent a-gain.

(Thanks to Mark Whitehouse of the Wall St. Journal)

Crunch Time in Kiev

When Ukraine, with a dread that was sickening,
Awoke to find bankruptcy beckoning,
They tried to postpone
With an IMF loan
Their day of Malthusian reckoning.

The Next Crack-Up

In Greece, Europeans suspect,
May occur the next financial wreck,
And each treasury bureau
Fears the hard-boiled Euro
May become a soufflé à la grecque.

No Sure Footing on the Summit

At the annual forum in Davos,
US policymakers are nervous;
In the crisis at hand,
There's no pent-up demand
To be pressed into crash-ending service.

A Barren Economy

A chap of the financial punditry
Noticed Latvia's falling fecundity;
Seems the nation's net worth
Correlates with live births,
Wherein lie the seeds of profundity.

A Phoenix?

Post-disaster, development flashes
Where the vision, desire and cash is;
Now, what will it take
When they've cleaned up the quake,
So that Haiti can rise from the ashes?

Keyword: Bloviate

Jim Cramer, in mid-bloviation,
Once touted Bear Stearns' valuation;
That bet soon went bad,
Which made many so mad
That they threatened Jim's defenestration.

Thanks to Lora Hinson Fredericksen of Charlotte NC for today's keyword!

A Congressional Inquiry

A Wall Street CEO delegation
Faced a government investigation;
The committee averred,
"If we take your own word,
You sold faulty pre-owned transportation."

The Lost Decade

The Aughts, one can say with veracity,
Were a decade of financial laxity,
Which is what you will get
If you go into debt
Without building productive capacity.

Happy Holidays from California

In Sacramento, San Fran and L.A.,
Some state workers observed Boxing Day;
No, they weren't Anglicized
But simply realized
You can't work if the state cannot pay.

Concentrated Thinking

"It's risky," the analyst said,
"That, pre-crash, the top 20 banks had,
of all assets, three fourths;
Post-crisis, of course,
It's seventeen twentieths instead."

Answers in the Stars

A bard of the macroeconomy
Found new life in the field of astronomy
He discovered black holes
Could play useful roles
In explaining our vanishing solvency.

Too Big to Veil

"I'm afraid," said the Sheikh of Dubai,
"That our property market's run dry.
For a bailout we'll lobby
Our friend Abu Dhabi -
If we sell, the Emir has Dubai."

A Case for FEMA?

Of US homeowners, one quarter
Now reside in abodes under water.
In the last mortgage bubble
Some did not take the trouble
To review the fine print, as one oughter.