By Jo Nova
SVB or Silicon Valley Bank is the US’s 17th biggest bank, or it was until last week when it became the US’s second biggest bank failure instead.
Interest rate rises are supposed to squeeze out the dumbest investments, so it is fitting that one of the first casualties of this boom-bust cycle is a green banker, mostly doomed by loaning half their cash to the same bankrupt Big-Government that created the green improbable fantasy industries which SVB was largely serving.
SVB was a “Green” Banker. We know this, not because newspapers are saying that now, but because of the emergency flares released on behalf of the victims. The New York Times tells us that the collapse of SVB is going to hit green tech hard because SVB clients included 1,550 companies dedicated to “fighting climate change”.
If only SVB had served coal miners or gas frackers instead they might still be in business? The deposits they needed would have kept on coming as the profits flowed in.
David Gelles, New York Times, naturally, misses the whole point:
Silicon Valley Bank Collapse Threatens Climate Start-Ups
In reality, climate start-ups threaten the bank, and climate finish-ups threaten the country.
The bank had relationships with more than 1,500 companies working on technologies aimed at curbing global warming.
The bank, the largest to fail since 2008, worked with more than 1,550 technology firms that are creating solar, hydrogen and battery storage projects. According to its website, the bank issued them billions in loans.
Groupthink strikes again. The majority of the solar or climate market just banked with the herd:
“Silicon Valley Bank was in many ways a climate bank,” said Kiran Bhatraju, chief executive of Arcadia, the largest community solar manager in the country. “When you have the majority of the market banking through one institution, there’s going to be a lot of collateral damage.”
It was a Ponzi scheme
During the pandemic, fluffy money, made from nothing by Big Government to “save the economy” was put into stupid businesses to “save the planet”. The businesses put their cash into Silicon Valley Bank, which got so much cash, it couldn’t do anything with half of it — except give it back to Big-Government in the form of a loan called a Treasury Bond — thus completing one full Cycle of Stupid. Money printed from nothing, achieved nothing, and went back home. On the way a whole lot of people got paid to pretend to change the weather. But money printing causes inflation, and in inflationary times interest rates have to rise. So it follows that when easy money flows into your wallet, easy solutions, like fixed loans with low interest are the stupidest possible solution.
SVB was promising to guard Green-tech money, but it was locking it away in long term loans, and essentially relying on a regular flow of deposits coming to keep earlier depositors happy:
Silicon Valley Bank Collapse Is A Blow To Clean Energy Tech
by Mark Le Dain, Forbes
…this will be a massive blow to the cleantech ecosystem.
After COVID the assets of SVB rapidly grew. New spending dynamics meant money was flowing into tech vs the traditional economy, and those companies were also able to raise funds as well. This money had to be parked somewhere and a lot of it ended up at SVB. It’s rare for a bank to have a concentrated deposit base grow so quickly but, in any regard, they needed to invest it. To invest the deposits the bank targeted long-dated treasuries, with slightly higher interest rates but less liquidity. Even if this was a bad decision banks usually find a way out of it because deposits keep coming, allowing the bank to layer on other types of investments. Many banks will also typically hedge their interest rate exposure. There doesn’t appear to have been hedging though and deposit growth slowed as interest rates rose. The companies were no longer raising funds and instead using their existing funds to run the business. These dynamics meant deposits were now declining at the same time the investments, these long-dated treasuries, were losing value. As the bank announced it had to sell some of these instruments at a loss, and raise capital, people were worried and it resulted in an old-fashioned bank run.
There is no free lunch. By definition, if someone is making windmills to change the weather, and people are still throwing money at them, then money is “easy” and inflation is coming.
Ultimately, because the government was already broke, and money printing causes inflation, it meant interest rates would have to rise… As sure as night follows day and birds fry midair at Ivanpah.
Government committee to stop bank collapses, didn’t see this coming…
The USA has a committee to stop this sort of thing, but even they were more worried about climate risks than national ponzi schemes:
Silicon Valley Bank had more red flags than a CCP meeting but regulators cared about climate not bank risks
SVB’s collapse on March 10 begs the question where were the regulators?
By Liz Peek, Fox Business
Authorities should have been on high alert. They were not. Consider the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the body created in 2010 after the financial crisis, which was meant to avert just this sort of collapse. The council is chaired today by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and includes 9 other voting members including Fed Chair Jay Powell, the heads of the FDIC and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB), Gary Gensler, head of the SEC.
The council’s website defines its task as “identifying risks to the financial stability of the United States…”
The council last met on February 10 via videoconference. The readout of that meeting shows the group previewed its 2023 priorities, which included “climate-related financial risks, nonbank financial intermediation, Treasury market resilience, and risks related to digital assets.”
Devotion to climate change is a pathological social disorder. Whole civilizations get swept away…
This cycle of Government ‘printing’ money and lending it at very low interest rates (negative in the EU) then selling Bonds to get it back exists far more widely than just the Green economy.
And with the resulting inflation from ‘printing money’ interest rates MUST rise, causing the value of Bonds to drop. Quite a few banks may be in danger of collapse. Quick ‘print more money’.
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Inflation is “Watering down the Whisky”.
Done sensibly, it allows the FIRE sector to earn a living.
Greed and Delusion take over and the Derivatives and “To Big To Fail” manifest.
Imagine gambling successfully so you Break the Casino- How do you get Paid?- With Derivatives-
an insurance (A simple example is Mortgage insurance).
The modern financial system is run by minions without paying respect to
the natural limits of profit. The Derivatives give them a seat belt and
and air bag in event of a crash and thus they drive recklessly.
The Cycle of interest rates, and the business cycle represent a gaming of the system.
When banks fail, the assets of the depositors are lost. Simultaneously there is
little credit available. So desperate customers sell assets at cents in the dollar.
Observe who is buying these distressed assets and you have the answer to who is
gaming the system.
Every Bank has a finite life span. If there was a TikTok “Fad” to be shown holding your
life savings in cash in front of XYZ bank, there is little the Bank can do about it.
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Smart people running a bank would have seen this coming and would have implemented a diversified investment portfolio. The prioritisation of equity and inclusion above financial governance is the real issue. Dumb people get elected to the executive team and they make dumb decisions. The problem today is that all large companies, institutions and government are infected with the same disease. In the current US government regime, we see trillions of printed dollars allocated to money losing causes in the name of equity and then more trillions being printed to cover the losses. I’m betting that SVB is not the only bank exposed to falling bond yields and the government is now planning to print even more money to fund it’s crazy climate and equity bill, which will push up inflation even further and cause an even bigger collapse of the system. The end is nigh and it won’t be good.
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Serge Wright:
It wasn’t falling bond yields it was falling Bond prices, provoked by inflation.
Invest in Bonds issued at 2% (above Govt. bonds at 0.25%) yield OK, but when interest rates are raised then the value of the bond drops.
Thus a Billion at 2% rapidly becomes about 350 million when the going rate is 6%.
Then there was also the problem that rising interest rates reduce economic activity, less house sales, less spending, so less income for those companies you’ve lent money to (in return for their bonds). The same applies to Government Bonds which drop in value as interest rates go up (and recover when interest rates drop). If you still hold them when rates jump then your asset dropped in value. That was the problem with these banks but only those watching closely saw the problem and drew their money out of SVB. They then had to dump some of their bonds at a big loss, which caused a run on the bank and they didn’t have the cash to pay out depositors.
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Interesting after-the-fact analysis. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing indeed.
Meanwhile. Isn’t every financial institution IN AUSTRALIA in a similar position to SVP etc regarding the “book vs actual” value of their investments in govt and corporate “paper”? AND with their general loan books which are heavily oriented toward residential and commercial property?
Could any Oz outfit survive a run on withdrawals?
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It probably didn’t help that their risk manager was obsessed with LGBTXYZ diversity issues and not financial issues and was probably itself a diversity hire (I don’t know its pronouns).
GET WOKE GO BROKE
SEE LINK FOR REST
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GET WOKE GO BROKE!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11848705/Woke-head-risk-assessment-Silicon-Valley-Bank-accused-prioritizing-diversity-issues.html
SVB had NO head of ‘risk assessment’ for nine months before it collapsed… as woke boss for Europe, Middle East and Africa was busy organizing a month-long Pride campaign and a ‘Lesbian Visibility Day’
By Helena Kelly For Dailymail.Com
21:28 11 Mar 2023, updated 18:55 13 Mar 2023
SEE LINK FOR REST
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There is an amusing irony here in that the woke execs were solely focused with woke social diversity and paid no attention to investment diversity.
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The idea that these banks are worried about a CC EMERGENCY is just a sick joke and just like any other PONZI scheme they must eventually collapse.
AGAIN there’s ZERO climate emergency or crisis or clueless Biden’s EXISTENTIAL THREAT.
Just look up the UN data from the Wiki graph or OWI Data sites etc and also understand that there’s ZERO mitigation, because of China and the rest of the non OECD countries’ SOARING co2 emissions since Dr Hansen’s BS speech in Washington DC in 1988.
That’s if you BELIEVE their stupid DISASTER narrative because the data since 1988 proves that Human thriving or flourishing has improved using DATA like life expectancy and wealth etc.
Even poor Africa has thrived since 1950, or 1970 or 1990. Just look up the UN data I’ve linked to for at least 2 years.
Of course Africa’s population has today soared to 1400 million and life exp now 64 years since 1950- 227 million and life exp then just 36 ( THINK) years and 1970- 365 million and life exp then 46 years. THINK about that data and start to WAKE UP.
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“Sorry, No Empathy, No Bailouts And YES I MEAN IT”
“Oh but so many climate-related firms are going to fail to make payroll! – Any one of a thousand Internet scolds.
My answer: So what?
Next up – Republic, which apparently had lines out the door (if you believe the Internet) on Saturday. Again: So what?
Folks, bubbles attract stupidity. Stupidity is a constant in the universe; in fact it is likely the only thing that is truly infinite (with all due respect to the late Mr. Einstein.)”
More at
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=248301
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Simply said: Good money should not be wasted on bad money. Let the stupid green bank of Silicon Valley die its natural death and let uncontaminated free enterprise do its thing.
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>”No Bailouts”
In 2008 it was “too big to fail” so “privatize the profits, socialize the losses”
Ok, no bailout for Bear Stearns and Lehman brothers but I don’t think we’ll see a departure from 2008 in 2023.
‘Too Big to Fail Banks: Where Are They Now?’
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The financial crisis started with Bear Stearns and Lehman brothers. The U.S. government did not bailout Lehman and the institution filed for bankruptcy and eventually closed. Bear Stearns was picked up by JP Morgan and no longer exists.
As the financial crisis got worse, the U.S. government approved a $700 billion program to bailout institutions that were considered “too big to fail.” Some analysts put the real number at $12.8 trillion.
AIG, which received the biggest bailout in history at $180 billion continues to operate today, though is a shell of its former self that is struggling in today’s marketplace.
Other large banks that received some sort of government benefit are continuing to do well, including JP Morgan, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs.
https://www.investopedia.com/insights/too-big-fail-banks-where-are-they-now/
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Besides……
Silicon Valley Bank Provided Massive Amounts of Capital to Chinese Tech Ventures – Now Biden FDIC and Federal Reverse Are Bailing It Out – Clearly Biden Is Working for China
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/outrageous-silicon-valley-bank-provided-massive-amounts-of-capital-to-chinese-tech-ventures-biden-fdic-and-federal-reverse-are-bailing-it-out-clearly-biden-is-working-for-china/
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Wise investors should be weary of any financial institution or other corporation that emphasises green credentials and wokeness over astute and wise management policies.
Unfortunately, just about all of them seem to feel they are obliged to participate in the wokeness.
GET WOKE, GO BROKE!
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A banker’s responsibility is towards his shareholders and clients and not to politicians and Greta Thunberg. Now look what happened.
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That was the case once upon a time. Not any more. Every public shareholder/ annual general meeting now conducted by any of the major banks in Australia is besieged by climate change activist shareholders. The most recent by Westpac was almost riotous. The board took a few questions about the fossil fuel industry investment strategy of the bank and then refused to take any more. Then, all hell broke loose. So, good on the board in this case, but behind the scenes they would appear to be complying with ESG dictates. We even have Bank Australia (small) who boldly advertise they dont invest in fossil fuel industry. The opening blurb on their website -“Did you know that your choice of bank can have a huge impact on people and the planet?”
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The Green Left are noisy and verbally and/or physically violent, but how many of them are there really? Unfortunately, rational thinkers let them dominate as they are afraid to stand up to these bullies.
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*wary.
Although I concede we’ve all become weary of the incessantly trumpeted emphasis on green and wokeness over astute and wise management policies.
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Oops.
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Does anyone remember Al Gore’s Chicago Carbon Credit Exchange? It flopped. Go woke go broke is the best advice one can give to his best friends who intend to invest in stupid.
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A related issue is the carbon offset scam.
This video is from the point of view that CO2 is a problem (what they call “carbon” (sic)) but it does talk about how “carbon (sic)” offsets are a scam.
But we already knew that.
https://youtu.be/AW3gaelBypY
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From Wikipedia about Chicago Climate Exchange:
Final trading position
The effective final CFI position was reached in November 2010 when the carbon credit price per metric ton of CO2 was between 5 and 10 US cents, down from its highest value of 750 US cents in May 2008. Trading reached zero monthly volume in February 2010 and remained at zero for the next nine months when the decision to close the exchange was announced.
(DM- I think CFI may mean “cash flow from investing” but does someone know for sure? It is not defined in article.)
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The Left are ALWAYS irresponsible with “other people’s money”, whether they be in Government or corporations.
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As the old saying goes “A fool and his money are soon parted”.
Silly Conned Bank – need anyone say any more?
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Can I just add to that brilliant tort of your’s?
Silly-Conned Vale Bank!
Farewell, wokesters!
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Oh how they never learn. One definition of Madness is: doing the same thing over and over again, each time expecting different results.
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When Big Green Government does it, it’s called Modern Monetary Theory. When big green private banks do it, it’s a Ponzi.
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A banker’s responsibility is towards his shareholders and clients and not to politicians and Greta Thunberg. Now look what happened.
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Bit like doctors, patients and COVID-19. Ethics only matter when they don’t get in the way of governments, bureaucrats and politicians with no relevant qualifications believing they have ‘brilliant’ ideas and the answers to everything. The short termism of their professional existence means History just keeps repeating itself.
It gets worse when people keep re-electing politicians whose total drive is simply to jump on the latest craze and go with it, never even bothering to educate themselves on the topic, finding where they may be wrong. That’s the danger with a group like the teals.It’s damning that people with a big list of qualifications after their name can show no interest in learning about a topic like the climate before they thrust the nation under the economic bus. They don’t even see the bus coming.
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The way we reacted to Covid created more problems than the disease itself.
Likewise our reactions to weather events.
Perhaps woke companies need to suffer before reality bites.
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No Covid was the solution to the problem for the Bankers & Elites. Your retirement funds and the wealth of future generations has been transferred to private equity firms.
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Not a believer in karma but can’t rule it out here:
‘Trump Curse? Signature Bank Fails Two Years After Bank Closed President Trump’s Accounts Over January 6 Riot’
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/trump-curse-signature-bank-fails-two-years-after-bank-closed-president-trumps-accounts-over-january-6-riot/
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It is a symptom of Trump Derangement Syndrome which is related to an inability to think and process information in a rational manner. It’s no surprise they went broke.
Get woke, go broke!
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Can apply that to Twitter, and possibly the other social media outfits as time goes by and the truth of censorship comes out. If the USA hits the wall and people become poverty stricken due to their election choices, they generally turn on the malfeasance arising from those choices. ‘We didn’t know!’
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“Try Not To Cringe As You Watch This”: Woke Signature Bank Videos Go Viral After Fed Shut Down
“This is a circus not a bank”
https://summit.news/2023/03/14/try-not-to-cringe-as-you-watch-this-woke-signature-bank-videos-go-viral-after-fed-shut-down/
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I bet few, if any, Elites lost money in this bank.
Being the Leftist hypocrites they are, they probably had the billions of dollars they have harvested from Green scams invested in responsible, non-woke institutions.
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AGAIN here’s the most solid PROOF you need to prove they’re selling you a PONZI scheme.
If the tiny King Island RUINABLEs scheme doesn’t work without the DIESEL generator than how could we run a country of millions of people or for many BILLIONs of people throughout the world?
It’s a SIMPLE question and the ANSWER is very SIMPLE…… it’s a PONZI SCHEME and TOXIC RUINABLEs like W & S will eventually leave our countries flat stony BROKE.
Do we really want that for our future? THINK and then ask why do we want to handicap our Army, Air Force and Navy?
https://www.hydro.com.au/clean-energy/hybrid-energy-solutions/success-stories/king-island
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Flinders Island runs a similar Ponzi scheme.
https://www.hydro.com.au/clean-energy/hybrid-energy-solutions/success-stories/flinders-island
For overseas readers, these two islands are in Bass Strait, between The People’s Republik of Vicdanistan and Van Diemen’s Land.
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77% diesel moments ago and a flat battery.
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The diesel generator needs to be removed from the setup (sabotage will do) to demonstrate that the scheme does not work.
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The only people guaranteed to make money from Big Green are billionaire subsidy harvesters who rely on wealth transfer from poor and middle classes via electricity bills and other products they purchase that are more expensive than they used to be due to Big Green policies.
Even corporations such as banks shouldn’t invest in Big Green as this example shows.
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Silicon Valley Bank Job Posting Appears: ‘Be Part of a Bank Like No Other’
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2023/03/13/silicon-valley-bank-job-posting-appears-monday-be-part-of-a-bank-like-no-other/
“Silicon Valley Bank prides itself in having both a diverse client roster and an equally diverse and inclusive organization.”
“Our clients include: Beyond Meat …..”
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GET WOKE GO BROKE!
Did they get their money out in time?
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““Our clients include: Beyond Meat …..””
Maybe Bill Gates could rescue them.
Come on Bill, you know you want to put all your money into a rescue attempt.
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This is the sort of article that would never appear in the MSM. The story around SVB started last week with a small trickle of news items or reported via various people on social media. But mostly those reports were really conservative in their description, almost double-speak as well. The main gist of news articles seemed to be that the SVB collapse would have repercussions on bank confidence. If you were in Australia (or any other foreign country) it had little relevance. Again, with MSM they would never totally summarise the whole position in one article only. If the story has legs, then they try to get the most out of it. Try to get as many eyeballs, likes and retweets as possible. I only needed to read the heading and the 1st paragraph, to achieve the ” now I understand ” moment. Well done to Jo.
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Remember when Lehman Bros investment bank went broke 15 years ago?
How it was no big deal? How it wouldn’t affect other banks?
History repeating itself?
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The last time I saw someone work out the real price of gold, using tons per dollars in the world, it was about $50,000/oz. More now with a few years of money printing, but the world would be a different place with a gold standard. No money printing unless you wanted instant inflation, no low interest rates, severely restrained Govt spending, and real deflation as increased productivity lowered the price of goods.
I imagine the global warming BS wouldn’t have got off the ground! Too bad we went down the Easter Island path.. Thanks America..
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The Sheeple don’t seem to understand that inflation is a hidden form of taxation.
Prof. Milton Friedman said:
“Inflation is the one form of taxation that can be imposed without legislation.”
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I couldn’t recommend it as a way to make a living, but after we did things very tough under and after Whitlam, the ensuing inflation shrank our debt.
10
Can we Build Back Better yet?
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Not yet.
Don’t get impatient.
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Impatient? Two years ago Jabcinda read-out a letter ‘from a dear 9-year-old girl’ who asked her to “please Build Back Better”. She resigned as P.M. on the 7th of Feb. Has anyone seen her lately, in San Diego? New York? Brussels? Geneva? I know she’s not a carpenter, though her replacement is called Chippy (and a soggy one at that).
21
Truly,
the world is progressing into incomprehensible Lunacy and in hindsight we can see the incrementalism on which it stands.
For the last fifty years governments have bought votes by slowly hooking people on free stuff and destroying the work ethic on which Australia was built.
When everything we saved was given away they had no option but to sell off the country, our water, our harbours to keep “giving”.
When everything was sold they simply “borrowed” more and covered the debt with mortgages on our nation.
A nation with No Jobs, just Jobbykeeper handouts.
Jo’s last sentence wraps it up.
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On CNN News, chairman of O’Leary Ventures and host on “Shark Tank” Kevin O’Leary describes what led to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and how it will affect customers and investors.
https://youtu.be/0ns9d9b5V8Q
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The ABC has a story on this.
” Despite that, there are fears that the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank could still have ripple effects across the globe.
It also comes amid the collapse of two other banks: Silvergate Capital, a central lender to the crypto industry, which said last week that it would be winding down operations and liquidating its bank.
And Signature Bank, which also had a strong crypto focus but was much larger than Silvergate, was seized on Monday morning (Australia time) by banking regulators. ”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-14/silicon-valley-bank-collapse-us-recession-ripple-effects-world/102089926
Cheers
Dave B
Cooyal
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Leo and David: AS those “ripple effects” spread out, it’s so reassuring to have a sharp guy like Joe Biden at the helm in a crisis. He’ll pull out of this banking crisis with the same ruthless competence that marked withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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I wonder where real-life former child ventriloquist puppet Greta Thunberg invests her US$1 million?
I bet it’s not in any Green firm.
https://finty.com/us/net-worth/greta-thunberg/
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One of the key effects of raising interest rates is to cull the weak from the economic herd, to kill off dumb or under performing investments. Like going on a diet, it should trim off the lazy fat leaving productive muscle behind. In essence, it ‘cleans up’ the economy. This is why so many pundits argue against raining rates; they are doubtless invested in those shoddy vehicles that survive only on free money.
So any large-scale bailouts beyond insuring ‘small’ (up to $250K) accounts, as it being loudly demanded, would render interest rate rises obsolete as a means to control inflation. The big end of town, who have enjoyed most of the benefits of all that helicopter money, would be given a Get Out Of Jail Free card and a dangerous, even destructive, precedent would be set and the corrupt behaviour that brought about the 2008 debacle would be reinforced.
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No worries, bailing out the small depositors was a good move, they have learnt something from the GFC debacle.
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As Leo G points out above, Biden has just removed that cap.
https://joannenova.com.au/2023/03/silicon-valley-bank-was-a-big-green-government-ponzi-scheme/#comment-2640717
Cheers
Dave B
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Still, no systematic risk to the rest of the world.
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I hope your optimism isn’t misplaced.
00
Ahh, the consequences of magical thinking.
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AGAIN the global TOXIC W & S FRAUDs capacity factors are very low.
But Aussies best claims are about 28% for Solar, see average of 3 best farms for 2021, but globally about 15% is the Solar average. IOW a DISASTER.
But Wind farms may be 45 to 50 %, but a long way short of 80 to 100%, so just another TOXIC ABOVE and BELOW ground DISASTER.
And very EASY to PROVE TOXIC W & S are a FRAUDULENT PONZI scheme. Just look at tiny King Island that supposedly has some of the best sites for Wind energy in the world. On King island wind is also a TOXIC DISASTER.
So AGAIN why do they want to imperil our Armed forces and force our country into POVERTY? In fact the answer is very obvious and apparently very few of us care?
https://reneweconomy.com.au/australias-best-performing-wind-and-solar-farms-in-2021-and-the-leading-states/
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I wonder if those high (by unreliables standards) capacity factors for wind are true? Are these figures audited? I never assume anything the Left claim is true, it is generally the opposite of the truth. So, I wonder what the scam is if they overstate the capacity factors?
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Well they also conveniently ignore the effective working life of wind turbines (and solar panels) being approximately 20 years and the costs for removal, foundation repairs, disposal and buying new equipment and installing as compared to the written off asset accounting life of a coal fired power station being 50 years and if well maintained 60-70 years, cost accounted, cost-benefit analysis.
Renewables are not cheaper when fully accounted and including transmission line from “farm” to grid and now a second interconnected grid for so called renewables efficiency and profitability.
Then consider direct subsidy incentive and penalising coal fired power station costs.
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As well as all the stuff that was unnecessary before, like huge expensive batteries that can operate for a few minutes (before the lights go out).
And frequency synchronization equipment to fix a problem created by “modern” intermittent power sources connected to the grid. Those giant flywheels in traditional power stations were good at keeping the frequency stable.
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David writes this:
…..I wonder if those high (by unreliables standards) capacity factors for wind are true? Are these figures audited? I never assume anything the Left claim is true, it is generally the opposite of the truth. So, I wonder what the scam is if they overstate the capacity factors?…..
The actual Capacity Factors (CF) for wind are both stuck at 30%, and realistically, that won’t change because now they have 10,277MW of Nameplate, and each new Industrial Wind Plant that comes on line only has a small nameplate, so adding that on to that existing total will not change it much at all, even if it does have a 40% CF. (Yeah! Right! As if!) And again, that’s a basic maths principle as well. Even so, as those newer, better technology plants are coming on line, then, with their supposed 45% to 50% CF, (Yeah! Right!) then that should be raising the CF, (ever so marginally) but what is happening is as those newer, better tech plants ARE coming on line, then the shorter term CF over the most recent 52 weeks one year is actually LOWER than the longer term 252 weeks. (now four and a half years) That’s why you’ll see some (spurious is my guess) cherry picking of an individual plant here and there saying it has a CF of a percentage it CANNOT sustain over the long term.
I’m not sure there is a scam involved in all of this, just that NOBODY (and let me emphasise that word ….. NOBODY) is even bothering to check those CF figures at all, just mindlessly assuming they are what is being quoted.
When I mentioned it some Months back at one of those RenewEconomy articles, the response was ….. “nice work mate, we never knew” (/sarc) Naah! The ACTUAL response was that I should pull my head in and stop watching SKY TV. The intent of that was that if that person had no idea either of the figure itself or even how to calculate it in the first place, then if he didn’t know ….. then no one did!
Oh, with wind CF at 30.21% and 29.95%, the CF for those industrial solar plants is, umm, just 14.7%, and the approximate CF for rooftop solar power is a tick under 10% across thew whole of the AEMO. You see, with the accurate data (yeah right!) for rooftop solar power delivered shown by the AEMO, then quoting that humungous total Nameplate for rooftop solar power is in fact a two edged sword, the higher the Nameplate they guess at, then the (much) lower the CF.
And therein lies the source for this whole thing.
That ACTUAL data for all those sources IS being accurately published, so anybody who knows how to CAN actually work it out and report the TRUTH of the matter.
Tony.
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“ I never assume anything the Left claim is true,…”
Indeed. And if it is true, then it’s just the foundation of some much bigger lie.
All lies must contain a kernel of truth, but they keep getting harder and harder to find.
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There is no greater lie than half the truth when used for the purpose of deception.
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Wind farms CF’s are not 40-50%, Neville. The Australian average for on-shore is 27-30%. Maybe for off-shore the CF goes up to high 30’s only.
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There will be no “bail-outs” of Australian banks, and no insurance payouts on deposits, for the simple reason that Australian savings banks no longer have “deposits” or “depositors”.
A change in banking regulations in 2018 changed savings bank “deposits” into “investments”, and “depositors” into “unsecured creditors”. If needs be your bank can “bail in” some or all of your “investment” to cover any shortage in available funds.
As always, done with the full support of the Liberal, Labor, and National party politicians.
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Had a vague idea of this, but it’s very useful to get that hard detail.
Frightening that they have gone to the trouble to legislate that.
They’re ALL selling us down the drain.
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I’m surprised so few people are aware of it.
Back in late 2021 or early 2022 Senator Malcolm Roberts very publicly campaigned for the Senate to introduce and vote on a bill to clarify the position of savings bank “depositors”. Liberal, Labor and National party senators used their combined numbers to quash the request before it even got debated.
Surprisingly, the matter got a fair amount of media coverage at the time.
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Where does Money come from Daddy?
Well Son, picture yourself grown up, with a Job and $200 000 savings.
You want to buy a house worth $1 000 000. So you go to the Bank and
ask the Manager for a Mortgage.
The Bank manager looks you up and down and checks that you have
$200 000 deposit available to buy the house.
The Manager smiles, and taps his keyboard. The laser printer shoots
out a mortgage agreement. You happily sign this agreement and skip off
to the Settlement agent to “Buy” your house.
Now lets take a breather and consider the following:-
1. Before a single repayment on the mortgage is paid (or even a dollar of interest) how much money has the Bank “Made” from this transaction?
2. Where did the $800 000 provided by the bank come from?
【Answers below in a reply Please.】
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A good summation of how woke corporations evolve.
https://open.substack.com/pub/boriquagato/p/the-glorification-of-sub-mediocrity?r=zaa86&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
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What happened when a bank replaced 𝓓𝓔𝓘 (G-d) with 🤡🎀🌈 𝒟𝐸𝐼 🎀🌈🤡
40
Note how Joanne linked back to the Concentrating Solar Plant article back in 2017 when the Port Augusta plant was first planned.
2023 now, and six years later, and now look at how much power that plant has delivered ….. oh! ….. wait a minute.
Tony.
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Apparently, they still intend to build it.
https://arena.gov.au/projects/vast-solar-port-augusta-concentrated-solar-thermal-power-project/
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Just wait until this time next month!
Via Martin A:
The failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is by no means really different from the crisis of 2008 and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Sunday that the federal government WILL NOT bail out the bank. She merely claimed that she will work to “aid” depositors who are worried about their money offering nothing specific whatsoever. She laid this out in her Sunday interview with CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” Yellen did not provide ANY concrete details about what the Treasury or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) might even do to protect depositors’ cash. SVB should simply claim it now identifies as a Ukrainian bank and money will pour from heaven out of nowhere. But as Americans, forget it. We are just the economic scum, the great unwashed, to be exploited and lied to – never to, not to actually protect.
SVB, which mainly served technology companies and tech investors, is the nation’s 16th-largest bank and was the second-biggest bank failure in American history following the collapse of Washington Mutual in 2008, which at the time, was a catalyst for the subsequent economic downturn. The rumor is that 85% of SVBs accounts will NOT be insured. This is why Yellen appeared to be noncommittal. SVB will be their first bail-in!
Via Allnews:
While Susan Duclos had warned on Sunday that ‘Black Monday’ could be a wipeout for countless people across the planet as the Silicon Valley Bank collapse worked its way into being the 2nd biggest banking collapse in US history, we’ve got to take another look at that still breaking story from different angles, with both that story over at Coin Telegraph which reporting on how the Silicon Valley Bank failure is urging regulators to step in due to claims that nearly 40,000 of all depositors at Silicon Valley Bank are small businesses and how these bank runs are being used to lead to the ‘new world order’ and ‘great reset.’
With that Coin Telegraph story warning that Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) decisions concerning the future of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) may affect regional banks across the United States, putting trillions of dollars at risk of a bank run, keep in mind that YOUR MONEY and the ‘American taxpayer dollar’ will be used by the govt when they ‘move’ to ‘stop’ this financial crisis, proving the overall point of Susan’s March 12th story, once you deposit that money in the bank, it’s no longer yours.
As the former Bridgewater executive and the CEO of investment firm Unlimited Bob Elliot expressed in a twitter thread on March 11th as was reported in this Coin Unlimited story, nearly a third of deposits in the United States are held in small banks, and a whopping 50% are uninsured.
“The FDIC insures small deposits in all the banks in the US, but that only covers about 9tln of the nearly 17tln of outstanding deposit base. […] Under the hood the coverage rate is roughly 50% across most institutions while credit unions are higher (not above).“
Though as Wolf Street had reported in this new story on their website, it looks like ALL of Silicon Valley Bank’s uninsured depositors will be bailed out, along with those from Crypto Signature Bank, as well as shut down, with senior executives being fired and all shareholders and some bondholders bailed in.
As numerous ANP readers have pointed out in comment sections of other ANP stories, including Betty who had pointed out Gold had currently been at $1901 while Terry Jones pointed out “I think people are waiting for them to lose control. I think it is all tied to the dollar, once that crashes I think it will be a lot different. People trust silver and gold because it has been REAL money since the dawn of time,” ‘Master of Reality’ had a much different viewpoint as seen in his comment highlighted below.
“Politicians secretly discuss confiscation of American citizens gold and silver at gun point in news of the complete bank collapse. We must steal the punk citizens gold, silver, land, and assets so we can live good.”
(JC2: Which of course has happened before with Roosevelt)
https://allnewspipeline.com/Bank_Runs_Lead_To_New_World_Order_And_Great_Reset.php
Stories galore of ATM withdrawals limited to a few hundred dollars (got cash?😎) and people abandoning smaller financial institutions.
Anyone know the “bail-in song”?
31
Reminds me of a massive solar electricity project in North Western Australia.
100
Uniformity Partiality Exclusion for the Win!
30
Was “this” the great reset?
50
Great article
50
Enron again
20
“O’Leary is correct, and anyone who is holding assets like stocks or bonds in U.S. banks now needs to reconsider the disappeared line between government and the bank assets. If the government can assume, control and backstop every single account balance within the bank, the government can assume and control all activity of the bank.”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/03/13/kevin-oleary-stuns-cnn-panel-telling-them-biden-just-nationalized-u-s-banking-system/
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“No losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Instead, the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the Deposit Insurance Fund.”
Who the hell does Biden think are paying those “fees”? Those fees paid into banks, and then out of banks, from all around the nation are paid by the people using the bank, that’s taxpayers. The United States government does not create a single dollar of revenue. They transfer revenue from people to processes and systems of government
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/03/13/charles-payne-hits-the-nail-on-the-head-the-biden-action-is-a-bailout-for-silicon-valley/#more-244280
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Yep, just another cost to the banks that will of course be passed on to its customers.
70
The only way the United States government creates dollars is to print them. Rather proficient at that now.
70
What about their ‘carbon-offsets’?
Will ‘the government’ plant trees?
Does money grow on trees?
50
I assume that the FDIC charges a percentage amount for the insurance premium for deposits below $US250,000, and since it did not insure deposits over $US 250,000 there would be no premium paid at all. Premiums would be paid by the banks to the FDIC. The banks in turn would adjust the interest rates it pays its depositors, with large depositors receiving higher interest rates.
If my understanding is correct, then the large depositors did not have insurance, but will be getting both higher interest rates and effectively free deposit insurance, paid from the money deposited by less wealthy depositors. Next step raise insurance premiums. Sounds like crony capitalism.
40
Perhaps someone should tell President Joe Biden that their FDIC only covers deposits in commercial (savings) bank accounts, not funds in investment (trading) bank accounts. A carry-over from the now mostly defunct Glass-Seagull Act of 1933. SVB was an investment bank. Payment of FDIC funds is not applicable.
However the same redefinition of “depositors” took place in 2018 as happened here. Commercial (savings) bank “deposits” (unsecured investments) are available for bail-in anytime the grubbymint so decrees it. The money doesn’t have to be bailed in from the bank in strife. Any banks savings (commercial) “deposits” (unsecured investments) will do.
40
There’s a new “climate tech” fund in Australia: the Elliston 2050 Fund.
Note role of the Qantas employee super fund and the government’s CEFC. Good luck, folks.
John Davidson AFR Columnist
Jul 12, 2022 – 5.10am
Australia’s fast-emerging climate tech industry has received a $100 million booster shot from Qantas employees’ superannuation fund and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, helping it remain immune to the malaise infecting the broader technology sector.
Qantas Super and the CEFC have each invested $50 million into a new venture capital fund, the Ellerston 2050 Fund, that will invest in small to mid-sized companies that develop technology designed to help Australia reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
While the fund is technically open-ended, it’s closed “for now” while its manager, Ellerston Capital, figures out the how to balance the long-term investment needs of a superannuation fund with the CEFC’s mandate to improve investment in clean energy technology with a no-compromise approach to risk, a spokesman for Ellerston Capital said.
“We’re not prepared to go off the risk curve to meet our emissions and impact principals. There can’t be any compromise on the investment focus of the fund,” he said.
A “no-compromise approach to risk”? Hmm. We’ll see.
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You get the distinct impression that there are now more “green funds” than there are wacky projects to invest in. I think that is one of the reasons Snowy Hydro II got greenlighted so quickly. There was probably a pool of money waiting to be invested and Turnbull thought it would be a good idea. This is like “Future Funds”, that other stupid idea beloved by politicians. Even Perottet (NSW premier) yesterday promised some education future fund. The only people who benefit from them are the financial types, who end up managing all the funds just sitting there doing nothing. Whereas, they could be spent NOW responsibly. There’s an episode of the TV series “Utopia” devoted to a Future Fund, would be funnier if it wasn’t so true and sad.
80
We are heading into the future with a simple solution. If the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine, what we need are thousands more windmills and millions more solar panels. You know it makes sense.
And what about Flannery’s Hot Rocks (“The technology is straightforward”). Only $93 million of the taxpayers’ money on that one.
Or Snowy II becoming profitable? And what about that $444Million for saving the Great Barrier Reef? Can the cash be returned now please?
90
“And what about Flannery’s Hot Rocks (“The technology is straightforward”). Only $93 million of the taxpayers’ money on that one.”
And not one single watt generated, bargain.
50
How do they get away with this stuff!
By ANY system of measurement, the Great Big Barrier Reef Foundation Donation Event was outside the bounds of reason.
It sits as a burning reminder that our nation’s wealth is, was and always will be a target with absolutely No protection.
What buggs me is that the Churchman who signed the Cheque, later became our nation’s Prime minister.
30
Sorry, late to the debate on SVB. Where usually I would try to dissect the development and add my own point of view
expressed clearly, this time I have only one comment.
HA HA HA.
I just hope not too many of Joe Biden’s or Mitch McConnell’s friends lost their shirts. If they did, the US public will have to bail them out.
71
None of Biden’s pals will lose a cent. The SVB was beloved by Democrats, not least because it was a ‘woke’ bank with superb ESG and positive discrimination credentials. The action taken by the US government, supposedly to prevent any ‘contagion’, will merely encourage the very behaviours and toxic decision-making that brought SVB to its knees – the same culture that killed Lehman and prompted the 2008 crash.
I expect that, among many negative outcomes, this incident will ensure that all large financial institutions align themselves dutifully with the Democrat party, hoping for the same treatment should they need it in future.
The Long Slow March continues.
70
This is absolutely correct. If you think the current corrupt regime will let any of their friends and donors lose any money you simply haven’t been paying attention. A version of this happens every 5 years or so. Profits are privatized and shared with the Democrats, losses are public and payed by the taxpayers.
60
“The bank had relationships with more than 1,500 companies working on technologies aimed at curbing global warming.”
So, 1,500 unprofitable companies not producing anything of value?
Shocking to find out that bank failed…………..
50
[…] If you wonder why everyone wanted to buy, and then they didn’t. The federal government loves green and likely approves things they shouldn’t. I was definitely suspicious of this. […]
10
The comments reflect an assumption that SVB execs “believed in” particular things – I’ve only seen the risk officer’s social media persona. The SVB execs, as humans, probably made many decisions based on houses, cars and vacation plans.
I hope the right people have learned to hire better execs. next time.
Also – 2008 was a long time ago. That round’s winners are living on dividends and “don’t spend the principle” money.
20
“Profits are privatized and shared with the Democrats”
Just with the Democrats?
20
[…] That in a nutshell is how the Silicon Valley Bank died of COVID. […]
00