| Buffet Denies Interest in Countrywide
Shares in Countrywide Financial Corp. fell to a 4-year low Friday after billionaire investor Warren Buffett said he never came close to buying shares in the Calabasas-based lender. Reports surfaced in August that the chairman of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc. might buy a stake in the struggling lender. The reports said that Buffett had been increasing his stake in financial services companies with significant exposure to the mortgage market at the time. He was quoted on CNBC saying the worsening credit and housing markets may present some real investment opportunities. Buffett said in an interview late Thursday on Fox Business Network that he never bought any Countrywide stock, and that the company lacked a comprehensive recovery plan that might have attracted him. This news comes after Securities and Exchange Commission said it opened an informal inquiry into stock sales by Countrywide Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo after North Carolinas State Treasurer raised concerns about the timing and frequency of Mozilos trades.
Hard work and discipline? It's a sucker's game
Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what your country can do for you.
In fact, ask not even what you can do just for yourself. Ask your country to do it for you.
Sure, that's not what JFK said. It's the opposite of what JFK said, and supposedly he was one of the greatest presidents in history, especially since he came from Massachusetts.
But the times, they are a-changin'. JFK wouldn't have said that today - at least we don't think he would have - and that is all that matters.
It's not like his speech is the Constitution or anything, and we're doing a major overhaul of that because it's, you know, a "living" document. Even JFK's younger brother doesn't believe such heartless rubbish, and he's the distinguished senior senator from Massachusetts.
CBS’s Smith ‘Admired’ Kucinich ‘Since He was Mayor of ...
But it all came crashing quickly down when Mr. Kucinich presided over the city's plunge into default in 1978. The collapse attracted international ridicule and, except for a brief sojourn on the City Council in the early 80's, left the obstreperous boy wonder in political exile for 15 years...[he] was elected mayor in 1977 and governed the city with a tight circle of friends. But Cleveland's finances, already troubled, spiraled out of control. The climactic moment came in December 1978, when the city was unable to meet $14.5 million in bond obligations. Despite pressure from the business community, Mayor Kucinich refused to sell the municipal electric system to cover the debt. Cleveland went bust, as did his career. .
Darling defends actions over Rock
Chancellor Alistair Darling has defended his handling of the Northern Rock crisis, after a critical Treasury select committee report from MPs. Writing in the News of the World, Mr Darling insisted he had done the "right thing" to protect savers' investments. He also promised to set out plans to strengthen the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA). But shadow chancellor George Osborne told the BBC the affair had damaged the UK's reputation as a financial centre. Speaking on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show he said the Rock's troubles had hit the UK's name as a "good place to do business". 'Quite exceptional' The Newcastle-based lender got itself into financial difficulties amid the global credit crunch caused by the sub-prime lending crisis in the US.
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