Pink Floyd – Money – Live 8
The 116 banks that are receiving billions in taxpayer-provided bailout money this year actually paid out $1.6 billion in compensation and benefits to their top executives last year – even though the results at some of these institutions were so poor that they would soon have to turn to Washington for a government-engineered rescue.
The $1.6 billion was paid out to nearly 600 executives at the 116 banks that have so far accepted federal money to bolster their financial foundations, The Associated Press concluded after a review of U.S. securities filings. In addition to salary, the compensation included bonuses paid in both cash and stock. The benefits reaped by top executives included the use of company jets for personal purposes, personal chauffeurs, home-security services, country-club memberships and professional-wealth-management services, the news service said.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., a longtime critic of the fat pay packages given to U.S. executives, said the bonuses and perks tallied by The AP review amounted to a bribe paid “to get [CEOs] to do the jobs for which they are well paid in the first place.”
“Most of us sign on to do jobs and we do them best we can,” Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services committee, told the news service. But “we’re told that some of the most highly paid people in executive positions are different. They need extra money to be motivated!”
The AP review is just the latest in a series of media investigations that have questioned the effectiveness of – and banks’ commitment to – the so-called “Troubled Assets Relief Program” (TARP), part of an overall $700 billion bailout plan that was originally unveiled in late September.
The plan was originally conceived to boost the strength of U.S. financial institutions by having the federal government purchase non-performing mortgages and other bad assets. In November, the Bush administration changed TARP’s objectives, instructing the U.S. Treasury Department to pump tax dollars directly into banks in a bid to prevent wholesale economic collapse.
Ideally, TARP was supposed to jumpstart bank-to-bank and bank-to-consumer lending, helping to unfreeze a credit crisis that may be the worst the U.S. economy has experienced since the Great Depression. But that hasn’t happened. Instead, as a Money Morning investigation has shown, banks are using the money to buy other banks in a dual effort to build market share for when the economy recovers, and to perhaps make themselves “too big to fail” in the interim, many experts say.
TARP did set restrictions on some executive compensation for participating banks, but it did not limit salaries and bonuses unless they had the effect of encouraging excessive risk to the institution. Banks were barred from presenting so-called “golden parachute” financial packages to departing or ousted executives and from deducting some executive pay for tax purposes.
The AP study found that the 116 banks received $188 billion in TARP money. The study also discovered that:
- The average amount paid to each of the 116 banks’ top executives was $2.6 million in salary, bonuses and benefits.
Lloyd C. Blankfein, president and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), took home nearly $54 million in compensation in 2007. The company’s top five executives received a total of $242 million. On Oct. 28, Goldman received $10 billion in federal bailout money. On Dec. 16, Goldman reported a $2.12 billion quarterly loss, its first since it went public back in 1999. So for 2008, Goldman’s seven top-paid execs will work for their base salaries of $600,000 each, but will forgo any cash and stock bonuses, the company said. Facing increasing concern by its own shareholders on executive payments, the company described its pay plan in a written report back in the spring as being essential to retain and motivate executives “whose efforts and judgments are vital to our continued success, by setting their compensation at appropriate and competitive levels.” Goldman spokesman Ed Canaday would not elaborate beyond that written report.
Even where banks slashed pay, some executives still reaped a payday of seven – or even eight – figures. Richard D. Fairbank, the chairman of Capital One Financial Corp. (COF), which received $3.56 billion in bailout money back on Nov. 14, took a $1 million hit in compensation after his company had a disappointing year, but still got $17 million in stock options.
Merrill Lynch & Co. (MER) CEO John A. Thain topped all banking chieftains with more than $83 million in total earnings in 2007. Thain, a former chief operating officer for Goldman Sachs, took over the top job at Merrill in December 2007, avoiding the blame for a year in which Merrill lost $7.8 billion. Since he began work late in the year, he landed a $15 million signing bonus, $57,692 in salary, and an additional $68 million in stock options. Like Goldman, Merrill got $10 billion from taxpayers on Oct. 28. Merrill shareholders have approved its sale to Bank of America Corp. (BAC), though the value of the deal has plunged to $20 billion (from $50 billion at the time the deal was announced) as a result of the stock market decline. BofA will reportedly slash 35,000 jobs as a result of the combination.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) CEO James Dimon ran up a $211,182 private jet travel tab last year, because his family lived in Chicago and he was commuting to New York. JP Morgan received $25 billion in bailout funds.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp., (BK) CEO Robert P. Kelly received $66,748 for financial services – on top of his $975,000 salary and $7.5 million bonus. His car and driver cost $178,879. Kelly also received $846,000 in relocation expenses, including help selling his home in Pittsburgh and purchasing one in Manhattan, the company said. At Goldman, the bill for leased cars and drivers ran as high as $233,000 per executive. The firm told its shareholders this year that financial counseling and chauffeurs are important because it grants executives more time to focus on their jobs.
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), which received $25 billion in bailout cash, gave its top executives as much as $20,000 each for personal financial planners.When asked to justify the personal use of company aircraft for some executives, banks cite security as a key reason. But U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., questioned that rationale, saying executives visit many locations more vulnerable than the nation’s security-conscious commercial air terminals.
U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said excessive pay and perks undermines the development of good economic policies at banks and fuels an already problematic pay spiral in the U.S. financial sector. And that’s especially difficult for shareholders and taxpayers to accept when virtually the entire sector needs bailing out [Check out this related story on the growing U.S. CEO pay controversy that appears elsewhere in today’s issue of Money Morning].
Sherman told The AP that he wants the banks to appear before Congress, like the automakers did, and spell out their spending plans for the bailout money.
Said Sherman: “The tougher we are on the executives that come to Washington, the fewer will come for a bailout.”
[Editor’s Note: The ongoing financial crisis has changed the investing game forever, making uncertainty the norm and creating a whole set of new rules that will help determine who wins
and who loses. Investors who ignore this “New Reality” will struggle, and will find their financial forays to be frustrating and unrewarding. But investors who embrace this change will not only survive – they will thrive.Money Morning Investment Director Keith Fitz-Gerald has already isolated these new rules and has unlocked the key to what he refers to as “The Golden Age of Wealth Creation.” But Fitz-Gerald brings more than a realization – and an understanding – to the table, here. After a decade of work, he’s also developed a new computerized trading model based on a mathematical concept known as “fractals.” This system allows him to predict price movements of broad indexes, or individual stocks, with a high degree of certainty. And it’s particularly well suited to the kind of market we’re all facing right now. Check out our latest report on these new rules, and this new market environment.]
Watch the video related to money
Pink Floyd playing Money at Live 8 Still more to come
Help answer the question about money
How is money released in the market? How, on what basis and how much money is released?
Government makes money (literally). But then there must be something productive done for a society to prosper so people serve each other through some service or product. However as such I or you cannot create money to pay for someone's service/product. How is money created by governent released in market, on what basis government releases money? What is role of RBI ? when government releases moeny in market is it buying something in return but then who does it buy from ? Somehow, somewhere services/products created by society are finally getting to RBI (so that it can release money) but how ? Please explain.
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By William Patalon III is an Executive Editor at Money Morning
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Uncategorized | Ilutern
OW! Well, how about taking out the trash? Mopping the floors? Doing laundry? Mowing the lawn? Edging the lawn? Pulling weeds? Washing the auto? Cleaning gutters? Power washing the porch, deck, sidewalks? Re-cycling the cans? Doing things for neighbors? Get a job! At our house, the kids take turns doing the kitchen (dishes, drying, washing, putting up) sweeping and mopping the kitchen, dining room and butlers pantry, vacuuming and mopping the hallways, cleaning the bathroom and doing the towels, cleaning their OWN ROOMS, cleaning the autos, mowing and edging the lawn, and taking things for re-cycling. They get NOTHING extra for that, that is the cost of being a family and living here. EXTRA CHORES get paid for like helping clean the basement, cleaning the porch, deck, or sidewalks, planting trees, bushes, or flowers, painting a room (not their own!) ETC. They get an allowance of a $1 a day, anything else they EARN! Is it fair? Well, we have respectful kids who don't think I will hand them EVERYTHING for NO EFFORT! And they don't EXPECT a lot from me for nothing! So get busy! There are plenty of things, up to and including getting a job that pays, like a bag person at a local grocery store, a check out clerk, making pizzas, flipping burgers, frying fries! Come on! GET BUSY! Hope this helps you! Good luck!
There is NO easy money folks. You can make money online but it takes more work than most think. Many just simply give up…
meh…here's the real truth. http://flyingpantz.blogspot.com Who can resist pants of justice? Especially ones that fly! BUT really though it's a good read. I'm not? trying to sell anything. Just my blog and some of the things I do daily. Visit the "Money Articles" section.
I would imagine you could do some sort of customer service job from home, where you would just answer phone calls. Take a look at call center work.
its a strat
waters voice may have slipped but hes still one fucking good bass player
R.I.P. richard <3
thanx man! Rip Syd and Rick!!
@wotasod That’s a PRS guitar. Not a strat.
to earn free money goto here
neobux. /?rh=686974686F6D
Tim Renwick.
money is released through banks. some money is made to replace old, torn money. other money is made for new gold mined. your money is literally a representation of how much government gold you own, that's why rising gold prices are the first sign of inflation.
Other than selling stuff (like on eBay or Amazon), most "make money online" sites are a scam, and a waste of time. I've looked into some of them, and every one is the same. This is no different than playing the lotto – you want to make money without putting forth any effort or money. You want a way to quickly and easily make a bunch of money without any effort or thought. Just stop trying – you'll save a ton of time, and possibly avoid a few dangerous scams.
Most people I know (myself included) would love to magically get a bunch of money, because most jobs suck, and we as a society are dependent on money to buy our happiness. I'm not criticizing you, because I've wanted exactly what you're looking for many times. But I've learned that it's not going to come. Other than rare occasions, money doesn't just fall into your lap, and when it does, it's not from any "get rich quick" schemes – it's pure chance and you cannot expect it or make it happen. If it does, great, but it probably won't.
If you want to make money – think of an idea that no one has thought of before, and market it, or something like that. Or take something that already exists, and find a new use for it, or think of something that would be nice if it existed, and make it a reality.
Also, don't focus so much on money – it's a complete illusion anyway. It's colored paper that is only worth what everyone says it is, and with the economy like it is, you shouldn't put too much value in it right now.
You probably don't want to be a wage-slave and work at McDonalds, or even in some cubicle for the rest of your life, even if it pays well. If you do want income (which is rather handy, admittedly), get a job that you enjoy – try something different. If you don't like it, quit and try something else. Never keep a job just because you feel like you "need the money" – don't sacrifice your happiness for colored bits of paper – life's too short for that. But don't expect free handouts or quick riches – that's not how things work. Just be happy, and trust that things will work out if you want them to. Be willing to work for what you want, and don't sacrifice your happiness to an illusion.
bkue green strat snowy white
I would say so. It hurts the U.S. economy because they send the majority of that money back to their "home" country. That limits the money that is in the flow of the economy.
By the way, it is illegal to work for a wage and NOT report it to the IRS. It is considered tax evasion and in case you think it isn't a big deal, it is the ONLY thing that put Al Capone in jail. So in my eyes it is serious enough.
HyphyG123, I don’t know what are you talking about.I can’t any PRS that’s a great and perfect stratocaster
1. I say clip coupons all the time and buy sale items.
I once helped my family turn a $200 grocery bill into a $80 bill for scan and clipping coupons. trust me it is worth it.
2. Put all coins in a jar then cash them in.
3. Buy out off season clothes for cheap at places like plato's closet
4. research sales online
5.research the lowest gas prices in your area (www.gasbuddy.com)
6. have a set amount you put away if you have a job like 15%
7. set financial goals
8. rent movies from the library
______________________________________
SHOPPING RULES
1. never carry credit cards
2. make a list
3. don't carry all your money with you
4. look at different store prices
have a bake sale during sunday morning church services for a couple weeks!!! have all the girls bake something sweet (as a donation to the bake sale) then all of the money you get will strictly be profit spent on redecorating
Well I would try first going to someone that would like to play your work, maybe a University Orchestra or something like that. Or you could maybe ask around and see if any Orchestras are interested in playing a student piece.
I'm sure that one of these two things will work. If not then maybe try recording some of these things yourself. You can show friends and other people you know and who knows maybe you can get some money out of it!
Good Luck!
-Reznor