Is It 1929?

Hm. When the prez of a defunct mortgage company runs to the bank and pulls out $500K, it doesn't look good, does it?

FLASH - Right on schedule, panic and the run on the banks has now commenced. No surprises for HP'ers, shock and awe for everyone else





Even I'm surprised and amazed at what a Great Unwinding and Panic looks like in real life. Theory is one thing, and damn, we nailed it there, but to see it in action is, well, quite stunning. Trillions are going to be lost over the next few months. Trillions.

Prepare for more of this run on bank stuff... And if you have more than $100,000 exposed in any FDIC account, or if your accounts aren't FDIC insured, or god forbid, if you have ANY funds with Countrywide or IndyMac (I'm short), then what are you doing reading this blog - get down to the bank and get your cash out now!

A rush to pull out cash - Worried about the stability of mortgage giant Countrywide Financial, depositors crowd branches.

Anxious customers jammed the phone lines and website of Countrywide Bank and crowded its branch offices to pull out their savings because of concerns about the financial problems of the mortgage lender that owns the bank.

At Countrywide Bank offices, in a scene rare since the U.S. savings-and-loan crisis ended in the early '90s, so many people showed up to take out some or all of their money that in some cases they had to leave their names.

In West Los Angeles, a Countrywide supervisor brought in from another office served coffee to more than 25 people waiting calmly for their turn with the one clerk who could help them.

Bill Ashmore drove his Porsche Cayenne to Countrywide's Laguna Niguel office and waited half an hour to cash out $500,000, which he then wired to an account at Bank of America.

"It's because of the fear of the bankruptcy," said Ashmore, president of Irvine's Impac Mortgage Holdings, which escaped bankruptcy itself recently by shutting down virtually all its lending and laying off hundreds of employees.

"It's got my wife totally freaked out," he said. "I just don't want to deal with it. I don't care about losing 90 days' interest, I don't care if it's FDIC-insured -- I just want it out."

Pass the popcorn and...

Stay tuned.

Best bar bet in the world: Delilah didn't do it.
Judges 16:19-- And she made him (Samson) sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head.