My New Blog

Bear Economy Leaves No Industry Untouched.

After the burst of the real estate bubble our society strains to see a “glimmer of hope” (to steal a phrase from President Barack Obama) by finding encouragement in industries that are still thriving and maybe even excelling in these challenging economic times. But now even the once boisterous and thriving pirating industry seems to have fallen on tough times. These mighty warriors of the sea that once conducted business with no competition, authorization (except for covert government sponsorship) or even opposition have come into rather unfortunate circumstances. Once again it appears that capitalism is to blame for the destruction of yet another icon of all that is good. On the bright side it appears that congress is already drafting a bail out bill to rescue these poor guys that where blind sided by this disruptive turn of events. See article below...

Luxury yachts offer pirate hunting cruises

Luxury ocean liners in Russia are offering pirate hunting cruises aboard armed private yachts off the Somali coast.

Wealthy punters pay £3,500 per day to patrol the most dangerous waters in the world hoping to be attacked by raiders.

When attacked, they retaliate with grenade launchers, machine guns and rocket launchers, reports Austrian business paper Wirtschaftsblatt.

Passengers, who can pay an extra £5 a day for an AK-47 machine gun and £7 for 100 rounds of ammo, are also protected by a squad of ex special forces troops.

The yachts travel from Djibouti in Somalia to Mombasa in Kenya.

The ships deliberately cruise close to the coast at a speed of just five nautical miles in an attempt to attract the interest of pirates.

"They are worse than the pirates," said Russian yachtsman Vladimir Mironov. "At least the pirates have the decency to take hostages, these people are just paying to commit murder," he continued.

News source: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3374702.html?menu

By Michael J. Moore and Josh Fineman

June 17 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. and four of the nation’s largest banks repaid $54.7 billion to the U.S. Treasury’s bailout fund in a step toward ridding themselves of government restrictions on lending and pay.

JPMorgan repaid $25 billion, and New York-based Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. each gave back $10 billion. U.S. Bancorp, with its headquarters in Minneapolis, refunded $6.6 billion and Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based BB&T Corp. paid $3.1 billion, the banks said today in separate statements.

The lenders are among 10 companies that last week said they would repay a total of $68 billion to the Troubled Asset Relief Program after Treasury approved the payments. Banks have unveiled plans to raise more than $100 billion in capital, and financial stocks have climbed in the past three months on signs the global credit contraction is easing.

“Our strong capital position allowed us to pay back TARP in a very short amount of time,” BB&T Chief Executive Officer Kelly King said in the bank’s statement. “We’ve repaid the government, and now we have a singular focus on the business of serving our clients.”

JPMorgan, U.S. Bancorp and BB&T also notified the Treasury of their intent to repurchase warrants issued under the program.

New York-based JPMorgan fell 21 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $33.29 at 1:42 p.m. in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange. BB&T fell 17 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $22.06, U.S. Bancorp rose 31 cents to $18.17, and Morgan Stanley fell 36 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $27.74. Goldman Sachs dropped $2.21, or 1.5 percent, to $141.94.

American Express

American Express Co., Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Capital One Financial Corp., Northern Trust Corp. and State Street Corp. also said last week they would repay TARP.

“The 10 large financial institutions that have met TARP repayment requirements as announced last week will complete payment today,” the Treasury said in a statement.

The Treasury bought preferred stock and demanded warrants -- the right to buy common stock at a set price for 10 years -- so taxpayers could benefit from any rebound. Typically, the warrants equaled 15 percent of the TARP capital.

JPMorgan and seven other banks may spend about $3.88 billion this quarter related to dividend and interest costs to repay the government, Rochdale Securities analyst Richard Bove said yesterday.

TARP Costs

JPMorgan will incur the highest cost, $1.48 billion, to repay TARP, Bove wrote in a note. Morgan Stanley’s cost will be $1.02 billion, he said.

Goldman Sachs said it also made a one-time preferred dividend payment of about $425 million, which will reduce earnings per share in the second quarter by approximately 77 cents. JPMorgan paid $795.1 million in dividends on its preferred stock.

Banks are repaying TARP almost eight months after then- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, seeking to quell market panic that followed the Sept. 15 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., provided nine banks with $125 billion from the $700 billion TARP fund passed by Congress.

Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, and Citigroup Inc. weren’t among banks Treasury cleared to repay TARP. They each accepted $45 billion in U.S. aid. Wells Fargo & Co., the nation’s largest mortgage lender and the recipient of $25 billion in government aid, also wasn’t on the list.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael J. Moore in New York at mmoore55@bloomberg.net; Josh Fineman in New York at jfineman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 17, 2009 14:00 EDT

Content from bloomberg.com

Link to article: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aMaJeKZi89RM