http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/buffett-lobbies-against-clampdown-on-derivatives-1955260.html

excerpt:

Warren Buffett, the man who christened credit derivatives "financial weapons of mass destruction", is lobbying against a proposed clampdown on existing derivatives contracts.

His investment company, Berkshire Hathaway, has emerged as a key player on Capitol Hill as the minutiae of the Wall Street reform Bill is being finalised, and Mr Buffett has persuaded a senator from his home state, Nebraska, to go in to battle against provisions that could cost his company billions of dollars.

Last night, Republican senators succeeded in delaying progress on the Bill, voting en bloc against a motion that would have begun a floor debate, but bipartisan negotiations will continue behind the scenes.

Berkshire has a derivatives portfolio of $63bn (£41bn), partly as investments and partly as hedges used by its subsidiary, MidAmerican Energy, one of the largest utilities in the US.

The Bill proposes that derivatives should be traded publicly, instead of privately between companies and banks, and users should be required to put down collateral to cover potential losses. David Sokol, the chairman of MidAmerican and the front-runner to succeed Mr Buffett as head of Berkshire Hathaway, has met senior lawmakers to argue that the rules should not apply to existing contracts, only to new ones.

Ben Nelson, a Nebraska senator, had hoped to include the exemption as the Bill emerged from the committee stage. His spokesman said the measure "should not be so far-reaching that it negatively impacts existing good-faith contracts".

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

There ya go, the rich calling the shots to make sure they stay that way. It's okay for the rest of humanity to lose what they have and pay off wall street's mistakes, while they sip Champaign in their fortress.
Fuk 'em.

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83 SD

84 CD

I don't think you've got a grasp on the article.

There is currently nothing in the bill that would effect existing contracts.

When the Republicans do start debating the bill they will bring up points that they have been talking about all week. Not once have they mentioned protecting existing contracts.

If any bill becomes law it could not effect existing contracts since the bill would be a law and the Constution forbids ex-post facto laws.

I think he just wanted to point this out since who knows what someone might stick in there.

Explain it to us, oh master of all things Warren Buffett.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Be my guest it's your thread, oh master of all things....

The new rules are for new derivative trades, the folks that have and can make a bunch of money with the current ones want to look good by pushing this agenda. So it's only half bad. Keeping a rich boy frat going, no new club members.
He didn't get to be the top money bag by doing anything other than trading, right? Nothing wrong with that per se, but manipulating rules because you've bought the politicians is another story.
Now that he's got his, no one else can get theirs.
Better late than never, I suppose. Same with claw backs, in the future maybe, but once wall streeters used tax bailout money to add to their fortunes, without strings attached, they are paying themselves bonuses. The fed in charge pushed that through, Paulson (among others), right? Who's lining their pockets? Wanna guess?

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83 SD

84 CD

Warren Buffett, the man who christened credit derivatives "financial weapons of mass destruction", is lobbying against a proposed clampdown on existing derivatives contracts.

There ya go.

But hey, I'm sure Warren can just wash this one down with a few cold Cokes. How much do you figure B-H's worth derives from fizzy sugar water?

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Derivatives and CDS's are nothing more than shameless pyramid schemes. There has to be a limit to the ridiculous amount of leveraging that has been going on behind closed doors. The creators of these houses of cards know that their actions will eventually cause hardship across large swaths of the economy.

Everybody was able to see and assess the housing and dot.com bubbles and make at least semi-informed decisions. These secret financial bubbles were hidden and caused enormous damage by the time they were finally exposed.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

you seem to have trouble supporting your earlier (unsupported) (and all knowing and pompous) comment, mr. "you don't grasp the article".

but, please keep posting. you are great comic relief - in a gallows humor sort of way. i await your witty retorts.

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"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

^^^Just brilliant information. lol

X a trillion....

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

We should form an angry mob... there's no justice like angry mob justice!

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Not exactly..... They weren't a secret to anyone involved in them. That's naive to think they were secrets. Politicizing them has now become a popular football for a couple weeks......until they move on to something else.

There is nothing the government can do to stop this or regulate any other business activities. Anything they touch, only makes them worse. Especially since top government officials have taken part in most of it, before joining the obama admin. obama isn't going to clean up anything.

Goldman Sachs is heavily cross-pollinated with obama and his administration. Visitors from Goldman Sachs have signed the obama White House visitors book more often than any business on Wall Street. And that's a fact. Some people need to wake up to the realities of life.

If "we the people" want to permanently fix this in the fastest and most expeditious possible manner, I think the approach is really quite obvious.

Simplify.

Investment, then, in terms of markets or anything else, means "buy and hold". Sell whenever you want. No futures, no speculation, no betting, no shorts, no derivatives, no buying or selling things you don't have or haven't bought, no trading on borrowed shares, etc. Shut down the casino until we can know with certainty at every moment that the money being gambled with does not belong to "we the people". That it is tangible and easy to liquidate

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)