Treasury: Caught Lying Again
Karl Denninger Blog
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/a...ing-Again.html
4/20/2009
Excerpt:
This appears to have led to Treasury issuing the following statement this morning:
The U.S. Treasury Department has not yet received the results of "stress tests'' on the health of the nation's 19 top banks, spokesman Andrew Williams said Monday, after a blog said it had obtained the test results and some U.S. bank shares moved lower.
That's a lie.
How do we know its a lie?
Because of this from April 10th:
April 10 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve has told Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other banks to keep mum on the results of “stress tests” that will gauge their ability to weather the recession, people familiar with the matter said.
The Fed wants to ensure that the report cards don’t leak during earnings conference calls scheduled for this month. Such a scenario might push stock prices lower for banks perceived as weak and interfere with the government’s plan to release the results in an orderly fashion later this month.
How can you be ordered not to release something you don't have?
Since that was published on the 10th of April, we therefore know that the results exist and Treasury, the banks involved and The Fed have them, as The Fed was concerned that some banks might try to use them (perhaps in a misleading fashion) during their first quarter conference calls and earnings releases.
Sorry guys, but whether Hal Turner has the real results or not is no longer material. What's material is the claim that Treasury doesn't have them, since they told the banks on the 10th not to release them, and you can't release what you don't have.
The problem with lying is that eventually you forget your previous lies and thus get caught when you contradict yourself.
My response to Treasury's claim is best expressed thus:
STOP LYING TIMMY; THE MARKET IS REACTING VERY, VERY BADLY TO THIS OBVIOUS AND TRANSPARENT LOAD OF **** YOU ARE TRYING TO FOIST OFF ON IT THIS MORNING.
