A Leaky Ship of State

B of A's agreed to pay a record breaking fine;

Countrywide sold mortgages that crossed a legal line

Knowing that the loans that they were peddling were junk.

16 billion dollars...  That's a pretty hefty chunk.

Do not get your hopes up though - I doubt you'll see a dime.

Nor will Countrywide's executives do any time.

Might be a deterrent but I'd bet it's not the banks

Who'll be paying through the nose next time the market tanks.

Thought they were "too big to fail" before?  They're bigger now.

But, with recent record highs reported at the Dow,

Wall Street isn't in a rush to implement reforms;

Leaving us a leaky Ship of State in future storms.

JPMorgan Chase and Dodd-Frank - Remember the Titanic

Jamie Dimon - looking surprisingly cheerful after reporting $2B in company losses.

 

Jamie Dimon (he's the head of JPMorgan Chase)

Has revealed a problem, I think, makes the Dodd-Frank case.

Hedging on derivatives; $2 Billion, plus, in losses.

His solution to the crisis? Firing 3 bosses.

Plan was barely understood with little oversight.

Took a while for him to see that something wasn't right.

Wonder if the folks at Chase are wishing that they had

Got behind the Volcker Rule before things got so bad.

Seems to me this news is proof that Wall Street hasn't changed.

Drive into an iceberg? Get the deck-chairs rearranged!

Have to shift their current course; stop fighting tooth and nail.

Europe's looming up ahead...  We're not too big to fail.

Bankers and Republicans and major CEOs

All agreed to stall on legislation they oppose.

Think it's time we got together; implement Dodd-Frank.

Don't forget; the last time something couldn't sink...?  It sank.

"Untergang der Titanic" by Willy Stöwer, 1912 (artist's conception)