A Study of James, Chapter 5 and Wallstreet

James, chapter 5 offers a latter days prophecy that we see unfolding before our eyes.

James describes rich merchants and businessmen that have gathered great wealth by fraud and corruption. Sound familiar? Can you say Wallstreet?

These are descriptions right out of the Worldcom and Enron investigations. Revelations of the bankers and mortgage brokers on Wallstreet with their billion dollar losses and "toxic waste" are coming to light on a daily basis. We've found the WMD's Mr. President. They're in the safes of Merrill Lynch, BAC, Goldman Sachs, CitiGroup, etc.

Two of the latest and greatest are reported below. The first article, about the bond insurers, is a real doozy. We're talking about cities, counties, states and municipal bonds to fund their infrastructures. The implications of some of this I haven't even grasped yet!

Also, the last part of James is very important to the discerning Christian. The rapture is at hand!!

Look up!


Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. (James 5:8)


Troubled Bond Insurers Facing More Downgrades

Reuters
30 Jan 2008

Bond insurers, whose foray into the subprime debt market has led to billions of dollars in losses, are facing more downgrades of their prized Triple A rating.

FGIC's bond insurance arm lost its top ``AAA'' rating from Fitch Ratings on Wednesday, while two other big bond insurers, Ambac Financial Group AMBAC Financial Group IncABK also may be downgraded soon despite efforts by New York state insurance regulators to get a delay to allow time for a possible bailout.

The growing threat of downgrades, first reported on CNBC late Wednesday afternoon, helped reverse a big stock market rally that was sparked by the Fed's half-point cut in interest rates.

Stocks ended up closing lower.

For the rest of the article:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/22918845

AND:

UBS subprime losses mount, bank deep in red

Wed Jan 30, 2008
By Thomas Atkins

ZURICH (Reuters) - Subprime-related problems at UBS AG mounted on Wednesday as the Swiss bank unveiled $4 billion in new write-downs in a surprise statement and sank deep into the red for the year, depressing its shares.

The latest disclosure lifted the bank's total write-downs from the subprime debacle to $18.4 billion and will likely increase pressure on chairman Marcel Ospel, at the UBS helm during its push into risky U.S. investments, to resign.

UBS, world banking's leading wealth manager, posted a 12.5 billion Swiss franc ($11.45 billion) loss for the last three months of 2007 and a full-year loss of 4.4 billion francs, a grim closure to its worst performance in history.

For the rest of the article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL3017467220080130