You are a free subscriber to Me and the Money Printer. To upgrade to paid and receive the daily Capital Wave Report - which features our Red-Green market signals, subscribe here. The Funniest Scene in Movie HistoryI'll bet that you and I disagree on this one. And that's the point.
Dear Fellow Traveler: What's the funniest scene in movie history? Maybe it's the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles where Mel Brooks turned bodily functions into social commentary. Perhaps it's the "Did we just become best friends?" moment in Step Brothers that launched a thousand memes. Or could it be the “Help, help, I’m being repressed” scene between King Arthur and the “bloody peasant” in Monty Python and the Holy Grail? All solid choices. But I argue that the funniest scene ever is from a movie I watched again for the first time in a decade: HBO's Too Big to Fail. Wait… isn’t that a serious drama about the 2008 financial crisis? Where exactly are the laughs? The comedy is in the audacity of the screenwriter, director, and producers... And one scene’s sheer, breathtaking chutzpah. The Scene: Peak Financial TheaterLet’s go back in time to the scene… It was September 2008. I had just moved back to Chicago, ignorant of the world around me. The financial world was imploding. Credit markets were freezing. And in walked Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric, with what might be the funniest line in cinematic history. Kudos for the utterly hilarious work by actor Tom Tammi, who portrayed Immelt. The scene goes like this… After regulators realized that commercial insurance giant AIG was on the ropes, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson received a phone call. It was Immelt, in apparent desperation, cutting off a conversation between Paulson and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. “What’s Immelt calling you for? Blankfein asks. “Gotta go,” Paulson says, switching over the line. “Jeff?” Immelts sits in his office, his face practically level with the camera. He urgently says, boldly: "Gotta know what’s going on out here. We’re having trouble funding our day-to-day operations…” The camera cuts to Paulson, but Immelt is still talking. The GE CEO’s voice now sounds like it’s coming through a phone line, so it’s not as pronounced as his opening line. He then says (hard to hear): “Our finance division is infecting the rest of our business.” Paulson asks, “General Electric?” The camera cuts back to Immelt, his voice now back at full strength. Immelt concludes: “This thing is spreading way past Wall Street. I get that nobody wants to touch mortgages. But we’re making planes and engines and light bulbs. We’re a healthy company. If we can’t finance our day-to-day operations, business in America is going to be shutting down." We cut back to Paulson, who is leaning back in his chair, frozen in fear. The implication is clear. GE is innocent collateral damage in this Wall Street mess. They're the real America… building things, manufacturing products, and creating jobs. They just got caught in the crossfire of banker greed. Paulson and the audience are meant to think: "My God, if even GE is in trouble, this crisis has spread to Main Street." The Punchline: GE Was a BankHere's where the comedy reaches peak absurdity. GE was a bank. And the directors and producers obscured that key line about GE’s financial operations by shifting the delivery of that line to the cut of Paulson, making it harder to hear. GE Capital wasn't some small side business. By 2008, it was one of the largest financial institutions in the world, bigger than many actual banks. With $660 billion in assets, it accounted for roughly half of GE's profits. GE Capital was neck-deep in:
They operated like a hedge fund with an industrial cover story. So when Immelt said… "We make jet engines and washing machines…." what he's really saying was: "We make jet engines, washing machines, AND we also underwrite mortgages, finance strip malls in Phoenix, and issue hundreds of billions in unsecured debt across global markets. But let's focus on the washing machines." The Government Bailed Them Out Too - BRRRRRRRRR…Before the 2008 crash, everyone knew what GE was up to… However, GE couldn’t access the Federal Reserve's discount window because it wasn't technically a bank. So, Paulson and company created the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program, which allowed the FDIC to guarantee new debt for select financial firms. If that sounds familiar, it’s because we now have a perpetual “lending assistance” program for almost anything in our markets - anything too big to fail - but always rebranded as “totally not a bailout and definitely not stimulus…” As the 2008 crisis unfolded, GE immediately issued over $74 billion in government-guaranteed debt by the first quarter of 2009 under this program. GE got its bailout, without anyone calling it a bailout. [Editor’s Note: To the writer’s credit, Too Big To Fail features a running gag where, every time regulators propose a bailout or capital injection into the financial system, they try to come up with a different name for the program…] GE also cut its dividend for the first time since 1938 and took $3 billion from Warren Buffett at a 10% yield. Not exactly the moves of a sound company making washing machines. Why This Matters Beyond the LaughsIt’s been a long time since I watched this film. I can’t believe it came out 15 years ago. But this scene perfectly captures the whitewashing that has become standard in our financial system. When things go wrong, it's often due to brilliant management or market innovation. When things go badly, it's either:
Never is it the predictable result of taking massive leverage with other people's money. The "we make real things" defense has become the go-to narrative for any company seeking government assistance without incurring government blame. It's financial crisis theater at its finest. The funniest scenes are often the ones where someone says something so audacious, so transparently false, yet so confidently delivered that you can't help but laugh at the simplicity of it. Immelt's "we make washing machines" moment is comedy gold because it represents everything wrong with crisis-era spin. It is little more than taking massive financial risks, then wrapping yourself in the flag of American manufacturing when the bill comes due. In finance and economics, the biggest laughs always come from the biggest lies. Stay positive, Garrett Baldwin About Me and the Money Printer Me and the Money Printer is a daily publication covering the financial markets through three critical equations. We track liquidity (money in the financial system), momentum (where money is moving in the system), and insider buying (where Smart Money at companies is moving their money). Combining these elements with a deep understanding of central banking and how the global system works has allowed us to navigate financial cycles and boost our probability of success as investors and traders. This insight is based on roughly 17 years of intensive academic work at four universities, extensive collaboration with market experts, and the joy of trial and error in research. You can take a free look at our worldview and thesis right here. Disclaimer Nothing in this email should be considered personalized financial advice. While we may answer your general customer questions, we are not licensed under securities laws to guide your investment situation. Do not consider any communication between you and Florida Republic employees as financial advice. The communication in this letter is for information and educational purposes unless otherwise strictly worded as a recommendation. Model portfolios are tracked to showcase a variety of academic, fundamental, and technical tools, and insight is provided to help readers gain knowledge and experience. Readers should not trade if they cannot handle a loss and should not trade more than they can afford to lose. There are large amounts of risk in the equity markets. Consider consulting with a professional before making decisions with your money.
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