Mark to market for everyone!

"Wait since another 4-5% of investor’s wealth was vaporized, why don't we just suspend the mark to market accounting rules for individuals and not just the banks. This way we could just say today’s losses were just on paper and if we hold the stock for 10 more years it will be worth 10 times as much. So please take back all the margin calls because all individual investors are going to mark to model. We don't see why we should let pesky little accounting rules matter all that much anyway....."

Ok now make a case for suspending mark to market rules on the banks….

...I think the old rules of accounting (mark to model) would have pushed this meltdown out another year or two and even as it is now the banks are not coming clean or taking the write downs.....The are waiting for uncle Sam to come to rescue, who will prop up the banks on backs of taxpayers.

Here is more info about mark to market in an earlier blog

http://financialrealityrevisited.blogspot.com/2009/02/mark-to-market-chatter.html