Hey, Mom and Dad- About my allowance

Hi, Folks- Just a note to let you know that I probably won't make it home for the school break. Actually I had hoped to come home in style! I took the money you sent me for the Fall semester's tuition and figured that I could leverage up a bit- Learned that from some financial stocks that I've been following. This leverage stuff is cool!

I got a hot tip to buy some real estate down by the river. The guy that sold it to me said never mind the fact that a lot of it is under water, the financing can't be beat! Boy what a deal- Only 2 percent down and 30 years to pay at only 4% interest. I was able to buy a hundred acres with the tuition money you sent me as a down payment. The bank where I got the loan thought it was a real opportunity. They had a big sign on the door offering the same terms to most anybody that needs a loan. I'm not sure what the property's worth right now since I don't see any similar properties that are currently available. I guess they're all bought up!

I figured that I could go to the bank where I got the loan and see if they knew what the property was worth but the loan officer couldn't talk to me right then and there as he was going to Washington to see some guy named Paulson about an advance on his allowance and give the government the note on my property to secure it.

This appears to be a new type of government sponsored giveaway program since I'd be surprised if banks really got allowances. You never know though. The only thing that I see is that you have to have lent money out with little or no hope of getting it back. Seems like some taxpayers or somebody with money to burn has given this guy Paulson a truckload of money to give away- What a great country! Do we know any taxpayers?

We learned about some guy named Ponzi in Economics 101 last semester that sounds a lot like what this Paulson guy and the banks are doing. The bank guy said it was using "leverage more aggressively," a more efficient use of capital.

Do you think that the president is aware of what these guys are doing?

Anyway since I spent the tuition money plus my allowance buying that property I could use a little advance myself since I've got a payment due on my real estate loan- Things got a little tight and I missed the last one. What do you say? If a bank can get some cash from the government with no obligation I'll bet you could spot me a few bucks. And you know of course that it's only a loan and that I'll pay you back some day. If things are tight maybe you could visit this Paulson guy and get some of that free money!

Lots of love, Your kid