Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Wed 07.01.2009
The Mark of the Beast This idea of a non-bank currency issued directly by a government free of any interest burden is along the lines of what Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy did, and tried to do, respectively, for the US. Their boldness in promoting the welfare of US citizens cost them their lives. They did not want to become interest slaves to a private national bank, and chose to issue our own official currency directly from our Treasury Department free of the interest burden imposed by a privately owned, debt-based, European-style fractional reserve banking system, which is what our Founding Fathers fought a war to free themselves, and their posterity, from.
Chinese Government Wants To Purchase Another $80 Billion Of Gold! Nine weeks ago, the Chinese government admitted to the mainstream media that it had added 14.6 million ounces of gold reserves from 2003 through 2009. For years before that disclosure, several of us non-mainstream media members had reported this activity to smaller audiences. It wasn't until about June 9 that the mainstream media was told that the Chinese government was planning to purchase an additional huge quantity of gold. The information became public when U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) was interviewed on Fox News by Greta Van Susteren.
Don’t Be Fooled By Gold’s Tired Look Gold futures eased lower yesterday, apparently too tired for the time being to continue treading water. The Comex August contract settled at 927.40, down a little more than one percent on the day. If you’re a long-term investor looking to do some bargain-hunting, however, we’d advise waiting for even better prices, since it looks as though the futures could fall to as low as 899.00 over the next 6-8 days. That would be a back-up-the-truck buying opportunity as far as we’re concerned, since the downside in bullion seems limited for now. The 899.00 target is a “Hidden Pivot” support, and it appears capable of engendering a tradable bounce. Although that number is not yet a lead-pipe cinch to be reached over the near term, it would become an odds-on bet following a two-day close beneath a less important “hidden” support at 924.00. For the record, the absolute worst we could see over the next month or so would be a test of late April’s lows near 882.
Every Reason in the World to Believe Gold Will Go Higher It is striking how different the outlooks are in different parts of the world. In North America, most people are totally focused on the U.S. economy, which is not looking that promising in the near term. Therefore, investors are quite gloomy. Europe is also not very upbeat. But, in Europe, they are more pragmatic and they tend to look a little further into the future. As a result, many European investors see this down period as a buying opportunity. Parts of Asia were hit hard by the slowdown, but there is still a lot of growth in China and India. China reacted quickly with an effective stimulus plan that is focused on building infrastructure. Growth there is forecast at 8% for this year. With enhancements to rail, roads, ports and the like, China will become an even greater economic force.
Gold Slips as Deflation Bites, But "Unlikely to Persist" as Central Banks Stay Too Loose, Too Long THE PRICE OF GOLD eased back from a 3-session high of $945 an ounce early in London on Tuesday, dropping back as European stock markets dipped and government bond prices ticked lower worldwide. Only short-dated German Bunds rose, buoyed by bad economic news and pushing 1-year yields down to 0.81% ahead of Thursday's interest-rate decision from the European Central Bank (ECB). Crude oil also slipped back, down from Monday's new 8-month highs above $73 per barrel. "The recovery in commodity prices during the first half of this year has caught much of the market by surprise," writes Leon Westgate in today's Commodities Daily from Standard Bank. Since New Year's Day, Westgate notes, copper and lead gained 58% and 57% respectively, while US crude oil contracts added 53%.
Glenn Beck's Hot List: A.C.O.R.N. Protests, US Dollar, Indonesian Debt,Obama Cap And Tax Glenn does a summery of todays hot topics,Glenn Beck for president,he will protect us from the insanity and lack of common sense.
The Silver Indexed Bond Silver investors over the last seven years have been on a rollercoaster ride as silver has bucked like a bronco to move between various price extremes with a rapidity not often seen in other asset classes. They may be forgiven for wondering if it is worth the effort and not just move onto a less volatile investment like gold. After all, seeing silver move rapidly from $4 to $8 and $6 to $15 and then $11 to $21 is great for profits but if you snooze you lose big time as gains can be wiped out in weeks if not days.
Where is Royal Canadian Mint’s gold? Where has all the gold gone? That is the million dollar question haunting the Royal Canadian Mint. The mint has no clear answers to the missing gold from its Ottawa facility. For the past few months, the Mint has tried to get to the bottom of an unprecedented scandal in which some gold it was supposed to have in its inventory for the 2008 fiscal year has seemingly disappeared. It later revealed that $15.3-million (2008 prices) of precious metals is unaccounted for at its Ottawa facility.
British Royal Mint issues rare coins with no date Next time you're in Britain, check your change. The Royal Mint admits it's made a rare error, producing coins without a date on them for the first time in centuries. The mint said Monday that at least 100,000 of the year-less 20-pence coins, normally worth 33 U.S. cents at face value, slipped into circulation at the end of last year. If found, one coin would garner hundreds of times more on the collectors' market. Numismatists say the last time that the Royal Mint accidentally left out the year on a coin was in 1672.
Is The US Dollar Going Up Or Down, Hedge Your Bets? The opinion of currency analysts on the immediate outlook for the US dollar is almost evenly divided between two extremes: those who think the dollar will rise significantly in value by the end of the year; and those who conclude that the greenback will fall. It is a pretty fundamental disagreement among folk paid a great deal of money to get these things right. Why then is there no consensus on this vitally important matter?
HYPERINFLATION NATION MOVIE (1/3) W/ Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, Jim Rogers, Tom Woods, Marc Faber
Debasing the Currency is Leading to Financial Collapse . . . Just As It Has for Thousands of Years In a fascinating 22-page study of money and currency, Christopher Weber shows that every government - from Athens, to pre-collapse Rome, to the Islamic countries in the Middle Ages - which stuck to the Greek standard of coins has been stable and prosperous. Specifically, the Athenian Drachma contained 65.6 grains of silver. Even after Greece declined as a superpower, its currency remained stable. The Roman Denarius, Byzantine Bezant, and Islamic Dinar all copied the Drachma, using around 65.6 grains of gold or silver in their coins.
Russia to recapitalise its banks Russia will issue $14.7bn in bonds to recapitalise its banking system this year and next, said Alexei Kudrin, finance minister, a sum bankers said fell far short of the amount needed to reverse the country’s steep economic decline. In the first comments by a government official on recapitalisation plans to help the sector brace against a surge in bad loans, Mr Kudrin said the government would raise 250bn roubles ($8.05bn, €5.72bn, £4.87bn) this year by issuing OFZ treasury bills and an additional 210bn roubles in 2010. The bills would be exchanged for preferred shares in banks. Mr Kudrin said the government could also issue more subordinated loans.
Geithner's Zombie Program To Buy Toxic Assets Will Rise Again Tomorrow [Wednesday] Speaking of continuity with the Bush Administration, the Obama administration's plan to buy toxic assets from banks will be back in the headlines tomorrow. It seems that details of how the plan will be implemented and who will participate in it will be announced tomorrow. Charlie Gasparino at CNBC broke the news that the administration would have details on the plan tomorrow. Yesterday The Wall Street Journal reported how this much heralded "public private investment program" had lost steam, squeezed between the unwillingness of potential buyers to get into bed with a salary capping, cram-down happy administration and the hesitancy of the banks--freshly flush with new capital--to sell their assets at anywhere close to levels that would attract buyers.
A cancer in the Capitol is killing us There is a rapidly growing cancer in the nation's capitol, a disease called progressive socialism which comes from repeated exposure to Marxism and Communism, This disease will become fatal to the American Republic in just a few short years if not treated and defeated in the next two elections. It's not too late to save America, but it will be very soon if we don't act now.
Soros predicts "stop-go" economy and higher rates Billionaire investor George Soros on Tuesday predicted a "stop-go" economy for the United States, saying fears of inflation will drive up interest rates and choke off growth. Soros, one of the world's most successful hedge fund managers who was speaking at a breakfast hosted by the Wall Street Journal, said borrowing costs are the major headwinds for the economy. "As markets revive, fear of inflation will.
HYPERINFLATION NATION MOVIE (2/3) W/ Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, Jim Rogers, Tom Woods, Marc Faber
Inflation: What You See and What You Don't See In an attempt to fight the international credit market turmoil and its effects on economic activity and overall prices, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) keeps increasing the supply of base money — which is cash in circulation and commercial banks' money balances held with the Fed. From August 2008 to May 2009, the monetary base in the United States more than doubled. The bulk of the expansion reflects an unprecedented rise in banks' excess reserves — that is, banks' base money which is available for additional credit and money creation.
Bank Woes Deepening in Europe When the financial crisis struck the global economy last autumn, European governments moved swiftly to keep their biggest banks from falling into an abyss — never mind fears over nationalization. But now, as big banks on this side of the Atlantic show signs of recovery, a number of their counterparts overseas are sinking into a spiral of deepening losses that has prompted the European Union to consider a more aggressive approach to cleaning up its banking system. Few people outside Belgium have ever heard of KBC Bank. But the travails of this lender, based in Brussels, highlight the broader challenges Europe is facing by not having more fully confronted the deteriorating health of its financial institutions.
Markets out of step on timing of US rate rise When will the Federal Reserve start raising interest rates again from their current level of nearly zero? The range of estimates is astonishingly broad. The futures market – which only a few weeks ago was pricing in a Fed rate rise this year – has pushed back the date until next year, but is still pricing in some tightening by February. Most economists think that is too soon, and the debate is over whether the market is jumping the gun by a few months or by as much as a year or more.
Citi raises card rates on millions Citigroup has sharply increased interest rates on up to 15m US credit card accounts just months before curbs on such rises come into effect, in a move that could fuel political anger at the treatment of consumers by bailed-out banks. People close to the situation said that Citi, which is about to cede a 34 per cent stake to the US government as part of its latest rescue, had upped rates on between 13m and 15m credit cards it co-brands with retailers such as Sears.
It's True, People Lose 10 IQ Points When Talking About The Fed Ron Paul's Fed Transparency Act, which would require a fresh outside audit of the Fed, has passed the House, though it faces an uphill climb in the Senate.It's got a lot of internet-borne support (duh!) in part, probably, cause nobody knows what the hell the Fed is or does, but also because there are many people legitimately concerned about transparency and the bailouts (like us). Before everyone jumps on Ron Paul's bandwagon, Eddy Elfenbein has a good piece urging everyone to take a deep breath:
HYPERINFLATION NATION MOVIE (3/3) W/ Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, Jim Rogers, Tom Woods, Marc Faber
‘Green Shoots’ Take Over the Lexicon, If Not Economy The current recession has created at least one growth industry: use of the phrase “green shoots.” Since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke first uttered the words almost four months ago to describe signs of a thaw in frozen credit markets, instances of the botanical metaphor in the press have climbed sevenfold. A Google search for “green shoots” returns 4.86 million hits.
Stocks down on dip in consumer confidence Stocks move sharply lower on last day of 2Q after unexpected dip in consumer confidence Investors are adding consumer confidence to their growing list of things to worry about. Stocks fell sharply in midday trading Tuesday after a private research group said consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in June. Investors had been expecting the Conference Board's measure of consumer sentiment to hold steady following big jumps in April and May. Consumer confidence is closely watched because spending from consumers accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.
Goldman Exits Money-Losing Bet on Loonie Versus Mexican Peso Goldman Sachs Group Inc. exited a bet that the Canadian dollar would strengthen versus the Mexican peso after the trade lost about 5 percent. “Recent data points have gone against our fundamental views of continued stabilization in Canada and a lagging recovery in Mexico, relative to the global cycle,” analysts at Goldman Sachs wrote today in a note, citing worse-than-expected Canadian retail sales and jobs numbers, and a less-than-forecast drop in Mexican industrial production.
Canadian Dollar Falls to Six-Week Low as Crude, Confidence Drop Canada’s dollar depreciated to the lowest level in six weeks as crude oil tumbled below $70 and U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly fell, prompting investors to trim bets on higher-yielding assets. “When data like consumer confidence challenges the ‘green shoots’ notion, you have some big moves,” said Stephen Gallo, head of market analysis at Schneider Foreign Exchange in London. “We can argue that $70 oil has already been fully priced in.”
Oil prices tumble in volatile trading Oil caps volatile first half of 2009 by hitting 8-month high before falling sharply Oil prices tumbled in volatile trading Tuesday after rising to an eight-month high. Benchmark crude for August delivery fell $2.25, more than 3 percent, to $69.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after swinging between $69.03 and $73.38 in early trading. It has been an extraordinarily volatile year, which began with crude prices near $40 per barrel, less than a third of what a barrel cost in July, before going on an extended rally for the past two months as the second quarter comes to a close.
Peter Schiff - TIME Magazine Interview
Treasury Set to Unveil PPIP; Ross, GE Capital Participate The U.S. Treasury is planning to roll out its long-awaited Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP) plan, aiming to unveil it on Wednesday. The program is likely to include as many as nine participants. CNBC has confirmed that two firms will be Wilbur Ross's Distressed Real Estate/debt fund and a joint venture between GE Capital and private investor Angelo Gordon & Co. As many as seven other firms will likely participate. Other firms widely expect to be named include PIMCO and Blackrock.
Alan Grayson Cracks Down on Gold-Plating of Defense Contracts There's a lot of wasted taxpayer money going to defense contractors, and Alan Grayson is working to crack down on it. This amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill forces contracting officials to save us money, or explain why they can't. Currently, contracting officials can choose to weight cost, track record, perceived quality, and other factors in evaluation schemes with no guidance from Congress in how they do this. My amendment would give them guidance, and weight cost as at least 50% of the weighting in the proposal evaluation scheme. Failure to meet this threshold would compel a contracting official to explain why downgrading price or cost as a factor in contracting serves the governments interest.
Lawmakers Face Pressure to Resolve U.S. Health Issues Lawmakers working to overhaul the U.S. health-care system face a pressure-filled July after leaving town this week without resolving the biggest questions dividing Democrats and Republicans. When lawmakers return on July 6 after a weeklong recess, the push will be on to overcome differences over issues ranging from whether to set up a new government entity to compete with private insurers to how much to tax the most generous employer- provided insurance plans to generate revenue.
Insured, but Driven Bankrupt by Health Crises Health insurance is supposed to offer protection — both medically and financially. But as it turns out, an estimated three-quarters of people who are pushed into personal bankruptcy by medical problems actually had insurance when they got sick or were injured. And so, even as Washington tries to cover the tens of millions of Americans without medical insurance, many health policy experts say simply giving everyone an insurance card will not be enough to fix what is wrong with the system. Too many other people already have coverage so meager that a medical crisis means financial calamity.
Wal-Mart Supports Health Plan That Will Destroy Small Businesses Matthew Yglesias proudly announces that his employer the liberal thinktank Center for American Progress has convinced Wal-Mart to support a law that would legally obligate employers to pay for their employees' health insurance. The Center for American Progress, the Service Employees International Union, and Wal-Mart joined forces today to release a letter (PDF) endorsing the dual ideas of an employer mandate to provide health insurance and “triggers” to automatically reduce costs if health care spending gets too high.
Jobless rates rise in all US metro areas in May Jobless rates rise in all US metro areas in May; 2 parts of Indiana post biggest gains Unemployment rates rose in all the largest U.S. metropolitan areas for the fifth straight month in May. The Labor Department said Tuesday that jobless rates in May rose from a year earlier in all 372 metropolitan area it tracks. The unemployment rate in Kokomo, Ind., jumped to 18.8 percent, up 11.7 percentage points from a year ago, the largest increase of all metro areas. The second-highest increase occurred in Indiana's Elkhart-Goshen, where the rate rose to 17.5 percent. That's up 11.4 percentage points from a year earlier.
Job Seekers Screwed As Businesses Refuse To Hire The Unemployed As if finding a job weren't difficult enough in this environment, the WSJ report on the trend of businesses who will only hire people currently employed, in part on the belief that anyone while still has a job must be "first string". The bias extends from front-line workers to senior managers. Charlie Wilgus, managing partner of executive search for Lucas Group, based in Atlanta, says a manufacturing client looking for a division president recently refused to consider a former divisional president at Newell Rubbermaid Inc. whose department had been eliminated. The client doesn’t want candidates who have been laid off, Mr. Wilgus says.
Frank Lucas R Oklahoma Is Against The Waxman Cap and Trade Bill
The Death to America Act Obama draws a bead on your family -- behold what he does (and even what he says) Grassroots Americans need to use the Fourth of July congressional recess to contact their senators and urge them not to take the Waxman-Markey tax-grabbing lemon handed them by their counterparts in the House. It is the biggest tax hike in American history. As TV newscasts heavily focused on the unfortunate passing of Michael Jackson, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi were taking full advantage of your distraction by picking your pocket while you were looking the other way.
This bill is a power grab. This crowd means business, as clearly shown in the fact that an objective and credible senior analyst with the EPA (38 years) has just been fired for writing a critique of the agency's current direction. Alan Carlin disputed the agency's position on "climate change" — the new euphemism for the discredited "global warming."
Fed Documents Fuel Concerns About Expanding Central Bank's Role Documents unearthed by congressional investigators reveal disagreements among senior Federal Reserve officials about how to handle Bank of America Corp.'s acquisition of Merrill Lynch, fueling concern on Capitol Hill over giving the central bank even more power to regulate the financial system. The glimpse inside the regulatory machinery provided by emails, memorandums and handwritten notes show a Fed that wrestled with how tough it should be on Bank of America, one of the biggest U.S. banks. It also shows Fed officials questioning more broadly their response to the financial crisis months earlier.
Ron Paul - Cap and Trade Will Lead to Capital Flight 6/29/09
Ponzi victims' anger now shifts from Madoff to SEC, SIPC After hailing Bernard Madoff's 150-year prison sentence, some of his former investment clients turned their attention to the government systems charged with stopping financial scam artists and reimbursing its victims. Rallying outside a Manhattan federal courthouse Monday, about 20 ex-clients who together lost millions to Madoff said they have been victimized by inadequate oversight before the fraud collapsed in December and questionable decisions and slowness in the ensuing repayment process.
Retired From G.M. at 54. Pensionless at 74? General Motors is using its huge pension fund in a way it never intended. t had planned — and put money aside — for a steady march of retirees over time. But instead, tens of thousands of blue-collar workers, most in their 40s and 50s, are all becoming eligible for retirement benefits now, as the company rapidly downsizes. And even as its pension fund faces this giant bulge in payouts, G.M. is not putting any new money in — the company is not required to make any contributions to the fund until 2013. The longer this goes on, the weaker the fund will be and the more uncertain its long-term viability.
Obama Unveils Consumer Protection Agency Legislation The consumer protection agency envisioned by the Obama administration would have wide latitude to crack down on abusive financial products, assess fees against financial firms, and subpoena information in the name of protecting consumers, according to a legislative proposal released Tuesday. The U.S. Treasury Department, in unveiling the roughly 150-page document, put down an aggressive marker on a piece of legislation the financial services industry is already gearing up to oppose. If agreed to by Congress, the measure would for the first time create a single agency that would have broad authority to write and enforce rules against any firm that provides financial products to consumers, including mortgages and credit cards.
Banks Balk at Agency Meant to Aid Consumers Banks and mortgage lenders are placing top priority on killing President Obama’s proposal to create a new consumer protection agency that would regulate home loans, credit card fees, payday loans and other forms of consumer finance. The Obama administration fired an opening shot on Tuesday, sending Congress a detailed, 150-page proposal for an agency that would set new standards for ordinary mortgages, restrict or prohibit risky loans, investigate financial institutions and enforce new laws aimed at protecting credit card customers. “This agency will have only one mission — to protect consumers,” said Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, in a written statement on Tuesday.
Battle lines over Obama consumer agency Plan to set up watchdog is first battle in long road to regulatory reform. Industry steps up efforts in opposition as administration releases legislation. In the debate over how to prevent the next financial crisis, the first fight has already erupted -- and it's over a proposal to create a new agency to protect consumers. On Tuesday, the Treasury Department sent to Congress a 150-page draft of a bill with new details about its plan for a regulator for mortgages, credit cards and other financial products. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency would be run by a presidentially-appointed, five-member board and wield subpoena power and wide-ranging investigative clout.
United-Continental Plan Opposed Justice Department Urges Narrowing of Dispensation to Cooperate on Routes The Justice Department belatedly objected to a plan by United Airlines parent UAL Corp. and Continental Airlines Inc. to cooperate on routes world-wide within the Star Alliance of air carriers, and recommended instead a more-limited trans-Atlantic deal. The Transportation Department gave UAL and Continental preliminary approval for the arrangement nearly three months ago. The DOT tentatively agreed to let Continental join the Star group and granted Continental and nine of Star's 21 current members provisional antitrust immunity to act as a single carrier on some international routes.
Home prices post 18.1 percent annual drop in April Widely watched index shows home prices down by 18.1 pct. in April, but trend is stabilizing There is a clear trend home prices declines are moderating -- another sign the beleaguered housing market is stabilizing, according to data released Tuesday. While the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 major cities tumbled by 18.1 percent, it marked the third straight month the decline was not a record. And yearly losses in 13 metros improved compared to March. "The stock market bottomed in March and measures of consumer confidence have turned upward. This report shows that these better spirits are also appearing in the housing market," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee.
Next Segment of the Housing Market to Crash: $1+ Million McMansions The new hallucination for most strapped McMansion owners is that they'll "rent the house for a year and then sell when the market comes back." The happy theory here is that, yes, prices are temporarily depressed, but when the green shoots really take hold, we'll go roaring right back to 2006 levels again. Most real-estate agents will be eager to tell you that they agree with this theory. What they won't be able to tell you, as Mark Hanson of the Field Check Group points out, is why.
Obama supporters shut down Atlanta tea party Wait until days before event to object to 'political' nature President Obama may restrict his reaction to the nationwide tea party movement whereby tens of thousands of people are objecting to the spending spree on which the U.S. government has embarked under his leadership, but some of his supporters are taking more direct action: using an easement agreement to cancel a July 4th event scheduled on private property in Atlanta.
In China, New Limits on Virtual Currency The buying and selling of the make-believe currencies used in online gaming has become so widespread that Chinese authorities fear it will affect the real economy. To quell that threat, those authorities said on Tuesday that they had issued new regulations aimed at restricting the trade and use of virtual money. China is one of the world’s biggest markets for huge so-called multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft, and tens of millions of young people are believed to be trading virtual goods and credits for real goods and cash.
Honduras: Another "Failed State" South of US Borders What is it about democracy and rule of law that is so repulsive to third-world banana republics? Now the pitiful state of Honduras has officially joined the ranks as a “failed state” next to Mexico, the swine flu center of the universe.
“TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (June 28) - Soldiers seized the national palace and flew President Manuel Zelaya into exile Sunday, hours before a disputed constitutional referendum. Zelaya, a leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said he was victim of a coup. “Hours later, Congress voted to accept what it said was Zelaya’s letter of resignation, but Zelaya said the letter wasn’t his and vowed to remain in power.
Honduras and Chavez: What You Should Know, What the Centralized Media Is Not Telling You The “coup” in the Central American nation of Honduras is the first major blow to the Marxist expansion sponsored by Hugo Chavez, but the American people are to a great extent being kept in the dark by the centralized news media. The Associated Press, upon which most news outlets in the United States depend, appears to be slanting its reporting to support the pro-Chavez version of events in Honduras. The AP tells us that much of the world has condemned the deposing of Manuel Zelaya. We also are told that Hugo Chavez, president of oil-rich Venezuela, has vowed to remove the new president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, and that U.S. president Barack Obama has called the Micheletti government “illegal.”
Obama Sides With Marxists Over Honduras The so-called “military coup” in Honduras was a successful effort by Honduran patriots to preserve their constitutional system of government from an international alliance of communists and socialists backed by Iran. Not surprisingly, America’s Marxist President has come down on the anti-American side. If all of this is news to you, consider yourself a victim of the “state-run media,” as Rush Limbaugh calls it. We are being bombarded with liberal media propaganda that a “military coup” took place in Honduras, and that the U.S. should therefore oppose it.
U.S. Pursues Financial Leverage Over North Korea The Obama administration is preparing to wield broad financial pressure to try to force North Korea to dial back its weapons program, building on strategies former President George W. Bush employed, but then unwound. The Treasury Department is taking a leading role and will work through international banking channels to try to restrict funds to 17 North Korean banks and companies that U.S. officials say are central players in Pyongyang's nuclear and weapons trade. These firms serve as a financial lifeline to leader Kim Jong Il, his family and ruling circle.
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