Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Mon 11.09.2009
Five more banks fail - 120 for the year Banks in California, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri were shuttered, costing the FDIC a total of $1.5 billion. Five banks failed late Friday, bringing the 2009 tally to 120. The biggest to fall was United Commercial Bank of San Francisco, which had 63 U.S. branches as well as operations in Hong Kong and Shanghai. The bank held deposits totaling $7.5 billion. East West Bank of Pasadena, Calif., agreed to assume all of United Commercial's domestic branches, as well as its international subsidiaries.
US sees 120 bank failures in 2009 NEW YORK: With five more American banks going out of business last week, the total number of collapses this year has risen to 120 or an average of over ten entities every month. The total bank failures this year is the highest since 1992, when a whopping 181 entities folded up due to savings and loan crisis. Moreover, the collapses are about five-fold higher than 2008, when just 25 banks went belly up.
California bank failure will cost FDIC $1.4 billion Five more banks, including a California-based institution that reportedly received federal bailout funds in 2008, were closed Friday by regulators, bringing the 2009 total to 120 failed banks. The latest banks to be taken over were United Security Bank of Sparta, Ga.; Home Federal Savings Bank of Detroit; United Commercial Bank of San Francisco; Gateway Bank of St. Louis and Prosperan Bank of Oakdale, Minn., according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
House Passes $1 Trillion U.S. Health-Care Legislation The U.S. House approved the most far- reaching changes to the nation’s health-care system in four decades, voting to require all Americans to get coverage and to subject insurers to new restrictions and new competition from a government program. The House voted 220-215 last night to approve the measure, which would cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years. Just one Republican, Representative Joseph Cao of Louisiana, backed the plan, and 39 Democrats broke ranks to oppose it.
Health Care Reform Passes House in the Dead of Night As is traditional for attempts at theft, the House version of health care reform passed in the dead of night. The way was cleared for the passage of health care reform after the Stupak Amendment banned funding for elective abortions. The vote count for the House version of health care reform was very narrow, 220 for, 215 against. All but one Republican, he being Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted against the health care reform bill. Thirty nine Democrats also voted against the House version of health care reform.
What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says Here are some important passages in the 2,000 page legislation. The health bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing to a vote (H.R. 3962) is 1,990 pages. Here are some of the details you need to know. What the government will require you to do:
Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a "qualified plan." If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a "grace period" to switch you to a "qualified plan," meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there's no grace period. You'll have to enroll in a qualified plan as soon as any term in your contract changes, such as the co-pay, deductible or benefit.
Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a "qualified plan" covers and how much you'll be legally required to pay for it. That's like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later. . . .
Pelosi Bill Has Radical Agenda The healthcare reform plan being pushed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Barack Obama and passed by the House on Saturday illustrates the Democrats' radical agenda, says former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey. In an op-ed article [see WSJ article above] appearing Saturday on The Wall Street Journal's Web site, McCaughey reveals shocking details of the 1,990-page bill. Some of the more alarming aspects of the bill, according to McCaughey:
President Obama’s statement on House passage of the health care reform bill President Obama put out the following statement on tonight's passage of the health care reform bill by the House of Representatives. The bill passed 220-215 with only one Republican House member supporting the bill. According to the White House, the President called supporters of the bill, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the leaders from AARP, the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association, to thank them for their support.
Speaker Pelosi’s Government-Run Health Plan Will Require a Monthly Abortion Premium Posted by GOP Leader Press Office on November 5th, 2009 Health care reform should not be used as an opportunity to use federal funds to pay for elective abortions. Health reform should be an opportunity to protect human life - not end it. Unfortunately, Speaker Pelosi’s 2,032-page government takeover of health care does just that. On line 17, p. 110, section 222 under “Abortions for which Public Funding is Allowed” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run plan. The Speaker’s plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions.
Pelosi Bill: 45% Top Tax Rates Coming If the House healthcare bill becomes law, small businesses and the wealthiest, most productive Americans can expect to pay massive new taxes. The bill also includes hidden fees and excise taxes that will fall heavily on the elderly. Under the Pelosi bill, citizens reporting income over $500,000 and married couples earning more than $1 million would be slapped with a 5.4% surtax on all income above those thresholds. The Wall Street Journal notes that after taking into account the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, those people would face a marginal tax rate of 45%. Small businesses will also suffer.
Boehner: Speaker Pelosi’s Government Takeover of Health Care Will “Dim the Light of Freedom” GOP Leader: “Americans asking ‘where are the jobs’ are getting more the same from out-of-touch Washington Democrats: more spending, more debt, and more government.” WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement shortly after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Democrats passed a 2,032-page, $1.3 trillion government takeover of health care: “I came here to renew the American Dream, so my kids and their kids have the same opportunities I had. I came here to fight big-government monstrosities like this bill that dim the light of freedom and diminish opportunity for future generations.
Health care overhaul faces stone wall in Senate Health care overhaul divides Democratic senators, so House legislation faces huge hurdles The glow from a health care triumph faded quickly for President Barack Obama on Sunday as Democrats realized the bill they fought so hard to pass in the House has nowhere to go in the Senate. Speaking from the Rose Garden about 14 hours after the late Saturday vote, Obama urged senators to be like runners on a relay team and "take the baton and bring this effort to the finish line on behalf of the American people." The problem is that the Senate won't run with it. The government health insurance plan included in the House bill is unacceptable to a few Democratic moderates who hold the balance of power in the Senate.
Insurers, Drugmakers Turn to Senate for Health-Bill Changes U.S. drugmakers, medical-device companies and insurers are gearing up for another chance to make changes to House-passed legislation overhauling the health-care system when the issue moves to the Senate. Drugmakers such as New York-based Pfizer Inc. want to alter a House provision that would put pressure on profits by letting the U.S. government negotiate prescription drug prices for patients in Medicare. Insurers such as Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. are targeting the House’s creation of a government-run insurance program to compete with private companies.
Health reformers prepare for Senate hurdle The first thing Barack Obama did late on Saturday night following the passage of the healthcare bill in the House of Representatives was to phone the heads of three industry lobby groups to thank them for their support. Not included on the list was the largest insurance lobby group, American Health Insurance Plans, which doggedly continues to oppose Democratic reform efforts. Amid all the late night celebrations after the razor-thin 220-215 vote for the bill, Karen Ignagni, head of AHIP, warned that it would be a much tougher battle to push reform through the Senate in the weeks ahead.
Gold rising 2006-2009 charts
Gold Jumps to Record Above $1,100 on U.S. Interest-Rate Outlook Gold futures jumped to a record, topping $1,100 an ounce, on mounting speculation that low U.S. borrowing costs will drive down the dollar, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. The metal reached $1,101.90 in New York, heading for a ninth straight annual gain. The dollar is down 6.8 percent this year against a basket of six major currencies as the Federal Reserve keeps its benchmark interest rate at zero to 0.25 percent to revive economic growth.
Gold surges through $1,100 But the breach was brief with the yellow metal coming back to the safety of the $1,090 level quickly Gold surged to a record high above $1,100 per ounce on Friday as investors pounced on the metal in volatile trade after data showed U.S. employers cut a bigger-than-expected 190,000 jobs in October. Dealers also said the market continued to find residual support from the prospect of central bank buying of gold to diversify their reserves. "The market has the bit between their teeth -- all these investors have piled into gold in a quasi-physical sense and now they are being supported in that by the actions of Mr Central Bank," said RBS metals analyst Stephen Briggs.
Gold Bull Market Target Revised Higher to $1400 Last week gold's major new uptrend became established when following a successful test of support at the breakout point it advanced to new highs, indifferent to temporary dollar strength. The new uptrend is expected to be at least of similar magnitude and duration to the great uptrends of 2005 - 2006 and 2007 - 2008 and if it is we are looking at very significant gains over the intermediate-term, which is certainly suggested by the recent powerful breakouts of many junior mining stocks.
Can gold hit $1,500? The price of gold is flirting with $1,100 an ounce. Many other precious metals continue to surge. How much higher can gold go - and what's it all mean? Gold investors are partying like it's 1849. The price of the yellow precious metal hit yet another all-time high Friday. At nearly $1,100 an ounce, you have to wonder just how much higher gold can go in the next few months. Is it $1200? $1300? Heck, is $1500 out of the question? The Gold Rush of 2009 has been stunning to watch. Unlike some prior gold price spikes, the "good" news about gold's recent rise is that it does not appear to be due to worries about an imminent meltdown of the financial system. Gold rallied in early 2008, for example, just as Bear Stearns was about to collapse.
Why gold is certain to move higher The announcement last week of India’s official purchase of 200 tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund put an amphetamine-like push into the metal’s price. Before that news, the recent rally to new highs seemed to be tiring out, with the technicians citing this momentum line rolling over from that support level. The combined increases in open interest in the gold futures, and the gold held by the exchange traded funds, have not kept pace with the accelerated rise in the price of the metal; in other words, we have seen a rally on (apparently) weaker volume. That may not bode well for a strong gold market in the near future.
Gold at both ends of the economic K Wave Now that the 10-year cycle has peaked, fear will become the dominant emotion in the financial marketplace in the years ahead. Risk aversion is on the rise since the credit crisis and investors must look to those assets which tend to benefit from fear. Gold is of course the chief beneficiary of fear and has the added feature of being a hedge against a hyper-deflationary environment. Hyper deflation will be the order of the day in 2012-2014 when the final leg of the 60-year cycle descends. Many observers share the opinion that the latest move to new highs in the gold price is a premonition of a coming inflation.
Did India sell US Treasury bills to buy IMF gold? With the Indian central bank Reserve bank of India buying 200 tonnes of IMF gold at $6.7 billion, speculation is rife that the bank must have sold US Treasuries bills to grab the yellow metals. According to a report appeared in the Economic Times, India’s leading business daily, The RBI may have sold US Treasuries to fund its gold purchase from the International Monetary Fund.
Russia may buy remaining 203 tonnes of IMF gold Russia's Central Bank has bought 180 tonnes since June 2006, and another Russian agency just said it will hold off selling 50 tonnes this year. What's going on? It takes a long time to buy useful quantities of gold in the open market. Russia took over three years to buy 180 tonnes that way. We imagine that they set price limits when Buying Gold. This meant they bought more in one month than in the next, as gold came onto the market. There is no reason to believe that this policy has changed.
Gold: New Global High vs. Top 10 Currencies The official bid for gold, let alone private-sector demand, looks likely to hold strong... GOLD didn't only break new Dollar highs this week. Jumping to 8-month highs against the Euro, Swiss Franc and Canadian Dollar, it also took out fresh records versus the Indian Rupee and Chinese Yuan. And more critically still, gold broke new ground against the world's major currencies en masse. Critically as in critical.
Inside the Global Gold Frenzy HERE, in a corner of Switzerland where Italian is spoken and roughly one-third of the world’s gold is refined into bars and ingots, business is booming. Every day, bangles, bracelets and necklaces arrive in plastic bags — from souks in the Middle East, from pawn shops in Asia and from corner jewelers in Europe and North America. “It could be your grandmother’s gold or the gift of an ex-boyfriend,” said Erhard Oberli, the chief executive of Argor-Heraeus, a major refiner here that processes roughly 400 tons of gold a year. “Gold doesn’t disappear.”
Gold suppression is public policy and public record, not 'conspiracy theory' . . . . How have central banks tried to suppress the price of gold? The gold price suppression scheme was undertaken openly by governments for a long time prior to 1971. That's what the gold standard was about -- governments fixing the price of gold to a precise value in their currencies, a price at which governments would exchange their currencies for gold, currencies that were backed by gold. Though the gold standard was abandoned during World War I, restored briefly in the 1920s, and then abandoned again during the Great Depression, that was not the end of government efforts to control the gold price. Throughout the 1960s the United States and Great Britain attempted to hold the price at $35 in a public arrangement of the dishoarding of U.S. gold reserves. This arrangement came to be known as the London Gold Pool.
Will Russia really sell gold in the ‘open market’ or will it keep buying? Russia’s central bank has bought 180 tonnes since June 2006 and another Russian Agency holds off selling 50 tonnes. What’s going on? It takes a long time to buy useful quantities of gold in the ‘open’ market. It has taken Russia over 3 years to buy 180 tonnes there. We imagine that they set price limits on their buying. This meant they bought more in one month than in the next, as the gold came onto the market. There is no reason to believe that that policy has changed.
For brave investors, Zimbabwe could be the ultimate turnaround story When the Movement for Democratic Change took over Zimbabwe's economy earlier this year, there was not much left to run. Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF regime had carried out the most comprehensive destruction of a productive system seen in modern times short of war. Prices were doubling every 24 hours, a feat matched only by Hungary in 1946. Zimbabwe was surviving on dollar and rand remittances from a diaspora of three million refugees. Schools and hospitals were shut. Confiscatory exchange policies had caused almost every mine, mill, and factory to close. Capacity use was under 10pc. Violent land invasions had crippled farm exports. Proud Zimbabwe had become the world's top recipient of food aid per capita. White farms were seized, of course, but so were black farms – if owners were thought to harbour MDC sympathies.
Markets’ inflation readings edge upwards Market expectations for inflation in the US and UK have reached their highest levels since late last year amid growing investor demand for government securities that offer protection from rising prices. The developments reflect fears that a prolonged period of low overnight rates will spark higher inflation. Last week, the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and European Central Bank indicated that interest rates would remain very low for months to come and played down the risks of inflation.
Fed Attempts to Export Inflation Will Fail If you think people are confused about monetary affairs inside the borders of the nation they live in, you should listen to their explanations of money outside the country, beginning with the idea of "money outside the country." If you read the financial press, you will run across this phrase: "exported inflation." We never hear the terms "imported deflation" or "exported deflation."
CNBC - Dollar Will be Utterly Destroyed, Global Currency, New World Order
Is the Government Rehabilitating the Economy or Delaying the Inevitable? While all the talk at present is about economic corners turned and markets charging ahead, no one is paying much notice to an American economy that’s deteriorating right before our eyes. These myopic commentators seem to be simply moving past the now almost-universally held conclusion that, before the crash of 2008, our economy was on an unsustainable course. If these imbalances had been corrected, then perhaps I, too, would be joining in the euphoria. But evidence abounds that we have not veered at all from that dangerous path.
After G20, 'fresh dollar weakness' A meeting this weekend of top finance ministers failed to address China's currency, which could drive money flows away from the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar may come under renewed pressure from emerging market currencies and the euro after a meeting of the world's top finance officials failed to take concrete action on rebalancing global money flows. Finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of 20 major countries, meeting in Scotland at the weekend, launched a "framework" in which they will discuss how to reduce trade and savings imbalances between nations.
Euro Gains Toward Week High as G-20 Ignores U.S. Dollar Decline The euro traded near its highest in a week against the U.S. dollar after the Group of 20 governments meeting in Scotland over the weekend remained silent on the greenback’s decline this year. The U.S. currency also fell versus the Australian and New Zealand dollars after the International Monetary Fund said traders are probably using the dollar to fund so-called carry trades around the world and it may still be overvalued. A government report on Nov. 6 showing the U.S. jobless rate is at its highest since 1983 added to evidence the Federal Reserve will keep its benchmark rate at close to zero into next year.
IMF Says Dollar Funding ‘Carry Trade,’ May Be Still Overvalued The International Monetary Fund said traders are probably using the dollar to fund “carry trades” around the world and the currency may still be overvalued even after its slide this year. “There are indications that the U.S. dollar is now serving as the funding currency for carry trades,” the IMF said in a report published yesterday. “These trades may be contributing to upward pressure on the euro and some emerging-economy currencies.” While the dollar “has moved closer to medium-run equilibrium,” it is still “on the strong side.”
Shame on the Big, Centralized, World Government Deniers I had nothing better to do the other day and was browsing through some blogs and some news stories. I was surprised to see so many people still vehemently arguing about the reality of climate change and insisting that something needs to be done about it. Many pointed to this graph and that graph, this scientist and that scientist, this study and that study, this piece of propaganda and that piece of propaganda, and then cried about how arguing about climate change was going to lead us down the path to mankind's destruction. Both sides of the debate claim the other side is lying. Both sides present arguments that may be considered convincing to some. But there was something I noticed about those who argue that climate change is man made. Many of them have taken to calling those who argue against them "climate change deniers."
Nouriel Roubini sees a U-shaped recovery post bubble bursts
Banks Thwarting Feinberg Pay Model by Changing Bonus Formulas Global leaders and regulators trying to rein in banker pay are proposing everything from clamping down on guaranteed bonuses to recouping compensation from prior years if losses mount. Largely unaddressed is the topic that stirs the most public ire: How much money is too much?
IMF: Do Not Repeat Mistakes of Great Depression The International Monetary Fund warned global financial leaders on Friday not to repeat the mistakes of the Great Depression and choke off emergency support for their economies too quickly. In a document prepared for a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers in Scotland and seen by Reuters, the IMF stressed the fragility of global recovery, saying it was largely dependent on government and central bank support.
U.S. Backed $4.3 Trillion in Assets in Crisis The U.S. government guaranteed as much as $4.3 trillion in financial assets last year, making such backstops the biggest and riskiest part of Washington's response to the financial crisis, a bailout watchdog panel said on Friday. The Congressional Oversight Panel said in its latest monthly report that the asset guarantees from the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp helped calm panic in financial markets at minimal cost to taxpayers so far. To date, the programs have generated fees of about $17.4 billion, while only up to $2 million is expected to be paid out for a default under the FDIC's bank debt guarantee program.
Ron Paul on Rolling Back Big Government
The Return of the Inflation Tax The Pelosi tax surcharge applies to capital gains and dividends. All of those twentysomethings who voted for Barack Obama last year are about to experience the change they haven't been waiting for: the return of income tax bracket creep. Buried in Nancy Pelosi's health-care bill is a provision that will partially repeal tax indexing for inflation, meaning that as their earnings rise over a lifetime these youngsters can look forward to paying higher rates even if their income gains aren't real.
Geithner, Brown Split on Tobin Tax at G-20 Meeting Group of 20 governments split on whether to tax financial trading as part of a broader strategy to ensure the global economy’s expansion is less crisis-prone. U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown told a meeting of finance chiefs in St. Andrews, Scotland yesterday that such a levy could prevent excessive risk taking and fund future bank rescues, adding momentum to a debate begun by France. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said a “day-by-day” tax on speculation is “not something we’re prepared to support.”
Darling Seeks G-20 Plan to Deal With Asset Bubbles U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said the Group of 20 nations should develop a way to tackle asset-price bubbles as the world’s leading economies recover. “We have got to make sure we don’t get ourselves into a situation where some pressure starts to rise and then it becomes bigger and bigger and when the whole thing comes to an end it has catastrophic consequences,” Darling said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
Treasury Two-Year Notes Gain on 10% Unemployment, Fed on Hold Treasury two-year note yields touched the lowest since May after the U.S. unemployment rate rose to a 26-year high of 10.2 percent and the Federal Reserve said it will keep rates at record lows for an “extended period.” The difference between yields on 2-year notes and 10-year securities reached 2.70 percentage points, the most since July, before the U.S. sells $81 billion of 3- and 10-year notes and 30- year bonds next week.
Is Our Whole Banking System Catastrophically Insolvent? A good friend on mine works for a real estate consulting firm in NYC. One of his deals is evaluating a client's investment in an insolvent commercial property. The deal has $110 million bank loan funded by Bank of America. My friend said the property is worth $30-40 million. What I found interesting, and which confirms that banks are not even close to marking their assets properly, is that my buddy said that B of A is carrying the loan on its books at the full $110 million.
Sanders Bill Would Break Up Biggest Banks Senator Bernie Sanders on Friday introduced legislation that would make the U.S. Treasury Department identify and break up financial institutions that are "too big to fail." Sanders, an independent, in a statement said: "If an institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist ... We should break them up so they are no longer in a position to bring down the entire economy." The Sanders bill came at a time when Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives were considering similar legislation.
Fed should be dissolved: Rogers
Banks hold few foreclosures The latest foreclosure figures from First American CoreLogic show a growing divergence in what’s happening to problematic mortgages in Orange County. The ratio of bank-owned houses and condos, known as REO, against all outstanding first mortgages declined for the 13th straight month to just 0.26% in September — the lowest in 26 months. That sounds like a good thing for the housing market and economy. But the number of bad loans in limbo continues to escalate.
Fannie Asks Treasury for $15Bn, May Sell Housing Tax Credits Financial fallout at mortgage giant Fannie Mae continues to develop following the $19.8bn quarterly net loss, with the agency’s conservator confirming Fannie may sell as much as $2.6bn of low-income housing tax credits to investors and is requesting another $15bn in support from the US Treasury Department. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is supporting without objection an effort by Fannie to sell a portion of its Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to investors. FHFA acts as conservator of both Fannie and brother government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac.
FHA Still Offering No-Money-Down Home Loans You'd think that by now the government would have gotten the message that homebuyers who lack down payments are poor credit risks, says Eric Falkenstein head of Falkenstein Financial Data. Instead, the FHA continues to aggressively promote its 3.5 percent down mortgage loan program and it still allows first-time homebuyers to use their $8,000 tax credit toward the down payment.
BarCap Sees ‘Limited Use’ of Fannie’s Deed-for-Lease Program Although a new foreclosure alternative program announced Thursday by Fannie Mae (FNM: 1.04 -7.14%) presents a new step in mitigating foreclosure risk among distressed borrowers, it looks to have only a “marginal” effect on prepayments within Fannie residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), according to market commentary by Barclays Capital (BarCap). The Deed-for-Lease (D4L) program allows qualified borrowers to voluntarily deed the property back to Fannie and remain in the home on lease for up to 12 months. It targets borrowers that do not qualify for other workout alternatives like the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which allocates federal incentives to servicers that pursue modifications before foreclosure.
Peter Schiff John Stossel with Judge Napolitano Nov 06 2009
Obama signs bill assisting homebuyers, jobless President Barack Obama signed a $24 billion economic stimulus bill into law Friday, giving tax incentives to prospective homebuyers and additional jobless benefits to those idled by the business slump. The bill-signing came a day after the House, displaying rare bipartisan agreement over the troubling employment picture nationally, voted 403-12 to pass the measure. The Senate had approved it unanimously on Wednesday.
Consumer credit falls for 8th month Longest streak of declines since Federal Reserve started keeping records 56 years ago. Consumer credit fell in September for the eighth straight month, the longest streak of declines since the Federal Reserve started keeping records in 1943. Total consumer borrowing fell a seasonally adjusted $14.8 billion, or 7.2%, to $2.456 trillion in September, according to the Federal Reserve. Economists predicted a decline in total borrowing of $10 billion in September, according to a consensus survey from Briefing.com. August saw a downwardly revised $9.9 billion decrease in total consumer borrowing.
Nobel Laureate Phelps Says U.S. Recovery Will ‘Run Out of Gas’ The U.S. economic recovery will probably “run out of gas” as it heads toward a “new normal” of lower long-term growth and higher unemployment than over the previous decade, Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps said. The U.S. economy “is groggy, but it’s getting to its feet,” Phelps, who won the Nobel Prize in 2006, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television today in New York. “We’re already seeing a strong recovery, I just think that it’s going to run out of gas.”
Report: 237 millionaires in Congress Talk about bad timing. As Washington reels from the news of 10.2 percent unemployment, the Center for Responsive Politics is out with a new report describing the wealth of members of Congress. Among the highlights: Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires. That’s 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall.
Soaring U.S. Unemployment Threatens Path to Economic Recovery The unemployment rate in the U.S. jumped to 10.2 percent in October, the highest level since 1983, threatening the emerging economic recovery and giving President Barack Obama and Democrats a bigger hurdle to overcome before next year’s Congressional elections. Payrolls fell by 190,000 last month, more than forecast by economists, a Labor Department report showed yesterday in Washington. The jobless rate rose from 9.8 percent in September. Factory payrolls dropped by the most in four months, and the average workweek held at a record low.
Celente: American unemployment rates really around 20% Jobless rates in the United States rose to 10.2% for the first time in the past 26 years. Many experts like Trends Research Institute's Gerald Celente predict that the actual numbers are much higher and the unemployment rate is likely to climb.
The Truth About Jobs That No One Wants to Tell You Unemployment will almost certainly hit double-digits next year - and may remain there for some time. And for every person who shows up as unemployed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' household survey, you can bet there's another either too discouraged to look for work, or working part-time who'd rather have a full-time job or else taking home less pay than before (I'm in the last category, now that the University of California has instituted pay cuts). And there's yet another person who's more fearful that he or she will be next to lose a job.
Ultimate Conditions For Recovery With the steady stream of claims toward an economic recovery, one must do a reality check from time to time. The Gross Domestic Product for 3Q2009 reflected a solid temporary push from the absurdly inefficient and costly Clunker Car Program, and an inventory drawdown that finally arrived. Both factors contributed to a lift in GDP that in no way testify to a recovery. The Productivity at 9.5% for Q3 is the latest story of a supposed recovery. Well, if the truth be told, the combination of business liquidation and significant worker cuts adds to output with the advantage of the negative incremental workers. So if extremely large swaths of the USEconomy were to be liquidated in an organized fashion, and businesses pared down staff just to management and perhaps some temporary workers, the moronic economists that pollute the financial helm would rejoice for the burst to GDP with amplified Productivity. What a clown show! Then came the promising rise in the ISM manufacturing index. However, almost every single of the 15 regional manufacturing indexes turned lower. Hmm! Seems like a fraudulent national statistic was released. Is any USGovt economic statistic valid anymore? Nope!
Suspect in Orlando office shooting had money woes ORLANDO, Fla. – A man who was so deep in debt that he did not have the money to visit his son 30 minutes away opened fire Friday at the engineering firm that fired him two years ago, killing one person and wounding five, authorities said. As officers led a handcuffed Jason Rodriguez into a police station, a reporter asked the divorced 40-year-old why he had attacked his former colleagues. "Because they left me to rot," said Rodriguez, who recently told a bankruptcy judge he was making less than $30,000 a year at a Subway sandwich shop and owed nearly $90,000.
Roubini: Economy in Trouble if Oil Hits $100 An economist noted for his early warning that the United States was headed for a housing bust and oil shock said on Wednesday that oil's jump to $80 a barrel is unjustified and that a run to $100 may cause economic stress the way record highs near $150 did last year. 'Part of the rise may be justified by global economic recovery...but going from $30 to $80 when demand for oil is down to 2005 levels is very difficult to justify,' said Nouriel Roubini, chairman and co-founder of the RGE Monitor newsletter on the economy, said at a commodities conference in New York.
(1 of 3) Steve Keen on debt and the economy: How do we pay for all this? Oct 09. Steve Keen on debt and the economy: How do we pay for all this? Steve is an Australian Economist who knows his stuff and is one that predicted the the crisis. The video talks about the cause of the crisis
(2 of 3) Steve Keen on debt and the economy: How do we pay for all this? Oct 09.
(3 of 3) Steve Keen on debt and the economy: How do we pay for all this? Oct 09.
Another State Introduces Firearms Freedom Act According to a report published on the Tenth Amendment Center’s web site, “Introduced in the Ohio House on October 16, 2009, the ‘Firearms Freedom Act’ (HB-315) seeks ‘To enact section 2923.26 of the Revised Code to provide that ammunition, firearms, and firearm accessories that are manufactured and remain in Ohio are not subject to federal laws and regulations derived under Congress’ authority to regulate interstate commerce and to require the words “Made in Ohio” be stamped on a central metallic part of any firearm manufactured and sold in Ohio.’”
Obama Draws Criticism for Sitting Out Berlin Wall Anniversary President Obama squeezed in a trip to Copenhagen last month to lobby, unsuccessfully, for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. He plans to travel to Oslo next month to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, an award that even Obama has said he does not deserve. And this coming week, he sets out on a week long tour of Asia. But the president does not plan to travel to Germany to attend the 20th anniversary celebration Monday of the fall of the Berlin Wall, drawing heated criticism from those who say he's ignoring a shining triumph of American-inspired democracy. "A tragedy," is how former House Speaker Newt Gingrich described Obama's absence.
US slaps duties on Beijing steel pipe imports The US hit China with another big trade action on Thursday as it slapped ?preliminary anti-dumping duties on $2.6bn worth of Chinese pipe imports. The commerce department’s decision to impose duties of up to 99 per cent on imports of some steel pipes is the latest in a string of trade spats between over tyres, cars and chickens. It comes less than a fortnight before President Barack Obama’s first visit to China.
Latvia Spares Currency, Devalues Economy to Save Path to Euro Electronics and clothing stores at the Galerijas Centrs in Riga’s old town fly banners offering discounts of as much as 50 percent. Liga Kalnina isn’t buying. “Many friends have problems,” said the 28-year-old, whose salary was cut 25 percent in September. “They don’t have money now and they don’t know when they will.” Their plight is part of Latvian authorities’ plan to save the Baltic country’s currency and economy, among the worst hit in Europe during the global crisis. By ratcheting down state wages and prodding companies to do the same, policy makers are betting the resulting plunge in consumer demand will curb inflation, bring it back in line with the euro countries, whose currency Latvia is trying to join.
Press TV /On the edge with Max Keiser /11/ 06/ 2009
Press TV /On the edge with Max Keiser /11/ 06/ 2009
Press TV /On the edge with Max Keiser /11/ 06/ 2009
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from late last Friday afternoon . . .
US split: Collapse of 'shattered union' to begin with Texas? Russian economist and academic Igor Panarin says that there is a strong possibility that the United States will break into six pieces by June 2010, which he says will be the result of a second economic crisis in late November. After Texas Governor Rick Perry mentioned the possibility of his state seceding from the union, Americans started to take Panarin's predictions much more seriously and now the video game 'Shattered Union' is being developed into a major Hollywood motion picture.
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