Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Tues 03.02.2010
America's hidden debt bombs By Jeanne Sahadi NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- America's total debt load is on pace to top $13 trillion this year, and $22 trillion by 2020 -- and that's just the debt we're counting. What's not being counted: potential debt bombs that don't get factored into most budget analysis. When anyone talks about U.S. debt, they typically refer to two numbers. The first is the debt held by the public. That's money owed to those who have bought U.S. Treasurys, most notably big bond mutual funds and foreign governments. Debt held by the public today is roughly $8 trillion and rising.
How Quickly the Fragile US Empire may Collapse By Rocky Vega - The DailyReckoning.com 03/01/10 Stockholm, Sweden – Of late, Harvard University professor Niall Ferguson has been regularly beating his drum, warning in his own way of the impending doom of the American empire. In a recent opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times he checks the pulse of the US in light of the rhythm of history… From the LA Times: “Great powers are complex systems, made up of a very large number of interacting components that are asymmetrically organized, which means their construction more resembles a termite hill than an Egyptian pyramid. They operate somewhere between order and disorder. Such systems can appear to operate quite stably for some time; they seem to be in equilibrium but are, in fact, constantly adapting. But there comes a moment when complex systems ‘go critical.’ A very small trigger can set off a ‘phase transition’ from a benign equilibrium to a crisis — a single grain of sand causes a whole pile to collapse.
Bill Gross: Markets Will Soon Discover How Sovereign Nations Can Go Bust Just Like Companies by Vincent Fernando - TechTicker.com Bill Gross's knocks the halo off of sovereign bonds in his latest March outlook. He highlights how sovereign debt has been struck with more bad news than corporate debt lately. While sovereign credit used to be generally considered more secure than that of private companies, suddenly the default of nations such as Greece, the U.K., or even Japan seems on the table, while that of many strong corporates remains remote. What's happening, according to Mr. Gross, is that are starting to look just like corporate bonds, rather than existing on some privileged less-risky peer as in the past. Because it's anything goes and anyone can default in the new 'unibond' market:
Global Debt Crisis: The Killing of Paper Money By Bill Bonner - TheDailyReckoning.com Everyone says the euro is falling apart…that Europe itself can’t survive as a political unit. Europe seems to lack the things that make for a strong political system. It has no common language, for example (there are more than 200 different languages in Europe). And it has no common culture either…or even a common religion…or a common race. The Greeks are rioting in the streets. They’re upset because their government is trying to cut back on ‘services.’ Actually, it’s not the services that anyone would miss. It’s the money. The rioters are mostly people who live, in one way or another, at the expense of others…thanks to the government. They work for the government…or get handouts from it.
IMF-STYLE AUSTERITY MEASURES COME TO AMERICA: WHAT “FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY” MEANS TO YOU Ellen Brown - WebofDebt.com In addition to mandatory private health insurance premiums, we may soon be hit with a “mandatory savings” tax and other belt-tightening measures urged by the President’s new budget task force. These radical austerity measures are not only unnecessary, however, but will actually make matters worse. The push for “fiscal responsibility” is based on bad economics. When billionaires pledge a billion dollars to educate people to the evils of something, it is always good to peer closely at what they are up to. Hedge fund magnate Peter G. Peterson was formerly Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and head of the New York Federal Reserve. He is now senior chairman of Blackstone Group, which is in charge of dispersing government funds in the controversial AIG bailout, widely criticized as a government giveaway to banks.
Dump paper currencies, buy gold: Marc Faber By Adrian Ash - CommodityOnline.com The price of gold ticked lower on Monday after recording its best London Gold Fix in a week for US holders, hitting new all-time highs for UK investors as the Pound sank vs. the Dollar and European stock markets cut their early gains. Dropping to an 11-month low on the forex market, the Pound fell beneath $1.48 after weekend opinion polls showed a "hung parliament" ever more likely – with no single political party in charge – at the UK election that must happen by June. The Euro also fell hard, down 1.5¢ despite reports of a drop in Eurozone joblessness, stronger manufacturing orders, and an unexpected rise in import prices.
Greece, Gold and Financial Terrorism - Freedomain Radio Interviews Max Keiser
Central Banks may dump gold to hold currencies By Jon Nadler - CommodityOnline.com The new month started off with more uncertainties still manifest in the global markets and with a further boost in the value of the US dollar as it received additional safe-haven bids from increasingly risk-averse global investors. Gold prices held up reasonably well in the overnight hours, trading largely near $1115 an ounce but still unable to overcome the $1125 resistance area. Other precious metals were showing mixed action during the wee hours. Most of the speculative excitement was still confined to, and visible in, the dollar/euro/sterling currency pits.
Running on empty By Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch Recent data paint a picture of an economy slowing -- sharply PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) -- The fledgling economic recovery appears to be running out of gas. The fuel for this or any other recovery has to come from the consumer. Purchases of goods and services by people like you and me account for about 70% of the nation's gross domestic product, so without our help, a recovery could not last too long. Guess what? This is exactly what seems to be happening. Retailers report that, for the most part, shoppers are few and far between. The recent run of economic data is most compelling. Just about all of them paint a picture of an economy slowing -- and sharply, at that.
Gold is de-coupling from the $:€ exchange rate by Julian D.W. Phillips - FinancialSense.com Further to our piece on the €:$ Exchange rate last issue, we have found that the topic, at last, is hitting mainstream. It is always difficult to be weaned off what you thought was a reliable formula giving you the inside track on the gold price. The oil: gold relationship was a case in point. Many tried to use it as a measure of the next gold price. But in the case of the €:$ exchange rate dictating the direction of gold the consequences of following this line will shortly prove to be very expensive for Traders on COMEX and elsewhere.
Gold and Silver Sol Palha - SilverBearCafe.com From high to Low Silver has dropped over 24%. From high to low Gold has so far shed only roughly 12%. Silver also did not take out its 2008 highs when Gold went on to put in a series of new all time highs. This is another massive intra market negative divergence signal and yet another reason to suggest that Gold could correct/consolidate for several months. On a positive note gold has held up remarkably well in the face of a very strong rally from the dollar. If it continues to hold up like this, then when the dollar rally finally fizzles out, one can expect gold to literally explode upwards.
The golden slope of hope By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch Gold timers increasingly see glass as half full Contrarian analysis continues to suggest that gold will face stiff headwinds in coming weeks. This is the same conclusion I reached one month ago, when I last devoted a column to gold market sentiment. Over the intervening four weeks, despite a lot of volatility, gold is no higher today than then -- trading around $1,118 per ounce. Yet, the average gold timer is more upbeat than he was in early February. That is a worrisome trend, according to contrarians, since it suggests that the gold timers are becoming more inclined to see the glass as half full rather than half empty.
Did China seal IMF gold deal? Prices may go up NEW DELHI (Commodity Online): Will they, won’t they? That is the billion dollar question looming large over the global bullion market now with China rumoured to have sealed a deal to buy the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gold. This move from Beijing comes after India bought 200 tonnes of IMF gold in early November 2009, which triggered a gold rally in the following months in global markets. So, now is it China’s turn to play the bull in bullion market? It seems so. If media reports are to be believed, China has already sealed a deal with IMF to buy 191.3 tonnes of gold, which the monetary fund currently has for sale from the 403.3 tonnes put up for sale since January 2007.
The Real Cause of Hyperinflation By: Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT - GoldSeek.com In his weekly letter, John Mauldin concluded that we have not experienced hyperinflation (despite massive Fed “printing”) due to the fact that the money multiplier has fallen and fallen below 1.0. This means that for each additional $1 added to the monetary base, the money supply is changing by less than $1. In other words, banks are not lending and so the velocity of money is declining. This is correct as to why we don’t have REFLATION. There is an important difference between REFLATION and HYPERINFLATION. Reflation occurs when inflationary policy is successful. Examples of this include 1933-1937, 2003-2007 and to some degree, 2009. In a reflationary period, Commodities outperform everything, including Precious Metals.
First documentation of counterfeit gold bars, plated tungsten by Chris Powell - Gata.org What appears to be the first documentation of counterfeit gold bars made of plated tungsten was noted today by Zero Hedge as having been reported by a German television station. The counterfeit bar reportedly is in the possession of the W.C. Heraeus gold foundry in Hanau, Germany, said to be the world's largest. This sort of thing might shake the gold market even more than, say, the International Monetary Fund's confession that it really doesn't have any gold and that it has been selling only bookkeeping entries all this time.
China's debt to U.S. Treasury more than indicated By David M. Dickson - WashingtonTimes.com Despite recent government reports that China's holdings of U.S. Treasury debt declined during the second half of last year, the Asian economic giant almost certainly owns far more Treasury securities than official statistics indicate. After peaking at $801.5 billion, China's holdings of U.S. Treasury securities declined to $755.4 billion at the year's end, dropping the communist power into the position of second-largest holder of Treasury debt after Japan's $768.8 billion, official government data reveal. But these numbers don't tell the whole story.
China PLA officer urges challenging U.S. dominance BEIJING (Reuters) - China should build the world's strongest military and move swiftly to topple the United States as the global "champion," a senior Chinese PLA officer says in a new book reflecting swelling nationalist ambitions. The call for China to abandon modesty about its global goals and "sprint to become world number one" comes from a People's Liberation Army (PLA) Senior Colonel, Liu Mingfu, who warns that his nation's ascent will alarm Washington, risking war despite Beijing's hopes for a "peaceful rise." "China's big goal in the 21st century is to become world number one, the top power," Liu writes in his newly published Chinese-language book, "The China Dream." "If China in the 21st century cannot become world number one, cannot become the top power, then inevitably it will become a straggler that is cast aside," writes Liu, a professor at the elite National Defense University, which trains rising officers.
EU Federal Economic Government Proposal Mirrors Nazi Plan For Fourth Reich Paul Joseph Watson - Prison Planet.com German-French draft proposal to create continental government with financial control over member states apes how top Nazis foresaw preservation of fascist power in the 1940’s A new proposal by France and Germany to create a federal European economic government in the name of mandating fiscal responsibility and avoiding a repeat of the turmoil in Greece chillingly mirrors similar plans put forward by top Nazis in the 1940’s as a means of preserving fascist power at the end of world war two – men who were responsible for founding the EU in the first place.
Barney Frank Calls For Elimination Of Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac by: Housing Predictor - NuWireInvestor.com A battle is brewing in Washington, D.C. over the fate of America’s biggest money pit, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation’s two largest purchasers of home mortgages. The White House is quietly using the two companies as part of its housing rescue plan to cover an unlimited amount of mortgage losses on foreclosed properties at tax payer expense. The program is being administered by the Treasury Department as it buys up mortgage-backed securities with little public transparency. The high stakes game over whether the two giant government owned and operated enterprises (GSEs) will be left intact or dismantled is in question.
Foreclosures now are just ‘tip of the iceberg’ by Marilyn Kalfus, Orange County Register Despite some reports that suggest the housing crisis may be hitting bottom, foreclosures so far represent the “tip of the iceberg,” real estate analyst, investor and lender Bruce Norris says. Norris told hundreds of investors attending a seminar he held in Costa Mesa this past weekend that numbers indicating the appearance of firming home prices and fewer foreclosure auctions are “illusions.” Government repayment and loan modification programs make foreclosure numbers appear lower for now, but are delaying the inevitable inability or disinclination of homeowners in trouble to hang on to property that has dropped in value by hundreds of thousands of dollars, he says.
Reports suggest the economy isn't out of the woods WASHINGTON (AP) — Three economic reports on Monday showed an economy that is stronger than at the depths of the recession but one that still faces dangers. Details:
A manufacturing sector index showed expansion in February for a seventh straight month. Factory output has provided one of the few areas of strength for the economy. Still, the growth in manufacturing activity slowed compared with January and fell short of economists' expectations.
Construction spending fell for a third straight month in January.
Personal spending rose slightly more than expected, but Americans' incomes scarcely budged. In part, that was because Social Security recipients didn't get their usual cost-of-living boost. The weak income growth could depress spending in the months ahead and drag on the economy's rebound.
Don't Bet on a Recovery by Peter Schiff - LewRockwell.com It is astounding how many economists, government officials, and Wall Street strategists construe the current economic conditions as evidence of a bona fide recovery. It is a testament to the power of the rose-colored glasses handed out by our nation's leading universities that such a feeling could be widely held despite the clear and present danger that compounds daily. The myopia leads us to enact policies that actually exacerbate our problems. The "remedies" are postponing, perhaps indefinitely, a true recovery.
Could the U.S. Default on its Debt? Dominick T. Armentano - Herald News, Austin Business Journal -- The economic landscape still looks pretty gloomy despite (because of?) massive increases in federal government spending by Congress. Want something else to worry about? What if your government suddenly went “belly up” on some or all of its public debt IOU’s? Impossible you say? Not really. When individuals or businesses have long-run expenses that exceed anticipated income—and have neither capital nor savings to fill in the gap—they often declare bankruptcy. And though it is rare, even some city governments (i.e., Vallejo, Calif.) have been plunged recently into insolvency and bankruptcy, and some state governments (with heavy pension costs) might consider it. But could it happen to our own federal government?
Who's the Boss? By Henry Lamb - GOP USA Is the federal government sovereign, with authority over state governments? Or, are individual state governments sovereign, with authority over the federal government? It's a simple question; it's the answer that's a problem. The federal government exists because representatives of the states created it. This fact should provide a clue. The federal government was designed by representatives from the states in a document called the Constitution of the United States. The federal government became a reality when the Constitution was ratified by the 9th state, New Hampshire, on June 21, 1788. This infant government, created by the states, began operation March 4, 1789. From that day until this, people have been arguing over whether the federal government or the states possess the supreme authority.
The Monetary Conspiracy For World Government Zahir Ebrahim - SilverBearCafe.com Economics and Money aren't supposed to be as abstruse as it is made out to be, and nor does it take a Ph.D. from M.I.T. to realize that one is being taken for a sodomized ride on the Capricorn of economics gibberish. It is the responsibility of every denizen of the world to understand how humanity is being herded into global debt-enslavement and a centrally managed world-government, baby-step at a time, by manufacturing deliberate crisis and then proposing the next baby-step as its solution or fait accompli. Each baby-step erodes away some aspect of national sovereignty. 911 helped setup the global police state as a proposed solution to 'terrorism' - a manufactured product - to create the sine qua non mechanisms for world-government. "World government could only be kept in being by force", as Bertrand Russell had put it.
Bizarre Spending Habits Texas Straight Talk by Ron Paul Last week I had the opportunity to bring up spending and transparency in two important hearings. On Wednesday I questioned Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on some highly questionable uses of funds at the Federal Reserve, and on Thursday I asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about exorbitant spending at the State Department. It is extremely important to continue bringing these issues up, especially in light of our difficult economic times, when so many are out of work, as I saw up close in my district at the Oceans of Opportunity Job Fair in Galveston two weeks ago. Those who are working live with the fear of losing their jobs as they struggle to pay bills. Meanwhile, Washington is talking of increasing their taxes, something voters were promised, clearly and adamantly, would not happen in this administration.
The Case Against Bernanke and Greenspan... Why They Should be Indicted Mike Whitney - SilverBearCafe.com Is there enough evidence to indict Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan on charges that they aided and abetted the banks and other financial institutions in the sale of fraudulent loans to investors? That depends on whether there is sufficient proof to show whether the two men KNEW that the nation's lenders were engaged in large-scale predatory lending and chose to do nothing. As we'll see, both Greenspan and Bernanke were warned repeatedly about the mortgage/derivatives scam by credible professionals and industry regulators, but failed to act.
Vice Chairman of Fed to Retire, Letting Obama Reshape Board By SEWELL CHAN - NY Times WASHINGTON — The vice chairman of the Federal Reserve announced on Monday that he would retire in June, giving President Obama an expanded opportunity to put his stamp on the central bank as it faces a difficult balance between heading off inflation and addressing high levels of unemployment. The departure of the vice chairman, Donald L. Kohn, a 40-year Fed veteran, means Mr. Obama has three seats to fill on the Fed’s seven-member board of governors at a time when the central bank is weighing how aggressively to reverse the easy-money policy it pursued during the financial crisis and recession.
Kohn to leave Federal Reserve in June By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON — Donald Kohn, second-highest ranking official at the Federal Reserve, announced Monday that he will leave at the end of June. Kohn, vice chairman, has played a major role in shaping the Fed's strategy in fighting the worst financial and economic crises to hit the country since the Great Depression. His departure will open a third seat on the seven-member Federal Reserve board in Washington, giving President Barack Obama a chance to put a bigger imprint on the central bank.
Fed's Plosser says not fan of Treasury loans for Fed NEW YORK (Reuters) - Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser said on Monday he is uncomfortable with a Treasury Department financing program that could help the Federal Reserve drain money from the financial system. The U.S. Treasury Department said on February 23 that it was resuming the Treasury Supplementary Financing Program to the tune of $200 billion. "I'd just as soon get rid of that tool. I don't think we ought to be relying on the Treasury in that way," Plosser told the Wall Street Journal in an interview. "It gives them too much discretion over our monetary policy and our balance sheet. I'd just as soon not have it."
Georgia banks lose $3.3 billion in 2009 By Paul Donsky - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Georgia banks, reeling from the Great Recession and collapsed real estate market, recorded $3.3 billion in losses in 2009 – effectively wiping out all profits the state’s banking industry earned the previous two years. The shattered economy also put a big squeeze on lending as cash-strapped Georgia banks moved to shrink their balance sheets. Overall, 63 percent of the state’s 305 banks ended last year in the red, according to figures released last week by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. That compares to 49 percent in 2008 and 15 percent in 2007.
Soros swoops in, takes another bank By Aaron Klein - WND Accusations of favoritism swirl in deals for institutions seized by government A company formed by an investor group that includes billionaire George Soros swooped in to purchase a failed California bank in the latest acquisition by the company, despite controversy surrounding some of its previous bank takeovers. OneWest Bank entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, for the acquisition of all of the deposits and certain assets of La Jolla Bank.
Skilling may get legal break By David G. Savage - LA Times The Supreme Court might strike part of his conviction because it rests on a vague law. Reporting from Washington - The Supreme Court justices, hearing an appeal from former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Jeffrey K. Skilling, strongly hinted Monday that they were likely to overturn his conviction, at least in part, because it rested on the notion that he cheated shareholders of his "honest services." Such a ruling would not set Skilling free, but it would lower his 24-year prison term. It also could cast doubt on the convictions of scores of public officials and corporate executives who were sent to prison for dishonest dealings.
As Euro Jitters Ease, British Pound Faces Crisis By VISHESH KUMAR - DailyFinance.com The eurozone has been awash in political theatrics lately surrounding the looming Greek debt crisis. A prominent German magazine recently depicted the ancient Greek Venus de Milo statue gesturing rudely, next to the headline "Cheats in the euro family," insinuating that Greece had deceived its way into the common currency. The Greeks, meanwhile, have been quick to conjure up parallels to the German occupation of Greece during World War II, and have flung their own unflattering media barbs. But despite the flaring tempers and public grandstanding, an outline of how Greece plans to deal with its massive maturities -- the country needs to refinance $54 billion in the months ahead -- may be materializing. Posturing and acrimony aside, most accounts suggest that German and French banks will partner with governments to purchase slabs of Greek bonds, while Greece seems increasingly agreeable to taking harsh austerity measures to rein in spending.
U.S. extends mortgage refinance program by Alan Zibel, AP Real Estate Writer WASHINGTON — The government is giving homeowners another year to refinance their loans under a little-used program designed to help borrowers whose homes have plummeted in value. The Obama administration effort, known as Home Affordable Refinance Program, had been scheduled to end on June 10 but will now run out on June 30, 2011, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said Monday.
CalPERS weighs reducing return on investments Andrew S. Ross - SF Chronicle What a difference a weekend makes. In light of "market conditions over the last year," the California Public Employees' Retirement System said Sunday that it's considering lowering the benchmark 7.75 percent return on investments judged necessary to cover its obligations. That could mean additional pain for state employees and California taxpayers. Two days earlier, we reported CalPERS' assurances that it was earning more than enough to cover those obligations "for the long term." "It's still possible they feel that way," said Denise Valentine, a senior analyst with the Aite Group, a financial services research and consulting group in Connecticut. "But it's prudent to set expectations with their constituents, the government and the broader market."
Fueling the Fire of Housing Bubble II By Kevin Chiu - Housing Predictor Government efforts to stabilize the financial system have kept interest rates low, and bought up more than $1.4-trillion in mostly failed mortgage-backed securities. But widespread fraud and other government efforts may already be driving the development of another housing bubble. The FBI says mortgage fraud is still at epidemic levels, which may be fueling the development of local bubbles. Government backed low interest rate mortgages offered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) are showing signs of wide abuse by home buyers. The Internal Revenue Service is investigating an estimated 100,000 to 350,000 tax payers who may have cheated taking the first time home buyers tax credit.
Get Ready for a Double Dip in Housing By Richard Suttmeier - Minyanville.com Speculation in copper and lumber futures is causing problems for homebuilders and the US economy. The Housing Slump Renews -- Sales of new homes plunged 11.2% in January to a record low 309,000 units on an annualized basis. Sales of existing homes fell 7.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million units, the weakest reading since June 2009. I think that prospective buyers who had hoped to take advantage of the first-time $8,000 tax credit, and move-up buyers seeking the $6,500 tax credit are concerned that they can't get to contract by the end of April if they're applying for a mortgage now. Even if they do, they have to close by the end of June. If not, they may lose their down payment and don't get the tax credit? If it all goes well, it still takes six months to get the tax check from the IRS.
Bill Gates: Use Vaccines To Lower Population Paul Joseph Watson - Prison Planet.com Microsoft chief echoes John P. Holdren’s call for massive sterilization program, wants CO2 tax Microsoft founder Bill Gates told a recent TED conference, an organization which is sponsored by one of the largest toxic waste polluters on the planet, that vaccines need to be used to reduce world population figures in order to solve global warming and lower CO2 emissions. Stating that the global population was heading towards 9 billion, Gates said, “If we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services (abortion), we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 per cent.”
Social Security Payback, Part 2 By TOM LAURICELLA - WSJ Is it really worth going through the trouble of repaying Social Security benefits for those who claim them early? Last month, we reported on a feature of the Social Security program that allows retirees to pay back benefits that they have received. This enables those who claim reduced benefits before full retirement age to repay those dollars and then re-apply for benefits at a later date. Individuals then can get the bigger check afforded to those who delay taking benefits in the first place.
Cobra subsidy is both generous and necessary Kathleen Pender - SF Chronicle Eligibility for the federal subsidy for Cobra health insurance premiums expired on Sunday, but on Monday, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., introduced a bill that would revive it for workers who lose their jobs through the end of this year. The bill also would restore federal funding for extended unemployment benefits, which also expired Monday. The Cobra subsidy is a lifesaver for those who get it. But if you never had health insurance or have been paying for an individual plan out of your own pocket, you might wonder why Congress continues to bestow this generous benefit on a select group of people who previously enjoyed group health insurance.
Dems new jobless bill could pass this week by Dena Bunis, Washington Bureau Chief Democrats have just unveiled a $150 billion jobs bill number two today that includes an extension of unemployment insurance and COBRA health benefit subsidies until the end of this year. Although the bill would be retroactive to Feb. 28 when these benefits ran out, it may not stop an estimated million people from seeing their benefits interrupted because the Republican senator from Kentucky, Jim Bunning, continued his objection Monday to passage of a short-term extension while this longer bill goes through the legislative process.
American reliance on government at all-time high By Patrice Hill - WashingtonTimes.com The so-called "Great Recession" has left Americans depending on the government dole like never before. Without record levels of welfare, unemployment and other government benefits as well as tax cuts last year, the income of U.S. households would have plunged by an astonishing $723 billion — more than four times the record $167 billion drop reported last month by the Commerce Department.
States may ban credit checks on job applicants ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — It's hard enough to find a job in this economy, and now some people are facing another hurdle: Potential employers are holding their credit histories against them. Sixty percent of employers recently surveyed by the Society for Human Resources Management said they run credit checks on at least some job applicants, compared with 42% in a somewhat similar survey in 2006.
Spending Less Becoming New Norm for Many Americans by Dennis Jacobe, Gallup Consulting An increasing percentage of Americans say they more enjoy saving than spending PRINCETON, NJ -- The recession and financial crisis have resulted in a significant change in the way many Americans feel about spending and saving. Six in 10 Americans (62%) now say they more enjoy saving than spending -- while 35% say the reverse. This reflects a shift that began in December 2008 and a marked change from the first half of the decade, when Americans were about evenly split regarding whether they more enjoyed spending or saving.
GM to recall 1.3 million Chevrolet Cobalts and other compacts to fix power steering problem Associated Press -- DETROIT — General Motors Co. said Monday it will recall 1.3 million Chevrolet and Pontiac compact cars sold in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to fix power steering motors that can fail. The recall affects 2005 to 2010 Chevrolet Cobalts, 2007 to 2010 Pontiac G5s, 2005 and 2006 Pontiac Pursuits sold in Canada and 2005 and 2006 Pontiac G4s sold in Mexico. The automaker said the vehicles are still safe to drive and never lose their steering, but it may be harder to steer them when traveling under 15 mph.
Report Shows Americans 'Graze' News By Chloe Albanesius - PC Magazine Not surprisingly, Americans are not tied to one news source, and about 92 percent get their news from multiple platforms – Internet, newspapers, TV, or cell phones, according to a Monday report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "Americans have become news grazers both on and offline – but within limits," Amy Mitchell, deputy director for the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, said in a statement. "They generally don't have one favorite Web site but also don't search aimlessly. Most online news consumers regularly draw on just a handful of different sites."
Condé Nast Is Preparing iPad Versions of Some of Its Top Magazines By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD - NY Times -- Condé Nast’s plans for the iPad tablet computer from Apple are getting firmer. The first magazines for which it will create iPad versions are Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Glamour, the company plans to announce in an internal memorandum on Monday. GQ will have a tablet version of its April issue ready. Vanity Fair and Wired will follow with their June issues, and The New Yorker and Glamour will have issues in the summer (the company has not yet determined the exact timing for those).
Hazmat crews called to Utah IRS building OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Hazardous materials crews have been called to an Internal Revenue Service building in Ogden, Utah, after a suspicious substance was found. The FBI's Salt Lake City division says it responded to a possible hazardous material threat at the building Monday morning. The FBI says parts of the building were evacuated. It says some people had medical emergencies but that they did not "appear to be related to this incident."
Uh Oh. Is The Yellowstone Caldera Calling? by Ernie Fitzpatrick - LewRockwell.com Earthquake swarms have the mega-volcano at Yellowstone rumbling. Everyone who knows anything about volcanoes and earthquakes is aware of the potentially earth destroying capability of the Yellowstone Super Volcano. Yellowstone could do what the Toba Super Volcano did some 70,000 years ago: throw the planet into an ice age that lasted close to 60,000 years and destroy 90-98% of the world’s population. Those are not wild speculations but reality. No one wants to think about it of course; however, Yellowstone may be leaving a calling card for us. Over the last few months things have been heating up in our famous National Park and none of it is good.
War Council Convened In Damascus Past Friday To Prepare For Israeli Strike, Iran President Expects War "Between Spring And Summer" by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com Abu Dhabi Media website The National has disclosed some rather disturbing news about peace "prospects" in the middle east. It appears this past Friday saw a war council convene in Damascus, between Syrian president Bashar al Assad, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah to "devise counterattack plans and assign tasks in the event of an Israeli offensive on one or all parties, wrote Abdelbari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of the pan-Arab newspaper Al Quds al Arabi." And more troublingly, "the Iranian president said he expects war to break out somewhere between spring and summer of this year.
Communist Party Needs to Loosen Its Grip in China By ALAN WHEATLEY - NY Times BEIJING — Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas, and the Chinese Communist Party is not exactly itching to release its iron grip on society and the economy. But that is exactly what the party needs to do to prolong the fast economic growth that underpins its political legitimacy: Cutting state-owned companies down to size and opening up to private enterprise hold the key to sustaining productivity gains and redistributing income more equitably. Coming from Western economists, such a prescription is standard stuff. What is striking is the urgency with which some prominent Chinese academics are making the same case.
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