Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.

Tuesday 09.28.2010

It Is A Race To The Bottom For Global Currencies
And The Winner Will Be Gold
The Economic Collapse
In 2010, any nation that has a weak currency has a very significant competitive advantage in global trade. A weak currency means that the products and services produced by that nation will be less expensive for other nations. Therefore other nations will buy more of those products and services. When exports go up, employment goes up and more wealth flows into the country. Alternatively, when the value of a national currency declines, exports do down, unemployment increases and less wealth flows into the country. Therefore, dozens of exporting nations around the globe have become increasingly determined to keep their national currencies very weak in an attempt to maintain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. Essentially what we have is a race to the bottom among global currencies. Whenever any nation wants to gain a little bit more of an edge in global trade they push the value of their currency down just a little bit more. So who is the winner in all of this? Well, that is easy. Gold, silver and other precious metals will continue to be the winners as fiat currencies all over the globe continue to decline in value.

The (Unofficial) Beginning of the Double Dip Recession
By Addison Wiggin
09/27/10 Baltimore, Maryland -
Today, we take a belated bow for calling the "official" end of the recession ... by declaring a "double dip" to be unofficially under way.
Last week, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) declared the Great Recession ended in June 2009. Turns out, looking back, we called it in real-time - relying on a single obscure indicator.
It's called "capacity utilization" - that is, all the plant, equipment and other resources business have at their disposal, and what percentage of it businesses are actually putting to work.
On June 17, 2009, we pointed out that "over the last 40 years, a bottom in capacity utilization has marked the precise end of recessions."

A Candid Appraisal of the Recovery
By: John Browne - GoldSeek.com
Over the last two weeks, seemingly good economic news offered some shreds of optimism to a stock market that was desperate for a pick-me-up.
The week before last, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared that the US recession had ended back in June 2009. At the beginning of last week, news came in that month-on-month retail sales had risen by 0.4 percent. Combined with successful government debt auctions in the eurozone, increasing expectations that Republicans will take back the House (thereby blunting the leftward drift of Washington), and hopes that a new round of quantitative easing will pump up growth, mainstream analysts are developing a feeling of near-euphoria.

How Hyperinflation Really Happens
By: Steve Saville, GoldSeek.com
.... Except for the part about hyperinflation encompassing a loss of faith in the currency, the above is almost completely wrong. In particular, economies don't "overheat", economic growth causes prices to fall rather than rise, and hyperinflation is very much an extension of inflation. The author of the article doesn't even mention money-supply growth. Trying to explain inflation or hyperinflation without reference to growth in the money supply is like trying to explain why the moon orbits the Earth without reference to gravity.
All historical episodes of hyperinflation that we know of -- and we know of many -- have been step-by-step processes set in motion by, and sustained by, increases in the supply of money. After the supply of money grows at a rapid rate for a period of at least a few years, some people conclude that the inflation will be endless. These people act today in anticipation of tomorrow's money-supply-induced price rises. As time goes by, more and more people come to the realisation that the inflation will most likely be endless and begin to act (meaning: buy stuff immediately) in anticipation of future price rises, which eventually leads to the situation where prices are rising much faster than the supply of money.

One once ounce of gold: one year's wage,
One ounce of silver: one month's wage
by Vincent Bressler - GoldSeek.com
You think I am crazy?
I have been ridiculed, dismissed, hated and now I am feared, but no one has given me a reason to change my view. I am still listening.
Unbacked paper money is fraud. Most of the wealth is the world is an illusion.
Real wealth is productive capacity. The world has orders of magnitude more productive capacity than in 1929, multiples of what it had in 1989. But the paper illusions of wealth dwarf real wealth as never before. Most of that paper wealth will accrue to gold and silver.
We will continue to see deflation in terms of gold and silver, inflation in terms of paper.
From the perspective of gold, debt will default. From the perspective of paper, debt will inflate.
One way or another, debt, which is the mirror reflection of the paper wealth illusion, will be destroyed.

How Realistic Is $5,000 Gold?
By: Chris Mack - GoldSeek.com
Taking into account 11 key measurements based on historical movements and price ratios, gold is likely to exceed $5,000 and silver is likely to exceed $200 within the next 5 years. If silver reverts to its historical ratio of 16 to 1 with gold, then it could rise even higher. Let me explain.
In recent weeks gold and silver have broken through their multi-month consolidation levels, and investors are wondering where the precious metals are headed. On a short term basis both gold and silver are overbought and due for a correction that may retest the breakout levels of $1,250 on gold and $20 on silver.

Gold firmer, hovering near all-time highs
By Jim Wyckoff of Kitco News
Comex gold futures prices are trading modestly higher Monday morning. Prices are hovering near Friday's all-time high of $1,301.30, basis the most active December futures contract. A weaker U.S. dollar is still producing fresh buying interest in the gold market. December Comex gold last traded up $2.80 an ounce at $1,300.90. Spot gold was last quoted up $2.50 at $1,300.00.
The U.S. dollar index hit a fresh eight-month low Monday morning. The dollar index remains weak, technically. The inverse price relationship between the U.S. dollar index and gold appears to have strengthened recently. As long as the U.S. dollar index is in an overall price downtrend on the charts, look for gold prices to continue to trend sideways to higher.

Central banks sell the least gold since 1999
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Major central banks and the International Monetary Fund over the past 12 months have reportedly sold the smallest amount of gold since an agreement to cap gold sales was put in place in 1999.
The first year under the current agreement ended Sunday, and the low level of sales comes as Europe continues to reel from the sovereign-debt crisis that threatened to halt the global recovery.
The agreement is in the midst of its third five-year run.
Central banks account for about 20% of above-ground gold in the world, and fewer sales mean gold supplies are likely to continue to lag demand, boosting prices.

Marc Faber Interview on Chinese Yuan, Gold Prices

Gold a Bubble? NOT - EVEN - CLOSE
By Jonathan Kosares - GoldSeek.com
With the number of financial bubbles inflating and bursting over the past decade and a half, it isn't surprising that financial analysts have their "bubble-dar" honed and active. What is surprising though is the large number who have resoundingly dubbed the gold market as "the next big bubble." But is it? Most gold owners reject claims that gold is in a bubble, but they might not be sure exactly why. The most concrete and convincing evidence against gold being in a bubble, though, is right in front of us.

Gold continues growth momentum in Asia
SINGAPORE (Commodity Online): Gold prices continued upward trends in early Asian trade Monday after breaking the psychological barrier of $1300 an ounce mark last week.
Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $1296.41 an ounce at 12.00 noon Singapore time while U.S. gold futures for December delivery was hardly changed at $1,297.8 an ounce on the Comex division of Nymex.
Analysts said the precious yellow metal is likely to advance further towards that glittering mark as worries about the health of the global economy spurred buying from investors.

Return of Quantitative Easing Good for Gold
By Frank Holmes - 321gold.com
The Federal Reserve said two words in its statement this past week that should make every gold investor happy: Quantitative Easing. The Fed hinted that we may see additional QE measures as early as November. The news is good for gold investors because it means there could be more dollars chasing a finite amount of resources, further devaluing the U.S. dollar.
We've already seen an intervention by Japan's central bank to weaken the yen in an effort to boost the nation's sagging export sector. Japan is currently the world's third-largest economy.

When Zombies Buy Gold
By Bill Bonner
09/27/10 Baltimore, Maryland - Last week it looked like the feds' efforts to reflate the US economy might be working. Gold was hitting one new high after another. Stocks were going up too.
The Dow rose nearly 200 points on Friday. Gold hit $1,300 ... but couldn't close at that level. When trading came to an end gold was $2 short of the $1,300 mark.
What's up? It's hard to know. If gold is going up, analysts reasoned, it must mean something. What? The obvious explanation is that inflation is coming.
So the advisors told their clients to buy gold. The economy must be improving they said. The recession ended more than a year ago. The recovery hasn't been as strong as anyone wanted. But there must be a recovery underway ... and it must mean that inflation and gold will go up.

6 Reasons Why a Dollar Crisis Is Imminent
Perry D. - SeekingAlpha.com
The U.S. dollar is sliding dangerously close to a steep cliff -- a possible point of no return at which the currency could collapse and America could join the ranks of the world's banana republics.
For more than thirty years, the U.S. has resisted the restructuring, austerity and market forces required to restore the health, competitiveness and potential of its economy.
Extending a long-running policy of neglect, denial, short-sightedness, political expediency and corruption, for the past two years, the Federal Reserve has tried to prop up the increasingly uncompetitive and defective U.S. economy with what amounts to unprecedented amounts of money printing -- still in effect and slated to expand. The government as a whole has increasingly spent beyond its means, doubled down on debt and pushed the limits of inflation risks as it milks the outdated perception of the dollar as a "safe haven" for all it's worth.

Dollar pares gains against euro
Fears about Fed activity overshadow Anglo Irish Bank rating cut
By Deborah Levine and William L. Watts, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - The dollar pared gains against the euro Monday, as lingering concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve will engage in quantitative easing overshadowed a downgrade of troubled Irish lender Anglo Irish Bank.
The euro rose above $1.35 briefly, compared with $1.3486 in North American trade late Friday. It recently traded at $1.3487, after falling to $1.3424 earlier.

Brazil in 'currency war' alert
By Jonathan Wheatley in S‹o Paulo and Peter Garnham in London - FT.com
An "international currency war" has broken out, according to Guido Mantega, Brazil's finance minister, as governments around the globe compete to lower their exchange rates to boost competitiveness.
Mr Mantega's comments in S‹o Paulo on Monday follow a series of recent interventions by central banks, in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in an effort to make their currencies cheaper. China, an export powerhouse, has continued to suppress the value of the renminbi, in spite of pressure from the US to allow it to rise, while officials from countries ranging from Singapore to Colombia have issued warnings over the strength of their currencies.

US closer to renminbi riposte
By James Politi in Washington - FT.com
The US Congress moved closer to punishing China for allegedly manipulating its currency, as a key committee of the House of Representatives voted to advance legislation that could heighten economic tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade, approved the currency bill on Friday with bipartisan support, paving the way for a vote in the full House next week.
The legislation would allow the US to use estimates of currency undervaluation to calculate countervailing duties on imports from China and other countries. The language of the bill was recently changed to reduce its chances of being successfully challenged at the World Trade Organisation, making it more palat?able to centrist Democrats and some Republicans, even though there are still concerns that it may not pass muster with global trade rules.

Jim Rogers - 'You cannot spend money you don't have'

20 Signs That The Economic Collapse Has Already Begun For One Out Of Every Seven Americans
The Economic Collapse
For most Americans, the economic collapse is something that is happening to someone else. Most of us have become so isolated from each other and so self-involved that unless something is directly affecting us or a close family member than we really don't feel it. But even though most of us enjoy a much closer relationship with our television sets than we do with our neighbors at this point, it is quickly becoming undeniable that a fundamental shift is taking place in society. Perhaps you noticed it when two or three foreclosure signs went up on your street. Or perhaps it got your attention when that nice fellow down the street lost his job, and he and his family seemingly just disappeared from the neighborhood one day. The Census Bureau made front page headlines all over the nation this week when they announced that one out of every seven Americans was living in poverty in 2009. Every single day more Americans are getting sucked out of the middle class and into soul-crushing poverty.
Unfortunately, most Americans don't really care because it has not affected them yet.
But this year, millions more Americans will discover that the music has stopped playing and they are left without a seat at the table.

The Cost of Fed Incompetence
By The Mogambo Guru
09/27/10 Tampa, Florida - I have grown old yelling at my neighbors and family members to buy gold, silver and oil, to little-to-no avail, and I can see that they are getting bored with my same old million reasons why they should, and how their deliberate inaction only proves their stupidity, which I never tire of pointing out, so they can't say that they "didn't know" that they were stupid.
So, recently, I was standing in the street outside of Griswald's house, telling Old Man Griswald how he was an idiot for not buying gold, silver and oil as the only rational defense against the inflationary horror unleashed when his own stupid government (that he and his loathsome Leftist friends elected over and over again) was deficit-spending so unbelievably much money, dutifully created by the foul Federal Reserve, which is a complete failure as an institution if ever there was one, having destroyed 98% of the buying power of the US dollar since the Fed's inception in 1913 by creating too much money and credit, when their original purpose was to "keep prices stable," to which I cynically laugh in Sneering Mogambo Rebuke (SMR) "Hahahaha!"

***** FYI *****

IRS to stop mailing income tax forms
By Ed O'Keefe - Washington Post Staff Writer
The Internal Revenue Service plans to stop mailing instructions and paper forms for annual income tax returns, saving the agency about $10 million a year as more Americans are filing online.
About 11.5 million people who filed paper tax returns in 2009 received the tax information in the mail, IRS said. The agency normally sends the information at the beginning of the calendar year. The mailing includes the Form 1040 and instructions that totaled 44 pages last year.
More than 96 million individuals have filed their tax returns this year via IRS e-File (up about 6 million from 2008) and an estimated 20 million paper returns were filed through paid tax preparers, according to the agency.

Securities Ruling Limits Claims of Fraud
By NATHAN KOPPEL And ASHBY JONES - WSJ.com (free)
The U.S. Supreme Court has given multinational companies a powerful new legal defense against fraud claims made by some of their investors.
The weapon for companies grows out of a June ruling that limits fraud claims in U.S. courts by private investors who bought shares on foreign stock exchanges.
The Supreme Court decided Australian shareholders who had purchased stock overseas in an Australian bank couldn't bring securities-fraud claims in a U.S. court. In order to avoid "incompatibility with the applicable laws of other countries," U.S. securities laws should govern only domestic stock purchases, the court concluded.

Insider Selling To Buying Surpasses 1,400-1
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
For all those who thought last week's "dramatic" improvement in the ratio of insider selling to buying from 650:1 to "just" 290:1 was a sign things are turning and insiders may soon be selling only 100 or so times more stock per week than buying, we have some bad news. According to Bloomberg, the latest ratio of insider selling to buying was 1,411 to 1. Let us repeat: 1,411 to 1. Needless to say, corporate insiders are totally buying the Fed reflation story, and the economic recovery. Like, totally.

Scientists, Secrets and Wall Street's Lost $4 Trillion
Pam Martens - SilverBearCafe.com
Thanks to an ever growing influx of Ph.D.s from the Ivies and an insatiable demand for an algorithmic trading edge by secretive hedge funds and proprietary trading desks at the largest firms, Wall Street has become part physics lab, part casino, part black hole.
What Wall Street bears no relationship to any longer is its primary mission in the U.S. economy: to be a fair and efficient allocator of capital to worthy businesses and innovators to propel job growth while also providing a medium for allowing investors to buy or sell stocks and bonds of those businesses at a fair price.

New FDIC rules require banks to share some risk
By Marcy Gordon - AP via WashingtonTimes.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators are insisting that banks share some risk when issuing the type of asset-backed securities that nearly toppled the financial system two years ago.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is requiring banks hold at least 5 percent of the securities on their books, as part of new rules the regulator adopted Monday that were required under the new financial overhaul law. Banks would be required to purchase their share of the securities beginning Jan. 1.

Default Is In Our Stars
Not in ourselves.
Paul Krugman - NYTimes.com
I think it's fair to say that a majority of economists believe that excessive private debt played a key role in getting us into this economic mess, and is playing a key role in preventing us from getting out. So, how does it end?
A naive view says that what we need is a return to virtue: everyone needs to save more, pay down debt, and restore healthy balance sheets.
The problem with this view is the fallacy of composition: when everyone tries to pay down debt at the same time, the result is a depressed economy and falling inflation, which cause the ratio of debt to income to rise if anything. That is, we're living in a world in which the twin paradoxes of thrift and deleveraging hold, and hence in which individual virtue ends up being collective vice.

Gerald Celente On The Collector's Coach Show!

What's Pushing China to Become More Assertive
By VISHESH KUMAR - DailyFinance.com
China's rapid economic expansion has been marked with a rise in stature on the world stage as well. But so far, the country that displaced Japan as the world's second-largest economy this year has been careful not to throw its weight around.
However, with its economy growing at faster than 10% a year even as much of the developed world struggles, tensions are mounting. And Beijing now seems to be taking a far more assertive tack, a development that could be crucial for markets as approaching congressional elections in the U.S. set the stage for more confrontation around currency revaluations.

China-Russia energy deals mark 'new era'
(China Daily)
Sino-Russian partnership cemented as leaders pursue common interests
BEIJING - China and Russia signed more than a dozen agreements on Monday to boost energy cooperation as leaders of the two countries hailed a deepening strategic partnership.
President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev witnessed the signing of 15 commercial deals as well as one on fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism.
One of the key deals was signed by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Russia's Transneft over the operation of the oil pipeline that stretches from Skovorodino in eastern Siberia to Daqing in Northeast China.
The Russian section of the pipeline was completed last month, and the two leaders attended the completion ceremony of the Chinese section after their meeting on Monday.

The China Chicken Trade Wars
247WallSt.com
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce plans to put a levy on broiler chicken parts sent to the most populous nation in the world by American poultry farmers. The tariffs could be as high as 105.4%. "The final ruling is that the there is a causal relationship between the U.S. dumping of broiler products and the losses suffered by the Chinese industry,"the Ministry said
The program will hurt some US chicken producers, and it is a wonder that they did not agree to the demands of the People's Republic to set prices more fairly.
The fight over chickens is only one salvo in a barrage between the US and China over whether goods are dumped in each others markets. Underlying these disputes are rising tensions over the value of the yuan. The House Ways and Means Committee has approved legislation that would punish China if it does not reset its currency-or rather would force the Commerce Department to do so. Whether the entire House will approve a bill is not certain. The President might also veto it.

Will the Export Economy Spark a Global Currency War?
By CHARLES WALLACE - DailyFinance.com
In a fragile economy, every country wants to expand its exports, and low currency values can help make products cheaper to international buyers. Could countries' efforts to stay competitive be sparking a currency war?
Some signs of conflict have already popped up. For example, the U.S. is pushing China to allow the yuan to rise, with Congress scheduled to consider a measure that could lead to retaliation this week. Earlier this month, the Japanese government sold yen to lower that currency's value, drawing some international criticism.

Emerging nations to outgrow rich ones by 2015, World Bank says
By Sandrine Rastello (c) 2010 Bloomberg News
Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Emerging nations will account for a bigger portion of the global economy than developed countries by 2015, as middle-class populations from southeast Asia to Latin America expand while public and private investment grows, according to a World Bank report.
"Developing countries have come to the global economy's rescue," Otaviano Canuto, World Bank vice president for poverty reduction and economic management, said in an e-mailed statement. "They are the new locomotives of growth which will move global growth forward while high-income countries remain stagnant."

Durable Goods Fall, But Business Spending is Up
By Chris Gaffney
09/27/10 St. Louis, Missouri - As Chuck informed all of you on Friday, I have got the conn on the Pfennig today and tomorrow as he was called down to Jacksonville for a few meetings. As always, Chuck left me with a few tidbits to get me going, so I'll kick off today's missive with Chuck's view of the markets:
On Friday, the US data printed much softer than expected, and for the first time in a long time, bad data results did not mean a dollar rally! Instead, fundamentals would have the dollar selling off from a Durable Goods Orders print that fell 1.3%, and New Home Sales that were flat ... And that's what happened!
The euro (EUR) added to its gains moving well into the 1.34 handle. And the Aussie dollar (AUD) is now within' spittin distance of 96-cents!

Bill Bonner on Deflation,
U.S. Treasury Bonds and the Trade of the Decade
By Kate Incontrera
09/26/10 Baltimore, Maryland -
Welcome to the DR Video Series. A few times a month, we will post interviews, video shorts and insights from today's top minds. As a Daily Reckoning reader, you'll have first crack at these exclusive videos - we'll let you know each time one is posted.
In the first part of this two-part interview, the Daily Reckoning's own Eric Fry sits down with Bill Bonner at the Agora Financial Investment Symposium in Vancouver to discuss a multitude of topics: what the speakers had to say at this year's event, Bill's thoughts on the credit deleveraging cycle, why he remains anti-Treasury ... and why his "Trade of the Decade" still looks like a great bet. Enjoy!

Bill Bonner on Deflation

Housing: Stuck and Staying Stuck
Inventories of Unsold Homes Are Swollen, but Anticipation of Further Price Declines Makes Buyers Scarce.
By NICK TIMIRAOS And SARA MURRAY - WSJ.com (free)
For months, home buyers and sellers have been stuck in a curious stalemate, with sellers reluctant to lower prices and buyers staying on the sidelines.
New data suggest the standoff eased slightly last month, as sales of existing, or previously owned, homes rose 7.6% from July's extremely low levels, according to figures released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
But while the housing market may have halted a slide that began in April after federal home-buyer tax credits expired, it still faces a long recovery, and buyers remain scarce. The August figures were the lowest for any month since 1997 except for July.

Blumenthal seeks foreclosure info from company
BY KEITH LORIA - LegalNewsline.com
HARTFORD, Conn. (Legal Newsline) - Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced on Monday that his office is looking into the actions of a mortgage company that allegedly filed defective foreclosure documents.
Blumenthal is demanding that GMAC/Ally Finance, Inc., which allegedly filed these defective foreclosure documents in Connecticut, freeze all foreclosures in the state.
"I am demanding a freeze in all GMAC/Ally foreclosure actions to forestall horrendous, illegal harm against homeowners," Blumenthal said.

New rules ban promises to cut your debt in half
By Blake Ellis
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- New rules muzzling debt-settlement companies go into effect Monday, preventing these firms from making grandiose promises they have no intention of keeping.
In the past, these for-profit telemarketing companies promised to renegotiate consumers' debt and even potentially cut it in half. They didn't warn customers, however, about the fees they would incur -- or that it could take years to see relief.
That all changes Monday. Federal Trade Commission rules now require these debt settlement companies to be more upfront and honest about their services. That means they must disclose how much money customers will fork over and how long the settlement process will take. And they're no longer allowed to swear to cut your debt in half if they can't.

$250,000 A Year Doesn't Translate Into Being 'Rich' Anymore
Elaine Meinel Sipkis - SilverBearCafe.com
The catastrophe which is overtaking the Japanese culture and society has also been slowly creeping up on the US. The insidious nature of this depressive, destructive social dynamic is rooted in a desire to ZIRP things down as much as humanly possible and thus, 'survive'. Those who have a hand on the true levers of power, that is, the importers and political powerful, thrive and increase their wealth and political power (note all the billionaires running our government) while encouraging the populace to believe that zero interest and zero growth is perfectly fine.

An Ode to Entrepreneurs: Middle-class? Long Gone!
J. Speer-Williams - PPJ Gazette
Like swans of legend, American entrepreneurs sing their final, beautiful song before they just fade away.
When everyone who is employed works for the state or federal government, we'll all likely be as impoverished as the citizens of the old Soviet Union. Remember the Soviets standing in long lines, with falling snow, to buy what they could from a dwindling short supply of consumer goods, goods they could barely afford, like two left boots, both of the wrong sizes?
Having too many people working for the government is the antithesis of prosperity. And it's estimated that for every "green" job the government creates, they'll eliminate 2.2 jobs from the real world of private enterprise, at a cost of about $700,000.00 a piece.

The Send Jobs Overseas Act
Ending the deferral of foreign income is another tax on U.S. employment. - WSJ.com - (free)
Democrats may be dodging a vote on the Bush-era tax cuts, but that doesn't mean they don't want to raise taxes before November. Witness this week's showdown in Congress over increasing the tax on the profits of American companies with foreign subsidiaries to punish firms that relocate plants overseas. How much more harm can this crowd do before it's run out of town?
Like so many others, this tax increase is being promoted by President Obama, who declared last week that "for years, our tax code has actually given billions of dollars in tax breaks that encourage companies to create jobs and profits in other countries. I want to change that."

People@Work: Plugging the Gap Between Jobs and Skills
By DAVID SCHEPP - DailyFinance.com
Despite the lingering recession and high unemployment, a vast number of employers worldwide are having difficulty finding workers they need to fill specific jobs. In the U.S., 52% of companies report problems attracting critical-skill employees, while nearly the same number say it's tough to find high-performing, talented workers, according to a recent survey by workplace consultancy Towers Watson and WorldatWork, a nonprofit research organization.
With some 15 million Americans unemployed, it's seemingly incomprehensible as to why companies can't find the talent they need. Part of the problem is that many laid-off workers simply lack the skills needed by employers, says Christopher Collins, professor of human resource management at Cornell University's ILR School.

19 Surprising Facts About the Deindustrialization of America
Michael T. Snyder - SeekingAlpha.com
The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing.
It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles, to televisions, to airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II.
But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America. Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone. Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly little.

Surprise! Blue collar jobs are coming back
By Chris Isidore
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As the labor market continues to struggle, one surprising bright spot stands out amid the list of battered industries -- factory jobs.
Manufacturing employment began its decline long before the recession, losing jobs every year since 1998. But since the start of this year, there's been a 1.6% gain in manufacturing jobs -- about twice the pace of growth in other private sector jobs.
Even if manufacturing hiring stays flat the rest of this year, the industry is poised to post its biggest percentage gain in jobs since 1994.

Keiser Report No.80:

State eyes unclaimed cash as a quick fix
Mich. could take forgotten money in 3 years instead of up to 15
Ron French / The Detroit News
Lansing -- Michigan's budget problems would be even worse if state residents had better memories.
The state budget deficit is being balanced partly on a projected influx of $208 million from bank accounts, payroll checks and safety deposit boxes that have been misplaced or forgotten by their owners.
Under a deal struck between Gov. Jennifer Granholm and legislative leaders to erase $484 million in red ink, the time that businesses have to turn over forgotten property to the state would be reduced to three years. After that, the unclaimed money goes into the state's general fund. Previously, financial institutions had between five and 15 years to turn over the contents of dormant accounts or safety deposit boxes.

Connecticut and California join probe of Ally, order foreclosures freeze
By Ariana Eunjung Cha and Brady Dennis Washington Post
Attorneys general in Connecticut and California ordered Ally Financial's GMAC mortgage unit to freeze all foreclosures within their borders, joining a growing list of states investigating whether the firm and other lenders improperly kicked people out of their homes.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on Monday accused Ally of using "defective foreclosure documents" in its filings and said he ordered the moratorium "to forestall horrendous, illegal harm against homeowners." California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. on Friday called Ally's document review process a "sham."

ObamaCare's Hotel California
WSJ.com (free)
The state moves to impose price controls you can never leave.
California, the novelist Wallace Stegner famously wrote, is like the rest of America, only more so - meaning that wherever the country is headed, the Golden State is probably there already. So the state's ObamaCare advance planning deserves closer scrutiny, given that it mirrors the regulatory and ideological model that the White House favors for everyone else.
In a matter of days, California will set a precedent for the future of the U.S. individual and small-business insurance markets via ObamaCare's "exchanges," where people will purchase coverage at heavily subsidized rates. The exchanges don't start up until 2014, but the states were given wide bureaucratic latitude in how they're run, and Sacramento is using this flexibility to convert them into a pretext for imposing de facto price controls on the insurance industry.

California eyes $5 billion bank loan
By Ben Rooney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- California is in talks with Wall Street banks to secure up to $5 billion in short-term loans following an exceptionally long budget impasse.
Treasurer Bill Lockyer said Monday at a banking conference in New York that is working on a deal with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and others.
But the final loan amount will not be known until California's legislature resolves a record-long budget impasse, according to Joe DeAnda, a spokesman for Lockyer.

Health Insurers Finally Get Some Oversight
In the past, these companies ran wild with no accountability
By KATHLEEN SEBELIUS - WSJ.com (free)
In the last two weeks, my department has been accused of "thuggery" (this editorial page) and "Soviet tyranny" (Newt Gingrich). What prompted these accusations? The fact that we told health-insurance companies that, as required by law, we will review large premium increases and identify those that are unreasonable.
There's a long history of special interests using similar attacks to oppose change. In the mid-1960s, for example, some claimed Medicare would put our country on the path to socialism.
But what is really objectionable about these comments is not who they're attacking, but what they're defending. These critics seem to believe that any oversight of the insurance industry is too much, and that consumers would be better off in a system where they have few rights or protections.

A Historical Perspective of the Social Security Nightmare
By Joel Bowman
09/27/10 Buenos Aires, Argentina - "The arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and assistance to foreign hands should be curtailed, lest Rome fall."
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 55 B.C.
What rhymes with Cicero? Not much. But if, as the saying goes, history itself rhymes, today's welfare-warfare state has plenty worth holding up against the soft, fading light of that long-fallen empire: Corrupt politiciansÉpredatory bankersÉruinous military misadventures to faraway landsÉa gluttonous citizenry feeding at the trough of public monies and, of course, the insidious, ridiculous illusion that any single participant could have made one jot of difference to the great charade as it unfolded before their very eyes.

Opt Out of Social Security
By Ian Mathias09/27/10 Baltimore, Maryland - "The Social Security Trust Fund is misnamed. It cannot be trusted, and it is not funded."
-Former US Comptroller General David Walker, July 2010.
If David Walker - who was essentially the US government's accountant from 1998-2008 - can make jokes like that about Social Security, we're in trouble. Indeed, as we noted in our essay "The End of Social Security as We Know It", the Social Security Trust recently began paying out more than it is taking in. Over the next 75 years, the Fund will require an additional $5.4 trillion to pay for scheduled benefits.
Given the deplorable fiscal condition of the Social Security Trust Fund, some forward-looking Americans are asking, "Why can't I just opt out?" Even middle-aged members of the Baby Boom generation are wondering if there will be any Social Security left for them when the time comes ... and if they wouldn't be better off abandoning the government's mandatory retirement plan.
So can you opt out? In a word, yes.

Let's Put Patients and Doctors Back in Control of Healthcare!

Movie Review of 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'
By Jo Ann Skousen
09/27/10 Dobbs Ferry, New York - "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" (2010). Oliver Stone, director. 20th Century Fox, 133 minutes.
In some ways "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" (2010) feels more like a remake than a sequel of "Wall Street" (1987), the iconic film that focused on the inner workings of the financial markets and the scandals involving junk bonds and insider trading of the 1980s. The film earned Michael Douglas an Oscar for his portrayal of Gordon Gekko, the ruthless insider who takes down several companies before he is finally caught. His character's name has become so tied to Wall Street shenanigans that business schools reference him in their courses. Hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci called his investment memoir, "Goodbye Gordon Gekko" (2010), knowing that no one would have any trouble understanding the reference in the title. Similarly, libertarian reporter John Stossel borrowed Gekko's most famous line, "Greed'is good" for the title of one of his best known TV specials (1998).

'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps'
Presents the Next Generation of Financial Sharks
By BRUCE WATSON - DailyFinance.com
Between 1974 and 2009, Oliver Stone directed seventeen films on subjects ranging from the Vietnam war to ancient Macedon, Jim Morrison to George W. Bush. But in all that time -- and all those films -- he never made a sequel. It seems likely that much of Stone's reluctance to step twice in the same river has to do with his themes: his films often capture and crystallize an historical moment, like the loss of national innocence in the Vietnam-based Platoon or the explosion of greed in 1987's Wall Street. Returning to the same well could easily veer into self-parody.
Then again, sometimes history repeats itself and -- for once -- Stone has followed suit. The director's eighteenth film and his first-ever sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, opens today across the country. Bringing back Gordon Gekko, the seductive villain from the first Wall Street, Stone's latest morality tale once again shows the danger -- and irresistible attraction -- of outrageous amounts of money.

Democrats fear Midwestern meltdown
By MAGGIE HABERMAN - Politico.com
Two years after President Barack Obama swept the Midwest, Democratic fortunes in the region are sagging, with the GOP poised to make big gains by scooping up disaffected independent voters in a wide swath of states hit by job losses, budget woes and political scandal.
From Ohio to Iowa, there's a yawning stretch of
heartland states whose citizens voted for Obama and congressional Democrats in 2008, but who have lost patience waiting for an as-yet undelivered economic revival that was first promised in 2006, and then two years later. Now, they look set to stampede toward the out-of-power party.

S. 510:
12 Reasons Why The Food Safety Bill From Hel
Could Be Very Dangerous For The U.S. Economy
TheComingEconomicCollapseBlog.com
As you read this, there is a bill before the U.S. Senate that has the potential to change the U.S. food industry more than any other law ever passed by the U.S. Congress. In the name of "food safety", the U.S. government would be given an iron grip over the production, transportation and sale of all food in the United States. Hordes of small food producers and organic farmers could potentially be put out of business. If this bill becomes law, the freedom to grow what you want, eat what you want and to share food from your gardens with your neighbors could be greatly curtailed. It would give the FDA unprecedented discretion to regulate U.S. food production. A version of this bill was already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last summer, and now S. 510, also know as the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, is in front of the U.S. Senate and it is expected to pass easily.

Obama's Wars: Revolt of the Generals, Part 2
By Jed Babbin - The American Spectator.org
How has President Obama mismanaged the Afghanistan war? Bob Woodward's new book counts the ways. There's a president retreating after a "generals' revolt," domestic politics overriding any concern with the war's outcome and -- according to the leaked portions of the book due out today -- much more. But the White House is praising Obama's Wars, not condemning it.
If you are confused, dear reader, take comfort in the fact that you are no more so than our president.
Before we get to the revealing parts of Woodward's book, it's time to pull back on the stick and gain a little altitude. What Woodward's book reveals is a president whose sole concern -- regardless of the issue -- is how it will affect his domestic political position.

Hamas political leader vows to continue fight against Israelis
By the CNN Wire Staff
Damascus, Syria (CNN) -- The political leader of Hamas said in an interview Monday that the Islamist group will continue to fight what he called Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, declaring the group's resistance "a legitimate and just cause, and therefore we will win no matter what."
Khaled Meshaal's comments on CNN International's "Prism" come amid a turning point in recently renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. New construction began at settlement sites in the disputed West Bank territory Monday, just hours after the expiration of a 10-month Israeli government moratorium on building.

North Korean leader's son apparently promoted to general
By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's youngest son apparently was among more than 30 military promotions announced Monday by his father during celebrations of the Workers' Party of Korea's 65th anniversary, North Korea's state news agency reported.
Kim Jong Un has been widely rumored to be his ailing father's anointed successor.
Kim Jong Il's sister, Kim Kyong Hui, was apparently also promoted to general, according to the state-run KCNA news agency.
While it has been speculated that Kim Jong Un will succeed his father, details about him are scarce in North Korea and out.

China plays by its own currency rules
By Peter Lee - Asia Times Online
The past two years have been tough on China-oriented Western economists. China's archaic mercantilism, tight capital controls, over-regulated financial sector, managed exchange rate and, above all, its need to purchase and sterilize massive inflows of foreign exchange were, according the theorists, leading the country to economic calamity.
However, Western triumphalism in 2008 took a tumble as the West's most sophisticated financial innovators led the world economy off a cliff. Meanwhile, China's ham-fisted socialists saved China and, to a certain extent, the rest of the world with an enormous stimulus program (US$586 billion in domestic spending plus significantly relaxed limits on bank lending) that, as a ratio of the gross domestic products (GDP), dwarfed America's stimulus spending by a factor of more than five.

US stirs South China Sea waters
By Clifford McCoy - Asia Times Online
A cooperative announcement from the United States and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Friday included reference to navigation and maritime security, an issue of rising rancor between the US and China in the South China Sea. Southeast Asian nations welcomed the US's commitment, but Washington's growing involvement in the group's prickly territorial issues with China threatens to spark a new regional flash point.
The joint US-ASEAN statement came after a luncheon between US President Barack Obama and leaders of ASEAN member states on the sidelines of the United Nations' General Assembly meeting in New York. The meeting was co-chaired by Vietnamese president Nguyen Minh Triet, who currently serves as ASEAN's chairman, and marks the second time Obama has met with regional leaders since last November in Singapore.

***** Important! *****

Stuxnet False Flag Launched For Web Takeover!
Alex Jones Tv 1/3

Stuxnet False Flag Launched For Web Takeover!
Alex Jones Tv 2/3

Stuxnet False Flag Launched For Web Takeover!
Alex Jones Tv 3/3

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Archived Page Link
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -