Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Monday 05.31.2010
Memorial Day 2010
Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Rally (2009)
Witness to War Preserving the Oral Hisories of Combat Veterans
The Witness to War Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to preserving the stories and unique experiences of combat veterans. It was founded in an attempt to answer the unanswerable: What was it like to be there?
These are the stories of scared 18 and 19 year olds thrust into circumstances of such intensity and violence, that they became the defining moments of their lives.
Ron Paul: The Founding Fathers Were Libertarian
Barack Obama's credibility hits rock bottom after oil spill and Sestak scandal
by Toby Harnden in Washington - Telegraph.co.uk
The combination of Obama's passivity over the Gulf oil spill catastrophe and his cynical political maneuverings could spell disaster for him, argues Toby Harnden
The first thing Barack Obama probably should have done was to order the livestreaming Oil Spill Cam to be turned off. As the President insisted to Americans that he was "singularly focused" on staunching the flow, there was that mesmerizing image on their television screens of plumes of hydrocarbons gushing relentlessly into the Gulf of Mexico.
When any political leader feels they have to declare that they are "fully engaged" in an issue, it is clear that they are in trouble. Talking about it undermines the very point you are trying to make - not to mention that pesky Oil Spill Cam showing that, 38 days into the Deepwater Horizon disaster, not a whole lot had been achieved.
Sestak vs. the White House: Issa on High-Stakes Dodgeball
BP says crude may continue flowing into gulf until August
By David S. Hilzenrath and Matt DeLong - Washington Post
As BP prepared to implement another fallback plan to contain the worst oil spill in U.S. history, Obama administration and BP officials said crude could continue flowing into the Gulf of Mexico until August. The "American people need to know that it is possible we will have oil leaking from this well until August when the relief wells will be finished," presidential adviser Carol Browner said on the CBS show Face the Nation.
BP Oil Spill: Chemical Dispersants Threaten Gulf
By JUSTIN VOGT, The Fiscal Times
A fter 38 days of suspense, anxiety and frustration, Gulf Coast residents are hoping that BP's latest attempt to stop the oil leaking from its blown-out Deepwater Horizon well will succeed. But even as reports emerge that the "top kill" may be working, experts are focusing on another aspect of the disaster: its potential impacts on public health.
BP's controversial decision to break down the oil and keep it from reaching the shore by applying massive quantities of toxic chemicals known as dispersants has set off alarms among ecologists and other scientists who think the government and BP have yet to sufficiently address this possible threat.
U.S. Plans 'for Worst' in Gulf, Seeing Risk in Leak Strategy
By JOSEPH BERGER and LESLIE KAUFMAN - NYTimes.com
After the failure of an effort to seal off a well spewing oil one mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico, a top Obama administration environmental official said the government is "prepared for the worst" in case oil keeps gushing until relief wells are finished sometime in August.
The chance that some oil will continue to leak for months was underscored by the managing director of BP, Robert Dudley, who described plans to put in place a second version of a containment dome, a strategy that failed earlier this month. Mr. Dudley, speaking on ABC's "This Week" program, said that attempt had given the company's engineers valuable lessons that would be applied to the new dome. But he added that even if it worked, some oil would seep out until the relief wells provided an"end point" by cutting off the flow beneath the seabed.
BP fails to plug oil well with "top kill"
Ed Stoddard and Mary Milliken
La./HOUSTON (Reuters) - BP Plc said on Saturday the complex "top kill" maneuver to plug its Gulf of Mexico oil well has failed, crushing hopes for a quick end to the largest oil spill in U.S. history already in its 40th day.
"We have not been able to stop the flow," said Doug Suttles, the London-based oil giant's chief operating officer. "We have made the decision to move on to the next option," he added. That next option is called the lower marine riser package cap, one that captures oil from the well rather than plug it. Suttles said it could take four days or longer to show results.
Did North Korea Torpedo Oil Rig In US Gulf?
The destruction of a BP oil rig in the Gulf Coast has led to a lot of speculation and rumor-mongering on the Internet, focusing on the possibility that rogue Communist dictatorship North Korea was at fault.An explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20th killed 11 people and eventually collapsed the rig into the Gulf, sending 5,000 barrels of oil a day out and into the water.
Pres Obama "Armed Swat Teams To Inspect Oil Rigs In Gulf"
Obama Sends Bomb, Mars Experts to Fix BP Oil Spill
By Jessica Resnick-Ault and Katarzyna Klimasinska
May 14 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu signaled his lack of confidence in the industry experts trying to control BP Plc’s leaking oil well by hand-picking a team of scientists with reputations for creative problem solving.Dispatched to Houston by President Barack Obama to deal with the crisis, Chu said Wednesday that five "extraordinarily intelligent" scientists from around the country will help BP and industry experts think of back-up plans to cut off oil from the well, leaking 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) below sea-level.
US Orders Blackout Over North Korean Torpedoing Of Gulf Of Mexico Oil Rig By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
A grim report circulating in the Kremlin today written by Russia’s Northern Fleet is reporting that the United States has ordered a complete media blackout over North Korea’s torpedoing of the giant Deepwater Horizon oil platform owned by the World’s largest offshore drilling contractor Transocean that was built and financed by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., that has caused great loss of life, untold billions in economic damage to the South Korean economy, and an environmental catastrophe to the United States.Most important to understand about this latest attack by North Korea against its South Korean enemy is that under the existing “laws of war” it was a permissible action as they remain in a state of war against each other due to South Korea’s refusal to sign the 1953 Armistice ending the Korean War.
Oil spill: BP admits its latest attempt to stem the leak has failed
By Philip Sherwell in New Orleans and Kamal Ahmed - Telegraph.co.uk
BP has admitted that its latest effort to stem the 40-day flow of oil into the Gulf has failed.
Speaking at a news conference at Fourchon Beach in Louisiana, Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, said that attempts to plug the oil leak with a mixture of mud and debris had done nothing to stem the flow. The attempt was later abandoned. "I don't think the amount of oil coming out has changed," said Mr Suttles. "Just by watching it, we don't believe it's changed."
BP, Obama face clamor to halt oil spill "crime"
Ed Stoddard and Sarah Irwin
Louisiana (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers and the American public clamored on Sunday for BP and the Obama administration to do more to save the U.S. Gulf Coast from an out-of-control oil spill that one congressman called an "environmental crime".
The failure on Saturday of a "top kill" technique attempted by British-based BP to try to seal its leaking Gulf of Mexico well unleashed a surge of anger and frustration that poses a major domestic challenge for President Barack Obama,
Obama, who has called the leaking BP well a "manmade disaster", is trying to fend off criticism that his administration acted too slowly in its response to the nearly six-week-old spill, now known to be the worst in U.S. history.
Documents Show Early Worries About Safety of Rig
By IAN URBINA - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - Internal documents from BP show that there were serious problems and safety concerns with the Deepwater Horizon rig far earlier than those the company described to Congress last week. The problems involved the well casing and the blowout preventer, which are considered critical pieces in the chain of events that led to the disaster on the rig. The documents show that in March, after several weeks of problems on the rig, BP was struggling with a loss of "well control." And as far back as 11 months ago, it was concerned about the well casing and the blowout preventer.
Why gold is world's lowest risk investment
By Stewart Thomson - CommodityOnline.com
Those sure that Tuesday's Dow action marked the bottom, (the "hammer" on the candle charts) were shocked 24hrs later, as the Dow posted a mirror image reversal day to the downside. This morning the Dow is once again surging, stunning the bears.
This is classic whipsaw action, a saw operated by the banksters, cleaning both shorts and longs off the stock market souvlaki stick. It is also only example number 800 billion, of why you must allocate your capital in a pyramid formation, not a huge price plop.
Market instability may push gold prices sharply
CommodityOnline.com
Gold prices may move between $1,180 and $1,230 this week, although there still is potential for gold to head toward $1,250. Prices moved back above $1,200 last week as investment demand surged. Prices below this level drew buying interest. Combined exchange traded fund gold holdings were a record 62.85 million ounces as of 27 May, up 1.64 million ounces from the end of the previous week. This was the largest weekly increase since February 2009. Gold prices also were aided by the contract roll in the New York market. While investor concerns over European sovereign debt problems remain, the level of anxiety seems to have eased, which could allow for prices to ease a bit this week.
The Depression Of 2011? 23 Economic Warning Signs
From Financial Authorities All Over The Globe
Could the world economy be headed for a depression in 2011? As inconceivable as that may seem to a lot of people, the truth is that top economists and governmental authorities all over the globe say that the economic warning signs are there and that we need to start paying attention to them. The two primary ingredients for a depression are debt and fear, and the reality is that we have both of them in abundance in the financial world today. In response to the global financial meltdown of 2007 and 2008, governments around the world spent unprecedented amounts of money and got into a ton of debt. All of that spending did help bail out the global banking system, but now that an increasing number of governments around the world are in need of bailouts themselves, what is going to happen? We have already seen the fear that is generated when one small little nation like Greece even hints at defaulting. When it becomes apparent that quite a few governments around the globe cannot handle their debt burdens, what kind of shockwave is that going to send through financial markets?
The U.S. Government Bond Bubble
By: Moses Kim
What follows will read like an indictment on our entire economic system. But underlying my (relatively mild) harangue is an observation that people are ignoring the most obvious bubble out there; that is, the bubble in U.S. government bonds. The following is my attempt to figure out why. Efficiency Market Theory
Let's face it, markets are inefficient. The efficient market theory, manufactured from the ivory towers of academia, poses perhaps the greatest threat to the stability of our system. Here's why.
What Is It About the Sestak Mess That Sounds So Familiar?
By John Lillpop - CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
As the cover up of the Sestak fiasco absorbs more and more of President Obama‰Ûªs time and energy, one has a vague recollection of a similar crisis involving a senate seat some where in the bowels of the American heartland. A recent crisis it was, if memory serves.
Unfortunately, age diminishes the ability to immediately recall every finite detail, but as the haze clears ever so slightly, one remembers that the previous scandal involved a vacant U.S. Senate seat in-was it Illinois?
By gosh, I believe it was.
Connect the dots!
Preparing for What's Next
By David Galland, GoldSeek.com
Oh, what a tangled web we live in. On one side of the Atlantic, there is a fundamentally broke European Union. On the other, the world's largest debtor nation, these United States.
Rotate the globe and you discover China, the world's most populous nation: a nation whose economy is desperately dependent on export revenues, without which its government may find it hard to meet the population's soaring aspirations. And who is China's largest trading partner? The European Union, that's who.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall,
When is the Next AIG to Fall? | Marc Faber
Uncertainty Reigns Supreme
by John Browne - FinancialSense.com
Just a few weeks ago, most financial analysts continued to insist that the road to recovery stretched far into the future. Now, uncertainty has returned with a vengeance and the stock market has booked its first official 10% correction since this tenuous 'bull' market began in the spring of 2009. In recent days, markets have shown signs of life - but nascent rallies have been quickly smothered. I believe there are five fundamental reasons for this persistent uncertainty. First, the world's second most held currency, the euro, is threatened with possible extinction. The massive $750 billion bailout package for Greece will not cure Greece's dependence on entitlements, and will likely only buy time until a debt restructuring.
The Path to Hyperinflation
Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT - 321Gold.com
As we've discussed recently, persistent deflationary forces do not augur for a repeat of Japan circa 1990s or the US in the 1930s. Instead, because of the inability of government's to finance their current and future debt burden (there is a dearth of domestic savings and global capital), deflationary forces will ultimately lead to severe inflation or hyperinflation. In today's piece, I explain how this will happen but in various stages.
In the first stage, the economy enters a recession after a large credit bubble. The recession and end of the credit bubble lead to deflation. As a result, the US Dollar and US Treasuries outperform. Think 2008.
BankWatch: Big Banks Face Financial Doomsday in 2012
By PALLAVI GOGOI - DailyFinance.com
The cost of borrowing funds for the largest American banks is going to skyrocket in the coming years -- and that's just the beginning of their troubles. A confluence of factors are coming to a head: First, the credit ratings of large Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) and Citigroup (C) are all under siege due to aspects of the financial reform bill, which was passed by the Senate last week. Second, that bill will restrict their lucrative derivatives and trading businesses, which is sure to put a crimp on their earnings. Finally, the vast amounts of government-backed cheap capital that these banks raised in the financial markets in 2009, will all have to be refinanced in 2012 at interest rates that could be as much as five times higher than those they got last year.
The Great Deceit
Kenneth J. Gerbino - 321Gold.com
It is the paper money created out of thin air that creates the unfair distribution of wealth that is making the middle class fall more behind and the poor more poor. Newly created money and credit in a paper money system benefits those that can access the money first and buy capital goods and real property at one price before the new money circulates and makes all prices go up. Wages also do not keep up with inflation and that creates another squeeze on the middle class.
Euro bailout "welfare for the rich" - Jim Rogers
Spain orders banks to come clean on debts to restore shattered faith
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk The Bank of Spain has ordered the country's lenders to face up to bad debts and set aside reserves of up to 30pc on property holdings in a bid to restore global confidence in the Spanish financial system after weeks of investor flight.
The new rules target the savings banks or cajas that account for the lion's share of the €445bn (£377bn) of property debt accumulated during the credit boom, when real interest rates were negative. The authorities acted after severe strains in the inter-bank market had begun to raise questions about the ability of Spanish lenders to access routine funds from global peers. Deutsche Bank said Spanish lenders need to refinance €125bn by late 2011. "Liquidity is our main area of concern. Savings banks are in a very weak and risky position," it said.
Spain is trapped in a 'perverse spiral' as wage cuts deepen the crisis
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk The Spanish Inquisition used to burn Englishmen in Sevilla's Plaza de San Francisco when they had the chance. There must have been some nostalgia for this practice when the news hit that Fitch Ratings had stripped the country of its AAA status.
The downgrade could not have come at a more dreadful moment. The EU's Û750bn "shield" for eurozone debtors has halted an incipient run on Club Med banks, but it has failed to restore full confidence for the obvious reason that such a guarantee cannot plausibly be extended from Greece to Portugal and then to Spain. The sums are too large, the number of solvent creditors too reduced, the intra-EMU politics too poisonous.
How Far Will Europe's Economic Tremors Reach?
By PAUL J. LIM - NYTimes.com
THE debt crisis in Europe has already had a significant psychological impact on Wall Street, sending the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index down 10.5 percent from its April high. But if investors are afraid that Europe's woes could retard the recovery in the United States, a question arises: What does the crisis in Europe really mean for domestic growth? The answer depends on which aspect of the crisis you're looking at. The possibility of another shock to global financial institutions is certainly cause for concern, as we shall see. But if investors focus solely on the fundamental health of Europe's economy, and its ties to the United States, the situation may not look all that worrisome.
European Market Overview
Geithner tells Europe: emulate China
The Sidney Morning Herald - AU
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday Europe should follow China's lead and boost growth since US consumers can no longer support the global economy alone. Geithner also said ahead of a summit of the G20 group of leading economies in Canada in late June that the United States and Europe were in "broad agreement" over the need to put into place tighter lending rules for banks.
Federal Reserve Is Intervening in the Currency Markets While Wall Street Whines about Reform
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
I think we all already knew this, but I wanted to bookmark it on my site for some future occasion when the government and the Fed deny it, probably in a response to a question from Ron Paul. The question I have in my mind is where does this show up on their books, and what other markets are they active in?
It also seems a bit ironic, since the current topic of discussion on Bloomberg TV is "investor trust in freefall?" The consensus of the talking heads is that Wall Street's holy men are under attack by evil governments, particularly those of the European persuasion, and the odd US regulatory agency.
Wall Street's War - RollingStone.com
Congress looked serious about finance reform - until America's biggest banks unleashed an army of 2,000 paid lobbyists
This article originally appeared in RS 1106 from June 10, 2010.
It's early May in Washington, and something very weird is in the air. As Chris Dodd, Harry Reid and the rest of the compulsive dealmakers in the Senate barrel toward the finish line of the Restoring American Financial Stability Act - the massive, year-in-the-making effort to clean up the Wall Street crime swamp - word starts to spread on Capitol Hill that somebody forgot to kill the important reforms in the bill. As of the first week in May, the legislation still contains aggressive measures that could cost once- indomitable behemoths like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase tens of billions of dollars. Somehow, the bill has escaped the usual Senate-whorehouse orgy of mutual back-scratching, fine-print compromises and freeway-wide loopholes that screw any chance of meaningful change.
Senate Considers Union Pension Bailout
By Christopher Neefus - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - A Senate committee will consider on Thursday a bill introduced by Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) that critics say would create a taxpayer-backed bailout of multi-employer pension funds that are in critical financial condition. "Pension plans across the country have taken major losses because of the near economic collapse and the decline in the stock market," Casey said in a statement upon introducing the bill in March. "My legislation would help correct these problems to protect the pensions of workers and unburden companies stuck paying a crippling expense that threatens its existence and the jobs of its employees."
Obama Talks Left To Move Right, As Wall Street Criminals Are Given A Free Pass And Reforms Are Watered Down
By Danny Schechter - MediaChannel.org
Is The President The Kind of Leader Chairman Mao Warned Us About?
We now know that it was the Obama Administration, led by the President himself, who used techniques well understood and denounced decades earlier by none other than Mao TseTung.
He talked left, to move right.
In several high profile speeches, he lashed out at Wall Street for its greed and mendacity, proposing financial reforms that appeared to be hard hitting, if only because of the way the lobbyists for the financial services industry squealed about them.
But even as he was feigning left, he and his main economic operative, Tim Geithner, were moving right, to kill off amendments that the bankers hated, like Senator Bernie Sanders's proposal for a deep audit of the Federal Reserve Bank and the Brown-Kaufman Amendment that would have broken up the six biggest banks in America.
Wall Street Operative Geithner Rebuffed in Berlin on Mission to Make World Safe for Derivatives
Webster G. Tarpley - TARPLEY.net
On the most important stop of last week's desperate mission to make the world safe for derivatives, US Treasury Secretary Geithner has been dealt a decisive rebuff. Geithner's obvious attempt to sabotage the recent prohibition enacted by the German government against naked credit default swaps (among the most toxic of derivatives) was rejected in Berlin on Thursday by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.
Tarpley: "A casino economy of globalization"
Social Security's Accounting Fiction
By GEORGE HAGER - FinancialTimes.com
I must be missing something. I've read the blog pieces here by Henry Aaron and Larry Haas in which they take issue with a March 24 story in The New York Times noting that Social Security is operating in the red this year, taking in less money than it pays out. Henry and Larry say The Times is wrong. I disagree. The story is correct. (Every bit as correct, by the way, as the virtually identical story my USA TODAY colleague Richard Wolf wrote back on Feb. 8.)
Let's take a look at Henry Aaron's math. He says Social Security is projected to take in $819 billion in income this year against expenses of $714 billion, leaving a hefty surplus and a growing trust fund. Where do those revenues come from? He says there are three sources: payroll tax revenues, taxes on Social Security benefits and interest on the trust fund. The problem is that only two of these are real money, in the sense that they're "revenues" created by the Social Security system. Those interest payments aren't "real," and without them, Social Security is running a deficit.
Three American cities on the brink of broke
By Sara Behunek - CNNMoney.com
FORTUNE -- Several downtrodden cities are on the verge of defaulting on their debt, putting financially encumbered states and taxpayers on the hook to pick up the tab. The National League of Cities says municipal governments will probably come up $56 billion to $83 billion short between now and 2012. That's the tab for decades of binge spending; municipal defaults could be our collective hangover.
Municipal bonds, issued to fund public projects such as roads and public buildings, have historically been seen as one of the safest places to invest, which is why 80% of municipal bond holders are individual households and mutual fund investors, explains Jeffrey Cleveland, municipal bond analyst at Payden & Rygel Investment Management.
Bankers' 'doomsday scenarios' under fire
By Chris Giles in London - FT.com
Banks are exaggerating the economic effects of the regulations they are likely to face in the coming years, the economist running an international impact study has told the Financial Times.
In a pre-emptive blast before the banks launch their own lobbying effort on June 10, Stephen Cecchetti, chief economic adviser to the Bank for International Settlements, said the banks' "doomsday scenarios" were based on their assuming "the maximum impact of the maximum change with the minimum behavioural change".
As Harvard Law Dean, Kagan Did Not Require Study of U.S. Constitutional Law But Did Require Study of International and Foreign Law
By Pete Winn, Senior Writer/Editor
(CNSNews.com) - Elena Kagan, President Barack Obama's choice to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court, is best known for moving Harvard Law School away from the 100-year old "case-law method" of legal study. But in the process, critics say, she moved the nation's premier law school away from requiring the study of U.S. constitutional law towards the study of the laws of foreign nations and international law. As dean, Kagan won approval from the faculty in 2006 to make major changes to the Harvard Law's curriculum.
Fox News Freedom Watch's Judge Napolitano w/ Paul Armentano, the Deputy Director of NORML
Net Neutrality: Unwarranted Intervention
Mises Daily: by Fernando Herrera-Gonzalez
With the recent sentence on the Comcast affair, it seems that the debate about net-neutrality regulation has paused. Feeling the carpet pulled out from under it, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is struggling to find a new legal ground for its intervention. In the meantime, the stakeholders should reflect on the consequences a lobbying success would bring: the creation of regulations on net neutrality. The position of telecom operators is clear enough, as they have opposed from the beginning this attack on their assets and their businesses.
We Are On the Brink of a New Age of Rage
On May 21, 2010, Simon Schama published a commentary piece in the Financial Times. Its title, On the Brink of a New Age of Rage caught my attention, and my regular readers I'm quite sure will soon know why, if they don't know already.
For anyone new to Mandelman Matters, let's just say that I'm angry about what's been allowed to go on in this country, angry at the bankers that have become our American oligarchy, angry that the people haven't already done more to put the fear of God into our elected representatives, and angry that our government has done little in an attempt to reverse our course and stop the foreclosure crisis, and failed at what little they have attempted. But... I'm also fearful about the future.
I'm fearful that we have become a country so polarized by our media and our own beliefs, that we now require tragedy on at least the scale of 9/11 to bring us together to fight a common enemy. Anything less, and we're as likely to direct our anger at sideline issues, as we are to become absorbed in who's winning and losing on America Idol.
IRS wants a cut of online sales on eBay, Craigslist
By Tom Herman for The Washington Post
Many people think of online auction sites, such as eBay and Craigslist, as virtual garage sales -- a convenient way to clean out cluttered closets and attics stuffed with old clothes, books and knickknacks inherited from Aunt Gladys. But if you're a frequent or big-time seller, the government might consider your proceeds to be income and could come after you for taxes.
Huge profits result from foreclosure procedure
By RICHARD WILNER - NYPost.com
A new gold rush is sweeping the country -- only this time the speculators are looking to get fat off the $4 billion home foreclosure industry by promising banks a streamlined and low-cost method to kick folks out of their homes.
In the last two years, as the mortgage meltdown intensified, four companies have gone public or filed papers to go public -- each looking to get their hands on cash to help grow into a national powerhouse quickly to take advantage of the soft housing market.
Totalitarian Collectivism: Part 10 -- GLOBAL CONTROLLERS
By James Hall - CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
As difficult as it is for most people to deal with the savage events that shape and manipulate humanity, it is nearly impossible to get the multitude to admit that they are expendable bondage slaves to a global system of hideous design and sinister purpose. The illusion that governments, serve the people is a total denial of history and especially, current events. Human nature requires an eternal struggle against the evil committed in the name of the "public good". Honesty about their plight under the boot of oppression is too hard to digest. The cause of their captivity refuses to identify their own role and compliance within the cancerous organism that rules the planet.
Kyrgyzstan at the Cross-Roads
Written by Uddipan Mukherjee - OilPrice.com
Not only should Kyrgyzstan's future after the April ousting of the government be a central focus, but the future of the other 'stans' as well
When riots broke out in Petrograd, it was March 8, 1917. The subalterns clashed with Tsar's infantrymen. In the process, 40 people were killed. But any 'revolution' can claim a resounding success and more to be embedded in the annals of History, if and only if the civilians and the army act in unison. And that's what happened on that day in St. Petersburg.
2nd Iceland Volcano Issues Warning
A second, much larger volcano in Iceland is showing signs that it may be about to erupt, scientists have warned. Since the start of the Eyjafjallajškull eruption, which caused cancellations of thousands of flights in Europe because of a giant ash cloud, there has been much speculation about neighboring Katla. An initial research paper by the University College of London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction said: "Analysis of the seismic energy released around Katla over the last decade or so is interpreted as providing evidence of a rising ... intrusive magma body on the western flank of the volcano."
2010 On Track to Be Deadliest Year for U.S. Forces in Almost Nine-Year-Long Afghanistan War
By Edwin Mora
(CNSNews.com) -- 137 U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan since the first of the year, making the first five months of 2010 the deadliest January-through-May period of any year of the almost nine-year-long war. The 137 casualties so far this year more than double the 59 that occurred last year from January through May. Thus far, 2009 has been the deadliest year of the war, but the high current casualty count for this year, and the heavy fighting anticipated in Kandahar this summer, put 2010 on track to be even deadlier.
Gaza aid flotilla 'leaves Cyprus'
A flotilla of ships sailing towards Gaza with aid and activists on board has left Cyprus and will reach its destination on Monday, organisers say.
But Israel says it will stop the boats, calling the campaign a "provocation intended to delegitimise Israel". The Palestinian territory has been under an Israeli and Egyptian economic blockade for almost three years, with only limited humanitarian aid allowed. The activists, from the Free Gaza Movement, want to break the blockade. Israel imposed the measures after the Islamist movement Hamas took power in Gaza.
China fails to censure North Korea at warship summit China has held back from censuring North Korea at a summit in South Korea dominated by the issue of a sunken warship.
South Korea has accused North Korea of torpedoing the Cheonan, which sank on 26 March with the loss of 46 lives. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the priority was to reduce tensions and avoid a clash over the incident. But he did not mention North Korea by name or show support for possible UN sanctions against Pyongyang.
BP's 'top kill' mission halts the oil gush - but is it stable?
Andrew Clark in New York and Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent - The Guardian.co.uk,
Experts warn that leak is far from being permanently fixed as weather service predicts unusually strong hurricane season
A delicate "top kill" operation by BP tentatively halted the gush of oil and gas from its ruptured Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday, although experts warned that the underwater leak was still far from being permanently fixed. Engineers were due last night to begin a second round of pumping thick drilling mud at high speed into the ocean floor, which lies 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) under the surface of the sea about 50 miles off Louisiana. Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, insisted that the operation was going to plan, but admitted: "What we do know is that we have not yet stopped the flow."
For a safe haven, there's not much that's as good as gold these days
By Thomas Molloy - Independent.ie
SHARESCOPE has always had reservations about gold. There seems to be something incredibly childish about hoarding a substance that has few practical uses and whose price depends on how many Chinese girls decide to buy bracelets. Still, Sharescope did not believe it was possible for the things to get quite as messy in the West as they are today or for gold to outperform almost every other asset class over the past decade. For all sorts of reasons, gold is now a good hedge against calamity and deserves a place in most portfolios.
How the Euro Drives Gold, The U.S. Dollar and U.S. Treasury Bonds
Cliff Wachtel - SeekingAlpha.com
For the past and coming weeks, to predict moves in gold and the US dollar, watch the euro, for volatility in the euro is what is driving both gold and the dollar. That's the asset that is showing the most volatility and markets are watching it, and for good reason. In the past month the EU debt crisis has proven to even the doubters that it is indeed the primary threat to the global economy and banking system, and further deterioration will leave no one unscathed.
Greek Scramble For Physical Brings Gold Price To $1,700 Per Ounce
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
And there are those who wonder how Sprott's PHYS could have traded at "ludicrous" NAV premium of over 20%. Coinupdate.com reports that prices at which the Greek Central Bank is selling one ounce gold equivalents are as high as $1,700 (40% over spot), and prices on the black markets are even higher. The punchline, as Athens slowly returns to a forced gold standard: " A popular spot for street vendors to sell their coins is near the Athens Stock Exchange. There the traders wait for citizens to bring payments received from unloading their paper assets like stocks and bonds." That's good - downtown Manhattan close to the NYSE has some free space for gold vendors to set up shop as well, they just need to push some of the frontrunning/collocation boxes off to the side. And in other rhetorical ruminations, is it safe to say that the last days of the fiat experiment are among us now that people themselves are bypassing the government and enforcing their own gold standard?
Inflation vs. gold vs. deflation
Author: Barry Sergeant - MineWeb.net US core consumer price inflation hits its lowest point in 49 years, so which is the major worry - inflation or deflation?
JOHANNESBURG - US core consumer price inflation has fallen to under 1%, the lowest annual rate recorded in 49 years, posing a dilemma of sorts for scaremongers warning of hyperinflation, blamed on "incessant printing of money" by central banks. Gold bullion, say the gold bugs, is the answer to fiat money, and the best hedge against rampant inflation.
It seems that if anything, disinflation could be the big issue for investors to fret about. The outcome over which emerges is crucial to practically all investment decisions. Economists generally agree that while a low inflation rate is generally acceptable, disinflation can be positively dangerous. The phenomenon demoralizes everyone, from central bankers to workers, who worry about whether they will soon have no pay at all.
The Deflationary Consequences of M3 Money Supply
By: Andy Sutton - MarketOracle.co.uk
Given the fact that we sit on the precipice of a holiday weekend, every attempt will be made to keep this short and to the point. M3 growth has collapsed. We had pointed this out several months ago and again more recently amidst a barrage of protest emails that the printing press always wins the battle with the deflationary black hole. To date, the black hole is winning hands down. The reasons are nebulous and complex, but the point is that our broadest monetary aggregate is now shrinking. This does not bode well for our economic prospects moving forward.
US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk The M3 money supply in the United States is contracting at an accelerating rate that now matches the average decline seen from 1929 to 1933, despite near zero interest rates and the biggest fiscal blitz in history.
The M3 figures - which include broad range of bank accounts and are tracked by British and European monetarists for warning signals about the direction of the US economy a year or so in advance - began shrinking last summer. The pace has since quickened. The stock of money fell from $14.2 trillion to $13.9 trillion in the three months to April, amounting to an annual rate of contraction of 9.6pc. The assets of insitutional money market funds fell at a 37pc rate, the sharpest drop ever.
(Hyper-)Deflation followed by (Hyper-)Inflation?
By: Richard Johnsson - SafeHaven.com
While most analysts and commentators seem to have been expecting higher inflation and even hyperinflation, the latest US money supply statistics rather indicate deflation, or even hyperdeflation. The US money supply fell by an annualized rate of 9.6 percent according to the latest statistics and the rate is accelerating. This is a decline not seen since the 1930's and this comes at a time of the zero interest rates, gigantic stimulus packages all over the world and the Fed and other central banks monetizing debt at levels unheard of. So what's really happening? Why don't we see higher inflation or hyperinflation like so many experts have predicted? Can anyone explain this?
The Path to Hyperinflation
By: Jordan Roy-Byrne, CMT - GoldSeek.com
As we've discussed recently, persistent deflationary forces do not augur for a repeat of Japan circa 1990s or the US in the 1930s. Instead, because of the inability of government's to finance their current and future debt burden (there is a dearth of domestic savings and global capital), deflationary forces will ultimately lead to severe inflation or hyperinflation. In today's missive, we explain how this will happen but in various stages.
In the first stage, the economy enters a recession after a large credit bubble. The recession and end of the credit bubble lead to deflation. As a result, the US Dollar and US Treasuries outperform. Think 2008.
Christie Says N.J. 'Careening Toward Becoming Greece'
By Terrence Dopp - BusinessWeek.com
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the state is "careening our way toward becoming Greece" and can't afford the cost of benefits and pensions for current workers.
The governor, speaking today to members of the Manhattan Institute, said his state must reduce its tax burden and control government spending. He has proposed a constitutional amendment to cap growth in property taxes, the main source of funding for schools and towns, at 2.5 percent a year. "Higher taxes are not going to solve the problem," said Christie, a Republican who took office Jan. 19. "We've got to change the course."
Is Europe heading for a meltdown?
Edmund Conway - SilverBearCafe.com
This financial crisis is worse than the sub-prime crash of 2008 because the sums are so much bigger and it is governments that are in dire straits. Edmund Conway explains the dangers. Mervyn King, the Bank of England Governor, summed it up best: "Dealing with a banking crisis was difficult enough," he said the other week, "but at least there were public-sector balance sheets on to which the problems could be moved. Once you move into sovereign debt, there is no answer; there's no backstop."
Credit-Based Speculative Economy Imploding on a Global Scale
Written by Charles Hugh Smith - OilPrice.com
A slow-growth real economy has been replaced with a credit-based speculative financial economy dependent on low interest rates and systemic fraud to survive. It is now imploding on a global scale.
Governments around the world have attempted to replace the real economy of value produced with a financial model based on credit growth and speculation. They have failed, and their constructs are imploding before our eyes.
Greece, Portugal and Spain Are the Least of Our Economic, Financial Challenges By: Paul L Kasriel - MarketOracle.co.uk
After hitting a cycle high of 1217.28 on April 23, 2010, the S&P 500 stock market index fell by 10.65% in the following 20 trading days. The media would have you believe that the ongoing "official" correction in the U.S. equities market is all about the southern member states of the Euro-zone - Greece, Portugal and Spain (GPS). Although concern about the economically-weak and highly-indebted Euro-zone states have played a role in the U.S. equities market correction, we think there is more to the correction than GPS. Moreover, we believe that the problems of these challenged Euro-zone members will not have a significant effect on U.S. or global economic activity in the foreseeable future. China might, but not Greece, Portugal and Spain.
Geithner in Europe
Spiegel.de
US and EU Oceans Apart on Fiscal Policy
Europe is eager to begin paying down sovereign debt. The US wants to see Germany and France continue stimulus measures. With Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in Germany on Thursday, the trans-Atlantic differences in fiscal policy have become difficult to ignore.
The two were eager to demonstrate unanimity. US Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and his German counterpart, Finance Minister Wolfgang SchŠuble, went before the press in Berlin on Thursday and announced that they had reached "broad agreement" on the need to regulate the global financial system.
Liquidity Forecast for the World Economies
Bob chapman - the International Forecaster
European rescue of economy not unlike the Fed rescue, war a real threat, echoes of the loss of the gold standard, another reflationary wave to come, currencies to succumb, consequences of Europe for Americans, US banking system under significant stress, new T-bills to sell, election funding changes, more about real property defaults...
Treasury Sells 1.5B Citi Shares
By: Zacks Investment Research
Yesterday, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the completion of its sale of 1.5 billion shares or 19.5% of its total holdings in Citigroup Inc. for gross proceeds of around $6.2 billion. The trading plan, announced on April 26, had Morgan Stanley acting as the sales agent.
The Treasury also plans to sell another 1.5 billion shares as it continues to wind down its holding in Citi. While the shares were received by the Treasury as part of its efforts to rescue Citi through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the Treasury is now looking for the appropriate time and market conditions for selling its stake in Citi to maximize profits from its investment in the company.
An American Concept: Crushing Debt
By David Galland, GoldSeek.com
Commenting on the European crisis - because this has gone well past being one that can be termed "Greek" - the New York Times cited a senior U.S. official on the significant role the U.S., including Obama himself, played in getting Europe's leadership to agree to a bailout approaching one trillion. One particularly telling quote...
The U.S. officials began talking to their counterparts about an American concept: overwhelming force. "It's all about psychology," said the senior official.
Funny how these things work, isn't it? In response to its own debt crisis, the U.S. mirrors the failed Japanese experiment in quantitative easing, except that we look to "fix" the flaw in that experiment with the overwhelming force of trillions upon trillions of unsupported spending, in the process making the idea of unleashing a money flood an "American concept." Europe, desperate and without the advantage of the time needed to witness the ultimate consequences of the latest American concept, agreed to a money flood of its own with the result that it, too, plans on taking on nearly a trillion dollars in new debt.
Bohemian Rhapsody
By Jan Puhl in Prague - Spiegel.de
The Prince Who Would Be Kingmaker
Voters in the Czech Republic are heading to the polls this week to elect a new government. With a political stalemate between the country's two traditional leading parties, a 71-year-old prince with ties to the Hapsburgs could emerge as kingmaker. Karel von Schwarzenberg has pledged to end the EU country's political impasse and to battle rampant corruption with his newly formed party.
The prince is "peeved." In fact, he is becoming increasingly "peeved." Which is why, on this particular evening, Karel von Schwarzenberg is in a smoky pub in Novo Dvorska, a Prague suburb filled with communist-era prefab concrete apartment blocks. He has filled his pipe with tobacco and now he is ready to answer the questions of the people sitting at his table. "In this country, politicians behave irresponsibly," he says. But not Schwarzenberg -- he's different, and everyone should know this. "I want to get things moving just one more time," says the aristocrat, who is campaigning in the Czech elections, which will take place on Friday and Saturday.
The Fine Print of Central Banking
Mises Daily: May 27, 2010 by Jonathan M. Finegold Catalan
Since the rise of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela has become a superstar of sorts. It frequently makes headline news, whether due to some type of utility shortage, some political scandal, or a corruption case. The most common perception of Venezuela is one of economic peril. Indeed, analysts have been predicting the government's collapse since at least 2007. While Chavez's Venezuela has survived so far, most agree that its economy limps on one leg and that default is only a matter of time.
Political Money
Mises Daily: May 27, 2010 by Sir Ernest Benn
The year 1937 and thereabouts will stand out in financial history as a very remarkable period. It brought us to the end of one chapter, one might wish the last chapter, in the history of the political effort to control money. For five or six years previously the [British] government had succeeded in imposing a policy of cheap money, and by all the rules, cheap money having then served its purpose, the tide or pendulum should have swung in the opposite direction. But by 1937 the pundits and professors of the Treasury, for London as well as Washington has its brain trust, had secured so firm a hold upon the temporary occupants of political places as to persuade them that a continuance of cheap money was still desirable.
Bond Sales Fall to Least in Decade, Yields Soar
By Bryan Keogh and Sonja Cheung
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Companies sold the least amount of bonds in a decade this month as concern that the burgeoning sovereign debt crisis in Europe will slow the global economy drove up relative borrowing costs by the most since the aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s collapse.
Borrowers issued $61.1 billion of debt in currencies from dollars to yen, a third of April's tally and the least since December 2000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. At least 13 companies withdrew offerings, including New York-based retailer Jones Apparel Group Inc. and theater chain operator Regal Entertainment Group.
Fixing oil disaster my responsibility, Obama says
By JENNIFER LOVEN, TOM RAUM - AP via MSNBC
WASHINGTON - On the defensive more than five weeks into the nation's worst-ever oil spill, President Barack Obama insisted Thursday that his administration, not oil giant BP, was calling the shots in the still-unsuccessful response. "I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down," Obama declared at a news conference in the East Room of the White House. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill dominated the hour-long session. He called the spill an "unprecedented disaster" and blasted a "scandalously close relationship" he said has persisted between Big Oil and government regulators.
10 Things You Need (But Don't Want) To Know About the BP Oil Spill
AlterNet / By Daniela Perdomo
How the owner of the exploded oil rig has made $270 million off the disaster, and nine other shocking, depressing facts about the oil spill.
May 27, 2010 | It's been 37 days since BP's offshore oil rig, Deepwater Horizon, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico. Since then, crude oil has been hemorrhaging into ocean waters and wreaking unknown havoc on our ecosystem -- unknown because there is no accurate estimate of how many barrels of oil are contaminating the Gulf.
Though BP officially admits to only a few thousand barrels spilled each day, expert estimates peg the damage at 60,000 barrels or over 2.5 million gallons daily. (Perhaps we'd know more if BP hadn't barred independent engineers from inspecting the breach.) Measures to quell the gusher have proved lackluster at best, and unlike the country's last big oil spill -- Exxon-Valdez in 1989 -- the oil is coming from the ground, not a tanker, so we have no idea how much more oil could continue to pollute the Gulf's waters.
U.S. oil agency chief quits
AP - MSNBC.com
Departure follows criticism for lax oversight of BP, oil industry
WASHINGTON - The head of the troubled agency that oversees offshore drilling resigned under pressure Thursday as President Barack Obama moved more aggressively to take charge of the Gulf oil spill. The departure of Minerals Management Service Director Elizabeth Birnbaum was announced by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at a congressional hearing where Birnbaum had been scheduled to testify but didn't show up. Birnbaum resigned "on her own terms and her own volition," Salazar told lawmakers.
Obama Extends Moratorium as MMS Chief Steps Down
By Julianna Goldman and Edwin Chen
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama will cancel a plan to drill for oil off Virginia's coast and extend for six months a moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits, as the head of agency responsible for issuing the permits stepped down.
In addition, planned drilling by Royal Dutch Shell Plc of exploratory wells in the Arctic off Alaska will be delayed while a presidential commission studies the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in an effort to determine how to prevent any future disasters, according an administration aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcement.
Estimates Suggest Spill Is Biggest in U.S. History
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON - NYTimes.com
NEW ORLEANS - A federal team created to produce a more precise estimate of the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico has determined that the rate is at least twice what was previously acknowledged and possibly five times as much, officials said on Thursday. If the team's estimates are accurate, this spill would be far bigger than the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 and the worst in United States history.
The Corporate Stranglehold: How BP Will Make out Like Bandits from Its Massive, Still Gushing Oil Disaster
AlterNet / By Zach Carter The existing $75 million cap on damages for offshore drilling companies is a bailout every bit as disgusting as those recently bestowed upon Wall Street
You've got to hand it to BP. After witnessing the Great Financial Crash of 2008, it seemed like it would be decades before any corporation could eclipse Wall Street's reckless rush to place its own short-term profits ahead of the public interest. But the epic drilling disaster off the Louisiana coast demonstrates that many of the problems that wrecked Wall Street are deeply embedded in other sectors of the American economy. Over the past 30 years, corporate titans have so thoroughly corrupted the notion of "free markets" that many of the world's riskiest businesses are not only insulated from regulatory supervision, they have been immunized from even minimum standards of market discipline.
BP blamed in 8,000 spill reports, federal data shows
By Bill Allison - Sunlight Foundation British Petroleum and its subsidiaries have been the subject of roughly 8,000 reported incidents of spills, emissions and leaks of oil, chemicals and gases into the environment, according to a government database.
The National Response Center, which takes reports on oil spills, radiation leaks, chemical emissions and other environmental accidents, shows dozens of reports stemming from the April 20 explosion at British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon. In addition to the crude oil flowing into the gulf , benzene, ethylbenzene, caustic soda solution and six other chemicals have been released into the water and air, according to incident reports submitted to the National Response Center.
Start Spreadin' the Ooze! Hurricane Season Could Be Strongest Ever, Say Top Meteorologists
FOXNews.com
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues its 2010 hurricane season forecast, predicting one of the strongest seasons on record -- and reiterating fears that the Gulf oil spill may be impacted by the severe weather.
Hurricane season for the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico begins June 1 and lasts through Nov. 30. That's when about 90 percent of the storms make themselves present, and the predictions for this season are grim -- which could wreak further havoc on the Gulf Coast.
NOAA's forecast predicts as many as 23 named storms during the Atlantic hurricane season, with three to seven becoming serious enough to be classified as major hurricanes. Named storms come with top winds of 39 mph or higher. The agency worries that as many as 14 could turn into hurricanes, with winds in excess of 74 mph, and three to seven could be Category 3, 4 or 5 storms with winds of at least 111 mph.
Dr. Hansimian's Hurricane Forecast
'Top Kill'' Effort Seems to Be Working, U.S. Says Cautiously
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS and JOHN M. BRODER - NYTimes.com
HOUSTON - The latest effort to plug a gushing underwater oil well in the Gulf of Mexico appeared to be working, officials and engineers said on Thursday morning, though definitive word on its success was still hours away. At the same time, government experts said that the flow of oil from the well, which has been gushing since an explosion and fire wrecked a drilling rig in late April, was several times worse than the preliminary estimate by BP, the oil company responsible for the rig and the well. If these new estimates prove to be accurate, the spill would be far bigger than the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 and the worst in United States history.
Birmingham gas prices up 30 cents Memorial Day weekend over last year
BIRMINGHAM BUSINESS JOURNAL
The average gasoline price for the coming Memorial Day weekend will average 30 cents per gallon higher than last year, according to a release from GasBuddy.com and BirminghamGasPrices.com. The website estimates the average price across the United States will be $2.75 per gallon - but that's the cheapest on record since 2006. However, despite the uptick, much of the U.S. will see falling prices after the holiday, continuing a downward trend. In Birmingham, prices have fallen 15.7 cents per gallon from $2.76 a gallon earlier this month to $2.60 yesterday. Prices Wednesday were 32.9 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
Revised budget shortfall grows to $577 million
PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL
Oregon's budget shortfall, which will likely result in a massive round of state spending cuts, is actually bigger than state economists projected. The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis said Thursday the shortfall is actually $577 million, as opposed to the $563 million reported on Monday. The revised revenue forecast reflects a change in the amount of revenues the state collects from its cigarette tax.
Housing Market Update: When Will House Prices Recover?
From theTrumpet.com Not any time soon.
Remember when all those government economists and National Association of Realtors analysts were saying that housing prices wouldn't recover until the first half of 2009? Then it was by 2010? Now the truth is coming out. No one knows when housing prices will recover-if ever.
According to mortgage-bond legend Lewis Ranieri, don't expect a meaningful rebound in house prices for at least three to five years: "There is another big leg down and the question is how long does it stay."
Don't be quick to dismiss what Ranieri says, because he is possibly the one individual who is arguably just as responsible for America's great housing bubble as former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan (who lowered interest rates to record lows to try to get us to spend our way out of a recession), the politicians (who forced banks to lend to unqualified individuals) and the investment ratings agencies (that rated subprime mortgages as triple-A safe).
The Mall Is Undead, but Maybe Not for Long
BY GREG LINDSAY - FastCompany.com
Is the mall dead? And if so, is it permanently dead? That question hung in the air on the last day of the annual Congress for the New Urbanism. "We have too much retail," said Francis Scire, a senior leasing executive at Simon Property Group, the nation's largest mall owner. "I think the mall's sick, and hopefully on the way to recovery with some adaptation."
A similar event taking place in Las Vegas a day later--the semi-annual meeting of the International Council of Shopping Centers, the world's largest gathering of mall developers--offered a far healthier outlook. The number of malls in this country actually grew last year, to 104,990 shopping centers with 7.2 billion square feet of retail space, according to a study released this week by ICSC. Malls comprise nearly half of all retail, and retail, in turn, is the largest segment ($2.98 trillion) of a commercial real estate market in the process of melting down. "Prospects for the retail real estate industry appear to be improving, and the sector, in time, will likely regain its investment luster," ICSC's chief economist has concluded.
Slow-motion recovery keeps unemployment high
By JEANNINE AVERSA - AP via MSNBC
WASHINGTON - High unemployment isn't going away.
The slow pace of economic growth shows the recovery is too weak to generate enough jobs for 15.3 million unemployed people. Layoffs are contributing to the problem. That's evident from an elevated number of weekly claims for jobless aid. Two government reports Thursday offered new evidence on all of those fronts.
What's Really Wrong with the Healthcare Industry
Mises Daily: May 26, 2010 by Vijay Boyapati The Morality of Healthcare Reform
One of the most important factors animating the libertarian rejection of public policy in general is the recognition that any state action must ultimately resort to the use or threat of aggression. As Ludwig von Mises observed,
It is important to remember that government interference always means either violent action or the threat of such action. Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen. The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Was Rambo Right?
BY RON UNZ - The American Conservative Hundreds of POWs may have been left to die in Vietnam, abandoned by their government-and our media.
In the closing days of the 2008 presidential campaign, I clicked an ambiguous link on an obscure website and stumbled into a parallel universe.
During the previous two years of that long election cycle, the media narrative surrounding Sen. John McCain had been one of unblemished heroism and selfless devotion to his fellow servicemen. Thousands of stories on television and in print had told of his brutal torture at the hands of his North Vietnamese captors, his steely refusal to crack, and his later political career aimed at serving the needs of fellow Vietnam veterans. This storyline had first reached the national stage during his 2000 campaign, then returned with even greater force as he successfully sought the 2008 Republican nomination. Seemingly accepted by all, this history became a centerpiece of his campaign. McCain's supporters touted his heroism as proof that he possessed the character to be entrusted with America's highest office, while his detractors merely sought to change the subject.
"READY FOR WAR," "U.S. Military told to get ready in Korea Standoff, Obama orders commanders to prepare 'to deter future aggression.'" By Drudge and MSNBC
"U.S. Begins Massive Military Build Up Around Iran, Sending Up To 4 New Carrier Groups In Region" by Tyler Durden
"Clinton: Korea Must Face 'Consequences' For Sunken Warship"
Homeland Security, Northeast Intelligence Network: "The Syrian Missile Crisis: Threat of War Very Real"
"The Expanding U.S. War in Pakistan" by Jeremy Scahill
"Yemen, Latest War Front?" by CBS News
These are but a very few of the recent headlines about more U.S. war, but the Iranian and Korean situations are the most dangerous, and the threats against Iran I think the most real.
United States wars are virtually all wars of aggression, so it is quite evident that U.S. wars are "fought" for reasons other than self-defense. That means there are ulterior motives involved that are not related to moral behavior, but instead to nefarious intent. This is a disturbing revelation, and one little understood by the American masses. It is one however, that if more understood, could literally blow the lid off the notion that the purposeful buildup of the military-industrial complex is for the defense of this nation! This thought scares the life out of those in power who need to keep the populace scared to death at all times in order to propagate their crimes.
Netanyahu: Time for direct talks with Palestinians
By SYLVIE CORBET - MSNBC
PARIS - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday it's time to move to direct talks with the Palestinians and that he will raise the issue with President Barack Obama in Washington next week. Netanyahu, after talks in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said he wants to move beyond indirect "proximity talks" that are being mediated by the United States. "We want to move as speedily as possible to direct talks because the kind of problem that we have with the Palestinians can be resolved in peace and can be arranged only if we sit down together," Netanyahu told reporters at the French presidential palace.
Russia's War Games Preparing for Conflict with the East
Written by Simon Saradzhyan - OilPrice.com
Russia should tackle negative socio-economic and demographic trends in the Far East and Siberia instead of reacting to China's continuing rise if it wants to head off the chances of conflict in the region.
Next month will see the Russian armed forces stage an operational-strategic exercise dubbed "Vostok-2010" (East-2010), called "the main event of the combat training"in 2010 in a press release by the Russian Defense Ministry.
Thousands of soldiers from the army, including the CBRN Protection Forces, the navy, air force, airborne troops and other elements of the Russian armed forces will participate in the joint exercise of the Far Eastern and Siberian Military districts in mid-June.
First Patriot Missiles Already in Poland
Global Research, May 26, 2010
The US Patriot air defence batteries and around 100 American troops have arrived in the town of Morag, northern Poland, 60 kilometers from the Russian Kaliningrad border. Since early morning soldiers of the US 5th Battalion and 7th Air Defence Artillery have been unloading the missiles from 37 train carriages. "It's an important day for Poland and the United States, for our common goals and interests," said U.S. ambassador to Poland Lee Feinstein.
The first Patriots arrived in Poland after the SOFA agreement (Supplemental Status of Forces Agreement) at the beginning of this year. The US soldiers will train Polish troops on how to use the Patriot defence system. The American soldiers accompanied the the battery from Kaiserslautern in Germany last night.
2nd Iceland volcano issues ominous warning
MSNBC.com
Scientists say a more powerful Katla volcano is 'close to failure'
LONDON - A second, much larger volcano in Iceland is showing signs that it may be about to erupt, scientists have warned. Since the start of the Eyjafjallajškull eruption, which caused cancellations of thousands of flights in Europe because of a giant ash cloud, there has been much speculation about neighboring Katla. An initial research paper by the University College of London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction said: "Analysis of the seismic energy released around Katla over the last decade or so is interpreted as providing evidence of a rising ... intrusive magma body on the western flank of the volcano."
N. Korea scraps anti-clash pact with South
By KELLY OLSEN - AP - MSNBC.com
'Prompt physical strikes' will be made if ship strays into North's waters
SEOUL, South Korea - Military tension on the Korean peninsula rose Thursday after North Korea threatened to attack any South Korean ships entering its waters and Seoul held anti-submarine drills in response to the March sinking of a navy vessel blamed on Pyongyang. Separately, the chief U.S. military commander in South Korea criticized the North over the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in which 46 sailors died, telling the communist country to stop its aggressive actions.
As Pyongyang ends non-belligerence with Seoul, Beijing remains silent
AsiaNews.it
Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - The North Korean government this morning announced that it will scrap an agreement aimed at preventing accidental naval clashes with South Korea in the Yellow Sea, North Korea's KCNA news agency reported quoting a top officer in the North Korean People's Army. The chairman of the North Korean Chiefs of Staff warned South Korea's armed forces of a swift attack should their troops violate the line between the two Koreas.
The statement is the latest step in escalating tensions between the two Korean states. Yesterday Pyongyang broke off bilateral relations with Seoul, issuing new military threats against South Korea.
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NWO progress report . . . what's next, a guarantee of "Peace and Safety"? Or maybe the world is just throwing a party over the Memorial Day Weekend. Let us remember what MEMORIAL DAY is about - to commemorate the members of the United States armed forces who were killed in war
Yet Another New World Order
Joel Hilliker - theTrumpet.com President Obama wants to "shape an international order." Look out.
Does the world seem a bit out of control? Here is President Obama's idea to get a grip on things: He wants to help "shape an international order," with "stronger international standards and institutions."
He couldn't use "new world order," since that was already taken.
The president issued this latest homage to supranationalism this past Saturday, at a commencement speech at West Point. "[W]e have to shape an international order that can meet the challenges of our generation," he said. "As influence extends to more countries and capitals, we also have to build new partnerships, and shape stronger international standards and institutions." He speaks as though this has never been tried.
From June 9, 2009, the US expressed approval of
the Alliance of Civilizations' purported agenda:
"The United States supports the goals of the Alliance of Civilizations to improve understanding and respect among various religious communities and cultures, and to help counter forces that fuel polarization and extremism. We believe there is value in an ongoing dialogue among cultures and religions, encouraging mutual understanding and tolerance. In fact, President Obama is in Cairo delivering a majorbo address on precisely these issues as I speak. In our view the OSCE has made a positive contribution in this regard in the past, and should continue to do so in the future."
Assistant Secretary Esther Brimmer to Lead U.S. State Department Delegation to the UN-Alliance of Civilizations Forum in Rio de Janeiro, May 28 - 29
Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer will lead the U.S. delegation to the UN-Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) Forum, May 28 - 29, in Rio de Janeiro. The U.S. Department of State announced earlier this month that the United States would join the Alliance of Civilizations Group of Friends. While the United States has sent observer delegations to Alliance meetings and Forums in the past, this is the first event for the United States as a Group of Friends member. The United States decided to join the Alliance in 2010 to further the AoC's goals of improved understanding and cooperation among nations and peoples across the world's many cultures, to help counter the forces that fuel polarization and extremism. The goals and activities of the Alliance complement President Obama's vision of active U.S. engagement with other nations and international organizations to advance American security interests and meet the global challenges of the 21st century.
UN Alliance of Civilizations Forum
Rio De Janeiro Forum (27-29 May 2010) ABOUT THE ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS
The UNAOC mobilize concerted action toward reaffirming a paradigm of mutual respect among peoples of different cultural and religious backgrounds. It aims to bridge the world's divides and to build trust and understanding across cultures and communities worldwide. Established in 2005 as a UN initiative, the Alliance emerged out of a conviction that, in order to achieve sustainable peace, long-standing divisions between cultures need to be addressed.
In April 2007, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Jorge Sampaio, former President of Portugal, as High-Representative for the Alliance. Under his leadership, the Alliance embarked on an extensive program of work which includes a range of practical initiatives and projects.
Welcome to the UN Alliance of Civilizations Forum 2010
The Third Forum of the UNAOC will bring together approximately 2,000 political and corporate leaders, mayors, civil society activists, youth, journalists, foundations, international organizations, and religious leaders in order to agree on joint actions to improve relations across cultures and tackle the root causes of extremism in societies.
The Alliance of Civilizations gaining visibility
The Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) is gaining a level of visibility that its founders could not have imagined, Jorge Sampaio, high representative for the AoC to the UN, has said.
Sampaio told Today's Zaman that membership in the AoC has already reached a number that the original financial and administrative structure can no longer sustain. There are 100 member countries and international organizations in the AoC to date. Co-founded by Turkey and Spain only five years ago, the AoC has become the most visible international organization promoting intercultural dialogue.
Gold Hits 1-Week High on "Massive Flows", Scramble for "Too Few Safe Assets" By: Adrian Ash - GoldSeek.com
THE PRICE OF GOLD in wholesale dealing rose throughout Asian and London trade on Wednesday, touching 1-week highs above $1215 an ounce as world stock markets bounced from their recent plunge. Crude oil also rallied, regaining $70 per barrel. Silver prices caught up with gold, rising 3.3% from last week's finish to $18.68 an ounce. "Support [in gold] still at the April high, continues to limit the downside," reckons Phil Smith in his Reuters Market Technical Analysis from Beijing, noting the sharp rally in gold from last Friday's drop to $1178. Exchange-traded gold trusts are seeing "massive inflows given the current economic climate," says one London dealer.
Strong demand to lift gold above $1,500
Muzaffar Rizvi - KaleejTimes.com
DUBAI - Gold prices will maintain rising trend and may cross $1,500 an ounce by the end of this year on strong demand in China and India, industry players said on Wednesday. They said demand for gold would remain strong this year due to investors' appetite for the yellow metal in the wake of worldwide economic instability, sovereign risk and the threat of a 'double dip' recession. "Pure Gold sees gold prices as high at the moment, but it will go further higher by the year-end. I expect gold prices to go above $1,500 by the end of the year," Firoz Merchant, Chairman of Pure Gold Jewellers, told Khaleej Times. He said high gold prices are an opportunity for customers to continue to increase their confidence in buying gold as an investment and therefore this trend will continue.
US Debt and the Gold Price: Numbers On the Up and Up
By Addison Wiggin - The DailyReckoning.com
05/26/10 Baltimore, Maryland - As we sat down to write this morning, the cell phone began vibrating against the desk. Alice Gomstyn from ABCNews.com wanted to know what we thought about the national debt crossing the $13 trillion threshold.
UhÉthe same as we thought about it crossing $12 trillion less than six months ago. Not good. But what do we know. We've been whistling Dixie on this subject for the better part of our adult lifetime. No one really cares except when these psychological boundaries are crossed tomorrow it'll be business as usual.
Has Gold Become A New Reserve Currency?
For decades, the U.S. dollar has been the reserve currency of the world. This has given the United States an extraordinary amount of economic power, but as the U.S. economy has started to come apart over the past decade, other nations have increasingly sought to move away from the U.S. dollar and find other alternatives. For a long time it was thought that the Euro would become the next great reserve currency of the world. However, the recent Greek debt crisis, along with massive financial instability in nations such as Portugal, Spain and Italy, has caused investors to rapidly lose confidence in the Euro. In fact there are even some whispers that the Euro may not even survive the sovereign debt crisis as it sweeps across Europe. With both the U.S. dollar and the Euro looking shaky, investors have been searching somewhere safe to put their money. Increasingly, they have been turning to gold. So has gold now become a new reserve currency? Will all of this new demand drive the price of gold into unprecedented territory?
Asia's demand for gold soars
Angela Shah - TheNational.ae
Demand for gold in India soared almost sevenfold in the first quarter of the year as investors rushed to the metal as a haven from growing economic and market troubles around the world, the World Gold Council (WGC) said. Consumers in India and China, who have long been heavy investors in the metal, have grown accustomed to soaring prices, the organisation said, leading them to invest even as gold hit new highs. In the first three months of the year, demand for gold in India soared 698 per cent to 193.5 tonnes compared with the same period last year, while Chinese demand rose 11 per cent to 105.2 tonnes.
A little bit of gold could do you a lot of good
Ram N Sahgal, ET Bureau - IndiaTimes.com
MUMBAI: Gold prices in the local bullion market may be vaulting, but traders and analysts say that it should still be a part of the portfolio of retail investors, considering the natural hedge it provides and the returns on investment year to date.
Over a one-year period, gold priced in rupees has yielded a return of 6.7% against a negative 11.3% return by the Sensex, highlighting its status as an alternate asset class during times of uncertainty. Amid high volatility in stocks, gold priced in rupees rose to a record high of 18,846 per 10 gram on Wednesday, mainly on account of a weaker currency and fears that the Eurozone crisis may worsen.
Gold Correction Factors, Hidden Dollar Swap Hammer
By: Jim Willie CB - MarketOracle.co.uk
Let me start the article with a personal note. For the last six years, my pen has put forth a public article almost every week. Since the end of 2009, a change has come from that pattern, for four reasons. First, articles take time and serve as free volleys sent into cyberspace. They are attempts to raise awareness of a broken corrupt system, to encourage increased investment protection by the investment community, and to make repetitive messages that can sink in. Second, many of the warnings have come true of a monetary system in tatters, an insolvent banking system, a failed central bank franchise system, and a discredited amalgam of sovereign bond markets.
Speculators rush for gold as rally of 27% is predicted
NICHOLAS LARKIN AND CLAUDIA CARPENTER - BusinessDay.co.za
SPECULATORS are buying gold faster than the world's biggest producers can mine it, as analysts forecast a 27% rally that may extend the longest run of annual gains since at least 1920. Exchange-traded products backed by bullion added 41,7 tons in the week to May 14, the most in 14 months, data from UBS show. China, Australia and the 15 other countries that are the world's largest miners averaged weekly output of 41,6 tons last year, researcher GFMS estimates. Even though prices have fallen 4,6% to 1191,65 from a record 1249,40/oz since May 14, the median in a Bloomberg survey of 23 traders, analysts and investors shows it will reach 1500 by the end of the year. Gold futures for June delivery fell 3,30 to 1190,70 in New York yesterday. The metal gained 1,5% yesterday, after shedding 4,2% last week.
Seven reasons gold rally will continue
Jeff Nichols - Commodity Online
A few months ago most analysts were skeptical about $1500 an ounce for gold by end of 2010, however, the recent rally in gold coupled with economic uncertainties have forced those who earlier disputed the bullish forecasts to jump on the bandwagon, according to Jeffrey Nichols, Senior Economic Advisor to Rosland Capital and Managing Director of American Precious Metals Advisors
US inflationary policies: The US monetary and fiscal policies are inflation. Official federal debt, now around $12.8 trillion is only a small part of Washington's actual obligations.Off-budget and unfunded future liabilities are another $108 trillio, Jeff Nicols said. So the end result would be higher inflation, currency depreciation and higher gold prices.
Gold moves up on geopolitical tensions
SINGAPORE (Commodity Online) : Gold prices advanced in Asian trade Wednesday despite a firming dollar as geopolitical tensions in the Korean peninsula boosted its appeal. Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $1204.94 an ounce at 12.00 noon Singapore time while US gold futures for June delivery was at $1205.44 an ounce eat the same time on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The euro fell on Wednesday, slipping back towards a four-year low against the dollar on euro zone fears.
Better touch screens with silver, gold nanowires
By siliconindia news bureau
Washington: Scientists from Stanford University has come up with plastic touch screen coated with silver and gold nanowires, which has more flexibility and durability than the glass touch screen, according to ANI. "Touch screen made from thin plastic coated with silver and gold could be produced more quickly than glass plates-up to 100 times faster," Discovery News quoted Yu Cui, Scientist at Stanford University and co-author of the paper, as saying.
China, India battle for gold market supremacy
By Daniel Wilson
Is gold demand in China slowing down compared to India? India and China are the world's two largest gold consuming nations. China's growing gold market has remained the most-talked about commodity news in recent times as several analysts and Chinese officials have been talking big about the dragon country's plans to step up gold reserves. The Chinese bullion market has been, of course, growing exponentially well, as the country was projected to overtake India in gold consumption.
But can China easily overtake India in gold demand and consumption. It looks, despite the hype, it is not going to be easy for China to outshine India's vibrant, ever-growing and rich gold market. Proof of it is the latest Gold Demand Trends report from the apex global gold body--World Gold Council--that has been published this week.
Peter Schiff: Glenn Beck Doesn't Know That
GOLDLINE Is Ripping People Off!
Warning: Crash dead ahead. Sell. Get liquid. Now.
Paul B. Farrell - SilverBearCafe.com 'Game's in the refrigerator.' Power's turning off. Dow sinking below 6,470
"This game's in the refrigerator! The door's closed, the lights are out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard and the Jell-O is jiggling ..."
That was legendary Lakers' radio announcer Chick Hearn's signature way of calling a game early, telling fans the home team won ... you can head for the exits before the final buzzer. Chick wrote the book with popular sports phrases like "slam dunk," "air ball," "charity stripe," and a "bunny hop in the pea patch" for a traveling violation.
Don't Doubt Bernanke's Ability to Create Inflation
National Inflation Association
With the Dow Jones now down 11% nominally from its high last month, NIA has been getting hundreds of emails and phone calls asking if there is any way we could be wrong about the threat of hyperinflation in the U.S. and if indeed deflation is the real problem we need to be worried about. The names Nouriel Roubini, Robert Prechter, and Harry Dent get mentioned to us a lot, with many NIA members asking why these so-called "experts" believe deflation is in our future.
Obama's Economic Advisor Lawrence Summers Argues for a Second Stimulus By JONATHAN BERR - DailyFinance.com
Lawrence Summers, Director of the White House's National Economic Council, will bring his case for the "son of the stimulus" to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia Thursday evening. The question is whether members of Congress worried about the critical midterm Congressional elections will have to stomach for the $200 billion spending plan Summers advocates.
Are We About To Witness The Greatest Banking Consolidation In U.S. History?
The Economic Collapse Blog
As the number of bank failures in the United States continues to accelerate, many analysts are warning that we could soon see unprecedented changes in the U.S. banking industry. In fact, there are some economists that are warning that we could be about to witness the greatest banking consolidation in U.S. history. As dozens of small and medium size banks have failed, the megabanks have systematically been gobbling up larger and larger slices of market share. In fact, if current trends continue, it doesn't take much imagination to foresee a future where the entire U.S. banking industry has been consolidated down to between 5 and 10 "superbanks". So would that be so bad? Well, yes it would. It would represent a massive shift in financial power away from the American people to big, global corporate banks. But if you happen to be a fan of big, global corporate banks perhaps you will really love what is about to happen to the U.S. banking industry.
In a Word, the Problem is "Debt"
by Tim Iaconco
Recent developments in the euro zone that increasingly look like they will lead to the restructuring (if not the collapse) of one of the world's major currencies and the potential for this "contagion" to move first north to the U.K. and then west to the U.S. have many people wondering what's gone wrong with the global monetary system.
How could advanced Western economies have run into such trouble?
With trillions of dollars in debt now transferred from public private sector balance sheets onto those of governments (where very different rules apply), could the problems seen in mainland Europe today spread to the British Isles and then to the U.S. where fiscal and economic conditions are, arguably, even worse?
TARP Investments Lead to Huge Losses for U.S. Treasury
By PALLAVI GOGOI - DailyFinance.com
As struggling banks get acquired or fail, the U.S. Treasury is shouldering a growing burden: Its investments in TARP are turning out to be a bust, leading to huge losses. And there are signs of more trouble ahead. Example: When Canada's Toronto Dominion Bank (TD) bought a South Carolina bank earlier this month, it came with a hefty price tag for the U.S. Treasury Department -- a 60% loss in its TARP investment. Turns out, this is only one among several hits that the Treasury and the U.S. taxpayer have taken recently. In fact the string of losses in TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, isn't only large, it's gathering momentum.
Moody's Reiterates U.S. Spending Risks Credit Rating
By Mary Childs
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government's Aaa bond rating will come under pressure in the future unless additional measures are taken to reduce projected record budget deficits, according to Moody's Investors Service Inc. The U.S. retains its top rating for now because of a "high degree of economic and institutional strength," the New York- based ratings company said in a statement today that was little changed from a credit opinion released in February. The outlook is stable, the statement said.
Bond Distress Highest Since '09 as Sales Vanish
By Bryan Keogh and Kate Haywood
May 26 (Bloomberg) -- The percentage of corporate bonds considered in distress surged this week to the highest since 2009 as investors dumped debt of the neediest borrowers on concern that Europe's fiscal crisis may make it harder for them to refinance.
Some 17 percent of junk bonds yield at least 10 percentage points more than Treasuries, up from 9.2 percent last month, Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Global High-Yield Index shows. The jump is the biggest since the distress ratio rose 11 percentage points in November 2008, two months after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed. Bonds of MGM Mirage and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. joined the list in May.
Lehman sues JPMorgan over its collapse
By David Ellis - CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy estate filed suit against JPMorgan Chase Wednesday, alleging that the bank demanded billions of dollars more than it needed in the firm's final days contributing to Lehman's ultimate demise. The suit, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, contends that Lehman, which was scrambling to stay afloat, invited JP Morgan to assist it in securing emergency financing.
Gerald Celente - Clash of the Economists
on abc6.com May 21, 2010
UK and France reject EU bank plan
By George Parker in London and Nikki Tait in Brussels - FT.com
Britain and France were at odds with other European Union countries on Wednesday over plans to insure against future bank failures, in another sign of the problems in trying to forge a common response to the bloc's economic woes. Michel Barnier, EU internal market commissioner, set out plans for member states to form national funds to help wind up or reorganise failing banks, funded by a levy on the financial sector.
Spain Takes the Spotlight From Greece in Europe's Debt Crisis
By CHARLES WALLACE - DailyFinance.com
First came Greece, which threatened Europe's economy with its staggering 130% debt-to-GDP ratio. Now comes Spain, which also seems to be contributing to the debt crisis in Europe. Unlike Greece, Spain has a low debt-to-GDP ratio. The country's problem is its banks' large real estate debt, fears about Spain's economy, and the fact that its sovereign debt is largely financed abroad. If foreign investors walk away from Spanish bonds, it could cause a sovereign debt crisis for Madrid that could spread to the rest of Europe.
The European Debt Crisis: A Smoke Screen For Bigger Problems
By PETER COHAN - DailyFinance.com
The European Union agreed to a 750 billion euro bailout plan in May to restore confidence in its economic structure. In light of the ongoing instability in global financial markets, that plan doesn't seem to have worked. But a look at how much money the three most-often-cited EU basket cases owe, suggests that the global market sell off must be a response to a different set of problems. Meanwhile, no additional bailouts are needed for now.
Greece tries to renegotiate pensions with EU/IMF
Reuters - ForexYard.com
ATHENS, May 26 (Reuters) - Greece is trying to renegotiate the terms of a drastic pension reform required under the terms of an economic rescue deal agreed this month with the EU and the IMF, senior government officials said.
In the first sign of glitches over the 3-year bailout plan, officials said they wanted the EU and IMF to agree full pensions should be payable after 37 years of contributions instead of 40, as set out in the deal, and allow the reform to be implemented later than foreseen.
"The (EU/IMF) memorandum will be implemented but I want to have the option to negotiate to the end," Labour Minister Andreas Loverdos said in a television interview. "I'm fighting for this, I'm not saying I will win."
Brussels unveils framework for bank levy
By Nikki Tait in Brussels - FT.com
European taxpayers should not have to bear the costs of rescuing ailing banks, a top European Union official said on Wednesday as Brussels formally unveiled its proposal for EU countries to form national funds to insure against future bank failures. The plan, which would be financed by levies on the banking industry, would aim to ensure that future bank failures do not destabilise the financial system. "It is not acceptable that taxpayers should continue to bear the heavy cost of rescuing the banking sector - they should not be in the front line," said Michel Barnier, EU internal market commissioner in Brussels.
What Barack Obama Is Thinking
By Peter Ferrara - American Spectator
tudents of history will recognize the method to President Obama's madness. The parallels in both policy and politics to the Roosevelt Administration are too striking not to be deliberate. President Obama is consciously modeling his Administration on the Roosevelt Administration. But just as the liberals of the 1930s graduated to the New Left of the 1960s, President Obama's policies and politics transcend the liberalism of the 1930s. He is building what Newt Gingrich rightly calls a secular socialist machine in his new book To Save America.
White House Admits BP Disaster Worst Oil Spill in US History
By: Andre Damon - MarketOracle.co.uk
After downplaying for weeks the significance of the Gulf Coast oil spill, the White House admitted on Monday that the Deepwater Horizon disaster constitutes the worst oil spill in US history. The admission from the White House comes as the Obama administration continues to insist that the response to the oil spill remain in the hands of BP.
"I don't think there is any doubt, unfortunately," Carol Browner, director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, said Monday on CBS' "The Early Show." Some scientists estimate that the spill has already released 2.5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, ten times more than that released by the Exxon Valdez in 1989.
Obama's oily Katrina
WashingtonTimes.com This administration is not so slick after all
Back in 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama critiqued the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. "There is not a sense of urgency out of this White House and this administration," he declared, two years after the disaster struck. Now, more than a month since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank, with a massive oil spill making landfall on the Gulf coast, Louisiana's Gov. Bobby Jindal is the one calling for "more urgency." The only rush in Washington is over where to shift the blame.
Mr. Obama apparently never had a plan for responding to this disaster. The White House seemingly felt that if the administration didn't treat it as a crisis, it would go away. If fingers were to be pointed, they could direct them at BP. That political strategy worked well for a week or so. But BP has failed to come to grips with the spill, and the White House, lacking ready solutions, looks feeble and rudderless.
Transocean argued with BP before blast
By Steve Gelsi
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Transocean supervisors that were aboard the Deepwater Horizion rig told government officials Wednesday about a disagreement with BP officials hours before the blast on Aprl 20 that killed 11 and resulted in the current oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. In a joint hearing held by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Minerals Management Service in Louisiana, Douglas Brown, Transocean's chief mechanic on the rig, said that key representatives from both companies had a heated argument in an 11 a.m. meeting on that day, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Brown said Transocean's crew leaders objected to a decision by BP on how to start removing heavy drilling fluid and replace it with lighter sea water from a riser pipe connected to the well head. BP declined to comment on the testimony.
BP Used Riskier Method to Seal Oil Well Before Blast
By IAN URBINA - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - Several days before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP officials chose, partly for financial reasons, to use a type of casing for the well that the company knew was the riskier of two options, according to a BP document. The concern with the method BP chose, the document said, was that if the cement around the casing pipe did not seal properly, gases could leak all the way to the wellhead, where only a single seal would serve as a barrier. Using a different type of casing would have provided two barriers, according to the document, which was provided to The New York Times by a Congressional investigator.
BP Begins 'Top Kill' to Plug Leaking Gulf Oil Well
By Jim Polson
May 26 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc began its most ambitious attempt to plug a leaking well that has been spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico for more than a month. BP began pumping mud-like drilling fluid into the well at 2 p.m. New York time, according to a statement. The effort is aimed at tamping down the gusher of oil and natural gas and then sealing the well with cement. Success would bring to an end a leak that has poured millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf and soiled at least 70 miles (113 kilometers) of coastline.
BP says effort to plug well 'proceeding as planned,' but success still uncertain
By Joel Achenbach - Washington Post
The "top kill" is underway, success uncertain. BP engineers are pumping mud at a furious rate into the damaged blowout preventer that sits on the uncapped well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The hazardous-but-high-reward maneuver comes five weeks into the oil spill crisis amid an intensifying atmosphere of political recrimination that has spread from the Gulf Coast to the White House and Congress.
The Top Kill
Written by The Oil Drum - OilPrice.com
A Detailed Guide of BP's plan to Stop the Oil Spill:
The next attempt to shut off the flow from the leaking BP well in the Gulf is still aimed to occur early Wednesday. The attempt will use the "top kill" method to try and kill the well. While I have described this in earlier posts, the Unified Command have put out a video animation of the process, and there was an earlier diagram. So I am going to use these, which are simplified explanations, with some additional comments and tie it in to more facts that came out of briefings today, to try and give a more detailed explanation.
Top Kill Animation
Gulf oil spill Results of 'top kill' operation won't be known for 24 hours
LATimes.com
It will be at least 24 hours before BP officials will know whether their high-risk effort to plug the wellhead spewing crude into the gulf has succeeded, the Chief Executive Tony Hayward said Wednesday afternoon. He said the effort is proceeding as planned and cautioned that the televised images of the oil plume do not give an indication of how the operation is going or whether the oil flow is increasing or decreasing. Engineers worked through Tuesday night to prepare for the "top kill" procedure, running diagnostic and other tests to ensure that conditions were right. The effort involves injecting dense drilling mud into the blown-out wellhead and then sealing it with cement.
Following BP's Lead
Bob Herbert - SilverBearCafe.com
I asked the sheriff of St. Bernard Parish, Jack Stephens, if he was at all optimistic about BP stopping the gusher of oil that is fouling the Gulf of Mexico in time to prevent a long-term environmental catastrophe in the southern Louisiana wetlands.
The sun was high in the sky, and the day was hot. The sheriff was in a small boat, patrolling the waterways that wend their way through the delicate marshes. He thought for a long moment. Oil was already seeping into the marshes, getting into the soil and plant life and coating some of the wildlife. "I'll tell you the truth," said Mr. Stephens. "It may already be too late."
Researchers race to produce 3D models of BP oil spill
By Patrick Thibodeau - The Economic Collapse NSF approves supercomputing time as researchers apply storm surge models to oil spread
Computerworld - As the oil from BP's massive spill affects an ever expanding area, scientists have embarked on a crash effort to use one the world's largest supercomputers to forecast, in 3D, how BP's massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill will affect coastal areas.
The National Science Foundation late last week made an emergency allocation of 1 million compute hours - acting within 24 hours of receiving the request - on a supercomputer used at the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas to study how the spreading oil from BP's gusher will affect coastlines.
Why Are So Many Horrible Things Happening To America All Of A Sudden?
The End of the American Dream - SilverBearCafe.com
Once upon a time the United States was a land of abundance and prosperity that was truly blessed from sea to shining sea. Tens of millions of Americans enjoyed living the American Dream in a land filled with happy, healthy and prosperous people. But these days it seems as though there are new stories of tragedy and despair almost daily. Whether it is the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, or the horrific flooding in Tennessee, or the tornadoes ripping through the Midwest, or the gut-wrenching economic despair in cities like Detroit, it just seems like a whole lot of horrible things are happening to America all at once. So why is all of this hitting the U.S. right now? Why does it seem like there is just about nowhere in the United States right now that is untouched by a major crisis?
Long-Term Unemployed May Be Out of Luck on Benefits
By DAVID SCHEPP - DailyFinance.com
The nation's lawmakers this week are debating whether to further extend benefits to long-term unemployed Americans. And much like any legislation being muscled through Congress these days, the divisions over the bill's contents fall along ideological lines. More liberal members want to bolster the nation's safety net and establish jobs programs, while conservatives fret about adding a projected $123 billion to the nation's ever-growing debt.
The Hard Truth About Residential Real Estate
Written by Mad Hedge Fund Trader - OilPrice.com
Anyone who believes that housing is on the rebound, and that now is the time to buy, should take a very hard look at the numbers I dredged up for my spring lecture and luncheon tour.
There are 140 million personal residences in the US. Today, there are 26 million homes either directly or indirectly for sale. According to a survey by Zillow.com, a real estate appraisal website, 20 million homeowners plan to sell on any improvement in prices.
Robert Shiller on Housing Double-Dips
by Tim Iacono
This morning's S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index came in about where most housing "realists" thought it might and that group apparently includes one of its creators, Yale economist Robert Shiller, who had a few comments about the latest data. The housing slump isn't over.
Tax credits and historically low mortgage rates have failed to lift home prices so far this year. Prices fell 0.5 percent in March from February, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index released Tuesday.
That marks six straight months of declines - a sign that the housing market is going in reverse. "It looks a little like a double-dip already" economist Robert Shiller said in an interview. "There is a very real possibility of some more decline."
The Other Foreclosure Menace
Fred Schulte, Ben Protess and Lagan Sebert - HuffingtonPost.com
One raw day in early February, Vicki Valentine stood by helplessly as real estate investors snatched her West Baltimore home over what began with an unpaid city water bill of $362.
As snow threatened to fall, she watched a work crew hired by the new owners punch out the lock on her front door. A sheriff's deputy was on the scene while Valentine and her teenage son piled whatever they could into a borrowed car.
Running out of time, Valentine scrambled to pack up clothing and mementos. The home had been her family's for nearly three decades, and her father had paid off the mortgage in 1984. "It's hard to say goodbye to this house," she said. "It's like someone forcing you out of something that belongs to you. I don't get it."
Tapped Out: When Water Bills Force Foreclosure
New $3bn Foreclosure Prevention Program Added to Wall Street Reform Bill
by JON PRIOR - HousingWire.com
The Senate passed the Restoring American Financial Stability Act last week, approving a new program that would reduce mortgage payments for the unemployed.
The program would provide $3bn from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to lend up to $50,000 to unemployed homeowners, who could reasonably resume making payments again within two years. The program was modeled after the Homeowners' Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program (HEMAP) in Pennsylvania.
The Senate passed the bill last week but transplanted its own language into the one passed by the House of Representatives. The status of the reform is still "resolving differences." But, lawmakers hope to have it in front of President Obama to sign by the July 4, 2010 recess.
Democratic House Leader Says America is Already Rationing Health Care By Matt Cover, Staff Writer - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) -- House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the man nominated to run Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Donald Berwick, is qualified to oversee the two massive government health care programs despite Berwick's claim that the government must ration health care. Hoyer added that health care rationing already is happening in America.
At his Tuesday briefing for reporters, CNSNews.com asked Rep. Hoyer, "Donald Berwick -- who's the administration's nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid -- said in a 2009 interview that 'the decision is not whether or not we will ration care -- but the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.' Rationing is something the Democrats were accused of wanting to do during the health care debate. I know you don't have a vote on his nomination but do you support his nomination? Do you think that he's qualified to run CMS?" (CMS is the acronym for the federal government's Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.)
ObamaCare Is Unconstitutional * Judge Andrew Napolitano *
Is Arizona's Immigration Law Being Put on ICE?
By Aaron Goldstein - American Spectator
For all the histrionics, hoopla and hysteria that has surrounded Arizona's recently passed immigration enforcement law, it must be noted that its success depends on the co-operation of the federal government and the feds know it.
How else to explain the words of John Morton, Assistant Secretary of State for Homeland Security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)? Last week, Morton told the Chicago Tribune, "I don't think the Arizona law, or laws like it, are the solution." Morton added that he wasn't of the opinion that the Arizona law represented "good government." So it would appear the federal government will not co-operate with Arizona's efforts to stem the tide of illegal immigration. For all intents and purposes, Morton has put Arizona's immigration law on ICE.
DOJ Lawyers Draft Challenge to AZ Law
by: Mike Levine - FOXNews.com
A team of Justice Department attorneys reviewing the new immigration law in Arizona has recommended that the U.S. government challenge the state law in federal court, but the recommendation faces an uncertain future and tough scrutiny from others in the Justice Department, sources with knowledge of the process tell Fox News.
Staff attorneys within the Justice Department recently sent higher-ups the recommendation. At the same time, the Justice Department's Civil Division, which oversees the majority of immigration enforcement issues for the department, has drafted a "civil complaint" that would be filed in federal court in Arizona, sources said.
Obama Should Visit U.S.-Mexico Border to See the Threat to Americans Firsthand, Republican Senators Say
By Susan Jones, Senior Editor - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - On the same day President Barack Obama announced he was ordering 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, two Republican senators from Arizona said it's about time - and it's too few troops. "We have been calling on President Obama to deploy National Guard troops to the border since March 2009 and are pleased he has finally started to recognize the essential needs of our Southwest states," Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl said in a statement. Obama acted before Republicans could force a congressional vote on sending in the National Guard, the Associated Press reported.
Adding insult to injury at Ground Zero NYC Community Board OKs Ground Zero Mosque Plans
Associated Press - FOXNews.com After hours of contentious public comment, a New York City community board voted late Tuesday to support a plan to build a mosque and cultural center near ground zero.
NEW YORK (AP) - After hours of contentious public comment, a New York City community board voted late Tuesday to support a plan to build a mosque and cultural center near ground zero. "It's a seed of peace," board member Rob Townley said. "We believe that this is significant step in the Muslim community to counteract the hate and fanaticism in the minority of the community."
China May Shield North Korea as Lee, U.S. Seek Action on Ship
By Bloomberg News
May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is likely to resist pressure to acknowledge that North Korea torpedoed a South Korean warship when he flies to Seoul tomorrow to meet South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and Japan's Yukio Hatoyama. China hasn't followed South Korea, Japan and the U.S. in blaming North Korea for the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors. Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun yesterday repeated a call for "restraint" by both sides and said China had no "firsthand information" on the sinking.
Is North Korea on the Verge of Collapse?
Written by Bonnie Glaser - OilPrice.com
Despite the posturing of his regime, there are signs that Kim Jong-Il's hold on North Korea may be slipping and international community must be ready. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is considered an international pariah in most nations, but he was welcomed with open arms in China May 3-7. The visit underscored North Korea's isolation: Kim's last foreign visit in 2006 was also to China.
Russia's War Games Preparing for Conflict with the East
Written by Simon Saradzhyan - OilPrice.com
Next month will see the Russian armed forces stage an operational-strategic exercise dubbed "Vostok-2010" (East-2010), called "the main event of the combat training" in 2010 in a press release by the Russian Defense Ministry. Thousands of soldiers from the army, including the CBRN Protection Forces, the navy, air force, airborne troops and other elements of the Russian armed forces will participate in the joint exercise of the Far Eastern and Siberian Military districts in mid-June.
North Korean military 'told to prepare for war'
Tania Branigan in Beijing - guardian.co.uk,
Monitoring group says Kim Jong-il ordered officers to be ready for combat after S Korea blamed Pyongyang for torpedo attack
The North Korean leader has warned his military to prepare for war in case the South attacks, a Seoul-based monitoring group reported today, as tensions remain high on the divided peninsula over accusations that Pyongyang sank a South Korean warship. Kim Jong-il ordered officers to be ready for combat via a broadcast made hours after Seoul blamed the North for the Cheonan disaster, according to North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity. Citing unidentified sources from the North, it said the command was read by General O Kuk Ryol, a confidant of the leader, and broadcast on loudspeakers last week.
S. Korea to proceed with punitive steps against DPRK despite threats:
SEOUL, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean government will not back down on its decision to punish the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for sinking its navy warship despite tough talk of Pyongyang including warnings of a war and severing all remaining ties, Seoul said Wednesday.
Amid heightening tension on the divided Korean peninsula following an international probe that publicly accused the DPRK of having deliberately attacked a South Korean corvette and killed 46 sailors, Pyongyang, denying its responsibility, has issued a series of threats involving an "all-out war" against Seoul's moves to punish it for its alleged aggression.
Tensions on Korean Peninsula Add to Global Economic Concerns
By VISHESH KUMAR - DailyFinance.com
Already skittish about Europe's escalating debt crisis, investors had yet another international development to worry about this week. Escalating tensions and war-like rhetoric emanating from the Korean peninsula helped send world stock markets tumbling on Tuesday.
Reports that North Korea was launching combat preparations and cutting off ties with South Korea were the latest news driving a wave of anxiety for investors. The move comes after South Korea -- outraged after the sinking of a naval vessel that killed 46 sailors and was traced to a North Korean torpedo -- vowed to take punitive measures, including halting some trade.
US-South Korea joint naval exercise to increase pressure on North
Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Tania Branigan in Beijing - guardian.co.uk Seoul seeks apology for sinking of warship as Hilary Clinton asks China to back security council resolution
The US will conduct joint naval exercises with South Korea in the Yellow Sea, the Pentagon announced tonight as the two countries revealed measures to increase pressure on North Korea over a torpedo attack which sank a Southern warship.
The announcement of the exercises, which will test the two countries' ability to detect enemy submarines and prevent shipments of nuclear materials, is the first concrete US response to the crisis triggered by the sinking of the Cheonan in March, with the loss of 46 lives. An international panel of experts concluded last week that North Korea torpedoed the South Korean warship.
North Korea freezes relations with South Korea
By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) -- North Korea announced Tuesday a freeze in relations with South Korea and threatened military retaliation in response to alleged intrusions into its waters by the South Korean navy. North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said it would "abrogate the agreement on non-aggression" amid heightened tensions on the divided peninsular over the sinking of a South Korean warship earlier this year.
An official South Korean report accused the Communist North of firing a torpedo at the ship, killing 46 sailors. A North Korean military official accused the South of intruding into North Korean waters in the Yellow Sea from May 14 to 24, the Yonhap news agency reported.
North Korea cuts all ties with the South
Tania Branigan in Beijing - guardian.co.uk Pyongyang expels South Koreans in shared industrial zone as tit-for-tat row unravels last remnants of engagement policy
North Korea today hit back at Seoul by announcing it would sever all links, escalating the standoff over accusations that the North sank a South's warship.
North Korea's state news agency KCNA also reported that Pyongyang would expel all South Koreans from a joint-industrial zone in Kaesong, near the border.
The announcement, leaves relations at their worst point for years. It came as a monitoring group in Seoul reported that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, last week ordered his military to prepare for war in case the South attacks. Military officials in Seoul were unable to confirm the report, and said they had detected no unusual troop movements
Dow tumbles below 10,000 as world watches Korea, EU
By Stephen Bernard, AP Business Writer - USAToday.com
NEW YORK -The Dow Jones industrials plunged below 10,000 Tuesday as investors worrying about a global economic slowdown and tensions between North and South Korea turned away from stocks. The Dow quickly lost more than 200 points and remained there. It has fallen 1,346 points, or more than 12%, from its recent high of 11,205, reached April 26. Key market indexes were off more than 2%. The Standard & Poor's 500 index touched its lowest level of the year earlier in the day, dropping to 1,040.78.
Israeli war jets strike on inoperative Gaza airport
GAZA, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Israeli war jets struck at midnight on Tuesday by air-to-ground missiles the inoperative Gaza airport southeast of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, no injuries reported, witnesses said. The witnesses said that at least three successive airstrikes were carried out after midnight at different targets in the Gaza Strip.
'Recon for attack a warning to Iran'
By HERB KEINON - JerusalemPost
Israeli official: US okay of reconnaissance flights may signal strike.
Reports that the Pentagon has okayed reconnaissance missions over Iran were seen in Jerusalem on Tuesday as the first public signs of practical preparations for a possible US military operation against Iran. The New York Times reported on Monday that Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in the Middle East, ordered an expansion of clandestine military activity in the region. According to the report, "officials said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave the way for possible military strikes in Iran if tensions over its nuclear ambitions escalate."
No end in sight for euro's slide
By Julianne Pepitone, CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The euro got no relief Tuesday, continuing its steady slide amid a global stock sell-off as worldwide concerns weighed on the shared currency. The euro has taken a huge hit recently, sliding toward parity versus the U.S. dollar, as debt concerns in European countries have left investors unsettled. The pressure continued Tuesday as global markets took a dive, sending investors to the safe-haven greenback.
Worries Mount on E.C.B.'s Ability to Stem a Panic
By LANDON THOMAS Jr. - NYTimes.com
LONDON - The euro stops with the European Central Bank - or does it?
Amid signs that some fretful deposit holders on Europe's troubled periphery are moving their money to presumably safer German banks, the fear that Europe's central bank and the 16 sometimes fractious nations that back it might not be able to stem a classic bank panic is being voiced on trading floors from Hong Kong to Frankfurt to New York.
Asian investors get cold feet on euro bonds
By Gillian Tett - FT.com
Imagine you have a mountain of spare cash: would you invest it in eurozone government bonds right now? If you are a large Japanese investor, the answer is "maybe not". Last week Barclays Capital, the British investment bank, produced the latest part of a long-running survey of Japanese bond investors, which tries to determine attitudes towards dollar and euro bonds.
Germany After the E.U. and the Russian Scenario
By: STRATFOR - MarketOracle.co.uk
Discussions about Europe currently are focused on the Greek financial crisis and its potential effect on the future of the European Union. Discussions these days involving military matters and Europe appear insignificant and even anachronistic. Certainly, we would agree that the future of the European Union towers over all other considerations at the moment, but we would argue that scenarios for the future of the European Union exist in which military matters are far from archaic.
Merkel's Savage Blitz through Euroland, Germany Pushing Eurozone To Cliffs Edge
By: Mike Whitney - MarketOracle.co.uk
Angela Merkel has let a minor brush-fire on the periphery turn into a raging inferno that's sweeping across the continent. Absent Berlin's fumbling diplomatic effort and its ferocious attachment to Hooverian economics, the Greek matter would have been over by now. Instead, the fire continues to burn while the German Chancellor pushes the eurozone closer and closer to the cliff. And what for; to prove that prodigal spending by the member states (Greece) mustn't go unpunished? Is that what this is all about? Is Merkel really willing to break up the EU just to prove her point and to accommodate her towering sense of self righteousness?
4 More Spanish Savings Banks Reported To Be "Merging" As Spanish Economy Unravels
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
And just when the bulls were hoping for a bounce, expansion.com reports that four new Spanish savings banks are considering a "cold fusion" which is another name for future bailout of one instead of four. The four banks are CajaMurcia, CajaGranada, Sa Nostra, Caixa Penedes and their combined assets amount to over €100 billion. As we expected, this weekend's bailout of Cajasur was Spain's equivalent to the New Century Financial blow up tipping out. Look for the unwind to accelerate now.
Keiser Report: Goldman Sachs, Undeclared Enemy of the State
Shortly After the Comex Close Gold Is Allowed to Trade Above 1200
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Gold traded all day below 1200, at times rising to within fifty cents of the key strike price of 1200 where a large concentration of call options were clustered. Well, since the call options at 1200 have expired worthless, why bother using the energy to continue to suppress the price? Blatant and arrogant price fixing is done with the cooperation of the regulators at the CFTC who are willing to turn a blind eye to repeated price manipulation by insiders in the US futures markets in precious metals, stock indices, and several key commodities including oil and foodstuffs.
Comex Gold up on safe-haven buying
By Jim Wyckoff
Comex gold futures closed modestly higher Tuesday. The market was supported on safe-haven buying amid keen investor uncertainty presently gripping most markets. However, the sell off in commodity sector Tuesday did limit price gains in gold. June gold closed up $4.00 an ounce at $1,198.00.
The European Union's debt crisis appeared to be ratcheted up a notch Tuesday, following the weekend seizure of a Spanish bank by Spain's bank regulators. Credit spreads in European Union nations are again widening and the Euro currency was under strong selling pressure again Tuesday. There are increasing concerns the EU's debt crisis will spread from Greece to Portugal and Spain, and possibly turn into a worldwide contagion that could sink the world's major economies. Traders have been buying gold with European currencies as a hedge against further weakness of the European currencies. Such will likely continue to be the case as long as the U.S. dollar remains robust against its European counterparts.
Gold Bulls Dig in for Big Rally
by Nicholas Larkin - LewRockwell.com
Speculators are buying gold faster than the world's biggest producers can mine it, as analysts forecast a 27 per cent rally that may extend the longest run of annual gains since at least 1920. Exchange-traded products (ETPs) backed by bullion added 42.5 tonnes in the week to May 14, the most in 14 months, data from UBS shows. China, Australia and the 16 other largest mining nations averaged weekly output of 42.3 tonnes last year, researcher GFMS estimates. Even though prices have fallen 5.8 percent to $US1177.10 from a record $US1249.40 an ounce May 14, the median prediction in a Bloomberg survey of 23 traders, analysts and investors is that it will reach $US1500 by the end of the year.
The New Touch-Face of Vending Machines
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM - NYTimes.com At the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, a cash machine dispenses gold. Vending machines in neon-splashed Tokyo have electronic eyes that evaluate customers’ skin and wrinkles to determine whether they are old enough to buy tobacco. In bathrooms at upscale Canadian bars, vending machines with flat irons enable women to defrizz their locks. In Abu Dhabi, the lobby of a luxury hotel has a vending machine that dispenses gold bars and coins at more than $1,000 an ounce.
Gold "Seen Cheap" as Wall Street Slumps; Bulls Driven by "Policy - Not Inflation" By: Adrian Ash - GoldSeek.com
THE PRICE OF GOLD in wholesale dealing rose against all currencies on Tuesday, breaking above $1200 an ounce as world stock markets sank for the third time in 5 sessions. "We are not bullish on gold because of inflation expectations," says Walter de Wet at Standard Bank, "but because of monetary policy. "Inflation-linked bonds now see inflation averaging only 1.18% per year over the next 10 years. [So] we expect monetary policy to remain accommodative for longer. "Accommodative policy favors especially gold."
US Mint: Record sales for gold, silver bullion in May
WASHINGTON (Commodity Online) Gold and silver bullion sales at the United States Mint have reached record levels in May 2010. With about a week left to go, more than 200,000 ounces of gold and more than 3 million ounces of silver have already been sold to the Mint's authorized purchaser network, Coinupdate.com reported. Authorized purchasers are able to buy bullion coins directly from the United States Mint. They subsequently resell the coins to other coin dealers, bullion dealers, or the public, and facilitate a two-way market for the coins.
Gold Prices Volatile; Tug-of-War Persists
ByAlix Steel
NEW YORK (TheStreet ) -- Gold prices were volatile Tuesday as prices were caught in a tug-of-war between profit-takers needing cash and bargain hunters buying gold as a safe haven asset. Gold for June delivery was slipping 70 cents to $1,193.30 at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price today has traded as high as $1,197.30 and as low as $1,185.20. The U.S. dollar index was adding 1.15% to $87.20 while the euro kept sinking and was losing 1.24% to $1.22 against the dollar. The spot gold price Tuesday was adding $2, according to Kitco's gold index.
Gold Remains Firm on Geopolitical Risks and Fears of a 'Perfect Storm'
By: GoldCore - MarketOracle.co.uk
Gold's safe haven qualities are again being seen after its higher close yesterday despite falling US equity indices and it remaining robust today (down 0.4% in USD terms) despite sharp falls in Asian and European indices. Some analysts are warning of a "perfect storm" that could again destabilise the global financial and economic system. While "perfect storm" talk may be hyperbole there can be little doubt that the many extreme headwinds have led to a degree of risk similar to that seen after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Soon, US mint's maiden 5-ounce silver bullion coins
ARIZONA, USA (Commodity Online): The U.S. Mint will release its first ever five-ounce .999 fine silver bullion coins later this year.The coins will bear the same designs as the new legal-tender quarters of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. The first quarter in the program, honoring Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, was released into the banking system April 19, 2010. Four more quarters will be released this year, with five quarters being released annually through 2021, concluding with the final quarter in 2022. The new quarters will commemorate 56 national parks and sites.
Coins from the U.S. Mint are prestigious and carry an acceptance not found with any other gold or silver bullion coins in the market. The Mint's America the Beautiful Program will be well received as will be the companion five-ounce silver bullion coins
Double-dip fears over worldwide credit stress
by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The global credit system is flashing the most serious warning signals in almost a year on triple fears of a Spanish banking crisis, escalating political risk in Asia, and a second leg to the US housing slump.
Flight to safety drove yields on 10-year German Bunds to 2.56pc, below the levels touched in the depths of the Great Depression. The spreads over peripheral European debt rose sharply again, jumping to 137 basis points for Italy, 157 for Spain and 220 for Ireland. The strains in Europe's sovereign debt markets are nearing levels that forced EU leaders to launch their "shock and awe" rescue package. "If a $1 trillion (£700bn) bail-out did not finally turn sentiment, I struggle to see what can," said Tim Ash, an economist at RBS.
Gerald Celente : Financial Armageddon 2.0
The U.S. Economy Really is in Trouble
MarketOracle.co.uk
Although industrial production has continued to grow manufacturing has started to slow. There were mass layoffs in April with manufacturing taking the lead. The Fed reported that that its index of manufacturing activity for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut had slowed significantly while the Philadelphia Fed reported that manufacturing growth had decelerated and that in May there was a significant drop in orders for manufactured goods. Adding to the woe was a report by The Conference Board that its index of leading economic indicators dropped in April, the first fall in about twelve months. What the devil is going on? Without a doubt this is the worst 'recovery' in post-war history.
Summers: U.S. must balance stimulus, deficits
By Ben Rooney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The U.S. government must find a balance between supporting the economic recovery and reducing long-term budget deficits, White House economic advisor Lawrence Summers said Monday. While the economy has resumed its growth and the possibility of a depression now seems remote, the government should continue its efforts to spur job growth and boost economic output, said Summers, who is director of the White House National Economic Council.
Beware of the bubble in bonds
By Shawn Tully,
(Fortune) -- Here we go again. In just six weeks the prices of U.S. Treasuries have soared, sending the yields on the 10-year bond from 4% back to 3.2%, close to their levels when terror reigned early last year. Don't let Wall Street's cheerleaders convince you that the sudden drop in the cost of borrowing heralds a new era of moderate inflation that will keep Treasury prices aloft, and interest rates low, for years to come.
Fear index on the rise, eases off 14-month high
By Chavon Sutton
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street's key volatility measure jumped Tuesday as stocks plummeted on persistent worries about the health of European banks and sustainability of the global economic recovery. The CBOE Volatility (VIX) index, or the VIX, was up nearly 6% to 40.60, after rising as high as 43.74 earlier in the trading session. Though up on the day, the index has eased off the 14-month high set last Thursday.
Why there won't be Wall Street perp walks
By David Ellis
Wall Street behind bars - Harder than it looks.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Don't expect Wall Street to give up their tasseled loafers and French cuff dress shirts for orange jumpsuits anytime soon. The Justice Department just abandoned its criminal probe against AIG, which means that executive Joseph Cassano, who once led the firm's troubled financial products division, won't face any charges. Prosecutors have also yet to take any action against Lehman Brothers or other key players in the financial crisis despite pleas from some members of Congress for federal law enforcement officials to investigate the questionable accounting practices at Lehman leading up to its collapse.
Peter Schiff on CNBC -
Is US The Next Greece or Japan? 24 May 2010
Oil sinks below $68 as stock markets, euro fall
By NATALIYA VASILYEVA - AP - MSNBC.com
LONDON - Oil prices sank below $68 a barrel Tuesday on the back of declining share prices and fears of weaker global economic growth. Benchmark crude for July delivery shed $2.36 to $67.85 a barrel in early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday the contract advanced 17 cents to settle at $70.21. Oil prices tend to rise or fall along with global shares, which indicate investors' outlook on the economy and its growth potential. Stronger growth usually means more demand for crude and higher prices.
Patience runs thin as BP preps untested maneuver to cap oil leak
By the CNN Wire Staff
Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- A top BP official said Tuesday that the oil company has equipment in place to begin diagnostic testing for a maneuver called a "top kill" that could be implemented as early as the following day to stop oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.
BP plans a high-pressure injection of thick, viscous fluid twice the density of water into the site of the leak to stop the flow so the well can then be sealed with cement.
BP faces extra $60bn in legal costs as US loses patience with Gulf clean-up Tim Webb and Ed Pilkington - The Guardian Government fines could send oil firm's bill soaring in wake of Deepwater Horizon disaster
The oil disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico could present BP with much higher costs than previously thought as a result of US government penalties of up to $60bn (£40bn), according to City analysts.
The penalties are in addition to BP's already huge bill for the clean-up mission, which stood at $760m yesterday, and potentially unlimited damages payable by the company to fishermen and other affected local communities. BP also faces billions of dollars of lost earnings as a result of its damaged reputation in the US, which could result in it being barred from bidding for future contracts.
Offshore drilling showdown looms
By Steve Hargreaves
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Despite the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the government is under pressure to issue new permits for offshore drilling as early as next week. Permits to drill offshore were suspended last month pending an Interior Department safety review after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drill rig. The safety review is due this Friday, and the Obama administration will use it to help decide when and how drilling should resume. Many argue there should be no new drilling until the investigation is complete. But that will take months. In the meantime, there are thousands of workers who are literally running out of wells to drill.
BP cuts checks for workers' lost wages
By Chavon Sutton
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The scope of the damage from the Gulf Coast oil spill is still hard to calculate, but here's a grim tally: More than 23,000 workers and business owners along the Gulf Coast have filed claims so far for lost income.
BP has made payments already on 9,000 of those claims, disbursing $27.8 million to fishermen, shrimpers, charter boat captains and others whose livelihoods are now in limbo, according to BP spokesman David Nicholas. The company has 420 claims adjusters staffing nearly two dozens processing centers in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.
North Slope crude spills from Alaska pipeline
By the CNN Wire Staff
(CNN) -- Several thousand barrels of North Slope crude oil spilled into a containment area along the Alaska pipeline Tuesday when an open valve at a pump station allowed oil to overflow a tank, the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company said. Alyeska said the incident took place about 10:30 a.m. (2:30 p.m. ET) during a planned pipeline shutdown while the company was conducting fire command and valve leak testing at the pump station. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said a battery failed to control the valve when power was switched from the main grid during Alyeska's tests. The valve has been closed, shutting off the flow, the department said, but the pipeline remains shut down.
Private pay shrinks to historic lows as gov't payouts rise
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
Paychecks from private business shrank to their smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of this year, a USA TODAY analysis of government data finds. At the same time, government-provided benefits - from Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other programs - rose to a record high during the first three months of 2010. Those records reflect a long-term trend accelerated by the recession and the federal stimulus program to counteract the downturn. The result is a major shift in the source of personal income from private wages to government programs.
American Jobbery Act
Dissecting this week's stimulus bill. - WSJ.com
President Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill are publicly fretting about the dangers of spending and debt, which can mean only one thing: Another big spending "stimulus" bill is in the works. And sure enough, the House plans to vote this week on $190 billion in new spending, $134 billion of which it won't even pretend to pay for.
Sander Levin, the new Ways and Means Chairman, calls this exercise the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act. Mr. Levin has waited 28 years to ascend to this throne and this is the best he can do? "Jobs" were also the justification in February 2009 for the $862 billion stimulus that has managed to hold the jobless rate down to a mere 9.9%. Maybe Mr. Levin's spending can hold it down to even greater heights.
Don't Rule Out a Double Dip Recession
By CHRISTOPHER WOOD - WSJ.com In addition to Europe's woes, we have slower growth in China and a decline in bank lending and the velocity of money in the U.S.
World financial markets reacted bearishly to Germany's surprise announcement last week banning "naked" short-selling of euro-zone government debt, derivatives and some financial stocks. Short selling is considered naked when it involves the sale of an asset that isn't owned by the seller and isn't borrowed to cover the position while it's held. The news disturbed investors because of the unilateral nature of Germany's action. It's also seen as a potential prelude to other antimarket actions from Germany, or for that matter the U.S. and other Western nations, where the political backlash against free markets continues.
Marc Faber on Bloomberg: Bearish on Everything 5/25/10
Home prices fall 0.5 percent from February to March, a sign of a softening housing market By J.W. ELPHINSTONE - Newser.com
Tax credits and historically low mortgage rates have failed to lift home prices so far this year. Prices fell 0.5 percent in March from February, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index released Tuesday . The co-creator of the Case-Shiller index, who predicted in 2005 that the housing bubble would burst, is raising concerns that the worst isn't over. That fear is shared by other economists who point to weak job growth, tight credit and many more foreclosures ahead. "I'm worried still about the risk of a double-dip," economist Robert Shiller said in an interview. The month-to-month drop from February to March marked the sixth straight decline. Prices in 13 of the cities fell. Only six metro areas recorded price gains. One, Boston, came in flat.
Home prices fell 0.5 percent from February to March
By Renae Merle - Washington Post
Home prices remained weak through the early months of this year, according to a closely watched housing index released Tuesday, an indication that the housing market continues to struggle despite recent improvements. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index showed that prices of single-family homes were down 0.5 percent between February and March, the sixth consecutive month-over-month decline. On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices were flat, according to the index. Prices in 13 of the 20 cities tracked by the index fell in March, including the Washington region where prices were down 0.7 percent. Detroit and Minneapolis saw the largest price declines, 4.1 percent and 2.7 percent respectively.
Many People Who Try to Refinance Won't Be Able To
By JONATHAN BERR- DailyFinance.com
Thinking about refinancing to take advantage of record low interest rates? Be prepared for disappointment. About 30% of refinancing applicants at LendingTree are unable to get approved at the interest rates that they expected because the value of their homes has dropped, according to Cameron Findlay, chief economist at Tree.Com, the parent company of LendingTree.com. The problem isn't surprising given the decline in the U.S. housing market since 2008. "You want the correct underwriting to happen at the front end," says Findlay in an interview. "It's a qualification issue, not a rate issue."
Detroit Begins Demolishing Hundreds Of Vacant Homes
COREY WILLIAMS - AP - HuffingtonPost.com
DETROIT - The war on vacant houses in Detroit took on new force Tuesday as officials announced plans to demolish about 450 of the most dangerous structures within the next two months, and immediately tore into the first home on the list. Crews collapsed the chimney of a two-story bungalow in northwest Detroit in a ceremonial start to the $4.5 million project backed by Wayne County and faith-based groups. It's the latest step in an aggressive effort to rid the city of thousands of vacant homes. "It's part of the rebirth we are going through," County Executive Robert Ficano said, surrounded by other local officials and a dozen religious leaders. "These are havens for drugs and other things."
In-debt grads with no jobs can sidestep student loan trouble
By Sandra Block, USA TODAY
You just graduated, and your parents are so proud of you. Which is a good thing, because there's a good chance that you'll be moving back in with them. This year's college graduates will be entering a wretched job market, where there are, by some estimates, five candidates for every opening. Perhaps this experience will give you the strength to deal with future challenges. But one of those challenges - not falling behind on your student loans - doesn't exactly lead to much character building.
More older Americans start own businesses
By Laura Petrecca, USA TODAY
YOSEMITE, Calif. - After toiling for three decades in finance, it wouldn't be surprising if 65-year-old Patrick Althizer kicked back and lived off his savings and Social Security. But with a spirit not ready for sedentary retirement - as well as college costs for two daughters - he veered off to a new career path: leading shutterbugs through the stunning waterfall areas of Yosemite National Park. Althizer has embraced his new vocation with enthusiasm. He plastered decals that promote his firm, Photo Safari Yosemite, on the windows of his white Jeep Cherokee, networked with the folks who run local tourist attractions, and at his daughters' behest, joined Facebook to promote his firm, which takes tourists to the best photo-taking spots in the national park.
Pulling the pension plug
Vox Day - SilverBearCafe.com
The Founding Fathers understood the inherent risks of democracy. This is why they did not establish a proper democracy in America, but rather a strictly limited form of representative democracy in a republican structure. They did this in fear of the tyranny of the majority and to place a limit upon the momentary passions of the general public.
However, it has become clear that limited representative democracy has evils of its own that are arguably more pernicious than the vagaries of unlimited democracy. As American history demonstrates, representative democracy rapidly devolves into an system where various interest groups band together and form a kleptocracy wherein the government is little more than a mechanism for transferring wealth from the people to the interest groups.
The Constitution
by ROBERT M. HAMBURGER - Hamburger's Stand
The Constitution of the United States of America was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and ratified by conventions in each state in the name of "The People." The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times, the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. . . .
Today the Constitution is in trouble from the first word - We - meaning you and me, or, people plural. I can't imagine that our Founding Fathers meant this definition to include corporations. Yet such was the decision of the Chief Justice Robert's Supreme Court late last year. Corporations are now deemed people. The People's power is usurped by this decision with WalMart, Texaco, Goldman Sachs now entitled to the same rights as me and you. Corporations should be in service to People, not one of them.
16 illegals sue Arizona rancher
By Jerry Seper - WashingtonTimes.com
An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border. Roger Barnett, 64, began rounding up illegal immigrants in 1998 and turning them over to the U.S. Border Patrol, he said, after they destroyed his property, killed his calves and broke into his home. His Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz., is known by federal and county law enforcement authorities as "the avenue of choice" for immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally.
Obama to send more National Guard troops to U.S.-Mexico border
By Michael D. Shear - Washington Post
President Obama will deploy an additional 1,200 National Guard troops to the southern border and request $500 million in extra money for border security, according to an administration official. The decision comes as the White House is seeking Republican support for broad immigration reform this year.
The official said the new resources would provide "immediate enhancement" to the border even as the Obama administration continues to "work with Congress to fix our broken immigration system through comprehensive reform, which would provide lasting and dedicated resources by which to secure our borders and make our communities safer."
Israel arms may not be enough to stop nukes
By Rowan Scarborough - WashingtonTimes.com
As the Obama administration continues to pursue a diplomatic solution for Iran's nuclear weapons program, Israel in recent years has extended the range of its bombers, launched sophisticated spy satellites and developed a more accurate ordnance-dropping system.
The reasons are clear: Israel is now in a position to send scores of F-16Is and F-15Is on the 1,000-mile penetration of Iranian airspace to try to disable the regime's far-flung network of nuclear research and uranium-enrichment facilities.
But a U.S. air-war planner in the Persian Gulf War tells The Washington Times he does not think Israel's relatively small air force - compared with the United States huge bomber and cruise-missile fleet - has the firepower to properly hit all the necessary Iranian targets.
Iran and North Korea March On
By JOHN BOLTON - WSJ.com Pyongyang's behavior shows why we must stop the mullahs from getting the bomb.
Last week, while meandering toward a fourth U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran, Washington was blindsided by the revival of a previously discarded plan to enrich some of Iran's uranium to higher levels for use in the Tehran research reactor. This proposal-a good deal for Iran when it was proposed last year by the misguided Obama administration-is even better in its latest iteration and does nothing to stop Iran's uranium enrichment program.
The Iranian enrichment deal was brokered by Brazil and Turkey, two of the 10 current nonpermanent Security Council members, and it could pose difficulties for getting the council to adopt another resolution on sanctions. To forestall the debilitating effects of the Brazil-Turkey deal, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promptly circulated to other council members the draft of a sanctions resolution the five permanent members and Germany had spent months negotiating.
North Korea elite linked to crime
By Bill Gertz - WashingtonTimes.com
A group of offspring of senior North Korean communist and military leaders, including Kim Jong-il's sons, have been linked by Western intelligence authorities to Pyongyang's illicit activities around the world, including distribution of counterfeit $100 bills and drug trafficking. The unofficial group, known as "Ponghwajo" ("Torch Group"), is led by Oh Se-wan, the son of a senior leader in North Korea's National Defense Commission. That senior leader, Gen. Oh Kuk-ryol, is also a key player in the succession of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to his son Kim Jong-un.
Health Care Law's Hidden Tax Provision: 1099s Could Quintuple in 2012
Written By: Neil deMause - HealthCareNews
An until-now unnoticed provision of the new health care overhaul law could change the way U.S. businesses - including freelance workers - prepare for tax day, causing an avalanche of additional recordkeeping and reporting. According to Section 9006 of the 2,409-page Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, beginning on January 1, 2012 all businesses will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contractors but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year. Currently 1099s need only be issued to individuals, not corporations. The requirement will now include items such as shipping charges, hotel bills, and equipment purchases, all currently exempt from 1099 reporting.
Health care law's massive, hidden tax change
By Neil deMause, The Heartland Institute
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- An all-but-overlooked provision of the health reform law is threatening to swamp U.S. businesses with a flood of new tax paperwork. Section 9006 of the health care bill -- just a few lines buried in the 2,409-page document -- mandates that beginning in 2012 all companies will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contract workers but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year. The stealth change radically alters the nature of 1099s and means businesses will have to issue millions of new tax documents each year. Right now, the IRS Form 1099 is used to document income for individual workers other than wages and salaries. Freelancers receive them each year from their clients, and businesses issue them to the independent contractors they hire.
Obama Administration Imposes Onerous Reporting Rules on American Business
BY WILL.SPENCER - Fort Liberty
The congresspeople who voted for the recently health-care "'reform" legislation admitted to not reading the legislation first. Obama reneged on a promise to make the legislation available online for the American public to read before he signed it. Perhaps these factors explain how a major increase in tax compliance costs for American business was silently slipped into the bill.
In Section 9006 of the bill, and no I am not making that up, all American companies are forced to issue 1099 tax forms to any vendor with which they spend more than $600 in one tax year. This means that almost every independent handyman in America will be issuing a 1099 to Home Depot. This means that every hot dog cart vendor will be issuing 1099's to the stores where he buys hot dogs and relish. The Cato Institute has referred to this change as "a costly, anti-business nightmare."
Lungren Fights For Small Business
Washington DC- Congressman Dan Lungren (R-CA), in an effort to assist small businesses in his district and across the nation, introduced legislation to repeal an onerous portion of Obama Care. ÊThe Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act will remove section 9006 of H.R. 3590. Section 9006 would place an unprecedented burden on small business by requiring any business that purchases more than $600 of goods or services from another business to submit a 1099 tax from to the Internal Revenue Service. The mandate is to take effect in 2012.
"Large corporations have whole divisions to handle such transaction paperwork but for a small business, which doesn't have the manpower, this is yet another brick on their back. Everyone agrees that small businesses are job creators and the engine which drives the American economy. I am dumfounded that this Administration is doing all it can to make it more difficult for businesses to succeed rather than doing all it can to help them grow," Lungren said.
H.R.5141 - Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act
Representative Daniel Lungren - R-CA
To repeal the expansion of information reporting requirements for payments of $600 or more to corporations, and for other purposes.
4/26/2010--Introduced.Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal a provision (added by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [PPACA]) that extends to corporations that are not tax-exempt the requirement to report payments of $600 or more.
One false move in Europe could set off global chain reaction
By Howard Schneider and Neil Irwin - Washington Post Staff Writer
If the trouble starts -- and it remains an "if" -- the trigger may well be obscure to the concerns of most Americans: a missed budget projection by the Spanish government, the failure of Greece to hit a deficit-reduction target, a drop in Ireland's economic output. But the knife-edge psychology currently governing global markets has put the future of the U.S. economic recovery in the hands of politicians in an assortment of European capitals. If one or more fail to make the expected progress on cutting budgets, restructuring economies or boosting growth, it could drain confidence in a broad and unsettling way. Credit markets worldwide could lock up and throw the global economy back into recession.
WTO Director General: Global Governance Based on the EU Model
By Daniel Taylor - OldThinkerNews.com
Herman Van Rompuy, the first President of the European Union, recently announced during his installment that 2009 was the first year of global governance. Indeed, 2009 has seen major steps towards global governance. The establishment has also taken severe blows this year, which will be discussed shortly. Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organization and frequent attendee of secret Bilderberg meetings, sees the European Union as a testing ground for the machinery of international governance. In a speech in Italy on November 9th, Lamy stated that the EU model should be used on a global scale.
IMF's Global Taxes Can Only Be Enforced Through Global Government
Steve Watson - Prisonplanet.com
Latest proposals part of ongoing centralization into new economic world order
As you will have no doubt read in the headlines today, the IMF has proposed levying two "global" taxes on the world's banks to make sure those greedy guys don't get us into trouble again. If that sounds dubious, it's because it is. In reality what is being proposed, and has been falling into place for some time, is the framework for an unelected global authority with powers above and beyond those of sovereign governments.
Bankers Prepare To Assault Americans With VAT, Transaction Taxes
Paul Joseph Watson - Prison Planet.com Obama: Value-added tax still on the table despite White House assurances otherwise, campaign promise not to raise taxes for families earning under $250,000 a year
The global banking elite are preparing to assault Americans with two huge new tax increases as President Obama contradicts the assurances of White House aides and his own campaign trail promise by asserting that a VAT tax is still on the table, as the IMF outlines a new tax on financial transactions that is being hailed as a blow to the banks yet represents another stealth tax on the people.
Ron Paul: No More Blank Checks for the Military-Industrial Complex!
Clinton and Geithner Face Hurdles in China Talks
By MARK LANDLER - NYTimes.com
BEIJING Ñ China and the United States opened three days of high-level meetings here on Monday meant to broaden and deepen the ties between the worldÕs largest developed and developing economies. But the opening session instead laid bare a recurring theme between Beijing and Washington: the United States came with a long wish list for China on both economic and security issues, while China mostly wants to be left alone to pursue policies that are turning it into an economic superpower without putting at risk its prized geopolitical stability.
Geithner, 'Uncle' Wang to Spar Over Yuan in China
By Bloomberg News
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Chinese official who is facing Timothy Geithner in Beijing today jokingly calls himself the Treasury secretary's "uncle" because of a family connection. Geithner may one day call him "Premier."
Vice Premier Wang Qishan leads the delegation meeting with Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which is discussing yuan revaluation, Europe's debt crisis and North Korea's nuclear program. Wang, who oversees China's financial sector, is mentioned for membership in the ruling Politburo Standing Committee and as a successor to Premier Wen Jiabao, two China experts say.
Hu Says China Will Move Gradually on Yuan Policy
By Rebecca Christie and Nicole Gaouette
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- President Hu Jintao said that China will move gradually and independently in making changes to the nation's exchange-rate mechanism as talks with the U.S. opened in Beijing today.
China will continue to "steadily advance" reform "under the principles of independent decision-making, controllability and gradual progress," said Hu, 67, echoing language in a May 10 central bank outlook for policy making.
Memories of Munich, Threats from Tehran
By Alan Caruba -CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
By 1938, Hitler had already made plans for the conquest of Europe or at least the parts he could not get without firing a shot. He had annexed Austria earlier that year. In Munich, Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland was handed over to Germany by England, France, and Italy. The Czechs were not invited to participate. Despite the Versailles Treaty after World War One, under the Nazis Germany had rearmed while the rest of Europe looked on.
Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, returned home to claim that he had bought "peace in our time." Well, he had bought a little time but few had any doubts about Hitler's ambitions. Even Joseph Stalin, the Soviet dictator, had bought a little time by signing a secret treaty dividing Poland with Hitler. A year after the Munich treaty, Germany invaded Poland and World War Two began.
Prechter: Bank Reform Will Shrink Credit and Kill the Economy
by Peter Gorenstein - Tech Ticker
The Senate version of financial regulation is bad for business on Wall Street. "Some analysts estimate it could cut the profits of major financial institutions by roughly 20%," reports the Wall Street Journal. It's also bad for the economy, says Robert Prechter, president of Elliott Wave International. Prechter believes the measures are doing the exact opposite of their intention. "Even though they (the government) want credit to expand, because that's the base of inflation, they're doing everything they can to restrict it," he tells Aaron in this clip.
Gold Advances Most in a Week on Demand for Haven Against Euro
By Pham-Duy Nguyen and Nicholas Larkin
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Gold futures rose the most in a week as the euro's tumble revived demand for the metal as a haven. The euro fell as much as 1.8 percent against the dollar after the Bank of Spain took over a failing regional lender. Last week, gold slid 4.2 percent, the most since December, on sales by some investors to cover losses in other markets. "People are going back to the perceived safety of gold because the euro is getting pummeled," said Matt Zeman, a trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. "People who were forced to liquidate last week to meet margin calls are coming back in."
Gold at $2,000 is very reachable from here
Commodity Online
As he watches the price of gold march inexorably toward $2,000 (and beyond), and keeps an eye on developments in the Western world, S&A Resource Report Editor Matt Badiali tells Gold Report readers in this exclusive interview that it's time to make space in the safe for gold. That's gold to hold, preferably to pass on to one's heirs, but if need be to pay for one's meat and potatoes. As for investments in these troubled times, he's hot about investors adding shares of the booming senior gold mining stocks to their portfolios because "we're going to see them really soar."
Gold sale profit to hit $5.1 billion: IMF
WASHINGTON (Commodity Online): The IMF said on Sunday that it expects to record a profit of $ 5.1 billion from the sale of gold in the financial year ended April 30, 2010. In a statement, the International Monetary Fund, which sold gold to member countries including India last year, said gold sales is a part of the multilateral lending agency's new income model, mainly aimed at increasing its resources to lend to low-income countries. The net income in the 2010 financial year (ended April 30) would include "gold profits estimated at about SDR 3.5 billion ($ 5.1 billion) from part of the limited sale of the fundÕs gold," according to the IMF.
Defaults on Apartment-Building Loans Set Record for U.S. Banks
By Hui-yong Yu
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Defaults on apartment-building mortgages held by U.S. banks climbed to a record 4.6 percent in the first quarter, almost twice the year-earlier level, as more borrowers failed to repay debt approved near the market peak, said Real Capital Analytics Inc. in a report. Defaults on so-called multifamily mortgages rose from 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter and from 2.4 percent during the same period in 2009, the New York-based real estate research firm said today. Commercial-mortgage defaults also rose in the first quarter for loans against office, retail, hotel and industrial properties, Real Capital said.
Is Your Money Safe? Big Banks Are the "Riskiest," Prechter Says
by Heesun Wee - Tech Ticker
Longtime bear Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave International sees depression and deflation on America's economic horizon. So what's an investor to do? "My whole case is what to get out of," says Prechter, author of Conquer the Crash. "Find a refuge," he tells Aaron in the accompanying segment. "Probably the safest place for most people's money is in Treasury bills or a fund that specializes only in Treasury bills," says Prechter, citing American Century's Capital Preservation Fund as an example. "That's as close to cash as you can get. Actual cash is not a bad idea either," he says.
Treasuries Gain, Yields Approach One-Year Low, on Safety Bid
By Susanne Walker and Paul Dobson
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose, pushing 10-year yields toward the lowest level in a year, as concern that Europe's fiscal crisis will slow economic growth boosted demand for the safety of U.S. fixed-income securities. The difference in yield between 2- and 10-year notes reached a seven-month low before the U.S. auctions $113 billion of 2-, 5- and 7-year notes this week. A Bank of Spain takeover of a failing lender heightened speculation Europe's debt crisis was spreading. Treasuries remained higher even as sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose to the highest in five months.
Fed says it won't hold asset sale any time soon
By Mark Felsenthal - Reuters via MSNBC.com Purchased to boost economy in 2009; will wait for recovery to take hold
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Federal Reserve does not expect to sell any of the billions of dollars worth of assets it bought to boost the economy in 2009 until it has started raising interest rates in a strong recovery, it said in its 2009 annual report released on Monday. "The Federal Reserve currently does not anticipate that it will sell any of its securities holdings in the near term, at least until after policy tightening has gotten under way and the economy is clearly in a sustainable recovery," the Fed said.
U.S., Greece, Spain Are in Debt Risk 'Ring of Fire,' Pimco Says
By Candice Zachariahs
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S., Spain and Greece are among developed nations whose borrowings put them in a "ring of fire" amid sovereign debt concerns, said Pacific Investment Management Co., which runs the world's biggest bond fund. The company is investing in emerging markets that will benefit from high savings rates, the absence of debt bubbles and a greater capacity for government spending, said John Wilson, head of the Australian unit of Newport Beach, California-based Pimco, in an e-mailed statement today. The fund manager is targeting bonds including those in Brazil, Mexico and Russia and retaining holdings of inflation-linked Australian debt, he said.
The Greeks Get It
By Chris Hedges - TruthDig.com
Here's to the Greeks. They know what to do when corporations pillage and loot their country. They know what to do when Goldman Sachs and international bankers collude with their power elite to falsify economic data and then make billions betting that the Greek economy will collapse. They know what to do when they are told their pensions, benefits and jobs have to be cut to pay corporate banks, which screwed them in the first place. Call a general strike. Riot. Shut down the city centers. Toss the bastards out. Do not be afraid of the language of class warfare - the rich versus the poor, the oligarchs versus the citizens, the capitalists versus the proletariat. The Greeks, unlike most of us, get it.
Even $1 Trillion Can't Save the Euro, But Gold Is No Haven, Prechter Says by Peter Gorenstein - TechTicker
It looks like it'll take more than a trillion dollars to bring buyers back to the stock market. European markets continue to fall Friday despite Germany's approval of the massive euro zone bailout. The major European indexes are each falling 2% in intraday trading. The euro, however, is getting a slight boost. It's off its recent four-year lows and is now trading for more than $1.25. Still, sentiment remains negative on the future of the euro. Usually a contrarian, Robert Prechter of Elliott Wave International isn't so inclined when it comes to the euro. Near term, the euro might rebound, but he says it's entirely possible the European Union will break up in the next 10 years.
Oil spill bites shrimp
By Lisa Fickenscher - Crain's New York Business
NYC restaurants and wholesalers are facing price increases on shrimp and other shellfish as a result of the Gulf's oil spill. Costs get passed on to consumers.
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is beginning to affect New York City, where prices for shrimp, oysters and clams are nudging upward. And restaurateurs and wholesalers fear that costs could increase a lot more in the coming months. Shortly after the catastrophic accident in the gulf April 20, fish purveyors began paying more for shrimp - a product already in short supply - and for other shellfish, as well.
A MONTH LATER, FEDS ARE ANGRY WITH BP
Since oil began leaking into the Gulf of Mexico more than a month ago, the U.S. government and oil giant BP have been engaged in a marriage of convenience that has left the public - and public commentators - furious at both. The Obama administration is turning up the heat, but it may be too late for the president to escape the charge that this is his Katrina - that is to say a natural disaster for which the government preparation and response were both obviously and horribly ineffective.
Anger Mounts As Oil Seeps Into Gulf Wetlands
BP Delays New Attempt to Stop Oil Leak
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON - NYTimes.com
VENICE, La. - As Louisiana state and local officials continue to hammer BP and the federal agencies responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, repeatedly threatening to "take matters into our own hands" if the response falls short, BP said Monday morning that it was further delaying its next attempt to shut off the leak. The oil company has been planning to attempt a procedure known as a top kill, in which heavy fluid would be pumped into the well. Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for exploration and production, said in an interview on NBC on Monday morning that the top kill would be attempted Wednesday morning. BP had previously said it hoped to execute the procedure on Tuesday.
Canada's Oil Sands Set to Become Biggest Source of U.S. Oil Imports, Report Says
Written by Darrell Delamaide - OilPrice.com
Canadian oil sands will probably become the No. 1 source of U.S. crude oil imports this year, and could make up more than a third of the nation's oil and refined product imports by 2030, according to a new study.
The Role of Canadian Oil Sands in U.S. Oil Supply, a report from Cambridge, Mass.-based IHS CERA, says that in a fast-growth scenario, oil sands could represent 36% of oil imports by 2030, or 20% in a more moderate growth scenario, compared with 8% in 2009. Production of 1.35 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2009 could rise to between 3.1 mbd and 5.7 mbd by then.
Bad cement jobs plague offshore rigs
By MITCH WEISS and JEFF DONN, AP
The tricky process of sealing an offshore oil well with cement - suspected as a major contributor to the Gulf of Mexico disaster - has failed dozens of times in the past, according to an Associated Press investigation. Yet federal regulators give drillers a free hand in this crucial safety step - another example of lax regulation regarding events leading up to the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Federal regulators don't regulate what type of cement is used, leaving it up to oil and gas companies. The drillers are urged to simply follow guidelines of the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group. Far more stringent federal and state standards and controls exist on cement work for roads, bridges and buildings.
BP Plans Plug Attempt as Gulf Oil Leak Costs Rise
By Eduard Gismatullin and Jim Polson
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc will try in two days to plug an oil leak off Louisiana's coast by pumping heavy drilling fluids into the damaged well, as cleanup costs of the monthlong spill accelerate.
BP expects to attempt the "top kill" operation on the morning of May 26, Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for exploration and production, said today in an interview on CNN. It is the second time BP has delayed the measure, and Suttles said he rated its chances of working at "six or seven" on a scale in which 10 was certain success.
The Big Picture: Why Is It So Hard to Stop the Oil Gusher, and Why Was Such Extreme Deepwater Drilling Allowed in the First Place?
Washington's Blog
The government failed to properly ensure that BP used adequate safety measures, BP and their contractors were criminally negligent for the oil spill, and BP has tried to cover up the problem.
But why hasn't BP stopped the leak?
Some people assume that BP hasn't stopped the oil leak because it's people are wholly incompetent. Others have asked whether BP's $75 million liability cap is motivating it to stall by taking half-hearted measures until it's relief well drilling is complete. But there is another possible explanation: the geology - as well the deepwater pressures - at the drilling site makes stopping the leak more difficult than we realize.
Author and Peak Oil Activist Michael Ruppert
Very powerful 21 May interview with Michael Ruppert, author of Confronting Collapse. Ruppert speaks of our dire economic condition, society's complete dependence on oil and the tangible steps required to confront the grave global realities standing at our doorstep - to include:
Massive unemployment
Disapearing State pensions
More bailouts
Massive monetary printing
Gvt a servant of the Fed Reserve
Far reaching implications of our current Gulf Oil crisis
Chinese bubble
The Chicago Boys' Free Market Theology
By MICHAEL HUDSON - CounterPunch.org
Many academics recently received a petition signed by 111 University of Chicago faculty members, explaining that "without any announcement to its own community, [the University] has commissioned Ann Beha Architects, a Boston firm, to remake the Chicago Theological Seminary building into a home for the Milton Friedman Institute for Research in Economics (MFIRE) and has renewed aggressive fund-raising activity for the controversial Institute."
Paul Remarks Have Deep Roots
By JONATHAN WEISMAN - WSJ.com
Republican candidate Rand Paul's controversial remarks on the 1964 Civil Rights Act unsettled GOP leaders this week, but they reflect deeply held iconoclastic beliefs held by some in his party, and many in the tea-party movement, that the U.S. government shook its constitutional moorings more than 70 years ago. Mr. Paul and his supporters rushed to emphasize that his remarks did not reflect racism but a sincerely held, libertarian belief that the federal government, starting in the Roosevelt era, gained powers that set the stage for decades of improper intrusions on private businesses.
Servicers Quicken Countrywide Loans Through Foreclosure Process: BarCap by JON PRIOR - HousingWire.com
Mortgage servicers are pushing troubled Countrywide loans through the foreclosure and liquidation processes at a quicker rate since January, according to analysts at Barclays Capital. Countrywide is responsible for 15-to-20% of outstanding subprime and option adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) in the US, a substantial enough portion to drive sector level performance, according to BarCap Countrywide, since acquired by Bank of America entered into a nationwide settlement agreement in October 2008 to provide $8.4bn in foreclosure relief after a slew of state Attorneys General filed similar lawsuits, including California, Connecticut, Illinois, West Virginia, Virginia and Texas.
FHA Home-Financing Volume Sign of 'Very Sick System'
By Jody Shenn and John Gittelsohn
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, the U.S.-owned mortgage insurer, may be involved in more home-purchase transactions than borrowing financed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHA lending last quarter may have topped the combined volume of government-supported Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a home-lending market that's still a "government-financed market," David Stevens, the agency's head, said today at a conference in New York, citing research by consultant Potomac Partners.
Factory employment down 2.5 percent in San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO BUSINESS JOURNAL
Factories throughout San Antonio have reduced their overall payroll levels over the past year, according to data compiled by Manufacturers' News Inc., the publisher of the 2010 Texas Manufacturers Register. The directory indicates that San Antonio manufacturers employed 51,836 workers as of April 2010. This is down 2.5 percent from April 2009. San Antonio is Texas' fourth-highest manufacturing market.
America's Underclass: The Growing Gap Between the Rich and Poor
by Peter Gorenstein - Tech Ticker
Macro economic data suggest the great recession is over. But the gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing, thanks, in large part, to a jobless recovery. Wall Street Cheat SheetÕs Damien Hoffman says the growing underclass now accounts for about 10% of the U.S. population. In this clip, he and his brother Derek, who jointly run the Wall Street Cheat Sheet website, point to several signs America is turning into a two-class society:
Brewer asks Obama for additional border aircraft
PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday wrote President Barack Obama asking for more surveillance helicopters, airplanes and drones be deployed to the Mexican border to help combat drug trafficking and human smuggling.
Sam Donaldson Compares AZ to Tiananmen Square
AZ Cracks Down on Teachers With Heavy Accents
After passing the nation's toughest state immigration enforcement law, Arizona's school officials are now cracking down on teachers with heavy accents. The Arizona Department of Education is sending evaluators to audit teachers and their English speaking skills to make sure districts are complying with state and federal laws. Teachers who are not fluent in English, who make grammatical errors while speaking or who have heavy accents will be temporarily reassigned. "As you expect science teachers to know science, math teachers to know math, you expect a teacher who is teaching the kids English to know English," said Tom Home, state superintendent of public instruction.
Congressman Slams "Outrage" Of Calderon Lecture On Immigration
Paul Joseph Watson - Prison Planet.com
Following Mexican President Felipe Calderon's attack on the second amendment and his lecturing on American immigration policy, Congressman Tom McClintock described Calderon's behavior as an 'outrage' during a speech on the House floor yesterday, pointing out that America treats immigrants far better than the brutal way they are dealt with in Mexico. During a series of speeches, including one in front of Congress, Calderon attacked Arizona's decision to enforce its immigration policy while also calling upon lawmakers to re-enact the assault weapons ban in a bid to disarm the American people as they are integrated into the North American Union system.
U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Military Acts in Mideast Region
By MARK MAZZETTI - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - The top American commander in the Middle East has ordered a broad expansion of clandestine military activity in an effort to disrupt militant groups or counter threats in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and other countries in the region, according to defense officials and military documents.
The secret directive, signed in September by Gen. David H. Petraeus, authorizes the sending of American Special Operations troops to both friendly and hostile nations in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa to gather intelligence and build ties with local forces. Officials said the order also permits reconnaissance that could pave the way for possible military strikes in Iran if tensions over its nuclear ambitions escalate.
Clinton Calls for China Cooperation on North Korea
By Nicole Gaouette and Rebecca Christie
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised China for supporting tougher United Nations sanctions against Iran, and said the same cooperation was necessary against North Korea. "North Korea is also a matter of global concern," Clinton said at the opening of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing. "We must work together again to address this challenge." The U.S. is seeking China's backing to punish North Korea for the deadly attack on a South Korean ship in March, an issue that has eclipsed other items on the agenda for the high-level talks. South Korea today said it will seek UN action against North Korea after a report concluded last week that it was behind the torpedoing of a warship that killed 46 sailors.
Lee: NKorea Must Pay for Torpedo Attack on Ship
New MoD Strategic Report Extends Vision to 2040
By Daniel Taylor - Old Thinker News
In 2006, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense published the DCDC Strategic Trends 2007-2036 report, outlining possible scenarios for technology, society and world politics. Among other issues, the 2006 report accurately envisioned a "revolutionary middle class" that would revolt against economic hardship and burdens of debt, and described a future population implanted with brain chips. A new report from the MoD titled Global Strategic Trends - Out to 2040 was published in February of this year, and extends the Ministry's strategic vision to 2040.
Amidst the 168 pages of the report, these are a few highlights. The newest MoD paper, drawing influence from its predecessor, describes rapid changes in society that threaten to "radicalize" individuals who seek to maintain traditions and beliefs, while a global elite "...sits above the level of individual states and influences the global agenda..." By 2040 the MoD envisions a "global society" plagued with tensions brought about by globalization, and high technology exaggerates differences between haves and have nots.
Peace and Stability in the Balkans
Written by Igor Jovanovic - OilPrice.com
The Istanbul Declaration, signed by Turkey, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, calls for peace and economic development in a bid for regional stability and EU integration. But there are always spoilers.
The presidents of Turkey and Serbia and a member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency in Istanbul on 24 April signed a declaration advocating peace in Southeastern Europe and proclaiming swift European integration as a common goal.
"We confirm our readiness to take all the necessary steps to secure peace, stability and prosperity in the region," says the document, which was signed by Turkish President Abdullah Gul, his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic and Bosnian Presidency member Haris Silajdzic.
Obama Calls for Global Government: "A New International Order"Alpha Omega Report via PrisonPlanet.com
On Saturday, President Obama showed his true NWO colors even though he avoided the popular catch phrase "New WORLD Order" by replacing "world" with "International." Both words are synonymous with each other.
During a speech at West Point, Obama pledged to assist in shaping a new "international order" to help secuire America's safety and emphasized his faith in global institutions. He envisions the US taking a prominent role in shaping a new world with Democratic global values.
Regulators shut small Minnesota bank
By MARCY GORDON (AP)
WASHINGTON - Regulators on Friday shut down a small bank in Minnesota, bringing the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 73. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Pinehurst Bank, based in St. Paul, Minn., with $61.2 million in assets and $58.3 million in deposits. Coulee Bank, based in La Crosse, Wis., agreed to assume the assets and deposits of the failed bank.The failure of Pinehurst Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund about $6 million. With 73 closures so far this year, the pace of bank failures is more than double that of 2009, already a brisk year for shutdowns. By this time last year, regulators had closed 36 banks. The pace has accelerated as losses mount on loans made for commercial property and development.
Despite bank failures, Ga. sheds bank examiners
By SHANNON McCAFFREY Associated Press -MercuryNews.com
ATLANTA-Georgia leads the nation in bank failures, but the state is leaving key bank examiner positions vacant because of a tight budget and there's no sign the jobs will be filled anytime soon. Among states with the highest number of bank failures only Georgia has reduced oversight, according to an Associated Press review and interviews with state officials. Since Oct. 1, 2000, 40 banks in Georgia have collapsed. "Is this a time to be having fewer bank examiners?" asked Joe Brannen, president of the Georgia Bankers Association. "I think just about everyone you ask would say no." Over the last two years six Georgia bank examiner positions have become vacant and haven't been filled, a review of state budget documents found. During that same period, 32 Georgia banks have gone under, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Bank of Spain seizes control of savings bank CajaSur
By MarketWatch
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) - The Bank of Spain on Saturday took control of and appointed an administrator for CajaSur, a savings bank that was hurt by bad property loans, media reports say. Based in the southern city of Cordoba, CajaSur has $16.36 billion of loans outstanding and holds $23.9 billion, or 0.6%, of the assets within Spain's financial system, the reports say. CajaSur on Friday determined not to go ahead with a plan reached in August to merge with a bigger lender, Unicaja of Malaga. The failure of that plan prompted the authorities to take over CajaSur, reports say.
Press TV-On the edge with Max Keiser-05-21-2010 (part1)
Press TV-On the edge with Max Keiser-05-21-2010 (part2)
Bonds ring economic alarm bells
By Chris Isidore, senior writer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Economists generally aren't worried about the U.S. or global economy falling into another recession. Looking at the bond market, many investors don't agree. The yields on long-term U.S. Treasurys, such as the benchmark 10-year bond, have tumbled sharply over the last six weeks, hitting as low as 3.1% in early trading Friday before they rebounded to 3.2% late in the day. Some experts say this is a sign a lot of major investors are betting on tough times ahead.
U.S. Corporate Bond Sales Slide on Contagion Concern
By Tim Catts
May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Sales of U.S. corporate bonds fell 67 percent this week and issuance of high-yield company debt plunged to the lowest this year amid rising investor concern that a $1 trillion rescue package won't help indebted European nations avoid default. Franklin Resources Inc., the manager of the Templeton mutual funds, sold $900 million of notes as it tapped the debt market for the first time in seven years and J.C. Penney Co., the third-largest U.S. department-store chain, issued $400 million of debt to lead $4.69 billion in corporate bond offerings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Goldman Sachs Settlement May Hinge on How SEC Justifies Penalty
By Jesse Westbrook and David Scheer
May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Analysts predict Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will pay $1 billion or more to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission fraud suit that triggered a 26 percent drop in the firm's stock. Extracting such a record-setting penalty may be easier said than done. When it comes to presenting a settlement for court approval, the SEC will have to "have a good explanation and justification for the number," said Donald Langevoort, a former SEC attorney who teaches securities law at Georgetown University in Washington.
Global stock markets correct and head for bear territory
By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
Stocks reel from Shanghai to Madrid to Sao Paulo to New York
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Stock markets around the world are falling fast from recent peaks - into what are considered corrections or even bear markets - as investors tone down expectations for global growth. The same factors that helped markets rebound a year ago, including record low interest rates and huge government spending programs, are now working against stock investors. Emerging markets countries like Brazil and China are raising rates or reining in credit with other tools. At the same time, investors fear austerity programs forced by large European budget deficits will cool the region's recovery, and by extension, the world's.
Wall Street Corruption: Are People Losing Faith in the Financial System
Written by Michael Snyder - OilPrice.com
In order for a financial system to be able to function properly, it is absolutely essential that the general population has faith in it. After all, who is going to want to invest in the stock market or entrust their money to big financial institutions if there is not at least the perception of honesty and fairness in the financial marketplace?
For decades, the American people did have faith in Wall Street. But now that faith is being shattered by a string of recent revelations. It seems as though the rampant corruption on Wall Street is seeping up almost everywhere now. In fact, some of the things that have come out recently have been absolutely jaw-dropping.
U.S. Says Geithner Will Discuss Europe, Economy in China Talks
By Rebecca Christie
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner will tell his Chinese counterparts that Europe's battle with a Greece-triggered debt crisis should have only a small effect on the broader global recovery, a U.S. official told reporters in Beijing. Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are in China for the two-day Strategic and Economic Dialogue, a set of annual high-level talks. Geithner will then depart for London, Berlin and Frankfurt to meet with European officials and reinforce his call for coordinated efforts to fight off the crisis and rein in government spending.
Geithner Claims U.S. Economy Can Withstand Europe's Woes. Really?
By DOUGLAS MCINTYRE - DailyFinance.com
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner put on a brave face trying to convince the global capital markets that Europe's economic situation will have little impact on America's or the world's recovery from deep recession. His case was thin, and he offered almost no rational support. Geithner told the Xinhua news agency of China: "You see some of the challenges in Europe now. But I think we're in a much stronger position to manage those challenges." He also said renewed GDP gains in the U.S. and an acceleration of growth in China were essential to the ongoing improvement of the global economic environment.
Dollar to Become 'Growth Currency' During Next Decade, UBS Says
By Anchalee Worrachate
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar will probably become a "growth currency" during the next 10 years, shedding its haven status of the past decade, as the U.S. economy outperforms Europe and Japan, said UBS AG, the world's second-largest foreign-exchange trader.
The dollar will return to a pattern seen in the early 1980s and late 1990s, when it appreciated as stocks rose, Mansoor Mohi-uddin, global head of foreign-exchange strategy at UBS in Singapore, wrote today in a research report titled "FX Mega- Trends 2010-2020: Dollar Regime Change." Central banks may intervene more frequently in currency markets as price swings, or volatility, intensify, he said in separate reports.
Geithner and 'Uncle' Wang to Spar Over Yuan at Beijing Dialogue
By Bloomberg News
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Chinese official who will face Timothy Geithner in Beijing today jokingly calls himself the Treasury secretary's "uncle" because of a family connection. Geithner may one day call him "Premier." Vice Premier Wang Qishan leads the delegation meeting with Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which will discuss yuan revaluation, Europe's debt crisis and North Korea's nuclear program. Wang, who oversees China's financial sector, is mentioned for membership in China's ruling Politburo Standing Committee and as a successor to Premier Wen Jiabao, two China experts say.
U.S., China discussions this week may be testy
By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY
U.S. officials beginning two days of talks in Beijing today may find their Chinese hosts even less amenable to outside pressure than usual. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are leading a nearly 200-person delegation in talks that will range widely over everything from North Korea to the value of China's currency. Before leaving Washington, U.S. officials said last week they hoped to make progress on a number of fronts, including China's promotion of homegrown technologies at the expense of foreign alternatives.
Geithner Says U.S. Seeks 'More Open' China, Balanced Growth
By Rebecca Christie
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the U.S. and China have a shared goal of a more balanced world economy and stronger ties between the world's largest and third-largest economies. "As we reform the U.S. economy to promote savings and investment, China is reforming its growth model to promote domestic demand and consumption," Geithner said in his opening statement at the Strategic and Economic Dialogue today in Beijing. "Our common interests lie in building a more stable global financial system less prone to crisis."
Gold edges higher for first time in a week
TheAge.com.au
Gold edged higher in Asian trade today in a technical rebound after falling for five straight sessions, but gains were limited as a recovery in risk appetite undermined the precious metal's allure as a safe haven. Spot gold was at $US1179.15 an ounce, up 0.3 per cent from $US1175.15 late in New York on Friday when it fell to a two-week low of $US1166.50. Spot gold hit a record-high $US1248.95 an ounce on May 14. Last week, gold fell 4.6 per cent in its biggest weekly loss since February 2009. Platinum and palladium ran their biggest weekly percentage losses since late 2008, hit hard by fund liquidation on fears the euro zone's debt crisis will crimp global growth.
Danger in Numbers: The Decline of Paper Currency
By The Mogambo Guru - The DailyReckoning.com
05/21/10 Tampa, Florida - I waited until I had sobered up to re-read Agora Financial's 5-Minute Forecast, where it reported that "Bill Clinton shocked us the other day when he came out and suggested the financial crisis would never have happened if the dollar was still tethered to gold." Notice that they used the word "shocked", because that was when I realized that I was too blotto to be likewise "shocked" at such an admission, but was obviously too plastered to feel shock, much less have any sensation left in my lips or even feel myself drooling into my lap.
Will European Central Banks Begin Selling Gold Again?
By: Julian D. W. Phillips - GoldSeek.com
Since the inception of the fourth Central Bank Gold Agreement last year on September 27th, sales by European central banks have been nearly non-existent. But that was before the Û began to implode and fractures appeared in the Eurozone itself. Now governments have to fiercely cut back expenditures. They must do this to the extent that the reaction is certain to be social unrest. As it is, Greece is not only suffering already but its key revenue driver, tourism is suffering badly [25% down already this year] so cutting tax revenues and making government book-balancing even more difficult. To many people out there, the gold holdings of such banks should be sold to shore up such shortfalls. Would European central banks agree?
Collapse of banking system to drive up gold price
By Kenneth J. Gerbino - CommodityOnline.com
There is so much hysteria in the hard money camp on Greece and the European Union that one had better start looking at the facts otherwise it could cost you a lot of money.
Before discussing the Euro, Greece and Gold, let me go over some important concepts:
The economic problems faced by all countries are rooted in paper money systems. In fact, paper money systems are one of the root causes of socialism and socialist thought. Paper money also gives capitalism a bad name. Right now the temporary solutions from bail-outs and printing money will change the short and medium term outlook for many investments. These changes must be analyzed properly. The long term will always get worse from these bail out policies, but making money in the markets means having the good sense not to get carried away by hysteria from the press and gold coin shops (although everyone should buy some gold and silver coins).
Who are real gold owners in the world?
CommodityOnline.com
ST. LOUIS (MineFund.com) -- Half the world's gold in the ground is concentrated in just five countries. Three quarters of all gold reserves are found in just ten nations. Few surprises there; the rankings have been quite static for the past three decades. However, South Africa's dominance has declined rapidly over the last decade and we anticipate it falling from first place by 2011 as more of its resource base falls victim to unkind economics. That will mark the end of an era as the country has dominated the world gold scene for a century and a quarter.
U.S. Mint Bullion Eagle Coins Surge, Despite Plunging Gold and Silver Prices CoinNews.com
Precious metals had a disastrous week, yet U.S. Mint authorized buyers ordered more bullion American Eagle coins during the third week of May than in each of the prior weeks when metals were rallying. New York gold prices finished lower for the fourth consecutive session on Friday, with June futures tumbling to $1,176.10 an ounce, plummeting 4.2 percent this week.
Europe's dilemma: Print money or cut debt?
By Bill Fleckenstein - MSN Money The euro wasn't built for this continuing battle to establish financial rules, pitting more-prudent countries against those requiring bailouts.
Given all the recent chaos in financial markets around the globe, I thought I would step back and try to shed light on the commotion, taking a view from 10,000 feet in an attempt to get to the heart of the issues. What the world is witnessing is the continuing epic battle between the printing press and excessive debt held by governments at the federal, state and local levels, as well as too much leverage on the part of the world's financial institutions.
Why the Euro Crisis Could Go On for Five Years
Written by Mad Hedge Fund Trader - OilPrice.com
You often hear the expression that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. The dromedary that the European Central Bank has is spitting mean and ill tempered. Europe does not have one guy like Ben Bernanke who can take bold, imaginative action in an emergency and has the powers to enforce them. Even the ECB's mission is diluted when compared to Federal Reserve.
Spanish workers take to the streets
The Sidney Morning Herald
Thousands of public sector workers have taken to the streets of Spain to protest a tough government austerity plan aimed at reining in the public deficit and easing fears of a Greek-style debt crisis. Unions called the demonstrations to coincide with a cabinet meeting on Thursday evening to approve the belt-tightening measures, which include pay cuts.
City fears of 'Great Depression Mark II'
By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor - Telegraph.co.uk Leading City experts have started raising the prospect of "Great Depression II" amid worries that the European economic crisis could trigger a deeper bout of chaos.
Markets on both sides of the Atlantic dipped to fresh lows as fears surrounding the fate of the euro project transmuted into worries about the wider global economic system. Bill Gross of bond fund Pimco said that hedge funds were starting to liquidate their positions in a bid to preserve their capital - a worrying "mini relapse" towards 2008 territory.
European Single Currency Reaches a Turning Point
by Breffni O'Rourke - OilPrice.com
There have always been doubts about whether the euro could succeed. It presently binds together 16 European Union members, from top world economies like Germany, to stumbling, mismanaged economies like Greece. The current international whirlwind over Greece's indebtedness has revealed the basic flaw in the single currency, namely how to coherently bridge with one monetary value the immense gap between the strongest and weakest economies of the eurozone.
Transformation of the E.U. Has Not Been Painless
By JUDY DEMPSEY - NYTimes.com
BERLIN - Since the collapse of the Communist system two decades ago throughout Central and Eastern Europe, the region has undergone a remarkable economic and political transformation. But change has not come easily. Pushed to introduce market reforms, dismantle inefficient state-owned industries and modernize long-neglected infrastructure, the region's governments have introduced, in varying measure, some very painful changes.
Ron Paul: Stop Bailing Out Foreign Governments!
Sweden Emerges as 'Safe Harbor' From Europe Debt Woes
By Niklas Magnusson and Adam Ewing
May 21 (Bloomberg) -- When the Baltic countries' economies collapsed, investors fled Sweden because of its banks' investments there. Today, they're flocking to the Nordic country as a refuge from debt-ridden southern Europe. Banks in Sweden, including Nordea Bank AB and SEB AB, have less at risk in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain than most western European countries, Danske Bank A/S figures show. That lending amounted to 2.6 percent of Sweden's gross domestic product at the end of 2009, compared with 43 percent for Ireland and 35 percent for France, according to Danske.
French farmers bring rural reality to Champs Elysées
Lizzy Davies - guardian.co.uk, Paris avenue transformed overnight to highlight crisis in agricultural sector As the busiest, most traffic-friendly road in the French capital, there is usually very little that is field-like about the Champs Elysées, or Elysian Fields. Today, however, the cars that usually speed through the famous avenue were brought to a halt and the cobblestones paved over with grass as la France profonde took over the most urban landscape in the country. By bringing in 8,000 plots of earth and 150,000 plants to the city and installing them, amid sheep and cattle, along three-quarters of a mile of the thoroughfare, struggling farmers are attempting to highlight an aspect of French life which they believe is too often overlooked by Paris.
Europe's deflation torture is a gift to the Far Left
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk If Europe's ultra-Left has so far reaped little dividend from the great "Crisis of Capitalism", this will surely change as the eurozone's 1930s policies of wage deflation sap the credibility of the governing centre and the EU itself.
The tragedy of the interwar years in Germany was that the Social Democrats - then the world's foremost socialist party - became fatally tainted by acquiescing in Bruning's deflation torture from 1930 to 1932. They did so, of course, because they dared not confront the orthodoxies of the Gold Standard. By then the fixed-exchange mechanism had gone horribly wrong - in much the same way that EMU has gone horribly wrong - because the surplus countries were not recycling demand to maintain equilibrium. It had become a job-destruction machine. The result in Germany was the Reichstag election of July 1932 when the Communists and Nazis won over the half the seats.
Gulf Spill Puts US Energy Bill on Slippery Slope
by Llewellyn King - OilPrice.com
With energy, Senate Democrats find themselves between a rock and two hard places. Nonetheless, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., have introduced their climate and energy bill.
Its timing is awful. Its fate is uncertain. Yet its sponsors felt it had to be done now.
While the Gulf of Mexico is being damaged by a runaway well, spewing millions of gallons of oil-like bile from hell, any energy bill has the chance that it will be amended to become an anti-energy bill and will fail when hoped-for Republican support evaporates.
A month after Gulf oil spill, why is BP still in charge?
USAToday.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - Days after the Gulf Coast oil spill, the Obama administration pledged to keep its "boot on the throat" of BP to make sure the company did all it could to cap the gushing leak and clean up the spill. But a month after the April 20 explosion, anger is growing about why BP PLC is still in charge of the response. "I'm tired of being nice. I'm tired of working as a team," said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana.
Oil spill: How much is a pelican worth?
By Steve Hargreaves, senior write
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Just how much is a dead pelican worth? BP is about to find out. As the owner of the still-leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, the oil giant will pay billions of dollars in damages, much of which will compensate for the birds, fish, mammals and plants that are killed by the accident. Exxon paid nearly a billion dollars in damages into a wildlife conservation fund following the 1989 Valdez disaster, roughly a quarter of the company's entire tab for the spill. "What BP might pay could be much higher," said Linwood Pendleton, director of the Ocean and Coastal Policy program at Duke University's Nicholas Institute.
BP: Effectiveness of pipe effort to slow leak has decreased
COVINGTON, La. (AP) - The dire impact of the massive Gulf spill was apparent Sunday on oil-soaked islands where pelicans nest as several of the birds splashed in the water and preened themselves, apparently trying to clean crude from their feet and wings.
Pelican eggs were glazed with rust-colored gunk in the bird colony, with thick globs floating on top of the water. Nests sat precariously close the mess in mangrove trees. As oil crept farther into the delicate wetlands in Barataria Bay off Louisiana, BP officials said Sunday that one of their efforts to slow the leak wasn't working as effectively as before.
Gulf oil spill: Interior Secretary Ken Salazar 'angry, frustrated' at BP efforts
LATimes.com
"I am angry and I am frustrated that BP has been unable to stop this well from leaking," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Sunday after a visit to the Houston command center where scientists for the oil company and the government have been working to plug the blown-out well that has produced a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
"Deadline after deadline has been missed," he added. Salazar clarified later that BP has been giving the government schedules, but failing to meet those goals. The Interior secretary noted that he had promised "to keep our boot on the neck" of BP, and would continue to do so.
Using Hay to Solve Gulf Oil Spill
BP Gets Pass From Obama Administration To Potentially Pollute Lake Michigan Written by Wayne Madsen - OilPrice.com
The Obama administration, already charged with providing political cover for BP in the Gulf of Mexico mega-oil disaster, is also charged with allowing BP to renege on agreements between the firm, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the state of Indiana to prevent pollution of Lake Michigan from the firm's Whiting, Indiana refinery near Hammond.
How the Hedge Funds Are Calling the Tune on Oil
Written by Mad Hedge Fund Trader - OilPrice.com
Watching the gut churning $22 plunge in crude (USO) has been fascinating, and gives broader insights into the state of global capital markets as a whole. Just as the Gulf disaster threatens to cap one third of America's least politically risky oil supply, prices have been heading downtown on the Lexington Avenue Express. The environmental disaster equals another Hurricane Katrina in terms of impact on the local economy. The spill could reach Scotland, where the Gulf Stream ends, before it is finally contained.
Obama Mandates Rules to Raise Fuel Standards
By PETER BAKER - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - President Obama ordered the government on Friday to develop tougher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks, advancing the fight against climate change without waiting for Congress. Mr. Obama announced the creation of a national policy that will result in less greenhouse gas pollution from medium- and heavy-duty trucks for the first time, and will further reduce exhaust from cars and light-duty trucks beyond the requirements he had already put in place.
Senate Passes Reforms Designed to Prevent Worst U.S. Collapse
By Alison Vekshin and Phil Mattingly
May 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate, bringing Congress to the brink of passing the most comprehensive regulation of the financial industry since the Great Depression, approved a bill that imposes restrictions on proprietary trading by banks and creates a consumer protection agency designed to prevent lending abuses that triggered the housing collapse and the worst unemployment in almost three decades.
Ray Stevens - Come to the USA
Padded Pensions Add to New York Fiscal Woes
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH and AMY SCHOENFELD - NYTimes.com
In Yonkers, more than 100 retired police officers and firefighters are collecting pensions greater than their pay when they were working. One of the youngest, Hugo Tassone, retired at 44 with a base pay of about $74,000 a year. His pension is now $101,333 a year. It's what the system promised, said Mr. Tassone, now 47, adding that he did nothing wrong by adding lots of overtime to his base pay shortly before retiring. "I don't understand how the working guy that held up their end of the bargain became the problem," he said.
Last hurrah for home sales?
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch With tax credit going away, can market stand on its own?
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Home sales have jumped in the past few months, with buyers rushing to take advantage of the soon-to-expire federal tax subsidy. But what will happen when the subsidy disappears and the market must stand on its own?In April, sales of existing home probably rose about 5% and sales of new homes likely gained about 3%, according to the median forecast of top economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The existing-home sales will be reported on Monday, while new-home sales will come out on Wednesday.
Phoenix Couple Says Wells Fargo is the Loan Modification Scammer
Yet another Phoenix homeowner is about to lose their home. They say they worked directly with their bank and were scammedÉ by the bankÉ Wells Fargo Bank. This family says they went to a Wells Fargo Loan Modification Workshop where they were told the Trial Modification Lie: Just make three trial payments on time and as agreed and we'll modify your loan. Well, they did. But the bank didn't. Okay, so what, right? Certainly not the first time this has happened. Not even close.
Clothes prices to rise as cotton jumps
By Garry White - Telegraph.co.uk
T-shirt weather has finally arrived, but the cost of buying a new one may be about to soar. Cotton prices all over the world have jumped as a shortage bites. In Asia, the situation is so acute that Pakistan has slapped a 15pc duty on cotton exports and India has banned exports altogether to keep prices under control. India did, however ease restrictions last Friday.
The trend for European clothing groups to ditch local suppliers in favour of low-cost Asian imports has been around for some time. If price rises are sustained, as many expect they will, these increases will eventually have to be passed on to customers. This is likely to be exacerbated by the weakness of sterling, so retailers can either choose to have their margins squeezed or pass the costs on.
Why Google's Multimedia War With Apple Benefits Consumers
By SAM GUSTIN - DailyFinance.com
Google's war with Apple keeps intensifying by the day. During Google's I/O developer conference last week, the Web search titan opened up several new fronts in the conflict, announcing new products or upgrades in mobile, TV and music. And Friday's decision by the Federal Trade Commission approving Google's $750 million acquisition of AdMob means Google can now open up with both barrels on Apple in the nascent battle for mobile ad supremacy. As Newsweek's Dan Lyons, aka Fake Steve Jobs, observed: "Instead of pretending to still be an Apple ally, Google has basically thrown down the gauntlet and admitted that it's engaged in total war with Apple." Lyons, a longtime Apple watcher, said he's ditching his iPhone in favor of a device that runs on Android, Google's fast-growing mobile operating system.
Strange bedfellows for Mexico's Calderon
LATimes.com
You know things are topsy-turvy when Mexico's right-wing president is lauded by leftists here and in the U.S. - and attacked by conservative Republicans with whom he ought to be ideological brethren.
But for President Felipe Calderon, two issues - gun control and immigration, at least as they apply in the neighbor to the north - escape ideological pigeonholing. And so he went before a joint session of the U.S. Congress, urged immigration reform and demanded a ban on the U.S. assault weapons that have been flooding his country, arming brutal drug cartels.
Iran, Sun Tzu and the dominatrix
By Pepe Escobar - Asia Times Let's face it: Hillary Clinton is one hell of a dominatrix.
At first the United States Secretary of State said the Brazil-Turkey mediation to get Iran to accept a nuclear fuel swap was destined to fail. Then the US State Department said it was the "last chance" for an agreement without sanctions. And finally, less than 24 hours after a successful agreement in Tehran, Hillary whips the UN Security Council into submission and triumphantly proclaims to the world a draft resolution for a fourth UN round of sanctions against Iran has been reached.
US scrambles for answers
By Eli Clifton - Asia Times
WASHINGTON - Thursday's formal accusation by South Korea that a North Korean torpedo sunk the warship Cheonan, killing 46 South Korean sailors, has set off a flurry of activity in Washington as politicians and foreign policy experts try to identify an appropriate United States response while balancing the need to maintain a stable relationship with China - the North's biggest sponsor. At the heart of the controversy is not whether North Korea was indeed responsible for the attack - most reports from Seoul and Washington had indicated that it was the only real suspect in the incident - but how South Korea and the US should respond.
S. Korea takes actions against N. Korea
By the CNN Wire Staff
Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak announced Monday that his country is suspending trade with North Korea and closing its waters to the North's ships in the wake of a report from Seoul that concluded North Korea sank a South Korean warship in March. The announcement came as the U.N. Command investigates whether the sinking violated the armistice between the two nations.
U.S. Presses China to Punish North Korea for Ship
By MARK LANDLER - NYTimes.com
BEIJING - The United States began pressing China on Sunday to back punitive measures against North Korea for its alleged sinking of a South Korean warship, but American officials acknowledged that the Chinese were reluctant to discipline their neighbor. Kicking off three days of high-level economic and security meetings here, the United States also sought to secure Chinese support for United Nations sanctions against Iran that would designate individuals and companies with ties to its nuclear and missile programs.
Government Secrecy vs. Free Press
Revealed: how Israel offered to sell South Africa nuclear weapons
Chris McGreal - Guardian.co.uk Exclusive: Secret apartheid-era papers give first official evidence of Israeli nuclear weapons
Secret South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the apartheid regime, providing the first official documentary evidence of the state's possession of nuclear weapons. The "top secret" minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975 show that South Africa's defence minister, PW Botha, asked for the warheads and Shimon Peres, then Israel's defence minister and now its president, responded by offering them "in three sizes". The two men also signed a broad-ranging agreement governing military ties between the two countries that included a clause declaring that "the very existence of this agreement" was to remain secret.
The memos and minutes that confirm Israel's nuclear stockpile
Chris McGreal - Guardian.co.uk Documents reveal how then-defence minister Shimon Perez tried to sell South Africa's apartheid government the bomb
This cover page of an ISSA (ISrael-South Africa agreement) meeting in Pretoria between Israeli and South African officials on 30 June 1975 establishes the presence of General RF Armstrong, who wrote the nuclear memo
Minutes of third ISSA meeting, 30/6/1975
Minutes from further ISSA meeting
Israel-South Africa agreement
Declassified memo from General RF Armstrong
Letter from Shimon Peres, 11/11/1974
Israel's view on Iran: Diplomacy not the answer for wary nuclear neighbour Rory McCarthy - guardian.co.uk Israel has been pushing for tougher sanctions against Iran and would welcome a hardening of US policy
Israel's government has long tried to raise international concern about Iran's nuclear ambitions and is likely to welcome the new US deployments in the Gulf if it signals a hardening of policy. Israel, itself a major but undeclared nuclear power, has been pushing for tougher sanctions against Iran and is wary of those who argue in favour of dialogue and negotiations.
US mum over China's links to Iran
By Peter J Brown - AsiaTimes
China and the United States have been down a rocky road together over the past two decades with respect to China's missile technology transfers to Iran. Today, China's ongoing contributions to the buildup of Iran's missile forces warrant closer scrutiny.
The opening by Iran of a new missile production plant in March will enable Iran to further quickly expand its supply of Nasr anti-ship missiles. Although no Chinese officials attended the opening ceremony, there are Chinese footprints all around this facility.
Judge Andrew Napolitano - 1/3 -
Natural Rights and The Patriot Act
Judge Andrew Napolitano - 2/3 -
Natural Rights and The Patriot Act
Judge Andrew Napolitano - 3/3 -
Natural Rights and The Patriot Act
Breakup Of U.S. Is Inevitable
By Chuck Baldwin - CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
People all over America are discussing freedom's future. In short, they are worried. In fact, many are actually talking about State secession. In coffee shops and cafes, and around dining room tables, millions of people are speaking favorably of states breaking away from the union. Not since the turn of the twentieth century have this many people thought (and spoken) this favorably about the prospect of a State (or group of states) exiting the union. In my mind, this is a good thing.
Even many of those who oppose the prospect of secession understand the increasing tyrannical nature of the current central government in Washington, D.C., and that something must be done about it.
Dictator Of Failed State Lectures Americans About Freedom
Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones - Prison Planet.com
Americans were once again forced to endure the dictator of a failed state which represses and subjugates its citizens as a matter of course lecturing the U.S. about how 'his people' were being discriminated against yesterday when unelected Mexican President Felipe Calderón bashed the Arizona illegal immigration law.
Calderon commented, "Such laws as the Arizona law...is forcing our people to face discrimination," during a visit to the White House.
Calderon later attacked the second amendment in a speech to the U.S. Congress, blaming Mexico's spiraling drug violence on guns being smuggled from inside America, while failing to mention the fact that lax border security, something he vehemently supports - but only on American borders - is the primary cause of this problem.
Mexican President Opposes Arizona's SB 1070 on Visit to Capitol Hill -- Others Question His Logic
By Julissa Treviño - CampusProgress.org
As the Justice Department continues its examination of Arizona's newest immigration law, Mexican President Felipe Calderón echoed his country's sentiment on the immigration issue in the U.S. today during a news conference with President Obama.
Calder—n told Obama yesterday, according to the Washington Post, that his country will "retain our firm rejection to criminalize migration" and "oppose firmly" the application of the Arizona law to law-abiding citizens in the United States.
An El Paso news station, KTSM, reported on Calderón's comments on Arizona's immigration law earlier this month, examining Mexico's own harsh immigration policies. No one can doubt that Mexico has, in many ways, stricter policies on both legal and illegal immigrants that the U.S., but Calderón's comments resonate with the opinions of the people of his country.
AZ SB 1070 may be Obama's tipping point on immigration reform
LatinaLista.net -- Maybe it was the fact that the Arizona senate passed SB 1070 and are only waiting for Arizona Governor Brewer to sign it into law -- or do nothing and have it pass into law anyway.
Or maybe it was the fact that Sen. McCain abandoned his long-held position on immigration and decided, for political reasons, to endorse SB 1070. Or it could have been the public scolding he got in the Huffington Post piece penned by Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez.
Two of the nine protesters who chained themselves to the Capitol's doors in protest of SB 1070.
Whatever the source, President Obama seems to have gotten the message that as long as Congress and his administration put immigration reform on the backburner, the chasm of racial tension in this country is only going to get deeper -- and potentially deadly violent.
Pasadena City Council votes to denounce Arizona SB 1070
By Uri Lerner - hispanicla.com
The Pasadena City Council voted 5-2 on Monday (5/17/2010) night to officially denounce the controversial Arizona immigration law. The council showed its support of a letter submitted by Mayor Gordon of Phoenix, AZ calling for denunciation of SB 1070.
A second resolution, calling for the federal government and Congress to act on the issue of immigration was passed unanimously by all members in attendance.
The 5 council members supporting the statement were led by Councilman Victor Gordo, who introduced the motion. Before public comments, Gordo argued that if immigration was taken out of the equation, SB 1070 simply requires Latino American citizens and legal residents to carry documentation of residency or risk arrest if they have a run-in with Police and this is unacceptable.
Ask a Mexican on Following Mexico's Example
By Gustavo Arellano - PhoenixNewTimes.com
Over the past couple of weeks, the Know-Nothing nation has invaded my inbox with the question of why can't the United States follow the stringent immigration laws of Mexico. They're merely parroting a recent column by the reprehensible Michelle Malkin, who thought that bringing up the issue was an original angle to rankle Reconquistas. ÁQue pendeja! The Mexican covered this question back in 2006, so let's hop into the Hot Comal Time Machine and reprint the pregunta y mi answer:
Why shouldn't the United States adopt the same type of anti-illegal immigration laws that Mexico keeps on its books? Illegal aliens in Mexico are felons - so why do Mexicans complain if the U.S. wants to do that as well? Mexico deported over 200,000 Central Americans last year - so why do illegal aliens from Mexico complain if the U.S. deports a few? Foreign nationals in Mexico can't stage massive marches in the streets of Mexico waving the flags of their home countries - in fact, Mexican law prohibits such tactics under penalty of jail time. So how does "The Mexican" respond? Very Hypocritical
White House, Democrats Applaud Mexican President Slamming Arizona Law
FOXNews.com Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Thursday strongly denounced Arizona's new law clamping down on illegal immigrants and urged members of Congress to pass "comprehensive immigration reform."
WASHINGTON -- As Mexican President Felipe Calderon ripped Arizona's new law clamping down on illegal immigrants in front of Congress on Thursday, Democrats and White House officials rose to their feet to cheer, including Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Janet Napolitano -- two officials who have confessed to not even reading the law. And that isn't sitting well with officials from states along the border. "It was extremely disappointing to have a foreign head of state on the floor of the U.S. Congress exhibiting willful ignorance" over the new law, Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams told Fox News.
"Remember the Alamo" was a battle cry in which the bitterness of the Texans over the massacres by Mexican forces at the Alamo in San Antonio (6 March 1836) and at Goliad (27 March 1836) found expression. Use of the phrase has been attributed both to Gen. Sam Houston (who supposedly used the words in a stirring address to his men on 19 April 1836, two days before the Battle of San Jacinto) and to Col. Sidney Sherman, who fought in the battle.
On SB 1070, Arizona Governor Says She Will Do The 'Right Thing So That Everyone Is Treated Fairly'
Since the Arizona legislature passed the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act," a bill which will probably end up establishing the harshest set of state immigration laws in the country, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's phone has been reportedly ringing off the hook with residents encouraging her to either sign or veto Senate Bill 1070. Though Brewer has refused to comment on which action she plans on taking, she did assure attendees of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Black and White Ball this Saturday that she will do what is fair.
Jan Brewer Promises To Do "the Right Thing" at Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Event, Chamber's CEO Asks Her To Veto SB 1070
By Stephen Lemons, PhoenixNewTimes.com
Speaking to attendees of the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Black and White Ball Saturday night at the downtown Phoenix Sheraton, Governor Jan Brewer refused to say whether or not she would sign state Senator Russell Pearce's police state/anti-immigrant bill SB 1070. But she assured the crowd that she understood its opposition to the measure.
"In regards to Senate Bill 1070," she stated, "I will tell you that I never make comment, like most governors throughout our country, before a bill reaches my desk. But I hear you, and I will assure you that I will do what I believe is the right thing so that everyone is treated fairly."
Why Arizona Should "Racially Profile"
By Selwyn Duke - CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
When the Times Square bombing suspect was first reported to be a "white male," I shook my head. I knew that, despite Mayor Bloomberg's asinine musings about how the perpetrator was probably "homegrown" and perhaps someone upset about the healthcare bill, this was nonsense. "It's about as likely as a story about Bill Clinton becoming a monk," I thought.
Of course, this was no great insight. Given that 99 percent of the terrorists bedeviling us today are non-white Muslims, it was just common sense - otherwise known as profiling.
The critics of Arizona's new immigration law complain that it will lead to "racial profiling." In response, the law's defenders point out that the legislation specifically forbids the practice. Both groups are wrong.
They accept two false suppositions. The first is that the practice in question is immoral. The second is that "racial profiling" actually exists.
Agenda 21 Alert: Immigration Theater
Cassandra Anderson - Infowars.com
The purpose of the federal government's neglect of protecting the border with Mexico is so that illegal immigrants can pass through it, virtually at will, in order to create a nearly open border. This accomplishes the globalists' objectives of weakening sovereignty and nationalism, developing economic strife, and fomenting discord between taxpaying citizens and illegal immigrants, which are necessary elements to implement the North American Union. Further, it sets the stage for amnesty and the federal government's immigration bill that would establish a national ID card for all workers, the inroad to REAL ID.
Next on the Contagion List - UMS?
by Bruce Krasting - ZeroHedge.com
I am looking at the tape(s) and it appears to me like everything is cracking up. The most troubling is the widening of sovereign spreads. That beat goes on. With that in mind I looked at who might be next on the list of countries that the wolves (AKA-"Global Bond Investors") close in on. To make a big move on the global financial stability scale I think it would have to be a country whose GDP is north of $1 trillion. Here's the list. Of the 15 names a few (Spain and Italy) are already being pursued by wolves. Russia is not likely to be a problem in this round. Nor is Brazil or Korea. That leaves Mexico.
Political Revolution
By John LeBoutillier - CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
It began last November: Virginia and New Jersey-two states that had gone for Obama in 2008-and then spread to the most liberal of all states, Massachusetts, with the Tea Party break-out victory of Scott Brown in January.
Ten days ago it went to Utah and took out a senior U.S. GOP Senator. In Florida it dislodged a sitting GOP Governor.
Yesterday it spread to Pennsylvania and Kentucky. "It" is the largest manifestation of Americans' unhappiness with the Political Establishment - perhaps ever in American history.
Similarities Between Now And The Great Depression Getting Uncomfortable by Megan McArdle - BusinessInsider.com And if we double dip, we're probably going to trip dip.
I loathe those neat little summary headlines that purport to tell you why things sold off--"Dow Drops 100 points on unemployment worries" and so forth--as if the journalist surveyed all the millions of people who bought and sold stocks and found out why they did what they did. So any attempt to fully explain this morning's ugly market behavior in terms of one factor or another is bound to be deeply flawed.
Collapsing Public Confidence and Gold
By: Moses Kim - GoldSeek.com
As I've mentioned repeatedly in the past, gold is perhaps the most misunderstood asset in the world. Try to explain to people the true nature of gold and expect to be greeted with petulant disdain. It took more than a little arm twisting for me to convince people that gold is a currency and not a commodity. With a bona fide meltdown hitting Europe, people are starting to wake up and smell the roses. Gold will eventually trade at obscene levels because of a collapse in public confidence. Only then will people realize that it was only public confidence that propped up our entire monetary system.
Is Your IRA or 401K a Target of Government Appropriation?
By: Chris Blasi - GoldSeek.com
Will the laws and rules in place to protect individuals in their attempt to set something aside for retirement be safeguarded by the representatives elected to advocate for them in Washington? Will the principles and moral integrity of the political class keep them from appropriating the trillions of dollars held in 401k's and IRA's? I'm not so sure! While the answer is most likely yes, when one realizes the magnitude of the financial predicament the U.S. might well find itself in shortly, it is indeed, conceivable that such an appropriation of private retirement accounts might prove to be too compelling for most politicians to resist.
MARKETS CRUSHED: Here's What You Need To Know
Joe Weisenthal - BusinessInsider.com
Once again, fears emanating out of Europe (and China) swamped US markets, which got hammered for the 5th time in 6 days. Ominously, after some modest mid-day nibbling, stocks closed very near the lows of the day.... other key stories:
Europe continues to confirm that there is nobody in charge
The big loser today was oil
All commodities got slammed
The euro absolutely surged today
Nouriel Roubini is calling for a 20% correction.
Financial reform cleared a key hurdle in the Senate
Market is waiting for the next move out of Europe
Gulf oil leak is now in the current loop, which means it's heading straight for Florida.
You Better Read This, Gold & Greece: Not What You Think
By: Kenneth Gerbino - GoldSeek.com
There is so much hysteria in the hard money camp on Greece and the European Union that one had better start looking at the facts otherwise it could cost you a lot of money.
Before discussing the Euro, Greece and Gold, let me go over some important concepts:
The economic problems faced by all countries are rooted in paper money systems. In fact, paper money systems are one of the root causes of socialism and socialist thought. Paper money also gives capitalism a bad name. Right now the temporary solutions from bail-outs and printing money will change the short and medium term outlook for many investments. These changes must be analyzed properly. The long term will always get worse from these bail out policies, but making money in the markets means having the good sense not to get carried away by hysteria from the press and gold coin shops (although everyone should buy some gold and silver coins).
Chinese are buying GOLD!
Patrick Chovanec - BusinessInsider.com It's Official, The Chinese Have Got The Gold Bug Now
According to CCTV, sales of gold for the May Day holiday in Beijing are up 70% over last year, and that sales of gold bars has doubled. It notes that May is a popular season for weddings, which makes it a peak gold-buying period, but attributes this year's increase to jitters over property prices:
Mr. Zhang had planned to invest his money in the property market. But on second thought, he changed his mind . . . [Zhang] said, "The recent measures have been reining in tightly. So I changed my investment plan. I believe the gold market is more stable. It could also avoid investment risks and prevent the threat of the inflation."
Wall Street Threatens Washington as Reform Vote Approaches
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Europe Acts Pre-emptively Against Fraud
Naked shorting is illegal in the US, and for very good reasons. On a larger scale, it is used for price manipulation, and is the equivalent of counterfeiting. The removal of the uptick rule by the SEC on July 6, 2007, which had been created in 1938 as part of the New Deal regulatory reforms, cleared the way for its more heavy handed uses and control frauds.
The ban on naked short selling was not enforced by regulators who were willing to turn a blind eye to blatant market manipulation. Under the DTCC regime it turned epidemic. The alarm was raised by many whistle blowers who were either ignored or vilified by the corporate media.
Let me be clear on this. I am not opposed to short selling. It is a trade that has many legitimate uses. It is naked short selling that lends itself so readily to abuse, particularly when there are not limits on position sizes and massed selling to drive down prices. The deregulatory movement, based on such lofty principles, has become nothing more than a means to a fraud, systematically knocking down all the regulatory safeguards that were put in place to protect the public during the Great Depression.
U.S. Senate Approves Wall Street Overhaul Bill in 59-39 Vote
By Alison Vekshin and Phil Mattingly
May 20 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate approved a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street regulation that would create a consumer protection agency, strengthen oversight of derivative trading and ban proprietary trading at banks.
Senators voted 59-39 today in favor of the measure, which also creates a mechanism for liquidating failing financial firms and a council of financial regulators to monitor markets for threats to the economy. The move sends the legislation into negotiations designed to reconcile differences with the House bill approved in December.
The Unbelievably Rampant Corruption On Wall Street
Economic Collapse - SilverBearCafe.com
In order for a financial system to be able to function properly, it is absolutely essential that the general population has faith in it. After all, who is going to want to invest in the stock market or entrust their money to big financial institutions if there is not at least the perception of honesty and fairness in the financial marketplace? For decades, the American people did have faith in Wall Street. But now that faith is being shattered by a string of recent revelations. It seems as though the rampant corruption on Wall Street is seeping up almost everywhere now. In fact, some of the things that have come out recently have been absolutely jaw-dropping. The truth is that the corruption on Wall Street is much deeper and much more systemic than most of us ever dared to imagine. As the general public digests these recent scandals, it is going to result in a tremendous loss of faith in the U.S. financial system. Once faith in a financial system is lost, it can take years or even decades to get back. So how is the U.S. financial system supposed to work properly when large numbers of people simply do not believe in it anymore?
Dow Drop Likely Caused By Intentional Liquidity Cutoff
Bob Chapman -SilverBearCafe.com
The initial official excuse for such a perceptions drop in the Dow was a wrong keystroke, which is ludicrous. Then there is the almost total control by Goldman Sachs of the market and control via the Supplementary Liquidity Provider. All they have to do is cut off liquidity and the market plunges. Thus, there is no question in our minds that Goldman attacked the market and took it down to let House and Senate members know that they can make the market do whatever they please with the full cooperation of the SEC and CFTC, this convinced lawmakers that the Illuminist threat was very real. There would be no breakup of too big to fail banks and no real audit of the Fed. The public would be thrown a bone. This is a good reason why program trading has to end and why derivatives have to be abolished. This is all a reflection of two sets of justice. One for the elitists and one for us. This also shows us that crime pays. It also proves our country is under the financial control of terrorists.
Geithner to Visit England, Germany to Discuss Crisis
By Christopher Wellisz
May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner will visit Germany and the U.K. next week to discuss the European debt crisis, the Treasury Department said today in a statement in Washington. Geithner "will meet with European officials to discuss the economic situation in the region and the measures being taken to restore global confidence and financial stability and to promote continued recovery," the Treasury said. Geithner's trip to Europe will follow his visit to Beijing for the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, the Treasury said. He will meet with U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in London on May 26.
Pan-European Bank Run Is Now On: Capital Flight From UK To Switzerland, As GBPCHF Intervention Strikes Next
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Yesterday we disclosed that the reason for numerous SNB interventions in the EURCHF was due to billions in deposits rushing out of Germany and seeking the relative stability of Swiss neutrality. A quick look at the trading pattern of the GBPCHF shows that it is now UK depositors who are panicking and shifting their money to unnamed (not so much anymore) Zurich bank vaults. The result: a 300 pip move in the GBPCHF as the SNB rushes to put out this particular capital flight fire. Too bad it only succeeded for about 12 hours. The run on the bank (to another bank) in Europe is now on.
The EU is as doomed as its currency - let's get out from under this collapsing monstrosity By Gerald Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
The European experiment has failed and is only artificially being kept alive on a life-support system of taxpayer-funded bailouts. The euro is now a zombie currency: only the political will of the European nomenklatura keeps it nominally in existence. That is the exact reverse of the proper relationship between a currency and the state: the currency should be the expression of a healthy economy testifying to the legitimacy of the government it represents. Instead, a synthetic European super-state is showing its non-viability and moribundity through the implosion of its currency.
Now Imminent: Britain's Exodus From Europe
Brad MacDonald - theTrumpet.com
Another decades-old prophecy is about to be fulfilled.
The more time that passes since the European Union announced its €750 billion rescue package for the eurozone, the more we seem to discover about the severity of the financial crisis ripping through Europe.
How serious is it?
Last Wednesday Angela Merkel, the normally reserved chancellor of Germany, told the German parliament that "nothing less than the future of Europe is at stake." Extreme measures must be taken, Merkel warned, to "avoid a chain reaction to the European and international financial system …." In Poland the next day, Merkel stated that the crisis was the "greatest test Europe has faced since 1990, if not in the 53 years since the passage of the Treaties of Rome." Think on that: The leader of the most influential country in the EU believes the union could be facing its greatest challenge since its inception over half a century ago.
FDIC: 'Problem' Banks at 775
By MICHAEL R. CRITTENDEN - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON - A total of 775 banks, or one-tenth of all U.S. banks, were on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s list of "problem" institutions in the first quarter, as bad loans in the commercial real-estate market weighed on bank balance sheets.
Poor loan performance in other sectors also continued to hurt banks, with the total number of loans at least three months past due climbing for the 16th consecutive quarter, FDIC officials said in a briefing on Thursday. "The banking system still has many problems to work through, and we cannot ignore the possibility of more financial market volatility," FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said.
As Washington banks fail, industry jobs decline
PUGET SOUND BUSINESS JOURNAL (SEATTLE) - BY Kirsten Grind
Washington state's banking industry lost more than 2,000 employees over the past two years and is shrinking considerably in the ongoing financial crisis, according to a government report released Thursday. Since 2008, banks have lost a collective $2.9 billion in assets for a total of about $74 billion in assets statewide, and their ranks have shrunk more than 9 percent to about 14,500 employees, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC)'s quarterly banking report. Meanwhile, Washington banks lost a collective $132 million during the first three months of the year, while their percentage of bad loans - known as nonperforming assets - skyrocketed from about 1.2 percent to 7.5 percent in the past two years.
No Bank Is Too Big to Fail, in Theory
By DAN FITZPATRICK - WSJ.com
No bank is too big to fail, according to the Senate financial bill, a fact that will restrict future bailouts for U.S. banking giants and require them to develop liquidation plans.
But the legislation stops short of forcing a breakup of the nation's megabanks, which have amassed even more might since the financial crisis erupted. For example, Bank of America Corp., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. now hold $3 of every $10 in deposits, up from about $2.
Even with the new requirements, some experts predict that the largest banks still could be rescued by taxpayers. "Is Congress really going to sit on its hands and let the financial system go down in flames?" said Brian Olasov, managing director at law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP in Atlanta. The legislation gives the U.S. government some wiggle room to step in if a giant bank is on the verge of failure, he said.
'Perfect storm' as market tremors hit China, Europe and the US
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk Capitulation fever has swept global markets on triple fears of faltering recovery in the US, Chinese credit curbs and Europe's intractable escalating debt crisis.
"It is the perfect storm," said Andrew Roberts, credit strategist at RBS. "People have been too complacent about risky assets. This is a global deflation scare and people need to get ready for falls in US and European bond yields to 2pc." Wall Street shares plunged 3pc after new jobless claims in the US rose to 471,000 last week, the biggest jump in three months. The S&P 500 index of shares fell to 1080, triggering automatic stop-loss sales as it crashed through support on its 200-day moving average.
Why 1,000 bank failures will occur before the Great Recession is over.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) will be the next billion and possibly trillion dollar government bailout. We have the FDIC that insures over 8,000 banks with an insurance fund that is in the negative. From 2000 to October of 2007 only 27 banks were closed down by the FDIC. Nearly eight full years and 27 banks were shut down in the face of epic gambling from the banking industry. Since the recession started, the FDIC has closed down 237 banks with more to come. Without a doubt, given the enormous amount of bad debt and commercial real estate loans we will have 1,000 bank failures by the time this recession is over. Is this so hard to envision? In April, 17 banks were closed and so far in May, 15 banks have seen their doors shut. The rate of bank failures is increasing.
Why will this happen? Because there are at least 763 more banks that are full to toxic waste in the U.S.
Gensler Blames the Math for 'Flash Crash'
By SARAH N. LYNCH - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON-A top regulator gave new details on the sudden May 6 stock plunge, saying heavy trading volume may have led a large trader's computer algorithm to execute a larger sell order than it would on other days.
Regulators have already cited heavy selling in the E-mini Standard & Poor's 500 futures contract as a possible factor in the nearly 1,000-point intraday drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and said one big trader was exclusively entering sell orders for that contract during a key period just before and after the drop.
Dow Theorist Richard Russell: Sell Everything Liquid, You Won't Recognize America By The End Of The Year
Joe Weisenthal - SilverBearCafe.com Richard Russell, the famous writer of the Dow Theory Letters, has a chilling line in today's note:
Do your friends a favor. Tell them to "batten down the hatches" because there's a HARD RAIN coming. Tell them to get out of debt and sell anything they can sell (and don't need) in order to get liquid. Tell them that Richard Russell says that by the end of this year they won't recognize the country. They'll retort, "How the dickens does Russell know - who told him?" Tell them the stock market told him.
WHOA! That's pretty intense! By popular demand, here's more on what he sees in the market. The gist is that the markets recent gyrations are telling him that the economy is in trouble:
CNBC, 02/09/10 - Dow will drop from 10,000 to 6500 says Richard Russell
EPA Orders BP to Use Less-Toxic Oil Dispersant
By Alexis Madriga - Wired.com
The Environmental Protection Agency ordered British Petroleum to change the type of dispersant the company is using to keep oil from reaching American shores. The EPA gave the company 72 hours to switch to a less toxic chemical for use in breaking up oil slicks. Persistent questions about the toxicity of Corexit 9500 have plagued BP over the last several weeks. But the company continued to purchase and use the chemical. On May 5, Wired Science reported on EPA data showing that a competitive product, U.S. Polychemical's Dispersit, appeared to be less toxic and perform better. Corexit is manufactured by Nalco, which has senior management from the major oil companies.
Oil dispersants used in Gulf of Mexico spill causing alarm
By Dennis Pillion, al.com
BP has used almost 600,000 gallons of the oil dispersant Corexit at the surface of the Gulf of Mexico to break-up the slick from the Deepwater Horizon spill, but concerns are growing about the environmental impact of those chemicals on the Gulf ecosystems and human residents of the area.
Federal officials have expressed the need for more toxicology studies on the dispersants, and whether dispersed oil is any less of a threat than non-dispersed oil. One toxicology expert, Dr. William Sawyer, called the products "deodorized kerosene," and a group of Louisiana fisherman and marine toxicologist Riki Ott are asking President Barack Obama to order BP to stop using the compound.
BP, accused of cover-up, says captures more oil
By Anna Driver and Matthew Bigg
HOUSTON/VENICE, La., May 20 (Reuters) - BP Plc said on Thursday it was siphoning off more of the oil gushing from its ruptured Gulf of Mexico well, but the energy giant faced "cover-up" allegations over its struggling response to the catastrophic month-old spill.
"The oil plume escaping from the riser pipe has visibly declined today," BP spokesman Mark Proegler said after the company announced that a mile-long (1.6 km) tube tapping into the larger of two leaks from the well was now capturing 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 litres) per day of oil.
However, a live video feed of the leak, provided by BP (BP.L), showed a black plume of crude oil still billowing out into the deep waters.
"It's just not working," U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, who heads the Environment and Public Works Committee, told CNN as she watched the BP video. The California Democrat denounced a "cover-up" of the real size of the oil spill.
BP and Coast Guard Threaten to Arrest Journalists for Covering Oil Polluted Shoreline in Louisiana
Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
The U.S. Coast Guard's motto is "Semper Paratus," Latin for "Always Ready" or "Always Prepared." In the case of BP's Gulf oil disaster, the Coast Guard is apparently always prepared to prevent the media from covering Louisiana's oil-soaked Gulf shoreline.
CBS journalists were threatened with arrest by BP contractors and the Coast Guard when they attempted to film the beach.
"This is BP's rules, it's not ours," someone aboard the boat said. In other words, BP is running the show, not the Coast Guard and the government.
Karl Burkart, writing for Mother Jones, reports numerous, unconfirmed reports of cameras and cell phones being confiscated, scientists with monitoring equipment being turned away, and local reporters blocked from access to public lands impacted by the oil spill.
Benzene the killer! Plans in place to evacuate The Gulf Population
Plans to evacuate the Gulf are BEGINING TO FLY AROUND THE NET.
Benzene, incredible amounts of Benzene are being released into the atmosphere and is a clear and present danger not only for the old and people with respiratory problems but the general Gulf population as a whole.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that benzene is a human carcinogen, and can cause various forms of cancer from prolonged exposure.Exposed to high levels of benzene show association with leukemia cancer; including acute myelogenous leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, and chronic myelogenous leukemia. Benzene-related leukemias have been reported to develop in as short as nine months,(read more below)
This is much more serious than they are letting on, especially as one of the options here is to burn the escaping oil!
Florida Gulf oil spill: Plans to evacuate Tampa Bay area expected to be announced
Hernando County Political Buzz Examiner Maryann Tobin Gulf Oil Spill 2010: Plans to evacuate Tampa Bay area expected to be announced Plans to evacuate the Tampa Bay area are expected to be announced in the coming days as FEMA prepares for what is now being called the worst oil disaster in the history of the world.
Estimates of the rate of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill by skyTruth.com, put more accurate numbers at more than 1 million gallons a day, based on satellite and Coast Guard images.
Since the April 20th explosion, which resulted in the sinking of the rig, there has been more than 21 million gallons of oil pumped into the Gulf of Mexico.
Hurricane season nears as oil leak grows
By Joshua Schneyer - Reuters
More storms than average expected in Atlantic, Gulf
NEW YORK - BP's oil spill could make for one of the highest-stakes U.S. Gulf hurricane seasons on record.
Storms could scuttle cleanup efforts, force containment vessels to retreat, or propel spilled crude and tar balls over vast expanses of sea and beach.
Meteorologists say that climate conditions are ripe for an unusually destructive hurricane season, the storm-prone period that runs from June 1 to the end of November in the Gulf. Oceanographers say that could hurt the clean-up.
White House to create oil spill commission
By ERICA WERNER - AP via MSNBC.com
WASHINGTON - An administration official says the White House will establish a presidential commission to investigate the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
President Barack Obama will establish the commission by executive order. It will be similar to panels created to investigate the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of a public announcement.
Fear over Gulf oil spill: What happens if they can't stop it?
By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - With a quick solution ominously uncertain, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is on track to become an unprecedented economic and environmental disaster with millions of gallons of oil destroying an ecosystem as well as a way of life.
BP America said Monday that it would take another 75 days to finish one of two relief wells it's drilling to shut down the flow. By then, if the spill doesn't worsen and the relief well stops the leak, some 20 million gallons of oil will be swirling in the gulf, nearly double the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.
Mortgage Data Leaves Bankers Uncertain of Trend
By DAVID STREITFELD - NYTimes.com
Any way you look at it, extraordinary numbers of people are having trouble paying their mortgage. What is less clear is the extent to which the problem is getting worse, better or is simply holding its own. Data released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed the mortgage delinquency rate rose in the first quarter to 9.38 percent of all loans outstanding, from 8.22 percent in same period last year.
59 percent of homeowners wouldn't walk away
TheTruthAboutMortgage.com
A new survey from Trulia and RealtyTrac revealed that 59 percent of homeowners wouldn't walk away from their mortgages no matter how deeply underwater they were.
That seems somewhat hard to believe, considering the direct correlation between negative equity and strategic default, but taking a survey and actually going through it all are two very different things. Additionally, just one percent of homeowners said walking away from the mortgage would be their first choice if unable to make mortgage payments. An overwhelming majority (69 percent) would turn to a loan modification before anything else, despite the fact that those seem to be performing quite poorly.
College Grads Flood U.S. Labor Market With Diminished Prospects
By Mike Dorning
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Ten months after graduating from Ohio State University with a civil-engineering degree and three internships, Matt Grant finally has a job -- as a banquet waiter at a Clarion Inn near Akron, Ohio. "It's discouraging right now," said the 24-year-old, who sent out more than 100 applications for engineering positions. "It's getting closer to the Class of 2010, their graduation date. I'm starting to worry more."
Dodd Bill Gives a Pass to Fannie and Freddie
by John Berlau - HumanEvents.com
When it comes to a Senate bill that showers massive regulations and taxes on a variety of U.S. businesses and is justified as preventing the next crisis, Republicans-particularly in the Senate-are not pushing hard enough to fix the liberal policies that were some of the main causes of the last crisis.
Amazingly, Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd's "Restoring American Financial Stability Act" doesn't contain anything to rein in the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
SCIENTISTS CREATE 'SYNTHETIC CELL'
A team of U.S. scientists have created what they're calling a "synthetic cell," 'although really it appears to be more of a Franken-cell, if you will, since the cell's genome is artificial but the "recipient cell" is not. All the same, it's still bound to freak some people out. -KA
BBC: Dr [J. Craig] Venter likened the advance to making new software for the cell.
The researchers copied an existing bacterial genome. They sequenced its genetic code and then used "synthesis machines" to chemically construct a copy. Dr Venter told BBC News: "We've now been able to take our synthetic chromosome and transplant it into a recipient cell-a different organism.
Scientists Create First Self-Replicating Synthetic Life
By Rachel Swaby - Wired.com
Man-made DNA has booted up a cell for the first time.
In a feat that is the culmination of two and a half years of tests and adjustments, researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute inserted artificial genetic material - chemically printed, synthesized and assembled - into cells that were then able to grow naturally.
"We all had a very good feeling that it was going to work this time," said Venter Institute synthetic biologist Daniel Gibson, co-author of the study published May 20 in Science. "But we were cautiously optimistic because we had so many letdowns following the previous experiments."
South Korea to take lead on next steps after attack: U.S.
(Reuters) - South Korea will be in the lead in deciding how to respond to what it says was a North Korean torpedo attack on one of its warships, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday. Gates, however, rejected any suggestion that the United States was not in a position to respond militarily to North Korean aggression because it is stretched thin by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "If there were a problem in Korea, our main arms would be the Navy and the Air Force and those are not stretched in the same way that the ground forces are," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon, adding the U.S. was consulting with Seoul.
South Korea briefs China on ship sinking blamed on North
(Reuters) - South Korea has briefed the Chinese ambassador on its findings on the sinking of a navy ship widely believed to be the work of North Korea, an issue that has created tension between the two major Asian trading partners. Seoul is sure to formally blame the North on Thursday when it announces the findings by a team of experts that includes investigators from Sweden, Australia and the United States. China, host of on-again, off-again six-party talks aimed at reining in North Korea's nuclear weapons program, is the reclusive state's only major ally and is loath to penalize it for wrongs perceived in South Korea and the West.
Clinton Heads to China in North Korea Torpedo Crisis
By Nicole Gaouette
May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Asia today for talks with China and U.S. allies now focused on how to manage a crisis over suspected North Korean involvement in the sinking of a South Korean warship. Kurt Campbell, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said the "central issue" for Clinton will be getting assessments of how to respond to North Korea after an international probe blamed the communist regime for firing a torpedo that killed 46 South Korean sailors on March 26. The U.S. is "facing a very serious set of circumstances in the coming days," Campbell said in Washington on May 19.
NKorea says SKorea faked evidence of torpedo attack, warns of 'all-out war' if punished Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea, accused of waging the deadliest attack on the South Korean military since the Korean War, flatly denied sinking a warship Thursday and warned that retaliation would mean "all-out war." Evidence presented Thursday to prove North Korea fired a torpedo that sank a South Korean ship was fabricated by Seoul, North Korean naval spokesman Col. Pak In Ho told broadcaster APTN in an exclusive interview in Pyongyang. He warned that any move to sanction or strike North Korea would be met with force. "If (South Korea) tries to deal any retaliation or punishment, or if they try sanctions or a strike on us .... we will answer to this with all-out war," he told APTN. An international team of civilian and military investigators declared earlier in Seoul that a North Korean submarine fired a homing torpedo at the Cheonan on March 26, ripping the 1,200-ton ship in two.
Michael Ruppert - Lecture on Zbigniew Brzezinski's 'The Grand Chessboard' - Part 1
Michael Ruppert - Lecture on Zbigniew Brzezinski's 'The Grand Chessboard' - Part 2
'All out war' threatened over North Korea attack on warship Cheonan
by Anne Barrowclough - Times Online.co.uk
North Korea has threatened "all out war" if there is any retaliation from Seoul for the torpedo attack which sank the South Korean warship Cheonan in March.
Pyongyang made the threat as it dismissed as 'fabrication' a report by an international team of investigators which concludes that a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine was responsible for the explosion that ripped the 1,200 corvette in two, killing 46 sailors in one of South Korea's worst naval tragedies.
South Korea to officially blame North Korea for March torpedo attack on warship By John Pomfret and Blaine Harden - WashingtonPost.com
South Korea will formally blame North Korea on Thursday for launching a torpedo at one of its warships in March, causing an explosion that killed 46 sailors and heightened tensions in one of the world's most perilous regions, U.S. and East Asian officials said.
South Korea concluded that North Korea was responsible for the attack after investigators from Australia, Britain, Sweden and the United States pieced together portions of the ship at the port of Pyeongtaek, 40 miles southwest of Seoul. The Cheonan sank on March 26 after an explosion rocked the 1,200-ton vessel as it sailed on the Yellow Sea off South Korea's west coast.
Rooney Praises South Korea's Handling of Ship Sinking
Diplomatic Storm Brewing Over Korean Peninsula
By MARK LANDLER - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - South Korea's formal accusation that a North Korean torpedo sank one of its warships, killing 46 sailors, will set off a diplomatic drumbeat to punish North Korea, backed by the United States and other nations, which could end up in the United Nations Security Council.
On Thursday morning in Seoul, the South Korean government presented forensic evidence, including part of a torpedo propeller with what investigators believe is a North Korean serial number.
They said it proved that the underwater explosion that shattered the 1,200-ton corvette, the Cheonan, in March near a disputed sea border with the North was caused by the detonation of a torpedo.
North Korea Blamed for Torpedo That Sank South's Ship
By Bomi Lim
May 20 (Bloomberg) -- A North Korean submarine torpedoed one of South Korea's warships in March, a multinational panel said, a finding that puts pressure on China to support tougher international sanctions against its political ally.
"There is no other plausible explanation," the team investigating the March 26 sinking, the deadliest attack blamed on the nation in more than 20 years, said today in a statement. North Korea denied any involvement, and warned of "all-out war" if more sanctions are imposed, the state owned Korea Central News Agency said.
Will the PIGS Blow Up Europe?
by Patrick J. Buchanan - Taki's Magazine
Among the mega-forces moving the tectonic plates and imperiling the nation-states of the world from above and below are these:
First, ethno-nationalism, which threatens nations with secession and break-up. We see it in the Uighurs of China, the Naga of India, the Baluch of Iran and Pakistan, the Kurds of Iran, Syria, Iraq and Turkey, the Chechens of the Russian Caucasus and the Walloons of Belgium.
Second, transnationalism. This is the project of global elites who seek to reduce nations to ethno-cultural enclaves in a new world order run by these same bloodless bureaucrats whose loyalty is neither to the land nor people whence they came.
Their work in progress, the European Union, however, is imperiled.
10% of homeowners missed a mortgage payment in Q1
By Alan Zibel, AP Real Estate Writer
WASHINGTON - The number of homeowners who missed at least one payment on their mortgage surged to a record in the first quarter of the year.
More than 10% of homeowners had missed at least one mortgage payment in the January-March period, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. That number was up from 9.5% in the fourth quarter of last year and 9.1% a year earlier.
Those figures are adjusted for seasonal factors. For example, heating bills and holiday expenses tend to push up mortgage delinquencies near the end of the year. Many of those borrowers become current on their loans again by spring.
Bear Raid In Gold Results in an Historic One Day Liquidation: Höllenmädchen Merkel und die Straßenschreier
According to John Brimelow: "Open interest plunged 21,256 lots, 66.11 tonnes or 3.53%, one of the largest changes in history..."
And this was before the latest round today after this early report.
Open Interest is the total number of contracts for a given future category. When the Open Interest declines on a marked price decrease this is generally considered the net liquidation of long positions. And conversely, on a rising price it is considered short covering. The weekly reports give more insight into who was doing the buying and selling. The report should be daily, and should include specific position changes for traders with aggregate positions higher than 5 percent of any total market for a specific product.
Gold Prices Dip as Investors Go for Cash
ByAlix Steel, TheStreet
NEW YORK (TheStreet ) -- Gold prices Wednesday were falling as investors sold gold for cash to cover losses as Germany's ban on naked short-selling spooked markets.
Gold for June delivery was down $6.80 to $1,207.80 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price Wednesday has traded as high as $1,228.20 and as low as $1,202. The U.S. dollar index was slipping 0.73% to $86.74 as the euro rallied slightly rising 0.97% to $1.23 against the dollar, which some experts consider fair value for the currency. The gold spot price Wednesday was sinking over $19, according to Kitco's gold index.
Bullion can get you out of the US housing mess
By Dr Jeffrey Lewis
Perhaps more than stock and bond investors, precious metals investors must be privy to important macroeconomic indicators. Of the most important is money supply, followed immediately by lending and credit availability. These three factors all come together to establish how expensive or inexpensive paper currencies are and how silver and gold should be relatively priced to their paper counterparts. Fear in Housing
The housing market that pushed the whole economy towards economic calamity is still in full swing today, and many believe the worst is yet to come. Thanks to exotic loans made to homeowners who couldn't afford the lifestyle they wished to have, mortgage resets at higher rates, and presumably higher monthly payments, will continue through late 2012.
$1800 - $2000 gold this year - and $30 silver - James Turk
With a prediction of a $1,800 to $2,000 gold price this year, and $8,000 by 2015, James Turk sticks to his earlier forecasts in presentation at London conference. Author: Lawrence Williams - MineWeb.co.za
LONDON - In the closing keynote on the first full day of the 2010 World Mining Investment Conference in London yesterday, James Turk, founder of Gold Money, opened by reaffirming his prediction made at the end of last year that gold could reach $8,000 an ounce by 2015, based on past patterns of surges in the gold price. What may be even more encouraging for the general investor is that his forecast also suggests that the Dow Jones Index would rise to similar levels as the world finally pulls out of recession, with the gold price matching the Dow index number. When asked at the end of his talk where he felt the gold price would be at the end of the current year, he reckoned around $1,800 to $2,000 - and also predicted that the more volatile silver price would achieve a level of $30 this year.
What Gold Bubble?
Frank Talk - USFunds.com
Gold is getting a lot of attention these days. It's all over the media, the backlog to purchase gold coins from the U.S. Mint is years long, and one gold exchange company even ponied up for a Super Bowl ad.
Many point to this and shout "Bubble!" Gold has risen too far too fast, they say, and soon the euphoria will give way to despair. We've been hearing this since February of last year, when gold was trading around $900. That's more than 25 percent below where it is today. Why didn't the gold "bubble" burst? It could be because there isn't a gold bubble.
Merkel Does Mahathir and Martin Luther: Tilting the Market Table
by Dude . . . where's the Dharma?
In theory, free markets provide "just" prices or a level market table and thus allocate profits such that all market participants are willing to exchange goods freely. This is the basis of the division of labor in a free economy. In practice, speculators are finding they can tip the table as well as any government or church, thus inspiring an increasing unwillingness to play their game.
In 1998, Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammed imposed capital controls ostensibly to protect Malaysia from speculators like George Soros. Then as now (with respect to German controls, also ostensibly to ward off speculative attacks) the financial press was full of quotes proclaiming the foolishness of such actions. The Church of Free Capital is, apparently, a dogmatic church- nation-states, according to the creed, have no right to impede the flow of holy money, or alter the terms of trade.
Merkel Isolated After Short-Selling Ban Fails to Win Backers
By Tony Czuczka and James Hertling
May 20 (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel's curbs on government-bond trading proved a step too far for European allies, leaving her isolated as she pushes for a crackdown on euro-area states that flout budget-deficit rules.
Merkel's unilateral effort to control what she called "destructive" markets came 10 days after voters angry at aid for Greece dealt her a regional election setback that cost her control of the federal upper house of parliament. She's now trying to win support for another loan package that's due to go to a parliamentary vote tomorrow, this time on Germany's share of a $1 trillion bailout to backstop the euro.
Germany's 'desperate' short ban triggers capital flight to Switzerland
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
A year ago, Germany's financial regulator BaFin warned that the toxic debts of the country's banks would blow up "like a grenade" once hidden losses from the credit crisis caught up with them.
An internal memo at the time showed that BaFin feared write-offs might top Û800bn (£688bn), twice the reserves of Germany's financial institutions. Nobody paid much attention. But the regulator's shock move on Tuesday night to stop short trading on banks, insurers, eurozone bonds - as well as a ban credit default swaps (CDS) on sovereign debt - has left markets wondering whether the slow fuse on Germany's banking system has finally detonated.
Central Bankers Can't Return to Simpler Times After Bailouts
By Rich Miller
May 20 (Bloomberg) -- When Federal Reserve governors held an emergency conference call with the presidents of the regional Fed banks on May 9 to discuss the spreading Greek debt crisis, some policy makers voiced concern that lending a hand to Europe might not play well in Congress.
The Senate was in the middle of a debate to overhaul the financial system, and some Fed officials said that assisting Europe might encourage lawmakers to rein in the central bank's independence. In the end the Fed approved short-term currency swaps with foreign central banks after Chairman Ben S. Bernanke argued that the Fed needed to do what was best for the U.S. economy and deal with the politics by better explaining its actions, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports in its May 24 issue.
Euro Nears 'Milestone,' May Hit $1.16, Merrill's Fujii Says
By Shigeki Nozawa
May 20 (Bloomberg) -- The euro's five-month decline is bringing it toward an "historical milestone" and a break below that may send it down to $1.16, according to Bank of America- Merrill Lynch.
The 16-nation currency is approaching $1.2134, a 50 percent retracement of its advance from a record low 82.30 U.S. cents in 2000 to its all-time high of $1.6038 in 2008, wrote Tomoko Fujii, a senior foreign-exchange strategist at the U.S. bank, referring to the so-called Fibonacci sequence. If the euro falls below $1.2134, the next target would be the low of $1.1640 reached in November 2005, she said.
The Greek Tragedy Is Just a Sneak Preview of What's Coming to Washington by Ron Holland - LewRockwell.com "The current European debt crisis likely will not end until the euro collapses as a currency and takes the entire European Union with it."
~ Dennis Gartman, hedge fund manager and writer of The Gartman Letter I was just in Greece, where the stupidity and venality of the political class are in full view. The coming repudiation of Greek debt and the credit contagion that will spread among the weaker members of the European Union, including the UK, will ultimately slop over onto the U.S. But while we wait, the process will bring us the answer to a long-simmering question. Will the European Union be a supra-state ruling the formerly independent nations of Europe or will it be a confederation of quasi-independent sovereign nations?
Russia Drops 'Bellicose' Dollar Talk as Greenback Reserves Grow
By Paul Abelsky
May 20 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar's ascent against the euro may be stifling Russian efforts to challenge the greenback's dominance as a reserve currency, with policy makers in Moscow allowing the dollar's share of foreign reserves to swell.
Russia's central bank "changed the currency structure of reserves" last quarter, raising the U.S. currency's share by 3 percentage points to 44.5 percent, BNP Paribas said May 18, citing Bank Rossii numbers. The euro's portion fell 3.7 points to 43.8 percent. The figures, part of the central bank's annual report to parliament, aren't official yet, said a Bank Rossii spokesman who declined to be identified, citing bank policy.
Hurricane season may make spill worse
By Oren Dorell, USA TODAY
As hurricane season looms, forecasters, scientists and residents along the Gulf Coast worry that a major storm could make the oil spill worse. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says a hurricane, or a succession of them, may bring oil up from the depths of the Gulf of Mexico and then push it ashore. Forecasters say a season with multiple storms could send oil farther inland and spread it as far as Cape Hatteras, N.C.
Gammel Says Gulf Spill May Continue Another Two Months
Katz Fired From Oil-Spill Team Due to 'Controversial Writings'
by Katarzyna Klimasinska and Jessica Resnick-Ault- LewRockwell.com
Jonathan I. Katz, a physics professor at Washington University in St. Louis., said he was fired from the team of scientists chosen by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to help BP Plc control the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
"Some of Professor Katz's controversial writings have become a distraction from the critical work of addressing the oil spill," Stephanie Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department, said in an e-mail today. "Professor Katz will no longer be involved in the department's efforts."
White House Covers Up Menacing Oil "Blob"
Written by Wayne Madsen - OilPrice.com
In an exclusive for Oilprice.com, the Wayne Madsen Report (WMR) has learned from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sources that U.S. Navy submarines deployed to the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast have detected what amounts to a frozen oil blob from the oil geyser at the destroyed Deep Horizon off-shore oil rig south of Louisiana. The Navy submarines have trained video cameras on the moving blob, which remains frozen at depths of between 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Because the oil blob is heavier than water, it remains frozen at current depths.
Bird's Eye View: Another GRN Flyover BP Disaster Site
Yesterday, May 10, once again I went on a lengthy flyover over coastal Louisiana and the open waters of the gulf to the site where the Deep Water Horizon sank. This flyover was made possible thanks to the generous support of Jo Billups, GRN member and activist. With me on board the flight were Dr. Carl Safina, President of the Blue Ocean Institute, and Environmental and Nature photographer, Daniel Beltra.
Our mission on this particular flyover was to monitor the ongoing response efforts by BP as well as to survey the impacts of oil on coastal wetlands and beaches. In particular, we were looking to capture footage from the sky of the same area of the coast line where we had been the day before by boat and where we discovered oil impacting the beaches of East Bay just to the east edge of South Pass. I also wanted to see if the birds in the crosshairs that I reported on Monday were still there and if there were any discernible changes in the level of protection to their sensitive habitat.
Fallout from the BP oil spill is spreading. And far from being "cheap" as some pundits suggest, BP's share price could implode if criminal charges are filed. It's not looking good for British Petroleum... or the Gulf of Mexico. In fact it's looking like an outright disaster, about as bad as we feared. And BP's stock - which a number of armchair contrarians quickly dubbed as "cheap" in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill - is at risk of being massacred....
BP is at risk of criminal charges in this oil spill.
BP has been lying through its teeth about the scope of the disaster.
Investigative efforts are turning up smoking guns all over the place.
We could be looking at a new Exxon Valdez every four days.
There could be even worse disasters waiting to happen in the Gulf.
Other drilling platforms and even shipping lanes could be affected.
BP touts containment efforts; heavy oil reaches Louisiana wetlands
By the CNN Wire Staff
New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) -- BP said Wednesday that efforts to contain and clean up oil gushing from a ruptured pipe in the Gulf of Mexico have made a "measurable difference" even as Louisiana's governor announced that thick, heavy oil has begun polluting the state's wetlands and estuaries.
Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production, said at a news conference that the company is "very pleased" with the performance of an insertion tube that was put in place over the weekend to suck crude oil from the well and funnel it to a surface vessel.
Criminal Charges Could Cut BP's Stock in Half
Justice Litle, Editorial Director, Taipan Publishing Group
Fallout from the BP oil spill is spreading. And far from being "cheap" as some pundits suggest, BP's share price could implode if criminal charges are filed. It's not looking good for British Petroleum... or the Gulf of Mexico. In fact it's looking like an outright disaster, about as bad as we feared. And BP's stock - which a number of armchair contrarians quickly dubbed as "cheap" in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill - is at risk of being massacred.
Republicans Put Taxpayers 'On Hook' for Oil Spills Like BP's, Obama Says By James Rowley and Jeff Plungis
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Senate Republicans threaten to leave taxpayers "on the hook" for damages from the BP Plc spill in the Gulf of Mexico by blocking legislation to raise the liability limit, President Barack Obama said.
"This maneuver threatens to leave taxpayers, rather than the oil companies, on the hook for future disasters like the BP oil spill," Obama said yesterday in a statement. "I urge the Senate Republicans to stop playing special-interest politics and join in a bipartisan effort to protect taxpayers and demand accountability from the oil companies."
Voters in primaries shake things up for both major parties
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times Disenchantment shows as incumbent Arlen Specter is defeated and the GOP's handpicked Senate candidate in Kentucky loses to the 'tea party' movement's Rand Paul.
Delivering a powerful message of discontent, voters Tuesday swept out veteran Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania, nominated a "tea party" movement founder for a Senate seat in Kentucky and forced Sen. Blanche Lincoln into a runoff for the Democratic nomination in Arkansas.
Looking shell-shocked and speaking to fewer than 100 supporters in a half-empty ballroom, Specter delivered a brief speech in Philadelphia conceding the Democratic race to two-term Rep. Joe Sestak - marking the end of his 30-year Senate career. Specter was a Republican the whole time save the last year, when he switched parties in a failed bid to keep his seat.
Establishment candidates go down in Senate primaries Paul takes Kentucky Republican race; Sestak defeats Specter in Pennsylvania By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Voters in Pennsylvania and Kentucky dealt withering blows to establishment-backed Senate candidates in primary elections Tuesday, in an early measure of anti-incumbent sentiment ahead of November's general election. Eye doctor Rand Paul won Kentucky's Republican Senate primary, defeating Trey Grayson and handing a victory to Paul's tea-party backers. In Pennsylvania, veteran Sen. Arlen Specter lost the Democratic primary to Rep. Joe Sestak after a punishing campaign. Paul, the son of Texas congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul, will face Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway in the fall. Sestak will go up against Pat Toomey, another tea-party favorite.
2010: Year of the Political Outsider
Ron Paul and Rand Paul on Fox News
Landslide Rand
By W. James Antle, III - American Spectator
On Tuesday, the Tea Party movement scored its first major statewide victory over the Republican establishment. Bowling Green ophthalmologist Rand Paul trounced Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson by 59 percent to 35 percent, winning the GOP nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY).
Grayson was the handpicked candidate of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. In a normal year, that might have assured him the nomination. Instead such ties became a liability, one Grayson exacerbated by demonstrating a sense of entitlement to a Senate seat last seen when Martha Coakley turned up her nose at shaking hands with voters outside Fenway Park.
Democrat Double Taxers
By Eric Peters - American Spectator
No one likes paying for the same thing twice.
So what is it with these High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes that charge people for the privilege of being able to drive on roads and highways financed by motor fuels excise taxes?
They're sprouting up all over the country. Or rather, the infrastructure for charging motorists to use existing roads is sprouting up all over the country. Roads that were built (and continue to be maintained) with money extracted from these same people via motor fuels taxes, which average about 40 cents per gallon
What Happens If Greece Leaves the Euro
by Derek Thompson - The Atlantic
The European Union experiment could be coming to an end. As the euro continues to slide, a wide range of interested parties -- from international investors to op-ed pages -- are seriously considering the once unthinkable: Greece might become the first country to drop the euro. Last week the EU and the European Central Bank unveiled a trillion-dollar bailout plan to stem the "contagion" from Greece's colossal debt burden, but there is not enough money to back up Europe's debts. Greece will almost certainly default and switch to a cheaper currency to avoid a long and painful recession.
Goldman Sachs Hands Clients Losses in 'Top Trades'
By Ye Xie
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. racked up trading profits for itself every day last quarter. Clients who followed the firm's investment advice fared far worse.
Seven of the investment bank's nine "recommended top trades for 2010" have been money losers for investors who adopted the New York-based firm's advice, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from a Goldman Sachs research note sent yesterday. Clients who used the tips lost 14 percent buying the Polish zloty versus the Japanese yen, 9.4 percent buying Chinese stocks in Hong Kong and 9.8 percent trading the British pound against the New Zealand dollar.
Stocks slide after investors focus on Europe woes
Stephen Bernard and Tim Paradis, AP Stocks stumble after investors look past rising euro to unanswered questions about Europe debt
NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks have resumed their slide after investors looked past a rising euro to still unanswered questions about Europe's debt crisis. Stocks had initially stabilized Wednesday after the euro bounced off of a four-year low, but soon turned lower as worries grew about Germany's move to ban certain kinds of short-selling. The sudden announcement late Tuesday from Germany's financial regulator was seen in the markets as another example of disarray in Europe's financial system.
Max Keiser Reports How The Globalist
are Rigging World Markets on Alex Jones Tv 1/4
Max Keiser Reports How The Globalist
are Rigging World Markets on Alex Jones Tv 2/4
Max Keiser Reports How The Globalist
are Rigging World Markets on Alex Jones Tv 3/4
Max Keiser Reports How The Globalist
are Rigging World Markets on Alex Jones Tv 4/4
Geithner says China yuan rise a global issue
(Reuters) - Persuading Beijing to let its yuan currency rise in value is not simply an issue for the United States but one that should interest the whole world, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday. "When they began this process before, what they did is they began a process of gradual appreciation of currency over time. That's a sensible way to manage it," Geithner said on CNBC television. "I think it's in our interest, and China's interest, and the world's interest that they do that," he said ahead of next Monday and Tuesday's meeting in Beijing of the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
Dodd Proposes Delaying Swaps Measure in Rules Bill
By Phil Mattingly
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- A plan to shelve one of the most contentious issues in the U.S. Senate's debate over new rules for Wall Street may clear the way for a final vote on the bill.
The Senate legislation includes a rule that would force banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to move swaps trading to subsidiaries. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd yesterday introduced an amendment that would delay the measure pending a one-year study of its effects by a new council of regulators. The panel could eliminate the rule two years after enactment if it was found to "have a material adverse effect on the financial markets and economy."
Wall Street reform fails test
By Jennifer Liberto,
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- After months of negotiation and debate, far-reaching legislation to overhaul the rules of Wall Street failed a key test vote in the Senate on Wednesday, casting a shadow over Democratic efforts to push the effort forward. The measure aims to stop bailouts, shine a light on complex financial products and strengthen consumer protection.
Small businesses' credit card rates now 13.7% higher
By Byron Acohido, USA TODAY
New evidence that banks have sharply increased rates for small-business credit cards has rekindled calls for Congress to intervene.
Over the past six months, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Citi and Wells Fargo have raised interest rates for new small-business credit cards offered on the Internet roughly six times faster than rate increases on consumer credit card offers, according to BillShrink.com, a consumer help site that tracks credit card offers.
On average, interest rates for small-business cards were 13.7% higher in April than last October, while rates for consumer cards, on average, were just 2.4% higher.
14.01% of mortgages delinquent or in foreclosure
By Amy Hoak
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The percentage of loans in foreclosure or with at least one payment past due was a non-seasonally-adjusted 14.01% in the first quarter, down from 15.02% in the fourth quarter of 2009, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday. But the seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for mortgages on one- to four-unit residential properties, which includes mortgages at least one payment past due but doesn't include those in foreclosure, rose to 10.06%, from 9.47%. Mortgages in the foreclosure process hit a record high at a non-seasonally-adjusted 4.63%, up from 4.58% in the fourth quarter.
Mortgage delinquencies spike
By Les Christie,
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A dubious distinction was reached during the first three months of 2010: More than 10% of all mortgage borrowers are now behind on their payments. The delinquency rate hit a record of 10.06% in the first quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The seasonally adjusted rate accounts for all mortgages on properties that have up to four units and that are at least one payment late.
Fed in No Rush to Sell Mortgage Assets, Minutes Show
By Scott Lanman
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve policy makers last month said they were in no rush to sell $1.1 trillion of mortgage-backed securities, with a majority preferring to wait until after the central bank starts raising interest rates.
"Most participants favored deferring asset sales for some time," while others wanted to announce a schedule or start sales soon, the Fed said in minutes of its April 27-28 meeting in Washington, released today. Officials lowered their projections for inflation, excluding food and fuel, while keeping forecasts little changed for economic growth and unemployment in 2011 and 2012.
Obama Affirms Commitment to Immigration Overhaul
By Nicholas Johnston and Roger Runningen Obama, Calderon Meet With Drug War, Arizona Immigration Law in Background May 19 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said tightening border security and revamping immigration laws are vital to economic growth in the U.S. and Mexico, as he pledged to "aggressively" pursue cross-border cooperation.
Obama, at a joint news conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, said the U.S. government hasn't done enough to address frustration with "a broken immigration system" that has boiled over with steps by states such as Arizona to act on their own. That threatens to disrupt U.S.-Mexico commerce, he said.
Shipping giant UPS preparing to furlough 54 pilots on Sunday in cost-cutting move
By HARRY R. WEBER , Associated Press
ATLANTA - Shipping giant UPS, which said just last month that the improving economy helped boost its first-quarter profit and its outlook for the year, is preparing to furlough dozens of pilots for the first time ever as part of a long-anticipated cost-cutting move.
Robin Hood: A Mostly Intelligent Action Movie with Political Purpose
by Steve Sailer - Taki's Magazine
Sir Ridley Scott's Robin Hood turns out not to be the expected proto-superhero summer blockbuster. Instead, it works best as an intricate political allegory about how the recently defeated New Labourites of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown betrayed England through their stratagems of invade the world, invite the world, and in hock to the world.
It's 1199, and King Richard the Lionheart has bankrupted England with his military adventuring in Muslim lands alongside other Western leaders. Richard's brother and rival, King John, in a na•ve alliance with rapacious foreigners, sets out to tax the freemen of England dry. The true Englishmen finally rise up, demand a great charter of rights from their ruler, and then fight the Continental invaders on the beaches and on the landing grounds.
Gerald Celente on Jeff Rense 13 May 2010
Aspen Movie Map
inventinginteractive.com
Forerunner to GoogleMaps
I don't remember when, or where, I first saw the Aspen Movie Map, but I do remember thinking that it was really cool - representing a new digital media world that I wanted to get involved with. Created in the late 1970's, the Aspen Movie Map was a groundbreaking interactive virtual tour of the real-world city of Aspen, Colorado. Users could navigate the streets, go inside selected buildings, and change the seasons between fall and winter. The project was created by Michael Naimark with Peter Clay and Bob Mohl, under professor Andrew Lippman at MIT's Architecture Machine Group (a predecessor to the Media Lab).
Made by the USA: Thank a G-Man for Today's Tech
How government R&D results in commercial computer technology.
Purpose: Create a multimedia system to quickly acclimate soldiers to new environments. The project ran a car with four cameras through the streets of Aspen, Colo., to film ahead, behind and to both sides, then reproduced the images on touchscreens that enabled viewers to navigate through the city.
Inside the CIA's Extreme Technology Makeover, Part 1
By Thomas Wailgum, CIO.com - PCWorld.com Technology: The 'Lifeblood' of the CIA
Technology is a vital piece of the CIA's overall change, and Tarasiuk knows it. "IT is the lifeblood of this organization," he says. "I'm trying to eliminate the technology iron walls that have existed in the past" inside the agency. However, long-standing interagency rivalries (the FBI and CIA, for instance, have an intense mutual dislike and distrust) won't vanish overnight. Then there are the ongoing controversies, such as allegations that CIA officers tortured detainees and were involved in such activities at secret prisons, or "black sites," in foreign countries.
Bill for Afghan War Could Run Into the Trillions
by Eli Clifton - Antiwar.com
The U.S. Senate is moving forward with a $59 billion spending bill, of which $33.5 billion would be allocated for the war in Afghanistan.
However, some experts in Washington are raising concerns that the war may be unwinnable and that the money being spent on military operations in Afghanistan could be better spent.
"We're making all of the same mistakes the Soviets made during their time in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, and they left in defeat having accomplished none of their purposes," Michael Intriligator, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, said Monday at a half-day conference hosted by the New America Foundation and Economists for Peace and Security.
Thailand Clashes Persist as Curfew Ends, Fires Burn
By Daniel Ten Kate and Supunnabul Suwannakij
May 20 (Bloomberg) -- Thai security forces clashed with rioters at a Bangkok shopping center as an overnight curfew ended, with several fires still burning a day after the forced surrender of anti-government protesters left 16 people dead.
"Physically we can rebuild Bangkok quickly, but I don't know how long it will take to cure the psychological damage," Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra said in an interview with Channel 7. "We will never forget May 19 in our life time."
Empire - BRIC: The new world order
April 29, 2010 - Brazil, Russia, India and China are booming whilst many other countries are struggling economically, or even crashing. When their leaders recently convened in Brasilia for their second BRIC summit, they all underlined their commitment to a more democratic global governance. Will the emerging powers change the way the world works, or merely grab a bigger share of it? And what future for Brazil on the world's summit?
Zbigniew Brzezinski Talks New World Order
& Fears The Mass Global Awakening
VAT's Next?
By G. Tracy Mehan, III - AmericanSpectator.com
A European-style value-added tax, or VAT, seems to be heading nowhere fast, notwithstanding Delphic pronouncements by Obama administration officials, including the President himself, which seem to keep it open as a real possibility. The U.S. Senate voted, overwhelmingly (85-13), for a resolution offered by John McCain (R-AZ) which stated that "It is the sense of the Senate that the Value Added Tax is a massive tax increase that will cripple families on fixed income and only further push back America's economic recovery." The VAT is a national sales tax imposed at various stages from production to final consumer purchase.
Pfizer to slash 6,000 jobs, shut 8 plants worldwide
Crain's New York Business The world's biggest drugmaker says it will cut 6,000 jobs and cease operations at eight plants in Ireland, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. by the end of 2015.
(AP) - Pfizer Inc. said Tuesday it will cut 6,000 jobs as it trims its manufacturing capacity worldwide after acquiring smaller rival Wyeth last year.
The world's biggest drugmaker says it will cease operations at eight plants in Ireland, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. by the end of 2015, and reduce operations at six other plants over the next several years. The plants make a range of pharmaceutical and consumer health products. Overall, the company operates 78 plants internationally and employs about 116,000 workers.
The New York-based company said in April it would cut 20,000 jobs as part of the Wyeth integration.
Gulf Oil Leaks Could Gush for Years
Christine Dell'Amore
"We don't have any idea how to stop this," expert says.
If efforts fail to cap the leaking Deepwater Horizon wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico (map), oil could gush for years - poisoning coastal habitats for decades, experts say. Last week the joint federal-industry task force charged with managing the spill tried unsuccessfully to lower a 93-ton containment dome over one of three ruptures in the rig's downed pipe.
Europe's Deliberate Mistake
By Richard Palmer - theTrumpet.com Is Greece's economic collapse a case of accidental death, suicide, or something more sinister?
How did they get it so wrong? Greece's economy is so bad that Greek President Carolos Papoulias said his country has "reached the edge of the abyss." The Greek mess threatens the safety and stability of the entire eurozone. The common currency could be destroyed.
Many commentators - especially the Euroskeptic ones-point out that the project seemed bound to fail from the start. What they miss is that this is literally true. The euro project really was bound to fail - or at least to come close to doing so. It was designed to do so. This may be a crisis, but it is a carefully planned one.
It Could Have Had Class
By: Peter Schiff - GoldSeek.com
Last week, the European Central Bank abandoned all pretense that the euro would be the worthy heir of the Deutsche mark; based on the enormity of the nearly $1 trillion bailout of Greece and the moral hazard it creates for other spendthrift member-states, the euro is instead on its way to becoming the worthy heir of the drachma. While the bailout was intended to restore calm to the continent, thereby strengthening the euro, the result is a currency that has lost its shot at glory. Like Terry Malloy... it coulda been a contender.
Swaps Soar on Germany's 'Act of Desperation': Credit Markets
By Shannon D. Harrington and Pierre Paulden
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Credit-default swaps soared on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's plan to ban speculation on European government bonds, with the contracts sparking concern among investors about increasing government regulation.
The Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index Series 14 climbed 12.17 basis points to a mid-price of 120.67 basis points in New York, according to Markit Group Ltd. The increase in the index, which typically rises as investor confidence deteriorates, was the second-largest since March 2009.
German regulator issues naked short-selling ban
By GEIR MOULSON (AP) - 3 hours ago
BERLIN - Germany's market regulator announced a ban Tuesday on so-called naked short-selling of eurozone government debt and shares of major financial companies, a move that came as European officials seek to strengthen control of markets.
The regulator, BaFin, said the ban - which was to take effect at midnight Tuesday and run through March 31 of next year - also would apply to naked credit default swaps involving eurozone debt. The move, it said, was aimed at upholding financial stability amid the continent's persistent debt crisis.
Still, the ban itself appeared to underline markets' concerns about European policymaking, and the euro fell Tuesday evening. It bought around $1.22, after trading well above $1.23 earlier in the day.
Euro, Stocks, Copper Tumble as Germany Bans Naked Short Sales
By Patrick Chu
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- The euro slid to a four-year low against the dollar, and stocks and copper tumbled after Germany banned certain bearish investments, fueling speculation that European debt crisis will worsen.
The euro fell below $1.22 for the first time since April 17, 2006, trading at $1.2159 at 10:05 a.m. in Tokyo. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.9 percent to 115.33. Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures decreased 0.9 percent following a 1.4 percent plunge in the U.S. benchmark at yesterday's close in New York. Treasuries surged, sending the 10-year note's yield down 11 basis points to 3.37 percent. Copper for three-month delivery declined 2.7 percent.
Fed to Blame for Gold Surge, Currency Woes
by Ron Paul: Fed Audit Under Fire
The Federal Reserve's practice of indiscriminately printing money is the chief culprit that has led to the surge in gold and demise of the euro, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) told CNBC Monday.
Gold and Silver Intermediate Targets
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Both Gold and Silver bullion have inverse H&S formations 'working' on their weekly charts with the breakouts above their current necklines. As is easily seen on the gold chart below, this bull market move is a series of inverse head and shoulders bottoming formation as the gold bull struggles to rise against determined shorting from the bullion banks. Each formation is more properly called a 'consolidation formation in an uptrend' rather than a bottom. Gold is currently above the neckline which is around $1200. While it remains above this neckline, the target for this leg of the move would be $1350 as a minimum measuring objective.
Euro near 4-year dollar low as confidence slides
NEW YORK (AP) - The euro recovered slightly from a four-year low and the pound from a 14-month low against the dollar Monday with an economic recovery still fragile. The euro sank as low as $1.2237 in overnight trading, its weakest point since April 2006. In morning trading in New York, it bounced back up to $1.2350, still down from $1.2385 late Friday. The faltering euro dragged down other European currencies. The British pound tumbled to $1.4253, the weakest point since March 2009, in Asian trading before recovering to $1.4437 in the morning in New York, still down significantly from $1.4560 late Friday. The dollar traded at 1.1321 Swiss francs, up from 1.1308 francs late Friday. It had earlier climbed as high as $1.1445 francs, its strongest level since April 2009.
Funds embrace America in flight from risk
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk The world's fund managers have seen the sharpest drop in risk appetite since the dotcom recession, losing faith in the "Goldilocks" recovery as China chokes off credit and the fuse blows on sovereign debt.
The May survey of investors by Bank of America Merrill Lynch showed revulsion towards the euro and European shares as funds battened down the hatches for a global "growth shock", switching their affections to "safe-haven" America in record numbers. "Investors have capitulated on Europe, beaten down by sovereign debt concerns and faltering growth expectations," said Gary Baker, the bank's chief European equity strategist.
There's Always More Money to Print
By The Mogambo Guru - The DailyReckoning.com
05/18/10 Tampa, Florida - In my darker moments, usually just before I go freaking berserk and start yelling and screaming about how "We're freaking doomed!" from the idiotic Obama administration deficit-spending So Freaking Much (SFM) money and the idiocy of the Federal Reserve creating So Freaking Much (SFM) money, all of which is guaranteed - guaranteed! - to make consumer prices rise in a terrifying, catastrophic, ruinous inflationary spiral that will destroy us all, I sometimes get myself in the mood for a nice, long, loud Mogambo Banshee Wail Of Outrage (MBWOO) by merely mulling over the term "dynamic stochastic general equilibrium."
The Threat of Hyperinflation Real or Not?
By: Sol Palha - GoldSeek.com
Higher Gold and Petrol prices are one of the clearest signs that inflationary forces are gathering steam. Do not confuse inflationary forces with inflation; inflation is defined as an increase in the supply of money.
There are several reasons why inflation could become a threat in the years to come
Government spending is going through the roof; they seem to think that we will never have to pay this money back.
Unfunded liabilities for Medicare, social security, etc, add up to over $108 trillion. This is a ticking time bomb for everyone claims that our national debt is high but in comparison to the unfunded liabilities, the national debt is child's play.
As the Fed has dropped interest rates almost to Zero, it has very little firepower left. It could take rates to the negative level and pay people to borrow money; this will really stimulate the economy in the short run before burning it up completely...
Wall Street's flash crash prompts call for circuit breaker
Andrew Clark - The Guardian.co.uk Securities and Exchange Commission sets out plans to steady shares price
A so-called "flash crash" that sent shockwaves around Wall Street this month has prompted US financial regulators to propose a rule requiring a five-minute pause in trading in stocks and shares that experience a sudden move in price of more than 10%. The Securities and Exchange Commission last night set out plans for a "circuit breaker" to be applied across all US exchanges in which action would be frozen for a cooling-off period in stocks experiencing rapid lurches in price.
Roubini Says U.S. May Face Bond 'Vigilantes' Within Three Years
By Jennifer Ryan
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. may fall victim to bond "vigilantes" targeting indebted nations from the U.K. to Japan in a potential second stage of the financial crisis, New York University professor Nouriel Roubini said.
"Bond market vigilantes have already woken up in Greece, in Spain, in Portugal, in Ireland, in Iceland, and soon enough they could wake up in the U.K., in Japan, in the United States, if we keep on running very large fiscal deficits," Roubini said at an event at the London School of Economics yesterday. "The chances are, they are going to wake up in the United States in the next three years and say, 'this is unsustainable.'"
Goldman to Face SEC Deputy Director in Subprime Suit
By David Glovin
May 18 (Bloomberg) -- Lawyers for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will face Lorin Reisner, the deputy director of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission, in the agency's lawsuit over the bank's use of subprime mortgage-backed securities. Reisner today filed a one-sentence "notice of appearance" in federal court in Manhattan, indicating he will participate in the case. Reisner, who worked at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP before joining the SEC last year, was an assistant U.S. attorney in New York from 1990 to 1994.
The 25 Financial Institutions Most Likely To Default
Gregory White - BusinessInsider.com
Financial firms around the world have been under increased stress due to the sovereign debt crises of Europe and the resulting reduction in confidence in the global economy. We've outlined 25 companies, using data from CMA Datavision, which have the largest risk of default. Notably, Greek banks, Chinese real estate developers, and U.S. subprime giants show up big on the list. That default risk (cumulative probability of default) is measured through fluctuations in the company's CDS rating, and the height of that rating. The spread of each 5-year CDS is also listed.
The New Depression
Many economic observers have justifiably stated that the U.S. is in the midst of the greatest recession facing the nation since the Great Depression. In December of 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research - the department responsible for categorizing our economic condition - finally acknowledged what most of Americans had known for some time: that the U.S. is officially in a deep and painful recession. It should be noted that no matter how bad things get NEBR refuses to use the term "depression." As the Treasury and Federal Reserve began pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial market in the final quarter of 2008, there were many who worried these actions would result in inflation - prices rise as the purchasing power of each dollar falls.
Inflation Destroys Savings
Mises Daily: by Ludwig von Mises and Bettina Bien Greaves
Everything that is done by a government against the purchasing power of the monetary unit is, under present conditions, done against the middle classes and the working classes of the population. Only these people don't know it. And this is the tragedy. The tragedy is that the unions and all these people are supporting a policy that makes all their savings valueless. And this is the great danger of the whole situation.
Keiser Report with Jim Rogers: Banks! Bailout! Scandal!
We're Not Out of the Housing Mess Just Yet
By: Dr. Jeffrey Lewis
Perhaps more than stock and bond investors, precious metals investors must be privy to important macroeconomic indicators. Of the most important is money supply, followed immediately by lending and credit availability. These three factors all come together to establish how expensive or inexpensive paper currencies are and how silver and gold should be relatively priced to their paper counterparts. Fear in Housing
The housing market that pushed the whole economy towards economic calamity is still in full swing today, and many believe the worst is yet to come. Thanks to exotic loans made to homeowners who couldn't afford the lifestyle they wished to have, mortgage resets at higher rates, and presumably higher monthly payments, will continue through late 2012.
Can tiny changes save Social Security? Report: Tweaks to taxes, benefits can eliminate shortfall
By Stephen Ohlemacher - AP via MSNBC.com
WASHINGTON - Social Security faces a $5.3 trillion shortfall over the next 75 years, but a new congressional report says the massive gap could be erased with only modest changes to payroll taxes and benefits. Some of the options are politically dangerous, such as increasing payroll taxes or reducing annual cost-of-living increases for Social Security recipients. Others, such as gradually raising the age when retirees qualify for full benefits, wouldn't be felt for years but would affect millions.
BP 'pressured rig disaster workers to drill faster' The explosions on a BP oil rig which created a vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico followed pressure from the company to drill faster, according to one of the last workers to leave the doomed rig.
Safety problems also went unaddressed, according to Mike Williams, the chief electronics technician on the Deepwater Horizon, including damage to one of the rig's most important pieces of safety equipment, the blowout preventer. The fault he describes could have contributed directly to the disaster, which killed 11 people on on April 20.
Janet Napolitano's "Lesson Learned" About Big Government
By John Lillpop CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
As the Gulf oil crisis enters its fourth week of unabated failure through the combined efforts of the Obama administration and BP, at least one Obama bureaucrat has had an epiphany about the limitations of big government.
That would be Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, who, in rare moment of candor, admitted what conservatives have always known: As a rule, government run by liberals gets in the way and hinders, rather than helps.
OK, so those were not exactly Nappy's words, or even a reasonable paraphrase.
Still, as reported at politico.com, in part, Napolitano did put a well-deserved ding in the armor of her Marxist boss with these words:
"Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, the first of several cabinet officials scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill this week, admitted the government has "limited capability and expertise" in dealing with such disasters in very deep water."
States: Can't Stop the Bleeding
By Robert Morley theTrumpet.com The death of a thousand cuts has arrived. The stimulus money is running out.
Budgets that cannot be balanced. Hidden debts. Poisonous derivative agreements. Union extortionists. Millions of retired public employees still spending money like their pensions are safe.
This is the situation facing America. And be assured: The pain is only starting. As bad as the tax increases and the cuts to public spending have been, they are nothing compared to what is coming. At least that is the conclusion of one of the New York Times's few realist reporters. State debt woes are growing too big to camouflage, warns Mary Williams Walsh, and states are getting desperate.
Conspiracy of Banks Rigging States Came With Crash
By Martin Z. Braun and William Selway
May 18 (Bloomberg) -- A telephone call between a financial adviser in Beverly Hills and a trader in New York was all it took to fleece taxpayers on a water-and-sewer financing deal in West Virginia. The secret conversation was part of a conspiracy stretching across the U.S. by Wall Street banks in the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market.
The New American Consumer Is Terrified Of Debt Even As The Economy Grows by Vincent Fernando, CFA - BusinessInsider.com
Carpe Diem highlights how credit card delinquencies are falling nicely, down four months in a row. "With fewer consumers late on their bills, the outlook for credit losses over the summer may be improving," says Reuters. Moreover, credit card debt fell to a 45-month low, as shown by Carpe Diem's graphic the right. Overall, as we've highlighted before, U.S. households reduced their total debt (inclusive of everything, mortgages, credit cards, etc) by $239 billion in 2009. Yes much of this is due to people defaulting on their obligations, but much needed financial adjustments are being made in the U.S., even if painfully.
Seattle passes Arizona boycott
PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL - BY Mike Sunnucks
Seattle has joined Los Angeles and other U.S. cities in passing an Arizona boycott measure in response to the state's new immigration law, which gives police broader powers to arrest illegal immigrants. The Seattle City Council approved the boycott Monday. The Seattle measure calls for "federal-level immigration reform" and denounces "Arizona State Senate Bill 1070 (Arizona SB1070) as a step in the wrong direction." The measure requests that city agencies "refrain from sending employees to the state of Arizona and refrain from entering into new contracts with businesses headquartered in the state of Arizona."
Ariz. official dares L.A. to stage boycott
By Stephen Dinan - WashingtonTimes.com City would give up quarter of its electricity
The spat over Arizona's new immigration law expanded Tuesday as a state official dared Los Angeles to follow through on its new boycott by agreeing to give up the 25 percent of electricity the city gets from Arizona sources. In a letter to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Arizona Corporation Commissioner Gary Pierce said a boycott war is bad for both sides, and said he would "be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements" to end the electricity flowing to Los Angeles.
Orange County Official Calls California The "Frog In The Sub-Prime Frying Pan", Sees Risk Of Muni Default Crash
by Joe Weisenthal - BusinessInsider.com
For a public official, Orange County tax collector Chriss Street is pretty outspoken. He has his own blog with recent posts like: Goldman Sachs is out of lipstick. He also put out this report on the sorry state of California finances, which he describes as the "Frog In The Subprime Frying Pan." If politicians don't come together to do the right thing, he argues, a wave of muni defaults is coming. Note the piece draws extensive comparisons with Greece, so we're clearly not the only ones.
Predatory Mortgage Lending is Still Legal
Peter G. Miller - HuggingtonPost.com
With all the yelling and screaming in Washington regarding financial reform the fact remains that predatory lending remains perfectly legal and will be perfectly legal once a financial reform package is passed. "The Wall Street reform bill in Congress represents the strongest consumer financial protections in history," says President Obama. "You'll be empowered with the clear and concise information you need to make the choices that are best for you. We'll help stop predatory practices, and curb unscrupulous lenders, helping secure your family's financial future." Well, yes and no.
Lowe's dampens hopes for recovery in 2010
Dhanya Skariachan
(Reuters) - Home improvement chain Lowe's Cos issued a disappointing profit forecast for the rest of the year and dampened hopes for robust economic recovery in the second half, sending its shares down 3.8 percent.
The outlook was particularly surprising after Lowe's posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results. It also weighed on shares of larger rival Home Depot, which fell 1.4 percent ahead of its quarterly earnings report, due Tuesday. "If you look at some of the economic estimates that are out there, a lot of them have started to push out when the timeline is for recovery," Lowe's Chief Executive Robert Niblock said on a call with analysts. "So, for example, the thought was originally that home prices would bottom in the second half of 2010."
Senator Arlen Specter Is Defeated in Pennsylvania, AP Says
By John McCormick
May 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator Arlen Specter was defeated in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, bringing an end to his 30-year Senate career a year after he switched from the Republican Party, according to the Associated Press.
Paul, tea party earn win in Kentucky
By ASSOCIATED PRESS - WashingtonTimes.com
LOUISVILLE, Ky. | Rand Paul defeated Republican establishment favorite Trey Grayson in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, a closely watched race that was a test of the tea party movement's strength. Paul, the son of former presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, on Tuesday gave a tea party activist a key win in a statewide election that could embolden the fledgling political movement in other states. With 43 percent of precincts reporting, Paul was leading with 60 percent to Grayson's 36 percent.
Schumer Wants China to Join 'Candid, Public' Talks on Yuan Peg
By Sandrine Rastello
May 18 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator Charles Schumer urged Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to ask China to join a "candid, public dialogue" that subjects the country's currency policy to more international scrutiny.
"China is failing to live up to this commitment" as a member of the International Monetary Fund, Schumer said in a letter released today, before Geithner leaves later this week for talks in Beijing. "Given China's past intransigence on exchange rate reform, we are not similarly optimistic that these high-level meetings will generate any significant breakthrough on this issue."
The Constitution or Utilitarianism?
Mises Daily: Monday, May 17, 2010 by David Gordon
Timothy Roth has in earlier work offered a penetrating criticism of modern welfare economics.[1] In Morality, Political Economy, and American Constitutionalism, he continues and extends this criticism; but he combines this with an unusual thesis. Not only is modern welfare economics wrong, he says: it violates the principles on which the American Republic was established.
The general theme of the book is, then, that both in its public philosophy and in its economics, our republic has strayed far from the Founders' vision. Preoccupation with preference satisfaction É has caused us to ignore, to deny or to forget what the Founders understood. (p. viii)
The Government as Identity Thieves
Texas Straight Talk
by Ron Paul (R), Congressman | FinancialSense.com
The spotlight remains on the Greek sovereign debt crisis as the riots continue. The terms of the Greek bailout from the IMF and Eurozone countries remain contentious with citizens on all sides. Europeans hate having their governments throw public money away as much as Americans do. The Greeks are not happy about having their taxes raised while their pensions and salaries are cut. Meanwhile, it is rumored by the Financial Times, AFP and others that Greece may spend more than it saves from austerity measures on arms deals with Germany, France and the US as a potential condition of receiving bailout funds. If true, it is certainly not unprecedented for the global military industrial complex to benefit from deals made by their friends in the central banking community. After all, war is the health of the state. The last thing big government proponents want is for peace to break out in the world.
U.S. reverses stance on treaty to regulate arms trade
by Arshad Mohammed
(Reuters) - The United States reversed policy on Wednesday and said it would back launching talks on a treaty to regulate arms sales as long as the talks operated by consensus, a stance critics said gave every nation a veto. The decision, announced in a statement released by the U.S. State Department, overturns the position of former President George W. Bush's administration, which had opposed such a treaty on the grounds that national controls were better. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States would support the talks as long as the negotiating forum, the so-called Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, "operates under the rules of consensus decision-making."
Hitlery Clinton's Un Treaty To Supercede The Second Amendment
Obama [Slick Barry] THINKS he has a legal way to get around the Second Amendment! Not so! Not true! Treaties do not supercede the Bill of Rights! Treaties can not damage our Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms. It was for this very reason that a Bill of Rights was called for and created! Patrick Henry kept the Constitution from being accepted and signed because of the danger that it posed to our gun rights; however, he agreed to accept the 1789 Constitution IF a Bill of Rights were attached to it which would prevent any man-made legislation or other efforts to interfere with our God-given rights. No treaty can supersede the Bill of Rights, no matter what an ignorant president proposes. Man-made laws CAN NOT supersede the endowments man has received from the Creator.
United States Supreme Court Justice, Robert H. Jackson in 1943 said: "The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials, and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights, may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections." The keystone of the Bill of Rights is the Second Amendment. All of the other rights listed in the Bill of Rights, for their own existence, depend upon the existence of the principles within the Second Amendment. The existence of the 1789 Constitution depends upon adherence to the Bill of Rights!
U.S. Sovereignty is NOT over! Constitution Supercedes Treaties...
The WTO Now Controls Our Economy, Fate and Future
Economy In Crisis
The World Trade Organization is a powerful self-serving undemocratic organization, operating with no input or control by us and with no concern for what is in our best interest. The bylaws of the organization supersede our own Constitution, which is a total contradiction to the intent of our Constitution. The U.S. Constitution states that all treaties made under the authority of the United States become supreme law of the land. Our government, under pressure from foreign paid lobbyists, mistakenly invited the WTO to rule over us when they signed the treaty. Now we have no choice but to conform our laws, regulation and administrative procedures to the agreement, instead of to our own Constitution.
Philip J. Crowley
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
May 13, 2010
Recognizing the value of the Alliance of Civilizations as an important initiative seeking to improve understanding between cultures and peoples, the United States has joined the 119 member countries and international organizations in the Alliance's Group of Friends.
The Alliance of Civilizations, a joint Spanish-Turkish initiative under the auspices of the United Nations, was created in 2005. It has as its goal improved understanding and cooperative relations among nations and peoples, and across the world's many cultures, to help counter the forces that fuel polarization and extremism.
Angry Protesters Descend on Washington, Target Lobbyists
By BRUCE WATSON - DailyFinance.com
On Monday, the Service Employees International Union, SEIU, stormed Washington, D.C., joining forces with the AFL-CIO and community organizing group National People's Action. A horde of protesters clad in SEIU's distinctive purple T-shirts roved along K Street, dropping in on some of the city's most powerful lobbyists and most prominent banks. SEIU's first visit was to a Bank of America (BAC) branch near Capitol Hill. The protesters filled the lobby, confusing customers and frightening tellers. The bank quickly shut down, and the protesters proceeded to Chinatown, where they blocked the intersection of 14th and K Streets, in the heart of the lobbying district.
Meltup - The beginning of a U.S. currency crisis and hyperinflation.
Happy Days Aren't Here Again
By Moshe Adler - TruthDig.com
The torrent of good news started before the first bailout dollars had even been paid. First, we were told that the bailout would prevent a significant increase in unemployment, and President George W. Bush even balked at extending unemployment benefits. Then we were told that without the bailout, the unemployment rate would reach 25 percent. Less talk about the unemployment rate followed when the story changed and we were told that the recession was actually over, since "the economy" was growing. Next we were told that we had turned the corner because the rate of unemployment was already decreasing. And finally, when the April unemployment figures were released on May 7 and showed that the rate of unemployment increased from 9.7 percent to 9.9 percent, the bad news appeared beneath headlines that announced the arrival of what was apparently the best news yet. "Economy Gains Impetus as U.S. Adds 290,000 Jobs," read the headline in The New York Times. In the Los Angeles Times, the headline was "April Hiring Surge Largest in Four Years."
Meredith Whitney: European Banks MUCH Worse Off Than American Banks, Second Half For Stock Market Is Bleak Joe Weisenthal - BusinessInsider.com
You've got hundreds of billions of recapitalization's needed in Europe, says Meredith Whitney, who is speaking on CNBC this afternoon. And the fact that Europe is worse than the US is saying something, she says, since she's definitely still not positive on US banks. Other than that, her interview appears to be a rehash of her op-ed arguing that financial reform will kill jobs. "It could be very bad." As for specific aspects of financial reform that concern her: pre-emption (rules that would allow banks to move to different states and take advantage of lower interest rates in some markets) and interchange fees regulation.
Gold bullion is on its way to $1650 per ounce
By Jim Sinclair
Tomorrow is the first day Greece receives a tranche of emergency funding which of course caused some euro short covering from below 1.2236 to the present 1.2394. Recall I gave you the 121 1/2 to 122 1/2 as support under the break of 126. The present relationship, although short term, is that gold is moving in the same direction, of the US dollar. That means that as the US dollar falls markets interpret that as a relief of the euro crisis which results in longs taking profits and shorts establishing positions in gold. A softer dollar today as a product of short covering in the euro for very modest technical and fundaments tidbits means temporarily lower gold as the euro crisis has caused a rush to gold by euro holders. That relationship will stop, but the euro must cease first.
Gold New High
By: Howard Katz - MarketOracle.co.uk
The recent price action in gold provides many examples of good speculation. Indeed, good speculation is not complicated. The main problem with modern speculative analysis is that it is so full of false theories. It reminds me of Ronald Reagan's statement, "Well the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant. It is that they know so much that isn't so." (Of course, in my book that could be a pretty good definition of stupid.) The problem with modern speculation is that there are too many mathematicians in the field who are trying to show off how much mathematics they know. Somebody has to say to them, "Stop, simplify. When you learn a new principle, ask yourself, does this work in practice?" Because, if it doesn't work, then your brokerage account is not going to grow bigger.
Jim Rogers on Goldseek Radio
"Panicking German dealers" on a "Gold Rush Frenzy"
By Rocky Vega - The DailyReckoning.com
5/17/10 Stockholm, Sweden - Over the past few days multiple sources are reporting that German banks are getting cleaned out of their gold bullion supplies. They are being forced to seek additional stock outside of Europe, in particular from South Africa and its popular krugerrand coins. From the Financial Times' coverage of "Germans lead gold rush frenzy" "Panicking German dealers and banks have been desperate to get their hands on krugerrands, the world's most popular gold coin."'We have some extraordinary sales to German customers,' says Deborah Thomson, the Rand treasurer. The refinery, which usually sells 2,000 coins to each customer at a time, says that last week it received an order from one German bank for 30,000 coins. Another bank requested 15,000 coins."
2010's coming stock market crash: 1987 all over again
By Shawn Tully,
(Fortune) -- In two tumultuous weeks in October 1987, the stock market shed nearly one-third of its value in perhaps the second most notorious crash in U.S. history. It could happen again. Don't be deceived by the rebounding economy, any more than the bulls should have been misled by the balmy climate during the late Reagan years. Right now, stocks are extremely vulnerable to the same scenario. The reason: The market is even more overpriced than when thunder struck on that distant Black Monday.
Robert Shiller Discusses U.S. Stocks, Investment Trends
Bank-Failure Tally Grows to 72 for 2010
By ROBIN SIDEL - WSJ.com
State regulators shuttered small banks in Illinois, Missouri, Georgia and Michigan, including a 23-branch community bank that failed despite having received an infusion from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program. So far this year, 72 banks have collapsed and the spate of failures is expected to continue throughout 2010. Although there are signs that the worst of the financial crisis may be over for the banking industry, financial institutions are still being battered by severe losses on mortgages and commercial real-estate loans.
Roubini: Politics Are Now the Main Problem
By JANE L. LEVERE - DailyFinance.com
Famous for his bearish views, Nouriel Roubini is not overly concerned about a double-dip recession occurring in the U.S. right now. But he is worried about the potential economic impact of the political gridlock he says is crippling Washington. In a conversation last week at the 92nd Street Y in New York with Matthew Bishop, American business editor of The Economist, Roubini, who teaches economics at New York University's Stern School of Business and famously predicted the global economic meltdown back in 2006, said he expected economic growth in the U.S. to be 2% over the next few years, with unemployment hovering between 9% and 10%. "There is a two-thirds probability of my basic scenario of a moderate recovery, maybe a 20% probability of a double-dip," he said.
Now This Is A Deflationary Collapse
Joe Weisenthal and Kamelia Angelova - BusinessInsider.com
Dr. Copper's prognoses for the world economy is very grim. Even as the market managed to produce some gains, the bellwether metal got crushed today, and over the last month its taken a monster loss. How come? Well, growth fears, a surging dollar, and perhaps a real slowdown in China to name a few things. A return to recession in Europe isn't helping much.
Currency crisis will spark hyperinflationary depression (Nov 2008)
The World Has No Money, And The Emperor Has No Clothes
Pravda via marketOracle.co.uk
Most of us are aware of the very old fairly tale by Hans Christian Andersen in which two weavers promise an emperor the finest suit of clothes imaginable, but from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "just hopelessly stupid". Well, in the fairy tale it turns out that nobody wants to admit that they are "unfit" or "stupid", so when the emperor parades before his subjects in his imaginary new suit of clothes, it takes a child to cry out: "But he isn't wearing anything at all!"
Well, many of us have been declaring that the world economy "has no clothes" for some time now, but when the anchor of NBC News declares it on national television it gets a bit more attention. During his recent appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, NBC's Brian Williams was asked about the world financial situation. His answer included this shocking statement: "The world has no money, and the Emperor has no clothes."
No Cure for Sovereign Default
By Eric Fry - The DailyReckoning.com
05/17/10 Laguna Beach, California - What happens when the fix is in, but nothing gets fixed? This troubling question has vexed the financial markets for the last several days. One week ago the Eurocrats amassed a $1 trillion war chest (of borrowed money) to "fix" the Greek debt crisis and stabilize the euro. Seven days into the mission, the Greeks are as bankrupt as ever and the euro has tumbled to a new four-year low. The European Central Bank - like British Petroleum - can't seem to figure out how to contain the mess they made, much less how to clean it up for good. Just like the crude oil gushing out of BP's underground well, Europe's sovereign debt crisis continues to gush out of control and threatens to wash up on the shores of Italy, Spain and Portugal.
We Are Still In The Early Stages Of Major Currency Devaluations
By: Miles Banner - MarketOracle.co.uk
For the year the gold price is up 10.25% in US dollars, 22.38% in Euros, and 27.85% in pounds (London PM fix). The HUI gold index is up 13.38% and the SPDR gold shares (GLD) is up 9.61%.
In the aftermath of the recent bail out by the IMF and ECB the markets are continuing to undermine the euro. On Wednesday the Austrian Mint told Reuters that they had sold more gold in the two weeks from 26th April than in the whole first quarter of this year. They went on to say that this demand was coming exclusively from Europe. Despite this increased demand from Europe the gold price has been held from spiking dramatically as bullion banks have rallied to short it. The bullion banks go big on shorts
In opposition to Europe's surge in demand, last week's Commitment of traders (COT) report showed bullion banks are still building huge short positions, betting against a rising gold price. The producers/merchant net short positions for gold commercials are at an all time high.
Ron Paul: Bubbles Will End - Fiat Money Doesn't Last!
It's the EU's Crisis now, but the US Could be Next
By Rocky Vega - The DailyReckoning.com
05/16/10 Stockholm, Sweden - The financial crisis that began in housing, and then with banks and insurers, has now moved onto the balance sheets of nations. And, among the fiscally unsound, it's the euro that is suffering the most. It recently hit a 14-month low in dollar terms, and the ongoing uncertainty facing the EU continues to break records for pessimism. According to MarketWatch:
"In early February, the cost of insuring against a sovereign default in Western Europe exceeded the price of similar protection against default by North American investment-grade companies. That was the first time this had happened, according to data compiled by Markit from the credit derivatives market...
Central Bank Buys Billions in European Debt
By JACK EWING - NYTimes.com
FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank disclosed Monday that it had bought 16.5 billion euros in bonds in the first week since taking the unprecedented step of intervening in markets to halt a sell-off of Greek and other European debt. The bank did not say which countries' debt it was buying, how much it would spend in the future, or whether it bought any corporate bonds. The 16.5 billion euros ($21 billion) was considered a relatively small amount for the market. Analysts said the bank would want to keep investors guessing to maximize the psychological impact of the move.
E.U. faces tough questions as euro continues to slide
By Anthony Faiola - Washington Post
LONDON -- The once-mighty euro, which briefly plunged to a four-year low against the dollar on Monday, may be doomed to keep falling whether or not European leaders can contain the region's roiling debt crisis. The euro clawed back from a deep spiral in Asian trading Monday, closing down 0.2 percent at 1.239 against the dollar. But after its slide of almost 4 percent against the greenback over the past week, analysts say the euro's continued fall over the coming months may be inevitable given the economic turmoil gripping the region.
Euro Hits a 4-Year Low, Unsettling Markets
By CHRISTINE HAUSER and DAVID JOLLY - NYTimes.com
Stocks staged a late rally and closed slightly higher on Monday, rebounding from a broad early decline rooted in concern that Europe's debt problems could slow the global economic recovery. "There was volatility, but people felt pretty comfortable. They were just waiting for a rally," said Bart Barnett, head of listed trading at Morgan Keegan. "Earnings were halfway decent and people were not in such a hurry to sell stocks. I felt like there was a little more confidence in the market today," he said. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped more than 180 points during the day, but started rallying in the afternoon. The index closed up 5.67 points, or 0.05 percent, at 10,625.83.
Everyone's Still Selling PIIG Debt, As PIMCO Warns ECB Intervention May Be "Backfiring"
Joe Weisenthal - BusinessInsider.com
This weekend already has a strange feel to it. After Friday's tailspin in Europe (followed by a more modest, but pronounced decline in the US), it certainly feels like Eurozone leaders should be gathering, working out some kind of solution. But that was last weekend. Ostensibly there's nothing more to do, except for the PIIG nations to tap their aid, and for the ECB to soak up bonds on the secondary market, and then of course just cross your fingers. Except there's clearly a lack of confidence that this will work.
ECB reveals €16.5bn bond purchases
By David Oakley and Peter Garnham and Ralph Atkins - FT.com
The European Central Bank has bought €16.5bn of eurozone government bonds as part of international rescue plan, amid widespread investor concern that the intervention is not yet big enough to stabilise debt markets. The euro on Monday fell to its weakest level against the US dollar since April 2006 in spite of the €750bn international support package and central bank intervention. The euro has fallen 14 per cent against the dollar this year.
Banks dump Greek debt on the ECB as eurozone flashes credit warnings
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk Foreign holders of Greek and Portuguese debt have seized on emergency intervention by the European Central Bank to exit their positions, leaving eurozone taxpayers exposed to the credit risk.
The Bank of New Mellon said its custodial data showed a "sharp acceleration" of net sales of debt from the two countries after the ECB began purchasing €16.5bn of bonds from southern Europe and Ireland in bid to halt market panic. "It rather suggests that investors leapt at the opportunity to clear their balance sheets of intolerable risk," said Neil Mellor, the bank's currency strategist. "This leaves the ECB itself in an unpleasant situation since it now faces a deterioration in its own balance sheet."
Europe's Debt Crisis Casts a Shadow Over China
By KEITH BRADSHER - NYTimes.com
HONG KONG - The pain of the European debt crisis is spreading as the plummeting euro makes Chinese companies less competitive in Europe, their largest market, and complicates any move to break the Chinese currency's peg to the dollar. Chinese policy makers reached a rough consensus early last month about breaking the dollar peg and letting the currency, the renminbi, rise in value somewhat, according to people close to Chinese currency policy makers. Uncoupling the currencies would make American goods more competitive against Chinese products. But for various reasons, China has not yet put that policy into place.
Charlie Rose - Elizabeth Warren
U.S. regulators sued over BP's Atlantis platform
(Reuters) - A consumer group and a whistle-blower asked a U.S. federal court on Monday to stop production at BP Plc's Atlantis platform in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico until safety documents are produced.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Houston alleges the British oil giant, who operates the ruptured well gushing oil off the Gulf Coast, lacked proper final engineering documents for key subsea equipment for Atlantis. The Atlantis platform, a major facility operated by the British oil giant in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, is more than 150 miles south of New Orleans, in Green Canyon at a water depth of 7,070 feet. The company produces oil and gas from more than 20 fields in the Gulf.
Reid: BP's "Greed" Caused Gulf Oil Spill, 11 Deaths
HARRY REID (D-NV): "Their greed led to 11 horrific and unnecessary deaths. It has harmed an enormous tourism industry, threatened business at countless fisheries and disrupted life for many along the Gulf Coast. As the pollution grows worse, those consequences will only compound."
BP and the 'Little Eichmanns'
By Chris Hedges
Cultures that do not recognize that human life and the natural world have a sacred dimension, an intrinsic value beyond monetary value, cannibalize themselves until they die. They ruthlessly exploit the natural world and the members of their society in the name of progress until exhaustion or collapse, blind to the fury of their own self-destruction. The oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, estimated to be perhaps as much as 100,000 barrels a day, is part of our foolish death march. It is one more blow delivered by the corporate state, the trade of life for gold. But this time collapse, when it comes, will not be confined to the geography of a decayed civilization. It will be global.
The End of Cheap Oil?
By Bill Bonner - The DailyReckoning.com
05/17/10 Beijing, China - Deep Do-Do Horizon "Following the Gulf disaster it will be a long time before any new permits are issued for drilling for oil in the Gulf" said Rick Rule, at the Family Office get-together this weekend. And this from Bloomberg:
Senators from California, Oregon and Washington introduced legislation to ban oil drilling off the West Coast amid mounting concern about the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "We believe that offshore oil drilling is simply not worth the risk," Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat of California, told reporters today in Washington. The measure would amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to impose a permanent ban on drilling off the three states.
Spanish demonstrate against austerity measures
The Sidney Morning Herald
Thousands of Spaniards demonstrated Sunday in central Madrid against austerity measures that a new poll showed has dented the support for the Socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. As many as 15,000 people joined the march against the belt-tightening measures worth 15 billion euros (18.6 billion dollars) that Zapatero announced in a new bid to shore up Spain's public finances after stocks plunged over fears it could follow Greece into a debt crisis.
Debt overload, and the hunt for a successor to U.S. bonds
By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
Abandoning Treasurys for comparatively safer bets, from Australia to Brazil
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- For generations, holders of bonds issued by Uncle Sam have banked on the bedrock principle of the government's "full faith and credit," which had no peer among other nations. Today, with a financial maelstrom saddling the United States and rival industrial powers with unprecedented debt obligations, even the monolithic dominance of Treasurys is in doubt.
The second debt storm
By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch
Who will bail out the countries that bailed out the world's corporations?
The debt mountain that brought down some of the world's biggest banks and dragged the international financial system to the brink of disaster has simply shifted to governments. Now it's threatening countries around the globe -- and, if left unchecked, could rip the very fabric of Europe's economic system and wreck economic recoveries in the U.S., China and Latin America.
How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes
Toxic CDOs Beset FDIC as Banks Fail
BY ROBIN SIDEL - WSJ.com
The FDIC has inherited hundreds of potentially worthless bonds that have come back to haunt the Wall Street firms that sold them, the credit-rating firms that graded them and the hundreds of small banks that bought them. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and by extension the U.S. taxpayer, owns more than 250 collateralized debt obligations that were purchased by small institutions that later failed. Although the bonds have a book value of more than $400 million, they are a headache for the agency as it grapples with the toxic assets flowing from many banks around the country.
Credit card overhaul cuts bank fees by $5B
By Kathy Chu, USA TODAY
New credit card and overdraft restrictions will save U.S. consumers from being charged at least $5 billion in fees this year alone at the largest U.S. retail banks and credit card companies, a USA TODAY analysis reveals. The analysis - based on institutions' own estimates - comes during a year when new rules are kicking in to address unfair credit card rate increases and steep bank overdraft fees. It highlights the sizable dent these rules will have on an industry blamed for pushing consumers deeper into distress during the recession.
Fidelity National Takeover Talks Fail
By PETER LATTMAN
The pending takeover of Fidelity National Information Services Inc. collapsed late Monday, with a Blackstone Group-led consortium dropping its plan to acquire the financial-data processor, according to a person familiar with the situation. Fidelity National's board had asked for a "substantial increase" above the $32-per-share bid the private-equity firms had proposed, said a person familiar with the deal talks. The two sides couldn't reach an agreement on price, this person said, and the investor group backed out of the deal. Late Monday, Fidelity National shares dropped nearly 10% in after-hours trading, to roughly $26 each. (Fidelity National is unrelated to mutual-fund company Fidelity Investments.)
US to see a double dip in housing: Meredith Whitney
Mortgage Mods Doomed by Back End Debt
By: Diana Olick - CNBC.com
Much like America's waistlines, the Treasury Department's monthly report on the Home Affordable Modification Program continues to grow. What started as a four-page report has now reached ten pages, with the latest addition to the "lender accountability" category: Conversion Rate and Aged Trials as Share of Active Trials. Don't get me wrong, these provide a lot of insight into why so many borrowers are not getting permanent modifications. The top four lenders (Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and CitiMortgage) take up the bulk of the bottom slots on the Conversion Rate chart. All four convert less than 26 percent of trial mods to permanent mods.
Home builders' index hits 33-month high
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch Developers more confident, even with tax credit expiring
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. home builders gained confidence in May in the market for new single-family homes, sending the monthly builder's index to the highest level in 33 months, according to a trade group. The housing market index rose three points in May to 22 after a four-point increase in April, the National Association of Home Builders reported Monday. At 22, the index is at its highest point since August 2007, but it's still very weak in historic context: Before the current downturn, the index had been at 22 or lower just twice in its 25-year history. Read the full release on the NAHB Web site.
More homeowners choose to default on loans
Choosing not to pay has consequences beyond damaged credit scores
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- "Strategic defaults" are on the rise as more borrowers who are underwater on their home loans decide it's not worth it to stay current on their payments each month. That trend could have repercussions for the housing market, and for borrowers, in the future. Strategic defaults are when borrowers who owe more on their homes than they're currently worth choose to stop paying their mortgage but continue to meet other financial obligations, according to a definition by Morgan Stanley in a research report on the topic.
Florida Family Takes Over Foreclosed Home
Previously Occupied by Mayor
Doctors' Medicare payouts to be cut 21% June 1
By Julianne Pepitone,
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For the fourth time this year, doctors face a potential huge cut in the fees that the government pays them to treat Medicare patients. Physicians will be hit with a 21% cut in Medicare reimbursements as of June 1, unless lawmakers decide to patch over the issue -- as they've done for years. Congress is now debating the matter, and to stop the cut lawmakers would have to vote to pass a new patch sometime in the next two weeks.
Israel plays wargame assuming Iran has nuclear bomb
By Dan Williams - AlertNet.com
HERZLIYA, Israel, May 17 (Reuters) - A nuclear-armed Iran would blunt Israel's military autonomy, a wargame involving former Israeli generals and diplomats has concluded, though some players predicted Tehran would also exercise restraint. Sunday's event at a campus north of Tel Aviv followed other high-profile Iran simulations in Israel and the United States in recent months. But it broke new ground by assuming the existence of what both countries have pledged to prevent: an Iranian bomb.
Iran's nuclear move may derail U.S. efforts on sanctions Agreement by Iran to send nuclear fuel abroad appears to sap some of the momentum for a new round of U.N. Security Council sanctions.
By Paul Richter, Christi Parsons and Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times
An agreement by Iran to send much of its nuclear fuel abroad clouded prospects for U.S.-led plans to impose further economic sanctions on Tehran over its controversial nuclear development program. The proposal, brokered by leaders of Brazil and Turkey during an 18-hour session in Tehran and announced late Sunday, drew a reaction of cautious skepticism from the United States and its Western allies, who questioned whether it goes far enough to address longstanding concerns over the goal of the Iranian nuclear program. Iran says its effort is for civilian energy purposes only, but Western powers believe Tehran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
Trilateral Commission Wants War With Iran
Paul Joseph Watson - Prison Planet.com
Trilateral Commission member Mikhail Slobodovsici, a chief adviser to the Russian leadership, unwittingly provided a revealing insight into the plans of the global elite during the group's recent meeting in Dublin Ireland, when he mistakenly told a We Are Change Ireland activist he thought was a fellow TC member that the globalists are planning a war with Iran.
According to Jim Tucker's fascinating report on the story, Slobodovsici also let slip to We Are Change Ireland's Alan Keenan that the Trilateralists and their BIlderberg counterparts are intent on exploiting the economic crisis to finalize plans for a world government, but that this agenda is being severely hampered by so-called "nationalists" who are becoming increasingly aware of the impact that global government will have on their freedom and standards of living.
"We are deciding the future of the world," Slobodovsici told Keenan. "We need a world government," he said, but, referring to Iran, said "we need to get rid of them."
CNN Brings Up Bilderberg & Trilateral Commision Talking Of Who Controls The World
Rick Santelli: Paper Gold Defaults and US Dollar Distortions
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
It is questionable whether Rick Santelli, maverick commentator on CNBC, gave Larry Kudlow the answer he was fishing for. Santelli brings up the question of a divergence between the paper commitments to gold ownership, with the claims outstripping the actual bullion available. Rick keys in on the ETFs, but other disclosures seem to indicate that the problem is much more serious and close than even he might know. The other point he raises of course is the distorted strength in the US dollar because of the outmoded structure in the DX index. It is heavily weighted to the euro, yen and the pound, which is hardly indicative of the state of the world trade or even GDP distribution perhaps.
FINALLY someone tells the truth over on CNBC
Once Bailed-Out Chicago Bank Closes - 2010 Failures at 72
eCreditDaily.com
A Chicago area bank with nearly $3.2 billion in assets - which had received an infusion of $84.8 million in federal bailout funds - was one of four failed banks closed by regulators, bringing this year's total to 72. The 23-branch Midwest Bank and Trust Company, of Elmwood Park, Illinois, had $2.42 billion in total deposits. Firstmerit Bank, of Akron, Ohio, will assume all the Midwest Bank deposits - paying the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. a premium of 0.4 percent - and has agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets. Midwest was among the first community banks to get federal bailout funds.
The Bailout of Big American Banks Has Cost Trillions More Than We've Been Told Washington's Blog - via InfoWars.com
Granted, the $700 billion dollar TARP bailout was a massive bait-and-switch. The government said it was doing it to soak up toxic assets, and then switched to saying it was needed to free up lending. It didn't do that either. Indeed, the Fed doesn't want the banks to lend.
True, as I wrote in March 2009: The bailout money is just going to line the pockets of the wealthy, instead of helping to stabilize the economy or even the companies receiving the bailouts:
Transocean cites 1851 law to limit spill liability
By Chris Kahn - AP - MSNBC.com Company tries to cap what it would pay if it loses lawsuits over rig blast NEW YORK - The company that owns the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig said Thursday it will petition a federal court in Houston to cap its overall liability from the incident at less than $27 million.
If successful, Transocean Ltd. would be left with as much as $533 million in insurance money from the failed venture. That's almost enough to cover the revenue the company was expecting from a three-year contract with BP PLC. However, it has also estimated additional expenses from insurance deductibles, higher insurance premiums and legal fees at about $200 million.
Gulf Oil SPILL: What a Lie
J. Speer-Williams - Infowars.com
Spill? The corporate media continues to call the volcano of continuous gushing oil, in the Gulf, a spill. How insulting. A volcano that shoots out a million gallons of crude oil a day, or a week, is hardly a spill. The common definition of a spill is the liquid that fell out of a container, a one time occurrence, not a massive flow that has no known end. An oil tanker can spill oil; but not Mother Earth, who has been, and still is, continuously gushing oil from 35,000 feet from within her bowels.
Ten-mile oil plume found beneath surface of Gulf of Mexico
Ed Pilkington in New York - guardian.co.uk, Spilled oil coagulating up to 1,300 metres below surface and as far as 20 miles away from sunk Deepwater Horizon rig
Ocean scientists in the Gulf of Mexico have found giant plumes of oil coagulating at up to 1,300 metres below the surface, raising fears that the BP oil spill may be larger than had been thought and that it might create huge "dead zones". Experts from the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology have been traversing the area around the scene of the Deepwater Horizon, the oil rig that exploded and sank on 20 April.
Louisiana oil spill: toxic chemical fear over BP's clean-up efforts
Peter Beaumont - The Observer Officials, scientists and fishermen warn of threat to sealife in the Gulf of Mexico Scientists have raised urgent new concerns over the latest efforts to mitigate the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the oil rig explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon. Latest efforts to limit the environmental damage involve an untried deep-water technique, using a toxic dispersant that they believe may damage ocean life. But the new method has so far only succeeded in ratcheting up the growing controversy surrounding the spill.
BP's own probe finds safety issues on Atlantis rig
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI and NOAKI SCHWARTZ (AP
HOUSTON - The company whose drilling triggered the Gulf of Mexico oil spill also owns a rig that operated with incomplete and inaccurate engineering documents, which one official warned could "lead to catastrophic operator error," records and interviews show. In February, two months before the Deepwater Horizon spill, 19 members of Congress called on the agency that oversees offshore oil drilling to investigate a whistle-blower's complaints about the BP-owned Atlantis, which is stationed in 7,070 feet of water more than 150 miles south of New Orleans.
Survivor Recalls Deepwater Horizon Blast
Tells 60 Minutes "I Knew Something Bad Was Getting Ready To Happen"
(CBS) One of the last to escape the Deepwater Horizon oil rig tells "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley how he got away from the flaming platform and all the things that went wrong leading up to the blowout that killed 11 and caused the still-gushing oil leak. Michael Williams, chief electronics technician on the oil platform, speaks in his first interview in a report to be broadcast this Sunday, May 16, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
BP says it inserts tube into leaking Gulf well
By MarketWatch Success makes it more likely flow can be controlled by pumping it into a ship SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- BP PLC said Sunday it has successfully inserted a tube into the broken pipe leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico and siphoned off some of the oil to a vessel on the surface, according to media reports. That increases the chance that the company will be able to siphon off much of the oil now gushing into the sea, The Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition. The crude oil was stored on a drill ship and natural gas that accompanied the crude-oil flows was burned using a system on board, the Journal reported.
BP Reports Some Success in Capturing Leaking Oil
By SHAILA DEWAN - NYTimes.com
NEW ORLEANS - After more than three weeks of repeated efforts to stop a gushing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, BP engineers achieved some success this weekend when they used a mile-long pipe to capture some of the oil flow and to divert it to a drill ship on the surface some 5,000 feet above the wellhead, company officials said on Sunday.
Insurers warn of price hikes as Deepwater Horizon losses head for $3.5bn Julia Kollewe - The Observer Reinsurers and Lloyd's of London say biggest loss in energy market since Piper Alpha will trigger rate rises
The insurance industry is forecasting a loss of up to $3.5bn (£2.4bn) from the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This will be the biggest energy insurance loss in more than 20 years, and could drive up premiums. According to Lloyd's of London insurer Catlin, the 20 April explosion, which triggered an undersea well leak, will be the biggest loss in the energy market since the explosion of the Piper Alpha platform in 1988. A spiral of reinsurance losses from that disaster cost Lloyd's £8bn between 1988 and 1992.
Geithner Tries to Calm Nerves Over Europe's Uncertain Fate
By JACK EWING and BRIAN KNOWLTON - NYTimes.com
FRANKFURT - Political leaders and central bankers on both sides of the Atlantic struggled over the weekend to persuade jittery investors that Europe would pull through its sovereign debt crisis, saying that it would be helped by a stronger-than-expected economic recovery in the United States. Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, said the bank's decision last week to buy government bonds was a response to the worst economic crisis in Europe since World War II - possibly since World War I - and did not signal the start of an expansive monetary policy, with the specter of years of high inflation.
$1T eurozone rescue only buys time
By Juergen Baetz ASSOCIATED PRESS
BERLIN (AP) -- The 750 billion euro ($1 trillion) rescue loan package only bought eurozone countries more time -- it didn't resolve the Continent's underlying debt problem, the European Central Bank's chief economist says. The market turmoil will calm down only if the 16 eurozone member states reform their economies and reduce their deficits, Juergen Stark told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper on Sunday. "We bought time, not more than that," he was quoted as saying, adding the euro was not in danger "but in a critical situation."
Greece mulls action against U.S. banks
By Demetris Nellas AP - WashingtonTimes.com
ATHENS (AP) -- Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou declared he is not ruling out taking legal action against U.S. investment banks for their role in creating the spiraling Greek debt crisis. Both the Greek government and its citizens have blamed international banks for fanning the flames of the debt crisis with comments about Greece's likely default, actions that are causing the country's borrowing costs to soar.
In Europe, recklessness wins again
By Bill Fleckenstein - MSN Money What sort of example is bailed-out Greece setting for the Continent? A strapped Ireland looks on, wondering whether it would be better if every country defaulted.
Only somebody newly roused from a deep slumber would not know that the European Union and European Central Bank had unveiled a plan recently to shock markets into believing that the euro will survive, via a roughly $1 trillion rescue package. The EU and ECB promise to make it not inflationary -- that by means of sterilization. But if they decide to sterilize their bond purchases, I don't see how they'll be able to maintain low interest rates.
Forget the wolf pack - the ongoing euro crisis was caused by EMU
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Jean-Claude Trichet tells us the world faced a second Lehman crash in the days and hours before EU leaders launched their €720bn (£612bn) defence fund. If the European Central Bank's president is correct, we are in trouble. The EU-IMF package is already unravelling. What will the West do for its next trick?
Mr Trichet was ash-white at the Brussels summit a week ago. He distributed charts of credit stress to every eurozone leader. By the time he had finished his hair-raising discourse, everybody round the table finally understood what they faced. "The markets had ceased to function," he told Der Spiegel. "There is still a risk of contagion. It can happen extremely fast, sometimes within hours."
IMF Urges Rich Nations to Cut Spending, Raise Taxes
By BOB DAVIS
WASHINGTON-The International Monetary Fund warned that wealthy countries need to cut spending substantially and boost taxes to keep debt levels from exploding and to avoid the kind of market reaction that engulfed Greece. "When markets react, they react all of a sudden and sometimes they go overboard," said Carlo Cottarelli, head of the IMF's fiscal affairs department. Athens' borrowing costs have soared and its stock market has tumbled as planned austerity measures have run into resistance. The EU and IMF recently signed off on a €110 billion ($145 billion) rescue package for the country.
The face of Europe is now changed for ever
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk The financial crisis that has engulfed the EU will not be solved by any quick fix As if the formation of the UK's first coalition government in 65 years wasn't enough drama for one week, events have been unfolding on the other side of the Channel that will change Europe's destiny, and perhaps Britain's too, for ever. The EU's 750 billion euro (£644 billion) salvage package might be born of necessity rather than design. But it is nevertheless a watershed development, which places the Continent unambiguously on the path to full fiscal and political union.
Geithner Says Europe's Crisis Won't Hurt U.S. Economy
By DOUGLAS MCINTYRE - DailyFinance.com
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says the U.S. is unlikely to be hurt by any fallout from the European debt crisis. That's because "our economy is getting stronger. We're seeing a lot of strength, improvement and confidence," he tells Bloomberg TV. But there are reasons why he may be wrong.
The euro dropped below $1.25 this week on concerns that Greece won't be able to adjust its spending and that the Greek crisis would spread to Spain and Portugal. Deutsche Bank (DB) Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann expressed skepticism about Greece's financial future. Spain and Portugal have said they will adopt austerity measures.
$3,000 gold price "may yet prove conservative," says Rosie
by Prieur du Plessis - InvestmentPostcards.com
Although gold bullion is both a commodity and currency, it has lately become the world's currency of choice, i.e. a vote of no confidence in fiat paper. This is evident in the fact that the gold price has not only just made an all-time high in US dollar terms ($1,249 on Friday), but also in just about every other currency one cares to mention. I illustrated this in a post a few days ago, entitled "Meet the world's new currency of choice".
Gold is the only neutral currency
By Justice Litle - CommodityOnline.com
Does anyone know how to contact the Inter-Planetary Monetary Fund - the "IPMF"? I'm hoping maybe Alpha Centauri has some spare credit lines we can tap. Because if not, we could be in some seriously deep kimchee here... Seriously though. When the government runs out of money - or rather, the credibility to keep on printing it with abandon - who is left?
Peter Schiff Buy Gold it could go to $10 000/oz CNBC
Are central banks manipulating gold price?
By Daniela Cambone of Kitco News
Montreal (Kitco News) -- The issue of supposed gold market and price manipulation was battled out Saturday by GATA's Bill Murphy and CPM's Jeffrey Christian in a much anticipated debate. The Great Gold Debate - Gold market manipulation or general market forces - You Decide aired on a special edition of Financial Sense Newshour. Moderated by Jim Puplava, the debate aimed to settle the score on gold market manipulation. Is the gold market and price of gold being suppressed by central banks and bullion banks, questioned Puplava. "Or is the fact we operate in a fractional reserve system and there is leverage keeping the price of gold down?" he asked in his opening remarks.
Gold's 'ugly sister' gets a second look
By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch Silver sparkles as gold plays fairy godmother
Silver's gains in recent months have significantly outpaced gold's, with silver climbing around 30% since early February, compared with gold's nearly 17% price gain. And some analysts say silver hasn't yet caught the attention it deserves. Investors "are not taking notice yet it looks like the world is far more focusing on gold," said Gijsbert Groenewegen, a managing partner at Silver Arrow Capital Management.
Euro; the Worst Is Yet To Come
By: Sol Palha, Tactical Investor - GoldSeek.com
I think it is a given that Greece will have to default, everyone knows this, but they are just playing cat and mouse for now. Most Greeks are dead set against the new Austerity measures and they will likely throw this government out of power for the new changes they have instilled. The next government will cater to the people's needs for fear of receiving the same treatment. Change is not wanted in Greece. The only way to fix this problem is if the nation as a whole understands that they have to go through a painful period of cuts, but as evidenced from the past riots this is not the case. The story below further substantiates our claims.
Volcanic Ash Threatens Travel Disruptions
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - NYTimes.com
LONDON (AP) -- Volcanic ash from Iceland could disrupt air travel in both Britain and Germany in the next few days, officials said Saturday. The British Department of Transport said there was a risk that parts of British airspace could be closed beginning Sunday and those problems could continue through Tuesday. The predictions are based on the continuing eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano and current wind and weather conditions.
Why is crude oil falling while gold is rising
By Monty Guild - CommodityOnline.com
Earlier this week, the markets cheered the announcement out of Europe of a bailout package by the European Union nations and the International Monetary Fund, and a decision by the European Central Bank to begin buying sovereign debt of weaker states. This bailout plan protects the sovereign bond markets for the short term, but does not solve any of the longer term problems in European bond, stock, and currency markets. In fact, they allow the problems to grow and fester without being addressed.
Is Ben Bernanke Having Fun Yet?
By SEWELL CHAN - NYTimes.com
NINE days ago, Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, caught a Friday-night flight from here so he could address 1,100 graduates at the University of South Carolina the next morning about "The Economics of Happiness." After the speech, he took a call in his hotel room from Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, and the next day pledged billions of dollars to help Europe stave off a financial crisis - a flashback to the huge lending programs the Fed put together in 2008 to forestall economic collapse at home.
Bernanke: Why are we still listening to this guy?
Building Is Booming in a City of Empty Houses
By DAVID STREITFELD - NYTimes.com
LAS VEGAS - In a plastic tent under a glorious desert sky, Richard Lee preached the gospel of the second chance. The chance to make money on the next housing boom "is like it's never been," Mr. Lee, a real estate promoter, assured a crowd of agents, investors and bankers. "We're going to come back like you've never seen us before."
Banks Ignore Delinquent Borrowers
By: Diana Olick - CNBC Real Estate Reporter
Some encouraging signs on the foreclosure front may not be as rosy as some are reporting. RealtyTrac, the online foreclosure sale site, shows a 9 percent dip in the number of properties with foreclosure filings in April, month-to-month.
The driver of that dip is a big drop in new notices of default. The final stage of foreclosure, that is bank repossessions (REO) shot up to a new record high, up 45 percent from a year ago.
When I first read the report I thought, okay, we knew there was a big pipeline of loans that would not get modified and would have to come out the end at some point; now is that point. The fact that fewer loans are going into the pipeline should be our focus, and that's a positive. That's what I thought until I interviewed RealtyTrac's Rick Sharga.
Strategic Defaults: A Misnomer
Steven and Debra Wallace - TheEndTimesHoax.com
Obviously, there are three sets of opposing and sometimes conflicting emotions involved in the debate on strategic defaults. Existing homeowners are often fearful there will be a stampede toward the exits and that their home values will suffer a decline. They tend to advocate the moralist position by declaring that others who walk away are immoral for doing so. Non-homeowners are greedily looking for the best value and are anticipating much lower prices. They are licking their chops for a stampede of homeowners who've thrown in the towel. A third set of mixed emotions involve a combination of fear and greed. There are those who see an inevitable stampede coming and don't want to be left behind and they hope to minimize or off-set their losses by walking away now, before their neighbor does, and buying back later when prices are much lower.
Obama Threatens Veto of Obamacare as Cost Estimates Soar Above $1 Trillion MoneyNews.com
Reacting to the surprise announcement that congressional budget referees now predict healthcare reform could top $1 trillion, the Obama administration threatened Wednesday to veto parts of its own healthcare bill. The politically explosive revelation, which is likely to give new impetus to the GOP's repeal movement, came after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said the law potentially could add at least $115 billion to government healthcare spending over the next 10 years.
Millions of jobs that were cut won't likely return
By Christopher S. Rugaber, AP - USAToday.com
WASHINGTON - Fewer construction workers will be needed. Don't expect as many interior designers or advertising copywriters, either. Retailers will get by with leaner staffs. The economy is strengthening. But millions of jobs lost in the recession could be gone for good. And unlike in past recessions, jobs in the beleaguered manufacturing sector aren't the only ones likely lost forever. What sets the Great Recession apart is the variety of jobs that may not return.
Sarah Palin: 'We're all Arizonans now'
Telegraph.co.uk Sarah Palin has defended a new law cracking down on illegal immigration in Arizona claiming: "We're all Arizonans now".
She blamed Barack Obama for the moves, saying tough measures were needed because the federal government wasn't enforcing the law. "It's time for Americans across this great country to stand up and say, 'We're all Arizonans now,"' Palin said. "And in clear unison we say, 'Mr. President: Do your job. Secure our border."'
Texas schools board rewrites US history with lessons promoting God and guns Chris McGreal, Houston - guardian.co.uk, US Christian conservatives drop references to slave trade and sideline Thomas Jefferson who backed church-state separation
Cynthia Dunbar does not have a high regard for her local schools. She has called them unconstitutional, tyrannical and tools of perversion. The conservative Texas lawyer has even likened sending children to her state's schools to "throwing them in to the enemy's flames". Her hostility runs so deep that she educated her own offspring at home and at private Christian establishments.
Ron Paul in Iowa: Freedom is the Answer
Joe Lieberman's Fascist agenda to strip Americans of their Constitutional Rights BlackListedNews.com
Senator Joe Lieberman is sponsoring a Bill with Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown called the "Terrorist Expatriation Act" that would strip terrorist suspects on their citizenship. The bill applies to any American that supports a foreign terrorist organization or any organization that is deemed a supporter of terrorism by an ally of the United States. The bill gives the State Department the power to determine who is a terrorist and strip away their citizenship.
Obama Administration Proposes Rolling Back Fifth and Sixth Amendments
WASHINGTON - President Obama's legal advisers are considering asking Congress to allow the government to detain terrorism suspects longer after their arrests before presenting them to a judge for an initial hearing, according to administration officials familiar with the discussions. If approved, the idea to delay hearings would be attached to broader legislation to allow interrogators to withhold Miranda warnings from terrorism suspects for lengthy periods, as Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. proposed last week.
Hispanic Anger Should Be Focused At Globalists
Stephen P. Fuller - Infowars.com
Sure, Robert Rodriguez' new Machete has it all; false flag terror, media sex-psychology, bigoted "progressive" racial stereotyping, and all sandwiched into the ratification of caste system violence in reaction to false populism. But should the Hispanic populations of the world focus their influence at the population of the US or at the globalists?
America has the one of the very best historical lores concerning mankind's search for a finer system of human liberty and balance with the rule of law. The value of a republic consisting of equal protection, balanced justice, property rights, unfettered expression, and connatural liberty is expressed through our shared, yet variable, commodious support of conservative principles, social populism, and the pursuit of responsible citizenship.
Foreign Companies Chafe at China's Restrictions
By KEITH BRADSHER - NYTimes.com
KUNMING, China - Foreign companies doing business in China are increasingly feeling as if the deck is stacked against them. China has filed more than a dozen trade cases to limit imports, imposed a series of "buy Chinese" measures and limited exports of some minerals to force multinationals to move factories to China. Foreign executives in China find themselves increasingly at odds with Chinese officials over these measures, which Westerners view as protectionist and intended to give an edge to Chinese companies. Surveys by Western chambers of commerce of executives show growing disenchantment over the past year and a sense that doing business in China, never easy, is growing harder.
Gold, Peace, and Prosperity: The Birth of a New Currency
by Randy Radic - LewRockwell.com
Gold, Peace, and Prosperity is the title of Ron Paul's essay for a "modern" gold standard. According to Paul, such a standard would end the relentless boom-bust cycle, and maintain the value of King Dollar. However, King Dollar would have to be founded on a monetary standard that eschews government tampering.
Paul begins his treatise by pointing out that "Congress alone is responsible for inflation, and Congress alone can stop it." Which means that the old scapegoats - OPEC, greedy CEOs, labor unions - are not the real cause of inflation. To support his contention, Paul relates a story told by Marco Polo in his travels through China. As Paul states, "Abuse of paper money led to the expulsion of the Mongol dynasty from China."
US Debt and Deficit Numbers Overlooked by the Mainstream
By Addison Wiggin - TheDailyReckoning.com
05/13/10 Baltimore, Maryland - Two big numbers made news yesterday as we approached the market close. No one, to our knowledge, made a connection between the two. But to us, the connection is screamingly obvious. And frankly, your financial future hinges on that connection. Here's the first number: $82.7 billion. That's the deficit the US Treasury posted last month. That's awful for April, which usually records a positive number, thanks to tax receipts flooding in around the 15th. Last year recorded a loss too. But that was only $21 billion. So this year, the bleeding is nearly four times as bad. For the record, the government hasn't posted a monthly surplus since that fateful pre-TARP month of September 2008.
Marine scientists study ocean-floor film of Deepwater oil leak
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent - guardian.co.uk,
One analysis suggests gusher is 70,000 barrels daily, or an Exxon Valdez every four days, and 12 times more powerful than estimates by Coast Guard or BP
Marine scientists were carefully viewing footage of oil and gas billowing out of a ruptured well on the ocean floor today, to try to deliver the first reliable estimates of the crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico - it could be as much as 70,000 barrels a day. The video could help resolve the increasingly contentious debate about the scale of the disaster, and the oil companies' willingness to give access to any information. BP has claimed repeatedly there is no way of measuring the scale of the leak. The US Coast Guard, meanwhile, has stuck to an early estimate of 5,000 barrels a day.
Size of Oil Spill in Gulf Underestimated, Scientists Say
By JUSTIN GILLIS - NYTimes.com
Two weeks ago, the government put out a round estimate of the size of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico: 5,000 barrels a day. Repeated endlessly in news reports, it has become conventional wisdom. But scientists and environmental groups are raising sharp questions about that estimate, declaring that the leak must be far larger. They also criticize BP for refusing to use well-known scientific techniques that would give a more precise figure.
Why gold is acting as a currency
By Jim Sinclair
Gold traders today asked if the price should follow the general commodities lower or perform as the only vehicle in a major currency crisis that offers true safety moving higher. Gold will opt on this question to perform as a currency as that is what gold is inherently. With the euro now below $1.26, $1.2150 to $1.2250 is now in the cross hairs of the shorts. How deep do you think the entire Western world problems are when a trillion dollars of shock and awe publicly falls flat on its ass? The answer is incalculable and beyond reprieve.
The Mysterious Stagnation of M2 Money Supply
By The Mogambo Guru - The DailyReckoning.com
05/13/10 Tampa, Florida - I always make sure that I have taken all my pills before I look at the end-of-month money supply figures, which turned out to be a good idea, because M2 growth has been, as they say, quite anemic for the past several months. I think it's bad news, which seems paradoxical because I am always screaming my head off about how inflation in the money supply is a bad thing, because inflation in the money supply causes inflation in prices, which is The Thing To Be Feared (TTTBF) because that is going to destroy us, and yet here I am whining in Real Mogambo Terror (RMT) because the money supply is NOT increasing, thus apparently proving, as my wife says, that I "cannot be pleased."
JP Morgan: Gold Could Now Face 'Unlimited' Demand
Vincent Fernando, CFA - BusinessInsider.com
JP Morgan's John Bridges believes the latest breakout for gold was a huge positive sign for the metal. Euro weakness fears, coupled with dollar weakness fears, could lead to an enormous amount of demand: JP Morgan: A German banker once told us that gold normally trades like a commodity. However, when investors lose confidence in currencies, because the pool of gold is so much smaller than the pool of currencies, demand for gold can effectively become unlimited. We believe the European version of "QE" is generating serious currency worries and led today to the breakout of the gold price above the previous intraday high at $1,226/oz.
Gold steady as investors shun the euro
Reuters via BusinessSpectator.com
SINGAPORE - Gold edged up as investors turned their backs on the euro on worries that belt-tightening in Europe will slow growth, but the metal lacked fresh momentum to surpass a recent record high. Gold was heading for its fourth consecutive weekly rise, equaling a run that ended in late November. Bullion's safe haven appeal has increased on worries a $US1 trillion rescue package to prevent a Greek debt crisis from spreading to other euro zone states would eventually fail.
Gold market is not a bubble yet: John Doody
By Terry Wooten, Interviewed by Daniela Cambone of Kitco News
New York -- (Kitco News) -- Gold isn't in a bubble yet but concerns over inflation, soaring debt and the U.S. dollar have many people eyeing the precious metal as a hedge, according to John Doody, author and publisher of the Gold Stock Analyst. When asked if gold was in the bubble stage, Doody countered with a question of whether taxi drivers were telling their passengers that they should buy gold. If not, he said, "We're not in a bubble. Isn't that the classic definition of a bubble--when everybody has gold?" Doody said it may be on people's minds to buy gold because of the economic crises in Europe , the possibility of inflation and the health of the U.S. dollar. "It may be on people's minds, but we are not there yet," he said.
New "Gold to Go" ATM Launches
By Rocky Vega - The DailyReckoning.com
05/13/10 Stockholm, Sweden - On the run and need a quick 10-gram bar of gold? It's no problem if you live in Abu Dhabi, or are just crashing at The Emirates Palace a $10,000-a-night luxury resort.
OK, maybe it's not a problem you run into very often. It still sounds like an impressive innovation. According to CNBC: "With gold prices at record highs amid fears that the EU's rescue package will drive inflation higher, the ATM monitors the daily price of gold and offers small gold bars that weigh up to 10 grams with customized designs.
Now, a gold coin from Israel
JERUSALEM (Commodity Online): Now, Israel has jumped on to the bandwagon of gold coin business with international gold prices witnessing record levels in the past few days. This move has been long due as Israel has been mulling to launch a gold coin for sometime now. On Wednesday, Israel Coins and Medals Corporation unveiled the first Israeli gold coin, coinciding with Jerusalem Day. According to a press note by the corporation, there was great excitement among both international and Israeli coin collectors on the day of the initial offering of the first Israeli bullion coin. The Tower of David is the first in the Jerusalem of Gold series of gold coins that will be issued annually and depict a treasured historical site in Jerusalem. The coin contains 1 oz. of fine gold and has a face value of NIS 20.
Chinese investors dump real estate for gold
By Jon Nadler
Amid declarations that virtually 'unlimited' demand for gold is possibly in the cards, amid a 97% level of bullishness, amid visions of $15,000 (not a misprint) per ounce gold, and amid written guarantees of a 'new paradigm' having arrived, gold (and its current price) continued to receive a sufficiently high level of media attention to generate some 14,000 headlines over the past week. A simple Google News search will confirm as much. Not to mention the uber-ominous news item about a gold ATM making its debut at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi (the perfect place to make a quick 'withdrawal' in gold while the world around you flames out). Then again, if you just spent $10K on a night's lodging, perhaps the world flaming out is the least of your concerns (for now).
Vote on hedge funds threatens EU-US rift
By FT reporters
European countries led by France and Germany plan to push through controversial hedge fund regulations next week after turning down British pleas to defer a vote in Brussels. The refusal by Paris and Berlin to delay a decision on the new rules, which are opposed by the UK, has set up a bruising early confrontation with David Cameron's new government. The directive has also caused concern in the US. Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, wrote to EU officials in March warning that, if unchanged, the new regulations could trigger a transatlantic rift by unfairly locking US funds out of European markets.
Death of the euro
LewRockwell.com
Europe Has Given Up on the Euro, Says Jim Rogers
Legendary global investor and chairman of Singapore-based Rogers Holdings, Jim Rogers said Europe's bailout of indebted nations to overcome the sovereign-debt crisis is just "another nail in the coffin" for the euro as higher spending increases the region's debt.
Speaking in a Bloomberg interview in Singapore on Tuesday, Rogers said "I was stunned," adding "This means that they've given up on the euro, they don't particularly care if they have a sound currency, you have all these countries spending money they don't have and it's now going to continue."
Euro Breaks 14-Month Low as Debt-Cutting Steps May Hurt Growth
By Yoshiaki Nohara and Ron Harui
May 14 (Bloomberg) -- The euro headed for a fourth weekly decline, breaking through the 14-month low reached against the dollar last week, on concern European nations' debt-cutting measures will undermine economic growth.
The 16-nation currency touched the least in a week versus the yen before Greece submits a progress report tomorrow to the European Commission on the implementation of a deficit-reduction plan. New Zealand's dollar was set for a second weekly loss against the greenback after government data showed retail sales rose in March at less than half the pace economists forecast.
Euro Will Drop to 7-Year Low on ECB, Slowing Growth, UBS Says
By Candice Zachariahs
May 14 (Bloomberg) -- The euro will drop more than 8 percent by December to its least since 2003 on spending cuts by currency members and as the European Central Bank lags behind the Federal Reserve in interest-rate increases, UBS AG said. The euro will reach $1.15 by December and $1.10 by the end of 2011, UBS said, trimming its previous forecasts for the currency to trade at $1.30 and $1.25, respectively. The bank also lowered its estimates for the pound, which will decline to $1.35 by year-end and then advance to $1.38 by the end of 2011, a team led by London-based Larry Hatheway, UBS's chief economist, wrote in an e-mailed note to clients dated yesterday.
Euro Has No Future Without a Political Union
Commentary by Paul De Grauwe
May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Since the eruption of the Greek crisis, a feeling of doom and gloom about the future of the euro area has preoccupied analysts and financial markets. The $1 trillion financial-assistance program that was put together on May 9 by the European Union's Ecofin Council might have stemmed the prevailing panic, but it hasn't taken away the sense that the common currency is doomed. There is a strong feeling that the collapse may have been avoided for the moment but that it will implode sooner or later.
Dylan Ratigan MSNBC - Funding a $1 Trillion European bailout - 1
Dylan Ratigan MSNBC - Funding a $1 Trillion European bailout - 2
Volcker Sees Risk Greece to Cause 'Disintegration' of Euro Area
By Simon Clark
May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said he's concerned that the euro area may break up after the Greek fiscal crisis that sparked an unprecedented bailout by the region's members. "You have the great problem of a potential disintegration of the euro," Volcker, 82, said in a speech in London yesterday. "The essential element of discipline in economic policy and in fiscal policy that was hoped for" has "so far not been rewarded in some countries."
Greek Unemployment Hits 12.1%
By NICK SKREKAS
ATHENS--Greek unemployment rose to 12.1% in February from 11.3% in January, data showed Thursday, while economists warned that it will continue rising as new austerity measures start to bite. In February 2009 unemployment had stood at 9.1%. "The momentum revealed in this reading is troubling and while we have forecast an average unemployment rate for the year of 11.7%, we are likely to now revise it higher to above 12%," said Nick Magginas, senior economist at the National Bank of Greece.
Portugal takes its punishment with fresh taxes
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk Portugal is to impose fresh austerity measures to cut the budget deficit and regain the confidence of bond markets, becoming the fourth country on the eurozone periphery to tighten fiscal policy before a durable recovery is underway.
Socialist premier Jose Socrates aims to cut the deficit by an extra 1pc of GDP to 7.3pc this year and 4.6pc next year, but has refused to follow yesterday's move by Spain for broad-based cuts in public wages owing to constitutional constraints. The package relies on revenues, including a rise in VAT to 21pc, higher income tax, and a range of corporate levies. "I ask my countrymen to make this sacrifice to defend Portugal, defend the single currency, and defend Europe," he said.
Like Spain, Portugal Hopes to Make Cuts, but It Is Mired in Structural Weakness
By RAPHAEL MINDER - NYTimes
LISBON - José Gago da Graça owns a Portuguese real estate company and has two identical apartments in the same building in the heart of Lisbon. One rents for 2,750 euros ($3,480.21) a month, the other for almost 40 times less, 75 euros ($94.91). The discrepancy is a result of 100-year-old tenancy rules, which have frozen the rent of hundreds of thousands of tenants and protected them against eviction in Portugal. Mr. Gago da Graça has been in a lawsuit for a decade over the apartment that rents for 75 euros. It started after his tenant died in 2000 and her son took over and refused to alter his mother's contract, which dates to the 1960s.
It will take a long time for the new boys to unravel Gordon Brown's mess
By Jeff Randall - Telegraph.co.uk Long after it is buried, New Labour will continue to inflict economic pain, says Jeff Randall
With the corpse of New Labour's government still warm on the mortician's slab, an inquest into the death of its salesmen has already begun. David Miliband, the bookies' favourite to take over as leader, says he will tour the country to find out what went wrong. At the risk of doing his party an undeserved favour, let's save Bananaman the cost of a trip.
Gerard Celente: Biggest Bank Robbery in History
The Fed "Owns Credit-Default Swaps... On Debt Owed by California and Nevada. So the Fed Would Profit If One of Those States Defaulted on its Debt." In the you-can't-make-this-stuff-up department, NPR points out: As part of the bailouts of AIG and Bear Stearns, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York spent more than $70 billion to buy toxic assets the companies owned. Last week, prompted by a lawsuit filed by Bloomberg News, the Fed finally told the world exactly what it bought. The Fed now owns loans to Hilton hotels in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Malaysia and Trinidad. It owns loans to the Miami airport, and the Civil Opera House in Chicago.
Are stocks about to crash?
CNNMoney.com When does a big market rally spell doom for stocks? Right now, says one bearish commentator.
Gluskin Sheff economist David Rosenberg says in a note to clients Thursday that it's time to "take chips off the table." He says stocks have risen too far, volatility is rising and the economy remains too weak to support current prices.
None of this is exactly shocking, given that Rosenberg has been warning for the past year that stocks looked bubbly given high unemployment and other signs of economic slack. Since stocks bottomed in March 2009, he has been saying that they were overvalued by as much as 35%, based on indicators such as earnings multiples.
Treasuries Advance on Euro Concern Before 30-Year Bond Auction
By Susanne Walker
May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries rose, pushing down 30-year bond yields from the highest level in more than a week, as the euro slid toward a 14-month low and the U.S. prepared to auction $16 billion of the long bonds. Thirty-year securities advanced for the first time in five days as Portugal announced austerity measures, spurring concern a fiscal tightening across Europe will limit economic growth. Today's auction is the last of three note and bond offerings this week totaling $78 billion.
Pimco Says Europe Shows World Caught in 'New Normal'
By Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam
May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Pacific Investment Management Co. said the debt crisis in Europe shows its outlook for an extended period of below-average economic growth remains valid, even after global markets rebounded from the financial crisis. "What is happening in Europe is a vivid illustration of an underlying theme of the new normal," Mohamed El-Erian, the chief executive officer of Pimco, said in an interview. There are "structural forces overwhelming traditional cyclical ones," he said.
Why You Should Still Ignore Economists
By Jeff Harding, The DailyCapitalist.com
As many readers of this blog know, I feel that the problem is the economists who run the world. Politicians too, but this blog deals with economics. In my original article, "Why You Should Ignore Economists" and in "The Smartest Guys in the Room," and in many others, I point out the fact that most economists run with the pack and get it wrong. All the time. Here is yet another example I got from the Wall Street Journal's RealTime Economics. In their article they quote T.J. Marta, founder and market strategist with Marta on the Markets, who is outraged by the failure of the powers-that-be to see the eurozone crisis coming:
Nassim Nicholas Taleb Interview
By Jeff Harding May 13th, 2010
Nassim Taleb is my favorite epistemologist. I am a big fan of Black Swan and Fooled By Randomness. I should also say that he was a reader of this blog until he finally bailed. As you may know, he doesn't listen to much of what he calls unnecessary "noise." In fact he suggests you should ignore market blather and focus on thinking about making money.
He also is of the Austrian persuasion, so while I think my commentary is cutting edge, I probably am not telling him something he doesn't already know. Well, maybe. I have taken exception to some of his prognostications, so I'm not a slavish follower.
Taleb Says Focus on Specific Trades in Selloff Misguided
Is the Rebound Sustainable?, The Answer Lies in Liquidity
By Andrew Mickey, GoldSeek.com
The only thing that matters in this market is liquidity.
As last Thursday's market sell-off and this week's rebound have proven, the only real factor driving the markets higher is liquidity. That's why all the recent action directly or indirectly related to the Greek bailout, the European Central Bank (ECB) monetizing more debt, the ongoing bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and deep deficits of Western governments at all levels, simply further cement the most important trend of the next decade.
Wall Street probe widens
By Veronique Dupont (AFP) NEW YORK - The battery of allegations against Wall Street banks extended dramatically Thursday as some of the world's largest financial firms confirmed they faced criminal investigation.
At least nine major banks were said to be under criminal and civil probes over the sale of mortgage-backed products that have been blamed for sparking the global economic crisis.
What began as an investigation into Goldman Sachs' trading practices now appears to have become a near sector-wide investigation that is striking at the heart of Wall Street's credibility.
In two separate probes, the Securities and Exchange Commission and New York's Attorney General are said to be investigating whether banks misled investors by selling securities they bet against and also deceived ratings agencies about the products' value.
Cap-and-Trade: A Scam Based on a Scam
By Alan Caruba - CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
It is almost beyond comprehension that Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) will introduce the Cap-and-Trade Act on Wednesday, May 12th, for consideration by the Senate. It is being passed off as a "climate bill" with provisions for more oil drilling, but it is an assault on reality, on science, on common sense, and on any future economic growth of the nation.
The nation's prisons are filled with men still claiming to be innocent after trials filled with evidence of their guilt. Denial of the truth is their last resort and this metaphor reflects what is happening in the utterly corrupt community of "global warming" liars and their associates in the U.S. government.
Bernanke raises concerns about swaps ban
By Jennifer Liberto, senior writer
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday he has concerns about a signature piece of Senate Democrats' Wall Street reform package that cracks down on complex financial products. Bernanke wrote about the consequences from a congressional ban preventing banks from trading the complex financial products, called derivatives, in a letter to key lawmakers. "Forcing these activities out of insured depository institutions would weaken both financial stability and strong prudential regulation of derivative activities," Bernanke wrote to an author of the measure, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
Andrew Cuomo digs into Wall Street ratings relationships
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY
NEW YORK - Wall Street's tight relationship with the firms that rate securities just became a lot less comfortable. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent subpoenas to eight large banks and three ratings firms late Wednesday - part of an investigation into whether banks figured out formulas to ensure that risky securities could get strong recommendations - according to a person with firsthand knowledge of the matter. The source declined to be named because the investigation is ongoing.
Volcker seeks forcible bank restructure
By Brooke Masters and Catherine Belton in London - FT.com
Governments should forcibly restructure global banking because tougher capital and liquidity rules would not be enough to prevent another financial meltdown, according to Paul Volcker, former chairman of the US Federal Reserve. In two speeches in London, Mr Volcker, a top adviser to US president Barack Obama, said he disagreed with regulators in the UK and elsewhere who say the problems of so-called "casino banking" can be addressed by having banks hold more capital to cover their proprietary trading and in-house hedge funds.
Rising interest rates threaten value of bond holdings
John Waggoner - USAToday.com
We had another taste of a bear market in stocks last week, but it's probably time to worry about a bear market in bonds. Normal bond bears are like trips to the dentist: not much fun, but probably good for you. What Wall Street is worried about is whether this is a mega-bear market in bonds, which is more like a trip to the cardiac unit on a stretcher carried by clowns. Those fears probably aren't justified. Still, it's a good time to take a few precautions with your bond holdings.
Big banks slashed small business credit lines
By Catherine Clifford,
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The biggest Wall Street banks slashed their small business loan portfolios by 9% between 2008 and 2009, more than double the rate at which they cut their overall lending, according to a government report released Thursday. The Congressional Oversight Panel report spotlights the role banks, especially the largest ones, played in the credit crunch that has plagued small companies throughout the recession.
Thousands of non-profits could unwittingly lose tax status
By Sandra Block, USA TODAY
Hundreds of thousands of small non-profits, from Little League teams to community soup kitchens, could lose their tax-exempt status on Monday because of an IRS filing requirement. The 2006 Pension Protection Act included a provision requiring all non-profits to file an annual return with the IRS. Previously, non-profits with annual revenue of less than $25,000 were excluded. Non-profits that fail to file a return for three consecutive years lose their tax-exempt status. On May 17, the three-year clock runs out for non-profits that haven't filed a return since 2007.
Senate Amends Financial Overhaul Bill
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - In the latest sign of the zeal in Congress to get tough on Wall Street, the Senate approved two initiatives on Thursday aimed at addressing the role that major credit rating agencies played in the 2008 financial collapse, including a proposal to end the reliance on companies like Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's.
And, in a step that could cut deeply into a huge and easy revenue source for major banks, the Senate also approved a proposal that would direct the Federal Reserve to impose new limits on the fees that banks can charge businesses to process transactions using credit and debit cards. Banks collected about $50 billion in such fees last year.
Senate votes to ban liar loans
By Tami Luhby,
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Senate voted Wednesday to ban controversial "liar loans," which helped bring down the housing market. The legislation, part of the broader financial regulatory reform bill working its way through Congress, would require lenders to fully document a borrower's income before originating a mortgage. It would also mandate that lenders verify a borrower's ability to repay the loan. This would effectively end the origination of no-doc or stated-income mortgages, which many call "liar loans" because borrowers did not have to prove their income. Housing experts point to these mortgages as one catalyst for the housing collapse.
Senate passes proposal to assign credit-rating agencies
Bloomberg News
The Senate adopted a proposal to let regulators decide who rates asset-backed securities after investors said Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service inflated assessments of mortgage bonds because the companies were paid by Wall Street firms selling the debt. The Senate backed an amendment to the financial overhaul legislation in a 64-35 vote Thursday that created a ratings board overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The panel would assign a credit-rating company to evaluate an offering.
Senate votes to make credit card firms cut debit card transaction
By Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Striking at a lucrative bank business, the Senate on Thursday voted to force credit card companies to reduce fees for debit card transactions and permit merchants to offer customer discounts based on their payment method. The 64-33 vote inserted the fee requirement in a package of new financial rules the Senate is considering to ward off a repeat of the financial crisis. The vote was a major defeat for banks, which lobbied hard against it. But the measure attracted heavy bipartisan support and surpassed a 60-vote threshold for passage. Seventeen Republicans voted for the amendment; 10 Democrats voted against it.
Blankfein comes to Chicago bank's aid
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Tom Braithwaite in Washington and Suzanne Kapner and Francesco Guerrera in New York - FT.com
Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs chief executive, is playing a personal role in helping to arrange a $125m rescue for a Chicago community bank which provides loans to lower-income communities, people familiar with the matter say. The lender, ShoreBank, was told by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in March that it had 60 days to raise capital or risk being seized. Mr Blankfein has been making phone calls to rally support for a deal that would see some of the country's biggest financial groups help the Chicago community bank.
Keiser Report 42: Markets! Finance! Scandal!
Tea Party protestors take aim at Fannie and Freddie
by Nina Easton - CNNMoney.com
(Fortune) -- A message to all of you angry taxpayers this election season with your cross-hairs trained on the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase: Did you notice that Fannie Mae just trundled up to the government bailout window for another $8.4 billion, days after Freddie Mac pulled down another $10.6 billion in taxpayer funds?
Probably not. The news was mostly buried in the business pages -- and, besides, how can these nameless, faceless bureaucracies compete for your attention against the turned-out resplendence of profit-making, bonus-dropping CEO's like Lloyd Blankfein and Jamie Dimon? (Especially when these faces of Wall Street greed are being scolded by beet-faced lawmakers purporting to represent the public interest.)
She's a White House veteran Kagan helped draft Clinton policies on welfare reform, gun control
by James Oliphant - LATimes.com
WASHINGTON - The White House during President Clinton's second term was a combustible, ambitious place. While to the public it appeared that the chief executive was spending most of his time embroiled in scandal, a small group of staffers worked behind the scenes to pursue an aggressive policy agenda.
Elena Kagan was one of them. She had come to the Clinton domestic policy shop in 1997 after serving as an administration lawyer. By the time she left two years later, she had put her stamp on the office, a unit that took on tobacco and gun industries, advocated campaign finance reform, backed affirmative action and worked to preserve abortion rights.
U.S. Home Seizures Reach Record as Recovery Delayed
By Dan Levy
May 13 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. home foreclosures climbed to a record in April, a sign that government mortgage relief efforts have yet to turn the tide of property seizures, according to a report by RealtyTrac Inc. "Right now it appears that the banks are focusing on processing the loans already in foreclosure, and slowing down the initiation of new foreclosure proceedings as a way of managing inventory levels," Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's executive vice president, said in an e-mail. "We'll probably see this trend continue for a while."
Chinese File for Divorce to Purchase Second Homes, Stocks Climb
By LAUREN COOPER - DailyFinance.com
Property prices in many Chinese cities are still rising, according to some studies, and determined investors are seeking ingenious ways to get around the new regulations. According to an article in China Daily, divorce is one way to skirt the rules and reduce costs. Down payments on second homes have been raised to 50% of the value. In contrast, first-time buyers must put down a 30% down payment. "After we get divorced, my wife will claim our house, so that I can apply for a mortgage as a first-home buyer," a man told a Xinhua reporter. One real estate agent said "fake divorces" were becoming more and more common.
Foreclosures plateau - finally. Repossessions soar
By Les Christie,
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The foreclosure plague may have finally reached its peak in April 2010 -- but don't expect delinquency statistics to plummet anytime soon. The total number of foreclosure filings -- notices of default, auction notices and bank repossessions -- fell by 9% from March to April, and 2% compared with April 2009, according to data released Thursday by RealtyTrac, the online marketer of foreclosed properties. This is the first time that has happened in the history of the report, which goes back to January 2006.
Homeboy Industries lays off most employees as financial woes worsen
by Hector Becerra - LATimes.com
Homeboy Industries, the venerable L.A. institution designed to provide jobs and counseling to former gang members, laid off most of its employees Thursday amid worsening financial problems. Father Gregory Boyle, who started Homeboy Industries more than two decades ago, said 300 people were laid off, including all senior administrators. Boyle said he has stopped taking a paycheck as well. "We cobbled together payroll since November," he said. "But it was not enough to save us or rescue us."
Cellphones Now Used More for Data Than for Calls
By JENNA WORTHAM - NYTimes.com
Liza Colburn uses her cellphone constantly. She taps out her grocery lists, records voice memos, listens to music at the gym, tracks her caloric intake and posts frequent updates to her Twitter and Facebook accounts. The one thing she doesn't use her cellphone for? Making calls. "I probably only talk to someone verbally on it once a week," said Mrs. Colburn, a 40-year-old marketing consultant in Canton, Mass., who has an iPhone.
Crave coupons, bargains? Group-buying sites offer deals
By Jayne O'Donnell and Rachel Huggins, USA TODAY
Kelsey Smith, a New York University grad student, can hardly afford fine restaurants. Yet, there she sat recently in Vintage Irving, a tony restaurant and wine bar near East Village in Manhattan. Armed with a $20 coupon from LivingSocial.com for $40 worth of food, Smith and friends had a birthday dinner with drinks for about $80, and for a few hours, reveled in the upscale Manhattan crowd. Group-buying websites - Groupon, LivingSocial and dozens of smaller ones - are the latest craze among price-obsessed consumers and an evolution of social media and shopping. Groupon has grown from 400 subscribers in November 2008 to more than 4 million; 8coupons.com, which aggregates online deals, says the number of sites offering daily group deals is up from about 10 last June to at least 80.
Boycott is the last thing Arizona needs
By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Los Angeles city council has asked all municipal employees to boycott Arizona -- and that's the last thing the hard-hit border state needs. The Los Angeles city council voted 13-1 on Wednesday to boycott the state of Arizona, in protest of the state's controversial new immigration law. This could mean a loss of up to $56 million worth of business that the city conducts with Arizona each year, according to Gerry Miller, chief legislative analyst of Los Angeles.
Phoenix discusses economic cost of immigration law
PHOENIX BUSINESS JOURNAL - BY Lynn Ducey
The city of Phoenix has lost four convention groups officials are attributing directly to Arizona's new immigration law, and they fear the measure may continue to thwart the Valley's businesses. To counter the trend, city officials say they are using their connections to communicate with meetings and events planners, politicians and executives outside Arizona about what is happening in the state. "The message we need to have is that we are open for business....And if you are concerned, call us," said Councilwoman Peggy Neely.
Misuse of Social Security Identification Rampant
By Jim Kouri, CPP - CapitolHillCofeeHouse.com
In 1936, the Social Security Administration established the Social Security number to track worker's earnings for Social Security benefit purposes. Despite its narrowly intended purpose, the SSN is now used for a myriad of non-Social Security purposes. Today, SSNs are used, in part, as identity verification tools for services such as child support collections, law enforcement enhancements, and issuing credit to individuals.
Although these uses can be beneficial to the public, the SSN is now a key piece of information in creating false identities. The aggregation of personal information, such as SSNs, in large corporate databases and the increased availability of information via the Internet may provide criminals the opportunities to commit identity theft.
CBO Says Obamacare May Exceed $1 Trillion
MoneyNews.com
President Barack Obama's new healthcare law could potentially add at least $115 billion more to government healthcare spending over the next 10 years, congressional budget referees say. If Congress approves all the additional spending called for in the legislation, it would push the ten-year cost of the overhaul above $1 trillion - an unofficial limit the Obama administration set early on. The Congressional Budget Office said the added spending includes $10 billion to $20 billion in administrative costs to federal agencies carrying out the law, as well as $34 billion for community health centers and $39 billion for Indian healthcare.
Doctor Pooling Plan Sparks Fear
By ANNA WILDE MATHEWS - WSJ.com
A hospital trade association is developing a plan for hospitals around southern California to form a foundation that would supply them with doctors. Initially only about 20 of the association's 160 member hospitals are expected to participate if the foundation launches, but the idea is already sparking concerns that it might drive up medical costs. Small and medium-sized hospitals are most likely to take part, the hospital association said. The goal would be to have at least 60 doctors at the start, but the foundation could grow to include several hundred physicians. The entity would own clinics and centralize administrative matters including billing and electronic medical records.
A 'Duty to Die'?
by Thomas Sowell
One of the many fashionable notions that have caught on among some of the intelligentsia is that old people have "a duty to die," rather than become a burden to others. This is more than just an idea discussed around a seminar table. Already the government-run medical system in Britain is restricting what medications or treatments it will authorize for the elderly. Moreover, it seems almost certain that similar attempts to contain runaway costs will lead to similar policies when American medical care is taken over by the government.
Why Was JFK Murdered? and why it still matters
Podcast - Interview by Lew Rockwell with James W. Douglass
Jim, the author of JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, demonstrates that John F. Kennedy was assassinated not by the usual "lone nut," himself killed by another lone nut, but because he turned towards peace. The assassination was a coup by the dark military-imperial-merchants of death cabal that has ruled America since. A follower of Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day, Jim Douglass is a retired religion professor from the University of Hawaii.
U.S. Decision to Approve Killing of Cleric Causes Unease
By SCOTT SHANE - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration's decision to authorize the killing by the Central Intelligence Agency of a terrorism suspect who is an American citizen has set off a debate over the legal and political limits of drone missile strikes, a mainstay of the campaign against terrorism. The notion that the government can, in effect, execute one of its own citizens far from a combat zone, with no judicial process and based on secret intelligence, makes some legal authorities deeply uneasy.
Ehud Barak: Political Situation in Israel Very Delicate
Pravda.ru
Israel's current political situation is very delicate and everyone needs do their utmost to preserve it, Defense Minister Ehud Barak stressed Thursday. "The attacks made by Israeli senior ministers against US attempts to further the political situation, and the scathing opposition against Palestinian Authority leaders greatly endangers our severely delicate political situation," Barak underlined, Jerusalem Post reports. During the official state ceremony in honor of Jerusalem day Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We will continue to build and be built in Jerusalem. We will continue to develop, plan and create in Jerusalem. We cannot develop in a divided city."
New Kitco DEM Page Lets Rumors About Germany Abandoning the Euro Fly - PrudentInvestor
A web page of precious metals prices provider Kitco.com has sparked rumors that Germany will leave the Eurozone and reintroduce German Marks, sending gold to a new record of $1,244 and silver to a multi-year high of $19.64. It is this half-ready page shown below that has created excitement as it lists precious metals in Deutschmark units.
U.S. must avoid Greece-style crunch
by Emily Flitter and Steven C. Johnson
(Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers must act quickly to tackle a large budget deficit if the United States wants to avoid the kind of debt crisis that hit Greece, the White House's top budget official said on Wednesday. "We want to make sure we never wind up facing the sorts of choices that Greece now faces," White House budget director Peter Orszag told Reuters Insider in an interview. While the United States was in "no imminent danger" of a crisis of Greek proportions, Orszag said "I would prefer to be addressing this sooner rather than later."
Ron Paul: Euro Bailout Will Lead to Currency Collapse
Why the U.S. Isn't the Next Greece -- Yet
By PETER COHAN - DailyFinance.com
Are there similarities between Greece's financial situation and that of the U.S.? Both countries have high debt levels and big budget deficits, and both are facing pressure to reduce their red ink. And in both Greece and the U.S., political factions are seeking to grab the spotlight by playing up anger at these economic problems.
In Greek Debt Crisis, Some See Parallels to U.S.
By DAVID LEONHARDT - NYTimes.com
It's easy to look at the protesters and the politicians in Greece - and at the other European countries with huge debts - and wonder why they don't get it. They have been enjoying more generous government benefits than they can afford. No mass rally and no bailout fund will change that. Only benefit cuts or tax increases can. Yet in the back of your mind comes a nagging question: how different, really, is the United States?
In Greek Debt Crisis, Some See Parallels to U.S.
Euro Zone Bailout is a Greek Tragedy in the Making
By: Ganesh Rathnam - MarketOracle.co.uk
The recently approved eurozone bailout package, designed to buy more time for fiscally troubled nations such as Greece, Spain, and Portugal, is nothing short of a global Greek tragedy in the making. Of course, quite contrary to this, judging by the response of global stock markets, one would get the impression that happy times are around the corner. However, those of us who understand Austrian economics and believe in free markets and sound currencies can see one more nail driven into the coffin of paper fiat currencies such as the euro, US dollar, British pound, and Japanese yen.
Cameron hails 'seismic shift' of UK coalition
By James Blitz in London - FT.com
David Cameron, Britain's new prime minister, declared that the creation of his coalition government marked the start of a "historic and seismic shift" in British politics as he sought to bury his party's rivalry with his new partners, the UK's Liberal Democrats. One day after taking over from Gordon Brown as premier, Mr Cameron said his new alliance with Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, would last five years and would be based on "strong and stable leadership".
EU imposes wage cuts on Spanish "Protectorate", calls for budget primacy over sovereign parliaments
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Spain has followed Ireland and Greece in imposing 1930s-era wage cuts to slash the budget deficit, complying with EU demands for further austerity in exchange for the €720bn `shock and awe' rescue for eurzone debtors.
Premier Jose Luis Zapatero told a stunned nation that public sector pay will be reduced by 5pc this year and frozen in 2011. "We must make an extraordinary effort," he said. Pension rises will be shelved. The country's €2,500 baby bonus will be cancelled. Aid to the regions will be slashed and infrastructure projects will be put on ice. Mr Zapatero's own monthly pay will fall 15pc to €6,515.
The world economy is in a calm between a credit crisis turning into a currency crisis as the collapse of the private debt bubble is replaced by a government debt bubble that will also collapse.
The world is at a point of no return for government debt as debt-to-GDP approaches 100%. When debt becomes too big, governments cannot control the interest rates and currency. The lead warning is Greece, much the same as Lehman Brothers was in the credit bubble crisis.
Peak oil. The wealth of humanity has been built on energy. Half the world's conventional oil supply is already used. That means that the quantity of oil produced each year will not increase much from the current level even as demand from developing countries like India and China increases. Wars over oil have already started. Energy prices will rise. We will see a substantial rise in the cost of food, as food production requires energy.
The U.S. can prosper and stay ahead of the rest of the world by developing and investing in three forms of technology-the Internet and cell phones, new medicines through biological breakthroughs and new sources of energy. All are good investment opportunities and are necessary for human expansion.
The Gold Rush That Greece has Ignited
By Rocky Vega - The DailyReckoning.com
05/12/10 Stockholm, Sweden - Despite the debt crises facing several EU countries, governments around the world are still throwing money at the problem. In an attempt to eradicate the failure of already having spent too much, the governments are spending more. This kind of decision making undermines trust in fiat currency, ironic because by definition fiat currency is only useful when people trust it.
Further, euro weakness in the wake of the Greek sovereign debt crisis has turned attention away from what's been a relatively soft greenback. With gold at new record highs, today at $1,245.40 an ounce, new signs of trouble remain on deck.
Price of gold hits a record $1,242.70 an ounce
By Matt Krantz, USA TODAY
Gold prices hit a record high Wednesday as investors sought to hide from fears the European financial bailout will erode world currencies. The price of a ounce of gold shot up 1.9% to $1,242.70, contributing to a strong 5.8% rally since last Thursday, when jitters about Greece's debt crisis intensified and helped spark irregular trading on U.S. stock exchanges. Gold, seen as having intrinsic value irrespective of government policies, is being bought by emerging nations and other investors that have lost faith in the euro as a store of value, says Caesar Bryan, portfolio manager of the Gamco Gold fund.
Ron Paul to Ft. Knox: Show Me The Gold
Gold Breaks Out (Again) - $1,250 Breach Imminent
Submitted by Tyler Durden ZeroHedge.com
The only question now is who will hit 36,000 first - gold or the Dow. Sorry Bernanke - you can't have both. The good thing with gold is that unlike stocks, gold actually trades after 10 am, unlike stocks, when just the liquidity rebate algos churn ultra high volume on ultra bankrupt companies during that time. Also, breakouts are actually validated by high volume, unlike stocks where the opposite is true as banks hope to fool gullible mom and pops into throwing their money into the Keynesian fire pit.
Why gold is breaking records
By Annalyn Censky
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gold continued its big rally Wednesday, nearing $1,250 an ounce in intra-day trade, then slipping a bit to settle at a new high. Stock market jitters and Europe's debt troubles have sent investors flocking to the precious metal, but why?
Low risk in volatile times
Of course, gold is considered a safe-haven investment in times of economic uncertainty. After the stock market's so-called "flash crash" last week, gold jumped 2%. Choppy trading since then has further boosted the metal's appeal.
Gold Rising Whether Dollar Rises or Falls?
During the previous weeks much has been said about the declining Euro and what effect it may have on the price of gold - we argued that declining Euro doesn't mean that gold has to decline. We don't want to get into details once again in this essay, but instead we would like to remind you about several facts that we feel have been forgotten during the past several weeks. It is often said, that the U.S. Dollar provides a safe haven status, but it that really the case? Did everyone forget about the gargantuan twin deficit that rises each day? Did the massive amounts of U.S. debt in the hands of foreign investors suddenly stop being a problem? Did really so much change yesterday as far as the global economic situation is concerned that the stock indices plunged so heavily? Not really. The thing that changed was market's perception toward the abovementioned USD fundamental factors determining the currency exchange rates.
Gold hits all-time high as investors seek haven
By Javier Blas and Jack Farchy in London - FT.com
Gold prices hit an all-time high as demand surged to the highest level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 amid volatile financial markets in Europe. Spot gold in London surged to above $1,230 a troy ounce, surpassing the previous record set in December last year. Gold prices in euro terms also hit a fresh all-time high of Û969 an ounce in late trading in London on Tuesday, up almost 26 per cent since the beginning of the year.
Financial Markets Debt Currency Shock Events and Gold Breakout
By: Jim Willie CB - MarketOracle.co.uk
The events of the last 12 to 18 months have been as shocking as they have been instrumental in reshaping the global financial structures. In fact, the events have pointed out the fracture of the global monetary system and banking systems. The steady stream of events is accelerating in scope and intensity. The fractures are finally being recognized. The key to understanding the continuation of disruptive and chaotic events is the realization that nothing has been fixed, no remedy put in place, no reform agreed upon, no liquidation of impaired bank assets completed, and no work toward a more stable system.
Record Gold: The Real Journey Begins
Submitted by Expected Returns - ZeroHedge.com
Those of you who have been following this blog from its humble beginnings know that I have been consistently bullish on the long-term prospects of gold, and consistently bearish on the long-term prospects for the American economy. With gold sitting at $1,232 dollars and sovereign debt concerns entering the system, my thesis is unfolding before our very eyes. This is very unfortunate. I would much rather be wrong and lose money investing than be right when it entails hard times for Americans.
Global slump will stop gold momentum
By Julian Jessop
The price of gold is likely to retreat sharply from current record highs by the end of the year, believes Julian Jessop, chief international economist at Capital Economics. "Gold's performance has been impressive but should perhaps have been even better. Widespread fears over levels of public debt, the integrity of policy-making and the health of the financial system are an ideal scenario for an asset whose value is not dependent on the creditworthiness of any government or bank," he says. "In spite of this, gold has only now breached the highs seen last December, held back by the resilience of the dollar."
Trillion Shmillion, Euro Europe's "Common Currency" Is Still Doom
By: Justice Litle - MarkerOracle.co.uk As far as the euro goes, the trillion-dollar "shock and awe" program was a shocking disappointment. Here's why. "...while Europeans no longer fear foreign armies, they are starting to fear foreign bondholders. Europe's existence as a "lifestyle superpower' has depended on an ample supply of credit..."- Gideon Rachman, Financial Times "...this is just another example of a short-term, leveraged solution, that merely adds to the burden of future problems..." - Marc Ostwald, Monument Securities
I know the perfect gift for Angela Merkel (Chancellor of Germany), Nicolas Sarkozy (President of France), and Jean-Claude Trichet (head of the European Central Bank). Someone in the clothing business should print up a graphic that says, "I Spent a Trillion Dollars... and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt." Roughly one week ago Jean-Claude Trichet, aka "Mr. Euro," was telling the world there was no way the ECB would go nuclear. Then, over the weekend, they went nuclear.
Rather than dropping an atomic bomb, however, Europe dropped a money bomb on the markets - a rescue package worth some $962 billion, give or take. The package included authority for the ECB to wade into the markets and directly purchase debt.
HyperInflation or HyperDeflation? The Quantity Theory of Money
By: Professor Emeritus - MartketOracle.co.uk
James Turk's article Hyperinflation Looms dated April 20, 2010, is based on Quantity Theory of Money (QTM). It draws an analogy between Weimar Germany of 1923 and the United States of 2010. Both precepts are invalid. As far as the QTM is concerned, it suffices to point to the very fact, admitted by Turk, that it is possible to have a shortage of money simultaneously with the overworking of the printing presses. Hyperinflation is not the same as the ultimate inflation of the money supply. It is the ultimate depreciation of the currency unit. The two concepts are far from being the same, QTM notwithstanding.
Gold Investing: Protection Against Inflation
By Bill Bonner - The DailyReckoning.com
05/12/10 Paris, France - People don't realize it, but these macro economic issues have real, personal consequences, said our French MoneyWeek editor. Simone calculated that keeping the debt under control, at 2009 levels, would cost the average Greek nearly $2,500 per year. That's just the cost, per capita, of keeping up with the interest, while holding other expenses even with government revenues.
Not many Greeks want to pay that amount. Not many will be able to. And more than a few will think they're being treated like chumps. They'll imagine that it's all a conspiracy of the elites or some kind of fraud on the part of the governing classes.
Inflation; A Positive Development for the Astute
By Sol Palha - Kitco.com When you see a worthy person, endeavor to emulate him. When you see an unworthy person, then examine your inner self. Confucius,BC 551-479, Chinese Ethical Teacher, Philosopher
We all pretty much have felt the effects of inflation in one form or another. However, economists and the central bankers choose to define inflation as an increase in price of goods. This is a very clever way to actually hide what they are doing. If they are able to inflate the money supply but keep the cost of certain goods suppressed, mainly those that the average Joe uses everyday, they have more or less won; the simple reason being that the average person has come to view inflation in terms of rising prices.
One mechanism to keeping the cost of common goods down is through the use of heavy subsidies. This is used everywhere in the farming sectors, Manufacturing and industrial sectors, etc. I will elaborate on this in more detail on a follow up essay as this would a deviation from the topic at hand.
Cameron and Clegg herald 'new politics'
By James Boxell - FT.com
David Cameron, new UK prime minister, on Wednesday heralded his historic coalition between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats as representing a "new politics where the national interest outweighs party interest".
Morgan Stanley Under the Microscope
Goldman Sachs Advises Closing Short Euro Versus Pound Trade
By Bo Nielsen
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. ended its bet on the pound against the euro on speculation tighter fiscal policy will lower U.K. growth and that the Bank of England will postpone raising rates, the New York-based bank said today.
In Greek Debt Crisis, Some See Parallels to U.S.
By DAVID LEONHARDT NYTimes.com
It's easy to look at the protesters and the politicians in Greece - and at the other European countries with huge debts - and wonder why they don't get it. They have been enjoying more generous government benefits than they can afford. No mass rally and no bailout fund will change that. Only benefit cuts or tax increases can. Yet in the back of your mind comes a nagging question: how different, really, is the United States?
E.U. Debt Bailout Delays the Inevitable Economic and Market Crash
By: Dr Jeff Lewis - MarketOracle.co.uk
It took absolutely nothing to bring the stock markets to their knees, but nearly $1 trillion to give them piece of mind. Yes, the European bailout may solve temporary woes, but in the end, it is nothing more than a temporary solution. How the Bailout Works
The bulk of the money allocated to bailing out Europe's debt ridden nations is to be borrowed on behalf of other more creditworthy nations. European officials have decided that 16 nations currently using the Euro as their currency would put up 440 billion Euro in loans, as well as a 60 billion Euro infusion from the EU itself.
Regulators Dissect Trades, Searching for Cause of Plunge
By EDWARD WYATT and GRAHAM BOWLEY - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - Regulators examining the causes of the brief stock market free fall last Thursday are looking closely at heavy selling in the market for stock-index futures by a single trader, beginning 10 minutes before stock prices began to plummet. Gary Gensler, the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday that during that crucial time period, the futures trader, whom he would not identify, accounted for about 9 percent of trading volume in the most actively traded stock-index derivative contract, known as the 500 e-mini futures contract.
4 Big Banks Score Perfect 61-Day Run
By ERIC DASH - NYTimes.com
It is the Wall Street equivalent of a perfect game of baseball - 27 up, 27 down, the final score measured in millions of dollars a day. Despite the running unease in world markets, four giants of American finance managed to make money from trading every single day during the first three months of the year. Their remarkable 61-day streak is one for the record books. Perfect trading quarters on Wall Street are about as rare as perfect games in Major League Baseball. On Sunday, Dallas Braden of the Oakland Athletics pitched what was only the 19th perfect game in baseball history.
Imports and Exports Rise but Trade Deficit Widens
By CHRISTINE HAUSER NYTimes.com
Trade data released on Wednesday showed that United States imports and exports increased in March, the latest sign that the economic recovery was progressing. The Commerce Department's monthly report on trade showed a 3.1 percent increase in imports in March from the previous month and a 3.2 percent increase in exports. The country's trade deficit, however, increased 2.5 percent in March, to $40.4 billion, up from $39.4 billion in February. That was slightly narrower than the $40.5 billion estimate from economists.
Is the US Economy Recovering or Isn't It?
By: Gerard Jackson
The Democrats' media pals are breathless with reports of a growing recovery. Only political bigots could possibly dispute the trend. As readers know, I tend to take a very strong historical perspective. Unlike physics or chemistry economics cannot perform laboratory-like experiments. However, the discipline does have a tremendous amount of historical evidence on which to draw. We should consider these events as economic case studies.
To see why I take a very pessimistic view of the present situation and the GDP figures we need only look at the 1930s. In 1933 GDP started to swiftly rise. By 1937 it had increased by about 32 per cent, then there was a violent contraction. Expansion quickly resumed and by 1939 it had risen by more than 50 per cent over the 1933 level. However, unemployment stood at 19 per cent against the 1933 rate of 25 per cent. So the years 1933 to 1939 were marked by six years of 'recovery', one contractionary year, mass unemployment and capital consumption. (The per centage of metal working equipment more than 10 years old rose from 44 per cent in 1925 to 70 per cent in 1940.)
U.S. posts 19th straight monthly budget deficit
(Reuters) - The United States posted an $82.69 billion deficit in April, nearly four times the $20.91 billion shortfall registered in April 2009 and the largest on record for that month, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday. It was more than twice the $40-billion deficit that Wall Street economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast and was striking since April marks the filing deadline for individual income taxes that are the main source of government revenue. Department officials said that in prior years, there was a surplus during April in 43 out of the past 56 years. The government has now posted 19 consecutive monthly budget deficits, the longest string of shortfalls on record.
U.S. Budget Deficit and Debt Landmines Dead Ahead!
By: Casey Research
It's our contention that the president's fiscal commission is mostly for show; the 3% limit is just a hoop for the clowns to jump through. U.S. government finances are now past the point of no return; the U.S. government lacks not just the will but the ability to close the gap between revenue and expenditure.
At The Casey Report, we like to focus on facts. Unfortunately, when it comes to government debt, the facts aren't pretty. They show that the country is already sliding towards financial collapse and hyperinflation in a way not dissimilar to the Weimar Republic. Let's first look at recent history to see how reliable CBO forecasts have been. In 1999 the CBO issued its 10-year forecast for 2000-2009 (see charts below). It looked as though we were heading into ten years of prosperity that would rescue us from little worries like the trillions in unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare.
Is Terror Target Out of Reach?
BP knew of problems hours before blast
By Steve Hargreaves,
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- BP knew of problems with an offshore well hours before it exploded last month, spilling millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a House committee chairman said Wednesday. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the oil company told the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight privately that the well failed a key pressure test just hours before it exploded on April 20. The test indicated pressure was building up in the well, which could indicate oil or gas was seeping in and could lead to an explosion, said Waxman.
Panel reveals litany of failures on oil spill
By Anna Fifield in Washington - FT.com
A powerful House investigations panel on Wednesday revealed a litany of failures in the blow-out preventer in BP's leaking Gulf of Mexico well, suggesting that BP and Transocean officials overlooked warning signs and then disagreed on what to do about them.
The revelations, contained in more than 100,000 pages of documents obtained from the companies involved, also showed that the blow-out preventer had been extensively modified in ways that BP did not appear to recognise as the leak began.
Oil on their Hands:
BP in blame game over worst US eco disaster ever
Gulf oil spill: firms ignored warning signs before blast, inquiry hears
Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, Documents suggest BP, Transocean and Halliburton ignored tests indicating faulty safety equipment, says committee
BP was aware of equipment problems aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig hours before the explosion pumped millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a congressional hearing was told yesterday. In a second day of hearings, the House of Representatives's energy and commerce committee said documents and company briefings suggested that BP, which owned the well; Transocean, which owned the rig; and Halliburton, which made the cement casing for the well, ignored tests in the hours before the 20 April explosion that indicated faulty safety equipment.
Don't Throw the RIG Out with the Bathwater
By Byron King - The Dailyreckoning.com
05/12/10 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Transocean (NYSE:RIG) shares hit $65 last week, and I think that's a near-term bottom. Yes, there's a lot of finger-pointing at Transocean, mostly by people who are immensely ignorant of how the drilling business works. Or they have a vested interest in shifting the blame.
At the end of the day, BP hired Transocean to drill a well that BP designed. If Transocean followed the specs, you can't pin the donkey-tail on these guys. The worst anyone can say - and they're saying it - is that Transocean had a bad blowout preventer (BOP) that didn't function.
Fannie, Freddie aid cost unclear
by Corbett B. Daly
(Reuters) - It is unclear how much U.S. taxpayers will eventually have to shell out to help mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the regulator of the two companies said on Tuesday. "The actual cost I do not know," Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Edward DeMarco said in response to a question from Kentucky Republican Senator Jim Bunning at a Senate Finance Committee hearing. Fannie Mae said on Monday it would need an additional $8.4 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The two firms have now tapped about $145 billion from the government and the Obama administration has said it will backstop losses, no matter how high they go, through 2012.
In a Job Market Realignment, Some Workers Left Behind
By CATHERINE RAMPELL - NYTimes.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Many of the jobs lost during the recession are not coming back. Period. For the last two years, the weak economy has provided an opportunity for employers to do what they would have done anyway: dismiss millions of people - like file clerks, ticket agents and autoworkers - who were displaced by technological advances and international trade. The phasing out of these positions might have been accomplished through less painful means like attrition, buyouts or more incremental layoffs. But because of the recession, winter came early. The tough environment has been especially disorienting for older and more experienced workers like Cynthia Norton, 52, an unemployed administrative assistant in Jacksonville.
Record Number Of Foodstamp Recipients And Near Record Low Volume - Market Melt Up Guaranteed
Submitted by Tyler Durden ZeroHedge.com
First, just in case you were wondering, today's melt up episode #xyz is being orchestrated by the HFTs on no volume as per the norm. There is no volume period. The volume only appears when the Dow is down 1000 points. At that point everyone tries to front run everyone else as we saw last Thursday. It happened then, it will happen again. In the meantime nothing will change, except the launching station for the 30% drop straight down will be marginally higher (one would hope).
Immigration Fears Are Back on the Front Burner for More Americans
By JONATHAN BERR - DailyFinance.com Americans are increasingly worried about immigration, a new poll shows, but it remains to be seen how their rising anxiety will affect the midterm elections.
According to a Gallup poll conducted between May 3 and May 6, 10% of Americans viewed immigration as the most important problem facing the country today, up from just 2% in April. Though the big news was that the economy in general jumped ahead of unemployment to top the problems list, Gallup notes that this is the first time immigration has shown a double-digit reading since January 2008. Not surprisingly, most of the concern about illegal immigration came from respondents in Western states
L.A. City Council votes to ban travel and future contracts with Arizona because of tough new immigration law - LATimes.com
The Los Angeles City Council, protesting Arizona''s crackdown on illegal immigration, on Wednesday voted to ban most city travel to Arizona and future contracts with companies in that state.
During a morning-long debate on the resolution, council members compared Arizona's action to Nazi Germany and the beginning of the Holocaust, as well as the internment and deportation of Japanese Americans during World War II. A new Arizona law, which will take effect July 23, will require police to determine whether people they stop are in the country illegally, which critics say will lead to racial profiling.
"Los Angeles the second-largest city in this country, an immigrant city, an international city. It needs to have its voice heard," said Councilman Ed Reyes, one of the resolution's sponsors. "As an American, I cannot go to Arizona today without a passport. If I come across an officer who''s having a bad day and feels that the picture on my ID is not me, I can be É deported, no questions asked. That is not American.'"
Out of control satellite threatens television reception across US
A TV communications satellite is drifting out of control thousands of miles above the Earth, threatening to wander into another satellite's orbit and interfere with cable programming across the United States.
Communications company Intelsat said it lost control of the Galaxy 15 satellite on April 5, possibly because the satellite's systems were knocked out by a solar storm. Intelsat cannot remotely steer the satellite to remain in its orbit, so Galaxy 15 is creeping toward the adjacent path of another TV communications satellite that serves US cable companies. Galaxy 15 continues to receive and transmit satellite signals, and they will probably overlap and interfere with signals from the second satellite, known as AMC 11, if Galaxy 15 drifts into its orbit as expected around May 23, according to the two satellite companies.
Taiwan Weighs Trade Deal With Mainland
By JONATHAN ADAMS - NYTimes.com
YONGKANG CITY, TAIWAN - In a dimly lit factory off a dusty road in southern Taiwan, Liao Li-hsin, 29, smacks a leather sandal into shape. He pulls a shoe from a pile, snugly inserts a bright yellow plastic fake foot, and gives the leather straps a few thwacks with a hammer. Then he throws the sandal on a pile and repeats. Mr. Liao is one of tens of thousands of workers in Taiwan's handmade shoe industry, which produces mostly for the domestic market.
Iraq violence set to delay US troop withdrawal
Martin Chulov in Baghdad - guardian.co.uk Withdrawal of first large phase of combat troops likely to be delayed for at least a month due to Iraq's instability
The White House is likely to delay the withdrawal of the first large phase of combat troops from Iraq for at least a month after escalating bloodshed and political instability in the country. General Ray Odierno, the US commander, had been due to give the order within 60 days of the general election held in Iraq on 7 March, when the cross-sectarian candidate Ayad Allawi edged out the incumbent leader, Nouri al-Maliki.
Distrust of Afghan Leaders Threatens U.S. War Strategy
By ALISSA J. RUBIN - NYTimes.com
JALALABAD, Afghanistan - Nearly a year into a new war strategy for Afghanistan, the hardest fighting is still ahead, but already it is clear that the biggest challenge lies not on the battlefield but in the governing of Afghanistan itself. That has been the early lesson of the American-led offensive in February in Marja, in Helmand Province, where most Taliban insurgents either were beaten back or drifted away. Since then, Americans and Afghans have struggled to establish a local government that can win the loyalty of the Afghan people, something that is essential to keeping the Taliban at bay.
Wednesday 05.12.2010
CDS Traders Beating The UK Death Drums
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
As we pointed out last week, nobody cares about either Greece or the PIIGs any more. The focus among the smartest money out there, in the face of CDS traders, for the third week running, is on the core of Europe, and specifically on the UK. Last week the net notional derisking in UK was a massive $1,063 million in 280 traded contracts, which according to our files is the single biggest one week derisking amount on record. all the Greek "speculators" are now focusing their attention squarely on the UK... and France, which came in second with $384 million in derisking. Incidentally, these two represented the greatest amount of of derisking in all top 1000 CDS reference names (third altogether was not surprisingly Goldman Sachs with $256 million). The bet is now squarely on that the PIIGS contagion will move to the UK, and that France will also not be spared.
Using the Same Economic Recipe means getting the Same Tragic Results
by Paul Mladjenovic - FinancialSense.com
As we all watch from a distance, Greece is crumbling under the weight of its own spending and statist profligacy. It is important to highlight why Greece is where it is and what it means for the United States:
Greece is in chaos and collapse because in recent years...
It's government grew too big
It's public unions demanded more and more resources
It's private sector was (and is) being taxed more and more
The government's deficit is rising and rising
The deficits were financed by more and more debt
Higher and higher taxes resulted in less and less tax revenue
More demand and less supply meant rising prices for goods and services
The symptoms become chaos, violence, bankruptcy and collapse.
Reality arrived in 2010.
Now, what are we doing RIGHT NOW in the United States? What is happening for the good ol' USA?
2010, Year of Sovereign Risk
by Hans Wagner, FinancialSense.com
2010 will be known as the year of Sovereign risk as 2008 became know as the year of the housing bubble. In many ways, the credit crisis swirling around Europe is similar to the mortgage meltdown. Taking on debt that you cannot pay for later seems to become epidemic. Borrowing to pay for current consumption creates a false sense of wealth. At some point, you have to pay it back. Or those holding the debt have to forgive part of all of what you owe, If they do, they face financial ruin. There is no easy answer.
ECB risks its reputation and a German backlash over mass bond purchases
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The European Central Bank risks irreparable damage to its reputation by agreeing to the mass purchases of southern European bonds in defiance of the German Bundesbank and apparently under orders from EU leaders.
Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB's president, denied there had been any political interference. "We are fiercely and totally independent," he said. It is clear, however, that the two German members of the ECB's council voted against the move, a revelation that may cause a catastrophic political backlash in Germany. Axel Weber, ultra-hawkish head of the Bundesbank, told Boersen-Zeitung that the emergency move over the weekend had been a mistake. "The purchase of government bonds poses significant stability risks and that's why I'm critical of this part of the ECB's council's decision, even in this extraordinary situation," he said. The rebuke is devastating. The ECB draws it authority from the legacy and aura of the Bundesbank.
Roubini: Happy Days Are Over, Economy to Slow in Second Half of Year
by Henry Blodget - Tech Ticker
Nouriel "Dr. Doom" Roubini sounds less cataclysmic than he did two years ago, when he was one of the only folks warning of impending disaster, but he still doesn't come bearing good news.
A professor of at NYU and economist at Roubini Global Economics, Roubini says that the U.S. economic recovery will slow in the second half of the year, as consumers nurse their wounds and the peak spending from the stimulus wears off.
The culprit?
Gold soars to record high
By Annalyn Censky, CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gold settled at a new all-time high Tuesday, after building upward momentum during a volatile day for the stock market. What prices are doing: Gold for June delivery rose $19.50, or about 1.62%, to $1,220.30 an ounce, surpassing its all-time high. Gold posted its last record high on another volatile trading day, Dec. 3, 2009, when it settled at $1,218.30 an ounce. What's moving the market: Gold rallied 2% when the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points on Thursday, with the precious metal closing that day at $1,197.30.
Comex gold hits historic record $1,232 an ounce
CommodityOnline.com
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Gold is setting its price at historic records even as European nations led by Greece are in the grip of a huge debt crisis. On Tuesday, gold futures on Comex surged to hit a record high of $1,232.50 an ounce. This is the first time in the history of bullion trading that gold has zoomed to touch this level. What is driving up gold price these days? How long will it go? Here are two reports on the historic march of gold price:
Trillion dollar woes for gold!
By Geena Paul
LONDON (Commodity Online): This week International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union announced a surprise and shock package of $1 trillion for rescuing the Euro from the looming economic threat. The bailout package, announced after the Greece economic tragedy threatened to spread to other EU nations, not only stunned the equity markets across the globe but also shocked the gold market. Even as the equity markets zoomed following the unveiling of the bailout plan, gold prices plunged across the globe. The reason is that with the IMF-EU scheme pledging around $1 trillion to rescue the Euro, stock markets witnessed a bull run in the US, Europe, India and other nations. With this, gold lost its safe haven image and the metal prices plunged within hours of the unveiling of the scheme.
Even After the EU Bailout, Gold Keeps Rising
By GIL RUDAWSKY - DailyFinance.com
Still smarting from last week's market drubbing and unsure that the crisis overseas is truly over, investors keep looking for a modicum of safety. And they're turning to gold, catapulting the price of the precious metal to an all-time high Tuesday. Spot prices closed at $1,232 an ounce, up $30, or about 2.5% for the day. The yellow metal is 6% higher for the month, and 35% for the year. The lofty price doesn't seem to be discouraging investors who see the investment as a safer haven than traditional stocks.
More Financial Crises Coming Thanks to Global "Wall of Liquidity," Roubini Says
by Heesun Wee - Tech Ticker
In the new book, "Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance," co-author Nouriel Roubini makes the case for why "black swans may become white swans." In other words, "crises once thought to occur only once or twice a century may hammer the global economy far more often."
Gold and the Myth of Free Markets
by Darryl Schoon - FinancialSense.com Some conspire to take power; others conspire to keep it
What we don't know explains what we don't understand. This is why the work of the Gold Anti-Trust Action committee, GATA, is to be admired. Much of the exposure of the US government's hidden hand in the manipulation of the gold markets is due to GATA's work. What most still do not understand is the extent of that hidden hand and its effect on America, a nation many believe to be free.
The sewers of influence that course through America's financial system are hidden from the public eye and for good reason. If Americans understood the intent and motives of those who control the nation's finances, they would realize they're the patsies in an on-going suckers game with political parties the hired hacks who work on behalf of those who run the country; but, of course, Americans don't understand and the game goes on.
Investing in Gold: No Doubt About It
By The Mogambo Guru - The DailyReckoning.com
I spend a lot of time worrying about how "We're freaking doomed!" and thus I spend a lot of time crying in fear and occasionally screaming in outrage, a fact that has gotten me thrown out of a lot of bars, and which has not made me any new friends, either, which Suits Me Fine (SMF), actually, since everybody I meet seems to be a moron who cannot see the wisdom of buying gold, silver and oil to protect themselves against the ruinous inflation in prices that will follow the Federal Reserve's creating So Freaking Much Money (SFMM) and all the rest of the world's banks creating SFMM and all of the world's governments (except Norway, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong) deficit-spending their little pea-brains out
Who did the I.M.F. sell their 24.4 tonnes of gold to?
by Julian D.W. Phillips - FinancialSense.com
The 2007 Crockett Report recommended that the IMF establish an endowment, funded by the proceeds of limited and structured gold sales. In June 2009, the process allowing the I.M.F. to sell 403.3 tones of gold was finalised. The joint statement on gold released in August 2009, announcing the renewal of C.B.G.A., included the following wording: "The signatories recognize the intention of the IMF to sell 403 tonnes of gold and noted that such sales can be accommodated within the above ceilings.' To date, 212 tonnes of gold have been sold by the IMF in off-market transactions and the IMF has announced plans to offer the remainder of its saleable gold on the open market."
Collecting Problems: U.S. Mint Faces a Coin Cost Dilemma
By BRUCE WATSON - DailyFinance.com
A recent move by the Obama administration may lighten wallets across the country -- but not in a bad way. According to The Wall Street Journal, the White House is considering proposals that would alter the metallic composition of America's pocket change to make it cheaper to produce the coins. Although some groups -- notably, coin collectors -- are wary of any change in the nation's metal currency, it looks like this could be a profitable move for the country.
The big problem is that some U.S. coins cost more to make than they are actually worth. The prices of coin metals, which fell to five-year lows at the beginning of 2009, have risen back to 2007 levels, driving the production price of some coins up above their face value. According to the United States Mint's 2009 Annual Report, pennies currently cost 1.6 cents apiece to produce and nickels cost 6 cents apiece; more recent estimates claim that the cost of manufacturing a nickel is closer to 9 cents.
Here Is Why the Fed Cannot Simply Continue to Inflate Its Way Out of Every Financial Crisis That It Creates
JESSE'S CAFE AMERICAIN
The return on each new dollar of US debt is plummeting to new lows according to figures from the Federal Reserve. The chart below is from the essay, Not Just Another Greek Tragedy by Cornerstone. I have been watching this chart for the past ten years, as part of the dynamic of the sustainability of the bond and the dollar as the limiting factor on the Fed's ability to expand the money supply. In other words, if each new dollar of debt costs ten percent in interest, largely paid to external entities, and it generates less than ten cents in domestic product, it is a difficult task to grow your way out of that debt without a default or dramatic restructuring.
Chinese inflation: Why it matters here
By Chris Isidore,
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Inflation is picking up in China, sparking U.S. concerns that reining in growth there could have negative consequences here. Some fear that a pullback in China's overheated economy could hurt markets here, by cutting Chinese investment in U.S. stocks and Treasurys. And the higher inflation reading, coupled with 12% annual economic growth rate in the first quarter, is setting off alarm bells around the world.
Roubini Says China Risks 'Significant' Economic Slowdown
US Could See a Debt Downgrade as Early as 2013
By Rocky Vega - The DailyReckoning.com
As if money were no object, the US has joined European nations to help salvage what's left of a currency union that's hit the skids. The US is helping to finance the EU bailout in two ways. First, in the form of a massive currency swap line it's extending to EU countries to support increased dollar demand. Second, in cash the US has paid for its roughly 17 percent membership stake in the IMFÉ funds which are at least partly being loaned out now to support Europe. Yet, financially speaking, the US is in a fairly poor position to be helping out other nations.
Rational Panic Where Are We?
by Adam Brochert, FinanacialSense.com
Honestly, it may actually be time for Prechter to be mostly right. I love the guy and his rational arguments. I just hate that he doesn't accept Gold as real money that will be sought as a safe haven more than the U.S. Dollar. If you take his arguments for Armageddon in the stock market and price the stock market in Gold, the guy's already been right for a decade! For some reason, the cognitive dissonance he should be feeling with Gold isn't enough yet for him to recognize and let everyone know he made a mistake about Gold. Gold is a safer haven currency than the U.S. Dollar because it is real money and doesn't require a debt backing or faith in governments to do the right thing (which, of course, they won't).
Brother Can You Spare a Trillion?
by Bill Downey - FinancialSense.com
In what has now become the normal in expectations, European policy makers have announced a 750 BILLION EURO bailout policy late Sunday evening in defense of the Euro currency and a show of force between the USA FED, the European Central bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.
In a nutshell they will buy bonds and will intervene in markets and "do what they have to" in order to avoid a meltdown. This is akin to the USA bailout of 1 Trillion dollars. This will only buy time, but it is all that can be done right now. For the moment the term being touted this Monday morning is "putting a floor on risk assets". This time they mean stocks and bonds and not commodities.
Bailout American Style
EU Bailout Footnote: Currency Swap Lines Reopened
By Ian Mathias - The DailyReckoning.com
The Federal Reserve has reopened currency swap lines with the European Central Bank. A quiet footnote to yesterday's EU bailout announcement, the Fed and ECB said - without the support of a single voter or representative - that they would restart a market manipulation program that ended February 1st, 2010.
"This is a ready source of liquidity," Dave Gonigam, my 5 Min. Forecast colleague explains, "for the ECB to follow through on its promises to buy up both sovereign and private debt as part of this ridiculous rescue package. How much liquidity? We don't know, since the linchpin of the whole thing is an utterly opaque off-balance sheet entity totaling 440 billion euros."
THE HUNGARIAN CONNECTION
by Antal E. Fekete, FinancialSense.com
The Austrian School of Economics dates its beginnings back to the publication in 1871 of a slender volume: The Principles of Economics (Grundsätze der Volkwirtschaftslehre) by Carl Menger. The adjective "Austrian" was meant to be derogatory, introduced by economists of German school of historicism to ridicule Menger's idea of basing economic science on axiomatic foundations, on the pattern of logic and mathematics. The root of the word "Austrian" is "East", so the connotation of "Austrian economics" is "oriental economics" - a kind of voodoo economics.
Cameron Takes Over as British Premier After Brown Resigns
By JOHN F. BURNS - NYTimes.com
LONDON - Britain's Conservatives returned to power on Tuesday after 13 years in opposition when David Cameron, a 43-year-old politician who has tried to recast the party of Margaret Thatcher as more compassionate and less class-bound, took over as prime minister from Labour's Gordon Brown. Five days after a general election that left the Conservatives 20 seats short of a majority, Mr. Cameron cobbled together an unlikely alliance with the Liberal Democrats to form the first coalition government since World War II.
Debunking Two Myths About the EU Bailout
By PETER COHAN - DailyFinance.com
A number of myths are emerging about the European Union's sovereign debt stabilization package. During a TV appearance Monday morning to discuss the EU's program, I was sandwiched between people promoting two interpretations that are becoming widespread: The first is that the U.S. taxpayer are putting unlimited dollars into bailing out Europe; the second is that the Fed's loose money will produce out-of-control inflation.
Before getting into the little details of these myths, let's look at the EU's $957 billion bailout plan. According to The New York Times, the money will come from three sources: $560 billion in potential loans, made as needed, through so-called Special Purpose Entities, $321 billion in potential loans from the International Monetary Fund, and $76 billion under an existing lending program.
RonPaul - Greece and the American taxpayer
IMF report predicts long, painful road ahead for Greece's recovery
By Howard Schneider - Washington Post
ATHENS -- An internal International Monetary Fund assessment paints a dour picture of Greece's path to economic recovery, with years of high unemployment rates, slow growth and political bickering threatening to undermine a recently approved international rescue program. In crafting a $140 billion three-year bailout for the indebted country, IMF and European officials praised the Greek government for the budget cuts and tax increases it has enacted, and for its plans to further overhaul one of the continent's least competitive economies.
How the U.S. Can Become Greece
By Alan Caruba - CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
I find it interesting that an entire nation like Greece can face bankruptcy. Greece will be loaned billions that it is not likely to ever repay. Meanwhile, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland are financially shaky as well. England is not much better off and the United States is printing money in the basement of the Federal Reserve while also borrowing it from China, Japan, and everyone else.
Roubini Discusses $1 Trillion European Loan Package
Stock market time bomb?
By Arnaud de Borchgrave - WashingtonTimes.com
Derivatives crash could blow up the global economy
Even the world's most savvy stock-market giants (e.g., Warren E. Buffett) have warned over the past decade that derivatives are the fiscal equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) - potentially lethal. And the consequences of such an explosion would make the recent global financial and economic crisis seem like penny ante. But generously lubricated lobbyists for the unrestricted, unsupervised derivatives markets tell congressional committees and government regulators to butt out.
Senate votes to examine Federal Reserve lending
By JIM KUHNHENN AP -WashingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON -- The Senate voted unanimously to peer into Federal Reserve decision-making Tuesday, authorizing an examination of the central bank's emergency lending to financial institutions in the months surrounding the 2008 financial crisis. Separately, Democrats rejected a Republican plan to end the government's support of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - a financial rescue that now stands at $145 billion. Instead, the Senate voted to instruct the Treasury to study and recommend how the government can end its relationship with the two housing finance companies.
Washington's War With Wall St. to Blame for Panic Selling, Scott Bleier Says by Peter Gorenstein - Tech Ticker
Traders, exchanges and regulators are still trying to figure out what prompted Thursday's near 1,000-point drop. One theory espoused by CNBC claims the precipitous drop was the result of a 'fat finger' mistake triggered when a trader accidentally sold billions of shares instead of millions.
Scott Bleier, president of financial advisory firm Createcapital.com, doesn't buy it. "There's no trading error. In my opinion, I think it's a lie," he tells Tech Ticker in this clip.
Bleier believes the sell-off was the result of a "perfect storm" created by Europe's debt crisis, a market that's come too far too fast, and a government that has suddenly turned against Wall Street.
FDIC proposes new rules on asset-backed securities
By MARCY GORDON and ALAN ZIBEL (AP)
WASHINGTON - Federal banking regulators on Tuesday proposed stricter rules for banks that create asset-backed securities, the bundles of loans that helped spark the market collapse in 2008 and the near-meltdown of the financial system. The securities, which may contain mortgage, credit card or auto loans, would have to meet the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s requirements so the government wouldn't seize them if the bank failed. Banks would be required in most cases to hold at least 5 percent of the securities on their own books to qualify for a guarantee against seizure. The idea is that banks with such exposure to risk would be more careful about properly screening borrowers.
In bed with Fannie and Freddie
By THE WASHINGTON TIMES Why 'financial reform' doesn't touch the troubled lenders
America's greatest economic liability is also the greatest political liability for the Democratic congressional leadership. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have exposed taxpayers to $5.4 trillion in risk from loan guarantees, with taxpayers already having covered $126 billion in losses. So far, Democrats have been reluctant to include tough reforms on the profligate government-sponsored enterprises in the financial regulation package currently making its way through the legislative process.
Keiser Report: Future Made In China?
Five things we still don't know about the market plunge.
By Heidi N. Moore - TheBigMoney.com
On Tuesday, the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing to find out what exactly happened on Thursday, May 6, to send the Dow Jones Industrial Average diving 1,000 points in a matter of minutes. This is perhaps the first time that a congressional hearing will actually be useful in financial fact-finding. The truth of what happened is buried among records of billions of Thursday trades. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, unable to publicly explain the cause, chose a "kill them all and let God sort them out" approach, cancelling thousands of trades.
Senate passes measure for increased Fed oversight
By Brady Dennis - Washington Post
Senate lawmakers voted unanimously Tuesday in favor of measure that would subject the Federal Reserve to increased oversight. The legislation, an amendment to a broader financial overhaul package currently before the Senate, was spearheaded by Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) and co-sponsored by colleagues on both sides of the aisle. The measure gives the Government Accountability Office expanded power to audit the Fed and requires the central bank to disclose details about the firms that received emergency aid during the financial crisis.
The dangers of Quant Trading models Dow's 1000 point drop a prime example
by Sol Palha, FinancialSense.com
Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will want to use it. George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950, Irish-born British Dramatist
The initial trigger for the drop in the Dow was probably due to fears that the Greek crisis was going to spread. One could credit this for 300 or maybe even a 400 point drop in the Dow; however, a 1000 point drop is quite another matter. At 2.20Pm the Dow was at 10,460 and then suddenly in 7 minutes it shed another 600 points. Humans could never move that fast. There are rumours that a trader entered billion instead of million and this triggered the massive sell off. Whatever the cause the main wave of selling was initiated by computers.
Republicans want to see Kagan's memos for Bill Clinton
By Shailagh Murray - WashingtonPost.com
Senate Republicans pledged Tuesday to give Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan a tough grilling this summer, and they expressed particular interest in her tenure as a domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton.
"It is a confirmation, it's not a coronation," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Concerned about Kagan's thin paper trail and lack of judicial experience, GOP senators said they would seek to learn more about Kagan's Clinton White House service as a potential window into her thinking on major issues. Sessions said he would seek memos and other materials from that period of Kagan's career, which stretched from 1997 to 1999.
A Surprise Tax Hit on Foreclosures
By JEFF D. OPDYKE - WSJ.com For People Who Lose or Walk Away From Their Homes, A Big Tax Bill May Loom Maxine McDaniel has a message for Americans considering walking away from an unaffordable mortgage: Beware of taxes. Though not every homeowner who's underwater on a mortgage need worry, many are finding that a foreclosure or other form of housing loss can lead to a big tax obligation. In Ms. McDaniel's case, the 59-year-old in January abandoned the 4,300-square-foot Loveland, Colo., home she and her late husband built. After her husband's death in July 2008, Ms. McDaniel, who earns about $34,000 a year as a home-health nurse, couldn't maintain the $3,000 monthly payments necessary on her nearly $500,000 interest-only mortgage. So she stopped making them and moved in with an uncle.
Real estate's new problem: Not enough homes
By Les Christie
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Can it be possible? Despite the housing bust and high foreclosure rates, in some areas real estate agents are complaining that they don't have enough homes to sell. There is currently an eight-month supply of homes on the market -- meaning that, at the current sales pace, it would take eight months to run through the backlog. That's still a lot compared to the six-month supply that is expected in a normal market, but it is much better than it was. In March, there were nearly 2% fewer homes on the market than there were a year ago, and 21.7% fewer than the record of 4.6 million in July 2008.
Walter Williams on Freedom Watch With The Judge
Fixing Social Security: The 'low hanging fruit'
By Jeanne Sahadi,
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Reforming Social Security is still a hot-button issue. But relative to other measures needed to stabilize U.S. debt, it should be a snap. "They could begin with Social Security, which oddly enough has gone from being the 'third rail of American politics' to the low-hanging fruit," wrote Robert Bixby, director of the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan, grassroots deficit watchdog group. While a Social Security fix would cure only a small part of the country's long-term fiscal shortfall, it could pay big dividends in terms of the U.S. standing internationally, deficit hawks say. "It would be a confidence builder with our foreign lenders," said Pete Peterson at a recent fiscal summit organized by his foundation, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
Obama Seeks to Split Agency That Monitors Oil Drilling
By JOHN M. BRODER - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration on Tuesday proposed breaking up the agency responsible for both policing the oil industry and acting as its partner in drilling activities, seeking to end a decades-old relationship between industry and government that has proved highly profitable - and some say too cozy - for both. The administration has been under pressure to address weaknesses in federal oil regulation since the BP well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico three weeks ago.
BP Slick THE SOURCE 05.07.10
U.S. to Break Up Oil-Rig Regulator
By STEPHEN POWER, NEIL KING JR. And SIOBHAN HUGHES - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON-The Interior Department plans to split the primary regulator of the oil industry into two parts amid controversy over its oversight of the doomed Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, marking the biggest political fallout so far from the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
The Minerals Management Service, a small division of Interior, now has dual roles, both to ensure the safety of oil drilling in federal waters and land, and to collect royalties from oil and gas companies. Some government watchdogs have said that amounts to a conflict of interest, as employees must focus on keeping oil revenue flowing while also overseeing safety.
Rig Owner Had Rising Tally of Accidents
By BEN CASSELMAN - WSJ.com
The sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which triggered the spill spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, caught the energy world by surprise. The operator, Transocean Ltd., is a giant in the brave new world of drilling for oil in deep waters far offshore. It had been honored by regulators for its safety record. The very day of the blast on the rig, executives were aboard celebrating its seven straight years free of serious accidents. But a Wall Street Journal examination of Transocean's record paints a more equivocal picture. Nearly three of every four incidents that triggered federal investigations into safety and other problems on deepwater drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico since 2008 have been on rigs operated by Transocean, according to an analysis of federal data. Transocean defended its safety record but didn't dispute the Journal's analysis.
Training Exercises Revealed Gaps in Preparedness for Major Oil Spill
By JOHN SOLOMON, AARON MEHTA, MATTHEW MOSK and AVNI PATEL
CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY AND ABC NEWS
Lack of Experience, Poor Communications and Conflicting Roles Cited
Three weeks before the massive Gulf oil rig explosion, U.S Coast Guard officials led an elaborate exercise in which they practiced their response to a major oil spill - one of four dry runs over the past decade that foreshadowed many of the weaknesses in coordination, communication, expertise and technology that are now hampering the federal response to the oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Hill hears oil executives shift blame for spill
By Sean Lengell - WashingtonTimes.com Marchers to White House protest offshore drilling
As protesters accused President Obama of having been given a "crude awakening" Tuesday, top officials at British Petroleum tried to shift the blame for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, even as the Senate prepared to take aim at the administration's plan for more offshore oil drilling.
Sens. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, and Joe Lieberman, Connecticut independent, are expected on Wednesday to introduce legislation that would allow states directly affected by offshore drilling to veto drilling plans of nearby states if they can show significant negative impact from an accident.
Boeing C-17 Workers Go on Strike in Long Beach The union and management are at odds over medical benefits and pension plans. LONG BEACH -- Boeing C-17 line workers began a strike just after midnight Tuesday after rejecting the cargo jet company's final offer on a labor contract covering about 1,700 employees. During eleventh hour meetings Monday, the union and management failed to reach an agreement about medical benefits and pension plans. The union rejected the company' suggestions, then notified the company of its decision to strike.
Totalitarian Collectivism: Part 7 -- MEDIA
By James Hall - CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
Totalitarian Collectivism could not exist without the active involvement and implicit deceit of the media. If you believe that the media writes the first draft of history, you must also accept that journalism is the prime distorter of facts, truth and honesty. Free speech is the soul of authentic reporting and unfeigned chronicled accounts of events. The tradition of candid expression of thoughts and interpretation is central to western civilization.
Revamped Microsoft Office Will Be Free on the Web
By ASHLEE VANCE - NYTimes.com
Microsoft has created a chimera in its new Office 2010 software, part desktop software and part Web app. This latest version of Office, which includes applications like Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint, is Microsoft's long-awaited effort to modernize one of its most lucrative products and to thwart rivals like Google that are nipping at its heels with free Web software. For the first time, Microsoft will provide a free online version of Office that lets people store their documents on the Web rather than on their personal computers.
Gold price is heading towards $2,000
By Bob Hoye - CommodityOnline.com
The current tension in financial markets is providing an additional lift to gold prices. Targets based upon the 1980 to 2007 consolidation continue to point to levels above $2,000. In the short term, the mid-March bottom suggested strength would be seen through late-May or early-June with a pause at the 7/8th speedline. Previous April-May rallies have concluded with daily RSI(14) readings of 79 to 85 (currently 72) or upside Exhaustion Alerts caused by a solid week of urgency in buying pressure. The pullback to test the breakout of $1160 on May 4th and 5th alleviated the 'urgency' leaving the market free to rally once again.
Euro-Bailout to Send Gold and Silver Prices Much Higher
By: Peter Cooper - GoldSeek.com
Gold and silver prices advanced late last week in the aftermath of Thursday's 1,000-point plunge in the Dow, and bounced higher in the immediate reaction to the near trillion dollar euro-bailout package on Monday morning. 'Mr Gold', Jim Sinclair explained: 'A nuclear solution to Europe's debt problems is simply another way of saying 'Quantitative Easing to Infinity'. All national debt will be bailed out. All states of the USA will be bailed out. Paper currencies are headed to dust. 'Regardless of the first knee jerk market reaction, gold is going to $1,650 and beyond due to nuclear suggestions of adding more debt to entities failing because of debt. This is the EU Helicopter Drop coming up.'
Is There Any Gold in Ft. Knox?
Ron Paul "Just how crooked is the Fed? Today I talk to Ron Paul about auditing the gold, the EU crisis, our economic future" - Lew Rockwell
Congressman Paul, long the leader in American public life for sound money, sound banking, and the free market, talks about the progress of his Audit the Fed bill - and why the Fed, the Treasury, and the banksters fear it. He also discusses the crisis in Europe and especially Greece, and the Fed's sinister and secret role. We know why the Fed wants its secrets kept safe from the American people, about what banks and other institutions it bails out by printing new money. But why do they so fiercely resist a physical audit of the gold at Ft. Knox and the vaults of the NY Fed? What are they hiding? Did far more US gold flow overseas under LBJ and Nixon than is admitted? Has some or all of the remaining gold been sold, though it is still physically in the US? Ron Paul, and all of us, wants some answers.
The Dollar Rally is Hugely Bullish for Precious Metals
Stewart Dougherty - SilverBearCafe.com
For many years, the common viewpoint has been that an inverse price relationship between the United States Dollar and gold constitutes the First Monetary Commandment, and that this Commandment is chiseled into a stone tablet before which markets must genuflect. This false and misleading "Dollar up, gold down" religion has been proselytized at enormous, covert, public expense by the best market manipulations the high priests of Dirty Money have ever been able to buy. This has been done to deceive and delude the people about the true nature of honest money, and its devious, diabolical and immoral imposters. Now, every single corrupt market fallacy is about to be blown to smithereens as the global sovereign debt crisis performs an ages-old form of creative destruction: fiat currency annihilation. The First Monetary Commandment is already being smashed upon the rocks of common sense, and is about to become a costly heresy for those who cannot face the new and radically different monetary paradigm that the future is speeding back through time to bring us, as a deliverance.
Will Chinese Yuan outperform US dollar?
By Clif Droke - CommodityOnline.com
It's the world's biggest and fastest-growing economic powerhouse, the subject of countless daily discussions and conjectures in the news media and an endless source of controversy, fear and confusion among investors, businessmen, politicians, bankers and bureaucrats. For those who follow the global economic outlook, it's probably the single-most important focus in trying to solve the global financial crisis. And answers to the questions surrounding this country's near-term future will undoubtedly have a momentous impact on your own financial future. It's also the subject of our commentary today: The China outlook.
Jim Rogers Says Yuan Revaluation A Question of Timing
Founding ECB Vision Eclipsed by Europe's Debt Crisis
By James G. Neuger and Simon Kennedy
May 11 (Bloomberg) -- The central bank envisioned by the euro's founding fathers is being eclipsed as the sovereign debt crisis forces it to help clean up the fiscal mess of governments. Fighting speculation that soaring budget deficits would break up the 16-nation currency, euro region finance ministers yesterday came up with an unprecedented aid package worth almost $1 trillion -- and relied on the independent European Central Bank to help foot the bill.
Europe's Bazooka
By: Axel G. Merk - GoldSeek.com
French President Sarkozy wasn't kidding when he promised to shock the markets with a series of measures aimed at containing the sovereign debt crisis. Europe got the bazooka former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson always wanted. German chancellor Merkel and European Central Bank (ECB) President Trichet control the bazooka's safety. What are the implications for liquidity and solvency issues? The euro and U.S. dollar?
A Trillion for Europe, With Doubts Attached
By LANDON THOMAS Jr., JACK EWING - NYTimes.com
Like the giant financial bailout announced by the United States in 2008, the sweeping rescue package announced by Europe eased fears of a market collapse but left a big question: will it work long term? Stung by criticism that it was slow and weak, the European Union surpassed expectations in arranging a nearly $1 trillion financial commitment for its ailing members over the weekend and paved the way for the European Central Bank to begin purchases of European debt on Monday. Markets rallied around the world in response to the concerted defense of the euro, a package that exceeded in size the United States bank bailout two years ago.
Trillion Dollar Madness
by Robert Wenzel - LewRockwell.com
European policy makers have unveiled an unprecedented loan package worth almost $1 trillion and a program of bond purchases to stop the sovereign-debt crisis. The Federal Reserve will also play a role through currency swaps. The 16 euro nations agreed in a statement to offer as much as 750 billion euros ($962 billion), including International Monetary Fund backing, to countries facing instability and the European Central Bank said it will buy government and private debt.
Euro Zone Bets the House
By RICHARD BARLEY - WSJ.com
Euro-zone leaders, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank have pressed the big red button marked "do not press" with a nearly $1 trillion package of loans, guarantees, swaps and outright bond purchases. Will it work? The "shock and awe" strategy triggered a huge immediate relief rally, but key questions remain unanswered and ultimate success isn't assured. In any case, it represents a huge political gamble to restore confidence to markets, and it will have profound consequences.
PM Gordon Brown to quit as UK Labour leader
thesun.co.uk
GORDON Brown has sensationally revealed he will quit as Labour leader.
In a speech outside 10 Downing Street, the PM said his party will elect a new leader by the time of its next conference in September. But, he said, he will not stand or back any particular candidates. He added he would take the blame for losing Labour's majority at the election.
ECB Debt-Buying Sets a Precedent Amid the Storm, Questions About Bank's Role
By BRIAN BLACKSTONE
ECB's Reluctant Move to Buy Debt, a Switch From Focus on Inflation, Could Alter Its Future Position in Europe
FRANKFURT-The European Central Bank's decision to purchase the debt of some euro-zone governments, just days after appearing to reject the idea, raises new risks to its independence and its reputation. As part of Europe's response to its worsening debt crisis, the ECB said early Monday that, among other measures, it would purchase public and private debt, essentially propping up the bonds of euro-zone countries that investors worry may not be able to meet their obligations.
ECB to Intervene in Bond Market to Fight Euro Crisis
By Gabi Thesing, Jana Randow and Simon Kennedy
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank said it will buy government and private bonds as part of an historic bid to stave off a sovereign-debt crisis that threatens to destroy the euro.
The ECB wants "to address severe tensions in certain market segments which are hampering the monetary policy transmission mechanism and thereby the effective conduct of monetary policy," the central bank said in a statement at 3:15 a.m. in Frankfurt. The announcement came less than an hour after European finance ministers unveiled a loan package worth almost $1 trillion to staunch the market turmoil.
Euro Rally May Prove Short-Lived on Rates, Asset-Purchase Bets
By Lukanyo Mnyanda and Paul Dobson
May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Europe's $1 trillion plan to rescue the region's debt-laden governments may fail to reverse the euro's worst start to a year since 2000 amid bets the central bank will keep interest rates at a record low for longer. The currency surged by as much as 2.7 percent against the dollar yesterday before paring that gain, and closing up 0.3 percent to $1.2787 in New York. It will probably decline toward $1.20, according to UBS AG and Barclays Plc, ranked by Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc as the world's second- and third- largest currency traders. Schneider Foreign Exchange, the third- most-accurate forecaster of the euro against the dollar in the first quarter, also cut its prediction.
Hedge Fund Sparks World Revolution
Cliff Kincaid - SilverBearCafe.com
The Marxists used to be the experts in exploiting human suffering for the purposes of sparking revolution. But the hedge funds are doing better than the Marxists. Consider that the business publication Barron's has an article headlined on its cover, "A savvy hedge-fund manager reveals how to make money on Old World's woes." A better headline would have been "How to exploit human suffering." At a time when people are dying in Greece because of riots in response to economic problems, what kind of publication would openly advertise how to make money at the expense of others and profit from their misery? But this is how the hedge fund short sellers and their apologists work.
Moody's: Greece and Portugal still at risk
By Annalyn Censky - CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A day after European leaders agreed on a $900 billion rescue package, credit rating agency Moody's cautioned investors that two of the euro zone's hardest hit countries aren't out of the woods just yet. In the last month, Moody's has said several times that debt-strapped Greece and Portugal are under review for future downgrades to their credit ratings. But in a report to investors Monday, the agency said those downgrades could occur within a month.
Fed Pretends It Is Preparing To Soak Up Excess Reserves, Even As Currency Swaps Are Sure To Add About $500 Billion To Fed's Assets - Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Less than 24 hours after bailing out Europe for the latest time with hundreds of billions of liquidity swaps (full terms TBD still, record short covering certainly not TBD), the Fed is pretending to be a prudent monetary power, by announcing that it will "conduct 5 small-value term deposit offers." As a reminder, in its January 2010 minutes, the Fed noted that it would "eventually" move to a less accommodative policy "using a term deposit facility (TDF) to absorb excess reserves." So the schizos at the Eccles building want the gullible public to believe that just like all those micro reverse repos that it conducted in late 2009 (which led nowhere), the TDF tests will be critical to withdrawing some of the $2.5 trillion in assets on the Fed's balance sheet.
Obama Chooses His Friend and Fellow Liberal Elena Kagan for Supreme Court - By Ben Feller, CNSNews.com
Washington (AP) - President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, declaring she would demonstrate the same independence, integrity and passion for the law exhibited by retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. If confirmed by the Senate, Kagan would become the third woman on the high court. At 50, she is relatively young for the lifetime post and could help shape the high court's decisions for decades.
Elena Kagan Selected by Obama for U.S. Supreme Court
By Greg Stohr
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama selected Elena Kagan, his top U.S. Supreme Court lawyer and the former dean of Harvard Law School, to fill a vacancy on the high court and for the first time give it three female members. Kagan, 50, would succeed retiring Justice John Paul Stevens and likely take his place in the court's liberal wing on many issues. She would be the youngest member of the nine-justice court and the only one who hadn't previously served as a lower court judge. Obama called Kagan a "trailblazing leader" who became the first woman to lead Harvard Law School and then the first female solicitor general.
A stealth mission for Elena Kagan
By Wesley Pruden - WashingtonTimes.com
It takes a tough man to raise a tender chicken, as we all know, and it's going to take a big justice to do all the things expected of Elena Kagan.
Some of the senators - not most, but some - will be interested to know what she thinks of the Constitution as the Founders wrote it. President Obama will want her to rule on the law as decent and high-minded folk like him think it ought to be, not what it is. The gay community, which rarely seems very gay, expects her to be a reliable vote for changing the definition of marriage and for remaking the military into something Barney Frank can be proud of. Since Mzz Kagan has argued that the Supreme Court's role is mainly to tend the interests of "the despised and disadvantaged," somebody will be disappointed.
Kagan Under Fire for 'Segregating' Pro-Military Students at Harvard Law
By: David A. Patten - Newsmax.com
The nation's largest conservative youth outreach organization charged Monday that Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan "trampled on the rights" of students during her tenure as the dean of Harvard Law School, and "segregated" students who sought to meet with military recruiters to hear about possible careers in the U.S. armed services. Kagan's opposition to treating military recruiters the same way corporate and legal recruiters were treated is emerging as one of the most controversial aspects of her background.
Elena Kagan: Government Can Ban Political Pamphlets
By Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief
(CNSNews.com) - Solicitor General Elena Kagan, nominated Monday to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barack Obama, told that court in September that Congress could constitutionally prohibit corporations from engaging in political speech such as publishing pamphlets that advocate the election or defeat of a candidate for federal office.
Kagan's argument that the government could prohibit political speech by corporations was rejected by a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in that case, and in a scathing concurrence Chief Justice John Roberts took direct aim at Kagan's argument that the government could ban political pamphlets.
Bank Swaps, Libor Show Doubts on Europe Bailout: Credit Markets
By Abigail Moses and Shannon D. Harrington
May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Money markets and the cost of protecting bank bonds from losses show investors are concerned the almost $1 trillion rescue plan announced by European leaders may not be enough to contain the region's sovereign debt crisis. A credit-default swaps index linked to European banks that usually trades tighter than an investment-grade benchmark is 30 basis points higher, according to CMA DataVision. A measure of banks' reluctance to lend remained three times higher than it was in March.
IMF's Lipsky Says ECB Bond Purchase Is 'Very Big Step'
SEC, exchanges move to bolster circuit breakers
By David Goldman - CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Six major U.S. stock exchanges have agreed to new guidelines aimed at preventing last week's momentary stock market collapse from happening again. The Securities and Exchange Commission met Monday in Washington, D.C., with the CEOs of the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. Top executives of electronic exchanges Direct Edge, the BATS Exchange, ISE and CBOE also attended.
BREAKING NEWS! What Obama Just Secretly Passed!
By Rev. Austin Miles - CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com
In another stealth move this week, Obama secretly passed HB 1388, meaning that $20,000,000-that's $20 MILLION of OUR tax dollars, to move Hamas a terrorist organization to the United States and giving them housing, food and money.
Yes, Something quietly happened this weekÉ H.R. 1388 was passed, behind our backs! It wasn't mentioned on the news, but this was reportedly seen in the ticker tape at the bottom of the CNN screen; "Obama funds $20 MILLION in taxpayer dollars, to immigrate Hamas members to the USA." THIS is the news that didn't make the headlines..it was deliberately kept from us..
By executive order, President Barack Obama has ordered the expenditure of $20.3 Million in "migration assistance" to the Palestinians in Gaza, the ones who just tried to bomb Times Square..The "presidential determination," which allows Hundreds of Thousands of Palestinians with ties to Hamas to resettle in the United States, was signed and appears in the Federal Register.
Where's my Government Check
By: Richard Benson -GoldSeek.com
My wife and I are getting a little older, so naturally we are beginning to think about where the cash flow will come from when we truly retire. We realize we won't be able to live on Social Security benefits alone, and even though we have paid into the system our entire lives in the hopes that come retirement age we'll get something back, I'm not very optimistic about our prospects.
Reading the financial press, I recently noticed that of the 139 million workers in the Bureau of Labor Statistics household survey of workers, 47 percent don't make enough to file and pay federal taxes beyond any collected social security tax. This means that out of a population of 310 million Americans, only 74 million (about 24 percent) pay federal taxes on April 15th.
JPMorgan's Olsen Sees Reintroduction of Risk in Market
Mortgage Holders Owing More Than Homes Are Worth Rise to 23%
By Brian Louis
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- More than a fifth of U.S. mortgage holders owed more than their homes were worth in the first quarter as repossessions climbed to a record, according to Zillow.com.
Twenty-three percent of owners of mortgaged homes were underwater during the period, up from 21 percent in the previous three months, the Seattle-based property data provider said today in a report. More than one in 1,000 homes were repossessed by lenders in March, the highest rate in Zillow data dating back to 2000.
Fed Hinting on Mortgage-Bond Sales Brings Bernanke Tightening
By Scott Lanman and Caroline Salas
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Words may speak louder than actions for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke when the time comes to outline plans to raise interest rates and shrink the central bank's balance sheet. Altering a pledge to keep short-term borrowing costs low or articulating plans to begin selling the $1.1 trillion in mortgage-backed securities it now holds will amount to a tightening of monetary policy because the announcements will send bond yields higher, raising borrowing costs, said Mitch Stapley, chief fixed-income officer at Fifth Third Asset Management in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Fannie Seeks $8.4 Billion After First-Quarter Loss
By Lorraine Woellert
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Fannie Mae, the mortgage-finance company operating under federal conservatorship, said it will seek $8.4 billion in aid from the U.S. Treasury Department after reporting an 11th-straight quarterly loss. The company lost $11.5 billion in the first three months of this year, it said today in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Fannie Mae had posted $136.8 billion in losses in the preceding 10 quarters, and the new aid request would bring its total draw from the Treasury to $84.6 billion since April 2009.
Ga. Seniors Told They Can't Pray Before Meals
WSBTV.com
PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. -- Preston Blackwelder proudly showed off a painting of his grandmother that had hung next to the front door of his Port Wentworth home. She was the woman who led him to God, Blackwelder said Friday. And with that firm religious footing, Blackwelder said it would be preposterous to stop praying before meals at Port Wentworth's Ed Young Senior Citizens Center near Savannah because of a federal guideline. "She would say pray anyway," Blackwelder said of his grandmother. "She'd say don't listen." But Senior Citizens Inc. officials said Friday the meals they are contracted by the city to provide to Ed Young visitors are mostly covered with federal money, which ushers in the burden of separating church and state. On Thursday, the usual open prayer before meals at the center was traded in for a moment of silence. The dilemma is being hashed out by the Port Wentworth city attorney, said Mayor Glenn "Pig" Jones.
Housing Prices Are Falling Again. We Have a Moral Obligation to Embrace The Trend. - Michael White - Implode-O-Meter - ml-implode.com
Isolate recent values on the First American index of property values and a national fall is not difficult to anticipate. Since I began in August to forecast a continuation of falling values, frequently I met with anger, disbelief, myopia. This week I wanted to take a closer look. So I pulled out one of the best number sets, and applied my crude math in exactly the same way I always do, but I did a close up on five years of data before and after the peak. The result is the chart you see below.
Is Gulf oil rig disaster far worse than we're being told?
Natural News - SilverBearCafe.com
(NaturalNews) Reports about the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill have been largely underestimated, according to commentators, including Paul Noel, a Software Engineer for the U.S. Army at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. He believes that the pocket of oil that's been hit is so powerful and under so much pressure that it may be virtually impossible to contain it. And Noel is not the only person questioning the scope of this disaster.
A recent story from the Christian Science Monitor (CSM) reports that many independent scientists believe the leak is spewing far more than the 5,000 barrels, or 210,000 gallons, per day being reported by most media sources. They believe the leak could be discharging up to 25,000 barrels (more than one million gallons) of crude oil a day right now.
Oil Spill Swells to 4M Gallons; Fixes Days off Yet
By HARRY R. WEBER and JOHN CURRAN - AP ABCNews.com
Gulf oil spill swells to 4M gallons; with fixes still days away or more, La. girds for impact
Black Hawk helicopters peppered Louisiana's barrier islands with 1-ton sacks of sand Monday to bolster the state's crucial wetlands against the epic Gulf of Mexico oil spill - 4 million gallons and growing. At the site of the ruptured well a mile underwater, a remote-controlled submarine shot chemicals into the maw of the massive leak to dilute the flow, further evidence that BP expects the gusher to keep erupting into the Gulf for weeks or more.
Fla. Governor Leans Toward Special Session to Curb Drilling
by Michael C. Bender - The Palm Beach Post, Fla.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Friday he was close to calling reluctant lawmakers back to the Capitol so they could approve a constitutional amendment for the November ballot that would ban oil and gas drilling in state waters. "I would lean toward doing so at this point," Crist said. A similar ban is already in state law. And the proposed constitutional change would not have prevented the Deepwater Horizon disaster now flooding the Gulf of Mexico with oil.
BP Preps Second, Smaller Dome
RigZone.com Subsea Source Control and Containment
Subsea efforts continue to focus on two fronts: first, reducing the flow of oil spilled by physical containment and second, further work on stopping the flow using a "top kill" option. The containment dome that was deployed last week has been parked away from the spill area on the sea bed. Efforts to place it over the main leak point were suspended at the weekend as a build up of hydrates prevented a successful placement of the dome over the spill area.
'Top Hat' Should Be In Place This Week
Rigzone Staff All In One Rather Than Piece-By-Piece
"We will bring it in operationally," said Kent Wells, BP's Senior Vice President of Exploration and Production, of the so-called top hat structure that will be lowered over the primary leak source. Speaking to reporters from Houston, Wells explained that the dome will be deployed already connected to the riser system.
Measuring four feet in diameter and five feet tall, the smaller "top hat" will be lowered over the primary leak point by the drillship one pipe at a time. In contrast, the large cofferdam that became clogged with hydrates over the past weekend was lowered by crane from another vessel.
Deepwater Horizon: A Firsthand Account
by Mark Levin Show
On Friday, April 30th 2010, an anonymous caller contacted the Mark Levin Show to clarify the events that preceded the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. Rigzone has transcribed this broadcast for your convenience. Actual radio broadcast HERE.
Bob Chapman Breaks Down
"The Plunge Protection Team" on Alex Jones Tv 1/5
Bob Chapman Breaks Down
"The Plunge Protection Team" on Alex Jones Tv 2/5
Bob Chapman Breaks Down
"The Plunge Protection Team" on Alex Jones Tv 3/5
Bob Chapman Breaks Down
"The Plunge Protection Team" on Alex Jones Tv 4/5
Bob Chapman Breaks Down
"The Plunge Protection Team" on Alex Jones Tv 5/5
FDIC shuts banks in Fla., Minn., Ariz., Calif.; 68 closed this year
USAToday.com
CHARLOTTE (AP) - Regulators on Friday shut down banks in Florida, Minnesota, Arizona and California, bringing the number of U.S. bank failures to 68 this year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over The Bank of Bonifay, based in Bonifay, Fla., which had $242.9 million in assets and $230.2 million in deposits; and Access Bank, in Champlin, Minn., with $32 million in assets and $32 million in deposits. The agency also seized Towne Bank of Arizona in Mesa, Ariz., with $120.2 million in assets and $113.2 million in deposits; and 1st Pacific Bank of California in San Diego, with $335.8 million in assets and $291.2 million in deposits. First Federal Bank of Florida in Lake City, Fla. agreed to acquire Bonifay's deposits and about $78.1 million of its assets. The FDIC will keep the remainder for eventual sale.
Ron Paul: Audit the Fed! No More Bailouts!
Gold to surge as paper currencies headed to dust
By Jim Sinclair - CommodityOnline.com
A nuclear solution to Europe's debt problems is simply another way of saying "Quantitative Easing to Infinity." All national debt will be bailed out. All states of the USA will be bailed out. Paper currencies are headed to dust. Regardless of the first knee jerk market reaction, gold is going to $1650 and beyond due to nuclear suggestions of adding more debt to entities failing because of debt. This is the EU Helicopter Drop coming up. Credit default swaps are herein called the "Wolfpack." About that they are totally correct.
U. S. gold coins sales soar on economic anxiety
American Eagle gold coin sales 41,500 so far in May, surpasses normal pace and dealer reports biggest gold sales day so far in 2010
Author: Frank Tang NEW YORK (REUTERS) -
U. S. gold coins sales soar on economic anxiety U.S. gold coin sales surged this week as the anxiety over a euro-zone debt crisis spilled over into the United States and as Thursday's sudden Wall Street collapse shook investors. The U.S. Mint sold gold coins this week at twice its normal pace, and a leading retailer said Thursday was a record day. Physical gold products such as coins and bars are traditionally a safe haven for anxious investors in times of economic and geopolitical crises. On Friday, U.S. stocks turned negative for the year on fears of another credit crisis.
Future perfect for gold
By Geena Paul - CommodityOnline.com
LONDON (Commodity Online): It seems gold is heading for a perfect future as almost all incidents unraveling across the world in April and May months are helping the yellow metal gain. If you take into consideration the recent developments like the Greece debt crisis, Spain and Portugal economic woes, the Euro situation, China's decision to control the realty sector and the May 7 verdict by India's Supreme Court in the Ambani gas row case, all of this have contributed to the further push of gold in global and India markets. Decline in the value of the Euro, falling global stock markets, a temporarily strong US dollar, civil unrest in Greece also added to the glitter of gold.
The No. 1 Reason Gold Could Enter Mania Phase Soon
By: DailyWealth - MarketOracle.co.uk
On February 18, 2009 the Financial Times published one of the most important articles nobody read. The article's headline was Gold primed to become "mania asset."
The gist of the article was something I've been telling people for a long time: Gold - more so than any asset right now - has the potential to experience a mania phase... one like we saw in Internet stocks from 1997 through 2000.
A mania phase is a period in an asset's lifecycle marked by leaps of 10% or 20% in a month... 100% or 300% in a year... and 500% or more over the course of several years. Get in early with a big position on a mania phase, and you'll make a fortune. Remember one Internet-mania darling, JDS Uniphase, climbed more than 30-fold in about two years... which would have turned a stake of $20,000 into $640,000.
Beware of anti-gold propaganda:
Barry Stuppler - CommodityOnline.com
CALIFORNIA (Commodity Online): Even with gold proving its long-term viability as it again tops $1,200 an ounce amid the financial problems in Greece and elsewhere, false and misleading statements about gold as part of a diversified portfolio continue to be repeated in the news media, according to Barry Stuppler, president of the California Coin and Bullion Merchants Association and Immediate Past President of the non-profit, 32,000-member American Numismatic Association. As gold again moved above $1,200, he repeated the prediction he made two years ago: "Gold will be $2,011 by the end of 2011."
Feds probing JPMorgan trades in silver pit
By MICHAEL GRAY - NYPost.com
Federal agents have launched parallel criminal and civil probes of JPMorgan Chase and its trading activity in the precious metals market, The Post has learned. The probes are centering on whether or not JPMorgan, a top derivatives holder in precious metals, acted improperly to depress the price of silver, sources said. The Commodities Futures Trade Commission is looking into civil charges, and the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division is handling the criminal probe, according to sources, who did not wish to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the information.
U.S. Debt Shock May Hit In 2018, Maybe As Soon As 2013: Moody's
By JED GRAHAM, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Spiraling debt is Uncle Sam's shock collar, and its jolt may await like an invisible pet fence.
"Nobody knows when you bump up against the limit, but you know when it happens it will really hurt," said fiscal watchdog Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The great uncertainty about how much debt is too much has tended to make fiscal discipline seem less urgent, rather than more. There is no obvious threshold beyond which investors will demand higher real yields for holding U.S. debt. Vague warnings from ratings agencies about the loss of America's 'AAA' status haven't added much clarity - until recently.
Europe prepares nuclear response to save monetary union
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk Are Europe's leaders grasping the nettle at last? Faced with the imminent disintegration of monetary union, they appear poised to create the beginnings of an EU debt union and authorize the European Central Bank to step in immediately to stabilize the eurozone bond markets.
"It is an absolute general mobilization: we have decided to give the eurozone a veritable economic government," said French president Nicolas Sarkozy, once again basking as Europe's action man. "Today we have an attack on the whole of the eurozone. This is a systemic crisis: the response must be systemic. When the markets open on Monday morning we will be ready to defend the euro."
Great caution is in order. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has so far said little. The descriptions of the deal agreed by EU leaders in the early hours of Saturday are coming from the French bloc and EU bureaucrats. How many times during the Greek saga of the last four months have we heard claims from Brussels that turned out to be a distortion of what Germany had actually agreed, causing each relief rally to falter within days? They had better get it right this time.
PETER SCHIFF SPEAKS 05/06/2010: LIKE GREECE AMERICA'S DAY WILL COME.
EU crisis revives memories of '08 crash Economists say U.S recovery can shake off jitters
By Patrice Hill - WashingtonTimes.com
Just as the U.S. economic recovery was starting to gather momentum and create an impressive number of jobs, a new threat emerged last week with the European debt crisis exploding onto U.S. markets. The stock market's wild gyrations, while abetted by little-understood technical and trading irregularities, were eerily reminiscent of the turmoil in the fall of 2008 when a credit crisis spawned by the collapse of Lehman Brothers for a time brought down the whole global financial system and economy. Despite last week's tremors, economists do not expect such a drastic, cascading response to the spreading debt crisis in Europe. But they do worry that renewed financial stress could hamper or derail the fragile economic recovery at home and abroad.
E.U. Details $957 Billion Rescue Package
By JAMES KANTER and LANDON THOMAS Jr. - NYTimes.com
BRUSSELS - European leaders, pressured by sliding markets and doubts over their ability to act decisively, agreed on Monday to provide a huge rescue package of nearly $1 trillion in a sweeping effort to combat the debt crisis that has engulfed Europe and threatened markets around the world. In an extraordinary session that lasted into the early morning hours, finance ministers from the European Union agreed on a deal that would provide $560 billion in new loans and $76 billion under an existing lending program. Elena Salgado, the Spanish finance minister, who announced the deal, also said the International Monetary Fund was prepared to give up to $321 billion separately.
Ron Paul: Greece is just the beginning!
ECB Intervenes in Bond Market as Part of EU Debt Crisis Plan
By Gabi Thesing and Jana Randow
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank said it will intervene in government and private bond markets as part of an unprecedented effort to help stave off a sovereign debt crisis that threatens to destroy the euro.
"The Governing Council decided to conduct interventions in the euro area public and private debt securities markets to ensure depth and liquidity in those market segments which are dysfunctional," the Frankfurt-based central bank said in a statement today. "The scope of the interventions will be determined by the Governing Council."
Fed, other central banks step in to help EU stabilize finances
By Elena Becatoros and Raf Casert, AP - USAToday.com
BRUSSELS - Central banks around the world stepped in late Sunday to guarantee liquidity in global financial markets after European Union finance ministers agreed on a euro750 billion EU and International Monetary Fund safety net for troubled eurozone countries. In a statement on its website, the U.S. Federal Reserve said "In response to the re-emergence of strains in U.S. dollar short-term funding markets in Europe, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank are announcing the re-establishment of temporary U.S. dollar liquidity swap facilities. These facilities are designed to help improve liquidity conditions in U.S. dollar funding markets and to prevent the spread of strains to other markets and financial centers. The Bank of Japan will be considering similar measures soon. Central banks will continue to work together closely as needed to address pressures in funding markets."
Gerald Celente on Greece
People will rise against bank bailouts globally
Euro trouble won't end with Greece
By Bill Fleckenstein - MSN Money Even if a solution can be found that keeps Greece in the eurozone, bigger nations face similar difficulties. And in the US, we may be seeing the recent rally fail.
How will the Greek-inspired carnage resolve itself? Will Greece leave the euro? Will Germany? Will the European Central Bank buy government paper, the way Ben Bernanke's Federal Reserve has?
The ending is not clear, but here's something that is: There's virtually no chance that the Greeks (who have defaulted on debt often in the past) will be willing to adhere to austerity measures just so they can use a colored piece of paper -- the euro. Especially since government workers, the folks who would probably have to give up the most, are the most entrenched.
Central Banks to Engage in U.S. Dollar Swap Agreement
By Mayumi Otsuma
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Central banks from the U.S., Japan and Europe will participate in temporary U.S. dollar swap agreements amid heightened tension in global financial markets, the Bank of Japan said.
"In response to the re-emergence of strains in U.S. dollar short-term funding markets in Europe" the central banks of Canada, England and Switzerland will also participate in the re- establishment of currency swaps that were implemented during the financial crisis, the BOJ said in a statement today. "These facilities are designed to help improve liquidity conditions in U.S. dollar funding markets and to prevent the spread of strains to other markets and financial centers."
Bank Funding Crunch Deepens as Swap Rates Soar: Credit Markets
By Shannon D. Harrington and Abigail Moses
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Europe's government debt crisis is starting to infect the bank funding system, driving borrowing costs higher from Asia to the U.S. and threatening to slow the global economic recovery.
The interest rate that financial companies charge each other for three month loans in dollars is the highest since August, while traders are paying record amounts to hedge against losses in European bank bonds. Yields on all types of corporate bonds rose last week by the most relative to government debt since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy in September 2008, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes.
Fed Statement on Dollar Liquidity Swap Facilities
May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Following is the text of a statement today issued by the Federal Reserve in Washington on the re- establishment of temporary U.S. dollar liquidity swap facilities:
In response to the re-emergence of strains in U.S. dollar short-term funding markets in Europe, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank are announcing the re-establishment of temporary U.S. dollar liquidity swap facilities. These facilities are designed to help improve liquidity conditions in U.S. dollar funding markets and to prevent the spread of strains to other markets and financial centers. The Bank of Japan will be considering similar measures soon. Central banks will continue to work together closely as needed to address pressures in funding markets.
Derivatives of Mass Destruction: From "Fat Man" to "Fat Finger"
. . . . In theory, CDS provide securities' owners a means to cheaply insure against their default. By paying a (or series of) small premium(s) (usually far smaller than the security's yield) the risk of default is swapped to the CDS seller. In theory, as with all derivatives (in a former life I used to trade these things), sellers can instantaneously hedge (for instance, by selling the security issuer's stock, bond, or currency) the assumed risks, deriving (sellers hope) profit from the received premiums less any hedging costs. In practice, (as I learned, painfully) trying to maintain hedges in fast markets (and I traded foreign exchange- a pretty liquid arena) can be impossible. Worse, as price deviation from last hedged position grows, the amounts to hedge grow as well. A .5% move in the underlying might call for a 10% hedge, while a 2% move might call for 35% and so on.
GERALD CELENTE:
AMERICA IS ONLY MONTHS AWAY FROM "GREAT COLLAPSE"
Treasuries Drop as Europe Rescue Plan Reduces Demand for Safety
By Wes Goodman
May 10 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell the most in six weeks as European Union officials arranged an unprecedented loan package worth almost $1 trillion to support Greece and the region's currency.
Benchmark 10-year notes declined by 1 point as Europe's efforts to keep Greece's fiscal woes from triggering a broader sovereign-debt crisis reduced demand for the relative safety of U.S. securities. Europe's currency gained against most of its 16 major counterparts after governments of the nations sharing the currency agreed to make loans of as much as 750 billion euros ($962 billion) available to debt-stricken countries.
Senate Rejects Consumer Amendment to Overhaul Bill
By Alison Vekshin
May 7 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate yesterday rejected two significant changes to its financial-overhaul bill, voting down restrictions on a proposed consumer-protection bureau and a plan that would have forced the largest banks to shrink in size. The Senate today continued debating the legislation, with no votes scheduled until next week. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd's bill includes a new consumer-protection bureau at the Federal Reserve with authority to enforce rules at banks with more than $10 billion in assets. An amendment offered by Senator Richard Shelby, the banking panel's top Republican, would have put the office at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and maintained existing bank regulators' power to police credit-card and mortgage lending abuses. It failed yesterday in a 61-38 vote.
Marc Faber: CNBC Interview May 7, 2010
Senate Sellout Threatens Congressman Paul's "Audit the Fed" Bill
Rep. Ron Paul Taxpayers Deserve a Full, Transparent Audit of the Federal Reserve by the GAO
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Ron Paul (TX-14) expressed disappointment that his landmark legislation to audit the Federal Reserve Bank- which passed by a wide margin in the House Financial Services committee and has over 319 House co-sponsors- was threatened by a compromise in the Senate today. More specifically, Paul's language (passed by the House) to audit the Federal Reserve has been stripped from the Sanders Amendment to the Senate financial reform bill. Instead, the Sanders Amendment now contains softer compromise language that exempts monetary policy decisions, discount window operations, and agreements with foreign central banks from Government Accounting Office ("GAO") audit.
Senate Sellout Threatens Ron Paul's Audit the Fed Bill
America Deserves an Up or Down Vote on Audit the Fed
Ron Paul: I'm not a bit surprised that the Federal Reserve got to the Senate. I had expected Bernie Sanders to offer S 604, which was the same as HR 1207, which is the Audit the Fed Bill, and at the last minute he switched it and watered it down, and really, it adds nothing. There's a possibility that it even makes the current conditions worse.
This is essentially the bill plus more of the bill we beat in the House Financial Services Committee; the Mel Watt bill. But this is so disappointing to me that this happened, especially since for months now I've worked with Bernie on this and he introduced the bill in our language, which was HR 1207.
Alan Grayson: You Own the Red Roof Inn, Thanks to the Fed
Why the Fed Does Not Want an Audit; America is Wall Street's Sucker
Please play this must-see video by Rep. Alan Grayson explaining in great detail exactly why the Federal Reserve does not want to be audited, and thus why it absolutely needs to be audited.
Goldman's View On Europe Bailout Plan #42 "Unlikely To Calm Markets"
Courtesy of Tyler Durden - BeforeItsNews.com
We now know that the European Union, as part of its most recent ridiculous idea for a global eurozone bailout, is planning on soon issuing its own bonds and thus becoming a defacto Treasury. How the hell it plans on doing this is simply beyond comprehension, but it certainly involves a lot of "financial innovation"É ergo - enter Goldman Sachs, from whom it would need a ringing endorsement to proceed with its plan. Alas, the just released note from Erik Nielsen is anything but favorable (and yes title is a ref: Douglas Adams - the EU has the answer, if only they could find the question now).
SEC vs. Goldman - Main Street vs. Wall Street.
BeforeItsNews.com The SEC vs. Goldman is a test of strength between the American people and the World bankers, indeed, the New World Order. If the American people do not bring the bankers to Justice in our court system; the bankers will be free to dominate the World.
Will bankers and big oil lead humanity into an enlightened 21st. Century of green energy and humanitarianism or will this be the century of World Totalitarianism of the New World Order? We know that "morality" is a "no" word for bankers, big oil and investors alike; yet they are leading us into the New World Order with their heartless and coldblooded culture of greed by the few. World conquest by tyranny is not new and it certainly is not orderly; it is chaos. Hitler already tried World domination by tyranny in the last century. The nations of Greece, Latvia, and Iceland have already fallen into "order" and Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom and the United States of America are scheduled to fall into "order". The American people do not want to lose our Democracy, Independence and Freedom; yet this World totalitarian agenda emanates from the United States of America and is lead by the Bush/Obama Administration in our name. The World is looking at the American people as their last resort for salvation and praying that the American people will stand up to this evil force and do the right thing. By saving ourselves, we will also save them. We are the only ones who can change the direction of our own country with what freedoms we have left.
Jim Rogers on CNBC:
Stock Plunge is Just the Beginning!
Fear rises while Dow's 1,000-point drop remains a mystery
By Matt Krantz, USA TODAY
The market's near-crash last week has an aftermath that's nearly as scary: the lack of explanation for how the financial system short-circuited. Regulators and exchange officials have provided no details about what caused the brief 1,000-point decline in the Dow Jones industrial average in Wall Street's most volatile half-hour ever last week. "The fact we don't know (what happened) makes us lose confidence in the system," says Jeffrey Lancaster of money management firm Bingham Osborn & Scarborough. Evidence of concern was clear in the CBOE volatility index, which measures investor fear. Friday, the day after the market mayhem, the measure surged 25% to its highest level in a year.
White House: No cyber attack on Wall St.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House's homeland security and counterterrorism adviser said Sunday there is no evidence that a cyber attack was behind the chaos that shook Wall Street on Thursday.
Gerald Celente:
Wall Street Fall, Dow Jones collapse, 2010 global crash
NBC News Reporting Obama To Pick Elena Kagan As SCOTUS Nominee
by Glynnis MacNicol - Mediate.com NBC's Pete Williams is reporting that President Obama plans to nominate Elena Kagan to the US Supreme Court to succeed Justice John Paul Stevens, who announced his retirement last month.
From the report: She is currently a senior
Justice Department official - the first woman to be solicitor general, the nation's top courtroom advocate. She was also the first female dean of Harvard Law School. And she taught at the University of Chicago, where she met a young Barack Obama. And if confirmed, she'd be the court's fourth woman justice - and the third to currently sit on the court. Officials say the president will make the announcement tomorrow morning at the White House.
Greenspan Arrogance Set Up U.S. for Big Fall
by Roger Lowenstein
May 7 (Bloomberg) -- In a newly released transcript of a Federal Reserve Board meeting in March 2004, former Chairman Alan Greenspan argues against disclosing too much to the public lest the Fed "lose control of a process that only we fully understand." This statement ranks as a sign of monumental arrogance. It was Greenspan himself who didn't understand -- much less "fully understand"-- that the Fed's lax mortgage regulation and easy monetary policies were setting America up for a disastrous fall. The context of Greenspan's remark was a discussion over how much to reveal about the Fed's thinking on monetary policy in general -- not on mortgages in particular. But mortgages were part of the Fed's monetary deliberations.
Administration wants weaker Miranda rules
By David Eldridge - WashingtonTimes.com
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Sunday the administration wants a "public safety exception" to allow investigators to question terror suspects before they are read their Miranda rights or allowed to consult with a lawyer. Mr. Holder, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, said the law enforcement community needs more flexibility to question suspects -- within constitutional bounds. The attorney general defended the Obama administration, which has been criticized for reading Miranda rights to the suspects in the Times Square bombing attempt and the Christmas Day attempt to blow up an airliner over Detroit.
The Coming Oil Price Shock
By: Andrew McKillop - MarketOracle.co.uk
Fatal Difference - Fatal Indifference - We need only to recap the experience of the 1970s and 1980s to understand why massive public national deficit financing of Keynesian-type spending to restore global economic growth will almost surely end with a 1970s style oil shock. That is oil price explosion, falling consumer confidence and corporate investment, falling economic growth, finance sector panic, competitive devaluation of world moneys and a catastrophic slump back into recession. Like the 1970s experience, the recession will be very inflationary.
Oil spill grows to 3.5M gallons as BP scrambles
USAToday.com
ON THE GULF OF MEXICO (AP) - A growing collection of crippled equipment littered the ocean floor Sunday near a ruptured oil well gushing crude into the Gulf of Mexico, the remnants of a massive rig that exploded weeks ago and the failed efforts since to cap the leak. On the surface, nearly a mile up, a fleet of ships maneuvered to deploy the latest stopgap plans hatched by BP engineers desperate to keep the Deepwater Horizon disaster from becoming the nation's worst spill. An estimated 3.5 million gallons has risen from the depths since the April 20 explosion that killed 11, a pace that would surpass the total spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster by Father's Day.
BP oil spill failure - disaster in Gulf of Mexico grows - containment weeks or months away by Kate James - gather.com
The most recent plan to stave off full on disaster in the Gulf of Mexico failed when the box had to be lifted after it encountered ice crystals. BP is scrambling to find new ideas to stop the gush of oil into the Gulf. Meanwhile, the spill is spreading towards Louisiana and even Texas at this time. It is going away from Florida at least. Lafourche Parish, Louisiana has even been declared a state of emergency. There are bans against fishing, shrimping and oyster harvesting across the area. It has been over three weeks since the oil rig exploded killing 11 people and setting off a huge environmental disaster in the Gulf Coast.
BP Fails To Cover Up Oil Well As Containment Dome Fills With Ice Crystals by Frances Martel - Mediaite.com
BP CEO Doug Suttles and the US Defense Department just minutes ago held a press conference in Robert, Louisiana to give a grim update in the Gulf oil spill: the containment dome lowered into the open oil well malfunctioned, as ice crystals formed on the inside of it, countering pressure from above to fit the dome in the well.
Suttles emphasized that this does not mean the containment dome has failed, but that extra measures have to be taken so that the dome does not begin to float back up due to ice. The method has been used to control oil wells before, but never at this ocean depth.
Louisiana's defense plan: Bulked-up islands
By Marc Kaufman - Washington Post
VENICE, LA. -- With the prospects dimming for capping the Deepwater Horizon oil well blowout anytime soon, federal, state and local officials are actively assessing a plan to quickly and massively shore up the battered barrier islands that protect the Louisiana marshlands.
The plan, which local officials hope to present to the White House within days, calls for building up almost 70 miles of barrier islands by dredging sand and mud from a mile out into the Gulf of Mexico and depositing it onto the outer shores of the islands.
Expensive homes are falling prey to foreclosure
By Joseph Pisani, Special from CNBC.com
Heated pools, ocean views and media rooms are not what most people would expect to find in a foreclosed property, but more high-end homes - priced at more than a million dollars - have been falling into the hands of banks this year. Foreclosures of homes worth more than $1 million began increasing at the end of 2009, according to data provided to CNBC.com by foreclosure tracking website RealtyTrac. Foreclosures reached a high in February 2010, the last month data were available, when 4,169 high-end homes were somewhere in the foreclosure process; having received a foreclosure notice, had an auction scheduled or had ownership taken over by the lender. That's a 121% increase from a year ago.
Tattling for Dollars: The Growing Ranks of IRS Informants
By JONATHAN BERR The numbers of people who are informing the IRS about delinquent taxpayers is growing. The agency gets about 40 to 50 tips a month from ex-spouses, disgruntled business associates and other individuals angry at someone they believe is cheating Uncle Sam, reports Bloomberg, because they can get a potential reward of 15% to 30% of the money collected in excess of $2 million.
Inundated With Tips
Ever since Congress passed The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, the Internal Revenue Service has been inundated with tips from people eager to help the agency recoup back taxes because of the possible rewards. Previously, it was up to the government's discretion whether a tipster would get a payout, which was capped at $10 million. Now, there's big money to be made.
Sniper kills Qaeda-from 1-1/2 mi. away
By LUKAS I. ALPERT - NYPost.com
It was silent but deadly.
A British sniper set a world sharpshooting record by taking out two Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan from more than a mile and a half away -- a distance so great, experts say the terrorists wouldn't have even heard the shots.
Craig Harrison killed the two insurgents from an astounding distance of 8,120 feet -- or 1.54 miles -- in Helmand Province last November firing an Accuracy International L11583 long-range rifle.
"The first round hit a machine-gunner in the stomach and killed him outright," said Harrison, a corporal of horse in the British Army's Household Cavalry, the equivalent of a sergeant in the American military.
"The second insurgent grabbed the weapon and turned as my second shot hit him in the side. He went down, too," Harrison told the Sunday Times of London.
Nightmare on Wall Street: Stocks swiftly dive then recover
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch Dow industrials recoup some after near 1,000-point plunge, but end sharply off
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks ended with steep losses Thursday after an afternoon meltdown lopped nearly 1,000 points off the Dow Jones Industrials Average -- its biggest intraday drop ever -- before a comeback of sorts, as Europe's troubles took hold on Wall Street and talk of errant trades exacerbated the swift selloff. "We're not talking about a couple of companies going bust; we're talking about countries," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, of worries that Europe would not be able to contain debt troubles that sparked riots in Greece.
PLUNGE! 1987 Style Sudden Drop in US Stocks Driven by Program Trading and a Ponzi Market Structure
JESSE'S CAFE AMERICAIN
US equities were gripped by panic selling as the Dow plunged almost 1,000 points driven by a cascade of 100 share high frequency program trading, estimated to have been about 80% of volume. Gold rocketed higher to $1,210. The stock exchange circuit breakers do not effectively apply after 2:30 PM NY time unless the market declines over 20% and they close the exchange for the day.
U.S., Asia Stocks Plunge as Debt Concern Spurs Electronic Rout
By Michael P. Regan and Rita Nazareth
May 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks tumbled the most in a year as waves of computerized trading exacerbated a selloff triggered by Europe's debt crisis, sparking a slide in Asian shares. The rout briefly erased more than $1 trillion in U.S. market value as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 1,000 points, a 9.2 percent plunge that was its biggest intraday percentage loss since 1987 and largest point drop ever, before paring declines.
Gibbs Says U.S. Monitoring Greece Situation 'Closely'
By Julianna Goldman and Nicholas Johnston
May 6 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama is getting regular updates on the fiscal crisis in Greece and the Treasury Department is "monitoring the situation closely," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
"The president has heard regularly from his economic team" on Greece, Gibbs said at his daily briefing. "The reforms that needed to be enacted in Greece are important and will take some time."
U.S. stocks fell today the most in a year on concern Europe's debt crisis will halt the global recovery. The Dow average ended down 347.8 points, or 3.2 percent, at 10,520.32 at 5:50 p.m. in New York. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed down 3.2 percent at 1,128.15.
Glitches send Dow on wild ride
By Alexandra Twin
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In one of the most gut-wrenching hours in Wall Street history, the Dow plunged almost 1,000 points Thursday before recovering to close down 348, as erroneous trading in Procter & Gamble and several other stocks sparked a massive selloff. Fears about the spread of the European debt crisis dragged on stocks through the early afternoon. But the selling picked up in intensity and the Dow reached its nadir at around 2:40 p.m. ET.
CNBC's Bartiromo: 'This Really Sounds Like Market Manipulation to Me'
Jeff Poor - Business & Media Institute
While everyone is scratching their heads and trying to figure out how the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost nearly 1,000 points before rallying back to lose only 347 points - it appears not to be limited to just one stock. On CNBC's May 6 "Closing Bell," correspondent Matt Nesto explained that investigators for both the stock exchanges and for Citigroup, the firm that some are pointing fingers at for a so-called trader error, have narrowed it down to a futures index called the E-mini S&P 500.
Market Plunge Baffles Wall Street
By TOM LAURICELLA - WSJ.com Trading Glitch Suspected in 'Mayhem' as Dow Falls Nearly 1,000, Then Bounces
The stock market plunged Thursday in a harrowing five-minute selloff that appeared to be triggered by a breakdown of trading systems. After dropping nearly 1,000 points, the market rebounded but still closed down 3.2%, leaving Wall Street struggling to figure out what happened. Investors already were jittery about the ripple effects of the crisis in Greece when the market went into free fall at 2:42 p.m. By 2:47, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had crossed 10000 in the biggest intraday point drop in its history. By 3:07, the market had regained 500 points, ultimately staggering to a close at 10520.32, down 347.80 points.
Trading goes wild on Wall Street
By Nicole Bullock, Michael Mackenzie and Francesco Guerrera in New York - FT.com
At mid-afternoon in New York on Thursday traders believed the day's lows had already been seen, but what followed next revived memories of the dark days of the financial crisis of 2008. At 2:38pm, trading simply went wild. The S&P 500 had already fallen 4 per cent to the key level of 1,200, when the market, which is now dominated by rapid-fire computer systems, known as algorithmic or "algos", suddenly sliced though that threshold and started plunging.
Market Drop Fueled by a Crisis, Anxiety and an Error
By: Floyd Norris - CNBC.com
Combine one part nervous traders, one part Greek crisis and one part trader error. Stir in one part central bank complacency. Bring to boil. Panic. That combination produced one of the wildest days ever in financial markets, with the Dow Jones industrial average, at one point, down almost 1,000 points while the euro sank to its lowest level in more than a year. There were substantial declines in emerging markets, whose economies had seemed to be booming, and in developed markets fearful of renewed recessions.
Dr. Doom on the Market Fall
Discussing the fate of the markets and the impact the Greek contagion is likely to have on the rest of the world, with Nouriel Roubini, RGEmonitor.com.
After stocks plunge, search begins for cause
By John W. Schoen - msnbc.com
Computer programs exacerbate losses; Was there a 'fat finger' trade?
The gut-wrenching stock market plunge Thursday reflected growing worries about a widening financial crisis in Europe spinning out of control. But the afternoon freefall was intensified by a modern electronic trading system that can move hundreds of millions of shares of stock at the speed of light. Hours after the plunge, there was no clear explanation for why the Dow Jones industrial average lost some 6 percent of its value in a matter of minutes and then recovered almost as quickly. The Dow ended with a loss of 346.51 points or 3.2 percent after its biggest intraday move in history.
Rumors Swirl as Market Plunges, Stoking European Debt Fears
By VISHESH KUMAR - DailyFinance.com
Amid a market growing increasingly paranoid about Europe's debt crisis, errors -- either human or mechanical -- were pointed to as potential reasons for Thursday afternoon's stock market plunge. But a more deliberate force could also be at work as investors short the markets and the euro sought to take advantage of the mounting alarm about Europe's situation.
Europe banks on physical gold, not Comex paper
By Dan Norcini - CommodityOnline.com
Once again it was Euro gold (gold priced in Euro terms) which was the real standout today. It made yet another brand new all time high at the PM fix coming in at €928.807. Gold in British Pound terms also notched another all time high fixed at £787.385. Even Dollar priced gold made its best showing at the PM fix since December of last year. Clearly, there is a wholesale flight in Europe to gold as a safe haven as fears surrounding the stability of the Euro intensify.
Hugh Hendry: The Greek "Bailout" Is Really A Bailout Of French Banks
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Yesterday we pointed out that France was a global top three derisker in sovereign CDS as traders have shifted their worries from the periphery to the core. We have long discussed that the reason for this is that France, not Germany, has the greatest exposure to Greece and the PIIGS. Below is an RT clip in which Hugh Hendry confirms just this: according to the Ecclectica head man, a mark to realistic market of Greek debt would wipe out €35 billion in French bank capital, "and it is questionable whether the French banking system would take such a hit." Hendry's solution, as has been the case from the solution, is for Greece to leave the euro, and points out that due to FX inflexibility, there will be no tourists in Greece this year as everything becomes painfully expensive, not in Drachmas but in Euros.
Stock sell-off leads to probe of faulty trade
By Nick Godt, MarketWatch
Program trading lambasted after Dow drops 1,000 points and then snaps back
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Securities and futures regulators said late Thursday they were working with exchanges to examine "unusual" trading activity during the day's massive sell-off, which saw bellwethers such as Procter & Gamble Co. plunge nearly 40%, and prompted a senator to call for tighter trading controls. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission said in a joint statement late Thursday that they are working closely with other financial regulators and exchanges "to review the unusual trading activity that took place briefly this afternoon." The regulators said they would make the findings of their review public.
Nasdaq to cancel trades
by Chuck Mikolajczak
(Reuters) - Nasdaq Operations said it will cancel all trades executed between 2:40 p.m. to 3 p.m. showing a rise or fall of more than 60 percent from the last trade in that security at 2:40 p.m or immediately prior. Nasdaq said the stocks affected and break points will be disseminated soon.
Electronic Trading to Blame for Plunge, NYSE Says
By Chris Nagi and Matt Miller
May 6 (Bloomberg) -- Computerized trades sent to electronic networks turned an orderly stock market decline into a rout, according to Larry Leibowitz, the chief operating officer of NYSE Euronext. Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. canceled trades in 286 securities that rose or fell 60 percent or more.
While the first half of the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 998.5-point intraday plunge probably reflected normal trading, the selloff snowballed because of orders sent to venues with no investors willing to match them, Leibowitz said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.
Stocks plunge as trading glitch suspected
by Edward Krudy - NEW YORK
(Reuters) - Stocks plunged 9 percent in the last two hours of trading on Thursday before clawing back some of the losses as a suspected trading glitch and fears of a new credit crunch in Europe threw markets into disarray.
The Dow suffered its biggest ever intraday point drop -- 998.5 points. The market's fall may have been exacerbated by an erroneous trades that showed some shares briefly fell to nearly zero. The situation remained unclear long after the closing bell as the Nasdaq Stock Market and others said they would cancel multiple erroneous trades. Other exchanges scrambled to examine orders.
Paulson, Geithner: Shed light on Wall Street
By Ben Rooney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Henry Paulson and Timothy Geithner, two key players in the government's bailout of the financial system, said Thursday that steps should be taken to shed light on the darker corners of Wall Street in order to prevent another crisis from happening. Paulson, who was Treasury Secretary at the height of the 2008 financial meltdown, and his successor, Geithner, who was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the time, both testified before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington.
Tarp stigma hit credit, says Paulson
By Tom Braithwaite in Washington - FT.com
The US Congress hurt credit flows when it "stigmatised" the $700bn bank bail-out programme, Hank Paulson, the former Treasury secretary and previous chief executive of Goldman Sachs, suggested on Thursday. The troubled asset relief programme was used to stabilise the economy in part by funnelling billions of dollars in direct capital investments into banks. But Mr Paulson told the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission that 2,000-3,000 banks should have held the government capital for three to five years. Instead, a few hundred banks rushed to repay because of the associated restrictions on pay levels and the political atmosphere.
Geithner and Paulson say more financial regulation is needed
By Marcy Gordon and Dan Wagner, AP USAToday.com
WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says a root cause of the financial crisis was Congress' failure to give regulators enough power to rein in risk-taking by financial firms operating outside traditional rules. But his predecessor Henry Paulson is cautioning lawmakers against overreaching on financial overhaul legislation that could stifle innovation.
Citigroup, CME Find No Evidence of Erroneous Trades
By Michael J. Moore and Dakin Campbell
May 6 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. said it found "no evidence" that it was involved in erroneous trades, a finding supported by futures market CME Group Inc., after U.S. equity markets plunged today.
About $700 billion of U.S. stock-market value was wiped out in less than 10 minutes when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell the most since 1987, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Erroneous trades may have contributed to the drop, exchanges said today. Citigroup's activity in futures markets "does not appear" to be irregular or unusual, CME Group, the world's largest futures market, said in a statement today.
Senate reaches deal on failing banks
By Tom Braithwaite in Washington - FT.com
The US Senate backed a new "orderly liquidation" process to wind down a failing systemically important company in the most concrete bipartisan progress on regulation reform for months.
On a 93-5 vote, Democrats and Republicans approved an amendment to the Senate regulation bill that eliminates a planned $50bn upfront levy on large financial institutions to fund costs associated with winding down a future Lehman Brothers. The industry would instead be forced to pay after a company was resolved.
Gold hits 5-month high above $1200
By Blake Ellis
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gold surged past the psychologically significant $1,200 mark on Thursday as stock markets plummeted and investors sought a safe haven. What prices are doing: Gold for June delivery settled up $22.30, or nearly 2%, at $1,197.30 an ounce but climbed above $1,200 after its settlement, hitting the highest level since Dec. 4. What's moving the market: Investors flocked to safer investments like gold on Thursday as concerns about Greece's debt persisted and markets tumbled.
Gold Glitters as Markets Tank
By GIL RUDAWSKY - DailyFinance.com
As the stock market plunged nearly 1,000 points before closing down 347 points on Thursday, investors flocked to the safety of gold. The price per ounce of the shiny yellow metal jumped to $1,200, a 3% increase for the day. Investors can add that to the 30% jump over the past year.
All the largest gold mining companies saw modest stock increases, while trading volume shot through the roof. Newmont Mining, (NEM) the largest gold producer in the U.S., showed a 100% leap in its daily average volume as its per share price inched up about 2% late in trading. Barrack Gold (ABX) also climbed about 2% on unusually heavy volume. The popular exchange traded fund SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) closed up nearly 3%.
Gold hits five-month high on European debt concerns
By Claudia Assis & Kate Gibson, MarketWatch Silver and copper go the other way to hit multiweek low
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold prices homed in on record dollar-priced highs Thursday as worries about Europe's fiscal troubles and a battered euro spurred frenzied buying. Gold futures for June delivery traded up $22.30, or 1.9%, to $1,197.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, hitting a five-month high. Intraday highs hovered within a stone's throw from a Dec. 3 high of $1,218.30 an ounce for a most-active contract, according to FactSet Research. Prices touched $1,201.70 in electronic trading after the settlement.
Gold jumps 3 percent to near record
(Reuters) - Gold prices vaulted 3 percent on Thursday to near an all-time high, topping $1,200 an ounce in the biggest one-day gain in more than a year as financial turmoil in Europe and tumultuous U.S. equity trade accelerated the flight to safety.
After trading higher through most of the day, gold prices rallied sharply at mid-afternoon, passing the $1,200 mark for the first time since December 4 as stocks plunged on what sources said was an erroneous trade at a Wall Street bank.
In a flat world Gold and Silver are the only movers
By Hubert Moolman - CommodityOnline.com
The worst part of the world's current financial crisis is still on its way. The enormous debt levels present in our financial system is central to this crisis. This huge debt levels could cause the world's monetary system to collapse, starting with the weaker currencies and quickly making its way to the major ones. Day by day the premier signal (gold price) of this collapse is getting clearer and should encourage more people to run for cover.
Is it boring to read Gold as a safe haven?
Jordan Roy-Byrne - CommodityOnline.com
In the wake of continuing global financial turmoil, we hear quite a bit about "safe havens." Ask someone today and they'd tell you that the US Treasuries are a safe haven and probably Gold also. On a day-to-day basis, certainly the US Dollar and US Treasuries are safe havens. The financial media loves to point that out while noting big single day losses in Gold. In today's world, it seems that few people are aware of Gold's status as a safe haven for 5,000 years or even only for the last ten years.
There would be a major gold rush
Bob Moriarty: Most of the time tying news to gold going up or down is absolute rubbish, but in this situation, there probably is a link. Portugal's debt has been downgraded two notches from A+ to A-, with a negative outlook saying it could be downgraded further in the future, and as you say, Greece's debt is now junk status. We all follow the stock market closely, but we don't realize that in absolute terms the bond market's far more important. It's 10 times bigger than the stock market. Greece is on the verge of a collapse; I've been predicting this for months. We're going to have Greece, Portugal, Ireland, England, Japan and eventually the United States. The risk now is sovereign credit default.
Ron Paul I Think They're Going To Destroy The Dollar!
Bernanke Warns of Small-Bank Risks
By LUCA DI LEO - WSJ.com
Small U.S. banks will likely have to raise capital in the coming years, while bigger institutions are doing much better than a year ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday. Regional and community banks face tough challenges, especially in residential mortgages and commercial real estate loans, Mr. Bernanke told a bankers conference in Chicago in prepared remarks a year after the Fed tested the resilience of the 19 largest U.S. banks in so-called stress tests.
Debt crisis: Panic on Wall Street, stonewalling in Europe
by Phillip Inman and Nils Pratley - guardian.co.uk
Wall Street was gripped by a fresh panic tonight as fears spread that the Greek debt crisis will trigger a new catastrophe for the fragile global banking system. The chaos was compounded as one major bank was said to have made a big trading "error" by trying to sell a huge number of shares by mistake. The blue-chip Dow Jones index briefly fell almost 1,000 points, or 9%, dipping below 10,000 points for the first time since early February, before halving its losses in the next 30 minutes. It closed 348 points, or 3.2%, lower at 10514.
ECB paralysis rattles markets as debt costs hit new highs
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Debt costs surged to fresh highs across the eurozone periphery after the European Central Bank ruled out using its "nuclear option" to stabilise the bond markets, with worrying signs of contagion to Italy.
Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB's president, said the bank's governing council had not even talked about a possible purchase of eurozone government debt at a meeting in Lisbon, despite pleas from economists that this may be the only way to prevent the crisis spiralling out of control. "We did not discuss the matter. I have nothing more to say on it," he said. He stressed that the ECB is "inflexibly attached to price stability", even though core inflation is near record lows at just 0.9pc.
Euro weakens as investors shun Greece debt
Telegraph.co.uk The euro continued to weaken and bond investors remained nervous of ahead of a crucial European Central Bank meeting and a "crossroads" summit of eurozone leaders.
The single currency fell to a 14-month low against the dollar of $1.2737 and spreads on Greek, Spanish and Portuguese government bonds continued to widen. Financial markets want to see what the ECB governors will say as they try to rein in the Greek debt crisis and keep it from overwhelming the 16-nation eurozone.
Greek Riots Threaten to Scare Tourists Key to Economy
By Armorel Kenna, Natalie Weeks and Mary Childs
May 6 (Bloomberg) -- The protests and riots in Athens threaten to undermine tourism, one of Greece's few growth industries and the country's best hope of easing the pain of its unprecedented austerity program. "People will think twice about going to Greece," said Ian Gamse, a director at London-based Otus & Co., which advises Marriott International Inc. and Hilton Worldwide. "People who have booked are going to start calling their tour operators. If Greece can't get the situation under control, it is going to be a big problem."
Greece Fuels Fears of Contagion in U.S.
By BOB DAVIS And MARK GONGLOFF - WSJ.com Crisis Would Likely Spread in Europe Before Crossing Atlantic, Economists Say; Wary Investors Monitor Credit Markets
Investors and policymakers are starting to worry that the economic crisis in Greece could cross the Atlantic and undermine the U.S. economic recovery, in the same way that U.S. housing woes in 2008 battered Europe. "What we have seen is that contagion"-economist-speak for a spreading crisis-"has gone global," says Harvard University economist Jeffrey Frankel. Early credit-market indicators of contagion to the U.S. aren't yet flashing red, but investors are keeping a wary eye on them. "This is like we've agitated a colony of prairie dogs, and everybody is looking out of their hole to see what's going on," said Howard Simons, bond strategist at Bianco Research in Chicago. "But it's no crisis, yet."
Gerald Celente on Greece Riots
UK could become the next Greece, warns Next chief executive Simon Wolfson
by Zoe Wood and Julia Finch - guardian.co.uk Head of clothing chain and Tory party donor urges action on public deficit
The chief executive of clothing retailer Next, Simon Wolfson, warned today that unless the incoming government took urgent action to tackle the hole in the UK's public finances, the country could face the same economic woes as struggling members of the eurozone within three years. "It is impossible to say whether this year could be worst than last year until we know the government measures to cure the deficit," said Wolfson. "But there is a great big hole to fill. I don't think we are in the same position as Greece because we are not in the euro. But something does need to be done, whoever wins the election, or in two or three years' time we could be a Greece or Spain."
Greece passes austerity plan to cut wages, raise taxes
By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY
ATHENS - Striving to avoid a bankruptcy that could shake global markets, the Greek parliament Thursday approved a deeply unpopular plan that would raise taxes while cutting wages and pensions. The vote, largely along party lines, came one day after protests against the measure turned deadly.
The 172-121 win was a joyless affair, however, for Prime Minister George Papandreou and his Socialist Party. The three-year austerity package, which the European Union and the International Monetary Fund required in return for a 110-billion-euro ($145 billion) bailout, will impose painful and far-reaching changes on Greece.
Greece Economic Depression: Inflationary Consequences for the European Union Surge in retail prices
by Nadeem Walayat - GlobalResearch.ca
Greece, Europe's Achilles Heel continues to implode under its budget deficit and total debt burden sending a series of strengthening shock waves across Europe's credit and financial markets. Whilst many western economies bounce back from the Great Recession of 2008-2009, Greece's economic depression continues as the economy is set to contract by further 4% during 2010 which is much worse than the 2.5% contraction of 2009 and looks set continue contracting for several more years. Greek Unemployment is soaring to 12% this year up from 9.5% in 2009 and is set to continue higher to 13.5% in 2011.
Containment dome reaches Gulf oil spill scene
by Karen McVeigh and agencies - guardian.co.uk
BP engineers say five-storey, 100-tonne dome could be best short-term solution to oil leak threatening Gulf coast A barge arrived at the scene of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill today carrying a five-storey, 100-tonne containment dome that it is hoped will stem the leak that is threatening the US coast. Engineers believe that the dome could be the best short-term solution to controlling the 220,000 gallons of oil being spewed into the water each day since an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig two weeks ago. The technique has not been tested before at such depths. The barge's captain, Demi Shaffer, admitted he was anxious. "They're gonna try everything they can," he said. "If it don't work, they'll try something else."
Dispersant 'may make Deepwater Horizon oil spill more toxic'
by Suzanne Goldenberg - guardian.co.uk
Scientists fear chemicals used in oil clean-up can cause genetic mutations and cancer, and threaten sea turtles and tuna
Chemicals used to break up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill before it reaches shore could do lasting damage to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, environmental scientists say. By BP's own account, it has mobilised a third of the world's supply of dispersant, so far pouring about 140,000 gallons (637,000 litres) of the cocktail into the Gulf as of today. Some of the dispersant has been injected directly into the source of the spill on the ocean floor, a technique never deployed before, deepening concerns about further damage to the environment.
Congressmen raised concerns about BP safety before Gulf oil spill
By Abrahm Lustgarten for ProPublica, as a guest post for the Guardian Environment Networ - guardian.co.uk Letter pointed out that three BP pipelines on Alaska's North Slope had ruptured or clogged, leading to a risk of explosions
In the months before BP's Deepwater Horizon rig sank in a ball of fire in the Gulf of Mexico, the company had four close calls on pipelines and facilities it operates in Alaska, according to a letter from two congressmen obtained by ProPublica. In that letter, dated Jan. 14, 2010, Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Bart Stupak, D-Mich., noted that the company's efforts to cut costs could imperil safety at BP facilities. Between September 2008 and November 2009, three BP gas and oil pipelines on Alaska's North Slope ruptured or clogged, leading to a risk of explosions, the letter said. A potentially cataclysmic explosion was also avoided at a BP gas compressor plant, where a key piece of equipment designed to prevent the buildup of gas failed to operate, and the backup equipment intended to warn workers was not properly installed.
Obama Sheltered BP's Deepwater Horizon Rig from Regulatory Requirement
by Tom Eley - GlobalResearch.ca
Last year the Obama administration granted oil giant BP a special exemption from a legal requirement that it produce a detailed environmental impact study on the possible effects of its Deepwater Horizon drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico, an article Wednesday in the Washington Post reveals.
Federal documents show that the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) gave BP a "categorical exclusion" on April 6, 2009 to commence drilling with Deepwater Horizon even though it had not produced the impact study required by a law known as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The report would have included probable ecological consequences in the event of a spill.
Leaked Confidential Report on Disaster in the Gulf:
Deepwater Oil Well Could Become Unchecked Gusher
by Ben Raines - GlobalResearch.ca
'The following is not public' document states:
A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.
"The following is not public," reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Emergency Response document dated April 28. "Two additional release points were found today in the tangled riser. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought."
Asked Friday to comment on the document, NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen said that the additional leaks described were reported to the public late Wednesday night. Regarding the possibility of the spill becoming an order of magnitude larger, Smullen said, "I'm letting the document you have speak for itself."
Gulf Oil Spill: The Halliburton Connection
by Margot Roosevelt and Jill Leovy - GlobalResearch.ca
Investigators delving into the possible cause of the massive gulf oil spill are focusing on the role of Houston-based Halliburton Co., the giant energy services company, which was responsible for cementing the drill into place below the water. The company acknowledged Friday that it had completed the final cementing of the oil well and pipe just 20 hours before the blowout last week.
In a letter to to Halliburton Chief Executive David J. Lesar on Friday, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, called on Halliburton officials to provide all documents relating to "the possibility or risk of an explosion or blowout at the Deepwater Horizon rig and the status, adequacy, quality, monitoring, and inspection of the cementing work" by May 7.
House approves $6 billion 'cash for caulkers'
By Hibah Yousuf
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- House lawmakers on Thursday approved a $6 billion measure that aims to provide rebates to homeowners who invest in energy efficiency improvements -- but not without a fight from Republicans. The bill, officially known as the Home Star Energy Retrofit Act but better known as "cash for caulkers," has been touted by President Obama since December as one of the signature pieces of his administration's larger job-creation strategy.
US lets second loans threaten housing: Goodman
SidneyMorningHerald SMH.com.au
The US government and the nation's largest banks are still allowing second mortgages to jeopardise the housing market, according to Laurie Goodman, an analyst at Amherst Securities Group LP. While the Treasury Department created an initiative requiring holders of home-equity debt to adjust terms when first mortgages are changed -- a program in which the biggest banks have agreed to participate -- the plan falls short of what's needed, Goodman said today in a Bloomberg Television interview.
Federal Government Outpaces Private Sector in Job Creation
by Frank Newport Both see more hiring than firing; the opposite is true in state and local governments
PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's Job Creation Index for April reveals significantly more hiring within the federal government than in the private sector. Both show a substantially more positive picture than state and local governments, where firing far eclipses hiring. Gallup's Job Creation Index is based on the percentage of American workers who say their employers are hiring minus the percentage who say their employers are letting workers go. The overall Index value for American workers in April tilts positive, with 27% of workers saying their places of employment are hiring, and 22% saying their employers are letting people go -- resulting in an overall +5 Job Creation Index.
A US Constitution for the 21st Century!
By J. D. Longstreet - capitolhillcoffeehouse.com The push for a new constitution for the United States of America has begun.
We have all hear the expression "A Living Constitution" - meaning the constitution of 1787 is a document that should be interpreted by taking into account and consideration that Americans live today in different times, not in the 18th century when the current constitution was first drafted. And many will claim the 21st century American is much more sophisticated than his ancestor who fought a world super power to gain their freedom-and won, and then drafted a constitution, created a government for a country that would show the way to people seeking freedom anywhere in the world, and would, reluctantly, become the police force of the planet.
Attacks On Arizona Are Attacks On America
By Christopher G. Adamo - capitolhillcoffeehouse.com
Among the insightful guardrails established in the Constitution for the preservation of the United States, the requirement that the nation's chief executive be a natural born citizen exhibited a keen understanding of the human condition. Though no single stipulation could provide absolute protection from the incursion of forces that may be unsympathetic or even hostile to the nation, the founders did their utmost to ensure that the succession of leaders would, as much as possible, have the interests of America at the forefront of their ambitions.
Crime riles Arizonans bent on immigration crackdown
by Tim Gaynor - MESA, Arizona
(Reuters) - Following a tip, a police SWAT team closed off the street, put a school on lock-down and then burst through the door of a shabby house where dozens of illegal immigrants were sheltering.
The sheriff's deputies caught three men who took off running and arrested 24 people they suspected of being illegal immigrants recently arrived from Mexico. "There were fire and police people going back and forth, the road closed off ... It was chaotic," said Virginia Mongold, who watched the operation unfold on Monday, the 56th such raid in the Phoenix valley this year.
FCC says it has compromise on key broadband rules
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON - The head of the Federal Communications Commission thinks he has come up with a way to salvage his ambitious national broadband plans without running into legal obstacles that have threatened to derail him.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Thursday his agency has found a compromise in how it regulates high-speed Internet access: It will apply only narrow regulations to broadband companies. The FCC chairman said this delicate dance will ensure the agency has adequate authority to govern broadband providers without being too "heavy-handed."
White House unveils push on broadband rules
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington - FT.com
The Obama administration on Wednesday handed Google and other web content providers a significant victory as it announced that cable and telecommunications companies would face tough new regulations on how they manage their high-speed internet networks.
An official at the Federal Communications Commission, the US media regulator, said that chairman Julius Genachowski would on Thursday announce that the FCC will seek to regulate broadband service providers such as Comcast and AT&T under a more rigorous legal framework.
David Rosenberg: The Case For Gold Going To $3,000 Is Getting Stronger By The Day
by Joe Weisenthal - BusinessInsider.com David Rosenberg of Guskin-Sheff is a deflationist, but unlike some (like Robert Prechter), he's also pro-gold.
Today he argues that the breakdown of the euro is very bullish for gold. In the interim, the ECB has been forced to water down its charter as it permits sub-investment grade Greek bonds as collateral. Sadly, the central bank is not a remake of the Bundesbank and the Euro is less of a "hard currency" than its architects could have ever envisaged a decade ago. Now there is talk that the ECB is contemplating a quantitative easing plan (see ECB Should Resist QE Siren Call on page C14 of the WSJ). The case for gold heading to $3,000 an ounce is getting stronger by the day. The Euro has already broken below 1.30 to the U.S. dollar and there is plenty of room for additional decline going forward. It's only at a one-year low - wait until it moves to a decade low.
Roubini: America Faces Inflation Or Default, But What's Really Scary Is That The GOP Could Soon Win Congress
by Joe Weisenthal - BusinessInsider.com
Nouriel Roubini's latest warning to the US concerns our debt, and what he sees as the two possible scenarios: Inflation or default.
This part is standard, though we'd note that many folks would have said the same thing about Japan years ago, and -- surprise, surprise -- they took a third path, deflation. Regardless, what Roubini is really worried about is actually a Republican takeover of Congress: What worries me most is the political gridlock in Washington. While everyone agrees that $10 trillion (Dh36.7 trillion) deficits (by the Obama administration's own estimates) for the next decade are not sustainable, there is no political will to act. The two parties are completely divided. Effectively, the Republicans are against any form of revenue increases. The Democrats are against spending cuts, especially of entitlements
Why a Criminal Case Against Goldman Sachs Matters and Why Charges Could Stick
Pam Martens - Counterpunch via InfoWars.com
Goldman Sachs used to be the firm that pursued top government posts; now government is in hot pursuit of it, and not in a good way. The SEC has charged the firm and an employee, Fabrice Tourre, with securities fraud and the Justice Department has commenced a criminal investigation, according to news reports. Change appears to be swallowing Goldman Sachs. It began quietly moving out of its storied and staid headquarters at 85 Broad last Fall to flashy new multi-billion dollar digs at 200 West Street, including a 54,000 square foot gym (roughly the size of 20 homes for average Americans; those who can still afford one after the Wall Street pillage). And after the release of internal emails by the SEC and Senate, Goldman looks more like a sleazy boiler room pump and dump operation in drag than an investment bank (in drag as a bank holding company). Comedy talk show hosts are having a field day (Jon Stewart calls them "those f*!*!ing guys") and Goldmanfreude (pleasure in watching Goldman shamed for the pain it inflicted on others) is in full swing.
Fed Documents Reveal Secret Lobbying Effort Against Audit Provisions
Steve Watson - Prisonplanet.com
The Federal Reserve is secretly engaged in an intense lobbying effort in an attempt to stave off moves to have the Government Accountability Office audit it, internal documents reveal. The Huffington Post has obtained the documents, which were distributed to Senate offices by a Fed official, whose identity the online news site agreed not to reveal. "The effort to beat back the audit relies on playing two members of the same caucus - Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) - off each other."
Gotcha! U.S. lawmaker caught looking at porn on Senate floor
By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE - Daily MailOnline.com
In his flimsy defence, he was bored.
Unfortunately for Florida Senator Mike Bennett, that's just not a good enough reason to be looking at pictures of topless women while on the Senate floor. Especially not while using his state-issued computer. And especially not while a colleague is arguing that the law currently being debated is 'disrespectful towards women'. Even if you do get caught in such a situation, you really shouldn't threaten the reporter who ran the story - trust us, it is just going to make matters worse.
Worried Euro investors piling their money into gold
By Dan Norcini - CommodityOnline.com
There was continued pressure on equities overnight and into todayÕs session as fears spread that the situation in Greece is going to spread further into the Euro Zone. Portugal, Spain, and Italy are now the prime candidates. Some are going as far as saying that the Euro zone is going to break up. Such thinking will bring safe haven buying into gold especially in Europe which is exactly what we saw. Gold in euro terms remains very strong coming in at the PM fix above the 906 level. Clearly, investors on the Continent are very worried about the health of the Euro and are buying large amounts of gold. This safe haven buying is also going to continue to support Dollar priced gold which is why the gold bears at the Comex cannot crack the market lower as they have done in the past even as the entirety of the commodity sector is getting sold off by hedge funds and the US Dollar is floating ever higher.
IMF sells 18.5 tonnes of gold in March
LONDON (Commodity Online): The International Monetary (IMF) has sold around 18.5 tonnes of gold in March this year without drawing much attention from any quarters. A report appeared in the western media said after India sold 200 tonnes of gold to India in November, this is the biggest sale it made in a month. Reserves of gold at the Washington-based lender were 2,981.2 tonnes at the end of March compared with 2,999.7 tonnes at the end of February.
China - the Gorilla in the 3rd gold war Another analysis suggesting that China is the gorilla in the perennial battle of parties looking for advantage in the forces controlling the direction of the gold price.
Author:Lawrence Williams - MineWebl.co.za
LONDON-Once again I am indebted to Paul Mylchreest's absorbing irregular letter, the Thunder Road Report for some extremely interesting insights into global financial and gold policy and where that is likely to lead us in the future. In his latest letter, Mylchreest reckons we are now in the 'Third Gold War' since the Second World War and this is being waged between the USA in conjunction with other western countries/institutions, notably the IMF, and various opposing sectors worldwide. In his contention, the U.S. and its allies lost the first of these 'gold wars' to the French (then under De Gaulle) and the second to the Middle East, helped significantly by the then pro-gold stance and purchasing power of the German Deutsche Bank.
The ugly side of Greek bailout
By Sol Palha
Before we discuss this issue lets focus on some facts. Many individuals claim that Greece has to be bailed out to maintain stability in the financial markets. This is a bogus argument, in the short term it might be true, but in the long term it just delays the day of reckoning and makes the situation infinitely worse. You do not help an alcoholic by chastising him and then allowing him free access to booze; it won't work. The current debt load is 115% of GDP and by 2011 it will be 150% of GDP. The Greek government has now stated that it will take 2 years more to meet the EU requirements; a great start and a clear sign that they will come begging for more aid down the line.
Rioters kill three bank workers in Athens protests as EU warns Britain's debt crisis will be worse than Greece's
By MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE - Daily MailOnline.com
Three bank workers died in a blaze at their Athens office block today after violence broke out in a mass demonstration against Greece's government. Anarchy engulfed Athens as protesters torched the bank. Up to 100,000 people took to the streets, many chanting 'Thieves, thieves!' while hurling projectiles at police and trying to storm the parliament. Greek prime minister George Papandreou denounced what he called the 'murder' of two women and one man killed when bank was set alight as the mob protested against austerity measures imposed under Greece's international bailout package.
Peter Schiff: Greece II
ECB's Weber Sees Threat of 'Grave' Greek Contagion
By Gabi Thesing
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- European Central Bank council member Axel Weber said Greece's fiscal crisis is threatening "grave contagion effects" in the euro area as stocks fell around the world and riots in Athens left three people dead.
"There is a threat of grave contagion effects for other member states in the monetary union and increasing negative feedback loop effects on capital markets," Weber said in a statement today as German lawmakers in Berlin debate the proposed rescue of Greece. "All in all, Germany's contribution to the aid package for Greece is justifiable."
The euro is tumbling as the Greek fiscal crisis spreads to other indebted nations such as Spain and Portugal. Moody's Investors Service today placed its Aa2 rating on Portugal's debt on review for a possible downgrade. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed to parliament to approve the country's 22.4 billion-euro portion of the joint European Union- International Monetary Fund bailout amid public opposition.
Euro Slides to 14-Month Low on Concern Debt Crisis Worsening
By Ben Levisohn and Lukanyo Mnyanda
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- The euro plunged to its weakest level against the dollar in more than a year on concern Europe's debt crisis is worsening as protests in Greece turned deadly and Moody's Investors Service warned that Portugal's credit rating may be reduced.
The 16-nation currency traded below $1.29 for the first time since March 2009. The dollar and yen strengthened against most other currencies as stocks slid across the globe and commodities plunged, damping demand for as growth-related assets. The pound reaching its strongest level against the euro in more than eight months amid speculation tomorrow's U.K. election may leave the Conservative Party in a position to form a government.
Digging Greece out of ruins: Banks across Europe could start to wobble if Greek bonds aren't shored up
by Eric Margolis - SmirkingChimp.com
PARIS -- Ah, romantic springtime Paris! Angry farmers drove 1,100 tractors through the City of Light last week. They fired volleys of wet manure from a terrifying farm machine. Train unions, teachers and postmen threaten more strikes. But France's biggest headache is being caused by Greece and other members of Europe's Club Med of debt. France's banks are Europe's biggest holders of Greek debt, some $67 billion, that is fast losing value. There is talk of a bond market crash. Greece cooked its books. Italy, Spain and Portugal may have done the same.
Greek Protests Leave 3 Dead, Buildings Burning
By Maria Petrakis and Natalie Weeks
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Greek demonstrations against government austerity measures turned deadly when three people were killed after protesters set fire to a bank in central Athens. Fire officials at the scene said they discovered three bodies in the building, according to a fire-department statement sent by text message today. The building, located near the Greek parliament, housed a branch of Marfin Egnatia Bank SA. At least three more buildings were set on fire and 30 fire trucks and 80 firefighters battled the blazes, fire officials said.
Rioting Erupts in Greece As Striking Workers Protest Austerity Measures
By Derek Gatopoulos, Associated Press via CNSNews.com
Athens, Greece (AP) - Three people died when an Athens bank went up in flames Wednesday as tens of thousands of Greeks took to the streets to protest harsh spending cuts aimed at saving the country from bankruptcy. Tear gas drifted across the city's center as hundreds of rioters hurled paving stones and Molotov cocktails at police, who responded with heavy use of tear gas. At least two buildings were set on fire and later extinguished, while protesters set up burning barricades in the streets. At least three cars and a fire truck were torched.
Fears grow over Greece bank run as country seeks bail-out
By KARL WEST - Daily MailOnline.com
Greece's banks are being hammered by a run on their reserves, leaving the country's main lenders increasingly reliant on the European Central Bank for funding. The latest figures from the Bank of Greece paint a grim picture, with foreign lenders and individuals withdrawing funds from Greek banks at an alarming rate. Simon Ward, chief economist at fund manager Henderson, likened the situation to Britain's Northern Rock, which was eventually nationalised to save it from collapse.
Bank fire kills three in Greek protest
By Kerin Hope in Athens - FT.com
Three people died on Wednesday in a blaze triggered by a fire-bomb tossed into an Athens bank during a march by tens of thousands of striking Greek workers, police said. The fire broke out in a branch of Marfin Popular Bank, a private Greek bank close to a central square where demonstrators were gathering. The deaths were the first in five months of regular street protests against the socialist government's austerity measures. They came amid escalating popular anger over the latest package of cuts Ð the fourth since last December.
Greek Quarantine Tested as Spain Denounces Contagion
By Emma Ross-Thomas and Natalie Weeks
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Investors are already testing the euro region's efforts to contain the Greek crisis. Greek bond yields have risen above their level before the government agreed on a European Union-led bailout on May 2 as escalating protests cast doubt on its ability to drive through austerity measures. Spanish and Portuguese bonds also renewed last week's slide as investors question their ability to cut budget deficits. The extra yield that investors demand to hold Spanish debt over bunds today rose close to a 13-year high.
Execs ponder a Goldman without Blankfein What-Ifs for Goldman Sachs
by By SUSANNE CRAIG And JOANN S. LUBLIN
provided by WSJ.com Behind Stiff Upper Lip, Some Executives, Alumni Consider Life After Blankfein
Some executives and powerful alumni of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are talking about whether Chief Executive Lloyd C. Blankfein can survive the legal and public-relations storm swirling around the company, according to people familiar with the situation.
The conversations being held among some partners, managing directors and other current and former executives are informal, and there appear to be no plans for a management shake-up. The various hypothetical scenarios include whether Mr. Blankfein should resign, whether there should be a broader house-cleaning of top Goldman management or whether to separate the chairman and CEO posts now held by Mr. Blankfein.
Most Senators Who Questioned Goldman Sachs Also Took Money From Its PAC and Employees
By Matt Cover, Staff Writer - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) Ð Most of the 10 members of the Senate committee who grilled top-ranking employees of Goldman Sachs last month have accepted campaign contributions from either the bank's political action committee (PAC) or its employees. Goldman executives - including CEO Lloyd Blankfein - were called before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee's Permanent Investigations Subcommittee on April 27 to answer questions about the bank's conduct during the run-up to the 2008 housing crisis.
Geithner Casts Off Wall Street Taint to Sell Financial Overhaul
By Ian Katz and Timothy R. Homan
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner stepped onto a stage last week in Milwaukee, where unemployment is about 12 percent, and told 200 cheering college students that "it is excellent to be away from Washington." Geithner's appearance with Vice President Joe Biden was part of the Obama administration's effort to take the debate for sweeping financial-rule changes to ordinary Americans. He has used radio and television appearances in the past week to broaden his reach beyond Washington in a bid to overcome Republican opposition in the Senate.
Cayne Blames Market Forces for 2008 Collapse of Bear Stearns
By Yalman Onaran
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- James "Jimmy" Cayne, the former chairman and chief executive officer of Bear Stearns Cos., blamed market forces and loss of confidence in his firm for its collapse in 2008. "The marketÕs loss of confidence, even though it was unjustified and irrational, became a self-fulfilling prophecy," Cayne said in written testimony to be presented today to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington. "The efforts we made to strengthen the firm were reasonable and prudent, although in hindsight they proved inadequate."
Catastrophism is the idea that Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope.
Also:
1. Geology: The doctrine that major changes in the earth's crust result from catastrophes rather than evolutionary processes.
2. The prediction or expectation of cataclysmic upheaval, as in political or social developments.
Unable to Stanch Oil, BP Will Try to Gather It
By SAM DOLNICK and HENRY FOUNTAIN - NYTimes.com
BATON ROUGE, La. - With remote-controlled robots a mile underwater unable to seal the gushing well, and with the drilling of relief wells that would allow crews to plug the spouting cavity months away from completion, it is time for the big box. The end of the oil spill, or at least the end of much of the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, may soon be delivered by a 98-ton steel box standing four stories tall, with a fresh coat of white paint. The containment dome, as engineers are calling the structure, was built over the past week by a crew of more than two dozen welders working around the clock at a shipyard in Port Fourchon, La. On Wednesday, the dome began its journey to the site of the ruptured well, where it will be lowered by cable 5,000 feet beneath the sea to sit atop the larger of the two remaining leaks.
Levin: SWAT Team Response To Oil Spill Is Government Takeover Plot
Paul Joseph Watson - Prison Planet.com
Radio talk show host and former Reagan cabinet advisor Mark Levin has slammed President Obama's bizarre announcement that he will be sending SWAT teams to deal with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, alleging that the response is part of a plan to grease the skids for government takeover and nationalization of the oil industry. In a move that has shocked and dumbfounded political observers in equal measure, Obama said yesterday the "Department of Interior has announced that they will be sending SWAT teams to the Gulf to inspect all platforms and rigs."
BP Oil Spill, NYC Terror Plot: Limbaugh & Co. Go Nuts
Remember during the George W. Bush administration when a former Clinton official appeared on "Hardball," stated that President Bush had allowed 9/11 to happen for political gain, and Chris Matthews nodded along in agreement? Of course, you don't. Because that never happened. But this week former (and disgraced) FEMA chief Michael Brown on Fox News Channel asserted that President Obama had permitted the BP oil leak to continue for days in order to justify reversing course on expanding offshore drilling to "pander to the environmentalists." And Fox host Neil Cavuto nodded.
Rush's conspiracy theory:
"Environmentalist whackos" may have blown up oil rig to "head off more oil drilling"
Limbaugh suggests oil rig explosion an inside job; says cleanup unnecessary
by Chad Bower / Eyewitness News - wwltv.com
Welcome to a special edition of New Orleans in the News blog focused on the oil spill and the recovery efforts, and what others in the world are saying about the catastrophe. Earlier this week the LAÊTimes released a controversial story saying New Orleanians are "shrugging"Êat the oil spill, but now radio host Rush Limbaugh has jumped into the foray with comments that are sure to spark some debate.
First, Limbaugh on Thursday alluded to the oil rig explosion being an inside job: "I want to get back to the timing of the blowing up, the explosion out there in the Gulf of Mexico of this oil rig. Since they're sending SWAT teams down there now this changes the whole perspective of this. Now, lest we forget, ladies and gentlemen, the carbon tax bill, cap and trade that was scheduled to be announced on Earth Day. I remember that. And then it was postponed for a couple of days later after Earth Day, and then of course immigration has now moved in front of it.
Decade-old report cited failure of oil rig safety system
By Les Blumenthal | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON - A 1999 report commissioned by the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling suggests failures of underwater blowout preventers designed to stop oil spills like the massive one threatening the Gulf Coast were far from unknown, the chairwoman of a key Senate panel said Friday. Citing a Minerals Management Service report, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said there were 117 failures of blowout preventers during a two-year period in the late 1990s on the outer continental shelf of the United States.
WSJ report on blowout
By RUSSELL GOLD, BEN CASSELMAN And GUY CHAZAN
[OILSPILL] Associated Press
A worker looks over an oil boom as it collects oil from the leaking Deepwater Horizon pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster has been sending 1,000 barrels of oil a day gushing into the sea. The oil well spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico didn't have a remote-control shut-off switch used in two other major oil-producing nations as last-resort protection against underwater spills. The lack of the device, called an acoustic switch, could amplify concerns over the environmental impact of offshore drilling after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig last week.
'Brownie': Obama wanted oil spill to spread
by Chad Bower / Eyewitness News
The last time we heard from FEMA director Michael Brown, he was predicting that the Colts would defeat the Saints in the Super Bowl. Now in an interview on Fox News with Neil Cavuto, he's taking aim at President Barack Obama and saying a slow response by the federal government is "pure politics." The head of FEMA during Hurricane Katrina who became famous after former President George Bush lauded his performance ("Heck of a job, Brownie"), Brown said by delaying the federal response, it's giving Obama a chance to shut down the oil industry that he said he never supported.
BP Says One Oil Leak of Three Is Shut Off
By SAM DOLNICK and LIZ ROBBINS - NYTimes.com
BATON ROUGE, La. - For the first time since an explosion on a drilling rig 15 days ago left an undersea well spewing crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, engineers succeeded in shutting off one of the three leaks from the damaged well late Tuesday night, a spokesman for BP said on Wednesday morning. Though by itself the move was not expected to reduce the amount of oil being released - estimated at 210,000 gallons a day - it "does enable to us to make progress, to winnow down the focus from three leaks to two," said the spokesman, John Curry.
Gulf Oil Dome Has Successful History, Says Expert
FOXNews.com
The best short-term solution to bottling up a disastrous oil spill threatening sea life and livelihoods -- a tremendous dome BP will lower a mile to the sea floor -- has proven successful in the past.
NEW ORLEANS -- The best short-term solution to bottling up a disastrous oil spill threatening sea life and livelihoods -- a tremendous dome BP will lower a mile to the sea floor -- has proven successful in the past. The contraption, called the Subsea Oil Recovery System, is a 100-ton structure is designed to be placed over the largest source of oil leaking 5,000 feet beneath the Gulf of Mexico. The system collects the leaking oil and pumps it through a funnel and pipe to a tanker at the surface, which stores it and ships the oil to shore. Dr. Bill Eustes, an associate professor with the Colorado School of Mines, told Fox News correspondent Phil Keating that he hasn't heard of anyone trying anything like this since the 70s, when oil company ARCO attempted a similar feat. The company (which was subsequently bought by BP) lowered a rudimentary funnel over a naturally occurring oil leak in Santa Barbara Channel.
Second Louisiana rig accident minor: report
(Reuters) - An inland shallow-water drilling rig capsized near Morgan City, Louisiana, while being towed to a salvage yard, the Coast Guard said on Friday. There were no injuries, and navigation was not affected by the incident in the Charenton navigation channel south of U.S. 90 near Morgan City, Coast Guard spokesman Mike O'Berry said. "This is not a major waterway," he said. "Nobody was on board. It was being towed." The incident followed the April 20 explosion of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, in which 11 people died. The rig sank and a disastrous oil spill has ensued.
Toledo Man Streams Foreclosure Occupation Over Internet
Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
Keith Sadler is a victim of the Greatest Bankster Heist in History. He lost his UAW job thanks to the premeditated de-industrialization of America and now the bank wants to take his home through foreclosure. On Monday, he was to be evicted from his home in Toledo, Ohio, but he has vowed to resist. "Keith Sadler says he's done everything he can to save his home near Bowling Green, but lenders won't work with him," reported the Associated Press. "The county sheriff says he's given Sadler extra time to get things settled and that he has no choice but to evict him." "I am resisting this eviction through non-violent civil disobedience," Sadler told SwampBubbles. "It's time to make a stand against this corrupt system."
Arizona's immigration law spreads
Grassroots organization counts 12 states considering similar legislation
A national grassroots organization that fights illegal immigration is boasting that Arizona's controversial new immigration-enforcement law is an idea that's catching on. According to a statement from the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, as many as 12 other states have legislators who are already pushing or considering drafting legislation similar to Arizona's S.B. 1070, which requires local law enforcement officers during the course of a "lawful stop, detention or arrest" to ask for proof of citizenship or legal immigration status and turn those without it over to federal authorities for deportation.
Gallup Poll: 9 Out of 10 Americans Say Secure the Border This Year
By Terence P. Jeffrey, Editor-in-Chief - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted May 1-2 shows that 9 out of 10 Americans say it is moderately to extremely important to them for the federal government to take steps this year to secure the border against illegal immigration. Similarly, 61 percent of Americans say they are very concerned that illegal immigrants are putting an unfair burden on U.S. schools, hospitals, and government services.
Big Paydays for the Chiefs in the Media
By JOSEPH PLAMBECK - NYTimes.com
The media industry may be going through some rough times, with the landscape changing day to day, but at least one aspect is business as usual: big paydays for the people at the top. Top executives at the country's largest media companies continued to reel in multimillion-dollar pay packages in 2009, a year of widespread cost-cutting throughout the industry. In several cases, the packages even increased from the year before. At the top of the list is Leslie Moonves, chief executive of the CBS Corporation, whose pay package in 2009 totaled almost $43 million, more than twice what he made in 2008, according to an analysis by Equilar, an executive compensation research firm.
IBD/TIPP Poll: 60% Favor New Arizona Immigration Law
By SEAN HIGGINS, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Editorial pages may rage against the Arizona immigration law, but a solid majority of Americans support it, an IBD/TIPP poll found. Sixty percent back the law, with 40% strongly favoring it, according to preliminary results. Meanwhile, 30% oppose it, with 20% strongly disapproving it. The remaining 10% are unsure. The responses show a public increasingly frustrated with the response by local, state and federal authorities and welcoming solutions - like Arizona's law - that would have been politically untenable a few years ago.
Ariz. seeks federal foreclosure-aid funds
by Catherine Reagor, The Arizona Republic
The number of Phoenix-area homeowners losing houses to foreclosure fell 20 percent in April, a drop that could signal more successful or at least temporary loan modifications. There still are many people facing foreclosure, even though pre-foreclosures dropped as well. Last month, lenders started foreclosure proceedings on 7,064 Valley homes, down 12 percent from March. The foreclosure tally for April was 4,446.
The super-classified network that served as command and control for the 9/11 false flag attack on America By Wayne Madsen - Online Journal Contributing Writer
Multiple U.S. intelligence sources have reported to WMR that a super-classified network with only some 70 terminals in select U.S. government locations handled the parallel command-and-control activities that permitted the 9/11 terrorist attacks to be successful.
The "above top secret" network bears the acronym "PDAS." WMR has not yet discovered what the acronym stands for, however, the system is limited to only a few hundred people with Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) Special Access Program (SAP) need-to-know access, in addition to the president and vice president.
On September 11, 2001, PDAS was used to convey the information from the Air Force Chief of Staff to the White House, CIA, and other select agencies that the Air Force had successfully intercepted and downed a target over Pennsylvania. It is believed that the "target" in question was United flight 93, although there is no confirmation that the aircraft was in fact the one downed by Air Force interceptors.
EMP could leave '9 out of 10 Americans dead'
Joe Farrah - WorldNetDaily.com
Analyst: 'That is exactly what Iranians are working toward'
There is renewed alarm about the possibility of an EMP attack Ð electromagnetic pulse Ð on the United States because of Iran's work on a multi-stage Space Launch Vehicle, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. And experts forecast if such an attack were a success, it effectively could throw the U.S. back into an age of agriculture. "Within a year of that attack, nine out of 10 Americans would be dead, because we can't support a population of the present size in urban centers and the like without electricity," said Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy. "And that is exactly what I believe the Iranians are working towards."
Ahmadinejad Hails U.S. Arms Disclosure, Warns Against Sanctions
By Bill Varner
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration, which took a "positive step forward" by disclosing the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, risks the failure of its diplomatic game plan by pursuing new sanctions on Iran, its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. "We fear that a group of radicals may be willing to push Mr. Obama, who came to power with the motto of change, speedily toward an irreversible point," Ahmadinejad said during a news conference in New York. "It is very clear that if the U.S. starts another sanction against Iran, it means it is the end of Mr. Obama's efforts. We really don't want to see that."
Iraq deal gives clerics final say
AP - BAGHDAD - An agreement signed by Iraq's two main Shiite blocs seeking to govern the country gives the final decision on all their political disputes to top Shiite clerics, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. If the alliance succeeds in forming the next government, the provision could increase the role of senior clergy in politics. The provision would likely further alienate Iraq's Sunni minority, which already feels excluded by Shiite dominance and had been hoping that March's election would boost their say in power.
Taliban on jihad inside U.S.
Joe Farrah - WorldNetDaily.com
N.Y. bombing attempt reveals decision to launch attacks on
In 1998, the International Islamic Front declared a fatwa, or Islamic religious ruling, of war against the U.S, and now the weekend attempt to detonate a car bomb in the heart of Times Square in New York has been linked to a group that claims membership in the IIF, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. Revelations that the Tehrik-e-Taliban, or TTP, may be linked to the car bombing attempt suggest strongly that Pakistani terror groups have decided to launch physical attacks in the U.S., even as they increase attacks in Pakistan. Authorities report that Faisal Shahzad was arrested as he tried to leave the U.S. on a flight to Dubai and was facing a court hearing in the attempted bombing. Also, authorities said another man has been arrested in Karachi, Pakistan, in connection with the attempted attack.
Shanghai Is Trying to Untangle the Mangled English of Chinglish
By ANDREW JACOBS - NYTimes.com
SHANGHAI - For English speakers with subpar Chinese skills, daily life in China offers a confounding array of choices. At banks, there are machines for "cash withdrawing" and "cash recycling." The menus of local restaurants might present such delectables as "fried enema," "monolithic tree mushroom stem squid" and a mysterious thirst-quencher known as "The Jew's Ear Juice." Those who have had a bit too much monolithic tree mushroom stem squid could find themselves requiring roomier attire: extra-large sizes sometimes come in "fatso" or "lard bucket" categories. These and other fashions can be had at the clothing chain known as Scat.
Goldman Sachs settles short-sales allegations
By Marcy Gordon, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Goldman Sachs(GS) has agreed to pay $450,000 to settle regulators' allegations that it violated a rule related to short-selling of stocks in 2008-2009, it was announced Tuesday. The banking company did not admit or deny wrongdoing in paying the civil penalties in agreements with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange's regulatory arm. The case involving Goldman's stock-trading business is unrelated to the SEC's civil fraud charges filed against the firm last month over mortgage securities transactions it arranged. Goldman has denied the allegations in that case and said it will contest the charges in court.
How Goldman Sachs Helped Paulson and Company Short Housing in Smart Growth States
by Ronald Utt, Ph.D. The Heritage Foundation
It has been widely known in investment circles for several years that the hedge fund Paulson and Company earned huge profits by turning bearish on the U.S. housing finance market in 2006, when much of the investment and finance community believed that housing sales and home prices would continue to boom. Paulson was correct in its research, which found that certain U.S. housing markets were awfully wobbly and headed for a bust, and in early 2007 it bet against their mortgages as other investors gobbled them up. Paulson is estimated to have earned $1 billion in profits with these investments.
What-Ifs for Goldman Sachs
By SUSANNE CRAIG And JOANN S. LUBLIN - WSJ.com Behind Stiff Upper Lip, Some Executives, Alumni Consider Life After Blankfein
Some executives and powerful alumni of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are talking about whether Chief Executive Lloyd C. Blankfein can survive the legal and public-relations storm swirling around the company, according to people familiar with the situation. The conversations being held among some partners, managing directors and other current and former executives are informal, and there appear to be no plans for a management shake-up. The various hypothetical scenarios include whether Mr. Blankfein should resign, whether there should be a broader house-cleaning of top Goldman management or whether to separate the chairman and CEO posts now held by Mr. Blankfein.
On the edge with Max Keiser-Goldman Sachs Fraud
04-30-2010 (Part 1)
On the edge with Max Keiser-Goldman Sachs Fraud
04-30-2010 (Part 2)
On the edge with Max Keiser-Goldman Sachs Fraud
04-30-2010 (Part 3)
Nouriel Roubini: forget sub-prime mortgages. It's the sub-prime financial system we need to fix
Here's an exclusive extract from Nouriel Roubini's new book.
For the past half century, academic economists, Wall Street traders, and everyone in between have been led astray by fairy tales about the wonders of unregulated markets and the limitless benefits of financial innovation. The crisis dealt a body blow to that belief system, but nothing has replaced it.
That's all too evident in the timid reform proposals currently being considered in the United States and other advanced economies. Even though they have suffered the worst financial crisis in generations, many countries have shown a remarkable reluctance to inaugurate the sort of wholesale reform necessary to bring the financial system to heel. Instead, people talk of tinkering with the financial system, as if what just happened was caused by a few bad mortgages.
Bank Tax Should Accompany Wall Street Bill, Geithner Says
By MARTIN VAUGHAN - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON - Congress should enact a tax on banks to help the government recoup financial crisis bailout funds alongside a financial regulatory bill now pending in the Senate, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a Senate panel Tuesday. Mr. Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee that the proposal from the administration of President Barack Obama for a tax on the liabilities of large financial firms is better than alternatives such as a tax based on profits. House Democrats are likely to take a different approach by taxing bank profits rather than the liabilities on the banks' balance sheets. But Mr. Geithner said the advantage of a tax on liabilities is that it would discourage risky activities, such as trading in derivatives.
Questions for Banks on Fudging the Books
By LOUISE STORY - NYTimes.com
It's an open secret on Wall Street that many big banks routinely - and legally - fudge their quarterly books. But now Washington is taking a hard look at a range of maneuvers that help banks dress up their financial statements, and raising some uncomfortable questions about banks' bookkeeping. The techniques in question, which are normally relegated to the shadows of finance, are expected to be thrust into a public spotlight on Wednesday by the federal committee that is investigating the causes of the financial crisis. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission is expected to focus most sharply on the way banks slim down their balance sheets before reporting their results and on loans they receive from entities like special-purpose vehicles and hedge funds, which are allowed to operate with little public disclosure.
If It Smells Like A Funding Crisis And It Looks Like A Funding Crisis...
by Nic Lenoir of ICAP
Well, it must be a funding crisis. For all those who have been talking about rate hikes, here is a little reality check: we are on the verge of a full blown funding crisis at the sovereign level and central banks have just only started withdrawing liquidity. To be sure two factors are at play: the explosion of sovereign CDS's or in other words sovereign credit spreads, and the withdrawing of liquidity. I have long been convinced sovereign CDS's would be the next stop for the wreck train, but for a while last fall it seemed like we might have a window of recovery, and would have to wait for the roll-over of the business cycle before the market addresses the issue. Greece, however small, provided the spark that ignited the powder keg when the new administration decided to clear its name and reveal the true nature of their government's books and deficit when it took over. It was all downside from there. Greece's ability to keep rolling its debt down the road is pretty much null, despite a lot of the austerity measures committed to. Then of course as we all have learned from recent experience with the banking crisis contagion is quick to arrive, and since most countries are in a precarious fiscal situation the market is not short of ammunition to spread the fire. Let's be clear: if Spain officially only has a debt to GDP ratio roughly equal to 65%, its consumers are massively leveraged, and as a result so are local banks. I hear a lot of people out of Europe saying: "the US is no better, this is ridiculous we are just as solvent as they are". Maybe, but a market is governed by supply and demand and right now no one wants European bonds. As numerous institutions some bigger than other have found out: when you have leverage you are only as solvent as you can roll your debt.
Mainstream Media Critical of the Fed?
The Daily Bell - SilverBearCafe.com
Over the weekend, we analyzed a Washington Post article describing the economic crisis in simple but powerful terms. The article maintained that the problem was caused by risky lending and the solution was regulation to impel "banks" to reduce practices that could lead to risky lending. We pointed out in our analysis that regulatory efforts will likely fail - as they always have in these situations (and in fact all such situations) - and that it would be much better to let the free market work. We also pointed out that it was not possible to let the free-market work because the Federal Reserve was responsible for the monetary euphoria that caused the risky lending - and the Fed is a money-fixing operation itself. Thus the root cause of the problem was not risky lending but the over-production of money that led to the risky lending. The solution would not be regulation, therefore, but reducing or eliminating the power of the Fed to print money, causing booms and then terrible busts.
Keiser Report meets Schiff Report
This time Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, look at the scandals of President Bill Clinton's skepticism on Goldman charges; the TARP watchdog's handcuffs for Timmy Geithner; and the continuing 'ratings surveillance' payments to credit rating agencies for defaulted CDOs too complicated to unwind. In the second half of the show, Max interviews Peter Schiff, who is running for the Republican nomination for US Senate for Connecticut, about debating Greenspan, revaluing yuan and regulating that which is already illegal.
What Next for Treasury Bonds?
Mises Daily: by Frank Shostak
At the end of March the yield on the ten-year T-note closed at 3.833%, up from 3.617% the month before. Note that at the end of March last year the yield stood at 2.67%. To assess where yields are heading, one needs to identify the key factors that drive interest rates. Following the writings of great economic masters such as Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises, we suggest that the driving force of interest-rate determination is individuals' time preferences. What is this all about?
Greek protesters storm the Acropolis
Helena Smith in Athens - guardian.co.uk World markets plunge over fears that Greece's economic crisis will spread to other countries despite austerity measures
In a dramatic escalation of the anger unleashed by the economic crisis engulfing Greece, communist protesters stormed the Acropolis today as the euro and world markets plunged on concerns about the debt-choked country's huge bailout from the EU and the IMF. Irate trade unionists took over Athens' ancient landmark as fury over an unprecedented package of austerity measures, agreed in return for a multibillion euro aid package from eurozone nations and the IMF, intensified.
Euro plunges as Club Med debt fears spread
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk Fleeting relief over the EU-IMF bail-out for Greece has given way rapidly to a fresh bout of investor panic across southern Europe, pulling the euro down to its lowest level against the dollar in over a year.
Yields on German two-year debt reached a record low, falling to 0.71pc on safe-haven demand in echoes of credit stress at the height of the financial crisis. This is below the European Central Bank's short-term rate of 1pc. "This is very unusual and indicates concern about systemic risk from sovereign debt," said Stephen Lewis from Monument Securities. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told ARD television that banks and creditors should be forced to share the pain if further rescues are ever needed, suggesting "an orderly restructuring" of debt in future. The words were an icy warning to investors that the €110bn (£95bn) aid package for Greece is a one-off case. Banks, insurers, and pension funds with high exposure to Club Med debt cannot count on a second rescue to protect their portfolios if the crisis spreads.
Euro weakens as Greece debt fears remain
Reuters - Telegraph.co.uk The euro hit a one-year low against the dollar on concerns about Greek debt problems and fears of possible contagion to other vulnerable eurozone countries.
At the weekend European finance ministers agreed a €110bn (£95bn) bailout package for Greece, but analysts said doubts remained about whether the country could make the steep budget cuts necessary, with unions planning more strikes. The euro was down nearly a cent at $1.3098 after matching a one-year low of $1.3112 hit last Wednesday, with traders saying option barriers at $1.3100 were helping to cushion losses. "There is disappointment on the Greek package and so many obstacles ahead still. Worries over the peripherals will continue to weigh on the euro," said Tom Levinson, currency strategist at ING, referring to other vulnerable eurozone countries such as Spain and Portugal.
Eurozone under warfare: Enghdal on Greece crisis
America at the Crossroads and the War on Gold
Darryl Schoon - SilverBearCafe.com
In times of great change, art reflects social and philosophical undercurrents. The movie, Avatar, is an example of this phenomenon as was the movie, Wall Street, in 1987. Gordon Gekko, Oliver StoneÕs protagonist in Wall Street probably didnÕt read much; but, if he did, a book such as A Utopia of Greed: Ayn Rand's Moral Defense of Capitalism could have been on his reading list. One of Gordon GekkoÕs more memorable lines is Greed, for want of a better word, is good. Greed is good is also one of Ayn RandÕs fundamental beliefs; and, if Karl Marx is the father of godless communism, Ayn Rand, AmericaÕs premier doyenne of selfishness, is the patron saint of its antagonist, godless capitalism.
GLD and SLV
By Catherine Austin Fitts and Carolyn Betts - Solari.com Disclosure in the Precious Metals Puzzle Palace
This article was inspired by a conversation in January 2010 with fellow directors of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee: Chairman Bill Murphy, Secretary/Treasurer Chris Powell, and Directors Adrian Douglas and Ed Steer. In speaking about the growing role of the exchange traded funds in the precious metals market, it was clear that the disclosure that the precious metals ETFs described below were providing to investors was inadequate. However, was there a material omission under securities law? I found the issues complex. Understanding the commodities markets can seem daunting to someone like myself with a securities background. Meanwhile, the securities markets and related legal and regulatory issues can be unfamiliar to those with a background in commodities. I decided to ask my attorney to help me gather the relevant information into one document to make it easier for GATA supporters and other interested parties - whether from the commodities or securities marketsÑto examine these issues and to better understand and price these securities.
Why Silver?
JESSE'S CAFE AMERICAIN
Here is a 'thought experiment.'
In order to conduct it you have to accept a few postulates, or more properly, hypotheses, as being true without proof. 1. J. P. Morgan is the 'house bank' for the Fed and the Treasury since their forced merger with Chase Manhattan. Goldman may garner most of the high profile publicity, but when it comes to banking, financial engineering, and US economic policy, Blankfein is playing Dutch Schulz to Jamie Dimon's Lucky Luciano, metaphorically speaking. 2. J. P. Morgan, and some of the other Too Big To Fail institutions, sometimes act as an instruments of US policy. This may be an informal arrangement, a phone call. But it happens, and it involves more than just banks. It has been shown to occur with the big media, big corporations, and so why not big money? There is always a quid pro quo involved. Its simple political reality. . . .
Gold is a long-term wealth preserver
ShadowStats' John Williams has done his math and believes his numbers tell the truth. He explains why the U.S. is in a depression and why a "Hyper-Inflationary Great Depression" is now unavoidable. John also shares why he selects gold as a metal for asset conversion in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report.
The Gold Report: John, last December you stated, "The U.S. economic and systemic crisis of the past of the past two years are just precursors to a great collapse," or what you call a "hyper-inflationary great depression." Is this prediction unique to the U.S., or do you feel that other economies face the same fate?
John Williams: The hyper-inflationary portion largely will be unique to the U.S. If the U.S. falls into a great depression, there's no way the rest of the world cannot have some negative economic impact.
Gold's Pullback Offers Investors Opportunities
By SHERYL NANCE-NASH - DailyFinance.com
The economic turmoil rocking Europe has been fueling the price of gold. The shiny metal, considered a safe haven investment, could be on track to hit $1,200. The largest gold ETF backed by bullion, the SPDR Gold Trust, has been surging, hitting five-month highs this week despite the announcement of a $146 billion bailout package for Greece. However, during Tuesday trading,gold fell from its five-month high as the dollar strengthened, creating an opportunity for bullish gold investors. Gold futures for June delivery fell 1.2% to $1,169.20 an ounce.
The Silver Price Spiral - Part II: Paper "Inventories"
Jeff Nielson - SilverBearCafe.com
In Part I of this series, I suggested to investors that the price of silver will explode in an upward spiral - reaching levels even unimaginable to most silver bulls. A three-digit price for silver is guaranteed, while a four-digit price cannot be completely ruled out. This price spiral will be caused by a combination of supply and demand dynamics. In the second part of this three-part series, I will focus upon the supply-side dynamics, and point out how recent trends are reaffirming my earlier analysis in this area. To do so, I will refer to a couple of recent articles, which on their surface, seem almost contradictory. First, as regular readers already know, there has been a massive fraud perpetrated with respect to "official" silver inventories (i.e. the quasi-official inventory numbers of the CPM Group). For newer readers, I will summarize the facts.
Bill Drops Fund to Shut Failed Banks
By EDWARD WYATT and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - Leaders of the Senate Banking Committee said Tuesday that they had reached an agreement to limit the likelihood that big banks would be bailed out by taxpayers. But liberal Democrats said they also would push aggressively for an array of proposals that could force some of the nation's biggest banks to reduce their size. The tentative agreement to limit the chances of future bailouts came as the Senate delayed for another day its initial votes on amendments to legislation to address the causes of the 2008 financial crisis.
Fear index spikes on Greek woes
By Blake Ellis
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Wall Street's key index of volatility hit its highest level in more than two months Tuesday as worries about Greece's spreading debt crisis topped the already long list of investors' concerns. The VIX (VIX), which gauges fear in the market, surged more than 18% to close at 23.84 on Tuesday. That's the highest reading since the middle of February and up 53% since early April, when the VIX was trading at its lowest level in nearly three years. Markets were rattled Tuesday as investors worried that the $146 billion aid package for Greece, announced over the weekend, would not prevent debt problems from spreading to other euro zone countries.
Greece's Stumble Follows a Headlong Rush Into the Euro
By DAN BILEFSKY - NYTimes.com
The economic challenges facing the European Union unsettled investors around the globe on Tuesday as hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in Greece, unfurling banners over the Acropolis to protest the government's new austerity measures. It was not supposed to be this way when Greece, eager to join first the European Union, then the euro zone, pledged financial overhaul. "Now we are paying the price for the fact that we lived above our means, with amazing profligacy, and failed to reduce the role of the state," said Yannos Papantoniou, the former Greek finance minister. "Some say we should have done more."
Even the bears aren't bearish enough on Spain's coming sovereign debt problem
Daryl G. Jones
(Fortune) -- We often say that investors can be bullish, bearish, or not enough of either. "Our debt is clean, we will not have to ask for help," said Elena Salgado, Spain's finance minister, on April 30th, appealing to the bulls. That is, if there are any bulls left in sovereign debt. Currently, there is no shortage of bearish sentiment regarding global sovereign debt issues. In recent weeks, Greece, Portugal, and Spain have all had their credit ratings downgraded, with Greece taking on junk status. Yet despite this flurry of negative news, I would submit that investors are still not bearish enough, particularly on Spain.
Copy Machines, a Security Risk?
Obama Beset at Once by Multiple Crises
By TOM RAUM, AP - ABCNews.com Obama's presidency being tossed multiple, thorny challenges he must juggle Unpredictable and tough to solve, the stack of problems on President Barack Obama's desk is growing unwieldy. It's presenting him with a tough juggling act. Two wars, a financial crisis, lingering high unemployment and an exhausting battle over health care. And that was just the start. Now throw in an environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and an attempted car bombing in Times Square. And there are other pressing matters, such as dealing with the increasing menace of Iran's nuclear program, trying to get the Middle East peace process back on track, searching for a new Supreme Court justice and trying to persuade Congress to approve the most sweeping rewrite of financial rules in 70 years.
CURRENT COULD PUSH OIL SPILL UP EAST COAST
by Eric Niiler, Discovery News Oceanographers are keeping their eyes on the Gulf Loop Current, which could spread the oil slick through the Florida Keys and to North Carolina's Cape Hatteras.
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is expected to strike the Louisiana coastline today, and officials are bracing for impacts to shorebirds, turtles, shellfish and other endangered wildlife. But many ocean scientists are now raising concerns that a powerful current could spread the still-bubbling slick from the Florida Keys all the way to Cape Hatteras off North Carolina. These oceanographers are carefully watching the Gulf Loop Current, a clockwise swirl of warm water that sets up in the Gulf of Mexico each spring and summer. If the spill meets the loop -- the disaster becomes a runaway.
Oil Spill Sabotage: Why Do You 'Have To Wonder'?
TheAquarian.com - by Patrick Slevin
In the days following the explosion in the Gulf Of Mexico of a BP oil rig, the news narrative gradually developed from a curio into a full-blown ongoing crisis. Originally, the worry was the explosion killed a few workers, which it likely did, but as the blow-out preventer on the rig, named Deepwater Horizon, failed to activate, the oil slick has grown and now threatens the entire Gulf area, where approximately 40 percent of all the wetlands in the U.S. are located. But apparently, the possibility of foul play has now entered the story. Former George W. Bush White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, now a slightly less honorable shill for right wing interests on Fox News, said, "I'm not trying to introduce a conspiracy theory, but was this deliberate? You have to wonder if there was sabotage involved." Why?
Mark Levin Radio Show A Survivor Of The BP Oil Rig Disaster Part 1/2
Mark Levin Radio Show A Survivor Of The BP Oil Rig Disaster Part 2/2
Dana Perino on Fox & Friends 5-3-10 BP Sabotage!
The REAL REASON Behind the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
Petrie Says BP Oil Spill Cleanup to Take 'Some Time' (April 29th)
In-Depth Look - "Giant" Discovery for British Petroleum
Bloomberg (Sept 2009)
Although there's more than 100 years' supply of crude oil left in the ground, the resources that are "cheap and easy" to extract have for the most part already been discovered.
By 2012 the decline of production output from conventional sources coupled with much higher extraction cost of unconventional sources will lead to peak cheap oil, a phenomenon that will put extreme upward pressure on oil prices.
To a limited extent, a strong case exists for speculation on a moderate increase in petroleum prices.
Those who anticipate extraordinarily high prices (upwards of $300/bbl) have failed to consider what George Soros calls reflexivity. The global economy simply cannot afford such prices, and the rules will be changed before they are reached.
The future is likely to bring price controls, government intervention in the petroleum supply chain, and nationalization of oil resources.
The oil industry will face many unanticipated challenges during this period, capping the price appreciation potential of both commodity and equity plays in the oil industry.
Wise investors will focus on the initial price run-up expected to occur before large-scale government intervention ensues.
Faisal Shahzad: Times Square Bomb Suspect Charged
By RICHARD ESPOSITO, BRIAN ROSS and PIERRE THOMAS - ABCNews.com
Authorities Say Shahzad Confessed and is Cooperating in Investigation
Accused Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad has been charged in federal court with numerous crimes in the terrorism plot including attempting to commit an act of terror, attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, and traveling over an international border to commit an act of terrorism. According to the criminal complaint, Shahzad also admitted to receiving bomb-making training in Waziristan, Pakistan.
Homes can be lost by mistake when banks miscommunicate
By Paul Kiel, ProPublica - USAToday.com
Last November, Michael Hill of Lexington, S.C., finally got the call he'd been waiting for. Congratulations, a rep from JPMorgan Chase told him, your trial mortgage modification is approved. Hill's monthly payment, around $900, would be nearly halved. Except there was a problem. Chase had foreclosed on Hill's home a month earlier, and his family was just days away from eviction. "I listened to her and then I just said, 'Well, that sounds good,' " Hill recalled. " 'Tell me how we're going to do this, seeing as how you sold the house?' " That, he found out, was news to Chase.
Long-Term Unemployment: 80 Percent Of People Jobless Last Summer Still Out Of Work
Arthur Delaney - HuffingtonPost.com Just one in five people who were out of work last summer have found jobs since then.
Of more than a thousand unemployed people surveyed by Rutgers University researchers last August, just 21 percent had landed a job by March, a followup survey reveals. Two-thirds remained "unemployed" according to the government's definition -- the rest gave up looking for work altogether, either going to school or retiring early.
MOST AMERICANS SUPPORT ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW
by Brian Montopoli - CBSNews.com Poll: Majority Backs Arizona Immigration Bill
Despite their expectation that it will burden police departments and disproportionately affect certain ethnic groups, a slim majority of Americans believe the controversial illegal immigration measure recently signed into law in Arizona is "about right" in its approach, according to a newly-released CBS News/New York Times poll. Fifty-one percent of those surveyed say the law, which critics say essentially mandates racial profiling, takes the right approach, and nine percent say it should go even further.
Thirty-six percent say the law goes too far. Two in three Republicans say the law takes the right approach, along with roughly half of independents. Among Democrats, support for the law stands at 38 percent. Americans living in the South and Midwest are more likely than those in the East or West to support the measure.
Google Enters the E-Book Fray to Battle With Apple and Amazon
By SARAH WEINMAN - DailyFinance.com
Google (GOOG) has been promising to enter the exploding e-book market for well over a year. As of this summer, that promise will become a reality, setting Google up as a formidable player doing battle with Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) in the digital publishing world. At a Tuesday morning panel sponsored by the Book Industry Study Group, Chris Palma, Google's manager for strategic-partner development, confirmed the company will sell e-books through its Google Editions program "in late June or July," according to The Wall Street Journal. That timetable is more or less in line with the company's projections as outlined earlier this year.
Google moves into online travel business
By Roger Yu, USA TODAY
Google, the world's most popular search engine, is expanding its reach in the lucrative online travel business. In March, Google added hotel links to its Maps application, listing hotels with room rates available to some users. Google also is reportedly in talks to pay $1 billion to acquire ITA Software, which develops fare-shopping software for online travel agencies, airlines and fare-search-only sites, such as Bing Travel and Kayak. Incorporating fares into Google search results would keep customers more engaged in its applications while they plan for travel, a prospect that could unnerve other fare sites. Users would be able to type in their destination and travel dates, and see flights and prices.
Google blows $39m into wind power
By Rupert Neate - Telegraph.co.uk
Google has added another string to its bow: wind farms.
The internet search giant, which has expanded into mobile phones and maps of world, the ocean and the stars, has invested $39m (£25.6m) in two North Dakota wind farms. It is Google's first direct investment in a large-scale green energy project. The company said the windfarms, developed by NextEra Energy Resources, will generate enough electricity to power 55,000 homes. The move is a shift in strategy for Google, which previously sought to invest in renewable energy via start-ups.
US Housing Market Bigger Threat Than Greece
By Bei Hu
Marshall Wace's Rajpal Sees Up to 20% Slump in U.S. Home Prices
May 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Marshall Wace Global Financials Fund, a $250 million hedge fund, is shorting U.S. homebuilders, anticipating housing prices to fall as much as 20 percent in a double-dip. Amit Rajpal, manager of the fund run by Marshall Wace LLP, the London-based hedge fund manager founded by Paul Marshall and Ian Wace, expects a recovery in U.S. housing demand to stall as tax credits to encourage purchases expired last week and defaults of modified mortgage loans increase home supply.
The Unfolding Danger:
by Paul Mladjenovic - FinancialSense.com Greece Today - America Tomorrow?
I have been analyzing economics and financial markets for over a quarter century and my analysis always stopped at 'financial'. In other words, I do not follow trough usually past the financial theme. After all, as a certified financial planner (CFP), you usually think in terms of dollars and cents, interest rates and all sorts of financially-oriented concepts. I have always been concerned about the financial and economic impact of many different kinds of policies and events but in recent years I started thinking "outside of my own box." Perhaps what I find more unsettling that the financial impact of certain policies and events, is what happens afterwards. What is the social impact of bad financial/social policies?
Galbraith Says He Fears `Uncontrolled Crisis in Europe'
On the Verge of an Inflationary Surge
by Toby Connor - FinancialSense.com
I'm going to start off by stating that I don't think Bernanke is going to "get away" with the insane monetary policy he's chosen. Printing trillions of dollars, cutting rates to zero, trying to manipulate the bond market and generally tampering with the natural market forces is going to have consequences. There is a price that will have to be paid for this madness. Just like there was a price we had to pay for Greenspan's reckless attempt to avoid a recession when the tech bubble burst. Greenspan certainly bought some time and a brief period of illusionary prosperity. But he did so by creating a housing and credit bubble. When those burst, as all bubbles do, the fallout was much worse than if we had just weathered the recession to begin with.
John Williams: A Hyper-Inflationary Great Depression Is Coming
ShadowStats' John Williams has done his math and believes his numbers tell the truth. He explains why the U.S. is in a depression and why a "Hyper-Inflationary Great Depression" is now unavoidable. John also shares why he selects gold as a metal for asset conversion in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report. TGR: John, last December you stated, "The U.S. economic and systemic crisis of the past of the past two years are just precursors to a great collapse," or what you call a "hyper-inflationary great depression." Is this prediction unique to the U.S., or do you feel that other economies face the same fate? John Williams: The hyper-inflationary portion largely will be unique to the U.S. If the U.S. falls into a great depression, there's no way the rest of the world cannot have some negative economic impact.
Is It 1998 All Over Again?
By: Clif Droke
That's the question we're asking in tonight's report in light of developments in the euro-zone and, to a lesser extent, within the investment banking sector. Thursday's headline in the Wall Street Journal proclaimed, "Debt crisis hits Spain." The implication is that the recent downgrade of the sovereign debt ratings for Greece and Portugal have now spread even further into Europe and could continue to spread into a general euro-zone wide debt crisis. When I saw Thursday's WSJ headline concerning Spain, I was struck with the thought that I had seen this scenario played out sometime in the past. After a little pondering, it finally occurred to me that the variables we're seeing set up right now are, in some ways, similar to the situation we saw in the spring of 1998.
Gold Trades Near Five-Month High on Europe, Currency Concerns
By Glenys Sim and Gavin Evans
May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Gold, trading little changed near a five-month high, may climb for a fourth day as sovereign debt risks in Europe and volatile currencies boost demand for the metal as a haven. Gold for immediate delivery was at $1,181.88 an ounce at 8:54 a.m. in Singapore, after gaining as much as 0.2 percent earlier in the longest rally since the five-day advance ending April 9. The metal reached $1,187.80 yesterday, the highest intraday level since Dec. 4.
US gold bulls pushing up prices
By Dan Norcini
Further strength in the Dollar accompanied by further resiliency in gold translated into another new all time high for gold priced in both Euro and British Pound terms although there was no reported Fix today. Look for gold priced in Yen terms to also be very strong. That showing gave US gold bulls enough ammunition to push prices higher as gnawing uneasiness surrounding Greece, Spain and Portugal is drawing money into gold as a safe haven currency.
Russian Gold Purchases up 15.55 tonnes in a month The Implications!
by Julian D.W. Phillips - FinancialSense.com
Since last year central banks have been net buyers of gold. More importantly they have stopped selling gold. We do not deem the I.M.F. sales of gold as central bank selling, even if it is within the totals given under that agreement. It is not done in the spirit of the Central Bank Gold Agreement. Their purpose is to raise funds for a specific purpose, whereas the central bank sellers wanted to diversify their foreign exchange reserves out of gold. In addition they were sellers in support of the establishment of the € internationally. It is a matter of record that both China and Russia are now buyers of gold. We are of the belief that China is buying all its local production and using agencies to buy more on the open market for six or more years now.
Gold & SP500 Day Trading
Gone Wild & What's Next?
by Chris Vermeulen - FinanacialSense.com
The past couple weeks we have seen sellers control the price of gold. This can be seen on the charts by the light volume drifts up then heavy volume sell selling sending this metal sharply lower. This type of price action provides some excellent intraday shorting opportunities. On the other hand the SP500 has been doing quite the opposite providing some very profitable intraday buying opportunities for those who have the time to trade during the day.
Gold is well insulated from all corners
By Renisha Chainani
Gold rose nearly 6% in April, the biggest monthly jump since November, after credit ratings in Greece, Portugal and Spain were downgraded by Standard & Poor's. Gold climbed to records in Euros, Swiss francs and Sterling last week. Gold also set a 2010 peak in terms of US Dollar, Australian Dollars, and its highest in yen terms since 1983.
Gerald Celente on The Financial Sense
with Jim Puplava 29 April 2010
Gold hits 5-month high on Greek aid uncertainty
Frank Tang
(Reuters) - Gold ended up on Monday but an earlier rally to five-month high ran out of steam, and the metal was underpinned by safe-haven demand as a record aid plan for Greece failed to quell wider concerns on a euro-zone debt crisis. A Wall Street rally based on improved U.S. manufacturing data has partially offset skepticism to the 110 billion-euro ($146 billion) EU/IMF bailout for Greece, which prompted investors to switch funds into hard metals assets such as gold, traders said.
NY Gold Hits 5-Month High On Safety Buying
By Matt Whittaker - Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures printed their highest settlement in five months Monday, inching toward $1,200 as investors bought the metal as a safe-haven on lingering concerns about euro zone debt. Gold for June delivery gained $2.60, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,183.30. That's the highest settlement for a most-active contract since Dec. 3. Gains in the dollar hampered gold's rally, but the metal was able to overcome that pressure because it was also being seen as a safe-haven investment. Shortly after gold closed, the euro was down 0.4% and the ICE Futures U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.7%. "On a day when the dollar is that high, it's somewhat impressive for gold" to be up as well, said Michael Gross, broker and futures analyst with OptionSellers.com.
Guess Who Is Taking Delivery of 1.7 Tonnes of Gold from the Comex
JESSE'S CAFE AMERICAIN "Never be surprised at the crumbling of an idol or the disclosure of a skeleton."- John Emerich Lord Acton
Its delivery time for the May Gold contract on the Comex, and the statistics yesterday showed some interesting buying. Bank of Nova Scotia 'stopped' 699 big contracts, and issued 100 contracts, for a net takedown of roughly 1.7 tons of gold, the bulk of which was supplied by J.P. Morgan. As you may recall, the Canadian bullion bank Scotia Mocatta is a subsidiary of Bank of Nova Scotia. Socita Mocatta was recently involved in a bit of a scandal when some investors went to visit 'the vault where their gold was stored' and found it to be surprisingly, perhaps shockingly, undersupplied.
If gold poised for take-off then silver should be an even better bet
Author: Lawrence Williams - MineWeb.com
The current gold: silver ratio of 63:1 suggests there could be some good catch up for silver ahead
LONDON - Investors are beginning to move back into silver as there is a perception that the metal's more volatile price patterns will lead to better returns if gold also continues to improve. If last week's surge in the gold price indicates that momentum is truly building to push the yellow metal into testing its December high point (in dollar terms) of $1226 an ounce, then an investment in silver looks a pretty good gamble.
Debt common between Greenspan and Bernanke
By Toby Connor
I'm going to start off by stating that I don't think Bernanke is going to "get away" with the insane monetary policy he's chosen. Printing trillions of dollars, cutting rates to zero, trying to manipulate the bond market and generally tampering with the natural market forces is going to have consequences. There is a price that will have to be paid for this madness. Just like there was a price we had to pay for Greenspan's reckless attempt to avoid a recession when the tech bubble burst. Greenspan certainly bought some time and a brief period of illusionary prosperity. But he did so by creating a housing and credit bubble. When those burst, as all bubbles do, the fallout was much worse than if we had just weathered the recession to begin with.
All Eyes on Greece
by Paul J. Nolte - FinancialSense.com
Over the past sixteen weeks the markets have managed only a few declines, pressing ever higher, skirting sovereign risk (Greece, Spain, Portugal Ð anyone else?), avoiding legal action against Goldman Sachs (adding criminal charges to the civil) and still modest economic growth, although better than expected earnings. The Fed, by keeping interest rates pegged at near zero has allowed the party to continue. Like the Staples commercial - that was easy! However the volatility that accompanied the decline late last week now have investors concerned that just maybe this is the beginning of the long awaited correction that will (finally) take stocks down more than just the few percentage points experienced so far this year.
Treasuries Decline on Bailout for Greece, U.S. Economic Outlook
By Susanne Walker
May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Treasuries fell for the first time in three days after European officials announced a rescue package to prevent Greece's debt crisis from spreading and reports showed the U.S. economic recovery is gaining steam. U.S. 10-year notes dropped after registering on April 30 their first monthly gain since January. Consumer spending in the U.S. climbed in March by the most in five months and the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, which excludes food and fuel, increased. The Treasury raised its estimate for government borrowing this quarter by 27 percent.
Banks Buying Treasuries Help Keep Borrowing Rates Low
By Cordell Eddings
May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Banks are increasing purchases of U.S. government securities to pump up profits while lending to businesses languishes near the lowest levels since credit markets started to freeze almost three years ago. Holdings of Treasuries and agency debt rose each of the past five weeks, an increase of $63.2 billion to $1.5 trillion, according to Federal Reserve data. At the same time, commercial and industrial loans climbed less than 1 percent to $1.27 trillion and are down 23 percent from the record high level in October 2008.
China May 'Crash' in Next 9 to 12 Months, Faber Says
By Shiyin Chen and Haslinda Amin
May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Investor Marc Faber said China's economy will slow and possibly "crash" within a year as declines in stock and commodity prices signal the nation's property bubble is set to burst. The Shanghai Composite Index has failed to regain its 2009 high while industrial commodities and shares of Australian resource exporters are acting "heavy," Faber said. The opening of the World Expo in Shanghai last week is "not a particularly good omen," he said, citing a property bust and depression that followed the 1873 World Exhibition in Vienna.
China's Bubble May Burst !!!
Black Gold -- the Lifeblood of War
Randall Amster - HuffingtonPost.com
Speculation has been running rampant among certain sectors of the web-world lately about the true origins of the massive oil spill that has engulfed the Gulf and threatens marine, plant, animal, and human health in a region already beset by natural disasters and toxic industries. Unwilling to accept the mainstream media version of the story (namely that it was the result of off-shore drilling activities) and suspicious of the timing of the calamity (namely that it occurred right on the cusp of Earth Day and during a period of political contentiousness over drilling), this faction has surmised that the "trigger event" in this instance may have been (choose your favorite) either: an attack by the North Koreans; an act of homegrown eco-terrorism by leftwing environmentalists; or something to do with Venezuela, China, and/or other Communist (machi)nations. With little more than a hint from an online Russian source, the theory of a North Korean attack in particular has been gaining virulence among certain fox-trotters.
Oil Spill Prognosis: At Least 1 More Week
CBSNews.com Oil Will Spew from Uncontrolled Geyser in Gulf as BP Makes Latest Effort to Stop Devastating Spill
(AP) Another week of oil pouring from the seafloor. That is the best-case scenario for the Gulf Coast, where dead sea turtles washed ashore and a massive rust-colored slick continued to swell from an uncontrolled gusher spewing into the water.
BP PLC was preparing a system never tried before at such depths to siphon away the geyser of crude from a blown-out well a mile under Gulf of Mexico waters. However, the plan to lower 74-ton, concrete-and-metal boxes being built to capture the oil and siphon it to a barge waiting at the surface will need at least another six to eight days to get it in place.
Oil Spill a Catastrophe of Monumental Proportions: Is It Sabotage?
By Jim O'Neill - CanadaFreePress.com
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a catastrophe of historic dimensions, The oil slick we see on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico is just the tip of the iceberg. Thousands of barrels of oil are spewing into the waters off of Louisiana, and nobody is "turning the spigot off." Because the "spigot" is 5,000 feet underwater, turning it off is a hazardous, uncertain enterprise. I have worked as a commercial diver in off-shore oilfields around the world (including the Gulf of Mexico), so I have some idea of the difficulties involved with operations in 5,000 feet of water, (around 155 atmospheres of pressure).
Oil Spill Highlights CG Future
By Colin Clark - DoDBuzz
The Coast Guard's plans to cut 1,100 uniformed personnel in 2011 and reduce some of its missions at a time it must respond to an enormous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico certainly highlight the stark choices Coasties face over the next few years. Meanwhile, the Navy is moving into the littoral and increasing its focus on anti-drug and anti-piracy operations, raising questions about just what the Coastie's future roles and missions will be. Robbin Laird, a defense consultant who has been working on Coast Guard issues, penned the following commentary about the Coast Guard and its future.
The Coast Guard is being starved of resources just when the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico seems to demonstrate again just how important the service's expertise is in responding to such events.
We're Not Quitting Oil
Steve Hayward - National Review Online
Judging from the triumphant tone of the e-mails I'm getting from indignant environmentalists about the oil spill in the Gulf, I'd have to say they are having the most fun since the ExxonValdez. After all, the greens were slowly losing ground to expanded domestic oil and gas production, and now they have a catastrophe to reinvigorate their philosophy of No. As many have observed, this spill is the Three Mile Island/Chernobyl of offshore drilling, and will likely set back further offshore drilling for decades, unless we find out there was some truly extraordinary human error, negligence, or unprecedented equipment failure. Even sabotage wouldn't get Big Offshore Oil off the hook; after the 1984 chemical catastrophe in Bhopal, India, was determined to have been an act of sabotage, the political hysteria over chemical plants was unabated.
Oil hits Louisiana coast, could reach Florida by Sunday
VENICE, La. - An oil spill that threatened to eclipse even the Exxon Valdez disaster spread out of control with a faint sheen washing ashore along the Gulf Coast on Thursday night as fishermen rushed to scoop up shrimp and crews spread floating barriers around marshes.
The spill was bigger than imagined - five times more than first estimated - and closer. Faint fingers of oily sheen were reaching the Mississippi River delta, lapping at the Louisiana shoreline in long, thin lines. "It is of grave concern," said David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "I am frightened. This is a very, very big thing. And the efforts that are going to be required to do anything about it, especially if it continues on, are just mind-boggling."
What a Criminal Inquiry Portends for Goldman
Peter J. Henning - NYTimes.com
The disclosure of the Justice Department's inquiry into Goldman Sachs substantially alters the calculus for how the firm and its employees should approach the civil fraud charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Even though a criminal investigation is only in its earliest stages at this point, the mere revelation that the United States attorney's office in Manhattan is involved shows the powerful impact such information has on the firm, as Goldman's shares dropped almost 10 percent in response to the news.
Goldman Faces Suits Over CDOs
By CHAD BRAY - WSJ.com
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it faces several lawsuits by shareholders alleging wrongdoing related to collateralized-debt obligations handled by the embattled securities firm. The lawsuits were filed since April 22 in federal and state courts in New York, the company said in a securities filing. Goldman, its board of directors and "certain officers and employees" are accused in the suits of "breach of fiduciary duty, corporate waste, abuse of control, mismanagement and unjust enrichment," according to the company. Goldman also said the plaintiffs in a separate shareholder lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court related to the firm's compensation amended their complaint with allegations "similar to those" in the new lawsuits.
Goldman Sachs faces tough choice
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY
NEW YORK - Goldman Sachs faces a vexing dilemma, legal experts say, as the Justice Department conducts a criminal investigation into whether the financial services giant duped buyers of its securities. Goldman could lose its vaunted reputation for integrity if it admits to wrongdoing as part of a deal to avoid criminal prosecution. But if Goldman insists that it did nothing wrong - the position it has taken since April 16, when the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit alleging securities fraud - then investors may fear that it will grow increasingly distracted by legal matters.
Goldman Sachs has a big legal problem
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Goldman Sachs' legal headaches don't start and end with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Reports surfaced late Thursday that federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Goldman and its employees, over whether it may have committed securities fraud in its mortgage trading operations. A representative for the firm would not confirm reports of an inquiry, but said they were not surprised given the scrutiny the firm has endured in recent weeks, adding they would cooperate with any requests for information.
Trichet May Need to Rewrite ECB Rule Book to Tame Greek Threat
By Simon Kennedy
May 4 (Bloomberg) -- European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet, who capitulated on a January pledge not to relax lending rules for the sake of one country, may have to sacrifice more principles to prevent Greece from bringing down the euro. Trichet yesterday diluted rules for the second time in a month to guarantee the ECB will keep taking Greek government bonds as collateral for loans. The central bank may have to extend that to other nations, renew a program of lending unlimited cash to banks for a year, and even start buying government debt if the 110 billion-euro ($146 billion) bailout plan for Greece fails to stem the euro's slide, economists said.
Greece's Costs Exceed Bailout
By CHARLES FORELLE - WSJ.com
BRUSSELS - The €110 billion ($147 billion) three-year Greek bailout by euro-zone countries and the International Monetary Fund won't be enough to cover Greece's costs, an examination of Greek financial figures shows, setting Europe up for more tough choices if private markets don't start lending again. The bailout announced here over the weekend will solve one pressing problem: Greece will have enough cash to repay an €8.5 billion bond that comes due in two weeks. But the bailout package is based on assumptions that by the end of 2011 Greece will be able to borrow again from capital markets. That may be optimistic, say some bond-market specialists.
Greece's debt woes test EU unity
By Bill Fleckenstein - MSN Money As the crisis threatens to spread, the grand vision of the European Union is cracking. And the only thing financially that makes the US different: Its own printing press.
Judging by the U.S. stock market's midweek gaiety, you'd have thought that Europe's financial system was operating on faraway Mars. Even as Greek bonds traded as high as 24% on Wednesday -- a sign of big trouble -- folks chose to focus more on the array of companies in America winning the beat-the-number earnings game. To continue the planetary analogy, on what orb has Standard & Poor's been conducting its business? Only now has the ratings agency seen fit to cut Greece's debt rating all the way to junk, before downgrading that of Portugal and Spain a few days later?
United-Continental Merger: Watch Out for Higher Fares and Fewer Flights
By PETER COHAN - DailyFinance.com
The airline merger between UAL's (UAUA) United and Continental (CAL) raises many serious questions, not the least of which is how air passengers will be affected. The answer to that one seems simple: For the average consumer, the merger will likely mean higher fares and fewer flights as the new company cuts unprofitable routes and raises prices after taking out competition (frequent-fliers, however, aren't likely to suffer). George Hobica, president of Airfarewatchdog.com, a fare comparison site, told the Houston Chronicle, "Fares could double for nonstop flights from Houston to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and other cities where United and Continental hubs have overlapping nonstop flights."
Congress Freezes Its Own Pay
Texas Straight Talk by Ron Paul
Last week Congress did something fiscally responsible. It's not very often I can say that. Granted, it was small in the grand scheme of things, but I was glad to be an original cosponsor, along with Congressman Harry Mitchell of Arizona, of a bill to block the automatic pay raise that Congress otherwise receives every year. Every Member of Congress gets this raise unless it is expressly voted down. For the second year in a row Congress has voted to freeze its own pay, which, in a time of skyrocketing deficits and high unemployment, is the very least Congress can do. The country is in a serious recession, bordering on depression. Unemployment is grossly underreported, and not likely to get better anytime soon. American citizens and businesses are overtaxed, yet tax revenues still fall far short of our government's voracious appetite for spending. This is no time to raise taxes. And since congressional salaries come from tax revenue, allowing ourselves a raise would fly in the face of economic reality.
Gas Prices Creep Up After the Spill, Despite Weak Demand
By BETSY SCHIFFMAN - DailyFinance.com
It's not clear if BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is the reason for rising costs at the pump, but the average price of regular gasoline has already crawled up five cents per gallon over the last week, according to the American Automobile Association. And prices could keep rising, given that Memorial Day weekend is just around the corner, and gas demand will likely increase over the course of the summer as American families take to the road for summer vacations -- perhaps more so than they did last year when the economy was far more fragile. Before the extent of the oil spill became evident last week, some analysts projected that any gasoline price hikes would likely be "modest" and that there was little concern about a supply squeeze.
Economic collapse! Stockton, Ca.
Owning a Home Is No Longer a Shortcut to Upward Mobility
By CHARLES HUGH SMITH - DailyFinance.com
The pathway of upward mobility in the postwar era has been straightforward: a college degree and homeownership. But after the housing bubble and bust, homeownership as a springboard to upward mobility is now in doubt. In the period beginning with the close of World War II and right up to 2005, buying a house opened up a pathway to upward mobility even for those without college degrees. Regardless of one's education or job, if you could buy a house, then the big tax breaks of home ownership began cutting one's taxes, while monthly mortgage payments on conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased home equity by steadily reducing the principle amount owed to the bank.
Retired Justice O'Connor Raises Doubt on Arizona Immigration Law
By JIM CARLTON - WSJ.com
SAN FRANCISCOÑRetired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said a tough new immigration law passed in her home state of Arizona "may have gone a little too far" and predicted it would be the subject of extensive litigation. In her first public comments on an issue that has embroiled her state in controversy, Justice O'Connor said she understood why Arizona passed the bill last month allowing local police to question a person's legal residency. Like California, she said, Arizona is a border state that suffers from smuggling of drugs and people from Mexico.
Judge Andrew Napolitano Warns of "Slippery Slope" with Arizona's New Law on Alex Jones Tv 1/2
Judge Andrew Napolitano Warns of "Slippery Slope" with Arizona's New Law on Alex Jones Tv 2/2
He's no Shakira but he'd like to be heard on Arizona's immigration law, too by LAURIE ROBERTS - AZCentral.com
The man asked to speak and be heard, which is no easy thing these days as the national shouting match continues over Arizona's new immigration law.
Unfortunately, nobody is really listening.
Instead, if you speak in support of Senate Bill 1070, you're a racist (just ask Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon) - never mind that it's not immigration that you're opposed to but illegal immigration. If you speak against the new law, you're un-American (right Sen. Russell Pearce?) -- never mind that there is nothing more American than protesting that which you consider immoral or unconstitutional.
U.S. Seeks Man From Pakistan Tied to S.U.V. in Bomb Case
by William K. Rashbaum, Mark Mazzetti and Peter Baker - NYTimes.com
Federal authorities have identified the man who recently bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that was rigged to explode in Times Square as a naturalized United States citizen from Pakistan who recently returned from a trip there, and were seeking to arrest him on Monday night, according to several people briefed on the investigation. The man, a Connecticut resident who was not publicly identified, bought the sport utility vehicle in Bridgeport, within the last three weeks, paying cash in a deal that involved no formal paperwork. Federal authorities have identified the man who recently bought the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that was rigged to explode in Times Square as a naturalized United States citizen from Pakistan who recently returned from a trip there, and were seeking to arrest him on Monday night, according to several people briefed on the investigation.
The man, a Connecticut resident who was not publicly identified, bought the sport utility vehicle in Bridgeport, within the last three weeks, paying cash in a deal that involved no formal paperwork.
Banks closed in Puerto Rico, Mich., Mo., Wash.
USAToday.com
WASHINGTON (AP) Regulators on Friday shut down three banks in Puerto Rico, two in Missouri, and one each in Michigan and Washington, bringing the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 64. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over the banks: Westernbank Puerto Rico, based in Mayaguez, with about $11.9 billion in assets; R-G Premier Bank of Puerto Rico, based in Hato Rey, with around $5.9 billion in assets; and San Juan-based Eurobank, with $2.5 billion in assets.
DOJ Antitrust Division Considering Launching Investigation Into Silver Market Manipulation By JPM
Tyler Durden - SilverBearCafe.com
Eric King reports the breaking news that in a letter obtained by Ted Butler, the DOJ's Antitrust department is considering launching an investigation into silver market manipulation by JP Morgan. Should an announcement of a full formal probe of manipulation by JPM follow, it would be tantamount to a confirmation of what numerous individuals have been claiming over the years, that JP Morgan, the LBMA, the CFTC, various banks, and even that kindly old grandpa who was so much against derivatives except when he was about to lose money as a result of regulation that he is spending the whole weekend telling his investors in Omaha to run, not walk, to Borsheim's, and buy all their massively overpriced trinkets (you can't be a quadrillionaire without first being a trillionaire), are nothing but a borderline criminal cabal that traffics in wealth extraction courtesy of a few monopolist players.
Did North Korea sabotage Gulf oil rig, and did Obama cover it up?
Conservative Examiner - Anthony G. Martin
For the past few days bloggers have been speculating on whether or not North Korea engaged in sabotage to torpedo the Gulf oil rig, resulting in a massive explosion that sent the rig sinking into the Gulf and spilling thousands of barrels of oil that are now headed to the Gulf Coast. This blog is an example of the story being reported, which is based upon a Kremlin report in the 'EU Times' which accuses North Korea of blowing up the rig in an attempt to sink a South Korean vessel in the Gulf. At least one major mainstream media news outlet, television station WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina, also reported the story that quotes heavily from the Russians.
Mother of all gushers could kill Earth's oceans
Imagine a pipe 5 feet wide spewing crude oil like a fire hose from what could be the planets' largest, high-pressure oil and gas reserve. With the best technology available to man, the Deepwater Horizon rig popped a hole into that reserve and was overwhelmed. If this isn't contained, it could poison all the oceans of the world. . .
The only piece of human technology that might address this is a nuclear bomb. I'm not kidding. If they put a nuke down there in the right spot it might seal up the hole. Nothing short of that will work . . .
If we can't cap that hole that oil is going to destroy the oceans of the world. It only takes one quart of motor oil to make 250,000 gallons of ocean water toxic to wildlife. Are you starting to get the magnitude of this?
Welcome to the Constitutional Crisis
Brian Roberts
Most Americans are unaware but a Constitutional Crisis of immense proportions looms in our near future, and the early shots have already been fired. No, I'm not referring to the Obama birth certificate controversy; I'm referring to the fundamental battle for freedom and liberty based on the uniquely American experiment of Federalism. Federalism is the sharing of power between a federal government and the various state governments, and this foundation is at the very heart of the battle.
Through recent actions, the federal government has demonstrated that absolute power is its sole desire. They have ignored the message delivered through tea parties and have now directly engaged in political battles with state governments empowered by their citizenry. If "we the people" lose these battles, ALL power will centralize in Washington D.C. and the dynamics of our free country will rapidly change from a government that serves the people to a government that dictates to the people. The crisis ultimately revolves around this question: "Who decides the constitutionality of a federal law ?"
Should US return to the gold standard?
By Hemant Kathuria - CommodityOnline.com
Much has been made about how the massive bailouts of Wall Street firms have come at the expense of US taxpayers. And after having posted record profits during the peak of the real estate boom, it is easy to understand Main Street's anger at picking up the multi-trillion dollar tab - especially as Wall Street's bonus machine is spinning once again. But Wall Street also receives a much more insidious benefit which is almost never discussed, much less protested. From our vantage point, this subsidy - greatly expanded by the federal government nearly 40 years ago - ensures that Wall Street is provided with a virtually unlimited supply of the raw material it requires to operate and grow its business.
Gold and Commodities On the Verge of an Inflationary Surge
By: Toby Connor - Telegraph.co.uk
I'm going to start off by stating that I don't think Bernanke is going to "get away" with the insane monetary policy he's chosen. Printing trillions of dollars, cutting rates to zero, trying to manipulate the bond market and generally tampering with the natural market forces is going to have consequences. There is a price that will have to be paid for this madness. Just like there was a price we had to pay for Greenspan's reckless attempt to avoid a recession when the tech bubble burst. Greenspan certainly bought some time and a brief period of illusionary prosperity. But he did it by creating a housing and credit bubble. When those burst, as all bubbles do, the fallout was much worse than if we had just weathered the recession to begin with.
Silver price surges to $18.68/oz
CommodityOnline.com
Gold reached new 2010 high in dollars (over $1,175 per ounce) in Asian trading overnight and again Europe this morning (over $1,177 per ounce) as investors continue to allocate funds to gold in order to hedge sovereign debt contagion risk. Gold was marginally lower in dollar terms yesterday but rose sharply in Asian trading with unusually strong Japanese buying. This buying has continued in early European trade. Concerns of a meltdown in European debt markets have abated somewhat but gold's continuing strength in euros and other currencies signals that the worst may not be past.
The Silver Price-Spiral - Part I:
Jeff Nielson - SilverBearCafe.com
Regular readers are familiar with my position on silver: supply/demand fundamentals make it inevitable that silver will rise to a triple-digit price - almost certainly within this decade. Thus, it may come as a surprise to some to hear me say that I think I have been "too conservative" in my outlook for The Metal of the Moon. I had recently been pondering this subject when I had the great pleasure of doing Bullions Interview of GATA's Adrian Douglas. In doing my "homework" for the interview, I came across another interview which Mr. Douglas had done - where he raised some very interesting concepts about the pricing of precious metals, and of silver, in particular.
Roast the PIIGS, and End the Euro Debt Crisis
By: Sol Palha - MarketOracle.co.uk "Mankind differs from the animals only by a little and most people throw that away." ~ Confucius, BC 551-479, Chinese Ethical Teacher, Philosopher
The last meltdown was caused by the financial crisis in the United States, which was triggered by the onset of the housing and mortgage crisis. We now have the potential for a full blown currency crisis to unfold. Greek debt has been reduced to junk status and both Spain and Portugal have had their ratings lowered. This is going to make it much harder and more expensive for these 3 nations to borrow money, especially Greece and rightly so. The next in line could be Ireland or Italy. The UK is also another time bomb waiting to explode. If Spain runs into the same problems that are now facing Greece, the fall out could be extreme. The amount of money necessary to bail out Spain would be significantly larger and the EU block might not have the capital or the stomach to fund such a huge bailout. Thus it is imperative that they take a stand now and send a strong message to other stragglers; fix your house or burn.
Greece Shows What America Would Be Without More Borrowing
By PETER COHAN - DailyFinance.com
On May 2, Greece announced a deal to get a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. But as part of the agreement, Greece needs to cut government spending in ways that are causing social unrest. That chaos could get so bad that Greece might decide it's better simply to forget about the bailout and "restructure" its debt. If America was forced to take similar budget cuts, how many Tea Party members would celebrate?
Greece Gets Help, but Is It Enough?
By DAN BILEFSKY and LANDON THOMAS Jr. - NYTimes.com
ATHENS Greece announced Sunday that it had reached an agreement on a long-delayed rescue package that will require years of painful fiscal belt-tightening, but the deal probably will not defuse the potential threats to other European countries also suffering from mounting debts and troubled economies. "I have done and will do everything not to let the country go bankrupt," Prime Minister George Papandreou said in a televised address that urged Greeks to accept "great sacrifices" to avoid "catastrophe."
EU Bets $146 Billion in Greek Medicine Will Stave Off Contagion
By Emma Ross-Thomas and Jonathan Stearns
May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Euro-region governments are betting $146 billion in economic medicine for Greece will be enough to inoculate the rest of their region from contagion. Finance ministers yesterday approved the unprecedented bailout for Greece after a week that saw the country's fiscal crisis spread to Portugal and Spain. At the same time, they refused to say how they would help other indebted nations if the need arose, saying that Greece is a 'special case.'
Wake County Sells $383 Million as Treasuries Lose Greek Gains
By Catarina Saraiva and Brendan A. McGrail
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Wake County, North Carolina, sold $383 million of municipal tax-exempt securities in the week's biggest deal after postponing the issue during the bond market turmoil caused by Europe's fiscal crisis. Prices on 10-Year U.S. Treasuries rallied to the highest in a year on April 27 after Greece's downgrade by Standard & Poor's pushed yields lower as investors sought a safe haven. The next day, the county's scheduled sale date, Treasuries fell as confidence in higher-yielding assets returned. The lower prices created a more favorable market for the issuer's refunding bonds, according to Michael Pietronico, chief executive officer of New York-based Miller Tabak Asset Management.
Did Lehman's Dick Fuld Lie Under Oath About Compensation?
By: Trader Mark - MarketOracle.co.uk
As for Dick Fuld, of failed Lehman Brothers, we'll see if years of lobbyist compensation will keep him out of the hot seat for misrepresenting (allegedly) his compensation status under oath. I realize it takes special "talent" to run a company into the ground, but really folks - we're talking half a billion in compensation to 1 individual for not even a decade's work. As an aside, here is yet ANOTHER example of a whistleblower who contacted the SEC ... and the captured regulator could care less.
While You Watch the Goldman Show
By VISHESH KUMAR - DailyFinance.com Don't Lose Sight of Inflation
As public outrage at Goldman Sachs mounts, Warren Buffett's full-throated support of the investment bank at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting grabbed the headlines. But investors would be wise to look even more closely at another of the Oracle of Omaha's against-the-grain proclamations that got less attention. As an economic recovery gains steam, "the prospects for significant inflation have increased," Buffet warned. "Not only here, but around the world." And the warning is meaningful beyond Buffett's guru status. With stakes in a broad variety of businesses, Buffett's Berkshire has greater insight into changing business conditions than most investors could ever hope for.
Confessions of a Wall Street Nihilist:
Mark Ames - SilverBearCafe.com Forget About Goldman Sachs, Our Entire Economy is Built On Fraud There was a strange moment last week during President Obama's speech at Cooper Union. There he was, groveling before a cast of Wall Street villains including Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein, begging them to "Look into your heart!" like John Turturro's character in Miller's Crossing...when out of the blue, the POTUS dropped this bombshell: "The only people who ought to fear the kind of oversight and transparency that we're proposing are those whose conduct will fail this scrutiny."
Goldman Scrutinized by Prosecutors Examining SEC Case
By Justin Blum and David Glovin
April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating transactions by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., accused by U.S. securities regulators of misleading investors, to determine whether to pursue a criminal fraud case, according to two people familiar with the matter. The federal review, which lawyers say is common in such a high-profile case, is being done by the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said the people, who weren't authorized to comment and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Goldman Sachs on April 16 alleging fraud tied to collateralized debt obligations that contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The burden of proof in a criminal case would be higher than in the SEC's civil case. Criminal allegations have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Press TV-On the edge with Max Keiser-Goldman Sachs Fraud-04-30-2010(Part1)
Press TV-On the edge with Max Keiser-Goldman Sachs Fraud-04-30-2010(Part2)
Press TV-On the edge with Max Keiser-Goldman Sachs Fraud-04-30-2010(Part3)
Monetary union has delivered a 'German Europe' after all
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk We now know the answer to Henry Kissinger's question: "Who do I call if I want to call Europe?" Only one person matters. The Chancellor of Germany. Berlin was Europe's capital last week, basking in summer heat of 26 degrees. The heads of the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Ð both French, oddly Ð arrived as supplicants, pleading with Chancellor Angela Merkel and a stern finance committee of the Bundestag to save monetary union. Nowhere else mattered. The markets have stopped listening to Paris or Brussels. If the aim of Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand at Maastricht was to tie down a "European Germany" with the silken chords of EMU, they failed. Monetary union has delivered a "German Europe" after all.
Europe's dithering on debt threatens to power up the financial doomsday machine again
by Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.com.uk Europe's debt crisis should carry a health warning for Britain
A renewed sense of panic has returned to markets. Only recently, Western policy-makers had declared a depression averted, an outcome they modestly attributed to their own actions in unleashing an unprecedented programme of co-ordinated financial system intervention, fiscal stimulus and monetary easing. The banking system seemed to be healing itself and for many countries, the wider economy was returning to growth. But now the financial doomsday machine, so recently declared deactivated, shows every sign of starting up again. Are we about to move on to a second, possibly more damaging, phase of the financial crisis that will tip us back into prolonged recession? And if so, what can be done to prevent it?
Greece Gets $146 Billion Rescue on EU, IMF Austerity Package
By Gabi Thesing and Flavia Krause-Jackson
May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Euro-region ministers agreed to a 110 billion-euro ($146 billion) rescue package for Greece to prevent a default and stop the worst crisis in the currency's 11-year history from spreading through the rest of the bloc. The first payment will be made before Greece's next bond redemption on May 19, said Jean-Claude Juncker after chairing a meeting of euro-region finance ministers in Brussels yesterday. The 16-nation bloc will pay 80 billion euros at a rate of around 5 percent and the International Monetary Fund contributes the rest. Greece agreed to budget measures worth 13 percent of gross domestic product.
Greece erupts as men from IMF prepare to wield axe
Matthew Campbell in Athens - TimesOnline.co.uk
Anger is intensifying over cuts to be made as part of the EU deal to save the economy
MAY DAY protests in Greece turned violent yesterday as youths in gas masks and hoods set fire to vehicles, smashed shop fronts and threw molotov cocktails and rocks at police in an explosion of fury over austerity measures they claim will hurt only the poor. Tourists were cut off from their hotels as thousands of communists, civil servants and private-sector workers converged on a main square in Athens to vent their rage at the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Who Knew Bankruptcy Paid So Well?
By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ and JULIE CRESWELL - NYTimes.com
MORE than $263,000 for photocopies in four months. Over $2,100 in limousine rides by one partner in one month. And $48 just to leave a message. Explanations for these charges? Priceless. The lawyers, accountants and restructuring experts overseeing the remains of Lehman Brothers have already racked up more than $730 million in fees and expenses, with no end in sight. Anyone wondering why total fees doled out in the Lehman bankruptcy alone could easily touch the $1 billion mark merely has to look at the bills buried among the blizzard of court documents filed in the case.
Not Convinced
Michael J. Panzner - SilverBearCafe.com
The "smart money" tends to dismiss the views of the great unwashed when it comes to economic and financial matters. When they hear that the majority of Americans are still cautious about the future, they assume that Mr. or Ms. Average Joe knows far less about the economy than your average stock trader does (even though, for instance, the great unwashed saw the recession coming before Wall Street did).
How an Economy Grows & Why it Crashes
Jobless likely to feel pain long-term
By Stephen Dinan - WashingtonTimes.com CBO paints bleak picture, beyond loss of wages, benefits
Losing a job is always tough, but losing it in the middle of what's been dubbed the "Great Recession" could hurt for years, according to a new report by the Congressional Budget Office that hints at just how deep the damage could be to those laid off. CBO analysts are forecasting that even when the out-of-work do find jobs, they'll be well behind their peers who stayed employed and will lose out on thousands of dollars of earning potential over their lives. Worse still, the study found that, unlike past recessions, the jobs picture won't improve as quickly this time, meaning more people will feel the pain for longer. The CBO says unemployment will remain above 5 percent for another six years.
Zoning Laws Destroy Communities
Mises Daily: by Troy Camplin
Zoning laws are a violation of property rights. They destroy the sense of community in neighborhoods, increase crime, increase traffic congestion, contribute to urban and suburban air pollution, contribute to poverty, contribute to reliance in government and, thus, reduce self-reliance and contribute to the ruin of our schools. Most of our urban and suburban problems arose with zoning and other antiproperty laws, to which welfare programs and public housing projects have contributed. Each of these policies came out of the idea that society could and should be engineered from the top down to give rise to efficiency, community, and prosperity. What in fact resulted was the opposite outcome.
United and Continental Said to Agree to Merge
By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED and JAD MOUAWAD - NYTimes.com
United Airlines and Continental Airlines agreed Sunday to a $3 billion merger that will create the world's biggest airline, people familiar with the discussions said. The boards of both companies approved the all-stock transaction, these people said. A deal is expected to be announced on Monday. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The combined company will keep the United name and will be based in Chicago. It will be run by Continental's top executive, Jeffery A. Smisek. United's chairman, Glenn F. Tilton, will be nonexecutive chairman for two years. After that, Mr. Smisek will become the executive chairman.
Times Square bomb attempt sparks US manhunt
Paul Harris in New York and Ewen MacAskill in Washington - The Guardian.co.uk Pakistan Taliban claim treated with scepticism as surveillance video studied for clues to identity of 'unsophisticated' bomber
A nationwide hunt was under way last night for would-be bombers who left a car loaded with explosives and petrol in the middle of Times Square in Manhattan. "We were lucky it didn't detonate," the New York police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, told a press conference. "In my judgment, it would have caused casualties, a significant fireball. I'm told the vehicle would have been cut in half."
Army Preps for Tea Party 'Terrorists'
Mark Alexander "The duty imposed upon [the president] to take care, that the laws be faithfully executed, follows out the strong injunctions of his oath of office, that he will 'preserve, protect, and defend the constitution.' The great object of the executive department is to accomplish this purpose; and without it, be the form of government whatever it may, it will be utterly worthless for offence, or defence; for the redress of grievances, or the protection of rights; for the happiness, or good order, or safety of the people." --Justice Joseph Story
A few months back, the commander in chief or our Armed Forces, that erstwhile community organizer Barack Hussein Obama, denigrated a large cross section of Americans who identify with the Tea Party movement -- those who advocate for Essential Liberty and Rule of Law. Obama identified them as malcontents, "waving their little tea bags." Since then, the Obama administration and their Leftmedia sycophants have endeavored to characterize Tea Party attendees as rude, radical, racist, redneck, enemies of the state.
Napolitano: NYC car bomb is 'a potential terrorist attack'
By Matt DeLong - WashingtonPost.com
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano took to the Sunday talk shows this morning, ostensibly to talk about efforts to protect the Gulf Coast from a potential ecological disaster due to a massive oil slick headed for land. However, Napolitano instead found herself talking about the apparent failed car bombing Saturday night in New York's Times Square. "We're taking this very seriously," Napolitano said on CNN's "State of the Union." "We're treating it as if it could be a potential terrorist attack." She said that the FBI, New York Police Department and the Joint Terrorism Task Force are cooperating on the investigation. During an earlier appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Napolitano described the explosive device as "an amateurish type of bomb." She told NBC's David Gregory that it was "too soon to tell ... who or what groups were responsible."
Ron Paul: Obama Is A Corporatist Not A Socialist!
Officials provide somber outlook on fixing oil leak in gulf
By Joel Achenbach and David Fahrenthold - Washington Post
Obama administration officials on Sunday offered a somber outlook on the fight to seal off a leaking oil well 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. With robotic submarines so far unable to seal off the leaks, the federal government and oil giant BP may need weeks or even months to get control of an uncapped well that has created an environmental crisis that could affect much of the gulf coast.
Arizona law's foes are using the real immigration scare tactics
By George F. Will - WashingtonPost.com
"Physician, heal yourself," said the founder of the church in which Roger Mahony is a cardinal. He is the Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles, and he should heed the founder's admonition before accusing Arizonans of intemperateness. He says that Arizona's new law pertaining to illegal immigration involves "reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques whereby people are required to turn one another in to the authorities on any suspicion of documentation."
20 Things You Will Need To Survive When The Economy Collapses And The Next Great Depression Begin
Today, millions of Americans say that they believe that the United States is on the verge of a major economic collapse and will soon be entering another Great Depression. But only a small percentage of those same people are prepared for that to happen. The sad truth is that the vast majority of Americans would last little more than a month on what they have stored up in their homes. Most of us are so used to running out to the supermarket or to Wal-Mart for whatever we need that we never even stop to consider what would happen if suddenly we were not able to do that. Already the U.S. economy is starting to stumble about like a drunken frat boy. All it would take for the entire U.S. to resemble New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina would be for a major war, a terror attack, a deadly pandemic or a massive natural disaster to strike at just the right time and push the teetering U.S. economy over the edge. So just how would you survive if you suddenly could not rely on the huge international corporate giants to feed, clothe and supply you and your family? Do you have a plan?
Mexico's illegals laws tougher than Arizona's
By Jerry Seper - WashingtonTimes.com Calderon condemns 'racial discrimination'
Mexican President Felipe Calderon denounced as "racial discrimination" an Arizona law giving state and local police the authority to arrest suspected illegal immigrants and vowed to use all means at his disposal to defend Mexican nationals against a law he called a "violation of human rights." But the legislation, signed April 23 by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, is similar to Reglamento de la Ley General de Poblacion the General Law on Population enacted in Mexico in April 2000, which mandates that federal, local and municipal police cooperate with federal immigration authorities in that country in the arrests of illegal immigrants.
The Business of Climate Change Conference 2009
January 04, 2010 Information on how the Saudis "use their oil" (video below)
Jeff Rubin, the former Chief Economist of CIBC World Markets and the author of Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller built his reputation as one of Canada's top economists based on a number of successful predictions including the housing bust of the early 90s and the rise of oil prices. In his recent book, Mr. Rubin predicts $225 per barrel oil by 2012 and with it the end of globalization, a movement towards local sourcing and a need for massive scaling up of energy efficiency.
Clinton in tug of war for Israel's nuke secret
By Eli Lake - WashingtonTimes.com Iran to defend buildup; Egypt wants new pact
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will try this week at the United Nations to keep the worst-kept secret in the Middle East: Israel's status as a nuclear power. In recent weeks, the U.S. government has held talks with Egypt on a proposal to eliminate nuclear weapons in the Middle East. The U.S. diplomacy on the proposal also has been coordinated closely with Israel, according to a senior White House official.
Netanyahu meeting Mubarak as cover for war
Roee Nahmias - Israel News Al-Quds Al-Arabi editor slams Egyptian president for meeting prime minister and not Assad
An Arab editorial condemned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Saturday for inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Sharm el-Sheikh Monday. The editor of the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, Abd al-Bari Atwan, who is not among Israel's greatest fans, wrote in his article entitled 'Not Ahalan and Not Sahalan' that Israel was draining Mubarak of his last drops of blood. He said Netanyahu wants to meet the president now as a cover for Israel's next war, as former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni did before Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.
Spain's unemployment rate passes 20%
By Daniel Woolls, AP USAToday.com
MADRID - Spain's jobless rate has surpassed 20% for the first time since 1997, the government said Friday as it offered more dismal news for a recession-plagued economy that is being dragged into Europe's debt crisis. The National Statistics Institute said the rate rose 1.22 percentage points in the first quarter, to 20.05%. While other major economies in Europe and elsewhere have posted at least tepid growth as they fight to crawl out of recession, the eurozone's fourth-largest economy is still contracting after the collapse of a construction boom that had fueled years of expansion.
Ghost estates testify to Irish boom and bust
By Paul Henley BBC News, Republic of Ireland
David McWilliams is the man who coined the phrase "ghost estate" when he wrote about the first signs of a disastrous over-build in the Irish Republic back in 2006. Now, it is a concept the whole country is depressingly familiar with. Most Irish people have one on their doorstep - an ugly reminder, says the economist and broadcaster, of wounded national pride. "Emotionally, we have all taken a battering," he says. "Like every infectious virus, the housing boom got into our pores. You could feel it.
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