Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Monday 10.31.2011
The Dark Side Of Halloween:
The Kind Of Stuff That Real Life Nightmares Are Made Of
EndOfTheAqmericanDream.com
On October 31st, tens of millions of Americans will celebrate Halloween by going trick-or-treating or by attending costume parties. For most people, Halloween is a fun evening of dressing up and eating too much candy, and it is a holiday that is becoming more popular than ever. According to a recent report from the National Retail Federation, seven out of every 10 Americans plan to celebrate Halloween this year. That is the highest level that the National Retail Federation has ever recorded. This year, it is being projected that Americans will spend $6.86 billion on Halloween. Every year Halloween just keeps getting bigger and bigger. But there is also a dark side to Halloween. It is not "politically correct" to talk about this, but the truth is that the way that many people choose to celebrate Halloween is the kind of stuff that real life nightmares are made of.
Illinois bank closed; 85th to fail in U.S. in 2011
By Drew FitzGerald - MarketWatch.com
Regulators on Friday closed a bank in Illinois, bringing the nationwide tally of bank failures up to 85 for the year.
Des Plaines, Ill.-based All American Bank, was closed by the state's Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. International Bank of Chicago agreed to take over the failed bank as part of a purchase-and-assumption deal with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. It was Illinois' ninth bank failure this year.
All American had about $37.8 million in total assets and $33.4 million in total deposits at the end of June. International Bank of Chicago agreed to acquire all of the failed bank's deposits and buy essentially all of its assets.
The FDIC estimates that the cost of the bank's failure to the Deposit Insurance Fund will reach $6.5 million.
'Gold rally to continue for a long time'
CommodityOnline.com The Gold Report: In your recent article "A Golden Mulligan," you called gold mining equities "a rational way to participate in what appears to be the end game for paper currencies on an attractive risk-adjusted basis." After trailing the metals prices substantially since 2010, why do you think they are ready for a turnaround? John Hathaway: Gold mining stocks have underperformed for a number of reasons. Gold ETFs created competition for gold stocks even as it made owning physical metal more attractive. Also, as gold flirted with $1,900 an ounce (oz), investors may not have priced that into the stocks as they weren't convinced it would stick. Now that we have had a correction, investor analysis will show that the average price over time, as opposed to variable spot prices, is steadily rising—proof that industry profitability should also be on the rise. The best is yet to come for gold mining earnings as confidence in government monetary policy continues to erode.
'Gold is meant for political protection, not financial protection'
By Commodity Online
Gold prices have fallen from $1923 to $1500 levels before climbing back to $1740 levels this week which goes to show that Gold prices can fall and rise just as any other commodity. With gold what the investor gets is not financial protection but political protection, according to Bengt Saelensminde, a business economist and contributor to the Money Week.
According to him gold is a misunderstood asset and is often portrayed as a safety play and also wrongly considered a great diversifier of investor portfolio. Gold's prices drifted in the eighties and nineties despite no visible movements in inflation.
Recreating A Real Gold Standard
By Rich Danker - Forbes.com
Finished off as it was by the callous executive order of a U.S. president, the gold standard cannot be resurrected the same way. As the political system inches back toward gold-backed money, a roadmap for getting there is essential.
This is exactly what Lewis E. Lehrman (with whom this writer is professionally associated via American Principles Project and the Lehrman Institute) has provided with The True Gold Standard: A Monetary Reform Plan Without Official Reserve Currencies. Steeped in the experience of Jacques Rueff’s handling of postwar France’s return to the gold standard and Lehrman’s own thinking as a public intellectual, it is a comprehensive yet straightforward plan for cleaning up the global financial system.
Is Gold Over Or Undervalued?
How About The EFSF (Europe = Fastow, Skilling & Fuld)
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
From Sean Corrigan
In an opinion piece of our own, instigated by the gentlemen at Gold Money, we were asked how we work out whether gold is over or undervalued at any given minute. What a question at the best of times, much less now!
What we came up with was the following, something which encapsulates a theme about which we have written much of late:?
What is ?value? in a world where the single goal of the powers that be is to deny the market the ability to have its constituents? underlying ordering of wants accurately reflected in the price structure?
The Path To QE3 Is Lined In Silver
By Eric Parnell - SeekingAlpha.com
Silver is absolutely in love with the idea of QE3.
It was last Thursday that Fed Governor Tarullo took the podium in New York and began pontificating about QE3. Over the next few days, Fed Governor Yellen and Fed Vice Chairman Dudley did the same. And the reaction from silver investors has been ebullient ever since.
A primary fundamental thesis for owning silver is the following: hard asset protection against aggressive monetary stimulus, pricing instability and currency debasement. In other words, when the Fed and other global central banks are effectively engaged in printing money, silver thrives as a hard currency alternative that is affordable for many investors from a price perspective.
Silver price rising on increased investment demand
By Roman Baudzus - GoldMoney.com
According to CPM Group’s 2011 Silver Yearbook, investment demand was the main driver behind silver price increases in the past year. Total demand from investors in capital markets reached 142 million ounces, the third-highest level since the start of data recordings. Meanwhile, industry demand has also increased significantly, contributing to rising output from silver producers. Nevertheless, there was a large gap between new supply from mines and demand in 2010, which amounted to a total of 319 million ounces worldwide.
Could the Euro and Dollar Go One-to-One?
Anthony Wile - SilverBearCafe.com
This is a funny question to ask given that the dollar is in the dumps and the euro has had a strong rally since the region's top Eurocrats "saved" the euro this week. But in Europe, where some DB elves are traveling, and especially in Spain, those in the banking community - especially at the commercial banking level - are beginning to speculate that the euro and the dollar may eventually reach parity.
The elite's promotional media guns, of course, are aimed at assuring us once again that the euro-crisis has finally been contained. But given the difference between what theAnglosphere elites say and DO, I'd humbly submit that the crisis is nowhere near finished and that the real objective may be to unwind both Europe and America preparatory to creating the kind of full-blown chaos necessary to usher in a world currency. Stranger things have happened - and we do live in strange times these days.
"When Money Dies"
Author Adam Fergusson And James Turk
Discuss (Hyper)Inflation In The Past,
In The Present And In The Future
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
When it comes to discussing monetary history, and specifically what happens when it all goes horribly wrong, there are two must read tomes: one is "The Dying of Money" by Jens Parsson (pdf link) and the other one is "When Money Dies" (pdf link) by Adam Fergusson. Today, we are lucky to bring to you a must watch interview between James Turk of the GoldMoney Foundation and the author of the former, Adam Fergusson. They discuss the fateful decisions that led to hyperinflation in post-First World War Germany, and how central bankers as well as ordinary members of the public today would be well advised to heed this warning from history. Fergusson discusses how the hyperinflation affected different groups in German society in different ways – with debtors benefiting and huge numbers of middle-class savers wiped out. Riots, corruption and political extremism were just some of the malignancies encouraged by the hyperinflation. He points out that those who held hard currencies as well as people who held tangible assets like gold and silver were in-large part protected from the worst economic consequences of the hyperinflation. In his words: "gold remained at all times in Germany the measure of what was important to them."
Gerald Celente - Money Radio
German finance minister opens door for EU fiscal union: Schäuble calls for EU lead on Tobin tax
[Google the title for free article pass] G20 or UK dissent should not stop European levy
By Quentin Peel and Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin - FT.com
Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany's finance minister, wants the European Union to take the global lead in introducing a financial transaction tax to curb speculative trading, along with tougher regulation of big banks and the "shadow" banking sector, such as hedge funds.
If the UK blocked agreement on such a tax in the full EU, he said in an interview with the Financial Times, the eurozone should press ahead on its own.
He also called for big steps towards a "fiscal union" in the 17-member monetary union to underpin the stability of their common currency.
Commentary says China not a "savior" for Europe
(Reuters) - Europe should not expect China to ride to the rescue as its "savior" from the debt crisis, though Beijing will do what it can to help a friend in need, state-run news agency Xinhua said in a commentary on Sunday.
The head of Europe's rescue fund sought to entice China on Saturday to invest in the facility by saying investors may be protected against a fifth of initial losses and that bonds could eventually be sold in yuan if Beijing desires.
Though China has expressed confidence that Europe can survive its crisis, it has made no public offer to buy more European government debt.
Xinhua, in an English-language commentary, said China could not stand by while its largest trading partner foundered.
This was the week that European democracy died The plan to tackle the eurozone crisis will only render ordinary people more powerless.
By Janet Daley - Telegraph.co.uk
Democracy went down in a blaze of glory last week. Both the German Bundestag and our own House of Commons put up one hell of a fight against the dying of the light. Maybe history will record that fact in an elegy on the demise of the great 18th-century experiment in government by the people: they were eloquent to the end. Because at the end, eloquence was all they had.
Trying to hold back the resurgence of oligarchy – the final dismantling of democratic responsibility in the governing of Europe – has been looking pretty hopeless for a long time. That eruption of excellent rhetoric and faultless argument which sprang to the defence of the rights of the governed (and in Germany’s case, of constitutional legality) made the loss seem all the more tragic, but no less inevitable.
The two halves of the eurozone
are locked in a broken marriage One by one, the democracies of Southern Europe are being broken on the wheel of monetary union.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Greek ministers are now cruelly depicted in cartoons knuckling to German orders or delivering the Nazi salute. The yearly march commemorating the struggle against the Axis was blocked in Thessaloniki by protesters shouting "traitor" at Greece's aging president, himself a teenage resister.
I do not wish to be anti-German, since Germany itself is the chief diplomatic victim of EMU's unfolding tragedy. But this is what happens when you insert words such as "monitoring capacity on the ground" into EU summit texts.
German court suspends key parliament committee
BY HONOR MAHONY - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - The work of a special committee designed to speed up Berlin's decisions on the use of the eurozone bailout fund has been suspended after complaints about its legality.
Due to have started work on Friday (28 October), the nine-person committee was instead issued with a temporary injunction by Germany's constitutional court in Karlsruhe.
"The second senate of the Constitutional Court has decided ... that until a full decision is taken, the Bundestag's right of participation may not be replaced by the new committee," the Court said in statement.
Berlusconi Defiant as EU’s Focus Shifts to Italy
By Patrick Donahue and Armorel Kenna - Bloomberg.com
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he alone can deliver the country’s promised deficit cuts as European leaders ramp up demands that his government do its part to combat the region’s debt crisis.
Berlusconi ruled out early elections and said the current legislature in Rome will last until 2013, according to an interview published yesterday in Corriere della Sera. He said the European Central Bank’s support will only be maintained if his administration follows through on the pledged measures.
Fitch Says 50% Greek Bond Haircut Would Be Default Event
By Jennifer Ryan - BusinessWeek.com
Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- European leaders’ agreement on a 50 percent haircut on Greek bonds may create an event of default if investors accept it, Fitch Ratings said in a statement today.
"The 50 percent nominal haircut on the proposed bond exchange would be viewed by the agency as a default event under its Distressed Debt Exchange criteria," the statement said. While the accord is "a necessary step to put the Greek sovereign's public finances on a more sustainable footing," Greece will face "significant challenges" including ratios of government debt to gross domestic product at "well over 100 percent even in a positive scenario."
Be Honest –
The European Debt Deal Was Really A Greek Debt Default
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Once the euphoria of the initial announcement faded and as people have begun to closely examine the details of the European debt deal, they have started to realize that this "debt deal" is really just a "managed" Greek debt default. Let's be honest - this deal is not going to solve anything. All it does is buy Greece a few months. Meanwhile, it is going to make the financial collapse of other nations in Europe even more likely. Anyone that believes that the financial situation in Europe is better now than it was last week simply does not understand what is going on. Bond yields are going to go through the roof and investors are going to start to panic. The European Central Bank is going to have an extremely difficult time trying to keep a lid on this thing. Instead of being a solution, the European debt deal has brought us several steps closer to a complete financial meltdown in Europe.
George Soros attacks Brussels rescue deal Veteran investor George Soros has attacked the lack of leadership at the top of the eurozone and said that the new Brussels "deal" to solve the debt crisis will only last between "one day and three months".
By Kamal Ahmed - Telegraph.co.uk
Mr Soros, who achieved world wide fame when he bet against sterling remaining within the Exchange Rate Mechanism in the 1990s, said that the 50pc "haircut" on private bond holders would only reduce Greek debt by 20pc. He said that was insufficient to stop an economic decline in Greece which would lead to greater social unrest.
His words come as the eurozone appeared to be heading for further economic trouble as investors started to express scepticism about the rescue deal announced in the early hours of Thursday morning. This weekend Goldman Sachs said that the eurozone countries were heading for a "mild recession" as confidence waned.
Federal Reserve: The nation's most profitable bank Revenues for the nation’s banks were lower for the second consecutive quarter, and Bank of America and others are trading at a fraction of book value. But those numbers don’t include the nation’s central bank–the Fed.
By Douglas French - CSMonitor.com
All is not well in bankland, despite the industry earning $28.8 billion in the second quarter, nearly $8 billion more than a year ago. Earnings have improved for eight quarters in a row. Not so coincidentally, loan-loss provisions fell by $21.4 billion from the second quarter of last year. So any grow in earnings is from setting aside less money for bad loans. Banks figure the worst is over.
Revenues for the nation’s banks were lower for the second consecutive quarter and Bank of America and others are trading at a fraction of book value, which means the market believes there are more write downs and losses to come.
Presenting The Capeless Crusader:
The Deficit (Non) Super Committee
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
While the soap opera in Europe lurches from one extreme to another, in the process creating substantial market knee jerk reactions, even though the final outcome is quite clear to most with cognitive bias blinders, the next major catalyst in the macro spectacle will come not from across the Atlantic, but from these here United States, in the form of the Super Duper Committee tasked with finding the $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts needed in order to make the August debt ceiling hike legitimate. As a reminder the debt back then was $14.4 trillion - tomorrow it will officially surpass $15 trillion for the first time ever, meaning that even as the Super Committee squabbles, half the benefit from its "successful" conclusion has already been implemented. And here is where Morgan Stanley's David Greenlaw comes in with a piece in which he makes it all too clear that the Super Committee may be Clark Kent, but it sure is no Superman. "Press reports continue to suggest that the so-called Super Committee, established as part of the compromise agreement to hike the debt ceiling, is foundering. In recent days, Democrats and Republicans have offered competing plans that have little common ground. Republican members appear to remain committed to a no new taxes pledge, which will make it very difficult for the Committee to come anywhere close to its $1.2 trillion target." In other words, just as nothing material or actionable (suffice for some grandiose delusions) came out of Europe, precisely the same will happen in the US, after our own dire fiscal situation is exposed for the naked emperor it is.
States may lose big in jobs, funds if Medicaid cut
(Reuters) - Cutting Medicaid by 5 percent would cost U.S. states $14 billion and trigger job losses in the tens of thousands by depressing spending by states, hospitals, nursing homes, drug companies and others, a study said on Wednesday.
"Such a drastic reduction would stifle business activity and job creation in states already struggling through the recession," said the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, a Washington, D.C.-based industry group.
Economists say spending by Medicaid, the state-federal health plan for the poor, disabled and elderly, buoys local economies because it not only flows to health care providers -- and their employees -- but pulls in new federal dollars because the U.S. government matches how much a state spends.
Medicaid: NY auditors stumble on $60 million in savings Medicaid auditors in New York discover Medicaid was often being billed incorrectly.
By Michael Gormley - AP - CSMonitor.com
On a hunch, state auditors Mike Ernst and Joe Gagnon decided to go beyond their usual work of searching out intricate fraud schemes and double check some of the most basic data in the massiveMedicaid bureaucracy: The patient's address.
They found a nearly $60 million mistake.
The auditors in the Medicaid Inspector General's Office discovered that managed care companies often inaccurately billed the government health program based on where patients got care, not where they lived.
That meant some health care providers were getting paid more than the program allowed. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the error was costing New York taxpayers $8 million per month.
The Great Depression Right Outside Our Doors
By Bill Boyarsky - Truthdig.com
While Occupy Wall Street and similar movements around the country take aim at financial institutions and their political cronies for taking the country into recession, let's not forget those at the very bottom who were victims of economic depression long before the current collapse.
Connie Rice, a Los Angeles civil rights attorney, writes about their plight in a powerful new book, "Power Concedes Nothing: One Woman's Quest for Social Justice in America, From the Courtroom to the Kill Zones." She tells the story of how she and her colleagues have worked to free poor neighborhoods of the evils of gang killings, police brutality, poorly run schools and bad health. They are doing it in a civil rights organization with a hands-on approach called the Advancement Project.
The Middle-Class Squeeze: Falling Wealth, Rising Costs
By Bruce Watson - DailyFinance.com
It's no secret that many middle-class families are in a financial bind, caught between rising costs and falling incomes. But according to recent reports by the Department of Agriculture and the Congressional Budget Office, the middle-class squeeze is not a recent development, and isn't likely to disappear anytime soon.
On Tuesday, the CBO released an analysis ofAmerica's distribution of wealth over the last three decades.Their findings were shocking: Among the top 1% of households, income grew by an amazing 275% over the last 30 years. In the same period, the middle 60% of households -- the heart of the middle class -- saw their incomes increase by less than 40%.
The debt fallout:
How Social Security went 'cash negative'
earlier than expected
By Lori Montgomery - WashingtonPost.com
Last year, as a debate over the runaway national debt gathered steam in Washington, Social Security passed a treacherous milestone. It went "cash negative."
For most of its 75-year history, the program had paid its own way through a dedicated stream of payroll taxes, even generating huge surpluses for the past two decades. But in 2010, under the strain of a recession that caused tax revenue to plummet, the cost of benefits outstripped tax collections for the first time since the early 1980s.
Now, Social Security is sucking money out ofthe Treasury. This year, it will add a projected $46 billion to the nation’s budget problems, according to projections by system trustees. Replacing cash lost to a one-year payroll tax holiday will require an additional $105 billion. If the payroll tax break is expanded next year, as President Obama has proposed, Social Security will need an extra $267 billion to pay promised benefits.
Americans' Stagnant (and Falling) Disposable Incomes
By Daniel Indiviglio - TheAtlantic.com
Still basking in the afterglow of the best report for U.S. growth in a year, economists did not make a big deal out of another report that the Bureau of Economic Analysis released on Friday. The monthly report on personal income, spending, and saving is hardly as sexy as GDP, but it can provide an even better gauge for how Americans might be feeling. If saving and incomes are both up, then they're probably concerned. If incomes are down, then they're probably miserable. The report reveals a rather disturbing fact: inflation-adjusted disposable income per capita is slightly below September 2006 levels.
Fed, unemployment report to grab U.S. spotlight Investors also to assess manufacturing data,
corporate earnings
By Nicole Hong, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — A slew of key data releases and global economic meetings will compete for investors’ attention next week, as European headlines take a back seat following the past week’s euro-zone debt deal.
Markets rallied sharply in the past week as investors cheered the European deal to shore up euro-zone banks and boost the firepower of its rescue, turning now to the fundamentals of the U.S. economy.
"We threw a party because Europe reached a deal, and now we have to clean up and see what’s actually there," said Scott Armiger, portfolio manager at Christiana Trust.
Let Them Eat Cake:
10 Examples Of How The Elite
Are Savagely Mocking The Poor
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
There is absolutely nothing wrong with working hard and making a lot of money, but there is something wrong with being completely arrogant and smug about it. Today, many among the elite are savagely mocking the poor, and that is a huge mistake. You shouldn't kick people when they are down. There are tens of millions of Americans that are deeply frustrated about losing their homes, losing their jobs or barely being able to survive in this economy. These frustrations have been one of the primary reasons for the rise of the Tea Party movement and the rise of the Occupy Wall Street movement. What these movements have in common is that people in both movements are sick and tired of the status quo and they want something to be done about our broken system. There are huge numbers of families out there right now that have just about reached the end of their ropes. Instead of showing compassion, many of the ultra-wealthy have decided that it is funny to mock the poor and those that are suffering. So how are all of these protesters going to respond to the "let them eat cake" attitude of the Wall Street elite? The protesters are being told that nothing that they can do will change anything and that they should be grateful for what Wall Street and the ultra-wealthy have done for them. They are essentially being told that they should just shut up and go home. So will we see these protest movements become discouraged and die down, or will the patronizing attitudes of so many among the elite just inflame them even further?
Mortgage fraud & Housing market-
On the Edge with Max Keiser
Federal mortgage overhaul put on hold
By KIMBERLY MILLER - Palm Beach Post
Jupiter homeowner Tony Tate wasted little time when a lower mortgage payment finally seemed within reach.
He was on the phone with his lender less than 48 hours after President Obama flew to Las Vegas to tout a makeover of his Home Affordable Refinance Program, which he opened to underwater borrowers regardless of how deep their property values have sunk.
"They didn't know anything more than what they read in the news and couldn't help me at all," said the disappointed 81-year-old, whose refinance momentum hit a wall Wednesday.
Regulator rebuts critics on housing help
By Margaret Chadbourn
(Reuters) - Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's regulator on Saturday rejected criticism he was obstructing a housing recovery by taking too narrow a view of his mission to protect the financial health of the two massive, taxpayer-supported mortgage firms.
Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, argued the $141 billion in taxpayer funds Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had received since they were seized by the government in 2008 were meant to get the companies back on their feet, not to provide "broad relief" to the housing market.
The Energy Trap:
How are High Energy Prices Affecting Americans?
Written by Post Carbon - OilPrice.com
While waiting to see how far the Europeans can kick their can of financial Armageddon down the road, let's revisit the damage being caused by high oil prices to life here in America.
Although the price of gasoline so far this year has not reached the rarified levels that we saw three years ago, neither has it plunged as far as in did in the fall of 2008. The price of a barrel of oil on the London futures exchange, which more accurately reflects what refiners must pay for oil, rose above $100 a barrel last January, and has essentially remained there ever since -- averaging about $25 a barrel higher than last year.
FCC approves broadband Internet plan,
promises 500,000 jobs
By Nathan Olivarez-Giles - LATimes.com
The Federal Communications Commission has approved a plan to expand high-speed Internet access in parts of the U.S. that currently have slower connections, such as rural areas.
The FCC, in a statement announcing its plans, said it has enacted "the most significant policy step ever taken to connect all Americans to high-speed Internet, wherever they live."
The new broadband internet access plan will come in the form of changes to the FCC's existing Universal Service Fund and intercarrier compensation systems.
"Those systems have been widely viewed as broken, and long overdue for reform," the commission said. "Efforts to expand high-speed Internet to rural America over the next six years will increase economic growth by $50 billion over that period" according to FCC estimates.
Firms to charge smokers, obese more for healthcare
By Jilian Mincer
(Reuters) - Like a lot of companies, Veridian Credit Union wants its employees to be healthier. In January, the Waterloo, Iowa-company rolled out a wellness program and voluntary screenings.
It also gave workers a mandate - quit smoking, curb obesity, or you'll be paying higher healthcare costs in 2013. It doesn't yet know by how much, but one thing's for certain - the unhealthy will pay more.
The credit union, which has more than 500 employees, is not alone.
In recent years, a growing number of companies have been encouraging workers to voluntarily improve their health to control escalating insurance costs. And while workers mostly like to see an employer offer smoking cessation classes and weight loss programs, too few are signing up or showing signs of improvement.
Occupy Wall Street "What’s Your Agenda?"
By: Danny Schechter - MarketOracle.co.uk
One of the most frequently repeated, recycled and dismissive questions about Occupy Wall Street is its supposed lack of an "agenda."
The "what do you people want" question has featured in media interviews almost to the exclusion of all others.
It’s as if the movement won’t be taken seriously by some, unless and until, it enunciates list of “demands” and defines itself in a way that can allow others, especially a cynical media, to label and pigeonhole it.
Many are just frothing at the mouth for some political positions they can expose as shallow or absurd. Teams of pundits are being primed to go on the attack once they have some bullet points to refute.
Will the bad apples ruin the whole barrel? Armed Citizen Militia Shows Up At Occupy Phoenix Group is affiliated with neo-nazi fringe
Paul Joseph Watson - Prison Planet.com
Armed citizen militia group US Border Guard is making its presence felt at the Occupy Phoenix demonstration to protect free speech rights, arguing that the second amendment prevents the state from abusing the first amendment.
The group has been labeled "neo-nazis" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is usually a demonization tactic, but the individual shown in the clip, “JT Ready” has attended neo-nazi rallies and is closely affiliated with the fringe National Socialist Party.
The group has also operated as a "Minutemen on steroids" outfit, organizing armed patrols of the US border with Mexico.
Occupy Denver tension escalates dramatically
By KRISTEN WYATT
DENVER (AP) - The simmering tension near the Colorado Capitol escalated dramatically Saturday with more than a dozen arrests, reports of skirmishes between police and protesters and authorities firing rounds of pellets filled with pepper spray at supporters of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Officers in riot gear moved into a park late in the day where protesters were attempting to establish an encampment, hauling off demonstrators just hours after a standoff at the Capitol steps degenerated into a fight that ended in a cloud of Mace and pepper spray.
BP Oil Spill Whistleblowers And Experts
Continue To Mysteriously Die
The Intel Hub
In the last year and a half at least 10 experts, whistleblowers and BP connected individuals have died under mysterious circumstances.
This information was widely reported in an April 10th, 2011 video which at the time listed 9 deaths and 3 imprisonments, disappearances, or attempted assassinations.
The Mysterious Deaths of Nine Gulf Oil Spill Whistleblowers
Rep. Lofgren: Copyright bill is the 'end of the Internet' Rep. Zoe Lofgren, the California Democrat whose district includes the heart of Silicon Valley, is preparing to lead congressional opposition to the new Stop Online Piracy Act.
by Declan McCullagh - CNet.com
The antipiracy legislation, introduced yesterday in the House of Representatives to the applause of lobbyists for Hollywood and other large content holders, is designed to make allegedly copyright-infringing Web sites, sometimes called "rogue" Web sites, virtually disappear from the Internet.
"I'm still reviewing the legislation, but from what I've already read, this would mean the end of the Internet as we know it," Lofgren told CNET.
From 7 Billion People To 500 Million People –
The Sick Population Control Agenda Of The Global Elite
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
The United Nations has officially designated October 31st as 7 Billion Day. On that day, the United Nations estimates that the population of the earth will hit 7 billion for the very first time. But instead of celebrating what a milestone 7 billion people represents, the UNPF is focusing instead on using October 31st to raise awareness about "sustainability" and "sustainable development". In other words, the United Nations is once again declaring that there are way too many people on the planet and that we need to take more direct measures to reduce fertility. In recent years, the UN and other international organizations have become bolder about trying to push the sick population control agenda of the global elite. Most of the time organizations such as the UN will simply talk about "stabilizing" the global population, but as you will see in this article, there are many among the global elite that are not afraid to openly talk about a goal of reducing the population of the world to 500 million (or less). To you and I it may seem like insanity to want to get rid of more than 90 percent of the global population, but there is a growing consensus among the global elite that this is absolutely necessary for the good of the planet.
A Decade of Secret Tyranny
By Bob Bauman - SiulverBearCafe.com
Ten years ago today, on Oct. 26, 2001, President George W. Bush signed into law the odious legislation known as the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act, perhaps the single most unconstitutional enactment by the U.S. Congress since theAlien and Sedition Acts of 1789.
A panicked Congress, eager to be seen as "doing something," overwhelmingly passed the law only weeks after the Sept. 11, 2011 terror attacks in New York and Washington.
In an atmosphere of palpable fear, with haste and secrecy, in the name of the "war on terrorism," Congress adopted the Act without hearings, giving the U.S. executive branch and its police agencies sweeping powers that undermine both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
New World Order:
Implantable RFID chips capable of
remotely killing non-compliant 'slaves' are here
by: Ethan A. Huff - naturalnews.com
(NaturalNews) Positioned as the solution to eliminating identify theft, lost wallets and purses, and a host of other information breaches, the all-inclusive implantable RFID tracking chip is gaining momentum for widespread implementation. Recent news reports indicate that an RFID tracking chip capable of killing humans (that presumably do not comply with rogue government demands) has already been invented.
There is simply no denying the fact that "the powers that be" are working towards microchipping all of humanity. Countless news reports, including those compiled in the following YouTube clip, openly speak of microchips designed for implant into human skin:
Economic World Takeover (Texxe Marrs on Rense)
Russia boosts Iran's armory
with mobile radar-jammers against planes or missiles
DEBKAfile
Moscow has sold Iran the highly-advanced Avtobaza truck-mounted systems which are capable of jamming aircraft radar and the electronic guidance instruments of attacking missiles. This deal, announced in Moscow Tuesday, Oct. 25, substantially boosts Russian military assistance to the Islamic Republic.
DEBKAfile’s military sources: These radar jammers are a component of Russia's most sophisticated anti-aircraft and electronic warfare system for the early warning of approaching assault planes and missiles.
Avtobaza is only part of the complete system. Its job is to transmit incoming information via optic fibers to separate electronic command centers and central air defense commands which then act to foil air or missile attacks.
Arguing that the weapon is purely defensive, Moscow claimed its sale to Iran does not violate the UN Security Council weapons embargo against Iran.
War with Iran? A Warning to Patriots and Globalists Lies that You Could Not Have Made Up, but They Did!
By Number 6 - Dont-Tread-On.Me
As an Iranian-American, ex-US-Army infantryman and sergeant who has sworn a dying oath to the ever living 1776 revolution’s constitution I have found it imperative to warn my patriot brethren to the gravest danger facing our beloved republic at this juncture. The danger in question is not one which threatens us from any outside force but one that although foreign, is the Trojan horse we have been hoodwinked to see as our own government. The current menace is the latest round of wars set up for us which will inevitably lead to the bloodiest episodes in history of mankind; one that would give a new meaning to war, being waged not just on the self-appointed enemies (in this case Iran and the Persian Gulf region) but fought on a civil basis as well, on the home population whose sons and daughters will be dying to the bloody hymns of that Pied Piper warmongering globalist foreign controlled Uncle Sam.
Apocalypse Redux?
U.S. Natural Gas Find off Vietnam
Could Raise Tensions with China
Written by John Daly - OilPrice.com
First, the good news…
U.S. oil company ExxonMobil is reporting a "potentially significant" gas discovery off the coast of Vietnam, stating in a press release, "We can confirm ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Vietnam Limited drilled its second exploration well offshore Danang in August 2011 and encountered hydrocarbons."
ExxonMobil is the world's largest publicly traded oil company by market value. While Vietnam, an oil exporter and the third-largest oil producer in South Asia, began offshore exploration of its reserves in the 1970s, Hanoi only started in 2004 awarding offshore exploration concessions to a plethora of foreign companies, including those from the U.S., Canada and India with ExxonMobil receiving concessions from the Vietnamese government allowing it to explore blocks 117, 118 and 119 off Danang, an area that Vietnam insists is well within its 200-mile exclusive economic zone under international maritime law.
The bad news?
DR BILL DEAGLE - 28TH OCT 2011
ICE AGE FAMINE & more on earthquakes, volcanos(1/3)
DR BILL DEAGLE - 28TH OCT 2011
ICE AGE FAMINE & more on earthquakes, volcanos(2/3)
DR BILL DEAGLE - 28TH OCT 2011
ICE AGE FAMINE & more on earthquakes, volcanos(3/3)
Early Snow Plays Havoc on New York’s Suburbs
By Eric Holthaus - WSJ.com
The mid-winter blast that reached across the calendar to dump October snow over Greater New York will go into books as a majorly disruptive weather event, even as New York City emerged mostly unscathed.
The snows didn’t miss five boroughs, however: During the peak of the storm, whiteout conditions spread across Lower Manhattan as strong winds lashed pedestrians and snow-covered tree branches popped like firecrackers on the Fourth of July. Snow totals ended up on the light end in the city, with just under three inches in Central Park, but accumulations were off the charts just a short distance north.
Gold Surges Higher as EU's 'Grand Plan
Leads to More "Irrational Exuberance"
and Prevents Contagion
By: GoldCore - MarketOracle.co.uk
Gold rose to a one month high of $1,728.70 immediately prior to the deal. It gradually fell as risk appetite returned to markets but has recovered some of the losses incurred going into the London AM Fix. Euro gold performed similarly.
Stocks and European bonds have surged in what appears to be another bout of misguided short term euphoria. This is especially the case as the 'deal' is long on promise and short on detail.
While, initial market reaction is that EU leaders have made a breakthrough in resolving the region's two-year old debt crisis - it must be remembered that markets reacted similarly, in the short term, to previous EU 'deals'.
Gold Gains as Eurozone Optimism
"May Fade" Following Details
By: Ben Traynor - MarketOracle.co.uk
THE SPOT MARKET gold price rallied to $1725 an ounce Thursday lunchtime in London – 5.1% up from the start of the week – following a mid-morning dip.
Silver prices continued to see-saw around $33.50 per ounce – 6.7% up for the week so far.
Stock markets meantime surged throughout the morning following news of an agreement between Eurozone leaders at yesterday's crisis summit.
Commodity prices also rallied strongly, while government bonds sold off.
"The optimism could soon fade, which could see participants once again adopt a risk-off stance," warns Marc Ground, commodities strategist at Standard Bank.
Venezuela scrambles to bring home gold reserves
By Eyanir Chinea
CARACAS, Oct 26 (Reuters) - At the foot of a dimly lit spiral staircase far below Venezuela's Central Bank, workers prepare for an unusual arrival: 17,000 gold bars being shipped back on the order of President Hugo Chavez.
Repatriating about 190 tonnes of bullion worth more than $11 billion from banks in the West will be risky, slow and expensive, experts say.
It is just the latest in a string of grand gestures and controversial plans by the unpredictable socialist leader that are easier for him to order than to put into practice, and it has set officials scurrying to make it happen.
The Great Silver Debate -
Manipulation: Fact or Fiction? - GATA vs. CPM Group
Risk Rally Prompts Massive Dollar Sell-Off,
Index Breaks Key Support
By Michael Boutros, Currency Analyst - DailyFX.com
The greenback suffered massive losses in North American trade with the Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index(Ticker: USDollar) plummeting 1.69% on the session. Euphoria over the European crisis plan and a string of stronger than expected economic data fueled a substantial rally in risk with the Dow, the S&P, and the NASDAQ soaring 2.86%, 3.43%, and 3.32% by the close of trade. The rally was carried over from European markets which surged across the board with the CAC 40 and the DAX advancing 5.35% and 6.28% respectively. Stocks now are poised to post their largest monthly advance in nearly 37 years with both the two major averages up more than 9% in October alone. The implications for the greenback are profound as markets turn focus back to domestic affairs with the reserve currency at risk for further losses after breaking key support with price action moving back into a descending channel formation dating back to November.
A Possible Breakout on Debt Monetization in Europe
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
The 'gut check' in metals was very short-lived, as the precious metals rallied with the melt up in financial assets on the debt monetization plans out of Europe to save their banks. It was 'risk on.'
What next? We may have some follow on, but continued upside depends on additional QE3 from the Fed, as well as the actions by all the world's central banks to monetize the private banking debt and inflate their currencies.
The metals will do well in this kind of an environment. But the sailing is not yet clear. There will likely be more upside after corrections, but if this works, then the major test will come with the December option expiration.
Max Keiser:
Debt slash - a debt hike, collapse guaranteed!
Another US downgrade 'won't harm economy' A growing number of US lawmakers do not think another downgrade of the country's AAA rating will harm America's economy, raising questions about how much pressure Congress is under to fix the intractable budget deficit.
Reuters - Telegraph.co.uk
Analysts warn, however, that signs of complacency on Capitol Hill threaten efforts to cure America's long-term fiscal health.
Bond markets defied predictions of a jump in borrowing costs since August when Standard & Poor's downgraded the country's AAA credit rating, after the debt ceiling crisis.
Tim Ryan, a Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said there was broad sentiment in Congress that the US economy would not necessarily suffer from a downgrade by the other two big agencies - Fitch and Moody's - that still rate US debt as AAA.
Freedom From the FED
Michael S. Rozeff - SilverBearCafe.com
Central banks exist for a single reason - to inflate the supply of paper currency. They are a currency-creating and currency-inflating institution. This serves two interest groups in the main. One is the fractional-reserve banks that they regulate. The other is the government that created them.
For the banks, the alternative to a central bank is to be subject to the forces of market competition. This is something they are striving to avoid. Without a central bank to issue paper currency to them at critical times when they become overextended, the fractional-reserve banks would compete for the safety of funds deposited with them. Gold would be an important currency. Banks that overexpanded into unsafe lending would face customer withdrawals that they could not meet. Competition would restrain bank lending. The central bank relaxes the constraints placed upon banks by competition. It organizes the banks into a banking cartel.
The Fed's Big Secret: Money is Worthless
EU Leaders Throw Europe a Plutonium Life Preserver The euro system was doomed from inception for fundamental reasons; trying to conjure up "something for nothing" solutions will fail catastrophically, and soon.
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancialSense.com
As Europe flails helplessly in the waves of insolvency, its leadership has tossed it a life preserver. Too bad it's plutonium, and will take Europe straight to the bottom.Plutonium is of course one of the most toxic materials on the planet, and the "rescue" cooked up by the EU leadership is the financial equivalent of plutonium.
Stripped of propaganda and disinformation, the "rescue" boils down to this: something for nothing. Sound familiar? Isn't "something for nothing" what inflated the bubbles which have popped so violently? The EU "rescue" conjures something for nothing in two ways:
Europe Tries To Kick The Can Down The Road
But It Will Only Lead To Financial Disaster
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Have you heard the good news? Financial armageddon has been averted. The economic collapse in Europe has been cancelled. Everything is going to be okay. Well, actually none of those statements is true, but news of the "debt deal" in Europe has set off a frenzy of irrational exuberance throughout the financial world anyway. Newspapers all over the globe are declaring that the financial crisis in Europe is over. Stock markets all over the world are soaring. The Dow was up nearly 3 percent today, and this recent surge is helping the S&P 500 to have its best month since 1974. Global financial markets are experiencing an explosion of optimism right now. Yes, European leaders have been able to kick the can down the road for a few months and a total Greek default is not going to happen right now. However, as you will see below, the core elements of this "debt deal" actually make a financial disaster in Europe even more likely in the future.
Nicolas Sarkozy: Greece should have been denied euro
BBC.co.uk
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said allowing Greece into the eurozone in 2001 was a "mistake".
He said Greece was "not ready" at the time. But, he added, it could be rescued thanks to Wednesday's EU deal on the euro debt crisis
In response, Greece's foreign minister told the BBC that Athens was not the source of the crisis, and that no country should be made a scapegoat.
The agreement reached in Brussels has triggered a worldwide shares rally.
In a TV interview on Thursday, Mr Sarkozy said admitting Greece to the eurozone had been "a mistake" because the country had "entered with false [economic] figures. It was not ready".
Europe's rescue euphoria threatened
as Portugal enters 'Grecian vortex' Monetary contraction in Portugal has intensified at an alarming pace and is mimicking the pattern seen in Greece before its economy spiralled out of control, raising concerns that the EU summit deal may soon washed over by fast-moving events.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Data released by the European Central Bank show that real M1 deposits in Portugal have fallen at an annualised rate of 21pc over the past six months, buckling violently in September.
"Portugal appears to have entered a Grecian vortex and monetary trends have deteriorated sharply in Spain, with a decline of 8.4pc," said Simon Ward, from Henderson Global Investors. Mr Ward said the ECB must cut interest rates "immediately" and launch a full-scale blitz of quantitative easing of up to 10pc of eurozone GDP.
The M1 data - cash and current accounts - is watched by experts as a leading indicator for the economy six months to a year ahead. It has been an accurate warning signal for each stage of the crisis since 2007.
EU bailout fund chief Klaus Regling
travels to China to ask for help The head of the eurozone bailout fund visits Beijing on Friday as debt-laden Europe tries to persuade China and other top emerging economies to come to its rescue.
AFP - Telegraph.co.uk
Klaus Regling, chief executive of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), will be in the Chinese capital before travelling to Japan at the weekend, European Union delegations in Beijing and Tokyo have said.
Mr Regling's visit comes a day after European nations reached a last-ditch deal to tackle their festering debt crisis, which they hope will boost market confidence in struggling eurozone economies.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced at a summit in Brussels that eurozone leaders had agreed to leverage the €440bn EFSF, the continent's bailout fund, to €1 trillion.
Keiser Report: Clowns Run World (E202)
The One Percent:
Gigantic Government + Gigantic Corporations = Massive Wealth Inequality In America
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Today, there are protests all over America that are targeting "the one percent" and all of the wealth and power that they have accumulated. Unfortunately, many of the solutions that these protesters are advocating simply will not work and will not lead to less wealth inequality. To understand this, you have to understand how we got to this point. Over the past several decades, our federal government has exploded in size and our large corporations have exploded in size. In fact, we have seen this pattern happen pretty much all over the world. Governments and corporations all over the globe are getting much bigger. Whenever you have very, very large concentrations of money and power like that, it is going to lead to massive wealth inequality. The Occupy Wall Street protesters would like to frame this debate as "socialism vs. capitalism", but the truth is that wherever you find big government you will almost always find big corporations, and wherever you find big corporations you will almost always find big government. Sure, they spar once in a while, but the reality is that big government and big corporations work in tandem most of the time. Sometimes big government has the upper hand and sometimes big corporations have the upper hand, but they are both collectivist institutions. Wherever you find collectivism in the world, you will find an elite that receives most of the benefits while the rest of the population suffers. In the United States today, our gigantic government is thriving and our gigantic corporations are thriving and the middle class is rapidly shrinking. The solution to this is not to replace one form of collectivism with another form of collectivism. Rather, what we need is to go back to what our founding fathers intended. They were extremely suspicious of large concentrations of wealth and power, and they intended for us to live in a capitalist system where individuals and small businesses had the freedom to compete and thrive.
Gerald Celente - The Regular Guys - 24 Oct 2011
Why the SEC Won’t Hunt Big Dogs
by Jesse Eisinger - ProPublica.org
Back when the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission was doing its work, I would check in periodically with someone who worked there to find out how it was going.
"Good news!" my source would joke. "We got the guy who caused it."
That is the way I felt last week when the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it had, well, agreed to a measly $285 million settlement with Citigroup over the bank having misled its own customers in selling an investment it created out of mortgage securities as the housing market was beginning its collapse.
Reckless Endangerment: Totally Corrupt America
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts - SilverBearCafe.com
Last March I reviewed Matt Taibbi's important book Griftopia, an entertaining account of the through-going financial fraud that gave us the financial crisis. Taibbi shows that the US "superpower" can match any third world backwater in the magnitude of greed and fraud that is endemic in business and government. I would not be surprised if Taibbi's book motivated the more aware participants of Occupy Wall Street.
Taibbi's Griftopia was published last year. This year Henry Holt publishers have provided us with Gretchen Morgenson and Joshur Rosner's Reckless Endangerment.
Bob Chapman -
The National Intel Report with John Stadtmiller 2011.10.24
Rule Allows U.S. a Close Look at Big Hedge Funds
By EDWARD WYATT - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — Large hedge funds, the very private investment outfits that borrow money to magnify their big financial bets, will be required for the first time to report detailed information on their investments and borrowings under a rule adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.
But hedge funds and their advocates, after intense lobbying, won several important concessions from the commission’s earlier proposal. The changes call for only the largest funds to report the most detailed information, eliminate any penalty of perjury for misleading reports and delay for six months the initial reports for all but the largest funds.
State Dept. spends $70K on Obama books
By Jim McElhatton-The Washington Times
The State Department has bought more than $70,000 worth of books authored by President Obama, sending out copies as Christmas gratuities and stocking "key libraries" around the world with "Dreams From My Father" more than a decade after its release.
The U.S. Embassy in Egypt, for instance, spent $28,636 in August 2009 for copies of Mr. Obama’s best-selling 1995 memoir. Six weeks earlier, the embassy had placed another order for the same book for more than $9,000, federal purchasing records show.
State Department defends buying Obama's books
Cites 'embassy-based decision'
By Jim McElhatton-The Washington Times
The State Department on Wednesday defended spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on books authored by President Obama, while White House spokesman Jay Carney called the book-buying an "embassy-based decision."
The comments followed a report Wednesday by The Washington Times that found the State Department had spent more than $70,000 on books by Mr. Obama.
Most of the purchases came in the months after Mr. Obama won theWhite House, though the embassy in Paris spent more than $8,000 for copies of "Dreams From My Father" as recently as March.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Wednesday the decision to buy the books didn’t come from anyone in Washington.
The New Talent Economy
By Andrew S. Rosen - PatriotPost.us
Over the last century, our country's traditional, world-class universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Berkeley have played an essential role in vaulting the United States into worldwide economic, military, and sociopolitical primacy, and they are indispensable to maintaining that position. But our obsessive focus on and considerable investment in these exclusive institutions, and the many others that emulate them, sometimes lead us to pay too little attention to the more inclusive schools that serve far more students, in far less glamorous surroundings. As taxpayers, we're helping to fund an increasingly lavish college experience at institutions that cater to the few. The competition for the best students has led universities to turn themselves into full-fledged resorts; they've spent billions building climbing walls, French bistros and 20-person hot-tubs to entice students to their campuses. Meanwhile, low-income students can't find a spot in their local community colleges for lack of funding.
Chris Martenson:
We Can't Get More and More Out of Less and Less
Who Qualifies for Obama's 10% Student Loan Payment Cap? Borrowers who hope to save the most from the president's executive orders will look to this provision -- but it only applies to those who take loans for education in 2012 or later
By Daniel Indiviglio - TheAtlantic.com
With a splashy headline yesterday, I revealed that the farthest reaching aspect of President Obama's executive order to help student loan borrowers would save the average person less than $10 per month. I also commented on the other two aspects of the plan, which I observed also wouldn't help most Americans with their student loans. That is all correct, but some additional nuances about the 10% payment cap that have been brought to my attention are worth explaining better.
Cheat Sheet:
What’s Happened to the Big Players in the Financial Crisis
by Braden Goyette - ProPublica.org
.... Mortgage lenders contributed to the financial crisis by issuing or underwriting loans to people who would have a difficult time paying them back, inflating a housing bubble that was bound to pop. Lax regulation allowed banks to stretch their mortgage lending standards and use aggressive tactics to rope borrowers into complex mortgages that were more expensive than they first appeared. Evidence has also surfaced that lenders were filing fraudulent documents to push some of these mortgages through, and, in some cases, had been doing so as early as the 1990s. A 2005 Los Angeles Times investigation of Ameriquest – then the nation’s largest subprime lender – found that "they forged documents, hyped customers' creditworthiness and ‘juiced’ mortgages with hidden rates and fees." This behavior was reportedly typical for the subprime mortgage industry. A similar culture existed at Washington Mutual, which went under in 2008 in the biggest bank collapse in U.S. history.
Madoff Family May Keep $82 Million Under Ruling
By Linda Sandler - Bloomberg.com
Bernard L. Madoff’s family would keep about $82 million of "other investors’ money" under a ruling that limited a bankruptcy trustee to claiming from the owners of the New York Mets only two years of withdrawals from the Ponzi scheme, according to a court filing.
The confidence man’s family took out $141 million in the six years before Madoff’s firm went bankrupt in 2008, of which less than $59 million was taken in the two years before the bankruptcy, trustee Irving Picard said in a filing. Many other investors are trying to hang onto "stolen" money from fictitious trading that belongs to customers who took losses in the fraud, he said.
Consumers Negative on Economy
By Timothy R. Homan - Bloomberg.com
Consumer confidence declined last week as Americans’ views of the economy sank to the lowest since the recession, highlighting the challenges facing the recovery.
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index fell to minus 51.1 in the week ended Oct. 23, the lowest in a month, from minus 48.4 the prior period. Ninety-five percent of those surveyed had a negative opinion about the economy, the worst since April 2009 and one percentage point shy of a record high.
Morass in the housing market, slow hiring and limited wage growth that have soured attitudes may contain consumer spending after a third-quarter pickup. The Obama administration and some Federal Reserve officials said shoring up residential real estate would help speed the recovery.
Banking on sin: States profit as taxes rise on vice Rising taxes on vice make vital revenue sources
By Jordan E. Otero-The Washington Times
One man’s sin is another man’s revenue base, at least when it comes to Uncle Sam’s tax coffers.
Federal and state governments annually rake in $96 billion in revenuefed by Americans’ appetites for easy money, nicotine and booze, according to an analysis by The Washington Times. Take away the taxman’s take on gambling, drinking and smoking, and many jurisdictions would be in serious financial straits.
All told, the gambling, tobacco and alcohol industries individually pay $24.9 billion, $44.3 billion and $27 billion, respectively, in annual state and federal taxes, a figure set to rise as cash-strapped government officials seek new money sources in a struggling economy, according to the most recently available data.
States may lose big in jobs, funds if Medicaid cut
(Reuters) - Cutting Medicaid by 5 percent would cost U.S. states $14 billion and trigger job losses in the tens of thousands by depressing spending by states, hospitals, nursing homes, drug companies and others, a study said on Wednesday.
"Such a drastic reduction would stifle business activity and job creation in states already struggling through the recession," said the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, a Washington, D.C.-based industry group.
Economists say spending by Medicaid, the state-federal health plan for the poor, disabled and elderly, buoys local economies because it not only flows to health care providers -- and their employees -- but pulls in new federal dollars because the U.S. government matches how much a state spends.
Regulator said to mull forgiving mortgage debt
(Reuters) - The regulator for Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) was reviewing a proposal to help troubled homeowners by forgiving a portion of their outstanding mortgage debt, Democrats in the House of Representatives said on Wednesday.
The head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees the mortgage-financing companies, met with 19 Democrats and discussed a proposal that would allow bankruptcy judges to reduce principal amounts on loans.
Representative Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, set up the meeting to discuss ways to dampen the foreclosure crisis.
Social Security
And the Misinformation Campaign Trying to Kill It
By Joe Rothstein, Editor, EINNEWS.com
"Instead of real dollars in the Social Security 'trust' fund," I said in my most recent column, "the government's been writing IOUs."
My bad. I fell into the same trap opponents of Social Security have set for everyone. Lori Hansen Riegle, an expert on Social Security, has since thrown me a rope ladder of factual data and helped me climb out of that trap.
The Social Security Trust Fund isn't holding fists full of IOUs. It's holding the safest investments money can buy, U.S. Treasury bonds. Check out this information Lori provided me:
L.A. HAS A CHANGE OF HEART,
DECIDES TO EVICT OCCUPIERS
PZS - Truthdig.com
Despite showing support early on for the protesters occupying their lawn, the people who run L.A. City Hall have decided the occupation "cannot continue indefinitely." Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa complained to the Los Angeles Times, "The lawn is dead, our sprinklers aren’t working … our trees are without water."
Some of the occupiers have nowhere else to go. One of them told the L.A. Times that “it will be violent” if police attempt to clear the park.
This week we were treated to a horror show in Oakland when police there fired tear gas and what appeared to be concussion grenades of some kind into the crowd of occupiers.
Alan Grayson on Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Oakland seeks strike after Scott Olsen injury
BBC.co.uk
Activists taking part in the the Occupy Oakland protests have called for a general strike in the city.
The call to strike on 2 November emerged as protesters gathered late on Wednesday, one day after clashes with police left an Iraq veteran badly hurt.
On Tuesday evening police used tear gas and baton rounds to force protesters to leave their camp. Many have now called for the mayor of Oakland to resign.
Occupy Wall Street protests are now in their sixth week.
On Wednesday night up to 1,000 people filled the plaza outside Oakland's City Hall to continue the protest, groups of people marched down the streets, reports said.
The Vatican Meets the Occupiers
By E.J. Dionne, Jr. - Truthdig.com
Will we soon see a distinguished-looking older man in long white robes walking among the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in New York’s Zuccotti Park? Is Pope Benedict XVI joining the protest movement?
Well, yes, and no. Yes, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace issued a strong and thoughtful critique of the global financial system this week that paralleled many of the criticisms of unchecked capitalism that are echoing through lower Manhattan and cities around the world.
The report spoke of "the primacy of being over having" and of "ethics over the economy," plus "embracing the logic of the global common good."
Janet Napolitano:
Hackers have 'come close' to major cyberattack
By Ed O'Keefe - WashingtonPost.com
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano spends a considerable amount of time dealing with cybersecurity threats, including potential attacks on the nation's infrastructure. But don’t ask her to detail the nation’s biggest cyber enemies.
"Oh, I don’t rank them, this isn’t basketball or something," Napolitano said Thursday, earning her a laugh at the start of a Washington Post Live event on cybersecurity. "Threats are threats."
Hackers have "come close" several times to shutting down elements of the nation's infrastructure, she said, noting that Wall Street firms and transportation systems are frequent cyberattack targets.
FCC approves $4.5 billion broadband fund
By Cecilia Kang - WashingtonPost.com
The Federal Communications Commission approved a $4.5 billionbroadband Internet fund Thursday aimed at giving money to private companies to bring access to rural households.
In a unanimous vote, four sitting members touted the decision to divert those billions of dollars -- drawn from consumer fees -- that have for years been used to service plain old telephone lines in isolated parts of the nation. The FCC’s new rules will use those funds for landline and mobile broadband connections to the five percent of the nation that isn’t connected to the Internet today.
Debt collectors
harassed consumers with violent threats, FTC says
By Dina ElBoghdady - WashingtonPost.com
Two California debt-collection firms used abusive tactics to harass financially distressed consumers, with one firm threatening to kill debtors’ pets or desecrate the bodies of their deceased children, according to recent Federal Trade Commission complaints.
The cases highlight an increase in complaints about the debt-collection industry as the economy has soured. Consumers lodged about 140,000 complaints with the FTC about debt collectors last year, more than any other industry, according to federal data.
From 7 Billion People To 500 Million People –
The Sick Population Control Agenda Of The Global Elite
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
The United Nations has officially designated October 31st as 7 Billion Day. On that day, the United Nations estimates that the population of the earth will hit 7 billion for the very first time. But instead of celebrating what a milestone 7 billion people represents, the UNPF is focusing instead on using October 31st to raise awareness about "sustainability" and "sustainable development". In other words, the United Nations is once again declaring that there are way too many people on the planet and that we need to take more direct measures to reduce fertility. In recent years, the UN and other international organizations have become bolder about trying to push the sick population control agenda of the global elite. Most of the time organizations such as the UN will simply talk about "stabilizing" the global population, but as you will see in this article, there are many among the global elite that are not afraid to openly talk about a goal of reducing the population of the world to 500 million (or less). To you and I it may seem like insanity to want to get rid of more than 90 percent of the global population, but there is a growing consensus among the global elite that this is absolutely necessary for the good of the planet.
Agenda 21: Henry Lamb
NWO AGENDA 21 Elimination of Private Property -
Environmental Tyranny
American Imperialism? Please
By Jonah Goldberg - PatriotPost.us
And so it ends. The United States is leaving Iraq.
I'm solidly in the camp that sees this as a strategic blunder. Iraqi democracy is fragile and Iran's desire to undermine it is strong. Also, announcing our withdrawal is a weird way to respond to a foiled Iranian plot to commit an act of war in the U.S. capital. Obviously, I hope I'm wrong and President Obama's not frittering away our enormous sacrifices in Iraq out of domestic political concerns and diplomatic ineptitude.
Still, there's an upside. Obama's decision to leave Iraq should deal a staggering blow to America's critics at home and abroad.
After all, what kind of empire does this sort of thing?
Is gold firming for a rally as US faces another downgrade?
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): With Gold futures relatively range bound for the past month, uncertainty with regard to its trend continue. However, most seem to be bullish on gold in general considering the economic threats from Europe and US.
So what will propel gold beyond its strong resistance at $1680 into new highs?
The US looks a possible trigger. Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) had expressed concerns that the US may face a second downgrade from its Triple-A status from another major agency before the end of the year.
Gold & Fraudulent Traps
By: Jim Willie CB - GoldSeek.com
The feverish positive sentiment has left the Gold & Silver market in the last two months. Raised margin requirements during falling prices alongside naked short ambushes in the COMEX, coupled with permitted asset damage from debt monetization conducted more in secrecy will always help to dampen enthusiasm. But with the billboard message on the European subway walls and boulevards and news magazines stating the obvious, that the European debt crisis has no solution, that Germany has no more checks to write in funding the bailouts, that Greece is set to default, that leaders in political spheres are opposed by bank leaders where the final decisions are made, the GOLD & SILVER PRICES ARE SET TO ZOOM. Only the dummies sold in the last round of ambushes and interrupted recoveries. The precious metals have suddenly awakened.
Nine blows against the gold price suppression scheme
By: Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer, GATA
Remarks by Chris Powell - Secretary/Treasurer, Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
As some of you may know, the premise of my organization, the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee, is that Western central banks, and particularly the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, have been manipulating the gold market for many years through several mechanisms -- outright sales of gold, leasing of gold, and underwriting the issuance of gold derivatives, essentially backstopping the short positions in gold that have been taken by their agents, the big investment houses that also work as bullion banks.
GATA has documented this extensively at our Internet site, GATA.org. We are not a "conspiracy theory" organization. Rather, we compile and publicize public records confirming or tending to confirm the manipulation of the gold market.
Why is the gold market manipulated by Western central banks?
The Dilemma of a Gold Standard
BY PATER TENEBRARUM - FinancialSense.com The 'Triffin Dilemma'
In the 1960's, American economist Robert Triffin identified what later came to be known as the 'Triffin dilemma'. The Bretton Woods system, so Triffin, that had made the US dollar the world's 'reserve currency' necessitated that the US run a perennial current account deficit in order to satisfy the demand for dollars as a reserve asset (we can assume that the same idea holds for its 'gold-free' successor).
Paper currency has too much bull, not enough bullion
NEIL REYNOLDS - TheGlobeAndMail.com
Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, ordered up another $300-billion (U.S.) in easy money earlier this month, then mentioned, by way of explanation, that we are living through the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression – "if not," he said ominously, "ever." Sir Mervyn’s warning was only marginally more sobering than the collective warnings of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney. This is not to mock. These men know enough not to scare people out of their wits unless it necessary to do so. So the question is, what do these people know that the rest of us don't?
Euro crisis can only worsen, bullion brighter as safe bets
By George Maniere - CommodityOnline.com
Expecting good news from Europe? Guess again. The market seemed to price in what they expect to hear as the Dow fell 207 points to close at 11706, the S&P fell 25.14 points and closed at 229.05 and the NASDAQ fell 61.02 points to close at 2638.42.
While this seems like a drastic sell off we must remember that it was only one month ago that the S&P was putting in a bottom at 1100.
Gold blew past $1,700 today on a slew of grim U.S. economic data and deepening concerns over the European sovereign-debt crisis. The dollar got weaker against the Euro but most important was the uncertainty from the meetings tomorrow in Europe which I conclude were the main factor in this market selloff.
Rick Rule: "Bet against the dollar as a store of value"
In this excerpt from the Casey Summit When Money Dies, seasoned resource investor/broker Rick Rule discusses risk management and explains why the greatest risk you face as an investor is located to the left of your right ear and to the right of your left ear.
Hands Off Germany's Gold!!! Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment.
Why throw it away before the Euro collapses...?
By: Adrian Ash, BullionVault - GoldSeek.com
"HANDS OFF!" shouts German newspaper Bild today. "Failed states are still going to get our gold," screams the tabloid's headline.
Hmmm. "This may not be true," admits the opening sentence of the article itself. "But nevertheless!"
So what is getting Germany's version of the New York Post and Britain's The Sun – only with topless models on page 1, not 3 – so excited that it has to admit its own headlines are false in the very next line? "If Germany's exposure to the Euro-crisis rescue plan is expanded, it will be only a matter of time before the gold of the German Federal Bank melts in the debt fire!" reckons Bild columnist Einar Koch.
Euro Summit Statement - PDF Excerpts:
The Private Sector Involvement (PSI) has a vital role in establishing the sustainability of the Greek debt. Therefore we welcome the current discussion between Greece and its private investors to find a solution for a deeper PSI. Together with an ambitious reform programme for the Greek economy, the PSI should secure the decline of the Greek debt to GDP ratio with an objective of reaching 120% by 2020. To this end we invite Greece, private investors and all parties concerned to develop a voluntary bond exchange with a nominal discount of 50% on notional Greek debt held by private investors. The Euro zone Member States would contribute to the PSI package up to 30 bn euro. On that basis, the official sector stands ready to provide additional programme financing of up to 100 bn euro until 2014, including the required recapitalisation of Greek banks. The new programme should be agreed by the end of 2011 and the exchange of bonds should be implemented at the beginning of 2012. We call on the IMF to continue to contribute to the financing of the new Greek programme.
Europeans agree on end to crisis,
but not sure how to get there
By ERIC REGULY - ROME— Reuters - TheGlobeAndMail.com
European leaders have agreed on the broad outline of a €1-trillion plan to end the continent’s two-year-old financial crisis. But they remained deadlocked on how their plans will work, when they will happen and what they will truly cost.
At a Brussels summit that was billed as a last chance to resolve the crisis, heads of state from the European Union produced a deal to increase the size of a rescue fund for member countries that are buried under governmentdebt. The fund, equipped with €440-billion, will grow to more than twice that size, theoretically giving it enough firepower to save a country as large as Spain if, like Greece, it were to find it impossibly expensive to borrow fresh money.
European leaders agree on plans
to shore up banks in effort to contain debt crisis
By Howard Schneider and Michael Birnbaum - WashingtonPost.com
ATHENS — European leaders announced Wednesday they had agreed on plans to shore up the region’s banking system, seeking to contain a spreading debt crisis and prevent a new recession.
The 27-member European Union said banks would be asked to raise perhaps $150 billion in new capital as a buffer against possible losses on their holdings of European government bonds that have declined in value. The agreement represented the most tangible progress made by European leaders after days of crisis negotiations.
Europe Agrees on a Bank Plan but Little Else
By STEVEN ERLANGER and STEPHEN CASTLE - NYTimes.com
BRUSSELS — European leaders made progress in resolving the euro zone financial crisis in meetings here that stretched into Thursday morning, nearing an agreement for banks to take a 50 percent loss on the face value of their Greek debt, a European Union official said.
The reports of a deal surfaced at about 3:30 a.m. here after difficult bargaining and represented a crucial element for restoring credibility to the euro. The severe reduction would bring Greek debt down to 120 percent of that nation’s gross domestic product, a figure still quite large, but a more sustainable figure for an economy driven into recession by austerity measures.Earlier, the leaders agreed on a plan to force the Continent’s banks to raise new capital to insulate them from potential sovereign debt defaults. But there was little detail on how the Europeans would enlarge their bailout fund to achieve their goal of $1.4 trillion to better protect Italy and Spain.
Impasse on Greek Debt Threatens EU Deal
By James G. Neuger and Aaron Kirchfeld - Bloomberg.com
European Union talks with banks on bondholder losses as part of a second Greek bailout ran aground, dimming the chances for a comprehensive strategy at a summit to stamp out the debt crisis.
A statement issued close to midnight in Brussels by the Institute of International Finance, the bank lobby, said there was no agreement "on any element of a deal."
"Work's not been done yet, but everyone’s coming here today with the goal to progress quite a bit," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters as she arrived for the summit yesterday at about 5 p.m.
Well, unfortunately, they feel they have to do something. But in all honestly, as I think they do realize, they can’t stop it because we are in a global economy. I mean, you take the QE2 idea, then okay, you are going to buy 30-year bonds and you are going to take them in, and therefore, in theory there’ll be a shortage of long-term debt, so therefore they’ll lend more back to the mortgage market. Again, that shows the problem of this myopic view of the world. China said, well gee thank you very much, and they shortened their maturity by selling those 30-year bonds and moving down to two year notes or less.
The Keiser Report 201
Europe's grand gamble risks failure without ECB Europe's "Grand Plan" to save monetary union is, in broad terms, a settled matter, even if the usual theatrics were still dragging on into the small hours of the Belgian night.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Whether it proves any more successful than past efforts over the past two years is far from clear. The package is a huge gamble. If it goes wrong, it may accelerate contagion to core Europe, hastening the denouement so feared by EU leaders.
The EU's €440bn bail-out fund (EFSF) will be leveraged "several fold" – perhaps to €1 trillion – chiefly by insuring the first 20pc loss of new bonds by Italy, Spain and other debtors. This creates a two-tier market, instantly downgrading old debt to lower status.
The plan will "probably" be buttressed by an off-books fund that uses EFSF seed money to rope in the International Monetary Fund, China, Japan and Russia.
Italian MPs in fist-fight over pensions Tensions over Italy's attempts to avoid becoming the next victim of the eurozone debt crisis exploded in parliament on Wednesday, with MPs exchanging blows and insults over a pension reform plan.
By Nick Squires, in Rome - Telegraph.co.uk
The punch-up exposed the deep rifts within Italy over efforts to stimulate growth and tackle the country's €1.8 trillion (£1.56 trillion) public debt, as Silvio Berlusconi prepared to face a crucial European Union summit in Brussels.
The brawl broke out over sarcastic remarks made on television by Gianfranco Fini, the leader of the opposition Future and Liberty of Italy party, about the wife of Umberto Bossi, the leader of the devolutionist Northern League, whose support is crucial to the prime minister's political survival.
Foreigners Losing Confidence
in Holding US Treasury and Agency Debt
By Bud Conrad, Casey Research - GoldSeek.com
Foreign central banks buy US Treasury and Agency debt through accounts at the Federal Reserve, where it is held in custody. Without these central banks buying our debt, the US federal government would have to find a new source of funds or the result could be higher interest rates. Looking at the data on a monthly basis (and then multiplied by 12 to give the annual rate), here is the dramatic picture of how foreign central-bank purchases of our debt have shifted, from buying $500 billion to selling off $1 trillion. At this rate of selling over several months, interest rates would go higher – if other things were equal. Of course, things are not equal because the Fed has been forcing rates lower with its massive QE2 and other programs. QE2 was $600 billion over nine months, or an annualized rate of $800 billion per year. Since foreigners are selling off our government debt, Fed purchases of government debt are even more necessary.
U.S. stocks rally on Europe-related reports Talk of Chinese role in expanded rescue fund helps lift indexes
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks struck solid gains Wednesday, recouping much of the prior day’s drop, after Europe reached an agreement in principle on a bank-recapitalization plan and on better-than-forecast earnings from corporations including Boeing Co.
"The market is up today because our expectation bar had been set significantly low for today's European summit, so we were expecting a numberless communiqué, so with that being the base case, we've shifted our focus to better-than-expected earnings across the board," said Art Hogan, equity strategist at Lazard Capital Markets.
Gerald Celente interview with Rebecca Diamond Oct 18, 2011
A twist in Fed’s Operation Twist:
Costlier pension obligations
By Allan Sloan - WashingtonPost.com
You know the cliche about every cloud having a silver lining? Well, when it comes to pension accounting, it turns out that at least one silver lining has a cloud.
I'm talking about a largely overlooked side effect of the Federal Reserve’s Operation Twist, its program to stimulate the economy by reducing long-term interest rates. Assuming that those rates actually go down and stay down, one of the unintended consequences will be to increase the stated cost of pension obligations, an insight for which I have to thank Jack Ciesielskiof the Analyst’s Accounting Observer, a research service for investors.
Fed considers its stimulus options
By Neil Irwin - WashingtonPost.com
Federal Reserve officials are considering new strategies to try to lower mortgage rates and help Americans reduce the burden of debt that hangs over the economy. The major question they face: Would the tools they have at their disposal actually work?
In the past few months, leaders at the central bank have become increasingly convinced that problems in the system of housing finance are preventing the interest rate policies the Fed controls from having their usual economic impact. For example, even after Fed action that helped lower mortgage rates, surprisingly few people were able to take advantage by refinancing because they owed more than their homes are worth.
Bill Black:
What I'd Demand of the Fed - Fire Bernanke and Geithner
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
I think this is a superb list, but a bit misdirected, because as is obvious from my title, the advice ought not to go to the Fed, but to the government in Washington. Timmy is Ben's colleague and quasi-boss, and the problems are intertwined.
That takes nothing from Bill Black who would be an appropriate choice to head one of the big regulatory agencies. And it is unlikely that Obama would appoint him.
The Fed is a critical part of the problem, and is unable to reform itself because it is owned by the banks and the monied interests.
But so is Washington. And that is a matter for a much deeper discussion on the crying need for serious campaign and political reform, and how it might be achieved.
Bill Black: What I'd Demand of the Fed
2012 and the Coming Financial Crises
Written by Gail Tverberg - OilPrice.com
It looks to me as though 2012 is likely to be a truly awful financial year, with several crises converging:
Either very high oil prices or recession,
The US governmental debt limit crisis,
The Euro crisis,
The Chinese debt problem,
Debt deleveraging in the US and elsewhere,
Further MENA (Middle East/North Africa) political problems, and
Conflict between need for greater resources and pollution issues.
A Dysfunctional System That Bankrupts A Generation
By Wolf Richter - ZeroHedge.com
Tuition has done it again: up by 8.3% for universities and by 8.7% for community colleges, according to the College Board. Here in California, tuition increases are outright ridiculous. Much of it will be paid for with student loans (though grants, scholarships, other aid, and tax credits will cover some of it). Student loan debt will exceed $1 trillion by the end of the year — a stunning amount. But unlike other debt, it cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy.
The skyrocketing costs of higher education add to the strains already weighing down the middle class whose median household income has fallen 9.8% between December 2007 and June 2011 (Sentier Research) and whose real wages have declined 1.8% over last year (BLS) and around 9% since their peak in 1999.
Are rich foreigners the answer to America's housing crash? Have you got $500,000 (£312,000) to spare and hail from anywhere but America? If so, one Charles Schumer of New York wants you to get in touch.
By Richard Blackden - Telegraph.co.uk
That half a million dollars, according to Schumer, one of New York's two Democratic Senators, could be part of the answer to the country's housing crash. Schumer and Mike Lee, a Republican Senator from Utah, are trying to drum up support for legislation that will entice foreigners to invest €359,000, C$508,000, 78m yen or 3.1m yuan in US residential real estate. And the sweetener: a visa to live here as long as you own the property. Is it starting to look attractive? It might be to those who don't subscribe to the thesis that America's best days are behind it.
Mortgage Interest Rates at 4%
Aren't Low Enough—Should the Fed Push Harder? The central bank may want to do more to help the housing market and stimulate the economy, but it may be out of juice
By Daniel Indiviglio - TheAtlantic.com
During the week ending October 6th, the average fixed interest rate on a 30-year mortgage dipped below 4% for the first time, according to Freddie Mac. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that refinancing applications rose -- by just 1%. These historic rates may not be low enough for the Federal Reserve: reportsindicate that some central bankers want to encourage more refinancing and home sales. But have the Fed's efforts reached a saturation point?
The Fed's Next Move?
When the Fed meets next week, the housing market may be on its mind. Its actions announced after its September meeting were squarely aimed at mortgages: it sought to push down long-term interest rates through two policy tweaks. Comparing the week ending October 14th to the week ending September 16th, the Fed's effect on the housing market hasn't been particularly impressive: refinance applications are down 11% and purchase applications are down 6%.
Marc Faber - CNBC 26 Oct 2011
Fracking and foreclosures:
Could oil and gas drilling create Colorado's next housing crisis?
By David O. Williams - Real Aspen
One of the themes that emerged from last week’s Republican presidential debate in Nevada – the foreclosure capital of the United States – is that GOP candidates largely don’t think the federal government should do much to fix the ongoing housing crisis.
Instead, candidates – if they've said anything at all about housing – feel the real estate market should be allowed to hit rock bottom while the broader economy is stimulated by programs aimed at job growth – especially in energy sectors like oil and gas development and coal mining.
Study finds mortgage problems hit
regardless of age, education and race
By Dar Danielson - RadioIowa.com
A study by a University of Iowa researcher found that age, education and race were factors that didn’t follow the norm in determining who would be impacted by the mortgage crisis. Jerry Anthony examined bankruptcies from 2007 where people had become "house broke" or faced a mortgage payment that became too big.
Anthony says he was surprised to find that people over the age of 40 were not more financially stable than younger homeowners. He says the study found people over the age of 60 paid a higher percentage of their income on housing than people under the age of 40.
The Housing Crisis: Can prices fall even farther?
By Matthew DeBord - SCPR.org
Another month, another Case-Shiller index on housing prices — and more bad news for the housing economy. This is from the Wall Street Journal:
The Case-Shiller data come on the heels of the White House's revamp of a mortgage-refinance program for "underwater" borrowers—those who owe more than their homes are worth. But economists say there are few quick fixes for the housing crisis, and easier refinancing rules will do little to address weak demand for homes.
"It was a very bad spring-to-summer-market season," said Nancy Wallace, a finance professor at the University of California at Berkeley. She said a turnaround in the housing market remains largely dependent on loosening credit and a surge in hiring. "People are almost afraid to apply for mortgages and lots of people have little scratches and dents on their credit right now."
Home Prices in U.S. Cities Fall
More-Than-Forecast 3.8%, Case-Shiller Says
By Shobhana Chandra - Bloomberg.com
Home prices in 20 U.S. cities dropped more than forecast in August, highlighting one of the obstacles facing the economic recovery in its third year.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities fell 3.8 percent from August 2010, the group said today in New York. The median forecast of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 3.5 percent decline.
Recovering the 31 percent plunge in home prices from their 2006 peak will probably be years in the making as foreclosures throw more properties on the market and sales flag. Federal Reserve policy makers like William Dudley are among those that believe bolstering housing is among the “most pressing issues” facing the central bank.
Furniture Recovery Stalls as Housing Values, Confidence Sink
By Chris Burritt - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. furniture industry hasn't emerged from the recession because a "gridlock in housing" has sapped spending on couches and home items, said Furniture Brands International Inc. Chief Executive OfficerRalph Scozzafava.
Revenue at Furniture Brands, the maker of the Broyhill, Lane and Thomasville lines, is projected to drop for a fifth straight year in 2011, to $1.15 billion, according to the average of analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Demand won't recover without a rebound in housing sales and consumer confidence, Scozzafava said. Home prices in 20 U.S. cities declined more than forecast in August, spotlighting the housing slump’s drag on the economic recovery.
The Tablet News Revolution Is Getting There
By Brian Resnick - TheAtlantic.com
When the iPad and its non-Apple counterparts debuted in 2010, they were heralded as a means to save journalism (or at least as an promising experiment into a new medium), and publications quickly developed dedicated news applications that combined the aesthetics of print with interactivity of digital. After rough years of declining circulation and profits, finally, there was a digital experience that people might actually pay for.
But, there was one caveat. Users had access to dozens of these interactive newspapers and magazines, but they also had access to a Web browser, which could provide much of this content for free. What would they choose: paid-for apps or free web browsing?
Feds Order You Tube To Remove Video
For Containing "Government Criticism" US Authorities Hit Google With 70% Rise In Takedown Orders
Paul Joseph Watson - Infowars.com
The number of takedown orders received by Google from authorities based in the United States rose dramatically over the past year, with demands to remove information, including videos containing "government criticism," increasing by 70 per cent.
"In the US, Google received 757 takedown requests across its sites and services, up 70 per cent from the second half of last year," reports technology website V3.co.uk.
"US authorities also called for the removal of 113 videos from YouTube, including several documenting alleged police brutality which Google refused to take down."
What a One-World Government Looks Like
By Ben Shapiro - PatriotPost.us
"Imagine there's no countries," John Lennon warbled in his inane song "Imagine." "It isn't hard to do / Nothing to kill or die for ... Imagine all the people / Living life in peace / You may say that I'm a dreamer / But I'm not the only one / I hope someday you'll join us / And the world will be as one."
They believed in those pathetic dreams in Europe. In the aftermath of World War II, facing the prospect of Soviet domination and wanting to keep the defeated Germans from completing a World War trilogy, the European community, aided by the United States, created the European Coal and Steel Community. A federal Europe was the goal; the original plans included a European Defense Community and a European Political Community, both of which fell through. Eventually, this grew into the European Economic Community.
About the Vatican’s Call for a World Political Authority
Fellowship of the Minds
Two days ago, on October 24, 2011, the Vatican issued a curious document calling for the creation of a "supranational global political Authority" and a central world bank to manage and cure the ills of the world’s economies.
The proposal, "Note on the reform of the international financial and monetary systems in the context of global public authority" (henceforth, "The Note"), was not authored by the Pope but by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (PCJP). Nevertheless, the PCJP is a part of the Roman Curia or the Holy See, the leaders of the PCJP are appointed by the Pope, and The Note liberally references and quotes past and present popes. Given all this, one can only conclude that The Note has Pope Benedict XVI‘s approval.
Under current FOIA practice, the government may withhold information and issue what's known as a Glomar denial that says it can neither confirm nor deny the existence of records.
The new proposal—part of a lengthy rule revision by the Department of Justice—would direct government agencies to "respond to the request as if the excluded records did not exist."
Judge Napolitano's Freedom Watch: What If?
Gun Ownership Soars To 18 Year High:
47% Of Americans Admit To Owning A Gun
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Americans may be fleeing from stocks in droves, but they sure aren't shy about rotating the resulting meager liquidation proceeds into weaponry. According to Gallup, "Forty-seven percent of American adults currently report that they have a gun in their home or elsewhere on their property. This is up from 41% a year ago and is the highest Gallup has recorded since 1993, albeit marginally above the 44% and 45% highs seen during that period." Considering the social situation "out there", and the fact that the world is one badly phrased or translated headline away from a complete HFT-facilitated market collapse, this is hardly all that surprising.
NY Fed's $40 Billion Iraqi Money Trail
By: Eamon Javers - CNBC Washington, DC Correspondent
It has been called the largest airborne transfer of currency in the history of the world. But finding out what happened to all the money involved has become one of the biggest financial mysteries of all time.
Beginning in the very earliest days of the war in Iraq, the New York Federal Reserveshipped billions of dollars in physical cash to Baghdad to pay for the reopening of the government and restoration of basic services.
The money was packed onto pallets inside a heavily guarded New York Federal Reserve compound in East Rutherford, New Jersey, trucked to Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, and flown by military aircraft to Baghdad International Airport.
Defense Industry: Keep Paying Us or the Economy Dies
By Spencer Ackerman - Wired.com
Defense giant Lockheed Martin had a totally sweet quarter, raking in $700 million and looking forward to the same this time next year. So it raises eyebrows when Lockheed’s anointed mouthpieces predict mass economic disaster if Congress touches the defense budget.
On Tuesday, the aerospace industry put out a report saying that chopping the defense budget would put over a million Americans out of work. Cuts that could total up to a trillion dollars over 10 years would "devastate the economy and the defense industrial base and undermine the national security of our country," said Marion Blakeley, president of the Aerospace Industries Association, which sponsored the report.
Crisis of 2012 May Be Harder on China Than U.S.
By William Pesek - WashingtonPost.com
Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Economists were probably too busy watching markets gyrate to contemplate last month’s big news in science. Physicists detected particles travelling faster than light, which, if the reading was accurate, means time travel is possible.
Now, let's play a quick mind experiment that would surely captivate the deans of the dismal science: Pretend you have just been transported 10 years into the future to see how this incipient global crisis pans out. It would be hard to find anyone who isn’t desperate to know.
What if, a decade from now, the U.S. comes out the winner of today’s market chaos at the expense of Europe and China?
China Wants Bases an Endless War in Pakistan
By Spencer Ackerman - Wired.com
Washington just got a golden opportunity to end its decade-long excursion into central Asia and deplete the power of its Pacific rival/banker, all in one fell swoop. The Chinese are seeking bases in the tribal regions of Pakistan, precisely where the U.S. fights its drone war.
The plugged-in Asia Times Online reports that China wants to set up military hubs in Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa, formerly known as the Northwest Frontier Province. China’s reasoning will sound familiar to American ears: That’s where anti-Chinese terrorists operate. Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa abuts the restive, non-Han Chinese province of Xinjiang, home to ethnic Uighur separatists. With the People’s Liberation Army getting a foothold in tribal Pakistan, the Chinese reason, it can crush separatism, and make sure that terrorist factions can't hide out across the border.
Arab spring:
an interactive timeline of Middle East protests
Ever since a man in Tunisia burned himself to death in December 2010 in protest at his treatment by police, pro-democracy rebellions have erupted across the Middle East. Our interactive timeline traces key events
Withdrawal From Afghanistan
Could Kill the U.S.-Russia 'Reset' As the U.S. and NATO plan to leave Afghanistan, Russia faces a security challenge it's not ready for and an alliance with the U.S. that suddenly looks less attractive
By Joshua Kucera - TheAtlantic.com
MOSCOW, Russia -- When the U.S. starts its scheduled troop pullout from Afghanistan in 2014, it will represent the end of America's bloody decade-plus engagement there, and the fading away of Americans' attention to Central Asia. But to Russians, 2014 instead marks a beginning: when Afghanistan becomes their problem again.
Moscow has been publicly critical of U.S. involvement in Central Asia, calling it an encroachment on their sphere of influence, but that rhetoric hid an inconvenient secret: behind the Kremlin's closed doors, observers here believe, Russians were glad that the U.S. was doing their dirty work. Even after the Soviet Union pulled out of Afghanistan in 1989, Moscow continued to station Russian border guards in Tajikistanand Turkmenistan and aided Afghanistan's Northern Alliance. Nevertheless, a low-level but persistent Islamist radical insurgency bedeviled several of the Central Asian states on Russia's southern border.
There Are Only 2 Ways to Save the Economy:
Innovation or Inflation It all comes down to this: We have to match growth to debt. If we can't create miracles from growth, we have to consider inflation to reduce the value of our debt
By Michael Mandel - TheAtlantic.com
We have only two ways out of our current global economic mess: innovation and inflation. And as the saying goes, we should hope for the best (more innovation) and prepare for the worst (higher inflation).
Looking across the world, the underlying problem is that borrowers--households and governments--have taken on debt that they can't afford to pay back, given the current rate of income and economic growth. In the U.S, too many homeowners are struggling with mortgages that far exceed the value of their homes and cannot be repaid from their current incomes. In Europe, Greece and perhaps other countries have issued bonds that they cannot pay back unless growth unexpectedly skyrockets.
Lew Rockwell says the Fed can't Afford Inflation,
but can it Avoid it?
Is gold firming for a rally as US faces another downgrade?
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): With Gold futures relatively range bound for the past month, uncertainty with regard to its trend continue. However, most seem to be bullish on gold in general considering the economic threats from Europe and US.
So what will propel gold beyond its strong resistance at $1680 into new highs?
The US looks a possible trigger. Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) had expressed concerns that the US may face a second downgrade from its Triple-A status from another major agency before the end of the year.
Stack Attack on Gold
BY BILL FLECKENSTEIN - FinancialSense.com
Pension Tension
This weekend's New York Times carried a story that was worth noting, not because regular readers aren't aware of it, but because it is a problem we are going to see replayed over and over in various cities, counties, and states over the next few years. Headlined, "The Little State With a Big Mess," the story is author Mary Walsh's chronicle of Rhode Island's financial plight in which she notes, "As Wall Street fixates on the financial disaster in Greece, a fiscal wreck is playing out right here. And the odds are that it won't be the last. Before this is over, many Americans may be forced to rethink what government means at the state and local level." She is exactly right about that.
Gold surges over 3 pct as haven bid restored
By Frank Tang and Amanda Cooper
(Reuters) - Gold prices roared to one of the biggest one-day rallies in years on Tuesday, as euro zonejitters and gloomy U.S. consumer data rekindled a dormant safe-haven bid and triggered a flurry of technical buying.
After several months of trading largely in sync with riskier assets, gold raced more than 3 percent higher even as stock markets sank, cruising toward its best three-day run since a sharp fall in early August and reaching its highest price in more than a month. Silver soared 4 percent.
'Gold prices in 2012 may average $1800-$1900/oz'
CommodityOnline.com The Gold Report: Swiss Bank UBS recently lowered its 2011 average gold price to $1,615/ounce (oz.) to account for a stronger U.S. dollar, and predicted an average gold price in 2012 of $2,075/oz. How does that compare to Global Hunter Securities' projections? Jeff Wright: We have a somewhat lower view of gold into 2012, closer to an average of $1,800/oz. to $1,900/oz.
In some respects, the dollar is weakening, but as the sovereign debt crisis in Europe lingers, the dollar has also strengthened. As long as you have worldwide volatility and a strengthening dollar, gold will be kept in check because its price is denominated in dollars. Once the European debt crisis resolves itself, gold will continue its upward bias and appreciate over time.
Gold Thoughts
BY NED W SCHMIDT - FinancialSense.com 2011: Keynesianism Dead
Greece was the poster child for Keynesianism. The idea was simple. No one would really have to work. Everyone could retire after a few years of work on a full government pension. Pay taxes? Not required. All of this was to be financed indefinitely by the issuance ofgovernment debt.
The government debt would be sold to banks. What if some of those debts, now in the case of Greece, might be uncollectible in the promised time period? No need to worry. The taxpayers in the rest of the EU will pay the credit card companies.
Eric Sprott, Financial Sense NewsHour 19 Oct 2011
Guess Who’s Even More Leveraged Than the European Banks?
Submitted by Phoenix Capital Research - ZeroHedge.com
While the world is awash in liquidity, no one seems to notice that it’s actually in the form of leverage or cheap debt, NOT real capital or equity.
The US banking system as a whole is leveraged at 13-to-1. While this is not horrible relative to Europe’s banking system (more on this in a moment), these levels still mean that an 8% drop in asset values wipes out ALL equity.
Then you have Europe’s banking system, which is leveraged at 26-to-1. Anecdotally, this is borderline Lehman Brothers (30 to 1). At these levels, even a 4% drop in asset prices wipes out ALL equity.
Japan’s banks are leveraged at 23 to 1. France’s are 26 to 1. Germany is 32 to 1.
You get the idea. However, worse than any of these the US Federal Reserve. With $2.8 trillion in assets and only $52 billion in capital, the Fed is leveraged at 53 to 1. Yes, 53 to 1.
Italian government on brink of collapse
By Guy Dinmore in Rome and Peter Spiegel in Brussels - FT.com
Italy’s prime minister was fighting on Tuesday night to stave off a collapse of his centre-right coalition government over European Union demands for more concrete economic reform measures in time for Wednesday’s highly anticipated summit of eurozone leaders.
The demand came as European officials attempted to reach a final agreement on giving the eurozone’s €440bn rescue fund more firepower so that it can assist Italy by purchasing Italian bonds, lowering Rome’s borrowing rates, which are near 6 per cent.
While such EU assistance falls well short of a full-scale Italian bail-out, senior European officials said it would come with tough new conditions, and that the demands on Silvio Berlusconi were the beginning of a more intrusive effort by Italy's eurozone partners to ensure Rome convinces the financial markets it is sincere about fiscal reforms.
Greenspan: Why European Union Is Doomed to Fail
By: Maneet Ahuja, Hedge Fund Specialist - CNBC.com
The European Union is doomed to fail because the divide between the northern and southern countries is just too great, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told CNBC in a recent interview.
"At the outset of the creation of the euro in 1999, it was expected that the southern eurozone economies would behave like those in the north; the Italians would behave like Germans. They didn't," Greenspan said. "Instead, northern Europe fell into subsidizing southern Europe’s excess consumption, that is, its current account deficits."
Europe must do debt deal quickly: U.S. Treasury
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Europe must move "quickly and firmly" to implement any agreement to solve the euro-zone crisis, said Charles Collyns, Treasury assistant secretary for international finance, on Tuesday.
European leaders will gather Wednesday for a second summit meeting in four days in an effort to agree on a wide-ranging set of measures designed to contain the crisis.
In testimony prepared for a House Financial Services subcommittee on international matters, Collyns said that the European officials have a framework for an agreement which is to be "finalized" on Wednesday.
EU's Greek problem On the Edgee with Max Keiser -10-22-2011
Euro bailout wrangles spook markets
as fears of slump intensify Hopes that summits in Brussels would deliver a 'grand bargain' to bring an end to an 18-month sovereign debt crisis fading fast
By Larry Elliott, David Gow in Brussels,
and Jill Treanor - Guardian.co.uk
Fears intensified of a fresh global slump on Tuesday as it emerged thatEurope's leaders were still at loggerheads over a three-pronged plan to save the single currency.
Hopes that summits in Brussels on Wednesday would deliver a "grand bargain" that would finally draw an end to an 18-month sovereign debt crisis were fading fast as talks planned for Wednesday morning were cancelled, rumours surfaced of a collapse in Silvio Berlusconi's Italian government and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, adopted a hard line in negotiations with her French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, over the shape of a rescue package.
Brazil Refuses To Buy European Bonds,
Dashing Hopes For A BRIC-based European Rescue
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
About a year ago, we speculated that as part of the ongoing currency warfare between Brazil and the "developed" world, its finance minister Guido Mantega would keep his trade surplus trump card until the moment of biggest impact. That moment has come, after the financial head (with the Playboy-posing daughter) just told Europe to take a hike. "I believe that European countries do not need funds from Brazil to buy bonds. Brazil is not considering it," Mantega told reporters in Brasilia. "They have to find solutions to the European problems within Europe." And with Brazil out, it is certain that China will not step up over fears of appearing weak and needing to provide vendor financing to its biggest export partner. Unfortunately for Europe this means that at least one component of the revised SPIV: that which foresees public investment from third parties into the EFSF (a new twist proposed only last week), can now be safely forgotten, bringing us back to page one and the entire 5x levered CDO structure which as has been explained numerous times, is Dead on Arrival. There is, however, one loophole. "Mantega said Brazil would be willing to provide financial help via the International Monetary Fund."
IMF considering participation in EU bailout fund
By Jan Strupczewski and Francesca Landini
(Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund is considering taking part in a special investment vehicle being proposed by the euro zone bailout fund but has not made a decision yet, euro zone officials said on Tuesday.
"The IMF has indicated that they are considering it -- they have not taken a position," one euro zone official said. "It will all depend on the whole package."
Euro zone leaders are expected to approve a plan on Wednesday to increase the fire power of the European Financial Stability Facility, a 440 billion euro bailout fund, without euro zone countries having to put more money into it.
Eurozone debt crisis: can the European ideal survive? Whatever grand plan leaders come up with to solve the eurozone debt crisis, it will create as many problems as it solves.
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
"You don't like the euro, so why do you want to be in our meetings?" asked the French President of David Cameron at the weekend, adding for good measure that he had "had enough" of British interference. The language may have been undiplomatic, but Mr Sarkozy did rather put his finger on the nub of the problem Britain faces in responding to the eurozone debt crisis.
So far the Coalition government has gone along with Europe's pained march towards fiscal union, even though this runs counter to the eurosceptic instincts of its Conservative hierarchy.
EU rescue plans hostage to raw politics Europe's debt crisis has taken a deeply political turn as parliamentary battles rock Italy and Greece and once again cause simmering dissent in Germany, vastly complicating the search for a workable solution.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Italy's coalition was scrambling to head off collapse late on Tuesday after deep rifts on austerity measures dictated by Brussels for a Wednesday deadline, when EU leaders reconvene for yet another crisis summit.
"I remain pessimistic," said Umberto Bossi, Northern League leader and key ally of premier Silvio Berlusconi, who had warned earlier in the day that the government was in danger of collapse.
EU crisis talks in limbo after crucial summit is cancelled The crucial summit of Europe's finance ministers to thrash out the details of a eurozone rescue has been dramatically cancelled, leaving any solution to the crisis in limbo.
By Louise Armitstead - Telegraph.co.uk
The 27 finance ministers, including Chancellor George Osborne, were due to meet this morning to prepare an "ambitious and comprehensive response" to the problems stalking the eurozone.
However, while European heads of state are still due to meet as scheduled at 6pm, the cancellation of the finance ministers' meeting implied a detailed solution remained elusive.
The leaders are expected to announce an agreement that will increase the size of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to €1 trillion; produce a fresh Greek bail-out that includes a bigger hit for bondholders; and commit to inject €110bn into Europe's banks.
Keiser Report Occupies World! (E200 Special)
Loose monetary policy
and excessive credit
and liquidity risk-taking by banks
By Steven Ongena and José-Luis Peydró - VoxEU.org
A question under intense academic and policy debate since the start of the ongoing severe financial crisis is whether a low monetary-policy rate spurs excessive risk-taking by banks. From the start of the crisis in the summer of 2007, market commentators were quick to argue that, during the long period of very low interest rates from 2002 to 2005, banks had softened their lending standards and taken on excessive risk.
Indeed, nominal rates were the lowest in almost four decades and below Taylor rates in many countries, while real rates were negative (Taylor 2007, Rajan 2010, Reinhart and Rogoff 2010, among others). Expansionary monetary policy and credit risk-taking followed by restrictive monetary policy possibly led to the financial crisis during the 1990s in Japan (Allen and Gale 2004), while lower real interest rates preceded banking crises in 47 countries (von Hagen and Ho 2007). This time the regulatory arbitrage for bank capital associated with the high degree of bank leverage, the widespread use of complex and opaque financial instruments including loan securitization, and the increased interconnectedness among financial intermediaries may have intensified the resultant risk-taking associated with expansive monetary policy (Calomiris 2009, Mian and Sufi 2009, Acharya and Richardson 2010).
Bank runs Begin in Greece Lines to Withdraw Deposits
Queue Up as Run on the Banks starts in Greece
By Mike Shedlock
With talk of 50% or 60% haircuts on Greek bonds, already mistrustful Greek citizens have queued up to pull deposits. Via Google Translate, The Bild reports Greeks Plunder their Accounts in Fear of Debt Cuts.
Monday morning, 7.40 clock in the district of Athens, "Agia Paraskevi". We, the BILD reporters are witnesses, of a queue in front of a branch of the "National Bank of Greece" right after the opening at 8:00.
"I come here to immediately pick up my pension € 300. Who knows what else happened today. My money is safe only when it is at home" said Pensioners Evagelos Dimitros age 73.
the be-be-beast is coming! Vatican calls for global authority on economy,
raps "idolatry of the market"
Björn (Farmer)
"The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment of a "global public authority" and a "central world bank" to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises. The document from the Vatican's Justice and Peace department should please the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.
In Cautious Times, Banks Flooded With Cash
By ERIC DASH and NELSON D. SCHWARTZ - NYTimes.com
Bankers have an odd-sounding problem these days:
they are awash in cash.
Droves of consumers and businesses unnerved by the lurching markets have been taking their money out of risky investments and socking it away in bank accounts, where it does little to stimulate the economy.
Though financial institutions are not yet turning away customers at the door, they are trying to discourage some depositors from parking that cash with them. With fewer attractive lending and investment options for that money, it is harder for the banks to turn it around for a healthy profit.
Gerald Celente - Ben Merens -
Wisconsin Public Radio - 18 October 2011
Waiting for Lehman
This is an adapted version of a post which appeared in my Strategic Planning Group. Adapted how? Well, the full argument is reprinted below — but the ugly money-grubbing stuff about what to do and what investment opportunities are good have been cut. After all, readers of the free version of my blog aren’t interested in such base dealings, right?
By Gonzalo Lira
In Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, the four main characters wait in vain — Godot never arrives.
In the financial markets, the same thing is happening now — we are all waiting for Lehman: That sudden bankruptcy-crisis-calamity which sets off a whole series of credit events, which in turn causes massive sell-offs, plunging markets, collapsing confidence, and ultimately — just like the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers did back in 2008 — shoves the entire global financial edifice right up to the very edge of the cliff.
An apocalyptic end to world's biggest bubble Denial, addictions feed inability to deal with population
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — The theme: Repent. Haunting images of fanatical serial killers warning, "The End is Near, Repent!" That message seared my brain as the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" rode into "Dexter's" dark world, the Miami Metro Police cable TV series. Now duty calls Dexter, CSI blood splatter expert by day, serial avenger by night.
Yes, the Four Horsemen, again. The perfect biblical metaphor for today's bizarre world, where irrational ideologies prey on us, driving America deep into a dark world we’ve seen before: Goethe's Faust, Dorian Gray, Dante's Inferno.
Watch out for China's 'freak' economy This is the real danger to the global economy
By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — Forget Greece. Forget Italy. Forget "Occupy Wall Street."
The really ominous news right now?
China.
It’s been the juggernaut carrying us all year. But Albert Edwards at SG Securities says the world’s second biggest economy is a "freak" and it’s starting to go berzerk.
Bad news.
What's going wrong? How? Here are some troubling signs:
The housing bubble is finally bursting.
Obama Doctrine: Ignore American Interests
By Mona Charen - PatriotPost.us
Two successful assassinations -- those of al-Awlaki and bin Laden -- have persuaded some that President Obama, whatever his domestic failures, has presided over a successful foreign policy. This is way too generous. In fact (with the exception of targeted assassinations and the surge in Afghanistan), the president seems to conduct foreign policy based on seat-of-the-pants responses to events, rather than relying on any over-arching strategy. And his reactions to such events are more often based upon reversing what he regards as past American sins than on pursuing America's interests in the world.
NY Fed's $40 Billion Iraqi Money Trail
By: Eamon Javers - CNBC Washington, DC Correspondent
It has been called the largest airborne transfer of currency in the history of the world. But finding out what happened to all the money involved has become one of the biggest financial mysteries of all time.
Beginning in the very earliest days of the war in Iraq, the New York Federal Reserveshipped billions of dollars in physical cash to Baghdad to pay for the reopening of the government and restoration of basic services.
The money was packed onto pallets inside a heavily guarded New York Federal Reserve compound in East Rutherford, New Jersey, trucked to Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, and flown by military aircraft to Baghdad International Airport.
Trends in the News by Gerald Celente | 10.18.11
A Nation Run Not By Shopkeepers,
But By Con Men, Protection Rackets, and Swindlers
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Income inequality such that it suppresses the middle class is a practical matter for what I hope are obvious reasons of inadequate demand and economic stagnation. As the US currently has one of the most extreme income distributions since the Great Depression it is a currently topic of renewed interest not seen in many years.
Mark Thoma has an interesting discussion of this here: Income Inequality Is Hobbling the Middle Class
But in addition to this more practical discussion, Matt Taibbi brings out a key point in his most recent essay on the financial crisis. It is not so much the inequality per se that is troubling people, but rather the concomitant gaming of the system, the blatant cheating, that is making people angry.
Wealth inequality in America, understanding the source.
BY ARKADY - RightCondition.com
With the OWS movement leaving many Americans confused as to whether they should support or stay away, one thing is for certain, Americans are aware of a certain truth that is happening in our country. We have a certain combination of events that is leaving many people struggling and asking very good questions.
The truth is this; We have structurally high unemployment, salaries are stagnant, debt burdens are rising, costs for education, health and energy are on the rise and we are increasingly overwhelmed with clear and present danger coming from every corner of the earth.
The Prepper Movement:
Why Are Millions Of Preppers Preparing Feverishly
For The End Of The World As We Know It?
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
In America today, there are millions of "preppers" that are working feverishly to get prepared for what they fear is going to happen to America. There is a very good chance that some of your neighbors or co-workers may be preppers. You may even have noticed that some of your relatives and friends have been storing up food and have been trying to convince you that we are on the verge of "the end of the world as we know it". A lot of preppers like to keep their preparations quiet, but everyone agrees that the prepper movement is growing. Some estimate that there are four million preppers in the United States today. Others claim that there are a lot more than that. In any event, there are certainly a lot of preppers out there. So exactly what are all these preppers so busy preparing for?
Deregulate or Die A video by billionaire Charles Koch says President Barack Obama and George W. Bush are equally culpable in imposing too many federal regulations.
By Michael del Castillo - Portfolio.com
An 81,000-page increase in government regulations is costing our economy $1.75 trillion, or 43 million jobs, and the government is overcommitted by 10 times the size of the private-sector economy, says a video recently released by the Charles Koch Institute.
The video, posted on the organization's website, www.economicfreedom.org, also implies that if America doesn’t get its act together soon, our life spans will shorten by 20 years, falling to similar expectancies as those in Chad, Myanmar, and Venezuela. Pretty dire stuff. And seemingly aimed directly at the supporters of the Wall Street protests.
After 20 years on the rise, the video says, we are now into the ninth year of economic freedom decline, and just recently fell below Canada for the first time. But what is economic freedom? A nifty graph titled "Economic Freedom of the World" shows the recent fluctuations of a half dozen developed nations on its x-axis and on the y-axis is, well, nothing. The statistics are scarier than they are informative. Likely, they came from the Fraser Institute’s report of the same name, but the source is nowhere cited.
Episode One: Economic Freedom & Quality of Life
Episode Two: Economic Freedom in America Today
Income Inequality Is Hobbling the Middle Class
By MARK THOMA, The Fiscal Times
Income inequality in the U.S. has been rising for the last several decades, and with it concern about the consequences. For example, to what extent does the large flow of income into the hands of financial executives give them the power to influence Congress through campaign donations? How does this have an impact on the willingness of legislators to impose regulations that would stabilize the financial system but inhibit the ability of the financial industry to make the huge profits that fund political campaigns?
What's Good for Caterpillar Isn't So Great for America The industrial juggernaut's profits are impressive, and hiring is way up. Too bad two-thirds of its new jobs are going overseas.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
Wall Street got a jolt of good news yesterday when Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of heavy machinery for mining and construction, announced a blockbuster round of third quarter results. The company crushed analyst predictions, posting record revenues that yielded profits 44% higher than a year before. The manufacturer's numbers helped send the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 104 points by the end of trading.
But for those inclined to care less about corporate earnings and more about the broad health of the U.S. economy, Caterpillar's announcement contained plenty of grist for concern. On the bright side, as Bloomberg points out this morning, the company's performance is one more sign that even in difficult times, exports are propping up U.S. growth. Unfortunately, its numbers had little to do with the weak domestic market. Like so many other companies, Caterpillar sees its best prospects abroad. And in that sense, its results captured the good, the bad, and the frightening of the halting U.S. recovery.
Consumer confidence tumbles, home prices stagnate
By Leah Schnurr
(Reuters) - Consumer confidence unexpectedly dropped to its lowest level in two-and-a-half years in October, while house prices were unchanged at low levels in August, suggesting the consumer is still struggling.
Taken along with recent regional manufacturing data that hinted at stabilization in the sector in October, Tuesday's U.S. data underscored the view that the economy should avoid another recession, though growth will be slow.
Confirmation of a growing but sluggish U.S. economy is expected from U.S. gross domestic product data for the third quarter on Thursday, but the surprising drop in consumer confidence suggests the recent bounce back from a weak first half year may not be sustained.
A 53% Surge in Poverty Rate Is Reshaping the Burbs Outside Cleveland, Snapshots of Poverty’s Surge in the Suburbs
By SABRINA TAVERNISE - NYTimes.com
PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio — The poor population in America’s suburbs — long a symbol of a stable and prosperous American middle class — rose by more than half after 2000, forcing suburban communities across the country to re-evaluate their identities and how they serve their populations.
The increase in the suburbs was 53 percent, compared with 26 percent in cities. The recession accelerated the pace: two-thirds of the new suburban poor were added from 2007 to 2010.
"The growth has been stunning," said Elizabeth Kneebone, a senior researcher at the Brookings Institution, who conducted the analysis of census data. "For the first time, more than half of the metropolitan poor live in suburban areas."
White House Unveils Details of Student-Loan Relief Plan
By: CNBC.com with wires
After announcing a mortgage-relief program for struggling homeowners, the White House on Tuesday revealed details of its student loan relief plan.
"College graduates are entering one of the toughest job markets in recent memory, and we have a way to help them save money by consolidating their debt and capping their loan payments. And we can do it at no cost to the taxpayer," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement.
Family Evicted During Home Foreclosure In Milliken Colorado
MILLIKEN, CO – OCTOBER 05: Homeowner Brandie Barbiere’s possessions were removed to the front yard during a home foreclosure on October 5, 2011 in Milliken, Colorado. Barbiere said she had stopped making the mortgage payments 11 months before, after she lost more than half her home child care business due to the poor economy. The Barbiere family’s possessions were removed to the front yard by an eviction team and the door locks changed. A nationwide glut of foreclosed homes is expected to depress U.S. housing values for years.
Obama Refi Plan is Not Housing Stimulus
By: Diana Olick - CNBC Real Estate Reporter
"President Obama is taking action."
At least that's what the blog on the WhiteHouse.gov says today in describing the president's trip to Las Vegas.
"We can't wait to help homeowners," it goes.
That action consists of revamping an existing government refinance program through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, so-called "underwater" borrowers. There are an estimated 11 million of those nationwide according to CoreLogic.
The original program, which started in 2009 and has helped about 900,000 borrowers get lower interest rates, was capped. You couldn't owe more than 25 percent more than your home was worth.
Employee disability benefits get costlier, complicated
By Linda Stern
(Reuters) - Like just about every other workplace benefit, disability insurance is becoming something workers have to manage and pay for, at least partially, themselves.
In the current open enrollment season for 2012 benefits, more employers are asking workers to put some of their own money up for high-end disability coverage. "We are seeing some gradual slide to more employee financial responsibility for long-term coverage," reports Rich Fuerstenberg, a partner with benefits consultant Mercer. "The employers who used to provide the entire cost now may provide a core benefit and allow workers to buy up their coverage."
The Media and 'Bullying'
By Thomas Sowell - PatriotPost.us
Back in the 1920s, the intelligentsia on both sides of the Atlantic were loudly protesting the execution of political radicals Sacco and Vanzetti, after what they claimed was an unfair trial. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote to his young leftist friend Harold Laski, pointing out that there were "a thousand-fold worse cases" involving black defendants, "but the world does not worry over them."
Holmes said: "I cannot but ask myself why this so much greater interest in red than black."
To put it bluntly, it was a question of whose ox was gored. That is, what groups were in vogue at the moment among the intelligentsia. Blacks clearly were not.
OWS's Beef: Wall Street Isn't Winning – It's Cheating
By Matt Taibbi - RollingStone.com
I was at an event on the Upper East Side last Friday night when I got to talking with a salesman in the media business. The subject turned to Zucotti Park and Occupy Wall Street, and he was chuckling about something he'd heard on the news.
"I hear [Occupy Wall Street] has a CFO," he said. "I think that's funny."
"Okay, I'll bite," I said. "Why is that funny?"
"Well, I heard they're trying to decide what bank to put their money in," he said, munching on hors d'oeuvres. "It's just kind of ironic."
Oh, Christ, I thought. He’s saying the protesters are hypocrites because they’re using banks. I sighed.
"Listen," I said, "where else are you going to put three hundred thousand dollars? A shopping bag?"
What Have We Gotten
For The Trillion Dollars We Have Spent
On Wars In Afghanistan, Iraq And Libya?
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Over a trillion U.S. taxpayer dollars have been spent on wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Whether you are for the wars or against the wars, it is important for all of us to step back and evaluate what we have really gotten for all of that money. In Libya, we have actually helped al-Qaeda forces that were shooting at U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan take over the country. Now they have announced that they will be imposing strict Sharia law on all of Libya. After 10 years of having our boys shot up in Afghanistan, the Afghan government is so "grateful" that they are publicly saying that they will side with Pakistan in any future war against the United States. In Iraq, Islamic radicals are beheading and murdering dozens and dozens of Christians and the new Iraqi government seemingly can't wait to push the remaining U.S. soldiers out of the country. We ran up well over a trillion dollars of new debt to "liberate" these countries, but are they really in better shape than they were before these wars? Are we really in better shape than we were before these wars?
Paul Craig Roberts:
Washington will make Libya a puppet state
Smart Meters - opt out case won in Maine Skelton, Taintor & Abbott
Wins Landmark Smart Meter Case
Firm News
On behalf of several Maine residents, Skelton, Taintor & Abbott secured a landmark decision that will benefit utility customers throughout the country. Alan Stone, chair of the firm's energy law group, successfully convinced the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) to find that it was an unjust and unreasonable practice for Central Maine Power Company (CMP) to refuse to permit residential and small commercial customers to opt-out of CMP’s smart meter program.
Skelton, Taintor & Abbott represented a group of customers in a complaint against CMP, and convinced the MPUC to order CMP to offer customers the option of opting out of the smart meter program and retaining their existing electromagnetic meters. Stone proved that because of unresolved concerns relating to health, privacy and cyber security resulting from the installation of wireless meters on their homes, customers should have a choice concerning the installation of those meters. CMP argued vigorously that customers should not be allowed to opt out, and the MPUC found that position to be unjust and unreasonable.
Vatican Calls for Oversight of the World's Finances
By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO - NYTimes.com
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican called on Monday for an overhaul of the world's financial systems, and again proposed establishment of a supranational authority to oversee the global economy, calling it necessary to bring more democratic and ethical principles to a marketplace run amok.
In a report issued by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Vatican argued that "politics — which is responsible for the common good" must be given primacy over the economy and finance, and that existing institutions like the International Monetary Fund had not been responding adequately to global economic problems.
Vatican Calls for Central World Bank
By Dr. Jimmy DeYoung - Prophecy Today
The Vatican recently called for a global public authority and a central world bank to rule over the financial institutions that have been at the center of the global economic crisis because they have become outdated and ineffective in dealing with this financial crisis. There are those who say that this proposal by the Vatican is music to the ears of the demonstrators around the world who are calling for economic equality for all.
The 18 page Vatican document says that if a central financial authority is not set up, the crisis at a social, political, and economic level could create a climate of growing hostility and even violence which will ultimately destroy the foundations of our world.
Bible prophecy reveals that U.S. and Vatican
will Trigger the Apocalyptic Events
WorldslastChance.com
The Bible contains a prophecy of a last global crisis which will lead to the end of our world. The U.S. and Vatican will be the two main players in this final global crisis before the second coming of Christ. The U.S. will be the first nation in the world to enforce the 'mark of the beast' globally, and will play a key role in making all other countries follow her example.
The Bible, in Revelation, chapter 13, unfolds the prophecy of the global crisis which will precede the end of civilization.
Bible prophecies serve a double purpose - to impress on our minds the existence of a God who is in control of all events and to warn us of future crises. Many of the Bible predictions have already come true to the very date foretold and world history confirms this. This compels us to take yet to be fulfilled prophecies seriously.
Europe in Bible Prophecy
SeekingTruth.co.uk
From Europa to Europe
How did Europe gets its name? Is there some prophetic significance in the name or its origin?
Let's consider a little Greek mythology. The favoured story goes that Europa, a Phoenician woman of high lineage, was seduced by the god Zeus and carried away to Crete. Zeus did this by disguising himself as a beautiful white bull and coaxing Europa to climb onto his back. Once there, he carried her off into the sea and on to Crete, where he raped her. Europa then became the first queen of Crete. The Romans adopted the myth but substituted their god Jupiter for Zeus.
It is claimed that Europa later stood for mainland Greece (recall Crete is an island off the SE corner of Greece) and then to lands north of Greece. Certainly, 'Europa seated on a bull' has been a motif in European art since Greco-Roman times, and in the eighth century Europa gained ecclesiastical usage under Charlemagne. Today, Europe is called Europa in the German language and in most other Germanic languages (except English). The actual term 'Europe' is generally derived from the Greek 'eurys' (broad) and 'ops' (face), which is an allusion to 'the broad face of the earth'. The strong Greek connection could be very significant in that Greece could be the country of origin of the final world dictator (see below).
Why is the Europa symbol (a woman on a beast) so widespread? Is it merely symbolising Europe or is there prophetic significance? Consider:
"... and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns."
(Rev 17.3)
Vatican calls for global authority on economy,
raps "idolatry of the market"
By Philip Pullella - Reuters.com
The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment of a "global public authority" and a "central world bank" to rule over financial institutions that have become outdated and often ineffective in dealing fairly with crises. The document from the Vatican’s Justice and Peace department should please the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrators and similar movements around the world who have protested against the economic downturn.
"Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems in the Context of a Global Public Authority," was at times very specific, calling, for example, for taxation measures on financial transactions. "The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence," it said.
Penny Wise and Euro Foolish
John P. Hussman, Ph.D. - HussmanFunds.com
Among the effects of the recent and now renewed credit strains in the global economy is that investors have lost touch with relative magnitudes. For example, a billion dollars effectively represents about $3.20 for every adult and child in the U.S., while a trillion dollars represents about $3,200 dollars per person. From our standpoint, among the most important research coordination that government provides comes from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funds basic medical research in cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, autism, and other conditions, and where the total annual budget is about $31 billion annually (roughly $100 per American). Add in just over $7 billion in research through the National Science Foundation, and about $120 per citizen a year is spent by the government on essential medical and non-military scientific research through these agencies. These figures pale in comparison to the amounts that are increasingly demanded in order to make bondholders whole on their voluntary, bad investments. The Federal Reserve provided an amount equal to the entire NIH budget simply to backstop the rescue of Bear Stearns, which allowed Bear Stearns bondholders to receive 100 cents on the dollar, plus interest. In return, the Fed got questionable assets that it pouched into a shell company called "Maiden Lane," which were later reported to have "underperformed."
As Hope For EFSF Solution Vanishes,
Europe Comes Crawling To Uncle Sam
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
With less than 48 hours left until Europe's latest and greatest summit on Wednesday (no point in keeping count: it is certain that yet more extensions wil be demanded and granted, letting the EURUSD have just that much more space from where to fall) Europe has, as it usually does in the 12th hour after it whips out the abacus, realized that the EFSF in its latest incarnation is Dead on Arrival (as expected). So what does Europe do? Why come crawling to Uncle Sam of course, only in this case it manages to save face as the uncle is really Aunt Lagarde, one of Europe's own, and ironically up until 4 months ago, the Finance Minister of what has emerged as the most distressed core European country. From the WSJ: "Europe may ask the International Monetary Fund to create and run a special new fund to help solve its debt crisis, according to a person familiar with the matter. The idea is one of several options still in the formative stage that European officials are considering as a way to prevent the crisis from engulfing its largest economies. The IMF and world financial leaders fear that if Europe doesn't act forcefully now, it could push the global economy into a recession and spark another global financial meltdown." And yes, there is a reason why three weeks ago we made big news out of the IMF scrambling to "Double Bail Out Capacity To $1.3 Trillion, May Issue Bonds." Because when in doubtalways follow the money, or in this case the US taxpayer bailout, because this is what the IMF's turbo intervention will be: it will always give the right answer.
Europe plan may fall short, U.S. experts worry
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — European leaders may fall short in their efforts to defuse the region's debt crisis, and any failure is likely to have a major impact for the U.S. economy, according to expert testimony to a House subcommittee released Monday.
"The actions expected to be announced [in Europe] this week may well improve the situation, but will be far from sufficient to resolve the core problems," said Douglas Elliot, a fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution.
The path the euro crisis follows "is likely to be the main determinant of whether the U.S. goes back into recession," he added.
The European Financial Crisis in One Graphic:
The Dominoes of Debt
By Charles Hugh Smith - OfTwoMinds.com
The dominoes of debt are toppling in Europe, and there is no way to stop the forces of financial gravity.
After 19 months of denial, propaganda and phony fixes, the political and finance leaders of the European Union are claiming a "comprehensive solution" will be presented by Wednesday, October 26-- or maybe by the G20 meeting on November 3, or maybe on Christmas, when Santa Claus delivers the gift global markets are demanding: a "solution" that actually pencils out and that forces monumental writeoffs of debt and thus equally monumental losses on European banks and bondholders.
The Real Contagion Risk How Europe's Credit Contagion
Will Spread to the US Treasury Market
BY CHRIS MARTENSON PHD - FinancialSense.com
How Europe's Credit Contagion Will Spread to the US Treasury Market
Around here we like to track things from the outside in, as the initial movements at the periphery tend to give us an early warning of when things might go wrong at the center. It is always the marginal country, weakest stock in a sector, or fringe population that gives us the early warning that trouble is afoot. For example, rising food stamp utilization and poverty levels in the US indicate that economic hardship is progressing from the lower socioeconomic levels up towards the center -- that is, from the outside in.
Euro Strategists Draw Line in Sand
at $1.34
as Merkel Seeks to Save Union
By Emma Charlton and Allison Bennett - Bloomberg.com
Foreign-exchange strategists have ceased cutting forecasts for the euro as European government officials intensify efforts to end the region’s crisis and traders pare bets for a collapse in the currency.
Between Sept. 12 and Oct. 6 the median year-end estimate of more than 40 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg tumbled to $1.35 from $1.43. It has ranged between $1.34 and $1.35 since then. The 17-nation currency, which closed at $1.3896 on Oct. 21, has strengthened 2.5 percent from last month’s low on Sept. 12 against a basket of developed-nation peers measured by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes.
Spain Slipping on Deficit
Means Chances of Contagion Increase: Euro Credit
By Angeline Benoit - Bloomberg.com
Spain will struggle to meet its deficit-reduction target this year as economic growth slows, threatening further debt-crisis contagion asEurope fails to erect a fail-proof firewall.
"They will never make it," said Ludovic Subran, chief economist at credit insurer Euler Hermes SA in Paris. "Our September forecast sees Spain's deficit at 7 percent" of gross domestic product this year, he said, adding that the prediction was made before the nation's credit rating was cut this month.
Just Say No, Germany ... and Don't Listen to Geithner
By Wolf Richter - ZeroHedge.com
The German parliament has a historic opportunity to say no to the bankers: On Wednesday, the Bundestag gets to vote on the expansion of the European bailout fund, the EFSF. The new limit: €1 trillion ($1.37 trillion), though it had just been expanded to €440 billion. Since no one has any money, the expansion will be in form of leverage—the very mechanism that has wreaked so much havoc already.
While the details are still uncertain, we know one thing for sure: you can't enlarge something by leveraging it without multiplying risks and ultimate costs. And the idea that these operations will prevent contagion and buy time to solve the underlying fiscal problems is self-contradictory: if the EFSF were actually able to eliminate market pressures on over-indebted governments, it would also eliminate the incentives to make the needed hard choices.
Banks Clash With Lawmakers on Greek Rescue
By Nicholas Comfort and Aaron Kirchfeld - Bloomberg.com
Banks are pushing back against European leaders on the size of losses they are ready to accept on Greek bonds as officials struggle to rescue the debt-laden country while avoiding a default.
There are limits "to what could be considered as voluntary to the investor base and to broader market participants," Charles Dallara, managing director of the Institute of International Finance, an industry group that’s participating in the talks on Greek debt, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. "Any approach that is not based on cooperative discussions and involves unilateral actions would be tantamount to default."
Europe's Crisis May End in a '‘Violent Blow-Up': Galbraith
By Stacy Curtin | Daily Ticker - Yahoo.com
After yet another summit this weekend, European leaders still have not finalized a solution to save Greece from default and recapitalize Eurozone banks.
"Work is going well on the banks," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters at the Brussels summit yesterday. "On the question of Greece, things are moving along. We're not there yet."
Sunday's meeting marks the 13th summit by European leaders in less than two years, and now all eyes are on the next, scheduled for Wednesday, where EU leaders have vowed to present their plan to solve Europe's sovereign debt crisis and reassure global markets contagion will be averted.
A Spectator's Guide to the Euro Crisis Charting the web of debt exposure among sagging economies
Chart by Bill Marsh - NYTimes.com
The global financial system is highly interconnected. So problems in one part of the world can reverberate almost everywhere else - risking a cascade of default, contagion, contracting credit and collapsing economic activity.
Ben S. Bernanke's Pink Slip Bernanke, we’re making changes. You're one of them.
BY DAVOS SHERMAN OKST - FinancialSense.com
Bernanke, we're making changes. You're one of them.
You should have gotten both of Captain Obvious's memos—one titled "Arab Spring," the other going by "#Occupy Wall Street." Just the very fact that we are having this conversation clearly indicates that your complete lack and understanding is not limited to just our economy.
Let me spell this out for you.
The memos indicate that 99% of the world has had enough with the Federal Reserve system and its "leadership". Together the two account for 99% of the world’s ills.
Former Comptroller General David Walker said: "The fourth and most serious of all [of America’s deficits] is our leadership deficit." Bernanke, you and former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan are poster boys for personifying America’s "Most Serious Leadership Deficit."
Treasury Eyes Floating Notes as First New Debt Since TIPS
By Liz Capo McCormick - Bloomberg.com
The U.S., seeking to attract investors who might otherwise avoid Treasuries amid a $1.3 trillion budget deficit, is considering the sale of floating- rate notes in what would be its first new security since it began offering inflation-linked debt 14 years ago.
The Treasury Department said this month it asked Wall Street’s biggest bond dealers for recommendations on structuring securities with coupons that rise or fall with benchmark rates. Officials are scheduled to gather with the 22 primary dealers, who include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., on Oct. 28 as it decides whether to go further during their regular meeting that precedes each quarterly refunding.
Banks Flooded With Cash They Can’t Profitably Use
By ERIC DASH and NELSON D. SCHWARTZ - NYTimes.com
Bankers have an odd-sounding problem these days: they are awash in cash.
Droves of consumers and businesses unnerved by the lurching markets have been taking their money out of risky investments and socking it away in bank accounts, where it does little to stimulate the economy.
Though financial institutions are not yet turning away customers at the door, they are trying to discourage some depositors from parking that cash with them. With fewer attractive lending and investment options for that money, it is harder for the banks to turn it around for a healthy profit.
Inflation Up Globally
By Greg Hunter's USAWatchdog.com
The meeting yesterday in Europe to come up with a plan to stem the sovereign debt crisis turned sour. Zero was accomplished, except to put even more fear into the world over an impending financial meltdown that will likely be worse than the 2008 mushroom cloud. The Telegraph UK is reporting, "During two hours of bitter exchanges during a meeting of all 27 EU leaders before a crisis summit of the Eurozone's 17 members on Wednesday, President Sarkozy fought hard to get the Prime Minister barred from talks that would finalise a 100 billion euros cash injection into banks. "We're sick of you criticising us and telling us what to do. You say you hate the euro, you didn't want to join and now you want to interfere in our meetings," the French leader told Mr. Cameron, according to diplomats." It appears members of the EU are having a hard time coming up with a plan which will, no doubt, be some sort of combination of bank failure, steep haircuts in sour sovereign debt, and money printing to pick winners.
US Treasury May Issue Debt With Floating Interest Rate
By: Jeff Cox - CNBC.com
The Treasury Department and its perennial effort to fund the government's steepening debt load may get another weapon in its arsenal.
Dealers and traders have been approached recently with plans to issue a floating-rate note that for investors would provide an opportunity to profit should rates go up and for the government a chance to restructure its debt even further.
The move comes as Washington recently closed out its fiscal year with a budget deficit of just a shade under $1.3 trillion and a national debt rapidly approaching $15 trillion.
Floating-Rate Treasury Securities: The Pros and Cons Would taxpayers be better off or worse off if investors could buy U.S. debt that pays more when interest rates rise?
By Daniel Indiviglio - TheAtlantic.com
Interest rates won't be ridiculously low forever. Although the Federal Reserve has been on a crusade over the past few years to keep both shorter- and longer-term interest rates extraordinarily low, it will eventually have to allow them to rise as the economy improves. At that time, investors could demand much higher fixed rates to cover the interest rate risk they're taking. This could have consequences for Treasury securities, which have interest rates that do not adjust as market rates change. Reports indicate that the government is mulling offering floating-rate securities to make U.S. debt more attractive to investors.
The Bull Market Solution
BY BARRY FERGUSON - FinancialSense.com
I am sure that everyone is sick of hearing about the lackluster economy. Unemployment is high, Europe is choking on a debt crisis, and populace demonstrations are popping up all over the globe. But investors only care about one thing - the stock market. They are willing to surrender everything - capitalism, dignity, truth, liberty, autonomy - in exchange for a stock market rally. Luckily, a stock rally is easy to conjure.
The chart below shows the S&P 500 in gold and the US dollar ETF, the UUP, in green for the past seven weeks. While the Federal Reserve is completely inept in almost everything they do, they are very skillful in one area. They can always stoke a rally in stocks. The problem is that the economy and reality do not necessarily warrant a market rally. The solution is simple. Kill the US currency valuation and inflate the stock market with all other commodities. Inversely, allow the dollar valuation to rise and stocks take a terrible beating.
Hedge Funds Hike Bullish Commodity Bets
By Elizabeth Campbell - Bloomberg.com
Hedge funds increased bullish bets on commodities by the most since August on mounting optimism the global economy will avoid another recession, boosting prospects for raw-materials demand.
Money managers raised combined net-long positions across 18 U.S. futures and options by 12 percent to 737,647 contracts in the week ended Oct. 18, Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Wagers increased most in energy and agriculture, led by heating oil, gasoline, coffee and soybeans.
US money supply gains 33% in 4 months, bullish for gold
NEW YORK (Commodity Online):Gold has been on a downtrend since peaking at $1920/oz. Gold prices are now trading at $1630/oz. However, the case for bullishness still remains particularly as the US is printing more and more money. US money supply surged by 33% in just under 4 months!
Physical demand from Asia
Physical demand in Asia, mainly India and China, has entered the traditional peak season with Indian festivals and the increasingly important Chinese New Year.
GATA gold/silver suppression spat
with Jeff Christian getting personal The war of words between GATA and CPM's Jeff Christian is getting increasingly bitter coming to a head after a debate at the Silver Summit conference in Spokane.
Author: Lawrence Williams - Mineweb.com
LONDON - The war of words between the Gold Anti Trust Action Comittee, GATA, and CPM Group managing director and founder Jeff Christian seems to be escalating. First Christian accused GATA in an interview as "a group that makes money by basically bilking gold investors out of fees to support GATA so they don't have to get legitimate jobs." And most recently, after a debate between Bill Murphy of GATA and Christian at the Silver Summit meeting in Spokane, GATA secretary Chris Powell accused Christian of "graduating from his usual distortions to outright contrivance."
Silver bullish on US, EU crises; bearish on soft fundamentals
Commodity Online
What happens when two analysts from two different brokerages react to same questions on silver? In separate interviews with Rakesh Neelakandan of Commodity Online,Bitupan Majumdar: Senior Analyst, JRG Securities andRenisha Chainani: Manager, Research; Edelweiss Comtrade Ltd. speaks about the prospects of silver.
There are areas where their opinions converge and there are regions where their viewpoints stand diverged.
For instance, while Renisha's tone is supportive of a bull rally in silver, Bitupan is more cautious and reserved. But both agree that the Euro zone crisis is having no quick-fix solutions.
Ultimately, it is for the investor community to ponder over everything as we provide the best of both worlds.
US Rating Likely to Be Downgraded Again: Merrill
By: Reuters - CNBC.com
The United States will likely suffer the loss of its triple-A credit rating from another major rating agency by the end of this year due to concerns over the deficit, Bank of America Merrill Lynch forecasts.
The trigger would be a likely failure by Congress to agree on a credible long-term plan to cut the U.S. deficit, the bank said in a research note published on Friday.
A second downgrade — either from Moody's or Fitch — would follow Standard & Poor's downgrade in August on concerns about the government's budget deficit and rising debt burden.
Why We Can’t Spend Our Way Back To Normal After a decade of reckless overconsumption, why is buying more stuff still expected to save the economy?
By JULIET B. SCHOR - Time.com
Every month, one of the most anxiously anticipated pieces of economic information is the Commerce Department’s spending data. Are people in the malls? How deep are discounts? Spending is cheered; frugality causes concern. In the drama that is the U.S. economy, consumers have been cast as the hero, expected to provide the growth that avoids a double-dip recession and rebalances the labor market.
It’s an increasingly quixotic hope. Consumers, burned by predatory financial institutions and labor market insecurity, are in no position to play the Little Engine That Could. But even if they were, is what ails the country really a shortage of cars, cell phones and Cuisinarts?
Obama to bypass Congress on mortgages
(CBS News)
With Republicans continuing to stall action on President Obama's $447 billion jobs bill, the White House is taking action to help jump-start the economy with the message "We can't wait."
President Obama is going to begin a series of executive branch actions that will not require action from Congress - or the assent of Republicans.
With recovery in the housing market tied to economic recovery, Mr. Obama will today announce what senior officials are calling a "major overhaul" of the government's underused refinance program for federally guaranteed mortgages, in order to aid homeowners having difficult refinancing their housing loan.
Regulator throws lifeline to underwater homeowners
By Margaret Chadbourn
(Reuters) - Homeowners who owe more than their properties are worth got new help on Monday with the government's expansion of a refinancing program in a step that could help up to 1 million borrowers.
The regulator of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac eased the terms of a program that helps so-called underwater borrowers who have made payments on time but have been unable to refinance.
"These are important steps that will help more homeowners refinance at lower rates, save consumers money and help get folks spending again," President Barack Obama told a crowd in Las Vegas, a city hard hit by the foreclosure crisis.
Fed Wants to Ensure Housing Affordability, Dudley Says
By Caroline Salas Gage - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said the central bank wants to keep mortgage interest rates from rising too much and may do more to hold down borrowing costs.
The Fed’s decision last month to reinvest proceeds from maturing housing debt into mortgage-backed securities was a "signal that we do have concern about the level of mortgage spreads," Dudley said today. "Clearly we’ve indicated our interest in supporting the housing market" and keeping yields from "getting too elevated."
Why Politicians Don't Want to Touch the Housing Crisis Republicans complain Obama's new measures are a political ploy. But when it comes to housing, there may be no safe political ground.
By Molly Ball - TheAtlantic.com
Barack Obama would have you believe that Mitt Romney is a heartless zillionaire who doesn't think the government should do anything about Americans losing their homes to foreclosure. Romney would have you believe that the foreclosure problem is yet more evidence of Obama's failure to heal the economy.
Meanwhile, when the GOP candidates were asked about housing in last week's debate, they all basicallydodged the question. And Obama's plan, announced Monday in Las Vegas, is being criticized as too little, too late, by some Democrats.
The housing issue, it seems, is a political hot potato -- one every candidate can't wait to toss to the next guy before it burns him up.
US States Are Facing Total Debt of Over $4 Trillion
By: Reuters - CNBC.com
The total of U.S. state debt, including pension liabilities, could surpass $4 trillion, with California owing the most and Vermont owing the least, a new analysis says.
The nonprofit State Budget Solutions combined states' major debt and future liabilities, primarily for pensions and employee healthcare, unemployment insurance loans, outstanding bonds and projected fiscal 2011 budget gaps. It found that in total, states are in debt for $4.2 trillion.
The New American Standard of Living
By Bill Bonner - DailyReckoning.com
10/21/11 Paris, France – In 2005, few people on the planet could afford Americans’ standard of living. Not even Americans.
But now the wheel has turned. The US is facing financial reality. And yesterday, we gave you our most audacious forecast ever: the popolo minuto are headed for the barricades. Yes, dear reader, prepare for revolution, repression, and ruin. Buy stocks in companies that make police batons and pepper gas…prisons and window glass…drones and bandages.
The Christian Science Monitor:
A Long, Steep Drop for Americans’ Standard of Living
Think life is not as good as it used to be, at least in terms of your wallet? You’d be right about that. The standard of living for Americans has fallen longer and more steeply over the past three years than at any time since the US government began recording it five decades ago.
Fed's Fisher: U.S. issue is joblessness, not inflation
(Reuters) - High unemployment, not inflation, is the biggest problem facing the U.S. economy today, a top Federal Reserve official known for his hawkish views on inflation said on Monday.
"Inflation is not the problem in the United States right now," Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said in Toronto. "The trending analysis here at the Dallas Federal Reserve indicates that inflation will trend toward 2 percent. I buy that analysis."
Unemployment is the bigger problem and can lead to social disorder like that sweeping Greece, Fisher said.
Occupy Walmart:
When Companies Cut Health Care, Who's to Blame?
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Walmart announced last week that the nation's largest private employer will cut health care benefits for full-time workers and eliminate insurance for new part-time workers. The company will also begin charging smokers higher premiums. ("Tobacco users generally consume about 25 percent more health care services than nontobacco users," a spokesman said.)
Since Walmart's announcement dovetailed with the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests, it was only natural that some demonstratorswould turn their fury against the nation's largest retailer. After all, Walmart's story seemed to prove the point that corporations continue to put profits over people. (Plus, to change a chant to "Occupy Walmart!" required only a one-syllable fix.)
Totalitarian Methods
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
The pioneers of totalitarianism, Lenin and Hitler, both denounced the capitalism system as rotten. But Lenin was the first to recognize, with the advent of his New Economic Policy, that totalitarianism can wear a capitalist face. Lenin called his version of capitalism "state capitalism," while Hitler proposed a "social market economy." In both instances, the central principle was state power over private power. This formula seems to be emerging today in the United States, without the appearance of an overt socialist revolution. In America, socialist totalitarian principles advance by gradualism. Capitalism is overtaken bit by bit, so that most observers do not realize how far things have moved down "the road to serfdom." Whether it is health care or banking, the automobile industry, fishing or timber – the state successfully interjects itself, asserting ultimate control. The reason is always given that the state can solve problems that the market cannot solve.
Gov. Buddy Roemer Calls for Withdrawal From NAFTA, WTO
By: Ian Fletcher - MarkerOracle.co.uk Author: How do you feel about NAFTA, CAFTA, and our other trade agreements?
Gov. Roemer: They should go, be repealed. We really ought to have learned our lesson about NAFTA by now. It has not been a success, not for us and not for Mexico, which is now losing jobs to China. Ross Perot warned Al Gore in that debate in '93 that there was going to be a giant sucking sound of job loss, and that's exactly what's happened. The same goes for CAFTA in Central America and the others.
These agreements didn't happen because the American people wanted them. They happened because corporate America wanted them and with the campaign-finance system we have now, corporate America can buy whatever it wants in Washington. That's why I took campaign finance reform as the key to my campaign and I've limited my contributions to $100. And remember, a lot of it wasn't even corporate America, it was multinational corporations that don't give a fig about this country anymore. They say they do, but they don't. They pretend to be American on Capitol Hill.
Ray Dalio On Whether The Current
"Hopeless, Mob-Rule Deleveraging "
Can Lead To The Ascent Of Another "Hitler"
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Yesterday we presented the complete must watch Ray Dalio interview and transcript from his Charlie Rose appearance in which he explained how, in his increasingly skeptical view, we are now "out of ammunition" as there are "no more tools in the toolkit." Today, he layers on top of this rather bleak macroeconomic perspective some very disturbing observations, specifically, what the realization of the dead end situation facing monetary and discal authorities means when confronted with a violent (metaphorically) deleveraging, and a violent (quite literal) social mood. In an FT op-ed he writes; "We are in the midst of a deleveraging, we are nearly out of ammunition and we are at each other’s throats. Being in a deleveraging and nearly out of ammunition is a very difficult position to be in. But, being at each other’s throats is our biggest problem." Needless to say this won't be the first time we have found ourselves in such a predicament: one very vivid example from history beckons: "Frustrations increase, the established ways of doing things come under attack and frustrations over the ineffectiveness of government creates the perceived need for someone to gain control of the mess. Plato spoke of this dynamic. It was the reason Hitler was elected in 1933."
U.S. watchdog warns on China audits
By Nanette Byrnes
(Reuters) - Any attempts by China to bar Big Four auditors from shipping summaries of Chinese audits out of that country for review in the United States or elsewhere would constitute "a long-arm interdiction" of the firms' internal work, the top U.S. audit industry watchdog said on Monday.
In a frank assessment of a dispute over inspecting audits of U.S.-listed Chinese companies, U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chairman James Doty said talks between U.S. and Chinese officials had hit "new bumps in the road."
Chinese officials have put off meetings on the matter that had been scheduled since last summer, Doty said in a speech to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.
Dragon tail risk: The cost of a China crash
By Emily Kaiser, Asia Economics Correspondent
(Reuters) - The China hard-landing debate is a classic tail risk story -- an unlikely scenario, but if it materializes the consequences could be catastrophic.
Because of their close trade links, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong would be among the first to feel the pain should China's growth weaken dramatically.
However, it would probably take a shock even bigger than what followed the 2008 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy to spread significant damage beyond Asia.
Judging from the latest HSBC survey of China's manufacturing sector, released on Monday, there is no evidence that growth is collapsing in the world's second biggest economy.
What Kim Jong-Il Learned from Qaddafi's Fall: Never Disarm As the U.S. tries to restart multiparty talks with North Korea, it may find that the rogue state suddenly sees greater value in keeping its nuclear arsenal
By Mira Rapp-Hooper - TheAtlantic.com
The world watched in awe this Thursday as photos of Mummar Qaddafi's bludgeoned corpse marked the end of the Libyan dictator's 42-year rule. Libyans filled the streets in jubilation and leaders worldwide issued impassioned statements as the brutal regime came to an end. But 6,000 miles away in Pyongyang, North Korea, one leader was probably not celebrating. This gruesome end to Qaddafi's rule has likely confirmed what Kim Jong Il must have long been aware -- a dictator who wants to hold on to power should also hold onto his nuclear weapons.
Regulators close banks in Colorado, Florida, Georgia
for total of 84 bank failures in 2011
By AP - WashingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON — Regulators on Friday closed two banks in Georgia and one each in Florida and Colorado, raising to 84 the number of U.S. banks that have failed this year.
The number of closures has fallen sharply this year as banks have worked their way through the bad debt accumulated in the recession. By this time last year, regulators had shuttered 139 banks.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized the four banks. The largest by far was Community Banks of Colorado, based in Greenwood, Colo., with $1.38 billion in assets and $1.33 billion in deposits. Also shuttered were Community Capital Bank, Jonesboro, Ga., with $181.2 million in assets and $166.2 million in deposits; Decatur First Bank, Decatur, Ga., with $191.5 million in assets and $179.2 million in deposits; and Old Harbor Bank, Clearwater, Fla., with $215.9 million in assets and $217.8 million in deposits.
World power swings back to America The American phoenix is slowly rising again. Within five years or so, the US will be well on its way to self-sufficiency in fuel and energy. Manufacturing will have closed the labour gap with China in a clutch of key industries. The current account might even be in surplus.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Assumptions that the Great Republic must inevitably spiral into economic and strategic decline - so like the chatter of the late 1980s, when Japan was in vogue - will seem wildly off the mark by then.
Telegraph readers already know about the "shale gas revolution" that has turned America into the world’s number one producer of natural gas, ahead of Russia.
Less known is that the technology of hydraulic fracturing - breaking rocks with jets of water - will also bring a quantum leap in shale oil supply, mostly from the Bakken fields in North Dakota, Eagle Ford in Texas, and other reserves across the Mid-West.
Fewer Than 1 in 4 Americans Trust the U.S. Financial System
By Catherine New - DailyFinance.com
Americans are growing even more distrustful of their financial institutions.
The latest figures from the quarterlyChicago Booth/Kellogg School Financial Trust Indexshowed that only 23% of those surveyed said they trust the country's financial systems, down from 25% in June. The index measures trust in four areas: banks, the stock market, mutual funds and large corporations.
"The findings in this issue reflect what's been reported in the news and demonstrate the fragility of trust many Americans still have in the institutions where they invest their money," said Luigi Zingales, a finance professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and co-author of the Index.
No deal Sunday in Brussels... meeting again on Wednesday Europe's leaders threaten Greek default if banks won't take haircut and accept losses of £120bn
Lenders 'may need €100bn in capital’ as finance ministers battle to reach agreement in Brussels
By Bruno Waterfield and Philip Aldrick, in Brussels - Telegraph.co.uk
Europe's leaders are threatening to trigger a formal default on Greek debt and risk a "credit event" if banks refuse to accept losses of up to €140bn (£120bn) on their holdings.
Hardline eurozone members, backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), delivered the ultimatum this weekend after an official report found that in a worst-case scenario Greece could need a second bail-out of €450bn – twice the current package and more than the entire €440bn in the eurozone’s rescue fund.
Keiser Report: Live and Let Fail (E199)
Greece handed €8bn aid package lifeline
but euro concerns remain Greece was handed a lifeline on Friday night after international lenders finally released an €8bn (£6.95bn) aid package for the beleaguered country, kicking off a crucial weekend for the future of the eurozone.
By Louise Armitstead - Telegraph.co,uk
Although the agreement will allow Athens to avoid imminent default, a report leaked at the Brussels summit on Friday night suggested the terms of the second Greek bail-out would have to be ripped up in order to stabilise the country.
The report – prepared for the troika of the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission – suggested Greece’s economy has deteriorated to such an extent that lenders would have to find €252bn in loans by the end of the decade.
The single currency is close to collapse With Europe on the brink of a disaster, the euro must be reconstituted as an entity based on economic reality, not ideological folly.
By Telegraph View - Telegraph.co.uk
Yet again, Europe stands on the brink of abject disaster, apparently unable to resolve its differences. A monetary union that was meant to bring former enemies together, binding them to each other via irreversible economic integration, is succeeding only in tearing them apart. It is a crisis that this newspaper has consistently warned of since the single currency’s creation; it gives no pleasure to see our predictions come true.
With a meltdown in the sovereign debt markets fast metastasising into an all-embracing economic and political calamity, the Continent’s position has rarely seemed quite so imperilled since the days of the Second World War. Most worrying is that the Franco-German partnership which lies at the heart of the European project is fracturing as never before, with deep divisions over almost every aspect of the grand rescue plan.
Euro Falls as Europe Leaders Outline Bank Aid
By Candice Zachariahs and Monami Yui - Bloomberg.com
The euro declined, halting a four- day advance, as European leaders seeking to contain the Greece- fueled debt crisis outlined plans to aid banks and ruled out tapping the European Central Bank to boost the rescue fund.
The 17-nation currency also weakened as Reuters reported banks offered to write down 40 percent of their Greek debt while politicians are demanding a haircut of at least 50 percent, citing an unidentified banker. A complete blueprint won’t come together until the next summit on Oct. 26. The dollar traded 0.7 percent from a record low versus the yen on speculation the Federal Reserve may consider a third round of securities purchases to boost U.S. economic growth.
EU states to speed up austerity, embrace 'limited' treaty change
BY LEIGH PHILLIPS - EUOBserver.com
Leaders of the EU's 27 member states met on Sunday (23 October) with little fresh to show in the face of the biggest crisis in the bloc's history, but did back a "limited" change to the EU treaty to deliver stronger economic convergence amongst eurozone countries.
At the crisis meeting in the EU capital, the bloc's premiers and presidents agreed to speed up already-agreed-to austerity and structural adjustment measures and to seek new "growth-enhancing" measures, such as unifying the bloc's still-fragmented market in digital products and services and cutting regulations on small businesses.
EU leaders tell Italy: stop the rot and get your house in order Pressure on Silvio Berlusconi to bring country's debts under control as Europe fears another deep-rooted recession
By David Gow in Brussels - Guardian.co.uk
The eurozone's two biggest powers, Germany and France, on Sunday launched an unprecedented attack on Italy to stop the rot by taking far more radical measures to reform its economy and get its debts under control.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, held a series of face-to-face talks with the Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi – who was then subjected to a roasting at the hands of other European leaders who are worried that the EU as a whole is on the verge of another deep-rooted recession.
Eric Sprott: "There has to be a Big Unwinding"
EU Revamping Plans to Contain Debt Crisis
By James G. Neuger and Tony Czuczka - Bloomberg.com
European leaders ruled out tapping the European Central Bank's balance sheet to boost the region’s rescue fund and outlined plans to aid banks, inching toward a revamped strategy to contain the Greece-fueled debt crisis.
Europe’s 13th crisis-management summit in 21 months also explored how to strengthen the International Monetary Fund’s role. The leaders excluded a forced restructuring of Greek debt, sticking with the tactic of enticing bondholders to accept losses to help restore the country’s finances.
"Work is going well on the banks, and on the fund and the possibilities of using the fund, the options are converging," French PresidentNicolas Sarkozy told reporters at the Brussels summit yesterday. "On the question of Greece, things are moving along. We’re not there yet."
U.S. credit rating facing another cut soon,
Bank of America warns
By Tom Petruno - LATimes.com
America’s credit rating is likely to take another hit before the end of 2011, threatening renewed market turmoil, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists warn.
In a report on Friday, BofA Merrill said it sees little hope of a breakthrough by the congressional "super committee" on deficit reduction. The bipartisan group has until Nov. 23 to identify $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts over the next 10 years -- through reduced spending, tax hikes or both.
"The 'not-so-super' deficit commission is very unlikely to come up with a credible deficit-reduction plan," wrote Ethan Harris, North American economist at BofA Merrill. "The committee is more divided than the overall Congress."
United States tipped to lose another AAA credit rating A downgrade by either Moody's or Fitch – triggered most likely by concerns over the US deficit – would follow S&P's move
By Reuters - Guardian.co.uk
The United States will probably suffer the loss of its triple-A credit rating from another rating agency by the end of this year because of concerns over the deficit, Bank of America Merrill Lynch is forecasting.
The trigger would be a likely failure by Congress to agree on a credible long-term plan to cut the deficit.
A second downgrade – either from Moody's or Fitch – would follow Standard & Poor's downgrade in August and represent an additional blow to the sluggish US economy, Merrill said.
Blame the Fed for the Financial Crisis The Fed fails to grasp that an interest rate is a price, the price of time. Attempting to manipulate that price is as destructive as any other government price control.
By RON PAUL - WSJ.com
To know what is wrong with the Federal Reserve, one must first understand the nature of money. Money is like any other good in our economy that emerges from the market to satisfy the needs and wants of consumers. Its particular usefulness is that it helps facilitate indirect exchange, making it easier for us to buy and sell goods because there is a common way of measuring their value. Money is not a government phenomenon, and it need not and should not be managed by government. When central banks like the Fed manage money they are engaging in price fixing, which leads not to prosperity but to disaster.
Fed's Yellen: QE3 May Be Warranted
By Scott Lanman and Jennifer Oldham - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen said a third round of large-scale securities purchases might become warranted if necessary to boost a U.S. economy challenged by unemployment and financial turmoil.
The central bank should also give "careful consideration" to Chicago Fed President Charles Evans’s proposal to tie the near-zero interest-rate pledge to specific levels of unemployment and inflation, Yellen said today in a speech in Denver.
The remarks signal Fed officials may be prepared to delve further into unprecedented monetary territory and take criticism inside and outside the central bank for expanding the balance sheet. Fed policy makers are struggling to lower unemployment that’s been stuck near 9 percent or higher for 30 months without boosting inflation that’s already close to the central bank’s long-run goal.
Pondering further easing, Fed weighs best approach
By Keith Coffman and Ann Saphir
(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is worried about the U.S. economy's health and is looking at ways to offer more monetary stimulus, the central bank's influential vice chair, Janet Yellen, said on Friday.
"We are prepared to employ our tools as appropriate to foster a stronger economic recovery in a context of price stability," Yellen told a financial industry conference.
Her comments come just a day after a call by another Fed board governor, Daniel Tarullo, for the central bank to consider a fresh round of mortgage bond purchases.
Yellen said the central bank was exploring many options for easing monetary policy, and did not endorse any particular route.
Gerald Celente - The Keith Larson Show - 19 October 2011
Falling Inflation Could Spark More Fed-Driven Stimulus
By Daniel Indiviglio - TheAtlantic.com
With gridlock in Congress, the only help that the economy could get from Washington would be through the Federal Reserve. Since it has the power to act independent of politics, it can take measures to try to speed up the recovery. And it has: after its unprecedented efforts taken during the financial crisis, it launched another round of monetary stimulus last November. This program ended in June, and hiring been weak since. That has caused some economists to call for a third round of quantitative easing ("QE3"). While the Fed has taken some modest action recently, it hasn't injected new money into the economy. It may be more aggressive in coming months.
The Sticking Point: The Fed's Dual Mandate
If the Fed was simply ordered to stimulate the economy whenever a push is needed, then it would have already embarked on QE3 by now. But it is also charged with the responsibility of ensuring that prices remain stable. That means it must avoid excessive inflation as well as deflation.
Why Credit Unions
Are a Better Financial Choice For Us Than Big Banks
By Selena Maranjian, The Motley Fool - DailyFinance.com
Those occupying Wall Street and other cities -- and those standing in solidarity with them elsewhere -- are disgusted with the status quo. One tactic they're using to get their point across to big business: closing out their accounts at major banks and moving their money to smaller institutions, including credit unions.
Big banks clearly aren't thrilled with customers' money walking out the front door. When a bunch of people tried to close out their accounts at a Manhattan branch of Citigroup's (C) Citibank, many were apparently arrested.
Fear not, though -- that reaction is an aberration. It's still a free country, and you can move your money if you want to. And credit unions are waiting with open arms -- and incentives.
Volcker wants crackdown on money market funds, GSEs
(Reuters) - Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker is advocating for regulatory control over the money-market mutual fund industry and believes the government should stop financing mortgages.
Volcker said in a recent speech that money market funds have exacerbated stress in the financial markets because they pulled back on short-term lending to European banks.
If money-market funds are to continue providing significant funding to regulated banks, they should be subject to capital requirements, deposit insurance protection and stronger oversight of their investments, Volcker said.
The Most Liquid Lie in the World is the U.S. Dollar
Rethinking the Gold Bubble
Mises Daily: by James E. Miller
There has been a lot of speculation recently on whether or not gold is in a bubble. With Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernankeannouncing "Operation Twist" last month, gold and other commodity prices have fluctuated erratically. Immediately following the "Twist" announcement, prices of both plummeted. Gold then stabilized a few days later. To make sense of these phenomena, one must utilize Ludwig von Mises's lesson that history must be interpreted with logic and rational deduction rather than empirical evidence alone.
As the Austrian business-cycle theory teaches, artificially cheap credit, not backed by real savings, creates intertemporal discoordination in production involving scarce resources that ultimately results in malivestment.
Yuan Gold contracts a step toward reserve currency
Dr Jeffrey Lewis
On Monday, the first Gold contracts denominated in the Chinese Renminbi (also known informally as "yuan") came to the Hong Kong market. Analysts have been quick to note the implications of a yuan-denominated contract, realizing that the new contract could drive nearly three times as much demand as the dollar-denominated contract.
Looking at the yuan product from the macro-view, a move into gold is about more than just gold — it's about reserve currency status.
Dollar's monopoly
The US Dollar has a monopoly as the world's reserve currency. The size and scope of the US economy and financial markets, combined with the relative stability of the political climate, made the US dollar a preferred currency for international trade.
TSA Now Searching For Silver And Gold!
Obama Jobs Bill Fails at Second Hurdle Senate blocks $35B hiring bill
By: Manu Raju - Politico.com
President Barack Obama’s jobs agenda hit another roadblock in the Senate on Thursday night, as the two parties remained locked in a bitter stalemate with the economy sputtering and tens of millions looking for work.
In their first attempt to advance individual pieces of the president’s sprawling American Jobs Act, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes needed to move forward a $35 billion package for states and localities to hire and prevent the layoffs of teachers and first responders.
Senate rejects bill to keep teachers, first responders on job
By Lisa Mascaro - LATimes.com
Republican-led opposition in the Senate blocked a key element of President Obama’s jobs plan Thursday night — a proposal to send $35 billion to cash-strapped states to keep public school teachers, police and firefighters on the job.
The Senate voted 50-50 on the measure, falling short of the 60 votes it needed to advance. Three Democrats joined allRepublicans in halting the bill, which polls have shown is among the most popular elements of Obama’s jobs initiative.
Economic Collapse Depression 2012 Get self employed
Underemployed And Hating Life
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Today, millions of smart, hard working Americans are flipping burgers, waiting tables or working dead end retail jobs not because they want to, but because they have no other options. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 14 million Americans are currently unemployed and another 9.3 million Americans are currently "underemployed". During this economic downturn, a lot of Americans have been forced to take part-time jobs because they have been unable to find full-time jobs. For many, this can be a soul-crushing experience. It can be easy to become very bitter when you have worked very hard all your life and yet you find yourself having to take a job that only pays you a fraction of what you used to make. A lot of young college graduates end up hating life because the only jobs that they can seem to find do not even require a college degree and don't even come close to enabling them to keep up with their crippling student loan debt payments. Sadly, the underemployment problem continues to grow even worse. In September alone, the number of underemployed Americans rose by close to half a million.
1 in 5 Americans
Plans On Finding A Second Job For The Holidays
By David Schepp - AOL.com
With December's holidays right around the corner, many Americans' minds are on shopping. A new poll finds, however, that a significant number of them will be taking on second jobs to help with holiday purchases because of the tough economy.
More than a fifth of adults -- 21 percent -- said theyplan to get a second job to help with holiday spending this year, according to an online survey by Harris Interactive. Twelve percent of respondents said they already had secondary employment.
Additional findings of the survey of nearly 2,500 adults showed that 45 percent of them will have difficulty affording gifts this year. Two-thirds of respondents said they will have more difficulty affording any expense related to the holidays this year, compared to last year.
How Do We Care for the Elderly?
By Linda Chavez PatriotPost.us
Last week, the Obama administration dropped one of the signature provisions of its healthcare plan. The CLASS Act (Community Living Assistance Services) was intended to provide affordable insurance for long-term care to individuals who, because of infirmity or age, could no longer care for themselves. But the reality that not enough healthy Americans would sign up to make it self-supporting finally doomed the program.
Many opponents of Obamacare will no doubt cheer this turn of events because it confirms the view that we cannot afford to, in essence, nationalize health care. I agree --but I also recognize that the problem that the CLASS Act was trying to address is a legitimate concern for which we now have no workable solutions.
G. Edward Griffin:
Individualism & Capitalism vs. Collectivism & Monopolies
Ferrari Adds Cashmere
for Customers Who Can't Be Seen in Same Dress
By Tommaso Ebhardt - Bloomberg.com
Ferrari SpA has begun offering personal touches like cashmere-covered seats and gold-colored exteriors for customers who find that cars like the $410,000 620-horsepower 599 GTB aren't quite special enough.
The "tailor made" personalization program, which started last month, aims to add 20 percent to 60 percent to the price of a car as the Fiat SpA (F) unit looks to pad profit after capping deliveries, according to the Maranello, Italy-based company.
"Being different is important for Ferrari buyers as these cars are all about status," said Rebecca Lindland, a IHS analyst in Norwalk,Connecticut. "It's like showing up to a gala in the same dress -- funny at first, annoying if it keeps happening."
Corporatism Is Not Capitalism:
7 Things About The Monolithic Predator Corporations
That Dominate Our Economy
That Every American Should Know
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Right now, there is a lot of talk about the evils of "capitalism". But it is not really accurate to say that we live in a capitalist system. Rather, what we have in the United States today, and what most of the world is living under, is much more accurately described as "corporatism". Under corporatism, most wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of giant corporations and big government is used as a tool by these corporations to consolidate wealth and power even further. In a corporatist system, the wealth and power of individuals and small businesses is dwarfed by the overwhelming dominance of the corporations. Eventually, the corporations end up owning almost everything and they end up dominating nearly every aspect of society. As you will see below, this very accurately describes the United States of America today. Corporatism is killing this country, and it is not what our founding fathers intended.
Tax Reform:
25-Years Old Today, and Ready for a Facelift We've spent a quarter-century undoing the smart, simple tax reforms of 1986. Here's to hoping Washington can act like its old self before it's too late.
By Paul Weinstein and Ed Lorenzen - TheAtlantic.com
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the last major overhaul of the federal tax code. Signed into law by Republican President Ronald Reagan and championed by Democrats such as Bill Bradley and Richard Gephardt, the enactment of the law was a remarkable bipartisan achievement. It dramatically lowered marginal rates with a top rate of 28 percent, removed millions of working poor off the tax rolls, and simplified the tax code by closing a myriad of tax loopholes.
Unfortunately, many of the loopholes that the 1986 reform eliminated have returned, with a few extra ones slipped in for added measure. Since the law's enactment, more than 15,000 changes have been made resulting in a tax code that is several volumes longer than The Bible and requires 71,684 pages to spell out the rules. Because of this complexity, 80 percent of American households use a tax preparer or tax software to help them prepare and file their taxes.
What caused the crisis, the indebtedness, the unemployment, the stagnation? The culprits are state agencies and enterprises, including our Federal Reserve (our government’s bank), Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), which jointly flooded the country with cheap credit and encouraged and subsidized unsound banking and subprime mortgages, all to encourage wider home ownership, paper prosperity, and cozy relationships with their cronies. We got a housing bubble, mountains of unpayable debt, and a financial crisis. Thanks, Uncle Sam.
The Occupiers have the wrong address. The subprime crisis was designed in Washington, not New York.
Gov. Gary Johnson
Among the Occupy Wall Street Protesters
Police brutality charges sweep across the US From Naomi Wolf's arrest in New York to shootings in Tucson and Florida, forces face allegations of abuse of power
By Paul Harris in New York - Guardian.co.uk,
Officer Michael Daragjati had no idea that the FBI was listening to his phone calls. Otherwise he would probably not have described his arrest and detention of an innocent black New Yorker in the manner he did.
Daragjati boasted to a woman friend that, while on patrol in Staten Island, he had "fried another nigger". It was "no big deal", he added. The FBI, which had been investigating another matter, then tried to work out what had happened.
Twenty Years of Justice Thomas
By JOHN YOO - WSJ.com
This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of Clarence Thomas's appointment to the Supreme Court. In his first two decades on the bench, Justice Thomas has established himself as the original Constitution's greatest defender against elite efforts at social engineering. His stances for limited government and individual freedom make him the left's lightning rod and the tea party's intellectual godfather. And he is only halfway through the 40 years he may sit on the high court.
Justice Thomas's two decades on the bench show the simple power of ideas over the pettiness of our politics. Media and academic elites have spent the last 20 years trying to marginalize him by drawing a portrait of a man stung by his confirmation, angry at his rejection by the civil rights community, and a blind follower of fellow conservatives. But Justice Thomas has broken through this partisan fog to convince the court to adopt many of his positions, and to become a beacon to the grass-roots movement to restrain government spending and reduce the size of the welfare state.
America's Unique Fascism
Mises Daily: by Anthony Gregory
Five years ago, antiwar liberals calling the Bush administration fascist were labeled as kooks, marginalized by their own party leadership, accused by conservatives of treasonous thoughts worthy of federal punishment, even deportation. A few years pass, the policies hardly change, and the political dynamic turns upside down: tea-party conservatives accusing the Obama regime of fascist impulses are compared to terrorists, accused of being racists, told that their hyperbole is a real threat to the country's security.
The establishment derides both groups for their fringe outlook on America, convinced that the United States is anything but a fascist country. After all, isn't America the nation that defeated fascism in the 1940s? Sensible conservatives and liberals agree with that.
Large Quake Rocks Eastern Turkey
By Emre Peker and Steve Bryant - Bloomberg.com
Turkey’s largest earthquake in more than a decade may have killed 1,000 people, destroying apartment buildings and damaging 4,000 homes in the eastern province of Van, government officials said.
State-run TRT television said 85 people have been confirmed dead, 60 of them in the northern town of Ercis, while 80 buildings, including a dormitory, have collapsed. Officials from the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute said 500 to 1,000 people may have died.
Pakistan: Now or Never She came, she saw, she confounded:
Clinton in Pakistan
By Myra MacDonald - Reuters.com
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recently concluded visit to Pakistan has left us none the wiser about how the United States and its allies will end the Afghan war. In her public comments, she spoke of action "over the next days and weeks – not months and years, but days and weeks". She promised the United States would tackle Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan in response to a long-standing Pakistani complaint that Washington had neglected the region when it decided to concentrate its forces in population centres in southern Afghanistan in 2010 (remember "government in a box"?).
She called, in return, for cooperation on the Pakistani side of the border to "squeeze these terrorists so that they cannot attack and kill any Pakistani, any Afghan, any American, or anyone." Between the two countries, they would tackle the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban.
Afghanistan would side with Pakistan
in war with US, says Hamid Karzai President says Afghans 'will never betray their brother' in TV interview aired days after Kabul visit by Hillary Clinton
By Declan Walsh in Islamabad - Guardian.co.uk
The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has said he would side withPakistan in the event of war with the US in a surprising political twist that is likely to disconcert his western allies.
"If there is war between Pakistan and America, we will stand by Pakistan," Karzai said in a television interview. He put his hand on his heart and described Pakistan as a "brother" country.
The statement was widely interpreted as a rhetorical flourish rather than a significant offer of defence co-operation. Despite recent tension between Pakistan and the US, open warfare is a remote possibility.
Hamid Karzai claims on TV his country
'will side with Pakistan if US attacks' Afghan president accused of hypocrisy and ingratitude over remarks made soon after Hillary Clinton's visit to the region
By Ewen MacAskill in Washington
and Declan Walsh in Islamabad - Guardian.co.uk
The US reacted with dismay on Sunday after the Afghan president,Hamid Karzai, said that he would side with Pakistan in the event of any war with America.
Karzai's remarks will be greeted with outrage by an American public already thinking him ungrateful for US military and financial support.
In an interview on Geo Television, Pakistan's largest satellite network, hours after a visit to the region by the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, Karzai said: "If there is war between Pakistan and America, we will stand by Pakistan." He put his hand on his heart and described Pakistan as a "brother" country.
October 23, 2011: The Next Big Day of Reckoning
Martin D. Weiss Ph.D. - MoneyAndMarkets.com
This coming Sunday, October 23, will go down in history as one of the most important days of the 21st century.
On that day, the leaders of 27 European countries will meet. They will announce a new master plan to save Europe. And then they will pray.
If their plan is not good enough, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warns that Europe — and the entire world — could face "cascading default," "bank runs," and "catastrophic risk."
Does one 'super-corporation' run the global economy? Study claims it could be terrifyingly unstable
By ROB WAUGH - DailyMail.co.uk
A University of Zurich study 'proves' that a small group of companies - mainly banks - wields huge power over the global economy.
The study is the first to look at all 43,060 transnational corporations and the web of ownership between them - and created a 'map' of 1,318 companies at the heart of the global economy.
The study found that 147 companies formed a 'super entity' within this, controlling 40 per cent of its wealth. All own part or all of one another. Most are banks - the top 20 includes Barclays and Goldman Sachs. But the close connections mean that the network could be vulnerable to collapse.
Should Bankers Serve on Federal Reserve Bank Boards? A new GAO report finds conflicts-of-interest present. Does the system need reform?
By Daniel Indiviglio - TheAtlantic.com
Just what the Federal Reserve needs: more controversy. A new Government Accountability Office report to Congress that investigates the central bank has some not-so-flattering conclusions. Some regional Fed bank board members are also bankers, which creates a potential conflict-of-interest. Of course, anyone who follows the Fed already knew, so this news isn't all that shocking. Still, the finding raises a question: should such conflicts-of-interest trouble us, and if so, how should they be remedied?
What the Report Says
Persistent Fed critic Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) seized on the report to cite these conflicts-of-interest. An amendment by Sanders to the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill actually called for this investigation in the first place. Here are some of the points he makes in a statement he released on Wednesday:
HOLY BAILOUT -
Federal Reserve Now Backstopping
$75 Trillion Of Bank Of America's Derivatives Trades
Bloomberg via SilverBearCafe.com
Bank of America is shifting derivatives in its Merrill investment banking unit to its depository arm, which has access to the Fed discount window and is protected by the FDIC.
This means that the investment bank's European derivatives exposure is now backstopped by U.S. taxpayers. Bank of America didn't get regulatory approval to do this, they just did it at the request of frightened counterparties. Now the Fed and the FDIC are fighting as to whether this was sound. The Fed wants to "give relief" to the bank holding company, which is under heavy pressure.This is a direct transfer of risk to the taxpayer done by the bank without approval by regulators and without public input. You will also read below that JP Morgan is apparently doing the same thing with $79 trillion of notional derivatives guaranteed by the FDIC and Federal Reserve.
BofA, Citigroup, JPMorgan, AT&T, Galleon in Court News
By Elizabeth Amon - Bloomberg.com
Bank of America Corp. (BAC)’s proposed $8.5 billion settlement with mortgage-bond investors must be considered in federal court and not in New York state court where it was first filed, a U.S. judge said.
"The settlement agreement at issue here implicates core federal interests in the integrity of nationally chartered banks and the vitality of the national securities markets," U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan said in a decision filed yesterday. "A controversy touching on these paramount federal interests should proceed in federal court."
BofA Said to Get
California Attorney General’s Mortgage Subpoena
By Greg Farrell and David McLaughlin - Bloomberg.com
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) received a subpoena from California’s attorney general seeking information related to the packaging and sale of mortgage-backed securities, a person familiar with the matter said.
The subpoena, delivered Oct. 18, involves mortgage securitization by the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank and its Countrywide Financial unit, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to speak and didn’t want to be identified
The subpoena follows a decision by California Attorney General Kamala Harris to withdraw from talks among state officials, the U.S. Justice Department and the five largest mortgage servicers.
Bank of America is attempting to rob America blind
with the help of the Federal Reserve
By Madison Ruppert - EndtheLie.com
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) is in trouble and any other business which would just go under without any help; the corrupt banksters, with the help of the private Federal Reserve, are attempting to pass off their failures to the American people. Again.
Only three years ago the American people had massive debts piled on our heads by being forced to bail out the biggest lenders in the United States.
During this bailout, Bank of America received a whopping $45 billion and as of midyear had deposits numbering some $1.04 trillion.
Now Bank of America is attempting to protect itself from its derivative exposure through its Merrill Lynch unit by moving derivatives to a subsidiary replete with insured deposits.
"In the year 2000, the U.S. Treasury began actively buying back the public debt; we should all appreciate the tremendous this represents for the Nation as a whole."
So begins a secret government report from 2000 outlining what would happen if the United States actually paid off all of its debt. Eleven years ago, this was, remarkably, a real, if low-risk, possibility. Some economists were projecting that as surpluses accumulated, we might pay off our entire debt by 2012. Economists were projecting that the United States could be debt free by 2012. (Those rubes!)
China admits to building up stockpile of gold
By Alfred Cang and Tom Miles, Reuters - FinancialPost.com
SHANGHAI/BEIJING — China revealed on Friday that it had secretly raised its gold reserves by three-quarters since 2003, increasing its holdings to 1,054 tonnes — or a pot worth about US$30.9-billion — and confirming years of speculation it had been buying.
Hu Xiaolian, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, told Xinhua news agency in an interview that the country's reserves had risen by 454 tonnes from 600 tonnes since 2003, when China last adjusted its state gold reserves figure.
New CFTC rules weigh on silver and copper prices
goldmoney.com via SilverBearCafe.com
Silver and copper prices were once again under sales pressure in yesterday's trading session, with the euro crisis still dragging on market sentiment. Although silver is a precious metal, it is - like palladium and platinum - also an industrial metal, and thus partially tied to the cycles of the world economy. Observers fear that in addition to declining industrial demand for silver, demand for the white metal among major investors could be hit, after the US government's Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) introduced new rules to combat commodity speculation on Tuesday.
Fed Dollar Swap Lines With Europe
Soar To $1.9 Billion, Most Since June 2010
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
For a week in which Europe was supposed to be healing, and certainly not provoking the curiosity of forensic capital chasers, it sure did a heck of a job. In the week ended October 19, the Fed disclosed that not only did it roll its $500 million 7 Day facility (at 1.08%) with the ECB, but it also entered into a new 84-Day 1.09% facility (this is about 60 bps more than 3M USD Libor, confirming just how ridiculous and meaningless the 3 month USD Libor market is). It is of course unclear which bank ends up being on the ECB's receiving end, but one thing is certain: the dollar shortage in Europe is now as bad as it was just after the first Greece insolvency, when nobody was prepared for the bank lockup that followed. Additionally, with deposit loans at the ECB soaring to €182 billion, a runrate which will promptly surpass last month's high, it is once again all too clear that there is no free liquidity in Europe, and that the thesis presented by Zero Hedge over the weekend, that the only reason for the persistent high level of the EUR is due to the sale of USD assets by French banks and subsequent FX repatriation, is what explains the ongoing schism between the European market, which is driven by wholesale asset sell offs by French banks, and the American one, which is electronically trading with 100% correlation to the EURUSD which is sending a completly false "all clear" signal to the market.
Europe Contagion Risk Considerable,
Liikanen Tells Talouselaemae
By Kati Pohjanpalo - Bloomberg.com
Europe’s debt crisis may spread “fast” across the single currency area, European Central Bank council member Erkki Liikanen told magazine Talouselaemae.
"Everyone who monitors the financial markets knows the contagion risk now is considerable," Liikanen said in an interview published today by the Helsinki-based magazine. "Events since the spring 2010 show that the crisis is spreading fast from one market to the next."
European Debt Crisis: Is This the Beginning of the End?
Written by David Moenning - OilPrice.com
Almost exactly two years since the onset of the Greek debt crisis, the European Commission has set out to create a comprehensive strategy to rein in the crisis and return to a viable path of economic prosperity. The deadline: Sunday, October 23.
With fiscal instability and credit contagion continuing to rock markets internationally, the world’s leading economies emphasized the need for immediate action at the recent G20 meeting. The group of finance ministers and central bankers pressured Europe on Saturday to "decisively address the current challenges," and complete a plan before this weekend to resolve the sovereign debt crisis.
Greek strike turns violent ahead of new austerity vote
By Valentina Pop - EUObserver.com
Brussels - A second day of street clashes and economic standstill is expected on Thursday (20 October) as the Greek parliament votes on fresh spending cuts demanded by the EU and IMF to release another tranche of money.
Protests on Wednesday saw record participation in Athens, with at least 100,000 people taking to the streets and clashing violently with police.
The General Confederation of Greek Labour describing it as one of the biggest demonstrations since Greece restored democracy, in 1974. Airports were shut, schools closed, small shops and petrol stations shut their doors, while taxi drivers are continuing their strike against an attempt by the government to make their trade more flexible and open to competition.
Euro Summit Imploding:
Merkel Cancels Friday Government Statement On EFSF
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Luckily, we never promised readers to have a quota of only one stupid European story per hour or else we would be worse liars than the European bureaucrats who finally discovered the abacus and punch cards, and have realized that, as we noted, the EFSF is DOA. The WSJ reports that Angela Merkel has cancelled a government statement on the European Union summit this weekend, due Friday, at short-notice, a spokesman for her CDU party said Thursday. The reason for the cancellation was probably a lack of agreement on new guidelines for the euro zone's rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, the spokesman said. But no reason has officially been given for the cancellation, he added.
EU to hold second summit next week
By Honor Mahony - EUObserver.com
European leaders are to have a second summit on the eurozone crisis, most likely on Wednesday (26 October), amid Franco-German discord on a series of key issues to do with solving the single currency's problems.
A joint statement by Paris and Berlin, released late Thursday evening, said that all the elements of the planned "global and ambitious response" to the eurozone crisis would be examined in a "profound manner" on Sunday.
Decisions, however, will only be taken "during the second meeting at the latest on Wednesday."
Leverage debate undercuts euro summit Detractors say bond insurance plan won’t convince markets
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch.com
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — A debate between France and Germany over how to boost the euro-zone bailout fund’s firepower forced European leaders on Thursday to schedule a second summit meeting for next week as hopes faded for a comprehensive plan to emerge from a Sunday gathering of European leaders.
Sunday’s Brussels summit had become the focal point for investor hopes since finance ministers from the Group of 20 last weekend effectively declared it a deadline for Europe to get its house in order amid fears the ongoing debt crisis could wreck the region’s banks and trigger a potentially massive global slowdown.
Gerald Celente - RT America 19 October 2011
Treasuries Set for Weekly Gain
as Solution to Europe’s Debt Crisis Delayed
By Kristine Aquino - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries were set for their first weekly gain in a month, as prospects European leaders will need more time to resolve the region’s sovereign debt crisis spurred demand for the relative safety of U.S. government securities.
Ten-year yields were about half a percentage point away from a record low before reports that may show business confidence in Germany fell this month to the least in more than a year. The extra yield investors demand to buy 10-year securities instead of two-year notes has narrowed to 1.93 percentage points from this year’s high of 2.91 percentage points in February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Bernanke Says Fed
Seeks to Increase Clarity About Its Goals
By Joshua Zumbrun and Caroline Salas Gage - BusinessWeek.com
Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank is likely to rely more on public communications as a policy tool as it seeks to provide clarity about the likely future path of interest rates.
"The FOMC continues to explore ways to further increase transparency about its forecasts and policy plans," Bernanke said today in a speech in Boston. "Forward guidance and other forms of communication about policy can be valuable even when the zero lower bound is not relevant, and I expect to see increasing use of such tools in the future."
Bernanke talks U.S, Europe with Senate Democrats
By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke attended the weekly luncheon of Senate Democrats on Thursday and lawmakers said he backed more fiscal stimulus to help the struggling economy, according to reports. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said that Bernanke told the lawmakers the Fed had "done all it can do on the monetary side, [and] now it's up to us," according to a story in the Hill newspaper.
Political Solutions for a Financial Crisis
Greg Hunter, Automatic Earth - SilverBearCafe.com
More talks, more broken promises, more half-baked policies, more outright lunacy and most of all more crisis.
The picture that emerges from the reports on all of the emergency meetings goes something like this: The idea now is to make Greece an exception, in the sense that bondholders will be forced to accept a 50% loss (instead of the 21% agreed on in July) on their Greek debt holdings, but they will then be given the assurance that no other Eurozone country will be allowed to restructure its debt.
If you were in Portugal, you would do well to protest any such clause, since it could squeeze you into a spot where you can forced to sit back with your hands tied behind your back and watch yourself be bled dry.
Global systemic crisis – First half of 2012:
Decimation of the Western banks
Public announcement GEAB N°58 - leap202.com
As anticipated by LEAP/E2020, the second half of 2011 is seeing the world continuing its unstoppable descent into global geopolitical dislocation characterized by the convergence of monetary, financial, economic, social, political and strategic crises. After 2010 and early 2011 which has seen the myth of a recovery and exit from the crisis shattered, it's now uncertainty that dominates the States’ decision-making processes just like businesses and individuals, inevitably generating increasing apprehension for the future. The context singularly lends itself: social explosions, political paralysis and / or instability, return to the global recession, fear over banks, currency war, the disappearance of more than ten trillion USD in ghost-assets in three months, widespread lasting and rising unemployment...
China cuts holdings of US debt after ratings downgrade
BBC.co.uk
China has reduced its holdings of US debt to their lowest level in a year, after the US's credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor's (S&P).
China sold $36.5bn (£23.2bn) in US Treasuries or bonds to cut its holding to $1,137bn in August, latest data by the US Treasury department showed.
In August, S&P cut the US's credit rating to double A+ from triple A over concerns about budget deficits.
China is the largest foreign buyer of US government debt.
Other countries in the region such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore also reduced their holdings of US Treasuries in August.
"These players are sitting on large dollar-denominated assets already, so they can afford to take a longer view," said Michael Woolfolk of BNY Mellon.
Supercommittee's lack of progress
on debt reduction raises alarms on Hill
By Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane - WashingtonPost.com
With a Thanksgiving deadline fast approaching, a powerful congressional panel devoted to debt reduction is running in rhetorical circles, unable to break the impasse over taxes that has long blocked aggressive action to tame the national debt.
Though the committee’s 12 members have been meeting for nearly two months in closed-door sessions, lawmakers, aides and others involved in the process say they have yet to reach consensus on the most basic elements of a plan to restrain government borrowing.
Consumers Most Negative
on U.S. Economy Outlook Since Recession
By Shobhana Chandra - BusinessWeek.com
Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Consumer confidence in the U.S. economic outlook slumped in October to the lowest level since the recession, highlighting the challenges facing the biggest part of the economy.
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index’s monthly expectations gauge dropped to minus 45, the worst reading since February 2009. The weekly measure of current conditions was minus 48.4 for the period ended Oct. 16, up from minus 50.8 the prior week that was close to a record low.
IRS inflation changes may trim your 2012 tax bill Cost-of-living adjustments push tax-bracket limits,
exemptions up -- By Andrea Coombes, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Thanks to the rising cost of living, federal income-tax bracket limits will jump higher in 2012, as will the standard deduction and exemption amounts, and the maximum amount taxpayers are allowed to contribute to their workplace retirement plans, the IRS said Thursday.
All else being equal, the changes lower your tax bill. For instance, when tax bracket limits shift higher, more of your income is counted in, say, the 15% bracket rather than the 25% bracket. The higher your income, the more savings you realize, as more of your money is shifted into lower tax brackets.
Bill would encourage foreigners to buy U.S. homes The bipartisan Senate bill would allow foreigners who spend at least $500,000 on a residential property to obtain visas allowing them to live in the United States.
By Jim Puzzanghera and Lauren Beale, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles—
American consumers and the federal government haven't been able to bail out the sinking U.S. real estate market. Now wealthy Chinese, Canadians and other foreign buyers could get their chance.
Two U.S. senators have introduced a bill that would allow foreigners who spend at least $500,000 on residential property to obtain visas allowing them to live in the United States.
Foreclosure activity soars in third quarter, ending lengthy lull The number of notices of default jumps 25.9% from the second quarter. The increase comes as settlement talks have stalled between banks and state attorneys general over the robo-signing scandal. -- By Alejandro Lazo, Los Angeles Times
Banks fired up the California foreclosure machine in the third quarter, breaking out of a nearly yearlong lull that began in the midst of widespread revelations that banks were improperly seizing homes from delinquent borrowers.
A big August surge in foreclosure actions, led by Bank of America, sent the numbers up in the third quarter, according to DataQuick, a real estate information service in San Diego.
Notices of default, the first formal step in the foreclosure process, jumped 25.9% over the second quarter, when such filings had dropped to a three-year low.
Fed Should Resume Mortgage Purchases: Tarullo
By Caroline Salas Gage and Scott Lanman - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo said the central bank should consider resuming purchases of mortgage bonds to boost economic growth and help combat a "crisis" in employment.
"We should move back up toward the top of the list of options the large-scale purchase of additional mortgage-backed securities,” Tarullo said in a speech in New York today. "The aggregate demand effect should be felt not just in new home purchases, but also in the added purchasing power of existing homeowners who are able to refinance."
Bill Gross Was Right:
Fed Board Member Tarullo
Calls For Restart Of MBS Monetization
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
When we first reported on Bill Gross' massive surge in duration and accelerated purchase of Mortgage Backed Securities a week ago, we said, "That's either what is called betting one's farm on Operation Twist, or, betting one's farm that the next thing to be purchased by the Fed in QE3 or QE4 depending on how one keeps count, will be Mortgage Backed Securities." It was the letter. Confirmation that Bill once again frontran the Fed comes courtesy of Daniel Tarullo who in a speech at Columbia University, talking about the labor market of all things, just said the following: "I believe we should move back up toward the top of the list of options the large-scale purchase of additional mortgage-backed securities (MBS), something the FOMC first did in November 2008 and then in greater amounts beginning in March 2009 in order to provide more support to mortgage lending and housing markets." And there you go: watch as the market rips on the expectation that the US will bail out China all over again. Oh wait, at this point China couldn't care less what happens to the GSEs stack. So unfortunately as can be expected, this is nothing but yet another bailout of US banks, which lately have been buying up MBS like crazy (Gross is not the only one with the hotline), and expecting to flip right back to Brian Sack: after all something has to be done to save the poor things from a total pancaking of the Treasury curve.
Occupy Wall Street -
Nazis were executed for what the US is doing today
Anthem pulls switch on Medicare Advantage subscribers A pair of letters to the health insurer's California customers sparks confusion. Anthem, it turns out, is replacing its California Medicare Advantage plan with 13 regional variations that allow it to set premiums and benefits according to local conditions.
By David Lazarus - LATimes.com
Consumers receive their fair share of sucker punches from big corporations. But this one's a real beauty.
And it affects all California seniors with Medicare Advantage plans offered by Anthem Blue Cross.
Melvin Salse, 71, of North Hollywood received a letter from the insurance giant recently stating that "it has been our pleasure to provide you with Medicare Advantage coverage."
Saab's Survival Chances Drop
as Chinese Investors Cut Investment Pledges
By Ola Kinnander - Bloomberg.com
Saab Automobile’s chances of avoiding bankruptcy dwindled after the two Chinese companies that had agreed to invest in the company instead offered to buy it for a token sum, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. and Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile, which had planned to buy a combined 53.9 percent stake in Saab’s parent Swedish Automobile NV, made the offer after speaking to the person overseeing Saab’s court- administered reorganization, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing the private talks.
Car Company Gets U.S. Loan, Builds Cars In Finland
By MATTHEW MOSK, BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) and RONNIE GREENE
ABC NEWS and iWATCH NEWS
With the approval of the Obama administration, an electric car company that received a $529 million federal government loan guarantee is assembling its first line of cars in Finland, saying it could not find a facility in the United States capable of doing the work.
Vice President Joseph Biden heralded the Energy Department's $529 million loan to the start-up electric car company called Fisker as a bright new path to thousands of American manufacturing jobs. But two years after the loan was announced, the job of assembling the flashy electric Fisker Karma sports car has been outsourced to Finland.
Solar Aircrafts Soon to be in the Sky
Written by Tyler Hamilton - OilPrice.com
Mining companies operating in the most remote areas of Canada may want to take notice. Ditto for humanitarian groups looking for better ways to get life-saving medical supplies to hard-to-reach, disaster-stricken regions.
A Toronto company called Solar Ship has designed an aircraft that it says will be able to travel 1,000 kilometres carrying up to 1,000 kilograms of cargo, powered only by the sunlight that shines on its back. It will also be able to take off from — and land on — a spot no larger than a high-school soccer field.
TSA Checkpoints Now On TN Highways
TennesseeNewsPress.com
The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security on Tuesday partnered with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and several other federal and state agencies for a safety enforcement and awareness operation on Tennessee’s interstates and two metropolitan-area bus stations. They are randomly inspecting vehicles on highways in Tennessee.
The random inspections really aren't any more thorough normal, according to Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Tracy Trott who says paying attention to details can make a difference.
"People generally associate the TSA with airport security… but now we have moved on to other forms of transportation, such as highways, buses and railways," said Kevin McCarthy, TSA federal security director for West Tennessee.
On Hitler’s Mountain: It Can Happen Here
by Bob Bauman, The Sovereign Investor - LewRockwell.com
Even though writing occupies much of each of my days, I also read a lot – averaging one or two books a week.
Recently I bought a paperback edition of a book entitled: On Hitler’s Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood by Irmgard A. Hunt.
Ms. Hunt, a self-identified political liberal and pacifist, is a former executive of various U.S. and international environmental organizations, who currently resides in Washington, D.C. Now a U.S. citizen, she was born in 1934 in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, where Adolf Hitler set up his headquarters and his mountain retreat, the Eagle’s Nest.
In fact, in one of her most compelling stories, at the age of three, Hunt recalls sitting in Hitler’s lap during a 1941 village visit, "suspiciously studying his mustache, his slicked-back, oily hair… while at the same time acutely seeing the importance of the moment." Her father was one of the first German soldiers drafted and one of the first to die. Hunt was only 11 when the war ended, but her "eyewitness" account does provide much personal insight into life under the Nazis.
Social Security:
When to Collect Benefits Confuses Current, Future Retirees
By SUSANNA KIM - ABC.com
Retirees will see a 3.6 percent increase in their Social Security checks next year, but choosing when to receive benefits remains a complicated question where missteps can be costly, especially for two-income couples.
Over 60 million people will gain from the "cost of living adjustment," or COLA Social Security increase. The increase, designed to offset rises in the cost of living, was based on the Consumer Price index from the third quarter of 2008 through the third quarter of 2011, the Social Security Administration announced Wednesday.
The Evil 1%
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
The "occupy" protest movement is thriving off the claim that the 99% are being exploited by the 1%, and there is truth in what they say. But they have the identities of the groups wrong. They imagine that it is the 1% of highest wealth holders who are the problem. In fact, that 1% includes some of the smartest, most innovative people in the country – the people who invent, market, and distribute material blessings to the whole population. They also own the capital that sustains productivity and growth.
But there is another 1% out there, those who do live parasitically off the population and exploit the 99%. Moreover, there is a long intellectual tradition, dating back to the late middle ages that draws attention to the strange reality that a tiny minority lives off the productive labor of the overwhelming majority.
Internet booming with financial websites By one estimate there are at least twice as many such sites today as there were three years ago. One common feature of many newcomers: They don't want to come across as heavy-duty personal-finance sites.
By Walter Hamilton, Los Angeles Times
Launching a financial website in the middle of an economic slump might not seem like a good idea, but Scott Saunders believes the timing couldn't be better.
Saunders and his partner launched Culver City-based Payoff.com four months ago on the theory that Americans would be far more likely to use a financial site during a troubled economy than a roaring one. Payoff.com tracks consumers' progress in paying off debt, and Saunders figures there are loads of people who need the help.
Moammar Gaddafi is captured,
killed as last loyalist holdout in Libya falls
By Mary Beth Sheridan - WashingtonPost.com
TRIPOLI, Libya — Former Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi was killed Thursday after being seized in a sewage tunnel in his home town — the final triumph for pro-democracy fighters who have struggled for eight months to take control of the country.
Gaddafi’s death came on a day of intense military activity in Sirte, the last loyalist holdout in Libya, where his supporters had fended off better-armed revolutionaries for weeks. Before his capture, a U.S. drone and French fighter jets fired on a large, disorganized convoy leaving the city that he appears to have been in. It was not clear whether the airstrikes hit Gaddafi’s vehicles, NATO officials said.
Iran & USA war by Craig Roberts, 4 reasons why US wants war.
Iran and the Bomb:
How Far Away is Iran from Producing a Nuclear Weapon
Written by Diplomatic Courier - OilPrice.com
Concerns over Iran’s nuclear capabilities are inextricably linked to the country’s ambiguous energy intentions. But experts say it would take Iran at least two years to produce a single nuclear weapon, and that a comprehensive diplomatic strategy is key to limiting the nuclear program’s reach.
Iran has created policy – rooted in religion, law, and the still-fresh memory of a gruesome war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq - against nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, and cites peaceful reasons for harvesting questionable quantities of highly enriched uranium (HEU), a key component needed to produce a nuclear weapon.
Warning Signs – All Dominoes Falling!
By Steve Quayle
Two decades ago when I started on talk radio, the two themes that God had me repeat 100's of times over was first: Before America would be destroyed, He would reveal the sins of America's leaders to its people and the people's sins before their God.
The second theme to which I was commissioned, was to help the people prepare for the worst time in the history of the world when all hell breaks loose on the earth. God's barriers, which He put in place for the well being and protection of his creation, are being systematically destroyed by the Devil and his servants. It should infuriate those still alive and walking as opposed to the "walking dead" that America and the word freedom no longer exist. Our entire military and intelligence assets are being turned inward against the "people and their families" who are the "new enemies of the state" while ignoring the Chinese, Russian and third world belligerents who see the time to strike America is "NOW".
Interesting weekend watching -
what's really behind global governance...
The Nephilim & The Coming Strong Delusion [1 of 9]
The Nephilim & The Coming Strong Delusion [2 of 9]
The Nephilim & The Coming Strong Delusion [3 of 9]
The Nephilim & The Coming Strong Delusion [4 of 9]
The Nephilim & The Coming Strong Delusion [5 of 9]
The Nephilim & The Coming Strong Delusion [6 of 9]
The Nephilim & The Coming Strong Delusion [7 of 9]
The Nephilim & The Coming Strong Delusion [8 of 9]
The Nephilim & The Coming Strong Delusion [9 of 9]
Strong Correlation
Between "Misery Index" and Gold Demand
BY MICHAEL KOSARES - FinancialSense.com
Misery loves company, and particularly the company, comfort and security of gold. Since the financial breakdown of 2008, the Misery Index — unemployment and inflation added together — has been in a steep upward trajectory, so has the demand for gold coins and bullion.
The Misery Index was first popularized by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential campaign. Reagan used it as a barometer for how well the country was doing economically. During Jimmy Carter's presidency, the Misery Index hit an all-time high — almost 22%. Near the end of Reagan's tenure in the White House, he had reduced the unemployment and inflation rates meaningfully — to 7.7% by 1986. Barrack Obama's Misery Index now stands at almost 13% using federal government statistics and we all know things are getting worse, not better. We also know that things might be quite a bit worse than what we are led to believe. That's where Shadow Government Statistics — an alternative, and some say more realistic, rendition of economic statistics — comes into the picture.
A long, steep drop for Americans' standard of living Not since at least 1960 has the US standard of living fallen so fast for so long. The average American has $1,315 less in annual disposable income now than at the onset of the Great Recession.
By Ron Scherer - CSMonitor.com
NEW YORK - Think life is not as good as it used to be, at least in terms of your wallet? You'd be right about that. The standard of living for Americans has fallen longer and more steeply over the past three years than at any time since the US government began recording it five decades ago. Bottom line: The average individual now has $1,315 less in disposable income than he or she did three years ago at the onset of the Great Recession – even though the recession ended, technically speaking, in mid-2009. That means less money to spend at the spa or the movies, less for vacations, new carpeting for the house, or dinner at a restaurant.
This Is the Gold Bull Market
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Here is something from my 'private stock.'
This is the picture of a quiet flight to quality.
If you must trade, buy strength and sell weakness, and not the other way around when driven by greed and fear.
But for almost everyone, it is better to see the trend and ride its crest, perhaps hedging a little at the extremes, while the fundamentals that created it are intact.
What are the fundamentals driving this phenomenon? Keep Jesse's Paradox in mind.
And if you have to rely on something wonkish, with the trappings of an economic theory, then an eye to negative interest rates on the ten year bond is not bad, provided that you can find a measure of price inflation that has not been fouled by official corruption.
Barclays:
Gold Q4 to average $1875;
move till $1300 acceptable
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Gold price is expected to average $1875/oz in Q4, 2011 as the physical gold demand continues to cushion prices before investment demand takes off. Even though the volumes have softened, gold bar premiums in Asia is pretty high, indicating the strong demand for physical gold.
The G-20 nations asked Europe to formulate a plan to resolve the debt crisis within October 23. And this looks unlikely since many key issues are yet to be fully defined.
Spain's credit rating was downgraded by the S&P
Gold market exists in two states as in quantum physics:
Greed and fear
LONDON (Commodity Online): Gold is now existing in 'two states' at the same time as in quantum physics: greed and and fear both battling for attention, Austin Kiddle of Sharps Pixley, London said in a note.
In the world of quantum physics, it is accepted that a cat can both be dead and alive at the same time. The cat example has been used to illustrate the condition in quantum mechanics of which an item can be shown to be in two difference states at the same time.
One last sell-off for silver before we head back to $50?
By Peter Cooper - SilverBearCafe.com
After seven years of investing in precious metals you become something of an old-hand, not that this would impress the true veterans who recall the late 1970s. They are getting a bit old themselves now.
A sprightly 87-year old President Carter was on the BBC last night for a long interview, and sounded very impressive unless you are old enough to remember his abysmal presidency.
CFTC Position Limits Rule Divides Agency,
Angers Market Participants
Forbes.com
(Kitco News) - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission voted in a 3-2 decision on Tuesday to implement tighter limits on commodity markets, putting position limits on all markets in an effort to limit how many positions can be held.
The decision came as part of the Dodd-Frank act which mandated that the CFTC write rules to regulate the swaps, or over-the-counter market, in addition to their oversight of the futures market. The agency itself was divided sharply over the position limit regulation and twice the final meeting was postponed until a majority would vote for it. Market participants said the rules target a concern that has never been proven and don’t address the heart of the problems of the financial crisis, which was the purpose of the Dodd-Frank act.
Monetary Madness - I
s the US Monetary System on the Verge of Collapse?
By David Galland - SilverBearCafe.com
The US monetary system - and by extension, that of much of the developed world - may very well be on the verge of collapse. Falling back on metaphor, while the world's many financial experts and economists sit around arguing about the direction of the ship of state, most are missing the point that the ship has already hit an iceberg and is taking on water fast.
Yet if you were to raise your hand to ask 99% of the financial intelligentsia whether we might be on the verge of a failure of the dollar-based world monetary system, the response would be thinly veiled derision. Because, as we all know, such a thing is unimaginable!
Think again.
Fed’s Dual Mandate Not Working
BY MICHAEL PENTO - FinancialSense.com
We are all aware that the Fed has a dual mandate of stable prices and maximum employment. But what may come as a surprise to most is that they have a distinct preference in their mandates. The Federal Reserve under Ben Bernanke has a clear bias towards fulfilling the goal of maximum employment. Given the situation where unemployment is high and prices are relatively stable, the Fed has opted to pursue a policy of pursuing higher inflation in the hopes of engendering lower unemployment rates.
When Confidence Leaves The System
It Could All Come Apart
By Bob Chapman - SilverBearCafe.com
The investment world hasn't been too excited about "operation twist." After its announcement the S&P fell more than 14% and worldwide stocks fell some 23%. Commodities were smashed, and silver fell 28% and gold 12%. During this process short dated yields on Treasuries fell close to zero and maintained, as long-term yields fell. That means granny and grandpa will have less to live on and pensions won't attain 7.5% return to reach their retirement goals. The result is a Dow yielding 2.8% and S&P 2.2%, while the 10-year T-note yields 1.9%. It is not surprising that fund and money managers are reaching for high yield quality stocks. This they believe will provide yield and safety, while waiting for the next Fed innovation. A situation such as this has not existed for 53 years since I left counter-intelligence.
Preemptive Strike Against Precious Metals Nears End
By Jeff Nielson - BullionBullsCanada.com
I have been intentionally silent on the gold and silver markets for the past several weeks. Prior to that, I wrote several pieces just after and just before the latest take-down in precious metals to alert readers/investors to the fact that "volatility is the new weapon" of the banksters in their efforts to suppress this market.
Since that time, there simply has not been the opportunity to provide readers with any substantive analysis of the current situation. In most of the recent take-downs in precious metals over the past year or so there have been obvious "prongs of attack" for us to focus upon.
Franco-German deadlock over ECB’s role in rescue fund French president Nicolas Sarkozy has raised the stakes dramatically in Europe's debt crisis.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"If there isn't a solution by Sunday, everything is going to collapse," he told his inner circle before an emergency trip on Wednesday night to see German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Frankfurt.
The talks are deadlocked, reflecting a deep rift between Euroland's two great powers. The French fear the EU's €440bn EFSF rescue fund will not be enough to shore up monetary union without mobilising the might of the European Central Bank as lender of last resort. It is a view shared by UBS, Citigroup, RBS and the US Treasury.
Anti-debt measures under review at EU summit
Telegraph.co.uk
European leaders are looking at several measures they may announce this coming weekend as part of their efforts to end a nearly two-year-old sovereign debt crisis. Here are the most eagerly anticipated on markets:
Financial aid for Greece
Following a green light given by international auditors last week, eurozone finance ministers should rubber-stamp the release of €8 billion of loans from a first EU-IMF bailout of Greece last year.
Progress has been slow on a second bailout first announced in July, as auditors delayed loans under the Greek rescue after slippage in targets agreed last year as conditions for funding.
Moody’s downgrades Spain’s credit rating,
warns France on risks
By Howard Schneider - WashingtonPost.com
Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Spain’s credit rating Tuesday and warned that France’s rating could also be at risk, citing both nations’ vulnerability as Europe struggles to manage its persistent debt crisis.
In cutting Spain’s rating by two notches, Moody’s said that since it began reviewing the nation’s ratings in July, no resolution to the debt crisis has emerged and that worsening outlooks for global and European growth are hampering Spanish prospects, the Associated Press reported. That will make it harder for the country to achieve its targets for reducing its budget deficit.
Panic stations: Bank's unanimous vote on QE bodes ill Crikey. Batten down the hatches. Stock the nuclear bunker. Don your hard hats. Britain's economic prospects have worsened so much in the past month that eight of the Bank of England's nine rate-setters, who were happy to leave quantitative easing (QE) unchanged at £200bn in September, were rushing to add another £75bn just 30 days later.
By Philip Aldrick - Telegraph.co.uk
As if that wasn't shocking enough, the minutes to this month’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting showed it could have been even more.
"Some members" discussed a £100bn helicopter drop. One of the "some" was almost certainly Adam Posen, who had been calling for an extra £50bn for a year, but the others were - until very recently - happy enough with the status quo.
A unanimous one-month turnaround. If that doesn't spell impending disaster, what does? Sir Mervyn King, the Bank's Governor, sought to explain why at the Institute of Directors last night. "Without monetary stimulus – low interest rates and large asset purchases – there is a risk that growth will stall," he said. There you have it. Britain risks falling back into recession.
The Age of Bank Failures
By Greg Hunter - USAWatchdog.com
The U.S. stock market surged yesterday on news the European Union (EU) would deploy a two trillion euro rescue fund to help get its sovereign debt crisis under control. This news was so good even battered Bank of America stock jumped more than 10%. Crisis averted? Hold on, not so fast. Some big French banks are in trouble because they are up to their necks with sovereign debt. Naturally, President Nicolas Sarkozy wants action now. Yesterday, the Financial Times (FT.com) reported the French leader said, ". . . an unprecedented financial crisis will lead us to take important, very important decisions in the coming days." Raising the sense of urgency, the French president added: "Allowing the destruction of the euro is to take the risk of the destruction of Europe. Those who destroy Europe and the euro will bear responsibility for resurgence of conflict and division on our continent."
BofA, JPMorgan Say
Refund Demands Mount for Post-Bubble Loans
By James Sterngold and Andrew Frye - Bloomberg.com
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)reported more demands from investors to repurchase faulty mortgages made after 2008, when the banks said they upgraded their standards to curb defaults.
Claims from investors for loans originated in 2009 or later more than tripled to $153 million from a year earlier for New York-based JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, and almost tripled to $164 million for Bank of America, according to their third-quarter reports. The firms also said claims increased for loans made in 2005, before the housing bubble peaked.
Federal Judge Grabs Bank Of America's $8.5 Billion Settlement
By Nathan Vardi - Forbes.com
A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the approval process for Bank of America’s $8.5 billion mortgage put-back settlement should be moved to federal court, making it more vulnerable to attack from investors and public officials.
William Pauley, a federal judge in Manhattan, said the case must be heard in federal court because it "implicates core federal interests in the integrity of nationally chartered banks and the vitality of the national securities markets."
Citigroup has agreed to pay $285M to investors
in negligence suit, SEC says
By David S. Hilzenrath - WashingtonPost.com
Federal regulators charged a Citigroup unit with negligence Wednesday, saying it sold a $1 billion investment product tied to the weakening housing market in 2007 without telling investors it was using the instrument to bet against them.
Citigroup agreed to pay a settlement of $285 million, which will be distributed to investors, the Securities and Exchange Commission said. Under the settlement, which is subject to court approval, Citigroup neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.
Florida Bank, Used as ATM by Insiders,
Won TARP Loan But Now Teeters
by Jake Bernstein - ProPublica.org
U.S. Century Bank rocketed into being in 2002, with investors pouring in $30 million over three months. Four years later, the Miami-based bank boasted assets of more than $1 billion, had consistently shown a profit, and had won plaudits from banking analysts such as BauerFinancial and glowing reviews from The Miami Herald and other local media.
In 2009, as the financial crisis hit, the bank received a vote of confidence from the federal government when it won a $50.2 million loan under the federal Trouble Assets Relief Program -- money earmarked for healthy banks. It was the most TARP money given to a Florida bank. "This represents an important recognition for U.S. Century Bank as it acknowledges our strength, stability and good standing as a strong and healthy financial institution," Ramon Rasco, the bank's chairman, said in a news releaseannouncing the loan.
Goldman Loss Offers a Bad Omen for Wall Street
BY SUSANNE CRAIG - NYTimes.com
Goldman Sachs, once Wall Street’s highest flier, has been grounded, and it does not bode well for the rest of the financial industry or the New York City economy that depends on it.
The bank, both envied and loathed for its ability to churn out huge profits year after year, reported a quarterly loss on Tuesday — its first since the financial crisis and only its second since going public in 1999.
The misstep by the financial leader speaks to what could be a more lasting shift on Wall Street, which has been steadily retrenching over the last 12 months. While protesters a few blocks away were denouncing greed and “too big to fail” banks, the institutions themselves were coming to grips with the current diminished reality.
The Coming Derivatives Crisis
That Could Destroy The Entire Global Financial System
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Most people have no idea that Wall Street has become a gigantic financial casino. The big Wall Street banks are making tens of billions of dollars a year in the derivatives market, and nobody in the financial community wants the party to end. The word "derivatives" sounds complicated and technical, but understanding them is really not that hard. A derivative is essentially a fancy way of saying that a bet has been made. Originally, these bets were designed to hedge risk, but today the derivatives market has mushroomed into a mountain of speculation unlike anything the world has ever seen before. Estimates of the notional value of the worldwide derivatives market go from $600 trillion all the way up to $1.5 quadrillion. Keep in mind that the GDP of the entire world is only somewhere in the neighborhood of $65 trillion. The danger to the global financial system posed by derivatives is so great that Warren Buffet once called them "financial weapons of mass destruction". For now, the financial powers that be are trying to keep the casino rolling, but it is inevitable that at some point this entire mess is going to come crashing down. When it does, we are going to be facing a derivatives crisis that really could destroy the entire global financial system.
The Federal Reserve and Bank of America
Initiate a Coup
to Dump Billions of Dollars of Losses
on the American Taxpayer
by WashingtonsBlog
The Federal Reserve and Bank of America Initiate a Coup to Dump Billions of Dollars of Losses on the American Taxpayer
Bloomberg reports that Bank of America is dumping derivatives onto a subsidiary which is insured by the government – i.e. taxpayers.
Yves Smith notes:
If you have any doubt that Bank of America is going down, this development should settle it …. Both [professor of economics and law, and former head S&L prosecutor] Bill Black (who I interviewed just now) and I see this as a desperate move by Bank of America’s management, a de facto admission that they know the bank is in serious trouble.
The short form via Bloomberg:
Bank of America Corp. (BAC), hit by a credit downgrade last month, hasmoved derivatives from its Merrill Lynch unit to a subsidiary flush with insured deposits, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation…
Economic Armageddon Seen As Imminent
By Monte Pelerin - SilverBearCafe.com
Suddenly it is getting crowded in the world of those predicting economic armageddon. In a sense, that is comforting for those of us who were early and few. Once relegated to the lunatic fringe, it appears as though this view is expanding, possibly even going mainstream.
That more are calling for a terrible ending to the crisis does not ensure that it will occur. It does however make those of us who were mostly alone early on appear less crazy. Some of the predictions below suggest we may be approaching an economic equivalent to a Return to the Planet of the Apes.
Kudos to Michael Snyder of Economic Collapse for providing the 12 quotes shown toward the end of this piece. Two quotes struck me as bracketing the range of views:
George Soros believes that: "financial markets are driving the world towards another Great Depression with incalculable political consequences."
Supercommittee seeks advice from 'Gang of Six'
by Sean Lengell - WashingtonTimes.com
The bipartisan debt supercommittee on Wednesday was briefed by another congressional debt reduction panel, the so called "Gang of Six," though it's uncertain if the meeting helped the former group inch any closer to its goal of finding at least $1.2 trillion in cuts to federal spending by late November.
The 12-member supercommittee invited Gang of Six members to speak about their $3.7 trillion deficit-reduction plan. Members of both groups were tight-lipped about what was discussed when they emerged from the closed door meeting at the Capitol.
10 Mind Blowing Facts
Which Show How Members Of Congress
And Federal Employees Are Living The High Life
At Our Expense
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
If you were asked to guess, what area of the United States would you say has the highest average income? New York City? Los Angeles? Silicon Valley? Well, would you believe that it is actually the Washington D.C. area? Median household income in the region is $84,523, which is the highest in the nation. One of the biggest reasons for this are the huge salaries being pulled down by federal employees in the Washington D.C. area. According to the latest numbers, the average federal employee in the D.C. area brings in total compensation worth more than $126,000 a year. Of course members of Congress are even doing far better than that. Most of the members of Congress are millionaires, and somehow the vast majority of our politicians leave Washington D.C. far wealthier than when they arrived. So if you want to live the high life, you might want to move to the Washington D.C. area. Our "representatives" in Congress and the bureaucrats that work for the federal government are swimming in cash, and it is all at our expense.
This is no Normal Recession: Are we Prepared for $100 Oil
Written by The Oil Drum - OilPrice.com
David Cameron describes the economic downturn as "no normal recession" UK Prime Minister David Cameron to party conference, 5th October 2011.
This is the fourth post in the series following the oil price, markets and general health of the global economy examining the simple theory that OECD recession may result from annual average oil price exceeding $100 / bbl.
The annual average price (AAP) of Brent went through $100 on around 16th August 2011 and the AAP stood at $105.3 on 12th October. The AAP high point in the 2008 price spike was $104.8 on 9th October that year.
Peak Oil Is About Price, Not Supply
BY JEFF RUBIN - FinancialSense.com
Heading down to Washington to speak at the Association for Peak Oil-USA‘s Truth in Energy conference on Nov. 2, I sense a general malaise within the peak oil movement.
The pequists, as they have become known, appear to be on the defensive these days as they once again roll back their dating of the dreaded supply peak, confounded by the oil industry’s never ending ability to develop new extraction technologies and discover new sources of supply.
Prepare for Another Plunge as Fear Recedes;
Why the Wall Street "Occupy Movement"
should Protest the Fed instead of Bank of America
By Mike Shedlock - GlobalEconomicAnalysis.blogspot.com
Fear as measured by the cost of options and also by the $VIX remain elevated but well off the upper end of the range seen multiple times since August.
Bloomberg reports Bank Puts Fall Most in S&P 500 as Profits Reduce Crisis Pessimism
The cost of options protecting against losses in financial companies is falling faster than any other industry as earnings reassure investors that banks and brokerages will avoid a repeat of 2008.
The New Divorce Demand: "You Keep The House"
Business Insider via SilverBearCafe.com
"Getting the house" - once the end all, be all of divorce settlements - is becoming a recession-era hot potato for splitting couples.
Reduced liquidity, homeowners insurance, underwater mortgages, shoddy neighbors, and a dour housing market spell doom for divorcees who can barely afford the payments, let alone the emotional stress of trying to rid themselves of the house or save it, writes Marcelle Sussman Fischler in Forbes.
It's just another sign the financial crisis has changed our attitudes toward debt, perhaps for the worse.
Student loans outstanding will exceed $1 trillion this year
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
Students and workers seeking retraining are borrowing extraordinary amounts of money through federal loan programs, potentially putting a huge burden on the backs of young people looking for jobs and trying to start careers.
The amount of student loans taken out last year crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time and total loans outstanding will exceed $1 trillion for the first time this year. Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards, reports the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Fannie, Freddie to phase out attorney networks
in wake of foreclosure scandal
By Lorraine Woellert - WashingtonPost.com
Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will phase out their foreclosure attorney networks in the wake of the so-called robo-signing scandal, the companies' regulator said.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency directed the companies to transition to a system that allows mortgage servicers to select their own law firms for processing defaults and foreclosures, rather than relying on a pool of attorneys designated by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
Pediatrician Group Seeks to Boost ADHD Diagnoses
Jacob Sullum - Reason.com
This week the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) beganrecommending that "any child 4 through 18 who has school or behavioral problems and symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, or impulsivity" be evaluated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Previously the AAP's guidelines applied only to kids between 6 and 12. An ADHD diagnosis is considered confirmed if a patient meets the criteria in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which lists characteristics that are very common in children but tries to narrow the label's reach by requiring that the "symptoms" last for at least six months "to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level." It looks like that caveat has been somewhat successful, since far less than 100 percent of American 4-to-17-year-olds have been diagnosed with ADHD—only about 10 percent, according to the National Survey of Children's Health. One in 10 is still a pretty impressive number, of course, and the AAP's new guidelines can be expected to boost it further.
OWS Call for "Global Governance"
By Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
Prior to the worldwide OWS-inspired protests on October 15, a group of prominent leftists "issued a manifesto that includes a strong call for global democracy and, in particular, democratic rule over the international financial system," reports UNPA Campaign.
UNPA is short for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, "a global network of parliamentarians and non-governmental organizations advocating citizen’s representation at the United Nations," according to their website.
GOLD IS MONEY... EVERYTHING ELSE IS CREDIT - J.P. Morgan
Three Reasons for Higher Gold & Silver Prices
BY PETER DEGRAAF - FinancialSense.com
With all of the money printing that is going on worldwide, it beats me why a number of analysts are predicting that the price of gold and silver is going to fall, after gold has just corrected by 19% and silver by 40%.
Featured is the 'Bullish Percentage Index' from the GDM gold producers, with the price of gold bullion added for comparison at the top. The index is turning up at the most oversold point since the credit crisis of 2008. The gold price then rose from $760 to $1010 over the next 3 – 4 months. Since the credit crunch, every time this index has dropped below 30%, it has turned out to be a buying opportunity. Why would anyone expect the price of gold this time to produce a different outcome?
Gold and Economic Decline Why Uncertainty Lifts the Metal Price
BY GREGOR MACDONALD - FinancialSense.com
Why Uncertainty Lifts the Metal Price
Reminiscent of the media's coverage of oil in the 2000-2008 period, gold has produced a multi-year stream of thoughtless op-eds and repetitive storytelling. If readers can recall how many times the bull market in oil was dubbed "over" leading up to the crisis of 2008, then gold has been in a "bubble" for at least as many years, if not longer.
The seminal piece to this genre was Willem Buiter's November 2009 Financial Times of London essay, Gold - A Six Thousand Year Bubble. That piece would be used as a template by other, lesser writers in the two years that followed. Consider this 2010 tracker-chart of opinion, emanating this time from New York:
After gold,
CGSE to target yuan denominated silver contracts soon
BEIJING(Commodity Online): Chinese Gold and SilverExchange(CGSE) in Hong Kong has initiated trading in yuan-denominated gold contracts on Monday, hoping to boost the exchange's trade volumes and to facilitate internationalization of yuan, reported Platts.
"Once our Kilobar gold trade has become mature, we'd like to start silver bar trade, which we expect to materilize about six months from now," Platts quoted the CGSE source as saying.
Alternative Misery Index Drives Gold Demand
By: Michael J Kosares - MarketOracle.co.uk
Misery loves company, and particularly the company, comfort and security of gold. Since the financial breakdown of 2008, the Misery Index -- unemployment and inflation added together -- has been in a steep upward trajectory, so has the demand for gold coins and bullion.
The Misery Index was first popularized by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential campaign. Reagan used it as a barometer for how well the country was doing economically. During Jimmy Carter's presidency the Misery Index hit an all-time high -- almost 22%. Near the end of Reagan's tenure in the White House, he had reduced the unemployment and inflation rates meaningfully -- to 7.7% by 1986. Barrack Obama's Misery Index now stands at almost 13% using federal government statistics and we all know things are getting worse not better. We also know that things might be quite a bit worse than what we are led to believe. That's where Shadow Government Statistics -- an alternative, and some say more realistic, rendition of economic statistics -- comes into the picture.
In Debt Up To Our Eyeballs
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The entire financial system of the western world is designed to be a debt spiral. The total amount of money and and the total amount of debt are supposed to continually expand. Today, we are in debt up to our eyeballs and it seems like nearly everyone is talking about "deleveraging" and reducing government debt. But in a world where the entire financial system is based on debt, is there any way for massive deleveraging to take place without plunging us all into a horrific worldwide depression? The governments of the western world have had a lot of fun spending money as if there was no tomorrow, but now tomorrow has arrived and all of that debt is rapidly catching up with us. Politicians in Europe and in the United States are running around trying to come up with a "plan", but there is no "plan" that is going to fix the current debt-based system. Over the next few years we are going to reap what we have sown.
Debt-Serfdom Is Now the New American Norm
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancialSense.com
The typical American household is insolvent: its debts exceed its assets. There is nothing fancy about calculating insolvency: if debts exceed assets, the enterprise is insolvent. By this measure, most American households are insolvent, if their real assets are marked to actual market.
For example:
Auto loan balance: $9,000
Actual market value of auto: $6,000
Credit card balance: $6,000
Street value of stuff purchased with credit card: $300
Home mortgage: $250,000
Auction value of house: $200,000
Student loans: $60,000
Market value of education: Not applicable, as it cannot auctioned off or securitized
And so on.
The typical American household is thus in service to its debt, not to its assets, and to the holders of that debt. This is debt-serfdom: serfdom in service to the owners of debt, debt that may well always exceed the value of the household's assets. This is debt-serfdom for life.
Gross was right: The bond bubble will burst Bonds to fall, though maybe not in short term
By Peter Brimelow, MarketWatch , Edwin S. Rubenstein
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Bonds have been showing unexpected strength in the last month.
Which must have been particularly annoying to the celebrated Bill Gross of Pimco Total Return Fund, who was recently forced to abandon a major bearish play at some cost. (See “Pimco & Bill Gross apologize for poor performance,” by Kurt Brouwer, Oct. 14.)
It was pretty annoying to us too. We’ve been saying for some time that the total cumulative real return of bonds has mounted into uncharted territory, way above the long-run trend. Unless a hundred years of financial history are meaningless, bonds must go down — and yields, and interest rates, up.
Monetary Madness –
Is the US Monetary System on the Verge of Collapse?
By David Galland - The DailyReckoning.com
10/18/11 The US monetary system — and by extension, that of much of the developed world — may very well be on the verge of collapse. Falling back on metaphor, while the world’s many financial experts and economists sit around arguing about the direction of the ship of state, most are missing the point that the ship has already hit an iceberg and is taking on water fast.
Yet if you were to raise your hand to ask 99% of the financial intelligentsia whether we might be on the verge of a failure of the dollar-based world monetary system, the response would be thinly veiled derision. Because, as we all know, such a thing is unimaginable!
Think again.
Metals Hit By Bear Raid Then Recover On Rumored Euro Deal
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
If you had a calm trading day today then you probably were not trading.
Gold and silver were smacked down fairly hard in a two step operation around the NY open this morning in a blatantly obvious bear raid. Stocks also sold off quite sharply.
But then the markets started to recover, if one knows what to look for. I responded by taking down my short stock positions, and added substantially to my bullion position a little after 10 AM.
France and Germany ready to agree €2tn euro rescue fund
Leaders of France and Germany aim to calm market fears before G20
By David Gow in Brussels - Guardian.co.uk
France and Germany have reached agreement to boost the eurozone's rescue fund to €2tn (£1.75tn) as part of a "comprehensive plan" to resolve the sovereign debt crisis, which this weekend's summit should endorse, EU diplomats said.
The growing confidence that a deal can be struck at this Sunday's crisis summit came amid signs of market pressure on France following the warning by the ratings agency Moody's that it might review the country's coveted AAA rating because of the cost of bailing out its banks and other members of the eurozone. The leaders of France and Germany hope to agree a deal that will assuage market uncertainties or, worse, volatility, in the run-up to the G20 summit in Cannes early next month.
Euro and gold fall on bucket of German cold water Despite the G20s announced intent to provide answers to the Eurozone crisis by the end of this week, a German statement not to expect a solution til next year dragged the Euro down and gold with it. -- Author: Julian Phillips - Mineweb.com
.... PRICE DRIVERS
Germany came in with a cold bucket of water, which it threw on the euro. We are told by Angela Merkel's office not to expect a cure for the Eurozone problems until into next year. It was a bit late to say this after the G-20 called on the Eurozone to act quickly. The markets are now unhappy with the Eurozone and expect the worst. Funds are leaving the euro on a broad front as hope fades. If there is no solution given on the debt crisis soon, then we may well see the Eurozone impose Capital Controls to prevent a capital flight. Eurozone agreements state:
Where, in exceptional circumstances, movements of capital to or from third countries cause, or threaten to cause, serious difficulties for the operation of economic and monetary union, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission and after consulting the European Central Bank, may take safeguard measures with regard to third countries for a period not exceeding six months if such measures are strictly necessary. Needless to say, this is gold positive.
Moody’s Downgrades Spain
By Mark Gongloff - AP - WSJ.com
This was not unexpected, but Moody's has just downgraded Spain's credit rating two notches to A1.
Moody's put Spain on under review back in late July, Fitch cut Spain's rating 11 days ago, and S&P cut it last week.
US stock futures are down a bit, but that may have more to do with Apple's earnings miss than this downgrade — although this downgrade doesn't help.
Looking Ahead
as Greece Prepares for the "Mother of All Strikes"
By Joel Bowman - The DailyReckoning.com
10/18/11 Buenos Aires, Argentina – After a spectacular showing last week, stock markets have once more succumbed to spasmodic bouts of deluded optimism punctuated by frightful moments of self-loathing.
It's good to see them back to their old, bi-polar self again.
Almost half of last week’s 541-point gain was wiped out in yesterday’s session alone when investors recalled, suddenly, that Europe is still broke; a cold, hard reality that had apparently slipped their minds.
EU bank failures will crash Wall Street — again 8 warnings for Washington and Occupiers
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Worst-case scenario's closing fast: Occupy Wall Street growing. But no political power or allies yet. Feared yes, attacked by GOP proxy tea party. Soon the Occupation will explode into a new American Revolution.
When? A string of European bank collapses is dead ahead. And like the Arab Spring, they will trigger an economic disaster for American banks.
Yes, coming soon says Martin Weiss in his "7 Major Advance Warnings," which is "bound to have a life-changing impact on nearly all investors in the U.S. and around the globe." His new Weiss Ratings warnings are the "most important" in a 40-year career. The stress on Wall Street banks will force them back to Congress for more bailouts.
plans for new bank backed with precious metals Sprott makes a bet on a different kind of bank
By BOYD ERMAN - TheGlobeAndMal.com
Eric Sprott, one of the most vocal critics of the global financial system, wants to start a bank. But it won’t be like any bank most people are used to seeing.
Mr. Sprott and the asset management firm he founded, Sprott Inc., are investing in an Ontario-based currency trading company known as Continental Currency Exchange Corp. They, along with the current management of Continental, are applying to federal regulators for permission to turn the 17-branch operation into the Continental Bank of Canada. They expect to get a decision early next year.
Undermining Bernanke
Energizes Republican Candidates Joining Fed Insiders
By Craig Torres and James Rowley - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. Federal Reserve is under more pressure than at any point in three decades over Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's efforts to jumpstart the economy, and the criticism threatens to undermine support for the central bank.
Mitt Romney, once a Bernanke defender, now says he would replace him, as have Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and other Republican presidential contenders. Republican congressional leaders have urged the chairman to "resist" further action. And even some Fed presidents came out against the central bank’s recent attempts to lower long-term interest rates.
BofA Said to Split Regulators
Over Moving Merrill Derivatives to Bank Unit Evading Downgrade, BofA Moves Trillions in Deriatives to Retail Bank Over Objections of FDIC
By Bob Ivry, Hugh Son and Christine Harper - Bloomberg.com
Bank of America Corp. (BAC), hit by a credit downgrade last month, has moved derivatives from its Merrill Lynch unit to a subsidiary flush with insured deposits, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.
The Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. disagree over the transfers, which are being requested by counterparties, said the people, who asked to remain anonymous because they weren't authorized to speak publicly. The Fed has signaled that it favors moving the derivatives to give relief to the bank holding company, while the FDIC, which would have to pay off depositors in the event of a bank failure, is objecting, said the people. The bank doesn't believe regulatory approval is needed, said people with knowledge of its position.
Bank of America's earnings report is more confusing than a Jackson Pollack painting. It certainly shows the chaos and subjectiveness reflected by Pollack's most famous works. - Dave in Denver
Bank of America reported net income of $6.2 billion this morning. As explained in my posts on JPM and Citigroup, the banks are using non-cash, non-economic accounting loopholes that allow them to basically create paper income in order to dress up their earnings reports and make them look good to the majority of investors and analysts who only look at headlines and/or only analyze the useless GAAP income, balance sheet and cash flow statements.
Get Ready for Great Recession, Part 2
By Rich Smith - DailyFinance.com
The capital of Pennsylvania just fell into bankruptcy. What? You didn't hear? Neither did the financial markets -- yet.
Crippled by a $300 million-plus debt burden taken on to fund a municipal incinerator, Harrisburg, Pa., filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week. According to its city council, the only alternative to bankruptcy would have been to sell off the city's few remaining cash-generating assets -- parking garages and parking meters, for example -- to raise funds to pay off its creditors. Worse, once those assets were gone, the city would have been even more strapped for cash, which probably would have necessitated a bankruptcy filing "in three to five years anyway." So rather than procrastinate, Harrisburg bit the bullet -- and bit the big one.
Consumer Credit May Be Deteriorating —
Is the Recovery Doomed?
By Daniel Indiviglio - TheAtlantic.com
When consumers stop paying their bills that usually means that the economy is in trouble. This implies that either more people lost their jobs or that their incomes aren't keeping up with their expenses. Either scenario implies a decline in the ever-important metric of consumer spending. As the big banks report their third quarter earnings this month, mortgage and credit card delinquency rates may appear to be on the rise. How much should this worry us?
Is Credit Really Deteriorating?
First we must determine: is there really a problem? Tom Braithwaite, Shahien Nasiripour, and Ajay Makan in the Financial Times argue that consumers are in trouble. They point to pieces of evidence contained in the recent third quarter earnings announcements from Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo. Here's a summary of their points:
Laying the Groundwork for 8% Inflation
BY FREDERICK J SHEEHAN - FinancailSense.com
The terminal stage of Dr. Frankenstein-style central banking is disgorging ridiculous claims of authority motivated by reckless efforts to retain control. One such pincer attack is the Federal Reserve's purported 2% inflation target. Behind our very eyes, this fictional mandate is being raised, all the more reason that savers need to speculate, not a welcome prospect with both inflationary and deflationary influences expanding and bound to burst.
A certainty of this age (post-Western-Civilization) is the ease with which libertine policies escalate to fantastic proportions even as they are failing. The Federal Reserve mumbles its 2% inflation target while the "economic literature" has sown the garden for an 8% inflation rate, in the name of "price stability."
Wholesale Prices in U.S. Rise
More Than Economists Estimated on Food, Fuel
By Shobhana Chandra - Bloomberg.com
Wholesale prices in the U.S. rose more than forecast in September, boosted by gasoline, food and trucks, indicating inflationary pressures continue to bubble up the production line.
The producer price index climbed 0.8 percent, the most in five months, after no change in August, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. Economists projected a 0.2 percent gain, according to the median of 71 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. The so-called core measure, which excludes volatile food and energy, gained 0.2 percent, also more than predicted.
Fed officials at odds on inflation threat
By Ann Saphir
(Reuters) - Fissures at the Federal Reserve over the correct course of future monetary policy were on display Monday, with one top policymaker calling for further easing even as another suggested tighter policy may be needed.
Jeffrey Lacker, the Richmond Fed's hawkish president, acknowledged that inflation is likely to ebb in coming months as pressures from high energy and commodity prices ease. But he warned that inflation remained a threat.
"My sense is that we should not be adding monetary stimulus at this point," Lacker said in response to questions from reporters. "A case could be made that withdrawing stimulus may be warranted soon."
How Bill Gates is betting on inflation Microsoft tycoon is investing in little-known inflation funds
By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — If you’re retired, or nearly retired, you probably want three things from your investments: Safety of principal, a reasonable rate of interest, and some security against the risks of inflation down the road.
Good luck with that.
Developments in the financial markets, and the Federal Reserve’s policies, have driven down interest rates and closed off most of your options.
What can you do?
Here’s something intriguing. Microsoft founder Bill Gates has been quietly taking advantage of a little-known investment on the stock market that may satisfy all three conditions. And it’s open to anyone.
Social Security benefits to increase in 2012 First cost-of-living adjustment in 3 years likely to be around 3.5%
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Some 55 million Americans can expect their first increase in Social Security benefits in three years, though the possibility of higher Medicare premiums might eat up most of the extra income.
The increase in benefits, which is likely to end up around 3.5%, will first show up in government checks sent out in January 2012.
The exact size of the increase will be determined Wednesday when the Labor Department releases the consumer price index for September. Annual adjustments are based on changes in the so-called CPI-W gauge during the U.S. government’s fiscal year, which runs from October to September.
Mailing a Letter to Cost a Penny More Next Year
By The Associated Press - DailyFinance.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - It'll cost a penny more tomailaletternext year.
The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday that it will increase postage rates on Jan. 22, including a 1-cent increase in the cost of first-classmail, to 45 cents.
Under the law the post office cannot raise prices more than the rate of inflation, which is 2.1 percent, unless it gets special permission from the independent Postal Regulatory Commission. The PRC last year turned down such a request.
How Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Plan Would Change Your Taxes
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Hours before tonight's Republican debate in Las Vegas, the Tax Policy Center has just released their first complete analysis of Herman Cain 9-9-9 tax plan. It doesn't change the federal government's tax diet much. In fact, it raises about the same revenue as current policy (i.e.: Bush tax cuts minus the payroll tax break). But it does dramatically change tax burden on a family-by-family basis. Under his plan, 84 percent of the country will pay higher taxes, and 91 percent of the top percentile will pay lower taxes.
Is Faber willing to give away any of his profits? Marc Faber says Americans need to tighten their belts, save more and work more for lower salaries
Business Intelligence, Middle East - Bi-Me.com
INTERNATIONAL. Marc Faber the Swiss fund manager and Gloom Boom & Doom editor spoke Tuesday about the Occupy Wall Street protests, blaming lobbyist and Washington for the current economic stagnation and characterizing Wall Street as a "minority" that is only "using the system."
He suggested protesters should instead go after the real culprits in Washington and "also occupy the Federal Reserve on the way."
Speaking in an interview with CNBC from Montreal, Faber blamed "Keynesians and US Democrats for their interventionist policies.
84% would pay more under Cain's 9-9-9 plan
By Jeanne Sahadi @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Under Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax reform plan, 84% of U.S. households would pay more than they do under current tax policies, according to a report released Tuesday by a nonpartisan research group.
And the impact would be felt most heavily by the lowest income groups.
Those are some of the estimates from the Tax Policy Center's analysis of Cain's proposal, which has helped make him a leading contender for the Republican 2012 presidential nomination.
Buyer Can’t Sue After Bad Foreclosure Sale
By Thom Weidlich - Bloomberg.com
A Massachusetts man who bought property in a faulty foreclosure sale isn’t the true owner and so doesn’t have the right to sue over it, the state’s high court ruled.
The Supreme Judicial Court, which in January found that banks can't foreclose on a house if they don't own the mortgage, went one step further in a closely watched case and said a sale after that foreclosure doesn’t transfer the property. Therefore, the buyer couldn’t bring his court action against a previous owner, the court ruled.
How to Stretch Out a Home Foreclosure for Years
By Laura Rowley - DailyFinance.com
Losing your home to foreclosure is traumatic, no doubt. And for a variety of reasons--from internal bank bureaucracy and missteps to slow-moving government programs--the pain can stretch out for months.
It takes an average of 336 days for a home to move through theforeclosure process, from the first day a default notice was filed to the final disposition of the property, according to the latestreportfrom RealtyTrac. That's the longest average since the 2007.
For Janet, a 48-year-old attorney and mother of five who asked that her full name not be used, the process has stretched out for nearly 900 days, and counting. That's more than two years without paying a single mortgage payment.
Administration Seeks to Roll Back Hospital Rules
By ROBERT PEAR - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration moved Tuesday to roll back a number of rules governing hospitals and other health care providers after concluding that the standards were obsolete or overly burdensome to the industry.
Among other things, the proposals would allow hospitals to save money by sometimes using qualified nurse practitioners and physician assistants in place of better-paid doctors, allowing doctors to focus more on patients and helping address "impending physician shortages."
Obama on Occupy Wall Street: 'We Are on Their Side'
BY DANIEL HALPER - WeeklyStandard.com
In an interview that will be aired tonight on ABC News, President Obama continues to express his commitment to the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
"The most important thing we can do right now is those of us in leadership letting people know that we understand their struggles and we are on their side, and that we want to set up a system in which hard work, responsibility, doing what you're supposed to do, is rewarded," Obama tells ABC News. "And that people who are irresponsible, who are reckless, who don't feel a sense of obligation to their communities and their companies and their workers that those folks aren't rewarded."
Alienating the Middle
By Mona Charen - PatriotPost.us
It doesn't come as a huge surprise that President Obama has decided to embrace the Occupy Wall Street movement. There has always been a certain drum circle flavor to this administration. In fact, nothing illustrated the point so well as when, a couple of weeks ago (before the president decided that OWS was his ticket to re-election), Vice President Biden referred in a radio interview to one of the agitators as "Van Jones, whoever he is." The program's host interjected that Jones was the former "green jobs" czar in the Obama administration. Ah.
Wall Street Traders Laugh
When Occupy Protesters Are Arrested - 10-17-2011
Most Americans Uncertain
About "Occupy Wall Street" Goals Majority also lack an opinion about the way the protests are being conducted -- by Jeffrey M. Jones - Gallup.com
PRINCETON, NJ -- Less than half of Americans express an opinion about either the Occupy Wall Street movement's goals or the way it has conducted its protests. Those with an opinion are more likely to approve than disapprove...
The results are based on an Oct. 15-16 USA Today/Gallup poll. The Occupy Wall Street movement has attracted significant media attention for its nearly month-long protest of major U.S. financial institutions in New York, with similar demonstrations taking place in numerous other cities in the United States in recent weeks.
But the American public does not seem to be very familiar with the movement or its goals. Part of that may stem from the below-average level of attention Americans are paying to the news story.
Obama and Occupy Wall Street Are One
By David Limbaugh - PatriotPost.us
President Obama acts as though he merely sympathizes with the Wall Street occupiers' "broad-based frustration" about how America's financial system works, but he's doing a lot more than sympathizing. He's fanning their flames.
Perhaps we should take a look at what, exactly, Obama is supporting and contrast it with the tea party movement he so roundly condemns.
In May 2010, when a White House dinner guest suggested to Obama that racism was a motivating force behind the tea party opposition to him, he raised nary a finger of objection and even affirmed that there was a racially biased "subterranean agenda" afoot in the anti-Obama movement. About that same time, the administration had lumped the tea party protesters into a group to be monitored as "domestic terrorists."
The Big Wall Street Banks
Are Already Trying To Buy The 2012 Election
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
We are never going to restore legitimacy to our political system until we get the money out of politics. Typically, in federal elections the candidate that raises the most money wins about 90 percent of the time. In 2008, Barack Obama raised almost twice as much money as John McCain did. 3 of the top 7 donors to Obama's campaign were big Wall Street banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup). Now Wall Street is doing it again. The big Wall Street banks are already trying to buy the 2012 election. So who do they want to win in 2012? Based on contribution patterns so far, the overwhelming favorite of the Wall Street banks to win in 2012 is Mitt Romney. The big Wall Street banks have given to Romney as pile of money that is more than 4 times larger than they have given to anyone else. Even though most Republicans really don't want him, if history is any indication this means that Mitt Romney is going to be the Republican nominee for president in 2012.
Darpa Wants to Master the Science of Propaganda
By Dawn Lim - Wired.com
Mark Twain once tried to distinguish between the storyteller's art and tales that a machine could generate. He observed that stringing "incongruities and absurdities together in a wandering and sometimes purposeless way, and seem innocently unaware that they are absurdities," was the province of the American storyteller. A machine might imitate simple formulas behind yarns, but never quite master them.
The Pentagon’s freewheeling research arm is hoping to prove Twain wrong. Darpa is asking scientists to "take narratives and make them quantitatively analyzable in a rigorous, transparent and repeatable fashion." The idea is to detect terrorists who have been indoctrinated by propaganda. Then, the Pentagon can respond with some messages of its own.
The Price of Argentina's Default
By Megan McArdle - TheAtlantic.com
.... As you can see, the dollar peg was very bad for Argentina. When Argentina left the peg and defaulted on its debt, they ended a multi-year recession, and rebounded to nearly the GDP levels they'd enjoyed before the peg. (The figures are based on real GDP in Argentine pesos). But they didn't discover some miracle economic elixir; it's more like they stopped banging themselves in the head with a sledgehammer. They also got an enormous boost from a commodity boom driven by rising Chinese demand; Argentina produces a lot of agricultural exports, and when those prices rise, so does the Argentine economy.
However, even this obvious (in retrospect) step was not cost-free: defaulting and breaking the peg wiped out a lot of domestic savings, further tanked the economy and the banking system in the short run, and cut off Argentina from the capital markets. This was exacerbated by the way Argentina chose to default: they demanded extremely stiff "haircuts" from their creditors. And since the bond agreements stipulated that the bonds were payable in dollars, and that disputes would be adjudicated in foreign courts (mostly, I believe, the US), Argentina had no way to force creditors to accept those terms. Many of them didn't.
Monsanto's Crimes Against Humanity
with Jeffrey M. Smith 1/2
Monsanto's Crimes Against Humanity
with Jeffrey M. Smith 2/2
Enter the Dragon:
China Offers World's Very First RMB Gold Contract
BY CRIS SHERIDAN - FinancialSense.com
Why is this important? First, a bit of background. Gold, as with most other commodities, is commonly priced around the world in US dollars since it currently acts as the world reserve currency — a relic of the Bretton Woods System established after World War II to restore order to the global financial system under America's newly recognized economic and financial strength. In order for other nations to agree to this US-centric based system of finance and global trade, however, there was a stipulation made to enforce responsibility on the US to maintain the dollar's value by allowing other nations to freely exchange their dollar holdings for a fixed amount of gold. That is, the US dollar would be gold-backed.
China Currency Message
May be Stronger Than Likelihood of U.S. Sanctions
By James Rowley - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. Senate’s vote to punish China for depressing its currency to promote cheap exports is the latest legislative ritual in which the message may be as important as the proposed sanction.
U.S. House Speaker John Boehner practically declared the measure dead on arrival in the Republican-run chamber after the Senate's 63-35vote last week to let U.S. manufacturers seek duties on Chinese imports if they prove they were harmed by manipulation of the renminbi. Boehner, of Ohio, voiced "grave concerns" the measure may trigger a trade war.
China Will Write Off $3 Trillion,
Says Das of 'Extreme Money'
By James Pressley - Bloomberg.com
If Satyajit Das is right, China will end up writing off its $3.2 trillion in foreign reserves. Europe is shambling toward Japanese-style growth. And a day of reckoning is at hand for creditors and debtors alike.
"Europeans are going to have to recapitalize their banks," Das said as we discussed the sovereign-debt crisis and his new book, "Extreme Money," over coffee in a Brussels hotel. "You have made bad loans; you’re going to have to write them off. That is the one axiomatic law of making a bad loan."
Misery Index drives gold demand
by Michael J. Kosares - USAGold.com
The Misery Index was first popularized by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential campaign. It combined the inflation rate and the unemployment rate. Reagan used it as a barometer for how well the country was doing economically. During Jimmy Carter's presidency the Misery Index hit an all-time high-- almost 22%. Near the end of Reagan's tenure in the White House, he had reduced the unemployment and inflation rates meaningfully -- to 7.7% by 1986. Barrack Obama's Misery Index now stands at almost 13% and we all know things are getting worse not better. We also know that things might be quite a bit worse than what we are led to believe.
Gold and Economic Decline
by Gregor Macdonald - ChrisMartenson.com
Reminiscent of the media's coverage of oil in the 2000-2008 period, gold has produced a multi-year stream of thoughtless op-eds and repetitive storytelling. If readers can recall how many times the bull market in oil was dubbed "over" leading up to the crisis of 2008, then gold has been in a "bubble" for at least as many years, if not longer.
The seminal piece to this genre was Willem Buiter's November 2009 Financial Times of London essay, Gold - A Six Thousand Year Bubble. That piece would be used as a template by other, lesser writers in the two years that followed. Consider this 2010 tracker-chart of opinion, emanating this time from New York:
Gold and Economic Decline
By Chris Martinson - Zerohedge.com
Gold and Economic Decline
Reminiscent of the media's coverage of oil in the 2000-2008 period, gold has produced a multi-year stream of thoughtless op-eds and repetitive storytelling. If readers can recall how many times the bull market in oil was dubbed "over" leading up to the crisis of 2008, then gold has been in a "bubble" for at least as many years, if not longer.
The seminal piece to this genre was Willem Buiter's November 2009 Financial Times of London essay, Gold - A Six Thousand Year Bubble. That piece would be used as a template by other, lesser writers in the two years that followed. Consider this 2010 tracker-chart of opinion, emanating this time from New York:
This year's national tally of collapsed banks now at 80
Piedmont Community Bank in Gray, Ga., is the state's 20th failure of the year
Regulators also shuttered First State Bank of Cranford, N.J., the Garden State's first bank failure this year
Country Bank of Aledo, Ill., was that state's eighth failure of the year.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Regulators on Friday closed banks in Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey and Illinois, pushing this year's national tally of collapsed banks to 80.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance closed Piedmont Community Bank in Gray, Ga., the state's 20th failure of the year. State Bank and Trust Co. of Macon, Ga., will assume all of Piedmont's deposits, the agency said.
Jim Rogers warns of bond bubble,
stagflation and emerging markets
CommodityOnline.com
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Jim Rogers believes that the US will experience stagflation so much worse than the 1970's that he is betting on commodities and currencies while shorting stocks and emerging markets.
This should come as no surprise for those whoo follow Rogers, since he has been a long time commodity bull.
"As the inflation numbers get worse and as governments print more money and as governments have to issue many, many more bonds - somewhere along the line we get to the point when (bond prices) go down. Bernanke is obviously backing the market again and the Federal Reserve has more money than most of us - so they can drive interest rates down again. As I say they are making the bubble worse", Jim Rogers said in a CNBC interview adding that he wouldn't advise anybody to buy bonds.
Lacker Says Fed’s Attempts to Boost GDP Growth
May Risk Stoking Inflation
By Joshua Zumbrun - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said the central bank risks stoking inflation by trying to boost growth because the recovery is hampered by conditions that are unaffected by monetary policy.
"The factors likely to be restraining growth -- from empty houses to prospective tax rates -- are nonmonetary and largely beyond the power of the central bank to offset through easier monetary conditions," Lacker said today in the text of a speech to be delivered in Salisbury, Maryland. "History has repeatedly demonstrated that if a central bank attempts to add monetary stimulus to offset nonmonetary disturbances to growth, the result is higher inflation."
Fed's Evans favors more 'out of the box' easing
By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Reserve can't sit on its hands with unemployment stuck at such high levels and should consider new "out of the box" easing steps, said Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on Monday. Even though the Fed has already taken the unprecedented step of saying that it anticipates short-term rates remaining low until mid-2013, Evans wants the Fed to go further and commit to keeping short-term rates at zero until the unemployment rate falls below 7% or the outlook for inflation over the medium term goes above 3%.
Fed's Evans suggests raising inflation target
until unemployment falls below 7%
by CalculatedRisk
From Chicago Fed President Charles Evans: The Fed's Dual Mandate Responsibilities: Maintaining Credibility during a Time of Immense Economic Challenges. In his speech, Evans notes two significant Fed policy errors - one in the 1970s that led to inflation, and one in the 1930s that led to deflation. He argues the current situation is more like the 1930s. Here is an excerpt on a proposed policy, from Charles Evans:
I believe that we can substantially ease the public’s concern that monetary policy will become restrictive in the near to medium term and, hence, reduce the restraint in expanding economic activity. This can be done by clearly spelling out in our policy statements the conditionality of our dual mandate responsibilities.
What the world most needs now is growth, not austerity Debt cannot be magicked away.
Reducing it is bound to have consequences.
By Roger Bootle - Telegraph.co.uk
In the case where the Government uses economic growth combined with fiscal restraint to eat away the debt gradually, those who bear the direct costs are just about all citizens, who pay higher taxes than they would have to without the need to work down the debt (and/or those who do not benefit from the higher government expenditure which would have been possible; without the debt).
In the case of default, it is the holders of government bonds, who lose all or part of their wealth. Under the inflation solution, it is the holders of all assets whose prices do not rise commensurately with the rise in the general price level.
Banks Ready to Kill Greek Bailout
247WallSt.com
Several large banks, with Deutsche Bank in the lead, are prepared to kill a bailout of Greece. Well-known DB chief Josef Ackermann says new plans to have banks take a greater burden of the aid package would cripple the industry just as it is needed most as a pillar of stability in the region. Banks hold enough Greek sovereign paper that they could end rescue efforts completely.
The problems with the attempts to save Greece have seesawed back and forth between those nations that will have to fund much of the new loans to the southern European country and financial firms that have been asked to take write-offs on old loans. The trouble becomes more complex because banks may have to be bailed out themselves if their balance sheets are hurt badly enough by the latest proposed Greek bailout.
G20 tells euro zone to fix debt crisis in eight days
By Catherine Bremer and Jan Strupczewski
(Reuters) - The world's leading economies pressed Europe on Saturday to act decisively within eight days to resolve the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis which is endangering the world economy.
In unusually direct language, finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of 20 major economies said they expected an October 23 European Union summit to "decisively address the current challenges through a comprehensive plan".
French Finance Minister Francois Baroin, who chaired the meeting, said Berlin and Paris, the leading euro zone powers, were well on the way to agreeing a plan to reduce Greece's debt, stop contagion and protect Europe's banks.
JIM ROGERS INTERVIEW 14 OCT 2011
Berlin experts fear euro break-up from bail-out escalation Plans to increase the firepower of Europe's bail-out machinery with extra leverage threaten France's AAA rating and risk setting off a dangerous chain of events, a top German institute has warned.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Berlin’s DIW institute, one of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s five official advisers, said attempts to boost the €440bn (£384bn) EFSF bail-out fund – possibly to €2 trillion – with guarantees to shore up southern Europe would be "poisonous" for France's credit worthiness.
Dr Ansgar Belke, the group’s research chief, said the leverage proposal emerging as part of the EU's "Grand Plan" to restore confidence is self-defeating. "It counteracts efforts made so far to stabilise the eurozone debt crisis, which are premised on the AAA rating of a sufficiently large number of strong economies. In extremis, it would probably cause the break-up of the eurozone", he told newspaper Handelsblatt.
UK economy brought to grinding halt by euro crisis British taxpayers may be dragged into a rescue package for the eurozone after a leading forecaster warned that the crisis has brought this country's economy "grinding to a halt".
By Robert Winnett - Telegraph.co.uk
The Ernst & Young ITEM Club, which uses the Treasury's forecasting models, warns today that the economic situation is "worse than we thought".
It concludes that the “bright spots” in Britain’s economic recovery have "dimmed to a flicker" because of the ongoing crisis in the single currency.
George Osborne, the Chancellor, and Tim Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary, are becoming increasingly exasperated at the lacklustre response of European leaders to the ongoing single currency crisis.
Europe is expected to finalise plans for a two-trillion euro bailout for the single currency area over the next week.
Yet Another Reason Why the Euro Is Doomed
By Charles Hugh Smith - OfTwoMinds.com
I have previously discussed the many profound financial reasons why the euro is doomed. But there is another political/financial reason why the euro's unraveling is inevitable. To understand this dynamic, we must start with this reality: in the wealthy countries of the north, the crisis is abstract; there is so much wealth and apparent financial stability, the notion that some sort of real-world hardship could actually spread from the southern Eurozone to the north is simply impossible to grasp.
In the nations impacted directly by the crisis, there is nothing abstract about the unraveling; it is now part of everyday experience.
China makes 'secret eurozone commitment'
(AFP) – Google.com
LONDON — China has made a "secret commitment" to prop up the crisis-hit eurozone in return for budget reforms and public sector cuts, the Sunday Times reported, amid ongoing turmoil over the region's debt crisis.
The paper said Chinese representatives at the Paris G20 finance gathering on Saturday had indicated that Beijing was willing to pump tens of billions into the eurozone to purchase infrastructure assets from debt-plagued nations.
The Sunday Times, which quoted a source close to the talks, added that Chinese banks could also increase their purchases of eurozone sovereign debt.
European Woes Knock Stocks Back Down
[Google title for Free Article Pass]
By BRENDAN CONWAY - WSJ.com
Stocks staged their steepest drop in two weeks, as fresh European sovereign-debt worries helped knock the market off a 2 ½-month closing high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Monday lost 247.49 points, or 2.13%, to 11397.00, closing near the session's lows and wiping out all of Friday's gains. The loss pushed the blue-chip index back into negative territory for 2011, which it briefly escaped on a closing basis on Friday.
Default Swaps Fall Most Since 2009
Beating Europe, U.S.: Australia Credit
By Sarah McDonald - Bloomberg.com
Corporate bond risk in Australia is dropping at the fastest pace in two years, beating declines in Europe and the U.S. as investors bet a global financial crisis will be averted.
The Markit iTraxx Australia index of credit-default swaps fell 27 basis points last week to 189 basis points, the biggest weekly drop since July 2009, after rising to a more than two- year high on Oct. 4, CMA prices show. Contracts on European company debt declined 16 to 172, while the U.S. corporate bond risk benchmark dropped 9 to 130, the data show.
The Truth and Financial Meltdown
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
Today’s anti-Wall Street protests show that many citizens are blaming Wall Street for the country’s economic difficulties. Even the President of the United States has expressed sympathy for the protestors. In recent days police and protestors have battled in Manhattan – with protestors shouting "Hell no! We won't go!" These children of America apparently feel that the traditional wellspring of American prosperity is den of iniquity. This view was summarized in a 2010 documentary film titled Inside Job. The film outlines "the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry…." Most critics gave the film high ratings. But Barrons economics editor Gene Epstein warned readers in an Oct. 2010 review that the documentary’s outrage was "misdirected." Those who watch the film, wrote Epstein, "will still be left with a dim understanding of the root causes of what happened, and thus a dim grasp of what should be done to prevent it from happening again." The people who made the film were not financial experts.
Lindsey Williams - Jeff Rense 13 October 2011
Signs of Dissent: The Debt Crisis Is Haunting the World
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Welcome back to The Atlantic's Signs of Dissent Project, where we bring economic context to some of the most provocative signs of the Occupy Wall Street movement. To date, we've used OWS signs to explainthe student-loans crisis, the runaway wealth of the top 1%, and the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income taxes, who are targeted in the backlash movement "We Are the 53 Percent." Yesterday, we also documented the globalization of the OWS movement, which sprung up in various forms of protests around the world, including New Zealand, South Korea, Hungary, Mexico, and Canada.
Volcker Rule Divides Regulators
By: Ben Protess, NYTimes - CNBC.com
Regulators have faced a barrage of complaints from lawmakers and financial industry lobbyists in their 14-month-long quest to constrain risky trading on Wall Street, an effort known as the Volcker Rule.
Now, as regulators begin a push to produce a final draft of the rule, they face hurdles from an unexpected group: themselves.
Though several federal agencies agreed last week to propose the initial version of theVolcker Rule , they are divided over some of its crucial details.
Ron Paul proposes $1T in specific budget cuts
By DAN HIRSCHHORN | Politico.com
Ron Paul's opinions about cutting the budget are well-known, but on Monday, he got specific: The Texas congressman laid out a budget blueprint for deep and far-reaching cuts to federal spending, including the elimination of five Cabinet-level departments and the drawdown of American troops fighting overseas.
There’s even a symbolic readjustment of the president’s salary to put it in line with the average American salary.
Ron Paul Plan To Restore America Press Conference
Central Banks Sell Most U.S. Bonds Since 2007
By Daniel Kruger - Bloomberg.com
International central banks are selling the most Treasuries since the credit crisis began just as institutional investors load up on U.S. government bonds.
The Federal Reserve said its holdings of U.S. government debt on behalf of central bankers and institutional investors outside America has plunged $76.5 billion in the last seven weeks, the most since August 2007. At the same time, bond mutual funds are adding Treasuries, banks have increased their holdings 45 percent in the past five years and the Fed has added $656 billion to its balance sheet this year.
The Coming Contraction
By Dr. Robert R. Owens - PatriotPost.us
The party's over and it's time to pay the bill. Our government has been on a spending binge for as long as I can remember. With Clinton and Newt's slight-of-hand accounting back in the late 90s notwithstanding, which wouldn't withstand the level of scrutiny we give a tab at our local burger joint, there have been yearly deficits every year since I was born back in the 40s. The debt piled up to a record amount under Bush the Younger, and under Obama it has sky rocketed to the point where people have actually begun to notice that the emperor has no clothes.
Steve Rattner,
Card Carrying Member of Top 1%,
Tells Us We Should Lie Back and
Enjoy Much Lower Wages Resulting From Globalization
NakedCapitalism.com
A corollary to Upton Sinclair’s famous saying, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends on his not understanding it" is "People promote ideas that help them secure or preserve a privileged position on the totem pole."
A glaring example of these observations came in an op ed in the Sunday New York Times by Steve Rattner, former Lazard mergers & acquisition partner, later head of the private equity firm, Quadrangle Partners. He is best known as the chief negotiator in the auto bailouts (and he was criticized for not involving any auto industry experts). He paid $10 million to settle a kickbacks investigation and agreed not to work for a public pension fund in any role for five years. I happened to see Rattner on a panel at a Financial Times conference earlier this week and he elaborated on some of the themes in this piece, "Let's Admit It: Globalization Has Losers," which reader Brett asked me to debunk line by line. I'll spare you and focus just on the most critical and bald-facedly dishonest bits.
The Dawn of Late Fascism
Mises Daily: by Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.
The downgrading of US debt this summer didn't have huge economic consequences, but the psychological ones were truly devastating for the national elites who have run this country for nearly a century. For a state that regards itself as infallible, it was a huge blow that market forces delivered against the government, and it is only one of thousands that have cut against the power elite in recent years.
Solid Evidence That Occupy Wall Street
Is A Communist Movement
Run By Socialists Who Wish To Bring Down
The Free Enterprise System
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Is Occupy Wall Street a communist movement? Is it being run by socialists who wish to bring down the free enterprise system? As you will see in this article, the answer to both questions is yes. Of course many of the people participating in these protests want nothing to do with either socialism or communism. Many of the protesters are simply angry at the big banks or they just want something to be done about the economy. But the truth is that when you take a close look at the "organizers", the literature and the stated goals of this movement, you see socialism and communism everywhere. As our economic system crumbles, an increasing number of Americans are coming out of the woodwork and are proudly declaring that they are socialists or communists. An increasing number of Americans truly believe that the free enterprise system needs to be brought down and that the answer to our problems is to fully embrace socialism and/or communism. Sadly, this puts Occupy Wall Street in direct opposition to what our founding fathers intended.
Communist Party U.S.A. in Solidarity with Occupy Chicago
Occupation, Anarchy, and Greed
by ART CARDEN - Mises.org
This Chronicle of Higher Education piece on anarchism and its influence on the Occupy Wall Street protests is a pretty interesting read that gets at some of the complexities of a movement that’s obviously much more than spoiled rich kids upset that they don’t have the cash to upgrade to the new iPhone but obviously much less than a thoughtful criticism of systematic distortions in the banking system.
Expecting a recession, Gartner urges 'creative destruction' By 2016, one in eight people on the planet will have a tablet computer
By Patrick Thibodeau - Computerworld.com
ORLANDO -- Gartner Inc. sees another recession coming that will lead to tightened IT budgets at the same time that technology is being forced to respond to social and collaborative computing trends.
At its annual Symposium/ITxpo here, Gartner analysts offered a generous dose of warnings and predictions, backed up with data, to make a case that IT managers are facing a period of "unprecedented uncertainty," as Gene Hall, Gartner's CEO, described it.
This uncertainty may begin with the economy.
"The second recession is about to hit," said Peter Sondergaard, Gartner's global head of research, who said IT budgets will feel a recession's impact next year.
Fears over US mortgage delinquencies Fresh concern over consumer resilience
By Tom Braithwaite, Shahien Nasiripour
and Ajay Makan in New York - FT.com
Fears about the health of US consumer balance sheets grew on Monday as Citigroup and Wells Fargo joined JPMorgan Chase in reporting new signs that homeowners and credit-card borrowers are falling behind on their payments.
The banks' third-quarter results were hit by expected declines in investment banking, reflecting turbulence in global markets. But the reports also revealed weakness in the consumer side of their businesses – with mortgage delinquency numbers suggesting that record low mortgage rates and government loan modification programmes are failing to help a large swathe of homeowners.
We'd Like to Know a Little Bit About You for Our Files
A new HHS regulation will create a government database of your private health information.
By DAVID CATRON - The American Spectator.org
While armies of attorneys battle the Justice Department over Obamacare's constitutionality, and politicians hold forth about their strategies for repealing and replacing the unpopular law, bureaucrats at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have been working around the clock to assure that the President's "signature domestic achievement" becomes a permanent fixture of your life. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and her accomplice Donald Berwick have been promulgating regulations as quickly as their minions can get them written. The most recent fruit of their combined labor has emerged from the bowels of the bureaucracy in the form of a "proposed rule" that, if permitted to stand, will profoundly change your relationship with government and eliminate what vestiges of personal privacy you still enjoy.
ObamaCare Starts to Unravel The real story behind the Class program failure, and what to do now. -- WSJ.com - Opinion
Now that one of ObamaCare's major new benefit programs has been scrapped, liberals are trying to make stone soup by claiming that the Obama Administration merely committed an act of "good government." They claim that when this long-term care insurance program proved to be unworkable, the Administration conceded as much, and now it's gone. So let's review the evidence, not least because it so perfectly illustrates the recklessness that produced the Affordable Care Act.
When Democrats were pasting it together in 2009 and 2010, the immediate attraction of the program known by the acronym Class was that its finances could be gamed to create the illusion that a new entitlement would reduce the deficit. Ending the complicated Class budget gimmick erases the better part of ObamaCare's purported "savings," but it's also worth focusing on the program's long-run political goals.
Another Weekend of Mass Layoffs
247WallSt.com
Challenger, Gray said planned layoffs announced in September were up more than 200% from a year earlier to 115,000. That figure appears to be on the rise, and the latest layoffs, or corporate plans that presage them, happened this weekend. That is a bad sign for employment statistics announcements for the balance of the year.
Philips Electronics said it will fire 4,500 people. Its third-quarter figures were below its expectations. Its plans to sell its TV division have failed. The prices of consumer electronics such as TV screens, which have become a commodity, have fallen faster than production costs. It may be that no one wants the Philips business because it cannot be made successful.
Army of unemployed is now entrenched in U.S. Structural woes in economy creating 'permanent underclass'
By Howard Gold
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Slowly, over the last year, it's begun to dawn on us: The economic recovery isn't really making a dent in unemployment.
The public knew this much earlier than economists or pundits did, and as for politicians — don't ask!
Survey after survey showed Americans didn't believe the economy was recovering. And people who commented on MarketWatch articles have been downright hostile to any notion that either the markets or the economy were getting better.
Philips to Cut 4,500 Jobs as Profit Sinks to Two-Year Low
By Maaike Noordhuis - BusinessWeek.com
Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Philips Electronics NV, the world’s biggest maker of light bulbs, plans to cut 4,500 jobs to revive earnings after quarterly profit fell to the lowest in almost two years and the company predicted no near-term rebound.
The job cuts are part of a plan to save 800 million euros ($1.1 billion), Amsterdam-based Philips said in a statement today. Earnings before interest, taxes and amortization dropped to 368 million euros ($510 million) in the third quarter, from 647 million euros a year earlier. That beat the 341 million-euro average estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. Revenue fell 1.3 percent to 5.39 billion euros, in line with estimates.
Lowe's to Close 20 U.S. Stores,
Slow North American Openings
By Chris Burritt - Bloomberg.com
Lowe’s Cos., the second-largest U.S. home-improvement retailer, will close 20 U.S. stores, affecting 1,950 workers, and plans to slow its North American expansion next year as it works to improve sales.
Half of the locations closed at the end of business yesterday, and the remaining 10 will be shut within about a month, Mooresville, North Carolina-based Lowe’s said today in a statement. The closings will reduce earnings by about 17 cents to 20 cents a share this fiscal year, the company said.
Manufacturing in New York Fed Region
Shrinks More Than Economists Forecast
By Bob Willis - Bloomberg.com
Manufacturing in the New York region contracted in October at a faster pace than forecast, reflecting a lack of confidence in the U.S. recovery that failed to be confirmed by measures of orders and sales.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index rose to minus 8.5 from minus 8.8 in September. Economists projected an improvement to minus 4, based on the median of 53 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey. Readings less than zero signal companies in the so-called Empire State Index, which covers New York, northernNew Jersey, and southern Connecticut, are cutting back.
Postal Workers To Get $2.8 Million -- For Nothing
By Eric Scheiner - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - In Sioux City, Iowa there are about 40 United States Postal Workers getting paid for doing nothing. What’s more interesting is that their checks may continue to be ‘in the mail’ for the next three-and-a-half years, which with benefits total more than $2.8 million.
The postal processing facility was closed down in early October, but not until after members of the postal union had signed a four-year contract in May, guaranteeing paychecks until 2015.
Clueless AP:
Cain's Philosophical Ties to AFP
and Kochs 'Could Undercut Outsider Image'
By Tom Blumer - NewsBusters.org
The Associated Press's seeming effort to go after every candidate except the guy who used to be governor of Massachusetts -- and imposed CO2 emission caps when he was -- went a different route tonight with a report by the wire service's Ryan J. Foley that Herman Cain, a believer in liberty and free-market capitalism, "has close ties" with the Koch brothers, who believe in liberty and free-market capitalism.
Knock me over with a feather. Here are several paragraphs from Foley's report (bolds are mine):
Long ties to Koch brothers key to Cain's campaign
Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has cast himself as the outsider, the pizza magnate with real-world experience who will bring fresh ideas to the nation's capital. But Cain's economic ideas, support and organization have close ties to two billionaire brothers who bankroll right-leaning causes through their group Americans for Prosperity.
Cain 'proud' of link with Koch brothers
By MAGGIE HABERMAN | Politico.com
From POLITICO's Juana Summers, Herman Cain talked about his relationship with the Koch brothers in an interview with CNN's John King:
"I know the Koch brothers. The Koch brothers helped to start an organization called Americans For Prosperity and I did some speaking when they were starting that organization. I am very proud of the relationship I have with the Koch Brothers and Americans for Prosperity."
"I don't have a close relationship, but I know them and I respect them and they know me and they respect me."
Raytheon Anti-Missile Warhead Has Guidance Flaw, MDA Says
By Tony Capaccio - Bloomberg.com
The latest model of a Raytheon Co. (RTN) anti-missile warhead failed in the final seconds of a $300 million flight test last December because of a "guidance error," according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
The warhead "successfully selected the correct target object, but a guidance error occurred in the final seconds before the planned intercept," said MDA spokesman Richard Lehner in an e-mail statement.
The guidance system had a fault "related to outer space- related dynamic environments," Lehner said, without elaboration. The specifics are classified, he said.
Raging US pulls no punches on Iran
By Kaveh L Afrasiabi - ATimes.com
TEHRAN - United States officials may be busy plotting the sequences of action against Iran that began with the allegation of a terror plot in Washington last week and has now extended to the nuclear issue. This is in light of President Barack Obama's call on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to go public with its evidence of Iran's alleged proliferation activities - but in Tehran the mood is defiant and many analysts wonder what is behind the new well-orchestrated US offensive against Iran.
The Transformation of the US into a Police State
By: Paul Craig Roberts - MarketOracle.co.uk
Pat Buchanan’s latest book, Suicide of a Superpower, raises the question whether America will survive to 2025. The question might strike some readers as unduly pessimistic and others as optimistic. It is unclear whether the US, as we have known it, will survive its next presidential election.
Consider the candidates. Liberal law professor Jonathan Turley, who was likely to have been an early Obama supporter, now wonders if Obama is “the most disastrous president in our history.” Despite Obama’s failure, the Republicans can’t come up with anyone any better. One Republican candidate admires Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve chairman who gave us financial deregulation and the financial crisis. Another is ready for a preemptive strike on Iran. Yet another thinks the Soviet Union is a grave threat to the United States. None of these clueless dopes are capable of presiding over a government.
Is the New World Order Unraveling?
By Patrick J. Buchanan
With Greece on the precipice of default, and Portugal and Italy approaching the ledge, the European monetary union appears in peril.
Should it collapse, the European Union itself could be in danger, for economic nationalism is rising in Europe. Which raises a larger question.
Is the New World Order, the great 20th century project of Western transnational elites, unraveling?
The NWO dates back as far as Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations, which a Republican Senate refused to enter. FDR, seeking to succeed where his mentor had failed, oversaw the creation of a United Nations, an International Monetary Fund and a World Bank.
The last conservative, Pat Buchanan
By Jeffrey T. Kuhner-The Washington Times
Is America in its twilight years? Patrick J. Buchanan argues it is. Americans, especially conservatives, should heed his warnings. The very future of our republic is at stake. Mr. Buchanan has written the political book of the year - and maybe of our time.
In "Suicide of a Superpower" (Thomas Dunne Books, 2011), the nationally syndicated columnist and TV commentator delivers a damning indictment of the past two decades. His thesis: America is in decline. Unless it is reversed, the United States - like great republics before it - will be swept into the dustbin of history.
Lindsay Williams & Bill Deagle - 13 Oct 2011 The Agenda of 2012 (1/3)
Lindsay Williams & Bill Deagle - 13 Oct 2011 The Agenda of 2012 (2/3)
Lindsay Williams & Bill Deagle - 13 Oct 2011 The Agenda of 2012 (3/3)
Geithner, G-20 Threaten to Use 'The Bazooka'
While Searching for Ammo
BY DAVID MOENNING - FinancailSense.com
The greatest fear among short-sellers right now is the use of what has come to be known as the "coordinated response bazooka." The idea is for the world’s biggest economies to join together to provide a massive amount of capital which could help Europe backstop its banks and put an end to the debt crisis once and for all.
Think about it; if the United States, China, Japan, Canada and emerging market countries such as Brazil would pool their resources, the problem would effectively be solved. With no crisis to bet on, the shorts would be forced to cover. Then the value crowd would get off the sidelines and jump on all the bargains we’ve been hearing so much about in the stock market. Thus, the stock markets of the globe would likely soar higher into the end of the year. This would increase confidence and remove the worry of a global recession. Simple, right?
Free Trade Or Fair Trade?
20 Reasons Why All Americans
Should Be Against
The Insane Trade Policies Of The Globalists
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
It is absolutely amazing how many Americans are still convinced that more "free trade" is the answer to our economic problems. The truth is that there is a vast difference between "free trade" and "fair trade", and in this article I will prove that all true conservatives and all true liberals should be completely against the insane trade policies of the federal government. Yes, we will always need to trade with other nations. Other nations make or have things that we need to trade for. Balanced trade relationships with other nations that have similar economies and that share similar values can be very beneficial. For example, our trading relationship with Canada, though not perfect, is generally beneficial to both sides. However, the United States also has dozens of trading relationships that are highly destructive to the U.S. economy. There are some predatory nations that are blatantly and openly cheating and everyone can see it. They are getting away with bloody murder and they are robbing us blind. The United States of America is being taken advantage of, and as a result thousands of good businesses are being destroyed and millions of good jobs are being lost. If you are an American and you are in favor of all of the unfair trade that is currently going on, then either you don't know much about economics or you actually want to see the U.S. economy be destroyed.
Gold – get ready for the bull run of your life
By Deepak Rangan - CommodityOnline.com
The price of Gold is set to explode as the biggest sellers of gold turn onto its biggest buyers. With gold prices currently trading around $1680, this might be the opportunity to get in the bull run of your life.
As per the World Gold Council report-
Central bank and government-institution buying totalled 192.3 metric tons in the first half of 2011, Gold accounts for 75.4 percent of the U.S.’s reserves and 72.7 percent of Germany’s. The ratio is 1.6 percent for China and 8.2 percent for Russia.
Governments all over the world are trying to spruce up their gold holdings in a bid to brace themselves against a highly probable financial meltdown and currency devaluation.
Investors lose confidence in US govt,
stampede for gold, silver soon
By Dr Jeffrey Lewis - CommodityOnline.com
The equity markets staged a rally on Monday, with a buying spree that was largely seen as a response to European fears. Quietly, the same investors who purchased corporate stock on the open markets moved out of other investments, primarily Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securities.
The move was noteworthy because Fannie and Freddie paper has long been seen as nothing more than another US Treasury obligation. After the fall of Lehman Brothers, the United States announced that it would guarantee the debts of the two largest government sponsored entities. Thus, "too big to fail" was born, and government sponsored entities now had a pad of blank checks from the US Treasury which could be drawn at any time against the taxpayer.
Gold's financial role likely to expand - Lassonde Franco-Nevada Chairman, Pierre Lassonde says he remains very bullish on the prospects for gold over the next 10 years but does not rule out the potential for a significant correction within the bull market
Author: Geoff Candy - Mineweb.com
GRONINGEN - Europe's financial health is getting worse and it is likely that the group of nations will need to find as much as $2 trillion in fresh money to stabilise the currency.
And, despite continued resistance to the notion, most recently from Slovakia, a failure to do so could well lead to a 1930s style depression in Europe.
Speaking on Mineweb.com's Gold Weekly podcast, Franco-Nevada Chair, Pierre Lassonde, said that he does not see the healthy countries in the region, like France and Germany allowing this to happen. Instead, they will find the resources to throw money at the problem and, in the process, "there will be massive monetisation of debt."
'New world monetary system to be based on gold'
CommodityOnline.com The Gold Report: You founded this firm based on your long wave theory that is based on the Kondratieff Cycle. How is this same or different from Kondratieff? Ian Gordon: We have gone significantly beyond Kondratieff's original thesis published in 1925. I am very proud that we have made the cycle far more encompassing than Kondratieff would have ever envisioned. For instance, one of the key things we have done is identify an investment cycle within the long cycle. This is an extremely valuable tool for investors, which allows them to make appropriate investment decisions in each quarter of the cycle.
Return to Gold Standard?
Why Price Would Hit $10,000
By: John Melloy - CNBC.com
All the major countries in the world are in a race to debase their currencies in order to restart their economies. Either economic growth returns or—as some doomsayers predict—the 40-year run of fiat currencies ends.
And if under this worst case scenario the solution was to return to the gold standard of the Nixon years, the price of bullion would be worth $10,000-plus, six-times the current price, according to Paul Brodsky, co-managing member of QB Asset Management company and a self-professed 'Gold Bug.'
Gold a bubble?! What a joke
By Deepak Rangan - CommodityOnline.com
Gold prices crashed 20% and the "gold doomsdayers" were going head over heels at having "predicted" it. The next few years may well prove them absolutely wrong.
First of all you need to have a clear picture of what the nature of the Gold trend has been over the past decade, evaluate its "crashes", understand the current economic climate and then look for yourself. And then you may see an opportunity when others see risk.
Gold prices peaked to $1030 in March 2008, from whence it slumped to $685 in October, a decline of 33%
In September 2011, gold prices once again peaked at $1920, and then crashed to $1530, a decline of 20%
Gold could go lower
than anyone expects
but then set for incredible opportunity
QE3 is going to make QE1 and QE2 seem like a little prelude and will set up a moon shot for precious metals and junior mining companies says Edward Karr. Gold Report interview.
Author: Brian Sylvester - Mineweb.com
PETALUMA, CA -
The Gold Report: RAMPartners is based in Geneva, Switzerland, a country that made economic news a month ago when the Swiss National Bank capped the Swiss franc at 1.20 francs per euro, slashed interest rates and flooded the market with Swiss francs. Did you agree with those moves and what impact do you think they had on the gold price?
Edward Karr: I emphatically disagree with the move by the Swiss National Bank. To me it makes no sense to peg the Swiss franc at 1.20 to the euro. Switzerland is, in effect, backstopping Greece and all of the other indebted countries in Europe. This is lunacy. Greece or anyone can just hit the Swiss National Bank's bid at 1.20 and convert into Swiss francs, which it would probably rather have than its euro position.
How Gold and Stocks
are About to Repeat the 2010 Bottom
By: Chris Vermeulen - MarketOracle.co.uk
In May of 2010, immediately following the flash crash many investors started to become bearish (nervous) regarding their position in gold and equities. Once the general public became aware that the stock market could fall 10% in a matter of minutes, investors became very cautious. Suddenly protecting their capital and current positions was at the forefront of their investment process.
A couple days later the market recovered most of its value, but it became clear that investors were going to sell their long positions if the market showed signs of weakness. It was this fear which pulled the market back down to the May lows and beyond over the next couple months which caused investors to panic and sell the majority of their positions. It is this strong wave of panic selling that triggers gold and stock prices to form intermediate bottoms. Emotional retail traders always seem to buy near the top and sell at the bottom which leads to further pain.
Silver on the Verge of Another Breakout
BY CHRIS MARCHESE - FinancialSense.com
Silver appears extremely bullish from a structural point of view, something that myself and others have been talking about the last 12-14 months. We first saw this in the vast reduction in the adjusted open interest (reference to spread positions) by about half followed by 2 monster rallies beginning in Sept 2010 and again in February 2011. From personal experience, gauging physical investment demand, paper (ETF) demand, shape of the futures curve and the Commitment of Traders report, silver will likely see a monster rally to at least the $40-$43 area before year end and possibly a breakout pushing the $50 level. In any case, Silver would be the one commodity I would want to own for the next 12-24 months.
A Hair Trigger Rally
BY JOHN BROWNE - FinancialSense.com
By the first week of October, after having dropped more than 18 percent from its highs achieved in May 2011, U.S. stocks were desperate to latch on to any good news. In this context, the apparent agreement between the major European players to kick their debt can down the road was viewed as an "all clear" for shell shocked investors.
Since October 4th the Dow has rallied almost 10 percent, one of the best 10-day stretches in the history of the stock market. The gains have been enough to push the Dow into positive territory for the year. However, the agreement in Europe that sparked the good times solves absolutely nothing and virtually assures that problems will re-emerge in the near future.
Peak Metal:
U.S. Preparing for the Coming Shortages
in Metals and Minerals
Written by Brian Westenhaus - OilPrice.com
Many if not most metals, rare earth minerals and other elements used to make everything from photovoltaic panels and cellphone displays to the permanent magnets in cutting edge new wind generators and motors will become limited in availability. Geologists are warning of shortages and bottlenecks of some metals due to an insatiable demand for consumer products.
2010 saw China restrict the export of neodymium, which is used in wind generators and motors. The move was said to direct the supplies toward a massive wind generation project within China. What happened was a two-tiered price for neodymium formed, one inside China and another, higher price, for the rest of the world.
The European Union and Silver
By: George Maniere - MarketOracle.co.uk
This was an amazing week! Besides the fact that we got to see some green on the board, the week was totally eclipsed by the latest off Broadway version of "The Mouse That Roared" as Slovakia took the world to the brink and for one bright shining moment held the fate of the world in its hands.
On Thursday, October 13th somewhere in the second act, Slovakia approved Europe's enhanced bailout fund completing the ratification process across the 17 euro countries and all was right with the world.
There is just one small little baby hic-cup. Europe is toast! The likelihood of Europe surviving grows slimmer every day. Let's get this straight right away. Europeans are not happy with the Euro and the common citizens feel the whole creation of the European Union was a big mess. The European politicians don’t see this as a political problem but rather as a logistical one because they have to somehow sell the consolidating of the bonds to the public.
Lack of ECB firepower weakens Europe’s Grand Plan Top officials from the US Treasury and the International Monetary Fund are privately worried that Europe’s `Grand Plan’ to overcome the debt crisis is fundamentally deficient and may fail to restore market confidence.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
G20 finance ministers praised Europe’s efforts to "maximise the impact" of the EU's €440bn bail-out fund (EFSF) and ensure that the region's banks are "adequately capitalised", but there were heated exchanges behind closed door as the Anglo-Saxon states, and India rebuked Europe’s leaders for failing to grasp the nettle and mobilize the full lending power of the European Central Bank.
"They clearly have more work to do on strategy and details," said US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. "In financial crises, it is more risky to act gradually and incrementally than to act with bold force".
Europe's lost decade as $7 trillion loan crunch looms Europe’s banks face a $7 trillion lending contraction to bring their balance sheets in line with the US and Japan, threatening to trap the region in a credit crunch and chronic depression for a decade.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The risk is "Japanisation" without the benefits of Japan, without a single government, or a trade super-surplus, or 1pc debt costs, or unique social cohesion.
Even today, the jobless rate for youth is near 10pc in Japan. It is already 46pc in Spain, 43pc in Greece, 32pc in Ireland, and 27pc in Italy. We will discover over time what yet more debt deleveraging will do to these societies.
Stephen Jen from SLJ Macro Partners says the loan to deposit (LTD) ratio of Europe’s lenders is 1.2, much like Japanese banks in the early 1990s at the onset of the country’s Lost Decade (now two decades).
German foreign minister hits out at US over debt crisis Germany's foreign minister today lashed out at the United States over criticism the eurozone is not doing enough to solve its economic woes, noting that US debt had also contributed to the current crisis.
By AFP - Telegraph.co.uk
Guido Westerwelle told the Bild am Sonntag weekly: "Let us not forget that the cause of the current crisis is too much debt in Europe, but also too much debt worldwide."
"Therefore, I cannot understand some of the critical comments from our American friends regarding our policy of reducing debt."
Westerwelle's remarks were the latest in a series of barbs between Berlin and Washington over Europe's perceived dithering over the crisis.
Last month, US President Barack Obama urged Europe to act faster to find a solution, saying the debt and banking crisis was "scaring the world," prompting a furious and undiplomatic response from Germany's finance minister.
Economic Crisis in Europe;
Unpayable Debts, Impending Financial Insolvency
By: Bob Chapman - MarketOracle.co.uk
The big question is will Greece succumb to insolvency in November? Our answer is probably not. It should take 3 to 6 months but it is coming no matter how much money and credit is thrown at the problem. The markets on the short-term basis believe it is a coin toss. If the funds are not forthcoming you could see a 60-80 percent haircut on bond losses. If it is 3 to 6 months it will probably be 100%. Many in Europe believe the Merkel-Sarkozy team has a plan that will work, but as yet we do not know what that plan is. In spite of that the euro this past week rallied from $1.32 to $1.38 as the US dollar fell lower.
pt 1/3 Gerald Celente
The Alex Jones Jones - 14 October 2011
pt 2/3 Gerald Celente
The Alex Jones Jones - 14 October 2011
pt 3/3 Gerald Celente
The Alex Jones Jones - 14 October 2011
"Bankruptcies of governments have, on the whole, done less harm to mankind than their ability to raise loans." - R.H. Tawney, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, 1926
"By a continuing process of inflation, government can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. - John Maynard Keynes, Economic Consequences of Peace
"Unemployed men took one or two rucksacks and went from peasant to peasant. They even took the train to favorable locations to get foodstuffs illegally which they sold afterwards in the town at three or fourfold the prices they had paid themselves. First the peasants were happy about the great amount of paper money which rained into their houses for their eggs and butter… However, when they came to town with their full briefcases to buy goods, they discovered to their chagrin that, whereas they had only asked for a fivefold price for their produce, the prices for scythe, hammer and cauldron, which they wanted to buy, had risen by a factor of 50." - Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday, 1944.
The 9-9-9 Plan:
Is The Herman Cain Tax Plan A Good Idea?
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
As he continues to heavily tout his "9-9-9 plan", Herman Cain has seen his popularity soar. But is the Herman Cain tax plan a good idea for America? Without a doubt, the "9-9-9 plan" is simple and it is easy to remember. To most Americans, it sounds like a low tax plan. But is that the truth? As you will see below, Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan will actually raise federal taxes on some middle income Americans to as high as 37 percent. If the other Republican candidates understood this, they would be jumping all over Cain. But instead the best that most of them seem to be able to do is to make jokes about it. For example, Jon Huntsman said that he thought that the 9-9-9 plan "was the price of a pizza when I first heard about it." That is a funny line, but the reality is that the future of our tax system is very serious business. Our economy is dying and our nation is drowning in debt. We need some very real solutions to our very real problems. So let's take a closer look at the 9-9-9 plan that Herman Cain is proposing....
Joe Biden:
There Will Be A Huge Increase
In Murders And Rapes
If The Federal Government
Doesn't Spend More Money To Help The Economy
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
An increasing number of politicians and celebrities are openly declaring that if the economy continues to decline, it could lead to civil unrest, more crime and outbreaks of violence all over America. But instead of loudly denouncing the coming violence, many of them are making it sound like the natural response for those that have lost hope in the economy is to resort to violence. This is extremely unfortunate. The truth is that violence is not the solution to any of our problems. Violence is only going to make things worse. But right now a lot of big names are warning that if significant changes are not made soon, the only alternative is going to be civil unrest and violence. In fact, one of the latest to make a bold declaration like this is Vice President Joe Biden. According to Biden, there are going to be a lot more rapes and a lot more murders if Congress does not pass Obama's jobs plan.
Hundreds lose food stamps with no warning
By Alexis Stevens and Joel Anderson - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hundreds of families are without food stamps and other federal benefits in Cobb, Douglas and Cherokee counties because an increased demand for assistance has created a backlog of paperwork, the Georgia Department of Human Services said Thursday.
Jennifer Jordan, a mother of four, waited for hours Thursday as she sought answers for the stoppage at the Cobb CountyDepartment of Human Services office.
She wasn't alone. Dozens pulled a number and waited their turn to speak to a DFCS employee to learn why benefits abruptly ended.
The answer?
Keiser Report: Pirates & Protesters (E197)
Feds: States Have No Rights
By Dr. Chuck Baldwin
In a recent column appearing on InfoWars.com, Kurt Nimmo succinctly and correctly pointed out that the federal government's usurpation of State sovereignty, jurisdiction, and authority is worsening. The current case in point is the recent open letter to all firearms dealers by the ATF. Nimmo begins, "In its continuing effort to pare down the number of Americans who can exercise their rights under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has sent a letter to firearms dealers informing them that medical patients 'addicted' to legally dispensed medical marijuana have no right to own and possess firearms.
"According to Arthur Herbert, Assistant Director of Enforcement Programs and Services at the ATF, 'any person who uses or is addicted to marijuana, regardless of whether his or her State has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use of medicinal purposes, is an unlawful user or addicted to a controlled substance, and is prohibited by Federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition’ and will be compelled to admit the prescribed use of medical marijuana on ATF forms at the point of purchase."
Biggest threat to Wall St. is the enemy within Small investors have their own form of protest: leaving the stock market, as wild swings take their toll. Is it time to tax trades to curb machine-driven volatility?
By Tom Petruno - LATimes.com
Memo to the Occupy Wall Street movement: Should it come up in a strategy session, don't bother with trying to destroy the financial markets as we know them.
The people now in charge are doing a fine job of that themselves.
The protests that have mushroomed nationwide in recent weeks broadly target Wall Street and corporate greed, which makes the stock market a convenient symbolic backdrop.
But for many Americans, the market since late July has become more a symbol of fear than greed: fear of more losses, fear of head-spinning volatility, fear of grave policy mistakes by governments and central banks, and fear that stock trading is mostly controlled by computer algorithms, not by any semblance of rational human thought.
Can 'Occupy' protests last without leaders?
By Chris Hawley and David B. Caruso-Associated Press - WashingtonTimes.com
NEW YORK (AP) — They were out to change the world, overthrow the establishment and liberate the poor. But first somebody would have to do something about those bongo drums.
At the Occupy Wall Street protest camp in Manhattan, protesters agonized over what to do about drum players who had turned part of the site into an impromptu dance floor. The neighbors were complaining about the racket. The protesters had tried to put a time limit on the noise, but the drummers were refusing to obey.
"It's an issue, definitely," sighed protester Kanene Holder, 31, on Friday night. "We’ll have to work it out."
The People’s Party?
Are We Witnessing The Birth
Of A New Far Left Political Party
In The United States?
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Are we witnessing the birth of another new political party in the United States? The election of Barack Obama was the spark which fueled the rise of the Tea Party back in 2009, and since that time the Tea Party has become a major league force inside the Republican Party. Now the Occupy Wall Street movement is rapidly becoming more organized and many believe that "The People's Party" is going to be to the Democrats what the Tea Party is to the Republicans. Others believe that "The People's Party" could accomplish what a lot of organizations in the past have tried and failed to do - launch a third political party which could successfully break the stranglehold that the "two party system" has on American politics. It would certainly not be an easy thing to do, but there can be no doubt that Occupy Wall Street is now a major political force in America. The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to 100 cities inside the United States and to nearly 1000 cities around the world. Certainly as the weather gets colder the protests will die down, but there are an increasing number of signs that Occupy Wall Street is becoming very organized and that it plans to be a major political force for years to come.
Grayson on Occupy Wall Street:
The last human thing left to do.... show up.
Occupy the World:
The '99 Percent' Movement Goes Global
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
The Occupy Wall Street movement and its "We Are the 99 Percent" theme went global on October 15, with protests springing up in Japan, China, Europe, and Mexico, as well as numerous U.S. cities, including New York City and Los Angeles.
As the New York Times reported, the protests are neither entirely coordinated nor entirely spontaneous. Their messages are consistent: the creep of austerity and the continued anguish of the global middle class in the developed world after the Great Recession. The motifs are familiar, as well. The Guy Fawkes masks. The 99 Percent signs. In Rome, the protests turned violent, but they were mostly peaceful throughout the world. The Times reports thousands of people marching across several continents, "including in Sydney, Australia; Tokyo; Hong Kong; Toronto; Chicago; and Los Angeles, where several thousand people marched to City Hall as passing drivers honked their support."
Occupy Wall Street: What’s Really Going On
BY CHRIS MARTENSON PHD - FinancailSense.com
On Friday, October 7th, a beautiful blue-sky and warm-ish October day, I went to Zuccotti Park in NYC with Livio Sanchez (film editor) and Debby Brand (camera operator) to see firsthand what Occupy Wall Street was all about and record what we could.
What we found were people united by a sense that our national narrative is off course and that resentment over the patent unfairness of our current system is building. Perhaps the most common expression we found was that people, to varying degrees, thought that there was something systemically wrong.
It's another Soros link to Occupy Wall Street Envisions 'New Economic World Order'
no longer dominated by 1 superpower
By Aaron Klein - WND.com
A George Soros-funded economist taught a course to the Occupy Wall Street protesters purportedly to help the activists better understand what caused theglobalfinancialcrisis.
Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz also recently addressed the so-called social protests rocking Spain.
Besides accepting funding from the controversial billionaire, Stiglitz has engaged in numerous projects with Soros and sits on the boards of Soros organizations, including one openly seeking to remake the world's economy.
Occupy Wall Street: What's Really Going On
Anti-Wall St. movement grows to dozens of cities
By CHRIS HAWLEY - Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Protesters in at least four U.S. cities who were part of a growing anti-Wall Street sentiment were arrested after refusing to obey police orders to leave public areas, including 175 people in Chicago, where the arrests brought about a new phase of civil disobedience, organizers there said Sunday.
The arrests were mostly peaceful and came as somewhat of a contrast to earlier demonstrations, where protesters took care to follow laws in order to continue protesting Wall Street's role in the financial crisis and other grievances. The arrests came after a day of protests in cities around the world where thousands gathered to rally against what they see as corporate greed.
Hundreds join Occupy O.C. protest while others scoff
Joseph Serna, Times Community News - LATimes.com
Resting on his bicycle between two fellow riders, Newport Beach resident Jeff Yeargain waited and watched with apparent contempt as more than 500 people marched across his path toward a major Irvine intersection.
Yeargain and with his two friends, a businessman from Costa Mesa and a retired attorney from Irvine, waited at Alton Parkway on the canal's riding path for the Occupy Wall Street movement's latest incarnation to pass by.
"They just want something for nothing," Yeargain said.
I AM NOT MOVING - Short Film - Occupy Wall Street
Thousands of fraud cases just 'tip of iceberg' New warning of 'total breakdown in cohesion of American society'
By Bob Unruh - WND.com
A group that monitors elections in Minnesota and roots out fraudulent votes is warning ballot fraud is on the rise across the nation, and if unchecked, the ultimate consequences would be an electorate that simply doesn't believe the system works and refuses to participate – "a total breakdown in the cohesion of American society."
That's from spokesman Dan McGrath ofthe Minnesota Majority,which advocates for traditional values in state and federal public policy through grassroots activism. The group also contributes to the work ofElectionIntegrityWatch.comto focus specifically on elections and voter fraud.
Obama, Lee talk up trade deal in Michigan Promise U.S. workers no jobs will be lost
By Andrea Billups-The Washington Times
LAKE ORION, Mich. — Amid a gleaming high-tech production line and sparkling new vehicles under construction, President Obama joined South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Friday to tour a Detroit-areaGeneral Motors Co. plant that is manufacturing a subcompact car featuring collaborative engineering with the East Asian nation.
Mr. Obama, following a night of pomp at a White House state dinner in Washington to honor Mr. Lee and to celebrate congressional passage of a major bilateral free-trade pact, arrived in the Motor City area Friday morning along with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and United Auto Workers President Bob King to offer a pep talk to cheering auto workers, calling the U.S. industry’s comeback "a testimony to the American spirit."
Wisconsin’s Walker broke his campaign promise on pension Pledge to lead by example unfulfilled
By Scott Bauer-Associated Press - WashingtonTimes.com
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who forced public workers to pay more for their pensions as part of a push to curb union rights, broke his campaign promise to pay the full cost of his state pension immediately after taking office in January.
The Associated Press requested copies of the governor’s pay stubs to see if he had fulfilled the campaign promise he made in June 2010. Mr. Walker said then he would begin paying the cost immediately in order to lead by example since he was proposing all state employees do the same.
"As governor, I’ll pay my share toward my retirement because everyone should pay their own way, including me," he said during the campaign.
Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch made the same pledge and also didn't pay as promised.
How Siri's Robotic Voice Will Help Her Win Your Heart Siri doesn't sound human -- and that's why you'll forgive her when she doesn't understand
By Tim Maly - TheAtlantic.com
I can't stop thinking about Siri's voice. It's very robot synth, the strange old voice style that we've been living with since, maybe, 1990 (well, 1984).
I'm curious about whether this is a technical limitation or a design decision. I know that it's possible to do voices better than this. I've been on hold with Apple's call-in system and they've managed to make the machine reading me back my phone number sound like a human, with the right rhythms and cadences. But of course the call-in system has a much smaller script of things it needs to say, and it need not live on an iPhone, so maybe a system that complex is not possible for Siri.
The 3 Logics of Apple's iCloud
By Alexis Madrigal - TheAtlantic.com
iCloud is the most intriguing thing about the latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 5. All your documents, music, and photos ascend from your device into a set of servers, which can dispense your data to you on whatever screen you happen to be using.
Gizmodo's Mat Honan made a strong argument that it's a subtly huge change. "For some of us, iCloud means we're never buying another computer, and for the rest of us, iCloud will be the end of computing as we have always known it," he wrote.
As Google, Amazon, Apple, and a host of startups jockey to be your cloud provider of choice, I began to wonder what the particular idea behind Apple's was. That is to say, why is Apple's cloud a good idea for Apple?
Like iOS 5? Thank a Hacker
By David Kravets - Wired.com
Apple fans hypnotized by their shiny new iPhones and mobile operating systems owe thanks, in part, to the work of jailbreakers whom Apple once said would destroy its business model.
That’s because the new iPhone 4S launched Friday and its new iOS 5 mobile-operating system’s Wednesday roll-out likely never would have come to fruition if Apple’s protests over legalizing phone tinkering had been heeded.
Judging by Apple’s own words, the iPhone should be defunct by now because of the U.S. Copyright Office’s decision last year legalizing mobile-phone hacking, known as jailbreaking.
U.S. Intelligence Unit Aims to Build a ‘Data Eye in the Sky’
DailyTechnologyNews.org
Now social scientists are trying to mine the vast resources of the Internet — Web searches and Twitter messages, Facebook and blog posts, the digital location trails generated by billions of cellphones — to do the same thing.
The most optimistic researchers believe that these storehouses of “big data” will for the first time reveal sociological laws of human behavior — enabling them to predict political crises, revolutions and other forms of social and economic instability, just as physicists and chemists can predict natural phenomena.
Brouhaha over Iran plot... EXCUSE to start WWIII, or brewing pressure to sign a treaty with Israel guaranteeing 'peace & safety'...?
Obama promises 'toughest sanctions' on Iran over alleged bomb plotPresident says US will call on international community to further isolate Iran – but doubts remain over whether plot was genuine
By Karen McVeigh in New York - Guardian.co.uk
The United States will apply the "toughest sanctions" to further isolateIran over the alleged plan to murder the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Barack Obama said on Thursday, despite growing scepticism over the amateurish nature of the plot and the apparently shambolic background of the main suspect.
Obama insisted that the US had evidence to back up the allegations, as he said he would not take any options off the table in dealing with Iran - diplomatic code for the possibility of military action. Tehran has vehemently denied any involvement in the plot.
Rep. Rogers:
Iran Assassination Plot Crosses 'Very Dangerous Threshold'
By Martin Gould and Ashley Martella - Newsmax.com
The foiled Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington D.C. crosses a "very dangerous threshold," says House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers — one that demands an unprecedented level of action from the Obama administration to stop the rising Islamist power.
Rep. Rogers: U.S. Should 'Get Aggressive With Iran'
Evidence links Iran to foiled assassination plot
By Kevin Johnson, David Jackson - USAToday.com
WASHINGTON – Some of the strongest evidence tying Iran to the alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States is contained in two wire transfers routing the down payment on the proposed killing to a U.S. bank account secretly managed by the FBI, U.S. officials said.
The routing of the payments totaling nearly $100,000 — along with the U.S. suspect's extensive cooperation with federal agents - is offering investigators important details about the foiled plot and insight into the operations of the elite Quds Force unit of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"The transfer of money was incredibly important," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., said in an interview with USA TODAY.
U.S. in direct contact with Iran over plot
WASHINGTON (AP) – USAToday.com
The State Department said the U.S. has had at least one direct conversation with Iran over allegations of a brazen assassination plot on U.S. soil.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday there's been "direct contact" between the U.S. and Iran. She gave no details.
Separately, a U.S. official says the contact was made through Iran's United Nations mission in New York. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive diplomacy.
Iran Terror - Paul Craig Roberts,
the reason's for new USA actions.
Fred Fleitz: Obama Must Act Like Reagan Against Iran
By Fred Fleitz - Newsmax.com
As I watched President Obama’s pitiful press conference today where he discussed the plot revealed this week to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States by bombing a Washington, DC restaurant, I could not help but think about what the U.S response would be if we had a leader in the White House with real resolve like President Ronald Reagan.
Let me state up front that I have been skeptical about this case. Although Iran has sponsored terrorist acts before and provided weapons to insurgent groups to kill American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, it has not engaged in terrorist missions as sloppy and reckless as this one. However, the Obama administration appears to have convinced congressmen on both sides of the aisle of involvement in the plot by Iran’s senior leaders, and that’s good enough for me. This is an example of why our nation needs effective congressional oversight of intelligence.
Frank Gaffney on U.S. response to Iran assassination plot
US Gives Israel Green Light For Iran Strike Fabricated terror plot provides pretext for intervention following Panetta’s October 3 Tel Aviv visit
Paul Joseph Watson - Infowars.com
The Obama administration’s fabricated terror plot blamed on Iran represents the green light for an Israeli attack on Iran set to take place within the next two weeks, according to confidential military sources who spoke with Alex Jones.
Israel is concerned that major powers like Germany are moving closer to smoothing relations with Iran and allowing Iran to continue its nuclear enrichment program unimpeded. A two month window has been allocated during which Israel has the opportunity to launch a military assault, waiting until winter when the attack will be more difficult to pull off is not an option.
BREAKING: Obama & Israel to Launch War with Iran!!
FBI Insider: Obama Administration
Likely Manufactured Dubious Iran Terror Plot
Steve Pieczenik Warns of Attack
by Rogue Elements on Iran 1/2
Steve Pieczenik Warns of Attack
by Rogue Elements on Iran 2/2
Iran - Another comedy show by US against Iran!
Bomb Scare
Art Cashin
On The Most Important History Lesson
Of The Last Century
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Today, instead of the traditional market observations by the Chairman of the Fermentation Committee, we share with readers a critical historical lesson from Art Cashin, focusing on an event that took place 89 years ago, which as Cashin says is "one of the most devastating economic events in recorded history and an important backdrop to Europe today. It all began with the efforts of a few, well-intentioned government officials." Many will know what we are talking about already...
An Encore Presentation
Originally, on this day (-2) in 1922, the German Central Bank and the German Treasury took an inevitable step in a process which had begun with their previous effort to "jump start" a stagnant economy. Many months earlier they had decided that what was needed was easier money. Their initial efforts brought little response. So, using the governmental "more is better" theory they simply created more and more money.
* * * * * Disturbing 2012, Dead Ahead * * * * *
Lindsey Williams & Chris Waltzek - Oct. 11, 2011
Gold has great legs, how high can it go?
CommodityOnline.com The Gold Report: Your talk was titled "Gold, Silver, Copper,Nickel and Alternative Energy: the Commodities I Still Like." Before we get into the specific commodities, I wanted to ask you about the distortions in supply and demand that you mentioned. As more investment is going into exploration, fewer discoveries are being made. Is that because the easy ones have already been mined? Are costs higher? Are there more regulatory burdens? And how does that impact share prices?
Ross Beaty: It is more expensive to discover resources because there are more barriers to development; there are more empowered people who don't want a mine in their back yard. The U.S. is a perfect example where there are some great ore bodies that simply are not allowed to be developed. What used to take three years now takes 10 or 20. That means that supply just can't respond quickly enough to rises in prices and prices stay higher longer.
Gold to explode on surging money supply,
currency devaluation
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Gold prices have been driven primarily by the surging global money supply and fears of a subsequent currency devaluation. And recent actions of Central banks do not give any indication of the trend ending since both US and Europe have been trying to provide "liquidity" by pumping cash into the markets
Gold prices are expected to be higher in the coming months due to festivities in Asia, particularly the Diwali celebrations in India and the Chinese New Year
The relation between Money supply and Gold
Since 1998, increases in the price of gold have been correlated with increases in global money supply . If central banks in both the developed and developing world continue to adhere to highly accommodative monetary policies, global M2 should subsequently rise and support a further increase in gold prices, as it has in the past.
New Gold & Silver Floor: A Time to Restructure
BY JULIAN PHILLIPS - FinancialSense.com
Many have contemplated adjusting their precious metal portfolios in light of the fall of the gold price from $1,900 to the current $1,600+ level. Many gold shares haven’t performed as well as the gold price. Why? Will they in the future? Should investors hold just the metal, or will shares now outperform the gold and silver prices? What are the criteria for choosing a share in the precious metals, mining industry? How do I design my own portfolio to suit my investment goals and emotional tolerance?
Each answer will be unique for every investor.
In this the first part of this series we first look at you, the investor. Understanding your own behavior in the extremely volatile times is crucial. After all, it’s likely that the world’s financial markets have entered a new era of risk. One fund manager put it this way, "The future is not going to be like a past we knew. There’s no exit from this morass."
eBay emerges as new destination
for physical gold, silver buyers
By George Avalos - CommodityOnline.com
London and New York City may be the primary epicenters to trade Gold and silver, yet more investors are finding new ways to buy and sell the two precious metals. One of the newest major channels is eBay’s Bullion Center, which opened in May.
eBay’s online bazaar for gold and Silver trading joins several ETFs and Internet-based sites for dealing and storing bullion.
San Jose-based eBay touts its Bullion Center as a one-stop shop that links shoppers for precious metals in a single marketplace experience. The featured sellers in the Bullion Center provide free shipping, no hidden fees and no minimum purchase amount.
"The Bullion Center was created as consumer demand for gold and silver increased," said Todd Witkemper, a spokesman for eBay Marketplaces.
Euroland & the Gold Rebound
BY JIM WILLIE - FinancialSense.com
An important reversal of focus, expectation, and direction has taken place in Europe. Put aside the sovereign debt mess that will not go away. It will not be fixed, despite all the effort and talk and deal making. They must prepare for a string of bank failures and a Greek default. Every solution executed or proposed or pending involves the same lunatic device of creating more debt or more money to solve a problem caused by too much credit creation and unchecked monetary creation. For 18 months the Euro had traded on the back of the European Central Bank monetary policy, on interest rate judgments and expectations. To be sure, the PIIGS sovereign debt situation has dominated the news. However, that disaster has played out in the member nation bond yields, like Greek yields shooting toward 100%, like the bigger southern periphery nations jumping over the critical 5% level. During all the maelstrom of the wrecked bonds, arguments over bank bailouts, haggling over funding the stability facility, and political footdragging, the Euro had maintained a 140 exchange rate for a long time. The impetus for the rise from 130 to 147 in the Euro currency from the beginning of year 2011 had been the clear move by Trichet of the Euro Central Bank to break ranks with the US Federal Reserve. Outgoing chief Trichet hiked the official rate by 25 basis points several months ago, attempting to make distance from the USFed. He made defiant comments implying a reckless pattern at the USFed. He cited rising price inflation threats and the lack of desire to continue to stimulate on the monetary side. The rate hike was criticized widely for its direct impact on PIGS nations. Their mortgage rates and other related internal bank mechanisms caused damage to the southern banks. They were already teetering.
Keiser Report: Dog & Pony Show (E196)
Foreigners Dump $74 Billion In Treasurys
In 6 Consecutive Weeks:
Biggest Sequential Outflow In History
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Over the weekend, we observed the perplexing sell off of $56 billion in US Treasurys courtesy of weekly disclosure in the Fed's custodial account (source: H.4.1) and speculated if this may be due to an asset rotation, under duress or otherwise, out of bonds and into stocks, to prevent the collapse of the global ponzi (because when the BRICs tell the IMF to boost its bailout capacity you know it is global). We also proposed a far simpler theory: "the dreaded D-day in which foreign official and private investors finally start offloading their $2.7 trillion in Treasurys with impunity (although not with the element of surprise - China has made it abundantly clear it will sell its Treasury holdings, the only question is when), has finally arrived." In hindsight the Occam's Razor should have been applied. Little did we know 5 short days ago just how violent the reaction by China would be (both post and pre-facto) to the Senate decision to propose a law for all out trade warfare with China. Now we know - in the week ended October 12, a further $17.7 billion was "removed" from the Fed's custodial Treasury account, meaning that someone, somewhere is very displeased with US paper, and, far more importantly, what it represents, and wants to make their displeasure heard loud and clear.
China: Continued Boom or Bursting Bubble?
BY JAMES QUINN - FinancialSense.com
In a recent article, How China Ate America’s Lunch, Clif Carothers described what China has accomplished in the last thirty years:
In thirty short years, China was able to accelerate her GDP from $216 billion to $6 trillion. She amassed reserve capital of $3 trillion. She reversed America’s fortunes from the greatest creditor nation to the greatest debtor nation. She gutted America’s factories while creating the world’s largest manufacturing base in her own country. A measure of output that highly correlates to GDP is energy consumption. In June of this year, 2011, China surpassed the United States as the largest consumer of energy on the planet. While the US consumes 19% of the world’s energy, China consumes 20.3%.
Dollar Printing Uses 9.7 Tons Of Ink Per Day,
And Other Fast Facts About The US Dollar
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Just like goldbugs know the serial number of every single gold bar held (allegedly) in the GLD by heart, so the Federal Reserve carries a soft place in its corrupt, evil heart for fiat and the assorted trivia surrounding it. For example did you know that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has two facilities, one in Washington, D.C. and the other in Fort Worth, Texas. Together they use approximately 9.7 tons of ink per day. So while paper money may or may not a disappearing species, here are, courtesy of the Federal Reserve, some "fun" facts about the US Dollar that readers may not be aware of as they make funeral arrangements for the endlessly dilutable combination of 75% cotton/25% linen.
From the Federal Reserve's indoctrination segment.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces 26 million notes a day, with a face value of approximately $907 million.
Over 90 percent of U.S. currency is Federal Reserve notes.
A stack of currency one-mile high would contain more than 14.5 million notes.
Why the State Demands Control of Money
Mises Daily: by Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Imagine you are in command of the state, defined as an institution that possesses a territorial monopoly of ultimate decision making in every case of conflict, including conflicts involving the state and its agents itself, and, by implication, the right to tax, i.e., to unilaterally determine the price that your subjects must pay you to perform the task of ultimate decision making.
To act under these constraints — or rather, lack of constraints — is what constitutes politics and political action, and it should be clear from the outset that politics, then, by its very nature, always means mischief. Not from your point of view, of course, but mischief from the point of view of those subject to your rule as ultimate judge. Predictably, you will use your position to enrich yourself at other people's expense.
More specifically, we can predict in particular what your attitude and policy vis-à-vis money and banking will be.
The United States' 65-Year Debt Bubble
BY GAIL TVERBERG - FinancialSense.com
When I write about high oil prices having an adverse impact on the economy, quite a few readers respond by saying, “No, most (or all) of the problem is a debt bubble.” They seem to think that poor underwriting of mortgages a few years ago allowed a debt bubble. Once this bubble is past, or some similar bubble, our problems will be over.
I decided to see when the debt bubble really started. The answer surprised me–it appears that we have been building a debt bubble since at least 1945 (Figure 1 – based on Federal Reserve data).
Marc Faber: Long The Dollar,
But Occupy The Federal Reserve
Submitted by EconMatters - ZeroHedge.com
Marc Faber, asset manager at the Gloom, Doom & Boom Report, popped in at CNBC (Clip Here) on Oct. 11 while visiting in Montreal, Canada (He is usually based in Thailand.)
Faber expects volatility to continue (not necessarily means a downside to the markets), but dollar should be a long trade as whenever there's a bubble, e.g. tech bubble, housing bubble, stocks bubble, and commodities bubble, usually after the bubble bursts, there typically will be a 10-15 years of volatility before markets settle down to reignite an uptrend.
"Despite the fact that the [European Central Bank] and the European government will flood the market with liquidity to bail themselves out, global liquidity is tightening.....Whenever global liquidity is tightening it is bad for asset prices but good for the U.S. dollar, as was the case in 2008."
G20 finance ministers gather as time runs out Top of France’s agenda when it took the presidency of the G20 last November was the arcane subject, "reducing imbalances". Judged against its own goals one year on, then, it is fair to say the French presidency has not been an unequivocal success.
By Philip Aldrick - Telegraph.co.uk
Global imbalances are as entrenched as they ever were. Budget deficits dominate the political agenda, with countries from the US to Italy to Greece still grappling unsuccessfully with their debts. Trade imbalances continue to warp economies, as consumer-heavy nations try to kick-start their manufacturing engines and exporters try to trigger a consumer boom.
The China-US trade deficit is a case in point. It hit a record $29bn in August. The US is now lurching towards protectionism, the desperate result of failed negotiations. The US Senate has approved legislation to impose penalty tariffs on Chinese products sold in the US if China does not do more to let its currency appreciate.
Deutsche Bank Says Haircuts May Cause Credit Crunch
By: Reuters - CNBC.com
Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Josef Ackermann on Thursday warned thathaircuts on sovereign debt combined with demands to boost bank capital could lead to a credit crunch in the real economy.
"A question remains over whether banks will be able to provide financing, or whether possible haircuts in the euro zone and the new regulatory environment will practically force them to be restrictive," Ackermann told a conference of corporate executives gathered in Berlin , according to the text of the speech .
Before considering further measures to stabilize the euro zone politicians and regulators should consider the cumulative impact of proposals such as forced recapitalization, a transaction tax and writedowns on bonds.
Getting Real About Global Economic Crisis
By Steve Clemons -TheAtlantic.com
I'm just returning from two days with members of the Global Council network of the World Economic Forum held annually in the UAE, this year in Abu Dhabi. I was a guest of the WEF and participate as a member of the WEF Global Council on Geopolitical Risk.
Despite having quality, sobering discussions with a number of interesting people about the fragile state of global geoeconomic and geostrategic affairs, including former UK Prime MinisterGordon Brown, former NM Governor Bill Richardson, Kissinger Associates China expertJoshua Cooper Ramo, Eurasia Group president Ian Bremmer, Saudi media mover Jamal Khashoggi, IMF US alternative director Douglas Rediker, and others -- the general mood there seemed to be uncomfortably positive.
Emerging countries in talks on IMF boost 'Bigger bazooka' to fight the euro crisis planned for G20
By Alan Beattie in Washington, Alex Barker in Brussels - FT.com
Emerging market countries are working on ways to contribute money rapidly to expand the effective firepower of the International Monetary Fund, with the aim of increasing its role in combating the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.
The discussions, in parallel with talks in the eurozone about creating a bigger "bazooka" to intervene in financial markets, are aimed at producing a confidence-boosting announcement by the Group of 20 heads of government summit next month.
People familiar with the discussions say governments are considering either funding an IMF-run special purpose vehicle (SPV) or lending to the IMF by buying special bonds. Although details have not been worked out, the increased firepower could be used to finance new IMF credit lines to prevent contagion from the Greek crisis spreading to Italy and Spain, or to recapitalise European banks.
Europe's grand plan risks slow death by a thousand cuts Is Europe's planned programme of banking recapitalisations going to work? -- By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
It depends how it is done, but the omens aren't good. The message from bankers at the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) annual dinner in London this week was a concerning one.
This was not because of the reference by the guest speaker, Jean-Claude Trichet, to just how close the world has come to a repeat of the Great Depression. Even the European Central Bank president would no doubt admit that's still very much a real and present danger. Rather, it was because there seemed to be scarcely a person in the room who thought the grand plan to recapitalise the European banking system would do the trick. Indeed, many took the same view as Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank, that it's likely to be outright counter-productive.
Spain Credit Rating Downgraded One Notch by S&P
By: Reuters - CNBC.com
Ratings agency Standard and Poor's downgraded the long-term credit rating of Spain by one notch to "AA-" from "AA" with a negative outlook, due to weak growth, tightening fiscal conditions and high private sector debt.
A routemap through the eurozone minefield
By George Soros - FT.com
A group of almost 100 prominent Europeans delivered an open letter to the leaders of all 17 eurozone countries on Wednesday. The letter said, in so many words, what the leaders of Europe now appear to have understood: they cannot go on “kicking the can down the road”. The road has been blocked by the German constitutional court which has found the law establishing the European financial stability fund constitutional, but declared that no further transfers are allowed without Bundestag authorisation. The leaders have also understood that it is not enough to ensure that governments can finance their debt at reasonable interest rates, they must also do something about the banking system.
response to Soros.... scroll down page for article Europe’s dance of death between sovereigns and banks
By Sony Kapoor - FT.com
George Soros is right in saying the discussion on recapitalisation of European banks is flawed. However, the best way to address the panic in the banking system is not through guaranteeing the banks, but through restoring full faith in the solvency of large eurozone economies instead.
Weaknesses in the European banking system have been known for some time, so why the sudden panic?
European Union policymakers have let Greece’s unique fiscal problems colour their prescription for countries such as Spain and Ireland which had banking, not fiscal, crises. Growth has also suffered in other countries, as austerity measures became fashionable. This economic slowdown, weak stress tests and the EU’s inability to handle the relatively small problems of Greece, combined to also erode confidence in Spain and Italy.
China and US trade gap widens Hopes for a rebalancing of the global economy have been dealt a blow by trade figures from the US and China which showed that the imbalances are worsening amid the economic slowdown.
By Philip Aldrick Telegraph.co.uk
According to data from the US, the trade gap with China in August hit $29bn (£18bn) – a record high for a single month. For the year to date, the deficit is up 9pc.
The widening in the trade deficit makes it more likely that the US will lurch towards damaging protectionism, economists warned. Paul Dales, senior US economist at Capital Economics, said: "[It] is only going to make the trade protection bill passed by the Senate this week more popular.
"With fiscal and monetary policy increasingly impotent, trade policies, such as import tariffs, will become a more appealing way to boost the economy."
Trader's 11-Year Prison Gig - Orchestrated Insider Scheme Rajaratnam Sentenced to 11 Years, Well Below Guidelines
By ADAM KLASFELD - Courthouse News Service
MANHATTAN (CN) - Billionaire Raj Rajaratnam will spend 11 years in prison for orchestrating a $63 million insider-trading scheme, a federal judge ruled Thursday, citing the hedge fund founder's health problems as a reason the term fell well below the maximum 24 1/2 years.
Rajaratnam will need surgery to address imminent kidney failure caused by diabetes, according to the court. The former executive of the Galleon hedge fund shared his health condition with the court in a brief seeking leniency, which was unsealed today.
When asked if he wanted to speak, Rajaratnam stood and said, "No, thank you, Your Honor."
US to Decide on More Money-Printing in 2012: Gartman
By: Catherine Boyle - Staff Writer, CNBC.com
The chances of a third round of quantitative easing in the US this year have faded to "bordering on nil", unless jobs figures get much worse, Dennis Gartman, author of The Gartman Letter, told CNBC Thursday.
On Wednesday, minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee September meeting showed that the committee of twelve policymakers leading the Federal Reserve discussed a third round of quantitative easing, and at least two members said the weakening economy might need it.
There were also three members who objected to the Fed taking any new measures at all.
Volcker Rule Made Simple:
Banks Can't Gamble With Our Money (Probably)
By Bruce Watson - DailyFinance.com
"Kiss the dice, baby. Gimme a little luck," the banker whispers as he puts his money -- your money -- on the table. When the numbers come up, the chips go into his pile. When they don't ... well, some gamblers are just too big to fail.
This week, the government took a big first step toward shutting down the Can't Lose Room in the Wall Street Casino. TheVolcker Rule, a proposal to limit the kinds of risky investments that banks can make, went before four government agencies. On Tuesday, theFDIC unanimously approvedthe rule, the Federal Reserve backed it, and on Wednesday, theSecurities and Exchange Commission followed suit.The final version of the rule is now up for public comment for 60 days.
Big Banks Are About to Get Blasted by the Volcker Rule
BY DAVID ZEILER, Associate Editor, Money Morning
When the Volcker Rule regulations go into effect next year, its restrictions could slam the revenue of the fixed income trading operations of several major U.S. banks by as much as 25%.
The Volker Rule is one of the elements required by the Dodd-Frank financial oversight law, which was written to rein in the sort of excessive Wall Street risk-taking that led to the financial crisis of 2008.
A draft version of the rule was released this week by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which was approved by both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on Tuesday and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday (Wednesday).
The rule aims to ban proprietary trading, in which the banks traded for their own benefit rather than for the benefit of their customers, but also will address other areas such as hedge fund investing.
U.S. Bank Regulation – A Bridge to Nowhere?
Published by Ian R. Campbell - StockResearchPortal.com
An article late Tuesday says ‘Volcker rule unveiled as U.S. curbs Wall Street bets’ – reading time 4 minutes. The article reports that on Tuesday U.S. Regulators put the so-called ‘Volcker Rule’, named after former Federal Reserve Head Paul Volcker, out for comment with a three-month open comment period that ends on January 13.
New banking rules arising out of this process apparently are scheduled to go into effect on July 21, 2012. The proposal, which is said to include more than 350 questions regulators want ‘interested parties’ to comment on – which I think ought to include pretty much everyone – will no doubt keep a lot of Investment Bank executives and their professional advisors up 24 hours a day for the next three months.
Threads In A Foreboding Tapestry
Courtesy of Lee Adler of the Wall Street Examiner
Two weeks ago I began to report to subscribers of the Wall Street Examiner Professional Edition Fed Report that foreign central banks (FCBs) had begun to engage in unprecedented levels of disgorgement of their massive holdings of US Treasury and Agency paper. Prior to this year, the FCBs had typically absorbed the equivalent of 25% of new US Treasury issuance month in and month out. That was effectively a subsidy of US financial markets. It lowered long term interest rates artificially and injected cash into the US markets and banking system.
Then about a year ago the FCBs began to slack off in their buying. In reality, that is what necessitated the Fed's program of Quantitative Easing. The Fed had to step in and fill the demand gap left by the FCBs gradually reducing their rate of purchases. Had the Fed not acted when it did, long term Treasury yields would have started to rise and along with them mortgage rates and other long term rates, something that the US economy and the US Government simply could not afford.
How to prepare for a double-dip recession
By The Associated Press - MSNBC.com
With some experts predicting the economy is already slipping back into recession, now's the time to make sure you and your family are prepared to handle another downturn.
"It's important to understand that recession doesn't mean a bad economy — we've had that for years now," said a recent report from the Economic Cycle Research Institute, which has called the last four recessions accurately. "It means an economy that keeps worsening, because it's locked into a vicious cycle."
Families are already feeling the pain. Recent data show they're earning less and cutting back on spending.
So how can a family that is already hunkered down prepare for even worse times?
Start by assessing the health of your household finances and job security. Then lay out a plan to handle critical and long-term risks to each.
Once upon a time, American Airlines was a true industry leader. Today, the financially struggling carrier may be in line for something it never considered—bankruptcy.
Here's what's good about American Airlines right now: It is the nation's only legacy carrier that has never declared bankruptcy, and chief executive Gerard Arpey seems to have almost religious objections to putting it and its parent company, AMR Corporation, into Chapter 11.
Here's what's bad about American Airlines right now: everything else, including Arpey's long-standing antipathy to bankruptcy.
The financial decline of American Airlines in recent years is already the stuff of legend. As this month's market gyrations have shown, American is a wreck. Here's how:
Sharp rise in foreclosures as banks move in Increase signals banks are moving more aggressively against borrowers who have fallen behind on mortgage payments
NBC, msnbc.com and news services
More U.S. homes are entering the foreclosure process, but they're taking ever longer to get sold or repossessed by lenders.
The number of U.S. homes that received a first-time default notice during the July to September quarter increased 14 percent compared to the second quarter of the year, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
That increase signals banks are moving more aggressively now against borrowers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments than they have since industrywide foreclosure processing problems emerged last fall. Those problems resulted in a sharp drop in foreclosure activity this year.
Foreclosures Ramping Up Again After A Lull
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - NPR.com
More U.S. homes are entering the foreclosure process, but they're taking ever longer to get sold or repossessed by lenders.
The number of U.S. homes that received a first-time default notice during the July to September quarter increased 14 percent compared to the second quarter, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
That increase signals banks are moving more aggressively now against borrowers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments than they have since industrywide foreclosure processing problems emerged last fall. Those problems resulted in a sharp drop in foreclosure activity this year.
Forget Hiring: Some Firms Are Weighing More Layoffs
By: Reuters - CNBC.com
From Capitol Hill and Wall Street to small towns across the United States, discussions of the economy have focused on one key question for the past two years: When will corporate America start hiring again? That may be the wrong question.
With Europe's debt crisis rattling the world financial system and demand fading, the question on many executives' and economists' minds is whether the nation is on the brink of another large round of layoffs.
It does not help that the uncertainty that has sent the Standard & Poor's 500 index down more than 10 percent since mid-July is lingering into October when big companies start planning out their 2012 budgets.
The "Currency Manipulator"
That's About to Put 3 Million Americans Back to Work
BY MARTIN HUTCHINSON, Global Investing Strategist, Money Morning
Think U.S. jobs are destined to drain away to China forever? Think U.S. unemployment will grow and grow while cheap overseas labor supplants American workers? Think your children will be forced to work selling Big Macs to Chinese billionaires?
Well, boy has the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) got news for you.
The United States' No. 1 strategic consultancy's latest study shows 2 million to 3 million manufacturing jobs and about $100 billion in output can be expected to return to the United States from China by 2020.
That's right. China, so often the scapegoat for U.S. joblessness - and an alleged "currency manipulator" - actually is becoming our best ally in the fight against high unemployment.
Gap to shutter a third of US stores, expand globally
By Al Olson - MSNBC.NBC.com
Gap, ubiquitous in malls across America, will reduce the number of its U.S. stores to 700 by 2013, a 34 percent decline from 2007, the company announced Thursday.
Although it is shrinking its retail footprint in the U.S., the company announced it is expanding Gap and Banana Republic stores in China, Italy and South America. It is planning on tripling its Gap stores in greater China from roughly 15 at the end of this year to about 45 by the end of 2012, according to the press release.
Another one of its brands, Old Navy, will make its debut outside of the United States in 2014, with an outlet in Japan.
The company would not estimate the number of U.S. jobs that will be eliminated.
Who Really Robbed the Middle Class?
Maybe It Was Health Care
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Henry Blodget, the editor of Business Insider, rounded up a monster chart slideshow under the headline "Here's What the Wall Street Protesters Are So Angry About..." It's a pretty brilliant production. But his conclusion -- that wages' falling share of GDP explains the Occupy Wall Street movement -- is missing some important context.
Blodget walks readers through the last 30 years in income inequality, from the rise in bank profits to the unemployment bomb. He calls his class slide "the one overarching reason the Wall Street protesters are so upset" The big reveal: Wages as a percent of the economy [are] basically the lowest ever."
Dennis Ritchie:
The Shoulders Steve Jobs Stood On
By Cade Metz - Wired.com
The tributes to Dennis Ritchie won’t match the river of praise that spilled out over the web after the death of Steve Jobs. But they should.
And then some.
"When Steve Jobs died last week, there was a huge outcry, and that was very moving and justified. But Dennis had a bigger effect, and the public doesn’t even know who he is," says Rob Pike, theprogramming legend and current Googler who spent 20 years working across the hall from Ritchie at the famed Bells Labs.
On Wednesday evening, with a post to Google+, Pike announced that Ritchie had died at his home in New Jersey over the weekend after a long illness, and though the response from hardcore techies was immense, the collective eulogy from the web at large doesn’t quite do justice to Ritchie’s sweeping influence on the modern world. Dennis Ritchie is the father of the C programming language, and with fellow Bell Labs researcher Ken Thompson, he used C to build UNIX, the operating system that so much of the world is built on — including the Apple empire overseen by Steve Jobs.
Occupy Wall Street protesters set for Zuccotti Park showdown Protesters in New York are preparing for a confrontation with police, as the owners of the park order a 'clear-up'
By Matt Wells - Guardian.co.uk
The collection of sleeping bags, camping stoves and Macbook Airs that makes up the Occupy Wall Street stronghold in Lower Manhattan is about to be broken up. Four weeks after the first protesters took up residence at Zuccotti Park, what looks like a final showdown with the city authorities is looming.
The owners of the park, Brookfield Properties, appear to have had enough of their uninvited guests and have ordered a cleanup to begin at 7am on Friday.
On Thursday, representatives of the company distributed leaflets in the park saying that, following the clear-up, protesters will not be allowed to keep sleeping bags, tents, and other camping gear in the park. Nor will they be allowed to lie down on the benches or the ground. In effect, the camp is finished.
Occupy Wall St Supporter Peter Schiff
interview at BNN Toronto October 12, 2011
Confrontation a possibility?
BY NEWSCORE - FOXNY.com
NEW YORK - Protesters in Zucotti Park in Lower Manhattan were being told to move by Friday morning to allow for cleaning crews to perform maintenance.
Many of the protesters taking part in the Occupy Wall Street movement have been there since mid-September.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said they would be allowed to return following the cleaning. He made a surprise visit to the park Wednesday where he made the announcement.
The move could end the occupation because city officials said the privately owned Zuccotti Park's rules prohibiting camping, lying on the ground and storing property would be enforced after the cleaning begins on Friday morning.
Will the commies start a civil war?
Obama's Red October Uprising The Resurgence of the American Socialist Movement
By Mark Alexander - PatriotPost.us
"We must make our election between economy and Liberty, or profusion and servitude." --Thomas Jefferson
By now, you're aware that the seeds of socialist dissent are being sown across our great nation, mostly within the fetid soil of urban centers, where cadres of activists coalesce under the aegis of "Occupy [fill in the blank]." It would be difficult to avoid the fanfare, given the amount of Leftmedia coverage (read: promotion) that these protests receive.
According to my colleague Brent Bozell at Media Research Center, the protests were the subject of "more broadcast network stories in the first nine days than the Tea Party drew in the first nine months."
Chilling Predictions for Obama-Gore
By Sharon Sebastian - PatriotPost.us
A funny thing is happening on the road to riches for Barack Obama and Al Gore, the weather is changing. Global scientists now warn of a Mini-Ice Age that will bring frigid temperatures that will further expose the fraud of the worldwide carbon-credit-man-made-global-warming scheme.
"Some scientists predict that the Sun is heading for a long slump in solar activity known as a Grand Solar Minimum. If this happens, it is possible that Britain could return to conditions similar to those 350 years ago when sunspots vanished during 'the Little Ice Age', when ice fairs were often held on the frozen Thames in London."
-- Paul Simons, The Times, 10 October 2011
Seems Obama, Gore, the United Nations and their co-collaborators can fool some of the public, but not nature. Nor can they coerce honest scientists from making chilling predictions.
Secularism: The De Facto State Religion
By Nicholas Pandelidis - PatriotPost.us
For nearly a hundred years, American progressives have incorrectly argued that the principle of separation of church and state precludes an individual from expressing their religious perspective in politics. In fact, the First Amendment that prohibits Congress from passing law "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" was not intended to exclude religion from politics, but rather, to protect the individual's right of religious freedom, encouraging expression of the eternal virtues and morality common to Judeo-Christian tradition in our government and society.
Our nation's founding irrefutably has its basis in a Judeo-Christian understanding of our existence -- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Our country's founders held "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as bestowed gifts intrinsic to our creation, and established the protection of those unalienable rights as the immutable and absolute foundation of our government and society.
Unprecedented Drop in Port Traffic
BY MICHAEL SHEDLOCK - FinancialSense.com
Port traffic on the West coast is down significantly. Expected traffic for September is also way lower. Yet analysts have been busy raising expectations for the holiday season. One thing for sure, one group is wrong.
Please consider the New York Times article A Contradiction in the Cargo
When retailers expect that Americans will be crowding into their stores, their orders pile into the nation’s ports in August and September for delivery to stores by late October. But logistics companies say that is not happening this year.
"We're concerned, because usually at this time, you see this peak," said Richard D. Steinke, the executive director of the Port of Long Beach in California. "We haven't seen it."
Congress, Governors Nix Obama's High-speed Trains
By Michael Barone - PatriotPost.us
Dead. Kaput. Through. Finished. Washed up. Gone-zo.
That, I think, is a fair description of the Obama administration's attempt to build high-speed rail lines across America.
It hasn't failed because of a lack of willingness to pony up money. The Obama Democrats' February 2009 stimulus package included $8 billion for high-speed rail projects. The Democratic Congress appropriated another $2.5 billion.
But Congress is turning off the spigot. The Republican-controlled House has appropriated zero dollars for high-speed rail. The Democratic-majority Senate Appropriations Committee has appropriated $100 million in its budget recommendation.
The Decline of American Client States From Pakistan to Israel to Taiwan, Washington's dependent allies are causing it some headaches
By Max Fisher - TheAtlantic.com
America's love affair with client states began not long after it and the Soviet Union -- another master in the art of client-building -- pressured the UK and France to leave Egypt, which they had invaded in 1956 to reclaim control of the Suez Canal. European colonialism, the U.S. and USSR argued at the United Nations that year, was outdated, destabilizing, and had to end. British and French forces withdrew from Egypt, and within about a decade most of the British and French empires collapsed. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Soviet Union had begun a different great geopolitical game -- the search for client states -- one that Washington is still playing today.
Summary: The New York Times is suing the federal government in a bid to reveal how the Patriot Act is interpreted and used by law enforcement.
The New York Times is suing the U.S. government for refusing to divulge how its law enforcement interprets the Patriot Act.
After a series of Freedom of Information requests were declined to reveal the classified interpretation of the Patriot Act — a description that Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Mark Udall (D-Colorado) described as “deeply disturbing” — the newspaper sought to battle it out in the courts.
Some months ago, it was found that the Patriot Act was being interpreted by government departments in a way to aid their ongoing investigations, leading to calls that there was a “classified” element to the counter-terrorism law.
What We Really Mean
When We Talk About a Syrian No-Fly Zone Syrian activists are increasingly calling for some kind of outside military support, but what are they really asking for and what would it do? -- By Micah Zenko - TheAtlantic.com
In mid-August, talk show host Stephen Colbert asked U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice why the United States had not intervened to save the lives of Syrians as it had in Libya. Ambassador Ricereplied that Syrian opposition members had told U.S. diplomats, "What they want from the United States is more leadership, political pressure, and sanctions, but very clearly no military intervention."
Since then, opposition forces who seek the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime have increased their demands for an international military intervention in the form of a no-fly zone (NFZ) over all or parts of Syria. However, as was true in Libya, the military mission that is actually required is one of close air support. It is important for the international community to correctly assess the situation on the ground and understand the distinctions between NFZs and close air support before exploring the use of military force in Syria.
Gold Rises to Two-Week High
as Equities, Commodities Rally on Europe Plan
By Debarati Roy - Bloomberg.com
Gold futures rose to a two-week high as equities and commodities rallied amid optimism that European officials will tame the region’s debt crisis.
The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 2 percent, while the Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials headed for the longest rally in six months. European Economic and Monetary Affairs CommissionerOlli Rehn said that countries are moving toward a consensus on resolving the "calamity." Slovakia, the only nation that hasn't ratified a revised bailout fund, was poised for a second vote after rejecting the package yesterday.
"We are seeing a return of risk-on trade," Fred Schoenstein, a trader at Heraeus Precious Metals Management in New York, said in a telephone interview. "Europe is working toward finding a solution."
Gold on its way to $10,000 an ounce
By Nick Barisheff - Commodity Online
Gold market is not a bubble but having the potential to move higher to $10,000 an ounce, according to Nick Barisheff, leading commentator on finance and markets and President and CEO of Bullion Management Group, Inc. His upcoming book, ‘$10,000 Gold- Why it will get there sooner than you may expect’ is based on this bullish premise for the yellow metal.
Barisheff points out that there are two fundamental ways of looking at gold: The western view sees it as just a wealth-gaining asset while the eastern view subscribed to by India, China and Middle East is that the yellow metal is a wealth-preserving asset that serves the purpose of money.
Gold Prices Advance 1.3%, Silver Gains 2.5%
by COINNEWS.NET
U.S. gold prices rose 1.3 percent and peaked toward a three-week high Wednesday, but it was silver that led the percentage gains among the major metals with its 2.5 percent increase.
Jon Nadler, Senior Analyst at Kitco Metals Inc, notes: "The same excuses that were called into duty to explain why markets fell on Tuesday were swiftly reshaped to suit the mood of the day and were employed to explain today's gains. 'Gold Falls as European Crisis Shows Signs of Worsening' was followed by 'Gold Rises on Renewed European Debt Concerns.' Got that? Good. Now go invest."
US Mint May Hike Prices
on Collector Gold and Commemorative Coins
by COINNEWS.NET
As a result of higher trending precious metals, prices for United States Mint collector gold and commemorative coins may increase Wednesday, October 12. (See possible coin prices.)
If price hikes occur, they would mark a sixth straight week that the Mint has adjusted prices for its collector gold coins. But moving coins higher would also break a streak of four straight weeks where prices had been cut.
[Update: The below referenced price increases were implemented by the United Stats Mint by noon Wednesday.]
Dubai Gold Buyers Switching from Jewelry to Bullion
[Google title for free article pass]
By BRINDA DARASHA - WSJ.com $$
DUBAI – The recent violent volatility in gold prices is disrupting traditional buying patterns in Dubai, with customers moving from jewelry to bullion as they renew a focus on the yellow metal's investment potential, a trend that is prompting more city jewelers to stock gold in the form of coins and bars.
Dubai, known as the city of gold, is a long-established market for bullion and wholesale and retail jewelry. Its trade is fueled by demand from India, the world's number one gold consumer, and domestic consumption which, at 19 tons in the second quarter of 2011, makes the United Arab Emirates the second-largest consumer of gold jewelry and bullion in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.
MARC FABER CNBC Video Interview October 11th 2011
The US will slip into recession within 6 months
By Nouriel Roubini
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Nouriel Roubini, the noted economist who correctly predicted the 2008 financial crisis, has predicted that the US, Europe and UK are on the verge of recession and it may occur within the next two quarters.
"The question is not whether or if there is going to be a double dip, but whether it's going to be mild or severe with another financial crisis. The answer on that depends on the euro zone”, Roubini said in a CNBC interview.
The European debt crisis could snowball into a shock much bigger than the Lehman Brothers of 2008 and the government needs to pull its socks and take concrete measures before the G20 meeting in November.
US Federal Reserve has not ruled out QE3 The Federal Reserve hasn't ruled out embarking on a third round of quantitative easing should the US economy deteriorate further.
By Richard Blackden - Telegraph.co.uk
The minutes of last month's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee also showed that divisions remain among senior officials on how best to help revive growth.
September's meeting ended with the launch of Operation Twist - the Fed's effort to lower long-term interest rates by buying $400bn of longer-dated government bonds and selling $400bn of shorter-dated bonds that it owns.
The policy received a lukewarm reception from investors and Fed officials acknowleged that its effect in bringing down unemployment will be limited.
Divisions Grow on Federal Reserve’s Policy Committee
By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s policy-making committee is increasingly divided between advocates for stronger steps to bolster the economy and dissenters who see little benefit and considerable risk in such efforts, according to minutes of the committee’s most recent meeting.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted at the end of a two-day meeting in September to begin an effort to reduce long-term interest rates, allowing businesses and consumers to borrow more cheaply.
The Fed disclosed at the time that three members of the 10-person board had voted against the decision. The minutes released Wednesday record that on the other side, two members wanted the Fed to take even stronger action.
Treasuries Tumble
as Europe Optimism Damps Demand
at 10-Year Note Auction
By Cordell Eddings and Susanne Walker - Bloomberg.com
Treasury 10-year note yields rose to the highest level in six weeks as optimism European leaders will be able to contain the region’s debt crisis reduced the haven appeal of the securities at today’s $21 billion auction.
U.S. government bonds are off to the worst monthly start this year after completing the strongest quarter since 2008 amid rising appetite for higher-risk assets. The bid-to-cover ratio on today’s auction, which gauges demand by comparing total bids with the amount of securities offered, was 2.86, the lowest since November 2010. The European Union outlined plans to recapitalize banks and halt the debt crisis, and stocks climbed.
Regulators release plan for Volcker Rule limits on bank trading
By Brady Dennis - WashingtonPost.com
Federal regulators unveiled a 298-page draft Tuesday outlining new rules to prevent big banks from trading for their benefit rather than on behalf of customers, nearly two years after the Obama administration endorsed such a measure.
The "Volcker Rule," named after former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, would forbid banks from owning hedge funds and private-equity funds and prohibit them from making certain kinds of trades merely for their profit. It was included in the far-reaching Dodd-Frank financial overhaul legislation passed by Congress last year.
Violence erupts on Wall Street
as protesters clash with police in march on Chase bank
By MARK DUELL - DailyMail.co.uk
The Occupy Wall Street movement got nasty again today in New York as dramatic photos showed the arrests of protesters angry at America’s richest people not paying their fair share of taxes.
Amazing pictures showed demonstrators being taken down by no-nonsense police officers during a protest near the headquarters of JPMorgan Chase bank in Manhattan on Wednesday.
The protesters were directing their anger and frustration at the state of the U.S. economy to JPMorgan Chase's high-profile chief executive Jamie Dimon.
UK rating downgrade 'unavoidable' A downgrade of Britain's top notch credit rating is potentially unavoidable because the country can not grow out of its debts, a leading asset manager has claimed.
By Philip Aldrick - Telegraph.co.uk
Legal & General Investment Management said "the UK's credit rating is likely to be reviewed in the coming years" as it becomes clear that the Government will miss its growth forecasts and fall back into recession.
The warning will come as a blow to George Osborne, who has staked his reputation on the UK retaining its AAA rating despite emerging from the recession with the biggest budget deficit in the G20.
James Carrick, economist at LGIM, said that stimulus spending of about £17bn a year would help lift growth but "hasten" any ratings action. "Under all scenarios, we think the Chancellor will miss his projections," he said.
Lloyd's Chairman on the Global Economic Crisis
[FOX 10-05-2011]
Lord Monckton: End of Democracy in England
Alex Jones Report 1/3
Lord Monckton: End of Democracy in England
Alex Jones Report 2/3
Lord Monckton: End of Democracy in England
Alex Jones Report 3/3
Slovak government collapses over euro-bailout fund
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
The Slovak parliament on Tuesday (11 October) brought down the government in a no-confidence vote linked to the eurozone bail-out fund, a move putting in doubt a second rescue package for Greece as agreed by EU leaders in July.
The vote count showed 55 MPs in favour of extending the powers of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and nine against out of a chamber of 150 members. The remainder, including coalition members, were absent or did not register a vote. A majority of all seats was required for the motion to pass.
Mario Draghi fears Italian debt spiral Italy risks a debt spiral without "drastic" steps to cut spending and restore confidence in public finances, the country's central bank governor has warned.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"We must act fast. The sorts of interest rate rises seen over the last three months, if protracted, could lead to an uncontrollable spiral," said Mario Draghi, who takes over as head of the European Central Bank next month.
Mr Draghi said austerity measures must be enacted "immediately" and warned that Italy's €54bn austerity package is "not enough".
Yields on 10-year Italian bonds surged above the danger level of 6pc in August on recession fears. Intervention by the ECB saved the day but yields have been creeping back up again as the ECB steps back. Yields rose to 5.71pc yesterday. Germany's Bundesbank is adamantly opposed to further ECB bond purchases.
German Inflation Rose More Than Estimated
By Christian Vits - Bloomberg.com
Inflation in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, accelerated more than initially estimated in September, led by energy costs.
The inflation rate, calculated using a harmonized European Union method, rose to 2.9 percent from 2.5 percent in August, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. That’s the highest since Sept. 2008. It had previously reported a rate of 2.8 percent. In the month, prices rose 0.2 percent.
The European Central Bank last week kept its key interest rate at 1.5 percent and said euro-region inflation will stay "clearly" above its 2 percent ceiling over the coming months before slowing in 2012. With governments toughening spending cuts and the economy cooling, companies may struggle to pass on higher costs. ECB council member Ewald Nowotny said on Oct. 10 that "fear is justified" on the economic development.
Jim Rogers on US-China trade war
Chinese government moves to stabilize its banks
By James O'Toole - CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The Chinese government's investment fund has announced plans to shore up four major banks, a move that follows months of declines in their stock prices amid concerns that the world's second-largest economy may be slowing.
Central Huijin Investment Ltd, an arm of Beijing's China Investment Corporation, has begun purchasing the state-owned banks' shares in an attempt at "supporting the steady operation and development of major financial institutions and stabilizing their stock prices," China's official Xinhua state news agency said.
Khazanah Said to Start Taking Orders
for World’s First Yuan Islamic Bonds
By Elffie Chew - Bloomberg.com
Khazanah Nasional Bhd., Malaysia’s state investment company, has started taking orders for the sale of the world’s first yuan-denominated Islamic bonds after an initial delay, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The three-year bonds, which pay returns from assets that comply with religious tenets, may price to yield about 3 percent, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. Average yields on yuan bonds sold in Hong Kong are 28 basis points lower than those on global Islamic notes, according to data from HSBC Holdings Plc.
Gerald Celente - The Neal Larson Show - 10 October 2011
Ex-Goldman Traders’ Hedge Fund
Shuts in Sydney as Macro Strategy Falters
By Jacob Greber - Bloomberg.com
Global Trading Strategies, a Sydney- based hedge fund founded by three former Goldman Sachs JBWere Pty. traders, has returned investors their money after its strategy of betting on global economic trends faltered.
The fund, which peaked at $1.2 billion in 2008 after starting in 2005, finished trading July 31 after more than a year of negative returns, Chief Operating Officer Murray Chatfield said in a telephone interview yesterday. Global Trading employed 24 people at its peak, he said.
Oil Boom in the USA
Written by Brian Westenhaus - OilPrice.com
The USA, largest consumer of oil and perhaps about fourth in production has entered an oil boom. Not only is it related to improvements in production technology, but U.S. demand for crude has also fallen. The U.S. is awash in oil. It’s the rest of the world that’s driving demand.
The past 25 years has seen world oil sales increase 50% since 1986. Freeing the communist block has consequences like consumers who can afford an energy-supported lifestyle. The forecast for this year is oil will be used at a daily rate of 89 million barrels a day. The increases aren’t likely to drop worldwide anytime soon.
Banks turn to demolition
of foreclosed properties to ease housing-market pressures
By Brady Dennis - WashingtonPost.com
Cleveland — The sight of excavators tearing down vacant buildings has become common in this foreclosure-ravaged city, where the housing crisis hit early and hard. But the story behind the recent wave of demolitions is novel — and cities around the country are taking notice.
A handful of the nation’s largest banks have begun giving away scores of properties that are abandoned or otherwise at risk of languishing indefinitely and further dragging down already depressed neighborhoods.
The banks have even been footing the bill for the demolitions — as much as $7,500 a pop. Four years into the housing crisis, the ongoing expense of upkeep and taxes, along with costly code violations and the price of marketing the properties, has saddled banks with a heavy burden. It often has become cheaper to knock down decaying homes no one wants.
Families Don't Depend on the Minimum Wage The data are clear: In most cases minimum-wage earnings are only a small fraction of family income.
By BRADLEY SCHILLER - WSJ.com
The minimum wage is likely to be a hot-button issue in the 2012 presidential campaign.
Last month, MIT professor Paul Osterman wrote in the New York Times that 20% of American adults are employed at "poverty-level wages." He said minimum wages should be raised if the economy is to grow and prosper (the federal minimum wage is currently $7.25, but it is as high as $8.67 in Washington state). Similarly, CNN.com and the Washington Post ran pieces recently on the importance of raising the minimum wage to get more cash to the working poor.
Student-Loan Debt Among Top
Occupy Wall Street Concerns
By Mary Pilon - WSJ.com
Student-loan debt has continued to grow despite a financial crisis that constrained credit elsewhere, and the increasing burden amid high unemployment is driving at least part of the protests among the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Last year, Americans began to owe more on their student loans then their credit cards, with student debt reaching the $1 trillion mark. Many have flocked to higher education during the down economy, only to find themselves still unemployed or underemployed.
Zak Cunningham is a 22 year old who graduated from Earlham College in Indiana last spring.
Wall Street Journal circulation scam
claims senior Murdoch executive Andrew Langhoff resigns as European publishing chief after exposure of secret channels of cash to help boost sales figures
By Nick Davies - Guardian.co.uk
One of Rupert Murdoch's most senior European executives has resigned following Guardian inquiries about a circulation scam at News Corporation's flagship newspaper, the Wall Street Journal.
The Guardian found evidence that the Journal had been channelling money through European companies in order to secretly buy thousands of copies of its own paper at a knock-down rate, misleading readers and advertisers about the Journal's true circulation.
The Woman Who Knew Too Much Millions of Americans hoped President Obama would nominate Elizabeth Warren to head the consumer financial watchdog agency she had created. Instead, she was pushed aside. As Warren kicks off her run for Scott Brown’s Senate seat in Massachusetts, Suzanna Andrews charts the Harvard professor’s emergence as a champion of the beleaguered middle class, and her fight against a powerful alliance of bankers, lobbyists, and politicians.
By Suzanna Andrews - VanityFair.com
On the afternoon of July 18, in remarks from the Rose Garden amid the bruising showdown with congressional Republicans over the debt ceiling, President Obama made what the White House billed as a simple "personnel announcement." In a brief speech, the president announced that he was nominating Richard Cordray, the former attorney general of Ohio, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the new government agency set up to protect consumers from abusive lending practices. In his remarks he described the agency, part of the massive 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as creating "the strongest consumer protections in history," set up "so ordinary people were dealt with fairly." After which he turned to thank the woman standing to his right, Elizabeth Warren.
Apple prepping movie cloud service
By Ben Fritz - LATimes.com
Apple Inc. is preparing to put movies in the cloud, entering a market in which it may be both competitor and ally to a similar offering backed by most Hollywood studios.
Representatives of the iPhone and iPad maker have been meeting with studios to finalize deals that would allow consumers to buy movies through iTunes and access them on any Apple device, according to knowledgeable people who requested anonymity because the discussions are private. The service is expected to launch in late 2011 or early 2012.
The talks come as the first movies from the multi-studio venture known as Ultraviolet are launching this week: Warner Bros.' "Horrible Bosses" and "Green Lantern."
iOS 5 goes live, servers creaking
By Hayley Tsukayama - WashingtonPost.com
Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 5 is now available for download from Apple’s servers, via the latest version of iTunes.
On Twitter, Apple fans are reporting download estimates of up to four hours as the company’s servers try to handle customers trying to download iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion upgrades, which enable users to use the iCloud suite of services. Others are reporting problems connecting to iTunes at all.
The new operating system features several new features including a new messaging service, an Android-like central notifications center, a reminder system that can set location-based alerts and — after this initial install — over-the-air updates for the operating system.
Arctic Ice Melting Rapidly - Yet Global Warming is Slowing
Written by MasterResource - OilPrice.com
The numbers are in for this year’s summer sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean. By most measures the ice loss in 2011 came in a close second to the current and still record holder, 2007.
But the failure to set a new record for the least amount of summer Arctic sea ice observed during the satellite era (which begins in 1979) has done little to alter the overall picture of what is going on there. Summer sea ice has been in decline in the Arctic Ocean since, conservatively, the mid-20th century, and it has been picking up steam. And sea ice declines in the Arctic are now pretty clearly discernible in the other seasons as well.
The Broken Contract Inequality and American Decline
By George Packer - ForeignAffairs.com (CFR)
Iraq was one of those wars where people actually put on pounds. A few years ago, I was eating lunch with another reporter at an American-style greasy spoon in Baghdad's Green Zone. At a nearby table, a couple of American contractors were finishing off their burgers and fries. They were wearing the contractor's uniform: khakis, polo shirts, baseball caps, and Department of Defense identity badges in plastic pouches hanging from nylon lanyards around their necks. The man who had served their food might have been the only Iraqi they spoke with all day. The Green Zone was set up to make you feel that Iraq was a hallucination and you were actually in Normal, Illinois. This narcotizing effect seeped into the consciousness of every American who hunkered down and worked and partied behind its blast walls -- the soldier and the civilian, the diplomat and the journalist, the important and the obscure. Hardly anyone stayed longer than a year; almost everyone went home with a collection of exaggerated war stories, making an effort to forget that they were leaving behind shoddy, unfinished projects and a country spiraling downward into civil war. As the two contractors got up and ambled out of the restaurant, my friend looked at me and said, "We're just not that good anymore."
Congress OKs three pacts on free trade Deals with S. Korea, Colombia, Panama
By Tim Devaney-The Washington Times
Congress passed three free-trade agreements Wednesday night withSouth Korea, Colombia and Panama in what is the nation’s biggest trade deal since NAFTA and the first for the Obama administration, with the promise of boosting the economy through the creation of tens of thousands of jobs.
The largest of the three deals is with South Korea, which alone could create some 70,000 jobs here and increase U.S. exports by more than $10 billion.
President Obama called the passage a major win for American businesses that will open new markets for American goods.
Adrian Salbuchi - 'Israeli agents operate in Argentina'
Venezuela Receives Russian
Armaments Loan for Increased Energy Access
Written by Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
The Russian Federation has agreed to provide Venezuela with a two year $4 billion loan for armaments purchases in return for increased access to developing Venezuela’s heavy crude and offshore natural gas fields.
Iran's Terror Plot An assassination attempt on U.S. soil
is a sobering wake-up call.
WSJ.com
One month to the day after the 10th anniversary of 9/11 comes a sobering moment in the history of the U.S. war on terror: The Department of Justice has charged that "factions of the Iranian government" plotted to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States by blowing him up inside a Washington, D.C., restaurant.
Had it succeeded, this would have constituted an act of terror by the Islamic Republic of Iran on U.S. soil, and arguably an act of war. To those, notably an emerging isolationist wing in the Republican party, who've argued lately that the U.S. should pull its efforts back from a waning international terrorist threat to focus on domestic concerns, this event is a wake-up call.
US Aims to Punish Iran for Saudi Envoy Plot
Saudis say Iran must 'pay the price'
for alleged plot as US resists retaliation Tehran denies it was behind plot to kill Saudi ambassador and says US is using it to divert attention from problems at home
By Ewen MacAskill and Saeed Kamali Dehghan - Guardian.co.uk
The Saudi Arabian government has issued a menacing warning to Iranthat it will have to "pay the price" for the alleged plot to hire a Mexican drugs cartel to assassinate its ambassador in Washington.
The threat from the Saudis came as the Obama administration resisted calls from within the US, mainly from the conservative right, to retaliate against Iran with military action.
But Iran denied it was behind the alleged plot, with officials claiming Washington had fabricated the story to divide Sunni Muslims – the dominant group in Saudi – and Shias, the dominant group in Iran. Tehran's leadership claimed Barack Obama was using the story to divert attention from the Occupy Wall Street protesters.
The Crisis of Credit Visualized
By Jonathan Jarvis
A Greater Depression is coming
By Thomas H. Kee Jr. - MarketWatch.com
Amazing as it sounds, the degree of uncertainty has actually increased on the heels of last week's rebound, and the debates running through the Streets, from "Occupy Wall Street" to "My Big Fat Greek Default," have investors at odds with each other. Quelling such emotional behavior takes time, but the emotions that run high at the tail end of market drubbings are almost always the same. We have all probably read the Book, "The Tipping Point," and the Market seems to be at a trough - based emotional tipping point right now. Everyone wants answers, but no one is getting the answers they are looking for, at least not yet, and therefore volatility and debate run rabid through the Streets. In every respect, my reference to The Street is to Wall Street, and to Pennsylvania Avenue. Unfortunately, I find these joined at the hip in the debate that has now gone viral.
Who will put Humpty together again? Harrisburg Is Said to File for Bankruptcy After Council Vote
By Romy Varghese - Bloomberg.com
The city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, facing a state takeover of its finances, filed for bankruptcy protection late yesterday following a vote by the City Council, according to a lawyer hired by the council.
Mark D. Schwartz of Bryn Mawr, hired following the bankruptcy vote, said he filed the documents by fax to a federal bankruptcy court. The filing couldn’t be confirmed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Harrisburg.
The state capital of 49,500 faces a debt burden five times its general-fund budget because of an overhaul and expansion of a trash-to-energy incinerator that doesn’t generate enough revenue. Bankruptcy, which would mean the loss of state aid under a law passed in June, is preferable to a proposed recovery plan, said Councilwoman Susan Brown-Wilson.
The next shoes to drop
By Steve Saville - 321Gold.com
The US economy is definitely in recession and the recession will probably extend into next year. This isn't necessarily a reason to be concerned about downside risk in the broad stock market, because the stock market attempts to discount the future and might already have priced-in the sort of earnings decline that a recession would bring about. The reason to be concerned about downside risk in the stock market is that the recession is not widely recognised and most analysts are still projecting growth in earnings over the next 12 months.
Earnings forecasts suggest that even though indicators of stock market sentiment reflected extremes of fear and/or pessimism at times over the past two months, the longer-term outlooks of most investors are too optimistic. There's a good chance that analysts' estimates and investors' expectations will be forced downward over the months ahead, leading to a sequence of declining tops in the senior stock indices.
Widespread realisation that 2012 earnings will be lower -- perhaps much lower -- than 2011 earnings could be the next shoe to drop.
The World Doesn't Owe You a Living
Some grandfatherly advice for the permanently aggrieved.
By AARON GOLDSTEIN - The American Specator.org
When I think about the Occupy protests in New York, Washington, D.C., and here in Boston (as well as in other cities across this country) I think about what my maternal grandfather used to tell me and my siblings. In his deep, authoritative baritone he would exclaim, "The world doesn't owe you a living."
Now I don't want to leave anyone with the impression that my grandfather was speaking harshly or was anything less than generous with us. Quite the contrary, he would spoil us during my grandparents' annual visits, giving us liberal helpings of gum, candy bars, and potato chips. Occasionally he would sing, "Roses are red, violets are blue, honey is sweet and so are you." On our birthdays, he would send us cards accompanied by a crisp Canadian $20 bill. I even remember the handwriting on the envelopes. It would be written in block letters. I wasn't addressed merely as Aaron Goldstein but rather as MASTER AARON GOLDSTEIN. He made us feel important.
Wall Street Sees 'No Exit' From Financial Woes as Bankers Fret
By Max Abelson - Bloomberg.com
Wall Street executives, facing demonstrators camped for a fourth week in New York’s financial district, say they’re anxious and angry for other reasons.
An era of decline and disappointment for bankers may not end for years, according to interviews with more than two dozen executives and investors. Blaming government interference and persecution, they say there isn't enough global stability, leverage or risk appetite to triumph in the current slump.
Only 10% of U.S. Population Now 'Middle-Class'
By Jeff Nielson - BullionBullsCanada.com
Having made a point of closely monitoring mainstream economic propaganda, a number of obvious tactics are used again and again. One of the most popular of these tools of deception is to lie by "redefining" terms.
In this case, the propagandists at Reuters are endeavouring to hide the annihilation of the U.S. middle-class through their very clumsy effort at redefining the word "affluent". The context of the article was an attempt by Reuters to continue to portray the U.S. as the world’s "most affluent" nation. However, any realistic examination of their data must lead to a nearly opposite conclusion.
How does Reuters choose to define "affluent"? It considers any household with a net worth (or "wealth") of merely $100,000 to be "affluent". In order to avoid being guilty of the same offense as Reuters, let me be more careful in my own efforts at definition.
The Recovery's Silent Assassin:
How Debt Deleveraging Killed the Economy When U.S. consumers, businesses, and government all pay down debt at the same time, the inevitable outcome is lower growth, higher unemployment, and lower standards of living.
By Harris Collingwood - TheAtlantic.com
Heather Anderson ruefully admits that she should have known better. A veteran of nearly two decades in the credit-union industry, she had spent her career warning would-be borrowers about the perils lurking in home-equity loans, bells-and-whistles mortgages, and the seductive fantasy that debt was interchangeable with wealth. But the housing boom was roaring ahead, and "I started to feel left out," Anderson recalled. So in 2005, she and her boyfriend bought a house in San Diego with a no-money-down, interest-only mortgage and a home-equity loan.
JIM ROGERS CNBC Interview October 10th 2011
Politicians, Financial Regulators, Banking Officials and Gold. The global financial system is in a bad state and it seems to be getting worse, says David Levenstein, so it is important to protect what wealth one does have.
Author: David Levenstein - Mineweb.com
JOHANNESBURG - Over the last few years we have seen some amazing developments occur in the global financial sector, none of which are good or encouraging. The sovereign debt debacle in the Eurozone threatens the very existence of the euro as well as many banks. And, it is no news that the US is technically bankrupt. But, what amazes me more than anything else is the action taken by so called financial regulators, politicians and leading banking officials around the world.
With regard to the recent sell-off in gold, I am absolutely certain that there is a great deal of truth to the commentaries that suggest that this sell-off was engineered by central banks and their agents the bullion banks, in an attempt to thwart the upward momentum in gold and thus take the spotlight away from the yellow metal.
Gold price will hit $2000 in 3-6 months
By Tony Hall
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): The price of Gold will shoot up and hit the magic $2000 within the next 3-6 months, says Tony Hall of Duet Commodities Fund, one of the top performing hedge funds this year.
"The decline is more of a healthy retracement than a change of the trend. I do think the trend is still in place and in the next three to six months we're going to reach the $2,000 mark" Hall said in a Bloomberg interview.
"Gold s quite a chameleon in terms of what it's used for. If things are going well then it can be an inflation hedge or a store of value. If we do have a crisis, it can be a safe haven. I personally think we're going to avoid a recession", he went on to add
He believes that the US will avoid the recession but gold will sill remain a solid bet.
Comex Gold ends sharply higher on bullish outside markets
By Jim Wyckoff - CommodithyOnline.com
(Kitco News) - Comex December Gold futures closed sharply higher and closed at a fresh three-week high close Monday. The precious yellow metal was boosted by a sharply lower U.S. dollar index and sharply higher Crude Oil prices. Precious metals traders Monday decided Monday to focus more on the aforementioned bullish “outside markets” and to ignore the potentially bearish aspect of the improved prospects for shoring up the European Union’s sovereign debt problems. December gold last traded up $37.50 an ounce at $1,673.30 an ounce. Spot gold last traded up $33.00 an ounce at $1,672.25. December Comex Silver last traded up $0.997 at $31.99 an ounce.
'Gold prices advance on strong Asian physical demand'
LONDON (Commodity Online): The largest Gold ETP, SPDR, slipped lower on Monday by 1.52 tonnes but overall metal held remains stable. But, more importantly, physically demand for gold from Asia remains very strong from India and from China following the week-long holiday. Gold bar premiums in Hong Kong have risen to $3/oz, their highest since February and are at 50 cents/oz in Tokyo.
Although prices have surrendered some of Monday’s gains in early trade this morning, they continue to trend higher. As the dollar weakened against the euro, Palladium was the strongest performer Monday gaining 4.2% to close at $610.3/oz while gold gained 2.2% to settle at $1674.9/oz ahead of Slovakia’s first vote in Parliament today on the approval of the enlarged powers of the EFSF.
Gold: Be Patient, Be Diligent
By Kevin McElroy - SeekingAlpha.com
We're at an important crossroads for this bull market in commodities.
Every bull market enters these crossroads, and even the most fearless bulls are tempted to give up - to sell out of their positions and consider themselves lucky that they were able to be along for the ride - and to escape with any profits at all.
I'm going to post a chart that I've posted before to help remind you of the real danger in "getting out" now.
Shanghai gold hits record turnover,
platinum subdued by margin hike
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Decline in Gold prices have attracted a record turnover at the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) as retail interest strongly picked up during China's golden week holiday.
-The annual festivities was expected to be “busy like crazy” as a spokesman for the Chinese gold and Silver exchange said. The weekly turnover at the SGE hit a record high as the national holiday and lower gold prices spiked investor interest and volumes.
Gold Confiscation Here's how it could happen - and what you can do about it
By David L Ganz, J.D. - USAGold.com
The economy is causing a number of people to query my law office about a number of gold seizure scenarios. The questions that arise from it are
(a) what they can do to prevent seizures in the first instance, (b) in the second instance, what they might be able to do if seizures are authorized, and (c) what type of gold coins are likely not to be seized in such an event- and why.
Inquiries are coming from sincere believers - not in conspiracy theories, but rather in the "staying power" of gold in both the short term and the long run. This is not a measure of their sincerity but rather concerns that are expressed are real - these are hard money strategists, not people who go off with half-baked ideas that are politically motivated.
There's a difference. I remember about 30 years ago a well-dressed gentleman made an appointment to see me, sat in my office, and inquired if I "knew" about gamma rays. Fair enough. I assumed it was a discussion about patents, and was prepared to refer the matter to experienced patent counsel. We made small talk for another minute or two when my putative client renewed the question, and then took out a hat made of aluminum foil, put it atop his head, and proclaimed, "because they are aiming them at me, right now!" Patent counsel was not in his immediate future.
Gold Standard Is Not The Answer
Carlos X. Alexandre - SeekingAlpha.com
I would like to start this article with a different premise. If gold was black and dull, while holding all the same properties – malleability, corrosion resistance, etc. - would the metal’s history have been different? Without a doubt. One thing I learned is that gold can be dissolved by "aqua regia," a mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, and, ironically, the Latin words "aqua regia" mean "royal water," implying that the solution surpasses gold’s royalty status by destroying it.
Although I’ve written a few pieces about the misconceptions about gold – inflation, money, etc. – I have always recognized that gold is an asset and, like all other assets and commodities, it has its place and provides the opportunity for profit. As a matter of fact, I track gold’s short and long term trends and trade it as I see fit. And if one wants to refer to it as a store of value, that’s fine as well.
Top Currency Forecasters Say
Best Over for Dollar as Fed Embraces Easing
By Garth Theunissen and Allison Bennett - Bloomberg.com
The most accurate foreign-exchange forecasters say the dollar’s best quarterly rally since 2008 has no chance of continuing to year-end as a slow economy spurs the Federal Reserve to flood the world with more U.S. currency.
Led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., the five best strategists as measured by Bloomberg News in the six quarters through September see the currency averaging $1.34 per euro in the final three months of 2011, from $1.3387 on Sept. 30. They estimate it will average 76.6 yen, from 77.06.
Reports on everything from jobs to housing and incomes show the world’s largest economy may be in jeopardy of slipping back into recession, forcing the Fed to print more money for the third time in three years to inject into the financial system through bond purchases. Forecasters say the strategy would debase the dollar, which is down 22 percent since March 2009 even with last quarter’s gains.
Debt committee could raise risk of U.S. downgrade
By Jeanne Sahadi - CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- As if finding consensus on debt reduction in a hyper-partisan environment isn't hard enough.
The other mission of the congressional debt committee is to prove to the world -- and credit ratings agencies -- that Congress isn't completely dysfunctional.
"The public is watching very closely to see if we can show this country that this democracy can work. I carry that weight on my shoulders as does every member of this committee," Sen. Patty Murray, the bipartisan committee's Democratic co-chair, told CNN last week.
That's a lot of pressure for the 12 lawmakers who have until Nov. 23 to demonstrate they can reach across the aisle.
Hedge fund guru warns of period of very high inflation
By Suzan Uzel - YorkshirePost.co.uk
A LEADING hedge fund investor has said it is "as plain as a pikestaff" that Britain is heading for a period of "very high inflation" with interest rates "nailed to the floor".
Jonathan Ruffer, who predicted the credit crunch, and whose company Ruffer LLP has more than £12bn invested, believes the fact that the UK has kept its own currency means it has a "safety valve" which the Eurozone lacks. But he says the UK's reliance on world trade makes it more vulnerable to a global slump than many of its competitors.
Mr Ruffer, from Stokesley, North Yorkshire, was speaking to the Yorkshire Post ahead of a talk he was giving to the business community in Leeds, organised by M2B, Ministry to Business.
The Uncredible Dog and Pony Show: Merkel and Sarkozy
by Charles Hugh Smith - OfTwoMinds.com
Does anyone take the Merkel-Sarkozy dog and pony show seriously any more? Perception management is not a solution.
For the past 18 months, every time reality threatens to intrude in Europe, Merkel and Sarkozy rush onto the global stage for a repeat performance of their dog-and-pony show. The global media declares it an artistic triumph and the "solution" to Europe's insolvency.
The fact that we've seen the exact same performance repeated again and again appears to be lost on the financial media, which never tires of declaring "this is the solution that will end the European bank crisis."
German push for Greek default risks EMU-wide 'snowball' Germany is pushing behind the scenes for a "hard" default in Greece with losses of up to 60pc for banks and pension funds, risking a chain-reaction across southern Europe unless credible defences are established first.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Officials in Berlin told The Telegraph it is "more likely than not" that investors will suffer fresh losses on holdings of Greek debt, beyond the 21pc haircut agreed in July.
The exact level will depend on findings by the EU-IMF "Troika" in Athens.
"A lot has happened since July. Greece has fallen back on its commitments, so we have to assume that the 21pc cut is no longer enough," said one source.
The real euro crisis
By MARTIN WALKER, UPI Editor Emeritus
STUTTGART, Germany, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- It has taken a while but the real problem of the euro is just starting to command the attention of Europe's leaders. And so far no one, not even the Germans who first began to articulate it, can see a solution.
It is this: Even if Europe's banks are fixed and even if Greece is bailed out and the markets are intimidated by a great wall of euros into backing away from speculation against Italy, Spain and France, the euro crisis won't go away.
No financial engineering can be more than a short-term fix. No new European treaty, however clear and rigid its rules over sovereign debts and budget deficits, can address the underlying problem.
Slovakia rejects enhanced bail-out fund, government falls Slovakia's lawmakers have rejected a revamp of the eurozone's European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) rescue fund in a crunch vote that also toppled the country's centre-right government which had staked its future on the motion.
By Louise Armitstead, and agencies - Telegraph.co.uk
Only 55 of 124 lawmakers present in the room voted in favour, while nine were against and 60 did not vote, effectively blocking the fund and toppling the four-party coalition cabinet of Prime Minister Iveta Radicova.
The country's leaders said earlier they would try to pass the EFSF revamp in a repeated vote with support from the opposition, but no date has been fixed for that vote yet.
"What we are deciding on today is the good name of Slovakia, reliability, where it will belong... or if we exclude ourselves from the community of the successful," Prime Minister Iveta Radicova said ahead of the vote.
Slovakia blocks euro rescue fund
By Jan Lopatka and Ingrid Melander
(Reuters) - The parliament of tiny Slovakia stalled the expansion of a bailout fund to rescue the euro zone from its debt crisis on Tuesday, but international lenders said they were likely to grant a loan to Greece next month, buying time for a broader response.
European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet said the debt crisis had become systemic and must be tackled decisively.
Slovakia is the only country in the 17-member currency zone that has yet to approve giving new powers to the European Financial Stability Fund. The expansion was agreed by euro zone leaders in July but must be ratified by each country.
China’s Pan Asia Gold Exchange:
A New Playing Field for Speculators?
By Vivian Ni - China-Briefing.com
Oct. 11 – In an age when the assets of insolvent Western economies are becoming less reliable and international investors appreciate gold as a safe haven, the Chinese know it is time for them to play a larger role in the global gold market. The Pan Asia Gold Exchange (PAGE) – opened earlier this year allowing gold trade in China’s own local currency RMB – may make China the new epicenter of the global gold market and even trigger a bigger wave of speculative gold buying and selling.
Established on March 31 this year, the PAGE is located in Kunming, the capital city of China’s southwestern Yunnan Province (an area well-known as a major gateway to Southeast Asia). The new gold exchange – which markets itself as China's "gold supermarket" – will allow individuals to buy physical gold or speculate in gold future contracts through an RMB account with a bank or broker. Initially, all the clients of PAGE’s two settlement banks – the Agricultural Bank of China and Yunnan’s local Fudian Bank – will be able to buy 10-ounce T+D contracts on the PAGE.
China's debt spree returns to haunt Bail-outs are coming thick and fast in China. In less than a week the authorities have had to step in to prop up the banks, rescue the insolvent railway system and save the near bankrupt city of Wenzhou from a spectacular debt crash.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
It is proving harder than expected for the central bank to manage a calibrated "soft-landing" after letting rip with credit to counter the Great Recession. The loan spree raised credit from 100pc to almost 200pc of GDP (on IMF estimates), including off-books trusts, letters of credit and sub-radar loans from Hong Kong.
The 30pc annual pace of loan growth is unprecedented in any major country in modern history. It is double the pace of America's housing boom and Japan's Nikkei bubble in the late 1980s. It may match US loan growth in the late 1920s.
Senate Passes Bill to Pressure China on Yuan
By Melinda Peer - TheStreet.com
WASHINGTON (TheStreet) -- The U.S. Senate approved a bill to pressure China into allowing its currency rise on Tuesday, ignoring warnings from Beijing that such legislation could ignite a trade war.
The legislation would permit the U.S. to put duties on goods from countries that intentionally undervalue their currencies to boost their exports. According to a Reuters report, some U.S. policymakers believe that China undervalues the yuan by as much as 40%, giving exports an advantage in global markets.
Keiser Report: Ground Zero of Financial Terrorism (E195)
Greek debt haircut seen exceeding 60 percent
By GEORGE JAHN and ELENA BECATOROS - AP - Forbes.com
VIENNA -- Greece's bondholders may have to settle for a cut of more than 60 percent in what Athens owes them, the head of the eurozone's finance ministers has said, the first open admission that such a drastic move is being considered.
Jean-Claude Juncker, who is also prime minister of Luxembourg, was quoted late Monday by Austrian state broadcaster ORF as saying that eurozone countries are "talking about more" than a 50 to 60 percent haircut for Greece.
Experts and investors believe Greece's debt situation is untenable, even with more reforms and austerity measures, and will need to write off some of the money it owes bondholders.
Foreign Central Banks
Selling US Treasuries at Unprecendented Levels
BY LEE ADLER - FiancialSense.com
Two weeks ago I began to report to subscribers of the Wall Street Examiner Professional Edition Fed Report that foreign central banks (FCBs) had begun to engage in unprecedented levels of disgorgement of their massive holdings of US Treasury and Agency paper. Prior to this year, the FCBs had typically absorbed the equivalent of 25% of new US Treasury issuance month in and month out. That was effectively a subsidy of US financial markets. It lowered long term interest rates artificially and injected cash into the US markets and banking system.
Exchange merger is Step 1 toward Moscow goal Moscow aims to become financial center but quest will be arduous
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — Moscow has a lot riding on a new exchange.
The city’s RTS and Micex exchanges recently announced they will merge, in hopes of simplifying the investment process, boosting liquidity and attracting more investors. The consolidated group would rank ninth world-wide in market capitalization and somewhere below 15th in revenue as of 2010—and officials hope to reach the top 10 in both within five years.
Russian officials see the marriage as the first step in a much broader effort: turning the capital into a financial hub that draws businesses and investors from abroad. But the quest is likely to be long and arduous.
Are Americans Finally Waking Up?
by WashingtonsBlog
Americans Are Finally Waking Up to the Fact that the Federal Reserve, Big Banks and Government Have Robbed Us Blind
Compare Zbigniew Brzezinski’s statement that the whole world is becoming awakened, and people everywhere are aware of inequities, lack of justice and lack of respect.
With this statement by Christopher Greene that Americans are finally waking up to being ripped off by the big banks, Federal Reserve and their enablers in the executive and legislative branches (as confirmed by Nobel prize winning economists):
End to Fed: 'US to see more violence as protests spread'
Goldman:
"We Doubt The Current Market Optimism
Can Be Sustained Over The Medium Term"
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
In yet another ironic twist, traditional market cheerleader Goldman Sachs, which discusses the factors for the "strong start to the week for equity markets" in the form of the 100 S&P point surge on nothing but hope and more rumor speculation, concludes with rather ominous: "beyond the headlines, it is only the process of grappling with the details and concrete plans that will force the political leadership in these countries to face the difficult tradeoffs involved. And as such, as long as there is not more clarity around concrete proposals – the distribution of legacy losses and the mechanisms for mutual support in the Euro-area going forward – and the details on implementation, we doubt that the current market optimism can be sustained over the medium term, and beyond the upcoming G20 meetings." In other words, precisely what we have been saying: rumors and "plans of plans of plans" are great for short term squeeze induced, bear market bounces, but in the long, or even medium-term, do nothing to address the fundamental math fail which states, quite factually, that going from point A (where we are now) to point B (where Merkozy wants Europe to be), will be virtually impossible absent massive equity losses. Yet, as also pointed out before, Wall Street career risk is always in the "here and now" never in what may happen a day or even an hour from now, now that markets are no longer a discounting mechanism, but a purely headline reactionary one.
Wall Street's Gullible Occupiers The protesters have been sold a bill of goods. Reckless government policies, not private greed, brought about the housing bubble and resulting financial crisis.
By PETER J. WALLISON - WSJ.com
There is no mystery where the Occupy Wall Street movement came from: It is an offspring of the same false narrative about the causes of the financial crisis that exculpated the government and brought us the Dodd-Frank Act. According to this story, the financial crisis and ensuing deep recession was caused by a reckless private sector driven by greed and insufficiently regulated. It is no wonder that people who hear this tale repeated endlessly in the media turn on Wall Street to express their frustration with the current conditions in the economy.
Their anger should be directed at those who developed and supported the federal government's housing policies that were responsible for the financial crisis.
Goldman Sachs 'escaped paying
£20m National Insurance bill in HMRC deal' Goldman Sachs escaped paying up to £20m on a disputed National Insurance bill for bankers' bonuses, according to leaked Government documents.
By Helia Ebrahimi, and Harry Wilson - Telegraph.co.uk
The Wall Street bank – which last year paid $15.3bn (£9.5bn) in bonuses to its employees – is understood to have made a sweetheart deal with HMRC which allowed it to avoid paying the full interest on a failed tax avoidance scheme set up in the 1990s.
Around that time, Goldman is understood to have set up an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands called Goldman Sachs Services Ltd. This employed all of Goldman's London bankers, who were then "seconded" to work there.
Millionaire's Tax: Hedge Fund
'Carried Interest' Tax - 15% -
May Be Biggest U.S. Tax Loop Hole
By IBTimes Staff Reporter
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is expected to introduce his 5 percent millionaires tax surcharge Tuesday in the Senate, but another issue regarding tax fairness is making the rounds on Capitol Hill: raising the "carried interest" tax.
Carried interest is the portion of hedge fund/alternative investment manager's income that stems from a manager's performance, and it's nice work, if you can get it. Here's why:
Management fees are taxed at the ordinary U.S. income tax rate: 35 percent, 33 percent, 28 percent, 25 percent, or 15 percent, depending on the person's income.
The arrival of housing purgatory –
Why is housing experiencing one of its worst sales years
even with the 30 year fixed rate mortgage
breaking into the 3 percent range?
A case as to why housing will remain
a poor investment deep into 2015.
DrHousingBubble.com
This week the 30 year fixed rate mortgage entered into supernatural territory breaking the 3 percent barrier. The Federal Reserve is getting its desired result of pushing mortgage rates into the absurd. Yet rates have been low throughout the entire housing crisis and for most of the last decade. Access to cheap debt is not some kind of Holy Grail of housing. This year we have seen mortgage rates break records almost on a weekly basis. So why is the housing market not reviving? In spite of all this cheap debt households in large measures have lost their insatiable appetite for housing but more importantly, with consumer debt. Some are simply trying to make ends meet. For the past five years the obsession has been on banking policy and forcing mortgage rates low. The only true winners with this policy move are the banks who continue to hoard millions of properties in the shadow inventory so they can inflate their gluttonous balance sheets. Housing is likely to experience weak performance deep into 2015 for a variety of reasons. Let us lay the case out and you be the judge.
Greenspan: Govt. should destroy houses.
Peter Schiff destroys Greenspan's idea
Buckle Up: America Is Getting Very Angry
And The Protests Are Going To Become Much More Frightening
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
The Occupy Wall Street protests and the rise of the Tea Party movement have both changed America, but you haven't seen anything yet. You better buckle up, because America is getting very angry and as the economy continues to decline the economic protests are going to become much more frightening in the years ahead. Americans have become very accustomed to prosperity. Now that our prosperity is vanishing, people are starting to become very angry. The scary thing is that the vast majority of our population now lives in tightly congested urban areas. That makes the potential for mass rioting and civil unrest much greater. Back in 1910, 72 percent of Americans lived in rural areas. Today, only 16 percent of Americans live in rural areas. So what happens when you have millions of incredibly angry people crammed into tightly congested metropolitan areas? Well, we are about to find out.
N.Y. faces 10,000 Wall St. cuts through 2012
By Greg Morcroft and Matt Andrejczak, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The securities industry in New York City faces likely job cuts of nearly 10,000 through 2012 as Wall Street banks cope with lower trading revenue, new regulations restricting their activities, and bruised stock prices, according to a new report.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli also said in the report that industry bonuses are likely to shrink this year.
"It now seems that profits will decline sharply from last year’s level, job losses will grow, and cash bonuses will be smaller," DiNapoli said in his yearly report that makes predictions on the state of Wall Street.
Apple’s iMessage Could Lower Your Wireless Bill
By Quentin Fottrell - SmartMoney.com
Thumb war! Tomorrow Apple is expected to introduce a free alternative to text messaging that could spell savings for avid texters. The program, callediMessage, will allow iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users to exchange messages with each other over WiFi or 3G Internet connections.
Although there are already free instant-messaging apps, this latest foray is more akin to BlackBerry Messenger, the popular Berry-to-Berry service. iMessenger will be embedded in the operating system and available only on Apple devices, which means most users won’t be able to ditch text messaging completely, unless they restrict contact only to people sporting Apple gear.
US jobless epidemic masked by govt statistical shenanigans
Millions to lose unemployment benefits if Congress doesn't act
By Tami Luhby - CNNMoney.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Millions of unemployed Americans are waiting for Congress to do something other than trade barbs over their job creation plans.
If lawmakers don't act soon, the jobless see their unemployment checks start to disappear come January.
More than 6 million Americans are set to lose federal unemployment benefits in 2012, with 1.8 million running out in January alone, according to new figures from the National Employment Law Project.
President Obama's $447 billion American Jobs Act would extend the deadline to file for federal unemployment benefits for another year. Though the Senate is expected to take up the controversial jobs bill on Tuesday, it's unlikely to get very far.
Bill Gross: "Class Warfare By The 99%? Of Course, They're Fighting Back After 30 Years Of Being Shot At"
Washington's Blog
Richest Capitalists Decry Class Warfare … By the Wealthy Against the Poor
Pimco boss Bill Gross – one of the 1% – tweeted today: Class warfare by the 99%? Of course, they’re fighting back after 30 years of being shot at.
(No word on whether the protesters marching on New York City billionaires' houses had any influence on the timing of Gross' tweet.)
Gross joins Warren Buffet, who pointed out in 2006:
There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war ….
The Chief Investment Officer for Calpers –
California's $235 billion dollar pension fund – said today:
I understand why people are protesting: Wall Street is a rigged game.
And Asher Edelman – the well-known corporate raider who helped inspire the character Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film "Wall Street" – supports the protests and says:
The greed of the banks are the cause for the terrible economic situation that we have today.
Obama says may have to "break up" jobs bill
By Laura MacInnis
PITTSBURGH, Oct 11 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he could "break up" his jobs bill to push it through Congress, acknowledging the risk that the legislation may fail to advance as the U.S. Senate prepared to vote on the plan.
The Democratic president was in Pittsburgh as part of a campaign to get lawmakers to pass his $447 billion proposal.
It is the latest stop in a tour of swing states in advance of next year's election to raise pressure on Republicans resisting big chunks of the jobs bill.
"If they don't pass the whole package we're going to break it up into constituent parts," Obama told a meeting of his Jobs Council.
Ron Paul:
The System Is Biased
against the Middle Class and the Poor
You Know That Your City Has Become A Hellhole When….
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
All across America there are cities and towns that were once prosperous and beautiful that are being transformed into absolute hellholes. The scars left by the long-term economic decline of the United States are getting deeper and more gruesome. The tax base in many areas of the nation has been absolutely devastated as millions of jobs have left this country. Hundreds of cities are drowning in debt and are desperately trying to survive. Last year, city government revenues in the United States fell by another 2.3 percent. That was the fifth year in a row that we have seen a decline. Meanwhile, costs associated with health care, pensions and virtually everything else continue to explode. So what are cities doing to make ends meet? Well, one big trend that we are now witnessing is that many U.S. cities have been getting rid of huge numbers of employees. If you can believe it, 72 percent of all U.S. cities are laying workers off this year. Social services and essential infrastructure programs are also being savagely cut back in many areas of the country. The cold, hard truth is that most of our cities are flat broke and things are going to get even worse in the years ahead.
Obama Is Occupying America
By David Limbaugh - PatriotPost.us
Rational people realize that President Obama's policies have been an abysmal failure, which is why his only hope for re-election is to try to sow confusion among the voters, such as those populating "Occupy Wall Street."
People often say the success of democracy depends on an informed electorate. Given his record, that's the last strategy Obama can afford to embrace. Short of a fortuitous economic miracle falling into his lap, his only hope for re-election is that enough voters are misinformed.
Tuesday Evening Looks @ S&P500 Futures
post Iranian Plot To Assassinante
the US Saudi Arabian Ambassador
By Sellputs - HedgeAccording.ly
Chop Chop said the suey master... hard to believe the market's were red today despite the US Saudi ambassador assassination plot by Iran. Which as you know are always bullish for equities. Anyway the dollar saw some buyers as the us equities session opened 10 points in the red but of course was DX gains were faded as the ES pushed over 1190. The war is between 6E and DX.
Would Iran Really Want to Blow Up
the Saudi Ambassador to the U.S.? The alleged Iranian plot would make great material for a spy novel, but it would go against Iran's own interests and past behavior -- By Max Fisher - TheAtlantic.com
It's entirely possible that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement today is exactly what it looks like: the U.S. discovery and foiling of a plot by Iranian government agents to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S. in a bomb attack, possibly in Washington, DC. Iran has a record sponsoring terrorism, and Iran-Saudi competition can sometimes look like a Cold War of the Middle East. But, for all the plausibility that Iran might be willing to blow up a Saudi ambassador, it's not at all apparent what they would gain from it. Iran has never been shy about sponsoring terrorism, but only when it was within their interests, or at least their perceived interests. It's hard to see how they could have possibly decided on a plot like the one that Holder claimed today.
Iranians charged in US
over plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador US claims elements of Iranian government directed bomb plot with alleged involvement of Mexican drug cartel
By Ewen MacAskill in Washington and agencies - Guardian.co.uk
A dangerous confrontation was developing on Tuesday between the US and Iran after the Obama administration directly blamed the Iranian governnment for an alleged plot to blow up the Saudi ambassador and scores of others at a Washington restaurant with the help of a Mexican drug cartel.
The US attorney-general Eric Holder said Iran would be "held to account" over what he described as a flagrant abuse of international law. While the US says military action remains on the table, it is at present seeking instead to work through diplomatic and financial means to further isolate Iran.
Gerald Celente 'Bombing Libyans,
The Cheap Acts Of Politicians', NATO War On Libya
When?
By Greg Hunter, USAWatchdog.com
When? That's the question that is on the minds of people following the economy. When will the "you know what" hit the fan and we start another global meltdown. I am not going to string you along. I will tell you right now, I don’t know. I will tell you the headlines I read and the things I am hearing from people in power around the globe say we are in deep danger. The time is close. Mervyn King, Ben Bernanke’s counterpart over at the Bank of England, said last week, "This is the most serious financial crisis we've seen, at least since the 1930s, if not ever." If this is what he's willing to say publicly, what is he saying behind closed doors? This means today's financial conditions are worse than the meltdown of 2008.
IMF advisor says we face a Worldwide Banking Meltdown
Hedging With Gold Against Imminent Economic Collapse
GoldSeek.com The Gold Report: You founded this firm based on your long wave theory that is based on the Kondratieff Cycle. How is this same or different from Kondratieff?
Ian Gordon: We have gone significantly beyond Kondratieff's original thesis published in 1925. I am very proud that we have made the cycle far more encompassing than Kondratieff would have ever envisioned. For instance, one of the key things we have done is identify an investment cycle within the long cycle. This is an extremely valuable tool for investors, which allows them to make appropriate investment decisions in each quarter of the cycle TGR: Do you feel that you have legitimized the Kondratieff Cycle beyond theory and as a general principle? IG: Well, I think we have. The proof is in the pudding. We have been able to recognize exactly where we are in the cycle and envision what the implications are likely to be. I think we have been able to pinpoint that with a great deal of accuracy the critical aspects of the cycle and how these relate to the economy and to investing.
Gold Starts Week Strongly,
Eurozone Bank Plan "Positive but Ambitious",
China's Gold Sales Jump 50% but Home Sales Plunge
GoldSeek.com
London Gold Market Report
WHOLESALE MARKET gold bullion prices climbed to $1670 an ounce Monday lunchtime in London – 2% up on last week's close – while stocks and commodities also rose and government bonds fell following a pledge by France and Germany to recapitalize Europe's banks.
Silver bullion rose to $32.37 – 3.8% up on where it ended last week.
"Physical demand for gold is very strong, with gold below $1,650", says Marc Ground, commodities strategist at Standard Bank.
"[This means] the potential for future short covering exists, which could see prices push higher."
"The physical premium [on the Shanghai Gold Exchange] has been very strong," adds one gold bullion dealer in Hong Kong.
China installs gold vending machine, plans 2,000 more With plans to roll out 2,000 more throughout the country, the Beijing Agricultural Commercial Bank officially installed its first gold ATM during the Chinese National day holiday.
Author: Shivom Seth - Mineweb.com
MUMBAI - China has joined the United States, Germany, Italy and the United Arab Emirates, in hosting an ATM machine that dispenses bullion and gold coins. In Beijing's 800-year old Wangfujing shopping district, shoppers can use bank cards and cash to buy certified gold bars and coins.
China's first ATM dispensing gold bars and coins was switched on over the weekend of September 25, and then swiftly switched back off again. The equipment had to be shut down the same day because it was not producing receipts due to a small technical glitch, said an industry observer.
Silver is as good as - or better than - gold
Adam Courtenay - SilverBearCafe.com
Everybody knows about the value of gold. For the past few years, since the global financial crisis set in, it has been the only asset type that has seemed unstoppable. Every time it reached an impossible high, it rallied even further. Every sign of bad news from the world economy was a signal for gold to move into uncharted territory.
And then, all of a sudden last month, gold experienced a 20 per cent drop. Some say it was just a technical readjustment, what traders call a "reversion to the mean". Others point to the strength of the US dollar, which became increasingly attractive as the European debt crisis unfolded, causing a mass movement in its direction.
Peak Silver Revisited:
Impacts of a Global Depression,
Declining Ore Grades & a Falling EROI
By: Steve St. Angelo - SilverSeek.com
The world is about to peak in global silver production. This will not occur due to a lack of silver to mine, but rather as a result of the peaking of world energy resources, declining ore grades, and a falling Energy Returned On Invested – EROI. The information below will describe a future world that very few have forecasted and even less are prepared. This is an update to my previous article Peak Silver and Mining by a Falling EROI. In my first article I stated that global silver production may peak in 2009 if we were to enter a worldwide depression. We did not have the global depression as massive central bank printing and bailouts have thus far postponed the inevitable.
Gold and Silver In Your IRA
J.D. Seagreaves - SilverBearCafe.com
Since you're taking the time to read this article, you must already know that precious metals are a vital part of your investment strategy. However, there's a way to start adding gold and silver to your portfolio using a tool you already have: Your Individual Retirement Account.
A lot of people already have an IRA account and they might think that they know how to use it to their best advantage. But what many don't know is that you can - and probably should - use your IRA to invest in precious metals. After all, an IRA is designed to save for retirement, and there's nothing that's more likely to keep its value into your golden years then, well, gold! It's easier than you may think to get started, too.
International Forecaster October 2011 (#3) -
Gold, Silver, Economy + More
By: Bob Chapman - TheInternationalForecaster.com
Saving the euro, the euro zone and the European Union obviously is far more important to Europe politician’s and their masters than any national interests. After having lost seven elections in a row the Christian Democratic Union and their partners in Germany still voted 523 to 85 for an extension of money and power to the European Financial Stability Facility, the EFSF. We would say the yes voters stand a good chance of defeat at their next elections, especially when 75% of Germans were at odds with the vote. The big loser was the CDU partner’s, the Free Democratic Party that under the constitution must garner 5% of the vote to stay eligible. The power position of the CDU could well be in jeopardy.
Gold to witness wild volatility post PAGE opening in 2012
BEIJING (Commodity Online): After China opens its Pan Asia Gold Exchange (PAGE) on June 2012, trading in gold will never be the same.
PAGE will allow the customers of the Agricultural Bank of China to trade in gold by using their currency Renmibi. That too from their bank account. PAGE will initially have a 10-ounce contract mini contracts for its 300 million customers of The Agricultural Bank of China. See the impact?
Imagine this-
If just 1% of the customers buy a 10-ounce contract, it will require an additional 1000 tons of physical gold! Total world Gold production in 2010 was around 2600 tons!
Gold prices volatile but fundamentals still intact
By Chirag Mehta - CommodityOnline.com
After big gains in the previous month, Gold prices lost heavily in the month of September 2011. Rather, gold wiped off almost all the gains seen in the month of August. Gold prices traded as high as $1921 in the spot markets in the beginning of the month aggravated by global uncertainties, but sold off heavily in the second half as it traded as low as $1532.72 and finally closed at $1623.97 on the spot markets. On the London AM Fix, gold closed at $1629 posting a decrease of -9.05%.
For Indian investors however, the Rupee depreciation served as a savior. Measured in Indian Rupees, gold posted a relatively modest decline of –3.25%.
Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts -
La Douleur du Monde - Dec Gold Futures
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Silver and especially gold had nice rallies today as it was 'risk on' with Sarkozy and Merkel crooning a lullaby to the equity markets. The dollar retreated sharply from its zenith. It has not yet broken uptrend.
I wonder if the metals liquidation is over, and if the hands that remain are strong and relatively unleveraged. We will not know until the stock market corrects again and we see if the metals follow.
Earnings season is coming up for stocks. I am not impressed with the stock rally today and put a small short position back on since we have reached my 'bounce' targets. Now we see if we rally on or not.
The last duty of a central banker is to tell the public the truth.
-- Alan Blinder, vice chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, on the PBS "Nightly Business Report," 1994.
In recent months I have written to the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington to ask questions about the gold reserves of Germany.
A critical problem with Germany's gold reserves, the second largest gold holdings in the world, is noted by Peter Boehringer of the German Precious Metals Society: "The bulk of Germany´s national gold is not in Germany and has not been since the 1960s, when Germany earned most of the gold through its trade surpluses, but is kept in New York and London and a little bit in Paris too. Even the Bundesbank itself has confirmed this part of the story several times -- and defended that storage policy with 'reasons of trading convenience and historical storage custom.'"
Erste Group Reveals Stunner:
Reports Billions In Previously Undisclosed
Underwater Sovereign CDS;
Who Is Next? And How Much More Is Out There?
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Anyone looking at a heatmap of European markets today will see a sea of green punctuated by a very red island in the middle. The culprit: Austrian mega bank Erste, which issued an ad hoc and very unexpected press release, in which it warned that losses in its Hungarian and Romanian books would lead to a 14% hit, or €1.1 billion, to tangible book value, something that in itself is not a surprise to anyone (except the stress test). After all, since early 2010, most have known that due to Swiss Franc-based mortgage exposure, Hungary is next to follow in the PIIGS footsteps, and its collapse has so far been delayed due to lower overall public and private sector leverage. What was, however not only a surprise, but a shock, was that Erste disclosed some major losses on its €5.2 billion CDS portfolio, consisting of "EUR 2.4 billion related to financial institution exposures, and EUR 2.8 billion related sovereign exposures".
German push for Greek default risks EMU-wide 'snowball' Germany is pushing behind the scenes for a "hard" default in Greece with losses of up to 60pc for banks and pension funds, risking a chain-reaction across southern Europe unless credible defences are established first.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Officials in Berlin told The Telegraph it is "more likely than not" that investors will suffer fresh losses on holdings of Greek debt, beyond the 21pc haircut agreed in July.
The exact level will depend on findings by the EU-IMF "Troika" in Athens.
"A lot has happened since July. Greece has fallen back on its commitments, so we have to assume that the 21pc cut is no longer enough," said one source.
France, Belgium Unveil Bailout of Giant Lender Dexia
By Matt Egan - FOXBusiness.com
Belgian-Franco lender Dexia agreed to a massive government bailout and breakup on Monday after the credit markets froze out the bank due to its enormous exposure to toxic sovereign debt of countries like Greece.
Brussels-based Dexia last week appeared to become the first banking victim of the deepening sovereign debt crisis, which has sent financial markets plunging and threatens to send Europe to a painful double-dip recession.
Banque de France turns a blind eye to European financial crisis Crisis? What crisis? To judge by a speech in Tokyo last week from Christian Noyer, Governor of the Banque de France, you would never have guessed there was an almighty financial implosion going on at the heart of the eurozone.
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
And certainly not one so recently described by Mr Noyer's opposite number at the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, as "the most serious since the 1930s, if ever".
It's a funny thing about French policymakers, but whenever markets don't behave as they would wish, they invariably blame it on the "speculators" of the City and Wall Street, as if they are the undoubted cause of all crises. There was quite a lot of that in Mr Noyer's speech, though he did at least manage to steer clear of the "s" word.
Euro summit delayed as deal proves elusive Bailout meeting pushed back to 23 October as Osborne calls for stability facility to be expanded
By Graeme Wearden, Allegra Stratton
and Giles Tremlett - Guardian.co.uk
Europe's embattled leaders gave themselves a two-week deadline to resolve the single currency debt crisis on Monday by delaying a crucial summit.
The European Council president, Herman van Rompuy, announced the delay after it became clear that EU leaders were struggling to agree on proposals to expand Europe's bailout fund, and on possible changes to Greece's second bailout.
With international lenders also reportedly making slow progress assessing Greece's finances, the summit has been pushed back from next Monday to Sunday, 23 October.
Global Stocks, Euro Strengthen on Bank Debt Pledge;
Commodities Post Gains
By Stuart Wallace and Rita Nazareth - Bloomberg.com
Stocks rose, giving the Standard & Poor’s Index its biggest gain since Aug. 23, and the euro surged the most since July 2010 versus the dollar after the leaders of France and Germany pledged to deliver a plan to stem the debt crisis. Commodities advanced for a fourth day.
The S&P 500 jumped 3.4 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 330.06 points to 11,433.18 at 4 p.m. New York time. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1.7 percent to cap a four-day rally of 8.5 percent, its largest over that stretch of time since November 2008. The 17-nation euro currency appreciated 2 percent versus the dollar as it strengthened against 10 of 16 major peers. The S&P GSCI gauge of raw materials increased 2.1 percent. Costs to protect against a European sovereign default decreased.
OECD indicators paint dark picture of global economy
By Vicky Buffery - Reuters.com
(Reuters) - The outlook for the world's major economies is continuing to darken according to the latest data from the OECD published on Monday, which showed sharp falls in leading indicators for all countries except Japan.
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said its composite leading indicator (CLI) for its 33 member countries dropped for a fifth straight month in August, hitting 100.8 after 101.4 in July and signaling a slowdown in economic activity.
Individual country readings fell across the board, including for non-OECD member countries, with most seeing their CLIs drop below their long-term average of 100.
Feldstein: 'About as Bad an Expansion as I've Ever Seen'
By Kelly Evans - WSJ.com
Is the U.S. in a depression? In a word, "no," Harvard University economics professor Martin Feldstein told the Journal’s Kelly Evans in this week’s "Big Interview." "I'm not quite sure what a depression is," he said. Still, he expressed concern that there is a "nontrivial chance" the U.S. economy will turn down again, calling the current recovery "about as bad an expansion as I’ve ever seen."
Mr. Feldstein also serves on the business cycle dating committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research, an independent board tasked with declaring the official start and end dates of recessions. He said current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — who has taken heat from both sides of the political aisle lately — has done "a remarkably good job" during his tenure. But Mr. Feldstein added that the Fed "has gone too far recently in pushing for lower interest rates" and he would prefer to see government action instead directed at mortgage principal write-downs, not just refinancing.
First Europe will fall, next Japan and then US
By Martin Armstrong - CommodityOnline.com
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Operation twist was not the cause for a decline in 30 year mortgage rates, says Martin Armstrong. The only reason rates came down is because of the fact that it is the trend!
Martin Armstrong is the founder of Princeton Economics International and author of the Economic Confidence Model.
Armstrong argues that given the brain-dead condition of the Euro Zone, capital is moving out of Europe and into the US and this increases money supply and lowers the rates in the US. If capital was moving out of the US, Operation Twist would have had no effect on interest rates.
Book the Funeral... the Hole has been Dug
Peter Souleles B.Com. LLB. - SilverBearCafe.com
That is correct, book the funeral, because if common sense and the free market are not allowed to resurrect themselves, we are destined to fall into the hole we have created. A hole which we have now realised was not the foundation of a perpetual consumer-driven jacuzzi but the final touches of a dark and ugly economic grave.
The exuberance of the past decade not only fast forwarded consumption on the back of cheap money and lax lending standards, but it also spawned production, retail, lending, housing and employment paradigms that were bound to hit a brick wall.
Not To Be Left Out, China Announces
Its Own Bank And Stock Market Bail Out
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
To anyone still believing that capital markets around the world express something other than government policy, the latest news out of China may come as a surprise: "Beijing will buy more shares in China’s biggest banks, in an expression of support for the beleaguered stock market and most concrete state action to date to shore up confidence in the slowing economy." The FT reports further: "Central Huijin, the domestic arm of China’s sovereign wealth fund, will buy the shares to help stabilise the pillars of the country’s financial system, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday. Coming as the Chinese stock market closed at a 30-month low, the move was the strongest sign that Beijing wants to engineer a restoration of confidence in share prices and the economy. It paid instant dividends with a rally in the final minutes of trading on Monday." And there you have it: stocks are now nothing more than a means for governments to validate their "success" in something, since they have no more control left over either employment or inflation, or public expression of affection with capitalism as per #OWS. So why not ramp up the DJIA to 36,000? Granted that will happen as all global currencies get terminally davalued against gold, but so what - after all that only thing that matters now is whose stock market is the biggest.
Credit Bubble Bulletin
by Doug Noland - PrudentBear.com
.... And it all seems to boil down to this: Credit cannot be stable within a backdrop of such extraordinary uncertainty. And, I would argue, no amount of central bank liquidity ("money") and bank capital is going to engender sufficient certainty to stabilize global Credit, financial flows and asset markets. Not with the large number of dangerously maladjusted economies; not with such well-entrenched global economic and financial imbalances; and not with today’s unbelievable Credit, derivatives, and speculative leverage overhang. The issue is certainly not a lack of "money" - but rather a lack of confidence and trust – the bedrock of Credit.
Rate Derivatives Margin Rules May Cost $1.4 Trillion, Tabb Says
By Matthew Leising - Bloomberg.com
Interest-rate derivative users may have to set aside at least $1.4 trillion in margin payments under new rules mandated by the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act, according to research firm Tabb Group.
The costs will come in the next three to five years as derivatives based on interest-rates such as swaps are required to be processed by clearinghouses to reduce risk in the $465 trillion market, E. Paul Rowady, a TABB senior analyst, said in a report today. Clearinghouses collect daily margin, monitor prices on trades and help settle defaults. LCH.Clearnet Ltd., the world’s largest interest-rate swap clearinghouse, has processed voluntary bank-to-bank trades since 1999.
BofA debit card fee prompts animosity from coast to coast The new $5 monthly charge has become a focal point for anger and frustration about the flailing economy and Washington's attempts to help the nation recover from the financial crisis.
By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times - ChicagoTribune.com
Reporting from Washington— In the volatile political air ignited by the nation's economic struggles, $5 buys a lot more controversy than it used to.
The announcement by Bank of America Corp. last week that it would charge customers $5 a month to use their debit cards has rung up animosity from coast to coast.
Coming amid growing anti-Wall Street protests, BofA's new fee has become a focal point for anger and frustration about the flailing economy and Washington's attempts to help the nation recover from the financial crisis.
Volcker Rule May Cut Fixed-Income Revenue 25%, Hintz Says
By Christine Harper - Bloomberg.com
Wall Street's fixed-income desks could suffer a 25 percent decline in revenue under a Volcker rule proposal that may outlaw so-called flow trading, according to brokerage analyst Brad Hintz.
The draft proposal, written by regulators including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., forbids market-makers who trade debt securities for customers from amassing positions "in expectation of future price appreciation," Hintz, of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., wrote today in a note to investors. "Thus flow trading may be prohibited." Such a move would cut fixed-income revenue by 25 percent and reduce profit margins by 18 percent, Hintz estimated.
New bankruptcy ripples may emerge in tough economy
By Tom Hals, Sue Zeidler and Caroline Humer
(Reuters) - Three years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers touched off a tidal wave of bankruptcy filings, corporate failures may be about to pick up again, with some big-name companies among those struggling for survival.
Companies in a range of businesses, including hair salons, restaurants, renewable energy, and the paper industry, have tumbled into Chapter 11 in the past few months.
The weak economy, lackluster consumer spending, a shaky junk-bond market and increasingly tight lending practices are also threatening struggling companies in industries as diverse as shipping, tourism, media, energy and real estate.
Nobel Prize for Economics
awarded to two professors who described
how Nobel Peace Prize winners screw up the economy
U.S. Economists Sargent, Sims Win 2011 Nobel Prize
by NPR STAFF AND WIRES -AxisOfLogic.com
Americans Thomas Sargent of New York University and Christopher A. Sims of Princeton University have won the Nobel prize in economics.
In awarding the $1.5 million prize, with the formal title the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences cited the researchers "for their empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy."
The Shifting Focus of US Consumer Spending the consumer has shifted from more to better
By Bill Bonner - DailyReckoning.com
10/10/11 Paris, France – The feds released a jobs report on Friday. It said that things weren’t as bad as everyone thought. The US economy actually added 103,000 new jobs in September.
But wait. That is not a lot of jobs. There are about 150 million people who make up the labor force. This number increases — by immigration and population growth — by about 1.2 million per year. So, 100,000 new jobs doesn’t do much to restore full employment.
But it’s better than nothing. And nothing was what the figures showed for the month of August. Those figured were revised upwards too — to show 57,000 jobs created in that month.
Foreclosure Settlement Imminent, Bank Sources Say
By Elizabeth MacDonald - FOXBusiness.com
Sources at Citigroup and Bank of America tell FOX Business that bank officials worked through the weekend and were in close talks with state attorneys general and the Department of Justice to try to wrap up a potential $20 billion settlement that could come as early as this week or next over improper mortgage practices and robosigning.
The would-be settlement involves foreclosure papers that were rubberstamped, allegedly pushing many out of their homes. JPMorgan Chase, Ally Financial and Wells Fargo are also involved in the talks, sources say.
A number of sticking points could still hang up the deal, these sources add.
Bank of America offers $20,000
short-sale incentive to homeowners
By Kimberly Miller, The Palm Beach Post - Sun-Sentinel.com
Bank of America, the nation's largest mortgage servicer, is offering Florida homeowners up to $20,000 to short sale their homes rather than letting them linger in foreclosure.
The limited-time offer has received little promotion from the Charlotte, N.C.-based bank, which sent emails to select Florida Realtors earlier this week outlining basic details of the plan.
Only homeowners whose short sales are submitted for approval to Bank of America before Nov. 30 will qualify. The homes must have no offers on them already and the closing must occur before Aug. 31, 2012.
60 Minutes - The Jobs Czar (October 9, 2011)
Even The CEOs On Obama's Job Creation Panel
Are Shipping Jobs Out Of The United States
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
There are 27 members on Barack Obama's job creation panel, and most of them are corporate executives. The formal name of the panel is the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which is kind of ironic considering the fact that many of the CEOs on the panel have been rapidly shipping jobs out of the United States. So what hope is there that things are going to turn around if many of the folks that are supposed to be helping Barack Obama create U.S. jobs are actively destroying them instead? And how is the American middle class ever supposed to recover if corporate executives keep taking their jobs away and sending them to the other side of the world where it is legal to pay slave labor wages? These issues go to the very heart of America's economic problems, and yet very few of our leaders are talking about them. But they should be talking about these things, because the economy is the number one issue for most American voters right now.
Real median annual household income has fallen significantly more during the economic recovery period from June 2009 to June 2011 than during the recession lasting from December 2007 to June 2009.
During the recession, real median annual household income fell by 3.2 percent, from $55,309 in December 2007 to $53,518 in June 2009. During the economic recovery, real median annual household income fell by an additional 6.7 percent, from $53,518 in June 2009 to $49,909 in June 2011.
For the entire period from December 2007 to June 2011, real median annual household income has declined by 9.8 percent. A decline of this magnitude represents a significant reduction in the American standard of living.
Flat-Lining the Middle Class
By Andy Kroll - AmericanConservative.com
Food pantries picked over. Incomes drying up. Shelters bursting with the homeless. Job seekers spilling out the doors of employment centers. College grads moving back in with their parents. The angry and disillusioned filling the streets.
Pan your camera from one coast to the other, from city to suburb to farm and back again, and you’ll witness scenes like these. They are the legacy of the Great Recession, the Lesser Depression, or whatever you choose to call it.
Protesters Arrested While Wall Street Crooks Go Free
David Weidner - SilverBearCafe.com
It had to be a case of mistaken identity.
Protesters had been swarming Wall Street and Lower Manhattan for a week. There were at least six arrests the first day Occupy Wall Street camped out and chanted near the New York Stock Exchange. There were dozens more by the weekend.
By Saturday, the hundreds of protesters appeared to have lit a fuse with New York City police. There were rough arrests that bordered on brutality. Pepper spray brought tears and pain.
And to a nation's shock, not one of the police targets was a banker.
So much for law and order.
The Eight Marks of Fascist Policy
By Lew Rockwell - DailyReckoning.com
10/07/11 John T. Flynn, like other members of the Old Right, was disgusted by the irony that what he saw, almost everyone else chose to ignore. In the fight against authoritarian regimes abroad, he noted, the United States had adopted those forms of government at home, complete with price controls, rationing, censorship, executive dictatorship, and even concentration camps for whole groups considered to be unreliable in their loyalties to the state.
After reviewing this long history, John T. Flynn proceeds to sum up with a list of eight points he considers to be the main marks of the fascist state.
The Eight Marks of Fascist Policy, Part II
By Lew Rockwell - DailyReckoning.com
Point 5. Economic planning is based on the principle of autarky.
Autarky is the name given to the idea of economic self-sufficiency. Mostly this refers to the economic self-determination of the nation-state. The nation-state must be geographically huge in order to support rapid economic growth for a large and growing population.
This was and is the basis for fascist expansionism. Without expansion, the state dies. This is also the idea behind the strange combination of protectionist pressure today combined with militarism. It is driven in part by the need to control resources.
The Worst of States
By Joel Bowman - DailyReckoning.com
10/07/11 Buenos Aires, Argentina – Empires…their monies…their militaries and their promises. All these things eventually, invariably, die. It’s what they were born to do. Their death, in other words, is inevitable. Only the number of innocent individuals they take with them varies. At this, we should not be surprised. But we should be prepared.
Ever since statists first cobbled together a collective of ruling people, the “rest” have been living under one form of tyranny or another. From tribal leadership structures to local council hierarchies, from Plato’s philosopher class to medieval monarchies through to the various “isms” of our modern times, there has existed one class of rulers — sometimes called guardians, other times tyrants — who have seen fit to exert their ways and rules on all others, usually, ultimately, on pain of death.
In the end, individual freedoms are surrendered to the precise degree that the state is permitted to exist at all.
Thinking outside the 1930s box
By Paul Mason - BBC.co.uk
There are two kinds of people at present: those who know in a vague way that the 1930s was a bad time, and those who have studied the detail and understand the economics of why it went bad.
The latter are now getting publicly terrified because they can see, very clearly, the danger of doing it all again.
They include Sir Mervyn King on Sky last night: "This is the most serious financial crisis at least since the 1930s, if not ever." And Barack Obama, whose comment "Europe is scaring the world" hit the nail on the head.
But even as people dig out their old books about that concatenation of accident, stupidity and miscommunication that caused the Great Depression, I want to throw in another thought: it could be worse than the 1930s if we let it happen.
Secret Orders Target Email WikiLeaks Backer's Information Sought
By JULIA ANGWIN - WSJ.com
The U.S. government has obtained a controversial type of secret court order to forceGoogle Inc. and small Internet provider Sonic.net Inc. to turn over information from the email accounts of WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Sonic said it fought the government's order and lost, and was forced to turn over information. Challenging the order was "rather expensive, but we felt it was the right thing to do," said Sonic's chief executive, Dane Jasper. The government's request included the email addresses of people Mr. Appelbaum corresponded with the past two years, but not the full emails.
'Stingray' Phone Tracker Fuels Constitutional Clash
By JENNIFER VALENTINO-DEVRIES - WSJ.com
For more than a year, federal authorities pursued a man they called simply "the Hacker." Only after using a little known cellphone-tracking device—a stingray—were they able to zero in on a California home and make the arrest.
Stingrays are designed to locate a mobile phone even when it's not being used to make a call. The Federal Bureau of Investigation considers the devices to be so critical that it has a policy of deleting the data gathered in their use, mainly to keep suspects in the dark about their capabilities, an FBI official told The Wall Street Journal in response to inquiries.
China's debt pileup raises risk of hard landing
By Kelvin Soh and Aileen Wang - Reuters.com
(Reuters) - When China announced a nearly $600 billion package to ward off the 2008 global financial crisis, city planners across the country happily embarked on a frenzy of infrastructure projects, some of them of arguable need.
Chengdu, the capital of southwestern Sichuan province, answered the call for stimulus action with a bold plan for a railway hub modeled after Waterloo railway station in London.
Except London's Waterloo was not ambitious enough.
"I was shocked when I finally got to visit Waterloo. It was so small," said Chen Jun, a director at Chengdu Communications Investment Group, which built the new Chinese terminal. "I realized we would probably need a station a few times bigger to meet the demands of our city."
Bank closures now total 76 in 2011
CBSNews.com
(AP) WASHINGTON - Regulators on Friday closed a small bank in Minnesota and one in Missouri, increasing to 76 the number of U.S. bank failures this year.
The number of closures has fallen sharply this year as banks have worked their way through the bad debt accumulated in the recession. By this time last year, regulators had shuttered 129 banks.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seized Riverbank, based in Wyoming, Minn., with $417.4 million in assets and $379.3 million in deposits; and Sun Security Bank of Ellington, Mo., with $355.9 million in assets and $290.4 million in deposits.
It's the money supply stupid,
what some investors still don't get about gold and silver
ArabianMoney.com
Having just read another article by an able job-smithing hack in The National newspaper purporting to explain the gold and silver market to readers my toes curled up at the lack of understanding about the most crucial factor that investors in these precious metals need to grasp.
It’s the money supply stupid! The focus is always on demand for gold jewelry or the industrial uses of silver. But really the rising price of gold and silvet is all about money and the devaluation of paper money against the one money that nobody has ever succeeded in manufacturing.
Gold and Silver Prices Rise on Week,
Bullion Silver Eagles Top 35 Million
by COINNEWS.NET
U.S. gold and silver prices closed lower Friday but previous daily pick-ups combined to snap four-week losing streaks as gold advanced 0.8 percent and silver gained 3.0 percent.
Gold was pressured Friday, said analysts, as investors sold the yellow metal to meet margin calls. Gold prices declined $17.40, or 1.1 percent, to settle at $1,635.80 an ounce in the December futures contract on the Comex in New York. Prices ranged from an intraday low of $1,627.60 to a high of $1,668.00.
How To Hide Your Gold: A Bloomberg Primer
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
A world insolvency crisis, a Thermidorian reaction in Egypt, a hard landing in China, the first non-PIIGS nationalized bank... The world is on fire yet despite all of the above (or rather due to) what is the topic of one of the most commented articles on Bloomberg over the past week? Why how to hide one's gold. Bloomberg's Ben Steverman writes: "If you’re looking for a safe place to put your investments, Chad Venzke has a suggestion: Dig a hole in the ground four feet deep, pack gold and silver in a piece of plastic PVC pipe, seal it, and bury it. Venzke is hardly the only investor who wants his precious metals nearby at all times. A pound of gold worth about $24,000 can easily fit in a pocket; how to protect it is a decision that carries expensive consequences. Do-it-yourself investors who don't trust banks must find creative storage options, whether burying gold in the yard, submerging it in a koi pond, stashing it behind air-conditioning ducts, or placing it under carpets." Indeed, as Venezuela is about to reclaim possession of its tons of gold from UK vaults, even as the Dutch central bank proudly admit to hiding its own gold in precisely the same venues that are no longer good enough even for Chavez, the topic of where one should hide their physical is rapidly becoming a very incendiary. One thing is certain: among the hard core "physical" community, the idea of storing it in the same banking system that would be insolvent once the fiat status quo collapses, is verboten anathema. So what are the options?
Physical silver running out
because its spot price does not reflect true investment demand
ArabianMoney.com
Several readers of ArabianMoney have written to us over the past two weeks to express their astonishment at the current price of silver because demand where they live is so high that stocks have run out.
Consider this comment: 'I used to buy silver from a shop in Kobar in Saudi. From the last four weeks they said they ran out of silver. I cannot find anyone who sells silver in Saudi now. I asked them from where do they get their silver. They said the UAE. The problem is they only have 1kg bars…and I still cannot find any supplier.'
No stock
Silver’s 2nd Most Oversold Reading in a Decade But Parallels of 2008 Still Suggest Caution
BY CHRIS PUPLAVA - FinancialSense.com
But Parallels of 2008 Still Suggest Caution
Silver (SLV) just completed its second major correction this year after its parabolic rise and peak in April. The second decline that occurred over the last month has led silver to shedding nearly half its value. The decline over the last six months has pushed our silver indicator to the second most oversold value in a decade. Is this a major buying opportunity or are investors now catching a falling knife? The answer to that question hinges on what the dollar (UUP) does over the next several weeks.
Missteps to Mayhem Inside the Doomsday Machine with the outsider who predicted and profited from America’s financial Armageddon.
BY MICHAEL BURRY - Vanderbilt.edu
In predicting when and how America’s financial collapse would occur, my focus was on the growing importance of the housing sector, the actions of our government, and the response of the private sector. This was not simply a case in which a few early adopters made a lot of money or a few venture capitalists acted badly. The entire economy — consumer spending, jobs, securities market — all depended on home price appreciation.
The amount and types of leverage, the generations-old assumption that housing prices always went up, and broad societal participation in home ownership (with greater than 60 percent of Americans owning a home) all called out to me. Soon I would see financial Armageddon with housing as its trigger point.
Financial crisis and stimulus: Could this time be different?
By Ezra Klein - WashingtonPost.com
Christina Romer had been asked to scare her new boss. It was six weeks after the 2008 election, and the incoming administration had gathered in Chicago. David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s top political adviser, couldn’t have been more clear in his instructions to Romer: The president-elect needed to know how bad the economy was going to get. No pulling punches, no softening the news.
So Romer, the preternaturally cheerful economist whose expertise on the Great Depression made her a natural choice to head the incoming president’s Council of Economic Advisers, worked up some numbers to show how quickly the economy was deteriorating and what would happen if the federal government wasn't able to mount an effective response.
Major Economic Indicator Still in Freefall
BY DOUG SHORT - FinancialSense.com
Last week, September 30th, the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) publicly announced that the U.S. is tipping into a recession, a call the Institute had announced to its private clients on September 21st.
Early last week, ECRI notified clients that the U.S. economy is indeed tipping into a new recession. And there's nothing that policy makers can do to head it off.
ECRI's recession call isn't based on just one or two leading indexes, but on dozens of specialized leading indexes, including the U.S. Long Leading Index, which was the first to turn down — before the Arab Spring and Japanese earthquake — to be followed by downturns in the Weekly Leading Index and other shorter-leading indexes. In fact, the most reliable forward-looking indicators are now collectively behaving as they did on the cusp of full-blown recessions, not "soft landings."
Can Global Stimulus Stop Deflation?
BY CLIF DROKE - FinancialSense.com
The year 2011 has been a strange and unusual one on many counts. If anything, 2011 can be characterized as the first year since the credit crisis started in which deflation wasn’t actively opposed by central bankers and financial regulators.
In some cases, fiscal policy has been designed seemingly to assist the deflationary trend. In just the past few months, for instance, we’ve seen the abrupt end of the Federal Reserve’s attempt at bolstering asset prices, the dramatic increase in margin requirements for several key commodities, talk of increasing taxes and regulatory burdens on businesses and other pro-deflationary measures. It’s enough to make you wonder if perhaps the regulators actually want to introduce a certain level of deflation into the economy and financial markets.
Stocks hinge on Europe Earnings and Europe come knocking
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Stocks kicked off the fourth quarter with gains last week, but the week ahead could be more challenging as the quarterly earnings season gets underway and Europe's debt crisis remains in the spotlight.
Dow components Alcoa and JPMorgan Chase report quarterly financial results, as well Pepsico and Google. All four heavyweights are among the S&P 500 companies.
S&P 500 company earnings are expected to have climbed almost 13% in the third quarter of 2011, according to earnings tracker Thomson Reuters. Revenues of the companies in the benchmark index are expected to have risen 10%.
Europe on the Brink
By Megan McArdle - TheAtlantic.com
I haven't been blogging much about Europe because I felt like I was mostly repeating myself. Europe is not an optimal currency zone. It opted for monetary union without the fiscal or labor market integration that make America's sprawling currency zone work. So far, the various governments have failed to mount a really credible coordinated response. I don't see how the thing can hold together, except that Jesus, it will be hell if it all falls apart.
But it's probably worth interrupting your regularly scheduled unemployment-and-kitchen-blogging to point out that it all really seems to be coming to a head:
Trichet Reminds U.S. Euro Built to Last
By Simon Kennedy - Bloomberg.com
Jean-Claude Trichet stood on a stage at Washington's Willard Hotel, leafed through his prepared speech, and cast it aside.
The reason for the European Central Bank president’s Sept. 23 ad-libbing: a desire to rebut what he called the "particularly gloomy" economic outlook of the previous panel featuring former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Pacific Investment Management Co. chief executive officer Mohamed El-Erian.
"The overall picture when you look at the euro area as a whole is very, very different from the perception," Trichet said in his Washington speech to a conference organized by the Bretton Woods Committee.
'Time short' for eurozone, says Cameron
By George Parker and Lionel Barber - FT.com
David Cameron has urged European leaders to take a “big bazooka” approach to resolving the eurozone crisis, warning they have just a matter of weeks to avert economic disaster.
The UK prime minister wants France and Germany to bury their differences and to adopt before the end of the year what he claims would be a decisive five-point plan to end the uncertainty, which was having a "chilling effect" on the world economy.
On the Edge with Max Keiser - Oct. 7
Euro Maintains Declines as Sarkozy,
Merkel Fail to Reassure on Debt Crisis
By Masaki Kondo and Kristine Aquino - Bloomberg.com
The yen fell against the majority of its most-traded counterparts as optimism Europe can contain its debt crisis spurred a climb in U.S. equity futures, damping demand for haven currencies.
The euro strengthened versus most of its 16 peers after French and German leaders pledged to deliver a plan in three weeks to recapitalize banks and reiterated their intention to keep Greece in the euro. The Australian dollar gained for a fifth day against the U.S. currency before a report this week that may show employment in the South Pacific nation increased.
"People are cautiously optimistic," said Adam Carr, a senior economist in Sydney at ICAP Australia Ltd., a unit of the world’s largest interdealer broker. "The European economy is probably going to strengthen over the third quarter. The yen will probably weaken a little bit as funds maybe start to trickle out of Japan into risk assets."
And So It Begins – The First Major European Bank
Has Been Bailed Out And More Bailouts Are Coming
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
And so it begins. The first major European bank bailout of 2011 has now happened. French/Belgian banking giant Dexia has failed and both governments have pledged to participate in a rescue plan. But Dexia will not be the last major European bank to fail. Even now, governments all over Europe are feverishly developing plans to bail out major national banks in the event that the current financial crisis goes from bad to worse. Instead of learning the lessons of 2008, most major European banks have continued to pile up huge mountains of debt, leverage and risk. Now the bill for that stupidity is about to be passed on to the taxpayers of those nations. But with most nations in Europe already drowning in debt, are bank bailouts really the right course of action? What is it going to happen to Europe if dozens of major banks start failing and trillions of euros are needed to bail them all out?
Dexia Board Meets as France,
Belgium Tussle Over Troubled Assets
By Fabio Benedetti-Valentini - Bloomberg.com
Dexia SA (DEXB)'s board meets today to study options to dismantle the French-Belgian bank that has brought Europe’s sovereign debt crisis to the heart of the region's financial system.
While France and Belgium have rushed to protect their local units, hurdles to an agreement remain as they wrestle over responsibility for assets hit by the crisis that has caused the bank’s short-term funding to evaporate. Dexia's troubled assets are being folded into a "bad bank" and could amount to as much as 190 billion euros ($254 billion).
Agreement Is Reached to Nationalize Belgian Bank
By LIZ ALDERMAN and JUDY DEMPSEY - NYTimes.com
PARIS — Europe’s debt crisis hit another milestone on Sunday when the French and Belgian governments agreed to nationalize Dexia, Belgium’s biggest bank, infusing it with billions in taxpayer money after it became the first casualty of the Greek sovereign debt crisis.
The move came as Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France acknowledged that Europe’s banks still needed billions of euros more to cushion against a possible Greek default. In meetings Sunday in Berlin, they announced that they would have a "comprehensive solution" by the time leaders of the G-20 group of nations meets in early November in Cannes, France.
"We are determined to do what is necessary to guarantee the recapitalization of our banks," Mrs. Merkel said.
Merkel, Sarkozy reach agreement on banking sector
By Michael Birnbaum - WashingtonPost.com
BERLIN — France and Germany’s leaders promised far-reaching changes to the euro zone's economic governance Sunday, as a separate agreement was reached to nationalize a troubled Franco-Belgian bank, marking the first victim of Greece's debt crisis.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after a meeting in Berlin that they were ready to recapitalize banks that have been shaken by the debt crisis, and said they would announce more fundamental reforms to the euro zone's common economic governance by the end of the month.
China Companies Evading Rules Stump Regulators
By Dune Lawrence - Bloomberg.com
A common corporate structure that has allowed dozens of Chinese companies to get listed on U.S. exchanges is drawing increased scrutiny from American audit regulators.
Chinese Internet companies such as Sina Corp. and Baidu Inc. have used so-called variable interest entities, or VIEs, to work around Chinese restrictions and seek foreign investors since 2000. Now, the Securities and Exchange Commission is also asking questions about the structure, said Paul Boltz, a Hong Kong-based partner at Ropes & Gray LLP, who cited comment letters the agency sent to six companies since December. Judith Burns, an SEC spokeswoman, declined to comment.
Another Round of Inflationist Measures
BY PATER TENEBRARUM - FinancialSense.com
As we have recently noted in these pages, it was our expectation that the advice of the currency debasers that rule today's economic orthodoxy would once again prevail, despite the reams of both theoretical and empirical evidence arrayed against it. This ongoing war on savers will end up doing incalculable economic damage in addition to the damage it has already wrought. The whole thing is as though physicists were suddenly abandoning Einstein's theories on a whim, arguing that they are no longer fitting for our modern age since they are a century old.
40 Signs That America Is Rotting From The Inside Out
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
It would be easy to know how to defend America if enemy forces were invading our shores. But how do you defend a nation that is rotting from the inside out? How do you eradicate the internal decay that is eating away at the heart and soul of this nation a little bit more every single day? Just like we saw happen with the Roman Empire, the internal rot that is eating its way to the surface threatens to bring us down as a nation. Greed, corruption, gluttony, lust and pride have become national pastimes. We are addicted to debt, food, entertainment and pleasure. We have been taught to hate those that look different from us or that believe different things than we do. Society is literally coming apart at the seams and the federal government is increasingly implementing "Big Brother" security measures in an attempt to maintain control and keep us "safe". We have far more people in prison than any other nation on the planet and yet things just keep getting worse and worse. So how can we fix America? How do we rescue a nation that is rotting from the inside?
Bob Chapman - The Sovereign Economist 05 Oct 2011
The Top 100 Statistics
About The Collapse Of The Economy
That Every American Voter Should Know
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The U.S. economy is dying and most American voters have no idea why it is happening. Unfortunately, the mainstream media and most of our politicians are not telling the truth about the collapse of the economy. This generation was handed the keys to the greatest economic machine that the world has ever seen, and we have completely wrecked it. Decades of incredibly foolish decisions have left us drowning in an ocean of corruption, greed and bad debt. Thousands of businesses and millions of jobs have left the country and poverty is exploding from coast to coast. We are literally becoming a joke to the rest of the world. It is absolutely imperative that we educate America about what is happening. Until the American people truly understand the problems that we are facing, they will not be willing to implement the solutions that are necessary.
Subprime Mortgage Flows into Goldman Sachs
TheNetworkThinkers.com
On April 16, 2010 the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Goldman Sachs alleging securities fraud for selling residential mortgage backed securities [RMBS] the firm knew was made up of failed sub-prime mortgages.
Using our InFlow social network analysis software we linked the failed/foreclosed mortgages from Cleveland, Ohio that ended up in investment vehicles sold by Goldman Sachs. The failed investments were made up of mortgages from all over the country. The map below shows only those failed mortgages originating from Northeast Ohio.
Inflation not a big worry, top Fed officials say
By Judy Wiley and Matthew Bigg
(Reuters) - The risk of U.S. inflation is minor compared with an ongoing morass in the jobs market, two top Federal Reserve officials said after the government reported a steady 9.1 percent jobless rate.
However, both Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher and Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart sounded skeptical of pushing for further monetary easing and unsure of how much it might help.
"The economy currently is weak, but not dramatically weakening. It is sort of bumping along at a very low level. There's a mix of data, some of it is negative but some of it is mildly positive," Lockhart said.
Ron Paul's Mission To End The Fed 2011
Fed Up and Taking to the Streets, But What are the Demands?
by ESAM AL-AMIN - CounterPunch.org
People across the globe are angry. Fed up with their corrupt and inept governments, people have taken to the streets. The furious protesters have come from all walks of life: students, workers and farmers, men and women, young and old, urban and rural, the working poor and the struggling middle class.
Undoubtedly, the Arab Spring has inspired people around the globe to take matters into their own hands. In essence, the masses have given up on their elected officials, whom they see as selling out to the multinational corporations and the super rich in their societies.
Dylan Ratigan With Author Ron Suskind:
"Tim Geithner Ran The White House,
Stopped Attorney General Eric Holder
From Prosecuting Wall Street"
DailyBail.com
Who's the White House boss?
Start watching at the 2-minute mark. This is the most important Ratigan clip since his on-air meltdown. You will hear that Geithner and Summers defied orders from Obama and took over White House policy, instructing Attorney General Eric Holder to back off Wall Street criminal prosecutions. "Geithner developed a system to keep the existing Wall Street structure in place with no prosecutions, and billions in additional bailouts."
You got that? That's called an Executive Gag Order - Mr. President, shut your pie hole.
Don't tell anyone that a tax cheat shilling for Wall Street is actually the President of the United States of America and not the tall guy reading from the teleprompter.
How The Financial Crisis Created A 'New Third World'
NPR.org
Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass had made a fortune betting against the subprime mortgage market when it collapsed in 2008. And now Bass is set to make lots more — from a Greek default.
Bass' story is chronicled in Michael Lewis' latest book, Boomerang: The Meltdown Tour, which tells the stories of the fiscal recklessness in both Europe and the U.S. that led to the current debt crisis.
Lewis tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that Bass realized that governments around the world weren't ending the 2008 financial crisis — they were just delaying it. So Bass decided that they would also likely fail.
Gerald Celente with Stephen Lendman - Oct. 6
Wrong Medicine for a Sick Economy
Mises Daily: by Ralph Reiland
"Middle-class families shouldn't pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires," repeatedly proclaims President Obama, arguing for his proposed $1.5 trillion tax increase over the next 10 years. "That's pretty straightforward. It's hard to argue against that."
In fact, Mr. Obama's statement is anything but straightforward.
Seeking to reverse his declining poll numbers, especially among his increasingly disillusioned base, Obama is attempting to give the impression that America's millionaires and billionaires are paying lower taxes than their secretaries.
Occupy Wall Street: All Bite, No Apple
By Debra Saunders - PatriotPOST.US
As Occupy Wall Street activists clogged New York's Zuccotti Park protesting "corporate greed" and Occupy SF hit San Francisco's Financial District on Wednesday protesting "corporate greed," the world learned that Steve Jobs, perhaps America's most beloved modern capitalist, had died at age 56.
The protesters claim to represent the working people, the 99 percent of Americans who, according to their blog, are getting kicked out of their homes, must choose between groceries and rent and "are working long hours for little pay and no rights," if they're working at all. They "are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything."
Occupy Wall Street Affiliated With
Professional Revolutionary Organization OTPOR (CIA)
djosiris.blogspot.com
.... I have been quite skeptical of the Occupy movement since it suddenly sprang up out of nowhere in the last couple of weeks. While I have been in full support of the "End the Fed" movement, I am suspicious of any "grassroots" movement that immediately gets corporate media support. I recall there being nationwide "End the Fed" rallies in 2009 that received little to no mainstream media coverage.
When I heard Van Jones along with various union bosses claim their support for the Occupy movement in recent weeks, it confirmed for me that this Occupy is essentially the Tea-Party version of the extreme progressive political agenda. Van Jones even recently discussed an "October Offensive" that would be used to counter the Tea Party.
Ed Schultz Throws Hissy Fit
After Dylan Ratigan Points Out
Obama's Jobs Plan Falls Way Short
Solyndra Bankruptcy Could Hobble
the U.S. Renewable Energy Sector
Written by Gloria Gonzalez - OilPrice.com
The controversy surrounding the collapse of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra could make it impossible to extend the US loan guarantee or cash grant programmes for renewable energy and may make supporting other clean energy programmes much more challenging, experts have said.
The case of Solyndra, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 6 September, is being used by some Republican legislators as an excuse to try to eliminate investment in clean energy, according to energy experts. The Fremont, California-based company was backed by a $535 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy (DOE).
State Fund plans to lay off up to 1,800 workers by June The cuts at California's largest workers' compensation insurance company represent about one-fourth of its 6,800 employees and are an effort to streamline operations and cut expenses.
By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Sacramento—
In an effort to streamline operations and cut expenses, California's largest workers' compensation insurance company plans to lay off about a fourth of its 6,800 employees.
Tom Rowe, chief executive of the government-controlled State Compensation Insurance Fund, said Thursday the company is about 30% overstaffed and will fire as many as 1,800 civil service workers by the end of June.
Recovering Financially (and Emotionally)
From Long-Term Unemployment
By Laura Rowley - DailyFinance.com
Recovering financially after a period of long-term unemployment isn't easy, but it is fairly straightforward: Pay off debts, rebuild savings, and adjust to a new (typically lower) income.
Recovering emotionally is far more complicated. Truly bouncing back from a job loss means retraining your brain and consciously shifting your perspective. And as the nation struggles to climb out of the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression - the Labor Department reported Friday that theunemployment rate remains stubbornly highat 9.1% - millions of people are grappling with the issue.
At 64, is it too late to go back to school?
By Liz Weston - Money Talk - LATimes.com Dear Liz: I'm 64 and have a master's degree in education but can't find a job. Is it too late to go back to school? I was thinking of majoring in occupational therapy. Answer: It's never too late to go back to school — but it is possible to spend too much doing so.
The good news is that occupational therapy is a fast-growing field with many job opportunities. The bad news is that you typically need a master's degree to be an occupational therapist, and master's programs (as you know) aren't cheap.
Plus, your age is a factor to consider. Getting hired after 50 is tough, regardless of your field.
Startup America Looks to Washington Ahead of his meeting with President Obama, Startup America chairman Steve Case has plenty of ideas on how to help entrepreneurs, but says they're going to need an assist from Washington.
by J.D. Harrison - Portfolio.com
If you ask Startup America chairman Steve Case for a list of what Washington can do to increase entrepreneurship to a level that it will refuel the economy and reignite job growth, he has no shortage of ideas. For starters, Case believes the federal government must rethink immigration policies, tear down barriers that keep companies from going public, and increase available seed funding.
One of AOL's cofounders and the current CEO of Revolution, Case discussed his committee's recommendations at a youth entrepreneurship competition last night ahead of his meeting with President Obama next week in Pittsburgh. He expanded on the details of those recommendations during a phone conference today.
Obama's New Populist Fakery
by MICHAEL HUDSON - CounterPunch.org
The seeds for President Obama's demagogic press conference on Thursday were planted last summer when he assigned his right-wing Committee of 13 the role of resolving the obvious and inevitable Congressional budget standoff by forging an anti-labor policy that cuts Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and uses the savings to bail out banks from even more loans that will go bad as a result of the IMF-style austerity program that Democrats and Republicans alike have agreed to back.
The problem facing Obama is obvious enough: How can he hold the support of moderates and independents (or as Fox News calls them, socialists and anti-capitalists), students and labor, minorities and others who campaigned so heavily for him in 2008? He has double-crossed them – smoothly, with a gentle smile and patronizing pattern talk, but with an iron determination to hand federal monetary and tax policy over to his largest campaign contributors: Wall Street and assorted special interests. The Democratic Party’s Rubinomics and Clintonomics core operators, plus smooth Bush Administration holdovers such as Tim Geithner, not to mention quasi-Cheney factotums in the Justice Department.
Economic Collapse, Railroad Workers to Strike
FBI to launch nationwide facial recognition service
BY ALIYA STERNSTEIN 10/07/2011
The FBI by mid-January will activate a nationwide facial recognition service in select states that will allow local police to identify unknown subjects in photos, bureau officials told Nextgov.
The federal government is embarking on a multiyear, $1 billion dollar overhaul of the FBI's existing fingerprint database to more quickly and accurately identify suspects, partly through applying other biometric markers, such as iris scans and voice recordings.
The Fascist Threat
Mises Daily: by Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.
Everyone knows that the term fascist is a pejorative, often used to describe any political position a speaker doesn't like. There isn't anyone around who is willing to stand up and say, 'I'm a fascist; I think fascism is a great social and economic system."
But I submit that if they were honest, the vast majority of politicians, intellectuals, and political activists would have to say just that.
Fascism is the system of government that cartelizes the private sector, centrally plans the economy to subsidize producers, exalts the police state as the source of order, denies fundamental rights and liberties to individuals, and makes the executive state the unlimited master of society.
'They Won't Care Till They're Affected'
By Peggy Noonan PatriotPost.us
Look, we are in a remarkable moment and I'm not sure we're noticing it in the day-to-day of politics and media. Last week I wrote of the new patriotism that I see taking hold of the American establishment, if that's the right word -- business leaders, doctors, scientists, entrepreneurs, journalists and lawyers who find themselves feeling a great, deep yearning to help save their country. That public-spiritedness is waiting to be harnessed and led by good men and women who, in words I'll explain in a moment, have passion not for themselves but for America.
What's behind it is fear. The economy is tanking and can take a whole world with it. But what's interesting -- and new -- is that the fear is not finding its expression (again, among those loosely described as the establishment) in rage, or in deeper partisan antagonism.
Computer virus hits U.S. military drones
Dayton Business Journal - BizJournals.com
Computer hackers have apparently turned their sites to unmanned aerial vehicles as UAVs, or drones, operated by the U.S. military have been infected with a mysterious computer virus.
Wired.com on reports that a computer virus that logs every keystroke of pilots has infected Predator and Reaper drones flying overseas missions.
Taking Stock of the Long Wars: A Proposal It's been 10 years since the start of the war in Afghanistan. It's time for some reflection.
By JOHN ARQUILLA , ANDREW BACEVICH,
JAMES FALLOWS, & GARY HART - TheAtlantic.com
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Afghanistan War. This occasion should prompt Americans to consider a simple question: How's it going?
"It," of course, refers to much more than Afghanistan.
After all, the campaign launched on October 7, 2001 to destroy Al Qaeda and overthrow the Taliban soon metastasized. Beyond the unnecessary diversion into Iraq, the enterprise once known as the Global War on Terror now finds U. S. military and intelligence forces engaged in places as far afield as Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya.
Iran says Wall Street protests
are start of 'American Spring' that will topple capitalism
By Associated Press - WashingtonPost.com
TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian military commander said Sunday that the protests spreading from New York's Wall Street to other U.S. cities are the beginning of an "American Spring," likening them to the uprisings that toppled Arab autocrats in the Middle East.
Gen. Masoud Jazayeri of Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the protests against corporate greed and the gap between rich and poor are a revolution in the making that will topple what he called the Western capitalist system.
The Occupy Wall Street movement started in New York City last month and is spreading to other parts of the country. The loosely affiliated movement is peacefully protesting the power of the financial and political sectors.
Trouble in the Kingdom
by ALEXANDER COCKBURN - CounterPunch.org
Threaten the stability of Saudi Arabia, as the Shi’a upsurges are now doing in Qatif, and al-Awamiyah in the country's oil-rich Eastern Province and you’re brandishing a dagger over the very heart of long-term U.S. policy in the Middle East for over half a century.
In 1945 the chief of the State Department’s Division of Near Eastern Affairs, wrote in a memo that the oil resources of Saudi Arabia are a "stupendous source of strategic power and one of the greatest material prizes in world history." The man who steered the Saudi sheikhs towards America and away from Britain, was St.John Philby, Kim’s father, and with that one great stroke Philby Sr. wrought far more devastation on the British Empire than his son ever did. The fall of America’s ally, the Shah of Iran in 1979 only magnified the strategic importance of Saudi Arabia.
Could Congress's Anti-Palestinian Turn
Be Good News for Palestine? One might think that the U.S. Congress would be the last place to look for a ray of hope in the long Palestinian march for freedom -- think again
By Daniel Levy - TheAtlantic.com
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the Republican chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and when it comes to matters Israeli-Palestinian she tends not to mince her words. Here is but one choice example: "It's time for us to kick the PLO out of the U.S. once and for all, and move our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, where it belongs."
Is she an outlier extremist in the Republican caucus on this issue? Far from it. One GOP colleague, Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) introduced a bill resolving to support "Israel's right to annex Judea and Samaria in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues to press for unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations," while another, Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX) has lamented a situation in which, in his words "Palestinians have the Gaza Strip and they are occupying the West Bank."
Syria warns countries not to recognize opposition
By Bassem Mroue - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria‘s foreign minister warned the international community on Sunday not to recognize a new umbrella council formed by the opposition, threatening "tough measures" against any country that does so.
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem did not specify what measures Damascus might take but alluded later in his comments to attacks on embassies. Addressing reports that protesters had broken into Syria‘sembassy to Germany, Mr. al-Moallem said that countries that did not protect Syrian missions could find their own embassies treated in the same way.
China's Hu urges unification with Taiwan
By Gillian Wong - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
BEIJING (AP) — China’s leader on Sunday used the centennial of a revolution that ended imperial rule to make an appeal to further relations with Taiwan, saying they should move beyond the history that divides them and focus on common economic and cultural interests.
At a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, President Hu Jintao said that China and Taiwan should end antagonisms, "heal wounds of the past and work together to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."
Why Gold Isn't $2000 yet…
By: Julian D. W. Phillips - GoldSeek.com
The gold price went over $1,900 and looked as though it was going to mount $2,000, but since then has fallen back to $1,600 and is in the process of consolidating around the lower $1,600 area. It was expected that it would have moved a lot higher faster, but that hasn’t happened, yet.
In the face of Italy’s downgrade to A2 by the ratings Agency, Moody’s summary that,
"There has been a profound loss of confidence in certain European sovereign debt markets, and Moody’s considers that this extremely weak market sentiment will likely persist. It is no longer a temporary problem that might be addressed through liquidity support, and several euro-area governments are increasingly affected by the loss of confidence."
The downgrading was expected as are further downgrades for the different Eurozone members. Why shouldn't the gold price be on its way through $2,000 to higher levels?
Signs of a Bottom in Gold and Gld Stock?
By: David Chapman - GoldSeek.com
With gold correcting back roughly 16% from its recent all-time highs it sometimes pays to put things in a little perspective.
This is a weekly chart of gold dating back to the start of the bull market in 2001. As can be seen gold has been in a relentless uptrend since its double bottom lows near $250 in 2001. Based on the current price that is a gain of 540%. Gold is up about 460% since the beginning of the millennium. Compare that with the S&P TSX Composite that is up 33% and the S&P 500 who is down some 23% since the beginning of the millennium.
As this chart shows gold has also had numerous corrections over the past 11 years. Many of them have been quite sharp. However, a couple of things stand out. First gold tends to find significant support at or near the 40 week MA. Second gold appears to find good support when the weekly RSI falls to around the 50 level. All of these points have been marked with an X.
Analysts mostly unfazed by gold price volatility
and raising 2012 forecasts Far from lowering their 2012 gold price forecasts in the light of recent volatility, many mainstream analysts have actually been raising their predictions for the year ahead seeing unchanged fundamental support.
Author: Ross Norman - Mineweb.com
LONDON (SHARPS PIXLEY) -
August and September saw unusual price volatility in gold, not just in the stock markets with MSCI world (developed market) dropping about 15% and emerging markets indices falling over 25%. Gold, the usual "hedge" during extreme financial turmoil rose or fell by over 3% on 8 occasions and declined 15% from peak to trough in the past 2 months alone - the sort of moves one might in former years have expected over the course of a full year. During this period, dollar assets have been favoured by investors, rising 6% and US 10-year Treasury yield falling by 88bp.
US Silver futures surge 4 % on follow through buying
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Comex December Silverfutures have surged close to 4 % on Thursday morning trade on follow through buying by bargain hunters. At 12.05 hrs ET, Comex Dec Silver was trading 3.86% up at $31.58 per ounce.
European and US stock markets have opened on a positive note on optimism regarding European debt crisis, analysts said.
Government Money Masters:
Anti-Gold Videos that Thousands of Tea Party Voters
Think Are Conservative
by Gary North - LewRockwell.com
The conservative movement is filled with well-meaning people who do not understand free market economic theory. They believe that they hold to free market economics, but they in fact hold to a crude Keynesianism: economic salvation by fiat money.
Inside the conservative movement for over a century has been a hard-core cadre of left-wing promoters of big government. They present themselves as enemies of fractional reserve banking. They use this to get a hearing for their cure-all for banking: a fiat money monopoly that is completely managed by tenured, unaccountable bureaucrats operating under the authority of Congress.
Venezuela says gold repatriation to start soon
Reuters Africa
CARACAS Oct 5 (Reuters) - Venezuela will begin repatriating its gold reserves from Western nations by mid-November, the central bank head said on Wednesday.
"We're in the final phase of the logistics ... Soon the Venezuelan people will know when the first boat is coming," Nelson Merentes said, according to state news agency AVN.
President Hugo Chavez announced in August that the South American OPEC member nation would bring bring home almost all its $11 billion in gold reserves held abroad -- a nationalistic move that has hurt market confidence.
Geithner: The Truth Could Cause Significant Damage
By Wolf Richter - ZeroHedge.com
The charade: Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner spoke before the House Financial Services Committee—chaired by Spencer Bachus, who'd declared in an interview last December that in "Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated, and my view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks."
Geithner was speaking on behalf of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, which he chairs. Established in July 2010, it was to come up with strategies that would ensure that the financial crisis wouldn't show up on our TV screens as reruns.
Senate, House Step Up China Pressure
By MICHAEL R. CRITTENDEN And COREY BOLES - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON—U.S. leaders took swipes at China on Thursday as the Senate voted to advance a bill to penalize countries said to be manipulating their currencies and President Barack Obama accused the country of manipulating the yuan.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk separately demanded that China disclose details to the World Trade Organization on a large number of government subsidies to ensure it is complying with global trade rules. The U.S. notified the WTO of almost 200 subsidy programs China has failed to disclose, as well as 50 India measures.
China says U.S. policy, not undervalued currency,
to blame for economic woes
By Keith B. Richburg - WashingtonPost.com
BEIJING — The view from Washington, as seen by proponents of the China currency sanctions bill, seems clear: China’s government keeps its currency artificially low. That keeps manufacturing here cheap, which in turn makes Chinese products less expensive. U.S. companies cannot compete. Americans lose jobs.
But the view from China — as gleaned from official comments, newspaper opinion pieces and interviews with economists — is often diametrically opposed.
China’s currency, those observers point out, has actually been rising in value — so much so that Chinese manufacturers are feeling the pinch. Inflation here is high, putting an extra burden. Many local factories have gone bankrupt. Growing wage demands,after a string of strikes last year, mean China has ceded the title of world’s top cheap producer to Vietnam, Bangladeshand others.
Jim Rogers: Trade Wars Always Lead to Real War
BY CRIS SHERIDAN - FinancialSense.com
On ramifications of a US-China trade war:
"This could be terribly, terribly dangerous if we turn into a trade war. We had a trade war in the 1930s, it led to the Great Depression. We already have small signs of trade wars breaking out: Brazil, France, other places, now America. This could be very dangerous in the end."
"If it turns into a trade war it is the most momentous thing of 2011. Trade wars always lead to wars."
"If America does put on tariffs onto the Chinese, the Chinese have various weapons at their disposal. They could stop buying American government bonds. They could sell American government bonds. If they did that, interest rates in America would go through the roof. The value of the US Dollar would go down a lot (perhaps a lot or, at least, a little). This would not be good for anybody, including for China. But, what happens Lauren is whenever people get slapped in the face, they always have to slap back."
Dexia shares frozen amid nationalisation rumours Board of troubled Belgian-French bank holding talks over selling its Luxembourg arm
By Jill Treanor - Guardian.co.uk
Shares in Dexia, the troubled Belgian-French bank, were suspended on Thursday amid continued uncertainty about whether France, Belgium – or both – were preparing to bail it out.
The board is to meet on Saturday in Paris to try to determine its fate after announcing that it was in talks about selling its Luxembourg arm, possibly to the duchy itself.
Belgian newspaper De Tijd reported that the government was preparing to nationalise the bank, which was bailed out in the early stages of the 2008 banking crisis with €6bn (£5bn) of cash – although local politicians made it clear that France needed to help carry the burden.
How a Good Idea Became a Tragedy
The Greek crisis has revealed why the euro is the world's most dangerous currency. The euro was built on a foundation of debt and trickery, where economic principles were sacrificed to romantic political visions. The history of the common currency is the story of a good idea that turned into a tragedy of epic proportions.
By SPIEGEL Staff - Spiegel.de
The Absurdity of a BRIC Bailout of Europe
BY MICHAEL PETTIS - FinancialSense.com
I spent the end of last week in Washington DC during the IMF/World Bank meetings. Needless to say this has been a pretty gloomy trip and most of the people I spoke to or heard speak had only bad things to say about the global economy.
What’s more, given how bad the markets were this week, it’s tempting to write excitedly about what the sharp drop in the prices of stocks, commodities and currencies is now telling us. I am not sure however what to say because I don’t believe that there was ever any chance of global growth returning for several years, and of course, to put it as politely as I can, I never believed in the emerging-markets decoupling theory. I have been arguing for the past three years that the 2007-08 crisis is not even close to being over because all the major capital and trade imbalances that have helped cause the crises afflicting much of the world remain in place.
BBC Does It Again:
"In The Absence Of A Credible Plan
We Will Have A Global Financial Meltdown
In Two To Three Weeks" - IMF Advisor
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
A week after the BBC exploded Alessio Rastani to the stage, it has just done it all over again. In an interview with IMF advisor Robert Shapiro, the bailout expert has pretty much said what, once again, is on everyone's mind: "If they can not address [the financial crisis] in a credible way I believe within perhaps 2 to 3 weeks we will have a meltdown in sovereign debt which will produce a meltdown across the European banking system. We are not just talking about a relatively small Belgian bank, we are talking about the largest banks in the world, the largest banks in Germany, the largest banks in France, that will spread to the United Kingdom, it will spread everywhere because the global financial system is so interconnected. All those banks are counterparties to every significant bank in the United States, and in Britain, and in Japan, and around the world. This would be a crisis that would be in my view more serrious than the crisis in 2008.... What we don't know the state of credit default swaps held by banks against sovereign debt and against European banks, nor do we know the state of CDS held by British banks, nor are we certain of how certain the exposure of British banks is to the Ireland sovereign debt problems."
IMF advisor says we face a Worldwide Banking Meltdown
General strike brings Greece to a standstill
as public sector closes down Protesters flood into streets of Athens
By Helena Smith in Athens - Guardian.co.uk
Greece edged deeper into chaos as workers brought the country to a standstill with a general strike.
The closure of the entire public sector – from schools to hospitals to government offices – left Athens airport looking like a ghost town and kept museums and archaeological sites shut.
Anger was evident on the faces of the protesters who flooded into the streets. "We have no work, we have no money," they screamed, denouncing the EU and IMF which have propped up the near-bankrupt Greek economy with rescue funds. "Erase the debt! Let the rich pay. There will, there can, be no more sacrifices."
ECB takes non-standard measures; rates on hold Jean-Claude Trichet presides over his last rate-setting meeting
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
BERLIN (MarketWatch) — Jean-Claude Trichet announced almost everything but a rate cut Thursday as he prepared to leave the helm of the European Central Bank, unveiling a host of measures designed to pump liquidity to funding-starved banks amid growing fears of a funding freeze as the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis intensifies.
The ECB will buy 40 billion euros ($53 billion) worth of covered bonds, which are an important source of long-term funding for the European banking sector. The central bank also announced it would provide an uncapped amount of collateralized longer-term loans at fixed rates to commercial banks through a 12-month auction in October and a roughly 13-month operation in December.
Merkel-Sarkozy Divided on Greek Default Threat
to Their Banks: Euro Credit
By James Hertling and Tony Czuczka - Bloomberg.com
Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy are running out of road.
Whether to allow Greece to default and how to manage the fallout, questions they have tried to avoid for more than a year, may finally require answers as European officials turn to fortifying banks and consider ways to ease Greece’s debt load. It costs $6 million plus $100,000 a year to insure $10 million of Greek securities for five years, with credit-insurance prices pointing to a 91 percent chance of default.
As the German chancellor and French president prepare to meet in two days for their eighth one-on-one summit in 20 months, Merkel has cited the need to prepare for the default that investors see as a sure thing. Sarkozy, whose banks have the most to lose, is unwilling to gamble on letting Greece go.
The Fed Twists, the Market Shouts
by Ron Paul - LewRockwell.com
Last week the Federal Reserve began the second incarnation of "Operation Twist", an attempt to drive down interest rates by purchasing long-term Treasury debt and selling short-term debt. This is just the latest instance of the central bank desperately flailing around doing something merely for the sake of doing something. Fed officials still do not understand – or admit – that the Fed itself caused the financial crisis by driving interest rates too low and relentlessly expanding the money supply. Thus, this latest action will just exacerbate the problem.
What's Next on the Fed's Plate?
By: Dr. Jeffrey Lewis - GoldSeek.com
It's safe to say that the Fed's latest announcement won't be enough to get Wall Street fired up. In a decision designed to minimize the long run cost of money, the Fed's so-called "Operation Twist" has been a nonstarter for Wall Street.
The Fed has yet to learn, or at least give mention to, the real problem facing the economy: stagnant growth, except in sovereign debt. As the Fed seeks to minimize borrowing costs, investors wonder how they're ever going to justify making investments now that money is cheaper than it was one month ago. The problem, of course, isn't that going out into the future is expensive; it's simply unknown territory.
The Revolution Against the Federal Reserve Starts Now
Details Emerge on Draft of Volcker Rule
BY BEN PROTESS - NYTimes.com
Federal regulators are planning to vote next week on plans to prohibit banks from making certain lucrative, yet risky trades, the latest step toward reining in risk-taking on Wall Street in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
As the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporationprepares on Tuesday to vote on the so-called Volcker Rule, some clues have emerged on the details of the proposal.
The American Banker on Wednesday published a document on its Web site that appeared to be the latest version of the proposal. The document spelled out the scope of the rule’s ban on proprietary trading and its broad exemptions for more routine business practices that can be mistaken for riskier trades.
Another Bailout for the Banks?
BY JEFF RUBIN - FinancialSense.com
You might have thought things had changed in world financial markets since the U.S.subprime mortgage disaster. After all, we were told at the time that if taxpayers didn’t open their wallets and bail out the banks, we could face a complete meltdown of the global financial system and an economic fate rivaling the Great Depression.
Funny that only three years later, the global financial system seems once again to be teetering on the brink, a prelude no doubt to another round of emergency demands for a massive taxpayer-funded rescue of European banks, and soon others as well. As we all know, contagion spreads quickly these days in the world’s banking circles.
Treasuries Decline on Speculation
European Debt Turmoil Will Be Resolved
By Cordell Eddings and Susanne Walker - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries dropped for a third day as speculation European leaders are stepping up efforts to resolve the sovereign-debt crisis pared refuge demand.
Yields on 30-year bonds extended their increase from a two- year low after a report before tomorrow's U.S. payrolls figures showed initial jobless claims rose less than forecast and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said banks have strengthened. The European Central Bank will resume covered-bond purchases and reintroduce year-long loans for financial institutions to avoid a freezing of money markets.
"With the slight optimism coming out of Europe, we are seeing some glimmers of what we could expect in the Treasury market if we get some type of reasonable policy response," said Kevin Flanagan, chief fixed-income strategist in Purchase, New York, at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. "There is still a lot of global issues to be worked through."
Ron Paul On Freedom Watch:
Discusses Hearing On Auditing The Fed (Oct 5th 2011)
Fear, Hope and Greed
BY DAVID MOENNING - FinancialSense.com
It is often said that the stock market is driven by the emotions of fear, hope, and greed. Bear markets tend to begin when fear is prevalent and then accelerate as the bears get greedy. The market then bottoms when all those that wanted to sell shares have done so. The eventual lack of selling allows hope to develop that there may be brighter days ahead. This tends to convince those brave souls that still believe in value investing to enter the game. And then when the stock market becomes fun again, greed tends to take over to the upside. If you are envisioning a repeating sine wave in your head right about now, I've done my job.
Steve Jobs didn't get loan guarantees
By: Diana Furchtgott-Roth | WashingtonExaminer.com
Steve Jobs showed how one person's innovation and creativity can create a company and an industry of previously unimagined products.
Apple Inc. was located in the San Francisco Bay area, not far from Solyndra, the bankrupt solar panel company, in which in which taxpayers have a $528 million exposure.
Unlike Solyndra, Jobs didn't get government loan guarantees for his first Apple computer, or for the Mac, iPod, iPhone or iPad.
With Solyndra's bankruptcy, surely September would have been a good time to halt the Energy Department's loan guarantee program and understand why the government can't pick winners.
But instead of pausing, the Energy Department recklessly issued another $8 billion of loan guarantees in September under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Ryan: Corporate Tax Reform Has a Strong Chance in Congress
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Rep. Paul Ryan blasted the Democrats' plan to raise taxes on millionaires and said he feared the U.S. economy could collapse into a European-style debt crisis.
"The arithmetic just doesn't add up," he said of the new proposal to slap surtax of five percent on income of more than $1 million to pay for the president's $450 billion jobs plan. Ryan said that Washington politics is preying on people's fears and that Congress focus on reducing corporate welfare rather than raising taxes on the rich. In the interview at the Washington Ideas Forum with David Leonhardt of the New York Times, he plugged his long-term deficit plan, which cuts taxes and spending and proposes dramatic changes to Medicare and Social Security.
Americans Want Smaller Government:
Alex Jones Report 1/3
Americans Want Smaller Government:
Alex Jones Report 2/3
Americans Want Smaller Government:
Alex Jones Report 3/3
The Way Out Of Our Economic Mess
By Terry Coxon, Casey Research - ZeroHedge.com
"A rock and a hard place" is a long-running theme of Casey Research publications. It refers to the dilemma the US government has wandered into with its continued policy of rescue inflation. The "rock" is what will happen if the Fed pauses for long in printing still more money – the collapse of an economy burdened by an accumulation of mistakes that rescue inflation has been keeping at bay. The "hard place" is the disruptive price inflation that becomes more likely (and likely more severe) with every new dollar the Fed prints to keep the effects of those mistakes suppressed.
When the dollar was cut loose from the gold standard in 1971, the Federal Reserve was freed to create as much new money as it saw fit, whenever it saw fit. Enabled, it turned with enthusiasm to doing what central bankers imagine they are supposed to do – eliminate downturns in the economy. The Fed fancied itself as being on the answering end of a 911 system: whenever the financial markets signaled distress, whenever the economy came down with the flutters, the Federal Reserve would dispatch a van, an ambulance, a fire engine or even an assault vehicle, whatever seemed right but in every case full of cash.
Scalia: Our Political System Is 'Designed for' Gridlock
By Bob Cohn - TheAtlantic.com
Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said the court has been hearing fewer cases in recent years in part because Congress is passing fewer major pieces of legislation than it did one and two generations ago.
Speaking at the Washington Ideas Forum, Scalia, the longest-serving justice on the Supreme Court, said a main role of the court is "just figuring out" what a particular law means. But in recent years, "there are fewer major statues" to consider. "It takes about a decade to get all the kinks out of a new piece of legislation," he told the audience. Fewer major laws over the last decade or two means a lighter caseload. During the 1980s, the court would hear as many as 150 cases a year. In recent terms, the number has dropped to about half that.
Truckers seek brake on new rules GOP on Hill asks Obama to stop hours curb
By Ben Wolfgang-The Washington Times
Top House Republicans have thrown their support behind the trucking industry and are urging the Obama administration to hit the brakes on proposed regulations that would further limit how long each day that tractor-trailer drivers can stay behind the wheel.
House Speaker John A. Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Wednesday sent a letter to President Obama and implored him to pull the plug on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) new trucking guidelines, which are expected to be finalized later this month. Among other things, the rules would cut the number of hours a driver can be on the road from 11 to 10 a day.
30-year mortgage rate below 4% for first time ever
By Derek Kravitz - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage this week fell below 4 percent for the first time ever, to 3.94 percent.
For those who can qualify, it’s an extraordinary opportunity to buy or refinance. And mortgage rates could fall even further now that theFederal Reserve plans to reshuffle its portfolio of securities to try to lower long-term rates.
On Thursday, Freddie Mac said the rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage dropped from 4.01 percent last week, the previous low. The average rate on a 15-year fixed loan, a popular refinancing option, dipped to 3.26 percent, also a record. The 15-year loan has fallen for six straight weeks.
Soaring Farmland Prices in U.S. Midwest
Bring Fed Scrutiny of Rural Banks
By Joshua Zumbrun - Bloomberg.com
When regulators come knocking at the Bank of Newman Grove,Nebraska, inquiring about loan risks, Chairman Jeffrey Gerhart has a "stress test" ready to show how his portfolio would fare if rural land prices dropped 25 percent. Or 50 percent. Or 75 percent.
"I hope it’s not going to go to heck in a handbag out here, but this allows us to look at those worst-case scenarios," said Gerhart, a fourth-generation banker in the 800-person town two hours west of Omaha, deep in the heart of Nebraska's corn and soybean belt. He began stress testing his bank's assets, about 90 percent of which are agricultural, in the last two years after prodding from staffers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Consumer Spending Slumps In September, Index Shows
By Heather Struck - Forbes.com
Retailers are hedging their performance on an ever more frugal consumer. An index released today by Discover shows that consumers have less confidence now that economic conditions will improve. A monthly poll of more than 8,000 consumers showed a negative shift in September, as the index fell three points from August to 77. The number of consumers who rated the economy as "poor" increased by two points to 66%, and those who said their personal finances were worsening increased by 4 points to 57%.
Obama challenges Republicans to explain opposition to jobs bill
By David Nakamura and Scott Wilson - WashingtonPost.com
After crisscrossing the country for weeks pushing his jobs plan directly to the American people, President Obama turned his attention to congressional Republicans on Thursday, promising to target them in 2012 if they stand in the way of his economic agenda.
"If Congress does something, then I can't run against a do-nothing Congress," Obama said in response to a question at a morning news conference. "If Congress does nothing, then it’s not a matter of me running against them. I think the American people will run them out of town, because they are frustrated, and they know we need to do something big and something bold."
Advancing a new freedom-to-work agenda for America
By: George Allen - WashingtonExaminer.com
Our Right-to-Work law is one of Virginia’s foundational strengths and competitive advantages. The laws that protect workplace Freedom have made Virginia one of the best places to start or grow a business, but not everyone sees things as we do.
This is especially true in Washington. Rather than recognizing the fact that Right-to-Work laws are good for everyone, President Obama’s administration and his allies seem bent on destroying them.
Jobs data expected to show languid growth Unemployment rate seen steady at 9.1%
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The labor market isn’t expected to show much improvement in September from the literally zero jobs added the prior month, economists said Thursday on the eve of a key report.
"I am not expecting to be overwhelmed," said James Glassman, senior economist at JP Morgan Chase.
Nonfarm payrolls were flat in August and only 17,000 jobs were added in the private sector, the weakest report of the year.
A Verizon Communication Inc strike helped to make the August report look especially soft. These workers, roughly 45,000, returned to their positions in late August and will be counted as an addition to the September payroll count.
US jobs:
Washington and Wall Street face anxious wait on figures Official figures to be released on Friday as Obama calls on Congress to push through his latest job-creation proposals
By Dominic Rushe - Guardian.co.uk
Washington and Wall Street will be nervously awaiting official jobs figures on Friday as President Obama pushes Congress to vote through his latest jobs plan and investors look for signs that recovery is taking hold.
September's non-farm payroll figures, expected on Friday morning, follow a week when Obama and senior Washington officials have called on Washington to act on the jobs crisis.
Both Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner have warned that Washington needs to take swift action to address the US's job crisis. Geithner urged politicians to pass Obama's recently unveiled job plan, which is up for a vote in the Senate next week, while Bernanke called high unemployment a "national crisis."
High Minimum Wage and High Unemployment:
Perfect Together
Tim Cavanaugh - Reason.com
Sixty-three percent of states with high minimum wage laws are suffering unemployment rates higher than the national average (which is now at 9.1 percent and expected to rise to 9.2 percent when the September Employment Situation Summary is released Friday).
That’s my tortured finding from 247wallst.com's pageant of the eight highest-minimum-wage states in the U.S.A.
Cross referencing these eight with state-level unemployment numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, we find that five are among the states with higher than average unemployment, and two of them (sick men of North America California and Nevada) are at the top of the flyblown pile.
Winter 2011-2012 Forecast: Another Brutal One
By Heather Buchman - AccuWeather.com
The AccuWeather.com Long-Range Forecasting Team is predicting another brutally cold and snowy winter for a large part of the country, thanks in large part to La Niña... yet again.
La Niña, a phenomenon that occurs when sea surface temperatures across the equatorial central and eastern Pacific are below normal, is what made last year's winter so awful for the Midwest and Northeast. Monster blizzards virtually shut down the cities of New York and Chicago. Last winter was one of New York City's snowiest on record.
Obama Plan Makes Social Security Look Like Welfare
By Debra Saunders PatriotPost.us
Who poses the biggest threat to destroy Social Security? President Barack Obama.
In December 2010, Obama signed a tax deal with his provision for a one-year, 2 percent Social Security payroll tax holiday. It lowered workers' payroll deductions from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent in 2011. This year, Obama proposed increasing the tax holiday for another year, with workers paying half the old rate -- 3.1 percent -- as part of his American Jobs Act. According to the White House, a typical family earning $50,000 a year could expect to save $1,500.
The Fascist Threat
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
Everyone knows that the term fascist is a pejorative, often used to describe any political position a speaker doesn’t like. There isn’t anyone around who is willing to stand up and say: "I’m a fascist; I think fascism is a great social and economic system."
But I submit that if they were honest, the vast majority of politicians, intellectuals, and political activists would have to say just that.
Fascism is the system of government that cartelizes the private sector, centrally plans the economy to subsidize producers, exalts the police State as the source of order, denies fundamental rights and liberties to individuals, and makes the executive State the unlimited master of society.
Secret panel can put Americans on 'kill list'
By Mark Hosenball - Reuters.com
(Reuters) - American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials.
There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House's National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate.
The panel was behind the decision to add Awlaki, a U.S.-born militant preacher with alleged al Qaeda connections, to the target list. He was killed by a CIA drone strike in Yemen late last month.
Big Sis is Tracking You Everywhere:
Nightly News Report
"There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." --James Madison
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has convened for its 2011/12 term, and one case before the court will determine whether the central government can nationalize another one-sixth of the American economy. Call it The American people v. ObamaCare.
For the record, that would be one-sixth of what remains of free enterprise after all the nationalization already undertaken by Barack Hussein Obama, ostensibly to "save the economy." If Obama and his socialist cadrescontinue to undermine free enterprise at the current pace, his goal of "fundamentally transforming the United States of America" into a socialist democracy will be assured, regardless of the victors in the next election cycle.
Soros fails to quash insider trading conviction
By Sam Jones in London and Stanley Pignal in Brussels
George Soros, the billionaire hedge fund manager, has lost a case at the European Court of Human Rights to have his criminal conviction for insider dealing quashed.
The failed appeal at announced in a 4-3 decision the Strasbourg-based court is the latest twist in a nine-year battle by the 81-year-old Mr Soros to clear his name following his conviction in France in 2002.
The French criminal case hinged on trades that the Hungary-born investor had executed 14 years earlier in the stock of Société Générale that reaped his hedge fund, the Quantum Fund, $2.9m in profits.
Mr Soros was found by the 2002 court to have had inside knowledge about the intentions of a group of super-wealthy French investors – the "golden granddads" – to bid for the bank.
White House feels pressure on oil pipeline
State Department OK doesn't sway greens
By Tim Devaney-The Washington Times
The State Department’s support of a controversial oil-pipeline project is putting pressure on the White House to move forward after three years, despite objections from environmentalists.
A series of public hearings concludes Friday on the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Canada’s oil sands in Alberta down through America’s midsection to the Texas Gulf Coast.
So far, the State Department has published reports in favor of the project, which is projected to create 20,000 jobs and reduce the nation’s dependence on overseas oil.
Magnitude-6.2 earthquake hits Argentina;
no immediate reports of major damage or injury
by AP WashtingtonPost.com
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — A magnitude-6.2 earthquake hit at a relatively shallow depth in northwestern Argentina Thursday, emptying schools and houses as people sought safety outside.
In the provinces of Jujuy and Salta, people tweeted that it was the strongest quake they’d felt in years, cracking windows and toppling furniture. But there were no immediate reports of serious damage or injury.
Afghanistan and Iraq wars not worth fighting,
say a third of US veterans Poll results pose dilemma for Obama administration as it tries to bolster support for continued presence in Iraq and Afghanistan
AP - Guardian.co.uk
One in three US veterans of the post-9/11 military believes the wars inIraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting, and a majority think that, after 10 years of combat, America should be focusing less on foreign affairs and more on domestic problems, according to an opinion poll.
The findings pose a dilemma for the Obama administration and Congress as they struggle to reduce the huge budget deficit and reconsider defence priorities while trying to bolster public support for the continued presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Saudis crush dissent and point finger at Iran
for trouble in eastern province Kingdom wary of popular uprising warns unrest will be crushed with 'an iron fist' and plays down protests, blaming outsiders
By Ian Black - Guardian.co.uk
Saudi Arabia has made clear it will not tolerate unrest in its eastern province, where 14 people, 11 of them policemen, were injured in protests this week. Any further trouble would be crushed with "an iron fist," the government warned, anxious to avoid any perception that the first green shoots of the Arab spring have started to emerge in the Gulf's conservative heartland.
It is no surprise that the regime's instinct has been to play down the dimensions and significance of the trouble – an "isolated incident" is the official line in Riyadh. Initial evidence of an over-reaction by security forces gave way to a pullout from the flashpoint, Awamiyah, near the regional capital Qatif, where the Saudi interior ministry accused protesters of carrying arms and throwing petrol bombs. YouTube pictures showed some of that — along with the sound of gunfire and cries of "Allahu Akbar."
The Iranians 'Tricked and Misled Us'
In a SPIEGEL interview, Olli Heinonen, the former deputy director of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, offers his first assessment of his 27 years at the global nuclear watchdog. He addresses Iran's nuclear program, his concerns about the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and mistakes made in Fukushima.
Spiegel.de SPIEGEL: Mr. Heinonen, if you consider your time as the United Nations' atomic "watchdog," do you look back in anger? Or did you succeed in making the world safer from nuclear bombs? Heinonen: There are quite a few things I'm proud of. While I was at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), we played a significant role in putting Abdul Qadir Khan-- the most dangerous nuclear smuggler of all times -- out of action. But when I think about the nuclear activities of certain states, for instance Iran's nuclear program, I have to say that we allowed ourselves to be placated too often. We should have done more than carrying out our inspections. Yes, with hindsight you could perhaps even say we failed. SPIEGEL: You sound worried. Is Tehran really on a direct path to becoming a nuclear state?
IRANIAN WARSHIP ROUTE TO U.S. COAST LEAKED ONLINE
By Buck Sexton - TheBlaze.com
Last week, an Iranian Naval Commander threatened to deploy ships off the U.S. coast as a provocative show of force.
Now it looks like Iran might actually be serious.
A new map that allegedly shows the expected path of the Iranian Naval expedition to the U.S has leaked online from an Iranian website, according to MEMRI.
*** 3-part Interview with Stan and Holly Deyo ***
Survival, Hopi Prophesy, CME's EMP Flooding War:
Coast To Coast Am : 1 of 3 10/3/2011
Economists Agree: We're In a Depression
By George Washington
"The Prevailing Debate Among Economists and Historians is Whether the World Economy Faces the 'Great' Depression of the 1930s or the 'Long' Depression of the 1870s"
Reuters notes:
You know it's grim when the prevailing debate among economists and historians is whether the world economy faces the "Great" depression of the 1930s or the "Long" depression of the 1870s.
***
Harvard professor and economic historian Niall Ferguson, a fan of the British government’s austerity drive and skeptic of further stimulus, reckons the world is facing a "slight depression" and favors comparison with the late 19th century rather than 1930s.
***
Long-term market bear Albert Edwards at Societe Generale has talked more apocalyptically for years of an economic "Ice Age" dominated by household deleveraging, low growth and deflation.
There is No Plan to Fix the Economy!
By Greg Hunter - USAWatchdog.com
I, and many others, have said when it comes to the economy, nothing has been fixed. I thought Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke underscored that fact when he spoke yesterday in Washington D.C. for the Joint Economic Committee. Mr. Bernanke said in prepared remarks, “There have been some positive developments: The functioning of financial markets and the banking system in the United States has improved significantly.” Of course, there was not a word about the recent credit downgrades for three big U.S. banks. I also don’t see how the banks are in so much better shape with many of their stock prices tumbling. Bernanke also admitted, “Nevertheless, it is clear that, overall, the recovery from the crisis has been much less robust than we had hoped.” (Click here to read the complete text from Bernanke’s prepared remarks.) Maybe that’s why the Fed recently froze a key interest rate at near 0% for at least the next two years.
Rubin: Economy Needs Stimulus and Deficit Reduction Now
By Justin Miller - TheAtlantic.com
The U.S. economy needs a big one-two punch, with job-creating stimulus followed by a deficit-reduction package, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin said Wednesday at the Washington Ideas Forum.
The ultimate question for our economy, however, is the political will to do the right thing, he said. Preventing a double dip recession and returning to normal growth requires Congress to adopt a willingness to base decisions on fact and analysis, a willingness to give and take with the other party, and a willingness to make very difficult political decisions.
Follow the Money:
Behind Europe's Debt Crisis Lurks
Another Giant Bailout of Wall Street
By Robert Reich - robertreich.org
Yesterday Ben Bernanke added his voice to those who are worried about Europe’s debt crisis.
But why exactly should America be so concerned? Yes, we export to Europe – but those exports aren’t going to dry up. And in any event, they’re tiny compared to the size of the U.S. economy.
If you want the real reason, follow the money. A Greek (or Irish or Spanish or Italian or Portuguese) default would have roughly the same effect on our financial system as the implosion of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Financial chaos.
Taleb: World's 'Problem' Worse Than '08
By Daryna Krasnolutska - Bloomberg.com
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the best-selling book "The Black Swan," said the current global market turmoil is worse than it was in 2008 because countries such as the U.S. have larger sovereign-debt loads.
"Definitely, we face a bigger problem now and we will pay a higher price," Taleb, who is also a professor at New York University, said today at a news conference in Kiev, referring to the turmoil during the last global financial crisis. "The structure of the problem has still not been understood. We haven't done anything constructive in three and a half years. Nobody wants to do anything drastic now."
The biggest indication why silver prices are headed north
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Will Silver go up or down and if so why. Many investors may have been looking for clues as to where silver might be headed.
The Commitment of Traders (COT) released by the CFTC is an excellent indication that can give an investor a good idea of where prices might be headed,
The COT data for Silver released on September 30 shows that the Large commercials increased their long contracts by 5,652 and decreased their short contracts by 10,794, for a net increase of 16,446 contracts
Royal Canadian Mint to issue diamond studded gold coin
OTTAWA(Commodity Online): Royal Canadian Mint will issue a pure Gold coin integrating a genuine diamond as part of celebrations of Queen Elizabeth's sixty years as Canada's monarch.
Using a proprietary process, a certified Canadian diamond is locked inside the coin's rim as the coin itself is struck. This allows the proud owner of this innovative coin to admire the diamond's brilliance on either side of a coin fashioned of 99.999% pure gold; the purest of its kind in the world.
The Mint earlier launched a Silver and crystal double-effigy coin of the queen in May 2011.
Silver and Gold Fear: How Scared Do They Want You to Be?
G. Joel Chury - SilverBearCafe.com
COMMENTARY - ProspectingJournal.com - It's unclear as to what gold and silver bugs have to complain about recently. The market has given them two, count'em, TWO big discounts with which to start buying in with both hands this year, and yet the recent kaboom in silver prices from a couple weeks ago has many heading for the hills and sinking their chances with the bonds and dollars. Sure, the headlines haven't been friendly to gold and silver lately, especially when all one sees is one of the biggest drops in ten years. But, what these headlines should be reading is "SILVER AND GOLD, NOW ON SALE (for a limited time only)!" What's to complain about?
The End Of The Inflation Deflation Debate
Chris Duane - SilverBearCafe.com
.... Our paradigm is based off of a debt based currency that must create more debt every year in excess of the debt AND interest accrued the year before. This is because every dollar that comes into existence is a debt with a certain amount of interest attached on to it. When debt is created, money is created. When debt is paid off, money is destroyed. The real trick is that the money that is owed for the interest does not exist, since only the principle of the loan is put into the economy. The ONLY way this interest can be paid is by more debt being created to pay the previous debt AND interest. This is why we have an ever expanding debt that cannot stop.
"In the end we are all dead." John Maynard Keynes
The dollar collapse is a mathematically inevitable event
It will also be the largest single event of human history. At some point the debt incurred will be more than the economy can bear and there will be a default. Or the other way out, is that we constantly print more money to keep the system going, that we eventually destroy the value of the currency and people lose faith in it, which leads to a rush out of it and a hyper inflationary depression. Either way the debt, the dollar, the economy, the stocks, the real estate, the pensions, our entire way of life, ends.
Europe Races to Stem Crisis
Rescue Plan for Bank Fuels Concern
Over Greek Contagion; Italy Downgraded
By MATTHEW DALTON And DAVID ENRICH - WSJ.com
Euro-zone governments suffered a blow Tuesday in their efforts to contain a deepening sovereign debt crisis as one of the Continent's biggest banks, dogged by fears about its exposure to Greek and Italian debt, was on the verge of a government-backed breakup.
Bank executives and government officials zeroed in on a drastic plan to break up DexiaSA, a Belgian-French bank that is one of Europe's 20 largest in assets.
Also Tuesday, Moody's Investors Service downgraded Italy's debt rating by three notches to A2 and indicated it might lower it again soon. The Italian government said in a statement that Moody's decision was expected and reiterated its pledge to balance its budget by 2013.
Europe Update:
New Stress Tests and Bank Recapitalisation
by CalculatedRisk
This sounds like EU policymakers are getting ready for either larger haircuts for private Greek debt holders or a default. And is sounds like they are preparing to force the banks to recapitalize. These tests are going to have be conducted pretty quickly ...
• From the Financial Times: EU banks face new 'Greek' stress test
European Union finance ministers have asked the bloc’s leading bank regulator to test the strength of Europe’s banks on the assumption of a big writedown on Greek sovereign debt.
The move, a tacit admission that the European Banking Authority’s two previous rounds of bank stress tests were not sufficiently robust, came as Angela Merkel ... said she was prepared to recapitalise her country’s banks if necessary.
BOE May Move Closer to
First Emergency Bond Purchases in Almost Two Years
By Svenja O’Donnell - Bloomberg.com
Bank of England officials may edge close to reactivating emergency bond purchases today as they gauge whether budget cuts and a European debt crisis warrant the first increase in stimulus in two years.
HSBC Holdings Plc’s Janet Henry and Societe Generale SA’s Brian Hilliard are among 11 economists predicting an expansion of bond purchases. The rest in a Bloomberg News survey of 32 forecasts say that policy makers led by Mervyn King will refrain from adding stimulus for now. Barclays Capital economist Simon Hayes says the bank will restart so-called quantitative easing when officials have new forecasts next month.
Keiser Report: Deutschmark & Drachma Revival? (E192)
This Is The Story That Made The Markets Come Surging Back
Simone Foxman - BusinessInsider.com
EU leaders are actively looking for ways recapitalize European banks in a coordinated plan, according to an FT report.
Finance ministers concluded that banks are suffering from funding concerns and that markets will need to be convinced they can withstand the crisis.
"Capital positions of European banks must be reinforced to provide additional safety margins and thus reduce uncertainty," Olli Rehn told the FT. "This should be regarded as an integral part of the EU’s comprehensive strategy to restore confidence and overcome the crisis."
Unrest spreads to military
as retired Greek officers storm defence ministry
BY LEIGH PHILLIPS - EUObserver.com
The Greek armed forces now appear to be entering the political and street-level debate in the country over EU- and IMF-imposed austerity, with a group of retired Greek officers storming the defence ministry and the armed forces’ professional organisation issuing a stern warning to the government that the military's confidence in the "intentions of the state" regarding their pensions has been "shaken".
Hundreds of retired Greek officers furious at EU-IMF-imposed cuts to their pensions invaded the Ministry of Defence on Friday (30 September), breaking doors and dismantling machinery.
Greece has weeks left before bankruptcy
By Elena Becatoros and Menelaos Hadjicostis - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
ATHENS, Greece — Greece has enough money to pay pensions, salaries and bondholders through mid-November, the finance minister said Tuesday, as global markets sank on worries that a messy default could bring down European banks and trigger another global recession.
The Athens stock index was down more than 6 percent by late afternoon while the main Europe markets fell more than 3 percent. The turmoil endangered French-Belgian bank Dexia, whose shares plunged as much as 40 percent, on worries about its exposure to Greek bonds.
The USA After an Euro Collapse
By Daniel R. Amerman, CFA - SilverBearCafe.com
Gas For $1.75 A Gallon & Depression Level Unemployment
The US dollar could soar in value. Gasoline could return to under $2 a gallon, possibly even $1.75, and filling up a near empty tank could once again be done for under $30. The prices of clothes, shoes and a shopping trip to Wal-Mart could drop significantly, providing much needed relief to retirees on fixed-incomes. In the midst of global economic crisis, there could be an "Indian Summer" in the United States with a return to cheap oil and abundant imports at prices well below current levels. Standards of living could briefly rise - for those fortunate people who still have jobs and/or stable incomes.
Italian rating hit by Moody’s downgrade
BY LEIGH PHILLIPS - EUObserver.com
In a move that ratchets up the pressure on EU leaders to work faster to resolve the eurozone’s banking and sovereign debt crisis, Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday (4 October) knocked down Italy’s credit rating by three notches.
While Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi dismissed the downgrade as expected, the move was motivated by concerns that the country was burdened with "political and economic uncertainties".
Bernanke sharply warns Congress economy is 'close to faltering' Fed chief scolds legislators for pushing U.S. to the edge of default and warns against cutting the federal budget too deeply, given the current economic stresses.
By Jim Puzzanghera and Don Lee, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington— Short on tools to fix the economy's problems and under pressure from all sides,Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke let off some of his own steam — at lawmakers.
In an unusually sharp tone, the Fed chief chastised Congress during a hearing Tuesday for pushing the nation to the edge of default last summer, saying it's "no way to run a railroad."
He repeated calls for leaders in Washington, Europe and elsewhere to do more to help fix the global economy. And he pushed back against criticism that the Fed's actions so far were fueling inflation.
Obama Has Now Increased Debt
More than All Presidents from George Washington
Through George H.W. Bush Combined
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - The Obama administration passed another fiscal milestone this week, according tonew data released by the Treasury Department. As of the close of business on Oct. 3, the total national debt was $14,837,099,271,196.71—up about $44.8 billion from Sept. 30.
That means that in the less-than-three-years Obama has been in office, the federal debt has increased by $4.212 trillion--more than the total national debt of about $4.1672 trillion accumulated by all 41 U.S. presidents from George Washington through George H.W. Bush combined.
The Fed Pays a King's Ransom to China
By Richard Benson - SilverBearCafe.com
America's economy is in shambles. Fiscal policy is totally gridlocked between Democrats who want to see some long term tax increases, and Republicans who only want spending cuts. Worse yet, the Republicans view economic failure in America as a good thing as they believe it will enhance their chances of recapturing the White House. Because compromise on the budget seems to be off the table right now, that leaves only the Federal Reserve policy to stimulate the economy. So, judging from what's been reported in the financial press and on TV lately, the Fed's policy is ringing loud and clear: Keep interest rates at record lows, and devalue the currency.
U.S. Treasury Bonds: The Monster Spleen
Jim Willie CB - SilverBearCafe.com
The USTreasury Bond rally over the last few months has been celebrated. Some call it a contradiction of the Standard & Poors debt downgrade of USGovt debt. Some hail the rally as proof that the USDollar remains respected as global reserve currency. Some regard it as a sign of bond market health in general. Some claim the US remains the safe haven. These are all errant views to the extreme, comments from cheer leaders to a system in deep deterioration, distractions from reality.
The United States is stuck in a powerful recession, its huge federal deficits set to expand further, the fiscal austerity to be sacrificed, the turmoil in Europe rendering the US panorama more alluring and cute. The USTBond is in strong rally mode because the United States is in the process of systemic failure, leading ultimately to some form of official debt default.
Is Morgan Stanley's Biggest Asset Their Debt?
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Via Peter Tchir of TF Market Advisors
Stocks added to their rally today when Gasparino leaked news that MS was going to have a "solid" quarter and they were going to beat GS.
Morgan Stanley has $187 billion of public debt according to Bloomberg. Just eyeballing it, the average maturity looks close to 4 years, but let's be conservative and assume it is 3 years. I found a nice looking benchmark bond. The MS 4.2% of 11/20/14. It is a $2 billion issue. The only round lot TRACE print on Sept 30th, was a dealer buy of $5 million or more at a price of 96.156. That was a yield of 5.6%. On June 30th, the bond TRACED a couple times at 103.6 to yield 3.08%. A November 2014 treasury, yielded 0.47% on September 30th, giving a spread of 5.1%. Back on June 30th that same treasury yielded 1% so the spread on this bond was just over 2% at the end of last quarter.
Geithner:
'Inexplicable' That Wall Street
Turned On Obama
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
It's "inexplicable" that Wall Street has turned against the president, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Wednesday at the Washington Ideas Forum.
In an interview with James Bennet, editor of The Atlantic, Geithner expressed shock at the financial establishment's anger at the president, and he expressed sympathy with the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, which represents a class of Americans that has lost faith in the government.
Democrats Float Tax on Top Earners Senate Leaders Propose 5% Bite on Income Over $1 Million to Stem Defections From Obama's Jobs Bill
By JANET HOOK - WSJ.com
Senate Democratic leaders on Wednesday proposed a new 5% tax on people earning more than $1 million a year to cover the cost of President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan, a move designed to stem Democratic defections from a top White House priority.
The millionaire tax would supplant the tax package Mr. Obama had proposed to offset the jobs bill's cost, which had drawn fire from some fellow Democrats and almost all Republicans. The tax package included limits on upper-income families' deductions for mortgage interest and charitable contributions.
Should We Tax Financial Transactions?
By Megan McArdle - TheAtlantic.com
The idea of a sort of extra-broad Tobin Tax on all financial transactions has been quite popular with the left half of the punditocracy for some time now. Myself, I don't really see the charms. Tiny taxes on high-volume transactions raise a lot of money, but they also cost money to record, collect, and audit, which is why few jurisdictions have 0.25% sales taxes. And I'm not clear on what problem taxing financial transactions is supposed to solve. It's not as if our woes were caused by legions of high-frequency traders wrecking the markets with their tiny, tiny spreads. Nor do I think that penalizing sales would have prevented the run on the money markets, or any of the other problems of the acute phase of the crisis. The charm seems to be entirely that it might raise some money, and it pisses off bankers.
Of course, we have to raise money somewhere, and how better than by pissing off bankers? It seems like this might be that most magical of policy possibilities--the tax with no downside.
Justice official financed romantic travel with taxpayer money
By Chuck Neubauer - The Washington Times
First there were $16 muffins and $8 cups of coffee; then came emails suggesting that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. fudged the truth about "Operation Fast and Furious"; and now it’s a Justice Departmentofficial using taxpayer funds to "facilitate a physical relationship with a woman in Florida."
And the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee wants to know why the department did not take stronger action against the official, then a supervisor in the Civil Rights Division, after his misuse of funds was discovered.
Bank fees prompt call for more disclosure on checking accounts The acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it's not just about Bank of America's new $5 charge for debit card use. The public needs a simplified way to compare, he says.
By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington— As the backlash continues over Bank of America's new debit card fee, the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called for more disclosure about what customers pay for checking accounts.
Raj Date, the Obama administration advisor leading the agency until it gets a Senate-confirmed director, weighed in on the controversy Wednesday without directly addressing BofA's new $5 monthly debit card fee.
U.S. Oil Boom
Scott Wright - SilverBearCafe.com
With the world forging ahead in this modern industrial and technological era, the king of commodities continues to flex its muscles as the most indispensable of resources. Oil, the lubricant of global commerce, is seeing record levels of demand.
Amazingly global oil demand is up nearly 50% in just the last 25 years. In 2010 it is estimated that a record 87m barrels per day (bpd) were consumed, surpassing the previous high from 2007. And it is forecasted that 2011's will come in even higher, at around 89m bpd.
Bernanke Calls for Clear Blueprint for Housing Finance System
Written by Brett Varner - ReverseReview.com
Speaking before a joint Congressional Economic Committee, Federal Reverse Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested that the first step to initiating confidence in the private market is for Congress to create a clear blueprint for the housing sector.
"The housing sector has been a significant driver of recovery from most recessions in the United States since World War II," Bernanke said. "This time, however, a number of factors--including the overhang of distressed and foreclosed properties, tight credit conditions for builders and potential homebuyers, and the large number of "underwater" mortgages (on which homeowners owe more than their homes are worth)--have left the rate of new home construction at only about one-third of its average level in recent decades."
Most Bankers Don't See
Home Price Recovery Until Beyond 2020
TheTruthAboutMortgage.com
A new survey conducted for FICO by the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA) revealed some less-than-pleasant news.
The hotly anticipated home price recovery seems to be getting further and further away.
Nearly 60 percent of bankers surveyed by the popular credit score creator expect home prices to stay below peak-2007 levels until at least 2020.
In other words, don’t expect a quick flip – a buy and hold mentality would probably be best here.
Social Security Disaster
By Walter E. Williams - PatriotPost.us
Politicians who are principled enough to point out the fraud of Social Security, referring to it as a lie and Ponzi scheme, are under siege. Acknowledgment of Social Security's problems is not the same as calling for the abandonment of its recipients. Instead, it's a call to take actions now, while there's time to avert a disaster. Let's look at it.
The term was derived from the scheme created during the 1920s by Charles Ponzi, a poor but enterprising Italian immigrant. Here's how it works. You persuade some people to give you their money to invest. After a while, you pay them a nice return, but the return doesn't come from investments. What you pay them with comes from the money of other people whom you've persuaded to "invest" in your scheme. The scheme works so long as you can persuade greater and greater numbers of people to "invest" so that you can pay off earlier "investors." After a while, Ponzi couldn't find enough new investors, and his scheme collapsed. He was convicted of fraud and sent to prison.
U.S. employers' layoff estimates grow in September In the worst planned-layoffs report since April 2009, employers say they expect to cut 115,000 workers. But there were positive findings as well.
By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times
U.S. employers said in September that they had plans to lay off 115,000 workers, according to a report by employment consultant firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
That's more than double the planned layoffs reported by Challenger in its report on August, and more than three times the cuts planned a year earlier.
Indeed, it was the worst planned-layoffs report by the firm since April 2009.
The September report, released Wednesday, includes government offices and the military. They account for a third of the planned job cuts, including a five-year goal by the Army to thin its ranks by 50,000.
Also in September, Bank of America said it would cut 30,000 workers over several years.
The 'Hunger' Hoax
By Thomas Sowell - PatriotPost.us
Twenty years ago, hysteria swept through the media over "hunger in America."
Dan Rather opened a CBS Evening News broadcast in 1991 declaring, "one in eight American children is going hungry tonight." Newsweek, the Associated Press and the Boston Globe repeated this statistic, and many others joined the media chorus, with or without that unsubstantiated statistic.
Total Collapse - The Build up to World War III
Elizabeth Warren and liberalism, twisting the 'social contract'
By George F. Will - WashingtonPost.com
E lizabeth Warren, Harvard law professor and former Obama administration regulator (for consumer protection), is modern liberalism incarnate. As she seeks the Senate seat Democrats held for 57 years before 2010, when Republican Scott Brown impertinently won it, she clarifies the liberal project and the stakes of contemporary politics.
The project is to dilute the concept of individualism, thereby refuting respect for the individual’s zone of sovereignty. The regulatory state, liberalism’s instrument, constantly tries to contract that zone — for the individual’s own good, it says. Warren says:
Appeal ruling due on Soros insider trading
By Heather Smith - Sidney Morning Herald - SMH.com.au
BILLIONAIRE investor George Soros's fight against his 2002 insider-trading conviction in France, over the sale of Societe Generale shares, may end today when the European Court of Human Rights rules on his appeal.
The 81-year-old claimed that, by convicting him based on rules the stockmarket regulator said were too vague to determine whether he acted illegally, France violated his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Mr Soros was convicted of insider trading and ordered to repay €2.2 million he had made from the 1988 share purchase after a Paris court found he had acted with the knowledge that the bank might be a takeover target. French regulators did not pursue Mr Soros, saying insider-trading laws were too vague to determine if he had broken them.
U.S. Ambassador Slams Russia, China for
'Defending Dictators on the Warpath'
By Patrick Goodenough - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – A frustrated U.S. ambassador to the United Nations accused some Security Council members Tuesday evening of going "to whatever lengths are necessary to defend dictators who are on the warpath," after Russia and China cast a rare double veto to shoot down a resolution condemning Syrian President Bashar Assad’s violent crackdown on opponents.
Non-permanent members India, Brazil, South Africa and Lebanon abstained, further weakening the attempt to present a strong, unified message to Damascus.
ROHRABACHER:
China undermining economic recovery
and U.S. security Communist regime has erased 10 million U.S. jobs and stolen priceless intellectual property
By Rep. Dana Rohrabacher - The Washington Times
With a fledgling economy the focus of the 2012 presidential campaign, there has been one glaring omission from the debate so far: the failure of our current trade policy, particularly with China. Trade policy affects national security by putting the safety of our people and their jobs at risk.
Between 2000 and 2010, the United States ran an aggregate trade deficit in goods of $6.8 trillion. This is one measure of how much money went to support production and job creation overseas rather than here at home. Last year, the trade deficit in goods was $635 billion. The import share of the domestic economy has grown very rapidly in textiles, machinery, computers, electrical equipment and motor vehicles. We buy a third to a half of these products from overseas, leaving American factories idle and American people jobless.
--------------------
Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs - 1955-2011
Apple.com
Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.
Mac Ad - think different - apple
"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely."
— Bill Gates - Co-founder Microsoft
"From the earliest days of Google, whenever Larry and I sought inspiration for vision and leadership, we needed to look no farther than Cupertino. Steve, your passion for excellence is felt by anyone who has ever touched an Apple product (including the macbook I am writing this on right now). And I have witnessed it in person the few times we have met. On behalf of all of us at Google and more broadly in technology, you will be missed very much. My condolences to family, friends, and colleagues at Apple."
— Sergey Brin - Co-founder Google
"I am very, very sad to hear the news about Steve. He was a great man with incredible achievements and amazing brilliance. He always seemed to be able to say in very few words what you actually should have been thinking before you thought it. His focus on the user experience above all else has always been an inspiration to me. He was very kind to reach out to me as I became CEO of Google and spend time offering his advice and knowledge even though he was not at all well. My thoughts are with his family and the whole Apple family."
— Larry Page - Co-founder Google
"Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you."
— Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook
"He was dubbed a megalomaniac, but Steve Jobs often gambled on young, largely inexperienced talent to take Apple forward; Jony Ive and his team prove that such faith was spot on."
— Sir James Dyson, innovator and entrepreneur
"I got one of the first Macs, and my relationship with computers fundamentally changed. In both of his incarnations at Apple, he was a visionary. He provided tools. His victories were based on imagination and courage."
— Roger Ebert, Pulitzer-prize winning film critic
"No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve's death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much."
— Tim Cook, CEO of Apple
"Tonight our City -- a city that has always had such respect and admiration for creative genius -- joins with people around the planet in remembering a great man and keeping Laurene and the rest of the Jobs family in our thoughts and prayers."
— Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City
"Steve Jobs was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend and the guiding light of the Pixar family. He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined. Steve took a chance on us and believed in our crazy dream of making computer animated films; the one thing he always said was to simply 'make it great.' He is why Pixar turned out the way we did and his strength, integrity and love of life has made us all better people. He will forever be a part of Pixar's DNA. Our hearts go out to his wife Laurene and their children during this incredibly difficult time."
— John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, and Ed Catmull, President, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios
"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented. Michelle and I send our thoughts and prayers to Steve's wife Laurene, his family, and all those who loved him."
— President Barack Obama
"Steve Jobs was an iconic entrepreneur and businessman whose impact on technology was felt beyond Silicon Valley. He will be remembered for the innovation he brought to market and the inspiration he brought to the world."
— Meg Whitman, President and CEO, HP
"Steve was my hero growing up. He not only gave me a lot of personal advice and encouragement, he showed all of us how innovation can change lives.I will miss him dearly, as will the world."
— Jerry Yang - Co-founder yahoo
"Steve was such an 'original,' with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. With his passing the world has lost a rare original, Disney has lost a member of our family, and I have lost a great friend."
— Bob Iger, CEO of Disney
"I want to express my deepest condolences at the passing of Steve Jobs, one of the founders of our industry and a true visionary. My heart goes out to his family, everyone at Apple and everyone who has been touched by his work."
— Steve Ballmer - Co-founder Microsoft
"...the unforgiven
Fire which Prometheus filch'd for us from heaven."
Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto I.
"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'"
"Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it."
"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."
"I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."
Steve Jobs dies at 56;
Apple's co-founder transformed computers and culture His legacy of blockbuster products includes the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Meanwhile, Jobs' other firm, Pixar, revolutionized computer animation.
By David Sarno and Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times
Steven P. Jobs, the charismatic technology pioneer who co-founded Apple Inc. and transformed one industry after another, from computers and smartphones to music and movies, has died. He was 56.
Apple announced the death of Jobs — whose legacy included the Apple II, Macintosh, iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad.
"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today," Apple said. "Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."
Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
How to live before you die." Stay hungry. Stay foolish..."
[note: The WebBabe remembers the introduction of the first Mac. I first rented a Mac (128k!) for a month in June 1984, and that was when I learned how to use a computer and Apple's software, MacWrite, MacDraw, and MacPaint - all the basics of today's best software. Never looked back and have owned over 15 Macs since. Still a dyed-in-the-wool Mac fan and always will be. Steve, you will be greatly missed, but you did put a dent in the world... in the shape of a smile]
1984 Video:
young Steve Jobs introduces the Macintosh
January 24, 1984
'1984' Apple Macintosh Commercial (Full advert, Hi-Quality)
I'm truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs' death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.
Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.
The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.
For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it's been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.
Everyone likes Apple Computers, even Bill Gates!!
Apple Futureshock - The Knowledge Navigator
1990s - Apple vision of future computing
Steve Jobs talks about managing people
Meet Siri, Apple's Voice-Activated
Personal-Assistant App for the iPhone 4S
US Starts New Fiscal Year With $14.837 Trillion In Debt,
$142 Billion Increase In Two Days
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Anyone tearing their hair out trying to answer how it is that this great Keynesian experiment of a nation managed to sneek by with so little new incremental debt over the past month can now relax. As Zero Hedge reported yesterday, the US closed out Fiscal 2010-2011 with a $95 billion surge in debt in one day brining the total to just under $14.8 trillion. That, however was not nearly enough to settle all outstanding debt, and on the first day of the next fiscal year, Timmy G added another $47 billion in debt, to have a closing balance of $14.837 trillion on the first day of the 2011-2012 fiscal year. In other words, in just the past two work days, America has technically settled a whopping $142 billion in debt. There was a time when a year was needed to issue this much debt. Then, a month. Now, we are officialy down to two days. What is ironic is that the recently expanded debt ceiling of $15.194 trillion has just $400 billion of additional dry powder. At this rate, it won't last the US until the end of the calendar year.
Credit Suisse Boosts Gold Outlook
By Francesca Freeman - FOXBusiness.com
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Credit Suisse (CS) Tuesday raised its gold forecasts for this year and next, citing expectations of continued macroeconomic weakness, low interest rates and further central bank buying.
The bank raised its 2012 forecast for gold 19% to $1,850 a troy ounce, while upping its 2011 outlook by 5% to $1,575/oz. It added that it expects investment demand to be "sufficiently large" to drive gold above $2,000/oz during the second half of 2012, with a high of around $2,200/oz looking "possible."
Gold? Sure, We’ll Take More of That, Says CME
By Rhiannon Hoyle - WSJ.com
CME Group will today increase to $500 million the amount of physical gold its U.S. clearing members can post as collateral for margin requirements, from the existing $200 million.
The step is the latest in a string of moves by exchanges and other financial services firms to increase the use of gold as collateral, which essentially places the precious metal in the top tier of asset classes.
CME said that by increasing the cap on the use of gold, it aims to help traders "manage their risk, while allowing them to take advantage of increasingly attractive gold lease rates."
Gold gains 2.3% to $1660 as investor interest stabilizes
LONDON (Commodity Online): Prices kicked off the month on a mixed note, with the PGMs declining while Gold and Silveredged higher. Gold posted its third day of gains, up 2.3%, settling at $1660.1/oz as uncertainty heightened over Europe but, despite the dollar strengthening to its highest level since January against the euro, equity markets lost further ground.
Although US macro data were better than expected, investor interest showed early signs of stabilising. Gold ETP holdings were up a modest 0.4 tonnes, after the latest data showed inflows of 2.3 tonnes on Friday. Indeed, adding another string to gold’s currency bow, the CME Group announced it would increase the amount of bullion its customers can post as collateral to $500mn from $200mn effective on Monday.
CME raises gold collateral ceiling to $500 million
CHICAGO(Commodity Online): Accepting bullion customers long time demand, CME Group Inc announced the increase of the amount of bullion customers can post as collateral to $500 million from $200 million.
In a statement, CME the biggest operator of U.S. futures exchanges, said customers will be able to post more physicalGold as performance bond collateral as of the close of business on Monday.
Performance bonds, or margin requirements, are money investors must put up to be able to trade futures contracts.
Gold nears $1670 as recession fear grips markets
SINGAPORE (Commodity Online): Gold consolidated its position as a safe haven asset and advanced further in Asian trade Tuesday after fears of another recession in three years hit markets.
Spot gold rose as high as $1669 an ounce in early trade before eased to $1665.41 an ounce at 12.30 p.m Singapore time while US Gold for December delivery was seen trading at $1668.02 after hitting a high of $1674.4 an ounce in early trade.
Analysts said concerns over recession spread fast among investors prompting them to dump equities and turned to bullion as safe haven which lifted Gold prices.
US Mint Sells Nearly 3/4 MILLION
SILVER EAGLES 1st Day of October!
Yesterday 10/3, the US Mint sold a whopping 737,000 Silver Eagle 1 oz coins in a single day!
To put this number in perspective, in Dec of 2010 with silver in the mid $20's, the US Mint sold a total of1,772,000 Silver Eagles FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH OF DECEMBER! Yesterday, on 10/3, with the spot price of silver approximately $31/oz, the US Mint sold 737k Eagles, or 42% of sales for ALL of December 2010!
Dollar extends losses on Europe bank plan
By Sue Chang and William L. Watts, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The U.S. dollar extended losses on Tuesday and the euro recovered following a report that European Union officials are discussing coordinated action to recapitalize the continent's banks.
The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency versus a basket of six major rivals, fell to 78.999 from 79.577 late Monday.
E.U. finance ministers are looking into ways to coordinate recapitalizations of financial institutions after agreeing that additional measures are needed to prop up the region's banks, the Financial Times reported. The talks come after officials concluded that they had not done enough to assure the markets that European banks can weather the current crisis, the newspaper said. Read more on the European bank plan.
Gerald Celente - TruNews - 03 October 2011
The Heresy of a Strengthening Dollar
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH
There is only one word to describe the opinion that the U.S. dollar is in a multi-year uptrend:heresy. Understanding why this is so may well be critical to understanding market action in the 2011-2016 timeframe.
Embracing the contrarian viewpoint offers little joy, because heretics are constantly being hounded by devotees of orthodoxy seeking their conversion to the one true faith or their crucifixion as mortal threats to the orthodoxy.
Why is this so? For two simple but profound reasons. The human mind strongly prefers certainty to uncertainty and simple, fixed explanations over complex, contingent explanations.
Fisher Says Fed Has Ammunition If U.S. Turns 'Horrific'
By Vivien Lou Chen and Kathleen Hays - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said the central bank has "plenty of ammunition" left if the economic situation turns "horrific," while reiterating his view the Fed has provided enough stimulus.
"We can expand the money supply to the Nth degree," he said today in an interview with Bloomberg Radio's "The Hays Advantage" withKathleen Hays. Still, the Fed has to be "cautious" with the stimulus it's already provided, and now "it’s up to the fiscal authorities" to do their job.
Soaring Financial Vol
Leads CME To Announce A 33% Margin...Cut
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Because while soaring volatility in gold and copper, not to mention silver, results in one after another margin hike to "cool off the speculators", when it comes to financial stocks, especially in the "tail wag the dog" variety where the synthetic drives the stock price, a surge in vol means a cut in margins, or 33% to be precise. As of minutes ago, the biggest futures exchange just cut XAF margins by a whopping 33%, exploding vol be damned, or actually, because of it. The CME would be even more delighted if clients were to pledge their gold as collateral, especially following yesterday's expansion of gold's marginability from $200 to $500 million. So just in case anyone missed the message from today, when fins plunged then soared on a rumor, the CME would be delighted if you could repeat all of that but this time with 23% more margin. Expect more margins cuts, this time in ES offset by margins hike in all other instruments, especially of the public enemy #1 variety such as precious metals and crude.
It is very unlikely that the U.S. economy was in a technical recession at the end of Q3. In fact, Goldman revised up their Q3 forecast to 2.5% (Merrill Lynch and others revised up their Q3 forecasts too). The recent data suggests sluggish growth, not recession(examples include the ISM manufacturing survey showing expansion in September, the Chicago PMI increasing, and auto sales back up over 13 million SAAR).
There are clear downside risks to the U.S. economy mostly from the European financial crisis, the apparent renewed recession in Europe, and from U.S. fiscal tightening. However the potential spillover from Europe is difficult to quantify.
Since the cyclical sectors in the U.S. remain very depressed, it is difficult for those sectors to fall significantly. Usually these sectors decline prior to a recession in the U.S., and that is not happening now.
Could Morgan Stanley Go Belly Up?
By Benzinga.com
The short answer — Yes. Unfortunately, the long answer is also 'Yes,' but lets delve in a bit further.
Despite disclosure regulations, no one really knows the extent of the exposure to Greek and other European (potential) defaults. You do not have to be a historian to remember what happen last time a major default happened that did nto have quantifiable risk exposures.
So, could Morgan Stanley be up on the chopping block, like Lehman was only a few years ago? It is certainly possible. Perhaps what is most important, though, (even more important than the actual exposure on MS's books) is the fact that people are starting to believe that it is possible.
Bernanke says Twist equals half-point rate cut
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Tuesday said the central bank's new policy of swapping bonds is not a "game-changer" but should help the economy avoid a new downturn.
"We think this is a meaningful, but not an enormous support to the economy," Bernanke told a congressional committee Tuesday.
The central bank last month pledged to swap $400 billion of short-maturity government bonds into longer-maturity ones, and also said it would reinvest proceeds from maturing securities into mortgage-backed securities, taking a page out of what the central bank did in the 1960s under a program called "Operation Twist."
Occupy Wall Street
Bernanke points finger in direction of Wall Street and is dissatisfied with economy
A new Lost Decade is leading to revolution Class warfare accelerating, democracy losing grip
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Memo to the Super Rich, your high-paid lobbyists and your no-compromise political puppets whose sole mission is destroying the presidency: Yes, you are succeeding. You’re also killing the economy.
Thanks to your self-destructive ideology, America is now in the second of back-to-back Lost Decades. A new one on the heels of the 2000-2010 Lost Decade where Wall Street lost more than 20% inflation-adjusted. Get it? You guys launched America’s second Lost Decade of 21st century.
SWAT Teams in St. Louis Protecting Bank of America;
Refusing Customer Withdrawals
Occupy Wall Street is this year's tea party Protesters seek political process that doesn't exclude them
By David Weidner, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The revolution just might be televised, after all.
More than two weeks after a band of young people began camping out in the shadow of the New York Stock Exchange, the movement to remake America’s inequitable financial system is growing
It's been called the Woodstock of Wall Street, but that's hardly an apt comparison. The gathering at Max Yasgur's farm 42 years ago was built on a generation looking for peace, love, some drugs and acid rock. The kids today are looking for real, tangible change of the capitalist sort. They're organized, lucid and motivated.
Bank Fees?
Let’s Tell The Banksters
That We Don’t Want Their Stinking Bank Fees
And That We Are Switching Banks
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Millions of Americans are about to get stabbed in the back by their banks. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank and several other large banks are either already implementing outrageous new bank fees or are currently testing them. So are these ridiculous new bank fees going to be enough to get millions of Americans to finally boycott the big banks? When millions of Americans start paying a $5 fee every month to use their debit cards and when millions of Americans start paying a $20 fee every single month just to have a checking account hopefully that will be enough to wake them up. These fees are certainly not going to cause an "economic collapse", but they are incredibly annoying. The truth is that the big banks are trying to take advantage of us. It shouldn't cost $60 a year just to use a debit card. It shouldn't cost $240 a year just to have a checking account. What we need to do is to send an unequivocal message to the big banks: we don't want your stinking bank fees and we are switching banks.
Anonymous Threatens to 'Erase NYSE from the Internet'
By Damon Poeter - PCMag.com
Anonymous declared "war" on the New York Stock Exchange this weekend and vowed to "erase" the NYSE from the Internet on Oct. 10 as the Occupy Wall Street protestentered its third week in New York City after a weekend that saw hundreds of protesters arrested during a planned march across the Brooklyn Bridge.
"On Oct. 10, NYSE shall be erased from the Internet. On Oct. 10, expect a day that will never, ever be forgotten," intoned a computer-generated male voice common to many Anonymous videos, in a warning posted onTheAnonMessage YouTube channel (video below).
Operation Invade Wall Street - A Message to the Media
Treasuries Fail to Recoup Losses
as Bernanke Ready to Do More
By Wes Goodman - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries failed to recoup losses from yesterday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he’s ready to do more to sustain U.S. economic growth.
The U.S. central bank plans to buy $1 billion to $1.5 billion of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities due from January 2018 to February 2041 today, according to the New York Fed's website. The purchases are part of its effort to spur a slowing U.S. economy.
"Anything positive from officials gives investors some relief," said Chungkeun Oh, a fixed-income trader in Seoul at Industrial Bank of Korea, South Korea’s largest lender to small and medium-sized companies. Bernanke’s remarks "gave investors a small amount of confidence and led yields to bounce," he said.
Bernanke Says Federal Reserve
Ready to Boost 'Close to Faltering' Growth
By Scott Lanman - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank can take further steps to sustain a recovery that’s "close to faltering" and cautioned lawmakers against making changes in fiscal policy that harm growth.
The Fed can give more information about its pledge to keep interest rates low at least through mid-2013, reduce the rate paid on banks’ reserve deposits or buy more securities, Bernanke said today in testimony to Congress’s Joint Economic Committee in Washington, reiterating options he mentioned in July. He signaled that higher inflation this year won’t stop the Fed, saying it hasn't become "ingrained" in the economy.
China Currency Bill Runs Into GOP Opposition
By William McQuillen - Bloomberg.com
U.S. Senate legislation that would punish China for an undervalued currency ran into opposition from senators and a roadblock by House Speaker John Boehner, who said the bill was "pretty dangerous."
Boehner’s opposition may derail a bill backed by 225 House members, including 61 Republicans. The bill is aimed at forcing China to address what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke yesterday called a currency policy that's "blocking what might be a more normal recovery process in the global economy."
Global Trade War?
Published by Ian R. Campbell - StockResearchPortal.com
A short article Friday titled 'The start of a global trade war' – reading time 2 minutes – says that "Political and economic tension between America and China is mounting". I say, how could this be otherwise, something I have said in these e-mails in different ways for at least the last 18 months. I suggest you read and think about this short article. For some time now I have focused in my own investment thinking on what I see as a likelihood of increased trade protectionism by the U.S. in particular.
Jim Rogers - RT America 03 Oct 2011
Bank Of America Charts
The Four "Crash Landing" Systemic Endgames For China
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
While everyone's attention is focused on just what unconventional policy Benny and the Inkjets will pull out of their collective sleeves to prevent another financial implosion (fear not, something will appear), it is time to redirect once again to the copper plated elephant in the room, China, which last week became the target of a "Hard Landing" vendetta by Bank of America's David Cui (noted here). Well, the China strategist just fired a follow up shot with "Four systematic risks & potential for financial market turmoil." So, for all those who need one more nail in the "China Bubble" coffin here we go, first textually... "we have sensed that the financial markets in China have become increasingly unstable and that the risk of a hard landing is rising. In this report we outline four systematic risks that we believe have the potential to cause financial market turmoil:
private lending (a current issue);
property price correction (potentially over the next three to twelve months);
bank bad debt write-off and eventual recapitalization (potentially over the next two to three years);
"hot money" outflows (event driven and highly unpredictable). Many of these risks are intertwined which is why we refer them as systematic risks, i.e. difficult to mitigate via diversification.
China warns of trade war if U.S. bill passes
By David Stanway and Aileen Wang -
Reuters.com
BEIJING, Oct 4 (Reuters) - An angry China warned Washington on Tuesday that passage of a bill aimed at forcing Beijing to let its currency rise could lead to a trade war between the world's top two economies.
China's central bank and the ministries of commerce and foreign affairs accused Washington of "politicising" currency issues and putting the global economy at risk after U.S. senators voted on Monday to start a week of debate on the bill.
More On Trade – Gloves Coming Off ?
Published by Ian R. Campbell - StockResearchPortal.com
An article this morning says 'China warns of trade war if U.S. currency bill passes' – reading time 5 minutes. The article reports on a U.S. Senate vote that has opened a week of debate on the U.S. 'Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011'.
Passage of this Bill would allow the U.S. Government to impose 'countervailing duties' on products from countries found to be subsidizing their exports by undervaluing their currencies. The article further reports that three different Chinese Government Ministries (the Chinese Central Bank, Commerce Ministry, and Foreign Affairs Ministry) have spoken out strongly against this Bill, collectively saying that Washington was "politicizing currency issues and putting the global economy at risk" by moving this Bill forward to debate. My views on this:
Suicide of a Superpower Will democracy survive the debt and dependence it fosters?
By Patrick J. Buchanan - TheAmericanConservative.com
This generation of Americans has been witness to one of the most stunning declines of a great power in the history of the world.
In 2000, the United States ran a surplus. In 2009, it ran a deficit of $1.4 trillion — 10 percent of the economy. The 2010 deficit was almost equal, and the 2011 deficit is projected even higher. The national debt is surging to 100 percent of GDP, portending an eventual run on the dollar, a default, or Weimar inflation. The greatest creditor nation in history is now the world’s greatest debtor.
America's Financial Vietnam: Max Keiser Reports 1/2
America's Financial Vietnam: Max Keiser Reports 2/2
Euro Zone Troubles Could Lead to a 'United States of Europe' The economics are not the most salient point about Europe's predicament today. Although markets are driving the news, the Euro crisis is mainly about politics and history, and Europeans have pushed relentlessly for a breakdown of national boundaries as the antidote to World War II.
By Michael Hirsh - TheAtlantic.com
Wolfgang Schaüble is a classic German hard-liner. He is a hard-currency man who takes a hard stance against fiscal profligacy. He has hard feelings about all those lax "Club Med" countries--Italy, Portugal, and, above all, Greece--that Germany is being asked to bail out. Confined to a wheelchair since a would-be assassin shot him in 1990, severing his spinal cord, Germany's finance minister recently rolled up to the podium to deliver a speech in Brussels. As expected, Schaüble voiced his country's standard invective against the lazy Greeks and wild-spending Irish, and he held out hope for a "pure" central banking system that wouldn't rescue politicians who pandered to them. But at the end of his speech, Schaüble surprised everyone by switching to Italian. He quoted Galileo's immortal line from four centuries ago affirming that doctrinal certainty must give way to hard facts. At Galileo's 1633 trial for heresy, even as the great astronomer publicly embraced the Catholic Church's belief that the Earth was the stationary heart of the universe, he was said to have whispered, Eppur si muove. "And yet it moves." So, said Schaüble, Europe today must move.
Moody's Cuts Italy Rating Following S&P
By Lorenzo Totaro - Bloomberg.com
Italy’s credit rating was cut by Moody’s Investors Service for the first time in almost two decades on concern that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government will struggle to reduce the region’s second-largest debt amid chronically weak growth.
Moody’s lowered Italy’s rating three levels to A2 from Aa2, with a negative outlook, the New York-based company said in a statement yesterday. The action comes after Standard & Poor’s downgraded Italy on Sept. 20 for the first time in five years. Italy was last cut by Moody’s in May 1993.
Italy gave final approval last month to a 54 billion-euro ($72 billion) austerity plan aimed at balancing the budget in 2013 that convinced theEuropean Central Bank to buy the nation’s bonds. While the purchases initially brought down bond yields by about 100 basis points, Italy’s borrowing costs remain near record highs because of euro-area debt crisis contagion.
Greece has weeks left before bankruptcy
By ELENA BECATOROS, Associated Press – Google News
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has enough money to pay pensions, salaries and bondholders through mid-November, the finance minister said Tuesday, as global markets sank on worries that a messy default could bring down European banks and trigger another global recession.
The Athens Stock Exchange general index tumbled to close down 6.3 percent, while the main Europe markets fell almost 3 percent. The turmoil endangered French-Belgian bank Dexia, whose shares plunged as much as 40 percent, on worries about its exposure to Greek bonds.
The Dow Jones fell 250 points, but recovered somewhat when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank is prepared to take more steps to stimulate the U.S. economy.
BNY Mellon Sued by New York Over Foreign Currency Trading
David McLaughlin - sfgate.com
Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of New York Mellon Corp. was sued by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and the city of New York for allegedly defrauding clients in foreign currency trades.
The bank earned $2 billion through a 10-year fraud in which it misrepresented to customers its pricing practices, according to the complaint. Public and private pension funds were victims, Schneiderman's office said in a statement today.
4 Expert Views on the Current State of the Economy
and Financial Markets
Written by Diplomatic Courier - OilPrice.com
n an environment of sustained uncertainty and volatility, financial institutions from Wall Street to community banks must continue to adapt their business models and work to restore public and investor confidence, according to a group of expert analysts comprising APCO Worldwide’s International Advisory Council and Global Political Strategies groups.
How are the latest developments affecting the customers of the financial sector, and what will be the impact on long-term investment and consumption?
A 'great haircut' for U.S. debt
Reuters - FinancialPost.com
By Jennifer Ablan and Matthew Goldstein
NEW YORK – More than three years after the financial crisis struck, the economy remains stuck in a consumer debt trap. It’s a situation that could take years to correct itself. That's why some economists are calling for a radical step: massive debt relief.
Federal policy makers, they suggest, should broker what amounts to an out-of-court settlement between institutional bond investors, banks and consumer advocates – essentially, a "great haircut" to jumpstart the economy.
Inspector General:
Fannie Mae Was Told About Foreclosure Abuse In 2003
by MARK MEMMOTT - NRP.org
One of the hottest stories this morning is word that, as The Associated Press puts it, "mortgage giant Fannie Mae knew about allegations of improper foreclosure practices by law firms in 2003 but did not act to stop them, a government watchdog says."
So-called foreclosure-mills and the practice known as "robo-signing" have been among the scandals related to the nation's housing crisis. There's evidence that not only did lenders give mortgages to many people who really did not have the financial means to make their payments, but also that when it came time to foreclose on such properties there were rampant abuses.
Gas for $1.75 a Gallon & Depression Level Unemployment The USA After an Euro Collapse
BY DANIEL R AMERMAN CFA - FinancialSense.com
The US dollar could soar in value. Gasoline could return to under $2 a gallon, possibly even $1.75, and filling up a near empty tank could once again be done for under $30. The prices of clothes, shoes and a shopping trip to Wal-Mart could drop significantly, providing much needed relief to retirees on fixed-incomes. In the midst of global economic crisis, there could be an "Indian Summer" in the United States with a return to cheap oil and abundant imports at prices well below current levels. Standards of living could briefly rise - for those fortunate people who still have jobs and/or stable incomes.
California and Bust The smart money says the U.S. economy will splinter, with some states thriving, some states not, and all eyes are on California as the nightmare scenario. After a hair-raising visit with former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who explains why the Golden State has cratered, Michael Lewis goes where the buck literally stops—the local level, where the likes of San Jose mayor Chuck Reed and Vallejo fire chief Paige Meyer are trying to avert even worse catastrophes and rethink what it means to be a society.
By Michael Lewis - VanityFair.com
On August 5, 2011, moments after the U.S. government watched a rating agency lower its credit rating for the first time in American history, the market for U.S. Treasury bonds soared. Four days later, the interest rates paid by the U.S. government on its new 10-year bonds were plummeting on their way to record lows. The price of gold rose right alongside the price of U.S. Treasury bonds, but the prices of virtually all stocks and other bonds in rich Western countries went into a free fall. The net effect of a major U.S. rating agency’s saying that the U.S. government was less likely than before to repay its debts was to lower the cost of borrowing for the U.S. government and to raise it for everyone else. This told you a lot of what you needed to know about the ability of the U.S. government to live beyond its means: it had, for the moment, a blank check. The shakier the United States government appeared, up to some faraway point, the more cheaply it would be able to borrow. It wasn’t exposed yet to the same vicious cycle that threatened the financial life of European countries: a moment of doubt leads to higher borrowing costs, which leads to greater doubt and even higher borrowing costs, and so on until you become Greece. The fear that the United States might actually not pay back the money it had borrowed was still unreal.
Desperate People Do (or Suggest) Desperate Things
Published by Ian R. Campbell - StockResearchPortal.com
An article yesterday titled 'A ‘great haircut' for U.S. debt’ – reading time 4 minutes – says that some U.S. economists are advocating ‘massive debt relief’ brokered in a form of an ‘out-of-court’ settlement between institutional bond investors, banks and consumer advocates.
The article says that under such a plan "cash-strapped homeowners" would be granted mortgage relief, banks would be forced to incur severe write-downs, and bond investors would incur losses in debt instruments sold by those banks. In my view this is a completely impractical idea spawned by theoreticians. If I am right in my refrain, in these commentaries that the 2008 – 2011 changes in accounting mark-to-market rules has had a high probability, if not a certainty, in U.S. bank book equities being overstated, then I think any such plan would potentially have the effect of contributing (perhaps significantly and as the last 'nail in the coffin') to a seriously altered U.S. banking system.
AFL-CIO president:
GOP 'started the war on working Americans'
By Megan Carpentier - RawStory.com
Rallying attendees on the second afternoon of the Take Back The American Dream summit, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said of Republicans, "If they want to have a debate on class warfare, we’ll have that debate," because "It wasn’t our class that started the war on working Americans."
Trumka used his time to illustrate many of the examples of what he termed the "strange morality" of the modern economy, from mass layoffs at Bank of America despite record profits to narratives in which "the jobless are blamed for the unemployment crisis." He also noted that, "The years from 1997-2010 represented the first protracted decline in family income since the Great Depression."
Obama seeks debt collector proposal
By DAVID ESPO - AP - Yahoo News
WASHINGTON (AP) — To the dismay of consumer groups and the discomfort of Democrats, President Barack Obama wants Congressto make it easier for private debt collectors to call the cellphones of consumers delinquent on student loans and other billions owed thefederal government.
The change "is expected to provide substantial increases in collections, particularly as an increasing share of households no longer have landlines and rely instead on cellphones," the administration wrote recently. The little-noticed recommendation would apply only to cases in which money is owed the government, and is tucked into the mammoth $3 trillion deficit-reduction plan the president submitted to Congress.
Fast And Furious:
22 Shocking Facts About The Scandal
That Could Bring Down The Obama Administration
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Could Fast and Furious be the scandal that brings down the Obama administration? With the full knowledge of the Department of Justice, ATF agents facilitated the sale of thousands of guns to Mexican drug cartels and dropped all surveillance of those weapons once they crossed the border. Weapons sold during Operation Fast and Furious have been used to shoot U.S. border control agents. Weapons sold during Operation Fast and Furious have been found at dozens of crime scenes in Mexico. Nobody has been held accountable for this scandal yet. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has been stonewalling all efforts by members of Congress to look into Fast and Furious. A CBS reporter that has been aggressively investigating this story was recently screamed at and cussed at by a high ranking official that works in the White House. It has become abundantly clear that the Obama administration desperately wants to hide what went on during Operation Fast and Furious. So will they succeed or will we eventually find out the truth?
Washington Wants a Say Over Your Minister The Supreme Court weighs whether the feds can decide which church employees are clergy and which aren't.
By MICHAEL W. McCONNELL - WSJ.com
Today, the Obama administration will invite the Supreme Court to open a new front in the culture wars. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC concerns a commissioned minister, Cheryl Perich, who taught elementary school and led chapel devotions at a small Lutheran school outside Detroit. Ms. Perich became ill and was replaced in the classroom by a substitute. In the middle of the school year she sought to return and then, instead of attempting to work out the dispute through the church's reconciliation process, she threatened to sue.
As relations broke down, the church congregation voted to withdraw her "call" to the ministry, and she ceased to be eligible for her prior job. She sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act, with the support of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Bloomberg bias... against Koch Brothers Bloomberg's Exposé on Koch Industries
Reveals ... What Exactly?
Working for six months, 14 reporters around the world found eight ugly incidents in the last six decades -- all of which already resulted in fines or settlements, if applicable. Is that it?
By Daniel Indiviglio - TheAtlantic.com
All reporters have bias. It's unavoidable: bias results even through as simple an action as deciding what to write an article about. Much of that bias isn't necessarily a problem. If you report facts in a fair-and-balanced manner, then readers can judge the story for themselves based on those facts. But at other times, some reporters' bias cuts so deep that it causes them to produce an article that squints too hard to see smoke when there is no fire. Unfortunately, such an article was produced this week by Bloomberg Markets Magazine on Koch Industries.
The article purports to be a hard-hitting exposé on the giant multinational, run by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. According to Bloomberg, 14 reporters around the globe worked for six months on the story. What did they turn up? Really, shockingly little. And what's worse: from the very outset, the reporters' bias against the Koch brothers is utterly clear. When Political Bias Clouds the Facts
Weapons-Grade Confusion:
The Danger of Misreading Our Nuclear Adversaries Miscommunication and mutual mistrust almost led us into an unwanted war with the Soviet Union -- are we making similar mistakes with Iran today?
By Patrick Disney - TheAtlantic.com
In the early 1980s, the Soviet Union launched a covert operation ordering its spies to watch for signs of an imminent surprise attack from NATO. The plan, code-named RYAN, was flawed from the start; Soviet agents were told to report signs that the U.S. was preparing for an attack, so that is precisely what they did, sending back every scrap of rhetoric or hint of aggression. Leaders in Moscow were already paranoid about President Ronald Reagan's sudden ramp-up of Cold War tensions, and in 1983 things very nearly got out of control.
Gold: The top performer in precious metals
LONDON (Commodity Online): Price action closed the week on a mixed note with Silver and Palladium prices losing further ground, Platinum settling unchanged, whileGold edged higher. Over the quarter, gold was the only precious metal to close in positive territory, gaining 8%. Gold closed 0.6% up at $1623.3/oz on Friday despite the dollar strengthening against the euro to levels last seen in January. Gold has found support on the downside from physical demand ahead of the week-long national holiday in China. Gold prices remain above those of platinum, despite platinum prices closing in on the average cost of production.
On the Recent Gold Pullback
by Peter Schiff - LewRockwell.com
The past couple weeks have seen a strong pullback in both commodity prices and stocks. Gold fell sharply off its peak after soaring just past $1,900. Volatility in commodity, currency, and equity markets has been very high recently, and these short-term price movements have Wall Street pundits in an uproar.
As gold prices soared, many advisors recommended investing in the yellow metal with appeals to the "bandwagon effect". A rising price, they argued, indicated changing sentiment, and thus future appreciation. For those who bought on this reasoning, a falling price is a bad omen.
Currency Wars: Restricting Gold and Silver Sales in France
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
A few people have asked me about the recent story concerning France banning cash sales of gold and silver. The story originated here but was picked up by quite a few other sites last week. I was waiting to get some additional information before I posted it as well.
This is different from the reports of limits specifically on gold and silver sales in Austria.
"According to the bank representatives and manager we spoke with, Austrian banks have now been ordered to restrict the sale of gold and silver bullion purchases and are limiting personal acquisitions of precious metals to 15,000€ (approximately $20,700 USD) at a time, or 11 ounces of gold at today’s prices."
Qatari wealth fund plans $10bn gold buying spree The Qatari Royal family plans to spend up to $10bn (£6.4bn) buying stakes in gold producers through their sovereign wealth fund, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
By Garry White - Telegraph.co.uk
The fund is seeking to invest in a range of natural resources, but gaining access to physical gold is its top strategic priority.
On Sunday, Qatar Holdings, which controls the wealth of the Middle East state's royal family, confirmed it would invest about $1bn in European Goldfields, a London-listed miner currently developing the largest gold-mining project in Greece.
"Qatar Holdings have done a systematic and detailed study of the gold sector," said Ken Costa, who put the deal together. "They chose European Goldfields because [chairman] Martyn Konig is very experienced – a 30-year veteran in the gold market."
Silver headed to triple-digit price... Silver Shorts Cover Nearly Half Their Position In One Week.
iStockAnalyst.com
As we anticipated earlier this year, commercial shorts including JPM are finally within grasping reach of covering their positions and transitioning to net long. For more than a decade, the large commercial trading banks have been trapped with an enormous short position in silver as the price has risen from its lows near $3 to its May high of nearly $50. Most analysts expected the commercial shorts to be broken in a short squeeze, likely launching silver above $100. However, this short squeeze will not occur.
Silver Shorts Cover Nearly Half Their Position In One Week.
The Great Commodities Heist
Written by Jeff Nielson - BullionBullsCanada.com
It is all so very simple when we view "the big picture". Bankrupt and near-bankrupt Western governments are stealing billions of dollars worth of various commodities from commodity-producers around the world. The evidence goes well beyond merely suggestive – into the realm of absolutely conclusive.
What makes this scenario so unequivocal is that we have the equivalent of "signed confessions" of the crimes these governments are committing. Exhibit "A" is the monetary policy titled with the vile euphemism "competitive devaluation". It is the deliberate attempt by governments to destroy the value of their currencies – as fast as possible (i.e. "competitively").
Bernanke’s Plot to Overthrow the US Dollar
By Bill Bonner - DailyReckoning.com
09/30/11 Paris, France – Where’s the Bastille…?
The Dow got a boost yesterday — up 143 points.
Gold remained where it was — about $1,617.
Dear Readers know what we think.
The Great Correction has a lot of work to do — there are so many things that need correction. And it will take time to do it. Meanwhile, your goal as an investor is to lose less money than everyone else. He who loses least wins!
Stocks should go down. Real estate should go down. Even gold should go down…as the dollar goes up!
Cash will be king…
…until the revolution.
What kind of revolution? When?
Ah…dear reader…you’re asking a lot from a free service!
But what the heck… We’re happy to tell you what we think. We just hope it’s worth at least what you paid for it.
Here’s the way we see it. Cash is king in a de-leveraging, dis-inflationary, depressing slump. The king should reign for a long time…because it will take a long time to squeeze the excess debt out of the US economy.
Why business despairs of Obama
By Mort Zuckerman - FT.com
Take a deep breath. The industrialised world, America included, seems stuck in one of those horror movies, where the monster, thought to be slain, morphs into something even more scary. The fear is that a double-dip, or worse, is now upon us. Those who might help us escape are now being held back by the anti-business policies of President Barack Obama.
Mr Obama’s administration predicted a V-shaped recovery, based on the historical experience of the 1970s and 1980s. Not this time. The $4,000bn of fiscal and monetary stimulus produced less than $1,000bn in growth. Gross domestic product is now running at about 1.8 per cent this year but two-thirds of this will come from growth in business inventories, not final sales.
Uh Oh:
90 Percent Of Americans
Rate Economic Conditions In The U.S. As "Poor"
TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Uh oh - are we rapidly reaching another major economic tipping point? According to a new CNN/ORC International Poll, 90 percent of the American people believe that economic conditions in the United States are "poor". This represents a significant increase from when the same question was asked in June. Back then, 81 percent of the American people considered economic conditions to be "poor". To put this in perspective, only 11 percent of Americans rated economic conditions in the U.S. as "poor" back in January of 1999. The Federal Reserve and the Obama administration keep telling us that we are in the middle of an "economic recovery", but obviously what average Americans are experiencing on the street is a different story. Millions of families have been absolutely devastated by mass layoffs, heartless foreclosures or bad debts. All of the recent polls show that satisfaction with government is at an all-time low and anger at Wall Street and the financial community is rising to dangerous levels. In the United States today, the economy is the most important issue for most Americans. When you have 9 out of 10 Americans rating economic conditions as "poor", that is a very troubling sign.
If you think this is a bad economy,
you haven't seen anything yet
By Renisha Chainani
On 30 September, the ECRI (Economic Cycle Research Institute) came out with a statement that the U.S. economy is headed for a new recession that the U.S. federal government cannot prevent. Data are starting to show signs that a new recession is not only possible, but quite likely in the near future. They further said it's not just a bad economy that will cause problems for us; it's an economy that will keep on worsening having locked itself into the vicious cycle.
The ECRI, a widely respected forecasting firm, has used some indicators to show that the U.S. economy is already or is on the verge of falling back into another recession. What's worse is that it made clear that the economic conditions are so bad that we should stop tying our expectations to policymakers to pull us out.
Protectionism beckons as leaders push world into Depression The world savings rate has surpassed its modern-era high of 24pc. This is the killer in the global system. It is why we are at imminent risk of tipping into a second, deeper leg of intractable depression.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the savings mountain to rise yet further next year as the governments of Europe, Britain, and the US tighten belts, in unison, by up to 2pc of GDP.
This is double the intensity of the last big synchronized squeeze in 1980.
They will do so before the private sector is ready to grasp the baton, and without stimulus from the trade surplus states (Germany, China, Japan) to offset the contraction in demand.
Bob Chapman - The Financial Survival - 03 Oct 2011
US Congress presses China on currency
By James Politi and Richard McGregor in Washington - FT.com
The US Congress is renewing a push to penalise China over its currency, potentially forcing the White House to choose between angering its Democratic base and upsetting its delicately balanced relations with Beijing.
The Senate is expected to vote on anti-China trade legislation on Monday, with the bill likely to pass with overwhelming bipartisan support, before being sent to the House of Representatives.
The White House has given mixed signals. Jay Carney, White House press secretary, said on Friday the administration was "reviewing" the bill and shared "concerns" about the currency.
China Currency Measure
'Sending a Message' Advances in Senate
By William McQuillen - Bloomberg.com
Legislation that would let American businesses seek duties on Chinese imports to make up for the weak yuan advanced in the Senate.
The 79-19 vote yesterday allows the Senate to begin considering the bill introduced by Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Charles Schumer of New York with 19 co-sponsors, including Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Sessions of Alabama.
The legislation, opposed by business groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that say it may cause a trade dispute, may stall in the Republican-controlled House. Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginiaboth voted against a similar measure that passed the House last year.
"Tonight is sending a message to China," Schumer said following the vote. "The only time China moves is when they feel someone might do something to force their hand."
China seeks higher ground in Europe
By Francesco Sisci - Asia Times - ATimes.com
BEIJING - It is clear, although little stated, that the present crisis in Europe might be a blessing in disguise for the political union. In a matter of weeks, all parties - previously hesitant if not in opposition to strengthening the European Union - have started calling for stronger measures from Germany (the strongest economy in the area) and Brussels to tackle the credit threat and move toward closer economic, and thus political, integration of the regional pact.
Voices from Britain, a member of the union but not of the euro, from America, once suspicious of the political unity of the European powerhouse, and from Germany, scared of its past ambitions to continental dominance, are now a chorus pushing for faster and closer integration of financial policies. These, paired with the already agreed upon monetary union of the European Central Bank, could push for some de facto greater political union.
Germany Will NEVER Leave the Eurozone — Because It Can't There's No Upside, Only Downside
By Gonzalo Lira
Late last week, there was a spike in random speculation that the German government was preparing to exit the eurozone — and that in fact, the Germans had gone so far as to print new Deutsche mark bills and mint new Deutsche mark coins.
Several alternative news sites, including Zero Hedge and others, gave serious credence to this rumor — enough credence that the euro took a hit against the dollar and gold.
But at the end of the day, it was just random speculation from one Dr. Philippa Malmgren, who was interviewed by a Swedish newspaper as saying "My impression is that the German Government sent us a number of signals that, from their perspective there is no other solution [than for them to leave the euro]."
Seven Currencies Since 1914
Is Enough for Germans Rescuing Euro
By Leon Mangasarian - Bloomberg.com
Addi Brittnacher is one German willing to pay a Greek ransom to save his way of life.
The 61-year-old retired machine worker is from Saarland, the western corner of Germany wedged beside France and Luxembourg and a region built on coal and steel that became the heart of the European Union's genesis. His wallet used to bulge with three kinds of cash and an identification card to cross the borders a few hundred meters from his home.
"There are no more borders here and people don't have borders in their heads," said Brittnacher, as he drove a van on a rutted gravel road along vineyards above the Mosel River. "It’s worth saving Greece to save the euro."
Italy's future - a theme park
By Spengler - Asia Times - ATimes.com
Not a crisis, but a negotiation is underway among the debt-ridden countries of southern Europe. Greece and Italy illustrate Spengler's Universal Law Number 15: Stick around long enough, and you turn into a theme park. As the descendants of the former masters of the Mediterranean fade into senescence, hordes of Asian tourists will keep them in business. That's the Spartan model.
Sparta is the first world power to succumb to demographic suicide, and also the first former power to live on as a theme park. Aristotle reports that Sparta "sank under a single defeat; the want of men was their ruin". Sparta once had 10,000 citizens, but by 371 BCE, when Thebes broke Spartan power at the Battle of Leuctra, had shrunk to barely 1,000.
US markets hit year-low,
as Greece is warned it will have no more concessions US stocks sank to a one-year low as fears rose that Greece’s worsening financial woes and a likely default were triggering a second global banking crisis.
By Bruno Waterfield - Telegraph.co.uk
Shares in Bank of America, Citi and Morgan Stanley fell to their lowest levels since March 2009 after the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia looked like it might be the first lending casualty from the Greek crisis.
American banks also saw the insurance taken against their debt spike higher with credit default swaps jumping 8pc to 19pc.
Eurozone finance ministers have told Greece that the debt-crippled nation will be granted no further concessions despite Athens' admission that it will miss its deficit reduction targets.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Credit Risk Soars
By Mary Childs and Shannon D. Harrington - Bloomberg.com
The cost to protect the debt of Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) surged to the highest levels since the weeks after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy as concern intensified that Europe’s debt crisis will infect the global banking system.
Contracts on Morgan Stanley, the New York-based owner of the world’s largest retail brokerage, soared 92 basis points to a mid-price of 583 basis points as of 4:30 p.m. in New York, the highest since October 2008, according to London-based data provider CMA. Those on Goldman Sachs increased 65 basis points to a mid-price of 395.
Collapse Of Entire Global Banking System Is Underway
Signals CEO Of Worlds Largest Mutual Fund
BeforeItsNews.com
PIMCO CEO signals the collapse of entire global banking system underway as a panic driven institutional bank run drains French banks of nearly all their capital.
PIMCO’s CEO tells the Financial Times that the institutional bank run on French Banks has left them with as little as 1% capital against the total assets reported on their balance sheets and institutional panic in the global financial system is underway
If this is true, we are looking at the collapse of the very foundation of the entire European banking system which in turn means the collapse of an essential pillar of the entire global banking banking system
Should the EU Just Let Greece Fail?
By Daniel Indiviglio - TheAtlantic.com
The biggest obstacle standing in the way of the global economic recovery is Europe. Its sovereign debt problems continue to worsen, with Greece slowly inching closer to the edge of the cliff. With each day that passes, its default looks more and more certain. If Greece's fate is essentially determined, then what is Europe waiting for? Why not just allow Greece to default immediately so that banks can take their losses and everyone can move on? While that might provide some certainty to markets, it would mark the beginning -- not the end -- of the crisis. An Analogy: The U.S. Financial Crisis
In some ways, Europe's situation is comparable to the U.S. banking industry's crisis back in 2008. Just as banks were experiencing serious problems and nearing default, so are several European nations. And just like a few particularly toxic banks threatened to take down the entire industry with them, a few struggling nations could take down the entire European Union.
U.S. stocks tumble to one-year lows Selloff takes indexes through key levels; declines are broad
By Wallace Witkowski and Laura Mandaro, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks dropped in a rough start to October, sending the indexes to their lowest closing levels since September 2010, as worries over Greece’s debt crisis overwhelmed a report showing slightly stronger U.S. manufacturing activity.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 258.08 points, or 2.4%, to close at 10,655.30. The decline was led by an 9.6% drop in Bank of America Corp. shares.
AMR pilot retirements fuel bankruptcy fears Stock drops 33% to its lowest point on record
By Christopher Hinton, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Shares of American Airlines parent AMR Corp. plunged to record low Monday before a trading halt, after reports of a sharp jump in pilot retirements since August fueled speculation of a potential bankruptcy.
In a statement sent via email, AMR said bankruptcy was "not our goal or our preference."
Shares of AMR fell as much as 40% to $1.75 each before closing at $1.98, trading below its 2003 trough when a steep drop in demand led to a sharp contraction in revenue. The NYSE Arca Airline Index declined 9.8%, while the benchmark S&P 500 Index slumped nearly 3%.
Factory slump and Greek debts bring double dip closer Weak manufacturing data reported across Europe and far east, while Athens warns it is likely to miss targets on cutting deficit
By Phillip Inman - Guardian.co.uk
A dramatic slowdown in manufacturing output across Europe and Greece's failure to control public spending fuelled fears on Monday that the continent stands on the edge of a double-dip recession that could ripple across to the US and Asia.
European stock markets fell sharply after France and Germany joined Spain and Italy on the sick list of manufacturing nations, undermined by weak demand and a lack of business and consumer confidence. Measures of manufacturing activity in China and the far east also showed a weakness that unnerved investors, sending the FTSE 100 back below the 5,000 mark at one stage and leaving all the major European stock markets in the red.
Global manufacturing shrinks for first time since 2009
By Pedro da Costa and Jonathan Cable - Reuters.com
(Reuters) - Global manufacturing shrank for the first time in over two years in September, reinforcing fears of another recession despite a modest bounce in U.S. factory activity.
Against the trend, manufacturing activity in the U.K. and the U.S. picked up speed, but slumps in factory output in Europe and Asia raised questions about the sustainability of the rebound, given a forward-looking measure of demand in the U.S. data still pointed to contraction.
Marc Faber Bernanke has no more bullets left
Is the Federal Reserve Constitutional?
By Dr. Robert R. Owens - PatriotPost.us
The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. It is in charge of printing money, issuing bonds and setting interest rates for those bonds. Article 1, Section 8 says, "The Congress shall have Power ... to coin Money, regulate the Value thereof." The Federal Reserve is never mentioned. Has it always been this way? Does any other country do this? How did the Federal Reserve get its power over our currency and our economy? And the issue so many are interested in today: is the Federal Reserve constitutional?
Has it always been this way?
End the Fed, not Capitalism
By Andrew Steele - America20xy.com
Organizers of the “Occupy Wall Street” protests have now urged the peoplegathered there to dress up as “corporate zombies” and pretend to eat monopoly money. Indeed, if the protests were aimed at the real source of the problem– the Federal Reserve– the use of monopoly money in the demonstration might be the most striking symbol, however since many of the protestors have aimed their anger at the free market, demanding we give the government that’s robbed us even more power to feed its cronies, the more fitting symbol of the protests in this particular demonstration are the zombies.
Is a Retroactive Tax on the Rich Legal?
By Robert Frank -WSJ.COM
Raising taxes on the rich is clearly legal, even if it’s politically polarizing. But what about a retroactive tax on the rich? Even if it is legal, is it fair?
The issue is boiling over in Connecticut, where the family of a deceased multi-millionaire developer is suing the state over a retroactive estate tax that they claim is “an unconstitutional taking.”
According to an article in the Hartford Courant, Monty Blakemen died in April. Less than two weeks later, the state passed an estate tax that lowered the exemption to $2 million from $3.5 million. And they made it retroactive to Jan. 1.
MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan on The Federal Reserve,
Media Censorship, Bilderberg
To Cure the Economy
Joseph E. Stiglitz - Project-Syndicate.org
NEW YORK – As the economic slump that began in 2007 persists, the question on everyone’s minds is obvious: Why? Unless we have a better understanding of the causes of the crisis, we can't implement an effective recovery strategy. And, so far, we have neither.
We were told that this was a financial crisis, so governments on both sides of the Atlantic focused on the banks. Stimulus programs were sold as being a temporary palliative, needed to bridge the gap until the financial sector recovered and private lending resumed. But, while bank profitability and bonuses have returned, lending has not recovered, despite record-low long- and short-term interest rates.
Obama signals impatience on jobs bill President preparing to twist arms
By Dave Boyer and Sean Lengell-The Washington Times
President Obama said Monday he will personally lobby congressional leaders to hold a vote on his new jobs-stimulus proposal, but barely an hour later, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor once again pronounced the legislation dead as written.
Both sides continue to jostle for political advantage as they search for solutions to the country’s 9.1 percent unemployment rate, but middle ground remained elusive as Congress returned from a weeklong vacation and began what’s likely to be the final chance for major non-spending bills to pass.
Falling Wages Threatening U.S.
as Consumers May Cut Spending
By Sho Chandra and Steve Matthews - Bloomberg.com
Ninety-one percent of people in the U.S. labor force have a job. That may be the extent of the good news for these Americans, whose incomes tell a darker story.
Take-home pay, adjusted for prices, fell 0.3 percent in August, the third decrease in five months, and personal income dropped for the first time in two years, the Commerce Department reported last week. The declines followed news from the Census Bureau that medianhousehold income in 2010 fell to $49,445, the lowest in more than a decade, and the poverty rate jumped to 15.1 percent, a 17-year high.
Review of Foreclosure Mistakes Is Set
By NICK TIMIRAOS And RUTH SIMON - WSJ.com
Millions of current and former homeowners will have a chance to get their foreclosure cases examined to determine whether they should be compensated for banks' mistakes, under a wide-ranging review being planned by federal regulators.
The review process, which could be unveiled in the next few weeks, will be open to borrowers who were in some stage of foreclosure in 2009 or 2010. Estimates prepared by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which will oversee the review, indicate that 4.5 million borrowers could be eligible for review.
Mortgage Mess 'Next Shoe to Drop' is FHA: Analyst
By Philip van Doorn - TheStreet.com
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The largest mortgage lenders and servicers could be hit with another government agency bombshell, according to Paul Miller of FBR Capital Markets.
In the wake of the Federal Housing Finance Agency'smortgage putback lawsuits against Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and a dozen other lenders, the nation's largest banks could be facing a wave of losses on insurance claim denials by the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA.
According to Miller, who cited "conversations with industry and Washington contacts," there is "a growing concern over the risk that FHA loans pose to originators and servicers," since the agency "only a $4.7 billion capital buffer against a $1 trillion portfolio, which translates into a reserves to insured loan ratio, or capital ratio, of 0.50%, well below the 2% mandated minimum."
House of Cronies: Is Freddie Mac Incompetent or Corrupt? It's becoming clear that Freddie Mac offered Bank of America a sweetheart deal in a case that suggests not only incompetence, but also something between cronyism and regulatory capture.
By James Kwak - TheAtlantic.com
Three years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, we're not any closer to purging the rot at the heart of our financial-regulatory complex. Last December, Bank of America agreed to pay $1.35 billion to Freddie Mac for nearly 800,000 faulty mortgage loans that Freddie had bought from Countrywide, which has since been acquired by BofA. The full story, as told by the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (i.e.: FHFA, Freddie's regulator), is a classic tale of institutional corruption.
The background is that Countrywide, then the country's largest originator of exotic mortgages, sold 787,000 loans to Freddie Mac. Under the terms of the sale, if it later turned out that some of those loans were defective, Freddie could sell them back to Countrywide for their full face value. Many of those loans were indeed defective due to inflated appraisals, fictional stated incomes, or other reasons.
High Court Can't Kill Health Care Reform
Without Collateral Damage
By the Editors - Bloomberg.com
The commentariat can't decide whether to give the Obama administration points for audacity, or to question its sanity. The Justice Department has asked the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of its health- care reform sooner rather than later.
If the court takes up the challenge, it could deliver a decision before the end of its current term in June. That would be just in time to assure that health care will be a major issue in the presidential campaign.
Should the Supreme Court take up health-care reform this year? So far, only one appeals court has ruled that the "individual mandate" in Obamacare -- the requirement that virtually everybody must buy insurance, with government assistance if needed -- overreaches the federal government’s powers under the commerce clause of the Constitution. It’s not a trivial argument. But an affirmative ruling would be a huge departure from our understanding of the commerce clause going back to the New Deal.
Obama ends long delay on free-trade agreements House GOP set to fast-track pacts
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
President Obama on Monday finally sent Congress long-delayed free-trade agreements with Panama, South Korea and Colombia, breaking a deadlock that extends back to the George W. Bush administration and setting up a showdown on Capitol Hill.
Acting with unusual speed amid so much other gridlock, Republican congressional leaders said they will put the agreements on the House floor next week, where the vote is likely to expose deep divisions among Mr. Obama’s fellow Democrats.
ISM Manufacturing Supports Slow Growth Over Recession
247WallSt.com
The Institute for Supply Management showed an above-red reading this morning in the manufacturing sector. This month’s ISM Manufacturing reading came in at 51.6% for September versus 50.6% in August.
Bloomberg was calling for a 50.5 reading, while 50.0 is the Maginot Line between growth and contraction. Inventories posted a tiny drop to 52.0, indicating that businesses are still running lean on inventory but also still in growth mode.
New orders rose marginally to 49.6% but that is still barely in the red. Prices paid rose 0.5 points to 56.0, and the employment component rose by 2 full points to 53.8.
How Brands Were Born:
A Brief History of Modern Marketing The "Mad Men" era of the 1960s was a Cambrian explosion of brands -- from cigarettes to soap -- that have come to define modern marketing. Understanding how those marketing campaigns began helps to explain why branded products are so ubiquitous today.
By Marc de Swaan Arons - TheAtlantic.com
There was a time, going back at least 70 years, when all it took to be successful in business was to make a product of good quality. If you offered good coffee, whiskey or beer, people would come to your shop and buy it. And as long as you made sure that your product quality was superior to the competition, you were pretty much set. Well into the 1970s, a savvy consumer could distinguish between high-quality and shabby products quite easily.
And yet, as much as we like to complain about what we buy, it remains a fact that we live in a golden age for quality products. Today, it is much more rare to find cars that consistently break down or kiddie pools that leak. I challenge you to walk into any supermarket and find a product that is not of almost equal quality to the category leader in terms of functional performance. Nevertheless, the companies that were category leader in the early days often still are today. Some represent the "foundational brands," the companies that in the 1950s and 1960s epitomized the kind of smart marketing that is now ubiquitous. A handful of these marketing leaders are listed in the gallery below. And the reason they have survived the test of time comes down to the discipline of marketing and branding.
The Reign of the One Percenters Income inequality and the death of culture in New York City
BY CHRISTOPHER KETCHAM - OrionMagazine.org
For my daughter’s benefit, so that she might know the enemy better, know what he looks like, where he nests, and when and where to throw eggs at his head, we start the tour at Wall Street. It’s hot. August. We’re sweating like old cheese.
Here are the monuments that matter, I tell her: the offices of Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York Mellon; the JPMorgan Chase tower up the block; around the corner, the AIG building. The structures dwarf us, imposing themselves skyward.
"Linked together like rat warrens, with air conditioning," I tell her. "These are dangerous creatures, Léa. Sociopaths."
She doesn't know what sociopath means.
"It’s a person who doesn’t care about anybody but himself. Socio, meaning society — you, me, this city, civilization. Patho, like pathogen — carrying and spreading disease."
Long roll of eyes.
wave of global indignation is lapping on the shores of the USA America’s indignados
by Gideon Rachman - FT.com
At the end of August, I wrote a column headlined – "2011, the year of global indignation". I suggested that there was a global mood of anti-elite anger, linking outbreaks of popular protest in countries as different as Egypt, India, Chile, China, Israel, Greece and Spain. It is Spain and France that gave birth to the movement, known as the indignados (the indignant). I also wrote, however, that there was “one striking exception to the this pattern – the US.” Perhaps I spoke too soon. The arrest of more than 700 anti Wall Street protesters in New York - and the possibility that similar protests could spread to other cities in the US - means that the wave of global unrest has now arrived on America's shores. The whole thing has a whiff of 1968 about it.
The tinder for such a development has been lying around for some time. Unlike in previous corporate scandals – such as Enron and Tyco – there have been no high-profile arrests, following the Wall Street crash of 2008. And yet the economic and fiscal consequences of the crash have been incomparably more severe. than the post dot.com scandals. That fact, plus the survival of the “bonus culture” in the big banks, has fed the public perception that Wall Street has "got away with it".
Max Keiser & Roseanne Barr
Discuss "Occupy Wall Street," and Banksters
5 Reasons Why 'Occupy Wall Street' Won't Work Bankers, unlike politicians, aren't paid to listen to voters
By Daniel Indiviglio - TheAtlantic.com
It's easy to hate Wall Street. In movies, bankers are portrayed as heartless, greed-driven jerks. Some people blame the recent financial crisis and the recession that followed on Wall Street duping Americans into signing up for predatory mortgages. Others say that these rich bankers, traders, and investors don't pay enough money in taxes. These and other anti-Wall Street attitudes have led to a protest in Lower Manhattan that continues to grow. But for a variety of reasons, it isn't likely to accomplish anything.
11 Reasons Why
Occupy Wall Street Protesters
Are Hypocrites
If They Do Not Call For Barack Obama To Resign
EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
If the Occupy Wall Street protesters truly believed in the things that they are proclaiming, then they would be calling for the immediate resignation of Barack Obama and his entire cabinet. The truth is that the Obama administration is responsible for most of the things that Occupy Wall Street is supposedly complaining about. If the Occupy Wall Street protesters were intellectually honest, we would see a flood of anti-Obama signs during these demonstrations. But instead we have barely heard a peep of criticism for Obama. In fact, the vast majority of the protesters seem very excited about sending Obama back to the White House in 2012. As will be clearly demonstrated in the rest of this article, this makes the Occupy Wall Street protesters tremendous hypocrites. If Occupy Wall Street wants to have any credibility whatsoever, it needs to call for Barack Obama to resign. Either Occupy Wall Street protesters will call for Barack Obama to be held accountable for his actions, or they are just a bunch of sheep. They cannot preach to us about how principled they are and yet turn a blind eye to everything that Barack Obama has been doing for the past 3 years.
Why can't America be more like, well, America?
By Richard McGregor
Mitch Daniels, the Indiana governor, mused recently about how the US budget might be fixed if he were appointed dictator for a day. He called it the “Friedman-style” solution, as in Tom, the New York Times columnist, not Milton, the free market economist.
If there was a touch of scorn in Daniels' voice, about Americans who invoke authoritarian methods to fix democratic problems, that should not be surprising. Friedman, who has extolled the virtues of China's "reasonably enlightened" Communist party, is part of a long line of distinguished Americans who gaze across the Pacific in awe at Beijing's can-do abilities.
Only this week, Muhtar Kent, Coca-Cola's chief executive, told the Financial Times that China "in many respects" had become a better place to do business than the US. "When a country is in trouble, you can't have a polarised political process," he said.
WARNING: Corporate-Fascist Military Coup Brewing in US? Beware of pretenders supplied by the establishment to "save us" from collapsing system.
by Tony Cartalucci - LandDestroyer.Blogspot.com
September 30, 2011 - The US intelligence community, in conjunction with Wall Street corporate-financier interests, have spent an inordinate amount of time positioning themselves for a possible military coup and martial law take over of the United States. This is being done under the guise of the fraudulent "War on Terror" but in preparation for a very real and inevitable economic collapse. In particular, one personality above all others is being groomed by intelligence operatives and policy wonks, while built-up by the corporate media [1][2] in the eyes of the public to intercede in America's accelerating political, economic, and even global tactical decline. This man is General David Petraeus who served as former head of US Central Command which included combat operations in Iraq and former commander of US forces in Afghanistan before being sworn in as the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in September 6, 2011.
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