Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Friday 06.29.2012
Currencies Wait for the EU Summit
By Mike Meyer - dailyreckoning.com
06/28/12 St. Louis, Missouri – Good day, and welcome to another scorcher here in the Midwest. Chuck isn't feeling well today, so I just got the call to get something out to all of you, which means this will be very short and, hopefully, sweet. As I mentioned, it's going to be a hot one for us today. We're supposed to have Phoenix-type weather in St. Louis, with the mercury rising to 107 degrees. It's supposed to be a dry heat, which does make a big difference, so we'll see if today goes down in the record books.
The dollar has been heating up so far this morning over thoughts the EU summit in Brussels won't accomplish anything other than what Chuck called yesterday a 'plan to have a plan.' The market likes to play both sides of the fence, but so far this morning, they aren't anticipating anything that would have an immediate or significant impact on the debt crisis. So the focus for today looks to remain in Europe. The rise in yield for the Italian 5-year and 10-year bond auction to 6.19% from the previous 6.03% figure didn't help matters, either.
An Ending Made for Gold
BY FRANK HOLMES - FinancialSense.com
Over the past several months, the markets have tested investors' conviction to gold. Since February, the price of the yellow metal has steadily stepped lower, rallying somewhat in May before falling again when Ben Bernanke disappointed by not providing the U.S. with more stimulus. Meanwhile, the dollar gained ground as global investors fled the euro.
In the ongoing eurocrisis, we won't know the details of how Europe will clean up its debtmess for a while, but we're pretty confident the story ends well for gold.
Keiser Report: Gold vs Paper (E306)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss the world looking for people looking for economic salvation in gold, the Eurozone and emerging markets and ask "what kind of stupid people put precious money into messy banks?" In the second half of the show Max talks to former market maker and newsletter writer, Rick Ackerman, about inflation, deflation, the euro and the student loan market.
The Black Hole of Deflation - Part 2
BY JULIAN PHILLIPS - FinancialSense.com
In Part I of this series we looked at the decaying state of confidence and how this is assisting in the deflationary process that is slowly, inexorably, moving forward, with limited action from central bankers and very little action at all from politicians. We looked at Christine Legarde's comments that highlighted the need for value and measures of value to keep the monetary system under control. And then we looked at the loss of money velocity, deflation and the damage it's doing to the solvency of banks and nations.
Since then the process has moved forward with 28 Spanish banks downgraded by Moody's ratings Agency, while the Spanish government has formally asked for financial assistance from the E.U. Cyprus now makes the fifth E.U. member to put its hand out for a bailout. Italy's borrowing cost jumped to new highs too.
European Leaders Play with Fire
BY JOHN BROWNE - FinancialSense.com
The world economy today stands at the doorstep of great change. A gathering crisis looms in Europe, splitting the Continent into two competing blocs. While leaders there face off against one another in a high stakes game of chicken, the rest of the world powerlessly watches the train wreck slowly unfold. Political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic fail to grasp the fragility of the current world order and do not understand the forces they are unleashing. A parallel here can be drawn with the political situation that existed on the eve of the First World War. For the most part European leaders were not bent upon death and destruction. However these largely ordinary men were held captive by national delusions and a complex system of alliances and treaties that had not been thought through to their logical conclusions. This resulted in a situation where a single assassination was enough to plunge the Continent into a bloodbath.
Angela Merkel defies Latin Europe and the IMF on bond rescue German Chancellor Angela Merkel has shot down calls for full mobilisation of the eurozone's bail-out funds to halt the raging bond crisis in Spain and Italy, ignoring unprecedented pleas for action from the International Monetary Fund.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"Each country wants to help but if I am going to call on taxpayers in Germany, I must have guarantees that all is under control. Responsibility and control go hand in hand," she said after a crucial summit of the eurozone's Big Four powers in Rome.
Mrs Merkel -- or La Signora No in Italy -- doused hopes of a break-through on proposals by the "Latin Bloc" leaders of Italy, France, and Spain to deploy the funds (EFSF and ESM) to cap the bond yields of "virtuous" countries vulnerable to contagion, or to recapitalize banks directly to take the strain off sovereign states.
Angela Merkel isn't bluffing; like everyone else in Europe,
she's defending national sovereignty You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning. No, not Mrs Thatcher, but Angela Merkel, the latest big beast of the European political scene to dig her heels in and refuse to go along with the international consensus.
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
No, no, no, she says, to any solution to the eurozone crisis that looks like debt pooling, as if echoing the words of Britain's former prime minister all those years ago on the perils of monetary union.
The German Chancellor is bluffing, and doesn't really mean it, the markets reply, but if this is indeed only a game of poker, she's certainly got nerves of steel. There will be no joint and several guarantees for euro area debt "as long as I live", she told a private meeting of German MPs this week. If that's bluff, then it's one from which politically she'll struggle to escape.
Angela Merkel dismisses Spain and Italy's pleas for aid Pleas from Spain and Italy for urgent financial aid from the eurozone to bring down borrowing costs were dismissed by Angela Merkel as divisions hardened on the eve of a critical summit.
By Bruno Waterfield - Telegraph.co.uk
Germany's Chancellor angrily rejected desperate pleading by Italy and Spain as a Franco-German rift over eurozone debt sharing threatened to unravel efforts to find a fix for the single currency at a meeting of European leaders on Thursday.
Before flying last night to Paris for emergency talks with Francois Hollande, the French President, Mrs Merkel told German MPs that instead of more cash the eurozone needed to step up debt reduction and economic reforms.
Stop Picking on Bankers, JPMorgan Chief Says
BY JACK EWING - NYTimes.com
DAVOS, Switzerland — Jamie Dimon, chief executive ofJPMorgan Chase, lived up to his reputation as a fierce defender of his profession on Thursday when he told listeners in Davos, including the president of France, that he was fed up with banker bashing.
Mr. Dimon said at the World Economic Forum that he was sick of "this constant refrain — bankers, bankers, bankers."
"We try to do the best we can every day," Mr. Dimon said during a panel discussion.
Later, Mr. Dimon urged Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of France, not to let bank regulation be driven by anger toward bankers, and he warned that bad policy-making would impede growth.
Should J.P. Morgan's Jamie Dimon be fired? Amid reports that J.P. Morgan's London unit trade losses could climb as high as $9 billion, some are arguing it's time to reconsider Dimon's fate at the bank.
By Eleanor Bloxham - Fortune.CNN.com
FORTUNE -- Amid reports from the New York Times that J.P. Morgan's London unit trade losses could climb as high as $9 billion, some are wondering whether it's time to seriously reconsider CEO Jamie Dimon's fate at the bank.
"Dimon has either failed to supervise, failed to tell the truth, or both. Pleading ignorance doesn't help," Tufts University business professor Amar Bhide told me. Bhide believes the board should fire Dimon, saying Dimon's tenure can be characterized by "repeated incidents that exemplify an absence of the duty of care, which impacts the public good."
JPMorgan Trading Loss May Reach $9 Billion
BY JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG
AND SUSANNE CRAIG - NYTimes.com
Losses on JPMorgan Chase's bungled trade could total as much as $9 billion, far exceeding earlier public estimates, according to people who have been briefed on the situation.
When Jamie Dimon, the bank's chief executive, announced in May that the bank had lost $2 billion in a bet on credit derivatives, he estimated that losses could double within the next few quarters. But the red ink has been mounting in recent weeks, as the bank has been unwinding its positions, according to interviews with current and former traders and executives at the bank who asked not to be named because of investigations into the bank.
Banks face billions of dollars of claims after Barclays settles Damages claims running to billions of dollars against the world's biggest banks have been given fresh "credibility" by Barclays £290m Libor settlement, lawyers said.
By Alistair Osborne - Telegraph.co.uk
The British bank is already named as a defendant in various class actions around the world, where investors are seeking compensation for buying financial instruments based on a Libor benchmark that was allegedly manipulated.
One of the biggest class-action claims has been filed in New York by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and the City of New Britain Firefighters and Police Benefit Fund.
The Impotence of the Federal Reserve
By Martin Feldstein - Project-Syndicate.org
CAMBRIDGE – The United States Federal Reserve's recent announcement that it will extend its "Operation Twist" by buying an additional $267 billion of long-term Treasury bonds over the next six months - to reach a total of $667 billion this year - had virtually no impact on either interest rates or equity prices. The market's lack of response was an important indicator that monetary easing is no longer a useful tool for increasing economic activity.
FULL TEXT OF SUPREME COURT OPINION
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ET AL. v. SEBELIUS, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL.
The Tiny Distinction That Saved Obamacare:
Why the Penalty Is a Tax What's in a name? That which we call a health insurance penalty would by any other name raise money, John Roberts concluded. Even if you can't regulate the lack of commerce, you can always tax it.
By DEREK THOMPSON - TheAtlantic.com
In the two years since the Affordable Care Act was passed, the small penalty for those who don't buy health insurance had been one of the least-discussed elements of the law. The famous insurance regulations? They were the administration's darlings. The expensive subsidies for low-income families and Medicaid expansion? Those were the conservatives' and deficit hawks' biggest nightmare. And the individual mandate? That was the keystone of controversy.
But this morning, when the Supreme Court upheld the ACA, it was the often-ignored penalty that played a leading role in Chief Justice John Roberts' opinion. Because the small fee "looks like a tax," he wrote, the individual mandate could stand on the basis of Congress' broad power to tax.
But does that make any sense? How can a penalty also be a tax?
It can't.
The Most Important Part
of Today's Health Care Ruling You Haven't Heard About
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
Although it has largely been treated as a footnote in today's coverage of the Supreme Court's health care ruling, the Justices' decision to strike down part of Obamacare's Medicaid expansion might itself be a turning point in constitutional law -- one that could put significant new limits on federal power.
In order make insurance available for more low-income Americans, the Affordable Care Act essentially made states an offer they couldn't refuse. They could either accept more money to expand their Medicaid rolls, or lose their existing federal funding for the program. Congress puts conditions on federal dollars all the time. It made states raise the drinking age to 21, for instance. But in this case, the court ruled that Congress' threat to yank away all of a state's Medicaid funding unless they cooperated was unconstitutionally coercive.
Obamacare upheld by the supreme court,
but not yet by American voters The Affordable Care Act survived supreme court scrutiny, but the president's flagship law faces sceptical voters in an election year
By Ana Marie Cox - Guardian.co.uk
The supreme court-held sword of Damocles over President Obama's flagship healthcare reform law has been lifted, but the administration could still fall on it. The court ruled the individual mandate constitutional, and most provisions of the law therefore stand. But whatever vindication the administration might wish to take from the supreme court's ruling must be tempered by the knowledge that its effort to reform a healthcare system with which almost no one is happy has created a political atmosphere made all the more dangerous by the rhetorical fog surrounding the issue.
Did The Supreme Court Expose A Big 'Obamacare' Tax Lie?
By BRIAN BEUTLER - TalkingPointsMemo.com
The Supreme Court's narrow decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act's insurance mandate as a valid exercise of Congress' taxing power has reignited a spin war over whether Democrats broke their pledge not to raise middle-class taxes, and whether they misled the public by insisting the mandate was not a tax during the contentious health care reform debate.
After all, back in September 2009, President Obama insisted to ABC News, "for us to say that you've got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. … I absolutely reject that notion."
Within moments of the ruling Republicans pounced.
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Obamacare
By Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
In a victory for the New Deal bastardization of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has ruled that the government can mandate at gunpoint that Americans buy monopolized health care insurance.
"The Supreme Court upheld the health care law today in a splintered, complex opinion that appears to give President Obama a major victory," reportsUSAToday.
In order to avoid arguments that the law is a misinterpretation of the Commerce Clause, the Court ruled that the requirement is a tax.
Roberts court upholds Obama health law;
GOP preps tax fight
By Sam Baker - TheHill.com
The Supreme Court upheld President Obama's signature healthcare law Thursday in a 5-4 decision that vindicates Obama and helps define Chief Justice John Roberts.
The court said the health law's individual mandate, which requires most taxpayers to either buy insurance or pay a penalty, is a tax and is constitutional. The court also altered the law's Medicaid expansion without striking it down entirely.
The ruling is an enormous victory for President Obama and congressional Democrats, who had long insisted the healthcare law is constitutional.
Roberts & Dems Deliver a Grand Slam for the Right Obamacare Wins, We Lose
by JOHN STAUBER - CounterPunch.org
It was a brilliant move by far Right (but oh so likable) Chief Justice Roberts to side with the Dem-appointed Justices and uphold ObamaCare. After all, this is a massive victory for corporate power, forcing citizens to buy an expensive insurance product that won't serve our needs very well but will profit industry, in lieu of receiving real health care.
Obamacare and its corporate mandate were born on the Right (as in Heritage Foundation) as a way to destroy the political prospects of any single payer system that would cover all Americans with a tax-funded system of guaranteed medical care. This is the way all other industrial societies protect the right to health care, by taking it out of the hands of the giant insurance industry. The right to health care is like the right to not be enslaved – there are no half measures, and the insurance industry is the slave master.
Former GOP Sen. Bob Bennett:
'Health Care Reform Is Obviously Here To Stay'
By ERIC KLEEFELD - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Former Utah Sen. Bob Bennett, a Republican who lost his party's nomination in 2010 — in part due to his past work with Democrats on health care reform — told TPM that he had few complaints about Thursday's Supreme Court ruling.
"I'm delighted to see any kind of rein on the Commerce Clause, because I think the Commerce Clause has been used farther than it should have," Bennett said. "I can't really complain about the upholding of the idea of the individual mandate, because I had an individual mandate in my own bill. The system won't work without it. You don't have a big enough risk pool to pay for everything if you don't have everyone in it. And that's the purpose of the individual mandate, to get everyone in the risk pool, and then the numbers will work.
So how many Americans
could be "mandated" to buy health insurance?
By Joe Garofoli - San Francisco Chronicle
Here's a key stat to remember in the wake of the Supreme Court's health care ruling, which left the individual mandateintact: According to a March study by the Urban Institute, if the health care law "were in effect today, 94 percent of the total population….would not face a requirement to newly purchase insurance or pay a fine."
The study found that of the "181 million Americans under the age of 65 who are subject to the mandate, 86 percent are estimated to have health insurance without reform…. 95 percent of those with some type of insurance coverage (employer, nongroup, public) without reform will have the same type of coverage under the ACA (data not shown)."
Fed's Fisher:
healthcare ruling removes some uncertainty: CNBC
(Reuters) - The Supreme Court's decision Thursday to uphold President Barack Obama's signature healthcare overhaul removes some of the cloud of uncertainty that has been keeping businesses from hiring, a top Federal Reserve official said.
"At least there's been a little bit more certainty that's been put out there," said Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher, known for his view that a lack of clarity over future taxes and healthcare is a major reason businesses are holding back on hiring.
But there are still plenty of unknowns, including on the healthcare front, he added.
Health reform upheld: What companies need to know
By Jose Pagliery - CNN.com
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Health care reform has survived the Supreme Court, and that means a flood of new rules and options for American businesses and their employees.
For most small businesses, the court's decision Thursday means a new way for them to shop for less expensive health insurance on state exchanges.
The ruling also means that companies with 50 or more full-time employees must start providing health insurance for all workers by 2014 or face stiff penalties.
15 Reasons Why The Obamacare Decision
Is A Mind Blowing Disaster For America
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
You can almost always count on the Supreme Court to do the wrong thing. In fact, just about every major decision by the U.S. Supreme Court over the last 40 years has been bad for America. Many were hoping that the Supreme Court would strike down Obamacare, but the truth is that we all should have known better than to expect them to get something right. So now America is headed for a complete and total disaster as Obamacare is fully implemented over the next several years. Obamacare is going to absolutely shred the infrastructure of our medical system, it is going to send health insurance premiums soaring, it is going to dramatically expand the size and the scope of government, it is going to fundamentally alter the relationships between doctors and their patients and it is one of the largest tax increases in U.S. history. Not only that, it is also going to add about a trillion dollars to our national debt over the next decade. So no, the Obamacare decision is not good news. Obamacare was one of the worst pieces of legislation in American history, and now we are stuck with it.
Elderly To Be Euthanized Under Obamacare? UK's socialist healthcare system kills 130,000 patients a year
By Paul Joseph Watson - Infowars.com
If Britain's socialist healthcare system is a benchmark for what we can expect from Obamacare, hundreds of thousands of elderly patients face being euthanized through "assisted death" techniques designed to cut costs.
The idea that "death panels" would be introduced through Obamacare as a means of rationing healthcare was discussed during an Aspen Institute conference in 2010 when Bill Gates argued that money should not be spent on treating the elderly.
During a question and answer session, Gates implied that elderly patients undergoing expensive health care treatments should be killed and the money spent elsewhere.
Boehner: Ruling strengthens GOP's 'resolve'
to repeal healthcare law
By Russell Berman - TheHill.com
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the majority of President Obama's healthcare reform law would "strengthen [the] resolve" of the GOP to repeal it entirely.
Boehner and other House Republican leaders pledged to redouble their efforts to scrap the 2010 law legislatively, but they said the law's fate ultimately rests with the voters in November.
"The Supreme Court spoke today, but they won't have the final word. The American people will have the final word in November," said Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash.), the vice chairman of the GOP conference who was tapped to help lead its response to the ruling.
Why DeMint's Call For States
To Block Health Care Exchanges Won't Work
By ERIC KLEEFELD - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) called on state governors to refuse to set up health care exchanges in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold health care reform. But experts said that try as DeMint might to revive nullification, the senator's call — even if answered by GOP governors — won't likely make the impact he's looking for.
The key quote from DeMint's press release:
"This government takeover of health care remains as destructive, unsustainable, and unconstitutional as it was the day it was passed, unread, by a since-fired congressional majority. Now as then, our first step toward real health care reform and economic renewal remains Obamacare's full repeal, down to the last letter and punctuation mark.
Ruling focuses election on Obama's health care tax
By Dave Boyer-The Washington Times
The Supreme Court handed President Obama a major political victory on his signature health-care issue Thursday, but the justices also provided Republicans with a sharper campaign issue by defining the law's individual mandate as a tax.
The ruling allows Mr. Obama to engage in a four-month-long victory lap as he campaigns for reelection. And it validates the president's decision to devote so much time and energy to passing the law in 2009 while the economy was in free fall, a divisive vote that contributed to Democrats losing the House in 2010.
Romney: Supreme Court Ruling on Health Law Wrong
Republican Mitt Romney is promising that he will repeal the federal health care law the Supreme Court just upheld. He called the decision incorrect and said Thursday that it is a 'bad law.' (June 28)
In 255-67 vote, House places Holder in contempt of Congress
By Jordy Yager and Pete Kasperowicz - TheHill.com
The House voted Thursday to place Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for not complying with a congressional subpoena.
Seventeen Democrats bucked party lines and voted with Republicans to pass a criminal contempt resolution in a 255-67 vote. House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) pushed that resolution as part of his 16-month investigation into the botched "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking operation.
United Faiths of America
By GROVER G. NORQUIST - The American Spectator.org
Obama and the secular left are creating an ecumenical right -- again.
Conventional wisdom holds that Governor Mitt Romney's Mormon faith was a boat anchor that reduced his potential support among Republican primary voters in 2008, and could undermine his campaign in the 2012 general election. This concern declined as Romney won solid primary victories and rapidly consolidated Republican support. Recent polls show him running neck and neck with President Obama in the November election.
But Romney's faith could still be a factor—and one that helps him, not hurts him. Romney's membership in a minority religious community with a history of suffering—very real and very recent religious persecution—opens up an opportunity for him to connect with voters as a credible advocate for the religious liberty of all Americans.
America On Fire: Why Is The Number Of Wildfires
In The United States Increasing?
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
As America watches large sections of Colorado literally burn to the ground, many are wondering why all of this is happening. There have always been wildfires, but what we are experiencing now seems very unusual. So is the number of wildfires in the United States increasing? As you will see later in this article, the answer is yes. 2011 was a record setting year for wildfires and this wildfire season is off to a very frightening start. Right now the eyes of the nation are focused on the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado. It doubled in size overnight and it has consumed more than 300 homes so far. It is threatening the city of Colorado Springs, and at this point more than 35,000 peoplehave been forced to evacuate - including the U.S. Air Force Academy. On Twitter and Facebook residents are describing what they are seeing as "the apocalypse" and as "the end of the world". But this is just the beginning of the wildfire season. We haven't even gotten to July and August yet.
Whatever Happened to the Keystone XL Pipeline?
By Jen Alic - OilPrice.com
Four and a half years of studies and five failed votes in the House later, exactly where are we with the Keystone XL pipeline? Stuck on the US-Canadian border where it is likely to remain until mid-2013 despite the headline-grabbing issuance of one of three permits to begin construction in Texas for the smaller and much less controversial portion of the pipeline.
On 26 June, the US Army Corps of Engineers granted TransCanada Corp one of three permits required in order to begin construction on the $2.3 billion southern section of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would run from Cushing, Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. This first in the permit series covers construction across the wetlands and waterways of Texas' Galveston district. TransCanada still needs to more permits from Tulsa, Oklahoma and Forth Worth, Texas, to complete this southern Gulf portion of the pipeline extension. Tulsa is set to rule on the second permit in a month and a half.
IBM freezes salaries of executives, many workers Only employees with high-demand skills will get raises; may be part of aggressive plan to meet goals of 2015 roadmap
By Patrick Thibodeau - Computerworld.com
Computerworld - IBM this year won't be awarding pay raises to its executives or to many of its workers in its Global Technology Services unit.
The company said it is only giving pay raises to workers with high-demand skills that the company needs.
IBM typically awards raises during the mid-year period.
"There are targeted skill groups of employees that are eligible for salary increases in 2012," said Trink Guarino, an IBM spokeswoman. "No executives will be eligible for salary increases."
Down Goes RIM:
BlackBerry 10 Delayed Until 2013, 5K Jobs Cut
By Alexandra Chang - Wired.com
It's all losses and delays for Research In Motion (RIM), the struggling mobile company best known for its once-popular BlackBerry devices. RIM lost $518 million in the last three months and has announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs and delay its BlackBerry 10 platform until 2013, according to the company's first-quarter earnings report released Thursday.
RIM announced BlackBerry 10 in May, indicating that the upcoming platform would be available by the end of this year. But in its Q1 earnings report, the company backpedaled on its original promises.
The company attributes the setback to the time it takes to implement new features, stating that "the integration of these features and the associated large volume of code into the platform has proven to be more time consuming than anticipated."
Barack Obama: Socialist or Nouveau Fascist? Which "-ism" is America under his rule?
By HOWARD RICH - The American Spectator.org
"Barack Obama is a socialist."
Heard that one before? Of course you have. In fact if polling is to be believed, it's more likely than not that you have accepted this premise at some point in the not too distant past.
Two summers ago a poll conducted by Democratic strategists James Carville and Stan Greenberg found that 55 percent of registered voters nationwide believed the term socialist accurately applied to Obama. In fact 33 percent of respondents -- a third of all registered voters in the nation -- believed the term applied to Obama "very well."
Half of German teenagers unable to distinguish
between democracy and dictatorship, study shows
RefreshingNews.Blogspot.com
About half of young Germans are unsure whether the Nazi state was a dictatorship – and even more are not sure whether the socialist East German regime was one, a new study shows.
The widespread ignorance is described in a study called, "Late Victory of the Dictatorships?" conducted by researchers at Berlin's Free University.
Americans Are Being Prepared For Full Spectrum Tyranny
By Brandon Smith - Alt-Market.com
Totalitarian governments, like persistent forms of cancer, have latched onto the long history of man, falling and then reemerging from the deep recesses of our cultural biology to wreak havoc upon one unlucky generation to the next. The assumption by most is that these unfortunate empires are the product of bureaucracies gone awry; overtaken by the chaotic maddening hunger for wealth and power, and usually manipulated by the singular ambitions of a mesmerizing dictator. For those of us in the Liberty Movement who are actually educated on the less acknowledged details of history, oligarchy and globalized centralism is much less random than this, and a far more deliberate and devious process than the general unaware public is willing consider.
Unfortunately, the final truth is very complex, even for us…
Obama Declares Emergency over Russian Enriched Uranium
Infowars.com - June 26, 2012
On Monday, Obama sent a letter to the Speaker of the House declaring a national emergency "to deal with the threat posed to the United States by the risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation in the Russian Federation of a large volume of weapons-usable fissile material," according to a post on the White House website.
Obama cites Executive Order 13159 of June 21, 2000, in the letter. The Clinton era EO declares "that the risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation of a large volume of weapons-usable fissile material in the territory of the Russian Federation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat."
Obama's Executive Order 13159 Executive Order--Russian Highly Enriched Uranium
EXECUTIVE ORDER
BLOCKING PROPERTY OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION RELATING TO THE DISPOSITION OF HIGHLY ENRICHED URANIUM EXTRACTED FROM NUCLEAR WEAPONS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, in view of the policies underlying Executive Order 12938 of November 14, 1994, and Executive Order 13085 of May 26, 1998, and the restrictions put in place pursuant to Executive Order 13159 of June 21, 2000, find that the risk of nuclear proliferation created by the accumulation of a large volume of weapons-usable fissile material in the territory of the Russian Federation continues to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. I hereby order:
Russia Preps Mach 7 Missiles — With India's Help
By Robert Beckhusen - Wired.com
Russia and India are already testing a new supersonic cruise missile, which is pretty cool, we guess. But going Mach 2 or thereabouts isn't all that fast these days. Everything has to go faster. That's why the two countries are also developing a hypersonic missile capable of traveling more than five times the speed of sound. Problem is even building the engines, let alone missiles, is extremely hard to do.
If it works, the missile — called the BrahMos 2 — is expected to travel up to Mach 7 from sea-, land- and air-launched platforms. And it's supposed to be ready for flight tests in 2017, which is overly optimistic, at best. "I think we will need about 5 years to develop the first fully functional prototype," Sivathanu Pillai, CEO of India-based BraHmos Aerospace said in Moscow on Wednesday. Pillai also suggested the missile already exists, and that BrahMos has conducted "lab tests [of the missile] at the speed of 6.5 Mach."
Aspen Ideas 2012: Revolution and Introspection
By Steve Clemons - TheAtlantic.com
Chrystia Freeland, the sassy smart, globe-trotting provocateur and editor of ThomsonReuters Digital, helped open the 2012 Aspen Ideas Festival yesterday evening by pushing back against Walter Isaacson's characterization of the American idea.
Isaacson spoke of America being a hotbed of ideas and values that rub and push against each other, ultimately producing a balance and harmony among divergent interests. Freeland pushed back, saying "that's Canada -- not America."
"America," Freeland argued, "is the place of revolutions."
Freeland expanded on this theme in the two minutes that she was allowed to speak at the Aspen Ideas opener to offer her "big idea" that we are now in the era of "leaderless revolutions."
Tipping Point Democracy
March 29th, 2012 a group of plaintiffs led by author/journalist Chris Hedges brought a lawsuit against Barack Obama and the US government for section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which gives the US military the right to detain American citizens indefinitely without charge or trial.
2012 London Olympics:
Undercover Journalist Reveals that
200,000 Casket Linings on Standby,
American and Foreign Troops Onsite,
Evacuation Plan Ready for All of London
By Robert Thomas - CorporateMediaExposed.com
....During an episode of BCFM's Friday Drivetime host Tony Gosling interviewed an apparent undercover journalist who appeared on the show under the psudonym, "Lee Hazledean" and exposed a wide array of stunning facts in regards to the security run up to the 2012 London Olympics.
The whistleblower, who claimed to be a well known journalist for a London TV Show, revealed that he had infiltrated the notorious private security company G4S which is currently running security in the lead up to the Olympics.
Japanese reactor building has slight tilt
New York Times - SFGate.com
Tokyo -- A heavily damaged reactor building at the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant has a slight tilt, but the tilt does not pose a risk to the integrity of the building, according to the plant's operator.
The Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, said in a report Monday to Japanese nuclear regulators that at least two of the walls of the No. 4 reactor building are bulging outward at various points and that the building is tilting. The biggest bulge measured about 1.8 inches about a third of the way up the building, the report said.
Was Turkey Jet Shootdown a Staged Provocation? Manufactured stunts to create pretext for war
one of the oldest tricks in the book
By Paul Joseph Watson - Infowars.com
Syria's downing of a Turkish F-4 Phantom jet last week, an event that has threatened to escalate the threat of NATO military action against President Bashar Al-Assad's regime, mirrors previous instances where false flag provocations have been used or considered as a tool with which to create a justification for war.
Despite initially playing down the incident, Turkey today deployed anti-aircraft guns at the border with Syria in response to the shoot down and has promised to talk with NATO about potential repercussions.
British Commandos Operating In Syria,
Assad Compound Under Siege Reports suggest Western military intervention in full swing
By Steve Watson - Infowars.com
French, British and Turkish military sources have suggested that elite British soldiers have entered Northern Syria and are operating ten kilometers inside the country in what is thought to be the first offensive western intervention against the Assad regime.
"Our military sources estimate that the British military drive into Syria, if confirmed, is designed to establish the first safe zone along the Syrian-Turkish border, to be followed by more Western military incursions to establish additional zones of safe asylum in other parts of Syria." reports the Israeli intelligence website Debkafile.
'US should be excluded from talks over Syria just like Iran'
An international conference of countries which have influence on events in Syria is scheduled for this Saturday in Geneva. It aims to try to find a solution to the crisis. Iran hasn't been invited, despite earlier statements from the UN's Syria envoy Kofi Annan that it should be part of the peace process. RT talks to Sara Marusek, researcher from Syracuse University in Beirut.
Syria will receive attack helicopters from Russia,
Kremlin confirms Senior official says delivery of three repaired aircraft will take place after abortive attempt to transport them last month
By Miriam Elder in Moscow - Guardian.co.uk
Russia will follow through with plans to deliver attack helicopters to Syriabecause it considers the country its friend, a senior official has said.
"Syria is our friend, and we fulfil all our obligations to our friends," Alexander Fomin, head of the federal service for military-technical co-operation, told RIA-Novosti. "According to a 2008 contract, we repaired three Mi-25s and are ready to deliver them on time."
Russia has come under fire for refusing to halt its co-operation with the regime of Bashar al-Assad, one of its last remaining allies in the Middle East.
When Cities Go Bankrupt: Stockton, California
By ON C. OGG - 247WallSt.com
Companies go bankrupt all the time. Owning a business comes with risks like solvency, credit, operational, and management (among other risks). But the thought of a government entity going bankrupt seems hard to imagine. All it requires is a lack of revenues and a poor economy, and suddenly a city or county can find itself unable to pay its employees, ongoing bills, contractors, and even its interest payments on municipal bonds.
Meredith Whitney took a lot of heat for predicting the demise of many municipalities even though some municipalities have gone bankrupt. Chalk up one more: Stockton, California.
U.S. economy likely needs more help: Fed's Evans
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve likely will have to take further steps to boost the economy, the central bank's leading advocate for so-called quantitative easing said Wednesday.
"At some point, we are likely to need to do more," Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said in an interview with reporters. Evans isn't a voting member this year on the Federal Open Market Committee.
DERIVATIVES:
Bank downgrades trigger billions in collateral calls
27 June 2012 | By Christopher Whittall - IFRE.com
A series of ratings downgrades from Moody's last week has created an unwelcome but manageable liquidity squeeze on three major banks, by forcing them to post billions of dollars in additional collateral against derivatives exposures.
Moody's completed its rating review of international banks last Thursday and downgraded three major derivatives dealers below the crucial Single A threshold, which will likely have led to hefty collateral calls from counterparties.
How State Spending Cuts Are Killing the Economy
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
President Obama might have been wrong to say the private sector was "doing fine," but he couldn't have been more right when he pinpointed the public sector as one of the biggest weaknesses in the economy. State and local governments have cut more than 100,000 jobs over the past year, and it's doing a number on the economy: [see graph]
Jim O'Neill: Everyone could be "taken down" by euro crisis -
Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, says there is a simple, political solution to the crisis in the euro zone. But if politicians fail to fix it, Europe's struggle could engulf the entire world economy. (June 25, 2012)
European Disunion Faces Endgame
[Google title for free article pass]
By SIMON NIXON - WSJ.com $$
One test of whether proposals for European banking, fiscal and political union circulated ahead of Thursday's summit will calm the crisis is to ask a simple question: Do the proposals make it more likely that France raises its retirement age to 67? It was only recently reduced to 60 for some workers.
Put another way, will the proposals make it more likely that struggling Italian companies can lay off underperforming workers without the say-so of a judge? Or, to labor the point, will they make it more likely Spain shuts down the branches of failed banks rather than keeping them afloat?
Germany offers vision of federalism for the European Union
By Anthony Faiola and Michael Birnbaum - WashingtonPost.com
BRUSSELS — Political posters in Rome are comparing her to Hitler. A popular British magazine dubbed her "Europe's most dangerous leader." But could German Chancellor Angela Merkel — the frugal physicist foisting tough austerity on the region's hard-hit economies — really be the most pro-European leader in Europe?
Merkel arrives here Thursday for a European Union summit, with the stoic 57-year-old raised in East Germany again seen as the chief stumbling block to a shock-and-awe response to the region's debt crisis. Jealously guarding the purse strings of Germany — an anchor of economic might and stability in a region adrift in financial trouble — the leader nicknamed "Frau Nein" by the European press is resisting calls to roll out a bevy of measures seen as possible quick fixes to the crisis.
EU moves to boost growth will help U.S. economy:
Treasury's Brainard -- Freeland File
Europe consumes about 15 percent of U.S. exports and efforts to stabilize the euro zone, shore up its banks and return to economic growth will be a boon for the U.S., says U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Lael Brainard in this episode of the Freeland File. (June 25, 2012)
* * * * *
A nationwide bid-rigging scam
in the municipal bond markets...
The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia How America's biggest banks took part in a nationwide bid-rigging conspiracy - until they were caught on tape
By Matt Taibbi - RollingStone.com
Someday, it will go down in history as the first trial of the modern American mafia. Of course, you won't hear the recent financial corruption case, United States of America v. Carollo, Goldberg and Grimm, called anything like that. If you heard about it at all, you're probably either in the municipal bond business or married to an antitrust lawyer. Even then, all you probably heard was that a threesome of bit players on Wall Street got convicted of obscure antitrust violations in one of the most inscrutable, jargon-packed legal snoozefests since the government's massive case against Microsoft in the Nineties – not exactly the thrilling courtroom drama offered by the famed trials of old-school mobsters like Al Capone or Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo.
But this just-completed trial in downtown New York against three faceless financial executives really was historic. Over 10 years in the making, the case allowed federal prosecutors to make public for the first time the astonishing inner workings of the reigning American crime syndicate, which now operates not out of Little Italy and Las Vegas, but out of Wall Street.
Matt Taibbi and Yves Smith
The tangled web of banks and government with Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi and Yves Smith of the website Naked Capitalism Matt Taibbi and Yves Smith
Anything Goes
China Embraces Ponzi-Bonds
by MIKE WHITNEY - CounterPunch.org
China is preparing to launch a program that will create the same complex debt-instruments that triggered the global financial crisis in 2008. The pilot program will allow banks to convert pools of loans into securities via off-balance sheet securities firms called Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) or Structured Investment Vehicles (SIV). The process, which is called securitization, helps banks to circumvent capital requirements by hiding debt on off their books, thus, allowing them to increase leverage by many orders of magnitude. Securitization turbo-charges credit expansion while concealing the risks from shareholders, investors and depositors.
Why Barclays coughed up so much for Lie-bor Egregious behavior led to massive settlement
By MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Even by Wall Street standards, the decision by Barclays to pay nearly a half billion dollars to make American and British regulators end lawsuits was a steep one.
But a reading of the evidence stacked against the firm, now cleverly dubbed "Lie-bor," explains why.
The emails and phone calls regulators uncovered tell the whole — if grammatically challenged — story of how the bank manipulated a key interest rate, called LIBOR, so that derivatives traders could maximize the value of their positions and so senior managers could lie about the bank's financial health in the midst of the crisis.
Oversight Committee Reports Bipartisan Legislation
to Audit Federal Reserve
(WASHINGTON)–On a bipartisan voice vote the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee advanced H.R. 459, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, introduced by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas. The bill is supported by a bipartisan coalition of more than 220 Democratic and Republican members of the House.
'Audit the Fed' bill advances in House
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
The House oversight committee voted Wednesday to demand a broad audit of the Federal Reserve system by congressional investigators - a major move lawmakers said is designed to bring accountability to the murky workings of the independent board.
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who turned the push for an audit into a powerful campaign slogan and whose criticism of the Fed's monetary policy drew hundreds of thousands of voters into the political process.
June 27, 2012 Full Committee Business Meeting
On June 27, 2012 the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a business meeting to consider several pieces of legislation.
More than 60 banks attacked in massive cyber fraud ring
SKY NEWS/NEWSCORE - NYPost.com
LONDON -- About $75 million has been stolen from bank accounts in a massive cyber bank heist after fraudsters raided dozens of financial institutions around the world.
According to a joint report by software security firm McAfee and Guardian Analytics, more than 60 firms have suffered from what it has called an "insider level of understanding."
Peter Schiff: America the next Greece?
Peter Schiff, CEO and chief global strategist at Euro Pacific Capital, explains why Washington's Keynesian approach to stimulating the economy has led to more overspending and excessive debt levels, during a Fraser Institute policy briefing on June 5 in Vancouver.
Hard to understand why Fed won't do more, Evans says
By Ann Saphir
CHICAGO | Wed Jun 27, 2012 3:02pm EDT
(Reuters) - Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans, one of the U.S. central bank's strongest advocates for further monetary policy easing, said Wednesday he is flummoxed by the Fed's timidity in the face of high unemployment and low inflation.
At its policy-setting meeting last week, Fed officials sharply slashed their gross domestic product forecasts for 2012 and 2013 and marked down the outlook for inflation.
Those changes to the U.S. central bank's summary of economic projections, or SEP, suggest progress on its twin goals of full employment and stable prices is slowing if not stalled.
One on One with John Williams
By Greg Hunter's USAWatchdog.com
Anyone who thinks the U.S. is in recovery should stop listening to the mainstream media and listen to John Williams. He heads up Shadowstats.com, and is one of the few economists who crunches the numbers to give unvarnished true statistics. Adjusted for real inflation of about 7%, Williams says, "GDP has plunged, and we have been bottom bouncing" ever since the financial crisis started. Williams says, "The next crash will be a lot worse (than 2008) because it will push us into the early stages of hyperinflation." He predicts this will happen "by the end of 2014– at the latest." Long before 2014, Shadowstats.com thinks there is a good chance of "panic selling of the U.S. dollar," if the Federal Reserve starts another round of money printing (QE3) to save the system and the big banks.
If Americans 'Vote Their Wallets,'
What Will That Mean in November?
By Rich Smith, The Motley Fool - DailyFinance.com
Once upon a time (circa 1992), a certain political pundit coined the clever phrase "It's the economy, stupid," whispered it in Bill Clinton's ear, and cemented Democrats' hold over the White House for the next eight years. Ever since, politicians have taken the advice to heart.
In an election year, voters are expected to "vote their pocketbooks" -- incumbents tend to win in good economies, and challengers in bad ones. One study published earlier this year argued that "economic and institutional factors [account for] about 75% of the variation of the popular vote in presidential elections since 1916."
Top Democrat Says
Skipping National Convention Is A Good Idea
By PEMA LEVY - TalkingPointsMemo.com
A top Democrat tasked with winning back the House of Representatives isn't upset with vulnerable Democrats who have decided to skip the party's national convention in Charlotte, N.C. — a growing list that includes several candidates DCCC Chairman Steve Israel is helping win election to the House in November.
In fact, the chairman thinks it's a great idea.
"If they want to win an election, they need to be in their districts," Israel said at a Reuters event in Washington Tuesday. "I don't care if the president was at 122 percent favorability right now," he said, disregarding the idea that poll numbers are keeping Democrats away. "I think [candidates] should be in their districts."
First, Don't Vote Celente Launches 2nd American Revolution:
Puts His Money Where His Heart Is
Gerald Celelnte, Trends Journal - LewRockwell.com
KINGSTON, NY, 26 June 2012 – Gerald Celente's forecast is clear – The 2nd American Revolution is on the horizon. And this American Patriot has done more than just sign up to join the fight, he's established its headquarters.
Inspired by its potent symbolic value, Celente has purchased the 1750s "Franz Roggen House," a stately stone colonial set on the northeast corner of John and Crown Streets, in Kingston's historic Stockade District. This is the only intersection in the United States that boasts pre-revolutionary stone buildings on all four corners.
Oh, really... think again, Mr. President. White House: 'Millions and millions and millions of dollars'
of ads turned Americans against Obamacare
By Charlie Spiering - WashingtonExaminer.com
On the eve of the Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked why he thought a recent WSJ/NBC poll showed that 37 percent would be pleased if the law was ruled unconstitutional. Only 22 percent said they would be disappointed.
In response, Carney referenced the "sheer volume" of negative advertising against the health care bill, citing the "millions and millions and millions of dollars" that was spent to "discredit" Obama's signature achievement.
Patrick Kennedy warns of Tea Party "rampage"
if SCOTUS upholds Obamacare
By Philip Klein - WashingtonExaminer.com
Patrick Kennedy, a former representative from Rhode Island and son of the late Ted Kennedy, warned in a fundraising email for Congressional Democrats that if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds President Obama's health care law, then "dangerous Tea Party extremists will go on a rampage."
The fundraising email was sent out Wednesday afternoon, to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Health Care Rapid Response Fund" ahead of Thursday morning's expected ruling by the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the health care law.
Tax Hikes in Obamacare: How Will SCOTUS Rule?
By Ryan Ellis and John Kartch - ATR.org [PDF]
Obamacare law contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses
On the eve of the Supreme Court's decision on Obamacare, taxpayers are reminded that the President's healthcare law is one of the largest tax increases in American history.
Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses. On Thursday, Americans for Tax Reform will do a full analysis of the tax implications of the Court's decision.
Arranged by their respective effective dates, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, where to find them in the bill, and how much your taxes are scheduled to go up as of today:
NY's $51.71-an-hour summer job
By RUSSELL SYKES - NYPost.com
The small Hudson Valley city of Poughkeepsie is now home to some of the best-paying summer jobs ever: $51.71 an hour.
That's right: $51.71 an hour.
The project started off as perfectly sensible. The work involves restoring Fallkill Creek, damaged in last summer's post-Hurricane Irene flooding. To get the job done and put up to 150 unemployed young people to work, the state Labor Department tapped a federal storm-cleanup grant.
So far, so good: There's work that needs to be done, people who need work and a way to pay for it all.
But $51.71 an hour?
Clearing debris and lifting heavy objects isn't easy, but why pay temporary manual laborers the same hourly rate as a skilled employee in a $100,000-a-year full-time job?
Karl Marx on a Credit Card: Priceless Karl Marx Credit Cards Prove a Hit in Eastern Germany
By Sophie Duvernoy, Reuters - DailyFinance.com
Two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, some eastern Germans are once again carrying round images of Karl Marx -- if only in their pockets.
The disappearance of communist former East Germany has not deterred them from using credit cards emblazoned with the image of the man who foretold the end of capitalism and the triumph of communism.
More than a third of customers at Sparkasse Bank in Chemnitz opted for the picture of a bronze bust of the bearded 19th-century German-born philosopher, bank spokesman Roger Wirtz said.
Betty Crocker faces boycott for endorsing gay marriage
By Paul Bedard - WashingtonExaminer.com
The Washington-based National Organization for Marriage, created to fight gay marriage proposals, is betting that Betty Crocker would be on their side. Because on Tuesday, the activist group announced a boycott of General Mills, owners of the Betty Crocker brand, which this month announced its opposition to a ban on same-sex marriage in Minnesota, their headquarters.
"We value diversity. We value inclusion," the food producer said in a letter, making it one of the biggest corporate voices for same-sex marriage.
The FBI's Secret Surveillance Letters to Tech Companies
By Jennifer Valentino-DeVries - WSJ.com
Just what kind of information can the government get with a so-called "national security letter" – the tool that allows investigators to seek financial, phone and Internet data without a judge's approval?
The letters let the Federal Bureau of Investigation get information without going before a judge or grand jury if it's relevant to a national security investigation. The letters have been around since the 1980s, but their use grew after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and passage of the USA Patriot Act. Tens of thousands of the requests are sent each year, but they are generally subject to strict secrecy orders.
Big Blue is turning into your Big Brother
By John Crudele - NYPost.com
Everyone knows that IBM is a venerable computer company, but few people realize that it is a bigger snoop than TMZ.
Take, for instance, this past Memorial Day weekend. Before that holiday, IBM put out something it calls the Social Sentiment Index. The gauge predicted that there would be a big increase in people traveling because more folks were talking about going somewhere.
But how'd the Armonk, NY-based computer giant know what people were talking about? Simple — it was monitoring public opinion by reading your online messages.
Colorado wildfires: Several fires explode across Front Range
By Jeremy P. Meyer - DenverPost.com
A three-day-old wildfire erupted with catastrophic fury Tuesday, ripping across the foothills neighborhoods of Colorado Springs, devouring an untold number of homes and sending tens of thousands fleeing to safety in what was shaping up as one of the biggest disasters in state history. "This is a firestorm of epic proportions," said Colorado Springs Fire Chief Richard Brown. The Waldo Canyon fire in El Paso County — which had been growing in the forested hills on the city's west side — blew into an inferno late in the afternoon, raging over a ridge toward densely populated neighborhoods.
An apocalyptic plume of smoke covered Colorado's second-largest city as thousands of people forced to evacuate clogged Interstate 25 at rush hour trying to get to their homes or to get out of the way.
Fight to save Air Force Academy Colorado wildfire's night of terror
leaves thousands displaced, tough battle continues
AP - WashingtonPost.com
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Fire crews fought to save the U.S. Air Force Academy and residents begged for information on the fate of their homes Wednesday after a night of terror sent thousands of people fleeing a raging Colorado Springs wildfire.
More than 30,000 have been displaced by the fire, including thousands who frantically packed up belongings Tuesday night after it barreled into neighborhoods in the foothills west and north of Colorado's second-largest city. With flames looming overhead, they clogged roads shrouded in smoke and flying embers, their fear punctuated by explosions of bright orange flame that signaled yet another house had been claimed.
Trauma of Colorado's Waldo Canyon fire:
'It's in our neighborhood'
Denver Post Staff
As the Waldo Canyon fire burned out of control Wednesday, stories emerged of harrowing escapes from the flames, heartbreaking realizations that homes were gone forever, and heroic efforts by residents of Colorado Springs to help their besieged neighbors. Here are some of those stories:
Brian Holcombe was talking on a cell phone with his wife when she got the news that the flames had crossed over the Flying W Ranch no more than 50 yards from their home.
Has Your Computer Been Violated? The Coming Internet-Based Global War
by RUSSELL D. HOFFMAN - CounterPunch.org
If you think your computer might be vulnerable to hackers…. you're probably right.
Almost every week these days, I get an email from someone's infected computer, asking me to open an attachment. It was a local reporter's system last week. Maybe it will be yours next. Maybe it will be mine.
Major corporations are hacked with frightening regularity. Passwords and identities are stolen, credit card numbers are distributed. Lives are disrupted. It happens all the time.
Computer security software is notoriously difficult to install and maintain.
The #1 vulnerability?
Users who never even change the default passwords! (Usually username: admin, password: admin)
'Girls Who Code' Seeks to Train Women for Tech Fields
By Shira Ovide - WSJ.com
A shortage of female workers in science and engineering has long posed an image problem for Silicon Valley. Now a one-time congressional candidate is trying to make a difference, starting with a summer training program in New York City.
A new organization calledGirls who Code is starting an eight-week program in July for 20 high-school-age girls, who will learn how to build websites and mobile apps and start their own companies. There will also be workshops on topics such a financial literacy, computer science and robotics. The group said it has financial backing from companies including Google, eBay, General Electric and Twitter.
Buy Your Very Own Tuscan Village (on eBay!)
By Megan Garber - TheAtlantic.com
Pratariccia is a medieval village that is perched on hilltops above Tuscany's Casentino Valley. It's owned, currently, by a religious order. It's also, pretty much, empty: Fifty years ago, as Italy experienced an economic boom, the settlement's farmers and shepherds abandoned it for factory work. Now, Pratariccia is a ghost town. But a really, really beautiful one.
For years, Pratariccia's owners have been trying to sell it -- in all, a collection of 25 cottages and nearly 20 acres of land. And for the low, low price of €2.5 million (just over $3 million). And while that would seem to be, given that it buys you an entire town in Tuscany, a pretty good deal ... Pratariccia's owners have had trouble selling the village through traditional real estate agencies.
1 in 5 smartphones will be NFC-capable by 2014 R.I.P., Credit Cards: New Tech May Signal the Death of Plastic
By The Motley Fool - DailyFinance.com
On a frigid February evening in 1949, a New York City businessman named Frank McNamara made an embarrassing mistake that would end up forever changing the world.
Among other things, this fateful error would ultimately spawn a $2.5 trillion industry, redefine the way business was done in nearly every country on Earth, and launch countless Fortune 500 companies.
It's an interesting story, to be sure, but perhaps even more intriguing is the fact that there's now a groundbreaking technology out there that could bring the 63-year-old industry McNamara unwittingly created to its knees.
The iPhone Turns Five Forget the shouting about 'open' or 'closed' systems.
The magic is in the dynamics of platform competition.
By THOMAS W. HAZLETT - WSJ.com
On June 29, 2007, thousands of fan-boys and -girls camped in long lines to inhale a wisp of sweet techno fairy dust. The new iPhone rocked the world. Revolutionary in design, function and ecosystem, it set off the mobile data tsunami. In three days, Apple sold a million of them. The Economist asked: "Where would Jesus queue?"
The iconic innovation of the Information Age, however, inspired a fierce counterattack. Columbia University Law Prof. Tim Wu condemned the iPhone business model as "iPhony." The handset was cool, he said, but the business model tied the customer to AT&T's wireless network (where Apple struck a four-year exclusive deal) and to iTunes (Apple's content store). Soon the Apple App Store would deepen the master-slave relationship.
High-Tech Glasses Steal Show
At Google Developer Conference
By CARL FRANZEN - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Google executives on Wednesday announced a host of new products and services at the company's developers conference, but none quite as surprising or potentially revolutionary as a pair of prototype high-tech glasses, Google Glass, which Google will begin shipping in early 2013, exclusively to U.S. software developers who attended the event, at a cost of $1,500 per pair.
These prototype devices are known as Google Glass "Explorer Edition." The company has not yet said when the product will be available for general consumers, but with a pledge to ship physical pairs of the glasses, they do not appear to be vaporware.
Google Glass and the genesis of the hive mind
By VentureBeat.com - WashingtonPost.com
During today's stunt-filled Google Glass demo, I found myself inexplicably perturbed — even profoundly depressed.
The charismatic Sergey Brin sprinted onstage at Google I/O, wearing the futuristic device; he was joined by extreme sportsters and a redheaded product lead who looked every inch the futuristic power-creative. Together, they showed the possibilities offered by Glass: constant connectivity, a human's-eye view of every aspect of life, sharing without ceasing.
The crowd of nerdcore developers and press exploded in applause at every interval. They were eating it up.
'UFO' at the bottom of the Baltic Sea
'cuts off electrical equipment when divers get within 200m'
By EDDIE WRENN - DailyMail.co.uk
The divers exploring a 'UFO-shaped' object at the bottom of the Baltic Sea say their equipment stops working when they approach within 200m.
Professional diver Stefan Hogerborn, part of the Ocean X team which is exploring the anomaly, said some of the team's cameras and the team's satellite phone would refuse to work when directly above the object, and would only work once they had sailed away.
He is quoted as saying: 'Anything electric out there - and the satellite phone as well - stopped working when we were above the object.
'And then we got away about 200 meters and it turned on again, and when we got back over the object it didn't work.'
Russian heartland fears NATO transit
By Kathy Lally - WashingtonPost.com
ULYANOVSK, Russia — The people of Ulyanovsk, a poverty-stricken city sitting high on the banks of the mighty Volga River, are having a hard time accepting the idea that NATO is their friend and that they should help the alliance extricate itself from Afghanistan.
Russia is officially anti-NATO. Most Russians fear it. They say the West betrayed them: Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev let the Iron Curtain fall along with the Berlin Wall on his understanding that the military alliance would not move eastward.
U.S. Border Patrol Agents Are Being Trained
To Run Away And Hide If Someone Starts Shooting
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
U.S. border patrol agents have incredibly dangerous jobs and they are the first line of defense for our homeland. But instead of training and equipping them properly to defend themselves and all the rest of us, the Obama administration is actually attempting to turn them into spineless jellyfish. If you can believe it, U.S. border patrol agents are now actually being trained to run away and hide if they encounter an "active shooter" in a public location. If they are cornered by the shooter, they are being trained to "throw things" at the shooter. What in the world is happening to this country? We might as well not even have borders. The Obama administration has made it abundantly clear that it has absolutely no intention of protecting our borders or of enforcing our immigration laws. Protecting our borders is one thing that the U.S. Constitution requires the president to do, but Barack Obama and several other past presidents have steadfastly refused to do this. So just what in the world is going on here?
The American War Racket
by Bill Bonner, Daily Reckoning - LewRockwell.com
Normandy, France – One of the advantages of moving overseas is that you see home more clearly. We came to France last week. Already, America comes into clearer focus.
The French press seems fascinated by the relationship between Francois Hollande's two mistresses. The former – a candidate for president herself – dumped him when he took up with the latter. The former is also the mother of Hollande's 4 children, which complicates things further.
The latter hates the former. The former hates the latter.
What Did Turkey Think Syria Would Do?
Syria and the Phantom
by CONN HALLINAN - CounterPunch.org
What was that Turkish F-4 Phantom II up to when the Syrians shot it down?
Ankara said the plane strayed into Syrian airspace, but quickly left and was over international waters when it was attacked, a simple case of carelessness on the part of the Turkish pilot that Syrian paranoia turned deadly.
But the Phantom—eyewitnesses told Turkish television that there were two aircraft, but there is no official confirmation of that observation—was hardly on a Sunday outing. According to the Financial Times, Turkey's Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, told the newspaper "the jet was on a test and training mission focused on Turkey's radar defense, rather than Syria."
Muni Default Domino... who's next? Stockton Filing For Bankruptcy; Citizens Cry Foul
Sacramento.CBSLocal.com
STOCKTON (CBS13) – A source confirmed with CBS13 on Tuesday prior to the City Council meeting that Stockton will indeed file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, becoming the largest U.S. city to do so.
City leaders were unable to reach an agreement with creditors on $26 million in debt. It had a deadline of midnight Monday. It must pass a balanced budget by July 1 so the city was voting on a pendency plan on Tuesday on how to allocate its limited funds.
The city's decision to file for bankruptcy prompted dozens of critical remarks from citizens during the public comment portion of Tuesday's packed meeting at City Hall.
"The pendency plan is a death sentence to some and to others it's an unavoidable slap in the face," Joni Anderson said.
Stockton braces for possible bankruptcy as key vote looms
By Diana Marcum - LATimes.com
Stockton residents braced for a fateful City Council meeting on Tuesday night that could result in the city declaring bankruptcy.
The prospect of insolvency was generating national headlines Tuesday.
But on the Central Valley city's largely African American south side, the spectre of Stockton becoming the largest U.S. city to file for protection from creditors raised little interest.
"Bankrupt? We've been bankrupt," said the Rev. Dwight Williams of the New Bethel Baptist Church.
"This church works day and night to pay the PGE bill and keep the lights on. So many in our congregation have lost homes and jobs.
Where Does Money Come From? The Giant Federal Reserve Scam That Most Americans Do Not Understand
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
How is money created? If you ask average people on the street this question, most of them have absolutely no idea. This is rather odd, because we all use money constantly. You would think that it would only be natural for all of us to know where it comes from. So where does money come from? A lot of people assume that the federal government creates our money, but that is not the case. If the federal government could just print and spend more money whenever it wanted to, our national debt would be zero. But instead, our national debt is nownearly 16 trillion dollars. So why does our government (or any sovereign government for that matter) have to borrow money from anybody? That is a very good question. The truth is that in theory the U.S. government does not have to borrow a single penny from anyone. But under the Federal Reserve system, the U.S. government has purposely allowed itself to be subjugated to a financial system in which it will be constantly borrowing larger and larger amounts of money. In fact, this is how it works in the vast majority of the countries on the planet at this point. As you will see, this kind of system is not sustainable and the structural problems caused by such a system are at the very heart of our debt problems today.
The Black Hole of Deflation - Part 1
BY JULIAN PHILLIPS - FinancialSense.com
The Global Picture and Where We Are Now
For the last few years we've watched as the Credit Crunch morphed into the Sovereign Debt crisis in Europe, which may re-cross the Atlantic to hit the U.S. Treasury market. During that time, we have watched a series of patch-up jobs on the crisis that have only succeeded in prolonging the crisis without any real structural remedies. We've also watched how central bankers have seen the 'buck' passed to them, when their role is strictly in support of government action that should have led the way. Central bankers are running out of tools to tackle the task they should never have been asked to tackle alone.
S&P says U.S. faces 20-percent risk of double dip
(Reuters) - The United States faces 20-percent odds of a return to recession, rating agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday, although it said a slow recovery remains the company's baseline forecast for the world's biggest economy.
"But the risk of another downward leg on the recession remains real," the agency said in a statement.
While S&P said it could be underestimating American consumers, years of stagnation, as Japan has seen, could also occur.
Euro Must Have Reform, Not Americanization
By William Pfaff - Truthdig.com
More than two decades ago, the Delors plan for European currency union was initially proposed. Some of us asked whether eight, 12 or 15 different European economies, with their distinct budgets (and budget priorities), fiscal situations and national debts, could really operate with a single currency.
A decade following the Delors plan, the European Central Bank was created, and a Stability and Growth Pact was signed by the EU members who envisaged joining the monetary union. There was no provision for individual currencies to be adjusted in value according to changing circumstances. Notably, this meant no devaluations, a past practice in countries with weaker economies, allowing them to compensate for less productive enterprises and work forces by competing on price.
François Hollande and Angela Merkel
meet in Paris with high stakes at play
Franco-German discussions need to build
'a concrete path' for Europe, says José Manuel Barroso
By Ian Traynor - Guardian.co.uk
Chancellor Angela Merkel goes to Paris on Wednesday to try to strike a Franco-German deal with President François Hollande amid deep-seated differences at what has been described as Europe's defining moment.
With the two key EU countries split for the first time in 30 months of single currency and sovereign debt crisis, José Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission laid bare the high stakes in play at an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday as well as the high frictions betweenGermany and France.
Italy gives world's oldest bank €2bn lifeline Italy to buy up to €2bn in Monte dei Paschi di Siena bonds in country's first move of its kind since onset of eurozone crisis
By John Hooper in Rome - Guardian.co.uk
The Italian government is to lend the world's oldest bank up to €2bn in the first move of its kind in Italy since the onset of the eurozone debt crisis more than two years ago.
Mario Monti's government announced on Tuesday that it would buy up to €2bn in bonds from the Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), Italy's third-biggest lender. A statement said the cabinet had decided to approve the initiative so that MPS, which was founded in 1472, could meet a 30 June deadline to bolster its finances imposed by the European Banking Authority.
Germany's indifference to Greece
can only lead to misery or divorce Understanding that Berlin is entirely indifferent to Athens' fate should be key to Greek decision-making
by Phillip Inman - Guardian.co.uk
In a relationship, indifference is the most corrosive emotion. When there is so little to build on, divorce or misery are the only outcomes. For Greece, understanding that the German government is now entirely indifferent to its fate should be key to its decision-making.
Everything German ministers say in public is repeated in private. "We have done all we can for Greece. The future of the country is in the hands of its people," sums up several conversations with German officials.
Spain Poised For Downgrade To Junk
As Default Swaps Near Records
By Esteban Duarte - Bloomberg.com
Spain is poised for a downgrade to junk by Moody's Investors Service, according to investors who sent the cost of default insurance for the nation's biggest banks and companies close to record highs.
Credit-default swaps on Banco Santander SA (SAN), the country's biggest bank, jumped 23 percent this quarter to 454 basis points, compared with an all-time high of 474 in November. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA) rose 26 percent to 477, approaching May's record 516, while phone company Telefonica SA (TEF) surged 70 percent to a record 540 basis points.
Spain's Short-Term Debt Costs Nearly Triple
By: Reuters - CNBC.com
Spain's short-term borrowing costs nearly tripled at auction on Tuesday, underlining the country's precarious finances as it struggles against recession and juggles with a debt crisis among its newly downgraded banks.
The yield paid on a 3-month bill was 2.362 percent, up from just 0.846 percent a month ago. For six-month paper, it leapt to 3.237 percent from 1.737 percent in May.
More European States seek bailouts Merkel buries euro bonds as summit tension rises
By Thorsten Severin and Catherine Bremer
BERLIN/PARIS | Tue Jun 26, 2012 6:39pm EDT
(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to bury once and for all the idea of common euro zone bonds on Tuesday, saying Europe would not share total debt liability "as long as I live", as the bloc's big four finance ministers met to narrow differences on how to solve a worsening debt crisis.
Two days before a crucial European Union summit, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy released a seven-page report on closer fiscal and banking union envisaging a euro zone treasury that would issue common debt in the medium term.
Banking Disunion
By Xavier Vives - Project-Syndicate.org
BARCELONA – The line of credit to Spain from fellow eurozone governments may help to stabilize a fragile banking system, at least in the short term, but it is a missed opportunity. Spain's banking crisis provides a perfect opening to move towards a European banking union.
In the medium term, help to Spain will merely reinforce the link between the sovereign and the banks' problems, causing even greater fragmentation in the European banking market and pushing Spain closer to potential insolvency by increasing its debt burden. By contrast, a direct equity stake in Spanish banks taken by an appropriate eurozone investment vehicle would decouple bank and sovereign risk. It would represent a decisive step toward unified European banking supervision, which could imply easier liquidation of non-viable institutions.
Cyprus's request for a bailout
greatly raises the fear of contagion Cyprus has finally run out of quick-fix solutions to save its economy - just as it takes the reins of the EU presidency
By Charlie Charalambous - Guardian.co.uk
The timing could not be worse. Just days before Cyprus is due to take up the European Union's presidency and the task of guiding Europe out of its financial crises, it has become the fifth eurozone member to request a Brussels bailout.
It does not bode well that a bailout country is now mandated with securing agreement on the financial framework of Europe's budget for the next seven years. The Germans have already started to make noises about Cyprus holding the presidency while trying to negotiate a loan. But the government has chosen to draw attention to itself, and the plight of its economy, by waiting until the last moment to ask for a little help from its friends.
Stimulus: One Last "High" - Then Disaster Stimulus fix to the death
By Martin Hutchinson - ATimes.com
Since 2008, economic policies throughout the rich world have boiled down to one word: stimulus. Interest rates in most countries have been held down well below the level of inflation, while spending programs have pushed national budgets far out of balance.
As in Europe calls rise for further doses of "fiscal stimulus" in spite of that continent's precarious budget position, while in the United States both fiscal and monetary stimulus is widely canvassed, the global economy languishes. It must surely now be becoming clear: as with most pernicious drugs, repeated usage of stimulus is lessening the stimulative effect while exacerbating the adverse long-term side-effects. As this recession drags on into its fifth year, it is becoming one of diminishing marginal returns.
Liquidation Is Vital
by John Aziz of Azizonomics - ZeroHedge.com
....In light of the zombification that now exists in Japan and also America (and coming soon to every single QE and bailout-heavy Western economy) — zombie companies, poorly managed, making all the same mistakes as before, rudderless, and yet still in business thanks to government intervention — it is clear that the liquidationists grasped something that Keynesians are still missing. Markets are largely no longer trading fundamentals; they are just trading state intervention and money printing. Why debate earnings when instead you can debate the prospects of QE3? Why invest in profitable companies and ventures when instead you can pay yourself a fat bonus cheque out of monetary stimulus? Why exercise caution and consideration when you can just gamble and get a bailout?
Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure
by Murray N. Rothbard - LewRockwell.com
We live in a world of euphemism. Undertakers have become "morticians," press agents are now "public relations counsellors" and janitors have all been transformed into "superintendents." In every walk of life, plain facts have been wrapped in cloudy camouflage.
No less has this been true of economics. In the old days, we used to suffer nearly periodic economic crises, the sudden onset of which was called a "panic," and the lingering trough period after the panic was called "depression."
Niall Ferguson - SIEPR Economic Summit 2012
Niall Ferguson, the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History at Harvard University; Hoover Senior Fellow and author spoke about An Institutional Approach to the End of Western Ascendancy in his talk at the 2012 SIEPR Economic Summit.
Citizens Petition Federal Reserve: Fire Jamie Dimon
George Zornick - TheNation.com
The push to remove JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and other financial-sector executives from the Federal Reserve Boards of Governors came inside the walls of the Fed on Monday, as noted economist Simon Johnson presented officials there with a petition and urged them to change the structure of the important boards.
At the twelve regional Federal Reserve banks, there are nine-member boards of directors. Six of the seats are selected by banks from the region—three directors to represent their interests, and then three directors, picked by the banks, that will allegedly represent "the public's interest."
Bond Traders Shunning Freddie Costs Taxpayers: Mortgages
By Jody Shenn - Bloomberg.com
The bond market is telling Freddie Mac it's not wanted even as taxpayers support two similar mortgage-finance companies.
Securities it guarantees are hovering near record low prices relative to the debt of its larger riva lFannie Mae. (FNMA) That's forcing Freddie Mac to rebate lenders that package loans into its bonds to compensate them for investors paying less for the debt, according to its disclosures and people familiar with its Market-Adjusted Pricing program. Banks slice off part of homeowner payments to buy its insurance.
IRS Says Offshore Tax Disclosures Have Yielded $5 Billion
By Richard Rubin - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. has collected more than $5 billion resulting from taxpayers' disclosures of offshore accounts, the Internal Revenue Service said today.
The IRS also announced new procedures to help some U.S. taxpayers living abroad catch up on their requirements to file returns. That includes people who recently learned that they are subject to the U.S. tax code.
How the Rich Convinced America's Middle Class
to Eliminate Themselves Rense Show
In Fifteen Steps to Corporate Feudalism, Dennis Marker provides a step-by- step account of how and why the US middle class has been working harder than ever and is still losing ground. This examination of fifteen specific policies promoted by conservatives and the superrich—and implemented through the vice grip of fear, anger, and greed—reveals that the decline of the middle class is no accident.
Time to Calculate the Jobs We Never Created Crowdsourcing a New Report
On Government Job Destruction
By Charles Kadlec - Forbes.com
When the government issues the June employment report on July 6th, the one data point that will be missing is the number of jobs that have been lost – or never created – because of government regulatory, tax and monetary policies. Given that government spending and regulations now control more than 50% of the U.S. economy, these data may be the most important of all for understanding what is keeping the unemployment rate above 8%.
WHO DESTROYED THE MIDDLE CLASS – PART 3
By James Quiinn - TheBurningPlatform.com
....It is clear to me that a small cabal of politically connected ultra-wealthy psychopaths has purposefully and arrogantly stripped the middle class of their wealth and openly flaunted their complete disregard for the laws and financial regulations meant to enforce a fair playing field. Why did they gut the middle class in their rapacious appetite for riches? Why did the scorpion sting the frog while crossing the river, dooming them both? It was his nature. The same is true for the hubristic modern robber barons latched on the backs of the middle class. Their appetite for ever greater riches will never be mollified. They will always want more. They promise not to destroy the middle class, as that will surely extinguish the last hope for a true economic recovery built upon savings, investment and jobs, but it is their nature to destroy. A card carrying member of the plutocracy and renowned dog lover, Mitt Romney, revealed a truth not normally discussed by those running the show:
OECD raises red flag on U.S. long-term unemployment
By Lucia Mutikani
(Reuters) - The lengthy spells many Americans are spending without work risk leaving a lasting scar of higher unemployment on the U.S. economy and training programs are needed to avert the damage, the OECD said on Tuesday.
The warning from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development comes against the backdrop of stalled U.S. jobs growth and an uptick in the unemployment rate in May.
Got a good idea? Fund it withKickstarter.com Think Big!
A Company Selling Miniatures Finds Massive Success
BY JOSEPH FLAHERTY - Wired.com
Slobbering aliens, mutant zombies, and heroic space marines have helped raise over $1.2 million on Kickstarter—and climbing. The 30mm-tall customizable figurines, or minis, are parts in two board game projectsthat the company Cool Mini Or Not (CMON) recently floated out over the funding platform.
Elaborate table-top battles are awesome, certainly, but over a million dollars for a set of boardgames? How did minis get so big?
CMON has clearly succeeded in tending to a passionate community. CMON started as Chern Ann's humble hobby in 2001. It was a play on HotOrNot.com, but instead of ogling people, participants at Cool Mini Or Not rated a figurine's paint job. Then Ann found a way to grow the site organically, elevating it from a ragtag community to a major retail operation. His Atlanta-based company is now eight people strong and pulling in tons of figure-fueled funding.
Sedition Wars: Battle for Alabaster
Already raised half-million dollars + with two days to go - funding ends Jun 30th - Could become a 'collectible' (Monopoly was created during the Great Depression)
22 Statistics That Prove That The American Dream
Is Being Systematically Destroyed
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
The American Dream is being systematically destroyed right in front of our eyes and most Americans don't even realize what is happening. In the old days, if you were a hard worker and you played by the rules you could always find a good job. That good job would enable you to buy a house, buy at least one car and support a family. It would also enable you to take a couple of vacations each year and buy some nice things for your family. After working for 30 or 40 years you would look forward to a comfortable retirement. But these days fewer and fewer Americans are able to enjoy the American Dream. Once upon a time, the United States had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, but now that is changing at a breathtaking pace. Our economy is not producing nearly enough jobs for all of us anymore, and an increasing percentage of the jobs that are being produced pay 10 dollars an hour or less. The cost of living continues to rise steadily every single year while wages do not. Close to half of all American workers are living month to month, and many American families have gone deep into debt as they struggle to pay the bills. Millions more Americans are falling into poverty each year and dependence on the government is at an all-time high. Something is fundamentally wrong with our economy. It is not working the way that it used to, and the middle class is being absolutely shredded. Most American families are finding it harder and harder to make it through each passing year, and unless a miracle happens things are going to continue to get even harder.
Consumer Confidence In U.S. Declines To A Five-Month Low
By Michelle Jamrisko - Bloomberg.com
Confidence among U.S. consumers dropped in June for a fourth consecutive month as mounting concern over jobs and incomes dimmed the outlook for spending.
The Conference Board's sentiment index fell to 62, a five- month low, from a revised 64.4 in May, figures from the New York-based private research group showed today. Another report showed home prices were stabilizing.
Consumers hoarding more than spending Confidence index down 4th month
By Anne D'Innocenzio - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
NEW YORK — Americans can't seem to shake their uneasy feeling about the economy.
Consumer confidence fell in June for the fourth straight month as worries about the economy outweighed relief at the gas pump, according to a private research group.
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index is at 62. That's down from the 64.4 reading in May and the 63.2 analysts were expecting. The index remains well below the 90 reading that indicates a healthy economy - a level it hasn't been near since the recession began in December 2007. But it's far from the all-time low of 25.3 reached in February 2009.
Mandate or no, Obamacare will fail Young Americans likely will choose to pay opt-out tax
Opinion by The Washington Times
With the Supreme Court close to a decision on the Affordable Care Act, it's worthwhile to explore the economic problems with the bill. One potential outcome is the court will strike down the individual mandate requiring Americans to purchase health insurance but leave the rest of the bill intact. That might be a minor victory for opponents of health care reform, but one consequence would be that supporters of the law could try to use it as a scapegoat for health care reform's eventual failure to work. Yet the reason the overhaul ultimately will fail will have little to do with the mandate or lack thereof and a lot to do with its most politically popular attributes regarding pre-existing conditions and price discrimination.
Busted! Health Insurers Secretly Spent Huge To Defeat Health Care Reform While Pretending To Support Obamacare
By Rick Ungar - Forbes.com
No matter what your perspective on the Affordable Care Act, this shocking bit of news should concern—and disturb—you greatly.
According to the National Journal's Influence Alley, at the very same time the American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)—the health insurance industry super lobby—was cutting a deal with the White House leading to its stated support of the proposed Obamacare legislation, they were secretly funneling huge amounts money to the Chamber of Commerce to be spent on advertising designed to convince the public that the legislation should be defeated.
Home prices up again, but consumers less confident
By Leah Schnurr
(Reuters) - Home prices picked up in April for the third month in a row, the latest indication that a recovery in the housing market is gaining traction.
But in a sign of the struggles still facing the broader economy, separate data on Tuesday showed consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in five months in June as Americans' expectations on the economy soured.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping economists' expectations for a 0.4 percent gain.
Why China Is in the Business of Building America's Houses
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
There's a government that wants to invest in the United States. That might seem hard to believe amidst our age of local austerity. But it's easy to find. Just go west. Keep going west. Seriously, keep going west. Okay, stop when you reach east. It's China.
The big news is that the Chinese Development Bank might pour a cool $1.7 billion into a pair of stalled San Francisco housing developments. Yes, the same Chinese Development Bank that typically makes infrastructure investments in the developing world.
Welcome to Third World America.
ZOMBIES AND WHEN YOUR CREDIT CARD STOPS WORKING
By Bill Bonner - TheBurningPlatform.com
Florida; Nobody knows anything in Florida. They're all retired down there. They don't have to think anymore.
And one of the things they don't think about very much is the zombie wars. You know what's happening. The productive sector of our economy is being eaten alive by the unproductive, zombie sector — including many of those retirees in Florida.
Which is probably a good point to make a distinction. There are honest retirees…and zombies. The honest ones worked hard, saved their money…and now they live off the fruits of their own labor.
The dishonest ones live on disability…Social Security…bailouts and government contracts. That is, they live off the fruits of someone else's labor.
Norway's Housing Bubble
Makes Ours Look Almost Cute By Comparison
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
Everything is a bubble nowadays. Even how many words a picture is worth. Take a look at this chart from the San Francisco Fed comparing housing prices in the U.S. and Norway over the past century.
This picture is worth approximately eleventy billion words.
Norway has actually has had two housing bubbles the past two decades. The first looks relatively puny, but that's only because the second has been so mammoth. Norway's late-1980s bubble saw prices double in the span of a few years -- roughly the same size as our own burst bubble. But that looks downright Lilliputian compared to what's happened in Norway the past 15 years: Housing has quadrupled. And that's after inflation.
Obama to shoot down armed pilots Removing 'last line of defense' would be risky move
Opinion by The Washington Times
The Obama administration's hatred for the Second Amendment has reached new heights. After nearly a decade of safe operation, the White House is looking to reduce the number of pilots who provide an extra layer of security against airborne terror by packing a pistol in the cockpit. This plan shouldn't fly.
The federal flight-deck officer program was put in place as a direct response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists barged into the cockpits and seized control of airliners. The initiative provides $25.5 million for weapons training for pilots, including for cargo carriers and private charters. President Obama's budget would slash the amount in half.
Foreign law rules in U.S. courts Supremes say state laws
cannot offend touchy leaders abroad
Opinion By The Washington Times
Can U.S. state laws be overturned because foreign governments don't like them? According to the Supreme Court, the answer is yes.
In Arizona v. U.S., the case over Arizona's S.B. 1070 immigration law, the Supreme Court gave one of the most comprehensive arguments yet justifying foreign influence over U.S. jurisprudence. In arguing for complete federal authority over immigration policy, the court decided on Monday that state statutes had to bow to the convenience of the executive in managing foreign policy. "Immigration policy can affect trade, investment, tourism and diplomatic relations for the entire nation, as well as the perceptions and expectations of aliens in this country who seek the full protection of its laws," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority.
Apple Rolls Into Reno, Eyes $1B Data Center Bet
By Cade Metz - Wired.com
Apple is looking to expand its data center empire with a new computing facility just outside of Reno, Nevada.
On Tuesday, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported that Apple is planning to build a data center east of Sparks, Nevada as part of a project that would see the company pump $1 billion into the state's economy over the next 10 years.
A Futurist Explains How The Internet Will Reboot Civilization
By Parmy Olson, Forbes Staff
Don Tapscott is one of those people often described as a futurist – and in this case, the label fits pretty well. The author and chairman of Moxie Insight was one of the first to lay out how the Internet would change business, and helped define the emergence of a Net Generation and "digital divide." His latest ideas surround how we are moving from an information age, to a networked age.
The Triumph of Artificial Intelligence! 16,000 Processors Can Identify a Cat in a YouTube Video Sometimes In the quest for ever-smarter artificial intelligence, it's easy to let hype get ahead of performance.
By Alexis Madrigal - TheAtlantic.com
Perhaps this is not precisely what Turing had in mind.
But in what is being hailed as a triumph in machine learning, Google researchers turned 16,000 processors loose on 10 million thumbnails from YouTube videos to see what they could (machine) learn. This is a vast data set that's an order of magnitude larger than what had been attempted before, according to The New York Times.
What they found was that even without humans training the computers to know certain objects ("This is a cat"), the machines were able to teach themselves the features of a cat face, as you can dimly see above, among many other objects. As one of the researchers told The Times, "[The system] basically invented the concept of a cat" by looking at all those photos and looking for patterns.
Facebook's Lame Attempt To Force Its Email Service On You
By Kashmir Hill, Forbes Staff
You may or may not realize that you have a Facebook email address. It's an @facebook.com address you can use to correspond with people on external email accounts from your Facebook inbox. Though it was called a "Gmail killer" when it first came out in 2010, it seems instead to have been D.O.A. As far as I can tell, no one really uses it. No one seems to want the Facebook inbox to be their main email account (with good reason). Facebook is trying to change that with a new little nudge. On your profile page, Facebook has taken the liberty of making your Facebook email your default contact address. (See right, and check your own profile.)
Scarlet-Letter Status:
Should Sex Offenders Admit Crimes on Facebook? A new Louisiana law requires convicted sexual deviants to note their past on their profiles.
By D.B. Grady - TheAtlantic.com
On August 1, 2012, a new law in Louisiana will require sex offenders to register their criminal histories on social networking sites like Facebook. Because names like "the Scarlet Letter law" are being bandied about in the worst possible way, there seems to be some confusion about what the law is, what it does, and who it affects.
On its surface, the legislation might seem like a political ploy in a post-Katrina state painted solid red. Lawmakers who voted "Yea" can now appear tough on crime, savvy to technology issues, and protective of children, all while beating up the most-detested segment of the criminal population. And while the political benefits do probably apply, this legislation has a history that suggests careful thought, with goals loftier than the next election cycle.
Turkey Mobilizing: Media Manipulation, Provocation Or Reality?
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
In the aftermath of the recent escalation in tensions between Turkey and Syria, whereby Syria was accused of hostile behavior for firing and taking down a Turkish fighter jet that supposedly spent at least 5 minutes in its airspace, today was a quiet day. At least until recently we saw the following footage in a clip uploaded to YouTube. Supposedly, Turkey has sent troop reinforcement to the Syrian border, after Erdogan's warning that soldiers approaching the border will be treated as targets, the clip explains, citing Turkish daily Zaman reported citing the Cihan news agency. This is unverified, nor is the statement that 15 military vehicles, including tanks and cannons, were dispatched to the border from Diyarbakir.
Turkish Tanks Deploy to Syrian Border -- 26.06.12
Turkey has sent troop reinforcement to the Syrian border, after Erdogan's warning that soldiers approaching the border will be treated as target, the Turkish daily Zaman reported citing the Cihan news agency.
It said 15 military vehicles, including tanks and cannons, were dispatched to the border from Diyarbakir.
Meanwhile, activists in the outskirts of Aleppo say that 280 soldiers defected today in Idlib near the main highway leading to Aleppo, al-Jazeera reports.
There is no independent confirmation but if the report is correct it would be one of the largest mass defections so far.
According to the activists cited by al-Jazeera, there were clashes between the defectors and the Syrian army. One helicopter was allegedly shot down and six tanks destroyed.
Turkey Says It May Target
Any Syrian Forces Nearing Border
By SEBNEM ARSU, ALAN COWELL
and PAUL GEITNER - NYTimes.com
ISTANBUL — Buoyed by support from his country's NATO allies, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Syrian forces on Tuesday to stay clear of their troubled border or face a Turkish military response to any perceived threat, following the disputed downing of a Turkish warplane.
The Turkish leader's bellicose tone came as ambassadors from the NATO alliance, seeking to avoid a wider conflict, held emergency talks in Brussels at Turkey's behest. After the meeting, the NATO secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the alliance considered Syria's actions inshooting down a Turkish warplane last Friday "unacceptable."
Turkey threatens Syria with military retaliation over downed jet Turkish PM also warns that armed forces will respond to any Syrian encroachment on the border
By Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
and Ian Black, Middle East editor - Guardian.co.uk
Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has threatened Syriawith retaliation for the shooting down of a military jet, and warned that Turkish armed forces would respond to any Syrian encroachment on their joint border.
The warning from Ankara came as opposition activists reported 92 people killed across Syria and Russia signalled that it would take part in new diplomatic attempt to end the crisis. The UN's head of peacekeeping told the security council that monitors were still unable to operate because of the risks they faced.
Syrian downing of Turkish jet serves as warning
By Greg Jaffe - WashingtonPost.com
The Syrian government's downing of a Turkish fighter jet has served as a stark warning that its military is capable of mounting a sophisticated defense against potential enemies, complicating a Libya-style intervention.
Turkey has said that it has no immediate plans to respond to the incident with military action. But the Turkish prime minister warned Tuesday that he had ordered commanders along the country's southern border to treat any Syrian military approach as a threat, escalating concerns that Turkey — along with the United States and its allies — could be drawn into a regional war.
* * * * *
SYRIA already at war...
Assad declares 'state of war' as regime's grip on Syria loosens
By Bradley Secker and Ruby Russell - WashingtonTimes.com
IDLIB, Syria — Syria's conflict heated up Tuesday with rebels battling the regime's elite Republican Guard forces in the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, as Turkey's prime minister threatened to defend his country's territory from Syrian military encroachments in response to the nation's downing of a Turkish war plane Friday.
The increasingly fierce fighting prompted Syrian President Bashar Assadto declare that the country is "in a state of war," while the White Houseremarked that Mr. Assad has been slowly "losing his grip over the country" during the 16-month-old Arab Spring uprising against the regime.
Assad says Syria at war as battle reaches capital
By Oliver Holmes
(Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared on Tuesday that his country was at war and ordered his new government to spare no effort to achieve victory, as the worst fighting of the 16-month conflict reached the outskirts of the capital.
Video published by activists recorded heavy gunfire and explosions in suburbs of Damascus. A trail of fresh blood on a sidewalk in the suburb of Qudsiya led into a building where one casualty was taken. A naked man writhed in pain, his body pierced by shrapnel.
Syrian Regime Growing More Desperate
as Fighting Intensifies Around Damascus Deadly clashes in Damascus suburbs
Dozens reported dead during fighting on edges of capital and other parts of Syria between army and opposition fighters.
AlJazera.com news
Dozens of people have been killed in fierce clashes between Syria troops and opposition fighters, mainly in the suburbs of Damascus, monitoring groups have reported.
Opposition forces and Syrian army units were locked in fierce clashes around elite Republican Guard posts in the capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), an activist monitoring group, said on Tuesday.
Regulators to Classify Gold as Zero-Risk Asset
BY JOHN BUTLER - FinancialSense.com
In what might be the most underreported financial story of the year, US banking regulators recently circulated a memorandum for comment, including proposed adjustments to current regulatory capital risk-weightings for various assets. For the first time, unencumbered gold bullion is to be classified as zero risk, in line with dollar cash, US Treasuries and other explicitly government-guaranteed assets. If implemented, this will be an important step in the re-monetisation of gold and, other factors equal, should be strongly supportive of the gold price, both outright and relative to that for government bonds, the primary beneficiaries of the most recent flight to safety. Stay tuned.
Commodities trading thrives as equities dive Volume falls on the equity exchange,
while futures contracts surge
By Steve Gelsi, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — In the shadow of a deep recession and a stock market that finished the past decade right about where it started, trading volume in commodities is booming.
For many investors, the shift reflects growing frustration with the performance of traditional securities and a willingness to take on more risk as they rush to get their portfolios back on track.
Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts -
Big Bounce on 'Flight to Safety'
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Gold and silver 'popped' today despite the higher dollar and risk off trade. It happened shortly after I posted the NAV premiums chart, having seen some odd action on the tape, and watching the action closely into the option expiration tomorrow in silver. It is also expiration for copper.
The metals often act oddly around their Comex Option Expirations, depending on a number of factors. If you remember nothing else, remember that. You can get some nice entry and exit points around those days, in the lead up and aftermath.
The Dollar Union: Could We Boot Alabama?
Should New York Secede?
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Europe has Greece. We have Mississippi. Europe uses the term "permanent bailouts." We call it "Medicaid." And there, in two sentences, is why the dollar zone is working and the euro zone is not.
As this fantastic graph (via Yglesias) from the Economist shows, the poorest states like Mississippi, New Mexico, and West Virginia rely on ginormous transfers of federal taxes in the form of unemployment benefits and Medicaid. Like the United States, the euro zone is all on one currency. Unlike the United States, the euro zone collects a teensy share of total taxes at the EU level and has no legacy of permanent fiscal transfers from the richer countries, like Germany, to the poorer countries, like Greece. The result is the chaos playing over your computer screen day after day.
Pimco's Gross Warns Of Risk Assets
As Aberdeen Avoids Stocks
By Masaki Kondo and Susan Li - Bloomberg.com
Bill Gross, who runs the world's largest mutual fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., warned against risk assets, as Aberdeen Asset Management Plc (ADN) said it's underweight on stocks.
Asian shares extended a global rout after manufacturing gauges for the euro area, China and the Philadelphia region signaled contraction. The Federal Reserve this week refrained from introducing a third round of so-called quantitative easing even as the central bank cut its U.S. growth forecast.
Hedge funds short stocks, bid up gold
By Regina Hing - MarketWatch Blog
Hedge funds, which were underperforming the S&P 500 for the month as of June 20, have been cutting their exposure to the stock market while bidding up gold, according to a Bank of America/Merrill Lynch analysis.
The investment bank's investable hedge-fund composite index slipped 0.2% for the month as of June 20, compared to a 3.5% increase for the S&P 500, said Mary Ann Bartels, head of the firm's U.S. technical analysis.
Enter, the Blindside Recession
John P. Hussman, Ph.D. - HissmanFunds.com
In recent months, our measures of leading economic pressures have indicated the likelihood of an oncoming U.S. recession. Our view is based on the analysis of leading/coincident/lagging indicators (see Leading Indicators and the Risk of a Blindside Recession) as well as more statistical signal processing methods that extract "unobserved components" from noisy data (see the note on extracting economic signals in Do I Feel Lucky?). As Lakshman Achuthan at the ECRIhas noted on the basis of different but related evidence, the verdict has been in for a while. The interim has been little more than waiting for the coincident data to catch up to the leading evidence that is already in place.
Bernanke Ponders The Plunge
BY BRADY WILLETT - FinancialSense.com
Three months ago Ben Bernanke gave a series of lectures and defended the Fed's actions during the financial crisis. In what was tantamount to a post-crisis victory lap, Bernanke contended that "we did stop the meltdown", and "we avoided what would have been, I think, a collapse of the global financial system." These sentiments echoed similar self-congratulatory remarks made by Mr. Bernanke in 2011 and 2010. For that matter, they mirrored those made by Bernanke as far back as August 2009:
"History is full of examples in which the policy responses to financial crises have been slow and inadequate, often resulting ultimately in greater economic damage and increased fiscal costs. In this episode, by contrast, policymakers in the United States and around the globe responded with speed and force to arrest a rapidly deteriorating and dangerous situation...As severe as the economic impact has been, however, the outcome could have been decidedly worse. Unlike in the 1930s…" August 21, 2009. Bernanke
U.S. Banks Aren't Nearly Ready for Coming European Crisis
By Simon Johnson - Bloomberg.com
The euro area faces a major economic crisis, most likely a series of rolling, country-specific problems involving some combination of failing banks and sovereigns that can't pay their debts in full.
This will culminate in systemwide stress, emergency liquidity loans from the European Central Bank and politicians from all the countries involved increasingly at one another's throats.
Even the optimists now say openly that Europe will only solve its problems when the alternatives look sufficiently bleak and time has run out. Less optimistic people increasingly think that the euro area will break up because all the proposed solutions are pie-in-the-sky. If the latter view is right -- or even if concern about dissolution grows in coming months -- markets, investors, regulators and governments need to worry not just about interest-rate risk and credit risk, but also dissolution risk.
The end of the road for Europe After two years of "kicking the can down the road,"
Europe seems to have now come to the end of the road.
By John Nyaradi - MarketWatch.com
....What most American observers don't realize is that, although they call themselves the "European Union," the Continent is still a collection of independent nation-states with each one having its own self-interest at the top of its priorities. The European continent is home to hundreds of thousands of graves of victims of prior wars and battles throughout history between various European empires and countries, and underneath the surface of the European Union, strong forces of nationalism still exist.
If the European Union dissolves, the result will most likely be global recession, even depression, double-digit unemployment across Europe, bank runs, currency devaluations and economic chaos.
The euro should now be put to the sword The 19th crisis summit won't achieve anything
until it faces up to the EU's economic deceit
By Jeff Randall - Telegraph.co.uk
Given Rome's history of staging grotesque spectacles, it's appropriate that the Eternal City was hosting last week's gathering of leaders in the never-ending circus of European Union summitry. Spectators looking for a demonstration of gladiatorial courage will have been disappointed. Never mind fighting lions, the main players in the arena seem not to know what form the beast takes, much less how to kill it.
Since Greece went into meltdown, triggering a crisis of confidence in the euro, there have been 18 EU summits. The format is wearyingly familiar: after 36 hours of unproductive haggling, a communiqué is issued, promising a united effort to boost growth, promote jobs and curb "speculators".
Angela Merkel defies Latin Europe and the IMF on bond rescue German Chancellor Angela Merkel has shot down calls for full mobilisation of the eurozone's bail-out funds to halt the raging bond crisis in Spain and Italy, ignoring unprecedented pleas for action from the International Monetary Fund.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"Each country wants to help but if I am going to call on taxpayers in Germany, I must have guarantees that all is under control. Responsibility and control go hand in hand," she said after a crucial summit of the eurozone's Big Four powers in Rome.
Mrs Merkel -- or La Signora No in Italy -- doused hopes of a break-through on proposals by the "Latin Bloc" leaders of Italy, France, and Spain to deploy the funds (EFSF and ESM) to cap the bond yields of "virtuous" countries vulnerable to contagion, or to recapitalize banks directly to take the strain off sovereign states.
Germany's Resistance
May Prove 'Fatal' to Europe: George Soros
By: Jean Chua - Writer for CNBC.com
Germany's resistance to a banking union and stimulus measures is in the way of a solution to Europe's debt crisis, and could turn this week's meeting of the region's leaders into a "fiasco", according to billionaire investor George Soros.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has so far rebuffed all proposals to help relieve Spain and Italy from the jump in their borrowing costs and has resisted allowing the European Central Bank (ECB) to step up buying of peripheral sovereign debt. That poses a threat to the region's stability, Soros said in an editorial in the Financial Times on Monday.
Moody's Downgrades 28 Spanish Banks On Sovereign Risk
By Charles Penty and Dakin Campbell - Bloomberg.com
Banco Santander SA (SAN) and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA), Spain's largest lenders, were downgraded by Moody's Investors Service because of the country's sovereign debt and souring real-estate loans.
At least a dozen lenders were lowered to junk status, Moody's said yesterday in a statement. The ratings company downgraded six banks by four levels and 10 by three grades with the rest getting one- and two-tier declines.
Will France be next... Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy — France?
Reuters - CNBC.com
With a gaping public deficit and record level of debt, the euro zone's second largest economy wants to be sure it is not sucked into the bloc's game of debt-crisis dominoes, hence Paris's forceful lobbying for ways to shore up Europe's banks.
France is one of the strongest advocates of a Europe-wide banking union and, with an eye on its own banks' exposure to vulnerable debt in struggling countries, for immediate recapitalization of banks from euro zone rescue funds.
BRICs Biggest Currency Depreciation Since 1998 To Worsen
By Ye Xie and Michael Patterson - Bloomberg.com
The largest emerging markets, whose economies grew more than four-fold in the past decade, are making losers out of everyone from central bankers to Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) as their currencies post the biggest declines since at least 1998.
For the first time in 13 years, the real, ruble and rupee are weakening the most among developing-nation currencies, while the yuan has depreciated more than in any other period since its 1994 devaluation. P&G, the world's largest consumer-goods maker, cut its profit forecast for the second time in two months last week in part because of currency losses. Brazil's Fibria Celulose SA (FIBR3), the biggest pulp producer, asked banks to loosen restrictions on dollar loans as the real hit a three-year low.
Greek Finance Minister Quits Days Into The Job On Illness
By Maria Petrakis and Marcus Bensasson - Bloomberg.com
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras consented to the resignation of his finance minister, Vassilios Rapanos, four days after naming him to the post.
Rapanos, a former National Bank of Greece (TELL) SA chairman, sent his letter of resignation while still hospitalized after collapsing on June 22. The resignation was accepted by Samaras, according to a phone-text message from the premier's office in Athens today.
"The state of my health isn't at the state that would allow me to fully and adequately exercise my duties," Rapanos said in the letter, which was provided by the premier's office. "I regret that I will not be able to accept in the end your honorable proposal."
Peter Sands documents show warning
to David Cameron of euro danger to Britain David Cameron has been warned by one of the country's leading bankers that the biggest threat to the City is the possibility of Britain leaving the European Union.
By Robert Winnett, and Louise Armitstead - Telegraph.co.uk
Peter Sands, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, had a breakfast meeting with the Prime Minister on Monday during which he is understood to have raised concerns over a British breakaway.
The warning was sounded amid growing calls from Conservative MPs for Britain to have an "in-out" referendum on the country's ongoing membership of the European Union.
Merkel Hardens Resistance To Euro-Area Debt Sharing
By Tony Czuczka - Bloomberg.com
Chancellor Angela Merkel hardened her resistance to euro-area debt sharing to resolve the region's financial crisis, setting Germany on a collision course with its allies at a summit of European leaders this week.
Merkel, speaking to a conference in Berlin today as Spain announced it would formally seek aid for its banks, dismissed "euro bonds, euro bills and European deposit insurance with joint liability and much more" as "economically wrong and counterproductive," saying that they ran against the German constitution.
Greece Seen Blocked
From Debt Markets Until 2017: Euro Credit
By Anchalee Worrachate
and Lukanyo Mnyanda - Bloomberg.com
Greece may have to wait at least another five years before it can sell bonds to investors, according to financial institutions that trade debt with European governments.
A new administration in Athens and signs that European Union leaders are willing to loosen Greek austerity measures failed to convince primary dealers that the country will be able to return to the market before its second bailout ends in the next three years.
Government Debt: The Price We Pay
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
There is a fascinating passage in Pavel Stroilov's book Behind the Desert Storm. It is a transcript from a discussion between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Gorbachev wants to know where Mubarak gets his country's money from. "Is it flowing in the Nile?" he asks. Mubarak replies that, "Everyone has debts in today's world." He went on to say that Egypt only accepted non-repayable aid. "Nowadays," Mubarak explained, "almost nobody repays debts. I am talking to you absolutely frankly."
Who's Propping Up the U.S. Treasury Market?
By Jeff Nielson - TheStreet.com
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The U.S. Treasury market is the biggest financial mystery today.
Much like the proverbial "lead zeppelin" defies the laws of physics, the current status of the Treasury market defies all of our financial fundamentals. It is a market that cannot exist, and yet it does.
Previously, my own writing has focused upon one particular aspect of this absurdity: the highest pricesfor U.S. Treasuries at a time of maximum supply. This, in itself, is an absolute financial contradiction. The highest supply in history directly implies the lowest prices in history, for every market in the world -- except U.S. Treasuries.
Corporate Profits Just Hit An All-Time High,
Wages Just Hit An All-Time Low
By Henry Blodget - BusinessInsider.com
In case you need more confirmation that the US economy is out of balance, here are three charts for you.
1. ) Corporate profit margins just hit an all-time high. Companies are making more per dollar of sales than they ever have before. (And some people are still saying that companies are suffering from "too much regulation" and "too many taxes." Maybe little companies are, but big ones certainly aren't).
2) Fewer Americans are working than at any time in the past three decades. One reason corporations are so profitable is that they don't employ as many Americans as they used to.
3) Wages as a percent of the economy are at an all-time low. This is both cause and effect. One reason companies are so profitable is that they're paying employees less than they ever have as a share of GDP. And that, in turn, is one reason the economy is so weak: Those "wages" are other companies' revenue.
Birmingham: That's Not Our Problem
By MICHAEL CORKERY - WSJ.com
Officials from Birmingham, Ala., say they have a lot to offer municipal-bond investors: a jobless rate below the national average, a credit rating on par with New York City's and lots of cash in reserve.
There is just one problem: The city is the county seat for Jefferson County, which last year filed the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S history.
As Birmingham weighs a return to the bond market, its leaders will soon find out if the city will pay a price for its inconvenient geography. It is likely the city will pay higher interest rates than similarly credit-worthy cities and towns.
Top secret: $80B a year for food stamps,
but feds won't reveal what's purchased
By Luke Rosiak-The Washington Times
Americans spend $80 billion each year financing food stamps for the poor, but the country has no idea where or how the money is spent.
Food stamps can be spent on goods ranging from candy to steak and are accepted at retailers from gas stations that primarily sell potato chips to fried-chicken restaurants. And as the amount spent on food stamps has more than doubled in recent years, the amount of food stamps laundered into cash has increased dramatically, government statistics show.
But the government won't say which stores are doing the most business in food stamps, and even it doesn't know what kinds of food those taxpayer dollars buy.
Court Rejects Montana Challenge to Citizens United
by Tracy Bloom - Trithdig.com
The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed its controversial 2-year-old decision allowing corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money in politics when it struck down a law in Montana banning such spending. In doing so, the justices effectively expanded Citizens United's reach to state campaign finance laws.
"The question presented in this case is whether the holding of Citizens United applies to the Montana state law. There can be no serious doubt that it does," the majority wrote in a per curiam opinion. "Montana's arguments in support of the judgment below either were already rejected in Citizens United, or fail to meaningfully distinguish that case."
Chinese in Talks to Fund U.S. Homes
By DINNY MCMAHON And ROBBIE WHELAN - WSJ.com
Lennar Corp., one of the U.S.'s largest home builders, is in talks with the China Development Bank for approximately $1.7 billion in capital to jump-start two long-delayed San Francisco projects that would transform two former naval bases into large-scale housing developments, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The negotiations aren't final and the financing arrangement could still fall through. But if completed, the deal would reflect a changing dynamic between the U.S. and Chinese economies, as an American company turns to China for help funding a long-delayed and partially publicly funded project that otherwise wouldn't get done.
Consumer confidence falls in second quarter: Nielsen
By Susan Fenton
LONDON | Mon Jun 25, 2012 10:34am EDT
(Reuters) - Consumer confidence fell in the second quarter from early this year as slowing employment growth and an escalating euro zone crisis made Americans more cautious about the economic outlook, a survey showed on Monday.
Consumer sentiment in the world's biggest economy fell by 5 points in the second quarter from the first quarter to 87, according to a quarterly survey by global information and insights company Nielsen, conducted May 4-21.
Shiller Goes Off The Deep End- Wants to condemn millions
of US guaranteed mortgages from the bankster mafia
By Lee Adler - WallStreetExaminer.com
Robert Shiller has finally gone off the deep end. He wants to condemn millions of US guaranteed mortgages from the bankster mafia.
Shiller: My colleague Karl Case and I showed in 1996 that when the value of a home falls below the value of the mortgage debt — when it is underwater — a person is much more likely to default on the mortgage. And it is well known that in foreclosures, lenders lose so much on the legal costs and depressed market values of the homes that it would be in their interest to lower mortgage balances so the homeowners stay in place and don't default.
HP to trim 9,000 jobs in U.S. as part of cost-cutting plan HP will also cut 8.000 jobs in the European Union
as part of a plan to cut 27,000 jobs by fiscal 2014
By Agam Shah - Computerworld.com
IDG News Service - Hewlett-Packard plans to trim its workforce by about 9,000 in the U.S. as part of its long-term plan to reduce 27,000 jobs worldwide by fiscal 2014, a source familiar with the company's plans said.
HP in May said it was cutting about 8% of its workforce through a combination of layoffs and retirement offers in an effort to save $3 billion to $3.5 billion through fiscal year 2014. At the time, HP said that employee reductions would vary by country.
Court Splits on Arizona Law Justices Rein In Law Aimed at Curbing Illegal Immigrants
but Allow Police Checks
By JESS BRAVIN and TAMARA AUDI - WSJ.com
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court struck down the harshest parts of an Arizona law targeting illegal immigrants, ruling the state interfered with congressional authority over U.S. borders, but it let stand a requirement that police check the immigration status of people they stop for traffic or other offenses.
By a vote of 6-2, the court voided a provision making it a state crime for an immigrant to fail to carry federal registration papers. By 5-3 votes, it invalidated sections that authorized jail time for illegal immigrants who seek work in Arizona and that gave local police more power to arrest immigrants suspected of offenses.
High court splits its verdict on Arizona immigration law
By James Vicini and Jonathan Stempel
WASHINGTON | Mon Jun 25, 2012 7:18pm EDT
(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday upheld the main provision of Arizona's crackdown on illegal immigrants but threw out three other parts, handing partial victories to President Barack Obama in his challenge to the law and to the measure's conservative supporters.
In an important test of whether federal or state governments have the power to enforce immigration laws, the top U.S. court unanimously upheld the statute's most controversial aspect, a requirement that police officers check the immigration status of people they stop, even for minor offenses such as jay-walking.
Illegal and Counter-Productive Obama's Killer Drones
by MARJORIE COHN and JEANNE MIRER - CounterPunch.org
The Bush administration detained and tortured suspected militants; the Obama administration assassinates them. Both practices not only visit more hatred upon the United States; they are also illegal. Our laws and treaties prohibit torture. The Constitution forbids the government from depriving any person of life without due process of law; that is, arrest and fair trial. Yet President Obama has approved the killing of people, many of whom were not even identified before the kill order was given.
Jo Becker and Scott Shane reported in the New York Times that Obama maintains a "kill list." After consulting with his counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan, Obama personally makes the decision to have individuals executed. Brennan was closely identified with torture, secret prisons, and extraordinary rendition during the Bush administration. The Times story, based on interviews with three dozen current and former Obama advisers, reports that "Mr. Obama has avoided the complications of detention by deciding, in effect, to take no prisoners alive. While scores of suspects have been killed under Mr. Obama, only one has been taken into U.S. custody" because he doesn't want to add new prisoners to Guantanamo.
SCOTUSblog Is The Talk Of The Twitterverse
As Court Rules On Major Cases
By DAVID TAINTOR - TlakingPointsMemo.com
As the Supreme Court wraps up its term and rules on its most high-profile cases,SCOTUSblog has become an invaluable guide for those trying to make sense of the court's rulings.
Last Thursday, the blog — where the Supreme Court's decisions are reported in real time — peaked at 70,000 readers. On Monday, when the Court ruled on Arizona's controversial immigration law and Montana's challenge to Citizens United, the blog had more than 100,000 readers on the site.
The Tax Rules for Renting Out Your Vacation Home
By LAURA SAUNDERS - WSJ.com
Summer is here, and so is this year's crop of summer rentals. In some areas, the market for vacation properties is even perking up after a string of down years.
If you are a vacation-home landlord or thinking of becoming one, it is time to review the tax rules on rental income from second homes.
This isn't beach reading. Apart from one simple provision, this area is among the messiest in the tax code—"worse than luxury-car depreciation and almost as bad as the alternative minimum tax," says CPA Douglas Stives of Monmouth University in New Jersey.
Facebook Confirms Changing
Users' Default Email Addresses, More Changes Coming
By CARL FRANZEN - TalkingPointsMemo.com
If you have a Facebook account, now may be a good time to check the email address that is associated with it (located under "About" and "Contact Info"). Facebook has confirmed to TPM that it has begun automatically changing users' default displayed emails to "@Facebook.com" email addresses, which Facebook provides for each user's account.
As a Facebook spokesperson wrote to TPM: "As we announced back in April, we've been updating addresses on Facebook to make them consistent across our site."
Indeed, Facebook did issue a brief public news alert about the change on April 12 which was widely covered by tech blogs.
Facebook Wants To Hire This 17-Year-Old
But She Hasn't Decided If She Wants The Job
By Owen Thomas - BusinessInsider.com
Nive Jayasekar created a mobile app for Home Depot over a weekend and won $10,500—and got an offer to work at Facebook.
She's only 17.
The Social-Loco conference organized a hackathon event held June 16-17, sponsored by big brands like Home Depot.
Jayasekar entered, drawn by the prizes. She decided to develop a project organizer for the home-improvement chain as a Windows Phone app, because that was a special prize category.
DHS Cellphone Alert System 'Follows You Around' Presidential messages to have their own distinctive ring tone
Paul Joseph Watson - Infowars.com
Not only does the Department of Homeland Security's new emergency alert system force cellphone users to receive text messages directly from President Obama, it also "follows" the user wherever they go, according to newly released details of the program.
As we reported last week, Apple's eagerly awaited iOS 6 update for iPhones and iPads will feature the alerts, along with updates of other operating systems. All new cell phones will be required to comply with the PLAN program (Personal Localized Alerting Network), which will broadcast emergency alert messages directly to Americans' cell phones, either through chips directly embedded in new phones or with software upgrades for older models.
Want a cell phone that is JUST A PHONE,
with no GPS tracking? Try the Jitterbug phone
T-Mobile USA to buy, swap spectrum with Verizon
By Peter Svensson - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
NEW YORK — Verizon Wireless on Monday said that it has agreed to sell some wireless spectrum rights to T-Mobile USA and swap others, in a continuing quest to get regulators to approve a bigger spectrum deal it has worked out with a consortium of cable companies and another wireless carrier.
The deal with T-Mobile USA would improve the ability of both companies to offer fast wireless data services, Verizon said. T-Mobile, the fourth-largest U.S. wireless companies, is particularly starved for spectrum compared to its larger competitors, and regulators are likely to favor a deal that would improve its position.
When Your Data Becomes More Useful Than You Want It to Be Our brains can't forecast what the technologies of tomorrow will do with the information we are uploading today.
By Alexis Madrigal - TheAtlantic.com
Here's a problem with uploading your life into the cloud: you're sending it Internetward with an understanding of today's technologies -- and tomorrow always comes.
So, you upload photos to Facebook thinking about how easy it is for your friends and family to see them. You are not thinking about people a year or two years down the line being able to search through every photo you've ever uploaded by face, not name.
Companies cry foul over new guidance on social media policies
By Tim Devaney-The Washington Times
Companies trying to monitor — and control — what their employees are saying about them on Facebook, Twitter and other social media are finding their policies under attack from the Obama administration.
In a little-noticed advisory this month, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that six of the seven corporate social media policies it examined included provisions that failed to pass regulatory muster, proving too vague to enforce or too intrusive on their workers' right to free expression online.
Beyond iPhone and Android:
5 hot new platforms for developers
By Peter Wayner - Computerworld.com
....The smartphone has proven that a marketplace for delivering code can appear seemingly out of nowhere, and developers would have another choice for showcasing their wares. It's not that the App Store was new -- you could develop for Nokia, Windows Mobile, and Java phones long before it came along. But Apple eased the process and provided enough features that made it worthwhile for developers to start creating.
So when we say that some day in the possible near future you may be targeting your apps at users' shirt pockets, not what they put in them, you may think it's time for the straitjackets. But all it takes is a market. The technology is already there -- sort of.
Why We Fight
By Chris Hedges - Truthdig.com
I park my car in the lot in front of the rectory of Sacred Heart in Camden, N.J., and walk through a gray drizzle to Emerald Street. My friend Lolly Davis, whose blood pressure recently shot up and whose kidneys shut down, had been taken to a hospital in an ambulance but was now home. I climb the concrete steps to her row house and ring the bell. There is an overpowering stench of garbage in the street. Her house is set amid other brick and wooden residences, some of which have been refurbished under Monsignor Michael Doyle's Heart of Camden project at Sacred Heart, a Roman Catholic parish. Other structures on Davis' street sit derelict or bear the scars of decay and long abandonment.
Hedges Is L.A. Press Club's Journalist of the Year
Truthdig.com
On a night when Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were honored for their hallmark Watergate investigation, theLos Angeles Press Club named Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges as the 2011 journalist of the year in the online category. Truthdig received honorable mentions in Best Website Exclusive to the Internet and in Group Weblog.
In awarding him the organization's top prize for online writers, the judges offered high praise for Hedges, calling him "Champion of the 99%—mortal enemy of the 1%. This former war correspondent turns out weekly columns packed with insightful and biting opinion."
Cato at Peace Ed Crane steps down to end the Koch brothers'
attempted coup at Cato, and libertarians cheer.
By David Weigel - Slate.com
Shortly before 3 p.m. today, the men and women of the Cato Institute strolled into the renovated Friedrich von Hayek Auditorium to confirm their good news. Five days earlier, theWashington Post broke news of a settlement between David Koch, Charles Koch, and America's largest, longest-lived libertarian think tank. Ed Crane, 68, Cato's president since its 1977 genesis in San Francisco, would step down. His replacement would be John Allison, 64, a banker who'd endowed college courses on the work of Ayn Rand.
Saudi Aramco's New Venture Capital Firm
to Invest in New Drilling Technologies
By Joao Peixe - OilPrice.com
In a confidential project Saudi Arabian Oil Co. (Saudi Aramco), the world's largest crude oil exporter, is to set up a venture capital company to invest in international start-ups which look to develop new drilling technologies.
The investment company will start operating soon, mainly looking to develop and gain access to the latest techniques, expertise, and technology for boosting the oil production output at older fields, and the use of hydraulic fracturing to speed up the extraction of crude oil.
Mystery of Explosives at Swedish Nuclear Power Plant Deepens
By John Daly - OilPrice.com
On 20 June Sweden ramped up security at its three nuclear power plants (NPPs) after explosives without a triggering device were found on a forklift on the grounds of the country's largest atomic power station at Ringhals, 45 miles south of Sweden's second-largest city, Goteborg, which has a population of 550,000 people.
Nothing to see here, move along - authorities said that while police were investigating possible sabotage, even if there had been a blast it would not have posed any great danger.
Sweden has 10 nuclear reactors at three NPPs, Ringhals, Forsmark and Oskarshamn, which generate about half of Sweden's electrical output.
Egypt has a new president: Let the fear mongering begin! Fox News put up video that identified a speech by hard-core preacher Safwat al-Hegazy as being delivered by Egypt's new President Mohamed Morsi within hours of Morsi's victory.
By Dan Murphy - CSMonitor.com
Egypt's first freely elected, and first civilian, president is the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi.
The Muslim Brotherhood is in many ways the founder of modern Islamist movements, with roots extending back 84 years. Though it long ago abandoned violence as a political tactic, and was harshly repressed by ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his predecessors, it remains a highly controversial organization. In US political circles, it's hardly uncommon to hear to the organization mentioned in the same breath as terrorist groups like Al Qaeda. More reasonably, many Egyptians fear the organization will seek to replace Egypt's civil code with Islamic law. After all, the group's primary slogan is "Islam is the solution."
Turkey calls emergency Nato talks on Syria
BY ANDREW RETTMAN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Turkey has invoked the softer article four of the Nato treaty after Syria shot down one of its warplanes on Friday (22 June).
Its decision will see the 28 Nato countries' ambassadors hold emergency talks in the North Atlantic Council, the political steering group of the military alliance, in Brussels on Tuesday.
Article four says that any ally can call talks if it thinks its security has been "threatened."
Moody's cuts ratings of 15 banks,
Morgan Stanley down two notches
By Rick Rothacker and Steve Slater
(Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody's downgraded 15 of the world's biggest banks on Thursday, lowering credit ratings by one to three notches to reflect the risk of losses they face from volatile capital markets activities, but banks criticized the move as backward looking.
Morgan Stanley, one of the most closely watched firms in the much anticipated review, had its long-term debt rating lowered by just two notches, one level less than had been expected, sending its stock up sharply in after-hours trading.
US to fall off 'fiscal cliff', warns Joseph Stiglitz The US economy is likely to fall over a "fiscal cliff" at the start of next year because Washington will be too divided to stop it, Joseph Stiglitz, one of the world's leading economists, has warned
By Richard Blackden - Telegraph.co.uk
America faces a combination of tax increases and spending cuts in January which risk plunging the world's biggest economy back into recession if they are all allowed to happen, he said.
"There are so many political battles ahead that the likelihood we avoid all of these elements that will then avoid the fiscal cliff is very problematic," Mr Stiglitz told The Sunday Telegraph. "It's a real danger."
As economy stutters, confidence is key Consumers, businesses weigh slowdown, threat of 'fiscal cliff'
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The economic picture in the U.S. has turned darker, but it could get darker still if businesses and consumers lose confidence.
Nearly every indicator over the past few months has turned lower in a reflection of a weakening economy. What's worse, many economists and business leaders warn that growth will slack off even further unless governments in the U.S. and Europe address existing or looming crises over debt, taxes and government spending levels.
"Pretty high hurdle" to QE3: Fed's Bullard
By Jonathan Spicer
NEW YORK | Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:18pm EDT
(Reuters) - Federal Reserve policymakers still see a "pretty high hurdle" before they would unleash a third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, a top Fed official said on Friday.
Speaking two days after the U.S. central bank decided to take a more modest policy step to help the flailing economic recovery, St. Louis Fed Bank President James Bullard said the Fed has done "what it can do."
Central Banks Face Power Limit As Debt Persists, BIS Says
By Jennifer Ryan - Bloomberg.com
Central banks in developed nations are confronting the limits of their ability to aid economic recovery as government efforts to strengthen their finances fall short, the Bank for International Settlements said.
"Central banks are being cornered into prolonging monetary stimulus as governments drag their feet and adjustment is delayed," the Basel, Switzerland-based BIS said in its annual report, published today. "Both conventionally and unconventionally accommodative monetary policies are palliatives and have their limits."
Keiser Report: Feta Cheese Trap (E305)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss smashed watermelon and dead rat collateral and the fraud flow of a less than zero balance sheet. In the second half of the show Max talks to economist, Constantin Gurdgiev, about intergalactic bailout bonds to the rescue and other crazy ideas to solve the global debt catastrophe and the significance of the gold collateral to Germany's idea of a European Redemption Fund.
BIS backs pan-European banking system
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Bank for International Settlements, a global forum for central banks, on Sunday backed moves to create a pan-European banking system.
The BIS said the creation of one regulator, one supervisor and one deposit-insurer would help ease the European debt crisis.
"The conclusion is hard to escape that a pan-European financial market and a pan-European central bank require a pan-European banking system. Banks in Europe must become European banks," the BIS, a global forum for central banks, said in its annual report published Sunday.
Surprise Strength in Gold
By: Adrian Ash - GoldSeek.com
Given the challenges it faces, gold so far in 2012 has in fact proven strong...
"GOLD PRICE PLUMMETS" is the obvious headline right now. But fact is, the gold price has in truth been surprisingly strong so far this year.
First up, the US gold futures and options market. These contracts rarely run to physical settlement, but still they wag the dog of physical prices near-term. Because the price of gold for future delivery of course affects how much people ask or bid for metal today.
GATA appearance on CNBC Asia... Central Bank Gold Manipulation "Steady As Ever"
GoldCore.com
....Chris Powell, Secretary and Treasurer of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee told Bernie Lo on CNBC Asia overnight that central banks are continuing to manipulate the gold market as they are interested in supporting government bonds and the dollar and keeping interest rates low.
Powell warns about "paper gold" and says that we "try to persuade investors that if they are purchasing gold, they had better get real gold – metal. They should not get "paper gold" and keep it within the banking system."
He says that "there is huge naked short position in gold" and estimates that perhaps "75% to 80% of the gold that the world thinks it owns does not exist and is just a claim on a bullion bank that is underwritten basically by the central banks."
How Does Gold Fare During Hyperinflationary Periods?
Jeff Clark - CaseyResearch.com
Inflation is a natural consequence of loose government monetary policy. If those policies get too loose, hyperinflation can occur. As gold investors, we'd like to know if the precious metals would keep pace in this extreme scenario.
Hyperinflation is an extremely rapid period of inflation, but when does inflation (which can be manageable) cross the line and become out-of-control hyperinflation? Philip Cagan, one of the very first researchers of this phenomenon, defines hyperinflation as "an inflation rate of 50% or more in a single month," something largely inconceivable to the average investor.
Mobilization of Gold Commodities / Gold and Silver 2012 Contributions to the I.M.F. Come with Conditions
By: Julian_DW_Phillips - MarketOracle.co.uk
While the B.R.I.C.S nations are contributing to the I.M.F.'s funding with the purpose of shoring up the global financial system, they've stipulated that they want more power in the I.M.F. China is contributing $43 billion, so as it races to become the world's leading economic and financial nation it wants a bigger part of the decision making process, commensurate with its rising power. So the first question to be asked is, "Will it get it?"
All the bail-out systems under the sun
cannot make the eurozone work Another week, another summit. This week's shindig of EU leaders in Brussels will be bound to focus on efforts to shore up the euro.
By Roger Bootle - Telegraph.co.uk
Once again, it is likely to disappoint. The main issue is well-known; bail-outs for indigent, non-tax-paying southerners at the expense of hard-working northerners.
The form book tells us that even if they come up with something, the proffered solution will be too little, too late.
Eurozone nations are stuck in a 'doom loop' The euro was a very bad idea yet fiscal union is far worse and will fail, but not before it spreads bitterness across Europe.
By Liam Halligan - Telegraph.co.uk
'These global economic problems have their roots in the fools' paradise we all used to live in," observed Lord Peter Mandelson on Friday, to a packed seminar at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
"Pretty much everyone borrowed and spent beyond their means and that's now catching up with us," continued the former Cabinet Minister. "And it's the inter-twining of the sovereign debt and banking crises that makes any eurozone resolution extremely difficult."
Mario Monti: we have a week to save the eurozone Italian prime minister warns that there is no room for failure in talks between single currency's big four countries
By John Hooper - The Guardian, Thursday 21 June 2012
Italy's prime minister, Mario Monti, has warned of the apocalyptic consequences of failure at next week's summit of EU leaders, outlining a potential death spiral that could threaten the political and economic future of Europe.
The Italian leader is to hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the French president, François Hollande, and Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, in the hope that the single currency's big four countries can pave the way for a breakthrough at next week's meeting.
Starving Greeks queue for food in their thousands
as debt-wracked country finally forms
a coalition government... but how long will it last?
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER - dailymail.co.uk
Starving Greeks queued around the block for free food handouts yesterday as the country's politicians managed to end a crippling stalemate to form a coalition government.
Young children as well as the elderly waited in line in Athens to collect the parcels of fruit and vegetables donated by farmers from Crete to help ease the devastating austerity faced by many Greeks.
But as hungry people collected food, a few miles away a new conservative-led alliance was formed, vowing to renegotiate the country's strict European bailout in a bid to breath economic life back into the debt-stricken country.
EU watchdog sets out ethics code for eurocrats
BY BENJAMIN FOX - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - The EU's 55,000 officials should be bound by a new set of "ethical principles", according to the head of the EU institutions watchdog.
In a statement released Tuesday (19 June), European Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros, said that the new rules would "help build greater trust between citizens and the EU institutions."
The principles were first drafted in 2010 by national ombudsmen across the EU and have been finalised following a public consultation which ended last year. Diamandouros said he would apply the guidelines when conducting inquiries arising from complaints about the EU.
Germany's Constitutional Conundrum
How the Euro Might be Derailed
by MARSHALL AUERBACK - CounterPunch.org
The European financial officials are preparing their policy package to deal with the current crisis for the meeting scheduled next week. It is not clear whether any of the proposals will be able to stop the ongoing bank run. Here are some of the rumored proposals:
• Euro member jointly issued short term bills – in effect, short term euro bonds.
• A debt redemption fund as proposed by economic advisors to Merkel.
• New procedures for euro area banking supervision.
• Using the ESM to purchase peripheral nations' bonds in order to reduce their sovereign interest rates.
Tony Blair says only Germany
and a 'grand plan' can save the euro Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister, said the euro can only be saved by a "grand plan" in which Germany is prepared to treat the debts of all nations as one.
Telegraph.co.uk
The problem of the eurozone was that it was "motivated by politics and delivered in economics", he said on BBC 1's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, warning that incremental changes such as help for Spanish banks "is not enough" to address the bigger issues facing the European Union.
Europe was being presented with either "austerity with reforms "or "growth with reforms" but needed "austerity with growth and reforms", he said.
Schaeuble says "no" to throwing money at euro crisis
Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum
(Reuters) - Throwing more money at the eurozone debt crisis will not solve the problem because the troubles have to be resolved at the cause, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Sunday.
Schaeuble also said in an interview with German TV network ZDF that Greece has not done enough to fulfil promises it made in exchange for bailout funds. Schaeuble also criticised the recent interventions by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Germany tells Greece to stop asking for help
and start cutting budgets Germany has told Greece to stop asking for more help and get on with implementing the reforms it has already promised as tensions mount before this week's crucial summit of European Union leaders.
By Alistair Osborne - Telegraph.co.uk
In unusually blunt remarks, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said: "The most important task facing new prime minister [Antonis] Samaras is to enact the programme agreed upon quickly and without further delay instead of asking how much more others can do for Greece."
His comments highlight Germany's growing impatience with the eurozone's problem nations in what is shaping up to be another significant week for the single currency bloc.
Germany Plans Joint Federal-State Debt In Merkel Fiscal Deal
By Tony Czuczka - Bloomberg.com
Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to share borrowing costs with Germany's states to help ease their budget squeeze, completing a deal the opposition said will help secure German ratification of the European Union's fiscal pact.
Germany's federal and state governments plan their first joint debt sale in 2013 to help the states meet the pact's deficit limits, the German government's press office said in an e-mailed statement in Berlin today.
Stimulus Package Ahead for the Eurozone
by Alexander Reed Kelly - Truthdig.com
The leaders of France, Germany, Spain and Italy made a bid to save the euro Friday, pledging to push for a $163 billion program to stimulate growth in the depressed European economies.
The four countries made the decision ahead of next week's European Council meeting in Brussels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been hesitant to support stimulus proposals that would force German taxpayers to pay for the bailout of Europe's failing economics, supported the move.
Emerging Markets' Europe Problem
By Dominique Moisi - Project-Syndicate.org
PARIS – From Hong Kong to São Paulo, and all points between, one word dominates all others among big investors: Greece. Will the Greeks remain in the eurozone? What will happen to the European Union and the global economy if they do not?
Until recently, Europe was a sort of mirror that confirmed for the major emerging economies the spectacular nature of their own success. They could contrast their high growth rates with Europe's high levels of debt. They could oppose their "positive energy" with the pessimism dominating European minds. They were only too willing to advise Europe to work harder and spend less, as legitimate pride mingled with an understandable desire to settle historical scores and attenuate their legacies of colonial submission and humiliation.
Angela Merkel defies Latin Europe and the IMF on bond rescue German Chancellor Angela Merkel has shot down calls for full mobilisation of the eurozone's bail-out funds to halt the raging bond crisis in Spain and Italy, ignoring unprecedented pleas for action from the International Monetary Fund.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"Each country wants to help but if I am going to call on taxpayers in Germany, I must have guarantees that all is under control. Responsibility and control go hand in hand," she said after a crucial summit of the eurozone's Big Four powers in Rome.
Mrs Merkel -- or La Signora No in Italy -- doused hopes of a break-through on proposals by the "Latin Bloc" leaders of Italy, France, and Spain to deploy the funds (EFSF and ESM) to cap the bond yields of "virtuous" countries vulnerable to contagion, or to recapitalize banks directly to take the strain off sovereign states.
Financial TIme Bombs
from 'V' - SteveQuayle.com
June 21, 2012
Steve, where do I begin? Lets start up with the Eurozone and take it from there. I was the first to mention to you that the Spanish Bailout had already happened before it was even announced that they were going to need more within the week. Well a week has passed and it said that both Italy and Spain need an almost $1 Trillion dollar bailout. The reason? Apart from both being insolvent, Italy has to borrow money at 7% to lend to Spain at 3% by edict of the Euro Technocrats via ECB. These morons have the economics understanding of a five year old. Now both countries are heading the way of Greece, which is total economic death as Greece is a failed state, with no government, a stolen election and thousands starving to death.
Yes, there is an alternative to capitalism:
Mondragon shows the way Why are we told a broken system that creates vast inequality is the only choice? Spain's amazing co-op is living proof otherwise
By Richard Wolff - Guardian.co.uk
There is no alternative ("Tina") to capitalism?
Really? We are to believe, with Margaret Thatcher, that an economic system with endlessly repeated cycles, costly bailouts for financiers and now austerity for most people is the best human beings can do? Capitalism's recurring tendencies toward extreme and deepening inequalities of income, wealth, and political and cultural power require resignation and acceptance – because there is no alternative?
I understand why such a system's leaders would like us to believe in Tina. But why would others?
Of course, alternatives exist; they always do. Every society chooses – consciously or not, democratically or not – among alternative ways to organize the production and distribution of the goods and services that make individual and social life possible.
New World Order Blueprint Leaked
By: Rudy Avizius - MarketOracle.co.uk
On June 12, a leaked copy of the investment chapter for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was made public. This copy was analyzed by Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch and has been verified as authentic. This agreement has been negotiated IN SECRET for 2-1/2 years and no information has ever been released until this leak. So why have the details of this negotiation been so secret? This agreement has been framed as a "free trade" agreement and yet out of 26 chapters only two have anything to do with trade. The other 24 chapters grant new corporate privileges and rights, while limiting governments and protective regulations.
Panic in the New World Order
by Gary North - LewRockwell.com
For the first time in my career, I see the international establishment, sometimes called the New World Order, facing a crisis so large that its very survival is at stake. For the first time, these people are scared.
There are not many of them. In his book, Superclass, author David Rothkopf estimates that there are only about 6000 people at the top of the pyramid of world power and influence. They are mostly males, and at least a third of them have attended America's most prestigious universities. Most of the others have attended comparable universities in Europe.
JPMorgan Chase Gets $14 Billion Per Year
In Government Subsidy
FromTheTrenchesWorldReport.com
Jamie Dimon and his presidential cufflinks do not care for your questions about the bank's government subsidy.
At least some of the billions of dollars that JPMorgan Chase lost gambling on creditderivatives once belonged to you.
Last week, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) had the gall to spoil the Senate Banking Committee's gentle grooming of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon by pointing out that his bank would not still be in existence without taxpayer assistance.
States Face Pressure on Pension Shortfalls
[Google title for free article pass]
By MICHAEL CORKERY And MICHAEL RAPOPORT - WSJ.com
New accounting rules are likely to show that public pension plans could face hundreds of billions of dollars in additional liabilities, putting new pressure on state and local governments to act.
The revamped rules expected to be approved Monday by an accounting-standards group will force governments to record pension costs sooner than they did before and disclose shortfalls more prominently. The changes also will force some public pension funds to calculate retirement benefits using more conservative assumptions.
Blame the Rich!
Trickle Up Economics
By Peter Schiff - LewRockwell.com
The political left wing has long tried to cast doubt on the fairness, and even the efficacy, of free market capitalism by branding it as a "trickle down" system. This epithet is meant to show how the middle and lower classes are dependent on scraps of wealth that happen to fall from the buffet table of the rich. This characterization of an unfair and inefficient system has helped them demonize policies that lower taxes (if they also extend to the wealthy) and reduce regulation on business.
* * * * *
In suburban America, middle class begins to confront poverty
By Izhar Harpaz
Dateline NBC
BOULDER, Colo. – The small communities that dot the picturesque mountain landscape outside Boulder, Colo., conjure up an image from long before the great recession. Here the manicured lawns and expensive cars are a testament to the achievements of a fiercely independent and educated middle class; a 21st century version of suburban bliss. But often these days, the closed doors of well-kept houses hide a decidedly different reality: hushed conversation about food stamps and Medicaid, depleted bank accounts and 401K's, kitchen shelves stocked with groceries from food pantries.
"It's this dirty little secret," said Joyce Welch, a stay-at-home mother of three whose husband, a mechanical engineer, lost his job six months ago. "Everybody is supposed to be able to buy the new car, supposed to buy the new house. And what we don't talk about is people who struggle, and they're struggling more and more." The Welch family lives in Superior, a Boulder suburb that was listed by Money Magazine as one of the "Top 20 best places to live in America" in 2011. Neighboring Louisville was ranked number one.
Private Sector Pensions Under Attack
by Henry Shivley - fromthetrenchesworldreport.com
This article is for those still fortunate enough to have a job in the private sector who have been waving the banner and shouting the slogans for public pension reform. We at From the Trenches have been saying for months now that the attack on public pensions is unjust and is being used to divide we the people against one another to the benefit of the corporate elite.
As the theft and corruption in the United States has become cyclical in its operation and as we have told you it would be; now the corporations are asserting that there exists a $435 billion shortfall in private pensions. And of course all those workers in the public sector, having been betrayed by workers in the private sector, will now support corporate cuts in private pensions saying, "If they can do it us then let them do it to them.
Will Toledo, Ohio Be The First Major American City
To Be Owned By China?
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
It has been said that there are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One way is by using the sword, and the other is by using debt. Fortunately, America is not in danger of being conquered by the sword right now, but America is being conquered by debt. The borrower is the servant of the lender, and today we owe China more than a trillion dollars. By running a gigantic trade deficit with us, China has been able to become incredibly wealthy. We have begged them to lend us back some of the money that we have sent them and this has made them even wealthier. Now China is gobbling up U.S. real estate and U.S. assets at an astounding pace. In fact, some cities are in danger of becoming completely dominated by Chinese ownership. One of those cities is Toledo, Ohio. In many "rust belt" areas, real estate can be had for a song, and the Chinese are taking full advantage of this. America was once the wealthiest nation on earth, but now we are drowning in debt and we are being sold off in chunks to the highest bidder. Is this the legacy that we are going to leave for future generations?
Thousands in Phoenix protest
Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio's tent city jail Religious group holding annual convention in Phoenix joins with immigrant-rights group to rally against conditions in notorious jail
By Matt Williams and agencies - Guardian.co.uk
Thousands of protesters rallied Saturday night for the closure of a "inhumane" complex of canvas prison tents set up by America's self-styled toughest sheriff.
Critics of Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio – an outspoken critic of President Barack Obama and a hardliner on immigration – claim that confinement to the "tent city" in Arizona violates prisoners' human and constitutional rights.
Health-Care Tax Credit Eludes Some Small Businesses Bump Up Against Pay Limits,
Share of Premium and Restrictions on Family Firms
By EMILY MALTBY - WSJ.com
Hundreds of thousands of small businesses are excluded from claiming a health-care tax credit, and many blame overly narrow restrictions.
"You're penalized for giving people a higher wage and a more professional opportunity," said Michael Griffin, whose St. Louis ad agency offers health-insurance coverage to its six full-time employees.
Reading The 'Obamacare' Tea Leaves As Ruling Looms
By SAHIL KAPUR - TalkingPointsMemo.com
With a Supreme Court decision on 'Obamacare' expected this week, tensions have reached a fever pitch as observers eagerly await the verdict on the law's constitutionality.
Just three months after legal experts widely predicted the health care reform law would be upheld, expectations have changed dramatically and conservatives are bullish about victory.
The Supreme Court and the Affordable Care Act Health Care is a Right, Not a Mandate
by MARK VORPAHL
Any day the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA). Most at risk is this act's "individual mandate" which requires everyone to buy health insurance from a private insurer or face a steep fine. If the "individual mandate" is ruled unconstitutional, it is possible that the Supreme Court justices will throw out the ACA in its entirety. Even if they agree to keep the ACA intact while rejecting the individual mandate, this will put the entire bill in jeopardy since it is this provision that makes the ACA economically feasible.
HHS pushes out cash ahead of ruling
By J. LESTER FEDER, KATHRYN SMITH
and KYLE CHENEY - Politico.com
Conservatives wanted the White House to stop spending on the health care law until the Supreme Court rules on whether it's constitutional.
But the administration has forged ahead, spending at least $2.7 billion since oral arguments in the case ended on March 28. That's more than double the amount that was handed out in the three-month period leading up to the arguments, according to a POLITICO review of funding announcements from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Health Care Reformers At Odds
Over Post-Supreme Court Strategy
BRIAN BEUTLER - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Democrats and supporters of President Obama's health care law are preparing a variety of contingency plans — messaging and legislative strategy — in the event that the Supreme Court strikes part or all of the Affordable Care Act.
But like Republicans — who are torn over how to respond in the event that the Court doesn't fully uphold the law — supporters of the law haven't settled on a single approach. And with a ruling expected next week, it now appears likely that Democrats and health care reformers will lack a unified message or an all-hands-on-deck strategy if the individual mandate falls.
At The Gates of Montpelier A Trojan Horse Among Vermont Healthcare Reformers?
by STEVE EARLY - CounterPunch.org
While the nation waits for an overdue Supreme Court decision that will decide the fate of President Obama's Affordable Care Act, another health care drama with wide implications for universal health care is just starting in Vermont.
Prodded by a strong grassroots movement, the Vermont legislature voted last year for a single-payer state health care system (Act 48) where every citizen will eventually be eligible for publicly funded health care.
Fast and Furious—the Witch Hunt
By Eugene Robinson - Truthdig.com
In 2006, when George W. Bush was president, federal law enforcement officials came up with a spectacularly dumb idea: Allow powerful firearms purchased in the United States to "walk" across the Mexico border, where authorities would trace the weapons and eventually nab the big-time criminals who supply guns to the ultra-violent Mexican drug cartels.
It is no surprise that most of the weapons promptly disappeared.
But the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, undeterred by failure, went back to the "gun-walking" technique again the following year—and used it once more in 2009, after President Obama had taken office, in the tragic fiasco known as Operation Fast and Furious.
Issa Staffer Offered To Stop
Holder Contempt Vote For DOJ Scalp
RYAN J. REILLY - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Rep. Darrell Issa's chief investigative counsel offered to stop the contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder in exchange for the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, Newsweek's Dan Klaidman is reporting.
Issa staffer Stephen Castor brought up the issue of "accountability" during a phone call with a senior DOJ official last week, according to the report. Castor reportedly said they could head off the contempt vote if Breuer stepped down.
Koch: I helped change Obama
By MAGGIE HABERMAN - Politico.com
Ed Koch, the mercurial former New York mayor and Jewish community figure who was helpful to George W. Bush in places like Florida in the 2004 presidential race, sees "change" by President Obama, who he was slow to support, on the subject of Israel.
"Going to foreign affairs and Israel in particular, where I am very concerned that I think Israel is in great danger, where I thought the president was not giving enough attention," Koch told WABC radio's Aaron Klein. "He's changed. And I believe I had something to do with the change."
Domain Wheeling and Dealing Applicants for New Web Extensions
Head to Icann Meeting to Gauge Competition
By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN - WSJ.com
Entrepreneurs and big companies are battling one another for the rights to manage hot new Web address endings, including .app, .home and .book. Some are gathering in Prague this weekend, where they may decide to team up and pursue a contested domain together or duke it out.
Among them will be Bill Doshier of Conway, Ark., who hopes to meet his competition for the rights to .fun.
Data Mining: Big Corporations Are Gathering Every Shred Of Information About You That They Can And Selling It For Profit
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
When most people think of "Big Brother", they think of the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the Department of Homeland Security and other shadowy government agencies. Yes, they are definitely watching you, but so are many big corporations. In fact, there are some companies that are making tens of millions of dollars by gathering every shred of information about all of us that they can and selling it for profit to anyone willing to pay the price. It is called "data mining", and these data miners want to keep track of literally everything that you do. Most people know that basically everything that we do on the Internet is tracked, but data mining goes far beyond that. When you use a customer rewards card at the supermarket, the data miners know about it. When you pay for a purchase with a credit card or a debit card, the data miners know about it. Every time you buy a prescription drug, that information is sold to someone. Every time you apply for a loan, a whole host of organizations is notified. Information has become an extremely valuable commodity, and thanks to computers and the Internet it is easier to gather information than ever before. But that also means that our personal information is no longer "private", and this trend is only going to get worse in the years ahead.
EU hands personal data to US authorities on daily basis
BY NIKOLAJ NIELSEN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - EU and US co-operation in combatting terrorism remains shrouded in secrecy as Europol, the EU police agency, refuses to render public an inspection report that details how financial data is handed over to US authorities.
The document, written by the joint-supervisory body (JSB) which supervises the data protection rules are properly applied at Europol, noted on Thursday (21 June) that the EU agency transfers bulk data on a daily basis to the US department of treasury.
TSA forgot to pug it in... Unplugged metal detector triggers JFK chaos
By PHILIP MESSING and CANDICE M. GIOVE - NYPost.com
These fools are keeping us safe?!?
The TSA's bungling reached a new low yesterday when a JFK Airport terminal had to be evacuated and hundreds of passengers marched back through security screening all because one dimwitted agent failed to realize his metal detector had been unplugged, sources told The Post.
The stunning error led to hours of delays, two planes called back from the runway and infinite frustration for furious passengers.
"The truth is, this is the failure of the most basic level of diligence," a law-enforcement source said.
"How can you expect the public to feel confident of the mission of the TSA if they don't even know if the lights are turned on?"
Scientists warn US east coast over accelerated sea level rise Study says sea level is rising far faster than elsewhere, which could increase incidence of New York flooding
By Damian Carrington - Guardian.co.uk
Sea level rise is accelerating three to four times faster along the densely populated east coast of the US than other US coasts, scientists have discovered. The zone, dubbed a "hotspot" by the researchers, means the ocean from Boston to New York to North Carolina is set to experience a rise up a third greater than that seen globally.
Asbury Sallenger, at the US geological survey at St Petersburg, Florida, who led the new study, said: "That makes storm surges that much higher and the reach of the waves that crash onto the coast that much higher. In terms of people and communities preparing for these things, there are extreme regional variations and we need to keep that in mind. We can't view sea level rise as uniform, like filling up a bath tub. Some places will rise quicker than others and the whole urban corridor of north-east US is one of these places."
Tropical storm Debby prompts
emergency warnings along Gulf Coast Forecasters unsure where storm will hit, but it is expected to reach hurricane strength before making landfall this week
Associated Press - Guardian.co.uk
Coastal regions in three US states were under a tropical storm warning Sunday as Debby churned off the Gulf Coast, edging ever closer to landfall.
In Louisiana the governor declared a state of emergency to free up resources ahead of a possible soaking and strong winds. Warnings also were issued for coastal Alabama and parts of Florida, including the Panhandle.
Tropical storm Debby
expected to strengthen into Gulf Coast hurricane Strong storm forces evacuation of oil and gas workers in the Gulf of Mexico as it heads toward landfall in Louisiana and Texas
Reuters - Guardian.co.uk
Tropical Storm Debby churned slowly toward the US Gulf Coast on Sunday with 50 mph (30 kph) winds and was expected to strengthen into a hurricane as it skirted the Louisiana coast and took aim at Texas, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Debby was centered about 165 miles (265 km) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and was moving slowly northward at around 3 mph (5 kph). The storm was expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Tuesday night.
THE ARGENTINA COLLAPSE Lessons from Argentina's economic collapse
Survival-Spot.com
The topic is not a new one. When Argentina spiraled into social and economic collapse in the late 90′s life changed for everyone. Regardless of the causes, there is much to be learned from a country that was once prosperous and is now recovering from economic crises that put about 60% of the people into poverty.
* * * * * WATCH the Middle East tender box * * * * *
Hands Off Syria Before the US House of Representatives: Statement Introducing HR 5993, The Syria Non-Intervention Act of 2012
by Ron Paul - LewRockwell.com
Mr. Speaker: The Administration is marching toward another war in the Middle East, this time against Syria. As with the president's war against Libya, Congress has been frozen out of the process. The Constitution, which grants Congress and only Congress the authority to declare war, is once again being completely ignored.
The push for a US attack on Syria makes no sense, is not in our interest, and will likely make matters worse. Yet the Administration, after transferring equipment to the Syrian rebels and facilitating the shipment of weapons from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, has indicated that its plans for an actual invasion are complete.
The Syrian Conundrum Washington and Damascus
by SAUL LANDAU - CounterPunch.org
Syria has become dangerous. Syrians get killed and wounded almost daily. Their neighbors have also felt the impacts of violence: refuges in Turkey and outbreaks of fighting in Tripoli's streets in Lebanon where peace depends on a nuanced arrangement between Christians and Sunni and Shia Muslims.
Northern Iraqi Kurds share with Syrian Kurds the "statehood" ideal that has periodically shaken the region and provoked Turkey to use heavy military force.
Netanyahu ready to pounce... if truce broken Egypt-Brokered Cease-Fire With Israel Declared By Hamas
By Calev Ben-David and Gwen Ackerman - Blooomberg.com
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military is ready to use "greater force" to halt rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, after Hamas declared a cease-fire following a week of violence in the south.
Three rockets fired from Gaza have struck Israel today, according to an Israeli army spokeswoman, who spoke anonymously in accordance with military regulation. There were also no reports of Israeli strikes on the seaside strip.
Turkey Promises 'Necessary Steps' After Syria Downs Jet
By JOE PARKINSON - WSJ.com
ISTANBUL—Turkey on Saturday vowed to take "necessary steps" to respond to the downing of a Turkish military jet by Syria on Friday, but signals from Ankara and Damascus suggested neither wanted a military confrontation over the incident, which raised tensions along the neighbors' long border to an ominous new high.
The Turkish and Syrian navies on Saturday continued a joint search for the crew of the missing aircraft, an F-4 military jet, which Syria said fell into the Mediterranean Sea about six miles west of the Syrian village of Umm al-Tuyour. Turkish news networks reported Saturday evening that neither of the two pilots had been found.
Turkey blames Syria for jet attack, consults NATO
By Jonathon Burch and Khaled Yacoub Oweis
ANKARA/AMMAN | Sun Jun 24, 2012 7:34pm BST
(Reuters) - Turkey accused Syria on Sunday of shooting down a military reconnaissance jet in international airspace without warning and called a NATO meeting to discuss a response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Amid growing acrimony between the once-friendly neighbours, Syria said its forces had shot dead "terrorists" infiltrating its territory from Turkey, which along with Western and Arab nations has backed the cause of Syrians fighting Assad.
Turks do not want to live in the EU any more
BY ANDREW RETTMAN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Turkey says future visa-free travel will work out well because Turks no longer want to live in the EU.
Its European affairs minister Egemen Bagis told EUobserver on Friday (22 June) that Turks these days travel to EU capitals "to spend [money]" in shops and hotels.
"In the past, when Turks were asked do you want to live in Europe, 80 percent would say Yes. Now, 85 percent say No. Turkish citizens feel there is more hope in Turkey, better job opportunities," he said.
Turkey goes to Nato over plane
it says Syria downed in international airspace Foreign minister says Ankara will take incident to Nato and dismisses Syria's claim it did not know plane was Turkish
By Staff and agencies - Guardian.co.uk
Nato is to meet on Tuesday at Turkey's request following the shooting down of one of its warplanes by Syria in what it says was international airspace.
Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said Ankara would formally present the incident to its Nato allies to prepare a response under article four of the organisation's founding treaty.
Turkey Says Syria Downed Plane In International Airspace
By Ali Berat Meric - Bloomberg.com
A Turkish warplane shot down by Syrian forces was in international airspace when it was struck, and Turkey is still weighing a response to the attack, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said.
The unarmed plane briefly entered Syrian airspace minutes before it was hit on June 22, and then plunged into Syrian waters about 8 miles (13 kilometers) offshore, Davutoglu said on state television today. It was on a test flight related to Turkey's radar system, and was not spying onSyria, he said. The plane was clearly identifiable as Turkish, and Syria made no attempt to issue a warning after the earlier infringement, Davutoglu said. Turkish rescue teams are still searching for the F4 Phantom jet's two crew members, he said.
Syria Forms New Government; Key Posts Unchanged
AP - ABCNews.com
Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a decree forming a new government Saturday, but it will be headed by a key loyalist and the foreign, defense and interior ministers kept their jobs.
The move comes as fears mounted that the conflict was aggravating regional tensions. Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Saturday his country would take "necessary" action against Syria after Syrian forces shot down a Turkish military plane.
Dispatches From Cairo: Ms. Clinton, Kindly Butt Out
By Lauren Unger-Geoffroy - Truthdig.com
CAIRO—Since Tuesday, Egypt has suffered a hot spell that produced a record number of heatstroke victims, including me and two friends. But the weather has not stopped supporters of the two presidential election "winners" from holding victory celebrations. Nor has it stopped Egyptians from wondering whether the ousted President Hosni Mubarak is clinically dead, fully dead, alive and conscious, or alive but unconscious, and whether he had a heart attack or a stroke or had fallen in a bathtub. The volleys of bullshit have been heavy as journalists rush back and forth in pursuit of the stories.
Mohammed Morsi of Muslim Brotherhood
wins Egypt's presidential election
ASSOCIATED PRESS - NYPost.com
CAIRO — Mohammed Morsi was declared Egypt's first Islamist president on Sunday, chosen in the freest elections in history that left the nation deeply polarized between supporters of an old regime figure and those eager for democratic change.
It was the culmination of the tumultuous first phase of a transition launched 16 months ago with the uprising that ousted autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak, who was replaced by a ruling military council headed by Mubarak's defense minister of 20 years. It is the start of a new struggle with the military to restore the powers that the ruling generals stripped from the presidency even before the victor was declared.
Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi declared president of Egypt Egyptians celebrate while neighbours react with guarded optimism to appointment of first elected Islamist candidate
By Abdel-Rahman Hussein in Cairo
and Julian Borger - Guardian.co.uk
The Arab Spring entered a new chapter last night when Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was declared Egypt's first democratically elected president, triggering rapture in Cairo's Tahrir Square and a nervous welcome from regional leaders jittery over the advance of Islamism.
Sixteen months after the fall of his predecessor, the dictator Hosni Mubarak, official election results gave Morsi, a US-educated engineer, 51.7% of the vote against 48.3% for his rival, Ahmed Shafiq, a former prime minister under Mubarak. The turnout was reported to be 51.6%.
Israel Jittery After Brotherhood Victory in Egypt
By IBRAHIM BARZAK and JOSEF FEDERMAN - AP - ABCNews.com
The Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egyptian presidential elections, announced Sunday, has raised fears in Israel that its strategic 1979 peace agreement with its southern neighbor could be in danger.
In contrast, in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, ecstatic residents flocked into the streets, fired guns in the air and handed out candy in celebration.
Moody's downgrades credit ratings of giant global banks The credit rating downgrades included Goldman Sachs Group, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America.
By E. Scott Reckard, Los Angeles Times
Moody's Investors Serviceslashed the credit ratings of more than a dozen giant global banks amid worries that Europe's economic turmoil could slow both profit and growth.
The downgrades, announced after the close of U.S. financial markets Thursday, included Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley,Citigroup Inc. andBank of America Corp.
Moody's downgrades 15 of the world's biggest banks
By Peter Schroeder - TheHill.com
Moody's Investors Service issued downgrades to 15 of the world's biggest banks Thursday, saying that they all had "significant exposure" to volatility and risk inherent in their global trading activities.
Banks such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America were among the firms downgraded by the rating agency — a move that could require the banks to pony up billions in additional collateral to cover their derivatives transactions, and also make it more expensive for them to borrow.
The Government's Plan to Steal Your Money
By Simon Black - DailyReckoning.com
06/21/12 New York City – There are consequences to being flat broke. There are consequences to investing any level of confidence in a financial system underpinned by debt and the creation of paper currency. There are consequences for ignoring reality and pretending that everything is normal.
This is one of them: European officials have flat-out admitted that they were discussing rolling out a series of harsh capital controls across the continent, including bank withdrawal limits and closing down Europe's borderless Schengen area.
Iceland PM: Europe should copy us
Europe should follow Iceland's model of winning public support for austerity measures and returning to economic growth after a crisis, according to Iceland Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir. Speaking in an interview with Reuters, the union activist-turned-politician said the euro zone should learn lessons, such as how to mix unorthodox policies with measured austerity, from the tiny island nation.
"We believe, and so does the IMF, that our case can be a role model for some of the countries in crisis now," she told Reuters. "I've met with several leaders over the past years, some from Greece, and many prime ministers have been surprised by our economic turnaround and asked how we did it."
Bank 'throws kitchen sink' at credit problem The eurozone crisis seems on the cusp of some kind of denouement. The trouble is that no one can possibly know what that long-awaited outcome will be.
By Liam Halligan - Telegraph.co.uk
Maybe Germany will finally relent and agree to massive monetisation and "debt-pooling" – effectively bailing out the rest of the eurozone. Or perhaps, once again, the eurocrats will "extend and pretend", building an even higher financial firewall, while continuing to muddle through.
The danger is, though, that the markets lose patience, sparking a violent "Lehman style" financial meltdown, with all the global fall-out that would entail. While that would be disastrous, the worst of all possible outcomes, there is a growing sense that it is only another "Minsky moment", combined with some serious civil unrest, that will force the eurozone's main policy players to face the really tough decisions.
The IMF helping the euro
is feeding the monster on our doorstep IMF help would set the eurozone on the road to fiscal and political union – let's not encourage it
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
Europe will "receive lessons from nobody" on democracy and the economy, José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, angrily declared at the G20 meeting in Mexico this week. Whenever a politician petulantly resorts to use of this tired old cliché, you know he's lost the plot. But, unconsciously, Mr Barroso was making an important point. Viewed collectively, the 17 nations that make up the eurozone are still one of the two richest regions in the world, and on many other measures of economic success – balance of trade, overall size of budget deficit and national debt relative to GDP – they beat the US by a country mile. A visitor from Mars, looking at the aggregate data, would declare the eurozone a model economy.
IMF Sees Euro Crisis at Critical Stage
By Jeff Kearns - Businessweek.com
The euro area crisis has reached a "critical stage" and member nations must make a "strong commitment" to the shared currency to stop the plunge in investor confidence, the International Monetary Fund said in a report that recommended issuing common debt as one solution.
Mario Monti: we have a week to save the eurozone Italian prime minister warns that there is no room for failure in talks between single currency's big four countries
By John Hooper in Rome - The Guardian
Italy's prime minister, Mario Monti, has warned of the apocalyptic consequences of failure at next week's summit of EU leaders, outlining a potential death spiral whose consequences would become more political than economic.
The Italian leader is to hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the French president, François Hollande, and Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, in the hope that the single currency's big four countries can pave the way for a breakthrough at next week's meeting.
The End of the Euro Is Not About Austerity
By SIMON JOHNSON - NYTimes.com
Most current policy discussion concerning the euro area is about austerity. Some people, particularly in German government circles, are pushing for tighter fiscal policies in troubled countries (i.e., higher taxes and lower government spending). Others, including in the new French government, are more inclined to push for a more expansive fiscal policy where possible and to resist fiscal contraction elsewhere.
Debt crisis: desperate Monti needs Merkel summit deal
to stop revolt at home Italy's technocrat government risks a parliamentary mutiny unless premier Mario Monti can secure major concessions from Germany at a crucial summit of the eurozone's Big Four powers in Rome on Friday.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"Monti is desperate. Reform fatigue has breached breaking point," said a top Italian official. "There is a feeling here that the euro is basically dead already. Unless Germany offers a road map out of this crisis, Monti is not going to be able to hold it together much longer."
The main Left and Right parties have until now backed Mr Monti's fiscal squeeze – a net tightening of 3.2pc of GDP this year – and radical reform of pension and labour markets.
Keiser Report: Runaway Greek Cash (E304)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss economic Jack and the Beanstalk style miracles that look a whole lot like simple ponzi schemes that Lilliputian financial journalists fail to report. In the second half of the show Max talks to Satyajit Das, author of Extreme Money, about the European debt crisis, how much longer Germany can stay solvent and whether German banks would have survived if the Irish taxpayer had not bailed them out in the first place.
Greek coalition government unveiled
Former anti-junta activist Vassilis Rapanos named finance minister in cabinet that new PM says will be long-lived
by Helena Smith in Athens - Guardian.co.uk
A new coalition government has been announced in Greece, as eurozone finance ministers met in Luxembourg.
In a surprise move, Vassilis Rapanos, a renowned economist with a radical past as an anti-junta activist, was given the post of finance minister.
With the country's future in the eurozone hanging in the balance despite the elevation to power of pro-European parties in Athens, Rapanos's appointment was greeted with enthusiasm.
Greece Sells Assets, Including Island Resorts,
Planes, Highways, Buildings To Pay Down Debt
The Huffington Post | By James Sunshine
When governments announce that the sale of assets, they usually mean industries and companies owned and operated by the state. Greece has something slightly different in mind.
According to Bloomberg, Greece is preparing to sell its ownership stake in Astir Palace, described by the news agency as an "Athenian Riviera resort." The resort includes almost 3 million square feet of beachfront property where guests can experience "the city and the seaside," according to its website. Aristotelis Karytinos, the general manager of real estate for the National Bank of Greece, called Astir Palace a "trophy asset."
Size of Spanish banking crisis revealed
as British banks brace for downgrade
By Giles Tremlett in Madrid and Jill Treanor - Guardian.co.uk
Britain's banks were facing downgrades of their credit ratings on Thursday night – just hours after the markets began digesting an admission by Spain that its own banks might need up to €62bn (£50bn) of bailout money to see them through the next three years.
The result of an independent audit of Spain's banks put the gap in their finances at between €16bn and €62bn – close to the €50bn calculated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) two weeks ago.
Spanish banks need up to $78BN
APNews.MyWay.com
MADRID (AP) - Spain's troubled banks could need as much as (EURO)62 billion ($78.76 billion) in new capital to withstand future economic shocks, independent auditors have calculated.
Presenting the results of the auditors' reports into the country's struggling financial sector, Deputy Bank of Spain Governor Fernando Restoy noted that this worst-case scenario was far below the (EURO)100 billion ($127.04 billion) loan lifeline offered by the 17 countries that use the euro.
Abandoning Ship The Eurozone Is Failing at an Accelerating Rate
BY ALASDAIR MACLEOD - FinancialSense.com
It will be no surprise to PeakProsperity.com readers that the news coming out of the Eurozone just gets worse and worse. The reality is that Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Greece, and France (in no particular order) are all in debt traps from which there is no escape. A debt trap is sprung when bankruptcy becomes the only outcome. With corporations, this usually becomes readily apparent and directors are forced by law to stop trading, but countries conceal this reality by printing money. Otherwise there is no difference in the two cases, despite what politicians and neoclassical economists would have us believe. This is why we are painfully aware that the Eurozone is in trouble, since nation states are unable to cover and conceal their obligations by printing money, having surrendered this role to the European Central Bank (ECB).
German, Chinese and US industry
suffer flattening effect of euro crisis Recession spending decline and drop in output
and orders for goods hit manufacturers
By Phillip Inman, Economics correspondent - Guardian.co.uk
German manufacturing nosedived and US production slowed down last month amid concern that the euro crisis was dragging the world's biggest economies back into recession.
Stock markets fell on the news and the FTSE 100 lost 51 points to end the day at 5571, leading the French CAC and German Dax into negative territory.
A Wet Blanket of Debt
BY PAUL NOLTE - FinancialSense.com
The markets are rarely satisfied, wanting more monetary easing to help the liquidity "problem" that no longer exists or alternately wishing the Fed to tighten, if only to drain out the liquidity that has been poured over the financial markets since 2008. The global financial markets are beginning to paint themselves in a corner, expecting much more than politicians or central banks are ready or able to provide – at least right now. The not so little known secret is that everyone in power wishes to stay there, whether a central banker or politician (or CEO for that matter). It is when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object that things begin to get interesting. Those two forces are playing out in Europe and we all have a front row seat to the festivities.
Does Ben Bernanke Have Any Ammo Left?
By CHRISTOPHER MATTHEWS - Time.com
The Federal Reserve can't seem to get any love these days. Within hours of the bank's announcement that it would lower its growth and employment forecasts and continue its "Operation Twist" bond-buying program through the end of the year, the financial blogosphere was thick with criticism of Ben Bernanke and the central bank he heads.
From the left, the refrain has been that the Fed is not doing enough. The central bank has a duel mandate to keep prices stable and unemployment low, and inflation has been consistently low while unemployment remains stubbornly high. Writes Matthew Ylglesias in Slate:
Money As Debt II: promises unleashed (FULL MOVIE)
Paul Grignon's second presentation of "Money as Debt" tells in very simple and effective graphic terms what money is and how it is being created. It is an entertaining way to get the message out. The Cowichan Citizens Coalition and its "Duncan Initiative" received high praise from those who previewed it. I recommend it as a painless but hard-hitting educational tool and encourage the widest distribution and use by all groups concerned with the present unsustainable monetary system in Canada, the United States and in whole Europe.
* * * * *
The JPM Derivatives Propping Up U.S. Debt
Why the Senate Won't Touch Jamie Dimon
by ELLEN BROWN - Counterpunch.org
When Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase Bank, appeared before the Senate Banking Committee on June 13, he was wearing cufflinks bearing the presidential seal. "Was Dimon trying to send any particular message by wearing the presidential cufflinks?" asked CNBC editor John Carney. "Was he . . . subtly hinting that he's really the guy in charge?"
The groveling of the Senators was so obvious that Jon Stewart did a spoof news clip on it, featured in a Huffington Post piece titled "Jon Stewart Blasts Senate's Coddling Of JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon," and Matt Taibbi wrote an op-ed called "Senators Grovel, Embarrass Themselves at Dimon Hearing." He said the whole thing was painful to watch.
The Fiscal Cliff Just Got Steeper
Posted by: Joshua Green - Businessweek.com
The Federal Reserve's announcement yesterday that it is extending "Operation Twist" through the end of the year means the economy will get a much-needed (though probably modest) boost: The Fed will sell an additional $267 billion of short-term bonds and buy long-term bonds in an effort to push down long-term interest rates. The idea is to spur investment and possibly lower already record-low mortgage rates.
Treasuries Remain Higher On Stocks
As Gross Warns Of Risk Assets
By Masaki Kondo - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries remained higher following a gain yesterday before German data forecast to show a gauge of business confidence in the euro region's biggest economy slid to a two-year low.
Demand for the safety of U.S. government securities was bolstered as Asian stocks extended a global rout. Bill Gross, who runs the world's largest mutual fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., said risk markets are vulnerable as the "monetary bag of tricks empties." Moody's Investors Service slashed credit ratings on 15 global banks, including Credit Suisse Group AG and UBS AG.
Factory, jobs data highlight struggling recovery
By Lucia Mutikani and Steven C. Johnson
(Reuters) - U.S. manufacturing grew at its slowest pace in 11 months in June and the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment aid fell only slightly last week, further evidence the economy was weakening.
Other reports on Thursday underscored the difficulty the economy was having breaking out of a soft patch. Factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region tumbled to a 10-month low in June and home resales slipped in May.
How to make U.S. healthcare even worse If the Supreme Court tosses the individual mandate yet keeps the rule that all consumers must be offered coverage despite their health, both rates and the number of uninsured will rise.
By David Lazarus - LATimes.com
What can we expect when the Supreme Court rules on healthcare reform in coming days? The prognosis isn't good.
I've spoken with various healthcare experts, and the consensus is that the conservative wing of the high court will probably strike down the so-called individual mandate that requires most people to buy insurance.
Pelosi: 'Let's Hope and Pray the Court
Will Love the Constitution More Than It Loves Broccoli'
By Elizabeth Harrington - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday poked fun at an analogy, used in the argument over the individual mandate in Obamacare, that likens the federal government ordering individuals to buy health insurance to the federal government ordering people to buy broccoli.
"Let's hope and pray that the court will love the Constitution more than it loves broccoli," Pelosi said at her Capitol Hill press conference.
Justice Antonin Scalia used the broccoli analogy when the Supreme Court was hearing oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Obamacare individual mandate in March.
Sebelius: Congress 'Carefully Weighed Its Authority' on Obamacare--Even Though Members Couldn't Say Where Constitution Authorized It
By Matt Cover - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – In a commentary published Sunday in Politico, Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius defended Obamacare's individual mandate that says people must buy health insurance, stating, "Congress carefully weighed its authority in writing the law."
However, as CNSNews.com reported at the time, many U.S. lawmakers were unable to answer the simple question, "Where specifically in the Constitution does Congress get its authority to mandate that individuals purchase health insurance?"
Wichita City Council faces big decision on airport terminal
Wichita Business Journal by John Stearns, Reporter
The Wichita City Council, in its capacity as the Wichita Airport Authority, is facing a whopper of a decision when it tackles Dondlinger & Sons Construction's protest over its bid to build the new terminal at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.
Last week, an Airport Authority committee found Dondlinger's low bid of $99.4 million — submitted in conjunction with a partner, Hunt Construction Group of Phoenix — inadequate because of what the committee deemed to be a failure to make a "good-faith effort" to get minority and other disadvantaged subcontractors — known as DBEs, or disadvantaged business enterprises — on board.
The Economic Abuse Of Veterans In America
By Attorney Christy Brandon - CollapseNet.com
Volunteering to join the military has always been a process rife with internal and external conflictions. A vital aspect of one's ultimate decision to do so often depends greatly upon the era in which one becomes eligible. U.S. citizens leaped at the chance to defend their country at the onset of World War II because the enemies were indeed a legitimate and obvious threat to the freedom and sovereignty of all nations. During Vietnam, the waters were muddied (at least in the view of millions of citizens), and many Americans did not see the fight as their own. The line between our system, and the enemies we were supposed to despise, had become progressively more foggy and disjointed. For any wise and honorable man to go out of his way to risk his life, the fight must be clearly just, otherwise, he may feel that his death will serve no purpose.
Huh? Oh yes you SHOULD BE ALARMED - If you live in St Louis... ASK WHY... expose it for what it really is. U.S. Army training in St. Louis
KSDK.com
St. Louis (KSDK) -- St. Louis City residents should not be alarmed if they see military vehicles in their neighborhoods.
The U.S. Army is conducting training in St. Louis June 21-28.
Police said residents in the police department's sixth district may be most likely to see the vehicles. The sixth district includes neighborhoods in north St. Louis.
Billionnaire CEO Larry Ellison buys Hawaiian island
Reuters - Independent.co.uk
Oracle's chief executive Larry Ellison has bought 98 percent of Hawaii's sixth-largest island, Lanai, the state's governor has announced.
Ellison, ranked in 2012 as America's third-richest man, is purchasing the property from fellow billionaire David Murdock. Murdock's Castle and Cooke, which owns all but 2 per cent of Lanai's 141 square miles, filed a transfer application with Hawaii's Public Utilities Commission.
Drone strikes threaten 50 years of international law,
says UN rapporteur US policy of using drone strikes to carry out targeted killings 'may encourage other states to flout international law'
By Owen Bowcott in Geneva - Guardian.co.uk
The US policy of using aerial drones to carry out targeted killings presents a major challenge to the system of international law that has endured since the second world war, a United Nations investigator has said.
Christof Heyns, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, summary or arbitrary executions, told a conference in Geneva that President Obama's attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere, carried out by the CIA, would encourage other states to flout long-establishedhuman rights standards.
Google reveals 'alarming' increase
in government requests to censor content
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE - Independent.co.uk
US authorities are leading the charge as governments around the world pepper Google with more demands to remove online content and turn over information about people using its Internet search engine, YouTube video site and other services.
"It's alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect — Western democracies not typically associated with censorship," Dorothy Chou, Google's senior policy analyst, wrote in a Sunday blog post.
Detained for Open Carry, Portland, Maine
"I was detained by Portland PD officer J McDonald on 26MAY2012. He detains me without suspicion of any criminal activity in violation of Delaware v Prouse. He admits his sole reason for stopping me is my legally carried firearm in violation of US v DeBerry. He seizes my weapon with no reasonable suspicion that I've committed a crime in violation of Terry v Ohio. He demands my ID without reasonable suspicion in violation of Hiibel v Nevada."
Senate passes five-year farm bill cutting subsidies for some
AP - FOXNews.com
The Senate on Thursday completed a five-year, half-trillion-dollar farm bill that cuts farm subsidies and land conservation spending by about $2 billion a year but largely protects sugar growers and some 46 million food stamp beneficiaries.
The 64-35 vote for passage defied political odds. Many inside and outside of Congress had predicted that legislation so expensive and so complicated would have little chance of advancing in an election year.
Rick Santelli & Congressman Huelskamp (R-KS)
Discuss Debt Limit, Food Stamps 80% of Farm Bill has to do with FOOD STAMPS
On Thursday, June 21, 2012, Congressman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas joined CNBC's Rick Santelli to discuss the fiscal and economic challenges facing America and the decisions Washington will have to make surrounding the debt limit and the Farm Bill. Congressman Huelskamp told Santelli that he does not support the Senate version of the 2012 Farm Bill because it fails to make any major changes to the food stamp program, which accounts for about 80% of the Farm Bill (and which has grown tremendously in the past decade). They also discussed the possibility of another downgrade to the United States' credit rating.
House committee suspects 'Fast and Furious' cover-up
Answers may be in 1,300 pages it wants
By Jerry Seper-The Washington Times
The House committee investigating Fast and Furious has received more than 7,600 documents from the Justice Department, but Republican lawmakers say none addresses who approved the gunrunning probe, who failed to stop it before a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed and why department officials initially lied to Congress about it.
Now the panel has its sights set on an additional 1,300 pages of documents it believes will answer those questions and also expose a political cover-up at Justice.
Half of Current Workers Won't Be Able to Retire at 65
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
For all the trauma your 401K has probably suffered over the past few years, here's a bit of news to take heart in: According to researchers at Boston College, most Americans are only going to have to work a few extra years to make it to retirement.
The new figures come out of BC's Center for Retirement Research, and are summed up in the graph below. Only about 48 percent of current working households will be ready for to pack it in and enjoy their golden years by the traditional retirement age of 65. But thanks in part to the premium Social Security recipients get from delaying their benefits, 86 percent of households will be prepared by 70.
Obama's Overplayed Hand
and Blatant Disregard for the Constitution is Appalling
The Meister - ItMakesSenseBlog.com
In order to become President, Barack Obama had to swear to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. But three years later, I am disgusted with the disregard that the President continues to show to our Constitution. Has he forgotten about the separation of executive, judicial and legislative branches found in our founding document? Our founders gave us a system of checks and balances so that one person could never seize more power than was provided in the Constitution.
President Obama's actions demonstrate that he thinks he's above the law. When he doesn't get his way, he creates new policies to his liking.
Verbally Abusive Middle School Kids
Make A 68 Year Old Bus Monitor Cry
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
A video of a bunch of verbally abusive middle school bullies making a 68 year old bus monitor cry has gone viral all over the Internet. This video is a perfect example of the social decaythat is destroying this nation. We are raising a generation of young people that do not have respect for anyone or anything. In the video, 68 year old Karen Klein is repeatedly called poor, fat, ugly and a whole bunch of other things that I cannot repeat in this space. The bullies refer to "her sweat" and "her flab" over and over throughout the ten minute video. They call her a troll and an elephant and make numerous sexual comments about her. This video is beyond horrifying, but the truth is that this is the kind of thing that happens in classrooms and in school buses all over America every single day. If you have not seen it yet, you have got to see this incredibly disturbing video.... The good news is that a campaign has been started to send Karen Klein on vacation. After dealing with those kids, she sure could use one. The original goal was to raise $5,000, but close to a quarter of a million dollars was raised in less than 24 hours.
iLawyer: What Happens When Computers Replace Attorneys?
After decades of killing low-end jobs in retail, software is finally doing the people's bidding by creating a world with fewer lawyers.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
In the end, after you've stripped away their six-figure degrees, their state bar memberships, and their proclivity for capitalizing Odd Words, lawyers are just another breed of knowledge worker. They're paid to research, analyze, write, and argue -- not unlike an academic, a journalist, or an accountant. So when software comes along that's smarter or more efficient at those tasks than a human with a JD, it spells trouble.
Storm may be brewing in Gulf of Mexico
(Reuters) - A large weather disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico could develop into a tropical cyclone in the next couple of days, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Thursday.
The mass of thunderstorms had a 50 percent chance of developing into a tropical depression or tropical storm within 48 hours and could bring flooding rain to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, western Cuba and southern Florida, the forecasters said.
Vatican Insider Malachi Martin Revealed
Pope John Paul II Role in New World Order
Vatican Insider Malachi Martin the Author of The Final Conclave, Windswept House, Keys of This Blood, and The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church reveals the Vatican's role in establishing a New World Order, and the emergence of the infamous AntiChrist in the near future.
Iran's President Renews Call for New World Order
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lashed out at the world powers for their wrong policies, and reiterated his call for the establishment of a new world order based on justice and friendship.
"The widening North-South divide and various crises and worries, including crises of family and identity, wars, occupations and revenge-seeking, endless arms races and economic, moral and ethical crisis and the failure to realize human principles are all the results of the current order and system dominating the world," Ahmadinejad said, addressing the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday.
"We must cure such old wounds in the human society by reforming the existing global state and outlining a more transparent prospect for the future," he added.
Shimon Peres on the New Middle East
As told to Diane Brady - Businessweek.com
Many people say I was wrong when I talked about the new Middle East and the need for more ties with our Arab neighbors. I'm not wrong. It's just taking more time than I thought. I wish we could shorten the time in moving from one world to another.
The present Arab uprising didn't stem from Israel. The old guard is trying to keep down the young chickens. The old guard is better organized. They may win elections, but unless they have a solution to poverty, to corruption, to oppression, they will not last. I am with the young people.
Clemency With a Catch:
UK, US luring Assad into stepping down
As part of their push to see Syria's President Assad step down, Britain and the US are now thought to be considering giving him clemency. That's if he agrees to attend an upcoming international conference on a transition of power in Syria. RT's Peter Oliver is following the story for us.
Meanwhile, a number of CIA officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, distributing weapons between the Syrian rebels to fight against the regime. That's according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers. And in Syria itself, people are often forced to join the armed rebellion by threats and intimidation - as Maria Finoshina has found out.
Syrian fighter pilot defects to Jordan
BBC.co.uk
A Syrian fighter pilot has been granted asylum in Jordan after flying his plane to a military air base in the north of the country, officials say.
The defection of the MiG-21 pilot is the first involving the air force.
Syria has condemned the pilot as a traitor, and has asked the Jordanian government for the return of its plane.
Meanwhile ongoing violence has left 170 people dead, activists say, and the Red Cross has been unable to move civilians out of the restive city of Homs.
Have A State Pension? Don't Count On It.
BY LANCE ROBERTS - FinancialSense.com
One to the biggest issues that face millions of retiring individuals in the coming years is the grossly underfunded pensions for state workers nationwide. Just recently the PEW Center For The States released their annual update on the status of state pension plans - the bottom line is not good. "States continue to lose ground in their efforts to cover the long-term costs of their employees' pensions and retiree health care, according to a new analysis by the Pew Center on the States, due to continued investment losses from the financial crisis of 2008 and states' inability to set aside enough each year to adequately fund their retirement promises. States have responded with an unprecedented number of reforms that, with strong investment gains, may improve the funding situation they face going forward, but continued fiscal discipline and additional reforms will be needed to put states back on a firm footing."The report, which is based on fiscal year 2010 data which is that latest complete data set available, the gap between states' assets and their obligations for public sector retirement benefits was $1.38 trillion, up nearly 9 percent from the fiscal year 2009. Of that figure, $757 billion was for pension promises, and $627 billion was for retiree health care
Will Central Banks Unload Gold?
By Stephen Ward - PerthMintBullion.com
The Perth Mint's Bron Suchecki says that gold prices are determined less by demand than the withholding of supply. "If you look at the gold market, there's quite a lot of above ground gold in stock. Mine supply is 2,800t, but the total amount of gold held above ground is 170,000t. So what matters is whether the holders of that above ground stock are going to sell or not. If they sell then that could easily overwhelm the marginal supply that's coming out of mining companies."
Rightly, investors are interested in the intentions of central banks towards gold. With many under pressure as a result of Europe's financial crisis, Bron summarises his views on the likely actions of central banks in this interview with The Street.
Gold Becomes a Tier 1 Asset Class for Banks Misdirection by MSM
as Gold Moves Towards The Banking System
By Vin Maru - GoldSeek.com
Despite what the Main Stream Media (MSM) or "Financial Pundits" tell you, the gold bull market is far from over. In fact, it is just starting, in our opinion. While the misdirected financial world tell you that gold is in a bubble and it has burst, the central bankers and government organizations all know it is far from over. In fact, gold is moving towards the banking system and not away from it. We all know that many central banks are now net buyers of gold and their holdings are increasing as their need to diversify away from risky assets and foreign bonds only grows.
Commodities Drop After Fed Cuts Growth Estimates;
Euro Declines
By Bloomberg News -
Commodities and the euro retreated after the Federal Reserve cut growth estimates and expanded its stimulus program less than some investors had expected. Stocks gained andNew Zealand's dollar rose to a seven-week high.
Oil, copper and nickel fell more than 1 percent by 9:49 a.m. in Tokyo. The euro snapped a two-day advance against the dollar and yen as Spain prepared to sell bonds today, while New Zealand's so-called kiwi rose 0.6 percent after data showed the economy expanded more than predicted. The MSCI Asia Pacific (MXAP) Index rose 0.2 percent while Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures fell 0.1 percent.
Fed Downgrades Economic Outlook and Buys Insurance
BY ASHA BANGALORE - FinancialSense.com
Of the Fed's three options available today (do nothing, engage in QE3, extend Operation Twist), it has chosen the diplomatic route. It appears the Fed was concerned that if it took the path of using only language to indicate support it could rock a fragile global financial system. Given that emergency aid could not be justified, QE3 was out of the question at the present time. The Fed has chosen an extension of Operation Twist as it provides insurance and has fewer avenues of criticism. The Fed indicated that an extension of maturities of its Treasury security holdings will not expire as of June but will remain in place until the end of 2012. The expectation is that this action would exert downward pressure on long term interest rates.
Fed Expands Operation Twist By $267 Billion Through 2012
By Jeff Kearns and Joshua Zumbrun - Bloomberg.com
The Federal Reserve will expand its Operation Twist program to extend the maturities of assets on its balance sheet and said it stands ready to take further action to put unemployed Americans back to work.
The central bank will prolong the program through the end of the year, selling $267 billion of shorter-term securities and buying the same amount of longer-term debt in a bid to reduce borrowing costs and spur the economy.
Bernanke 'prepared' to do more
By Annalyn Censky @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Could more stimulus be on the way?
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke certainly left the option on the table Wednesday, making perfectly clear that he stands ready to do more should the U.S. economy take a turn for the worse.
"In case things get worse, we are prepared to protect the U.S. economy and financial system," Bernanke told reporters at a press conference.
Bernanke Implores Congress To Help Him Fix Economy
By BRIAN BEUTLER - TalkingPointsMemo.com
The Federal Reserve opted Wednesday not to take significant new steps to hasten the economic recovery, further angering critics who believe it has failed to adhere to its dual mandate to keep unemployment low while maintaining price stability.
But in response to questions from skeptical media, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke reminded reporters that the Fed isn't the only game in town, and practically begged Congress to take affirmative steps to boost recovery.
Bernanke says Fed open to another round
of bond purchases to lower long-term interest rates
AP - NYPost.com
WASHINGTON — Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that the Federal Reserve is open to another round of bond purchases to lower long-term interest rates and boost growth if the job market doesn't improve.
"If we don't see further improvement in the labor market, we will be prepared to take additional steps if appropriate," Bernanke said at a news conference after the Fed's two-day policy meeting.
The Fed on Wednesday agreed to extend a program to swap short-term bonds for longer-term bonds. That doesn't expand the Fed's portfolio, but still puts downward pressure on long-term rates.
America is Greece… On Steroids
By Bob Bauman - Sovereign-Investor.com
Take a moment to consider this number: $16,084,425,792,391
At the last count, this is the level of the U.S. national debt. And if that number scares you… it should.
The fiscal and debt situation of the United States today is nothing less than Greece on steroids – with an added dose of political hallucinogens inducing insane denial.
"I have seen a grievous evil under the sun; wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners." – Ecclesiastes 5:13
MOST PEOPLE still get it. Hardly anyone dares guess where it leads.
"Part of the austerity mindset," says an Oxford professor, "is the belief that transfers from creditors to debtors are unfair, because they result from the feckless behaviour of the debtor. There is a clear parallel with the attitude to benefit recipients within a society."
"We're told more often than not," agrees a US think-tanker, "that the reason peripheral countries like Spain are in trouble is that their governments engaged in an irresponsible spending binge and are now reaping the consequences. [But instead,] the imposition of austerity and the waste of human potential this view is generating begs for moral judgement."
Greece Faces Downgrade
To Emerging-Market Status By MSCI
By Ye Xie and Belinda Cao - Bloomberg.com
Greece's stock market was put under review for reclassification to emerging markets by MSCI Inc. (MSCI), a change that would make the European Union nation the first advanced country to be cut to developing status.
The MSCI Greece (MXGR) Index, which includes only two companies, is "structurally no longer in line with Developed Markets size requirements," MSCI, whose stock indexes are tracked by investors with about $7 trillion in assets, said in a statement yesterday. The index provider said it may discontinue the calculation of the MSCI Greece Index should the stock valuations keep declining.
The Euro and us Europe's woes a warning
By John Bolton - NYPost.com
For America, as for Europe, the consequences of Sunday's elections in Greece and France are likely to be profound. Voters in the two Eurozone countries not only charted their own near-term political futures, but provided lessons for US voters in our rapidly approaching November contests.
Greece's center-right New Democracy Party under Antonis Samaris squeaked out a narrow plurality, beating the radical-left Syriza Party by under 3 percentage points. Because New Democracy didn't win a majority, it will have to partner with the Socialist Party, whose policies are largely responsible for Greece's parlous economic condition. Syriza rejected Samaris' call for a "government of national salvation," thus positioning itself to replace him should he fail.
Debt crisis: markets bet Germany
will be dragged down with everyone else Nobody ever got rich shorting Japanese government bonds, it is often said. Are those now aggressively shorting German bunds about to fall into the same trap?
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
To investors who think the ever more mountainous size of Japan's national debt is eventually bound to end in fiscal disaster, shorting Japanese bonds has long seemed the closest thing to a certain bet the international capital markets are capable of.
Yet J-bonds continue to defy the bears; just when you think yields can go no lower, they fall even more. However apparently illogical and damaging to economic redemption it might seem, government debt has remained the asset class of choice for the land of the setting sun.
Merkel Balks At Sovereign Debt Purchases To Overcome Crisis
By Patrick Donahue - Bloomberg.com
German Chancellor Angela Merkel balked at committing to direct sovereign debt purchases through the euro-area bailout fund, pushing back on calls by the bloc's leaders who backed the measure as a way to ease the crisis.
Such a move, while legally possible, "is not up for debate" at present, Merkel said yesterday in Berlin. French President Francois Hollande championed the idea of using the European Stability Mechanism to purchase indebted countries' bonds as a way to counter rising yields. Just returned from the Group of 20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, Merkel said: "I haven't heard about such things."
Treasuries Gain Before Spain Auction On Contagion Concern
By Masaki Kondo - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries rose, sending 10-year yields down for the first time in three days, as concern that contagion is spreading in Europe's debt markets damped investor confidence ahead of a Spanish note sale today.
Demand for the safety of U.S. government securities was supported before data today that may show manufacturing in the Philadelphia region stagnated. Two-year yields were near a two- month high after the Federal Reserve decided to extend its program to sell short-term notes and buy longer-term debt. Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday policy makers are prepared to consider further asset purchases.
Irredeemable Currency Session 1, 1/2
Keith Weiner - Austrian School of Economics
Lecture on irredeemable paper money vs. gold. Session 1 presents the problem. Session 2 presents the solution.
In FOMC Rate Decision,
The Fed Does The Absolute Least It Can Do
By Mark Gongloff - HuffingtonPost.com
The Federal Reserve is failing to achieve both of its legally mandated goals, full employment and stable prices. And yet it chose on Wednesday to do the absolute least it could do to change that.
The Federal Open Market Committee, at the end of a two-day policy meeting,announced it was going to extend a bond-buying program known as "Operation Twist" for another six months. Under this program, the Fed sells short-term debt and buys long-term debt. The goal is to keep long-term interest rates low to help the economy. There is some debate about how much the program has really helped, but it is likely better than doing nothing.
Bove: To Fire Up Growth, Scrap Excessive Bank Rules
By Forrest Jones - MoneyNews.com
economy to encourage job creation, any decision to intervene won't work, says Dick Bove, a banking analyst at Rochdale Securities.
Scrapping regulations to encourage more lending will give the economy the jolt that it needs, Bove says.
"It seems clear that the United States economy's growth is slowing and that the global economy is facing major challenges. This suggests a need for some action by the Federal Reserve and other central banks," Bove writes in a note to clients, CNBC reports.
Dimon gets grief from pols — and cleaning lady
By KAJA WHITEHOUSE - NYPost.com
JPMorgan Chase boss Jamie Dimon wasn't the only working stiff in Washington yesterday hoping to get a fair shake.
After taking his lumps during his second grilling on Capitol Hill over the bank's $2 billion trading blunder, he was confronted by Adriana Vasquez, a 38-year-old janitor who says she earns $10,000 a year cleaning JPMorgan's tower in Houston.
"Despite making billions last year, why do you deny the people cleaning your buildings a living wage?" Vasquez asked the bank chieftain at the end of his two-hour grilling before the House Financial Services Committee.
J.P. Morgan Misleads Pensioners, Bails out Hedge Funds
By Walter Russell Mead - The-American-Interest.com Blog
Bloomberg reports that J.P. Morgan has been sued by the Louisiana Police Pension Plan for securities fraud, and this charge only scratches the surface of the company's misconduct.
FoxBusiness reports that in a "strictly confidential" report issued last year, J.P. Morgan admitted that underfunded pension liabilities amount to nearly $4 trillion—far worse than most observers believed. Fixing the shortfall would require drastic, politically unpalatable service cuts or tax hikes. As Charles Gasparino notes in the New York Post, New Jersey would either need to raise taxes by 17.2 percent or cut spending by a breathtaking 30 percent to put its pensions on firm footing. Other states and cities are in a similar bind.
These figures could undermine the entire system of municipal credit, to say nothing of pensions themselves. Investors in municipal bonds desperately need to get a grip on these figures because they could impact the creditworthiness of states and cities with large hidden pension liabilities. So why did J.P. Morgan hide the report?
Dimon on Display Our ad hoc Congress is out of its depth again
going after JPMorgan.
By LUCA GATTONI-CELLI - TheAmerican Spectator.org
Normally, government should not concern itself with a business' operations, but when taxpayer money and the public welfare are at risk, it has a responsibility to investigate. That was the premise of Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Richard Shelby's (R-Ala.) opening remarks during a recent hearing where JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon answered questions abouttrading losses totaling over $2 billion sustained by his firm late this spring.
As Shelby noted, Congress was concerned that the incident may illustrate a threat to the financial system and to the economy as a whole. Multiple federal agencies, including the FBI, are investigating. And many commentators have been pointing to the losses as evidence that more financial industry regulation is needed.
Dimon Lambastes Loans
and Expresses His Devotion to Derivatives
BY WILLIAM K BLACK PHD - FinancialSense.com
The ongoing U.S. crisis was driven largely by financial derivatives. Nine of America's systemically dangerous institutions (SDIs) failed or had to be bailed out – Bear Stearns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch, Fannie, Freddie, AIG, Countrywide, Wachovia, and Washington Mutual (WaMu). The SDI failures were primarily due to losses caused or aided by the sale and purchase of enormous amounts of fraudulent derivatives, and deregulation, desupervision, and de facto decriminalization proved exceptionally criminogenic. The Commodities Futures Modernization Act of 2000 and the Gramm, Leach, Bliley Act of 1999, respectively, made credit default swaps (CDS) into a regulatory black hole and repealed the Glass-Steagall Act's prohibition against banks mixing commercial and investment banking.
Keiser Report: Elite Losers & Heroes of Fraud (E303)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss whether elites are failures and losers or whether they are acting in show trials while wearing Presidential seals of approval. They also review Bloomberg's lawsuit seeking evidence of tacit collusion between the EU and Greece regarding Goldman Sachs' swap deals to hide its debt. In the second half of the show Max talks to economist, professor and Member of Parliament in Tunisia, Moncef Cheikhrouhou, about building real economies so that the next generation will inherit olive trees not debts.
MELTDOWN UPDATE:
The JP Morgan Derivatives Book is Blowing Up
This is a breaking meltdown update with Bix Weir. Bix says "This is what the end game looks like... JP Morgan can literally computer rig this thing to zero and shut down the market. I say let em. The trick is to stay out of their system."
'U.S. Per Person Debt to Increase
7 Times Faster than Italian Debt'
BY DANIEL HALPER - WeeklyStandard.com
A new chart, set to be released later today by the minority office of the Senate Budget Committee, finds that, in the next five years, "U.S. Per Person Debt To Increase 7 Times Faster Than Italian Debt."
According to the chart, which is based on numbers calculated by the International Monetary Fund, U.S. per person debt is currently $52,900, while Italy's per person debt is $41,200. In five years, America's is projected to be $67,500, and Italy's $43,200.
Dude, Who Stole My Net Worth?
"Thus far, both political parties have been remarkably clever and effective in concealing this new reality. In fact, the two parties have formed an innovative kind of cartel—an arrangement I have termed America's political duopoly. Both parties lie about the fact that they have each sold out to the financial sector and the wealthy. So far both have largely gotten away with the lie, helped in part by the enormous amount of money now spent on deceptive, manipulative political advertising." – Charles Ferguson – Predator Nation
When you dig into the charts and data supplied by the Federal Reserve generated report, the data which goes back to 2001 tells a story not addressed by the deceptive, manipulative, political propaganda that passes for investigative reporting by the captured mainstream media. The chart below compares the median versus mean income growth from the last three Fed consumer surveys. Overall, it reveals a lost decade of negative income growth for the average middle class family. In the early part of the decade the average middle class family made some progress as jobs were relatively plentiful and the internet crash mostly impacted the rich, who own most of the stocks in the country. This is why the median income rose while the average income fell. The wealthy have a large impact on the average because they own the vast majority of assets in this country. The stock market debacle was unacceptable to the oligarchs and their money printing puppet Greenspan.
* * * * *
Will Toledo, Ohio Be The First
Major American City To Be Owned By China?
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
It has been said that there are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One way is by using the sword, and the other is by using debt. Fortunately, America is not in danger of being conquered by the sword right now, but America is being conquered by debt. The borrower is the servant of the lender, and today we owe China more than a trillion dollars. By running a gigantic trade deficit with us, China has been able to become incredibly wealthy. We have begged them to lend us back some of the money that we have sent them and this has made them even wealthier. Now China is gobbling up U.S. real estate and U.S. assets at an astounding pace. In fact, some cities are in danger of becoming completely dominated by Chinese ownership. One of those cities is Toledo, Ohio. In many "rust belt" areas, real estate can be had for a song, and the Chinese are taking full advantage of this. America was once the wealthiest nation on earth, but now we are drowning in debt and we are being sold off in chunks to the highest bidder. Is this the legacy that we are going to leave for future generations?
San Bernardino considers eminent domain
to seize underwater mortgages
By Alejandro Lazo - LATimes.com
San Bernardino County is pursuing a program that would use eminent domain to seize mortgages and restructure them for underwater homeowners stuck in their properties.
The aggressive plan, approved unanimously this week by the county Board of Supervisors, is titled the Homeownership Protection Program and partners the county with the cities of Ontario and Fontana. The program will use private funds from investors to acquire underwater mortgages – those that are worth less than the debt owed on them – and restructure them on behalf of homeowners in those cities.
Prime Real Estate Up for Grabs in a Rapidly Rising Market
By Erika Nolan - Sovereign-Investor.com
Thankfully, I didn't come to Phuket in southern Thailand for a vacation. If I had, I would have been terribly disappointed. Between us, I am not sure what people see in this place. I'm counting down the minutes until I get back on a plane bound for Singapore.
Fortunately, the two guys Jeff and I flew here to meet made this trip well worth it.
After reading about Mongolia in a variety of places, I went looking for the experts behind these stories. I had a feeling much of the information was coming from the same people, actively engaged – with their own money – in these frontier markets.
Fed Officials Sees Lower U.S. Growth, Slow Progress On Jobs
By Craig Torres - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve officials cut their estimates for 2012 growth after last month's slowdown in hiring and see little progress on unemployment during the rest of the year.
Fed officials lowered their central tendency estimate for U.S. 2012 gross domestic product growth to 1.9 percent to 2.4 percent from 2.4 percent to 2.9 percent in April. Estimates for 2013 centered around 2.2 percent to 2.8 percent, compared with 2.7 percent to 3.1 percent in the previous forecast.
From Rust Belt to Drone Belt Out of the ashes of automotive manufacturing,
Dayton, Ohio, is hoping to "re-skill" its workforce
with continuing technical education.
By Ellen Ruppel Shell - TheAtlantic.com
Every company, municipality, and government agency in America would be lucky indeed to have an Adam Murka on its payroll. Adam has the memory of a savant, the work ethic of a dairy farmer, and the can-do attitude of a young man who has never experienced disappointment or despair.
Except that he has.
Adam, who is 28, lives and works in the town where he grew up: Dayton, Ohio. Last week he took me on a tour of the place, a city for which he harbors enormous hope. We saw the Oregon District, with its chic shops and coffee shops and excellent taverns. We drove past the sweeping campuses of several universities. And then we drove to Moraine to see the General Motors assembly plant.
Would Rachel Carson Find an Audience Today? Silent Spring for Us?
by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS - CounterPunch.org
With her 1962 book, Silent Spring, Rachel Carson got DDT and other synthetic pesticides banned and saved bird life. Today it is humans who are directly threatened by technologies designed to extract the maximum profit at the lowest private cost and the maximum social cost from natural resources.
Once abundant clean water has become a scarce resource. Yet, in the US ground water and surface water are being polluted and made unusable by mountain top removal mining, fracking and other such "new technologies." Ranchers in eastern Montana, for example, are being forced out of ranching by polluted water.
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM
SPENT $10B TO CREATE 355 JOBS PER YEAR
BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
The Obama administration spent $10 billion to create 355 renewable energy jobs per year, according to testimony offered Tuesday before Congress by a Congressional Research Services expert.
Asked by Rep. Cory Gardner (R., Colo.) "how many jobs were created" in 2009 and 2010 under the 1603 renewable energy grant program authorized by the Obama administration, a CRS specialist in public finance admitted that $10 billion was spent to create 3,666 construction jobs over a two-year period–and only 355 jobs per year going forward.
Supreme Court could reveal healthcare ruling Thursday
By Timothy M. Phelps - LATimes.com
WASHINGTON -- Television cameras will surround the Supreme Court on Thursday morning, as they did Monday, anticipating something that may, again, not happen.
The momentous healthcare decision could be announced Thursday. Or not. All we really know is that it is extremely likely to be handed down by the following Thursday, June 28, when the court is expected to end its current term.
• Professor says doctors use 'death pathway' to euthenasia of the elderly
• Treatment on average brings a patient to death in 33 hours
• Around 29 per cent of patients that die in hospital are on controversial 'care pathway'
• Pensioner admitted to hospital given treatment by doctor on weekend shift
By STEVE DOUGHTY - DailyMail.co.uk
NHS doctors are prematurely ending the lives of thousands of elderly hospital patients because they are difficult to manage or to free up beds, a senior consultant claimed yesterday.
Professor Patrick Pullicino said doctors had turned the use of a controversial 'death pathway' into the equivalent of euthanasia of the elderly.
He claimed there was often a lack of clear evidence for initiating the Liverpool Care Pathway, a method of looking after terminally ill patients that is used in hospitals across the country.
Congress contempt charge for US Attorney General Holder
BBC.co.uk
A US House of Representatives committee has voted along party lines to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.
Mr Holder refused to hand over papers relating to a botched sting operation.
The move comes after President Barack Obama used his executive privilege to withhold documents sought by the House Oversight Committee.
But Mr Holder said claims he did not co-operate over Operation Fast and Furious were "untrue".
Obama refuses to turn over 'Fast and Furious' documents House panel recommends Holder contempt citation
By Tom Cohen, CNN.com
Washington (CNN) -- Voting on strictly partisan lines, a House committee recommended Wednesday that Attorney General Eric Holder be cited for contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents relating to the botched Fast and Furious weapons sting operation.
The vote ended an extraordinary daylong hearing that took place after President Barack Obama asserted executive privilege over some documents sought by the panel investigating Fast and Furious. The White House move means the Department of Justice can withhold some of the documents.
Ron Paul, Social Security opponent,
acknowledges he receives benefits
By Morgan Little - LATimes.com
WASHINGTON – Ron Paul, a staunch opponent of federal welfare programs, acknowledged Wednesday that he receives Social Security checks, shortly after advocating that younger generations opt out of the program.
Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Paul was asked by Huffington Post's Sam Stein whether he should set an example for younger Americans and opt out of the program entirely. Paul, refusing the notion, compared the program to other common goods such as the post office.
Eisenhower's Warning Ignored,
Presidential Power Has Risen to Sinister Level
By Bill Boyarsky - Truthdig.com
By following a warlike path—and getting a free pass from too many progressives—President Barack Obama is making sure that foreign policy will remain in the hands of the military-industrial complex.
Hardly discussed in the presidential campaign is how Obama personally picks targets on a kill list, hugely has increased drone attacks, and wages cyberwarfare against Iran. If these actions had occurred under Bush-Cheney, liberals would have taken to the streets. Instead, the practices are accepted as facts of life, barely worth comment.
* * * * *
Big Brother for PROFIT... The 'faceless organization that knows everything about you' You for Sale: Mapping, and Sharing, the Consumer Genome
By NATASHA SINGER - NYTimes.com
IT knows who you are. It knows where you live. It knows what you do.
It peers deeper into American life than the F.B.I. or the I.R.S., or those prying digital eyes at Facebook and Google. If you are an American adult, the odds are that it knows things like your age, race, sex, weight, height, marital status, education level, politics, buying habits, household health worries, vacation dreams — and on and on.
Right now in Conway, Ark., north of Little Rock, more than 23,000 computer servers are collecting, collating and analyzing consumer data for a company that, unlike Silicon Valley's marquee names, rarely makes headlines. It's called the Acxiom Corporation, and it's the quiet giant of a multibillion-dollar industry known as database marketing.
• Devices connected to internet leak information
• CIA director says these gadgets will 'transform clandestine tradecraft'
• Spies could watch thousands via supercomputers
• People 'bug' their own homes with web-connected devices
By Rob Waugh - DailyMail.co.uk
When people download a film from Netflix to a flatscreen, or turn on web radio, they could be alerting unwanted watchers to exactly what they are doing and where they are.
Spies will no longer have to plant bugs in your home - the rise of 'connected' gadgets controlled by apps will mean that people 'bug' their own homes, says CIA director David Petraeus.
The CIA claims it will be able to 'read' these devices via the internet - and perhaps even via radio waves from outside the home.
120 Powerful Pieces Of Advice For Preppers
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Our world is becoming increasingly unstable, and millions of Americans are feverishly preparing for what they consider to be "the end of the world as we know it". In fact, it is estimated that there are now approximately 3 million "preppers" in the United States. But for people that have never done much prepping before, getting started can be both confusing and intimidating. In fact, I get more questions about prepping than anything else. People are constantly asking me how they can prepare for the difficult times that are coming. Well, in this article I have compiled 120 powerful pieces of advice for preppers. No two situations are exactly the same, and almost every prepper approaches preparation differently, but there are some basic principles that apply to almost everyone. And without a doubt, a lot of people that are not preparing now are going to regret it in the years ahead. The global financial system is falling apart, the United States and Europe are absolutely drowning in debt, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are becoming more frequent, signs of social decay are everywhere and war could erupt in the Middle East at any time. Actually, it is absolutely amazing that there are so many people out there that still believe that "prepping" is not necessary.
World leaders accused of failure
as Rio poised to set no new targets or timetables Obama and Cameron stay away as nations struggle to reach sustainable development deal.
By Michael McCarthy - Independent.co.uk
More than 100 world leaders, but not America's Barack Obama or Britain's David Cameron, gathered in Rio de Janeiro yesterday for a three-day UN summit on sustainable development – the formula for bringing millions of people out of poverty without trashing the environment.
The gathering at "Rio Plus 20" marks the 20th anniversary of the so-called "Earth Summit" in Rio in June 1992, regarded as one of the most influential environmental gatherings ever, not least for the two UN treaties it saw signed on climate change and biodiversity.
That's All Folks: Why the Writing Is on the Wall at Microsoft
by Philippe Silberzahn - Forbes.com
Should you ever fire the chief executive of a company that just reported record third quarter revenues and double-digit operating income growth? According to Forbes contributor Adam Hartung, the answer is a definite yes. Despite stellar financial results, Hartung argues thatSteve Ballmer has "singlehandedly steered Microsoft out of some of the fastest growing and most lucrative tech markets (mobile music, handsets and tablets) [and] in the process he has sacrificed the growth and profits of not only his company but 'ecosystem' companies such asDell, Hewlett Packard and even Nokia." And Microsoft's new tablet, announced this week, isn't about to be a game changer, as Hartung also argues. Indeed, the company has been trying to sell tablets since 1998.
The Most Immediate Threats to Global Energy Security -
Jellyfish Interview
By Jen Alic - OilPrice.com
As global energy supplies come under increasing attack by non-state actors and private energy holdings become key targets of political maneuverings and criminal activities, Oilprice.com discusses the nature of the growing threat and how to reverse the risk with "smart power."
To help us look at these issues we got together with Corporate intelligence specialistsJellyfish Operations and security expert Jennifer Giroux.
Report Finds Fracking Causes Fewer Earthquakes
than Conventional Extraction
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
Hydraulic fracturing has its problems, and one of the most extreme of these is that it can cause earthquakes. A new study has once again found that fracking does indeed cause earthquakes, however what is surprising is that conventional extraction of oil and natural gas causes more.
The study, 'Induced Seismicity Potential in Energy Technologies', and compiled by the National Research Council (NRC), looked into all earthquakes that have been linked to the full range of underground energy technologies, from conventional oil and gas wells, and geothermal energy, to carbon sequestration.
Israel after the Six-Day-War:
The Secret Peace Deliberations
By Walter Russell Mead - The-American-Interest.com Blog
To mark the anniversary of the 1967 Six-Day-War, in which Israel defeated multiple Arab armies and acquired the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai Peninsula, Golan Heights, and East Jerusalem, the Israeli National Archives has declassified hitherto unseen transcripts of the top secret government deliberations that took place following Israel's remarkable victory. The plan that emerged in those deliberations was to trade all the land back, except Jerusalem, for regional peace. Highlights of the transcripts include hardliner Menachem Begin proving surprisingly amenable to territorial concession and several religious parties favoring a return of land they would ultimately build settlements in.
Global Leaders Are Still Dithering on Syria and the Eurozone Obama's G20 press conference offered little substance
on the two crises facing the world.
By Steve Clemons - TheAtlantic.com
Yesterday evening on MSNBC's Hardball, Chris Matthews speculated before the start of an announced press conference in Los Cabos, Mexico that President Obama had an extensive slate of topics he could delve into and move his political ball forward.
There was rampant speculation that a deal of some sort had been cobbled together with Russia and other countries on a new game plan for dealing with violence in Syria. Others thought that the President would announce that European nations had finally agreed to measures that would end the Eurozone crisis. Some thought that the beleaguered nuclear talks that European High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton had been suffering through with Iran might have moved in a positive direction. Chris Matthews said that Obama is the first incumbent President of the United States who by executive order is ceasing deportations of young illegal residents, a hugely controversial political topic, might expand on that political chess move.
Russian Ship, Loaded With Attack Helos,
Turns Away From Syria
By Robert Beckhusen - Wired.com
A transport ship the U.S. believes is carrying attack helicopters to Syria is now heading back to Russia. Ostensibly, the MV Alaed turned around after its insurance coverage was pulled. But the ship's return coincides with a meeting between Obama and Vladimir Putin — a sign the two leaders may be starting to cooperate on what to do about Syria's deadly war.
According to press reports, the Alaed, with its load of Mi-25 attack helos, had its insurance yanked by its British insurer, Standard Club, on Monday. The insurer had been reportedly approached by British security services and informed that providing insurance to the Alaed, which is owned by Russian cargo line Femco, violated European Union sanctions prohibiting arms sales to Syria. The insurer pulled its coverage, and the ship then turned back toward the Russian port of Kaliningrad. The ship had earlier stopped about 50 miles off Scotland's northwest coast.
Syria 'truce agreed' to evacuate Homs civilians
BBC.co.uk
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says the Syrian government and rebel fighters have agreed a temporary truce to allow civilians to be evacuated from the city of Homs.
The ICRC said that its teams - with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent - were ready to enter the worst-hit parts of Homs.
However despite the agreement, aid workers have been unable to enter.
Elsewhere in Syria, activists say that at least 20 soldiers were killed by rebels in the province of Latakia.
In Case Of NEW QE, Gold To $1,900-$8,500 Says SocGen
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
In a previous post we showed how, despite Goldman's best wishes, the market may have just priced itself out of a treat from the Fed tomorrow, and right into a trick. That said, in case the Fed has in fact succumbed to the pleadings of its superiors (read Primary Dealers) and does proceed with some seriously unsterilized dollar mauling, the next question is what is the best hedge. SocGen asked the same, and provided several strategies to take advantage of central planners exhibiting a rare case of Einstein's definition on insanity... over and over. Their "Strategy #1: Bolster Positions In Gold Ahead of QE3." Why? Because once the next round of the gold juggernaut is unleashed, gold may go to anywhere between $1900, just shy of the all time nominal high, and $8500... just a tad higher than the nominal high.
John Williams:
The 2014 Hyperinflation Scenario Still On Track Why Every American Must Own Gold to Protect Themselves
By James J Puplava CFP w/ John Williams - FinancialSense.com $$
Jim welcomes back John Williams from Shadow Government Statistics. John sees no real economic recovery, as his work shows the government is understating the inflation rate, which overstates the already feeble GDP. John can't see a way to avoid the hyperinflation scenario for 2014. He believes the real US budget deficit, on a GAAP accounting basis, is over $5 trillion per year, heading to $6 trillion. He also notes that real wages have been declining since the 1970's, and the Net Present Value of all future government liabilities now exceeds $100 trillion.
Gold in wait and see phase ahead of FOMC meeting
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Comex gold is modestly higher as the euro also edged up modestly, but overall is not moving much as the market awaits the outcome of a two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting that ends Wednesday, said Sean Lusk, stock-indexes specialist who also tracks precious metals with PFGBEST.
As of Tuesday 8:51 a.m. EDT, August gold was $3.50 higher at $1,630.50 an ounce.
Lusk continued that, "This is going to be possibly two-sided choppy trade today. We are kind of waiting for the announcement tomorrow from the FOMC."
Gold More than 50% Below Real Record High of 32 Years Ago
BY MARK O'BYRNE - FinancialSense.com
....Gold rose for an eighth consecutive session today, its longest winning streak in almost a year. The gains may be due to concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may launch further non conventional monetary measures, such as QE, in increasingly desperate attempts to prevent the world's largest economy falling into recession or Depression.
Gold has gradually rose 3% in the last eight sessions and is also supported by the debt crisis in Europe with initial euphoria over a victory for pro-bailout parties in Greece giving way to persistent concerns over Spain and Italy and their banking sectors.
FOMC "Influencing Gold More Than Eurozone",
Extending Operation Twist "May Not Be Sufficient",
Spanish Borrowing Costs Soar
By: Ben Traynor - GoldSeek.com
London Gold Market Report
THE U.S. DOLLAR gold price hovered around $1630 an ounce during Tuesday morning's trading in London – in line with where it ended last week – while stocks and commodities were also broadly flat ahead of the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The silver price traded in a tight range just below $29 an ounce – 1.7% up on Monday's low.
Over in India, traditionally the world's biggest gold buying nation, local press report that the Rupee gold price set a fresh record in Delhi Tuesday, as the Rupee fell against the Dollar on international currency markets.
Higher gold, silver and interest rates
to result from the euro crisis
By Peter Cooper - GoldSeek.com
When there is a crisis of confidence in a currency then it is the precious metals that gain. Visit any city in Germany or Austria this summer and there is a gold shop in a prominent location.
They have not quite replaced the banks yet. But the message is there for anybody with eyes to see. It is noticeable too that this is not just a phenomenon in the peripheral eurozone but in its teutonic heart.
Spanish interest rates
Then again you certainly are getting good rates on your money in Spain and Italy these days, let alone Greece. Spanish bond yields have passed the danger point of seven per cent.
How Shorts on Gold ETFs are Nearing a Big Squeeze
Jonathan Yates, Contributing Writer, Money Morning
There has been an increasing number of investors taking short positions on gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) - but they better watch out for what's ahead this summer.
In fact, each day that passes brings us closer to what could be the day of reckoning for those holding massive short positions on the ETFs for gold, silver, copper and related investments.
You see, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in late August will host an economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, WY. Speaking at the conference, as he did in August of 2010 when he introduced the second round of quantitative easing, will be Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
U.S. recovery risks may stir Fed to action
By Mark Felsenthal
WASHINGTON | Tue Jun 19, 2012 6:51pm EDT
(Reuters) - With economic storm clouds gathering abroad and signs the U.S. recovery is flagging, the Federal Reserve may feel compelled on Wednesday to launch a new round of monetary stimulus.
Confronted with rising financial strains in Europe, a year-end fiscal showdown in Washington and a sharp slowdown in hiring by U.S. employers, many economists expect the Fed to extend a program aimed at pushing down longer-term interest rates to shield the still-fragile economy.
G-20 Leaders Divide Over Euro-Zone Crisis
By SUDEEP REDDY, CAROL E. LEE
and CHRISTOPHER EMSDEN - WSJ.com
LOS CABOS, Mexico—World leaders papered over their differences after clashing over the euro-zone debt turmoil, deferring concrete decisions to other meetings amid worries about another global crisis.
The Group of 20 advanced and developing economies, after a two-day summit, pushed European nations to integrate their banking systems quickly to calm the financial turbulence hitting Spain and threatening to ricochet around the world.
Geithner encouraged by Europe's crisis plans
LOS CABOS, Mexico | Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:59pm EDT
(Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he was encouraged by European leaders' plans to tackle the region's crisis, including attempts to bring down borrowing costs quickly for struggling euro zone countries.
"What they're trying to do is to design a framework to not just make Europe stronger for the future with reforms to build a stronger set of institutions for fiscal union, banking union...but also trying to make sure in the very near term they put in place a set of measures that can help make sure they're supporting the financial systems in Europe and helping make sure countries undertaking the reforms, like Spain and Italy, can borrow at sustainable interest rates," Geithner said.
The Consequences Of The Rise Of European Nationalism
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Nationalism, like any political idea, is a spectrum of views not an absolute. As UBS notes in an interesting article today, the policies of Golden Dawn are not the policies of the True Finns of Finland, or the Freedom Party of Austria. However, there is undoubtedly a trend within the Euro area in favour of those parties that promote nationalistic policies (perhaps defined as the aggressive pursuit of domestic or indigenous interests over regional interests) and this trend raises considerable questions over the future of the Euro. The first and most obvious consequence of a rise of nationalism within the Euro area is that it will make managing the Euro crisis ever more complex to resolve. The other issue that arises from the rise of nationalist parties in the Euro area takes us away from the specifics of the Euro integration. Nationalism very readily turns into prejudice against others. UBS' Paul Donovan adds that the Euro area will work best when it recognises and uses its economic resources (people in this instance) to the best advantage. Festering resentment and nationalism is unlikely to produce that sort of a climate. Given how important it is to restore competitiveness to the Euro area economy, this is not a negligible economic cost.
Europe Launches Ban On All Policy Criticism
By Scrapping Use Of Rating Agencies
Submitted by Tyler Durden - Zerohedge.com
Why are we not surprised? The EU has just voted to scrap the use of ratings agencies in the next step on the road to a ban of all policy criticism. Via Bloomberg,
EU LAWMAKERS APPROVE AMENDMENT TO END USE OF CREDIT RATINGS
It seems just a few years ago, when these very same ratings agencies were raising ratings and supporting banking systems, mortgage provision, and sovereign-inclusions-into-monetary-unions, that the political elite could not showing off their bronzed statues of AAA/AA-ness.
G20: don't expect any solutions
from the international junketing in Mexico It's Monday, so it must be time for another international summit. Gathered in the Mexican seaside resort of Los Cabos, G20 leaders will already be wondering why they've made the trip.
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
Nothing is promised from this latest piece of international junketing, other than a little Mexican levity and a nasty bout of indigestion, courtesy of all the spicey food. Let's hope that leaders have brought their anti-reflux medication with them; in more ways than one, they are going to need it.
Few G20 meetings are anything other than a waste of space, but this one more so than most, for the latest slowdown in the world economy is something that can only be convincingly dealt with by Europe. And as we already know, Europe is seemingly quite incapable of sorting out the hopeless muddle it has inflicted on itself.
G20 backs Europe's plans for overhaul to fight crisis
By Elizabeth Pineau and Paul Eckert
LOS CABOS, Mexico | Tue Jun 19, 2012 7:34pm EDT
(Reuters) - Europe won support from world leaders on Tuesday for an ambitious but slow-moving overhaul of the euro zone, even as pressure built in financial markets for quicker solutions to its debt crisis that threatens the world economy.
European countries showed at a Group of 20 summit they were considering concrete steps to integrate their banking sectors, a major reform long sought by the United States and other nations to break the cycle of highly indebted countries trying to rescue banks, which only pushes governments ever deeper into debt.
G20 pledges to support global economy
By Ben Rooney @CNNMoneyInvest
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Global leaders promised Tuesday to support economic growth and create jobs as the financial turmoil in Europe continues to undermine confidence around the world.
The Group of 20 leaders from the world's developed and emerging economies met in Mexico for two days of talks on the global economy and other international affairs.
"We will act together to strengthen recovery and address financial market tensions," the G20 leaders said in a joint statement.
Greek bail-out to be renegotiated this summer
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - It would be "stupid" and "delusional" to expect Greek bail-out conditions and deadlines to remain unchanged, given political delays and the worsening recession, a senior EU official told journalists in Brussels on Tuesday (19 June).
"Anybody saying we need not and cannot renegotiate the memorandum of understanding is delusional because he or she would be understanding that the whole economy has remained completely on track," the contact said ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Thursday in Luxembourg.
Beggars Can Be Choosers As Pro-Bailout Greeks
Debate What Conditions They Hand Over To Merkel
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
For the second time in a few short months we are amazed to learn that beggars can be choosers. The Greek pseudo-coalition between ND, Pasok, which promptly determined it would only be part of a coalition if Syriza joined, then even promptlier completely forget what it had said hours ago after Syriza said "no way, Jose", and some other party with the word "Democracy" in its name, are in deep discussions over what conditions they should give Europe in exchange for a coalition government. That's right: the Greek coalition government is debating over a set of demands to hand over to Europe in order to form a government which will last at most weeks.
Greek parties close to forming coalition government
to tackle economic crisis
By Howard Schneider - WashingtonPost.com
ATHENS — Top Greek political parties on Tuesday were close to forming a coalition government to try to steer the country back to economic health and provide the nation its first elected leadership in more than seven months.
Talks continued on a power-sharing agreement in which Antonis Samaras, who led the center-right New Democracy party to a first-place finish in Sunday's election, would become prime minister in alliance with traditional rivals from the Socialist party, or Pasok, and the smaller Democratic Left.
Greece and the Limits of Anti-Austerity
By Mark Roe - Project-Syndicate.org
CAMBRIDGE – Is austerity dead? At last month's G-8 meeting at Camp David, the German-led austerity program for the eurozone's troubled southern members ran up against substantial resistance. Likewise, France's recent presidential election bolstered those who argue that Europe must grow its way out of its debt-heavy public sector, rather than aim for immediate fiscal orthodoxy. And there is no guarantee that Greece's newly elected center-right New Democracy party, which favors honoring the country's bailout terms, will be able to form a majority government.
Mr Barroso, Europe's crisis has nothing to do with America
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
All through the 1930s, the European elites continued to blame the Great Depression on Wall Street excess and the crash of 1929 (a minor, if colourful, event).
They continued to do so long after Roosevelt had broken free of fixed-exchange ruin and launched a blistering recovery with monetary stimulus a l'outrance (perhaps helped slightly by the New Deal).
They clung to this belief into the final years of the cataclysm, resolutely grinding their democracies into the dust by enforcing debt-deflation and contraction.
Spain and Italy to be bailed out in £600bn deal European leaders are poised to announce a £600 billion deal
to bail out Spain and Italy, it emerged at the G20 summit on Tuesday night.
By Robert Winnett - Telegraph.co.uk
Two rescue funds are to be used to buy the debts of the troubled economies, the cost of which have reached record highs in recent weeks.
It is hoped that the move, which represents a substantial shift in policy for Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, will send a strong signal to financial markets that Europe's biggest economy is finally prepared to back its weaker neighbours.
Mrs Merkel and other European leaders have come under intense pressure at this week's G20 summit to take radical action to stem the growing euro crisis which has pushed up the cost of Spanish bonds to unsustainable levels. The communiqué issued at the end of the G20 summit, which finished in Mexico last night, said that European leaders had agreed to take action to bring down borrowing rates.
EU to G20: We will not take 'economic lessons'
BY HONOR MAHONY - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - The EU is not prepared to take economic lessons from its G20 partners, the president of the European Commission said Monday (18 June) amid international fears the eurozone crisis could put the global economy back into recession.
"Frankly we are not coming here to take lessons on democracy or on how to handle the economy," said Jose Manuel Barroso ahead of a G20 meeting in Mexico, where the eurozone crisis was expected to play a central part in discussions.
With Washington in particular making increasingly pointed comments about how the 17-nation club is tackling its two-year-long debt crisis, Barroso noted that the US is the original source of problem.
Spain forced closer to precipice
as divisions open among G20 leaders Merkel unwilling to offer Greece concessions as election victor tries to win rivals' support in Athens
By DAVID USBORNE and PATRICK COCKBURN - Independent.co.uk
Leaders of the world's largest economies, the G20 nations, were drowning not waving at their seaside summit in Los Cabos, Mexico last night, as they struggled to find any kind of coherent consensus on what to do about the eurozone crisis.
The debate in Los Cabos came against a chaotic backdrop in two of the eurozone's most troubled corners.
G20 summit: perils of a half-baked rescue for Spain and Italy Germany and France are doubling up on a high-risk gamble. The tentative deal at the G20 summit to mobilise the EU's rescue machinery to douse the raging fire in Spain and Italy comes in the nick of time, but is fraught with fresh dangers.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande have to do something. The market reaction to Spain's €100bn EMU rescue for its banks has been calamitous. Monday's explosive rise in Spanish two-year bond yields was a warning that Spain's crisis would spiral out of control within days, taking Italy with it.
Yet the deal explored over ceviche and mango at Los Cabos in Mexico remains murky. Any plan will backfire horribly unless conducted in the right way, and with overwhelming force.
Europe gets lengthy homework assignment from G-20 But Europe statements suggest some disarray
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Group of 20 leaders presented a lengthy homework assignment to their European colleagues and said it was critical that some of the work be completed at the European Union summit meeting later this month.
The thorniest task the euro-zone accepted at the meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico will be "to break the feedback loop" between weak banks and weak sovereigns.
Another challenge will be to make sure that countries like Spain and Italy can borrow at sustainable interest rates.
Italy proposes 'semi-automatic' funding to avert bail-out
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Debt-stricken Italy is pushing for a "semi-automatic mechanism" to lower eurozone countries' borrowing costs compared to Germany in a veiled admission that it is also heading for a bail-out.
"The idea is to possibly discuss at the Eurogroup/Ecofin this week mechanisms which would be triggered semi-automatically when spreads widen too much, with the aim to reduce them," Italy's EU affairs minister Enzo Moavero told reporters in Brussels on Monday (18 June).
He said the idea was on the table for talks among eurozone finance ministers (the Eurogroup) on Thursday in Luxembourg.
Merkel ready to relent on bailout deal
to give Spain and Italy a lifeline G20 communique hints at new approach
to helping weaker European economies,
report David Usborne in Los Cabos, and Ben Chu
By DAVID USBORNE and BEN CHU - Independent.co.uk
Under intense pressure at the G20 summit in Mexico to take more decisive action to contain the European sovereign debt crisis, eurozone leaders were reported last night to be preparing to allow the Continent's bailout funds to intervene directly in the capital markets to ease the pressure on Spain and Italy.
G20 sources suggested that Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, was preparing to allow eurozone institutions to begin buying bonds issued by member state's governments. The purpose of the intervention would be to bring down sovereign bond yields of weaker eurozone states, which have been pushed up to unsustainable levels by wary investors in recent months. Spanish 10-year yields this week hit their highest levels in the history of the single currency at 7.28 per cent.
Germany Set To Allow Eurozone Bailout Fund
To Buy Troubled Countries' Debt
By PATRICK WINTOUR | THE GUARDIAN - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Angela Merkel is poised to allow the eurozone's €750bn bailout fund to buy up the bonds of crisis-hit governments in a desperate effort to drive down borrowing costs for Spain and Italy and prevent the single currency from imploding.
Germany has long opposed allowing the eurozone's rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, to lend directly to troubled eurozone countries, fearing that Berlin would end up paying the bill, and the beneficiaries would escape the strict conditions imposed on Greece, Portugal and Ireland.
François Hollande on Collision Course with ... France
Submitted by Wolf Richter - ZeroHedge.com
During the French presidential election, it became clear that François Hollande, if he were to win the presidency, would try to align other Eurozone countries, particularly Italy and Spain, into a southern front against German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government—to fix the problems of the Eurozone à la française. Among his ideas: pushing the ECB to buy government bonds of troubled debt-sinner countries and instituting eurobonds—or euro-bills, as he now calls them—that would give any member access once again to cheap unlimited loans. Everyone would benefit, except the German taxpayer, who'd have to foot the bill. Both policies are despised in Germany where budgetary discipline is seen as the solution to the debt crisis—rather than even more debt and monetizing of that debt. He even tried to win over Germany's opposition SPD—and though they saw some common ground, they turned to be more loyal to core German beliefs than to his socialist principles.
Dimon Double Gives Congress Wasteful Distraction
By Daniel Indiviglio - Slate.com
America's federal lawmakers need to get their priorities in order. Politicians from both chambers of Congress spent four hours over the past week publicly grilling JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon. But they have far more pressing work to do.
Sure, Congress has a crucial role to play in ensuring the country's banks are well supervised. And JPMorgan's $2 billion-plus portfolio hedging loss does raise questions about risk management, the Volcker Rule and whether mega-banks like JPMorgan remain too big to fail.
J.P. Morgan's Dimon battles over disclosure, pay Democrats, Republicans split on impact of big bank's losses
By Ronald D. Orol, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon battled with Democrats on Tuesday over the big bank's more than $2 billion trading loss, backing a bill that would limit the international reach of the crisis-reform Dodd-Frank Act.
At issue is legislation backed by Republicans that would exempt derivatives transactions made by offshore branches of a U.S. bank from transparency regulation required by the statute.
Did Dimon and JP Morgan Steal MF Global Funds?
Whalen Thinks So.
By Gary Anderson - BusinessInsider.com
I listened to Jamie Dimon not come clean to the House regarding unlimited rehypothecation betting in the City of London. Turns out that there is less regulation in London, and the Square Mile financial center answers to virtually no one, maybe not even the Queen!
Soon after listening to Dimon's ugly testimony, I came across Chris Whalen claiming that JP Morgan stole money from MF Global.
If Whalen's opinion is true, no account at a broker/dealer is safe from the investment bank that determines to get money from a bankruptcy proceeding. There is a loophole that allows a margin call, even from companies that are bankrupt, and the bank can accept money that comes from protected accounts. They do not have to wait for the bankruptcy proceeding and then no one is left to protect the account holders! Wow, I say.
Why it's time to outlaw credit default swaps
By Stephen Gandel, senior editor - Fortune.CNN.com
JPMorgan Chase's London Whale should finally sink the notion that the market for bond insurance works.
Fortune -- In finance, there should be a three-strikes-and-you're-out rule. If there were, credit default swaps would be headed for the graveyard.
Indeed, when JPMorgan Chase (JPM) announced its $2 billion and counting trading loss a month ago, there seemed to be little explanation of what exactly credit default swaps, the financial contracts the London Whale had been trading, were. Instead, many stories used this short-hand description for the financial contracts instead: the same things that caused AIG to go bust.
Fiscal cliff is closer than you think Commentary: U.S. economy is already feeling the pressure
By Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) — The fiscal cliff may be six months away, but it is already affecting the United States economy.
As I warned at the beginning of last month ( see column ), unless current law is changed, taxes will rise and spending will fall big time, come year-end.
Taxes are set to jump by $500 billion, while federal spending is set to decline by more than $130 billion. Combined, this will equal 5% of our gross domestic product.
Oh Crud! 19 Reasons Why It Is Time
To Start Freaking Out About The Global Economy
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Yes, it is officially time to start freaking out about the global economy. The European financial system is falling apart and it is going to go down hard. If Europe was going to be saved it would have happened by now. The big money insiders have already pulled their funds from vulnerable positions and they are ready to ride the coming chaos out. Over the next few months the slow motion train wreck currently unfolding in Europe will continue to play out and things will likely really start really heating up in the fall once summer vacations are over. Most Americans greatly underestimate how much Europe can affect the global economy. Europe actually has a larger population than the United States does. Europe also has a significantly larger economy and a much larger banking system. The world is more interconnected today than ever before, and a collapse of the financial system in Europe will cause a massive global recession. Once the global economy slides into another major recession, it is going to take years to recover. The pain is going to be immense. Yes, that is going to include the United States. Sadly, we never recovered from the last recession, and it is frightening to think about how much farther this next recession is going to knock us down.
MF Global Customers "Get the Chance"
To Auction Off Hopes For the Full Return of Stolen Funds
JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN
Great news for customers who had their money stolen by Wall Street!
No need to worry about its return, now they can sell their claims at a discount to -- Wall Street!
Perhaps we can get rid of the FDIC and cumbersome banking regulation and let people auction off their looted savings deposits and CD's when the Bankers lose their money by gambling on derivatives.
"Over the last thirty years, the United States has been taken over by an amoral financial oligarchy, and the American dream of opportunity, education, and upward mobility is now largely confined to the top few percent of the population. Federal policy is increasingly dictated by the wealthy, by the financial sector, and by powerful (though sometimes badly mismanaged) industries such as telecommunications, health care, automobiles, and energy. These policies are implemented and praised by these groups' willing servants, namely the increasingly bought-and-paid-for leadership of America's political parties, academia, and lobbying industry." – Charles Ferguson – Predator Nation
The Federal Reserve released its Survey of Consumer Finances last week. It's a fact filled 80 page report they issue every three years to provide a financial snapshot of American households. As you can see from the chart above, the impact of the worldwide financial collapse has been catastrophic to most of the households in the U.S. A 39% decline in median net worth over a three year time frame is almost incomprehensible. Even worse, the decline has surely continued for the average American household through 2012 as home prices have continued to fall. Median family income plunged by 7.7% over a three year time frame and has not recovered since the collection of this data 18 months ago. Even more shocking is the fact that median household income was $48,900 in 2001. Families are making 6.3% less today than they were a decade ago. These figures are adjusted for inflation using the BLS massaged CPI figures. Anyone not under the influence of psychotic drugs or engaged as a paid shill for the financial oligarchy knows that inflation is purposely under reported in order to keep the masses sedated and pacified. The real decline in median household income is in excess of 20% since 2001.
The Mancession: 16 Signs
That This Economic Decline
Is Sucking The Life Out Of The American Male
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
This economic decline has been really hard on everyone, but it has been particularly hard on American men. During the last recession male employment dropped like a rock and it has not recovered much at all since then. That is why many referred to the last recession as a "mancession". Industries where men are disproportionately represented such as construction and manufacturing have really been hit hard in recent years. In the old days, you could take a high school education down to the local factory and get a job that would enable you to live a middle class lifestyle and support a growing family on just that one income. Sadly, those days are long gone. Today, American men live in a world where their labor is not really needed. Wages are falling because almost any worker can be easily replaced by the vast pool of unemployed American workers that are currently searching for work, and a lot of big companies are shifting labor-intensive jobs overseas where workers only make a small fraction of what they make in the United States. American workers (especially those without much education) are considered to be expensive liabilities in a world where labor has become a global commodity. So the percentage of working age American men that have jobs is likely to continue to decline and wages are likely to continue to stagnate as well.
Recount Officially Ordered In Wisconsin State Senate Recall
by Eric Kleefeld - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Wisconsin election officials on Monday officially ordered a recount in the state Senate recall in Racine, at the request of Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard, who trailed Democratic candidate John Lehman by 834 votes after the final tally.
Lehman's apparent win gives Democrats a new 17-16 majority in the state Senate, following their failure to unseat Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
SWING STATE:
DEM GOVERNOR SIGNS LAW BLOCKING OBAMACARE
by MIKE FLYNN - Breitbart.com
When they first rammed ObamaCare through Congress, Democrats predicted that Americans would come to love the new law over time. Nancy Pelosi explained that Congress simply needed to pass the law so we could find out what's in it. David Axelrod predicted, "health care, over time, is going to become more popular." It hasn't quite happened that way. For evidence of how unpopular ObamaCare has become look to the swing state of New Hampshire. Today, John Lynch, Democrat governor of the state signed into law legislation prohibiting the state from establishing state health insurance exchanges, as called for in ObamaCare.
Koch brothers, Cato Institute reach settlement
By Allen McDuffee - WashingtonPost.com
The Cato Institute and billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch have reached an agreement that will end their legal dispute for control of the libertarian think tank.
The two have been embroiled in a public battle since March 1 whenthe Kochs filed a lawsuit over the distribution of controlling shares of the think tank, first reported by The Washington Post.
A subsequent lawsuit was filed in April in response to additions Cato made to its board.
Hypocrisy at its finest... NSA: It Would Violate Your Privacy to Say if We Spied on You
By Spencer Ackerman - Wired.com
The surveillance experts at the National Security Agency won't tell two powerful United States Senators how many Americans have had their communications picked up by the agency as part of its sweeping new counterterrorism powers. The reason: it would violate your privacy to say so.
That claim comes in a short letter sent Monday to civil libertarian Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall. The two members of the Senate's intelligence oversight committee asked the NSA a simple question last month: under the broad powers granted in 2008′s expansion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, how many persons inside the United States have been spied upon by the NSA?
Flash Update Causing Problems for Firefox Fans
By Scott Gilbertson - WebMonkey.com
If you've been having trouble watching Flash movies in Firefox, you're not alone.
Last week Adobe released Flash Player 11.3, with support for secure sandboxing in Firefox. Flash's near ubiquity makes it a popular target for web-based attacks, but the new sandboxing means that even when such attacks succeed the damage is limited and won't spill over into the rest of the browser or even the operating system.
Unfortunately for some Firefox fans, the Flash 11.3 update has also caused numerous problems.
Peterbilt Crowdsourcing Future Big-Rig Designs
By Doug Newcomb - Wired.com
Big rigs may move the bulk of freight and rule the roads of the US, but their blocky designs aren't exactly aerodynamic, sucking up lots of fuel as they shuttle cross-country. Plus, they're just plain boring. So semi manufacturer Peterbilt is looking for more fuel-efficient tractor-trailers by holding a competition in conjunction with open source car company Local Motors to develop innovative aerodynamic designs. The RIG2: Road Icon Generation 2 contest kicked off June 5 and is open to entries through June 26. Peterbilt is offering up $15,000 in prize money. The overall winning entry will nab $7,500. The second-place finisher gets $2,500 and third earns $1,500. The rest of the top 10 will win $500 each.
California Nuke Simulator Is World's Most Powerful Computer
By Robert McMillan - Wired.com
A massive liquid-cooled supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has received the bragging rights that come with being the world's most powerful calculating machine.
With 1.5 million processing cores, Livermore's Sequoia supercomputer weighs about the same as 30 elephants, and it can do more calculations per second than any machine ever built. How many? 16.3 quadrillion, according to benchmark numbers researchers at the national lab submitted for international supercomputing benchmarking contest called the Top500 list. In benchmarking terms, that translates to 16.3 petaflops per second.
* * * * *
More from DHS insider
By Douglas J. Hagmann - HomelandSecurityUS.com
18 June 2012: It was not one contact, but a series of contacts over the last month from which the following information was developed from my source within the Department of Homeland Security. My initial article citing this specific source was published on May 8, 2012. This article details my subsequent contacts with my source beginning after May 14, 2012. Actual dates, times and locations have been omitted at the request of my source.
Our first meeting
The first words from "Rosebud's" mouth were various expletives strung together in an interestingly creative tirade. Based on the uncharacteristically profane welcome that I thought was directed at me, it was quite obvious that my source was very angry.
"Do you know that the '[expletive deleted]-storm' is still going on because of all the attention to your article?" Thinking that the "bloom was off the rose" and I was about to lose a valuable source, I began to remind my source that we agreed on what could be printed and spoken publicly, and he seemed to have previously come to terms with the initial blow-back created after the initial information he had given me made the rounds. My explanation was interrupted by his sudden laughter, a welcome relief from the tension I initially felt.
Radio interview on DHS [.mp3]- Rick Wiles and Doug Hagmann $1 TRILION DOLLARS in 2012-13 budget for MORE SURVEILLANCE OF AMERICANS!!! The Elites are insisting on more government protection FROM ordinary Americans because they fear the consequences when we finally wake up to what's going on.
Female Passenger Groped by TSA Gropes Back,
Charged with Battery
By Kim Zetter - Wired.com
An airline passenger in Florida was on her way to Cleveland for her brother's funeral when she says she was inappropriately groped by a female TSA worker doing a security patdown.
To demonstrate the invasive touching, she groped a female TSA supervisor, for which she was removed from her flight, arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery.
Carol Price, the passenger, is a former TSA agent herself and says she knows the proper way to conduct a patdown, and what she got from a former co-worker at Southwest Florida International Airport wasn't proper. According to her attorney, the agent conducted an "extremely inappropriate search" by groping Price's genitals and breasts.
The Inevitability Of US-China Conflict
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
The question of whether conflict between US and China is inevitable is among the most important for the world as the US-China relationship, as JPMorgan's Michael Cembalest notes, is likely to be one of the most important issues of the 21st century. The inevitability view is sometimes explained by the thesis that countries rarely rise economically without also doing so militarily. The chart below looks at the major economic powers of the world since the year 1 at various intervals. Ignore for the moment some of the abstract issues which this kind of data involves; it's pretty clear that China's rise, fall and subsequent rise is something that hasn't happened a lot over the past 2,000 years, and that the United States is on the front lines of having to adjust to it. Cembalest's recent interview with Henry Kissinger noted the impact of China's troubled relations with the West during the 19th century, which remains on China's political consciousness, and how China might define its interests in different ways than the West would, whether they relate to global energy security, North Korea, global warming, currency management or trade.
U.S., Israel developed Flame computer virus
to slow Iranian nuclear efforts, officials say
By Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller
and Julie Tate - WashingtonPost.com
The United States and Israel jointly developed a sophisticated computer virus nicknamed Flame that collected intelligence in preparation for cyber-sabotage aimed at slowing Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon, according to Western officials with knowledge of the effort.
The massive piece of malware secretly mapped and monitored Iran's computer networks, sending back a steady stream of intelligence to prepare for a cyberwarfare campaign, according to the officials.
* * * * *
OBAMA ADMIN LEAKS CREATE TICKING TIME BOMB FOR ISRAEL WILL OBAMA ADMIN LEAKS PROMPT MIDDLE EAST WAR?
by BEN SHAPIRO - Breitbart.com
Today, the Obama administration leaker, who has been distributing information about American and Israeli security for weeks, struck again. This time, the leaker went to theWashington Post, prompting the Post to run a piece crediting Israel and the United States with developing the computer virus that screwed up Iran's nuclear facilities. This is the latest in a long line of leaks, most of them credited to anonymous Defense Department officials; this one was credited, more discreetly, to "Western officials with knowledge of the effort."
The fact that the Defense Department has been the source of many of the leaks – leaks including information about Israel's timing regarding a possible attack on Iran, cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia for such a strike, and Azerbaijan allowing Israel access to their airbases for such purposes.
Iranian Missile Engineer Oversees Chavez's Drones
By Robert Beckhusen - Wired.com
The manager of Venezuela's drone program is an engineer who helped build ballistic missiles for Iran. The engineer's identity raises new questions about the purposes behind Venezuela's drone program. But it's also only one part of a mystery involving drones shipped from Iran to Venezuela while hidden in secret cargo containing possibly more military hardware than just 'bots.
According to El Nuevo Herald, the Spanish-language sister paper of The Miami Herald, US officials believe Iran shipped drones to Venezuela hidden in cargo containers. The date and specific port are not known, but Venezuela only received six drones — in a shipment of 70 containers carrying each more than 24,000 pounds of cargo. The cargo was camouflaged as material "from Venirauto (Venezuelan-Iranian Automotive) through a Chilean company," a source told the newspaper.
* * * * *
Will Russian And Chinese Military Forces On Syrian Soil
Prevent Obama From Bombing Syria?
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Everyone knows that the Obama administration has been steadily gearing up for a military campaign against Syria. Everyone also knows that Russia and China do not want to see this happen. Now Russia and China are sending military forces to Syria. It is being reported that Russia, China, Iran and Syria will be conducting the "Middle East's largest ever military exercise" next month. Apparently tens of thousands of troops will be involved. This will be the first time that the Russians and the Chinese have jointly deployed large numbers of troops in Syria. Will this show of military power be enough to prevent Barack Obama from bombing Syria? Or will Obama go ahead anyway and risk ruining relations with the Russians and the Chinese? Tensions are rising in the Middle East and the region is a powder keg that could erupt at any time. If someone makes the wrong move we could end up with World War III.
William Hague halts ship
carrying Russian helicopters to Syrian forces London insurers withdraw vessel's cover
after pressure from US authorities
By LOVEDAY MORRIS - Independent.co.uk
A ship believed to be carrying a consignment of refurbished attack helicopters known as "flying tanks" to Syria is on its way back to Russia after Britain intervened to halt the shipment, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said yesterday.
The Russian-operated MV Alaed's London-based insurer, Standard Club, withdrew its coverage after questions were raised about the ship's cargo. After halting for several hours off the Western Isles, Mr Hague said the ship had turned back.
Russian ship thwarted in bid to reach Syria
By HILARY DUNCANSON - Independent.co.uk
A cargo ship believed to be carrying Russian-made attack helicopters has been thwarted in its bid to reach Syria after its insurance cover was withdrawn, according to reports.
The MV Alaed is said to have had its policy cancelled by insurers in London, effectively stopping it in its tracks off the Scottish coast last night.
The move prevents the boat, which is understood to have stopped off the coast of the Outer Hebrides, from sailing until its owner can secure fresh cover.
Russia, China, Iran plan to stage in Syria
"biggest Mid East maneuver"
DEBKAfile.com
Middle East military tensions around Syria shot up again Monday, June 18, with the news reported by the semi-official Iranian news agency Fars that a joint Russian-Chinese-Iranian exercise is to take place in Syria.
It was described as "the biggest of its kind ever staged in the Middle East" with 90,000 personnel, 400 air planes and 900 tanks taking part.
As part of its preparations, Beijing is reported to have asked Egyptian authorities to permit the passage through the Suez Canal in late June of 12 naval ships heading for the Syrian port of Tartus, where Moscow maintains a naval and marine base. DEBKAfile reported earlier this week that Russian naval vessels with marines on board were heading for Tartus. The Iranian media did not itemize their contribution to the joint exercise.
Iran, Russia, China, Syria to launch joint war game in Syria
TEHRAN, June 16 (MNA) – An informed source has announced that Iran, Russia, China, and Syria plan to stage a joint war game in Syria in the near future, the Persian service of the Fars News Agency reported on Monday.
90,000 forces from the four countries will be involved in the war game, the informed source said.
No official from the countries has confirmed the news report, but a Syrian official, who spoke on conditional anonymity, announced that the joint war game will be launched in Syria.
DoD Current and Future U.S. Drone Activities Map
PublicIntelligence.net
The following map depicts the approximate locations of current and planned Department of Defense unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) activities inside the U.S. The locations, service branches, and types of UAS flown were obtained from several publicly released DoD presentations. If you are aware of other DoD drone activities in the U.S. not listed below, please let us know.
Among Syrian rebels, a shared sense of commitment
By Austin Tice - WashingtonPost.com
Khan Sheikhoun, Syria — On a Sunday late last month, Syrian army forces attacked this town. By early afternoon, two children had been killed by a mortar shell, and doctors and nurses were struggling to save an elderly woman shot in the chest with a Kalashnikov. An attack helicopter circled overhead. The local rebel commander phoned his compatriots in the nearby town of Madaya for help.
When the reinforcements arrived, they focused on the chopper. One group took off with a truck-mounted Dushka heavy machine gun, racing through the streets as the helicopter swooped above. Others fired at it with Dragunov sniper rifles and Kalashnikovs.
Report: Russia to send marines to Syria
"MOSCOW (AP) — Two Russian navy ships are completing preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines on a mission to protect Russian citizens and the nation's base there, a news report said Monday. The deployment appears to reflect Moscow's growing concern about Syrian President Bashar Assad's future.
Each ship is capable of carrying up to 300 marines and a dozen tanks, according to Russian media reports. That would make it the largest known Russian troop deployment to Syria, signaling that Moscow is becoming increasingly uneasy about Syria's slide toward civil war.
Interfax also quoted a deputy Russian air force chief as saying that Russia will give the necessary protection to its citizens in Syria.
"We must protect our citizens," Maj.-Gen. Vladimir Gradusov was quoted as saying. "We won't abandon the Russians and will evacuate them from the conflict zone, if necessary."
Muslim Brotherhood supporters
protest in Cairo over military power grab Last-minute constitutional declaration by military transfers some powers from Egyptian president to ruling junta
By Abdel-Rahman Hussein in Cairo - Guardian.co.uk
Tens of thousands of mainly Muslim Brotherhood supporters have filled Tahrir Square in Cairo to protest at the 11th-hour constitutional declaration giving the military sweeping powers.
The new complementary constitutional declaration transfers some powers reserved for the president to the ruling military junta, the supreme council of the armed forces (Scaf), causing the Muslim Brotherhood to doubt whether the transfer of power will happen as expected at the end of the month.
Egypt Brotherhood dissolution case adjourned to 1 Sept
Egypt.com
Cairo's High Administrative Court has adjourned the case on the dissolution of the Muslim Brotherhood to 1 September.
The attorney who filed the case in court, Shehata Mohamed Shehata, claims the country's largest Islamist group has illegally carried out both political and social activities since the 1930's despite being an officially banned political organisation since 1954.
Israel deploys tanks near Egypt border
violating Camp David accord
PressTV.ir
Israel has deployed tanks on its southern borders with Egypt in violation of the Camp David Accord signed by the Tel Aviv regime and Cairo.
Two Israeli tanks have been spotted moving toward the border fence on Monday. Both Egypt and Israel are obliged to keep the area demilitarized under the Camp David Accord.
The move comes just hours after an Israeli man was killed in a cross-border attack, after which Israel launched an airstrike on the Gaza strip, killing two Palestinians.
Gold to hit above $1,900/oz by year end: HSBC
LONDON (Commodity Online): Gold prices to rally above $1,900 by year-end, based on the likely impact of easy monetary policy, said HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC), a British multinational bank, in a commodities briefing.
According to the British bank, it remains bullish on gold, maintaining a forecast for an average price of $1,760 for 2012. Gold prices have closely tracked shifts in monetary policy expectations this year, rallying in anticipation of any easing and falling when this receded.
Does Gold Keep Up In Hyperinflation?
BY JEFF CLARK - FinancialSense.com
Inflation is a natural consequence of loose government monetary policy. If those policies get too loose, hyperinflation can occur. As gold investors, we'd like to know if the precious metals would keep pace in this extreme scenario.
Hyperinflation is an extremely rapid period of inflation, but when does inflation (which can be manageable) cross the line and become out-of-control hyperinflation? Philip Cagan, one of the very first researchers of this phenomenon, defines hyperinflation as "an inflation rate of 50% or more in a single month," something largely inconceivable to the average investor.
• In developed markets, there is a serious debt problem, and inflation is one of the only "solutions" we see as likely to occur.
• We see a secular rise in global commodities prices – with some cyclical dips – as the middle class expands in emerging markets in the years ahead, consuming more commodities.
• Structuring portfolios in an attempt to guard against high inflation should be a central element of any investment strategy. The core asset, in our view, is developed market inflation-linked bonds (ILBs), such as Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) in the U.S.
Silver to double over next few years
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): The silver prices could potentially double over the next few years and the white metal investment is actually a better choice for investors over gold right now, said Stephen M Smith, the managing member at Smith McKenna.
Smith continued that, "Silver has very large ties to industrial uses and is heavily influenced by supply and demand. Because of this and the constant advancements for its applications, investing in silver now before the global manufacturing machine kicks into overdrive, means higher potential gains by investors."
Back to the 1930s: the hammer, sickle and swastika
By Aristides Hatzis - FT.com
Ten days before Greece's elections, a member of the neo-nazi party, Golden Dawn, repeatedly hit a female candidate of the communist party while appearing live on a television talk show and threw water over a female candidate of the radical left Syriza. The communist had just called him a "bloody fascist" and he addressed her as a "commie". Greek elites (journalists, intellectuals, politicians) condemned his violence almost unequivocally. Yet the ugliest part of this incident was the readiness of many lay people to defend him, even cheer him, while the neo-nazis rose in the polls.
The Filthy Stinking Rich Are Creating Their Own Economy
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
What's there to say about an economy where $190,000 cars sell like hot cakes and half-price Mercedes can't find a buyer? Or where $5,000 earrings can't sell, but $58,000 gold bracelets won't stay in stock?
The ultra-rich have practically bought themselves out of the normal economy, Bloomberg reports, while the rest of the top 10% (those making between $150,000 and $250,000) exhibits the same anxiety and trepidation as the rest of the country.
A Brief Primer on the European Crisis
John P. Hussman, Ph.D. - HussmanFunds.com
With Greek elections resulting in a fairly benign outcome that promises to hold the euro together in the near-term, the market may enjoy some amount of relief. The extent and duration of that relief will be informative. Based on broader factors, we don't expect that relief to survive very long, but we are willing to respond more constructively if our own return/risk measures become more favorable.
Forget The Election Results -
Greece Is Still Doomed And So Is The Rest Of Europe
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
The election results from Greece are in and the pro-bailout forces have won, but just barely. It is being projected that the pro-bailout New Democracy party will have about 130 seats in the 300 seat parliament, and Pasok (another pro-bailout party) will have about 33 seats. Those two parties have alternated ruling Greece for decades, and it looks like they are going to form a coalition government which will keep Greece in the euro. On Monday we are likely to see financial markets across the globe in celebration mode. But the truth is that nothing has really changed. Greece is still in a depression. The Greek economy has contracted by close to 25 percent over the past four years, and now they are going to stay on the exact same path that they were before. Austerity is going to continue to grind away at what remains of the Greek economy and money is going to continue to fly out of the country at a very rapid pace. Greece is still drowning in debt and completely dependent on outside aid to avoid bankruptcy. Meanwhile, things in Spain and Italy are rapidly getting worse. So where in that equation is room for optimism?
Keiser Report: City of Biggest Crooks (E302)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss Libor traders who rigged global interest rate market escaping charges while Iceland sentences bankers to four year prison terms. At the same time, Iceland's central bank is raising interest rates to deal with a growing economy while Western bankster-riddled economies prepare for another round of money printing to deal with all the fraud. In the second half of the show Max talks to Brett Scott about financial activism, a Wikileaks for finance and collaboration with hedge funds.
It's the Euro, Stupid: The Roots of the Euro-Zone Crisis Europe is in a hole, and it won't stop digging.
By Gilles Bransbourg - TheDailyBeast.com
There are two stories of the birth of the euro: an "immaculate" conception and a worldly one. The latter is, as one would expect, rather more exciting. Although the idea of a European monetary union had been floated by Eurocrats in the 1970s and '80s, in the belief that it would hasten European economic and political integration, the key moment occurred on Dec. 8, 1989. The Berlin Wall had just collapsed. With West Germany pressing for almost immediate German reunification the traditional balance of power inside the European Community was threatened. Keen to avoid what he perceived as an excessively resurgent Germany, the late French president François Mitterrand preconditioned his support of German reunification on the swift adoption of a common currency. Why? Because it would dilute German sovereignty.
G20 ramps up pressure on Europe over debt crisis
By Luke Baker and Krista Hughes
(Reuters) - World leaders pressured Europe on Monday to take ambitious new steps to resolve its debt crisis after a victory for pro-bailout parties in a Greek election failed to calm markets or ease worries that wider turmoil could derail the global economy.
The world's major industrialized and developing economies were set to urge Europe to take "all necessary policy measures" to resolve a crisis that has now raged for over two years, according to a draft communiqué seen by Reuters that was prepared for a Group of 20 summit in this Mexican resort town.
Winners scramble to form Greek government... Antonis Samaras begins urgent Greece coalition talks
BBC.co.uk
The leader of the party that narrowly won Greece's election has begun urgent talks to form a coalition, saying he wants to forge a "national consensus".
New Democracy's Antonis Samaras met leaders of the other two largest parties, but no deal on a coalition has yet been announced.
Mr Samaras says he will seek changes in the terms of a bailout agreement reached with the EU and IMF.
Market responses to the poll result were mixed and bank stocks plummeted.
Right Now In Greece
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
While the market is finally figuring out what was obvious about 12 hours ago, that even if, and that is a big IF because Pasok has made it clear it will not join ND outright, there is some coalition government formed it will most likely last all of a few weeks before the whole charade has to be repeated once more as the entire plan is to keep Greece without a government as its last assets are plundered via the Greek "rescue vehicle", events in Greece are once again going through their preset moves. Below, courtesy of Athens News is what is happening in the Greek capital today. Needless to say, if the headline comes that Samaras is unable to form a government, watch out below.
The Greek drama that just won't end The last thing the EU needs right now is for Greece to miss key deadlines under terms of its bailout -- it may be less painful to simply give the ailing country a little more time.
By Cyrus Sanati - Fortune.CNN.com
FORTUNE -- The results of the Greek election over the weekend may have eurozone champions and Wall Street breathing a sigh of relief, but the political and economic troubles within Greece and the rest of the eurozone remain firmly in place. Even if the victorious so-called "pro-bailout" parties were to form a government of national unity, Greece will continue to experience major economic difficulties, which will prevent it from ever living up to the terms of its 240 billion euro bailout.
The Bang! Moment Is Here
BY JOHN MAULDIN - FinancialSense.com
....We know that money is simply flying out of Greek banks. A number of them are clearly insolvent, yet they are meeting demands for withdrawals. Where is the cash coming from? The answer is in the form of yet another acronym from Europe, called the ELA. Is there a limit to this largesse? And politicians are becoming rather snarky (short-tempered, critical, testy, irritable, freaked-out – you fill in the word) with each other. This is what happens when crisis-weary politicians face yet another Greek tragedy, but this time perhaps it will hit even closer to home. Is there anyone left anywhere who has not grown tired of reading about Greece? I am tired of writing about them, yet if we are to understand the sturm und drang,the storm and stress, of Europe, we must begin there. Because, unlike Las Vegas, what happens in Greece most definitely does not stay in Greece.
Relieved Europe hints at more time for Greece
By Stephen Brown and Dina Kyriakidou
(Reuters) - Euro zone paymaster Germany, relieved at a narrow election victory for Greece's pro-bailout parties, signaled on Monday it may be willing to grant Athens more time to meet its fiscal targets to avert a catastrophic euro exit.
But financial markets' relief that the 17-nation European currency area had avoided plunging deeper into crisis was quickly overtaken by concern about unresolved problems in Greece, the lack of a comprehensive plan for the euro zone as a whole and weakness in the world economy.
Biderman On Europe:
"Germany Must Say No To Greece, Spain, & Italy"
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
After offering his condolences for the loss today of Dan Dorfman, Charles Biderman, of TrimTabs, takes the Greeks (and Germans) to task. Charles remains long-term bearish on European stocks (and the big US banks). Greeks, it appears from Charles perspective, want to stay in the Euro but on easier terms. This, at first glance, perplexes the less-than-sanguine Sausalitan, given the disastrous economic situation they remain in. However, on reflection, Biderman realizes that the simple fact is that the Greeks like the ability to borrow money to pay their bills and even better, never having to repay the loan - which makes perfect sense. If the Germans are willing to keep lending to Greece, even if most goes to repay old loans, then Greeks keep gettingsome new cash - which would disappear if the Greeks left the Euro.
Euro Remains Lower As G-20 Leaders Discus Europe Crisis
By Monami Yui and Mariko Ishikawa - Bloomberg.com
The euro remained lower after declining yesterday before Group of 20 leaders meet in Mexicofor a second day amid concern that Europe's financial crisis is spreading and hurting global growth.
Demand for the 17-nation euro was limited as Spain prepared to sell bills today after the nation's borrowing costs soared to a euro-era record. Australia's dollar halted a three-day advance before the Reserve Bank releases minutes of its June meeting when it cut interest rates for a second straight month. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve begins a meeting today amid prospects policy makers will consider taking further steps to spur growth.
Europe's darkest cloud hangs over Italy If borrowing rates in Italy continue to rise, it would need extraordinary help from the European Central Bank to keep its debt market from collapsing -- a move that could destroy the euro.
By Cyrus Sanati - Fortuen.CNN.com
FORTUNE -- There is so much turmoil in Europe right now, it's hard to know where to focus. It looks like Greek voters have given the pro-bailout New Democracy party a slim lead according to early returns on Sunday, while Spanish 10-year bond yields hit a euro record high of 7% last week, an ominous level that prompted Greece, Portugal and Ireland to seek costly and humiliating sovereign bailouts. But amid all of this, Europe's biggest problem may actually be Italy. The country is simply too big to bail.
Why the Euro Zone Should Be Terrified of the Greek Election How the anti-euro party lost the Greek election
and won the future in Europe.
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
It only took 2200 years for Greece to give us something even more crippling than a Pyrrhic victory. That's a New Democracy victory. I know, I know. It's an ungainly phrase. But none the less apropos.
A quick recap. On Sunday, everybody's favorite past time returned. Greek democracy held world capitalism hostage -- or so the story went. The latest election pitted the mainstream conservative party New Democracy against the more radical leftist party Syriza. Nominally, New Democracy was the "pro-bailout" party and Syriza the "anti-bailout" party. The reality was a bit more complicated. Both wanted to stay in the euro. But both wanted to, ahem, renegotiate the so-called Memorandum that outlined the latest austerity agreement. New Democracy wanted to tinker at the margins. Syriza wanted to rip the whole thing up. Markets worried that Germany would kick Greece out of the euro -- setting off bank runs across the continent -- if Syriza won and tried to play hardball.
Dithering Europe is heading for the democratic dark ages A Greek economy run by Brussels will ignore the lessons of history, leading to more misery, writes Boris Johnson.
By Boris Johnson - Telegraph.co.uk
It is one of the tragic delusions of the human race that we believe in the inevitability of progress. We look around us, and we seem to see a glorious affirmation that our ruthless species of homo is getting ever more sapiens. We see ice cream Snickers bars and in vitro babies and beautiful electronic pads on which you can paint with your fingertip and – by heaven – suitcases with wheels! Think of it: we managed to put a man on the moon about 35 years before we came up with wheelie-suitcases; and yet here they are. They have completely displaced the old type of suitcase, the ones with a handle that you used to lug puffing down platforms.
Euro crisis far from over, stock analysts warn
By PAUL WISEMAN and JOSHUA FREED - AP Business Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A slim victory for the main conservative party in an election in Greece should relax fears that a country will stop using the euro for the first time and possibly unleash global financial turmoil.
But when it comes to Greek politics - and European economic policy - it's never that easy. So the bumpy ride for financial markets isn't over yet.
The conservative New Democracy party, which supports a bailout agreement Greece agreed to earlier this year, appeared to win enough votes Sunday to form a ruling coalition with another pro-bailout party.
Euro Crisis Shifts To Spain As Merkel Faces G-20 Pressure
By Tony Czuczka and Anastasia Ustinova - Bloomberg.com
Group of 20 leaders focused their response to Europe's financial crisis on stabilizing the region's banks, raising pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to expand rescue measures as contagion engulfed Spain.
As U.S. President Barack Obama called after-dinner talks with euro-area leaders at the G-20 summit in Mexico, the Treasury department's top international negotiator, Lael Brainard, said Europe is making an effort to "break the feedback loop" between banks and government debt, the link that is worsening Spain's woes.
Spain forced closer to precipice
as divisions open among G20 leaders Merkel unwilling to offer Greece concessions
as election victor tries to win rivals' support in Athens
By DAVID USBORNE and PATRICK COCKBURN - Independent.co.uk
Leaders of the world's largest economies, the G20 nations, were drowning not waving at their seaside summit in Los Cabos, Mexico last night, as they struggled to find any kind of coherent consensus on what to do about the eurozone crisis.
The debate in Los Cabos came against a chaotic backdrop in two of the eurozone's most troubled corners.
In Madrid, despite hopes that the Greek election results might bring some stability to the financial markets, the brief positive response rapidly gave way to more fearful selling yesterday as borrowing costs shot upwards. Spanish 10-year bond yields hit their highest levels since the foundation of the single currency at one point in trading, touching 7.28 per cent.
Spain goes to market as debt costs soar
By Paul Day
(Reuters) - Spain is likely to pay record prices to borrow at debt auctions on Tuesday and Thursday after the Greek election failed to ease concerns about the future of the euro zone and amid uncertainty over whether Madrid will need a full sovereign bailout.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds hit a fresh high of above 7 percent on Monday as initial relief over the victory of pro-bailout parties in Greece gave way to ongoing fears of deeper problems facing the bloc.
Seven percent is considered too pricey for a country to afford over the long term. Such levels have previously led to bailouts in Greece, Irelandand Portugal.
Spain's debt costs break 7% level
ALAN CLENDENNING , DANIEL WOOLLS - Independent.co.uk
Spain's ability to manage its debt without an international bailout was thrown into doubt Monday after investors pushed its borrowing rates up to the level at which Greece, Portugal and Ireland had sought help.
Investor sentiment improved briefly in the morning as electoral results in Greece suggested the country would not drop out of the euro currency union, a scenario that would have put severe stress on Spain's markets.
Spain pleads for ECB rescue as bond markets slam shut Europe's leaders have vowed to mobilise all possible means to counter the region's escalating crisis after Spain's borrowing costs threatened to spiral out of control.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Yields on 10-year Spanish bonds surged to a record high of almost 7.3pc as investors ignored the victory of pro-bailout parties in Greece's elections.
The closely-watched two-year yield rocketed by 65 basis points in a matter of hours, signalling a near-total collapse of confidence in Spain's €100bn (£80.3bn) rescue from the EU last week to shore up its banking system.
Cristobal Montoro, the economy minister, warned that Spain is now in a "critical" condition and pleaded with the European Central Bank to act with "full force" to defeat markets hostile to the euro project.
Obama encouraged by talks with Merkel on debt: U.S
By Jeff Mason and Lesley Wroughton;
Additional reporting by Samson Reiny - Reuters.com
(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama was encouraged by talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G20 about European plans to address the debt crisis, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.
"The two leaders agreed to work closely together, including at this G20, to build support for what needs to be done in Europe and the world to stabilize the situation and support growth and jobs," Carney told reporters in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Greek Coalition Talks Enter Second Day
Amid Merkel Aid Warning
By Maria Petrakis and Natalie Weeks - Bloomberg.com
Greek election winner Antonis Samaras begins a second day of talks to form a coalition after holding "constructive" meetings with two party leaders, racing to forge a government that keeps bailout aid flowing.
Samaras secured initial agreement yesterday from Socialist Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos, the former finance minister who negotiated the second rescue, and said he'd hold further talks today with Fotis Kouvelis, the leader of the Democratic Left party. If those three team up, they will hold a majority of 179 seats in the 300-member Greek parliament.
G20 summit: Barroso blames eurozone crisis on US banks EC president says European leaders have not come to Mexico to receive lessons on how to handle the economy
By Patrick Wintour in Los Cabos, Ian Traynor in Brussels
and Helena Smith in Athens - Guardian.co.uk
The opening day of the G20 summit was threatening to deteriorate into a fractious row between eurozone countries and other non-European members of the G20, notably the US, as EU commission president José Manuel Barroso insisted the origins of the eurozone crisis lay in the unorthodox policies of American capitalism.
As Europe's leaders came under intense pressure to act decisively to cure the euro's ills, and a campaign gathered pace to relax some of the austerity programmes laying waste to countries with unsustainable debt levels, Barroso said Europe had not come to the G20 summit in Mexico to receive lessons on how to handle the economy. Asked by a Canadian journalist: "Why should North Americans risk their assets to help Europe?" he replied: "Frankly, we are not here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or in terms of how to handle the economy.
French Socialists eye tax rises after big poll win
By Daniel Flynn and Jean-Baptiste Vey
(Reuters) - France's Socialists vowed on Monday to use a resounding victory in weekend parliamentary elections to pursue President Francois Hollande's drive for growth in Europe while sticking to promises to cut the budget deficit, mostly through taxation increases.
Hollande will use a special session of parliament next month to whittle down France's numerous tax exemptions and pass tax rises for large corporations, especially banks and energy firms, in a bid to cut the deficit to within the European Union's 3 percent limit by next year despite a stagnant economy.
As Part Of Its NEW QE Q&A, Goldman Warns
Of Possibility For $50-$75 Billion "Flow" Program
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Not like it should come as any surprise that the bank that first among peers "discovered" that flow, not stock matters, implying the Fed may literally never be able to stop monetizing, is expecting the FOMC to "ease monetary policy on June 20", but nonetheless here is the full just released Q&A from Goldman's Jan Hatzius, who just happens to be a Pound and Pence drinking buddy of former Goldmanite Bill Dudley, who just happens to run the New York Fed. Connects the dots. Implicit is that a big dollop of Large Scale Asset Purchases is imminent. That said, if the Fed does disappoint on June 20, and merely extends the maturity of bonds that it will sell as part of a Twist extension from 3 to 4 years, as the bond market appears to be implying (as first warned by Zero Hedge), then all bets are truly off. On the other hand, note where Goldman says: "However, it is also possible that the program would be specified as a "flow" of purchases of perhaps $50bn-$75bn per month." If that happens, gold is going to $2000, $3000, hell, $10,000 very soon, as it means the Fed will not stop printing ever again. Period.
JPMorgan bets sent false signals to wider debt market
By Carrick Mollenkamp and Cezary Podkul
(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co's disastrous bets on corporate debt may have caused unexpected collateral damage: erratic behavior in a barometer that measures the financial health of blue-chip U.S. companies.
Those bets used Wall Street derivatives called credit default swaps. They are supposed to act like homeowners insurance, allowing bondholders, banks and hedge funds to buy protection against declines in the value of corporate debt, and ultimately protection against a default.
* * * * *
Morgan's big secret The coming muni-bond crisis
By Charlie Gasparino - NYPost.com
While the Senate Banking Committee last week spun its wheels trying to get JP Morgan chief Jamie Dimon to admit to something nefarious during testimony about his "London Whale" trading loss, executives at the big bank were concealing a far bigger scandal.
OK, it's no secret that nation's public pension funds are in big trouble, holding large "unfunded" liabilities owed to public workers once they retire. But most politicians (New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is an exception) will tell you the problem is fairly containable, that there are simple fixes — such as raising taxes on the rich or pruning benefits.
Not so, warns a "strictly confidential" report JP Morgan issued last year. It describes in straightforward, frightening detail how underfunded pensions are huge ticking timebombs for many of the nation's big cities and states.
Banks Worry As Breakup Talk Revived After JPMorgan Loss
By Robert Schmidt and Phil Mattingly - Bloomberg.com
Move over too-big-to-fail. Here comes too-big-to-manage.
Congress's inquiry into JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)'s $2 billion trading loss has reignited the question of whether a bank can grow too large and complex for its own executives to oversee. The banking industry is taking notice that a move to cap the size of Wall Street firms is gaining traction on Capitol Hill.
"There seems to be growing interest in some type of breakup proposal," said Sheila Bair, a former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Dollar Shortage Seen In $2 Trillion Gap Says Morgan Stanley
By Lukanyo Mnyanda, Emma Charlton
and Allison Bennett - Bloomberg.com
Central banks rebuilding foreign- exchange reserves at the fastest pace since 2004 are crowding out private investors seeking U.S. dollars, boosting demand even as the Federal Reserve considers printing more currency.
After falling to an all-time low of 60.5 percent in the second quarter of last year, the dollar'sshare of global reserves rose 1.6 percentage points to 62.1 percent in December, the latest International Monetary Fund figures show. The buying has left the private sector with $2 trillion less than it needs, according to investment-flow data by Morgan Stanley, which sees the dollar gaining 8.2 percent in 2012, the most in seven years.
We've been brainwashed It's no accident that Americans
widely underestimate inequality.
The rich prefer it that way
BY JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ - Salon.com
How, in a democracy supposedly based on one person one vote, could the 1 percent could have been so victorious in shaping policies in its interests? It is part of a process of disempowerment, disillusionment, and disenfranchisement that produces low voter turnout, a system in which electoral success requires heavy investments, and in which those with money have made political investments that have reaped large rewards — often greater than the returns they have reaped on their other investments.
There is another way for moneyed interests to get what they want out of government: convince the 99 percent that they have shared interests. This strategy requires an impressive sleight of hand; in many respects the interests of the 1 percent and the 99 percent differ markedly.
The Economic Police State Government intervention in the economy
destroys wealth -- and freedom.
By JONATHAN HOENIG - SmartMoney.com
Taking a page from the United States, Argentina announced plans last week to stimulate its stagnant economy with no-cost housing loans. The idea is to boost growth by intervening in the supposedly "free" economy. It won't work.
Japan's decades of infrastructure spending, government-sponsored Fannie and Freddie, subsidies for green energy, automaker bailouts and the student-loan bubble itself all show that intervention into the economy destroys wealth.
The only thing government meddling in the economy leads to is further government meddling in the economy.
Falling house, stock prices erode household wealth
By Lucia Mutikani
(Reuters) - Households saw their wealth decline by more than a third between 2005 and 2010 as home values and share prices plummeted, leaving many with weak safety nets to weather a harsh economic environment.
The median household net worth dived 35 percent to $66,740 in the five year period, the Census Bureau said in a report on Monday. However, making comparisons with prior periods is difficult because of inflation adjustment issues.
Writing Off The Elderly
By Paul Craig Roberts - PaulCraigRoberts.org
When neoconservatives, politicians, and high ranking military officers speak of a 30-year war against terrorism, there is no discussion about its affordability or whether the one significant attack (September 11, 2001) that is attributed, perhaps incorrectly, to Muslim terrorists justifies an open-ended war against a dozen countries. There is no discussion of the burden on future generations of the massive increase in the public debt in order to finance today's wars.
Affordability and intergenerational burdens are topics reserved for the discussion of Social Security. Conservatives and libertarians constantly assert that Social Security is unaffordable and decry the intergenerational basis for Social Security retirement.
Occupy Will Be Back
By Chris Hedges - Truthdig.com
In every conflict, insurgency, uprising and revolution I have covered as a foreign correspondent, the power elite used periods of dormancy, lulls and setbacks to write off the opposition. This is why obituaries for the Occupy movement are in vogue. And this is why the next groundswell of popular protest—and there will be one—will be labeled as "unexpected," a "shock" and a "surprise." The television pundits and talking heads, the columnists and academics who declare the movement dead are as out of touch with reality now as they were on Sept. 17 when New York City's Zuccotti Park was occupied. Nothing this movement does will ever be seen by them as a success. Nothing it does will ever be good enough. Nothing, short of its dissolution and the funneling of its energy back into the political system, will be considered beneficial.
All Over America Government Control Freaks
Are Forcing Preppers Back On To The Grid
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
In recent years there have been huge numbers of Americans that have sought to go "off the grid" and live a more independent lifestyle. It has been estimated that there are now approximately 3 million "preppers" in the United States, and many of them just want to be left alone so that they can take care of themselves and their families on their own land. But that is not the way America works anymore. In many areas of the country, government control freaks have essentially declared war on preppers and are attempting to force them back on to the grid. In some states, "nuisance abatement teams" are conducting armed raids on off the grid properties. Property owners are being cited for "code violations" and are being told that they are "bothering the neighbors". In some cases, trees and gardens are being forcibly removed. In other cases, entire structures are being relocated or torn down. And in the most extreme cases, property owners are actually being forced off of their properties completely by these control freaks. You see, the truth is that in America you don't really own your property. You are essentially renting it, and you can only do with it what the government allows you to do. And the government does not like people disconnecting from the grid and living an independent lifestyle. So these battles over property rights are probably going to get even more intense in the years ahead.
Google reports 'alarming' rise in censorship by governments Search engine company has said there has been a troubling increase in requests to remove political content from the internet
By Dominic Rushe in New York - The Guardian
There has been an alarming rise in the number of times governments attempted to censor the internet in last six months, according to a report from Google.
Since the search engine last published its bi-annual transparency report, it said it had seen a troubling increase in requests to remove political content. Many of these requests came from western democracies not typically associated with censorship.
Apple's iOS 6 Includes 'Government Alerts' 'Presidential alerts' to be mandatory for all cellphone users
Paul Joseph Watson - Infowars.com
Apple's eagerly awaited iOS 6 update for iPhones and iPads will include controversial 'government alerts' that some fear are part of the federal government's takeover of communications networks.
"In compliance with the National Alerting Program, the WEA will be coming to Apple devices that will run on the new mobile OS once it arrives this fall. The iOS 6-compatible devices include iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 4G, iPad 2 and the new iPad. This means that users with older iPhone will be able to receive WEA messages once they upgrade their handset to the new mobile software," reports AMOG.
App Developers Who Are Too Young to Drive
[Google title for free article pass]
By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO - WSJ.com $$
Paul Dunahoo went on a business trip to San Francisco last week, where he attended technical sessions at Apple Inc.'s developer conference, networked with other programmers and received feedback from Apple engineers on his six productivity apps.
Then, Mr. Dunahoo, chief executive of Bread and Butter Software LLC, returned to Connecticut to get ready for the eighth grade.
"It's a very rare opportunity" to be at Apple's conference, said Mr. Dunahoo, who is 13 years old and wears red braces.
Mr. Dunahoo is one of a growing number of teens joining the app-making frenzy. Apple, the app industry's ringleader, is encouraging the trend.
MS Still playing catch-up... Why Today Is a Major Watershed in the History of Microsoft
By Ina Fried - AllThingsD.com
Since its inception, Microsoft has had one strategy when it comes to computers.
The company has created software, and left others to make the chips and hardware it ran on.
Later on Monday, the company will make its biggest-ever break from that tradition. As we've been reporting since last week, Microsoft is set to announce its own brand of tablets as part of an effort to reinsert itself into the market.
Now, it's not like Microsoft is entirely new to hardware. The company has been making things like mice and keyboards forever. Its most successful hardware product, the Xbox 360, is a leader in computer gaming.
Inside Google's Plan to Build
a Catalog of Every Single Thing, Ever There's a lot more to Google's Knowledge Graph than might be apparent from what you see in a casual search.
By Alexis Madrigal - TheAtlantic.com
The ugly truth is that computers don't know anything. They have no common sense.
This idea had been circulating in Metaweb co-founder John Giannandrea's head since 1997 when he was working at Netscape and thinking about how to reveal what you did not know you didn't know on the web. If you were looking at search results for a hiking trail, say, what other hiking trails might you look at? Giannandrea called it "going sideways through the web," and he loved the idea, even if he couldn't execute it back then.
Verizon Raises Prices, Speeds on FiOS Service
By THOMAS GRYTA - WSJ.com
Verizon Communications Inc. raised prices and increased the speeds for its FiOS Internet service, a move aimed at making households pay for rising data needs as more Internet-connected devices land in consumers' hands.
The price increase is expected to raise the portion of a customer's bill that goes toward data, adding approximately $10 to $15 per month. This comes just a week after Verizon Wireless, a joint venture with Vodafone PLC, unveiled new pricing for mobile plans that focuses on subscribers' data usage and will raise prices for many users.
While the bills for wireless users focus on the amount of data used, FiOS customers will pay based on the speed of the data that come into homes. Verizon added that customers may be able to adjust their FiOS TV tiers in order to "pay roughly the same monthly total that they pay now."
An Eye Without an 'I':
Justice and the Rise of Automated Surveillance Automated surveillance allows governments (and others) to data mine the physical world, yet little attention has been paid to the ethics of perpetual recording.
By Ross Andersen - TheAtlantic.com
Over the past decade, video surveillance has exploded. In many cities, we might as well have drones hovering overhead, given how closely we're being watched, perpetually, by the thousands of cameras perched on buildings. So far, people's inability to watch the millions of hours of video had limited its uses. But video is data and computers are being set to work mining that information on behalf of governments and anyone else who can afford the software. And this kind of automated surveillance is only going to get more sophisticated as a result of new technologies like iris scanners and gait analysis.
Yet little thought has been given to the ethics of perpetually recording vast swaths of the world. What, exactly, are we getting ourselves into?
CIA's Hacktivists May Have Had Access to Flame and Stuxnet
By Susanne Posel - Infowars.com
A grand jury in a US District Court in California has indicted Ryan Cleary, suspected member of LulzSec, the CIA backed hacking group, of hacking into websites such as Fox Entertainment, PBS and Sony Pictures Entertainment, as well as into servers run by several hosting firms in the United States. Cleary also is accused of in a couple of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
LulzSec has been linked to Anonymous, which hasmembers of the CIA working in and with the hacktivist group in an attempt by the US government to create a false flag threat that justifies the Obama administration's restriction of American freedoms on the internet.
Global warming: second thoughts of an environmentalist Fritz Vahrenholt, one of Germany's earliest green energy investors, is not convinced that humanity is causing catastrophic global warming.
By Fritz Vahrenholt - Telegraph.co.uk
Scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are quite certain: by using fossil fuels man is currently destroying the climate and our future. We have one last chance, we are told: quickly renounce modern industrial society – painfully but for a good cause.
For many years, I was an active supporter of the IPCC and its CO2 theory. Recent experience with the UN's climate panel, however, forced me to reassess my position. In February 2010, I was invited as a reviewer for the IPCC report on renewable energy. I realised that the drafting of the report was done in anything but a scientific manner. The report was littered with errors and a member of Greenpeace edited the final version. These developments shocked me. I thought, if such things can happen in this report, then they might happen in other IPCC reports too.
New Middle East for Old
BY JR NYQUIST - FinancialSense.com
With financial troubles in many countries, an armed conflict between Iran and the West would be inopportune. President Barack Obama, who seeks re-election this year, hopes for an agreement with Iran. At present, Obama is bending over backward to accommodate the Iranians. He knows what a war in the Middle East might do to gasoline prices, and he knows what gasoline prices might do to his hopes for re-election. Besides Iran, there is also a crisis in Syria where up to 20,000 have been killed in the course of a bloody civil war. The West would like to facilitate an end to the Assad regime, over the objections of Russia and Iran.
Obama, Putin say Syria violence must end, no plan agreed
By Matt Spetalnick and Gleb Bryanski
(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Monday that the violence in Syria has to end but they offered no new solutions and showed no signs of reaching a deal on tougher sanctions against Damascus.
With the bloodshed in Syria getting worse and after a week of Cold War-style recriminations between U.S. and Russian diplomats, the talks at a Group of 20 summit in Mexico tested whether Obama and Putin could forge a working relationship and find common ground.
Sectarian Violence Undermines Syrian Regime
By Juan Cole - Truthdig.com
The Syrian upheaval has gone through several stages. It began with relatively peaceful protests by crowds in a handful of small and medium-size cities outside the large metropolitan areas of Damascus and Aleppo. Severe repression by the national regime led some revolutionaries to turn to guerrilla tactics. The ruling Baath government subjected the quarters held by the Free Syrian Army to heavy artillery and tank assaults. More recently, as the rebellion continued to spread in small towns, the military has provided cover to death squads that have massacred civilians in an attempt to scare them into submission. The most frightening thing about this spiral of ever greater violence and brutality is that some of the now-hardened lines have been sectarian.
Syrian forces pound cities as Obama, Putin meet
By Matt Spetalnick and Erika Solomon
(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Monday that the violence in Syria must stop but gave no sign of agreeing on how to do it even as Syrian security forces pounded opposition areas across the country.
Intense artillery fire was reported in Douma, a town 15 km (9 miles) outside the Syrian capital Damascus that for weeks has been under the partial control of rebels who have joined the 15-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia Announces It Will Send Warships to Syria
By Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
On Friday, the Russian General Staff announced it will send warships from the Black Sea Fleet to the Syrian coast. The deployment will protect the Russian logistics base in Tartus, Syria.
Russia has historically maintained a strong bilateral relationship with Syria. Its only Mediterranean naval base for the Black Sea Fleet is located in the port of Tartus.
"Several warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, including large landing ships with marines aboard, are fully prepared to go on the voyage," the General Staff told Itar-Tass.
US Attempting to Trigger Full Proxy War in Syria
By Tony Cartalucci - Infowars.com
Over the last week, the US has been outright caught lying – admittedly by Pentagon officials, regarding Russian gunships being shipped to Syria. In New York Times' "Copters in Syria May Not Be New, U.S. Officials Say," a senior defense department official admitted when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made her fraudulent claim regarding Russian weapon shipments, she "put a little spin on it to put the Russians in a difficult position."
The New York Times continued by stating, "Mrs. Clinton's claim about the helicopters, administration officials said, is part of a calculated effort to raise the pressure on Russia to abandon President Bashar al-Assad, its main ally in the Middle East," indicative of the campaign of propaganda and lies orchestrated by the US State Department, the British Foreign Office, and Western and Gulf State news outlets around the world to demonize both the Syrian government and its extensive allies around the world, contrary to the facts on the ground.
Russia flies anti-air, anti-ship missiles to Assad
as its fleet heads to Tartus
DEBKAfile
Moscow is using the time up until Russian President Vladimir Putin faces US President Barack Obama across the G20 conference table in Los Cabos, Mexico Sunday, June 17 - or in its corridors - to ship sophisticated arms to Syria able to prevent a no-fly zone and a fleet of warships to the Mediterranean port of Tartus.
While Pentagon sources Friday disclosed the approach of a "small contingent" of Russian warships to Tartus, DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources have discovered that heading for the Russian base at this Syrian port is a Russian fleet that includes Ropucha-toad or Project 775 class landing-craft carrying Russian marines. Each craft can carry 250 marine personnel and 500-ton armored vehicles.
And flying overhead are Russian air transports that are touching down at Syrian air bases bearing, according to our sources, a variety of sophisticated munitions for the Syrian army: advanced Russian Pantsyr-S1 anti-air missiles capable of hitting fighter-bombers flying at an altitude of 12 kilometers and cruise missiles; self-propelled medium range anti-air Buk-M2 missiles (NATO codenamed SA-11). They are capable of downing aircraft flying at an altitude of 14 kilometers and Mach 32 speed; and shore-based Bastion anti-ship missiles which can reach vessels sailing 300 kilometers out to sea.
Read more articles about Syria below...
Regulators shut three banks, failures total 31
By Sarah Pringle
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Three U.S. banks were closed Friday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., marking the 29th, 30th, and 31st bank failures of the year. The Farmers Bank of Lynchburg in Lynchburg, Tenn., was shut with $163.9 million in assets and $156.4 million in deposits, all of which will be assumed by Knoxville's Clayton Bank and Trust. Security Exchange Bank in Marietta, Ga., was also shut.
Increasing easing hopes,
disruptive political climate should boost Gold: HSBC
CommodityOnline.com
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Gold likely would be a likely beneficiary from an increased probability of additional monetary easing and a disruptive political climate, said HSBC Holdings plc (HSBC), a British multinational bank, in a commodities briefing.
As per Madhut Jha, bank's macroeconomist, economic optimism from earlier this year has been nearly wiped away by recent soft U.S. economic data, increasing the probability of further economic stimulus. The politics and the upcoming Greek elections are having a disruptive impact on financial markets.
From Deflation Push to Inflation Shove
BY JOHN BUTLER - FinancialSense.com
For the third time since 2008, financial markets are pricing in a deflationary rather than inflationary future. The reasons for this are understandable. There is now strong evidence that global economic activity is slowing. The euro-area banking and sovereign debt crisis is worsening. The US is heading towards a so-called 'fiscal cliff' in 2013, implying a recession. And all this is occurring without global GDP having surpassed its pre-2008 peak. Notwithstanding multiple rounds of massive, Keynesian-inspired, theoretically inflationary stimulus, deflationary pressures are building anew. Does this imply that we face a deflationary future? To answer that question, we must study carefully what happened in 2008-09. When the deflationary push came, policymakers responded with an even larger unconventional inflationary shove. Deflationists beware: There is clear evidence that, under an elastic, fiat currency regime, the deflation endgame is, paradoxically, inflationary.
Greek pro-bailout parties secure ruling majority
By Renee Maltezou and Harry Papachristou
(Reuters) - Parties supporting a bailout savingGreece from bankruptcy won a slim parliamentary majority on Sunday, beating radical leftists who rejected austerity and bringing relief to the euro zone which was braced for fresh financial turmoil.
The election result looked likely to yield a coalition government led by conservative New Democracy but leaves an emboldened SYRIZA bloc to rally angry opposition in the streets to the punishing terms of the bailout.
Greece election vote leaves Euro in balance The fate of the euro was hanging in the balance after a rerun of the Greek elections failed to produce a strong government with a mandate to deliver the country's austerity programme.
By Robert Winnett, Alex Spillius in Athens
and Bruno Waterfield in Brussels - Telegraph.co.uk
Although the New Democracy party won the largest share of the vote, it will have to rely on its discredited socialist rivals Pasok to form a coalition government to accept the bail-out, keeping Greece in the single currency.
Both parties, which have ruled Greece for 38 years, are widely blamed for a crisis that has taken the country to the brink of economic collapse. Between them they won only about 40 per cent of the vote. By contrast, parties that opposed the bail-out increased their share of the vote to over 46 per cent, with Syriza, the radical Leftist coalition that wants to discard the agreement, almost winning outright.
Euro survives weekend... Euro crisis far from over, stock analysts warn
By PAUL WISEMAN and JOSHUA FREED - AP Business Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A slim victory for the main conservative party in an election in Greece should relax fears that a country will stop using the euro for the first time and possibly unleash global financial turmoil.
But when it comes to Greek politics - and European economic policy - it's never that easy. So the bumpy ride for financial markets isn't over yet.
The conservative New Democracy party, which supports a bailout agreement Greece agreed to earlier this year, appeared to win enough votes Sunday to form a ruling coalition with another pro-bailout party.
OECD chief: new Greek bailout terms may be needed
(Reuters) - Greece should be given a chance to renegotiate the terms of its 130 billion-euro international bailout if it means keeping the country in the euro zone, the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Saturday.
Angel Gurria, secretary general of the Paris-based OECD, said if the next Greek government opted to stay in the single currency bloc, it was likely to seek to renegotiate the terms of the European Union/International Monetary Fund rescue.
Greece Races As Cash Dwindles
With Europe Seeking Return To Cuts
By Jonathan Stearns - Bloomberg.com
Greece's two traditional political rivals are in a race to forge an unprecedented coalition as the state's cash dwindles, bank deposits flee and Europe demands renewed austerity pledges before releasing more emergency aid.
Greece will run out of money in mid-July, the Syriza party, which placed second in yesterday's election, said on June 13 after being briefed by Acting Finance Minister Giorgios Zanias. Caretaker Labor and Social Security Minister Antonis Roupakiotis refused to offer assurances pensions will be paid in August, Athens News Agency reported the same day.
IMF says ready to work with Greece on economy
by Lesley Wroughton; writing by William Schomberg
(Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund is ready to work with a new Greek government to get the country back to economic growth, a spokesman for the IMF said on Sunday.
Central banks prepare for turmoil after Greek vote
By Eva Kuehnen and Sven Egenter
(Reuters) - Central banks from Tokyo to London checked their ammunition on Friday in preparation for any turmoil from Greece's election, with the European Central Bank hinting at an interest rate cut and Britain set to open its coffers.
Tensions were high about how to manage the euro zone's debt crisis - epitomized by Greece's bankruptcy and need for international aid - and a rare fight broke out between Germany and France, normally the glue that keeps the bloc together.
Pro-Bailout Party Wins Greek Vote
By ALKMAN GRANITSAS And MARCUS WALKER - WSJ.com
ATHENS—Greece's conservatives eked out a slim victory in Sunday's elections, a result opening the door to a coalition government that will try to keep the country in the euro zone by sticking to an international bailout program.
Preliminary results indicated the conservative New Democracy party under Antonis Samaras would become the biggest party in the new Greek Parliament, putting it in a position to lead a pro-bailout government with Mr. Samaras as prime minister.
Pro-bailout party leads in Greek election tally Banks: Euro-zone bailout funds 'insufficient' to aid large country
By Ronald D. Orol, Robert Daniel, Kate Gibson
and Clare Hutchison, MarketWatch.com
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The pro-bailout New Democracy party is the projected winner of Sunday's critical Greek parliamentary elections, increasing the probability that Greece will remain in the euro zone.
If the conservative political party can hold its lead, it must then form a governing coalition among the other parties on Sunday's ballot..
The projected results are expected to help global financial markets breathe more easily after weeks of uncertainty about Greece and the future of the euro zone. Asian markets were set to open for their Monday session while the votes were being counted in Greece.
Euro Gains As Pro-Bailout New Democracy Wins Greek Poll
By Keith Jenkins and Emma Charlton - Bloomberg.com
The euro strengthened as official projections showed the pro-bailout New Democracy party won the election in Greece, easing concern the country would be forced from the currency bloc.
The 17-nation euro extended last week's 1 percent jump versus the dollar after figures from theInterior Ministry based on 95 percent of the votes showed the party led by Antonis Samaras won 29.8 percent of the vote and secured 129 seats in the 300-seat legislature. Anti-bailout party Syriza gained 26.8 percent and 71 seats, while socialist Pasok, with 12.4 percent, took 33 seats, according to partially counted returns posted on the Athens-based ministry's website today.
Greek socialist head proposes unity govt
By ELENA BECATOROS and DEMETRIS NELLAS - Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The New Democracy party came in first in Greece's election Sunday and immediately proposed forming a pro-euro coalition government - a development that eased, at least briefly, deep fears that the vote would unleash an economic tsunami.
Samaras Begins Bid To Form Greek Coalition To Stave Off Crisis
By Maria Petrakis and Natalie Weeks - Bloomberg.com
Greek election winner Antonis Samaras begins his second bid in six weeks to form a coalition as euro-area finance chiefs pressured him to form a government that would keep bailout aid flowing.
European officials indicated a willingness to ease the terms of rescue loans as long as Greece, with just weeks of cash in the bank, re-commits to their austerity demands. The prospect that Samaras would lose to anti-bailout leader Alexis Tsipras rattled markets concerned that Greece may quit the 17-nation currency union. The result sent the euro higher.
Greek front-runners vow to stay in euro after elections
Angela Merkel will have to "invent a way" to kick Greece out of the eurozone, a leading Greek politician has claimed, as all political parties promise to renegotiate the country's €130bn (£105bn) bailout agreement after tomorrow's pivotal elections.
By Louise Armitstead in Athens and Richard Blackden in New York - Telegraph.co.uk
George Stathakis, the left-wing MP for Crete who could become finance minister if Syriza clinch the Greek election, said his party intends to "stop at once" several conditions of the bailout.
Mrs Merkel, the German Chancellor, has warned that Greece's membership of the eurozone is dependent on Athens sticking to the terms of the agreement. She underscored this position today, warning that Greece's bailout will not be renegotiated.
Greece will have to leave EMU whoever is elected The exact circumstances and timing of Greece's ejection from monetary union no longer have any systemic importance for global finance. The damage has already been done. The precedent of EMU break-up is by now priced into the credit markets. Formalising it changes little.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Central banks across the world are standing ready to shower markets with emergency liquidity. A dust-up in Athens is the excuse they need to launch a fresh blitz of stimulus as the global economy flirts with recession once again.
Fed chair Ben Bernanke requires a crisis somewhere to outflank his own hawks and slip another round of quantitative easing (QE) past the Tea Party Congress before the "fiscal cliff" – 4.5pc of GDP in tightening – hits the US economy with a sledgehammer this winter.
Desperate Times Call for Drastic Measures (Update)
BY BOB EISENBEIS - FinancialSense.com
Europe continues to struggle with its banking, structural, and fiscal problems. The market's reaction to Spain's proposed €100 billion bank bailout was short-lived, suggesting that it was not likely to fix the banking problems. At the same time, the Irish positive vote on the fiscal treaty and ECB president Draghi's comments have sent strong messages about the need to become more integrated and united. Recapitalizing banks and establishing both fiscal balance and commitment to it are essential components for ensuring the viability of the European Monetary Union (EMU). But they certainly will not in themselves solve the problems. Rather, budget balance is but one of a series of structural and banking changes that will be required. Desperate times sometimes require radical, out-of-the-box solutions. What follows is one roadmap that could put Europe on a path to financial and fiscal stability.
Greece Races As Cash Dwindles
With Europe Seeking Return To Cuts
By Jonathan Stearns - Bloomberg.com
Greece's two traditional political rivals are in a race to forge an unprecedented coalition as the state's cash dwindles, bank deposits flee and Europe demands renewed austerity pledges before releasing more emergency aid.
Greece will run out of money in mid-July, the Syriza party, which placed second in yesterday's election, said on June 13 after being briefed by Acting Finance Minister Giorgios Zanias. Caretaker Labor and Social Security Minister Antonis Roupakiotis refused to offer assurances pensions will be paid in August, Athens News Agency reported the same day.
Central Banks Warn Greek-Led Euro Stress Threatens World
By Simon Kennedy - Bloomberg.com
Central banks intensified warnings that Europe's failure to tame its debt crisis threatens to roil the world's financial markets and economy as Greece's election in two days looms as the next flashpoint for investors.
Monetary policy makers from the U.K. to Japan and Canada sounded the alert about potential fallout from the single currency bloc's troubles. They spoke as Group of 20 leaders prepare to meet in Mexico next week amid the weakest international economy since the 2009 recession, with a video call for European heads of government scheduled for today.
Spain PM pleads for political, fiscal union in Europe
(Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made a plea on Saturday for greater political and fiscal union in Europe, urging Greeks to stick with the euro as they gear up for an election whose outcome will shape the single currency's future.
Saying Spain's business, banks and regional governments were struggling to finance themselves at current high borrowing costs, he urged Europe to integrate its banking system more closely, although he did not go into details.
Spain Bank Rescue Was Bungled, World Bank's Zoellick Says
By Sandrine Rastello - Bloomberg.com
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said that financial-market reaction to the rescue plan forSpain's banks shows that it was bungled.
The announcement of a 100 billion-euro bailout for Spain failed to stop a rise in Spain's borrowing costs to a euro-era record last week.
With some $125 billion deployed, "to have that being a negative story is amazing," Zoellick told a panel discussion in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos today. "It's because the execution was extremely poor."
Embattled Euro: A Work in Progress, or Doomed for Failure?
By Matt Egan - FOXBusiness.com
As the financial world holds its breath ahead of Greece's pivotal elections this weekend, some believe it's time to write the obituary on the grand monetary experiment known as the euro.
Can you blame them? After all, the scary financial crisis is threatening the eurozone's very existence, forcing companies and policymakers to discuss the once unthinkable exit of one or more countries.
In France, Hollande's Socialist Party
secures parliamentary majority in elections
By Edward Cody - WashingtonPost.com
PARIS — President Francois Hollande's Socialist Party coasted to a comfortable parliamentary majority in France's legislative elections Sunday, appearing to guarantee passage of his proposals designed to reinvigorate the economy and help the poor more easily weather Europe's stubborn debt crisis.
The Socialist victory, complementing Hollande's election as president in May, avoided the deadlock that would have occurred had a blocking majority gone to the conservative Union for a Popular Movement, the coalition of former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Reinforcing Hollande's authority at home, the majority strengthens his hand in tense negotiations with Germany over ways to relieve pressure against the euro, the common currency of 17 European nations.
Peripheral Damage Goes Global, Part III
By Michael Moran - Slate.com
What will the latest act in Europe's Greek tragedy do to America? Is the United States"exceptional" in its immunity to this chaos? Is the world's most powerful democracy able to handle the fallout from the evisceration of the world's first democracy? More mundanely put—has the slow, tepid U.S. recovery provided enough of a cushion to prevent America from being dragged back into a recession by the domino effect that a Grexit will set in motion?
No, and yes. Here's my logic. First, America's economic problems are predominately political, not based on poor fundamentals. We remain a world-beater in terms of industrial efficiency, worker productivity, innovation, and ease of doing business (though we're slipping in the last).
Obama Heads To G-20 With Few Tools To Stem Euro Crisis
By Julianna Goldman and Mike Dorning - Bloomberg.com
When President Barack Obama meets with leaders of the world's largest economies next week, he'll confront one of the biggest threats to his re-election.
Europe's sovereign debt crisis, which Obama has called the "cloud" hanging over the U.S. economy, will be the central topic for the Group of 20 nations summit next week in Los Cabos, Mexico. Yet U.S. officials said they don't expect the meeting to result in significant progress toward a resolution.
Europe Gets Emerging Market Crisis Ultimatum As G-20 Meet
By Aki Ito and Sandrine Rastello - Bloomberg.com
European leaders attending the Group of 20 summit in Mexico received an ultimatum to stop stoking market uncertainty and step up their fight against the financial crisis posing the biggest threat to the world economy.
While China pressed world leaders to provide a signal of "confidence" to markets, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned today that the turmoil in the 17-nation euro area was spilling over to Southeast Asia's largest economy and threatened to drive up oil prices.
U.S. economy downshifts to lower gear Raft of indicators weaken, more of same expected this week
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. economy has clearly slowed. What's far less clear is how long the soft patch will last — or whether it turns into a quagmire.
The negative signals are everywhere, most recently in the latest downbeat figures on retail spending, manufacturing production and consumer confidence. See charts of most recent economic data.
This week's light batch of data surely won't reverse the trend.
Investors will mainly focus on the ongoing crisis in Europe and the reaction of the Federal Reserve when the central bank meets on Wednesday. There's a growing sense among economists the Fed will take additional steps to try to boost growth, a notion that most viewed as unlikely just a few weeks ago.
Markets and Governments are Rolling the Dice
BY SY HARDING - FinancialSense.com
Global markets had been plunging since March on worries about the dangerous eurozone debt and banking crisis and its threat to global economies.
But over the last two weeks they've been rallying quite impressively, even as the crisis in Europe has taken another frightening turn for the worse, and as tomorrow's Greek election neared, with its outcome just as critical and uncertain as before.
The driving force of the rally is obviously that the worse the situation becomes the greater the hope that massive rescue efforts will have to be forthcoming. And with the additional evidence this week of how rapidly the tragedy of Greece is spiraling toward Spain and perhaps even Italy, next week has been determined by analysts as the make-or-break week.
2nd set of books hides a lot of money... CAFR tax surplus trillions:
L.A. County Sheriff's first official response: denial
by Carl Herman - Washington's Blog
I spoke on the phone with Los Angeles County Senior Media Advisor Steve Whitmore. Below is the e-mail I sent to Mr. Whitmore that shows the L.A. County Sheriff's first response:
Mr. Whitmore:
This e-mail:
• Documents our phone conversation today,
• provides you the evidence I find of criminal acts by officials at L.A. County and the State of California,
• and requests answers to questions regarding my criminal complaint. I have been directed to you with a criminal complaint, and expect whatever rights and promptness is customary promise from my having followed the instructions from my local Sheriff station and you. Please acknowledge receipt of this e-mail and when I can expect an official response.
The content of our conversation regarding a criminal complaint are published, with reposts of some of my articles that exceed ten million views (look here, here, here to start, overall CAFR articles here). I'd very much like to report a story of competence and justice under the law, Mr. Whitmore. And that said, I promise to report on exactly whatever I receive.
Federal Reserve Board Members
Gave Their Own Banks $4 Trillion in Bailouts
By Noel Brinkerhoff - AllGov.com
Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve provided more than $4 trillion in near zero-interest loans and other help to banks and businesses whose executives also served as directors for the national bank.
At least 18 current and former Fed regional bank directors had a direct stake in the trillion-dollar bailout given to teetering institutions, according to a report produced by theGovernment Accountability Office, but released by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).
Donning our Parachutes
BY FREDERICK J SHEEHAN - FinancialSense.com
We know the drill. The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet on June 19 and June 20, 2012. On June 30, the Fed is scheduled to retire "Operation Twist" (selling shorter-term U.S. government bonds and buying longer-term U.S. Treasuries). The talk is whether the Fed will extend Twist, replace it with Operation Boom, or do nothing.
The "pro" positions will make the most noise since rooting for bubbles is Wall Street's job. The media observes its customary reverence for ensconced strategists and economists, who will parody the interests of Bubble TV's advertisers. The "cons" include: (1) a reluctant FOMC (word has it that Bernanke wants full-throated, or voted, support from the FOMC), (2) a meandering economy (not popularly thought to be in a recession), and (3) "He's run out of bullets."
3 Things Jamie Dimon Doesn't Understand About Banking
By Alex Dumortier, CFA - TheMotleyFool.com
There are many things that JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM ) CEO Jamie Dimon doesunderstand about banking -- in fact, I continue to believe he is one of the top banking CEOs out there. However, some fundamental -- and very dangerous -- dysfunctions remain common practice in the banking industry, and it doesn't seem like Dimon has understood this (which isn't all that surprising for a career banker who's had a marvelously successful career). Here are three problem areas I spotted in reviewing his congressional testimony on Wednesday.
Pension fund makes some Texas-size bets
By Gillian Wee - WashingtonPost.com
After working for almost two decades as a money manager, Britt Harris, at 45, was what most people would consider a success. Bridgewater Associates's Ray Dalio and Bob Prince had just tapped him to be chief executive of the world's largest hedge fund.
A father of four, Harris also found time to coach his kids' baseball teams and teach Bible classes at his church. Still, something was gnawing at him. "I didn't sleep for one night," the Texas native recalled. "I didn't sleep for a week. Then, after not having slept for three months, I told Bob and Ray I wanted to resign."
Uninsured Angst Rises As $1,000 Premiums Loom On Ruling
By Alex Nussbaum and Shannon Pettypiece - Bloomberg.com
Barack Obama's political fortunes may hang on the U.S. Supreme Court's view of his health-care law. For Joy Waldon, the stakes add up to a quarter of her paycheck and some peace of mind.
A heart defect and a history of melanoma make it imperative for the 56-year-old New Yorker to find an insurance plan to replace coverage that runs out at the end of June. With the best option so far costing $1,000 a month, Waldon says her hope lies in the health law's subsidies, online marketplaces and other benefits that are supposed to kick in by 2014.
Legal challenge tests already-accepted changes in health care
By Jordan Rau - WashingtonPost.com
Often overlooked in the Supreme Court challenge to the health-care law are changes that hospitals, doctors and insurers had been moving toward even before the law was passed in 2010.
Some of these could be halted if the court throws out the Affordable Care Act, or hobbled if the justices excise parts of it, experts say.
The changes include increasing the role of primary care, especially for low-income patients; forcing hospitals and doctors to work together closely; and reducing pay to hospitals if they don't meet patients' expectations or outcome benchmarks set by the government.
On eve of health ruling,
Ruth Bader Ginsburg predicts 'sharp disagreement'
By KYLE CHENEY - Politico.com
With a wry smile, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg laid waste Friday to all those rumors about the fate of the Affordable Care Act in the Supreme Court.
"Those who know don't talk. And those who talk don't know," she quipped Friday night at a conference hosted by the American Constitution Society at the Capital Hilton.
Ginsburg said she was responding to a "steady stream of rumors and fifth-hand accounts" about the court's deliberations on the law.
Washington state provides case study
on effects of heath-care reform
By Sarah Kliff - WashingtonPost.com
If the Supreme Court overturns the health-care reform law's individual mandate — a decision that could come as soon as Monday — it won't be totally unknown territory. For Washington state, it would be quite familiar.
In 1993, Washington state passed a law guaranteeing all residents access to private health-care insurance, regardless of their health, and requiring them to purchase coverage.
The state legislature, however, repealed that last provision two years later. With the guaranteed-access provisions still standing, the state saw premiums rise and enrollment drop, as residents purchased coverage only when they needed it. Health insurers fled the state and, by 1999, it was impossible to buy an individual plan in Washington — no company was selling.
Death of a Ringtone: The Rise and Fall of Nokia
It defined the look and tech of the early mobile boom. Now Finland's most famous company is powering down.
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
Not so long ago, the 13-note ringtone of a Nokia handset was the de facto soundtrack of the mobile revolution. The world's largest cell phone maker for more than a decade, the company was a leading innovator in both design and technology that helped bring wireless life to American high schoolers and rural Africans alike.
These days, though, it seems as if that iconic jingle is in danger of being switched to silent. Nokia announced yesterday that it would cut 10,000 jobs following one of its worst quarterly results in company history. Moody's has downgraded its bond to junk status. Samsung passed it in sales last month. And Business Insider's Henry Blodget had begun speculating that Nokia might face bankruptcy in the near future.
Americans hanging on after recession claims their wealth
By Adam Geller-Associated Press - WashingtonTimes.com
Looking back, the financial lives many Americans enjoyed until just a few years ago can seem like a mirage.
On a suburban cul-de-sac northwest of Atlanta, Michael and Patricia Jackson are struggling to keep a house worth $100,000 less than they owe. In a small town in West Virginia, Michael Bobic, who last year lost his job as a college professor, sells Star Trek collectibles on eBay to get by.
Their voices and those of many others tell the story of a country that, for all the economic turmoil of the past few years, continues to believe things will get better. But until it does, families are trying to hang on to what they've got left.
Winds Set to Fan Destructive Colorado Fire
AP - WSJ.com
DENVER—Crews in northern Colorado braced for powerful fire-fanning winds as they battled a blaze that has scorched about 85 square miles of mountainous forest land and destroyed at least 181 homes, the most in state history.
The destructiveness of the High Park Fire, burning 15 miles west of Fort Collins, surpassed the Fourmile Canyon wildfire, which destroyed 169 homes west of Boulder in September 2010.
Mitt Romney's Plan To Unite Evangelicals:
Pretend He's Rick Santorum
By EVAN McMORRIS-SANTORO - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Mitt Romney has a simple plan to appeal to evangelicals: he pretends he's Rick Santorum.
The projected Republican nominee, who once chastised Santorum on the primary campaign trail for offering the base cheap thrills with "incendiary comments," now likes to mimic Santorum when he speaks to evangelicals, a group still somewhat wary of their nominee.
What does it sound like? A promise to fix the economy by reinforcing the importance of the heterosexual family unit to an American population that has gone astray.
Dozens Imprisoned for Violating
Non-Existent Federal Gun Control Law
By Matt Bewig - AllGov.com
Federal prosecutors in North Carolina have been aware for nearly a year that dozens of North Carolinians currently incarcerated in federal prisons should not be there, but they have done next to nothing to help them, and in at least once case are actually trying to prevent an innocent man's release, according to an investigation by USA Today.
This bizarre, Kafkaesque, nightmare arose over the past nine years, as federal courts in North Carolina misapplied a federal law making gun possession a crime for felons whose prior conviction carried a potential sentence of more than one year in prison. In 1993, North Carolina adopted a new, unique system called "structured sentencing," which makes potential sentences depend on the individual defendant's prior criminal record. Thus for the same past crime, two defendants with different criminal records might face very different potential sentences. Nevertheless, for years federal courts ruled that if the potential sentence for a past crime was more than a year for any defendant, then every defendant who committed that crime was legally barred from possessing a gun, and could be convicted of a federal crime and sentenced to federal prison for that.
America, Welcome to the Fourth Reich
SARTRE - BATR.org
American Fascism did not start with World War II. Before Operation Paperclip, the codename under which the US intelligence and military services extricated scientists from Germany, during and after the final stages of the conflict, the annals of internal despotism were well established. With the open door policy for German engineering, the political ideology of state worship was bound to travel across the Atlantic.
The Pampas of Argentina or the backwaters of Paraguay were the preferred location for those who openly professed their reprehensible loyalty to the Führer principle. However, do not blame all those ex-Nazis for selecting the shores of the Americas for their new domicile, their seeds were planted long ago in the offices of Wall and Broad Streets. Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will saga shares more, than what one wants to admit, about the dark side of American History.
Governor Brownback's Reformed Kansas
Could Have Missouri Singing The Blues
By Rex Sinquefield, Contributor - Forbes.com
A recent article covering Red Kansas and the leadership of Governor Sam Brownback, lays out a new trajectory for a Midwestern state that has decided to take Texas' lead on tax policy, rather than that of California. Last month, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback turned the tide on Kansas tax policy, delivering on his legislative promise to ignite what the Wall Street Journal referred to as "the Heartland Tax Rebellion."
His new system reduces personal income tax brackets from three-tiers to two-tiers, cuts the overall rates for each new bracket and lowers certain small business non-wage income from state income tax.
Obama's policy strategy: Ignore laws
By STEVE FRIESS - Politico.com
President Barack Obama returned Friday to a trusted tactic — satisfying his political allies by not doing something.
Conservatives were angry when Janet Napolitano announced the administration would stop deporting certain undocumented immigrants, but they should have seen it coming. On issue after issue — gay rights, drug enforcement, Internet gambling, school achievement standards — the administration has chosen to achieve its goals by a method best described as passive-aggressive.
Rather than pushing new laws through a divided Congress to enact his agenda, Obama is relying on federal agencies to ignore, or at least not defend, laws that some of his important supporters — like Hispanic voters and the gay community — don't like.
10 Things That Will Happen If Barack Obama
Continues To Systematically Legalize Illegal Immigration
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Barack Obama seems completely obsessed with systematically legalizing illegal immigration. The United States borders a failed narco-state that is one of the most crime-ridden nations on the entire planet, but Barack Obama refuses to secure the border and the consequences for the American people have been absolutely catastrophic. Right now it is already costing us tens of billions of dollars a year to provide welfare for illegal immigrants and to educate their children in our public schools. Right now illegal immigrants are already working millions of jobs that should belong to American workers. Right now Mexican drug cartels are already active in more than 1,000 U.S. cities. But apparently that is not good enough for Barack Obama. He wants to roll out the red carpet and give the green light to tens of millions more illegal immigrants. Last year, Obama issued a list of 19 factors for government officials to use when deciding whether to use "prosecutorial discretion" in deportation cases. In essence, under that new set of rules criminals and "national security threats" were to be deported and virtually everyone else was to be allowed to stay. But now Barack Obama has taken things to a whole new level. Now, if you are under the age of 30, came to the United States under the age of 16 and have lived here for at least five years you will be able to apply for legal status and a work permit. With the election less than 6 months away it is obvious that Barack Obama is pandering for votes. But this kind of "banana republic politics" is only going to divide America even more deeply and is going to result in some very serious pain for this nation in the years ahead.
Canadian housing market headed for a correction, BoC says Central bank warns country remains vulnerable
to euro zone fallout
By Randall Palmer, Reuters - VancouverSun.com
OTTAWA - Canada's financial system remains highly vulnerable to a further deepening of the European debt crisis and to a correction in the housing market, which is showing some overvaluation, the Bank of Canada said on Thursday.
In its semi-annual Financial System Review, the bank said that while Canada's financial system is still robust, the overall risks to it are high, at the second-highest of the four risk levels the bank has delineated. That level is the same as in December, but the bank noted that in the interval conditions in Europe had improved early this year but then deteriorated again.
No more cheap Chinese goods? Rising Chinese incomes could challenge U.S. consumers and disrupt global supply chains. A review of Shaun Rein's The End of Cheap China: Economic and Cultural Trends That Will Disrupt the World.
By Nin-Hai Tseng - Fortune,com
FORTUNE -- China has long been known as the world's factory because of its seemingly endless supply of cheap workers, who churn out everything from shoes to toys to iPads. While low wages certainly helped the East Asian giant become the world's second largest economy, China's labor economics are changing rapidly.
In The End of Cheap China, Shaun Rein starts with the familiar premise that rising Chinese incomes could end cheap consumption for Americans and disrupt global supply chains. He then asserts that rising economic optimism in China will drive higher standards of living. Chinese workers will demand higher wages, while consumers will want higher quality goods.
Saudi Arabia Succession Set In Motion
With Death Of Crown Prince
By Glen Carey - Bloomberg.com
Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, buried Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, raising the issue of succession in the kingdom for the second time in less than a year.
Nayef, who also served as interior minister for more than three decades, was interred yesterday in Mecca in an unmarked grave, as stipulated by the Sunni Wahhabi version of Islam. King Abdullah, who is in his late 80s, attended the ceremony.
Vladimir Putin Nemesis of the New World Order
SARTRE - BATR.org
Mother Russia is a much different country from the Stalin gulags. With all the faults of a long tradition of authoritarian rule, it is natural for observers in the West to be suspect of the latest would be Czar. The remnants of the cold war linger with concerns of the true motives and goals of a second Vladimir Putin era. By most reliable accounts, he never left the power circle prior to his return as President. Upon his latest election, The Guardian published an article Putin's election victory is a headache for the west. "Nobody is any doubt that the Putin who returns to the Kremlin in May is the same Putin who has effectively run Russia for the past 12 years – prickly, uncompromising, suspicious and fond of snide remarks about western hypocrisy and double standards."
U.N. demands evacuation of Syrian civilians in Homs
By Diaa Hadid - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
BEIRUT (AP) — The head of the U.N. observers mission in Syriademanded Sunday that warring parties allow the evacuation of women, children, and elderly and sick people endangered by the fighting in the besieged city of Homs and other combat zones.
Maj. Gen. Robert Mood of Norway said the observers had been trying for the past week to extricate civilians and the wounded from the central city of Homs but had failed because neither government troops nor the rebels were willing to hold their fire.
'Bound for Syria' Russian warship remains unloaded in port
RT.com
The Russian warship which was reported as moving towards Syria with a unit of commando troops, is at its home port on the Black Sea, Ukraine's Sevastopol.
The US media cited intelligence sources as saying last Sunday that the landing ship Nikolay Filchenkov was traveling to the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria. The vessel was said to be carrying arms and a unit of amphibious commando troops, who would be used to secure the Russian base in the troubled country from a possible attack.
The vessel, however, is still in Sevastopol, the home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, as a journalist from the Russian news agency RIA Novosti witnessed. The ship is not even loaded, as apparent by its draft, the report says.
The agency cites a naval officer familiar with the situation as saying that Nikolay Filchenkov has remained in this position since June 8.
US enlists Britain's help to stop ship
'carrying Russian attack helicopters' to Syria The US government has enlisted Britain's help in a bid to stop a ship suspected of carrying Russian attack helicopters and missiles to conflict-riven Syria, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
By Ruth Sherlock, in Washington, Roland Oliphant in Moscow
and Colin Freeman - Telegraph.co.uk
The MV Alaed, a Russian-operated cargo vessel, is currently thought to be sailing through the North Sea after allegedly picking up a consignment of munitions and MI25 helicopters - known as "flying tanks" - from the Russian Baltic port of Kaliningrad.
Washington, which last week condemned Moscow for continuing to arm the Syrian regime, has asked British officials to help stop the Alaed delivering its alleged cargo by using sanctions legislation to force its London-based insurer to withdraw its cover.
Pentagon finishes contingency plans for Syria invasion
RT.com
Officials with the US Department of Defense have confirmed that the Pentagon has finalized procedures that outline how American forces could soon combat the government of war-torn Syria and officially involve itself in that state's bloody uprising.
After months of rumors suggesting that the US has unofficially made efforts to weaponize rebel forces fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, officials with the Defense Department tell CNN that the Pentagon has finished drafting blueprints that lay-out just how the US military could aid in ousting the leader with America's own troops.
Obama's six-point plan for Global War
By Nick Turse - ATimes.com
It looked like a scene out of a Hollywood movie. In the inky darkness, men in full combat gear, armed with automatic weapons and wearing night-vision goggles, grabbed hold of a thick, woven cable hanging from a MH-47 Chinook helicopter. Then, in a flash, each "fast-roped" down onto a ship below. Afterwards, "Mike," a Navy SEAL who would not give his last name, bragged to an army public affairs sergeant that when they were on their game, the SEALs could put 15 men on a ship this way in 30 seconds or less.
Once on the aft deck, the special ops troops broke into squads and methodically searched the ship as it bobbed in Jinhae Harbor, South Korea. Below deck and on the bridge, the commandos located several men and trained their weapons on them, but nobody fired a shot. It was, after all, a training exercise.
Obama's Drift Toward War With Iran
By Robert Wright - TheAtlantic.com
The most undercovered story in Washington is how President Obama, under the influence of election-year politics, is letting America drift toward war with Iran. This story is the unseen but ominous backdrop to next week's Moscow round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
The basic story line, pretty well known inside the beltway, is simple: There are things Obama could do to greatly increase the chances of a negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear problem, but he seems to have decided that doing them would bring political blowback that would reduce his chances of re-election.
Fear of a dollar collapse will make the Chinese
the biggest buyers of gold this year
By: Peter Cooper - GoldSeek.com
China is widely expected to overtake India as the world's biggest consumer of gold this year with gold purchases rising by 10 per cent, according to the leading Chinese bank ICBC. Why?
The Chinese are moving out of the dollar and into gold. That is what a seemingly ill-educated gold trader in the Sharjah Gold Souk told us earlier this year.
King for a day
You don't need to be a genius to see the logic behind this move. The dollar might be king today but only against the faltering euro. But what happens when we are reminded that US debts are running at levels comparable with Greece?
Safe haven signs appearing in Gold: UBS
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): A safe haven trade may be starting to form in gold, said Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) in a commodities briefing.
According to the Zurich based bank, yellow metal is sensitive to U.S. economic data, as weak reports lead to higher expectations for more quantitative easing.
As per UBS precious-metals strategist Edel Tully, "This remains the most powerful driver for gold at the moment. But with so much uncertainty hanging over Europe, it is quite possible that the safe-haven trade is starting to creep in.
The Disconnect Between Household Wealth and GDP Growth
By Bill Bonner - DailyReckoning.com
06/14/12 Baltimore, Maryland – Twenty years of going nowhere! Where are we, Hokohama?
Dear Reader…and anyone who has been paying attention…you already knew there was something wrong. The world's leading economy, in the most dynamic, inventive period in human history, failed to make people a penny richer.
GDP went up. But real wages did not. In fact, people got nowhere financially — if they were lucky. And many families got caught in the credit/housing bubble. When it blew up they got knocked back…actually losing wealth.
The cloud of uncertainty Dithering in the dark Quantifying the effect of political uncertainty
on the global economy
The Economist - print edition - June 16, 2012
EUROPE teeters at the edge of an economic abyss, its fate in the hands of political leaders at odds over how to solve the continent's twin debt and bank crises. America may be pushed over a "fiscal cliff" at the end of the year by political dysfunction. And even China, although unlikely to take a deep dive, is hostage to the will and ability of its government to stimulate growth. More than at any point in recent history, the global economy's fate is tied to the capriciousness of policymakers. How much does such uncertainty cost?
Anecdotal evidence suggests that it costs a lot. Customers of Cisco Systems, the world's biggest maker of internet gear, are taking longer to make decisions, according to John Chambers, the company's boss. Their orders tend to be smaller than before, and to require more in-house approvals. They say they are planning to buy more stuff later this year, reported Mr Chambers recently, but "then in the very next breath they say it depends on what happens on a global and macro scale."
America will soon need to take advice it offers Europe It should not have been a surprise that US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner veered between fits of laughter and a tone of chilling gravity when he spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington this week.
By Richard Blackden - Telegraph.co.uk
The only member of President Barack Obama's original economic team still in office, Geithner must surely have a full-blown case of crisis fatigue. When he became the 75th Treasury Secretary in early 2009, the epicentre of the crisis was on Wall Street and rippling out with devastating effect across the rest of America. As he embarks on his final five months - Geithner has said he is quitting even if Obama wins another four years in the White House - the darkest clouds are coming from across the Atlantic.
Inflation: A Five-Month X-Ray View
BY DOUG SHORT - FinancialSense.com
Here is a table showing the annualized change in Headline and Core CPI for each of the past five months. I've also included each of the eight components of Headline CPI and a separate entry for Energy, which is a collection of sub-indexes in Housing and Transportation.
We can make some inferences about how inflation is impacting our personal expenses depending on our relative exposure to the individual components. Some of us have higher transportation costs, others medical costs, etc.
Europe on Edge Over Crisis
[Google title for free article pass]
U.K. Unveils 'New Firepower' to Shield Financial System; Fed Readies 2008 Playbook
BY DAVID ENRICH, JASON DOUGLAS
AND AINSLEY THOMSON - WSJ.com - $$
LONDON—The U.K. on Thursday unveiled an extraordinary series of measures designed to insulate the British financial system and economy from the euro zone's deepening crisis.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King announced plans to flood banks with cheap funds in an attempt to jump-start lending to British households and businesses and to fend off potential financial problems at big U.K. lenders.
The British programs resemble some of the emergency measures enacted by central banks in Europe and the U.S. earlier in the financial crisis. The British announcement on Thursday, at an annual black-tie ...
ECB last hope as dam breaks in Spain
Spain's borrowing costs have surged to record highs and are perilously close to the point of no return, threatening a full-blown sovereign crisis unless the European Central Bank comes to the rescue.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"We're facing maximum tension. The situation is unsustainable over time," said the country's finance minister Luis de Guindos. Yields on 10-year Spanish bonds yields punched to almost 7pc, above levels that triggered ECB intervention to back stop Spain last November.
"The ECB needs to intervene very quickly or it is game over," said Nicholas Spiro from Spiro Asset Management. "There is a whiff of capitulation in the air."
Keiser Report: Con Games Go Global (E301)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, the european short change con in which debt and debt facilities are created and swapped at ever increasing speeds in order to defraud the population. In the second half of the show Max talks to economist Yanis Varoufakis about the ponzi austerity screwing Europeans right down to the ground with more debt.
Greek Banks Under Pressure
[Google title for free article pass] Customers Increase Withdrawals as Major Foreign Lender Plans Potential Exit
By NOÉMIE BISSERBE - WSJ.com - $$
The owner of Greece's largest foreign-held bank is making plans to walk away from the bank if the country leaves the euro zone, the latest sign of growing international concern over the future of Europe's currency union.
The contingency plan for Crédit AgricoleSA, France's third-largest publicly traded bank, comes ahead of pivotal elections in Greece Sunday that could set the country on a path to leave the 17-nation currency bloc.
A host of international companies have said they are preparing contingency plans, with many voicing concerns about how to retrieve cash in the country if Greece exits the euro zone. But none have disclosed potentially walking away from their assets in Greece.
Euro Has Collapsed! Email warning to Steve Quayle
from International Investor source.
SteveQuayle.com
It is with trepidation that I write to you....The Euro has collapsed unofficially. The money is OUT of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, France, Belgium and the German Elites have begun to shore up their wealth in hard assets and precious metals. RBS has given orders to close two of their major equities sectors, thousands of jobs are going to be lost the next few days/weeks. Credit Sussie has called on top investors to head to Swiss safe harbor and hard asset diversified portfolios.
Report from Greece: Limited Capital Controls Implemented
by John Galt - johngaltfla.com
The reports of capital controls being implemented should Greece leave the Eurozone have been flying throughout the internet over the last twenty-four hours, leaving many to wonder if the European Union is about to descend into the status of a large latte sipping banana republic. Switzerland's central bank (SCB) is already rumored to have a plan in place to freeze all incoming funds at their borders and penalize anyone attempting to convert deteriorating Euros into Swiss Francs along with currency exchange controls (See ZeroHedge, Bruce Krasting's May 28th article – Capital Controls Coming to Greece and Switzerland). The problem with this approach is the large underground economy which it creates and unfortunately for the nation of Greece, that has already begun.
The Euro's Collapse Is Not Just About the Euro
By Gene Schwimmer - AmericanThinker.com
How do you say Schadenfreude in French? Or Spanish? Or Greek? Because, three years into the failed economic policies of a failed president, Schadenfreude -- knowing that, however bad our situation may be, the state of affairs in the Eurozone is much worse -- is all that is left to us.
And it is worse, make no mistake about that. And, it increasingly appears, irreversible. Which is why those of us who saw this day coming must resist the urge to gloat now that the poulets européens have come home to roost. Let us instead, let out a sigh of relief as we observe the Euro-debacle from a safe distance and draw what lessons we can, lest their fate become ours. For the euro's increasingly probable collapse is about more, much more, than the euro.
Rich Greeks look the other way... Greece's super-rich maintain lavish lifestyles and low profiles Since the outbreak of the Greek crisis, the country's moneyed class has been notable mainly by its absence
By Helena Smith in Spetses - Guardian.co.uk
Scudding across the turquoise waters of the Argo-Saronic gulf, Ioannis Arnaoutis singled out the pearl-white sands of a little bay. The shore glistened in the midday sun. "It was especially imported from Asia by the owner of the mansion above the bay," said the boatman, one hand on the steering wheel of his water taxi, the other pointing in the direction of the cove. "It's a private beach, which is why there is only one umbrella on it."
Nearly three years into their country's worst crisis in modern times, life goes on as normal for Greece's super-rich. As the sun sets, oligarchs, shipowners, singers and media stars gather at the Poseidonion hotel on the island of Spetses opposite the little bay. They tuck into a menu that includes pasticcio laced with foie gras. Among them is a middle-aged man in a T-shirt proclaiming: "More is less".
Greek Election: 'Collapse' Possible No Matter Who Wins
Reuters - CNBC.com
An upstart radical leftist is racing neck and neck with the conservative heir of a prominent Greek family in an election on Sunday that will decide if Greece stays in the euro zone and could spread turmoil across global financial markets.
Voters fed up with the harsh measures prescribed by international lenders in a 130 billion euro bailout punished mainstream parties in an inconclusive May 6 election and appear split over the choices offered in the repeat vote.
Greeks Return To Ballot Box
As Crisis Approaches Decisive Moment
By Maria Petrakis - Bloomberg.com
Greeks head to the ballot box in two days for a contest that may determine the fate of the world's first democracy and the future of the newest reserve currency, while roiling markets from Wellington to Wall Street.
Almost 10 million Greeks will vote for the second time in six weeks after a May 6 ballot failed to yield a government. The constitution permits a third election too. The final polls, published on June 1, showed no party set to win a majority. Exit polls will be released when voting ends at 7 p.m. in Athens, with a first official result estimate due around 9:30 p.m.
Angela Merkel: Germany cannot save the euro on its own Germany cannot save the euro single-handedly, Angela Merkel has warned, expressing her growing anger over British, American and G20 demands that she does more to tackle the eurozone debt crisis.
By Bruno Waterfield - Telegraph.co.uk
The German Chancellor is furious that France and Italy, countries that she regards as shirking their responsibility to cut their high levels of national debt, has rallied the G20 behind their calls for eurobonds and EU-funded bank rescues.
"All eyes are on Germany," she told German MPs on Thursday. "But we also know that Germany's power is not infinite. So our responsibility as Europe's largest economy is to deploy our strength credibly."
Germany opens door for crisis solution as Spain downgraded
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BERLIN - Moody's on Wednesday (13 June) was the last ratings agency to strip Spain of its A status, making it harder for the government and banks to borrow money, despite recent bail-out plans.
The US-based agency downgraded Spain from A3 to Baa3 - one notch above so-called 'junk status' where investors are no longer guaranteed a safe repayment on the bonds. It also warned it may soon further downgrade the eurozone country.
Hollande urges common euro debt, greater ECB role
By Elizabeth Pineau and Steve Scherer
(Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande called on Thursday for the euro zone to adopt bold new mechanisms to insulate member states and their banks from market turmoil, such as a joint fund to pay down debt, putting him on a collision course with Berlin.
After a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in Rome, Hollande said he would urge EU leaders at an end-June summit to adopt a series of measures to strengthen economic growth and financial stability in the euro zone and deepen economic integration.
Hollande said he had submitted details of his proposals to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
Greek health system crumbles under weight of crisis
By Karolina Tagaris
(Reuters) - Greece's rundown state hospitals are cutting off vital drugs, limiting non-urgent operations and rationing even basic medical materials for exhausted doctors as a combination of economic crisis and political stalemate strangle health funding.
With Greece now in its fifth year of deep recession, trapped under Europe's biggest public debt burden and dependent on international help to keep paying its bills, the effects are starting to bite deeply into vital services.
World economies prepare for panic after Greek polls
By Stella Dawson and Jan Strupczewski
(Reuters) - Authorities in the world's major economies are preparing for a possible market storm or public panic after cliffhanger Greek elections this weekend, officials said on Thursday, should radical leftists win and cast doubt on the nation's future in the euro zone.
Britain announced on Thursday it would flood its banking system with cash as the euro zone's crisis casts a "black cloud" over the nation's economy.
World economies prepare for panic after Greek polls
By Stella Dawson and Jan Strupczewski
(Reuters) - Authorities in the world's major economies are preparing for a possible market storm or public panic after cliffhanger Greek elections this weekend, officials said on Thursday, should radical leftists win and cast doubt on the nation's future in the euro zone.
Britain announced on Thursday it would flood its banking system with cash as the euro zone's crisis casts a "black cloud" over the nation's economy.
Central banks ready to combat Greek market storm
By Stella Dawson and Lesley Wroughton
(Reuters) - Central banks from major economies stand ready to take steps to stabilize financial markets by providing liquidity and preventing a credit squeeze if the outcome of Greek elections on Sunday causes tumultuous trading, G20 officials told Reuters.
A senior U.S. official cautioned that the Greek election will not provide "the definitive signal on what happens next" in the euro zone debt crisis.
FX Markets Bracing For Major Event
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Last night we noted that OandA will shut-down trading on Sunday ahead of the market-moving events surrounding the Greek election (as it seems they are unwilling to take the agency risk and potentially counterparty risk on a large gap). Nowhere is this more clearly priced into the market than the short-dated FX option market.EURUSD 1 week implied vol is at its greatest premium to realized vol ahead of this weekend than at any time in the last three-and-a-half years. The last time the level of short-dated vol was near this high (in absolute and relative terms) was December 9th 2011 and EURUSD fell 400 pips in the next few days.
Here Comes The Herd:
"Highly Volatile Trading Conditions Expected Ahead"
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Last night we presented a very disturbing warning from one FX broker, Oanda, on what Sunday's election could mean for FX trading on Sunday (nothing good). And, as often happens in such instances, the idea has now been "incepted" - look for every FX brokerage to follow suit, likely followed by the plain vanilla exchanges to issue comparable warnings ahead of Monday.
Irish Tell Spain To Imagine The Worst In Banking Bailout
By Dara Doyle and Joe Brennan - Bloomberg.com
Ireland has this banking advice for Spain:
imagine the worst and double it.
Like Ireland, Spain sought a bank bailout after being felled by a real-estate crash. Now, just as the Irish did, the Spanish are awaiting the results of outside stress tests gauging the size of the hole in the banking system.
"Think of the worst possible scenario on banking losses: then double it," said Eoin Fahy, an economist at Kleinwort Benson Investors in Dublin. "Adopt the most conservative assumptions."
Ex-Soros Adviser Fujimaki Says Japan
To Probably Default By 2017
By Mariko Ishikawa and Yumi Ikeda - Bloomberg.com
Investors should buy assets in U.S. dollars and other currencies of strong developed nations because Japan may default within five years, said Takeshi Fujimaki, former adviser to billionaire investor George Soros.
"Japan is likely to default before Europe does, which could be in the next five years," the president of Fujimaki Japan, an investment advising company in Tokyo, said in an interview yesterday. Japanese should hold foreign-currency products, such as those denominated in the greenback, Swiss franc, sterling, Australian and Canadian dollars, Fujimaki said.
Keiser Report: Hot Potato Counterfeit Cash (E300)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss hot potatoes, big fish, counterfeit collateral and a stealth British default. In the second half of the show Max talks to Charles Hugh Smith of OfTwoMinds.com about austerity death spirals and phantom wealth.
O'Neill's BRICs Risk Hitting Wall Threatening G-20 Growth
By Simon Kennedy - Bloomberg.com
Even Jim O'Neill is asking whether the BRICs need reinforcing 11 years after he coined the term to describe the world's future powerhouse economies.
O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, says his thesis that Brazil, Russia, India and China would together increasingly buoy the global economy faces "a more challenging test" as investors dump the countries' stocks. China pared its growth target to the lowest since 2004, Standard & Poor's may cut India's investment-grade credit rating, Brazil is on pace to expand less than 3 percent for a second straight year and falling oil prices may hurt Russia.
New Bond Market Discussed... Large Institutions Discuss New Marketplace for Bonds
By SERENA NG And KIRSTEN GRIND - WSJ.com
Big money managers and Wall Street banks are laying the groundwork for a new marketplace for corporate bonds, an effort that highlights the heft of large investors and the impact of new rules limiting bank risk-taking.
In recent weeks, senior traders at investment managers and big Wall Street banks have been discussing how the financial industry can set up a centralized electronic market that would let all participants trade bonds freely with one another, according to people involved in the talks.
Treasuries Advance On Bets
Fed Will Take Steps To Spur Economy
By Monami Yui - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries rose, halting a decline from yesterday, before U.S. data forecast to show production slowed and consumer confidence fell, adding to prospects that the Federal Reserve will take more steps to stimulate growth.
The central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will meet June 19-20 as slowing employment growth at home and a deepening crisis in Europe weigh on the economic outlook. Demand for the safety of U.S. government debt was limited on speculation central banks will coordinate assistance if Greek elections on June 17 increase financial-market turmoil.
Data points to soft U.S. economy, possible Fed action
By Jason Lange
(Reuters) - New claims for U.S. state jobless benefits rose for the fifth time in six weeks and consumer prices fell in May, opening the door wider for the U.S. Federal Reserve to help an economy that shows signs of weakening.
Though the data released on Thursday showed only a small increase in claims last week, it undermined hopes that a recent slowdown in hiring would prove temporary.
"There is very little sign of life," said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Hugh Johnson Advisors in Albany, New York. "The economy as measured by employment conditions has slowed and there doesn't appear to be any change when you look at the claims numbers."
JPMorgan bets sent false signals to wider debt market
By Carrick Mollenkamp and Cezary Podkul
(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co's disastrous bets on corporate debt may have caused unexpected collateral damage: erratic behavior in a barometer that measures the financial health of blue-chip U.S. companies.
Those bets used Wall Street derivatives called credit default swaps. They are supposed to act like homeowners insurance, allowing bondholders, banks and hedge funds to buy protection against declines in the value of corporate debt, and ultimately protection against a default.
Rising Asia Will Soften West's Economic Decline
By: Rick Ackerman - GoldSeek.com
Does it not occur to any pessimist that a massive region of the world is expanding, not contracting, and that this statistical fact portends well for the future demand of all "stuff" across the globe? While assuredly not discounting disturbing global financial and economic pressures, pessimists and permabears seem to relish discounting the powerful, upward expansionary forces across the global economy that also clearly exist.
Here in Shanghai, I now sit in the new upper middle class mall called Kerry Parkside, where we have a marketing location for our various services. Forget the fact that prices are annoyingly high and that the mall is still packed on the weekends. Let's consider right now only of this part of the story which gives us a glimpse of the future:
Americans Sees Biggest Home Equity Jump In 60 Years: Mortgages
By Kathleen M. Howley - Bloomberg.com
Americans are digging themselves out of mortgage debt.
Home equity in the first quarter rose to $6.7 trillion, the highest level since 2008, as homeowners taking advantage of record-low borrowing costs to refinance their loans brought cash to the table to pay down principal. The 7.3 percent gain was the biggest jump in more than 60 years, according to an analysis by Bloomberg of Federal Reserve data.
Warren Buffett makes record bet with $9.6bn private jet order Billionaire Warren Buffett has placed the largest ever order for private jets as his company, NetJets, anticipates rising demand from companies and the growing number of wealthy individuals around the world.
By Richard Blackden - Telegraph.co.uk
NetJets has agreed to buy up to 425 planes from Canadian company Bombardier and US rival Textron, which makes the Cessna jet. The order is valued at $9.6bn (£6.2bn) and is the third significant order NetJets has made in the last two years.
Although aviation analysts said the sheer size of the order will have secured Mr Buffett a hefty discount on the prices the jets are listed at, it is still a bold bet on an industry that was devastated by the financial crisis and subsequent global recession. NetJets, which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway - Mr Buffett's holding company, would have collapsed without Berkshire's support in the months after the crisis.
10,000 workers to get pink slips... Nokia's Problems Haunt Microsoft
[Google title for free article pass]
By ANTON TROIANOVSKI, SVEN GRUNDBERG
and SPENCER E. ANTE - WSJ.com $$
Nokia Corp. warned Thursday that its cellphone business is quickly deteriorating and that it will cut 10,000 workers, a setback that threatens partnerMicrosoft Corp.'s mobile aspirations.
The companies bound themselves together last year in a last-ditch effort to compete in a smartphone market dominated by Apple Inc. and Google Inc. Now, Microsoft faces the possibility that the company responsible for two-thirds of its mobile software shipments may not be strong enough to give it influence in mobile computing.
Why Technical Studies Will Broaden Your Career Options
By Max Castera - Wired.com
You will not find any statistics or quotes from an expert in this post. I am simply sharing my experience, my observations and my conclusions.
Fourteen years ago, as a high school freshman, I had to choose between three options, which already way too early started shaping my life a little bit. In the French education system, I was given the choice between Scientific path, Literature path and Economics path. Already at that time, it was common knowledge that picking the scientific option was likely to give you more flexibility in choosing a college few years later. I suppose my parents and I did not question the common knowledge and I am now glad we did not.
Eventually, I did get very much interested in sciences, went on with undergraduate and graduate schools in engineering and landed a first job in a large corporate company and later on in a SME, both in fairly technical sectors, X-ray imaging and aerospace.
Social Security and the Plight of the Elderly The Real Retirement Crisis
by ERIC LAURSEN - CounterPunch.org
"The lifespan of any civilization can be measured by the respect and care that is given to its elderly citizens, and those societies which treat their elderly with contempt have the seeds of their own destruction within them." —Arnold J. Toynbee
The astounding, and potentially tragic, aspect of Washington's three-plus-decade Social Security debate is that it carries on with little regard to the challenges facing the program's participants. Politicians on the right and center-right feel free to decry resistance to even "modest cuts" in Social Security benefits while ignoring the vulnerability of seniors who are living the effects of reductions already mandated in the program's last major overhaul, in 1983.
U.S. Probes Cable for Limits on Net Video
[Google title for free article pass]
By THOMAS CATAN And AMY SCHATZ - WSJ.com - $$
WASHINGTON—The Justice Department is conducting a wide-ranging antitrust investigation into whether cable companies are acting improperly to quash nascent competition from online video, according to people familiar with the matter.
Justice Department officials have spoken to several online video providers, includingNetflix Inc. and Hulu LLC, those people said. Investigators have also questionedComcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and other cable companies about issues such as setting data caps, limits to the amount of data a subscriber can download each month, these people said.
Representatives of all those companies and the Justice Department declined to comment on the investigation.
The New MacBook Pro: Unfixable, Unhackable, Untenable
By Kyle Wiens - Wired.com
This week, Apple delivered the highly anticipated MacBook Pro with Retina Display — and the tech world is buzzing. I took one apart yesterday because I run iFixit, a team responsible for high-resolution teardowns of new products and DIY repair guides. We disassemble and analyze new electronic gizmos so you don't have to — kind of like an internet version of Consumer Reports.
The Retina MacBook is the least repairable laptop we've ever taken apart: Unlike the previous model, the display is fused to the glass, which means replacing the LCD requires buying an expensive display assembly. The RAM is now soldered to the logic board — making future memory upgrades impossible. And the battery is glued to the case, requiring customers to mail their laptop to Apple every so often for a $200 replacement. The design may well be comprised of "highly recyclable aluminum and glass" — but my friends in the electronics recycling industry tell me they have no way of recycling aluminum that has glass glued to it like Apple did with both this machine and the recent iPad.
New Front Opens in Wireless Battle
[Google title for free article pass]
Verizon Overhauls Plans to Shift Bulk of Bill to Data Use; AT&T Ready to Follow
By ANTON TROIANOVSKI and THOMAS GRYTA - WSJ.com - $$
After years of waging a price war, the largest U.S. wireless carriers have reversed course and are adopting a series of changes that in many cases raise costs and reduce consumers' options.
The latest move came Tuesday, when Verizon Wireless introduced its biggest overhaul of pricing in years with plans that let customers share data allotments among as many as 10 devices under a single account.
SPENDING OFF THE HOOK: FREE PHONES
COSTING TAXPAYERS $2.1 BILLION PER YEAR
by JOHN SEXTON - Breitbart.com
You're probably familiar with the food stamp program which grew from $35 billion in 2008 to $75 billion last year. But did you know that getting food stamps also makes you eligible for a free government cell phone?
A program called Lifeline provides free phones and free monthly minutes to anyone on food stamps, WIC, Medicaid, Head Start, and several other government programs. And just like food stamps, Lifeline (aka "phone stamps") has been growing by leaps and bounds since 2008, at significant cost to taxpayers.
When Your Credit Card Stops Working
By Bill Bonner - dailyreckoning.com
06/13/12 Baltimore, Maryland – CYBERGEDDON!
What's the latest? We don't know. We spent the last couple of days in Florida. Nobody knows anything in Florida. They're all retired down there. They don't have to think anymore.
And one of the things they don't think about very much is the zombie wars. You know what's happening. The productive sector of our economy is being eaten alive by the unproductive, zombie sector — including many of those retirees in Florida.
Which is probably a good point to make a distinction. There are honest retirees…and zombies. The honest ones worked hard, saved their money…and now they live off the fruits of their own labor.
OBAMA'S BIG ECONOMY SPEECH: NO HOPE, NO CHANGE
By Ben Shapiro - Breitbart.com
President Obama's campaign speech on the economy today was an utter disaster for him. It was a bromide of tired old arguments, pathetic blame-placing, and shopworn con tricks. And even liberals like Jonathan Alter had to admit that it was, overall, a dramatic failure.
He began where he always does: with blame. "We've been wrestling with these issues for a long time," he said. "The problems we're facing right now have been more than a decade in the making …. For more than a decade, it had become harder to find a job that paid the bills, harder to save, harder to retire, harder to keep up with rising costs of gas and health care and college tuitions." Translation: Blame Bush.
Bill Clinton's words could haunt Obama today
By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
President Obama's campaign speech on the economy today will be delivered in the same spot where Bill Clinton delivered a 2010 campaign speech Obama might just as soon forget.
In September 2010, Clinton told his Cuyahoga Community College audience in Cleveland that Democrats deserved two more years to fix the nation's economy.
"The Democrats are saying something like this: 'We found a big hole that we did not dig. We didn't get it filled in 21 months, but at least we quit digging,'" Clinton said at the time. "'Give us two more years. If it doesn't work, vote us out.'"
Oil near $84 a barrel; OPEC holds ceiling
By Myra P. Saefong and Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude futures rose Thursday on thinking the Federal Reserve would take further action to bolster economic growth and OPEC left its production ceiling as is.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries left its collective production ceiling unchanged, the 12-member group said in a statement released after its meeting concluded in Vienna.
Saying worries about contracting global growth overshadowed calls by some members to cut supply to boost price, the 12-member group agreed to leave the ceiling at 30 million barrels a day.
BP Announces that Venezuela
Now Have the Largest Oil Reserves in the World
By Charles Kennedy - OilPrice.com
BP has just released its annual Statistical Review of World Energy in which it claims that Venezuela now holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world, overtaking the original leader Saudi Arabia.
The South American nation's oil deposits were increased from last year's figure to an estimated at 296.5 billion barrels, more than Saudi Arabia's 265.4 billion barrels.
Global reserves have been increased by 1.9 percent from last year's 1.62 trillion barrels to 1.65 trillion. Robert Wine, a spokesman from BP, explained that the reason for the revisions is that BP's review is published in June, before most countries issue their annual reserve figures.
Britain warns Argentina over Falklands "aggression"
By Michael Holden
(Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron warnedArgentina on Thursday that London stood "ready and willing" to defend the Falkland Islands, 30 years after Britain recaptured the South Atlantic archipelago whose sovereignty remains a hotly contested issue.
In a speech to commemorate the 1982 British victory over Argentina, Cameron accused Argentina's government of "aggression" and said there would be "absolutely no negotiation" over sovereignty of the tiny islands, about 300 miles off the Argentine coast.
Obama Plans to Grant International Tribunals
Power to Supersede US Law and Impose Sanctions
By Shepard Ambellas - TheIntelHub.com
Have you ever heard of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact?
Obama recently proposed a deal to 8 Pacific Nations pertaining to free trade — however, there is more to it then that.
Under the documented arrangement pushed by Obama's masters, foreign corporations will essentially be able to slip past all regulations as domestic corporations will continue to be heavily regulated.
Under the arrangement proposed, International Tribunals would be able to impose sanctions on the United States if the US did not uphold the rulings made by a select few whom profiteer from behind the curtain.
Treaty Negotiated In Secret –
Hidden Even from Congressmen Who Oversee Treaties –
Threatens to Destroy National Sovereignty
Submitted by George Washington - ZeroHedge.com
The normally-reserved Yves Smith asks whether Obama should be impeached over it.
Democratic Senator Wyden – the head of the committee which is supposed to oversee it – is so furious about the lack of access that he has introduced legislation to force disclosure.
Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa is so upset by it that he has leaked a document on his website to show what's going on.
What is everyone so furious about?
An international treaty being negotiated in secret which would not only crack down on Internet privacy much more than SOPA or ACTA, but would actually destroy the sovereignty of the U.S. and all other signatories.
It is called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Egypt's supreme court
dissolves parliament and outrages Islamists Highest court also rules army candidate can remain in election race in moves denounced as a coup by Muslim Brotherhood
By David Hearst and Abdel-Rahman Hussein in Cairo - Guardian.co.uk
Two days before the second round of presidential elections, Egypt's highest court on Thursday dissolved the Islamist-dominated parliament and ruled that the army-backed candidate could stay in the race, in what was widely seen as a double blow for the Muslim Brotherhood.
The decision was denounced as a coup by opposition leaders of all kinds and many within the Brotherhood, who fear that they will lose much of the political ground they have gained since Hosni Mubarak was ousted 16 months ago.
Tehran Hardens Nuclear Stance
BY FARNAZ FASSIHI - WSJ.com $$
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said Iran wouldn't compromise on its right to enrich uranium, casting doubts on whether the country could reach a deal during talks with international powers in Moscow this month.
Saeed Jalili, the negotiator, updated lawmakers in Iran's parliament on Wednesday over the status of the country's nuclear talks, in a speech that was aired live on radio and published by official media.
Mr. Jalili's narrative of several rounds of nuclear talks dating to last year suggested a hardening of Iran's position. The diplomat, who represents the views of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dismissed a suspension ...
- - - - - - - - - - -
TRANSHUMANISM with Tom Horn
It's here, just like the days of Noah when Fallen Angels mixed with earthly women to create the Nephilim. This is the reason God destroyed life on earth, with the exception of Noah's family who remained genetically pure.
Transhumanism Agenda Enforced with 'Nanotech Weapons'
On the Wednesday, June 13 edition of the Alex Jones Show, Alex covers the latest developments on the engineered implosion of the global economy as the embattled eurozone heads for economic Armageddon with Spain and Italy begging for bankster handouts. Alex also talks about the betrayal of Rand Paul as the senator from Kentucky attempts to merge the liberty movement with the establishment Republican Party. Alex confronts multiple aspects of the emerging police state -- from TSA pedophiles gone wild to new surveillance technology -- and he also takes a large number of calls on today's show.
Tiny, the Mouse, Takes a Giant Step for Mankind
By Severine Kirchner - dailyreckoning.com
06/14/12 You've probably heard of Dolly the sheep, the world's first cloned mammal. But you've probably never heard of Tiny the mouse…one of the first creatures ever created from "reprogrammed" adult cells
Don't be fooled by this little mouse's name, what Tiny represents in the world of regenerative medicine is anything but tiny…
In July 2009, a team from the Beijing's Institute of Zoology reported in the journal Nature that it created healthy, fertile animals (Tiny and its brethren) by using so-called pluripotent stem cells (iPS). IPS cells are adult cells that have been genetically reprogrammed back to a pluripotent state. A pluripotent cell is simply a cell that can become most or all of the 200 cell types of the body.
Russia's Nuclear Industry is a Disaster Waiting to Happen
By Diplomatic Courier - OilPrice.com
The state of Russia's civilian nuclear power should be cause the entire planet to shudder: Radioactive waste deposal sites are full to the bursting point, and many reactors are outdated and fail to meet even the most basic of safety standards. In short, as one reads between the lines, a new disaster is pending.
The now-famous disaster in Japan has taken on tragic proportions and caused massive public health problems. Explosions in Japanese atomic power plants are forcing world experts to question once more the future of nuclear energy, as well as the existing and engineered safety level for various nuclear facilities around the world. Is nuclear energy "outdated"? Is it a source of energy that should be abandoned out of safety concerns? The time has arrived once again for a cold-eyed and careful assessment of nuclear energy security in the world. This is especially pressing in the case of Russia.
Life Under the Radioactive Cloud
by LINDA PENTZ GUNTHER - CounterPunch.org
Mothers in Fukushima, Japan, worry that the food and milk that they must feed daily to their infants and children may one day kill them. Is that a fear that an American parent can even begin to fathom? That because of the secrecy, the intransigence and, ultimately, the criminality of your own government, you might be unwillingly killing your own children by feeding them produce contaminated with radioactive fallout? And yet, that is life in Fukushima Prefecture today.
You are a grandmother whose grandchildren can never visit you. You are a farmer whose crops are too contaminated to sell. You are a teacher who must tell children to jump into the school swimming pool's cesium-laced waters. You are suffering ailments not unlike those found among populations exposed to the Chernobyl fallout. And whether your sufferings are physical or mental they are all equally real and equally serious and they are all caused, one way or the other, by the devastating nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima Daiichi that, far from being over, could actually get worse. Much worse.
Central banks pile up Gold, private investors join bandwagon
By Austin Kiddle - CommodityOnline.com
Gold futures led the performance of other asset classes by rallying 1.4% week-to-date as of Tuesday. The S&P rose only 0.1% after rallying 3.7% last week, while the Stoxx was flat after rising 3.6% last week. The Euro/dollar fell 0.1%, and the CRB Commodity Index dropped 0.7% so far this week. The Dollar Index fell 0.1% as well. The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield rose slightly by 3bp. In other words, many markets have been adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
China's recently-released economic data have been encouraging: exports growth and trade surplus were higher than expected; inflation eased to 3%; new loans at RMB 793.2 billion were higher than expected, indicating the economy has been responding to policy easing.
EU debt crisis to boost Gold demand significantly:
Commerzbank
LONDON (Commodity Online): The ongoing European debt crisis is likely to mean more gold demand from investors and central banks, said Commerzbank, the second-largest bank in Germany, after Deutsche Bank.
According to the German bank, the metal rose back above $1,600 an ounce Tuesday despite weakness in the broader commodity markets. So far, the financial aid promised to Spanish banks has failed to have its desired effect.
Further rises in Spanish and Italian bond yields Tuesday and a Fitch downgrade of Spanish banks.
Recession 2013:
This Report Shows We're Already Headed There
BY BEN GERSTEN, Associate Editor, Money Morning
Recent reports have indicated a downturn in the U.S. economy. Coupled with fears stemming from the Eurozone debt crisis, they've fueled speculation about "Recession 2013."
In fact, former President Bill Clinton said he thinks we are already in a recession - and that was before the latest U.S. unemployment numbers were released, painting an even gloomier picture.
By now most of you have heard about the awful numbers in the discouraging U.S. jobs report for May, where only 69,000 jobs were added - nowhere near the 150,000 expected.
Endless QE? $6 trillion and counting
By Mike Dolan
(Reuters) - Many more years of money printing from the world's big four central banks now looks destined to add to the $6 trillion already created since 2008 and may transform the relationship between the once fiercely-independent banks and governments.
As rich economies sink deeper into a slough of debt after yet another wave of euro financial and banking stress and U.S. hiring hesitancy, everyone is looking back to the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan to stabilize the situation once more.
The European Banking Union?
By Hans-Werner Sinn - Project-Syndicate.org
MUNICH – In blatant violation of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Commission has come forward with one bailout plan after another for Europe's distressed economies. Now it wants to socialize not only government debt by introducing Eurobonds, but also banking debt by proclaiming a "banking union."
Socializing bank debt is both unjust and will result in a future misallocation of resources. Socialization of bank debt across borders implies that a country's private borrowing costs are artificially reduced below market rates, as insurance (in the form of credit-default swaps) is provided free of charge by other countries. Thus, capital flows from the core to the periphery would continue to exceed the optimal amount, undermining growth for Europe as a whole.
Barroso to unveil 'political union' plan at EU summit
BY ANDREW RETTMAN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has said member states must agree to a big common budget, a future banking union and - ultimately - political union in order to save the EU.
His speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday (13 June) comes before an EU summit on 28 June.
Barroso, EU Council president Herman Van Rompuy, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi and Jean-Claude Juncker - the head of the euro-using countries' club, the Eurogroup - are drafting a joint paper on how EU leaders can stop the crisis.
Greeks Withdraw $1 Billion a Day Ahead of Vote
Reuters - CNBC.com
Greeks pulled their cash out of the banks and stocked up with food ahead of a cliffhanger election on Sunday that many fear will result in the country being forced out of the euro.
Bankers said up to 800 million euros ($1 billion) were leaving major banks daily and retailers said some of the money was being used to buy pasta and canned goods, as fears of returning to the drachma were fanned by rumors that a radical leftist leader may win the election.
Greek crisis:
precarious funding pushes health
and social services to extremes Use of volunteers and donations at state-funded refugee centre and psychiatric hospital reveal impact of low cash and high debts
By Lizzy Davies in Athens - Guardian.co.uk
As the volunteers unpack their shopping bags of rice, milk and cooking oil, Goman Badder retreats to the room he lives in with his wife and their one-year-old son. For the 28-year-old Syrian Kurd, the deliveries are a mixed blessing: he is relieved that his family will not go hungry, but humiliated that it has come to this. He had hoped for better things for his son, asleep on the neatly made bed.
"When I left Syria, I felt I didn't want him to be like me," he says. "But I never thought for him it would be like this: people bringing him Pampers and milk. If I'd known it would be like this I would never have brought him to this world."
EU 'Could Limit Withdrawals From Cash Machines'
If Greek Exit Tips Eurozone Into Deeper Crisis
GovtSlaves.info
(Adrien Lowery)European Union officials have discussed measures to stop mass withdrawals from cash machines, a report claimed today, if a Greek exit were to tip the eurozone into a deeper crisis.
Finance officials have also discussed imposing border checks and introducing eurozone capital controls, in order to check a possible flight of funds, according to Reuters news agency.
The officials stressed they did not expect Greece to leave the euro and the ideas were from a range of contingency plans – but the preparations indicate the gravity which EU leaders are attaching to a potential Greek exit.
Europe's Divisions Widen as Policy Makers Clash Rajoy Battles ECB For Loans; Monti Appeals For EU Action
By Ben Sills - Bloomberg.com
Tensions among European leaders are breaking into the open as bond investors reject their fixes for a debt crisis that threatens to overwhelm the euro region's financial firewalls.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble sniped at Greek yacht owners in comments published yesterday while Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy declared "battle" on theEuropean Central Bank. Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter retracted a forecast that Italy would need aid, and Spain pushed back against Finnish advice on how to use its 100 billion-euro ($126 billion) bank bailout.
Crisis focus shifts to Italy ahead of key auction Italy braces for medium- and long-term-debt auctions
By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — The traveling euro-zone debt crisis will shift from Spain to Italy on Thursday as Europe's third-largest economy hosts a key bond auction, hoping to stem fears that it might be the next country to require a bailout.
Pressure has intensified on Italian bonds leading up to the auction of €4.5 billion ($5.62 billion) in medium- and long-term debt as fears have emerged that if Italy were to require a bailout the EU wouldn't be able to provide one.
Italy denies need for bail-out
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has said his country does not need a bail-out, even though its borrowing costs have soared amid contagion from Spain, whose recent bail-out has failed to calm markets.
"Italy even in the future will not need aid from the European Financial Stability Fund," Monti said in an interview with the German Public Radio ARD on Tuesday (12 June).
He called on investors and market analysts "not to be governed by cliches or prejudices" and argued that his country has left its "undisciplined" past behind and is doing more to put its house in order than many other European countries.
Europe's 'Worst Crisis' Requires Fiscal Union: Spain
By: Katy Barnato - Assistant Editor, CNBC
Europe needs a fiscal and banking union if it is to survive "the worst crisis" since the European Union's creation, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoysaid in an open letter to leaders on Wednesday.
In the letter, which was addressed to Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission and Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, Rajoy said fiscal and banking union, as well as monetary union, will be necessary to counter financial volatility and restore confidence in the euro zone.
Bailout in Spain Leaves Taxpayers Liable for the Cost
By: Raphael Minder, The New York Times - CNBC.com
After clinching a $125 billion bailout for Spain's banks, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy flew to Poland on Sunday for the Spanish team's soccer match, declaring "this matter is now resolved."
Not so fast, prime minister.
On Tuesday, Spain's long-term borrowing costs soared to their highest level since the country joined the euro zone. Investors have apparently concluded that the rescue is potentially a much better deal for the banksand their shareholders than for the government, its taxpayers and bondholders.
Moody's: Spain's credit rating could be cut to junk within three months
Spain could be downgraded to 'junk' within three months, rating agency Moody's warned on Wednesday night, as it slashed the country's credit rating by three notches.
By Emma Rowley - Telegraph.co.uk
The €100bn (£80bn) bank bailout agreed this week will "further increase the country's debt burden", the agency said, as it cut Spain's government bond rating from A3 to Baa3 – one notch above non-investment grade or 'junk' status.
Moody's also cited the Spanish government's "very limited financial market access" and the weakness of the country's economy.
It placed Spain on review for possible further downgrade as it awaited the outcome of audits of Spanish banks and further details of the bank bailout. Spain's rating could also be cut if "the risk of a Greek exit from the euro were to rise further", Moody's said. It expected to conclude the review within a maximum of three months.
How Germans Botched the Spanish Bank Bailout
By Clive Crook - Bloomberg.com
Europe's latest initiative to subdue its financial crisis fell apart in less than a day.
The instant response to the plan for supporting Spanish banks had been euphoric. Even as bond markets pushed the cost of Spanish public borrowing even higher, in effect declaring the country insolvent, politicians were still applauding themselves.
European Union leaders thought the plan would impress the markets because the sum committed to support Spain's banks, 100 billion euros ($125 billion), looked adequate -- bigger, in fact, than investors expected. The EU thought it was getting ahead of events for once.
Spain's Record Yields Show Italy Bailout Risk Amid Contagion
By Ben Sills - San Francisco Chronicle
June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Spain's benchmark borrowing costs rose for a fourth day after touching a record yesterday, raising the specter of sovereign bailouts for the government in Madrid and then Italy that would stretch European Union finances to their limit.
The yield on Spanish 10-year government debt rose 2 basis points to 6.73 percent at 9:55 a.m. in Madrid. Yesterday it touched 6.83 percent, the highest since 1997, after Fitch Ratings predicted that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will miss budget-deficit targets he's made the foundation of his economic policy. Italian 10-year yields posted their highest close in six months yesterday and rose for a sixth session today.
Geithner rejects calls to push hard on Europe
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — It makes no sense for the United States to push Europe harder to solve its debt crisis, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday.
While the United States has a clear interest in making the euro-zone monetary union more viable, "we can't want this more than them. … We can't make these choices for them," he remarked in a talk to the Council on Foreign Relations.
"There are people who say we should be louder in telling them what to do. I don't think so," Geithner added. "There are people who say we should go write them a check so they don't have to write a larger check to help underpin monetary union. I don't see how that's defensible."
Geithner Says European Leaders Know They Must Do More
By Ian Katz - Bloomberg.com
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said European leaders "recognize they're going to have to do a bunch more" to stem the region's debt crisis.
"This is a very challenging crisis for them still," Geithner said today during a talk at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.
Spain and Italy appealed today to European policy makers to step up their response to the crisis after a 100 billion-euro ($125 billion) lifeline for Spanish banks failed to calm markets. Yields on Spanish debt due in 10-years climbed to 6.75 percent today, compared with 5.1 percent at the end of last year.
Germany signals shift
on €2.3 trillion redemption fund for Europe The German government has begun opening the door to shared debts for the first time in a profound change of policy, agreeing to explore proposals for a €2.3 trillion (£1.9 trillion) stabilization fund in order to stop the eurozone's crisis escalating out of control.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Officials in Berlin say privately that Chancellor Angela Merkel is willing to drop her vehement opposition to plans for a "European Redemption Pact", a "sinking fund" that would pay down excess sovereign debt in the eurozone.
"It is conceivable so long as there is proper supervision of tax revenues," said a source in the Chancellor's office. The official warned that there would be no "master plan" or major break-through at the EU summit later this month.
Central Bank Money-Printing: $6 Trillion...and Counting
Reuters - CNBC.com
Many more years of money printing from the world's big four central banks now looks destined to add to the $6 trillion already created since 2008 and may transform the relationship between the once fiercely-independent banks and governments.
As rich economies sink deeper into a slough of debt after yet another wave of euro financial and banking stress and U.S. hiring hesitancy, everyone is looking back to the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan to stabilize the situation once more.
Dollar Remains Lower Against Euro Before U.S. CPI Data
By Masaki Kondo and Monami Yui - Bloomberg.com
The dollar remained lower against the euro following a two-day slide before U.S. data that may show consumer prices fell, rekindling expectations the Federal Reserve will take more steps to bolster the economic recovery.
The euro maintained a rally from an 11-year low versus the yen amid speculation traders are paring their bearish bets on the European currency before Greek elections on June 17. The Fed is scheduled to hold a two-day policy meeting starting June 19. New Zealand's dollar strengthened against all of its 16 major counterparts after the central bank left the benchmark interest rate unchanged.
J.P. Morgan's Dimon in congressional cross-hairs Democrats, Republicans at odds over bank capital
as key to limit crises
By Ronald D. Orol, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — J.P. Morgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon on Wednesday defended the U.S. banking sector and the big bank's risk management team, responding to a much-anticipated and sometimes heated interrogation from lawmakers over a $2 billion-plus derivatives trading loss at the financial institution's U.K. trading unit.
Dimon also was optimistic about the U.S. banking sector, responding to concerns raised by Democrats that another less well capitalized institution might conduct the same risky trades and have a collateral impact on a more fragile economic system.
Jamie Dimon blames JP Morgan losses
on top executives in Senate testimony Appearing before banking committee, JP Morgan boss is critical of legislation that would curb some types of hedging in US
By Dominic Rushe - Guardian.co.uk
JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon blamed the bank's $2bn-plus trading losses on "poorly conceived" strategies of senior executives who failed to keep him informed, as he escaped largely unscathed Wednesday from a Senate banking committee hearing set up to investigate the affair.
While Dimon told the committee that while he was ultimately responsible for the fiasco, he said he was not made fully aware of a strategy in London that was "poorly conceived and vetted" and that "violates common sense".
Dimon can't hide disdain for questions J.P. Morgan chief squirms in committee hearing
By MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Jamie Dimon is disgusted with us idiots who don't understand banking.
Seriously, what other conclusion could one come to after watching Dimon, chief executive and chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., joust with members of the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday?
Dimon, called to account for a $2 billion or more trading loss suffered in the second quarter, was visibly irritated when asked about the bank's chain of command as well as its risk controls, not to mention whether new regulation would have prevented what's come to be known as the "London whale" trade.
JPMorgan's Chief Says Clawback Efforts Are 'Likely'
BY BEN PROTESS - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON — JPMorgan Chase is "likely" to try to recover compensation from executives responsible for a recent multibillion-dollar trading blowup, according to Jamie Dimon, the bank's chief executive.
In testimony on Wednesday before the Senate Banking Committee, Mr. Dimon assured lawmakers that the bank's board was investigating the trading losses at the chief investment office. Once the investigation is complete, he said, the bank will decide whose paychecks to pursue.
"When the board finishes the review, you can expect we'll take proper corrective action," the executive told a packed hearing room, shortly after a parade of protesters jeered the chief executive. "There's likely to be clawbacks."
Dimon Says Overconfidence Fueled Loss He Can't Defend
By Dawn Kopecki, Clea Benson and Phil Mattingly - Bloomberg.com
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said overconfidence in trusted managers allowed traders to accumulate more than $2 billion in losses through a strategy that "violated common sense."
Risk-monitoring systems and executives at the largest U.S. bank failed to adequately police threats concentrated in a derivatives portfolio at a London unit of the chief investment office, he said. The division wasn't subjected to the same scrutiny as other businesses, and managers there deviated from control procedures, even after triggers on risk limits were breached, Dimon told the Senate Banking Committee yesterday.
Dimon Gives Regulators New Ammunition
For Tougher Volcker Rule
By Steven Sloan and Silla Brush - Bloomberg.com
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon conceded a key point when pressed by lawmakers about a proposed ban on proprietary trading at banks: Had the rule been in place, it may have prevented the firm's recent $2 billion loss.
The ban "may very well have stopped parts of what this portfolio morphed into," Dimon said yesterday in testimony to the Senate Banking Committee.
Dimon's comments provided new ammunition to lawmakers and regulators emboldened by JPMorgan's mistakes who argue that a stricter ban on banks using their own money to make trades is needed to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. The ban, part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, was named for Paul Volcker, the former Fed chairman who championed the measure.
Senators Fawn Over JPMorgan CEO
After Massive Trading Debacle
By BRIAN BEUTLER - TalkingPointsMemo.com
The long-shot big hope for Wall Street reformers Wednesday was that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon would trip up before the Senate Banking Committee and expose the need for tighter rules governing big banks. His firm, after all, recently lost billions making risky bets with depositor funds on the line.
Instead, with some notable exceptions, the senators themselves turned the cross-examination into a coronation, and exposed the extent to which elected officials still feel compelled to genuflect to powerful financial interests.
I THOUGHT OBAMACARE
WAS GOING TO REDUCE HEALTHCARE COSTS
By James Quinn - TheBurningPlatform.com
Remember when Obama told us with a straight face that his government healthcare solution would add 30 million people to the health insurance rolls, cover dependents until they were 26 years old and stop insurance companies from denying someone insurance for pre-existing conditions and not result in an increase in healthcare costs? OOPS!!!! It seems he may have been off by a trillion or three. Close enough for a lying politician. Since Barack forced my employer to expand dependent coverage to 26 year olds and cover pre-existing conditions for new employees, I've seen my premiums go up and my co-pay go from $15 to $25. I'm still waiting for that windfall raise from the 3,000% decrease in insurance premiums for my employer. How long do you think I'll need to wait?
"How many people are getting insurance through their jobs right now? Raise your hands. All right. Well, a lot of those folks, your employer it's estimated would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent, which means they could give you a raise." — Barack Obama
Supreme Court ruling on healthcare law
could bring trouble for Republicans
By Sam Baker- TheHill.com
The Supreme Court's landmark healthcare ruling will pose a big test for Republicans, even if the court strikes down all or part of President Obama's healthcare law.
So far, the party has not come together around a set of policies to replace the healthcare law if it's struck down entirely. Republicans also haven't said how they would handle policies that are already in place, including discounts on prescription drugs for many seniors.
The Most Important Challenge For Colleges
Isn't Price—It's Attention As universities look for ways to teach more students at a reasonable price, they will move online -- into the clicky, crowded, distractable world of the Web. Get ready for Infotainment U.
By Kara Miller - TheAtlantic.com
This is one of my favorite anecdotes: Last year, the University of Phoenix enlisted renowned Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen to record a lecture. The university reserved a harbor-view room for Christensen and populated it with young people, so that the camera operators could record their reactions.
Before he began to speak, Christensen noticed that the audience appeared unusually engaged and attractive.
"What school do you guys go to?" he asked.
"We're not students," a young man told him. "We're models."
When Christensen told me this story, I laughed. But the University of Phoenix is serious -- and smart. Putting a Harvard professor in front of a lecture hall filled with models is an acknowledgment that, in a Web-recorded lecture, appearance counts -- even the few seconds of cutaways to reactions from gorgeous, engaged "students."
Retail Sales In U.S. Declined For A Second Month In May
By Shobhana Chandra - Bloomberg.com
Retail sales in the U.S. fell in May for a second month, prompting economists to cut forecasts for economic growth as limited job and income gains hold back consumers.
The 0.2 percent decrease matched April's drop that was previously reported as a gain, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Sales excluding car dealershipsslumped by the most in two years.
The smallest wage gains in a year and unemployment exceeding 8 percent are taking a toll on the consumer spendingthat accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, leaving it more vulnerable to shocks from the European crisis. Federal Reserve policy makers gather next week to decide whether further stimulus is needed to fuel the three-year-old expansion.
Oil price could plunge to $50, says Credit Suisse The oil price could almost halve later this year if the crisis in the eurozone escalates, Credit Suisse believes.
By Garry White - Telegraph.co.uk
"Brent oil prices would again hit $50 (£32) a barrel" in a worst-case scenario, according to analysts Jan Stuart and Stefan Revielle. "Oil demand would deflate sharply following acute crises of confidence."
The analysts said that all potential negative scenarios involved Europe "to some degree" with the starting point of collapse coming over the summer. However, Brent crude rose $1.06 to $98.20 yesterday after the US Energy Department said the country's stockpiles had seen a surprise fall of 191,000 barrels to 384.4m barrels last week.
Exposed: Planned Parenthood Sells
Tax-Funded Sex-Selection Abortions
by Steven Ertelt - LifeNews.com
Two new expose' videos reveal the Hawaii-based Planned Parenthood abortion business selling taxpayer-funded abortions to women posing as potential customers seeking an abortion for purposes of sex-selection.
Live Action released new undercover footage today showing two Planned Parenthood clinics, in Maui and Honolulu, advising undercover investigators on how to procure a sex-selective abortion of her baby girl because she wants a boy instead. Officials with the group say Planned Parenthood claims publicly to condemn sex-selective abortion but continues to provide them to women who request them.
Michigan lawmakers approve key parts
of hardline anti-abortion law package Backers of law that will now move to state's Senate are accused of rushing the process forward without adequate hearings
By Paul Harris - Guardian.co.uk
Michigan lawmakers have voted in favour of key parts of anti-abortionlaws that pro-choice campaigners claim could shut down most abortion clinics in the state.
The state's House of Representatives voted by 70 to 39 in favour of the main new piece of proposed legislation on Wednesday, with two more bills still awaiting votes. The law is now set to move to the state's Senate in September and is likely to put Michigan are the forefront of America's battle over abortion rights.
AFL-CIO Pulling Funds From Obama Campaign
By ELIZABETH FLOCK - USNews.com
The AFL-CIO has told Washington Whispers it will redeploy funds away from political candidates smack dab in the middle of electionseason, the latest sign that the largest federation of unions in the country could be becoming increasingly disillusioned with President Obama.
The federation says the shift has been in the works for months, and had nothing to do with the president's failure to show in Wisconsin last week, where labor unions led a failed recall electionof Governor Scott Walker.
Oklahoma Rancher In Russia Threatens U.S. Beef Exports
By Ilya Khrennikov and Marina Sysoyeva - Bloomberg.com
Anthony Stidham, a 48-year-old third-generation rancher from Oklahoma, is at the forefront of President Vladimir Putin's plan to cut Russia's $3 billion annual bill as the world's biggest beef importer.
At the country's largest beef farm about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of Moscow, Stidham is passing on cattle- rearing skills to locals in a drive toward self-sufficiency that's already involved shipping in about 60,000 Aberdeen Angus cattle from the U.S. and Australia.
Arizona prepares to enforce strict immigration law
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times
Arizona is already gearing up to enforce its strict immigration law as it anticipates a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court sometime this month, with Gov. Jan Brewer issuing an executive order this week telling police to bone up on the details of the law.
Mrs. Brewer ordered that training materials produced to help police understand the law and its limits should be distributed throughout the state in preparation for a ruling.
Sen. Paul proposes bill
protecting Americans from drone surveillance
By Pete Kasperowicz - TheHill.com
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday introduced the Preserving Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act, which would require the government to get a warrant before using aerial drones to surveil U.S. citizens.
More broadly, Paul's bill is aimed at preventing "unwarranted governmental intrusion" through the use of drones, according to the lawmaker.
"Like other tools used to collect information in law enforcement, in order to use drones a warrant needs to be issued," Paul said Tuesday. "Americans going about their everyday lives should not be treated like criminals or terrorists and have their rights infringed upon by military tactics."
(NTEB) "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." (Revelation 13:16-17)
In a little while, the above scene in Revelation 13 will become a global reality. People can no longer buy or sell without the mark of the beast. And sometimes that would mean no longer being able to eat!
The USDA is now considering biometric identification for all individuals who will want to benefit from their Food and Nutrition Services. The RFID chip may just soon be a must for everyone who does not want to starve!
Wrongheaded in Rio
By Bjørn Lomborg - Project-Syndicate.org
COPENHAGEN – Tens of thousands of people will soon gather in Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations Earth Summit. The participants, ranging from weary politicians to enthusiastic campaigners, are supposed to reignite global concern for the environment. Unfortunately, the summit is likely to be a wasted opportunity.
The UN is showcasing the alluring promise of a "green economy," focused on tackling global warming. In fact, the summit is striking at the wrong target, neglecting the much greater environmental concerns of the vast majority of the world.
Global warming is by no means our main environmental threat. Even if we assumed – unreasonably – that it caused all deaths from floods, droughts, heat waves, and storms, this total would amount to just 0.06% of all deaths in developing countries. In comparison, 13% of all Third World deaths result from water and air pollution.
UN to consider $1,300 green tax on US by Joel Gehrke - WashingtonExaminer.com
Diplomats at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Conference in Rio de Janeiro next week will consider proposals that would levy taxes on American families and energy industries in order to support international efforts to combat global warming, according to a draft agenda for the conference.
"We recognize that subsidies for non-renewable energy development should be eliminated and replaced with a global tax on the production of energy from non-renewable energy sources," the UN draft agenda, amended by non-governmental organizations at the invitation of the UN, says. "The income of this tax should be allocated to renewable energy development." The draft agenda was obtained by the Center for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), a group skeptical of the UN's position on global warming.
White House Debuts Ambitious Plan
To Remake The Web Using Broadband
CARL FRANZEN - TalkingPointsMemo.com
President Obama will sign an executive order on Thursday designed to lower the costs and speed up the installation of broadband networks on and through federal property, the White House announced in a statement.
But that's just the beginning of what the White House has in mind for the future of the Internet in this country. Another part of the plan, a massive public-private partnership called "US Ignite," seeks to reprogram the very Web itself for an era of near-ubiquitous, high-speed broadband connectivity.
Hackers claim to steal 110,000 SSNs from Tenn. school system Close to 9,000 SSNs belonging to students,
employees publicly posted
By Jaikumar Vijayan - ComputerWorld.com
Computerworld - A hitherto unknown hacking group claimed responsibility for a hacking attack on a county school system in Tennessee that may have exposed the names, Social Security numbers and other personal data belonging to about 110,000 people.
The group, which called itself Spex Security, later posted 14,500 of the compromised records online and has threatened to post more. Those affected by the breach include an unknown number of former and current students and employees of the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS).
Consumer groups applaud DOJ probe of cable companies
By Brendan Sasso - TheHill.com
The Lead: Consumer groups applauded news on Wednesday that the Justice Department's Antitrust Division is investigating whether cable companies are illegally stifling competition from online video services.
The Wall Street Journal broke the news of the investigation, reporting that federal officials have questioned cable companies including Comcast and Time Warner, as well as Internet video providers such as Netflix and Hulu.
Cable companies provide both television and broadband Internet service for many customers. High-speed Internet has enabled consumers to watch videos and shows online, instead of on their television. The question is whether the cable companies have illegally used their control over Internet access to prevent people from dumping their television service in favor of online video.
F-22 Pilots Told To Stop Wearing Pressure Vest Routinely
By David Lerman and Tony Capaccio - Bloomberg.com
The U.S. Air Force has instructed pilots of the F-22 Raptor to stop wearing a pressure vest during routine flights as the service continues to investigate oxygen- deprivation incidents on the Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) fighter jet.
"Recent testing has identified some vulnerability and reliability issues in the upper pressure garment worn by F-22 pilots," Lieutenant Colonel Edward Sholtis, a spokesman for the Air Combat Command, said today in an e-mailed statement. He said the Air Force is working to correct the problem.
Asia's Next Axis
By Yoon Young-kwan - Project-Syndicate.org
SEOUL – Last month, the leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea agreed to begin negotiations later this year on a trilateral free-trade agreement. If the talks succeed, the global trade map will need to be redrawn. An FTA that encompasses, respectively, the world's second, third, and 12th biggest economies (in purchasing power parity terms in 2011), with a population of 1.5 billion, would dwarf the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement, comprising the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Indeed, Northeast Asia would become the third major axis of regional economic integration, following the EU and NAFTA. Until now, the region has been unable to institutionalize economic cooperation as vigorously as Europe and North America have. But if the proposals discussed in Beijing last month are realized, the resulting FTA could surpass NAFTA in its degree of integration and importance to the world economy.
Clinton warns Russia over Syria
WashingtonTimes.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary RodhamClinton on Wednesday warned Russia that it will sacrifice its interests in Syriaunless it acts constructively now.
Speaking to reporters a day after accusing Moscow of sending attack helicopters to Syria, Mrs. Clinton questioned Russia's claim that it wants peace and stability restored in the Arab country and that it is not attached to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.
She said Russia is putting its "vital interests in the region and relationships" at risk by blocking international action on a transition plan.
Russia defends arms sales to Syria
By Courtney Weaver and Charles Clover in Moscow
and Abigail Fielding-Smith in Beirut - FT.com
Moscow forcefully rejected on Wednesday Hillary Clinton's accusation that Russia was supplying Syria with helicopter gunships that could be used against civilians, as Syria announced it had "cleansed" the rebel town of Haffa of armed fighters.
Speaking in Tehran, Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said Moscow was instead "completing contracts that were signed and paid for a long time ago. All of them are contracts for what are solely air defence systems."
Ex-Mossad Chief: Israeli Attack Would Help Iran Go Nuclear Meir Dagan says Bibi and Barak are serious
about attacking the Islamic Republic.
By Jeffrey Goldberg - TheAtlantic.com
Gen. Benny Gantz, the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, spoke out last week against ex-military and intelligence officials who are expressing doubts about the efficacy of a preemptive Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear project.
Gantz, testifying in the Knesset, said, "There is a lot of chatter and conversation regarding Iran. Very few people know what is real and what is not, or what can be and what cannot be." Gantz named no names, but his targets were quite obviously three men: his predecessor as chief of staff, Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi; the former head of the Shabak, Israel's internal security service, Yuval Diskin; and Meir Dagan, the recently retired chief of the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service.
Where Silver trumps central planning
By Dr Jeffrey Lewis - CommodityOnline.com
The current worldwide political landscape is full of examples where the politics and economy connect. In fact, economic policy is largely driven by politics in most countries around the globe.
The European Union replaces democratic leaders with technocrats
In the European Union, technocratic leaders are gradually replacing those who have been democratically elected.
This sets up a "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" situation in terms of EU monetary union versus a considerably more challenging objective of an integrated European cultural union.
US Gold, Silver mine output declines sharply in March: USGS
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): United States gold and silver mine production declined sharply in March this year as compared to March 2011, as per latest figures released by United States Geological Survey (USGS).
According to USGS data, country's gold mines production declined by 4.1% (or 800 kg) year-on-year to 18,700 kilograms (kg) in March and a slight increase compared with February. While its silver mine production declined sharply by 22% (or 22600 kg) year-on-year to 80,400 kg in March 2012 and down by 3% month-on-month.
This Time, Europe Really Is on the Brink
by Niall Ferguson and Nouriel Roubini - Spiegel.de
The European Union was created to avoid repeating the disasters of the 1930s, but Germany, of all countries, has failed to learn from history. As the euro crisis escalates, Berlin should remember how the banking crisis of 1931 contributed to the breakdown of democracy across Europe. Action is urgently needed to stop history from repeating itself.
Is it one minute to midnight in Europe?
The failure of German public opinion to grasp the dire state of affairs in Europe today is inviting a repeat of precisely the crisis of the mid 20th century that European integration was designed to avoid.
Threat Spreads Across Europe
[Google title for free article pass] Borrowing Costs Rise Across Continent as World Bank Sees Global Impact From Crisis
By SUDEEP REDDY And BRIAN BLACKSTONE - WSJ.com $$
Borrowing costs for Italy and Spain continued to surge on Tuesday, escalating calls for bigger steps from euro-zone leaders amid a new warning that the crisis is dragging down even the world's resilient emerging economies.
Spain's 10-year borrowing costs touched 6.80% before settling at a euro-era closing high of 6.72%, the second straight jump in the two trading days since European officials announced a bank bailout of as much as €100 billion ($126 billion) that was intended to calm markets. That fueled fears that the government itself could need its own rescue from the rest of Europe.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde warns world risks triple crisis Lagarde says world risks falling incomes, environmental damage and social unrest without more sustainable approach to growth
By Phillip Inman - Guardian.co.uk
Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, has warned that the world risks a triple crisis of declining incomes, environmental damage and social unrest unless countries adopt a more sustainable approach to economic growth.
Ahead of the Rio+20 Earth summit later this month, she said the rich should restrain their demands for higher incomes while there are still 200 million people worldwide looking for a job and poverty is on the rise.
EC preparing secret plans for Greek euro exit Legal advice on capital controls, including limits on withdrawals from Greek bank accounts, and emergency border restrictions, has been provided by the European Commission to eurozone governments drawing up plans for Greece to leave the euro.
By Bruno Waterfield - Telegraph.co.uk
Commission officials confirmed on Tuesday that "these elements" of contingency planning for a Greek exit from the single currency have been discussed by the "euro working group" (EWG) of Treasury officials and junior finance ministers over the last six weeks.
"There are indeed discussions, and we are asked to clarify what is foreseen in the EU treaties," said a Commission spokesman. "Some people are working on scenarios. We are providing information on EU law as guardian of the treaties."
EU states seek advice on Greece exit scenarios
BY VALENTINA POP AND NIKOLAJ NIELSEN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - The European Commission on Tuesday (12 June) confirmed it is giving legal advice on possible capital controls and border checks should Greece leave the eurozone.
"We are the guardians of the EU treaty and we provide info to whomever asks what is possible under European law to cover these scenarios. This doesn't mean we are preparing a particular plan," commission spokesman Olivier Bailly said during a press conference.
Bundesbank scuppers all talk of EU banking union Germany's central bank has shot down EU proposals for a European banking union, warning categorically that eurozone liabilities cannot be shared without a fundamental shift towards fiscal and political union.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Andreas Dombret, a key board member of the Bundesbank, said the grand plan by Brussels is premature and unworkable as constructed. "A banking union is a sensible way forward as long as liability and control are aligned. What I mean is you don't give somebody your credit card if you don't know what he or she is going to do with it."
Mr Dombret said a pan-EMU deposit-guarantee scheme and a debt resolution fund would require "a genuine, democratically legitimated fiscal union" and a new treaty.
Italy's debt worries add urgency
to Merkel's dream of integration Mario Monti, the Italian prime minister, is due to meet France's Francois Hollande on Thursday in Rome and protecting Italy from Spanish contagion ought to be high on the agenda.
By Damian Reece - Telegraph.co.uk
There simply isn't enough money under current bail-out arrangements to rescue Italy should it require help. And markets are once more preparing for that eventuality.
Rome became a fully paid-up member of the 6pc-plus club on Tuesday as its cost of borrowing jumped to 6.14pc. Its predicament is different from Spain's and Spain's was different from Greece's. But that didn't stop Spain needing financial aid.
Globalist Plan: European Union Police State Lockdown
By Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
European Union apparatchiks are preparing to lockdown Europe following Greece's exit. From theAssociated Press today:
Olivier Bailly said Tuesday that, legally, limits could be imposed on movement of people and money across national borders within the EU if it's necessary to protect public order or public security — but not on economic grounds.
"Some people are working on scenarios," he said, but refused to identify individuals or organizations.
EU finance bosses have discussed controlling ATM withdrawals, subjecting the citizens of member states to rigorous border checks, and imposing capital controls "as a worst-case scenario should Athens decide to leave the euro," Reuters reports.
EU monitors heading to Madrid, despite 'Men in Black' claims
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Spain's €100 billion bail-out will be accompanied by EU-IMF supervision of banking reforms, EU and German officials said on Monday (11 June) - contradicting Madrid's claims that no "men in black" will come to the country as they did to Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
"We will work with the European Central Bank, the European Banking Authority and the International Monetary Fund [IMF] on conditionality. But no new conditions on fiscal policy or on structural reforms are needed," economics commissioner Olli Rehn told MEPs in Strasbourg on Monday evening.
Obama blames Europe for US economic problems?
On Friday, President Obama gave a speech on the state of the US economy. Significant parts of his address, however, were dedicated to Europe. President Obama blamed the Euro crisis on many difficulties America is facing now. Is this fair that five months before the election, Obama is trying to shift the blame for the poor economic data overseas? Former Reagan administration official Dr. Paul Craig Roberts joins Abby Martin to discuss it.
Oil Prices Fall to 8 Month Low
as Spanish Bailout Fails to Ease EU Debt Crisis
By James Burgess - OilPrice.com
Following in the footsteps of Greece, Portugal, and Ireland, Spain has now become the fourth nation to approach the European Union and request a bailout, since the debt crisis began nearly three years ago.
Europe's debt crisis is slowing economic growth in the region and reducing fuel use. Oil prices are being influenced by the situation in Europe as traders and analysts try to predict the future economic health of the region, and therefore the demand for oil products. Initial hope that the €100 billion ($126 billion) bailout would succeed in alleviating economic pressure was brief, but in the end oil actually fell to an eight month low in New York.
Postal chief: If we do nothing, we're Greece
By Jennifer Liberto @CNNMoney
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- The head of the U.S. Postal Service said Tuesday that if the service doesn't cut costs and Congress fails to act, it's going to be in the same dire straits as Greece.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe drew chuckles from a group of postal policy conference attendees by comparing the beleaguered, indebted Postal Service to the beleaguered, indebted nation.
He said that Greece's ratio of debt compared to gross domestic product is 1.61 and the U.S. Postal Service's ratio of debt compared to revenue is 1.51.
Myth of Perpetual Growth is killing America Everything you know about economics is wrong
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Yes, everything you know about economics is wrong. Dead wrong. Everything. The conclusions of economists are based on a fiction that distorts everything else. As a result economics is as real as one of the summer blockbusters like "Battleship," "The Avenger" or "Prometheus."
The difference is that the economic profession is a genuine threat, not entertainment. Economics dogma is on track to destroy the world with a misleading ideology.
Why? Because all economics is based on the absurd Myth of Perpetual Growth. Yes, all theories and business plans based on growth are mythological.
Treasurys extend losses after 3-year auction Turmoil in European debt, euro doesn't phase U.S. bonds
By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices extended losses slightly on Tuesday, erasing the prior session's rally, after the Treasury Department's sale of 3-year notes garnered poor demand from a key group of investors.
The relative safety of U.S. debt was seen as less desirable as stocks rose despite the Spanish bank bailout, coming Greek elections and rising Italian yields.
Hubris as the Evil Force in History
By Paul Craig Roberts - PaulCraigRoberts.org
I have always been intrigued by the Battle of Bull Run, the opening battle of the US Civil War, known to southerners as the War of Northern Aggression. Extreme hubris characterized both sides, the North before the battle and the South afterwards.
Republican politicians and their ladies in their finery road out to Manassas, the Virginia town through which the stream, Bull Run, flowed, in carriages to watch the Union Army end the "Southern Rebellion" in one fell swoop. What they witnessed instead was the Union Army fleeing back to Washington with its tail between its legs. The flight of the northern troops promoted some southern wags to name the battle, the Battle of Yankee Run.
Government posts $125 billion deficit in May
by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa
(Reuters) - The government posted a budget deficit of $125 billion in May, more than twice the level registered in the same month last year.
The budget has become a key point of political contention in Washington during this election year. Economists worry another budget impasse like the one that cost the United States its AAA credit rating last year could be in store at the end of 2012, potentially derailing a fragile economic recovery.
JPMorgan doomsday scenario revealed Impact of hypothetical $50bn 'catastrophic' loss presented
By Tom Braithwaite in Washington - FT.com
Just as JPMorgan Chase's chief investment office was engaging in disastrous lossmaking trades, other parts of the bank were working out what would happen if it suffered a "catastrophic, idiosyncratic event".
In March, Gregory Baer, deputy general counsel, presented a plan to policy makers and bankers to show the results of a hypothetical $50bn loss. It showed the bank would fail, shareholders would be wiped out and Jamie Dimon, chief executive, would be fired.
Dimon's sorry, sees profitable quarter for bank
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — On the eve of a high-profile hearing on the bank's trading loss of at least $2 billion, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said he expected the lender to produce a "solidly profitable" quarter as he apologized again for the blowup.
Dimon released his testimony in advance of a Senate committee hearing on the trading losses of the bank's chief investment office. That unit, which Dimon said is charged with managing a $350 billion portfolio in a "conservative manner," instead produced a loss.
ING agrees to forfeit $619 million Bank illegally moved billions for Cuban and Iranian entities
By Jerry Seper-The Washington Times
Amsterdam-based ING Bank N.V. agreed Tuesday to forfeit $619 million to the Justice Department and the New York County District Attorney´s Office for conspiring to illegally move billions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on behalf of sanctioned Cuban and Iranian entities.
It is the largest ever forfeiture against a bank in connection with an investigation into U.S. sanctions violations.
Assistant Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who heads the Justice Department's National Security Division, said the bank "knowingly and willfully" conspired to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Trading With the Enemy Act (TWEA) and New York state laws.
Major payment processor suspects personal info
may have been scooped up in recent break-in
AP - WashingtonPost.com
ATLANTA — A major processor of credit and debit cards suspects the fallout from a recent security breach may be worse than it initially believed.
Global Payments Inc. discovered computer hackers may have broken into systems containing personal information about an unspecified number of shoppers.
The Atlanta company learned about the intrusions as investigators dug deeper into a series of break-ins that stole data from as many as 1.5 million credit card accounts. The breach was first reported in late March.
The Elite Are Attempting To Convince Us
That Killing Off Our Sick Grandparents Is Cool And Trendy
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
What should be done with elderly Americans when they become very seriously ill? Should we try to save their lives or should we just let them die? Unfortunately, there is a growing consensus among the "intellectual elite" that most elderly people are not going to have a high enough "quality of life" to justify the expense of costly life saving procedures. This philosophy is now being promoted very heavily through mainstream news outlets, in our television shows and in big Hollywood movies. The elite are attempting to convince us that killing off our sick grandparents is cool and trendy. We are being told that "pulling the plug" on grandma and grandpa is compassionate (because it will end their suffering), that it is good for the environment and that it is even good for the economy. We are being told that denying life saving treatments to old people will dramatically reduce health care costs and make the system better for all of us. We are being told that it is not "efficient" for health insurance companies to shell out $100,000 for an operation that may extend the life of an elderly person by 6 months. But the truth is that all of this is part of a larger agenda that the elite are attempting to advance. As I have written about previously, the elite love death, and they truly believe that reducing the population is good for society and good for the planet. Sadly, population control propaganda has reached a fever pitch in recent months.
Retirement age must rise - OECD
By Emily Jane Fox @CNNMoney
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- As life expectancy continues to rise, a new report suggests that governments need to raise the age of retirement in order to keep up.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said that by 2050, the average woman and man can expect to live roughly 24 and 20 years beyond retirement age respectively, up from 20 and 17 years in 2010. At the same time, retirement ages across many countries have stayed the same.
Without a change, the Paris-based economic think-tank said governments won't be able to pay for more people needing retirement funds for longer periods of time.
North Dakota Votes for Measure
to Dump Confiscatory Property Taxes
By Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
The people of North Dakota will go to the polls today and decide if the state should abolish property taxes. The measure is opposed by the state Chamber of Commerce, agribusiness, government unions, politicians and others feeding at the public trough
As should be expected, the establishment media is attempting to demonize the move. "Measure 2, as the proposal is called on the ballot, would require state government to make up for property tax revenue lost by local governments but doesn't specify how," reports USA Today.
The Problem With Property Taxes
Attorney Robert Hale of Empower The Taxpayer of North Dakota talks about the key principles regarding property taxes, and what makes the regressive property tax the most oppressive, unfair and universally hated of all taxes, and for good reason.
Holder Refuses to Provide Testimony
on Kagan's Involvement in Obamacare
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - Attorney General Eric Holder has refused to provide written testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in response to"questions for the record" submitted to him by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.) that focus on Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's involvement in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act--AKA Obamacare--while she was President Barack Obama's solicitor general.
Question: "Are you aware of any instances during Justice Kagan's tenure as Solicitor General of the United States in which information related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and/or litigation related thereto was relayed or provided to her?"
'Unnecessary' and 'Political': Why Unions Are Bad For America We asked you to tell us if unions were necessary to restore wealth to average American families. Some of you said yes. Some of you said no. There's a comment section below. Keep talking to us.
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
I was in a union and 'unions are unnecessary'
I worked in a unionized refinery and my personal experience has been that unions are unnecessary. As an engineer, I was unable to touch any tools, provide any assistance to our technicians and operators for "taking work away from a union employee." While not always the case, the union gave protection to the laborer to be extremely lazy and unproductive because as long as he showed up to work on time, there was no way he could get fired. The technicians and operators started at $28.00 an hour, which was more than I made as an engineer. Obviously they have a much lower ceiling and top out pretty quickly, but that is an enormous amount of money for someone who can get away with being lazy as he wants. Also, during lead ups to labor negotiations (there were two big ones while I was there), there was ample evidence of sabotage to the plant while engineers were being trained to operate the refinery in the event of a strike. I cannot for the life of me understand why one would put people at risk in order to protect their job.
More Student Debt, Please:
Why College Students Don't Borrow Enough If more students took out loans,
they might be more likely to stay in school
By Jordan Weissmann - TheAtlantic.com
After the months of teeth gnashing and media panic over America's ballooning student debt burden, what I'm about to suggest will strike some readers as a bit ... nuts. But consider this possibility: U.S. undergraduates aren't deep enough in debt. They should take out more loans.
It sounds inconceivable. Outstanding student loans have shot up to around $1 trillion, a roughly four-fold increase since 2003. Thirty-eight percent of undergraduates now borrow for school, and more than half of full-time students do so, according to the most recent Department of Education statistics. The default rate, meanwhile, is increasing.
* * * * *
DETROIT CITY COUNCIL REFUSES TO DROP LAWSUIT THAT WILL BANKRUPT DETROIT IN FOUR DAYS
by BEN SHAPIRO - Breitbart.com
Yesterday, Detroit Mayor and former NBA star Dave Bing failed to convince Detroit's City Council to push for dismissal of a lawsuit that would challenge the city's agreement with the state to restore fiscal stability. "[O]nce we run out of money," said Bing, "there is no way that we can run this city – and that's the risk that we're up against as we speak here today."
Based on the lawsuit, which is an attempt by the city to overrule an agreement with the state that requires budget cuts, the state of Michigan is threatening to hold back $80 million in funding. "They don't seem to be backing down at all, so I don't want to play this game of roulette and keep our citizens at risk," pled Bing.
Agenda 21: Kansas Lawmakers Endorse Measure
Opposing U.N. Sustainability Plan
By John Celock - HuffingtonPost.com
The Republican-controlled Kansas House of Representatives on Thursday adopted a resolution condemning the United Nations' Agenda 21 environmental action plan, which focuses on sustainable development.
Kansas lawmakers adopted the non-binding resolution following intense debate over what supporters believe is the U.N.'s attempt to "indoctrinate" the public on sustainability issues and its desire to control the local government planning process. Agenda 21 was adopted by world leaders during a 1992 climate change summit in Brazil. It has not been ratified by Congress and does not have the force of law in the United States.
More than seven in 10 US teens jobless in summer
By HOPE YEN - AP
WASHINGTON (AP) - Once a rite of passage to adulthood, summer jobs for teens are disappearing.
Fewer than three in 10 American teenagers now hold jobs such as running cash registers, mowing lawns or busing restaurant tables from June to August. The decline has been particularly sharp since 2000, with employment for 16-to-19-year olds falling to the lowest level since World War II.
And teen employment may never return to pre-recession levels, suggests a projection by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What Flame's Connection To Stuxnet Really Means
By CARL FRANZEN - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Flame, a notorious piece of malware discovered in late May to be infecting and stealing information from hundreds of computers in the Middle East and Europe, shares something in common with the equally infamous Stuxnet malware that reportedly damaged an Iranian nuclear facility in 2010: The two types of malware contain some of the same source code that allowed them to be installed in the first place, according to a new analysis posted online by Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Labs revealed on Monday.
Specifically, what Kaspersky Labs researchers uncovered was that an earlier version of Flame, named "Tocy.a" and first detected in October 2010, is highly similar to a portable executable file found inside Stuxnet, called "Resource 207."
WWDC 2012: Maps, Siri on the iPad, Facebook integration, Facetime over cellular, Passcard and more
By Hayley Tsukayama - WashingtonPost.com
Siri's coming to the iPad, and she's bringing Facebook with her.
Apple announced Monday that Siri, introduced with the last iPhone, will also be coming to the new iPad with much more functionality.
Siri got some serious upgrades, including the ability to launch apps (!), dictate Facebook updates and the ability to find out the score to the latest game. The assistant can look up movie trailers through a partnership with Rotten Tomatoes, the report said. The company is also offering Facebook integration in much the same way it offers Twitter integration: good news for social creatures.
Apple, Google Just Killed Portable GPS Devices
By Damon Lavrinc - Wired.com
If it wasn't obvious before, it's crystal clear today. The dedicated portable GPS device is dead, with Apple and Google playing pallbearer to Garmin, Magellan and TomTom's hardware businesses.
Between last week's hastily organized Google Maps event, where the search giant showed off a new interface, new features and — most importantly for Android users – offline map downloading, andApple's new Maps app announcement at WWDC, a dedicated device for mapping and navigation comes across as superfluous. Or even worse, incredibly low-tech.
Smartphone adoption continues unabated, and with it, built-in, carrier-installed and third-party mapping apps are flourishing.
Former 'God's Banker' could blitz Vatican
with cache of secret documents
RT.com
The former head of the Vatican Bank has become the Papacy's Enemy Number One, after police discovered a trove of documents exposing financial misdeeds in the Holy See. The banker now reportedly fears for his life.
Earlier this week police conducted a dawn raid on the house and office of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi. Investigators say they were looking for evidence in a graft case against defense and aerospace firm Finmeccanica, which was formerly run by a close friend of Gotti Tedeschi.
Instead, as it turns out, police stumbled upon an entirely different find.
Group Calls Military Bibles a National Security Threat
By Todd Starnes - Foxnews.com
The U.S. Military has revoked its approval of a series of military-themed Bibles, reportedly over trademark issues. Now, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is demanding that all remaining versions of the Bibles be removed from base exchanges — calling them a "threat to national security."
The military series of Bibles were published by B&H Publishing, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest non-Catholic denomination. They published four versions of the Holman Christian Standard Bible – representing the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
Puppet show at UN-supported Palestinian NGO: Replace cigarettes with machine guns
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik - PalWatch.com
A Palestinian NGO, the Burj Luq-Luq Social Center Society organization, performed a puppet show for children in East Jerusalem to promote non-smoking. The educational message delivered by the puppets instructed children to replace cigarettes with machine guns:
Puppet: "I, and many other youth like me, think that cigarettes will help us to grow, to turn into men. Jerusalem doesn't need men who hold cigarettes. It needs men who hold machine guns, not cigarettes."
Russia protests:
tens of thousands voice opposition to Putin's government 'March of Millions' goes ahead in Moscow and other cities despite thunderstorms and absence of key opposition figures
By Howard Amos in Moscow - Guardian.co.uk
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Russiaon Tuesday in the first major demonstrations against the government since Vladamir Putin was sworn in as president on 7 May.
Despite thunderstorms and the absence of key opposition figures, the "March of Millions" went ahead in the capital – a day after searches conducted by armed police in the homes of opposition activists and their families. Leading activists, including blogger Aleksei Navalny, socialite Ksenia Sobchak, and liberal organiser Ilya Yashin, were prevented from attending because they had been summoned for questioning byRussia's Investigative Committee in connection with the violence at the last rally on 6 May.
Drone Warfare Foretells an Ever-Expanding and Illegal War
By William Pfaff - Truthdig.com
The disclosure that current American drone warfare operations are directed from the presidential office in the White House, with the president himself selecting persons to be assassinated by unmanned American drone aircraft in the Muslim countries where the United States now is militarily engaged, has ignited protests on moral, legal, political and strategic grounds.
The protests concern the nature of these attacks, which disregard national sovereignties, the laws of war and the principles of American and international law, and are justified by the consideration that terrorists don't obey the law either. The attacks must be described as assassinations because, as no state of war has been declared to exist between the United States and these persons or their states, they are unlawful killings.
US Military Wants Drones in South America, But Why?
By Spencer Ackerman - Wired.com
Flying, spying robots are addictive. Every military commander who has them wants more. Those who don't have them covet their colleagues' supply. And according to Air Force planning, they're about to go to the military's redheaded, drone-poor stepchild: the command overseeing South America.
That's according to Gen. Norton Schwartz, the outgoing Air Force chief of staff. As Predator, Reaper and Global Hawk drones start to leave the Afghanistan war behind, Schwartz told a Washington audience on Monday, they'll go to "operational missions by previously underserved" regional commands — Pacific Command and Southern Command, per National Defense magazine. While US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia have loaded up on drones, they've largely been left out of the unmanned escalation.
Russia's independence day: Calls for freedom from Putin Tens of thousands brave weather, tough law
By Marc Bennetts - Special to The Washington Times
MOSCOW | Tens of thousands of Russians filled the streets of central Moscow on Tuesday to rally against the 12-year rule of PresidentVladimir Putin, braving torrential rain and the threat of vastly increased fines for protest-related offenses.
"We will win and win very soon," protest leader Sergei Udaltsov told a cheering crowd. "This year, we will free Russia."
At least 50,000 people held a peaceful march earlier through the capital's downtown boulevards chanting "Russia without Putin" and "Putin is a thief" as a police helicopter hovered above them.
U.S. Blasts Russia Over Syria Clinton Says Moscow Is Sending Attack Helicopters,
as Syrians Paint Clash as Sectarian Civil War
By SAM DAGHER And NOUR MALAS - WSJ.com
The Obama administration accused Russia of sending attack helicopters to Damascus, linking Moscow to Syria's deadly unrest on a day the United Nations' top peacekeeper said the conflict now bears the hallmarks of a civil war.
A shipment of attack helicopters is "on the way from Russia to Syria, which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday, heightening pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's staunchest international backer.
Hillary Clinton accuses Russia
of delivering attack helicopters to Syrian regime US secretary of state says Moscow is lying about weapons deliveries as senior UN official likens Syrian conflict to civil war
By Chris McGreal - Guardian.co.uk
The US has accused Russia of risking a dramatic escalation of the conflict in Syria by shipping attack helicopters to the regime in Damascus.
Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, went on to allege that Moscow is lying about weapons deliveries to Syria by falsely claiming they are not being used to suppress the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
"We have confronted the Russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to Syria," said Clinton. "They have, from time to time, said that we shouldn't worry, [that] everything they're shipping is unrelated to [Syria's] actions internally. That's patently untrue, and we are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically."
Annan wants powers to 'twist arms' over Syria
By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press - WTOP.com
GENEVA (AP) - U.N. envoy Kofi Annan has asked governments with influence to "twist arms" to stop escalating violence in Syria, amid few signs that international pressure is having any measurable effect on the fighting.
Syria has intensified its onslaught against the opposition in recent days, ignoring an Annan-brokered ceasefire plan, mounting international condemnation and increasing economic pressure aimed at the government of President Bashar Assad.
US: Russia sending Syria attack helicopters
By BRADLEY KLAPPER - Associated Press - WTOP.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration said Tuesday that Russia is sending attack helicopters to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and warned that the Arab country's 15-month conflict could become even deadlier.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. was "concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria."
She said the shipment "will escalate the conflict quite dramatically."
Fundamentals for gold and silver are very strong
By Commodity Online
For the time being atleast, gold and silver bulls are having a tough time but some analysts are still bullish on precious metals suggesting that fundamentals are still strong thanks to massive bailouts.
The fundamentals for silver and gold are very strong, according to Hubert Moolman. " Until a significant portion of these debts is repaid or defaulted on, it would be foolish to talk about a top in precious metals," according to Moolman.
Gold Alert
By Eric Sprott & Shree Kargutkar - Sprott.com
There have been key developments in the physical gold market over the last few weeks which we feel are worth highlighting:
1) The Chinese gold imports from Hong Kong in April, 2012 surged almost 1300% on a YoY basis. Total gross imports for the month of April were 103.6 tonnes and the net imports were 66.3 tonnes1. It is not the data for April alone which has caught our eye. There has been a stunning increase of gold imports through Hong Kong for export into China over the past 2 years. Between May 2010 and April 2011, China imported a net 66 tonnes of physical gold through Hong Kong. Between May 2011 and April 2012, that number jumped to 489 tonnes. This represents an increase of 640%.
Gold's identity crisis: Safe haven or risky asset?
LONDON (Commodity Online): Gold prices have been pulled and pushed on the back of expectations of further quantitative easing. Gold once again attempted to re-establish its safe-haven status following weaker-than-expected US payrolls data, prompting a flight to safety amid concerns heightening over Spain and Greece while risky assets sold off.
Further, the lack of any direct signals of further quantitative easing last week triggered yet another sell-off in prices without much support from the physical market to limit the downward move. Gold prices are now firmer after European authorities agreed to support Spain's request for financial assistance to recapitalise its banks over the weekend.
Gold-Investment Demand In China To Advance 10%, ICBC Says
By Bloomberg News
Gold-investment demand in China may gain more than 10 percent this year as buyers seek a haven from Europe's debt crisis and the prospect of weakening currencies, according to the country's largest bullion bank.
"Investors here want to hold part of their assets in gold to hedge for the risks, especially now that the financial crisis has evolved into a sovereign crisis," Zheng Zhiguang, general manager of the precious-metals department at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., said in an interview in Shanghai.
One billion Silver ounces and hundred billion owners
By Dr Jeffrey Lewis - CommodityOnline.com
When considering whether silver is a good investment for the future, you might want to take a closer look at the current above ground supply of silver.
A reasonable estimate is that roughly 1 billion ounces of silver currently exists above ground in investment grade form.
This does not include the ounces of silver that need to assayed, melted, and recovered from what little silver is left in jewelry, silverware or sequestered away in electronics.
But at least it's something.
Silver derivatives and JP Morgan Chase's recent $2 billion loss
By Incentivizing Debt,
We've Guaranteed Debt-Serfdom and Stagnation Incentivize debt and you create
multiple overlapping death spirals.
By Charles Hugh Smith - OfTwoMinds.com
The incentives to take on debt are so ubiquitous that we underestimate their pernicious power to trigger self-destructive behavior. Want to go to college? Just borrow the money now, with no payments until you graduate. Need some consumerist-retail therapy to lift your sagging spirits? Just use plastic, and pay for the splurge later. Want to buy a house? Hey, the interest on that 30-year mortgage is all tax deductible. It's crazy to pay taxes when there's a big fat deduction for mortgage interest.
The Economic Collapse Is Not A Single Event
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Many people hype "the coming economic collapse" as if it is some kind of big summer Hollywood blockbuster. Many people out there write about it as if it is something that will happen in a single day or over a few weeks and that it will suddenly change how the entire world functions. But that is not how the financial world works. The financial world is like a game of chess - very slow and methodical. Yes, there are times when things happen very quickly (like back in 2008), but even that crisis played out over a number of months. Sadly, most Americans are not used to thinking in terms of months or years. These days, most Americans have the attention span of a goldfish and most Americans have been trained to expect instant gratification. They are simply not accustomed to being patient and to wait for things. Well, despite what you may have read, the economic collapse is not going to be a single event. It is going to play out over quite a few years. In some ways we are experiencing an economic collapse right now. When the next major financial crisis occurs, many will be calling that "an economic collapse". But if you really want to grasp what is happening to us, you need to think long-term. We are heading for a complete and total nightmare, but it is going to take some time to get to the end of the story.
The CBO Sees the Economic Cliff Ahead
By: Ron Paul - GoldSeek.com
Last week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its annual long-term budget outlook report, and the 2012 numbers are not promising. In fact, the CBO estimates that federal debt will rise to 70% of GDP by the end of the year-- the highest percentage since World War II. The report also paints a stark picture of entitlement spending, as retiring Baby Boomers will cause government spending on health care, Social Security, and Medicare to explode as a percentage of GDP in coming years.
While the mainstream media correctly characterized the CBO report as highly pessimistic, they also ignored longstanding errors of methodology in CBO estimates. And those errors tend to support arguments for higher taxes and government spending, when in fact America needs exactly the opposite.
Euro crisis: The good and bad for U.S. With crisis rooted in Europe,
U.S. less vulnerable but has less flexibility to act
By Zachary A. Goldfarb - WashingtonPost.com
Frightened investors are piling their money into U.S. bonds for safety, governments are arranging huge bank bailouts and economies worldwide are slowing down.
These are worrisome echoes of the financial crisis that nearly sent the world into a depression four years ago.
But this time the perils are different — in ways that make the United States less vulnerable but make the task of calming financial markets and restoring economies to health more difficult.
Spooky parallels between Great Depression and euro crisis Recent signs of global economic weakness have caused me to muse on the comparison between the world economy now and during the 1930s. The similarities are spooky.
By Roger Bootle - Telegraph.co.uk
In regard to the depth of the downturn, the comparison is very different between countries. In the US and Germany, the loss of output since 2008 of about 5-7pc hardly registers against the losses registered during the Great Depression, when output fell by 25pc.
But the recession here in the UK has been greater. Contrary to the folk memory of a disastrous decade, in the 1930s the UK did relatively well. Of course, unemployment at first rose alarmingly – and this counted for far more then as living standards were lower and there was less support for the needy. Yet output here only fell by about 8pc, and it subsequently recovered rapidly.
Will Globalization Go Bankrupt?
BY MICHAEL PETTIS - FinancialSense.com
Will Globalization Go Bankrupt?
"Only the young generation which has had a college education is capable of comprehending the exigencies of the times," wrote Alphonse, a third-generation Rothschild, in a letter to a family member in 1865. At the time the world was in the midst of a technological boom that seemed to be changing the globe beyond recognition, and certainly beyond the ability of his elders to understand. As part of that boom, capital flowed into remote corners of the earth, dragging isolated societies into modernity. Progress seemed unstoppable.
Eight years later, however, markets around the world collapsed. Suddenly, investors turned away from foreign adventures and new technologies. In the depression that ensued, many of the changes eagerly embraced by the educated young — free markets, deregulated banks, immigration — seemed too painful to continue. The process of globalization, it seems, was neither inevitable nor irreversible.
In Europe We Distrust
By Ana Palacio - Project-Syndicate.org
MADRID – For decades, critics of the European Union have spoken about a democratic deficit. I never accepted that reproach of the EU and its institutions, but I do see a new and dangerous deficit within the Union – a trust deficit, both among governments, and among the citizens of various member countries. Indeed, if today's euro banknotes included a motto, as dollars do, it could well be, "In Europe We Distrust."
This lack of trust has brought the eurozone to the cusp of implosion, and is calling into question the very future of European unity. The arc of EU history seems to be bending to catastrophe – the sort of periodic European disaster that integration was intended to prevent. Grandiloquent as it might sound, the disintegration of the euro and the disarray that would engulf the European project, not to speak of the global repercussions, would unleash comparable devastation.
Fed officials amplify concerns over Europe
By Jonathan Spicer
(Reuters) - Three Federal Reserve policymakers amplified their concerns over Europe's crisis on Monday, offering some praise for the weekend deal to bail out Spanish banks but warning that much is yet to be done to avoid global spillovers.
The euro zone's simmering financial and debt crisis is front and center as the Fed meets next week to decide whether it needs to take yet more policy action to insulate the weak economic recovery from slowing even more.
The ever-diminishing returns from Europe's bailouts
By Steven C. Johnson and Angela Moon
(Reuters) - So much for the relief rally.
After bouncing overnight on news that Europe had stitched together a $125 billion rescue for Spain's banks, gains for global stocks and the euro fizzled.
Bailouts for debt-strapped countries have provided a short period of comfort for investors, one that quickly gets eroded by fear about Europe's vicious circle of slow or no growth and growing debt burdens. On Monday, the speed of that reversal was quicker than ever.
A Game of Euro Chicken Playing Until the Germans Lose Their Nerve
by Jan Fleischhauer - Speigel.de
For Germany, being part of the European Union has always included an element of blackmail. France has been playing this card from the beginning, but now the Spanish and the Greeks have mastered the game. They're banking on Berlin losing its nerve.
France's newly elected Socialist government has just decided to lower the retirement age to 60. From now on, no Frenchman will be forced to work any longer just because it might help kick-start the country's flagging economy. And there's no way the French are going to work as long as their poor fellow Europeans in Germany, whose government is obliging them to labor and toil until age 67.
This latest euro fix will come apart in less than a month Another day, another sticking plaster solution from beleaguered eurozone policymakers.
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
Only this one may not even succeed in buying time – I give it less than a month before some such other piece of bad news comes along to fire the crisis anew. Like all the others, the latest fix seems to create as many problems as it solves. The euphoria in markets at Spain's rescue lasted all of a few hours; having bounded away at the opening, they ended broadly flat.
But please don't call it a bail-out. It may walk, talk and look like a bail-out, but to the Spanish premier, Mariano Rajoy, Spain's handout is completely different to the three rescues we've already seen, even though at €100bn (£81bn)– or some 10pc of Spanish GDP – it's quite a bit larger than that of Ireland and Portugal.
Lifeline to Spain falls short; European crisis rages on Cash infusion to banks barely lifts market;
news bad in Italy, Cyprus
By Carlo Piovano, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
LONDON — The weekend plan to rescue Spain's ailing banks was supposed to boost confidence in Spain and the other 16 countries that use the euro. The skeptics said it would provide just temporary relief for the markets. In the end, it barely did even that.
Stocks and bonds surged in the first hour of trading Monday, a knee-jerk reaction to the weekend news that Spain would funnel up to $124.7 billion in loans to banks from its euro partners. But hours later, stock prices were back down, government borrowing costs were up, and bad economic news piled up across Europe.
Bank bailout is no cure for Spain's pain Spain's bank bailout merely transfers more debt to its weak government balance sheet and it sets the stage for a full sovereign bailout.
By Cyrus Sanati - Fortune.CNN.com
FORTUNE -- Investors initially cheered the news that Spain reached a deal for a 100 billion euro bank bailout, but that enthusiasm may not last once the details are digested. The deal, concocted in Madrid and Brussels over the weekend, amounts to a kind of shell game, whereby bank property losses are simply transferred from the banks over to the Spanish government's weak balance sheet. Not only is this bailout likely to create public outrage in the streets of Spain, as it shamelessly socializes bank losses, but it will probably make it harder, not easier, for Spain to sell its debt at a low enough rate to fund itself.
"The burden of recapitalizing insolvent banks or loss-making acquisitions of solvent banks will fall on Spanish citizens." – Karl Whelan, economist at University College, Dublin.
Before EU finance ministers approve the 100 billion euro bailout for Spain, they might want to ask themselves one question: Will it really help?
Sure, it'll keep the markets bubbly until mid-week when fears of the Greek elections set in, (June 17) but that's about it. It won't fix the eurozone's underlying problems, in fact, it doesn't even address them. The narrow purpose of the bailout is to keep insolvent banks propped up to avoid another Lehman Brothers-type catastrophe. That's it. In other words, the 100 billion will not boost competitiveness, spur growth, reduce unemployment, or increase fiscal and political integration. It doesn't do any of these things, in fact, Spain's debt-to-GDP ratio will widen even more due to the new burden its leaders have taken on. That means, Spain's working people will have to endure even harsher conditions for a longer period of time to repay the obligations assumed by Madrid. How does that help?
Global stocks, euro fall on Spain bank bailout uncertainty
By Rodrigo Campos
(Reuters) - Stocks slid and the euro fell against the U.S. dollar on Monday, while Spain's bond yields rose as investors worried about details of a $125 billion deal to shore up Spanish banks.
Wall Street tumbled sharply in a late sell-off after closing its best week of the year on Friday, as concerns over euro zone finances and global growth persisted.
Euro-zone finance ministers struck a deal over the weekend to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to bail out its banks. Skepticism about the ability of the deal to stop the spread of the debt crisis in Europe was evidenced in renewed appetite for safe-haven U.S. Treasuries.
After Spain, Is Italy the Next Domino to Fall?
By Carol Matlack - BusinessWeek.com
The relief in Rome was short-lived. Italian bonds rallied early on June 11, the first trading day after European finance ministers' weekend agreement on a $125 billion bailout for Spanish banks.
But within hours, Italian borrowing costs were creeping back up again, reflecting persistent market fears that the Continent's third-largest economy could be the next to falter. "Contagion into Italy and other countries is a reality," Joachim Fels, chief global economist at Morgan Staley in London, said in a Bloomberg Television interview as the bond rally petered out.
Credit Suisse Explains "The Real Issue",
And Why There Is Two Months Tops
Until France Is In The Bulls Eye
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Credit Suisse's William Porter is strangely laconic and oddly brief in his latest issue of the European Credit Flash titled "The Real Issue":
"It's all about Spain", so now we are cutting to the chase. Recapitalization of the banks versus funding the sovereign is of course a semantic issue given the nature of the interplay. But it enables the attempted finesse we describe below.
"Portugal cannot rescue Greece, Spain cannot rescue Portugal, Italy cannot rescue Spain (as is surely about to become all too abundantly clear), France cannot rescue Italy, but Germany can rescue France." Or, the credit of the EFSF/ESM, if called upon to provide funds in large size, either calls upon the credit of Germany, or fails; i.e, it seems to us that it probably cannot fund to the extent needed to save the credit of one (and probably imminently two) countries that had hitherto been considered "too big so save" without joint and several guarantees.
Merkel Demands More 'Union' in the European Union German Chancellor Angela Merkel is already planning for a single European superstate with more power.
theTrumpet.com
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Europe needs to forge a political union and give up more power to the EU, on German tvchannel ard on June 7.
Reuters pointed out earlier in the week that last year, these kind of ideas "seemed fanciful, a distant dream that would take years or even decades to realize if it ever came to be." Now the most powerful country in Europe is pushing for them.
Why bondholders are scared about Spain
By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — One of the big questions making investors more nervous about the bank-bailout deal Spain announced over the weekend boils down to who will pay for it.
This is always the key issue, to some degree. But it merits repeating that in a debt crisis, what matters more is what holders of debt think and do, rather than what investors in other assets think.
On Monday, they sold Spanish and even Italian debt, pushing yields higher. Part of that stems from worries about exactly where the bailout for Spain will come from, since that'll have implications about bondholder seniority in the case of a default — like perhaps with Greece.
Euro Strength Seen By Stiglitz Removing Greek Debt
By Catarina Saraiva and David Goodman - Bloomberg.com
Rather than a euro failure, an orderly Greek exit from the currency has Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Nomura Holdings Inc. chief strategist Jens Nordvig predicting a stronger and more stable monetary union.
While Societe Generale SA suggests that the euro might break up because of the cost of Greece's departure, the nation accounts for just 2.3 percent of the 17-nation trading bloc's gross domestic product. It also has 356 billion euros ($449 billion), or 4.3 percent of the region's total debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The area's trade deficit last year would have been a surplus without its weakest member, according to European Union data.
Nearing the End of the Eurozone?
By Eric Fry - DailyReckoning.com
06/11/12 Laguna Beach, California – "Europe is revolting against 'sameness,'" observes Dan Denning. "The French want to be French. The Dutch want to be Dutch. The Greeks want to be Greeks. None of them want to be German. And the Germans want to stay German. All these primal, tribal, political loyalties are in conflict with the sameness and conformity required by political and monetary union."
Fed's Williams says Europe presents global threat
by Timothy Ahmann
(Reuters) - The European debt crisis poses a "significant" threat to financial stability and could undermine progress made in recent years to strengthen the global financial system, a top Federal Reserve official said on Monday.
"While the global financial system is stronger than it was three years ago, it remains vulnerable," San Francisco Fed President John Williams said in remarks prepared for delivery at a conference on Asian banking sponsored by his regional Fed bank.
Atlanta Fed President Emphasizes Fragile US Economy
247WallSt.com
In a speech today that reiterates remarks he made last week, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart said:
The indicators of economic strength so far in 2012 have been underwhelming. … I expect the recovery process to be slow and drawn out. I think the most reasonable expectation is moderate growth, a slow and possibly halting decline of unemployment, with inflation staying close to the FOMC's 2 percent target.
Given what we know about the US economic outlook, Lockhart had this to say about the Fed's accommodative policy and historically low interest rates:
I view this policy stance as appropriate for the outlook I depicted. However, as the employment report of last Friday illustrates, there continues to be a halting and tenuous character to the recovery.
Bond Bubble Dismissed As Low Yields Echo Pimco's New Normal
By Daniel Kruger and Anchalee Worrachate - Bloomberg.com
Mohamed El-Erian knows why bond markets from the U.S. to Germany to Brazil, where yields have dropped to record lows even though debt has ballooned to more than $40 trillion worldwide, aren't a bubble waiting to burst.
"We may be in a synchronized slowdown" in global economic growth, El-Erian, who as chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. oversees $1.77 trillion, said in a June 6 telephone interview. "We could stay here for a while."
Bond Bubble Dismissed As Low Yields Echo Pimco's New Normal
By Daniel Kruger and Anchalee Worrachate - Bloomberg.com
Mohamed El-Erian knows why bond markets from the U.S. to Germany to Brazil, where yields have dropped to record lows even though debt has ballooned to more than $40 trillion worldwide, aren't a bubble waiting to burst.
"We may be in a synchronized slowdown" in global economic growth, El-Erian, who as chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. oversees $1.77 trillion, said in a June 6 telephone interview. "We could stay here for a while."
Lockhart Says Lower Yields Bolster Case For No New Action
By Steve Matthews - Bloomberg.com
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart said falling Treasury yields take pressure off the central bank for further action as policy makers prepare for a meeting next week.
Lockhart, in a speech in Chicago, said recent U.S. economic data indicate the recovery may be losing steam, and that policy makers will need to take more steps to stimulate the economy if it becomes clear growth is slowing.
"I don't think any of the options should be taken off the table under the current circumstances," Lockhart told reporters after the speech. "But I am not convinced at this moment that the circumstances quite yet call for additional action."
Inequality, the crash and the crisis:
Part 1 "The defining issue of our times"
by Stewart Lansley - OECDInsights.org
Does inequality trigger economic instability? A few years ago this was a issue that did not register on the political Richter scale. Nor did it attract much attention amongst professional economists. As James Galbraith, the economist son of John Kenneth Galbraith, has put it, those few working in inequality research were in an economics "backwater". Proving his point, the academic Journal of Economic Literature has no section examining inequality and economic instability.
There is one key reason for this lack of interest. For the last thirty years, the economic orthodoxy has been that inequality is a necessary condition for economic success. We can have greater equality or faster growth but not both. That orthodoxy emerged out of the global crisis of the 1970s when, it was claimed, the move towards more equal societies in the immediate post-war decades had gone too far and had led to economic sclerosis. What was needed to put economies back on an upward and sustainable path was a stiff dose of inequality.
Peter Schiff on avoiding the brick wall
By George Smith - GoldSeek.com
Peter Schiff, who was famously ridiculed for calling the crisis of 2008, steps up as a prognosticator again in his new book, The Real Crash: America's Coming Bankruptcy - How to Save Yourself and Your Country. We had way too much government and cheap credit leading up to 2008, he says, and even more government and cheap credit since then, which is why the next crisis will be the real haymaker.
His book is divided into two main sections. Part I addresses the problems, while part II, which is by far the lion's share of his discussion, presents solutions. In a nutshell, the problem is government, and the solution is to take an ax to it - again and again. Since this view is currently unacceptable to policymakers and the public at large, we can only hope reality will win out before calamity hits.
Is Globalization Good for America's Middle Class? Part 1
by Kenneth Thomas - AngryBearBlog.com
In this blog, I have frequently documented economic trends that have been bad for the middle class: Declining real wages, steadily falling bang for the healthcare buck, stagnant educational attainment, the gigantic cost of tax havens, etc. With this post, I want to begin exploring one possible reason for the economic insecurity of the middle class, namely globalization. Today, we will look at who wins and who loses from international trade, one of the key elements of globalization.
In some circles, one is likely to see a variant of the claim that "everybody" is better off because of freer trade. Even according to the most mainstream economic theory, this is simply false. The workhorse theory for determining the distributional effects of trade (i.e., who wins and who loses) is called the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem, first enunciated in an article by Wolfgang Stolper and Paul Samuelson in 1941.
Foreigners Snap Up Properties in the U.S.
By NICK TIMIRAOS - WSJ.com
The six-year slide in U.S. home prices and the dollar's weakness against some currencies are driving a property-buying binge by Asians, Canadians, Europeans and Latin Americans eager to own a piece of America.
Plowing money into real estate may sound like a risky venture to many Americans. But to growing numbers of foreigners, U.S. housing has never seemed a smarter investment.
Great Recession Shrank U.S. Families' Wealth
to 1992 Levels, Says Fed
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP - DailyFinance.com
WASHINGTON -- The Great Recession shrank Americans' wealth so much that in 2010 median family net worth was no more than it had been in 1992 after adjusting for inflation, the Federal Reserve reported Monday.
Median net worth declined from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010, a Fed survey of family finances found. The median marks the point where half had more and half had less. The recession officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009.
Net worth is the value of assets like homes, bank accounts and stocks, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards.
Americans' wealth plummeted 40 percent
from 2007 to 2010, Federal Reserve says
By Ylan Q. Mui - WashingtonPost.com
The recent recession wiped out nearly two decades of Americans' wealth, according togovernment data released Monday, with middle-class families bearing the brunt of the decline.
The Federal Reserve said the median net worth of families plunged by 39 percent in just three years, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010. That puts Americans roughly on par with where they were back in 1992.
Recession crushed middle-class wealth: Fed survey Median net worth fell by $49,100, erasing 18 years of gains
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The recession crushed the net worth of middle-class families as real estate values tumbled, according to a survey released by the Federal Reserve on Monday.
The Fed's survey of consumer finances between 2007 and 2010, which is adjusted for inflation, showed median income fell 7.7% from $49,600 in 2007 to $45,800 in 2010 and that median net worth fell 38.8% from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010, approximately the level recorded in 1992.
How Americans Lost Two Decades of Wealth, in 1 Graph
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
It's a two-year-old statistic, but it's the news of the day: The typical American family's net worth plunged by 40 percent between 2007 and 2010, from $126,400 to $77,300, wiping out two decades of gains and thrusting the typical family's wealth back to 1992 levels.
This news shouldn't be shocking to anybody following even the vaguest contours of economic news for the last few years. As we knew, median household wealth popped in the bubble and collapsed in the bust, as housing prices fell by 30 to 40 percent in the worst-hit metros, in California, Nevada, and Florida. In 2007, barely half of families surveyed by the Federal Reserve reported savings. Just as the boom made families feel richer, the financial shock made families feel poorer. And so falling housing prices led to falling wealth, which led to falling spending, which led to falling private sector revenue, which led to massive job cuts, which dragged down housing prices even further, and around and around we go.
The Pernicious Dynamics of Debt, Deleveraging, and Deflation
by Charles Hugh Smith - CollapseNet.com
At this moment, the news media is constantly clamoring about the "Three Ds" that are buffeting the markets: debt, deleveraging, and deflation. We intuitively sense that they're linked -- but how, exactly?
Understanding this linking is critical; as debt has fueled the global expansion, it will also dominate its contraction.
Debt and Deleveraging
To illustrate the forces of debt and deleveraging, let's consider a home mortgage.
Suppose a buyer of a $100,000 home qualifies for a mortgage that requires only a 3% down payment in cash. The buyer ponies up $3,000 in cash and obtains a $97,000 mortgage. The cash collateral is thus leveraged about 33-to-1: Each $1 in cash has been leveraged into $33 of borrowed money.
HUD Spending $70 Million to Teach Grant Recipients
How to Spend Money They Already Have
By Amanda Swysgood - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – At one federal agency, it takes money to spend money. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced it is spending $70 million to improve the way its grant recipients spend billions in taxpayer cash.
Most of the $70 million will go to consulting companies that provide "technical assistance" to HUD-funded communities and non-profit organizations. The consultants will help the communities and nonprofits "improve their use of federal funds to revitalize neighborhoods, help the homeless and produce more affordable housing," a May 15 new release said.
Calif. public-employee pensions face cuts
By Elliot Spagat - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
SAN DIEGO (AP) — For years, companies have been chipping away at workers' pensions. Now, two California cities may help pave the way for governments to follow suit.
Voters in San Diego and San Jose, the nation's eighth- and 10th-largest cities, overwhelmingly approved ballot measures last week to roll back municipal retirement benefits — and not just for future hires, but for current employees.
Entitlement Programs Are Bankrupting Our Country
And Our Character
By Charlie Daniels - CNSNews.com
The truth is that America is already bankrupt, the papers have just not been served yet, but if our course is not drastically altered that will happen very soon and when it does the boat will rapidly begin to sink and the people who caused it will run away and enjoy the pensions and benefits they voted themselves while the rest of America is left to swim or drown.
But even more than the disastrous fiscal mess, the foolish alliances, the wasteful foreign aid and the foreign policy goof ups, in my book, the most cruel and destructive thing we have allowed our government to do is the institution of entitlement programs that have made three generations of Americans dependent on the government for their every need.
Senior Boom: 11,000 New Seniors
Become Eligible for Medicare--Every Day
By Melanie Hunter - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Monday that 11,000 new seniors become eligible for Medicare every day.
"About 48 million Americans [are] relying on that program and 11,000 Baby Boomers a day become eligible for Medicare," Sebelius said.
"We have the biggest group ever in the history of this country coming in on a daily basis as the Baby Boomers age," she said at an event billed by the administration as a senior health care town hall on the Patent Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The Last Best Chance for Stemming the Tide
of Big Money in Politics Montana Citizens United and the Eleventh Amendment
by RUSSELL MOKHIBER - CounterPunch.org
In 2010, the Montana Supreme Court dealt a blow to the United States Supreme Court decision in Citizens United. The Montana Supreme Court, in Western Tradition Partnership v. Attorney General, challenged the validity of the Citizens United decision as applied to state elections, and upheld Montana's law banning corporate spending on elections.
Western Tradition Partnership has since changed its name to American Tradition Partnership (ATP) and is now asking the Supreme Court to reverse the Montana Supreme Court decision. Montana's Attorney General Steve Bullock, in response, is asking the Supreme Court to reject the company's request for a hearing.
If You've Ever Sold a Used iPod,
You May Have Violated Copyright Law The Supreme Court will decide whether secondhand items copyrighted abroad can be legally sold within the United States.
By Marvin Ammori - TheAtlantic.com
The Supreme Court will soon hear a case that will affect whether you can sell your iPad -- or almost anything else -- without needing to get permission from a dozen "copyright holders." Here are some things you might have recently done that will be rendered illegal if the Supreme Court upholds the lower court decision:
1. Sold your first-generation iPad on Craigslist to a willing buyer, even if you bought the iPad lawfully at the Apple Store.
2. Sold your dad's used Omega watch on eBay to buy him a fancier (used or new) Rolex at a local jewelry store.
3. Sold an "import CD" of your favorite band that was only released abroad but legally purchased there. Ditto for a copy of a French or Spanish novel not released in the U.S.
4. Sold your house to a willing buyer, so long as you sell your house along with the fixtures manufactured in China, a chandelier made in Thailand or Paris, support beams produced in Canada that carry the imprint of a copyrighted logo, or a bricks or a marble countertop made in Italy with any copyrighted features or insignia.
The U.N. Seeks to Tax the Internet
By Charles C. W. Cooke - NationalReview.com
The U.N. recently revived its long-held desire to take control of the Internet. It is unlikely to get its way. So, led by European nations — who else? — it has hit upon another means by which to exercise its influence: Taxes. CNET reports:
The United Nations is considering a new Internet tax targeting the largest Web content providers, including Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix, that could cripple their ability to reach users in developing nations.
The European proposal, offered for debate at a December meeting of a U.N. agency called the International Telecommunication Union, would amend an existing telecommunications treaty by imposing heavy costs on popular Web sites and their network providers for the privilege of serving non-U.S. users, according to newly leaked documents.
U.N. PRESSES FOR GLOBAL INTERNET TAX ON U.S. COMPANIES
by BEN SHAPIRO - Breitbart.com
Apparently, the United Nations has been pressing for a global internet tax that would hit Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a subset of the UN, wants to add a provision to a current treaty that would impose costs on popular websites and their network providers for non-U.S. users. Both the Obama administration and Republicans in Congress have raised the issue as a significant danger.
The Europeans essentially want a share of the pie they have done nothing to build. As CNET.com reports, "European network providers and phone companies have been bitterly complaining about U.S. content-providing companies for some time."
AMERICA'S CLASS WAR
Posted by John Cassidy - NewYorker.com
Barney Frank and Ed Rendell are right. In seeking to recall Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, the public-sector unions and their allies on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party made a big mistake. "My side picked a fight they shouldn't have picked," Frank told The Hill. "People need to be more strategic about the fights they pick." In other places, such as Ohio, Democrats have successfully campaigned in state legislatures to roll back Republican anti-union initiatives. But rather than following such a strategy in Wisconsin, they tried to drive Walker out of office, alienating independent voters and bringing down upon themselves a deluge of conservative money.
This overreach may well embolden G.O.P. governors in other states to follow the Wisconsin example. But the tactical blundering of the anti-Walker forces shouldn't be allowed to obscure what is at stake here. Exploiting public concerns about debts and deficits that have resulted from an economic downturn largely brought on by Wall Street malfeasance, Republican politicians, backed by wealthy individuals and corporations, are looking to cripple the unions and balance local budgets on the backs of low- and middle-income workers.
Socialism in Practice: The Lethal Laboratory
Mises Daily: by Gary North
What is the longest-running socialist experiment? What has its success been?
If someone asked you to defend the idea that socialism has failed, what would you offer as your example?
Where did modern socialism begin?
In America.
That's right: in the land of the free and the home of the braves. On Indian reservations.
They were invented to control adult warriors. They had as a goal to keep the native population in poverty and impotent.
Did the system work? You bet it did.
Has the experiment been a failure? On the contrary, it has been a success.
When was the last time you heard of a successful Indian uprising?
Are the people poor? The poorest in America.
Are they on the dole? Of course.
Lee Warns On Swift S. Korea Riposte
To Any Provocation By North
By Brett Miller and Sangwon Yoon - Bloomberg.com
South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said his government has put North Korea on notice that it will issue a swift and powerful retaliation to any military provocation, and urged the totalitarian state to adopt Myanmar's example of political opening.
"It is now our government's clear policy to respond strongly and immediately in times of military provocation," Lee, 70, said yesterday during a discussion with journalists at his office in the Blue House in Seoul. "This policy has been officially communicated to North Korea throughChina."
Annan concerned about escalation of Syria violence
By Bassem Mroue - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
BEIRUT — International envoy Kofi Annan said Monday he was "gravely concerned" about the escalation of fighting in Syria, citing the shelling of opposition areas in central Homs province and reports of mortar, helicopter and tank attacks near the Mediterranean coast.
Violence has spiked in recent weeks, as both sides ignore a cease-fire brokered by Annan that was supposed to go into effect April 12 but never took hold.
Annan demands both sides "take all steps to ensure that civilians are not harmed," said his spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi.
THE SYRIAN TEST
Posted by Jon Lee Anderson - NewYorker.com
Last Wednesday, in the Sunni village of Al-Kubeir, Syria, not far from Houla, where a hundred and nine civilians were slaughtered on May 25th, there was a new sectarian massacre, this time of as many as seventy-eight civilians, including women and children. Once again, it appears to have been committed by so-called pro-regime Alawite thugs known as the Shabiha. Once again, there seemed to be no one capable of stopping it from happening. This time, however, the bodies were take away and concealed from the contingent of U.N. observers who tried unsuccessfully to enter the village soon after the massacre was reported, and found themselves under fire. By the time they got there, a day later, there was blood, a few body parts, and the smell of scorched human flesh.
Syria conflict: Fears of new massacre in Haffa
BBC.co.uk
The US has expressed fears that the Syrian government "may be organising another massacre" in the town of Haffa in Latakia province, where UN military observers have been denied access.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said it was vital that the observers should be allowed into the town.
He and peace envoy Kofi Annan expressed grave concern about violence there.
A BBC correspondent travelling with UN observers witnessed sustained and heavy shelling in the old city of Homs.
Italy's bank reportedly takes a 'Roman Holiday' leaving depositors holding the bag
TheExtinctionProtocol.wordpress.com –Google (translated)
June 11, 2012 – ITALY - BNI depositors are unable to make withdrawals / payments, payments of utility bills, mortgage payments, taxes says Peter Giordano, Adiconsum: "Grave of the Bank of Italy's attitude that takes action without considering the impact on depositors, and especially on single-income families and pensioners." Adiconsum Bank of Italy asks for an urgent meeting and the lifting of the moratorium. The Bank of Italy authorized the suspension of payments by Bank Network Investments SpA (BNI) without communicating anything to the depositors.
Regulators close 4 banks in 4 states;
makes 28 US bank failures so far this year
AP - Newser.com
Federal regulators have seized 4 banks, one each in Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina and Oklahoma, bringing to 28 the number of U.S. banks that have failed so far this year.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday that it closed Farmers and Traders State Bank in Shabbona, Ill.; Waccamaw Bank in Whiteville, N.C.; Carolina Federal Savings Bank in Charleston, S.C.; and, First Capital Bank in Kingfisher, Okla.
Regulators estimate that the four bank failures will cost the insurance fund $80.8 million.
$125bn Spanish bank bailout sets gold up
for $2,000 and silver $60 this autumn
By: Peter Cooper - GoldSeek.com
Eurozone finance ministers panicked this weekend and agreed to a preemptive announcement of a $125 billion bailout for the Spanish banks, bringing the grand total for bank bailouts to $600 billion when Ireland, Portugal and Greece are added.
Money printing on this scale has only ever been good for precious metal prices by historical precedent. The bank bailouts are an example of money creation at the source with banks able to lend more against this new capital injection and sterilising bad debts.
Trading Gold by Timing the Fed
By Vin Maru - GoldSeek.com
Gold's recent sell-off seems to be a continuing pattern of major price movements and directional changes after a significant policy event or any announcement by the Federal Reserve. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was in front of congress again this week and provided no material news or change in policy, but he did leave the door open to more easing if needed. This was enough to cause the sell-off in gold.
No Capitulation = No Bottom
BY CHRIS PUPLAVA - FinancialSense.com
Wash, rinse, repeat—that has been the script since 2010. Fading monetary and fiscal stimulus leads to a slowdown as economies can't support themselves and then in come central banks to the rescue and off we go! We are currently in the period in which the third round of global monetary stimulus that began in 2011 is all but over and global markets and economies are weakening as a result.
According to Bridgewater Associates, the third round of monetary stimulus amounted to 2.8% of global GDP and at the end of May the remaining portion was down to 0.4% of global GDP. Unless policy makers step up for a fourth round of global monetary stimulus the path of least resistance appears down. In both 2010 and 2011 we saw major market capitulation in which investors threw in the towel and sent markets reeling. This causes central banks to spring into action and off markets go. Because we have not seen major capitulation and panic in the markets we may not see central bank action just yet, which leaves the markets in a precarious position. If we are to follow the 2010-2011 script we are likely to see lower prices ahead with less bearish participation (fewer stocks falling) which finally causes central banks to act followed by a strong market recovery. Until we see capitulation in the markets I would stay defensive and let the dust settle a bit.
Panic Has Not Gripped the Markets to Signify a Bottom.
Keiser Report: Cuckoo Trading (E299)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss 'wash trades,' debt crises and the speculation on JP Morgan's growing debt problem in London. In the second half of the show Max talks to Pierre Jovanovic of Jovanovic.com about JP Morgan 'firing' the Vatican, whether or not Jamie Dimon will last the year and what the future holds for French bonds.
Strong-Dollar Fallacy
By: Adam Hamilton - GoldSeek.com
After a shocking upset in Greece's parliamentary elections, the US dollar surged dramatically. Soaring 5.4% in May alone, the world's reserve currency won legions of fans among traders. "King Dollar" was universally lauded, with everyone jumping on the strong-dollar bandwagon. But this dazzling strength was merely a short-term phenomenon. Zoom out a little, and today's "strong dollar" is a fallacy.
Perspective is everything in the markets. Attaining it is challenging and takes a lot of effort, but the fruits are well worth the toil. We humans naturally tend to extrapolate the present and very recent past out into infinity, expecting short-term situations to continue indefinitely. So when prices surge rapidly like the US dollar has, traders get greedy and assume the move will persist for a long time to come.
Will the Euro survive?
By Puru Saxena - 321Gold.com
BIG PICTURE – Europe's debt problems are driving the world's financial markets and investors are trying to figure out whether the single currency will survive. Furthermore, the mainstream media is currently awash with scary forecasts about the impending collapse of the Euro and many pundits are now predicting a Greek or Spanish default.
Although nobody possesses a crystal ball and anything is possible, we are of the view that the establishment will not let the Euro fail. Quite the contrary, we believe that ultimately the 'solution' to this crisis will be further fiscal and economic integration within Europe. In the interim, it is conceivable that the European Central Bank (ECB) may extend its Long Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO) and it may recapitalise Europe's banking system. Last but not least, it is probable that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may intervene and assist the debt plagued nations.
Europe's democracies must not
subcontract their destiny to the Bundebank Europe has lit the fuse on an economic and financial bomb. The rescue package for Spain cannot plausibly be contained to €100bn once it begins, given the subordination of private creditors and collapse of global confidence in the governing structure of monetary union.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Italy must guarantee 22pc of the bail-out funds, even though it cannot raise money itself at a sustainable rate. You could hardly design a surer way to pull Italy into the fire.
Citigroup warned over the weekend that Italy's economy will shrink by 2.5pc this year and another 2pc next year as the fiscal squeeze starts in earnest, with grim implications for debt dynamics. Public debt will jump from 121pc of GDP to 137pc by 2014.
In Spain's bailout request, Greece's crisis played key role
By Michael Birnbaum - WashingtonPost.com
ATHENS — Spain was forced to seek a bailout this weekend, becoming by far the largest country to need help during Europe's 2 1 / 2-year-long economic crisis. But it was tiny Greece that pushed Spain over the brink.
Greek voters head to the polls Sunday with a stark choice between leaders who accept the harsh terms of the bailouts that have kept their country afloat and those who reject them, potentially at the cost of Greece's future in the euro zone. Fears that a Greek rejection would send markets into panic about the currency union's future pushed Spain to seek the aidahead of Greece's election.
Euro zone agrees to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros
By Jan Strupczewski and Julien Toyer
(Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers agreed on Saturday to lend Spain up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to shore up its teetering banks and Madrid said it would specify precisely how much it needs once independent audits report in just over a week.
After a 2 1/2-hour conference call of the 17 finance ministers, which several sources described as heated, the Eurogroup and Madrid said the amount of the bailout would be sufficiently large to banish any doubts.
EU's Spain bank rescue may bring only brief respite
By Paul Taylor
(Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers rushed Spain into an EU-funded rescue for its debt-stricken banks to pre-empt the threat of a bank run if Greece's debt crisis flares again but any respite for Madrid and the euro may be short-lived.
After weeks of insisting that Spain needed no assistance to recapitalize lenders crippled by bad debts from a burst real estate bubble, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was pushed into requesting an aid package for fear of worse disaster to come, European officials involved in the negotiations said.
The Spanish Bank Bailout:
A Complete Walk Thru From Deutsche Bank
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Over the past 24 hours, Zero Hedge covered the various key provisions, and open questions, of the Spanish bank bailout. There is, however, much more when one digs into the details. Below, courtesy of Deutsche Bank's Gilles Moec is a far more nuanced analysis of what just happened, as well as a model looking at the future of the pro forma Spanish debt load with the now-priming ESM debt, which may very well hit 100% quite soon as we predicted earlier. Furthermore, since the following comprehensive walk-thru appeared in the DB literature on Friday, before the formal announcement, it is quite clear that none other than Deutsche Bank, whose "walk-thru" has been adhered to by the Spanish government and Europe to the dot, was instrumental in defining a "rescue" of Spain's banks, which had it contaged, would have impacted the biggest banking edifice in Europe by orders of magnitude: Deutsche Bank itself.
Spain relieved, angry over humiliating bank rescue
By Alan Clendenning and Harold Heckle, AP - WashingtonTimes.com
MADRID (AP) — Spain's grinding economic misery will get worse this year, despite the country's request for a European financial lifeline of up to 100 billion euros ($125 billion) to save its banks, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Sunday.
A day after the country conceded it needed outside help following months of denying it would seek assistance, Mr. Rajoy said more Spaniards will lose their jobs in a country where one out of every four already is unemployed.
Damn the Torpedoes
By: Peter Schiff - GoldSeek.com
Last week in an interview on CBS Network News, Economist Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody's, unwittingly revealed a central error of the global economic establishment. Zandi has made a career out of finding the middle ground between republican and democrat economic talking points. As a result of this skill, he has been rewarded with large quantities of airtime from media outlets that want to appear non-partisan, despite the fact that his supposedly neutral analysis often leaves listeners frustrated.
Central Banks Dither Today, Panic Tomorrow
BY JOHN RUBINO - FinancialSense.com
If central bankers weren't the main architects of the coming depression, it might be tempting to pity them. The world is falling apart and everyone expects them to save the day with lower rates and/or exotic new stimulus programs. But at the same time everyone assumes this debt monetization will destabilize the financial system, bringing about the end of the world as we know it.
The bankers can't win, in other words, because whatever they do or don't do will be seen as causing a global meltdown of one kind or another. And the poor bastards know it.
Here They Come:
Ireland Demands Renegotiation
Of Its Bailout Terms To Match Spain
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Well that didn't take long. The ink on the #Spailout is not dry yet (well technically there is no ink, because none of the actual details of the Spanish banking system rescue are even remotely known, and likely won't be because when it comes to answering where the money comes from there simply is no answer) and we already have an answer to one of our questions. Recall that mere hours ago we asked: "We also wonder how will Ireland feel knowing that it has to suffer under backbreaking austerity in exchange for Troika generosity, while Spain gets away scott free." We now know. From the AFP: "Ireland wants to renegotiate its rescue plan to benefit from the same treatment as Spain, which looks set to win a bailout for its banks without any broader economic reforms in return, European sources said on Saturday." And with Ireland on the renegotiation train, next comes Greece. Only with Greece the wheels for a bailout overhaul are already in motion and are called a "vote of Syriza on June 17." And remember how everyone was threatening the Greeks with the 10th circle of hell if they dare to renegotiate the memorandum? Well, Spain just showed that a condition-free bailout is an option. Which means Syriza will get all the votes it needs and then some with promises of a consequence free bailout renegotiation. In other words Syriza's Tsipras should send a bottle of the finest champagne to de Guindos - he just won him the election.
How Europe Will Burn Obama Niall Ferguson on How Europe Could Cost Obama the Election Spain has accepted a big bank bailout, but the Eurostorm isn't ending anytime soon—and it may come to American shores just in time for the election.
By Niall Ferguson - TheDailyBeast.com
Could Europe cost Barack Obama the presidency? At first sight, that seems like a crazy question. Isn't November's election supposed to be decided in key swing states like Florida and Ohio, not foreign countries like Greece and Spain? And don't left-leaning Europeans love Obama and loathe Republicans?
Sure. But the possibility is now very real that a double-dip recession in Europe could kill off hopes of a sustained recovery in the United States. As the president showed in his anxious press conference last Friday, he well understands the danger emanating from across the pond. Slower growth and higher unemployment can only hurt his chances in an already very tight race with Mitt Romney.
A Dysfunctional Nation
By: John Mauldin - GoldSeek.com
....Michael Lewis has documented quite tellingly in Boomerang the dysfunctional country that is Greece – how citizens avoid taxes, how over 600 categories of workers can retire at the age of 50 with full pensions, and how fraud and corruption are endemic. Other stories have surfaced about how few doctors report more than 10,000 euros of income and how few professionals pay their property taxes.
Recently, when the current Greek government committed to actually collect some taxes in order to get more loans, a bureaucrat decided that a great way to collect property taxes would be to include them in people's electricity bills, a move that caused an uproar. Lawsuits followed, as the national power company tried to cut off electricity for nonpayment. In a country where it can take a decade for a legal matter to get on a court docket, a court rather quickly took up the case and ruled it illegal for the power company to cut off service for non-payment. This ruling led to a massive financial loss by the power company as people simply stopped paying their electric bills.
[Note: Greece elections are next Sunday, and will probably determine if they leave the Euro...]
On-Air Attack:
Greek Neo-Nazi slaps female leftists during TV debate
Athens' prosecutors have ordered the arrest of a far-right member of parliament, following his attack on two female leftist deputies during a live TV debate. Ilias Kasidiaris threw a glass of water in the face of an MP after she brought up his alleged involvement in a mugging case 5 years ago. The television debate came ahead of country's parliamentary election in 10 days' time.
Will the Euro Survive?
BY PURU SAXENA - FinancialSense.com
Big Picture – Europe's debt problems are driving the world's financial markets and investors are trying to figure out whether the single currency will survive. Furthermore, the mainstream media is currently awash with scary forecasts about the impending collapse of the Euro and many pundits are now predicting a Greek or Spanish default.
Although nobody possesses a crystal ball and anything is possible, we are of the view that the establishment will not let the Euro fail. Quite the contrary, we believe that ultimately the 'solution' to this crisis will be further fiscal and economic integration within Europe. In the interim, it is conceivable that the European Central Bank (ECB) may extend its Long Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO) and it may recapitalise Europe's banking system. Last but not least, it is probable that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may intervene and assist the debt plagued nations.
Euro Zone Exit: What Would Happen Next?
By: Catherine Boyle - CNBC.com
The idea of a Greek or Spanish exit from the euro zone, once viewed as an extreme worst-case scenario given credence only by the most bearish, is increasingly becoming part of the mainstream.
While most policymakers, analysts and economists still shudder at the thought of a Greek exit – or Grexit as it has been called – more and more are running through scenarios for this situation. Greece's elections on June 17 are too close to call, and the election of ananti-bailout party could hasten its departure from the single currency.
The immediate concern for the markets is how the euro would be affected in currency markets, and how that would affect the core countries left in the currency
$7 Million a Minute
BY BRUCE KRASTING - FinancialSense.com
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) intervened in support of its 1.2000 currency peg against the Euro to the tune of CHF 60 billion ($66B) in the month of May. The vast majority of this intervention occurred during European trading hours. That means that the SNB bought, on average, the equivalent of $7mm worth of Euros every minute during the month. That's a staggering number to me.
I was aware that there was ongoing intervention. I thought it would end up being a big number. At one point late in the month I was advised that a big American bank dropped Euro 7B on the SNB in a single ticket (think Cetacea). But I'm blown out by the 28% increase in reserves in a single month..
How Bank of America Execs Hid Losses—In Their Own Words
by Cora Currier - ProPublica.com
When Bank of America announced it was buying Merrill Lynch in September 2008, bank execs told their shareholders that the merger might hurt earnings a touch. It didn't turn out that way. Losses at Merrill piled upover the next two months, before the deal even closed. Yet the execs kept painting a prettier picture to shareholders — even though it turns out they knew better.
As the New York Times detailed this morning, a brief in a new lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan recounts sworn testimony and internal emails in which execs admitted to giving bad information to shareholders and that they had worried about the legal ramifications of doing so.
Time to Panic:
Today's China Looks Scarily Like 2006 America
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
The latest development out of China was a classic case of good news/bad news. On Thursday their central bank, the People's Bank of China (PBoC), unexpectedly cut interest rates for the first time since 2008. The good news is that the PBoC is reacting aggressively to their slowdown. The bad news is that their slowdown warrants such an aggressive reaction by the PBoC.
Actually, it might warrant far more. Or it might not. China is so opaque, it's almost impossible to say. You might be wondering how a country that announced 8.1 percent GDP growth in the first quarter of 2012 might be in such trouble. The answer: Those numbers are reported year-over-year, not quarter-over-quarter. In other words, even if we can trust them -- which is far from certain -- high growth figures don't necessarily mean that China has high growth right now.
The U.S. Economy By The Numbers:
70 Facts That Barack Obama Does Not Want You To See
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Why is the economy going to collapse? Have you ever been asked that question? If so, what did you say? Sometimes it is difficult to communicate dozens of complicated economic and financial concepts in a package that the average person on the street can easily digest. It can be very frustrating to know that something is true but not be able to explain it clearly to someone else. Hopefully many of you out there will find the list below useful. It is a list of 70 numbers that show why we are headed for a national economic nightmare. So why does the title of the article single out Barack Obama? Well, it is because right now he is the biggest cheerleader for the economy. He is attempting to convince all of us that everything is just fine and that the economy is heading in a positive direction. Well, the truth is that everything is not fine and things are about to get a whole lot worse. Certainly others should share in the blame as well. Congress has been steering the economy in the wrong direction for decades, the "too big to fail" banks have turned Wall Street into a pyramid of risk, leverage and debt, and the Federal Reserve has more power over the financial system than anyone else does. Our economy has been in decline for quite a while now, and soon we are going to smash directly into an economic brick wall. Unfortunately, a lot of Americans are in denial about this. A lot of people out there doubt that an economic collapse is coming. Well, if you know someone that believes that the U.S. economy is going to be "just fine", just show them the list below.
The Treasury and the Fed are Robbing Savers
Casey Research's Chief Technology Investment Strategist, Alex Daley sits down with James Rickards, Senior Managing Director at Tangent Capital Partners and author of "Currency Wars", at the latest Casey Research Conference, "Recovery Reality Check" in Weston, Florida.
US Budget in Black and White
BY DANIELLE PARK - FinancialSense.com
Over the past 20+ years I have counseled hundreds and hundreds of individuals, families and businesses on the full gambit of financial decisions from budgets and planning, divorce, bankruptcy, litigation and all forms of negotiation and financial settlement.
One thing constant throughout is that no one likes to make do with less than they are accustomed to. So long as people are able to fund themselves through access to capital or more credit, most will not change behavior even when it is clearly leading them to financial suicide. Once cash flow cannot be expanded or continued however, once payments from others and credit lines are cut, most people figure out the changes needed to survive.
Trade deficit narrows as global demand slows
By Doug Palmer
(Reuters) - The trade deficit narrowed in April as slower growth in Europe and China bit into exports and the soft economy clipped import demand, a government report showed on Friday.
The trade gap shrank 4.9 percent to $50.1 billion, with exports falling 0.8 percent from last month's record level to $182.9 billion, the Commerce Department said.
Imports dropped 1.7 percent to $233.0 billion.
Student Loans Are the Government's Largest Asset
BY DOUG SHORT - FinancialSense.com
....The rapid growth in student debt has been a frequent topic in the financial press. One stunning chart that caught my attention illustrated the rapid growth in federal loans to students since the onset of the great recession. Here is a chart based on data from the Flow of Funds Table L.105, which shows the Federal Government's assets and liabilities.
As I point out on the chart, the two callouts are for Q4 2007, the quarter in which the Great Recession began (December 2007) the most recent quarter on record, Q1 2012. The loan balance has risen and astonishing 332% over that timeframe, most of which dates from after the recession.
Workers still feeling the pain in paychecks Lagging wages delay recovery
By Patrice Hill-The Washington Times
Presidential candidates like to say it's all about jobs, but for the nearly 92 percent of the American workforce with jobs, it's about the wages.
U.S. corporations are brimming with cash and reporting record levels of profits, but many workers haven't received solid raises in years. Some have had to take on the workloads of laid-off colleagues, but have not received additional pay. The jobs that are open often provide smaller paychecks than the ones Americans lost during the 2007-09 recession.
South Carolina's Pension Push Into High-Octane Investments
By: Julie Creswell, The New York Times - CNBC.com
Many mornings, the yellow Lamborghini would swing into view, sweep past tree-softened streets with a low, smooth rumble and throttle down outside an office near the State House downtown.
Behind the wheel was a financier named Robert L. Borden. Around Columbia, a city decidedly more Ford than Lamborghini, his exotic supercar gave him the air of a Wall Street hotshot. In truth, Mr. Borden was a civil servant — a very highly paid one. Until recently, he was the investment chief of South Carolina's giant public pension system.
Can You Answer 25 Difficult Questions
That The Mainstream Media
Does Not Seem To Have Answers To?
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
The mainstream news just seems to get sillier and shallower with each passing day. Our world is becoming incredibly unstable, corruption is everywhere, we are on the verge of another massive economic crisis, government debt is absolutely exploding, war could erupt in the Middle East at any time and signs of deep social decay are everywhere and yet the mainstream media seems absolutely obsessed with reporting on celebrities and scandals. It would be nice if the mainstream media would do a lot more true investigative reporting and would actually try to answer some of the difficult questions that we are being faced with. Unfortunately, most of what passes for "news" these days is essentially just "infotainment". That is one of the reasons why we have seen such a surge in the popularity of alternative news outlets in recent years. People are searching for the truth, and they know that they are not getting much of it from the mainstream media these days.
CHOMSKY 1997: THE NEW PARTY IS A "SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC VERSION OF STATE CAPITALISM"
by JOHN SEXTON - Breitbart.com
An interview with Noam Chomsky from 1997 has the far-left professor describing his involvement with the New Party at about the time that Barack Obama Obama joined and sought an endorsement from the group. Contrary to claims made by founder Joel Rogers (some of which have been shown to be false), Chomsky says the New Party is not just the left wing of the Democratic Party, but a socialist alternative.
Media Matters has written a post about Kurtz's discovery of some 1996 New Party meeting minutes. MMFA uses Ben Smith's 2008 report to claim the New Party was just the left wing of the Democratic Party:
Rogers described the party's platform including national health insurance and wage insurance, quality education, and environmentalism. Those are positions that basically placed the New Party, ideologically, well within the left half of the Democratic Party. The aim, in fact, was to be the "conscience of the Democratic Party," Rogers said, though they also endorsed the occasional Republican.
As for "socialist"?
"'Socialist' means is you try to whatever extent to move the means of production under public ownership," Rogers said. "The New Party was never about that."
New York Times journalist defends national security leaks
By Morgan Little - LATimes.com
Two stories published by the New York Times, which exposed the extent of U.S. involvement in cyber attacks against Iranand the White House's secret 'Kill List,' have sparked scrutiny over the last week amid allegations that administration officials had leaked classified information for political gain.
The debate continued Sunday as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) reiterated calls for a special prosecutor to take charge of leak investigations and as a reporter who wrote one of the stories said he doubted that any politically motivated leaks were involved.
U.S. cities struggle with blighted bank-owned homes
By Tim Reid
(Reuters) - The smell of rotting food and decay inside 10956 South Wilmington Avenue, Los Angeles, was overwhelming.
A burst pipe in the kitchen ceiling leaked water onto a floor littered with half empty cans, razor blades, odd shoes, stained clothing and an upturned, mold-ridden sofa. Windows were smashed and boarded up.
The vacant home was foreclosed on in August 2011 by Bank of America, which has done nothing to repair it.
Hundreds evacuated as Colo., NM fires grow
By KRISTEN WYATT - APF - Guardian.co.uk
LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) — Firefighters on Sunday were fighting wildfires in parched forests in Colorado and New Mexico that have forced hundreds of people from their homes.
The Colorado fire, burning in a mountainous area about 15 miles west of Fort Collins, grew to 22 square miles within about a day of being reported and has destroyed or damaged 18 structures. A fire near the mountain community of Ruidoso in southern New Mexico began Friday and was listed at 40 square miles Sunday due to better mapping. It has destroyed at least 20 structures.
Mild geomagnetic storm alert for glancing CME blasts
TheExtinctionProtocol.wordpress.com
June 10, 2012 – SPACE – M-FLARES: New sunspot AR1504 is crackling with impulsive M-class solar flares. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the extreme UV flash from one of them, an M2-class flare on June 10th at 0645 UT: NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of polar geomagnetic storms during the next 48 hours as a pair of CMEs pass by Earth, possibly delivering glancing blows to our magnetic field. –Space Weather
Five 'Stand Your Ground' Cases You Should Know About
by Suevon Lee - ProPublica.com
The Stand Your Ground law is most widely associated with the Feb. 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old killed in Florida by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain who claimed he was acting in self-defense.
But as a recent Tampa Bay Times investigation indicates, the Martin incident is far from the only example of the law's reach in Florida. The paper identified nearly 200 instancessince 2005 where the state's Stand Your Ground law has played a factor in prosecutors' decisions, jury acquittals or a judge's call to throw out the charges. (Not all the cases involved killings. Some involved assaults where the person didn't die.)
Military Suicide Rate Surges To Nearly One Per Day This Year
By ROBERT BURNS - HuffingtonPost.com
WASHINGTON — Suicides are surging among America's troops, averaging nearly one a day this year – the fastest pace in the nation's decade of war.
The 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year far outdistance the U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan – about 50 percent more – according to Pentagon statistics obtained by The Associated Press.
The numbers reflect a military burdened with wartime demands from Iraq and Afghanistan that have taken a greater toll than foreseen a decade ago. The military also is struggling with increased sexual assaults, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and other misbehavior.
Debt Deflation, Corporate Efficiency and Stock Prices
By David Knox Barker - GoldSeek.com
It all started out great in 1949. The global economy had finished deleveraging from the great depression. The austerity of the long wave cycle winter season had burned off the results of earlier decades of debt buildup, overproduction, and economic excess. Bad debt had failed and been written off. The global long wave cycle of boom and bust had ended. On a 20-year compounded annual rate of return inflation adjusted stock prices bottomed in 1949. A broad global economic spring season had begun in earnest.
William Hague compares Syria to Bosnia in 1990s The situation in Syria resembles Bosnia in the 1990s, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday as he warned time was running out to stop the killings in the country.
Telegraph.co.uk
Mr Hague said it was now up to Russia to use its leverage with President Bashar al-Assad's regime to bring an end to the brutal violence in Syria.
He told Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News the continued political and trade isolation of Syria was the second best option. What was needed was a united way forward, he said.
Asked whether the Government had ruled out military intervention, Mr Hague said: "I think we don't know how things are going to develop. Syria is, as I said in the last couple of weeks, on the edge of a collapse or of a sectarian civil war so I don't think we can rule anything out.
OH NO YOU DIDN'T:
MOSSAD AGENTS CLAIM OBAMA LYING ABOUT STUXNET
by JOEL B. POLLAK - Breitbart.com
Israeli officials who were placed at risk by the Obama administration's leaks about the Stuxnet virus are disputing American claims that the cyber-weapon was jointly developed by the U.S. and Israel. Rather, they say, Israeli intelligence first started developing cyberspace warfare against Iran, only convincing the U.S.--with some difficulty--to join in. The Israelis allege that President Barack Obama claimed credit for Stuxnet to boost his re-election campaign.
The source for the new claim is Yossi Melman, a journalist for Israel's left-wingHa'aretz daily (via Israel Matzav):
The Israeli officials actually told me a different version. They said that it was Israeli intelligence that began, a few years earlier, a cyberspace campaign to damage and slow down Iran's nuclear intentions. And only later they managed to convince the USA to consider a joint operation — which, at the time, was unheard of. Even friendly nations are hesitant to share their technological and intelligence resources against a common enemy...
A Radioactive Nightmare As fallout from Fukushima heads our way,
the government turns a blind eye
By Michael Collins - VCReporter.com
Millions of Southern Californians and tourists seek the region's famous beaches to cool off in the sea breeze and frolic in the surf. Those iconic breezes, however, may be delivering something hotter than the white sands along the Pacific.
Buckyballs.
According to a recent U.C. Davis study, uranium-filled nanospheres are created from the millions of tons of fresh and salt water used to try to cool down the three molten cores of the stricken reactors. The tiny and tough buckyballs are shaped like British Association Football soccer balls.
Nuclear Cover-Up?
Extreme Radiation Levels Prompt EPA Censorship,
DHS Hazmat Team
By Anthony Gucciardi - Infowars.com
In a developing story that is raising concerns over a potential nuclear cover-up by the EPA, alarming amounts of radiation were reported near the border of Indiana and Michigan and later censored by the EPA online geiger tool. The readings, which were captured in a screenshot, measured as high as 7.139 counts per minute (CPM). This is particularly startling, as the normal radiation levels are generally between 5 and 6 CPM. Sources say that a Department of Homeland Security hazmat team has now been dispatched after 'years' of inactivity.
A number of community reports have came in on the subject in fact, with readers of community boards and concerned citizens offering up some interesting and intriguing information regarding the potential radiation cover-up. Discussion over the information first began to surface on internet boards like Reddit and user-submitted news source Digital Journal. In the Reddit submission, which ultimately reached thousands of comments — many from those in the area who had contacted radiation monitoring stations and other affiliated individuals — and brought some further information to light.
With Scientists Predicting the World's End (Again),
the UN Rattles Its Cup
By Patrick Michaels - Forbes.com
Notice all the horrendous news about our environment? That's a sure sign that the UN is about to throw another mega-gabfest where global leaders will shake their heads and shake down the U.S. for monies that Congress will wisely refuse to fork over.
Two weekends from now, the UN is holding its "Rio+20 Earth Summit", the largest meeting in the history of an organization that pretty much does nothing but stage meetings. The 1992 Rio Summit produced the Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was the basis for the completely failed Kyoto Protocol on global warming. It also spawned Agenda 21, a document which outlined in great detail its plans to punish and pillage producer nations and transmit their wealth to the world's great kleptocracies.
Was UFO a Russian ballistic missile? Russian Defense Ministry says it successfully test-fired intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday; earlier, unidentified flying object reported in Israel, Lebanon, other states in region
By Abigail Looshi, Lee Feller, Ariel Danieli, Polina Garaev and Yaron Druckman - YNetNews.com
The glowing light reported in Israel's skies around 8:45 pm Thursday apparently resulted from of a failed intercontinental ballistic missile test by the Russian military, according to estimates.
Hundreds of Israelis nationwide flooded police hotlines Thursday evening with reports of an unidentified flying object in the nation's skies.
Air Force Set to Be Deployed Inside U.S.
to Collect Data and Search Citizens
By Alex Thomas - TheIntelHub.com
The United States Air Force, through the use of unmanned aerial drones, is set to be deployed inside the United States to collect data, investigate places of interest, and share data with local police agencies.
An unclassified Air Force Memo from late April documents the fact that the military is operating drone aircraft domestically and that, through a complete end run around the Constitution, can essentially share it with local law enforcement even if it has no relation to terrorism.
While many articles have already been published detailing the fact that the military is or will be sharing information they collect with local law enforcement, a more startling fact has been largely ignored by the corporate controlled media. (until now)
Beware the spy in the sky:
After those Street View snoopers,
Google and Apple use planes that can film you
sunbathing in your back garden Software giants will use military-grade cameras
to take powerful satellite images
By VANESSA ALLEN - dailymail.co.uk
Spy planes able to photograph sunbathers in their back gardens are being deployed by Google and Apple.
The U.S. technology giants are racing to produce aerial maps so detailed they can show up objects just four inches wide.
But campaigners say the technology is a sinister development that brings the surveillance society a step closer.
Google admits it has already sent planes over cities while Apple has acquired a firm using spy-in-the-sky technology that has been tested on at least 20 locations, including London.
Gold Bears "Wrong" About Dollar Spain Raises Debt, China Cuts Both Rates & Euro Exposure
BY ADRIAN ASH - FinancialSense.com
Wholesale market gold prices eased back from an earlier rally Thursday lunchtime in London, trading at $1623 per ounce as the Euro currency slipped from a 1-week high $1.26 after new data showed US jobless claims continuing to fall.
The Bank of England left UK monetary policy unchanged at its scheduled monthly meeting, but the People's Bank of China surprised analysts by cutting interest rates for the first time since early 2009.
European stock markets bounced further from their 3-year lows, and Brent crude oil – the European benchmark – rallied after slipping once more near 16-month lows at $100 per barrel.
Ben Bernanke says Fed ready to act if crisis intensifies The US central bank is prepared to take action if the "significant risks" posed by the eurozone crisis threaten the country's recovery, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said.
By Philip Aldrick - Telegraph.co.uk
Addressing the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, he said: "The situation in Europe poses significant risks to the US financial system and economy and must be monitored closely... As always, the Federal Reserve remains prepared to take action as needed to protect the US financial system and economy in the event that financial stresses escalate."
However, he stopped short of suggesting the Fed would consider acting pre-emptively to avert a crisis, dousing speculation caused by vice chairman Janet Yellen, who on Wednesday made the case for further monetary stimulus to insure against the risk of a downturn.
How the U.S. Can Escape the Pending Economic Black Hole
By Julian Morris - RealClearMarkets.com
It has been remarked that bond yields have recently priced in a "Lehman type" event, yet no such event has occurred. But that is to misconstrue both what happened in 2008 and what is going on now. The reality is that the world faces a potential vortex in the coming months, and markets are beginning to price that in. While it is nearly impossible for Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy to avoid their fate, policies in other countries could reduce the chances of this vortex materializing.
We all know what happened in 2008. Lehman made some bad bets that caused it to become insolvent and in the subsequent panic, banks stopped lending to one another causing a short-term liquidity crisis. That crisis was quickly solved by governments supplying needed financing and things rapidly returned to normal. Except, of course, that is not at all what happened.
Time to start throwing money at euro crisis
Is irrational resistance to bailout crumbling?
By Darrell Delamaide
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Watching European officials muddle through the euro crisis, we don't know, as longtime CBS anchor Dan Rather used to say, "whether to wind the watch or to bark at the moon."
As European officials discuss a number of new and expensive emergency measures, a rational person might ask what has been gained by rejecting a bigger bailout for so long while a bad situation worsens. It's inevitable, anyway.
Nothing was gained, of course. The operative word in that statement is "rational," and that's what is missing from the equation.
Keiser Report: Planet Ponzi (E298)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss shamed, naive and unsustainable ponzis and the UK's Metropolitan Police's Total War on Economic Crime (or at least that committed by the bottom 99%). In the second half of the show Max talks to Mitch Feierstein, hedge fund manager and author of Planet Ponzi, about global ponzi schemes, asymmetric hedging and whether or not hedge funds do any 'good.'
Spain too big for EU rescue fund as China recoils As Spain edges closer to a full sovereign rescue, economists have begun to doubt whether the EU bail-out machinery can raise such large sums funds at viable cost on global capital markets.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegrpaph.co.uk
While the International Monetary Fund thinks Spanish banks require €40bn or so in fresh capital, any loan package may have to be much larger to restore shattered confidence in the country.
Megan Greene from Roubini Global Economics says Spain's banks will need up to €250bn, a claim that no longer looks extreme. New troubles are emerging daily. The Bank of Spain said on Thursday that Catalunya Caixa and Novagalicia will need a total of €9bn in new state funds.
Merkel speaks out for two-speed Europe
BY HONOR MAHONY - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she will use the gathering of EU leaders at the end of the month to push ahead with plans for a political union, including more sweeping powers to Brussels.
"We do not just need a currency union but also a so-called fiscal union - more common budget policy," she told Germany's ARD television early Thursday (7 June).
She emphasised that a political union was also necessary: "That means that step-by-step in the future we have to give up more powers to Europe and grant Europe more oversight possibilities."
Has Merkel Just "Blinked" and Saved the Euro Project?
BY CHRISTOPHER QUIGLEY - FinancialSense.com
Things have become so serious that President Obama has intervened and has asked British Prime Minister David Cameron to travel to Berlin today and put an ultimatum to Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel: "act before it is too late".
It looks like following such pressure that she has finally blinked and altered her former "stone walling" policy. It looks like Spain will be granted a bank bailout without giving up the type of sovereign authority demanded of Ireland and Portugal and Greece. According to news reports:
Only Germany can avoid a disaster... The Accidental Empire
By George Soros - ProjectSyndicate.org
NEW YORK – It is now clear that the main cause of the euro crisis is the member states' surrender of their right to print money to the European Central Bank. They did not understand just what that surrender entailed – and neither did the European authorities.
When the euro was introduced, regulators allowed banks to buy unlimited amounts of government bonds without setting aside any equity capital, and the ECB discounted all eurozone government bonds on equal terms. Commercial banks found it advantageous to accumulate weaker countries' bonds to earn a few extra basis points, which caused interest rates to converge across the eurozone. Germany, struggling with the burdens of reunification, undertook structural reforms and became more competitive. Other countries enjoyed housing and consumption booms on the back of cheap credit, making them less competitive.
Any way you slice it, Germany wins Germany holds all the cards in the euro power struggle: It prospers even as countries around it collapse, and that means it will likely end up with even more control over the eurozone after this is all over.
By Cyrus Sanati
FORTUNE -- The faster Europe realizes that Germany holds most, if not all, of the cards when it comes to ending the eurozone debt crisis, the faster a lasting solution can be found. With positive economic growth, low unemployment and fantastically low interest rates, Germany is simply in no rush to implement reforms that have been proposed by its economically weaker neighbors, as they would negatively impact Germany's ability to borrow cheaply and expand exports.
EU sees dramatic surge in investment from China
BY PHILIP EBELS - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - In what has been called "a definite turning point," China's direct investment in Europe over the last couple of years has multiplied by a factor 10, according to a new study.
EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht welcomed the news, saying that "we need the money."
"Our dataset shows a profound post-2008 surge," says the new study, presented on Thursday (7 June) in Brussels by consultancy firm Rhodium Group. "From €700 million yearly 2004-2008, to roughly €2.3 billion in 2009 and 2010, to €7.4 billion in 2011."
Fed advances Basel bank capital proposal
By Dave Clarke
(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve released a proposal to enact an international agreement on higher capital standards for banks, known as Basel III, that largely rejects pleas by the U.S. banking industry to soften parts of the new standards.
U.S. banks have pushed the Fed to allow them to more heavily count mortgage servicing rights and the unrealized gains and losses of certain securities toward their capital requirements than allowed by Basel III, but the U.S. central bank's draft rule closely follows the international agreement.
Fed's Rosengren warns on growing economic risks
(Reuters) - Risks to the world's economic and financial outlook are growing again and affecting the behavior of households and businesses, a top U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Thursday.
Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, stood by his call last week for more easing at a banking conference in Copenhagen, saying that inflation would likely "undershoot" forecasts this year.
"That gives us some flexibility to think about additional monetary policy accommodation," he said.
Bernanke signals no imminent steps to aid economy
AP - NYPost.com
WASHINGTON — Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Federal Reserve is prepared to take further steps to lift the U.S. economy if it weakens. But he didn't signal any imminent action in testimony before a congressional panel Thursday.
Bernanke said the European debt crisis poses significant risks to the U.S. financial markets. And he noted that U.S. unemployment remains high and the outlook for inflation subdued.
"As always, the Federal Reserve remains prepared to take action as needed to protect the U.S. financial system and economy in the event that financial stresses escalate," Bernanke told the congressional Joint Economic Committee.
Fed ready to act if stresses mount: Bernanke
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve stands ready to act to protect the financial system and the economy in the event that stresses from the European crisis escalate, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday.
"The situation in Europe poses significant risks to the U.S. financial system and economy and must be monitored closely," Bernanke said in testimony prepared for delivery to the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.
He called on European leaders to do much more to stem the crisis.
It's Worse Than You Think:
Halftime Between Two Lost Decades The recovery feels extraordinarily slow because we face an extraordinary three-part crisis: a financial shock compounded by a global slowdown and a demographic time bomb.
Time to think big.
By Jack A. Goldstone - TheAtlantic.com
The global economy is in a synchronized swoon. Brazil's economy practically stalled out in the first quarter, all of China's manufacturing figures indicate much lower growth than last year, Britain remains in recession, Spain's banking system needs a rescue and may collapse, and the U.S. -- which had been the last remaining bright spot in the global economy -- suddenly has started sputtering. The number of jobs created in May was not just half as many as expected; the figures for the previous two months were sharply revised lower as well. And for good measure, GDP growth for the first quarter was revised downward too.
Secret talks under way about 'fiscal cliff'
By MANU RAJU - Politico.com
A growing number of lawmakers are alarmed that Congress's do-nothing posture ahead of the year-end fiscal cliff could provoke a massive voter backlash and economic catastrophe if they don't start laying the groundwork right now to cut a deal.
So behind the scenes, there's a scramble taking shape.
A dozen senators ranging from Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn to Delaware Democrat Chris Coons have begun to organize closed-door briefings with leading economic experts to prod Congress into action. Some lawmakers like Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) are quietly pushing to have a major tax and budget package ready by September so a bill can be introduced immediately after the November elections and passed by Christmas. Others like Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) have taken matters into their own hands by privately preparing bills they hope will shape the post-election debate.
The next bank-bailout blame game
By Nicole Gelinas - NYPost.com
Twenty-three months after President Obama gave us Wall Street "reform," the results are in — and they're not pretty. The Dodd-Frank law didn't end "too big to fail"; it just gave Washington someone new to blame for the next blowup-and-bailout, namely the hapless regulators.
And senators who should care about Wall Street's health — such as New York's Chuck Schumer and New Jersey's Bob Menendez — are already leading the rush to blame.
Yesterday, the Democrat-led Senate Banking Committee hauled four big-bank watchdogs to Capitol Hill to find out how JPMorgan Chase lost at least $2 billion gambling taxpayer-guaranteed deposits on derivatives.
FDIC State Profiles [map and stats]
First Quarter 2012
Effective January 2007, FDIC State Profiles have been reformatted as a quarterly data sheet summation of banking and economic conditions in each state. To retrieve a state profile, select a state from either the map or list below.
Americans think "Born in the USA"
could be next national anthem 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll: June Edition
CBSNews.com
Welcome to the 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll for June. June is known for the "longest day" both literally with the summer solstice and figuratively with the commemoration of one of the pivotal days of the 20th century: June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day.
It is when the school year ends and the graduation parties begin and it is also known for beautiful brides, weddings and celebrations of all kinds. Speaking of D-Day, the U.S. (Continental) Army was founded on June 14, 1775, by resolution of the Continental Congress. A ragtag group of patriots had recently surprised the British with a fierce fight at Bunker Hill. A day after the resolution, George Washington was named general and commander-in-chief and was sent to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to take charge of the Army. Think of what that modest force had become on D-Day and think of what they still mean to the relative peace and stability of the world.
The Real "War on Women"
The politics of division continue to haunt Obama's White House.
By THOMAS SOWELL - The American Spectator.org
Among the people who are disappointed with President Obama, none has more reason to be disappointed than those who thought he was going to be "a uniter, rather than a divider" and that he would "bring us all together."
It was a noble hope, but one with no factual foundation. Barack Obama had been a divider all his adult life, especially as a community organizer, and he had repeatedly sought out and allied himself with other dividers, the most blatant of whom was the man whose church he attend for 20 years, Jeremiah Wright.
Irrepressible Culture Wars, Past and Present Many young evangelicals today shun conflict --
a posture at odds with evangelical history.
By MARK TOOLEY - The American Spectator.org
A new generation of evangelical elites is imploring evangelicals to step back from the culture wars. Mostly they want to escape polarizing strong stances on same-sex marriage and abortion, and perhaps also contentious church-state issues, like the Obamacare contraceptive mandate.
Purportedly the evangelical church is failing to reach young, upwardly mobile professionals because evangelicals, who now broadly comprise perhaps one third of all Americans, are seen as reactionary and hateful. On their college campuses, at their coffee shops, and in their yoga classes, among other venues, some outspoken hip young evangelicals want a new public image for their faith.
Contingency plans set on US healthcare
By Anna Fifield in Washington - FT.com
The Obama administration has prepared contingency plans in case the Supreme Court strikes down part or all of its signature healthcare reform law later this month, Kathleen Sebelius, health secretary, said on Thursday.
The much-anticipated ruling, expected before the end of June, will have huge political implications in a presidential election year, with a victory for the administration giving President Barack Obama a boost as he campaigns for a second term.
But if the court overturns the "individual mandate" requiring almost all Americans to buy medical insurance, or scraps the entire law, that could give a boost to Republican arguments that the Obama administration has exceeded its power and should be ejected from the White House.
Data on jobs may cause Obama to lose his
By John Crudele - NYPost.com
If the next couple of employment reports are as bad as last Friday's, the Democrats will be the ones trying to prove President Obama was born in Kenya.
They then could get a new candidate.
Before you think I'm just spouting the Republican Party line, I'll remind you that I voted for Obama in the last election.
There is, of course, really no chance that the Democrats will choose a candidate to replace the president — no matter how vigorously Hillary Clinton throws her arms in the air and shouts, "Pick me, it's my turn."
There is, as I have reported, a very good chance that none of the next five monthly jobs reports — culminating with the October announcement coming the Friday before the Nov. 6 election — will be good enough to win many votes.
Is Congress Nearing A Deal On Student Loans?
By SAHIL KAPUR - TalkingPointsMemo.com
After weeks of deadlock, Congress appears to be narrowing its differences on how to avert a hike in student loan interest rates on July 1.
The public manner of negotiations suggests that a deal may not be imminent. But the back-and-forth reveals that both parties feel enough election-year pressure not to be seen on the wrong side of the cause.
The latest development came late Thursday afternoon when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wrote a letter responding to GOP leaders' proposal on how to fund the $6 billion cost of a one-year freeze.
Democrats Failed in Wisconsin
Because They Failed Wisconsin
By Robert Scheer - Truthdig.com
On, Wisconsin! Or so it was meant to be with a union-led recall in the home state of Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr., the populist governor and senator who once shaped the cry for anti-corporate social justice in this nation. After La Follette there was the Wisconsinite William Proxmire, the great conscience of the U.S. Senate, followed by the equally impressive Russ Feingold, who, despite being exactly correct in warning of the consequences of unfettered banking greed, was turned out by Wisconsin voters in 2010. Perhaps if the original McCain-Feingold legislation—gutted by the Supreme Court—was still the law of the land on campaign finance, the Democrats and their union base would have survived Tuesday's election.
Country for Sale
By Richard Reeves - Truthdig.com
The word "takeaway" was first used in 1961, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. And then it was about Chinese restaurants. Now it is about everything, including elections.
"Three Takeaways From the Recall Vote" was the headline over the election analysis of Sean Trende, the senior election analyst of Real Clear Politics.
On Politico.com, the headline over Glenn Thrush's analysis was, "Only One Takeaway From Wisconsin: Money Shouts."
Trende, a great name for a political writer, began his piece on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's surviving a recall election by saying that the results don't tell us much about 2012. He argued that special elections are poor predictors of general elections, particularly presidential elections. This one, he said, was about one governor, one state, one issue—that is, Walker's attempt to reduce the pay and benefits of unionized state employees. He cited exit polling that indicated most voters believe that recalls should be used only in cases of corruption.
Dems now believe Obama could loose
Between the Lines: By Mark Halperin
By Mark Halperin; Elizabeth Dias - Time.com
With five months until Election Day, Barack Obama faces a grim new reality: Republicans now believe Mitt Romney can win, and Democrats believe Obama can lose ... Last week's anemic job-creation and economic-growth data was sandwiched between two Bill Clinton specials: in one television interview, the 42nd President lauded Romney's business record as "sterling"; in another, he veered from the Obama line on the extension of Bush-era tax cuts ... The failure to unseat Wisconsin's Republican governor Scott Walker in a recall election was another bad sign for Democrats since it will rev up conservatives nationwide, including the kind of millionaires who gave big bucks to Walker's effort ... Veteran Democratic strategists from previous presidential bids and on Capitol Hill now wonder if the Obama re-election crew is working with the right message ... The White House remains on a rough political trajectory, with a potentially adverse Supreme Court decision on the Obama health care law looming, additional bad economic news from Europe coming and more worrisome polling pending ... Another danger for the President: the media freak show. Stalking that circus' center ring is Matt Drudge, whose caustic website continues to help drive the news cycle with an emphasis on negative, mocking items about Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and their wives. The latest sign of Drudge's potency: Ed Klein, the author of the virulently anti-Obama book The Amateur, was barred from major TV appearances and mostly ignored by the mainstream media, but the book's prominence on Drudge's website propelled it to the No. 1 slot on the New York Times nonfiction list.
Noonan: What's Changed After Wisconsin The Obama administration suddenly looks like a house of cards.
By Peggy Noonan - WSJ.com
What happened in Wisconsin signals a shift in political mood and assumption. Public employee unions were beaten back and defeated in a state with a long progressive tradition. The unions and their allies put everything they had into "one of their most aggressive grass-roots campaigns ever," as the Washington Post's Paul Whoriskey and Dan Balz reported in a day-after piece. Fifty thousand volunteers made phone calls and knocked on 1.4 million doors to get out the vote against Gov. Scott Walker. Mr. Walker's supporters, less deeply organized on the ground, had a considerable advantage in money.
But organization and money aren't the headline. The shift in mood and assumption is. The vote was a blow to the power and prestige not only of the unions but of the blue-state budgetary model, which for two generations has been: Public-employee unions with their manpower, money and clout, get what they want. If you move against them, you will be crushed.
The end of government unions... What Wisconsin means
By Charles Krauthammer - WashingtonPost.com
Tuesday, June 5, 2012, will be remembered as the beginning of the long decline of the public-sector union. It will follow, and parallel, the shrinking of private-sector unions, now down to less than 7 percent of American workers. The abject failure of the unions to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) — the first such failure in U.S. history — marks the Icarus moment of government-union power. Wax wings melted, there's nowhere to go but down.
The ultimate significance of Walker's union reforms has been largely misunderstood. At first, the issue was curtailing outrageous union benefits, far beyond those of the ordinary Wisconsin taxpayer. That became a nonissue when the unions quickly realized that trying to defend the indefensible would render them toxic for the real fight to come.
Bill Clinton and the Reagan Consensus Obama's failure, Scott Walker's success: Clinton's support of Reaganomics.
By JEFFREY LORD - The American Spectator.org
"I thought Bill Clinton was a great President. The first two years were really bad. Then he changed the tune and became even more Reagan than Reagan. He did the '97 Capital Gains Tax Act, he did welfare reform, he appointed Greenspan twice, he pushed NAFTA through Congress, how wonderful was that. "He cut Government spending as a share of GDP by 3½%. He left us with surpluses. This man did a fantastic job for the country. He was a very good President." -- Economist and Reagan aide Arthur Laffer, father of "The Laffer Curve"
Clinton aides: Bill screwed up
By JOHN F. HARRIS and ALEXANDER BURNS | Politico.com
Bill Clinton's off-message musings in recent days on Mitt Romney, taxes and the state of the economy prompted a series of urgent and agitated calls between senior aides to both Clinton and President Barack Obama.
In the past, these kinds of complaints have often prompted Clinton lieutenants to kindly suggest that the Obama team can go to hell: a former president can, should and will say what he wants.
NAPOLITANO: Big Brother's all-seeing eye Use of military surveillance drones
overhead would be un-American
By Andrew P. Napolitano - WashingtonTimes.com
F or the past few weeks, I have been writing in this column about the government's use of drones and challenging their constitutionality onFox News Channel, where I work. I once asked on air what Thomas Jefferson would have done if - had they existed at the time - King George III had sent drones to peer inside the bedroom windows ofMonticello. I suspect Jefferson and his household would have trained their muskets on the drones and taken them down. I offer this historical anachronism as a hypothetical only, not as someone who is urging the use of violence against the government.
Nevertheless, what Jeffersonians are among us today? When drones take pictures of us on our private property and in our homes and the government uses the photos as it wishes, what will we do about it?Jefferson understood that when the government assaults our privacy and dignity, it is the moral equivalent of violence against us. Folks who hear about this, who either laugh or groan, cannot find it humorous or boring that their every move will be monitored and photographed by the government.
FAQ: LinkedIn breach --
what members (and others) need to know Tackling user questions on what's known so far on what happened to stolen LinkedIn data, and what can be done about it
By Jaikumar Vijayan - Computerworld.com
Computerworld - Hackers have apparently accessed close to 6.5 million hashed passwords from a LinkedIn database and posted them and data associated with them online. So far, researchers say, about 60% of the unique passwords in the dump have been cracked and there are signs that the rest will soon be as well.
Here's some information for LinkedIn users specifically, and all Internet users in general.
EHarmony Passwords Stolen By LinkedIn Hackers
By Joanna Stern - ABCNews
The same hackers responsible for the theft of over 6.4 million LinkedIn passwords also acquired passwords from the popular dating site eHarmony.
"After investigating reports of compromised passwords, we have found that a small fraction of our user base has been affected," eHarmony's Becky Teroka wrote on the company blog yesterday evening. According to the Los Angeles Times, 1.5 million passwords were stolen. That's significantly less than the 6.4 million LinkedIn passwords, but still a considerable amount of eHarmony's 20 million users.
Facebook Deletes Account, Demands My Passport
Facebook has deleted my account for no reason and is demanding my passport. Social networking websites routinely censor alternative media. Another fantastic reason to sign up at Planet Infowars -
'Big Bang Machine' Suffers Interference From Moon's Gravity
By CARL FRANZEN - TalkingPointsMemo.com
The world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator is no match for the moon.
That's the observation of one of the scientists working on it, Dr. Pauline Gagnon, a physics professor at the University of Indiana Bloomington, who recently posted a blog entry describing a spatial surprise she encountered last weekend while running one of the six major ongoing experiments at the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile-around underground accelerator located near Geneva, Switzerland, which has been nicknamed the "Big Bang machine," because it is designed to simulate the conditions of the early universe.
Crisis escalates to dangerous levels Syrians Bar U.N. Monitors From a Massacre Inquiry
By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and RICK GLADSTONE - NYTimes.com
ANTAKYA, Turkey — The Syrian conflict escalated to a dangerous new level on Thursday when government troops and their civilian supporters blocked unarmed United Nations monitors from investigating a massacre of farm families, prompting sharp denunciations of Damascus from diplomats who have struggled vainly to find a workable, consensus solution to the crisis.
The monitors were thwarted from reaching the tiny hamlet of Qubeir, just west of Hama, to check on what activists say was the slaying of as many as 78 people, half of them women and children, who were shot, garroted and in some cases burned alive. The monitors themselves were fired upon, United Nations officials said.
Annan: 'All-out civil war' looms in Syria UN envoy, confirming massacres, says 'first responsibility' to stop violence lies with government.
AlJazeera.com
Kofi Annan, the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria, has admitted that his peace plan is failing and that the country's future will consist of "brutal suppression, massacres, sectarian violence and even all-out civil war" if it continues on its current path.
In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday, Annan confirmed that massacres of civilians have taken place in the towns of Houla and al-Qubayr. While not assigning blame for the mass killings, the former UN secretary general said that the government, not the armed opposition, had the "first responsibility" to halt violence.
"I must be frank and confirm that the [six-point peace] plan is not being implemented," he said.
Post-Bilderberg,
Attendees Ramp Up Push for Syrian Intervention
InfoWars.com
Fresh from Bilderberg 2012, top diplomats across the spectrum are now predictably ramping up the push for intervention in Syria. The shadowy group's officially-leaked agenda discussed 'the Future of Democracy, Russia, China and the Middle East,' while the attendance of Bassma Kodmani, a top representative of the Syrian National Council and operative for the Ford Foundation and other Western institutes, make clear that the war/kinetic action in Syria is all but imminent.
2012 Bilderberg attendee Itamar Rabinovich, former Israeli ambassasdor the United States, is the latest, now prominently "blaming" the U.S. for allowing the Syrian massacre to continue unabated. The Times of Israel reports:
The real block [on Syrian intervention], he told Army Radio, is the US government. "The Obama administration is not looking for another major Middle East crisis before November."
After new Syria massacre,
U.N. urges 'substantial pressure' on Assad
By Colum Lynch, Liz Sly and Joby Warrick - WashingtonPost.com
UNITED NATIONS — With Syria lurching closer to sectarian warfare, world leaders on Thursday sought to apply new pressure on a government that they said showed no sign of honoring cease-fire agreements or halting the slaughter of noncombatants, but they remained divided on how to revive a peace process that U.N. officials conceded was in ruins.
As new details emerged of the latest massacre of civilians, U.N. officials spoke for the first time of unspecified "consequences" for the Syrian government. Yet the refusal by Russia and China to embrace new economic sanctions meant that the world body was left without a clear path forward.
Israel orders the construction of
hundreds of new houses in the West Bank
AsiaNews.it
PM Netanyahu announces the expansion of Beit El with the construction of 300 new homes. Construction minister announces 551 new flats in other West Bank settlements. Previously, Knesset rejected the legalisation of outposts on private Palestinian land, which triggers anger among settlers who vow to resist.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the construction of hundreds of new homes at the Jewish settlement of Beit El in the West Bank. More will follow in other settlements.
Zombie Bullets In High Demand Following Flesh-Eating Attacks
Detroit.CBSLocal.com
DETROIT (WWJ) – Worried about a zombie attack? Buy zombie bullets.
Talk about zombies and a possible zombie apocalypse has increased due to recent gory accounts of drug-induced, flesh-eating attacks in the news.
Stores across the U.S., including in Metro Detroit, are getting in on the undead action by selling Zombie Bullets, made by Hornady Manufacturing.
In promoting the product on their website, Hornady suggests, "Be PREPARED – supply yourself for the Zombie Apocalypse with Zombie Max ammunition from Hornady! Loaded with PROVEN Z-Max bullets… MAKE DEAD PERMANENT!"
Gold to monitor Fed speeches, data for monetary clues: HSBC
LONDON (Commodity Online): In the wake of Friday's weak U.S. jobs report, the gold market will be closely scrutinizing economic data and speeches by U.S. Federal Reserve officials this week for clues of further monetary easing, said HSBC, British multinational bank, in a commodity research note.
According to the multinational bank, weaker-than-forecast jobs data have increased prospects for further accommodation. Voting Federal Open Market Committee members expected to speak Wednesday include Dennis Lockhart, Daniel Tarullo, John Williams and Janet Yellen.
Gold hits one month high as euro, stocks rally
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): COMEX gold prices hit a one-month high on Wednesday as the euro held on to its early gains against the dollar after the European Central Bank (ECB) kept interest rates unchanged, and as other assets seen as higher risk, such as stocks and commodities, rallied.
The yellow metal is building on a rally sparked on Friday by weak US payrolls data, which reignited talk of a fresh round of monetary easing from the Federal Reserve. That helped it rebound from the 2012 low it hit in May during four months of losses.
Gold: Contagion
BY JOHN R ING - FinancialSense.com
Despite the possible breakup of the EU, there's a certain degree of complacency and denial over the political gridlock and lack of leadership on both sides of the ocean. The respite in the euro-crisis lasted only a few months and Europe sits on the edge of collapse after almost two years of political rhetoric and last minute summits. The threat of a Greek exit and escalating borrowing costs in Spain has revived fears of a financial contagion threatening the credibility and viability of the European banking system.
Most of the eurozone's banks remain on life support and are overexposed to their respective markets and sovereign entities. The IMF itself has had to top up its balance sheet. European policymakers are calling for more austerity, amid signs that its banking system has gone through the last bailout and is in need of more funds. Simply, the fundamental problems were not resolved by the bailouts. The rescue packages merely transferred enormous private liabilities unto the sovereign entities, and their debt load is far too high. Debt on debt does not work.
Gold range bound ahead of ECB, Bernanke
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Comex August gold traded in a narrow $12.30 range Tuesday ahead of a European Central Bank meeting Wednesday and congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday, said Mike Daly, gold and silver specialist with PFGBEST.
He continued that, traders were on the sidelines as they awaited the outcomes. "The investment community is wondering and speculating about further easing both in the U.S and the European Union."
What's next for the U.S. Dollar? QE3?
By: Axel G. Merk - GoldSeek.com
The dismal U.S. jobs report for May, released last Friday, caused the price of gold to soar as the market appears to be pricing in an ever-greater chance of "QE3" – another round of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve (Fed). But given that 10-year government debt is already down at 1.5%, the Fed may dive deeper into its toolbox in an effort to jumpstart the economy. Investors may want to consider taking advantage of the recent U.S. dollar rally to diversify out of the greenback ahead of QE3.
In Memory of Robert Chapman, The International Forecaster
Chis Waltzek - GoldSeek.com
The precious metals community is sans a heroic figure. Robert 'Bob' Chapman was a champion of individual freedom, particularly via the accumulation of gold and silver bullion. In our public weekly discussions on Goldseek.com Radio over the past 6+ plus years, Bob Chapman displayed an immense knowledge level on the widest array of subjects, while always maintaining a humble ego.
Robert "Bob" John Chapman, age 76, of Winter Haven, FL (formally of Mexico) died Monday, June 4, 2012 due to pancreatic cancer. He was born October 16, 1935 in Boston, MA the son of John Chapman and Ruth Donley Chapman. Bob was a veteran of the US Army, a writer of a news letter discussing finances and economics and a regular radio commentator discussing politics as well as economics and finances. Most of his working life he served as a stock broker.
Bob is survived by his wife, of 47 years, Judith "Judy" Dabrowski Chapman, son: Robert Michael Chapman, daughter: Jenifer Gillotti and her husband Matt, sisters: Dorothy Trecker and Joan Lotz and 4 grandchildren.
Markets Await 'Helicopter Ben,' But May Be Disappointed
By: Patti Domm - CNBC Executive News Editor
The expectations are so high for Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke Thursday to say something revealing about more Fed easing that he can probably only disappoint markets.
Bernanke's 10 a.m. testimony before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, comes on the heels of a major stock market rally, inspired in part by optimism for more Fed easing.
Stocks had their best day of the year, rising 286 points to 12,414, and the S&P 500 rose 29 to 1,315.
"What's he (Bernanke) going to say? Is he really going to get in a helicopter and dump money?" said Steve Massocca of Wedbush Securities.
Panic has become all too rational
By Martin Wolf - FT.com
Suppose that in June 2007 you had been told that the UK 10-year bond would be yielding 1.54 per cent, the US Treasury 10-year 1.47 per cent and the German 10-year 1.17 per cent on June 1 2012. Suppose, too, you had been told that official short rates varied from zero in the US and Japan to 1 per cent in the eurozone. What would you think? You would think the world economy was in a depression. You would have been wrong if you had meant something like the 1930s. But you would have been right about the forces at work: the west is in a contained depression; worse, forces for another downswing are building, above all in the eurozone. Meanwhile, policy makers are making huge errors.
It's your job to fix crisis, ECB tells governments
By Sakari Suoninen
(Reuters) - The European Central Bank on Wednesday put the onus firmly on euro zonegovernments to solve the bloc's debt crisis, dashing expectations it could take near-term action despite saying the currency area's economy was under increasing threat.
After the ECB left interest rates at 1 percent, President Mario Draghi said the bank was not open to trading with governments on the policy response to the crisis.
Greece Warns of Going Broke as Tax Proceeds Dry Up
By: Niki Kitsantonis, Athens and Paul Geitner, Brussels
The New York Times - CNBC.com
As European leaders grapple with how to preserve their monetary union, Greece is rapidly running out of money.
Nikos Lekkas, a government official, said banks had hindered his efforts to collect back taxes.
Government coffers could be empty as soon as July, shortly after this month's pivotal elections. In the worst case, Athens might have to temporarily stop paying for salaries and pensions, along with imports of fuel, food and pharmaceuticals.
Nein! Nein! Nein! Again
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
No, Germany has not agreed to a "banking union".
It has not agreed to mutualise the costs of bank bail-outs, knowing perfectly well that this means 'Eurobonds lite' and the start of a slippery slope towards debt pooling.
It has not cleared the way for use of the EU rescue machinery (EFSF and ESM) for direct recapitalisation of banks – which is what Spain wants to avoid having to bear the contingent liabilities of its crumbling lenders on sovereign shoulders.
Spain calls for new tax pact to save euro Madrid calls for Europe-wide plan
but resists 'humiliation' of national bailout
By Ian Traynor in Brussels and Nicholas Watt - Guardian.co.uk
Spain is warning that Europe's single currency will unravel unless its leaders decide within weeks to centralise budget and tax policies in the eurozone and agree on a strategy to pool responsibility for failing banks.
As Spain's prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, came under mounting international pressure to accept the eurozone's fourth national bailout in two years, the government in Madrid angrily rejected the demands, insisting that it did not need rescuing. With fears of a euro meltdown having rapidly shifted from Greece to Spain, Rajoy is pleading for a direct eurozone rescue of his country's banks, to avoid the humiliation attached to requesting a national bailout.
Germany Finalizing Face-Saving Deal for Spain
Reuters - CNBC.com
A deal is in the works that would allow Spain to recapitalize its stricken banks with aid from its European partners but avoid the embarrassment of having to adopt new economic reforms imposed from the outside, German officials say.
While Berlin remains firm in its rejection of Spain's calls for Europe's rescue funds to lend directly to its banks, the officials said that if Madrid put in a formal aid request, funds could flow without it submitting to the kind of strict reform program agreed for Greece, Portugal and Ireland.
What Country Has the Worst Youth Unemployment?
Not Spain or Greece ...
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com The big loser is Turkey.
Despite the horror stories you may have heard about over half of Greek and Spanish youths being out of work, the reality is a bit more complicated. The following chart courtesy of the OECD (via Alan Beattie of theFinancial Times) gives us a more accurate picture of youth joblessness. Instead of counting everyone under 25 who isn't working as unemployed, it only counts everyone under 25 who isn't working and isn't in school or a training program as unemployed. Things are still bad, but not nearly as bad as the headlines suggest.
Wall Street climbs two percent on talk of Spain solution
By Caroline Valetkevitch
(Reuters) - Stocks jumped on Wednesday, giving the S&P 500 its best day since December, as talk of a rescue of Spain's troubled banks and hopes for more monetary stimulus sparked a rebound from recent selling.
After a 6 percent fall by the S&P 500 in May that took the index below its key 200-day moving average on Friday, the market was ripe for a rebound, analysts said. Buying was strong across the broad market, with all 10 S&P 500 sectors gaining ground.
Keiser Report: Paper Money Collapse (E297)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss all hell breaking loose as an electronics chain store stockpiles security shutters, capital flees Greece (and Spain) and Max proposes a love market. In the second half of the show Max talks to Detlev Schlichter, author of Paper Money Collapse, about the euro, the drachma, the dollar and gold.
Fed's Yellen keeps door open for more easing
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A top Federal Reserve official said Wednesday that the door remains open for more easing of monetary policy, especially if central bankers are worried about the downside risks to the outlook.
Janet Yellen, the number-two Fed official behind Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, made the assertion in an evening speech to the Boston Economic Club.
"I am convinced that scope remains for the FOMC to provide further policy accommodation," Yellen said.
Three top Fed members say
new action to help economy may be needed
By Zachary A. Goldfarb - WashingtonPost.com
Three top members of the Federal Reserve said the central bank may have to take a fresh look at additional measures to stimulate economic growth amid a weakening in the U.S. economy and renewed threats from Europe.
The Fed signaled earlier this year that it was pausing its four-year campaign to bolster the economy. But analysts now expect that the Fed will consider a new round of measures, given Europe's deepening crisis and a spate of bad economic data in the United States — most notably, last week's report that only 69,000 jobs were created in May.
SunTrust CEO:
Washington's 'recession-proof' status in jeopardy
By Tim Devaney-The Washington Times
Banking regulations have swung too far toward the extreme since the Wall Street meltdown in 2008, which is preventing the economy from moving forward, says the head of a Washington bank.
"We need balance," J. Scott Wilfong, president and CEO of SunTrust Bank of Greater Washington, told editors and reporters at The Washington Times. "I'm not somebody who says you have no regulations. But we should have balanced regulations."
Don't write off the US just yet The economy is stronger
than last week's employment numbers indicate.
By Jim Cramer - Money.MSN.com
The economy is definitely decelerating. We see lots of reports that show weakness.
But we aren't weak. And I think that's really important.
We aren't weak, because we have data that are just too strong for me to write us off on punk employment numbers.
No, I am never going to write off the employment numbers as unimportant. Nothing is more important than employment. Nothing. We get jobs created, we get a boom.
How neighborhood merchants created a better bank How Indo-Americans Created The Ultimate Neighborhood Bank
By Monte Burke, Forbes.com
The Indo-American community inEdison, N.J. builds wealth the old-fashioned way, financing each other's businesses.
A nearly mile-long stretch of Oak Tree Road in Edison, N.J. is known as Little India for good reason: Every single store there—grocers, clothing retailers, restaurants, jewelers and even an auto repair shop—is owned by an Indo-American. "Everyone from India knows about Oak Tree Road," says Bipin Patel, the 55-year-old founder of Speedy Mart Food Stores, which operates 35 convenience stores in New Jersey,New York and Pennsylvania. "It is as well known as Calcutta."
Bill in a China Shop What's up with Bill Clinton?
Has he lost his touch or is he playing a more devious game?
By John Dickerson - Slate.com
Bill Clinton is the great St. Bernard of politics, bounding around the political landscape, rescuing and providing aid while simultaneously knocking over the table lamp. At the moment, he is hosting the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, which this year is taking a serious look at America's economic problems. He is also in the thick of the 2012 campaign, raising money for President Obama. The trouble is no one is better at articulating the case for Obama's re-election—while at the same time occasionally undercutting Obama's chances.
Recently he has been on the wrong end of at least three different statements he has had to clarify—defending Bain Capital, testifying to Mitt Romney's "sterling" business career, suggesting the country was still in a recession, and suggesting he favored extending the Bush-era tax cuts. Clinton is doing such good work for Mitt Romney that he now appears in the Republican nominee's press releases. Even Sarah Palin praised Clinton last night, in an effort to make President Obama look way out of the mainstream.
Peter Schiff - The Real Crash:
America's Coming Bankruptcy
Peter Schiff, CEO of Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital, talks to Cambridge House Live's Jonathan Roth, at the World Resource Investment Conference in Vancouver - June 4, 2012.
US T-Bonds: Black Hole Dynamics
By: Jim Willie CB - GoldSeek.com
Man-made financial phenomena imitate nature, but more importantly they are subject to the powerful laws of economic nature. The Wall Street financial engineers have built vast structures, which tragically are crumbling and soon will fall to the ground. Vast illusory wealth will be lost, never truly garnered. The fiat currency system has required tremendous efforts not only to build the financial skyscrapers ever higher each year, but also to provide support structures that prevent their topple. With the aid of the subservient press, an illusion of wealth, prosperity, and stability has been fashioned and defended. It is all being blown away by the powerful storms known as the global financial crisis. The term has even earned an acronym for the popular lexicon GFC. My alternative view is that the global monetary war is in full swing, World War III with the USDollar at the epicenter of the conflict and pecuniary violence. A few years ago in June 2005, the Jackass penned an obscure article entitled "Financial Market Physics" just for amusement. Thanks to Vronsky and his intrepid work, the Gold-Eagle archive still lives (for old article CLICK HERE).
In it was described momentum, pendulums, traction, leverage, resistance, support, inertia, coiled springs, meltdowns, high versus low pressure differentials, flow dynamics, imbalances, and the infamous black hole. The final concept is of extreme relevance today.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's victory deals blow to unions
By Peter Whoriskey and Dan Balz - WashingtonPost.com
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's victory in a recall election Tuesday amounted to a significant defeat for the nation's labor unions, which had mounted one of their most aggressive grass-roots campaigns ever to defeat the Republican.
As one of his first acts after taking office two years ago, Walker targeted the unions representing government workers, moving to curb their collective-bargaining rights. The failed effort to oust him sent reverberations across the labor movement and the Democratic Party, signaling that one of President Obama's most powerful constituencies is politically vulnerable and may not be able to help him as much as expected in this year's election.
Barney Frank:
Wisconsin Democrats 'Made A Big Mistake'With Recall
by Eric Kleefeld - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) is openly criticizing Wisconsin Democrats for the state recall, following Tuesday's victory by Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
"I think the people on the Democratic side made a big mistake and the funding thing was a big deal," Frank told The Hill, referring to Walker's large fundraising advantage.
The Meaning of Wisconsin
By Clive Crook - TheAtlantic.com
Democrats have two semi-plausible excuses for what happened in Wisconsin: the Republicans' enormous money advantage and the sense among many voters that the election should not have been called in the first place. Dismissing Walker's win for these or other reasons, as many progressives are inclined to, is ridiculous. It's also dumb, as it sweetens the GOP victory. The best outcome for Republicans is that Democrats learn nothing from this defeat and stay on their present course--just as they did after Scott Brown, just as they did after the 2010 mid-terms.
Before I get to that, let me mention a category of analysis deserving special recognition: articles calling the defeat a victory, actually. Katrina vanden Heuvel floated this concept even before the votes were in.
Why Public Worker Pensions
Could Become A 2012 Flashpoint
By BRIAN BEUTLER - TalkingPointsMemo.com
While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker cruised to victory in Tuesday's failed recall — a stinging defeat for public employee unions in itself — two lower-profile municipal referenda in California that could slash public sector pensions passed overwhelmingly as well. The confluence suggests 2012 will be marked by fights at both the local, state, and national level over retirement security for public sector workers.
Voters overwhelmingly approved ballot measures in both conservative San Diego and liberal San Jose that seek to close municipal budget gaps by cutting worker pensions — not just pension plans for future workers.
This situation is unusual.
Is Global Finance a Ponzi Scheme?
Ask a Russian Expert
By Leonid Bershidsky - Bloomberg.com
What's the difference between today's global finance system and a Ponzi scheme? This is the question that a 56-year-old veteran Russian financial scammer has been asking his victims.
Chillingly, he almost has a point.
Sergei Mavrodi is one of the most infamous names in Russia's recent history. Back in February 1994, amid the turmoil of the country's transition to a market economy, the mathematician organized a Ponzi scheme called MMM. He offered returns of 100 percent a month and advertised aggressively on national television. Before the pyramid crashed in July 1994, it attracted as many as 10 million depositors, making it more popular than the voucher privatization program that was supposed to give regular Russians a chance to take a stake in formerly state-owned enterprises.
NASDAQ shells out big bucks for Facebook SNAFU Nasdaq Bid To Atone For Facebook Flub
Draws Ire Of NYSE, Knight Capital
Forbes.com
Facebook's stock has been a dud for investors to date, and has been scrutinized since day one when its May 18 debut was delayed 30 minutes by technical problems at the Nasdaq. The exchange's parent company is out with a plan to make amends Wednesday, but the plan is already drawing criticism from rivals and the very parties it intends to compensate.
Wednesday, the exchange's parent,Nasdaq OMX Group, announced a program to compensate member firms "disadvantaged by technical problems that arose during the Facebook IPO cross May 18."
Nasdaq's $40 million offer
for Facebook losses draws criticism
By John McCrank
(Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX Group Inc said it will offer $40 million in cash and rebates to clients harmed by its mishandling of Facebook Inc's market debut.
But the proposed compensation, subject to approval by regulators, drew sharp criticism from rival exchanges for its use of rebates and from clients claiming losses far in excess of what Nasdaq is offering.
The Anti-Facebook Way Forward For The U.S. Economy Facebook's False Promise:
Quieter Side Of Tech Offers More Upside For America
By Joel Kotkin, Contributor - Forbes.com
Facebook's botched IPO reflects not only the weakness of the stock market, but a systemic misunderstanding of where the true value of technology lies. A website that, due to superior funding and media hype, allows people to do what they were already doing — connecting on the Internet — does not inherently drive broad economic growth, even if it mints a few high-profile billionaires.
Of course Facebook is a social phenomenon that has affected how people live and interact, but its economic impact — and future level of profitability — is less than clear. This stands in sharp contrast toApple's iTunes, which has become a new distribution platform for small software companies and musicians, not to mention the role of Amazon in the distribution of books and other products.
New Mark Of Quality: 'Made In China'?
By Bob Lutz, Contributor - Forbes.com
The other day, I purchased a highly attractive set of patio dining furniture at a local big-box store. It featured six chairs, a table, large sun umbrella and the stand. All metal, the set featured an impact-resistant powder-coat finish, which will guarantee a rust-free future for many years. Since the entire set cost only $750, an astounding value, I didn't have to look at the tiny, oval stickers: I knew it was Chinese.
The set came in two large boxes, with "some assembly required," a phrase that, based on my life-long experience with American-made implements, garden carts, shelves, outdoor furniture, boat docks and kids' swing-and-gym sets, always fills me with dread. I mentally braced myself for the usual miscounted or wrong-length screws, misaligned holes, skipped paint on the underside, unplated nuts and bolts doomed to corrosion as soon as installed, misprinted or entirely forgotten instruction sheet and all the myriad ills covered under "some assembly." A one-hour job easily turns into a full afternoon as you travel to your local hardware store for the correct fasteners, the washers they forgot to put in the little plastic bag, as well as getting your power drill, with the correct bits, out of the garage and into remedial action. Much cursing of sloppy, who-cares labor attitudes occurs under one's breath, as well as vitriolic discourses on a management that doesn't check, doesn't follow up, and, probably, couldn't care less.
You'll Hate Windows 8 We may all grow to love it, but Microsoft's radical operating system redesign will require some painful adjustments.
By Farhad Manjoo - Slate.com
You aren't ready for Windows 8. It's coming anyway, a slow-moving freight train of massive change and dread, an enormous update that will sow turmoil in the lives of millions of people around the world. This may surprise you. Like indoor plumbing and antibiotics, Windows long ago became a boring, ubiquitous technology that a lot of people—especially folks in Silicon Valley—take for granted. But when it rolls around to every new PC later this year, the new Windows will make you sit up and notice. In time, there's a lot about Windows 8 that you'll grow to love. But, as with any tech redesign, your first impression will inspire head-pounding frustration. Some of your complaints about the new OS will be unfounded, the function of a knee-jerk emotional response that you'll later reconsider. But a few of your annoyances will be right on target.
Why Mobile Will Dominate the Future of Media and Advertising We're about to enter a world where there are more tablets and smart phones than PCs. If you're in the mobile advertising business, your rocket ship takes off in five, four, three ...
By Richard Ting - TheAtlantic.com
This is the dawn of the smartphone age. But you wouldn't know it by looking at mobile advertising spend. Last week in this space, Derek Thompson showed that consumers are spending 10% of their media attention on their mobile devices while the medium only commands a mere 1% of total ad-spend. Comparatively, the quickly "dying" print medium attracts only about 7% of media-time, but still captures an astonishing 25% of the total U.S. ad-spend, with print receiving 25-times more ad money than mobile.
6.5 Million LinkedIn Passwords Posted to Hacker Site
247WallSt.com
About 8 million cryptographic hashes have been posted to a user forum at insidepro.com that is dedicated to cracking passwords. Of the posted lists some 6.5 million entries are thought to belong to users of LinkedIn Corp.'s (NYSE: LNKD) business networking site. The postings asked for help from other users to crack passwords that "I can't crack." The remaining 1.5 million entries posted to the site are believed to come from the popular eHarmony dating site.
LinkedIn claims more than 160 million registered users, so the number of stolen passwords represents about 4% of the site's users. The company said only that it is "currently looking into reports of stolen passwords." eHarmony did not respond to a request from Ars Technica for comment.
R.I.P. Ray Bradbury,
Author of Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles
By Meredith Woerner - io9.com
Ray Bradbury — author of The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and many more literary classics — died this morning in Los Angeles, at the age of 91.
We've got confirmation from the family as well as his biographer, Sam Weller.
His grandson, Danny Karapetian, shared these words with io9 about his grandfather's passing: "If I had to make any statement, it would be how much I love and miss him, and I look forward to hearing everyone's memories about him. He influenced so many artists, writers, teachers, scientists, and it's always really touching and comforting to hear their stories. Your stories. His legacy lives on in his monumental body of books, film, television and theater, but more importantly, in the minds and hearts of anyone who read him, because to read him was to know him. He was the biggest kid I know."
Supercomputer simulates nuclear explosion
down to the molecular level
By George Dvorsky - io9.com
Treaties forbid the detonation of nuclear test weapons — which creates problems for national defense developers who need to efficiently certify the effectiveness of their arsenal. Luckily for them, a powerful new supercomputer is now able to replicate the physical impact of nuclear explosions — albeit digitally. And luckily for us, the resulting innovations may spill over to more constructive areas.
The number-crunching required to simulate an actual nuclear explosion is staggering. Computer scientists need to simulate molecular-scale reactions taking place over the course of milliseconds. To get this level of detail, researchers at Purdue and the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory had to coordinate over 100,00 machines. They also had to split multiple processes in parallel on separate machines in large computer clusters.
Russia and China tout strategic partnership
amid global breakdown
By Robert Bridge, RT.com
President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao broke ground on a new bilateral relationship. Given the regional challenges, Russia and China have more in common than ever before.
Putin kicked off his visit to China amid an optimistic atmosphere in which the Russian and Chinese leaders expressed their enthusiasm for the present and future state of bilateral ties.
The Russian leader confirmed that cooperation had reached a new level and quality.
"Thanks to joint efforts we raised the level of Russian-Chinese cooperation to unprecedented height and quality," the Russian president said.
New Report Finds an Israeli Attack on Iran
to be a Comprehensively Bad Idea
By Jeffrey Goldberg - TheAtlantic.com
Colin Kahl, who until recently served as the Pentagon's top Middle East policy official, is just out with an exhaustive and authoritative report on the Iranian nuclear challenge. The report, written with Melissa G. Dalton and Matthew Irvine and published by the Center for a New American Security (where Kahl is a senior fellow), argues fairly persuasively that an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities -- an attack they seem to believe is highly plausible, if I'm reading them correctly -- would have a great many negative ramifications.
Their conclusions are well thought-out and argued (even the ones with which I disagree). The authors believe, among other things, that:
Gold still drawing flight to quality buying
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Comex gold is continuing to draw a safe-haven bid, said Stephen Platt, senior account executive with Archer Financial Services.
He cites follow-through buying in the aftermath of a surge Friday following a weak U.S. jobs report.
He continued that, "The market responded in force, given the weak and deteriorating economic prospects. The building worries about building budget deficits in Europe and the U.S."
The Banking Plan That Could Be A Game-Changer for Gold
By MoneyMorning.com.au
Gold soared 4.1% on Friday – its biggest one-day jump in about 10 months.
This massive move in gold was on the back of a lousy US jobs report. I mean really lousy. Just four months ago, the US economy created 243,000 new jobs in a month. This has fallen steadily to the current pace of just 69,000.
In a country of 311 million people, 69,000 jobs don't even touch the sides. So the unemployment rate actually climbed for the first time in a year, creeping back up to 8.2%.
Silver: A Tier-1 asset for all investors
By Dr Jeffrey Lewis - CommodityOnline.com
In recent years, precious metals, most notably silver and gold, have played an unusual dual role as both monetary and non-monetary commodities. That may be in the process of changing for major financial institutions to favor holding metals as collateral as the Basel Committee ponders allowing banks to use gold as a Tier 1 capital asset.
Despite its well established and richly deserved safe haven status, gold is currently considered a Tier 3 asset. Ironically, this places the yellow metal lower on the asset totem pole than un-backed government bonds, which currently have low or even negative yields on an inflation-adjusted basis.
The Silver squeeze: Bank runs versus EU short covering?
By Dr Jeffrey Lewis - CommodityOnline.com
According to Google Trends, the number of Internet searches for the phrase "bank run" has reached an all-time high, demonstrating just how concerned many intelligent people are becoming over the stability of the global banking system.
Amid these troubling times for financial institutions, silver is continuing to shine as the "poor man's gold" that will provide a safe haven investment asset if paper currencies lose even more of their already tenuous credibility.
America In Decline:
The Soul Crushing Despair Of Lowered Expectations
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
All over America tonight there are people that believe that their lives are over. When you do everything that you know how to do to get a job and you still can't get one it can be absolutely soul crushing. If you have ever been unemployed for an extended period of time you know exactly what I am talking about. When you have been unemployed for month after month it can be very tempting to totally cut yourself off from society. Those that are kind will look at you with pity and those that are cruel will treat you as though you are a total loser. It doesn't matter that America is in decline and that our economy is not producing nearly enough jobs for everyone anymore. In our society, one of the primary things that defines our lives is what we do for a living. Just think about it. When you are out in a social situation, what is one of the very first things that people ask? They want to know what you "do". Well, if you don't "do" anything, then you are not part of the club. But the worst part of being unemployed for many Americans is the relentless pressure from family and friends. Often they have no idea how hard it is to find a job in this economy - especially if they still have jobs. Sometimes the pressure becomes too great. Sadly, we are seeing unemployment break up a lot of marriages in America today. Things are really hard out there right now. A very large number of highly educated Americans have taken very low paying service jobs in recent years just so that they can have some money coming in even as they "look for something else". Unfortunately, in many cases that "something else" never materializes. In the past, America was "the land of opportunity" where anything was possible. But today America has become "the land of lowered expectations" and the worst is yet to come.
Collapse At Hand
By Paul Craig Roberts.org
Ever since the beginning of the financial crisis and quantitative easing, the question has been before us: How can the Federal Reserve maintain zero interest rates for banks and negative real interest rates for savers and bond holders when the US government is adding $1.5 trillion to the national debt every year via its budget deficits? Not long ago the Fed announced that it was going to continue this policy for another 2 or 3 years. Indeed, the Fed is locked into the policy. Without the artificially low interest rates, the debt service on the national debt would be so large that it would raise questions about the US Treasury's credit rating and the viability of the dollar, and the trillions of dollars in Interest Rate Swaps and other derivatives would come unglued.
Craig R. Smith:
I believe we are on the edge
of another Lehman-type meltdown
By Kenneth Schortgen Jr - Examiner.com
On June 2, precious metals expert and Chairman of Swiss America Trading Corporation, Craig R. Smith, sent out an urgent email blast stating that after the economic events that took place on Friday, the markets are primed for a new Lehman-type meltdown, similar to what took place in the financial system in 2008.
In thirty years of overseeing Swiss America I have never before sensed the urgent need to communicate recent events with our 40,000 clients as I do today. This is the first urgent warning I have ever written.
CBO Warns of Looming Fiscal Crisis as Debt Soars
By ERIC PIANIN, The Fiscal Times
Anew analysis by the non partisan Congressional Budget Office suggests that the U.S. could face another devastating fiscal crisis. The CBO report says that federal debt held by the public will reach nearly 70 percent of the overall U.S. economy by the end of the year -- the highest percentage since shortly after World War II.
If current policies are continued, federal debt would grow rapidly from its already high level, exceeding 90 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2022, according to the report issued on Tuesday. After that, the growing imbalance between revenues and spending, combined with spiraling interest payments, would swiftly push debt to higher and higher levels. Debt as a share of GDP would exceed its historical peak of 109 percent by 2026, and it would approach 200 percent in 2037.
CBO: Federal debt to double in 15 years
Fiscal challenges worst since WWII
By Stephen Dinan and Susan Crabtree-The Washington Times
Federal debt will double by the middle of the next decade and reach more than twice the size of the entire U.S. economy by 2037 unlessCongress changes course on taxes and spending, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest analysis Tuesday.
The CBO said it's the country's worst fiscal picture since a brief period during World War II, when spending ballooned to fund the military campaign but returned to normal soon after the war ended.
ECB sits on fence Frustrated ECB seen unlikely to move just yet Some economists see scope for rate cut or additional LTRO
By William L. Watts, MarketWatch
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) — Mario Draghi's frustration is showing, but he remains unlikely just yet to spur the European Central Bank to ride to the rescue of Spain and the troubled euro zone when policy makers meet Wednesday, according to several economists.
"The ECB may do nothing […], waiting to see instead how developments in Greece and Spain pan out. But that will only keep euro-zone peripheral government bond markets and the single currency under pressure," said Mansoor Mohi-uddin, head of foreign-exchange strategy at UBS.
In euro region, fate of banks and governments is tied
By Howard Schneider - WashingtonPost.com
The roots of the economic crises in Greece, Ireland and Portugal were distinct, but the countries' problems shared a common feature: In each, the financial fortunes of the government and the banking system were intertwined, and as one staggered, the other began to falter as well.
Early on in the European crisis, analysts and organizations such as the International Monetary Fund recognized that the banks and governments in the euro zone were joined at the hip. Banks are heavy investors in government bonds, and governments provide the ultimate guarantees for the financial system. The two systems rise and fall together.
IMF says euro needs master plan, not deadline
REUTERS - FiscalTimes.com
RIGA (Reuters) – Euro zone leaders need a master plan and "collective determination" to rescue the common currency, but not necessarily a deadline, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday.
U.S. billionaire George Soros said on Saturday that the euro zone had three months to solve the debt crisis.
"I'm not a great fan of those target headlines that keep being missed anyway," Lagarde told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a conference in the Latvian capital.
Spain makes plea for EU aid for troubled banks
Spain has admitted for the first time that it can no longer raise money on the global markets or roll over its sovereign bonds, threatening to set off a dangerous escalation of Europe's debt crisis.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Premier Mariano Rajoy said the country is "in an extremely difficult situation" and called on Europe to stand by the mutual obligations of euro membership. "Europe must say where it is going and show that the euro is an irreversible project that is not in danger, that helps nations in difficulty," he told Spain's senate.
Treasury minister Cristobal Montoro confessed that Spain can no longer raise money. "The market is no longer open. The risk premium is telling us that Spain as a state has a problem accessing the market when we need to refinance our debt."
Will Germany, Not Greece, Exit the Eurozone?
By SUZANNE MCGEE, The Fiscal Times
Until very recently, most of the buzz surrounding the possible breakup of the Eurozone has revolved around the prospect of Greece abandoning the euro in favor of the drachma once more. But over the course of May, it has become increasingly evident that the country that is out of step with its peers isn't Greece, but rather Germany.
The healthiest economy in the Eurozone, which swallowed its own dose of tough austerity medicine a few years ago, Germany has had no compunction in insisting that its fellow members in the single-currency community follow suit today. That is entirely logical; to the extent that they don't and that bailouts are required, Germany is going to have to shoulder the lion's share of the costs of any emergency financial assistance.
Germany weighs up federal Europe plan to end debt crisis Calls for 'banking union' to save euro after Paris and Brussels support Spain's plea for EU rescue of its beleaguered banks
By Ian Traynor in Brussels and Giles Tremlett in Madrid - The Guardian
Europe's leaders appear to be edging towards an ambitious and controversial new blueprint for a federalised eurozone after Paris and Brussels threw their weight behind Spain's pleas for an EU rescue of its beleaguered banks.
At the start of three weeks likely to be crucial to the survival of the euro, the new French government and the European commission voiced strong backing for a new eurozone "banking union" to save the single currency.
EU Crisis: How to Avert a Global Economic Depression
By PATRICK SMITH, The Fiscal Times
Remember back in the 1990s, when globalization was supposed to be the greatest thing since Saran Wrap? Maybe someday it will prove to be so, but right now we are walking on the dark side of the moon. Everything seems to happen in concert, or like a chain reaction, in a globalized economy, and that is what we are entering into now. Europe's problems are spreading to the U.S., and both of them are sendingChina and India toward their second economic downturns since 2008.
Only a few months ago, Europeans looked to China to help fortify bailout mechanisms that would keep the EU's ailing peripheral nations afloat. That option is off the table.
Merkel: eurozone needs more EU supervision
BY VALENTINA POP - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday (4 June) said she supports more integration in the eurozone - a veiled reference to pooling debt provided EU institutions gain more supervisory powers.
"We need more Europe, not less, especially in the eurozone. This means that EU institutions, the EU commission included, should be granted more possibilities to control. Otherwise it would be impossible for a currency union to work," Merkel said alongside EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso who visited her in Berlin ahead of a 28-29 June summit.
George Soros's speech on the "Euro bubble" Remarks at the Festival of Economics, Trento Italy
George Soros
Ever since the Crash of 2008 there has been a widespread recognition, both among economists and the general public, that economic theory has failed. But there is no consensus on the causes and the extent of that failure.
I believe that the failure is more profound than generally recognized. It goes back to the foundations of economic theory. Economics tried to model itself on Newtonian physics. It sought to establish universally and timelessly valid laws governing reality. But economics is a social science and there is a fundamental difference between the natural and social sciences. Social phenomena have thinking participants who base their decisions on imperfect knowledge. That is what economic theory has tried to ignore.
Lagarde responds to Soros:
Eurozone needs a master plan, not a deadline
(Reuters) - Euro zone leaders need a master plan and "collective determination" to rescue the common currency, but not necessarily a deadline, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Tuesday.
U.S. billionaire George Soros said on Saturday that the euro zone had three months to solve the debt crisis.
"I'm not a great fan of those target headlines that keep being missed anyway," Lagarde told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a conference in the Latvian capital.
Two Fed officials cool to more monetary easing
By Mark Felsenthal
(Reuters) - Two top Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday suggested the U.S. central bank is not preparing to ease monetary policy at a meeting later this month, saying the economic outlook had not deteriorated to the point where action was warranted.
Both James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher were cool to the idea of new monetary stimulus in response to weak U.S. economic data and boiling financial tensions in Europe.
Fed's Bullard:
Weak May Jobs Report
Doesn't 'Substantially Alter' Outlook
By Kristina Peterson - NASDAQ.com
ST. LOUIS--May's weak jobs report was "disappointing" but doesn't substantially alter the economic outlook for 2012, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said in prepared remarks on Tuesday.
Making changes to U.S. monetary policy will not alleviate pressures in Europe, the source of anxiety over a potential global slowdown, Bullard said in remarks prepared for a Tuesday speech at a housing forum hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center and Jack Kemp Foundation in St. Louis, Mo.
Here Comes The Hilsenrath Leak:
"Fed Considers More Action"
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Three months ago, just when things looked like they were about to turn south, the Fed's trusty mouthpiece, Jon Hilsenrath, made it clear that the market can stop falling as the Fed was "considering" sterilized QE, or more Twist, something we explained later would be impossible in the current format as the Fed would run out of sub 3 Year paper by the end of August. It did however halt the drop in stocks for a month or two until Europe became permanently unfixed. Hilsenrath then cralwed back into his WSJ cubicle. Until today: two weeks before the all critical June 20 FOMC meeting, the faithful Fed scribe has been charged with his latest leak commission: "Fed Considers More Action Amid New Recovery Doubts." And as it has been leaked (now that people have actually done the appropriate math), so it shall be.
From the WSJ:
Disappointing U.S. economic data, new strains in financial markets and deepening worries about Europe's fiscal crisis have prompted a shift at the Federal Reserve, putting back on the table the possibility of action to spur the recovery.
Fed faces political heat in weighing more economic stimulus
By Zachary A. Goldfarb - WashingtonPost.com
With Europe falling deeper into crisis and Congress paralyzed, only one institution may have the flexibility to try to keep the U.S. economic recovery on track: the Federal Reserve.
But the Fed faces a daunting burden. Any new action could provoke tough political criticism. Republicans, in particular, have expressed deep concern about the measures taken by the Fed to support the economy — and could be doubly upset if new efforts goose the stock market and are perceived to work in favor of President Obama's reelection.
Fed Considers More Action Amid New Recovery Doubts
[Google title for free access]
BY JON HILSENRATH - WSJ.com - $$
Disappointing U.S. economic data, new strains in financial markets and deepening worries about Europe's fiscal crisis have prompted a shift at the Federal Reserve, putting back on the table the possibility of action to spur the recovery.
Such action seemed highly unlikely at the central bank's April meeting, when forecasts for growth and employment were brightening. At their policy meeting this month, Fed officials will weigh whether the U.S. economic outlook is deteriorating enough to justify new measures to boost growth, according to interviews and Fed speeches.
Save Us, Ben Bernanke, You're Our Only Hope How Star Wars tells you everything you need to know about the miserable U.S. recovery and the Federal Reserve that has failed to improve it.
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
This may not be our darkest hour, but the disappointing May jobs report showed the U.S. economy once again slowing towards stall speed. It's not just the anemic 69,000 jobs the economy added last month. More disconcerting were the sharp downward revisions to previous months. It looks like we could be in for an unwelcome rerun of the summer doldrums we have gotten to know all too well in 2010 and 2011.
Markets have a bad feeling about this. It isn't just about the deteriorating U.S. outlook. Europe and China are turning to the dark side of growth too. The euro is continuing its game of Schrödinger's currency: At any moment it is both saved and doomed. Right now, it's looking more and more doomed. Then there's theslowdown in China -- along with India and Brazil. These economies powered global growth during the dark days of 2008 and 2009, but seem certifiably wobbly now.
The only thing worse than the economy
is Obama talking about it
By Charles Hurt - WashingtonTimes.com
If you are wondering why President Obama and his supporters spend so much time in this election condescending to female voters, jabbering about gay marriage and contraception, or whether Mr. Obama really was born in Kenya, it is because they simply cannot talk about the economy.
And when they do, they quickly make clear why they work so hard to avoid any discussion of it.
The Obama campaign made a rare foray this past week into the economy with a television ad attacking Mitt Romney's economic record as governor of Massachusetts. OK, stop laughing.
Government Down $16 Billion on GM Bailout
BY DANIEL HALPER - WeeklyStandard.com
Mitt Romney maintains that "President Barack Obama is holding on to the government's stake in General Motors to avoid an embarrassing financial loss before the election, and says he'd sell the stock quickly if he wins the White House," according to the Detroit News, which recently interviewed the Republican presidential candidate.
"There is no reason for the government to continue to hold (its GM stake)," Romney tells the news outlet. "The president is delaying the sale of the shares to try and avoid the story that the taxpayer took another loss. I would get the company independent from the government and run for the interests of the consumer and the enterprise and its workers -- not for the political considerations of government officials."
The Real Bombshell in the MF Global Post Mortem
NakedCapitalism.com
John Giddens, the bankruptcy trustee in MF Global, garnered headlines Monday by saying that he will decide in the next 60 days whether to filing suits against Jon Corzine and other officers for breach of fiduciary duty and negligence and against JP Morgan if he is unable to come to a settlement. JP Morgan so far has returned roughly $518 million in MF Global assets and $89 million in customer monies, a meager recovery relative to $1.6 billion in missing customer funds.
The report Giddens released Monday is thorough and confirms many of the observations made in journalistic accounts of the firm's collapse, particularly regarding inadequate risk and accounting controls, JP Morgan's aggressive posture greatly increasing the liquidity squeeze. It also makes clear that this is an interim report, and unlike the trustee's report on Lehman, says that reaches no conclusion regarding legal strategies, including whether prosecutions are warranted.
Western banks 'reaping billions from Colombian cocaine trade' While cocaine production ravages countries in Central America, consumers in the US and Europe are helping developed economies grow rich from the profits, a study claims
By Ed Vulliamy - Guardian.co.uk
The vast profits made from drug production and trafficking are overwhelmingly reaped in rich "consuming" countries – principally across Europe and in the US – rather than war-torn "producing" nations such asColombia and Mexico, new research has revealed. And its authors claim that financial regulators in the west are reluctant to go after western banks in pursuit of the massive amount of drug money being laundered through their systems.
The most far-reaching and detailed analysis to date of the drug economy in any country – in this case, Colombia – shows that 2.6% of the total street value of cocaine produced remains within the country, while a staggering 97.4% of profits are reaped by criminal syndicates, and laundered by banks, in first-world consuming countries.
US Already in 'Recession,' Extend Tax Cuts: Bill Clinton
By: Jeff Cox - CNBC.com
Former President Bill Clinton told CNBC Tuesday that the US economy already is in a recession and urged Congress to extend all the tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year.
In a taped interview aired on "Closing Bell," the still-popular 42nd president called the current economic conditions a "recession" and said overzealous Republican plans to cut the deficit threaten to plunge the country further into the debt abyss. Clinton's office released a statement after the interview.
"What I think we need to do is find some way to avoid the fiscal cliff, to avoid doing anything that would contract the economy now, and then deal with what's necessary in the long term debt-reduction plans as soon as they can, which presumably would be after the election," Clinton said.
The failed mission of the FHA – supporting high home prices
when your mission is affordability. Low interest rates are a reflection of a global financial crisis and not a healthy economy.
DoctorHousingBubble.com
The fog of low interest rates is really clouding the judgment of many prospective buyers. The reason we have low interest rates isn't because the economy is booming or things are going strong for the state. The reason interest rates are low is because of the second round financial crisis in Europe but also the Federal Reserve pushing rates to their lower bound range. In other words low interest rates are a reflection of how bad the overall global economy is. California is in bad shape yet pocket market delusion is back in full force. Even when you talk to people they transform into real estate zombies when it comes to buying a home. "I've been waiting too long and need to buy! These historically low rates are encouraging me to squeeze into a home." Of course, if you plan on staying put this might make sense but people need to realize that rates this low are a major anomaly yet are buying as if this is the status quo. You make money on the price of the asset and not so much on the financing.
Distressing Mortgage Conditions
By Phil Izzo - WSJ.com
Though mortgage distress peaked in 2010, many areas of the country continue to struggle and some regions are getting worse, according to data presentedby Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard.
"We should expect and plan for slow adjustment in housing markets," Bullard said. The Fed official presented the following charts. (View them all as a slideshow) They show a relatively healthy mortgage market in 2006, with the primary area of distress centered around the region hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina.
The Growing Unemployed: A Case of Benign Neglect
By MARK THOMA, The Fiscal Times
The high unemployment rate ought to be a national emergency. There are millions of people in need of jobs. The lost income as a result of the recession totals hundreds of billions of dollars annually, and the longer the problem persists, the more permanent the damage becomes. Why doesn't the unemployment problem get more attention? Why have other worries such as inflation and debt reduction dominated the conversation instead? As I noted at the end of my last column, the increased concentration of political power at the top of the income distribution provides much of the explanation.
Consider the Federal Reserve. Again and again we hear Federal Reserve officials say that an outbreak of inflation could undermine the Fed's hard-earned credibility and threaten its independence from Congress. But why is the Fed only worried about inflation? Why aren't officials at the Fed just as worried about Congress reducing the Fed's independence because of high and persistent unemployment?
Out of Touch:
Obama's DOL Thinks Jobless
Should Use Unemployment Insurance to Start Businesses
By Celia Bigelow - CNSNews.com
Forget about paying the rent - the Obama administration wants jobless Americans to use unemployment insurance to start a business.
The Department of Labor recently released guidelines for Self-Employment Assistance Programs (SEAs) that will allow unemployed entrepreneurs to continue to collect unemployment benefits while attempting to start-up a business. The $35 million grant is part of the Middle Class Tax-Relief and Job Creation Act that was signed by President Obama.
Entrepreneurship, job creation, small businesses—sounds great, eh?
Pensions Are Deferred Compensation—
a Lot of Deferred Compensation
By Jason Richwine - Heritage.org
Last week, The Heritage Foundation released important new research on the real cost of public pensions. In response, many different public-sector advocates have offered the same, curious, fallacious argument.
Heritage found that, in Wisconsin, for example, total pension costs are more than two-and-a-half times what government actuaries estimate. (The difference is due to government actuaries not adjusting for the possibility that pension funds will fail to hit their target rates of return.) Excessive pension costs help to push total compensation for Wisconsin public workers ahead of comparable private workers in the state, even after the reforms signed by Governor Scott Walker (R).
Walker Wins Wisconsin Recall
By ERIC KLEEFELD - TalkingPointsMemo.com
Republican Gov. Scott Walker has won the Wisconsin governor's recall over Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, holding onto his job after his push to slash collective bargaining rights for public employees sparked intense statewide backlash.
Walker's win caps a chaotic year in Wisconsin, marked by heated demonstrations, endless campaigning and a flood of outside money, all of which vaulted the state from ordinary battleground to Ground Zero of the national political debate — and elevated Walker to national superstardom among the Republican faithful.
Governor Walker's Victory Spells Doom For Public Sector Unions
By Bill Frezza, Contributor - Forbes.com
Public sector unions have reached their high water mark. Let the cleanup begin as the red ink recedes.
Despite a last-minute smear campaign accusing Scott Walker of fathering an illegitimate love child, the governor's recall election victory sends a clear message that should resonate around the nation: The fiscal cancer devouring state budgets has a cure, and he has found it. The costly defeat for the entrenched union interests that tried to oust Walker in retribution for challenging their power was marked by President Obama's refusal to lend his weight to the campaign for fear of being stained by defeat. We'll see how well this strategy of opportunistic detachment serves in the fall as Obama reaches out to unions for support.
Wisconsin Gov. Walker Survives Recall Challenge
By DOUGLAS BELKIN, COLLEEN MCCAIN NELSON
and CAROLINE PORTER - WSJ.com - $$
MADISON, Wis.—Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker survived a recall election Tuesday, dealing a blow to organized labor, unsettling President Barack Obama's re-election strategy and signaling to Republican lawmakers across the nation that challenging government unions could pay political and fiscal dividends.
Mr. Walker had 58% of the vote with 33% of the state's precincts reporting, while his opponent, Tom Barrett, the Democratic mayor of Milwaukee, had 42%. Turnout was said to be heavy.
Wisconsin Recall: While Walker Rallies, Obama Tweets
By NICK CAREY, Reuters - TheFiscalTimes.com
Wisconsin voters will decide today whether to throw Governor Scott Walker out of office in a rare recall election forced by opponents of the Republican's controversial effort to curb collective bargaining for most unionized government workers.
The rematch with Milwaukee's Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett, who Walker defeated in a Republican sweep of the state in 2010, is the end-game of six months of bitter fighting in the Midwestern Rust Belt state over the union restrictions Walker proposed and enacted. The recall election in closely divided Wisconsin, which helped elect Democrat Barack Obama as president in 2008, is seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2012 U.S. presidential election in November.
Wisconsin Recall On Track For Massive Turnout
By ERIC KLEEFELD - TalkingPointsMemo.com
After more than a year of buildup, turnout in the Wisconsin recall is on track to be huge.
Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl told TPM that as of 4 p.m. Central Time, the city was at roughly 50 percent turnout — and that if typical turnout patterns were to pan out, in which turnout doubles after the workday, the city could reach 100 percent turnout.
Last week, the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections in the state, predicted that turnout could be in the range of 60-65 percent — more typical of a presidential election, rather than the mid-term gubernatorial races. And at the rate things are going in the city's major population centers, that prediction could well pan out.
CNN says exit polls show Wisconsin recall election tied
REUTERS - TheFiscalTimes.com
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – Exit polls show the Wisconsin recall election on Tuesday is essentially tied between Republican Governor Scott Walker and Democratic challenger Tom Barrett, CNN said.
The CNN data is based on interviews with voters after they cast ballots and not on actual results.
Most polling stations closed at 8 p.m. CT (9 p.m. EDT), although voters in line to were allowed to cast ballots after the official deadline. First results were expected to begin trickling in from around the state soon after the polls closed, although the winner might not be known for hours.
More Than 40 Percent of Americans
Are on Some Government Program
Patrick Tyrrell - Heritage.org
How many Americans depend on a government program for a basic (or not so basic) need? According to recently released Census Bureau data and Heritage Foundation calculations, the number is 128.8 million. That is the number of individuals directly receiving aid that they depend on for their daily consumption of things such as rent, prescription drugs, and higher education.
That is 41.3 percent of theU.S.population as of July 2011.
The Wall Street Journal puts the number of people living in a household where at least one member receives help at an even higher 49.1 percent.
Assassin-in-Chief
By Tom Engelhardt - Truthdig.com
Be assured of one thing: Whichever candidate you choose at the polls in November, you aren't just electing a president of the United States; you are also electing an assassin-in-chief. The last two presidents may not have been emperors or kings, but they—and the vast national-security structure that continues to be built-up and institutionalized around the presidential self—are certainly one of the nightmares the founding fathers of this country warned us against. They are one of the reasons those founders put significant war powers in the hands of Congress, which they knew would be a slow, recalcitrant, deliberative body.
10 Signs That The Highways Of America
Are Being Transformed Into A High Tech Prison Grid
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Once upon a time, the open highways of America were one of our greatest symbols of liberty and freedom. Anyone could hop in a car and set off for a new adventure at any time and even our music encouraged us to "get our kicks on route 66". But today everything has changed. Now the highways of America are being steadily transformed into a high tech prison grid. All over the country, thousands upon thousands of surveillance cameras watch our highways and automated license plate readers are actually being used to track vehicle movements in some of our largest cities. Many state and local governments have come to view our highways as money machines and our control freak politicians have established a vast network of toll booths, red light cameras and speed traps to keep cash endlessly pouring in. If all of that wasn't enough, TSA "VIPR teams" are now hitting the interstates and conducting thousands of "unannounced security screenings" each year. Driving on the highways of America used to be a great joy, but now "Big Brother" is rapidly sucking all of the fun out of it. Eventually, it may get to the point where Americans simply dread having to go out on the highway.
A Facebook crime every 40 minutes:
From killings to grooming
as 12,300 cases are linked to the site
By JACK DOYLE - DailyMail.co.uk
A crime linked to Facebook is reported to police every 40 minutes.
Last year, officers logged 12,300 alleged offences involving the vastly popular social networking site.
Facebook was referenced in investigations of murder, rape, child sex offences, assault, kidnap, death threats, witness intimidation and fraud.
The vast majority of cases involved alleged harassment or intimidation by cyber-bullies, according to figures obtained under a Freedom of Information request.
Existence Of 'God Particle' Will Be Determined Soon,
Possibly This Summer
By CARL FRANZEN - TalkingPointsMemo.com
The half-century-long hunt for the ellusive Higgs boson — a yet-unobserved particle that physicists theorize is responsible for giving all matter mass in the universe and has been nicknamed "the god particle" — could be quickly coming to an end, according to the scientists looking for it.
But wait, haven't we heard that one before? Indeed, the scientists on the front lines of the search, those running high-energy particle physics experiments using the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), have for the past two years repeatedly stated that they were on the verge of confirming or ruling out the existence of the elusive Higgs.
Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan:
SpaceX Destroying America from Within
Tim Cavanaugh - Reason.com
The successful first mission of SpaceX's Dragonsupply module has reignited a curmudgeonly contretemps: Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan – commanders, respectively, of Apollos 11 and 17 – have no kind words for private space startups, and NASA's first flight director indirectly blames companies like SpaceX for the decline of the United States.
The former astronauts showed their years in 2011 House testimony, but SpaceX founder Elon Muskhad a chance to discuss Armstrong and Cernan's skepticism of commercial spaceflight recently with the Tiffany Network's 60 Minutes:
Your Domestic Drone News:
Boeing Tested a Drone Capable of Staying in Flight
For Four Days and the EPA is Using Drones
to Observe Cattle (Hopefully)
Lucy Steigerwald - Reason.com
The Los Angeles Times notes that Boeing Co. recently tested a new kind of hydrogen-propelled drone capable of staying in flight for four days. Currently most drones can stay aloft for about 30 hours, which is obviously already superior to manned aircraft. The Phantom Eye circled the Mohave Desert for 28 minutes on June 1, but then had a problem with the landing gear and broke on landing.
With a 150-foot wingspan and an egg-shaped fuselage, the drone was built at Boeing's Phantom Works complex in St. Louis with engineering support from its facilities in Huntington Beach. The drone is designed to spy over vast areas at an altitude of up to 65,000 feet.
Syria ousts western diplomats Assad regime declares 17 foreign diplomats
unwelcome after co-ordinated expulsion
of Syrian ambassadors by western states
By Julian Borger and agencies - Guardian.co.uk
Syria has severed almost all its remaining diplomatic links with the west, declaring that envoys from the US and most of western Europe were no longer welcome in Damascus, in a tit-for-tat response to the expulsion of Syrian diplomats last week.
The Assad regime announced that 17 diplomats from the US, UK, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany and Canada were considered "personae non gratae" as well as the entire Turkish mission in Damascus.
Any International Syrian Solution Is Tangled Up in Russia
By William Pfaff - Truthdig.com
International sentiment favoring foreign intervention in Syria's crisis can only have been strengthened by recent evidence of how divorced Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seems now to be from the reality of what is taking place in his country.
His Sunday address to a newly elected Syrian Parliament consisted of still more of his familiar harangue holding foreign interests and international terrorists—al-Qaida included—responsible for the civil uprising in his country. According to the U.N., this conflict now has claimed 10,000 or more civilian victims.
EU to Russia: 'the euro will not fail'
BY ANDREW RETTMAN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Top EU officials Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso have told Russia that the euro is a safe bet.
The two men spoke alongside Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a press briefing after the 29th regular EU-Russia summit, held on Monday (4 June) in St Petersburg.
Van Rompuy promised to publish a blueprint for deeper EU economic integration "by the end of this year" and predicted that eurozone GDP will grow between 1 and 3 percent in 2013.
G7 to hold emergency euro zone talks, Spain top concern
By Allison Martell and Andreas Rinke
(Reuters) - Finance chiefs of the Group of Seven leading industrialized powers will hold emergency talks on the euro zone debt crisis on Tuesday in a sign of heightened global alarm about strains in the 17-nation European currency area.
With Greece, Ireland and Portugal all under international bailout programs, financial markets are anxious about the risks from a seething Spanish banking crisis and a June 17 Greek election that may lead to Athens leaving the euro zone.
German will rescue euro zone: Ackermann Ackermann welcomes U.S. pressure on Europe to reform
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Germany will ultimately take whatever steps necessary to keep the euro zone intact, said Deutsche Bank's former Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann on Monday.
"If it comes to worst, before the euro zone collapses, everything will be done to bail the euro zone out," Ackermann said in a late afternoon speech at the Atlantic Council. Read more on Deutsche Bank's CEO handover.
Later he said that he had "no doubt" that the German people would support a rescue operation for the euro zone.
Germany Is Open to Pooling Debt, With Conditions
By NICHOLAS KULISH - NYTimes.com
BERLIN — Pressed by a banking crisis and turmoil in the markets,Germany has indicated that it is prepared to accept a grand bargain that would provide greater support for its most indebted euro zone partners in exchange for more centralized control over government spending in Europe.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said that finding the way to "more Europe, not less" was the next task for Europe's leaders. "The world wants to know how we expect the political union to complement the currency union," Ms. Merkel said at a news conference here Monday with José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission. "We have to find an answer in the foreseeable future."
Is Gold in a Bubble?
BY DETLEV S SCHLICHTER - FinancialSense.com
To answer this question is not straightforward. As the gold-sceptics keep reminding us, gold pays no coupon and no dividend, it does not offer a running yield, so traditional measures of 'fair value' do not apply. But gold is money, and just as the paper ticket in your wallet does not pay interest, neither does gold. Gold is a monetary asset that has functioned as a medium of exchange and a store of value for thousands of years, around the world and in almost all societies and cultures. Many modern economists believe that gold has now been successfully replaced with state paper money, such as paper dollars, paper euros, paper yen, and so forth. Holding gold is therefore redundant. The present crisis is a stark reminder that this faith in fiat money is misplaced.
Why buy Silver instead of Gold during crisis
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Silver remains very undervalued on a historical basis and is undervalued even against gold. While gold has begun to receive some interest from a small minority of retail investors, silver remains the preserve of relatively few contrarian investors and the media and financial press rarely, if ever, covers silver. And yet silver is quite likely in the intermediate stage of a bull market that will rival or surpass that of the 1970s.
A year ago, silver price soared as high as $50 an ounce before experiencing a brief correction that took it back down to $30/oz. Still silver is looking extremely bullish than gold for a number of reasons and many traders are expecting prices to double or even tripe in 2012.
Limited scope for further declines in US bond yields
may lead to Gold buying
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Limited scope for further declines in U.S. bond yields may increase gold's popularity with investors seeking a quality asset, said HSBC, British multinational bank, in a commodity research note.
As per bank's fixed-income strategist, Lawrence Dyer, a flight into U.S. bonds is being driven by increased worries about the European debt crisis, currently focused on the health of Spain's banks.
"A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise. Because that is how life is — full of surprises." — Isaac Bashevis Singer
I was debating whether I should title this "Fall Melt-Up Redux," but decided to keep it simple by articulating why we find ourselves in a situation almost exactly like early 2009 before the March low in stocks, and by arguing that the conditions look all too similar to the moments right before the Fall Melt-Up of last year took place.
What makes now like 2009? Take yourself back in time for a moment to the extraordinary fears markets were expressing post-Lehman. As the Dow Jones Industrial Average was collapsing below 7,000, there was unbelievable panic underway. The stock market's precipitous decline was signaling an end-of-the-world scenario was occurring.
Gold:Bullish trend persists,
but rebound may not be sustainable
MUMBAI/NEW YORK (Commodity Online): The gold bulls managed to push prices up 4% in US markets on Friday aided by the weak US jobs data that rekindled expectations of further monetary easing by the US Federal Reserve.
For the bulls, the gold rally may not be sustainable as Asian demand has weakened on higher price levels and it looks uncertain whether US Fed Reserve would implement further monetary easing. In which case, there could be profit booking in every rise but no sustained rally, analysts said.
Commodity prices drop
on economic woes in Europe, China, U.S.
By Steven Mufson - WashingtonPost.com
From the copper mines in Chile to the corn farms of North Dakota to the oil fields of the Middle East, commodity prices have started to crumble.
The prices of metals, energy and agricultural goods have dropped as anxiety has ratcheted up over Europe's currency crisis, China's slowing growth and the stalling U.S. economy.
Fed "back in play" as Europe crisis intensifies
By Mark Felsenthal
(Reuters) - Europe's escalating debt crisis is emerging as a top concern for Federal Reserve officials and could nudge them closer to more bond buying or extending "Operation Twist," the U.S. central bank's most recent program to lower long-term borrowing costs.
The turmoil in the euro zone has risen to near fever pitch with investors withdrawing funds from Spanish banks and political gridlock in Greeceraising the prospect it could abandon the common currency.
Chinese weakening currency adding to commodity woes
BEIJING (Commodity Online): A softening Chinese currency is adding to the recent troubles facing commodity prices, said TD Securities (TDS) in a commodities briefing. TDS is the global wholesale banking arm of Toronto-Dominion Bank Financial Group.
According to TDS, the rates and foreign-exchange research, the dollar was around RMB6.37, taking China's currency back to late-December levels. In previous months, speculative arbitrage bets that China's currency would get stronger prompted some speculators to buy commodities as an investment, particularly copper.
The We-Fixed-Nothing Chickens Are Coming Home to Roost When the real problems are masked with fake "solutions," the chickens eventually come home to roost, and we wake up to the reality that the fake "solutions" have only made things much worse.
BY CHARLES HUGH SMITH - FinancailSense.com
The reality that the global Status Quo has fixed absolutely nothing in four years is finally coming to roost in the global economy. Though there is an endless array of complexity to snare the unwary, the source of instability is both visible and easily understood: too much debt that will never be paid back. Making matters much worse, much of the money that was borrowed--by sovereign governments, local governments, households and private enterprises--was squandered on consumption or malinvestments, and so there are precious few assets or collateral underlying the debt.
The U.S. Economy Isn't Just a Man-Made Disaster Film:
It's an Epic Trilogy
By Derek Thompson - TheAtlantic.com
Summer is the season for blockbuster sequels. But even with millions of dollars in CGI and marketing, nothing at your local movie theater can match the country's most closely-watched repeat performance: the spectacular explosion of the US recovery.
In the first installment, the lights go on 2010. The economy has been growing for nine months. The stimulus act, boosted by temporary Census hiring, lifts job creation to a whopping 516,000 in May. But one month later, we lose 167,000 jobs. We lose 58,000 more the next month, followed by another 51,000 in August. By the end of the year, the stimulus is nearly exhausted. As the year enters its final frames, something strange happens. The economy shows signs of lasting life. We did it everybody. Roll credits on the Great Recession ...
Is Global Financial Reform Possible?
By Paul Volcker - Project-Syndicate.org
HONG KONG – Nowadays there is ample evidence that financial systems, whether in Asia in the 1990's or a decade later in the United States and Europe, are vulnerable to breakdowns. The cost in interrupted growth and unemployment has been intolerably large.
But, in the absence of international consensus on some key points, reform will be greatly weakened, if not aborted. The freedom of money, financial markets, and people to move – and thus to escape regulation and taxation – might be an acceptable, even constructive, brake on excessive official intervention, but not if a deregulatory race to the bottom prevents adoption of needed ethical and prudential standards.
Ready for Another Summer Swoon?
By SUZANNE MCGEE, The Fiscal Times
The economic numbers released late last week were downright ugly. First-quarter GDP growth at 1.9 percent wasn't quite as robust as everyone had assumed. Amere 69,000 jobs were created in May, the lowest level seen in the last year, and April's job creation numbers were revised downward. The unemployment rate – which already understates the real level of unemployment by excluding those disappointed workers who are no longer searching for jobs – edged back up to 8.2 percent. And the weakness isn't confined to one or two industries, but is seen across the board. Those people who still do have jobs are seeing their employers cut back on the number of hours they work – an early warning signal that those employers are worried about an actual or potential falloff in customer orders or demand.
It Can Happen Here:
Europe's Screwed Generation and America's As the boomers have held on to generous jobs and benefits, their children have given up on raising families
By Joel Kotkin - TheDailyBeast.com
In Madrid you see them on the streets, jobless, aimless, often bearing college degrees but working as cabbies, baristas, street performers, or—more often—not at all. In Spain as in Greece, nearly half of the adults under 25 don't work.
Call them the screwed generation, the victims of expansive welfare states and the massive structural debt charged by their parents. In virtually every developed country, and increasingly in developing ones, they include not only the usual victims, the undereducated and recent immigrants, but also the college-educated.
Europe weighs a more perfect economic union As euro problems fester,
ECB eyes a more perfect economic union
By Howard Schneider
and Michael Birnbaum - WashingtonPost.com
European leaders are considering ways to bring banks and government budgets under central control in hopes of putting the region's two-year-old financial crisis to rest.
Under pressure from the European Central Bank and global investors, the leaders are expected to present their plans at a summit this month. The meeting could represent a turning point as the 17 nations of the euro currency union try to knit themselves together in a more coherent fashion.
The euro is going up in smoke -
and there's no fire brigade to stop it From the start, monetary union was a political conceit for which many Europeans are about to pay a devastating economic cost.
By Jeremy Warner - Telegraph.co.uk
It might have been a statement of the blindingly obvious, but Mario Draghi's warning yesterday that the eurozone as it stands is unsustainable, and that Europe's leaders must clarify their vision for the euro quickly if the single currency is to survive, was no less startling for it.
Every man and his dog have been saying the same thing for the past two years now, and some since long before, yet so far it's not made a bit of difference. Now that the president of the European Central Bank, no less, has also hit the panic button, will policymakers finally sit up and listen?
Global slump alert as world money contracts Growth of the world money supply has dropped to the lowest level since the financial crisis of 2008-2009, heralding a severe economic slowdown later this year unless authorites rapidly take action.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The latest data show that the real M1 money supply – cash and overnight deposits – for China, the eurozone, Britain and the US has been contracting since the early Spring. Any further falls risk a full-blown global recession.
Clear signs of trouble are emerging in the US, until now the last bastion of strength. The New York Institute of Supply Management said its ISM business index – a proxy for business demand – flashed a "screeching halt" in May, crashing to 49.9 from 61.2 in April, where anything below 50 denotes contraction. Unemployment is rising again after grim jobs data for April and May, indicating that the economy may have fallen below stall speed.
Portugal props up banks with €6.6bn
Portugal is to inject up to €6.65bn (£5.4bn) into three of its biggest banks to meet an EU deadline for higher capital ratios by the end of this month.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Private lenders BCP and BPI will receive €3.5bn and €1.5bn in return for convertible bonds. The funding will come from a recapitalsation credit under the country's €78bn bail-out from the EU-IMF "Troika".
The state-owned Caixa Geral de Depositos will receive €1.65bn under different rules. The move was expected, unlike the dramatic rescue of Bankia in Spain.
Troika officials announced on Monday that Portugal's reform programme "remains on tracking amidst continuing challenges", clearing the way for the next €4.1bn tranche of rescue loans.
The End of the Con Easy days of China's growth are over
By Andy Xie - Caixin.com
The days of easy growth are gone, meaning the government must address problems linked to low household income and excess investment
China's economic management overly relies on juicing up confidence and encouraging speculation on the expectation of a brighter future. The demand from the confidence game leads to excessive demand for debt to finance holdings of speculative assets like land and commodities. Properties under construction, sold vacant properties and the inventories of commodities like steel and non-ferrous metals may exceed 100 percent of GDP at current market value. The rising inventories have exaggerated the country's economic growth in the past five years.
1.6 Trillion Dollars More Debt:
Fiscal Conservatives Have Been Raped
By The Republican Party
By Michael Snyder - EndOfThe AmericanDream.com
What the Republican Party has done to fiscal conservatives over the past year and a half has been a betrayal so vast that it is difficult to find words to describe it. Back in 2010, the Tea Party was riding high and a flood of new Republicans was sent to the U.S. House of Representatives in one of the greatest landslides in U.S. political history. On election night 2010, more House seats changed hands than in another other election since 1948. It was the greatest defeat for any sitting president in a midterm election since 1938. After the election, the Democrats were left with fewer House seats than at any other time since 1946. Needless to say, it was an absolutely historic election. The Tea Party completely dominated American politics that night, and they sent the Republican Party a clear message that they wanted government debt to be brought under control. So what has changed since then? Not much. The U.S. government is still running trillion dollar deficits every single year. I have previously spent a lot of timeblaming Barack Obama and the Democrats for this, but the truth is that they could not have spent a single penny without the approval of the U.S. House of Representatives. So the Republican Party is complicit in this crime against the American people. If there was ever a mandate to take a stand against runaway government debt, it was after the 2010 election, and the Republican Party has failed miserably. So what are fiscal conservatives supposed to do now?
Asia's $6.4 trillion in foreign reserves a threat to stability The relentless build-up of foreign reserves by China and Asia's export Tigers has become a threat to financial stability and risks setting off inflation across the region, the Bank for International Settlements has warned.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"The expansion of the central banks' balance sheets has created dangers that require attention," the BIS said in its quarterly report. "Serious consideration should be given to capping and then shrinking the size of central bank balance sheets."
The "bank of central bankers" said the rising powers of Asia – excluding Japan – have boosted their holdings of foreign bonds and gold from $1.1 trillion (£715bn) to $6.4 trillion over the last decade.
You Must Watch '2012 A World In Turmoil' Video
Press Release: June 5, 2012
2012 A World In Turmoil Video Shows Reasons For Emergency Meeting at FreedomFest
Will America be next? Here at the Daily Bell we believe the West is facing payback time for the forced, non-democratic and now failing EU experiment as well as the central banking cartel inspired fiat money and sovereign debt collapse now wrecking economies and impoverishing the citizens of most nations.
The solutions to preserving your wealth, sovereignty and liberty can be found at FreedomFest this July. For more info, visit www.freedomfest.com.
Call now to attend: 866-266-5101 http://freedomfest.com
July 11th - 14th
at Bally's/Paris Resort
Las Vegas, Nevada
Occupy, occupy, occupy...
so many messages; too many agendas Ben and Jerry's co-founder wants to
rubber-stamp dollar bills with Occupy messages
By Liz Goodwin - News.Yahoo.com
Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's ice cream and one of the deep pockets behind the Occupy movement, says he is helping launch a campaign this summer to highlight the influence of corporate money in American politics.
Cohen and the Move to Amend advocacy group will distribute rubber stamps with anti-corporate election spending messages so that the politically minded can mark their dollar bills. The end goal: To secure a constitutional amendment saying corporations do not enjoy the same protected rights as individuals and that money is not a form of speech.
Facebook considers opening site's doors to preteen children
By Barbara Ortutay - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
NEW YORK — Though Facebook bans children younger than 13, millions of them have profiles on the site by lying about their age.
The company is now testing ways to allow those youths to participate without needing to lie. This would likely be under parental supervision, such as by connecting children's accounts to their parents' accounts.
Facebook Will Disappear in 5 to 8 Years
By: Cadie Thompson - CNBC.com
Facebook will lose dominance as a major web company in less than a decade, Eric Jackson, founder of Ironfire Capital said Monday on CNBC's Squawk on the Street.
"In five to eight years they are going to disappear in the way that Yahoo has disappeared," Jackson said. "Yahoo is still making money, it's still profitable, still has 13,000 employees working for it, but it's 10 percent of the value that it was at the height of 2000. For all intents and purposes, it's disappeared."
Seniors connecting with Internet technology
By Tim Devaney-The Washington Times
It's the ultimate challenge in Internet dating - getting senior citizens hooked up with the Web. Connected Living is one company trying to teach seniors, many with limited Internet experience, how to log on, use social media and connect to families and the outside world.
The Massachusetts-based firm is going into senior group homes across the country to teach residents how to surf the Internet, send emails, share photos and videos, and play games online.
Expert Issues a Cyberwar Warning
By ANDREW E. KRAMER and NICOLE PERLROTH - NYTimes.com
MOSCOW — When Eugene Kaspersky, the founder of Europe's largest antivirus company, discovered the Flame virus that is afflicting computers in Iran and the Middle East, he recognized it as a technologically sophisticated virus that only a government could create.
He also recognized that the virus, which he compares to the Stuxnetvirus built by programmers employed by the United States and Israel, adds weight to his warnings of the grave dangers posed by governments that manufacture and release viruses on the Internet.
How Obama's Cyberweapons Could Boomerang
By Robert Wright - TheAtlantic.com
Several readers are aghast at my criticism of President Obama for covertly deploying the Stuxnet computer virus even as he was sanctimoniously preaching about keeping cyberspace peaceful.
The commenter "hank the engineer" wrote: "Do you have any idea how silly you sound here?" (Sadly, no.) "Moral indignation about using a cyber attack to slow down Iran's nuclear program? Really? What do you propose we do instead?"
Actually, I've already written about what the West should do if it wants a negotiated solution to the Iran problem. Unfortunately, one thing the West has in common with hank the engineer is a disinclination to follow my lead.
EPA Using Drones to Spy on Cattle Ranchers
in Nebraska and Iowa
By Kurt Nimmo - Infowars.com
Obama's Environmental Protection Agency is using aerial drones to spy on farmers in Nebraska and Iowa. The surveillance came under scrutiny last week when Nebraska's congressional delegation sent a joint letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
On Friday, EPA officialdom in "Region 7" responded to the letter.
"Courts, including the Supreme Court, have found similar types of flights to be legal (for example to take aerial photographs of a chemical manufacturing facility) and EPA would use such flights in appropriate instances to protect people and the environment from violations of the Clean Water Act," the agency said in response to the letter.
NASA sends drones to monitor hurricanes
by TG Daily Staff
NASA is preparing to deploy a pair of unmanned aircraft above stormy skies to help forecasters improve their understanding of hurricane formation and intensity changes.
Dubbed "severe storm sentinels," the unmanned Global Hawk aircraft will fly missions along the Atlantic Ocean basin. The Hawk is particularly well-suited for monitoring hurricanes, as it is capable of over-flying hurricanes at altitudes greater than 60,000 feet with flight durations of up to 28 hours - something piloted aircraft would find nearly impossible to do.
The Age Of Drones:
Military May Be Using Drones In US To Help Police Critics fear invasion of privacy
LOS ANGELES (KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO) — As the Federal Aviation Administration helps usher in an age of drones for U.S. law enforcement agencies, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) domestically by the U.S. military — and the sharing of collected data with police agencies — is raising its own concerns about possible violations of privacy and Constitutional law, according to drone critics.
What Happens When They Get Drones?
By Steve Clemons - TheAtlantic.com
David Ignatius' gripping novels are quickly emerging as the spy industry's narcotic for smart, complex intelligence yarns to read on long flights. His made-for-movies stories seem to be a hybridized LeCarre with a twist of Michael Crichton as he reveals tectonic fault lines between an overly self-confident, reckless America and a fragmented, in spots radicalized, almost always misunderstood Islamic world.
His latest novel, Bloodmoney: A Novel of Espionage, has recently appeared in paperback and should be required reading for wannabe strategists who want a glimpse of how messy and convulsive the future is probably going to be. America will remain a big, important power into the foreseeable future, but a myriad of new players pushing back on U.S. institutions and interests heighten the complexity and danger for a declining superpower holding tightly to anachronistic global arrangements.
These Two Traps Are Absolutely Destroying
The Next Generation Of Young Men In America
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Have you ever noticed that our young girls seem to be far ahead of our young boys and that our young women seem to be much more "together" than our young men are? Have you ever noticed how many young American men almost seem like zombies and find even the most basic human interactions extremely awkward? Well, this didn't happen by accident. Researchers are finding that there are two traps in particular that are absolutely destroying the next generation of young men in America. One is video game addiction and the other is pornography. In the old days, the parks and ball fields of America would be flooded with young boys after school was done for the day, but now our parks and our ball fields are very quiet. So where did all the boys go? Well, they are all sitting at home staring into computer screens. Yes, there are also young girls and young women that are addicted to these things, but the truth is that these addictions are far more prevalent among young men. Unfortunately, it is not going to be easy to reverse the damage that is being done to the next generation of young men in America, and that is very frightening.
The Bad Jobs Report Is Just A Very Small Taste
Of The Nightmare That Is Coming
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Another month, another bad jobs report. For the month of May, the U.S. economy only added 69,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rose to 8.2%. Many are calling this a total "disaster" and are worried that the U.S. economy could be headed back into another recession. Economists had been expecting 150,000 payroll jobs would be added, so the 69,000 number really shocked a lot of people. The truth is that the economy needs to add approximately 125,000 new jobs every single month just to keep the unemployment rate steady. So yes, this bad jobs report is not welcome news at all - especially for the Obama administration. When Barack Obama first took office the unemployment rate was sitting at 7.6 percent and now it is sitting at 8.2 percent. Some "recovery", eh? But the reality is that this jobs report was really not that "devastating" even though the stock market had itsworst day of the year. Unemployment in America is still about at the same level as it was back at the beginning of 2012. The tough stretch that we are going through right now is only a very small taste of the economic nightmare that is on the horizon. If you think that things are a "disaster" right now, just wait until you see what is coming.
Democrats revolving door - will Hillary run?
Pelosi: Hillary Clinton's 'our shot' in 2016
(CNN) – House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi kept the "Hillary Clinton for president in 2016" refrain alive in an interview published Sunday.
"Why wouldn't she run? She's a magnificent secretary of state," Pelosi told the San Francisco Chronicle when asked about Clinton's 2016 ambitions. "She's our shot."
The Democratic congresswoman and former House speaker similarly stoked the flames in April, describing the prospect as "so exciting."
DOJ to monitor Wisconsin recall election
By Kerry Picket - WashingtonTimes.com
The Justice Department will be monitoring polling activities in Milwaukee during the recall election of Republican Governor Scott Walker on Tuesday. According to a DOJ press release:
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced today that it will monitor elections on June 5, 2012, in the following jurisdictions to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other federal voting rights statutes: Alameda, Fresno and Riverside Counties, Calif.; Cibola and Sandoval Counties, N.M.; Shannon County, S.D.; and the city of Milwaukee.
Identity Crisis Rattles Volvo's Chinese Owner
Buying the Swedish car company in 2010 was easy – maybe too easy – for increasingly frustrated executives at Zhejiang Geely
By Liang Dongmei and Cao Haili - Caixin.com
(Beijing)–New models bearing the Chinese-owned Volvo badge shared a luxury spotlight at the Beijing International Auto Show in April with perennial stars Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Lexus.
But behind the diamond-studded presentation was confusion over the legal status of Sweden-based Volvo Car Corp., it's business operations in China, and the company's owner China Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd.
Hey, Brother, Can You Spare a Hubble?
DOD: Sure! Have Two
By Alexis Madrigal - TheAtlantic.com
That's right. Our military had two, unflown, better-than-Hubble space telescopes just sitting around.
NASA's been wracked by budgetary concerns as it tries to figure out how to do research into the origins of everything *and* loft human beings into orbit with big rockets. In particular, the space agency has been dealing with cost overruns on the next-generation Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope, which have been eating up the science budget.
Now, we get word from the Washington Post that the Department of Defense has gifted two better-than-Hubble telescopes to NASA. That's right. Our military had two, unflown, better-than-Hubble space telescopes just sitting around. This story is almost unbelievable; it feels like a hoax. But it's not.
NASA Gets Two Formerly Secret Spy Telescopes
More Powerful Than Hubble
By CARL FRANZEN - TalkingPointsMemo.com
What's better than the Hubble Space Telescope? Try two, more powerful spy space telescopes given, with few to no strings attached, to NASA, by a little-known U.S. intelligence agency.
The scenario sounds like the pitch for a sci-fi story, but it's now become reality thanks to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the 50-year-old U.S. agency responsible for managing all of America's spy satellites.
On Monday, NASA officials confirmed that they had accepted from the NRO a generous donation of two complete, but previously unused and presently grounded orbital telescopes, each of which is capable of surveying an area 100 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's current workhorse.
Are Guillotines Next?
11 Examples That Show That Beheading
Has Become A Favorite Form Of Execution
All Over The World
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Who ever thought that we would be talking about an epidemic of beheading early in the 21st century? Unfortunately, it appears that beheading is making a huge comeback and has become a favorite form of execution all over the world. Recently we have seen brutal beheadings in the Middle East, in Mexico, in Africa, in India and even in the United States. So what is next? Will guillotines make a comeback? This was a really difficult article to write. If you have a weak stomach you might not want to read it. I thought about not writing it, but I think it is important to expose what is really going on out there. Sometimes it is really easy to sit in our comfortable homes surrounded by people that we love and ignore the terrible evil that is happening out in our world today. Our planet is not a very nice place and tyranny is gaining more ground with each passing day. You might think that this is something that happens "on the other side of the world" and that you do not need to worry about it, but as tyranny spreads so will this kind of brutality. What would you do someday if you had a choice of either bowing down to tyranny or losing your head? What would you do someday if you were threatened with beheading if you did not renounce what you believe? You might want to think about how you would handle that type of situation. Our world is becoming a very evil place, and in the years ahead the pressure to submit to tyranny is only going to increase.
China's One-Child Policy Traced to Roman Population Control
by Chris Gacek - LifeNews.com
Last week, the Washington Times carried a powerful op-ed by Robert Zubrin, a senior fellow the Center for Security Policy, tracing the intellectual roots of China's brutal one-child policy to the population-control movement including the Club of Rome.
Thus began the most forceful population-control program since Nazi Germany. Qian Xinzhong, a Soviet-trained former major general in the People's Liberation Army, was placed in charge of the campaign. He ordered all women with one child to have a stainless steel IUD inserted and to be inspected regularly to make sure they had not tampered with it. To remove the device was deemed a criminal act. All parents with two or more children were to be sterilized. No pregnancies were legal for anyone under 23, whether married or not, and all unauthorized pregnancies were to be aborted.
China's J-20 And The American F-22 Raptor —
You Are Not Seeing Double
Eloise Lee and Robert Johnson - BusinessInsider.com
We wrote about the J-20's impressive aerial trials a few months ago when China "leaked" the following photos.
Then, we mentioned similarities between the J-20 and the U.S. F-22 Raptor, but after this picture from China Defense popped up a couple of days ago, we had to revisit the J-20/Raptor connection.
China has long been accused of industrial espionage and possibly reverse-engineered an old F-117 — shot down over Serbia in 1999 — to get them where they are in stealth technology today.
Russia to EU:
Stay out of Syria, back off on Gazprom
BY ANDREW RETTMAN - EUObserver.com
BRUSSELS - Vladimir Putin has made clear that he will not budge an inch on Syria ahead of an EU-Russia summit.
Speaking in separate press events in Berlin and Paris on Friday (1 June), the Russian leader ruled out lifting his UN Security Council veto on economic sanctions or military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
He also blamed civilian deaths on opposition forces and denied that Russia is selling arms to Damascus.
Russia turns east to embrace looming China
By Thomas Grove
(Reuters) - When Russia opens a "billion-dollar bridge" on its Pacific coast this summer, Vladimir Putin can expect an enthusiastic audience among the 5,000 islanders whom it will connect to the mainland, at an eye-popping cost per head.
But the president will be looking, too, for attention from a few miles further off, in China, whose rise as a trading and diplomatic partner but also as a potential rival for control of thinly populated Siberia's resources has brought a new focus in Moscow on both business and military investment in the far east.
Is Bilderberg a conference on world affairs
or a powerful global cabal? Depends on who you ask.
By Annie Gowen - WashingtonPost.com
A dull office park near Dulles International Airport took on the sheen of a Hollywood thriller this week, when an invitation-only cadre of global leaders gathered for a secretive meeting known as the Bilderberg conference.
Henry Kissinger and Bill Gates were chauffeured in. Fairfax County police established a security perimeter around the Westfields Marriott and prohibited a Washington Post photographer from snapping pictures from a public street.
Elite Plan One World Bank at Bilderberg Confab
Around 150 of the world's elite approached the grounds of a suburban Virginia hotel on Thursday for the first day of the 2012 Bilderberg Conference, but also on hand were throngs of protesters who gathered to oppose the top-secret gathering. Journalists and critics of the annual clandestine conference stationed themselves outside of a Chantilly, Virginia Marriott hotel near Washington, DC early Thursday to catch a glimpse of the government officials, entrepreneurs, and other assorted members of the privileged elite who had gathered for this year's event.
Bilderberg 2012: guess who's coming to dinner In Charlie Skelton's latest, a surprise guest slips into Bilderberg, and gets a warm reception from the 'Golden Bullhorn'
by Charlie Skelton - Guardian.co.uk
Yesterday at 4pm a limousine with a police motorcade entered the rear entrance of the Bilderberg hotel. Heavy security, heavyweight politician. Let the guesses commence: was it Romney getting the green light for the presidency? Was it Hilary, nipping in to sign off on Iran?
4pm – time to freshen up, before a mix and mingle over cocktails, and a place at the top table for an extremely noisy dinner. The noise was courtesy of the Bilderberg bullhorn disco – an iTunes playlist, blasted out at the hotel.
Acceleration Of Financial Meltdown Can't Be Stopped
From International Banker Friend - SteveQuayle.com
The Iron boot has been firmly planted to the pedal of this runaway tractor trailer that is heading off the cliff. All of the Euro banks including my former associates at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) are all prepped and ready for the Euro collapse. What we in the inside are calling "Spanish Flue" is now running hot with temperatures that are setting ten year yields sky high. What many do not realize is that Bankia's demise has started a breach in all the firewalls and safety measures that are in place in the Eurozone. This had an immediate effect on the Italian markets as you can now see the pandemonium that is there.
We keep hearing reports of massive bank runs that are occurring across many of the PIIGS but is not just limited to them. As I stated many times the UK and France are the most vulnerable to the Eurozone collapse, many of their populace are cashing out of their equities though there is a massive media blackout about this. European contacts report that there is a flight to German bonds, UK and a mass migration to the US dollar. But these currency life preserver jumps will not help as the contagion in all FIAT markets are affected. It is a game of hot potato that the investors are playing, jumping from one asset to the next and again before the one that they just jumped to burns. A juggling act with fire that cannot be quenched. Gold jumped over $40, it is telling us something.
Bilderberg Plot JFK Like End to Ron Paul!
During a heated conversation in the lobby of the Westfields Marriott hotel yesterday, Bilderberg members expressed their desire to see Ron Paul die in a plane crash, according to veteran journalist Jim Tucker's inside source.
The Bad Jobs Report Is Just A Very Small Taste
Of The Nightmare That Is Coming
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
Another month, another bad jobs report. For the month of May, the U.S. economy only added 69,000 jobs and the unemployment rate rose to 8.2%. Many are calling this a total "disaster" and are worried that the U.S. economy could be headed back into another recession. Economists had been expecting 150,000 payroll jobs would be added, so the 69,000 number really shocked a lot of people. The truth is that the economy needs to add approximately 125,000 new jobs every single month just to keep the unemployment rate steady. So yes, this bad jobs report is not welcome news at all - especially for the Obama administration. When Barack Obama first took office the unemployment rate was sitting at 7.6 percent and now it is sitting at 8.2 percent. Some "recovery", eh? But the reality is that this jobs report was really not that "devastating" even though the stock market had itsworst day of the year. Unemployment in America is still about at the same level as it was back at the beginning of 2012. The tough stretch that we are going through right now is only a very small taste of the economic nightmare that is on the horizon. If you think that things are a "disaster" right now, just wait until you see what is coming.
BIS warns global lending
contracting at fastest pace since 2008 Lehman crisis International lending is contracting at the fastest pace since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008 as Europe's banks scramble to meet tougher rules.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said cross-border loans fell by $799bn (£520bn) in the fourth quarter of 2011, led by a broad retreat from Italy, Spain and the eurozone periphery.
Lending to banks in the eurozone fell $364bn or 5.9pc, with drastic reductions of 9.8pc in Italy and 8.7pc in Spain.
The BIS's quarterly report said the decline in lending was "largely driven by banks headquatered in the euro area facing pressures to reduce their leverage".
George Soros says Germany
has three months to save the eurozone
George Soros, the billionaire investor, has warned Germany it has three months to save the eurozone or risk the destruction of the European Union and a "lost decade".
By Angela Monaghan - Telegraph.co.uk
Speaking at a conference in Italy Mr Soros said the eurozone's fate lay firmly with Germany, which he urged to agree to measures which would help the region's ailing banking system and ease borrowing costs among the most troubled member states.
"In my judgment the authorities have a three months' window during which they could still correct their mistakes and reverse the current trends," he said.
As Soros Starts A Three Month Countdown
To D(oom)-Day, Europe Plans A New Master Plan
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
What would the weekend be without at least one rumor that Europe is on the verge of fixing everything, or failing that, planning for a master fix, ORfailing that, planning for a master plan to fix everything. Sure enough, we just got the latter, which considering nobody really believes anything out of Europe anymore, especially not something that has not been signed, stamped and approved by Merkel herself, is rather ballsy. Nonetheless, one can't blame them for trying: "The chiefs of four European institutions are in the process of creating a master plan for the euro zone, the daily Die Welt reports Saturday, in an advance release of an article to be published Sunday. Suggestions targeting a fiscal, banking, and political union, as well as structural reforms, are being worked out by E.U. Council President Herman van Rompuy, E.U. Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, according to the article. The plan is to be presented at a summit of European leaders at end of June, the article says."
Europe mulls major step towards "fiscal union"
By Noah Barkin and Daniel Flynn
BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - When Jean-Claude Trichet called last June for the creation of a European finance ministry with power over national budgets, the idea seemed fanciful, a distant dream that would take years or even decades to realize, if it ever came to be.
One year later, with the euro zone's debt crisis threatening to tear the bloc apart, Germany is pushing its partners for precisely the kind of giant leap forward in fiscal integration that the now-departed European Central Bank president had in mind.
The week that Europe stopped pretending The euro has essentially broken down as a viable economic and political undertaking. The latest rush of events reeks of impending denouement.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
Switzerland is threatening capital controls to repel bank flight from Euroland. The Swiss two-year note has fallen to -0.32pc, not that it seems to make any difference.
Denmark's central bank said it was battening down the hatches for a "splintering" of EMU. It has cut interest rates twice in a matter or days and pledged to do whatever it takes to stop euros flooding into the country. Contingency plans are on the lips of officials in every capital in Europe, and beyond.
Stiglitz: ECB Can Do 'a Lot More' on Crisis
By: Shai Ahmed - CNBC.com
The European Central Bank has the ability to do more to tackle to the euro zone's debt crisis than it has been doing, Nobel Laureate and Professor at Columbia University Joseph Stiglitz told CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange" Friday.
"The ECB has the tools to do more than it has been doing. European governments have the first obligation but in the absence of that the ECB has the ability to do a lot more than it had been doing," Stiglitz said.
Stiglitz won the Nobel prize for economics in 2001.
10 Things That We Can Learn About Shortages
And Preparation From The Economic Collapse In Greece
By Michael Snyder - TheEconomicCollapseBlog.com
When the economy of a nation collapses, almost everything changes. Unfortunately, most people have never been through anything like that, so it can be difficult to know how to prepare. For those that are busy preparing for the coming global financial collapse, there is a lot to be learned from the economic depression that is happening right now in Greece. Essentially, what Greece is experiencing is a low level economic collapse. Unemployment is absolutely rampant and poverty is rapidly spreading, but the good news for Greece is that the global financial system is still operating somewhat normally and they are getting some financial assistance from the outside. Things in Greece could be a whole lot worse, and they will probably get a whole lot worse before it is all said and done. But already things have gotten bad enough in Greece that it gives us an idea of what a full-blown economic collapse in the 21st century may look like. There are reports of food and medicine shortages in Greece, crime and suicides are on the rise and people have been rapidly pulling their money out of the banks. Hopefully this article will give you some ideas that you can use as you prepare for the economic chaos that will soon be unfolding all over the globe.
Everything is Getting Gummed up in Greece
By Wolf Richter - ZeroHedge.com
Tourism, Greece's second largest industry after the shipping industry, and already in a downdraft, is taking another hit as tour-bus drivers will go on strike next week; wage negotiations have deadlocked. Owners demand that drivers take an additional 50% cut in pay and benefits on top of the 20% cut they've already suffered.
The National Organization for Healthcare Provision (EOPYY), Greece's state-owned health insurer, hasn't paid pharmacists for months and owes them €540 million. In turn, pharmacists are refusing to sell medications to insured patients, including cancer patients, unless they're paid in cash—and even hospitals are reporting shortages.
Spanish rescue draws closer as Cyprus buckles Spain's ruling party has begun to crack under pressure, signalling for the first time that the country may need a European rescue to shore up its banking system.
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
"A bail-out would not be the apocalypse," said José María Beneyto, foreign affairs spokesman in Spain's parliament. "You have to live with it. We have got to escape this or we'll go mad worrying about bonds spreads."
Mr Benyeto accepted that it would mean cuts in salaries and pensions dictated by a Troika from the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. "Portugal is living with it relatively passively, and Ireland, too," he said.
Spain is in 'total emergency', the EU in total denial After a Spanish exit from the euro,
there would be nothing left to exit from.
By Janet Daley - Telegraph.co.uk
I've never actually heard the term "total emergency" before, at least not in the context of global economics. It sounds like the title of a disaster movie. When it is uttered in sober tones by the elder statesman of an advanced democracy to describe his country's financial condition, the effect is rather startling.
The man who delivered this apocalyptic judgment, former Spanish prime minister Felipe González, being a socialist, might be expected to detest austerity programmes that require cuts to government spending. But there seemed to be few disinterested observers of Spain's economy prepared to quibble with his assessment.
Keiser Report: Plankton of Fraud (E296)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss the plankton of accounting fraud welcoming Jamie Dimon to the club. In the second half of the show Max talks to Simon Rose of SaveOurSavers.co.uk about the price of money and the central planning of the Bank of England
A Chinese Bank Run?
by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
The balance sheet recession that seems to have correctly diagnosed the problem facing Japan (and now Europe and the US) - explicitly causing debt minimzation as opposed to profit maximization - seems to be taking hold. However, it appears this death-knell for credit-created growth is now being seen in China - as AlsoSprachAnalyst interprets "people are not borrowing, but selling assets to pay down debts, and/or holding cash". What is most worrisome is that while the focus of the world has been on European bank runs (for fear of bank failure and redenomination risk), 21st Century Business Herald now notes that these bank runs have spread to China's industrial and construction-heavy city of Wuyishan.Queues were seen on various branches of China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
Investors Position for a Synchronized Global Slowdown
By: Mohamed El-Erian - CNBC.com
The insufficient job creation, stagnant earnings and alarming long-term unemployment highlighted by May's disheartening jobs report underscore America's persistent unemployment crisis. The numbers also speak to a synchronized slowdown that is now taking hold of the global economy — a phenomenon that is being signaled by virtually every other data release out of Europe, the U.S. and emerging countries.
The realization of lower global growth, together with increasing financial instability in some parts of the world (particularly Europe), is an important driver of the recent sharp selloff in equities and other risk assets. It has also turbocharged the collapse in yields on higher quality government bonds, with the 10-year U.S. bond at a record close of 1.46% on Friday (and Germany even lower).
Fed's Kocherlakota: No comment on policy, economy
(Reuters) - The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis did not comment specifically on current monetary policy or the U.S. economy on Sunday, according to his prepared comments.
Narayana Kocherlakota, speaking at the Financial Intermediation Research Society Conference in Minneapolis, instead gave a lecture in which he stressed the need to use "risk-neutral probabilities" in predicting future economic outcomes and setting policy.
President Obama Has Outspent Last Five Presidents
By ELIZABETH FLOCK - USNews.com
President Obama has shelled out more in federal spending than the five presidents that came before him.
A new chart by the Comeback America Initiative (CAI), a non-partisan group dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility by policymakers, shows federal spending by president as a percentage of GDP, and it doesn't reflect well on Obama.
"There has been a dramatic increase in spending under the Obama administration," David Walker, Founder and CEO of CAI, told Whispers. "Most of it is attributable to year one of his presidency and the stimulus... but President Obama has continued to take spending to a new level."
Defense contractors raising voices against sequestration
By Marjorie Censer - WashingtonPost.com
Defense contractors are speaking up increasingly loudly against the possibility of mandatory federal budget reductions starting in January, warning that the cuts would take a toll on their businesses.
Robert J. Stevens, chairman and chief executive at Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor, said last week that the company might be forced to notify all its employees of the possibility of job losses as early as September or October in advance of the reductions.
'Fear of the Future' Keeps Lid on Economic Growth: Greenspan
By: Jeff Cox - CNBC.com
Investors could revolt at a moment's notice against high government deficit levels, jeopardizing chances at a recovery and potentially sending interest rates soaring, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told CNBC.
The former central bank leader — nicknamed "The Maestro" by his supporters — said he worries the current economy could be heading on a path similar to 1979, when the 10-year Treasury note was yielding around 9 percent before surging dramatically, gaining 4 percentage points in just a few months.
How the FDIC can curb banks' reckless speculation
By Barry Ritholtz - WashingtonPost.com
Let's be blunt: Banking has devolved into an unruly mess.
After years of deregulation, it has become all but impossible to re-regulate modern banking. There was a brief window during the credit crisis, but that has passed. Today, profits trump soundness. Safety and security are secondary to risk-taking and speculation.
I have been wondering what we, as a democratic nation, are going to do about this. Are we going to rule banks, or are bankers going to rule us?
Debt Up $1.59T Under GOP House—
More in 15 Months Than First 97 Congresses Combined
By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) - The Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which took office in January 2011, has enacted federal spending bills under which the national debt has increased more in less than one term of Congress than in the first 97 Congresses combined.
In the fifteen months that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives--led by Speaker John Boehner--has effectively enjoyed a constitutional veto over federal spending, the federal government's debt has increased by about $1.59 trillion.
US Debt Soars By $54 Billion Overnight,
Closes May At Record $15,770,685,085,364.10
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
There was one thing that the Roller-Upper-Of-Sleeves-In-Chief forgot to mention in his 1 pm rehearsed oratory today: the highlighted number below. And certainly the chart below showing the relative change in US GDP and debt. Since we can only assume the president was too busy pontificating on other very important things, we are happy to fill in the hole.
Treasuries Fall As Indicator Signals Rally May Be Halted
By Wes Goodman - Bloomberg.com
Treasuries declined as a technical indicator showed a rally that pushed yields down to records last week is poised to end.
The 14-day relative-strength index for 10-year Treasury yields fell to 23.3. A reading less than 30 suggests to some traders that rates have declined too quickly and are set to change direction.
Benchmark 10-year yields increased two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 1.47 percent of 11:07 a.m. in Tokyo, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. The 1.75 percent note maturing in May 2022 declined 6/32, or $1.88 per $1,000 face amount, to 102 17/32. The all-time low yield was 1.4387 percent set June 1.
Did The SEC Hint At A 7% Market Plunge?
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
Back in October 19, 1988, in response to Black Monday from a year earlier (the SEC is not known for fast turnaround times) a little known SEC rule came into effect, known as Rule 80B, and somewhat better known as "Trading Halts Due to Extraordinary Market Volatility" which set trigger thresholds for market wide circuit breakers - think a wholesale temporary market shutdown. According to Rule 80B (as revised in 1998), the trigger levels for a market-wide trading halt were set at 10%, 20% and 30% of the DJIA. The halt for a 10% decline would be one hour if it occurred before 2 p.m., and for 30 minutes if it occurred between 2 and 2:30, but would not halt trading at all after 2:30. The halt for a 20% decline would be two hours if it occurred before 1 p.m., and between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. for one hour, and close the market for the rest of the day after 2 p.m. If the market declined by 30%, at any time, trading would be halted for the remainder of the day. Needless to say, a 30% drop in the market in our day and age when the bulk of US wealth is concentrated in the stock market,would be a shot straight to the heart of the entire capitalist system. Which is why the smallest gating threshold is and has always been the key.
JPMorgan returns $600 million in funds
held at the bank when MF Global collapsed
AP - WashingtonPost.com
NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase has returned about $600 million that was held at the bank when securities firm MF Global Holdings Ltd. failed last fall, according to a news report.
The Wall Street Journal also reported Saturday that a bankruptcy trustee representing MF Global's customers might pursue JPMorgan for several hundred million dollars in additional claims.
The newspaper cited unnamed people familiar with the matter and with the investigation into MF Global's collapse.
The Collapse is the Easy Part
by John Galt
Throughout the recent five years of American economic, political, and Constitutional crises the world chugged along with winners and losers selected by fate and foolishness as the erosion of our modern civilization continued from within. This system crash at all levels, morality, financial structure, religion, politics, and the viability of the nations impacted from this disaster is going to lead to some extremely long term changes in the world, some of which will shock the unprepared, and kill the unaware. There is, however, some good news:
The collapse is the easy part.
Gas Prices Are the Silver Lining as Economy Weakens
AP - CNBC.com
There's some good news behind the discouraging headlines on the economy: Gas is getting cheaper. At least two states had stations selling gas for $2.99 on Friday and it could fall below $3 in more areas over the weekend.
A plunge in oil prices has knocked more than 30 cents off the price of a gallon of gas in most parts of the U.S. since early April. The national average is now $3.61. Experts predict further declines in the next few weeks.
If Americans spend less filling their tanks, they'll have more money for discretionary purchases. The downside? Lower oil and gas prices are symptoms of weakening economic conditions in the U.S. and around the globe.
Medical data breaches raising alarm
By David Schultz - WashingtonPost.com
As more doctors and hospitals go digital with medical records, the size and frequency of data breaches are alarming privacy advocates and public health officials.
Keeping records secure is a challenge that doctors, public health officials and federal regulators are just beginning to grasp. And, as two recent incidents at Howard University Hospital show, inadequate data security can affect huge numbers of people.
Politics and more at play in painful job numbers European troubles an 'unwelcome truth'
By Tim Devaney and Patrice Hill-The Washington Times
Just when the American economy was looking like a global bright spot, a spate of bad news last week showed that the U.S. also has succumbed to a major slowdown - sending President Obama and his team scrambling to explain Friday's disappointing unemployment numbers.
"Nobody is happy with the rate of job creation today," Steven Rattner, Mr. Obama's former car czar, said on "Fox News Sunday."
"Obviously, the numbers this month were disappointing," David Axelrod, Mr. Obama's senior campaign strategist, said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Bill calls for ending direct payments to farmers Subsidized insurance offered as alternative
By Jim Abrams - AP - WashingtonTimes.com
A program that puts billions of dollars in the pockets of farmers whether or not they plant a crop may disappear with hardly a protest from farm groups and the politicians who look out for their interests.
The Senate is expected to begin debate this week on a five-year farm and food aid bill that would save $9.3 billion by ending direct payments to farmers and replacing them with subsidized insurance programs for when the weather turns bad or prices go south.
In Walker recall, road to White House runs through Wisconsin
By Seth McLaughlin-The Washington Times
National Republicans think that if Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker survives his recall election Tuesday, it will be much harder for Mr. Obama to keep the state in the Democratic column in the November election.
If Mr. Obama loses Wisconsin, the GOP says, it changes the entire Electoral College map — and the Democratic incumbent could pretty much kiss a second term goodbye.
The Wisconsin theory is one of many being bandied about now that the general election between Mr. Obama and Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, is under way.
War in the White House: attorney general Eric Holder and top Obama adviser David Axelrod 'had to be separated' Eric Holder, Barack Obama's attorney general and David Axelrod, his top political adviser had to be separated after squaring up during a furious row over attempts to impose White House operatives in the justice department.
By Jon Swaine, Washington - Telegraph.co.uk
Eric Holder, who heads Mr Obama's justice department, is said to have become "incensed" after being accused by David Axelrod of complaining publicly about political interference in his office.
"That's bull****," Mr Holder said in a confrontation after a cabinet meeting, according to author Daniel Klaidman. He writes: "The two men stood chest to chest. It was like a school yard fight".
President Obama's secret kill list
By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano - FoxNews.com
The leader of the government regularly sits down with his senior generals and spies and advisers and reviews a list of the people they want him to authorize their agents to kill. They do this every Tuesday morning when the leader is in town. The leader once condemned any practice even close to this, but now relishes the killing because he has convinced himself that it is a sane and sterile way to keep his country safe and himself in power. The leader, who is running for re-election, even invited his campaign manager to join the group that decides whom to kill.
This is not from a work of fiction, and it is not describing a series of events in the Kremlin or Beijing or Pyongyang. It is a fair summary of a 6,000-word investigative report in The New York Times earlier this week about the White House of Barack Obama. Two Times journalists, Jo Becker and Scott Shane, painstakingly and chillingly reported that the former lecturer in constitutional law and liberal senator who railed against torture and Gitmo now weekly reviews a secret kill list, personally decides who should be killed and then dispatches killers all over the world -- and some of his killers have killed Americans.
No respite for pope as more documents leaked
By Philip Pullella
(Reuters) - Pope Benedict got no rest on Sunday from a leaks scandal when an Italian newspaper published documents showing that his butler was not the only person in possession of confidential correspondence indicating a Vatican in disarray.
Benedict, 85, ended a weekend trip to Italy's industrial and financial capital Milan with a closing mass for an international gathering in which he praised traditional Catholic family values and re-stated his opposition to gay marriage.
666... the number of man? Human barcode' could make society more organized,
but invades privacy, civil liberties As tech companies work to develop ID chips, how long until we're no longer anonymous?
BY MEGHAN NEAL / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Would you barcode your baby?
Microchip implants have become standard practice for our pets, but have been a tougher sell when it comes to the idea of putting them in people.
Science fiction author Elizabeth Moon last week rekindled the debate on whether it's a good idea to "barcode" infants at birth in an interview on a BBC radio program.
"I would insist on every individual having a unique ID permanently attached — a barcode if you will — an implanted chip to provide an easy, fast inexpensive way to identify individuals," she said on The Forum, a weekly show that features "a global thinking" discussing a "radical, inspiring or controversial idea" for 60 seconds.
Boston attorney wants cross taken down... let's get rid of God 59-Year-Old Kiwanis Club Statue
May Have To Be Removed Over Man's Complaint
MIDDLEBORO (CBS) – A statue that has stood in the same spot for 53 years is now at the center of a Constitutional debate.
In 1959, Middleboro Kiwanis Club erected a 12-foot brick cross bearing the word "worship" on a traffic island on Route 28.
Recently, the statue caught the eye of a Boston attorney who has since filed multiple complaints with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The state declined to release the name of that attorney.
Obama Ordered Stuxnet to Continue
After Bug Caused It to Spread Wildly
By Kim Zetter - Wired.com
Despite an error in the Stuxnet worm that attacked Iran's uranium enrichment program, which caused the malware to spread wildly out of control and infect computers outside of Iran in 2010, President Barack Obama ordered U.S. officials who were behind the attack to continue the operation.
That was despite the fact that Stuxnet was spreading to machines in the United States and elsewhere and could have contained other unknown errors that might affect U.S. machines.
This Rock Could Spy on You for Decades
By Noah Shachtman - Wired.com
America is supposed to wind down its war in Afghanistan by 2014. But U.S. forces may continue to track Afghans for years after the conflict is officially done. Palm-sized sensors, developed for the American military, will remain littered across the Afghan countryside — detecting anyone who moves nearby and reporting their locations back to a remote headquarters. Some of these surveillance tools could be buried in the ground, all-but-unnoticeable by passersby. Others might be disguised as rocks, with wafer-sized, solar-rechargeable batteries that could enable the sensors' operation for perhaps as long as two decades, if their makers are to be believed.
Quake faults west of Tahoe bigger than expected
AP - SFGate.com
Reno --- Scientists studying earthquake faults in the mountains west of Lake Tahoe say new, high-resolution imaging technology has helped uncover more substantial seismic hazards than previously thought to exist there.
The steep, fault-formed range west of the lake could generate relatively strong earthquakes with magnitudes from 6.3 to 6.9, according to the study led by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The politics of the underwater homeowner.
by DrHousingBubble - ZeroHedge.com
The housing market is sending mixed signals in 2012. Time can sneak up on you and if you rewind to the last presidential election cycle the housing market was already moving lower. So here we are in 2012 and the housing market is still weak. A recent report shows that 1 out of 3 Americans with a mortgage is still underwater owing $1.2 trillion more on their home than it is currently worth. Keep in mind that the 5 to 6 percent cost of selling a home is shouldered by the seller and that isn't reflected here. In spite of this, most underwater homeowners continue to pay their mortgage dutifully. Even in Las Vegas where 71 percent of homeowners are underwater, many by twice the current home value, only 14 percent are 90+ days delinquent. With so many homeowners underwater what implications will this have on the 2012 election?
Weak May jobs report spurs
GOP concerns over new Fed stimulus
By Peter Schroeder and Vicki Needham - TheHill.com
The disappointing May jobs report has set off a fresh round of speculation – and concern among Republicans – about whether the Federal Reserve will move to boost the economy.
Friday's employment report, which found the economy added just 69,000 jobs - less than half of expectations – suggested an already tenuous economic recovery may have lost steam.
CT drowning in debt funds Commie HQ renovations
Connecticut's Red Ink
By Jack Fowler - NationalReview.com
The Nutmeg State will be funding the Communist Party.
Yep, despite massive debt and a mushrooming deficit, Governor Dannel Malloy, with the obedient Democrat legislature in tow, will convene the State Bond Commission on June 4th and push through a $300,000 "grant-in-aid to Progressive Education and Research Associates to finance renovations to the New Haven Peoples Center at 37 Howe Street." The masquerades of Progressive this and People that aside, 37 Howe Street happens to be the headquarters for the Connecticut Communist Party, run by Joelle Fishman, who also happens to be the regional bureau chief for the infamous Peoples World. Which, yes, also happens to be located at 37 Howe Street.
China condemns U.S. gun ownership as human rights violation
By David Codrea - Examiner.com
A report issued by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China has included U.S. gun ownership among a list of human rights violations, Law Enforcement Examiner Jim Kouri reported yesterday. "The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2011" was published last Friday on the PRC's Consulate General in New York website.
"The United States prioritizes the right to keep and bear arms over the protection of citizens' lives and personal security and exercises lax firearm possession control, causing rampant gun ownership," the report claims. "The U.S. people hold between 35 percent and 50 percent of the world' s civilian-owned guns, with every 100 people having 90 guns [and] 47 percent of American adults reported that they had a gun."
Clinton heads to Arctic to save world Clinton in Arctic to see impact of climate change
CA.News.Yahoo.com
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took a first-hand look Saturday at the way a warming climate is changing the Arctic, opening the region to competition for vast oil reserves.
Experts here estimate the value of the Arctic's untapped oil alone -- not including natural gas and minerals -- at $900 trillion, making it a huge prize for the five countries that surround the Arctic if they can reach it.
SpaceX has big launch plans Company wants to begin running regular cargo supply missions
By W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles Times - CharlotteObserver.com
LOS ANGELES SpaceX, the upstart company that shot a capsule to the International Space Station and back last month, won't have much time to savor its first major success.
It now must ready its Dragon spacecraft with life-support systems to ferry astronauts as well as cargo. And some analysts are skeptical that it can be a government contractor while maintaining its Silicon Valley style of doing business.
Putin to meet Iran's Ahmadinejad in China: Kremlin
AFP - Yahoo.com
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of a summit in Beijing next week as tensions rise over Tehran's nuclear drive, a Kremlin official said.
"Meeting Ahmadinejad will let Putin personally feel the tension around the Iranian issue and how it is perceived in Tehran," Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told reporters last week in comments that were embargoed for release until Sunday.
Putin and Ahmadinejad agreed to meet over the phone and the initiative came "from both sides," Ushakov said.
Gold reserves to play a key role in new economic order
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): Gold has recently been moving in locksteps with the single currency, which fell to its lowest level against the dollar in two years as investors continue to fret about Spain's vulnerable fiscal conditions.
Gold prices may have fallen out of bed over the past four months. But gold as a currency is gaining ground as gold reserves are increasingly being allocated a more important role in the coming new economic order.
Myths and Realities of Returning to a Gold Standard
by Terry Coxon of Casey Research - FinancialSense.com
Myths And Realities Of Returning To A Gold Standard
The gold standard, under which any holder of paper dollars could redeem them for gold at the US Treasury, is now within the living memory of just a few million Americans, nearly all of whom would be dangerous behind the wheel. But thanks to the money printing and the federal deficits that have grown to astounding scales since 2008, and thanks also to the clashing pronouncements of Ron Paul and Ben Bernanke, the idea of a gold standard has resurfaced in the public's consciousness.
I'm happy to see the concept enjoying a revival. Reading about it in the mainstream press and hearing it mentioned on the cable news shows makes me feel a little less like a Martian. It has almost made me feel avant-garde.
Silver to bounce back, rally likely in coming months
NEW YORK (Commodity Online): There is a lot of speculation that silver will rebound from lower levels in the coming months. The speculation comes as analysts predict that manufacturing will expand in key economies like China and USA which will likely boost the demand for the metal.
Some analysts believe that the price of silver will rally in coming months:
According to Charles Nenner, noted market forecaster,silver is set to scale new highs in next 12-18 months.
It's almost time to get bullish again," Nenner says, "about two weeks or so." From there, he's looking for a move to all-time highs, and possibly beyond. Silver is going back to $50 but "that doesn't mean $50 has to be the end."
Eurozone Nations Could Pawn Gold to Germany
theTrumpet.com
New euro plan would have Germany save Europe, in return for power and gold.
The unstoppable force has met the immovable object in the eurozone. The euro cannot stay afloat without German help; the laws of nature will soon reassert themselves and the euro will sink. But Germany cannot help. The public support isn't there, and in most cases the Constitutional Court has expressly forbidden it.
However, an intriguing compromise is starting to gain traction. Endorsed as a possible way forward by the International Monetary Fund (imf), Société Générale and Germany's main opposition party the Social Democratic Party,the plan is just the type of deal the Trumpet has forecast for years:Germany bails out Europe in exchange for power and gold.
Jim Rogers: Global economic shocks coming in 2013-2014
The G8 meeting in Camp David was focused on saving Europe from its economic nightmares. World leaders discussed Greece and its severe debt crisis, trying to figure out how to save the eurozone. The Great Recession struck the world nearly four years ago, but the aftershock is still being felt. And it's unclear when the economy will finally start to recover, and where its new center will emerge. So are there any signs of light at the end of the tunnel? RT talks to one of the insiders of the world financial elite, co-founder of the Quantum Fund, Jim Rogers.
Capital flight hitting all of Europe,
RBC capital strategist warns
By John Shmuel, Financial Post
Money has been flowing out of periphery eurozone countries such as Greece for some time now. But evidence it is no longer entering wealthier eurozone countries, but leaving Europe entirely, threatens to dangerously intensify the crisis, a strategist warned Wednesday.
"Anecdotal evidence suggests that over most of 2010, 2011 and early 2012, the largest portfolio shifts out of peripheral Europe took place into [German] Bunds and surrounding credits," said Peter Schaffrik, head of European rates at RBC Capital Markets. "Yet, there is accumulating evidence that this behaviour is changing and actual capital flight out of Europe (rather than within Europe) is taking place."
World Fixated on Europe;
Friday's U.S. Economic Data Is Key
BY JAMES J PUPLAVA CFP - FinancialSense.com
The world appears to be fixated on events in Europe. Speculation as to the probable outcome changes almost hourly, depending on which desperate politician is in front of the camera. The main focus is on Greece. However, Spanish and Italian bond yields are back again at nosebleed levels. As of yesterday's close, they're up more than 200 basis points on Spanish 10-year notes, 113 basis points on Italian debt, and 138 basis points on Portuguese bonds. By contrast, the yield on 10-year treasury notes has fallen to a record 1.546%, a yield we haven't seen since 1946. German bunds are also at record lows, dropping to 1.21%.
Keiser Report: Asymmetric Accounting (E294)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss 'asymmetric accounting,' flatulent dark market clubs in austerity London and the $72 trillion claim against Limewire, while President Obama settles for $26 billion for widescale, systemic mortgage fraud. In the second half of the show Max talks to Jan Skoyles of TheRealAsset.co.uk about her campaign to Buy Britain's Gold Back.
Markets will rally when Greece leaves euro Spotting opportunities after a bloody May
By David Callaway, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Seldom has the tired old Wall Street saying "Sell in May and go away" rung more true than it did this past month.
Aside from the U.S. dollar and German bunds, investors pretty much dumped everything in May, with markets plunging around the world on concerns about Europe and China, and, of course, the epic failure of the Facebook IPO two weeks ago.
Trouble is, this year nobody went away. A collective funk has settled over the news cycle, with Syrian executions and face-eating maniacs only adding to the general feeling of dread as investors search for safety. A U.S. presidential campaign already boiling with hate on both sides is not helping to ease the pain.
Be Afraid Europe, Be Very Afraid -
Tim Geithner Is Now "Helping" You
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
If there was one piece of news that could force an all out panic in a market already on the edge, it is that outgoing (as in finally departing) US Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, was getting involved in the European Crisis. Sadly, this is precisely what happened.
• SPAIN DEPUTY PM:
US TREASURY'S GEITHNER AGREES
TO WORK WITH SPAIN TO RESOLVE BANK CRISIS - DJ
• SAENZ DE SANTAMARIA SAYS
GEITHNER URGES SPAIN BANK SOLUTION
• SPAIN'S SAENZ DE SANTAMARIA
TOLD GEITHNER OF REFORM EFFORTS
• GEITHNER DISCUSSED SPAIN'S PLANS
TO STRENGTHEN FINANCE SECTOR
• SPAIN'S SAENZ DE SANTAMARIA
TOLD GEITHNER OF REFORM EFFORTS
Spain – Everything Suddenly Stops Retail Sales in Spain Plunge
BY PATER TENEBRARUM - FinancialSense.com
Economic data releases from Spain have one thing in common lately: they are all 'worse than expected'. Even data that were in fact expected to be atrocious surprise by being more atrocious than previously imagined. The latest example is the reported decline in retail sales of 9.8% year-on-year, a new record. In fact, this was the 'seasonally adjusted' decline. In real terms, retail sales plummeted by 11.3% year-on-year. This follows on the heels of a 3.8% (s.a.), resp. 4% (real) decline last month, which was already quite bad, but not really alarming just yet.
A friend remarked to us that when looking over Spain's economic data releases during April and May, one had the impression that everything had 'suddenly stopped'. This was buttressed by a table depicting said releases:
Deepening crisis forces Merkel to re-examine euro taboos
By Noah Barkin
(Reuters) - How far is Germany prepared to go to save the euro zone?
With Greece's future in the single currency bloc in doubt, Spain scrambling to get a grip on its ailing banks and the euro itself in freefall, the question that has preoccupied crisis watchers for over two years is back in focus like never before.
As in previous "crunch" moments during the crisis, coming up with a clear picture of Berlin's intentions is difficult.
Merkel's Isolation Deepens As Draghi Criticzes Strategy
By James G. Neuger - Bloomberg.com
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was besieged by critics for letting the euro crisis smolder, with the leaders of Italy and the European Central Bank demanding bolder steps to stabilize the 17-nation economy.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and ECB President Mario Draghi pushed Germany to give up its opposition to direct euro- area aid for struggling banks. Monti further antagonized Germany by urging a roadmap to common borrowing.
Keiser Report: Unelected Officials (E295)
In this episode, Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss the tax-free living Christine Lagarde, an unelected official, waving the flag for French banks while harassing Greek citizens while Silvio Berlusconi's 'pleasure chest' drives up the bunga bunga market. In the second half of the show Max talks to Hugo Salinas Price who appeals to Alexis Tsipras to propose bringing a silver standard to Greece.
The Pope's Bankers The pope's choice for head of the Vatican bank could seal the power of Rome and Berlin over Europe's economy.
BY RON FRASERthe - Trumpet.com
We had a suspicion that something was afoot when Vatican banker Gotti Tedeschi was sacked. It took little time for Pope Benedict to publicize his preferred choice for Tedeschi's replacement.
On Wednesday, the Vatican Insider reported under the headline "Ratzinger wants German head of Vatican bank" that the pope's inside choice is none other than the former head of the Bundesbank, Hans Tietmeyer. The Insiderstated in relation to Tedeschi's replacement: "[I]n the Vatican the race for his job has already begun. Despite his age (81), Hans Tietmeyer, former leader of Bundesbank and current member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, is one step ahead of all the other possible candidates. He is the only one Benedict xvi really likes …. [N]o one is considered more suitable than Tietmeyer to manage the 'pope's strongbox' now that Berlin rules Europe's finances …."
"The End Game: 2012 And 2013 Will Usher In The End" -
The Scariest Presentation Ever?
Submitted by Tyler Durden - ZeroHedge.com
If Raoul Pal was some doomsday spouting windbag, writing in all caps, arbitrarily pasting together disparate charts to create 200 page slideshows, it would be easy to ignore him. He isn't. The founder ofGlobal Macro Investor "previously co-managed the GLG Global Macro Fund in London for GLG Partners, one of the largest hedge fund groups in the world. Raoul came to GLG from Goldman Sachs where he co-managed the hedge fund sales business in Equities and Equity Derivatives in Europe... Raoul Pal retired from managing client money in 2004 at the age of 36 and now lives on the Valencian coast of Spain, from where he writes." It is his writing we are concerned about, and specifically his latest presentation, which is, for lack of a better word, the most disturbing and scary forecast of the future of the world we have ever seen....
Corporate bond liquidity fall sparks fear Wall St securities dealers confer with institutional investors
By Nicole Bullock, Tom Braithwaite
and Dan McCrum in New York - FT.com
The largest Wall Street securities dealers held talks with institutional investors in Boston last week to discuss concerns over shrinking liquidity in the corporate bond market and the rise of electronic trading.
People who attended said the unusual summit involved asset manager Fidelity and banks including Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, State Street, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and UBS. The banks either declined to comment or could not be reached.
PIMCO's Bill Gross Warns Of Too Much Risk
With Too Low Yields in Bonds
247WallSt.com
Bill Gross is the de facto Bond King. Running a giant institution like PIMCO give you quite some power. Gross makes monthly outlooks and his June report is not offering any great hope for a reversal. Gross also told CNBC that he does not expect a Eurobond deal to surface as some investors are hoping for.
In the June outlook, Gross noted, "Soaring debt/GDP ratios in previously sacrosanct AAA countries have made low cost funding increasingly a function of central banks as opposed to private market investors. Both the lower quality and lower yields of such previously sacrosanct debt represent a potential breaking point in our now 40-year-old global monetary system."
It's a Record! U.S. Treasury Yields Hit a 220-Year Low
By Matthew O'Brien - TheAtlantic.com
One of these days, the bond vigilantes will show up. Today was not that day though. Tomorrow's not looking good either.
The chart below from Bloomberg shows the nominal yield on 10-year Treasury bonds the past five years. Thursday's midday yield was the lowest it's been over that period. It was also the lowest it's been the past 50 years. Actually, 100 years. No, 220 years.
Yes, Thursday's brief sub-1.54 percent yield was the lowest ever.
The Economic Costs of Fear
By J. Bradford DeLong - Project-Syndicate.org
BERKELEY – The S&P stock index now yields a 7% real (inflation-adjusted) return. By contrast, the annual real interest rate on the five-year United States Treasury Inflation-Protected Security (TIPS) is -1.02%. Yes, there is a "minus" sign in front of that: if you buy the five-year TIPS, each year over the next five years the US Treasury will pay you in interest the past year's consumer inflation rate minus 1.02%. Even the annual real interest rate on the 30-year TIPS is only 0.63% – and you run a large risk that its value will decline at some point over the next generation, implying a big loss if you need to sell it before maturity.
So, imagine that you invest $10,000 in the S&P index. This year, your share of the profits made by those companies will be $700. Now, imagine that, of that total, the companies pay out $250 in dividends (which you reinvest to buy more stock) and retain $450 in earnings to reinvest in their businesses. If the companies' managers do their job, that reinvestment will boost the value of your shares to $10,450. Add to that the $250 of newly-bought shares, and next year the portfolio will be worth $10,700 – more if stock-market valuations rise, and less if they fall.
Why Does The Mainstream Media
Ignore The Bilderberg Group?
By Michael Snyder - EndOfTheAmericanDream.com
Over the next several days, more than a hundred of the most powerful people on the planet will attend a secret conference at a hotel in Chantilly, Virgina. Some of the biggest names in politics and business will be there. The hotel is going to be completely locked down and will be swarmed by hordes of security guards carrying machine guns. This conference is so important that even the U.S. Secret Service is rumored to be involved in providing security. These meetings have been held yearly since 1954, but no record of what goes on at them has ever been officially released to the public and all the attendees are sworn to secrecy. Decisions made at this conference will affect the lives of every man, woman and child on the planet. But the vast majority of Americans will have no idea that the Bilderberg Group is meeting about 20 miles from Washington D.C. this year because the mainstream media in the United States ignores the Bilderberg Group almost entirely year after year. Based on the coverage it gets from the U.S. media, you would think that the Bilderberg Group was a non-event. But if some of the most powerful people on the planet are getting together to discuss our future, don't you think the mainstream media should be covering it?
The Real Banking Crisis, Part II
By Eric Sprott - ZeroHedge.com
Here we go again. Back in July 2011 we wrote an article entitled "The Real Banking Crisis" where we discussed the increasing instability of the Eurozone banks suffering from depositor bank runs. Since that time (and two LTRO infusions and numerous bailouts later), Eurozone banks, as represented by the Euro Stoxx Banks Index, have fallen more than 50% from their July 2011 levels and are now in the midst of yet another breakdown led by the abysmal situation currently unfolding in Greece and Spain.
JPMorgan CIO Swaps Pricing Said To Differ From Bank
By Matthew Leising, Mary Childs
and Shannon D. Harrington - Bloomberg.com
The JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) unit responsible for at least $2 billion in losses on credit derivatives was valuing some of its trades at prices that differed from those of its investment bank, according to people familiar with the matter.
The discrepancy between prices used by the chief investment office and JPMorgan's credit-swaps dealer, the biggest in the U.S., may have obscured by hundreds of millions of dollars the magnitude of the loss before it was disclosed May 10, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren't authorized to discuss the matter.
Street heeds "sell in May, walk away" U.S. stock indexes drop 6%-plus in May
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks on Thursday closed one of the worst months in years, with the Dow halting a seven-month win streak after disappointing data tempered expectations for the May jobs report.
"It's the summer months, unfortunately, so that's one strike. Everyone is out hunting for black swans and finding them. It's a strange environment where investors just don't trust the market at all, so the question is how cheap do stocks have to get before they can entice investors again," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago.
6 buys, 7 sells for the new Age of Austerity Start planning today for another lost decade ahead
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Today we'll discuss investment strategies for America's new Age of Austerity. Remember: Austerity will dominate the U.S. and global economies for years.
That point was punctuated with the arrival of the new book from Martin Pring, one of America's leading financial analysts: "Investing in the Second Lost Decade." His opener is a grabber: "Are you prepared for another lost decade?" Are you?
Jobs data points to recovery losing momentum
By Lucia Mutikani
(Reuters) - Private payroll growth picked up only slightly in May and claims for jobless benefits rose last week, suggesting the U.S. labor market recovery was losing steam after a strong performance early in the year.
Other data on Thursday showed factory activity in the Midwest slowed considerably in May and economic growth in the first quarter was a bit softer than initially estimated.
Economists said the reports reflected business anxiety amid an uncertain global economic outlook as the euro zone's debt crisis escalates and China's economy slows.
Older Americans learn new trades in tough
By Lucia Mutikani
(Reuters) - When Joe Burklund of Des Moines, Iowa, lost his job at the depths of recession in 2009 after 30 years in the advertising and marketing industry, he never imagined another career.
He was almost 60 and optimistic he would land another job in his field, where he was earning $65,000 a year.
After collecting unemployment checks for a year, Burklund took a part-time job at grocery chain Trader Joe's. As he watched his retirement savings bleed almost dry, he realized his situation would not turn around anytime soon.
Software Raises Bar for Hiring
[Google the title for free article pass]
By DAVID WESSEL - WSJ.com - $$
In an essay in this newspaper last fall, Peter Cappelli, a professor of management and human resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, challenged the oft-heard complaint from employers that they can't find good workers with the right skills. "The real culprits are the employers themselves," he asserted.
"It is part of a long-term trend," he adds in an interview, "and the recession caused employers to be able to be pickier, to get even more specific in the skills they think they can find outside the company and to cut back on training."
Not surprisingly, his essay drew a lot of response. What did surprise Mr. Cappelli—as he describes in a book, "Why Good People Can't Get Jobs," to be published in June—was the frequency of complaints about the hiring process itself, particularly the now-ubiquitous use of software to screen applicants.
RSS![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/images/quotes_7a.gif)
