(EconomicPolicyJournal) – HOT: Curious Trading by Federal Reserve Advisor May Result in JPMorgan Chase $1.264 Billion Windfall – Read More Here

(NYTimes) – Home Owners Stop Paying Mortgages – Read More Here

(MiamiHerald) – Gulf shrimpers fear oil spill will put them out of business – Read More Here

(CNNMoney) – Three American cities on the brink of broke – Read More Here

(BizJournals) – Four more Ga. banks get consent orders – Read More Here

(NewsObserver) – Mental health group can pay only half wages – Read More Here

(Fox43) – Video: Thousands of job losses possible if federal funding expires – Read More Here

(HometownAnnapolis) – Cohen to unveil more budget cuts – Read More Here

(ZeroHedge) – Bank Of International Settlements Warns To Ignore Banker “Doomsday Scenario” Fearmongering And Racketeering – Tyler Durden

Over the past two years, the one strategy that has elicited the greatest amount of anger in the general population has been the traditional resolution to the “lowest common denominator” strategy of fearmongering or racketeering by the financial elite, any time it was faced with a status quo extinction event Read More Here

(TheEconomicCollapse) – Europe’s Coming Summer Of Discontent

The summer of 2010 promises to be the most tumultuous summer in the short history of the European Union. The sovereign debt crisis sweeping the continent threatens to cause economic and political instability on a scale not seen in Europe for decades. Read More Here

(Reuters) – China warns debt woes threaten global recovery

China warned on Monday that Europe’s struggle to contain ballooning debt posed a risk to global economic growth, raising the specter of a double-dip recession. Read More Here

(Reuters) – ECB warns of more bank loan losses

The European Central Bank warned on Monday that euro zone banks face up to 195 billion euros in a “second wave” of potential loan losses over the next 18 months due to the financial crisis, and disclosed it had increased purchases of euro zone government bonds. Read More Here

(PressTV) – Eurozone jobless rate hits record high

Unemployment rate in the Eurozone counties has jumped to a historic 10.1 percent — its highest since the introduction of Euro.

According to statistics released by the European Union, almost 16 million people living in the Eurozone countries are currently out of jobs. Read More Here

(ABCNews) – Hewlett-Packard to Cut 9K Jobs; See $1B in Charges

Hewlett-Packard Co. said Tuesday it will cut about 9,000 jobs and take $1 billion in charges over three years as it creates fully automated commercial data centers. Read More Here

(AP) – Video: Deep Cuts Looming for Nation’s Public School Kid

Budget crises across the nation are forcing thousands of teacher pink-slips, shuttering classrooms and cutting school programs. This is the first story in a 3-part AP investigation series. Read the rest of this entry »

(PressTV) – Goldman profited from market crash

A US Senate panel has revealed emails that show Goldman Sachs Group Inc profited massively by engaging in the sale of investments that were structured to fail. Read More Here

(1010Wins) – Hundreds Camp Out in Queens Hoping for Elevator Jobs

Hundreds of job seekers camped out over the weekend at a union office in Queens hoping to be first in line for a chance to apply for an internship in the field of elevator repair. Read More Here

(Sky) – Goldman’s Frankenstein Moment

If the knives were out for Goldman Sachs before today, they’re now hovering perilously close to the Wall Street bank’s throat – and Adair Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, is likely to be paying particularly close interest. Read More Here

(PRNewsWire) – U.S. Food Inflation Spiraling Out of Control

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today released their Producer Price Index (PPI) report for March 2010 and the latest numbers are shocking. Food prices for the month rose by 2.4%, its sixth consecutive monthly increase and the largest jump in over 26 years. NIA believes that a major breakout in food inflation could be imminent, similar to what is currently being experienced in India. Read More Here

(WSJBlog) – Number of the Week: 103 Months to Clear Housing Inventory

All this means that little can stop banks’ inventory of distressed homes from growing. Too many people owe too much more on their homes than they can afford. For the housing market, that could mean a long-lasting hangover. Read More Here

(Fox) – GM Used Bailout Money to Repay Loan

A top Senate Republican on Thursday accused the Obama administration of misleading taxpayers about General Motors’ loan repayment, saying the struggling auto giant was only able to repay its bailout money by dipping into a separate pot of bailout money. Read More Here

(GlobalResearch) – For $10 Billion of “Promises” Haiti Surrenders its Sovereignty

It was fitting that the Mar. 31 “International Donors Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti” was held in the Trusteeship Council at the United Nations headquarters in New York. At the event, Haitian President René Préval in effect turned over the keys to Haiti to a consortium of foreign banks and governments, which will decide how (to use the conference’s principal slogan) to “build back better” the country devastated by the Jan. 12 earthquake. Read More Here

(Technocrati) – Thousands Of Teachers To Be Laid Off – What Economic Recovery?

Thousands of teachers are about to lose jobs in many states. To manage massive budget deficits, several layoff notices were sent out to 22,000 teachers in California, 17,000 in Illinois, and 15,000 in New York. The numbers are expected only to increase in the coming months. Read More Here

(RawStory) – E-mails Show Goldman Execs Boasting as Housing Meltdown Unfolded

Goldman Sachs’ top executives were aware that the company made money by playing against the US housing market, according to internal e-mails released Saturday. Read More Here

(OpEdNews) – Profiling CEOs and Their Sociopathic Paychecks

One of the questions often asked when the subject of CEO pay comes up is, “What could a person such as William McGuire or Lee Raymond (the former CEOs of UnitedHealth and ExxonMobil, respectively) possibly do to justify a $1.7 billion paycheck or a $400 million retirement bonus?” Read More Here

Video: Gullible Nation – More False Hope Read the rest of this entry »

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Health care spending accounts for approximately 17% of GDP in the USA. Until last week about 50 cents of every health care dollar was being spent by the government with the remaining 50 cents so being spent in the private sector. Until last week about 11% of the healthcare industry was controlled by government monopoly in the form of Medicare, Medicaid, Indian Health Care, Veterans Health Care, and other entities (all failing with trillions of dollars in unfunded liabilities). The 6% remaining in the private sector is subject to heavy government intervention (i.e. largely a political capitalism, not free market capitalism). With the passage of Obamacare the remaining 6% of the health care industry will soon fall under the complete control of the federal government. Experience and the laws of economics tell us that a government monopoly on health care means costs will spiral out of control, taxes will skyrocket, innovation will be curtailed, the brightest minds will flee the health care industry, shortages, waiting lines, and unnecessary mortality will result. Welcome to the tyranny of socialized medicine. Read the rest of this entry »

(Crooks&Liars) – I’m still looking for an explanation for the abrupt about-face on this (I’m guessing it bought a needed vote to pass the healthcare bill) and will fill you in when I find out: Read the rest of this entry »

(WashingtonsBlog) – Most people think that banks lend solely from their base of deposits. Some also know that with fractional reserve banking, they can loan out many times more than they actually have in reserves. Read the rest of this entry »

(WashingtonsBlog) – As William K. Black said a year ago, the government’s entire strategy now – as in the S&L crisis – is to cover up how bad things are (“the entire strategy is to keep people from getting the facts”).

Paul Krugman and others pointed out that Geithner has been trying to artificially prop up asset prices, but that such a strategy cannot succeed.

As I’ve pointed out numerous times, the stress tests were a total sham, with a pre-ordained passing grade for the banks. Read the rest of this entry »

(WashingtonsBlog) – As William K. Black said a year ago, the government’s entire strategy now – as in the S&L crisis – is to cover up how bad things are (“the entire strategy is to keep people from getting the facts”).

Paul Krugman and others pointed out that Geithner has been trying to artificially prop up asset prices, but that such a strategy cannot succeed.

As I’ve pointed out numerous times, the stress tests were a total sham, with a pre-ordained passing grade for the banks. Read the rest of this entry »

Wyatt Cenac examines Bank of America’s hidden credit card fees with a former employee and a mafia loan shark. View Video Here

“Unlike other kinds of debt, student loans can be particularly hard to wriggle out of… ditching a student loan is virtually impossible, especially once a collection agency gets involved. Although lenders may trim payments, getting fees or principals waived seldom happens.”
(TheComingDepression) – Some governments believe that the future of their country lies in a well educated healthy population. With this in mind they make post secondary education free (tax payer subsidized, remember) to all who wishing further education as long as they can pass the academic standards and complete the course in the allotted time frame. Read the rest of this entry »

On November 27, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan and Justice Minister Rob Nicholson tabled legislation that would transform designated U.S. police and security agents into peace officers equal to the RCMP “in every part of Canada” during joint maritime border operations. As if holding the RCMP accountable for its officers’ actions isn’t hard enough, nothing in the new legislation should make Canadians feel comfortable that any complaints against U.S. agents operating on Canadian territory will be dealt with swiftly or fairly. Read the rest of this entry »

The Ukraine deaths attributed by WHO and Ukraine authorities to an uncontrolled outbreak of H1N1 Swine Flu are not the result of H1N1, a virus whose very existence has never been demonstrated by WHO. The deaths appear to be a consequence of collapsing general health conditions as well as supplies of basic grains. The IMF conditionalities imposed on Ukraine as a precondition for a stabilization loan and not Swine Flu is where we should look for the cause. Read the rest of this entry »

I just received a letter from President Obama. Right there on the outside envelope are the words “I need you.” After not answering several letters which I have mailed and faxed to him, I was, for the briefest of moments, curious about this personal plea for help. Then, of course, I realized that it was a form letter from Mr. Obama via the auspices of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Read the rest of this entry »

The seven new bank failures on Friday, October 23, 2009 brings the total for the year up to 106 – the most bank failures since the savings and loan crisis in 1992. 106 is still small compared to the 416 unnamed banks on the FDIC’s watch list. Which way is the trend going? Where are the bank failures taking place? See below. Read the rest of this entry »

Financial insider and commentator Yves Smith wrote an essay last week entitled “MSM Reporting as Propaganda” arguing that the government has been using propaganda to make people think that things are getting better, no one is angry, and – therefore – no one should get upset: Read the rest of this entry »

William K. Black – professor of economics and law, and the senior regulator during the S & L crisis – says that that the government’s entire strategy now – as during the S&L crisis – is to cover up how bad things are (“the entire strategy is to keep people from getting the facts”). Read the rest of this entry »

The Wall Street Journal ran a post over the weekend about a new credit crunch among low income borrowers, noting it is now ‘payback time.’ What they didn’t go into is that their primary interviewee is drowning not on expensive cars loans but student loans. This former student’s debt is far from extraordinary. It is, in fact, tragically ordinary, as student loans have become the 21st century version of indentured servitude. Read the rest of this entry »

The economic meltdown has put the country on the fast track to socialism, but through a series of tiny steps. One need only to examine the supposed victories in the war on depression to see how this is happening. The latest is the claim that the Obama administration has successfully renegotiated many mortgage obligations in a way that allows people to keep their homes. Read the rest of this entry »

Consumer credit is falling fast. In July, consumer credit plunged by $19 billion, followed by an August drop of $12 billion, a 5.8 percent annual rate. Credit card spending decreased by nearly $10 billion in August, while non-revolving debt, including auto loans, fell by $2 billion. Credit has shrunk for 7 consecutive months, the longest period of decline since 1991. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve all been taught that banks first build up deposits, and then extend credit and loan out their excess reserves.
But critics of the current banking system claim that this is not true, and that the order is actually reversed.
Sounds crazy, right? Read the rest of this entry »

The slight rebound in housing looks a lot different when one considers how much the Fed is meddling in the market. Fed chair Ben Bernanke has purchased $240 billion in US Treasuries to keep long-term interest rates artificially low while–at the same time–buying $740 billion in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities (MBS) to provide the financing for new home buyers. It’s the double-whammy; and that’s not all. Read the rest of this entry »

This is an extraordinary 26-minute video documenting criminal conspiracy between Goldman Sachs and the US Treasury with information in front of all of us to see: Read the rest of this entry »

The banking system has taken the country to the financial edge of the greatest recession since the depression.  The enormous number of bad loans floating out in the economy only complicates the unemployment situation.  When we look into the latest banking data, we realize that over 1,000 of current banks will fail or merge with a too big too fail bank.  In fact, the total number will be over 1,000 simply because the “not too big” to fail banks heavily bet on commercial real estate loans that amount to $3 trillion. Read the rest of this entry »

(Bloomberg) – More than 150 publicly traded U.S. lenders own nonperforming loans that equal 5 percent or more of their holdings, a level that former regulators say can wipe out a bank’s equity and threaten its survival. Read the rest of this entry »

Russia is proposing the inclusion of the ruble, yuan and gold as a part of a revised basket of currencies to form the valuation of the IMF’s special drawing rights seen as the coming new alternative global reserve currency, reported AP. Read the rest of this entry »

“Crony capitalism” is a term often applied to foreign nations where government interference circumvents market forces. The practice is widely associated with tin-pot dictators and second-rate economies. Read the rest of this entry »

During the depths of the Great Depression, the loss rate which banks suffered on their loans climbed as high as 3.4% (it is normally well under 2.0%).

Last month, banking analyst Mike Mayo predicted that loan loss rates could go as high as 5.5%, which is substantially higher than during the 1930s. Read the rest of this entry »

During the depths of the Great Depression, the loss rate which banks suffered on their loans climbed as high as 3.4% (it is normally well under 2.0%).

Last month, banking analyst Mike Mayo predicted that loan loss rates could go as high as 5.5%, which is substantially higher than during the 1930s. Read the rest of this entry »

First, let me start with a few basic economic terms to get everyone on the same page:

inflation: a persistent, substantial rise in the general level of prices related to an increase in the volume of money and resulting in the loss of value of currency Read the rest of this entry »

The number of American households threatened with losing their homes grew 24 percent in the first three months of this year and is poised to rise further as major lenders restart foreclosures after a temporary break, according to data released Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »

In an explosive interview on PBS’ Bill Moyers Journal, William K. Black, a professor of economics and law with the University of Missouri, alleged that American banks and credit agencies conspired to create a system in which so-called “liars loans” could receive AAA ratings and zero oversight, amounting to a massive “fraud” at the epicenter of US finance. Read the rest of this entry »

Rather than using federal bailout money to reinvigorate lending to consumers, some banks that received funds from TARP have spent it on questionable items that have done little to improve the health of the country’s financial sector but have certainly helped out foreign economies such as Dubai and China. Read the rest of this entry »

Rather than using federal bailout money to reinvigorate lending to consumers, some banks that received funds from TARP have spent it on questionable items that have done little to improve the health of the country’s financial sector but have certainly helped out foreign economies such as Dubai and China. Read the rest of this entry »

General Motors today warned it would go bust within 30 days unless the US treasury gives it a further multi-billion dollar loan. Read the rest of this entry »

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday agreed to provide insurance giant American International Group Inc. with a loan of up to $37.8 billion, on top of one made to the troubled company last month.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Young Turks Read the rest of this entry »

The impending global recession has nothing to do with crafty mortgage lenders, opportunistic loan applicants, dodgy rating agencies, or crooked home appraisers. That’s like blaming Lindy England for Abu Ghraib. The source of the troubles is the Federal Reserve and monetary policies that are designed to rob people of their life savings.

Abolish the Fed.

.. Read the rest of this entry »