(NYTimes) – Germany Acts Alone to Protect the Euro and Big Banks Against Speculators
On Wednesday, the government’s partial ban on so-called naked short-selling took effect, as part of Berlin’s effort to protect its biggest financial institutions and the euro currency from investors who have been betting against them. Read More Here
(EconomicPolicyJournal) – 32 States Have Borrowed from the Federal Government to Make Unemployment Payments; California Has Borrowed $7 Billion – Read More Here
(USAWatchdog) – FDIC Insurance Fund Still $20 Billion in the Hole – Read More Here
(NoWorldSystem) – Senate Passes Wall Street Permanent Bailout Bill, It’s a Job Killer!
The Senate passes the Wall Street Reform Bill (S. 3217) by a 59-39 vote, if it passes the House it will kill jobs by making it difficult for small businesses to succeed and it will give permanent and unlimited bailout authority for the big banks on Wall Street. It would also do nothing to solve problems in the financial system and won’t prevent the next financial crisis. Read More Here
(Fox) – Video: Congressman Paul discusses gold and the markets with Stuart Varney on Fox Business – View Video Here
(Creators) – Confiscating Your Property – John Stossel
Your life and liberty may still be safe, but have you ever gone to a government surplus auction? Consumer reporters like me tell people, correctly, that they are great places to find bargains. People can buy bikes for $10, cars for $500.
But where did the government get that stuff? Read More Here
(GlobalResearch) – The Financial Crisis as a Game of 3 Card Monte – You always think you are going to win until you lose – Danny Schechter
We live in a three card monte world. Follow the money as it moves from one shell to another. Now guess where it is. Most of us don’t know the hand can be quicker than the eye. That’s why mostly everyone who has ever been suckered into playing ends up losing except those who are allowed to win to keep the hustle going. We miss the tricks of the trade even as we swear we know where the winning card or money or ball is. Read More Here
(ImplodeOMeter) – One in Ten Mortgage Borrowers Will Lose Their Home To The Bank
New Observations is forecasting that a minimum of one in ten homes with a mortgage today will be lost to foreclosure in the next two years and that this loss represents a staggering five-million-unit addition to inventory-for-sale. Read More Here
(SilverBearCafe) – Dow’s New Highs All Lies
All pain is either severe or slight, if slight, it is easily endured; if severe, it will without doubt be brief. – Marcus T. Cicero. 106-43 BC, Great Roman Orator, Politician
As the saying goes, a picture speaks a thousand words. To be sure the charts below quite clearly illustrate that the Dow has not put in a single new high in the past 3 years. Read More Here
(Reason) – Confiscating Your Property
How asset forfeiture laws violate individual rights – Read More Here
(NakedEmperor) – Volcker Revelation: ‘Stiff’ New Tax Needed to Cover Obama Spending at 25% of GDP
“Stiff” new taxes? How about ’stiff’ new spending cuts. It’s no surprise spending like a drunken sailor (apology to drunken sailors everywhere) on shore leave isn’t sustainable. Video Link Here
(WashingtonsBlog) – Senate Passes Faux Financial “Reform” Bill
The Senate passed a financial “reform” bill today by a 59-39 vote which won’t fix any of the core problems in the financial system, and won’t prevent the next financial crisis. Read More Here
(MyBudget360) – FDIC next government trillion dollar bailout? Since January of 2000 to October of 2007 we had 27 bank failures. From January 2008 to May 2010 the FDIC has closed down 237 banks. Why 1,000 bank failures will occur before the Great Recession is over. – Read More Here
(MoneyAndMarkets) – Our SIXTH Warning: Dow in Danger!
On March 27, Mike Burnick warned you — right here in Money and Markets — that the big stock market rally of 2009-2010 “could come to a crashing end at any time.” Read More Here
(Reuters) – U.S. companies lobby Congress on derivatives-WSJ
At least 42 nonfinancial companies and trade associations are lobbying the U.S. Congress to push back on proposals that regulate the over-the-counter derivatives market, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday. Read More Here
(VancouverSun) – Wealth gap spurs revolts across Asia
Peasants left out of region’s economic miracle are rising up against their rulers, creating widespread security threats Read More Here
(Chron) – Texas leaders announce $1.2 billion in state cuts – Read More Here
(Reuters) – NYSE expects all U.S. stocks to have circuit breakers – Read More Here
(AP) – Mortgage delinquencies drag on economic recovery – Read More Here
(EconPolicyJournal) – German Finance Minister: Markets Out of Control
“I’m convinced the markets are really out of control,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told FT. “That is why we need really effective regulation, in the sense of creating a properly functioning market mechanism.”
TRANSLATION: Governments are having a difficult time controlling markets, given we have screwed things up so terribly. If we don’t control this somehow, all our plans for a one world government, ruled by us elite, will collapse. – Source: Economic Policy Journal
(NewStatesman) – Grotesque Global Financial System: Greece. Economic Theft on an Unprecedented Scale – John Pilger
As Britain’s political class pretends that its arranged marriage of Tweedledee to Tweedledum is democracy, the inspiration for the rest of us is Greece. It is hardly surprising that Greece is presented not as a beacon, but as a “junk country” getting its comeuppance for its “bloated public sector” and “culture of cutting corners” (Observer). The heresy of Greece is that the uprising of its ordinary people provides an authentic hope unlike that lavished upon the warlord in the White House. Read the rest of this entry »
(CampaignForLiberty) – Is Sovereign Debt Crisis Contained to Subprime? – Peter Schiff
As Americans observe the chaos in Greece, most assume that the strength of our currency, the credit worthiness of our government, and the vast expanse of two oceans, will prevent a similar scene from playing out in our streets. I believe these protections to be illusory. Read More Here
(IsraelFinancialExpert) – The Euro Crisis and the Euro Collapse- A run on the banks is Imminent – Read More Here
(BullionBullsCanada) – The Silver Price Spiral, Part III: tomorrow
In Part I of this series, I introduced readers to the idea that the price of silver could soar to levels which would even surprise most silver-bulls. In Part II of this series, I pointed out that when our “paper inventories” of silver are exposed that this, alone, sets up the silver market for an enormous price-shock. In Part III of this series, I will discuss how silver has perhaps the most-bullish demand fundamentals of any commodity in history Read More Here
(AZFamily) – Video: Hundreds seek to fill vacant positions at Pro’s Ranch Market
Job hunters turned out in the hundreds to fill recently-vacant positions at Pro’s Ranch Market stores, where a federal audit led to the firing of some 300 workers. View Video Here
(CityWire) – Would You Put Up With What is Being Asked of the Greek People?
Want to know exactly why public anger in Greece is running at such explosive levels? Then take a look at the austerity measures currently being debated by the Greek parliament. Read More Here
Why is the Federal Reserve so afraid of openness and accountability? – Read More Here
(GlobalResearch) – Financial Manipulation and Inside Information: Did the Stock Market Drop Or Was It Pushed? – Danny Schechter
The Wall Street Journal headline on the day after we almost lost the market reported that the wise men on the Street were “baffled” by the big drop Thursday. The Financial Times called the event “Shambolic” as if only a shaman can decode it. Read More Here
(BusinessInsider) – Wealth And Inequality In America: The Rich are getting Richer and the Poor are getting Poorer – Gus Lubin – Read More Here
(FinancialTimes) – Plunge in US equities remains a mystery
The day after $1,000bn was briefly wiped off the market value of US equities, traders were still trying to work out what caused share prices to plunge and then rebound so dramatically in a matter of minutes. Read More Here
(ComingDepression) – Unmentioned: USA slaps more tariffs on China
“The U.S. Department of Commerce said yesterday that it has set preliminary anti-dumping duties on refined Chinese and Mexican copper pipe worth hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.”
Unless we wake up in the West to what has happened with China monopolizing the world manufacturing sector and supplying easy credit to keep buying their products, we’ll end up like Greece too. China is acting on emotion to sustain its country because if the people there are jobless, we stop buying their stuff – they will collapse into civil strife. Read More Here
(Spiegel) – Huge National Debts Could Push Euro Zone into Bankruptcy
Greece is only the beginning. The world’s leading economies have long lived beyond their means, and the financial crisis caused government debt to swell dramatically. Now the bill is coming due, but not all countries will be able to pay it. Read More Here
(HuffingtonPost) – Stock Market Collapse: More Goldman Market Rigging? – Ellen Brown
Goldman and Wall Street reign. Congress appears helpless to discipline the big banks, just as the European Central Bank appears helpless to prevent the collapse of the European Union. . . . Or are they? Read More Here
(Current) – Thomas Jefferson – Banks more Dangerous than Armies
Banking institutions, paper money, and paper speculation are capable of undermining the nation’s stability and could be a danger in time of war. The Constitution does not empower the Congress to establish a National Bank. Rather than trust the nation’s currency to private hands, the circulating medium should be restored to the nation itself to whom it belongs. Read More Here
Perhaps no other force had as much to do with stabilizing the financial system during the crisis as the Federal Reserve. And no other influence is shrouded in so much mystery. Although its tactics were hugely successful, the Fed has become incredibly controversial due to its secrecy. It has some politicians on both sides of the aisle calling for an audit to enhance transparency. But the Senate amendment — sponsored by Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) — changed significantly on Thursday and lost much of its bite. Read More Here
(AP) – FDIC shuts banks in Fla., Minn., Ariz., Calif.
Regulators on Friday shut down banks in Florida, Minnesota, Arizona and California, bringing the number of U.S. bank failures to 68 this year. Read More Here
(TheComingDepression) – Mortgage fraud in Canada highlights tumbling market
“The Bank of Montreal has been hit by a huge mortgage fraud in Alberta that may cost it $30 million, a report said. The bank is suing hundreds of people in connection with the scam, including lawyers, mortgage brokers and four of its employees, CBC News said, citing legal documents.”
The case may be the largest mortgage fraud in Canadian history, generating about $140 million, with funds channeled as far as Lebanon, India – Read More Here
Video: Rep. Alan Grayson: You Own the Red Roof Inn, Thanks to the Fed
Rep. Alan Grayson discussed the Federal Reserve’s purchase of debt from Bear Stearns, including debt from recently foreclosed Red Roof Inn’s.
(ZeroHedge) – March Foreclosures Surge To Absolute Record, At 369,491, 19% Jump from February
RealtyTrac reports the next catalyst that will surely take the Dow to 12,000 by 9:31 am tomorrow. “Foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in March, an increase of nearly 19 percent from the previous month, an increase of nearly 8 percent from March 2009 and the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in January 2005.” And people were wondering where consumers get all their money from. Read More Here
(Guardian) – Wall Street banks line up to deliver strong profits
Arguably the star performer to emerge from the financial crisis, JP Morgan is set to kick off the US banking industry’s earnings season today with a first quarter profit expected to be about $2.9bn (£1.8bn). Although a sharp increase from $2.14bn a year ago, that number is a drop from JP Morgan’s profit of $3.28bn during the final quarter of 2009 as losses from credit cards, delinquent mortgages and consumer loans take their toll. Read More Here
(InternationalForecaster) – U.S. Economy: The Move Towards Deflation is Underway – Bob Chapman
Those of you 60 years old and older will spend the next 25 years struggling to survive one of the worst depressions in history or doing whatever you can to support your children and grandchildren. Read More Here
(CNBC) – Mortgage Defaults May Be Driving Consumer Spending
Hate to be an “I told you so…”
Lender Processing Services just put out its “Mortgage Monitor Report,” and we have a new record: Read More Here
(WSJ) – The Jobs Picture Still Looks Bleak
Many outsourced jobs will never return, and median income will likely continue to fall just like it did during the last so-called recovery. Read More Here
(SeattleTimes) – Millions of unemployed may never recover
Despite recent job gains, one grim statistic casts a long shadow over the recovering economy and the futures of more than 6 million workers: Fully 44 percent of the nation’s 15 million unemployed have been out of work for more than six months. Read More Here
(Reuters) – Markets could be derailed again, warns Soros
Railway porter-turned-billionaire financier George Soros delivered a stark warning last night that the financial world is on the wrong track and that we may be hurtling towards an even bigger boom and bust than in the credit crisis. Read More Here
(EndOfTheAmericanDream) – 11 Examples Of How Insanely Corrupt The U.S. Financial System Has Become
If you ask most Americans, they will agree that the financial system is corrupt. It is generally assumed that just like most politicians, most big bankers are corrupt by nature. But the truth is that the vast majority of Americans have no idea just how corrupt the U.S. financial system has become. Read More Here
(BusinessInsider) – Morgan Stanley: A Eurozone Collapse Is Now Far More Likely, Here Are The Canaries To Watch Out For
The latest Global Monetary Analyst raises the notion of stronger Eurozone nations ditching the euro in order to form a stronger, smaller currency union. Read More Here
(EconomicCollapse) – The Federal Reserve Created This Financial Mess
When you watch the mainstream news, how often do you hear them identify the Federal Reserve as the ultimate source of all of our financial problems? Never? Well, there is a good reason. The Federal Reserve was created and continues to benefit the elite international bankers that are raping the United States blind financially. Read More Here
The largest commercial banks in the U.S. are ready to go all the way to the Supreme Court to block the public release of details pertaining to the Federal Reserve’s 2008 secretive $2 trillion bailout. Read the rest of this entry »
(WashingtonsBlog) – Geithner: Taxpayers Are Likely to Face “Very Substantial” Losses From Government’s Takeover of Fannie and Freddie
Tim Geithner told the House Financial Services Committee today that txpayers are likely to face “very substantial” losses from the government’s takeover of home mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read More Here
(CBS3) – Homeowners Facing Foreclosure Take Own Lives
The foreclosure crisis in Philadelphia is now becoming a matter of life and death. Eyewitness News has learned that in the past month, two homeowners took their own lives before sheriff’s deputies arrived to tell them that they were being evicted. Read More Here
(Fox) – Fox News Poll: 79% Say U.S. Economy Could Collapse
The latest Fox News poll finds that 79 percent of voters think it’s possible the economy could collapse, including large majorities of Democrats (72 percent), Republicans (84 percent) and independents (80 percent). Read More Here
(AFP) – Geithner says Fannie, Freddie overhaul must wait
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday swatted aside pressure for a swift reform of troubled government-backed mortgage giants as data pointed to a still struggling real estate market. Read More Here
(Bloomberg) – U.S. Economy: Sales of Existing Homes Decrease, Supply Climbs
Sales of existing U.S. homes fell in February for a third month, and the number of properties on the market climbed by the most in almost two years, casting a pall over the prospects for a recovery. Read More Here
(WSJ) – Learjet Repo Man Doing Brisk Business
Ken Cage isn’t your typical repo man. Rather than snatch cars from an over-extended middle class, he takes back yachts, planes and other toys from the over-leveraged rich. Read More Here
(MSNBC) – Video: Lehman Bros categorized loans as sales to hide debt – Dylan Ratigan – Read the rest of this entry »
Icelanders have resoundingly rejected a plan to repay £2.3 billion in savings to the UK, prompting Chancellor Alistair Darling to state that the British Government could be “flexible” over repayment terms. Read More Here
(YahooFinance) – Congratulations, Bankers — You’re Rich Again – Ben Stein
Just in case your blood pressure is not high enough today, here are a few news bulletins on how the world works. Generally, these bulletins all come under the heading of, “The Golden Rule: He Who Has the Gold, Makes the Rules.” Read More Here
(TCPalm) – More than half of mortgaged homes in St. Lucie, Martin are ‘under water’
More than half of mortgaged residential properties in St. Lucie and Martin counties are “under water,” a recent report by a company that tracks home sales, price trends and foreclosures shows. Read More Here
The number of Jacksonville homeowners who have fallen behind on mortgage payments rose steadily over the past three years and today stands at more than 10 percent, according to a national credit monitoring company. Read More Here
(CentralValleyBusunessTimes) – Foreclosure starts up nearly 20 percent in California
After reaching the lowest level in a year in January, Notice of Defaults, the start of the foreclosure process, increased by 19.7 percent in February, according to a report Monday from ForeclosureRadar Inc., a Discovery Bay-based foreclosure information company that says it tracks every California foreclosure. Read More Here
(WashingtonExaminer) – Md. foreclosure filings skyrocket in February
Prince George’s County saw nearly 1,800 foreclosure filings last month — about one-third of Maryland’s total — as state and federal officials scramble to find a solution to the unrelenting mortgage crisis. Read More Here
(TheChicago77) – Foreclosures are still on the Rise in Illinois
Foreclosures in Illinois increased 22% in February, 2010. The high foreclosure rate can be attributed to the high unemployment rate and declining home prices. Read More Here
(AJC) – Metro Atlanta foreclosures set new monthly record
The number of foreclosure notices this month — 12,568 — set a new record for metro Atlanta, according to data just released by Equity Depot. Read More Here
(CBN) – Social Security Marks First Deficit in Decades
Social Security is going to start paying out more in benefits this year than it’s collecting in taxes — close to $29 billion more. Read More Here
(PBS) – Video: Bill Black on How They Got Away With It – Video Video Here
(CNBC) – Moodys Downgrade: Should We Care? – Video Link Here
(USAToday) – Toyota, UAW agree to close Calif. plant with 4,600 workers
The United Auto Workers and Toyota have agreed on terms to shut down the Nummi plant that employs 4,600 workers.
It is California’s sole remaining auto plant. Read More Here
(SilverBearCafe) – Opportunities to Profitably Escape Paper “Wealth” in 2010 – Read More Here
(NYTimes) – Program to pay homeowners to sell at a loss
In an effort to end the foreclosure crisis, the Obama administration has been trying to keep defaulting owners in their homes. Now it will take a new approach: paying some of them to leave. Read More Here
(BuffaloNews) – Food-stamp recipients up to record 39 million
Almost 39 million Americans received food stamps in December, the most ever, as the jobless rate hovered near a 26- year high, the government said. Read More Here
(Freep) – Owners walk from homes, values erode
With more than 500,000 households in Michigan owing more on their mortgages than the homes are worth, thousands of Michigan residents are choosing to abandon their homes and walk away, even if they can afford to continue making payments. Read More Here
(Blog) _ Are Traders Demanding US Credit Default Swaps Payable in Gold?
If another author had said this I might not pay it so much attention. Lately some have been given over to a tabloid approach to overstatement and sensational headlines to attract attention. This is a strong temptation as the blogosphere expands, similar to the development and evolution of newspapers as a popular medium in Victorian London for example. Read More Here
(WorldTribune) – Organized crime: The ‘looting’ of $11 trillion from the U.S. economy
The following is based on a report by Cliff Kincaid for Accuracy in Media. Read More Here
(MSNBC) – Public pension funds are ‘going to Vegas’
States and companies have started investing very differently when it comes to the billions of dollars they are safeguarding for workers’ retirement. Read More Here
(ABC) – A Complicated Enemy: Obama Seeks to Vilify Health Insurers, Give Them $336 Billion Check
ABC’s Z. Byron Wolf reports: President Obama and Democrats launched a campaign to vilify insurance companies in the final stretch of their health reform effort. Read More Here
(Telegraph) – The end of the road for Barack Obama?
Barack Obama seems unable to face up to America’s problems, writes Simon Heffer in New York. Read More Here
Greek police stormed a government printing
In Athens, Greek Ministry of Internal Affairs officers stormed the state printing office. It is reported by TV channel “Russia 24″.
Greek police want to prevent the publication of government paper with the text of the law of the new stringent economy measures of the federal budget. According to the law of the country, passed a law can come into force only after publication in the official newspaper of the Government of Greece. Read More Here
(OpEdNews) – First Iceland, then the World
Who cleans up the mess when ignorant, greedy bankers rack up massive debt then go broke? The people of Iceland made a strong statement Saturday. The sins of big bankers and government regulators shouldn’t fall on the citizens. By a 93% to 2% margin, they voted down a proposal requiring them to cover bad debt incurred by one of the nation’s oldest and largest banks. Covering the debt would have cost Iceland’s 317,000 citizens around $17,000 each. Read More Here
(DailyTelegraph) – Fuel bills will pay for eco-upgrades
Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said seven million homes will have insulation or renewable energy devices like solar panels fitted by 2020. Read More Here
(TulsaWorld) – No bottom yet – Big revenue source down 12th straight month
Tulsa’s sales-tax revenue this month dropped 11.6 percent or about $2 million from March 2009, capping off 12 straight months of negative numbers. Read More Here
(Reuters) – China at the wheel of the Soros and Goldman Gold Hedging Vessel – Read More Here
(Tennessean) – Ford finance arm to cut 200 jobs in Franklin – Read More Here
(MercuryNews) – Cash-strapped LA County courts to begin layoffs – Read More Here
(KCTV5) – Shawnee Mission Schools Cutting $10 Million, 128 Jobs – Read More Here
(CNN) – 43% have less than $10k for retirement
The percentage of American workers with virtually no retirement savings grew for the third straight year, according to a survey released Tuesday. Read More Here
(TaxProf) – CBPP: 33 States Have Raised Taxes by $32 Billion/Year – Read More Here
(BaltimoreSun) – Counties face more cutting as state income tax payments fall – Read More Here
(BusinessInsider) – Flashback – Video: Simon Johnson Decries Influence Of Wall Street Oligarchs, US A Banana Republic – Read More Here
When it comes to Goldman Sachs there is no free Market. This video is a visualization of Matt Taibbi‘s “The Great American Bubble Machine” – It has been cut down slightly to fit the 10 minute time constraints. Read the rest of this entry »
(MoneyNMarkets) – RED ALERT: Next debt crisis near!
One year and five months ago — armed with a 92-page white paper and 59,000 petitions — we warned Congress about the grave danger of government bailouts Read More Here
(GlobalResearch) – White House Projects Long-Term Mass Unemployment
The White House Council of Economic Advisers released its Economic Report to the President on Thursday, outlining the administration’s economic projections and policies. The report shows that the White House is expecting mass unemployment to continue for years, with only minor decreases from the current rate of nearly 10 percent through 2012. Read More Here
Exclusive: Sweetheart Mortgage Deals for Billionaires that will Make Your Blood Boil
It all started with a phone call I received in early May/2009. The caller sounded troubled, as so many are these days. He told me he had spent several days researching his options. Read More Here
(KoreaTimes) – Fed Plans to Wind Down $2.2 Tril. Stake
The Federal Reserve Board faces a delicate task. Having pumped $2.2 trillion into the economy to fight the recession, it must start pulling that money back. It would have to sop up over half of that liquidity to get back to pre-recession levels. Read More Here
(NYTimes) – The Making of a Euromess
Lately, financial news has been dominated by reports from Greece and other nations on the European periphery. And rightly so. Read More Here
Five Million Workers to Exhaust Unemployment Benefits by June
Back in December, the qualification dates for existing tiers of unemployment benefits were extended for an additional two months. Time is up at the end of February. Read More Here
Video: (Frontline) – Tax me if you can – The Great American Tax Dodge – View Video Here
(TheAtlantic) – Unemployed? Your Banking May Have Just Become More Expensive
When you lose your job, the last thing you need is for your expenses to increase. Yet, at some banks, that’s exactly what can happen with your checking account. A friend of mine recently learned this lesson the hard way with Bank of America. I thought her experience might be worth sharing. Read More Here
Euroland, the Horror Movie
An Olympian game of musical chairs in global finance heads for a climax in the days ahead as so many eyes are diverted to alternate festivities in British Columbia, where grown men compete for gold by riding things that look like cafeteria trays down icy mountainsides — is this the moment that comes every four years when you wonder why you didn’t get your kid a luge for Christmas? Read More Here
(BBC) – Cut working week to 21 hours, urges think tank
The working week should be cut to 21 hours to help boost the economy and improve quality of life, a left-wing think tank has said. Read More Here
(WashingtonsBlog) – Something big is happening in China which could have a huge effect on the American economy.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported:
Senior Chinese military officers have proposed that their country … possibly sell some U.S. bonds to punish Washington for its latest round of arms sales to Taiwan.
As we have been forecasting for the last two years, the second wave of mortgage defaults and foreclosures will hit the economy this year. Not only will we have failure in prime loans and option-arm loans, but we are faced with a new crop of subprime and ALT-A loans put into motion by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and FHA. In addition, we find it of great interest that the FHA is changing the rules to purchase homes. That, of course, means less homes will be purchased. Read the rest of this entry »
You almost could hear the bankers heave a sigh of relief when Haiti’s earthquake knocked the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission hearings off the front pages and evening news broadcasts last week. At stake, after all, is Wall Street’s power grab seeking to centralize policy control firmly in its own hands by neutralizing the government’s regulatory agencies. The first day – Wednesday, January 15 – went innocuously enough. Four emperors of finance were called on to voice ceremonial platitudes and pro forma apologies without explaining what they might be apologizing for. Typical was the statement by Goldman Sachs chairman Lloyd C. Blankfein: “Whatever we did, it didn’t work out well. We regret the consequence that people have lost money.” Read the rest of this entry »
All Economics is based on the false premise that “interest fights inflation” when the truth is that “interest causes inflation.” Almost everyday in every financial story of every newspaper and radio or television program, it is repeated over and over the interest fights inflation. They all agree that interest causes unemployment but all have been conditioned to believe that it is necessary to fight inflation. “Inflation is coming so we’ll have to raise interest rates” is hypnotically chanted like a mantra. Read the rest of this entry »
(MSNBC) – Borrowing on the home for quick cash is a lot harder than it used to be in the United States, and it’s causing headaches for homeowners, banks and the economy. Read the rest of this entry »
(CSPAN) – December 03, 2009 – “The fed came into existance in 1913 and it wasn’t too many years later that they gave us the depression” Read the rest of this entry »
What do the mid-recession housing boom and the Harper Conservatives’ rise in the polls have in common? Answer: the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s massive sub-prime mortgage scheme that is keeping up the appearance of an economic recovery. Read the rest of this entry »
What do the mid-recession housing boom and the Harper Conservatives’ rise in the polls have in common? Answer: the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s massive sub-prime mortgage scheme that is keeping up the appearance of an economic recovery. Read the rest of this entry »
In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group peddled more than $40 billion in securities backed by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing prices would send the value of those securities plummeting. Read the rest of this entry »
(MSNBC) – WASHINGTON – The cascade of bank failures this year surpassed 100 on Friday, the most in nearly two decades. And the trouble in the banking system from bad loans and the recession goes even deeper than the number suggests. Read the rest of this entry »
Political “leadership” of the two oligarchy parties spin their economic policy as being for the public benefit. Professional economists increasingly cast economic policy in unprecedented harsh criticism, even calling for public demonstrations against what they claim as gross violations of financial law. Let’s consider current facts of high importance: Read the rest of this entry »
I find it surprising that I’m now getting inquiries from readers, asking if “we’ve reached bottom” in the current economic recession, and asking if the time has come to start buying stocks or residential real estate. It seems that the talking heads of mainstream media are using some sort of voodoo. How can anyone think that we’ve hit bottom, and an economic recovery is in progress? To dispel the myths from the CNBC Cheering Section, please consider the following. (And note that I’ve provided references for each assertion, just so you know that I’m not talking out of my camouflage hat.): Read the rest of this entry »
In February of 2009 Ron Paul warned of a US Dollar collapse when China stops buying out debt in this video (below). There are many good points that Mr. Paul points out in the video but none were more prophetic then calling for the dollar bubble to burst. When the video was recorded the US Dollar index was around 86. Today the US Dollar Index is currently at 75.5. Read the rest of this entry »
(BobChapman) – Some of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s closest aides, none of whom faced Senate confirmation, earned millions of dollars a year working for Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other Wall Street firms, according to financial disclosure forms. Read the rest of this entry »
What planet is Congressman Barney Frank on, anyway? It is the planet of the banks and other financial firms that keep his campaign coffers humming, as their chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. 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 »
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 »
(CNBC) – America’s most credit-worthy borrowers are defaulting on their loans faster than those with poor financial records, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Read the rest of this entry »
“The credit belongs to those people who are actually in the arena…who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions to a worthy cause; who at best, know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, fail while daring greatly…so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt Read the rest of this entry »
Webster describes what the meaning of Jingle Mail as the retail – commercial and real estate market is on the verge of collapse.. Read the rest of this entry »
(WSJ) – Federal Reserve and Treasury officials are scrambling to prevent the commercial-real-estate sector from delivering a roundhouse punch to the U.S. economy just as it struggles to get up off the mat. Read the rest of this entry »
(Dprogram Exclusive) – Maybe it’s the smoke from Mt. Vesuvius that keeps Arianna Huffington and the financial community from seeing that the economic collapse has nothing to do with the Fed “missing” the warning signs leading up to the October meltdown. Read the rest of this entry »
Too bad Pulitzers aren’t handed out for blog-entries. This year’s award would go to Zero Hedge for its “The ‘Money on the Sidelines’ Fallacy” post. This short entry shows why the economy will continue its downward slide and why the US consumer will not get off the mat and resume spending as he has in the past. The fact is the Net Wealth of US Households has “declined from a peak of $22 trillion to just under $12 trillion in early March.” Read the rest of this entry »
(NaturalNews) – With a military rifle in one hand and a bottle of prescription medications in the other, the new “Mr. America” is over-fed, under-nourished, over-medicated, over-spent and “over there” (waging war in the Middle East). Read the rest of this entry »
(Bloomberg) – U.S. foreclosure filings hit a record in the first half, a sign that job losses and falling property prices deepened the housing recession, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week’s ructions in the bond market, leave little doubt that the financial crisis has entered a new and more lethal phase. Of particular concern is the spike in long-term Treasuries which are used to set interest rates on mortgages and other loans. Read the rest of this entry »
(Reuters) – The global financial crisis may morph into a second, equally virulent phase where borrowing costs rise again, hobbling an embryonic economic recovery, debilitating cash-strapped banks, and punishing investors all over again. Read the rest of this entry »
If the equity in your house is gone and your monthly mortgage payment suddenly jumps from $2000 per month to over $3000 per month, what do you think is going to happen? How about if one or both of the people in the household has been laid off? Read the rest of this entry »
When, during the invasion of Iraq, the United States Government issued its famous deck of playing cards with the 52 arch villains of the Iraqi police state, Saddam Hussein’s face adorned the Ace of Spades. If the Obama Administration wanted to engage in a similar public relations campaign for the real estate crisis, the top card should be reserved for Alan Greenspan. Read the rest of this entry »
Alex has The Power Hour host Joyce Riley on to discuss the raid that happened just after her show. Dawn Welsh a 54 year old Grandmother was raided for trespassing in her OWN home. Read the rest of this entry »
Alex has The Power Hour host Joyce Riley on to discuss the raid that happened just after her show. Dawn Welsh a 54 year old Grandmother was raided for trespassing in her OWN home. Read the rest of this entry »
(Bloomberg) – A growing number of U.S. homeowners owe more than their properties are worth after prices extended their two-year decline in the first quarter, Zillow.com said. Read the rest of this entry »
The United States Senate took a swipe at the spirit of May Day in a spectacular show of callous indifference when it voted down a bill to provide limited assistance to citizens at risk for losing their homes. Read the rest of this entry »
