noworldsystem.com


U.S. Cities Turning Into Ghost Towns

U.S. Cities Turning Into Ghost Towns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAEuix0SD-M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmFzgWn-tYA

 



Big Banks: Keep The Taxpayer Money Coming

AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and GMAC: “Long-Term Wards of the State”

Cryptogon
December 18, 2009

Via: New York Times:

Even as the biggest banks repay their government debt in what is being heralded as a successful rescue program, four troubled giants of the financial world remain on government life support.

These companies, the American International Group, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and GMAC, are not only unable to repay the government, they are in need of continuing infusions that make them look increasingly like long-term wards of the state.

And the total risk they pose to the taxpayer far exceeds that of the big banks. Fannie and Freddie, in the final days of the year, are even said to be negotiating with the Treasury about greatly expanding the money available to them.

Though the four are not in all the same businesses, they were caught in one of the same traps: They sold mortgage guarantees — in some cases to each other. Now when homeowners default, as they are doing in record numbers, these companies are covering the losses. Essentially, taxpayer money to these companies is being used partly to protect banks and other investors who own the mortgages.

 



Potential Bailout Cost is $5 Trillion or $43K Per Household

Potential Cost For Bailout is $5 Trillion or $43K Per Household

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
October 15, 2008

The total potential cost of the financial bailout to the U.S. taxpayer is already rapidly approaching $5 trillion, over seven times as much as the meaningless $700 billion bailout bill figure.

Analysts have previously marked out the $5 trillion figure as the actual cost, now those predictions are becoming demonstratively accurate.

Meanwhile, Hank Paulson has defended government intervention, stating “There’s no doubt that the way to get the maximum bang for the taxpayers here was to invest in banks.”

Based on this Reuters summary and the sources linked within the table, here is a breakdown of the bailout’s cost to taxpayers so far.

Bailout Type
Cost To Taxpayers
$300 billion
$250billion
$25 billion
$150 billion
$700 billion+
$29 billion
$200 billion
$85 billion (+ extra request of $35 billion)
$300 billion
$4 billion
$87 billion
$200 billion+
$50 billion
$144 billion
POSSIBLE TOTAL $2.56 trillion+
NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS PER
U.S. CENSUS
105,480,101
POSSIBLE COST PER HOUSEHOLD
$24,26

In addition, the U.S. government has said it will temporarily guarantee $1.5 trillion (£856 billion) in new senior debt issued by banks, as well as insure $500 billion (£285 billion) in deposits in non-interest accounts, mainly used by businesses.

These figures take the potential cost to $4.559 trillion+ – or $43, 221 per household.

Furthermore, when you account for the fact that the credit default swap market is around $62 trillion, and that derivatives worldwide are worth between between $1 and $2 quadrillion, the numbers start to become meaningless.

 

Fed To Offer Unlimited Dollars
Bloomberg
October 13, 2008

The U.S. Federal Reserve led an unprecedented push by central banks to flood financial markets with dollars, backing up government efforts to restore confidence in the banking system.

The ECB, the Bank of England and the Swiss central bank will offer unlimited dollar funds in auctions with maturities of seven days, 28 days and 84 days at a fixed interest rate, the Washington-based Fed said today. The Bank of Japan may introduce “similar measures.’’ The dollar declined and some money-market rates fell.

Policy makers from the Group of Seven nations pledged at the weekend to take “all necessary steps’’ to stem a market panic after the MSCI World stock index plunged 20 percent last week. Central banks last week cut interest rates in tandem for the first time since 2001, the U.S. plans to buy $700 billion in distressed assets from banks and in Europe, the U.K. is leading a push to keep lenders afloat with taxpayers’ money.

“By providing unlimited dollar funds they are acting on the back of the G-7 plan to ensure the system is fully liquidized,’’ said Lena Komileva, an economist at Tullet Prebon Plc in London. “We’re going to see even more liquidity provided and more aggressive rate cuts are coming.’’

Read Full Article Here

Banks borrow record $437.5 billion per day from Fed
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49F97920081017

Millionaire Hedge Fund Trader Thanks Idiot Traders
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/18/banking-useconomy

Treasury Black Out Key Parts Of Bailout Contracts
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/..136030.html

Wall Street banks in $70bn staff payout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/17/executivesalaries-banking

Homeless Numbers Alarming
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-10-21-homeless_N.htm

House prices ‘to plummet by 35%’ – the biggest ever fall in Britain
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/..–biggest-fall-Britain.html

Royal Bank Of Scotland Nationalized
http://business.timesonline.co…g_and_finance/article4932250.ece

Switzerland Pumps Billions Into Bank System
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081016/eu_switzerland_banks.html?printer=1

UBS Gets Bailout From Swiss National Bank
http://www.chicagotribune.com..7,0,4057853.story

Dow Jones Bloodbath Mirroring 1929 Rout
http://www.prisonplanet.com/dow-jones-bloodbath-mirroring-1929-rout.html

Two More Banks Closed By Regulators
http://money…00397x1211373371x1200675175

U.S. Stocks Plunge Most Since Crash of `87 on Recession Concern
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid..er=home

Roubini Sees Worst Recession in 40 Years, Rally’s End
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?..efer=home

JPMorgan Responsible for the Destruction of U.S. Financial System
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article6826.html

World May Be Lucky to Get Worst Recession Since 1983
http://www.bloomberg.com..OAeSWBCY&refer=home

Stocks On Track For Worst Year Since 1937
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/6050283.html

Former Fed chief says U.S. now in recession
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49D2QB20081014

U.S. Economy Collapse News Archive

 



Obama and McCain Paid Off By Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac execs Paid Off Obama for LAST THREE Years!

Daily Musings
September 18, 2008

Campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made to Barack Obama may backfire if the Democratic presidential hopeful wages an aggressive campaign to cast blame on rival John McCain and the Republicans in Congress for the mortgage-related losses that forced the U.S. Treasury to take over the quasi-governmental mortgage giants.

A review of Federal Election Commission records back to 1989 reveals Obama in his three complete years in the Senate is the second largest recipient of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae campaign contributions, behind only Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the powerful chairman of the Senate banking committee. Dodd was first elected to the Senate in 1980.

According to OpenSecrets.com, from 1989 to 2008, Dodd received $165,400 in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac campaign contributions, including contributions from PACs and individuals, followed by Obama, who received $126,349 in such contributions since being elected to the Senate in 2004.

Read Full Article Here

 

A Freddie Mac Money Trail Catches Up With McCain

Newsweek
September 27, 2008

Few advisers in John McCain’s inner circle inspire more loyalty from him than campaign manager Rick Davis. McCain and his wife, Cindy, credit the shrewd, and sometimes volatile, Republican insider with rescuing the campaign last year when it was out of money and on the verge of collapse. As a result, McCain has always defended him—even when faced with tough questions about the foreign lobbying clients of Davis’s high-powered consulting firm. “Rick is a friend, and I trust him,” McCain told NEWSWEEK last year.

Last week, though, McCain’s trust in Davis was tested again amid disclosures that Freddie Mac, the troubled mortgage giant that was recently placed under federal conservatorship, paid his campaign manager’s firm $15,000 a month between 2006 and August 2008. As the mortgage crisis has escalated, almost any association with Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae has become politically toxic. But the payments to Davis’s firm, Davis Manafort, are especially problematic because he requested the consulting retainer in 2006—and then did barely any work for the fees, according to two sources familiar with the arrangement who asked not to be identified discussing Freddie Mac business. Aside from attending a few breakfasts and a political-action-committee meeting with Democratic strategist Paul Begala (another Freddie consultant), Davis did “zero” for the housing firm, one of the sources said. Freddie Mac also had no dealings with the lobbying firm beyond paying monthly invoices—but it agreed to the arrangement because of Davis’s close relationship with McCain, the source said, which led top executives to conclude “you couldn’t say no.”

Read Full Article Here

 



Bailout: Not $700 Billion, More Like $5 Trillion

Bailout: Not $700 Billion, More Like $5 Trillion

Bei Hu
Bloomberg
September 24, 2008

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s $700 billion plan to buy devalued assets from financial companies is “a joke” because it doesn’t go far enough to calm markets, said Kenichi Ohmae, president of Business Breakthrough Inc.

Ohmae, nicknamed “Mr. Strategy” during his 23 years as a McKinsey & Co. partner, called for a $5 trillion “international facility” to be made available to financial institutions. The system could be modeled on one used by Sweden during its banking crisis in the early 1990s, he said.

“This is a liquidity crisis,” Ohmae said at an investor forum hosted by CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, the regional broking arm of Credit Agricole SA, in Hong Kong yesterday. “The liquidity has to be so big that people won’t get panicky.”

Paulson’s proposal to remove hard-to-sell assets clogging the financial system marks the broadest intervention since at least the Great Depression. Asian stocks fell today, following U.S. shares lower as investors questioned whether the effort is enough to prevent a recession.

The plan came after the collapse of 158-year-old Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the government takeover of insurer American International Group Inc. caused financial markets to seize up last week. The calamity was the culmination of a year during which the U.S. housing market slump left banks and securities firms with more than $520 billion of asset writedowns and credit losses.

Read Full Article Here

 

NO To The Paulson-Bernanke Derivatives Scam Bailout

Webster G. Tarpley
September 24, 2008

WASHINGTON DC – The grand theft bailout now being rammed through Congress by Treasury Secretary Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke, and other officials of the Bush regime with the help of accomplices Pelosi, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and other parliamentarians is a monstrosity for the ages, combining every hideous feature of monetarism, elitism, oligarchism, and sheer feckless incompetence. It is to all intents and purposes a national suicide note of the United States of America, a contract with the devil that absolutely guarantees irrevocable national decline. For any person of goodwill there can be only one impulse at the present moment, and that is to stop this bailout — to block it, to sabotage it, to bottle it up, to load it with killer amendments, and to do everything legally possible to stop this insane design from going through.

IF MCCAIN VOTES AGAINST THE BAILOUT, HE WILL WIN THE PRESIDENCY

In political terms, McCain is now running well to the left of Obama on this issue, with a much stronger populist profile. McCain has attacked the outrageous greed and corruption of Wall Street. Obama does not dare attack Wall Street, since these are his masters. Obama, sounding like Milton Friedman, only attacks Washington. Obama has said that he will support whatever Paulson demands. That is not a surprise, since Paulson represents Goldman Sachs, and Obama is a wholly owned property of Goldman Sachs, which is his single biggest source of campaign contributions. Obama is a creature of Brzezinski, Soros, and Rockefeller, and without them he has no existence; Obama is an abject Wall Street puppet, an agent of finance capital. This week, both senators will have to decide how they vote on the odious derivatives bailout. Obama will surely vote in favor of it, since this is what Wall Street demands. If McCain votes against it, he will most probably propel himself into the White House on the model of Give ‘Em Hell Harry in 1948. Filthy corrupt Democrats like Schumer are already attacking McCain as the new Huey Long. Huey Long, the Louisiana populist of the 1930s, had many positive features, and we could certainly use a good dose of Huey Long in this country to counteract the elitism, oligarchism, condescension, and arrogant snobbery of foundation operatives like Obama. The bailout is already very unpopular 72% of all voters are opposed to it and it will become more and more hated when it becomes clear that it is also a failure. McCain’s course is clear. Will he have the brains and guts to cross Obama’s T on this vital issue?

PAULSON OF GOLDMAN SACHS, WOULD-BE FINANCE DICTATOR

Paulson is a ruthless and brutal eco-freak usurer who learned his trade at the Goldman Sachs stock-jobbing operation. He is now the leading member of the committee of public safety which rules in Washington, and which includes Gates, Rice, and Mullen. He now demands the astronomical sum of 700 billion dollars for the bailout of mortgage-backed derivatives, collateralized debt obligations, credit default swaps, and other poisonous derivatives. Make no mistake — this is not a bailout of homeowners who are threatened with foreclosure; it is a bailout of the lunatic house of cards which desperate bankers have built on these mortgages using derivatives. The entire crisis is not a crisis of subprime mortgages, it is a crisis of the derivatives bubble which was launched by Wendy Gramm of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and Greenspan of the Fed with the connivance of Robert Rubin of Goldman Sachs and Citibank, and others in the Clinton administration, some 15 years ago.

These derivatives now amount to a total worldwide notional value that can be estimated between 1 quadrillion and two quadrillion US dollars. This sum is so large that it dwarfs the total value of the entire planet earth and all those who live here. Compared to the cancerous, bloated, and fictitious mass of derivatives which is at the root of this crisis, the $700 billion demanded by politicians, large as this may seem, is nothing but a drop in the bucket. And a drop in the bailout bucket is what it will be. The mass of world derivatives between $1 and $2 quadrillion represents an insatiable black hole which is capable of putting an end, not just to civilization, but the human life itself. The moral choice could not be clearer: humanity will either destroy the derivatives bubble in our time, or the derivatives bubble will surely destroy humanity. Those are the stakes in the current exercise.

Paulson and Bernanke, both lawyers for the Wall Street jackals, lampreys, vultures and hyenas, argue that the public interest demands a bailout of their cronies at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, Wachovia, and the other large money center institutions. Before the American public antes up $700 billion just for openers in the game of genocidal poker which run by the infernal croupiers Paulson and Bernanke, we would be very well advised to examine the veracity of this premise.

Read Full Article Here

 

They Want Mama To Make it All Better! – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANGsBNMY1_c

 

Rep Defazio On The Bailout Package

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANGsBNMY1_c

Recent News:

Bernanke Admits Bailout is NOT Aimed at Helping Taxpayers
http://georgewashington2.bl..ke-admits-bailout-is-not-aimed-at.html

Real Estate Bigwig Zell Sees 2009 Recession
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26858394

Bailout Is Financial Equivalent Of The Patriot Act
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/23/business/sorkin.php?pass=true

America Versus the Financial Elite
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2008/09/america-versus-financial-elite.html

Fed Acted Like a Liquidity Drug Dealer: Economist
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26848829

’Punish’ those responsible for financial crisis: Sarkozy
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iQvXaV8mO0SRtfD9FEWqf4Vyrzrg

FBI ‘Probe’ Into Mortgage Giants
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20080924/twl-fbi-probe-into-mortgage-giants-3fd0ae9.html

Iran Leader Says American Empire Near Collapse
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iRcJGft_Pr8uMaY1Bz9ieBSwBNTgD93CMVM80

US Fed throws $30 billion into foreign credit markets
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5itOHJbNrxCHKetPtXIPIbY3TalIQ

China Paper Calls For A New Financial Order Without U.S.
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSPEK4365020080917?sp=true

Top Economist Mishkin: Worse Than the Depression
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26850473

Lehman’s Bankruptcy and the Hidden $138 Billion Bailout of JP Morgan
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26850473

Eveillard Says Gold May Surge as Investors Seek ‘Insurance’
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=a8L00oInO1YM&refer=home

Wachovia, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo tumble
http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSN2231756020080922

Goldman, Morgan Stanley Bring Down Curtain on an Era
Goldman Sachs to be regulated by Fed
Fury at U.S. Lehman Brothers’ staff who could net £1.4bn in bonuses as UK employees face bleak future
Europeans on left and right ridicule U.S. money meltdown
Paulson On Verge Of Historic New Powers
Fed To Supervise Goldman And Morgan

U.S. Economy Collapse News Archive

 



Ron Paul: This Bailout Won’t Be the Last

Ron Paul: This Bailout Won’t Be the Last

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwPkTmqfpg

 

Ron Paul on CNN w/ John Roberts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sfUKZOHtRs

 

Ron Paul Blasts “Secret Government” Running Economy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d73KlhUq1W8

 



China Blames Wallstreet Meltdown On Fed Overissuance Of Currency

China Blames Wall Street Meltdown On Fed Overissuance Of Currency

Paul Joseph Watson & Yihan Dai
Prison Planet
September 19, 2008

China’s state media today reports on the real reason behind the Wall Street meltdown and a subject that the mainstream US media dare not mention – the Federal Reserve’s overissuance of currency – which the Chinese say is part of a wider agenda to justify increased control over the global economy.

The Bush administration today announced a plan to use hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money to buy up up bad mortgages and other debts. The process of injecting more fiat money into an already over-inflated system had the desired effect – the Dow Jones shot up 450 points – but the dollar, following a brief jump, began to plummet.

According to numerous Chinese state media news sources today, the Federal Reserve’s continued zeal for propping up the market by injecting illusory liquidity is part of an agenda to gain trust and grease the skids for increased government intervention in financial markets.

China Finance , China News and Chaobao Financial News, all state owned media outlets, slammed the Fed for taking action that will only make long term economic conditions worse and devalue the dollar by “creating money that does not exist which leads to the inflation of liquidity,” a policy contrary to China’s position as a holder of vast reserves of US dollars.

The analyst quoted by Chaobao Financial News highlighted “that when there is market failure, the paramount purpose of government intervention should be saving the market for the benefit of the people: Relief, Recovery and then Reform,” and that “Protecting the rights of people who are suffering in the housing market and as a result of high oil prices should be treated as a priority.”

The analyst added that by concentrating on saving just a few large financial companies, the Fed is creating wider financial chaos while arousing anger and suspicion by “only protecting and encouraging large companies’ wrong doing.”

CEIBS Professor of Economics and Finance Xu Xiaonian told a conference yesterday that “The fundamental source of Wall Street’s meltdown is caused by Federal Reserve overissuing currency.” He cautioned that the US government has already exceeded its scope in terms of intervention compared with their usual policy.

Similar sentiments were echoed by economist Zuo Xiaolie, who said that the amount of money injected into the market will have little real impact, but that such measures are a “Narrow minded way that the Federal Reserve uses to diversify the pressure of currency adjustment to other countries, which leads to the devaluation of the dollar, causing imbalance in the global economy.”

“The amount of money that has been put into the market can not fundamentally save the market,” said Xiaolie, adding that the move was merely part of an agenda to “regain the trust and justify future further intervention in the economy.”

On Wednesday, China’s official People’s Daily newspaper, the voice of the ruling Communist party, said that the US had unleashed economic “weapons of mass destruction” and set off a “financial tsunami” by allowing Wall Street lenders to trade in subprime debts and unstable financial derivatives, according to a Press TV report.

China has previously threatened to liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries, amounting to $1.33 trillion, if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation. The Communist power has also repeatedly expressed its anger at the Fed’s indifference to the weakening dollar. If China were to dump the dollar it would likely set in motion a chain of events that would lead to a collapse of the greenback.

We know we are in trouble when the Chinese Communist Party sound like bastions of sound money policy and fiscal conservatism in comparison to the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve, who in creating more money out of thin air continue to bail out their friends on Wall Street while the economic future of hundreds of millions of American citizens is sold down the river.

China accuses U.S. of financial Weapons of Mass Destruction
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=69805&sectionid=351020404

 



Cramer: Black Monday Could Have Been “Financial Terrorism”

Cramer: Black Monday Could Have Been “Financial Terrorism”
CNBC host compares crash to pre-9/11 short-selling of airline stocks as SEC enforces ban to fight “market manipulation”

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
September 19, 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj0Vwnt1CLs

CNBC host Jim Cramer says that financial terrorism could have been behind Monday’s stock market crash as part of a conspiracy to “bring down capitalism,” as the SEC this morning announced a ban on short-selling in an effort to fight market manipulation.

“Traditional people who are allegedly shorting are not….it could be financial terrorism, what a great way to take down America….maybe they want to find out who is doing this shorting like in 9/11, remember the airlines went down first and people thought it was Bin Laden,” said Cramer.

A record number of ‘put’ options, speculation that the stock of a company will fall, were placed on American and United Airlines in the days preceding 9/11. This despite a September 10th Reuters report headlined ‘Airline stocks set to fly.’

Between September 6 and 7, the Chicago Board Options Exchange saw purchases of 4,744 put options on United Airlines, but only 396 call options. On September 10, 4,516 put options on American Airlines were bought on the Chicago exchange, compared to only 748 calls.

However, independent investigators that looked into who benefited from advance knowledge of the terrorist attack found a trail not to Bin Laden, but to Alex Brown/Deutsche Bank – chaired up until 1997 by executive director of the CIA, Buzzy Krongard.

Cramer encouraged authorities to look at who was behind short selling stocks this week because the situation represented a “financial national emergency.”

“I think the FSA needs to find out….whether this is someone who wants to bring down capitalism,” added the host, noting that Hank Paulson himself was accused of helping to bring down capitalism when the government seized control of Fannie Mae.

“Obviously the financial terrorism thing for me has to be put on the table because the regular short sellers are not doing this, they’re not doing this,” stated Cramer.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this morning that investors would be temporarily prevented from making bets on stock declines on 799 financial stocks. The ban will remain in place for 10 days and could be extended for up to 30 days.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said, “The Commission is committed to using every weapon in its arsenal to combat market manipulation that threatens investors and capital markets. The emergency order temporarily banning short selling of financial stocks will restore equilibrium to markets. This action, which would not be necessary in a well-functioning market, is temporary in nature and part of the comprehensive set of steps being taken by the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, and the Congress.”

Cramer disagreed with the move, stating, “To ban short selling is wrong, unless you had reason to believe that it was a force you would normally use physical terrorism that is using financial terrorism.”

 



Socialist Dictatorship: Taxpayers to Pay $700B Bailout

U.S. Treasury Proposes $700B Bailout Plan For Wallstreet

Reuters
September 20, 2008

The Bush administration proposed a $700-billion taxpayer-funded plan on Saturday to buy up toxic mortgage-related securities in an urgent effort to calm financial markets and attack the nation’s housing crisis.

Under the program, the U.S. Treasury Department would buy, or commit to buy, “mortgage-related assets from any financial institution having its headquarters in the United States,” said a copy of the Treasury Department’s draft legislation obtained by Reuters.

The department could hire asset managers to handle the securities, which could include residential or commercial mortgages and related instruments that were originated or issued on or before September 17, 2008, the draft said.

Congressional committees were to be briefed on Saturday on the legislation, which could be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate as early as next week.

The plan also calls for raising the federal government’s borrowing authority to $11.315 trillion. The debt limit is currently $10.615 trillion.

The government is moving aggressively to soak up billions of dollars of hard-to-sell mortgage-backed securities and related assets that have been choking world capital markets since the bursting of a historic U.S. home price bubble.

 

We Have DAYS To Stop the $700 Billion Stick-Up (and Fascist Power Grab)

George Washington’s Blog
September 21, 2008

Congress hopes to pass the $700 Billion bailout bill by Friday, according to an article in Bloomberg.

In case you haven’t heard, the bill would not only stick up American taxpayers for an additional $700 billion, but would literally give Paulson and the government fascist powers.

Don’t believe me?

Well, as the Bloomberg article notes: “The bill would bar courts from reviewing actions taken under its authority.”

Bloomberg includes the following quotes by people who understand the significance of the bill:

It sounds like Paulson is asking to be a financial dictator, for a limited period of time,” said historian John Steele Gordon . . . .

***

The Bush administration seeks “dictatorial power unreviewable by the third branch of government, the courts, to try to resolve the crisis,” said Frank Razzano, a former assistant chief trial attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission now at Pepper Hamilton LLP in Washington. “We are taking a huge leap of faith.”

This power grab is so serious that investigative reporter Larisa Alexandrovna calls it “the final stages of the coup“.

We have days to stop this bill. March on Congress. Educate and motivate everyone around you. Do everything you can to prevent this disaster before it is too late.

 

Krugman: ’Look, this is really scary. This is really bad, This could be 1931’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKMy8pf9qY8

 

Keiser: US dollar “backed by bananas”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhf9KwSUQYw

Recent News:

7 percent of U.S. voters back bailouts
http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2008/09/15/daily63.html

Bush Compares Financial Crisis To 9/11
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/19/bush-economy-terrorist/

Nobel Prize Winning Economist: Crisis As Bad As Great Depression Or Worse
http://www.prisonplanet.com/nobel-p..epression-or-worse.html

The Market is Now Pricing In the Genuine Possibility that the US will Default on Its Debt
http://georgewashington2.blogspot..-pricing-in-genuine.html

Fury at $2.5bn Lehman bonus
http://business.timesonline..nd_finance/article4795072.ece

Almost Armageddon: Markets Were 500 Trades From Meltdown
http://www.nypost.com..armageddon_130110.htm

Bailout plan is vast patronage under cover of martial law
http://www.gata.org/node/6647

Dodd: US financial system near meltdown
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=70011&sectionid=3510203

Reid Says `No One Knows What to Do’ to Solve Crisis
http://www.bloomberg.com/..VWYw&refer=home

U.S. to Sell $100 Billion in Bills to Fund Fed Moves
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQ58hpS0fRH8&refer=home

‘Tent Cities’ Spring Up In The US
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/sk..es-spring-up-in-the-us-3fd0ae9.html

Central Banks Offer Extra Funds to Calm Money Markets
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=aW2z_iiBnF2E&refer=home

U.S. Turning Into U.S.S.R.A
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=69774&sectionid=3510203

Worst Crisis Since ’30s, With No End Yet in Sight
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-..-No-End-Yet-in-Sight

Federal bailout of U.S. auto industry
http://www.cyclelicio.us/2008/09/federal-bailout-of-us-auto-industry.html

The Fed Runs out of Money
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2008/09/17/16019/the-feds-run-out-of-money/

No bank is safe in this alarming atmosphere
http://business.theage.com..phere-20080917-4inu.html

Dollar Might Get Crushed
Hundreds of Lehman investors protest in Hong Kong

U.S. Economy Collapse News Archive

 



McCain flip flops on ’strong’ economy comment

McCain on U.S. economy: from ‘strong’ to ‘total crisis’ in 36 hours

Herald Tribune

September 17, 2008

Early this week, as the American financial system absorbed one of its biggest shocks in generations, Senator John McCain said, as he had many times before, that he believed the fundamentals of the economy were “strong.”

Hours later he backpedaled, explaining that he had meant that American workers, whom he described as the backbone of the economy, were productive and resilient.

By Tuesday he was calling the economic situation “a total crisis” and denouncing “greed” on Wall Street and in Washington. Meantime, he moved from adamant opposition to resigned acceptance of the big government bailouts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igAmVs0cvY8

Read Full Article Here

McCain Described The Economy’s Fundamentals At Least 18 Times In 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/16/mccain-economy-strong-18/

McCain Embraces Government Bailout Of Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/06/freddie-mac-mccain/

Phil Gramm would be ‘just the guy’ to lead us into a Great Depression
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/16/krugman-on-gramm/

Advisor: McCain helped create BlackBerry
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jon..ain_helped_create_BlackBerry.html?showall

John McCain, The Stripper, And Bill Kristol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2COPT6Cxug

Bush: Vote For McCain Because Of 9/11
http://www.prisonplanet.com/bush-vote-for-mccain-because-of-911.html

McCain Manager: ’This Election is Not About Issues’
http://voices.washingtonpost.com..anager_this_election_i.html

 



U.S. Taxpayers to Bailout AIG With $85 Billion

U.S. Taxpayers to Bailout AIG With $85 Billion

AP
September 17, 2008

Another day, but not just another bailout. This one’s a stunning government takeover.

In the most far-reaching intervention into the private sector ever for the Federal Reserve, the government stepped in Tuesday to rescue American International Group Inc. with an $85 billion injection of taxpayer money. Under the deal, the government will get a 79.9 percent stake in one of the world’s largest insurers and the right to remove senior management.

AIG’s chief executive, Robert Willumstad, is expected to be replaced by Edward Liddy, the former head of insurer Allstate Corp., according to The Wall Street Journal, citing a person it did not name. Willumstad had been at the helm of AIG since June.

Read Full Article Here

Ron Paul on AIG bailout…Bad Monetary Policy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpY6JvG7w6M

Stocks tumble after government bailout of AIG
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080917/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street

AIG’s Collapse Would Have Impact Around the Globe
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news..&sid=adkrRxBFo5nA&refer=home

 



Taxpayers to Pay Trillions for Fannie and Freddie Bailout

Fannie and Freddie Seized…Cost to Taxpayer: Over $1 Trillion

Contrarain Profits
September 8, 2008

Uncle Sam has finally taken over Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE). Yesterday, the Bush administration placed the mortgage giants under a conservatorship, putting billions of dollars of taxpeyers’ money at risk in the process.

The Treasury says it will stump up $200 billion to back the companies in exchange for a 79.9% stake in each. The government is now the biggest player in the US mortgage market.

Don Rich warns that the government’s bailout spells trouble for anyone holding US dollars. A major issue is that the Congressional Budget Office’s estimation of the costs of the bailout is far too conservative…

This from last Thursday’s Daily Reckoning:

A recent study from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has zero credibility. It pegged likely taxpayer losses in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts at $25 billion. For those with a sense of history, it is worth remembering that the S&L bailout had a $160 billion price tag. The numbers diverge so far from reality as to be laugh-out-loud funny. Funny, that is, except that the CBO estimate demonstrates a willful disconnect with the actual consequences of federal government actions.

As demonstrated below, the real cost of the bailouts will easily exceed $1.3 trillion. In fact, the real cost is likely to range between $1.3 trillion to $1.6 trillion, and is not unlikely to reach $2.5 trillion.

Between 2001 and 2007, Fannie and Freddie purchased or guaranteed $700 billion of Alt-A and subprime loans. Given the default rates on these loans – and the fact that the price of the housing that is the ultimate security of the loans will, for reasons demonstrated below, fall by at least thirty percent – this alone implies a loss for Fannie and Freddie on the order of $210 billion.

Fannie and Freddie acknowledge already-impaired loans on the balance sheet of $19 billion, which they have used creative accounting to avoid deleting from the shareholder equity account. This means that Fannie and Freddie have a maximum of $64 billion in capital remaining.

Given the inevitable losses on the Alt-A/subprime portion of their portfolio, it must be the case that if the federal government, as it is doing, guarantees Fannie and Freddie’s solvency, the difference between the loss and the capital to be made up by the government (i.e., the taxpayers) must equal, not $25 billion but $147 billion.

That alone would mean that the CBO is blowing smoke with their estimated cost figures, and if you think back to the S&L cost of $160 billion, this is not a surprising result. The real picture is so much worse that it is pretty obvious the CBO is flat out inventing figures just to get the politicians through November.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out how the government is going to get its hands on such money: the Federal printing press…

I don’t know what those people in Washington are taking to sleep at night after all their electorally driven accounting and finance exercises, but I can tell you what they will be doing to keep the government open for business: printing a whole lot of money.

Chairman Bernanke has the discount window open to any collateralization not worth the paper it is written on, so in effect he has the helicopters ready to drop hundred-dollar bills over Wall Street – as he once famously described the ultimate policy instrument of a fiat-money system.

Of course, if he does that, we will have to change his nickname from Helicopter Ben to Hyperinflation Ben, which answers the question of who picks up the tab of bailing out Fannie and Freddie: anyone owning dollars.

Produce a lot of something, and it becomes worth less. And given the losses at Fannie and Freddie, the taxpayer guarantee, and the ongoing initiation of Boomer retirement, only the inflation tax will work to pay for keeping Fannie and Freddie afloat.

Like it or not, we are about to enter interesting times, and it is too bad our supposed professional civil servants at the Congressional Budget Office have failed to tell the emperor the truth: that he is buck-naked bankrupt and getting ready to take a lot of people with him.

P.S Don Rich is an instructor of economics, finance, and political science at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, PA. He also teaches economics, government, and history at Delaware County Community College in Exton, PA. You can leave comments for Don on the mises.org blog.

 

Greenspan: U.S Economy in ’once-in-a-century’ financial crisis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t6dLePtyXQ

 

U.S. Is “More Communist than China”: Jim Rogers

CNBC
September 15, 2008

The nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shows that the U.S. is “more communist than China right now” but its brand of socialism is meant only for the rich, investor Jim Rogers, CEO of Rogers Holdings, told CNBC Europe on Monday.

“America is more communist than China is right now. You can see that this is welfare of the rich, it is socialism for the rich… it’s just bailing out financial institutions,” Rogers said.

Stock markets jumped after the U.S. government’s decision to launch what could be its biggest federal bailout ever, in a bid to support the housing market and ward off more global financial market turbulence.

But Rogers said in the long term the move spelled trouble.

“This is madness, this is insanity, they have more than doubled the American national debt in one weekend for a bunch of crooks and incompetents. I’m not quite sure why I or anybody else should be paying for this,” Rogers told “Squawk Box Europe.”

Read Full Article Here

 

Soros Compares Mishandling Of Current Crisis To Great Depression

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
September 17, 2008

Billionaire investor George Soros has slammed US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson for behaving in the same manner as bankers in the 1930’s and mishandling a financial crisis that threatens a repeat of the Great Depression.

Soros told BBC Newsnight that the world was merely at the beginning of a financial storm and warned, “We mustn’t allow the financial system to collapse as it did in the 1930s.”

Referring to Hank Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, Soros stated, “The way Paulson is handling the situation is reminiscent of the way the bankers handled it in the 1930s.”

He added: “The financial system has gone overboard and the financial engineering has grown to big, it takes up too big a share in the world’s resources.”

“Now it is shrinking. When it becomes regulated it will be less profitable than the last 25 years.”

Soros, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations, is ranked by Forbes as the 99th richest person in the world with a net worth of around $9 billion.

Ironically, Soros made his name by reaping the dividends of another financial meltdown when he “broke the Bank of England” by short-selling the pound sterling before the currency dropped out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in 1992, landing Soros a profit of around $1.1 billion.

In 2006, the highest court in France upheld a conviction that Soros had practiced insider trading when he bought shares in French bank Société Générale after discovering that the bank was on the verge of a takeover.

Soros has repeatedly predicted fiscal armageddon, writing three books about a “superbubble” that is on the verge of collapse.

In response to those accusing him of crying wolf in an effort to panic financial markets and benefit from the fallout, Soros stated, “I have a record of crying wolf…. I did it first in The Alchemy of Finance (in 1987), then in The Crisis of Global Capitalism (in 1998) and now in this book (2008’s The New Paradigm for Financial Markets). So it’s three books predicting disaster. (After) the boy cried wolf three times . . . the wolf really came.”

Respondents to a Daily Mail article about Soros’ comments accused the financier of engaging in wanton hypocrisy.

“I don’t know why on Earth they interview Soros since he has been proven again and again to deliberately spread financial rumour for his own exploitation and gain,” wrote one, “Soros became a multi multi billionaire precisely through manipulating markets like this – if this man says that we are heading for a 1930’s style crash you can guarantee he already has plans to profit from it.”

Recent News:

China paper urges new currency order after “financial tsunami”
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSPEK4365020080917?sp=true

US authorities have now spent $900 billion to prop up the financial system
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/..d=9736054&cKey=1221686585000&ty=ti

Central banks pump £100bn into money markets
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/m..2008/09/17/cncentral117.xml

Treasury announces debt auctions for Fed
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jnS9Vm..m4iAD938I1A80

Fed Pumps $70B Into Financial System
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080916/ap_on_bi_ge/fed_credit_..E44U6Xfx.Fe7GUOQ.D1v24cA

Run On The Bank? Americans Could Lose Their Deposits
http://www.prisonplanet.com/run-on-the-bank-americans-could-lose-their-deposits.html

Merrill Lynch seals future with Bank of America deal
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/bu.._finance/article4755438.ece

Rogers: Dollar To Lose World Reserve Status
http://www.prisonplanet.com/rogers-dollar-to-lose-world-reserve-status.html

Paulson: Congress Has No Authority Here
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/09/paulson-congres.html

Goldman profit plunges 70 pct amid market slump
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080916/bs_nm/goldmansachs_dc

August home starts seen at lowest level in 17 years
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN1638353220080917

Russia halts trading after 17.5% share price fall
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles..ORTUNE5.htm

Dow closed down 450
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20..er=1;_ylt=Al5VvbZImvYKFj5hEtFaLktv24cA

Is Britain Heading For Worst Recession Since 1929?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/09/15/bcnrecession115.xml

Washington Mutual Tumbles 30%
http://news.yaho..CZ6k2k2Rd38VKPgv6b.HQA

Now fear stalks British banks
Inflation rises to 4.7% and FTSE plunges ANOTHER 90 points as global markets tumble in wake of Meltdown Monday
Bush Claims Economy Can Weather Storm
Bailouts Will Push U.S. Into Depression

U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive

 



Taxpayers To Pay For Mortgage Company Bailout

Top Investor: Fannie/Freddie Bailout Serves “Bunch Of Crooks And Incompetents”
Rogers says move indicates U.S. is “more Communist than China”

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
September 8, 2008

A leading investor has denounced the government seizure of two of the nation’s largest financial companies as “madness” and says the move will only serve to make the markets more volatile and see house prices continue to go down.

In an interview with CNBC Jim Rogers, CEO of Rogers Holdings, described the move by the Treasury to nationalize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as “insanity”.

The Treasury has pledged to provide as much as $200 billion to the companies, replace their chief executives and place them under a conservatorship, giving management control to their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA.

“This is madness, this is insanity,” Rogers said, “they have more than doubled the American national debt in one weekend for a bunch of crooks and incompetents. I’m not quite sure why I or anybody else should be paying for this.”

“America is more communist than China is right now,” Rogers declared. “You can see that this is welfare of the rich, it is socialism for the rich… it’s just bailing out financial institutions,” he added.

Rogers and other critics alike are concerned that American taxpayers, already facing the worst housing bust since the 1930s, will now be saddled with billions of dollars in losses from home loans made by the private sector, radically changing the nature of the crisis. Government officials have justified the move by stating that that the cost of doing nothing would be far greater.

“You’re certainly gonna see a huge jump in any financial institutions which owned a lot of Fannie or Freddie… because they don’t have to worry about going bankrupt all of a sudden,” Rogers said.

“Bank stocks around the world are going through the roof, that’s ’cause they’ve all been bailed out. You don’t see the homeowners in Kansas going through the roof ’cause they’re not being bailed out,” he added.

Other investors have criticized the takeover as a “stopgap” and a “band aid” aimed at keeping the companies going into 2009, leaving the next president and Congress to deal with the fallout.

Jim Rogers commented that neither of the presidential candidates has a solution to the crisis.

“This is a big huge mess and neither one of them has a clue what to do next year. It’s going to be a mess.” Rogers said.

Watch the interview with Jim Rogers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gZuG-52js0

 



Buffett Says Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac ’Game Is Over’

Buffett Says Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac ’Game Is Over’

Bloomberg
August 22, 2008

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two largest mortgage finance companies, “don’t have any net worth,’’ billionaire investor Warren Buffett said.

“The game is over’’ as independent companies said Buffett, the 77-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., in an interview on CNBC today. “They were able to borrow without any of the normal restraints. They had a blank check from the federal government.’’

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae touched 20-year lows yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange on speculation a government bailout will leave the stocks worthless. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson won approval from Congress last month to pump emergency capital into the companies, which account for more than half of the $12 trillion U.S. mortgage market.

Fannie and Freddie mispriced their products and “kept existing because they had the federal government behind them,’’ Buffett said. Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire had been among the largest holders of Freddie until about 2001, when it became apparent the company wasn’t being run well, he said.

Read Full Article Here

 

Jim Cramer Talks About Market Manipulation

Related News:
USDA: US food prices to post biggest rise in 20 years
http://www.reuters.com/article..220080820?sp=true

79 Million Americans Struggle To Pay Med Bills
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/2..AjuAtPXqgtjMugI32IL4GWO9j7AB

Gold surges to a 1-week high of $839
http://africa.reuters.com/business/news/usnBAN222833.html

US Crony Capitalism
http://mparent7777-1.livejournal.com/1375774.html

Recession within year, say experts
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pres..ay-experts-6323e80.html

Oil shoots to $122 on missile shield row
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/..70614&sid=20295831&con_type=3

Morgan Stanley Says Financial Crisis Will Last: Report
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26252398

Wholesale prices: Highest annual rate in 27 years
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/19/ne..postversion=2008081910

Wall Street Pulls Back As Financials Fall
Stocks Fall On Inflation Data
Financial Fears, Soaring Inflation Hit Wall Street

U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive

 



U.S. Roads, Airports Being Sold To Private Investors

U.S. Roads, Airports Being Sold To Private Investors

Reuters
August 4, 2008

Cash-strapped U.S. state and city governments are likely to sell or lease more highways, bridges, airports and other assets to investors desperate for stable returns after being frazzled by the credit crisis.

The trend is set to pick up speed given worsening budget deficits in state capitals and city halls nationwide.

It will also be welcomed by Wall Street bankers hoping to help create and market so-called “infrastructure” transactions at a time many debt markets remain paralyzed, and after major U.S. stock indexes fell into bear market territory.

“When you are nervous about everything else, you put your money in a toll road,” said John Schmidt, a partner at the law firm Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago. “That’s the logic of infrastructure. Returns are stable and predictable. You won’t get fabulously rich, but you’ll get stable cash flow.”

The latest enthusiasm for at least partially privatizing infrastructure assets came on July 30 from New York Gov. David Paterson, who is trying to plug a budget deficit caused in part by lower tax revenue as Wall Street retrenches.

“We’re just looking at ways to be more efficient and that’s why I used the term public-private partnerships — trying to find some creative solutions,” Paterson said. “The reason I’m avoiding taxes is because I think taxes are addictive.”

Bankers and others in the industry say there is pent-up demand from dedicated infrastructure funds and public pension funds to invest in hard assets — perhaps $75 billion to $150 billion of equity capital — but not enough supply.

Read Full Article Here

Morgan Stanley Said to Freeze Home-Equity Credit Withdrawals
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pi…fQ0PVYvOgzI&refer=home

Dropping USD Makes Mexican Vacations Go Up
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-08-06-mexico_N.htm?csp=1

Dollar soars to 5-mth high vs euro as turnaround eyed
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7709840

list of ’fastest-dying’ cities includes four in Ohio
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/busin../05/forbes.html?sid=101

Mexico’s Poor Forgo Goods as Income From U.S. Drops
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20..A2CsXnpEac&refer=home

Freddie Mac’s negative net worth raises questions
http://www.reuters.com/article/news..geNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

Gold sinks to $860
http://uk.reuters.com/article/goldMktRpt/idUKL144962020080808

Oil Falls To $118
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080805/oil_prices.html?.v=13&printer=1

Report: Freddie Mac Chief Disregarded Warnings
http://news.yahoo.com..g1D3M8_8.Si1pc1w4tgtv24cA

Roubini: Hundreds Of Banks Will Fail
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0344130720080803?sp=true

No Change Expected In Fed Interest Rates
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080..1D3M8_8.Si1pc1w4tgtv24cA

U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive

 



Stressed banks borrow record amount from Fed

Stressed banks borrow record amount from Fed

Reuters
July 31, 2008

Banks borrowed a record amount of funds from the Federal Reserve in the latest week as the year old credit crisis took a persistent toll, while the commercial paper market continued to contract, signaling tough conditions for short term borrowers.

Banks’ primary credit borrowings averaged $17.45 billion per day in the latest week, the second straight week this had hit a record and up from $16.38 billion the previous week, Fed data showed on Thursday.

Read Full Article Here

 

Zimbabwe Devalues Currency

AP
July 30, 2008

Zimbabwe will drop 10 zeros from its hyper-inflated currency — turning 10 billion dollars into one — the country’s reserve bank said Wednesday. President Robert Mugabe threatened a state of emergency if businesses profiteer from the country’s economic and political unraveling.

Shop shelves are empty and there are chronic shortages of everything including medication, food, fuel, power and water. Eighty percent of the work force is unemployed and many who do have jobs don’t earn enough to pay for bus fare.

Read Full Article Here

 

Inverview with George Green – (7/16/2008)

Recent News:

Bush signs housing bill in private
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/12166.html

Soaring energy bills set to push inflation to 16-year high
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar..set-push-inflation-16-year-high.html

GM Has $15.5 Billion Loss on U.S. Sales Drop, Leases
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=agMEuJ_r_yxA&refer=worldwide

Venezuela to Nationalize Spanish Bank
http://english.cri.cn/2947/2008/08/01/1821s388058.htm

IndyMAC Files For Bankruptcy Protection
http://www.nytimes.com/2008..2&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Jobless Claims Up Highest In Five Years
http://www.wnbc.com/news/17049831/detail.html

Inflation Could Hit 6% By Fall?
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com..Economist/articleshow/3307499.cms

Deutsche Bank Writedowns Exceed $11 Billion
http://moneynews.com/financenews/bank_writedowns/2008/07/31/117802.html

Shell reports 33% rise in profit
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/31/business/31shellNEW.php

Exxon posts record $11.68 billion profit
http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/31/news/.._profits/?postversion=2008073109

Britons Skipping Meals Due To Money Worries
http://www.money.co.uk/article/100..-meals-due-to-money-worries.htm

IMF Calls For N. African Economic Integration
Greenspan: Housing No Where Near Bottom
Economic Rebound Not As Energetic As Hoped
Biggest dive for commodities in 28 years

U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive

 



FDIC Takes Over Two More Failed Banks

FDIC Takes Over Two More Failed Banks

AP
July 26, 2008

The 28 branches of 1st National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank, operating in Nevada, Arizona and California, were closed Friday by federal regulators.

The banks, owned by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based First National Bank Holding Co., were scheduled to reopen on Monday as Mutual of Omaha Bank branches, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.

The FDIC said the takeover of the failed banks was the least costly resolution and all depositors – including those with funds in excess of FDIC insurance limits – will switch to Mutual of Omaha with “the full amount of their deposits.”

The FDIC also said accountholders can access their funds during the weekend by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards.

Read Full Article Here

 

Wachovia Joins the Financial Apocalypse

JBS
July 22, 2008

It’s beginning to look as if Fortis was right. In June the Belgium-Dutch financial giant, itself beset by financial woes, warned, according to a Dutch paper, that the “complete collapse of the U.S. financial markets” was in the offing, just days or weeks away.

Maybe it won’t be a “complete” collapse, but the dire warning is beginning to appear more credible daily. Just days after the Fortis warning, letters from Senator Charles Schumer speculating about the “possible collapse of big mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc.” set off a run on that ailing mortgage lender with depositors withdrawing more than $1.3 billion in just 11 days.

In the weeks since there has been increasing speculation about the stability of both the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). These holdovers from the Roosevelt Administration’s ill-conceived New Deal presently own or guarantee half of the $12 trillion U.S. mortgage market, yet they were characterized recently as “insolvent” by former Federal Reserve President William Poole.

In a free market, when you perform poorly your business might fail. But Poole, a consummate government regulator, thinks Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac are too big to fail. “Clearly they must be supported,” he said according to a July 11 Reuters report. “They (the U.S. government) cannot allow that amount of assets … to go into limbo.” In other words, according to Poole, the federal government must take money (a lot of money!) from some and give it to others. As economist Frederic Bastiat eloquently pointed out, that is socialism, the law run amok and turned on its head.

On top of IndyMac and Fannie and Freddie, the bad news from the financial sector keeps coming. On Tuesday, Wachovia Corp. reported striking losses totaling nearly $9 billion for the quarter. “Our reported results today are clearly a disappointing performance for which we take responsibility,” Wachovia CEO Bob Steel told analysts on a conference call. The nation’s fourth largest bank also noted that it would eliminate as many as 10,750 positions.

Read Full Article Here

WaMu Slumps as Gimme Credit Cites Liquidity Concern
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=a3479q5QfJhw

Two Troubled U.S. Banks Post Big Losses
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/22/business/bank.php

Bank Gave Counterfeit Bills, Couple Says
http://www.local6.com/news/16960809/detail.html

8,500 Banks Will Fail
http://cryptogon.com/?p=2994

Evidence of the US Banking System Teetering on the Brink of Collapse
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article5594.html

Paulson Says Banks Safe & Sound (liar)
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/../united_states/article4368749.ece

Arabs Buying Up Failing Western Banks
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126866

 



Taxpayers Will Pay $800 BILLION For Failed Mortgage Lenders

Taxpayers Will Pay $800 BILLION For Failed Mortgage Lenders
House & Senate passes housing bailout bill H.R. 3221 (The American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act) by an overwhelming 272-152 vote, Bush will sign soon.

Youtube
July 24, 2008

Ron Paul talks about the bailout out of the housing industry and how it really just destroys the dollar and adds enormously to the debt.

Also, slipped into the bill, was the stipulation that ALL credit card transactions must now be reported to the IRS.

Details of today’s housing bill by Dr. Ron Paul:

-$2.5B line of credit to the Treasury (Fannie & Freddie – ‘F & F’) is now “open-ended”

  • UNLIMITED – Treasury now allowed to buy all ‘F & F’ housing securities
  • Congress no longer involved in appropriating funds (Treasury now does)

-National Debt Ceiling Moved up $800 BILLION (buried in the bill)

Treasury Bills being exchanged for unwanted ‘F & F’ securities

  • This is the asset which “backs up our currency”
  • Value of these assets are depreciating
  • Treasuries have replaced gold and silver to back US Dollar

– Solution breeds inflation

  • Places pressure on the US Dollar

-Mortgage industry workers “will now have to be fingerprinted.

All credit card transactions will now be reported to the IRS.

 

Housing bailout bill – another $800 billion gift from the taxpayer to Wall Street

Related News:

**RED ALERT** RAPE BY CONGRESS IMMINENT
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archive..GRESS-IMMINENT.html

Investors worldwide are betting more than $1 trillion on a collapse in American stock prices
http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/7529

Faber: Fannie, Freddie Should Not Get Aid
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/n..&sid=a_L_tms03WSI&refer=home

Senate Passes Housing Bill
http://www.axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show/id/16490

House OKs Fannie Freddie Bailout
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200..Aujs0nZJn4G9TEm4v_o7vh.MwfIE

woman commits suicide as home foreclosed
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/new..suicide-as-home-foreclosed

Fannie and Freddie Own A Record $6.9 Billion Foreclosed Homes
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.co..d-freddie-own-record-69.html

U.S. Foreclosures Double
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news..87&sid=aomtw8.Pro2E&refer=home

IMF: U.S. Housing Overvalued By 20%
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2542244220080726

California foreclosures up 261% from ‘07 levels
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/07/cal-foreclosure.html

Freddie MAC CEO Paid $20 Million A Year
http://money.cnn.com/2008/0.._CEO.ap/index.htm?section=money_latest

Fannie, Freddie rescue pricetag could hit $25B
Housing report bruises Wall Street
Bank of China may hold huge US debt
Dems & Paulson Push Fannie/Freddie Bailout

 



US debt now at an astonishing $53 trillion

US debt now at an astonishing $53 trillion

SF Gate
July 17, 2008

As the Bush administration proposes backstopping mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a $300 billion line of credit and Congress contemplates another economic stimulus, the question is who will bail out the government?

“People seem to think the government has money,” said former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker. “The government doesn’t have any money.”

A rare consensus has developed across the political spectrum that the government’s own fiscal affairs are precarious, with an astonishing $53 trillion in long-term liabilities, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Read Full Article Here

 



Ron Paul: Bernanke Admits Inflation is a Tax

Ron Paul: “Some Big Events Are About To Occur”

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
July 17, 2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06awZjZTVlQ


Texas Congressman Ron Paul has warned the House that he is “convinced the time is now upon us that some Big Events are about to occur.” that will cause liberty to go “into deep hibernation”.

Paul told the House:

“These fast-approaching events will not go unnoticed. They will affect all of us. They will not be limited to just some areas of our country. The world economy and political system will share in the chaos about to be unleashed.”

“There are reasons to believe this coming crisis is different and bigger than the world has ever experienced. Instead of using globalism in a positive fashion, it’s been used to globalize all of the mistakes of the politicians, bureaucrats and central bankers.” Paul continued.

In one of Paul’s most memorable speeches to date, the Congressman spoke of rampant authoritarianism having replaced the principles of liberty that the United States was founded upon and warned that current empire building financed through inflation and debt signals a most frightening period in history.

“Our arrogance and aggressiveness have been used to promote a world empire backed by the most powerful army of history. This type of globalist intervention creates problems for all citizens of the world and fails to contribute to the well-being of the world’s populations. Just think how our personal liberties have been trashed here at home in the last decade.” Paul urged fellow representatives.

Paul outlined the history of the current economic crisis and alluded to key events such as the inception of the Federal Reserve System, the creation of the Bretton-Woods Monetary System and the creation of a “dollar bubble”.

“This bubble is different and bigger for another reason.” Paul argued.

“The central banks of the world secretly collude to centrally plan the world economy. I’m convinced that agreements among central banks to “monetize” U.S. debt these past 15 years have existed, although secretly and out of the reach of any oversight of anyone–especially the U.S. Congress that doesn’t care, or just flat doesn’t understand.”

Yesterday, the Congressman also confronted Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke over what he described as a 35 plus year dollar bubble, telling him “You are probably the biggest taxer in the country”, citing the inflationary fiat money system as the most unfair and regressive form of taxation there is.

A stunned Bernanke put up little resistance and simply agreed with Paul, stating “Congressman, I couldn’t agree with you more that inflation is a tax, and that inflation is currently too high.”

Paul also pointed out that government bail out packages for lenders will inevitably lead to a further increases in the already stratospheric national debt.

Read Full Article Here

 

Ron Paul on Kudlow and Company

Part 1

Part 2

 

Ron Paul on Glenn Beck

 

Ron Paul on Fox Business News

 



Fed May Inject $15 Billion Into Failing Mortgage Lenders

Fed May Inject $15 Billion Into Failing Mortgage Lenders

Times Online
July 13, 2008

US TREASURY secretary Hank Paulson is working on plans to inject up to $15 billion (£7.5 billion) of capital into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to stem the crisis at America’s biggest mortgage firms.

The two companies lost almost half their market value last week as rumours of a government bail-out swept the stock markets, hammering share prices around the world.

Together, the two stockholder-owned, government-sponsored companies own or guarantee almost half of America’s $12 trillion home-loan market and are vital to the functioning of the housing market.

The capital-injection plan is said to be high on a list of options being considered by regulators as a means of restoring confidence in the lenders. The move would protect the American housing market, but punish shareholders in both companies.

Read Full Article Here

 

U.S. Weighs Takeover of Two Mortgage Giants

NY Times
July 11, 2008

Alarmed by the growing financial stress at the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies, senior Bush administration officials are considering a plan to have the government take over one or both of the companies and place them in a conservatorship if their problems worsen, people briefed about the plan said on Thursday.

The companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been hit hard by the mortgage foreclosure crisis. Their shares are plummeting and their borrowing costs are rising as investors worry that the companies will suffer losses far larger than the $11 billion they have already lost in recent months. Now, as housing prices decline further and foreclosures grow, the markets are worried that Fannie and Freddie themselves may default on their debt.

Under a conservatorship, the shares of Fannie and Freddie would be worth little or nothing, and any losses on mortgages they own or guarantee — which could be staggering — would be paid by taxpayers.

The government officials said that the administration had also considered calling for legislation that would offer an explicit government guarantee on the $5 trillion of debt owned or guaranteed by the companies. But that is a far less attractive option, they said, because it would effectively double the size of the public debt.

The officials also said that such a step would be ineffective because the markets already widely accept that the government stands behind the companies.

Read Full Article Here

World’s largest mortgage providers teeter on the brink of collapse
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/busin..f-collapse-866481.html

Senate passes mortgage rescue plan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080712/ap_on_go_co/congress_housing

Fannie and Freddie: A Run on the Bank?
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/picks/archive/2008/pick0711.htm

Run On Banks Spells Big Trouble For U.S.
http://business.smh.com.au/run-on-banks..r-us-treasury-20080713-3eiv.html

Bank Crisis wipes $1 trillion from financial stocks
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM..P-JSq4qwbdYAD91P87HO0

World stocks at 21-month low as banks plunge
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSHKG35069520080708

Credit crunch: Emergency scheme to help cash-strapped homeowners
http://www.guardian.co.uk/busines../creditcrunch.houseprices

Small Banks’ Reckoning Day Is Coming
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121494953423420859.html

Nationalizing Freddie & Fannie?
http://biz.yahoo.com/nytimes/080711/1194793612725.html?.v=4&printer=1

Poole: Fannie and Freddie Insolvent
http://uk.reuters.com/article/burningIssues/idUKBNG6370020080710

Black Tuesday as FTSE plummets, bank shares tumble and Britain faces recession ‘within months’
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23512506-d..+months’/article.do

 



Oil Hit Record $147, Gold $969, Euro $1.59

Oil Hit Record $147, Gold $969, Euro $1.59
On Friday Oil hit record of $147.27, Gold $969, Euro $1.5972 against the greenback, Today July 14, 2008 11:31 AM EDT Crude price sinks to $145, Gold $969, Euro 1.5859.

AP
July 12, 2008

Gold prices rose Friday, making their largest advance since first hitting $1,000 earlier this year, after another record crude rally and a tumbling stock market led jittery investors to the safety of hard assets.

Other commodities traded mostly higher, with corn, soybeans, wheat and other agriculture futures rising.

Gold’s rally suggests investors are increasingly concerned about rising inflation as Americans struggle with $4 gasoline and the U.S. dollar continues to lose ground against its main rivals.

After a week of volatile trading in the commodities complex, a myriad of dour economic developments pushed gold prices skyward: Oil soared above $147 for the first time, stocks dove on concerns that mortgage companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae might collapse and the dollar tumbled further against the euro.

“All of these things are a pretty good recipe for safe-haven buying into bullion,” said James Steel, analyst with HSBC in New York. “You’re really spoiled for choice on a day like this.”

Gold for August delivery added $18.60 to settle at $960.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier rising as high as $969.10. That was gold’s highest trading level since first cracking the $1,000 threshold on March 13 after the collapse of Bear Stearns & Co.

Nervousness about the U.S. economy, record energy prices and the falling dollar have helped propel gold 34 percent higher in the past year, but it’s not clear if the current climate is gloomy enough to push gold back into record territory.

“The $1,000 mark accompanied a bank failure the last time so it’s questionable whether the situation now is as severe, but that doesn’t mean it won’t go back to that level,” Steel said.

Other precious metals also traded higher. September silver prices added 50 cents to settle at $18.82 an ounce on the Nymex, while September copper gained 2.15 cents to settle at $3.74 a pound.

Read Full Article Here

 

Euro falls one cent vs dollar from day’s highs

Reuters
July 14, 2008

The euro fell over one cent from the day’s highs against the dollar on Monday, after the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve launched emergency steps to restore investor confidence in U.S. mortgage lenders Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Freddie Mac.

The euro fell to as low as $1.5866 on trading platform EBS, down from an intraday high of $1.5972.

 

Jim Rogers: Dollar Doomed, Fed Will Fail

Recent News:

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Dow Drops Below 11,000
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Stimulus Checks for the Dead
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Budget Deficit Twice as Big as Last Year’s
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World Bank’s Zoellick: Food Prices High Until 2012
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Mexican Illegal Aliens Leaving U.S.
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Experts Worry Euro Might Replace US Dollar as Primary Reserve Currency
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IMF says world economy between recession and inflation
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Oil’s Rise Stirs Talk Of $200 A Barrel This Year
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Bank of Israel to buy more US dollars
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Bank of America CEO: Recession “feel” may last year
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Similarities between 1929 and 2008 terrifying
Emirates calls on GCC countries to depeg currencies from US dollar to curb inflation
Pension plans suffer huge losses

U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive

 



Fingerprint Registry in Housing Bill Passed

Fingerprint Registry in Housing Bill Passed

John Berlau
Open Market.org
May 24, 2008

Fingerprints are considered to be among the most personal of information, and fingerprint databases created and proposed in the name of national security have generated much debate. Recently, “Server in the Sky” — a proposed international database of the fingerprints of suspected criminals and terrorists to be shared among the U.S., U.K. and Canada — has ignited a firestorm of controversy. As have cavalier comments by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that fingerprints aren’t “personal data.”

Yet earlier this week, a measure creating a federal fingerprint registry totally unrelated to national security passed a U.S. Senate committee almost without notice. The legislation would require thousands of individuals working even tangentially in the mortgage and real estate industries — and not suspected of anything — to send their prints to the feds. The database and fingerprint mandates were tucked into housing and foreclosure assistance bills that on Tuesday passed the Senate Banking Committee by a vote of 19-2.

The measure the committee passed states that “an indvidual may not engage in the business of a loan originator without first … obtaining a unique identifier.” To obtain this “identifier,” an individual is requiredto “furnish” to the newly created Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry “information concerning the applicant’s identity, including fingerprints for submission” to the FBI and other government agencies.

The fingerprint provisions are contained in a “manager’s amendment” that was hammered out by committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn, and Ranking Member Richard Shelby, R-Ala., on Monday and attached the next day to a broader housing bailout bill that had been scheduled for a comittee vote. That bill, the “Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008,” expands the lending authority of the Federal Housing Administration and the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance the mortgages of troubled borrowers and banks.

The amendment adopted the fingerprint provisions in a section called the “S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act.” The fingerprints will be part of what the amendment calls “a comprehensive licensing and supervisory database.”

And the database would cover a broad swath of individuals involved with mortgage lending. The amendment defines “loan originator” as anyone who “takes a residential loan application; and offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan for compensation or gain.” It states that even real estate brokers would be covered if they receive any compensation from lenders or mortgage brokers. Since many jobs in both real estate and mortgage lending are part-time and seasonal, even some of the most minor players in the mortgage market may have to submit their prints.

Justifications listed in the bill for this database include “increased accountability and tracking of loan originators,” “enhance[d] consumer protection,” and “facilitat[ing] responsible behavior in the subprime mortgage market.”

I conducted a wide Internet search and found fingerprint provisions in some state bills, but I don’t know if any, or how many passed. But in my search, I could find no arguments explaining how, specifically, collecting the fingerprints of loan originators would better serve borrowers getting mortgages. I called the Senate Banking Committee asking this question, but my call has not been returned yet. (I will update OpenMarket readers when and if it is.)

I imagine that, yes, a fingerprint registry might stop an ex-con from handling loans, but I doubt it will make even a dent in the lending problems the bill aims to stop. And I would venture to guess that the vast majority of the problem mortages were handled by employees with no criminal record. Rather, this seem like another thoughtless idea that lets politicians brag that they are “getting tough” about a particular problem.

But this fingerprint database, in addition to the privacy violations, might create a host of new problems of mortgage fraud. Identity theft involving fingerprints is becoming a major concern among data security experts. Security consultant Bruce Schneier has argued that hackers can steal electronic images of fingerprints directly from the databases they are stored in. And there is virtually nothing in this bill about security procedures that would apply to this database.

It amazes me. We have wrenching debates about privacy and freedom vs. national security when it comes to proposed anti-terrorist programs. But then a smililar scheme is done in response to an economic problem, and it almost escapes without notice. A similar thing has happened with anti-money laundering requirements that mandate that banks effectively spy on their customers for possible violations of everything from drug laws to the tax code.

Chertoff Says Fingerprints Aren’t ‘Personal Data’

 



Fed Injects $200 Billion into Big Banks

Fed pumps up liquidity in funding markets to ease credit crunch

AP
March 11, 2008

Fed Announces Further Steps to Ease Credit Crunch WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Tuesday ramped up efforts to provide more relief to squeezed financial institutions, a coordinated action with other central banks aimed at easing a global credit crises that threatens to push the U.S. economy into its first recession since 2001.

The Fed said it will make up to $200 billion in Treasury securities available to big Wall Street investment houses and banks. The new action is designed to ensure that there is an ample supply of Treasury securities. With strains in financial markets, demand has grown for Treasury securities, considered the safest investment in the world because they are backed by the U.S. government.

On Wall Street, the Fed’s action propelled stocks upward. The Dow Jones industrials jumped more than 250 points in morning trading.

The move comes as banks and other financial institutions face cash crunches.

“Pressures in some of these markets have recently increased again,” the Fed said in a statement. “We all continue to work together and will take appropriate steps to address those liquidity pressures.” The other banks involved are the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank.

The Fed announced the creation of a new tool, called the Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF), geared to provide primary dealers — big Wall Street investment firms and banks that trade directly with the Fed — with 28-day loans of Treasury securities, rather than overnight loans. They would pledge other securities — including federal agency residential-mortgage-backed securities, such as those of mortgage giants Fannnie Mae and Freddie Mac — as collateral for the loans of Treasury securities.

“This will not turn the economy around or fix all the problems in the markets but it should reduce the liquidity issue, at least for now,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at High Frequency Economics. The odds of a deep, three-quarters of a percentage point cut in the Fed’s key interest rate next Tuesday have dropped sharply as the Fed’s new relief seemed to calm market turmoil, he said.

Read Full Article Here

Dow Climbs 416.66 for Its Biggest Gain in Over 5 Years
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/b..ef=slogin&oref=slogin

Global central bank liquidity injection no long term cure for dollar
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1160659020080311

Fed gives shot in arm, but recession looms
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNew..0311?virtualBrandChannel=10155

Billionaire Investor Forsees Bank Failures
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnbc/080310/23557115.html

 



Fed Boosts Next Two Special Auctions to $30 Billion

Fed Boosts Next Two Special Auctions to $30 Billion

Bloomberg
January 4, 2008


The Federal Reserve will increase the size of two scheduled auctions of emergency loans by 50 percent to $30 billion as part of a global attempt by central bankers to restore faith in the money markets.

The Fed reiterated that it will continue the loan auctions, designed to increase the amount of cash available in the banking system, “for as long as necessary,” in a statement released today. The third and fourth auctions will be conducted on Jan. 14 and 28. The central bank will announce on Feb. 1 whether further auctions will be conducted.

Since the first of the auctions on Dec. 17, companies’ cost to borrow in dollars for three months has fallen to the lowest in two years, suggesting central banks are succeeding in spurring bank lending.

Read Full Article Here

 

Unemployment Surge Clear Sign U.S. Is Headed For Recession: Economists

NY Times
January 5, 2008

The unemployment rate surged to 5 percent in December as the economy added a meager 18,000 jobs, the smallest monthly increase in four years, the Labor Department reported on Friday.

Economists viewed the report as the most powerful indication to date that the United States could well be falling into a recessionary downturn. Evidence of widening unemployment heightened anticipation that the Federal Reserve would further cut interest rates this month, perhaps by an unusually large half a percentage point, in a bid to prevent the economy from sliding into the muck.

“This is unambiguously negative,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “The economy is on the edge of recession, if we’re not already engulfed in one.”

Read Full Article Here

 

Peter Schiff on Cashin’ In – (1/5/2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr8jkevEBt8

Forget Oil New Crisis Is Food
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=213343

Recession fears stoke political debate
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22476544/

Jobless Rate Hits Two-Year High; The Last Shoe to Drop in the Unavoidable Recession Ahead
http://ap.google.com/…anM66tszKz1zFq0LOG4XvWS7zAD8TV57B80

Baltimore Sun asks what will we do if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac go bust?
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opi…an04,0,1654729.story

Sinking dollar alters the game in 2008
http://templewest.wordpress.com/2008/0..he-game-in-2008/

UK: Millions Face Financial Crisis
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article3300968.ece

War on Terror Costs $6,000 Per Second
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/p..ror-600_b_78800.html

Gold Peaks Above $861, Oil $100 a Barrel
http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10436089

Oil at $100 not our fault: OPEC
No End In Sight For Dollar Decline
U.S. Federal Reserve Meeting Minutes for December 11, Says Economic Outlook Is “Unusually Uncertain”
Citigroup May Write Down $12 Billion, Bernstein Says
U.S. Manufacturing Fails To Grow
Era Of Cheap Food Is Over
Chinese currency hits new high against U.S. dollar
From the sub-prime to the ridiculous: how $100bn vanished
Wall Street Start To Year Worst In 25 Years
New Year 2008 may destroy USA’s struggling economy
City of debt shows US housing woe
Mortgage Defaults Rise 35%
Top economist says America could plunge into recession
Venezuela Introduces New Currency

U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive

 



Bernanke Clears Way For Fed Rate Cut

Bernanke Clears Way For Fed Rate Cut

Financial Times
November 30, 2007

Ben Bernanke put the Federal Reserve on a path towards a December rate cut in a speech on Thursday night in which he said the relapse in financial markets had resulted in a “tightening in financial conditions” that had the potential to harm the real economy.

The Fed chairman also said recent data on household spending had been “on the soft side” and warned that the combination of higher petrol prices, the weak housing market, tighter credit conditions and declines in stock prices seem likely to create some headwinds for the consumer in the months ahead.

 

Paulson’s Plan to Punish the Public

The Motley Fool
November 30, 2007

If you don’t learn from the past …
If the mortgage crisis and housing bubble have taught us one thing, it should be to watch out for the unintended consequences of greed. Unfortunately, our nation’s legislators and political appointees haven’t learned that lesson. Recent plans for housing and mortgage bailouts generally run from dumb to dumber. Today, The Wall Street Journal reported on yet another scheme, reportedly being spearheaded by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. It’s an idea so naively populist and antimarket that you would think it came from Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, if not for its cringe-inducing, Beltway-wonk moniker: the Hope Now Alliance.

In short, bankers and loan-servicing outfits are going to lower interest rates on strapped borrowers so they don’t lose their houses. How much, how long, and who qualifies are all still up in the air. No doubt, this will sound good to those folks who signed on for mortgages they can’t actually afford. It will also look good to politicians angling to score points before the next election, and to bleeding hearts everywhere. It will also look good to select mortgage-industry players — like Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) and Citigroup (NYSE: C), which could really use a government-led bailout.

Unfortunately, this ill-conceived salve will ultimately punish the silent majority of Americans, people who didn’t go out and make boneheaded financial decisions over the past half-decade. Let’s take a look at why.

Read Full Article Here

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Shadow Mortgage Bailout Already in Progress
http://efinancedirectory.com/articles/Sha…_Progress.html

U.S. Government, Banks Near a Plan to Freeze Subprime Rates
http://cryptogon.com/?p=1662

UK: Trouble ahead for the economy
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IMF Warns Of UK Recession
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Video: “Food Banks Nationwide Face Shortages”
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In the long run, value of paper currencies is zero
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China’s attempt to convert its U.S. Treasury holdings into euros
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Growth in Consumer Spending Slows While Construction Activity Drops Sharply
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Goldman Sachs Says To Short Gold In 08
http://www.reportonbusiness.c…wgoldman1129

Treasury Close to Subprime Aid Plan
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Morgan Stanley may face $5.7 billion Q4 writeoff
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New Home Prices: Worst Drop In 37 Years
http://money.cnn.com/2007/1…./?postversion=2007112912

More than 50,000 Lost Their Homes in October
http://money.cnn.com/2007/….rsion=2007112905

China wins from credit crunch fallout
Fed pumps $8bn into market to head off new crunch
ECB injects £35bn into markets
Foreclosures Up 165% In FLA
Oil Surges After Pipeline Bursts
U.S. incomes fall, spending flat in October
Gazprom May Switch Sales to Rubles as Dollar Weakens
US Dollar: No Longer the World’s Currency?
A diary of the onset of the Greater Depression
Gold Slips Under $800, Oil Plummets $94 on Firmer Dollar
Foreclosures Will Create Ghost Towns
As credit dries up in U.S., concerns mount about recession
Sterling falls vs recovering dollar
Oil Producers See the World and Buy It Up
Fed Official Warns Of Wall Street Turmoil
A Dollar the Size of a Postage Stamp
Bet your bottom dollar tensions will follow
Housing woes have domino effect
The Next Big Bankruptcy
88% Erosion of the Dollar’s Purchasing Power
Video: Money As Debt
Forecast: U.S. Dollar Could Plunge 90 Percent
Gold sees 2-week peak as investors run for safety
Forex – Euro retreats after Friday’s failure at 1.50 usd
Retail Stocks Fall; Black Friday Spending Seen Lower
U.S. dollar may be nearing nadir on charts
Oil Prices Rise Near $99 As Temps Fall
Don’t look now: Here comes the recession
The Real Reason why Stocks are Plunging
The plunging greenback threatens to cripple U.S. power. Why are the candidates ignoring this critical issue?
1000% Hedge Fund Wins Subprime Bet
U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive

 



Oil Prices Rise Near $99 As Temps Fall

Oil Prices Rise Near $99 As Temps Fall

AP
November 26, 2007

Oil prices rose to near $99 a barrel Monday with temperatures falling in the United States and Europe and continued weakness for the U.S. dollar.

The Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday marked the unofficial start of winter in the United States. Among other areas, southeastern New Mexico got up to 9 inches of snow and experienced colder than normal temperatures over the holiday weekend. Snow also fell in Germany over the weekend.

“The onset of cold U.S. weather is going to boost fuel demand,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery added 75 cents to $98.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midday in Europe.

On Friday, the contract rose 89 cents to settle at $98.18 a barrel, besting the previous settlement record by 15 cents.

January Brent crude added 68 cents to $96.44 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Meanwhile, the dollar hit a new low against the euro Friday as speculation continued that the American credit crisis will lead to another cut in U.S. interest rates.

“The weakened U.S. dollar remains at record low levels and so we’ve got pricing trying to test $100 again,” Shum said.

Oil futures offer a hedge against a weak dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the U.S. currency is falling.

Nymex crude prices reached a trading record of $99.29 a barrel on Wednesday, and are within the range of inflation-adjusted highs set in early 1980. Depending on how the adjustment is calculated, $38 a barrel then would be worth $96 to $103 or more today.

“Almost anything could push prices higher from here and we have to expect to see a move to” $100 per barrel this week, said Peter Beutel, president of U.S. energy risk management firm Cameron Hanover, in a research note, listing a U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut, a weaker U.S. dollar, colder weather forecasts or “any petro-political problem” among the factors which could push oil prices to three digits.

“We have reached the point, though, where the inability to touch or break $100 this week would be seen as rather a spectacular failure,” Beutel wrote. “There is no reason for prices not to hit $100 this week.”

Shum said that data suggesting OPEC is increasing production more quickly than expected is likely to keep a temporary cap on oil prices.

Oil Movements, an oil tanker tracking firm based in Britain, reported that Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries oil exports are likely to jump by an average of 720,000 barrels a day in the four weeks ended Dec. 8, more than the expected 500,000 barrels per day.

Oil prices rose 43 percent between August and early November on falling domestic inventories, concerns about supply disruptions overseas and, many analysts argue, speculative buying. But recent forecasts have suggested high prices are cutting demand.

Nymex heating oil rose 1.94 cents to $2.7236 a gallon (3.8 liters) while gasoline prices gained 1.70 cents to $2.484 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 19.6 cents to $7.896 per 1,000 cubic feet.


Forex – Euro retreats after Friday’s failure at 1.50 usd

Forbes
November 26, 2007

LONDON (Thomson Financial) – The euro was a touch lower as the currency continued to retreat after failing to rise past the 1.50 usd level last Friday.

After hitting an all-time high of 1.4968 usd, there was not enough momentum to keep the euro flying. Additionally, the test of the key level came amid thin conditions with at least part of US traders still out after the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday.

As trading resumed in earnest today, the euro found it harder going.

Read Full Article Here

Related News:

$516 Trillion Derivatives Market
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p…GpHeg

A Generalized Meltdown of Financial Institutions
http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney11242007.html

Ohio court ruling deals major blow to global banksters
http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com…r-blow-to.html

Subprime crunch the next Depression?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/c…07112400174.html

China Hopes To See Strong USD
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gtM…6GwX7Thptyg

Sterling falls after GDP data weaker than forecast
http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/ar….ECAST.XML

Hundreds of banks threatened by new subprime crisis
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58799

Credit ‘heart attack’ engulfs China and Korea
http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2….and.html

Fannie and Freddie pullback would devastate economy
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idU…Channel=0

Chavez says US dollar’s days numbered
http://noworldsystem.com/2007/11/22/chave….s-numbered/

Stocks Fall as Oil Flirts With $100 a Barrel
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/business/21cnd-s….a12&ei=5087%0A

Dollar hits new low versus euro
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-11/22/content_7124546.htm

Economic Expert Says Global Crash Imminent
http://infowars.net/articles/november2007/201107Economic.htm

China Voices Alarm at Dollar Weakness
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8b1c….k_check=1

The Economist: Time to break free | The Middle East’s oil exporters should end their currencies’ peg to the dollar
Global crash imminent, warns expert
As dollar weakens, Gulf nations look at currency pegs
Food pantries struggle to meet increasing demand
Loonie shouldering heavier share of greenback’s decline: IMF
Asian Leaders Sign Regional Economic Pact
Saudi Riyal Touches 21-Year High
Central bank governor says China supports strong dollar
$38B In Wall Street Bonuses As Stocks Decline
Goldman Sachs Behind Sky-High Oil Prices?
The Crash of 2008
Taxpayers to foot the Northern Rock bill
Global Gold Stocks May Beat Bullion, Baker Steel Says
Weak Dollar Wrecks American’s Dreams
OPEC Interested in Non-Dollar Currency
Saudi minister warns of dollar collapse
Chávez sees oil at $200 if Iran invaded
Dow Down 200 Amid Banking Concerns
US September net foreign capital flows -14.7 bln usd
The Discipline Of the Dollar
Dollar Decline “Irreversible”
Goldman Sees Subprime Cutting $2 Trillion in Lending
Opec unites behind higher prices
Oil rises over $95 on weak dollar
Oil rises ‘Kill the cable, kill the cable,’ Oil leaders’ private debate televised by mistake
Opec nations clash over weak dollar
OPEC agrees to dollar talks after forex basket proposal
‘Greener, reliable’ OPEC wraps up politically-charged summit
Chavez starts OPEC summit with 200-dollar oil warning

U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive