Filed under: Alan Greenspan, bailout, Bank of England, bernanke, Big Banks, BOE, Britain, central bank, CFR, China, CNBC, Communism, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dow, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, energy, Europe, european union, fannie mae, Fascism, Federal Reserve, freddie mac, George Bush, george soros, global economy, gold, Goldman Sachs, Great Depression, Greenback, henry paulson, housing market, hyperinflation, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, jim rogers, martgage companies, Media, Merrill Lynch, mortgage, mortgage companies, mortgage lenders, Oil, Paulson, rate cut, real estate, Russia, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, Taxpayers, United Kingdom, US Economy, US Treasury, Wamu, washington mutual, WW2 | Tags: run on banks
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
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.”
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.”
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
Filed under: Big Banks, central bank, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dollar, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Federal Reserve, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, hyperinflation, Inflation, interest rate cut, rate cut, Stock Market, US Economy
Fed Auctions Another $25 Billion To Banks
AP
August 12, 2008
The Federal Reserve has auctioned another $25 billion in loans to the nation’s banks and given them more time to pay the money back in an effort to combat a serious credit squeeze.
The Fed announced Tuesday that the money would be loaned at a rate of 2.754 percent. In the latest auction, the Fed offered the loans for an extended period of 84 days, rather than the 28-day period for the previous loans.
Filed under: Alan Greenspan, bernanke, Big Banks, BOE, carlyle group, central bank, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Federal Reserve, Great Depression, Greenback, henry paulson, imf, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, job market, Karl Rove, Paulson, rate cut, Stock Market, Uncategorized, US Economy, Wall Street
Fed Pumps Another $50 billion Into Banking System
AP
April 8, 2008
The Federal Reserve, still working to combat the effects of a severe credit squeeze, said Tuesday that it had auctioned another $50 billion to cash-strapped banks.
Separately, some Fed officials said they were concerned about a “prolonged and severe” economic downturn when they cut interest rates last month.
The Fed auction marked the ninth in a series that began in December that so far have pumped $310 billion in short-term loans into the nation’s banking system.
Bernanke: “Recession Is Possible”
Reuters
April 4, 2008
For the second time this week, a senior Federal Reserve official conceded the United States economy could slip into recession, but suggested the central bank should wait to see if more rate cuts are needed.
“The economy has all but stalled and could contract over the first half of the year,” San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen, who is not a voter on the policy-setting committee in 2008, said on Thursday.
“Current indicators suggest that, starting in the fourth quarter, the economy, at best, slowed to a crawl,” she said, adding later that the Fed is still battling a “negative feedback loop” of tight credit conditions, falling house prices and low consumer confidence.
Yellen’s remarks, in a speech to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, echoed those from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke during testimony to a Congressional Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday.
“Recession is possible,” Bernanke said. “There’s a chance that for the first half as a whole, there might be a slight contraction.”
But, like Bernanke, Yellen declined to point the way toward additional interest rate cuts to pull the economy out of its malaise.
Instead, she forecast a minor pickup in growth in the second half on the back of rate cuts already in the pipeline, and “timely” fiscal stimulus checks — even though the drag from falling house prices will linger into 2009.
Fed rate cut plans up on weak jobs
Ros Krasny
Reuters
April 4, 2008
U.S. short-term interest rate futures rose on Friday on news that U.S. firms cut payrolls for a third consecutive month, as dealers raised bets that the Federal Reserve will make an aggressive interest rate cut this month and beyond.
The implied prospects for the Fed to cut its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points at the April 29-30 policy meeting hit 40 percent against 20 percent late on Thursday.
A smaller, 25 basis point rate cut from the Federal Open Market Committee, which would take the fed funds rate to 2 percent, is fully priced.
More than 50 percent chance of U.S. recession: Greenspan
Sonya Dowsett
Reuters
April 6, 2008
There is more than a 50 percent chance the United States could go into recession, former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan told El Pais newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.
However, the U.S. has not yet entered recessionary state marked by sharp falls in orders, strong rises in unemployment and intensive weakening of the economy, he said.
“We would have to see signs of this intensification: there are some, but not many yet,” he said. “Therefore … I would not describe the situation we are in as a recession, although the chances that we’ll have one are more than 50 percent.”
Recent News:
http://www.reuters.com/articl..wsAndPR/idUSL0539983320080405
Paulson Unveils 218 Page Bank Regulation Plan
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/m..8/04/01/cnusbanks101.xml
Huge Job Losses Set Off Recession Alarms
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080405/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy
81 percent of Americans think country on “wrong track”
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0348141520080404
Karl Rove Claims The Economy Is Only ‘Apparently Struggling’
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/rove-economy-struggling/
IMF gives gloomy economic outlook
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSL0553300520080405
Fed’s interest rate games could destroy the dollar
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb..PINION01/804040313/1008
Carlyle Group’s Plan to Takeover the Banking System
http://www.economicanalyticsgroup.co..oups-plan-to-take-over.html
Bankrupticies Up 27%
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/02..dex.htm?postversion=2008040212
BOE’s King Might Be Sleepwalking Into Recession
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?..mnist_lynn&sid=aD237XXZ.Hok
IMF Says U.S. In Worst Economic Crisis Since Great Depression
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/april2008/040208_great_depression.htm
Federal Reserve Staff Moves Into Monitor Banks
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industr..ce/article3678053.ece
The Federal Reserve is a Private Financial Institution
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8518
Banks Swamped By Foreclosures
Senate Sets Urgent Push For Housing Compromise
Bernanke Meets With House GOP On Economy
Bernanke Faces Scrutiny in Congress Over Bear Stearns Buyout
Fed Official Urges Tighter Wall Street Regulation
Ron Paul On Money Inflation & Government
Radical action to fight credit crisis discussed
Filed under: DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Great Depression, Greenback, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, Oil, rate cut, silver, US Economy | Tags: silver shortage
Why Silver Cannot Lose
Robert Kiyosaki
August 20, 2007
I believe the biggest opportunity today is in silver. I think this precious metal is about to become the most spectacular investment in recent history — bigger than oil, even bigger than Google.
Let me give you some reasons why:
Silver is a consumable industrial commodity.
It’s used in computers, cells phones, and electrical relays. This means that as countries like China, India, and Vietnam, and regions like Eastern Europe, become more modernized, the demand for silver will increase.
Silver is also applied in medicine. One little-known use is as a bactericide, a role silver has filled throughout history. Today, medical devices such as catheters and stethoscopes use silver, and every hospital in the western world uses silver sulfadiazine to prevent infections.
Silver is scarcer than gold.
Gold is hoarded. It’s estimated that 95 percent of all gold ever mined is still around. The exact opposite is true of silver: An estimated 95 percent of all silver ever mined has been consumed.
Forty-five percent of all silver mined is burned up in industrial uses. Jewelry accounts for 28 percent, and 20 percent has been consumed in photography. Only 5 percent is in coins.
Silver supplies are down.
In 1900, it was estimated that the world had 12 billion ounces of silver. By 1990 it had dropped to 2.2 billion ounces. By 2007, the supply was down to 300 million ounces.
Some of the more pessimistic forecasts estimate that the world will be out of silver in about 10 years. This could be catastrophic to the world economy. In 10 years, silver might have as much of an impact on the world economy as $200-a-barrel oil.
Strange Silver Price Gyrations and Shortage
Edgar Steele
Rense
March 23, 2008
It’s just like pro rasslin’, maw. He’s up … he’s down … he’s been thrown completely out of the ring and landed in the laps of New York’s governor and his … is that his wife? What’s this? Silver is down yet another dollar-something today, after being down over a buck and a half yesterday? So, the stock market must be up a gazillion points, eh? Nope.
Then, the dollar – they must have struck the world’s biggest gusher on the White House lawn? Nope. But the dollar is up – way up. Will it stay up? Nope.
This is a simple takedown, folks. Artificial manipulation by the big boys, designed to force out what they dismiss as “weak hands” holding silver. Well, don’t pay attention. We’re in this for the long haul. In fact, if yesterday was such a great time to buy more silver, then today must be an even better day, right? That’s absolutely correct! Go the head of the line and really load ’em up this time!
Aggravating this correction in the price of silver is the exit from paper silver of those who have gotten too nervous by this manipulated and phony downtake.
My pal the chart freak says that this is a standard Fibonacci retracement from a base price of $9.85. Meaning that those who bought in on paper (ETFs and futures) at around $9 or $10 now finally are selling and counting themselves lucky to have the profits they just booked. Standard stuff, he says, while silver consolidates and builds a new base in this area, preparatory to heading higher…much higher. And soon, at that.
One day soon, paper silver will be shown to be the fraud that it is when sellers are unable to deliver the physical that somebody bought. Then physical will rule. That is when the moon shot comes. And, to be on board, you have to be holding the real thing, physically…in your hands.
Meanwhile, local dealers have jacked their margin up from .50 an ounce to .85 and higher. APMEX pushed theirs up 9 cents yesterday and today, you can’t even buy anything from them except 100-oz bars, “generic” .999 silver and junk coins.
So, nobody wants silver so badly that its price takes a $3 nosedive in the course of about 24 hours. On the other hand, just try to find some to buy. When you do, the dealer is jacking up the price. Nobody wants silver so badly, you can’t buy any! Go figure. And go buy some, while you are at it.
Right now. This minute. Don’t ask why. Don’t ask what. Don’t ask when. Just do it.
http://news.silverseek.com/GoldIsMoney/1205995646.php
Filed under: Bank of England, Bear Stearns, Big Banks, BOE, California, central bank, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dow, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Euro, food prices, gas prices, George Bush, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, henry paulson, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, Iraq, nymex, Oil, Paulson, Petrol, rate cut, silver, Stock Market, US Economy, Wall Street, wheat
Update: Gold Regains $954, Oil $108, Euro $1.58
AP
March 27, 2008
Gold prices edged slightly lower Thursday after the dollar gained against the euro, leading investors to sell the precious metal traditionally viewed as a haven against inflation.Other commodities traded mixed, with crude oil briefly rising above $108 a barrel and wheat and soybean futures retreating.
The dollar strengthened against the euro after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the economy grew slightly in the fourth quarter. The euro bought $1.5766 in Thursday trading, down from $1.5815 in New York late Wednesday.
A stronger greenback often encourages investors to sell hard assets like gold and silver, which are seen as hedge investments during times of economic uncertainty and rising inflation. A stronger dollar also makes dollar-denominated commodities seem more expensive to overseas buyers.
Gold for April delivery inched 40 cents lower to settle $944.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier trading as low as $940.
“Gold seems to be following the euro,” said Scott Meyers, analyst with Pioneer Futures in New York. “I think it’s a brief pause in the upward trend but we have to keep an eye on the dollar.”
Other precious metals traded higher. Silver for May delivery rose 16.7 cents to settle at $18.55 an ounce on the Nymex, while May copper added 14.80 cents to settle at $3.873 a pound.
Gold had moved higher in the previous two sessions, breaking out of last week’s commodities slump that saw big drops in everything from corn to copper. Gold has gained 12 percent this year, driven up by U.S. interest rate cuts, record-high crude prices and nervousness about the economy. The metal reached a record 1,033.90 this month, and analysts say it could go even higher.
“We’re going to see sustained acceleration in the (gold) market,” Meyers said. “There’s enough nervousness about the dollar and I don’t know if there’s enough bullets in (Federal Reserve Chairman Ben) Bernanke’s gun to keep lowering rates.”
In energy markets, oil futures briefly rose above $108 a barrel after the bombing of a major oil pipeline in Iraq. Dow Jones Newswires reported that the attack cut off exports from the southern city of Basra, although oil officials said exports weren’t affected.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery added $1.68 to settle at $107.58 a barrel on the Nymex after earlier rising as high as $108.22.
Other energy futures traded mixed. April gasoline futures fell 2.66 cents to settle at $2.7163 a gallon, while April heating oil futures rose by 10.45 cents to settle at $3.1483 a gallon.
In agriculture markets, wheat prices fell after the dollar rebounded.
Wheat for May delivery dropped 19 cents to settle at $10.14 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, after earlier falling as low as $10 a bushel.
Other agriculture futures traded mixed. Corn for May delivery added 3.25 cents to settle at $5.55 a bushel on the CBOT, while May soybean futures declined 24.75 cents to settle at $13.2725.
BlackRock says gold record high may be challenged
Reuters
March 26, 2008
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OvCVEsahhZo
Investment manager BlackRock expects tight gold supply and a gradual rising trend in the price which could lift the metal to new highs above the record $1,030 per ounce hit last week.
“We expect a gradually rising trend in the gold price and if that happens we will get to a new high. We are expecting that positive trend to continue, with volatility over the short term,” said fund manager Evy Hambro, who runs BlackRock’s $17 billion (8.5 billion pound) World Mining Fund and co-manages the $8.9-billion World Gold Fund.
Gold traded at $931.60 an ounce on Tuesday, well off a high of $1,030.80 hit on March 17.
“We think the replacement cost of gold today is much higher than where the market is right now,” Hambro said, adding that even if the price reached the desired level it would have to be sustained for gold companies to invest.
“Just because it reaches that number doesn’t mean it’s going to change anything. We’re not going to see all gold mining CEOs building new projects. The price needs to average that over a decent period of time for them to start investing shareholder capital into new production assets,” he said.
The Gold fund’s top three holdings as at the end of last month were Australia’s Newcrest Mining (NCM.AX: Quote, Profile, Research), Canada’s Barrick Gold (ABX.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) and Kinross Gold (K.TO: Quote, Profile, Research), which together accounted for over 22 percent of the fund.
“In the gold space we are very much in a situation where production will continue to likely decline. There are not enough new gold discoveries to replace the gold being mined,” Hambro said.
Recent News:
http://business.timesonline.co..economics/article3624591.ece
Wall Street To Shed 20,000 Jobs
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/..money/2008/03/26/bcnjobs126.xml
Paulson Says New Financial Rules Needed
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080326..4FpI27qGt34XERusSs0NUE
Next Stop $2000 Gold
http://seekingalpha.com/article/69710-next-stop-2-000-gold
Bush Actually Thinks Economy Will Get Stronger
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsN..=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true
$5.40 Gasoline Spotted In California
http://www.nbc11.com/news/15701062/detail.html
Paulson: Social Security Unsustainable
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080325191211.f5erep3w&show_article=1
Banks Want You to Bail Them Out
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a233faa2..0-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
Questions abound on Bear Stearns buyout
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN1438930520080320
Goldman Sees $1.2 Trillion Global Credit Loss
Financial Destruction Of The Average Man
Food Stamp Use Hits All-Time High
Sterling falls as BoE highlights downside risk to pound
New Home Sales Fall To 13-Year Low
Hoarding by banks stokes fears on credit crisis
Gas Prices Skyrocket To All-Time High
Barrick Gold to invest up to $35m in Allied Gold
Chinese banks allowed to trade gold futures
Existing-Home Sales Rise, Prices Fall
Fed May Buy Mortgages Next
The four ‘new sheriffs’ of Wall Street
Filed under: 2008 Election, Alan Greenspan, bernanke, central bank, CNBC, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Federal Reserve, food prices, glenn beck, gold, GOP, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, idaho, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, missouri, montana, peter schiff, rate cut, real estate, republican caucus, republican primaries, Ron Paul, ron paul delegates, silver, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, US Economy
Abolish the Fed – Ron Paul on CNBC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBympCQcyzY
Financial Advisor to Glenn Beck: Ron Paul Gets It
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es2SZ1Z2lW8
http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2008/tst031608.htm
Ron Paul Satisfies Ballot Requirements Nationwide
http://news.google.com/news/url..f2pmR2-qMAHsD2kDwRRN_9fJAdGQ
Ron Paul: Shock and Awe in Missouri
http://stcharlesjournal.stltoday.c..s/doc47e01f744db32094092795.txt
Ron Paul Turns in Signatures to Appear on Montana
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/press..ppear-on-montana-republican-primary-ballotRon Paul is On The Idaho Ballot
Ron Paul Backers Take Over GOP Caucuses
Ron Paul wins here where it counts
Ron Paul backers tangle with state GOP over caucus reports
Ron Paul: Beware the Threat from Within
Filed under: asia, bernanke, Big Banks, central bank, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, energy, Euro, Federal Reserve, food prices, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, Japan, marc faber, rate cut, real estate, silver, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, US Economy | Tags: Peter McGuire
Marc Faber: ’Bernanke is gold buyers best friend’
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5J-kNTKuy9s
Gold Advances in Asia on Inflation Concerns After Fed Statement
Dave McCombs
Bloomberg
March 21, 2008
Gold gained for the first time in five days as some investors judged yesterday’s decline to a one- month low had gone too far given prospects that inflation will accelerate, boosting demand for the metal as a haven.
The Federal Reserve as of March 19 lent $28.8 billion to the biggest U.S. securities firms to try to stabilize capital markets, in its first extension of credit to non-banks since the Great Depression. Pumping more money into the banking system may fuel inflation and demand for precious metals and other commodities.
“Fundamentally, the charge forward is still there,’’ Peter McGuire, managing director at Commodity Warrants Australia, said today in a Bloomberg Television interview. “The time to buy is on the dips.’’
Gold for immediate delivery gained $9.71, or 1.1 percent, to $920.24 an ounce as of 4:26 p.m. in Tokyo. Silver for immediate delivery gained 0.7 percent to $16.90 an ounce.
A weakening U.S. currency has also benefited gold. The dollar has lost 16 percent against the euro in the past year as the Fed lowered its target rate to 2.25 percent. The central bank is cutting rates and pumping money into the banking system to prevent the worst housing slump in a quarter of a century and widening losses in credit markets from tipping the economy into a recession.
The steps have also prompted concern U.S. inflation may accelerate. Excluding food and energy costs, consumer prices rose 2.3 percent in February.
Given the scale of gold’s rally in recent years and the pace of inflation, the precious metal “should be at $2,500’’ an ounce, on an inflation-adjusted basis, McGuire of Commodity Warrants Australia said today. “We think it’s got a long way to go.’’
Metal Exchange Closes Website Due to Overwhelming Demand
The National Expositor
March 20, 2008
Don’t be fooled by the central banks dumping of gold and silver reserves in order to halt the rise in metal prices. The lowering of interest rates by the Fed this week only opens the door for more printing of dollars backed by nothing. The illusion the Fed is trying to create of a strong dollar while at the same time pushing a policy of printing unlimited quantities of cash can’t hold for long. The reality is driven by the market, and the market is running dry. Every supplier of silver and gold is running out due to huge consumer demand to trade in worthless dollars for something that will hold its value. Below is the statement from APMEX.Com, the American Precious Metals Exchange. They cannot keep up with demand and are begging people to sell them metal to keep up. It’s a great time to buy on this artificial dip in prices.
http://news.silverseek.com/GoldIsMoney/1205995646.php
Rumors Of Gold’s Demise Greatly Exaggerated
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/march2008/031908_golds_demise.htm
Gold Sinks 6%
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7398105
Filed under: bear sterns, bernanke, Big Banks, Britain, central bank, China, Credit Crisis, DEBT, dollar peg, Dow, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Europe, Federal Reserve, food prices, gas prices, gas tax, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, imf, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, job market, Lehman Brothers, Oil, OPEC, Paulson, Petrol, rate cut, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, tax, tax rebates, United Kingdom, US Economy, Venezuela, yuan | Tags: John Lipsky, Nigel Gault
America is ALREADY in recession, say top economic global experts – and that spells trouble for the UK
Daily Mail
March 21, 2008
Experts have accused the International Monetary Fund of “driving the car using the rear view mirror” after the global body warned the U.S. was on the verge of a recession.
The world’s biggest economy is already in a recession, they claim, as a draft version of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook declared the U.S. economy is “very weak”. Nigel Gault, chief US economist at Global Insight, a worldwide economic forecasting and consultancy firm, said he believed the US was in recession already – and that spelt problems for other countries, including the UK.
He said: “The US has, for years, been the primary motor for growth in the global economy. However, now consumer spending in the US has seen a downturn, the tables are turned, and the US is looking to the rest of the world for support, through strong export growth, and cutting imports.
“This is happening, US exports are doing extremely well, but it’s not enough to keep the economy out of recession.
“We do not expect to see the problems in the housing market in the US bottoming out before 2009, and while spending will be helped by tax rebates to be given this summer, that may give only temporary relief, and in the first quarter next year growth may dip back close to zero.
“The longer either the recession or period of weak growth goes on, the longer the US market is going to be weak, and very difficult for anybody trying to sell goods to it.”
Jeremy Batstone, head of research at stockbrokers Charles Stanley, said the IMF “has a history of driving the car using the rear view mirror”.
He added: “For the whole of 2007, it was not looking through the windscreen, it was merely reporting what the prevailing economic data releases were telling it.
“This report suggests nothing has changed, the IMF using backward-looking data is taking the view that the US economy might be in recession.
“Recent economic releases make it entirely clear that the US economy is already in recession, it’s confirmed by diverse economic statistics, including retail sales, sharply falling house prices, rising unemployment, deteriorating industrial production and manufacturing output.
“The 64,000-dollar question, indeed the 64-trillion dollar question, is not what happened in the first quarter, but what might happen in the second quarter, and beyond that.
“The hope among economists is that radical action by the US Federal Reserve might be enough to nip this crisis in the bud, and maybe there can be gradual recovery in the second quarter of the year, but at the moment we just don’t know.
“I do find myself becoming a little more hopeful, as the hour is darkest before the dawn. Just maybe radical action will prove that in the second quarter – or the third quarter if we are unlucky – that the storm abates.”
The draft version of the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook concluded the US economy “remains very weak, certainly close to a possible recession”.
The report is due to be published ahead of a meeting next month, and was leaked to Italian news agency Ansa.
The verdict comes after the cash crisis and cut-price rescue of troubled US investment bank Bear Stearns sent markets plummeting at the beginning of the week.
The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, dropped its main interest rate by three quarter-points on Wednesday – the latest in a series of cuts which have seen the rate trimmed by 2 per cent in the first three months of this year – and 3 per cent since the credit crunch first erupted in global markets last August.
The moves come as the Fed attempts to rescue the world’s biggest economy from the brink of recession and ease the pressure on the banking system.
IMF: Think The Unthinkable
CNBC
March 19, 2008
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today warned authorities worldwide to “think the unthinkable” in planning to cope with a mounting crisis in the global financial system.
John Lipsky, IMF first deputy managing director, called for “decisive policy action” amid a credit crunch that stems from the US real estate meltdown and is spreading throughout the financial markets.
The coordinated actions by the US Federal Reserve and other global central banks on Tuesday to further pump billions of dollars of liquidity into financial markets were “helpful” but stronger measures may be necessary.
Policy actions worldwide to date “may not prove to be adequate” to deal with the “low-probability but high-impact events” that may materialize and undermine global financial stability, Lipsky said in an address at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington think tank.
“Policy makers as a matter of course need to ’think the unthinkable,’ and to consider how they would plan to react if contingencies arise. The need to prepare more systematically for potential risks has been demonstrated amply during the past few months,” he said.
“By now, there is little doubt that risks of further escalation of this crisis are rising and decisive policy action will be required to put the global financial system and economy on a firmer footing.” He said the first priority was to reverse the spreading strains in global financial markets and to restore the normal functioning of the financial system in advanced economies.
If contingent risks materialize, the central banks together with financial supervisors and regulators will be the first line of defence. The second line of defence lies with fiscal authorities. Finally, public intervention will be considered as a third line of defence, Lipsky said. The IMF “stands ready to use its record liquidity if needed to help cushion the global economy,” Lipsky said, adding, “we must keep all options on the table.”
Recent News:
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArtic..h591.xml§ion=business
Banks Plot Public Bailout
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a233faa2-f789…html?nclick_check=1
Federal Reserve, commodities could lift dollar next week
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/..-MKT-US-Dollar-Rally.php
Yuan sets new record against dollar
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-03/20/content_6553269.htm
Inflation Is Americans Top Concern
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/18/news/economy/cnn_poll_inflation/index.htm
50 Cent Tax Hike On Each Gallon Of Gas?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,339589,00.html
Cheese, flour prices soar
http://www.sacbee.com/103/story/793144.html
Paulson Admits U.S. Economy In Sharp Decline
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080318/usa_economy_paulson.html?printer=1
Dow fell nearly 300 points after rising 420
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080319/wall_street.html
Investment banks are borrowing from Fed
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN1954536520080319
Here Comes Worldwide Currency Debasement
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/mo..money/2008/03/17/ccview117.xml
Three Gulf states cut rates to defend dollar peg
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayA..March591.xml§ion=business
Fed Cuts Rates By 3/4 Percentage Point
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080318/fed_credit_crisis.html?printer=1
Commodity Prices Head for Biggest Weekly Decline Since 1956
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/new..HC5TmVaEq8&refer=home
Jobless Claims Jump Up 22,000
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5..V6WhHKQD8VHA9I00
Oil Falls on Concern Potential U.S. Recession May Limit Demand
Venezuela’s state-run oil company begins demanding payment in euros as US dollar weakens
Gold Plunges, Leads Commodity Slump on Outlook for Fed, Dollar
A financial crisis unmatched since the Great Depression, say analysts
Dollar Falls on Speculation Fed’s Rate Cuts Won’t Stem Losses
Bernanke’s Home Has Lost $260K In Value
Numerous Countries Have Recently Dropped The Dollar as Their Reserve Currency
Paulson’s Gift to His Bankster Buddies: Winding Up Bear
Trade-weighted pound at 11-year low
The looming global food shortage
Is Britain heading for a Great Depression?
Cairo grappling with bread crisis
Retailers Accept Foreign Currency as Dollar Withers
Filed under: Bank of England, Bear Stearns, Big Banks, Britain, central bank, credit card, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Europe, Federal Reserve, global economy, Goldman Sachs, Great Depression, Greenback, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, JP Morgan, liquidation, Merrill Lynch, New World Order, New York, NYSE, rate cut, Stock Market, United Kingdom, US Economy, Wall Street, ww1
Bear Stearns Collapses, Sold to JP Morgan at $2/Share
Depression2.tv
March 17, 2008
Last Friday we got a taste of what the future is likely to be like as we make our way further into the belly of the second great depression. The Fed rushed to bail out a venerable Wall Street institution, which was rumored to be insolvent. Sunday evening, that rumor was confirmed to be true, as Bear Stearns agreed to sell itself to JP Morgan for a paltry $2 per share. Two dollars! This for a firm that was trading at $170 just over a year ago, and was as high as $54 just Friday! If Bear Stearns is only worth $2 per share, how can we possibly say with any confidence what other “investment banks” are worth?
While this bankruptcy comes as a shock to nearly everyone, it should be a surprise to no one. The global financial system has been teetering on a precipice for years if not decades, pumped up by unsustainable amounts of debt at every level of the economy, and is primed for a crash. That the crash has been postponed countless times by even easier money lent to yet poorer credit risks has served only to instill a false sense of confidence in markets and to magnify the impending calamity that seems finally to be at hand. Warnings that have been sounded on websites such as this one appear finally to be coming true, as confirmed by none-other than the venerable Wall Street Journal in a front page article titled, “Debt Reckoning: US Receives a Margin Call.”
The US is at the receiving end of a massive margin call: Across the economy, wary lenders are demanding that borrowers put up more collateral or sell assets to reduce debts.
The unfolding financial crisis – one that began with bad bets on securities backed by subprime mortgages, then sparked a tightening of credit between big banks – appears to be broadening further. For years, the US economy has been borrowing from cash rich lenders from Asia to the Middle East. American firms and household have enjoyed readily available credit at easy terms, even for risky bets. No longer.
Americans simply don’t have enough money to pay back the mortgage and credit-card debt they’ve run up. That reality is forcing banks to retrench as loans gone bad shrink their capital bases and falling house prices shrink the collateral that homeowners can borrow against. And it will presumably force chastened consumers to change their ways as well.
Americans simply don’t have enough money… What does it mean? It means defaults, economic loss and a spiral of fear and more loss. It means more Bear Stearns. Time’s article quotes David Rosenberg, an economist at Merrill Lynch: “I’m not saying we’re going back to our parents’ level of frugality, but what we have witnessed in the past 20 to 30 years – and especially the parabolic credit growth of the last five years – is going to be bursting in the next decade.” If not back to our parents’ level of frugality, then what? To our grandparents’ level? How can anything less be avoided, in an era when most people are already working full speed, maxed-out and yet still need credit to survive? And now they’re cutting off the credit!? The result for households will be the same as for Bear – massive liquidation. And the Fed is in no position to do anything about it. The Fed is currently operating in triage mode – desperately trying to aid the banks and save the global financial system as we know it. But what ammunition does the Fed have to save the average American working stiff, who is up to his eyeballs in debt?
Wall Street fears for next Great Depression
London Independent
March 16, 2008
Wall Street is bracing itself for another week of roller-coaster trading after more than $300bn (£150bn) was wiped off the US equity markets on Friday following the emergency funding package put together by the Federal Reserve and JPMorgan Chase to rescue Bear Stearns.
One UK economist warned that the world is now close to a 1930s-like Great Depression, while New York traders said they had never experienced such fear. The Fed’s emergency funding procedure was first used in the Depression and has rarely been used since.
A Goldman Sachs trader in New York said: “Everyone is in a total state of shock, aghast at what is happening. No one wants to talk, let alone deal; we’re just standing by waiting. Everyone is nervous about what is going to emerge when trading starts tomorrow.”
In the UK, Michael Taylor, a senior market strategist at Lombard, the economics consultancy, said on Friday night: “We have all been talking about a 1970s-style crisis but as each day goes by this looks more like the 1930s. No one has any clue as to where this is going to end; it’s a self-feeding disaster.” Mr Taylor, who had been relatively optimistic, has turned bearish: “It really does look as though the UK is now heading for a recession. The credit-crunch means that even if the Bank of England cuts rates again, the banks are in such a bad way they are unlikely to pass cuts on.”
Mr Taylor added that he expects a sharp downturn in the real UK economy as the public and companies stop borrowing. “We have never seen anything like this before. This is new territory for us. Liquidity is being pumped into the system but the banks are not taking any notice. This is all about confidence. The more the central banks do, the more the banks seem to ignore what’s going on.”
Bear Stearns Rescue Is `Finger in Dike,’ Scholars Say
Bloomberg
March 17, 2008
With Bear Stearns Cos.’ temporary rescue in place, the $200 billion subprime crisis joins the history of government bailouts to preserve jobs, homes and savings when economic disaster looms.
Ever since Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo shut the New York Stock Exchange for four months in 1914, to prevent foreign investors from cashing out and throwing the U.S. into financial chaos at the outset of World War I, American policy makers routinely have suspended their support for free markets when confronted by economic peril.
“I think the systemic risks dominate right now, which means you’ve got to put your finger in the dike,’’ says William Silber, a finance professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. He is the author of “When Washington Shut Down Wall Street: The Great Financial Crisis of 1914 and the Origins of America’s Monetary Supremacy’’ (Princeton University Press, 232 pages, $27.95).
Bailouts can buy time while policy makers try to defuse panic. Last week, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York provided financial support for Bear Stearns, the fifth-largest U.S. securities firm. It faced eroding investor confidence in the fallout from losses related to securities based on mortgages to the least creditworthy borrowers.
Bear Stearns executives were striving today to strike an agreement to sell the firm to JPMorgan Chase & Co. before financial markets open tomorrow, people with knowledge of the talks said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080317/us_nm/bearstearns_lawsuits_dc
Banks Face New World Order Consolidation
http://www.reuters.com/artic..743541720080317?sp=true
Stocks Widely Mixed on Bear Stearns News
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080317/wall_street.html
Filed under: Alan Greenspan, bear sterns, bernanke, Big Banks, Bill Clinton, catastrophic event, China, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dictatorship, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Federal Reserve, food prices, gas prices, George Bush, global elite, gold, Goldman Sachs, Great Depression, Greenback, Hillary Clinton, House, housing market, imf, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, Japan, new zealand, Northern Rock, Oil, OPEC, peter schiff, Petrol, rate cut, real estate, robert reich, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senate, Stock Market, tax, US Economy, wheat, WW2 | Tags: Larry Elliott
The Federal Reserve Is Destroying America
Lee Rogers
Funny Money Report
March 17, 2008
It is incredible to see the rampant devaluation of the U.S. Dollar. The Federal Reserve just hours ago made a rare cut of 25 basis points during the weekend which will cause even more inflation. Gold immediately moved up $20 an ounce and the U.S. Dollar Index plunged under 71 in international trading. If this type of market activity continues the U.S. Dollar will have no value in a few months. While it is probably unlikely that we will see a hyper-inflationary collapse of the U.S. Dollar within the next few months, these policies are entirely unsustainable. If the Federal Reserve does not move to defend the value of the U.S. Dollar we will eventually see a hyper-inflationary collapse and worldwide financial turmoil. This view is also shared by other well respected financial analysts. Peter Schiff recently raised concerns about a hyper-inflationary collapse of the U.S. Dollar, Robert Reich a former Clinton cabinet member believes we are facing a depression and Alan Greenspan the man who caused this whole mess wrote in the Financial Times stating that we are facing the worst financial crisis since World War II. What’s amazing is that the Federal Reserve isn’t even trying to protect the U.S. Dollar because all they care about is saving the power of their private banking cartel. They don’t care about the U.S. Dollar nor do they care about the country itself. They are destroying this country through their actions and there needs to be an investigation into the controllers of this bank.
A Time For Caution
321 Gold
March 16, 2008
I wrote a piece 10 days ago suggesting caution on the part of my readers. Gold and silver are at bullish extremes; the dollar is at a bearish extreme. In any normal time, we would expect to see a correction, probably violent. I still believe we will have a correction shortly but we may no longer control anything. While the metals and the dollar are showing extremes of emotion, the shares of mining companies still seem to be very bullish based on my read of the XAU over gold.
My readers are smart enough to realize we are not in normal times. We are in a Domino Depression where we can expect two or three hedge funds to collapse every day, banks to go under on a regular basis. Northern Rock collapsed last fall, I for one, cannot understand how the rest of the banking system has not failed.
It’s starting again; we are in uncharted waters where no one quite understands where we are; we’ve never been here before. Bear Sterns crashed on Friday last. On Monday March 17th, President Bush meets with the infamous Plunge Protection Team. The alternatives are everything from a Bank Holiday to a nuclear attack on Iran to Bush declaring a “National Emergency” and naming himself Fuhrer.
One of the very real alternatives is Weimar style inflation. That’s what the government would like to do; it’s a question of if the rest of the world will go along with it. All it would take for a total and immediate failure would be for China or Russia or Japan or Saudi Arabia to dump the dollar.
It’s a time for caution. We SHOULD have a violent correction in gold and silver and the dollar based on emotion and government intervention but we could see $3,000 gold in a week or the start of a living nightmare brought to you by the Gang of Fools in Washington. No one knows.
I’m tempted to say the government’s ability to deceive is far greater than I ever imagined and the stupidity of Americans equally unimagined. We may well coast into Armageddon at a nice measured rate or we could see a freeze-up next week. The time will come when there is a total freeze-up in the banking system and all the banks will close. I just don’t know if it’s next week or not.
It’s a time to be cautious. We are not entering a recession; it’s a full-blown Domino Depression. It’s not a time to be in CDs or Real Estate or speculating in the stock market. You need to own real things of some real value. Our world is changing at an ever-increasing rate. Own some physical gold and pay attention to what is going on.
Leading Economic Writer: Financial Meltdown A “Gigantic Fraud”
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
March 17, 2008
A leading economic journalist has described the current financial crisis as a “gigantic fraud”, the fallout of a deliberate and preconceived profit agenda to enslave the middle classes in a debt bubble.
The economics editor of the London Guardian, Larry Elliott, has hit out at the global financial elite in a refreshing piece that marks a rare shift away from the establishment hackery we are used to from the corporate media.
In an article titled America was conned – who will pay? Elliot writes:
Indeed, it is somewhat surprising that there is not already rioting in the streets, given the gigantic fraud perpetrated by the financial elite at the expense of ordinary Americans.
[…]
Business, of course, needs consumers to carry on spending in order to make money, so a way had to be found to persuade households to do their patriotic duty. The method chosen was simple. Whip up a colossal housing bubble, convince consumers that it makes sense to borrow money against the rising value of their homes to supplement their meagre real wage growth and watch the profits roll in.
As they did – for a while. Now it’s payback time and the mood could get very ugly. Americans, to put it bluntly, have been conned. They have been duped by a bunch of serpent-tongued hucksters who packed up the wagon and made it across the county line before a lynch mob could be formed.
Elliot also states that the debate is now not about whether the US faces a recession, but is about how deep it will be and how long it will last, comparing the downturn to the South Sea Bubble crisis in 1720, and declaring that the “Ponzi securitisation scam has been exposed.”
A Ponzi scheme, named after Charles Ponzi, is one that offers abnormally high short-term returns in order to entice new investors. The high returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays require an ever-increasing flow of money from investors in order to keep the scheme going, meaning it is inevitable that it will eventually collapse.
http://www.bloomberg.com..p;sid=aMVeMY2hvYUI&refer=home
Not Just Recession, Clinton Appointee Talking ‘Depression’
http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20080314131851.aspx
Oil plummets on economy worries
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices
Bernanke May Run Low on `Ammunition’ for Loans, Rates
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news..amp;refer=exclusive
Who Is Responsible for the World Food Shortage?
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/1995/2249_food_intro.html
NZ market hit by US meltdown
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/newsdetail1.asp?storyID=134130
House, Senate endorse tax hikes
http://www.rawstory.com/new..enate_endorse_tax_hikes_03132008.html
Dollars Tough To Sell On Amsterdam
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSL1758265520080317
Gulf States Creep Away From Plunging Dollar
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/march2008/031708_creep_away.htm
IMF, OECD hit alarm buttons for crisis-hit global financial system
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/200803..Aj6Sk0_nk7A4Wj6bi0U.nq7.ucsA
Goldman Sees $175 Oil & Explosive Commodities
http://www.bloomberg.com/app..newsarchive&sid=aUmQ3MBOkx_0
Filed under: Bear Stearns, bernanke, Big Banks, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Federal Reserve, Great Depression, Greenback, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, JP Morgan, rate cut, Stock Market, US Economy, US Treasury
Fed acts Sunday to prevent global bank run Monday
MarketWatch
March 17, 2008
Acting quickly to prevent a run on major global financial firms, the Federal Reserve cut its discount rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.25% and offered to lend money to a longer list of firms than ever before.
The extraordinary weekend moves came as J.P. Morgan Chase sealed a deal to buy Bear Stearns Cos. for just $2 a share backed by up to $30 billion borrowed from the Fed. The Fed board gave its approval to that unique funding arrangement, which guarantees JP Morgan against losses from buying Bear. See full story.
The Fed board also approved the creation of a special lending facility through the New York Fed that would be available to members of its primary dealers list, which includes both commercial banks and investment banks. Investment banks, such as Bear Stearns, have not been allowed to borrow directly from the Fed.
http://voanews.com/english/2008-03-17-voa6.cfm
Dollar Doomsayers Draw Signs From Bernanke Rate Cuts
http://www.bloomberg.com/a..087&sid=aS87YcPKuDDE&refer=worldwide
Filed under: Alan Greenspan, Bear Stearns, bernanke, Big Banks, Britain, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Europe, Federal Reserve, food prices, gas prices, George Bush, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, imf, Income Tax, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, JP Morgan, Oil, Petrol, rate cut, Ron Paul, Stock Market, tax, United Kingdom, US Economy, US Treasury, wheat, WW2
noworldsystem.com note: Immediately after the fed announced the 3.25% cut, gold dramatically hit record lows of around $1004 but the trend right now (Mar 17, 2008 10:57 AM NY Time) is $1013, and is gradually going up, get live quotes for gold! This can get really ugly. . .
Gold futures ease back off $1,033 record
Market Watch
March 17, 2008
Gold futures hit a new record on Monday of nearly $1,034 an ounce before edging back down after the Federal Reserve cut the discount rate by a quarter of a percentage point after JP Morgan Chase & Co. agreed to buy the troubled investment bank, Bear Stearns.
Gold for April delivery stood lately at $1,009.40 in the Comex Division in the New York Mercantile Exchange, after hitting high of $1,033.90 an ounce. Bullion gained 3.4 percent.
The benchmark contract closed Friday’s session at $999.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
“We believe there is a derivative play being unwound,” said Johnathan Barratt, managing director of Sydney-based Commodity Broking Services.
Oil hits record near $112 as dollar slumps
Herald Tribune
March 17, 2008
Oil rose to a record near $112 on Monday as a surprise weekend cut in the Federal Reserve discount rate and the sale of stricken U.S. investment bank Bear Stearns sent the dollar to all-time lows.
U.S. crude for April hit a fresh high of $111.80 a barrel. It was trading $1.15 up at $111.36 a barrel by 9:15 a.m.
May London Brent crude was $1.28 higher at $107.48.
“The recent oil prices have been swayed by the currency moves, including this latest rally to a record,” said Tony Nunan, risk management executive at Tokyo-based Mitsubishi. “The dollar weakness is the factor at the moment.”
Euro touches $1.59, Current Price $1.57
RTE Business
March 17, 2008
The dollar plunged to a fresh record low against the euro this morning as fears about the health of the US economy escalated.
Dealers said an emergency rate cut by the US Federal Reserve only added to the sense of crisis after the near-collapse of US bank Bear Stearns.
The euro struck a new peak of $1.5905 in Tokyo, up from $1.5669 late on Friday in New York. It later slipped back to $1.5770 in volatile European trading amid speculation that central banks could step in to halt the dollar’s decline.
The euro also moved above 78p against sterling.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/682..00779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
Gas Not Alone — Food Prices Way Up, Too
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/..merWatch/main3928372.shtml
Treasury Chief Defends Fed Intervention
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/2008..AvVz8_lzJEF1tmFuhLEGyZ6s0NUE
High Wheat Process Rise Grocery Prices
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/2008031..e/costly_wheat&printer=1
U.S. Dollar Intervention Madness
http://www.howestreet.com/articles/index.php?article_id=5958
UK: Taxman Given Draconian Powers
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv..33629&in_page_id=1770
JP Morgan Closes In On Bear Stearns Buyout
http://online.wsj.com/article..8739825.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Greenspan: Worst Crisis Since World War II
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e..6bc-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
Ron Paul’s Statement On Coinage Debasement
http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=18325
Bush: Economy Is Going Through A ‘Rough Period’
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/Bush.New.York.2.676953.html
U.S. faces severe recession: NBER’s Feldstein
http://biz.yahoo.com..a_economy_feldstein.html?.v=1
What the Price of Gold Is Telling Us
Could we really run out of food?
Fears mount over US economy
Leading Economist: Dollar Faces Outright Collapse
Swiss Franc Rises to Parity With Dollar as Investors Avoid Risk
Filed under: Britain, comex, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Euro, Europe, food prices, foreclosure, gas prices, George Bush, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, jim rogers, nymex, Oil, palladium, Petrol, platinum, rate cut, S&P, silver, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, tax, United Kingdom, US Economy, Wall Street, wheat, White House, Yen
Gold hits new record at $1,009
Bloomberg
March 14, 2008
Gold surged to a record $1,009 an ounce in New York as the Bear Stearns Cos. bailout and a plunging dollar increased demand for the precious metal. Silver also gained.
Bear Stearns got emergency funding from JPMorgan Chase & Co. and the New York Federal Reserve. The securities firm said its cash position had “significantly deteriorated.” The dollar fell to a record against the euro and a 12-year low against the yen. Gold has jumped 19 percent this year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 13 percent.
“Gold’s assault on $1,000 is happening for a good reason,” said James Turk, founder of GoldMoney.com, which had $337 million in gold and silver in storage for investors at the end of February. “Gold is not only an inflation hedge, it’s a catastrophe hedge. Gold is becoming increasingly important as the credit crunch continues to spiral out of control.”
Gold futures for April delivery rose $5.70, or 0.6 percent, to $999.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price reached the highest ever for a most-active contract at 10:45 a.m., topping yesterday’s record of $1,001.50. The metal has tripled in the past five years.
Silver futures for May delivery climbed 23.5 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $20.655 an ounce. The price has gained 38 percent this year.
“Gold at $1,000 is a clear sign of a lack of confidence in the dollar and the Fed’s handling of monetary affairs,” said Adrian Day, president of Adrian Day Asset Management in Annapolis, Maryland.
Oil Hits Record $111, Euro Reaches $1.56
AFP
March 14, 2008
The dollar struck a fresh all-time low against the euro Friday as gold prices traded close to record highs a day after topping 1,000 dollars for the first time on US economic woes.
Oil prices fell on profit-taking after striking an historic peak of 111 dollars per barrel Thursday.
The European single currency reached a record high of 1.5651 dollars in Asian trade Friday, prompting the EU presidency to voice deep concern.
In later European trading the euro stood at 1.5566 dollars, down from 1.5624 late on Thursday in New York.
Jim Rogers: Abolish The Federal Reserve
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6046520409389956642&hl=en
Recent News:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article3542775.eceNew dollar low is ‘not good tidings’: Bush
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/New_dollar_low_is_not_good_tidings__03122008.html
White House Urges Consumers To Spend
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/White_House_urges_US_consumers_to_s_03132008.html
Macy’s Grocery Store: Wheat Shortage is Here
http://www.nationalexpositor.com/News/1083.html
New Purple 5 Dollar Bill Goes Into Circulation
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo..a-na-fivebill14mar14,1,186638.story
Subprime writedowns could hit $285 billion: S&P; Stocks Fall
http://www.reuters.com/article/gc06/idUSWNA706920080313
Feb. foreclosures up 60 percent over year before
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23601813/
Going, going, gone: a rising auction of scary scenarios
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0e63a..00779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
Foreclosure Crisis Has Ripple Effect
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-11-foreclosures_N.htm
Palladium and Platinum Rise
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?..Uaj5A&refer=commodities
Family forced into bankruptcy by government over unpaid taxes of $1.50
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li..article_id=528920&in_page_id=1770
Goldcorp Sees Higher Gold Prices
Dollar falls below 100 yen; Euro hits new record high above 1.56 usd
Expert Fears Dollar Crash As Greenback Hits New Lows
Corporate Media Snowjobs Dollar Crisis
Ron Paul: Fed Injection A Disaster
Ron Paul: A Recession is Tough Medicine
Ron Paul Warns Of Economic Worldwide Collapse
$1,000 Gold Has Officially Arrived: A Warning From Ron Paul
Oil price hits new high of $110 a barrel with no sign of a fall
Gas Prices Rise to New National Record
Goldman Sachs: Oil May Reach $200
OPEC: Oil Spike To Last Through 2008
Fed pumps up liquidity in funding markets to ease credit crunch
Dollar Declines, Fed May Cut Rates 75 Points
Faber: Bernanke Will Destroy Dollar
Press Secretary Perino: I’ll Be Fired If I Talk About the Dollar
Filed under: Big Banks, central bank, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dow, ECB, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, european central bank, fannie mae, Federal Reserve, freddie mac, Great Depression, Greenback, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, liquidation, rate cut, Stock Market, US Economy, US Treasury, Wall Street | Tags: swiss national bank, Term Securities Lending Facility, TSLF
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.
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
Filed under: bernanke, Britain, central bank, Credit Crisis, Dana Perino, DEBT, ECB, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Euro, Europe, european central bank, Federal Reserve, food prices, gas prices, George Bush, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, Iraq, marc faber, Oil, Petrol, rate cut, russian mafia, S&P, Stock Market, United Kingdom, US Economy, Wall Street, War On Terror, Warren Buffett, Yen | Tags: Standard & Poor
Dollar Declines, Fed May Cut Rates 75 Points
Bloomberg
March 10, 2008
The dollar weakened against the euro and approached an eight-year low versus the yen as traders bet the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by at least 75 basis points to avert a recession.
The currency traded within a cent of a record low against the euro as futures indicated 96 percent odds the Fed will cut its benchmark rate to 2.25 percent on March 18, 175 basis points more than the Bank of Japan’s and 175 basis points less than the European Central Bank’s. The U.S. currency weakened against a basket of major trading partners to near the lowest since the index began in 1973.
“What’s been driving the market is U.S. economic developments and expected interest-rate differentials,” said Thanos Papasavvas, head of currency management at Investec Asset Management in London. “This is a weak-dollar story. We would expect the Japanese yen and euro to continue appreciating.”
The dollar fell to 102.33 yen by 7:24 a.m. in New York, from 102.67 yen on March 7, when it slid to 101.43, the lowest since January 2000. It dropped to $1.5364 per euro, from $1.5355 at the end of last week, when it declined to $1.5459 a euro, the weakest level since the European single currency’s debut in 1999.
The yen advanced 0.4 percent to 157.20 per euro as the Cabinet Office said Japan’s equipment orders jumped 19.6 percent in January, the fastest pace in more than seven years.
The U.S. currency declined to $2.0197 against the pound, from $2.0134 on March 7, after a government report showed factory-gate in February inflation matched the fastest annual pace since 1991. The dollar also dropped 0.2 percent to 1.0233 against the Swiss franc and 0.5 percent to 5.1361 Norwegian krone.
Faber: Bernanke Will Destroy Dollar
Market Watch
March 9, 2008
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will “destroy the U.S. dollar” by cutting interest rates, investor Marc Faber said.
Bernanke’s reduction in the target rate for overnight loans between banks to 3 percent has spurred a rout in U.S. stocks and gains in oil and gold prices, said Faber, the Gloom, Boom & Doom report publisher who told investors to buy gold at the start of its six-year rally.
The U.S. is now in a “de-leveraging” phase where banks make fewer loans, stunting economic growth, Faber said. He estimated that a U.S. recession began two or three months ago.
“In the U.S., they pursue essentially economic policies that target consumption, which in my opinion is misguided,” Faber said in an interview with Bloomberg Television from Chicago. “They should pursue economic policies that stimulate capital investment and capital formation.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is down 9.7 percent since Sept. 18, when the Fed began cutting the fed funds target to 3 percent from 5.25 percent. The dollar has lost 9.2 percent of its value versus the euro, crude oil futures gained more than 29 percent and gold added 34 percent during that time.
Further interest-rate cuts may spur inflation and reduce the value of 10- and 30-year Treasuries, Faber said, calling the bonds “a disaster waiting to happen.” Ten-year notes fell to a four-year low of 3.44 on Jan. 22.
Press Secretary Perino: I’ll Be Fired If I Talk About the Dollar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Cvg9deslg
Recent News:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/ne..type=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=52
Buffett warns: $516 trillion Derivative bubble is a disaster waiting to happen
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor..7D&dist=MostReadHome
Studies: Iraq Costs US $12B Per Month
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7372200
Surging costs of groceries hit home
http://www.boston.com/business/person..s_of_groceries_hit_home/
TIPS Show Fed Has Lost Control Of Inflation
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pi..3A0&refer=exclusive
CEO: Russian Mafia in bed with Wall Street
http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/..ays-3252089.shtml
How Low Can The Dollar Go? Zero Value
http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=7231
Fed Doing In The Dollar
http://www.forbes.com/home/currenci..306markets38.html
More Leading Economists Say US Is Now In Recession
http://infowars.net/articles/march2008/100308recession.htm
Central Bankers Voice Food Inflation Fear
http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7366076
Bush: It Is Clear Economy Has Slowed
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.._economy&printer=1
Britain shivers as US hits recession
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article3510563.ece
Rush for biofuels threatens starvation on a global scale
Bush insists US not in recession
Goldman Sachs: Fed May Cut Rate Today
Tons Of Food Rots While Hatians Starve
Carlyle Capital margin calls soar past $400 million
International experts foresee collapse of U.S. economy
$10 A Gallon Gasoline In UK
$5 Gas Prices Spotted in California
Oil May Rise To $120 In Six Months
Golds Hit Record $992, Current Price is $979
Euro Breaks $1.54 Mark, Drops back to $1.53
Oil Prices Hit Record Near $106, Steadies at $105
CNN: A New Depression Might Be Coming
U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive
Filed under: Big Banks, Britain, carlyle group, central bank, citigroup, CNN, Credit Crisis, DEBT, ECB, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Euro, Europe, european central bank, Federal Reserve, food prices, gas prices, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, imf, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, job market, JP Morgan, New York, Oil, OPEC, peter schiff, Petrol, rate cut, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, trilateral commission, United Kingdom, US Economy
Golds Hit Record $992, Current Price is $979
Goldseek
March 6, 2008
THE PRICE OF PHYSICAL gold bullion moved in a tight 0.8% range early Thursday, re-touching yesterday’s new all-time high above $992 per ounce as the US Dollar sank once again.
As the opening drew near in New York – where a small bomb damaged an army recruitment center in Times Square overnight – crude oil jumped to a new record above $105 per barrel.
European stock markets meantime ticked 0.3% lower as the Euro single currency leapt to a new all-time high of $1.5345 after the central bank in Frankfurt kept its interest rates on hold at 4.0%.
“We could see Gold Prices spike this year and hit $1,500 per ounce,” reckons Jay Taylor, editor of the Gold & Technology Stocks newsletter.
Peter Spina of Goldseek.com, also speaking to Reuters, agrees that $1,500 or even $2,000 gold is “definitely possible” in the next year, while Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital says “gold has a shot at $1,200 or even $1,500 this year.
“It is a measure of the value of currencies and will go up as long as central banks continue to devalue currencies.”
Euro Breaks $1.54 Mark, Drops back to $1.53
AP
March 7, 2008
The euro on Friday exceeded US$1.54 for the first time, after the European Central Bank left its benchmark rate unchanged a day earlier and signaled that rate cuts are not expected in the near term.
That sentiment pushed the euro to a new high in European morning trading; it reached US$1.5429 before dropping back slightly to US$1.5395, above the US$1.5370 it bought in New York late Thursday. It was the latest in a string of records for the 15-nation euro this week.
“The euro-dollar has taken another significant level this morning, having breached US$1.5400, and although this may be initiating a degree of profit-taking in the short term, many will remain mindful of Trichet’s hawkish stance and tacit acceptance of a stronger euro at yesterday’s ECB rate-setting meeting,” said James Hughes of CMC Markets, referring to ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet.
European Union businesses said they were starting to feel the pinch, notably from U.S.-based buyers who assert that the high euro makes European goods more expensive.
Meanwhile, the British pound stayed above the US$2 mark for a second day, buying US$2.0132 in European trading, above the US$2.0092 it bought in late New York trading the night before. Like the euro, it jumped higher after the Bank of England kept its own interest rate unchanged at 5.25 percent.
The dollar drifted lower to 101.96 Japanese yen from 103.09 yen on Wednesday.
Oil Prices Hit Record Near $106, Steadies at $105
AP
March 7, 2008
Oil prices were steady Friday after jumping to a trading record near $106 a barrel in the previous session as the dollar’s slide to new lows prompted investors to pump more money into commodities.
Analysts believe the steadily weakening dollar is the reason oil prices have jumped to a number of new inflation-adjusted record highs this week. Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is falling.
“There are expectations that the dollar will go lower, and that’s driving money into commodities,” said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. “Traders now have this mantra: sell the dollar and buy oil, or buy commodities.”
Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 3 cents to $105.44 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore.
The contract rose 95 cents Thursday to settle at a record $105.47 a barrel after earlier spiking to a trading record of $105.97.
CNN: A New Depression Might Be Coming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR7h8NBQU3E
Recent News:
http://www.forex-markets.com/quotes.htm
http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=s
http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news../ousiv/idUSN0551565020080305
Fed Plans to Cut Rates on March 18th
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080305/ap_on..omy&printer=1
New Recession Worry: Bank Failures
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/03/new..dex.htm?postversion=2008030316
Rice Rises To 20 Year Highs
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f40ad5ca-e975-11dc-8365-0000779fd2ac.html
The Fed’s doing more damage than good
http://www.marketwatch.com/n..-4a3c-b756-6fa6fc3c39b1%7D&siteid=rss
Carlyle Group, JPMorgan, and IMF plot strategy to protect wealth funds
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/8813.html
Citigroup To Cut 30,000 Jobs
http://www.cnbc.com/id/23454681
Housing In Deepest Decline Since Depression
http://custom.marketwatch.com..E-D0D3-4AA8-917C-95F7F154AA08}
OPEC Blames Poor U.S. Economy For Oil Prices
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/06/business/06oil.php
Gold Edges Closer to $1,000
Mortgage Foreclosures Rise
Private Sector Sheds 23,000 Jobs
Fed Chief: Mortage Crisis To Continue
Experts Forsee Collapse Of U.S. Economy
Why The Dollar Is So Cheap
Treasury secretary wants to dump pennies
Gold hit record of $989 an ounce, falls back $981
Buffett: US Economy In Recession
Wheat 80% Higher Than A Year Ago
The Federal Reserve’s rescue has failed
The Fed Releases Crisis Preparedness Video
IMF Chief Says Euro Is Overvalued
Platinum Rises To Record – Palladium Rallies
OPEC Expected To Maintain Output
Karl Rove: Redeployment Would Cause Oil Prices to Skyrocket to $200 a Barrel
World Stocks Tumble On U.S. Recession Fears
Soaring Food Prices Imperil U.S. Aid
Asian Markets Tumble On Wall Street Drop
Most Americans Using Credit To Stay Afloat
Stocks fall sharply on economic worries
U.S. Economy: Spending Eroded By Inflation
U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive
Filed under: credit cards, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Euro, Federal Reserve, food prices, gas prices, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, imf, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, Karl Rove, Oil, OPEC, palladium, Petrol, platinum, rate cut, silver, Stock Market, US Economy, Wall Street, Warren Buffett, wheat
Gold hit record of $989 an ounce, falls back $981
Bloomberg
March 4, 2008
Gold declined from a record today in Asia as some investors judged the recent rally overdone. Silver also fell.
Gold has gained 19 percent this year to a record $989.54 yesterday, as the U.S. dollar tumbled to record low against the euro at $1.5274 while the crude oil rose to record $103.95. Dollar gained to $1.5187 at 1:41 p.m. Singapore time and crude oil declined to $102.25.
“There’s been some short-term profit-taking going on this afternoon,” Charles Dowsett, head of structuring and trading of precious metals at ABN Amro Holding NV., said by telephone from Sydney today. “But we are seeing support at $980 level.”
Gold for immediate delivery fell $2.36, or 0.2 percent, to $981.34 at 1:42 p.m. Singapore time, after reaching as low as $979.00.
Buffett: US Economy In Recession
Economists and business heads agree US is in recession, Federal Reserve is doing nothing to counter
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
March 3, 2008
American investor, businessman and philanthropist Warren Buffett is the latest in a string of notable figures to concede that the US economy is now in recession.
Buffett, the largest shareholder and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, and the third-richest person in the world, made the comments in an interview with cable network CNBC.
“I would say, by any commonsense definition, we are in a recession,” Buffett said.
His comments come on the back of an annual letter to shareholders (PDF), which he released Friday along with Berkshire’s 2007 financial report, in which he made similar warnings.
“It’s a certainty that insurance-industry profit margins, including ours, will fall significantly in 2008,” he said. “Prices are down, and exposures inexorably rise. Even if the U.S. has its third consecutive catastrophe-light year, industry profit margins will probably shrink by 4 percentage points or so.
“If the winds roar or the earth trembles, results could be far worse.”
Buffett is one of the most successful investors in the history and an economic expert.
He has previously warned of the expanding trade deficit’s slow devaluation of the dollar and other U.S. assets.
Buffett is not the only notable figure waving the red flag. A survey released last week by the National Association for Business Economics showed that 45 percent of economists are predicting a recession in 2008.
Indeed, economists everywhere are sounding the alarm and asking why the Federal Reserve continues to do little or nothing to counter the rapid downturn as stocks around the world continue to tumble, inflation spirals and the dollar falls to new lows.
“We are becoming increasingly concerned that the authorities in the world do not get it,” said Bernard Connolly, global strategist at Banque AIG. “The extent of de-leveraging involves a wholesale destruction of credit. The risk is that the ‘shadow banking system’ completely collapses,” he said.
“I never thought I would see anything like this in my life,” said James Steele, an HSBC economist in New York.
“The verdict is in. The Fed’s emergency rate cuts in January have failed to halt the downward spiral towards a full-blown debt deflation. Much more drastic action will be needed. As the once unthinkable unfolds, the leaders of global finance dither. For the first time since this Greek tragedy began, I am now really frightened.” writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor for the London Telegraph.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03..slogin&pagewanted=print
The Federal Reserve’s rescue has failed
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money..008/03/03/ccview103.xml
The Fed Releases Crisis Preparedness Video
http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=7064
IMF Chief Says Euro Is Overvalued
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d0ce1520-e918-11dc-8365-0000779fd2ac.html
Platinum Rises To Record – Palladium Rallies
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/ne..GE0YUOiK3xk&refer=commodities
OPEC Expected To Maintain Output
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/03/business/EU-FIN-OPEC-Meeting.php
Karl Rove: Redeployment Would Cause Oil Prices to Skyrocket to $200 a Barrel
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/02/rove-oil-iraq/
World Stocks Tumble On U.S. Recession Fears
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2008..80303123807&printer=1
Soaring Food Prices Imperil U.S. Aid
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23418142
Asian Markets Tumble On Wall Street Drop
http://money.aol.com/news/articles..et-drop/n20080302230409990004
Most Americans Using Credit To Stay Afloat
http://www.usatoday.com/money/p..28-credit-cards_N.htm
Stocks fall sharply on economic worries
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080229/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street
U.S. Economy: Spending Eroded By Inflation
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/new..arFDNXdz_IKY&refer=home
Filed under: bernanke, Big Banks, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Federal Reserve, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, rate cut, Stock Market, US Economy, Wall Street
Fed Chief Signals Another Rate Cut
Bernanke Says Fed’s Priority Is Shoring Up the Economy, Pledges to Cut Interest Rates
AP
February 27, 2008
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Congress that the nation is in for a period of sluggish business growth and sent a fresh signal Wednesday that interest rates will again be lowered to steady the teetering economy.
“The economic situation has become distinctly less favorable” since the summer, the Fed chief told the House Financial Services Committee.
Since Bernanke’s last such comprehensive assessment last summer, the housing slump has worsened, credit problems have intensified and the job market has deteriorated. Bernanke said that the confluence of these factors has turned people and businesses alike toward a more cautious attitude toward spending and investment. This, he said, has further weakened the economy.
Incoming barometers continue to “suggest sluggish economic activity in the near term,” Bernanke told lawmakers. At the same time, he added, the Fed must keep a close eye on inflation given the recent run-up in energy and other prices paid by consumers and businesses.
Were energy prices to continue to rise at a sharp clip — which the Fed doesn’t anticipate — it would “create a very difficult problem” for the economy. It would spread inflation and would put another damper on growth, Bernanke said. If that happened, he added, it would be a “very tough situation.”
For now though, the No. 1 battle is shoring up the economy.
Bernanke pledged anew to slice a key interest rate to help the wobbly economy, which many fear is on the verge of a recession — or possibly has already toppled into one.
The Fed “will act in a timely manner as needed to support growth and to provide adequate insurance against downside risks,” Bernanke said, hewing closely to assurances he offered earlier this month.
The central bank, which started lowering a key interest rate in September, has recently turned much more aggressive. Over the span of just eight days in January, it slashed rates by 1.25 percentage points — the biggest one-month reduction in a quarter century. Economists and Wall Street investors predict the Fed will cut rates again at its next meeting on March 18.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080229/..d_credit_crisis&printer=1
Bernanke: ‘I expect there will be [bank] some failures’
http://www.cnbc.com/id/2338..%7Cquote%7Ctext%7C&par=yahoo
Filed under: bernanke, Credit Crisis, DEBT, ECB, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Euro, european central bank, Federal Reserve, food prices, foreclosures, gas prices, George Bush, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, Iraq, Oil, palladium, Petrol, platinum, rate cut, silver, south africa, stagflation, sterling, Stock Market, US Economy, wheat
Gold powers to record on oil, eyes $1,000
Reuters
February 29, 2008
Gold powered to a new high near $980 an ounce on Friday after crude oil set an all-time high of above $103 a barrel, igniting inflation worries and another round of buying from investors and speculators.
Palladium jumped to its highest level in more than six years and silver hit a 27-year peak. Platinum rebounded from its lows but given the absence of new developments in South Africa’s supply problems, gains are likely to be capped.
Gold jumped as high as $975.90 an ounce, up from $968.90/969.70 late in New York on Thursday. Gold has gained more than 16 percent this year, and the next upside target pegged by dealers is $1,000.
Record high oil and expectations of more interest rate cuts in the United States add to inflation pressures, elevating gold’s appeal as a hedge against rising prices, while volatile stock markets have encouraged investors to shift some of their money into gold and other precious metals.
“The target is $1,000. I personally hope it will be $1,000 within a month,” said Yukuji Sonoda, precious metals analyst at Daiichi Commodities in Tokyo, adding that gold was likely be driven by movements in oil in coming weeks. Crude oil rallied to another record above $103 a barrel as Ecuador shut a key export pipeline and a fire hit a major European natural gas plant.
While oil is at a record price in inflation-adjusted as well as nominal terms, gold has lagged. According to analysts at GFMS gold’s inflation-adjusted record is $2,079 an ounce.
“Most of the funds are buying inflation hedges such as gold, silver and oil. It’s still a bull market, where hedge funds and banks buy precious metals,” said William Kwan, a dealer at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
“I think inflation is really getting out of hand. I am looking at $955 for support and resistance at $985,” said Kwan, who pegged upside target for silver at $20.
Silver rose as high as $19.92 an ounce, its highest in 27 years, up from $19.74/19.79 an ounce in New York.
Oil Tops $103 For The First Time In History
AP
February 29, 2008
Oil prices briefly surpassed $103 a barrel for the first time Friday as persistent weakness in the U.S. dollar and the prospect of lower interest rates attracted fresh money to the oil market.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped to a new trading record of $103.05 a barrel in electronic trading before slipping back to $102.02 a barrel, down 57 cents, by midday in Europe.
On Thursday, the contract jumped $2.95 to a record settlement price of $102.59 a barrel.
Prices were supported by comments Thursday from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who said the American economy is not immediately threatened with stagflation, a combination of economic weakness and rising inflation.
Investors chose to see the comments as confirmation of their beliefs that the Fed will continue cutting interest rates to try to shore up the economy.
“It seems that further interest rate cuts, additional dollar weakness and more investment buying will anchor oil to higher prices,” energy risk management firm Cameron Hanover said in its daily report. “It can’t go on forever, but it looks like it can go on for a while.”
Euro hits fresh high against dollar
Financial Times
February 29, 2008
The dollar hit another record low against the euro on Friday, as data continued to support the view that the European Central Bank will keep interest rates on hold for the foreseeable future.
Headline inflation in the eurozone stood at 3.2 per cent in January, tallying with earlier estimates and market expectations as food and energy prices leapt. Meanwhile, unemployment in the eurozone held at a record low of 7.1 per cent in January.
“With headline inflation running at a 14-year high and the lingering threat of second round effects, it is premature for the ECB to switch to an easing bias in their policy stance just yet,” said Martin van Vliet at ING.
While the ECB remained unlikely to cut eurozone interest rates at its next policy meeting on Thursday, markets were fully pricing in a cut of 50 basis points at the US Federal Reserve’s meeting on March 18.
“Markets are probably wisely bracing themselves for further monetary policy divergence between the US and eurozone over the next few months,” added Mr van Vliet.
The euro rose to a record high of $1.5238, before retreating to $1.5206, little changed on the session.
Recent News:
Sterling falls to all-time low vs. euro
http://uk.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUKL297106920080229
Bush: U.S. Is Not Headed Into Recession
http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=6947
U.S. Home Sales At Lowest Levels In 13 Years
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/27/content_7682150.htm
Video: Why the price of wheat has skyrocketed over the past year
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4320837
Bernanke: U.S. Not Facing 1970s-Style Stagflation
http://www.reuters.com/article/reute..0846020080228?sp=true
Bush & Bernanke Lie About Economic Crisis
http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=6967
Silver Now Outperforming Gold
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/watson/watson022808.html
Iraq war may cost US USD 7 trillion
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=45204§i..3510203
The U.S. Dollar Is Being Destroyed
http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=6920
Potato growers warn of food shortages unless pay improves
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/25/2171765.htm
U.S. Home Foreclosures Jump 90% as Mortgages Reset
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/n..=azx0LzcT19ao&refer=us
Iraq war ’caused slowdown in the US’
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23286149-2703,00.html
$4 Gasoline By Spring Predicted
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/27/business/26gasweb.php
USD Falls To Record, Jobless Claims Rise
Bernanke Acknowledges Economic Trouble
Government To Lift Fannie & Freddie Limits
City watchdog warns of ‘permanent’ end to easy credit in wake of crunch
Bank Of America Won’t Let You Access Your Money
Carlyle To Invest $4 Billion In Asian Companies
California City Moves Closer to Bankruptcy Filing
Ron Paul: Bernanke Deliberately Destroying Dollar
Middle Class May Be Subject To Food Rations, Warns UN
Shoppers Warned Food Prices Set To Rise
Traitor Greenspan Urges Gulf States To Abandon Dollar
Stiglitz Blames Greenspan For Recession
Filed under: 2008 Election, bernanke, Congress, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Euro, Federal Reserve, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, Income Tax, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, middle class, rate cut, Ron Paul, Stock Market, US Economy
Ron Paul: Bernanke Deliberately Destroying Dollar
Congressman schools Fed chairman again during House Financial Services Committee meeting, warns “history is against you”
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
February 27, 2008
Congressman Ron Paul slammed Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke during a House Financial Services Committee meeting today for following a policy of deliberately destroying the dollar and wiping out the American middle class.
Paul held Bernanke to task over his refusal to address the decline of the dollar and its clear link to inflation.
“Inflation comes from the unwise increase in the supply of money credit….to argue that we can continue to debase the currency, which is really the policy of that you’re following, purposely debasing value of currency – which to me seems so destructive….it just puts more pressure on the federal reserve to create capital out of thin air in order to stimulate the economy and usually that just goes into mal-investment,” said Paul.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yybFGh1sUcQ
Paul highlighted the fact that the M3 money supply was rising at a rate of 16 per cent and that this was the real rate of inflation.
“History is against you,” Paul told Bernanke, “History is on the side of hard money – if you look at stable prices you have to look at the only historic sound money that’s lasted more than a few years – fiat money always ends, gold is the only thing where you get stable prices,” he added, pointing out that despite the price of oil’s rapid ascent, it had remained flat when compared to the price of gold.
“I cannot see how we can continue to accept the policy of deliberately destroying the value of money as an economic value,” said Paul, adding that the policy was “immoral,” and would lead to a reduction in American’s living standards and “the middle class being wiped out.”
Asked how he could defend a policy of deliberately depreciating the dollar, Bernanke stumbled through his response and was basically forced to agree with Paul’s point.
Paul’s comments come on the day that the dollar hit its all time low against the Euro.
Earlier this week, former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan laid the groundwork for the further collapse of the greenback by encouraging Gulf states to abandon their dollar peg.
Watch Paul’s opening statement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EQ1sg6GhZE
Filed under: Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, engineered recession, Federal Reserve, gas prices, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, JP Morgan, Oil, Petrol, rate cut, south africa, Stock Market, US Economy
New record for gold price at $923
BBC
January 25, 2008
The price of gold has set another record high, reaching $923 an ounce, after power cuts in South Africa closed mines and fuelled supply fears.
The metal was also boosted by the rise in oil prices. New York crude jumped $1.19 a barrel, extending heavy gains on Thursday to trade close to $91.
Gold is seen as an attractive investment in times of economic uncertainty and oil-led inflation.
Gold prices increased by more than 30% in 2007 and further gains are forecast.
Gold rush
Since the start of the year, the gold price has set a series of records, as many companies have predicted weaker earnings and global lending markets remain troubled.
Worries that the dollar will remain weak as a result of further US interest rate cuts are another factor behind the gold rush.
JP Morgan analysts forecast in a note to clients that gold could reach between $950 and $975 this year.
“Precious metals is a very strong picture,” said Graham Birch, head of BlackRock’s Natural Resources fund.
The rally was exacerbated by the suspension of production at some of the world’s biggest gold mines in South Africa, after the country’s state power supplier, Eskom, said it could not guarantee supplies.
Eskom said the power crisis would last for four weeks, but many observers expect the problems to persist for many years.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59876
Filed under: Alan Greenspan, bernanke, black monday, Britain, Canada, central bank, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dow, ECB, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Europe, european central bank, european union, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, John McCain, liquidation, Paul Craig Roberts, platinum, rate cut, Stock Market, United Kingdom, US Economy
Forget 1987, This Could Be 1929 All Over Again
Analyst says economic winter could last 8 years, worst is yet to come
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
January 24, 2008
The huge debt bubble, which has artificially propped up the stock market since the turn of the millennium, could cause a new great depression according to one expert, who also predicts that investors will flock to buy gold as the dollar continues to plummet.
Financial analysts have been drawing comparisons between this week’s chaos and the October 19 1987 crash, known as Black Monday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by over 22 per cent and markets sunk worldwide.
But Vancouver-based investment adviser Ian Gordon has gone a step further, seeing clear parallels between current events and those that foreshadowed the 1929 crash and ensuing depression.
“We’re really seeing a mirror image of what happened following the [19]29 peak in equity prices in the United States, and the subsequent crash in equities,” Gordon told the Georgia Straight. “We’re seeing really the mirror of…the huge debt bubble that was built into the economy in the ’20s in the United States. We’re now seeing the collapse of the debt bubble that was built into the world economies, but principally in the United States.”
Gordon levels the blame at Alan Greenspan for creating a huge bubble by injecting too much money into the system in an attempt to offset the “economic winter” that inevitably arrives as part of the boom and bust cycle of the fiat money system, arguing that the realistic peak in the stock market occurred in 2000.
Gordon predicts that the “economic winter” will last another 7 or 8 years and that the worst is yet to come, with the continued meltdown of the dollar causing people to flock to the safe haven of gold.
“As this whole collapse in paper assets begins to unfold, causing tremendous strain on the banking system, we will see a tremendous rush to gold, to own gold,” he said. “But I think the worst is definitely in front of us, and not behind us.”
Gordon slammed the huge 75 points rate cut as ineffective, arguing that neither banks or consumers want to engage because of the crippling problems of their existing debts.
The analyst’s conclusions are in line with those of Paul Craig Roberts, the father of Reaganomics, who on Tuesday warned that the mess could result in the dollar losing its status as the world reserve currency.
Roberts also cautioned that the rush to diversify into gold could make people’s assets a target for government confiscation, as happened in 1933, four years after the great depression.
SocGen raises questions over Fed rate cut
FT
January 24, 2008
The Federal Reserve had no inkling about Société Générale’s firesale of stock futures following the discovery of a rogue trader when the US central bank made its emergency interest rate cut.
The question being asked by some in the markets is: was the Fed duped into a clumsy and panicked move by the clean-up operation for Jérôme Kerviel’s mammoth losses for the French bank?
There are many prepared to believe that, without SocGen’s huge derivatives sales, the mood in the stock markets would not have been half as bleak.
“It is now clear that the Fed was panicked into a 75 basis point rate cut by the actions of a rogue trader and the bank’s unwinding of his positions,” said one London-based hedge fund manager. “The action also clearly suggests that their French and ECB counterparts did not tell them what had happened at SocGen.”
Read Full Article Here
Purchasing Power Of The DOW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjS60TaD_J8
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/m..01/24/bcnstig124.xml
A full-blown, prolonged recession in America is now inescapable
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article3239801.ece
Crisis far from over, even with emergency cut
http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN2254342920080123
Home Prices Fell in ’07 for First Time in Decades
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/..michael_m_grynbaum/index.html?inline=nyt-per
Central Bankers Confront A New Inflation Calculus
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120120201437714141.html
John McCain: ‘Underpinnings Of Economy Are Strong’
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/23/mccain-economy-strong/
Offers Buyouts In U.S.
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Business/2008/01/25/4792939-sun.html
Power Cuts Hits Platinum Production
http://www.platinum.matthey.com/media_room/1201266015.html
Bernanke In Hot Seat As Turmoil Spikes
http://www.breitbart.com/article..0057.eedjec8e&show_article=1
U.S. budget deficit likely to hit $250 billion this year as economy weakens
http://canadianpress.google.com/ar..kEBzG_OtLzsyA
Mad Money Cramer Wants Investigation of Federal Reserve
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Uj5t-O2mHH0
Top Economist Warns Of “Serious Breakdown” In World Financial System
http://www.prisonplanet.c.._serious_breakdown.htm
Bank of England Governor hints at rate cut as global markets bounce back
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages..489&in_page_id=1770&ct=5
Filed under: bernanke, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Federal Reserve, Great Depression, Greenback, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, Jim Cramer, Mad Money, rate cut, Stock Market, US Economy
Cramer Wants Investigation of Federal Reserve
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Uj5t-O2mHH0
Filed under: Alex Jones, bernanke, Big Banks, Britain, central bank, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Europe, european union, Federal Reserve, George Bush, george soros, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, India, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, job market, offshoring, Paul Craig Roberts, pound, rate cut, Stock Market, US Economy, Wall Street, WW2
Top Economist Warns Of “Serious Breakdown” In World Financial System
Father of Reaganomics warns that massive interest rate cut could undermine dollar’s status as world reserve currency
Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
January 22, 2008
Father of Reaganomics and former editor of the Wall Street Journal Paul Craig Roberts today warned that the Fed’s shock 75 basis points interest rate cut would only succeed in putting average families through the ringer and could even portend the collapse of the dollar as the world reserve currency.
Speaking on The Alex Jones Show, Roberts said that average hard working families, and not money casino cowboy shareholders, would be the biggest victims of the latest downturn as a recession looms on the back of the surprise rate cut.
“The more important thing is the hardship for the average American family – many of them have not had any real increase in their income for years and they’ve lost jobs to offshoring, they’ve lost jobs to work visas for foreigners and now they’re confronted with losing jobs to recession,” said Roberts.
“They also are heavily indebted and have used up their home equity in consumption and many of them now have mortgages that threaten them with being homeless and so I think the worst part of this will not be felt by Wall Street and banks and shareholders but by the average American family – I think they’re now going to go through the ringer,” he concluded.
Roberts speculated on the impact that today’s rate cut would have on the dollar, further undermining its position as the world reserve currency.
“It is true that in the long run the decline of the dollar could cause it to lose its reserve currency role and if another currency has a rythm to take its place, it would be very hard to conduct international trade on the basis that it is now where you have a reserve currency that one accepts in payment,” said Roberts, adding that the massive interest rate cut today only signalled more inflation despite the tax rebate.
Roberts said that he expected the economic decline to be slow and gradual, but that it was inevitable that the living standards of Americans would drop, similar to when the pound lost 80 per cent of its value during the two world wars and lost its status as a world reserve currency.
Roberts said that the only solution to the current crisis was to cut the current defense budget in half and halt the offshoring of jobs by U.S. corporations.
“If they can’t do anything about that the world is going to conclude that the dollar is not going to be the reserve currency forever and they’ll start getting out from under it in larger ways and then that pressure on the dollar will mount and become stronger and it will completely cancel the ability to do anything about the domestic economy – whether it’s in recession or depression,” said Roberts, adding that a “real serious breakdown,” the likes of which have not been witnessed so far, will occur if these issues are not addressed.
Roberts said that it was difficult for ordinary people to diversify and find a safe haven because if they bought gold they would become a target for government theft just as happened in 1933.
Roberts added that a total breakdown of the global economy would take place, “If the destruction of the dollar’s role as world reserve currency continues and there’s not a clear alternative that arrives to take its place,” warning that it was the biggest danger and there would be “no way to survive” its impact.
Soros Predicts Worst Recession In 50 Years
First Post
January 22, 2008
Amid collapsing stock prices worldwide, the billionaire investor George Soros has told an Austrian daily, the Standard, that the United States is threatened with recession and the world is facing the worst financial crisis in half a century. “The situation is much more serious than any other financial crisis since the end of World War II,” Soros was quoted as saying.
He said over the past few years politics had been guided by some basic misunderstandings stemming from something that he called “market fundamentalism” – the belief that financial markets tended to act as a balance. “This is the wrong idea,” he said. “We really do have a serious financial crisis now.”
He added he was surprised how little it was understood that a US recession was also a threat to Europe. European shares duly fell nearly six per cent on Monday, their biggest one-day slide since 9/11.
Meanwhile in Mumbai, some market analysts are suggesting Soros shorted the Indian markets last week. Over 15 years after he shorted the British pound in September 1992 and earned one billion dollars, local market sources say one of Soros’s funds may have shorted the Nifty last week.
Filed under: 9/11, Australia, Bank of England, Britain, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, Europe, european union, FTSE, global economy, Great Depression, Greenback, hong kong, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, Japan, Mervyn King, rate cut, Stock Market, US Economy
Bank of England Governor hints at rate cut as global markets bounce back
UK Daily Mail
January 23, 2008
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has given the strongest indication yet that an interest rate cut is imminent.
In a speech to the Institute of Directors in Bristol last night, King appeared to put pressure on the Committee to follow the Fed and cut rates.
He said that although inflation remains an “issue” the current interest rate of 5.5 per cent is “probably bearing down on demand.”
Although London’s leading shares jumped almost 100 points as the market opened the FTSE has continued to slide since then.
At 9.30am today it had dropped to 5702 after opening at 5839
In Asia, investors woke up to news of the shock rate cut this morning and the Nikkei index in Japan, the Australian Stock Exchange and the benchmark Hang Seng in Hong Kong leapt as investors scrabbled for bargains.
After Monday’s stock market turmoil, the U.S. Federal Reserve hit the panic button yesterday, slashing rates by 0.75 percentage points to 3.5 per cent.
The move has led to increasing pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates by 0.5 per cent.
In a desperate bid to calm the global stock market meltdown, the rate cut was even bigger than the emergency cut which followed 9/11.
Filed under: 9/11, Australia, Bank of America, Bear Stearns, bernanke, Big Banks, bilderberg, black monday, bonds, Britain, central bank, CFR, Credit Crisis, DEBT, Dow, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, engineered recession, Europe, european union, Federal Reserve, foreign buyout, FTSE, gas prices, George Bush, global economy, gold, Great Depression, Greenback, hong kong, housing market, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, Merrill Lynch, Northern Rock, Oil, Oppenheimer, Petrol, rate cut, Russia, S&P, Stock Market, tax rebates, US Economy, Wall Street
Fed Cuts Interest Rates 75 Basis Points
AP
January 22, 2008
The Federal Reserve, confronted with a global stock sell-off fanned by increased fears of a recession, slashed a key interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point on Tuesday and indicated further rate cuts were likely.
The surprise reduction in the federal funds rate from 4.25 down to 3.5 percent marked the biggest funds rate cut on records going back to 1990.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues took the action after an emergency video conference on Monday night, a day when global markets had been pounded by rising concerns that weakness in the world’s largest economy was spreading worldwide.
Despite the Fed’s bold move, Wall Street plunged at the opening. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 311.99 points in the first hour of trading.
In a brief statement explaining its move, the Fed said that “appreciable downside risks to growth remain” and officials pledged to “act in a timely manner” to deal with the risks facing the economy. The action was approved on an 8-1 vote.
Analysts said the fact that the Fed did not wait until its meeting next week to cut rates underscored the seriousness of the situation.
“The world’s stock markets are in meltdown so the Fed came in with an inter-meeting move to try to stop the panic,” Christopher Rupkey, senior economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
The Bush administration, which had announced on Friday that President Bush supported a $150 billion economic stimulus package, said Tuesday that it was not ruling out doing more than the $150 billion proposal if necessary.
Many analysts said if the carnage continues in stock markets, the Fed will move to cut rates again at its Jan. 29-30 meeting.
“This move is not an instant fix,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics. “The economy is still staring recession in the face, but at least the Fed now gets it.”
‘Fed may keep cutting interest rates’
Western Mail
January 23, 2008
There could be more interest rate cuts to come as the US Federal Reserve tries to head off recession.
Howard Archer of Global Insight said the prospect of a US recession suggests the Fed may keep cutting rates.
Yesterday’s surprise decision to cut US rates by 0.75% helped rally London’s FTSE-100 index, after £76bn had been wiped off its value on Monday. The index of leading shares closed 161.9 up at 5740.1, a gain of 2.9% after Monday’s 5.5% fall.
The Fed’s cut to 3.50% was its first emergency move since 2001 and the largest single reduction since 1984.
Mr Archer of Global Insight said “The Fed did not directly reference Monday’s global stock-market meltdown in its announcement, merely noting that ‘broader financial market conditions have continued to deteriorate’. It focused upon the weakening outlook for growth.”
US rates ‘heading for 2.5% by the spring’
The Scotsman
January 23, 2008
American interest rates are set to tumble as low as 2.5 per cent by early spring as US policymakers battle to restore stability to a faltering economy.
Economists said they expected the Federal Reserve to have shaved another full point off borrowing costs by its scheduled April meeting.
The prediction came after yesterday’s surprise three-quarter-point cut to 3.5 per cent – a move that appeared to have only limited success in restoring investor confidence.
Bonds jumped sharply, with two-year notes falling to their lowest in nearly four years, as investors prepared for still more rate- cutting.
In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index of Britain’s biggest companies closed 161.9 points or nearly 3 per cent higher at 5,740.1 following a rollercoaster session and the previous day’s 323-point battering.
Nigel Gault, chief US economist at forecasting body Global Insight, said the prospect of “at least a mild US recession” suggested the Fed was “far from done cutting rates”.
He added: “We now expect the Fed to cut another cumulative 100 basis points off interest rates. The next instalment will probably come at the formal meeting on 30 January – another 25 or 50 basis points. We would expect to hit 2.5 per cent by the April meeting.”
Yesterday’s decision to slash interest rates came a week before the US central bank’s regularly scheduled meeting, a sign that it acknowledges that the global financial situation is serious.
David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors, said the Fed could move again between meetings, should conditions deteriorate further, and predicted the Fed would lower interest rates to 3 per cent by the end of March.
Earlier this month, leading investment bank Merrill Lynch said the US economy was already in recession.
Some analysts pointed to a panic move by the Fed, which is headed by chairman Ben Bernanke. Michael Metz, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer in New York, said: “Unfortunately the Fed] have no power to reverse what in my opinion is the worst post-war recession.”
Recent News:
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/01/23/afx4561857.html
http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2008/01/23/afx4561918.html
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2008/012308_crash_now.htm
Market’s Wild Ride Ends With Dow at 15-Month Low
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/business/23cnd-stox.html?hp
Fed Rate Cut Seen As Once In A Generation
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=9418610
Federal Reserve slashes US rates on day when ‘chaos reigned supreme’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jan/22/useconomy.marketturmoil1
World’s Largest Bond Insurers Collapsing!
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/Issues.aspx?NewsletterEntryId=1381
Tuesday Could Bring 1,000 Point Drop in Dow
http://www.247wallst.com/2008/01/a-1000-point-dr.html
All signs point to U.S. consumers hunkering down in recession bunkers
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/serv.ZA18/TPStory/Business
Foreigners Buy Stake In USA At Record Pace
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01..partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
Bank of America net sinks 95 percent
http://www.reuters.com/articl..r=1&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
Oil falls below $89 as stock markets plunge
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080121/markets_oil.html?.v=1
Horror day for Australian stock market
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23089611-2,00.html
Russian shares tumble as panic grips world markets
http://www.russiatoday.ru/business/news/19933
Current financial crisis was topic of Bilderberg 2006
http://rinf.com/alt-news/new-world-..s-topic-of-bilderberg-2006/2277/
The Coming Global Depression
Bear Stearns: The Fed Will Cut Rates AGAIN Next Week
World stock markets fall
Hopes of global rate cut sparks FTSE revival after early morning slump
Black Monday: recession fears spark global share crash
Biggest fall in shares since September 11
When governments print money, buy gold
Gold rallies back to the 890 usd mark after emergency Fed rate cut
Stocks Plunge Despite Fed Rate Cut
Surprise rate cut sparks dollar sell-off
Global markets dropped 5% overnight
Market drops on recession fear
Wall Street set to open lower
Wall St execs collect $US33b bonuses
Asian Markets Continue Slide
Futures plunge on U.S. recession fears
US recession fears wipe £77bn from London shares
Recession fears weigh on markets
Emergency: Global Financial Markets Collapsing
HK shares dive, China plays in worst day in 10 yrs
Will the Economic Crash Wake People Up?
U.S. slide an expanding threat
Britain Unveils Northern Rock Buy Out Plan
CFR: The ‘Historical Anomaly’ of the Dollar
Banks to suffer into ’09 as credit crunch drags: S&P
Tax Rebates Urged To Rescue Economy
U.S. economy teeters on the brink
7-Year Plan Aligns Europe With U.S. Economy
Filed under: Alan Greenspan, central bank, China, Credit Crisis, DEBT, ECB, Economic Collapse, economic depression, Economy, european central bank, Federal Reserve, gas prices, gas tax, global economy, gold, Goldman Sachs, Great Depression, Greenback, housing market, Inflation, interest rate cut, interest rate cuts, job market, john paulson, Northern Rock, Oil, Petrol, rate cut, Stock Market, subprime, subprime lending, unemployment, US Economy, US Treasury, Wall Street, Yen
Greenspan joins firm that made billions betting against the housing market
Reuters
January 15, 2008
Hedge fund manager John Paulson, who earned billions of dollars last year by betting against the housing market, said on Tuesday that former Federal Reserve board chairman Alan Greenspan will advise his firm.
Greenspan, whose words can still move financial markets, will advise Paulson on the global economy for an undisclosed amount of money, the hedge fund said in a statement.
By joining the New York-based fund, Greenspan becomes the latest former Washington insider to work in the fast growing $2 trillion hedge fund industry. Former Treasury Secretaries Lawrence Summers and John Snow provide advice to D.E. Shaw and Cerberus.
Goldman Sachs Hints at $1000 Gold and $135 Oil
24/7 Wallstreet
January 16, 2008
Goldman Sachs is RAISING ITS 2008 GOLD FORECASTS factoring for a recession in the U.S. in both Q2 and Q3 2008, leading to a weaker U.S. Dollar target of $1.51/Euro (up from $1.35) over the next six months. The prior $800/ounce gold target is now put at an average of $915/ounce for all of 2008, with an exit 2008 commodity price of $850 (up from $825 prior). The call is based on support from investment demand, purchases from emerging market central banks, and the ongoing declining mine supplies.
Goldman Sachs is also raising its 2009 and 2010 gold prices:
2009 prices are now expected to be $870/ounce (up from $852);
2010 prices are now expected to be $940/ounce (up from $907);
Near-term Goldman Sachs notes a possibility of a spike past $1,000.00 that could be the effect of further credit events and increases in oil prices.
http://money.cnn.com/200..llar.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008011605
Shares in freefall as recession hits
http://www.financemarkets.c..s-in-freefall-as-recession-hits/
ECB warns crashing dollar may stop Fed cuts
http://www.telegr..14/bcnfedcut114.xml&CMP=ILC-mostviewedbox
Top economist blames Fed for sub-prime crisis
http://www.telegraph.co.u..=/money/2008/01/13/ccschwartz113.xml
Inflation Up by Largest Amount in 17 Years
http://www.foxbusiness.com/mar..se-03-december_438734_3.html
Citigroup May Write Down Up To $24 Billion, Lay Off 20,000 Workers
http://www.cnbc.com/id/22639976/
Wall Street braces for more losses
http://money.cnn.com/..m?postversion=2008011608
Shadow spreads across the US economy
http://www.theaustralian.new..197,23046413-5015025,00.html
Transit Panel Urges Gas Tax Increase
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/tran..rease/n20080115033009990021
Bankers Throw In Towel On Northern Rock
http://www.telegraph.co.u..oney/2008/01/12/cnnrock112.xml
“U.S. Economy Screwed”: Henry Blodget
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/01/us-economy-screwedexperts.html
Largest Saudi Bank Urges Dollar Depeg
http://www.ft.com/cms..ac.html?nclick_check=1
Crisis may make 1929 look a ‘walk in the park’
Wholesale Prices Up 6.7% In 2007
Breaking phase ahead for the global financial system in 2008
Traders betting oil will hit $200 a barrel in 2008
Gold Futures Rise to Record $900.10
Weaker dollar likely to push gold over $1,000-mark
noworldsystem.com 