noworldsystem.com


Why Gold Is Down When It Should Be Up

Why Gold Is Down When It Should Be Up

Alex_Wallenwein
The Market Oracle
October 13, 2008

Why is gold dropping right now when anyone in their sane mind would expect it to rise? The simple answer to this question is, “because Comex-gold isn’t gold” – and because it deceptively pretends to be ‘the’ price-setter for real gold.

Gold is gold, paper is paper, and “Comex gold” is nothing but paper masquerading as gold while simultaneously pretending to be the price-setting medium for actual gold in the world. Now, finally, Comex-gold is in the process of being unmasked.

The real supply and demand determinants for Comex gold are not actual gold investors but fund managers . Fund managers are inextricably intertwined with the world of contract-based credit instruments. They use bet on Comex gold contracts to hedge their other (currently horrendously losing) bets with something they all, in their in-bred belief in paper markets, believe will ‘go up’ in value while everything else is going down.

However, these very same fund managers and their paper-bound investment psychology are the exclusive reason why Comex gold is dropping in these times when everyone (including fund managers) expects gold to rise. As already stated, though, and as they now finally realize to their own dismay, Comex-gold just isn’t gold – and that causes even further selling.
Two Losing Bets, Compounded

Fund managers’ other bets are losing money fast, now, so they need to raise cash to keep up the overall value of their respective funds, so they can earn their management bonuses and avoid getting booted for lack of relative performance. Guess what they cash in on? The very same Comex paper-gold they mistakenly bought as a ‘hedge’, of course.

Meanwhile, real investors in real gold are enjoying their shopping spree – except that the spree turned into a treasure hunt as the shelves and display cases of gold dealers look more and more like the supermarket shelves in the old Soviet Union – bare.

This is the only ‘bare-market’ in real gold the world will see for a long, long time to come.

With this split, this disconnect, between Comex illusion and gold reality, one thing or the other will have to give, and it won’t be physical gold that gives.

The system built up around the reputation of Comex-gold as being a price-setting mechanism for real gold plays right into the hands of the financial establishment. The establishment depends for its (now increasingly meager) existence on the illusion that gold “isn’t living up to its promise” as a real inflation and disaster hedge. The implication, of course, is that investors might as well stay in the computer blip and paper world.

As the Comex gold price illusion drops, many retail investors are still persuaded to keep their money circulating in the paper world, and that ultimately feeds the system. Of course, by now that ‘feeding’ mechanism looks more like life-support, but try and unhook someone who is on life-support. The results are dramatic, inevitable, immediate – and final.

Yet, even on life-support, the system is deteriorating at a catastrophic pace. It would be hilarious to watch if it wasn’t for the fact that we are all depending on this phony system for our real-life support. Without credit freely circulating through the commercial paper universe, for example, grocery stores won’t have food on their shelves, there won’t be gas a the gas station, and your bank will be shut. Cash doesn’t transfer very well without the bank settlement process.

That’s the problem.

Read Full Article Here

 

COMEX Gold Drops $681 on October 24, 2008

 



Gold Runs Out In Germany

Gold Runs Out In Germany

Allan Hall
London Evening Standard
October 12, 2008

Risk-averse Germans are turning to gold in troubled times – but there’s none left.

German gold dealers say demand has skyrocketed this past week to 10 times normal so no more orders can be taken for the foreseeable future.

“The demand exceeds our capacities by a great deal,” said Heiko Ganss, head of precious metal company Pro Aurum.

“The requests cannot be satisfied right now,” a dealer from the Düsseldorf WGZ Bank confirmed.

“Demand for gold as a conservative investment has risen dramatically,” said stephan Henkel. “right now the demand is about 10 times as high as in normal times.”

Gold deliveries now take between four and six weeks.

The US mint said on Monday it had exhausted some of its supply of bullion coins and was struggling to meet demand for gold, silver and platinum.

South Africa’s Rand Refinery, producer of the world’s most popular gold bullion coin, the Krugerrand, temporarily ran out of the coins in August.

 

Londoners Queue-Up on Sidewalk to Buy Gold in Rush for Money Haven

Bloomberg
October 9, 2008

Londoners stood in line outside the largest gold coin and bar retailer in the city’s West End shopping district, clogging the lobby and trading among themselves as they sought a safe haven for their money.

“People want something tangible, something they can hold on to, something the banks can’t give them,” said Chris Burrow, the owner of ATS Bullion, the gold dealer in the Strand that traces its roots back to the 17th century. “There’s no time to breathe. We’re rushed off our feet. Staff are exhausted.”

As U.K. stocks tumbled to a five-year low, paced by financial-services companies, gold advanced. Since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s Sept. 15 filing for bankruptcy protection, exacerbating the worldwide credit crisis, gold for immediate delivery has jumped 19 percent.

“Investors are rushing to safe havens and physical gold seems to be the favorite one,” said Frederic Panizzutti, a senior vice president at MKS Finance, one of Switzerland’s four bullion refiners.

British government action to prop up the banking industry has failed to reassure investors. The U.K. on Oct. 8 promised 50 billion pounds ($86 billion) of capital to banks, the same day the Bank of England cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point. Last month, the government brokered a takeover of HBOS Plc, Britain’s largest mortgage lender, and seized control of Bradford & Bingley’s mortgage division.

Read Full Article Here

 

Austria Witnesses New Gold Rush

BBC
October 12, 2008

The financial crisis is prompting people to look for safer forms of investment than stocks and shares.

The interest in gold coins is so great that many of the world’s major mints are struggling to keep up with demand, including the Austrian Mint, which produces the Vienna Philharmonic – one of the best-selling bullion coins worldwide.

Sales of Vienna Philharmonic gold coins have gone up by more than 230% since last year.

Kerry Tattersall, the director of marketing at the mint, says production has gone into overdrive.

“We are running at present something like three shifts on all of the machines, on the presses, producing both gold and the silver bullion coins.

Read Full Article Here

 

Central banks all but stop lending gold

Javier Blas
Financial Times
October 8, 2008

Central banks have all but stopped lending gold to commercial and investment banks and other participants in the precious metals market, in a move that on Tuesday sent the cost of borrowing bullion for one-month to more than twenty times its usual level.

The one-month gold lease rate rocketed to 2.649 per cent, its highest level since May 2001 and significantly above its five-year average of 0.12 per cent, according to data from the London Bullion Market Association.

Gold lease rates for two, three, and six months and for a year also jumped to levels not seen in the last seven years.

Traders said the jump reflects the fact that central banks — mostly European — have almost completely stopped lending gold in the last few days and are not rolling forward old leases after maturity. This is because of fears that some borrowers might not repay their bullion loans if they are engulfed by the financial crisis.

“A number of central banks have been cutting back on their gold lending,” said Tom Kendall, a precious metals strategist at Mitsubishi in London.

John Reade, a commodities strategist at UBS, added that there had been a lot of talk about some central banks being unwilling to lend their gold because of a redoubled focus on the risk of borrowers not returning it.

Read Full Article Here

Bullion Shortage and Spot Prices Tell Two Different Gold Stories
http://seekingalpha.com/article/99680-..ces-tell-two-different-gold-stories

Blatant Banker Manipulation Of Gold Prices
http://www.prisonplanet.com/blatant-banker-manipulation-of-gold-prices.html

No Mass Mania for Gold Yet – Less than 1% of Public in Western World Have Invested in Gold
http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1224161100.php

Spot Gold Price Is Now Meaningless
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle%2Barticleid_2713209.html

Gold expected to rally above $1000 in Q1 2009
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/b..o-rally-above-1000-in-q1-2009.aspx

What the Pros Say: All that Glitters is Gold
http://www.cnbc.com/id/27095525

Kiener: Gold Prices To Double On Paper Market Default
http://www.prisonplanet.com/kiener-..o-double-on-paper-market-default.html

 



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

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

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
October 15, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Fed To Offer Unlimited Dollars
Bloomberg
October 13, 2008

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

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

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

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

Read Full Article Here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Economy Collapse News Archive

 



Ron Paul: You’re Going To Guarantee A Depression

Ron Paul: You’re Going To Guarantee A Depression

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK2QjMydQpU

Ron Paul: Buying bad debt is the wrong solution

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

CNN Misquotes Ron Paul On Bailout Bill
http://www.prisonplanet.com/cnn-misquotes-ron-paul-on-bailout-bill.html

 



Top contributors to Obama and McCain are big banks

Top contributors to Obama and McCain are big banks

 



Bailout Bill Will Help Chinese Banks, Foreign Banks

Bailout Bill Will Help Chinese Banks, Foreign Banks

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Qn4-1q80A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek7zc0lJxbM

 

Congress Approves Bailout Bill

AP
October 3, 2008

With the economy on the brink and elections looming, Congress approved an unprecedented $700 billion government bailout of the battered financial industry on Friday and sent it to President Bush for his certain signature.

The final vote, 263-171 in the House, a comfortable margin that was 58 more votes than it garnered on Monday. The vote capped two weeks of tumult in Congress and on Wall Street, punctuated by daily warnings that the country confronted the gravest economic crisis since the Great Depression if lawmakers failed to act.

Read Full Article Here

 

Dow plummets when bailout passes

Recent News:

List of Representatives who Switched from “Nay” to “Yea”
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=1087#.

Food Riots Have Already Begun as Global Grain Prices Skyrocket, Supplies Dwindle
http://www.naturalnews.com/024372.html

California may need emergency $7 billion bailout
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49229820081003

Hoax Bank Closure Story Peddles Bailout Propaganda
http://www.prisonplanet.co..e-story-peddles-bailout-propaganda.html

Fed Officials Considering Further Rate Cuts: Report
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26986621

Former Head of Fed’s Open Market Operations Says Bailout Might Make Things Worse
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2..ad-of-feds-open-market.html

Bailout Would Only Prolong Crisis: Jim Rogers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49SYpcaWHTE

Wells Fargo Buys Wachovia Nixing Citi Deal
http://biz.yahoo.com/..ls_fargo_wachovia.html?.v=8

Report blames U.S. trade gap for 5.6 million lost jobs
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE4913E220081002

Putin blames US for world economy crisis
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=71042&sectionid=351020602

Bailout bill is 451 pages long
http://news.yahoo.com/s/a..cnWOA64ch9GkocOsJ0lJv24cA

Who’s profiting from the crisis? Goldman Sachs, of course
http://www.marketwatch.c..CDCB7}&print=true&dist=printMidSection

Paulson Bank Rescue Proposal Is ’Crazy,’ O’Neill Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/ne..mClVjevU&refer=home

France Wants $500B Rescue For Europe
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/markets/article4864032.ece

Faber: U.S. Bailout Won’t Stop Slowdown
http://www.bi-me.com/main.php?id=25070&t=1&c=35&cg=4&mset=1011

IMF Adds Pressure On Congress To Pass Bailout
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/01/banking.useconomy

Google stock plunges more than 93% in “erroneous trading”
http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-39543-118.html

Ford & GM Auto Sales Drop
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081001/ap_o..OmxGcLJO8EjS5v24cA

Chicago woman buys a house for $1.75
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=71130&sectionid=3510213

Ex-bankers on pushing customers to rack up debt
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/pers..dex.html?iref=mpstoryview

US economic dominance over – Russia
IMF Warned Of Full-Blown Crisis
September’s ISM Manufacturing Index “Screams Recession,” Economists Say
SEC Extends Ban On Short Selling
Brazilian president: Brazilian economy solid, U.S. should do their homework
Western World Will Become Less Wealthy
’Car sleepers’ the new US homeless

U.S. Economy Collapse News Archive

 



Army will have weapons and tanks when policing U.S. streets

NorthCom Denies Troops To Be Used For Crowd Control
But admits that Army will have access to weapons and tanks during homeland patrols

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
October 2, 2008

Following the alarming admission that active duty U.S. Army would be on call to deal with “civil unrest” inside the United States from October 1st, the US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) has publicly denied that troops will engage in law enforcement duties, but concedes that forces will be armed with both non-lethal and lethal weapons as well as having access to tanks.

As we highlighted last week, a September 8 Army Times report stated that active duty troops from the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team returning from Iraq would be on call as a “federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks,” for a period of 12 months from October 1st.

The purpose of the unit’s patrols, according to the article, includes helping “with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.”

However, a NorthCom official, presumably responding to reports featured on this website and others, publicly denies that troops will be used to police Americans.

“This response force will not be called upon to help with law enforcement, civil disturbance or crowd control, but will be used to support lead agencies involved in saving lives, relieving suffering and meeting the needs of communities affected by weapons of mass destruction attacks, accidents or even natural disasters,” Army Col. Michael Boatner, USNORTHCOM future operations division chief, told Homeland Security Today.

We also learn that the troops will be under the operational control of USNORTHCOM’s Joint Force Land Component Command under US Army North, headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. The operational headquarters of the response force is at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

The original Army Times report also stated that the use of non-lethal weapons against Americans would be a possibility, but a retraction has now been issued stating that the forces would not use nonlethal weaponry domestically.

Read Full Article Here

 

Use of military in quelling domestic unrest a scary sign

Amy Goodman
Seattle PI
October 2, 2008

A little-noticed story surfaced a couple of weeks ago in the Army Times newspaper about the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team. “Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months,” reported Army Times staff writer Gina Cavallaro, “the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.” Disturbingly, she writes that “they may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control” as well.

The force will be called the chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive Consequence Management Response Force. Its acronym, CCMRF, is pronounced “sea-smurf.” These “sea-smurfs,” Cavallaro reports, have “spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle,” in a combat zone, and now will spend their 20-month “dwell time” — time troops are required to spend to “reset and regenerate after a deployment” — armed and ready to hit the U.S. streets.

The Army Times piece includes a correction stating that the forces would not use nonlethal weaponry domestically. I called Air Force Lt. Col. Jamie Goodpaster, a public affairs officer for Northern Command. She told me that the overall mission was humanitarian, to save lives and help communities recover from catastrophic events. Nevertheless, the military forces would have weapons on-site, “containerized,” she said — that is, stored in containers — including both lethal and so-called nonlethal weapons. They would have mostly wheeled vehicles, but would also, she said, have access to tanks. She said that use of weapons would be made at a higher level, perhaps at the secretary of defense level.

Talk of trouble on U.S. streets is omnipresent now, with the juxtaposition of Wall Street and Main Street. The financial crisis we face remains obscure to most people; titans of business and government officials assure us that the financial system is “on the brink,” that a massive bailout is necessary, immediately, to prevent a disaster. Conservative and progressive members of Congress, at the insistence of constituents, blocked the initial plan. If the economy does collapse, if people can’t go down to the bank to withdraw their savings, or get cash from an ATM, there may be serious “civil unrest,” and the “sea-smurfs” may be called upon sooner than we imagine to assist with “crowd control.”

The political and financial establishments seem completely galled that people would actually oppose their massive bailout, which rewards financiers for gambling. Normal people worry about paying their bills, buying groceries and gas, and paying rent or a mortgage in increasingly uncertain times. No one ever offers to bail them out. Wall Street’s house of cards has collapsed, and the rich bankers are getting little sympathy from working people.

Read Full Article Here

U.S. Army conducting training exercises in cities, towns
http://www.elliscountypress.com/news/132/ARTICLE/2575/2008-09-30.html

Troops Patrol U.S. Streets Searching For “Civil Unrest”
http://noworldsystem.com/2008/09/26/t..eets-searching-for-civil-unrest/

 



Huge European Banks Fail

Huge European Banks Fail

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
September 29, 2008

With major European banks now failing, calls have increased for an entire restructuring of the financial system under a centralized EU supervisory body.

With Belgian-Dutch group Fortis becoming the first major European bank to buckle, British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley also being nationalized, as well as several other banks failing in Iceland, Denmark and Germany, economists have warned that more are teetering on the brink and only a radical centralization of power in Europe can stave off financial ruin.

Earlier this month, German economist Daniel Gros warned in a report for the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) that several European banks have become so large that their governments would no longer be able to save them. Should they fail no rescue would be possible because the economy of the home nations are smaller than the banks that reside within them.

Now, in an interview with Dutch newspaper Volkskrant, Gros warns that European giants like Deutsche Bank, Barclays and UBS (Switzerland) are dangerously close to folding.

The Deutsche Bank has 2, 000 billion euros of open credit, one fifth of the german economy, while Barclays has 1, 640 billion euros of open credit, more than the entire UK economy.

Gros has proposed that European Parliament balance the books of the affected banks and that a new system of financial supervision is created with a 12 member body to overlook the European financial market.

In October the European Commission will propose new rules governing how much banks must keep in reserves, and set rules on how regulators should act if a bank is in danger of collapse.

Top EU officials, including economy commissioner Joaquin Almunia, have stated that the EU should have greater powers to regulate and intervene in the operations of financial institutions across Europe.

“The latest events in financial markets have made it clear that the current model of regulation and supervision needs to be revamped,” Almunia has said.

Banking Crash Hits Europe
http://www.telegraph.co.uk..ng-crash-hits-Europe-as-ECB-loses-traction.html

 



U.S. Banking Collapse Was Like Controlled Demolition on 9/11

U.S. Banking Collapse Was Like Controlled Demolition on 9/11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS65bA4kKVE

 



$940B + $630B Already Taken From Taxpayers

Banks borrowed $940 Billion Last Week
Bank Borrowing From Fed Already Exceeded Bailout Total in Last Week

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
September 26, 2008

U.S. banks borrowed $188 billion per day on average in the latest week from the Federal Reserve, meaning that the Fed loaned out more money than the Treasury’s proposed bailout in just one week, still barely managing to keep the economy afloat.

Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday the total amount banks borrowed nearly quadrupled the previous record of $47.97 billion per day notched just the week before, Reuters reports.

$188 billion per day on average over the course of five days means that the total amount borrowed from the Fed in the week ending the 24th September stood at $940 billion – a figure that easily eclipses the proposed $700 billion bailout.

As we have already reported, the $700 billion number was simply pulled out of thin air by the Treasury.

The Treasury’s fact sheet about the bailout states, “The Secretary will have the discretion, in consultation with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, to purchase other assets, as deemed necessary to effectively stabilize financial markets.”

This gives the government and the Federal Reserve carte blanche to do whatever they want to long as it is done in the name of stabilizing financial markets, they can nationalize any company or industry and use taxpayer money, above and beyond the initial $700 billion, for whatever purpose is deemed necessary, without any oversight. Paulson’s bailout plan is also unreviewable by any court, it will remain in perpetuity.

Paulson’s draft bailout plans says: “The Secretary’s authority to purchase mortgage-related assets under this Act shall be limited to $700,000,000,000 outstanding at any one time.”

As Chris Martenson writes, “This means that $700 billion is NOT the cost of this dangerous legislation, it is only the amount that can be outstanding at any one time. After, say, $100 billion of bad mortgages are disposed of, another $100 billion can be bought. In short, these four little words assure that there is NO LIMIT to the potential size of this bailout. This means that $700 billion is a rolling amount, not a ceiling.”

If the bailout bill passes it is just the beginning of something much larger. $700 billion is a meaningless figure that will do nothing to shore up the economy. It is not a bailout, it is a giveaway that will allow insiders to purge themselves of bad bets and free to continue where they left off. The real reason for the bill is the unprecedented transfer of power to the Executive Branch and into the hands of the global corporate elite.

 

Fed Pumps $630 Billion Into Global Banking System

Bloomberg
September 29, 2008

The Federal Reserve will pump an additional $630 billion into the global financial system, flooding banks with cash to alleviate the worst banking crisis since the Great Depression.

The Fed increased its existing currency swaps with foreign central banks by $330 billion to $620 billion to make more dollars available worldwide. The Term Auction Facility, the Fed’s emergency loan program, will expand by $300 billion to $450 billion. The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan are among the participating authorities.

The Fed’s expansion of liquidity, the biggest since credit markets seized up last year, comes as Congress prepares to vote on a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry. The crisis is reverberating through the global economy, causing stocks to plunge and forcing European governments to rescue four banks over the past two days alone.

“Today’s blast of term liquidity will settle the funding markets down, and allow trust to slowly be restored between borrowers and lenders,’’ said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York. On the other hand, “the Fed’s balance sheet is about to explode.’’

Stocks around the world plunged the most since 1997 today and credit markets deteriorated further as authorities scrambled to save more financial institutions from collapse.

Read Full Article Here

 

Bailout by Stealth
While the public is distracted by the “bailout bill” and its rejection, trillions are pumped in to keep financial balloon inflated

James Corbett
The Corbett Report
September 30, 2008

The media is falling all over itself to report on every minutiae of the so-called Wall Street “bailout bill” and its rejection by Congress yesterday (just a few of the thousands of examples can be seen here and here and here and here). And why not? The media’s breathless coverage of the bill has produced a furious backlash by the public and hysteria on Wall Street in a self-justifying feedback loop that makes the media attention seem merited.

The startling truth which the controlled corporate media is not reporting, however, is that a bailout is actually taking place right now, completely out of the public spotlight. This program has already pumped trillions of dollars into Wall Street (compared to the mere $700 billion proposed in the legislation that the media is focusing on) to help prop up the faltering investment banks and promises to pump in even more, every dime of it to the detriment of the taxpayer though the public will have no stake in its success. Why, then, is this program not being talked about in the media?

Slipping under the radar last week amidst the hullabaloo in Washington over the bailout bill was this story noting that in the past week alone, the Federal Reserve had pumped an astonishing $188 billion per day into the system in the form of emergency credit. This means that in just four days, the Fed injected as much money into the system as the entire $700 billion bailout proposal. After the proposal was rejected, the Fed responded by immediately announcing it would pour another $630 billion into the global financial system.

The Federal Reserve, of course, is America’s central bank and although the above story conjures the reassuring image of a national bank lending out some of its vast reserves to help Wall Street weather the storm, the fact is that the Federal Reserve is not Federal and has doubtful reserves. In fact, the trillions of dollars that have been lent to the banks in the last few weeks were created out of nothing by the privately-owned Federal Reserve. When the Federal Reserve “lends” money to a bank through repurchase agreements (repos), credit auction or other method, it is not actually lending out money from its vaults. It is simply creating the money it “lends” out as electronic credits created in the recipient banks account. It is literally money out of thin air.

That the general public is on the hook for this money created out of nothing is not an exaggeration. It is paid for in a dimly-understood mechanism often known as the “inflation tax.”

Inflation is nothing more than an indication that the ratio of money to products that can be purchased with that money has been increased. Since the overall number of dollars has gone up without any corresponding increase in economic production (as happens when the Federal Reserve creates money out of thin air), the value of each individual dollar goes down. That means that the value of the money in each individuals’ bank account (not to mention their pension and social security dividends) can be reduced simply by the flick of a pen of a Federal Reserve paper-pusher. (Unless of course that individual just happens to be a billionaire investment mogul or a Vice President who can divest themselves of U.S. dollars in time for this inflation not to affect them.) This is sometimes known as an inflation tax because its overall effect is the same as if the government came in and took that value out of the individuals’ bank account. Watch Ron Paul explain the inflation tax in the video below:

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

The most insidious part of this inflation tax is that the inflation does not begin until the new money begins to circulate in the system. In other words, the first person (or, more likely, giant corporate conglomerate) to use the money receives its full value, while those at the bottom of the pyramid retrieve the diminished returns of a devaluing dollar.

Why, then, is the public not furious about this stealth bailout, now taking place at the blistering pace of nearly $1 trillion a week, and all to the taxpayer’s detriment? The obvious answer is that the media is not whipping the public into a frenzy about it, instead focusing its attention on a $700 billion program and allowing the public to feel like they scored a blow against Wall Street when the program gets rejected. If so, it’s time the public got wise to how the system is really being run by and for the benefit of private bankers and at the expense of the average taxpayer. Otherwise, the fleecing of the public will continue unabated even as the public thinks they’ve won the battle.

 



Globalists call for a “new global monetary authority”

Former Kissinger Policy Planner, CFR Member Calls For New Global Monetary Authority

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
September 26, 2008

A Council on Foreign Relations member and former policy planner under prominent Bilderberger Henry Kissinger has penned a piece in the Financial Times of London calling for a “new global monetary authority” that would have the power to monitor all national financial authorities and all large global financial companies.

“Even if the US’s massive financial rescue operation succeeds, it should be followed by something even more far-reaching – the establishment of a Global Monetary Authority to oversee markets that have become borderless.” writes Jeffrey Garten, also a former managing director of Lehman Brothers.

Garten, now a professor of business at Yale, served on the policy planning staff of Kissinger during his time as Secretary of State. He also served on the White House Council on International Economic Policy under the Nixon administration and went on to become the Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade under Bill Clinton.

Citing “globalization”, A “clash of philosophies” and the “vacuum at the centre” of the current global institutional apparatus, Garten describes his vision for a new monolithic world authority to oversee all financial activity around the globe.

Here are some of the highlights (emphasis added):

A GMA (global monetary authority) would be a reinsurer or discounter for certain obligations held by central banks. It would scrutinise the regulatory activities of national authorities with more teeth than the IMF has and oversee the implementation of a limited number of global regulations. It would monitor global risks and establish an effective early warning system with more clout to sound alarms than the BIS has.

It would act as “bankruptcy court” for financial reorganisations of global companies above a certain size. The biggest global financial companies would have to register with the GMA and be subject to its monitoring, or be blacklisted. That includes commercial companies and banks, but also sovereign wealth funds, gigantic hedge funds and private equity firms.

The GMA’s board would have to include central bankers not just from the US, UK, the eurozone and Japan, but also China, Saudi Arabia and Brazil. It would be financed by mandatory contributions from every capable country and from insurance-type premiums from global financial companies – publicly listed, government owned, and privately held alike.

In a conclusion that smacks of problem, reaction, solution Garten adds “In terms of US and international politics, a Global Monetary Authority is probably an idea whose time has not yet come. That may change as today’s crisis evolves.”

What he describes is nothing less than a global financial dictatorship, operating across borders and forcing nations and corporations to register and adhere to strict monitoring and obey the same regulations. The implementation of such a system would represent total interventionism and the absolute final nail in the coffin of the free market.

Garten’s call for a GMA echoes a piece published in the FT back in June by Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Fresh from attending the Bilderberg conference in Chantilly, Virginia, Geithner called for a globalized banking system with “appropriate requirements for capital and liquidity”

 



Bailout Bill Fails But May Revive And Pass Anyways

Bailout Bill Fails But May Revive And Pass Anyways

Bloomberg
September 30, 2008

The U.S. Senate will try to salvage a $700 billion financial-rescue package after the measure was defeated in the House of Representatives. The lawmakers won’t have a lot of room to negotiate.

While the legislation will need to be tweaked enough to win over reluctant House Republicans, the lawmakers will risk losing votes from Democrats if they veer too far from the delicate compromise that congressional leaders hammered out with the U.S. Treasury.

“They’re not going to totally revamp the bill,’’ said Pete Davis, president of Davis Capital Investment Ideas in Washington, who spoke to House and Senate leaders yesterday. “They’ll make some minor changes and pass it. This is all about political cover.’’

Read Full Article Here

 

Kudlow Schooled: ‘You’ve Become A Socialist – Your Version Of Socialism Is To Bail Out The Rich’

 

Paulson: King Paulson or Convict Paulson

Recent News:

Bank of America to close credit cards for approximately 60% of customers? (by Oct 1)
http://mparent7777-1.livejournal.com/1933222.html

House Clears $25 Billion For Carmakers
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/83bfe68c-8a8f-11dd-a76a-0000779fd18c.html

Home builders will ask for $90 billion bailout
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09..ion=2008092608

I’ve watched the economy for 30 years. Now I’m truly scared
http://www.guardian.co…/globaleconomy.creditcrunch

Treasury explains how it came up with $700 billion: We just wanted ‘a really large number.’
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/24/treasury-large-number/

Stocks rallied a day after failed $700B wallstreet bailout
http://money.cnn.com/2008..?postversion=2008093009

US will lose superpower status, claims German minister
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/..-superpower-status-crows-Germany.html

$1 Quadrillion of Unregulated Debt At Core of Coming Derivatives Crisis
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/coming_derivatives_crisis_150.html

China Banks Told To Stop Lending To U.S. Banks
http://www.reuters.com..PEK16693720080925

Refusing Dollar as “World Currency” Inevitable
http://capital.trendaz.com/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1304435〈=EN

U.S. Heading for Slump, With or Without Bailout
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news..efer=home

Putin Promises $50Bln For Banks
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1010/42/371301.htm

Dexia bank gets multi-nation $9.2B bailout
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080930/eu_belgium_dexia.html

Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Declined 16.3% in July
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?.d=aEyKpTpk90C0&refer=us

Rothschilds and the Bank of England Own The Federal Reserve (JP Morgan, Rockefeller, Lehman Brothers, Warburg)
http://newsfromthewest.blogspot.com/2008/05/who-owns-federal-reserve.html

Chavez says U.S. can’t fix financial crisis
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLQ4692420080926

The Hanky Panky Banking Bailout Bill
Rep. Kaptur responds to Bush’s address on failed bailout bill
RBS will get ‘billions’ in US bail-out of economy
Jobless Claims Pushed To 7-Year High
Dow Drops 777 Points
680% Inflation?
Nasdaq tanks, down 6%
California Home Prices Drop Record 41% Amid Defaults
Rumors Trigger Bank Run In Hong Kong
New Home Sales Plunged 11.5% to 17-Year Low
Wachovia Stock Sinks On WaMu News

U.S. Economy Collapse News Archive

 



Ron Paul: Greenspan, Bernanke Should Be Criminally Charged

Ron Paul: Greenspan, Bernanke Should Be Criminally Charged

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
September 26, 2008

Congressman Ron Paul says that the bailout bill is likely to pass, heralding a 10-year plus economic depression for America and the potential for martial law should civil unrest arise as the financial meltdown worsens.

Speaking on The Alex Jones Show, Paul said of the bailout, “They want dictatorship, they want to pass all the penalties and suffering on to the average person on Main Street,” adding, “We will have a depression or recession, it’s locked in place due to previous Federal Reserve actions.”

“When they say that if we don’t do exactly as they say and turn over more of our money and more of our liberties and exempt themselves from any court in the whole nation, they’re trying to intimidate us and lead us into doing the wrong thing,” said Paul.

The Congressman added that serious problems would arise if nothing was done to address the problem, but that more serious consequences would follow should the bailout be passed.

Paul warned that the only question was whether the meltdown would last one year or ten years and how much liberty would be lost in that time frame.

“It looks like from I see in Congress, that they’re opting for a decade plus of depression rather than saying let’s correct our ways, let’s balance the budget, let’s bring our troops home,” said Paul, adding that the same course of printing money would continue – prolonging the agony and preventing a necessary correction.

Asked if civil unrest was a possibility in the midst of an economic depression, referencing a recent Army Times report concerning the use of active duty military being brought back from Iraq for “Homeland patrols” and “crowd control,” Paul questioned, “Are we going to have martial law or are we going to have more freedoms? The more problems that we have, the more likely it is that we’re going to have martial law, so I do think they anticipate and they plan for these things.”

Asked if criminal investigations and prosecutions of individuals on Wall Street should commence, Paul agreed but said that the main target of criminal inquiry should be the Federal Reserve board itself because, “That’s where the fraud is.”

“They want to be lawless, they don’t want to be held accountable,” he added.

Paul said that grand juries should be convened to take on prosecutions rather than the FBI becoming involved, stating, “We have proper authority with that and experience with it and the Enron case is a good example.”

The Congressman said that Greenspan and Bernanke should be criminally charged but that such an effort would be largely symbolic. “Morally speaking, they’re the culprits,” said Paul.

Asked what his solution to the crisis would be, Paul said, “I think the most important thing to do is to send the message that we’re going to quit living beyond our means and the president can set the standard for that and he has the most control under the Constitution on foreign policy – he can say no more wars, we’re done with the wars, we’re not going to take on the Russians, we’re not going to take on people in Venezuela, we’re going to start talking to the Cubans and bring our troops home and save hundreds of billions of dollars – that would send a powerful message that the dollar would respond to and oil prices would come down.”

Paul said that Americans had to accept a new idea of government that harked back to what the founders envisaged and that the welfare state would have to unravel along with aspirations of building a geopolitical empire.

“In the meantime the policy ought to be – shrink the size of government, decrease regulation, work towards sound money, remove the authority of the Fed to create money out of thin air and get tax reduction,” stated the Congressman. Paul added that eliminating the income tax would mean everybody becoming a lot richer and more money would be ploughed into the economy.

“It will not solve the problem, it just delays the inevitable,” said Paul of the bailout, adding that he expects the bill to pass in a move that would, “Defy the American people.”

“I think they get to the point where they think they’re like God and can control everything and they don’t realize that the market really is more powerful than all the bankers and all the politicians….Ultimately the underground economy is the real economy and I think they could over step themselves and hopefully we could come out with a better world afterwards,” concluded the Congressman.

 

Ron Paul Grills Bernanke on Wallstreet Bailout

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv6rQ0U01Yc

 

Paul: ‘I could never support somebody who thinks that it’s funny to say bomb bomb bomb Iran.’

Think Progress

September 18, 2008

On MSNBC today, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) explained to host Norah O’Donnell that he refused former Sen. Phil Gramm’s entreaties for him to endorse Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) because he disagrees with him “on all the major issues,” especially foreign policy. “I mean I could never support somebody who thinks that it’s funny to say ‘bomb bomb bomb Iran,’” said Paul. “That, to me, is not somebody that I could endorse ever.” Watch it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOb3cC2FVIg

 



WaMu: The Biggest Bank Collapse In U.S. History

WaMu: The Biggest Bank Collapse In U.S. History

TOP News
September 26, 2008

In what is being termed as the biggest bank collapse in US history, J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. will acquire massive branch network and troubled assets from Washington Mutual Inc. for $1.9 billion, as per a deal arranged by federal regulators. Under the deal – the latest stunning development in the ongoing credit crisis – J P Morgan Chase will acquire all the banking operations of Washington Mutual, including $307 billion in assets and $188 billion in deposits.

Washington Mutual had been one of the most hard-hit banks during the financial crisis after it bet big, like many of its competitors, on the strength of the housing market – only to see its fortunes sour as housing prices fell. Many analysts were speculating that the endgame for the embattled savings and loan was imminent, particularly after ratings agency downgrades this week, and a freefall in the company’s stock.

As a result of the Washington Mutual acquisition, the New York City-based J P Morgan Chase – after its mid-March acquisition of investment bank, Bear Stearns – will now boast some 5,400 branches in 23 states. “We think it is a great thing for our company,” said Jamie Dimon, J P Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO, in a conference call with investors late Thursday night.

Federal regulators who helped in finalizing the deal said the transition for Washington Mutual customers would be “seamless.” In a statement, FDIC Chairman, Sheila Bair, said: “There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual come Friday morning.”

The acquisition might prompt criticism from J P Morgan Chase rivals about preferential treatment by the government. For instance, no government assistance was extended to Bank of America Corp. in its recently announced purchase of Merrill Lynch. However, in the case of Washington Mutual acquisition, there were presumably other bidders who, in comparison to J P Morgan Chase, offered better deal for the deposits and branches.

The fall of Washington Mutual is the latest turn in a dizzying fortnight that has seen the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and the near collapse of insurance giant AIG (AIG, Fortune 500). In fact, Washington Mutual has set a ‘record’ of sorts – it is the 13th bank to fail so far this year, and earns the title of the country’s ‘largest bank failure’ by assets on record, surpassing Continental Illinois’ $40 billion in assets when it failed in May of 1984.

Washington Mutual Is The 13th Bank To Fall This Year
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html

 



Paulson’s former firm to be among largest beneficiaries of bailout

Paulson’s former firm to be among largest beneficiaries of bailout

John Bryne
Raw Story
September 23, 2008

It certainly pays to be Treasury Secretary if your former firm is a brokerage house, a new study says.

Goldman Sachs Group — formerly run by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and Morgan Stanley, stand to be among the biggest beneficiaries of a $700 billion US bailout.

“Its benefits, in its current form, will be largely limited to investment banks and other banks that have aggressively written down the value of their holdings and have already recognized the attendant capital impairment,” Jeffrey Rosenberg, Bank of America’s head of credit strategy research, wrote in a report obtained by Bloomberg News yesterday.

Paulson was the head of Goldman Sach’s investment banking division from 1990 to 1994. He later became chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman, and left his post to join the Bush Administration.

According to the study, the bailout benefits Paulson’s former firm more because banks haven’t had to write down as many troubled mortage assets under accounting rules. This means that participating in the program would cause them to actually lose capital, as opposed to investment banks, which stand to gain.

Paulson $700 billion program is designed to remove “bad assets” from the US financial markets to prevent credit for businesses from drying up, which would send the economy into a further tailspin. Many businesses rely on credit to fund their daily operations.

Lawmakers are debating the plan today.

“While Goldman and Morgan Stanley, both based in New York, were yesterday granted permission to transform themselves into bank holding companies, the companies so far have operated mostly under investment-bank accounting rules, logging almost $21 billion of asset writedowns and credit losses,” Bloomberg News notes.

Goldman made sizable profits in 2007 from the subprime mortgage sector. It, along with Morgan Stanley, has fared better than investment houses Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, because it has held a more conservative capital base.

Paulson has admirers: during his Goldman tenure the firm donated 680,000 acres of land in Chile, and he has personally given away $100 million of his fortune to charitable groups.

According to estimates conducted by Open Secrets, Paulson is the richest cabinet member of the Bush Administration.

Conflict Of Interest? Report Says Goldman Sachs ‘Among Biggest Beneficiaries’ Of Paulson’s Bailout
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/22/paulson-goldman-bailout/

 



White House Admits It Drew Up Bailout Months Ago

White House Admits It Drew Up Bailout Months Ago

George Washington’s Blog
September 24, 2008

No one could have seen this coming, right?

Well, actually, the White House has admitted that they drew up the bail out plan months ago:

[White House Deputy Press Secretary Tony] Fratto insisted that the plan was not slapped together and had been drawn up as a contingency over previous months and weeks by administration officials. He acknowledged lawmakers were getting only days to peruse it, but he said this should be enough.

But the government did nothing real to prevent the financial meltdown. Instead, it let the meltdown happen, and now is trying to ram through terrible and counter-productive legislation drafted previously by using fear tactics.

Does this sound familiar? It should.

 



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

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

Bei Hu
Bloomberg
September 24, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

Read Full Article Here

 

NO To The Paulson-Bernanke Derivatives Scam Bailout

Webster G. Tarpley
September 24, 2008

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

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

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

PAULSON OF GOLDMAN SACHS, WOULD-BE FINANCE DICTATOR

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

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

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

Read Full Article Here

 

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

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

 

Rep Defazio On The Bailout Package

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

Recent News:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Economy Collapse News Archive

 



Troops Patrol U.S. Streets Searching For “Civil Unrest”

U.S. Troops In Homeland “Crowd Control” Patrols From October 1st
3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team returning from Iraq for homeland patrols to help with “civil unrest” and “crowd control,” training in use of non-lethal weapons

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
September 24, 2008

U.S. troops returning from duty in Iraq will be carrying out homeland patrols in America from October 1st in complete violation of Posse Comitatus for the purposes of helping with “civil unrest and crowd control” – which could include dealing with unruly Americans after a complete economic collapse.

This shocking admission was calmly reported on September 8th by the Army Times website, which reports that from the beginning of next month the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team “Will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.”

The article notes that the deployment “marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.”

The purpose of the unit’s patrols includes helping “with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.”

The unit will be on homeland patrol for at least 20 months before returning to Iraq or Afghanistan in early 2010, according to the report.

Training for homeland operations has already begun at Fort Stewart and at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs.

Ominously, the report states that, “The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.”

The unit would also be deployed to deal with hostile crowds of Americans in the aftermath of a massive economic depression, potential food riots and race riots, if one defines the term “crowd control” to match its reasonably applicable scenarios.

The open admission that U.S. troops will be involved in law enforcement operations as well as potentially using non-lethal weapons against American citizens is a complete violation of the Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act, which substantially limit the powers of the federal government to use the military for law enforcement unless under precise and extreme circumstances.

Section 1385 of the Posse Comitatus Act states, “Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”

Under the John Warner Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Bush on October 17, 2006, the law was changed to state, “The President may employ the armed forces to restore public order in any State of the United States the President determines hinders the execution of laws or deprives people of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law or opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.”

However, these changes were repealed in their entirety by HR 4986: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, reverting back to the original state of the Insurrection Act of 1807.

The original text of the Insurrection Act severely limits the power of the President to deploy troops within the United States.

For troops to be deployed, a condition has to exist that, “(1) So hinders the execution of the laws of that State, and of the United States within the State, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the constituted authorities of that State are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or (2) opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws. In any situation covered by clause (1), the State shall be considered to have denied the equal protection of the laws secured by the Constitution.”

Is the Bush administration and Northcom waiting for such a scenario to unfold, an event that completely overwhelms state authorities, before unleashing the might of the U.S. Army against the American people?

The deployment of National Guard troops to aid law enforcement or for disaster relief purposes is legal under the authority of the governor of a state, but using active duty U.S. Army in law enforcement operations inside America absent the conditions described in the Insurrection Act is completely illegal.

With the promise of an “October surprise” on behalf of Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda being bandied about by the media and the potential for civil unrest should a complete collapse of the U.S. economy unfold, the presence of U.S. troops inside America, returning fresh from kicking down doors, arresting “insurgents” and taking them to internment camps in Iraq, should put Americans on alert and provoke urgent questions about the legality of U.S. Army units engaging in law enforcement operations against American citizens.

 



Ron Paul: This Bailout Won’t Be the Last

Ron Paul: This Bailout Won’t Be the Last

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

 

Ron Paul on CNN w/ John Roberts

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

 

Ron Paul Blasts “Secret Government” Running Economy

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

 



Taxpayers To Pay For Mortgage Company Bailout

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

Steve Watson
Infowars.net
September 8, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Watch the interview with Jim Rogers:

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

Taxpayers take on trillions in risk in Fannie, Freddie takeover
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2008-09-07-fannie-freddie-plan_N.htm

Fannie, Freddie rescue binds taxpayers to housing market
http://news.yahoo.com/s//csm/20080909/ts_csm/atakeover

U.S. Seizes Mortgage Giants
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122079276849707821.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news

US Government stages world’s biggest bail out
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/money/2008/09/07/cnfreddie207.xml

 



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

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

Bloomberg
August 22, 2008

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

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

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

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

Read Full Article Here

 

Jim Cramer Talks About Market Manipulation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SptB3STL5rs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive

 



8th U.S. Bank Failure This Year

8th U.S. Bank Failure This Year

Reuters
August 1, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – SunTrust Bank (STINews) has acquired the insured deposits of Florida-based First Priority Bank, the eighth U.S. bank to fail this year as financial institutions grapple with a weak economy and a credit crisis precipitated by falling home prices.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said on Friday that Florida regulators closed the bank, which had $259 million in assets and $227 million in deposits. The FDIC was named receiver.

The cost of the failure to the federal insurance fund is estimated to be $72 million, the FDIC said.

 

FDIC warns four US banks over liquidity

Financial Times
August 1, 2008

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation revealed on Friday that it had issued warnings to four small US banks that lacked sufficient reserves to cover potential loan losses.

The cease-and-desist orders issued in June said the four banks needed to raise more capital, expand their loss allowances and better oversee and diversify their loan portfolios. A fifth bank was cited for violating consumer protection laws.

Losses on mortages and other loans have helped bring down eight US banks this year, including one small Florida institution on Friday. Last month, Indymac, a California lender with $32bn in assets, became one of the largest banks to go under in US history. It filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on Friday.

The banks receiving cease-and-desist orders in June were MetroPacific Bank in Irvine, California; Bank Haven in Haven, Kansas; Clarkston State Bank in Clarkston, Michigan; and Hastings State Bank in Hastings, Nebraska.

Read Full Article Here

 



Stressed banks borrow record amount from Fed

Stressed banks borrow record amount from Fed

Reuters
July 31, 2008

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

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

Read Full Article Here

 

Zimbabwe Devalues Currency

AP
July 30, 2008

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

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

Read Full Article Here

 

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

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7618947388652774139&hl=en

Recent News:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Economic Collapse News Archive

 



FDIC Takes Over Two More Failed Banks

FDIC Takes Over Two More Failed Banks

AP
July 26, 2008

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

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

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

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

Read Full Article Here

 

Wachovia Joins the Financial Apocalypse

JBS
July 22, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

Read Full Article Here

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 



Taxpayers Will Pay $800 BILLION For Failed Mortgage Lenders

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

Youtube
July 24, 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

– Solution breeds inflation

  • Places pressure on the US Dollar

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

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

 

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

Related News:

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

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http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/7529

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 



Police Threaten IndyMAC Customers With Arrest

Police Threaten IndyMAC Customers With Arrest

Daily News
July 15, 2008

Police ordered angry customers lined up outside an IndyMac Bank branch to remain calm or face arrest Tuesday as they tried to pull their money on the second day of the failed institution’s federal takeover.

At least three police squad cars showed up early Tuesday as tensions rose outside the San Fernando Valley branch of Pasadena-based IndyMac.

Federal regulators seized Pasadena-based IndyMac on Friday and reopened the bank Monday under the control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Deposits to $100,000 are fully insured by the FDIC.

Worried customers with deposits in excess of insured limits flooded IndyMac Bank branches on Monday, demanding to withdraw as much money as they could or get answers about the fate of their funds.

When it was clear some wouldn’t get in before closing, FDIC employees apparently took down names and told them to return Tuesday.

Other customers began lining up at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, and by dawn, tensions escalated because people on the list were getting priority.

By 8 a.m., about 50 people on the list waited in one line and many more waited in another.

Five people were allowed in at a time.

Customers became infuriated, and police told them they could be arrested if they didn’t remain calm.

Police stood by at some other branches around Southern California but there were no other reports of problems.

 

$1 Billion of uninsured deposits lost in IndyMAC collapse

Scared IndyMAC Customers Demand Their Cash
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080716/ap_..hV3SphAft82dzYRq61lv24cA

IndyMac depositors line up for cash after seizure
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUS..pNews&rpc=22&sp=true

FBI looking into fraud at IndyMac Bancorp
http://www.azcentral.com/news/artic..mortgage-investigation0716-ON.html

Merill Lynch Posts Loss Of $4.6 Billion
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/2..gVyF2eFsdB6zZUjUSc5tL2oOrgF

Bank Shares Plummet Amid Stability Fears
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080714/financial_shares.html?printer=1

Banks hit by fallout from the crisis at IndyMac
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-indymac15-2008jul15,0,431088.story

List Of Troubled Banks Worries Wall Street
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5374205

JP Morgan CEO: ’We’re very early in the loss curve’
http://www.housingwire.com/2008/07/..mon-prime-mortgages-look-terrible/

 



The Second Largest Bank Failure in U.S. History

The Second Largest Bank Failure in U.S. History
IndyMac Bank seized by federal regulators

AFP
July 11, 2008

The federal government took control of Pasadena-based IndyMac Bank on Friday in what regulators called the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.

Citing a massive run on deposits, regulators shut its main branch three hours early, leaving customers stunned and upset. One woman leaned on the locked doors, pleading with an employee inside: “Please, please, I want to take out a portion.” All she could do was read a two-page notice taped to the door.

The bank’s 33 branches will be closed over the weekend, but the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will reopen the bank on Monday as IndyMac Federal Bank, said the Office of Thrift Supervision in Washington. Customers will not be able to bank by phone or Internet over the weekend, regulators said, but can continue to use ATMs, debit cards and checks. Normal branch hours, online banking and phone banking services are to resume Monday.

Read Full Article Here