MSM: AP IMPACT – Many Gulf federal judges have oil links

(AP) – More than half of the federal judges in districts where the bulk of Gulf oil spill-related lawsuits are pending have financial connections to the oil and gas industry, complicating the task of finding judges without conflicts to hear the cases, an Associated Press analysis of judicial financial disclosure reports shows.

Thirty-seven of the 64 active or senior judges in key Gulf Coast districts in Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida have links to oil, gas and related energy industries, including some who own stocks or bonds in BP PLC, Halliburton or Transocean — and others who regularly list receiving royalties from oil and gas production wells, according to the reports judges must file each year. The AP reviewed 2008 disclosure forms, the most recent available. Read More Here

Understanding Derivatives In Layman Terms

An Easily Understandable Explanation of Derivative Markets.

Heidi is the proprietor of a bar in Detroit. She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar. To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, but pay later. She keeps track of the drinks consumed in a ledger.

Video: Goldman Sachs fraud, how they cheated investors with exploding bonds

(MSNBC) – The Dylan Ratigan Show – April 16, 2010

Economy

(Money&Markets) – More Retirement Disasters

I can’t believe the number of frightening retirement stories I’ve seen in just the last week. They suggest that the vast majority of our country’s citizens are completely unprepared for life after work. They point to a governmental backup system that is getting ever more desperate. And they suggest that other traditional sources of retirement income — such as corporate pensions — are in grave danger of imploding. Read More Here

(LATimes) – More homeowners are opting for ‘strategic defaults’

Underwater on their mortgages and angry at banks, more borrowers are choosing to hand over the keys, even if they can afford the payments. Read More Here

(GoldEagle) – Through a Looking Glass Darkly

“We are spending more money than we have ever spent before, and it does not work. After eight years, we have just as much unemployment as when we started and an enormous debt to boot.”
-US Treasury Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, May, 1939
I forget who first said it, but it was, “A $ million here a $ million there, pretty soon we are talking about real money.” It took approximately 20 years before it became “A $ billion here a $ billion there…..” and it wasn’t very long before “A $ billion … “became “A $100 billion…” Now, virtually overnight while no one was watching, it’s become “A $ trillion here a $ trillion there…” Are we still talking about real money? And are we still not looking? We are certainly not trying to do anything about it. Read More Here

(NYTimes) – Junk Bond Avalanche Looms for Credit Markets

When the Mayans envisioned the world coming to an end in 2012 — at least in the Hollywood telling — they didn’t count junk bonds among the perils that would lead to worldwide disaster, Nelson D. Schwartz writes in The New York Times. Read More Here

(MSNBC) – Yes, we do still make things in America

U.S. factories keep churning out goods, but jobs disappear by the millions Read More Here

(EconPolicyJournal) – The New U.S. Government Off Balance Sheet Scam

Senator Chris Dodd, who is not seeking re-election, has decided to treat the American people to one more scam, probably because scamming is all he knows how to do Read More Here

(SFGate) – Pink slips sent to thousands of Calif. teachers

California’s budget crisis could cost nearly 22,000 teachers their jobs this year. Read More Here

Economy

(CNBC) – Market Tips: Get Out of Stocks and Bonds

Global stocks were mixed Friday, with European shares paring earlier gains after preliminary data showed the euro zone economy’s recovery faltered in the fourth quarter, on top of investors still uncertain as to what will happen to Greece. Read More Here

(Fox) – After Rare Bipartisan Deal, Reid Slashes Jobs Bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid abruptly announced Thursday that he had drastically slimmed down the bill from $85 billion to just $15 billion, tossing out key priorities of both Republicans and Democrats. Read More Here

(WaIndep) – Credit Suisse Declares the U.S. a Riskier Investment Than Indonesia

Amid fears that Switzerland might come to an agreement with the United States on banking privacy and tax evasion disclosures, Credit Suisse issued a report identifying those countries it determined to have the highest risks of default on their sovereign debts. Number 16 on the list was the United States, based primarily on its 2009 budget deficits and government debt. Read More Here

(Reuters) – German halt, Italian reverse hit euro zone recovery

Europe’s post-recession recovery hit a roadblock on Friday as German economic growth unexpectedly halted and Italy went into reverse in the final quarter of 2009, knocking total euro zone GDP growth almost flat. Read More Here

(HindustanTimes) – India’s food inflation inching to 18 per cent

Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stressed last week that the worst was over on rising prices of essential items, India’s annual food inflation based on wholesale prices rose to 17.94 per cent for the week ended Jan 30. Read More Here

(Fox) – Obama Signs Bill Lifting Federal Debt Limit to $14.3 Trillion

President Obama has signed legislation lifting the cap on government borrowing to $14.3 trillion. Read More Here

(Bloomberg) – Beijing Seen Vacant for 50% as Chanos Predicts Crash

Jack Rodman, who has made a career of selling soured property loans from Los Angeles to Tokyo, sees a crash looming in China. He keeps a slide show on his computer of empty office buildings in Beijing, his home since 2002. The tally: 55, with another dozen candidates. Read More Here

Stick a Fork in it, The Dollar is Done

News junkies, currency buffs, and economists of an Austrian tilt have been having quite an entertaining few weeks. Between massive blizzards from Virginia to New England, another baseless Dollar rally, and the hilarious notion that a little Greek debt could unwind the Euro, there certainly has been plenty to talk about. Read More Here

(Aletho) – New Phase, Not Just Another Recession

It is becoming increasingly clear that the financial meltdown of 2008 and the subsequent economic contraction that continues to this day represent more than just another recessionary cycle. More importantly, they represent a structural change, a new phase, the phase of the dominance of “finance capital,” as the late Austro-German political economist Rudolf Hilferding put it. Read More Here

(Portfolio) – Danger Ahead for Small Banks

The small banks that do much of the lending to small business face a crisis in the near future that could force thousands of them to cut back on loans. Read More Here

(StarTribune) – Foreclosure numbers may foretell delinquency surge

The number of U.S. households facing foreclosure in January increased 15 percent from the same month last year, and a surge in cash-strapped homeowners who’ve fallen behind on mortgages could be on the way. Read More Here

(AJC) – Metro Atlanta foreclosures skyrocket this month – Read More Here

(ABC15) – Report: Valley foreclosures not slowing down – Read More Here

(DallasBiz) – Dallas/Fort Worth quarterly foreclosure postings jump 22% – Read More Here

(NYDaily) – Number of New Yorkers at risk of losing their home to foreclosure surges, new statistics show – Read More Here

(MarketTicker) – 30 Year Auction – A Solid ‘F’ – Read More Here

(DailyMail) – Welcome to boarded-up Britain: One in eight shops now stand empty as recession hits high streets

The number of empty shops blighting our high streets has trebled since the start of the credit crunch, it was revealed yesterday. Read More Here

(MailOnline) – Did Goldman Sachs rig the bank-tax vote? Foul play suspected in Richard Curtis internet campaign – Read More Here

(DailyExpress) – Housing Minister: It’s Ok to Lose Your Home

LABOUR’S housing minister yesterday insulted millions struggling to survive the recession by claiming that having their homes repossessed might be their “best option”. Read More Here

(DailyExpress) – Labour’s ‘100 %’ Death Tax

MILLIONS of people could lose almost every penny of their assets under a new “death tax” being considered by Labour to fund care for the elderly. Read More Here

MSM: Paulson Says Russia Urged China to Dump Fannie, Freddie Bonds

(Bloomberg) — Russia urged China to dump its Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds in 2008 in a bid to force a bailout of the largest U.S. mortgage-finance companies, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said.

China pulls financial plug on Western debt

“This year we will continue to control the pace and demand of the credit supply,” Mr. Liu said at a conference in Hong Kong. All banks, he added, had been ordered to “heighten their vigilance against an impossible, embedded credit risk.”
For about a year now, China has been giving signs and exerting influence on world markets and political circles that they would be ending their massive purchases of Federal Reserve bonds (also known as buying US government debt bonds) to which they know the US will never repay. It is looking more and more like the predictions by many have been right a long time; that is that China’s revaluation of their currency and the cessation of spending on financing debts abroad for countries unlikely to pay them back will cause “financial tsunami” around the world.

Doug Casey Says Bet Against Wall Street, Bonds, and after a few months the U.S. Dollar

(MakretOracle) – L: Doug, I saw a Wall Street Journal headline a few days ago that boldly proclaimed, “Car Makers May Hire Soon.” Be still, my trembling heart! It’s hard to believe the WSJ would stoop to such a meaningless headline, but I guess they are just trying to give their desperate customers what they want: some hope, whether valid or not. What do you make of the unemployment situation?

CHINA: ‘The world does not have Money to buy more US Treasuries’

(ShanghaiDaily) – It is getting harder for governments to buy United States Treasuries because the US’s shrinking current-account gap is reducing supply of dollars overseas, a Chinese central bank official said yesterday.

MSM: Greece sees few glimmers of hope

(FinancialTimes) – With Greece’s budget deficit at record levels and the country’s banks exposed to troubles both at home and abroad, doomsayers are predicting that Greek banks will go the way of Iceland’s.

Video: Glenn Beck – God, Gold and Guns

(Fox) – December 11, 2009 – Glenn Beck talks with David Buckner about Short-Term Treasury Bonds. Admittedly not the most exciting thing to talk about, but it’s very important.

Nelson offers war bonds bill

(OmahaWorldHerald) – In an attempt to help avoid sharp tax increases or increase foreign borrowing, Sen. Ben Nelson on Tuesday introduced the U.S. War Bonds Act of 2009.

Video: Dubai Balks at Debt Payment, Rattles Global Markets

(Telegraph) – Stock markets in Germany, France, Spain and Italy were all down about 2pc in early afternoon trading as investors retreated from riskier assets. Investors spent the morning digesting the news that Dubai World, the government investment company with $59bn of liabilities, is seeking to delay repayment on much of its debt. Price for European government bonds rose as investors moved money into safer assets.

Video: Peter Schiff on Fox Business – Double-Dip Recession

(Fox) – November 2, 2009 – “The economy has to collapse because it’s phony”

Webinar Transcript: The War on the Dollar

Last week, I showed you the most shocking numbers I’ve seen in my lifetime:

Aussie Senator: U.S. In Similar Economic Position To Germany Before WWII

THE Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce is openly canvassing an economic upheaval that would dwarf the current global financial crisis, triggered by the US defaulting on its sovereign debt within the next few years.

MSM: 3 signs of the next real estate collapse

(CNN) – The latest bubble is about to burst, but this time it’s in the commercial market. Here’s how to see it coming.

“Death Bonds”: Wall Street’s Shocking New Plan to Reap Billions Off Dying Americans

Now we know why America’s oligarchs are fighting to keep the rest of us stuck in the world’s worst health care system: the more we die, the more billions Wall Street will earn.

Three Government Reports Point to Fiscal Doomsday

When our leaders have no awareness of the disastrous consequences of their actions, they can claim ignorance and take no action.

MSM: US May Face ‘Armageddon’ If China, Japan Don’t Buy Debt

(CNBC) – The US is too dependent on Japan and China buying up the country’s debt and could face severe economic problems if that stops, Tiger Management founder and chairman Julian Robertson told CNBC.

MSM: The stock market rally is just another bubble – and it’s set to pop

(MoneyWeek) – Stock markets continue to expect the best of all worlds.
There will be a V-shaped recovery. Everything is headed back to normal. At least, that’s what you’d believe if you just look at the way stocks have surged.

MSM: Ireland pays £48bn to rescue five banks from toxic debts

(Independent) – Five High street banks in Ireland are to be paid £48bn by a state agency to cover their toxic debts in the biggest financial rescue in the country’s history. Bonds issued by the National Assets Management Agency (Nama) will provide the struggling banks with £7bn more than the current £41bn value of their toxic debts.

Want to Fight Deflation? Give a Worker a Raise

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

Memo to Bernanke: “No Wage Growth; No Recovery”

A recent poll shows that most economists now believe that the recession, which began in December 2007, will end in the third quarter of 2009. There’s been an uptick in manufacturing and consumer confidence, and the decline in housing prices appears to be flattening out. Unfortunately, the return to positive GDP will likely be short-lived.

Fiat Money Created Out of Thin Air: The Bank Bailouts are Unconstitutional

(Bob Chapman) – The starting point for all analysis of the ongoing bailout orgy that is currently being used in crony capitalist fashion to transfer wealth from our middle class to the financial elites and their transnational conglomerates is whether these bailouts are authorized by the US Constitution. The answer is a resounding NO!

The Expiring Economy – Paul Craig Roberts

Tent cities springing up all over America are filling with the homeless unemployed from the worst economy since the 1930s. While Americans live in tents, the Obama government has embarked on a $1 billion crash program to build a mega-embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, to rival the one the Bush government build in Baghdad, Iraq.

The Expiring Economy – Paul Craig Roberts

Tent cities springing up all over America are filling with the homeless unemployed from the worst economy since the 1930s. While Americans live in tents, the Obama government has embarked on a $1 billion crash program to build a mega-embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, to rival the one the Bush government built in Baghdad, Iraq.

This Depression is just beginning

Too bad Pulitzers aren’t handed out for blog-entries. This year’s award would go to Zero Hedge for its “The ‘Money on the Sidelines’ Fallacy” post. This short entry shows why the economy will continue its downward slide and why the US consumer will not get off the mat and resume spending as he has in the past. The fact is the Net Wealth of US Households has “declined from a peak of $22 trillion to just under $12 trillion in early March.”

Money printing, debt growth and deficits don’t create prosperity, says Marc Faber

Marc Faber the Swiss fund manager and Gloom Boom & Doom editor said the US Federal Reserve managed, through stimulus, to do something that had never before been done – create a worldwide bubble in just about everything -stocks, bonds , housing and art.

The TRUTH …

The United States is now the most indebted civilization in the history of the world and ground zero for the financial crisis.

America is now the world’s biggest debtor

The latest Treasury auction of $19 billion of 10-year notes was at a yield of 3.365%. The bid to cover was 3.28 to 1, the highest ever. This was the third of four sales this week totaling $73 billion.

Jim Rogers Sells Dollars, Plans to Short Treasuries

(Bloomberg) – The dollar and U.S. Treasuries are both likely to slide as soaring government debt in the world’s biggest economy undermines confidence in its assets, according to Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings.

Billionaire Madoff tied to intelligence agencies

The failure of federal prosecutors to bring conspiracy charges against Bernard Madoff, the mega-billion dollar Ponzi scammer who pleaded guilty March 12 to eleven counts of fraud and other crimes in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, is providing cover to those who pulled the strings on Madoff’s illegal operation.

Goldman to make record bonus payout

Staff at Goldman Sachs staff can look forward to the biggest bonus payouts in the firm’s 140-year history after a spectacular first half of the year, sparking concern that the big investment banks which survived the credit crunch will derail financial regulation reforms.

The next major move in the stock market will be DOWN

(Bob Chapman) – Last vestiges of a rally similar to what we saw in 1931

Russia’s Central Bank says it will sell US treasuries and eyes IMF bonds

Russia’s Central Bank says it plans to cut reserves it holds in U.S. Treasuries and invest in International Monetary Fund bonds instead, a senior official said Wednesday.

De-Dollarization: Dismantling America’s Financial-Military Empire

The city of Yakaterinburg, Russia’s largest east of the Urals, may become known not only as the death place of the tsars but of American hegemony too – and not only where US U-2 pilot Gary Powers was shot down in 1960, but where the US-centered international financial order was brought to ground.

Japan secretly trying to divest out of their US debt?

From the original article:

Two Japanese nationals were detained by Italian financial police last week after trying to enter Switzerland with $134 billion worth of undeclared U.S. bonds, mostly Treasury bonds, an Italian daily said Wednesday.

Illiteracy in High Places – Forgetting What We Learned

(Paul Craig Roberts) – If a person lives long enough, he can watch everyone forget everything they learned. Everyone includes Federal Reserve Chairmen, economists, Bank of America “strategists,” and even Bloomberg.com.

Video: Max Keiser On the Edge – 5-29-09

“How about water-boarding for Tim Geithner and Hank Paulson” – Max