Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Thurs 01.07.2010
America's Unhappy New Year The Baby Boom officially begins crashing this year. Some Baby Boomers began retiring early, but the big retirement Crash begins now and will go on for many years. This is a crashing demographic wave that is also a massive financial and economic crash. The peak income years of this large wave of Americans now suddenly and steadily drops for many years to come as more and more of them retire. Their disposable income and actual consumer spending will likely be far less than was expected a few years ago because of the massive drops in retirement savings and the soaring costs of health care which will demand far more frugal living than was true of their predecessor waves of retirees. This will be even greater as they suddenly realize that the Obama Central Plan for Medicare Cost Cuts will force them to pay far more of their own medical costs.
2010: Giant Gathering Storm Clouds The year 2008 bore my mark as the year the system broke. A public article addressed the issues, laid out before the breakdown occurred in September of that year. The consequences for the many failures, the desperate nationalizations, the hasty scrambles to put financial sewage under USGovt ownership, the realization of TARP as a vast slush fund for illegitimate bank rescues, the official monetization plans put forth to prevent bond implosions, and much more occurred in the year 2009 as a recognized aftermath. Here we are in 2010 and the threats must again be laid out.
Global financial regulation overhaul in 2010? Global financial regulation has changed little since the 2008 banking crisis, but that won’t be the case much longer. US and EU authorities are expected to hammer out the definite shape of a new regulatory order in 2010 that will fundamentally change how world banks and markets operate. Stricter limits on leverage and capital will emerge, leading eventually to slimmer profits for banks, policy analysts said. Formerly unregulated off-exchange derivatives markets will have to conform to new procedures.
Nations in the red threaten stability Panel urges U.S. to act on deficit The world economic crisis has entered a new stage where the overstretched finances of the United States and other national governments have become the biggest threat to economic stability. While the prospect of an unprecedented string of U.S. budget deficits exceeding $1 trillion is causing much angst, the problems are even worse for smaller countries such as Greece, Iceland and Ireland, where draconian spending cuts and tax increases are needed to prevent immediate financial crises.
A Note to Bernanke: Sorry Ben, More Bureaucracy Isn't the Answer U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's latest thesis is that the home mortgage bubble had little to do with record low interest rates, and was actually much more a problem of regulation. It sounds plausible - until you give it some real thought. After all, I believe that humanity has already tried a system with tight, vigorously enforced regulations, and no price mechanism. It was called the Soviet Union.
Obama prods Congress to pass health bill quickly President Barack Obama is prodding House and Senate Democrats to get him a final health care bill as soon as possible, encouraging them to bypass the usual negotiations between the two chambers in the interest of speed. Obama delivered the message at an Oval Office meeting Tuesday evening with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and his No. 2, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., joined in by phone.
Democrats defend closed-door process on health bill House Democrats huddled in private to decide what kind of compromise on health care legislation they would be willing to strike with the Senate while pressure mounts for them to end the secretive nature of the talks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her leadership team faced questions about openness after emerging from a closed-door meeting with top committee chairmen on legislation to overhaul the nation's health system.
Arkansas senator rips Nebraska health care deal U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln said a political deal that benefits Nebraska and may have clinched a lawmaker's support for health care legislation should be removed from the bill. The Democratic senator from Arkansas on Tuesday said she was disappointed about a provision in the Senate's health care bill that will require the federal government to permanently pay the entire cost of Medicaid expansion in Nebraska, while only paying the costs of expansion in the other 49 states for three years.
Health Care: Here Come the Unintended Consequences As a general rule, DollarCollapse.com doesn’t get involved in public policy debates. Not because they aren’t important, but because the damage has already been done. The U.S., along with Japan and most of Europe, has passed the point where policy fixes are possible. There’s no magic marginal tax rate or Fed Funds rate or immigration law that will avert disaster. All that’s left is for the current system to implode, one way or another. Then policy will matter again, as we try to fashion a workable new system from the rubble of the old.
Cal Thomas: A war by any other name Suppose Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the Christmas Day underwear bomber, had succeeded and blown up Northwest Airlines flight 253, killing nearly 300 people on board and perhaps others on the ground? Would the response of the Obama administration have been different?
Paying for the Mistakes of the Public Economy . . . . You can’t cure a problem of too much debt by borrowing more…even if the borrower is the federal government. When the private sector was over-borrowing, it was absorbing resources it couldn’t really afford. Plus, it was sending the wrong signal to producers, leading them to believe they had real customers on the other end of the line. What they had were people pretending to have more purchasing power than they really had. And when the credit got turned off, these customers disappeared, leaving the manufacturing sector with too much capacity and the retail sector with too much floor space to sell it. Now, the government is doing the same thing – taking up resources it cannot really afford…and redirecting them to uses that it really can’t sustain.
Jim Rogers - UK in Big Trouble, Obama is an Economic Illiterate Jim Rogers discusses commodities, the debt crisis in the UK, and how Obama and his economic team will lead America into another financial crisis.
Gold to hit $1500 or higher this year and probability of $3000 longer term Precious metals analyst Jeff Nichols is looking to continuing strength in gold in 2010 and beyond before it peaks and that silver may outperform gold this year too. In his latest commentary on the gold and precious metals markets, precious metals market analyst Jeff Nichols reckons that gold remains in a bull market and will hit new records again this year, but the path is unlikely to be a smooth one. He notes that gold has enjoyed a long and enviable climb, rising some 380 percent from a cyclical low near $255 in 2001 to an all-time high just over $1,225 in early December last year and he suggests the bull market still has a long way to go, both in magnitude and duration.
Gold investment demand remains strong A leading industry analyst has suggested that conditions remain good for people wishing to Buy Gold. Evy Hambro, of Blackrock Gold & General Fund, said that a number of important conditions had come together recently to create the positive trend in Gold Prices, according to the Daily Telegraph. She told the news provider: "The recent new all-time high in the price of gold seems to have been caused by the convergence of a number of important drivers.
Gold : Set For Another Glittering Decade? . . . . Thus, after a decade of outperformance by gold, it is important to analyze if its still a good investment for the future or investors can shift from gold to other asset classes where returns can be superior. In my opinion, gold is still a great investment option (especially for investors in the Western world) and it will continue to outperform over the next decade as well. I have discussed below some of the major reasons for this opinion.
Gold – More Consolidation Before the Next Leg in the Bull Market Gold peaked one month ago at $1226. In the bull market of the past decade corrections have typically lasted 31 to 37 trading days, comprising an initial break of 13 (+/- 2) days and a recovery rally into the 22nd day (+/- 3). The decline into December 21st lasted 14 days and produced an RSI(14) reading of 37 right in line with the average time and technical readings of the past ten years.
Gold: This Time Is Different? . . . . How much further can governments abuse faith in their debts and currency? At a guess, we'll find out sometime before the end of 2019. But holding gold today – or even daring to buy gold's recent 12% drop – is a long way from saying this time is different. It is a bet instead on things all too much the same, starting with policy-makers caught between just the same "inflate or die" panic that kicked off when the Tech Stock bubble burst a decade ago.
China sends gold prices soaring India is no longer the elephant in the world’s gold dealing rooms. The Dragon has edged it out. In 2009, China bought more gold than India, making it the world’s top consumer. China pipped South Africa in 2007 as the world’s largest gold producer. Revving up production to take advantage of record prices is understandable. But why have the Chinese suddenly fallen in love with gold? And does this affect the price we pay? ET helps you join the dots. US Dollar Will Collapse at end of 2010 (Nov 25, 2009) Bob Chapman reports that his source at the top of the banking industry has told him that 2000+ banks are in imminent danger of collapse, the FDIC will be closed or collapsed by Sep 2010 or year end and official devaluation will happen by the end of 2010. The source has been queried about making room for a new currency.
More worried money to flow into gold in 2010 Gold, the decade's best performing asset has already matched the US stock-market's longest ever run of year-on-year gains (1982-89), averaging 16% annual returns since 2001, according to Adrian Ash, Head of Research at BullionVault.com, leading online gold dealing and ownership service. The risk of a major sovereign default looks set to draw more worried money into gold in 2010, BullionVault.com said in its 2010 outlook.
Gold may gain 35% in 2010: Jeffrey Nichols Investors can expect a gold bull market in 2010 while silver could outperform gold as was the case in 2009, according to Jeffrey Nichols, Senior Economic Advisor to Rosland Capital. "Gold rallied sharply on the first trading day of 2010 - in part, mirroring a weaker U.S. dollar but also reflecting reestablishment of long positions by some funds and speculators who, despite their bullish view of the market, sold metal in December to realize profits earned from last year's price surge.
Gold buying frenzy grips China The Chinese people are increasingly getting entangled in the luster for gold. The Chinese families are on a buying spree of gold ornaments, gold bars, gold coins and gold ETFs. But they are not alone. Chinese mining companies, bullion dealers, gold associations, jewelers and traders are all in the grip of the 'yellow' fever with one aim: buy and trade gold. China, indeed, is in the grip of a gold buying frenzy.
The US Dollar and Gold .... I do believe gold has bottomed and think we will work our way higher reasonably quickly to break above the recent high of $1,226 and on to about $1,500. I wrote extensively about how, in all of gold’s breakouts during this bull market, the price retraces the breakout to about the 50% level before moving back up, then roughly doubling the initial leg’s move, in my December 12, 2009 article It’s Only Halftime. That makes the recent move from $1,000 to $1,226 only half the move, and that is being conservative since we are now solidly into the second phase of the bull market, for sure this time.
Five reasons why you should own Silver coins There are a multitude of reasons the average investor should have at least some of their assets invested in silver. Consider these five reasons that can help you grow your assets while preserving your wealth. Silver Has Intrinsic Value Through thousands of years, silver has maintained its worth and its utility, providing a currency and a means of exchange through the rise and fall of great empires. Silver has always retained intrinsic value; indeed, silver has never fallen to zero, and it has appreciated decade after decade and century after century. One ounce of silver today would purchase just as much as it did thousands of years ago, without any significant risk.
Inflation may be next dragon to slay: Fed economist The Fed's extraordinary support for the financial system suggests it will have less margin for error to stave off inflation as recovery gathers steam, according to a St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank economist. The Fed -- the US central bank -- cut benchmark interest rates to near zero in December 2008 and created emergency lending and purchase programs as it battled the worst recession in more than 70 years.
Gulf may launch single currency in 2015 RIYADH: A single Gulf Arab currency could be launched in 2015 if countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) speed up the process, a senior official from the bloc's secretariat said on Wednesday. Rulers from the world's top oil exporting region endorsed the much-delayed monetary union last month despite the pullout of the United Arab Emirates -the bloc's second-largest economy- and Oman. Policymakers from the other four states -Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain- are currently expected to set a timetable for the creation of a joint central bank, but launching the single currency is still a distant prospect.
Fed Governors Fretted Over Stimulus, High Unemployment Federal Reserve officials who gathered last month agreed the economy appeared solidly on its way to recovery and gaining momentum, according to minutes from the Dec. 15-16 meeting, released Wednesday. Nevertheless, some members disagreed over the need for continuing and future stimulus. In the committee's discussion of monetary policy, some members expressed concern that should the economy weaken or the mortgage market deteriorate, stimulus programs might again become necessary. But at least one other member thought the Fed should trim large-scale asset purchases, the funding mechanism the central bank uses to provide stimulus, citing improved financial market conditions and economic forecasts.
That they saw a need to watch the impact of the dollar on inflation . (A lower dollar does raise the cost of imports and the US is a big importer of goods
Fed Officials Discuss Increasing Purchases of debt instruments, if the economy were to weaken (the purchase program is scheduled to lapse in March)
They thought that Unemployment would remain high (there is a number of underemployed people who will keep the unemployment rate from falling significantly). . . .
Fed Admits It Accepts Unworthy Collateral In TALF Yesterday the Federal Reserve Board of New York made an announcement, indicating recent posturing that it would carefully pick collateral for the TALF program, has been a sham (not that we would expect anything out of Bernanke, Cheatem and Howe). One wonders what the utility of having so many new NRSROs recently hired by the Fed receive taxpayer money and to share their perspective on collateral quality, when the Fed openly overrides them and decides what legacy loans are TALF-worthy on its own.
Fed: "We May Keep Printing Money For Housing Market" The Federal Reserve is discussing re-entering the mortgage-backed securities market later this year if its buying power is needed to hold down interest rates, Market News said on Tuesday in a story citing Fed officials. The $5 trillion agency mortgage-backed securities market may weaken when last year's biggest buyer, the Federal Reserve, ends its $1.25 trillion agency MBS purchasing program at the end of the first quarter of 2010.
Marc Faber - 2010 Predictions - Long Term, The Dollar Is A Drop Kick
Still In A Credit Crisis, New Liquidity Threatens Inflation Market manipulations never fail to shock us, 13 trillion spent into a pit of debt and no relief in sight, unemployment numbers probably higher than they appear, crooks bailed out, taxpayer pays for it, bank lending way down, inflation predicted On thing we can say for sure about 2009 is that markets witnessed the worst manipulation ever by the President's "Working Group on Financial Markets."
In Order To Make The Ponzi Market Keep Going Ever Higher, Barney Frank Tries To Make Shorting Virtually Impossible As part of the Barney Frank proposed Manager's Amendment, which will accompany HR4173, the "Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009", are three little-noticed rules that, if adopted, will make shorting stocks if not impossible, then extremely problematic and difficult. It is obvious why these rules would end up in an amendment: the outcry from retail and institutional traders would have been huge had these proposals made the full text of the proper Bill, and into the full view of the Mainstream Media. So why bother with these - simple. As everyone is aware, Ponzi schemes only work when constantly growing, as otherwise they blow up, implode under their own weight, once price discovery is attempted by all.
Can Federal Reserve Catch Next Bubble? As the Federal Reserve argues that greater regulatory power could safeguard the U.S. from future financial crises, questions remain about why the central bank didn't foresee the last one. As the New York Times' David Leonhardt points out, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, continually downplayed the nation's housing bubble in the years before it burst and nearly dragged down the U.S. economy.
Fed minutes reveal angst over housing recovery Minutes: Members debated keeping mortgage-buying program past March Some Federal Reserve policymakers were sufficiently concerned last month about the recovery's staying power that they argued for expanding a $1.25 trillion program aimed at bolstering the housing market. Minutes of the Fed's closed-door meeting on Dec. 15-16 revealed that a "few members" thought the Fed's program to drive down rates by buying mortgage securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might need to be expanded and extended beyond its current end date of March 31. Such an additional dose of stimulus would be especially needed if the economic recovery were to weaken, they argued.
Shadow Inventory Finding 100,000 Shadow Properties while Public Views 19,000. Unlocking the Foreclosure Box - The Most Comprehensive Shadow Inventory Housing Analysis for Los Angeles County. Examining 269 Zip Codes and Finding 100,000 Shadow Properties while Public Views 19,000. One resolution I had coming into 2010 was getting a better number for the shadow inventory in Southern California. It is rather clear that shadow inventory is a real factor in the current market but how big is this inventory?
Dodd Dumped
Democrat Chris Dodd, the Senate Banking Committee Chairman, Is Retiring Democrat Chris Dodd, the Connecticut senator who wants to weaken the Fed and name a top financial cop, is expected to announce his decision to not seek reelection in 2010 at a press conference today, according to a report in the Washington Post. His popularity has waned, especially since it became pubic that he obtained two discounted VIP mortgages from Countrywide during the real estate boom. A Senate ethics panel later cleared Dodd of breaking rules by taking the mortgages, but its report said he should have done more to avoid the appearance of sweetheart deals.
Tea Party Movement Plans "Strike" for Jan. 20 As the one-year anniversary of President Obama's inauguration nears, the Tea Party movement is planning a "strike" against corporations they call responsible for "funding socialism" and "backing the leftist agenda" of the new president. Liberal politicians benefit from "large donors, labor union thugs, Hollywood elites and major media propagating our destruction," contends strike organizer Allen Hardage at the Tea Party Patriots web site.
ADP Reports Private Sector Shed Jobs Services Industry Adds Positions for First Time Since March 2008 Private-sector jobs in the U.S. fell by 84,000 in December, the smallest drop since March 2008, and service providers added jobs, according to a national employment report published Wednesday by payroll company Automatic Data Processing Inc. and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisers. Separately, the U.S. non-manufacturing sector expanded in December, but barely, according to data released Wednesday by the Institute for Supply Management.
Jobs: The One Issue That Can Sink Democrats in November If unemployment is 10 percent or more next November, the Dems are in danger of losing the House and will almost certainly be short of the 60 votes they need in the Senate. Just about everything you'll hear coming out of Washington starting now is really about November's mid-term election. The gravitational pull of the midterms was already apparent last year, as Republicans marched in perfect lockstep to vote against whatever the President and Democrats proposed (Republicans always have authoritarian discipline on their side, which is why they're Republicans), but you haven't seen anything yet.
Lockheed Martin to cut 1,200 jobs Lockheed Martin plans to cut 1,200 jobs as it combines 2 electronics systems units Defense contractor Lockheed Martin said Wednesday it plans to cut 1,200 jobs to lower costs as it combines two units. The cuts amount to less than 1 percent of the company's total work force of about 140,000. The company says employees who will lose their jobs will be notified by early April. Lockheed announced in November its plans to combine two units in its electronics systems business -- the former Maritime Systems & Sensors business, based in Washington, D.C., and its Systems Integration unit in Owego, N.Y.
Denver loses 43,400 jobs in a year The Denver metro area lost 43,400 jobs -- 3.5 percent of its total employment -- in the 12 months ending in November, according to an analysis of new federal jobs data. The analysis is by G. Scott Thomas, projects editor of the Denver Business Journal's sister paper, Business First of Buffalo, N.Y. The Denver-Aurora-Broomfield area had 1,244,100 employed workers in November 2008, and 12 months later it had 1,200,700, Thomas' analysis indicates.
Buffalo, NY: 13,800 Local Jobs Vanish Into Thin Air The bad news keeps trickling in. We reported yesterday that the Buffalo area's unemployment rate hit 8.0 percent last November, up from 6.3 percent in the same month a year earlier. Those figures came from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as does a separate report that the local market lost 13,800 jobs during the same 12-month period.
Milwaukee area loses 50,000 jobs in last year About 50,000 jobs disappeared in metropolitan Milwaukee from November 2008 to November 2009, according to new figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis area had 801,000 jobs in November 2009, down 5.9 percent from 851,500 jobs in November 2008, according to report. Los Angeles heads the list with a loss of 194,900 jobs over the 12-month period. Five other metros posted six-figure declines. The Chicago and New York metros were close behind with losses of 186,600 and 186,100 jobs, respectively.
Massachusetts cities lost 65,500 jobs in 2009 Massachusetts three-largest metro areas - Greater Boston, Worcester and Springfield - lost roughly 65,500 jobs in 2009, according to an analysis of federal jobs data. The decrease represented a 2.1 percent decline in jobs housed by those three statistical areas. Boston saw the largest year-over-year drop in total jobs, reporting 53,100 losses for the year. That put total employment in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy statistical area at roughly 2.45 million positions - a 2.1 percent decline for the year, according to data analyzed by Business First, the Buffalo, N.Y.-based sister publication of the Boston Business Journal.
Nashville area lost 26,100 jobs The Nashville metro area lost 26,100 jobs between November 2008 and November 2009, a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. The area had 731,700 jobs this past November, down 3.4 percent from 757,800 a year earlier. The bureau analyzed employment numbers in the 100 largest U.S. job markets. All but one of the 100 markets studied by the BLS lost jobs over the 12-month period. The lone exception was the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area of south Texas, which posted a 1.2 percent gain.
Employment in 100 Biggest Markets (November 2009) A database with the latest job growth data for the nation's 100 biggest labor markets. Well, "job growth" is a misnomer, since 99 of the 100 lost jobs, but you get the idea.
IRS help line sets low bar for service It's hard to reach real person Need help with your taxes? Good luck reaching someone at the Internal Revenue Service. Three out of 10 people who call the toll-free help line this tax season won't get through to a human being - and that's if the agency meets its goals for service. Callers lucky enough to reach a representative will have to wait on hold an average of nearly 12 minutes, a level of service deemed unacceptable in a report issued Wednesday by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson.
ACORN and Big Labor: Two Peas in a Pod With the unearthing of a memo detailing an ACORN scheme to use "dirty money hungry lawyers" to force "employers to open up negotiations" and its plan to create "a model for [union] organizing" that "building trades [unions] do not have," ACORN almost assuredly fits the federal definition of a labor organization under federal law 29 CFR 401.9 . But, the detailed scheme gets even better and closer to the line that makes ACORN a labor union.
Neither Sword Nor Shield: Full-Spectrum Civilian Disarmament "We need to make it clear," fulminated Patrick Lynch of the New York City Policeman's Benevolent Association, "that if someone lifts even a finger against a police officer, their life could be on the line." Taken literally, this would make a capital offense out of a familiar disrespectful gesture, a salute that is entirely appropriate when directed at officious tax-grazers of Lynch's ilk. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that Lynch perceives criticism of the police as a species of crime.
Sleazy new debt-collector tactics It may not be your debt, but it could be your problem. Collection agencies are bullying blameless consumers into paying debts they never owed. Lisa Burk isn't Lisa Sterns, but Allied Interstate refused to believe her. The Minneapolis collection agency repeatedly called Lisa and her husband, Michael, according to a lawsuit filed by the Minnesota attorney general, and demanded that the couple pay a debt owed by one Lisa Sterns. The couple, just as repeatedly, told the collector they didn't know any Lisa Sterns and asked the company to stop calling.
Buffalo's debt collectors accused of bullying When Tobias "Bags of Money" Boyland went looking for a new career after serving 13 years in prison for armed robbery and drug dealing, he quickly found something that suited his sensibilities: He opened a collection agency. It was, in some ways, a natural move for a young man in Buffalo. Desperate for jobs, this chronically depressed Rust Belt city has become home to one of the biggest concentrations of debt collection businesses in the U.S.
Macy's To Close Five Stores In Annual Review Macy's Inc. (M) said Tuesday it would close five stores, affecting 307 full-and part-time employees, as part of an ongoing annual process to shutter underperforming locations. "We are committed to maintaining a healthy portfolio of stores, which requires us to make the difficult decision to close some stores that no longer meet our performance requirements, as well as to open new stores where we see opportunities," said Chairman and Chief Executive Terry J. Lundgren in a statement. A company spokesman said the department store typically announces its store-closing plans at the beginning of the year. Last year, Macy's closed 11 stores and the year before that, it shuttered nine. Macy's will close stores in Boise, Idaho; Waterford, Mich.; St. Ann, Mo.; Missoula, Mont.; and Burlington, N.J. Final clearance sales will begin Sunday and run for about 60 days. The company said some workers affected by the closings may be offered positions in nearby stores.
Walgreen Posts Surprise Drop in December Sales Walgreen Co.'s same-store sales fell 0.3% in December, the first drop since last February, as pharmacy-sales growth slowed with waning incidence of flu cases. Results were also hurt by the company's strategy of reining in holiday-related inventory. December same-store sales in the pharmacy department rose 1.8%, cut by 2.1 percentage points because of new generic drugs the past year. Prescriptions filled climbed 4.1% on a same-store basis. Walgreen's sales in the front end of stores were down 3.1% when counting stores open at least a year. That decline, the company said, was due to lower levels of seasonal inventory and lower flu incidence in December this year. Sales of non-pharmacy items have been a struggle for the drugstore chain in recent months, as the tough economy has taken a toll on consumers' wallets.
Monsanto Posts Loss as Sales Drop 36% Monsanto Co. swung to a loss for its fiscal first quarter as lower prices for Roundup and other weedkillers slashed margins. Sales tumbled 36%. The world's largest producer of genetically modified seeds reported a loss of $19 million, or three cents a share, for the quarter ended Nov. 30, compared with a prior-year profit of $556 million, or $1 a share. The St. Louis company last month forecast a loss of as much as five cents a share. Revenue dropped to $1.7 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast $1.98 billion. Sales of Roundup and other herbicides tumbled 63% to $509 million.
The Left Continues to Break: More Cracks in Net Neutrality Front With the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) set to make a decision on proposed net neutrality rules later this year, the fight between supporters of the controversial policy and its opponents continues to heat up. Yesterday, a group of minority and women's organizations reportedly called on the FCC to give serious consideration to the impact that net neutrality could have on what has been termed the "digital divide"-the widening of which, opponents argue, constitutes a potential unintended consequence of the policy, and one which has become a primary focal point of net neutrality critics' concern. In a letter and a proposal to the FCC, the groups-which include minority organizations that have previously spoken out regarding the net neutrality issue such as the Asian American Justice Center-have asked for a field hearing and workshop addressing the topic.
Old is New! Dick Tracy watch New Watch-Phone Is a Fun, Affordable Accessory How does $200 sound for an unlocked phone? Now make it a Dick Tracy-style watch phone and it's an accessory you just might put on your wish list. The W "phonewatch" from Kempler & Strauss combines a touchscreen interface with basic phone functionality so you can use the device while biking or hiking. The GSM phone can work with both AT&T and T-Mobile but it doesn't have 3G capability or Wi-Fi. Just open the back and pop in a SIM card there to get started. There is a microphone and a speaker on the device, but the company recommends that the phone be paired with a Bluetooth headset. The watch phone isn't intended as a replacement for your iPhone, Droid or your BlackBerry, says the company. Instead it has been created as a companion.
Intel's Otellini to unveil 'digital convergence' device Intel CEO and President Paul Otellini will likely unveil a device that links computers with televisions over a wireless network during his keynote presentation on Thursday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The upcoming device is a "digital convergence product" that was jointly developed by Intel and Netgear, said Chris Geiser, a product marketing manager in Netgear's home and consumer products group, during a press conference at CES on Wednesday.
Piece of Yale's Skull and Bones history on auction A human skull that once reportedly belonged to Yale's Skull and Bones society is now for sale in a Christie's auction with an estimated price of $10,000 to $20,000. A human skull that once apparently belonged to Yale's mysterious Skull and Bones society is now for sale. Christie's auction house believes the skull was used as a ballot box around 1872. It has a hinge on top and is surrounded by crossbones. Skull and Bones has closely guarded its members' names and its activities since the early 1970s. Publicly known members of the elite society include both presidents Bush.
Global matters bear close watch . . .
'Climate science' is an oxymoron. Time for Zero Tolerance of Green agendas Wow! That Copenhagen package really worked. Global warming has been dramatically reversed. In fact, if Al Gore could see his way to turning the heat back up just a little, most of us would be deeply appreciative… "Climate science" is the oxymoron of the century. There is not a city, town or hamlet in the country that has had its weather conditions correctly forecast, over periods as short as 12 hours, during the past week. This is the "exceptionally mild winter" that the climate change buffoons warned us would occur as a consequence of global warming. Their credibility is 20 degrees below zero.
Euro brinkmanship escalates as ECB shuts door on Greek bail-out The European Central Bank has given its clearest warning to date that there will be no EU bail-out for Greece if it fails to control its spiralling deficit, raising the stakes in a game of brinkmanship over the future of the euro. Jurgen Stark, the ECB's chief economist and the powerful German member on the bank's inner council, said Greece's problems are entirely "home-made" and do not meet the terms required to trigger the rescue mechanism under EU treaty law, which is limited to countries that face severe difficulties "beyond their own control". "The Treaties set out a 'no bail-out' clause, and the rules will be respected. This is crucial for guaranteeing the future of a monetary union among sovereign states with national budgets. Markets are deluding themselves if they think that the other member states will at a certain point dip their hands into their wallets to save Greece," Stark told the Italian daily Il Sole
Veto of repayment bill leaves Iceland isolated Iceland risks international isolation after refusing to honour its pledge to repay money lost in the IceSave bankruptcy. The Icelandic president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson found himself caught between a rock and a hard place. Should he bow to the anger of his citizens, who were unwilling to repay 3.8 billion euros owed to the Netherlands and the UK? Or should he prevent his country from becoming economically and diplomatically isolated?
Angry Iceland defies the world Iceland's president has blocked a Bill to pay Britain and Holland up to £3.4bn for Icesave depositors, acknowledging that popular feeling in the island nation is too strong to proceed without a referendum. The move reopens a bitter dispute and greatly complicates Iceland's loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund. It has already led to a fresh downgrade to BB+ by Fitch Ratings, which called the decision "a significant setback to Iceland's efforts to restore normal financial relations with the rest of the world." The Icesave law was passed by Iceland's parliament in a knife-edge vote late last year, but a petition by the InDefense movement has changed the political landscape. The lobby collected 56,000 signatures - a quarter of voters.
Setback in Reykjavik Iceland Blocks 3.8 Billion Euro Repayment to Dutch, British The president of Iceland refused to sign a bill on Tuesday that would have paid back the governments of Britain and Holland for money lost to depositors at the collapsed IceSave bank. The move followed popular protest against the legislation, which would see repayment totalling 13,000 euros per Icelandic citizen. Iceland's president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, on Tuesday refused to sign a bill requiring his country to pay €3.8 billion ($5 billion) to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to compensate for damages suffered due to IceSave's bankruptcy.
Iceland is swept into storm after Icesave veto Iceland was swept up in a political and economic storm on Wednesday, with clouds building over its credit rating, economic recovery and EU membership bid after the president vetoed compensation over the Icesave bank collapse. Iceland's President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson refused to sign on Tuesday the so-called Icesave bill on compensation to the British and Dutch governments, referring instead the issue to a referendum because of public opposition.
Rome and Berlin-Facing Up to War At the same time that the Kunduz bombing has provided the German government with a clear reason to amend the Bundeswehr's rules of engagement in battle, the Catholic Church is preparing for the German military to be placed on a war footing. The German Deutsche Welle headlined an article last Monday, "The Church Reaches Out to the Families of German Troops Abroad." The article mentioned that "the Catholic military bishopric has started a new program to help prepare families for the stresses of seeing loved ones sent away to conflict zones." This is the first time the church has accepted such a role since World War ii. The reason is obvious. Over the past 10 years German troops have increasingly been placed in theaters of conflict outside Germany's national borders.
German viewpoint . . . The (Eight) Issues that Will Shape the World in 2010 The past year seemed a fitting end to a decade during which the world lurched from crisis to crisis. The list of unfinished business is long and many pressing issues are set to demand attention in 2010. SPIEGEL presents the ones to watch. . . .
One Sudan or Two?
An End to Iraq's Maliki Era?
An Attack on Iranian Nuclear Facilities?
Can an African Team Win the 2010 World Cup?
Climate Hopes in Bonn
A Reduction in Subsidies for Europe's Farmers?
A Generation Change for the Middle East
Show of Strength in Shanghai
'The European Answer to the Failed Climate Summit in Copenhagen'An international power grid for green energy planned in Northern Europe could usher in a new era in both carbon-free power and cross-border competition among the continent's energy firms. But it's still a long way off, argue German commentators. Funding for a nine-nation project to link power-generation projects in a high-tech North Sea power grid was announced on Tuesday, sketching the future of European attempts to harness renewable energy. The idea is to link wind farms off Denmark, for example, with solar parks in Germany and tidal power stations in Belgium to create a regional grid of clean power, and it's been hailed on Wednesday morning by German papers as a major step in the fight against global warming.
Sarkozy Says Strong Euro Dents Competitiveness PARIS -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that a strong euro is denting the competitiveness of the euro zone and risks handicapping European companies as they recover from the global recession. "If one produces in the euro zone and sells in dollars, with the euro rising and the dollar falling, how is it possible to offset the competitiveness gap?" Mr. Sarkozy asked French business leaders gathered in Cholet in western France. "This subject should be at the center of global debates."
How Russia Is About to Dramatically Change the World Over the next few days, Russia will change the world. It has completed a new oil pipeline and port complex that sets Russia up to become a more powerful oil exporter than Saudi Arabia. The ramifications for Europe and Asia are profound: The shape of the global economy-and the global balance of power-will be altered forever. December 28 was a big day of ceremony in Russia. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pushed a button that transformed global oil dynamics-especially for Asia and Europe. The button released thousands of barrels of Siberian crude into a waiting Russian supertanker and heralded the opening of Russia's first modern Pacific-based oil export facilities.
Palestinian gunmen kill Egyptian guard in Gaza clash Hamas loyalists and Egyptian troops opened fire along Gaza's volatile border Wednesday, leaving an Egyptian soldier dead and more than a dozen Gazans hurt in the bloodiest clash between the two sides in a year. Accompanied by a barrage of rocks, the shooting underlined the mounting tensions over Egypt's construction of an underground steel wall that could seal Gaza's southern border, block hundreds of smuggling tunnels and deprive Gaza's Hamas rulers of their only lifeline.
Foreign ministers meet to revive Mediterranean Union CAIRO - The foreign ministers of Egypt, France, Jordan, Spain and Tunisia met in Cairo on Tuesday in an effort to revive the nascent Mediterranean Union, a year after its launch.
Press statement on (Union for the Mediterranean Initiative) Foreign Ministers of Egypt, France, Spain, Tunisia, and Jordan met on January 5th, 2010, in Cairo, to discuss developments related to the Union for the Mediterranean initiative, as well as means to boost it. The Foreign Ministers agreed on the importance for the initiative's institutional framework to start carrying out its duties as soon as possible, and welcomed the Jordanian candidate "Ahmad Masa'deh" to assume the position of the Secretary-General for "Union for the Mediterranean" secretariat. The Foreign Ministers agreed that the senior officials from all member states should consider the Jordanian candidature during their upcoming meeting on January 12th, 2010, in Brussels, in order to present a joint recommendation to the meeting of Foreign Ministers to approve the nomination by mid February 2010, so that the Secretary-General and the secretariat institutional framework can carry out their duties by the end of February.
MED UNION: HEADS OF STATE SUMMIT IN BARCELONA IN 2010 The summit of the heads of state of the 43 countries of the Mediterranean Union will take place in Barcelona June 7 2010, during the period of the Spanish presidency of the EU. Created a year ago on the initiative of the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, the Med Union is preparing for its definitive launch before the end of the year, after the pause imposed by the conflict in Gaza and the lack of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, according to what the director general of the European Institute for the Mediterranean (EIMed), Serena Florensa, explained to the media. The organisation of the summit should have fallen on a country of the Mediterranean's southern shore or to Belgium, which will take the baton of EU presidency in July 2010.
What Is Really Behind the Mediterranean Union? There are moments in history when the geopolitical balance seems to shift clearly in one direction or the other. Currently within the EU, power seems to have just moved noticeably from France to Germany on a clear issue of substance. It is not the first of such shifts and, while it may not be the last either. But it is substantial and merits comment. I refer to the issue of the Union of the Mediterranean.
Religious Divide Across The Atlantic Numerous past European travelers to America have commented on the apparent importance of religion to (most) Americans. Some did so in a positive way, while others appeared to be more prejudicial. Among the former, Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" from the 1820's remains a classic work of reference, but this article will be more concerned with the opinions of a contemporary commentator, Josef Joffe, the editor/publisher of the German newspaper Die Zeit in Hamburg, Germany(*).
The Beginning of the End? The Iranian Regime's Fear of the People Bloody protests in Iran during the Ashura festival marked a turning point in the conflict between the regime and its opponents. For the first time, demonstrators responded to police brutality with violence of their own. But although the opposition movement is gaining ground, the government's massive security forces are still as powerful as ever.
Yemen captures key Al-Qaeda chief as embassies reopen Yemeni security forces, under US pressure to rein in extremists, Wednesday captured a key Al-Qaeda leader believed behind threats that saw foreign embassies in Sanaa hastily bolting their doors, police said. The arrest of Mohammed al-Hanq and two other suspected Al-Qaeda militants at a hospital in Raydah, north of capital, came as Yemen's authorities said Al-Qaeda militants were being choked countrywide and forced into "holes."
The abyss of poverty in Yemen, a breeding ground for al Qaeda After the fear of attacks, the Western embassies reopen. Emergency humanitarian assistance for refugees from the Horn of Africa: UN warning. The war between Saudis and Iran and the levity of the government. The instability of Yemen is now a "global threat". These are the words of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the conviction of most of the international community committed to preventing the opening a new front in the war after warnings from the White House about a possible military intervention against al-Qaeda sanctuaries in the country.
Unifying the Arab ranks compulsory, Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in a statement Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, explained here today that the message he conveyed from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to Syrian President Bashar Al Asad concerns the current regional situation and ways to reinforce consultation and work within Arab framework to solve regional problems.
-----------
Gee Whiz! Why not make us wear one all the time!! Shock bracelets for airline passengers (July 12, 2008)
Federal Power Grab: Clean Water Restoration Act; CWRA; Federal control of all water, even ponds
GOP opposes expanded water act Calls bid stealthy power grab A group of 28 Republican lawmakers from Western states is fighting efforts by Democrats in the House and Senate to quietly expand the scope of the Clean Water Act, the federal government's main tool for regulating the quality of the nation's waterways. The lawmakers sent a letter Tuesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada opposing efforts to rush through Congress the Clean Water Restoration Act, a bill that would allow the federal government to protect all waters of the U.S. from pollution, not just the "navigable" waters covered in current law. The letter says that the lawmakers would vote against any legislation that contains the expansion.
Inhofe Says Democrats Water Bill Biggest Bureaucratic Power Grab in a Generation
Democrats Vote To Hand Over Water Rights Regarding Ground Water to Federal Government
RSS
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/images/quotes_7a.gif)