Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Fri 03.12.2010
Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 14 Radio show one hour later, beginning Monday (Arizona time remains the same)
Regulators Shut LibertyPointe Bank In NYC Regulators Shut Down LibertyPointe Bank In New York City; Makes 27 US Bank Failures This Year WASHINGTON (AP) - Regulators on Thursday shut down LibertyPointe Bank in New York City, boosting to 27 the number of bank failures in the U.S. so far this year following the 140 brought down in 2009 by mounting loan defaults and the recession. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over LibertyPointe, with three branches, $209.7 million in assets and $209.5 million in deposits. The bank catered largely to the Orthodox Jewish community in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Feds seek bids for up to seven local banks, including Amcore By: Steve Daniels - ChicagoBusiness.com (Crain's) — Federal banking regulators are seeking bidders for as many as seven troubled local banks, including Rockford-based Amcore Bank. Bids for Amcore are due April 15 to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Crain’s has learned. Amcore, which has been buried under mounting real estate-oriented loan losses, at yearend had $4.1 billion in assets and 66 branches in northern Illinois and Wisconsin, including 24 in Chicago’s suburbs. If Amcore, which has been trying to raise capital to stave off seizure by the FDIC, can come up with the needed funds before the end of next month, it still could avoid the fate that befell the only other large, publicly traded local bank to fail since the financial crisis erupted in 2008 — Chicago-based Corus Bank, which had $7 billion in assets.
NY Fed Under Geithner Implicated in Lehman Accounting Fraud Quite a few observers, including this blogger, have been stunned and frustrated at the refusal to investigate what was almost certain accounting fraud at Lehman. Despite the bankruptcy administrator’s effort to blame the gaping hole in Lehman’s balance sheet on its disorderly collapse, the idea that the firm, which was by its own accounts solvent, would suddenly spring a roughly $130+ billion hole in its $660 balance sheet, is simply implausible on its face. Indeed, it was such common knowledge in the Lehman flailing about period that Lehman’s accounts were sus that Hank Paulson’s recent book mentions repeatedly that Lehman’s valuations were phony as if it were no big deal.
Why the U.S. can't inflate its way out of debt By Jeanne Sahadi - CNNMoney.com NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's dawning on people that getting a handle on burgeoning U.S. debt will be a long and hard process. So if lawmakers can't agree on a credible plan, some have suggested that the country could just "inflate its way" out of its fiscal ditch. The idea: Pursue policies that boost prices and wages and erode the value of the currency. The United States would owe the same amount of actual dollars to its creditors -- but the debt becomes easier to pay off because the dollar becomes less valuable.
America’s Real Estate Burden Ensures Inflation By: Dr. Jeffrey Lewis - GoldSeek.com The Obama administration and the US Congress have together made inflation the real monetary policy of the United States. While pundits and talking heads focus on the bailouts and loan packages, they're missing the bigger picture. It isn't what the US government outright purchased (stock, debt, and real estate paper), but it's what the US government is guaranteeing that will make all the difference.
The Bullish Case for Gold by Peter Gorenstein - TechTicker.com Marc Faber: Don't Expect Another Crash ... Bernanke Won't Allow it The bulls are firmly in control on Wall Street. Heading into Friday's session, the S&P 500 is at a 17-month high. Undaunted, the bears point to light volume as a sign of weakness and a correction to come. "I would rather be lightening up on positions in the next couple of weeks than heavily buying in here," says Marc Faber, editor of the Gloom, Boom and Doom Report. Accompanied by Michael "Mish" Shedlock, the man behind the economics blog, MISH'S Global Economic Trend Analysis, Faber tells Tech Ticker there's very few opportunities to make money in the market right now.
Bet Against the Majority. Buy Gold. By: Richard Daughty I was laid out on the couch, which I remember distinctly because my wife was yelling, “If you’re going lay down on the couch instead of doing something around the house to help me out, at least take your damned shoes off!” and I was using the remote to idly flip through the channels on TV, hoping to catch something in the vein of happy mindlessness, maybe something in the Gilligan’s Island-Bewitched genre, so that I did not have to keep track of a complicated plot and/or a bewildering cast of multi-faceted characters. I needed this kind of mental break to take my mind off of, for one thing, the sheer horror of today’s economic situation and how we are So Freaking Doomed (SFD).
China wants to lord over gold and forex markets By David Lew Gold is making news in China these days. China’s aggressive attempt to build up gold reserves has been the talk of the bullion world in the last few months. Especially, ever since India bought 200 tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year, there has been speculation that the Chinese central bank would be the next to purchase the remaining IMF gold. Now that the IMF has announced the sale of 191 tonnes of gold, there has been lots of rumours and speculation running thick around the world that China is all set to buy gold from IMF. China, in fact, is moving very cleverly. The country’s strategy is not just in buying more gold and mopping up the yellow metal reserves. China also wants to ensure that the country defeats the US dollar dominance and the Chinese currency—Yuan—emerges as the next reserve currency of the world.
The Gold Standard Mises Daily: by Ludwig von Mises Men have chosen the precious metals gold and silver for the money service on account of their mineralogical, physical, and chemical features. The use of money in a market economy is a praxeologically necessary fact. That gold — and not something else — is used as money is merely a historical fact and as such cannot be conceived by catallactics. In monetary history too, as in all other branches of history, one must resort to historical understanding. If one takes pleasure in calling the gold standard a "barbarous relic,"[1] one cannot object to the application of the same term to every historically determined institution. Then the fact that the British speak English — and not Danish, German, or French — is a barbarous relic too, and every Briton who opposes the substitution of Esperanto for English is no less dogmatic and orthodox than those who do not wax rapturous about the plans for a managed currency.
A Revisit to the Fake Gold Plated Tungsten Story By: Robert Bradshaw - MarketOracle.com The gold-plated, tungsten-filled bars story hasn’t gone away. Not only has it continued to pop up in various gold and hard-money, investment-advisory letters; but even the populous press publishers, like the American Free Press and Rense.com, have found it expedient to publish material on it as well.
Gold and The Paper Bubble by Adam Brochert - FinancialSense.com Talk of a Gold bubble over the past 6-9 months grows louder and louder. It is comical and a sign of desperation among those losing their grip on the levers of power and influence. I have never seen a bubble so heavily recognized and announced by the very institutional participants who are pouring all their money into it! Will Gold become a bubble? I think it may, which is why I own it. The break out over $1000/ounce last fall has certainly cleared the deck and made it a possibility. But what is happening in Gold and what is going to happen in the near term future is a predictable consequence of fiscal and monetary policy. At this stage in time, Gold is simply a rational, undervalued and conservative investment. Cash is king during an economic depression. The problem is that our transactional currency is not real money, it is an illusion and the real bubble of the current cycle.
Silver in the Next Decade David Morgan - SilverBearCafe.com "Silver is the best technology stock you can own." - David Morgan As some of you know, I have finished a new seminar recently that I have only presented one time. This presentation focused on what is expected in the silver market for the next decade. Frankly, when beginning this study I was not really certain what conclusions could be determined about the future of the silver market. The main thinking was that the investment demand for silver would drive the price far higher than present and this is in fact the case as we go through this report. But it was also determined that silver's unique properties will be in higher and higher industrial demand over the next decade as well.
Feldstein: Worry About the Dollar, Not the Euro: Keep an Eye on Sterling JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN Here is Marty Feldstein's view of the economic fundamentals in the euro and dollar portion of the forex markets. Fundamentals mean little in the short term for trading purposes, at least in my own judgement. However, it does look as though the euro/dollar cross is a bit overdone. If that is correct, then it is likely that this correction in the precious metals should be almost done as well. But we will have to see what happens. The markets are shallow and edgy, almost wobbly. In a liquidation everything gets sold on the short term. Selling and buying on the margins makes price, no matter what size the market. Such it is with most auction markets disconnected from rational valuation.
Doug Casey on How to Survive the Financial Apocalypse By: Casey Research - MarketOracle.com L: Doug, last time we spoke, you said quite a bit about debt, in the context of your expectation that the euro is on its way out. At the end of that conversation, you mentioned, of course, that the problem is not limited to Greece, nor the eurozone. America as a country has become a world-class debtor, and many Americans seem to think a maxed-out credit card is a reason to get a higher credit limit, not to economize. It's like a global epidemic. Let's talk about debt. Doug: Sure. This is a story that's going to end very badly for a lot of people. I've said this before, in many different ways, but I think it's worth saying again, because most people just don't grok it...
Is Money a Store of Value? by John Butler & Jon Boylan - FinancialSense.com Perhaps it is a sign of the times we live in that we feel the need to ask ourselves this question. The answer might appear simple, in that textbook definitions normally list the following three properties of money:
A medium of exchange
A unit of account
A store of value
Well that settles it then. Or does it? Let’s consider our definitions carefully.
Why the U.S. can't inflate its way out of debt By Jeanne Sahadi - CNNMoney.com NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- It's dawning on people that getting a handle on burgeoning U.S. debt will be a long and hard process. So if lawmakers can't agree on a credible plan, some have suggested that the country could just "inflate its way" out of its fiscal ditch. The idea: Pursue policies that boost prices and wages and erode the value of the currency. The United States would owe the same amount of actual dollars to its creditors -- but the debt becomes easier to pay off because the dollar becomes less valuable.
CHINA HAS SECOND-MOST BILLIONAIRES, BEHIND U.S. Truthdig.com Well, that didn’t take long. China now has more billionaires (89 if you include Hong Kong) than any other country except for the U.S., which, to be fair, has been working overtime to transfer wealth upward. Unlike the U.S., the Chinese government has promised to distribute its bounty to “make our society fairer and more harmonious.”
Forget the Fed, All Eyes Now on China's Central Bank by Aaron Task - TechTicker.com China's consumer price inflation rose a faster-than-expected 2.7% in February, the sharpest increase since October 2008. Coming on the heels of Tuesday's strong import/export data and amid a surge in real estate speculation, China's central bank may take more action to quell growth in the world's most populous nation. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) has raised bank reserve requirements in recent months, but may now feel compelled to hike its lending rate, something it hasn't done since 2007. In addition to the data above, the PBOC must be concerned that the nation's banks made 1.39 trillion yuan in new loans in January, or 18.5% of the government's full-year target, according to Xinhau.
Europe's banks brace for UK debt crisis By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk UniCredit has alerted investors in a client note that Britain is at serious risk of a bond market and sterling debacle and faces even more intractable budget woes than Greece. The Italian-German group, Europe's second largest bank, said Britain's tax structure will make it hard to raise fresh revenue quickly enough to restore confidence in UK public finances. "I am becoming convinced that Great Britain is the next country that is going to be pummelled by investors," said Kornelius Purps, Unicredit's fixed income director and a leading analyst in Germany. Mr Purps said the UK had been cushioned at first by low debt levels but the pace of deterioration has been so extreme that the country can no longer count on market tolerance.
Geithner Warns Europe on Fund Legislation By TOBY LEWIS And JAMES MAWSON - WSJ U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has warned the European Commission that its proposals for more restrictive regulation of alternative fund managers could affect cross-border investment, demonstrating how the controversial European Union directive could have transatlantic ramifications. According to Paul Myners, the U.K. financial services minister, Mr. Geithner had raised the issue of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers directive in a letter to Michel Barnier, who was confirmed as European commissioner for the internal market last month. Lord Myners mentioned the letter at a breakfast briefing, which was organised by the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.
Feldstein Says Euro’s Fall Due to ‘Panic’ Over Greece By Steve Matthews and Sara Eisen March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Harvard University Professor Martin Feldstein said the euro’s 4.6 percent decline against the dollar this year has been “panic selling” stemming from the financial crisis in Greece. “The euro is weakening despite their better trade balance,” Feldstein, an economist, said in a Bloomberg Television interview broadcast today. “This is a kind of an irrational or panic selling where people are just saying, ‘I don’t know what is going on, I am just going to step to the sidelines and not leave money in euros.’”
Distress Signals on Crisis Watch by Jim Willie - FinancialSense.com To be sure, almost without debate, all the financial world has turned to crisis mode. One can safely describe the norm to be crisis proliferation. This theme will clearly continue for the full year in progress. The signs are everywhere. The evidence is compelling. The criticism of remedy is replete with denials. The USGovt officials grow more desperate with each passing week. The Dubai and Greek debt woes seemed to have opened Pandora's Box. Review a scattering of distress signals, sit back and tell yourself that all is under control. It is only if you live in a Fantasy Land. Since September 2008, the fantasy has blossomed in full bloom. The list of distress signals is certain to grow, not reduce. Never in my lifetime have so many loud signals simultaneously been flashing. Forgive me if a few dozen other distress signals were overlooked or omitted.
Keiser Report 24: Markets! Finance! Scandal!
Calling All Rebels Chris Hedges - SilverBearCafe.com There are no constraints left to halt America's slide into a totalitarian capitalism. Electoral politics are a sham. The media have been debased and defanged by corporate owners. The working class has been impoverished and is now being plunged into profound despair. The legal system has been corrupted to serve corporate interests. Popular institutions, from labor unions to political parties, have been destroyed or emasculated by corporate power. And any form of protest, no matter how tepid, is blocked by an internal security apparatus that is starting to rival that of the East German secret police. The mounting anger and hatred, coursing through the bloodstream of the body politic, make violence and counter-violence inevitable. Brace yourself. The American empire is over. And the descent is going to be horrifying.
Yellen Said to Be Obama’s Pick for Fed Vice Chairman By Hans Nichols and Scott Lanman March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen is President Barack Obama’s pick for vice chairman of the central bank in Washington, two people with knowledge of the selection process said. The nomination is pending completion of vetting by the Obama administration, one person said. The vice chairman gets a four-year term, subject to Senate approval, and a separate term on the Fed Board of Governors. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the selection hasn’t yet been announced.
Pimco’s El-Erian Says Public Finance Shock May Deepen By Garfield Reynolds March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Mohamed A. El-Erian, whose company runs the world’s biggest mutual fund, said deteriorating public finances may affect the global economy more than is currently realized. “The importance of the shock to public finances in advanced economies is not yet sufficiently appreciated and understood,” El-Erian, co-chief investment officer at Pacific Investment Management Co., wrote in an article on the Financial Times Web site. The potential damage from increased government borrowings is “at present being viewed primarily -- and excessively -- through the narrow prism of Greece.”
Examiner: Lehman Torpedoed Lehman By MIKE SPECTOR, PETER LATTMAN, and JEFFREY MCCRACKEN - WSJ -- A scathing report by a U.S. bankruptcy-court examiner investigating the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. blames senior executives and auditor Ernst & Young for serious lapses that led to the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. In the works for more than a year, and at a cost of more than $30 million, the report by court-appointed examiner Anton Valukas paints the most complete picture yet of the free-wheeling culture inside the 158 year-old firm, whose chief executive Richard S. Fuld Jr. prided himself on his ability to manage market risk.
Lehman Insolvent Weeks Before Bankruptcy: Examiner By: Reuters via CNBC.com Lehman Brothers used accounting gimmicks and had been insolvent for weeks before it filed for bankruptcy in September 2008, but there was not extensive wrongdoing, a court-appointed examiner has found. In a 2,200-page report made public on Thursday, examiner Anton Valukas, chairman of law firm Jenner & Block, reported the results of his more than year-long investigation into the firm's collapse, which deepened the global financial crisis.
Morgan Keegan to Offer Farmer Mac Programs to Commercial Banking Clients WASHINGTON, March 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac; NYSE: AGM and AGM.A) and Morgan Keegan & Company, a regional investment firm in Memphis, Tennessee, today announced that they have entered into an agreement under which Morgan Keegan will begin marketing Farmer Mac programs designed specifically for Morgan Keegan's commercial banking clients that hold agricultural mortgage loans in their portfolios. The primary program to be offered through Morgan Keegan's Fixed Income Capital Markets division will be Farmer Mac's Long-Term Standby Purchase Commitment (LTSPC), which allows banks to improve their capital position by shifting the credit risk on pools of agricultural real estate loans from the bank to Farmer Mac. Loans placed in the LTSPC program are expected to receive favorable capital treatment, thereby freeing up the bank's capital for other purposes.
It’s “Extend and Pretend” All Over Again for US Banks’ Commercial Real Estate Loans Guest Post by James A. Kaplan - ResearchRecap.com -- Getting older has its comforts. One of them is that you get to experience a number of historic events and can gain perspective on consequences that result from those events. It’s been well over a decade since the Japanese economy imploded. That implosion was based on a speculative frenzy that drove values to the extreme, where it was discovered the effects of gravity could not be overcome.
Dodd and Democrats Move Ahead on Financial Reform Without the GOP By BRUCE KENNEDY - DailyFinance.com -- Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, says he'll go it alone next week -- and offer a finance reform bill without any Republican support. The announcement comes after a breakdown in talks between Dodd and his GOP counterparts, negotiations that were meant to pave the way toward a bipartisan agreement. In a statement issued on the Senate Banking Committee's website, Dodd noted that, in recent months, committee members "have worked together to try and produce a consensus package. Together we have made significant progress and resolved many of the items, but a few outstanding issues remain."
Dodd Pushes Financial Reform Without GOP Support By DAMIAN PALETTA - WSJ WASHINGTON-Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) will introduce his sweeping plan to overhaul financial regulations Monday without any Republican support, a spokeswoman said, potentially imperiling the White House's effort to redraw financial regulations. Mr. Dodd is still hopeful his negotiations with a Republican on his panel, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, can be worked out and that they will be able to bring a bipartisan bill to the Senate floor, the spokeswoman said.
FedEx warns on US recovery By Jeremy Lemer in New York - FT The nascent US recovery could falter because businesses are still reluctant to invest in new equipment and technology, the head of global delivery and logistics company FedEx has warned. “Business investment went up somewhat in the fourth quarter but is far below what it ought to be in a cyclical recovery like this,” Fred Smith, chairman and chief executive of FedEx, told the Financial Times. He added that companies were being held back by continuing “uncertainty” over the outlook.
Webster Tarpley: 'Virtual flag terrorism' is next threat Cyber wars and cyber security are no longer fictional plots from science fiction movies. They are very real and very serious concerns for the American people, being tracked by politicians and the government in Washington. Webster Tarpley gives his opinion on the seriousness of the cyber threat.
Biggest question for the next two months by Christopher Laird - FinancialSense.com The biggest question for the next several months for markets is what? Now that the S and P rallied over 60 pct since last March 2009, and pretty much all other markets except housing and real estate have also rallied (anything connected to financial markets that received the half of the several $trillion of US and other central bank emergency money infusions beginning big around March 2009) it begs the question when there will be a correction. Or a crash. There is a hint in the above paragraph. Namely the US alone engineered about $1 to $2 trillion of quantitative easing. That means that the US bought all US mortgages by buying mortgage bonds for example. The US was the buyer of last resort - for everything. Including foreign markets, without making a laundry list of them.
US households deleverage at record rate By Alan Rappeport in New York - FT Americans deleveraged their balance sheets aggressively in 2009, reducing household debt for the first year on record as they coped with the aftermath of the recession, Federal Reserve figures showed on Thursday. US household debt contracted by 1.75 per cent in 2009, according to the closely watched “flow of funds” data. It was the first annual decline since the Fed began tracking household borrowing in 1946 and marks a sharp shift from the euphoric borrowing that led up to the recession.
Time for sunshine, Fannie and Freddie Examiner Editorial Next Tuesday is James Madison's birthday and National Freedom of Information Act Day, the high point of Sunshine Week celebrations of the public's right to know. Madison enshrined that right with the First Amendment's guarantee of an independent press. President Obama could use the occasion to strike a major blow for transparency with one simple directive: He could tell the Federal Housing Finance Agency to drop its nonsensical claim that it doesn't have to make public Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac documents, especially those concerning federal campaign contributions made on behalf of the two agencies in the years leading to the economic meltdown of 2008.
US foreclosures take their toll on homeowners By James Politi in Washington and Suzanne Kapner in New York - FT -- It does not take long for Dan Claggett, head of the foreclosure project at Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, to come up with an example of the toll the US housing crisis is still taking on many Americans. “It’s devastating,” says Mr Claggett. “We helped an 85-year-old woman who couldn’t get a loan modification. She lost the home that she lived in for 35 years”. His organisation, a non-profit group based in St Louis, takes calls from people seeking legal help on impending foreclosures. Business has increased by 30 per cent over the past year – evidence that even as the US economy recovers from the recession, the housing sector is still struggling to find its footing. “We’re not lacking clients, I can tell you that,” Mr Claggett says.
Prius incident shines spotlight on driver, his finances By Sharon Silke Carty, USA TODAY DETROIT — Jim Sikes is finding out the downside of instant celebrity in the Internet age after his highly publicized trip in a runaway Toyota Prius: You have no secrets. As National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Toyota inspectors continue to take apart his vehicle — which he says took him on a 23-minute, out-of-control race down a freeway — an auto blog posted details of his financial situation and set off speculation about his tale. Sikes filed for bankruptcy in 2008, and the Prius is his sole remaining car. He tells USA TODAY that, while he hopes to get a replacement car out of this ordeal, he isn't planning to sue Toyota or otherwise profit. "You had to be there. People can second-guess all they want, but you can't live a life until you've lived it."
Detroit Sells $250 Million Without Recent Disclosure Filings By Darrell Preston March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Detroit, the largest U.S. city whose debt is rated below investment grade, sold $250 million of debt today without having filed annual financial reports on time for five years. The city, which warned investors in its preliminary official statement of the possibility of filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, provided a June 30, 2008, financial statement, its most recent, to investors. A fiscal 2009 report is expected to be complete by May 31, said city spokesman Dan Lijana, in an e-mail.
GMAC Bailout Could Cost Taxpayers $6.3 Billion MoneyNews.com The Treasury Department sank billions into auto finance giant GMAC Inc. without an exit strategy or proof the company was viable — a decision that could cost taxpayers $6.3 billion, a new watchdog report says. The government said the $17.2 billion bailout was a necessary step to save troubled automakers General Motors and Chrysler. GMAC provides critical financing to auto dealers, who borrow to finance their fleets until the cars can be sold to consumers.
RealtyTrac: Arizona second in foreclosures Phoenix Business Journal Arizona ranked second in foreclosures for January behind only Nevada, which has held the top spot for 37 months running, according to a RealtyTrac report released Thursday. One in every 129 Arizona housing units was hit by foreclosure proceedings during the month, a 4 percent increase over January 2009. That rate translates to 21,048 homes. Nationally, the number of foreclosure filings — which include default notices, notices of public auctions and bank repossessions — fell 10 percent in January from December, but was up by 15 percent over January 2009.
Alabama foreclosures rise in February Birmingham Business Journal After a nearly 30 percent drop in January, foreclosures were back on the rise in Alabama last month. RealtyTrac, a national tracker of foreclosures, said 2,291 properties were reported to be in some form of foreclosure in the state in February, or one foreclosure for every 942 households. That’s a more than 27 percent increase over January and a more than 221 percent increase over the same month a year ago, said a news release. Nationally, foreclosures decreased by more than 2 percent over the previous month, but increased more than 6 percent over February 2009, the smallest year-over-year increase since 2006.
Florida foreclosure rates take double-digit dip South Florida Business Journal Foreclosure rates in the Sunshine State fell 15 percent in January from the previous month, but were up 15.45 percent from a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac. The Irvine, Calif.-based online marketplace for foreclosures found that one in every 187 housing units in Florida received a foreclosure notice in January. Only Nevada, Arizona and California had more. Utah rounded up the top five. California, Florida and Arizona, which posted the three highest state totals, accounted for more than 44 percent of the nation's foreclosures.
Hawaii ranks 11th for foreclosure filings Pacific Business News (Honolulu) Hawaii moved up to its highest ranking yet for foreclosure rates on a national report, despite seeing the number of foreclosure filings fall 15 percent in January from the month before. Hawaii was ranked 11th on RealtyTrac’s January foreclosure report, with a total of 1,302 foreclosure filings, or one for every 394 housing units. That was a 15 percent decline from December, but a four-fold increase, or 286 percent, over January 2009, the Irvine, Calif.-based company said. Nationally, the number of foreclosure filings — which include default notices, notices of public auctions and bank repossessions — fell 10 percent in January from December’s figures, and was up by 15 percent over January 2009.
United States of Foreclosure By: Danny Schechter - MarketOracle.com Foreclosures Are Rising And Not Just Homeowbers Are Affected; A Haitian Story: Loses Family Home In Earthquake, NY Home in “Bankquake” -- The financial crisis started as a housing bubble with the financial industry convinced that home values never fall. How wrong they were even a they leveraged and securitized their investments to create a global crisis. Now, brace yourself because not only isn’t over until its over but in some respects its just begun. There will be more foreclosures this year than last and as a result more suffering for American families
Short Sale Program Slammed by Appraisers TheTruthAboutMortgage.com Just days after details of the Treasury’s streamlined short sale program were revealed, several leading appraiser groups have criticized the proposal. The issue involves how short sale properties would be valued under the program, relying on broker price opinions (BPOs) carried out by real estate agents rather than standard appraisals completed by licensed appraisers. Essentially, a BPO is more associated with what a home would sell for, while an appraisal uses a more thorough valuation approach. Banks and mortgage lenders would use the BPOs to determine the value of a home and the corresponding minimum offer to accept.
U.S. Real Estate Confusion or Lies? By: Mike Stathis - MarketOracle.com Do you ever become confused over daily economic data? If not, then you probably aren’t paying close attention. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you don’t pay real close attention and spend a good deal of time analyzing what’s really going on, you’re probably better off not paying any attention to the data at all because it is designed to confuse you; to manipulate the truth. Most often, government officials, Wall Street and industry hacks intentionally lie to you as a way to build confidence. After all, most of these “analysts, chief economists and investment strategists” you hear about are really in the business of sales and marketing, NOT research.
Gloom at Small Firms Clouds Outlook for Strong Recovery By CONOR DOUGHERTY and KRIS MAHER - WSJ A yawning gap has opened in the early stages of the economic recovery between big companies and small businesses, with the former enjoying access to credit and growing global markets and the latter hurting badly on both fronts. This dichotomy will likely slow the recovery, since smaller firms are typically quick to hire and invest in an upturn. The dour attitude of small business stands in contrast to indications of a broader recovery. The U.S. economy grew at a 5.9% annual rate in the fourth quarter as it shook off the recession. But a revival in optimism by smaller companies has been absent.
Bogus U.S. Jobs Data Trips Up Colorado By: Rick Ackerman - GoldSeek.com The brazenly bogus unemployment data disseminated to the news media each month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics appears to have tripped up Colorado. Although the state had reported a loss of 89.375 non-farm jobs in 2009, the actual number appears to have been much larger -- 106,300, according to the latest revision. Colorado attributes the discrepancy to the Bureau’s rosy estimates of the number of businesses that start and fail each year. Until the new numbers came out earlier this week, Colorado’s official line was that it had somehow been spared the worst of Great Recession’s effects on the labor market. Unofficially, however, the picture was never so bright. “I was surprised when they reported the numbers the first time,” Zoltan Mak, a freight-train conductor on furlough since October, told the Denver Post. “I see everybody around me scraping by and having a really hard time. I don’t think we’re any better off than any other state.”
Unemployment claims show long-term problem By Hibah Yousuf CNNMoney.com NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The number of Americans filing continuing claims for unemployment insurance spiked last week, the Labor Department said Thursday, as sluggish hiring continues to drag on the labor market's recovery. The number of people filing continuing claims jumped to 4,558,000 in the week ended Feb. 27, the most recent data available. That was up 37,000 from the preceding week's upwardly revised 4,521,000 claims. Economists were expecting continuing claims to remain unchanged at 4,500,000.
GOP hopes town halls take health care off table By: Byron York - Washington Examiner "If health care doesn't get done by Easter," says Republican Rep. John Shadegg, "then we need to make Easter look like last August." It's been more than seven months since Congress' August recess turned into a monthlong town meeting for Americans to voice their strong disapproval of Obamacare. Ever since then, with the health care bill still unpassed, Democratic leaders have been wary of letting members head home for too long. But beginning March 26, lawmakers will return to their districts and states for an Easter break that will last more than two weeks. Unlike the Christmas/New Year recess, when voters were occupied with the holidays and their own lives, there is renewed intensity over health care, as the president and Democrats make a "final push" to pass their bill. With Republicans planning to hold lots of town halls, that means it's possible Easter could become August all over again.
Health-Care Bill Path Complicated by Parliamentarian By Laura Litvan and Kristin Jensen Ruling Says Obama Must Sign Health Bill Before Reconciliation March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Republicans said the Senate parliamentarian threw up a hurdle to congressional Democrats’ plans to pass changes to U.S. health-care legislation through a process called reconciliation. Republicans said guidance they received from the parliamentarian means that President Barack Obama has to sign a Senate health bill into law before the House and Senate can approve changes to it. Some House Democrats, who object to provisions in the Senate measure, wanted Obama to hold off signing the legislation until reconciliation passed.
Health-care reform's 'back-door' tax By Jia Lynn Yang WASHINGTON (Fortune) -- The big talk on Capitol Hill may be about health-care reform, but as part of this massive undertaking, the Democrats are quietly reshaping the tax system too. Tucked inside President Obama's latest health-care proposal is a major change to the Medicare tax. Since its conception, the Medicare tax has always been tied to payrolls. Every paycheck, employers and employees each chip in 1.45%, regardless of how much someone makes. Under Obama's proposal -- which should be very close to what Congress winds up enacting -- a Medicare tax would now be applied to investment income too: Individuals who earn more than $200,000 and couples over $250,000 would pay an additional 2.9% surtax on unearned income from interest, dividends, annuities, royalties and rents.
Federal appeals court upholds 'under God' references in Pledge of Allegiance, US currency By: TERENCE CHEA AP via Washington Examiner -- SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court upheld the use of the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency, rejecting arguments Thursday that the phrases violate the separation of church and state. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected two legal challenges by Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow, who said the references to God are unconstitutional and infringe on his religious beliefs.
Will Boeing's CEO Repay America by Hiring in China? By PETER COHAN - DailyFinance.com Things have been getting better for Boeing (BA) in recent weeks, and that's casting a pleasant light on its CEO, Jim McNerney, the subject of my 2009 book, You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing. The latest good news is that President Barack Obama chose McNerney to lead the President's Export Council, an advisory committee on international trade, The New York Times reported Thursday. And just this week, after years of drama, Boeing competitor Airbus dropped out of a competition for a $35 billion Pentagon contract, to build airborne refueling tankers for the Air Force.
Vladmir Putin forging ahead with vision of Eurasian empire Tony Halpin, Moscow - The TimesOnline.com The Soviet Union is gradually being rebuilt as Vladimir Putin eyes a return to the Kremlin. The man who declared the collapse of the Communist state to be the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century” appears determined to forge a new empire. The latest evidence emerged in a suggestion by Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister in Mr Putin’s Government, that Russia may abolish the rouble and create a common currency with Kazakhstan and Belarus.
Joe Biden attempts to salvage Middle East peace talks Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem - guardian.co.uk US vice-president appeals to Israel after Palestinians walk out over decision to build new homes in Jewish settlement The US vice-president, Joe Biden, today attempted to salvage the Middle East peace talks after the Palestinians announced they were pulling out of a new round of indirect negotiations before they had begun. The Palestinian move was in protest against Israel's decision to build hundreds of new homes in a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. The withdrawal from negotiations, announced in Cairo by Amr Moussa, the head of the Arab League, represents a major setback to months of diplomacy by the US administration prior to Biden's visit to the region.
Biden to Leave Mideast Amid Unease By ETHAN BRONNER - NYTimes.com TEL AVIV — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. came to Israel early this week to promote new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and tighten the bonds between Israel and the United States. He left Thursday amid increased uncertainty over the nature and timing of those talks and with a sense of unease hanging over the American-Israeli relationship. The cause of both was the unexpected announcement during his visit that Israel would build 1,600 housing units for Jews in East Jerusalem, where Palestinians hope to build the capital of their future state. That produced angry condemnation from Mr. Biden as well as signals of distress from the Palestinian leadership, which asked for American help to stop the project.
This could explain why the country is broke . . .
The following video is an inside look at how Air Force One works. Watch it and you will realize why our country is beyond broke. The Captain now works in Scottsdale AZ as a pilot for Discount Tire.
Air Force One - Part 1
Air Force One - Part 2
Air Force One - Part 3
Air Force One - Part 4
Air Force One - Part 5 Final
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G. Edward Griffin: CIA Takeover of The Mafia and its Ties to Harvard on The Alex Jones Show 1/4
G. Edward Griffin: CIA Takeover of The Mafia and its Ties to Harvard on The Alex Jones Show 2/4
G. Edward Griffin: CIA Takeover of The Mafia and its Ties to Harvard on The Alex Jones Show 3/4
G. Edward Griffin: CIA Takeover of The Mafia and its Ties to Harvard on The Alex Jones Show 4/4
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