Archive for January, 2009
NZ Dollar Could ‘Drop Below US40c’
January 30th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. This is a few days old, but it demonstrates how gold works in an economic collapse situation: Safe haven’ gold hits record New Zealand price: Surging international prices and the weakening kiwi currency caused gold to hit a New Zealand dollar […]
Geithner Enlists Goldman Sachs Lobbyist as Top Aide
January 30th, 2009In other news, William Dudley, a former Goldman Sachs Chief Economist will replace Geithner at the New York Fed. Via: Politico: Newly installed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner issued new rules Tuesday restricting contacts with lobbyists – and then hired one to be his top aide. Mark Patterson, a former advocate for Goldman Sachs, will serve […]
Iceland to be Fast-Tracked Into the EU
January 30th, 2009Imagine my shock. Via: Guardian: Iceland will be put on a fast track to joining the European Union to rescue the small Arctic state from financial collapse amid rising expectations that it will apply for membership within months, senior policy-makers in Brussels and Reykjavik have told the Guardian.
Fannie Mae Logic Bomb Would Have Caused Weeklong Shutdown
January 30th, 2009Via: Wired: A logic bomb allegedly planted by a former engineer at mortgage finance company Fannie Mae last fall would have decimated all 4,000 servers at the company, causing millions of dollars in damage and shutting down Fannie Mae for a least a week, prosecutors say. Unix engineer Rajendrasinh Babubha Makwana, 35, was indicted (.pdf) […]
“You are up against some really nasty, vicious people,” the Senator said, “They will not hesitate to kill you.”
January 30th, 2009Via: Deep Capture: During the fall of 2006, Patrick Byrne had some strange experiences as well. Somebody broke into Patrick’s home, and soon after, somebody broke into the home of a woman who was Patrick’s girlfriend at the time. Then somebody threw a pair of metal gardening shears through the window of the girlfriend’s restaurant. […]
Flood of Foreclosures: It’s Worse Than You Think
January 30th, 2009Via: CNN: Housing might be in worse shape than we think. There is probably even more excess housing inventory gumming up the market than current statistics indicate, thanks to a wave of foreclosures that has yet to hit the market. The problem: Many foreclosed homes and other distressed properties that are now owned by banks […]
Americans Receiving Jobless Benefits Hits Record
January 29th, 2009Via: AP: The government says the number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached an all-time high as layoffs spread throughout the economy. The Labor Department says the number of laid-off workers continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week ending Jan. 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the highest since records began in […]
Fed Prepared to Buy Treasuries
January 29th, 2009Via: MarketWatch: Pulling out all the stops to try to break the downward spiral of the economy, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it would continue to flood the financial system with money and moved a step closer to purchasing longer-term Treasury securities. The Federal Open Market Committee kept its interest rate target in a […]
A Quiet Windfall for U.S. Banks: With Attention on Bailout Debate, Treasury Made Change to Tax Policy
January 29th, 2009This is a good one. Well, not really good. More like Must Read. It’s from November 2008. Open a window, though. You’ll want to get a breeze going in your room because the sweet musk of evil could become overpowering otherwise. Full text. Via: Washington Post: The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as […]
The Next Iceland
January 29th, 2009Britain, Latvia, Greece, Ukraine and Nicaragua. Via: Foreign Policy: FP looks at five countries on the verge of following Iceland to economic ruin and political meltdown. Research Credit: Lagavulin
