Archive for the 'Elite' Category
Britain: Manchester’s Central Library Moving Many Books to Deep Underground Salt Mines
February 26th, 2010Is the seed vault full? Via: Manchester Evening News: ONE million books from Manchester’s Central Library – including valuable volumes dating back to the 15th century – are to be put into temporarily storage with many going deep underground in the Cheshire salt mines. Works from the city’s reference library will be stored in the […]
Clinton: U.S. Deficit a National Security Issue
February 26th, 2010Via: Reuters: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said “outrageous” advice from former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan helped create record U.S. budget deficits that put national security at risk. Appearing before congressional panels to defend the State Department’s $52.8 billion budget request for 2011, Clinton said the massive U.S. foreign debt had sapped […]
Ex-Madoff Operations Director Arrested by FBI
February 25th, 2010Via: CNBC: A former executive for imprisoned swindler Bernard Madoff’s firm was arrested Thursday and charged with concealing the scope of its multibillion dollar fraud and using at least $750 million of investor money to support the company’s trading arm. The executive, Daniel Bonventre, was described by investigators as the director of operations of the […]
Something Very Strange Is Happening With Treasuries
February 25th, 2010Related: In 2009, the Federal Reserve Bought 80% of U.S. Debt Via: NASDAQ: This means that the Treasury took up EVERY single cent of competitive bids coming from indirect buyers. Remember, indirect buyers are usually assumed to be foreign governments (even the Treasury website admits this). If this was the case yesterday, then foreign governments […]
Banks Bet Greece Defaults on Debt They Helped Hide
February 25th, 2010But first, a quick walk down memory lane: Banks Bundled Bad Debt, Bet Against It and Won: In late October 2007, as the financial markets were starting to come unglued, a Goldman Sachs trader, Jonathan M. Egol, received very good news. At 37, he was named a managing director at the firm. Mr. Egol, a […]
Fed to Look Into Insurance Contracts on Greek Debt
February 25th, 2010Bernanke is going to get to the bottom of it??? Via: AP: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Thursday that the central bank is looking into the use by Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms of a sophisticated investment instrument to make bets that Greece will default on its debt. Bernanke said the […]
Secret AIG Document Shows Goldman Sachs Minted Most Toxic CDOs
February 24th, 2010In an e-mail message to select clients, Thomas C. Mazarakis, the head of Goldman’s fundamental strategies group, acknowledged that his unit often provided investment ideas that the firm had already traded on. Sometimes Goldman has even taken the opposite approach, betting against particular instruments that the group has recommended. “We may trade, and may have […]
New U.S. Embassy in London Will Cost $1 Billion; Yes, That Includes the Moat
February 24th, 2010Via: Times Online: The United States has unveiled plans for its new $1 billion high-security embassy in London — the most expensive it has ever built. The proposals were met with relief from both the present embassy’s Mayfair neighbours and the residents and developers of the Battersea wasteland where the vast crystalline cube, surrounded by […]
Basically, It’s Over: A Parable About How One Nation Came to Financial Ruin
February 23rd, 2010Via: Slate: As it worked out, the politicians ignored the Good Father one more time, and the Basicland banks were allowed to open bucket shops and to finance the purchase and carry of real securities with extreme financial leverage. A couple of economic messes followed, during which every constituency tried to avoid hardship by deflecting […]
Bloom Energy Fuel Cell
February 23rd, 2010Who’s on Bloom Energy’s board? Colin Powell. Via: CBS: Watch CBS News Videos Online In the world of energy, the Holy Grail is a power source that’s inexpensive and clean, with no emissions. Well over 100 start-ups in Silicon Valley are working on it, and one of them, Bloom Energy, is about to make public […]
