Archive for the 'Economy' Category
California Now in Top Ten for Highest Government Default Probabilities in the World
May 13th, 2010Via: Credit Writedowns: The usual suspects are on the list including Dubai, Ukraine and Latvia. The one thing to notice is that California has now cracked the top ten with a 20% default probability.
Fungus Hits Afghan Opium Poppies
May 13th, 2010What I think is happening here is that the USUK smack industrial complex has decided to drive up the street price of heroin. —The Invisible Hand of the Market: British Troops Seize £50 Million of Afghan Opium Sure, the article says that the fungus occurs naturally… Maybe that’s what happened. Maybe not. Who benefits from […]
Barrick Gold Moves to Block Mining Book
May 13th, 2010Via: CBC: The threat of legal action from mining giant Barrick Gold has forced Vancouver-based Talonbooks to postpone publication of a book about the Canadian mining industry. Publisher Karl Siegler calls it a clear case of “libel chill” by one of Canada’s largest mining companies. The book, Imperial Canada Inc.: Legal Haven of Choice for […]
Recovery: U.S. Posts Longest String of Consecutive Monthly Budget Deficits in History
May 13th, 2010In other Green Shoots news: Food-Stamp Tally Nears 40 Million, Sets Record. Via: Reuters: The United States posted an $82.69 billion deficit in April, nearly four times the $20.91 billion shortfall registered in April 2009 and the largest on record for that month, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday. It was more than twice the […]
Europe Rewrites its Rule Book in Creating Fund to Contain Financial Crisis
May 12th, 2010Via: Washington Post: The massive emergency fund assembled to defend the value of the euro is backed by a political gamble with an uncertain outcome: that European governments will rewrite a post-World War II social contract that has been generous to workers and retirees but has become increasingly unaffordable for an aging population. The trillion-dollar […]
Senate Votes 96-0 to Audit Federal Reserve
May 12th, 2010Senate Passes Watered Down Sanders Amendment to Audit the Fed 96-0 Via: Los Angeles Times: The Senate voted 96 to 0 on Tuesday to authorize a congressional audit of the secretive Federal Reserve Board’s emergency aid program and full disclosure of who got the money, a plan that could reveal more details about government help […]
Gold Hits New Record High
May 12th, 2010Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Food-Stamp Tally Nears 40 Million, Sets Record
May 11th, 2010Via: Reuters: Nearly 40 million Americans received food stamps — the latest in an ever-higher string of record enrollment that dates from December 2008 and the U.S. recession, according to a government update. Food stamps are the primary federal anti-hunger program, helping poor people buy food. Enrollment is highest during times of economic distress. The […]
Feds Probing JPMorgan Silver Trades
May 10th, 2010Via: New York Post: Federal agents have launched parallel criminal and civil probes of JPMorgan Chase and its trading activity in the precious metals market, The Post has learned. The probes are centering on whether or not JPMorgan, a top derivatives holder in precious metals, acted improperly to depress the price of silver, sources said. […]
Confetti Schredder Rally Time
May 10th, 2010UPDATE: FEDERAL RESERVE OPENS EMERGENCY CREDIT LINE TO EUROPE Via: AP: The Federal Reserve late Sunday opened a program to ship U.S. dollars to Europe in a move to head off a broader financial crisis on the continent. Other central banks, including the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the […]
