Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Over 90% of the Global Rare Earth Resource Held by Chinese Companies
June 5th, 2009Via: Financial Times: The Chinese acquisition of stakes in Australian rare earth miners Lynas Corporation and Arafura Resources has “caught the rest of the world sleeping,” said Rod McIllree, managing director at Australian-based Greenland Minerals & Energy (GME). Following two acquisitions in the past six months for an aggregate USD 163m, Korean, Japanese and Western […]
Feds to Charge Ex-Countrywide CEO With Fraud
June 5th, 2009Via: CBS/AP: The government is charging Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp., and two other company executives with civil fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s case also accuses Mozilo of illegal insider trading, an agency spokesman said Thursday. Countrywide was a major player in the subprime mortgage market, the […]
Spanish Bank Pays Staff 30% of Normal Salary to Take Five Years Off
June 5th, 2009Via: Telegraph: BBVA, a leading Spanish bank, is allowing staff to take five years paid leave, in an effort to cut costs during the recession. Employees of BBVA, Spain’s second biggest bank, are being offered 30 per cent of their usual salary in return for staying away from work for between three and five years. […]
Fisk: “I suspect that what the Arab world wants to hear is that Obama will take his soldiers out of Muslim lands.”
June 5th, 2009Via: Independent: More and more, it looks like the same old melody that Bush’s lads used to sing. We’re not against the Muslim world. In fact, we are positively for it. We want you to have democracy, up to a point. We love Arab “moderates” and we want to reach out to you and be […]
Oil Sharply Higher
June 4th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. I’m still letting my long USO position ride. I’m feeling a lot less comfortable with it now that GS is shilling oil higher. Via: Reuters: U.S. crude futures were up nearly 5 percent in late trading Thursday, rallying on news that […]
Is Larry Summers Taking Kickbacks From the Banks He’s Bailing Out?
June 4th, 2009Wait for it… Via: AlterNet: Last month, a little-known company where Summers served on the board of directors received a $42 million investment from a group of investors, including three banks that Summers, Obama’s effective “economy czar,” has been doling out billions in bailout money to: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley. The banks invested […]
State and Federal Support Checks Now Account for 16% of Americans’ Income
June 4th, 2009We need the Government Motors People’s Car to really get this party started. On the other end of the spectrum, I wonder what percentage of executive salaries were derived from bailout money? Via: USA Today: The recession is driving the safety net of government benefits to a historic high, as one of every six dollars […]
Bernanke Warns Deficits Threaten Financial Stability
June 4th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said large U.S. budget deficits threaten financial stability and the government can’t continue indefinitely to borrow at the current rate to finance the shortfall. “Unless we demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal sustainability in the longer term, we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth,” […]
Northwestern Mutual Makes First Gold Buy in 152 Years
June 4th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Disclosure: I own gold. I am a BullionVault client and affiliate. Here’s an excerpt from an email that I sent to a core contributor three days ago: Re: Changing the subject to gold: I think the thing that gold longs should […]
Russian President Might Propose “A New World Currency”
June 2nd, 2009Hitmen Contracts to Bust Comex is looking more interesting by the minute. Via: Bloomberg: The dollar dropped to its lowest level against the euro this year on speculation record U.S. borrowing will undermine the greenback, prompting nations to consider alternatives to the world’s main reserve currency. The 16-nation euro gained for a fourth day versus […]
