Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Allen Stanford: “May Have Been a U.S. Government Informer”
May 10th, 2009This has to get rolled up. This has to go away. —Cryptogon, 2/21/09 Allen Stanford would be very familiar with the story of how Barry Seal met his end; shot dead as he sat in his Cadillac, with George H.W. Bush’s personal phone number in a box of documents in his trunk. So, what precautions […]
Fed Sees Up to $599 Billion in Bank Losses
May 8th, 2009Via: Wall Street Journal: The federal government projected that 19 of the nation’s biggest banks could suffer losses of up to $599 billion through the end of next year if the economy performs worse than expected and ordered 10 of them to raise a combined $74.6 billion in capital to cushion themselves. The much-anticipated stress-test […]
China’s Major Ports Unload 24% More Iron Ore Imports in April
May 7th, 2009Wow. I wouldn’t have guessed this one. Via: Bloomberg: China, the world’s largest consumer of iron ore, said its major ports unloaded 24 percent more of the imported steelmaking ingredient in April from a year ago, a record for a second month. Ships dropped 53.5 million metric tons of iron ore last month at major […]
Bank of England to Print Extra 50 Billion Pounds
May 7th, 2009Via: Reuters: The Bank of England stepped up its campaign to boost the struggling economy, raising the size of its asset purchase programme on Thursday in a surprise move tantamount to printing an extra 50 billion pounds to get banks lending again. The central bank kept rates at a record low of 0.5 percent as […]
Madoff Protecting Others
May 7th, 2009Via: New Zealand Herald: Bernard Madoff’s longtime secretary says the disgraced financier is not cooperating with authorities in order to protect others, and that he was a flirtatious boss who frequented massage parlors. Eleanor Squillari, Madoff’s secretary of more than 20 years, told The Associated Press she thinks her former boss carefully orchestrated his arrest […]
Partially Completed Southern California Housing Tract Demolished
May 6th, 2009Breathtaking madness. Via: AP: A foreclosed tract of partially completed homes was demolished after the bank that owns the project deemed it a hazard and calculated that finishing and selling the dwellings would be a money-losing proposition, a bank official said Tuesday. The planned 16-unit tract on the fringes of a suburb about 65 miles […]
Almost a Quarter of U.S. Homeowners Are Underwater
May 6th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: A growing number of U.S. homeowners owe more than their properties are worth after prices extended their two-year decline in the first quarter, Zillow.com said. About 21.8 percent of all owners were underwater as of March 31, the Seattle-based real estate data service said in a report today. At the end of the […]
Oil Prices Jump to High for the Year
May 6th, 2009Related: Initial Oil Target Via: AP: Oil prices hit a new high for the year Wednesday after a government report showed that unused crude being placed in storage slowed a bit last week. Benchmark crude for June delivery rose $1.95 to $55.79 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, levels not seen since November. Demand for […]
Italian Government Paid Mob to Build Wind Turbines
May 6th, 2009Via: Financial Times: Like giant sentinels, dozens of wind turbines straddle the mountain ridges near Sicily’s infamous mafia stronghold of Corleone. But despite a strong breeze rippling the leaves in groves of olive and fig trees, the soaring blades of the turbines have stood motionless for over a year. Further west, near the port of […]
U.S. Says Bank of America Needs $33.9 Billion
May 6th, 2009Via: New York Times: The government has told Bank of America it needs $33.9 billion in capital to withstand any worsening of the economic downturn, according to an executive at the bank. If the bank is unable to raise the capital cushion by selling assets or stock, it would have to rely on the government, […]
