Archive for the 'Economy' Category
JAPAN: EXPORTS DOWN 45.7 PERCENT FROM A YEAR EARLIER
February 25th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Japan’s exports plunged 45.7 percent in January from a year earlier, resulting in a record trade deficit, as recessions in the U.S. and Europe smothered demand for the country’s cars and electronics. The shortfall widened to 952.6 billion yen ($9.9 billion), the biggest since 1980, the earliest year for which there is comparable […]
The Anti-Bono: Dambisa Moyo and “Dead Aid”
February 25th, 2009Via: New York Times: Q: As a native of Zambia with advanced degrees in public policy and economics from Harvard and Oxford, you are about to publish an attack on Western aid to Africa and its recent glamorization by celebrities. “Dead Aid,” as your book is called, is particularly hard on rock stars. Have you […]
Stanford Had Links to a Fund Run by Bidens
February 25th, 2009HAHA Do you get it yet? Via: Reuters: A fund of hedge funds run by two members of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s family was marketed exclusively by firms controlled by Texas financier Allen Stanford, charged by regulators with an $8 billion (5.5 billion pound) fraud, the Wall Street Journal said. The $50 million fund […]
Putin and Emerging Barter Arrangements
February 25th, 2009Direct barter relationships for energy, raw materials. Cut out the middleman (banks). The USUKEU confetti paper industrial complex will do anything and everything to stop this. Via: Kitco: Putin openly called the current unipolar world obsolete, referring indirectly to the US-UK dominance. This is as close as one could come to hearing that the current […]
Fears for IMF’s Ability to Raise Rescue Funds
February 24th, 2009Let me guess: Sovereign gold sales? Via: Times: Fears are growing that the International Monetary Fund will struggle to raise enough cash to help all the countries that need emergency aid as the global financial crisis unfolds. The leaders of Europe’s wealthiest countries pledged on Sunday to help the IMF to raise at least a […]
‘Black Swan’ Author Sees Trouble Exceeding 1930s
February 24th, 2009Via: New York Times: The author of “The Black Swan,” Nassim Nicholas Taleb, predicts that the global financial crisis will be harder to end than the Great Depression and it may force the United States government to nationalize some banks. The world has a much more complex financial system than in the 1930s, Mr. Taleb […]
Could the U.S. Oil Fund Implode on Contango?
February 24th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Wow! This is a must read for anyone interested in oil speculation and USO. Because of the contango situation, the fund is diluting itself as it rolls to the next month. Via: Financial Times: Jakob’s specific case is with the distortions […]
Defaults by Franchisees Soar as the Recession Deepens
February 24th, 2009Via: Wall Street Journal: The recession is bruising businesses across the franchising industry. From ice-cream parlors to tanning salons, franchisees’ defaults on loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration are piling up in amounts unseen in years. A list of loans at 500 franchises shows the number of defaults by franchisees increased 52% in […]
U.S. Home Price Drops at Record Pace in December
February 24th, 2009Via: Reuters: Prices of U.S. single-family homes plunged 18.5 percent in December from a year earlier as the monthly pace accelerated, according to a Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 2.5 percent in December from November, compared with a 2.3 percent decline in […]
Suburban Gold Parties
February 24th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Read to the end… I don’t know what to make of that. Is this the public participation phase? Or not? Did those guys really sell $5 million worth of gold in one day? Can that possibly be true? I hope people […]
