Archive for the 'Economy' Category
GERMAN BOND AUCTION FAILS
January 13th, 2009I haven’t gotten around to writing my 2009-year-ahead post. In the interim, here’s what I wrote to a core Cryptogon supporter a few days ago: The phase we’re into now is akin to a car on an icy road that’s gone into a turn too fast. We’re in the “Oh shit” stage of the wreck. […]
Go East, Young Man? Californians Look for the Exit
January 13th, 2009Is it Atlas Shrugged, but with the exodus coming from the middle tiers, rather than the top? I’m really starting to wonder. So many people are just saying, “F*ck it,” refusing the play along anymore. In general, rich people are out of touch with the reality on the ground, and poor people are trapped. Both […]
Zimbabwe Introduces $50 Billion Note
January 12th, 2009The old (from July 2008) $100 billion notes used to buy three eggs. The government has since slashed off the zeros and started again. But the zeros came back with a vengeance. How about using scientific notation? Via: CNN: Zimbabwe’s central bank will introduce a $50 billion note — enough to buy just two loaves […]
Iran Moved Billions via U.S. Banks
January 12th, 2009Via: New York Times: Iranian banks illegally shifted billions of dollars through American financial institutions in recent years, and authorities suspect some of the money may have been used to finance Iran’s nuclear and missile programs. Details of the illicit transfers came to light on Friday when New York State and federal authorities announced that […]
ACTUAL TIMES ONLINE HEADLINE: “PUNISH SAVERS AND MAKE THEM SPEND MONEY”
January 10th, 2009I’ve collected a few quotes to go along with this. Rather than attempting to bring down The Machine suddenly, in a manner that would, almost certainly, result in the use of strategic nuclear weapons, we should gradually destroy The Machine (and let it destroy itself), while learning the skills necessary to make living in a […]
Bloomberg on U.S. Economy: “Free-Fall”
January 10th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. lost more jobs in 2008 than any year since 1945 as employers fired another 524,000 people in December, indicating a free-fall in the economy just days before President-elect Barack Obama takes office. “Consumers are now going to get more and more scared at the prospect of losing their job,” said Nariman […]
Bush and Obama Teams Coordinating Theft of Additional Billions for Bankers
January 10th, 2009Change we can believe in. Via: Washington Post: Senior Bush administration officials are preparing to ask lawmakers for the second half of the $700 billion financial rescue package despite intense opposition in Congress and then use a presidential veto if the request is voted down, sources familiar with the matter said. The initiative, which is […]
California May Issue IOUs
January 9th, 2009Via: Los Angeles Times: State officials on Tuesday braced for the possibility of delaying tax refunds to millions of Californians, along with student grants and payments to vendors, as the latest round of budget negotiations between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislators collapsed. With little more than a month’s worth of cash left in the […]
OIL WHACKED LOWER AGAIN
January 9th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. That oil trade I did is solidly in the red now, but I am taking the long term view on this one. IT’S OIL. Unlike trying to pick bottoms on companies (which have the potential to go bankrupt), oil is not […]
U.S. Unemployment Highest in Sixteen Years
January 9th, 2009The real unemployment rate is now somewhere between 14% to 21%. Via: Reuters: The U.S. unemployment rate surged to its highest level in nearly 16 years in December as a deepening year-long recession forced companies to slash payrolls by more than half a million jobs. An accelerating pace of job losses towards the end of […]
