Archive for the 'Economy' Category
GM Supplier Delphi Suspends Work at Chinese Factory
December 29th, 2008This is one example of thousands in China. Oh well, maybe GM will use some of that U.S. taxpayer bailout money to keep paying their Chinese workers. Via: AP: U.S. car parts maker Delphi Corp. has suspended work at a factory in Suzhou due to shrinking demand amid the global economic slump, a media report […]
Russian Economy Tanking Because Energy Prices Have Collapsed
December 29th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: The ruble fell to a record low against the euro as Russia devalued the currency for the 12th time in seven weeks after the government forecast its first budget deficit in a decade. The managed currency weakened 2.5 percent to 41.6870 per euro at 12:56 p.m. in Moscow, the lowest since the European […]
Over a Quarter of Large Retailers Are at Significant Risk of Filing for Bankruptcy or Facing Financial Distress in 2009 or 2010
December 29th, 2008Via: Wall Street Journal: The good news for retailers reeling from the holiday sales season is that 2008 is almost over. The bad news: The fallout in 2009 could be worse. This year’s retailing slide — when stores were forced to cut prices to convince wary consumers to spend — promises to have a lasting […]
Madoff Probe Focuses on Tax Havens
December 28th, 2008Via: Guardian: The hunt for funds allegedly cheated out of investors by Bernard Madoff, who faces fraud charges in New York, has turned to offshore tax havens where investigators believe he may have salted away hundreds of millions of dollars. Stephen Harbeck, chief executive of America’s Securities Investor Protection Corporation (Sipc) and official receiver of […]
Israel Attacks Gaza, Hundreds Dead: Who Made a Killing?
December 27th, 2008What did the Benazir Bhutto assassination and the latest Israeli attacks in Gaza have in common? There was a strong move higher on gold immediately preceding both incidents, which were spaced one year apart, to the day. Remember how gold moved before Bhutto was killed? Check out this Bloomberg piece from yesterday (a day before […]
Japan Factory Output Has Biggest Fall On Record
December 26th, 2008Via: AP: Japan’s contracting economy got a slew of bad news Friday when government figures showed that industrial production plunged by its biggest margin on record in November, the jobless rate jumped and household spending fell. Output at the nation’s manufacturers tumbled 8.1 percent from October, the largest drop since Tokyo began measuring such data […]
Hiring Window Is Open at the Foreign Service
December 25th, 2008Besides the rhetorical reasons for this, it might also indicate A) that the U.S. is increasingly going to be relying on the kindness of others to survive, which will require diplomatic personnel at multiple levels, and B) that some very major changes are afoot with regard to the North American Union, the Amero and other […]
Fed Grants GMAC Ability to Seek Bailout Funds
December 25th, 2008I’m not as convinced as these guys in the piece below. This is already a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of show. Why couldn’t Hank and Ben just wave their magic wands and declare that GMAC qualifies as a bank, or whatever other damn thing they want to call it? —‘Already Bankrupt’ GM Won’t Be Rescued by U.S. […]
Will the North American Union Happen Under Obama?
December 24th, 2008Bailiffs Get Power to Use Force on Debtors
December 24th, 2008Via: Times Online: The government has been accused of trampling on individual liberties by proposing wide-ranging new powers for bailiffs to break into homes and to use “reasonable force” against householders who try to protect their valuables. Under the regulations, bailiffs for private firms would for the first time be given permission to restrain or […]
