Archive for the 'Economy' Category
U.S. Federal Deficit to Reach Record $1 Trillion
December 10th, 2008Via: AP: The federal government ran a record budget deficit in November, putting Uncle Sam on track to post an all-time high annual shortfall of $1 trillion or more. In just the first two months of the budget year that started Oct. 1, the deficit totaled $401.6 billion, nearly matching the record gap of $455 […]
GREECE SHUT DOWN BY GENERAL STRIKE, RIOTING
December 10th, 2008Via: AP: Protesters attacked Athens’ main courthouse with firebombs during a hearing for police officers whose shooting of a teenager set off rioting that appeared to be tapering off Wednesday even as a general strike paralyzed the country. The strike shut down schools, public services, hospitals and flights, increasing pressure on the fragile conservative government […]
Homeowners Who Received Mortgage Modifications Are Defaulting Again
December 10th, 2008Via: OC Register: In my previous post, I wrote that more than half of homeowners who got a change to their mortgage to make it more affordable, started missing payments again within six months of the loan modification, according to John Dugan, the nation’s Comptroller of the Currency. Those were for loans modified in the […]
Treasury Bills Trade Negative for the First Time
December 10th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: Treasuries rose, pushing rates on the three-month bill negative for the first time, as investors gravitate toward the safety of U.S. government debt amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The Treasury sold $27 billion of three-month bills yesterday at a discount rate of 0.005 percent, the lowest since it starting […]
New Cars Pile Up at Ports and Parking Lots Around the United States
December 9th, 2008The pace is quickening now. Via: Reuters: From pricey luxury sedans to popular hybrid cars, automobiles made overseas are stacking up at ports and parking lots around the United States as supplies far outstrip demand amid the nation’s worst auto market in more than 25 years. At the Long Beach port near Los Angeles, Toyota […]
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Suspends State Business with Bank of America and Is Then Promptly Arrested by the FBI on Corruption Charges
December 9th, 2008Less than 24 hours later… Whamo. I’m not saying that the guy isn’t a crook. He could be as crooked as the day is long. The timing of his arrest, however, is priceless. Update: 76-Page Federal Indictment; Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud and Solicitation of Bribery: Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested on […]
Tribune: Bankrupt
December 9th, 2008What will Southern Californians line their bird cages with if the Los Angeles Times goes down??? Via: Los Angeles Times: In perhaps the starkest sign yet of trouble in the news business, media giant Tribune Co. — owner of the Los Angeles Times, KTLA-TV Channel 5 and other newspapers and TV stations — filed Monday […]
Financial Times: “And Now for a World Government”
December 9th, 2008Via: Financial Times: I have never believed that there is a secret United Nations plot to take over the US. I have never seen black helicopters hovering in the sky above Montana. But, for the first time in my life, I think the formation of some sort of world government is plausible. A “world government” […]
New York Times to Borrow $225 Million Against Its Mid-Manhattan Headquarters Building
December 8th, 2008I love it. Via: IHT: The New York Times Company plans to borrow up to $225 million against its mid-Manhattan headquarters building, to ease a potential cash flow squeeze as the company grapples with tighter credit and shrinking profits. The company has retained Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate firm, to act as its agent […]
In Lean Times, SoCal Residents Trade Guns for Food
December 8th, 2008How many boxes of Cheezits were the hand grenades worth? Via: AP: A program to exchange guns for gifts brought in a record number of weapons this year as residents hit hard by the economy look under the bed and in closets to find items to trade for groceries. The annual Gifts for Guns program […]
