Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Dollar Hits 2-Year High
October 22nd, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. This last leg up on the dollar prompted a couple of emails. Who? What? How? Am I holding US$ now? Etc. etc. Please recall, U.S. Dollar Index: Bears, the Squeeze Is On, from August. Remember this chart? Old U.S. Dollar Index, […]
Mutant Seeds for Mesopotamia
October 22nd, 2008Via: Uruknet: One would think that Iraqi farmers, now prospering under “freedom” and “democracy,” would be able to plant the seeds of their choosing, but that choice, under little-known Order 81, would be illegal. … What makes this Order 81 even more outrageous is that Iraqi farmers have been saving wheat and barley seeds since […]
Gold Falls Nearly 4%, Breaks Through Support at $775
October 21st, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Just FYI: DBA is looking interesting again. Via: Reuters: Gold fell nearly 4 percent after the opening of the U.S. market as a stronger dollar curbed interest in the precious metal as an alternative investment, and as oil prices fell more […]
Family’s 401(k) Is Herd Of Alpacas
October 21st, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy sell or hold any financial instrument, or alpacas. Via: KMBC: With the volatile stock market and shaky economy, the Swikard family said they are glad their 401(k) comes on four legs. “They’re just gentle, curious, fun-loving animals. (They’re) safe around children,” said Dave Swickard of Lonesome Dove […]
Markets Hold Breath as $360 Billion Worth of Lehman Swaps Unwind
October 20th, 2008Can it all just be added to the tab? We’ll find out over the next 48 hours. Via: Telegraph: The $54trillion credit derivatives market faces a delicate test as $360bn worth of contracts on now-defaulted derivatives on Lehman Brothers are due to be settled on Tuesday. Due to the opacity of the market, which is […]
ECB’s Nowotny Sees Global ‘Tri-Polar’ Currency System Evolving
October 20th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: European Central Bank council member Ewald Nowotny said a “tri-polar” global currency system is developing between Asia, Europe and the U.S. and that he’s skeptical the U.S. dollar’s centrality can be revived. “What I see is a system where we have more centers of gravity” Nowotny said today in an interview with Austrian […]
Americans, Get Ready for an Enormous Tax Bill
October 18th, 2008Mmm hmm. Via: Yahoo Finance: “America’s economy is facing unprecedented challenges. We’re responding with unprecedented measures,” President Bush declared in a press conference Friday. Bush, of course, was speaking of the government’s coordinated efforts to tackle a financial crisis that has roiled global markets and brought down venerable financial institutions. “These measures will require us […]
Is Switzerland the Next Iceland?
October 18th, 2008Via: Independent: In an extraordinary move for a nation proud of its financial prudence and stability, Switzerland was forced to take emergency measures yesterday to shore up its two biggest lenders to prevent a collapse in confidence in the country’s banking system. The state will inject SFr6bn (£3.1bn) into UBS, its biggest bank, in return […]
Banks Borrow Record $437.5 Billion Per Day from Fed
October 17th, 2008Via: Reuters: Financial institutions ran to their lender of last resort for record amounts of cash in the latest week, under extreme pressure from the worst global financial crisis in a generation, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday. Banks and dealers’ overall direct borrowings from the Fed averaged a record $437.53 billion per day in […]
Gold Gap Down
October 16th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Just FYI. Via: MarketWatch: Gold futures tumbled Thursday, at one point down more than 5% to below $800 an ounce for the first time in one month, as nervous investors seeking cash sold futures contracts. Some hedge funds were forced to […]
