Archive for the 'Economy' Category
“The Free Market”
September 8th, 2008Via: IHT: Despite decades of free-market rhetoric from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, Washington has a long history of providing financial help to the private sector when the economic or political risk of a corporate collapse appeared too high. The effort to save Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is only the latest in a series of […]
Open Thread: Financial Situation Following Fannie and Freddie Takeovers
September 8th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
U.S. SEIZES FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC
September 8th, 2008We’ve seen this coming for weeks. Here it is. Forget references to billions of dollars. This is a multi trillion dollar swindle, and all U.S. taxpayers are going to be walking funny as a result. This represents a crime of such gigantic proportions that many people won’t even be able to fathom what has happened. […]
Confirmed: Mexico Drug Plane Used for U.S. ‘Rendition’ Flights
September 7th, 2008Mmm hmm. Via: AFP: A private jet that crash-landed almost one year ago in eastern Mexico carrying 3.3 tons of cocaine had previously been used for CIA “rendition” flights, a newspaper report said here Thursday, citing documents from the United States and the European Parliament. The plane was carrying Colombian drugs for the fugitive leader […]
FDIC Friday: Silver State Bank of Nevada Goes Down
September 6th, 2008Via: CNN: Nevada regulators have shut down Silver State Bank. It was the 11th failure this year of a federally insured bank. Andrew McCain, son of Republican presidential nominee John McCain was a member of the bank’s board, but recently stepped down for “personal reasons,” according to The Wall Street Journal. The younger McCain, 46, […]
9% of Homeowners Are Late with Payments or in Foreclosure
September 6th, 2008I N S A N E See: Mr. Mortgage: The Quickening Via: USA Today: An industry group says a record 9.2% of American homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of June, as damage from the housing crisis continued to mount. The latest quarterly snapshot by […]
U.S. Nears Rescue Plan for Fannie and Freddie
September 6th, 2008Via: Washington Post: The government has formulated a plan to put troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under federal control, dismiss their top executives and prop them up financially, federal officials told the two companies yesterday, according to three sources familiar with the conversations. Under the plan, which could prompt one of the […]
Main Bank of China Is in Need of Capital
September 5th, 2008My favorite quote from the piece below: “It is as if China has made a gift to the United States Navy of 200 brand new aircraft carriers.” Via: New York Times: China’s central bank is in a bind. It has been on a buying binge in the United States over the last seven years, snapping […]
UK: House Prices Post Record Annual Fall
September 5th, 2008Via: Reuters: House prices fell for the seven month running in August to stand a record 12.7 percent lower than a year earlier, a survey showed on Thursday, in a sign the property downturn has already turned into a crash. HBOS, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, said house prices in the world’s fourth biggest economy fell […]
UK: Food Prices Soar This Year
September 5th, 2008Via: Reuters: Food prices in shops and supermarkets have risen by more than 8 percent this year, with some items up nearly 50 percent, a survey for the BBC said on Friday. The survey, carried out by retail analysts Verdict Research, found that meat and fish prices had gone up by almost 23 percent while […]
