Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Citigroup’s $1.1 Trillion of Mysterious Assets Shadows Earnings
July 14th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: At an investor presentation in May, Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said shrinking the bank’s $2.2 trillion balance sheet, the biggest in the U.S., was a cornerstone of his turnaround plan. Nowhere mentioned in the accompanying 66-page handout were the additional $1.1 trillion of assets that New York-based Citigroup keeps off […]
“Unmitigated Disaster”
July 14th, 2008U.S. taxpayers and dollar holders are essentially going to eat the real estate crisis. —EMERGENCY: U.S. GOVERNMENT TO TAKE “UNLIMITED STAKES” IN FANNIE AND FREDDIE Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. Treasury Department’s plan to shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is an “unmitigated disaster” and the largest U.S. mortgage lenders are “basically insolvent,” according to […]
The Next Bubble: Priming the Markets for Tomorrow’s Big Crash
July 14th, 2008Mmm hmm. Via: Harpers: There is one industry that fits the bill: alternative energy, the development of more energy-efficient products, along with viable alternatives to oil, including wind, solar, and geothermal power, along with the use of nuclear energy to produce sustainable oil substitutes, such as liquefied hydrogen from water. Indeed, the next bubble is […]
Stock Futures Up
July 14th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. HA. I love it. Just remember this: Pop goes the weasel. It’s so easy to screw with shorts, short term. Bullshit press release. Market makers collude and stand on the bid for a few minutes or even hours. Maybe the index […]
Run On Banks Spells Big Trouble for U.S. Treasury
July 14th, 2008Via: Sydney Morning Herald: IN A modern financial system nothing is more frightening than a run on the bank. The US has now suffered a series of them, and they are escalating in size and scope, posing a serious threat to an already reeling economy. Rumours swamped financial markets on Friday that the US Government […]
EMERGENCY: U.S. GOVERNMENT TO TAKE “UNLIMITED STAKES” IN FANNIE AND FREDDIE
July 14th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. The firms that make the mortgage industry possible in the U.S. are about to be taken onto the books of the U.S. Government. I don’t know of any clearer way of summing it up. In all of my years of observing […]
Weak Dollar Sends Vatican Into the Red
July 13th, 2008The damages paid out due to child raping priests (same search on current news) probably didn’t help matters much. Via: Guardian: The Vatican has blamed a weak dollar for pushing it into its first loss in four years by undermining the value of dollar-denominated donations by the faithful. Annual accounts published this week show the […]
Gas Arbitrage Along U.S./Mexico Border
July 13th, 2008Via: Reuters: U.S. and Mexican entrepreneurs with an eye for a quick buck are buying subsidized fuel in bulk in Mexico and hauling it across the U.S. border to make big profits, officials say. With a yawning gap between the cost of Mexico’s state-subsidized fuel and record U.S. pump prices, tanker truck owners and people […]
Fuel Theft Crime Wave Sweeps Scotland as Petrol Prices Soar
July 13th, 2008Via: Sunday Herald: SCOTLAND IS in the grip of a new crime wave with organised thieves stealing tens of thousands of litres of fuel each day from farms, homes and petrol stations across the country. Record oil prices have made fuel a targeted commodity for gangs of criminals. Thieves are reselling the stolen fuel through […]
IndyMac Bank Seized by Federal Regulators; Second Largest Bank Failure in U.S. History
July 12th, 2008Via: Los Angeles Times: The federal government took control of Pasadena-based IndyMac Bank on Friday in what regulators called the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history. Citing a massive run on deposits, regulators shut its main branch three hours early, leaving customers stunned and upset. One woman leaned on the locked doors, pleading with an […]
