Archive for the 'Economy' Category
“We Are Experiencing Home Price Depreciation Almost Like Never Before, With the Exception of the Great Depression”
July 25th, 2007Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. stock market tumbled the most in four months after Countrywide Financial Corp.’s earnings prompted concern the housing crisis is spreading. Shares of homebuilders sank to their lowest since 2003 and financial companies dropped after Countrywide, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said more borrowers are falling behind on home- equity loan payments. […]
Dollar Gaps Up, Central Banks Sell Gold
July 25th, 2007WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy sell or hold any financial instrument. HAHA! I love it. It’s gold dumping time in Europe. And how about that U.S. Dollar index… Via: Market Watch: The dollar rose to a two-week high against the euro and gained against the yen early Wednesday, rebounding from multi-year lows […]
Halliburton Used Bribery Network to Bloat War Costs
July 25th, 2007In other news, Halliburton’s second-quarter net income more than doubled. Via: New York Times: Federal investigators have uncovered what they describe as a sweeping network of kickbacks, bribes and fraud involving at least eight employees and subcontractors of KBR, the former Halliburton subsidiary, in a scheme to inflate charges for flying freight into Iraq in […]
CALIFORNIA FORCLOSURES INCREASE 799% OVER SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR
July 25th, 2007Via: Los Angeles Times: A sagging real estate market and tighter lending standards are exacting a rapidly growing toll on Californians, forcing them from their homes in record numbers, figures released today show. Foreclosures in the state during the second quarter totaled 17,408, up 799% from the same period last year. The current rate handily […]
U.S. DOLLAR INDEX CROSSES BELOW 80
July 24th, 2007WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Latest is USDX down .23 to 79.99. Will it get a foot hold, or slip off the cliff??? I thought we would see a bounce off of 80; at least a feeble one. If it’s going to happen, this is the […]
Dead Farmers Got $1.1 Billion from USDA
July 24th, 2007Via: MSNBC: The U.S. Department of Agriculture distributed $1.1 billion over seven years to the estates or companies of deceased farmers and routinely failed to conduct reviews required to ensure that the payments were properly made, according to a government report. In a selection of 181 cases from 1999 to 2005, the Government Accountability Office […]
Welcome to Richistan, USA
July 23rd, 2007Via: Guardian: America’s super-rich have returned to the days of the Roaring Twenties. As the rest of the country struggles to get by, a huge bubble of multi-millionaires lives almost in a parallel world. The rich now live in their own world of private education, private health care and gated mansions. They have their own […]
New Zealand Economy on ‘Death Spiral’ Due to Exchange Rate; Government Considering Emergency Monetary Policies
July 19th, 2007In case you’ve forgotten where I’ve been on this issue, let’s take a quick walk down memory lane, now that the New Zealand Government is considering emergency monetary policies, and the country teeters on the brink of ruin… Cryptogon analysis from April 3, 2007: Mainly, this is wealthy people from all over the place chasing […]
Gold, Oil and the U.S. Dollar All Nearing Key Levels
July 19th, 2007WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Gold and oil are both locked and loaded for a major breakout from previous ranges. The dollar’s move down has been fast and astonishing, even to people like me who have no confidence in the thing. If the U.S. Dollar Index […]
Ice-Cream Makers Frozen Out as Corn Price Rises
July 18th, 2007HAHA! Did you hear the one about Dow 14,000? HAHA! Tell me another one. Via: Times Online: What’s the connection between ethanol, the biofuel produced from corn, and a cherry vanilla ice-cream? Answer: the first is responsible for pushing up the price of the other. This month, the price of milk in the United States […]
