Archive for the 'Economy' Category
U.S. Colleges Taking Loan Kickbacks, Reaping Other Benefits from Broke Students
March 17th, 2007The invisible hand of the market, shaking down students. Via: MSNBC: Colleges across the country are taking kickbacks from student loan companies and reaping other benefits while making it harder for students to get better deals on their loans, the state attorney general has charged. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Thursday an investigation […]
Jim Cramer on Staying Upwind When You Start a Fire
March 16th, 2007I’ve written about leverage, the Plunge Protection Team, manipulation and funny money squeezes for years on Cryptogon. I told you that trying to trade this crap, as a retailer, is the equivalent of bringing a knife to a gunfight, and that the smart money doesn’t rely on luck. Don’t take my word on any of […]
UK: Raise Interest Rates or Face Economic Disaster
March 13th, 2007Via: Daily Mail: Interest rates need to go above eight per cent to control booming house prices, a leading economist has warned. Martin Weale said that unless the property market is restrained it will suffer a crash, devastating those who look upon their home as their pension. He spoke out as official figures revealed that […]
TRADING OF NEW CENTURY SHARES HALTED ON NYSE
March 13th, 2007Related: Wall Street Chop Shop Via: Bloomberg: New Century Financial Corp., the nation’s second-biggest subprime mortgage lender, said it doesn’t have the cash to pay creditors who are demanding their money, increasing speculation that the company will go bankrupt. The New York Stock Exchange, citing the credit crisis, halted trading of New Century this morning […]
Why the Free Market Fails Consumers in Sustainable Energy Innovation
March 13th, 2007There is no free market, of course, but this article is worth reading in conjunction with Energy Scarcity vs. Cost of the War in Iraq. Why the Soviet Style Command Economy in Drag Fails Consumers in Sustainable Energy Innovation would be a more accurate reflection of the situation on the ground, but let’s not get […]
$20 Billion Later Halliburton Moves Headquarters to Dubai
March 13th, 2007Enemy Collaborator Democrats squealing years late and $20 billion short… Priceless. Via: Huffington Post: Business must be slowing down in Iraq. After booking over $20 billion in revenues from its work in Iraq, some on no bid contracts and now under Congressional scrutiny for both the quality of its work and billing practices, Halliburton is […]
Bloomberg: U.S. Housing Bust Deepens
March 12th, 2007Uglier by the minute. Via: Bloomberg: Hold on to your assets. The deepest housing decline in 16 years is about to get worse. As many as 1.5 million more Americans may lose their homes, another 100,000 people in housing-related industries could be fired, and an estimated 100 additional subprime mortgage companies that lend money to […]
Visa Chief: Cashless Society by 2012
March 12th, 2007Sure. Via: Independent Online: Paying for goods with notes and coins could be consigned to history within five years, according to the chief executive of Visa Europe. Peter Ayliffe said that, by 2012, using credit and debit cards should be cheaper and more convenient than cash. Some retailers could soon start surcharging customers if they […]
New York Times: Crisis Looms in Mortgages
March 11th, 2007If you liked my Wall Street Chop Shop piece, here’s a New York Times version of it; months late, of course… Via: New York Times: Like worms that surface after a torrential rain, revelations that emerge when an asset bubble bursts are often unattractive, involving dubious industry practices and even fraud. In the coming weeks, […]
Goldman, Merrill Almost ‘Junk,’ Their Own Traders Say
March 10th, 2007Via: Bloomberg: Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. and Morgan Stanley, which earned a record $24.5 billion in 2006, suddenly have become so speculative that their own traders are valuing the three biggest securities firms as barely more creditworthy than junk bonds. Prices for credit-default swaps linked to the bonds of the New […]
