Archive for February, 2009
Putin and Emerging Barter Arrangements
February 25th, 2009Direct barter relationships for energy, raw materials. Cut out the middleman (banks). The USUKEU confetti paper industrial complex will do anything and everything to stop this. Via: Kitco: Putin openly called the current unipolar world obsolete, referring indirectly to the US-UK dominance. This is as close as one could come to hearing that the current […]
Diebold ‘Offices’ Listed in Yellow Pages Are Mostly Wal-Marts
February 25th, 2009Always Low Prices, Now with Even More Diebold! Via: RawStory: Across the country, curious bloggers are calling up their local Diebold offices, and no one is answering. Utah is among the number of states that now use a partial or fully electronic election system, and Premier Election Solutions, a subsidiary of Diebold, is the company […]
Fears for IMF’s Ability to Raise Rescue Funds
February 24th, 2009Let me guess: Sovereign gold sales? Via: Times: Fears are growing that the International Monetary Fund will struggle to raise enough cash to help all the countries that need emergency aid as the global financial crisis unfolds. The leaders of Europe’s wealthiest countries pledged on Sunday to help the IMF to raise at least a […]
‘Black Swan’ Author Sees Trouble Exceeding 1930s
February 24th, 2009Via: New York Times: The author of “The Black Swan,” Nassim Nicholas Taleb, predicts that the global financial crisis will be harder to end than the Great Depression and it may force the United States government to nationalize some banks. The world has a much more complex financial system than in the 1930s, Mr. Taleb […]
Could the U.S. Oil Fund Implode on Contango?
February 24th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Wow! This is a must read for anyone interested in oil speculation and USO. Because of the contango situation, the fund is diluting itself as it rolls to the next month. Via: Financial Times: Jakob’s specific case is with the distortions […]
Defaults by Franchisees Soar as the Recession Deepens
February 24th, 2009Via: Wall Street Journal: The recession is bruising businesses across the franchising industry. From ice-cream parlors to tanning salons, franchisees’ defaults on loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration are piling up in amounts unseen in years. A list of loans at 500 franchises shows the number of defaults by franchisees increased 52% in […]
U.S. Home Price Drops at Record Pace in December
February 24th, 2009Via: Reuters: Prices of U.S. single-family homes plunged 18.5 percent in December from a year earlier as the monthly pace accelerated, according to a Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index on Tuesday. The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 2.5 percent in December from November, compared with a 2.3 percent decline in […]
Suburban Gold Parties
February 24th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Read to the end… I don’t know what to make of that. Is this the public participation phase? Or not? Did those guys really sell $5 million worth of gold in one day? Can that possibly be true? I hope people […]
Remote-Controlled Planes Could Spy on British Homes
February 24th, 2009Via: Telegraph: Police could soon use unmanned spyplanes like those used to track enemy troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for surveillance operations on British homes. The Home Office has suggested that the remote-controlled drones could be used to help police gather evidence and track criminals without putting officers at risk. The miniature aircraft could be […]
China to Heed Clinton’s Call on Buying U.S. Bonds
February 23rd, 2009The Mexican standoff continues. Or, put another way… Keep the Ponzi scheme going, or you’ll lose what you put in already. Via: AFP: China has little choice but to follow Hillary Clinton’s call and continue buying US Treasuries, as reversing course would lead to the value of its investments plunging, economists said Monday. While in […]
