The Economy & Financials

Aug 28, 2008, Massive Gold Price manipulation in the USA?

For years, the data contained in the weekly Commitment of Traders Report (COT), issued by the CFTC, have indicated that several large COMEX traders have manipulated the price of silver and gold. For an equal number of years, the CFTC has reluctantly responded to public pressure over this issue with blanket denials of any wrongdoing. Many analysts have agreed with the CFTC's position, conjuring up various ways to explain why a massive short position held by a handful of traders is not manipulative.

The recent widespread shortage of silver for retail purchase coupled with a price collapse appears to have shaken these analysts' confidence that the COMEX silver market is operating 'fair and square.' Well it should, since there is no rational explanation for a significant price decline going hand in hand with product shortages other than collusive manipulation.

Aug 28, 2008, Find breaking-news on key economic issues.

Key breaking-news on important economic and financial issues.

Aug 28, 2008, ConocoPhillips Sells Its 600 Gasoline Stations

HOUSTON — ConocoPhillips said Wednesday that it would sell 600 company-owned gasoline stations in the United States to PetroSun West for $800 million, completing the oil major’s exit from the low-margin, highly competitive retail business.

Aug 28, 2008, Debt Threatens The Entire System

There is a good chance over the next year that more than 100 American banks could fail. This could be failures’ aggregating more than $100 billion. The question is where does the money come from to pay for this because the FDIC has maybe $29 billion left after they cover current bank failure loses. The banks, who are members, cannot contribute to any extent so the taxpayer will have to fund the losses.

Aug 28, 2008, Moody's Reviewing All 2006, 2007 Jumbo Mortgage Bonds (Update1)

By Jody Shenn

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Moody's Investors Service is stepping up scrutiny of all prime-jumbo mortgage securities issued in 2006 and 2007 as the surge in U.S. foreclosures spreads beyond subprime loans.

Aug 27, 2008, Stagflation Becoming an Economic Reality

On Friday, the U.S. central bank chief said that the financial crisis that has hammered the U.S. market is combining with rising inflation to eviscerate American economy. Together, the two forces are making it extremely difficult for the Fed to restore economic stability in the U.S. market.

Aug 25, 2008, Auto industry seeks $50B in loans from Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) -- -- Automakers plan to urge Congress to support funding up to $50 billion in low-interest loans over three years to help them modernize their assembly plants and develop next-generation fuel-efficient vehicles.

Aug 25, 2008, Warren Buffett says 'game is over' for Freddie and Fannie

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two largest mortgage finance companies, "don't have any net worth," the billionaire investor Warren Buffett said.

"The game is over" as independent companies said Buffett, the 77-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, in an interview on CNBC on Friday. "They were able to borrow without any of the normal restraints. They had a blank check from the federal government."

Aug 20, 2008, Freddie Shareholders: There's Nothing Left

By Morgan Housel August 19, 2008 Comment (2) Recommend (1) Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) fell 22.2% and 24.4% yesterday, respectively, unveiling some of the lowest share prices seen since the late '80s, when the average home cost around $90,000. In perhaps the saddest indication of just how pitiful these stocks are, Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY) -- a small, scarcely followed REIT that purchases Fannie and Freddie securities -- now eclipses the market cap of both Freddie and Fannie. The customer, as they say, is always right.

Aug 20, 2008, US Money Supply and the Bond Market Blackhole

As GoldMoney's James Turk recently reported, “To give you a true picture of just how bad inflation has become, here is what John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics reports in his latest newsletter : "The SGS-Alternate Consumer Inflation Measure, which reverses gimmicked changes to official CPI reporting methodologies back to 1980, rose to a 28-year high of roughly 13.4% in July, up from 12.6% in June." It's no wonder that the demand for precious metal coins and small bars is so strong.”

Aug 20, 2008, US factory prices rise at fastest in 27 years

Suzy Jagger, New York Fears that the cost of living in America is rising out of control were heightened today after official data showed that factory gate prices increased at their fastest rate for 27 years.

Aug 19, 2008, US bank 'to fail within months'

The global financial crisis is set to get worse, with a large US bank likely to collapse in the next few months, a former IMF chief economist has warned.

Kenneth Rogoff's comments came as shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sank on a report that the home lenders would, in effect, be nationalised.

Aug 18, 2008, The next wave of mortgage defaults

More borrowers with good credit are defaulting on their home loans, and that's going to make it even harder for the staggering housing market to recover.

Aug 15, 2008, Free Goods At Throwplace.com Help Consumers in Tough Times

Washington, DC Throwplace users continue to list computers, furniture and all sorts of free merchandise to give away at Throwplace.com - the Internet’s landfill alternative.

At Throwplace.com, charities, businesses and individuals from all over the world can "throw" their excess onto the Internet where others can view and "take" what they need for free. Each "throw" and "take" is recycled and reused, keeping countless goods out of landfills, and helping people and non-profits make ends meet during tough economic times

Aug 15, 2008, One Third of New Owners Owe More Than House Is Worth (Update1)

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Almost one-third of U.S. homeowners who bought in the last five years now owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, according to Zillow.com, an Internet provider of home valuations.

Second-quarter home prices fell 9.9 percent from a year earlier, giving 29 percent of owners negative equity, said Zillow, the Seattle-based service that offers values for more than 80 million homes. For those who bought at the 2006 peak of the housing market, 45 percent are now underwater, Zillow said.

Aug 15, 2008, "Dead Zones" Multiplying Fast, Coastal Water Study Says

Anne Minard for National Geographic News August 14, 2008 "Dead zones" are on the rise, says a new study that identified stark growth in the number of coastal areas where the water has too little oxygen to sustain marine life.

There are now more than 400 known dead zones in coastal waters worldwide, compared to 305 in the 1990s, according to study author Robert Diaz of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Aug 13, 2008, Phase II of the gold bull market is just beginning

Tuesday, August 12, 2008, 07:28 PM GMT [General]

A war breaks out in the Caucasus, pitting Russia against a close ally of the United States. Inflation reaches a new peak in the euro-zone. The CPI reaches the highest in Britain since Bank of England independence. Rampant inflation sweeps the developing world.

All that glitters is not reliable in these uncertain times

Yet gold crashes. It has failed to deliver on its core promises as a safe-haven and inflation hedge, at least for now. Why?

Four possible answers:

Aug 13, 2008, Banks' Subprime Losses Top $500 Billion on Writedowns (Update1)

By Yalman Onaran

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Banks' losses from the U.S. subprime crisis and the ensuing credit crunch crossed the $500 billion mark as writedowns spread to more asset types.

The writedowns and credit losses at more than 100 of the world's biggest banks and securities firms rose after UBS AG reported second-quarter earnings today, which included $6 billion of charges on subprime-related assets.

Aug 11, 2008, Foreign sovereign funds prepare to buy US forclosed properties

Posted: 4:19 am August 10, 2008

There's a new land grab starting in America.

Foreign money, which up to now has focused its attention on investing in iconic commercial real estate - like Barneys New York and the Chrysler Building - is now moving to scoop up tens of thousands of discounted foreclosed homes across the country.

Aug 9, 2008, 29 states face total budget shortfall of at least $48 billion in 2009

At least 29 states plus the District of Columbia, including several of the nation’s largest states, faced an estimated $48 billion in combined shortfalls in their budgets for fiscal year 2009 (which began July 1, 2008 in most states.) At least three other states expect budget problems in fiscal year 2010.

Aug 6, 2008, How to survive the modern three crises

To survive we need to recognize that these threats are not separate problems, and they must be addressed as one major crisis.

Aug 6, 2008, U.S. house price time bomb

With the American housing market in its worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, President Bush is authorising new legislation to pave the way for massive new government intervention designed to slow the slide.

Aug 5, 2008, What to do when your bank closes.

Friday has come and gone. In quiet style, another U.S. bank has been closed by the FDIC: First Priority Bank of Bradenton, Florida. The appearance of reality is that a number of banks will fail in the short-term without warning. What do you do when your bank is closed by the FDIC? Don’t panic by storming the doors. Assuming that you follow the $100,000 account rule, Uncle Sam has you covered. The FDIC has provisions to make your life much simpler without losing your cool.

Aug 1, 2008, Inflation surges with huge Fed liquidity infusion

I know that sounds counterintuitive given the current state of the credit crisis, but it is exactly that crisis and the Fed's response to it, which will soon forge the path to inflation rates the likes of which have never before been experienced in this country's history. The most important question investors must ask themselves is how inflationary is the current 2% Fed Funds rate?

Aug 1, 2008, Stressed banks borrow record amount from Fed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Banks borrowed a record amount of funds from the Federal Reserve in the latest week as the year old credit crisis took a persistent toll, while the commercial paper market continued to contract, signaling tough conditions for short term borrowers.

Jul 29, 2008, US Bank Losses Expected to Top $1.5 trillion

NAB, National Australia Bank, was just forced to write down over ninety percent of its exposure to US mortgages via so-called SIV's or conduits last Friday, to the order of $830 million dollars. This was by no means a matter of choice for NAB. The bank had just issued and sold $850 million worth of new debt paper. Buyers of that debt are now screaming bloody murder.

Jul 29, 2008, China's Cars, Increasing Global Demand for Fuel

SONGJIANG, China -- Nodding his head to the disco music blaring out of his car's nine speakers, Zhang Linsen swings the shiny, black Hummer H2 out of his company's gates and on to the spacious four-lane road.

Jul 26, 2008, Gas from Garbage

After years of false starts, a new industry selling motor fuel made from waste is getting a big push in the United States, with the first commercial sales possible within months.

Jul 26, 2008, First National Bank of Arizona closes

PHOENIX -- According to the First National Bank of Arizona's web site, the bank has closed its doors as a financial institution.

Jul 26, 2008, Ford Loses record $8.7 Billion

The Ford motor companies stock price fell sharply by more than 10% following news of a worse than expected second quarter record loss of $8.7 billion, this follows a first quarter profit of $100 million.

Jul 23, 2008, How to invest in gold

--EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS

--UNIT TRUSTS AND INVESTMENT TRUSTS

--COINS AND SMALL BARS

-- GOLD ACCOUNTS

Jul 23, 2008, Population bomb ticks loudly

Speaking at a CSIRO public lecture in Canberra yesterday, UNESCO's chief of sustainable water resources development, Professor Shahbaz Khan, said overpopulation's impacts were potentially more economically, socially and environmentally destructive than those of climate change.

Jul 22, 2008, Bankruptcies soar, on widening economic woes

Driven by a sour economy and skittish consumers, U.S. business bankruptcies saw their sharpest quarterly rise in two years, jumping 17 percent in the second quarter of 2008, according to an analysis by McClatchy.

Jul 20, 2008, Fed Needs Blank Check for Fannie and Freddie

The Fed's emergency rescue plan for the financial markets is hopelessly flawed. It's a scattershot approach that doesn't address the real source of the problem; an unregulated, unsustainable structured finance system that emerged in full-force after 2000 and spawned a shadow banking system that creates trillions of dollars of credit without sufficient capital reserves.

Jul 18, 2008, Moscow The Next Global Financial Center?

Russia's Union of Industrialist and Entrepreneurs set to create an international center in the country.

Jul 18, 2008, Prime Mortgages Look Terrible,JP Morgan's Dimon

JP Morgan said that net income for the second quarter was $2 billion, or 54 cents a share, a drop of 53 percent from year-ago totals; analysts had been expecting 44 cents per share, according to a Bloomberg News report.

Jul 17, 2008, Global Systemic Breakdown

What appears to be happening is the acceleration of a complete systemic breakdown of the US and world financial systems and economies.

Jul 17, 2008, US Eonomy and Higher Energy Prices

June 2008 was the second worst June in the history of the Dow Jones. The only June that was worse was in 1930, at the beginning of the Great Depression.

Jul 17, 2008, Gold vs Dollar -Video

Learn the relation gold has to fiat currency.