Posted By thestatedtruth.com on May 12, 2012

So, Governor Brown, do you still expect to see Californians vote themselves a tax increase….get real.

California’s projected budget deficit has ballooned to $16 billion from the $9.2 billion estimated in January, according to California Governor Jerry Brown, and he warned of more painful spending cuts dead ahead.

“We will have to go much further, and make cuts far greater, than I asked for at the beginning of the year,” Brown said. He plans to detail his revised spending plan in the Capitol on Monday.

Brown’s announcement doubled as a sales pitch for tax hikes that he hopes voters approve at the ballot box in November. He said budget cuts, primarily to public education, would be even worse without increasing the sales tax a quarter-cent for four years and raising levies on incomes of $250,000 or more by 1 to 3 percentage points for seven years.

Category: Commentary, Economy, Education and Schooling, Finance, National News | 1 Comment »
Tags:

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on May 7, 2012

Yikes….inquiring minds wonder how much more student loan debt these college kids can rack up…hum, this really is an unending spiral!

U.S. consumer credit soared by $21.4 billion in March on expectations of $9.8 billion rise, or the fastest monthly expansion since March 2001.

Of the toatal, a modest $5.1 billion was from real credit, or revolving style credit-card type debt. The balance, or $16.2 billion, was non-revolving debt, or the type of debt used to fund car purchases and student loans which are now well into the $1+ trillion record territory. The total non-revolving debt is now $1.739 trillion: an all time record.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, Education and Schooling, Finance, National News | 8 Comments »
Tags: debt, Debt Outstanding, Revolving Credit, Student Loans

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on May 5, 2012

There she goes….the penny is dead in Canada. So, now the old saying of ”a penny for your thoughts”, will be…”a nickel for your thoughts”! 

Canada minted its final penny today as Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the coin was too expensive to produce and no longer needed for business.

“The real issue was that people weren’t using them, they were putting them in jars at home, and we were doing the same thing at my house,” Flaherty said. He spoke today at the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg, Manitoba, before pushing a button that stamped the last one-cent coin.

Getting rid of the coin will have little impact on inflation, the Bank of Canada said in a May 2010 report. Electronic transactions will still be priced in cents, while retailers will round cash transactions to the nearest five-cent interval, according to the budget documents. The coin will still be usable in payments.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News | 19 Comments »
Tags: Cents, Money, Penny

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 30, 2012

And it’s likely to go even lower over the next few years!   The ownership rate may drop below 64 percent by the end of 2015 and stay there for years, said Scott Simon, the mortgage bond head of Pacific Investment Management Co. “It will be lower by 2017,” and “It will be lower in 2020.”

The U.S. homeownership rate fell to the lowest level in 15 years in the first quarter as borrowers lost homes to foreclosure and tighter inventory and credit kept buyers off the market.

The rate dropped to 65.4 percent from 66 percent in the fourth quarter and fell a full percentage point from a year earlier, the Census Bureau said in a report today. That is the lowest level since the first quarter of 1997, and down from a record 69.2 percent in June 2004.

The U.S. apartment vacancy rate fell to 4.9 percent in the first quarter, an 11-year low, according to New York-based Reis Inc. (REIS) The vacancy rate for rental homes was 8.8 percent in the first quarter, compared with 9.7 percent a year earlier, the Census Bureau said in today’s report.

The ownership rate may drop below 64 percent by the end of 2015 and stay there for years, said Scott Simon, the mortgage bond head of Pacific Investment Management Co….“It will be lower by 2017,” and  “It will be lower in 2020.”

www.bloomberg.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate | 42 Comments »
Tags: home ownership %, Ownership rate, Real Estate

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 30, 2012

To soon to tell, but we’ll leave a light on…just in case!

From Bloomberg:

Business activity in the U.S. expanded in April at the slowest pace since November 2009, a sign that manufacturing may be cooling as business investment eases.

The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said today its barometer decreased to 56.2 during the month, lower than the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey, from 62.2 in March. Readings greater than 50 signal growth. Economists projected the gauge would fall to 60, according to the median of 55 estimates in the survey.

A slowdown in demand may prompt companies in the U.S. to limit the rate of inventory accumulation, while exports toEurope and Asia may cool. At the same time, auto purchases may prevent a prolonged deterioration in the industry that spurred the recovery that began almost three years ago.

“We could see manufacturing slow a notch,” Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester,Pennsylvania, said before the report. Fewer inventories “will likely cause production to slow,” he said.

Projections of the economists in the Bloomberg survey ranged from 58 to 62.9.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News | 56 Comments »
Tags: business, Forecast, ISM Number, Light On, Recovery, Slowdown

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 29, 2012

Message to students…Hello down there, hang on and don’t worry about a thing… we’re here to help!  Not!

There was a big fight in D.C. this past week over student loans.

            by Bruce Krasting

The issue is a scheduled increase in interest on new student loans from 3.4% to 6.4% set for July 1. Clearly this is a dumb plan. I don’t see any political opposition to the idea that the summer of 2012 is a horrible time to double the cost of student loans. It will shock no one that the ‘solutions’ being put forward by the politicos are the same ones they propose for every other problem.

The House Republicans have put forward a Bill to extend the 3.4% rate for a year. The cost (increased deficit) of the twelve month extension is $6B. The Republicans want to offset the $6B with (surprise) $12B in reduced spending for the Affordable Care-Act. The Republicans love to trade marbles for reduced Obamacare. They want a 2-1 reduction in medical spending versus education costs. Maybe the “Reds” have the chips to push this outcome. They might settle for a 1-1 deal, but the White House will hate this outcome.

The Senate Democrats want to raise taxes on those making over $250K to offset the cost of the one-year deferral. Their argument is similar to the Buffett tax plan they tried a few weeks ago. Lacking support, it was so clear it wouldn’t pass that it was never voted on. I would give the Senate legislation on student loans a zero chance in the House. It is D.O.A.

There will be the same ideological pissing match and the same result. We will get a one-year extension “paid” for with “promised” reductions in expenses starting in 2017. Another kick of the can, and another big problem in 2013.

This is what happens over a crummy $6B. On January 1, 2013, there are cutbacks and higher taxes totaling $500B scheduled. The coming “Tax Armageddon” is supposed to be resolved in a lame duck session of Congress after the November election. There is a “zero” chance of that working out.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Education and Schooling, National News | 45 Comments »
Tags: Borrowed, education, Lights Out, Student Loans, university

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 27, 2012

Why are we not surprised?  Maybe because the government sponsored mortgages only require less then 3% down!  Hmm.

From (Reuters) …..

More than 1 million Americans who have taken out mortgages in the past two years now owe more on their loans than their homes are worth, and Federal Housing Administration loans that require only a tiny down payment are partly to blame.

That figure, provided to Reuters by tracking firm CoreLogic, represents about one out of 10 home loans made during that period.

It is a sobering indication the U.S. housing market remains deeply troubled, with home values still falling in many parts of the country, and raises the question of whether low-down payment loans backed by the FHA are putting another generation of buyers at risk.

As of December 2011, the latest figures available, 31 percent of the U.S. home loans that were in negative equity – in which the outstanding loan balance exceeds the value of the home – were FHA-insured mortgages, according to CoreLogic.

Many borrowers, particularly since late 2010, thought they were buying at the bottom of a housing market that had already suffered steep declines, but have been caught out by a continued fall in prices in wide swaths of America.

Even for loans taken out in December – less than four months ago and the last month for which data is available – nearly 44,000 borrowers, or about 7.5 percent of the total, now find themselves under water.

CoreLogic’s Khater said: “Low down payment lending in a weak housing market and weak economy begs the question whether we are setting up the FHA to have a multitude of failures down the line.”

Jason Opalka took out an FHA-backed loan on his two-bedroom property in the suburbs of Orlando, Florida, in August 2010. He was helped by Certified Mortgage Planners of Orlando, who negotiated the FHA-backed loan with the lender, Freedom Mortgage, based in New Jersey.

Opalka was refinancing another FHA-backed loan he had obtained in 2008, for $196,000, then at an interest rate of over 6 percent.

Under the refinancing, he borrowed $192,278 at an interest rate of 4.5 percent. Opalka, looking at the paperwork, is still surprised at the down payment he had to make in 2010, for a property valued at the time for little more than the loan was worth and in which he had almost no equity.

His down payment was just $3,000 – or about 1.5 percent of the total loan.

Less than two years later, local real estate estimates now value Opalka’s home at no more than $110,000.

What a disaster………..

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate | 46 Comments »
Tags: debt, Housues, Mortgage, Own Home, Real Estate, Underwater

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 23, 2012

So, the revenue grows but the ship still sinks….Inquiring minds want to know how it can be fixed?

In Illinois, the backlog of unpaid bills has risen to more than $9 billion because of pension costs and falling federal aid, leaving the state “essentially treading water,” Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka said.

While revenue grew from higher personal and corporate taxes, “Illinois’ financial position has not improved,”Topinka said in a report today. The combination of unpaid bills to vendors and Medicaid obligations, is now estimated at $8.5 billion in January.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Pensions and Retirement | 133 Comments »
Tags: Costs, Illinois, Sinking, taxes, Unpaid

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 17, 2012

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Personal Net Worth, Wall Street | 129 Comments »
Tags: Charting Income, Earnings, household income, Income Chart, Personal Income

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 17, 2012

Out of the 143 million tax returns that were filed with the IRS in 2010, 58 million or 41 percent of those filers were non-payers.  Hmm….

Americans making over $50,000 paid the majority of the federal taxes that were paid in the U.S. in 2010.

According to statistics compiled from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by the Tax Foundation, those people making above $50,000 had an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent, and carried 93.3 percent of the total tax burden.

Americans making less than $50,000 had an effective tax rate of 3.5 percent and their total share of the tax burden was just 6.7 percent.

Americans making more than $250,000 had an effective tax rate of 23.4 percent and their total share of the tax burden was 45.7 percent.

Out of the 143 million tax returns that were filed with the IRS in 2010, 58 million or 41 percent of those filers were non-payers.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Personal Net Worth | 105 Comments »
Tags: Effictive Tax Rate, Real Deal, Taxes Paid

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 17, 2012

Category: National News, Quote of the Day | 122 Comments »
Tags: bEST qUOTES, Daily Quotes, Quote

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 11, 2012

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Oil and Nat Gas | 160 Comments »
Tags: Biofuels, Conventional Oil, Corn Based Fuel, Deep Water Oil, Oil Alternatives, Oil Sands, Oil Shale, OPEC Oil, Petroleum Priceing

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 10, 2012

So…the real question is how do we fix this?  As an example, Safeway faces shortfalls larger than its entire market cap, and they’re not alone in this mess.

The latest data, from 2009, from the PBGC showed that these multi-employer plans were 48% underfunded with $331bn of assets to support $686bn of liabilities – and it has hardly been a good ride for those asset values since then. Critically, as the FT notes today, recent changes by FASB has enabled Credit Suisse to estimate shortfalls more accurately and it paints an ugly picture. The critical difference between reality and what is being reported is the ability for firms to use actuarial ‘facts’ to discount liabilities or compound assets at a 7.5% annual growth rate – as opposed to the sad reality of a financially repressed investing environment where returns swing from +20% to -20% in a flash forcing all funds into market timers and not long-term buy-and-hold growth players. These multi-employer pension schemes cover over 10 million people concentrated in industries with highly unionized workforces such as construction, transport, retail and hospitality but of the shortfall only $43bn lies with firms of the S&P 500 – leaving the bulk of the burden on small- and medium-sized businesses once again. It seems the number and size of unfunded (implicitly government) liabilities continues to rise or does this force pensions to follow Ben’s path and increase exposure to hedge funds (which are underperforming in this serene rally so far this year) in an effort to meet these hurdle rates? Either way it appears this under-appreciated drag on the real-economy as one after another small-, medium-, and large- (Safeway faces shortfalls larger than its market cap) businesses will need to eat into earnings to fund this shortfall.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Pensions and Retirement | 129 Comments »
Tags: Disaster, Lost Cause, pensions, Underfunded, Wipe Out

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 10, 2012

Oil refineries are closing all accross the United States with nearly half the refining capacity on the U.S. east coast set to disappear …so of course it’s no wonder gasoline prices are pushing all time record prices.

Chart Courtesy Inteldaily.com (Added by EconMatters)

We now have half the refining capacity on the U.S. east coast set to disappear. Sunoco has pulled the plug on two refineries and warns that another in Philadelphia will close in July if no buyer steps forward while ConocoPhillips is trying to sell a refinery in Pennsylvania, idle since last year.

So, what happened to get us here?

Washington has floated predictable responses: drill more, punish speculators and work harder towards energy self-sufficiency.  Ok, so what about refining the oil?  The last major brand new U.S. refinery started operating in 1977 at Garyville, Louisiana.  Since then, distillation capacity expansions have come from construction of relatively small refineries and expansion of existing plants. Decreases in refinery distillation capacity resulted mostly from plants that were shut down.

In recent years, some refineries have temporarily ceased operation for economic reasons but continue to be counted as operable capacity if they can be returned to service within 30 days.

And we’ll add these tid bits:

U.S. petroleum demand has fallen steadily since 2007 as cars became more fuel-efficient, fuel marketers blended more corn-based ethanol into their product and high unemployment kept highway travel light. This put refineries between high input costs and a poor appetite for their fuel. “The downstream industry is the flywheel in the oil system,” says Kevin Lindemer, an oil industry consultant. “Right now we’re seeing big changes on both sides of the flywheel.”  It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.

Below is a list of the worlds largest Oil Refineries….

Source: Wickpedia

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Commodities, Economy, National News, Oil and Nat Gas | 710 Comments »
Tags: Gasoline, Oil Refining, Petroleum

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 6, 2012

The unemployment rate drops to 8.2% for one simple reason: the number of people not in the labor force is back to all time highs: 87,897,000.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News | 269 Comments »
Tags: Bad Numbers, labor force, Tricky Numbers, Un Accounted For

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 5, 2012

Fortune broke an interesting story on a private lunch that Bernanke had with some key bankers. 

FORTUNE — After completing a series of public lectures in Washington, D.C. last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke quietly slipped into New York City for a private luncheon on Friday with Wall Street executives.   Fortune has learned that attendees included Jamie Dimon (J.P. Morgan), Bob Diamond (Barclays), Brady Dougan (Credit Suisse), Larry Fink (Blackrock), Gerald Hassell (Bank of New York Mellon), Glenn Hutchins (Silver Lake), Colm Kelleher (Morgan Stanley), Brian Moynihan (Bank of America), Steve Schwarzman (Blackstone Group) and David Vinar (Goldman Sachs).   Sources say Bernanke spoke at length about monetary policy, in an apparent effort to persuade attendees that they needed to take a more active role in helping to deal with the European debt crisis. He spent virtually no time discussing regulation, although that mantle got taken up by both Dimon (domestic regulation) and Schwarzman (global regulation).   I find it absolutely fascinating that he concentrated on the problems in Europe and not on U.S. lending or jobs.  Is there more connectivity and concern with Europe than we think?  We’ll watch more carefully.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 698 Comments »
Tags: Fly On The Wall, Hello, Interesting, What's Up Doc

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 3, 2012

Nurses rank highest, and members of Congress and Lobbyists rank lowest along with Car Salesmen, for honesty and ethics.  If you’re surprised, raise your hand!  Nope, I don’t see any hands, just as I thought.

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, National News, Wall Street | 219 Comments »
Tags: Ethics, Honesty, Rankings, Top to Bottom

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on April 2, 2012

Foodstamp usage for January is virtually unchanged at 46.5 million recipients. The actual number of recipients declined by a whisper, while the number of households receiving some sort of benefit increased to a new record of 22.2 million.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Tid Bits, Wall Street | 250 Comments »
Tags: entitlements, food stamps, Free Money, Hand Outs

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 30, 2012

So, this is how things looked at the top of the real estate and stock market….how do you think they look now? We’re thinking not any better for the average person.

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News | 249 Comments »
Tags: Distribution, Income, Poor, Rich

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 25, 2012

Back in the day, sometime in 1908 to be exact….this is what a Cadillac looked like! Yes, we said Cadillac…..

Category: Commentary, Pictures | 943 Comments »
Tags: 1908, Automobile, Cadillac, Car, Horseless

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 25, 2012

Category: Commentary, Economy, Inspirational, National News, Quote of the Day | 1,946 Comments »
Tags: Assistance, Free, Learned

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 22, 2012

The climb of student loan debt is simply unbelievable in the economic picture of things……it truely is the gift that keeps on taking!

U.S. student-loan debt reached the $1 trillion mark, as young borrowers struggle to keep up with soaring tuition costs, according to the initial findings of a government study.

The figure, which is higher than the country’s credit-card debt, was reached “several months ago,” according to Rohit Chopra of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“Young consumers are shouldering much of the punishment in the form of substantial student-loan bills for doing exactly what they were told would be the key to a better life,” Chopra, the bureau’s student-loan ombudsman, said in the posting.

More students are taking out loans to pay for college as tuition increases. Undergraduates are limited by the amount they can borrow in federally backed loans. Students also take out private loans, which lack the income-based repayment and deferment options of federal ones, Chopra said.

Excessive student debt will delay the recovery of the housing market, as young people repay money for their education rather than buying homes, said Chopra, who called the results “sobering.”

“Federal student-loan debt isn’t growing just with new originations,” he said. “With so many borrowers unable to keep up with interest payments, debt is growing even for many who have left school.”

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York last month said debt from educational loans in the U.S. rose to $867 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, based on figures from a sample of data provided by the Equifax Inc. (EFX) credit bureau. The New York Fed also said this month about 10 percent of the outstanding student loan balance was delinquent in the third quarter.

www.bloomberg.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Education and Schooling, National News | 890 Comments »
Tags: college, debt, Disaster, education, Scope, Student Loans, Wipe Out

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 21, 2012

Not so good for mortgages…the Average 30 year fixed rate soared to 4.19% from 4.06% last week, while the refi percent of loans dropped to 73.4% – the lowest since July 2011.

The latest MBA Mortgage Application data was just released and it was ugly. The broad Mortgage Application index fell by 7.4% in the week ending March 16, when rates experienced the bulk of the move downward, which was the 6th consecutive week of declines, following last week’s 2.4% drop. And while refis have been down for 5 weeks in a row, with the index 9.3% lower as higher rates have now effected interest in mortgages, so have purchase applications. The MBA Purchasing index also was down 4.4%, breaking a trend of 3 weeks of gains. Some other hard statistics: the Average 30 year fixed rate soared to 4.19% from 4.06% last week, while the refi percent of number of loans dropped to 73.4% – the lowest since July 2011.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate | 438 Comments »
Tags: Data, Fixed Rate, Interest Rate, Mortgage Applications, Resale

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 20, 2012

From the floor of The New York Stock Exchange, Art Cashin asks, who got the new jobs? The King Report’s assertion is that without seasonal adjustment, 2012 payroll numbers have actually fallen 1.8 million jobs instead of a gain as the government says (based on seasonal adjustments)…this is stunning.  And, making matters even worse, the Weekly Leading Indicator is now at its worst reading since July 2009.

Seasonal Adjustment Is Unadjusted?- Lakshman Achuthan, co-founder of ECRI was interviewed yet again by Bloombergs Tom Keene. Achuthan is almost in campaign mode as he pounds the table reiterating the ECRI posture that we’re headed back into a recession.   His tone seems to indicate his frustration with what he sees as clearly misleading data.  Here’s a bit from the new interview:   Most economic data is seasonally adjusted. This is a good thing because there are seasonal patterns during the course of the year. But the sheer size of the recession we went through had an unintended impact on the way those algorithms run. When the economy fell off a cliff in the Great Recession it was like no other recession we have experienced, so it wasnt easily compared. The systems received data in Q4 and Q1 expecting it to be particularly weak on a seasonal basis. Therefore, they adjusted upwards and that was not intended. There is an easy, un-confusing, fifth-graders-can-do-it, way around this, which is to look at the year-over-year growth rate which shows something quite ominous. When we look at our forward-looking indicators both sets surged initially coming out of the recession. Then they rolled over. They popped up briefly again about a year ago and now they have turned down again. The Weekly Leading Indicator is now at its worst readings since July 2009. These leading indicators have hardly been swayed from their recessionary trajectory. So it brings the bigger question, can unprecedented global monetary policy repeal the business cycle? And these pictures say no.   That re-sparked curiosity about last week’s citation of the King Report’s assertion that without seasonal adjustment, payrolls have actually fallen 1.8 million jobs.  We’re still trying to run down that stunner.

And here is the follow up….from Art Cashin

Getting By With A Little Help From Some Friends – In Mondays Comments, I lamented that I still hadn’t had a chance to flesh out the fact that 2012 has seen a loss of 1.8 million jobs on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.   Several readers, most notably John Shipman, of Dow Jones and Bruce Barker at Bennett Jones, rushed to my rescue.  Mr. Shipman even sent along the BLS table of the data. The raw (unadjusted) number for December of 2011 was 132,965,000, which represents all employees.  The number for February (last available) was 131,164,000 or down 1,801,000 jobs for 2012.   So, the raw data says the jobs picture is stinko to use a technical term.  If you adjust the data, it looks positively rosy.  Something looks strange here.   Point of clarification.  I was not questioning the veracity of the numbers in the King Report.  Over the years, I have found that you can take almost anything Bill King writes to the bank.  While we have never met, over the decades, we have developed several mutual friends.  Anyway, I was just trying to put the numbers in some perspective.  

Source: Art Cashin

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, World News | 1,795 Comments »
Tags: Jobs, Real Deal, unemployment

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 19, 2012

We want the red line to be below the black one…or we’re in trouble. But as everyone can see, the red line looks like a bean stalk and is growing to the sky!

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 1,396 Comments »
Tags: Bad Seats Hey Buddy, debt, Money, Tax Revenue

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 19, 2012

Spend, spend spend……

The Federal Reserve Flow of Funds Report, issued two weeks ago, reveals the extent of the average mans plight : Forty percent of all credit card users do not pay-off their credit card every month and carry an average balance of $16,000 at an average interest rate of 15%.

• Total U.S. credit market debt has RISEN from $50.9 trillion in 2007 to $54.1 trillion as of 12/31/11, a $3.2 trillion increase.
• Household debt has declined from $13.8 trillion in 2007 to $13.2 trillion as of 12/31/11. The mainstream media would point to this $600 billion decline as proof that Americans have embraced austerity and have learned their lesson. But not so fast… The Wall Street banks have written off $200 billion of credit card debt and the 5 million completed foreclosures extinguished another $800 billion of mortgage debt. The truth is that consumers have continued on a debt binge.
• Much has been made of corporate America being flush with cash. So, why have they added $900 billion of debt since 2007, an increase of 13% to an all-time high of $7.8 trillion?
• The revealing data shows up in the financial company data. These Wall Street national treasures have reduced their debt from $17.1 trillion in 2008 to $13.6 trillion as of 12/31/11. How were they able to do this, while writing off $1 trillion of consumer debt?

The Federal government increased their debt from $5.1 trillion to $10.5 trillion. And our old friends called government sponsored enterprises (Fannie, Freddie, Student loans) increased their debt from $2.9 trillion to $6.2 trillion. Wall Street banks and millions of deadbeats who chose to game the system and live the good life have effectively foisted their $4.5 trillion of debt upon the backs of middle class taxpayers who lived within their means. Another $4.2 trillion has been pissed down the toilet by Obama with his $800 billion program, home buyer tax credits, cash for clunkers, green energy boondoggles, 47 million people on food stamps success story, 99 weeks of unemployment, doubling of SSDI membership, and his multiple wars of choice in the Middle East.

And, the little guy: he or she has little chance of getting out of debt! Here’s why….

Forty percent of all credit card users do not pay-off their credit card every month and carry an average balance of $16,000 at an average interest rate of 15%. Good to see the Wall Street banks passing along some of their 0% borrowing windfall to their “customers”.  Not!

Capice!

Source: TF Metals Report

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, National News, Personal Net Worth, Wall Street, World News | 2,002 Comments »
Tags: debt, Decline, Foreclosed, Forgiven, Free Money

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 18, 2012

Just a friendly reminder…Greece continued to say everything was fine, they said it over and over… until one day not so long later, they admited that it wasn’t.  The next thing you know Greek riots break out because Greece is forced to go on a hard austerity plan. Now we see Portugal in the same sinking boat. We’ve been warned.

The head and co founder of PIMCO says in an interview that heavily indebted Portugal is at risk to follow Greece’s downhill path.

German news magazine Der Spiegel quotes Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of the giant bond mutual fund company, as saying that Portugal is likely to need a second bailout package which will cast further doubt on the country’s solvency.

El-Erian told Der Spiegel in the interview published Sunday that Portugal will come under increased scrutiny and “financial markets will be nervous because they are worried about a participation of the private sector.”

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street, World News | 418 Comments »
Tags: Borrow, broke, Done, Greece, portugal

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 17, 2012

In the over all picture of things, demographics do matter!

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News | 1,229 Comments »
Tags: Age Group, Demographics, Old

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 13, 2012

Hot dogs at Wrigley Field in March, unbelievable!…The forecast high on Wednesday in Chicago is 78 degrees, which would set a record in a city where weather records go back nearly to the Civil War…and Boston reached the low 70s Monday, topping the previous record of 69 degrees set in 1902.   Even the northern states are setting records, as cities in the Dakotas enjoyed record warmth over the weekend, seeing temperatures into the upper 50s, 60s and the 70s. 

On the heels of the nation’s fourth-warmest winter on record, high temperatures this week will soar to as much as 35 degrees above average, and dozens if not hundreds of weather records will be likely set from the Midwest to the Northeast. “For most of the central and eastern USA, temperatures will be more typical of May than March,” said Weather Channel meteorologist Mark Ressler. The warmth “could persist for almost the next two weeks,” he said.

Category: Commentary, National News, Weather | 1,455 Comments »
Tags: High Temp, Record Weather, Warm Weather

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 12, 2012

Hmm…This one’s easy, it’s student loans!  Just a freckle short of a trillion dollars!

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Education and Schooling | 837 Comments »
Tags: Credit, Loans, Name That Bubble

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 12, 2012

U.S. Budget Deficits – A picture is worth um, $580 billion, here’s why… in the first 5 months of the fiscal year, the U.S. has racked up $580 billion in deficits,

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, Finance, National News, Wall Street | 1,732 Comments »
Tags: Budget, Deficit, Owed, Picture

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 12, 2012

We’re on the right track….but have a long way to go.

U.S. crude oil production came in at 5.6 million barrels a day for 2011 vs. 5.48 million barrels a day in 2010. It’s the highest U.S. oil production since 2003.

And…

The U.S. has been the world’s largest producer of natural gas since 2009, the report says. But, use of renewable sources of energy, such as wind and solar has lagged, and is still relatively small even though it has doubled since 2008.

Now lets compare this to Russia…..which is the world’s largest crude-producing nation.  Yes, you read that right, the worlds largest oil producing nation is Russia.

In Russia, oil production grew to an average of 10.27 million barrels a day, according to preliminary data from the Energy Ministry’s CDU-TEK unit.   This is a record level for the post-Soviet era!

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Oil and Nat Gas, Wall Street | 714 Comments »
Tags: Natural Gas, Oil Production, Petroleum

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 10, 2012

Stress and fear in the system is receding….for the time being.

www.ingerletter.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 1,798 Comments »
Tags: Fear, Financial, Stree Index, Trouble

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 7, 2012

They got to be kidding….nope, consumer credit rose $17.8 billion in the latest monthly data, on expectations of $10.5 while non-revolving credit, i.e., auto and mostly student debt rose $20.723 billion and had the highest sequential jump in this category ever!  Yes EVER!

At the same time…after tax incomes fell for the second time in three months after adjustments, according to the Commerce Dept.

The just released consumer credit data would make one believe that the US consumer is getting back into old spending habits and the velocity of money is finally starting to ramp up as the headline January number came at a whopping +$17.8 billion on expectations of +10.5 billion. January revolving credit, as in that used on one’s credit card, actually declined by $2.9 billion compared to December, and was back to $800.9 billion: the first decline in 4 months as consumers spend less following the holiday season. Yet offsetting this was an absolutely massive surge in Non-revolving credit, i.e., mostly student debt, which soared by $20.7 billion in the month, the highest sequential jump in this category in history!  And when spread by sources of credit, the only place where credit came from was the US government, which funded a near record $28 billion, all of it going into student loans, even as every other source of credit declined in the month!

Total revolving and non-revolving credit:

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, Education and Schooling, National News | 1,224 Comments »
Tags: Borrowing, education, Free Money, Loans, Money, Students

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 6, 2012

Bonus time…or maybe not!  Bankers and Wall Street listen up…The O in cheerios stands for zero bonus!  Capice!

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, Finance, National News, Wall Street | 913 Comments »
Tags: Big Baby, Bonus Time, Extra Money

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 5, 2012

Bad seats, hey buddy……especially if you have a student loan!  We have said repeatedly that this was going to happen, and rest assured we feel it will get worse. Lots worse!  10 percent of the outstanding loan balance shows delinquent in the third quarter of 2011, and as many as 47 percent of student-loan borrowers “appear to be in deferral or forbearance”.

And while this is happening, the schools and universities continue to spend money on building new dorms and expanding into other areas that are now considered to be a (new) school profit center, and to which the schools can pitch incoming students of the merits to borrow on student loans and go deep into debt, a debt that cannot be discharged or written off, EVER.   It’s all wrong!  And to boot…statistics show that only about 50% of the students with loans graduate!

Approximately $85 billion in U.S. student loan debt, or 10 percent of the outstanding balance, shows delinquent in the third quarter of 2011.

Of the 37 million borrowers who have student-loan balances, 14 percent, or about 5.4 million people, have at least one past due student-loan account, according to a report posted today on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s website.

As many as 47 percent of student-loan borrowers “appear to be in deferral or forbearance,” and didn’t have to make payments as of the third quarter, according to the report. The district bank reported last week that debt from educational loans in the fourth quarter was $867 billion, higher than credit-card debt, according to a survey of consumer credit.

And being that it’s a government loan, it has…“Some special accounting used for student loans, not applicable to other types of consumer debt”, and it also ”makes it likely that the delinquency rates for student loans are understated,” wrote economists, Meta Brown, Andrew Haughwout, Donghoon Lee, Maricar Mabutas and Wilbert van der Klaauw.

“The student loan delinquency picture is not fully captured in the broad statistics since a significant proportion of borrowers and balances are not yet in the repayment cycle,”they wrote.

The average outstanding student-loan balance per person is $23,300, according to the report. A third of the borrowers are under the age of 30.

Category: Commentary, Economy, Education and Schooling, National News, Tid Bits, Uncategorized, Wall Street | 1,057 Comments »
Tags: debt, delinquent, Government Loans, Student Loans

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 3, 2012

Here we are with bad demographics again, add to that another broke social security system, and guess what island are we standing on. Yep, it’s Japan! Now the Japanese government has had an epiphany, and all of a sudden seeks to save a broken down social security system, and ”rein in soaring welfare costs”.  Question: But uh, isn’t that a problem worldwide? Yes it is.  So now, if you raise taxes as proposed, what will happen to this mess!  Well, it will automatically slow growth things, then soon the situation  gets even worse.  Capice!

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said yesterday he thinks he can reach a deal with the opposition to double the 5 percent consumption tax in order to shore up the country’s social security system.

“I believe we can come to an understanding,” Noda told journalists from overseas media organizations yesterday at his official residence in Tokyo. “I sense that our debate is beginning to jibe.”

The combination of an aging society and a declining birthrate has put Japan in an “unprecedented situation” as the government seeks to rein in soaring welfare costs, Noda said. All political parties understand the urgency and must work together as “the question is how to secure stable financing for a sustainable social security system.”

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Pensions and Retirement, World News | 1,259 Comments »
Tags: Consumption Tax, Double Consumption Taxes, japan, raising taxes

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 2, 2012

As of December, per SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)  this number just hit another record high of 46.5 million, an increase of 384,000 in one month, an increase of 2.4 million for the year 2011 (about as many as have dropped out of the Labor force, hmmmm), and 14.3 million since Obama took office.

The food stamp program, part of the Department of Agriculture, is pleased to be distributing the greatest amount of food stamps ever.

Meanwhile, the Park Service, also part of the Department of Agriculture, asks us “Please Don’t Feed the Animals” because the animals may grow dependent and not learn to take care of themselves.  Capice

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News | 1,408 Comments »
Tags: Benifits, food stamps, Free Money, Work

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 2, 2012

Here we go….it feels like we could be at the peak of the good feeling time for this economic rebound. Things are getting hot everywhere we look. People are feeling better and the talk is that things are headed back to the good old times, which many consider to be normal.  But gasoline prices are sky high, and prices are rising on virtually everything else one buys. We know of many people that have lost houses but recently bought new cars and other high ticket things because they feel good again, and can get financed. This won’t last, as savings have been falling, while most of this consumption has come from borrowing.  It seems like people are creatures of habit, and often never learn from failures.  Come to think of it, neither do the governments of the world.

From Bank of America

While we are quite concerned about second-half growth, we expect continued mixed news in the near term. Four fair winds are supporting growth: the fading shocks from the Arab Spring; the rebound in Japanese-related manufacturing after last year’s tsunami; reduced home foreclosures as banks wait for clarification on the rules; and mild winter weather. On the back of a very weak consumption report, we have lowered Q1 GDP growth from 2.2% to 1.8%. However, the early data for February has been healthy: although the national PMI weakened, jobless claims continue to drift lower, measures of consumer confidence continue to rebound and auto sales inched higher (Table 1). In the week ahead, we expect more of the same, with a solid 215,000 reading for February payrolls.

Unfortunately, the winds are starting to shift. In the spring the weather is much less important to economic activity than in the winter. Hence, the mild-weather induced bump up in the data should fade. Gasoline prices are up roughly 50 cents from their December lows and with the usual lags this could impact spending (Chart 1). The Attorney General Agreement in February paves the way for a ramp up in foreclosures over the next several months, dampening home prices and potentially construction. And the recovery in the auto sector now seems complete, suggesting a return to a slower pace of growth in sales and production. Based on these cross winds, we expect the data surprises to turn negative over the course of this spring.

When the facts change…

A popular indicator among clients is the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) leading index. Back in September ECRI argued that a recession was “inescapable,” pointing not just to their publicly released index, but to a series of other proprietary indexes. “Once the [negative] feedback loop starts,” they warned, “it’s more powerful than any policy response.” In the past week, they were back on the airwaves, saying “our call stands”: a recession is still likely in the first half of this year. Indeed, they argue, “when you look at the hard data that is used to officially date business cycle recessions, it has been getting worse, not better, despite…the consensus view of an improving economy

Risk of recession rises in the second half

The deterioration in leading indicators last summer was mainly because of waves of financial market stress coming from Europe and weak US data due to the oil and Japan shocks. Those shocks have now faded and the risk of a near-term recession has in our view fallen back to normal levels. Unfortunately, we believe the risk of a recession rises in the second half. The sudden stop in fiscal policy at the end of the year will likely cause a sharp slowing in growth. If it is handled badly, it could cause an outright recession. However, this has nothing to do with the now out-of-date signals from last fall.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 1,399 Comments »
Tags: consumption, Good Times, Recession

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 1, 2012

The food stamp program, part of the Department of Agriculture, is pleased to be distributing the greatest amount of food stamps ever.

Meanwhile, the Park Service, also part of the Department of Agriculture, asks us “Please Don’t Feed the Animals” because the animals may grow dependent and not learn to take care of themselves. 

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Tid Bits | 1,149 Comments »
Tags: food stamps, Park Service, Yep

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on March 1, 2012

Housing Tid Bits…..

The latest quarterly report out of CoreLogic is full of insights about the state of U.S. housing. Key among them is that “negative equity and near-negative equity mortgages accounted for 27.8 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage nationwide in the fourth quarter, up from 27.1 in the previous quarter.

Nationally, the total mortgage debt outstanding on properties in negative equity increased from $2.7 trillion in the third quarter to $2.8 trillion in the fourth quarter.” The facts are that there is at least $2.8 trillion in debt held by investors (read banks and GSEs) that is marked at par and actually should be impaired. And one wonders why Fannie lost $16.9 billion in 2011. Duh.

Among Other findings:

• Nevada had the highest negative equity percentage with 61 percent of all of its mortgaged properties underwater, followed by Arizona (48 percent), Florida (44 percent), Michigan (35 percent) and Georgia (33 percent). This is the second consecutive quarter that Georgia was in the top five, surpassing California (30 percent) which previously had been in the top five since tracking began in 2009. The top five states combined have an average negative equity share of 44.3 percent, while the remaining states have a combined average negative equity share of 15.3 percent.
• Of the 11.1 million upside-down borrowers, there are 6.7 million first liens without home equity loans. This group of borrowers has an average mortgage balance of$219,000 and is underwater by an average of $51,000 or an LTV ratio of 130 percent. For all first-lien-only borrowers negative equity share was 18 percent, while 41 percent of all first-lien-only borrowers had 80 percent LTV or higher.
• The remaining 4.4 million upside-down borrowers had both first and second liens. Their average mortgage balance was $306,000 and they were upside down by anaverage of $84,000 or a combined LTV of 138 percent. The negative equity share for all first-lien borrowers with home equity loans was 39 percent, more than twice the share for all first-lien-only borrowers. Over 60 percent of borrowers with first liens and home equity loans had combined LTVs of 80 percent or higher.
• Nearly 18 million borrowers were between 80 percent and 125 percent LTV and, purely from an LTV perspective, eligible for HARP 1.0. The removal of the 125 percent LTV cap via HARP 2.0 means that over 22 million borrowers are currently eligible for HARP 2.0 when just considering LTV alone.
• The low end of the market is where the bulk of the negative equity is concentrated. For example, for low-to-mid value homes valued at less than $200,000, the negative equity share is 54 percent for borrowers with home equity loans, over twice the 26 percent for borrowers without home equity loans.
• Of the total $717 billion in aggregate negative equity, first liens without home equity loans accounted for $342 billion aggregate negative equity, while first liens with home equity loans accounted for $375 billion. Over $230 billion in negative equity is from homes valued at $200,000 or less.
• There were 8.8 million negative-equity conventional loans with an average balance of $269,000 that are underwater by an average of $70,000. There were 1.7 million underwater FHA loans with an average balance of $169,000 that are underwater by an average of $26,000.

Here is what the LTV histogram of U.S. housing looks like:

More in the full report.

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street | 1,559 Comments »
Tags: Borrowers, Equity, housing, Loans, LTV, Real Estate, Upside Down

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 29, 2012

So, how do we do it…deleverage we mean? Uh, well, we need to spend less on cars and gas, and food, and housing and…healthcare, and buy less other things, and save more - oh, sorry about that last one, nothing left to save…..

From Today’s Bloomberg Brief:

The slow pace of deleveraging will continue to weigh on growth over the next few years – even as they have drawn down debt as a percentage of personal income from its peak in June 2009 at 114.76% to 101.1% at the end of 2012. There is a long way to go to the apparent Maginot line of supposedly sustainable 90% and with wage growth stagnant, the bulk will come from debt reduction in true balance-sheet-recession style – putting still more pressure on a perniciously polarized government to do anything about it.

For the US Household to get to supposedly sustainable levels of debt to personal income…look at the chart below.  the area of 2002 is a long ways off, and that was still on the high side.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Personal Net Worth, Real Estate | 829 Comments »
Tags: consumer, Cutting Back, debt, Deleveraging, Wipe Out

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 28, 2012

Here’s the scoop on gasoline (these charts go back to 1991)….prices are moving to the upside rapidly while demand is falling.  Hmm     Oh, and it’s official… gas prices have set an all time record for the month of February.

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commodities, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 924 Comments »
Tags: February Gas Prices, Gasoline, Pedal To Metal

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 28, 2012

Bill Gross talking here…It’s the new normal, and a sign of the times as bank accounts and money market accounts basically yield nothing…and who gets the smelly end of the stick, yep… main street is the one taking it up the wazoo, yet again!

Chart 1 shows that since 1981, which marks the beginning of the secular decline of interest rates, personal interest income has rather gradually (and now somewhat suddenly) shrunk relative to household debt service payments. It is Main Street that has failed to keep up with Wall Street and corporate America in the race to see who can benefit more from lower yields. As the interest component of personal income gradually weakens, the ability of the consumer to keep up its frenetic spending is reduced.

www.pimco.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Wall Street | 1,865 Comments »
Tags: Interest Income, Main Street, new normal, Personal Income From Interst, wall st

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 28, 2012

There is no housing recovery as of yet….that according to Case Shiller. The Case Shiller housing index just showed a 8th consecutive month of home price declines. During this time we’ve had one of the most favorable winter buying periods ever, caused by favorable weather conditions accross the United States with one of the warmest winters on record (other then in Alaska). And let’s not forget the record low interest rates on mortgages. Anyone wonder how things might have looked like if the tables were turned and we had a severe cold winter…ah, we won’t even go there! The Case-Shiller National Composite Index fell by 3.8% in the fourth quarter alone, and is down 33.8% from its 2nd quarter 2006 peak. It is now at a new record low.

The December Case Shiller Index printed at 136.71 on expectations of 137.11, with the prior revised to 138.24. The top 20 City composite was down -0.5% on expectations of a 0.35% drop. 18 out of 20 MSAs saw monthly declines in December over November, with just the worst of the worst – Miami and Phoenix – posting a dead cat bounce, rising 0.2% and 0.8% respectively. And granted the data is delayed, but the fact that we have now had 8 consecutive months of home price declines even with mortgage rates persistently at record lows, as Case Shiller’s David Blitzer says: “If anything it looks like we might have reentered a period of decline as we begin 2012.”  

From the report:

“In terms of prices, the housing market ended 2011 on a very disappointing note,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. “With this month’s report we saw all three composite hit new record lows. While we thought we saw some signs of stabilization in the middle of 2011, it appears that neither the economy nor consumer confidence was strong enough to move the market in a positive direction as the year ended.

“After a prior three years of accelerated decline, the past two years has been a story of a housing market that is bottoming out but has not yet stabilized. Up until today’s report we had believed the crisis lows for the composites were behind us, with the 10-City Composite originally hitting a low in April 2009 and the 20-City Composite in March 2011. Now it looks like neither was the case, as both hit new record lows in December 2011. The National Composite fell by 3.8% in the fourth quarter alone, and is down 33.8% from its 2nd quarter 2006 peak. It also recorded a new record low.

“In general, most of the regions also posted weak data in December. Eighteen of the cities saw average home prices fall in December over November. Seventeen of the cities have seen monthly declines for at least three consecutive months. In addition to both monthly composites, 10 of the cities saw home prices fall by more than 1.0% during the month of December. The pick-up in the economy has simply not been strong enough to keep home prices stabilized. If anything it looks like we might have reentered a period of decline as we begin 2012.”

8 Consecutive Months of Declines:

Long-Term Case-Shiller:

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Personal Net Worth, Real Estate, Wall Street | 1,076 Comments »
Tags: Case-Shiller, Falling, Homes, housing, Interest rates, Mortgage, Plunge.Wipe Out, Real Estate Prices

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 25, 2012

Part of this is demographics. 

www.frontlinethoughts.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Personal Net Worth, Wall Street | 1,076 Comments »
Tags: Income, new normal, Sign Of TImes, taxes

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 24, 2012

Wow…every one’s celebrating like it’s 1999, but it isn’t…try 2012?

And…we continue to see record lows of Completed Houses for sale.  Anyone still want to celebrate about this?

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate, World News | 583 Comments »
Tags: Excitment, Home Sales, Real Estate

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 24, 2012

We wouldn’t call this a surprise. Judging from the waiting time at the local restaurants, people are in a spending mood….and to boot we see a lot more construction going on, especially in light of a huge commercial and housing overhang. 

Confidence among U.S. consumers rose in February as Americans continued more hopeful about economic growth.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment increased to 75.3 from 75 in January. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey called for 73, which was above the 72.5 preliminary reading. The gauge averaged 89 in the five years before the 18-month recession that ended in June 2009.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street | 629 Comments »
Tags: Boom, Confidence, consumer, Sentiment

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 21, 2012

 A picture is worth a thousand words….

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate | 1,146 Comments »
Tags: Busts;Housing, Homes, Real Estate

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 20, 2012

Moore’s law states that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles every 18 months to two years, and it’s predicted to reach its limit with existing technology in 2020.

But…Cutting the size of a transistor to a single atom may change that concept. Then again, it’s going to take a while to get a quantum computer working at its operating temperature of minus-391 degrees Fahrenheit which is needed to keep it from migrating out of its channel. Oh well, so now you know!

Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) – Scientists have taken a first early step toward escaping the limits of a technological principle called Moore’s Law by creating a working transistor using a single phosphorus atom.

The atom was etched into a silicon bed with “gates” to control electrical flow and metallic contacts to apply voltage, researchers reported in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. It is the first such device to be precisely positioned using a repeatable technology, they said, and may one day help ease the way toward creation of a so-called quantum computer that would be significantly smaller and faster than existing technology.

But, there is a limitation to the latest finding: The atom must be kept at minus-391 degrees Fahrenheit to keep it from migrating out of its channel, the report said. Because of this, the result should be seen as a proof of principle rather than an initial step in a manufacturing process, the researchers said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/02/20/bloomberg

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Technology | 1,086 Comments »
Tags: Atoms, Moores Law, Technology, Transistor

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 18, 2012

A New House Cost                  $10,000

Average Annual Income          $  4,000

One Gallon Gas                        $     .22

Average New Car                     $ 1,700 

Loaf Of  Bread                         $     .16

First Class Stamp                     $     .03

Kodak Brownie Camera          $   13.00

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Tid Bits | 540 Comments »
Tags: 1953, Costs, The Old Days, Year 1953

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 16, 2012

Sounds plausible!

As part of its social media survey Goldman Sachs asked respondents what is the main reason for people to “log on” to various social networking venues. The answer, by a wide margin, is the expected one: namely to spy, and to compare whether our lives are more boring, less glitzy and exciting, with fewer gadgets, gizmos, smaller houses or cars, and generally more in debt, than our “friends.” Of course, the politically correct way of saying this is “to see what my friends are doing.” In other words, there is nothing new about social media but a millennia-old regurgitated phenomenon- it is merely a new locus of exhibiting and observing social status, to see and be seen. One which can be enjoyed 24/7.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Inspirational, National News, Research, Tid Bits | 1,257 Comments »
Tags: Networking, On Line, Social Media

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 16, 2012

It looks like we’ve seen the bounce in consumer net worth and now as we head back the other way, reality may set in! Or… maybe not, it being an election year and all.

www.frontlinethoughts.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Personal Net Worth, Wall Street | 2,183 Comments »
Tags: Consumer Net Worth, net worth, personal net worth, Reality

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 16, 2012

In the new normal let’s review some definitions: (Discretionary spending is a spending category through which governments can spend through an appropriations act.) This spending is optional as part of fiscal policy, in contrast to entitlement programs for which funding is mandatory.

As the Budget Control Act cuts discretionary spending to a 50-year low (close to only 5% of GDP), it is the rise in entitlements (and of course interest costs) that appear mandatory for now and will need to be ‘balanced’ with tax revenue growth that is expected to rise from 15% of GDP to 20% of GDP by 2022 (thanks largely to a belief that a cyclical recovery will save us). As the real ranks of the long-term unemployed and now disabled benefit receivers swell, the future of these entitlements will be in need of change or they will migrate toward being permanent.

The Administration projects that tax revenues will rise from their current 15% of GDP to 20% by 2022, and that spending will decline from 24% of GDP to 23%. Both numbers need to be dissected in order to make sense of them. The projected revenue increase is as much from an assumed cyclical recovery as it is a product of tax legislation. Secondly, the modest decline in spending as a % of GDP obscures cuts in some categories and increases in others: the Budget Control Acts cut discretionary spending to a 50-year low close to 5% of GDP, but is offset by continually rising entitlement and interest costs (mandatory items). Budget negotiations of the future are likely to revolve around the trade-offs between tax revenue increases and entitlement reform. The discretionary spending well is empty.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, National News, Wall Street | 996 Comments »
Tags: Discretionary Spending, Government Spending, Mandatory Spending, spending

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 15, 2012

So…. for Americans to get debt levels back to the happier times of 2002-03 levels, we’ll need about a 21% debt drop from the peak and a 17% drop from right where we are now.  Back to 2000 will take longer. We’re talking  many years for this to unwind. 

www.frontlinethoughts.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Personal Net Worth, Wall Street, World News | 2,438 Comments »
Tags: debt, Equity, gdp, History

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 13, 2012

Nobody on the planet is expecting GDP growth this high….2.7% never happens!  You heard it first here.  The smartest guys in the universe are much more conservative. 

From Bridgewater: Recent better-than-expected news on the U.S. economy is unlikely to be the start of a healthy expansion. The uptick in economic growth has been fueled by a decline in the savings rate, which, without material income and employment gains, is unlikely to be sustainable as long-term credit growth also remains weak.  PIMCO has also projected the same theme …..

The Obama administration’s new budget expects the U.S. economy will grow 2.7 percent this year, a forecast that’s more optimistic than those of private economists and Federal Reserve policy makers.

Federal Reserve policy makers on Jan. 25 forecast the U.S. economy would grow between 2.2 percent and 2.7 percent this calendar year, while the International Monetary Fund estimates a 1.8 percent increase.

The White House projections released today call for GDP (growth domestic product) growth of 3.6 percent in 2014 and 4.1 percent in 2015. They foresee the jobless rate dropping to 8.1 percent in 2014 and 7.3 percent in 2015.

In today’s budget report, the administration projected theconsumer price index would rise 2.2 percent this year, 1.9 percent in 2013 and 2 percent the following year.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 680 Comments »
Tags: Expectations, gdp, New Budget, Projections

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 10, 2012

Gasoline deliveries have in the past reflected recession or growth.  If so, the recent drop in retail gasoline deliveries may signal a sharp economic contraction dead ahead.  Or… a new normal because of rising fuel economy?

Note that petroleum usage is back to 1997 level and gasoline usage is back to 2001 level. Moreover, two out of the last three weeks gasoline usage has dropped below 8,000,000 barrels per day.

A mild winter can explain part of the drop in petroleum usage (heating oil), and fuel economy is improvinng, that is true, but it does not explain the whole decline in gasoline usage or the overall trends.

From the U.S. Energy Information Administration: (EIA)

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Oil and Nat Gas, Wall Street | 1,317 Comments »
Tags: energy, Fuel Economy, Gasoline, Oil, Recession, Usage

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 10, 2012

So, Governor Brown, what happened to the big recovery  you were expecting…and how about the giant consumer spending binge of the last two months fueled mostly on credit……just asking?  This is a disaster to the state budget. Spending up as reflected in sales taxes, while income is down, relected in income taxes.

California collected $528 million less in taxes (gulp) in January than Governor Jerry Brown estimated in his latest budget, Controller John Chiang said.

The majority of the shortfall was in income taxes, down $525 million, or 6.3 percent less than projected in the spending plan Brown released Jan. 5, Chiang said. Corporate taxes were down $127.9 million, while sales taxes were up $42.8 million.

California’s cash may be exhausted by March, Chiang reported Jan. 31. The nation’s most populous state will need $3.3 billion by mid-April without additional borrowing and payment delays, because it has spent more and received less than anticipated for the current fiscal year.

“January revenues were disappointing on almost every front,” Chiang said today in a statement. “Thankfully, the decisive actions taken recently by the state to stabilize its cash flow will ensure that California can pay its bills through the end of the fiscal year.”

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, National News, Wall Street | 3,474 Comments »
Tags: California, Collections, Money, monopoly money, spending, taxes

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 10, 2012

Many parts of our economy now seem to be controlled (rigged) by the government.  If  housing would have been left alone, then things could have been cleaned up by now and a true bottom might have been reached, but instead this mess will drag on for years to come much like Japans nightmare!

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank’s efforts to spur economic growth are being blunted by impediments to mortgage lending.

• BERNANKE: HOUSING MAY NO LONGER BE VIEWED AS SECURE INVESTMENT
• BERNANKE SAYS HOUSING IMPEDING FED EFFORT TO SPUR U.S. ECONOMY
• BERNANKE SAYS HOUSING SECTOR SUFFERS FROM `SERIOUS IMBALANCES’
• BERNANKE SAYS HOUSING IMPEDING FED EFFORT TO SPUR U.S. ECONOMY
• BERNANKE: TIGHT MORTGAGE CREDIT WON’T BE EASED QUICKLY, EASILY

“We have helped lower mortgage rates to the lowest point in many, many decades,” Bernanke told homebuilders today in Orlando, Florida. “Yet we are not seeing as much activity as we would like to see.”

Bernanke said that the pace of the recovery has been “frustratingly slow and,” didn’t discuss the outlook for monetary policy. He devoted part of his speech to recommendations from a Fed study on housing that was sent to Congress last month and which prompted criticism from some lawmakers, who said the Fed has overstepped its authority.

“The state of housing and mortgage markets may also be holding back the recovery of our financial system and the normalization of credit conditions,” Bernanke said today to the National Association of Homebuilders International Builders’Show.

Referring to the high standards of lenders following the housing bust, Bernanke said that “some tightening was no doubt necessary.”

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street | 1,486 Comments »
Tags: Finance, Housinf, Morgage, Real Estate

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 8, 2012

Student debt is rising to records with almost every government consumer report, and for a mulitude of reasons. They include steadily spiraling college costs, financial aid cutbacks at public universities and a weak economy to name a few.  And schools across the country are encouraging it because they need the money, most having expanded rapidly in the past few years to accommodate growing but seemingly unsustainable enrollments(let’s not forget the negative demographics problem going forward). This all makes things difficult for graduates once they get to the real world trying to find jobs because they are burdened with an instant debt load which seemed like monopoly money while in school. But the fact is, it’s not monopoly money, and student loans aren’t discharged in a bankruptcy…..  definitely food for thought!

Student loan debt is pushing an increasing number of young people and their parents toward bankruptcy, according to a survey released Tuesday.

More than four-fifths of bankruptcy attorneys say they’ve seen a notable jump in the number of potential clients with student loan debt, with nearly half the lawyers reporting a significant increase in such cases, according to the report by the National Assn. of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys.

Nearly one-quarter of attorneys say the number of potential student loan clients has risen 50% to 100%, while 39% of attorneys report increases of 25% to 50%.

The average student loan debt of 2010 college graduates topped $25,000 — the first time it has exceeded that inglorious mark. Graduating seniors had an average loan burden of $25,250, up 5.2% from the $24,000 owed by the class of 2009, according to the Project on Student Debt in Oakland.
Unlike many other forms of personal debt, student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, meaning the debt can hang over students well into their adult lives.  And that is looking more and more like the new normal.

The bankruptcy attorneys group says worsening debt levels could spur a financial crisis similar to the mortgage meltdown.

“Take it from those of us on the frontline of economic distress in America,” said William E. Brewer Jr., the group’s president. “This could very well be the next debt bomb for the U.S. economy.”

Parts from Walter Hamilton of the LA Times

Category: Commentary, Economy, Education and Schooling, National News | 356 Comments »
Tags: college, education, Student Loans

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 7, 2012

Bank of America Plaza, the tallest tower in the U.S. Southeast, was sold at a public auction today on the steps of the Fulton County Courthouse after landlord BentleyForbes missed its mortgage payments.  It was purchased for $436 million back in 2006, but off she goes for $235 million here in 2012. 

The noteholder had a winning bid of $235 million, according to attorney Howard Walker of McGuire Woods LLP, who ran the auction. Holders of commercial mortgage bonds took ownership through a “credit bid” placed by LNR Partners, David Levin said in an e-mailed statement. Levin is vice chairman of Miami Beach, Florida-based LNR Property LLC, the parent company of LNR Partners, the tower’s special servicer.

BentleyForbes,  paid $436 million to acquire the 55-story Atlanta skyscraper in 2006 from Bank of America Corp. and Cousins Properties Inc.

www.bloomberg.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate | 2,583 Comments »
Tags: Default, Mortgage Sale, Public Auction, Real Estate

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 7, 2012

Alaska produces about 10% of the oil in the U.S.  But one look at this chart will explain where we’ve been and where we’re going… in Alaska!

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Oil and Nat Gas | 301 Comments »
Tags: Alaska Oil, energy, Oil Production U.S.

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 7, 2012

So…the consumer confidence level is soaring right along with the consumer debt, and the savings rate is plunging.  Now we understand why the Federal reserve has been so worried lately.  The worry is that this consumer spending binge is totally unsustainable and likely to burn out soon!

A report from the Labor Department today also showed there were almost four unemployed Americans vying for each job vacancy in December, more than twice the number before the recession began in December 2007. That may explain why wages have yet to pick up, prompting households to borrow.

Consumer borrowing in the U.S. rose more than forecast in December (by a wide margin), driven by demand for auto and student loans.

Credit increased by $19.3 billion to $2.5 trillion, Federal Reserve figures showed today in Washington. The gain topped the $7 billion median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and followed a $20.4 billion advance the prior month.

The back-to-back increase at the end of 2011 was the biggest since October-November 2001.

Non-revolving debt, including educational and auto loans increased by $16.6 billion in December, the biggest gain since November 2001, today’s report showed.

NSA sequential change in consumer credit:

SA sequential change in consumer credit by revolving and non-revolving.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 1,821 Comments »
Tags: consumer credit, Credit, debt, Revolving Credit

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 3, 2012

Here is the latest from John Williams

- Basic Economic Outlook Unaltered by Stronger Labor Data
- January Jobs Reading Still at Levels of 11 Years Ago
- January Unemployment: 8.3% (U.3), 15.1% (U.6), 22.5% (SGS)
- Money Supply M3 Growth Is Picking Up

www.shadowstats.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 4,758 Comments »
Tags: Basics, Eonomic numbers, Jobs, Labor Data

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 3, 2012

A Novel Idea….Let’s Call It…. The Congressional Common Sense Act of 2012

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no
pay when they’re out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social
Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the
Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into
the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the
American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all
Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.
Congressional pay will rise by the same amount as a social security recipient.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and
participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the
American people.

Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers
envisioned citizen legislators, so when done serving their
term(s), they can move on to other things.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Wall Street | 2,843 Comments »
Tags: Idea, Noval Idea, Salary, Self Interest, Selfish

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on February 3, 2012

The devil’s in the details, read it and weep!

Non Farm Payrolls Soar By 243K, Unemployment Rate Drops To 8.3%

Whopper of a NFP (non farm payroll) number, which prints at 243K, higher than the biggest forecast of 225K, on consensus expectations of 140K, the biggest jump since February 2009.

But the devil’s in the details…….

As is well known, banks have been firing workers left and right: these are the jobs that actually matter in the grand withholding taxes scheme of things. Yet someone is getting hired supposedly. Well, it seems this is merely rotation from high paying jobs to “low-wage jobs.”  Here’s what CRT Capital says. Per Bloomberg: About 113k of NFP gain from “low wage jobs,” David Ader, strategist at CRT Capital Group, writes in note. Additionally, “we didn’t see the drop in courier and messengers as expected – but suspect we will.” Moreover, ‘‘long-term stress remains at the U6 measure at 15.1% is still high, but likely falling due to people leaving labor force, and duration on unemployment remains over 40 weeks.”

Then we read…..about a new record just set!

People not in the labor force exploded by an unprecedented record 1.2 million. No, that’s not a typo: 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month! So as the labor force increased from 153.9 million to 154.4 million, the non institutional population increased by 242.3 million meaning, those not in the labor force surged from 86.7 million to 87.9 million. Which means that the civilian labor force tumbled to a fresh 30 year low of 63.7% as the BLS (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)  is seriously planning on eliminating nearly half of the available labor pool from the unemployment calculation. As for the quality of jobs, as withholding taxes roll over Year over year, it can only mean that the U.S. is replacing high paying FIRE jobs with low paying construction and manufacturing. So much for the improvement.

The Final Nail In Today’s NFP: Record Surge In Part-Time Workers

So finally we go to the Household Data Survey, and specifically the breakdown between Full Time and Part Time Workers (defined as those “who usually work less than 35 hours per week”). We won’t spend too much time on it, as it is self-explanatory. In January, the number of Part Time workers rose by 699K, the most ever, from 27,040K to 27,739K, the third highest number in the history of this series. How about Full time jobs? They went from 113,765 to 113,845. An 80K increase. So the epic January number of 141.6 million employed, which rose by 847K at the headline level: only about 10 % of that was full time jobs: surely a questionable indicator of the so called resurgent U.S. economy… in which employers can’t even afford to give their workers full time employee benefits.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Inspirational, National News, Wall Street, World News | 4,302 Comments »
Tags: Devil's details, employment, labor force, Rigged Numbers, Whopper, Work Force

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 31, 2012

Looks like we have slow learners here, folks…..$100 billion in write downs, give me a break!

Shipping Loans Now Go Bad For European Banks

With China rolling over, the large ship containers are increasingly lined up and stacked in Asian harbors around the world.

The IHT is out quoting industry observers stating that European banks may be facing write-downs on these loans on the order of $100 billion, which is even more than their Greek losses.

More: http://www.ilghirlandaio.com/ftp/telpress/2012012701974403970.PDF

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street, World News | 4,842 Comments »
Tags: Cargo, China, Loans, Shipping

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 31, 2012

We ask Governor Brown of California, what happened to those Rosie optimistic solutions and improving tax receipts that you talked about not to long ago? Looks like we have the same skid marks on the road as last year…Can’t anybody come up with a conservative assumption going forward.  Oh ya, that’s right… you were thinking that residents will vote for a tax hike on themselves in a recession.  Basically, we’re dealing with government morons and that’s official!

From the Sacramento Bee:

 ”California will run out of cash by early March if the state does not take swift action to find $3.3 billion through payment delays and borrowing, according to a letter state Controller John Chiang sent to state lawmakers today. The announcement is surprising since lawmakers previously believed the state had enough cash to last through the fiscal year that ends in June.”

“But Chiang said additional cash management solutions are needed because state tax revenues are $2.6 billion less than what Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers assumed in their optimistic budget last year. Meanwhile, Chiang said, the state is spending $2.6 billion more than state leaders planned on.”

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 4,401 Comments »
Tags: California, Cash Poor, Dump, Morons, Skids

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 31, 2012

Oh well…the Fed said recently… they worried that much of the recent spending uptick was coming from savings and inventory build up, and it was unlikely to last much longer without an improving fundamental environment!

The gradual re-softening of the economy is starting to materialize. The January Chicago PMI just printed at 60.2, missing expectations of an increase to 63, and down from December’s 62.2, while the employment index came in at its lowest since August at 54.7, and the order backlog number came at 48.2, the lowest since October 2009.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street, World News | 2,866 Comments »
Tags: Chicago PMI, Economy, Softening

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 31, 2012

More of the same…as personal income falls or flat lines, real estate will continue on a slippery slop. With record low interest rates, people, unlike in past recessions, still carry near record high amounts of debt. It is not indicative of a housing rebound. De-leveraging will continue to be a rage, unbeknown and not understood by most.

The November Case Shiller index is out…. According to the Top 20 City index composite, prices declined in 17 of 20 MSAs, with gains posted only in Phoenix, Denver and Minneapolis. At 137.52, the Seasonally Adjusted composite dropped to the lowest since February 2003, and is now a third lower than the housing peak in April 2006. Yet if not for that errant spike in home prices in April 2011, we have now seen 18 consecutive months of housing price declines since that “rebound” in late 2009 that everybody wanted to call a bottom. “Despite continued low interest rates and better real GDP growth in the fourth quarter, home prices continue to fall,” David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s, said in a statement. “The trend is down and there are few, if any, signs in the numbers that a turning point is close at hand.”

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street, World News | 5,664 Comments »
Tags: Case-Shiller, home prices, Housing Peak, Real Estate, Top 20

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 30, 2012

It’s all about demographics my dear Watson…Japan’s population of 128 million will shrink by one-third and seniors will account for 40 percent of it’s people by 2060.  And NO, we didn’t make this stuff up, it came from Japan’s Health and Welfare Ministry!

From AP:

Japan’s population of 128 million will shrink by one-third and seniors will account for 40 percent of people by 2060, placing a greater burden on a smaller working-age population to support the social security and tax systems.

The grim estimate of how rapid aging will shrink Japan’s population was released Monday by the Health and Welfare Ministry.

In year 2060, Japan will have 87 million people. The number of people 65 or older will nearly double to 40 percent, while the national work force of people between ages 15 and 65 will shrink to about half of the total population, according to the estimate, made by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

The institute says Japan has been the world’s fastest aging country, and with its birthrate among the lowest, its population decline would be among the deepest globally in coming decades.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Pensions and Retirement, World News | 2,900 Comments »
Tags: Demographics, japan, retired, Seniors, Sinking Sun

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 30, 2012

From ZeroHedge…..

We already know that Israel is on edge……the fuse may be looking for a match like a bug looking for a windshield!

Here’s a following of US naval developments and deployments in the Arabian Sea, which serve one purpose and one purpose only – to demonstrate US military strength in the Straits of Hormuz region and to keep Iranian ‘offensive passions’ subdued. Yet never has the US had a total of three aircraft carrier groups in the vicinity, always topping out at 2 in the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet, most recently these being the CVN-70 Vinson and CVN 72 Lincoln, with a third boat present merely until a rotation in or out of the theater of operations was complete. That ‘s about to change, because Naval Today reports, the “US navy to deploy third carrier group to Persian Gulf”.

From Naval Today:

US Navy to Deploy Third Carrier Group to Persian Gulf

The carrier group based in Norfolk, VA will also include a guided missile cruiser and three guided missile destroyers, reports Interfax.

USS Abraham Lincoln had already entered the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz on Jan 22. She is escorted by a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers (USN), one British and one French warships.

Meanwhile, another US Navy’s carrier strike carrier group headed by USS Carl Vinson is stationed eastward the Strait of Hormuz, in northern part of the Arabian Sea washing southwest coast of Iran.

At present, the US has 15,000-men force deployed in Kuwait, expeditionary marine battalion, and amphibious landing group.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, National Security, Pictures, Wall Street | 4,553 Comments »
Tags: Aircraft Carrier, Arabian Sea, Battle Group, war

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 29, 2012

Pay attention everyone, we review important details here that could save you or a friend lots of money on real estate debt forgiveness!  Didn’t know there was such a thing?  Well read on….

 From the Los Angeles Times

Reporting From Washington— The window is closing rapidly on one of the most important tax-relief provisions enacted by Congress during the housing crisis to help financially strapped homeowners.

Although the 2007 law that allows taxpayers to exclude from income the amount of debt that is forgiven or canceled by their lenders doesn’t expire until Dec. 31, it’s likely to take every bit of the next 11 months for financially troubled homeowners to persuade their banks to either foreclose or allow their houses to be sold for less than they are worth.

So, here’s a heads up on some of the important details……

Under the tax code, borrowed money need not be reported as income because you have an obligation to repay. But if the lender subsequently cancels what you owe, the IRS requires that you report that debt as income because the duty to repay it no longer exists.

So, if you owe $250,000 and your lender forgives $50,000 of that debt in a $200,000 refinancing, that $50,000 is considered income. If your combined federal and state marginal tax rate is 36%, you would owe $18,000 in taxes.

Under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, though, taxpayers are allowed to exclude from income the discharge of debt on their principal residence — at least until the end of 2012.

So when your lender agrees to a short sale, there is no tax on the difference between the selling price and the amount you owe. When your lender forecloses, there is no tax on the canceled debt. Even when you refinance at a lower loan balance, there is no tax on the difference between what you owed on the old loan and what you owe on the new one.

But, it’s going to take some time to get these things in motion, so now is the time to get moving…

As of October, it was taking lenders an average of 674 days to process a foreclosure, according to Lender Processing Services, a Jacksonville, Fla., mortgage technology firm. That’s more than 22 months, or almost two years from the time the process starts to when the property is actually repossessed. And lenders don’t even start the process until an average of 391 days after last receiving a payment.

A refinancing that involves principal amnesty is probably the quickest of the three debt-forgiveness scenarios. At Carrington Mortgage Services, a Santa Ana-based lender licensed in 32 states, a “short-refi” takes 45 to 60 days.

The really importand thing to remember, is that you should consult a tax professional before making any decisions.

Here are a few other important rules also… that you and your tax person need to know:

• The debt-relief law applies only to debt incurred to buy, build or improve a personal residence.

• The law does not apply to vacation homes or investment properties.

• The maximum amount you can treat as indebtedness is $2 million, or $1 million if you are married but filing separately.

For more detailed information, see IRS Publication 4681.

Category: Commentary, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street | 5,218 Comments »
Tags: debt, Forgiveness, Mortgage Debt, Real Estate, Tax Free

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 28, 2012

 

One would expect that with mortgage rates at record lows, extraordinarily accommodating weather, distressed sales being, as he puts it, “actively metered” by the banks and home-builder sentiment spiking, December results would have been a heck of a lot better. Instead, Mark asserts, “net-net this market segment continues to worsen.”

The low end of the price range, he points out, continues to be where the action is, “while anything over $300,000 is dead.” Moreover, the months ahead do not look very promising for the upside on housing, since he envisions more distressed supply coming to market as foreclosure completions spiral up to a multi-year high by the end of this quarter.

Robert Campbell, who publishes “The Campbell Real Estate Timing Letter,” and like Mark is savvy in the ways and wiles of the housing industry and has the record to prove it, is also in the bearish camp. Most particularly, he believes that home prices will plunge further this year, despite the lowest mortgage rates ever and the highest affordability levels in over two decades.

Housing prices, Bob contends, remain pressured by the pocketbook pinch on consumers burdened by weakening median income and heavy indebtedness, along with the formidable inventories of distressed properties that relentlessly batter the re-sale market.

He reckons inflation-adjusted home prices will have to drop another 10% to 15% before they stabilize. And he warns that even when they finally stop declining, prices are likely to bounce along the bottom for years before we see anything resembling a real bull market in housing. Investors, take heed.

Honestly, we don’t mean to pick on the home builders. But no economic recovery within memory ever amounted to all that much with housing flat on its back. And we fear this one is destined at best to continue to labor along until that critical industry shows reliable signs of righting itself.

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Real Estate | 4,200 Comments »
Tags: charts, Equity, home equity, Home Owner, housing, Real Estate

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 27, 2012

Yep, that’s right, if you are a responsible paying citizen you get nothing, but as the The Three Stooges would say, a poke in the eye….we know, yes there are families that really need the help for legitimate reasons, but much of this involves a reward for greed, and irresponsible actions. Oh, how times have changed!

The HAMP expansion, called HAMP Tier 2, will triple incentives paid to banks that reduce mortgage principal, to a maximum of 63 cents for every dollar of debt forgiven. Investors who rent out their properties would also be eligible to refinance under the new rules. The deadline for applying for a HAMP loan modification is extended for a year, to the end of 2013.  HAMP loan modifications are limited to mortgages worth $729,500 or less. The new rules are expected to be effective by May.

“This is a hoot,” said Thomas A. Lawler, an economist and former Fannie Mae executive. “The government will pay Fannie and Freddie, who are effectively owned by the government, to reduce the principal on certain loans?”

From Bloomberg:

The Obama administration, seeking to help more homeowners lower their interest rates and shed mortgage debt, will relax the rules on a federal loan-modification program and triple its incentives to banks.

The revised Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, also would pay Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to forgive debt on homes that have lost value.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Assistant Treasury Secretary Tim Massad, and White House National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling announced the program changes today in a phone call with reporters.

“This will expand the reach of HAMP,” Massad said.

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street | 4,591 Comments »
Tags: Banks Fannie Mae, freddie mac, Free Money, HAMP, Real Estate

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 27, 2012

There has been an abundance of confidence in our system lately, so much so that an abnormal amount of spending has been come from savings, but history shows this often leads to disappointment.

This will likely be reflected going forward in the first quarter or half of 2012…..

Goldman On GDP: Warns Of Q1 Weakness

The change in real private inventories added 1.94 percentage points to the fourth-quarter change in real GDP after subtracting 1.35 percentage points from the third-quarter change. Private businesses increased inventories $56.0 billion in the fourth quarter, following a decrease of $2.0 billion in the third quarter and an increase of $39.1 billion in the second.

And…the U.S. Savings Rate fell to 3.7% in the fourth quarter, the lowest since Q4 2007.

From the just-released GDP report:

Real GDP increased 1.7 percent in 2011 (that is, from the 2010 annual level to the 2011 annual level), compared with an increase of 3.0 percent in 2010.

The increase in real GDP in 2011 primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by negative contributions from state and local government spending, private inventory investment, and federal government spending. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.

Headline growth of 2.8% came in below expectations of 3.0%.

Personal consumption growth of 2.0% were below expectations of 2.4%.

The GDP price index only grew by 0.4%, well below expectations of 1.9%.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 2,944 Comments »
Tags: 2011 GDP, gdp, Quarter 4 GDP, Savings Rate

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 26, 2012

Negative demographics as far as the eye can see. and it’s reflected in the median price for new homes, which just dropped from $215,700 to $210,300.

According to the Census Bureau (not NAR data), December New Home Sales declined from 321K to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 307K in December, on expectations of a rise to 321K from last month’s revised 315K. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis the U.S. sold a whopping 21K homes, the lowest since January 2011. According to Bloomberg, the 2011 number of 302K sales is the lowest on record.

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street | 1,937 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 25, 2012

Bill Gross of PIMCO explains Fed decision on Tweeter

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street, World News | 4,354 Comments »
Tags: Bill Gross, Interest rates, Opinion, Tweet

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 25, 2012

The FED keeps stretching things out…one take is they are worried about other things not openly discussed…and, maybe worried about the thought that normal things might not go as planned either (but hope springs eternal)! 

FED Summary:  No QE3; ZIRP (Zero Interest Rate Policy) Extended Thru 2014

• FED EXPECTS TO MAINTAIN `HIGHLY ACCOMMODATIVE’ MONETARY POLICY
• FED SEES `EXCEPTIONALLY LOW’ RATES THROUGH AT LEAST LATE 2014
• FED TO KEEP REINVESTING HOUSING DEBT INTO MORTGAGE SECURITIES
• FED SAYS INFLATION `SUBDUED’
• FED SAYS HOUSING `REMAINS DEPRESSED’
• FED REITERATES `SIGNIFICANT DOWNSIDE RISKS’

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street, World News | 3,162 Comments »
Tags: Fed, Hope, Interest rates, No QE3, Planned

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 24, 2012

Apple is the American success story of the century.  This is one large pile of cash!

After generating $37.9 billion in cash, short and long-term equivalents in 2011, and a record $16 billion in Q4 alone (of which $11.8 billion in Long-Term Marketable Securities). The company’s total cash and equivalents horde is now just shy of $100 billion, or $97.6 billion to be more precise. Looked at in other terms, if Apple were a country, and its cash was equivalent to GDP, it would rank as the world’s 58th largest economy.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Technology, Wall Street, World News | 4,420 Comments »
Tags: Apple Pile, Cash, Money

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 23, 2012

So…if your cell phone is a little bit edgy, now you know why!

From Washington (AP)

The sun is bombarding Earth with radiation from the biggest solar storm in more than six years with more to come from the fast-moving eruption.

The solar flare occurred at about 11 p.m. EST Sunday and will hit Earth with three different effects at three different times. The biggest issue is radiation, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Colorado.

The radiation is mostly a concern for satellite disruptions and astronauts in space. It can cause communication problems for polar-traveling airplanes, said space weather center physicist Doug Biesecker.

For the past several years the sun had been quiet, almost too quiet. Part of that was the normal calm part of the sun’s 11-year cycle of activity. Last year, scientists started to speculate that the sun was going into an unusually quiet cycle that seems to happen maybe once a century or so.

Now that super-quiet cycle doesn’t seem as likely, Biesecker said.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Weather | 4,237 Comments »
Tags: Radiation, SolarStorm

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 22, 2012

Yep, looks sort of like the European currency and economic predicament….half way over the edge but confused and still thinking everything’s going to be OK!  Hmm…So far, so good! 

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street, World News | 1,404 Comments »
Tags: Bad Seats, Economy, European Predicament

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 22, 2012

This kind of reminds us of the dopes in Washington….clueless as to how to resolve anything in a logical way unless of course it costs us tax payers millions!

A toothpaste factory had a problem: they sometimes shipped empty boxes, without the tube inside. This was due to the way the production line was set up, and people with experience in designing production lines will tell you how difficult it is to have everything happen with timings so precise that every single unit coming out of it is perfect 100% of the time. Small variations in the environment (which can’t be controlled in a cost-effective fashion) mean you must have quality assurance checks smartly distributed across the line so that customers all the way down to the supermarket don’t get pissed off and buy another product instead.

Understanding how important that was, the CEO of the toothpaste factory got the top people in the company together and they decided to start a new project, in which they would hire an external engineering company to solve their empty boxes problem, as their engineering department was already too stretched to take on any extra effort.

The project followed the usual process: budget and project sponsor allocated, RFP, third-parties selected, and six months (and $8 million) later they had a fantastic solution — on time, on budget, high quality and everyone in the project had a great time. They solved the problem by using high-tech precision scales that would sound a bell and flash lights whenever a toothpaste box would weigh less than it should. The line would stop, and someone had to walk over and yank the defective box out of it, pressing another button when done to re-start the line.

A while later, the CEO decides to have a look at the ROI of the project: amazing results! No empty boxes ever shipped out of the factory after the scales were put in place. Very few customer complaints, and they were gaining market share. “That’s some money well spent!” – he says, before looking closely at the other statistics in the report.

It turns out, the number of defects picked up by the scales was 0 after three weeks of production use. It should’ve been picking up at least a dozen a day, so maybe there was something wrong with the report. He filed a bug against it, and after some investigation, the engineers come back saying the report was actually correct. The scales really weren’t picking up any defects, because all boxes that got to that point in the conveyor belt were good.

Puzzled, the CEO travels down to the factory, and walks up to the part of the line where the precision scales were installed.

A few feet before the scale, there was a $20 desk fan, blowing the empty boxes off the belt and into a bin.

“Oh, that,” says one of the workers — “one of the guys put it there ’cause he was tired of walking over every time the bell rang”.

Category: Commentary, Economy, Inspirational, National News | 5,431 Comments »
Tags: Problem Solving, Thinking, Thinking Out Of The Box, Waste

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 20, 2012

Confidence levels have been rising rapidly…and the government says things are getting better, people are starting to borrow again, using their credit cards more, and out and about in a spending mood….but the exhibit below tells a more realistic story of our current plight.  So, are things really any better then they were?  We’ll let you answer that one!

Chart: www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Personal Net Worth, Wall Street | 3,825 Comments »
Tags: Personal Income Chart, Plight

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 19, 2012

The six-month ahead outlook for Philly Fed shows a very high level of ’hope’.

Expectations for the data was a 10.3 and it came at 7.3, a definitive miss to expectations. Revisions rise to 7.3 (from 6.8 revised) is heralded (in a short-lived manner) as evidence of improvement. Under the covers though, things aren’t so rosy. New Orders and Shipments dropped notably, number of employees was merely flat and while restocking seems to be occurring modestly (inventories improved) they still printed negative. On the six-months ahead outlook, expectations are for lower prices received but everything else reflects the hope-infused perception of steady growth – especially the notable rise in capex (as the diffusion index nears its cyclical peaks).

 www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 1,184 Comments »
Tags: Economy, Hope, Numbers, Philly Fed Data

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 19, 2012

Same old same…..things are getting better, but are they really?  Yes they are, but in 2008 we stopped on a dime. The Federal Reserve looks to be worried about deflation. We all should be too!

Initial Claims:

• Initial claims drop from revised 402K (as expected) in last week, to 352K this week, 50K swing in one week, on expectations of 384K. All in the seasonal adjustment, which tries to compensate for the 124K drop in Non Seasonally Adjusted claims. 
• This number was below the lowest Wall Street estimate of 363K.
• Continuing claims: 3.432MM, below expectations of 3.590MM, previous revised naturally higher from 3.628MM to 3.647MM. The reason? People on EUC and Extended benefits in last week: +105,000. More and more people move away from 6 month support to extended 99 week cliff.
• The decline in continuing claims was 215K, and the number of 3.432MM was the lowest since Sept 6, 2008, the week before the Lehman collapse (h/t Stone McCarthy)
• Decline likely “function of seasonal distortion,” likely “exaggerates strength in the labor market,” says BBG economist Joseph Brusuelas

• Source

Housing Starts and Permits:

• Largely irrelevant, as crawling at a bottom, but starts at 657K, below expectations of 680K, and down from 685K previously
• Permits in line with expectations at 679K, down from 680K before
• Volatile’’ multifamily dwellings category eased “slightly,” says Brusuelas. Even so, MFDs “likely to remain quite stout due” on modest increase in household formation, ownership-to-renter transition, tight apartments supply. Housing “still dead,” says Bloomberg economist Rich Yamarone
• Source

CPI:

• Headline CPI at 0.0% vs expectations of 0.1%, unchanged from last month
• Core CPI: +0.1% in line with expectations of +0.1 and down from 0.2% previously
• “Weak domestic aggregate demand,’’ slowing global economy likely to continue downward pressure on prices, says Bloomberg economist Joseph Brusuelas
• Fed “clearly concerned with the return of disinflation;” watch for “talk of further central bank action to support the economy” at next week’s FOMC meeting, says Brusuelas
• Source

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street | 4,285 Comments »
Tags: Deflation Worries, Economic Data, Same Old

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 19, 2012

It was going to happen sooner or later….a once mighty company, founded in 1880 by George Eastman and renamed Eastman Kodak in 1892, they controlled 90% of the film market by 1976, and were a part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average index for 74 years before being deleted in 2004. 

But before anyone gets any grand ideas about the stock, it’s going to be worthless, just like K-mart, GM, American Airlines and a whole slew of others that went bankrupt in the past few years. Just because the stock stub trades with a small value for a time doesn’t mean it will have any real net settlement value. Once it comes out of bankruptcy, the stock will trade as EK (new), no relation to the old except for name. The (new) company that comes out of bankruptcy will cancel/retire the old stock and issue (new stock), most of which will go to bondholders, banks the union/retirement program, preferred share holders and maybe some vendors owed money.  Stock holders are last in the pecking order to get anything and they usually don’t. 

A good recent example of this is General Motors, the old stock in bankruptcy traded for pennies, now GM (new) stock trades at 24.50….the GM old stock was cancelled and worthless, the GM (new) is a whole different company out of reorganization and was given to: the banks for secured loans, bond holders, preferred share holders, the GM retirement plan and union along with some vendors and others that had a financial claim. Common stock holders got nothing.  That’s right, zippo.

EK Files For BK…Bloomberg:

• *KODAK FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY IN NEW YORK
• *EASTMAN KODAK SECURES $950M IN DEBTOR-IN-POSSESSION FINANCING
• *KODAK TO MONETIZE NON-STRATEGIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY :EK US
• *EASTMAN KODAK SAYS NON-U.S. UNITS NOT INCLUDED IN U.S. FILING
• *KODAK SAYS CHAPTER 11 A `NECESSARY STEP’, `RIGHT THING TO DO’
• *KODAK EXPECTS TO PAY EMPLOYEE WAGES-BENEFITS :EK US

Eastman Kodak Company and Its U.S. Subsidiaries Commence Voluntary Chapter 11 Business Reorganization

Flow of Goods and Services to Customers to Continue Globally in Ordinary Course

Non-U.S. Subsidiaries Are Not Included in U.S. Filing and Are Not Subject to Court Supervision

Company Secures $950 million in Debtor-in-Possession Financing in U.S.

Kodak’s Reorganization to Facilitate Emergence as Profitable and Sustainable Enterprise

Business Wire

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — January 19, 2012

Eastman Kodak Company (“Kodak” or the “Company”) announced today that it and its U.S. subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for chapter 11 business reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The business reorganization is intended to bolster liquidity in the U.S. and abroad, monetize non-strategic intellectual property, fairly resolve legacy liabilities, and enable the Company to focus on its most valuable business lines. The Company has made pioneering investments in digital and materials deposition technologies in recent years, generating approximately 75% of its revenue from digital businesses in 2011.

Kodak has obtained a fully-committed, $950 million debtor-in-possession credit facility with an 18-month maturity from Citigroup to enhance liquidity and working capital. The credit facility is subject to Court approval and other conditions precedent. The Company believes that it has sufficient liquidity to operate its business during chapter 11, and to continue the flow of goods and services to its customers in the ordinary course.

Kodak expects to pay employee wages and benefits and continue customer programs. Subsidiaries outside of the U.S. are not subject to proceedings and will honor all obligations to suppliers, whenever incurred. Kodak and its U.S. subsidiaries will honor all post-petition obligations to suppliers in the ordinary course.

“Kodak is taking a significant step toward enabling our enterprise to complete its transformation,” said Antonio M. Perez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “At the same time as we have created our digital business, we have also already effectively exited certain traditional operations, closing 13 manufacturing plants and 130 processing labs, and reducing our workforce by 47,000 since 2003. Now we must complete the transformation by further addressing our cost structure and effectively monetizing non-core IP assets. We look forward to working with our stakeholders to emerge a lean, world-class, digital imaging and materials science company.”

“After considering the advantages of chapter 11 at this time, the Board of Directors and the entire senior management team unanimously believe that this is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the future of Kodak,” Mr. Perez continued. “Our goal is to maximize value for stakeholders, including our employees, retirees, creditors, and pension trustees. We are also committed to working with our valued customers.

“Chapter 11 gives us the best opportunities to maximize the value in two critical parts of our technology portfolio: our digital capture patents, which are essential for a wide range of mobile and other consumer electronic devices that capture digital images and have generated over $3 billion of licensing revenues since 2003; and our breakthrough printing and deposition technologies, which give Kodak a competitive advantage in our growing digital businesses.”

Mr. Perez concluded, “The Board of Directors, the senior management team and I would like to underscore our appreciation for the hard work and loyalty of our employees. Kodak exemplifies a culture of collaboration and innovation. Our employees embody that culture and are essential to our future success.”

Kodak has taken this step after preliminary discussions with key constituencies and intends to work toward a consensual reorganization in the best interests of its stakeholders. Kodak expects to complete its U.S.-based restructuring during 2013.

The Company and its Board of Directors are being advised by Lazard, FTI Consulting Inc. and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. In addition, Dominic DiNapoli, Vice Chairman of FTI Consulting, will serve as Chief Restructuring Officer to support the management team as to restructuring matters during the chapter 11 case.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Technology, Wall Street | 3,543 Comments »
Tags: Eastman Kodak Files BK, Kodak BK, Night Night Kodak

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 18, 2012

Interesting new products from the (CES) Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas……

www.ingerletter.com

Category: Commentary, National News, Pictures, Technology | 1,007 Comments »
Tags: CES, New Docking Cell Phone

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 18, 2012

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” – Mark Twain

Category: Commentary, Education and Schooling, National News, Quote of the Day, Tid Bits, Uncategorized | 1,713 Comments »
Tags: Mark Twain, Quote of the Day

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 18, 2012

We’ve been wondering the same as new cars are flying off the lot…….American households “have been spending recently in a way that did not seem in line with income growth. So somehow they’ve been doing that through perhaps additional credit card usage,” Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said on Friday.  In an other ominous sign for America’s economic growth prospects, workers are paring back contributions to college funds and growing numbers are borrowing from their retirement accounts while the personal savings rate is plunging toward new lows. We won’t even get into the massive growth of college loans rant, that’s for later!

Insight: Recovery At Risk As Americans Raid Savings
By Jilian Mincer and Jonathan Spicer
Posted 2012/01/17 at 12:13 am EST

NEW YORK, Jan. 17, 2012 (Reuters) — More than four years after the United States fell into recession, many Americans have resorted to raiding their savings to get them through the stop-start economic recovery.

In an ominous sign for America’s economic growth prospects, workers are paring back contributions to college funds and growing numbers are borrowing from their retirement accounts.

After a few years of relative frugality, the amount of money that Americans are saving has fallen back to its lowest level since December 2007 when the recession began. The personal saving rate dipped in November to 3.5 percent, down from 5.1 percent a year earlier, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

Some policymakers worry that a recent spike in credit card usage could mean that people, many of whom are struggling on incomes that have lagged inflation, are taking out new debt just to meet the costs of day-to-day living.

American households “have been spending recently in a way that did not seem in line with income growth. So somehow they’ve been doing that through perhaps additional credit card usage,” Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said on Friday.

“If they saw future income and employment increasing strongly then that would be reasonable. But I don’t see that. So I’ve been puzzled by this,” he said.

More at:http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre80g083-us-recovery-risk/

Category: Commentary, Economy, Education and Schooling, Finance, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Personal Net Worth, Wall Street | 1,798 Comments »
Tags: Borrowing Binge, Credit Cards, Rant, Savings Drain

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 18, 2012

IMF: 2 Year “Funding Gap” Hits $1 Trillion

• IMF SAID TO SEE POTENTIAL 2-YEAR FINANCING GAP AT $1 TRILLION
• IMF SAID TO SEEK RAISING LENDING RESOURCES BY $500 BLN

Fed Officials Open to Additional Easing as They Monitor Risks to Economy

Federal Reserve officials are staying open to further monetary easing this year as they monitor risks that threaten to move the economy further away from their mandate for stable prices and full employment.

Among the possible triggers for action, according to Ethan Harris, co-head of global economic research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York: a slump in U.S. gross domestic product caused by a European recession, a more rapid slide in U.S. inflation than anticipated, and deteriorating U.S. payroll growth.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street, World News | 4,143 Comments »
Tags: Fed Actions, Germany Cuts Growth, IMF Funding Gap

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 17, 2012

www.thestatedtruth.com supports this important issue. 

 Protest SOPA/PIPA    

For more information on this, click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act

Category: Commentary, National News | 4,155 Comments »
Tags: Black Out, Protest SOPA/PIPA, Web Goes Dark

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 17, 2012

No wonder the U.S. is telling Israel to cool they’re heals about Iran…if you want to make a bad situation worse, then start a war in the Middle East and watch oil go to $200 a barrel, then presto, a world depression that would make the 1930′s look like a picnic!

World Bank Cuts Economic Outlook, Says Europe Is In Recession And Warns Developing Economies To “Prepare For The Worst”

• WORLD BANK CUTS GLOBAL GROWTH OUTLOOK, SEES EURO-AREA RECESSION
• World Bank urges developing economies to “prepare for the worst” as it sees risk for European turmoil to turn into global financial crisis reminiscent of 2008
• Even achieving much weaker outcomes is very uncertain

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, National Security, Outliers, Wall Street, World News | 4,964 Comments »
Tags: Outl, Prepare, World Bank Warns, Worst Outcome

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 17, 2012

This points to a global slowing in the economies of the world….The index has fallen for 19 days in a row, down almost 50%, its largest drop since the harrowing period of Q4 2008…….Capice.

By definition: The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is a number issued daily by the London-based Baltic Exchange. Not restricted to Baltic Sea countries, the index tracks worldwide international shipping prices of various dry bulk cargoes. The index provides “an assessment of the price of moving the major raw materials by sea. Taking in 26 shipping routes measured on a timecharter and voyage basis, the index covers Handymax, Panamax, and Capesize dry bulk carriers carrying a range of commodities including coal, iron ore and grain.

The cost of dry bulk goods transportation has dropped in the last few weeks to its lowest level since January 2009 (back below 1000 according to today’s levels). It looks like the lower steel output in China and a decline in European imports is having its impact on global trade.

The index has fallen for 19 days in a row, down almost 50%, its largest drop since the harrowing period of Q4 2008.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street, World News | 4,729 Comments »
Tags: Baltic Dry Index, Cost Of Shipping, Shipping Index, Slowdown

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 16, 2012

“The Senator” was an old friend to many, and besides being the tallest cypress tree in the United States, it was also the oldest of its kind in North America. Even more interesting, it was the fifth oldest tree in the world.

Longwood, Florida

A 3,500-year-old Central Florida landmark burned to the ground.

A fire early Monday has destroyed the 125-foot-tall bald cypress tree known as “The Senator,” the centerpiece of Longwood’s Big Tree Park.

“The Senator” was the tallest cypress tree in the United States, and believed to be the oldest of its kind in North America, and the fifth oldest tree in the world.

Officials with Seminole Fire Rescue said they do not believe the fire is the result of arson.

Crews had to lay over 800 feet of hose just to get to the tree, but Steve Wright, with Seminole County Fire Rescue, said they could not save “The Senator.”

The tree was so old and hollow that it burned from the inside out.

“We saw some of the helicopter views,” Winfree said. “It looked like a giant torch.”

The tree got its name from Sen. Moses Overstreet, who donated the land to Seminole County in 1927.

More at: http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2012/january/370329/The-Senator-falls,-worlds-5th-oldest-tree-destroyed-by-fire-in-Longwood

Category: Commentary, National News, Tid Bits, Uncategorized, Weather | 4,758 Comments »
Tags: Landmark Burns, Oldest Cypress Tree Burns, The Senator, Tree Burns Down

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 15, 2012

Guess the idea is….why waste money on an exercise if the real think is coming?  Or maybe not, as last week Europe wanted western countries to postpone an embargo against Iranian oil exports by 6 months because of poor european economies.

The United States and Israel have agreed to postpone a large joint military exercise planned for this spring.

The drill, slated for May and named “Austere Challenge,” was announced in November by Andrew Shapiro, U.S. assistant secretary of State for politics-military affairs, at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The exercise would’ve included more than 5,000 U.S. and Israeli forces and, was a war game intended to simulate Israel’s ballistic missile defense. It would have  been the “largest and most significant joint exercise in the allies’ history,” Shapiro had said.

From Bloomberg: 

• ISRAEL, U.S. POSTPONE MILITARY EXERCISE, ISRAEL RADIO SAYS
• JOINT EXERCISE POSTPONED FOR BUDGET REASONS, RADIO SAYS
• U.S.-ISRAELI EXERCISE PLANNED TO BE BIGGEST EVER, RADIO SAYS
• EXERCISE WAS TO TAKE PLACE IN NEXT FEW MONTHS, RADIO SAYS
• ISRAEL SAYS JOINT U.S. MILITARY EXERCISE STILL UNDER DISCUSSION
• AGUE SAYS NOT LOOKING AT NO-FLY ZONE OVER SYRIA

Category: Commentary, National News, National Security, Wall Street, World News | 2,963 Comments »
Tags: Exercise Postponed, War Games

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 12, 2012

So…..back in September Kodak said it was weighing options, then issued a statement saying it has “no intention of filing for bankruptcy” and that it is pursuing patent sales. It looks like Eastman Kodak has about $1.6 billion in debt according to Yahoo Finance.  A Polaroid moment is close to being developed! 

Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) is in advanced discussions with Citigroup Inc. (C) to provide bankruptcy financing as the company prepares for a potential filing, said three people familiar with the matter.

Kodak may seek protection from creditors within weeks and then hold an auction to sell its patent portfolio, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. Kodak may seek about $1 billion in so-called debtor-in-possession financing, though terms may change, two people said.

Advisers to Kodak are lining up a bidder that will be the frontrunner or so-called stalking horse bidder for the patent portfolio should the company file, one person said.

Moody’s Investors Service cut ratings on about $1 billion of Kodak’s debt on Jan. 5, citing “a heightened probability of a bankruptcy” as liquidity deteriorates.

Category: Commentary, National News, Wall Street | 3,005 Comments »
Tags: Digital Age, Instant camera, Kodak, Polaroid

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 12, 2012

While most of the U.S. has had a very mild winter, that is not the case in Alaska.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

The worst winter anyone can remember in Alaska has piled snow so high people can’t see out the windows. More than twice the normal snow has already been dumped on Anchorage!

“The scary part is, we still have three more months to go,” said Kathryn Hawkins, a veterinarian who lives in the coastal community of Valdez, about 100 miles southeast of Anchorage. “I look out and go, where can it all go?’”

More than 26 feet of snow has fallen in Valdez since November. The 8-foot snow piles outside Hawkins’ home are so high she can’t see out the front or back of her house.

Category: Commentary, National News, Weather, World News | 3,335 Comments »
Tags: Alaska Snow, Record Bad Weather, Weather Wipeout

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 12, 2012

It’s all about demographics my dear Watson….here’s some food for thought!

First up let’s study a graph of the Census Bureau historical and forecast data for the peak-spending cohort population in the U.S. from 1980 to 2050.

The Age 45-49 cohort peaked in 2009 and will bottom out in 2022 after an estimated decline of 13.4% from the 2009 population. The Census Bureau’s estimate for 2012 would give us an additional 8.8% decline in numbers for the big spending cohort before bottoming out.

Economists and market analysts often think of the retiring boomers as the primary drag on the economy with their the transition from the accumulation phase of their life-cycle to the decumulation phase. But if we understand of the crucial role of consumption for our economic health (about 70% of GDP), a significant shrinkage in the number of peak spenders is a demographic headwind that will challenge us for years to come.

www.financialsense.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Research, Wall Street, World News | 6,856 Comments »
Tags: Age, Baby Boomers, Demographics, Scoop

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on January 12, 2012

The good news for the consumer is that ”experts” predict rock-bottom natural-gas prices through at least 2013. “We’re anticipating sustained low gas prices,” says Andy Steinhubl, from Bain & Co.’s North American oil and gas practice. 

This from The Wall Street Journal…..

U.S. energy companies are pumping so much natural gas out of the ground that prices are plummeting, and the cheap gas isn’t likely to evaporate anytime soon.

Natural-gas prices fell 5.7% Wednesday to their lowest level in over two years—good news for people who use gas to heat homes and for companies that use it to power factories.

For U.S. energy companies, however, the domestic natural-gas market is looking increasingly out of whack. Despite a 32% drop in prices last year, onshore production rose 10%, and it is expected to rise another 4% this year, according to Barclays Capital. As a result, prices are expected to remain low for at least the next couple years.

Earlier this week, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said gas prices could drop below $2 in the fall, a level unseen since 2002. Four years ago, it sold for around $9.

Many experts predict rock-bottom natural-gas prices through at least 2013. “We’re anticipating sustained low gas prices,” says Andy Steinhubl, co-head of consultancy Bain & Co.’s North American oil and gas practice.

Source: WSJ

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Commodities, Economy, National News, Oil and Nat Gas, Wall Street, World News | 1,846 Comments »
Tags: Energy Drilling, Gas Prices, Nat Gas, Oil