thestatedtruth.com | December 31, 2009
What a great investment for the government. The situation is they are losing gobs of money, up to $400 billion in mortgages, Wallison a former general counsel at the Treasury said in a Bloomberg Television interview. The Treasury Department recognized last week that losses will be more than $400 billion when it raised its limit on [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 31, 2009
“Through the first three quarters of 2009 state and local tax revenues totaled $875 billion, nearly 8% below the $951 billion collected in the first three quarters of 2008. In the same period, federal receipts were down nearly 19%.” State, Local Tax Revenues Decline 7% By CONOR DOUGHERTY State and local tax revenues fell 7% [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 30, 2009
DECEMBER 31, 2009 Rules to Clarify Cost of Mortgages By JAMES R. HAGERTY Americans have long struggled with the complexities of shopping for home mortgages. Now Uncle Sam is trying to help. Federal rules that take effect Friday require mortgage lenders and brokers to give consumers better estimates of the barrage of costs they incur [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 30, 2009
Security experts say the scanners may be the best defense in stopping attacks such as an attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound aircraft Christmas Day.
thestatedtruth.com | December 30, 2009
Kazakhstan Claims To Be Worlds Biggest Uranium Miner By Isabel Gorst in Moscow Published: December 30 2009 Kazakhstan said on Wednesday it had overtaken Canada and Australia to become the world’s biggest uranium miner as nations rich in the resource ramp up production to sell into a resurgent nuclear power industry. The announcement came the [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 30, 2009
U.S. Slaps New Duties On Chinese Steel By Alan Rappeport in Washington Published: December 30 2009 The US will impose tough new duties on Chinese steel piping imports, raising tensions with its biggest trading partner and emerging geopolitical rival. With Chinese piping imports worth $2.8bn in 2008, the case is the biggest against China brought [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 30, 2009
Pessimism about U.S. stocks among newsletter writers fell to the lowest level since April 1987, six months before the 20 percent crash in the S&P 500 known as Black Monday. The proportion of bearish publications among about 140 tracked by Investors Intelligence fell to 15.6 percent yesterday from 16.7 percent a week earlier. Sentiment has [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 30, 2009
From Ian Mathias The 5-Minute Forecast… “One good reason to guard your finances in 2010: The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet has quietly ballooned back to near-record highs. The Fed announced yesterday that it’s balance sheet expanded to $2.22 trillion last week, it’s grossest level in nearly a year and just a hair from an all [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 29, 2009
How Your Income Stacks Up by Kevin McCormally Where do you rank as a taxpayer? You may not feel rich earning $35,000 a year, but you’re in the top half of taxpayers. Make $70,000, and you earn more than 75 percent of fellow taxpayers. Even as the Great Recession ends, we know the economic [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 29, 2009
The European Commission warns that public finances in half of the 16 euro-zone nations are at high risk of becoming unsustainable. Governments will spend the next year and beyond balancing the urgent need to fix public-sector debt and deficits — without imperiling what appears to be a feeble economic recovery. Even the staunchest optimists in [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 28, 2009
Mortgage Anxieties Mean Limbo for Fannie and Freddie ………..Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy home mortgages from banks and package them into bonds sold to investors, have been bailed out with $1.5 trillion in direct and indirect government aid. The approaching withdrawal of Fed support in the form of the mortgage-bond purchases risks a [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 28, 2009
U S Fixed Income Has To Increase Elevenfold… Or Else by Tyler Durden on 12/25/2009 17:31 -0500 From www.zerohedge.com As everyone is engrossed by assorted groundless Christmas (and other ongoing bear market) rallies, and oblivious to the debt monsters hiding in both the closet and under the bed, Zero Hedge has decided it [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 27, 2009
If this happens, it will kill what ever bottoming action we’ve seen in real estate, crush commercial real estate and put the economy back in recession…….Yields on benchmark 10-year notes will climb about 40 percent to 5.5 percent, the biggest annual increase since 1999, according to David Greenlaw, chief fixed-income economist at Morgan Stanley in New [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 27, 2009
“(ABC) “ The Senate voted Thursday to raise the ceiling on the government debt to $12.4 trillion, a massive increase over the current limit and a political problem that President Barack Obama has promised to address next year. The Senate’s rare Christmas Eve vote, 60-39, follows House passage last week and raises the debt ceiling [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 27, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 27, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 27, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 27, 2009
Goldman Sachs and Others Investigated for Betting Against Securities They Created Sunday, December 27, 2009 Betting against their own securities has prompted numerous investigations of Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street institutions. Prior to the financial collapse, Goldman and others figured out a way to package risky securities, such as subprime mortgages, and sell them [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 25, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 24, 2009
From The Daily Reckoning The yield curve – the difference in yield between a 2-year Treasury note and a 10-year Treasury note – sits at a record 285 basis points. Fork over your money to the gubmint for two years and you get a paltry 0.88%. But 10 years? You get 3.73%. Yes, that’s paltry [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 24, 2009
YRC Worldwide Inc was the comination of Yellow Line Freight, Roadway and USF Corp. They’re now the largest trucking freightline…….Uh, here is what Yellow Corp said back in 2005 with the purchase of USF Corp……………….OVERLAND PARK, Kan. & CHICAGO, Ill. –This provides immediate and nationwide scale in next day and regional markets–Significant synergies and operational [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 24, 2009
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thestatedtruth.com | December 23, 2009
That America’s precarious financial condition continues to dance on the sharp end of pin is a marvel of modern macroeconomics. Even after deconstructing the whys and wherefores of this marvel, it becomes no less marvelous. Essentially, America borrows and spends as much as it wishes by issuing as many Treasury bills, notes and bonds as [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 23, 2009
Exactly one month ago, The New York Times ran a front-page headline, “Wave of Debt Payments Facing US Government,” and punctuated the point of the accompanying story with the chart below: The following day, we tipped our hat to the Grey Lady and re-produced the chart for the benefit of all Daily Reckoning readers who [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 22, 2009
Something to watch closely…….From Art Cashin’s comments from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange…… Things are beginning to stir in the bond market. The deflationary shadow seems to be disappearing and rather rapidly. Early signs of inflationary concerns are beginning to appear. The action of the bond markets may be causing, or [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 22, 2009
On this day (+2) in 1931, America was spiraling into the depths of the Depression. Thousands of banks had closed and there was a national panic that more closings might be imminent. And, large corporations announced huge layoff programs, stunning many who thought they were safe. Those who had a job were grateful just to [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 22, 2009
The S&P 500 is up 65 percent from its 2009 closing low and looks to close out the full year with a gain of greater than 20 percent. But looking at the latest mutual fund inflows, the retail Regular Joe chose the safety of bonds. More than $260 billion flowed into taxable bond funds this [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 22, 2009
By Peter Whoriskey The Washington Post Mon., Dec . 21, 2009 The recession’s jobless toll is draining unemployment-compensation funds so fast that according to federal projections, 40 state programs will go broke within two years and need $90 billion in loans to keep issuing the benefit checks. The shortfalls are putting pressure on governments to [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 21, 2009
Trillions Of Troubles Ahead Bert Dohmen Not too long ago, a billion dollars in a governmental budget was a lot of money. Then we got into hundreds of billions. People understood that this was a lot, just because of all the zeros. Now, unfortunately, the number has become small: the world “trillion,” as in [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 21, 2009
The Second Wave of Mortgage Defaults By Jim Nelson Baltimore, Maryland Our economy is about to relapse into the disease that sent us into the Great Depression: Part Deux. Subprime loans caused the initial illness. Option-ARMs will cause the relapse. In the first half of the past decade, subprime loans were king. They were cheap [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 19, 2009
THE DEBT BOMB by Puru Saxena Editor, Money Matters December 18, 2009 BIG PICTURE- “It’s a question of how do you achieve the deleveraging. Do you go through a long period of slow growth, high savings and many legal problems or do you accept higher inflation? It would ameliorate the debt bomb and help us [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 18, 2009
Comstock Partners, Inc.Why We Remain Bearish December 17, 2009 The stock market rally has now reached a point where it is forecasting a V-shaped recovery that is not likely to happen. The recent catalyst for all of this optimism is a bullish interpretation of current economic activity, some apparent stabilization in the housing market and [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 17, 2009
Chinese Central Banker Zhu Says Dollar Set to Weaken By Bloomberg News Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) — Chinese central banker Zhu Min said that the dollar is set to weaken further and it will become more difficult for nations to buy U.S. Treasuries. “When the U.S. has to fund its deficit through the combination of issuing [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 17, 2009
Pimco’s Gross Boosts Cash to Most Since Lehman Failed By Wes Goodman and Garfield Reynolds Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Bill Gross, who runs the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., cut holdings of government debt and boosted cash to the most since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed in September 2008. Gross increased [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 16, 2009
From…..The Daily Reckoning China’s nuclear capacity is now less than 9,000 megawatts, but the country has more than a dozen more plants either under construction or in the planning stages. According to figures from the brokerage CLSA, the capacity could grow fivefold by 2015. The official target is 40,000 megawatts by 2020. Such an ambitious [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 15, 2009
Tidbit from History From The Turner Radio Network Does the statement, ‘We’ve always done it like that’ ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the way they built them in England, and English [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 15, 2009
www.ingerletter.com
thestatedtruth.com | December 15, 2009
ECB orders Austria to nationalise Hypo bank, fearing domino crisis Austria has nationalised the Carinthian lender Hypo Group after it ran into trouble on hidden losses in Eastern Europe, offering a stark reminder that Europe’s banks are not yet out of the woods. By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Published: 6:46PM GMT 14 Dec 2009 Finance minister Josef [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 15, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 15, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 14, 2009
The Yellowstone Syndrome By Chris Mayer Gaithersburg, Maryland Most people in finance operate under a giant self-deception: they think future economic trends are much more knowable than they actually are. The economy is like a complex ecosystem. You cannot alter one piece of it without causing effects elsewhere in the system. Investors who understand this [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 13, 2009
While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is grabbing the headlines every Friday, it is PBGC that is going to be the concern of 2010-2011. PBGC (Pension Benefit Guarantee Program) is a federal corporation created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. It currently protects the pensions of more than 44 million American workers [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 11, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 11, 2009
Volcker Says Basic Structure of Economy to Impede U.S. Growth By Simon Kennedy and Michael Doermer Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker said imbalances in the structure of the U.S. economy pose a bigger challenge than the financial crisis and will impede economic growth for some time. “We have another economic [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 11, 2009
Lockhart Says Housing May Take Another Leg Down By Brian Louis and Carol Massar Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) — James B. Lockhart III, vice chairman of WL Ross & Co. and the former director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said the U.S. housing decline may not be over. Lockhart said at a conference in New [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 10, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 10, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 10, 2009
U.S. Foreclosures to Reach 3.9 Million in Second Record Year By Dan Levy Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) — Foreclosure filings in the U.S. will reach a record for the second consecutive year with 3.9 million notices sent to homeowners in default, RealtyTrac Inc. said. This year’s filings will surpass 2008’s total of 3.2 million as [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 9, 2009
Food Stamps Go to a Record 37.2 Million By Alan Bjerga Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) — A record 37.2 million people, or about one out of every eight Americans, received food stamps in September, as the recession drove a surging jobless rate, according to a government report. Recipients of the subsidy for retail-food purchases climbed 18 [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 9, 2009
DECEMBER 9, 2009, 4:21 P.M. ET By MICHAEL CASEY NEW YORK — If you’re looking for one global risk to really worry about, look no further than the mountain of debt accumulated by governments in their efforts to support domestic economies. Moody’s Investors Service says there’s $49.5 trillion of sovereign debt outstanding — and [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 9, 2009
Consumer credit, as we all know, drives a big chunk of consumer spending, which drives a big chunk of the American economy. Ergo, no credit; no economy. But consumers are not the only borrowers between the Atlantic and the Pacific who contribute to economic activity. Commercial and industrial (C&I) borrowers also play a large role. [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 8, 2009
Ex-Fed chief Paul Volcker’s ‘telling’ words on derivatives industry Paul Volcker, the chairman of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, stunned a business conference in Sussex yesterday, saying there is “little evidence innovation in financial markets has had a visible effect on the productivities of the economy”. By Louise Armitstead Published: 9:41PM GMT 08 Dec [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 8, 2009
Click on Terry’s name, it may take a few seconds for this to load………Terry Bradshaw A True American
thestatedtruth.com | December 8, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 8, 2009
By Daily Mail Reporter Dec 08, 2009 Thousands of spectators and surfers are flocking to Hawaii’s beaches to see the biggest waves in years crash ashore. Heavy traffic backed up for miles yesterday along roads leading to Oahu’s North Shore. Some of the world’s most daring surfers took on the powerful and dangerous waves, which [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 8, 2009
Obama’s 47% Approval Lowest On Record For This Point Bill Sammon - December 08, 2009 President Obama’s job approval rating has fallen to 47 percent in the latest Gallup poll, the lowest ever recorded for any president at this point in his term. President Obama’s job approval rating has fallen to 47 percent in [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 7, 2009
www.ingerletter.com
thestatedtruth.com | December 7, 2009
From The Inger Letter www.ingerletter.com Today’s latest report showed continued year-over-year declines for Consumer Credit; which is now an all-time one-year collapse which bears watching. I also believe that despite the protestations about credit not being available; consumer and business folks alike (at least those with basic smarts) aren’t inclined to borrow at this time, [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 7, 2009
Japan Releases Stimulus Package as Recovery Weakens By Keiko Ujikane and Toru Fujioka Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) — The Japanese government unveiled a 7.2 trillion yen ($81 billion) economic stimulus package amid signs the recovery and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s popularity are waning. Hatoyama’s first stimulus plan includes 3.5 trillion yen to help regions, 600 billion [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 7, 2009
Bernanke Sees ‘Formidable Headwinds’ for U.S. Economy By Craig Torres and Shobhana Chandra Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the U.S. economy faces “formidable headwinds,” including a weak labor market and tight credit that are likely to produce a “moderate” pace of expansion. “The economy confronts some formidable headwinds that [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 6, 2009
Treasury Needs Plan B For Mortgages From The Yew York Times By GRETCHEN MORGENSON Published: December 5, 2009 AFTER months of playing pretend, the Treasury Department conceded last week that the Home Affordable Modification Program, its plan to aid troubled homeowners by changing the terms of their mortgages, was a dud. The 10-month-old program is [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 6, 2009
I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is I had to take him down after just 2 days. There were more people coming up to my house screaming than ever before. Aflac tried to sell me accident insurance…….then the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost had near [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 4, 2009
Include Me Out – It looks like more and more equity investors are adopting the linguistically mangled posture of Samuel Goldwyn. At least that’s what it looks like from the latest TrimTabs data. Here’s how Mark Hulbert portrayed it in his MarketWatch column this morning: And November turned out to be yet another in an [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 4, 2009
Geithner Slams Bonuses, Says All Big Banks Could Have Failed By Robert Schmidt Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner criticized the record bonuses expected to be paid by big banks this year and refuted claims by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. that it would have survived without government aid. Taking aim at what [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 3, 2009
“The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead.” — Keynes
thestatedtruth.com | December 3, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 3, 2009
Obama’s Plan and the Key Battleground December 2, 2009 | 1155 GMTBy George Friedman U.S. President Barack Obama announced the broad structure of his Afghanistan strategy in a speech at West Point on Tuesday evening. The strategy had three core elements. First, he intends to maintain pressure on al Qaeda on the Afghan-Pakistani border [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 2, 2009
From www.ingerletter.com
thestatedtruth.com | December 2, 2009
Comments from Cumberland Advisors, a major institutional investor (full report attached below)……………This is worth the time to read.The number of FDIC-insured bank units rated “F” rose from 2,256 at the end of June to 2,337 as of Q3 2009. Even with the heavily subsidized money center banks added back into the equation, the Stress [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 1, 2009
thestatedtruth.com | December 1, 2009
U.S. Personal Income Rose In October. But it was boosted by government benefits, says David Rosenberg. Take away the free money from the feds and income actually went down. Income has been going down for a long time in the US. English colleague Brian Durrant wonders why there is no revolution: “Consider a country. For [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 1, 2009
US Commercial Property Loan Defaults Soar-Reports Mon Nov 30, 2009 11:59pm EST By Ilaina Jonas NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) – The default rate for commercial real estate loans held by banks reached the highest in 16 years and the outlook looks worse, according to a report by a research firm released on Monday. The [...]
thestatedtruth.com | December 1, 2009