thestatedtruth.com | December 12, 2010
Looks like we’re in a real pickle, if we try to borrow our way out of this mess, then the dollar will plunge, and if we go the austerity route-we have another World recession. Who would know better then Japan!  They say “The world is set for a long-term structural slump reminiscent of the 1870s ..The reason for the slowdown? […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street, World News |
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Tags: new recession;Japan talks world recession
thestatedtruth.com | December 9, 2010
The Federal Reserves’s worst nightmare has just come true. Representative Ron Paul, Texas Republican and author of “End the Fed,†will take control of the House subcommittee that oversees the Federal Reserve. House Financial Services chairman-elect Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican, selected Paul, 75, to lead the panel’s domestic monetary policy subcommittee when their party […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street, World News |
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Tags: Ron Paul To Head Monetary Subcommitee
thestatedtruth.com | December 9, 2010
From the looks of this, it understates the actual wealth loss by about 2-4% This from todays Federal Reserve Z1 report……”business debt increased to an all time record high of $7,351 billion, an $82 billion increase in the quarter”…..so yes I know corporate cash is very high, but so is corporate debt…….they’re borrowing to put cash on […]
Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Personal Net Worth, Wall Street |
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Tags: corporate debt, fderal and state debt, household wealth
thestatedtruth.com | December 9, 2010
Unintended Consequences Chris Verrone over at Strategas points out that the recent sell off in treasuries was “the second largest 2 day sell off in 50 years.â€Â  A move by the 10 year to 3.50% could have serious consequences. We’re getting dangerously close.
Category: Commentary, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street |
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Tags: 10 year bond
thestatedtruth.com | December 7, 2010
Here is the real reason that the old folks get no cost of living increase for Social Security……Inflation data relies heavily on housing prices and removes food and energy costs. No kidding! Ah, but Congress gave themselves a raise this year, I guess they looked at it the other way around. U.S. government inflation data is “a […]
Category: Commentary, Commodities, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Pensions and Retirement, World News |
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Tags: inflation data
thestatedtruth.com | December 5, 2010
Here are a couple of zinggers…..Ben Bernanke: Economic recovery is very close to not being self-sustaining…..Anyone surprised on this one? …….and……We’re looking at ten, 15, 20 years from now, a situation where almost the entire federal budget will be spent on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and interest on the debt. There won’t be any money left for the military […]
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thestatedtruth.com | December 5, 2010
Sounds like the United States had better re-assess its relationship with China……The situation becomes even more interesting with China owning so much of the United States debt (bonds). Oh, that’s right, we can’t…..nobody else will buy our debt. “Patriotic hackers†backed by Chinese authorities conducted extensive computer hacking on U.S. government agencies and companies, including computer networks of […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street, World News |
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Tags: China and U.S. debt
thestatedtruth.com | December 3, 2010
Thinking the Unthinkable By Bill Bonner  This week, like the last one, was dominated by euro babel. Speaking in their various tongues, all at once, Europeans were talking nonsense. Especially Jose-Ignacio Torreblanca. The senior fellow at the European Council of Foreign Relations begins: “in an ideal world,” he says it is “fair and rational” for […]
Category: Commentary, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Wall Street, World News |
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Tags: Euro debt, europe entitlements
thestatedtruth.com | December 2, 2010
A holder of a bond may “buy protection†to hedge its risk of default. In its simplest form, a credit default swap is a bilateral contract between the buyer and seller of protection. The CDS will refer to a “reference entity” or “reference obligor”, usually a corporation or government. The reference entity is not a […]
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Tags: state finances
thestatedtruth.com | December 2, 2010
That’s why they call these types of high yield high risk bonds ,” Junk Bonds”……  High-yield, or junk, debt is rated below BBB- by S&P and an equivalent Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service. So the governments of the world take interest rates down to current ultra low levels and leave them there for a prolonged period, forcing […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street |
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Tags: high risk bond defaults, junk bond defaults
thestatedtruth.com | December 1, 2010
Under orders from Congress pursuant to the Dodd-Frank financial legislation, the Fed has finally released details of its emergency lending starting in 2007. Huffington Post is providing an excellent live-blogging round up as new discoveries are made from the Fed’s data release. Here are some of the more interesting insights: Mutual funds, hedge funds and […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Wall Street, World News |
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Tags: Fed Emergency Lending Program 2007, TAF
thestatedtruth.com | November 25, 2010
Inquiring minds want to know….how do we ever close this gap! Corporate pensions in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index with about $1 trillion in assets are now 77 percent funded this year, down from 82 percent at the end of 2009.  The $380 billion pension shortfall is the biggest since at least 1994, according to […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, Pensions and Retirement, Wall Street |
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Tags: pensions, under funded pensions
thestatedtruth.com | November 24, 2010
It seems that the European bailout buck will stop with Portugal unless more money is added (it will be). When Europe created the EFSF it did not think it would need to serially bail out everyone.  But now the EFSF needs more money to cover a bailout of Spain, and then what about Italy? Inquiring minds want to know! […]
Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, Finance, Gold and Silver, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street |
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thestatedtruth.com | November 18, 2010
Home-mortgage rates surged to their highest level in three months, showing implications of the recent spike in Treasury yields and causing another headache for the Fed. The rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.39% last week, according to Freddie Mac, up from a record-low 4.17% the week before. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 3.76%, up […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Real Estate |
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Tags: mortgage rates rise
thestatedtruth.com | November 18, 2010
If this happens, there will be no winners. Interest rates would rise rapidly, real estate would see a new leg down (bigger then anyone thought possible) and stock and commodity markets across the globe would implode!  Robert Rubin: “U.S. In Terribly Dangerous Territory,” Bond Market May Be Headed For “Implosion”  Aaron Task Warning of the risk […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Gold and Silver, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street |
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Tags: Robert Rubin's Bold Warning
thestatedtruth.com | November 18, 2010
Prime means the top qualified and most credit worthy people, the highest rated and least likely to default. Foreclosures on prime fixed-rate mortgages in the U.S. jumped to a record in the third quarter as unemployment strained household budgets of the most credit worthy borrowers. Homeowners are falling behind on their mortgage payments as job cuts […]
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thestatedtruth.com | November 16, 2010
John Mauldin Reviews Gary Shilling’s Brand New Book,  The Age of Deleveraging: Investment Strategies For A Decade Of Slow Growth And Deflation. Some of his opinions are covered below. Roadblocks on the deleveraging highway may include a crisis in U.S. commercial real estate (Chart 5) that could exceed the earlier one in housing. Then there’s a possible […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, News Letters, Real Estate, Wall Street |
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Tags: china economy growth, commercial real estate
thestatedtruth.com | November 16, 2010
CNBC’s Diana Olick reports that the investigation into the biggest financial fraud in recent history is about to be closed. State AGs are nearing a settlement with banks, which will slap a few wrists, see banks put some money in a settlement fund, and will result in some principal reductions.  Then everything will be well again.  Oh, and banker […]
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thestatedtruth.com | November 16, 2010
It looks like the day of reckoning is close at hand for state governments. Illinois faces a deficit for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2011, that could reach $15 billion—more than half the state’s general-fund budget. California faces a deficit next year of $25.4 billion, twice the size of previous forecasts and California Gov. […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street, World News |
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Tags: state governments;state budget deficits
thestatedtruth.com | November 15, 2010
The rate will tell the story. If the rate is reasonable then it is illogical. If it is illogical then QE (Quantitative Easing) has started to bail out states.           Jim Sinclair This two-part sale of so-called revenue anticipation notes (Rans) allows California to bridge the gap to its tax season in the spring…… Hopefully!  Notice […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Wall Street, World News |
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thestatedtruth.com | November 15, 2010
Europe Stumbles Blindly Towards Its 1931 Moment By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Nov 15, 2010 Unless the ECB takes fast and dramatic action, it risks destroying the currency it is paid to manage, and allowing a political catastrophe to unfold in Europe. If mishandled, Ireland could all too easily become a sovereign version of Credit Anstalt – […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Gold and Silver, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, World News |
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Tags: 1931 moment, ECB, euro
thestatedtruth.com | November 13, 2010
This is peanuts compared to what the OTC derivative credit default swaps are going to cost. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, U.S. cities saw their general fund revenue fall the most since at least 1986 in the budget year that ended June 30, according to the National League of Cities.   States now face […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street |
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Tags: Credit Swap Definition, derivatives, otc swaps
thestatedtruth.com | November 13, 2010
It’s the rainy season in California…..Schwarzenegger Declares Emergency, Calls Special Budget Session November 12, 2010 By Michael B. Marois Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) — California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, citing a $25.4 billion budget gap over the next 19 months, declared a fiscal emergency and called lawmakers to a special session next month to begin dealing with […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street, World News |
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Tags: california budget busted, California fiscal emergency
thestatedtruth.com | November 9, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ November 9, 2010 The Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today approved a final rule to implement section 343 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). Section 343 provides temporary unlimited coverage for noninterest-bearing transaction accounts. This separate coverage will become effective on […]
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Tags: FDIC, TUDI Temorary Unlimited Deposit Insurance
thestatedtruth.com | November 3, 2010
Given the high market expectations, the US Federal Reserve had no choice but to announce a second tranche of quantitative easing, nicknamed QE2. But the measure is an inevitably blunt instrument for the difficult task of restoring growth and generating jobs. The benefits accruing to America come with burdens for other countries, and both could […]
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Tags: El-Erian, PIMCO
thestatedtruth.com | October 30, 2010
This article from the Wall Street Journal:   No matter how you slice it, the housing market faces almost nine years of foreclosure hangover. That means materially lower prices are likely from here with a chance we fall off a cliff when (not if) the next economic dislocation shows up.  October 30, 2010  By Mark Whitehouse 107: Is […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street |
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Tags: bank owned, foreclosures, Real Estate
thestatedtruth.com | October 19, 2010
Card Sharp by AnnaMaria Andriotis Until recently, a credit score of 680 was meaningfull. It meant you paid most of your bills on time, got dinged a little when you went shopping for a refi, but in general you were solid enough to get a loan at the best rates. Not anymore. That 680 is firmly […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Personal Net Worth, Real Estate, Wall Street, World News |
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Tags: credit scores
thestatedtruth.com | October 14, 2010
By Bill Dunkelberg October 14, 2011 Dr. William Dunkelberg is the Chief Economist of the National Federation of Independent Business. The Treasury Department has just announced a new program to encourage lending to small businesses, the State Small Business Credit Initiative. Selected states can access the $1.5 billion fund if they can demonstrate that each […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street |
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Tags: small businss
thestatedtruth.com | October 12, 2010
Words of a wise man, pay attention everyone!  By Bloomberg News October 12, 2010 Advanced economies risk a lost decade unless policy makers recognize the severity of the wounds left by the financial crisis, said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. El-Erian, who popularized the phrase new normal to describe how […]
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Tags: pimco's El -Erian, Pimco;Economic risks, privatization
thestatedtruth.com | October 11, 2010
Retired folks are now getting liitle or no interest on their savings (if they have anything left) and now this happens to them!  For many older people, every little bit matters. It really looks to this observer as if our government is out of touch with reality and favoring the rich. WASHINGTON     As if voters don’t have enough to be […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Wall Street |
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Tags: retirement, social security
thestatedtruth.com | October 7, 2010
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the fiscal deficit in the U.S. is “scary†and the government needs to reduce entitlement programs. “We’re involved in a dangerous game,†Greenspan said today at a foreign-exchange conference in New York sponsored by Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News. “We’re increasing the debt held by the […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street |
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Tags: national debt
thestatedtruth.com | October 4, 2010
The Mortgage Mess as it affectionately is called seems to be getting new names with each passing day – the latest one is, quite appropriately RoboSigning Scandal During today’s CNBC Kudlow segment Diana Ollick confirms various so far unfounded rumors that the government is planning to institute a 90 day foreclosure moratorium as it deals with the […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Real Estate |
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Tags: foreclosures, real estate title insurance
thestatedtruth.com | September 29, 2010
People with a credit score below 620 who want a loan were unlikely to receive even one quote, according to real-estate web site Zillow.com, even if they offered a down payment of 15%-25% for a home. Zillow notes that 29% of Americans have a credit score this low, according to data provided by myFICO.com. “Today’s […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street |
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Tags: credit scores, FICA score
thestatedtruth.com | September 28, 2010
The City Council of Harrisburg, capital of Pennsylvania has voted to hire lawyers to explore bankruptcy protection. The City Council voted 5-2 tonight to seek professional advice on bankruptcy or state oversight. Harrisburg needed state aid to avoid default on $3.3 million of bond payments this month. The city, which has 47,000 residents, and has missed […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street |
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Tags: bond defaut, muni bond default
thestatedtruth.com | September 27, 2010
It looks like we could have saved the U.S. tax payers a few trillion dollars if the government would have realized the basics of the problems a year and a half ago! New World Thinking: The government can save everything. Reality: The government can’t save anything but will try, in the process it will usually make things worse!  Paul Krugman […]
Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Outliers, Pensions and Retirement, Real Estate, Wall Street, World News |
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Tags: defaults, op-ed, Paul Krugman
thestatedtruth.com | September 26, 2010
Thoughts from the Frontline Weekly Newsletter  Pushing on a String   by John Mauldin September 24, 2010 In this issue: Pushing on a String Let’s Shift the Focus An Invitation to an Inflation Party Ten Years and Counting This week the Fed altered their end-of-meeting statement by just a few words, but those words have […]
Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, News Letters, Real Estate, Wall Street |
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Tags: newsletters, thoughts from the frontline, Wall Street
thestatedtruth.com | September 24, 2010
Two years after the financial crisis, the federal government has stepped in to stabilize a crucial part of the credit-union sector knocked down by losses on subprime mortgages. A summary of an article from the Wall Street Journal is reviewed below. Regulators announced Friday a rescue of the nation’s wholesale credit unions, underpinned by a federal guarantee valued at $30 billion […]
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Tags: credit unions, major credit unions, wholesale credit unions
thestatedtruth.com | September 23, 2010
This May Be Just The Begining As The Entire World Slows! It’s A Process…..And It Will Likely Take Time To Totally Unfold.  U.S. Jobless Claims Jump The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose by 12,000 to 465,000 last week, as labor weakness persists. Ireland GDP Drops Unexpectedly Ireland had a surprise decline in its second-quarter […]
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Tags: economic slow down, world economic slow down
thestatedtruth.com | September 22, 2010
Next up….Currency evolved hyper inflation caused by the Fed’s actions to save the world, as the dollar becomes worth much less and commodities without debt attached go vertical (such as food, gold, silver, farm land etc.).  The only real question seems to be when, not if.  In the U.S. we are trying to work through the legacy of accumulating lots […]
Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Personal Net Worth, Real Estate, Wall Street |
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Tags: commercial real estate, defaults, Real Estate, spending rises