The Free Lunch Is Over! The Steak And Wine Has Turned Into A Baloney Sandwhich With Water

| December 21, 2010

This pension issue will have to be addressed front and center very soon…..Virginia stopped requiring public employee pension contributions back in 1983, but the free lunch is now OVER!  It’s a snow ball going down hill, and we all know how big the snow ball is at the bottom.   Kick the can down the road, until one day the […]

Fed Treasury Holdings: $1,000,341,000,000

| December 21, 2010

Auh, so my calculator doesn’t go that high, come again……..In layman terms, we’re talking about a trillion dollars!

Bank Of America May Wish It Was Bank Of Some Where Else!

| December 21, 2010

WikiLeaks recently said it would target a large U.S. bank.  Bank of America was the rumored victim.  This has now been confirmed. Agence Press France is reporting: Julian Assange confirmed that WikiLeaks was holding a vast amount of material about Bank of America which it intends to release early next year.

A Letter From The Postman……

| December 21, 2010

A group of 52 business and financial luminaries have signed an open letter to U.S. Regulators (Geithner, Bernanke, et al.) on the need for national standards on mortgages. The signators are an impressive yet eclectic group.  As an example, we see Nouriel Roubini; William Dunkelberg (NFIB); Bob Eisenbeis; Chris Whalen and Jim Bianco.  Many of […]

A True Story From 1931

| December 21, 2010

On or around this day 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 be […]

Cumberland Advisors Checks In With A Year End Update

| December 21, 2010

Jobs, Risk, Uncertainty & Next Year:  An Elaboration December 21, 2010 Bob Eisenbeis is Cumberland’s Chief Monetary Economist. Prior to joining Cumberland Advisors he was the Executive Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Bob is presently a member of the U.S. Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee and the Financial […]

At The Train Station The Sign Says: Step To The Back Of The Line Please….Where Is That? How About 1.2 Miles To The Back Of The Line!

| December 21, 2010

Great Britain….Thousands of Eurostar passengers joined giant lines and were forced to wait for up to seven hours today as the Channel Tunnel rail link was thrown into disarray. Police were forced to turn away some passengers after the freezing weather conditions ruined journeys at London’s St Pancras station as speed restrictions and cancellations affected the […]

‘Epic Proportions’ Of Snow Expected In Colorado Mountains

| December 21, 2010

Southern California is looking at record amounts of rain……Interestingly, it was a cool summer and there was no fire season in California this year!

The Baltic Dry Index…..Heading In The Wrong Direction

| December 20, 2010

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is a number issued daily by the London-based Baltic Exchange. It tracks worldwide international shipping prices of various dry bulk cargoes and provides “an assessment of the price of moving major raw materials by sea through 26 shipping routes measured on a timecharter and voyage basis”.  So now you know!

Wikileaks Julian Assange Says He Has The Goods On A Big U.S. Bank

| December 20, 2010

Stay tuned…..This will be a big story, maybe as soon as tomorrow. A heads up, last Friday Bank of America blocked all of Wikileaks payments.  So… Is that a hint of a nervous banker? According to an advance preview of an interview with Julian Assange by the Times of London’s Alexi Mostrous, the Wikileaks founder has announced […]

Turn Out The Lights, The Party Is Over!

| December 20, 2010

$2 Trillion Debt Crisis Threatens To Bring Down 100+ U.S. Cities Way to go Meredith Whitney…..Logic says the states will be doing huge (really huge) cut backs and layoffs…..So inquiring minds want to know how the economy can grow in these circumstances. To all of the economists out there, it sounds like Meredith is one of the few that gets it! […]

Ireland Gets A Warning From ECU

| December 20, 2010

Isn’t it a little late for the ECU to be threatening about things here, the horse is already out of the barn!  Does the ECU have an alternate plan or set of options here….Nope, that’s just what we thought, none! The European Central Bank warned Ireland that proposed legislation revamping the country’s financial system could threaten some of the ECB’s […]

Riots Erupt In Bangladesh After Stock Market Plunges 6.7%

| December 19, 2010

Oh please, they got to be kidding?  What are they protesting?  Did anyone protest when they made money in the stock market. NO! After the stock market plunged on Sunday by 552 points or 6.72%, angry investors took to the streets, “threw bricks at police, marched in the streets shouting slogans, and staged a sit-down protest.”   “The […]

Home Ownership Rates Continue To Decline

| December 19, 2010

The highest ownership rate of all time was 69.2% around 2005-2006, the low going back to 1965 is 62.9%, and we are currently at 66.9%.  The bottom line: It looks like we have a ways to go on the down side!

U.S. Federal Budget Chart

| December 19, 2010

Well, the receipts (aqua color) aren’t looking so good, but the outlays (red color) are rolling to the upside.  Just the opposite of what should be happening. www.zerohedge.com  

Britain On Track For Coldest Winter Ever

| December 18, 2010

Coldest December (so far) since records began as temperatures plummet to minus 10C bringing travel chaos across Britain….. Britain skidded to a halt today as the big freeze returned by grounding flights, closing rail links and leaving traffic at a standstill. Tonight the nation is braced for another 10 inches of snow and  more sub-zero temperatures, with no […]

Did You Know…..

| December 17, 2010

McDonald’s is the world’s largest distributor of toys, with one included in 20% of all its sales.   Each week nearly one-third of the U.S. population visits Walmart’s U.S. stores.   Last year Walmart sold more bananas than any other item.   Walmart is the largest overall employer in the USA.   Pages in the tax […]

Government Statistics….Liar Liar Pants On Fire!

| December 17, 2010

Liar Liar Pants On Fire!  The chart below is total consumer credit outstanding. Interestingly, when we looked at it, somehow it showed an uptick. That seemed odd and didn’t square with the credit card data.  Low and behold…… they (the government) now count student loans as consumer credit, whereas they did not in the past. Geez, so federally supported credit (ie. student-backed […]

U.S. House Passes Tax-Cut Extension Bill

| December 16, 2010

The U.S. Congress passed an $858 billion bill extending for two years all Bush-era tax cuts, and now the measure goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. Majorities of both parties supported the bill. Voting in favor were 139 Democrats and 138 Republicans, while 112 Democrats and 36 Republicans voted against it. Eight lawmakers didn’t vote. The […]

Economic Tid Bits

| December 16, 2010

Neal Soss at Credit Suisse: We have rising prices in gasoline and food.  That is worldwide.  It is also the warning sign of the worst-case “nightmare scenario.”  It as an “eruption of headline inflation (food and gasoline) with no accompanying pick-up in wages or real growth.”  David R. Kotok of Cumberland Advisors: Through the December […]

6’th Circuit Finds That E-mails Are Protected Under 4’th Amendment, Search Warrants Needed For Government E-mail Interception

| December 16, 2010

Let’s just say this is courtesy of the Wikileaks firestorm… Did you know that E-mails are now today’s primary mode of communication (that’s the main reason the U.S. Post Office is basically broke) , and that e-mail has been subject to the same amount of government surveillance as having a phone bugged since the Patriot Act.  Fair to assume this may force […]

Hmm, So What Happened To The Housing Recovery?

| December 16, 2010

Home Mortgage Rates Spike To The Upside

| December 16, 2010

The most recent look at the 30 Year Cash Fannie Mortgage showed a rise by 11 bps overnight, and by a stunning 1% in the last month. At 4.703% the prevailing wholesale mortgage rate is back to the highest it has been since May 2010. And while some have speculated that this inflection in rates would have […]

Wikileaks Julian Assange Makes Bail

| December 16, 2010

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange had his bail ruling in Britain upheld on appeal.  It was considered a setback to U.K. prosecutors who sought to keep him jailed during an extradition fight with Sweden. The ruling today by the High Court in London upholds a Dec. 14 decision to free Assange on condition that he turn in his […]

United States Debt Is Fast Approaching 100% Of GDP

| December 15, 2010

This chart sure goes back a long ways in time!   1792-Present!   Geez

World GDP (Gross National Product) Map

| December 15, 2010

When was the last time we saw this chart turn down…..Umm, You’re right if you said we haven’t….Until now! www.mybudget360.com

The Real Story On The Tax Cut Bill

| December 15, 2010

Wow!  We’re not sure just where the President is going with this……. The Hill reports that the president has been telling members of Congress that failure to pass the tax-cut legislation could result in the end of his presidency. This begs the question: How does one view this….Reuters reports 2010 may be the second highest bonus payout season […]

Anti-Austerity Riots Erupt In Greece

| December 15, 2010

Protesters:  “We want the government to take back the latest labor law that will hurt workers’ rights.”….Not a chance, didn’t they hear that Greece is broke. ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Protesters clashed with riot police across Athens on Wednesday, torching cars, hurling gasoline bombs and sending Christmas shoppers fleeing in panic during a general strike […]

Wikileaks Julian Assange’s Problems Are Only Just Beginning

| December 14, 2010

A lawyer for Julian Assange of WikiLeaks says a secret grand jury is meeting outside Washington to consider charges in the release of thousands of sensitive U.S. documents. Mark Stephens, one of Wikileaks lawyers told David Frost on Al-Jazeera television that they have heard from Swedish authorities that there has been a “secretly empaneled” grand jury […]

Stratfor: Taking Stock of WikiLeaks

| December 14, 2010

December 10,2010 By George Friedman Julian Assange has declared that geopolitics will be separated into pre-“Cablegate” and post-“Cablegate” eras. That was a bold claim. However, given the intense interest that the leaks produced, it is a claim that ought to be carefully considered. Several weeks have passed since the first of the diplomatic cables were […]

U.K. Court Grants Bail To WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange….But Not So Fast, Sweden Challenges The Decision

| December 14, 2010

A judge in the U.K. granted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange bail but he fights sexual-misconduct accusations in Sweden and will remain in custody after Swedish prosecutors said they would challenge the decision.

We Didn’t Want To Say It As This Huge Storm Was Approaching, But Now We Will….100 Year Records Are Now Being Broken!

| December 13, 2010

The blizzard that pummeled the Upper Midwest over the weekend was one for the record books, burying some communities with nearly 2 feet of snow and breaking 100-year-old records in others and all the way to the South, new records have been set as snow and brutally cold air blasted in behind the storm. Minnesota and […]

Muni Bonds Signal Trouble For State And Local Government Borrowing

| December 13, 2010

This added interest expense should bust state and local budgets for next year. So what’s a borrower to do?  Well to start…cut backs are in order across the board and that’s official! Investors are demanding higher interest payments on municipal bonds in a race for year-end issuance.  Yields are pushing highest rates since 2009 while the Build America Bonds program appeared […]

One Down And One To Go! Senate Sends The Tax Cut Bill To The House According To The Wall Street Journal

| December 13, 2010

The $858+ billion bill to extend the Bush tax cuts has secured 60 votes in the Senate, the minimum needed to schedule a final vote. That tally effectively gives a green-light for the Senate to finish the debate and send the package to the House.  Inquiring minds wonder what kind of pork was added to this monstrosity.

Goldman Sachs Reviews Best Commodity Returns for 2011

| December 13, 2010

Goldman Sachs Predicts Best Commodity Returns for 2011 will be in Precious Metals….. The raw materials most affected for 2011 will be those with the tightest supply, including crude oil, copper, cotton, soybeans and platinum….and we think you might want to add wheat, corn and rice to that list! By Maria Kolesnikova – Dec 13, 2010 Precious metals will […]

Something To Think About!

| December 12, 2010

As this chart from Calculated Risk shows we’re about 99 weeks since the very worst of the job losses from late-2008/early-2009. The extent to which their cutoff effects the consumer recovery (and thus everything else) is something to consider. Read more: www.businessinsider.com

Tax Plan Looks To Pass Congress

| December 12, 2010

No good solutions ahead and problems galore, but this one was needed badly!  The Senate votes on the fiscal package Monday at 3:00 pm. Assuming it passes, the House of Representatives is likely to vote later in the week. Congress plans to adjourn for the year December 17. President Barack Obama’s tax-cut deal with Republicans […]

A World Recession Until 2018? Just Ask Japan

| 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? […]

Puff…..Where Did The Middle Class Go?

| December 12, 2010

 “The top 1 percent of wage earners in America earned more than the bottom 48 percent of Americans.  Source:  Social Security Substantial income inequality is not the path to a strong and vibrant middle class.  17 percent of Americans are either unemployed or underemployed so the lower end of the curve is dragging more people […]

The Recently Arrested Julian Assange Of WikiLeaks Takes His Best Shot At Defending His Actions

| December 11, 2010

Some think state secrets should be protected.  It is a hot topic to say the least. The counter to that is reviewed below from the recently arrested Julian Assange.  Please note that the reviewed article below is not the indicative opinion of TheStatedTruth.com…………… Don’t Shoot Messenger For Revealing Uncomfortable Truths By Julian Assange Wikileaks deserves protection, not threats and attacks. […]

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