Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 19, 2011

Just a reminder that this was posted on www.thestatedtruth.com back on July 17th………

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to throw caution to the wind.  Gold has been a missile to the upside for a multitude of reasons (no pun intended) and the stock markets around the world have been plunging since we reported this.  The third item, oil, has yet to break to the upside. If it does, the set up could be complete for a very nasty outcome.

While things are looking more and more recessionary because of worldwide financial problems, they will be out right depressionary if the below scenario plays out.

Three carriers in proximity to Iran would be extremely troubling, yet fit perfectly with the story of CIA veteran Robert Baer, who as reported by Al Jazeera, appeared on KPFK Los Angeles, warning that Israeli PM Netanyahu is “likely to ignite a war with Iran in the very near future.””Masters asked Baer why the US military is not mobilising to stop this war from happening. Baer responded that the military is opposed, as is former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who used his influence to thwart an Israeli attack during the Bush and Obama administrations. But he’s gone now and “there is a warning order inside the Pentagon” to prepare for war.”  There is almost “near certainty” that Netanyahu is “planning an attack [on Iran] … and it will probably be in September before the vote on a Palestinian state. And he’s also hoping to draw the United States into the conflict”, Baer explained.”

July….Courtesy of Al Jazeeraa and Haaretz, parts of the full take from Robert Baer:

Earlier this week, Robert Baer appeared on the provocative KPFK Los Angeles show Background Briefing, hosted by Ian Masters. It was there that he predicted that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is likely to ignite a war with Iran in the very near future.

Robert Baer has had a storied career, including a stint in Iraq in the 1990s where he organised opposition to Saddam Hussein. (He was recalled after being accused of trying to organise Saddam’s assassination.) Upon his retirement, he received a top decoration for meritorious service.

He obviously won’t name many of his sources in Israel, the United States, and elsewhere, but the few he has named are all Israeli security figures who have publically warned that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are hell-bent on war.

Baer was especially impressed by the unprecedented warning about Netanyahu’s plans by former Mossad chief Meir Dagan. Dagan left the Israeli intelligence agency in September 2010. Two months ago, he predicted that Israel would attack and said that doing so would be “the stupidest thing” he could imagine.

 According to Haaretz:

When asked about what would happen in the aftermath of an Israeli attack Dagan said that: “It will be followed by a war with Iran. It is the kind of thing where we know how it starts, but not how it will end.”

The Iranians have the capability to fire rockets at Israel for a period of months, and Hizbollah could fire tens of thousands of grad rockets and hundreds of long-range missiles, he said.

According to Baer, we ain’t seen nothing yet.

There is almost “near certainty” that Netanyahu is “planning an attack [on Iran] … and it will probably be in September before the vote on a Palestinian state. And he’s also hoping to draw the United States into the conflict”, Baer explained.

The Israeli air force would attack “Natanz and other nuclear facilities to degrade their capabilities. The Iranians will strike back where they can: Basra, Baghdad”, he said, and even Afghanistan. Then the United States would jump into the fight with attacks on Iranian targets. “Our special forces are already looking at Iranian targets in Iraq and across the border [in Iran] which we would strike. What we’re facing here is an escalation, rather than a planned out-and-out war. It’s a nightmare scenario. We don’t have enough troops in the Middle East to fight a war like that.” Baer added, “I think we are looking into the abyss”.

Sources: www.zerohedge.com July 2011

Category: Commentary, Commodities, Economy, Gold and Silver, National News, Tid Bits, Wall Street, World News | 42 Comments »
Tags: Other Things To Think About, Things That Could Go Bang

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 19, 2011

Interesting tid bit…..according to Rob McEwen, only one gold mining company is included in the S&P 500.  Can you guess which one it is?

Answer: Newmont Mining ( NEM) is the only gold mining company listed in the S&P 500

P.S.  There is more than $ 1 trillion of index funds invested in the S&P 500! This insinuates that Gold as an asset class is hugely under invested.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Tid Bits, Wall Street | 49 Comments »
Tags: Gold Mining Stocks, Mining Stocks

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 18, 2011

Not exactly what the housing market needs to find a bottom….fiddling with or elimination of the real estate mortgage deduction and real estate tax deduction will be disastrous in the current environment.

Although the compromise legislation itself involved no new taxes, it created an unusual mechanism, an evenly split, 12-member bipartisan super-committee that could call for major cutbacks on real estate write-offs by Thanksgiving.

Among the options open to the super-committee: Lower the maximum mortgage amount eligible for interest deductions to $500,000 from the current $1.1 million; replace the deduction with a tax credit that would be usable by lower and moderate income owners as well as those with higher incomes; eliminate interest deductions on second homes; and phase out the deductibility of homeowner property tax payments.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate | 559 Comments »
Tags: mortgage deduction, Real Estate Deduction

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 18, 2011

Bank of America is cutting 3,500 jobs in the current quarter and working on a broader restructuring that could eliminate as many as ten thousand positions.

Additional reductions are being discussed as part of an overhaul known as “Project New BAC,” after the Charlotte, N.C., bank’s ticker symbol. Sources close to the situation say as many as 10,000 jobs are likely to be eliminated.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 657 Comments »
Tags: Bank Job Cuts, Financial Institutions Cut Jobs

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 17, 2011

Records are made to be broken.  The time for this record to be broken is near.  Buyer beware!

The week ending August 10 saw a near-record amount of redemption’s from domestic equity mutual funds, amounting to an unprecedented $23.5 billion. This brings the total for August to $34 billion. Another $13 billion in outflows and this will be the single biggest outflow month in ICI history. As of the end of June mutual funds held an all time record low amount of cash of  3.4%.

In the last three weeks a total of $67 billion has been withdrawan across all asset classes. For U.S. stocks, this is the 16th consecutive week of outflows since April 2011, amounting to $87 billion in total outflows, and $172 billion in domestic equity fund outflows since the beginning of 2010. 

Every asset class was effected for the third week in a row….including foreign stocks, bonds and munis.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, National News, Wall Street | 399 Comments »
Tags: Domestic Stock Outflows, Fund Redemptions

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 16, 2011

The average consumer is tapped out.  Be forewarned, a new recession is coming…. whether the government admits it or not! 

Walmart, warned on Tuesday that continued weakness in the U.S. economy has put pressure on its low income consumers who are increasingly worried about unemployment and becoming more reliant on government assistance.

Walmart’s has reported its ninth consecutive quarter of falling domestic sales at U.S. stores open for at least one year. Comparable store sales at Walmart in the U.S., excluding fuel sales and purchases at Sam’s Club stores, were down by 0.9 per cent from a year ago.

Category: Wall Street | 426 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 16, 2011

And why is this….it’s because most assets are deflating (going down in value) but food has been inflating (going up in cost)… along with most types of energy until just recently. 

Rasmussen:

“Americans nationwide continue to lose faith in the Federal Reserve Board to keep inflation under control, with the number who say they are paying more for groceries now at an all-time high.” Specifically, “93% of adults report paying more for groceries now than they did a year ago, the highest finding to date. Only four percent (4%) say they’re not paying more for groceries now compared to a year ago.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News | 2 Comments »
Tags: Foof Costs

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 15, 2011

Ding Dong, The Wicked Witch Is Dead….Or, Maybe Not!

Stone McCarthy:  Negative Empire Survey Results

 “You usually don’t get three straight months of negative results unless you are in a recession  (Note: NY Fed historical data only started in July 2001). ” SMRA continues: “If that’s not bad enough for you, the forward-looking new orders index fell to -7.8 in August, after posting -5.5 in July and -3.6 in June. Not only is the latest reading a new low in the recent string of negative results, it’s also the third straight month of contraction.” In other words when the NBER finally sits down to look at the disaster that the US economy has been over the past several years, the start of the next re-recession will likely be given as June 2011, oddly enough in a year when every sell side bank predicted that the economy would grow by at least 3.5% by Q4. As for what to expect next, look for the Philly Fed to be the next major leading indicator disappointment, which based on the NY Fed result, will miss Wall Street expectations of a +2.0% increase yet once gain, and which SMRA believes will drop from 3.2 in July to -3.4 in August.

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 439 Comments »
Tags: Negative Empire Survey, NY Fed, Philly Fed

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 15, 2011

Couldn’t have said it better……home owners are already ahead of this curve!

“You just slip out the back, Jack.

Make a new plan, Stan.

You don’t need to be coy, Roy.

Just get yourself free.

Hop on the bus, Gus.

You don’t need to discuss much.

Just drop off the key, Lee.

And get yourself free.”     Paul Simon

Category: Commentary, Economy, Inspirational, National News, Wall Street | 11,778 Comments »
Tags: Wall St Bankers, Wall Street

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 11, 2011

It couldn’t happen to a worst run government enterprise.  Excuse us, second worst, Fannie Mae probably takes the brass knuckle.  Our advice….give the whole pile of crap to United Parcel Service (UPS), they would only need to black out one initial.  Not to be too greedy, it might even be smart to pay them to take everything,…even throw in the worthless old fleet of jeeps with the steering wheel on the wrong side.  Now there’s a few ideas worth pursuing!

In a notice to employees informing them of its proposals, with the headline “Financial crisis calls for significant actions,” the Postal Service said “we will be insolvent next month due to significant declines in mail volume and retiree health benefit prefunding costs imposed by Congress.”

This major restructuring of the Postal Service’s relationship with its workforce would need congressional approval and would face fierce opposition from postal unions. But if approved, eliminating contract provisions that prevent layoffs and quitting the federal employee health and retirement programs could have ramifications for workers across the government and throughout the national’s labor movement.

The Postal Service plan is described in two draft documents obtained by The Washington Post. A “Workforce Optimization” paper acknowledges “that asking Congress to eliminate the layoff protections in our collective bargaining agreements is an extraordinary request by the Postal Service, and we do not make this request lightly. However, exceptional circumstances require exceptional remedies.

“The Postal Service is facing dire economic challenges that threaten its very existence. . . . If the Postal Service was a private sector business, it would have filed for bankruptcy and utilized the reorganization process to restructure its labor agreements to reflect the new financial reality.”

The USPS says it needs to reduce its workforce by 120,000 career positions by 2015, in addition to the 100,000 it expects through regular attrition. Some of the 120,000 could come through buyouts and other programs, but a significant number likely would be the result of layoffs, if Congress allows the agency to circumvent union contracts.

“Unfortunately, the collective bargaining agreements between the Postal Service and our unionized employees contain layoff restrictions that make it impossible to reduce the size of our workforce by the amount required by 2015,” according to the postal document. “Therefore, a legislative change is needed to eliminate the layoff protections in our collective bargaining agreements.”

How Congress will respond to the postal proposals remains to be seen. Many Republicans, including those who have sponsored legislation that labor considers anti-union, may support the plan. Some Democrats probably would back union opposition. But the Postal Service’s critical financial situation could make Democrats have second thoughts.

The unions wasted no time in crafting a response:

American Postal Workers Union President Cliff Guffey said, “The APWU will vehemently oppose any attempt to destroy the collective bargaining rights of postal employees or tamper with our recently-negotiated contract — whether by postal management or members of Congress.”

National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association President Don Cantriel: “We are absolutely opposed” to the layoff proposal. “We are opposed to pulling out of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Our advisers are not advising us at all to even consider it.”

National Association of Letter Carriers President Fredric V. Rolando: “The issues of lay-off protection and health benefits are specifically covered by our contract. . . . The Congress of the United States does not engage in contract negotiations with unions and we do not believe they are about to do so.”

Category: Commentary, Economy, Inspirational, National News | 342 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 11, 2011

If your cell phone is having problems, ours are too…. here may be the reason why.

Solar storms could affect earth technology. According to The International Business Times: “Power grids, GPS systems and satellites could be among the technologies affected by surges of energy released by the sun’s swelling magnetic field, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).”

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Weather | 693 Comments »
Tags: Solar Storms, Sun Storms

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 11, 2011

These are bad seats hey buddy, front row, behind a pole!  The chart is a few years old, but you get the picture.

www.ingerletter.com

Category: Wall Street | 2 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 11, 2011

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) just threw a wrench into any chance of lower food prices as U.S. corn reserves (as of August 2012) are expected to be at the lowest levels since the mid-1990’s. 

One thing is for sure….more inflation is coming to a store near you!  Wells Fargo says to expect food prices to rise between 3.5% and 4.5% next year.  That’s if there are no unusual negative surprises.

New federal forecasts show U.S. farmers will harvest dramatically less grain and soybeans than expected this year, failing to ease high prices and rebuild low global supplies. 

U.S. corn reserves (as of August 2012) are expected to be at the lowest levels since the mid-1990’s. 

Wells Fargo & Co., said it expects retail food prices to climb 3.5% to 4.5% in 2012. The federal government’s consumer-price index for all food was up 3.7% over the 12 months ended in June, while prices in grocery stores were up 4.7%.

And Cotton…….

According to the USDA, a drought across the Southwest U.S. forced farmers to abandon 30% of their cotton acres. In Texas, which just recorded its hottest and second-driest July on record, dairy farmers are being forced to buy high-priced Midwest corn harvested last year because their own fields have shriveled up.

Category: Commentary, Commodities, Economy, National News | 25 Comments »
Tags: Farmers, Grain Harvest, Outlook 2011, USDA Forecasts

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 9, 2011

California was counting on collecting increasing tax revenue, even though almost every tax generating category in the state is slowing. Rest assured that these political morons never passed basic math 101.

California just announced that state tax revenue fell in July, more than 10% below expectations.  The LA Times blog says this will, “make it more likely that deeper cuts to public schools built into the state budget in case of a stalled economic recovery will occur.” It adds: “Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers patched up the final $4 billion of California’s budget shortfall this year by hoping for a windfall economic recovery. Those hopes are now fading fast. Tax collections in July were $538.8 million below budget forecasts, according to state Controller John Chiang.” 

Income taxes were up slightly, but sales and corporate collections lagged by a combined nearly $210 million. But the biggest drag was from the unidentified $4 billion that budget writers had banked on.

“Every drop in revenues puts us closer to the drastic trigger cuts that could be imposed next year,” Chiang said in a statement. Those automatic cuts include a reduction in schools spending that could shrink the academic year by as many as seven days in some districts.

 

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, National News, Wall Street | 74 Comments »
Tags: Basic Math, California, Tax Revenue Shortage

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 9, 2011

A Big Mac priced in U.S. Dollars is $17.19 (for one), in  Zurich….But Fed Chairman Bernanke says we have no inflation.  Question to Mr Burnanke:  Just how did a McDonald’s Big Mac get so expensive in Zurich?  Um…..

Category: Commentary, Economy, Inspirational, National News | 64 Comments »
Tags: Big Mac, Fine Dining, Hamburger

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 8, 2011

So what happens when everybody hits the PANIC button at the same time?  For starters….How about a global stock market dump equal to $7.8 TRILLION.

Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street | 668 Comments »
Tags: Market Losses, Stock Wipeout

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 7, 2011

The F-22 Raptor fighter jet is a sleek, diamond-winged fighter conceived during the Cold War in the early 1980’s to combat a new generation of Soviet fighter jets. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet fighters that the U.S. military planners had feared never moved beyond development stage and none were ever built.

So the United States ended up with a fleet of 158 Lockheed F-22 Raptor fighter jet planes, with an expected cost of $139 million each…but nope, they ended up costing $412 million each, and none, that’s right, none have never entered combat.  Say what?  Yep.  They’re the most expensive fighter jets ever built, but the F-22 Raptor’s never have worked even one day of combat.  Not one day! 

Believe it or not, it gets worse…even the government will have a hard time topping this.  The plane takes about 3,000 people to maintain, and the Air Force has calculated that for every hour in the air, the F-22 Raptor spends 45 hours undergoing maintenance.

The F-22s amount to about $65 billion just sitting on the tarmac.  “For all that gigantic cost, you have a system you can’t even use,” said Winslow T. Wheeler, a defense budget specialist and frequent Pentagon critic at the Center for Defense Information. “It’s a fundamental explanation on how the country has gotten itself in the financial mess that it’s in today.”

F-22 engines have thrust-vectoring nozzles that can move up and down, making the plane exceptionally agile. It can reach supersonic speeds without using afterburners, enabling the plane to fly faster and farther. It’s also packed with cutting-edge radar and sensors, allowing the pilot to identify, track and shoot an aircraft before the enemy pilot can detect the F-22.

Two decades ago, the U.S. government planned to buy 648 of the fighters for $139 million apiece; the cost has almost tripled since then to $412 million, the Government Accountability Office said.

Purchases finally ended with 188 planes.  The $273 million cost over run per plane translates into $51.3 billion in lost buying power for the defense department. 

And they wonder why we call them government morons!

Information pertaining to this article are from: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fighter-jets-grounded-20110807,0,5483241.story

Category: Commentary, National News, National Security, Wall Street | 3 Comments »
Tags: F-22 Raptor, Fighter Jet, Government Morons

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 6, 2011

More specifically it looks like Italy is next up and Spain is in the hole when it comes to new insolvent disasters!  Global leaders call for an urgent emergency summit of finance ministers.  Is it dominoes we hear falling?

Referencing Spiegel: Concerning the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility)

• German Govt: Italy Too Big For EFSF To Save
• German Govt: Doubts Whether Tripling EFSF Would Help It Save Italy
• German Govt: Italy Must Make Savings, Reforms To Exit Crisis
• Italy Debt Guarantee Could Raise Doubts Over Germany’s Finances
• German Govt: EFSF Should Only Help Small, Mid-Size Countries

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, National News, Wall Street, World News | 75 Comments »
Tags: dominoes, EFSF, Insolvent

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 6, 2011

Category: Commentary, Economy, Jokes, National News | 14 Comments »
Tags: Fairytale, Genie, Story, wishes

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 5, 2011

Bye bye U.S. AAA debt rating. The new normal just changed for the worse. For the most part, everyone thought things were already bad and “had” to get better!  Oh well, live and learn.  Next week could be a dozy!  We have some tough years ahead of us between 2012 and 2014.  But before that, a stock market bounce back into late September or early October would not be a surprise.  Prepare for the unexpected during the next few years.

S&P Downgrades U.S. To AA+, Outlook Negative

“The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective,  and less predictable than what we previously believed. The statutory debt ceiling and the threat of default have become political bargaining chips in the debate over fiscal policy. Despite this year’s wide-ranging debate, in our view, the differences between political parties have proven to be extraordinarily difficult to bridge, and, as we see it, the resulting agreement fell well short of the comprehensive fiscal consolidation program that some proponents had envisaged until quite recently. Republicans and Democrats have only been able to agree to relatively modest savings on discretionary spending while delegating to the Select Committee decisions on more comprehensive measures. It appears that for now, new revenues have dropped down on the menu of policy options. In addition, the plan envisions only minor policy changes on Medicare and little change in other entitlements, the containment of which we and most other independent observers regard as key to long-term fiscal sustainability.” What to expect on Monday: “it is possible that interest rates could rise if investors re-price relative risks. As a result, our alternate scenario factors in a 50 basis point (bp)-75 bp rise in 10-year bond yields relative to the base and upside cases from 2013 onwards. In this scenario, we project the net public debt burden would rise from 74% of GDP in 2011 to 90% in 2015 and to 101% by 2021.”

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street | 53 Comments »
Tags: Bad News, U.S. Debt Rating;Bonds

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 5, 2011

Could the unthinkable happen?  Here’s Peter Barnes of the Fox Business Network.

Peter Barnes: “Is there a risk that the United States could lose its AAA credit rating? Yes or no?”

Geithner’s response: “No risk of that.”

“No risk?” Barnes asked.

“No risk,” Geithner said.

 www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Finance, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street | 41 Comments »
Tags: debt, Risk

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 5, 2011

The background indicates that this isn’t good news….here’s why.  Both Visa and Mastercard have seen credit card use increase, but they have explained that the consumer seems to be tapped out and resorting to credit cards as a source of funds. This would make sense considering how tough the economy is currently. 

The most interesting aspect of this report is that non-revolving debt, including educational loans and loans for autos and mobile homes, rose by $10.3 billion, equaling about two thirds of the total monthly increase of $15.5 billion.  The May numbers showed an increase of only $5.08 billion and that covered all categories.

Credit increased by $15.5 billion, three times as much as projected and the biggest gain since August 2007, according to the Federal Reserve.

Bloomberg surmised that with unemployment hovering around 9 percent, it may be spurring Americans to stay in school longer or seek more training in the hope of landing a job. At the same time, elevated gasoline and food costs may be straining household budgets, prompting consumers to turn to their credit cards to purchase necessities.

Non-revolving debt, including educational loans and loans for autos and mobile homes, rose by $10.3 billion for the month equaling about two thirds of the total amount.

Revolving debt, which includes credit cards, increased by $5.21 billion in June, the most since March 2008, according to the central bank.

When you look at unemployment being above 9 percent, with housing prices not really coming back to a good space….it really impacts the mood of consumer confidence, according to MasterCard Inc. Chief Financial Officer Martina Hund-Mejean. “It’s impacting things today and it will impact things tomorrow.”

Category: Commentary, Economy, Education and Schooling, Finance, National News, Wall Street | 1,550 Comments »
Tags: consumer credit

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 4, 2011

Stocks plunged sharply Thursday, with the Dow down more than 500 points in its worst one-day drop since December 2008.  So, the question is….are we looking at the real meal deal at McDonald’s or just a snack?  We think just a snack.  Sometime soon the market will probably start a rally, and the rally should last into late September or early October. But that’s assuming Israel doesn’t attack Iran. After that, then straight down we go into the end of the year.  Time will tell!

Just thinking out loud of course.  This is not a recommendation of any sort!

Category: Commentary | 756 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 4, 2011

Is Texas setting itself up for an electric grid disaster….we’ll soon see!

Power demand for Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc, or ERCOT, which runs the power grid for most of the state, hit three consecutive records this week as Texans cranked up air conditioners to escape one of the hottest summers on record.  Power usage in ERCOT reached its highest level ever on Wednesday at 68,294 megawatts, almost 4 percent over last year’s peak.

With record-breaking demand came record-breaking prices. Prices for Thursday power topped $400 per megawatt hour, the highest in at least a decade. Friday’s power prices approached $600. Real-time prices also hit the $3,000 market cap over the past few days.

ERCOT has about 73,000 MW of natural gas, coal, oil, nuclear and wind generating facilities, but not all of that capacity is available all the time.

Texas has the most wind power in the country, but the wind does not blow during the summer. Ercot said it got about 2,000 MW from wind during the peak hour on Wednesday. Those wind farms can produce about 9,000 MW when all turbines are spinning. but otherwise the ERCOT power grid is a virtual island with only a few small transmission links to neighboring electric grids, making it tough for Texas to pull energy from neighboring states in times of need.

More at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/04/us-utilities-ercot-heatwave-idUSTRE7736OT20110804

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street, Weather | 397 Comments »
Tags: Electric Grid, Texas, weather

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 3, 2011

The consumer is broke and getting broker.  So far, the free loaders have been free spenders.  That’s about to change as the banks get closer to kicking millions of the mortgage dead beats out of their homes.  As this evolves things will likely get down right nasty for the economy!

From Bloomberg:  Disclosure from an internal, and supposedly confidential Wal-Mart memo on store traffic patterns indicate that in U.S. store locations open for at least a year, there has been a 2.6% drop in traffic in the February to June period compared to a year earlier. The Wal-Mart stores in question had “82.8 million fewer visits through the first five months of the company’s fiscal year.”  This is an indication of just how exhausted the U.S. consumer is. Bloomberg continues: “Wal-Mart’s plan was to recapture customers by returning thousands of products to U.S. store shelves.”  It has failed to reverse a decline in foot traffic at the world’s largest retailer, according to Jeff Stinson, an analyst at Cleveland Research Co. That’s primarily because Wal-Mart’s core low-income customers are shopping less and going to other retailers more often, according to two recent shopper surveys. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, because the CEO of Wal Mart America said a few months back that “shoppers are running out of money and there is no sign of a recovery.” 

www.zerohedge.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street | 778 Comments »
Tags: broke, Consumers, Dead Beats, Real Estate, retail

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 3, 2011

The rules have just changed.  The little guy gets screwed again.  Tiny Central Falls, R.I. filed for bankruptcy on Monday, but a new state law in Rhode Island places bondholders ahead of other creditors. It may turn out to be a bondholder’s dream as the real winners end up being the large municipalities located across the country as they target similar court rulings. The big losers (of course) are the workers themselves. Expect a big fight on this issue to ensue.

PS….It’s hard to believe this little city has 80 million in unfunded pension and health-care liabilities.  Yep

This from the WSJ…….

Thanks to a new state law in Rhode Island that places bondholders ahead of other creditors, Central Falls plans to pay investors the entire $635,000 it owes them in October. But retired city workers might make the sacrifice. Instead of $296,000 in pension checks promised before Central Falls became the second U.S. municipality to seek Chapter 9 protection this year, the retirees could get only $196,000 in payments next month, that’s a 34% cut.

Pension payments usually are sacrosanct. But a new Rhode Island law enacted in July upends the traditional pecking order of who gets paid first when a city or county becomes insolvent.

Municipal-bond lawyers believe Rhode Island’s law is the first of its kind in the U.S. As municipalities in other states grapple with overwhelming pension obligations and debts, similar laws could catch on, partly because they will help even shaky cities and counties keep borrowing money, experts say.

“If they can protect access to the bond market, it could open up to more prepackaged bankruptcies like this,” says James Spiotto, a partner at law firm Chapman and Cutler LLP in Chicago who specializes in municipal bankruptcies.

Under the law, city officials who intentionally fail to pay bondholders can be removed from office or held personally liable for the payments.

The July 12 law is likely to be challenged in court by current and retired Central Falls workers.

The $100,000 cut in pension checks being issued in September is part of a proposed benefits restructuring that would reduce payments to some retirees by 50%. The average Central Falls city pension is about $32,000.

The median household income of Central Falls is about equal to the average city worker’s annual pension. The city’s outstanding bonds are a relatively small problem compared with $80 million in unfunded pension and health-care liabilities.

Category: Commentary, National News, Pensions and Retirement, Wall Street | 2,352 Comments »
Tags: muni bonds, pensions, Retirements

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 2, 2011

So….our only question is: What happens if the economy gets really bad (by government standards)?  Remember, the government says we’re still in a recovery.

Just released data shows foodstamp usage increased over 1.1 million in the the highest single monthly jump in Foodstamp participation since mid 2009,that was when eligibility requirements were adjusted. We now have what amounts to 45.8 million people (an all time record) living on foodstamps.  The breakdown goes like this….. $133.80 per person and $283.65 per household.

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 710 Comments »
Tags: Entitlments, food stamps

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 2, 2011

In a puff of smoke….sounds like Putin doesn’t like us (U.S.) anymore?  As if he ever did!  On the other hand, he makes some startlingly good observations.

Putin says U.S. is “parasite” on global economy

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States Monday of living beyond its means “like a parasite” on the global economy and said dollar dominance was a threat to the financial markets.

“They are living beyond their means and shifting a part of the weight of their problems to the world economy,” Putin told the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi while touring its lakeside summer camp some five hours drive north of Moscow.

Source Reuters

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street, World News | 453 Comments »
Tags: Global Parasite, Putin, Russia

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on August 2, 2011

Let’s get real…..this isn’t unexpected!

Government bonds in Italy and Spain continue on a downward march, creating more concern about the potential spread of the euro zone’s debt crisis.  The dominoes are falling one by one.  World wide debt problems are bubbling over.  A new financial world order is coming shortly.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 403 Comments »
Tags: Bonds, debt, Erope Debt, World Debt Problems

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 31, 2011

We couldn’t be more poetic if we tried…… scratch Pelosi from this chart and substitute Boehner, but it won’t change a thing!

Category: Charts and Graphs, Commentary, Economy, Inspirational, National News, Pictures, Wall Street | 586 Comments »
Tags: Flow Chart, Government

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 31, 2011

Slow learners……we’re talking about the government of course! They want banks to loan out more and consumer borrowing to pick up.  They still don’t get it!

Household debt levels are at 112% of annual income which is considered too high. To get back to a 1990’s debt-to-income ratio’s of 84%, incomes would need to be nearly $4 trillion higher.  This would take about nine years worth of income growth, according to Credit Suisse estimates. 

Incomes are shrinking as shown in the chart below.

The U.S. economy has been expanding slowly for two years now, and economists had been expecting it to pick up steam in the second half as robust overseas demand and investment at home by cash-rich companies spured consumers to spend, even as they reduce their debt burdens. But Friday’s GDP report and the impact of Washington’s debt-ceiling stalemate on consumer and business confidence as well as on financial markets are raising doubts about that outlook.

It could be years before Americans feel that they’ve pared enough debt to start spending readily. Household debt levels are at 112% of annual income which is considered high. To get back to a 1990s debt-to-income ratio of 84%, incomes would need to be nearly $4 trillion higher.  This would take about nine years worth of income growth, according to Credit Suisse estimates.

Robert Hall, a Stanford University professor, says that three-quarters of households don’t have two months worth of income socked away as cash or other liquid assets. Further more Federal Reserve researcher Karen Pence says that 41% of households can borrow less than $3,000 on their credit cards and 23% have been turned down or discouraged from applying for credit.

Meantime, the government’s ability to serve as a shock absorber is for the most part gone. In 2003, when the economic recovery stumbled, the Bush administration pushed through tax cuts to get cash into the hands of households and the Fed pushed down interest rates to ease borrowing. In 2008 and 2009, the Obama administration and the Fed did it again, boosting federal spending in an $800-billion stimulus and cutting interest rates to near zero.

Now, with deficits sky high, the federal government is moving toward cutting spending. The Fed’s hands are now tied, as they can’t cut short-term rates below zero and are reluctant to pursue another round of buying mortgages and Treasury securities.  That’s because the last effort to push down long-term interest rates and stimulate growth had only marginal success.

Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street | 21 Comments »
Tags: debt, Government, Slow Learners

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 30, 2011

So much for the recovery.  Button up and stay alert.   Maintaining what one has will go to the fiscally fittest……

John Williams of Shadow Stats confirms the severity of the on coming double dip.

– GDP Growth Slows Markedly
– Official Downturn Much Deeper In Revision
– Latest GDP No Longer Has Recovered Pre-Recession High
– 2009 Annual GDP Drop Now Worst Since 1932 — Outside of World War II Production Shutdown

www.ShadowStats.com

Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street | 62 Comments »
Tags: Economy, gdp, Recovery

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 29, 2011

Better late then never…..looks like the government finally gets real on housing!  Research released Monday by William Hedberg, a San Francisco Fed research associate, and John Krainer, a senior economist, say housing weakness is likely to continue for years.  We’re now starting to see the government throw in the towel on trying to artificially save housing.  Supply and demand will soon be more prevalent in dictating prices.

 

Fed Paper: U.S. Housing Is In Trouble Until At Least 2014

July 2011

(Reuters)  U.S. home building likely won’t return to normal levels until 2014, and then only if housing prices rebound and foreclosures drop sharply, research from the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank showed.

Continued weakness in the housing market is dragging on the U.S. economy, which is losing ground under the weight of 9.2 percent unemployment and declining consumer confidence.

A report on Friday is expected to show the U.S. economy expanded at a 1.8 percent clip in the April-to-June period, below the first quarter’s tepid 1.9 percent rate.

Research released Monday by William Hedberg, a San Francisco Fed research associate, and John Krainer, a senior economist there, indicate the drag from housing is likely to continue for years.

“Our analysis suggests that even an unusually strong period of real house price appreciation would not, on its own, lift starts to long-run average levels,” the researchers wrote in the regional Fed bank’s latest Economic Letter. “A significant easing of the drag on housing stemming from the inventory of foreclosed homes is also needed.”

Foreclosures would need to drop by 50,000 homes per quarter starting in 2012, the researchers found, and home prices would need to stop falling by 2013 and then begin to rise, for housing starts to return to pre-2004 levels by 2014.

More at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/25/usa-fed-housing-idUSN1E76O0SV20110725

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Real Estate, Wall Street | 3,598 Comments »
Tags: Economy, Fed Paper, Real Estate

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 29, 2011

Economy Slowdown

The U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace than expected in the spring surprising economists, as consumers cut back on spending, while revisions showed the slowdown this year was much more drastic than previously thought. 

Gross domestic product climbed at a 1.3 percent annual rate Commerce Department figures showed today out of Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 1.8 percent increase. Household purchases account for about 70 percent of the economy..

“The second-half rebound is melting away,said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, the only forecaster polled that correctly estimated the gain in GDP. It’s a very, very difficult situation for policy makers. The Fed looks unlikely to move on interest rates for a very long time.

“It’s the consumer and competitive picture that has become more difficult, at least more so than we expected, according to Indra Nooyi on a July 21 conference call.

Making matters worse is that unemployment climbed to 9.2 percent in June while payrolls grew by only 18,000, the fewest in nine months according to Labor Department figures back on July 8.

“You’re going to need more employment to really get the consumer comfortable with increasing their spending, said Michael Carey, chief economist  at Credit Agricole CIB in New York.  We’re going to need more employment before businesses really become confident that demand is going to be there.

Category: Commentary, Economy, National News, Wall Street | 77 Comments »
Tags: consumer, Economy, spending, unemployment

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 27, 2011

Category: Wall Street | 466 Comments »
Tags:

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 21, 2011

Apple’s newest Lion software upgrade is laying in wait to test out the latest Mac book computer.  Bloomberg reviews the newest tech below!

Apple says its newest operating system called Lion won’t need a mouse, that’s right, no mouse…..Lion, is the new version of the software that runs Apple Inc. (AAPL) s Macs and is also the first personal-computer operating system for the post-PC era.

Ive been running the new operating system on two Macs: one of Apple’s newly revamped MacBook Air ultra-portables, on which it was pre-installed, loaned to me by the company; and as an upgrade on a recent-model iMac desktop. I’m finding it beautiful, stable and chock full of new features — but with a significant learning curve attached.

Lion went on sale yesterday at Apple’s online store for $30, and the upgrade process is remarkably smooth. Downloading it over a cable-modem connection and installing it took me about 45 minutes. There were no product keys or serial numbers to enter and the whole thing ran pretty much on auto-pilot. One purchase entitles you to install Lion on every Mac you own.

In addition to the online version, Apple next month will start selling Lion on a USB drive for $69.

Getting the most out of Lion requires learning a bunch of unfamiliar gestures, taps and swipes. Take for example the simple act of scrolling down a Web page. The first thing you’ll notice about the scroll bar is, there isn’t one. It only appears when you put two fingers on the touch pad (if you’re using a laptop) or the touch-sensitive Magic Mouse that comes with the iMac. Then, instead of pulling the slider to move down the page, you move your fingers up, much as you’d do on an iPad.

While there’s a certain logic to the new interface, old habits are hard to break, and I frequently found myself needing time to figure out how to accomplish what I wanted.

Adding to the difficulty was that some of the gestures were different depending on whether I was using the touchpad or the mouse. It isn’t a problem if you only work on one or the other, but it’ll be a long time before I automatically know when to use a three-finger upward swipe rather than a two-finger double-tap.

New Icons

If the new user interface is the most obvious change in Lion, it’s only one of what Apple says are 250 new features. You’ll notice a couple of the most important in the form of new icons that appear in the dock at the bottom of your screen.

One is called Launchpad. It serves as a home base for the applications you’ve installed on your Mac. Your programs appear as icons, much as they do on an iPad, and you can add, delete and rearrange them at will. I found it especially useful because I tend to junk up my desktop with random files, folders and icons. Launchpad helped me cut through the clutter.

The other new icon launches Mission Control, Apple’s latest effort to provide you with a bird’s-eye view of everything active on your computer: open windows, dashboard widgets, multiple desktops. In earlier versions of its operating system, Apple tried something like this with a feature called Expose that I never much cared for. Mission Control is a considerable improvement.

Full-Screen Apps

The need for a better tool to keep track of everything is even more important with Lion’s emphasis on running apps that take up the entire screen. In full-screen mode, the dock and menu bar disappear, though you can summon the latter by moving your cursor to the top of the screen. With Lion, you can have several full-screen apps running at once, swiping your fingers to navigate between them.

For all the big changes in Lion, I actually found some of the smaller ones to be among the most enjoyable. For instance, a new feature called AirDrop makes it absurdly easy for nearby Macs to wirelessly exchange files, no Wi-Fi network required. That one alone could put a dent in thumb-drive sales.

Other nice touches: When you open a program or restart your system, Lion automatically takes you right back to where you left off. Programs written for the new OS will be able to automatically save your work, and let you retrieve earlier versions. The Mail program has been intelligently redesigned, with a new conversation view that threads lengthy chains of correspondence for easier reading. All in all, it’s a lot for $30.

Ultimately, how readily you embrace Lion will depend on your tolerance for change. Me, I’ve reached my conclusion: Change is good.

(Rich Jaroslovsky is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

More at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-21/apple-s-lion-heralds-mouse-free-touchpad-mac-era-tech-by-rich-jaroslovsky.html

Category: Commentary, Economy, Inspirational, National News, Technology, Wall Street, World News | 78 Comments »
Tags: Apple Mac, Apple Wins Again, Lion Operating System

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 21, 2011

Bad seats, hey buddy!

Leaders of the Eurozone announced a huge new financial bailout package for Greece on Thursday, doubling up the amount of loans originally agreed upon ……The 17 EU nations that use the euro,  offered Athens $157 billion in new loans, a nearly identical aid package to last year.

Category: Commentary, Economy, Interest Rates, Bonds, National News, Wall Street, World News | 11,671 Comments »
Tags: Bad Hand, Bad Seats, Doubling Down, euro, Greece

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 21, 2011

Treasury exits Chrysler bailout with $1.3-billion loss……declared it a success.

The Chrysler Group bailout officially ended Thursday when the Treasury Department sold off its remaining stake in the automaker, and the final tally shows the taxpayers lost $1.3 billion.  The Treasury is unlikely to recover the remaining $1.3 billion. But Tim Massad, the Treasury assistant secretary who oversees the TARP program, declared the bailout a success.

Category: Commentary, Economy, Inspirational, National News, Wall Street | 713 Comments »
Tags: Bilout, Losses, Rocks, Treasury

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 21, 2011

Medi is her name and Meditation is her game….Medi asks, now can I have my biscuit?  By definition the English word meditation is derived from the Latin meditatio, from a verb meditari, meaning “to think, contemplate, devise, ponder, meditate”. The subject gets even deeper but this will do for now.

www.jsmineset.com

Category: Commentary, Inspirational, National News, Pictures | 495 Comments »
Tags: Biscuit Time, Dog World, Meditation, Relax

Posted By thestatedtruth.com on July 20, 2011

ABC reports…….

Sabotage by an insider at a major utility facility, including a chemical or oil refinery, could provide al Qaeda with its best opportunity for the kind of massive Sept. 11 anniversary attack Osama bin Laden was planning, according to U.S. officials.

A new intelligence report from the Department of Homeland Security issued Tuesday, titled Insider Threat to Utilities, warns “violent extremists have, in fact, obtained insider positions,” and that “outsiders have attempted to solicit utility-sector employees” for damaging physical and cyber attacks.

“Based on the reliable reporting of previous incidents, we have high confidence in our judgment that insiders and their actions pose a significant threat to the infrastructure and information systems of U.S. facilities,” the bulletin reads in part. “Past events and reporting also provide high confidence in our judgment that insider information on sites, infrastructure, networks, and personnel is valuable to our adversaries and may increase the impact of any attack on the utilities infrastructure.”

More at: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/terror-alert-warns-insider-threat-infrastructure/story?id=14118119

Category: Commentary, National News, National Security, World News | 71 Comments »
Tags: Sabotage, terror threat