19.12.07
Copper is one of the most useful metals on this planet. It’s resistant to corrosion, a good conductor of electricity and it’s also flexible. It is used in so many appliances that it would take forever to list them all however here is a small sample computers, cellular phones, electrical wiring, transformers, motors, air conditioning, cars, tractors, roofing, plumbing and the list goes on and on. There is almost no industry that does not use copper in one way or another and now thanks to the huge demand stemming from Asia (primarily from India and China) and Latin America prices have been soaring and will continue to soar for the foreseeable future.
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/ti/2007/1219.html
Friday, December 21, 2007
NOT YOUR FATHER'S DEFLATION
21.12.07
Among those rational enough to perceive the looming economic downturn, a heated debate has arisen that centers on whether the slowdown will be accompanied by inflation or deflation.
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/schiff/2007/1221.html
Among those rational enough to perceive the looming economic downturn, a heated debate has arisen that centers on whether the slowdown will be accompanied by inflation or deflation.
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/schiff/2007/1221.html
INFRASTRUCTURE: IT'S NOT ABOUT BEIJING IN '08
21.12.07
I saw it yet again yesterday: another commentator talked about how China’s economy should keep chugging along through the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, particularly its appetite for commodities due to its infrastructure needs ahead of that event. Sometimes I hear it said that the trend might last through 2010 and the World Expo in Shanghai for similar reasons.
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/delta/2007/1221.html
I saw it yet again yesterday: another commentator talked about how China’s economy should keep chugging along through the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, particularly its appetite for commodities due to its infrastructure needs ahead of that event. Sometimes I hear it said that the trend might last through 2010 and the World Expo in Shanghai for similar reasons.
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/delta/2007/1221.html
BOOM OR BUST?
21.12.07
The global economy seems to be slowing down after the massive expansion which has taken place since 2002. Moreover, the recent rout in the equity and credit markets is yet again prompting several prominent analysts to claim that a catastrophic depression lies somewhere ahead. The doom-mongers are back in fashion again; pointing towards high debt levels, US housing recession and the eventual failure of the monetary system when making their dire economic forecasts
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/saxena/2007/1221.html
The global economy seems to be slowing down after the massive expansion which has taken place since 2002. Moreover, the recent rout in the equity and credit markets is yet again prompting several prominent analysts to claim that a catastrophic depression lies somewhere ahead. The doom-mongers are back in fashion again; pointing towards high debt levels, US housing recession and the eventual failure of the monetary system when making their dire economic forecasts
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/saxena/2007/1221.html
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Five Things You Need to Know
13.12.07
Fed Treating Quarters Like Manhole Covers; What Does "Global Coordinated Liquidity Injection" Mean?; Unprecedented? Not by a Longshot; Consumer Credit Contraction; Cleveland Introduced to Deflation
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/bac-fed-weimar-bernanke/index/a/15185/from/yahoo
Fed Treating Quarters Like Manhole Covers; What Does "Global Coordinated Liquidity Injection" Mean?; Unprecedented? Not by a Longshot; Consumer Credit Contraction; Cleveland Introduced to Deflation
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/bac-fed-weimar-bernanke/index/a/15185/from/yahoo
BEN MUST BE REALLY WORRIED ABOUT THE ECONOMY
13.12.07
DON'T ever let them see you sweat!
That's always good advice, especially if you happen to be monetary policymakers. But in the case of the Federal Reserve, the ring of perspiration is quite noticeable right now
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12132007/business/ben_must_be_really_worried_about_the_eco_876115.htm
DON'T ever let them see you sweat!
That's always good advice, especially if you happen to be monetary policymakers. But in the case of the Federal Reserve, the ring of perspiration is quite noticeable right now
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12132007/business/ben_must_be_really_worried_about_the_eco_876115.htm
Saturday, December 8, 2007
The garden of the future?
6.12.07
Forest gardens that replicate woodland ecosystems provide food, fuel and medicine, support wildlife, and could boom in popularity as the climate changes. Jill Tunstall explores a horticultural haven
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/06/ethicalliving.conservation
Forest gardens that replicate woodland ecosystems provide food, fuel and medicine, support wildlife, and could boom in popularity as the climate changes. Jill Tunstall explores a horticultural haven
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/dec/06/ethicalliving.conservation
Food prices: Cheap no more
6.12.07
Rising incomes in Asia and ethanol subsidies in America have put an end to a long era of falling food prices
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10250420
Rising incomes in Asia and ethanol subsidies in America have put an end to a long era of falling food prices
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10250420
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Reserve Bank of Australia: 'running scared' of global credit crisis
5.12.07
A new openness at the Reserve Bank has revealed a board increasingly worried about the chaos in world credit markets and the outlook for the world economy.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/06/2110919.htm?section=business
A new openness at the Reserve Bank has revealed a board increasingly worried about the chaos in world credit markets and the outlook for the world economy.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/12/06/2110919.htm?section=business
Monday, December 3, 2007
100 Months So Far
1.12.07
In August 1999, more people were focused on the announcement from the Bank of England that it would be selling one-half of the UK's gold reserve than the opportunity that news presented to buy gold when it was unbelievably cheap. Gold closed that month at $255.80, and it has been rising ever since. Here we are now exactly 100 months later with gold closing November at $782.20, a three-fold increase.
http://goldmoney.com/en/commentary.php#current
In August 1999, more people were focused on the announcement from the Bank of England that it would be selling one-half of the UK's gold reserve than the opportunity that news presented to buy gold when it was unbelievably cheap. Gold closed that month at $255.80, and it has been rising ever since. Here we are now exactly 100 months later with gold closing November at $782.20, a three-fold increase.
http://goldmoney.com/en/commentary.php#current
A TIDAL WAVE!
2.12.07
PRECIOUS METALS – As per my expectation, the bull-market is powering ahead due to monetary inflation and the accelerating debasement of currencies. Gold is now trading close to $800 per ounce and the yellow metal is likely to continue its advance until spring next year. At today’s level, adjusted for inflation (even using the understated inflation figures released by the Federal Reserve), gold is still roughly 65% cheaper than where it was in 1980. If you adjust the price of gold in terms of the real inflation we have witnessed over the past 27 years, the price of gold would have to rise several-fold from these levels. Now, I am not saying with any certainty that this is going to take place, but I want you to be aware of the potential should the public wake up to the inflation menace.
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/saxena/2007/1130.html
PRECIOUS METALS – As per my expectation, the bull-market is powering ahead due to monetary inflation and the accelerating debasement of currencies. Gold is now trading close to $800 per ounce and the yellow metal is likely to continue its advance until spring next year. At today’s level, adjusted for inflation (even using the understated inflation figures released by the Federal Reserve), gold is still roughly 65% cheaper than where it was in 1980. If you adjust the price of gold in terms of the real inflation we have witnessed over the past 27 years, the price of gold would have to rise several-fold from these levels. Now, I am not saying with any certainty that this is going to take place, but I want you to be aware of the potential should the public wake up to the inflation menace.
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/saxena/2007/1130.html
OIL'S GOING TO $70
2.12.07
For the first time in more than a year, I’m a near-term bear on oil prices. I suspect that crude could fall to around $70 per barrel in the next three to four months, roughly a 30 percent correction from its recent highs. This move will be a correction of the long-term uptrend in crude, not the end of the bull market. This correction will mark a historic buying opportunity for both oil and oil-related stocks.
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/gue/2007/1202.html
For the first time in more than a year, I’m a near-term bear on oil prices. I suspect that crude could fall to around $70 per barrel in the next three to four months, roughly a 30 percent correction from its recent highs. This move will be a correction of the long-term uptrend in crude, not the end of the bull market. This correction will mark a historic buying opportunity for both oil and oil-related stocks.
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/gue/2007/1202.html
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
A Primary Bear Market
23.11.07
It was a noble battle, it was a battle that seemed almost endless. But today the great battle ended. Today the D-J Industrial Average closed below its August 16 low of 12845.78, thereby confirming the prior violation of the Transportation Average. In so doing, the stock market and the Dow Theory have spoken -- they have confirmed the existence of a primary bear market.
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/russell/russell112307.html
It was a noble battle, it was a battle that seemed almost endless. But today the great battle ended. Today the D-J Industrial Average closed below its August 16 low of 12845.78, thereby confirming the prior violation of the Transportation Average. In so doing, the stock market and the Dow Theory have spoken -- they have confirmed the existence of a primary bear market.
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/russell/russell112307.html
Securities market rigging is taken for granted
23.11.07 received via GATA
The Bloomberg News Service story appended here is remarkable for its taking for granted the market rigging being arranged by the secretary of the treasury, whereby, at the government's encouragement, the county's biggest banks are colluding to fix the market price of distressed securities, violating the most basic anti-trust law.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a3BygoB.ADZg&refer=home
The Bloomberg News Service story appended here is remarkable for its taking for granted the market rigging being arranged by the secretary of the treasury, whereby, at the government's encouragement, the county's biggest banks are colluding to fix the market price of distressed securities, violating the most basic anti-trust law.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a3BygoB.ADZg&refer=home
Recoupling rather than Decoupling: the Forthcoming Contagion to China, East Asia and Emerging Markets
23.11.07
This analyst started arguing against the "decoupling" hypothesis in the summer 2006
http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini/
This analyst started arguing against the "decoupling" hypothesis in the summer 2006
http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini/
Crunch May Hit Insurers Of Bonds
24.11.07
Investors already burned by turmoil from the credit crunch are now worried about unwanted surprises in the industry that insures bonds
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112301746.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Investors already burned by turmoil from the credit crunch are now worried about unwanted surprises in the industry that insures bonds
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112301746.html?hpid=moreheadlines
THE FINANCIAL TSUNAMI
24.11.07
Deutsche Bank got a hard shock a few days ago when a judge in the state of Ohio in the USA made a ruling that the bank had no legal right to foreclose on 14 homes whose owners had failed to keep current in their monthly mortgage payments. Now this might sound like small beer for Deutsche Bank, one of the world’s largest banks with over €1.1 trillion (Billionen) in assets worldwide. As Hilmar Kopper used to say, “peanuts.” It’s not at all peanuts, however, for the Anglo-Saxon banking world and its European allies like Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Barclays Bank, HSBC or others. Why?
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/engdahl/2007/1124.html
Deutsche Bank got a hard shock a few days ago when a judge in the state of Ohio in the USA made a ruling that the bank had no legal right to foreclose on 14 homes whose owners had failed to keep current in their monthly mortgage payments. Now this might sound like small beer for Deutsche Bank, one of the world’s largest banks with over €1.1 trillion (Billionen) in assets worldwide. As Hilmar Kopper used to say, “peanuts.” It’s not at all peanuts, however, for the Anglo-Saxon banking world and its European allies like Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Barclays Bank, HSBC or others. Why?
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/engdahl/2007/1124.html
Monday, November 19, 2007
ASPO Peak Oil Review -- November 19th, 2007
19.11.07
1. Production and Prices
2. OPEC's Summit
3. Saudis Mount a PR Offensive
4. Energy Briefs
http://www.aspo-usa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=255&Itemid=91
1. Production and Prices
2. OPEC's Summit
3. Saudis Mount a PR Offensive
4. Energy Briefs
http://www.aspo-usa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=255&Itemid=91
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Oil leaders' private debate televised by mistake
18.11.07
A private meeting of Opec leaders, gathered this weekend in Riyadh for the cartel's third meeting in its 47-year history, had just been broadcast to the world's media for more than half an hour after a technician had mistakenly plugged the TV feed into the wrong socket
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2212899,00.html
A private meeting of Opec leaders, gathered this weekend in Riyadh for the cartel's third meeting in its 47-year history, had just been broadcast to the world's media for more than half an hour after a technician had mistakenly plugged the TV feed into the wrong socket
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2212899,00.html
Friday, November 16, 2007
"Alarmingly high" risk of systemic shock seen
9.11.07
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors may not be prepared for the real possibility of a further downturn in the financial sector, and the risk of a systemic shock to the system is "alarmingly high," analysts at Morgan Stanley said on Friday in a report
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN0930692320071109?rpc=401&=undefined&sp=true
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors may not be prepared for the real possibility of a further downturn in the financial sector, and the risk of a systemic shock to the system is "alarmingly high," analysts at Morgan Stanley said on Friday in a report
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN0930692320071109?rpc=401&=undefined&sp=true
Paulson, Bernanke, Bush vs. Mervyn King
16.11.07
Let's review transparency and honesty by the Fed, the Treasury, and President Bush vs. Mervyn King and the Bank of England.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/11/paulson-bernanke-bush-vs-mervyn-king.html
Let's review transparency and honesty by the Fed, the Treasury, and President Bush vs. Mervyn King and the Bank of England.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/11/paulson-bernanke-bush-vs-mervyn-king.html
Fannie Flunks Again
16.11.07
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) has been brutalized this week, and for good reason. An incisive article in Fortune explains the suspicious nature of a recent accounting change at the government-sponsored mortgage-trader.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/11/16/fannie-flunks-again.aspx
Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) has been brutalized this week, and for good reason. An incisive article in Fortune explains the suspicious nature of a recent accounting change at the government-sponsored mortgage-trader.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/11/16/fannie-flunks-again.aspx
Oops, they’re on to you
13.11.07
In the 1993 movie Mad Dog and Glory, Robert De Niro plays a police photographer who saves the life of a small time organized crime figure. The crime boss (Bill Murray) tries to return the favor by loaning DeNiro the character played by Uma Therman. While loaning out Ms. Therman is a grand gesture, De Niro is understandably uncomfortable with the arrangement. In a minor subplot, De Niro realizes that his kind-hearted neighbor is being abused by another member of the police force, but is afraid to confront the guy. One night De Niro checks on a disturbance only to have the boyfriend slam the door in his face. Feeling helpless about the whole thing, De Niro, shouts through the door, “I’m on to you!”
http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4823&Itemid=56
In the 1993 movie Mad Dog and Glory, Robert De Niro plays a police photographer who saves the life of a small time organized crime figure. The crime boss (Bill Murray) tries to return the favor by loaning DeNiro the character played by Uma Therman. While loaning out Ms. Therman is a grand gesture, De Niro is understandably uncomfortable with the arrangement. In a minor subplot, De Niro realizes that his kind-hearted neighbor is being abused by another member of the police force, but is afraid to confront the guy. One night De Niro checks on a disturbance only to have the boyfriend slam the door in his face. Feeling helpless about the whole thing, De Niro, shouts through the door, “I’m on to you!”
http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4823&Itemid=56
Uranium Wars
14.11.07
We have spoken several times in regards to this issue over the course of the last few years. China has already lead the assault on a covert basis but soon they will move to an overt basis and now India will be forced to join them not because they think they might have to but because they desperately need too. The excerpt below will explain our point quite clearly.
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8826.htm
We have spoken several times in regards to this issue over the course of the last few years. China has already lead the assault on a covert basis but soon they will move to an overt basis and now India will be forced to join them not because they think they might have to but because they desperately need too. The excerpt below will explain our point quite clearly.
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8826.htm
Simple Minds Sleeping Well
14.11.07
"We believe that gold and silver is the cheapest asset class at the moment and that the cost of production has put a floor under the price," says Mark Mahaffey, a former director at Bank of America and now co-manager of Hinde Capital Ltd, a London-based precious metals fund.
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8835.htm
"We believe that gold and silver is the cheapest asset class at the moment and that the cost of production has put a floor under the price," says Mark Mahaffey, a former director at Bank of America and now co-manager of Hinde Capital Ltd, a London-based precious metals fund.
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8835.htm
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Ten Facts about the Real Estate market you need to know
am long overdue to give you all an update on what is happening in the foreclosure market in California. Starting a company has been all consuming, but that is no excuse; the iTulip community has been a fantastic resource for me, and updating you on what I'm seeing at foreclosure ground zero is the least I can do
http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18508#post18508
http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18508#post18508
The Alchemist's Nightmare
25.10.07
Gold may indeed be considered to be a store of value, as the chart below of the price of gold in U.S. dollars over the last 7 years shows, when you compare gold’s price rise with the dollar’s fall against currencies such as the Canadian dollar
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=37150
Gold may indeed be considered to be a store of value, as the chart below of the price of gold in U.S. dollars over the last 7 years shows, when you compare gold’s price rise with the dollar’s fall against currencies such as the Canadian dollar
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=37150
New IMF transparency rules likely prompted change in U.S. gold report
26.10.07
The U.S. Treasury Department's acknowledgement of loans and swaps of gold from the U.S. gold reserve, disclosed last week by James Turk of the Freemarket Gold & Money Report, appears to have been prompted by the International Monetary Fund's adoption in May of stricter rules for financial transparency for member nations
http://www.gata.org/node/5664
The U.S. Treasury Department's acknowledgement of loans and swaps of gold from the U.S. gold reserve, disclosed last week by James Turk of the Freemarket Gold & Money Report, appears to have been prompted by the International Monetary Fund's adoption in May of stricter rules for financial transparency for member nations
http://www.gata.org/node/5664
MARKET INTERVENTION, DATA MANIPULATION - -
26.10.07
MARKET INTERVENTION, DATA MANIPULATION - - CONSEQUENCES FOR GOLD, EQUITIES & CRUDE OIL,& THE CARTEL END GAME
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/deepcaster/2007/1026.html
MARKET INTERVENTION, DATA MANIPULATION - - CONSEQUENCES FOR GOLD, EQUITIES & CRUDE OIL,& THE CARTEL END GAME
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/deepcaster/2007/1026.html
In millions of Windows, the perfect Storm is gathering
21.10.07
A spectre is haunting the net but, outside of techie circles, nobody seems to be talking about it. The threat it represents to our security and wellbeing may be less dramatic than anything posed by global terrorism, but it has the potential to wreak much more havoc. And so far, nobody has come up with a good idea on how to counter it.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2195730,00.html
A spectre is haunting the net but, outside of techie circles, nobody seems to be talking about it. The threat it represents to our security and wellbeing may be less dramatic than anything posed by global terrorism, but it has the potential to wreak much more havoc. And so far, nobody has come up with a good idea on how to counter it.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2195730,00.html
Friday, October 19, 2007
The US Gold Reserve is Now in Play
16.10.07
I have long suspected that the US Gold Reserve is being used by the gold cartel as a tool to help it try capping the gold price
http://news.goldseek.com/JamesTurk/1192554861.php
I have long suspected that the US Gold Reserve is being used by the gold cartel as a tool to help it try capping the gold price
http://news.goldseek.com/JamesTurk/1192554861.php
Marked to Fantasy
18.10.07
from: Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
Excellent essay, please read
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/10/marked-to-fantasy.html
from: Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
Excellent essay, please read
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/10/marked-to-fantasy.html
Interest rates: the Fed Conundrum
18.10.07
The Fed has a real conundrum as we related earlier this week. On one hand there is a weakening economy that is getting pilloried by the credit crunch caused by the failing U.S. real estate market; on the other inflation, which is now 1.6% over the Fed target of 2%
http://www.howestreet.com/articles/index.php?article_id=4912
The Fed has a real conundrum as we related earlier this week. On one hand there is a weakening economy that is getting pilloried by the credit crunch caused by the failing U.S. real estate market; on the other inflation, which is now 1.6% over the Fed target of 2%
http://www.howestreet.com/articles/index.php?article_id=4912
Peak oil means peak economy - Hirsch
18.10.07
When global oil production peaks, the economy is likely to shrink in direct proportion to dwindling fuel supplies, says Dr Robert Hirsch of the thinktank SAIC
Listen to Interview with Robert Hirsch author of a groundbreaking report for the US Department of Energy which highlighted the long lead-times and other limitations of purely supply-side responses to peak oil. In an interview with lastoilshock.com on the sidelines of the Houston conference, he went on to argue that fuel rationing will be an essential part of any policy response, and predicted that such measures would be introduced even in the United States.
http://www.davidstrahan.com/blog/?p=63
When global oil production peaks, the economy is likely to shrink in direct proportion to dwindling fuel supplies, says Dr Robert Hirsch of the thinktank SAIC
Listen to Interview with Robert Hirsch author of a groundbreaking report for the US Department of Energy which highlighted the long lead-times and other limitations of purely supply-side responses to peak oil. In an interview with lastoilshock.com on the sidelines of the Houston conference, he went on to argue that fuel rationing will be an essential part of any policy response, and predicted that such measures would be introduced even in the United States.
http://www.davidstrahan.com/blog/?p=63
Thursday, October 18, 2007
What gold owners can learn from the stock bull market of the 1990s
18.10.07
There is a lesson to be learned from the history of the stock market for contemporary gold investors - particularly those reluctant to purchase gold at the current prices because it seems "too high." Those holding back may be guilty of short-term thinking
http://www.usagold.com/amk/usagoldmarketupdate101707.html
There is a lesson to be learned from the history of the stock market for contemporary gold investors - particularly those reluctant to purchase gold at the current prices because it seems "too high." Those holding back may be guilty of short-term thinking
http://www.usagold.com/amk/usagoldmarketupdate101707.html
World Energy and Population
18.10.07
Throughout history, the expansion of human population has been supported by a steady growth in our use of high-quality exosomatic energy. The operation of our present industrial civilization is wholly dependent on access to a very large amount of energy of various types. If the availability of this energy were to decline significantly it could have serious repercussions for civilization and the human population it supports
http://www.paulchefurka.ca/WEAP/WEAP.html
Throughout history, the expansion of human population has been supported by a steady growth in our use of high-quality exosomatic energy. The operation of our present industrial civilization is wholly dependent on access to a very large amount of energy of various types. If the availability of this energy were to decline significantly it could have serious repercussions for civilization and the human population it supports
http://www.paulchefurka.ca/WEAP/WEAP.html
How China Could Crash the US Dollar on a Whim
18.10.07
Over the last 30 years, China’s economy has grown at an average annualized rate of nearly 10%. While this statistic alone is jaw-dropping, what is more impressive is the extent to which the nominally Communist country’s economy has become intertwined in the global economy. China now exerts enormous influence over the economies of virtually every country in the world,
http://www.currencytrading.net/2007/how-china-could-crash-the-us-dollar-on-a-whim/
Over the last 30 years, China’s economy has grown at an average annualized rate of nearly 10%. While this statistic alone is jaw-dropping, what is more impressive is the extent to which the nominally Communist country’s economy has become intertwined in the global economy. China now exerts enormous influence over the economies of virtually every country in the world,
http://www.currencytrading.net/2007/how-china-could-crash-the-us-dollar-on-a-whim/
The Raging Bull!
18.10.07
We are witnessing a generational bull-market in natural resources. The boom is due to the ongoing urbanisation and industrialisation of vastly populated developing nations in Asia and Latin America
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/saxena/saxena101807.html
We are witnessing a generational bull-market in natural resources. The boom is due to the ongoing urbanisation and industrialisation of vastly populated developing nations in Asia and Latin America
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/saxena/saxena101807.html
Japan and China lead flight from the dollar
18.10.07
Japan and China led a record withdrawl of foreign funds from the United States in August, heightening fears of a fresh slide in the dollar and a spike in US bond yields.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/10/16/bcnchina116.xml
Japan and China led a record withdrawl of foreign funds from the United States in August, heightening fears of a fresh slide in the dollar and a spike in US bond yields.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/10/16/bcnchina116.xml
Traitors And Con Artists
16.10.07
GS conspires to make themselves richer at the expense of the American economy. I collected a number of articles, most of which were sent by a group of wonderful readers who send me many links
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/supkis/supkis101607.html
GS conspires to make themselves richer at the expense of the American economy. I collected a number of articles, most of which were sent by a group of wonderful readers who send me many links
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/supkis/supkis101607.html
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Brazil Real Approaches Seven-Year High on Inflation Outlook
16.10.07
Brazil's real rose to near its strongest in seven years after economists cut their 2007 inflation forecast, boosting the appeal of the country's fixed- income assets.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aaVn2V3WVllc&refer=news
Brazil's real rose to near its strongest in seven years after economists cut their 2007 inflation forecast, boosting the appeal of the country's fixed- income assets.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aaVn2V3WVllc&refer=news
Super SIVs - A Fraudulent Attempt at Concealment
15.10.07
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
Over the weekend, the Treasury hosted talks to help a group of banks set up a $100 billion fund to buy troubled assets in exchange for new short-term debt. The banks hope to have the fund up and running within 90 days.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/10/super-sivs-fraudulent-attempt-at.html
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis
Over the weekend, the Treasury hosted talks to help a group of banks set up a $100 billion fund to buy troubled assets in exchange for new short-term debt. The banks hope to have the fund up and running within 90 days.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/10/super-sivs-fraudulent-attempt-at.html
Enron, Subprime and the Derivative Disease
16.10.07
That Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is leading efforts to organize an $80 billion or so pool of private capital to finance four times that much in illiquid subprime assets controlled by some of the largest US banks is not a good sign. Looks to us like a prelude to a federal bailout
http://us1.institutionalriskanalytics.com/pub/IRAMain.asp
That Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is leading efforts to organize an $80 billion or so pool of private capital to finance four times that much in illiquid subprime assets controlled by some of the largest US banks is not a good sign. Looks to us like a prelude to a federal bailout
http://us1.institutionalriskanalytics.com/pub/IRAMain.asp
The “Subprime” Mentality: A Metaphor For the Whole U.S. Financial Market—
15.10.07
First of all, the fallout from subprime lending will be bad enough as it stands. But the real problem is that “subprime” is a metaphor for the whole U.S. financial culture.
http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4790&Itemid=57
First of all, the fallout from subprime lending will be bad enough as it stands. But the real problem is that “subprime” is a metaphor for the whole U.S. financial culture.
http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4790&Itemid=57
Monday, October 15, 2007
The Man Who Won as Others Lost
15.10.07
Paul Tudor Jones II leans back in his chair and grins. The stock market is going to crash, and he knows it. “There will be some type of a decline, without a question, in the next 10, 20 months
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/business/13speculate.html?_r=1&em&ex=1192420800&en=0ed57f203ab56891&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin
Paul Tudor Jones II leans back in his chair and grins. The stock market is going to crash, and he knows it. “There will be some type of a decline, without a question, in the next 10, 20 months
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/business/13speculate.html?_r=1&em&ex=1192420800&en=0ed57f203ab56891&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin
Sunday, October 14, 2007
AMERO Vicente Fox admits that they have agreed on a common currency
10.10.07
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=49877
Canada, US and Mexico with one currency the AMERO
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=49877
Canada, US and Mexico with one currency the AMERO
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
ARE THERE TOO MANY DOLLAR BEARS?
5.10.07
As a contrarian, it is my nature to worry when too many people start agreeing with me. Currently, many of my most vocal critics, who had previously ridiculed my warnings about the dollar, now concede that it will continue to decline. With so many people now on the bandwagon, some currency watchers have asserted that sentiment now has nowhere to go but up, and that the stage is set for a dollar rally. Although I am unnerved by the company, I take solace in the fact that the conclusions that many of these nouveau-dollar bears draw are completely off the mark
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/schiff/2007/1005.html
As a contrarian, it is my nature to worry when too many people start agreeing with me. Currently, many of my most vocal critics, who had previously ridiculed my warnings about the dollar, now concede that it will continue to decline. With so many people now on the bandwagon, some currency watchers have asserted that sentiment now has nowhere to go but up, and that the stage is set for a dollar rally. Although I am unnerved by the company, I take solace in the fact that the conclusions that many of these nouveau-dollar bears draw are completely off the mark
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/schiff/2007/1005.html
CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS?
4.10.07
As I perused the financial news over the past week, I was increasingly puzzled as to why it is that the denizens of Wall Street and Main Street appear to be paying almost no attention to the unfolding crisis.
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/casey/2007/1004.html
As I perused the financial news over the past week, I was increasingly puzzled as to why it is that the denizens of Wall Street and Main Street appear to be paying almost no attention to the unfolding crisis.
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/casey/2007/1004.html
US mortgage crisis predicted to get worse as home loan defaults soar
10.10.07
America’s mortgage crisis is likely to get considerably worse because the level of fraudulent lending to unsuitable borrowers was much higher than previously estimated, Standard & Poor’s said yesterday.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article2624571.ece
America’s mortgage crisis is likely to get considerably worse because the level of fraudulent lending to unsuitable borrowers was much higher than previously estimated, Standard & Poor’s said yesterday.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article2624571.ece
Ice Caps Melting Fast: Say Goodbye to the Big Apple?
10.10.07
The talk of sea level rise should not be in centuries, it should be decades or perhaps even single years. And coastal regions like New York and Florida are in the front line for devastation.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/64735/
The talk of sea level rise should not be in centuries, it should be decades or perhaps even single years. And coastal regions like New York and Florida are in the front line for devastation.
http://www.alternet.org/environment/64735/
Peak Petroleum and Public Health
10.10.07
Petroleum is a unique energy source; it is energy-dense, relatively stable, portable, and abundant. Since large-scale production began about 150 years ago, petroleum has become central to modern life. It is the precursor of nearly all transportation fuel, the source of heating oil, propane, and other fuels, and the starting point for chemical-building blocks such as ethylene, propylene, and xylene, which become polymers, resins, and other compounds, which in turn form products as diverse as plastics, solvents, textiles, lubricants, pesticides, and medications.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/298/14/1688
Petroleum is a unique energy source; it is energy-dense, relatively stable, portable, and abundant. Since large-scale production began about 150 years ago, petroleum has become central to modern life. It is the precursor of nearly all transportation fuel, the source of heating oil, propane, and other fuels, and the starting point for chemical-building blocks such as ethylene, propylene, and xylene, which become polymers, resins, and other compounds, which in turn form products as diverse as plastics, solvents, textiles, lubricants, pesticides, and medications.
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/298/14/1688
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Two barrels of oil are used for each one found. $100 oil anyone?
21.9.07
To Mr. Buckee's point, some of the world's biggest oil fields are limping into the geriatric ward
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070921.IBREGULY21/TPStory/Business
To Mr. Buckee's point, some of the world's biggest oil fields are limping into the geriatric ward
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070921.IBREGULY21/TPStory/Business
Helicopter Ben Earns His Wings
21.9.07
Coming at a time when rate increases were needed to combat the sinking dollar and surging gold, oil and other commodity prices, Ben Bernanke's 50 basis point cuts in the Fed funds and discount rates this week may go down as the most irresponsible move in Fed history
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8463.htm
Coming at a time when rate increases were needed to combat the sinking dollar and surging gold, oil and other commodity prices, Ben Bernanke's 50 basis point cuts in the Fed funds and discount rates this week may go down as the most irresponsible move in Fed history
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8463.htm
Are we headed for an epic bear market?
21.9.07
He's not sure if it will play out like the 13-year decline of 90% in Japan from 1990 to 2003 that followed the bursting of a credit bubble there, or like the 15-year flat spot in the U.S. market from 1960 to 1975. But either way, he foresees hard times as an optimistic era of too much liquidity, too much leverage and too much financial engineering slowly and inevitably deflates.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/SuperModels/AreWeHeadedForAnEpicBearMarket.aspx
He's not sure if it will play out like the 13-year decline of 90% in Japan from 1990 to 2003 that followed the bursting of a credit bubble there, or like the 15-year flat spot in the U.S. market from 1960 to 1975. But either way, he foresees hard times as an optimistic era of too much liquidity, too much leverage and too much financial engineering slowly and inevitably deflates.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/SuperModels/AreWeHeadedForAnEpicBearMarket.aspx
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Chief strategist at CLSA predicts record gold run
19.9.07
According to Christopher Wood, chief strategist at the broker CLSA, market ructions and a collapse of the dollar could send gold prices to more than $3,400 an ounce within the next three years
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article2485085.ec
According to Christopher Wood, chief strategist at the broker CLSA, market ructions and a collapse of the dollar could send gold prices to more than $3,400 an ounce within the next three years
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article2485085.ec
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Concerns of Oil Super Spike
14.9.07
Johannesburg - Supply worries pushed oil to a record high of $80 a barrel this week, adding fuel to Investec fund manager Tim Guinness' predictions that a "supply crunch" could result in oil prices hitting $150 a barrel by 2010
Somehow it seems hard to believe that just three years ago Deutsche Bank analysts were forecasting a 2010 oil price of $24 a barrel. What were they thinking?
Comment from Fritz: The DB forecast only shows what I have been saying for years now. It does make a lot more sense to read and believe in the opinions and statistics of people from ASPO (Campbell, Aleklett etc). It makes a lot more sense to listen to real experts with years of experiance in the oil sector, than listen to some so called expert, an economist who has no idea of oil at all. Unfortunately there are still many of these so called expert analyst out there.
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5020649
Johannesburg - Supply worries pushed oil to a record high of $80 a barrel this week, adding fuel to Investec fund manager Tim Guinness' predictions that a "supply crunch" could result in oil prices hitting $150 a barrel by 2010
Somehow it seems hard to believe that just three years ago Deutsche Bank analysts were forecasting a 2010 oil price of $24 a barrel. What were they thinking?
Comment from Fritz: The DB forecast only shows what I have been saying for years now. It does make a lot more sense to read and believe in the opinions and statistics of people from ASPO (Campbell, Aleklett etc). It makes a lot more sense to listen to real experts with years of experiance in the oil sector, than listen to some so called expert, an economist who has no idea of oil at all. Unfortunately there are still many of these so called expert analyst out there.
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=5020649
Dollar's retreat raises fear of collapse
13.9.07
Finance ministers and central bankers have long fretted that at some point, the rest of the world would lose its willingness to finance the United States' proclivity to consume far more than it produces - and that a potentially disastrous free-fall in the dollar's value would result.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/13/news/econ.php
Finance ministers and central bankers have long fretted that at some point, the rest of the world would lose its willingness to finance the United States' proclivity to consume far more than it produces - and that a potentially disastrous free-fall in the dollar's value would result.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/13/news/econ.php
Northern Rock customers queue for cash as crisis hits high street
14.9.07
The credit crisis spilled onto Britain's high streets today as worried Northern Rock customers queued up to withdraw their savings
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml;jsessionid=XBV5D2AH3XHJZQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/money/2007/09/14/bcnnorth414.xml
What financial institution is next in the Domino? Countrywide?
The credit crisis spilled onto Britain's high streets today as worried Northern Rock customers queued up to withdraw their savings
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml;jsessionid=XBV5D2AH3XHJZQFIQMGCFFOAVCBQUIV0?xml=/money/2007/09/14/bcnnorth414.xml
What financial institution is next in the Domino? Countrywide?
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Letter from an employee in the British oil industry
10.9.07
Letter to Kunstler
As someone who works in the UK oil industry, I thought you might be interested in a view of how prepared the UK is for possible (!) future oil shortages
http://www.kunstler.com/Grunt_UK_oil.html
Letter to Kunstler
As someone who works in the UK oil industry, I thought you might be interested in a view of how prepared the UK is for possible (!) future oil shortages
http://www.kunstler.com/Grunt_UK_oil.html
fishery collapse in the North Sea
10.9.07
Once they were a national treasure chest, teeming with fish and wildlife. Now the waters of the North Sea are quiet, almost dead
http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,,2162131,00.html
Once they were a national treasure chest, teeming with fish and wildlife. Now the waters of the North Sea are quiet, almost dead
http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,,2162131,00.html
THE CONTINUING CRISIS
11.9.07
In all our publications, we have recently taken a good, hard look at several facets of the unfolding crisis.
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/casey/2007/0910.html
In all our publications, we have recently taken a good, hard look at several facets of the unfolding crisis.
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/casey/2007/0910.html
History Should Serve As A Guide To This Wild Ride
11.9.07
Does this mean that the bull market is over? No. As long as the fundamentals are still intact, you can expect commodities to continue their bull run. And it is precisely for this reason that you must understand the fundamentals that are driving this commodity bull market."
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8389.htm
Does this mean that the bull market is over? No. As long as the fundamentals are still intact, you can expect commodities to continue their bull run. And it is precisely for this reason that you must understand the fundamentals that are driving this commodity bull market."
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8389.htm
Monday, September 10, 2007
FED: Putting Out Fire with Gasoline
10.9.07
So long as the Feds believe that liquidity is the answer and are prepared to pump more money into the financial system then we can only see further weakening of the Dollar and further strengthening of gold. As investors begin to realize that gold not only offers a safe haven for their wealth it is also offering attractive returns as demonstrated by Fridays close of $700.10/oz.
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070910/46792_id.html?.v=1
So long as the Feds believe that liquidity is the answer and are prepared to pump more money into the financial system then we can only see further weakening of the Dollar and further strengthening of gold. As investors begin to realize that gold not only offers a safe haven for their wealth it is also offering attractive returns as demonstrated by Fridays close of $700.10/oz.
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070910/46792_id.html?.v=1
Sunday, September 9, 2007
THE END OF A 300 YEAR PONZI SCHEME
3.9.07
Panic struck on Wall Street, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged a thousand points between July and August, and commentators warned of a 1929-style crash. To prevent that dire result, the U.S. Federal Reserve, along with the central banks of Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan, stepped up to the plate and extended a 315 billion dollar lifeline to troubled banks and investment firms.
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/market-meltdown.php
Panic struck on Wall Street, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged a thousand points between July and August, and commentators warned of a 1929-style crash. To prevent that dire result, the U.S. Federal Reserve, along with the central banks of Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan, stepped up to the plate and extended a 315 billion dollar lifeline to troubled banks and investment firms.
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/market-meltdown.php
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Panic Speaks Louder Than Words
6.9.07
From the US ro Venezuela, lot's of problems
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/09/panic-speaks-louder-than-words.html
From the US ro Venezuela, lot's of problems
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/09/panic-speaks-louder-than-words.html
Financial Storm
29.8.07
It is impossible to speculate how long today's turmoil will last-but there now exists an uncertainty and lack of confidence that has been unparalleled since the 1930s-and this ignorance and fear is itself a crucial factor. The moment of reckoning for bankers and bosses has arrived. What is very clear is that losses are massive and the entire developed world is now experiencing the worst economic crisis since 1945, one in which troubles in one nation compound those in others
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2007-08/29kolko.cfm
It is impossible to speculate how long today's turmoil will last-but there now exists an uncertainty and lack of confidence that has been unparalleled since the 1930s-and this ignorance and fear is itself a crucial factor. The moment of reckoning for bankers and bosses has arrived. What is very clear is that losses are massive and the entire developed world is now experiencing the worst economic crisis since 1945, one in which troubles in one nation compound those in others
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2007-08/29kolko.cfm
Will Derivatives Wipe Out Some Currencies?
6.9.07
Over the last several years, there has been a lot of discussion about the size of the derivatives market, and how much it has grown since 1990. That market was around $20 trillion in size in ‘90, and now is estimated by the BIS to exceed $600 trillion world wide
http://www.kitco.com/ind/Laird/sep062007.html
The amount of the derivatives is clearly too high especially taking into account that approximately 80% are related in some way to interests or currencies. This is clear gambling a la Las Vegas.
Over the last several years, there has been a lot of discussion about the size of the derivatives market, and how much it has grown since 1990. That market was around $20 trillion in size in ‘90, and now is estimated by the BIS to exceed $600 trillion world wide
http://www.kitco.com/ind/Laird/sep062007.html
The amount of the derivatives is clearly too high especially taking into account that approximately 80% are related in some way to interests or currencies. This is clear gambling a la Las Vegas.
Uranium
8.9.07
Several factors resulted in producing a rather large pull back in Uranium bullion prices. The main reason as usual was not a normal factor; in other words it was due to government intervention and manipulation.
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8368.htm
Several factors resulted in producing a rather large pull back in Uranium bullion prices. The main reason as usual was not a normal factor; in other words it was due to government intervention and manipulation.
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8368.htm
TOO BIG TO BE BAILED OUT
7.9.07
Even without the incentives of a government bailout luring more people into default, policy makers simply have no idea as to the scope of the problem.
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/schiff/2007/0907.html
Even without the incentives of a government bailout luring more people into default, policy makers simply have no idea as to the scope of the problem.
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/schiff/2007/0907.html
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets
2.9.07
Various military exercises have been conducted, starting in early 2005
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6668
Various military exercises have been conducted, starting in early 2005
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6668
The Energy Emergency
2.9.07
The world has to discover a new Saudi Arabia-size oil supplier every five years to meet this demand. But it's just not going to happen. These overwhelming numbers could produce oil prices above $100 a barrel in short order, which will ultimately have massive consequences for the world's economy and the way we live our lives.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/070902/10edit.htm
The world has to discover a new Saudi Arabia-size oil supplier every five years to meet this demand. But it's just not going to happen. These overwhelming numbers could produce oil prices above $100 a barrel in short order, which will ultimately have massive consequences for the world's economy and the way we live our lives.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/articles/070902/10edit.htm
Richard Heinberg, Peak everything
Sept.07
Nor does the matter end with natural gas and coal. Once one lifts one's eyes from the narrow path of daily survival activities and starts scanning the horizon, a frightening array of peaks comes into view
http://www.richardheinberg.com/museletter/185
Nor does the matter end with natural gas and coal. Once one lifts one's eyes from the narrow path of daily survival activities and starts scanning the horizon, a frightening array of peaks comes into view
http://www.richardheinberg.com/museletter/185
Global food crisis looms as climate change and population growth strip fertile land
31.8.07
Climate change and an increasing population could trigger a global food crisis in the next half century as countries struggle for fertile land to grow crops and rear animals, scientists warned yesterday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/31/climatechange.food
Climate change and an increasing population could trigger a global food crisis in the next half century as countries struggle for fertile land to grow crops and rear animals, scientists warned yesterday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/31/climatechange.food
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Comptroller General warns (again), we're 'bankrupting America'
27.8.07
Except for a short piece in London's Financial Times, Walker's warnings were generally ignored by the American press, by the public and even by the very Congress that hired him and has the power to do something, yet still refuses to heed his warnings.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/if-we-rome-wall-street/story.aspx?guid=%7BE71DF12D%2D6F67%2D4D51%2D8A77%2D1AA17A4C57BC%7D
Except for a short piece in London's Financial Times, Walker's warnings were generally ignored by the American press, by the public and even by the very Congress that hired him and has the power to do something, yet still refuses to heed his warnings.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/if-we-rome-wall-street/story.aspx?guid=%7BE71DF12D%2D6F67%2D4D51%2D8A77%2D1AA17A4C57BC%7D
Venezuela -- Aló Presidente!
29.8.07
Venezuela's production has declined since 2000, and the country is home to the world's largest unconventional resource under development, the Orinoco extra-heavy crude. A lot is at stake in Venezuela, so it is prudent to assess the risk there now and down the road. Do Venezuela's policies affect the peak of global oil production?
http://www.aspo-usa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=202&Itemid=91
Venezuela's production has declined since 2000, and the country is home to the world's largest unconventional resource under development, the Orinoco extra-heavy crude. A lot is at stake in Venezuela, so it is prudent to assess the risk there now and down the road. Do Venezuela's policies affect the peak of global oil production?
http://www.aspo-usa.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=202&Itemid=91
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
USD R.I.P
26.8.07
By Adrian Ash "...The call for more money to fix the financial markets comes just as global inflation is beginning to cause real mischief..."
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8289.htm
By Adrian Ash "...The call for more money to fix the financial markets comes just as global inflation is beginning to cause real mischief..."
http://www.safehaven.com/article-8289.htm
Get ready for oil supplies to dwindle, experts warn
26.8.07
Aleklett believes the peak could arrive as soon as 2008 -- and that the struggle to adjust to the new energy reality could take 20 years, posing enormous challenges for developed nations.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=58fc9401-92d8-47b8-b1f2-bb320676825b
Aleklett believes the peak could arrive as soon as 2008 -- and that the struggle to adjust to the new energy reality could take 20 years, posing enormous challenges for developed nations.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=58fc9401-92d8-47b8-b1f2-bb320676825b
25 QUOTES ON THE CREDIT CRISIS
28.8.07
The financial market globally is up to its elbows in one of the strangest and most complicated credit crises in history. Events have come in rapid succession with mind-numbing effect. No sooner does the dust settle in one part of the market than it is kicked up in another. Through it all, the reactions on the part of the participants have been the stuff of a good financial thriller. We thought it would be interesting to catalog some of that reaction for you on one web page. So here they are - from the witty and profound to the scary and downright silly - our Top 25 Quotes on the Credit Crisis of '07
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/kosares/2007/0828.html
The financial market globally is up to its elbows in one of the strangest and most complicated credit crises in history. Events have come in rapid succession with mind-numbing effect. No sooner does the dust settle in one part of the market than it is kicked up in another. Through it all, the reactions on the part of the participants have been the stuff of a good financial thriller. We thought it would be interesting to catalog some of that reaction for you on one web page. So here they are - from the witty and profound to the scary and downright silly - our Top 25 Quotes on the Credit Crisis of '07
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/kosares/2007/0828.html
Do freight rates tell the true story?
26.8.07
"Twice already this year it has proved a reliable indicator of fundamental trends for commodities when markets wobbled," it says. "Once the dust settles, the likelihood is for some very strong rebounds in commodity prices."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/25/ccfreight125.xml
"Twice already this year it has proved a reliable indicator of fundamental trends for commodities when markets wobbled," it says. "Once the dust settles, the likelihood is for some very strong rebounds in commodity prices."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/25/ccfreight125.xml
BHP Billiton sales to India outpacing gains in China
BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining company, says that growth in sales to India is outpacing gains in China as the southern Asian nation requires more coal and nickel to meet rising demand
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/26/business/sxbhp.php
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/26/business/sxbhp.php
Global copper deficit widens in H1 2007
22.8.07
The global copper deficit widened in the first half of this year, largely on strong Chinese demand and in spite of higher production, said the World Bureau of Metals Statistics
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/08/22/afx4043454.html
The global copper deficit widened in the first half of this year, largely on strong Chinese demand and in spite of higher production, said the World Bureau of Metals Statistics
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/08/22/afx4043454.html
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Top 25 Derivative Bank Nightmares
http://www.rense.com/general77/topfe.htm
Check the derivative book of the 25 banks with the highest derivative book
Check the derivative book of the 25 banks with the highest derivative book
Shrinking supply of Venezuelan oil to the US
23.8.07
Sagging supply of byproducts has been the main reason for the decline of oil shipments to the United States. Still, Venezuela continues being among the top five in the ranking of major oil suppliers
http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/08/22/en_eco_art_shrinking-supply-of_22A940517.shtml
Sagging supply of byproducts has been the main reason for the decline of oil shipments to the United States. Still, Venezuela continues being among the top five in the ranking of major oil suppliers
http://english.eluniversal.com/2007/08/22/en_eco_art_shrinking-supply-of_22A940517.shtml
Fed bends rules to help two big banks
24.8.07
If the Federal Reserve is waiving a fundamental principle in banking regulation, the credit crunch must still be sapping the strength of America's biggest banks.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/24/magazines/fortune/eavis_citigroup.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007082417
If the Federal Reserve is waiving a fundamental principle in banking regulation, the credit crunch must still be sapping the strength of America's biggest banks.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/24/magazines/fortune/eavis_citigroup.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007082417
THE LIQUIDITY CRISIS OF 2007
24.8.07
Is the current stock market correction a healthy correction, or thestart of a bear market? http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/sutton/2007/0824.html
Is the current stock market correction a healthy correction, or thestart of a bear market? http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/sutton/2007/0824.html
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Subprime Infects $300 Billion of Money Market Funds
20.8.07
Unbeknownst to most investors, some of the largest money market funds today are putting part of their cash into one of the riskiest debt investments in the world: collateralized debt obligations backed by subprime mortgage loans.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aEUtlgwzL_qc&refer=home
Unbeknownst to most investors, some of the largest money market funds today are putting part of their cash into one of the riskiest debt investments in the world: collateralized debt obligations backed by subprime mortgage loans.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aEUtlgwzL_qc&refer=home
Top Swiss banker attacks US lending standards as 'unbelievable'
21.8.07
Jean-Pierre Roth, president of the Swiss National Bank, said market turmoil was far from over as tremors from the sub-prime debacle continued to rock the world.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/20/bcnswiss20.xml
Jean-Pierre Roth, president of the Swiss National Bank, said market turmoil was far from over as tremors from the sub-prime debacle continued to rock the world.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/20/bcnswiss20.xml
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Who says there is almost NO inflation
15.8.07
Prices for key foods are rising sharply
The Labor Department's most recent inflation data showed that U.S. food prices rose by 4.2 percent for the 12 months ending in July, but a deeper look at the numbers reveals that the price of milk, eggs and other essentials in the American diet are actually rising by double digits
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/18902.html
Prices for key foods are rising sharply
The Labor Department's most recent inflation data showed that U.S. food prices rose by 4.2 percent for the 12 months ending in July, but a deeper look at the numbers reveals that the price of milk, eggs and other essentials in the American diet are actually rising by double digits
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/18902.html
The Archdruid Report
15.8.07
Excellent recommended to read
Scrabbling Around For Plan B
The carnage began with mortgage companies, not so long ago the darlings of the financial press. Eighty-odd of them have imploded in the last few months as they discovered that if you loan money to people who can’t pay it back – who’d have thought? – they can’t pay it back. Next it was the turn of hedge funds that speculated in mortgage debt, with two Bear Sterns funds leading the rush to insolvency
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/
Excellent recommended to read
Scrabbling Around For Plan B
The carnage began with mortgage companies, not so long ago the darlings of the financial press. Eighty-odd of them have imploded in the last few months as they discovered that if you loan money to people who can’t pay it back – who’d have thought? – they can’t pay it back. Next it was the turn of hedge funds that speculated in mortgage debt, with two Bear Sterns funds leading the rush to insolvency
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/
Arctic sea ice is melting at its fastest rate since records began
15.8.07
The sea ice of the Arctic will melt further and faster than at any time since records began nearly 30 years ago, according to the latest data collected by a satellite survey of the polar region.
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2864214.ece
The sea ice of the Arctic will melt further and faster than at any time since records began nearly 30 years ago, according to the latest data collected by a satellite survey of the polar region.
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2864214.ece
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Middle East
15.8.07
Labeling of I's Revolutionary Guards: Another step toward military confrontation
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6561
Labeling of I's Revolutionary Guards: Another step toward military confrontation
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6561
A Bull Market in Fools
16.8.07
The one thing needful at the top of each bubble, the rabble also takes on the role of greatest sucker, too. Piling in as the smart money runs for the exits, the common or garden investor pays top price. He or she is then left holding the "asset" as its price collapses...and by that time, the Lear jets have long since cleared the tarmac...taking the money with them.
http://www.whiskeyandgunpowder.com/Archives/2007/20070817.html
The one thing needful at the top of each bubble, the rabble also takes on the role of greatest sucker, too. Piling in as the smart money runs for the exits, the common or garden investor pays top price. He or she is then left holding the "asset" as its price collapses...and by that time, the Lear jets have long since cleared the tarmac...taking the money with them.
http://www.whiskeyandgunpowder.com/Archives/2007/20070817.html
Meltdown 'inside' Wall Street's brain
14.8.07
Seven rules for bull-and-bear predators in a 'brutal, manipulative world'
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/seven-rules-keeping-wall-streets/story.aspx?guid=%7BFD6E8E92%2D1066%2D48E1%2DBD24%2D49D6B2362AB9%7D
Seven rules for bull-and-bear predators in a 'brutal, manipulative world'
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/seven-rules-keeping-wall-streets/story.aspx?guid=%7BFD6E8E92%2D1066%2D48E1%2DBD24%2D49D6B2362AB9%7D
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Hedge funds prepare for mass redemptions
15.8.07
From FT Europe
For anyone worried hedge funds could spark another market crisis, Wednesday is a red letter day: the final chance for investors to put in demands for their money back by the end of September at many funds using standard redemption terms needing 45 days’ notice
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3dc39278-4a99-11dc-95b5-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=d355f29c-d238-11db-a7c0-000b5df10621.html
Well we can expect some more Hedge funds to stop redemption towards the end of 3rd quarter
From FT Europe
For anyone worried hedge funds could spark another market crisis, Wednesday is a red letter day: the final chance for investors to put in demands for their money back by the end of September at many funds using standard redemption terms needing 45 days’ notice
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3dc39278-4a99-11dc-95b5-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=d355f29c-d238-11db-a7c0-000b5df10621.html
Well we can expect some more Hedge funds to stop redemption towards the end of 3rd quarter
from Lemetropolecafe.com
Kudos to James Turk who was way ahead of the pack two days ago in a Chris Powell dispatch…
"Suddenly investors are learning about counterparty risk, GoldMoney founder James Turk writes in his latest commentary for that gold-brokerage service."
Turk, editor of the Freemarket Gold & Money Report and consultant to GATA, speculates that the next phase of the panic over sub-prime mortgages may involve the discovery that they have infected ordinary money-market funds.
***
Voila…
10:55 Sentinel Management Group halts redemptions - CNBCCNBC reports that Sentinel of Illinois has asked the CFTC to permit the firm to halt redemptions for clients that have overnight accounts. CNBC says that it is unclear how big Sentinel is. * * * * *
1:24 Follow-up: Bloomberg reports that Sentinel Management managed $1.6B as of last monthCNBC reported earlier that Sentinel had asked CFTC permission to halt redemptions. Bloomberg reports that an assistant at Sentinel said that the CFTC had not yet approved the request. * * * * *
This is astounding…
From Barry Ritholz "The Big Picture"Money Markets Halting RedemptionsTuesday,
August 14, 2007 10:13 AM
via the always astute Doug Kass, we must point you to this simply unbelievable document . . . That's right, some Money Markets -- safe as cash, totally liquid -- are halting redemptions. Note: there is a big difference between Money Market Funds, and "enhanced" Money Market Mutual Funds -- namely, whether or not they are FDIC guaranteed to $100k.Once again, we see what the reach for yield has wrought . . .
August 13, 2007Dear Client:As you undoubtedly know, the credit markets, along with most other markets, have experienced a liquidity crisis in the past several weeks. Investor fear has overtaken reason and has induced a period in which most securities have simply ceased to trade. We have all read the stories about one hedge fund or another suffering losses related to subprime exposure and closing down or being rescued. This fear, while warranted in some cases, has spilled over into the rest of the credit market and liquidity has dried up all over the street. In addition, investment banks and securities firms are stuck with LBO deals they have already entered into but cannot find buyers for the bonds so must inventory them themselves.This liquidity crisis has caused bids to disappear from the market and makes it virtually impossible to properly price securities or to trade them. High grade securities are trading like junk bonds as panicked investors dump names like General Electric at Tyco-like prices.We have carefully monitored this situation for the past several weeks and have met regularly todiscuss the potential impact it may have on our clients. We had previously thought that the marketwould return to some semblance of order and that our clients would not join in the panic.Unfortunately, this has not been the case. We are concerned that we cannot meet any significant redemption requests without selling securities at deep discounts to their fair value and therefore causing unnecessary losses to our clients. We contacted the CFTC today and asked for their permission to halt redemptions until we can honor them in an orderly fashion.
Sentinel has always sought to protect your interests and since our inception in 1980, we have never experienced a situation quite like this one. We will continue to monitor the markets and we will raise cash as opportunities present themselves.We understand that this will obviously cause inconveniences on your part however, at present,we do not see an alternative and we don't believe it is in anyone's best interest if a run on Sentinel tookplace and we were in a forced liquidation mode.We value your trust in us these past 28 years and this has been a very difficult decision for usand we understand the implications of this decision both on you and on Sentinel. We feel, however,that this is the best way to assure you the best possible value on your investment.We will remain in contact with you and update you as things progress.
Sincerely,Sentinel Management Group, Inc.
CFTC says it can't halt Sentinel's redemptions WASHINGTON,
Aug 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has no authority to grant Sentinel Management Group's request to halt client redemptions, an agency official said on Tuesday. "The CFTC has no authority in this area," the CFTC official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. "This isn't something we do. "We have no role in whether or not the company does this and whether the client accepts it," the official said…
-END-
Why the CFTC I asked Jesse? Then I learned Sentinel was an FCM (Futures Commission Merchant) and not a money market fund, although are providing a similar service.
Jesse responded with…Here is the CFTC connection for Sentinel. I'm sure you've seen the CFTC response saying 'no jurisdiction.'But this is probably why they asked the CFTC and not the SEC. Sentinel 125 PortfolioInvestment Objective:The 125 Portfolio is intended to provide Sentinel's FCM clients with a short-term investment alternative that combines safety of principal, liquidity and competitive yields compliant with the CFTC's Rule 1.25. An investment in the 125 Portfolio provides an indirect, undivided pro-rata interest in the underlying securities.
Allowable Investments:
» Obligations of the U.S. Treasury and GNMA
» Short term commercial paper rated A1/P1
» Medium and long term debt rated AA or higher » Bank time deposits
» Repurchase agreements collateralized by the above Investment Strategy:
Sentinel's 125 Portfolio has been created and designed to adhere to the guidelines of the CFTC's Rule 1.25 governing allowable securities for the investment of customer (segregated) funds by FCMs. Sentinel structures this portfolio to include only those securities that meet the high rating standards of the rule. Sentinel uses the provision of the rule dealing with maximum average maturity, as a way to deliver yields that exceed those of competing money market funds whose maturity guidelines are subject to more constraining regulation. In order to accommodate the liquidity needs of FCM clients, this portfolio will, typically, hold forty to fifty percent of its assets in the form of overnight repurchase agreements (repos). Special market conditions may dictate higher or lower percentages as prudent departures from the norm.
Comment from my side
How determines the Fair Value?
Let's go back to the statement in Sentinels letter
"We are concerned that we cannot meet any significant redemption requests without selling securities at deep discounts to their fair value and therefore causing unnecessary losses to our clients."
To that please read the remark from Mish (http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/)
"doesn't the market determine "fair value"? Apparently Sentinel thinks it knows what fair value is but the market doesn't. Recall that Bear Stearns thought the same thing. Bear Stearns locked out clients who wanted to redeem all the way back in January. Those investors would have gotten something back. Perhaps as much as 70 cents on the dollar. Bear Stearns locked those clients in and the Hedge Fund went to zero: totally worthless
"Suddenly investors are learning about counterparty risk, GoldMoney founder James Turk writes in his latest commentary for that gold-brokerage service."
Turk, editor of the Freemarket Gold & Money Report and consultant to GATA, speculates that the next phase of the panic over sub-prime mortgages may involve the discovery that they have infected ordinary money-market funds.
***
Voila…
10:55 Sentinel Management Group halts redemptions - CNBCCNBC reports that Sentinel of Illinois has asked the CFTC to permit the firm to halt redemptions for clients that have overnight accounts. CNBC says that it is unclear how big Sentinel is. * * * * *
1:24 Follow-up: Bloomberg reports that Sentinel Management managed $1.6B as of last monthCNBC reported earlier that Sentinel had asked CFTC permission to halt redemptions. Bloomberg reports that an assistant at Sentinel said that the CFTC had not yet approved the request. * * * * *
This is astounding…
From Barry Ritholz "The Big Picture"Money Markets Halting RedemptionsTuesday,
August 14, 2007 10:13 AM
via the always astute Doug Kass, we must point you to this simply unbelievable document . . . That's right, some Money Markets -- safe as cash, totally liquid -- are halting redemptions. Note: there is a big difference between Money Market Funds, and "enhanced" Money Market Mutual Funds -- namely, whether or not they are FDIC guaranteed to $100k.Once again, we see what the reach for yield has wrought . . .
August 13, 2007Dear Client:As you undoubtedly know, the credit markets, along with most other markets, have experienced a liquidity crisis in the past several weeks. Investor fear has overtaken reason and has induced a period in which most securities have simply ceased to trade. We have all read the stories about one hedge fund or another suffering losses related to subprime exposure and closing down or being rescued. This fear, while warranted in some cases, has spilled over into the rest of the credit market and liquidity has dried up all over the street. In addition, investment banks and securities firms are stuck with LBO deals they have already entered into but cannot find buyers for the bonds so must inventory them themselves.This liquidity crisis has caused bids to disappear from the market and makes it virtually impossible to properly price securities or to trade them. High grade securities are trading like junk bonds as panicked investors dump names like General Electric at Tyco-like prices.We have carefully monitored this situation for the past several weeks and have met regularly todiscuss the potential impact it may have on our clients. We had previously thought that the marketwould return to some semblance of order and that our clients would not join in the panic.Unfortunately, this has not been the case. We are concerned that we cannot meet any significant redemption requests without selling securities at deep discounts to their fair value and therefore causing unnecessary losses to our clients. We contacted the CFTC today and asked for their permission to halt redemptions until we can honor them in an orderly fashion.
Sentinel has always sought to protect your interests and since our inception in 1980, we have never experienced a situation quite like this one. We will continue to monitor the markets and we will raise cash as opportunities present themselves.We understand that this will obviously cause inconveniences on your part however, at present,we do not see an alternative and we don't believe it is in anyone's best interest if a run on Sentinel tookplace and we were in a forced liquidation mode.We value your trust in us these past 28 years and this has been a very difficult decision for usand we understand the implications of this decision both on you and on Sentinel. We feel, however,that this is the best way to assure you the best possible value on your investment.We will remain in contact with you and update you as things progress.
Sincerely,Sentinel Management Group, Inc.
CFTC says it can't halt Sentinel's redemptions WASHINGTON,
Aug 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has no authority to grant Sentinel Management Group's request to halt client redemptions, an agency official said on Tuesday. "The CFTC has no authority in this area," the CFTC official, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. "This isn't something we do. "We have no role in whether or not the company does this and whether the client accepts it," the official said…
-END-
Why the CFTC I asked Jesse? Then I learned Sentinel was an FCM (Futures Commission Merchant) and not a money market fund, although are providing a similar service.
Jesse responded with…Here is the CFTC connection for Sentinel. I'm sure you've seen the CFTC response saying 'no jurisdiction.'But this is probably why they asked the CFTC and not the SEC. Sentinel 125 PortfolioInvestment Objective:The 125 Portfolio is intended to provide Sentinel's FCM clients with a short-term investment alternative that combines safety of principal, liquidity and competitive yields compliant with the CFTC's Rule 1.25. An investment in the 125 Portfolio provides an indirect, undivided pro-rata interest in the underlying securities.
Allowable Investments:
» Obligations of the U.S. Treasury and GNMA
» Short term commercial paper rated A1/P1
» Medium and long term debt rated AA or higher » Bank time deposits
» Repurchase agreements collateralized by the above Investment Strategy:
Sentinel's 125 Portfolio has been created and designed to adhere to the guidelines of the CFTC's Rule 1.25 governing allowable securities for the investment of customer (segregated) funds by FCMs. Sentinel structures this portfolio to include only those securities that meet the high rating standards of the rule. Sentinel uses the provision of the rule dealing with maximum average maturity, as a way to deliver yields that exceed those of competing money market funds whose maturity guidelines are subject to more constraining regulation. In order to accommodate the liquidity needs of FCM clients, this portfolio will, typically, hold forty to fifty percent of its assets in the form of overnight repurchase agreements (repos). Special market conditions may dictate higher or lower percentages as prudent departures from the norm.
Comment from my side
How determines the Fair Value?
Let's go back to the statement in Sentinels letter
"We are concerned that we cannot meet any significant redemption requests without selling securities at deep discounts to their fair value and therefore causing unnecessary losses to our clients."
To that please read the remark from Mish (http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/)
"doesn't the market determine "fair value"? Apparently Sentinel thinks it knows what fair value is but the market doesn't. Recall that Bear Stearns thought the same thing. Bear Stearns locked out clients who wanted to redeem all the way back in January. Those investors would have gotten something back. Perhaps as much as 70 cents on the dollar. Bear Stearns locked those clients in and the Hedge Fund went to zero: totally worthless
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Worse than LTCM: Not Just a Liquidity Crisis; Rather a Credit Crisis and Crunch
Nouriel Roubini Aug 09, 2007
We also have insolvent hedge funds and other funds exposed to subprime and other mortgages. A few – at Bear Stearns, in Australia, in Germany, in France – have already gone bankrupt or are near bankrupt. You can be sure that with at least of $100 billion of subprime alone losses – and most losses are still hidden given the reckless practice of mark-to-model rather than mark-to-market - many more will go belly up. In the meanwhile the CDO, CLO and LBO market have completed closed down - a “constipated owl” where “absolutely nothing moves” the way Bill Gross of Pimco put it. This is for now a liquidity crisis in these credit markets; but credit events will occur given that the underlying problem was not of of liquidity but rather one of insolvency: if you take a bunch of to-be-defaulted subprime and near prime mortgages and you repackage them into RMBS and then these RMBS are repackaged into various tranches of CDOs, the rating agencies may be using magic voodoo to turn those junk BBB- mortgages into AAA tranches of CDOs; but this is only voodoo as the underlying assets are going to be defaulted on
http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini
We also have insolvent hedge funds and other funds exposed to subprime and other mortgages. A few – at Bear Stearns, in Australia, in Germany, in France – have already gone bankrupt or are near bankrupt. You can be sure that with at least of $100 billion of subprime alone losses – and most losses are still hidden given the reckless practice of mark-to-model rather than mark-to-market - many more will go belly up. In the meanwhile the CDO, CLO and LBO market have completed closed down - a “constipated owl” where “absolutely nothing moves” the way Bill Gross of Pimco put it. This is for now a liquidity crisis in these credit markets; but credit events will occur given that the underlying problem was not of of liquidity but rather one of insolvency: if you take a bunch of to-be-defaulted subprime and near prime mortgages and you repackage them into RMBS and then these RMBS are repackaged into various tranches of CDOs, the rating agencies may be using magic voodoo to turn those junk BBB- mortgages into AAA tranches of CDOs; but this is only voodoo as the underlying assets are going to be defaulted on
http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini
The $300 Trillion Time Bomb
Portfolio.com May 2007 Issue
Interesting read. The amounts in derivatives are in fact much higher than the 300 trillion
If Warren Buffett can't figure out derivatives, can anybody?
Gen Re got into derivatives dealing in 1990 and became tied to global financial markets in ways it found difficult to predict. When Buffett bought the company in 1998, he quickly decided he wanted out. At Buffett’s behest, Brandon embarked on a task that lost Berkshire and Gen Re a cool $409 million before taxes. The experience led Buffett to write in his 2002 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders what has become the most memorable line about the instruments: “Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal.”
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2007/03/29/The-300-Trillion-Time-Bomb#page1
Interesting read. The amounts in derivatives are in fact much higher than the 300 trillion
If Warren Buffett can't figure out derivatives, can anybody?
Gen Re got into derivatives dealing in 1990 and became tied to global financial markets in ways it found difficult to predict. When Buffett bought the company in 1998, he quickly decided he wanted out. At Buffett’s behest, Brandon embarked on a task that lost Berkshire and Gen Re a cool $409 million before taxes. The experience led Buffett to write in his 2002 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders what has become the most memorable line about the instruments: “Derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal.”
http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2007/03/29/The-300-Trillion-Time-Bomb#page1
The "Plunge Protection Team" working Overtime
10.8.07
By Gary Dorsch
"Imagination is more important than knowledge", the brilliant Albert Einstein used to say. Imagine for just a moment, that the Dow Jones Industrials has become a key instrument of national economic policy, and that by "actively managing" its direction, the government could impact the wealth of tens of millions of US households, and by extension, influence consumer confidence and spending
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/sirchartsalot/dorsch081007.html
By Gary Dorsch
"Imagination is more important than knowledge", the brilliant Albert Einstein used to say. Imagine for just a moment, that the Dow Jones Industrials has become a key instrument of national economic policy, and that by "actively managing" its direction, the government could impact the wealth of tens of millions of US households, and by extension, influence consumer confidence and spending
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/sirchartsalot/dorsch081007.html
Bernanke Panics & Gold Responds
11.8.07
In Globally Contained Liquidity Crunch I pointed out that the Fed was providing temporary loans (as repos) not capital to the markets. While true I missed something. What I missed involves the collateral the Fed is willing to take for those short term loans
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
In Globally Contained Liquidity Crunch I pointed out that the Fed was providing temporary loans (as repos) not capital to the markets. While true I missed something. What I missed involves the collateral the Fed is willing to take for those short term loans
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
WHAT WE KNOW
11.8.07
by Roger Conrad
How do you solve a liquidity crisis? The simple answer is to inject more liquidity into the financial system. The hard part is not pouring in too much and thereby setting off a speculative boom in the markets that leads to a greater meltdown later on
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/RConrad/2007/0811.html
by Roger Conrad
How do you solve a liquidity crisis? The simple answer is to inject more liquidity into the financial system. The hard part is not pouring in too much and thereby setting off a speculative boom in the markets that leads to a greater meltdown later on
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/RConrad/2007/0811.html
A BRIEF COMMENTARY ON FINANCIAL CRISES
10.8.07
by J. R. Nyquist
A financial crash is more than an economic glitch. It leads into dangerous political territory. It can trigger revolutions. Financial distress in the 1780s led to the French Revolution. Financial distress brought the Nazis and Japanese militarists to power before World War II. A financial earthquake may cause a political earthquake. A political earthquake, in turn, can set off a revolution, civil war, or even a world war. This is what history teaches
http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/geo/pastanalysis/2007/0810.html
by J. R. Nyquist
A financial crash is more than an economic glitch. It leads into dangerous political territory. It can trigger revolutions. Financial distress in the 1780s led to the French Revolution. Financial distress brought the Nazis and Japanese militarists to power before World War II. A financial earthquake may cause a political earthquake. A political earthquake, in turn, can set off a revolution, civil war, or even a world war. This is what history teaches
http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/geo/pastanalysis/2007/0810.html
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Bear Stearns Says Battered Hedge Funds Are Worth Little
Bear Stearns told clients in its two battered hedge funds late yesterday that their investments, worth an estimated $1.5 billion at the end of 2006, are almost entirely gone.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/business/18bond.html?ex=1185422400&en=5a30706d0cab857e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/business/18bond.html?ex=1185422400&en=5a30706d0cab857e&ei=5070&emc=eta1
Monday, July 16, 2007
US Begs China to Buy Subprime Mortgages
Mish Note: ECOMOMIC? The HUD could not even manage to spell economic correctly in their News Release.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
Summer Sale
Puru Saxena
We are witnessing a generational bull-market in all types of natural resources (energy, food and metals). This boom in commodities is largely due to supply and demand imbalances plus the ongoing monetary inflation which is adding fuel to the fire
Excellent piece of information
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/saxena/2007/0713.html
We are witnessing a generational bull-market in all types of natural resources (energy, food and metals). This boom in commodities is largely due to supply and demand imbalances plus the ongoing monetary inflation which is adding fuel to the fire
Excellent piece of information
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/saxena/2007/0713.html
Organic farming can feed the world
Good news, I truly hope that more and more consumers are demanding organic food
http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=5936
http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=5936
Sunday, July 8, 2007
THIS IS NOT the idle chatter of permanent bears. The subprime mortgage collapse now hitting Bear Stearns may be just the start.
Serious analysts from big investment firms are talking ominously about "the big one". It will make you angry to learn just how the investment industry has got you involved.
http://www.safehaven.com/article-7893.htm
Serious analysts from big investment firms are talking ominously about "the big one". It will make you angry to learn just how the investment industry has got you involved.
http://www.safehaven.com/article-7893.htm
Friday, July 6, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Who's Holding The Bag?
There is an interesting article in the Financial Times article about Liquidity Threats and who is holding the toxic tranches
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/shedlock/shedlock070507.html
A must read in my opinion
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/shedlock/shedlock070507.html
A must read in my opinion
Credit crunch will 'shred investment portfolios to ribbons'
The near collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds has lifted the rock on our 21st century mutant capitalism, exposing the bugs beneath to a rare shock of naked light.
When creditors led by Merrill Lynch forced a fire-sale of assets, they inadvertently revealed that up to $2 trillion of debt linked to the crumbling US sub-prime and "Alt A" property market was falsely priced on books.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/07/02/ccview102.xml
When creditors led by Merrill Lynch forced a fire-sale of assets, they inadvertently revealed that up to $2 trillion of debt linked to the crumbling US sub-prime and "Alt A" property market was falsely priced on books.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/07/02/ccview102.xml
PROPAGANDA WITH A CAPITAL 'P'
Anybody who believes that his or her 4% savings account is staying ahead of inflation is ill-informed
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/dollardaze/2007/0703.html
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/dollardaze/2007/0703.html
Monday, July 2, 2007
Another Great Depression?
The Fed's Role in the Bear Stearns Hedge Funds Meltdown
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6209
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6209
$250 Billion in Subprime Losses?
Is the subprime mortgage market collapsing before our eyes, or did we avoid a disaster as Bear Stearns stepped up to the plate with $3.2 billion to help its ailing funds? As we will see from the data, the problems in the subprime world are not over. The Fat Lady has not sung. But will the problems in this market contaminate the rest of the liquidity-driven markets? Is the party over?
http://www.safehaven.com/article-7870.htm
http://www.safehaven.com/article-7870.htm
It's time to invest for $100 oil
Investors, get ready for $100-a-barrel oil
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/ItsTimeToInvestFor100Oil.aspx
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/CompanyFocus/ItsTimeToInvestFor100Oil.aspx
Peak Oil Overview - June 2007
Energy Bulletin: by Gail E. Tverberg
The message that “peak oil” may be a problem is now reaching respected publications like Business Week. But how can a person learn more? Information about peak oil is often fragmented, and the quality of the sources is questionable. The purpose of this article is to document some of what is known about peak oil, so that readers have a better framework for understanding our current situation
http://energybulletin.net/31332.html
The message that “peak oil” may be a problem is now reaching respected publications like Business Week. But how can a person learn more? Information about peak oil is often fragmented, and the quality of the sources is questionable. The purpose of this article is to document some of what is known about peak oil, so that readers have a better framework for understanding our current situation
http://energybulletin.net/31332.html
Two necessities, fuel and food, create spiral of rising prices
While we worry about gas prices, the costs of milk, meat and fresh produce silently soar. So like the end of cheap energy, is the era of cheap food also finally over?
http://origin.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_6248755?nclick_check=1
http://origin.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_6248755?nclick_check=1
Monday, June 25, 2007
25.6.07
Axel Merk: Banks fight to postpone the day of reckoning
http://www.safehaven.com/article-7832.htm
Axel Merk: Banks fight to postpone the day of reckoning
http://www.safehaven.com/article-7832.htm
24.6.07
India daily: Higher Inflation, lower short-term rates can push Gold to $ 1,500 an ounce – but what are the long term prospect of the yellow metal
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/17296.asp
India daily: Higher Inflation, lower short-term rates can push Gold to $ 1,500 an ounce – but what are the long term prospect of the yellow metal
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/17296.asp
23.6.07
Brian Bloom: WHY (really) IS OUR PLANET WARMING
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/bloom/2007/0623b.html
Brian Bloom: WHY (really) IS OUR PLANET WARMING
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/bloom/2007/0623b.html
23.6.07
THE INDEPENDENT: The fight for the world’s food
http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article2697804.ece
THE INDEPENDENT: The fight for the world’s food
http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article2697804.ece
June 22, 2007
Puru Saxena: The solitary Bear
Thanks to the ongoing unprecedented money-supply and credit growth (inflation) on a global scale, currencies
Have stopped fulfilling this crucial function: thereby robbing the masses of their hard-earned savings
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/saxena/2007/0622.html
Puru Saxena: The solitary Bear
Thanks to the ongoing unprecedented money-supply and credit growth (inflation) on a global scale, currencies
Have stopped fulfilling this crucial function: thereby robbing the masses of their hard-earned savings
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/saxena/2007/0622.html
22.6.07
J.R. Nyquist: War Preparation and War Strategy in the middle East
http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/geo/pastanalysis/2007/0622.html
J.R. Nyquist: War Preparation and War Strategy in the middle East
http://www.financialsense.com/stormwatch/geo/pastanalysis/2007/0622.html
21.6.07
Yiannis G. Mostrous: Food, Water and China
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/mostrous/2007/0621.html
Yiannis G. Mostrous: Food, Water and China
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/mostrous/2007/0621.html
20.6.07
Jes Black: THE PERILS OF MONETIZING US DEBT
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/black/2007/0620.htm
Jes Black: THE PERILS OF MONETIZING US DEBT
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/black/2007/0620.htm
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