Why Obama's Health Care Reform Bill Will Destroy U.S. Jobs and Devastate the Economy
(NaturalNews) If you want to know why U.S. businesses increasingly outsource jobs to other countries, just add up the cost of doing business in America: As an employer, you have to pay not only higher wages than most other countries, but you also have to pay for the lost productivity and missed days due to the astonishingly poor health of the U.S. workforce.
Now, under the new Obama health care reform bill, you'll have to pay an additional eight percent of your payroll as a new tax to cover the costs of Big Government running its new sick-care system where nobody gets healthy, but everybody gets hammered with new taxes.
As a small business owner myself, I can tell you what this will cause in America: A massive shift of jobs out of the U.S. to other countries where health care costs are more reasonable (and the workers are healthier).
Taiwan, for example, is able to provide very high quality health care services to its entire population for roughly $30 a month, and that covers everything: Prenatal care, dental care, vision, surgeries, routine checkups, and so on. No one is denied coverage.
How is Taiwan able to provide first-world health care to its entire population at such affordable rates? Its government does not kow-tow to the pharmaceutical crooks that dominate American medicine. Taiwan runs a single payer system with no insurance companies mucking around with the paperwork or denying coverage to patients. On top of that, its population is far healthier than the U.S. population due to the fact that the traditional Taiwan diet is rich with real foods rather than processed foods. (This is changing, of course, as Taiwan adopts American fast food habits. The country will face increasing health care costs in the future if it continues to pursue American dietary habits...)
At the same time, doctors and medical staff in Taiwan don't make million-dollar salaries, either. They're paid well, but not the ridiculously high wages collected by medical specialists in the U.S. (Of course, they also don't have the burden of six-figure debt from medical schools hanging around their necks...)
Source: Natural News
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Showing posts with label FINANCE NEWS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FINANCE NEWS. Show all posts
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Ron Paul On Fed Audit: We Will Not Be Stopped
Ron Paul On Fed Audit: We Will Not Be Stopped
Paul Joseph Watson
PrisonPlanet.com
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Congressman Ron Paul has vowed that he will not be stopped in his effort to audit the Federal Reserve, as he slammed Senate authorities for blocking the bill earlier this week.
Appearing on Fox News’ Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano Paul referred to Senate authorities blocking Jim DeMint’s attempt to attach the legislation, which already has 250 co-sponsors in the House, as a provision to a spending bill as a “facade”.
The amendment was blocked by Senate authorities on Monday after they claimed that it violated rules for provisions attached to spending bills.
“Technicalities are always ignored for things they want – this means they don’t want it and this is their organized effort now to stop us, but we’re not going to be stopped, it’s just going to energize everybody at the grass roots,” said the Congressman.
Paul said that it made no sense to give the Fed more power when they had already created the bubble that led to the economic collapse in the first place. The Obama administration’s new regulatory reform plan, which will officially hand the Federal Reserve complete dictatorial control over the U.S. economy, will give the Fed the authority to “regulate” and shut down any company whose activity it believes could threaten the economy and the markets.
SOURCE: INFOWARS
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Paul Joseph Watson
PrisonPlanet.com
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Congressman Ron Paul has vowed that he will not be stopped in his effort to audit the Federal Reserve, as he slammed Senate authorities for blocking the bill earlier this week.
Appearing on Fox News’ Freedom Watch with Judge Napolitano Paul referred to Senate authorities blocking Jim DeMint’s attempt to attach the legislation, which already has 250 co-sponsors in the House, as a provision to a spending bill as a “facade”.
The amendment was blocked by Senate authorities on Monday after they claimed that it violated rules for provisions attached to spending bills.
“Technicalities are always ignored for things they want – this means they don’t want it and this is their organized effort now to stop us, but we’re not going to be stopped, it’s just going to energize everybody at the grass roots,” said the Congressman.
Paul said that it made no sense to give the Fed more power when they had already created the bubble that led to the economic collapse in the first place. The Obama administration’s new regulatory reform plan, which will officially hand the Federal Reserve complete dictatorial control over the U.S. economy, will give the Fed the authority to “regulate” and shut down any company whose activity it believes could threaten the economy and the markets.
SOURCE: INFOWARS
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
How Cooking the Books on Inflation Helped Destroy the Global Economy
How Cooking the Books on Inflation Helped Destroy the Global Economy
In the Wall Street Journal, Steven Gjerstad and Vernon Smith explain a key difference between the crash that followed the burst of the 1996-2006 housing bubble, and earlier bubbles that didn't bring the whole enchilada down with them when they deflated [HT: The Bubble Meter].
Monetary policy is a key part of the story -- monetary policy that created the appearance of prosperity, even as American families were growing more financially insecure year after year.
The Fed, under Clinton and Bush, kept interest rates at very low levels even after the recession that followed the crash of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s. Combined with the elimination of capital gains for houses sold for less than a half-million dollars, the result was a lot of cheap money out there gravitating to one of the few sectors of the economy that was growing.
In just the past 40 years there were two other housing bubbles, with peaks in 1979 and 1989, but the largest one in U.S. history started in 1997, probably sparked by rising household income that began in 1992 combined with the elimination in 1997 of taxes on residential capital gains up to $500,000. Rising values in an asset market draw investor attention; the early stages of the housing bubble had this usual, self-reinforcing feature.
The 2001 recession might have ended the bubble, but the Federal Reserve decided to pursue an unusually expansionary monetary policy in order to counteract the downturn. When the Fed increased liquidity, money naturally flowed to the fastest expanding sector. Both the Clinton and Bush administrations aggressively pursued the goal of expanding homeownership, so credit standards eroded. Lenders and the investment banks that securitized mortgages used rising home prices to justify loans to buyers with limited assets and income. Rating agencies accepted the hypothesis of ever rising home values, gave large portions of each security issue an investment-grade rating, and investors gobbled them up.
On that last point, the authors gloss over a key point. As the NY Times reported last year, "Credit rating agencies did not properly manage their conflicts of interests when assigning ratings to structured products such as mortgage-backed securities, a report by the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday." But that's an aside ...
But housing expenditures in the U.S. and most of the developed world have historically taken about 30% of household income. If housing prices more than double in a seven-year period without a commensurate increase in income, eventually something has to give. When subprime lending, the interest-only adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), and the negative-equity option ARM were no longer able to sustain the flow of new buyers, the inevitable crash could no longer be delayed.
How did we get there?
During the 1976-79 and 1986-89 housing price bubbles, the effective federal-funds interest rate was rising while housing prices rose: The Federal Reserve, "leaning against the wind," helped mitigate the bubbles. In January 2001, however, after four years with average inflation-adjusted house price increases of 7.2% per year (about 6% above trend for the past 80 years), the Fed started to decrease the fed-funds rate. By December 2001, the rate had been reduced to its lowest level since 1962. In 2002 the average fed-funds rate was lower than in any year since the 1958 recession. In 2003 and 2004 the average fed-funds rates were lower than in any year since 1955 when the rate series began.
Monetary policy, mortgage finance, relaxed lending standards, and tax-free capital gains provided astonishing economic stimulus: Mortgage loan originations increased an average of 56% per year for three years -- from $1.05 trillion in 2000 to $3.95 trillion in 2003!
Why didn't everyone see it coming a mile away? Some did, of course, but here we have to look at how changes to how we measure inflation played into the "irrational exuberance" of the past decade ...
SOURCE: ALTERNET
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
In the Wall Street Journal, Steven Gjerstad and Vernon Smith explain a key difference between the crash that followed the burst of the 1996-2006 housing bubble, and earlier bubbles that didn't bring the whole enchilada down with them when they deflated [HT: The Bubble Meter].
Monetary policy is a key part of the story -- monetary policy that created the appearance of prosperity, even as American families were growing more financially insecure year after year.
The Fed, under Clinton and Bush, kept interest rates at very low levels even after the recession that followed the crash of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s. Combined with the elimination of capital gains for houses sold for less than a half-million dollars, the result was a lot of cheap money out there gravitating to one of the few sectors of the economy that was growing.
In just the past 40 years there were two other housing bubbles, with peaks in 1979 and 1989, but the largest one in U.S. history started in 1997, probably sparked by rising household income that began in 1992 combined with the elimination in 1997 of taxes on residential capital gains up to $500,000. Rising values in an asset market draw investor attention; the early stages of the housing bubble had this usual, self-reinforcing feature.
The 2001 recession might have ended the bubble, but the Federal Reserve decided to pursue an unusually expansionary monetary policy in order to counteract the downturn. When the Fed increased liquidity, money naturally flowed to the fastest expanding sector. Both the Clinton and Bush administrations aggressively pursued the goal of expanding homeownership, so credit standards eroded. Lenders and the investment banks that securitized mortgages used rising home prices to justify loans to buyers with limited assets and income. Rating agencies accepted the hypothesis of ever rising home values, gave large portions of each security issue an investment-grade rating, and investors gobbled them up.
On that last point, the authors gloss over a key point. As the NY Times reported last year, "Credit rating agencies did not properly manage their conflicts of interests when assigning ratings to structured products such as mortgage-backed securities, a report by the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday." But that's an aside ...
But housing expenditures in the U.S. and most of the developed world have historically taken about 30% of household income. If housing prices more than double in a seven-year period without a commensurate increase in income, eventually something has to give. When subprime lending, the interest-only adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), and the negative-equity option ARM were no longer able to sustain the flow of new buyers, the inevitable crash could no longer be delayed.
How did we get there?
During the 1976-79 and 1986-89 housing price bubbles, the effective federal-funds interest rate was rising while housing prices rose: The Federal Reserve, "leaning against the wind," helped mitigate the bubbles. In January 2001, however, after four years with average inflation-adjusted house price increases of 7.2% per year (about 6% above trend for the past 80 years), the Fed started to decrease the fed-funds rate. By December 2001, the rate had been reduced to its lowest level since 1962. In 2002 the average fed-funds rate was lower than in any year since the 1958 recession. In 2003 and 2004 the average fed-funds rates were lower than in any year since 1955 when the rate series began.
Monetary policy, mortgage finance, relaxed lending standards, and tax-free capital gains provided astonishing economic stimulus: Mortgage loan originations increased an average of 56% per year for three years -- from $1.05 trillion in 2000 to $3.95 trillion in 2003!
Why didn't everyone see it coming a mile away? Some did, of course, but here we have to look at how changes to how we measure inflation played into the "irrational exuberance" of the past decade ...
SOURCE: ALTERNET
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Thursday, June 25, 2009
How the Wall Street Bankers Bought Congress
How the Wall Street Bankers Bought Congress
Posted by sakerfa on June 25, 2009
You would think that causing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression might have repercussions. You would think being a major factor in the destruction of around 40 percent of the world’s wealth might get you in trouble. You would think being the cause of the worst housing crisis in history — with millions of people losing their homes because of you — might force a restructuring of how Wall Street does things.
You would think that. But you’d be wrong.
For Wall Street’s lobbyists in Washington, it’s business as usual. Since Barack Obama took office, the bankers have succeeded in pushing through bogus “stress tests” of financial institutions’ solvency, escaping tougher government oversight, and steamrolling attempts to give working-class borrowers a break.
Even the much-hyped limits on CEO pay are being rolled back. In mid-June, Barack Obama lifted a five-month-old limit on executive compensation at financial firms that took federal bailout money. Apparently, only $500,000 a year in salaries and other perks was just too much of a sacrifice for the financial system to bear. Instead, Obama has established a “special master of compensation,” who will decide on pay to top executives at banks still reliant on government money.
While having a “special master” oversee pay might sound like a big deal, the banks aren’t sweating it. “Our people kind of thought it was a non-event,” one unnamed executive of a large bank told the Washington Post. “I don’t think there are worries about it on Wall Street.” And, the executive added, “It’s not like the horrible and unethical action from Congress, where they were putting artificial caps on pay or trying to steal back bonuses.”
The sense of entitlement on display in comments like these is staggering — as if the “wizards” of Wall Street deserve the billions in compensation showered upon them in the past decade for producing what has proved to be fictitious wealth, while destabilizing the economy and destroying the lives of people across the U.S.
SOURCE: DPROGRAM.NET
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Posted by sakerfa on June 25, 2009
You would think that causing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression might have repercussions. You would think being a major factor in the destruction of around 40 percent of the world’s wealth might get you in trouble. You would think being the cause of the worst housing crisis in history — with millions of people losing their homes because of you — might force a restructuring of how Wall Street does things.
You would think that. But you’d be wrong.
For Wall Street’s lobbyists in Washington, it’s business as usual. Since Barack Obama took office, the bankers have succeeded in pushing through bogus “stress tests” of financial institutions’ solvency, escaping tougher government oversight, and steamrolling attempts to give working-class borrowers a break.
Even the much-hyped limits on CEO pay are being rolled back. In mid-June, Barack Obama lifted a five-month-old limit on executive compensation at financial firms that took federal bailout money. Apparently, only $500,000 a year in salaries and other perks was just too much of a sacrifice for the financial system to bear. Instead, Obama has established a “special master of compensation,” who will decide on pay to top executives at banks still reliant on government money.
While having a “special master” oversee pay might sound like a big deal, the banks aren’t sweating it. “Our people kind of thought it was a non-event,” one unnamed executive of a large bank told the Washington Post. “I don’t think there are worries about it on Wall Street.” And, the executive added, “It’s not like the horrible and unethical action from Congress, where they were putting artificial caps on pay or trying to steal back bonuses.”
The sense of entitlement on display in comments like these is staggering — as if the “wizards” of Wall Street deserve the billions in compensation showered upon them in the past decade for producing what has proved to be fictitious wealth, while destabilizing the economy and destroying the lives of people across the U.S.
SOURCE: DPROGRAM.NET
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Banks: Are They Struggling or Scamming Us?
Banks: Are They Struggling or Scamming Us?
By Nicholas von Hoffman, The Nation. Posted April 28, 2009.
After all the money and other kinds of help that has been given to banks or extorted from the public, banks still aren't lending enough to make a difference in this troubled economy.
The
Wall Street Journal reports
that the biggest financial institutions "made or refinanced a total of $226.3 billion of loans in October. In February that figure had fallen to $174.2 billion." The only three outfits to make more "loans in February than October were BB&T Corp., a regional bank based in Winston-Salem, N.C.; Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley; and State Street Corp., a Boston-based company that provides financial services mainly to institutions and wealthy individuals."
You would think that since the banks can borrow money from the government at close to zero-percent interest and lend it at 4 percent to 5 percent, they would be shoving dough out the door into the hands of any vaguely solvent looking passerby, but they're not.
SOURCE: Alternet{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
By Nicholas von Hoffman, The Nation. Posted April 28, 2009.
After all the money and other kinds of help that has been given to banks or extorted from the public, banks still aren't lending enough to make a difference in this troubled economy.
The
Wall Street Journal reports
that the biggest financial institutions "made or refinanced a total of $226.3 billion of loans in October. In February that figure had fallen to $174.2 billion." The only three outfits to make more "loans in February than October were BB&T Corp., a regional bank based in Winston-Salem, N.C.; Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley; and State Street Corp., a Boston-based company that provides financial services mainly to institutions and wealthy individuals."
You would think that since the banks can borrow money from the government at close to zero-percent interest and lend it at 4 percent to 5 percent, they would be shoving dough out the door into the hands of any vaguely solvent looking passerby, but they're not.
SOURCE: Alternet{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Exxon Mobil overtakes Wal-Mart to top Fortune 500
Exxon Mobil overtakes Wal-Mart to top Fortune 500
By DAN STRUMPF, AP Business Writer Dan Strumpf, Ap Business Writer – Sun Apr 19, 5:43 pm ET
NEW YORK – Exxon Mobil Corp. unseated Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the 2009 Fortune 500 list, shrugging off the oil price bubble and weathering what the magazine called the worst year ever for the country's largest publicly traded companies.
Fortune's closely watched list, released Sunday, ranked companies by their revenue in 2008. Irving, Texas-based Exxon took in $442.85 billion in revenue last year, up almost 19 percent from 2007. The company also raked in the biggest annual profit, earning $45.2 billion.
Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart had held the top spot for six of the last seven years but fell to No. 2 this year. Still, the retail giant's 2008 revenue climbed 7 percent to $405.6 billion, as the battered economy sent more consumers searching for bargains. The world's largest retailer took in $13.4 billion in annual profit, an increase of about 5 percent.
Although it may have been a good year for Exxon and Wal-Mart, 2008 was far from rosy for most of remaining companies on the list. Overall earnings plunged 85 percent to $98.9 billion from $645 billion in 2007, the biggest one-year decline in the 55-year history of the Fortune 500 list.
SOURCE: YAHOO NEWS
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
By DAN STRUMPF, AP Business Writer Dan Strumpf, Ap Business Writer – Sun Apr 19, 5:43 pm ET
NEW YORK – Exxon Mobil Corp. unseated Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the 2009 Fortune 500 list, shrugging off the oil price bubble and weathering what the magazine called the worst year ever for the country's largest publicly traded companies.
Fortune's closely watched list, released Sunday, ranked companies by their revenue in 2008. Irving, Texas-based Exxon took in $442.85 billion in revenue last year, up almost 19 percent from 2007. The company also raked in the biggest annual profit, earning $45.2 billion.
Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart had held the top spot for six of the last seven years but fell to No. 2 this year. Still, the retail giant's 2008 revenue climbed 7 percent to $405.6 billion, as the battered economy sent more consumers searching for bargains. The world's largest retailer took in $13.4 billion in annual profit, an increase of about 5 percent.
Although it may have been a good year for Exxon and Wal-Mart, 2008 was far from rosy for most of remaining companies on the list. Overall earnings plunged 85 percent to $98.9 billion from $645 billion in 2007, the biggest one-year decline in the 55-year history of the Fortune 500 list.
SOURCE: YAHOO NEWS
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Cities Collapsing throughout the USA
Cities Collapsing throughout the USA
Source: The Coming Depression
“With enough abandoned lots to fill the city of San Francisco, Motown is 138 square miles divided between expanses of decay and emptiness and tracts of still-functioning communities and commercial areas. Close to six barren acres of an estimated 17,000 have already been turned into 500 “mini- farms,” demonstrating the lengths to which planners will go to make land productive.
The city, like the automakers, has to shrink to match what’s left, said June Thomas, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
“The issue is how,” she said. “There’s no vision.”
“People are moving out of the city, trying to find work,” said David Martin of Wayne State University’s Urban Safety Program. Those who stay “can’t afford to move out.”
“Property abandonment is getting so bad in Flint that some in government are talking about an extreme measure that was once unthinkable — shutting down portions of the city, officially abandoning them and cutting off police and fire service.
SOURCE: BLACK LISTED NEWS
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Source: The Coming Depression
“With enough abandoned lots to fill the city of San Francisco, Motown is 138 square miles divided between expanses of decay and emptiness and tracts of still-functioning communities and commercial areas. Close to six barren acres of an estimated 17,000 have already been turned into 500 “mini- farms,” demonstrating the lengths to which planners will go to make land productive.
The city, like the automakers, has to shrink to match what’s left, said June Thomas, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
“The issue is how,” she said. “There’s no vision.”
“People are moving out of the city, trying to find work,” said David Martin of Wayne State University’s Urban Safety Program. Those who stay “can’t afford to move out.”
“Property abandonment is getting so bad in Flint that some in government are talking about an extreme measure that was once unthinkable — shutting down portions of the city, officially abandoning them and cutting off police and fire service.
SOURCE: BLACK LISTED NEWS
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Global Economic Collapse Means Boom Times for Criminal Syndicates
In all catastrophes, there are always winners among the host of losers and victims. Bad times, like good ones, generate profits for someone. In the case of the present global economic meltdown, with our world at the brink and up to 50 million people potentially losing their jobs by the end of this year, one winner is likely to be criminal activity and crime syndicates. From Mexico to Africa, Russia to China, the pool of the desperate and the bribable is expanding exponentially, pointing to a sharp upturn in global crime. As illicit profits rise, so will violence in the turf wars among competing crime syndicates and in the desperate efforts by panicked governments to put a clamp on criminal activity.
SOURCE: ALTERNET
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
SOURCE: ALTERNET
{ALL THAT IS EVIL WILL BE EXPOSED}
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
SDR scheme was invented by the Rothschild cabal
SDR scheme was invented by the Rothschild cabal
The Goldsmiths, Part LV, addressed the Chinese ideas on using the Special Drawing Rights as a new global reserve currency to take the place of the dollar. If you remember this thing, as it broke, President Obama came out with a strong no that he didn’t like the idea. The US Secretary of the Treasury echoed his boss. Then, almost immediately thereafter, Geithner did a complete, 180-degree, about face, and contradicted his boss by saying that the plan might have merit (obviously, Geithner received higher level instructions from someone else besides Obama).
That Goldsmiths article gave a brief backdrop on the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) and outlined that the fall out of such an effort would perhaps cause a sharp drop down on gold. It’s hard to say how far down or how fast down gold could go but we must leave prospects of $500 on the table. As a matter of fact, I earlier have read a prediction by an analyst of $500 gold. This projection was made some time ago and did not factor in the recent Chinese proposal.
SOURCE: news.goldseek.com
The Goldsmiths, Part LV, addressed the Chinese ideas on using the Special Drawing Rights as a new global reserve currency to take the place of the dollar. If you remember this thing, as it broke, President Obama came out with a strong no that he didn’t like the idea. The US Secretary of the Treasury echoed his boss. Then, almost immediately thereafter, Geithner did a complete, 180-degree, about face, and contradicted his boss by saying that the plan might have merit (obviously, Geithner received higher level instructions from someone else besides Obama).
That Goldsmiths article gave a brief backdrop on the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) and outlined that the fall out of such an effort would perhaps cause a sharp drop down on gold. It’s hard to say how far down or how fast down gold could go but we must leave prospects of $500 on the table. As a matter of fact, I earlier have read a prediction by an analyst of $500 gold. This projection was made some time ago and did not factor in the recent Chinese proposal.
SOURCE: news.goldseek.com
Monday, March 30, 2009
What the average investor can learn from this crisis:
What the average investor can learn from this crisis: Keep on the lookout for "bubbling" formations
by Grant Martin, 2009 Midwest Voices Guest Columnist
1) Watch for bubble indicators. It is simple: look for people doing irrational things. For instance, running up the price of companies that have no earnings just because “everyone else is doing it”. People buying houses with no money down, readjusting interest rate loans, and waiving home inspections. Putting money into hedge funds that guarantee sky-high returns (okay, us “commoners” probably didn’t know about that one, but some people did!)
2) When bubbles start to form- watch out! Run for the hills. If I can, short anything related to the industry benefitting from the irrationality. If I can’t short, then shift money into gold or cash. Maybe start out slowly- it might take a year or two before the market catches on. But once I notice bubble-like qualities, start getting out. Every month take out 1/12th or so of my money from the market and get it into something safe. And definitely stop putting new money in.
3) After the bubble bursts, start to slowly get back in. Figure a year and a half at least for things to stabilize. Maybe start getting back in after the bad news starts to not affect anyone, as they are used to it and partially numb. Maybe plan to get all my money back in over a year’s time.
4) If I'm not working or am close to retirement, start shifting money into bonds- very safe bonds. Don’t worry about the bonds losing value- just plan to live off the income they generate. I might also think of shifting some of the money into gold and/or cash- but not unless I can stand to lose most of it.
So, I figure next year during the Summertime we will be back in full swing. The market may or may not adjust to that reality months before then or months afterwards. In five years we will talk about the terrible time in 2008 like it was ancient history.
And we will be heading for another bubble.
What will it be this time? I can only guess. Maybe people will be pouring money into “Green” companies that don’t have earnings and while oil is at an all-time low? I don’t know- but watch out for people doing irrational things. And then let me know…
SOURCE: VOICES KANSAS CITY
by Grant Martin, 2009 Midwest Voices Guest Columnist
1) Watch for bubble indicators. It is simple: look for people doing irrational things. For instance, running up the price of companies that have no earnings just because “everyone else is doing it”. People buying houses with no money down, readjusting interest rate loans, and waiving home inspections. Putting money into hedge funds that guarantee sky-high returns (okay, us “commoners” probably didn’t know about that one, but some people did!)
2) When bubbles start to form- watch out! Run for the hills. If I can, short anything related to the industry benefitting from the irrationality. If I can’t short, then shift money into gold or cash. Maybe start out slowly- it might take a year or two before the market catches on. But once I notice bubble-like qualities, start getting out. Every month take out 1/12th or so of my money from the market and get it into something safe. And definitely stop putting new money in.
3) After the bubble bursts, start to slowly get back in. Figure a year and a half at least for things to stabilize. Maybe start getting back in after the bad news starts to not affect anyone, as they are used to it and partially numb. Maybe plan to get all my money back in over a year’s time.
4) If I'm not working or am close to retirement, start shifting money into bonds- very safe bonds. Don’t worry about the bonds losing value- just plan to live off the income they generate. I might also think of shifting some of the money into gold and/or cash- but not unless I can stand to lose most of it.
So, I figure next year during the Summertime we will be back in full swing. The market may or may not adjust to that reality months before then or months afterwards. In five years we will talk about the terrible time in 2008 like it was ancient history.
And we will be heading for another bubble.
What will it be this time? I can only guess. Maybe people will be pouring money into “Green” companies that don’t have earnings and while oil is at an all-time low? I don’t know- but watch out for people doing irrational things. And then let me know…
SOURCE: VOICES KANSAS CITY
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Developer of 9/11 Site Seeks Aid
Developer of 9/11 Site Seeks Aid
By ALEX FRANGOS
NEW YORK -- The rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, already hobbled by years of delays and infighting, is facing fresh problems as private developer Larry Silverstein asks the government for crucial financial assistance, according to people familiar with the matter.
The result would be that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the government entity that owns the site, would take on more of the risk of the project at a time when the agency already faces budget restraints to pursue its core transportation and infrastructure missions.
The Port Authority, eager to prevent the project from stalling, is considering helping to finance at least one of Mr. Silverstein's planned three office towers, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Silverstein is requesting financing help on at least two of the three towers. The Port Authority would require concessions from Mr. Silverstein, including possibly giving up some of upside profits should the towers succeed in the long term.
SOURCE: WALL STREET JOURNAL
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS F#$KERRRR! HE WANTS MORE MONEY!!! WHY DOESN'T HE USE SOME OF THAT INSURANCE MONEY HE GOT FROM THE BUILDINGS.
By ALEX FRANGOS
NEW YORK -- The rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, already hobbled by years of delays and infighting, is facing fresh problems as private developer Larry Silverstein asks the government for crucial financial assistance, according to people familiar with the matter.
The result would be that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the government entity that owns the site, would take on more of the risk of the project at a time when the agency already faces budget restraints to pursue its core transportation and infrastructure missions.
The Port Authority, eager to prevent the project from stalling, is considering helping to finance at least one of Mr. Silverstein's planned three office towers, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Silverstein is requesting financing help on at least two of the three towers. The Port Authority would require concessions from Mr. Silverstein, including possibly giving up some of upside profits should the towers succeed in the long term.
SOURCE: WALL STREET JOURNAL
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS F#$KERRRR! HE WANTS MORE MONEY!!! WHY DOESN'T HE USE SOME OF THAT INSURANCE MONEY HE GOT FROM THE BUILDINGS.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Bailed-out JPMorgan orders two new luxury jets and a deluxe aircraft hangar.
Bailed-out JPMorgan orders two new luxury jets and a deluxe aircraft hangar.
In last month's House hearing, seven out of eight bailed-out bank CEOs said their companies still 'own or lease' private planes. ABC News provides more details today, reporting that JPMorgan Chase - which received $25 billion in TARP funds - 'is going ahead with a $138 million plan to buy two new luxury corporate jets,' complete with 'the premiere corporate aircraft hangar on the eastern seaboard.'
SOURCE: OPED NEWS
In last month's House hearing, seven out of eight bailed-out bank CEOs said their companies still 'own or lease' private planes. ABC News provides more details today, reporting that JPMorgan Chase - which received $25 billion in TARP funds - 'is going ahead with a $138 million plan to buy two new luxury corporate jets,' complete with 'the premiere corporate aircraft hangar on the eastern seaboard.'
SOURCE: OPED NEWS
Restoring Our Financial Sovereignty: A New Monetary System
Restoring Our Financial Sovereignty: A New Monetary System
by Nikki Alexander
Prologue
When Benjamin Franklin was called before the British Parliament in 1757 and asked to account for the prosperity in the American colonies. He replied, "That is simple. In the colonies we issue our own money. It is called Colonial Scrip. We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry to make the products pass easily from the producers to the consumers. In this manner, creating for ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power, and we have no interest to pay to no one."
It was the struggle for financial sovereignty that precipitated the American Revolution when the (Rothschild) Bank of England forced the colonies to give up their Scrip and intense poverty followed.
That war never ended.
SOURCE: OPED NEWS
by Nikki Alexander
Prologue
When Benjamin Franklin was called before the British Parliament in 1757 and asked to account for the prosperity in the American colonies. He replied, "That is simple. In the colonies we issue our own money. It is called Colonial Scrip. We issue it in proper proportion to the demands of trade and industry to make the products pass easily from the producers to the consumers. In this manner, creating for ourselves our own paper money, we control its purchasing power, and we have no interest to pay to no one."
It was the struggle for financial sovereignty that precipitated the American Revolution when the (Rothschild) Bank of England forced the colonies to give up their Scrip and intense poverty followed.
That war never ended.
SOURCE: OPED NEWS
Israel stocks rise; rate cut, U.S. bank plan in focus
Israel stocks rise; rate cut, U.S. bank plan in focus
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Stocks advanced Monday in Israel, with investors and analysts assessing details of the U.S. government program for disposing of banks' toxic assets plan and awaiting an interest-rate call from the Bank of Israel.
Banks and the broader financial sector performed particularly strongly, as did real estate stocks.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's benchmark TA-25 Index closed 1.9% higher at 694.48, while the TA-100 Index (XX:1884407: news , chart , profile ) advanced more than 2.3% to 631.49.
SOURCE: MARKET WATCH
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Stocks advanced Monday in Israel, with investors and analysts assessing details of the U.S. government program for disposing of banks' toxic assets plan and awaiting an interest-rate call from the Bank of Israel.
Banks and the broader financial sector performed particularly strongly, as did real estate stocks.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's benchmark TA-25 Index closed 1.9% higher at 694.48, while the TA-100 Index (XX:1884407: news , chart , profile ) advanced more than 2.3% to 631.49.
SOURCE: MARKET WATCH
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
U.S. Injecting Billions Into Foreign Central Banks Published on 03-18-2009
U.S. Injecting Billions Into Foreign Central Banks
Published on 03-18-2009
For more than a year, the U.S. Federal Reserve System has been increasingly acting as the world's central bank, injecting hundreds of billions of dollars into foreign government treasuries in an effort to increase liquidity in those countries.
The foreign central banks have used the U.S. currency to bail out financial institutions within their borders. The Fed program links its balance sheet directly to the fates of foreign central banks at a time when they're on the ropes.
The program has so far gone unreported in the mainstream media and is a major expansion of Federal Reserve involvement in the global economy. It represents a stark break from the prior role of the Fed, moving it into territory more traditionally occupied by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
SOURCE: BLACK LISTED NEWS
Published on 03-18-2009
For more than a year, the U.S. Federal Reserve System has been increasingly acting as the world's central bank, injecting hundreds of billions of dollars into foreign government treasuries in an effort to increase liquidity in those countries.
The foreign central banks have used the U.S. currency to bail out financial institutions within their borders. The Fed program links its balance sheet directly to the fates of foreign central banks at a time when they're on the ropes.
The program has so far gone unreported in the mainstream media and is a major expansion of Federal Reserve involvement in the global economy. It represents a stark break from the prior role of the Fed, moving it into territory more traditionally occupied by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
SOURCE: BLACK LISTED NEWS
Monday, March 16, 2009
GRAND ILLUSION – THE FEDERAL RESERVE
GRAND ILLUSION – THE FEDERAL RESERVE
by James Quinn
March 11, 2009
So if you think your life is complete confusion
Because your neighbors got it made
Just remember that it's a Grand illusion
And deep inside we're all the same.
We're all the same...
America spells competition, join us in our blind ambition
Get yourself a brand new motor car
Someday soon we'll stop to ponder what on Earth's this spell we're under
We made the grade and still we wonder who the hell we are
Styx – Grand Illusion
The whole world is in a state of complete confusion. Americans are coming to the realization that their lives have been a grand illusion. You thought your neighbor had it made. They were driving a Mercedes, spent $40,000 on a new kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, sent their kids to private school, had a second home at the shore, and took exotic vacations all over the world. Now their house is in foreclosure and you are paying to bail them out. The anger and outrage in the country is at the highest level since the Vietnam War. The American public is being misled by government officials, politicians, and the Federal Reserve regarding the causes of this crisis and the solutions needed to solve our economic tribulations.
The average American does not know much about the Federal Reserve. The government and the Federal Reserve prefer to operate in the shadows. If the American public understood what their policies have done to their lives, they would be rioting in the streets. Henry Ford had a similar opinion:
"It is well that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."
SOURCE: financialsense
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Small US bank goes Islamic, rides storm
Small US bank goes Islamic, rides storm
DETROIT: Big financial institutions have been battered by mortgages gone bad. But a tiny Michigan bank is getting attention in the industry by turning a profit on loans without even charging interest. Its specialty: financial products that comply with Islamic law. That means no collecting interest, no short selling and no contracts that are considered exceedingly risky. It also rules out some of the activity that got Western finance in trouble - subprime mortgages, credit default swaps and the like.
When you look at the economic crisis we're in, if you were to follow Islamic or sharia financing, you couldn't have this crisis," said John Sickler, corporate director for the bank, University Islamic Financial Corp in Ann Arbor. Islamic finance operations aren't prohibited from making a profit. Far from it. Instead, banks that comply with Islamic law, or sharia, earn money from fees that are part of the cost of the loan, some paid up front and some over time.
SOURCE: kuwaittimes
DETROIT: Big financial institutions have been battered by mortgages gone bad. But a tiny Michigan bank is getting attention in the industry by turning a profit on loans without even charging interest. Its specialty: financial products that comply with Islamic law. That means no collecting interest, no short selling and no contracts that are considered exceedingly risky. It also rules out some of the activity that got Western finance in trouble - subprime mortgages, credit default swaps and the like.
When you look at the economic crisis we're in, if you were to follow Islamic or sharia financing, you couldn't have this crisis," said John Sickler, corporate director for the bank, University Islamic Financial Corp in Ann Arbor. Islamic finance operations aren't prohibited from making a profit. Far from it. Instead, banks that comply with Islamic law, or sharia, earn money from fees that are part of the cost of the loan, some paid up front and some over time.
SOURCE: kuwaittimes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE FOR YOUR MIND
