Reuters – ‘Fiscal cliff’ makes U.S. Fed queasy Federal Reserve policymakers are sounding the alarm over a “fiscal cliff” at the end of this year, when scheduled U.S. tax hikes and spending cuts could pose a big threat to the fragile economic recovery. Along with its official mandate of watching unemployment and inflation, the U.S.… Continue reading Is The Fiscal Cliff Coming Before The Election?
Comment On Tuesday April 24, 2012 the PBS show Frontine started a four part documentary on the financial crisis titled Money Power & Wall Street. Parts 1 and 2 are below. Part 3 and 4 will be aired next week (May 1) and available online at that point. This four part series is part of… Continue reading Front Line: Money Power & Wall Street
The Telegraph – Nightmare week for Angela Merkel as austerity bloc crumbles Elected governments have already been swept away – or replaced by EU technocrats without a vote, indeed to prevent a vote – in every eurozone state where unemployment has reached double-digits: Spain (23.6pc), Greece (21pc), Portugal (15pc), Ireland (14.7pc) and Slovakia (14pc). The… Continue reading The Mess That Is Europe
The Wall Street Journal – Greek Bank Chief Warns of a Possible Euro Exit Greece’s central-bank governor warned the country’s politicians that any deviation from strict austerity targets after May 6 general elections could lead to the country’s ouster from the 17-member euro currency bloc. At the same time, the central bank signaled the economy… Continue reading Will Greece Leave The Euro?
<Click on image for larger picture> Bloomberg.com – Housing Declared Bottoming in U.S. The U.S. housing market is showing more signs of stabilization as price declines ease and home demand improves, spurring several economists to call a bottom to the worst real estate collapse since the 1930s. “The crash is over,” Mark Zandi, chief economist… Continue reading Home Prices Fall Again
<Click on chart for larger image> SFGate – Millions More Homeowners May Rent, Pimco’s Simon Says: Tom Keene The U.S. homeownership rate may fall two percentage points to 64 percent, below historic norms, amid about six million additional foreclosures and tight lending standards, according to Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Scott Simon. “You may be turning… Continue reading Renting vs Homeownership
<Click on chart for larger image> The Economic Times – Gold may touch $7,000 per ounce before end of uptrend While gold’s latest price gyrations may seem excessive to some investors, Bank of America analyst MacNeil Curry said the volatility was nowhere near extreme enough to convince him the precious metal’s long-term uptrend was nearing… Continue reading Bullish On Gold
The Wall Street Journal – TARP: Billions in Loans in Doubt Hundreds of small banks can’t afford to repay federal bailout loans, a top watchdog will warn Wednesday in a report that challenges the government’s upbeat assessment of its financial-system rescue. Christy Romero, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said 351 small… Continue reading Repaying TARP
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Brent’s record run predicted to continue Brent oil this month broke a new record: for the first time, the benchmark crude has traded above $100 a barrel for more than 200 consecutive days. In 2008, when prices hit a record $147, the triple-digit run was… Continue reading Crude Oil
Bloomberg.com – U.K. Succumbs to First Double-Dip Recession Since 1970s: Economy The U.K. economy shrank in the first quarter as a slump in construction pushed Britain into its first double-dip recession since the 1970s. Gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011, when it declined 0.3 percent, the Office for National… Continue reading The U.K. Enters A Double-Dip Recession
Bloomberg.com – U.S. Lost AAA on Danger of Liquidity Crisis, S&P’s Kraemer Says The U.S. lost its top credit grade in August because of the imminent danger of a “real liquidity crisis,” and Standard & Poor’s made no errors in its analysis, said Moritz Kraemer, managing director of sovereign ratings. “Last summer, the U.S. government… Continue reading Why The U.S. Lost Its AAA Status
The Wall Street Journal – Source’s Cover Blown by SEC Federal securities regulators, in a sensitive breach, inadvertently revealed the identity of a whistleblower during a probe of a firm that ran a stock trading platform. The gaffe by the Securities and Exchange Commission occurred during an investigation of Pipeline Trading Systems LLC when an… Continue reading The SEC Messes Up