Rarely Seen Pictures Of The Devastating Consequences Of The BP Disaster
NASA Photograph of the OIL SPILL, taken 3 weeks after it began.
Competing currency being accepted across Mid-Michigan
Right now, you can buy a meal or visit a chiropractor without using actual U.S. legal tender. They sound like real money and look like real money. But you can’t take them to the bank because they’re not made at a government mint. They’re made at private mints.
New Financial Regulation Passes, Gives Fed More Power
After fending off most challenges to its independence and winning new powers to oversee big financial firms, the Federal Reserve has emerged from a bruising debate on the overhaul of U.S. financial rules as perhaps the pre-eminent regulator in the sector. But that could only bring it added blame if things go wrong again.
FTMQuarterly Newsletter – Summer 2010 Issue (PDF)
This is a protected post. Learn more about becoming an FTM Insider.
The new gold diggers
When gold nuggets were found in the foothills of California in 1849, a frenzy of prospecting ensued. Now, thanks to the ‘Great Recession’, it’s happening all over again.
Congress to raise retirement age?
In a rare departure from this year’s intense political posturing over the soaring budget deficit, House leaders of both parties recently signaled that they are prepared to tackle a leading long-term liability — Social Security —by raising the retirement age.
Trade Deficit Gets Even Worse
In May, the trade deficit expanded to $42.27 billion from $40.32 billion in April. Relative to a year ago, the trade deficit is up 70.0%, but May of a year ago marked the low point in the trade deficit after world trade collapsed following the 2008 financial meltdown. The May trade deficit was also significantly worse than the $39.5 billion that was expected.
Venezuela oil ‘may double Saudi Arabia’
A new US assessment of Venezuela’s oil reserves could give the country double the supplies of Saudi Arabia.
Obama faces growing credibility crisis
The Obama presidency”Barack Obama’s chief spokesman, got into hot water this week for daring to speak the truth – that the Democrats could lose control of the House of Representatives in November. But it could be even worse than that.
(VIDEO) – THE ECONOMIC HITMEN
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37Dvt2EqXF4&feature=player_embedded]
The 50 most unbelievable facts about the U.S. economy
As we close on another week replete with ugly economic data and the usual bizarro counterintuitive market, here is a summary of the 50 most underreported facts about the state of the US economy, courtesy of the Coto report.
Obama’s debt commission warns of fiscal ‘cancer’
The two leaders — former Republican senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming and Erskine Bowles, White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton– sought to build support for the work of the commission, whose recommendations due later this year are likely to spark a fierce debate in Congress.
G20 looks to Beijing to drive global growth
The G20 appears to be placing a large bet on China’s policymakers. At their summit last month, one developed country after another, bar the US, said they would cut fiscal deficits.
Merrill Lynch: The 3 big reasons gold and silver will soar
Merrill Lynch metals analysts maintain gold will hit a US$1,500 per ounce target by the end of next year as investor demand pushes gold prices higher.
Top 20 Global Banks by Market Capitalization: The Decline of American Banks & The Rise of Goldman Sachs
The Financial Times has a very interesting shockwave application showing how the top banks by market capitalization have changed for the last few years. You can clearly see the Goldman Sacks ascension and the decline of the American banks.
BIS gold swap – best news to hit gold in 30 years
In its 2010 annual report, the Bank of International Settlements said that “gold, which the bank held in connection with gold swap operations, under which the bank exchanges currencies for physical gold,” stands at 8,160.1 million in special drawing rights, equivalent to 346 tonnes this year, up from nil in 2009.” Apparently this amount has now climbed to 382 tonnes since the report was issued.
Number of the Week: Euro Zone Debt Is Coming Due
Throughout the recession and recovery, many European banks have sought to sweep their problems under the carpet in the hopes that they could solve them in a better and more profitable future. Now, though, they’re running out of time.
America: Optimism on hold
A month ago, it all seemed to be going so well. Growth in the US economy was picking up. The financial system was, mainly, functioning. The risk of contagion from Europe had diminished after an unprecedented bail-out from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Things were creeping back towards normality.
America’s Empire of Debt
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:53 — 55.7MB) | Embed
America’s Empire of Debt: In this special edition of Follow the Money Weekly, Jerry Robinson takes the entire hour to discuss America’s crumbling financial system and urges his listeners to take action.
Chinese airport closed after fiery UFO is spotted flying over city
A Chinese airport was closed after this mysterious object was spotted in the sky.
Are Overdue Reports Concealing ObamaCare Impact On Medicare?
Every year, the Annual Report of the Social Security Board of Trustees comes out between mid-April and mid-May. Now it’s July, and there’s no sign of this year’s report. What is the Obama administration hiding?
Richard Russell: Everything you need to know about gold in three sentences
…As I’ve said a thousand times, Fed Chief Bernanke will absolutely not accept deflation… Shrewd gold-accumulators are well aware of [this]. As the deflationary and deleveraging forces press on the US economy, the Bernanke Fed is ready to devalue the US dollar in its (“whatever it takes”) battle to hold back deflation.
IRS to begin tracking gold and silver coin purchases in 2012
A blizzard of paperwork could be about to hit numismatics. Passage by Congress of the national health care legislation has had an unintended consequence to the nation’s coin collectors, vest-pocket dealers who buy and sell coins, and larger dealers who are frequent buyers of coins that collectors periodically liquidate as they trade up their collections for better coins, or simply sell to take a small profit or loss.
Federal Budget Deficit Hits $1 Trillion For 1st 9 Months Of FY 2010
The federal budget deficit for the first nine months of the 2010 fiscal year was just over $1 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office reported Wednesday.
JIM ROGERS: Sell Bonds, Buy Precious Metals, Rice on Supply Shortages
“Bonds are not a good place to invest in,” Rogers said at a conference in Kuala Lumpur today. “You should own commodities because that’s your only refuge” whether it’s silver or rice, said Rogers, who predicted the start of the global commodities rally in 1999.
U.S. marks 3rd-largest, single-day debt increase
The National Debt Clock is shown Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 in New York. President Barack Obama sent Congress a $3.83 trillion budget on Monday that would pour more money into the fight against high unemployment, boost taxes on the wealthy and freeze spending for a wide swath of government programs. The deficit for this year would surge to a record-breaking $1.56 trillion. The Debt Clock is a privately funded estimate of the national debt. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Shared sacrifice will be the new economic order
The laser-like focus on the global financial crisis means investors are back in contingency planning mode while the tools to fend off fiscal Armageddon are again being sharpened by governments and policy makers around the world. But, at times like these, it is important to understand where the real economic power resides, and that is with the people on Main Street.
Ben Bernanke Has Created Half of All the US Dollars in Existence – in Four Years!
“The U.S. turned 234 years old yesterday, and yet over half of the nation’s money supply was created since Helicopter Ben took over the flight controls four years ago. No wonder gold is in a full fledged bull market . . .”
Federal Reserve Surprise! "We may have to print more money" to spur "recovery"
Federal Reserve officials, increasingly concerned over signs the economic recovery is faltering, are considering new steps to bolster growth. With Congress tied in political knots over whether to take further action to boost the economy, Fed leaders are weighing modest steps that could offer more support for economic activity at a time when their target for short-term interest rates is already near zero.
Niall Ferguson: The US Has 6 Years Before Debt Payments Surpass Defense Spending
Businessinsider.com | Joe Weisenthal | Jul. 6, 2010, 4:51 AM The world’s hottest deficit hawk Niall Ferguson brought his message of fiscal doom & gloom to the Aspen Ideas Festival, where he warned that politicians were lacking urgency over the crisis to come. The Aspen Times reports: And American politicians don’t have a sense of […]
Germany focuses on cutting spending
Germany’s cabinet is poised this week to approve a 2011 budget as part of a four-year programme of public spending cuts meant to serve as an example to other European governments without jeopardising the country’s increasingly robust economic recovery.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Its starting to feel like 1932
People queue for a job fair in New York. The share of the US working-age population with jobs in June fell from 58.7pc to 58.5pc. The ratio was 63pc three years ago. “The economy is still in the gravitational pull of the Great Recession,” said Robert Reich, former US labour secretary. “All the booster rockets for getting us beyond it are failing.”
Dow Repeats Great Depression Pattern: Charts
Dow Repeats Great Depression Pattern: Charts DOW JONES, WALL STREET, GREAT DEPRESSION, TECHNICAL ANALYSIS, MARKETS, STOCKS, DAX, FTSE, FOOTSIE, CNBC.com | 05 Jul 2010 | 05:31 AM ET The Dow Jones Industrial Average is repeating a pattern that appeared just before markets fell during the Great Depression, Daryl Guppy, CEO at Guppytraders.com, told CNBC Monday. […]
Illinois Stops Paying Its Bills, but Can’t Stop Digging Hole
CHICAGO — Even by the standards of this deficit-ridden state, Illinois’s comptroller, Daniel W. Hynes, faces an ugly balance sheet. Precisely how ugly becomes clear when he beckons you into his office to examine his daily briefing memo.
Phony Financial Reform
The huge overhaul bill ignores most big problems and dodges the rest. There is something in the financial-services bill for almost every interest, but the real winners are the cynics who think Congress can’t do anything right. The monster that crawled out of the conference committee on June 25 has about 2,300 pages, and one hostile Republican congressman said it probably has three unintended consequences per page.
Avoiding the Austerity Trap
Recent increases in the federal deficit have made the pundit class tremble, but they aren’t really mysterious. They are, for the most part, a product of the recession, which has reduced tax revenue, justified the bailouts and last year’s stimulus package, and brought unemployment insurance and other “automatic stabilizers” into effect.
The 2011 Tax Tidal Wave + Greenspan’s Bubble with Bill Fleckenstein
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:27 — 58.1MB) | Embed
The 2011 Tax Tidal Wave + Greenspan’s Bubbles: On this week’s program, Jerry Robinson examines recent statements by President Barack Obama and Senator Nancy Pelosi, and discusses the three-fold tax tidal wave that will strike America on January 1, 2011. Are you prepared for the largest tax increase in American history? It’s just six months […]
The housing bubble hangover, part 2
A booming ‘shadow inventory’ in the housing market is almost certain to bring another wave of falling prices and another round of Federal Reserve stimulus.
Six Months to Go Until The Largest Tax Hikes in History
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011: The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates.