LaSalle Street Journal

Banks Have Us Flying Blind on Depth of Losses

Recession Hits Pop Culture

Recession to Boost US Heating Fuel Supplies

China’s 60th: from Ideology to iPhones

Defaulting on Mortgages Becomes Winning Gambit

Golden State Mutual Seized by CA Regulators

FDIC Uses Accounting Trick to Stay Solvent

Solar Panel Tariff Further Strains US-China Trade

The Public v Private Waves–and Switzerland’s Fate Along With the Rest of Us 92409

The William Tell Tax Rebellion

The Public v Private Waves–and Switzerland’s Fate Along With the Rest of Us 92409

**************

Hedge Funds Sweet on Sugar. Volker Suggests Tax on Carbon Consumption.

Reuters reports that the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday lowered its estimate for global writedowns for banks and other financial institutions to roughly $3.4 trillion but warned that loan losses were set to rise as unemployment and associated delinquencies increase.
NY Post reports sugar is the new crude oil for investment-hungry hedge funds, which are pushing [...]

A Somber G-20

As a part-time member of the press corps, I had the good fortune to attend many of the public sessions at last week’s G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh. As impressive as it was to closely witness the gathering of countries representing some 85 percent of the world’s GDP (along with the governors of the World Bank, the IMF and the European Central Bank), it was equally remarkable to witness the immense security forces deployed to restrain those who feel the gathering harbored the forces most responsible for the world’s economic and financial problems.

A Somber G-20

As a part-time member of the press corps, I had the good fortune to attend many of the public sessions at last week’s G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh. As impressive as it was to closely witness the gathering of countries representing some 85 percent of the world’s GDP (along with the governors of the World Bank, the IMF and the European Central Bank), it was equally remarkable to witness the immense security forces deployed to restrain those who feel the gathering harbored the forces most responsible for the world’s economic and financial problems.

Inflation Is Our Future

At present, there is a lot of confusion amongst the investment community and opinion is divided as to whether we will witness inflation or deflation.

Foreclosures, Delinquencies Continue to Rise

Gold Moving Higher on Dollar Decline

Could the Recession Be Good for Your Health?

Wal-Mart to Offer 100 Toys Under $10 for Xmas

US Companies Cut Payrolls by 254K in Sept

Falling Tax Revenues Slam States

Ensign: Public Option a ‘Slippery Slope’

Year after Lehman, CIT Group on the Brink

Bank-Bailout Fund Faces Years in the Red

Volcker: China’s Rise Highlights US Decline

Recession Has Chilling Effect on Halloween

Religious Life Won’t Be the Same After Downturn

Small Business Owners: Recession Isn’t Over

CT’s Poverty-Rate Increase Led States Last Year

Das Supply-Side: Germany Goes Laissez-Faire

Gold-Backed Loans Go Mainstream in India

FDIC Considers Options to Stay Afloat

World Bank Head Sees Dollar’s Role Diminishing

Citigroup Busting Out Companies Mafia Style? Obama Admin Still Committed to Financing Poor Credit Risks.

WSJ reports the Obama administration is close to committing as much as $35 billion to help beleaguered state and local housing agencies continue to provide mortgages to low- and moderate-income families, according to administration officials. The move would further cement the government’s role in propping up the housing market even as some lawmakers push to [...]

Recession Chips Away at Granite Kitchen Tops

$ Seen Caught in G20 Meeting’s Crosshairs

Yen Rallies to 7-Month High as Japan Opposes Intervention

The Collaspe of the Rule of Law–A Prelude to Disaster! 92009

Marty just LOVES history!

The DNA of the Global Economy 91709

Here’s a view that’s interesting to say the least!

The Price of Pretense in Pittsburgh

As another G20 meeting rolls around, this time on home soil, the time comes once again for the economically curious but politically unconnected to wonder what is really happening behind closed doors. But while admiring the pageantry, chuckling at the awkward group photos, and parsing the joint communiqués like newly found Dead Sea scrolls, the overwhelming majority of observers will miss the meeting’s dominant theme: hypocrisy.

Let Newspapers Fail!

Members of
Congress have recently suggested that the federal government should undertake a
billion dollar newspaper bailout. President Obama seems interested. Really?
Why? Because the other bailouts worked out so well? Congressional investigators
recently disclosed their doubts that AIG will ever be able to payback its
government loans. At the same time, economists suggest that at least $20
billion of the government loans to U.S. automakers are lost forever. GM
and Chrysler now constitute a $100 billion welfare program which just happens
to sell cars (that no one wants). Meanwhile the economy continues to flounder
despite the $800 billion economic stimulus package (a giveaway to more fat cat
corporations and Obama contributors). This disaster just keeps on growing – because
government is involved.

Now we’re discussing billion dollar government loans to newspapers? Who
suggested that idea? Let me guess; perhaps newspaper publishers whispered in
the ears of Democratic Senators and Congressmen who have accepted their
contributions and editorial endorsements over the years? And what did they
promise in return for a bailout? More contributions? More endorsements? Did
they promise favorable news coverage of the pet programs of Obama and the
Democratic Congress? Perhaps they promised negative news coverage (or complete
blackouts) of the massive Tea Party rallies and protests gathering steam across
America. Isn’t that called “pay for play?” Doesn’t the idea of newspaper
bailouts threaten the very image of media impartiality and independence? Who is
going to report on this scandal if the entire media is complicit?

Bailouts are symbolic of government at its worst – showcasing incompetence,
corruption, favoritism and arrogance. Let’s start with the simple idea that
this is all unconstitutional. The Constitution bans government from getting
involved in private enterprise. PERIOD. But setting aside that little problem,
common sense alone should frown upon the bailouts. The free market and
consumers are the best judges of who survives and who thrives – not government.

The Collaspe of the Rule of Law–A Prelude to Disaster! 92009

**********************

Without Asian Credit, US Will Face “Armageddon”

‘Great Recession’ Transforms Workplace

HSBC to Shift CEO to Hong Kong

Durable Goods Orders Unexpectedly Decrease

Calls to Renew, Expand Home Buyer Tax Credit

Steeling for a Currency Deal in Pittsburgh?

New Economic Order: G-20 Replaces G-8

Shopping habits of China’s ‘suddenly wealthy’

Boeing PipeDreamLining, Again. Dreaming AIG Will Pay Its Debt. Goldman Going to Pay Bonuses So Big Employee’s Dreams Do Come True.

Reuters reports U.S. taxpayers will probably never recover all of the hundreds of billions of dollars invested to bail out financial firms, automakers and homeowners, a key watchdog for the program said on Thursday. Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the U.S. Treasury’s $700B TARP, said in prepared U.S. Senate testimony that the bailout [...]