Gold and Silver Supply: Get Some While You Can (The Mogambo Guru)


Invest in Americas future before it's too late...
a congressional candidate from Missouri that is seeking donations of $5.56 apiece.



Gold Going Higher: Even George Soros Agrees With Marc Faber



This means they will print money till they run out of trees
Fed Prez: Monetary Tightening "A Ways Away"- Reuters


Zero Hedge: CLSA's Chris Wood "In Five Years The US Dollar Paper Standard Will Collapse"




Obama Budget Underestimates Deficit Over 10 Years, CBO Says
posted by Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 1 hour ago
The nonpartisan CBO, in an annual analysis of the White House budget proposal, said today that under Obama’s plan deficits would never shrink below 4 percent of the economy between now and 2020. The cumu...




European CBs: IMF's New Inflation Target "Imprudent"- Wall Street Journal




Greeks Storm Parliament, Shut Down Transport- Bloomberg




Fannie/Freddie Ask Banks to Eat $21B of Sour Loans- Bloomberg




CBO: Obama Bank Tax Would Hurt Customers Most- Reuters




Think Outside the Box: Maverick Investing in the Age of Obamanomics Part 2



What's More Important: Price Per Ounce or Ounces Owned?




The Mentality Of Wall Street Posted: Mar 05 2010 By: Dan Norcini Post Edited: March 5, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Filed under: Trader Dan Norcini
Dear Friends,
Here is further proof, if you still need any at this point, that illustrates the mentality that currently exists on Wall Street and the subsequent swath of destruction that these huge banks leave in their tracks. I pulled out two portions that catch the essence of the article.
Here is the first excerpt in a classic case of stating the obvious. It reminds us of the guy that jumps off a multi-story building and as he passes each floor on the way down is heard to be saying, “So far, so good.”



"The securities provided higher rates relative to other short-term investments, she said. “While it was working, it was attractive.”"
Here is the second excerpt: The gist is, we will sell you some stuff that can make you money, but in the event it does not and you lose on it, we can buy the same stuff back at a big discount (after we took your money). Oh and by the way, if you need more money, we will be happy to lend that to you as well. Heads, we win; tails you lose! One has to also then wonder how Citi would value these things on their books if they bought them!
"Hawaii last year rejected as “sorely lacking” an offer by Citigroup to buy the $1.1 billion in securities at an unspecified discount, according to Randall Nishiyama, Hawaii’s deputy attorney general. The bank also offered to lend the state as much as $572 million at 3.85 percentage points above the federal funds rate, according to a loan term sheet obtained by Bloomberg News.,
Federal funds, which are the cost of overnight loans between banks, were quoted at 0.16 percent yesterday, less than a 10th of what the bonds Thompson sold are generating for the state in interest. Hawaii is earning 1.8 percent on the debt, which continues to pay interest despite the decline in market value, Kami said."



Citigroup’s Auction-Rate Bonds Freeze $1 Billion in Hawaii Cash By Christopher Palmeri
March 4 (Bloomberg) — Two years after the auction-rate bond market froze, Hawaii has lost about $250 million in market value on $1 billion in student-loan securities sold by a single Citigroup Inc. broker as a cash substitute that the state has had difficulty unloading.
Hawaii purchased half of the securities for its short-term treasury account from Honolulu broker Pete Thompson, 60, in the eight months before the market collapsed, according to Scott Kami, an administrator at the state finance department.
The transactions came while Citigroup was increasing brokerage commissions and traders were being told to “make sure all hands are on deck” and “do whatever is necessary” to dispose of auction-rate bonds as the $330 billion market began to fail, according to a 2008 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint against the New York-based bank in a separate case related to sales of the debt.
“I was shocked,” state Representative Karl Rhoads said of his reaction when a constituent informed him last year that Hawaii was stuck with the auction-rate securities. “I didn’t believe it. We’re a small state, only 1.3 million people,” Rhoads said in a telephone interview.
Hawaii’s frozen-cash crunch complicates efforts by Governor Linda Lingle, 56, to close a $1.2 billion budget deficit as tourism revenue has fallen during the worst recession since the 1930s. She has proposed eliminating 800 state jobs, with teachers being told to stay home without pay for 17 days from November 2009 to May of this year.
More…