As Spain tightens its belt in the face of more cuts, the troubles
reverberate across southern Europe. For more on developments in the
region advisor Patrick Young talks to RT from Poland.
Tips for Surviving the Second Phase of this Global Economic Crisis and Future Financial Armageddon
Read More @ TheUndergroundInvestor.com
Hyper Report...
Exclusive: State Department quietly warning region on Syrian WMDs
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/02/24/exclusive_state_department...
Debt Doomsday May Come Sooner than Expected
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73260.html
Geithner: 'Privilege of Being an American' Is Why Rich Need Higher Taxes
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/geithner-privilege-being-american-why-ric...
$200 Oil Coming As Central Banks Go CTRL+P Happy
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/200-oil-coming-central-banks-go-ctrlp-happy
Censored earthquake - Midwest to Southeast USA shakes - Wiped data
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd0qAVI6x4Y
How to delete your Google browsing history in three simple steps
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2105435/Three-simple-steps-del...
Wyoming House Advances Doomsday Bill
http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-house-advan...
A picture is worth trillions of words
noreply@blogger.com (Patrice Lewis) at Rural Revolution - 59 minutes ago
A reader sent this. For those who believe the soothing assurances that our
economy is just peachy, perhaps they should view these schematics. It puts
things in perspective.
__________________________
A $100 bill.
Ten thousand dollars ($10,000). Approximately one year of work for the
average human on the earth.
A million dollars ($1,000,000). 92 years' worth of work for the average
person on earth. Not a very big pile.
One hundred million dollars ($100,000,000). Fits nicely on an ISO/Military
standard sized pallet.
One billion dollars ($1,000,000,000).
One trillion dollars ($... more »
Monetary Expansion: Side Effects
Admin at Marc Faber Blog - 3 hours ago
The lower class members of the society and the middle class, they suffer
because of the rising food and energy prices, whereas the well-to-do people
do very well because they own equities and other assets. - *in Bloomberg*
*Marc Faber is an international investor known for his uncanny predictions
of the stock market and futures markets around the world.*
Confidence Will Turn Infinite into Finite Liquidity
Eric De Groot at Eric De Groot - 3 hours ago
The game of kicking the (economic) can down the road without consequences
has been assumed for years. The growing gulf between economic perception
and reality makes social consequences more visible with each passing day.
Jim commentary, When Does Notional Value Become Real Value?, is far more
than some hypothetical discussion. Damage to balance sheets is so severe
that infinite liquidity,...
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content, and more! ]]
QE 3 Is Already Taking Place, Look At The Federal Reserve`s Balance Sheet
Admin at Jim Rogers Blog - 4 hours ago
We already have QE 3. Get out the Federal Reserve‘s balance sheet. You’ll
see that they’ve been pumping up – you can see unadjusted M2 is going
through the roof. Look at their balance sheet.
All sorts of assets are suddenly appearing on their balance sheet. Where
did they come from? They didn’t come from the Tooth Fairy; they came
because they’re in there buying in the market as fast as they can. There Is
QE 3 already. They don’t call it that but it’s there. – *in Reuters*
*Jim Rogers is an author, financial commentator and successful
international investor. He has been frequently ... more »
What Is the 'Spot Price' of Gold and Silver?
by Garry White, Telegraph.co.uk:
Last week the silver price leapt by 6.4pc to $35.395 an ounce, bringing the total gains for the year to a very impressive 27pc.
In the year to date, platinum prices have risen 22pc, gold prices are 13pc ahead, with palladium bringing up the rear with a gain of 8.5pc. Precious metals have put the 6.5pc rally in the FTSE 100 this year in the shade, but can the gains continue, particular in silver?
Silver is one of the most volatile of all the precious metals. In the last 12 months it has been as high as $48.44 and hit a low of $27.10. The price is now almost in the middle of this 12-month range.
One measure of the relative under or over-valuation of silver is the gold:silver ratio.
Read More @ Telegraph.co.uk
by Joshua Zumbrun, Bloomberg.com:
Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser said that central bank purchases of mortgage-backed securities may be an inappropriate foray into policy that should be conducted by the U.S. Treasury.
“When the Fed engages in targeted credit programs that seek to alter the allocation of credit across markets, I believe it is engaging in fiscal policy and has breached the traditional boundaries established between the fiscal authorities and the central bank,” Plosser said according to prepared remarks of a speech he’s giving in New York today.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and the Federal Open Market Committee are debating a new round of mortgage bond purchases to help boost the housing market and the economy.
“Central banks and monetary policy are not and cannot be real solutions to the unsustainable fiscal paths many countries currently face,” Plosser said on a panel at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business 2012 U.S. Monetary Policy Forum. “The only real answer rests with the fiscal authorities’ ability to develop credible commitments to sustainable fiscal paths.”
Read More @ Bloomberg.com
Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser said that central bank purchases of mortgage-backed securities may be an inappropriate foray into policy that should be conducted by the U.S. Treasury.
“When the Fed engages in targeted credit programs that seek to alter the allocation of credit across markets, I believe it is engaging in fiscal policy and has breached the traditional boundaries established between the fiscal authorities and the central bank,” Plosser said according to prepared remarks of a speech he’s giving in New York today.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and the Federal Open Market Committee are debating a new round of mortgage bond purchases to help boost the housing market and the economy.
“Central banks and monetary policy are not and cannot be real solutions to the unsustainable fiscal paths many countries currently face,” Plosser said on a panel at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business 2012 U.S. Monetary Policy Forum. “The only real answer rests with the fiscal authorities’ ability to develop credible commitments to sustainable fiscal paths.”
Read More @ Bloomberg.com
With
the second version of the ECB’s enhanced LTRO (back-door QE) starting
tomorrow, there has been a great deal of speculation on what the take-up
will be, what banks will do with the funds they receive, and more
importantly how will this effect global asset markets. SocGen provides a
comprehensive top-down analysis of the drivers of LTRO demand, the
likely uses of those funds, and estimates how much of this will be used
to finance the carry trade (placebo or no placebo). Italian (25%) and Spanish (20%) banks are unsurprisingly at the forefront in their take-up of ECB liquidity
(likely undertaking the M.A.D. reach-around carry trade ) and have been
since long before the first LTRO. On the other side, German banks have
dramatically reduced their collective share of ECB liquidity from 30% to
only 6%. SocGen skews their detailed forecast to EUR300-400bn, disappointing relative to the near EUR500bn consensus
– and so likely modestly bad news for risk assets. Furthermore, they
expect around EUR116bn of this to be used for carry trade ‘revenue’
production which will however lead to only a 0.6% improvement in sectoral equity levels
(though some banks will benefit more than others), as they discuss the
misunderstanding of LTRO-to-ECB-deposit facility rotation. We, however,
remind readers that collateralized (and self-subordinating) debt is not a
substitute for capital and if the ECB adamantly defines this as the
last enhanced LTRO (until the next one of course) then European banks
face an uphill battle without that crutch – whether or not they even
have collateral to post. Its further important to note that LTRO
2 cannot be wholly disentangled from the March 1-2 EU Summit event risk
and we fear expectations, priced into markets, are a little excessive.
Read More @ ZeroHedge.com
Read More @ ZeroHedge.com
by Charles Hugh Smith, ChrisMartenson.com:
In a previous report, Headwinds for Housing, I examined structural reasons why the much-anticipated recovery in housing valuations and sales has failed to materialize. In Searching for the Bottom in Home Prices, I addressed the Washington and Federal Reserve policies that have attempted to boost the housing market.
In this third series, let’s explore this question: is housing now an attractive investment?
At least some people think so, as investors are accounting for around 25% of recent home sales.
Superficially, housing looks potentially attractive as an investment. Mortgage rates are at historic lows, prices have declined about one-third from the bubble top (and even more in some markets), and alternative investments, such as Treasury bonds, are paying such low returns that when inflation is factored in, they’re essentially negative.
Read More @ ChrisMartenson.com
In a previous report, Headwinds for Housing, I examined structural reasons why the much-anticipated recovery in housing valuations and sales has failed to materialize. In Searching for the Bottom in Home Prices, I addressed the Washington and Federal Reserve policies that have attempted to boost the housing market.
In this third series, let’s explore this question: is housing now an attractive investment?
At least some people think so, as investors are accounting for around 25% of recent home sales.
Superficially, housing looks potentially attractive as an investment. Mortgage rates are at historic lows, prices have declined about one-third from the bubble top (and even more in some markets), and alternative investments, such as Treasury bonds, are paying such low returns that when inflation is factored in, they’re essentially negative.
Read More @ ChrisMartenson.com
Dow 80,000? It All Depends on Interest Rates
UN nuclear watchdog IAEA has been closely cooperating with the
world’s spy agencies, including on Iran, for years, former head of the
agency, Hans Blix, told RT.
from GoldCore:
Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,765.00, EUR 1,316.18, and GBP 1,113.28 per ounce.
Friday’s AM fix was USD 1,778.50, EUR 1,328.23, and GBP 1,125.412 per ounce.
Gold ticked higher initially in Asia before seeing slight price falls and that weakness has continued in European trading with gold lower in most currencies.
G20 nations rebuffed calls from the euro area to boost the IMF’s bailout fund and this may have contributed to the slip which was also seen in Asian and European equities, U.S. index futures, oil and other commodities.
Markets await US home sales which come out at 1500 GMT. Investors expect the ECB to inject another massive half a trillion euros to banks in the 2nd tier of a three year long-term financing operation in the vain hope that this will allow European finance minister’s to solve the debt crisis.
Read More @ GoldCore.com
Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,765.00, EUR 1,316.18, and GBP 1,113.28 per ounce.Friday’s AM fix was USD 1,778.50, EUR 1,328.23, and GBP 1,125.412 per ounce.
Gold ticked higher initially in Asia before seeing slight price falls and that weakness has continued in European trading with gold lower in most currencies.
G20 nations rebuffed calls from the euro area to boost the IMF’s bailout fund and this may have contributed to the slip which was also seen in Asian and European equities, U.S. index futures, oil and other commodities.
Markets await US home sales which come out at 1500 GMT. Investors expect the ECB to inject another massive half a trillion euros to banks in the 2nd tier of a three year long-term financing operation in the vain hope that this will allow European finance minister’s to solve the debt crisis.
Read More @ GoldCore.com
Overnight
sentiment is significantly negative, with stocks, bond yields, risk
currencies lower after G-20 over the weekend refused to increase IMF
funding. The result is an end to the buoyant market sentiment of recent
days which has seen the Dax down 1.2%, bund, UST yields lower, and US
futures lower. As many had expected, the G-20 has rebuffed EU leaders’
request for more assistance, which in turn has placed the onus on
Germany to find a way to resolve its internal conflict vis-a-vis a Greek
bailout, ironically as many believe that it is Germany who more than
anyone wants Greece out. This happens as the Bundestag votes today on
second aid package today; Merkel’s government must decide whether to
back plans at this week’s summit to combine EFSF and ESM. In other news,
tomorrow the ECB will call for bids for the second 3 Year LTRO
tomorrow, with results announced on February 29. And with the ECB’s
deposit facility at €477 billion, it is rather clear that the banks will
park the bulk of new proceeds with the ECB once again, where it will
continue to be a negative carry trade, earning 0.25% at a cost of 1.00%.
And somehow this is favorable for the European sovereign bond market,
which continues to ignore the various layers of subordination it is now
working under. We expect the market revulsion to this flaw to be violent
when it comes, and will result in a rapid and sudden divergence between
the various subordinated tranches of sovereign bonds.
Read More @ ZeroHedge.com
by Tibor Machan, The Daily Bell:
Freedom Revived
Few can deny that human beings care about liberty. There are, of course, different senses in which the term “liberty” is used. One sense of it means being without obstacles in life; another, to be able to develop fully with as little hindrance as can be achieved through collective action; or, again, to have the chance to obtain from others their surplus wealth and labor-power.
The sense of the term employed in classical liberal political theory, usually interchangeable with “freedom,” has meant the condition that obtains when one is not intruded upon by other human beings who can choose how they will treat other people.
My main focus here will be on this last sense of the concept “liberty,” the sort of liberty that can obtain among human beings. The sort of liberty at issue concerns what we can do something about by an act of mere will or self-discipline, namely, not intruding on each others’ lives, not encroaching upon one another’s sovereignty. I will also touch on another topic that is related to this sort of liberty, namely, free will or the human capacity to act on one’s own initiative, without being driven to behave by forces apart from oneself. These two notions of liberty or freedom are both vital to human living as well as closely related.
Read More @ TheDailyBell.com
Freedom Revived
Few can deny that human beings care about liberty. There are, of course, different senses in which the term “liberty” is used. One sense of it means being without obstacles in life; another, to be able to develop fully with as little hindrance as can be achieved through collective action; or, again, to have the chance to obtain from others their surplus wealth and labor-power.
The sense of the term employed in classical liberal political theory, usually interchangeable with “freedom,” has meant the condition that obtains when one is not intruded upon by other human beings who can choose how they will treat other people.
My main focus here will be on this last sense of the concept “liberty,” the sort of liberty that can obtain among human beings. The sort of liberty at issue concerns what we can do something about by an act of mere will or self-discipline, namely, not intruding on each others’ lives, not encroaching upon one another’s sovereignty. I will also touch on another topic that is related to this sort of liberty, namely, free will or the human capacity to act on one’s own initiative, without being driven to behave by forces apart from oneself. These two notions of liberty or freedom are both vital to human living as well as closely related.
Read More @ TheDailyBell.com
from Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com:
A good friend of mine, who has family living abroad, called me this weekend. One of the first things out of his mouth was about his sister in London and how she was dealing with “terrible inflation.” No doubt he was talking about the spike in gasoline prices that have risen to more than $8 a gallon. (The official inflation rate in the UK is around 3.6%, but I’m sure the numbers over there are as reliable as the inflation numbers in the U.S. where fuel and food are not counted in the so-called “core” inflation.) Part of this price spike is due to Iran cutting off crude oil shipments to the EU recently, but part of it is the fact the UK has been engaging in quantitative easing (QE), or money printing, to help its ailing economy and insolvent banks. Just in the last few weeks, it announced another $50 billion in QE. The UK is not alone as most Western countries are engaging in QE to prop up an insolvent system bloated on bad debt.
“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” This famous quote from Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman really says it all about what is happening to fuel prices and inflation. The Federal Reserve is creating trillions of dollars in new currency to paper over the meltdown of 2008 and stave off a sovereign debt crisis in Europe. Oil is priced in dollars; so, of course, fuel prices are rising around the globe. An article on Zerohedge.com, last Friday, predicts oil hitting $200 a barrel in the next 5 years, but I think we will hit that mark much sooner. The post unabashedly said, “The sole reason why crude prices are surging . . . is because global liquidity has risen by $2 trillion in a few short months, on the most epic shadow liquidity tsunami launched in history in lieu of QE.” (Click here for the complete Zerohedge.com story.)
Read More @ USAWatchdog.com
A good friend of mine, who has family living abroad, called me this weekend. One of the first things out of his mouth was about his sister in London and how she was dealing with “terrible inflation.” No doubt he was talking about the spike in gasoline prices that have risen to more than $8 a gallon. (The official inflation rate in the UK is around 3.6%, but I’m sure the numbers over there are as reliable as the inflation numbers in the U.S. where fuel and food are not counted in the so-called “core” inflation.) Part of this price spike is due to Iran cutting off crude oil shipments to the EU recently, but part of it is the fact the UK has been engaging in quantitative easing (QE), or money printing, to help its ailing economy and insolvent banks. Just in the last few weeks, it announced another $50 billion in QE. The UK is not alone as most Western countries are engaging in QE to prop up an insolvent system bloated on bad debt.
“Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” This famous quote from Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman really says it all about what is happening to fuel prices and inflation. The Federal Reserve is creating trillions of dollars in new currency to paper over the meltdown of 2008 and stave off a sovereign debt crisis in Europe. Oil is priced in dollars; so, of course, fuel prices are rising around the globe. An article on Zerohedge.com, last Friday, predicts oil hitting $200 a barrel in the next 5 years, but I think we will hit that mark much sooner. The post unabashedly said, “The sole reason why crude prices are surging . . . is because global liquidity has risen by $2 trillion in a few short months, on the most epic shadow liquidity tsunami launched in history in lieu of QE.” (Click here for the complete Zerohedge.com story.)
Read More @ USAWatchdog.com
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