Global markets have been whipsawed in recent weeks as uncertainty over Europe's debt situation persisted. But renowned investor Jim Rogers says the U.S. economy has more serious problems than Europe.
"Europe has a few bad, bankrupt states, so does America. We've got Illinois which is bigger than Greece, we've got California, we've got New York, you know those are pretty big states that have serious economic problems. We have pension plans in America that are terribly under water,"... (more)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) released the findings of a new Public Policy Polling survey which found overwhelming opposition from voters to the expansion of the IRS's involvement in preparing individuals' tax returns, a potential backdoor plan to raise taxes on Americans.
"This poll makes clear that voters believe, as we do, that a 'Simple Return' system is a fundamentally flawed scheme that ... (more)
"Who knows whether the other half of our life, in which we think we are awake, is not another sleep a little different from the former, from which we awake when we suppose ourselves asleep? And who doubts that, if we dreamt in company, and the dreams chanced to agree, which is common enough, and if we were always alone when awake, we should believe that matters were reversed?
In short, as we often dream that we dream, heaping dream upon dream, may it not be... (more)
This video making the rounds from Change.org is shockingly stupid and deeply offensive. Some immigrant workers are brought to America to work, and rather than try to create value for their employer, the local union goons teach them how to file suit against their employer for "exploiting" them, because as they say in this video, paying people something like $10/hr to p... (more)
I didn't post this video yesterday because, frankly, I found it uninteresting. The guy doesn't give any specific recommendations outside of "bonds," probably the most overvalued asset class in the world right now. He reminds me a lot of Robert Kiyosaki, and sure enough, he says he is not a trader but an "investment speaker." Nonetheless, the video has gone supe... (more)
UPDATE: "Instead of operating from a plush office in Canary Wharf Mr Rastani works and lives with his partner Anita Eader in a £200,000 semi in Bexleyheath, south London. The house, complete with a mortgage from Royal Bank of Scotland, belongs to her not him.
He is a business owner, a 99pc shareholder in public speaking venture Santoro Projects. Its most recent accounts show cash in the bank of £985. After four years trading net assets are £10,048 - in the red." - The UK Telegraph
Sure enough... I don't know why people go for this stuff. - Chris
Last month, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran an article focusing on Missouri governor Jay Nixon's "Made in Missouri" jobs initiative. To promote this new initiative, Missouri's Department of Economic Development was planning to give away 6,000 key chains emblazoned with the insignia "jobs.mo.gov" at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia.
"The politicians giveth, and the free market taketh away." ~ traditional saying that I just made up.
The Greek government is going to default on its interest payments to the bonehead European bankers and investors who thought that getting high interest rates on Greek debt was a great way to avoid suffering the low-interest rates on German government bonds. After all, Greece would pay interest in euros. No problem!
The psychological effects of the Dow are undeniable. When the average investor or even consumer sees green, life is good, even if every other indicator in the economy clearly says otherwise. For the common Dow lemming, “green” supplants reason, mathematics, instinct, and blatant logic. If mushroom clouds came in that particular shade of bull market green, nuclear holocaust would be welcomed with beers, barbeque, and jubilee. Green in the Dollar Index is no different. Many market joyriders and MS... (more)
New home sales in the United States are on pace to set a brand new all-time record low in 2011. This will be the third year in a row that new home sales have set a new record low. Sadly, this is yet another sign that the U.S. economy continues to grow weaker. Back in 2005, more than four times as many new homes were being sold as are being sold today. The home building industry is one of the central pillars of the U.S. economy, and the fact that we are going to set another new record low for... (more)
Private companies cannot use governmental power to outlaw competition, yet this is what the city of Milwaukee does for its established taxi cartel.
Milwaukee allows only 321 taxicabs on its streets—almost half of which are owned by Milwaukee County Supervisor Joe Sanfelippo. That is about one cab for every 1,850 residents, one of the highest ratios in th... (more)
Last week the US Federal Reserve delivered no real surprises. Its new policy was expected by the market and those members of the public who still follow the central bank's every move with interest and, I can only assume, in the misguided belief that it has the answer to our problems. As part of "Operation Twist" the Fed will purchase $400 billion of long-dated government bonds and sell an equivalent number of short-dated securities from its extensive portfolio over the coming nine months. The op... (more)
Rather than write a check to the regimists in Washington out of his own volition, this idiot statist asks Obama to use the state to force him to, because "doing the right thing" must involve government force.
"...liberals gushed when a rich audience member asked Obama that question today. It seems relevant to point out that this rich liberal is Doug
In their recent "Occupy Wall Street" protests, liberals made 2 things perfectly clear: First, you can do some of the drugs, all the time; and you can do all of the drugs, some of the time… but you can't do all of the drugs, all of the time, without huge sacrifices in basic hygiene and interpersonal skills.
Second, liberals still think "the rich" don't "pay their fair share." Somehow -- no matter how many times you show them federal tax statistics -- liberals refuse to reevaluate ... (more)
Is gold becoming the new currency? The Swiss stock exchange will soon offer clients the possibility of having post-trade profits paid out in gold.
Introducing the new service, post-trade specialists operating on the Swiss stock exchange Six Securities Services (a subsidiary of Six Group, owner of the Swiss stock exchange) said the new payment versus delivery service using gold was the first of its kind in the world and would operate “exactly like” a new currency.
Anyone trading gold and silver most likely had a heartattack this morning. Of that subset, anyone who survived and traded with conviction made a killing, following an impressive surge in both metals, which saw silver soar from $26 all the way back to $30, after it was made clear that there was no behind the scenes liquidation of the metal but merely more piggybacked margin hikes this time out of China as was first reported by Zero Hedge. Another factor that helped was Marc Faber's appearance on ... (more)
Investment guru Marc Faber resembles nothing so much as an ageing rock star, but his outlook on the investment world is generally downbeat. The author of the Gloom, Boom and Doom newsletter typically emphasises the 'gloom' and 'doom' scenario more than the 'boom' aspects. But today, Faber confesses to being drawn to the Indian stock market, particularly after the recent sharp market correction. "I think the Indian economy has very favourable prospects," he told Firstpost on the sidelines of the ... (more)
The latest quarterly report from the Office Of the Currency Comptroller is out and as usual it presents in a crisp, clear and very much glaring format the fact that the top 4 banks in the US now account for a massively disproportionate amount of the derivative risk in the financial system. Specifically, of the $250 trillion in gross notional amount of derivative contracts outstanding (consisti... (more)
German and French authorities have begun work on a three-pronged strategy behind the scenes amid escalating fears that the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis is spiralling out of control.
Their aim is to build a “firebreak” around Greece, Portugal and Ireland to prevent the crisis spreading to Italy and Spain, countries considered “too big to bail”.
According to sources, progress has been made at the G20 meeting in Washington, where global leaders piled pressure on th... (more)
The head of the IMF has warned that its $384bn (£248bn) war chest designed as an emergency bail-out fund is inadequate to deliver the scale of the support required by troubled states.
In a document distributed to the IMF steering committee at the weekend, Ms Lagarde said: "The fund's credibility, and hence effectiveness, rests on its perceived capacity to cope with worst-casescenarios. Our lending capacity of almost $400bn looks comfortable today, but pales in comp... (more)
Earlier this week the Federal Reserve ignited a firestorm in the global markets by admitting that the U.S. economy is facing downside risks. Although it continues to sugar coat the unpleasant reality, never has such a stunningly obvious statement resulted is so much turmoil.
Once again we are seeing the knee-jerk market reaction to seek refuge in the perceived safety of the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasuries. However I expect investors will soon discover that such assets are firmly ... (more)
The financial world is officially going crazy. Can you believe what is going on out there right now? Financial markets have been jumping up and down like crazy for months and this is creating a lot of fear. Other than during the financial crisis of 2008, in the post-World War II era have we ever experienced as much financial instability as we are seeing right now? Should we just accept that massive financial instability is going to be part of "the new normal" in the financial world? The wil... (more)
Gold & silver are finally seeing a significant pullback after a massive rally without any real corrections. Silver has fallen an astonishing 25%. Historically, the average correction in gold was around 15%, yet recently there has been so much demand I think the biggest recent correction was around 9%. The dollar index has rallied over the last month from ~74 to 7... (more)
[...] • The recent sharp falls in the dollar price of gold have led some to question its status as a refuge from problems elsewhere, especially now that the US currency is strengthening across the board. However, if (or when) there is a further escalation in the crisis in the euro-zone, gold prices are still likely to surge against the dollar too.
• The price of an ounce of gold has now fallen by more than $200 from the record nominal highs above $1,900 seen earlier in the month.... (more)
