The Saloon dot net

Bank Of England Policymaker Predicts Unprecedented Dollar Collapse

Roland, the Gunslinger — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:29:00 -0500

Willem Buiter, who served the BOE from June 1997 to May 2000, has stated that he expects to see the plug pulled from under the dollar as foreign investors turn away from the dollar and other US backed assets including government bonds.

Writing for the Financial Times, Buiter, now a Professor with the London School of Economics European Institute, comments: “There will, before long (my best guess is between two and five years from now) be a global dumping of US dollar assets, including US government assets. Old habits die hard. The US dollar and US Treasury bills and bonds are still viewed as a safe haven by many. But learning takes place.”

Buiter, who has previously advised the World Bank, the IMF and the European Commission, points out that the dollar has managed to stay afloat due to the misguided notion that the US can make more capital on overseas investments and interests than foreign investors can make on US assets - a hypothesis that economists have referred to as “American alpha”.

However, he believes the global financial crisis has exposed the fatal flaws in that assumption....Prof Buiter writes. “Even the most hard-nosed, Guantanamo Bay-indifferent potential foreign investor in the US must recognise that its financial system has collapsed.”

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What Disappearing Sea Ice?

Roland, the Gunslinger — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:24:00 -0500

Despite the mountains of contrary evidence, concerns over disappearing sea ice and the unfounded position that the North Pole could melt entirely in 2008, pushed U.S. government bureaucrats to officially list the polar bear as an endangered species in May of 2008. And then guess what happened....

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Home Generator -Zero Point Energy - Off the Grid

Roland, the Gunslinger — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 00:28:00 -0500

Chavez orders halt to construction of Caracas mall, says building to be expropriated

Roland, the Gunslinger — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:13:00 -0500

The Venezuelan leader said it would be out of line with his government's socialist vision to allow the new Sambil mall to take up precious urban real estate -- and that unbridled consumerism isn't his idea of progress either.

"How are we going to create socialism turning over vital public spaces to Sambil?" said Chavez, who has nationalized Venezuela's largest phone company, electric utilities and oil fields.

The president also has urged Venezuelans to shed their materialism and their taste for designer clothes, sport utility vehicles, Scotch whisky and plastic surgery.

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Fox News Validates World Bank Scandal

Roland, the Gunslinger — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:08:00 -0500

For months, the World Bank has been stonewalling and denying a series of FOX News reports on a variety of in-house scandals, ranging from the hacking of its most sensitive financial data to its own sanctions against suppliers found guilty of wrongdoing.

But last week the world's most important anti-poverty organization suddenly came clean — sort of — in its tough sanctions against a vitally important computer software service supplier that has been linked not only to financial wrongdoing but also to the ultrasensitive data heists.

A top bank official, FOX News has learned, has admitted that a leading India-based information technology vendor named Satyam Computer Services was barred last February from all business at the bank for a period of eight years — and that the ban started in September.

The admission confirms what FOX News reported from its own bank sources on October 10 — a report the World Bank officially disparaged at the time.

The World Bank's revelation of the ban on Satyam comes at a watershed moment for the $2 billion (sales) outsourcing giant, which boasts more than 100 Fortune 500 companies as clients and which trades on the New York Stock Exchange

H/T Steve

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Insurance loophole claimed in fire deaths: Company says smoke that killed 3 was 'pollution'

Roland, the Gunslinger — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:54:00 -0500

"This is shocking. It's an extraordinary effort by an insurance company to avoid paying on a contract for insurance," said Randy Sorrels, who represents several family members in wrongful death lawsuits from the fire in a six-story atrium building on the North Loop.

Great American has asked U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal to find that the deaths caused by the smoke, fumes and soot from the March 2007 fire set by a nurse working in the building will not be covered by the policy because there is a specific exclusion for pollution and it mentions smoke, fumes and soot

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Google cranks up the Consensus Engine

Roland, the Gunslinger — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:10:00 -0500

Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It's a historic statement - and nobody has yet grasped its significance.

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Union Boss: Let's 'Share the Wealth'

Roland, the Gunslinger — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:25:00 -0500

"We just won an election. It's no secret." By "we," Andy Stern means "American workers." He also means Big Labor. Speaking on behalf of... the Service Employees International Union -- and as one of labor's most powerful figures today -- Mr. Stern sets this simple bar for the Obama presidency: "I expect nothing less than what he said he was going to do, and we should hold him accountable."...Mr. Stern wants an "an updating of our regulatory framework" at the National Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to better "enforce its laws." That kind of talk fast gets the business community's hackles up.

Universal health care, widespread unionization, stronger regulations on business, profit-sharing for employees, higher taxes -- all that sounds like Western Europe. Mr. Stern considers that a worthy model. "I think Western Europe as much as we used to make fun of it has made different trade-offs which may have ended up with a little more unemployment but a lot more equality."

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Chinese property hunters to raid US

Roland, the Gunslinger — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 13:07:00 -0500

Chinese bargain hunters are preparing to descend on American cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, where homeowners have suffered some of the steepest price falls in the US....Property professionals say there is considerable interest among wealthy Chinese, who often hold a high proportion of assets in property, in investing abroad.

“The US market absolutely terrifies me,” said one Shanghai-based real estate executive. “However, there are plenty of people here who think this a great time for bottom-fishing.”

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IHT: U.S. to inject $20 billion into Citigroup

Roland, the Gunslinger — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:22:00 -0500

Under the agreement, Citigroup and regulators will back up to $306 billion of largely residential and commercial real estate loans and certain other assets, which will remain on the bank's balance sheet. Citigroup will shoulder losses on the first $29 billion of that portfolio.

Any remaining losses will be split between Citigroup and the government, with the bank absorbing 10 percent and the government absorbing 90 percent. The Treasury Department will use its bailout fund to assume up to $5 billion of losses. If necessary, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will bear the next $10 billion of losses. Beyond that, the Federal Reserve will guarantee any additional losses.

In exchange, Citigroup will issue $7 billion of preferred stock to government regulators. In addition, the government is buying $20 billion of preferred stock in Citigroup. The preferred shares will pay an 8 percent dividend and will slightly erode the value of shares held by investors.

(H/T to our friend Semra)

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The eHarmony shakedown

Roland, the Gunslinger — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:34:00 -0500

Congratulations, tolerance mau-mauers: Your shakedown of a Christian-targeted dating website worked. Homosexuals will no longer be denied the inalienable “right” to hook up with same-sex partners on eHarmony. What a landmark triumph for social progress, eh?

New Jersey plaintiff Eric McKinley can now crown himself the new Rosa Parks — heroically breaking down inhumane barriers to Internet matchmaking by forcing a law-abiding private company to provide services it was never created to provide. “Men seeking men” has now been enshrined with “I have a dream” as a civil rights rallying cry of the 21st century.

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The Waxman Democrats

Roland, the Gunslinger — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:05:00 -0500

John Dingell's fall from power yesterday is an important inflection point in the history of the modern Democratic Party. The House purge marks the final triumph of the Congressional generation that came of political age during the 1970s over the last lion of New Deal liberalism, and it is symbolic of the party's change in culture and policy priorities in the Barack Obama era. Sitting chairmen are nearly impossible to depose

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Romney: Let Detroit Go Bankrupt

Roland, the Gunslinger — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:24:00 -0500

IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.

Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

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A Sea of Unwanted Imports

Roland, the Gunslinger — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:21:00 -0500

Gleaming new Mercedes cars roll one by one out of a huge container ship here and onto a pier. Ordinarily the cars would be loaded on trucks within hours, destined for dealerships around the country. But these are not ordinary times.

For now, the port itself is the destination. Unwelcome by dealers and buyers, thousands of cars worth tens of millions of dollars are being warehoused on increasingly crowded port property.

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EPA ruling over climate jeopardizes coal plants

Roland, the Gunslinger — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:46:00 -0500

"The bottom line is this leads to delays for coal plants," David Bookbinder, a lawyer for environmental group the Sierra Club.

Delays could be bad news for the industry especially as the United States may soon regulate greenhouse gases as President-elect Barack Obama has promised to do, he added.

A section of the EPA ruling said, "The Board recognizes that this is an issue of national scope that has implications far beyond this individual permitting proceeding."

Environmentalists said the wording opens up the EPA to reconsidering permits in other states.

In a landmark ruling in 2007, the Supreme Court found that carbon dioxide can be regulated as a pollutant under the U.S. Clean Air Act.

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Murdoch to media: You dug yourself a huge hole

Riley Jones — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:42:00 -0500

Murdoch, whose company's holdings also include MySpace and the Wall Street Journal, criticized what he described as a culture of "complacency and condescension" in some newsrooms.

"The complacency stems from having enjoyed a monopoly--and now finding they have to compete for an audience they once took for granted. The condescension that many show their readers is an even bigger problem. It takes no special genius to point out that if you are contemptuous of your customers, you are going to have a hard time getting them to buy your product. Newspapers are no exception."

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Reuters: UPDATE 1-U.S. automakers bailout outlook in doubt-senator

Roland, the Gunslinger — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:31:00 -0500

"Right now, I don't think there are the votes," Dodd of Connecticut told reporters about prospects in the Senate. "I want to be careful of bringing up a proposition that might fail," he said.

Although Dodd said "we ought to do something" and personally backed using money from the ongoing $700 billion financial services rescue program to help Detroit, he was skeptical that enough Republicans would support a bailout.

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Bush warns against big government and praises free market and capitalism... The stock market soars during and after speech for the first time since the election.

Riley Jones — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:17:00 -0500

President George W. Bush today urged leaders of the world's biggest economies not to abandon free- market capitalism as they seek an escape from the financial crisis, calling it the ``best system'' for delivering growth.

In a speech at the Manhattan Institute in New York before weekend talks among leaders from the Group of 20 nations, Bush said policy makers should resist the urge to meddle too much in markets as they seek to reverse the financial and economic turmoil now engulfing the world.

(Thanks, Truthache)

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PC World Mag: 5 Reasons I Hope Classmates.com Gets Sued Into Oblivion

Riley Jones — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:03:00 -0500

Have you heard? Someone's suing Classmates.com over those e-mails it's been blasting the world with for the past decade. My reaction? It's about damned time.

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Regulators nix credit card debt forgiveness plan

Riley Jones — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:01:00 -0500

Federal bank regulators have rejected a request by banks and consumer advocates for a program to let lenders forgive huge portions of credit card debt.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rejected the request for a special program that would allow as much as 40 percent of credit card debt to be forgiven for consumers who don't qualify for existing repayment plans.

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This is called "Socialism" Can you say that? SO-SHALL-IS-UM. Very good!

Riley Jones — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:34:00 -0500

Congressional Democrats are pushing legislation to send $25 billion in emergency loans to the beleaguered auto industry in exchange for a government ownership stake in the Big Three car companies.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., hope for quick passage of the auto bailout during a postelection session that begins Monday.

(Thanks, Tim)

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Obama Presidential Coin...

Riley Jones — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:48:00 -0500

From our Lady Truthache:

"I saw this advertised on Fox and honestly thought it was satire.
Apparently the coins are a lot like Obama...a shiny new exterior
covering a fake and worthless interior."

$700B bailout enters Second Stage

Riley Jones — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:29:00 -0500

In this second stage of the bailout, officials also hope to attract private capital, possibly through matching investments, to give the government's injections more heft.

Paulson also said the government is no longer planning to buy troubled mortgage assets, the original goal of the plan. And officials are continuing to examine ways to help homeowners and slow the tide of foreclosures.

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Major Source of Online Scams and Spams Knocked Offline

Riley Jones — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:08:00 -0500

A U.S. based Web hosting firm that security experts say was responsible for facilitating more than 75 percent of the junk e-mail blasted out each day globally has been knocked offline following reports from Security Fix on evidence gathered about suspicious activity emanating from the network.

For the past four months, Security Fix has been gathering data from the security industry about McColo Corp., a San Jose, Calif., based Web hosting service whose client list experts say includes some of the most disreputable cyber-criminal gangs in business today.

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USA May Lose its AAA Credit Rating

Riley Jones — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:07:00 -0500

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Surprise, Surprise...

Riley Jones — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:09:00 -0500

"Emanuel Was Director Of Freddie Mac During Scandal; New Obama Chief of Staff, Others on Board, Missed "Red Flags" of Alleged Fraud Scheme."

Amazing how now that the election is over ABC and friends go back to real reporting...

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Obama Stiffs his 'Troops'

Riley Jones — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:33:00 -0500

Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown to control the crowd.

The line was long and the crowd was angry at times.

"I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" yelled one former campaign worker.

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Wall Street Gives President-Elect Obama 'Thumbs Down'

Riley Jones — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:05:00 -0500

The Dow tumbled by triple digits Wednesday as the markets were dragged down just a day after Barack Obama's historic election.

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FLUSH! America sends the lying Main Stream Media down the sewer...

Riley Jones — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:42:00 -0400

CBS Corp. posted a massive third-quarter loss on Thursday after taking a $14.12 billion charge to write down the value of media assets on its books.

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The Washington Post Co. today reported an 86 percent decline in third-quarter earnings compared with the same period last year, as a significant loss at the flagship newspaper offset gains at the company's education and cable divisions.

For the quarter, The Post Co. had net income of $10.3 million ($1.08 per share) on $1.1 billion in revenue, compared with net income of $72.5 million ($7.60) on $1 billion in revenue in 2007.

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Carter-Era Housing Policies Helped Spark Sub-Prime Crisis, Expert Says

Roland, the Gunslinger — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:19:00 -0400

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) – a Carter-era policy that requires federal financial supervisory agencies to encourage banks to grant loans to people with low income and little credit – played a major role in sparking the sub-prime mortgage crisis the nation now faces, according to economist Russell Roberts, who spoke at a forum on the issue Thursday at the Hudson Institute

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