General News:  Banking, Finance and Endgame Theatrics
 
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Legal Case: "Judge Rules Against Bank Of America For Harassment" [12/31/11]   "Bank of America Corp. and a debt collector it hired to go after deceased customers' debts violated state law by repeatedly calling a Florida woman about paying the credit-card bill of her late husband, a Florida state-court judge ruled this month. Judge Keith R. Kyle in Lee County, Fla., found that collection attempts by West Asset Management, an Omaha, Neb., firm working on behalf of Bank of America, amounted to harassment. The ruling clears the way for the plaintiff to get punitive damages from the collector, a unit of West Corp., and Bank of America, which is the second largest U.S. bank by deposits. A civil jury will determine the size of the award next year. [...]" Note: Collection Firm Was Hired by Bank of America to Pursue Dead Man's Debts.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Jamie Dimon Suckles on Ben Bernanke’s Quantitative Easing (E229)" [12/30/11] [25:45] "We discuss London brokers shrinking, boycotting JP Morgan, boycotting the financial system and command and control credit derivatives. In the second half of the show, Max talks to JS Kim of SmartknowledgeU about the MF Global fraud and gold and silver.[...]" 

MSM: "Ex-Goldman Sachs Analyst: "Major War" Coming End Of 2012" [12/29/11] [3:26] "Massive conflict will prompt stock market collapse, predicts cycle strategist Nenner. When cycle forecaster Charles Nenner told the Fox Business network yesterday that the Dow Jones was set to collapse to the 5,000 level on the back of a "major war" that will shake the globe at the end of 2012, hosts David Asman and Elizabeth MacDonald sat in stunned silence. Nenner, a former technical analyst for Goldman Sachs, is head of the Charles Nenner Research Center, which purports to be able to predict market trends with a computer program based around pattern forecasting and securities analysis. Nenner predicted the stock market and housing collapse over two years before the fall of Lehman Brothers. [...] According to Nenner, who studies war and peace cycles, the collapse will be initiated by "a major war starting at the end of 2012 to 2013," a startling claim to which the host David Asman merely responded, "wow"."  

MSM: "UK Prepares Emergency Measures For Euro Collapse To Prevent An Influx Of People And Money" [12/29/11] "Ministers are considering draconian plans to prevent a flood of money and people heading to Britain from Europe if the ailing single currency collapses. Experts fear that the collapse of the euro would lead to the widespread movement of both people and money – with potentially damaging consequences for Britain if left unchecked. The Treasury has drawn up contingency plans to prevent investors shifting huge sums of cash from the Eurozone to Britain – amid fears it could lead to a surge in the value of the Pound. [...]"  

UK: "British Shoppers Set For New Year Debt Crisis After Record £4.3billion Is Spent Over The Last Two Days In Sales" [12/29/11] "The nationwide Christmas shopping spree has renewed fears of an alarming increase in personal debt as Britons get carried out with the euphoria of bargain hunting. Debt advice organisations are today bracing themselves for a huge upsurge in consumers admitting to money problems after drastically overspending their festive budget. [...]" 

Commentary:  "Obama Nominates Carlyle Group Partner to The Federal Reserve" [12/28/11] "While on vacation in Hawaii, Obama tapped Jerome Powell to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Powel served as the undersecretary for finance under the president George H. W. Bush and was a partner of The Carlyle Group. The Carlyle Group is a massive private equity firm and one of the largest defense contractors in the world. They're made up of some of the most influential policymakers over the last five administrations including both Bush presidents, former Secretary of State James Baker III, former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci, former Clinton Chief of Staff Mack McLarty, and former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt to name a few. Other notable investors in The Carlyle Group include the bin Laden family and the Saudi Royal Family. Coincidentally, George H. W. Bush was meeting at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington on the morning of September 11th with one of Osama Bin Laden's brothers. This is not the first time Barack Obama has placed Bush Sr.'s minions into influential positions. In August 2010, Daniel F. Akerson, a managing director of the Carlyle Group, in what was called a "surprise move" was named the CEO of General Motors (GM), otherwise known as Government Motors. Once again, Obama reveals that change will remain absent under his leadership, and the military-industrial complex will continue to garner powerful positions during his administration. [...]"  Related: "The Iron Triangle - The Carlyle Group Exposed" [9:56] Part 2 [9:59]| Part 3 [9:43]| Part 4 [9:54]| Part 5 [7:05] "The rise of one of the most powerful and influential and secretive firms in Washington. The company is called The Carlyle Group. And in the wake of the events of September 11th and the invasion of Iraq, its power and influence have become significantly stronger. The company operates within the so-called iron-triangle of industry, government and the military. Its list of former and current advisers and associates includes a vast array of some of the most powerful men in America and indeed around the world. This program exposes the history of the Carlyle Group, from it's inception as a private equity firm to it's present status as one of the largest defense contractors in the world. [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Parasites With Bailouts (E228)" [12/28/11]   [25:48] "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert present their bah-humbug special, taking a closer look at claims that the top 1% have more 'skin' in the game. They'll also question the intentions of the 'well-meaning' people who drive Kenyans off their land, and could be doing more harm than good with malaria vaccines. They also talk to independent journalist, Thomas C. Mountain, about charity in Africa and China's investments.[...]" 

Commentary:  "Federal Judge Takes On Wall Street" [12/28/11] "With his neatly barbered white beard and his calm, careful demeanor, 68-year-old Judge Jed S. Rakoff seems too mild-mannered to be the fierce foe of corporate greed that his admirers see. And yet it is a measure of how timid our politics have become that this federal judge is widely viewed as the only man in government with the cojones to take on the banking corporations that nearly destroyed the American economy in 2008 and that seem, for the most part, unrepentant. [...] He recently made headlines by refusing to ratify a $285 million settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citicorp, which had been accused of packaging and selling mortgage-backed securities it knew were toxic and then profiting by betting against those securities. In the face of such egregious (and unfortunately, fairly common) behavior among the big banks at the height of the mortgage frenzy of the late '00s, the SEC allowed Citi to avoid the admission of any wrongdoing; to plead only to negligence and not to fraud; and to pay a fine that was less than half of what the bank's customers lost and barely more than what the bank made. What incensed Rakoff was not so much the result -- although that was bad enough -- but the SEC's willingness to settle without a full airing of the facts -- indeed, without any airing of the facts. If, as Justice Brandeis famously said, "sunlight is the best disinfectant," the SEC was proposing -- as it almost always does in such cases -- to curtain off the whole matter. [...]"  

MSM: "SEC Ups Its Game to Identify Rogue Firms " [12/27/11] "It is the Securities and Exchange Commission's new "most-wanted" list: a chart covered with handwritten notes, yellow highlighter and the names of about 100 hedge funds. The hedge funds have one thing in common: Their performance seems too good to be true, with some trouncing the overall market and others churning out modest results without ever suffering a down month. Some funds on the list stumble but still always outperform rival hedge funds. "There is serious fraud in this space, and we have been attacking it," said Bruce Karpati, co-chief of the SEC's asset-management enforcement unit. The hedge-fund chart dominates a corner of his lower Manhattan office. The list is the low-tech product of a high-tech effort by the SEC to crack down on fraud at hedge funds and other investment firms. After the agency failed to detect the $17.3 billion Ponzi scheme by Bernard L. Madoff, who wowed investors with steady returns over several decades, SEC officials decided they needed a way to trawl through performance data and look for red flags that might signal a possible fraud. [...]"  

Legal Case: "Strange Tale of Billions in U.S. Bonds" [12/27/11] "A man from suburban Philadelphia claims to have 735 $1 billion Federal Reserve Bonds stashed in a bank outside the city, and that 15 more have yet to be returned to him by a scheming agent from the Department of Homeland Security [...]"  

MSM: "Global Economy 2012: 'A Tale Of Two Worlds' " [12/26/11] "Europe faces another year of dismal economic performance in 2012 that will weigh on global growth, but emerging markets and the United States should at least keep the world economy moving in the right direction. There are several reasons why next year may be nothing to look forward to, according to Reuters polls from the last few months. Many of the world's biggest developed economies are heading into recession, global stock markets look set to recoup only a fraction of their heavy losses in 2011, oil prices will head lower, and asset managers are unsure where best to invest. And these could be the best-case scenarios. [...]"  

MSM: "Huge Corporations Gear Up For Upcoming Tax Battle" [12/26/11] "Huge U.S. corporations are forming lobbying groups to try to influence what could become the hottest congressional debate over comprehensive tax reform in a generation. The newest organization calls itself the Tax Reform Coalition. Backed by companies including American Express Co and Xerox Corp, it filed paperwork with Congress this week to register as a lobbying group. The coalition's registration suggests it will have a broad portfolio, lobbying on "issues related to corporate tax reform," but no one involved would answer questions on Friday. It joins an increasingly crowded playing field of lobbying groups and politicians strategizing for what Washington will look like in 2013 following national elections in November 2012. Another lobbying group, the RATE Coalition, was formed in October and pushes for a cut in the 35 percent tax rate on corporate profits. WIN America Campaign, a third group, has been advocating since March for a tax holiday for profits that U.S. companies made overseas. Its supporters include multinationals and Washington's largest business lobbying group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. [...]" 

MSM: "China And Japan Agree To Start Talks On Free Trade Deal" [12/26/11] "Japan and China agreed to start formal talks early next year on a free trade pact that would also include South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Sunday after talks that showed the deepening bonds between Asia's two biggest economies. Japan also said it was looking to buy Chinese treasury debt, and the two governments agreed to enhance financial cooperation. [...] China has been Japan's biggest trading partner since 2009. In 2010, trade between the two nations grew by 22.3 percent compared to levels in 2009, reaching 26.5 trillion yen ($339.3 billion), according to the Japan External Trade Organization. [...]"  

MSM: "Records Provide Insight Into Fed's Huge Loans To Banks At Crisis Peak" [12/26/11] "Add up the emergency loans the Federal Reserve distributed to banks between 2007 and 2009 -- when the American economy lurched closer to collapse than anyone had previously thought possible -- and it's an impressive picture. On Friday, Bloomberg News made available the fullest version yet of its data on Fed emergency lending, a subject the news organization has written about numerous times in the past year. The Bloomberg release includes records of about 50,000 transactions the Fed made through seven different financial mechanisms. At their peak, these seven programs represented $1.2 trillion in loans to banks and financial institutions -- the high-water mark of a massive, systemic bailout whose details the country's central banking authority has not always seemed eager to divulge. [...]" 

Commentary:  "A Very Scary Christmas And An Incredibly Frightening New Year" [12/25/11] "Can you hear that? It almost sounds like a little bit of peace and quiet. This year, the holiday season has been fairly uneventful, and for that we should be very grateful. But it isn't going to last long. 2012 is going to be a much more difficult year for the U.S. economy and the global financial system than 2011 has been. So if things are going well for you right now, enjoy this little bubble of peace and tranquility while you can. Because while things may look calm on the surface right now, the truth is that this is a very scary Christmas for financial professionals and world leaders. Most of them know how fragile the global financial system is at the moment. Most of them know that we are living in the greatest bubble of debt, leverage and financial risk that the world has ever seen. As I wrote about the other day, world leaders would not be throwing huge bailouts around like crazy if everything was going to be just fine. The truth is that we are rapidly approaching another financial crisis that may end up being even worse than the horrific crash of 2008. Despite unprecedented efforts by the European Central Bank, the yield on 10 year Italian bonds is nearly up to 7 percent again. Keep an eye on the yield on 10 year Italian bonds. That is going to be one of the most important financial numbers in the world in the coming months. But Italy is not the only problem.  [...]" 

MSM: "World Banks Brace For Euro Collapse" [12/25/11] "Banks around the world are preparing for the possible collapse of the euro as fears of the European debt crisis increase. Several banks are even installing systems capable of coping with trading in old European currencies. Meanwhile finance firms, corporations, and different governments have also turned to plans that aim at preparing them for harsh times. Regulators have asked banks in the US and UK to provide updates on readiness levels in case of a possible euro collapse. Some corporate firms have also started transferring their cash on a daily basis out of European countries, including debt-ridden Greece instead of once every two weeks. Europe has for months grappled with an economic and financial crisis. Insolvency now threatens in-debt countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain. Since its formation, the European Union had been a haven for those seeking refuge from war, persecution and poverty in other parts of the world. The worsening debt crisis, however, has forced European governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms. Tens of thousands of Europeans are migrating from their homelands as a result of these difficulties. There are fears that more delays in resolving the eurozone debt crisis could push not only Europe, but also much of the rest of the Western world back into recession.  [...]"  

MSM: "Price Waterhouse Cooper Faces Up To £1m Fine Over JP Morgan Securities' Audits" [12/25/11] "The Accounting and Actuarial Disciplinary Board, a subcommittee of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), is expected to announce the penalty in the New Year. Sources close to the case claim the fine will be between £500,000 and £1m, which is around 2pc of the £34m initially envisaged by some. The Financial Services Authority slapped a £33.2m penalty on JP Morgan Securities Limited (JPMSL) last year for not properly separating client money from the firm's accounts. An average of £5.5bn wasn't fully segregated in an error that went undetected by auditor PwC between 2002 and 2008. At the auditor's hearing last month the AADB claimed it was seeking fines that top the £1.2m sanction against Coopers & Lybrand in 1999.  [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Merry X-Max & Happy New GIABO! (E227)" [12/25/11]   [26:37] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, look back on 2011 from GIABO to Tango Down, the fight against bankster occupation has been setting the global agenda. From the banking scandal headlines, they look at Greek woes, suckling bankers and Blythe Masters' immaculately conceived Credit Default Swap. They also discuss the circle of Hell that former prosecutor, William K. Black suggests is just punishment for Septic Tank Scum banksters and the bizarre view that President Obama has from 40,000 feet.[...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report:  (E226)" [12/24/11]   [26:57] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, after revealing that the Lizard King is back, discuss the radical redistribution of gold and silver holdings in the US and the radical experiment in the UK to have capitalism without capital. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Professor Steve Keen about the UK’s financial sector debt which is at least four times larger than America’s was before the global financial crisis[...]" 

MSM: "Lieberman Caught Passing Insider Information to Hedge Fund Managers" [12/23/11] "To counter Republican opposition, Democrats needed votes from Messrs. Lieberman and Nelson, who said they had major concerns with a robust government-insurance plan. As negotiations neared a resolution, JNK Securities and its hedge-fund clients met a half-dozen lawmakers in the U.S. Capitol. Among those who spoke to the hedge funds were Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Carper on Dec. 8, according to their offices. The roster included Viking Global’s Scott Zinober and Karsch Capital’s Eric Potoker. The broad outlines of an agreement had been circulating for days, but the lawmakers confirmed they were close to a deal that discarded the public insurance plan, a boost to private insurers. Viking, a hedge fund that manages $13.8 billion, bought six million shares of Aetna in that fourth quarter of 2009, according to regulatory filings. Karsch, which manages $2.4 billion, bought half a million Aetna shares during the same period, according to regulatory records. Shares of Aetna rose 14% in the fourth quarter. [...]"  Related: "Lieberman Says SEC Can Prosecute Congressional Insider Trading"  

UK: "HMRC Served With Legal Papers Over 'Sweetheart' Tax Deal For Goldman Sachs" [12/23/11]   [0:00] "Lawyers have served legal papers on HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) after issuing proceedings in the High Court over an alleged "sweetheart" tax deal. Campaigners UK Uncut Legal Action are seeking a declaration that the agreement by which banking giant Goldman Sachs was allowed to skip a multimillion-pound interest bill on unpaid tax on bonuses was unlawful. They also want £20 million allegedly involved to be returned to the public purse. The deal was highlighted earlier this week when tax chiefs were criticised by MPs for allegedly bending rules to do favours for big firms at a cost of millions to the taxpayer. The Public Accounts Committee warned that millions more were at risk unless procedures were tightened. Its report called for safeguards to be put in place to avoid the impression that HMRC enjoyed an "unduly cosy" relationship with major companies. Goldman Sachs was allowed to skip the interest bill after the country's top tax official Dave Hartnett was wrongly advised there was a "legal impediment" to collecting it. The potential cost to the taxpayer is officially put at £8 million but the committee was given evidence from a whistleblower that the sum could be as high as £20 million. [...]" 

Commentary: "NY Times Reports That The “Roughly $200 Million That JPMorgan Chase Received Is Said To Be Entirely Customer Money" [12/22/11] "Those farmers, traders, and other assorted customers of busted trading firm MF Global probably won't like hearing the news that JP Morgan got money it was owed, on the day before it filed for bankruptcy, The New York Times reports. And even worse in the hunt for the missing $1 billion in customer funds after the collapse of former New Jersey governor and Goldman Sachs CEO Jon Corzine's trading firm, The Times reports that the "roughly $200 million that JPMorgan Chase received is said to be entirely customer money." There were other transfers to other, unspecified trading partners on October 28, the day before MF Global filed its bankruptcy papers, as well, the paper reports. Meanwhile, customers have only gotten back a third of their money and are short roughly $1.2 billion. For its part, JP Morgan apparently questioned the source of the money itself, asking for assurances that it wasn't coming from customers (which it didn't get). [...]"  

Commentary: "London Trader - "There are Tremendous Silver Shortages" [12/22/11] "... SLV (iShares Silver Trust) is over 20 million ounces short on the silver they are supposed to have in the vaults to back the shares which have been issued. The silver isn’t there. So there are people who purchased SLV to own physical silver, but all they have is shares that aren’t backed by the physical silver. [...]"  Related: "J.P. Morgan Getting Squeezed In Silver Market? (SLV, JPM)" [12/05/11] (Background)

Commentary: "The Pound Is About To Hit Turbulence" [12/22/11] "According to the McKinsey Global Institute, Britain’s total debt, which is composed of private, public and financial sector borrowing, is the highest in the world. Official figures have put UK government debt at around £900bn, which is equivalent to 60 per cent of GDP, however, if the financial sector interventions are included, Britain’s total debt figure reaches £2.24 trillion, or 147 per cent of GDP. That ratio puts Britain on a par with Greece and Spain, making its AAA rating highly suspect. Up to now he UK has enjoyed relative calm in its credit markets, but if its sovereign debt comes under assault, it could face a nightmare scenario of high inflation and a massive contraction, as its debt service costs begin to rise. If UK debt faces a run by the shorts – much like the Club Med economies of Europe – the Bank of England will have no choice but to monetise the debt as the buyer of last resort. The irony of the situation is that while Germany remains fixated on the inflationary implications of an accommodative monetary policy, the true victim of high inflation could be the UK, since it already carries the highest baseline price levels in the G-20. The UK economy spent most of 2011 under the radar, as focus in the currency market was squarely on the Eurozone. Throughout 2011, cable has been able to trade above the $1.5000 figure, but in 2012 that support level could crumble fast and the pair could see much greater volatility as its credit worthiness comes under question. [...]"    

Commentary: "Hedge Funds And Sovereign Wealth Funds Gambling On Hunger By Speculating On Food Supply" [12/21/11] "2011 was a wild ride. One spring morning, cocoa futures dropped 12% in less than a minute. Corn ascended to all-time peaks and sugar fluctuated more in one day than it used to in a month. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, railed against speculators in coffee, while PepsiCo forecast its own medium-term commodity cost increases to exceed $1bn. All of which meant a bumper crop for the world's commodity exchanges – even those that used to be backwaters, like the Kansas City Board of Trade and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, both of which recorded their highest electronic trading volumes in history. It was a volatile year, and the volatility posed problems for the food industry. Faced with a high-stakes game of price-shifting basic ingredients, the world's largest food processors and retailers put out the call for maths PhDs and economic modellers to theorise and implement ever-more complex risk-management strategies just so they could keep up with the second-by-second spikes and dips of grain and livestock futures. In the meantime, high-frequency traders and momentum-driven hedge funds made it their business to speculate on food. [...] But just as food is no ordinary widget, speculation in commodity markets is not simply a matter of financial predation. "The high prices of food have resulted in accumulations of inventories at the same time as people can't afford food," said Bar-Yam, who noted that the Arab spring was triggered by the food-price bubble. In fact, Necsi's quantitative model of speculation predicted the uprisings in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, and warned that if food prices remain inflated, riots and revolutions will go global sometime between July 2012 and August 2013. "We are at a critical point," said Bar-Yam. "We don't have a stay-the-course option right now.[...]"  

MSM: "Investors Lose Faith in Stocks As Billions Pour Out of Funds" [12/21/11] "Investors appeared to have lost faith in stocks this year. Just over a week ago, equity mutual funds globally had the second-biggest one-day outflow of money in 2011, capping four straight weeks of net redemptions, according to data from EPFR Global. Investors appeared to have lost faith in stocks this year. Just over a week ago, equity mutual funds globally had the second-biggest one-day outflow of money in 2011, capping four straight weeks of net redemptions, according to data from EPFR Global. [...]"  

MSM: "2 Investment Bankers Among 5 Killed In Small Plane Crash In New Jersey" [12/21/11] [0:35]  

Investigations: "Countrywide Gave Four Members Of Congress Discounted Loans, Investigators Allege" [12/20/11] "Four House lawmakers received VIP discounted loans from the former Countrywide Financial Corp., the lender whose subprime mortgages was largely responsible for the nation's foreclosure crisis, according to congressional investigators. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, declined to name the four but has told the House Ethics Committee that it should investigate the lawmakers. Congressional sources said three of the four are Republicans. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation. [...]"  Related: "CBS 60 Minutes - Prosecuting Wall Street Fraud At Citigroup And Countrywide - DOJ On The Defensive" [14:28] Part 2 [12:43]

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: The Maxinator: Hasta La Vista, Bankster! (E225)" [12/20/11]   [27:24] "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss the Maxinator, downgrade rampages and food fights between Sarkozy and Cameron. In the second half of the show, Max and Stacy look at the victims of banking fraud, from the Alabama poor cut off from water supplies to the small ranchers who lost it all when MF Global was run into the ground by former Goldman Sachs banker and ex-New Jersey governor, Jon Corzine. [...]" 

MSM: "Fed To Embrace Global Banking Rules" [12/20/11] "The US Federal Reserve is expected to embrace a new global framework that requires giant financial institutions to hold extra capital, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Citing unnamed people familiar with the situation, the newspaper said the Fed's decision to accept the rules laid out by regulators in Basel, Switzerland, could come before Christmas. It is a defeat for big US banks that argued the guidelines needn't be so strict, the report said. They contended the Basel approach could prompt them to reduce lending and hurt the economy. Internal estimates from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision showed JP Morgan Chase & Co would have to hold 2.5 percent of extra capital as a percentage of risk-weighted assets, on top of the 7-percent base that all institutions will be required to hold, The Journal noted. Many of JP Morgan's US competitors will likely be required to maintain extra cushions of between one percent and two percent, the paper said. But these numbers are not final, and the Basel surcharge will not phase in until 2016, the report pointed out. [...]"  

MSM: "British Banking Shake Up Has Been Confirmed" [12/20/11] "The British government says it will legislate sweeping changes in banking regulation that are aimed at protecting the economy from excessive risk but could prove costly for the country's major banks. Treasury chief George Osborne, speaking in Parliament on Monday, confirmed that the government will press ahead with changes recommended by the Independent Commission on Banking, including the separation of retail banking from riskier investment banking. Osborne left many details still to be decided, but promised that the government would publish legislative proposals in the first half of next year and enact them by 2015. New regulations would be effective in 2019, as the Independent Commission proposed. "We want to separate high street (retail) banking from investment banking to protect the British economy, protect British taxpayers and make sure that nothing is too big to fail," Osborne said. Britain suffered three major bank failures because of the credit crisis: mortgage lender Northern Rock and two giant banks, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland. The legislation will require banks to make their retail activities wholly separate, concentrating on serving individuals and small- and medium-sized businesses. Services for large corporations might be placed either in the retail bank or outside. [...]"  

Commentary:  "British Prepare Evacuation Plans Ahead of Spain and Portugal Collapse" [12/20/11] "British Foreign Office personnel have proposed emergency evacuation plans for their citizens living throughout Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal. As tensions over the survivability of the Euro mount, the government warns that a collapse of the banking sector and the European monetary unit may make it impossible for those with assets in affected countries, including bank deposit accounts and homes, to access their funds and evacuate to Britain. The drastic proposals emerged as a former Security Minister warned expats could be left stranded and destitute by the break-up of the single currency. Brits who invested their savings in their adopted countries may not be able to withdraw cash and could even lose their homes if banks call in loans, worried ministers are warning. The Foreign Office is preparing to bring them back from Spain and Portugal if the two countries are forced out of the euro, triggering a banking collapse.  [...]"  

Absurdities: "Derivatives Exchange Looks To Offer Political Contracts" [12/20/11] "The North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex) has filed a notice with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to offer "Political Event Contracts" on the 2012 election, bringing a such betting to a regulated marketplace. Like InTrade and other prediction betting sites, Nadex will allow buyers and sellers to evaluate the likelihood of, say, President Barack Obama winning reelection, by taking a position on a contract that pays out $100 if he wins or $0 if he loses. Yossi Beinart, the CEO and President of Nadex, said the market is primarily aimed with retail investors who want to hedge their positions based on the outcome of the presidential election or which party controls each chamber of Congress. “The public will benefit from federal oversight of these markets. Elections matter and investors have a huge interest in their outcome as there will undoubtedly be economic consequences,” Beinart said. “Indeed, the public benefits of Political Event Contracts go beyond mere risk management. These contracts also provide a real-time gauge of voter sentiment, which can be more valuable and more accurate than public opinion polls.” Beinart said the company has been considering offering such contracts for years, but hasn't been able to because the regulatory framework wasn't set. He said the Dodd-Frank bill gave the CFTC the ability to regulate such a market, allowing Nadex to make the offering this year. The CFTC has 10 days to respond to the filing, and barring any concerns, the first regulated bets on the 2012 election will take place on January 4th, 2012. Yossi Beinart, the CEO and President of Nadex, said the market is primarily aimed with retail investors who want to hedge their positions based on the outcome of the presidential election or which party controls each chamber of Congress. [...]"  Note: Derivatives are a fraudulent product and the market for them should not even exist. That no one is looking at this is absolutely absurd, but not unexpected. Elections can be undermined and steered in certain directions, and insider 'betting' will exist. Just another chapter in the fall of this civilization. Notice that the CEO of Nadex is Yossi Beinart (More) an Israeli.  As of mid-2006, the company had two major investment partners: The Chicago Board Options Exchange purchased a minority stake in HedgeStreet in February 2006 and assists in marketing the company's "hedgelets". In March 2006, Norwest Venture Partners provided a multi-million dollar investment in the company. In 2007, UK based IG Group announced intent to acquire HedgeStreet and later in the year completed the purchase of the company. Soon after the acquisition, IG Group renamed HedgeStreet to the North American Derivatives Exchange (Nadex).

MSM: "US Offers 11 Swiss Banks Deal To Avoid Criminal Charges" [12/19/11] "U.S. officials are offering 11 Swiss banks, among them Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), a deal that allows them to avoid criminal prosecution in exchange for revealing full details of their U.S. offshore business to Washington, a paper reported on Sunday. Famed for the care with which it protects account holders' anonymity, the Alpine state has been forced to act by a series of U.S. probes into alleged tax evasion by Americans concealing their assets in Swiss banks. In 2009, the Swiss parliament approved a deal to allow UBS to reveal details of around 4,450 U.S. clients and pay a $780 million fine to end lengthy tax proceedings that had threatened the future of the country's biggest bank. The Swiss government has been in talks with U.S. authorities for months to try to get an investigation into 11 banks dropped, in return for expected hefty fines on the banks and the handing over of the names. Credit Suisse , Julius Baer  and Basler Kantonalbank are among the banks under investigation. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Exotic Pet Banking Fraudsters (E224)" [12/18/11]   [26:35] "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss Keiser’s GIABO soup for the protesting person of the year and the true cost of bankers. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Leah McGrath Goodman about the price of oil and MF Global. [...]" 

MSM: "European Markets Slip Into Red After Downgrades For Barclays, Goldman And Four More Global Banking Giants" [12/17/11] "European markets slipped into the red this afternoon as traders digested a downgrade for six global banking giants, including Barclays. The FTSE 100 had spent the whole day trading in positive territory before finally succumbing to persistent fears surrounding the debt crisis, and closing 13.5 points down to 5,387.3. Credit agency Fitch dropped Barclays from an 'AA–' rating to an 'A', while US giants Goldman Sachs and Bank of America were also downgraded. The German and French markets closed 0.5-0.8 per cent down after Fitch also cut its ratings for France's BNP Paribas, Germany's Deutsche Bank and Switzerland's Credit Suisse. The mass downgrade heightened fears of a new credit crunch as the global banking system struggles to deal with massive levels of debt. [...]"  

MSM: "Bail-out Bombshell: Fed "Emergency" Bank Rescue Totaled $29 Trillion Over Three Years" [12/17/11] "While the 99% suffered hardship, a new study shows that the Fed propped up buddies in the banking industry and a vast shadow banking system far beyond what anyone has guessed. In reality, no less than $29.616 trillion is the total emergency assistance provided by the Fed to foreign and domestic entities during the Global Financial Crisis. Let’s repeat that: $29 trillion. This astounding number is over twice U.S. gross domestic product, the nominal value of all goods and services produced for the year 2010. This is the total of the bailout as calculated by Nicola Matthews and myself as part of the Ford Foundation project, A Research And Policy Dialogue Project On Improving Governance Of The Government Safety Net In Financial Crisis. We will be presenting the results of our analysis in a series of papers published by the Levy Economics Institute, the first of which, “29,000,000,000,000: A Detailed Look at the Fed’s Bailout by Funding Facility and Recipient,” is already available here.  [...]"  

Exposé: "Max Keiser: JP Morgan's Dimon Ordered Corzine to Pillage MF Global Personal Accounts Or Be Killed" [12/16/11] [13:35] Part 2 [15:09]| Part 3 [14:22]| Part 4 [14:56]| "Alex talks with former trader Max Keiser about MF Global and how the dubious congressional testimony of John Corzine about the missing $1.2 billion of client funds may ultimately land him in jail. [...]"  Note: Alex Jones interview with Max Keiser. Start time advanced on first video to point where Keiser comes on.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Möbius Strip of Fraud (E223)" [12/15/11]   [25:40] "We discuss re-hypothecating Alec Baldwin’s cake and eating it too. And, as Al Capone before him, JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon complains of the thankless task of being a “public benefactor”. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Reggie Middleton about German debt and MF Global. [...]" 

Interview: "JP Morgan Crashed MF Global To Avert COMEX Failure, They Stole All The Accounts That Were Going To Take Delivery" [12/15/11] 3 Video clips and transcript. Related: "Was The "Collapse" Of MF Global Premeditated?"  

MSM: "Italy Risks "Social Explosion" Over Austerity: Union Chief " [12/15/11] "CGIL leader Susanna Camusso told Reuters that Prime Minister Mario Monti's government was "deeply conditioned" by its need for support from the party of his predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi, and its austerity plan spared the rich and demanded excessive sacrifices from ordinary Italians. "We see every risk of a social explosion," Camusso said in an interview, warning that anger was rising over a pension reform she said was unnecessary, measures that cut already weak purchasing power and a worsening labor market. [...]"  

RT Interview: "Nigel Farage: Bully Boys in Brussels Building Europrison" [12/15/11]   [4:36] "The Greek economy - already teetering on the brink - has taken another turn for the worse. That's the verdict coming from IMF officials. Austerity inspectors visited the country to check whether it's meeting the conditions set up by international creditors. If the demands aren't fulfilled, Greece won't get a second lifeline of one hundred and thirty billion euros. And another debt-ridden Eurozone economy - Italy - is undergoing a further round of belt-tightening, as its lower house of Parliament is about to vote for more austerity measures. Nigel Farage, MEP and leader of the UK independence party, says the hands of Eurozone strugglers are tied while they are trapped within the bloc. [...]"  Related: "The Great Escape of Britain from the EU: Nigel Farage" [2:47] Longer Version [5:02] 

Commentary: "FBI Estimates That 80 Percent Of All Mortgage Fraud Involves Collaboration Or Collusion By Industry Insiders" [12/14/11] "The data demonstrate conclusively that most liar’s loans were fraudulent, which means that there were millions of fraudulent mortgage loans because liar’s loans became common (Credit Suisse estimates that they represented 49% of new originations by 2006). The data also demonstrate that even minimal underwriting of the loan files was sufficient to detect the overwhelming majority of such fraudulent liar’s loans. No honest, rational lender would make large numbers of liar’s loans. The epidemic of mortgage fraud was so large that it hyper-inflated the housing bubble, which allowed refinancing to further extend the life of the bubble (and the depth of the ultimate Great Recession. In the cases where there have been even minimal investigations (New Century, Aurora/Lehman, Citi, WaMu, Countrywide, and IndyMac) senior lender officials were aware that liar’s loans were typically fraudulent. The lenders could not make an honest business out of selling overwhelmingly fraudulent mortgages. [...]"  Related: "Banksters Sued By Massachusetts Attorney General" [12/13/11] [10:50] Note: Hats off to AG. Coakley for showing courage and integrity.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: (E222)" [12/14/11]   [28:00] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss virtual dollars and American plots and tinned goods and small-caliber weapons. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Detlev Schlichter about elastic money and financial crises.[...]" 

Commentary: "When Sovereign Debt Is No Longer Risk-Free" [12/14/11] "The European debt crisis may force banking regulators to diminish the central role of government bonds in planned rules designed to make the financial system safer. As they fine-tune the new regulations, scheduled to take effect starting in 2013, the officials face a balancing act between acknowledging investors’ loss of confidence in sovereign debt and the need to avoid undermining governments’ credibility. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which coordinates regulations for 27 nations around the world, approved preliminary guidelines, known as Basel III, in 2010. The rules govern, among other things, how much cash and other liquid assets banks must have on hand to withstand short-term funding crises. Basel III’s so-called liquidity coverage ratio calls for banks to hold enough “high-quality liquid assets”—mainly cash and government debt—to survive 30 days of stress. [...]"  

MSM: "EU Summit Proposals Fail To Calm Global Financial Markets" [12/13/11] "Friday’s European Union summit produced an agreement to pursue stricter budget rules for the single currency area and also to have euro zone states and others provide up to 200 billion euros ($267 billion) in bilateral loans to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help tackle the crisis. But Moody’s Investor Service said it still plans to review the ratings on EU sovereign credit as the agency expressed doubt that the proposed measures will do much to resolve the crisis. That marked a sharp change from Friday, when the market rallied on hopes that European leaders finally had presented a unified front to tackle the problem. “It appears that Europe’s nightmare has not gone away after all, with investors rethinking Friday’s immediately positive response,” Andrew Wilkinson, chief economist strategist at Miller Tabak, said in his morning note. “The single euro currency is once again trawling the depths of despair as investors weigh the prospect of further interest rate cuts as further reason to take pot shots at the unit.” [...]"  

UK: "Bankers A Huge Drain On Society:  Costing the rest of us £8.40 for every £1 they produce" [12/13/11] "A study by think-tank the New Economics Foundation found the average banker destroys ­£42million a year in value while creating just £5million. Meanwhile hospital cleaners on £6.26 an hour are worth £10 for every £1 they cost because they prevent superbugs, saving the economy a fortune. The shock figures fly in the face of claims that bankers like Barclays boss Bob Diamond – paid £4.4million in 2010/11 – are worth vast ­bonuses because of their ­contribution to the economy. Their drain on the country is caused by the cost of bailing out banks brought to their knees by the credit crunch and the ­devastating impact of the ­crisis their recklessness caused. NEF found that tax ­accountants who help the rich cut their bill were even worse value, ­costing us £47 for every £1 they create. Meanwhile low-paid public sector workers like nursery ­workers and bin men were found to more than earn their wages. Helen Kersley from the NEF said: “We get a huge tax ­contribution from the City but it pales into insignificance next to the damage from the financial crisis in terms of unemployment, bailing out banks and leaving us with a massive public debt.” [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Gold-for-Bonds & Debts-for-What?! (E221)" [12/11/11]   [26:35] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss central banks and governments ‘saving the day’ and hostage-taking paper, silver markets and gold for bonds in Japan. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Satyajit Das, author of Extreme Money, about the European debt crisis. [...]" 

MSM: "In Debt Crisis Deal, Europe Unites Behind Germany" [12/10/11] "European leaders, meeting until the early hours of Friday, agreed to sign an intergovernmental treaty that would require them to enforce stricter fiscal and financial discipline in their future budgets. But efforts to get unanimity among the 27 members of the European Union, as desired by Germany, failed as Britain refused to go along. In a day of historic, seemingly tectonic shifts in the architecture of Europe, all 17 members of the European Union that use the euro agreed to the new treaty, along with six other countries that wish to join the currency union eventually. Three stragglers, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Sweden entered the fold later, after a strong diplomatic push. Twenty years after the Maastricht Treaty, which was designed not just to integrate Europe but to contain the might of a united Germany, Berlin had effectively united Europe under its control, with Britain all but shut out. Though not a perfect solution, because it could be seen as institutionalizing a two-speed Europe, the intergovernmental pact could be ratified much more quickly by parliaments than a full treaty amendment. Crucially, the deal was welcomed immediately by the new head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi.  [...]"  Note: We've heard Webster Tarpley say plenty about Mario Draghi ...

MSM: "US Investors Pulled Whopping $6.7 Billion From Markets Last Week" [12/09/11] " US retail investors pulled a whopping $6.7 billion from domestic equity funds: the most since the week after US downgrade when a near record $23 billion was withdrawn. Only unlike then when the market bombed, this time it simply kept rising, and rising, and rising. In other words, every ES point higher serves no other purpose than to provide an even more attractive point for the bulk of that now extinct class known as investors to call it a day, and pull their cash out of this unprecedented shitshow that central planning has converted the market into. And for those keeping score, a total of $123 billion has now been pulled from stocks in 2011, well over the $98 billion withdrawn in 2010. [...]" 

MSM: "Americans' Net Worth Plummets As Corporations Stockpile Cash" [12/09/11] "Americans' wealth last summer suffered its biggest quarterly loss in more than two years as stocks, pension funds and home values lost value. At the same time, corporations raised their cash stockpiles to record levels. Household net worth fell 4 percent to $57.4 trillion in the July-September quarter, according to a Federal Reserve report released Thursday. It was the sharpest drop since the tumultuous period after the September 2008 bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers. And it was the second straight quarterly fall. Household wealth, or net worth, is the value of assets like homes, bank accounts and stocks, minus debts like mortgages and credit cards. Lower net worth can hurt the economy. When people feel poorer, they spend less. That slows growth. Businesses typically then cut back on hiring and expansion. Stock market declines, in particular, have held back Americans' quest to recover losses from the 2008 financial meltdown. The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index tumbled about 14 percent in the July-September period, ending a streak of four quarterly increases. The decline was driven by worries about Europe's debt crisis and the U.S. economy. Stocks have rebounded about 9 percent since last quarter ended. But the S&P index is still about 21 percent below its peak of four years ago. [...]"  Related: "Corporate America Sitting On Solution To Jobs Crisis, Report Finds" [12/07/11] "Corporate America is sitting right on top of the solution to the nation's employment crisis, according to a new report from a group of University of Massachusetts economists. If America's largest banks and non-financial companies would just loosen their death-grip on a chunk of the $3.6 trillion in cash they're hoarding and move it into productive investments instead, the report estimates that about 19 million jobs would be created in the next three years, lowering the unemployment rate to under 5 percent. "There is no reason that the U.S. needs to remain stuck in a long-term unemployment crisis," Robert Pollin, lead author of the report and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, said in a statement accompanying the report's release Tuesday. "Getting the banks and corporations to move their hoards into productive investments and job creation requires carrots and sticks -- policies such as a new round of government spending stimulus as well as taxes on the banks' excess reserves -- that can both strengthen overall market demand and unlock credit markets for small businesses," Pollin said. [...] Even as the nation continues to confront massive unemployment, the nation's biggest companies have been hoarding cash. Banks have been able to borrow the money essentially for free from the Federal Reserve, so why not? In fact, according to the Federal Reserve (Table L.109, line 28), banks are sitting on $1.6 trillion in reserves -- about 8,000 times the $20 billion they held in 2007. Meanwhile, non-financial companies are keeping their profits liquid, rather than plowing them back into investments, to the tune of about $2 trillion. Together, that amounts to almost a quarter of the U.S. gross domestic product. Pollin and his colleagues figured that even accounting for a massive safety cushion, at least $1.4 trillion of those reserves should be considered excess. Meanwhile, the report notes, small business are having a hard time getting anyone to lend them money. The report concludes that investing the $1.4 trillion in private businesses would generate an enormous surge in employment. It recommends that the money in particular be channeled toward "small businesses that face larger than normal credit constraints; more labor intensive businesses; and businesses that generate large social as well as private benefits. [...]"  

Commentary:  "All Dark on the Offshore Horizon: Capital Flight Accelerates as Austerity Looms" [12/08/11] "The strain Western state budgets have been experiencing in the aftermath of the financial crisis that exploded in 2008 has no parallel since the end of the Second World War, and has riveted attention everywhere to questions of taxation and budget expenditures. The measurement and assessment of income inequality has become a hot topic, and populations are becoming much more aware now of class divisions. Recent research has identified that inequality has intensified in recent decades, and that the consequences of inequality are significantly worse than expected. Inevitably, pressure to rectify the yawning wealth gap is building around the Western world, spearheaded by the Occupy Wall Street movement in the US and a wide variety of groups elsewhere. [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Economics is the New Rock’n'Roll (E220)" [12/07/11]   [27:22] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss Hank ‘Baldface’ Paulson, liquidity shortfalls and Joe Pot of Marmite. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Rick Ackerman about Goldman’s death dive and MF Global’s crimes against the markets. [...]" 

MSM: "German Politician: Euro Downgrade Is an American Plot" [12/08/11] "Standard & Poor’s warning that no less than fifteen eurozone states, including Germany, could lose their AAA credit rating has been met with howls of protest from leading German politicians. The general secretary of the Social Democratic party (SPD), Andrea Nahles, described the Standard and Poor’s announcement as “shameless.” Former German finance minister Peer Steinbrück, also of the SPD, spoke of a “provocation” and urged the European Commission to subject the rating agencies to “far stricter regulation.” The current German economics minister, Philipp Rösler of the ostensibly pro-free market Free Democratic Party (FDP), employed somewhat more measured tones, stiffly commenting, “Germany will not let itself to be impressed by the day-to-day and very short-lived judgment of a single ratings agency.” But it was Rösler’s colleague Rainer Brüderle who had perhaps the most extreme reaction. Brüderle is the chair of the FDP group in the German Bundestag. “I am no fan of conspiracy theories,” Brüderle told the German business daily Handelsblatt, “But sometimes it is hard to avoid the impression that some American ratings agencies and fund managers are working against the euro zone.” [...]"  Note: Not exactly. Ultimately it's a British plot.

MSM: "Bank Of England’s 'Quantitative Easing' Steals 25% Of Pensioner’s Savings In UK" [12/08/11] "The average savings pot among people aged 55 and over has fallen 27% over the past year as more households dip into funds to meet day-to-day living costs, a report by Aviva says. The company said it had been an "annus horribilis" for those in the age bracket, with the average level of savings and investments now at £11,153 compared with last year's average of £15,262. While the figure has been skewed by the fact that more people started to save during the year, Aviva said it believed it also reflected a trend for households to raid savings accounts due to a reduction in their income. [...]" 

MSM: "Investors Flock To Growing $60 Billion Dollar Security Sector" [12/07/11] "Global investment in security industries is growing and is worth at least $60 billion, the latest analysis of trends in the sector by PricewaterhouseCoopers reported. More than half of that business was generated in the United States but business is growing worldwide. [...] The security industry business began to rise after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and subsequent terrorism and cybercrime incidents. Global cybersecurity spending is forecast to grow 10 percent every year in the next three to five years, PwC said. Private equity and the wider investor communities are drawn to the security industry because of recent growth in profits and have turned their attention to the sector for profit."  

MSM: "Financial Executives Likely Won't Face Criminal Charges For Role In Financial Crisis" [12/07/11] "Though often blamed with making the calls that led the country to the brink of collapse, financial executives likely won't face criminal charges for their practices during the financial crisis, according to a former top U.S. investigator. The Justice Department has decided that prosecution of financial executives is "better left to regulators" to take civil-enforcement actions, David Cardona, who was a deputy assistant director at the Federal Bureau of Investigation until last month, told the Wall Street Journal. "There's been a realization and a more deliberate targeting by the Department of Justice before we launch criminally on some of these cases," Cardona told the WSJ. Government officials haven't successfully prosecuted a single Wall Street executive or financial firm since the meltdown, despite many Americans and experts blaming them for the decisions that led to the housing crisis and subsequent financial panic, according to CBS News. [...]"

MSM: "Italy: Technocrat Monti Introduces New Drastic Austerity Package" [12/07/11] "In response to pressure from financial markets and European leaders, Italy’s new prime minister, Mario Monti, has moved quickly to introduce new austerity measures.  [...]"  Note: I see a lynch mob in the distance. Webster Tarpley talks about this guy.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: 'Feckless Parents' vs. Reckless Banks (E219)" [12/07/11]   [27:48] "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss feckless parents and fiscal unions. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Josh Brown of TheReformedBroker.com about social media snake oil and internet ponzis. [...]" 

MSM: " United States Decoupling From Europe" [12/07/11] "The world used to abide by the saying “when America sneezes the world catches a cold”. But after a lost decade in the USA that saying has come under fire and rightfully so. But an interesting thing is occurring as Europe catches a cold. America isn’t even sniffling. Some economists claim there is no way the USA can escape the downturn now being seen across Europe. I’m not so sure this is correct. There has been one very clear difference in Europe and the USA over the last few years. Although both regions have suffered from balance sheet recessions and sizable real estate bubbles (some parts of Europe more than others) the response has been entirely different. Europe, as a result of the flawed single currency and lack of political unity has imposed austerity on itself for the better part of the last few years. In many countries this has resulted in an environment that never even remotely resembled the recovery seen in other parts of the developed world. In fact, many of these countries are in full blown depressions. The United States, on the other hand, has been running steady 10% budget deficits throughout the last 3 years – there has been no real austerity. This has helped the private sector de-leverage without crushing economic growth. I’ve maintained an unpopular position over the last few quarters that the USA would “muddle through” as opposed to falling into recession. This position has been based on my idea of a continuing balance sheet recession in the USA combined with a government that, despite its inability to agree on most things, has not torpedoed the economy via austerity. [...]" 

Legal Case: "Bizarre Claim for $1 Trillion" [12/06/11] "An American expatriate in Bulgaria claims the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the Office of International Treasury Control and the Italian government conspired with a host of others to steal more than $1.1 trillion in financial instruments intended to support humanitarian purposes. The 111-page federal complaint involves a range of entities common to conspiracy theorists, including the Vatican Illuminati, the Masons, the "Trilateral Trillenium Tripartite Gold Commission," and the U.S. Federal Reserve. Plaintiff Neil Keenan claims he was entrusted in 2009 with the financial instruments - which included U.S. Federal Reserve notes worth $124.5 billion, two Japanese government bonds with a combined face value of $19 billion, and one U.S. "Kennedy" bond with a face value of $1 billion - by an entity called the Dragon Family, which is a group of several wealthy and secretive Asian families. "The Dragon family abstains from public view and knowledge, but, upon information and belief, acts for the good and better benefit of the world in constant coordination with higher levels of global financial organizations, in particular, the Federal Reserve System," Keenan claims. "During the course of its existence over the last century, the Dragon family has accumulated great wealth by having provided the Federal Reserve Bank and the United States Government with asset assignments of gold and silver via certain accounts held in Switzerland, for which it has received consideration in the form of a variety of Notes, Bonds and Certificates such as those described ... that are an obligation of the Federal Reserve System." [...]"  

MSM: "S&P Places 15 Euro Nations on Warning for Downgrade" [12/06/11] "Standard & Poor’s said Germany and France may be stripped of their AAA credit ratings as the debt crisis prompts 15 euro nations to be put on review for possible downgrade. The euro area’s six AAA rated countries are among the nations to be placed on a negative outlook, and their credit ratings may be cut depending on the result of a summit of European Union leaders on Dec. 9, S&P said today in a statement. The euro reversed its gains and U.S. Treasuries rose earlier today after the Financial Times reported that the credit-ranking firm planned to reduce six AAA outlooks. “Systemic stress in the eurozone has risen in recent weeks and reached such a level that a review of all eurozone sovereign ratings is warranted,” S&P said in a statement.  [...]"  Related: "Unprecedented Credit Cut Looms For Europe" "One of the world's leading credit-rating agencies has warned that it may carry out an unprecedented mass downgrade of European countries if regional leaders fail to reach an agreement on how to solve the debt crisis in a summit later this week. [...]"  

Commentary: "Claim: Clinton Collected $50K Per Month From MF Global" [12/06/11] "A former MF Global employee accused former president William J. Clinton of collecting $50,000 per month through his Teneo advisory firm in the months before the brokerage careened towards its Halloween filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Teneo was hired by MF Global’s former CEO Jon S. Corzine to improve his image and to enhance his connections with Clinton’s political family, said the employee, who asked that his name be withheld because he feared retribution. [...]" 

Commentary: "Governor Of The Bank Of Canada Is A Goldman Sachs Disciple" [12/06/11] "... The current Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, is a Goldman Sachs disciple, and has of course had his way smoothed by establishment publications like Time Magazine and the blatantly conservative Reader's Digest who named him "Most Trusted Canadian" just in case you had any doubts. Readers Digest, by the way, is now owned by Ripplewood Holdings founded by Tim Collins, a Bilderberg darling, as is Stephen Harper and other Canadians (Last year, the meeting was in Greece. Now, Greece is burning). At least one Goldman Sachs representative is on the Steering Cttee of the Bilderberg group. Carney is also the new Chair of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) in charge of global financial institutions, his predecessor having been Mario Draghi, now president of the European Central Bank, and a former Goldman Sachs Vice Chair and Managing Director. Draghi is also a fellow of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard from which Michael Ignatieff was dispatched to destroy Canada's federal Liberal Party. These guys, no matter what their nationality, mostly studied at Yale, Oxford, Princeton, Harvard or a combination. It's an incestuous club at the helm. There oughta be a law, eh? Yet despite (or because of) the collective wisdom of their hive minds* and hands-on ministration, things are not looking good: [...]" 

MSM: "George Soros: Global Financial System On Brink Of Collapse" [12/06/11] "Concern is mounting that the Eurozone may break up because of market pressure on European sovereign debt, which could plunge Europe into a depression and the world into a recession. Observers are already worried that Europe could suffer a recession and subsequent slow growth for several years even if it averts a eurozone breakup, since products would remain expensive on the euro, making consumers more hesitant to buy them and forcing governments to curtail budgets even more as consumer spending falls.  [...]"  

MSM: "Former Countrywide Whistleblower: Mortgage Fraud "Systemic" [12/06/11] "Eileen Foster, a former executive vice president in charge of fraud investigations at mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, told CBS 60 Minutes reporter Steve Kroft that mortgage fraud was a common occurrence at the firm. Foster goes on to say that she faced illegal retaliation for filing reports investigating the fraud, alleging Countrywide fired her when she refused to lie to federal regulators on Countrywide's behalf. "From what I saw, the types of things I saw, it was, it appeared systemic," Foster said on 60 Minutes Sunday. "It wasn't just one individual or two or three individuals, it was branches of individuals, it was regions of individuals." [...] No top level finance executives have faced federal prosecution for actions related to the financial crisis, despite several reports, like Foster's, that allege fraud was a common practice. At the same time, as Federal prosecution of financial fraud falls to a 20-year low, over two thousand people have been arrested in connection with the Occupy Wall Street protests."  

UK: "Barclays Set To Pay Out £5 Billion To Investment Bank Staff" [12/05/11] "Barclays is reportedly planning to pay its investment banks an estimated £5 billion this year despite calls for restraint from Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King. Some 24,100 staff at Barclays Capital, the bank's investment arm, are in line to receive an average £210,000, the Sunday Times said, which would include all salaries, bonuses and other benefits. A £5 billion pay pot would mark a 10% decrease on last year's remuneration, but is still likely to provoke outrage from groups who have campaigned for a crackdown on City pay since the 2008 credit crunch forced taxpayers to bail out Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Northern Rock. Sir Meryvn, in his role as chairman of the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), last week recommended that banks consider limiting pay and dividends in order to maintain sufficiently high levels of capital to protect from potential future financial shocks, such as the collapse of the euro or a downgrade to the UK's credit rating. [...]"  Note: Well, I guess they aren't going to cooperate. The greed is so immense with these people.

MSM: "Bank Holding Companies To File Capital Plans" [12/05/11] "Bank holding companies with more than $50 billion in assets will have to submit annual capital plans to the Federal Reserve and notify the regulator before making any major capital disbursements such as stock-buy backs or dividend payments, under new rules adopted by the Fed's Board of Governors. [...]"    

MSM: "China The Savior: BRICS Cementing Euro-Deals" [12/05/11]   [3:07] "While Western economies are struggling, the East has seen rapid financial growth. China's presence in Europe can be felt more than ever, with Beijing making strategic investments, although it is still cautious about buying the continent's debt. [...]"  Note: "These could be tactical investments to prevent Europe from backing any US/Israeli war. If we're economically dependent on China, it's harder to gain European support for a war.  Italy has the world's 4th largest gold reserves... so China could take her gold rather than buying bad debt." 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Hang Paulson  (E218)" [12/04/11]   [25:39] "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss big bazookas, dead whistleblowers and Hank Paulson. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Jon Thorisson about the new Eva Joly Institute and Iceland's ongoing fight for justice. [...]" 

Commentary:  "A Coincidence Theorist Gets Schooled On Rothschild And JPMorgan" [12/04/11] "This 1895 contract between the US Treasury and the Rothschilds (plus JP Morgan himself, and his father) in which a small consortium of bankers saved the US Government from default and pretty much made America their bitch (which we've been ever since) might also be of interest. [...]"  

UK: "Prepare For End Of The Euro, Banks Told" [12/04/11] "Alarm at the economic turmoil in Europe intensified last night after the Government admitted preparations for the chaotic collapse of the euro were being “stepped up”. Downing Street is understood to be embroiled in intensive “contingency planning” for Greece and possibly Italy, Spain and Portugal quitting the Euro zone. British banks have been urged by the City’s watchdog to brace themselves for the collapse of the single currency.  [...]"  

MSM: "Corzine Subpoenaed to Appear Before House Panel" [12/03/11] "Jon Corzine, the former head of bankrupt commodities brokerage firm MF Global, has been subpoenaed to testify about his role in the collapse before a congressional committee. [...]"

RT Interview: "No Solution To EU Crisis - Too Late To Save Euro" [12/03/11]   [4:38] "Economic analyst Michael Mross, says he agrees with the EU monetary chief, who warned the Eurozone is running out of time to tackle its debt. [...]"  Note: Within their system, there cannot be a common currency without a common bond market, and a common centralized government, and since the EU is actually a power grab by a few factions and now seen as undesirable, that's not going to happen.

MSM: "Senators Blast CFTC, Gensler For MF Global Mess" [12/02/11] "Republican lawmakers blasted the chairman of the U.S. futures regulator on Thursday for his agency's role in the collapse of MF Global and called his recusal from the investigation a way to "avoid the heat." The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and its chairman, Gary Gensler, are under pressure because of the quick collapse of the futures brokerage and for allegedly not policing the firm's bookkeeping closely enough. Investigators are searching for as much as $1.2 billion in missing customer money, which regulators have said the firm may have diverted for its own needs. Gensler recused himself from the CFTC's probe into MF Global after it filed for bankruptcy on October 31. Gensler and Jon Corzine, who resigned as chief executive of MF Global last month, worked together at Goldman Sachs Group Inc in the 1990s. "It looks to me like you're trying to avoid the heat," Senator Mike Johanns, a Republican, said of Gensler's decision to remove himself from the MF Global investigation. "You certainly didn't recuse yourself all of the other weeks and months and days while MF Global was doing what it was doing." [...]" 

MSM: "Federal Reserve Coordinates Global Effort For Central Bank Printing To Avoid 2012 Year Of Reckoning" [12/01/11] "The Federal Reserve, acting with five other central banks, took further steps Wednesday to make it cheaper for banks around the world to trade in U.S. dollars. The Fed — along with central banks of the Eurozone, England, Japan, Switzerland and Canada — announced a coordinated plan to lower prices on dollar liquidity swaps beginning on December 5, and extending these swap arrangements to February 1, 2013. The effort is meant to “ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity,” the Federal Reserve said in a press release. Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China also announced a plan to increase liquidity Wednesday by lowering its reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by half a percentage point. [...] To prevent a lack of liquidity in the global financial system, The US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the central banks of Canada, Britain, Japan and Switzerland said in a joint statement that they have agreed to lower the cost of existing dollar swap lines by 50 basis points from December 5. Such a move is unprecedented and shows the extent of the problem. Other measures included setting up bilateral swap arrangements between the central banks so that any bank could tap additional liquidity in their own currencies if necessary. The swap arrangements are good through Feb 1, 2013.  Ref  [...] "  Note:  "This move by the Federal Reserve is almost unprecedented. Not only has the Federal Reserve coordinated a global efforts among Central Banks (both small and great, rich and poor) to print their way out of the Eurozone crisis- it also appears to be pushing an effort among banks and reassurance agencies to rewrite the maturity dates on Credit Default Swap contracts due for 2012 to February 2013- avoiding the entire doom-laden year of 2012 altogether. All of this was done virtually in secret and behind closed doors and is to go into effect on December 5, 2011- about 3 days before the EU summit convenes this year in Brussels on December 8-9th." 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Überdebten (E217)" [12/01/11]   [25:46] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss Überdebten, financial eugenics and secret Fed loans. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Karl Denninger about MF Global, pepper spraying banksters and Occupy Wall Street.[...]"  

MSM: "All Of EU In Danger Of Credit Rating Downgrade" [12/01/11] "All European governments are in danger of having their credit ratings slashed due to the eurozone debt crisis, the influential agency Moody’s has warned. Several countries could end up having their ratings cut to so-called ‘junk’ status — a highly risky rating usually only given to heavily indebted companies. Moody’s said the credit standing of all European governments was under threat, adding that while it believed the eurozone would remain intact, countries could still lose their prized credit ratings. [...]"  

MSM: "Euro Finance Ministers Discuss Radical Ideas to Avert Global Crisis" [12/01/11] "With the entire global community relying upon Europe’s survival, aggressive action has become a matter of extreme urgency, as euro zone governments have 638 billion euros in past debts coming due in 2012, of which 40% needs to be refinance in the first four months of the year, according to Barclays Capital. Recent debt auctions have seen yields climbing in some of the euro zone’s largest economies, including Italy, where yields shot up Tuesday to above 7%, an unsustainable level on par with rates that forced Greece, Portugal, and Ireland to seek bailouts. [...]"  Note: A 24 month debt moratorium would be interesting, but it's too simple for them. 

MSM: "S&P Reviews 37 Global Banks, Downgrades Bulk" [12/01/11] "Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today said it reviewed its ratings on 37 of the largest financial institutions in the world by applying its new ratings criteria for banks, which were published on Nov. 9, 2011. See the Ratings List for the ratings on these banks, their core and highly strategic subsidiaries, and other subsidiaries that we took rating actions on as a result of applying our new criteria to their parents. We will review all ratings that we placed on CreditWatch within 90 days. Ratings on CreditWatch are designated as Watch Neg or Watch Pos in the list below.  [...]" Related: Full List PDF

Flashback:  "Euro Collapse Plus Iran Strike Equals Armageddon" [12/01/11] "It's starting to look like all those crazy 2012 prophecies might not be so wide of the mark after all. Even as the world is transfixed by the slow-motion implosion of the eurozone, reports are emerging that Israel might strike Iran's nuclear facilities early in the New Year. The unpredictable interaction two such epochal events could cause a global catastrophe like something out of a bad science fiction novel. Nowadays, it seems that almost every day the unthinkable not only becomes thinkable, but it actually happens. So it goes with the eurozone: The bloc seemed like a rock of stability until a couple of years ago, now it seems to have entered an irreversible tailspin. Economist Nouriel Roubini has recently joined many others in warning that "Italy may, like other periphery countries, need to exit the euro and go back to a national currency, thus triggering an effective break-up of the eurozone." Such an event could cause unprecedented economic devastation in Europe and around the world. [...] The combination of the onset of a second global Great Depression, a devastating banking crisis in Europe, fragmentation of the eurozone and rolling sovereign debt crises across the US and Europe is bad enough. This scenario is, in itself, a total catastrophe. Yet some serious economists say such outcomes are very possible within the next 12 months. However, few have thrown into the mix the ramifications of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities -- also likely within the next 12 months. The eurozone crisis and Iran's nuclear weapons program are widely seen as discrete and unrelated events. However, they could interact in potentially horrific ways. " 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Kleptocrats Go for Gold (E216)" [11/30/11]   [25:48] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss lunatics for Italian gold and another failed debt auction in Germany. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Mark O'Byrne of Goldcore.com about the European debt crisis and Ireland's gold.[...]"  

MSM: "Henry Paulson Tipped Off Hedge Funds During Financial Crisis" [11/30/11] "... Around the conference room table were a dozen or so hedge- fund managers and other Wall Street executives -- at least five of them alumni of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), of which Paulson was chief executive officer and chairman from 1999 to 2006. In addition to Eton Park founder Eric Mindich, they included such boldface names as Lone Pine Capital LLC founder Stephen Mandel, Dinakar Singh of TPG-Axon Capital Management LP and Daniel Och of Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC.  [...]" 

Commentary: "How Iran Can Collapse All of the Bilderberg Banks and Governments" [11/30/11] "All the Iranians have to do is to announce the purchase ten billion dollars in silver and ten billion dollars in gold over the next 90 days. If the Iranians wanted to have fun, they would say they absolutely needed to buy gold because Russia and China will have to publish a gold backed currency after all the other currencies collapse. They will begin by backing the ruble and yuan with gold and fixing their exchange rates. We do not want to be excluded from world trade. After the dollar, the euro and the pound collapse, we will want to fix our currency to the Russian ruble and the Chinese yuan. If Americans want to import oil or anything else from overseas, all they will have to do is to buy gold at 2, 3 or 5 thousand dollars an ounce before proceeding with their purchases. [...]"  

Commentary:  "More Than 2 Years Later, Secrets Of Bailout Emerge" [11/29/11] " For more than two years, the Fed and the banks it bailed out during the 2007 to 2009 financial crisis have kept many of the details of the massive, multi-trillion-dollar bailout a secret. But, thanks to Freedom of Information Act requests, 29,000 pages of bailout details are pouring out of the Fed at last, and those details are explained in an extended and damning report by Bloomberg Markets magazine. The Fed says there have been no losses, but Bloomberg argues that the secrecy surrounding the funding "enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger. [...]"  

MSM: "Fitch Keeps U.S. Credit Rating at ‘AAA’, Cuts Outlook to Negative" [11/29/11] "Fitch Ratings kept its pristine AAA rating on the U.S. on Monday, but the credit-ratings company downgraded its outlook to “negative” in the wake of the "Supercommittee’s failure to find $1.2 trillion in spending cuts". The development, which had been hinted at last week, could have been worse for the U.S. as Standard & Poor’s slashed its credit rating for the first time ever in August. However, Fitch warned that further deficit reduction efforts “will not be credible” if they solely rely on cutting discretionary spending. Economists have said Congress needs to quickly move to slash entitlement spending on programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. [...]"  

MSM: "European Recession Looming: OECD" [11/29/11] "The sense of financial difficulty in Europe deepened yesterday with predictions the euro zone and Britain could be entering recession and that every EU nation's credit rating could be hit unless urgent action is taken to halt the crisis. An updated growth report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said the debt crisis was now just one step away from plunging advanced economies into an abyss of recession and could trigger waves of bankruptcies and wealth destruction. And one of the world's three main ratings agencies, Moody's, warned even countries such as Germany may have to have their credit status revised - a move which would force them to pay higher borrowing costs ... Despite the glut of bad news, stocks rose after reports that the International Monetary Fund was readying a bailout for Italy. The markets in Milan, Frankfurt and Paris all registered upswings of more than 3 per cent after opening. But the IMF denied that talks on any such deal were taking place. [...]" 

MSM: "Federal Judge Blocks Major Bank's Mortgage Settlement" [11/29/11] "A federal judge blocked what would have been a $285 million mortgage settlement between Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a tweet from The New York Times. If the deal had passed muster, it would have settled accusations that the bank misled mortgage investors when selling securities, according to a separate NYT report. Jed Rakoff, the judge that blocked the settlement, criticized the SEC's enforcement practices at a hearing on the settlement earlier this month. "Doesn't the S.E.C. have an interest in what the truth is?" Rakoff reportedly asked at the hearing. [...]"  

Legal Case: "Credit Rating Agencies Told They Can't Say Whatever They Want" [11/28/11] "A federal judge has said credit ratings are not always protected opinion under the First Amendment, a defeat for credit rating agencies in a lawsuit brought by investors who lost money on mortgage-backed securities. The November 12 decision was a little-noticed setback for McGraw-Hill Cos' Standard & Poor's, Moody's Corp's Moody's Investors Service and Fimalac SA's Fitch Ratings, which have long invoked First Amendment free speech protection to defend against lawsuits over their ratings. These agencies had argued that the Constitution protected them from claims they issued inflated ratings on more than $5 billion of securities issued in 2006 and 2007, and backed by loans from former Thornburg Mortgage Inc and other lenders. But the judge said the ratings were shared with too small a group of investors to deserve the broad protection sought. "The court rejects the rating agency defendants' arguments that the First Amendment provides any protection to them under the facts of this case," U.S. District Judge James Browning in Albuquerque, New Mexico, wrote in a 273-page opinion. Browning nonetheless dismissed claims accusing Moody's and Fitch, but not S&P, of misrepresentations, saying the investors did not adequately allege that the two agencies did not believe their ratings, or knowingly concealed their inaccuracy. He also said federal law preempts some arguments that the investors used to recover under New Mexico securities law. [...]"  

Commentary: "Goldman Sachs Has Taken Over: Bankers Have Seized Europe" Paul Craig Roberts [11/27/11] "On November 25, two days after a failed German government bond auction in which Germany was unable to sell 35% of its offerings of 10-year bonds, the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said that Germany might retreat from its demands that the private banks that hold the troubled sovereign debt from Greece, Italy, and Spain must accept part of the cost of their bailout by writing off some of the debt. The private banks want to avoid any losses either by forcing the Greek, Italian, and Spanish governments to make good on the bonds by imposing extreme austerity on their citizens, or by having the European Central Bank print euros with which to buy the sovereign debt from the private banks. Printing money to make good on debt is contrary to the ECB’s charter and especially frightens Germans, because of the Weimar experience with hyperinflation. Obviously, the German government got the message from the orchestrated failed bond auction. As I wrote at the time, there is no reason for Germany, with its relatively low debt to GDP ratio compared to the troubled countries, not to be able to sell its bonds. [...] In my opinion, the failed German bond auction was orchestrated by the US Treasury, by the European Central Bank and EU authorities, and by the private banks that own the troubled sovereign debt. My opinion is based on the following facts. Goldman Sachs and US banks have guaranteed perhaps one trillion dollars or more of European sovereign debt by selling swaps or insurance against which they have not reserved. The fees the US banks received for guaranteeing the values of European sovereign debt instruments simply went into profits and executive bonuses. This, of course, is what ruined the American insurance giant, AIG, leading to the TARP bailout at US taxpayer expense and Goldman Sachs’ enormous profits. If any of the European sovereign debt fails, US financial institutions that issued swaps or unfunded guarantees against the debt are on the hook for large sums that they do not have. The reputation of the US financial system probably could not survive its default on the swaps it has issued. Therefore, the failure of European sovereign debt would renew the financial crisis in the US, requiring a new round of bailouts and/or a new round of Federal Reserve “quantitative easing,” that is, the printing of money in order to make good on irresponsible financial instruments, the issue of which enriched a tiny number of executives.[...]"  Related: See below.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Unemploy Wall Street (E215)" [11/27/11] [25:41]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss unemployed Wall Streeters looking for financial firms that practice 'integrity and honesty' and hedge fund managers crying 'boohoo' that JP Morgan has seized their MF Global funds. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Danny Schechter about plunder, the crime of our time, inspiring an economic justice movement"  Related: "Keiser Report: Corruptify! (E214)" [11/24/11] [25:45]  "Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss taxpayers in the West being pepper-sprayed with toxic debts while in China fraudsters receive five fingers of death. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Gregor Macdonald about Warren Buffett's investment in Japan and the cost benefit analysis of the energy policy of invading resource rich nations in order to liberate their oil." 

Commentary: "9 Final Ways The Bankster-Occupied U.S. Government Is Waging War Against America" [11/27/11] "1. Ideology. There is a dictatorship of the mind and spirit in America. The official ideology of the U.S. totalitarian state is counter-terrorism and national security. All domestic and foreign crimes are justified under the umbrella of security and defense. The false flag September 11 attacks served as the catalyst that brought this totalitarian ideology into being on a world stage. The attacks also had the effect of putting the American people into a psychological state of subservience towards the government and power elite. As a result, the free will of the American people has been destroyed. The minds of the people are directed at non-existent terrorists like Al Qaeda and non-threatening countries like Iraq and Iran for one single purpose: to generate insecurity in the individual so that he/she supports the false and permanent war on terror. Hans Barth wrote in his 1939 essay called, "Reality and Ideology of the Totalitarian State," that, "a people completely unified by a totalitarian policy and wholly integrated as a spiritual body, thus offering a foundation for a totalitarian state, is nothing but a flexible instrument for the use of the commander-in-chief in the pursuit of the totalitarian war," (Barth (1939); The Review of Politics, Volume 1, Issue 03, Pg. 275-306). The voice of dissent and 9/11 truth is the only way to break the totalitarian conditioning of the American people and the people of other Western countries. [...]"  Related:  "9 Ways The Hijacked Federal Government Is Waging War Against The American People" [11/10/11] | "9 More Ways The U.S. Government Is Waging War Against America " [11/18/11]  

MSM: "U.S. Congress Raids Healthcare Funds For Third Time" [11/26/11] "In cash-strapped Washington, President Obama’s $1 trillion health care law is presenting a tempting target for lawmakers seeking funds for other projects, as Congress last week raided the health care piggy bank for the third time in less than a year. Congress last week axed a part of Democrats’ signature domestic achievement to find $11 billion to cover the cost of repealing a withholding tax that otherwise would have hit government contractors in 2013. Mr. Obama signed that bill into law on Monday. The withholding bill follows two other efforts — one in December and another in April — that reworked the health care law to squeeze savings for other priorities. The December bill funded higher payments for doctors who treat Medicare patients, and the April legislation repealed a paperwork provision in the original health care law that businesses said would be onerous. All told, Congress and the president have tapped some $50 billion earmarked to pay for benefits and programs in the health care overhaul in future years to fund more-immediate spending needs. Both earlier efforts dealt with health care issues, but the bill Mr. Obama signed Monday marks the first time that the massive 2010 law has been tapped to fund something completely unrelated. “They don’t want to open it up. They’re getting forced to open it up now and then, but to open it up for budgetary reasons, I think the pressures are pretty real,” said former Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Holtz-Eakin, who said it’s easier to cut future benefits than it is to cut programs that are already paying out. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Endangered Lawmakers Move To Back Bill Banning Congressional Insider Trading" [11/26/11] "Politically vulnerable lawmakers are lining up as co-sponsors of legislation that would ban congressional insider trading. A “60 minutes” report earlier this month indicated that members of Congress have been trading stocks based on knowledge gained from their positions, a practice that does not violate the law. Before the report, a House bill that would outlaw the practice only had nine co-sponsors. In the week following the “60 Minutes” segment, that number jumped to 92. Of the 83 additions, 19 are facing competitive reelection races  [...]"  Note:  How convenient for them, to temporarily support something that is literally impossible pass into law, so as to appear 'innocent' and 'untouched' ...

MSM: "German Bond Auction Fails" [11/25/11] "A “disastrous” sale of German benchmark bonds sparked fears on Wednesday the debt crisis was beginning to threaten even Berlin, with the Bundesbank forced to dig deep into its pockets to ensure the auction did not fail. In one of the least successful debt sales by Europe’s powerhouse economy since the launch of the single currency, the low returns offered — just 2 percent annually over 10 years — deterred investors made uneasy by the escalating cost of the crisis to Germany. That meant the central bank had to pick up 39 percent of the 6 billion euros of debt Germany had hoped to sell after commercial banks bought just 3.644 billion euros of the issue. [...]" 

MSM: "Lawmakers To Look At Corzine, Rating Firms' Ties: Report" [11/25/11]   "U.S. lawmakers plan to look into the relationship between bankrupt mid-size brokerage firm MF Global Holdings Ltd's former CEO Jon Corzine and the major credit-rating agencies, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter. [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Big Bad Banks (E213)" [11/23/11] [27:47]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss the Koch Brothers and MF Global and Northern Rock and Richard Branson’s blonde hair and big, shiny teeth. In the second half of the show, Max talks to independent radio journalist Richard Thomas about Occupy LSX, poll tax riots and financial apartheid.."  Related: See stories below on MF Global, Corzine, etc. Koch brothers pulled out billions before MF Global crash.

MSM: "Congressional Panel Seeks to Question Corzine" [11/23/11] "A congressional panel plans to question MF Global executives, including Jon S. Corzine, about the downfall of the trading firm and the customer money that went missing in its final days, according to people familiar with the matter. The oversight unit of the House Financial Services Committee has tentatively scheduled a public hearing on MF Global for Dec. 15, one person said, and lawmakers plan to call as witnesses Mr. Corzine and Bradley Abelow, the firm’s chief operating officer and Mr. Corzine’s chief of staff when he was governor of New Jersey. [...]"  

MSM: "JPMorgan Sued by Germany's BayernLB Over Mortgage-Backed Securities" [11/23/11] "JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. bank by assets, was sued for fraud by German lender Bayerische Landesbank over losses on about $2.1 billion in mortgage-backed securities. JPMorgan units concealed the truth about the poor quality of the loans underlying the securities and knew that credit ratings misrepresented their risk, BayernLB said in a lawsuit filed yesterday in New York State Supreme Court. “This misconduct has resulted in astounding rates of default on the loans,” BayernLB said. Most of the securities have been downgraded to junk, it said. The lender said it believed the mortgage securities were safe investments based on representations about the quality of loans and credit ratings when it invested almost $2.1 billion in 57 offerings from 2005 to 2007, according to the complaint. The lawsuit names JPMorgan and other units of the New York-based bank as defendants. [...]"  

MSM: "Futures Plunge As Fed Discloses New Stress Test: Fears US Banks Will Need To Raise Tens Of Billions In New Capital" [11/23/11] "It appears that the key news of the day was not the fluff about the IMF which as we said was total non-news, but adverse news from the Fed which just announced that it is launching its 2012 bank stress test which unlike previous iterations may actually demand capital raises from US banks. Those banks are Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. The problem is that next steps will certainly involve tens of billions in capital raises demanded of the above six banks (and probably Jefferies) by the Fed. Not surprisingly, ES has collapsed on the news to just over 1180. [...]" 

MSM: "Anger Mounts As MF Global Clients See $3 Billion Still Stuck" [11/22/11] "Three weeks after MF Global's collapsed, furious former customers are still fighting for access to billions of dollars as they question why as much as two-thirds of their money is still stuck. While authorities have touted the fact that they are returning 60 percent of the collateral and cash that had been frozen in the wake of the broker's October 31 bankruptcy, a closer look shows that in fact only about 40 percent of customers' total funds have been authorized for release so far. The remainder, more than $3 billion, ostensibly remains on hand to cover a shortfall originally estimated by MF Global to regulators at just $600 million. [...]"  Related: "Corzine’s Broker License Expired Years Ago… FINRA Let Him Run MF Global Without One"  

MSM: "Ex-Madoff Trader Admits Faking Records Since '70s" [11/22/11] "Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar fraud began in the early 1970s with several employees working together to fake records when no trades actually took place, a former trader at Madoff's firm said in pleading guilty to criminal charges on Monday. The former trader, David Kugel, told a Manhattan federal court judge that he and two other longtime Madoff employees, Annette Bongiorno and Joann Crupi, used rates of returns on client statements that were pre- determined by Madoff himself. [...]"  Related: "Madoff Co-Conspirator Changes Plea To Guilty"   "David Kugel, 66, faces up to 85 years in prison and $170 billion in forfeiture, but he will remain free on a $3 million bail for at least six months as he helps the federal government build a case against his alleged co-conspirators. [...]"  

MSM: "U.S. Sued For $25 Billion Over AIG Takeover" [11/22/11] "A company run by former American International Group Inc Chief Executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg sued the U.S. government for $25 billion, calling the 2008 federal takeover of the insurer unconstitutional. The lawsuit marks an unusual effort to force the government to pay shareholders, who have seen AIG's stock price tumble 98 percent since the middle of 2007, when the insurer's risky bets on mortgage debt through credit default swaps began to falter. Greenberg's company, Starr International Co, also filed a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, whose president at the time of the takeover was Timothy Geithner, now U.S. Treasury Secretary. Once AIG's largest shareholder, Starr said the government took a roughly 80 percent stake in AIG and charged an "punitive" 14.5 percent on federal loans without seeking a shareholder vote, hoping to provide a "backdoor bailout" for AIG trading partners such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. It said the bailouts that began on September 16, 2008, violated shareholders' rights to due process and equal protection, and a Fifth Amendment ban against taking private property for public use without just compensation, known as the "takings clause." Greenberg, 86, had led AIG for nearly four decades prior to his 2005 ouster. Starr once owned 12 percent of AIG. [...]"  Note:  Reincarnated retread ingrates.

MSM: "Bank Lobbying Firm Sends Out Memo To Undermine ‘Occupy Wall Street’" [11/21/11] "In an exclusive from MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and the Huffington Post, a Washington D.C. lobbying firm has prepared a memo for its Wall Street bank clients informing them of ways to deal with “Occupy Wall Street” and the political fallout the movement may cause. The memo was written by the firm Clark, Lytle, Geduldig, and Cranford (CLGC), warning the the American Bankers Association (ABA) that Republicans could turn on them as a strategic move in next year’s elections due to Democratic pressure. CLGC proposed to the ABA an $800,000 price tag on receiving “opposite research” from the firm in order to create “negative narratives” about Occupy Wall Street and the politicians who support them. Hayes notes in his show Saturday morning that two of the firm’s members, Sam Geduldig and Jay Cranford, were aides for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Oh).  [...]" 

MSM: "Britain ‘Will Join Euro Before Long’, Says German Finance Minister" [11/20/11] "Wolfgang Schäuble said that, despite the current crisis in the eurozone, the euro will ultimately emerge as the common currency of the entire European Union. He said he “respects” Britain’s decision to keep the pound, but insisted that the survival and eventual stabilisation of the euro will convince non-members to join the currency club. “This may happen more quickly than some people in the British Isles currently believe,” he added. Mr Schäuble also said Germany will stand firm on its call for a financial transaction tax that Britain believes would badly harm the City of London.  [...]"  Related: "Germans Try To Kill Off Pound" "Britain will soon be forced to scrap the pound and join the euro, one of Germany’s most senior figures said yesterday. In a chilling threat to UK sovereignty, German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble predicted that all Europe would one day use the single currency. “It will happen perhaps faster than some in the British Isles currently believe,” he said. His sinister warning followed the emergence of a secret German plan to build a powerful new economic government for the eurozone and block an EU referendum in Britain. A leaked German foreign ministry memo detailed plans for a new European Monetary Fund. It also claimed the EU’s treaty could be altered to centralise more power without triggering a vote. In a further sign of growing German supremacy within the EU, David Cameron was yesterday rebuffed by Chancellor Angela Merkel in talks over how to tackle the euro crisis. Last night British opponents of the EU were horrified by the bellicose threat to Britain’s economic independence. Tory MP Peter Bone said: “I would be happy to have a bet with the German finance minister that the euro will disappear before the pound. It is a completely absurd suggestion that will never happen.” Fellow Tory backbencher Douglas Carswell said: “It is a tragedy that a continent of millions of hard-working people is run by clowns like this.” And UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said: “This German bullying is deeply unpleasant and the sooner we leave the EU the better.” Dr Schauble, who has used a wheelchair since being shot in an assassination attempt in 1990, is nicknamed “Dr Strangelove” in diplomatic circles. [...]"  

Gerald Celente: "Trends In The News - Criminal Mafia Enterprise" [11/20/11] [7:23]   

MSM: "Goldman Faces Lawsuits Over $15.8 Billion In Mortgages" [11/20/11] "Goldman Sachs Group Inc faces lawsuits over $15.8 billion worth of mortgage securities, the bank said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday, a more than 30-fold increase from the amount disclosed three months earlier. The aggregate figure, which is up from $485 million previously, does not represent how much money Goldman management estimates it may lose on the litigation. Goldman lifted that estimate of "reasonably possible" losses to $2.6 billion from $2 billion. The bigger dollar figures come as investors in mortgage-backed bond deals have raced to take legal action or enter settlement negotiations before statutes of limitations expire, and as investors continue to worry about banks' exposure to big lawsuits. [...]"  

MSM: "Money Has Been Privatised By Stealth" UK [11/20/11] "Martin Wolf, one of the experts who sat on the independent commission on banking, put it bluntly, saying in the Financial Times that "the essence of the contemporary monetary system was the creation of money, out of nothing, by private banks' often foolish lending". Here's how it works. When you ask the bank for the money to buy a one-bedroom box in London, the money that appears in your account isn't borrowed from some prudent grandmother's life savings. In fact, the bank simply types those numbers into your account, creating brand new money that you can now spend. As other banks do exactly the same, the amount of money in the economy grows and grows. Every new mortgage creates new money, which pushes up house prices just a little more and forces the next buyer to borrow even more from the banks. (A more detailed and fully-referenced explanation of this process is given in the book Where Does Money Come From? published by the New Economics Foundation.) Through this process of creating money, banks have been able to inflate the money supply at a rate of 11.5% a year, pushing up the prices of houses and pricing out an entire generation. [...] Incredibly, the law that makes it illegal to print your own tenners at home has never been updated to apply to the electronic money that is now created by banks. As we began to use electronic money to make the vast majority of payments, cash became less important and the power to create money shifted to the banks that caused the crisis. Without anyone noticing, the power to create money was privatised by stealth. So while criminal gangs manage to create about £2.5bn of fake cash each year, the banks collectively create more than £100bn a year without breaking a single law. Their reward for doing so is the interest that is currently being collected on nearly every pound in existence. The cost to the rest of us is a lifetime in debt. [...]  This brings us to a very simple solution to the financial crisis. Many of the current protesters might be surprised to hear that the answer to our current crisis comes from a former Tory prime minister. Back in 1844, Sir Robert Peel realised that metal coins, which at that time were the only legal form of money, had been superseded by new paper notes issued by banks. These paper notes were lighter and more convenient, and therefore much more popular. Peel's 1844 Bank Charter Act took the power to create paper money away from the banks and placed it back under control of the Bank of England. We should now do exactly the same with the power to create electronic money. My own organisation, Positive Money, has even drafted the legislation that would be required to do this. [...] " 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Vampire Banker Hunter (E212)" [11/20/11] [25:56] "Every week Max Keiser looks at all the scandal behind the financial news headlines. This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss the tiny rule changes and the Zombies behind the collapse of MF Global. Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, a Keiser- Celente 2012 bumper sticker spotted! In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Barry Ritholtz about the big lie that bankers did not cause the crisis and what MF Global means to the markets."

MSM: "Chinese Fund Managers Sentenced To Death After Cheating Investors Out Of 1 Billion USD" [11/19/11] "Two brothers and their father were sentenced to death on Monday for cheating 15,000 investors out of over $1.1 billion in east China’s Zhejiang province. Ji Wenhua, president of the Yintai Real Estate and Investment Group, was sentenced to death for the crime of fund-raising fraud, said the Intermediate People’s Court in the city of Lishui, where the company was based. However, his brother, Ji Shengjun, and father, Ji Linqing, could be spared execution as their death penalties have a two-year reprieve. The family, along with others, had illegally raised over 7.04 billion yuan ($1.12 billion) between 2003 and 2008 before they were taken into police custody in 2008, holding the truth from investors that their company had been losing money for years, according to the court. A third brother, Ji Yongjun, was sentenced to life imprisonment. The four men also had their political rights deprived for life and personal property confiscated. The court also sentenced two other people involved in the case to three years in prison each. [...]"  

Commentary: "Italy: The Cabinet Of Mario Monti—A Government Of The Banks" [11/19/11]   "Italy’s new emergency government is a government of big business and the international banks. It has not been democratically elected, but instead was installed following pressure from the financial markets by the 86-year-old former Communist Party member and current Italian president, Giorgio Napolitano. Just a week before the swearing-in ceremony the interest rates on 10-year government bonds had climbed to a record high of 7.5 percent. This proved to be the decisive factor for Silvio Berlusconi’s resignation. [...]" Related: "Italy's Monti Forms Politician-Free Government" [11/17/11] " Economist Mario Monti has been officially sworn in as PM—formally ending Silvio Berlusconi's 17-year-long run of political dominance—and he formed a new Italian government that doesn't include a single politician. Instead, he drew from the ranks of bankers, diplomats, and business executives. Explaining why his Cabinet contained no one from Italy's fractious political parties, Monti said that his talks with party leaders led him to the conclusion "that the non-presence of politicians in the government would help it."  [...]" 

Commentary: "MF Global Money Now “Missing” After Reports It Was Sent To JP Morgan" [11/19/11] "Over $600 million dollars in customer funds that was transferred out of MF Global in a wave of suspicious trades before the collapse of the financial broker has now been declared “missing,” despite the fact that reports earlier in the month stated the money had been placed in an account with Wall Street giant JP Morgan. clients of MF Global and its subsidiaries, including prominent trends forecaster Gerald Celente, were shocked to learn that their accounts had been emptied by Chapter 11 trustees. The looting took place in the days before MF Global’s collapse following revelations that the broker was exposed to crisis-hit European debt bonds. However, weeks beforehand, billionaire investors like the Koch brothers had the miraculous foresight to withdraw all their money, prompting accusations that big players got a ‘heads up’ in advance of the firm’s collapse. “The missing $600 million has still not been located despite an army of regulators, investigators, lawyers and others descending on the disgraced futures brokerage to conduct a search. Judging from media reports, people are still at a complete loss to explain how so much in client money could just disappear,” reports Fierce Finance. News reports concerning the notion that the money has seemingly vanished into thin air are absent any mention of prior reports that confirmed the funds had been deposited with JP Morgan Chase. On November 4, the Financial Times reported that hundreds of millions in looted funds from customers’ accounts later “turned up at JPMorgan Chase, the failed broker-dealer’s custody bank.”
Citing a report in the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business also reported that MF Global, “recently discovered that about $659 million of its customer segregated accounts resided in an account at banking heavyweight JPMorgan Chase (JPM).” However, after JP Morgan claimed the funds found in its account “isn’t the missing money” stolen from MF Global clients, the story went cold, despite MF Global executives claiming otherwise. Either MF Global or JP Morgan are lying. The lawyer for James Giddens, the trustee supervising the liquidation of the MF Global, said “Exactly what happened, I don’t think anyone knows,” in reference to the missing $600 million. Thousands of irate customers have been told they will only get around 60 per cent of the money back that was in their accounts, a total release of $520 million, despite the fact that Giddens has access to more than $1.4 billion. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: In Debt We Trust (E211)" [11/18/11] [25:56] "We discuss simple thieves and honest graft. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Mike ‘Mish’ Shedlock about the European debt crisis and the MF Global missing funds crisis."

Gerald Celente: "What Actually Happened With MF Global" [11/18/11]   [7:54] Related: RT Interview: "Celente Enraged As His MF Global Gold Account Taken" [11/16/11]   [5:56] | "Gerald Celente Speaks About Politics And Morality" [1:08] Flashback: "Gerald Celente: The Great Depression of 2012"    [10:36] Note: From November 2009.

Commentary:  "Why Bloomberg Fights Occupy Wall Street " [11/17/11] [6:40] "Why is New York City major Michael Bloomberg defending raids on Zuccotti Park to destroy the Occupy Wall Street protests? The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur breaks it down. [...]" 

MSM: "Fed Now Largest Owner of U.S. Government Debt—Surpassing China" [11/17/11] "At the close of business on Tuesday, the debt of the federal government exceeded $15 trillion for the first time–with the largest single owner of the publicly held portion of that debt being the Federal Reserve. Over the past year, as the Federal Reserve massively increased its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities and entities in China marginally decreased theirs, the Fed surpassed the Chinese as the top owner of publicly held U.S. government debt. In its latest monthly report, the Federal Reserve said that as of Sept. 28, it owned $1.665 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities. That was more than double the $812 billion in U.S. Treasury securities the Fed said it owned as of Sept. 29, 2010. [...]"  Note:  All the government has to do is nationalize the Fed, and cancel the debt.

MSM: "Beyond Insider Trading: Here's How Members Of Congress Get Rich Off Earmarks" [11/16/11] "Schweizer's explosive new exposé, has pulled back the lid on congressional insider trading, revealing the shocking regularity with which elected officials use their legislative positions to reap financial rewards. This 'honest' graft is by no means limited to using inside knowledge to play the stock market. Schweizer, a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institute, reports that members of Congress are also making a killing in real estate, using federal funds to boost their personal land holdings. Like Congress's questionable trading practices, mixing real estate investments with taxpayer money is technically legal. Actually, it's pretty easy for members of Congress to get rich off of federal projects — land deals are more difficult to detect than trades, and land, unlike stocks, doesn't have a set price. Members of Congress aren't required to disclose if a land deal would benefit them personally. In the corporate world, using company money for personal financial gain would at minimum get you fired. But in Congress, the practice is not only legal, but common. [...]"  

MSM: "Sen. Feinstein Loaded up on Biotech Stock Just Before Company Received $24 Million Gov’t Grant" [11/16/11] "In the new blockbuster tell-all Throw Them All Out, investigative reporter and Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer reveals that on November 18, 2009, Sen. Feinstein and her husband invested $1 million into Amyris Biotechnologies, a “green” company focused on plant-based renewable fuels and chemicals. The Feinsteins’ million-dollar investment was their only stock transaction for the entire year. Feinstein, however, had good reason to feel that all her investment eggs were secure in the biotech basket, because just weeks after her seven-figure investment in Amyris, the company scored a $24 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to build a pilot plant where altered yeast would turn sugar into hydrocarbons. The company went public the following year with an IPO that raked in $85 million. Currently, it’s unclear exactly how much money Senator Feinstein and her husband made off their investment, “but it’s safe to assume that they did well,” concludes Schweizer. [...]"  

Commentary: "Law Professor: Of Course Congressional Insider Trading Is Totally Illegal" [11/16/11] "The hot story of the day is this Congressional insider trading business, which was popularized by 60 Minutes last night. The basic gist: Congressmen are allowed to trade on whatever they want without legal ramifications, and in fact have a fantastic track record of beating the market. But the whole thing is hogwash according to Indiana Law Professor Donna Nagy. In this paper titled Insider Trading, Congressional Officials, and Duties of Entrustment, Nagy argues that it doesn't really make sense to say Congress is exempt from insider trading laws, since the illegality of insider trading is mostly established by the courts, and through the relatively vague SEC rule 10b5-1. [...]  Professor Tamar Frankel’s recent book and earlier writings on fiduciary law and duties of entrustment can help us to see precisely why insider trading by members of Congress and legislative staffers is already illegal under present law and why enactment of the proposed STOCK Act is not only unnecessary, but would also narrow considerably the present law that would apply to their securities transactions in the absence of an explicit statutory prohibition. Drawing from Professor Frankel’s extensive work, and from prior applications of fiduciary principles in congressional disciplinary actions and Executive Branch prosecutions of members of Congress for honest-services fraud, this Article argues that members of Congress and legislative staffers owe fiduciary-like duties of trust and confidence to a host of persons including the citizen-investors whom they serve, as well as the federal government, other members of Congress, and government officials outside of Congress who rely on their loyalty and integrity. Based on these duties of entrustment, this Article concludes that congressional officials engage in deception, and therefore violate Rule 10b-5, if they trade securities on the basis of material nonpublic information obtained through congressional service. [...] "  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Corporations Fear OWS (E210)" [11/16/11] [25:57] "We discuss the Good, The Bad and the Schving Schving of making companies scared by putting risk back onto their balance sheet. We also discuss clients getting smoked through massive ploys in the commodity markets. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Mike Maloney of GoldSilver.com and ProtectNSurvive.com about the latest in the precious metals market and about a $15 trillion Dow."

Commentary: "Banker Coup: Goldman Sachs Takes Over Europe" [11/15/11] "Precisely as we warned all along, the very financial terrorists responsible for the economic collapse have now exploited the crisis to pose as saviors and oversee a banker coup – with Goldman Sachs stooges now in control of both Italy and the European Central Bank. The objective of the coup is to exploit the euro debt crisis as a vehicle through which to create a European federal superstate that will transfer all remaining control over national affairs to Brussels. The globalists have already started the process, hand-picking two unelected stooges to replace democratically elected Prime Ministers in Greece and Italy. Silvio Berlusconi was the Colonel Gaddafi of Europe. Despite his personally loathsome character, Berlusconi was proving to be an obstacle for the banker coup and was hastily dismissed, not by the will of the people, but as Time’s Stephen Faris explains, by an action of insiders who control the markets. [...] Berlusconi’s replacement is the ultimate globalist stooge, former EU Commissioner Mario Monti, an international advisor for Goldman Sachs, the European Chairman of David Rockefeller’s Trilateral Commission and also a leading member of the Bilderberg Group. Monti is a safe pair of hands for the next stage of the banker coup, when the euro crisis will be hijacked to concentrate even more power into the hands of the very people who caused it in the first place. “This is the band of criminals who brought us this financial disaster. It is like asking arsonists to put out the fire,” commented Alessandro Sallusti, editor of Il Giornale, a Milan newspaper owned by the Berlusconi family. [...] Similarly, when Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou dared to suggest the people of Greece be allowed to have their say in a referendum, within days he was dispatched and replaced with Lucas Papademos, former vice-President of the ECB, visiting Harvard Professor and ex-senior economist at the Boston Federal Reserve. Papademos and Monti have been installed as unelected leaders for the precise reason that they “aren’t directly accountable to the public,” notes Faris, once again illustrating the fundamentally dictatorial and undemocratic foundation of the entire European Union. [...]" Related: "Resignation Of Italy’s Berlusconi Clears Way For “Technocratic” Government Chosen By The Banks" "Following a fast track procedure whereby both houses of the Italian parliament agreed to punitive austerity measures dictated by the banks, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced his resignation on Saturday. His standing down as premier clears the way for the appointment of a “technocratic” government led by the economist Mario Monti, as ordered by the financial elite and its instruments, the European Union and the IMF. [...]" 

Commentary:  "Newly-Installed Greek Government Pledges Continued Cuts" [11/15/11] "After being sworn in on Friday, Greece’s new Prime Minister Lucas Papademos made clear his government would continue the reactionary, deeply unpopular program of cuts implemented by his predecessor, George Papandreou, at the behest of the major banks. Papademos declared in his first speech to parliament that the main task of his government is “to carry out the decisions of the [October European Union] summit, and to apply economic policies linked to these decisions”. In particular he discussed job cuts, lowering wages in the public sector, and the deregulation of skilled professions. This refers to measures passed by the parliament on October 20, that have yet to be implemented, but are required to obtain the last €8 billion tranche from the EU bailout fund, according to Papademos. Without this money Greece could go bankrupt by mid-December. [...]"  

Corbett Report: "G20 and the Global Financial Infrastructure" [11/14/11] [9:48] "Last week’s G20 Summit in Cannes, France is already being written off as a bust by the international financiers who were hoping to bolster the fledgling European Financial Stability Fund with international support and to implement a new global financial services tax which they claim will be the long-term solution to the ongoing global economic meltdown. [...]"  Note: "Investigative Journalist Daniel Estulin reveals the death threat that caused Greek PM Papandreou to renege on his promise of a bailout referendum for the Greek people. According to Estulin’s sources, Papandreou’s abrupt turnabout was the result of a direct threat from Sarkozy and the Eurozone powers. Sarkozy threatened Papandreou with death if he went forward with the national referendum on Greek debt. The Greek PM was threatened  on both sides, first by people within Greece and then by the banking criminals .Papandreou chose a way out to save his own skin and divert the blame on the next PM...a former ECB banker. If the ECB & IMF get away with this robbery, Greece will spiral into chaos and revolution. Watch for scapegoat violence ..."

MSM: "Congress Insider Trading On 60 Minutes" [11/14/11] [4:00] "Nobody would talk to us." That's what 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft says happened when he tried to get members of Congress to talk about "insider trading" on Capitol Hill. It turns out that it is not illegal for member of Congress to make stock trades using inside information they learn while working on legislation, and Steve had some questions about some specific stock trades. [...]"  Related: See article below, entitled ""Congress Members Took Part in Insider Trading: Abramoff" [11/13/11] and related stories.

MSM: "Europe’s €1 Trillion (£854bn) Rescue Fund Has Been Forced To Buy Its Own Debt" [11/14/11] "Eurozone bail-out fund has to resort to buying its own debt.  [...]" Related: "European Ponzi Goes Full Retard As EFSF Found To Monetize… Itself" "We have long mocked and ridiculed the Fed for being the ultimate ponzi instrument: after all, why worry, when your central bank will buy up almost three trillion in US paper in about 2 years (a very comforting fact for US politicians who never have to fear that those trillions in new porkbills, pardon fiscal stimulus programs, may end up without funding). Well, as it turns out those wily veteran bankers from across the Atlantic have just one upped America yet again. According to the Telegraph, the abysmal, and barely successful, 3 EUR billion issuance of EFSF bonds (which was originally supposed to be 10 EUR billion, on its very very gradual climb to 1 EUR trillion) had one more very curious feature to it, aside from confirming that it is Dead On Arrival as expected. It turns out that in addition to being the most convoluted and complex creation ever conceived by JPM which is advising Europe on coming up with structured finance products that are so complex nobody will ask any questions and will automatically assume someone else has done the homework, it is also the quintessential ponzi instrument. The Telegraph reports that the already reduced 3 EUR billion "target was only met after the EFSF resorted to buying up several hundred million euros worth of the bonds." You read that right: in its first bond issuance since its transformation to the European Bank/Soveriegn Bailout Swiss Army Knife, the EFSF not only failed to raise a minimum token amount, but also had to... buy its own bonds. We can assume that the money the EFSF needed to fund said purchase came from the money growing tree, as at last check the ECB was still not funding the EFSF with crisp, new zEURq.PK equivalent binary 1s and 0s. But at least we all know what happens when the global ponzi goes full retard. [...]"  

MSM: "Gadhafi’s Gold-Money Plan Would Have Devastated Dollar" [11/13/11] "It remains unclear exactly why or how the Gadhafi regime went from “a model” and an “important ally” to the next target for regime change in a period of just a few years. But after claims of “genocide” as the justification for NATO intervention were disputed by experts, several other theories have been floated. Oil, of course, has been mentioned frequently — Libya is Africa‘s largest oil producer. But one possible reason in particular for Gadhafi’s fall from grace has gained significant traction among analysts and segments of the non-Western media: central banking and the global monetary system. According to more than a few  observers, Gadhafi’s plan to quit selling Libyan oil in U.S. dollars — demanding payment instead in gold-backed “dinars” (a single African currency made from gold) — was the real cause. The regime, sitting on massive amounts of gold, estimated at close to 150 tons, was also pushing other African and Middle Eastern governments to follow suit. And it literally had the potential to bring down the dollar and the world monetary system by extension, according to analysts. French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly went so far as to call Libya a “threat” to the financial security of the world. The “Insiders” were apparently panicking over Gadhafi’s plan. "Any move such as that would certainly not be welcomed by the power elite today, who are responsible for controlling the world's central banks,” noted financial analyst Anthony Wile, editor of the free market-oriented Daily Bell, in an interview with RT. “So yes, that would certainly be something that would cause his immediate dismissal and the need for other reasons to be brought forward [for] removing him from power." According to Wile, Gadhafi’s plan would have strengthened the whole continent of Africa in the eyes of economists backing sound money — not to mention investors. But it would have been especially devastating for the U.S. economy, the American dollar, and particularly the elite in charge of the system. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Cameron & Osborne on the Run (E209)" [11/13/11] [25:55] "We talk about George Osborne’s admission that he has no power over bankers and that the population will always have to pay for their crimes. We also discuss the ‘slow motion train robbery’ of low interest rates and the use of trending topics on Twitter as price propaganda. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Senator Mike Gravel about his direct democracy initiative and how it could empower the Occupy Wall Street movement.."

MSM: "Congress Members Took Part in Insider Trading: Abramoff" [11/13/11] "As many as a dozen members of Congress and their aides took part in insider trading based on foreknowledge of market moving information on Capitol Hill, disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff told CNBC in an interview. Abramoff, who was once one of the wealthiest and most powerful lobbyists in Washington before a corruption scandal sent him to federal prison for more than three years, said that many of those members of Congress bragged to him about their stock trading prowess while dining at the exclusive restaurant he owned on Pennsylvania Avenue. But Abramoff, whose black trench coat and fedora became one of the most notorious images in recent Washington history after his fall from grace, said he didn't play the stock market himself — he considered it an inherently unfair "casino" in which the house had far more information than the players. Abramoff made most of his fortune representing — and, as it turned out, duping — Native American tribes rich with cash from casino operations. The former lobbyist said the amounts members of Congress earned trading off their inside knowledge ranged from as little as $2,000 to, as much as "several hundred thousand dollars," that was claimed by one member of Congress. Abramoff declined to name the members of Congress. [...]"  Related: "Congress Insiders: Above The Law?" Video clip "Martha Stewart went to jail for it. Hedge fund honcho Raj Rajaratnam was fined $92 million and will go to jail for years for it. But members of Congress can do the same thing -use non-public information to make stock trades -- and there's no law against it. Steve Kroft reports on how America's lawmakers can legally make tidy profits on information only they know, simply because they won't pass a law against themselves. The report will be broadcast on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Former Rep. Brian Baird says he spent half of his 12 years in Congress trying to get co-sponsors for a bill that would ban insider trading in Congress and also set some rules up to govern conflicts of interest. In 2004, he and Rep. Louise Slaughter introduced the "Stock Act" to stop the insider trading. How far did they get? "We didn't get anywhere. Just flat died," he tells Kroft. He managed to get just six co-sponsors from a membership of over 400 representatives. "It doesn't sound like a lot," says Kroft. "It's not Steve. You could have Cherry Pie Week and get 100 co-sponsors," says Baird.[...]" 

MSM: "U.S. Bancorp Sued by Pension Fund Over Investor Losses on Fraudulent CDOs" [11/12/11]   "U.S. Bancorp knew mortgage loans underlying the bonds weren’t properly transferred to trusts and caused investors to suffer millions of dollars in losses, Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement System said in a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Manhattan. [...]"  

MSM: "For Bank Of America, Debit Fees Extend To Unemployment Benefits" [11/11/11] "Bank of America recently aborted plans to charge ordinary banking customers $5 a month to use their debit cards in the face of national outrage. But the bank has quietly continued to mine another source of fees: jobless people who depend upon the bank's prepaid debit cards to tap their benefits. Bank of America and other financial firms -- including U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase -- have secured contracts to provide access to public benefits in 41 states. These contracts typically allow banks to collect unlimited fees from merchants and consumers. In short, the same banks whose speculation delivered a financial crisis that has destroyed millions of jobs have figured out how to turn widespread unemployment into a profit center: The larger the number of people who are out of work and dependent upon the state for sustenance, the greater the potential gains through administering their benefits. "It's absolutely ridiculous," said Sue Berkowitz, director of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, a Columbia nonprofit that represents low-income people facing foreclosure, food insecurity and other problems. "It should not cost you any more to use a debit card than if they had issued you a check." [...]"  

MSM: "UK Treasury Prepares For 'Economic Armageddon' If Euro Falls Apart" [11/11/11] "Bank of England helps draw up British contingency plans after European commission slashes growth forecasts. The Treasury and Bank of England are making contingency plans for an "economic Armageddon" if the euro falls apart, business secretary Vince Cable said on Thursday as the European commission slashed its growth forecasts and predicted that the continent could be plunged back into recession next year.  [...]"  Note: It's only a matter of when, not if.

MSM: "Greece And The Dictatorship Of Finance" [11/11/11] "Ancient Athens is considered to be the cradle of European democracy. Modern Athens is threatening to become its grave. The events that have rocked Greece in recent days are a lesson and a warning for all of Europe. Three weeks ago a two-day general strike brought the country to a halt. Since then there has been one crisis summit after another—in Athens, Brussels, Cannes. The result is a new government in Greece without any democratic legitimacy intent on imposing the dictates of the financial markets upon the working population. [...]"  Related: "No National Government In Greece As Talks Break Up" "After three days of negotiations, Greece still has no functioning government. [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Gold Wars (E208)" [11/10/11] [25:54] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss European gold wars and the brokers at the Chicago Board of Trade telling others to get a job while they can't even do the one job they have. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews James G. Rickards about his new book - Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis."

MSM: "French And Germans Explore Idea Of Smaller Euro Zone" [11/10/11] "German and French officials have discussed plans for a radical overhaul of the European Union that would involve setting up a more integrated and potentially smaller euro zone, EU sources say. “France and Germany have had intense consultations on this issue over the last months, at all levels,” a senior EU official in Brussels told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. “We need to move very cautiously, but the truth is that we need to establish exactly the list of those who don’t want to be part of the club and those who simply cannot be part,” the official said. French President Nicolas Sarkozy gave some flavor of his thinking during an address to students in the eastern French city of Strasbourg on Tuesday, when he said a two-speed Europe — the euro zone moving ahead more rapidly than all 27 countries in the EU — was the only model for the future. The discussions among senior policymakers in Paris, Berlin and Brussels raised the possibility of one or more countries leaving the euro zone while the remaining core pushes on toward deeper economic integration, including on tax and fiscal policy. [...]" Related: "Euro  Debt Crisis Spiraling Out Of Control"  

MSM: "Man Charged $39.23 Interest On $0 Balance Bank Of America Credit Card" [11/10/11] "Roger Greenwood was sure Bank of America had made a mistake. The Jacksonville, Illinois man received a credit card statement that showed he had a zero dollar balance, but the bank was still charging him $39.23 in interest anyway. [...]" 

Commentary:  "James Turk - Expect Cataclysmic Events in the Coming Weeks" [11/10/11] "We had a major development here in Europe today. Yields on the ten year Italian bond soared to over 7%. The 7% hurdle is considered critical because once Greece and Ireland went over 7%, they turned to the EU for a bail out. So the thinking now is that Italy needs a bail out too, but here’s the problem. Italy has two trillion euros of debt. That’s greater than the total amount of debt owned by Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain combined.” It’s the fourth largest amount of debt in the world. It’s estimated that over half of this is owned by banks around the world. Four hundred billion euros of it is owned by the French banks alone. As I mentioned in a previous interview here, they can no longer kick the can down the road because it’s become a two ton boulder. Clearly the two percent plus drop today by the euro against the US dollar is a warning sign that a major crisis is brewing. I mentioned before that the Dexia and MF Global collapses are not the Lehman event I’ve been expecting before year end. But the markets are telling us that a major crisis is now brewing. So be prepared for another Lehman type of collapse which will bring the financial structure to its knees.  The media has been portraying these problems as a crisis of capitalism, but they have it completely wrong. What we’re witnessing is a crisis of socialism. Governments have been making far too many promises which have been based on borrowed money coming mainly from the banks.... [...]"  Related: Commentary: "Europe Is Approaching The End Game: Gold Buying in Focus" "Europe is approaching the end game. Credit markets and other governments know what the continent's leaders won't admit: The euro is failing. Gold, more than the dollar, is set to rocket in value as the crisis unfolds. In addition to looser monetary policy (generous European Central Bank purchases of member country bonds) and austerity (higher taxes and less spending) across most of the EU states, Eurozone governments have a three-pronged policy for containing the debt crisis: * The European Financial Stability Fund to purchase and insure bonds of troubled governments. * International Monetary Fund supervision of finances for those governments. * Direct loans to several -- and, in Greece's case, a 50 percent haircut on private debt. None of those three policies is working out. [...]"  

MSM: "Max Keiser: China To Beat IMF To Italy’s Gold" [11/09/11]   [2:01] "Watch the full Keiser Report E208 on Thursday. This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss European gold wars and the brokers at the Chicago Board of Trade telling others to get a job while they can't even do the one job they have. [...]" 

Webster Tarpley: "The Greek Debt Is All About Goldman Sachs Control" [11/09/11] [18:47] "Investigative Journalist Webster Tarpley talks about the Greek debt and the bogus referendum , he urges the Greek people to vote against the austerity and to oust Papandreu who is the bankers puppet , Sarkozy and Merkel are bluffing this is not about saving Greece they could not care less about Greece , this is all about saving the Banks and nothing but the banks ...these austerity measures are Genocidal for the Greek people ....  [...]"  

MSM: "Ex-Fed, Ex-ECB Bankster Set For New Greek PM" [11/08/11] "Educated in the US, where he earned his first degree in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Papademos is typical of Greek scholars who thrive abroad. After gaining a second degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate in economics, he went on to hold academic posts at Columbia University, Harvard University and the University of Athens. A specialist in macroeconomic theory and policy, he still teaches as a visiting professor in the US. Returning to Athens in the mid-80s, after serving on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, he became chief economist at the Bank of Greece. In 1994, he was elevated to the post of governor, overseeing Greece's transition from the drachma, the world's oldest currency, to the euro a decade ago. In 2002, he joined the European Central Bank where he worked under the recently departed president Jean-Claude Trichet before crisis called, and once again, he returned to Athens to serve as an informal adviser to Papandreou. [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: The Fed, The Treasury & The Holy Troika (E207)" [11/08/11] [26:01] "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss the Fed, the Treasury and the Holy Troika and whether or not the Pope should beatify Jon Corzine, the CEO of MF Global who “lost” hundreds of millions in client funds. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews economist and professor Constantin Gurdgiev about Anglo Irish unsecured bondholders and the global debt crisis."

RT Interview: "Euro-Kaput: Euro Could Be Dead By End-November" [11/07/11]   [4:39] "Greek PM George Papandreou is aiming to form a coalition government and push through an international bailout package. However, Patrick Young, executive director of investment advisory firm 'DV Advisors' views the situation as a political disaster. [...]"  

MSM: "Wikileaks Exposes German Preparations For "A Eurozone Chapter 11" [11/07/11] " Chancellor Angela Merkel's government welcomed the decision taken at the EU's February 11 informal summit in Brussels not to provide financial assistance, for the moment, to cash-strapped Greece. German officials "believe a bailout is not needed at this time", and that "extending a lifeline to Greece would have carried too many risks". One major fear in Germany is that "saving" Greece would lead to other needy Eurozone members expecting the same treatment. Another concern is that extending an explicit guarantee for Greece could weigh on Germany's own good standing in the markets, ultimately raising its borrowing costs. While German government officials do not totally rule out an IMF program for Greece if push came to shove, most consider this eventuality highly unlikely, especially in light of the European Central Bank's strong opposition. In fact, the German government, the ECB and private German economists are downplaying the seriousness of Greece's predicament and its potential impact on stability of the Euro. They agree, however, that the crisis could have longer-term consequences for EU institutions and how they interact with member states that stray off course. [...]" Related: "Morgan Stanley Says Europe's Pandora's Box Has Been Opened" "Have a sinking suspicion that the way the Eurozone has handled the past week's Greek threat has set the stage for the collapse of the Eurozone (here's looking at you Italy, over and over) now that Merkozy has made the possibility of a country leaving the Eurozone all too real? You are not alone: Morgan Stanley's Joachim Fels has just sent a note to clients in which he not only commingles three of the catchiest and most abused apocalyptic phrases of our time ("Emperor has no clothes", "Water Pistol not Bazooka" and "Pandora's Box") he also warns, in no uncertain terms, that "by raising the possibility that a country might (be forced to) leave the euro, core European governments may have set in motion a sequence of events which could potentially lead to runs on sovereigns and banks in peripheral countries that make everything we have seen so far in this crisis look benign." And when a major investment bank, itself susceptible to bank runs warns of, well, bank runs, you listen. [...] And what is even more disturbing is that Germany itself is now demanding a referendum. According to Welt, 71% of Germans want a referendum, and want to to vote directly on important decisions for Europe and the Euro. Only 27% oppose the motion. And the same poll has found that 63% of Germans think Greece should be kicked out of the Euro, with just 32% believing the country can still be saved." | "Bank Exodus From Euro Zone Sovereign Debt Quickens" [11/04/11] "Banks including BNP Paribas and ING are ditching billions of euros of euro zone government bonds, cutting their exposure to the region's trouble spots. More lenders are expected to retreat as the euro zone crisis deepens and leaders raise the possibility of the exit of Greece from the bloc, further damaging prices. "The market value of the debt of the countries most under scrutiny is likely to decline further as banks unload sovereign bonds," Charles Dallara, managing director of the Institute of International Finance, warned on Wednesday. [...]" 

MSM: "For Markets in Europe, the Focus of Fear Moves to Italy" [11/07/11] "Among fresh warning signs, Italy’s cost of borrowing has jumped to the highest rate since the country adopted the euro. Others signs include pressures building in the plumbing of Europe’s banking system. While those pressures are not yet at the levels experienced during the 2008 financial crisis, when some markets in the United States froze altogether, they are high enough to cause worry, analysts say.  [...]"  Related: "Defiant Silvio Berlusconi Refuses IMF Bailout And Insists He Will Not Resign Despite Mounting Italian Debt Crisis" "Defiant Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi today refused an offer of financial support from the IMF - and insisted he would not resign. .... In a sign of the dwindling confidence in Rome’s ability to re-pay its borrowings, BNP Paribas reduced its holdings of Italian bonds by £7.4bn to £10.5bn. The eurozone crisis has rocked confidence across Europe, with many consumers putting their investment plans on hold. Sales of life insurance policies are falling as the debt crisis and austerity cuts knock confidence of savers, two of Europe’s biggest insurers warned yesterday.[...]" | "Goldman Sachs On The One PIIG That Really Matters: Italy" "As you know by now, the general thinking is: Greece will default eventually. Hopefully it can be contained. What can't be let to happen is the crisis seriously spreading to Italy. In its latest European strategy note, Goldman's Huw Pill, Francesco Garzarelli, and Peter Oppenheimer take on Italy, where spreads are blowing out to records. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Financial Rape, Financial Pornography (E206)" [11/06/11] [25:56] "Every week Max Keiser looks at all the scandal behind the financial news headlines. This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss error accounts and accounting 'errors,' like misplacing $700 million or finding $78 billion. Only GIABOzilla can save the day! In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews James Howard Kunstler about political awakening that an absence of justice could turn into a new Jacobin style uprising."

MSM: " Derivatives Traders Face Margin Calls Monday" [11/06/11] The 8th largest bankruptcy in history, MF Global (a derivatives trader), has now apparently forced the largest derivatives exchange group in America into an apparent liquidity crisis. Derivatives, which are bets using futures and options, can also be purchased on margin. Margin is borrowed money from the broker/bank. There is a liquidity crunch in the options & futures markets for commodities worldwide. CME, the exchange for such transactions in the US, had made the initial margin and maintenance margin equal for every commodity with options and futures. This implies that options and futures holders will be forced to deposit addition capital to the CME in the form of maintenance margin, simply to hold their positions. This will put markets under pressure on Monday. The lack of liquidity and additional margin requirement comes in the aftermath of the bankruptcy of MF Global." [...] Zero Hedge broke the story yesterday: Unless we are completely reading it incorrectly, it is nothing short of a margin call for tens if not hundreds of billions worth of product. Because as of close of business on November 4, today, the CME just made the maintenance margin, traditionally about 26% lower than the initial margin for specs, equal. For everything. Which means that by close of business Monday, millions of options and futures holders will be forced to deposit billions in additional capital to the CME just so they are not found to be margin deficient, and thus receive a margin call. Naturally, since it is very unlikely that this incremental amount of liquidity can be easily procured in one business day, we anticipate the issuance of hundreds of thousands of margin calls Monday, followed by forced liquidations of margin accounts across America... and the world." Margin calls are one of the reasons cited for the 1929 crash. Since banks and institutional investors are already in a liquidity crisis, this move could have a massive impact on the 1500 trillion dollar global derivatives market. Companies like Bank of America (with 75 trillion dollars in derivatives exposure), and JP Morgan (another 75 trillion dollars of exposure) could be wiped out by this event since they are both investing in, and providing loans (margin) to the derivatives markets. This would explain the massive Put Option purchases against the S&P 500. It would also explain why Bank of America and JP Morgan have transferred their 150 trillion dollar exposure to the US taxpayer via FDIC. [...]"  

MSM: "Eurozone Bailout To Be Paid As Papandreou Survives Dramatic No-Confidence Vote" [11/05/11] "...The much-needed euro130 billion tranche of bailout cash will now be paid to Greek treasury, while European banks will write off half the money owed by Greece, amounting to around euro100 billion. The vote was secured after a day of turmoil in Athens in which the viability of the ruling socialist party looked increasingly uncertain. There were several reports that Papandreou would resign even if he won the vote. Before the vote, the beleaguered PM delivered a defiant if rambling speech asking for a vote of confidence so that his country "has a government to take necessary steps of security over the next few months". [...]"  

MSM: "G20 Talks Fail To Reach Consensus As Global Debt-Time Bomb Ticks" [11/05/11] "The refusal of major economies to stump up money now reflected irritation with Europe’s failure to resolve its crisis alone and foiled investor hopes that the summit would mark a turning point. The turmoil is instead flaring again as Greece’s government lurches toward collapse and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he refused an offer of IMF aid. The chaos in Europe led countries from China to Russia and Brazil to say they would hold off pledging money to Europe’s cause even as they signaled a potential willingness to eventually do so through the IMF. The Washington-based lender can attach strings to its aid. [...]"  

Commentary: "Bank Of America Derivatives Time Bomb Shows System Is Corrupt To The Core" [11/04/11] "The Federal Reserve recently allowed Bank of America to move its massive derivative positions from the bank holding company to its banking subsidiary which is an FDIC insured depository institution. By allowing this transfer, the Federal Reserve has allowed Bank of America to shift the risk of loss on speculative derivative contracts from the non-bank affiliate. A failure of Bank of America could result in huge losses for the FDIC which would ultimately be passed on to the taxpayers. [...]" 

MSM: "Dealerships Package Billions Of Dollars Worth Of Subprime Auto Loans Into Securities" [11/04/11] "Auto loan financiers are beginning to adopt a practice from the housing industry that many say played a significant role in the meltdown of the housing market. Buy Here Pay Here dealerships -- which issue loans to borrowers that often can't qualify for a traditional car loan and in many cases require the borrower to return to their lot to pay them off -- are packaging the loans and selling them to investors, the Los Angeles Times reports. The practice of packaging shoddy auto loans into securities and selling them to investors -- $15 billion worth in the last two years -- is reminiscent of a craze popular among mortgage lenders in the lead up to the housing and financial crisis.  [...]" 

RT Interview: "Gerald Celente: Let’s Stop This Façade Of Democracy" [11/04/11]   [8:58] "The Greece drama continues. The Greek bailout proposed by the Eurozone has the possibility to bring the world economy to its knees. It has been proposed by to have Greece removed from the Eurozone. This many say is a frantic attempt to help save the drowning currency. Many believe Greece is the scapegoat for a much larger problem. Gerald Celente, publisher at The Trends Journal, gives us his take on the messy situation.  [...]"

RT Interview:  "Lew Rockwell on Euro Debt Crisis: Decentralization is the Solution" [11/04/11] [5:53] "The Greek bailout has the potential to put the global economy into a recession. Some critics say that Greece isn't getting bailed out but the actual banks that own the Greek debt are. Many say the banking establishment needs to go and shouldn't be bailed out as a risky deal goes bad. Lew Rockwell, chairman at the Ludwig Von Mises Institute, gives us his thoughts on the Eurozone debt crisis. [...]"  

Interview: "Protests Demand Financial Tax Imposition: Webster Tarpley, Ph.D" Press TV [11/04/11] [22:24] "Many 'Occupy' protesters are demanding tax be imposed on governmental and financial regulators, a political analyst says. Press TV has conducted an interview with author Webster Griffith Tarpley to further discuss the issue. The following is a transcription of the interview.  Tarpley: "Enact 1% Wall Street Sales Tax to Support Social Safety Net Via National Treasuries; Europe Needs 40 Million Productive Jobs, Not Genocidal Austerity and More Derivatives; Vote No on Greek Referendum" [...]" 

MSM: "China Refuses To Commit To EFSF Amid Greek Concerns" [11/03/11] "European leaders hoped that China would buy EFSF bonds, injecting capital in the region's financial markets.The EFSF was one part of a three pronged rescue plan put together to solve eurozone's debt crisis. ... The decision by the Greek government has also resulted in the eurozone leaders withholding the next 8bn euros of rescue loans for Greece until after the referendum. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel have called on Greece to decide whether it wants to continue to be a part of the eurozone. The two are expected to meet with other eurozone leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit to discuss the deepening crisis. Greece's referendum call has already resulted in the EFSF being forced to cancel bond sales targeted at raising 3bn euros. [...]" 

Commentary: "Will Greece Pull an Iceland … And Tell the Banks to Pound Sand?" [11/02/11] "Iceland told the banks to pound sand. And Iceland’s economy is doing much better than virtually all of the country’s who have let the banks push them around. [...]" 

MSM: "Greek Government Teeters On Brink Of Collapse In Wake Of Referendum Plan" [11/02/11] "The French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel will hold emergency talks on Wednesday in a desperate attempt to hold the eurozone together and formulate a response to the Greek prime minister's plan for a referendum on the austerity measures imposed by his European partners. George Papandreou's socialist government is on the brink of collapse after his referendum plan sparked an angry reaction within his own party and plunged Europe back into turmoil, just days after a complex rescue deal had been agreed – requiring Greece to embark on tough cost-cutting measures. The Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, who was rushed to hospital before the referendum announcement, said Papandreou had kept him in the dark over his plan to announce a vote. As global markets tumbled, Papandreou assembled his cabinet, allowing his ministers to air their views on his surprise decision to call the vote. He told them the referendum remained the only way of overcoming public opposition to the spending cuts agreed as part of the eurozone rescue package. "Everything now rests on the vote of confidence."[...]" Related: "Greek Military Chiefs Replaced"   "In a surprise development, Panos Beglitis, Defence Minister, a close confidante of Mr Papandreou, summoned the chiefs of the army, navy and air-force and announced that they were being replaced by other senior officers. Neither the minister nor any government spokesman offered an explanation for the sudden, sweeping changes, which were scheduled to be considered on November 7 as part of a regular annual review of military leadership retirements and promotions. Usually the annual changes do not affect the entire leadership. [...]"

MSM: "Here's Who's Freaking Out Now That Greece Will Hard Default" [11/02/11] "A disorderly default in Greece just became a much bigger possibility, after PM George Papandreou announced a referendum on austerity yesterday. If the Greeks vote no, this could be the end of Greece's participation in the euro, and spark contagion that could spread across Europe. The Bank for International Settlements keeps a running tally of who has the biggest sovereign exposure to Greece. Although Japan, France, and Germany have all cut their debt exposure to Greece since earlier this year, they still stand to lose big if Greece decides austerity isn't worth it. See who else has massive public debt exposure to Greece. [...]" Related: MSM: "Greek Vote Brings Uncertainty Back To Wall Street" "Stocks tumbled on Tuesday after investors were blindsided by a surprise call for a Greek referendum on an EU bailout plan, casting doubt on the sustainability of the recent market rally. [...]"  

MSM: "Feds File Massive Fraud Case Against Allied Home Mortgage" [11/02/11] "Federal prosecutors sued Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp. and two top executives Tuesday, accusing them of running a massive fraud scheme that cost the government at least $834 million in insurance claims on defaulted home loans. Houston-based Allied and its founder and chief executive, Jim Hodge, were the subject of July 2010 stories by ProPublica, which detailed a trail of alleged misconduct, lawsuits and government sanctions spanning at least 18 states and seven years. Borrowers recounted how they had been lied to by Allied employees, who in some cases had siphoned the loan proceeds for personal gain. Some borrowers lost their homes. Despite years of warnings, the federal government had not — until this week — impaired the company's ability to issue new mortgages. The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, seeks triple damages and civil penalties, which could total $2.5 billion. Simultaneously, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended the company and Hodge from issuing loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. The company was also barred from issuing mortgage-backed securities through the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). Allied has billed itself as the nation's largest, privately held mortgage broker, with some 200 branches. (At one point, the company operated more than 600.) The sprawling network made Hodge a rich man with properties in three states and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and two airplanes to get to them. [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Speculators Win Again (E204)" [11/02/11] [26:40] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, look at bank stocks ablaze and a Grecian vortex. They also discuss speculators responding to falling prices by smashing showrooms in Shanghai and holding Congress hostage in America. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Leah McGrath Goodman about Occupy Wall Street, the Koch Brothers and oil derivatives and the new market in water derivatives."

MSM: "FBI, Federal Prosecutors To Investigate MF Global's Theft Of Client Funds" [11/02/11] "Federal prosecutors and the FBI are set to join the inquiry into what happened to hundreds of millions of dollars invested with a securities firm headed by former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, officials familiar with the case told NBC New York. The Justice Department involvement comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Future Trading Commission have said their own inquiry is underway into the collapse of the brokerage firm, MF Global Holdings Ltd. The head of the Chicago Mercantile exchange said Tuesday that the firm broke rules requiring it to keep clients' money and company funds in separate accounts. [...]"  Related: "MF Global Accounts Shock Leaves Clients Scrambling"  "MF Global Holdings Ltd failed to protect customer accounts by keeping them separate from its own funds, said a top U.S. exchange regulator, another shock for commodity markets scrambling to contain fallout from the brokerage's bankruptcy. [...]" "JPMorgan Seeks Lien On ALL MF Global Assets"  

Commentary:  "Did You Hear the One About the Bankers?" [11/01/11] "CITIGROUP is lucky that Muammar el-Qaddafi was killed when he was. The Libyan leader’s death diverted attention from a lethal article involving Citigroup that deserved more attention because it helps to explain why many average Americans have expressed support for the Occupy Wall Street movement. The news was that Citigroup had to pay a $285 million fine to settle a case in which, with one hand, Citibank sold a package of toxic mortgage-backed securities to unsuspecting customers — securities that it knew were likely to go bust — and, with the other hand, shorted the same securities — that is, bet millions of dollars that they would go bust.  It doesn’t get any more immoral than this. As the Securities and Exchange Commission civil complaint noted, in 2007, Citigroup exercised “significant influence” over choosing $500 million of the $1 billion worth of assets in the deal, and the global bank deliberately chose collateralized debt obligations, or C.D.O.’s, built from mortgage loans almost sure to fail. According to The Wall Street Journal, the S.E.C. complaint quoted one unnamed C.D.O. trader outside Citigroup as describing the portfolio as resembling something your dog leaves on your neighbor’s lawn. “The deal became largely worthless within months of its creation,” The Journal added. “As a result, about 15 hedge funds, investment managers and other firms that invested in the deal lost hundreds of millions of dollars, while Citigroup made $160 million in fees and trading profits.” [...]"

MSM: "China Holds Europe To Ransom Over £62bn Bailout Deal" [10/31/11] "Eurozone leaders were left sweating last night after China played down expectations that it would quickly make a much-needed cash injection to the EU bailout fund. The chief executive of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), Klaus Regling, was in Beijing yesterday with the hope of coaxing a speedy investment from the world's second-largest economy. But, despite hopes that the opportunity to take a leading role in managing global finances would prove a powerful incentive for Beijing, European observers were prepared for the Chinese to exact a heavy price in return for providing up to €70bn (£62bn) to the fund. [...]"  

MSM: "Goldman Sachs Sued By Hedge Fund For Knowingly Selling Toxic Mortgage-Backed Investments " [10/30/11] "A new lawsuit accuses Goldman Sachs of purposely unloading $93 million in mortgage-backed securities it knew to be junk onto a client, then betting against those same securities in the lead-up to the financial crisis. Basis Yield Alpha Fund, an Australian hedge fund, filed the lawsuit against Goldman Sachs on Thursday, asking for more than $1 billion in damages. The lawsuit alleges that Goldman Sachs overcharged for two sets of mortgage-backed securities that it sold to Basis; lied about the securities' expected performance; did not provide timely, accurate information about the securities' true value; and failed to disclose that the firm was actively betting against the securities at the time of the transaction -- all which the hedge fund says contributed to its collapse. "They were lying to clients in order to get junk off their books," said Eric Lewis, the Washington-based attorney who is leading the Basis Fund's lawsuit against Goldman. "They were basically selling a time bomb ... and what they sold blew up in our face, but what they couldn't sell blew up in their face." [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Bring Down Bernanke Gaddafi Style (E203)" [10/30/11] [26:32]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss Occupy London art that may be from Banksy… or Keiser Report? They also look at the skyrocketing cost of new oil supply as Tony Blair sets up office in Kazakhstan. In the second half of the show, Keiser interviews Gail Tverberg about the 65-year debt bubble now bursting as resources and credit hit their limit."

MSM: "Criminal Network Running EU Economy" [10/29/11]   [23:59] "A prominent professor of economics says that the EU economic system is run by the criminal “one percent” cabal group which is holding the “99 percent” accountable to pay. [...] The underlying reason is a system which has become profoundly corrupted. It is run by criminal cabal of roughly one percent, and its purpose is to suck up wealth to that one percent. And it works by increasing the debt and compound interest. And it has no concern at all about the needs of ordinary people and their income and their necessities. The physical ability is still there in the economy, in the farms, in the factories, and in the people who want to work. But this criminal system prevents the solution for ordinary people. And please don't talk just about Euro zone, the bigger one in all this is the USA. Their doctrines and their practices, for example, their corrupt computer practices where Goldman Sachs makes a cool [USD] 100 million every day, they are at the core of this, just as much as the Europeans are. So there is going to be no solutions, they're going to making it worse, because at the end of the day, they are only serving the purposes of the corrupt, criminal elite. [...]" 

MSM: "Obama Calls For 'Firewall' To Contain Eurozone Crisis" [10/29/11] "Obama wants Europe to create a "firewall" as part of its plans to contain the eurozone debt crisis, he said in a Financial Times newspaper article published on Friday. Given the scope of the challenge and the threat to the global economy, it is important for all of us that this strategy be implemented successfully -- including building a credible firewall that prevents the crisis from spreading, strengthening European banks, charting a sustainable path for Greece and tackling the structural issues at the heart of the current crisis." [...]" 

MSM: "IMF Is 'Considering' Participating In EU Bailout Fund" [10/28/11] "The IMF is "considering" a plan to back a special purpose investment vehicle (SPIV) that would leverage the European Financial Stability Facility, according to Reuters. Analysts have been chattering about the size of IMF involvement in the eurozone bailout, but this is the first confirmation that the fund is actively thinking about playing an even bigger role than it is now. [...]"  Related: "RT Interview With Max Keiser"   [6:06]  "With the euphoria over the deals reached at Brussels dying down, the numbers are now being pored over by economists and experts to see if they add up. One of them is RT's Max Keiser who believes nothing's changed - the EU's still fighting debt with debt." | Interview: "Judge Andrew Napolitano with Nigel Farage on the Greek Revolution" [5:03]  

MSM: "China Agrees To Help Eurozone But Won't 'Throw Away The Country's Wealth'" [10/28/11] "China is "very likely to contribute" to bailing out the eurozone but doesn't want to "throw away the country's wealth," it was reported on Thursday. Before any cash injection is agreed Chinese government wants to ensure Europe's leaders are able to meet key conditions, the Financial Times says. “It is in China’s long-term and intrinsic interest to help Europe because they are our biggest trading partner but the chief concern of the Chinese government is how to explain this decision to our own people" “The last thing China wants is to throw away the country’s wealth and be seen as just a source of dumb money,” it quoted Li Daokui, a member of China’s central bank monetary policy committee as saying. [...]" 

MSM: "Finra Settles In Battle Of Overseers" [10/28/11] "The main self-policing organization for brokers and stock markets misled the government by altering documents sought by federal regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Thursday. FINRA, a private organization responsible for overseeing much of the U.S. financial industry, altered minutes of staff meetings before turning them over to SEC inspectors in 2008, the agency alleged. [...]" 

Commentary: "Super Committee Proposes $1.3 Trillion in New Taxes" [10/28/11] "Super Committee Democrats have released details on their so-called deficit reduction plan… and it ain’t pretty. In order to pay back the bankers for money created out of thin air by the Federal Reserve and then loaned to Congress so it can continue to wage mass murder campaigns and pay for old ones, the Democrats want – surprise, surprise – to significantly raise taxes. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Clowns Run The World (E202)" [10/27/11]  [27:10]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss David Cameron, STFU going viral, Riot Granny in Athens and Gaddafi’s alleged net worth. In the second half of the show, Max interviews John Perry Barlow about financial activism, capitalism, Marxism and a plutocratic cancer on the economy."

MSM: "Greenspan: Why European Union Is Doomed to Fail" [10/26/11]   "The European Union is doomed to fail because the divide between the northern and southern countries is just too great, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan told CNBC in a recent interview.  [...]"

MSM: "Former Goldman Exec Faces Criminal Charges of Insider Trading" [10/26/11] "Federal prosecutors are expected to file criminal charges on Wednesday against Rajat K. Gupta, the most prominent business executive ensnared in an aggressive insider trading investigation, according to people briefed on the case. The case against Mr. Gupta, 62, who is expected to surrender to the authorities on Wednesday, would extend the reach of the government’s inquiry into America’s most prestigious corporate boardrooms. Most of the defendants charged with insider trading over the last two years have plied their trade exclusively on Wall Street. [...]"  

Commentary: "Derivatives Crisis Could Destroy The Entire Global Financial System" [10/26/11] "... A derivative has no underlying value of its own. A derivative is essentially a side bet. Usually these side bets are highly leveraged. At this point, making side bets has totally gotten out of control in the financial world. Side bets are being made on just about anything you can possibly imagine, and the major Wall Street banks are making a ton of money from it. This system is almost entirely unregulated and it is totally dominated by the big international banks. Over the past couple of decades, the derivatives market has multiplied in size. Everything is going to be fine as long as the system stays in balance. But once it gets out of balance we could witness a string of financial crashes that no government on earth will be able to fix. The amount of money that we are talking about is absolutely staggering. Graham Summers of Phoenix Capital Research estimates that the notional value of the global derivatives market is $1.4 quadrillion, and in an article for Seeking Alpha he tried to put that number into perspective.... [...]"  Related: See below.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Fecal Alchemy (E201)" [10/23/11]  [25:56]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss the message from Sirte, "Today Libya, Tomorrow Wall Street", and fecal alchemy and its two-tiered justice system. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Stephen Leeb, author of Red Alert: How China's Growing Prosperity Threatens the American.."

Commentary:  "Totally Corrupt America" by Paul Craig Roberts [10/25/11] "Last March, I reviewed Matt Taibbi’s important book Griftopia, an entertaining account of the through-going financial fraud that gave us the financial crisis. Taibbi shows that the US “superpower” can match any third world backwater in the magnitude of greed and fraud that is endemic in business and government. I would not be surprised if Taibbi’s book motivated the more aware participants of Occupy Wall Street. [...] The financial crisis, which is very much still with us, did not result from accident or miscalculation; neither did it result because of a flaw in Alan Greenspan’s theory, as he told Congress when a feeble effort was made to hold him accountable. It was the intentional result of people motivated by short-term profits who wanted to get theirs and get out. As Reckless Endangerment shows, fraud characterized every stage of the process from the fraudulent borrower incomes and credit scores that mortgage issuers gave to unqualified buyers, through the securitization of the mortgages and their triple-A investment grade ratings by the rating agencies (Standard & Poor’s especially, but also Moody’s and Fitch) to the investment banks that sold what the banks knew was junk to investors around the world as investment grade securities. Indeed, Goldman Sachs was simultaneously betting against the mortgage derivatives that it was selling to clients. [...]" 

MSM: "Swiss Banks May Pay Billions to U.S., Disclose Client Names" [10/25/11]   "Swiss banks will probably settle a sweeping U.S. probe of offshore tax evasion by paying billions of dollars and handing over names of thousands of Americans who have secret accounts, according to two people familiar with the matter. [...]"  

MSM: "GAO Report: Federal Reserve Is Riddled With Corruption And Conflicts Of Interest; Friedman, Immelt and Dimon Are Targeted" [10/25/11] "A new audit of the Federal Reserve released today detailed widespread conflicts of interest involving directors of its regional banks. "The most powerful entity in the United States is riddled with conflicts of interest," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said after reviewing the Government Accountability Office report(PDF) The study required by a Sanders Amendment to last year's Wall Street reform law examined Fed practices never before subjected to such independent, expert scrutiny. The GAO detailed instance after instance of top executives of corporations and financial institutions using their influence as Federal Reserve directors to financially benefit their firms, and, in at least one instance, themselves. "Clearly it is unacceptable for so few people to wield so much unchecked power," Sanders said. "Not only do they run the banks, they run the institutions that regulate the banks." Sanders said he will work with leading economists to develop legislation to restructure the Fed and bar the banking industry from picking Fed directors. "This is exactly the kind of outrageous behavior by the big banks and Wall Street that is infuriating so many Americans," Sanders said. [...] In 2008, the New York Fed approved an application from Goldman Sachs to become a bank holding company giving it access to cheap Fed loans. During the same period, Stephen Friedman, chairman of the New York Fed, sat on the Goldman Sachs board of directors and owned Goldman stock, something the Fed's rules prohibited. He received a waiver in late 2008 that was not made public. After Friedman received the waiver, he continued to purchase stock in Goldman from November 2008 through January of 2009 unbeknownst to the Fed, according to the GAO. [...]    The Federal Reserve Bank of New York consulted with General Electric on the creation of the Commercial Paper Funding Facility. The Fed later provided $16 billion in financing for GE under the emergency lending program while Jeffrey Immelt, GE's CEO, served as a director on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York." [...]  The CEO of JP Morgan Chase Jamie Dimon served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York at the same time that his bank received emergency loans from the Fed and was used by the Fed as a clearing bank for the Fed's emergency lending programs. In 2008, the Fed provided JP Morgan Chase with $29 billion in financing to acquire Bear Stearns.At the time, Dimon persuaded the Fed to provide JP Morgan Chase with an 18-month exemption from risk-based leverage and capital requirements. He also convinced the Fed to take risky mortgage-related assets off of Bear Stearns balance sheet before JP Morgan Chase acquired this troubled investment bank. To read a more detailed analysis of the GAO report prepared for Sen. Sanders, click here. PDF To read the full GAO report, click here.

MSM: "Nicolas Sarkozy Tells David Cameron: Shut Up Over The Euro" [10/24/11] "David Cameron has begun a week of intense political infighting over Europe by becoming embroiled in a furious row with Nicolas Sarkozy over Britain's role in talks to solve the crisis enveloping the euro. The bust-up between Cameron and Sarkozy held up the conclusion of the EU-27 summit for almost two hours, with the French president expressing rage at the constant criticism and lectures from UK ministers. Sarkozy bluntly told Cameron: "You have lost a good opportunity to shut up." He added: "We are sick of you criticising us and telling us what to do. You say you hate the euro and now you want to interfere in our meetings." [...]"   

MSM: "Europe's Leaders Threaten Greek Default If Banks Won't Accept Losses Of £120bn" [10/24/11]   "Europe's leaders are threatening to trigger a formal default on Greek debt and risk a “credit event” if banks refuse to accept losses of up to €140bn (£120bn) on their holdings.  [...] Hardline eurozone members, backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), delivered the ultimatum this weekend after an official report found that in a worst-case scenario Greece could need a second bail-out of €450bn – twice the current package and more than the entire €440bn in the eurozone’s rescue fund. "  

MSM: "Prosecutors Fly To Libya To Freeze Gaddafi's Swiss Assets" [10/24/11] "Swiss officials have gone into Libya to help the National Transitional Council (NTC) freeze the Gaddafi regime's assets in their tax haven. The NTC is trying to trace billions of dollars that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed on Thursday, has siphoned off during his 42-year rule. Much of this is suspected to have been hidden in Switzerland.  A corporate investigations source said: "The Swiss prosecutors are there to help the authorities fill out forms to identify and freeze the Gaddafi assets. They need to be there as it's incredibly complicated to understand what paperwork needs to be done." It is thought that the prosecutors, most likely from the canton of Berne, arrived earlier this month and have already identified and frozen in the region of $400m (£250m) of the former regime's assets. However, this is only a fraction of what Col Gaddafi is believed to have squirreled away. There is a huge discrepancy between oil revenues and government expenditure over recent year. Experts have put a conservative figure of $80bn of hidden money among the regimes of North African states. The move is part of a huge effort to untangle all of the Libyan dictator's complicated assets around the world. The most open assets, such as the $70bn Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), have already been frozen. [...]" |  Note: See "Libya" big news link at the top of the Special Articles panel for related stories.  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report (E200)" [10/23/11]  [26:37]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert celebrate the 200th episode of Keiser Report with viewer artwork. They look at TINA versus Lady Liberty as an austerity police force is proposed for Greece. In the second half of the show, Stacy Herbert occupies Keiser Report. Max and Stacy discuss doggies, inflation and stealing the teleprompter from a mouthpiece for bankers.."

MSM: "Bombshell Report Says Eurozone Meeting Is Filled With Despair, As German-French Relations Collapse" [10/23/11]   "Now, bear in mind that The Telegraph is one of the most anti-Euro papers around, but regardless, this latest dispatch from the meeting of European Finance Ministers happening this weekend sounds horrible. The gist: France and Germany are in their worst divide ever, and it's dawning on everyone that there may be no good solution that allows the EFSF to keep its firepower, Greece to avoid a catastrophic default, and the banks to avoid getting crushed in that default. Compounding the trauma, Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister turned IMF chief - and one of the few key players who appeared to be enjoying herself in her new headmistress-like role - issued a grim warning to her former European peers. The IMF would no longer be willing to pick up a third of the total bill for rescuing Greece, a contribution worth €73 billion, unless European banks were prepared to write off 50 per cent of Greek debt. "It was grim. The worst mood I have ever seen, a complete mess," said one eurozone finance minister. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report (E199)" [10/22/11]  [27:33]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, talk about the European penny drops as more banks need more bailouts while the public debt clock ticks up to $40 trillion. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Michael Betancourt about the threat that Occupy Wall Street presents to our modern form of capitalism that relies on ignorance and passivity in the population in order to operate schemes of fraud and bubbles."

MSM: "Bank Of America: Preparing For A Chapter 11?" [10/22/11] "Most recently Bank America drew attention to itself by disclosing that it had moved all of the derivatives footings from its Merrill Lynch subsidiary to the lead bank, Bank of America N.A.  [...]"   Note: So they're going to preserve the investment house and dump the actual commercial bank, putting the public at risk, in order to support the greed of a few. Related: Federal Reserve Now Backstopping $75 Trillion Of Bank Of America’s Derivatives Trades" [10/19/11] "This story from Bloomberg just hit the wires this morning. Bank of America is shifting derivatives in its Merrill investment banking unit to its depository arm, which has access to the Fed discount window and is protected by the FDIC. This means that the investment bank’s European derivatives exposure is now backstopped by U.S. taxpayers. Bank of America didn’t get regulatory approval to do this, they just did it at the request of frightened counterparties. Now the Fed and the FDIC are fighting as to whether this was sound. The Fed wants to “give relief” to the bank holding company, which is under heavy pressure. This is a direct transfer of risk to the taxpayer done by the bank without approval by regulators and without public input. You will also read below that JP Morgan is apparently doing the same thing with $79 trillion of notional derivatives guaranteed by the FDIC and Federal Reserve. What this means for you is that when Europe finally implodes and banks fail, U.S. taxpayers will hold the bag for trillions in CDS insurance contracts sold by Bank of America and JP Morgan. Even worse, the total exposure is unknown because Wall Street successfully lobbied during Dodd-Frank passage so that no central exchange would exist keeping track of net derivative exposure. [ [...]"  Note: This is an example of unlawful conversion of a fraudulent debt.

MSM: "Federal Records Show Romney Campaign Bought And Paid For By Big Banks" [10/21/11] "A new independent analysis of 2012 presidential candidates’ campaign contributions confirms that Mitt Romney is the banksters’ choice for the GOP nominee, and indeed for President. Records of campaign contributions based on Federal Election Commission data released electronically this past weekend, reveal that Romney’s top 20 donors are made up almost exclusively of the biggest private banks on the planet. Among Romney’s top twenty donors are Credit Suisse Group, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo and Citigroup Inc. [...]"  

MSM: "U.S. Bank Credit Risk Climbs After Goldman Sachs Loss Exceeds Estimates" [10/21/11]   "Credit-default swaps on U.S. banks climbed on concern that the slowing economy was weighing on financial institutions’ balance sheets after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) reported its second quarterly loss in 12 years. [...]"  

RT Interviews:  "Trends Research: Gerald Celente" [10/21/11]   [9:52]   Note:  Gerald Celente on RT America 19 October 2011

Legal Case: "Top Banks Accused Of Colluding On ATM Fees" [10/20/11] "A New Jersey man sued Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo on Wednesday on behalf of ATM users, accusing the banks of colluding to fix the fees they charge customers to withdraw money. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., is the third such suit seeking class action status on the issue of automated teller machine fees in the past week. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Big Wall Street Banks Are Already Trying To Buy The 2012 Election" [10/20/11] "We are never going to restore legitimacy to our political system until we get the money out of politics. Typically, in federal elections the candidate that raises the most money wins about 90 percent of the time. In 2008, Barack Obama raised almost twice as much money as John McCain did. 3 of the top 7 donors to Obama’s campaign were big Wall Street banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup). Now Wall Street is doing it again. The big Wall Street banks are already trying to buy the 2012 election. So who do they want to win in 2012? Based on contribution patterns so far, the overwhelming favorite of the Wall Street banks to win in 2012 is Mitt Romney. The big Wall Street banks have given to Romney as pile of money that is more than 4 times larger than they have given to anyone else. Even though most Republicans really don’t want him, if history is any indication this means that Mitt Romney is going to be the Republican nominee for president in 2012. Posted below are numbers from a recent analysis done by the Center for Responsive Politics. These numbers reflect monetary donations to presidential candidates by employees of these big Wall Street banks (and their wives) between January and September 2011. As you can see, somehow Mitt Romney is at the top of each list by a wide margin. Clearly there is a “consensus” (some would call it a conspiracy) among the Wall Street elite that Romney is the man for the job. When you want to find out what is really going on in American politics, just follow the money. If Mitt Romney does not win the Republican nomination, it is going to be a massive upset. History tells us that it is incredibly difficult to overcome the kind of monetary advantage that Romney is piling up. [...]" 

MSM: "S&P Downgrades 24 Italian Banks, Financial Firms" [10/19/11] "Standard & Poor's on Tuesday downgraded 24 Italian banks and financial institutions, citing renewed "market tensions" and lower economic growth prospects. The action was taken after a review of the implications of a tougher-than-previously-anticipated macroeconomic and financial environment for the Italian banks, the credit rating agency said. "In our opinion, renewed market tensions in the euro zone's periphery, particularly in Italy, and dimming growth prospects have led to further deterioration in the operating environment for Italian banks," it said in a statement. [...]"  

MSM: "U.S. To Crack Down On Commodity Traders; Will It Stick?" [10/19/11] "The United States is poised on Tuesday to push through the toughest measures yet to curtail speculation in commodity markets, likely shifting the focus of a fierce four-year debate from the regulators to the courts. In a measure decried by Wall Street and trading companies as a misguided political attempt to cap soaring oil and grain prices, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is set to vote in favor of “position limits” that will cap the number of futures, swaps and options contracts any trader can hold. If the rule maintains several of the key measures from a draft seen last month by Reuters, there will be some cause for relief in the industry. Tough limits on whether separately controlled accounts must be aggregated and whether swaps and futures positions can be offset were relaxed in that draft.[...]" 

Commentary: "The Federal Reserve and Bank of America Initiate a Coup to Dump Billions of Dollars of Losses on the American Taxpayer" [10/19/11]   "This move reflects either criminal incompetence or abject corruption by the Fed. Even though I’ve expressed my doubts as to whether Dodd Frank resolutions will work, dumping derivatives into depositaries pretty much guarantees a Dodd Frank resolution will fail. Remember the effect of the 2005 bankruptcy law revisions: derivatives counterparties are first in line, they get to grab assets first and leave everyone else to scramble for crumbs. [Background.] So this move amounts to a direct transfer from derivatives counterparties of Merrill to the taxpayer, via the FDIC, which would have to make depositors whole after derivatives counterparties grabbed collateral. It’s well nigh impossible to have an orderly wind down in this scenario. You have a derivatives counterparty land grab and an abrupt insolvency. Lehman failed over a weekend after JP Morgan grabbed collateral. [...]"  

MSM: "Zbigniew Brzezinski Calls For ' Exposing Wealthy People' Who Hide Their Money" [10/18/11] "In an Oct. 17 appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the former national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter described the protests as a reflection of deep passion, resentment and fear. He also offered several suggestions on how to improve the situation, including the publication of a list featuring the names of people who earn enormous amounts of wealth through speculation, and then hide their money from society. . [...]  Brzezinski discussed the challenge he sees facing contemporary America. "Though a democracy, it is becoming a country of socially ominous extremes between the few super rich and the increasingly many who are deprived. In America today the top 1% of the richest families own around 35% of the entire nation's wealth, while the bottom 90% own around 25%. It should be a source of perhaps even greater concern that the majority of all currently serving Congressmen and Senators, and similarly most of the top officials in the executive branch, fall in the category of the very rich, the so-called top 1%." [...]"  Note: Oh, that will go over well. He is an advisor to the current administration, so you can read the writing on the wall as to where the next social money vacuum would focus, if there was enough time for that.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report (E198)" [10/18/11]   [27:21]  "Every week Max Keiser looks at all the scandal behind the financial news headlines. This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, talk about JP Morgan’s bet against itself, a Florida legislator’s plans to boost the economy with ‘dwarf-tossing’ and Tim Geithner flying economy. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Saifedean Ammous about Mubarak’s odious debts and about whether or not Occupy Wall Street is an Arab Spring for the West.[...]"   J.P. Morgan made more than $1 billion betting against itself.

 Max Keiser: "Dollar Vigilante To Keiser: "We're In Collapse Right Now" [10/17/11]   [23:01] "In this edition of the show Max interviews Jeff Berwick from dollarvigilante. He will talk about the latest on the US dollar devaluation and US economic outlook in general. He also talks about the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy the Fed movements which are spreading across America. We also discuss Congressman Kucinich's effort to bring the US Federal Reserve under the control of the Treasury Department. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Pirates and Protesters (E197)" [10/15/11]   [26:06]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, talk about pirates and protesters and about ponzi schemes operated by Brooks Brothers Bolsheviks. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Michael W. Hudson about Countrywide’s role in the subprime mortgage fraud that Obama’s Justice Department refuses to prosecute.[...]"

Commentary: "The Other Occupation: How Wall Street Occupies Washington" Zaid Jilani [10/17/11] "As ThinkProgress has previously noted, the 99 Percent Movement has been set off thanks to long-standing economic inequities and and a recession caused primarily by Wall Street’s misdeeds. Wall Street did not engage in reckless financial behavior — which plunged 64 million people worldwide into extreme poverty — in a vacuum. In order to engage in these practices that brought the world’s economy to its knees, Wall Street had to make sure that the federal government based in Washington, DC would both de-regulate the financial industry (and provide lax oversight) and that Congress and the Federal Reserve would bail out banks with few strings attached if they were in danger of failing. The way the financial industry and big banks won this kid glove treatment from the federal government is by occupying Washington — flooding it with campaign contributions, lobbyists, and its own staffers and executives to occupy key positions of power. Think Progress has assembled a rundown of three ways Wall Street has occupied Washington: [...]"  

MSM: "G20 Meets In Paris: Three Weeks To Save Eurozone" [10/16/11] [2:00] "As Greeks and Italians demonstrated outside their nation's banking centers, the G20's finance ministers met in Paris. The growing seriousness of Europe's financial situation gave the meeting special scrutiny, even though it didn't produce any major declarations. With Franco-Belgian bank Dexia needing a bailout due to its ownership of Greek debt, many at the meetings said private investors will have to accept greater haircuts, another word for financial losses. Europe and emerging markets suggested doubling the size of the IMF, but that was immediately opposed by its main shareholders - the US, China, Japan and Germany. A phrase often heard was “Three weeks to save the Euro”. Most believe that's a doomsday prophecy, but others say the world can't wait much longer for Europe to solve its debt crisis. A European Union summit will be held October 23, the last chance for the EU to coordinate its position before what many say will be a historic G20 summit. Many observers say that the squabbling here in Paris shouldn't be surprising, but if countries continue to hold a hard line next month at the G20 summit in Cannes the consequences could be severe.  [...]"  

MSM: "US to Play 'Very Major Role' In Helping Europe: Geithner" [10/16/11] "The U.S. plans on being an active partner as efforts intensify to get Europe get back on its feet financially, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told CNBC Friday. With global leaders preparing for next month's Group of 20 nations (G20) summit in Cannes, France, the International Monetary Fund — of which the U.S. is the greatest contributor — is being relied on to help underwrite whatever efforts are needed to backstop toxic European sovereign debt [...]"  Note: They're all delusional. With more than $1 Quadrillion worth of useless financial products clogging the system, no one seems to be intelligent enough to implement an equitable solution.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Dog and Pony Show With Germany and France (E196)" [10/15/11]   [26:50]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, talk about the Sarkozy-Merkel dog and pony show, announcing the plan without a plan, and about when an asset isn't really an asset. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Ellen Brown, author of Web of Debt, about the German Landesbank and a Swiss community currency.[...]"

Commentary:  "US: Overseas Investors Dump $74 Billion In Treasuries In 6 Consecutive Weeks: Biggest Sequential Outflow In History " [10/15/11] "Over the weekend, we observed the perplexing sell off of $56 billion in US Treasuries courtesy of weekly disclosure in the Fed’s custodial account (source: H.4.1) and speculated if this may be due to an asset rotation, under duress or otherwise, out of bonds and into stocks, to prevent the collapse of the global Ponzi (because when the BRICs tell the IMF to boost its bailout capacity you know it is global). [...]"  

MSM: "The Fed Is Considering New Regulations On A Few 'Systemically Important' Hedge Funds In The US" [10/15/11] "Earlier this week, the Financial Stability Oversight Council took a step towards mandating stricter regulation on non-bank financial institutions, as part of the Dodd-Frank Act. The committee approved a proposal of guidelines on how to designate firms as "systematically important," which will then put them under Federal Reserve oversight, according to The Wall Street Journal. Some well-known hedge funds may fall on the list if the proposed criteria pass. The guidelines dictate that a company may receive further scrutiny if it has over $50 billion in assets and meets one of the following designated "thresholds":  * Have more than $30 billion in outstanding credit default swaps * Have more than $3.5 billion in derivative liabilities * Have more than $20 billion in total debt (outstanding loans and bonds) * Have a leverage ratio of more than 15 to 1 in assets to equity * Have a short-term debt to asset ratio of 10% This means some of the biggest hedge funds could be regulated by the Federal Reserve. [...]"  Note: This describes the largest US banks. Related:  See the Two Stories Below:  (They are protecting the banks against derivative damage by nationalizing them in order to avoid a Glass-Steagal action which will cancel the debt on these illegal and unethical fabricated financial 'products'.

Commentary:  "$600 Trillion Derivative Time-Bomb: The Day The Glass Ceiling Finally Cracks" [10/15/11] " risk in the $600 trillion derivatives market isn’t leveling out. To the contrary, it’s growing increasingly concentrated among a select few banks, especially here in the United States. In 2009, five banks held 80% of derivatives in America. Now, just four banks hold a staggering 95.9% of U.S. derivatives, according to a recent report from the Office of the Currency Comptroller. The four banks in question: JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS). Derivatives played a crucial role in bringing down the global economy, so you would think that the world’s top policymakers would have reined these things in by now – but they haven’t. Instead of attacking the problem, regulators have let it spiral out of control, and the result is a $600 trillion time bomb called the derivatives market. The notional value of the world’s derivatives actually is estimated at more than $600 trillion. Notional value, of course, is the total value of a leveraged position’s assets. This distinction is necessary because when you’re talking about leveraged assets like options and derivatives, a little bit of money can control a disproportionately large position that may be as much as 5, 10, 30, or, in extreme cases, 100 times greater than investments that could be funded only in cash instruments. The world’s gross domestic product (GDP) is only about $65 trillion, or roughly 10.83% of the worldwide value of the global derivatives market, according to The Economist. So there is literally not enough money on the planet to backstop the banks trading these things if they run into trouble. If there is a crash in this market- it will be the death-blow of the global financial system as we know it. Compounding the problem is the fact that nobody even knows if the $600 trillion figure is accurate, because specialized derivatives vehicles like the credit default swaps that are now roiling Europe remain largely unregulated and unaccounted for. To be fair, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) estimated the net notional value of uncollateralized derivatives risks is between $2 trillion and $8 trillion, which is still a staggering amount of money and well beyond the billions being talked about in Europe. Imagine the fallout from a $600 trillion explosion if several banks went down at once. It would eclipse the collapse of Lehman Brothers in no uncertain terms. A governmental default would panic already anxious investors, causing a run on several major European banks in an effort to recover their deposits. That would, in turn, cause several banks to literally run out of money and declare bankruptcy. Short-term borrowing costs would skyrocket and liquidity would evaporate. That would cause a ricochet across the Atlantic as the institutions themselves then panic and try to recover their own capital by withdrawing liquidity by any means possible. And that’s why banks are hoarding cash instead of lending it.  [...]"  

MSM: "Fitch Sends Out A Huge Warning On Banks, Threatening To Downgrade Practically All The World's Biggest Firms" [10/14/11] "Fitch Ratings-New York-13 October 2011: In conjunction with a broad assessment of the ratings for the largest banking institutions in the world, Fitch Ratings is conducting a review of the global trading and universal banks in its rating portfolio. As part of that review, Fitch has placed the Viability Ratings (VRs) of seven and the long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of six global trading and universal banks on Rating Watch Negative. At the same time, Fitch has placed the short-term IDRs of four of the banks on Rating Watch Negative. The banks impacted by these rating actions are as follows:  Barclays Bank plc ,  BNP Paribas,  Credit Suisse AG , Deutsche Bank AG, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. , Morgan Stanley and Societe Generale. Fitch expects to resolve the Rating Watch Negative within a short time frame and to take corresponding rating actions where warranted. [...]"  

MSM: "J.P. Morgan Commodities Chief Takes the Heat" [10/14/11] "One of J.P. Morgan's most powerful executives, the 41-year-old Ms. Masters is charged with turning around the commodities operation and building it into the biggest on Wall Street. And though the blunt executive has been given many resources, her division recently has suffered defections and miscues while falling far short of expectations in 2010. [...]"  Note: As you may recall, Masters is the one who came up with credit default swaps as a concept, and made possible the economic collapse of the planet. Related: Clink on the link "Creation of Credit Derivatives" at the top of this panel.

MSM: "Wall Street Sees ‘No Exit’ From Financial Decline as Bankers Fret Future" [10/13/11] "Wall Street executives, facing demonstrators camped for a fourth week in New York’s financial district, say they’re anxious and angry for other reasons. An era of decline and disappointment for bankers may not end for years, according to interviews with more than two dozen executives and investors. Blaming government interference and persecution, they say there isn’t enough global stability, leverage or risk appetite to triumph in the current slump. “I don’t think it’s a time to make money -- this is a time to rig for survival,” said Charles Stevenson, 64, president of hedge fund Navigator Group Inc. and head of the co-op board at 740 Park Ave. The building, home to Blackstone Group LP Chairman Stephen Schwarzman and CIT Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Thain, was among those picketed by protesters yesterday. “The future is not going to be like a past we knew,” he said. “There’s no exit from this morass.”  [...]"  

Commentary: "Moral Depravity and Arrogance of the Money Junkies Will Be their Downfall" [10/12/11] Note: Well, not exactly in the way he imagines. While I can understand why this fellow writes this, of course he doesn't have the larger context of what is happening on this planet.  I just have to say that from my perspective, there are things that you may wish to keep in mind. Sequential reincarnating retreads that 'run' everything on this planet, at this juncture in the evolution of their individual Higher Selves, are immature and seek to avoid experiences that would truly promote growth. These guys can defraud people and make billions, but some of them can't make toast. In truth, their astrological charts tell all: a chosen astrological matrix which allows them to exercise their predispositions in specific ways, avoid certain kinds of challenges and not be 'called to account' during that incarnation, much to the chagrin of the simultaneous incarnations, many of whom are on the last 3rd density planet they will ever touch, who can't figure out 'why these guys don't go to jail or get caught'.  It's not in their incarnational path, and that can be seen in the charts. Consider also that they can only do these things (predisposition for materialism, greed, power and control over the reality of others, etc) because Earth is a planet where the infrastructure for this existed, undeveloped, but was never intended to become complete, as it is on other worlds in this galaxy. This is a 'temporary civilization', never intended to develop any further. On sequential worlds out there, the hierarchies are already in place and long established, so there are no 'opportunities' (for mischief) on other worlds at this time, in this specific galaxy game, like there have been, here. There is some solace in the fact that these sequentials only dig themselves deeper and deeper into their own abyss, life after life, and progress for them is so slow ... while many others who are more mature move forward with their progression, into the simultaneous mode and then out of the galaxy game entirely, mature enough then as Higher Selves to create responsibly and do and experience so much more. Regardless, we're all out of here soon, earlier than people think we'll be out of here. This place is now passé. The wild cards await us. Bring it on. We came here for experiences, so let's have them. Everyone will 'survive' their time here and be where they need to be (on the 4th density, before they move on), and no doubt engage in discussion about it later. The sequentials? Well, they're still addicted to their predispositions and using bodies to gather experiences on this level, and they'll go off to screw with other worlds. Many of us were once where they are, long ago. It's a process.

Commentary: "Economist: The Financial System Is Broken And Corrupt" [10/12/11] "Prominent economist Michael Hudson explains that the financial system is so fundamentally broken and corrupt that the message of the Occupy Wall Street protesters can’t be reduced down to a handful of “technocratic fixes”. Hudson also said: Banking should be a public utility ; Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citibank are crime gangs;  Obama is backing de-criminalization of fraud ; Obama doesn’t want to create jobs; instead, he wants to reduce wages by 30% ; Geithner is just a bank lobbyist, and shouldn’t be in charge of treasury [...]"  Note: Background links for all of the  statements in the paragraph above are on the page.

Frontiers of Mental Health: "AIG Will Offer 'Reputation' Insurance" [10/12/11] "Insurance providers are constantly coming up with new products to sell to policyholders. But the American International Group has hit upon one of the more unusual new services we’ve heard of in some time: reputation insurance. Chartis, A.I.G.’s property and casualty insurance arm, said Tuesday that it would begin selling something called ReputationGuard. Created by Chartis’s executive liability team, it would give policyholders access to “a select panel” of experts at the public relations firms Burson-Marsteller and Porter Novelli to protect against negative publicity. A.I.G. knows a little bit about crisis communications, of course. After its initial $65 billion bailout by the government, the insurer became a target of widespread scorn, its very name a shorthand for the excesses that led to the financial crisis. [...]"  Note: So dumb. 

Commentary: "Uber-Vultures: The Billionaires Who Would Pick The President - United States" Greg Palast [10/12/11] Note: The untold story of the sources of the loot controlled by Paul "The Vulture" Singer, Ken Langone and the Kochs - and why they need to buy the White House.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Ground Zero of Financial Terrorism (E195)" [10/11/11]   [26:51]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, talk about Marie Antoinette's last words on a banner at the Chicago Board of Trade, Herman Cain's views on the 'unAmerican' protesters and a proposal for a Seal Team 6 to protect us from terrorist bankers. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Charles Hugh Smith, author of An Unconventional Guide to Investing in Troubled Times, about #occupywallstreet, Crash JP Morgan - Buy Silver and other solutions to a dangerous banking system.[...]"

MSM: "Alan Grayson on Occupy Wall Street " [10/11/11] [1:49] "The other panel members were Republicans. For most of the show, Alan just sat quietly, then suddenly, he let them have it. [...]" 

Exposé: "Financial Giants Put New York City Cops On Their Payroll" [10/11/11] "Videos are springing up across the internet showing uniformed members of the New York Police Department in white shirts (as opposed to the typical NYPD blue uniforms) pepper spraying and brutalizing peaceful, non-threatening protestors attempting to take part in the Occupy Wall Street marches. Corporate media are reporting that these white shirts are police supervisors as opposed to rank and file. Recently discovered documents suggest something else may be at work. [...]"

MSM: "Italy May Weigh Drug Test For Stock Traders, Undersecretary Says" [10/11/11] "An undersecretary for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has proposed a drug-testing program for stock traders, citing studies that point to a “worrisome” link between substance abuse and market fluctuations. Some Italians may have entrusted savings to people “not capable of making decisions” due to drug use, Carlo Giovanardi said in a phone interview today from Belluno, Italy. [...]" 

Explorations: "The Ontology of the Credit System" [10/11/11] [6:05]  "Basement Research Team Director, Sky Shields gives an in depth description of the Credit System and why Mankind as a species requires such a policy. [...]"  Commentary: "Alan Greenspan: Genius Or...? " [4:00] 

Commentary: "Civil Unrest And Economic Chaos: The End Result Of Our Fiat Currency System" John Rubino [10/11/11] [14:59] Part 2 [13:56] 

RT Interview: "Capitalism Collapse: 'Cash Grab System Cannot Survive Storm' : Total Collapse Is Still Over A Year Away" [10/10/11]   [11:27] "There is barely a corner of the globe that has not been touched by the current financial meltdown. But a senior sociology scholar at Yale University thinks the crisis is far wider than the economic crash - it is capitalism itself which is collapsing. ­Immanuel Wallerstein explained his theory to Russia Today. *Total (economic) collapse is still over a year away. [...]"  Note: Interesting interview. So, the 'system' will still be there in some manner for most of the time on this side of 2013. However, we will also be out of here "sooner than people think", meaning before the end of 2012, at least by virtue of the departure of the 'nature spirit' from this planet, which will kill all life, not forgetting about other 'wild cards' and known dynamics, not the least of which is the inability to conceptualize and adequately compensate for climate change and environmental breakdown, which would by itself make living here in a body very problematic. There comes a point to where continued experience of whack is no longer necessary. We all hope that it doesn't seem to experientially drag out too long. 

MSM: "European Union Prepares For Greek State Bankruptcy" [10/10/11] "The European institutions have clearly changed course in relation to Greece. Instead of the “rescue” of the country, they are now discussing its bankruptcy, and reducing the risk of contagion. The euro rescue fund, supposed to guarantee Greece’s solvency, is being used to secure the creditor banks against the consequences of state bankruptcy. The change of course has happened gradually, under the pressure of intense fluctuations on the stock exchanges and financial markets, the threat of bank failures and growing opposition to the austerity measures of the Greek government. But it follows unmistakable class logic. The fear of an uncontrollable chain reaction had previously prevented the EU from risking a collapse of Greece. They feared the bankruptcy of the largest creditor banks, which in turn would have drawn more banks into the abyss—like Lehman Brothers in the US after its bankruptcy in September 2008. Other heavily indebted countries such as Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy are also threatened with being cut off from access to credit if Greece, a member of the euro zone, goes bankrupt. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Price Propaganda (E194)" [10/09/11]   [25:45]  "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert talk about pitchforks trading up, the mother of all short squeezes and the anonymous hedge fund. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Professor Steve Keen, author of Debunking Economics 2, about #occupywallstreet, debt bubbles and Australian housing. [...]"

Alex Jones Interviews: "Obama is Political "Dead Meat" - Lyndon Larouche Reports" [10/09/11] [14:58] Part 2 [15:19] "Alex talks with Lyndon Larouche about the Occupy Wall Street protests and the increasingly popular idea that the Glass-Steagall Act of 1932 should be brought back to keep the hedge fund and derivatives vultures from infecting commercial banking.  [...]" Transcript

MSM: "LaRouche Warns of British Backed Obama Coup Inside U.S." [10/09/11] [19:35] "On Saturday, October 8, Lyndon LaRouche warned of an likely British backed coup inside the United States via Barack Obama as an attempt to deal with the fall out of the Trans-Atlantic monetary system.  [...]" 

Historical Analysis: "Pujo Committee “Money Trust” Wall Street Banking Cartel Investigation 1912-1913" [10/09/11] "For those who wish to understand the true nature of our current financial system, the Pujo Committee’s 1912-1913 investigation of the “Money Trust” is essential reading. The Committee identified a concentrated group of Wall Street bankers who operated a sophisticated financial network unified by 341 interlocking directorships held in 112 corporations valued at more than $22 billion in resources and capitalization exerting significant control and influence over the U.S. economy and monetary system. The companies and individuals comprising this network were primarily agents of the Morgan and Rockefeller banking empires which dominated U.S. finance following the “Industrial Revolution”. The Committee names a number of prominent banking institutions as participating in this system including J.P. Morgan & Co., First National Bank of New York, Kuhn Loeb & Co. and individuals such as Paul Warburg, Jacob H. Schiff, Felix M. Warburg, Frank E. Peabody, William Rockefeller and Benjamin Strong, Jr. Understanding this system of overlapping financial networks and how those networks are used to dominate utilities, railroads, banking and the U.S. financial infrastructure throughout much of the twentieth century is key to the proper analysis of our current economic situation and the influence that the “Money Power” wields over global politics.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Why Nobody Took Madoff Whistleblower Harry Markopolos Seriously" [10/09/11] "Fraud investigator Harry Markopolos, who was also the whistleblower in Bernie Madoff's infamous $65 billion ponzi scheme, has cried fraud on Bank of New York Mellon. The thing to remember about Markopolos is that he tried in vain to prove that Madoff was a fraud, and nobody took him seriously. His latest comments give a hint to that. In a recent interview with King World News, he said the bank is in some serious trouble. “Bank of New York is going to go down, Eric. Between Bank of New York Mellon and State Street, these two institutions have stolen between $6 to $10 billion from tens of millions of Americans retirement savings accounts. It’s been a hell of a crime spree for the bank, but now they are being brought to justice.” [...]"  Related: "Madoff Whistleblower: "Banks Stealing From Pensions" 

MSM: "UK Financial Institutions Ratings Cut" [10/08/11] "Moody’s ratings agency lowered the rating of 12 UK financial institutions on Friday, saying it sees a decreased likelihood of government support for smaller institutions in particular but specifying the move does not reflect a deterioration in the financial strength of the banking system. “Moody’s believes that the government is likely to continue to provide some level of support to systemically important financial institutions, which continue to incorporate up to three notches of uplift. However, it is more likely now to allow smaller institutions to fail if they become financially troubled,” Moody’s said in a statement. The agency also downgraded nine Portuguese banks on Friday. “It’s a little bit of a catch-up for Moody’s,” said Louise Cooper at BGC Partners, adding the downgrades were overdue. [...]" 

Commentary: "New York – Power Center for US Financial and Political Corruption" [10/08/11]   "Instead of boots on the ground in Libya, the American people actually need their military to deploy to Wall Street and the New York Federal Reserve. In an ideal political world the military would have already been ordered to seize control of numerous banking corporations and arrest and detain numerous individuals in the New York financial and political establishment. They could be justified in doing so by the same the practices and standards set for the war on terror which included detention centers and military tribunals. What is happening in New York constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors, sedition, treason, bribery, theft, racketeering, and corruption in ways that threaten the national security of the United States. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "'Goldman Rules The World By Infiltrating Governments'" [10/08/11]   [2:11] Related: "Goldman Sachs Are Scum That's The Bottom Line"   [8:40] "Goldman Sachs are scum. I mean that's the bottom line They have basically co-opted the U.S. Government, they have co-opted the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve functionality. They've co-opted the Obama administration. And Barack Obama dances to Goldman Sach's tune. They are really crooked and abominable in what they've done. Just remember, Hank Paulson held Congress hostage, took them in the back room and said give us $700 billion or we're gonna crash the market. He's an arsonist; he's an outlaw. And yet he's given praise. If you go down the list, they're all Goldman Sachs scum, whether it's Hank Paulson, whether it's Geithner...you know Geithner has very strong ties to Goldman Sachs...and of course all these banking bonuses are paid out to all their cronies who are Goldman Sachs scum. And America for some reason has allowed this coup d'etat to take place, this silent coup d'etat, where Goldman Sachs and their friends now control the US Government, and they are manipulating prices in the market. " [...]" PBS Video: "How Does Goldman Sachs Make Its Profits?" [9:04] Part 2 [8:43] "PBS News Hour Correspondent Paul Solman explores the secretive inner workings of Goldman Sachs.  [...]" 

UK: "World Facing Worst Financial Crisis In History, Bank Of England Governor Says" [10/07/11] "Sir Mervyn King was speaking after the decision by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to put £75billion of newly created money into the economy in a desperate effort to stave off a new credit crisis and a UK recession. Economists said the Bank’s decision to resume its quantitative easing [QE], or asset purchase programme, showed it was increasingly fearful for the economy, and predicted more such moves ahead. Sir Mervyn said the Bank had been driven by growing signs of a global economic disaster. “This is the most serious financial crisis we’ve seen, at least since the 1930s, if not ever. We’re having to deal with very unusual circumstances, but to act calmly to this and to do the right thing.” Announcing its decision, the Bank said that the eurozone debt crisis was creating “severe strains in bank funding markets and financial markets”.  [...]"  Note: Nice.

MSM: "George Soros Fails To Clear His Name Of Insider Trading In France" [10/07/11] "Billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros has failed to clear his name. Soros lost his battle against today a 2002 insider trading conviction in France in the European Court of Human Rights, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported.  The 81-year-old claimed that French market regulations were not clear enough to determine whether he acted illegally and therefore could not hold him responsible.  He also claimed France had violated his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. The court didn't agree. Soros was convicted of insider trading in 2002 involving shares of Societe Generale he bought in 1988. A Paris court found that he had knowledge that the French bank might be a possible takeover target and ordered Soros to repay the 2.2 million euros ($2.9 million) he made from the share purchase. It was later reduced to €940,000 on appeal, the WSJ reported. However, French stock market regulators didn’t go after Soros because insider trading laws were not clear enough to determine if he had violated them. [...]"  

Commentary:  "As Default Looms, Strike Paralyzes Greece" [10/07/11] "The biggest strike in months has brought Greece to a standstill and tens of thousands of workers are taking to the streets of Athens. The strike, organized by the country's two biggest unions, is in response to the tough austerity measures unveiled earlier this week, reports the Los Angeles Times. Flights have been grounded, schools and government offices have been closed, and health services are operating at reduced staff levels. The austerity measures are intended to help Greece hit deficit-reduction targets included as a condition of bailout loans. Without the cash, Greece could end up defaulting on its massive debt, potentially causing another financial crisis. Polls show that nearly 80% of Greeks expect their country to default within months. "I don't care if we go bankrupt. We are already bankrupt. It's just a matter of the state realizing it," a striking engineer in central Athens tells Reuters. "We've lost everything." [...]"  

Max Keiser: "When Your Country Goes Broke: Greece – And IMF Illegalities" [10/07/11] [10:35] "It happens all over the world, but it's been a long, long time since a European country has had the experience. Default. National bankruptcy. Here's what happens when a country goes broke. [...]"  Related: "IMF Advisor: Could See Eurozone 'Meltdown' In 2 Or 3 Weeks" [4:22] "In an interview on the BBC (via ZeroHedge), IMF advisor Robert Shapiro said some incredibly alarmist things: "If they can not address [the financial crisis] in a credible way I believe within perhaps 2 to 3 weeks we will have a meltdown in sovereign debt which will produce a meltdown across the European banking system. We are not just talking about a relatively small Belgian bank, we are talking about the largest banks in the world, the largest banks in Germany, the largest banks in France, that will spread to the United Kingdom, it will spread everywhere because the global financial system is so interconnected. All those banks are counterparties to every significant bank in the United States, and in Britain, and in Japan, and around the world. This would be a crisis that would be in my view more serious than the crisis in 2008.... What we don't know the state of credit default swaps held by banks against sovereign debt and against European banks, nor do we know the state of CDS held by British banks, nor are we certain of how certain the exposure of British banks is to the Ireland sovereign debt problems." [...]"  Note: Aside from being an advisor to the IMF, Shapiro is the co-founder and chairman of Sonecon, LLC, and was formerly the U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce. He has a Ph.D. from Harvard, among other degrees, oversaw the Census Bureau, and has been a Fellow at Harvard, Brookings, and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MSM: "4 Wall Street Banks Still Dominate Derivatives Trade" [10/06/11] "The nation’s four largest banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs — hold nearly 95 percent of the industry’s total exposure to derivatives contracts, the report found. JPMorgan, topping all commercial banks, holds nearly $78 trillion of the industry’s $231 trillion in derivatives, according to the report by the comptroller, the federal agency that regulates national banks. Citi is next on the list, with more than $50 trillion in the insurance-like contracts. [...]"   

MSM: "Keith Olbermann Reads The First Collective Statement Of Occupy Wall Street" [10/06/11] [3:59] "Keith Olbermann Reads The Statement Released By The Wall Street Protesters - 2011-10-05 [...]" 

Video Short:  "Debt - The Very Essence Of The Banking Industry" [10/06/11] [0:57] "An insider describes that the basis of the banking industry is debt (such as that created in wars and conflicts) and that the goal of the bankers is to make everyone slaves to debt. Although this movie is based on Pakistan's defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International, it could just have well been based on the Federal Reserve or the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In fact, the name "The International" would have matched up quite nicely with the IMF. [...]"  

Exposé: "Report Says Geithner Is Lying To Taxpayers About AIG, 'Hiding $40 Billion In Losses'" [10/06/11] "A tax-challenged Treasury Secretary fudging the numbers. The United States Treasury concealed $40 billion in likely taxpayer losses on the bailout of the American International Group earlier this month, when it abandoned its usual method for valuing investments, according to a report by the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. “In our view, this is a significant failure in their transparency,” said Neil M. Barofsky, the inspector general, in an interview on Monday. In early October, the Treasury issued a report predicting that the taxpayers would ultimately lose just $5 billion on their investment in A.I.G., a remarkable outcome, since the insurance company was extended $182 billion in taxpayer money in the early months of its rescue. The prediction of a modest loss, widely reported as A.I.G., the Federal Reserve and the Treasury rushed to complete an exit plan, contrasted with an earlier prediction by the Treasury that the taxpayers would lose $45 billion. “The American people have a right for full and complete disclosure about their investment in A.I.G.,” Mr. Barofsky said, “and the U.S. government has an obligation, when they’re describing potential losses, to give complete information.” [...]"  Related: "SIGTARP Website And Latest Report" 

Hearing: "Ron Paul Leads Hearing On First Ever Audit Of Fed" [10/06/11] [90:21] Note: The full hearing, beginning with Ron Paul’s opening statement.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Bailouts and Currency Wars (E192)" [10/02/11]   [26:59] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, talk about bailouts, defaults and currency wars in Europe as one analyst suggests the return of the Deutschmark is imminent. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews Steve Woolfe, City of London spokesman for the UK Independence Party, about his party's suggestion that Greece return to the drachma and regain the ability to address its own economic problems.[...]" 

Interview: "Don't Let Soros Hijack Occupy Wall Street: Webster Tarpley Reports" [10/05/11] [15:12] Part 2 [12:57] "Alex Jones Interview. The speculative attack by Wall Street and City of London banks and hedge funds against European countries, European banks, and the euro is now reaching a crescendo. The current European crisis does not derive primarily from economic fundamentals, but rather represents a cynically planned assault carried out by Anglo-American financiers, whose philosophy is the traditional Beggar My Neighbor. The goal is to shift the epicenter of the world economic and financial depression from London and New York onto the continent of Europe, and this operation has already partially succeeded. London and New York are exporting their own derivatives depression into the EU, using credit default swaps, corrupt credit ratings agencies, and their entire panoply of financial dirty tricks. We are not dealing here with the normal functioning of markets; we are dealing with all-out economic warfare. [...] The Wall Street zombie bankers are aiming at a chaotic breakup of the euro with the intention of buying up the old continent at bargain-basement prices. The jackals of the City of London are seeking to smash the euro as a means of breathing new life into the moribund British pound, thereby masking the fact that Britain is more bankrupt than the vast majority of EU member states. The Anglo Americans are also acting to destroy the euro as a possible competitor for the dollar in the role of world reserve currency for the pricing of oil, the activities of international lending institutions, and other functions. The dollar is now so weak and unstable that it can only survive through the downfall of all the alternative currencies."  Note: Too bad Alex isn't supposed to know the larger context ...  

Interview: "America's Financial Vietnam: Max Keiser Reports" [10/05/11] [15:15] Part 2 [9:49] "Alex Jones welcomes back to the show former trader and television host and commentator Max Keiser who will talk about the collapsing economy and other issues related to the globalist financial takeover. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "US Set To Witness Reverse Capitalism" Press TV [10/04/11] [22:23] " ... Somebody who is definitely making the connection is Jamie Dimon, the CEO of J.P. Morgan, who last week gave USD 4.6 million to the New York Police Department to beef up police presence on the streets and to crack heads and to violently oppress protesters. So, Jamie Dimon is obviously quite nervous if he feels he has to hire more cops to protect him and his bankers. The same thing is true with Goldman Sachs. They beefed up their security. The people on the street know who the folks that are impoverishing them are. Around the world, they are beginning to touch a tipping point, especially using global technologies, social networking technologies. The economies of scale for the protesters will kick in and we will start to see a global push b ack using some innovative ways to de-capitalize — that is to say bankrupt — the worst offenders in the banking and corporate sector and I expect that to happen in the next few months. [...]"  

MSM: "On The Edge With Max Keiser: French Banks And The European Debt Crisis" [10/03/11]   [22:47] "Max Interviews Pierre Jovanovic, author of the book about Blythe Masters, the UK employee of JP Morgan that came up with financial derivative products which ruined the world economy. He will talk about the run on French banks and how President Sarkozy's administration is dealing with this and the European debt crisis. Many analysts are saying that it may not be a Greek default that spurs the next big crisis, but a liquidity crunch at French banks. France's largest banks have lost almost half their value since August 1, leading to solvency concerns. Without an injection of cash from the European Central Bank investors may continue to flee French finance, spreading panic along the way. [...]"  Note: Masters was 34 when she became chief financial officer of JP Morgan. British-born Masters is one of the most powerful women on Wall Street and is widely recognised as one of an elite group dubbed the "JP Morgan mafia" that fostered the creation of the complex credit derivatives at the heart of the current crisis ripping through Wall Street. Many of the highly qualified mathematicians and academics who worked on the credit derivatives market in the early days have gone on to run hedge funds and into high-powered jobs at other investment banks, but most of them started out at JP Morgan. ... Masters was raised in south-east England, where she attended the exclusive King's public school in Canterbury on a scholarship. She got a economics degree from Cambridge, and from the beginning had been attracted to the esoteric world of derivatives. In her spare time, she is a keen horsewoman. She joined the JP Morgan commodities desk and worked her way up the organisation. At the age of 35 she was appointed chief financial officer of the investment bank, but for the past two years has been head of currencies and commodities. Her focus on the job reached almost comic levels when she famously took her wireless device into the hospital to get quotes on commodity derivatives as she was having a baby. The banks argued that by trading credit derivatives of the kind pioneered by Masters, they had spread their risk elsewhere and therefore needed lower reserves to protect against loan defaults. Regulators rolled over and the banks loaned ever more. It was a huge success and the market for credit derivatives grew rapidly. But the instruments might not have much longer. One of the fall-outs from the current crisis is the call that banks should carry their own risk." The story of Blythe Masters and the group at J.P. Morgan who created the credit derivatives that figured so prominently in the financial crash of 2007-08 has been documented (and verified) by Gillian Tett of the FInancial Times, in her book, Fool’s Gold: How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at J.P. Morgan Was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and Unleashed a Catastrophe (Free Press, 2009). Tett quotes Masters’ SIFMA address on p. 250. It’s a gripping book that also has the best explanation of all the different complex securities that were part of the story: credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations, asset-backed securities, etc.  ..."  Related: The JP Morgan employee who invented Credit Default Swaps 

Commentary:  "Digital Capitalism: Automation, HFT and the "Luddite Fallacy" [10/03/11] "The nineteenth century “protestant work ethic” is the conceptual starting point for the development of a a new ‘ideology of automation’ that merges the nineteenth century ‘ideology of autonomous achievement’ with digital technology to eliminate human labor from production, apparently rendering human agency “obsolete” for the generation of value in the digital information economy. This configuration has its origins in the nineteenth century ideology of “autonomous achievement” described by T. Jackson Lears in his study No Place of Grace, (which describes how it was used as justification the economic exploitation of labor and the social position of the economically powerful upper classes during the nineteenth century). The proposition that increased, automated production does not displace human labor—what is sometimes termed the “Luddite fallacy”—is a reflection of the ideology of automation in action: that increased mechanical productivity inherently increases worker productivity thus lowering costs of production and product. At the same time, the off-shoring or shifting of labor to exploit lower costs was common within the United States in the nineteenth century; contemporary off-shoring is inevitable in this construct. This emergent ideology of automation is revealed by a transformation of labor to autonomous production, displacing human labor entirely, a shifting the role of human action from production to consumption. However, off-shoring labor is only a symptom of these transformations: digital capitalism has enabled a separation of human agency from production: the progression from direct hand-working to machine tools reaches its apogee with the Fordist assembly line where production is subject to a semiotic fragmentation into discrete units, independent of each others. [...] The shift of intellectual labor to commodity as immaterial production—including both “education” and “creativity”—reveals the ideology of automation in action. This transformation comes as a result of the same computer technologies that make the off-shoring of “knowledge worker’s labor” economically viable: the movement of immaterial labor follows the established, globalized paradigm that shifted physical production from the United States to countries where wages are lower as improved, low-cost communications technologies become commonplace. [...]"  

MSM: "Roseanne Barr: Behead Bankers, Rich Who Won’t Give Up Wealth" [10/02/11]   [3:15] clip from the Keiser Report interview with Roseanne Barr.

MSM: "J.P. Morgan Chase "Donates" $4.6 Million To NYPD" [10/02/11] "JP Morgan Chase recently donated an unprecedented $4.6 million to the New York City Police Foundation. The gift was the largest in the history of the foundation and will enable the New York City Police Department to strengthen security in the Big Apple. The money will pay for 1,000 new patrol car laptops, as well as security monitoring software in the NYPD's main data center. New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly sent CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon a note expressing "profound gratitude" for the company's donation. "These officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe," Dimon said. "We're incredibly proud to help them build this program and let them know how much we value their hard work." [...]"  Note:  Sounds like a bribe/payoff, to me, in the name of the bankers.  Notice the unreasonable intensity of  the police crackdown on demonstrators Related: "MSNBC on NYPD Police Brutality during Occupy Wall Street" [9:34]   

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: WW3 Will Make Us All Rich (E191)" [10/02/11]   [26:45] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, whisper about dangerous talk for bailout artists and Big Brothers as Greece runs out of ink. They ask the US Federal Reserve Chairman to return the money he owes someone on Twitter and they Google ‘Ben Bernanke’ and ‘Tim Geithner’ to save the government some money. In the second half of the show, Max Keiser interviews actress, comedian, producer, director and writer, Roseanne Barr, about #occupywallstreet and about her plans for bankers in a Barr administration.[...]" 

MSM: "Congress Price Cap To End Free Banking" [10/02/11] [2:35] "Congress is to impose a new rule on banks, based on which banks will start charging customers extra fees for normal banking processes, Press TV reports. “There's a mix of things that the [banks] are going to do, which is to raise debit card fees and, depending on the competitive markets, put fees on checking accounts. No more free checking. It's going to hurt the lowest income consumers the most and also shed jobs,” John Berlau, Competitive Enterprise Institutes, told Press TV. Experts say that the Congress-imposed bank fee is to push many US banks to offset lost revenue by ending free banking. They also believe that the price controls could cost thousands of additional jobs. “Congress can have this game where the banks are going to charge something and then Congress is going to charge something else. We can keep playing this game but either way it's a very simple fact that I'm going to be giving my money to somebody. Either way I pay,” a bank patron said. Starting October 1, Congress is to impose the Dodd-Frank price cap which will put a limit on how much a bank can collect from retailers when a customer uses a debit card for transactions. Bank of America (BOA) is the most impacted because it holds more deposits than any other US bank. A Wall Street Journal editorial cited the Congress price cap as a factor in Bank of America laying off 30,000 workers, as well as a community bank in Texas having announced that it was closing 55 branches in grocery stores and shedding 500 jobs. [...]"  

MSM: "Alyona: Bloomberg Defense Of Wall Street Banks Misguided And Elitist" [10/02/11]   [3:34] "The Alyona Show calls out NYC Mayor Bloomberg for being a misguided elitist after calling for the support of Wall Street banks and attacking protestors: "New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg criticized the Occupy Wall Street protests today, suggesting their days be numbered and said the Wall Street banks deserve our support. In a bout of Orwellian doublespeak, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg used his radio address today to hand out criticism against the Occupy Wall Street movement, calling the policies of the protestors misguided. In an effort to sway the opinion of the public, he represented the movement as one that is protesting against the low income earners on Wall Street making between $40,000 – $50,000 a year. Everyone knows these protests aren’t against the mailman or the IT guy working at Goldman Sachs. Their against the super elite who use the bottomless of money they have plundered and pillaged from the mailman and the IT guy to buy off our politicians and destroy the global economy. [...]"  

Flashback: "The Black Swan Is On The Wing" [010/01/11] [8:32] Commentary from 'Les Visible' in August 2011.

Commentary: "States to Financially Break Away from Federal Government" [010/01/11] "Earlier this week I attended the Utah Monetary Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah. As you may know, the state of Utah passed a Legal Tender Act earlier this year authorizing the use of federally minted gold and silver coins as money in the state of Utah. Now, legislators in other states, many of whom attended the Monetary Summit, are evaluating similar legislation. Among other things, this means the United States is approaching a Constitutional crisis because states are beginning to financially break away from the federal government. This is no less serious than the American War of Independence or the War Between the States. The Utah Monetary Declaration (below) is a financial declaration of independence whereby states are beginning to opt out of the Federal Reserve System. A major confrontation seems inevitable. [...]"  

MSM:  "Financial Protest Officially Hits San Francisco" [09/30/11]  "San Francisco may not have a Wall Street but it has a Market Street, which is where protesters are currently taking their cause. Occupy Wall Street -- the organization behind the ongoing protests in New York City -- has officially spread to The City, with people gathering Thursday in the Financial District to rally against big banks. The march was to start downtown at 555 California St. at 3 p.m. and target Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Chase Bank, according to the Facebook event invitation. Witnesses also saw the crowd stop to chant in front of the Charles Schwab on Post at Kearny. San Francisco police are on the scene and have closed off 2nd Street. Traffic on Market Street is also heavily backed up. [...]"  

MSM: "Bofa To Impose Tax On Low Income Debit Card Users, Rich To Be Spared New Tax" [09/30/11] "Bank of America plans to announce it will impose a $5 monthly tax on low and middle income debit-card users. The new privatized tax will single out and penalize lower-income individuals according to a spokeswoman for the Electronic Payments Coalition, which represents the banking industry -- “If you can’t afford the $60 annual tax, you’re going to have to stop using your debit card [or feed your children less food]." Earlier this year, BofA introduced new accounts for low and middle income people in order to facilitate collection of the tax. Those who can afford to keep steep minimum balances, use credit cards or take advantage of investment banking and estate services will be spared the tax. The intent is to reward rich people who have "multiple relationships" with the bank. Only the top two tiers of accounts -- dubbed "Premium Privilege" and "Platinum Privilege," and requiring $20,000 and $50,000, respectively, in combined balances -- will be spared the new privatized tax. ALL US Congressmen and Senators are in the "Privileged" class and will thus be spared the inconvenience of paying the tax. [...]"  Video clip 

MSM: "Morgan Stanley: Resurgent Greenback To Keep Rallying Into Next Year" [09/30/11]   "We believe the USD will remain supported throughout the remainder of the year and into early 2012. Indeed, a combination of global deleveraging and position unwinding, in both DM and EM, will work to the USD’s favour, in our view.  [...]" 

James Corbett: "Engineering The Global Crisis: Financial Destabilization For Profiteering And Power" [09/29/11] [12:03] " The European sovereign debt crisis which has been gestating for years seems ready to come to a head as the IMF met last weekend in Washington that were dominated by talks about Greece, debt, and the risk of global contagion. Amidst tense talks about the future of the Eurozone in which the idea of allowing Greece to default on its insurmountable half-trillion dollar debt was floated, even the usually staid US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, warned that "cascading default, bank runs, and catastrophic risk" was a real possibility. G20 Finance Ministers and central bank governors are now calling for the European Central Bank to double their existing bailout fund to create a trillion Euro emergency stockpile to recapitalize European banks and fund Spain and Italy as their economies teeter on the edge of a Greek-like meltdown... [...]"  

Max Keiser: "New York Is The Center Of The Manufacture Of Weapons Of Mass Financial Destruction" Press TV [09/29/11] [23:25] "Wall Street bankers and corporations have caused havoc to the global economy and there is a need for an organized campaign to put an end to their dominance over the global economy, a financial journalist tells Press TV. Pointing to the ongoing protests in New York by the group called “Occupy Wall Street,” Max Keiser described the protests, which are against corporate corruption and Washington's financial policies, “part of the global insurrection against banker occupation.” “New York is the center of the manufacture of weapons of mass financial destruction,” he added. Keiser stressed that the US public needs to have an organized campaign so that a “regime change” would occur in the country's financial system.[...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: (E190)" [09/29/11]   [27:25] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, ask why wallstreet protesters are maced in the face for merely walking on the sidewalk while JP Morgan’s CEO can throw a tirade in the face of regulators and a central banker without being pepper-sprayed. They ask why Vince Cable doesn’t pack some pepper spray when confronted with ‘investor’ threats. They also look at what infamous BBC guest, now viral Youtube sensation and famous tweeter, Alessio Rastani, said that was so upsetting to the powers that be. In the second half of the show Max talks to Nomi Prins, author of Black Tuesday, about all the manic meetings happening around the world to save the global financial system facade when it is the system itself rotting from within that is the problem. Nomi Prins also compares the current financial crisis to the first Great Depression. [...]" 

Commentary:  "France Bans Cash Sales of Gold/Silver over $600" [09/29/11] "Central banks are presumably so frightened that a growing number of citizens are abandoning rapidly devaluing paper currencies and preserving their wealth through precious metals that governments are now cracking down on the anonymous purchase of gold and silver. Following the Austrian government’s announcement that it was restricting the sales of precious metals to $20,000 a time, an amount which would purchase just 11 ounces, the French authorities have followed suit with an equally draconian new measure to deter people from buying gold and silver. A recently amended French law states (translation), “Any transaction on the retail purchase of ferrous and non ferrous (metals) is made by crossed check, bank or postal transfer or by credit card, not the total amount of the transaction may not exceed a ceiling set by decree. Failure to comply with this requirement is punishable by a ticket for the fifth class,” going on to confirm that any amount over €450 euros or $600 US dollars “must be paid by bank transfer”. [...]"  

Commentary: "Geithner Beatdown - Germany Slams 'Stupid' U.S. Plan To Boost EU Bailout Fund" [09/29/11] "Geithner's plan rejected by Germany with a bitchslap thrown in for good measure. Germany and America were on a collision course on Tuesday night over the handling of Europe's debt crisis after Berlin savaged plans to boost the EU rescue fund as a "stupid idea" and told the White House to sort out its own mess before giving gratuitous advice to others. German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble said it would be a folly to boost the EU's bail-out machinery (EFSF) beyond its €440bn lending limit by deploying leverage to up to €2 trillion, perhaps by raising funds from the European Central Bank. * "I don't understand how anyone in the European Commission can have such a stupid idea. The result would be to endanger the AAA sovereign debt ratings of other member states. It makes no sense," he said. Mr Schauble told Washington to mind its own business after President Barack Obama rebuked EU leaders for failing to recapitalise banks and allowing the debt crisis to escalate to the point where it is "scaring the world". [...]" 

MSM: "Sovereign-Debt ‘Spiral’ Seen Imperiling Europe: "French Banks Are Down To 1% Capital, Institutional Panic Underway" [09/29/11] "Mohammed El-Erian, chief executive of bond fund giant Pimco, warned in an op-ed in the Financial Times published Thursday that French banks could tip Europe back into recession. Private institutions around the world have sharply reduced short-term lending to French banks, while a plunge in bank shares since August has left bank equity trading at a 50% discount to tangible book value on average, he wrote. At the same time, El-Erian noted that the ratio of market capital to total assets for the sector has fallen to 1% to 1.5% — far short of the range of 6% to 8% typically seen for healthier banks. “These are all signs of an institutional run on French banks,” he wrote. “If it persists, the banks would have no choice but to de-lever their balance sheets in a very drastic and disorderly fashion.” [...]"  

MSM: "Nigel Farage Lambasts Barroso Over Call For “More Of The Same” In Europe Crisis" [09/29/11]   [6:00]   Related: "UKIP MEPs " | "Barroso’s 2011 State Of The European Union Speech – Highlights" [4:48] "Delivering his annual “State of the Union” speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday, Barroso set out a range of steps the euro zone needed to get on top of its 20-month debt crisis. [...]"

Interview: "Gerald Celente – RT America" [09/28/11]   [5:56]   (RussiaToday) – September 28th, 2011      

Commentary: "SEC May Recommend Legal Action Against S&P" [09/28/11] "The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission is considering recommending civil legal action against the Standard & Poor’s debt ratings agency over its rating of a 2007 collateralized debt offering. [...]"  

Website: "Today's Wall Street Buzz in 60 Seconds" [09/28/11] Example: ... Mahmoud Reza Khavari, a top Iranian banker, has fled the country, the latest development in a $2.6 billion dollar embezzlement scandal that opponents are linking to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad  ...  The judge from the Galleon insider trading scandal will hold a hearing next week to determine the amount of losses accumulated by Raj Rajaratnam's crimes. [...]" 

Commentary: "Porter Stansberry's Crisis Update: This Is What Will Happen Next" [09/28/11] "... So... here's what will happen next. Soon, Greece will default. This will begin a chain reaction of European bank failures, because most banks in Europe have only written off a small portion (21%) of the value of the Greek bonds they hold. French banks are particularly vulnerable right now. This, in turn, will cause banks to stop lending to each other out of fear. It will also lead to big losses in the commercial paper market. That's how the crisis will spread to the U.S. – our money-market funds still hold roughly 42% of the assets in loans to Europe's banks. Companies with exposure to European financial assets (like GE) and those that depend heavily on the commercial paper market for funding (like Capital One) will see their share prices plummet. As the global economy stalls and then moves into recession, unemployment will worsen… and political tensions will greatly increase. I expect large-scale civil unrest in both Europe and the U.S. [...]"  

ProPublica: "In a First, SEC Warns Rating Agency It May Bring Financial Crisis Lawsuit" [09/27/11]   "Though they’ve been faulted for their central role in the financial crisis, the major credit-ratings agencies have thus far weathered the fallout of the crisis with no sanctions from federal regulators and little more than a bruised reputation. But that could change soon. In a formal warning known as a Wells notice, the Securities and Exchange Commission informed credit-ratings firm Standard & Poor’s that it’s considering civil charges tied to the firm’s ratings of a 2007 mortgage-backed securities deal. It’s the first such warning to be given to a credit-ratings agency over matters directly related to the financial crisis. [...]" 

  MSM: "Analyst: $1 Trillion In Hidden Losses At German Banks" [09/27/11] [1:30] " With Deutsche Bank skirting by at greater than 50:1 leverage, this should not be a surprise.  [...]" 

Documentary: "Meltdown - The Secret History of the Global Financial Collapse" [09/27/11] [42:30] "Four-part investigation into a world of greed and recklessness that brought down the financial world. [...]"  Part 2 [44:55]| Part 3 [45:00]| Part 4 [44:59]

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Cultural Fragging! (E188)" [09/27/11]   [26:00] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss cultural fragging and financial flashbacks. They also discuss Papandreou's high frequency austerity measures for Greece. In the second half of the show Max talks to Ned Naylor-Leyland of Cheviot Asset Management about the latest developments in the silver manipulation case against JP Morgan. [...]"  Related:  "BBC Speechless As Trader Tells Him: 'The Collapse Is Coming...And Goldman Rules The World'" [3:29] "In an interview on BBC News this morning that left the hosts gob-smacked Trader Alessio Rastani explains how Goldman Sachs rule the world, not the governments. He explains how the Eurozone crash will wipe out the savings of millions. He states Goldman Sachs rule the world, not our governments - something the BBC did not expect him to say.[...]" 

Documentary: "The Day of the Dollar" [09/27/11] [49:44] "Is it possible for the heavily indebted American economy to collapse and take all of us down in a free fall with it? Have the days of the dollar been counted? Is it really unimaginable that we will see the time of the Great Depression repeating itself? VPRO Backlight and Dutch national newspaper NRC Handelsblad present this ‘what if’ scenario. What if the dollar collapses? Fiction meets facts in this 24 hour scenario. At 9AM a Singapore trader is ordered to sell a large amount of dollars, which sends off the enormous downfall of the dollar. This film shows the results for the world economy every following hour. It ends in Amsterdam, where the only currency accepted by a taxi driver is cigarettes… History seems to have caught up with this 2005 film, though in slow-motion… Includes interview with annalist Stephen Roach, Andy Xie, Maarten Schinkel, Cees Maas, Rob de Wijk and Kees Vendrik. [...]"  Note:  Don't Click on any "Play Now" or "Download" graphics (Ads)... just click the start on the video itself.

MSM: "Treasury: 'No Discussion' Of Using U.S. Funds To Help Euro Bank Bailout" [09/27/11] "A Treasury Department spokeswoman categorically ruled out the use of U.S. government funds to help with an IMF bailout of European banks through the European Financial Stability Facility. "The EFSF is comprised entirely of European money," Kara Alaimo said in an email to Business Insider. "No US dollars have ever been contributed nor has this been discussed." Earlier Monday, a top House Republican vowed to oppose additional U.S. aide to prop up teetering banks,  "We cannot take the ‘too big to fail’ philosophy to a global level," Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said in a statement. "The only thing ‘too big to fail’ is America itself.” [...]"  Related: "Top Republican Rejects Calls For More US Funding For Eurozone Bailout, Lagarde Wants $4 Trillion EFSF"    "Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the Vice Chair of the House Republican Conference, released a statement Monday saying that she would oppose any effort increase funding for the International Monetary Fund to be used to bailout European banks. Responding to news that the IMF is looking to increase the size of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) tenfold, to as much as $4 trillion as The Telegraph reported, the fourth-highest ranked Republican in the House of Representatives said the U.S. should have no role in bailing out European banks no matter the cost. "The European Union was set up to be an economic competitor to the United States, and therefore, any bailout funds should come from the E.U., not the U.S. The global debt crisis was caused by too much spending and borrowing and that crisis will not be solved by more spending and borrowing. We cannot take the ‘too big to fail’ philosophy to a global level. The only thing ‘too big to fail’ is America itself.”  [...]"  "Jamie Dimon Explodes During Private Meeting At The IMF Conference, Says Anti-American Regulations Will Kill Recovery"   "Jamie Dimon reportedly exploded in a meeting at the IMF conference when the governor of the Bank of Canada argued in favor of tighter bank regulations. The governor, Mark Carney, who many believe is the future head of the Financial Stability Forum, supported what bankers call "growth-killing" capital requirements. According to the Financial Times, Carney and Dimon were at a private meeting of the Financial Stability Forum in Washington DC at the IMF conference. The confrontation reportedly got so bad that the CEO of Goldman Sachs (who is head of the Financial Services Forum bankers’ group which arranged the session) had to step in. Lloyd Blankfein emailed Carney, currently the Bank of Canada Governor, to try to smooth relations, says the FT. [...]"  

Investigation: "Regulators Weaken Dodd-Frank Draft Regs, Allow More Risk" [09/27/11] "The regulatory agencies in charge of finalizing some of the most controversial rules mandated by the financial reform law are leaning toward making them looser and more favorable to banks and other traders, according to recent reports in the financial press. " 

Commentary: "Government Claims AIG ‘Gamed the Tax System’" [09/26/11] "The government claims that in the early 1990s, an AIG tax lawyer developed two core ideas: “How the tax laws of France and [the] U.S. differed with respect to certain tax benefits and, second, how these differences in legal regimes could be exploited to obtain funding at a below-market rate.” The deals now in dispute date to 1997, and generally followed a pattern. AIG sold preferred stock to a foreign bank, with an obligation by AIG to repurchase that stock at a later date. Under U.S. law, the sale and repurchase agreements were considered secured loans. The same transactions, under foreign law, were treated as purchases of preferred stock by the counterparts. The preferred stock produced dividends that were largely exempt under foreign law — a tax benefit for the foreign bank, which then shared that benefit by lending to AIG at a lower rate. With cheaper money, AIG invested in a portfolio of assets that generated income. AIG paid foreign tax on that income, leading to tax credits. But the government alleges that AIG “gamed the tax system” to manufacture tax benefits in the U.S. [...]"  

World Economy: "Christine Lagarde - IMF May Need Billions In Extra Funding" [09/26/11] "Christine Lagarde has signalled that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may have to tap its members – including Britain – for billions of pounds of extra funding to stem the European debt crisis.  [...]"  Note:  No one should bail the IMF out. Lagarde was featured in the documentary called "Inside Job", about the whole Wall Street debacle. The IMF needs to fold and go away. They are destroyers of countries. 

Commentary:  "World Is on Eve of Next Financial Crisis Over Sovereign Debt" [09/24/11] "The world is on the eve of the next financial crisis, with sovereign debt its epicenter, said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., which runs the biggest bond fund. The European Central Bank hasn’t put in place a “circuit breaker” to contain the region’s debt crisis, El-Erian, who is also Pimco’s co-chief investment officer, said at an event in Washington today. Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 are meeting in Washington this weekend as markets tumble on concern the world economy is slowing and Europe’s sovereign debt crisis threatens to spread beyond Greece.  [...]" 

Commentary: " Five Banks Account For 96% Of The $250 Trillion In Outstanding US Derivatives" [09/24/11] "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 (consisting of Interest Rate, FX, Equity Contracts, Commodity and CDS) among the Top 25 commercial banks (a number that swells to $333 trillion when looking at the Top 25 Bank Holding Companies), a mere 5 banks (and really 4) account for 95.9% of all derivative exposure (HSBC replaced Wells as the Top 5th bank, which at $3.9 trillion in derivative exposure is a distant place from #4 Goldman with $47.7 trillion). The top 4 banks: JPM with $78.1 trillion in exposure, Citi with $56 trillion, Bank of America with $53 trillion and Goldman with $48 trillion, account for 94.4% of total exposure. As historically has been the case, the bulk of consolidated exposure is in Interest Rate swaps ($204.6 trillion), followed by FX ($26.5TR), CDS ($15.2 trillion), and Equity and Commodity with $1.6 and $1.4 trillion, respectively.  [...]"  Note:  In reality, the amount is over 1 Quadrillion.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Troika Tanks & Junta Bots (E187)" [09/23/11]   [25:51] "Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss Vince Cable's “economic equivalent of war.” They also notice politicians talking tanks and scapegoats for Greece and Christine Lagarde, the “junta-bot”, meeting with other unelected officials. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Reggie Middleton about a default by Greece and a scenario for a run on BNP Paribas. [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Dollar-Trapped! (E186)" [09/23/11]   [26:45] "Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss Babyface Bernanke, Eurotarp and ‘rogue traders.’ In the second half of the show Max talks to Bill Still, director of The Money Masters & The Secret of Oz, about Fort Knox, state banks and monetary reform.  [...]" 

MSM: "US Lawmakers Target China With Currency Bill" [09/23/11] "US senators unveiled legislation Thursday to punish China over its alleged currency manipulation, promising angry American voters to put an end to Beijing's "economic murder" of US jobs... [...]"  Note: This is, of course, bullshit and disingenuous, because Congress is the reason that laws were changed to allow the off-shoring of US jobs and the conversion of the US from a manufacturing country to a producer of questionable financial products. It really has nothing to do with China. They always have an 'excuse du jour' to shift responsibility for what is happening in the US, when they allowed everything that is happening.

US Politics: "Republican Budget Blackmail Fails" [09/23/11]   "Republicans had a grand scheme to blackmail America by attaching a provision to strip a $1 billion loan guarantee program for fuel efficient hybrid cars to the continuing resolution to temporarily fund the government in the absence of a budget. Democrats held the line against it, and John Boehner, aka, could not control his own party. The measure failed. [...]"

Legal Case: "Inside Traders Kept it in the Family, SEC Says" [09/23/11] "The SEC on Wednesday charged a former Goldman Sachs trader, and his father, with inside trading. Spencer Mindlin and his father Arthur are accused of trading on information Spencer learned while working on Goldman Sachs' exchange-traded funds desk. [...]"  

MSM: "Global Meltdown: Investors Are Dumping Nearly Everything" [09/22/11]   "With no solution in sight for Europe and new fears of a global recession, investors dumped stocks and commodities and ran to the safety of U.S. Treasury's. Treasury yields , as a result, slipped to historic lows with the 10-year yielding 1.75 percent and the 30-year at 2.86 percent. The dollar was also a beneficiary of a massive fear trade that sent U.S. stocks sharply lower, on the heels of steep sell-offs in equities markets around the globe. The lack of resolution on Europe , however, remains the biggest culprit as investors worry the exposure of European banks to the sovereign crisis will kick off a global banking crisis. The EU, IMF and European Central Bank put off until October to determine what will be done about the next payment to Greece, without which it will default. Markets have been disappointed with the lack of a bigger plan of action from European leaders. “I think it’s about the lack of leadership anywhere in the world. We’re seriously distressed about the lack of leadership and constant squabbling in Washington,” Brown said.[...]"  

MSM: "Moody's Downgrades Big Banks On Changed Policy" [09/22/11] "Moody's Investors Service lowered debt ratings for Bank of America Corp, Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co on Wednesday, saying the U.S. government is getting less comfortable with bailing out large troubled lenders. [...]" 

Commentary: "Index Options Predict October Stock Collapse" [09/21/11]   " ... Much has been written about the sale of Put Options against American Airlines prior to 911. That, my friends, is chump change when compared with the amount of money made with S&P Index Options as a result of the market collapse that followed 911. Volume in Index Options actually doubled in the months leading up to 911 from the previous year. Now we have an even more dramatic scenario unfolding [...]"  

Political Theatre: "The Bizarre Story Of Hermitage Capital & The Russian Mafia" [09/21/11] [10:15] "This is a lesson for would-be financiers dreaming of striking it rich in Russia - forget about it. Hermitage Capital co-founder William Browder is now financial enemy #1 of the Medvedev puppet regime, and he didn't even do anything for the honor. Well, except that he's had the courage to fight back against Putin, and other corrupt Russian officials who succeeded in stealing his investment business, while he was out of the country.  [...]"  

Webster Tarpley PhD: "Radio Update: World Economic Warfare and Breakdown Crisis" [09/20/11] [120:00] Note: Select show dated 09-17-11. An excellent update on the world financial situation, what's happening, what's coming and where. US/UK banks are trying to stave off collapse by giving unlimited dollar loans until the end of the year to the European banks. Very interesting to listen to. Contains information on how to avoid the collapse of the civilization due to the financial problems, and how to effectively deal with things that are going on. (First Hour) The second hour gets into what is going on in Libya and other matters

Commentary: "SEC Rule Would Ban Banks and Hedge Funds From Betting on Investor Losses" [09/20/11] "In the lead-up to the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis, banks like Goldman Sachs bet against their clients with collateralized debt obligations and were rewarded handsomely. A new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal would make this illegal. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Tony Blair Visited Qaddafi To Lobby For JP Morgan" [09/20/11] "Over the weekend The Telegraph has had a number of revelations about former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's links with Muammar Qaddafi's Libyan regime. One interesting story is how Blair was one of "three prominent western businessmen" who dealt regularly with Libyan Investment Authority, the $70 billion fund used to invest oil money abroad. An anonymous executive told the Telegraph that: "Tony Blair's visits were purely lobby visits for banking deals with JP Morgan." Perhaps these lobbying trips may be the cause of Blair's reported £60million ($97million) wealth. [...]"  

MSM: "UBS Rushes To Make Changes After The UBS Trader's $2.3 Billion Loss Shows $10 Billion Wagered On Positions" [09/19/11] "The fallout from the UBS trader who lost $2.3 billion of the firm's money betting on index futures is grim. Turns out, he wagered $10 billion on positions on S&P 500, DAX, and EuroStoxx index futures over the last three months, and he allegedly falsely accounted for the hedges off-setting the potetial risk of those trades. Before Kweku Adoboli's fictitious hedges were discovered, the firm had plans to layoff over 3,500 people in order to save $2 billion. Abodoli's loss more than reverses the savings effect of those layoffs. [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Flaming Banks, Burned-Out Economy (E185)" [09/18/11]   [25:56] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, report on massive defaults and flaming banks in America where income inequality is forcing manufacturers to change their product lines. In the second half of the show Max talks to Aaron Krowne of ML-Implode.com about mortgage lending fraud and government complicity.  [...]" 

Legal Case: "Société Générale Probed Over Role In Ponzi Scheme" [09/18/11] "The Justice Department has launched a criminal probe against a subsidiary of Société Générale that alleged Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford funneled money through, based on suspicions that it ignored some fishy transactions, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. A Société Générale spokesman confirmed that the subsidiary, SG Private Banking, “has received requests for documents and other information” from the Justice Department. The court filing against Stanford alleged that he’d “secretly funneled more than $100 million of investors' money” through the bank and into personal accounts, using it “for the payment of bribes and lavish personal expenditures.” But until now the bank wasn’t thought to be under suspicion, because “at that level, prosecutions are reserved for the bad actor,” one white collar defense lawyer explains, “unless you are prepared to say that the bank has a systemic problem and is corrupt at its core.” [...]" 

MSM: "Amish 'Bernie Madoff' Busted" [09/18/11] "We've had the Bernie Madoff of campaign treasurers, so now meet the Amish Madoff. A 77-year-old man in Ohio is accused of scamming thousands of investors in 29 states, mostly his fellow Amish, out of $16.8 million. Prosecutors say Monroe Beachy ran a Ponzi scheme for decades, telling investors he would invest in safe securities, but instead putting their money in riskier ones and sending them false account statements, ABC reports. Beachy, who declared bankruptcy earlier this year, faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted. The Amish Helping Fund, a nonprofit organization that helps young Amish families buy their first homes, is among the victims of the alleged scam. The case is "an example of what we call an affinity fraud scheme—ones that play upon good will and previous relationships and, therefore, sometimes affect a particular community more than the general public," a US attorney tells the Canton Repository. "The Beachy case is one of these affinity scams that, unfortunately, reminds us that even in the heartland, if it sounds too good to be true, it is." [...]"  

Interview: "Matt Taibbi On The "Rogue Trader" Banking Scandal At UBS" [09/18/11] [3:08] "Countdown" guest host David Shuster and Rolling Stone contributing editor Matt Taibbi discuss the "Rogue Trader" scandal at UBS. Kweku Adoboli, a 31-year-old trader for the Swiss bank, is under arrest in London on charges of losing $2 billion in unauthorized trading. Taibbi says the financial industry is too powerful in Washington right now for politicians to pass any meaningful legislation that might prevent this kind of scandal. [...]" 

Commentary: "Nigel Farage: Greece under Commission-ECB-IMF Dictatorship" [09/17/11] [4:20] Note: Great speech. Transcript on page. Related: "The Economic Hitmen - How It Is Done" [2:11] "A great illustration on how corporations take control of countries, and how capitalism drives the expansion of the Military Industrial Complex. [...]"  Flashbacks: "Nigel Farage Touches Quite A Few Nerves In The EU Parliament" [11/25/09] [5:43] Note: Bravo! This is what you get when you get a simultaneous incarnation amongst a bunch of sequential reincarnated retreads.   "Farage Attacks Bilderberg EU President As Quiet Assassin Of Nation States"  [3:27]   

MSM: "Identities of Silver Manipulators Exposed in Class Action Lawsuit Against JP Morgan Over Silver Price Manipulation" [09/17/11] "As discussed previously, all individual lawsuits against JP Morgan have been compiled into a single CLASS ACTION lawsuit filed in the US District Court of New York against JP Morgan for Silver price manipulation. We have obtained a copy of the entire suit, which contains groundbreaking information publicly exposing JP Morgan's alleged manipulation of silver prices for all to clearly read for themselves. [...]" 

MSM: "U.S. Tax-Evasion Probe Turns To Israeli Banks" [09/17/11] "The U.S. pursuit of offshore tax evaders is widening to include Israel, where U.S. authorities are scrutinizing three of Israel's largest banks over suspicions their Swiss outposts helped American clients evade taxes, people briefed on the matter said. [...]" 

Commentary:  "Soros: Embrace Mass Centralization Of Power In Europe Or Face Another Great Depression" [09/16/11] "Billionaire globalist George Soros says that the world will face a second Great Depression unless leaders in Europe come together in a closer political union to push through bold new policies, including the creation of a European Treasury. “It appears the authorities have reached the end of the road with their policy of ‘kicking the can down the road’,” Soros writes in a piece for Reuters. Soros argues that further integration in Europe is the only way to prevent catastrophic financial meltdown. “There is no alternative but to give birth to the missing ingredient: a European treasury with the power to tax and therefore to borrow.” Soros writes. “Once the principle of setting up a European Treasury is agreed upon, the European Council could authorize the ECB to step into the breach, indemnifying the ECB in advance against risks to its solvency,” the investor adds. In other words “The European banking system would be recapitalized and put under European-, as distinct from national-, supervision” he writes. Adding that such a move would require a new European Union treaty, Soros states “That is the only way to forestall a possible financial meltdown and another Great Depression. [...]"  

Interview: "Gerald Celente On Yahoo! Finance -" [09/16/11] [6:29]  Part 2 [6:40]| Part 3 [6:09] Note: Update and commentary from Gerald.

  Trends: " Banks Must Produce 'Living Wills' To Tell Regulators How To Liquidate Them" [09/15/11] "The financial crisis caught many regulators off-guard and unprepared for what would be years of clean-up. It’s a scenario they don’t want to find themselves in again. That’s why the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp board voted today to approve rules that would force financial firms to write so-called “living wills” that map out how to liquidate them in the event of their failure. The rule stems from the chaos surrounding the Lehman Brothers failure which left its creditors scrambling to recover their money.  [...]"  

MSM: "U.S. Fines Bank Of America For Firing Whistleblower" [09/15/11] "US authorities on Wednesday ordered Bank of America to pay $930,0000 to an employee who was fired after exposing fraud at the bank's disgraced mortgage unit, Countrywide Financial.  [...]"  

MSM: "60 Minutes - Financial WMDs: Credit Default Swaps, The Bet That Blew Up Wall Street" [09/15/11] [12:15] "Anyone with more than a casual interest in why their 401(k) has tanked over the past year knows that it's because of the global credit crisis. It was triggered by the collapse of the housing market in the United States and magnified worldwide by the sale of complicated investments that Warren Buffett once labeled financial weapons of mass destruction. They are called credit derivatives or credit default swaps. As correspondent Steve Kroft first reported last fall, they are essentially side bets on the performance of the U.S. mortgage markets and some of the biggest financial institutions in the world - a form of legalized gambling that allows you to wager on financial outcomes without ever having to actually buy the stocks and bonds and mortgages. It would have been illegal during most of the 20th century under the gaming laws, but in 2000, Congress gave Wall Street an exemption and it has turned out to be a very bad idea.  [...]"  Transcript

MSM: "U.S. Can Seek Forfeiture of Madoff Proceeds" [09/15/11] "An alleged Bernie Madoff co-conspirator and his wife cannot toss a forfeiture action that jeopardizes money set aside for his legal defense, a federal judge ruled. A grand jury indicted Daniel Bonventre for securities fraud on Nov. 17, 2010, along with allege co-conspirators Annette Bongiorno, Joann Crupi, Jerome O'Hara and George Perez. Last December, prosecutors sent Bonventre's lawyers a letter warning them not to draw from their client's legal defense fund, which might get seized if the government wins even a portion of its $154.5 billion forfeiture. [...]"  

MSM: "Moody's Downgrades French Banks" [09/15/11] "The Greek debt crisis has hit the credit rating of two of France's biggest banks. Moody's has downgraded Societe Generale and Credit Agricole by a notch, and warned the country's biggest bank, BNP Paribas, that it may be next in line. The banks have seen their share prices plummet this week amid fears over their exposure to Greek debt. Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou are holding talks on the debt crisis today.  [...]"  

MSM: "US May End Corporate Taxes On Some Overseas Profits" [09/14/11] "The Treasury is weighing a proposal to eliminate some, but not all, of the taxes on overseas profits of U.S.-based companies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing two people familiar with the deliberations. Eliminating the taxes on some of the profits is a central element of the Obama administration's broader plans to overhaul the corporate tax code, the newspaper said." [...]"  

Commentary: "Armadebton: The Case For Hitting the Debt Reset Button" [09/13/11] "Donald Trump tells a story about the Savings and Loan crash in the late 1980s. He was complaining to his young daughter at the time about how devastating the real estate plunge was for them. She didn't understand why he was crying poor when they lived such a lavish lifestyle. The Donald pointed to a bum on the park bench and said, "You see that guy over there? He is billions of dollars wealthier than we are." He was referring to the debt he owed to banks. On paper he was worse than broke, so he was actually poor compared to the penniless squatter in the park. But, in reality, he was still fabulously wealthy, as the debt was just an arbitrary number, and he still slept in a penthouse within a building he owned, not a park bench. And, of course, the banks had to work with Trump because he was too big to let fail. This story is relevant to the current debt "crisis" facing the United States.  [...]" 

Commentary: "The Mathematics Of Austerity: Proving Austerity Never Was Even Intended To Work" [09/13/11] "... The bankers know the Austerity programs they are advocating for Europe and America will not work and cannot work. What they will do is to transfer all of our remaining wealth to billionaire bankers. We are headed to The Second Great Depression which will be far worse than 1929-1939 and could be called The Greatest Starvation. Let me explain why Austerity budgets will never work in such simple terms that even a Presidential candidate will understand. [...]"  

Interview: "Gerald Celente with Tommy Schnumacher - CJAD Radio" [09/13/11]  [12:57] "... this is not a failure of Capitalism ... this is Fascism [...]" 

MSM: "Barney Frank Working On Legislation To 'Overhaul' The Federal Reserve" [09/13/11] "Representative Barney Frank, the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, is working on legislation that would transform the Federal Reserve's decision-making process. Frank plans to submit a bill that would remove the votes of the five regional Federal Reserve presidents from the 12-member Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC), which sets interest rates, and replace them with five appointees that would be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. [...]"  Note: Short-sighted Frank just doesn't get that it's all over, and that it no longer matters. 

MSM: "JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon Calls For U.S. To Quit Basel: 'International Bank Rules Are Anti-American'" [09/12/11] "New international bank capital rules are “anti-American” and the US should consider pulling out of the Basel group of global regulators, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, has said. In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Dimon said he was supportive of forcing banks to have more capital but argued that moves to impose an additional charge on the largest global banks went too far, particularly for American banks. “I’m very close to thinking the United States shouldn’t be in Basel any more. I would not have agreed to rules that are blatantly anti-American,” he said. “Our regulators should go there and say: ‘If it’s not in the interests of the United States, we’re not doing it’.” [...]"  Note: Rules put in place to reign in banks could only be seen as 'anti-American' by the bank, only if the bank arrogantly considers itself to BE the 'essence' of the United States .... That's a clue to what has happened. Jamie Dimon, with his little 'puppy dog' look, similar to that of Brian Williams on NBC news ... the 'innocent look' hides something much more sinister ... something that has controlled the US for a long, long time.

MSM: "Gold Advances as Europe's Escalating Debt Contagion Boosts Haven Demand" [09/12/11] "Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile further hiked on Friday, as the falling equity helped prompt investors to buy gold as a safe-have investment. But a stronger dollar acted to limit the rise. Market analysts said that worries over the long-standing debt problem in the euro zone have shattered the U.S. stock market and buoyed up the precious metal amid increasing safe-have demands. The European Central Bank said one of its Governing Council members would step down from its executive board by the end of the year, signaling a possible dispute among policy makers over how to combat the regional debt crisis. Besides, it is reported that Germany had readied a plan to help German banks meet their obligations should Greece fail to meet the terms of its bailout. [...] However, the strength in dollar kept a lid on gold's advance. [...]"  Note:  In other words, the health of the dollar is inversely proportional to the price of gold.

MSM: "Euro Drops To 2001 Low Versus Yen On Concerns Greece May Default" [09/12/11] "The euro dropped to its lowest level since 2001 against the yen and slid versus the dollar as speculation German Chancellor Angela Merkel is preparing for a Greek default curbed demand for the 17-nation currency. [...] Officials in Merkel’s government are debating how to shore up German banks in the event that Greece fails to meet the budget-cutting terms of its aid package and is unable to get a bailout-loan payment, three coalition officials said on Sept. 9. Merkel is due to hold talks on the debt crisis with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso today. [...] " 

MSM: " Fox Pumps Gold Standard But US Hasn't Got It: "Central Banking - The God That Failed" [09/12/11] [4:06]  "Monetary historian Lew Lehrman traces the sordid history of fiat money and central banking and explains why a return to the gold standard would improve working people's economic prospects [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Passing Fiat Cash Grenade (E182) " [09/11/11] [25:51] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss passing the currency grenade and the Central Bank of Nigeria mentions trading oil with China in yuan. In the second half of the show Max talks to anthropologist, David Graeber, about his new book, Debt: The First 5000 Years.

MSM: "Senate Approves $500 Billion Increase in Borrowing Authority" [09/10/11] "The U.S. Senate, in an unusual procedure, cleared the way Thursday for the U.S. to lift its borrowing authority by $500 billion to $15.19 trillion, enough to keep the support federal government borrowing through late January or early February. The action came under an unusual legislative procedure spelled out under the August agreement to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avoid a U.S. credit default. In a 52-45 vote, the Senate blocked an attempt by Republicans to slow down the process that will result in the $500 billion debt-ceiling increase. The increase stems from a deal between Congress and the White House, finalized last month, that spells out how the borrowing limit would be increased by $500 billion. Under the process, lawmakers in both the House and Senate must vote on a resolution of disapproval against the increase in the borrowing limit. President Barack Obama would then have to veto the resolution of disapproval, and Congress would then vote to try and override that veto. The complicated procedure, designed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), would allow an increase of the borrowing limit while allowing most Republicans to vote against such an increase. There was a twist in this scenario Thursday evening, however. Democrats held firm, rejecting the resolution of disapproval, thereby speeding the process and increasing the borrowing limit immediately. [...]"  

 Webster Tarpley: "Probability of Large-Scale False Flag Terror Event Increasing As European Banking Panic Looms" [09/10/11] " Late yesterday, Obama administration officials speaking off the record told reporters that they had a “credible but unconfirmed” threat warning for a terror attack around the time of the 9/11 anniversary is coming Sunday. This announcement caps a week in which numerous veterans of the original 9/11 false flag terror attack and cover-up have been prodigal with their media warnings that a repetition of the bloody tragedy of 10 years ago is simply a question of time. These figures have included former New York Mayor Giuliani, 9/11 commission chairs Hamilton and Kean, and many others. Based on the current intelligence constellation, a large-scale false flag terror attack over the coming weeks and months is now increasing in probability. This is because such a terror attack, plus the wars it could unleash and the martial law which it might be used to impose in Europe and North America, would facilitate measures which the ruling finance oligarchs of these nations judge to be essential for their short-term survival. The false flag attack could be blamed on Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, the Palestinians, or a range of others. Once again, the initiative may be passing into the hands of that rogue network, invisible government, secret government, parallel government, deep state, or special forces underground which exists at the point where Wall Street and City of London financial bosses intersect with the dominant personalities – active-duty and retired – of the Anglo-American secret intelligence establishment.  [...]"  Related: "The Rogue Network Behind 9/11 Is Still In Place, And May Be Preparing To Strike Again"    

Commentary: "North Carolina AFL-CIO Calls for Glass-Steagall, H.R. 1489" [09/10/11] "Yesterday morning, the North Carolina state convention of the AFL-CIO passed unanimously a resolution supporting H.R. 1489, Rep. Marcy Kaptur's (D-OH) "Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2011." The resolution cites the fact that the repeal of Glass-Steagall opened the door to the banking disaster of 2008, which was then followed by the bailout policy, which is bankrupting the U.S. economy. North Carolina thus becomes the 7th state AFL-CIO organization to endorse a return to Glass-Steagall — a move for which the national Machinists Union (IAM) and the national AFL-CIO have also issued backing. The bill was introduced on the initiative of the North Carolina Machinists Council, which had passed a resolution supporting H.R. 1489 the day before. In concluding the convention, State Secretary Treasurer Mary McMillan stressed the need for the unionists to fight for their objectives, including the Prudent Banking Act. Meanwhile, the mobilization for reinstating Glass-Steagall through passing H.R. 1489 is growing nationally. The Democratic Party of Alger County Michigan passed a resolution in support of HR 1489 last night, Sept. 8. And declared Republican Presidential candidate Buddy Roemer, in responding to President Obama's phony jobs bill, stressed that a reinstatement of Glass-Steagall is one of the three major steps that must be taken to restore the economy. [...]"  

MSM: "The SEC Tells Staff To Stop Destroying Records" [09/09/11] "The SEC's general counsel ordered employees to stop destroying records yesterday, according to the Washington Post. SEC general counsel Mark D. Cahn wrote a memo to staff telling them to stop destroying records from cases which led to litigation or settlements with accused parties or closed without enforcement action. Finally. The scandal started a year ago when Darcy Flynn -- an enforcement lawyer for the SEC -- accused the SEC of destroying records illegally. Around the same time, the regulatory agency was told that the procedure might be breaking federal law. On Tuesday she accused the SEC of "routinely getting rid of records from formal investigations, including cases that were closed without enforcement action and those that led to either settlements or litigation with accused wrongdoers," in a statement sent to Mary Schapiro and David Kotz. Her attorney -- and former SEC enforcement lawyer -- Gary Aguirre complained that his client was under "standing orders to direct the destruction of records" in a note accompanying the statement, according to the Washington Post. The SEC assured the National Archives that it had put a hold on the practice after Flynn's allegations were first leveled last August. [...] 

Trends: "Bank of American Restructuring Into Consumer and Commercial Units - 30,000 Could Lose Jobs" [09/08/11]   "Up to 600 branches could close in Bank of America's split into two separate consumer and commercial units, according to CNN. But that's not the only change apparent at the bank. The restructuring could also cut 30,000 jobs, 10.5% of the bank's employees. Reports of possible closings and layoffs come on the tail of a major management shakeup that was necessary in order to divide Merrill in half. Merrill's wealth management division (brokers) will now be part of Bank of America's gigantic consumer division and report to David Darnell. Merrill's institutional investment banking and trading division will now report to Tom Montag. This seems tantamount to cutting the firm in half. [...]"  Note: BOA seems to be anticipating a Glass Steagal restoration dynamic (which would break up banks back into separate commercial investment and consumer banks). Could others follow and make this  voluntarily self-propagating? 

MSM: "Despite Warnings From Congress, Sec Still Destroying Records Illegally, Lawyer Says" [09/08/11] "A year after it was warned that it might be violating federal law, the Securities and Exchange Commission is still breaking the law by destroying records of closed enforcement cases, a lawyer in the agency’s enforcement division has alleged. In addition, the purging of files has involved a wider range of investigative documents than previously reported, according to a signed statement by the enforcement lawyer. The new allegations are contained in a statement dated Tuesday by Darcy Flynn, a longtime SEC employee involved in managing records for the enforcement division. Flynn’s lawyer, Gary Aguirre, sent the statement and an accompanying narrative to SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro and SEC Inspector General H. David Kotz. Aguirre also addressed copies to several lawmakers, calling on Congress to step in. Flynn is under “standing orders to direct the destruction of records” that the SEC is legally required to preserve, Aguirre wrote. A year ago, after Flynn first alerted it to a potential problem, the National Archives, overseer of federal record-keeping, asked the SEC to explain the apparently unauthorized destruction of government records. The SEC told the National Archives that it was preserving the records then in question while it worked to sort out the issue. [...]" 

Legal Case: "Trusts Say BofA Plays a Mortgage Shell Game" [09/08/11]   " A trustee for 42 homeowner trusts accuses Bank of America of "playing a shell game" to avoid liability for Countrywide Financial's part in the housing meltdown. The trustee claims that after Bank of America acquired Countrywide Financial Corp. in early 2008 it set up a "byzantine corporate structure" in a continuing attempt to avoid state and federal regulators. [...]"  

Commentary:  "UBS Quantifies Costs Of Euro Break Up, Warns Of Collapse Of Banking System And Civil War" [09/07/11] "Any time a major bank releases a report saying a given course of action is too costly, too prohibitive, too blonde, or simply too impossible, it is nearly guaranteed that that is precisely the course of action about to be undertaken. Which is why all non-euro skeptics are advised to shield their eyes and look away from the just released report by UBS (of surging 3 Month USD Libor rate fame) titled "Euro Break Up - The Consequences." UBS conveniently sets up the straw man as follows: "Under the current structure and with the current membership, the Euro does not work. Either the current structure will have to change, or the current membership will have to change." So far so good. Yet where it gets scary is when UBS quantifies the actual opportunity cost to one or more countries leaving the Euro. Notably Germany. "Were a stronger country such as Germany to leave the Euro, the consequences would include corporate default, recapitalisation of the banking system and collapse of international trade.  [...]"   Related: "20 Quotes From European Leaders That Prove That They Know That The Financial System In Europe Is Doomed"   

MSM: "States Offer Banks Immunity From Mortgage Lawsuits" [09/07/11]   " State prosecutors are offering big banks an expensive Get Out of Lawsuits Free card. Prosecutors have offered a variety of banks caught up in the “robosigning” scandal immunity from some litigation in exchange for a total of $10 billion to $25 billion in penalties, the Financial Times reports. Some officials think the immunity being offered is far too broad; as written, it could potentially free the banks from lawsuits related to their securitization practices, or at least impede cases related to it.  [...]"

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Fake Assets (E180) " [09/06/11] [25:50] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss 'toxic assets' that are really 'fake assets' and about bankers still expecting the taxpayer to bail them out when trading these 'fake assets' goes horribly wrong. In the second half of the show Max talks to artist Alex Schaefer about his incendiary artwork - Chase Burning.

UK: "US Lawsuit Against British Banks Leads To Europe-Wide Market Slump" [09/06/11] "European markets have slumped deep into the red after renewed fears over the continent's debt crisis rocked banks across the continent. In London, the FTSE 100 Index plunged 3.6% to 5102.6, knocking £49 billion off the value of UK blue chips and wiping out last week's gains[...]"   

MSM:  "Banks Lead Sharp Declines in Global Shares" [09/06/11] "Fears of a new financial crisis and worries about the health of the United States economy sent share prices tumbling in Europe on Monday and also led to declines in Asia. Markets in the United States were closed for the Labor Day holiday, but sharp declines in the overseas trading of stock index futures indicated the sell-off was likely to continue on Tuesday. Financial shares led the declines in Europe. Royal Bank of Scotland gave up more than 12 percent, while Barclays, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and Société Générale each fell more than 6 percent. [...]"  Related: "European Stocks Fall Sharply as Debt Fears Hit Banks" [09/05/11]   "European shares fell sharply on Monday amid renewed fears over the euro zone debt crisis and a warning from Deutsche Bank’s CEO on the outlook for banks. [...]"

Explorations: "Gaddafi Gold-For-Oil, Dollar-Doom Plans Behind Libya 'Mission'?" [09/05/11]   [3:11] "More speculation has been raised on the reasons for NATO's intervention in Libya. As RT's Laura Emmett reports, the organisation may have been trying to prevent Gaddafi from burying the American buck. [...]"  

MSM: "UK Banks Face US Lawsuit Over Toxic Mortgage Debt" [09/04/11] "Leading UK banks ignored warnings from third party advisers before selling on billions of dollars of toxic mortgage debt to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the lead-up to the financial crisis, court papers have alleged. [...]"  

Commentary: "One Reason Why The Government Will Have A Difficult Time Suing The Banks" [09/04/11] "Apparently, the statute of limitations expires in a few days, so the Federal Housing Finance Agency is expected to slip the suit in just under the wire. The suits will argue the banks, which assembled the mortgages and marketed them as securities to investors, failed to perform the due diligence required under securities law and missed evidence that borrowers' incomes were inflated or falsified. When many borrowers were unable to pay their mortgages, the securities backed by the mortgages quickly lost value. Fannie and Freddie lost more than $30 billion, in part as a result of the deals, losses that were borne mostly by taxpayers. In July, the agency filed suit against UBS, another major mortgage securitizer, seeking to recover at least $900 million, and the individuals with knowledge of the case said the new litigation would be similar in scope. The details are rather sketchy, and I am not a securities lawyer, but I expect that this is going to be a fairly difficult case to make. Fannie and Freddie already have the right to force banks to take back loans with obvious underwriting flaws, or that go bad too quickly, and my understanding is that they've been doing just that. [...]" Related: "FHFA Bank Lawsuits: And The #1 Target Is... " [09/04/11]   "From Felix Salmon, a very useful "league table" breaking down the big targets in the big FHFA lawsuits against the banks. [...]" 

Commentary: "Real People Say "Screw You" To The Markets" [09/04/11]   "... All that's left is the computers. The humans have gone home. True liquidity and participation has ended. The people have given up. This is not an isolated incident - as I write this I'm seeing it literally minute-by-minute, and it's been very common all month.  [...]"  

Exposé: "US, France Knew In 2007 Financial Collapse Was Imminent Due To Wall Street Fraud" [09/04/11] "In 2007 top US and France officials knew rampant fraud being committed by regulators, rating agencies and Wall Street Banks would soon cause a global financial collapse .... To summarize, the cable reveals that top government officials in France and the US knew Wall street banks were committing fraud in the origination and packaging of sub-prime mortgage and lying to investors about the resulting securities they were creating and selling. Officials knew banks were also lying about their own liabilities and hiding them from investors by keeping the assets off their balance sheets. The government also knew that both regulators and ratings agencies were participating in the scheme. Remember as you read this cable, these conversations all took place over a year before the 2008 financial collapse when taxpayers around the world were forced into giving up trillions of dollars for banker bailouts. Also keep in mind that while the cable discusses “systemic risk”, “bailouts” and “market turbulence”, none of these had happened yet. They were discussing what would soon happen in the future. The discussion of “systemic risk”, “market turbulence” and “taxpayer bailouts” over a year before the markets actually collapsed and those events actually occurred, show they knew a global financial collapse. Not only did they know it would occur but knew what the consequences would be for the investors and the governments who were fleeced by Wall Street. As the cable reveals, Paulson chose to deal with the crisis by letting it continue and urging France to keep the issue underwaps by urging Sarkozy not to “over react”, hence allowing the scandal to the continue which just postponed the inevitable. Also remember when we were forced into these bailouts, it was under the guise that our governments had no idea the banks were doing this and this was a sudden and unforeseeable crisis. Finally, remember that – while there have been plenty of accusations from “conspiracy theorists”, “fringe economists” and “wing nut” politicians such as Ron Paul – there still has been no admission from our government that financial regulators or the ratings agencies played a role in the crisis. [...]"   "View cable 07PARIS4109" SUBJECT: PAULSON DISCUSSES FINANCIAL MARKETS, IRAN WITH SARKOZY, LAGARDE First published on WES, 30 Sep 2011 01:44 UTC Note: Recall that LaGarde (who was seen in the film INSIDE JOB) was appointed to head the IMF just recently. 

Interview: "Joel Skousen - Financial Sense Newshour" [09/02/11] [33:45] " Joel Skousen, a political commentator non-fiction Survivalist author, retreat consultant and is the founder and chief editor of World Affairs Brief, a weekly news analysis service., . Mr. Skousen is a political scientist by training who specializes in the philosophy of law and Constitutional theory. He is also a designer of high security residences and retreats. Joel served as a fighter pilot for the US Marine Corps during the Vietnam era. During the 80's he took a leave of absence to serve as the Chairman of the Conservative National Committee in Washington DC and concurrently served as the Executive Editor of Conservative Digest .Many topics are discussed including: the budget, taxes, war, strategic relocation, the monetary system, the dollar, gold and silver, inflation, the middle east, the 2012 election, world currency, world government, the federal reserve, paul ryan, rand paul, gold-backed currency, republicans and democrats, tea party, government shutdown, recession, tax revenue, government spending, the economy, debt, interest, bush tax cuts, earmarks, unemployment, unions, government subsidies, billionaires, corporations, npr, planned parenthood, agriculture, medicare, social security, health insurance, immigration, border patrol and more.. [...]" 

MSM: "US Preparing To Sue Banks For Billions Over Misrepresenting Safety Of Mortgage Securities" [09/02/11]   "The New York Times scoops that the federal government is preparing to file suit against a dozen major banks in the coming days for their roles in 2008 financial crisis. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is alleging that the banks misrepresented the quality of mortgages bundled together as securities — billing subprime loans as secure investments. Among the banks set to be slapped with lawsuits according to the Times are: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank. The agency filed suit against UBS earlier this year for $900 million in damages. Fannie and Freddie lost more than $30 billion during the financial crisis — at least in part due to the bad loans they bought. The lawsuits are expected to be filed Friday, or else just after the holiday weekend. [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Cheap Slaves of Deflation (E178) " [08/31/11] [26:37] "This time Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, discuss intergenerational debt for IMF poster children; radical plans for EU banks; and an artist's incendiary painting as bank statement. In the second half of the show Max talks to Isa Blumi about the role of micro-finance and oil traders in unrest in Yemen. 

MSM: "The Euro is Becoming a Debt “Straight-jacket”" [09/02/11]   "In the not so distant past, dozens of nations were queuing up to join the European Union and the prospect of unlimited economic growth and opportunity. Today, that prospect has been left wanting by a succession of economic failures and predatory institutional lending in the Eurozone. Speaking at an economic summit in Austria this week, Czech Republic President, Vaclav Klaus, has likened being in the Euro to being caught in a “debt straight-jacket”. Suddenly, being a part of the Eurozone is looking more like a liability than an asset. [...]" Related: "EU Unwilling To Admit Euro Is About To Collapse"   [2:27] "Being in the Eurozone is not so different from being in a straitjacket - that's according to the President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus. Speaking at an economic summit in Austria, the president also blamed the Euro for being responsible for the debt crisis that's currently ravaging the European Union. His comments echo growing hostility towards the single currency among nations once queuing to join the prestigious club. That as the Czech Prime Minister also questioned his country's requirement to sign up with the currency bloc, saying they were told it was a monetary union, not a debt union. But the EU leadership maintains the crisis is temporary, and the Euro is safe and secure - something that Johan Van Overtveldt, the editor-in-chief of Trends magazine, disagrees with. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Endgame: When Debt is Fraud, Debt Forgiveness is the Last and Only Remedy " [09/02/11] "Debt forgiveness, therefore, accomplishes two important things. It eliminates the increasing and outsized portion of productive enterprise to pay off unproductive obligations, and it clears the ground for new opportunities, new thinking, invention, and entrepreneurialism. [...]" 

MSM: "Merkel Backs Euro Fund Boost, Faces Revolt Risk" [09/01/11] "German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet approved new powers for the euro zone's bailout fund on Wednesday, but she faces an uphill battle to convince party skeptics to back efforts to contain the crisis. [...]"

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report (E177) " [08/31/11] [27:47] "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss Anonymous joining #occupywallstreet while President Obama does dirty banker deal. In the second half of the show, Max talks to fund manager Dan Collins about how the Chinese "redback" may displace the ever devaluing American "greenback" in world trade. Related: Max Keiser: "On The Edge" [08/26/11]   [23:05] "In this edition of the show Max interviews Alex Jones. He talks about Ron Paul's bid for 2012 presidential elections. [...]" 

MSM: "Bank Of America Knew About Aig's $10b Lawsuit For 6 Months, But Didn't Tell Shareholders" [08/31/11] "And it could be an SEC violation, for non-disclosure. [...]"  

MSM: "FDIC Objects To Bank Of America's $8.5 Billion Mortgage Fraud Settlement " [08/30/11] "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. objected to Bank of America's proposed $8.5 billion mortgage-bond settlement with investors, joining investors and states that are challenging the agreement. The FDIC, the receiver for failed banks, owns securities covered by the settlement and said it doesn’t have enough information to evaluate the accord, according to a filing today in federal court in Manhattan. Under the agreement, Bank of America would pay $8.5 billion to resolve claims from investors in Countrywide Financial Corp. mortgage bonds. The settlement was negotiated with a group of institutional investors, including BlackRock and PIMCO, and would apply to investors outside that group. [...]" 

MSM: "China Will Not Kowtow To US" [08/29/11] "On the economic front, the world's second largest economy has just rebuked Washington for living beyond its means. According to Xinhua news agency, China as the largest creditor of world's sole superpower has every right to demand that Washington address its burgeoning structural debt problem. By Xinhua's estimates, the US debt, as of this month, is about US$55 trillion, US$14 trillion in US Treasury bonds. It calculates that the US national debt amounts to US$176,000 per person, or US$670,000 per household. The US may be a military superpower and the largest economy; it is also the most indebted nation in the world. As if to add salt to injury, within days of rebuking Washington for its economic mess, China sent out its first aircraft carrier, the former Varyag, for sea trials. [...]"  Note:  Actually, it's not true ... the American public owes nothing ... because the debt is arguably classified as 'odious debt' : "... When a despotic regime contracts a debt, not for the needs or in the interests of the state, but rather to strengthen itself, to suppress a popular insurrection, etc, this debt is odious for the people of the entire state. This debt does not bind the nation; it is a debt of the regime, a personal debt contracted by the ruler, and consequently it falls with the demise of the regime. The reason why these odious debts cannot attach to the territory of the state is that they do not fulfil one of the conditions determining the lawfulness of State debts, namely that State debts must be incurred, and the proceeds used, for the needs and in the interests of the State. Odious debts, contracted and utilised for purposes which, to the lenders' knowledge, are contrary to the needs and the interests of the nation, are not binding on the nation – when it succeeds in overthrowing the government that contracted them – unless the debt is within the limits of real advantages that these debts might have afforded. The lenders have committed a hostile act against the people, they cannot expect a nation which has freed itself of a despotic regime to assume these odious debts, which are the personal debts of the ruler. [...]"  

MSM: "US Fed Chief Bernanke Offers No Measures To Ease Jobs Crisis" [08/29/11]   "In a much anticipated speech Friday before a gathering of central bankers and international financial officials, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke sought to reassure panicky markets while proposing no measures to ease the worsening jobs crisis. [...]"  

 Interview: "Paul Woolley: ‘The Market Has Become Dangerous For Humanity … It Isn’t Reaching Equilibrium, It Is Falling Into Chaos’" [08/29/11] "Financial markets are inefficient and growing to the point of overwhelming the economy, according to Paul Woolley, an expert on market dysfunctionality. In an interview with SPIEGEL he explains why it's up to investors to stop dangerous trends and hold financial institutions accountable. For anyone who is still confused why the tail-wags-dog reverse relationship of the stock market as a leading indicator to the economy, and to western civilization in general, can be a problem for said civilization (not to mention the former) once the current iteration of central planning loses control over everything, as it always does, here is an interview between German daily Spiegel and Paul Woolley, a one time fund manager, and currently head of the LSE’s center for Capital Market Dysfunctionality (sometimes affectionately known as the Princeton Economics department) who explains why things are on the edge of a precipice. His message for anyone who thought that Irene may have been a risk: you ain’t seen nothing yet. “The developments in recent weeks have made it quite clear that the markets don’t function properly. Things are spinning out of control and are potentially dangerous for society. Only a fraternity of academic high priests connected to the finance markets is still speaking of efficient markets. Still each market participant is pursuing their own selfish interests. The market isn’t reaching equilibrium — it’s falling into chaos.” [...]"  

Legal Case: "Auditors Missed $1.8 Billion in Funny Money, Failed Bank Says" [08/29/11]   "Negligence and accounting malpractice by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Crowe Horwath allowed Taylor Bean & Whitaker to sucker Colonial Bancgroup for $1.8 billion in securities backed by nonexistent mortgages, the bank and its bankruptcy trustee say. Colonial Bank's failure in 2009 was the 6th largest in U.S. history.  [...]"  

Legal Case: "$1 Billion-Plus Demands in Bank Failure " [08/29/11]   "The liquidation trustee for Guaranty Bank, whose 2009 collapse cost taxpayers more than $1 billion, accuses its corporate parent, packaging giant Temple-Inland, of "fraudulently looting" the bank. In a separate complaint, the trustee claims the bank's financial adviser, Keefe Bruyette & Woods / KBW, contributed to the collapse by using inside information to short the bank's stock and charging the insolvent bank more than $20 million while the getting was good. [...]" 

Commentary: "G. Edward Griffin: The Rothschild Formula" [08/28/11] "By the end of the eighteenth century, the House of Rothschild had become one of the most successful financial institutions the world has ever known. Its meteoric rise can be attributed to the great industry and shrewdness of the five brothers who established themselves in various capitals of Europe and forged the world's first international financial network. As pioneers in the practice of lending money to governments, they soon learned that this provided unique opportunities to parlay wealth into political power as well. Before long, most of the princes and kings of Europe had come within their influence. The Rothschilds also had mastered the art of smuggling on a grand scale, often with the tacit approval of the governments whose laws they violated. This was perceived by all parties as an unofficial bonus for providing needed funding to those same governments, particular in time of war. The fact that different branches of the Rothschild network also might be providing funds for the enemy was pragmatically ignored. Thus, a time-honored practice among financiers was born: profiting from both sides. The Rothschilds operated a highly efficient intelligence gathering system which provided them with advanced knowledge of important events, knowledge which was invaluable for investment decisions. When an exhausted Rothschild courier delivered the first news of the Battle of Waterloo, Nathan was able to deceive the London bond traders into a selling panic, and that allowed him to acquire the dominant holding of England's entire debt at but a tiny fraction of its worth. A study of these and similar events reveals a personality profile, not just of the Rothschilds, but of a special breed of international financiers whose success typically is built upon certain character traits. Those include a cold objectivity, immunity to patriotism, and indifference to the human condition. That profile is the basis for proposing a theoretical strategy, called the Rothschild Formula, which motivates such men to propel governments into war for profits they yield. This formula most likely has never been consciously phrased as it appears here, but subconscious motivations and personality traits work together to implement it nevertheless. As long as the mechanism of central banking exists, it will be to such men of irresistible temptation to convert debt into perpetual war and war into perpetual debt. In the following chapters we shall track the distinctive footprint of the Rothschild Formula as it leads up to our own doorstep in the present day [...]" 

Exposé:  "Federal Reserve Is Still Paying Big Banks Not To Lend Money" [08/27/11] "One of the most outrageous "open secrets" of U.S. government policy these days is that the Federal Reserve is still paying big banks not to lend money. And it's doing that while screwing average Americans who have been responsible and lived within their means. Huh? Seriously: The Federal Reserve is quietly continuing with one of the many outrageous bank-bailout programs it initiated during the financial crisis--the one in which it pays big banks interest on their "excess reserves." [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report - Myotonic Markets (E176) " [08/27/11] [27:26] "This week Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert discuss the Fainting Bankers of Wall Street and the myotonic markets they inspire. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Chris Martenson about the insolvency of the banking system and about Dr. Bernanke’s misdiagnosis of the cause of the financial crisis.

Commentary:  "Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal" By Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone [08/26/11] "A power play is underway in the foreclosure arena, according to the New York Times. On the one side is Eric Schneiderman, the New York Attorney General, who is conducting his own investigation into the era of securitizations – the practice of chopping up assets like mortgages and converting them into saleable securities – that led up to the financial crisis of 2007-2008. On the other side is the Obama administration, the banks, and all the other state attorneys general. This second camp has cooked up a deal that would allow the banks to walk away with just a seriously discounted fine from a generation of fraud that led to millions of people losing their homes. [...]"  Related: "Attorney General of N.Y. Is Said to Face Pressure on Bank Foreclosure Deal" "Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, has come under increasing pressure from the Obama administration to drop his opposition to a wide-ranging state settlement with banks over dubious foreclosure practices, according to people briefed on discussions about the deal.  [...]"  

PressTV: "America Headed Towards A Second Banking Crisis?" [08/26/11] [2:36]  "The earthquake aside, it's been a shaky week for Bank of America. And the financial giants' momentous problems are casting a shadow over the entire US financial system. [...]"  

MSM:"Credit Default Swaps Indicating Market Crash May Be Weeks Away" [08/26/11] "A more severe crash than the one triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers could be on the way, according to alarm signals in the credit markets. Insurance on the debt of several major European banks has now hit historic levels, higher even than those recorded during financial crisis caused by the US financial group’s implosion nearly three years ago. Credit default swaps on the bonds of Royal Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Intesa Sanpaolo, among others, flashed warning signals on Wednesday. Credit default swaps (CDS) on RBS were trading at 343.54 basis points, meaning the annual cost to insure £10m of the state-backed lender’s bonds against default is now £343,540. The cost of insuring RBS bonds is now higher than before the taxpayer was forced to step in and rescue the bank in October 2008, and shows the recent dramatic downturn in sentiment among credit investors towards banks. [...]"  Related: Creation of Credit Derivatives  Meet the woman at J.P. Morgan who created these concepts and assured the destruction of everything.

MSM: "Bernanke Signals No New Stimulus" [08/26/11] "The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, signals that the US central bank will not take any immediate action to boost growth. [...]"   Related: "World Markets Are Turning Positive After Bernanke Bust And GDP Miss" | "Bernanke's Jackson Hole Speech - Full Text & Highlights"

US Politics: "Former AIG Chief Hank Greenberg To Host Rick Perry's First Wall St. Fundraiser" [08/26/11]   "After largely shying away from Wall Street and Washington money, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is headed to New York this September to test the waters with the city's Republican donors. Politico reports that the 2012 Republican candidate will be in the city for Sept. 19 and 20 for at least three events — including a fundraiser hosted by Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the former head of AIG and a big name in the New York donor network. Incidentally, President Barack Obama will be in New York on the same days, raising money for his own 2012 presidential campaign. Sources told Politico that Perry's other stops will also include an event with members of the Orthodox Jewish community. Perry's staunch support for Israel is already a recurring theme in his nascent campaign. So far, Perry's fundraising efforts have focused on deep-pocket donors west of the Mississippi. But his campaign acknowledges that he needs to broaden his donor networks to adapt to federal campaign finance restrictions. [...]"  

ProPublica: "Billions Meant for Struggling Homeowners May Pay Down Deficit Instead" [08/26/11] "With housing prices dropping sharply [1], and foreclosure filings against more than 1 million properties [2] in the first half of this year, the Obama administration is scrambling for ways to help homeowners. One place they won't be looking: an estimated $30 billion from the bailout that was slated to help homeowners but is likely to remain unspent. [...]"  Note: Incredible incompetence.

MSM: "Madoff: Insider Trading Rife On Wall Street" [08/26/11] "Bernard Madoff, who ran one of the biggest Wall Street frauds in history, says that many of his former colleagues in the financial industry are also crooks. In a prison interview with Fox Business Network published Thursday, the Ponzi scheme mastermind claimed that insider trading "goes on at every major firm's Prop Desk and at every level of the industry in plain sight." "It is unfortunate, to say the least, that the financial services industry is so corrupt and stacked against the typical investor," he told Fox in an email. [...]"  

MSM: "Bernanke Jackson Hole Speech Could Rattle Markets" [08/25/11] "Whether the Federal Reserve likes it or not, its unprecedented monetary polices over the last few years have conditioned the financial markets to expect a helping hand when the going gets tough. That's why all eyes will be on Ben Bernanke, the central bank's chairman, when he speaks Friday at the Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. With the stock market mired in a month-long slump and both the U.S. and euro zone economies in danger of sliding into recession, investors are bracing for a possible repeat of last year's performance, when Bernanke hinted the Fed would act if conditions deteriorated. [...]"  

MSM: "S&P Board Fires CEO For Telling The Truth, To Be Replaced With COO Of Citibank" [08/25/11] "Following years of pandering to client demands, and assigning trillions of dollars in fixed income securities with whatever rating money bought (among other things, a factor to the credit bubble and its subsequent implosion) S&P finally tried to do the right thing and tell the truth. However in this case it picked if not the worst, then certainly the most hypocriticial credit in the world to expose – the US itself. Sure enough two weeks after the downgrade, someone made the phone call and the CEO Deven Sharma is no more. As for the kick square in the gonads: Sherma will be replaced with the COO of…you know it… the bank which demanded tens of billions in secret Fed bailout loans itself, Citibank, and whose existence is inextricably tied to America not seeing any more downgrades ever again. As the FT reports, “The McGraw-Hill board made the decision to replace Mr Sharma at a meeting on Monday, where it also discussed an ongoing strategic review.” Alas, this is nothing but a case study of modern corporate reality in America: if you are not with the status quo, you are against it, and you are promptly booted out of it: anyone who does not share the visions of one glorious future built on ponzi schemes, houses of cards, and games of three card monte, will be promptly suicided, either physically or professionally. We expect that this flagrant example of how the powers that be will deal with any dissenters will instill the fear of god in anyone at either Moodys (or the French sycphants from Fitch) and nobody will ever again menton the words “US” and “downgrade” in the same sentence. [...]"  

Commentary: "Financial Meltdown: The Case Against the Ratings Agencies" [08/24/11]   "In today’s looming confrontation the ratings agencies are playing the political role of “enforcer” as the gatekeepers to credit, to put pressure on Iceland, Greece and even the United States to pursue creditor-oriented policies that lead inevitably to financial crises. These crises in turn force debtor governments to sell off their assets under distress conditions. In pursuing this guard-dog service to the world’s bankers, the ratings agencies are escalating a political strategy they have long been refined over a generation in the corrupt arena of local U.S. politics.  [...] In 1936, as part of the New Deal’s reform of America’s financial markets, regulators forbid banks and institutional money managers to buy securities deemed “speculative” by “recognized rating manuals.” Insurance companies, pension funds and mutual funds subject to public regulation are required to “take into account” the views of the credit ratings agencies, provided them with a government-sanctioned monopoly. These agencies make their money by offering their “opinions” (for which they have never been legally liable) as to the payment prospects of various grades of security, from AAA (as secure government debt, the top rating because governments always can print the money to pay) down to various depths of junk. Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s and Fitch focus mainly on stocks and on corporate, state and local bond issues. They make money twice off the same transaction when cities and states balance their budgets by spinning off public enterprises into new corporate entities issuing new bonds and stocks. This business incentive gives the ratings agencies an antipathy to governments that finance themselves on a pay-as-you-go basis (as Adam Smith endorsed) by raising taxes on real estate and other property, income or sales taxes instead of borrowing to cover their spending. The effect of this inherent bias is not to give an opinion about what is economically best for a locality, but rather what makes the most profit for themselves. Localities are pressured when their rising debt levels lead to a financial stringency. Banks pull back their credit lines, and urge cities and states to pay down their debts by selling off their most viable public enterprises. Offering opinions on this practice has become a big business for the ratings agencies. So it is understandable why their business model opposes policies – and political candidates – that support the idea of basing public financing on taxation rather than by borrowing. This self-interest colors their “opinions.” [...]"  

MSM: "Goldman Gets Subpoena From NY Prosecutor" [08/24/11] "Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), the fifth- biggest U.S. bank by assets, received a subpoena from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office seeking information on the firm’s activities leading into the credit crisis, according to two people familiar with the matter. The request relates to the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report on Wall Street’s role in the housing market collapse, which accused New York-based Goldman Sachs of misleading buyers of mortgage-linked investments, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the inquiry isn’t public. The Senate report was referred to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are also investigating. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report - Bankers and Aliens (E175) " [08/23/11]  [27:54] "Every week Max Keiser looks at all the scandal behind the financial news headlines.  This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, notice that looking back is not an option when all the evidence has been destroyed by the SEC and Max tries to explain the gold / Treasury conundrum. In the second half of the show Max talks to Catherine Austin Fitts about exponential fraud and the financial coup d’etat.

Exposé: "New Leaks Reveal Insider Tips On S&P's U.S. Credit Downgrade To Killer-Drone Firm" [08/23/11] "We live in an age where insider deals, conflicts of interest, revolving doors between "regulators" and the "regulated" (lubricated with oceans of cash) accompanies the generalized looting of social wealth by deviant capitalist elites. That such behavior by our corporate masters no longer raise an eyebrow, let alone elicit action by authorities charged with stopping criminal miscreants destroying other people's lives, is an unmistakable sign that the much-vaunted "free market" system, staring into an abyss of its own creation, has entered a terminal phase. It now appears that insiders at Standard and Poor's or the Treasury Department, take your pick, may have leaked information to privileged clients on the recent U.S. credit downgrade, with confirmation coming from a surprising source. Last week, AntiSec cyber-guerrillas (a loose alliance amongst individuals affiliated with LulzSec and Anonymous) released a 1GB cache of emails filched from security contractor Vanguard Defense Industries (VDI). Previously Anonymous and LulzSec have wrapped their keyboards around defense grifters Booz Allen Hamilton, ManTech International, NATO, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, InfraGard (a "public-private" security alliance amongst corporate heavy-hitters and the Bureau), the CIA, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (a so-called "fusion center" staffed by cops, federal agents, private contractors and the U.S. military), the Bay Area Rapid Transit agency (BART), Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency, PBS, Fox News, and repressive governments such as Egypt, Tunisia and Zimbabwe. Their latest campaign targeted VDI, a Texas-based firm, which specializes in the "development and deployment" of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS, killer drones). VDI "draws on specialized experience of senior aerospace engineers, former military special operations officers, military instructor pilots as well as retired Senior Executive Service Federal Agents," claiming their "background and operational knowledge has afforded us the unique vision to provide a platform that will extend the security and response capabilities of any organization," according to a blurb on their web site. [...]"  

Flashback: "Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail?" By Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone [08/23/11] "Financial crooks brought down the world's economy — but the feds are doing more to protect them than to prosecute them [...] Over drinks at a bar on a dreary, snowy night in Washington this past month, a former Senate investigator laughed as he polished off his beer. "Everything's fucked up, and nobody goes to jail," he said. "That's your whole story right there. Hell, you don't even have to write the rest of it. Just write that." I put down my notebook. "Just that?" "That's right," he said, signaling to the waitress for the check. "Everything's fucked up, and nobody goes to jail. You can end the piece right there." Nobody goes to jail. This is the mantra of the financial-crisis era, one that saw virtually every major bank and financial company on Wall Street embroiled in obscene criminal scandals that impoverished millions and collectively destroyed hundreds of billions, in fact, trillions of dollars of the world's wealth — and nobody went to jail. Nobody, that is, except Bernie Madoff, a flamboyant and pathological celebrity con artist, whose victims happened to be other rich and famous people."  Related: "Cenk Uygur, Matt Taibbi, Why Isn't Wall Street In Jail?" [9:19] "Taibbi's devastating new article in Rolling Stone talks about the corrupt and cozy relationship that characterizes the revolving door between banks on Wall Street and the agencies that exist to regulate them. In the clip above, Taibbi sits down with Cenk.  [...]"  

MSM: " Goldman Sachs CEO Blankfein Hires Defense Lawyer as Feds Probe His Role in Mortgage Meltdown" [08/23/11] "Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein has hired a high-profile defense attorney, Reuters reported shortly before the market closed on Monday, sending the shares down sharply. Blankfein is not facing any civil or criminal charges, but various government agencies, including the Justice Department, are inquiring into the role Goldman Sachs played during the mortgage meltdown. Blankfein has hired defense attorney Reid Weingarten of Steptoe & Johnson. Weingarten has represented numerous high-profile defendants, including Bernard Ebbers. [...]" Related: "Senator Clair McCaskill To Goldman Sachs Executives: "You Were The Bookie AND The House" [04/23/10] [1:10] "Goldman Sachs executives were not received with a warm welcome by the members of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. At a hearing to discuss whether or not Goldman defrauded investors, McCaskill had strong words for the four witnesses: "You are the bookie. You are the house. You have less oversight and less regulation as you all began this Wild, Wild West of tranches, waterfalls, residual warehousing...You had less oversight than a pit boss in Las Vegas."" [...]" Related: "Senator McCaskill Blasts Goldman Sachs Execs"   [8:05] (Extended Version from April 2010) with related videos. 

MSM: "Gold Hits Record As Dollar Dips" [08/23/11]   "As concerns grow about a slowdown in the global economy, fears of the depreciating dollar value have led to an unprecedented increase in gold price.  [...]" 

Financial Warfare: "Bundesbank: "Mein Entschluss: Anschluss-Plus" - Germany Reveals The European Annexation Blueprints" [08/22/11] "Last week the governments of Germany and France called for a single government to rule over Europe to deal with the European debt crisis. Today, Germany moves the game plan forward by issuing a statement outlining their demands for indebted European nation’s to secure banker bailouts. In a statement that is nothing short of a plan to roll out the Fourth Reich, Germany is demanding nation’s give an “extensive surrender of national fiscal sovereignty to secure banker bailouts. [...]"  

Exposé: "Bloomberg Reveals Massive Corruption In The Private Federal Reserve" [08/22/11] "When the mainstream media is reporting stories like this, you know it is so serious that it cannot be ignored, even if they wanted to. Today Bloomberg has revealed that the “Wall Street Aristocracy” received a staggering $1.2 trillion in loans. Yes, you read that right: $1.2 trillion. The private Federal Reserve calls these hand-outs to their corporate cronies “emergency loans” but in reality they are nothing more than friends giving friends unfathomable amounts of money in order to “keep the economy from plunging into depression”.  [...]"

Commentary: "Webster Tarpley : Europe Creates An Anti Derivatives Bloc" World Crisis Radio, Aug 20 Podcast Mp3 [08/22/11] "Europe creates an Anti Derivatives Bloc , The British are a Trojan horse of the United States inside Europe , we will see a worldwide backlash against the financial predators and corrupt rating agencies ,these agencies are corrupt they are deregulated ....we see the destruction of the nation state .. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Banks Hiding Commercial Real Estate Losses By Laundering Bad Loans Through The Federal Reserve" [08/22/11] "Part of the massive challenges facing our brittle financial system is the opaque and secretive nature of the Federal Reserve. It is difficult enough to confront a challenge with all information present but make it purposely convoluted and dark and we have a crisis of historical proportions. The recent market volatility is simply a dire reflection of a system unsure of what is going on. Markets despise distrust and that is what we are finding. A few years ago we were told that the banking system was fine yet we now have data showing over $1.2 trillion in emergency loans were made to countless too big to fail banks. In other words we were being lied to by both the Federal Reserve and the giant banks that largely created and spread this financial crisis like wildfire. [...]" 

Commentary: "US Gov't Fraudulently Selling Default Insurance, or Put Options, On Its Own Debt, In Order To Lower Interest Rates" [08/22/11] [12:51]  

MSM: " Tim Geithner Convinced NY AG Andrew Cuomo To Back Off Wall Street Prosecutions" [08/21/11] "It is a question asked repeatedly across America: why, in the aftermath of a financial mess that generated hundreds of billions in losses, have no high-profile participants in the disaster been prosecuted? Answering such a question — the equivalent of determining why a dog did not bark — is anything but simple. But a private meeting in mid-October 2008 between Timothy F. Geithner, then-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Andrew M. Cuomo, New York’s attorney general at the time, illustrates the complexities of pursuing legal cases in a time of panic. At the Fed, which oversees the nation’s largest banks, Mr. Geithner worked with the Treasury Department on a large bailout fund for the banks and led efforts to shore up the American International Group, the giant insurer. His focus: stabilizing world financial markets. Mr. Cuomo, as a Wall Street enforcer, had been questioning banks and rating agencies aggressively for more than a year about their roles in the growing debacle, and also looking into bonuses at A.I.G. Friendly since their days in the Clinton administration, the two met in Mr. Cuomo’s office in Lower Manhattan, steps from Wall Street and the New York Fed. According to three people briefed at the time about the meeting, Mr. Geithner expressed concern about the fragility of the financial system. [...]"  

Commentary: "Former Moody's Staffer Blows The Whistle: We Were Pressured To Give Glowing Ratings To Derivatives" [08/21/11] "An ex-Moody's Corp derivatives analyst said the credit-rating agency intimidated and pressured analysts to issue glowing ratings of toxic complex, structured mortgage securities. In a 78-page letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, William Harrington outlined how the committees that make the ratings decisions are not independent and how managers often intimidated analysts. [...]"  Related: "Former Senior Analyst At Moody’s: Agency Rotten To Core With Conflicts, Corruption, And Greed" [08/20/11] "A former senior analyst at Moody’s has gone public with his story of how one of the country’s most important rating agencies is corrupted to the core. The analyst, William J. Harrington, worked for Moody’s for 11 years, from 1999 until his resignation last year. From 2006 to 2010, Harrington was a Senior Vice President in the derivative products group, which was responsible for producing many of the disastrous ratings Moody’s issued during the housing bubble. Harrington has made his story public in the form of a 78-page “comment” to the SEC’s proposed rules about rating agency reform, which he submitted to the agency on August 8th. The comment is a scathing indictment of Moody’s processes, conflicts of interests, and management, and it will likely make Harrington a star witness at any future litigation or hearings on this topic. The primary conflict of interest at Moody’s is well known: The company is paid by the same “issuers” (banks and companies) whose securities it is supposed to objectively rate. This conflict pervades every aspect of Moody’s operations, Harrington says. It incentivizes everyone at the company, including analysts, to give Moody’s clients the ratings they want, lest the clients fire Moody’s and take their business to other ratings agencies. Moody’s analysts whose conclusions prevent Moody’s clients from getting what they want, Harrington says, are viewed as “impeding deals” and, thus, harming Moody’s business. These analysts are often transferred, disciplined, “harassed,” or fired. In short, Harrington describes a culture of conflict that is so pervasive that it often renders Moody’s ratings useless at best and harmful at worst. [...]" 

Commentary:  "Document Shredding: Why SEC's Defense Won't Fly" By Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone [08/20/11] "Just a quick note about the "Shredded Justice" story, as I’ve had a couple of questions about some of the SEC’s responses to the story. Several readers pointed to this story in which SEC spokesman John Nester said this: "We do keep records of our MUI's and they're available to our investigators to learn about previous work on matters that have been reviewed." Just so readers understand, the SEC in my communications with them on this story drew a distinction between the words records and documents. According to the SEC, they do maintain "records" of Matters Under Inquiry, and by that they appear to mean the line-item entries of the sort Darcy Flynn forwarded to members of congress, an example of which might be: [...]"  

MSM: "French Banks Poised For An Exceptionally Spectacular Crash: Sogen Is Leveraged 4-6 X’s The US Banks" [08/20/11]   Note: Max Keiser: "I think there is a decent chance this important next step takes place outside of Jackson Hole. It could happen this Sunday night. If I’m wrong, and we get nothing, the European funding markets are going to collapse next week. It will be very difficult to reverse the damage that this will cause. All the central bankers know this. They know that there is not much time left to act. They can’t wait another two weeks." Related: "Jackson Hole Summit to Determine Fate of the US Dollar "   More Information 

Commentary:  "The Cartel Strikes Back: S&P Downgrades Venezuela to B+" [08/20/11] "You didn't think that the cartel would just sit there and politely hand Mr. Chavez his 210 tons of gold back now, did you? The first retaliatory shot has been fired in the great gold war. In another Friday night shocker, S&P tonight downgraded Venezuela's credit rating to B+ from BB-. Shockingly, S&P actually admited that the reason for the downgrade was Hugo Chavez demanding Venezuela's gold be repatriated from the BOE (kept by JP Morgan and friends)!S&P "expressed concern" that Venezuela's gold will no longer be held at The Morgue.  [...]"  Related: "Hugo Chavez Demands 99 Tons of Venezuelan Gold Returned From the Bank of England/ JP Morgan"  

Film Clip: "Rollover-1981- Depiction of Global Worldwide Economic Collapse in 2011" [08/20/11] [7:48]"This is what the Complete and Total Economic Collapse of the United States and the World looks like on film. [...]"  

Exposé:  "Goldman VP Peter Haller Changed Name, Now a Top Congressional Staffer To Darrell Issa Working To Ease Dodd-Frank Derivatives Requirements On Goldman Sachs" [08/19/11] "Has Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) turned the House Oversight Committee into a bank lobbying firm with the power to subpoena and pressure government regulators? ThinkProgress has found that a Goldman Sachs vice president changed his name, then quietly went to work for Issa to coordinate his effort to thwart regulations that affect Goldman Sachs’ bottom line. In July, Issa sent a letter to top government regulators demanding that they back off and provide more justification for new margin requirements for financial firms dealing in derivatives. A standard practice on Capitol Hill is to end a letter to a government agency with contact information for the congressional staffer responsible for working on the issue for the committee. In most cases, the contact staffer is the one who actually writes such letters. With this in mind, it is important to note that the Issa letter ended with contact information for Peter Haller, a staffer hired this year to work for Issa on the Oversight Committee. Issa’s demand to regulators is exactly what banks have been wishing for. Indeed, Goldman Sachs has spent millions this year trying to slow down the implementation of the new rules. In the letter, Issa explicitly mentions that the new derivative regulations might hurt brokers “such as Goldman Sachs.” Haller, as he is now known, went by the name Peter Simonyi until three years ago. Simonyi adopted his mother’s maiden name Haller in 2008 just as he was leaving Goldman Sachs as a vice president of the bank’s commodity compliance group. In a few short years, Haller went from being in charge of dealing with regulators for Goldman Sachs to working for Congress in a position where he made official demands from regulators overseeing his old firm. [...]"  

MSM: "AIG Sues Bank Of America For $10 Billion Over ‘Massive Mortgage Fraud’" [08/18/11] " The insurer American International Group Inc (AIG:nyse) is suing Bank of America Corp (BAC:nyse) to recover more than $10 billion of losses from a “massive fraud” on mortgage debt, deepening the morass of litigation faced by the largest U.S. bank. AIG, still largely owned by taxpayers after $182.3 billion of government bailouts, is the latest of a growing number of investors filing lawsuits seeking to hold banks responsible for losses on troubled mortgages that contributed to the financial crisis. The AIG complaint, being filed in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, accuses Bank of America and its Countrywide and Merrill Lynch units of misrepresenting the quality of mortgages placed in securities and sold to investors. Reuters obtained a copy of the complaint. AIG is preparing similar lawsuits against other large banks. [...]"  

MSM: "US Inquiry Eyes S&P Ratings of Mortgages" [08/18/11] "The Justice Department is investigating whether the nation’s largest credit ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, improperly rated dozens of mortgage securities in the years leading up to the financial crisis, according to two people interviewed by the government and another briefed on such interviews.  The investigation began before Standard & Poor’s cut the United States’ AAA credit rating this month, but it is likely to add fuel to the political firestorm that has surrounded that action. Lawmakers and some administration officials have since questioned the agency’s secretive process, its credibility and the competence of its analysts, claiming to have found an error in its debt calculations. In the mortgage inquiry, the Justice Department has been asking about instances in which the company’s analysts wanted to award lower ratings on mortgage bonds but may have been overruled by other S.& P. business managers, according to the people with knowledge of the interviews. If the government finds enough evidence to support such a case, which is likely to be a civil case, it could undercut S.& P.’s longstanding claim that its analysts act independently from business concerns.[...] During the boom years, S.& P. and other ratings agencies reaped record profits as they bestowed their highest ratings on bundles of troubled mortgage loans, which made the mortgages appear less risky and thus more valuable. They failed to anticipate the deterioration that would come in the housing market and devastate the financial system. [...] "  

Commentary:  "Is The SEC Covering Up Wall Street Crimes?" By Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone [08/18/11] "A whistleblower claims that over the past two decades, the agency has destroyed records of thousands of investigations, whitewashing the files of some of the nation's worst financial criminals. Imagine a world in which a man who is repeatedly investigated for a string of serious crimes, but never prosecuted, has his slate wiped clean every time the cops fail to make a case. No more Lifetime channel specials where the murderer is unveiled after police stumble upon past intrigues in some old file – "Hey, chief, didja know this guy had two wives die falling down the stairs?" No more burglary sprees cracked when some sharp cop sees the same name pop up in one too many witness statements. This is a different world, one far friendlier to lawbreakers, where even the suspicion of wrongdoing gets wiped from the record. That, it now appears, is exactly how the Securities and Exchange Commission has been treating the Wall Street criminals who cratered the global economy a few years back. For the past two decades, according to a whistle-blower at the SEC who recently came forward to Congress, the agency has been systematically destroying records of its preliminary investigations once they are closed. By whitewashing the files of some of the nation's worst financial criminals, the SEC has kept an entire generation of federal investigators in the dark about past inquiries into insider trading, fraud and market manipulation against companies like Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and AIG. With a few strokes of the keyboard, the evidence gathered during thousands of investigations – "18,000 ... including Madoff," as one high-ranking SEC official put it during a panicked meeting about the destruction – has apparently disappeared forever into the wormhole of history. [...]"  Related: See below.

MSM: "SEC May Have Destroyed Crucial Probe Data: Senator" [08/18/11] "A US senator said Wednesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission may have destroyed thousands of documents related to probes into possible violations by major banks and hedge funds. Senior Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said that "an agency whistle-blower" sent him a letter that described the SEC's allegedly unlawful destruction of records related to more than 9,000 informal investigations. The documents included cases arising from the 2008-2009 financial crisis, including Goldman Sachs, AIG, and the Bernard Madoff pyramid fund, according to the whistle-blower, Grassley said. The whistle-blower, 13-year SEC lawyer Darcy Flynn, said the destroyed records related to "matters under inquiry" or MUIs -- probes that precede the launch of formal investigations. "From what I've seen, it looks as if the SEC might have sanctioned some level of case-related document destruction," Grassley said in a statement. "It doesn't make sense that an agency responsible for investigations would want to get rid of potential evidence." According to a letter from Grassley to SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro, Flynn said some of the destroyed documents related to Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers, and SAC Capital -- many of which played a major role in the 2008 crisis -- as well as Madoff, jailed for the biggest financial scam in US history. The destruction of such documents "would appear to greatly handicap the SEC's ability to create patterns in complex cases and calls into question the SEC's ability to properly retain and catalog documents," Grassley said. An article published online Wednesday by Rolling Stone magazine said Flynn had presented his evidence of document destruction dating as far back as 1993 to three congressional committees in recent months. The magazine suggested that the document destruction helped cover up wrongdoing in the securities and banking industries. Flynn "paints a startling picture of a federal police force that has effectively been conquered by the financial criminals it is charged with investigating," Rolling Stone said. "In at least one case, according to Flynn, investigators at the SEC found [...]"  

Trends: "Silent Great Depression-Style Run On Greek Banks Spreads To Banks Across Europe" [08/18/11]   "Economic data shows the silent run on Greece banks has spread into a massive number of people pulling their money out of banks all across Europe. [...]" 

MSM: "Venezuela Nationalizes Entire Gold Industry " [08/18/11]   "Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday he will nationalize the gold industry, including extraction and processing, and use its output to boost the country's international reserves. The move follows a dispute between his government and foreign miners who say the rules limiting the amount of gold that can be exported from the South American nation hurt their efforts to secure financing and create jobs. Toronto-listed Rusoro, owned by Russia's Agapov family, is the only large gold miner operating in Venezuela. It produced 100,000 ounces last year. The gold industry will be just the latest part of the economy to be put under state control by the socialist leader, who said he would issue the necessary decree in the coming days and called on the military to help control the sector. "I have here the laws allowing the state to exploit gold and all related activities ... we are going to nationalize the gold and we are going to convert it, among other things, into international reserves because gold continues to increase in value," Chavez said in a phone call to state television. [...]"  Related: See below.

Commentary: "Venezuela May Move Reserves From U.S. to ‘Allied’ Countries, Says Lawmaker" [08/17/11] "Venezuela may transfer billions of dollars in cash and gold reserves held in U.S. and European banks to financial institutions in “allied” countries, opposition lawmaker Julio Montoya said today. Montoya, speaking on the Globovision network from the National Assembly, said the Finance Ministry wants to transfer more than $6 billion of cash reserves to countries including China, Russia and Brazil. Of Venezuela’s $18 billion in gold reserves, $11 billion is held abroad and could be transported back to Venezuela, Montoya said, citing a document he said he obtained from the ministry.  [...]" Related: Venezuela May Move Billions Of Dollars Of Gold And Cash Out Of U.S. : Comment: "I can't imagine the U.S. just letting the gold go, because they most likely have leased or sold it. The gold the U.S. will eventually ship (unless they decide to go to war with Venezuela before hand, just so they can freeze and keep the cash and gold) will most likely be tungsten filled. I would advise Chavez to have the gold tested when/if they get it back in the country. So, now the question comes, what is the U.S. going to think of to freeze Venezuela's assets (11 billion gold and 6 billion cash) in the United States, before they actually have to ship it back to Venezuela? So watch the U.S. rhetoric gaining ground against Venezuela soon, I would assume they will start ramping it up to be able to keep the gold and cash. If the U.S. does actually release the gold, I would think it will take a very long time while the U.S. thinks of every way to not have to give back Venezuela what is rightfully theirs and the U.S. was trusted with to store. [...]" 

MSM: "S&P Inside Job? ‘Somebody Made Big Bucks On US Downgrade’" [08/16/11]   [1:28] "With aftershocks of the U.S. credit rating downgrade still reverbrating around the world – Washington has decided to go after those behind the mark down. Rating agency Standard and Poor’s, along with its parent company, are now in the crosshairs of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. They’re being investigated for overestimating U.S. debt by some 2 trillion dollars, amid much more serious allegations of insider trading. News of the downgrade is reported to have leaked to certain market power-players hours before it became official. And, as financial analyst Karl Denninger explains – it’s likely to lead to a much wider crackdown on rating agencies. [...]"  Note: See below for a proactive step by Fitch:

MSM: "Fitch Affirms US Triple-A Rating, Outlook Stable" [08/16/11] "Fitch Ratings said on Tuesday it affirmed the United States' top-notch credit rating at Triple-A, giving the world's largest economy a reprieve after it was downgraded by Standard & Poor's little more than a week ago. Fitch said the outlook for the rating was stable. "The affirmation of the US 'AAA' sovereign rating reflects the fact that the key pillars of US's exceptional creditworthiness remains intact: its pivotal role in the global financial system and the flexible, diversified and wealthy economy that provides its revenue base," Fitch said in its statement. "Monetary and exchange rate flexibility further enhances the capacity of the economy to absorb and adjust to 'shocks'." However, Fitch warned the outlook for the rating depended on the economy and the political process in Washington to reduce the public debt. It said an upward revision to medium to long term projections for public debt either as a result of weaker than expected economic recovery or failure of the joint committee to agree on at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction would likely put the United States on negative outlook. "The rating action would most likely be a revision of the rating Outlook to Negative, which would indicate a greater than 50 percent chance of a downgrade over a two-year horizon. Less likely would be a one-notch downgrade," the statement said.  [...]"  

MSM: "Radical Overhaul Of Military Retirement Eyed" [08/16/11] "The military retirement system has long been considered untouchable - along with Social Security and Medicare. But in these days of soaring deficits, it seems everything is a potential target for budget cutters. A Pentagon-sponsored study says military pensions are no longer untouchable - they're unaffordable. CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports high-level, closely-held meetings are taking place at the Pentagon regarding a radical proposal to overhaul retirement for the nation's 1.4 million service members - a bedrock guarantee of military service. The proposal comes from an influential panel of military advisors called the Defense Business Board. Their plan, laid out in a 24-page presentation "Modernizing the Military Retirement System," would eliminate the familiar system under which anyone who serves 20 years is eligible for retirement at half their salary. Instead, they'd get a 401k-style plan with government contributions. They'd have to wait until normal retirement age. It would save $250 billion dollars over 20 years.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Debt Committee Members Represent Defense-Industry States" [08/16/11] "The members of the so-called supercommittee – the group of six Republicans and six Democrats tasked with producing a deficit-cutting plan – represent states where the biggest military contractors build missiles, aircraft, jet fighters and tanks while employing tens of thousands of workers. This conflict of interest makes serious cuts to defense budgets increasingly unlikely. The panel has until Thanksgiving to come up with recommendations. If it deadlocks or if Congress rejects its proposal, $1.2 trillion in automatic, across-the-board cuts kick in. Up to $500 billion would hit the Pentagon. If it comes up with enough viable cuts to any part of the federal budget, defense could be spared that amount of cuts. [...]" 

MSM: "US Foreign Investment Balance Shrunk In June" [08/16/11] "The US balance on incoming long-term foreign investment shrunk in June as the political showdown over the country's debt ceiling intensified, Treasury Department data showed Monday. There was a surge in outgoing investment into foreign long-term securities, while incoming investment slowed, leaving just a $3.7 billion positive balance, the lowest level in recent months. [...]" 

Commentary: "The Rich Are Different - and Not in a Good Way, Studies Suggest" [08/14/11] "Psychologist and social scientist Dacher Keltner says the rich really are different, and not in a good way: Their life experience makes them less empathetic, less altruistic, and generally more selfish.  In fact, he says, the philosophical battle over economics, taxes, debt ceilings and defaults that are now roiling the stock market is partly rooted in an upper class "ideology of self-interest." "We have now done 12 separate studies measuring empathy in every way imaginable, social behavior in every way, and some work on compassion and it's the same story," he said. "Lower class people just show more empathy, more prosocial behavior, more compassion, no matter how you look at it." [...]"   Note: It's comparing reincarnates with incarnates.

World Economy Update: "Webster Tarpley" [08/14/11]   Latest 8-Part Update on 8/13/11. Very well done.

MSM: "U.S. Economic Woes Loom Over Biden Visit to China" [08/14/11] "As Mr. Biden prepares to depart for China on Tuesday, a new uncertainty looms over relations. Chinese leaders are asking sharp questions about the strength of the American economy and American leadership, because of the government’s struggle to meet its debt obligations and the partisan schisms and political paralysis that turned a problem into a crisis. Mr. Biden postponed his original departure date in July to help hammer out the agreement that forestalled default on some obligations but failed to avert a downgrade of America’s AAA credit rating by Standard & Poor’s. Xinhua, the state news agency, published a commentary demanding that the United States “cure its addiction to debts” and “live within its means.” The uncertainty about America goes straight to China’s pockets: it holds more than $1.1 trillion in United States Treasury securities, making it the country’s largest foreign creditor. Some ordinary Chinese have publicly criticized the Chinese leadership for investing so much in American government securities. Europe’s continuing sovereign debt miseries, the specter of a possible double-dip recession in the United States, and the turmoil in global markets last week have only heightened anxiety in China, whose economic growth depends to a large measure on its vast export sector. Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Peking University, said he attended a meeting at the Ministry of Finance last week where officials were wringing their hands. “The feeling of everyone was that the world economy has just suddenly become very unpredictable,” he said. “No one wants to see the U.S. economy keep going downhill and a new financial crisis. China and the U.S. are very important in keeping the global economy stable.” [...]"  

Commentary: "If the Market Crashes, Who Owns Enough Stock to Even Care?" [08/14/11] "Since 81% of all stocks are owned by the top 10%, a stock market crash has little effect on the bottom 90% of Americans. [...] It is assumed without question that the stock market is some quasi-sacrosanct barometer of the U.S. economy. But who even cares if the market crashes? Only the top 10% who own it. Yes, millions of (generally government) workers have an indirect stake in stocks and bonds via their state/union pension funds, but it's still informative to look at the distribution of who actually has a stake in the market's rise and fall."  

US Politics: "GOP Economic Policies Under Heavy Fire" [08/14/11] "The boasts of Congressional Republicans about their cost-cutting victories are ringing hollow to some well-known economists, financial analysts and corporate leaders, including some Republicans, who are expressing increasing alarm over Washington’s new austerity and anti-tax orthodoxy.  [...]" 

MSM: "Greece Expected To Default Within Six Months" [08/14/11] [4:45] "Jonathan Binder, chief investment officer at Consilium Investment Management, talks about the European sovereign debt crisis and the outlook for Greece  [...]"  Note: February 2012 

Commentary: "Russian Banker Steals Billions & Flees to . . . London" [08/14/11] "... The case of a former Russian senator, whose bank owes the state more than $1 billion, has grown into one of the biggest financial scandals in Russian history, exposing drastic drawbacks in the country's banking regulations. Russian businessmen making it onto the UK's rich list have become a common thing – just as Russian investigators, in turn, take an interest in their affairs. Sergey Pugachev has everything: a fortune in several banks, a couple of private jets and numerous properties – from the Cote d’Azur to London. Married to a Russo-British socialite, he was a guest at Prince Albert’s recent royal wedding in Monaco. Among the top ten richest people in the UK according to last year’s Sunday Times newspaper, Pugachev leads a life many would envy. He even made his wife a star of a TV advertising campaign in France for the grand French food store Hediard, which he owns. However, all that is hardly a consolation at home – in Russia – where he owes billions of rubles to his bank’s creditors.  [...]"  

Flashback: "Corruption, Culpability and “Short-Termism" [08/13/11] "People are increasingly collectively horrified at the extent of the fraud and corruption that lies at the heart of our financial and broader governance structures. They seem surprised, as if this were something new, when it has actually been growing in tandem with our credit hyper- expansion for decades. Corruption in complex systems never goes away, it merely waxes and wanes, and goes through phases where it is more or less visible. During long manic periods, all manner of abuses occur, but no one notices while the party continues, because no one wants to notice. As long as people generally have access to easy credit and the illusory wealth effect it brings, they don't ask hard questions and are largely oblivious to risk. Even if they lied on their own mortgage application, in order to qualify for a larger loan than they could really afford, and know others who did the same, they cannot seem to imagine what the consequences might one day be, both for themselves and for the financial system as a whole. To paraphrase one journalist who commented on the national pyramid bubble in Albania in the mid 1990s, when people feel they are operating within the bounds of properly structured criminality, they feel no personal responsibility and do not fear consequences. Both the predators and the prey are complicit in the development of a mania. Predators lent money into existence without regard to risk, since they were selling that on to Wall Street investors through securitization. Just like those they preyed upon by actively enticing people into loans they could not afford, they turned a blind eye to the blatant lies on mortgage applications, inflated assessments and other fraudulent aspects of the developing bubble. They made their money through fees anyway, but did not contemplate the creation of systemic risk which would ultimately bring them down as well. Both sides had an interest in the party continuing because it benefited them personally in the short term. [...]"  

Commentary: "EU Heading for Eurobond Clash Amid German Dread Over Looming Fiscal Union" [08/13/11] "European ratification of a reinforced crisis-management fund will act as a prelude to an even more divisive debate: whether to put more money into the pool and use it to borrow on behalf of all 17 euro states. The question of “eurobonds” or “fiscal union” -- toxic language in northern countries like Germany -- will force itself onto the agenda once the retooled rescue fund is in place as soon as next month. The trigger will be a European Commission feasibility study of jointly sold eurobonds, seen by a growing number of economists as the only way of guaranteeing to the markets that countries such as Italy won’t go bust. Unprecedented bailouts by governments and the European Central Bank have so far failed to stamp out the crisis that is menacing the region’s core members. “No single currency has ever survived without some form of debt mutualization,” said Simon Tilford, chief economist at the London-based Centre for European Reform, a research institute focused on European integration. “There’s an increasing recognition that that is the only way of stabilizing the euro zone.”  [...]"  

MSM: "Debt Sacks Rome: Italy Adopts Draconian Austerity Measures" [08/13/11]   "Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced a painful mix of tax increases and spending cuts on Friday to meet European Central Bank demands for action on shoring up Italy’s strained public finances. At an emergency evening cabinet meeting, the government adopted an austerity package worth 20 billion euros in 2012 and a further 25.5 billion euros the following year to bring the budget into balance in 2013. The measures ranged from a special levy on incomes above 90,000 euros to higher taxes on income from financial investments and cuts in the cost of government, notably through a cull in the number of local politicians. The ECB demanded accelerated deficit cuts from Italy as a condition for buying its bonds on the market after a sell-off sent Italian borrowing costs soaring and threatened to put the euro zone’s debt crisis on a new, unmanageable plane. Berlusconi, who frequently boasts of “never putting his hand in the pockets of Italians”, said he agreed to the tax increases only reluctantly and the decision made his “heart drip blood”. We are personally very pained to have to adopt these measures,” he told reporters after the cabinet had approved the plan. After days of criticism for a lack of clarity over how it intended to meet the balanced budget target, Berlusconi and Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti delivered a harsh dose of austerity for Italy’s fragile economy. Before the announcement, Italy’s biggest unions had pledged to oppose measures which hurt ordinary Italians including pensioners. “The tax hikes certainly won’t help the economy, which is already stagnating, and consumer confidence is sure to fall further,” said Raj Badiani, an economist at IHS Global Insight. “The new fiscal measures appear to be credible, but the real problem is on the reform front. We need a timeline for measures to liberalize the service sector and labour markets. [...]"  Related: "Debt Crisis - End of Democracy?" [9:00]

Concepts and Practices: "Short Selling Explained" [08/12/11] [3:20] "Following days of volatile activity, European markets rose today after France, Italy, Spain and Belgium imposed a temporary ban on the short-selling of financial shares. Investors who participate in short-selling borrow shares from other investors and sell them at current market prices. When the value of those shares drop, they buy them back at the new, lower price and return the shares to their original owners. Their profit is the difference between the price they sold the shares and the price they bought them back, minus lender fees. In essence, the goal of short-selling is to profit from the falling price of stock. Market analyst Aly-Khan Satchu explains to Al Jazeera's Tony Harris why short-selling can cause market problems." Note: In this video clip from Aljazeera, they admit that this phenomenon is, within their own laws, a 'criminal offense', stealing and converting other peoples property for a profit, yet the countries are only banning short selling for 15 days. It should be outlawed planetwide. Short selling was going on just before 9/11 with the airline industry, simply indicating there were people who knew it was coming. Related: "How An Apple Can Explain Short-Selling" Also, see below. 

MSM:  France, Italy, Spain, Belgium To Ban Short Selling" "France, Italy, Spain and Belgium plan to enact bans on short selling or on short positions, the European Securities and Markets Authority said today. “Some authorities have decided to impose or extend existing short-selling bans in their respective countries,” ESMA said in a statement on its website. “They have done so either to restrict the benefits that can be achieved from spreading false rumors or to achieve a regulatory level playing field, given the close inter-linkage between some EU markets.” Information on the measures, which take effect tomorrow, will be posted on the relevant regulators’ websites, ESMA said.  [...]"| Greece Bans Short Selling    

Exploration: "The IMF On Trial" [08/12/11] [50:00] "In this new world order the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the most prestigious and powerful international economic organisation on the planet, is reduced to a mere advisor, even spectator.  This bastion of capitalist ideologies and neo-liberal policies is coming under attack from all sides. The developing world accuses the IMF of exploitation and favouritism, and the current scandals have only added to their woes. And the developing world refuses to be treated by the IMF as if was merely developing. [...]"   

Max Keiser: "WW3 Is On As Wall St. Banks Plunder Economy" [08/11/11]   [6:06] "The loss of America's AAA credit score has sparked panicked sell-offs on global markets. After several days of concern over whether France would retain its highest status, ratings giants reaffirmed its top billing on Wednesday. But investors remain unconvinced the country's finances are solid enough. Problems in the Eurozone will be up for discussion by the French and German leaders next week. [...]"  

MSM: "Italian Court Confiscates Data From Moody’s And S & P To Investigate Criminal Practices" [08/11/11] "The Italian authorities have seized several documents belonging to Moody’s and WIN Standard & Poor’s (S & P) as part of separate investigations into these two risk rating agencies conducting the prosecution of Trani (southeastern Italy)." [...]"  

 Legal Case: "Fake SEC 'Investigator' Got the Goods" [08/11/11] SEC investigations often may be years late and billions of dollars short, but apparently it can pay to impersonate an SEC investigator. An energy brokerage firm claims a woman "believed to be an agent for a competitor" posed as an SEC investigator to swipe confidential information. [...]"  

MSM: "S&P Lobbies The Government For Beneficial Treatment Even As It Rates Federal Finances" [08/11/11]   [0:00] "Standard and Poor's, like the other major ratings agencies, Fitch and Moody's, assesses federal finances in order to rate how secure investors can feel when they invest in United States debt. But it simultaneously lobbies the federal government in order to protect its unique role in the financial world. That puts the ratings agency in an "unusual political position," according to a Washington Post report: [...]"  

Commentary: "Global Grand Policy Failure: Liquidity Traps and Financial Black Holes" [08/10/11] "The liquidity trap, in 'Keynesian economics', is a situation where monetary policy is unable to stimulate an economy, either through lowering interest rates or increasing the money supply. Liquidity traps typically occur when expectations of adverse events make persons with liquid assets unwilling to invest. In standard Keynesian economics, the only thing holding back a tide of spending and investing is lack of faith in future growth. [...]"  Note:  Very well explained. The planet is held hostage by a certain set of ideas and perspectives, and by incapable individuals who cannot step back and attempt a more expansive perspective ...

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: False Flag Finance (E171) " [08/10/11]   [25:55] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, report from New York City on privatization drives, gold coins and debt deals. In the second half of the show Max talks to financial journalist, Teri Buhl, about the latest in the lawsuits against Bear Stearns. [...]"  Max predicts that there will be a false flag attack within the next 90 days.

Commentary: "S&P's Lord Beers Proclaims: The U.S. Must Follow The British Model" [08/10/11] "David Beers, the American head of sovereign credit ratings for S&P in London, who schemed with Geithner and Obama to create the "Big Deal" to destroy the U.S., told Reuters Insider television Monday morning that there was a one-in-three chance the U.S. rating could be lowered again within six to 24 months. However, if his orders are followed precisely, he deemed that the U.S. may be allowed to survive — that the U.S. outlook could be raised to stable "if the U.S deficit-cutting deal is fully implemented and the Obama administration ends the Bush tax cuts," according to Reuters. He added that S&P would be watching to see if the U.S. Congress follows through on the budget consolidation process it committed to (the Super-Congress dictatorship). Did the Lord from Olympus notice that Mount Olympus was crumbling? On Sunday's Fox News, Beers, looking rather like the duffus John Bolton, emphasized the need for massive cuts in entitlements, "since that's the biggest part of spending." Beers then explained why he is not downgrading the UK: Britain's stable rating outlook hinges on the goverment's decision to adopt a "very comprehensive fiscal stabilization program," based on Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne policy for for Britain's most vicious fiscal squeeze since World War II. That plan is already resulting in riots across London, showing what Beers and his British controllers are demanding in Washington. The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, assured the world that the S&P downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt would not slow down the Fed's quantitative easing policies, neither the "emergency lending window" (including the massive funding of the bail out of the Inter Alpha Group in Europe) nor its buying and selling of Treasury securities to conduct monetary policy. "The decision by Standard and Poor's has no implications for the operation of the Federal Reserve's discount window or the conduct of open market operations," a Fed spokesperson said. [...]"  

Commentary: "Who 'Made $10bn On 10/1 Bet That U.S. Credit Rating Would Be Downgraded'?" [08/10/11] "A mystery investor or hedge fund reportedly made a bet of almost $1billion at odds of 10/1 last month that the U.S. would lose its AAA credit rating. Now questions are being asked of whether the trader had inside information before placing the $850million bet in the futures market, or if the bet happened at all. There were mounting rumours that investor George Soros, 80, famously known as ‘the man who broke the Bank of England’, could be involved. [...]"  

MSM: "Senate Banking Committee Weighing Probe Of S&P Downgrade" [08/09/11] "According to a Senate Banking Committee aide, the committee is gathering more information about the S&P downgrade of U.S. debt in preparation for a possible investigation.  Earlier Monday, committee chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) released the following statement on the downgrade: “In the minds of serious, reasonable, and informed individuals there is no doubt that the U.S. will meet its debt obligations and we are seeing even more proof of that today. As the financial markets stumble, investors continue to regard Treasury debt as a safe haven in times of economic uncertainty. This irresponsible move by S&P may, however, have spillover effects that tax the American people by increasing interest rates on home loans, credit cards, and car loans, and by increasing the cost of finance for some state and local governments. I am deeply disappointed in S&P’s decision to enter into the game of political punditry.” [...]"  Related: Webster Tarpley: "Corrupt Ratings Agencies; Italian Judge Raids S&P, Moody’s Milan Offices; Greece Bans Short Selling; Time to Jail Speculators" Mp3 Audio | "S&P Is Taking A Hard Line To Control Its PR Crisis" "S&P's PR skirmishes began as the credit-rating downgrade rumors began ramping up last week. Then, when the White House found an error in its debt ceiling deal calculations, the war erupted. Now, alongside strongly-worded politicians and pundits, S&P's PR machine has come out in full force to fight the fires. S&P's sovereign ratings managing director John Chambers followed up his hard-hitting weekend comments by making his rounds on MSNBC, CNN and Fox News, and its global leader David Beers appeared on CNN and ABC. [...]" 

MSM: "Today's Wall Street Buzz in 60 Seconds" [08/09/11] "Morgan Stanley will fire 20% of its managing directors by the end of the year, a source familiar with the matter told Business Insider. Bank of America had a bad day with AIG planning to sue BofA for $10 billion. A spokesperson for Bank of America also says the banks does not need to raise more capital. Bank of America's stock fell more than 20% today.  [...]" 

MSM: "AIG Sues Bank of America For $10bn Of Losses" [08/09/11]   "Insurance group AIG is suing Bank of America for $10bn (£6.1bn), accusing the lender of carrying out a "massive fraud" on bad mortgage debt. [...]" 

MSM: "Euro On Edge, Will Collapse By November If No New Crisis Plan'" [08/09/11]   [5:05] "European Central Bank officials have agreed to buy Eurozone government bonds to fight the continental debt crisis. Although it's not clear yet which bonds the bank is going to buy - experts expect them to be from debt-laden countries like Italy and Spain. That's after the German government reportedly admitted that the EU rescue fund won't be able to save Italy, the Eurozone's third biggest economy, if it needs help. The G7 group of the most-industrialised nations are also vowing to support financial stability and welcomed what it called 'decisive actions taken in the U.S. and Europe'. But financier and author Patrick Young says the EU needs to change tack immediately. [...]"  

MSM: "S&P Downgrades Israel Bonds Guaranteed By U.S." [08/09/11] "Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Monday lowered the ratings on U.S.-guaranteed bonds issued by the Israeli government to AA+ from AAA. The downgrade comes in the wake of the ratings agency's move on Friday to strip the U.S. of its triple-A rating. However, Israel's sovereign rating is unchanged at A with a stable outlook. The decision affects about $6 billion in debt.  [...]"

MSM: "Muni Market Prepares for Loss of AAA Ratings as S&P Downgrades U.S. Credit" [08/09/11] "Standard & Poor’s plans to release “later today” reports on asset classes, including municipal bonds, affected by the company’s Aug. 5 downgrade of the U.S., said John Chambers, head of S&P’s sovereign ratings committee. “As far as U.S. public finance is concerned, other than some particular transactions that are directly linked to the U.S. government, we said we would be looking carefully at some of the indirect effects, if you like, on possible fiscal consolidation programs in Washington as they might impact the budgetary decisions of state and local governments,” he said on a conference call today. [...]"  Related: "Why The Debt Downgrade Means Doomsday For Public Pensions" "Most of these plans are using ridiculously high interest assumptions to justify keeping required contributions low. [...]" 

MSM: "Black Monday: Dow Plunges -600 Points In Volatile Trading" [08/08/11] "The blue chips shed as much as 600 points, and nearly every S&P 500 component was deep in the red, as economic and global sovereign debt fears pummeled Wall Street. Meanwhile, gold spiked nearly 4%, and Treasury bonds rallied as traders sought out safe havens. shares like Dow-component Bank of America (BAC: 6.66, -1.51, -18.50%) and Citigroup (C: 27.89, -5.55, -16.60%) took the biggest hit. The cost to insure the debt of major banking institutions skyrocketed as concerns spread that the institutions may need to seek fresh capital. However, every major sector took deep losses. In fact, 98% of the volume on the New York Stock exchange was in declining shares. For the first time in history, S&P cut America’s top-notch credit rating one notch to AA-plus from AAA after the close of trading on Friday. The ratings company also said Monday it would slice Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s debt rating because the mortgage companies directly rely on the U.S. government. S&P’s move came as a result of concerns over the country’s substantial public debt burden and deep divides within Congress that almost sparked an unprecedented default on U.S. sovereign debt. Moody’s Investor Service, another ratings company, affirmed American’s AAA rating, while Fitch is still performing a review. Many large investors noted the short-term impact of the downgrade may be muted, however, it could foreshadow deeper economic issues. [...]"  Related: "Long/Short Equity Hedge Fund Managers Getting Destroyed" "Hedge fund managers that are in the long/short equity space are getting crushed right now as the market crashes, according to CNBC's Kate Kelly. [...]" 

Commentary: "S&P Says 1 in 3 Chance of More Downgrades " [08/08/11]   "Standard & Poor's managing director John Chambers said Sunday there is a one in three chance of a further U.S. credit rating downgrade over the next six months to two years. "We have a negative outlook ... from six months to 24 months," he said on ABC's "This Week." "And if the fiscal position of the United States deteriorates further or if the political gridlock becomes more entrenched, then that could lead to a downgrade. The outlook indicates at least a one in three chance of a downgrade over that period." Chambers said that it would take some time for the United States to recover its AAA rating. "It would take a stabilization of the debt as a share of the economy and eventual decline. And it would take, I think, more ability to reach consensus in Washington than what we're observing now," he said.  [...]" Related: "S&P Debt Chief Warns Agency Might Downgrade U.S. Rating Again " "Video - David Beers On Fox with Chris Wallace - Aug. 7, 2011 [...]" 

MSM: "Greenspan: US "Can Pay Any Debt It Has Because We Can Always Print Money" [08/08/11] "This is not an issue of credit rating, the United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So, there is zero probability of default."  Greenspan says the S&P downgrade was just meant to hit a "nerve" and hurt the "self-esteem of the United States." [...]" 

MSM: "Israel's Foreign Currency Reserves Increase to Record of $66.3 Billion" [08/08/11] "Israel’s foreign currency reserves increased to a record in September as the Bank of Israel bought foreign currency to try to moderate shekel gains. Reserves rose to $66.3 billion at the end of the month, the bank said in an e-mailed statement today. The $2.15 billion increase was mainly due to purchases of $699 million by the central bank and a $1.66 billion revaluation of reserves, the bank said. Central bank Governor Stanley Fischer began buying foreign currency in March 2008 and has more than doubled reserves since then in an attempt to limit gains in the shekel and help exporters weather the global economic crisis. Fischer bought more foreign currency this month, traders said, as the shekel appreciated to its strongest level in two years against the dollar, which is sliding against currencies worldwide.  [...]"  

MSM: "Asia Stocks Plunge After U.S. Downgrade; Nikkei Drops 2.2%" [08/08/11] "Asian stock markets posted sharp losses on Monday, as markets were rattled following an S&P downgrade of U.S. government debt, fuelling concerns over the global economic outlook [...]" 

MSM: "Saudi And Israeli Financial Markets Plunge" [08/08/11] "On most weekends nobody even bothers talking about them, but given the confusion and consternation following the S&P downgrade of the US, people are paying attention to weekend trading in Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Market was down 5% yesterday. Tel Aviv is down nearly 7% today. Here’s the thing though: Neither of these markets traded on Friday, so they’re basically playing catch up. What’s more, Saudi Arabia is up today, and Israel is in the midst of gigantic economic protests. So relax. Besides, the real big markets open in just a few hours. The need to speculate on what markets will do is almost over. Tel Aviv shares closed 7 percent lower on Sunday in the first response of a developed market to Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the United States’ credit rating that has sparked fears of another global recession. The Israeli market along with a few emerging markets in the Middle East were the first to trade after S&P on Friday cut the U.S. long-term credit rating by a notch to AA-plus from AAA due to concerns about the nation’s budget and climbing debt burden. [...]"  

Commentary:  "US Downgrade Fuels Political Inferno" [08/08/11] " America's historic loss of its top-notch credit rating failed to cool the feud between Republicans and President Barack Obama's Democrats which threatens to drive the US economy into disaster. Despite being rebuked by ratings blue chip Standard & Poor's over political "brinkmanship," US politicians dug deeper Saturday into inflexible positions on spending cuts, deficits and tax policy. [...]"  

Commentary:  "Global Currency Wars Enter New Stage" [08/07/11] "Fighting the Fed has reached a new stage: all out currency wars. The Fed is desperate to tank the US dollar to stimulate exports and further fuel a stock market that is clearly back in bubble territory. However, central bankers in other countries have had enough. Japan and Switzerland intervened heavily in the forex markets on Wednesday. Other countries, fed up with Fed policies and a weak dollar now threaten to do the same.  [...]"  

Commentary:  "TBTF Banks Are Gouging Customers With Fees To Hold Cash" [08/07/11] "This is what happens when you let ‘moral hazard’ mutate into the primary source of GDP “growth” as we’ve seen in the US these past two decades. By eliminating competition in this key sector of the economy (by constantly bailing out crooks), Americans now have to pay ‘tribute’ to the crooks just like business owners have to pay tribute to the mob. The article states that most of the banks customers will not have to pay this tribute for now, but clearly by the end of next year – all funds held at any bank will be subject to a holding fee guaranteeing a 1 – 2% loss of capital per year on top of the loss of purchasing power that comes with a crashing currency. [...]" 

Commentary: "The Federal Reserve Cartel: The Eight Families - Part 1" [08/06/11] "The Four Horsemen of Banking (Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo) own the Four Horsemen of Oil (Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, BP and Chevron Texaco); in tandem with Deutsche Bank, BNP, Barclays and other European old money behemoths. But their monopoly over the global economy does not end at the edge of the oil patch. According to company 10K filings to the SEC, the Four Horsemen of Banking are among the top ten stock holders of virtually every Fortune 500 corporation.[1] So who then are the stockholders in these money center banks? This information is guarded much more closely. My queries to bank regulatory agencies regarding stock ownership in the top 25 US bank holding companies were given Freedom of Information Act status, before being denied on “national security” grounds. This is rather ironic, since many of the bank’s stockholders reside in Europe.  [...]" 

Commentary: "'Global Market Crisis Manmade'" [08/06/11]   [5:55] "An analyst says that the continuing plunge of markets worldwide was intentionally fabricated for the benefit of big Wall Street and European banks. Press TV interviewed Stephen Lendman, writer and radio host, for his views on the global fall of the markets. The transcript of the interview follows.  [...]" 

Commentary:  "The "Afghanistan Factor" And The Debt Ceiling Crisis" [08/06/11] "... Last week, experts gathered in Moscow to discuss the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan. The conference was organized by the Center for Support and Development of Public Initiative “Creative Diplomacy,” an independent public organization, and the Foundation of Historical Outlook, the Russian conservative think tank focused on the studies of international relations. Some speakers noted a few specific features of the current stage of the conflict. First, NATO’s mission can be described as a complete failure now. Second, a rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces could precipitate an international catastrophe. And third, Pakistan is "now the key factor in resolving the Afghan problem". Prominent Russian Oriental expert Georgy Mirsky said the war in Afghanistan would not be successful unless there was a victory in Pakistan. [...]" 

PressTV: "US Political System Flawed" [08/06/11]   [26:46] "The US debt limit wrangling between the Republican congressmen and the President have laid bare the “dysfunctional” state of the political system of the US, an analyst says. Press TV interviewed Senior Fellow and Vice Chair at the Institute for Policy Studies Saul Landau on the issue of the US debt limit crisis. The following is a transcription of the interview. [...]"  

MSM: "What Is Next For The US Economy?"  BBC [08/06/11] [1:25] "One of the top credit rating agencies, Standard & Poor's, has downgraded the United States' top-notch AAA rating for the first time. S&P cut the long-term US rating by one level to AA+ with a negative outlook, citing concerns about budget deficits. President Obama is said to have been told in advance of the downgrade but the White House says the analysis of the American economy contains serious errors. Marcus George reports. [...]"  

MSM: "S&P Downgrades US AAA Rating" [08/05/11] "S&P's John Chambers on CNN says "It's going to take a while to get back to AAA." Chambers said "we think the political settings are strong, but not quite as strong as other sovereigns." He adds that the ratings agency's decision was based on facts. Chambers acknowledged the $2 trillion error caught by Treasury, but said the decision to downgrade was still substantiated.  The source said the ratings agency seems bent on making the downgrade, despite the numerical discrepancy, because the media was expecting an announcement. The source said S&P is not basing its decision on any information that is not in the markets — and that the agency reached a different conclusion than Moody's and Fitch based off the same information. The source said discussions with S&P over the debt rating involved the Treasury Department only, not The White House. The source added that because of the top ratings from Fitch and Moody's, Treasuries should still qualify as collateral in market situations. The following is a press release from Standard & Poor’s: – We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on the United States of America to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ and affirmed the ‘A-1+’ short-term rating. [...]" Related: Commentary: "The S&P Downgrade Is Incredibly Irresponsible" "Three days ago, I wrote a quick post that said, basically, that no ratings agency would downgrade the credit rating of the United States at this time. Wrong again. Not that a downgrade isn't deserved. It is deserved. But that's beside the point. The global financial system is particularly fragile at the moment. Now is not the time to be adding greater elements of risk into the mix.  [...]" Flashback: "Geithner: No Risk U.S. Will Lose AAA Credit Rating " | "Geithner Downgrades His Own Credibility to Junk" 

MSM: "George Soros Returning All Outside Investor Money, Keeping It In The Fam " [08/04/11] "Soros And Sons said they’d rather hand back the $1 billion than be required to register with the SEC.  Soros’s sons said they took the decision because new financial regulations would have made it necessary for the firm to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission by March 2012 if it continued to manage money for outsiders. Because the firm has overseen mostly family assets since 2000, when outside money accounted for about $4 billion, they decided it made more sense to run it as a family office, according to the letter. The rule calls for hedge funds with more than $150 million in assets to report information about their investors and employees, the assets they manage, potential conflicts of interest and their activities outside of fund advising. Registered funds will also be subject to periodic inspections by the SEC.[...]"  

Flashback:  "E-Trade Baby Loses Everything" [08/04/11] [1:05] Note: Cute.

Commentary: "A Corporate Stranglehold: On Peers Who Flock To Wall Street To ‘Perpetuate Class-Based Systems Of Power And Dominance’" [08/04/11]   "The author, Andrew Lohse, claims the campus recruiting process, which many of the major financial firms participate in, "has siphoned off some of our great minds into a dead-end field that sanitizes the intellect." Apparently, the process also makes him feel sick, especially when firms pay students for their opinions as part of a focus group, which is common practice. He writes: "At a party last week, a friend told me that Bridgewater Associates paid her $100 to write a statement explaining why she didn’t participate in sophomore Summer corporate recruiting. The sheer arrogance and senselessness of this anecdote made me sick to my stomach, partly because, as planned, the exercise made her second guess her choice. But I had to admit there was a certain conceited logic to it — if this company can pay her $100 just to explain why she did not want to work for them, it’s easy to imagine how much cash she could rake in if she decided to pursue the job." [...]"It’s glaringly obvious that there is an inherent connection between the tragedy of wasted minds at Dartmouth and the proliferation of corporate, consulting and “financial services” recruiting on our campus. And it’s a process that the college has a hand in, allowing or disallowing various corporate and financial entities access to its undergraduates. In supporting the recruiting culture, the College has undermined its credibility as one of the bastions of elite higher education and free thought. Compare the composition of our Board of Trustees with that of our peer institutions and the picture of the private equity, investment banking and the corporate stranglehold over the College’s affairs becomes more obvious. [...]" 

MSM: "Pelosi Says New VAT Tax Is 'On The Table'" [08/03/11]   "A new value-added tax (VAT) is "on the table" to help the U.S. address its fiscal liabilities, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday night. Pelosi, appearing on PBS's "The Charlie Rose Show" asserted that "it's fair to look at" the VAT as part of an overhaul of the nation's tax code. "I would say, Put everything on the table and subject it to the scrutiny that it deserves," Pelosi told Rose when asked if the VAT has any appeal to her. The VAT is a tax on manufacturers at each stage of production on the amount of value an additional producer adds to a product. Pelosi argued that the VAT would level the playing field between U.S. and foreign manufacturers, the latter of which do not have pension and healthcare costs included in the price of their goods because their governments provide those services, financed by similar taxes.  [...]"  Note: I want to know why Pelosi doesn't die in her sleep. Related: Commentary: "The Banks, IMF, and Cantor/Ryan Types Declare War on Main Street"   "The game plan is pretty clear. If you go to this Portuguese website you see that the VAT tax is at an all time high. The VAT tax is an IMF tax. It is a hidden tax. While the IMF wants VAT taxes, it wants austerity, using it's Enforcers, S & P, Moodys and Fitch to do the dirty work. Taxation throughout the world will be hidden like VAT, and will creep up on main street, like the middle tax cut ending in January 2012, and like the tolls that will increase throughout the world, all to protect the fortunes of the Uber Rich and to raise taxes without looking like you are raising taxes. Then the IMF wants to blow another housing bubble and collect more money for the bankers that way. And all the while the IMF chastises the banks for irresponsible lending, on it's website. Well, I don't buy it. One gets the idea that the IMF wants austerity to protect bond investors. But I think the IMF wants austerity to destroy our stock market and increase world debt as mentioned at Davos this year. In fact, from this deflationary position, as I have argued before, the IMF is able to establish securitization guaranteed by government. If the IMF were concerned about government's getting out of debt, then why would the organization insist on a future guarantee of all loans, including odious easy money loans that can only destroy the balance sheet of government? This is a replacement of debt to help main street with a debt to help banks once the next ponzi fails. The list of IMF co-conspirators is large: [...]" 

MSM: " Pelosi Predicts: $2.4 Trillion Added  To Federal Credit Limit Will Last Only 18 Months" [08/03/11] Note: We'll be here less than 16 months. Pelosi needs hospitalization.

MSM: "US Stocks- Massive Rout Spells Trouble For Wall Street" [08/03/11]   "The S&P 500 turned negative for the year on Tuesday as the wrangling over the U.S. debt ceiling faded and investors turned their attention to the stalling economy. The broad-based index fell for a seventh day and crashed through the key 200-day moving average in an ominous sign for markets. The seven days of losses mark the longest losing streak since October 2008. [...]"  

MSM: "FDIC Accuses 2 Bankers Of Unsound Acts, May Ban Them" [08/03/11] "The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has issued scathing accusations against two former Washington bankers who helped preside over the failures of their banks. David S. Kennelly, who worked at Bank of Clark County in Vancouver, and Teresa M. Feller, who served at Bremerton’s Westsound Bank, were both notified by the FDIC orders that they could be prohibited from working in the banking industry. Kennelly, the FDIC alleges, “directly or indirectly participated or engaged in unsafe or unsound banking practices,” thereby soiling his fiduciary trust at the bank. Among other accusations, the agency said Kennelly “devised a plan to conceal the true financial condition of the bank by withholding updated appraisals” from regulators. Feller, while at Westsound, performed acts that “demonstrate (her) personal dishonesty and/or her willful or continuing disregard” for the banks’ safety. A former mortgage banker and manager at Westsound’s Federal Way mortgage branch, she was terminated in 2007 after she “manipulated financial and personal information as well as appraisal and loan documentation” in a scheme to inflate the quality of applications from a Russian immigrant client, the FDIC said. In its announcement, the agency gave them both the chance to request a hearing on their possible ban from the industry. In another federal case, the Seattle P.I. Web-only news site reported that federal prosecutors have publicized charges against Jason Rick, a former loan processor at the failed Pierce Commercial Bank of Tacoma. Prosecutors, the website said, “contend Rick and others inflated loan applicants’ incomes and hid their debts in order to extend loans.” [...]" 

MSM: "IMF ‘Harsh’ Legacy May Block Mideast Loans After Egypt’s $3 Billion U-Turn" [08/03/11] "Egypt turned down International Monetary Fund loans that would have helped the economy because the lender was seen as tainted by concessions demanded of past borrowers, former Finance Minister Samir Radwan said. “People are still affected by the past, when the IMF used to impose harsh conditions,” said Radwan, who axed a $3 billion accord with the IMF in June within three weeks of negotiating it. [...]"  

Commentary: "Europe on brink of ‘Major Financial Collapse’ says Guggenheim CIO" [08/03/11]   " Europe is a “train wreck” and on the “brink of a major financial crisis,” Scott Minerd, CIO of the fixed-income firm Guggenheim Partners, told CNBC Tuesday. “The way Europe is operating right now, it’s what I called recently ‘cognitive dissonance,’” Minerd said, or “basically doing the same thing thinking they’re going to get a different outcome. They keep throwing more and more liquidity at it thinking it’s going to get better and it’s not,” he added. Europe fails to recognize that it has a “structural problem, not a liquidity problem.” People will “flee the euro” unless they find a way to bifurcate the euro in some way where strong countries are in the euro only and the weak countries are out, Minerd explained, adding, “To be honest with you, I don’t see the mechanism to do that.” “As the capital is flooding out of Europe, which we’re starting to see now, the first place it’s going to go is to the safe havens—[U.S.] Treasurys, which [the market] perceives to be safe, and it’ll chase gold,” he added. Compared to a 2 percent return on Treasury notes, investors will eventually say that “stocks with price-earnings multiples of 12 or 13 or 14 look relatively cheap, and the growth for corporate earnings in the United States is very good, and this is likely to help us,” said Minerd. The United States is “the least dirty shirt in the bag,” Minerd concluded. “We have a very good chance of seeing equities up maybe another 10 percent [over the next six months] from where we are. [...]" 

Commentary: "Moody's Confirms US AAA Rating; Outlook 'Negative'" [08/03/11] "Rating agency Moody's upheld its triple-A rating for the United States on Tuesday after Congress passed new legislation to raise the debt ceiling that averted a possible default. But Moody's added a "negative outlook" on the grade, saying a historic downgrade could still come if fiscal discipline weakens or economic growth deteriorates significantly. [...]"  Related: Commentary: "Gerald Celente Russia Today"  

Commentary: "Israel May Have Its AAA Credit Rating On U.S.-Guaranteed Sovereign Bonds Cut" [08/03/11]   "Israel may have its AAA credit rating on U.S.-guaranteed sovereign bonds cut by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service in line with a similar action it has warned of taking on U.S. debt. S&P put Israel’s rating on “CreditWatch” today, meaning there is a 50 percent chance it may be cut in the next 90 days. It said the action should have been taken July 14 when the U.S. rating was placed on “CreditWatch,” attributing the lapse to an administrative error. The ratings service said it acted on the U.S. debt because of an assessment that a substantial policy stalemate could last beyond any near-term agreement to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. [...]" 

MSM: "Senate Democrats Unveil Balanced Budget Amendment" [08/03/11] "The debt limit bill signed by President Barack Obama today requires a vote on a balanced budget amendment to to the Constitution in both chambers of Congress by year's end. Moderate Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) is introducing a measure which would exempt Social Security from the amendment, and prohibit tax breaks on those earning over $250,000 a year unless the budget is already balanced. “What I’m proposing is the most responsible, thoughtful, and workable balanced budget amendment,” Udall told The Washington Post. [...]"  

MSM: "U.S. Senate Approves Debt-Ceiling Legislation" [08/02/11] "Just hours before a potential default on the nation’s debt obligations, the Senate on Tuesday approved an increase to the U.S. debt ceiling  [...]" 

World Politics : "Putin: The United States Is A "Parasite" On The Global Economy" [08/02/11] "Vladimir Putin said Monday that the dominance of the dollar was a threat to global markets and the United States was "a parasite", reports Reuters. The Russian Prime Minister was talking to a Kremlin youth group while touring its summer camp north of Moscow. "They are living beyond their means and shifting a part of the weight of their problems to the world economy," Putin said. "They are living like parasites off the global economy and their monopoly of the dollar." Putin later conceded that a default would have been a problem for the world economy, adding it would be "no good at all", reports RIA Novesti. [...]" 

Commentary: "Goldman Sachs: US Faces AAA Downgrade if it Counts End of War as Deficit Reduction" [08/02/11] " ...While Reid's proposal is transparent about including war savings, the problem with employing it here is that ratings agencies want to see "real savings" out of the current talks. ... A new memo from Goldman Sachs suggests Congress could end up imperiling the U.S. credit rating by counting war savings.  The memo, provided to Fox News by a GOP aide, said that if the Senate plan and its supposed war savings passes without a follow-up process, "a ratings downgrade could ensue."  The separate proposals being crafted by Democrats and Republicans both fall short of the $4 trillion in deficit-reduction leading ratings agencies have urged Washington to achieve over the next decade.  But, without getting into detail, Boehner said Monday that Reid's plan is "full of gimmicks." Nearly half of the deficit reduction in Reid's plan would come from phantom war savings, according to the Goldman memo.  "The (withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan) would show up in official budget estimates as savings of about $1.2 trillion versus current law," the memo reads. "If this proposal were to prevail without a credible follow-on process, a ratings downgrade could ensue, since against most outside baseline budget estimates only the first portion of spending cuts, and not the war spending savings, would show up as deficit reduction."  The first portion was estimated to be worth just $1.5 trillion.  "That would leave the fiscal consolidation far short of the ~$4 trillion S&P has said it is looking for, with no catalyst for additional deficit reduction before 2013," Goldman warned.  A representative for Standard & Poor's did not return a request for comment.  [...]" 

Commentary: "Little Economic Impact From US Debt Deal: Analysts" [08/02/11] "Spending cuts in the new deal to slash the US deficit and raise the borrowing ceiling will not have much immediate effect on the economy -- or the deficit itself, analysts said Monday. Heralded as a political success that averts the United States being forced to default on its debt, the deal is supposed to cut the country's gaping deficit by $900 billion over 10 years -- or $2.4 trillion, if a second-stage effort works out. But for fiscal 2012, beginning in October, only $21 billion will be cut from expected spending of up to $3.7 trillion, and only $41 billion the following year. "The so-called 'immediate' spending cuts of $917 billion do of course not begin this year. And they barely have an impact in 2012 or 2013 either," said Harm Bandholz on UniCredit Bank."In a $15 trillion economy, the impact... is negligible," said John Ryding of RDQ Economics. [...]"  

Commentary: "The US Debt Debacle: In World’s Eyes, Much Damage Is Already Done" [08/01/11] "With the deal reached Sunday night, the United States has a good chance of escaping the debt limit showdown with its credit rating intact.  The United States government may not be so lucky with its reputation. Even before negotiations went down to the wire on Sunday night, the bitterness, division and dysfunction that resounded around the world in recent weeks as the United States veered toward default did more than just fuel a perception that Washington is approaching Japan-like levels of political gridlock. Among foreign leaders and in global markets, the political histrionics have eroded America’s already diminishing aura as the world’s economic haven and the sole country with the power to lead the rest of the world out of financial crisis and recession. [...]"  

MSM: "Obama, Congressional Leaders Strike Deal To Avoid Default" [08/01/11] "Obama settled on a plan with congressional leaders to avoid debt default, announced just past 8:30 p.m. Sunday night. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, in a floor speech, reassured Congress that there was a plan in place. A vote is planned to take place Monday. "There is now a framework to review that will ensure significant cuts in our spending," he said. "The United States will not default, for the first time in our history, on its obligations." To successfully avoid default, Congress must pass the deal tomorrow, in time to meet the August 2 deadline. Throughout the weekend, the main point of debate has been the triggers in place in the plan. Obama delivered a brief statement to the press at the White House. Finding a deal has been "messy" and "has gone on far too long," he said of the weeks-long negotiations. The plan will allow the U.S. to avoid default, but also puts into place a series of triggers, as well as a bipartisan committee that will find further cuts and report back to the White House in November. "In this stage, everything will be on the table," Obama said of the November deadline.  Despite the fanfare of Sunday night's announcement, a vote still must be held in each chamber, and the legislation itself must be passed by the Republican-held House and Democrat-dominated Senate. [...]"  Related: "Fact Sheet: The Debt Deal" "The debt deal announced today is a victory for bipartisan compromise, for the economy and for the American people. The agreement: [...]" 

Commentary: "The Debt Ceiling Debate Is A Complete Fraud" [08/01/11] " ... Currently, there are many sovereign countries that find themselves in an enormous amount of debt. The reason for this is because of the myriad of central banking systems that operate in conjunction with these nations. These systems operate off of the concept that all money is debt. In the case of the United States whenever the government needs to deficit spend they borrow it from the Federal Reserve at interest. The Federal Reserve provides the United States Treasury Federal Reserve Notes that they create out of nothing in exchange for bonds or debt. As these Federal Reserve Notes circulate in the economy and get stored in banks, these banks can loan out many times the amount of money that they have on hand. For many years banks could loan out ten times the amount of cash on hand. In other words, these banks could simply create additional Federal Reserve Notes out of nothing and force the borrower to pay interest on it based off of the amount of reserves at their disposal. In this system, all money is debt and the people are taxed so that the government can pay back interest on the debt that originated from the funds that the Federal Reserve simply created out of nothing. It is nothing more than a scam designed to ensure that the people are enslaved to a system of debt that the government can never pay back.  As a result, the debate surrounding the debt ceiling, spending cuts and the like is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. There is no real debate going on as it is just staged theatre between two factions of a one party system. There is zero difference between both the Republican and Democrat parties as for decades they have continued supporting this phony monetary system that has bankrupted the nation and made the American people debt slaves. As a sovereign entity the United States Treasury could simply issue its own currency free from the burden of debt or interest payments and use that to pay off its debts. Abraham Lincoln did this by financing the Civil War through the issuance of Greenbacks. To reiterate, a sovereign entity does not need to borrow from the Federal Reserve or any other lending institution when it can issue its own currency. The fact that not one politician or one media pundit has brought up this fact shows that nobody is interested in truly resolving this crisis and are only interested in continuing the status quo.  [...]" 

Legal Case: "JPMorgan Can't Kill Mortgage Fraud Claims" [08/01/11] "JPMorgan Chase cannot toss a class action that claims the bank defrauded New Jersey residents who applied for the Home Affordable Mortgage Program, a federal initiative to help homeowners in danger of defaulting on loans, a federal judge ruled Friday [...]" 

Legal Case: "Fannie & Freddie Sue UBS for $900 Million" [08/01/11]   "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say Swiss banking giant UBS defrauded them of $900 million in the housing boom before the financial meltdown. The federal complaint involves 16 UBS-sponsored mortgage-backed securities issues of more $4.5 billion that Fannie and Freddie bought from 2005 to 2007. [...]" 

MSM: "Goldman's New Money Machine: Warehouses" [08/01/11] "About 600 miles from Wall Street, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. employees are busy doing deals.
But instead of a sleek office tower, they work in a rundown warehouse deep in an industrial section of Detroit. And rather than trading in stocks or bonds, they move metal—lots of metal. Goldman’s warehouse on the banks of the Detroit River is one of more than 100 storage facilities controlled by the giant securities firm around the world. The warehouses are part of Wall Street’s effort to forge a new frontier in the commodities markets: warehousing metal. Analysts question why London's metals market allows big financial players like Goldman to own the warehouses which store huge quantities of metal even as they trade the commodity. Robin Bhar, a veteran metals analyst at Credit Agricole in London says the conflict of interest is so acute he wants U.S. and European anti-trust regulators to weigh in. "I think it makes a mockery of the market. It's a shame," Bhar said. "This is an anti- competitive situation. It puts (some) companies at an advantage, and clearly the rest of the market at a disadvantage. It's a real, genuine concern. And I think the regulators have to look at it." [...]"  

MSM: "Congressional Sources: Republicans and Democrats Reach Tentative Debt Deal" [07/31/11] "Democratic and Republican Congressional sources involved in the negotiations tell ABC News that a tentative agreement has been reached on the framework of a deal that would give the President a debt ceiling increase of up to $2.4 trillion and guarantee an equal amount of deficit reduction over the next 10 years. The details are still being worked out, and a senior White House aide tells ABC News, "talks continue but there is no deal to report."  Congressional leaders plan to brief their members on the framework tomorrow. The reaction from both parties' rank-and-file will determine whether this tentative deal becomes a final deal. Here, according to Democratic and Republican sources, are the key elements: [...]" 

MSM: "States Negotiating Immunity For Banks Over Foreclosures" [07/31/11]   "State attorneys general are negotiating to give major banks wide immunity over irregularities in handling foreclosures, even as evidence has emerged that banks are continuing to file questionable documents. [...]"  

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report: Ghettofication of America (E168) " [07/30/11] [25:56] "This week Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, look at gold's standing ovation for the Obama-Boehner debt ceiling theater. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Stefan Molyneux about the Fed audit and the debt ceiling. [...]" 

Commentary: "Five Key Events In The Financial World Next Week" [07/30/11]   "The US debt ceiling remains unresolved at this late date. The market's response over the past week to Europe's new initiatives is poor as peripheral, including Spain and Italian, bond yields and spreads over bunds widened considerably.  There are five key events next week that will be on radar screens, leaving aside the US debt ceiling debate and rating challenge. [...]" 

MSM: "California Takes Out Insurance Against US Debt Deal Failure" [07/29/11] "The continuing deadlock over raising the United States' debt ceiling is prompting drastic action across the nation, as individual states prepare for the worst. California has taken out a $5.4bn bridging loan as an insurance policy should agreement over a deficit reduction package not be reached by the 2 August deadline. The state has borrowed from eight banks, led by Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, as an emergency stop-gap. Normally in August it would sell $5bn of short-term bonds to keep itself afloat, but California's treasury officials are fearful that failure to reach a deal in Washington could cut the state off from the bond markets. California's treasurer, the Democratic politician Bill Lockyer, said that the loan was needed to protect the state from the "immediate, drastic consequences" of failure to break the impasse. If unsolved by 2 August, he predicted, America would be pushed into a "financial and economic abyss". [...]"  

MSM: "France Is Being Dragged Into Global Financial Crisis As Credit Rating Could Be Cut" [07/28/11] "France was dragged into the global financial crisis last night with warnings it could be stripped of its top-notch credit rating without ‘more efforts’ to tackle its debts. The International Monetary Fund told Nicolas Sarkozy’s government that further spending cuts were needed for the country to hit its budget targets in the face of weak economic growth. [...]"  

MSM: "Obama to Banks: We're Not Defaulting" [07/27/11] "While officials from the Obama Administration raised their rhetoric over the weekend about the possibility of a debt default if the debt ceiling isn't raised, they privately have been telling top executives at major U.S. banks that such an event won’t happen, FOX Business has learned. In a series of phone calls, administration officials have told bankers that the administration will not allow a default to happen even if the debt cap isn't raised by the August 2 date Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says the government will run out of money to pay all its bills, including obligations to bond holders. Geithner made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows saying a default is imminent if the debt ceiling isn't raised, and President Obama issued a similar warning during a Friday press conference after budget negotiations with House Republicans broke down. [...]"  

Commentary: "Eric Cantor Is The Hedge Fund's Man In Washington" [07/27/11] "Eric Cantor is the hedge funder's man in Washington. With Cantor "leading the opposition to any deal that includes higher taxes" in the debt ceiling fight, it "represents a major coup for sectors of the investment community that Cantor has been striving to assist for years," according to the Washington Post. Cantor is a huge beneficiary of donotions from Wall Street, attracting about $2 million from hedge fund, private equity, real estate and securities firms in 2010 alone. Among the White House’s top demands for new revenue are changes in the tax code affecting hedge funds, private equity firms and real estate partnerships, which would raise an estimated $20 billion over 10 years. For the past four years, Cantor has taken the lead in the House on fighting the same changes. He also has been one of the top recipients of contributions from those industries — last year, his two fundraising committees took in nearly $2 million from securities and investment firms and real estate companies, more than double the figure for Boehner.[...]"  

Political Theatrics: "Rumors Of A 30-Day Extension Swirling" [07/27/11] "NBC’s Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd joins Brian Williams with analysis of the debt debate. (Nightly News) [...]"  

Commentary: "Investors: The $1 Billion Armageddon Trade Placed Against The United States" [07/27/11] "Someone dropped a bomb on the bond market Thursday - a $1 billion Armageddon trade betting the United States will lose its AAA credit rating. In one moment, an invisible trader placed a single trade that moved the most liquid debt market in the world. The massive trade wasn't placed in bonds themselves; it was placed in the futures market. The trade was for block trades of 5,370 10-year Treasury futures executed at 124-03 and 3,100 Treasury bond futures executed at 125-01. The value of the trade was about $850 million dollars. In simple terms, if that was a direct bond buy, no one would be talking about it. However, with the use of futures, you have to have margin capacity behind the trade. That means with a single push of a button someone was willing to commit more than $1 billion of real capital to this trade with expectations of a 10-to-1 return ratio. You only do this if you see an edge.  [...]"  

Commentary: "U.S. States Hide Billions In Secret Slush Funds" James P. Tucker Jr. [07/26/11] "The Minnesota state government shut down in July, closing state parks on a normally busy holiday weekend, because of a $5 billion “budget deficit.” At least 10 states have expanded gambling options for casinos, inviting more mobsters into their streets, again because of “budget deficits,” which they blame on the weak economy. However, it’s not “deficits” but states hiding money that causes this pain. Minnesota’s shutdown threw thousands of state employees out of work. Construction projects stalled. Millions of dollars in state revenues were lost. But Minnesota had $2.9 billion hidden from taxpayers in fiscal 2010, which ended June 30. Assets exceeded liabilities by $10.9 billion. Another $2.9 billion in “unrestricted net assets” were hidden from public view.  What all states are not saying is they have plenty of bucks salted away, but you aren’t supposed to know that. Each year, all state and local governments prepare a financial report on assets, liabilities, revenues and expenditures called the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, or CAFR. You read about the budget and how your tax dollars are supposed to be spent in your local newspaper, but you don’t read about money hidden in the CAFR, because America’s controlled media hides these important facts. CAFRs combine the financial reports of government agencies at all levels. They report all government funds, including those held outside the government treasury. It cites amounts owed the government but not received by the end of the fiscal year. It contains information on real property and other fixed assets and long-term obligations held outside the government treasury. Walter Burien, a former commodity trader and leading authority on CAFRs, claims that state governments are sitting on more than $600 billion worth of assets. And that’s just the states. When you tally up the holdings of all 85,000 local, state and federal governments, the value of all of the assets comes to about $60 trillion, says Burien. “Being that the CAFR is the accounting document for every local government, and with it effectively being blacked out for the last 60 years, this intentional omission of coverage is the biggest conspiracy that has ever taken effect in the United States,” said Burien. It’s “the biggest game in town.” Alan Greenspan, a Bilderberg luminary, got it right years ago when he testified as chairman of the privately owned and controlled Federal Reserve before a Senate Committee: “I’m of the old fiscal school that you raise revenues for basic government purposes and if you don’t have those purposes you give the money back or you don’t tax it. . . . [P]rivate rates of return are significantly higher than the government rates of return.” The good news is that, thanks to the Internet, it is becoming increasingly difficult for governments to bury their assets. A quick search on the Internet turned up thousands of websites dedicated to exposing CAFRs. [...]" Related: "The Biggest Game In Town" About The Government CAFR Wealth Shell Game" [136:00]  Google

Max Keiser: "Obama Financially Lynched By Racist GOP" [07/26/11]   [5:04] "Greece let out a sigh of relief this week as – after long talks – EU leaders finally agreed on how to help the country avoid defaulting on its debt. Athens will now receive a new bailout worth an estimated 109 billion euros. The plan was agreed after Greece approved severe austerity measures, sending thousands onto the streets in protest. The rescue will also involve lowering interest rates on Greek debt and extending the repayment period. The package also doubles the time given to bankrupt Portugal and Ireland to pay back their own loans. Meanwhile, Spain – which has the highest unemployment rate in the Eurozone – saw thousands of protestors converge on Madrid on Saturday. They camped out in the city centre, after marching from across the country. [...]"  

MSM: "S&P Favors Reid Plan, Boehner Plan May Result In Losing AAA Status" [07/26/11] "According to CNN's Erin Burnett, sources familiar with S&P's thinking indicate that the Boehner plan -- which attempts to raise the debt ceiling and make cuts in two separate steps -- probably wouldn't be enough to avert a downgrade from AAA. On the other hand, the Reid plan, which does it all once, would be looked on more favorably by the ratings agency. [...]"  

Commentary: "Bank Financed Drug Gang Plans to Overthrow Mexican Government Next Year" [07/26/11] "... According to the U.S. Border Patrol, Los Zetas has bought a number of properties on both sides of the border and use the locations as weapon stockpiles. The plan by Los Zetas to overthrow the Mexican government was revealed in a report two weeks ago by the El Paso Times. Jordan and a former CIA pilot, Robert Plumlee, told the newspaper Los Zetas transported weapons to El Paso-Ciudad Juarez and the Columbus-Palomas border areas to reinforce their troops battling competing cartels and possibly disrupt the 2012 elections. Mexico’s drug gangs are financed in part by international bankers. During a trial last year in U.S. federal court, it was discovered that Wachovia (now owned by Wells Fargo) bought planes that shipped cocaine. The bank also laundered $378.4 billion in drug money. “Wachovia’s blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations,” said Jeffrey Sloman, the federal prosecutor in charge of the Wachovia case. In 2009, the director of the United Nations’ crime and drug watchdog group, Antonio Maria Costa, said in an interview released by Austrian weekly Profil that money made in the illicit drug trade was used to keep banks afloat during the global financial crisis. Costra’s unit found evidence that “interbank loans were funded by money that originated from drug trade and other illegal activities.” In addition to smuggling guns into Mexico, the U.S. government has worked closely with the drug cartels for years. According to court papers filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, the son of a top-level Mexican drug kingpin worked for the U.S. government. Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla, the son of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, one of the top kingpins of the Sinaloa drug-trafficking organization, worked as an asset for the United States. Niebla is connected to the Gulfstream II jet that wrecked with four tons of cocaine on board on September 24, 2007. European investigators linked the plane’s tail number, N987SA, to past CIA “rendition” operations. The bill of sale for the Gulfstream jet, sold weeks before it crashed, listed the name of Greg Smith, a pilot who had previously worked for the FBI, DEA and CIA. [...]" 

Commentary: "25 Reasons To Absolutely Despise Bankers And Their Minions" [07/25/11] "1) Bankers, according to the London Times, launder about 400 billion dollars a year or more in illegal weapons sales. The next time you hear of an African war lord killing families so he can kidnap young boys to become child soldiers and young girls to become child sex slaves, please remember that this could not have happened without the active assistance and cooperation of the bankers and the politicians they own. [...]"  

UK: "U.S. Threatens Entire World Financial System" [07/25/11] "British Business Secretary Vince Cable says the US congressmen, whose infighting could lead to Washington's default on its supernumerary debt, impose a sizeable threat to the world. On Sunday, Cable told the BBC that the obstructionists in the Capitol Hill had come to pose a bigger economic threat than the entire troubled Euro zone states. He said “the biggest threat to the world financial system comes from a few rightwing nutters in the American Congress rather than the Euro zone.” Washington owes about 47 percent of its public debt to foreigners. The biggest creditors are respectively China, Japan and the United Kingdom.[...]" 

Commentary: "Debt Ceiling: 7 Reasons Why August 2nd Isn't the End of the World " [07/24/11] [4:54] "Dean Clancy explains why President Obama's August 2nd "deadline" isn't the end of the world. [...]"  

  Interview: "Joel Skousen: World Affairs Update" Dr Deagle Show [07/24/11]   [14:56]| Part 2 [14:02]| Part 3 [10:40]| 

Max Keiser: "EU Nations Need To Guard Own Currency'" [07/23/11] [25:49] "Major international banks will take possession of the remaining wealth of debt-riddled EU nations unless these countries revert back to their old currency systems, says an analyst. Press TV talks with Max Keiser, a financial journalist and broadcaster in Paris, who lays out the banks' plan to secure the gold of Europe while pushing the debt-laden countries further into austerity.  [...]"  Note: Max Keiser: Germany insists that Greece subsidize German growth; that Portugal subsidize German growth. Germany is the welfare bum in this equation – not Greece or Portugal.

MSM: "Special Report: Banks Still Robo-Signing" [07/22/11] "America’s leading mortgage lenders vowed in March to end the dubious foreclosure practices that caused a bruising scandal last year. But a Reuters investigation finds that many are still taking the same shortcuts they promised to shun, from sketchy paperwork to the use of “robo-signers. Reuters has found that some of the biggest U.S. banks and other “loan servicers” continue to file questionable foreclosure documents with courts and county clerks. They are using tactics that late last year triggered an outcry, multiple investigations and temporary moratoriums on foreclosures. In recent months, servicers have filed thousands of documents that appear to have been fabricated or improperly altered, or have sworn to false facts. Reuters also identified at least six “robo-signers,” individuals who in recent months have each signed thousands of mortgage assignments — legal documents which pinpoint ownership of a property. These same individuals have been identified — in depositions, court testimony or court rulings — as previously having signed vast numbers of foreclosure documents that they never read or checked.” [...]"  

MSM: "Gold Price Declines as a Debt Ceiling “Breakthrough” is Reached" [07/21/11] "Gold is drifting listlessly, adding to yesterday’s losses. At last check, the spot price has retreated $16 from its record high, to $1,586. Silver’s latest rise above $40 didn’t last long; it’s back to $38.47. The gold price fell off a cliff yesterday at 1:30 p.m. EDT – right after the Comex closed and electronic trading began. Coincidentally or not, the drop came precisely at the moment President Obama announced a “breakthrough” in the debt ceiling drama. “I do believe that the gold price is being manipulated somehow,” says newsletter editor Matt Badiali in a recent interview with The Gold Report. “I went into this as a skeptic. I’m a geologist, a scientist. I looked at the gold price at Eric Sprott’s suggestion. He gave me an idea that I could test with data from Datastream. When we did the math, I was shocked.” No doubt this subject will come up next week at the Agora Financial Investment Symposium in Vancouver. Matt is among the speakers, and so is one of Eric Sprott’s most trusted lieutenants, David Franklin. The debt ceiling “breakthrough” is, in fact, the sort of “kick the can” solution to which we alluded yesterday. The proposal, from a bipartisan group of senators with the unfortunate nickname “Gang of Six,” purportedly cuts $3.7 billion in spending. In the first place, very few of those cuts are specified in the five-page plan released yesterday. And as you might have guessed, the cuts come over a 10-year period…as if future presidents and congresses are somehow bound to honor the commitments of the current bunch. They’re not. But the best part is the promise of a $500 billion “down payment.” Much of this is to be achieved by caps on “discretionary” spending between now and 2015. [...]"  

Commentary: "Kucinich: Washington Doublespeak on Social Security" [07/21/11] "‘Gang of Six’ Acknowledges Solvency of Social Security, but Incorporates it into Deficit Reduction Plan Anyway: ...Why are members of Congress and the Administration continuing to mix the ‘75 year solvency’ of Social Security with the deficit, when Social Security, by the report of its own trustees, has enough resources to pay 100% of benefits through 2036, without any changes whatsoever? Who or what is driving this effort to simultaneously insist that Social Security reform is ‘isolated from deficit reduction’ and that deficit reduction depends upon Social Security reform? [...]"  

Commentary: "18 Months Of Debt Talks Have Gotten Us Nowhere" [07/21/11] "... The debt ceiling seems like the opportunity to make the tough decisions because it clearly is a must-pass piece of legislation. If Congress can’t attach some very difficult decisions onto a debt ceiling increase, they are not going to pass something in the form of commission recommendations that they have no incentive to pass.” [...]" 

MSM: "Exclusive: Fed Planning For Potential Default" [07/21/11] "The Federal Reserve is actively preparing for the possibility that the United States could default as a deadline for raising the government's $14.3 trillion borrowing limit looms, a top Fed policymaker said on Wednesday. Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, said the U.S. central bank has for the past few months been working closely with Treasury, ironing out what to do if the world's biggest economy runs out of cash on August 2. We are in contingency planning mode," Plosser told Reuters in an interview at the regional central bank's headquarters in Philadelphia. "We are all engaged. ... It's a very active process." Plosser said his "gut feeling" was that President Barack Obama and Congress will come to an agreement to increase the Treasury's borrowing authority in time to avert a default on government obligations. [...]" 

Satire: "Four Psychics, Two Successes, and Unrequited Lust" James Altucher [07/20/11] "In 1997, a partner at a venture capital firm mentioned to me that he owed all of his success and millions to a psychic named Mercedes that lived right on the other side of the tunnel in NJ. It took three months to land an appointment. I got there, in her heavily Hispanic neighborhood, and I had to wait. She had a customer. Her store smelled like incense and was filled with little statues of Jesus, and other statues of things I didn’t recognize. I walked up and down the street. I kept thinking, like I reflexively do in these situations, I could hide here. I could get an apartment for almost nothing. I could meet an Hispanic girl. I could eat Cuban food every day. And I could sleep and read. Maybe forever. Nobody would ever find me again. When she was ready for me she did something with some cards. She lit incense. She was very kind and said kind things to me about my present and my future. I went back a few times, mostly because the partner at the VC firm was a multi-millionaire and would swear everything was due to her. A few years later something similar happened.  [...]"  

MSM: "Greek Bonds Collapse;, Interest Rates Surge To Near 40%; ECB Announces They Will Allow "Temporary Default" [07/20/11] "European bankers have announced they will allow a temporary default on Greece sovereign debt which in turn caused Greek bonds to crash and send interest rates for the nation skyrocketing to a nearly 40% yield on their 2 year bond. [...]"  

Commentary: "Bloomberg Unleashes "Financial Hell" in New York City" [07/20/11]   "Under billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City is rapidly becoming a model for the fascist nightmare planned for the U.S. as a whole, in which ordinary people are looted into the ground, while the financier parasites are protected. New York City "is unleashing its latest financial hell" on local restaurants and other businesses, according to the New York Post, which said the Bloomberg administration was projecting to raise almost $900 million in fees and fines this year, with most coming from businesses. One restaurant was recently hit with a $600 fine because rainwater from its parking lot flowed into a city sewer. Said the owner: "The officials come back for an inspection every two months, and it is costing us hundreds and as much as $2,000 each visit. They have to find something wrong with the place. If they don't, their supervisor will come out and then give you a ticket of some kind." Wlsewhere in New York, Wall Street is pissing all over everyone, and getting way with it, drainage or no. [...]"  

Survey: "Government Policy Missteps: #1 Risk To The Economy for the Next 12 Months" [07/20/11] "According to a survey of investors done by Citi, the #1 risk to the economy for the next 12 months is... politicians screwing up. We certainly can think of a lot of opportunities for them to do that. [...]" 

World Economy: "IMF Warns Of Major Worldwide Consequences From Euro Crisis" [07/20/11] "... Directors concurred with the findings of the spillovers analysis that spillovers could be large if stress in euro-area crisis countries spreads to other members. They emphasized the need to stem contagion through a cohesive and cooperative approach, noting that delays in resolving the crisis could be costly for the euro area and the global economy. Directors also noted that the rest of the world would profit from policies that lift the euro area’s growth potential. [...]"  

Commentary: "Obama Basically Just Endorsed The Gang Of Six Debt Ceiling Plan" [07/19/11]   "President Barack Obama all-but-endorsed a deficit reduction proposal introduced earlier today by the so-called "Gang of Six" U.S. Senators. In a statement at the beginning of today's press briefing, Obama called the Gang of Six proposal "broadly consistent" with the vision for deficit reduction he laid out, adding that it is "balanced." Obama has frequently mentioned that any debt limit deal will have to be in "balance." The president called the Gang of Six proposal a "very significant step" in the talks, saying he has to read it over before giving it his full-throated endorsement. Obama again stressed the importance of reaching a deal soon, saying "We are in the eleventh hour and we don't have a lot of time left." He encouraged congressional leaders to begin "talking turkey" on reaching a deal tomorrow. House Republicans are preparing a vote on "Cut, Cap and Balance" today, their rival proposal that Obama has already threatened to veto, and has no chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate. [...]"  Related: "Is This The Debt Ceiling Deal?" "Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) rejoined the "Gang of Six" Tuesday, as the bipartisan group released a $3.6 trillion deficit reduction plan. The plan includes cuts to Medicare, and includes $1 trillion in new revenues over the next ten years, according to POLITICO. Senators say the proposal would result in a net tax decrease, because the Alternative Minimum Tax would be repealed. The "Gang of Six" presented the plan to a group of 43 senators this morning, who reportedly applauded once Coburn announced he was "back" in the group, after quitting it in May. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) said the proposal would get a majority of Senate votes, and encouraged the House to consider the plan. “Likely 60,” she told The Hill. “The House should like this plan because it has spending cuts and I believe it will spur the economy.” [...]" | "Gang Of Six" Deficit Reduction Proposal Short On Specifics" "The Gang of Six deficit reduction plan introduced today promises $3.7 trillion in cuts over 10 years. Only $500 billion of those cuts, however, would be made immediately as part of a bill to raise the debt limit. The rest are guidelines for congressional committees to take up later this year, with no guarantee they will remain in their current form, or provide the level of deficit reduction advertised. "There is not a final agreement on the gang of six plan – rather an agreement on a framework for what could become a plan," Max Gleischman, a spokesman for Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), told Business Insider. Tax reform "will not be part of a deal to get us through the August 2nd deadline," he added. [...]"  

"Congressional Testimony From Dr. James K. Galbraith: The Role Of Fraud In The Financial Crisis" [07/19/11] " I write to you from a disgraced profession. Economic theory, as widely taught since the 1980s, failed miserably to understand the forces behind the financial crisis. Concepts including "rational expectations," "market discipline," and the "efficient markets hypothesis" led economists to argue that speculation would stabilize prices, that sellers would act to protect their reputations, that caveat emptor could be relied on, and that widespread fraud therefore could not occur. Not all economists believed this – but most did.  Thus the study of financial fraud received little attention. Practically no research institutes exist; collaboration between economists and criminologists is rare; in the leading departments there are few specialists and very few students. Economists have soft- pedaled the role of fraud in every crisis they examined, including the Savings & Loan debacle, the Russian transition, the Asian meltdown and the dot.com bubble. They continue to do so now. At a conference sponsored by the Levy Economics Institute in New York on April 17, the closest a former Under Secretary of the Treasury, Peter Fisher, got to this question was to use the word "naughtiness." This was on the day that the SEC charged Goldman Sachs with fraud. There are exceptions. [...]"  

Psychopathy: "Defense And War Spending Off The Table In Debt Ceiling/Budget Talks" [07/19/11] "The debate in Washington over raising the federal debt ceiling and how best to slash the federal deficit reveals many details about the competing political and economic ideologies involved. While both sides seem to agree that cutting federal spending on domestic programs is the solution, one major element that is overlooked is that neither side truly represents the interests of working people in America.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Trillions In Commercial And Industrial Loans To Europe's Insolvent Countries" [07/19/11] "With the market's attention over the past year exclusively focused on bank holdings of insolvent European sovereign debt, which as is now well known had been declining for months, many if not all forgot that banks also have credit exposure via far simpler conduits: retail and commercial debt. And as an analysis of the full disclosure in the EBA's second stress test exposes, banks are on the hook for literally trillions in various plain-vanilla commercial and retail loans to individuals and businesses. WSJ's David Enrich summarizes it best: "Friday's test results shed light on another potential problem for Europe's banks: huge piles of residential mortgages, small-business loans, corporate debt and commercial real-estate loans to institutions and individuals from ailing countries. As those economies struggle, the odds of rising defaults grow." [...]"  

MSM: "Gold Extends Record Rally" [07/19/11]   "Gold surged to an all-time high above $1,600 (999 pounds) an ounce on Monday, extending a record rally as investors sought a safe haven on fears that U.S. lawmakers could fail to raise the debt limit, resulting in a default. [...]" 

MSM: "Elizabeth Warren: I Am Fine With Not Heading The Consumer Protection Agency" [07/19/11] [2:03] 

MSM: "Moody's Suggests US Eliminates Debt Ceiling" [07/18/11] "Ratings agency Moody's on Monday suggested the United States should eliminate its statutory limit on government debt to reduce uncertainty among bond holders. The United States is one of the few countries where Congress sets a ceiling on government debt, which creates "periodic uncertainty" over the government's ability to meet its obligations, Moody's said in a report. "We would reduce our assessment of event risk if the government changed its framework for managing government debt to lessen or eliminate that uncertainty," Moody's analyst Steven Hess wrote in the report. The agency last week warned it would cut the United States' AAA credit rating if the government misses debt payments, increasing pressure on Republicans and the White House to come up with a budget agreement. Moody's said it had always considered the risk of a U.S. debt default very low because Congress has regularly raised the debt ceiling during many decades, usually without controversy. However, the current wide divisions between the House of Representatives and the Obama administration over the debt limit creates a high level of uncertainty and causes us to raise our assessment of event risk," Hess said. Stepping further into the heated political debate about U.S. debt problems, Moody's suggested the government could look at other ways to limit debt. In the United States, Moody's said the debt limit had not effectively curbed the rise in government debt because lawmakers regularly raise it and because that limit is not related to the level of expenditures approved by Congress. [...]"  

US Politics:  "GOP: Constitutional Debt Ban Is Price Of Debt Ceiling Hike" [07/18/11] "Archconservative Rep. Jim Jordan (R-S.C.) on Sunday dismissed warnings from financial professionals that failing to raise the debt ceiling could spark a financial calamity, claiming that the economy is far more threatened by increasing federal debt levels. "Everyone understands that in two to three years we're going to have a debt crisis," Jordan said on "Fox News Sunday." "The big crisis that's coming, that's more important than anything that's happening now." The sustainability of U.S. debt is measured by interest rates on Treasury bonds. If investors are concerned about the government's capacity to repay its debts, they demand higher interest rates to compensate them for their increased risk. But interest rates on Treasury bonds have been at historic lows for years -- indicating a high level of confidence in the government's ability to handle its spending levels. Markets have only grown skittish about the government's capacity to handle its debt in recent weeks, as politicians have been unable to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling and avoid default. [...] multiple GOP politicians on the Sunday talk shows touting a Constitutional amendment to require the government to balance its budget as a condition of raising the debt limit. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) openly mocked the proposal, calling it an attempt to write radical GOP policy priorities, including Medicare and Medicaid cuts, into the Constitution. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) echoed Jordan's call for a balanced budget amendment on CNN's "State of the Union," as did Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) on NBC's "Meet The Press." [...]"  Note: When one of the Graham/McCain/Lieberman "Trio of Social Terror" wants  something, you know it's the wrong thing to do, no matter what it is. The trio should he hospitalized for observation, because the psychopathology with these people is pretty bad. These people are inimical to life.

MSM: "McConnell Plan For Debt Ceiling May Be Final Answer, Insiders Say" [07/18/11] "A key liberal insider and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) indicated on Sunday that the final debt ceiling deal will likely resemble something akin to what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) unveiled earlier this week, despite bipartisan derison of the plan. John Podesta, who runs the Center for American Progress, a think tank with extremely close ties to the Obama administraion, said on "Fox News Sunday" that McConnell's plan is the likely endgame for current debt talks. Nobody in the administration has indicated what they believe the outcome of the debt negotiations are likely to be. "I don't like it, but I think it is probably some version of McConnell, which is cut the deficit now by 1.3 or 1.4 trillion dollars, get the debt limit passed… and then fight it out next year in the election," Podesta said. "President Obama will frame it and Republicans can answer." Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew said on ABC's "This Week" that he thinks some deal will get done, but did not specify what he thinks the final terms of a deal will be. [...]"  

MSM: "Rep. Kucinich Warns Credit Agencies To Stay Out Of U.S. Debt Fight" [07/18/11] "A prominent progressive lawmaker wants the two largest credit rating agencies to stay out of the ongoing battle over whether to raise the federal government's debt ceiling. Moody's and Standard & Poor's each are warning they could downgrade the government's top-of-the-line AAA credit rating if the White House and congressional Republicans fail to reach a deal to raise the debt limit. [...]"  

Commentary: "With Credit Default Swaps, Banks Loot World With A Government Guarantee" [07/17/11] "In his latest interview with King World News, geopolitical analyst James G. Rickards says credit default swaps are fraudulent mechanisms by which the "too big to fail" New York investment banks like J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs loot the world with an implicit U.S. government guarantee, making them de-facto agencies of the government. Rickards adds that he thinks Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments this week about a third round of "quantitative easing" were misconstrued and that QE3 is not really likely. Rickards also remarks on Bernanke's insistence to U.S. Rep. Ron Paul that gold isn't money. "Money is what the market says it is," Rickards observes, [...]" 

Commentary: "US Riding Second Wave Of Depression" [07/17/11]   [3:26] "Press TV talks with Dr. Webster Griffin Tarpley, an author and historian in Washington, for his insights on the US economic situation and the potential risks of a default. Press TV: If we look at this in context of tough economic times, can it be argued these negative sentiments are natural in such trying times? Tarpley: Well, the negativity is fully justified. We are in a world economic depression as in the 1930s, it comes in waves. We had the first wave in 2008 were the bankruptcy of Bear Stearns [Companies], Lehman Brothers [Holdings] and really all of Wall Street. We are no going through the second wave of the depression, on the one side, the European debt and banking crises, or the euro crises, but that is now joined by these really unnecessary crises around the dollar and the US public debt. We have a mass of fanatics inside the Republican Party; this is known as Tea Party [movement]. These are reactionaries. They are founded by extreme right-wing business men, like the Koch brothers [of Koch Industries], they want the United States to go bankrupt, they want the US to default because they figured that if the United States can no longer borrow, they would be able to destroy the social safety net that we have had left over from the new deal, that is to say Medicare, Medicaid, social security and so forth. Since they can't get that done by legal means, they are trying to go outside of the government and the constitution to force the bankruptcy of the country, thinking that in that case there won't be any money for these programs. Unfortunately, Obama has not put up a good front against them; he has gratuitously said that he wants to sacrifice parts of Medicare, Medicaid, and social security. That was the surprised announcement that he made at the middle of last week. Right now though Wall Street is making its voice heard. If the Unites States defaults all central bank reserves in the world will be radically devalued, there will be a world panic, a catastrophe.  Press TV: Some economists say that neither party would let the US default, and that they are simply playing politics. Do you agree?  Tarpley: Normally that would be true, but we know have a group of true ideological fanatics, the Tea Party. They believe in the Austrian school, and the Chicago school. They believe they you can have market without a government. They are neo-feudalist, right-wing anarchist - whatever you want- they believe that. Now, the leaders of the Republican Party are getting calls from Wall Street right now saying that either you raise the debt ceiling, and preserve some kind of stability, or you are maybe sleeping with the fishes or a cement overcoat, that's the level that it has come to. The problem is that there are 70 or 80 or 90 Republicans in the house who are impervious to all kind of reason discourse. They are getting threats, they may come around as a result of the threats, but the situation is now on the brink, it would never be this way if you never had these fanatics who are essentially beyond all reason.[...]" Related: "Koch Brothers Ignore Ron Paul, Give Cash to Bachmann"  

MSM: "U.S. Considers Asset Sale To Pay Bills If Debt Limit Is Not Raised" [07/16/11] "Federal officials have reached out to banks and investors to discuss the government's plans for its paying obligations after August 2 in the event the debt ceiling isn't raise, The Washington Post reports. Among the options being considered to raise revenues while borrowing is prohibited, are the suspension of non-critical payments, and the sale of federally-owned student loans, mortgages, and even gold reserves. The government is facing a $159 billion deficit in August, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. The Post is reporting that financial firms and investors were skeptical of the plans when briefed by Treasury Department officials, arguing there would be chaos in the markets due to speculators quick to scoop up valuable assets at low prices from a cash-starved government. Rating agencies have said any partial default on its obligations, or steps to pay only some of the nation's bills could be met by a downgrade of federal debt — which would cause further economic turmoil. [...]"  

Commentary: "EU Now Wants To Ban Ratings Agencies From Warning That Countries May Be In Financial Trouble" [07/16/11] "Ratings agencies, who rate the risk and financial viability of all sorts of debt products, were one of the major scapegoats of the financial crisis. A lot of people pointed the blame finger at them, noting that they rated all sorts of incredibly risky and often highly questionable financial instruments as being incredibly safe. [...]"  

MSM: "Bill To Prioritize Debt Payments, Troop Salaries Stalled In Congress" [07/15/11] "Legislation to prioritize payments of the nation's debt obligations and funding for military salaries is being held up by leaders in both the U.S. House and Senate, POLITICO reports. Bills introduced by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) have stalled since March, when they were introduced to continue troop salaries in the event of a government shutdown. With the debt ceiling deadline rapidly approaching, both lawmakers are renewing calls for their bills to be considered, and adding a requirement that federal debt obligations also receive priority. After August 2nd, the Treasury Department says the government will be forced to pick and choose which federal programs and obligations to fund, until it may resume borrowing. The Treasury Department has refused to speculate which programs it would fund in the event of the that debt ceiling is not raised in time, leaving open the potential for 150,000 troops deployed in combat zones — and over 1.3 million active duty troops globally — to go unpaid. The government will have $172.4 billion to pay its August bills, of which military pay is $2.9 billion and debt obligations are $29 billion, according to a study by the Bipartisan Policy Center.  [...]"  

Commentary: "Debt Political Theater Diverts Attention While Americans’ Wealth is Stolen" Dennis Kucinich [07/15/11] Video clip [4:08] "The rancorous debate over the debt belies a fundamental truth of our economy -- that it is run for the few at the expense of the many, that our entire government has been turned into a machine which takes the wealth of a mass of Americans and accelerates it into the hands of the few. Let me give you some examples. Take war. War takes the money from the American people and puts it into the hands of arms manufacturers, war profiteers, and private armies. The war in Iraq, based on lies: $3 trillion will be the cost of that war. The war in Afghanistan; based on a misreading of history; half a trillion of dollars in expenses already. The war against Libya will be $1 billion by September. Fifty percent of our discretionary spending goes for the Pentagon. A massive transfer of wealth into the hands of a few while the American people lack sufficient jobs, health care, housing, retirement security. [...]"  

"Ron Paul Vs. Bernanke - July 13, 2011" [07/14/11] [9:53] "This clip is the introduction to the hearing and Dr. Paul's first exchange with Bernanke. It is notable for the the jovial nature of the first 2 minutes as Barney Frank thanks Dr. Paul for his three decades of service in the House. Also, Dr. Paul cracks a joke about the smile on Bernanke's face (and that of his staff) at the mention of Paul's retirement. Funny stuff. Congressman Paul gives an opening statement and questions Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at the Humphrey Hawkins hearing before the Financial Services committee.[...]"  

"To Whom Does The U.S. Owe Money?" Graphic [07/14/11] Note: More than 60% of Its Debt owed to US Individual, Institutions and the Social Security Trust Fund. 

MSM: "Financial Crisis Panel Commissioners Leaked Confidential Information To Lobbyists, Report Alleges " [07/14/11] "Republican commissioners on the panel created by Congress to probe the roots of the financial crisis leaked documents to partisan allies and shared confidential information with influence peddlers, according to a Wednesday report by Democrats on a Congressional oversight committee. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led by Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California, sought to investigate allegations that the bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission was mismanaged by its Democratic majority, misused taxpayer funds, was compromised by conflicts of interest and colluded with Democrats in Congress as they sought to pass a financial reform bill. Instead, the 400,000 emails and documents obtained by the investigative committee show that Republican commissioner Peter Wallison broke confidentiality rules by leaking documents to Ed Pinto, a colleague of his at the American Enterprise Institute, a prominent right-leaning Washington-based research and policy organization. The misconduct did not stop there, according to the report.  [...]"  

World Politics: "Vladimir Putin Calls Bernanke A Hooligan, Angry At American Money Printing" [07/14/11]   " ... In a speech before the of economic experts at the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian prime minister had the following to say: ... They are behaving like hooligans, switching on the printing press and tossing them around the whole world, forgetting their main obligations.” [...] pretty soon the only reserve currency in the world will be the one backed not with Tomahawk missiles or printing presses, but actual, hard assets." 

UK: "Britain's Total Debt To Top £2 Trillion" [07/14/11] "The Treasury will publish full accounts for all Whitehall departments to give taxpayers an idea of what the public finances would look like if it was a company. The move will for the first time bring into one place the future liabilities of accrued pension liabilities for public sector workers and the future costs of schools and hospitals built using the private finance initiative. Experts suggest that this will add an estimated £1,200billion from debt in the accounts of 1,500 public bodies to the Government’s books. Adding in the official national debt figure of £909billion, it takes the overall total debt bill to more than £2,000 billion, as at the end of 2009/10. It will allow taxpayers to be able to view the public finances as if Britain was a company listed on the London Stock Exchange.  [...]" 

MSM: "Moody’s Places U.S. on Review for Downgrade As Debt Talks Stall" [07/14/11] "Moody’s Investors Service put the U.S. under review for a credit rating downgrade as talks to raise the government’s $14.3 trillion debt limit stall, adding to concern that political gridlock will lead to a default.  [...]"  

Commentary: "JP Morgan Supercomputer Offers Risk Analysis In Near Real-Time" [07/14/11] "JP Morgan is now able to run risk analysis and price its global credit portfolio in near real-time after implementing application-led, High Performance Computing (HPC) capabilities developed by Maxeler Technologies. The investment bank worked with HPC solutions provider Maxeler Technologies to develop an application-led, HPC system based on Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) technology that would allow it to run complex banking algorithms on its credit book faster. Prior to the implementation, JP Morgan would take eight hours to do a complete risk run, and an hour to run a present value, on its entire book. If anything went wrong with the analysis, there was no time to re-run it. It has now reduced that to about 238 seconds, with an FPGA time of 12 seconds.[...] The project took JP Morgan around three years, and the bank is now looking to push it into other areas of the business, such as high frequency trading."  Note: "High Frequency Trading is cannibalizing itself, since it is driving out of the market the very traders it needs to feed off" -- Karim Taleb, of Robust Methods.

Commentary: "Bernanke Feeds the Panic, Announces QEIII; Stop It with Glass-Steagall" [07/13/11] "With Europe engulfed in debt-panic and the European Central Bank (ECB) becoming a huge "bad bank" for unpayable debt assets, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stepped into the breach July 13 by announcing to the House Financial Services Committee that the Federal Reserve is preparing a QEIII, with more expansion of its asset book. Stocks and the Euro momentarily soared, the dollar plunged. [...]"  

Commentary: "Woman Receives Condolence Letter From JP Morgan, And Has To Remind Them Twice She's Not Dead" [07/13/11] "Last November, Wrenella Pierre received a condolence letter from Chase regarding her death. "We are very sorry to hear of your loss," it said. But Pierre is very much alive, and is suing Chase for having "stymied her attempts to refinance her mortgage and ruined her credit rating," according to the Orlando Sentinel. Pierre and her husband built a new house in 2007, and obtained two mortgages from JP Morgan Chase. "Two years later, after the home had declined in value, Wrenella Pierre tried five or six times without success to have the mortgage modified," the Orlando Sentinel reported. Then randomly at the end of last year, Chase told credit-reporting agencies that Pierre had died, and sent a condolence letter to her family saying "someone from the bank would be in touch... about the outstanding balance." Obviously Pierre went straight to the bank to let them know that she was not dead. She was forced to go back again and remind them of this fact a few weeks later too, because credit-reporting agencies still had her listed as deceased. JP Morgan says they're investigating. [...]"  Note: I'd like to see Jamie Dimon get killed on the sidewalk by one of his own bankers who jumped from above. It's that kind of irony that is sweet.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report – (E163)" [07/12/11] [16:31]  "In their weekly dig behind the financial news headlines, Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert report on declaring war on ratings agencies and buying refrigerators to save the economy. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Professor Emeritus, Guy McPherson, who has exited the empire to build a post-carbon community. . [...]"  

Commentary: "U.S. Regime May Cite 14th Amendment to Keep Raising Debt Ceiling" [07/11/11] "The White House could resort to an little-known line in the US constitution to prevent a ruinous default if Democrats and Republicans do not agree to raise the debt ceiling by August 2, experts say. The 143-year-old clause, written to address still-potent divisions after the bloody Civil War, has been dredged up by legal scholars as well as the US Treasury secretary to suggest how a debt debacle might be avoided. But resorting to it could spark a constitutional crisis over just who — the Congress or the White House — controls the power of the federal purse, analysts say. [...]"  Related: "Why The 14th Amendment Won't Prevent A Debt Ceiling Crisis"  "Over the last few days, a number of commentators have been proposing that even if the debt ceiling is not raised, the president has the authority to borrow as much money as he wants via the 14th Amendment, which says that the validity of the lawfully incurred debt of the United States "shall not be questioned". Since a number of scholars interpret this as saying that the government cannot constitutionally repudiate or default on its debt, the president must have the authority to avoid this by further borrowing. I've always thought this was a long-shot--even if you think the president does have this authority, actually carrying through on it would trigger a pretty ugly constitutional crisis, as the House would almost certainly impeach the president. That aside, Larry Tribe does, I think, a pretty effective job of squelching the hope that the Supreme Court might eventually find in the president's favor: [...]"

Commentary: "20 Warning Signs Of A Global Doomsday" [07/10/11] "Worries of a Lehman-like financial crisis spreading through Europe and the world has made Greece talk of the market lately. Not to let Greece dominate the spotlight, the U.S. debt ceiling debate is also getting to be as traumatic since a failure to raise the debt ceiling could mean imminent default and credit downgrades for the United States sovereign debt. In the midst of all these different crises, global markets rise and fall in lockstep with news coming out of Europe and the U.S. The U.S. stock market, after suffering a correction phase since April, snapped back last week, scored the best week in two years, but only to retreat again after the long July 4th weekend. The commodity and currency markets are not immune either, with investors switching back and forth between risk-on and risk-off trades. In this environment, one has to ask ... are there other indicators signaling a global market doomsday? According to Oxford Analytica, there are 15 "Global Stress Points" ranging from medium to extreme high impact to the entire world. These are listed below ranked by their potential impact by Oxford (see graph). Around 60% of the "stress points" are related to geopolitics, war or unrest, while only about five events could be classified as financial crises. [...]" 

Commentary: "Eric Cantor Hit By Democrats For Potentially Profiting From U.S. Default " [07/09/11] "House Democrats are circulating a resolution accusing House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) of having a conflict of interest in the debt ceiling debate, a move that could provide an awkward C-SPAN moment for one of the lead Republicans in the budget negotiations. The resolution goes after Cantor's investment in ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury ETF, a fund that "takes a short position in long-dated government bonds." The fund is essentially a bet against U.S. government bonds. If the debt ceiling is not raised and the United States defaults on its debts, the value of Cantor's fund would likely increase. The Democratic resolution, obtained by The Huffington Post from a Democratic source on the Hill, argues that Cantor "stands to profit from U.S. treasury default, which thereby raises the appearance of a conflict of interest," and that he "may be sabotaging [debt ceiling] negotiations for his own personal gain." It's not clear how widely the measure was being circulated, with a House Democratic aide saying they hadn't seen the resolution or heard it being discussed. "Majority Leader Cantor has compromised the dignity and integrity of the Members of the House by raising the appearance of a conflict of interest in negotiations with the executive branch over raising the debt ceiling," adds the measure. [...] According to Dayspring, Cantor owns $3,327 in the ProShares trust. His congressional pension in the Thrift Savings Plan, on the other hand, is invested in the G Fund of government bonds and is valued at over $263,000. The value of his investment in the ProShares fund is highly variable and could change significantly if the government defaults. [...] "  

Commentary: "There's No Recovery Because the Government Made it Official Policy Not to Prosecute Fraud" [07/09/11] "Fraud caused the Great Depression and it has caused the current financial crisis. But fraud is not not being prosecuted, and so it will occur again and again, and prevent a sustainable economic recovery.[...]"  

MSM: "Swiss Parliament To Discuss Gold Franc" [07/09/11] "The Swiss Parliament is expected later this year to discuss the creation of a gold franc — a parallel currency to the official Swiss franc, with the fringe initiative likely triggering a broader debate about the role of the precious metal in the Alpine nation. [...]" Related: "China's $70 Billion Fund Managers Rush to Boost Gold Investment" "China's asset managers, who have been approved to raise $70 billion for allocation overseas, are seeking additional funds to invest in gold and precious metals as soaring inflation spurs interest in alternative assets as a way to protect wealth. [...]"  Note: Of course, wealth doesn't do any good if you don't exist on the planet any more. They can't see that coming.

Commentary: "30 Reasons To Get Out Of Real Estate And Into Real Assets" [07/09/11] "We are in a major paradigm shift that like a tsunami starts slowly and ends with the landscape wiped clean. The paradigm shift is from paper assets to real tangible assets. This shift happens every generation or so, where one asset class dramatically outperforms the other. The 40′s and 50′s paper assets like stocks and bonds were the place to be. In the 60′s and 70′s real assets like oil, cattle and precious metals were the best performing assets. In the 80′s and 90′s paper assets once again reigned supreme. Since 2000 there has been a real rush from paper assets to real assets once again. This paradigm shift will be much more dramatic than anything we have seen in our life time. This asset shift is going to coincide with a major shifts in demographics, politics, and world power. The collapse of paper assets will not only include stocks and bonds, it will be the collapse of the entire basis of our society, the dollar. The dollar is the nexus of all commerce and is our way of life. The almighty dollar has terminal cancer and it will not recover to live to see the next paradigm. This shift from paper assets and real assets is driven by money/debt creation. Since our dollar IS debt,i t is necessary for more debt to be created every year in excess of the debt AND interest accrued the year before. The majority of this debt was created during boom times when no one feared debt. When the inevitable slow down came, the Elite created more money/debt to keep the system going. This new money/debt creation, relative to the amount of real goods and services in a slowing economy, produces more inflation which naturally boosts the value of real assets. [...]"  Note: Interesting observations and factors listed.

  Commentary: "Collapsing Financials" [07/08/11] "... A clear majority of the uncrushed are certain that there is nothing to worry about and go about their business as if life will continue on as it has these past few decades. But 100 percent of the crushed have no doubt that there is a civilization-scale catastrophe taking place and that there will be little or no recovery from it for as far as the eye can see into the future. John Rubino wrote, “For a couple of years now it’s been clear that the world was about to fall apart, with the only question being which local failure turns out to be the catalyst for a systemic breakdown. So many things were on the verge of blowing up… yet none of them did. The world’s governments have engaged in a heroic period of “extend and pretend” that has kept the system together longer than seemed possible. But now the game seems to be ending. It’s still not clear which bomb will go off first, but a bunch of fuses have gotten very short indeed. Here’s a survey of old crises that are finally coming to a head.” You want to see something that blew up this week? [...] The free market is dead and we have all arrived at a sort of involuntary socialism where the largest banks rape and pillage everyone else. “At the start of the second half of 2011, with a global economy in complete disarray, an increasingly unstable global monetary system and financial centers in desperate straits, all this despite the thousands of billions of public money invested to avoid precisely this type of situation. The insolvency of the global financial system, and of the Western financial system in the first place, returns again to the front of the stage after just over a year of political cosmetics aimed at burying this fundamental problem under truckloads of cash,” writes GEAB. There is no other possible end state then a full collapse of paper and digital wealth, which in today’s world would be a catastrophe of civilization-destroying capacity. Silver Shield says, “The dollar collapse will be the single largest event in human history. This will be the first event that will touch every single living person in the world. All human activity is controlled by money. Our wealth, our work, our food, our government, even our relationships are affected by money. No money in human history has had as much reach in both breadth and depth as the dollar. It is the de facto world currency. All other currency collapses will pale in comparison to this big one. [...] Concentration of wealth is at obscene levels and these are the people that Jesus the Rabbi talked about when he talked about the rich, the eye of needles and the chances of getting into heaven. From what I have seen these people are not planning on going to heaven and in fact have been spending billions of their dollars building underground centers and complexes. Seems like human hell for can you imagine these people having to live in tight quarters with each other?"  Note:  When the planetary spirit also graduates, all bodies will drop to the ground, dead. So, all the rich can occupy all their mausoleums and die like everyone else. Stupid is as stupid does. Stupid reincarnated retreads .. never learn .. planet to planet. Dumb as a stone.

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report – (E162)" [07/08/11] [18:54]  "This week, Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert report on selling Greece’s sovereignty and Spain’s El Gordo. In the second half of the show, Max talks to economist Michael Hudson about the IMF assassins sent in to destroy the Greek economy. [...]"  

Commentary: "Tim Geithner Is A Disgrace " By Eliot Spitzer [07/08/11] "The issue has been festering for months: Why were AIG's counterparties—including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and UBS—paid 100 cents on the dollar when the feds rescued the insurance giant, helping raise the cost of the bailout to nearly $200 billion? A new report issued by Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky now reveals that government officials, notably then-New York Fed President and current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, grievously damaged the nation and capitulated to the very banks they should have been supervising. [...]"  

Financial Predation: "Zynga Makes Millions Selling Foolish Lonely Losers Non-Existent Goods" [07/07/11] "[1% Of Players Provide The Biggest Chunk Of Zynga's Revenue] Zynga, like most other social games makers, relies on a small percentage of users for a huge chunk of their virtual goods revenue, as it disclosed in its S-1. For Zynga, 1% of users are responsible for 25-50% of revenue, according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg BusinessWeek. The name for these players is "whales," which is what casinos call big-time gamblers. It's no revelation that a minority of players drive the majority of revenue for social gaming companies. What could be unsettling is that some players spend thousands of dollars per year on their Zynga games, some even tens of thousands.  That was the angle of an exposé by Ryan Tate at Gawker a while back, that unveiled Zynga's "Platinum Purchase Program" for players who make purchases above $500, and said that basically Zynga turns lonely losers into addicts and milks them for every penny.  The reality is probably more nuanced.  People spend tens of thousands of dollars building dollhouses or refurbishing their cars or, as the "whale" expression indicates, gambling. That's human nature. As long as Zynga isn't defrauding or lying to anyone, we're not sure there's anything morally wrong here. Zynga games can be addictive, but just in the same way that dozens of other things all of us do are addictive.  [...]"  Related: "How Zynga Makes Millions Off A Game Like CityVille" "Zynga is said to be generating more than $600 million dollars in revenue per year. Almost all of it comes from Facebook games. CityVille is Zynga's latest game, and happens to be the world's biggest game. Ever. It has 92 million users and it only launched a month and a half ago. CityVille works because to advance in the game you need to enlist your Facebook friends' help (sometimes by spamming them). And Zynga makes money because to advance faster in the game you can buy "virtual goods" with actual money. CityVille also works, I found out, because despite (or perhaps because of) its simplicity, it's strangely compelling. I've been spending the past few weeks inside CityVille and brought you a report from the trenches. [...]"   Note: If people are openly willing to pay something for nothing, based entirely on an ego-driven mind set, they are agreeing to be fleeced. There is no law against being stupid, and there are plenty of people willing to part with their resources while pretending they have a life.

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit 
of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection." - Warren Buffet 

MSM: "Treasury Officials Weighing Options To Avoid Default " [07/07/11] "A small team of U.S. Treasury officials is discussing options to stave off default if Congress fails to raise the debt limit by the Aug. 2 deadline, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. [...]" 

MSM: "Roubini: "A Massive Fiscal Drag In 2012, And A "Perfect Storm" In 2013" [07/06/11] " He thinks the second half of the year could be slightly better than the first half. * He expects massive fiscal drag in 2012. The perfect storm will be in 2013, because everyone is kicking the can down the road. Greece will kick the can to the. The US fiscal issues will be kicked until then (after the election). [...]"  Note: So if what he says is true, many really serious problems with this specific dynamic would come after we're out of here anyway.

Commentary: "Iceland’s Former Prime Minister Charged With Negligence Over Financial Crisis" [07/06/11] "Last month, former Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde became the first leading political figure to be charged for his part in the 2008 economic collapse, which hit Iceland with particular severity. In a charge filed at the Reykjavík district court, Haarde was accused of criminal negligence in his prime ministerial duties between February 2008 and October 2008—the period preceding the downfall of Iceland’s major financial institutions. If found guilty, Haarde could face two years’ imprisonment. The charges were brought by the special prosecutor’s office investigating the 2008 crash, led by Olafur Hauksson. Hauksson’s team has also recently brought charges against leading executives in Iceland’s failed banks, Kaupthing, Glittnir and Landsbanki. At the end of June, three Kaupthing executives were acquitted of all charges against them. Haarde has denounced his trial as a political vendetta led by hostile sections of the ruling elite. Asserting his innocence on the eve of the trial, he stated that the charges of negligence “are ridiculous, especially in light of the fact that the decisions made by my government in the run up to the crash turned out to have been the right ones. The filing of the case tomorrow means that the first politically- motivated trial in Iceland’s history is about to start.” Haarde returned to these claims in an interview with AFP last week. In comparison to Greece and Ireland, Iceland had come out of the crisis in much better shape, Haarde said. “We saved the country from going bankrupt,” he proclaimed. [...]"  

Commentary: "U.S. Austerity Measures: Putting The Cart Before The Horse" [07/06/11] "After discovering the first attempt at an on-location promotion of austerity measures in the U.S., one very important element seems to be missing from the conversation. Liability. Arizona's 8th Congressional District is experiencing a temporary power vacuum since the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords last January. Regardless, guests David Walker, CEO of the Comeback America Initiative and Robert Bixby, Director of the Concord Coalition, were comfortable visiting this remote, ambiguous neck of the woods to begin the promotional push for austerity measures aimed at reducing deficit spending and the national debt. One question noticeably absent from this conversation is, "why are they tapping the public citizenry to pay the bill?" Criminal Recklessness: After the persistent, behind-the-scenes, unceremonious gutting of the U.S. Treasury these last thirty years, there seems to be an assumption that U.S. taxpayers are going to pay for the party. U.S. taxpayers had nothing to do with the illegal wars in Central America, the Savings and Loan bailouts, NAFTA, GATT, the missing trillions from the Pentagon, 9/11, the oil spills, the trillions of dollars for the Middle East adventures and the bank bailouts to cover the phony housing bubble. Lame Duck Power Structure: The Walker/Bixby team took great pains to describe how this current bankrupt state diminishes the amount of available capital, requires interest payments, reduces flexible spending for new needs and increases the number of fiscal crises. A fairly mild warning compared to seasoned economists predicting a worldwide economic train wreck. Regardless, that's not our problem. It's a situation that must be dealt with by those who have screwed up the country not by the people who were dragged to this point kicking and screaming. Going Through the Motions: [...]"  

Commentary: "Moody's Rating Agency Finds 10% Of Chinese GDP Is Bad Debt, Claims "China Debt Problem Bigger Than Stated" [07/05/11] " Moody's has identified another potential RMB 3.5 trillion ($540 billion) of such loans that the Chinese auditors did not discuss in their report....we find that the Chinese audit agency could be understating banks' exposures to local governments by as much as RMB 3.5 trillion." Naturally, the implication is that this is an absolutely willing "omission" (thank you central planning), which means that of China's $5.8 trillion GDP (or whatever imaginary number the Polit Bureau is happy with throwing around for mass consumption), $540 billion is debt that is "unaccounted for", most likely due to being, well, bad. That would be equivalent to saying that $1.4 trillion of US corporate debt is delinquent. And lest anything is lost in translation, Moody's drives the steak through the Dragon's heart: "Since these loans to local governments are not covered by the NAO report, this means they are not considered by the audit agency as real claims on local governments. This indicates that these loans are most likely poorly documented and may pose the greatest risk of delinquency." So let's get this straight: a country which has 10% of its GDP in the form of bad debt, is somehow expected to be credible enough to buy not only Greek debt, but the EURUSD each and every day? Mmmmk. In the meantime, Dagong downgrades the US to junk status in 5, 4, 3... [...]"  

Commentary: "Greece Needs Herculean Reforms To Secure Bailout" [07/05/11]   "A warning from Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker that Greece will lose sovereignty and jobs to meet those criteria has enraged unions. Any suggestion of foreign intervention in running the country is an incendiary political issue that will make implementing reforms even tougher. Public sector union ADEDY, which has launched crippling strikes and protests, reacted angrily to his comments. [...] The IMF will meet on July 8 to approve the 12-billion euro loan tranche, which is expected to be handed over by July 15 and allow Greece to avoid the immediate threat of debt default. But the country still needs the second rescue package, which is also expected to total around 110 billion. EU officials will now look at how private creditors can be involved voluntarily so that rating agencies do not declare the rescue a "credit event.""  

Commentary: "Five Top Reasons Why The Canadian Dollar Will Not Survive A US Dollar Collapse" [07/04/11] "... Canada has a respectable image internationally (the Canadian government rarely stirs up trouble outside its borders), and the Canadian banking system is admittedly much more stable than the US. Even the currency has been doing well, backed in part by Canada’s huge wealth of gold and other natural resources. You might think, then, that Canada would be the perfect asset protection haven. In fact, we frequently have enquiries from US Americans asking how to open bank accounts in Canada, or thinking that the Canadian dollar is a safe haven against collapse of the US dollar. But people who think Canada is a good investment alternative to US instability and systemic insecurity are seriously mistaken. The raid on Kitco last week amply demonstrated this, if it wasn’t already obvious. [...]" 

"Bill Gross: "The U.S. National Debt Is $100 Trillion, We Are In Worse Financial Shape Than Greece" [07/04/11] "When adding in all of the money owed to cover future liabilities in entitlement programs the US is actually in worse financial shape than Greece and other debt-laden European countries, Pimco's Bill Gross told CNBC Monday. [...]"  

"Anonymous Announces RICO Class Action Lawsuit Against the Federal Reserve " [07/04/11]   [3:39]  

"Bank Of America Agrees To $8.5 Billion Settlement On Fraud Claims" [07/04/11] "Bank of America, the biggest US bank by assets, announced Wednesday it had agreed to settle securities fraud claims brought by a group of 22 large investors for $8.5 billion. The investors—including the giant money manager BlackRock, the bond fund Pacific Investment Management Co. (Pimco), the insurer MetLife, the investment bank Goldman Sachs and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York—hold more than $56 billion in mortgage-backed securities issued by Bank of America or the sub-prime lender Countrywide Financial, which Bank of America acquired in June of 2008. They claim that Bank of America passed off securities created by bundling toxic mortgages during the 2004-2008 housing bubble as safe investments, and that Countrywide, which originated the loans, obtained little, if any, documentation on the income and assets of home buyers and then failed to service the loans properly. The settlement represents only the tip of the iceberg of fraud and criminality that pervaded the financial system during the speculative housing boom whose collapse in 2007 and 2008 precipitated the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. The settlement amounts to a repayment of about 4 cents on the dollar on 530 deals that represented $424 billion in underlying mortgages. It will do nothing to curb the speculative and illegal practices that have continued unabated since the Wall Street crash of September 2008. [...]"  

MSM: "Top Euro Leader: "Greek Sovereignty Will Now Be Massively Limited" [07/03/11] "Take money from abroad, lose your freedom. Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker just gave an interview to German magazine Focus, in which he said, via Reuters: "The sovereignty of Greece will be massively limited." He also likened the coming wave of Greek privatizations to that of East Germany, which had its own independent agency oversee the privatizations. So obviously Juncker was talking to German readers, who are upset at the bailout, and want to see a high punishment exacted for Greece getting so much taxpayer money. [...]"  

Commentary: " Max Keiser, Nigel Farage, Gerald Celente On Greek Austerity & Bailout" [07/03/11]   [6:56] "A short video about what’s happening in Greece at the present and what has lead Greece to this state. Speaking in the clips are Max Keiser, Nigel Farage and Gerald Celente.  [...]"  

MSM: "Europe Gives Greece $17 Billion To Avoid Default" [07/02/11] "Euro zone finance ministers confirmed on Friday that they would announce the release of an installment of $17.4 billion, or 12 billion euros, in aid for Greece on Saturday, buying the country time to avoid an immediate default. The size of a second bailout for Greece has not yet been determined. But an official with the Austrian Finance Ministry, Thomas Wieser, was quoted by Bloomberg News on Friday as saying that Greece could receive as much as $123 billion (85 billion euros) in new financing, including a contribution from private investors.  [...]"  

CCTV: "World Finance Leaders Warn Of Uncertainty - 44 Million Recently Pushed Into Poverty" [07/02/11]   [1:54] "The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have held their spring meetings at the World Bank building in the US capital, Washington DC. They discussed the outlook of the global economy, and the challenges that lie ahead. [...]"  

"Netherlands To Levy Bank Tax Of At Least 300 Million Euros" [07/02/11]   "Banks aren't regular companies," Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters in The Hague today. "Banks, especially big banks as we've seen, can call upon the government. It's responsible to tell banks that in return there will be a banking tax, which is also implemented in large countries around us." [...]"

"Gerald Celente: 'IMF - International Mafia Federation' " [07/02/11]   [7:51]  "The Greek Parliament has just passed a plan for new austerity measures,
but tensions remain high on the streets, showing that frustration levels are only growing. Meanwhile in the UK half a million public sector workers took to the streets to protest governmental plans to change their pensions and freeze pay. In Washington the debt ceiling talks seem to be leading nowhere either - and all of this is backed by some more bad news: the latest jobless numbers are in and last week jobless claims were at about 428,000. That means for the last 12 weeks jobless claims have remained over 400,000. Gerard Celente, the director of the Trends Research Institute, shares his thoughts.  [...]"  

LaRouche: "On the 1999 repeal of Glass-Steagall: Was It Not Treason?" [07/02/11]   "Whether it were the fruit of ignorance or other folly, the 1999 repeal of the 1933 Glass-Steagall law, has had an effect comparable to that which might have been brought about through a explicit act of treason against our United States.  [...]" 

Max Keiser: "Keiser Report – The Counterattack! (E160)" [07/01/11] [26:56]  "This time Max Keiser and co-host, Stacy Herbert, report on oil dumps and contango and on organizing counterattacks with silver. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Jeff Berwick of DollarVigilante.com about manipulation of oil and silver markets and new currencies and dead ones.[...]"  

MSM: "Geithner Considering Leaving White House" [07/01/11] " Tim Geithner is considering leaving his post as Secretary of the Treasury after a deal to raise the debt ceiling is reached, a source familiar with the discussion told CNN Thursday. Geithner is the lone remaining member of President Obama’s original economic team. Asked by former President Bill Clinton on Thursday at a Clinton Global Initiative event about his future plans, Geithner said he would be doing his job “for the foreseeable future.” A Treasury official said that Geithner will not make any decisions while he’s focused on negotiations over the debt limit and deficit reduction. Another source familiar with the discussions between Geithner and the White House said it could be a while before Geithner’s ultimate departure. “You have to have somebody lined up for the job — you can’t just leave,” this source said. “And there’s a relative scarcity of people who would fit the bill.” [...]"