Category: Economics & Investing

Reader IJS flagged this: Ron Paul: Obama Will ‘Destroy the Dollar’ Jim Sinclair (of JS Mineset) mentioned this chart posted at Contrary Investor, showing levels of derivatives exposure. Jim Sinclair raises and interesting question: Where does Goldman Sachs actually have the majority of their derivatives plays? And this chart is also illuminating. In the same piece, Sinclair included a link to this: Mobius Says Derivatives, Stimulus to Spark New Crisis. I have been warning folks for years that the derivatives market is like a ticking time bomb! A full-scale derivatives implosion could make the current economic crisis seem trivial, by …

From frequent content contributor GG: Commodities market is the place to be, says Jim Rogers. Rogers describes Ben Bernanke: “He’s an idiot.” Reader HPD mentioned this piece by Robert P. Murphy: Mish Should Ditch His Deflation Fears Who’s getting hit most by layoffs? LA mayor: City will pay costs from Jackson event. How can Los Angeles justify this expense, given their fiscal situation? Struggling Landlords Leaving Repairs Undone GG sent this: Federal tax receipts down 31% in Second Quarter Items from The Economatrix: Brand Name Companies Go Bankrupt Obama Says Unemployment Will Increase for Months How jobless numbers will respond …

My friend “X” in Japan pointed out an article that I overlooked last month: Confiscated US Bonds Were Headed For Swiss Free Port. OBTW, living near a “free port” (as described in the article) might have its advantages in a protracted economic depression. Commerce will slow globally, but port zones will probably continue to have profitable opportunities. Several SurvivalBloggers sent this: June budget gap $94.32 billion, record for June Eight readers mentioned this Wall Street Journal article: The Economy Is Even Worse Than You Think; The average length of unemployment is higher than it’s been since government began tracking the …

Tim Geithner Refuses to Answer Congressman Brad Sherman’s Question on Derivatives Bailouts Reader “Countrytek” recommended this NPR news story: Many Left Uncounted in Nation’s Official Jobless Rate Items from The Economatrix: Baby Boomers to Kids: Kiss the Inheritance Good-bye Obama Rejects Second Round of Stimulus First infusion [was] “not designed to work in four months…designed to work over two years.” Stocks Slipped 2% Last Week Christmas Creeps into July at Sears US Budget Deficit Tops $1 Trillion for First Time After Losing Homes, Families Move into Tents Awash With Cash (The Mogambo Guru) Major Lender Faces Crunch Study: State Budget …

I found this interview with the director of the president’s National Economic Council linked over at The Drudge Report: Lunch with the FT: Larry Summers. Reader Don W. suggested an excellent piece at Pajama’s TV by Bill Whittle: When Politicians Go Bad: From DC to New York & California The Government We Don’t Deserve Items from The Economatrix: SEC May Put California IOU’s Under Fraud Protection Rules May Trade Deficit Unexpectedly Drops With Assets Less Toxic, Banks Have Other Troubles Stocks Post Fourth Straight Week of Losses Banks Seen Ready to Join US Program that Revises Home-Equity Loan Terms Roubini: …

I have to admit that I’m a bit of a “silver bug.” I became enamored with the metal when I was 16 years old. That was the year that OPEC first jacked up the price of oil. Silver sold for only $3.14/oz. then (per Kitco.) A more accurate way of saying it is that one dollar equaled about one-third of an ounce of silver back then. Today one dollar will only buy about 1/13 of an ounce of silver (silver at $13/oz.) This implies that the dollar has lost about 75% of it’s purchasing power over the last 36 years, …

Reader Steve H,. sent an interesting quote from BHO: “But while our markets are improving, and we appear to have averted global collapse, we know that too many people are still struggling. So we agree that full recovery is still a ways off; that it would be premature to begin winding down our stimulus plans; and that we must sustain our support for those plans to lay the foundation for a strong and lasting recovery. We also agreed that it’s equally important that we return to fiscal sustainability in the midterm after the recovery is completed.” [Emphasis added.] Steve’s comment: …

JHB up in Montana sent this: Banks must brace for credit card pile-up HPD spotted this: Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis: Food-Stamps Reach $33.8 Million in April, 5th Consecutive Monthly Record Times must be really bad: Engineering Unemployment Soared in 2Q to 8.6% Reader HH sent us these three items: Economist: FDIC gearing up for bank closures Sales of Silver, Gold Coins Surge Inflation: Expectations and Effects Items from The Economatrix: Economist Declares Train Wreck “Morgan Stanley expert convinced out-of-control budget deficits to drag economy under” Dallas Fed: Inflation Harder to Predict Ron Paul’s Bipartisan Attack on The Fed Shipping …

James, Adding to the understanding of yesterday’s fine article “Net Producer-Net Consumer Equations for Self-Sufficiency: Getting Out of the Pit”, there is some serious historical data that your readers should be aware of. The Ludwig von Mises Institute has posted a book called “When Money Dies” on the experiences of the hyperinflation of the Weimar [Republic of Germany], which reads like headlines out of today’s newspapers. Remembering that history never repeats, it always rhymes, many of the underlying themes — the differences between country and city — will likely be similar. Because governments also have access to the same historical …

GG flagged this Forbes article: Nouriel Roubini: “Brown Manure, Not Green Shoots” Several items from Reader DD: Buffet’s wants another stimulus GM on the road again Another retailer bites the dust Oil speculators under pressure Hawaiian K. sent word of a grim statistic: Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) Fell 0.6 Percent in May from April Items from The Economatrix: US Apartment Vacancies at Historic High 565,000 New Jobless Claims “Lowest new claims since January” However, “Continuing claims, meanwhile, unexpectedly jumped to a record-high.” Retailers Report Weak June Sales Goldman Sachs Loses Its Grip on its Doomsday Machine Nation’s Banks to …

New climate strategy: track the world’s wealthiest. This is the sort of fallacious logic that foments envy, and inevitably class warfare. Yes, Americans do use a disproportionately large portion of the world’s natural resources. But we also create correspondingly more with those resources. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the US is tremendous. Here is an illustration. (California, just by itself is the sixth largest economy in the world.) Consider this: Why does Kenya Airlines have Boeing 747s in their fleet? Because someone in America builds them. Could those planes be made in Kenya? No, because they have neither the …

Reader Paul W. forwarded this piece over at Real Clear Markets: Get Ready for 14 Percent Unemployment GG sent this Wall Street Journal article: Big Banks Don’t Want California’s IOUs DD sent us four articles on unemployment: Unemployed fighting for their benefits A map of weekly unemployment benefits by state and current unemployment rate by state Low income families turning to outside sources to help with necessities Retailers to lay off more workers Karen H. also sent us another raft of articles: Migrants are going to Britain, come hell or high water. “Gazing across the Channel in the direction of …

TJ Marta tells it like it is on Tech Ticker: Bailouts for Everyone, But Who’s Going to Rescue Uncle Sam? (Thanks to Trent for the link.) KAF sent this: Swiss banks drop U.S. clients due to UBS case Greg C. and GG both sent this: US lurching towards ‘debt explosion’ with long-term interest rates on course to double Items from The Economatrix: Oil Falls 4% on Economic Recovery Concerns Stocks Mixed Amid Conflicting Economic News Dollar Discomfort Thrust Onstage for Italy Summit As Retailers Cut Back, Cities Confront “Ghostboxes” US Service Industries Contract at Slowest Pace in Nine Months BofA …