Category: Economics & Investing

CPK mentioned a great piece over at Seeking Alpha: The Worst Case Scenario (Someone Has to Say It) Reader Allan G. sent this: Robert Gibbs: No bailout for newspapers Tamara, over at the excellent View From the Porch blog, mentioned an article that might be of interest to anyone who is considering setting up an offshore retreat:: Obama to introduce tax reforms that target overseas loopholes. Tamara’s comment: “Ah, Chicago politics writ large: Punish your foes and reward your supporters.” U.S. Home Prices May Be Lost for a Generation: John F. Wasik

Aubie Baltin comments on the $1,200 trillion ($1.2 quadrillion or $1.200,000,000,000,000) derivatives market, bonds, monetization, and hyperinflation. Items from The Economatrix: Desperate Car Dealers Get Useless Loans SBA’s redefinition of “small business” makes financing availabile…with strings attached. Pontiac, Pop Culture Icon, Hits the End of the Road Labor Day Rioting in Berlin Over Economy Gold Isn’t Going to $2,000 Per Ounce UK: Company Failures are “Tip of the Iceberg” Riots Across Europe Fueled By Economic Crisis France: May Day Warning Petraeus: Pakistan Could Be Two Weeks Away From Collapse

Three more failed banks taken over by regulators. (Thanks to Laura H. for the link) Items from The Economatrix: US Families Rely on Handouts in World’s Richest Country Flu Heightens Mexico’s Economic Sickness Government Nervous About Stress Test Results S&P Downgrades Seven Dubai Businesses US GDP Poised for Epic Collapse US Empire Built on False Prosperity Collapsing The Impending Mother of All Oil Shocks Credit Crisis Bank Stress Tests: If You Believe the Banks are Recovering… “They allow Goldman Sachs to bury the fact that they left December out of their financial results deep in their footnotes. Shockingly, Goldman lost …

U.S. Bank Test Results Delayed as Conclusions Debated. Gee, do you think they’d be delaying the reporting if the results had been good? Kevin A. suggested a recent piece on banking opacity, from Jim Quinn. Items from The Economatrix: Martin Weiss: A Depression is Unavoidable Consumer Spending Dips Trucking Bankruptcies Continue Obama Blasts Hedge Funds as Chrysler Heads into Bankruptcy Gold Falls Under Very Large Sell Orders US Still in Deep Recession Ford Reports 32% Decline in April “Torture” of Mortgage-Bond Owners Carries Risk Chevron Has Lowest Profit in Five Years Hartford Financial Drops After Posting Loss, Cutting Forecast Continental …

Barron’s mentioned a “Buy” indicator on Smith and Wesson. I second the motion, but to be more specific: Make it one of the early stainless steel S&Ws with the pinned barrel and recessed cylinder. (“Pinned and recessed.”) For revolvers, you can’t go wrong with an early production Model 629. I like the 6″ barrel length, (except for concealed carry), but the Barron’s didn’t give any details. What? You say he only owns S&W stock? You can’t stop a charging grizzly with a stock certificate. Invest in tangibles! Fed is Said to Seek Capital for at Least Six Banks Swine Flu …

From reader GC: Economy Shrinks at 6.1 Percent Pace in First Quarter Unemployment Up Again in Chicago In March, But Many Cities Fare Much Worse (thanks to Ray L. for the link) Linked at The Drudge Report: Phoenix leads nation in home price declines in February (Down 51%!) Commentary from Michael Pento: It’s Stagflation, Not Hyperinflation-For Now Items from The Economatrix: Government, Chrysler Lenders Reportedly Reach Deal to Avert Bankruptcy Shares of BofA, Citi Drop on Stress Test Concerns GM to Force Over 1,000 Dealers to Close China Admits to Building Up Gold Stockpile Small Caps Rally, Lifting Stocks

From G.L: US Housing Market Heading for a Bigger Crash Ted spotted this: US Home Prices Fall, But Pace of Decline Eased Slightly Courtesy of Lee H.: Falsifying Bank Balance Sheets Items from The Economatrix: Oil Drops Below $50 on Flu Fears The Economy Looks Beyond The Recession to Disease and Terrorism Two key quotes: “The stock market responded with a shudder yesterday but at least did not collapse in response to the weekend media blitz about the Swine Flu outbreak. The reaction of the world’s markets is likely to be close to panic if this disease becomes widespread and …

Reader Greg C. found this: Treasury needs record $361 Billion April-June borrowing. (Greg’s comment: “And while we are all watching a little flu bug down south….”) From G.N.C.: Roubini: ‘Suckers Rally’ In Stocks To Fade. “It’s not a true recovery. It’s just a bear-market rally, it’s a suckers’ rally.” Steve in southern Oregon sent this item: Jim Rogers Isn’t Buying a U.S. Stock Recovery Items from The Economatrix: Chrysler Reaches Deal With Union, Fiat Before Deadline Flu could boost government intervention further From Michael Panzner’s blog: Evidence to the Contrary. “Despite all the evidence to the contrary, mainstream types keep …

From Z.T.:Finance officials at odds over IMF funding plan Spotted over at Gold-Eagle: At the Heart of America’s Economic Problems, by Paul Mladjenovic Items from The Economatrix: Bank Industry Await Results of Stress Tests GM and Chrysler: Goodnight G-8’s First Bankruptcy “To paraphrase Churchill, the UK economy is now a disaster, wrapped in a catastrophe inside a calamity. And someone just flushed the key down the proverbial…” Volcker Punctures the Nonsense (The Mogambo Guru) The Fed’s Cash Machine Fed Says Government Ready to Save Stress-Tested Banks Microsoft Has First Quarterly Fall in Revenue in 23 Years Germany’s Slump Risks “Explosive” …

Herb Dennenberg of the Philadelphia Bulletin warns: US Marches Toward a Financial Disaster Worse Than Anyone Thinks. (A tip of the hat to “The Other Jim R.”) GG flagged a Forbes column by Steve H. Hanke, warning that inflation will roar back with a vengeance: Fed Up Items from The Economatrix: Rush to Universities to Escape Recession GM to Default on $1 Billion Bond Payment IMF Predicts World Recession Will Deepen Morgan Stanley Reports Four-Month Losses of $1.47 Billion Geithner: Worst Trade Bust Since WWII Soaring US Budget Deficit Will Mean Billions in Bond Sales “Millions of lost jobs mean …

From GG: Borrowing puts UK’s AAA rating in danger after Budget 2009 Also from GG: China reveals huge rise in gold reserves JWR’s comment: Well, “huge” is a relative term. The population of Switzerland is 7.5 million, and the population of China is 1.3 billion. Yet, at 1,054 tons of gold, China’s gold horde is only slightly larger than Switzerland’s. Methinks China will be a big gold buyer in the decades to come, probably in excess of their domestic production. Items from The Economatrix: How Low Could the Stock Markets Go? 10 Charts Showing a Prolonged Global Recession Retirement Dreams …

This headline appeared yesterday: Stress Test Data to be Released May 4th. Since the pre-release rumors have been bad, Monday, May 4th could be a key event. Be ready for turmoil in the weeks following this announcement. Have plenty of cash on hand, since it will be difficult to predict what the sheeple will do on or after May 4th–when presumably the majority of US banks will be declared insolvent. From DD: March existing home sales fall by three percent. “The results were ‘a little disappointing’ given that homes are more affordable than they’ve been in years and mortgage rates …

From frequent content contributor G.G.: Gold rush in the suburbs as shine disappears from economy D.D. suggested this: Why the bank stress tests are bunk; The Obama team has put banks under the microscope and plans to release the results. If the findings are bad, expect more market turmoil. If they’re rosy, who’ll believe them? Some sobering news in The New York Times: I.M.F. Puts Bank Losses From Global Financial Crisis at $4.1 Trillion Items from The Economatrix: Freddie Mac CFO Apparent Suicide Global Economy Expected to Shrink this Year Leading Economist Decries Power of Wall Street “Oligarchs” Five Reasons …