Category Archives: U.S.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? China will stop selling U.S. bonds, and they will stop buying them as well, beginning to realize just how much power they truely have

“In my opinion, at this moment, the best strategy is no buy, no sell. At this moment, it’s very difficult to shift (investment), to change fundamentally, because we hold such a big amount.”-Cheng Siwei, former senior Chinese lawmaker

Cheng Siwei, is advising the Chinese government to take a “no buy, no sell” attitude towards U.S. Treasury bonds.  Cheng is telling the government that it needs to hold off on investing it’s $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves.

Many European countries have been knocking down China’s door, begging China to bail them out by buying their bonds, instead of more U.S. bonds.

Cheng says the situation for China has become more of a political one, than an economic one.  In other words, with so many countries, including the United States, hoping to be saved by China’s cash, the Chinese are starting to realize just how much power they have.

Idaho, U.S.

Idaho leads United States in Disapproval of President Obama, more proof that Washington DC is out of touch

In the latest Gallup Poll, Idaho takes number one position, in the disapproval of President Obama.

Only 27% of Idahoans approve of what Obama is doing.  Idaho beat out Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Arkansas.  Those states tied for the number two and three spots.

And, as no surprise, residents of Washington DC show the most support for Obama, with 83% approving of what he’s doing.  It’s also shows how out of touch DC has gotten with the rest of the country.

The latest Gallup Poll surveyed only 16 states, and the District of Columbia (DC).  The Gallup results say there has been little change in the county’s support of President Obama, since last year.

International, U.S.

Taliban on the Run? Taliban shoot down 2nd U.S. CH-47 since Saturday, a 3rd makes emergency landing

On Saturday, August 6, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down in Wardak Province, Afghanistan, killing all on board, including members of the elite SEAL team.  Now the Taliban claim they’ve shot down a 2nd Chinook.

Monday, August 8, a Chinook with 33 personnel onboard was shot down near Zarmat city, in Paktia Province in eastern Afghanistan.  It’s believed all 33 were killed.  The Taliban say they shot it down.

On Sunday, August 7, another Chinook made a crash landing in the same province.  The area has been secured by NATO troops and an investigation is underway.

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

After being taken over by the U.S. taxpayers, and constantly being bailed out, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finally get downgraded

When the credit crisis hit in 2007/2008 the biggest mortgage lenders in the U.S., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, suddenly became too big to fail and were taken over by the U.S. government.  The move had U.S. taxpayers providing the mortgage giants with almost consistent quarterly bailouts.

Now Standard & Poor’s has downgraded their credit rating, from triple A, to double A+.  ‘Bout time!

The two mortgage companies, along with a third called Ginnie Mae, guarantee 80% of the mortgages in the United States.  Fannie and Freddie have received $141 billion in taxpayer bailouts, so far.

Standard & Poor’s is also downgrading U.S. Federal Home Loan banks.  Federal Home Loan banks support consumer credit by providing money to other banks, in the form of bank to bank loans.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Group of 7 decide to answer the U.S. debt problem by flooding markets with liquidity, won’t that create Hyperinflation?

The European Central Bank, and the Group of 7 top industrialized countries, decided to deal with the credit rating downgrade of the United States by flooding international markets with liquidity.

Liquidity=cash and bank deposits.

One of the problems with this recession is that banks, and other financial institutions as well as big corporations, have been money hording.  Lending has not taken place as President Obama had hoped (at least to small businesses and individuals).  The result is that the ‘big guys’ have a lot of liquidity sitting around doing nothing (by the way something like this happened right before the Great Depression).

Now the international community has decided to flood the international markets with that liquidity.

So far we’ve seen inflation, albeit a mild inflation for most of the world, but get ready to see inflation like you’ve never seen before when all that money hits the markets.  You see, when there is a lot of money available to buy a lot of things, it automatically drives up prices.

Some people might think the stories of Germans using wheelbarrows full of cash to buy a loaf of bread, during their Hyperinflation of the 1920s (which helped lead to the Great Depression in the United States), is just an exaggeration.  It is not.  I’ve read the accounts, and I’ve even seen silent newsreels showing people lining up with wheelbarrows full of worthless Deutschmarks at bakeries.

This happened because the Weimar government thought by printing more money, in essence flooding the public with liquidity, that people would be able to buy the products they needed, products that were already experiencing inflation.  The flooding of money into the German consumer market made the situation worse, creating hyperinflation.

The following is from Wikipedia, on hyperinflation: Hyperinflation becomes visible when there is an unchecked increase in the money supply… also… Hyperinflation is often associated with wars (or their aftermath), currency meltdowns, political or social upheavals, or aggressive bidding on currency exchanges. Mmmm, sound familiar?

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Japanese economist predict negative GDP for Japan, blames the United States

Several private economic research firms, in Japan, are predicting GDP for Japan will go south for the 3rd quarter.

As many as ten research firms say Japan’s GDP could contract by as much 4.7% for the next economic quarter.  They blame the decline on a huge reduction in consumer spending, both in Japan, and in other countries, made worse by the U.S. debt.

A few economist predict positive GDP for Japan, but that is totally dependent upon the debt problems of the United States.  It’s the international concern over the debt of the U.S. that has most Japanese economists warning of a crash in Japan’s economy.

Opinion, U.S.

Mitt’s Mystery Money NOT explained by latest admissions, Romney is just more Washington DC BS

Once upon a time, very recently, candidate for U.S. president Mitt Romney got three donations from three companies that were created solely to give Mitt Romney money.

The main stream media is focusing on a now defunct company named W Spann LLC.  The property owner, where the company was supposedly located in New York, says no such company ever took up residence.

Now a man named Ed Conard comes forward and says he created W Spann LLC for the sole purpose of giving Mitt Romney money.  Conrad “closed” down his company immediately after giving Romney the money.  Why would you need to create a fake company to give someone money?

But this is just the tip of the iceberg, and the mainstream media seems to be ignoring the rest of the iceberg.  The fact is that one of Romney’s super PACs called “Restore our Future” (an oxymoron of a title) got three, not one, but three mysterious million dollar contributions from three mysterious companies.

Ed Conrad claims he’s the creator of one of those companies, W Spann LLC.  The other two are in Provo, Utah.

Interestingly the two companies in Utah have the same address.  One company is known as Eli Publishing L.C., the other company is called F8 LLC.

Eli Publishing L.C. was founded by Steven J Lund.  The address is 86 N University Ave Suite 420 Provo, Utah 84601.  A local Fox news affiliate (Fox 13), in Provo, caught up with Lund and asked him why he created a company to give Mitt Romney money.  Lund said there were accounting advantages in donating money to politicians through a corporation.

F8 LLC was founded by Jeremy S Blickenstaff. The address is 86 N University Ave Suite 420 Provo, Utah 84601.  Blickenstaff is refusing to talk to the media.

Fox 13 news says they went to the address and found an accounting company at Suite 420, who’s employees claim to have no connection to Eli Publishing L.C., or F8 LLC.   What Fox news didn’t point out is that the address, 86 N University Ave, is also the location of one of several Wells Fargo banks in Provo.

The corporate info on the companies can be found at utah.gov.  There are other companies using the name Eli Publishing, so don’t confuse them.

The real issue here is that a politician named Mitt Romney wants to be elected president, on the grounds that there needs to be change in Washington DC (the usual reason), and that his experience with business finance makes him the right choice.  But the problem in Washington DC is money, how it’s used, how it’s acquired, the corruption and shady deals.  That’s why this country is facing financial disaster.  Yet Mitt Romney has no problem with supporters setting up fake shady corporations for the sole purpose of donating shady mystery money to his campaign?

Sounds like with Mitt Romney you get the same ol’ Washington DC BS.

Official complaints have been filed with the Federal Election Commission, and the U.S. Department of Justice.

International, U.S.

U.S. citizen arrested for smuggling ammo into Mexico

The Mexican government says Mexican police arrested a woman after they discovered her shopping cart filled with 3,500 rounds of ammo.

The woman, a U.S. citizen, was heading from El Paso, Texas, to Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.  Police say she admitted to being part of the gun running from the United States: “The woman said she was traveling to the downtown area of ​​Ciudad Juarez, where some people deliver military equipment.”-Mexican Attorney General’s Office

Mexican officials says the ammunition was made in Russia, Korea, Brazil, United States and even Mexico.

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Emergency World meeting over U.S. credit downgrade, China says no more U.S. dollar, Germany says finally the U.S. gets what it deserves

“The U.S. government has to come to terms with the painful fact that the good old days when it could just borrow its way out of messes of its own making are finally gone.”-Chinese government/media commentary

The European Central Bank will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday, August 7.  The issue; the credit rating downgrade for the United States.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 7 major industrialized nations will meet by telephone on Sunday.  The broader Group of 20 were due to hold a conference call Saturday evening.

China and Japan are calling for coordinated action to avoid a new worldwide financial crisis.  One issue that’s being looked at is whether the world can continue to use the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency: “International supervision over the issue of U.S. dollars should be introduced and a new, stable and secured global reserve currency may also be an option to avert a catastrophe caused by any single country.”-Chinese government/media commentary

Another issue to be discussed is the amount of secure debt versus risky debt: “It will weigh on secure assets. The bigger reaction will be on risky assets, including equities and on agencies and states backed directly by the federal government. U.S. Treasuries will remain a benchmark. This is a ship which takes a long time to turn around.”-Ciaran  O’Hagan, Societe Generale in Paris.

Germany, the economic powerhouse of Europe, says it’s about time the U.S. got what it deserves: “I’m not surprised about the U.S. rating downgrade, rather I am astonished that, for weeks, international rating agencies have focused their attention on the European debt situation but not the American one. For a while, there have been clear worries about America’s economic woes but also the fact the U.S. is heavily indebted.”-Norbert Barthle, a budget expert for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party

 

 

International, U.S.

Preping for Syrian invasion: Germany tells fellow EU members to get their diplomats out of Syria

“In order to increase the political pressure on Damascus and to give a signal to Syrian society, I would welcome the withdrawal of European politicians.”-Ruprecht Polenz, chairman of the German parliament’s foreign affairs committee

“I do not believe that there can be a political future for Assad that would be supported by the Syrian people.”-Guido Westerwelle, German Foreign Minister

These statements by German officials come after Syrian officials announced they will hold new elections.  Also, the Syrian government is allowing the forming of new political parties.

As usual “western” leaders are not going to give them a chance, especially after U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, announced that Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, is no longer considered “legitimate” by the U.S. government.  That’s a sure sign military intervention will happen.