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Monthly Archives: July 2012

Vanguard Inc. Feels a Treasury Doomsday is Four Years Away

“Vanguard Group Inc., whose $148.2 billion of Treasuries makes it the largest private owner ofU.S. debt, says the nation has until 2016 to contain its borrowings before bond investors revolt and drive up interest rates.

“In the absence of a long-term credible plan, we are somewhere around four years away on where the markets are going to say ‘enough is enough,’” said Robert Auwaerter, head of theValley Forge, Pennsylvania-based Vanguard’s fixed-income group since 2003 and who this year was inducted into the Fixed Income Analysts Society Inc.’s Hall of Fame.”

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China’s Wen Fuels More Speculation of Easing as He Warns Economic Momentum is Not Building

 

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao warned that the nation’s recovery is yet to build up momentum, fueling speculation that extra economic support measures may be announced after a cabinet meeting this week.

 

“It should be clearly understood that the momentum for a stable rebound in the economy has not yet been established,” Wen said during an inspection tour in southwest Sichuan province, according to a Chinese-language report from the official Xinhua News Agency yesterday. At the same time, expansion is within the targeted range and measures to stabilize growth are “bearing fruit,” he said.”


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Corn Prices Are Soaring

Got corn?  Corn futures are again surging Sunday evening. See the charts and some brief analysis here.

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Asian Indices Up, US Futures Slightly Down

Asian stocks and the South Korean won advanced for a second day as Premier Wen Jiabaosaid China’s economic recovery hasn’t gained momentum, fueling speculation policy makers will boost stimulus. Grains rose on concern a U.S. drought will damage crops.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.2 percent as of 8:10 a.m. in Hong Kong as Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.9 percent. Japan is closed today for a public holiday. U.S. equity futures fell 0.2 percent, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s biggest single-day gain in two weeks. The won advanced 0.2 percent to 1,148.10 per U.S. dollar. Corn futures jumped 3.6 percent, while wheat and soybeans rose at least 1.7 percent. Oil in New York fell 0.2 percent to $86.94 a barrel, snapping three days of gains.

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North Korea Relieves Army Chief Ri Yong Ho Of All Posts

North Korea relieved its army chief, Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho, of all his posts, citing illness.

The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea made the decision yesterday, the official Korean Central News Agency said today, without providing details on Ri’s illness or his replacement.

Ri led a parade on April 25 marking the 80th anniversary of the foundation of the North Korean military. In December he and leader Kim Jong Un led the funeral procession through the streets of Pyongyang after the death of Kim Jong Il.

Ri helped Kim Jong Un gain control of the military following the death of his father, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News.

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New Data: 2012 Drought Rivals Dust Bowl

Milk the farmer!

In a monthly report to be released Monday, the National Climatic Data Center is expected to announce that this year’s drought now ranks among the ten largest drought areas in the past century.

Read the article and view the graphs here.

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New security fears as Heathrow checks miss terror suspects

Terror suspects on the Home Office watch list are entering the UK in the runup to the Olympics without the necessary security checks, according to frontline officials at Heathrow.

One senior border officer told the Observer that inexperienced new recruits, deployed to shorten queues after complaints over lengthy waiting times, are repeatedly “missing” passengers of interest who should be referred to counterterrorism officers when they reach passport control.

The official said he was personally aware that three terror suspects – all of whose names are registered on the Home Office suspect index system – had been waved through by staff on his shifts since the start of July. Border officials should immediately notify counterterrorism police or MI5 if they suspect that “SX travellers” are attempting to enter the UK. Another colleague alleged that five suspects were “missed” in one day earlier this month.

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Strangling the Republic

“For several decades, Corporate America has been squeezing the life out of what’s left of the democratic Republic, applying steady pressure from well-funded right-wing media and political groups. This year, under the cloak ofCitizens United, the deed might finally be completed, observes Beverly Bandler.”

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Your Tax Dollars at Work

A final report has come out on our tax dollars being squandered in Iraq. The sad part is the money in some sense can be said to be stolen by private contractors who intentionally ran up bills.

The question now is will you allow this to happen again.

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Visa, MasterCard in $6 Billion Settlement Over Card Fees

“Visa, MasterCard and major banks agreed to pay retailers at least $6 billion to settle a long-running lawsuit that alleged the card issuers conspired to fix the fees that stores pay to accept credit cards. As part of the settlement, announced late Friday, stores from Rite Aid to Kroger will be allowed to charge customers more if they pay using a credit card.”

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