The Theft of American Homes

Antiquated laws are allowing big banks to literally steal homes from the elderly and other vulnerable home owners who owe just a few hundred dollars in back taxes.

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Asian markets and the Aussie dollar pared gains on the news that Chinese imports are slowing. The news added to jitters of a continued slowdown in China.

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Some good news out of Europe here.

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“Oil dropped for a third time in four days after Norway ended a strike that threatened to halt production by western Europe’s largest crude exporter, while China reduced purchases of the commodity.

Futures slipped as much as 1.6 percent in New York while London-traded Brent lost 2.1 percent after the Norwegian government ordered compulsory arbitration in the dispute, preventing a platform workers’ lockout scheduled to start at midnight yesterday. The nation pumped about 1.8 percent of global consumption, data from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate show. China’s net crude imports fell to the lowest level this year, according to customs data today.”

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Euro governments will transfer 100 billion Euros onto Spanish bank balance sheets avoiding the build up of sovereign debt. Euopean equities rallied on the news.

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World Markets

Currencies

Commodities

USD Libor

Euribor

Yields for Italy, Spain, France,  and Germany …

This needs to be resolved,” Scranton firefighter and president of the local firefighters union John Judge told FoxNews.com. “My members are getting a check for $7.25 an hour. These are people that are the head of their households. They have mortgages. They have other living costs. They are now going to have to throw their bills in a hat and randomly pick what gets paid on time.”

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Here are Monday’s hybrid movers under $10, click here for charts.

“We’re really right at that edge, if economic data continue to come in below expectations and if our view is that we don’t expect to make progress on our mandate, then I would think we need more accommodation,” Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said on the sidelines of a conference in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho.

Read the article here.

How much farther left can America go?

From the progressivity of our tax code, to the percentage of GDP devoted to government, to the extent of the regulatory burden on business, most of Europe’s got nothing on us.

Indeed, America looks more like Spain than the America of our grandparents.

Read the article here.

Mebane Faber, via World Beta, is out with an end of June updated list of global ten-year PE ratios for many countries.

See the list here.

Indeud.

Sign up for iBC The Game.

Rumors indicate that PFG’s CEO tried to commit suicide after $225 million of private deposits were vaporized.

PFG and PAM are on lockdown.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/pfgbest-now-mf-global-part-2-220-million-segregated-client-money-has-just-vaporized

Because it worked so well for them in the mid term elections, Obama has decided to revisit all the same talking points he was pushing two years ago. The only thing better, from my perspective, would be if he won and tried to force any of these policies down the nation’s throat.

Washington (CNN) — Think of President Barack Obama’s pivot from last week’s anemic job growth numbers to Monday’s populist call to lower taxes for the middle class as the political equivalent of shifting an awkward dinner party conversation to a rousing comment about the home team’s last game.

The president spoke from the East Room on Monday surrounded by a group of middle-class families standing in rapt attention as Obama spoke of “rebuilding an economy where work pays off.”

Later in the day, the president was to echo his call to extend the Bush-era cuts to those making less than $250,000 a year during interviews with local and regional television stations and at a pair of campaign events.

“Right now our top priority has to be giving middle-class families … security they deserve,” Obama said Monday to applause.

It was a decidedly more upbeat tone than on Friday, when the president was hammered over a relatively stagnant job growth rate and an unemployment rate of 8.2%.

“Obama is saying consciously, ‘I’m going to change the direction of what I’m talking about. Really, here is my strongest argument — I want people to hear that,'” said Robert Lehrman, who was a speechwriter for dozens of Democratic political figures including Vice President Al Gore and is author of “The Political Speechwriter’s Companion.”

Obama has hit the message reset button before during this campaign cycle.

Attention was diverted from a month of dismal economic news in June when he announced a temporary halt to deportation of certain young undocumented immigrants. The move knocked GOP strategists back on their heels and they scrambled to respond.

But it’s a tactic with mixed results.

Republicans immediately pounced on the president’s call on Congress to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 a year, describing it as “desperate.” Congressional Republicans pointed out that the president’s call for the tax cuts extension is not new and accused the president of trying to steer the narrative away from last week’s dismal jobs news.

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2 Years Later

Now comes the part where Eric Holder crosses his fingers and prays to Christ this makes people forget what he did.

The Justice Department unsealed an indictment Monday charging five people in connection with Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s death — a move that drew praise as well as skepticism from lawmakers laser-focused on the case.

The department, in unsealing the document, also announced a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to the arrest of four suspects who are still at large.

The developments come amid an intensifying debate over the department’s failed Fast and Furious anti-gunrunning operation. Weapons from that program were found at Terry’s murder scene — Republicans seeking documents pertaining to Fast and Furious last month escalated their probe by voting to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, praised the department Monday for its announcement but questioned the timing.

“I applaud what they’re doing, but I condemn the timing. It’s very clear that the timing has everything to do with the House of Representatives holding Eric Holder in contempt,” Issa told Fox News.

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OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s Statoil (STL.OL) plans the immediate restart all of its production on the Norwegian continental shelf, including output at its Oseberg field, after the government stopped a strike of offshore workers, the company said on Tuesday.

“It may take from 1 to 2 days to get production started and Statoil expects to have the fields back in full production within a week,” the company said in a statement.

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A new report says wealthy Maryland residents may be moving out due to recent tax hikes – a finding that is sure to escalate the battle over taxing the American rich.

The study, by the anti-tax group Change Maryland, says that a net 31,000 residents left the state between 2007 and 2010, the tenure of a “millionaire’s tax” pushed through by Gov. Martin O’Malley. The tax, which expired in 2010, in imposed a rate of 6.25 percent on incomes of more than $1 million a year.

The Change Maryland study found that the tax cost Maryland $1.7 billion in lost tax revenues. A county-by-county analysis by Change Maryland also found that the state’s wealthiest counties also had some of the largest population outflows.

In total, Maryland has added 24 new taxes or fees in recent years, Change Maryland says. Florida, which has no income-tax, has been a large recipient of Maryland’s exiled wealthy.

“Maryland has reached the point of diminishing returns. We’re taxing people too much and people are voting with their feet,” said Change Maryland Chairman Larry Hogan. “Until we change our focus from tax increases to increasing the tax base, more people are simply going to leave, leading to a downward spiral of raising revenues on fewer citizens.”

The finding adds to the renewed debate over raising taxes on the wealthy. In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie recently vetoed a millionaire’s tax passed by his legislature, while California and other state governments are also considering higher taxes on high earners to fix budget problems. President Obama on Monday asked Congress to extend tax cuts for those making $250,000 or less – effectively increasing taxes for the higher earners.

Many contend that higher taxes drive out the highly mobile rich, who can simply move to a lower-tax state or even lower-tax country. Recent data shows that a record 1,800 Americans renounces their citizenship last year.

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Reports Q2 (Jun) earnings of $0.06 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.06; revenues fell 9.4% year/year to $5.96 bln vs the $5.82 bln consensus, primarily due to an 18 and 17% year-on-year decline in the realized metal price and realized alumina price, respectively. Alcoa recorded revenue growth in the second quarter across global end markets, including packaging (5%), aerospace (4%), and commercial transportation (3%), compared to 1Q12. Alcoa continues to project a global aluminum supply deficit in 2012 and reaffirmed its forecast that global aluminum demand would grow 7% in 2012, on top of the 10% growth seen in 2011. Strength in the midstream and downstream businesses continued to mitigate volatility in the upstream businesses. Engineered Products and Solutions once again turned in record results, with second quarter adjusted EBITDA margin at 19.4%, the highest to date. Despite continued European weakness, Global Rolled Products achieved record first half adjusted EBITDA per metric ton of $409, 74% higher than the 10-year average, and record first half ATOI of $191 million… Alcoa proposed to settle the Alba civil suit by offering Alba a cash payment of $45 million. Alcoa has also offered Alba a long-term alumina supply contract. Based on the cash offer, Alcoa recorded a $45 million charge. Alcoa currently estimates an additional possible charge of up to $75 million to settle the suit. In addition, Alcoa has been in dialogue with the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding their investigations. If a settlement of the government’s investigations can be reached, it is probable that the amount would be material in a particular period to Alcoa’s results of operations.