When there is no transparency there is a much greater chance of risk. While U.S. bank exposure to European sovereign debt is minimal it is the derivatives traded and owned that can bring down the banks.
Comments »Government Subsidies Need to Change
[youtube://http://www.youtube,com/watch?v=cXH331pz6OM 450 300]
Don’t forget about the food stamps that can buy soda and junk food in most states, but not protein powders and other healthy stuff from the local health food stores.
Comments »End to gasoline subsidy causes Nigerian riots
FUELING ANGER: One man was killed at a demonstration protesting spiraling fuel prices in Nigeria amid signs of growing unrest over the government’s hugely unpopular decision to end a subsidy program that kept gas costs down for more than 20 years. The government says it will use $8 billion in savings to make much-needed infrastructure improvements.
PUMPED UP PRICES: Gas pump prices have more than doubled, to about $3.50 a gallon. In Nigeria gasoline is used not only to fuel cars, but to run generators that keep many businesses operating in a country with frequent power blackouts.
LOTS OF OIL, LOTS OF IMPORTS: Nigeria, an OPEC member nation producing about 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day, is a top supplier to the U.S. virtually all of its petroleum products are imported after years of graft, mismanagement and violence at its refineries.
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Comments »Unfortunately, All Efforts to Prevent Civil War in Syria Have Failed
The Arab League was a hopeful opportunity to quell violence in Syria; they have now conceded to failure.
Comments »FLASH: “Person of Interest” Detained Regarding 55 Arson Fires in Los Angeles {PHOTO}
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Los Angeles police this morning detained and are questioning a “person of interest” in the spate of arson fires occurring around the city since Friday.
The individual, believed to be the man seen in a video police released Sunday in connection with the case, was detained near Sunset Boulevard this morning, according to an LAPD source familiar with the investigation.
However, in a statement, a Los Angeles fire official said that “it is too early to speculate if this person is responsible for the spree of arson fires.”
PHOTOS: Arson fires
The detention follows an early-morning frenzy of arson fires across the Hollywood area on Monday. Eleven fires were reported in two hours, beginning at 1:30 a.m., most to cars and carports in apartment complexes, police and fire officials said.
It was unclear early Monday if the fires were connected to a string of arsons in the Hollywood area.
MAP: Arson fires
Officials said Sunday that they have linked at least 39 fires to those arsons, which began Friday morning.
They declined to say what evidence tied the cases together or to give more information about how the fires were set. Law enforcement sources told The Times that detectives were concerned that releasing more information could prompt the arsonist or arsonists to change tactics and could encourage copycats.
FULL COVERAGE: Arson fires
An image of a “person of interest” was caught on a video that showed a car fire Saturday night inside the parking structure of the Hollywood & Highland complex on Hollywood Boulevard.
The LAPD is asking residents to leave porch and carport lights on at night and make sure cars are locked. Authorities also are asking residents to immediately report anything suspicious by calling 911.
RELATED:
Suspect arrested in string of fires
Fire-starting materials found in van, police say
Person of interest had ‘creepy’ smile, witness says
— Sam Quinones, Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein
twitter.com/samquinones7
Photo: Los Angeles Police Cmdr. Michael Moriarty points to an image of a man caught on video walking down Hollywood Boulevard after a car fire Saturday night inside the parking structure of the Hollywood & Highland complex. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times
Comments »Austerity Reigns Over Euro Zone as Crisis Deepens
2012: Most Frightening Year in Living Memory?
The dawn of a new year is usually a time of hope and ambition, of dreams for the future and thoughts of a better life. But it is a long time since many of us looked forward to the new year with such anxiety, even dread.
Here in Britain, many economists believe that by the end of 2012 we could well have slipped into a second devastating recession. The Coalition remains delicately poised; it would take only one or two resignations to provoke a wider schism and a general election.
But the real dangers lie overseas. In the Middle East, the excitement of the Arab Spring has long since curdled into sectarian tension and fears of Islamic fundamentalism. And with so many of the world’s oil supplies concentrated in the Persian Gulf, British families will be keeping an anxious eye on events in the Arab world.
Meanwhile, as the eurozone slides towards disaster, the prospects for Europe have rarely been bleaker. Already the European elite have installed compliant technocratic governments in Greece and Italy, and with the markets now putting pressure on France, few observers can be optimistic that the Continent can avoid a total meltdown.
As commentators often remark, the world picture has not been grimmer since the dark days of the mid-Seventies, when the OPEC oil shock, the rise of stagflation and the surge of nationalist terrorism cast a heavy shadow over the Western world.
For the most chilling parallel, though, we should look back exactly 80 years, to the cold wintry days when 1931 gave way to 1932.
Read the rest here.
Comments »
Congress Says Go Ahead and Freeze Your Ass Off
Congress plays the role of scrooge right before their tax payer payed holiday by cutting heating aid to the poor.
Also cut was housing aid for the poor
Comments »S&P 500 Falling Below 600?
By Tomi Kilgore
United-ICAP senior technical analyst Walter Zimmerman says the S&P 500 could rally a little further into January before beginning a “traumatic decline” for the rest of 2012, dragged down by weakness in Europe.
How traumatic? You might want to sit down for this one.
He thinks the index will reach its 2012 peak in the 1293-1311 zone, then start a “sharp and sustained drop” until December. His downside target is around 579.57.
579.57! The index would have to wipe out the March 2009 lows and fall by more than 50% current levels to reach that target. And the last time the S&P 500 traded below 600 was in the mid 1990s, when the Backstreet Boys burst on the scene and bell-bottom jeans were making a comeback.
Zimmerman’s reasoning is Europe is in an even worse shape now than it was at the beginning of the year.
“If the history of debt tells us anything it is that one cannot solve a debt crisis by lending more money to the bankrupt and the insolvent,” Zimmerman says.
Read the rest here.
Comments »Central Banks Need to Go Back to School and Learn About Inflation
I get the fear part of deflation, but would it not help out in the long run if prices were to ease ? If wages are not rising then inflation is akin to shooting yourself in the foot.
Comments »How to Solve the Debt Problem: Obama to Ask for $1.2 Trillion Hike in Debt Limit
Internal Documents Show Panic at BNY While Being Investigated for Currency Trades
The bank was worried profit margins would fall if clients negotiated pricing on currency trades.
Comments »Santa’s Review: Reality Check on Naughty and Naughtier
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D9qPKyUGx0 450 300]
Comments »Anonymous Hacks Stratfor
Associated Press
LONDON—Members of the loose-knit movement “Anonymous” claimed on Sunday to have stolen a raft of emails and credit-card data from U.S.-based security think tank Stratfor, promising it was just the start of a weeklong, Christmas-inspired assault on a long list of targets.
One alleged Anonymous affiliate said the goal was to use the credit data to take a million dollars—including, apparently, from individuals’ accounts—and give the money away as Christmas donations. Images posted online claimed to show the receipts.
A Twitter account tied to Anonymous posted a link to what they said was Stratfor’s tightly guarded, confidential client list. Among those on the list: The U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force and the Miami Police Department.
The rest of the list, which the hacking movement said was a small slice of its 200 gigabytes of plunder, included banks, law-enforcement agencies, defense contractors and technology firms.
“Not so private and secret anymore?” the group taunted in a message on the microblogging site.
Austin, Texas-based Stratfor provides political, economic and military analysis to help clients reduce risk, according to a description on its YouTube page. It charges subscribers for its reports and analysis, delivered through the web, emails and videos.
Stratfor said in an email to members that it had suspended its servers and email after learning that its website had been hacked.
Read the rest here.
Comments »American Wages Become Competitive for German Automakers
State of the Union: WTF is Up With This NDAA ?
Federal Prosecutors Fail to Do Their Jobs Even After Judges Point to Evidence and Wrong Doing
WTF is going on in this country ? Citizens get pulled over for speeding and minor infractions of the law while real criminals enjoy time in the sun.
Comments »Countrywide to Pay $335M Over Discrimination Case
Bank of America’s (BAC: 5.23, +0.06, +1.16%) Countrywide Financial unit agreed on Wednesday to pay $335 million to settle allegations it discriminated against minority homebuyers by steering them toward dangerous subprime mortgages.
According to the Department of Justice, it marks the largest residential fair lending settlement in history. Covering actions between 2004 and 2008, the settlement offers financial compensation to more than 200,000 qualified borrowers who were charged higher fees or given subprime loans because of their race, not because of their creditworthiness, the government said.
“The department’s action against Countrywide makes clear that we will not hesitate to hold financial institutions accountable, including one of the nation’s largest, for lending discrimination,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. “These institutions should make judgments based on applicants’ creditworthiness, not on the color of their skin.”
After tumbling below the $5 threshold earlier this week for the first time since March 2009, BofA’s shares were recently up 0.68% at $5.21.
BofA said it is committed to fair and equal treatment of all customers and it will continue resolving remaining Countrywide issues, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The DOJ said Countrywide’s business practices permitted its loan officers and mortgage brokers to differ a loan’s interest rates and other fees, opening the door to unfair pricing discretion based on race. The government accuses Countrywide of being aware of this discrimination, but failing to impose meaningful limits or guidelines to stop it.
Subprime loans are considered more dangerous because they often include prepayment penalties and exploding adjustable interest rates. These mortgages are believed to have helped cause the mortgage crisis and ensuing recession.
“Countrywide’s actions contributed to the housing crisis, hurt entire communities, and denied families access to the American dream,” said Thomas Perez, assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s civil rights division. “We are using every tool in our law enforcement arsenal, including some that were dormant for years, to go after institutions of all sizes that discriminated against families solely because of their race or national origin.”
The DOJ said this is the first time it has alleged and obtained relief for borrowers who were steered into loans based on the color of their skin.
As part of the settlement, Countrywide, which doesn’t currently originate new loans, is being required to implement policies and practices to prevent discrimination if it returns to the lending business during the next four years.
The Countrywide settlement is subject to court approval, something that is not a given considering a recent rejection of a Securities and Exchange Commission settlement with Citigroup (C: 26.10, +0.15, +0.58%).
Underscoring how terrible of an acquisition Countrywide was, BofA has shelled out billions in legal settlements, including $8.5 billion to investors who lost money on mortgage-backed securities, $8.4 billion for loan modifications and at least $13 billion in mortgage-security repurchases.
Read more: http://trade.cc/tlyixzz1hENnLv2w
Comments »Where There is Smoke There is Fire
Today Bank of America paid $335 million to settle mortgage fraud for Countrywide.
The Justice Department found that Countrywide brokers were given higher incentives to steer as many borrowers as possible into sub-prime loans.
Furthermore, they found that Blacks and Latinos were racially discriminated against as they received loans that were more costlier and riskier than their white counter parts. On the News Hour a spokesperson investigating the case said a Black man making $100k per year received a loan that was higher in interest and not prime while a white person making $35k got the prime fixed rate loan.
IS THIS AMERICA ?
IS A SETTLEMENT JUSTICE ?
WHY IS NOBODY IN JAIL ?
It is simple. A CEO, CFO, and various lower branches of management must meet and discuss the bottom line.
It is impossible for nobody in management from dick head floor manger to the CEO and in some cases board members, to not know about incentives which affect the bottom line.
Collating information to analyze the business; figuring out how to make more money drop to the bottom line means all levels of management can clearly see where the profits are the best and with what type of clients produce the best income for the company.
So culpability has to lie with all levels of the organization. It means their was a structure to create, sell, package the loan for Fannie and Freddie, and do it all over again.
THIS IS FRAUD….. THIS IS VIOLATION OF THE RICO ACT.
Lastly, it is said that where there is smoke there is fire.
If Countrywide was the only company doing this then my aunt had balls and was really my uncle who was spawned by Mickey Mouse.
Crony Capitalism has ruined this great nation. Rome is truly burning.
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