Economy

How Big Banks Can Steal Your Home From You Even If Your Mortgage Is Totally Paid Off

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– How Big Banks Can Steal Your Home From You Even If Your Mortgage Is Totally Paid Off (Economic Collapse, Sep 10, 2013):

Did you know that the big banks have a way to legally steal your house from you even if you don’t owe a single penny on your mortgage?  Big banks and hedge funds are buying billions of dollars worth of tax liens from local governments all over the nation, and they are ruthlessly foreclosing on homeowners when they can’t pay the absolutely ridiculous penalties and legal fees that are tacked on to the original tax bill.  As you will see below, one 76-year-old man lost his $197,000 home that he fully owned over a $134 tax bill.  A 95-year-old woman lost her $300,000 home over a $44.79 tax bill.  This is a very, very dirty way to make money, and the predatory financial institutions that are involved in this business definitely do not want to talk about it.

Of course much of the blame should also be shouldered by the local governments that are coldly selling these tax liens to these ruthless predators.  If local governments want to collect their tax bills, they should do it themselves.  They should not be auctioning off their tax liens to cold-hearted financial institutions that are very eager to commit a legal version of highway robbery.

A few days ago, the Washington Post reported on the tragic story of a 76-year-old former Marine named Bennie Coleman.  Coleman had originally purchased his home with cash, but that didn’t stop tax lien predators from stealing his home over an unpaid $134 property tax bill:

Read moreHow Big Banks Can Steal Your Home From You Even If Your Mortgage Is Totally Paid Off

$1 Trillion In US Bank Deposits Held Abroad Will No Longer Be Insured

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– $1 Trillion In US Bank Deposits Held Abroad Will No Longer Be Insured (ZeroHedge, Sep 10 , 2013):

In the aftermath of the Cyprus bail in (and to a lesser extent the Polish pension fund debacle), it is understandable if depositors are a little sensitive about the insurance, and thus confiscability (sic), of their deposits. Starting today, following a 5-0 vote by the FDIC, depositors in foreign US bank branches will officially no longer have recourse to a $250,000 in deposit insurance. The notional amount of deposits at risk: $1 trillion. This is not a new development: the FDIC rule to curb insurance on this category of deposits was proposed earlier this year, and today was the formalization. However, questions do arise: if a major US depository institution does fail domestically, the financial state of their depositors abroad will hardly be the biggest issue.

WSJ adds:

The move rejects what officials called a “creative” legal proposal from the banking industry. “We don’t want to become the deposit insurer for the world,” FDIC officials said at a briefing.

Read more$1 Trillion In US Bank Deposits Held Abroad Will No Longer Be Insured

Puerto Rico Muni Bonds Collapse (About 77% Of U.S. Mutual Funds Hold Puerto Rico Debt)

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– Detroit ‘Contagion’ Spreads; Widely-Held Puerto Rico Muni Bonds Collapse (ZeroHedge Sep 10, 2013):

“It’s getting concerning,” notes one fixed-income banker, Puerto Rico muni bond yields “never got near 10% [yields] even in the crisis.” Some of the 27-year maturity Puerto Rico bonds just traded at a dismal 67 cents on the dollar (10.082% yield) and the most recently issued 2036 Electric Power bonds have collapsed from par a month ago to just above 82 cents on the dollar today. As the WSJ reports, the fall in prices also is a sign of investor risk aversion in the wake of Detroit’s record municipal-bankruptcy filing in July; but it seems the anxiety and outflows from ETFs is having just as big an impact as Puerto Rico bonds now trade cheaper than Detroit’s. “It’s out of whack,” one analysts warns, though the island’s double-digit unemployment and recent weakness in economic indicators somewhat support the concerns – and while the “yields are attractive” it is possible that the island’s borrowing costs could go higher as supply is extremely heavy in coming months. With 77% of managers holding Puerto Rico bonds, this is a problem…

Via WSJ,

Puerto Rico debt is a flash point in the municipal-bond market, because the island is a prolific debt issuer and its bonds are widely held. About 77% of U.S. mutual funds hold some sort of Puerto Rico debt, according to Morningstar. The island’s bonds are attractive to investors because they offer relatively high yields, and unlike most other municipal debt, interest on them is exempt from federal, state and local taxes.

Read morePuerto Rico Muni Bonds Collapse (About 77% Of U.S. Mutual Funds Hold Puerto Rico Debt)

JPMorgan May Be Parting Ways With Blythe Masters

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Flashback:

– Will JPMorgan’s ‘Enron’ Be The End Of Blythe Masters?

– JPMorgan Employee Who Invented Credit Default Swaps is One of the Key Architects of Carbon Derivatives, Which Would Be at the Very CENTER of Cap and Trade

– JPM May Be Parting Ways With Blythe Masters (ZeroHedge, Sep 10, 2013):

It is somewhat ironic that none other than CNBC is reporting the news (which was suggested here months ago in “Will JPMorgan’s “Enron” Be The End Of Blythe Masters?”) that as part of its divestment of its physical commodities unit announced previously, JPMorgan may also seek to cover up any trace of market manipulation in the division recently embroiled in the aluminum cartel scandal (which we reported on in June 2011 and which story recently rose to prominence as a result of follow up reporting by the NYT) by getting rid of none other than Blythe Masters.

To wit: “JPMorgan’s initial round of conversations over the sale of its physical commodities unit has involved at least 50 potential suitors, according to someone familiar with the matter, as the bank attempts to ink a deal by the end of the year. In addition to energy supply contracts and metal-storage facilities, people close to the deal say the transaction could include a significant human asset: JPMorgan’s longtime commodities head, Blythe Masters.  In addition to the physical assets it is selling—including the Liverpool, England-based metal-storage business Henry Bath & Son, U.S. power plants, and crude-oil and power supply agreements—any deal to sell JPMorgan’s commodities business could involve Masters, the division’s current leader, as well. Masters, 44, has found her future at JPMorgan in question as regulators crack down on both its power-supply business over alleged manipulations and the whole notion of banks owning commodities assets more generally.”

Ironic, because it was an extended CNBC interview-cum-PR campaign with Blythe Masters in April of 2012, just before the London Whale scandal broke, and one of her very rare media appearances, in which she made the following quite amusing, and factually wrong, in retrospect, statements:

Read moreJPMorgan May Be Parting Ways With Blythe Masters

Money Laundering Exposed As A Key Component Of The Housing Bubble’s “All Cash” Bid

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– Money Laundering Exposed As A Key Component Of The Housing Bubble’s “All Cash” Bid (ZeroHedge Sep 10, 2013):

In August 2012, when isolating one of the various reasons for the latest housing bubble, we suggested that a primary catalyst for the price surge in the ultra-luxury housing segment and the seemingly endless supply of “all cash” buyers (standing at an unprecedented 60% of all buyers lately as reported by Goldman) is a very simple one: crime. Or rather, the use of US real estate as a means to launder illegal offshore-procured money. We also identified the one key permissive feature which allowed this: the National Association of Realtors’ exemption from Anti-Money Laundering provisions. In other words, all a foreign oligarch – who may or may not have used chemical weapons in their past: all depends on how recently they took their picture with the Secretary of State – had to do to buy a $47 million Florida house, was to get the actual cash to the US. Well good thing there are private jets whose cargo is never checked.

This is how we framed the problem last August:

Read moreMoney Laundering Exposed As A Key Component Of The Housing Bubble’s “All Cash” Bid

The Real Reason Why They Killed Muammar Gaddafi (Video)

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– The Real Reason They Killed Gaddafi


YouTube

(Thomas Dishaw) As United States imperialism continues to concur the globe and foreign leaders continue to get murdered by Government hit squads, it should surprise no one that the destruction of Libya was another globalists operation meant to destroy any piece of economic independence left in Northern Africa.

Don’t get me wrong, Muammar Gaddafi was a terrible, tyrannical leader in most respects, but when it came to economic independence and fiscal leadership, Libya was one of the few countries on the African continent that had any economic prosperity.  They also had a leadership that wasn’t deliberately  infused by the globalists to destabilize the region.

Above is a very eye-opening video that portrays a way of life in Libya most people never knew existed. Documentation to back up the videos claims are listed below:

Read moreThe Real Reason Why They Killed Muammar Gaddafi (Video)

8 Reasons Why The New World Order Hates Syria

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– Why the US, UK, EU & Israel hate Syria (RT, by political analyst Adrian Salbuchi, Sep 9, 2013):

A young, soft-spoken girl living the Syrian tragedy spells it out with far more common sense, truth and honesty than powerful Western governments and their money-controlled mass media puppets.

Identifying herself only as “Syrian, Patriot, anti-Neocon, anti-NWO, anti-Zionist”, early last year she set up her own YouTube Channel (YouTube/User/SyrianGirlpartisan).

In a short (nine-minute) video she explains “eight reasons why the NWO (New World Order) hates Syria.” We would all do well to listen in…

Her ‘Top Eight Reasons Why They Hate Us’ is an excellent wrap-up, applicable to just about every self-respecting country in the world: no Rothschild-controlled Central Bank, no IMF debt, no genetically modified foods, oil and pipelines, anti-secret societies, anti-Zionism, secularism and nationalism.

Read more8 Reasons Why The New World Order Hates Syria

JPMorgan Closes Precious Metals Sell Recommendation, Goes ‘Tactically Overweight’ Commodities

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JPMorgan certainly wants to slaughter some more muppets …

– JPMorgan Closes Precious Metals Sell Recommendation, Goes “Tactically Overweight” Commodities (ZeroHedge, Sep 8,  2013):

One of the most underreported sentiment shifts of the past week was JPM’s announcement late on Friday, that the firm quietly went long commodities – specifically base metals and copper (in addition to energy) – and the firm also closed it “sell” (i.e., underweight) in precious metals. This is not surprising: we had noted the ongoing purchasing of gold by JPM over the past two month (in part to restore its depleted gold vault inventory) when the yellow metal not only stabilized but promptly entered a bull market, returning 20% in a short period of time. And as gold was rising, JPM was advising its clients to sell. It seems JPM now has more than enough gold stashed away, and as the September shock is set to unwind, even JPM may be seeking the safety of gold, and the usual other hard asset suspects, if and when events escalate out of control, resulting in another “risk off” phase.

From JPM:

Commodities: We have turned tactically long commodities and OW vs. cash and fixed income.

Read moreJPMorgan Closes Precious Metals Sell Recommendation, Goes ‘Tactically Overweight’ Commodities

RECOVERY: Poverty In New Jersey Reaches 52-Year High

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See also:

– RECOVERY: The Number Of Private Sector Jobs Fell By 278,000 Last Month

– Poverty in N.J. reaches 52-year high, new report shows (NJ.com/The Star Ledger, Sep. 8, 2013):

TRENTON — Poverty in New Jersey continued to grow even as the national recession lifted, reaching a 52-year high in 2011, according to a report released today.

The annual survey by Legal Services of New Jersey found 24.7 percent of the state’s population — 2.1 million residents — was considered poor in 2011. That’s a jump of more than 80,000 people — nearly 1 percent higher than the previous year and 3.8 percent more than pre-recession levels.

“This is not just a one-year or five-year or 10-year variation,” said Melville D. Miller Jr., the president of LSNJ, which gives free legal help to low-income residents in civil cases. “This is the worst that it’s been since the 1960 Census.”

And it may get worse: The report warned Census figures for 2012 to be released this month may be higher. Those numbers are expected to show some of the impact from Hurricane Sandy, which took a bite out of the state’s economy and destroyed a large amount of affordable housing.

Read moreRECOVERY: Poverty In New Jersey Reaches 52-Year High

RECOVERY: The Number Of Private Sector Jobs Fell By 278,000 Last Month

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– The Number Of Private Sector Jobs Fell By 278,000 Last Month But The Economy Is Getting Better? (Economic Collapse, Sep 7, 2013):

Have you heard about the “wonderful” employment numbers that were just released?  Last month, the unemployment rate declined to 7.3 percent.  Somehow this happened even though the percentage of working age Americans with a job actually declined and the number of private sector workers fell by 278,000.  So how did the federal government magically produce a drop in the unemployment rate even though less people have jobs?  Well, they did it by pretending that more than half a million Americans “dropped out of the labor force” last month.  If the government is to be believed, the number of Americans that want to work dropped by an astounding 516,000 in a single month even though the population of our country is constantly increasing.  The federal government continues to feed us absolutely absurd numbers month after month, and at this point “the official unemployment rate” is essentially meaningless.

But that doesn’t mean that Barack Obama is about to drop the charade.  In fact, he continues to insist that the economy is getting better.  The following is an excerpt from one of Obama’s recent weekly radio addresses…

Over the past four and a half years, we’ve fought our way back from the worst recession of our lifetimes. And thanks to the grit and resilience of the American people, we’ve begun to lay a foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth.

Oh really?

Does he actually believe that anyone is still buying what he is saying?

Read moreRECOVERY: The Number Of Private Sector Jobs Fell By 278,000 Last Month

Tokyo To Host 2020 Summer Olympics … And Here’s Why This Is Complete Madness

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Related info:

– Japan Government To Spend Almost $500 MILLION In Attempt To Contain Fukushima Leaks:

The decision is widely seen as a safety appeal just days before the International Olympic Committee chooses between Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid on which city will host the 2020 Olympics.

– Tokyo To Host 2020 Summer Olympics (ZeroHedge, Sep 7, 2013):

Despite Mariano Rajoy’s solemn promises that awarding the 2020 Olympics to Madrid would boost the Spanish GDP by 1.8% and lead to the creation of anywhere between 168,000 and a few hundred million new jobs (the latter number is a joke but since it comes from Rajoy, both are equally credible), the Olympic committee cut the Spanish contender before the final, which pitted Tokyo vs Istanbul. And when the final votes were tallied it was not even a contest: with 60 to 36 votes, the 2020 Olympics Games will be held in Tokyo: the city that was supposed to host the event in 1940 but due to the break out of World War II the event was delayed until 1964 (when it was almost cancelled again, permanently, following a modest escalation in nuclear deterrence between the US and USSR surrounding Cuba). Let’s hope history does not rhyme.

While congratulations are certainly in order to the country which already has JPY1 quadrillion in debt so what is a few extra trillion here and there: it’s not like any of it will ever be paid back, we do have some questions:

Read moreTokyo To Host 2020 Summer Olympics … And Here’s Why This Is Complete Madness

USDA: Rural Population Needed Not For Farming But For Cannon Fodder

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Flashback:

– Obama’s Secretary Of Agriculture Tom Vilsack: ‘Food Stamps Are A Stimulus And Creating Jobs’


U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack values rural people less as farmers than as soldiers, says Joel Salatin.

– USDA: Rural population needed not for farming but for cannon fodder (Transition Voice, Aug 21, 2013):

Joel Salatin recently posted this piece on the Polyface Farms Facebook page and we repost it here with Joel’s permission. — Ed

Why do we need more farmers? What is the driving force behind U.S. Department of Agriculture policy?

In an infuriating epiphany I have yet to metabolize, I found out last Wednesday in a private policy-generation meeting with Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe. I did and still do consider it a distinct honor for his staff to invite me as one of the 25 dignitaries in Virginia agriculture for this think-tank session in Richmond.

It was a who’s who of Virginia agriculture: Farm Bureau, Va. Agribusiness Council, Va. Forestry Association, Va. Poultry Federation, Va. Cattlemen’s Association., deans from Virginia Tech and Virginia State — you get the picture.

It was the first meeting of this kind I’ve ever attended that offered no water. The only thing to drink were soft drinks. Lunch was served in styrofoam clam shells — Lay’s potato chips, sandwiches, potato salad and chocolate chip cookie. It didn’t look very safe to me, so I didn’t partake. But I’d have liked a drink of water. In another circumstance, I might eat this stuff, but with these folks, felt it important to make a point. Why do they all assume nobody wants water, nobody cares about styrofoam, everybody wants potato chips and we all want industrial meat-like slabs on white bread?

But I digress. The big surprise occurred a few minutes into the meeting: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack walked in. He was in Terry McAuliffe love-in mode. And here is what he told us: in 2012, for the first time ever — rural America lost population in real numbers — not as a percentage but in real numbers. It’s down to 16 percent of total population.

Read moreUSDA: Rural Population Needed Not For Farming But For Cannon Fodder

Poland Confiscates Half Of Private Pension Funds To Cut Sovereign Debt Load

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– Poland Confiscates Half Of Private Pension Funds To Cut Sovereign Debt Load (ZeroHedge Sep 6, 2013):

While the world was glued to the developments in the Mediterranean in the past week, Poland took a page straight out of Rahm Emanuel’s playbook and in order to not let a crisis go to waste, announced quietly that it would transfer to the state – i.e., confiscate – the bulk of assets owned by the country’s private pension funds (many of them owned by such foreign firms as PIMCO parent Allianz, AXA, Generali, ING and Aviva), without offering any compensation. In effect, the state just nationalized roughly half of the private sector pension fund assets, although it had a more politically correct name for it: pension overhaul.

By way of background, Poland has a hybrid pension system: as Reuters explains, mandatory contributions are made into both the state pension vehicle, known as ZUS, and the private funds, which are collectively known by the Polish acronym OFE. Bonds make up roughly half the private funds’ portfolios, with the rest company stocks.

And while a change to state-pension funds was long awaited – an overhaul if you will – nobody expected that this would entail a literal pillage of private sector assets.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said private funds within the state-guaranteed system would have their bond holdings transferred to a state pension vehicle, but keep their equity holdings. The funds would effectively be left with only the equities portions of their assets, even this would be depleted, and there will be uncertainty about the number of new savers joining.

Read morePoland Confiscates Half Of Private Pension Funds To Cut Sovereign Debt Load

Matt Taibbi: 16 Major Firms May Have Received Early Data From Thomson Reuters

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The Thomson Reuters headquarters building in New York City.

– 16 Major Firms May Have Received Early Data From Thomson Reuters (Rolling Stone, Sep 5, 2013):

Readers may recall an ugly story that broke earlier this summer, when New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman rebuked the news/business information firm Thomson Reuters for selling access to key economic survey data two seconds early to high-frequency algorithmic traders. The story strongly suggested that some Thomson Reuters customers were using their two-second head start (an eternity in the modern world of computerized trading) to front-run the markets.

“The early release of market-moving survey data undermines fair play in the markets,” Schneiderman said, back in the second week of July. Thomson Reuters suspended the practice of selling two-second head starts after Schneiderman insisted upon a change. Still, the firm defiantly refused to declare the change permanent and insisted that it had the right to “legally distribute non-governmental data” to “fee-paying subscribers.”

It turns out that there’s more to the story.

Read moreMatt Taibbi: 16 Major Firms May Have Received Early Data From Thomson Reuters

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: A Real Collapse In The Dollar, Gold Could Be $30,000 An Ounce (Video)

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YouTube Added: 03.09.2013

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Description:

When it comes to war in Syria, economist Dr. Paul Craig Roberts says, “This time the big lie didn’t work like it did in Iraq.” On fallout of a possible Syrian war, Dr. Roberts worries, “If they start abandoning the dollar, the collapse of the exchange rate will bring down the whole house of cards in the United States. The Fed will lose control. The banks will fail. Prices will rise dramatically. People will essentially not be able to pay their bills. It will be an unbelievable mess.” What would happen to gold with a Syrian war? Dr. Roberts says, “If you get a real collapse in the dollar, gold could be $30,000 an ounce. Who knows?” Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with former Assistant Treasury Secretary Dr Paul Craig Roberts.

Spain: Youth Unemployment Reaches Record 56.1%

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The worst is over???

This (total) collapse has really only just begun.

– Spain youth unemployment reaches record 56.1% (Guardian, Aug 30, 2013):

Number of young Spaniards belonging to ‘lost generation’ is up 2% since June, despite government claims that the worst is over

Youth unemployment in Spain has reached a new high of 56.1%, a quarter of the 3.5 million under-25s jobless across the eurozone, according to the latest Eurostat figures.

The number of young Spaniards belonging to what has become known as the lost generation is up 2% since June to 883,000. Only Greece has a higher percentage of young people out of work, at 62.9%.

Among adult males, Spain has the highest unemployment at 25.3%, higher even than Greece. Despite the government’s claims that the worst has passed and that employment reforms will encourage firms to hire, the figures suggest it will be a long time before any upturn in the economy is reflected in a declining jobless rate. With the holiday season coming to a close, the numbers are likely to rise as workers on seasonal contracts go back on the dole.

Read moreSpain: Youth Unemployment Reaches Record 56.1%

U.N. Report: China Urban Migrants’ Cost Seen At Least $6.8 TRILLION

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– China Urban Migrants’ Cost Seen at Least $6.8 Trillion: Economy (Bloomberg,Aug 28, 2013):

China must spend at least 41.6 trillion yuan ($6.8 trillion) over two decades to integrate rural workers living in cities and towns so the country realizes benefits of urbanization, a United Nations report said.

Spending may exceed 75 trillion yuan in a scenario with a higher rate of investment to improve living conditions and housing quality, according to the report released yesterday in Beijing. The study’s baseline assumptions are for the urban population to rise to 976 million in 2030 from 666 million in 2010 and integrate about 210 million migrant workers.

Read moreU.N. Report: China Urban Migrants’ Cost Seen At Least $6.8 TRILLION

First Ever High Frequency Trading Transaction Tax Introduced In Italy

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– First Ever High Frequency Trading Transaction Tax Introduced In Italy (ZeroHedge, Sep 2, 2013):

Nearly four years after Zero Hedge first suggested an HFT tax should punish algos that “churned” quotes and blasted empty bids and offers to stimulate “momentum ignition” strategies, and generally corrupt market structure in a way that lead to both the flash crash, the BATS IPO farce, the FaceBook IPO debacle and the Nasdaq 3 hour crash, the first such tax is now a reality. And while it is not, and likely never will be implemented in a major (if declining) exchange such as the NYSE or Nasdaq, the first country to finally put an end to millions of parasitic empty quotes is Italy.

From the FT:

Italy will on Monday become the first country to introduce a tax on high-frequency trading in a move that has become a test case for potential further crackdowns on the controversial practice.

Read moreFirst Ever High Frequency Trading Transaction Tax Introduced In Italy

Russia Restructures Cyprus Debt; Cyprus Prohibits US Military Strikes On Syria

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– Russia Restructures Cyprus Debt; Cyprus Prohibits US Strikes On Syria (ZeroHedge, Aug 31, 2013):

Yesterday afternoon, Russia agreed to restructure Cyprus’ EUR 2.5 billion loan terms to a much more affordable 2.5% semi-annual coupon through 2016 and a principal re-payment over the following four years. While probably still out of reach for the desparate economy, it was a positive step. Of course, this ‘offer’ by Russia has its quid pro quo. This morning, Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides has stated that Cyprus territory will not be used to launch military strikes against Syria, as “Cyprus wants to live up to its responsibility as a shelter if needed for nationals of friendly countries who evacuate from Middle East”. It would appear Obama’s influence is fading everywhere…

Cyprus is located ~183 nautical miles west of Syria and is the EU member nearest to Syria.

Read moreRussia Restructures Cyprus Debt; Cyprus Prohibits US Military Strikes On Syria

What To Expect During The Next Stage Of Collapse

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– What To Expect During The Next Stage Of Collapse (Alt-Market, Aug 29, 2013):

For years now at Alt-Market (and Neithercorp.us) I have carefully outlined the most likely path of collapse to take place within the U.S., and a vital part of that analysis included economic destabilization caused by a loss of the dollar’s world reserve status and petro-status.  I have also always made clear that this fiscal crisis event would not occur in the midst of a political vacuum.  The central banks and international financiers that created our ongoing and developing disaster are NOT going to allow the destruction of the American economy, the dollar, or global markets without a cover event designed to hide their culpability.  They need something big.  Something so big that the average citizen is overwhelmed with fear and confusion.  A smoke and mirrors magic trick so raw and soul shattering it leaves the very population of the Earth mesmerized and helpless to understand the root of the nightmare before them.  The elites need a fabricated Apocalypse.

Read moreWhat To Expect During The Next Stage Of Collapse

Federal Reserve Owns 31.89% Of The U.S. Treasury Market: Up 0.3% In One Week!

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Tick Tock… Tick Tock… Tick Tock…

Chart: Stone McCarthy

– The Fed Owns 31.89% Of The Bond Market: Up 0.3% In One Week (ZeroHedge, Aug 30, 2013):

We have beaten this topic to death so we won’t say much more, suffice to say the chart below shows what is the key issue: too much monetization and it’s game over for the reserve currency; too little and it’s an uncontrolled market sell off, and with every passing week the margin for error gets less and less.

  • Last week the Fed owned $1.663 trillion in ten year equivalents, or 31.59% of total
  • This week the Fed owned $1.678 trillion in ten year equivalents, or 31.89% of total

In other words, the Fed’s holdings of the Treasury market, expressed though the correct 10 Year equivalent basis not the completely wrong total notional, rose by a whopping 0.3% in one week!

Annualize that (especially without a taper) to understand just how cornered the Fed now is (especially with the TBAC already complaining non-stop about lack of Treasury liquidity and eligible private-sector collateral).

For much more on this, see here.

 

As Syria Distracts, Here’s What Else Is Happening While No One Is Looking …

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– As Syria distracts, here’s what else is happening while no one is looking… (Sovereign Man, Aug 29, 2013):

By Simon Black

As everyone is now completely distracted with the looming prospect of yet another illegal war to be waged by the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, let’s look at a few other things going on while no one is looking.

Gun control

Today, the Obama administration announced fresh measures to restrict the availability of firearms in the Land of the Free.

This time around, they want to ban the re-importation of firearms that have been exported from the US to allied nations. They also want to raise the bar on federal background checks.

But rather than go through Congress, the Obama administration is simply going to create a new ‘rule’.

Read moreAs Syria Distracts, Here’s What Else Is Happening While No One Is Looking …

Walmart Now Serving Effortless Meals … The Direct Path To Disease, Bankruptcy, No Sex Life, And MOAR DEBT!

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– Wal*Mart Now Serving Effortless Meals (ZeroHedge Aug 30, 2013):

SilverIsKing sarcastically commented:

“…the strength of the Wal*Mart crowd will hoist the economy…”

To which I replied, “It appears that the Wal*Mart crowd is interested in less effort, not so much hoisting the economy, as evidenced by this billboard.”

Americans think are taught that “effortless” is the path to happiness, when really it is the path to diabetes, hip and knee replacements, bankruptcy, no sex life, and MOAR DEBT!

Right after just one more effortless meal of Coke, potato salad, and Tyson chicken America will start exercising, go on a diet, and then Bernanke can taper.  Don’t hold your breath.

…