Just in case you missed it. Investment bankers bet and speculate. In other words they are making money with money. When the banking world was about to collapse because the bet on packets of junk bonds, and were about to be caught out on it they changed their tack. They now bet and speculate on […]
Category Archives: Unsustainable growth
The verdict is in. The Fed’s emergency rate cuts in January have failed to halt the downward spiral towards a full-blown debt deflation. Much more drastic action will be needed. The Federal Reserve building in Washington Read more from Ambrose Evans-Pritchard ‘Ninja’ loans explode on sub-prime frontline The latest news and views on the […]
Well, she has to say something. The Government is not expecting a property crash, Prime Minister Helen Clark says. Recent figures from the Real Estate Institute (REINZ) suggest the market is now in a downturn with prices dropping slightly in some areas and houses taking longer to sell. Some housing market commentators have suggested the […]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Stocks looked set to kick off the first trading day of March on a downbeat note, as worries about the slowing economy and weak dollar continued to stalk investors. About three hours before the start of trading, Nasdaq and S&P futures were lower, indicating a negative start for Wall Street. Economic concerns […]
Oh oops, another one bites the dust. Terry McCrann of the Herald Sun referred to Allco Finance Group (ASX:AFG) as “Mini-Mac” the other day. What he meant was that the company has similarities to Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG). If we were Macquarie Group, we’d be downright insulted. How are the two similar? Well they’re both leveraged […]
Banks face massive loan losses because of defaults on debts and housing-price slide Duncan Mavin Toronto — The U.S. banking sector is headed for a credit downturn that will be “the worst in generations,” featuring widespread defaults on a range of debts and a national housing price slide not seen since the Great Depression, one […]
“Predatory buying” allegations against dairy giant Fonterra have been lodged with the Commerce Commission. Waikato-based Open Country Cheese and the South Island company Dairy Trust, fledgling independents, told The Dominion Post their complaints alleged Fonterra was using its near-monopoly position to frustrate their efforts to get milk from farmers. The complaints centred on Fonterra paying […]
“I would tell audiences that we were facing not a bubble but a froth – lots of small, local bubbles that never grew to a scale that could threaten the health of the overall economy.” Alan Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence. That used to be Mr Greenspan’s view of the US housing bubble. He was […]
And big bucks for his corporate mates. JILL McKEE/Southland Times/Image ID 120070 UNDER HIS UMBRELLA: National Party leader John Key and Ardlussa farmer Rohan Horrell looking to the weather gods for some relief to the drought. Even though there was a smattering of rain on the parched Northern Southland plains yesterday it did little to […]
Wall Street banks are bracing for another wave of multibillion-dollar losses as the crisis that began with subprime mortgages spreads through the credit markets. In recent weeks one part of the debt market after another has buckled. High-risk loans used to finance corporate buyouts have plummeted in value. Securities backed by commercial real estate mortgages […]
Oh oops, you know what this means? It means get yourself a bag of seeds and start growing your own veggies, because it’s downhill from here, and it’s not just limited to the US Folks.(Travellerev) By Mike Whitney Even veteran Fed-watchers were caught off-guard by Chairman Bernanke’s performance before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. […]
By Jessica Hupp When you think of high oil prices, you’re probably reminded of huge bills at the pump and inflating costs on goods and services. However, the high cost of oil brings on so much more than that. Here we’ll take a look at some of the lesser-known ways high oil prices affect the […]
When the NZ Herald tells you that this new investment vehicle is going to make is so much easier for private equity companies and venture capital investors, and that NZ is the one the freest countries to do business in and they want make it even freer than you could translate that into: We would like […]
The following is an interview with Hamid Varzi an economist and banker based in Tehran about the US economic crisis:Q.Please tell us more about the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis and why, how and when it began? A.The crisis began in 2000 with Bush Jr.’s election that re-established the irresponsible “Supply Side” and “trickle-down” economic […]
The seven-year low in house sales last month could be a sign of prices falling for the year, says the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand’s national president. Traditionally, January has always been a weak time to sell, with holidays interrupting transactions but sales were unusually low at 5186 – the lowest since January 2001 […]
By Mike Whitney 11/02/08 “ICH” — — Low interest credit and “financial innovation” are a deadly-combo. They’ve knocked the banking system for a loop, clogged the credit markets with billions of dollars of subprime sludge, and left the real estate market sprawling on the canvas. Still—even though $2 trillion of capitalization has been wiped-out from falling […]
A “plastic soup” of floating waste in the Pacific Ocean now covers an area twice the size of the continental U.S. ToolsA “plastic soup” of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said. The vast […]
Higher loan limits will lead to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac bailout Sunday, February 3, 2008 Congress is about to sell us the biggest fraud in American history. It’s been highly touted as an economic stimulus bill that will help millions of Americans – and has the backing of both President Bush and House Speaker Nancy […]
The top securities regulator in Massachusetts accused Merrill Lynch on Friday of defrauding the city of Springfield with subprime-linked investments, casting light on how Wall Street banks sold complex mortgage securities that are now plummeting in value as the housing slump deepens. Skip to next paragraph Stephan Savoia/Associated Press William Galvin, Massachusetts secretary of state, […]
On 13 January 2008 in the first session of the year of the Japanese Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee Senator Yukihisa Fujita leader of the opposition who might very well one day become the prime minister of Japan made a presentation of evidence casting doubt on the official US version of the attacks on New York […]
The FBI is investigating 14 corporations for possible accounting fraud and other crimes related to the sub-prime lending crisis. Neil Power, chief of the bureau’s economic crimes unit, would not identify the companies, though he said the cases involved “valuation-type stuff”. The probes included reviews of sub-prime lenders, housing developers and Wall St banks that […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut a key interest rate for the second time in just over a week, reducing the federal funds rate by a half point. It signaled that further rate cuts were possible. Ben Bernanke, chair of the Federal Reserve, which Wednesday cut its key rate for the […]
A full-blown, prolonged recession in America is now inescapable, with the rest of the world set to be dragged into a severe global slowdown despite yesterday’s emergency US interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, leading economists said in Davos this morning. A darkening outlook for the global economy looked set to dominate the week-long […]
A debate over city growth has emerged after a housing affordability survey released this week recommended freeing up more land for houses. Demographia’s fourth annual survey found New Zealand houses more unaffordable than those in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Britain and Australia. The residential construction sector is now calling for more sections to be […]
Recession fears wipe £84bn off the value of Britain’s biggest companies as stock markets tumble across the globe By Nick Clark Published: 22 January 2008 It was the day that the fear factor took over. From Asia to South America, share prices tumbled yesterday as the world’s investors gambled that a US recession was now […]
The Federal Reserve, contrary to its name a private corporate entity, that has been allowed to make money out of thin air and loan it to us against interest is causing this massive depression. They are the perpetrators not the victims. Watch the video “the Money masters” or if you don’t have three hours to […]
London’s FTSE 100 fell to an 18-month low as markets took a dim view of President Bush’s plan to fight off a US downturn Patrick Hosking and Leo Lewis About £77 billion was wiped from UK blue chip share values this morning as fears of a US recession reverberated around the globe, sending the FTSE […]
BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) — Chinese shares plunged more than 5percent on Monday, as investors dumped stocks amid liquidity concerns sparked by the huge share sale plan of Ping An Insurance. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, tumbled 266.08 points, or 5.14 percent, to 4,914.44, while the Shenzhen Component […]
The FTSE 100 on Monday suffered its biggest one-day fall since the attacks on the World Trade Centre more than six years ago as the worst fears about the prospects for the global economy took hold. In a tumultuous session, the index was down as much as 5.7 per cent to 5,571.0 as dealers capitulated […]
