[quote=Baron Silas Greenback;112370]I feel it only fair to tell the OP that after reading your blog on John key and your clear agenda thinly disguised as research…I have reported you to the electroral commision as you have not clearly displayed your full name and address on your site. Best you correct that… as I am […]
Monthly Archives: February 2008
A 15th finance company has hit the wall and is asking its debenture holders to vote on a 20-month wind down to stop it from going to the receivers. New Zealand property finance firm MFS Boston, an indirectly owned subsidiary of troubled Australian firm MFS, announced the moratorium proposal yesterday and will hold a meeting […]
The world is sleepwalking into an international robot arms race, a leading expert will warn today. US forces recently deployed remote-controlled robots equipped with automatic weapons in Iraq Prof Noel Sharkey fears increased research and spending on unmanned military systems by countries including the US, Russia, China and Israel will lead to the use […]
Late last week, Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) announced it was selling its 40% stake in the Cortez gold project in the U.S. state of Nevada to major gold producer Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) for US$1.7 billion. Barrick gets 4.6 million ounces of additional proved and probable reserves at Cortez, where it’s cash-cost of production is […]
A WORSENING global food shortage is a problem far more urgent than climate change, top Australian scientists have warned. The Australian Science Media Centre briefing heard why prices for some staple foods had risen by as much as 60 per cent in the past year, and how dramatic price rises are expected to sweep across […]
‘Political donations are corrosive when the donors seek to influence outcomes, and directly taint or corrupt an impartial process. The potential remains today to buy legislation.” When I made these comments in my maiden speech last May, I did not expect the situation could deteriorate even further. Many in NSW now believe that “vested interests” […]
On Tuesday the 26th of February the European Parliament will screen the movie: Zero, call for an independent investigation of 9/11. After the screening they will debate this topic, with Herr von Beulow(German representative) Mr Fujita.(Japanese senator from the opposition party) David Ray Griffin (American 911 truth professor in theology) The three of home have […]
“It’s…poetic justice, in that the people that brewed this toxic Kool-Aid found themselves drinking a lot of it in the end.” Warren Buffett, American investor “By a continuing process of inflation, government can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.” John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) “New money that enters the […]
New Zealand faces conditions that are eerily similar to those which preceded the 1998 recession, the Bank of New Zealand says. The bank is forecasting a slowdown, but not a recession, this year but it says the risks to the economic outlook are “massive”. “On top of a worsening global backdrop and a weaker-than-expected local […]
It doesn’t look like an old-fashioned bank run because it involves the biggest financial institutions trading paper assets so complicated that even top executives don’t fully understand the transactions. But that’s what it is — a spreading fear among financial institutions that their brethren can’t be trusted to honor their obligations. Frightened financiers are pulling […]
The investments of many of the 380,000 people who have joined the KiwiSaver scheme have taken a battering with the dramatic slump in sharemarkets. New Zealand and world sharemarkets have taken a dive in the past fortnight after falls in the United States. Fears of a recession there and massive losses in US housing markets […]
By Stephen Foley in New York Monday, 25 February 2008 The Federal Reserve will today continue its unprecedented efforts to prop up the credit markets, in what is set to be one of its most closely watched auctions of new debt. The Fed began offering cheap loans to the financial markets in December as part […]
Hundreds of high profile people have gone on record for wanting a new and independent investigation into the events of 9/11. This is important because New Zealand is involved in the two wars that ensued after these events. If it turns out that the events were in fact a “fals flag” operation that New Zealand […]
The United States is now a net importer of food, we read recently. If we understand that correctly, there is no longer enough food Made in the USA to feed Americans’ appetites. Colleague Dan Denning began a nervous discussion on the topic when he sent this article from the Financial Times, with its headline reading: […]
On the National website Bill English yesterday admonishes Helen Clark for having a private meeting with Owen Glenn and requests to know what the two have been discussing. I agree with him, being open in politics should be a must. However what is good for the goose is good for the gander. So I would like […]
Friday, 22 February 2008 The rocketing cost of protecting corporate bonds has shone a light on another arcane corner of the financial world – the $45trn (£23trn) market for credit default swaps (CDS). The cost of insuring the debt of US and European companies against default surged to all-time highs so that buyers of protection […]
By Wolfgang Reuter The German government has had to bail out state-owned banks with taxpayers’ money after their managements recklessly gambled away billions on subprime investments. But if a state-owned bank were to go under, the consequences could be disastrous for the whole economy. AP The future is far from bright for Germany’s banks. Ingrid […]
Gold hit a record $953.60 a troy ounce on Thursday as oil’s move above $100 and inflation fears provided fresh upward momentum. Fuelling the rally were fears the US economy could be heading for stagflation after the Federal Reserve published forecasts for lower growth and higher inflation. Read more
Strange days are upon the residents of many a suburban cul-de-sac. Once-tidy yards have become overgrown, as the houses they front have gone vacant. Signs of physical and social disorder are spreading. At Windy Ridge, a recently built starter-home development seven miles northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, 81 of the community’s 132 small, vinyl-sided houses […]
While inflation is making most of the headlines, there’s news from the deflation side too. A headline tells us that homeowners are no longer remodeling as much as they used to. As expected, the people who hustle granite countertops are finally getting a rest. Poor General Motors…GMAC says it’s closing offices in the United States […]
By Mike Whitney “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored”. Aldous Huxley 21/02/08 “ICH” — — The credit storm which began in July when two Bear Stearns hedge funds were forced to liquidate, has continued to intensify and roil the markets. Last week the noose tightened around auction-rate securities,a little-known part of […]
Recent changes in the world economy and financial markets mark the end of the present standard model of financial capitalism, built up over the last decade or so. In this model, financial stability is mainly based on the self-regulation of the financial sector, which alone assesses the risks produced by its financial innovations. Moreover, the […]
US banks have been quietly borrowing massive amounts of money from the Federal Reserve in recent weeks by using a new measure the Fed introduced two months ago to help ease the credit crunch.The use of the Fed’s Term Auction Facility, which allows banks to borrow at relatively attractive rates against a wider range of […]
Stocks closed lower Thursday, after a worse-than-expected report on business conditions in the mid-Atlantic region. News of a bulge in U.S. oil inventories sent oil stocks lower. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 142.96, to 12,284.30. Boeing, Chevron and General Motors were the biggest contributors to the loss. Only three of the 30 Dow industrials […]
Global Cooling: Amazing pictures of countries joining Britain in the big freeze By CHRISTOPHER BOOKER – More by this author » Last updated at 08:30am on 21st February 2008 Comments (30) A waterfall frozen mid-air in China Yesterday’s picture in the Mail of a cascade of icicles in the Yorkshire Dales was a reminder of […]
Gulf International Bank suffers net loss of $757.3 million in 2007 due to its exposure to US subprime sector. MANAMA – Bahrain-based Gulf International Bank said on Thursday it suffered a net loss of 757.3 million dollars in 2007 due mainly to its exposure to the crisis-ridden US home-loan subprime market. The merchant bank said […]
By Stephen Foley in New York and Sean Farrell Thursday, 21 February 2008 Losses resulting from the credit market turmoil – until now largely limited to the world’s biggest investment banks – are starting to be felt much more widely, by wealthy individuals, local government and even sports teams, presaging a new and potentially litigious […]
The Serious Fraud Office is looking into property investment business Blue Chip and asking for investors who have information to phone a call-free service. Grant Liddell, the SFO’s new director and chief executive, said staff had been investigating the business for more than a week. Investigations began last Wednesday, based on complaints made to the […]
“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 […]
Aotearoa: A Wider Perspective 