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venturalaw · 09-05-2009, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

Hey, the govt and the social programs make life so easy, why should people bother? Hey, just read that welfare recipients in Mass get free cars, AAA, licensing, etc. Wow! Why fekin work when you get free housing, food stamps, healthcare, and a FREE car!!!!! Cut all this sh*t out and people will start getting a sense of responsibility again.

Unfortunately I doubt that this will ever occur.

Jet Gorgon · 09-05-2009, 08:50 AM

^ Never give up. Civil war might be around the corner.

venturalaw · 09-05-2009, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

^ Never give up. Civil war might be around the corner.

Perhaps nearing the close of the OB admin.

sabang · 09-05-2009, 09:40 AM

I think you guys should spend less time on Ayn Rand fantasies, and get in tune with the real world.

Oh, incidentally, the Bro's be waiting.

Maybe you should lighten up. In more ways than one.

Drama Queens.

Milkman · 11-05-2009, 12:49 PM

Credit Cards and Banks: Glad my 9 cards have a balance of $0.

There will be a story during this year and the next.

Quote:

experts predict that tens of thousands of Americans will not be able to, leaving a gaping hole at ailing banks still trying to recover from the housing bust.

The bank stress test, released last Thursday, found that the nation’s 19 biggest banks could expect nearly $82.4 billion in credit card losses by the end of 2010 under what federal regulators called a “worst-case” economic situation.

But if unemployment breaches 10 percent, as many economists predict, the rate of uncollectible balances at some banks could far exceed that level. At American Express, Citigroup, and J.P. Morgan Chase, one-fifth of the credit card balances are expected to go bad over the next 20 months, according to stress test results. At Bank of America and Wells Fargo, about a quarter of card loans are expected to sour.

Even the government’s grim projections may vastly understate the size of the banks’ credit card troubles.

Link & Entire: NYT: Credit card losses may challenge banks - The New York Times- msnbc.com

Milkman · 12-05-2009, 11:23 AM

Here is Marc Faber being interviewed on May 8th, 09.

Notice what he says at 8:20 about GWB + Obama, regarding the "imporverished Middle-Class."

This is only part 2.

YouTube - Marc Faber Forecast Part 2

larvidchr · 12-05-2009, 12:25 PM

^ Bush + Obama= 0

S Landreth · 15-05-2009, 02:42 PM

If you have some money in a small bank in the states you might want to read the article (and links) below.

From americablog.com

Friday, May 15, 2009

Small banks also facing cash issues

Sounds like Geithner was spot on again when he talked about the health of the banks. It's all so dreamy, isn't it? The small bank executives don't play tennis at the same club that Timmy and the big players use so it's easy to forget they even exist. Let them eat cake.

While investors have focused mostly on the nation's largest 19 banks that were the subject of the government stress tests, shares of some smaller banks have been getting pummeled since last week's rollout of the test results.

One of the reasons: the stricter capital requirements for all banks—not just the 19 biggest—may prove too onerous for some of the regional and community institutions, causing some of them to fail.

"Most of these little banks won't be able to do it," said Richard Bove, banking analyst at Rochdale Securities. "We're headed to a situation where the focus is going to be on small banks. The small banks are going to fail in, I think, pretty large numbers. I'm guessing 150."

Link: http://www.americablog.com/2009/05/small-banks-also-facing-cash-issues.html

Link: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/business/Small_Banks_Need_Capital__Too__But_Could_Face_Hard er_Time.html

Milkman · 15-05-2009, 04:14 PM

^ Yes more banks (small banks) will be going down. Many will be absorbed by more solvent and stronger (and often bigger) banks.

Below is an article about another "stimulus" check sent out to US taxpayers. I didn't know this was happening. Apparently it's for $250 USD. I don't see the point in this. And as usual, check are being sent out to dead people, costing losses of millions of dollars:

Quote:

Dead People Get Stimulus
Checks

14 May 2009,

MYFOXNY.COM - This week, thousands of people are getting stimulus checks in the mail. The problem is that a lot of them are dead. A Long Island woman was shocked when she checked the mail and received a letter from the U.S. Treasury -- but it wasn't for her.

Antoniette Santopadre of Valley Stream was expecting a $250 stimulus check. But when her son finally opened it, they saw that the check was made out to her father, Romolo Romonini, who died in Italy 34 years ago. He'd been a U.S. citizen when he left for Italy in 1933, but only returned to the United Stated for a seven-month visit in 1969.

The Santopadres are not alone. The Social Security Administration, which sent out 52 million checks, says that some of those checks mistakenly went to dead people because the agency had no record of their death. That amounts to between 8,000 and 10,000 checks for millions of dollars.

The feds blame a rushed schedule, because all the checks have to be cut by June. The strange this is, some of the checks were made out to people -- like Romonini -- who were never even part of the Social Security

Link & Entire: 090514_Dead_People_Get_Stimulus_Checks

Panda · 15-05-2009, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by larvidchr

^ Bush + Obama= 0

I believe Obama is looking at the BIG picture, -- that being the world economy, rather than just the US economy in isolation. The US economy and its citizens standard of living is and has been for several decades parasitic on actual production by the rest of the world. And of course this unsustainable imbalance has been made possible by the $US hegemony.

Obama is doing the best thing for his own country right now by milking the misplaced faith in the $US by other countries, (eg; printing paper money, borrowing and spending to the max), because in the end every other country is going to foot the bill when the bottom drops out of the $US.

This current world financial/banking crisis is just the forerunner to a much bigger world financial adjustment that has to come sooner or later.

Panda · 15-05-2009, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milkman

^ Yes more banks (small banks) will be going down. Many will be absorbed by more solvent and stronger (and often bigger) banks.

Below is an article about another "stimulus" check sent out to US taxpayers. I didn't know this was happening. Apparently it's for $250 USD. I don't see the point in this. And as usual, check are being sent out to dead people, costing losses of millions of dollars:

Quote:

Dead People Get Stimulus
Checks

14 May 2009,

MYFOXNY.COM - This week, thousands of people are getting stimulus checks in the mail. The problem is that a lot of them are dead. A Long Island woman was shocked when she checked the mail and received a letter from the U.S. Treasury -- but it wasn't for her.

Antoniette Santopadre of Valley Stream was expecting a $250 stimulus check. But when her son finally opened it, they saw that the check was made out to her father, Romolo Romonini, who died in Italy 34 years ago. He'd been a U.S. citizen when he left for Italy in 1933, but only returned to the United Stated for a seven-month visit in 1969.

The Santopadres are not alone. The Social Security Administration, which sent out 52 million checks, says that some of those checks mistakenly went to dead people because the agency had no record of their death. That amounts to between 8,000 and 10,000 checks for millions of dollars.

The feds blame a rushed schedule, because all the checks have to be cut by June. The strange this is, some of the checks were made out to people -- like Romonini -- who were never even part of the Social Security

Link & Entire: 090514_Dead_People_Get_Stimulus_Checks

Hey, its only money. And the US government can create as much of that stuff as they need. The only catch is when the rest of the world starts wanting real goods and services back from USA in exchange for their paper money and IOUs.

The US government has spent $trillions bailing out incompetant banks and car makers, so why not spread a bit more around on social services?

Right now every other country is buying $USs and pushing its tradable value up even higher. Paper is cheap to print and even better when you can exchange it for things of real value that other people worked to produce. So long as the rest of the world keeps taking the stuff as if it had real value, why not just keep spending like there is no tomorrow.

Spin · 15-05-2009, 06:56 PM

^ I heard that China, just unloaded a sizeable chunk of dollars with a huge spend on commodities like copper, so much so in fact that they moved the prices up significantly. Pretty smart move by them, if you ask me.

Panda · 15-05-2009, 07:26 PM

^ I heard the same thing.
Copper mainly, but also aluminum.
Also they have also stockpiled as much oil as they can store and are talking about buying tankers to hold more.

They are on a buying spree of Australian mineral producers at the moment and no doubt are doing the same elsewhere. Turning all that surplus cash into commodities they are going to need later on while prices are low makes sense.

Milkman · 15-05-2009, 11:39 PM

I know the spike is largely related to the auto-industry developments, but this is for one week. One, week. And with the hiring slowdown you'll see the newly unemployed, unemployed, for longer than usual.

Rebound around the corner? I disagree.

Quote:

Auto industry sparks surge in jobless claims

Government says 637,000 people filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week. Continuing claims at all-time high for 15th week in a row.

See all CNNMoney.com

By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: May 14, 2009

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Auto industry job losses led to a surge in the number of people filing initial claims for unemployment benefits last week, according to a government report released Thursday.

And, in the most recent data available, the number of people filing claims on an ongoing basis rose to a record high for the 15th straight week.

A total of 637,000 people filed new claims for jobless benefits in the week ended May 9, the Labor Department said. That's an increase of 32,000 from an upwardly revised 605,000 in the previous week.

The tally was higher than expected. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast 610,000 initial claims.

Link & Entire: Auto industry job losses help push jobless claims higher - May. 14, 2009

Spin · 16-05-2009, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Panda

They are on a buying spree of Australian mineral producers at the moment and no doubt are doing the same elsewhere.

Indeed, in Africa they get uranium, manganese, copper and others from the Niger Delta, Congo and all kinds of unheard of places in exchange for building roads and infrastructure.

Milkman · 17-05-2009, 07:55 AM

Deflation has arrived in the US. It's been going on for a while.

But what are the potential ramifications? Is this sign of worse things to come? Is deflation a precursor to inflation and hyper-inflation?

Quote:

Falling prices could bring a nasty hangover

If deflation takes hold, it can create a big headwind for economic growth

By John W. Schoen
Senior producer
msnbc.com
May 15, 2009

John W. Schoen
Senior producer

Call it one of the recession's silver linings — with each passing day, the purchasing power of each consumer dollar is getting stronger.

But if it keeps up, and prices continue to fall, that boost in buying power comes with some nasty side effects, say economists.
The government reported Friday that consumer prices fell over the past 12 months at the fastest rate since Dwight D. Eisenhower was president.

Link & Entire: Falling prices could bring a nasty hangover - Eye on the Economy- msnbc.com

Panda · 17-05-2009, 07:04 PM

Inflation is just another way of cutting a populations standard of living. Eg; your money simply buys less. Thats not going to be a bad thing for the people of USA who have been living above their means, and to a lesser extent, the people of other developed countries.

Hyperinflation happens when essential items like food are no longer available an no amount of paper money can procure it.

Inflation is just around the corner, but hyperinflation will never happen in countries that can feed themselves.

Milkman · 18-05-2009, 11:42 PM

Ramifications.....

Quote:

GM bankruptcy would be complex, painful

Size, other issues could make Chrysler process seem simple by comparison

Fred Prouser / Reuters
Cars are shown on a lot at a GM dealership in Los Angeles. GM eventually hopes to close more than a third of its 6,000 franchises.

View related photos

By Allison Linn
Senior writer
msnbc.com
May 18, 2009
Allison Linn

If General Motors follows Chrysler into bankruptcy court, as many are now expecting, it is likely to be far more painful for both the carmaker and the U.S. economy than its smaller rival’s bankruptcy filing of a few weeks ago.

GM's vast scale and complex network of partners make the ramifications of a bankruptcy highly unpredictable, especially given the uncertainty about the global economic conditions that pushed the auto industry to the breaking point in the first place.

“The biggest difference is scale: GM is a much larger company,” said Stephanie Brinley, senior manager of product analysis for the consultancy AutoPacific.

Link & Entire: GM bankruptcy could be painful - Autos- msnbc.com

larvidchr · 19-05-2009, 02:20 AM

^ I wonder how many jobs, taking both Gm itself and all other dependants into account, will go in a controlled bankruptcy, it is starting to sound a lot worse than the original statements about the grand rescue plans?.

Boon Mee · 19-05-2009, 03:38 PM

Remember this?

Check out what BO is doing to the future. As someone else points out,we're going to need a bigger graph. To quote Robert J. Samuelson:

From 2010 to 2019, Obama projects annual deficits totaling $7.1 trillion; that's atop the $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009. By 2019, the ratio of publicly held federal debt to gross domestic product (GDP, or the economy) would reach 70 percent, up from 41 percent in 2008. That would be the highest since 1950 (80 percent). The Congressional Budget Office, using less optimistic economic forecasts, raises these estimates. The 2010-19 deficits would total $9.3 trillion; the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2019 would be 82 percent.

But wait: Even these totals may be understated. By various estimates, Obama's health plan might cost $1.2 trillion over a decade; Obama has budgeted only $635 billion. Next, the huge deficits occur despite a pronounced squeeze of defense spending. From 2008 to 2019, total federal spending would rise 75 percent, but defense spending would increase only 17 percent. Unless foreign threats recede, military spending and deficits might both grow.

The actual numbers will be far worse than the graph above. In an apparent attempt to prepare folks for the skyrocketing taxes that await us, BO recently admitted that the debt will break the spine of our economy:

But the long-term deficit and debt that we have accumulated is unsustainable. We can't keep on just borrowing from China, or borrowing from other countries — (applause) — because part of it is, we have to pay for— we have to pay interest on that debt. And that means that we're mortgaging our children's future with more and more debt, but what's also true is that at some point they're just going to get tired of buying our debt. And when that happens, we will really have to raise interest rates to be able to borrow, and that will raise interest rates for everybody — on your auto loan, on your mortgage, on — so it will have a dampening effect on the economy.

09-05-2009, 09:40 AM	#1284 (permalink)
sabang Go ask Alice Last Online: Today 10:44 PM Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: where the streets have no name Posts: 12,383	I think you guys should spend less time on Ayn Rand fantasies, and get in tune with the real world. Oh, incidentally, the Bro's be waiting. Maybe you should lighten up. In more ways than one. Drama Queens. __________________ Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

15-05-2009, 02:42 PM	#1288 (permalink)
S Landreth Guest Member Last Online: Today 06:59 PM Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Khon Kaen Posts: 1,579	If you have some money in a small bank in the states you might want to read the article (and links) below. From americablog.com Friday, May 15, 2009 Small banks also facing cash issues Sounds like Geithner was spot on again when he talked about the health of the banks. It's all so dreamy, isn't it? The small bank executives don't play tennis at the same club that Timmy and the big players use so it's easy to forget they even exist. Let them eat cake. While investors have focused mostly on the nation's largest 19 banks that were the subject of the government stress tests, shares of some smaller banks have been getting pummeled since last week's rollout of the test results. One of the reasons: the stricter capital requirements for all banks—not just the 19 biggest—may prove too onerous for some of the regional and community institutions, causing some of them to fail. "Most of these little banks won't be able to do it," said Richard Bove, banking analyst at Rochdale Securities. "We're headed to a situation where the focus is going to be on small banks. The small banks are going to fail in, I think, pretty large numbers. I'm guessing 150." Link: http://www.americablog.com/2009/05/small-banks-also-facing-cash-issues.html Link: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/business/Small_Banks_Need_Capital__Too__But_Could_Face_Hard er_Time.html __________________ Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.

19-05-2009, 03:38 PM	#1300 (permalink)
Boon Mee Thailand Travel Forum Last Online: Today 10:19 PM Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 13,536	Remember this? Check out what BO is doing to the future. As someone else points out,we're going to need a bigger graph. To quote Robert J. Samuelson: From 2010 to 2019, Obama projects annual deficits totaling $7.1 trillion; that's atop the $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009. By 2019, the ratio of publicly held federal debt to gross domestic product (GDP, or the economy) would reach 70 percent, up from 41 percent in 2008. That would be the highest since 1950 (80 percent). The Congressional Budget Office, using less optimistic economic forecasts, raises these estimates. The 2010-19 deficits would total $9.3 trillion; the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2019 would be 82 percent. But wait: Even these totals may be understated. By various estimates, Obama's health plan might cost $1.2 trillion over a decade; Obama has budgeted only $635 billion. Next, the huge deficits occur despite a pronounced squeeze of defense spending. From 2008 to 2019, total federal spending would rise 75 percent, but defense spending would increase only 17 percent. Unless foreign threats recede, military spending and deficits might both grow. The actual numbers will be far worse than the graph above. In an apparent attempt to prepare folks for the skyrocketing taxes that await us, BO recently admitted that the debt will break the spine of our economy: But the long-term deficit and debt that we have accumulated is unsustainable. We can't keep on just borrowing from China, or borrowing from other countries — (applause) — because part of it is, we have to pay for— we have to pay interest on that debt. And that means that we're mortgaging our children's future with more and more debt, but what's also true is that at some point they're just going to get tired of buying our debt. And when that happens, we will really have to raise interest rates to be able to borrow, and that will raise interest rates for everybody — on your auto loan, on your mortgage, on — so it will have a dampening effect on the economy. __________________ ผมเป็นคนบ้านนอก

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09-05-2009, 08:50 AM	#1282 (permalink)
Jet Gorgon Take No Prisoners Barbie Last Online: Today 04:08 PM Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Near Libbies Posts: 13,039	^ Never give up. Civil war might be around the corner.

12-05-2009, 12:25 PM	#1287 (permalink)
larvidchr In transit to Valhalla Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 2,317	^ Bush + Obama= 0

15-05-2009, 06:56 PM	#1292 (permalink)
Spin likes big jugs...... Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 10,698	^ I heard that China, just unloaded a sizeable chunk of dollars with a huge spend on commodities like copper, so much so in fact that they moved the prices up significantly. Pretty smart move by them, if you ask me.

15-05-2009, 07:26 PM	#1293 (permalink)
Panda I am in Jail Last Online: Today 07:06 PM Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 5,475	^ I heard the same thing. Copper mainly, but also aluminum. Also they have also stockpiled as much oil as they can store and are talking about buying tankers to hold more. They are on a buying spree of Australian mineral producers at the moment and no doubt are doing the same elsewhere. Turning all that surplus cash into commodities they are going to need later on while prices are low makes sense.

17-05-2009, 07:04 PM	#1297 (permalink)
Panda I am in Jail Last Online: Today 07:06 PM Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 5,475	Inflation is just another way of cutting a populations standard of living. Eg; your money simply buys less. Thats not going to be a bad thing for the people of USA who have been living above their means, and to a lesser extent, the people of other developed countries. Hyperinflation happens when essential items like food are no longer available an no amount of paper money can procure it. Inflation is just around the corner, but hyperinflation will never happen in countries that can feed themselves.

19-05-2009, 02:20 AM	#1299 (permalink)
larvidchr In transit to Valhalla Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 2,317	^ I wonder how many jobs, taking both Gm itself and all other dependants into account, will go in a controlled bankruptcy, it is starting to sound a lot worse than the original statements about the grand rescue plans?.

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