Fallen Soldiers’ Families Denied Cash Payout as Insurers Profit
Posted: 07/30/2010 01:22:30
“It’s flown under the radar,” professor Stempel says. “Regulators have not done their job.” Until public officials wake up, the bereaved will remain a secret profit center for the life insurance industry.
You can't call it a stimulus, but Obama has announced a new $50 billion infrastructure initiative. This is going to be a big "nothing" on two levels.First, we hate to say it, but $50 billion just isn't needle moving, especially when you consider that the initial stimulus was $700 billion, and critics who said it was too small were looking for at least another half-a-trillion (or about that). But beyond that, it won't work out politically.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Vowing to find new ways to stimulate the sputtering economy, President Barack Obama will call for long-term investments in the nation's roads, railways and runways that would cost at least $50 billion.
"Gold and gold mining shares were an average of around 25% of world financial asset between 1921 and 1981. Today, gold and mining shares are only 0.9% of world financial assets. If gold and mining shares were to go to 25% of financial assets, gold would go to over $31,000. But even if we assume that world financial asset would go down by 2/3rds from here that would put gold at over $10,000. ''
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- President Barack Obama unveiled Monday a $50 billion plan to upgrade the nation's roads, airports and railways, choosing a Labor Day rally in Milwaukee to announce the administration's latest proposal to revive the economy.
The United States, Japan and large parts of Europe have exhausted their policy arsenal, leaving them defenceless against a double-dip recession as recovery slows to ‘stall speed’.
BEIJING, Sept 3 (Reuters) - China on Friday offered a rare glimpse into its foreign exchange reserves, confirming that they are overwhelmingly allocated in dollars, while a central banker said the mountain of cash could face depreciation risks.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Silver closed at a two-year high Friday, rallying 1.4% and carried by its safe-haven and industrial appeals. Gold closed lower, although the metal came off session lows. Silver for December delivery added 28 cents to $19.95 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for December delivery declined $2.30, or 0.2%, to $1,251.10 an ounce
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The unemployment rate rose in August for the first time in four months as weak hiring by private employers wasn't enough to keep pace with a large increase in the number of people looking for work.
Nearly three out of four Americans have been directly affected by the recession, either because they have been unemployed or know someone who has lost their job, according to a new survey.
Richard Russell and John Williams are a couple of veterans who have been warning of collapse for some time now. Below, Williams addresses massive job losses, payroll contraction and the continued disastrous help wanted index. Russell, with well over half a century of market experience, explains in clear terms how this gold bull market will end.
We must immediately understand that the Fed can shower liquidity directly on the consumer in any amount it wants. The political pressure to do so will only increase as unemployment rises and economic growth falters. Therefore, rather than fearing phantom deflation, investors should prepare their portfolios for the real upcoming battle with intractable inflation.
With the recovery faltering less than two months before the November congressional elections, President Obama's economic team is considering another big dose of stimulus in the form of tax breaks for businesses - potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars, according to two people familiar with the talks.
(Bloomberg) -- Charles Morris, a fund manager overseeing about $2.5 billion at HSBC Global Asset Management’s Absolute Return fund, talks about his decision to sell long-term bond holdings
When asked about the change in trading patterns for both gold and silver Turk noted, “The difference is that as this accumulation pattern developed, people were waiting weeks for pullbacks to develop, then they decided to buy pullbacks that developed over days. Now, at this point, the big money is buying pullbacks that develop over just hours.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul, suggesting America's reserves may not be as robust as officials claim, is calling for an independent audit of the U.S. gold held at Fort Knox and other facilities.
Almost two years ago the US Treasury was selling large amounts of short-term Treasury bills to fund bailouts and stimulus. That caused a major increase in debt. Most of that paper was 2-year bills and it is coming due for rollover shortly. While that transpires, October will report the annual fiscal deficit of 9/30/10 of about $1.5 trillion, a figure thought impossible just 1-1/2 to 2 years ago. This time around the Treasury will have to depend on the Fed and US banks and institutions to fund this mountain of paper. China has reduced its holdings of Treasury debt by about 6%, or by about $6 billion over ten months, or by about 10% or almost $100 billion over the past year or so. We know these figures are estimates because the Chinese government has the same trouble the US government has, it cannot discern truth from fiction.
