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Economics and Investing:
This headline appeared yesterday: Stress
Test Data to be Released May 4th. Since the pre-release rumors have been
bad, Monday, May 4th could be a key event. Be
ready for turmoil in the weeks following this announcement. Have plenty of
cash
on hand, since it will be difficult to predict what the sheeple will
do
on or after May 4th--when presumably the
majority
of
US banks
will be
declared
insolvent.
From DD: March
existing home sales fall by three percent. "The results were 'a
little disappointing' given that homes are more affordable than they’ve
been in years and mortgage rates are near record lows, said Lawrence Yun, the
group’s chief economist." DD's comment: "Words cannot express how
absurd Yun's statement is to me. After all, America is only facing the worst
recession since the 1930s. Unemployment is out of sight and getting worse.The
Federal government
is overspending beyond
comprehension. Not to mention that, American home buyers are too concerned about
keeping what
they are able to scrape together after new taxes amid their efforts to obtain
food, shelter, water, transportation, et cetera. Then you throw in the fact
that middle class jobs are being replaced by either unemployment or minimum wage
work
with little to no benefits. Finally, to top it all off some institutions require
20%+ for a down payment. Simple economics: If someone doesn't have the means,
the
opportunity is irrelevant."
Items from The Economatrix:
GM
to Close Most US Factories Up to Nine Weeks
Majority Irish Expect Summer Civil Unrest
Volvo to Cut More than 1,500 Jobs
Bank Lending Keeps Dropping
US Advertising Famine Ravages NY Times and Yahoo Profits
Credit
Card Giants Defy Plea to "Be Fair"
Bank Bailouts "May" Hurt Taxpayers, be Open to Fraud "
...the rescue program's special inspector general concludes that a private-public
partnership designed to rid financial institutions of their 'toxic assets'
is tilted in favor of private investors and creates 'potential unfairness
to the taxpayer.'"
Fed Tests Harder on Regional Banks
Top
Bailed-Out Firms Continue Lobbying "The top 10 recipients of the government's
$700 billion financial bailout spent about $9.5 million on federal lobbying
during the first three months
of the
year."
Geithner
Says Most Banks Have Sufficient Capital to Keep Lending.... "
...but a pile of bad debts is fostering doubts about their health and slowing
a recovery"
Tipping Point For US Treasuries?
Fed Shrouding $2 Trillion in Bank Loans "In Secrecy," Suit Says
The Mighty Debt Purge of 2009
The
Quiet Coup "The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the
United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the
International
Monetary
Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a
state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at
the center of many emerging-market crises. If the IMF’s staff could speak
freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this
situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that
is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re
running out of time."
A Meditation on Our Monetary System: A State of Permanent Siege
12 Major Brands that Will Disappear
Jobless Claims Show Double-Digit Unemployment Still Coming
If Banks Can Challenge Stress Tests, are they Tests at All?
The Land Mine on Bank Balance Sheets
