Implode-Explode Heavy Industries news feed

Exposing Silver Mythology, Part II

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:40:05 GMT

Judging by its own words, the CFTC apparently sees no need to actively "regulate" the silver market until silver inventories hit zero -- and the entire market implodes. At best this can be described as "willful blindness", and calls into question the presumption that this official regulator of the silver market has been acting in good faith.

Employment, Taxes, and War | RFWS Podcast ($$)

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:04:42 GMT

Russ Winter of Winter (Economic and Market) Watch and the Wall Street Examiner's Lee Adler discuss employment and economic maladjustments caused by the tax code stimulus programs, leading to booms followed by busts. Does it matter in the face of a coming liquidity bomb? And Russ thinks that all signs point to war with Iran. In the intermediate term, stocks will go higher.

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MF Global trustee says most missing money found

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:45:32 GMT

``A trustee seeking to distribute customer securities overseen by bankrupt MF Global Inc. said Monday that they have traced a majority of the cash that disappeared from the commodities broker. "The trustee's investigators have now traced a majority of the cash transactions, totaling more than $105 billion, made in and out of MF Global Inc. in the last week before bankruptcy and are completing the process of tracing the remaining transactions," the trustee said'' -- This is probably meaningless for most customers of MF, since it is likely that the "problem" is that MF Global money was seized by its counterparties, not that it truly "vanished".

What If We're Beyond Mere Policy Tweaks?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:26:51 GMT

``The mainstream view uniting the entire political spectrum is that all our financial problems can be fixed by what amounts to top-down, centralized policy tweaks and regulation: for example, tweaking policies to "tax the rich," limit the size of "too big to fail" financial institutions, regulate credit default swaps, lower the cost of healthcare (a.k.a. sickcare), limit the abuses of student loans to pay for online diploma mills, and on and on and on. But what if the rot is already beyond the reach of more top-down policy tweaks?''

Lawmakers push Fannie, Freddie to write-down mortgage principal

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:56:20 GMT

"Rep. Barney Frank and two other House Financial Services Committee Democrats on Monday pressed Edward DeMarco, the regulator of seized housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to write-down the principal on mortgages of underwater homes."

White House to push housing plan despite Republican opposition

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:55:18 GMT

"The White House has recently promised major steps to boost the housing market and help struggling homeowners, but bruising fights with Congress loom over major pieces of the plan."

Making Over the Mall With Parks and Sermons

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:13:46 GMT

``as though they were upholstering polyester chairs from the 1960s with Martha Stewart fabric, urban planners and community activists are trying to spruce up and rethink the uses of many of the artifacts. Schools, medical clinics, call centers, government offices and even churches are now standard tenants in malls. By hanging a curtain to hide the food court, the Galleria in Cleveland, which opened in 1987 with about 70 retailers and restaurants, rents space for weddings and other events. Other malls have added aquariums, casinos and car showrooms.''

The January Jobs Are Statistical Artifacts

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:31:56 GMT

"Last Friday the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in the first month of this new year 243,000 jobs were created and the unemployment rate (U.3) fell to 8.3 percent. This good news is a mirage. It is due to faulty seasonal adjustments and to the BLS birth/death model. In a prolonged downturn, seasonal adjustments and the birth/death model produce nonexistent employment."

Ron Paul Warns Of Federal Reserve Power Grab

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:30:57 GMT

"Not only was Obama's appointment of Richard Cordray to the misnamed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) unconstitutional, but the newly minted federal leviathan itself is in direct violation of Constitution, specifically the Tenth Amendment."

Deal Is Closer for a U.S. Plan on Mortgage Relief

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:25:55 GMT

"The biggest remaining holdout, California, has returned to the negotiating table after a four-month absence, a change of heart that could increase the pot for mortgage relief nationwide to $25 billion from $19 billion."

Bank of America, Wells and Chase's legal woes mount as New York sues

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:34:03 GMT

"New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued banking's Big Three -- J.P. Morgan Chase , Bank of America and Wells Fargo -- on Friday over their use of an electronic mortgage database that played a key role in financing the nation's historic housing bubble."

Insight: Two firms flourish in frenzied MF Global aftermath

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:30:39 GMT

"The mad rush to move client money out of MF Global Inc. after its collapse left two firms with the bulk of customer accounts, while other brokerages emerged with only minor gains from the chaos of carving up a multibillion-dollar business."

Europe's pensions flee hedge funds

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:12:35 GMT

.. in Europe the strength of traditional houses such as Standard Life Investments, Baring Asset Management and Ruffer in multi-asset investing meant sentiment towards hedge funds was "particularly grim" last year, according to MandateWire.

The SFr1.1bn ($1.2bn) Pensionkasse der Stadt Luzern axed its 3 per cent allocation to hedge funds last year with Konrad Wüest, pension fund manager, citing opaque fees and poor returns.

Likewise the €1.05bn Dutch Koninklijke Volker Wessels slashed its target hedge fund allocation from 17 to 5 per cent; the €6.3bn Suomi Mutual Life Assurance Company halved its target; and the SFr68m Pensionskasse der Katholischen Kirchgemeinde Luzern said it might scrap its hedge fund allocation entirely because it "does not contribute to diversification, it only adds risk".

Overall, net pension fund inflows to European hedge funds fell to £669m last year...

Foreclosure Deal Deadline Arrives as States Must Choose Whether to Sign On

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:08:11 GMT

``While some states have already announced their intention to sign the deal, others including California Attorney General Kamala Harris have yet to publicly commit in part due to terms that protect the banks from future litigation. Without Harris, the deal's value will drop by several billion dollars, according to a person familiar with the matter.''

Low rates support house prices (UK)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:06:33 GMT

"Despite the modest monthly increase, the price of the average property in the UK was down by 1.8% year-on-year to £160,907. The quarterly measure, which is preferred by some economists as a more accurate indicator of market direction, showed a 0.9% fall in prices."

American Foreclosure Hits Bottom With Tower Auction in Atlanta

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:04:00 GMT

``Atlanta's 55-story Bank of America Plaza, the tallest tower in the Southeast, is set to be sold at an open outcry auction on the steps of the Fulton County Courthouse tomorrow after landlord BentleyForbes missed mortgage payments. It bought the skyscraper in 2006 for $436 million from Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Cousins Properties Inc. (CUZ) in the city's biggest property deal.''

Cashless Society: Bank of America Refuses Cash for Mortgage Payment

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:11:52 GMT

"The customer attempting to pay his mortgage, firefighter Robert Somerton, recorded the ordeal in Lakeport branch which made the bank manager so upset that he called the police. The police detained Somerton for a half hour before releasing him with a warning that he may never return to that BoA branch or he'll be arrested."

MM EXCLUSIVE: AZ Bill Writes Down Underwater Loans for Homeowners -- A Mandelman Matters Podcast

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:59:52 GMT

``Senator Reagan's bill represents BREAKTHROUGH THINKING as far as solutions to the housing crisis are concerned. To be blunt, there's been nothing like it proposed anywhere as yet, nothing close... but that's not going to be the case for long... already other state legislatures are taking a close look.''

Recession hurt nation overall, but energy and farm states [and DC] prospered

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:09:53 GMT

``Overall, income rose in 12 of the 50 states and in Washington, D.C. The nation's capital, in fact, posted the biggest increase in household income, an 8.1% jump to $60,000 in the recession and its aftermath, as federal government payrolls grew. Wyoming, a leading state for oil, gas and coal exploration, had the largest increase among states. Median income rose 3.6% to $54,700. Energy centers North Dakota, Alaska, Louisiana, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas also ranked in the top 10 income gainers, as did agriculture centers Iowa and Hawaii.''

IT'S OFFICIAL: The Hussman And ECRI Recession Warnings Are Invalidated

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:12:22 GMT

`` as of now, two of the four necessary metrics metrics making up his composite based on which he predicted an "imminent recession" 6 months ago have been violated. Thus the original basis for his recession warning is also no longer valid... As for the immediate future, the simple question is: can you really have a recession when housing (permits close to 3 year highs) and cars (sales at 3 1/2 year highs) won't play along?'' -- Indeed. But as we posted yesterday, per Paul Craig Roberts, we still appear to be soundly in a depressionary trough, judging by pre-rigged stats.