Implode-Explode Heavy Industries news feed

Tom Deutsch of the ASF on Eminent Domain & Loan Modifications -- A Mandelman Matters Podcast

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 17:44:54 GMT

``If Professor Robert Hockett is the man behind the plan to use eminent domain to take over underwater loans and write them down for homeowners, Tom Deutsch is his arch nemesis. On this 30 minute podcast, you'll get to hear one of the chief opponents to Professor Hockett's Municipal Plan, describe in detail why he believes the plan is entirely wrong in every way, and why he believes that is will ultimately fail.''

"What's the Frequency Zenith?" - Grant Williams

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:53:34 GMT

``I can't speak for anybody else, but having spent those nearly thirty years immersed in equity, bond, and commodity markets all around the world, I have seen enough to absolutely confirm in my own mind that the markets are rigged.''

Gold scarce, India`s silver jewellery exports double

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:37:14 GMT

``India's silver jewellery exports rose 45.33% to $84.1 million in February 2014, and jumped 89% in the 11-month period to $1.35 billion, according to data from the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.''

Banking union dominates final EP session This WEEK

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:32:08 GMT

``The agreement establishes a single regime to wind-down banks alongside a common fund worth €55 billion paid by the banks themselves to cover the costs of resolution. The rules will apply to all banks in the eurozone, as well as to those in countries which sign up to them.''

Europe's top banks cut 80,000 more staff in post-crisis overhaul

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:30:05 GMT

``despite the improved outlook, Europe's 30 largest banks by market value cut staff by 80,000 in 2013, calculations by Reuters based on their year-end statements showed.'' -- this was mostly in "club Med" countries.

Tensions over money flows bode poorly for global economy

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:21:02 GMT

``Even though the G20 agreed the global economy was on better footing, the tensions suggested little progress ahead in rebalancing the global economy away from a state where the rich world borrows massively to buy things from the poor world.''

Lending Drops to 17-Year Low as Rates Curb Borrowing: Mortgages

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 16:20:02 GMT

``At Wells Fargo, home-loan originations exceeded $100 billion for seven straight quarters, ending in June 2013. The figure plunged to $36 billion in the three months through March, the San Francisco-based bank said April 11... Lending has been tumbling since mid-2013 when mortgage rates jumped about a percentage point after the Federal Reserve said it might taper stimulus spending. A surge in all-cash purchases to more than 40 percent has kept housing prices rising, squeezing more Americans out of the market. That will help push lending down further this year, according to the association.''

Blowback: Protesters In Kiev Demand Resignation Of Ukraine President

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 14:43:29 GMT

``for the first time since the coup that overthrew Ukraine's president Yanukovich in late February, hours ago a group of protesters assembled in front of the parliament building and on Independence Square in central Kiev, with demands for the resignation of both the interior minister Avakov as well as the acting president Turchinov.''

Consumer Prices Rise as Americans Pay More for Food, Rents

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 14:27:52 GMT

``Rents may continue to climb as more Americans, who are just starting to recover from the collapse in home prices, forego ownership and instead turn to leasing properties. The Fed's goal of 2 percent inflation has proved elusive as the economic expansion was slow to gain momentum.''

Higher 2013 U.S. taxes surprise some investors, tax preparers say

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 14:26:57 GMT

For some people, one result of not paying attention was under-withholding of taxes from their paychecks, especially among those who racked up big gains from stock options on the back of 2013's strong stock market.
Claudia Hill, an enrolled agent licensed tax preparer in Cupertino, California, said one of her clients, a married couple working for Google Inc, had to write a check for an additional $71,000 to the Internal Revenue Service....

The new Affordable Healthcare Act imposed a 3.8 percent tax on investment income for individuals earning $200,000 and households making $250,000. The ACA law also added new 0.9 percent tax on ordinary income for the same high earners.

CME Group Named in High-Frequency Trading Suit

Tue, 15 Apr 2014 14:25:50 GMT

``Backlash against high-frequency trading has led to a lawsuit against the CME Group (NYSE: CME), operator of the world's largest futures exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Three CME users have filed suit claiming the exchange sold order information to high-frequency traders that allowed the high-speed users to trade ahead of other market participants.''

BLM Selling Out America (for Benefit of Foreign Creditors) - Fabian Calvo

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 14:20:29 GMT

``Through the BLM, the Department of the Interior has been confiscating land... they are categorizing this land for future collateralization or to sell off. In the Weimar (Germany) hyperinflation, after the hyperinflation... [they backed their new currency] with mortgages and land. This is a total possibility here in America, but here's the part that is more sinister and crazy. The Department of the Interior and BLM have been providing sweetheart deals for Chinese investors. I have a laundry list of deals that have been approved just in the last year... ''

Gold and bail-ins - Alasdair MacLeod

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 14:08:52 GMT

``... next time there is a market hiatus in gold bullion banks will probably be forced to renege on their gold obligations to customers, settling in currency-cash if they can. Since bullion banks are mostly divisions of larger commercial banks, a failure in the gold market is likely to spill over into a wider banking crisis, and it becomes a moot point whether the solution is bail-in, bail-out, or systemic collapse.''

Eurasian Corridor Project: China to Invest $5Bln in Russia's Far East

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 14:06:58 GMT

``The China Development Bank has confirmed its plans to invest $5 billion in Russia's Far East, news reports said Friday... "Russia is ready to take on the transit cargo coming from the Asia-Pacific region to Europe, in line with the plans of the Chinese government to reanimate the Great Silk Way," said Far East Development Minister Alexander Galushka... The Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur railroads -- in which Russia is investing $18 billion to modernize -- could make up the land part of the route, reinforced by a seaway to the north. ''

Gold rush threatens West Africa's cocoa future

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 14:04:26 GMT

``While damage to plantations and insecurity are major worries, Michel Gueya, the head of Zahibo's local cooperative, said the main problem for cocoa farmers was a lack of labour. "We're no longer even thinking of doing coffee or cocoa," he said. "This year, there's been no production in our zone."''

BRICS aim to finish development bank preparations by July summit

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 13:57:43 GMT

``The start-up capital of $50 billion would eventually be built up to $100 billion. Russia has proposed that each member contributes an equal, 20 percent share, but the share distribution is still to be decided, a BRICS source said.''

Forex Scandal Hits Singapore Central bank

Sun, 13 Apr 2014 17:42:01 GMT

``A SUSPENDED Deutsche Bank trader may have had inappropriate links to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), it emerged yesterday... The revelation means Singapore's central bank joins the Bank of England in having links with the emerging scandal.''

Europe Folds As Putin Tells It To Pay Ukraine's Gazprom Bill, Or Else

Sun, 13 Apr 2014 17:40:58 GMT

`` what Putin just said is that if Europe wants an uninterrupted supply of gas it better find a way to fund Ukraine to the tune of up to $5 billion, or else the gas may just get shut off. And guess what: Putin is about to win yet again''

Germany risks EU fines with record current account surplus

Sun, 13 Apr 2014 17:38:14 GMT

A joint report by the leading German institutes, or "Wise Men", said the country's external surplus would keep rising to a modern-era high of 7.9pc of GDP this year, far above the 6pc limit set by Brussels under the new Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure.
...
Germany first agreed to the new procedure thinking it would be used to punish deficit countries living beyond their means, or to prevent credit booms, deemed to have been the causes of the EMU crisis. German officials seem taken aback that Brussels would also look at the other side of the North-South trade gap.
...
The ... US criticism is that Germany has locked in a structural advantage through EMU, which prevents Germany's currency rising as the D-Mark used to do. This creates a permanently under-valued exchange rate. It not only hurts Club Med but it also has secondary effects on non-EU countries

SEC eyes test that may lead to shift away from 'dark pools'

Sun, 13 Apr 2014 17:36:11 GMT

``A trade-at rule would force brokerages and dark pools to route trades to public exchanges, unless they can execute the trades at a meaningfully better price than available in a public market.''