Implode-Explode Heavy Industries news feed

Prelude to Economic Disaster: Billionaires Liquidating Real Estate in China; Stocks in US

Sat, 19 Apr 2014 02:22:41 GMT

``As these in-the-know elites unload their positions, average investors depending on their financial advisers to tell them the truth are slamming money into these stocks and paying, in some cases, 500 times earnings. Real estate investors are, likewise, overpaying for homes based on the idea that markets are "hotter" than they've been in years. ''

Food Prices Rise Sharply

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 14:08:09 GMT

``What's happening is that wholesalers have raised the prices they charge grocers, and grocers in turn have passed along the increases to their customers, USA Today reports... The bad news may not be over. California's drought will probably push prices upward this year for fruits and vegetables, including avocados, lettuce and berries, Timothy Richards, a professor at Arizona State University's business school, told the paper.''

Rents Soar Out of Affordability Range for Middle Class

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 14:06:15 GMT

``A rule of thumb is that households shouldn't pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities. But now half of U.S. renters devote more than 30 percent of their income to housing, up from 38 percent in 2000, revealed a report from Harvard University.''

Russia and China announce decoupling trade from Dollar

Fri, 18 Apr 2014 13:50:47 GMT

``Russia has just dropped another bombshell, announcing not only the de-coupling of its trade from the dollar, but also that its hydrocarbon trade will in the future be carried out in rubles and local currencies of its trading partners - no longer in dollars''

Ukraine Talks Reach Initial Deal as Putin Keeps Force as Option

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 19:02:13 GMT

``... the deal came after six hours of negotiations in Geneva between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and and acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia, as well as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and European Union foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton. "All sides must refrain from any violence, intimidation or provocative actions," they said in a joint statement, which also called for international monitors to oversee implementation of the deal.''''

AIB trial: Pat Whelan and Willie McAteer found guilty

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 19:00:46 GMT

``Two former Anglo Irish bank chiefs have been found guilty of making loans designed to illegally prop up the bank's share price.''

Rule - Gold "Collateralization" in China is Bullish, Not Bearish

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 17:57:25 GMT

``The most important reason put out by the bullion banks and the mainstream media had to do with the study released by the World Gold Council that suggested that not all of the gold that's been imported into China has been used for central bank reserves or has gone into retail safekeeping... I would point out that what that means is that a whole class of creditors and debtors in China believes that gold is good security... So far from viewing this as a reason to sell gold, instead I think it's another affirmation of gold's timeless value, particularly through periods of stress.''

Eurozone Inflation Stuck in 'Danger Zone,' Keeps Pressure on ECB

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 17:47:49 GMT

``A shock drop in March eurozone inflation to its lowest level since November 2009 was confirmed on Wednesday, keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to intervene should prices not rebound.''

Only 3 Companies Now Have S&P's AAA Rating

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 16:37:18 GMT

``Automatic Data Processing was the latest U.S. blue chip to lose its pristine AAA rating from S&P, downgraded this week after it spun off its auto-dealers services unit, USA Today noted. That leaves only Johnson & Johnson, Exxon-Mobil and Microsoft as companies rated AAA, which is reserved for companies with the unassailable financial strength and discipline.''

Glaring Q.E. Failure Spotted - Money Velocity

Thu, 17 Apr 2014 16:32:40 GMT

``The Money Velocity picture is not pretty. The declining rate has broken lows set 50 years ago... Consumers and business are holding firm their money rather than investing it, as they see poor prospects. New capital formation is not occurring inside the USEconomy, or pitifully little. Debts are being dissolved, usually in default. It should be noted that the velocity of money has also been falling in the EU and Japan. The entire global economy is in recession, the pathogenesis shared.''

Why Crony Capitalist Brats Make Me ILL - David Stockman

Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:22:16 GMT

During 2012 Levin's 14-person team of speculators apparently made a $2.0 billion profit on a short-term bet on about $7.5 billion of busted loans and bonds-- mainly the smoking remnants of sub-prime CDOs and private labor MBS. As head of the trading group, Leven's share was apparently the aforesaid $119 million, and this swell outcome was truly a gigs-to-riches story.
... in an honest two-way market, no one in their right mind would bet $7.5 billion on financial drek using high leverage and minimal hedges. And no 30-year old would be given leave to close his eyes and bet the ranch, as apparently Levin did, based on merely the "housing recovery" word clouds being emitted by the monetary politburo and its echo-boxes in the financial press.''

Yellen: Fed's Rate Policy Hinges on 3 'Big Questions'

Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:19:17 GMT

``In a speech at the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday, Ms. Yellen said a too-low inflation rate is a bigger worry than the Fed's easy-money policies sparking a surge in consumer prices. She also reiterated her arguments from a late-March speech that she sees quite a bit of slack left in the labor market in measures other than the official jobless rate, which stood at 6.7% in March. The comments underscore Ms. Yellen's concern about the economy and labor market as well as the Fed's plan to keep interest rates low for many more months. ''

What the Heck is Going on With US Treasuries In Belgium?

Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:12:42 GMT

``All we know for now is that someone in panic-mode yanked a pile of Treasuries away from the Fed and transferred it to some other entity... The entity could be Euroclear, which would then as custodian, and thus under its name, transfer some of them back to the Fed. Now that they're no longer in Russia's name [if this was indeed Russia], the US government would presumably have trouble freezing them as part of the sanction spiral unfolding over the Ukraine -- couldn't even credibly threaten to freeze them.''

The Best SEC [Retirement] Speech Ever

Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:09:16 GMT

``I have had bosses, and bosses of my bosses, whose names we all know, who made little secret that they were here to punch their ticket. They mouthed serious regard for the mission of the commission, but their actions were tentative and fearful in many instances.''

William Pfaff: Next Step in Ukraine Crisis Is Unknown

Wed, 16 Apr 2014 17:57:21 GMT

``If the Russians were to try to seize all of Ukraine again, Ukrainians--including many Russian-speakers--would fight again, either against the Russian army, or as the same kind of underground force by which many of the Ukrainian people tried to regain their independence after the Second World War... [thus], the only practical solution to the present situation is negotiated administrative partition of the Ukrainian nation, and "Finlandization" (neutralization) of the country in its international relations, all of this underwritten by Russia, the E.U. and NATO.''

"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.''

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.''