Financial Crisis

[midas]

"We hold a decent amount of treasury bonds – more than $200 billion – and if the United States dares to freeze accounts of Russian businesses and citizens, we can no longer view America as a reliable partner,” he said. “We will encourage everybody to dump US Treasury bonds, get rid of dollars as an unreliable currency and leave the US market.”

Talk is cheap.

Selling solid assets......and the $ has stood it's ground......can be expensive.

As a stockbroker friend of mine said when asked the first thing he does if he wants to sell: "Buy".

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

more "cheap talk "

Russia Touches U.S. Achilles Heel: Petrogold instead of Petrodollar

Russia, just like China, has been piling up their gold reserves for several years now. They really did so for a reason. As the following chart shows, Russia has been positioning itself for the nasty effects of the currency war which has been in the making for several years now. That’s in sharp contrast with countries like the US who have shown a preference for unlimited easy money. ( or solid assets according to some .... )

http://goldsilverworlds.com/money-currency/russia-touches-u-s-achilles-heel-petrogold-instead-of-petrodollar/

Edited March 14, 2014 by midas

[midas]

"We hold a decent amount of treasury bonds – more than $200 billion – and if the United States dares to freeze accounts of Russian businesses and citizens, we can no longer view America as a reliable partner,” he said. “We will encourage everybody to dump US Treasury bonds, get rid of dollars as an unreliable currency and leave the US market.”

Talk is cheap.

Selling solid assets......and the $ has stood it's ground......can be expensive.

As a stockbroker friend of mine said when asked the first thing he does if he wants to sell: "Buy".

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

wrong again

in the just reported latest data, for the week ended March 12, Treasurys held in custody by the Fed dropped to $2.855 trillion: a drop of $104.5 billion. This was the biggest drop of Treasurys held by the Fed on record, i.e., foreigners were really busy selling.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-14/it-begins-past-week-foreigners-sell-record-amount-over-100-billion-treasurys-held-fe

Edited March 14, 2014 by midas

[mccw]

Not exactly earth shattering; but, potential group and therefore bank failure in the offing -

"""

The Co-operative Group has been warned it will collapse unless drastic steps are taken to overhaul a "massive failure" of governance.

Former City minister Lord Myners made the warning in a damning interim review of the group's operations.

Lord Myners rounded on the Co-op's board because of oversight failings and inadequate experience for such a large organisation.

He was "deeply troubled by the disdain and lack of respect for the executive team" held by some board members.

Lord Myners added that some members, elevated from within the Co-op, had "simply not been up to their task".

He said: "The Co-operative Group suffers from acute systemic weaknesses in its governance framework that over many years have gravely damaged the organisation."

"Unless the group takes urgent steps to reform its governance so that it generates sustainable economic value, it will run out of capital to support its business."

"""

I'm sure it's assets, loan book etc would get sliced up and sold off anyway and avoid a disorderly break up; maybe, but those with funds in the bank or looking at long term deposits / fixed rates or bonds might want to take precautions.

[impulse]

More good news...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-fdic-libor-idUSBREA2D1KR20140314

It would be better if they tossed a few into jail after clawing back their bonuses, and making them reimburse the people who lost their homes (perhaps by a few years of indentured servitude).......but that's wishful thinking....

[midas]

More good news...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-fdic-libor-idUSBREA2D1KR20140314

It would be better if they tossed a few into jail after clawing back their bonuses, and making them reimburse the people who lost their homes (perhaps by a few years of indentured servitude).......but that's wishful thinking....

bwanksters couldn't lie straight in bed if they tried

[SheungWan]

Not exactly earth shattering; but, potential group and therefore bank failure in the offing -

"""

The Co-operative Group has been warned it will collapse unless drastic steps are taken to overhaul a "massive failure" of governance.

Former City minister Lord Myners made the warning in a damning interim review of the group's operations.

Lord Myners rounded on the Co-op's board because of oversight failings and inadequate experience for such a large organisation.

He was "deeply troubled by the disdain and lack of respect for the executive team" held by some board members.

Lord Myners added that some members, elevated from within the Co-op, had "simply not been up to their task".

He said: "The Co-operative Group suffers from acute systemic weaknesses in its governance framework that over many years have gravely damaged the organisation."

"Unless the group takes urgent steps to reform its governance so that it generates sustainable economic value, it will run out of capital to support its business."

"""

I'm sure it's assets, loan book etc would get sliced up and sold off anyway and avoid a disorderly break up; maybe, but those with funds in the bank or looking at long term deposits / fixed rates or bonds might want to take precautions.

I don't think there is any worry about deposits held in the Co-Op Bank, but as a Smile Co-Op Bank customer I have noticed that the website has been hardly updated for several years and don't expect it to be any time soon now. Originally Smile and the other new internet banks offered favourable interest rates, but that's all passed. It may be time to finally bow out and close what little involvement I have left.

[midas]

British Think Tank Predicts Financial Catastrophe for United States

the report claims that the problem facing both the U.K. and the United States is the same: making promises without making provisions to fulfill them.

Gokhale put the problem into perspective. According to Gokhale, they have underestimated the real unfunded liabilities of the government, by a factor of seven. Taking into account future promises, the government’s debt is closer to $120 trillion.

Western governments have developed unfunded social insurance programmes where retiree benefits are paid for from the taxes of the working-age population.

That means that an ageing population leads to rising expenditures that cannot be covered without increasing taxes on the young.

Politicians have known about population ageing for around 50 years but [have] ignored the problems it will create.

The solutions are going to be painful. He estimates that if the federal government were all of a sudden to come to its senses and begin to do real-world accounting for the promises politicians have made over the past decades, income taxes would have to double. Conversely, in order to balance the books, those promises would need to be cut in half.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/commentary/item/17850-british-think-tank-predicts-financial-catastrophe-for-us

Edited March 18, 2014 by midas

[mmh8]

that is the job I would like really. Telling people things that are obvious and charging a lot of money for it. Of course it does take a genius idea to look as if its simple and was there all the time. oh well back to the bain office, I mean booz,no that was last year, i mean mckinsey

[SheungWan]

that is the job I would like really. Telling people things that are obvious and charging a lot of money for it. Of course it does take a genius idea to look as if its simple and was there all the time. oh well back to the bain office, I mean booz,no that was last year, i mean mckinsey

I guess you could join the 'what I want, what I really, really want' crowd. Any bar near you.

[midas]

Pay Our Pensions Or We’ll Throw You in Jail: the Legalization of Looting

http://www.thenation.com/article/178845/town-turned-poverty-prison-sentence

[midas]

^ The problem with people's feeling "nothing to live for" has nothing to do with the economy, house prices or anything else other than the individuals state of mind. Media emphasis on materialism and celebrity is a root cause of such pathetically poor states of mind across the western world. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Which is now apparently spreading from the Western world to South Asia

India: High Tech Mirage

We investigate the worrying rise in suicides among young IT professionals in Bangalore, India's tech capital.

Almost 2,000 people killed themselves in the city in 2012 and, although not all the figures have been collated, 2013 looks set to have been just as bad, with 572 people taking their own lives in just the four months between May and August. Of course, not all of these are related to work stress in the city’s technology sector - people will kill themselves for a variety of reasons, whatever jobs they might do - but the city’s mental health professionals see a clear trend emerging, with rising waves of depression caused by the difficulties of working long hours, at odd times of day or night, in very competitive industries.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2014/03/india-high-tech-mirage-201431985356939298.html

[SheungWan]

^ The problem with people's feeling "nothing to live for" has nothing to do with the economy, house prices or anything else other than the individuals state of mind. Media emphasis on materialism and celebrity is a root cause of such pathetically poor states of mind across the western world. Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Which is now apparently spreading from the Western world to South Asia

India: High Tech Mirage

We investigate the worrying rise in suicides among young IT professionals in Bangalore, India's tech capital.

Almost 2,000 people killed themselves in the city in 2012 and, although not all the figures have been collated, 2013 looks set to have been just as bad, with 572 people taking their own lives in just the four months between May and August. Of course, not all of these are related to work stress in the city’s technology sector - people will kill themselves for a variety of reasons, whatever jobs they might do - but the city’s mental health professionals see a clear trend emerging, with rising waves of depression caused by the difficulties of working long hours, at odd times of day or night, in very competitive industries.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2014/03/india-high-tech-mirage-201431985356939298.html

Nothing about the state of mind of gold bugs earning zero income then?

Edited March 20, 2014 by SheungWan

[midas]

i wonder if banning means confiscating ?

Ukraine Parliament To Consider 25% Deposit Tax

Ukraine's parliament is to consider draft laws which would ban foreign-currency bank deposits

http://www.tax-news.com/news/Ukraine_Parliament_To_Consider_25_Deposit_Tax____60033.html

Edited March 21, 2014 by midas

[mmh8]

Ukraine should just open the door and let in Russia, at least prevent damage to the door.

[SheungWan]

Ukraine should just open the door and let in Russia, at least prevent damage to the door.

The door's got no hinges.

[mmh8]

thats not entirely true, while a minority ( though possibly scared others) are all for the old type Russia, your average Ukrainian baulks at the idea of being under the russkies again, the ones I've met all were children of those that went throught he great war into the USSR and take offense at the slightest mention of comrade

[mccw]

Another little update from sky on co-op:

The struggling Co-operative Bank has discovered a new £400m capital shortfall - in addition to its previous £1.5bn funding gap.

It now expects to report a full-year pre-tax loss next month of some £1.25bn.

The bank added that job cuts hit the 1,000 level last year, or 14% of the workforce.

[Naam]

thats not entirely true, while a minority ( though possibly scared others) are all for the old type Russia, your average Ukrainian baulks at the idea of being under the russkies again, the ones I've met all were children of those that went throught he great war into the USSR and take offense at the slightest mention of comrade

2.9 million Ukrainian migrants work in Russia earning a multiple what they would earn working in the Ukraine.

[midas]

thats not entirely true, while a minority ( though possibly scared others) are all for the old type Russia, your average Ukrainian baulks at the idea of being under the russkies again, the ones I've met all were children of those that went throught he great war into the USSR and take offense at the slightest mention of comrade

You can " baulk " when you can afford to do so, but right now beggars can't be choosers

http://article.wn.com/view/2014/02/26/China_sues_Ukraine_for_breach_of_US3b_loanforgrain_agreement/

[mmh8]

I guess the Ukrainians I've met were not a large enough group to make such sweeping statments about their views, though I would guess they are similar to most - leave me and my family alone-

[mccw]

Sky news app

""

The City regulator will next week launch a probe into the resilience of high street banks' IT systems following a series of glitches which have threatened to further undermine the industry's image.

Sky News can reveal that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will set out on Monday its intention to conduct a review of the systems of major lenders, just weeks after the partly state-owned Lloyds Banking Group saw an IT glitch shut down half of its cash machines for several hours.

The FCA will disclose its intention to carry out the work in its annual business plan, which details the key areas of focus for the regulator during the following 12 months.

The robustness of banks' IT systems has become an urgent priority for watchdogs amid concerns that repeated glitches are damaging already fragile consumer trust in the banking sector.

In December, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) suffered a systems outage on the busiest online shopping day of the year, the third time in about 18 months that such a problem had prevented customers from using cards, cash machines and onlinebanking services""

So these are IT glitches or cash / capital shortages? Like the Halifax and Natwest and RBS glitches around X mass and boxing days previously. Trouble on the busiest times of year suggests shortages of funds to me.

[midas]

How astonishing to see this in the daily mail?! 5 years late, but never mind at least it helps educate people

drip drip drip

Goldman Sachs played a key part in inventing these poisonous derivatives, which were a major factor in triggering the financial crisis.

But even more morally offensive was that once people finally began to realise how dangerous these derivatives were, Goldman Sachs started making money by speculating in the market that they would collapse in value.

So not only did the bank help create the crisis, it also profited from it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2591299/How-vampire-squid-controlling-lives-They-helped-cause-crash-Then-profited-Now-Bank-England-Fed-ex-Goldman-Sachs-chiefs-pulling-levers-power.html

Edited March 29, 2014 by midas

[mccw]

From sky app:

""

The taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is close to luring one of the architects of its £45.5bn taxpayer bail-out to become its new finance chief.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Ewen Stevenson, who works for Credit Suisse, is in advanced negotiations about joining RBS at a critical time for the bank.

"""

Nothing wrong with that of course!?

[SheungWan]

From sky app:

""

The taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is close to luring one of the architects of its £45.5bn taxpayer bail-out to become its new finance chief.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Ewen Stevenson, who works for Credit Suisse, is in advanced negotiations about joining RBS at a critical time for the bank.

"""

Nothing wrong with that of course!?

That would be for the Prudential Regulation Authority to approve.

[mccw]

From sky app:

""

The taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is close to luring one of the architects of its £45.5bn taxpayer bail-out to become its new finance chief.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Ewen Stevenson, who works for Credit Suisse, is in advanced negotiations about joining RBS at a critical time for the bank.

"""

Nothing wrong with that of course!?

That would be for the Prudential Regulation Authority to approve.

That regulator who's boss , hector Sants, just left to work for Barclays? (And having come from Santander immediately before). Don't think these people give a monkeys about whether there are or aren't views of conflicts of interest- they all just carry on as they please.

The new guy Bailey, looks a little better (bank of England employee since 1985 so arguably better placed for greater independence) but I don't hold out any great hopes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9879824/Andrew-Bailey-appointed-boss-of-the-new-bank-regulator.html

[SheungWan]

From sky app:

""

The taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is close to luring one of the architects of its £45.5bn taxpayer bail-out to become its new finance chief.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Ewen Stevenson, who works for Credit Suisse, is in advanced negotiations about joining RBS at a critical time for the bank.

"""

Nothing wrong with that of course!?

That would be for the Prudential Regulation Authority to approve.

That regulator who's boss , hector Sants, just left to work for Barclays? (And having come from Santander immediately before). Don't think these people give a monkeys about whether there are or aren't views of conflicts of interest- they all just carry on as they please.

The new guy Bailey, looks a little better (bank of England employee since 1985 so arguably better placed for greater independence) but I don't hold out any great hopes.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9879824/Andrew-Bailey-appointed-boss-of-the-new-bank-regulator.html

He may or may not succeed but a candidate who will be familiar with RBS issues. The problem for RBS is to both make it profitable while at the same time running down the extent of its operations. Not an easy objective at all if one also has an objective of re-privatising the bank.

[midas]

Bloody hell , how is it even possible for a student of politics not be able to provide a single example when asked to name just one US Senator?

Is College A Waste Of Time And Money?

one study found that "70 percent of the class of 2013 is graduating with college-related debt – averaging $35,200 – including federal, state and private loans, as well as debt owed to family and accumulated through credit cards."

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/is-college-a-waste-of-time-and-money

Edited March 30, 2014 by midas

[SheungWan]

Bloody hell , how is it even possible for a student of politics not be able to provide a single example when asked to name just one US Senator?

Is College A Waste Of Time And Money?

one study found that "70 percent of the class of 2013 is graduating with college-related debt – averaging $35,200 – including federal, state and private loans, as well as debt owed to family and accumulated through credit cards."

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/is-college-a-waste-of-time-and-money

They all knew the hit song of the movie Frozen, so excellent result I would say.

[midas]

I was always under the belief that tax avoidance is legitimate because it can be argued on legal principles? I thought its tax evasion that is illegal. So what gives these people power to just dip into your bank account to help themselves when the matter might still be the subject of litigation?

HM Revenue & Customs has been handed the power to raid bank accounts as part of a Government programme to tackle tax avoidance.

George Osborne also authorised HMRC to collect billions of pounds in tax from members of tax-avoidance schemes before their cases are heard in court.

Crucially, there’s no safeguard built into this system. There should be a transparent and fair process and an appeals process.

Now, if HMRC officials decide you owe them cash, they can just take it directly from your bank account. If you haven’t managed to reach agreement with them, then you’ll just wake up one morning, check your bank account, and find your cash is gone. No insolvency proceedings, asset freezes, debt collection agencies or court proceedings. Just the government taking out whatever it believes it is owed.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/article4038688.ece

Edited April 2, 2014 by midas

[mccw]

^

first the gov legalised the principle + circumstances of a deposit tax / bail in, and now they have in place the practical legal method to just take it strait out every bodies accounts when/ if they please.