Jay's Daily News

Pay your bills, μαλάκας

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8611188.stm

I suppose they're not immune to gravity either.

China reports rare trade deficit

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8612809.stm

SHOULD go nowhere but up. Because it should doesn't mean it will.

Interest Rates Have Nowhere to Go but Up

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/bu...y/11rates.html

Yeah, no s#!t!

Oil could give kiss of death to recovery

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/28f1e2a6-4...44feab49a.html

(Free membership required to view the article, suck it up princess!)

Gas Prices Are Up, But Is That A Good Thing?
Some Predict $4 A Gallon; Analysts Warn Big Spike Could Slow Recovery

http://cbs2chicago.com/consumer/gas....2.1620770.html

My cynicism meter is off the chart when I read that headline.

Why So Glum? Numbers Point to a Recovery

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/bu.../09norris.html

Greek Bonds Drop a 7th Day; Bund Spread Widens on Budget Woes

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?s...Q&pid=20601087

Don't pay your bills, set your house on fire, kill your spouse and collect the insurance money. I suppose that's all alright if you say you're sorry.

Some news for you Chuck, in that game of musical chair, you don't have a seat!

Citigroup ex-boss 'deeply sorry' for role in crisis.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100408...20100408191644

Japan sleepwalks toward ‘meltdown’

By The Economist
Sun. Apr 11 - 4:53 AM



For years foreign observers gave warning that Japan’s combination of economic stagnation and rising public debt was unsustainable.

Over the past two decades the country has stumbled in and out of deflation, slipped down the global league tables on many social indicators and amassed the largest gross public debt-to-GDP ratio in the world (a whopping 190 per cent). Yet government-bond yields have remained stubbornly low and living standards, by and large, are high.

Visit the country and you will see no outward sign of crisis. Politicians and policymakers have bickered and schemed, but have mostly chosen to leave things as they are.

That cannot go on much longer. The figures are getting worse. Japan urgently needs radical policies to tackle the problems, and new leaders to implement them.

There are three big reasons why the crisis in Japan’s public finances will eventually come to a head. The first concerns government bonds. The state has for years relied on domestic savers to buy them. But as Japan’s people age and run down their savings, they will have less money to invest in government bonds.

An IMF paper calculates that even if the savings rate remains close to where it is now, gross debt may exceed gross household assets by 2015. Japan might then have to rely on foreigners to finance its debt, and they will want much higher returns. That will, at the very least, provide an acute reality check. Goldman Sachs says some foreign investors are already positioning themselves for a "meltdown."

The second, more immediate problem is deflation. Falling prices may have helped the government by providing its bondholders with invisible gains, but in other ways deflation is a menace. It pushes the debt-to-GDP ratio inexorably higher.

As expectations of deflation become entrenched — 35 per cent of Japanese expect prices to be the same or lower in five years’ time — they will continue to depress consumption.

Third, despite the recent pick-up in global economic activity, Japan cannot count on foreign demand being strong enough for it to sustain export-led growth, as it did in the past decade.

Without a stronger domestic economy, growth will not generate enough tax revenue to reduce the debt. One ominous sign is that in the 2010 budget implemented on April 1, borrowing, at 44 trillion yen ($468 billion), is for the first time forecast to exceed tax revenues, at 37 trillion yen.

Japan’s efforts to tackle these problems have resembled a big whimper. What is needed is a big bang. That means structural reforms to raise productivity, fiscal reforms to boost growth and a strong monetary stimulus, all at once, to shock the economy back to life. These could range from an overhaul of the tax code to deregulation of farming and the opening up of protected areas of the economy, such as transport and energy, to foreign competition.

A sensible short-term aim for the government would be robust nominal GDP growth. That would help stop the debt-to-GDP ratio rising, and would also ensure that the authorities did not prematurely choke off a recovery because of concerns about inflation.

But all this assumes that policymakers want to be bold. The current crop is anything but. Last September, when almost 55 years of one-party rule came to an end, there were faint hopes that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPj) might take a fresh approach. It has not done so.

Yukio Hatoyama, the prime minister, and his most influential backer, Ichiro Ozawa, have since been caught up in election-funding scandals that have shredded the government’s credibility. They are clinging to their jobs, more concerned with their own futures than that of the DPj, or indeed Japan.

Enlightened economic policymaking suffers most. Hatoyama prevaricates over fiscal reform, arguing that Japan should wait until the next general election in 2013 before shaking up the tax system. He is wrong. Japan urgently needs cuts in business taxes, perhaps, as well as a gradually higher spending tax.

The ousted Liberal Democrats are just as out of touch. When a group of supposed reformers left the splintering party this week to set up a new outfit, it could have grabbed the fiscally conservative, business friendly centre. Instead it moved to the right, as if anti-immigrant nationalism were the tonic Japan needs.

It is time for more fiscally astute members of Hatoyama’s government to set the agenda. The main opposition, too, needs regime change. Japan’s old guard worries that radical steps will precipitate an economic crisis, and so prefers the status quo. It does not realize how inherently dangerous the status quo is.

‘Politicians and policymakers have bickered and schemed, but have mostly chosen to leave things as they are. That cannot go on much longer. The figures are getting worse. Japan urgently needs radical policies to tackle the problems, and new leaders to implement them.’

Risk of Japan going bankrupt is real, say analysts
By Kyoko Hasegawa (AFP) – 1 day ago




TOKYO — Greece's debt problems may currently be in the spotlight but Japan is walking its own financial tightrope, analysts say, with a public debt mountain bigger than that of any other industrialised nation.

Public debt is expected to hit 200 percent of GDP in the next year as the government tries to spend its way out of the economic doldrums despite plummeting tax revenues and soaring welfare costs for its ageing population.

Based on fiscal 2010's nominal GDP of 475 trillion yen, Japan's debt is estimated to reach around 950 trillion yen -- or roughly 7.5 million yen per person.

Japan "can't finance" its record trillion-dollar budget passed in March for the coming year as it tries to stimulate its fragile economy, said Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

"Japan's revenue is roughly 37 trillion yen and debt is 44 trillion yen in fiscal 2010, " he said. "Its debt to budget ratio is more than 50 percent."

Without issuing more government bonds, Japan "would go bankrupt by 2011", he added.

Despite crawling out of a severe year-long recession in 2009, Japan's recovery remains fragile with deflation, high public debt and weak domestic demand all concerns for policymakers.

Japan was stuck in a deflationary spiral for years after its asset price bubble burst in the early 1990s, hitting corporate earnings and prompting consumers to put off purchases in the hope of further price drops.

Its huge public debt is a legacy of massive stimulus spending during the economic "lost decade" of the 1990s, as well as a series of pump-priming packages to tackle the recession which began in 2008.

Standard & Poor's in January warned that it might cut its rating on Japanese government bonds, which could raise Japan's borrowing costs amid the faltering efforts of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government to curb debt.

The system of Japanese government bonds being bought by institutions such as the huge Japan Post Bank has been key in enabling Japan to remain buoyant since its stock market crash of 1990.

"Japan's risk of default is low because it has a huge current account surplus, with the backing of private sector savings," to continue purchasing bonds, said Katsutoshi Inadome, bond strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

But while Japan's risk of a Greek-style debt crisis is seen as much less likely, the event of risk becoming reality would be devastating, say analysts who question how long the government can continue its dependence on issuing public debt.

"There is no problem as long as there are flows of money in the bond market," said Kumano.

"It's hard to predict when the bond market might collapse, but it would happen when the market judges that Japan's ability to finance its debt is not sustainable anymore."

"And when that happens, the yen will plummet and a capital flight from Japan's government bonds to foreign bonds will occur," he said.

Yet others argue that there is no precedent for the ratio of debt to GDP nearing 200 percent being dangerous.

Nomura Securities economist Takehide Kiuchi cited Britain's government debt in the post-war period "which reached 260 percent but (the government) didn't face a debt crisis.

"There is no answer to the question of what the critical level of debt is for a government to go bust."

The likes of single-currency Greece and non-eurozone countries are also different in that the latter group have flexible currency exchange rates which are more closely calibrated to their fiscal conditions, he said.

Instead, the most realistic hazard brought by huge Japanese debt is prolonged deflation under a shrinking economy, say analysts.

"Regaining fiscal health needs fiscal austerity, which could weigh on economic growth," said Kiuchi.

"And when the economy is bad, people don't spend money as they are worried about their future, which in turn intensifies the deflational trend," he said.

Continued deflation could further worsen Japan's fiscal health because of less tax revenue and more stimulus spending, stirring fears over big tax hikes, which in turn weigh on demand and again reinforce deflation, analysts said.

The key to breaking the vicious cycle is drafting a feasible economic growth strategy for Japan, they said.

"If the economy grows, tax revenue increases," Kumano of Dai-ichi Life said.
Since 2001 Japan's annual growth rate has peaked at 2.7 percent in 2004.
The economy shrank 1.2 percent in 2008 and 5.2 percent last year.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's centre-left government has pledged to announce details of its new strategy in June, which aims to lift annual growth to two percent by focusing on the environment, health, tourism and improved ties with the rest of Asia.

NY Post: Trader Blows Whistle On Gold and Silver Price Manipulation

"Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves. What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on." Robert Kennedy

11 April 2010

The CFTC hearing in Washington was about safeguards against, and limits on, naked short selling at the COMEX. The LBMA in London is a 'cash market' and while short selling is accepted, large leverage and blatant naked short selling is not. The crux of the scandal is that the Banks and hedge funds have been selling what they do not have in order to manipulate the price and cheat investors, in this market as they have been shown repeatedly to have done in other markets.

The story gets sticky in the States because, as disclosed in the motions in a New Orleans trial, the players filed a motion claiming immunity because they were acting in partnership with the Treasury and the Federal Reserve, and other central banks who were not within the Court's jurisdiction.

Watch this story unfold, and then make up your own minds. But be prepared for smears, diversions, misconceptions, and false denials. The accused parties will consistently try to ignore this, and change the subject. The attempts to pressure the media to ignore tihs altogether are a 'tell' if there ever was one.

I am shocked at the extent to which the Banks influence and control the American media. This was testimony at a public hearing, and it has been largely squashed. Judging by history, this is going to get ugly.

Thanks to the NY Post for breaking ranks with the mainstream media. Despite some significant behind the scenes pressure, the Post is actually publishing some words that the Banks do not wish the American people to hear. And many Americans to not wish to hear it, because it shakes their faith in the system, and threatens them with the unknown. And too many, including economists and even bloggers, are only too willing to 'go along to get along' and be invited to the posh gatherings of the famous, and receive some sinecure from the monied interests.

I do not know if this is true or not, or what the truth may be. But I do have a strong passion for bringing the light of day to shine on this, and for these markets to be much more transparent, as a reform, to prevent frauds which we do know have occurred and most likely are still occurring. For me the light of day is not smearing the messenger and making their life dangerously miserable, but that is what too often passes for journalism in the US today, as is seen in the case of other whistleblowers, most famously in the Plame affair.

Naked short selling in size is a cancer in the financial markets. And the way in which the Banks are obstinately fighting against any and all reforms that attempt to limit naked short selling shows the objective observer that they are firmly committed to a status quo that is designed to distort the markets and the real economy for their short term advantage.

Let's be clear about this: naked short selling in size is not a trading strategy, it is a means to a fraud.

This may be the Madoff ponzi scheme writ large, the heart of the darkness in the financial fraud that is the US financial system. The crowning achievement of the financial engineers at the Fed, who have built a Ponzi economy and an empire of fraud.

NY Post
Metal$ are in the pits
By MICHAEL GRAY
4:33 AM, April 11, 2010

Trader blows whistle on gold & silver price manipulation

There is no silver lining to the activities of JPMorgan Chase and HSBC in the precious-metals market here and in London, says a 40-year veteran of the metal pits.

The banks, which do the Federal Reserve's bidding in the metals markets, have long been the government's lead actors in keeping down the prices of gold and silver, according to a former Goldman Sachs trader working at the London Bullion Market Association.

Maguire was scheduled to testify last week before the Commodities Futures Trade Commission, which is looking into the activities of large banks in the metals market, but was knocked off the list at the last moment. So, he went public.

Maguire -- in an exclusive interview with The Post -- explained JPMorgan's role in the metals pits in both London and here, and how they can generate a profit either way the market moves.

"JPMorgan acts as an agent for the Federal Reserve; they act to halt the rise of gold and silver against the US dollar. JPMorgan is insulated from potential losses [on their short positions] by the Fed and/or the US taxpayer," Maguire said.

In the gold pits, Maguire sees HSBC betting against the precious metal's price without having any skin in the game in the form of a naked short.

"HSBC conducts an ongoing manipulative concentrated naked short position in gold. Silver is much easier to manipulate due to its much smaller [market] size," Maguire added.

"No one at JPMorgan is familiar with Andrew Maguire," said Brian Marchiony, a company spokesman. HSBC declined to comment. (Maguire seems to be creeping into the corporate consciousness. Earlier, JPM tried to deny that he even existed. Now they admit he exists but no one there knows him, despite his have traded alongside them for 40 years, and traded at a sister firm, Goldman. HSBC has at least enough conscience to simply sulk. - Jesse)

Also during the CFTC hearing, Jeff Christian, founder of the commodities firm CPM Group, said that the LBMA, the physical delivery market for gold and silver in the UK, has been using leverage, which is another way to depress the price of gold and silver.

Christian said that the LBMA -- the same market Maguire trades in -- has leverage of about 100-1 on the gold bars settled on the exchange. In layman's terms, that means if 100 clients requested their bullion bars be delivered, the exchange could only give one client the precious metal. (Note: the LBMA is not a 'futures' market like the COMEX where naked short selling is an accepted, if not entirely explicit, practice. The CFTC hearing was essentially about safeguards against and limits on naked short selling on the COMEX, despite the noise and distractions surrounding it. - Jesse)

The remaining requests would have to be settled for cash equivalent. "That is tantamount to a default on the trade," says Bill Murphy, chairman of the Gold Antitrust Action committee...

Read the rest here.

hey opie, question for you. i don't know where you stand on this issue, but you seem to not like the fed "manipulating" the price of metals in relation how it affects the dollar. what difference is it if we go out and leverage 100-1 or even 200-1 in the forex market??

as for manipulating currency, isn't china doing it right now??? how about sitzerland last week??? what about japan all the time??? then the euro with trichette messing with interest rates???

i am not saying it is right or even legal, but if financial ruin is upon us, what should happen???

If you didn't know that, then where the f@#k have you been this past weekend?

Greece debt deal boosts euro value

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8614782.stm

Rupiah Gains 5 Times More Than Yuan on Revaluation

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...7xyR.RK8&pos=4

Bank Profits Dimmed by Prospect of Home-Equity Losses

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=a1QwuyKzLcro

Yeah! That'll be an excellent way to make kids learn how to spill before they go to collage.

Klamath Falls may try 4-day school week to save money

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...olweek12m.html

It was true of Lada and it is now true of GM.

Worst-Made Cars on the Road

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home...od=family-home

They should be quite concerned. This is the age of citizen journalists who get the real stories out in exchange for a few bucks donated through paypal. I'd rather support that than Rupert and his cronies any day.

Nearly half of US newspaper and broadcast TV news executives believe their organizations will fold within 10 years unless they find new revenue streams...

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...show_article=1

Greek Stocks, Bonds Rally on $61 Billion EU Aid Plan

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...aZBJUH0w&pos=3

I'm putting part 1 of the interview again along with part 2.

*Right Pundits Exclusive* Interview with Max Keiser. Wall Street Fraud & Virtual Markets.

http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=6017

http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=6022