• Armstrong Economics: Entering Phase II of The Debt Crisis
    Chopshop
    03/20/2010 - 04:48
    Phinance's phavorite political prisoner, Martin Armstrong, cautions that "the EU is in dire position", on the precipice of shattering. Since "debts will never be paid and interest expenditures are the greatest transfer of wealth in history ... Western society is falling apart ... If we do not act, civil unrest will explode. The current choice is DEFAULT or HIGHER TAXES & CIVIL UNREST ... Someone has to step forward to save us or we may be doomed. It's time to wake up for this is the future of our children and their children at stake. "
  • China's Fragile Economy, Its Housing Bubble, and What It Means To Us: Download
    Econophile
    03/20/2010 - 00:41
    As promised, here is the complete article, "China's Fragile Economy, Its Housing Bubble, and What It Means To Us," in a downloadable PDF. You can download it, print it out, and read the entire piece at your leisure. The conclusions aren't encouraging, for them or us.
  • Europe's Commercial Real Estate Timebomb?
    Leo Kolivakis
    03/19/2010 - 17:00
    Europe faces a commercial property debt timebomb with almost €1 trillion (£896bn) outstanding from the sector and a quarter of that potentially distressed. The UK accounts for 34% of the €970bn total, with Germany second with 24%. Not to worry, global pension funds are busy snapping up properties but do they really know how long it will be before this crisis blows over? And what if it gets a lot worse before it gets better? Are pensions prepared to deal with those losses?

Sleighrunning: December 20

Marla Singer's picture
Submitted by Marla Singer on 12/20/2009 11:03 -0500



  • GM is reportedly looking at "all offers" for Saab. (Apparently only unrealistic offers have been entertained hitherto). [dow jones]
  • Dutch automaker Spyker: "Hey, we'll bid."  GM: "Anyone... anyone at all?  Bueller...?  Bueller...?" [marketwatch]
  • China's Zhu Min: "The world does not have so much money to buy more US Treasuries." (Current account woes. Who knew?) [shanghi daily via drudge]
  • Iranian troops lower flag and withdraw from Iraqi claimed oil well. (Iranian theft of U.S. egg nog shipment to troops suspected).  [reuters]
  • In Russia, judo throws you.  (Do not fuck with judo black belt Putin.  Period.)  [reuters]
  • Only ~$300 million to go.  (Unholy results of sinister Smurf-Azrael genetic hybrid experiments earn $27 million on first day).  [bloomberg]
  • Brazil, environmentalists of convenience, cancel voluntary carbon auction due to lack of interest.  (Al Gore shocked into silence).  [mondo]
  • NYSE US 100: Old and busted: food, fuel and fighters (ADM, HES, RTN).  New hotness: detroit, debt and, uh, debt. (F, MA, PNC).  [mondo]
  • Reid game employs kino, negs, takeaways and, finally, outright prostitution to plow through last minute resistance and score with Ben Nelson (D-NE) [bloomberg]
  • Fight in the Supreme Court may make legislative machinations look like romper room.  [later today on zero hedge]
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by I need more asshats
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 11:37
#170400

All good stuff. Thx.

"Iranian troops lower flag and withdraw from Iraqi claimed oil well."

A Squid operative sends ex-members of the Broadway production Cats to Iraq to pose as Iranians taking over an oil well. After a day of occupation reports surfaced about persons dressed in Iranian military uniforms using an oil well as a scratching post, purring, and coughing up hair balls.

The mission was canceled and called non-believable.

The Squid was overheard yelling at the operative "I said have Catz pay for it, not have Cats produce it!".

by putbuyer
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 11:59
#170404

No cash for Ben from Chinese. Carry unwind.

Also, Pipeline attack. Someone wants oil to spike.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601207&sid=awa12WTiyXJQ

by romario
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 12:35
#170420

oil futures expired friday

 

maybe that's why

by CombustibleAssets
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 15:37
#170522

 Hmmmm...

by deadhead
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 12:48
#170425

US allegedly lobs cruise missiles into Yemen.  The only report that I have seen on this was on ABC.com via a link from HuffPo. I've yet to see confirmation or denial from WH, particularly given it was on a major network website. Everything seems buried after that. 

Remarkable.

 

by Shameful
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 14:04
#170470

I'm sure it's true, seeing mentions in it from Washington Post and Faux (Fox) News.  After all I'm sure our leaders need to show the world that they are unhappy with the currency union that is being discussed.  Need to show them that the world already has a petrodollar, the Bernake Fun Buxs!

by CEOoftheSOFA
on Mon, 12/21/2009 - 02:21
#170718

I was in Yemen yesterday.  I didn't see a thing. Not that you could tell the difference if a bomb went off.  Today I'm in Djibouti.  Not much different, though you can get a beer.   

by anynonmous
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 13:06
#170426

first Soros decries the Health Bill via MoveOn.org and within 24 hours HuffPo has this frontpage headline:

 

GIFT-WRAPPED FOR LOBBYISTS

How The Health Care Lobby Swarmed Congress And Got What They Wanted

   At Least 278 Former Congressional Aides Lobbied On Health Care, Over $600 Million Spent...    Health Industry Stocks Hit 52-YEAR High On Friday...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

and if you didn't catch Ratigan here is the link to his rant (that seems to be spreading throughout the liberal blogoshpere

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghINDVKWogI&feature=player_embedded

 

and from Meet the Press this morning more of the same

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/34499260#34499260

by Catullus
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 22:17
#170660

Wow. I will be shocked if Ratigan has a job in 2010.

 

by anynonmous
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 12:50
#170427

and this from a post on Leo's thread

The head of the UN's climate change panel - Dr Rajendra Pachauri - is accused of making a fortune from his links with 'carbon trading' companies, Christopher Booker and Richard North write.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6847227/Questions-over-business-deals-of...

by basehitz
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 13:40
#170448

Thanks for the link. Very enlightening story as to the numerous conflicts of interest for the IPCC climate guru, especially the carbon trading windfall. If this story were properly reported, this would be a global scandal. I think he should be prosecuted.

by sethstorm
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 13:19
#170435

Dutch automaker Spyker: "Hey, we'll bid."

Better the Dutch than the junk-building Chinese.  At least it'll be in good hands that way.

 

China's Zhu Min: "The world does not have so much money to buy more US Treasuries."

Unlike that country, the US is well-equipped to survive China's(and if necessary, India's) collapse.  Those countries will be too busy trying to mop up increasing amounts of dissent and disfavor when they too go the path of Japan.  It might just work out to be the American Century after all.

by Spitzer
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 16:03
#170536

You obviously don't travel much. Do you know how cheap basic living costs can be in Asia ?

by sethstorm
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 16:42
#170554

Do you know how cheap basic living costs can be in Asia ?

Speaking on terms of money, you may be correct.  But you should know that they aren't immune to the idea of "you get what you pay for".

Other nonmonetary costs (political, legal, social, environmental, chronological(time), etc.)  are where Asia loses too handily.  I'd like to have my organs stay put in my body and not for some politician who I looked at the wrong way.

by Anonymous
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 17:18
#170573

"Other nonmonetary costs (political, legal, social, environmental, chronological(time), etc.)" I think these items actually fall into the liabilities side of the ledger.

by darkpool2
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 17:24
#170575

Other nonmonetary costs (political, legal, social, environmental, chronological(time), etc.) Oh silly me, and here I thought these mostly belonged on the liabilities side of the ledger.

 

by anynonmous
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 13:25
#170440

from the conspiracy newsroom (acutally a mainstream Utah newspaper)

Big Brother is coming: NSA's $1.9 billion cyber spy center a power grab

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705352795/Big-Brother-is-coming-NSAs-...

 

by I need more asshats
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 13:47
#170459

I always wondered where the bulk of Google's revenue came from. Indexing a yottabyte of NSA data.

by sethstorm
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 16:40
#170556

...and/or serving selected search results to the maintainers of the Great Firewall in China.

by Hephasteus
on Mon, 12/21/2009 - 14:27
#171012

It doesn't matter. The systems they have set up are so massive they get sympathetic interferance with each other. In other words one ram chip radiates and messes up another ram chip. They can index it all they want and play with it all they want. What they can't do is RELY on it. We have multi hundreds of billions of dollars worth of trash dumpsters at this point.

by Anonymous
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 14:21
#170480

Elizabeth Warren Named 'Bostonian Of The Year'

It's the year end so we're getting more of these made public. This honor at least was heartily deserved. A feisty (yet polite) graceful, academic-civil servant who effectively utilized the only weapon she was handed (in fact, 'not handed') by Congress: the media bully pulpit. She was given a grand title and little else. The rest was pure moxie.

http://tinyurl.com/yjzejrg

by Anonymous
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 15:27
#170515

Love the snowman, Marla. Very festive... thanks!

by glenlloyd
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 17:56
#170587

GM ruins everything it touches, liquidation would have been the best choice, now we've got another GSE.

by anynonmous
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 18:48
#170605

Congressional Budget Office
Director’s BlogCorrection Regarding the Longer-Term Effects of the Manager’s Amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

 

http://cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=447

by Hephasteus
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 19:58
#170618

Somebody needs to play the Al Gore card better. They fucked it up big time.

http://cid-9f33f6e14912f497.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Illuminati%20NWO...

 

by Anonymous
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 22:06
#170654

I love the santa in the zero hedge logo.

Very nice.

Happy holidays Marla, Tyler n you! :)

-MobBarley

by Anonymous
on Sun, 12/20/2009 - 23:14
#170671

What happened in Climate deal.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Obama-barged-into-BASIC-meet-to-clinch-climate-deal/articleshow/5360072.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Developing-nations-reject-US-led-climate-deal/articleshow/5354874.cms

by Anonymous
on Mon, 12/21/2009 - 09:14
#170790

•China's Zhu Min: "The world does not have so much money to buy more US Treasuries." (Current account woes. Who knew?) [shanghi daily via drudge]

Pshaw...If they are making 3% allow them to lever 35-1. Sell future profits back to the US at 0% no leverage. Couple of fancy bookkeeping tricks, create some new financial products and you are now on the infinity express. Of course you send them 500-800 tons of gold to seal the deal, one of those banking off the books LTP insurance play things that would only confuse the public so it's best not to tell them. SI

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