Chart Of The Day: Fed Interventions Since 2008 The chart below, via Stone McCarthy, shows the months with Fed intervention since December 2008. That in the past 42 or so months, less than one third have been intervention-free, should close any open questions about whether the stock "market" is anything but a policy vehicle used by the Fed to perpetuate a broke(n) status quo now entirely dependent on every market up (and down) tick. We dread to think what would happen to those record low US bond yields if the market were to be left on its own without the backstop of guaranteed Fed intervention in the interest rate market... ironically something which Barclays is in boiling hot water for right about now. And a detailed breakdown:
The Regency « zunguzungu Most of the Regents of the University of California — whose very name gives you a good idea of the kind of power they wield over the direction and functioning of the University of California – are unelected, appointed to 12 year terms by the governor of California, and almost without exception, they have no real background or apparent interest in education. They are corporate moguls, the 1%, whatever you want to call them. On Monday, they defied California’s open meeting laws by sort-of teleconferencing from four different campuses, voting to raise various administrative salaries by about $3.5 million, including the UC Davis chief campus counsel. Perhaps they suspected he would be busy in the near future? The students still came. As a scathing editorial in the San Jose Mercury put it: The phone-it-in session conducted in four locations was an abuse of the spirit, if not the letter, of state open-meeting laws. It will though. “Marketing strategy aside, Mr. Like this: Like Loading...
Barry McGuire - Blog To Eric Holder: A Simple Way To Prosecute Bank Crimes Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) Shahien Nasiripour has a great scoop in the FT – bank regulators have uncovered up to 5000 military families who were foreclosed on illegally by mortgage servicers. Foreclosures on active duty troops is usually a big no-no, for a lot of reasons – for instance, when your credit rating is damaged by a foreclosure, it can impact your national security clearance. In addition, there’s enormous stress that the soldier goes through when his or her family is facing a threat of eviction, and it’s the kind of stress that makes him or her less equipped to be ready in a warzone. There have been laws to protect troops from unscrupulous lending practices going all the way back to the First World War. “The Service Members Civil Relief Act is very clear: if you’re in harm’s way in our nation’s military, you can devote your whole energy to our nation’s service without worrying what’s happening in a courthouse back home. Banks admit this. (1) MISDEMEANOR.
News Responds to Bernanke Criticism of U.S. Bank-Rescue Coverage Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in a letter to four senior lawmakers yesterday that recent news articles about the central bank’s emergency lending programs contained “egregious errors.” While Bernanke’s letter and an accompanying four-page staff memo posted on the Fed’s website didn’t mention any news organizations by name, Bloomberg News has published a series of articles this year examining the bailout. The latest, “Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion Undisclosed to Congress,” appeared Nov. 28. “Bloomberg stands by its reporting,” said Matthew Winkler, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, who responded to the criticisms today on “Surveillance Midday” with Tom Keene. Here is a point-by-point response by Bloomberg News to the Fed staff memo. From Fed memo: “These articles have made repeated claims that the Federal Reserve conducted ‘secret’ lending that was not disclosed either to the public or the Congress. Editors: Robert Friedman, John Voskuhl
Exposing the Fed: What is the Federal Reserve? Part 3 Editor Note: For those of you who are not familiar with Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall, she is the woman who wrote the definitive book on Ambassador Lee Wanta, Wanta! Black Swan, White Hat. I listened to several interviews with Marilyn that were conducted by Teri Ambach and the team at Global News and Views on Facebook. (Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall, Global Financial Affairs Editor) Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the Federal Reserve System. It is a privately held corporation owned by bankers… most of whose names are seen on Wall Street (though international banks now own larger and larger shares of the Federal Reserve System, placing control of America’s economy in the hands of non-American foreigners). Before talking about what the Federal Reserve System does, one other important fact needs to be mentioned: The Federal Reserve is an unlawful organization. Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution says the following: The loans were to cover up secret bank and corporate bailouts.
U.N. Envoy: U.S. Isn't Protecting Occupy Protesters' Rights WASHINGTON -- The United Nations envoy for freedom of expression is drafting an official communication to the U.S. government demanding to know why federal officials are not protecting the rights of Occupy demonstrators whose protests are being disbanded -- sometimes violently -- by local authorities. Frank La Rue, who serves as the U.N. "special rapporteur" for the protection of free expression, told HuffPost in an interview that the crackdowns against Occupy protesters appear to be violating their human and constitutional rights. "I believe in city ordinances and I believe in maintaining urban order," he said Thursday. "But on the other hand I also believe that the state -- in this case the federal state -- has an obligation to protect and promote human rights." "If I were going to pit a city ordinance against human rights, I would always take human rights," he continued. "One of the principles is proportionality," La Rue said.
Home Oregon, U.S. Bank Agree To Eliminate Some Bank Fees For The Unemployed After nearly a month of negotiations, Oregon has reached an agreement with U.S. Bank to eliminate many of the fees the bank charges people to access their unemployment benefits. "The changes we have negotiated will benefit Oregon card users and taxpayers," said Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler in a statement released Tuesday. "I want to thank U.S. Oregon is one of 41 states that have entered into contracts with some of the nation's biggest banks to provide access to unemployment benefits on prepaid debit cards. The precise schedule of fees -- what U.S. Additionally, due to a change in federal law last year requiring customers to opt into overdraft programs offered by banks, the state asked U.S. The state's current deal with U.S. In May, a National Consumer Law Center analysis of the deals negotiated by states gave poor marks to the U.S. The new deal is a major improvement, but does have some flaws, said Saadia McConville, a spokeswoman for Economic Fairness Oregon.
Debt Ceiling 2013: A Timeline Of Fights Over The U.S. Debt Limit Since 1917 About now, many Americans wish they had never heard the term debt ceiling -- or knew so much about what it meant. But with lawmakers hesitant to approve an increase in the amount that the U.S. government is authorized to pay for debts already incurred by Congress, this phrase has become a household word, as it were. Although it feels like this latest gridlock between Congress and President Barack Obama is yet another indication of today’s steely partisan politics, debt-ceiling conflicts have been to one degree or another Washington staples for the past four decades. Before the 1970s, not so much. The first time the debt ceiling came into view was in 1917 with the adoption of the Second Liberty Bond Act, which placed limits on expenditures for large categories of debt such as bonds and bills. Between 1941 and 1945, federal debt skyrocketed because of World War II, from $49 billion the former year to $268 billion the latter year. As for federal shutdowns, they were few and far between.
Why This Harvard Economist Is Pulling All His Money From Bank Of America A classicial economist... and Harvard professor... preaching to the world that one's money is not safe in the US banking system due to Ben Bernanke's actions? And putting his withdrawal slip where his mouth is and pulling $1 million out of Bank America? Say it isn't so... From Terry Burnham, former Harvard economics professor, author of “Mean Genes” and “Mean Markets and Lizard Brains,” provocative poster on this page and long-time critic of the Federal Reserve, argues that the Fed’s efforts to strengthen America’s banks have perversely weakened them. Is your money safe at the bank? Last week I had over $1,000,000 in a checking account at Bank of America. Why am I getting in line to take my money out of Bank of America? Before I explain, let me disclose that I have been a stopped clock of criticism of the Federal Reserve for half a decade. Let me explain: Currently, I receive zero dollars in interest on my $1,000,000. They will not be able to return my money if: What is the solution?
Occupy Wall Street: Why Baby Boomers Don't Understand the Protests American spies have spotted all the signs of an all-out Russian invasion of Ukraine. Why won’t they tell the Ukrainians about the forces on their border? U.S. intelligence agencies now have detailed information that Russia has amassed the kind of forces needed for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But the Obama administration hasn’t shared with Ukraine the imagery, intercepts, and analysis that pinpont the location of the Russian troops ready to seize more Ukrainian land, The Daily Beast has learned. President Obama has repeatedly and publicly expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people—and warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin that there will be consequences if he takes over any more Ukrainian territory. “I am not confident we are sharing any of that kind of information,” said Rep. Instead, the U.S. intelligence community’s detailed analysis of a potential Russian invasion has been shared only with the Congress, American policy makers, and members of the Obama administration.
MER debate: Mutual fund industry stands its ground | Personal Finance Andrew Barr/National Post High mutual fund fees charged by companies like Investors Group are once again under the microscope, but I have no fear my modest holding in the stock of IGM Financial Inc. is in much jeopardy. Investors Group and I have exchanged views the past week, online at financialpost.com and in print, about how much value its clients get from its robust management expense ratios (MERs). Many of its funds sport MERs of 2.5% or more; even its bond funds are just shy of 2%, which in today’s low-interest-rate environment is an outrage in itself. Even though there has been a sea change in how investors think, I have little doubt that IGM Financial, the owner of Investors Group, has a model that will keep minting money for shareholders — selling mutual funds and “advice” to investors who can’t be bothered with details like MERs. Frankly, I’m amazed the fund industry has stood its ground as well as it has. Not Apples to Apples, you say?
Some Californians switching from banks to local credit unions FRESNO, Calif — Fed up with rising fees, frustrated customers of national banks are closing their accounts. They're turning instead to community banks and credit unions, which are taking advantage of the rising tide of consumer unrest. A growing grass-roots campaign culminates Saturday with "Bank Transfer Day," when people nationwide are encouraged to switch to credit unions. Valley credit unions and community banks are already seeing a boost in customers. Educational Employees Credit Union said it had a 60% increase in new accounts throughout the Central Valley in October compared to the same month last year. The statewide Golden 1 Credit Union had a 40% bump in new accounts in October compared to its monthly average, and the number of online applications for new accounts doubled. The head of Fresno-based United Security Bank said deposits are growing by the millions each week, a sign that new customers are transferring their money to the bank. Read the complete story at fresnobee.com