Infinite Unknown

- Exposed: Pesticide Industry to Receive Pollution Privileges in Farm Bill H.R. 1947 (REALfarmacy, June 14, 2013):

One need only do a quick search on the website InfluenceExplorer.com to see the reality that is special interest influence over lawmakers. The literal millions of dollars given to lawmakers should shed light on the fact that Washington D.C. does not represent your interests.CropLife America is a lobbying group for the giant chemical producers like Monsanto and DuPont. From 2011-2012 CropLife America has spent $4,929,594.00 lobbying on behalf of companies that think it is just fine to spray pesticides over waterways. But what about the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts? Shouldn’t these acts of legislation prevent the discharge of pesticides over waterways? Well if you have enough money, you can write laws that exempt your company from the CA/CW Acts, and that is exactly what CropLife America has done in SEC. 10013. USE AND DISCHARGES OF AUTHORIZED PESTICIDES. Of H.R. 1947: Continue reading »

Tags: Agriculture, DuPont, Economy, Environment, Food, Global News, Health, Law, Monsanto, Pesticides, Politics, Pollution, U.S.

And yes, derivatives are designed to do exactly that …

“(Slow) Economic Destruction”

… and the greatest financial/economic collapse in world history is well on its way.

Related info:

- Former Fed President Thomas Hoenig: Deutsche Bank ‘Is Horribly Undercapitalized … It’s Ridiculous’

- America’s Giant Bubble Economy Is Going To Become An Economic Black Hole:

-$212,525,587,000,000 – According to the U.S. government, this is the notional value of the derivatives that are being held by the top 25 banks in the United States.  But those banks only have total assets of about 8.9 trillion dollars combined.  In other words, the exposure of our largest banks to derivatives outweighs their total assets by a ratio of about 24 to 1.

-$600,000,000,000,000 to $1,500,000,000,000,000 – The estimates of the total notional value of all global derivatives generally fall within this range.  At the high end of the range, the ratio of derivatives to global GDP is more than 21 to 1.

- Coming Derivatives Panic Will Destroy Global Financial Markets

- At $72.8 TRILLION Presenting The Bank With The Biggest Derivative Exposure In The World (Hint: Not JPMorgan)

Flashback:

- JPMorgan Employee Who Invented Credit Default Swaps is One of the Key Architects of Carbon Derivatives, Which Would Be at the Very CENTER of Cap and Trade

- Derivatives Are Weapons Of Slow Economic Destruction: Study (Huffington Post, June 14, 2013):

We have learned, painfully, of the damage derivatives can do to an economy in a financial crisis. But derivatives are hurting the economy even on its best days, according to a new study.

In the crisis, derivatives exposures brought down giant financial institutions and markets, leading to the worst recession since the Great Depression. But derivatives are also weapons of slower, more insidious destruction: They drain cash away from productive segments of the economy into the financial sector, according to a new study by the progressive think tank Demos.

Continue reading »

Tags: Banking, Collapse, Derivatives, Derivatives market, Economy, Global News

- Bank of America Lied to Homeowners and Rewarded Foreclosures, Former Employees Say (ProPublica, June 14, 2013):

Bank of America employees regularly lied to homeowners seeking loan modifications, denied their applications for made-up reasons, and were rewarded for sending homeowners to foreclosure, according to sworn statements by former bank employees.

The employee statements were filed late last week in federal court in Boston as part of a multi-state class action suit brought on behalf of homeowners who sought to avoid foreclosure through the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) but say they had their cases botched by Bank of America.

In a statement, a Bank of America spokesman said that each of the former employees’ statements is “rife with factual inaccuracies” and that the bank will respond more fully in court next month. He said that Bank of America had modified more loans than any other bank and continues to “demonstrate our commitment to assisting customers who are at risk of foreclosure.”

Six of the former employees worked for the bank, while one worked for a contractor. They range from former managers to front-line employees, and all dealt with homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure through the government’s program.

Continue reading »

Tags: Bank of America, Banking, Economy, Foreclosures, U.S.

- 222 Years Of Gold, Wars, Inflation, Economies, And Presidents (ZeroHedge, June 15, 2013):

Whether as the basis for the monetary unit of a country, or in its role in comparison to the currency of other assets, the price of gold has long been a subject of great interest to both the scholar and the general public. MeasuringWorth has created a multi-century time series of the barbarous relic’s USD price. From the penny, the crown, the rose ryal, the guinea and the sovereign coin, the question of “what was the price then” is answered combining a number of sources and Visualizing Economics compares the ‘real’ price of gold since 1791 to GDP, wars, US presidents, and inflation…

(click image for larger version)

Tags: Dollar, Economy, GDP, Global News, Gold, Government, Inflation, Politics, U.S., War

And who said when Bilderberg Josef Ackerman left Deutsche that things will get very interesting soon enough?

Oh, that was me.

- Deutsche Bank “Is Horribly Undercapitalized… It’s Ridiculous” Says Former Fed President Hoenig (ZeroHedge, June 15, 2013):

Back in May 2012, when we were making fun at the latest iteration of the now fatally discredited European stress tests, we took the first of many jabs at the what may currently be the world’s most systematically important, and undercapitalized, bank in the world:

Finally, if anyone is still confused where the pain is headed next, here is a list from Morgan Stanley of all Euro banks with a Core Tier 1 ratio that is so low, that the banks will soon regret not raising more capital in the period of calm that the ECB’s LTRO bought them.

Also, one bank is missing from the list above: Deutsche Bank. CT1/TA: 1.68%. Oops.

That’s right – Deutsche Bank was so bad that it wasn’t even allowed to appear on a screen of Europe’s most undercapitalized banks – and we helpfully pointed out its true capital ratio of just under 2%, and an implied leverage of 60x!

Fast forward 13 months to a Reuters interview with former Kansas City Fed president and FOMC dissenter and sole voice of reason at the Federal Reserve, and current FDIC Vice Chairman Tom Hoenig, who confirmed that once again Zero Hedge was just a year ahead of the curve.

A top U.S. banking regulator called Deutsche Bank’s capital levels “horrible” and said it is the worst on a list of global banks based on one measurement of leverage ratios. “It’s horrible, I mean they’re horribly undercapitalized,” said Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig in an interview. “They have no margin of error.”  Deutsche’s leverage ratio stood at 1.63 percent, according to Hoenig’s numbers, which are based on European IFRS accounting rules as of the end of 2012.

In other words, the slighest systemic shock in Europe and Deustche Bank gets it. And as Deutsche Bank goes, so does Germany, so does Europe, so does the world.

Immediately confirming Hoenig’s (and Zero Hedge’s) observations, was Deutsche’s prompt repeat that “all is well” and that “these numbers” are not like “those numbers.”

“To say that we are undercapitalized is inaccurate because if you look at the Basel framework, we’re now one of the best capitalized banks in the world after our capital raise,” Deutsche Bank’s Chief Financial Officer Stefan Krause told Reuters in an interview, when asked about Hoenig’s comments. “To suggest that leverage puts us in a position to be a risk to the system is incorrect,” Krause said, calling the gauge a “misleading measure” when used on its own.

Of course, DB’s lies are perfectly expected – after all it is a question of fiath. So let’s go back to Hoenig who continues to be one of the few voices of reason among the “very serious people”: Continue reading »

Tags: Banking, Collapse, Derivatives, Derivatives market, Deutsche Bank, ECB, Economy, Global News, Josef Ackermann, LTRO

- Spain’s Debt Surges To Record High At Accelerating Pace (ZeroHedge, June 14, 2013):

Somewhere deep down inside the European Union’s leaders must know how foolish they are with their constant proclamations that the worst of the crisis is over and that growth will return any moment now. For now, the realists in the market have to be content with hard data, and as AP reports, Spain’s central bank reports the troubled nation’s debt jumped to a record 88.2% of GDP in Q1 2013. The year-over-year rise is also the fastest on record – so no green shoot there as the bank notes it expects the debt burden to rise to 90.5% of GDP by the end of 2013 (but may revise that forecast – up). The raw numbers are awesome. Spain’s debt was EUR 922.8 billion at the end of March – up 19.1% from a year earlier and with unemployment at 27.2% and a fourth year of recession, the more-than-doubling of debt-to-GDP in the last five years suggests the ‘OMT call’ may be getting closer. The stagflationary slump in Europe (inflation rising faster than expected as growth lags) continues with nearly 20 million people out of work across the region.

Tags: Bonds, Collapse, Debt, Economy, EU, Europe, Global News, Government, Politics, Spain

Related info:

- Shocking Photos Reveal Severe Damage Caused By GM Soy And Corn. GMO Feed Turns Pig Stomachs To Mush!

- Boycott these Monsanto-pandering factory ‘food’ companies and help drive GMOs out of the food supply (Natural News, June 13, 2013):

If Americans are truly serious about making real progress in the fight against genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), then we are going to have to take things to the next level by voting with our wallets, and boycotting every single factory food company that continues to secretly use GMOs in its products. And one way to help jump start this efforts is to get the health-conscious community up to speed about which major food companies are still using GMOs in secrecy.

The blog REALfarmacy.com recently created a “Do Not Buy” list that outlines all the major food producers that use GMOs in their products. Besides the more obvious offenders such as Coca-Cola, General Mills, Pepsi, and Frito-Lay, the list also pins “health”-branded food companies like Nature Valley and Morningstar that many people are still unaware also use GMOs in their products. You can view this list here:
http://www.realfarmacy.com

Continue reading »

Tags: Activism, Corporations, Economy, Food, food supply, Global News, Monsanto, Society, U.S.

- Stunning Images From China: Ten Thousand People Waiting In Line To Buy Gold (ZeroHedge, June 14, 2013):

Sometimes one must see to believe, in this case believe just how massive the raw demand for the shiny, barbarous relic is in China during times of relative monetary stability (in this case the Dragon Boat Festival). Now assume runaway inflation as we saw in 2011 China, which may be unleashed by something as catalytic as the PBOC once again deciding to inject liquidity in its suffocating banking system and to revive growth in the stalling economy.

June 11, ten thousand people line up in front of a gold shop to buy gold. The buyers lined up during the three day Dragon Boat Festival.

Source Caixin.

Source Caixin.

Tags: China, Economy, Global News, Gold, Society

- Treasury Sales By Foreigners Hit Record High In April (ZeroHedge, June 14, 2013):

The monthly TIC (foreign capital flows) data gets less respect than it should. Perhaps it is because it is two months delayed, or perhaps due to the Treasury Department labyrinth one has to cross in order to figure out what is going on. Either way, for those who do follow the data set, will know by now that in April, foreign investors, official and private, sold $54.5 billion. Why is this number of note? Because it is the biggest monthly sale of Treasurys by foreigners in the history of the data series. The TSY revulsion was somewhat offset by a jump in MBS purchases, which saw $23 billion in acquisitions, while corporate bonds were sold to the tune of $4.5 billion. Finally, looking at equities, foreigners were responsible for some $11.2 billion in US stock purchases. The great rotation may not be working domestically, but it seems to be finally impacting foreign investors.

As for the question who sold the most US paper, the answer is below: not surprisingly, Japan is at the top, and we can only imagine the proceeds from the sale were used to fund (currently even more money losing) purchases in the Nikkei, which is currently at levels last seen in March, or before the great BOJ intervention.

Tags: Bank of Japan, Bonds, Debt, Economy, Global News, Japan, U.S.

- Detroit defaults on some debt to avoid bankruptcy filing (Reuters, June 14, 2013):

Detroit defaulted on some debt on Friday and proposed that creditors take a drastic cut in the money they are owed by the “insolvent” city in order to avoid the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

In a meeting with creditors, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr announced a moratorium on principal and interest payments on the city’s unsecured debt, and for the first time presented a detailed proposal calling on the holders of nearly $17 billion in Detroit debt to make substantial concessions.

Under his proposal, Orr said unsecured debt holders would be paid less than 10 cents on the dollar, but some creditors would get a bit more based on city revenue.

Continue reading »

Tags: Bankruptcy, Bonds, Collapse, Debt, Detroit, Economy, Global News, Government, Politics, U.S.