"Run for the hills," says Jim Rogers, busy making sure all of his bank accounts are within guaranteed levels. With the IMF and the EU saying its ok to loot bank accounts, a precedent has been set, he says, and the next country getting in trouble will point to Cyprus and do the same thing. "What more do you need to know ... the gall of these politicians." [View news story]
There is a maximum of insurance on each account for a reason. Now you know the reason. Don't go away mad, just stay within insured limits. Of course the larger the amount, the more difficult it might be to do.
More on Cyprus: EU finance ministers approve deal. Bloomberg says deposits above €100K at Bank of Cyprus could incur losses up to 40% while deposits above the €100K threshold at Cyprus Popular Bank (Laiki) may be wiped out entirely. Deal may not need to be approved by the Cypriot parliament. [View news story]
The budget deficit shrank to $260M in December from $86B in the same month a year earlier and came in well below consensus of $1B. The numbers were helped by tax payments being shifted to December to avoid higher rates in 2013, says Jefferies economist Thomas Simons. "We are still going to run fairly substantial deficits this year and in coming years," he adds. [View news story]
The increase in budget deficit is driven by the lack of tax revenues caused by the housing collapse that hurt the economy. As the economy improves the deficit will decrease. If Republicans had their way, they would immediately kill as much spending as possible in order to kill the economy and create a backlash that will get them elected.
The House will vote on the unamended Senate bill at 9 PM ET, reports CNN's Dana Bash. Any attempt to alter the bill by adding spending cuts has reportedly been abandoned for now. Update at 9:10: The vote has been pushed back to 11 PM ET. [View news story]
The cause of our debt was a recession induced by the housing bubble. The recession caused government expenditures to increase and government revenues to decrease because people out of work cost money and don’t bring in tax revenue. The faked Republican idea of cutting spending is designed to screw the country out of spending induced stimulation so that things will get worse and Republicans will be elected. The fiscal cliff backfired on the Republicans and to a lesser extent on the Democrats because our leaders are in a category of net worth that will result in passing most of their estate value on to the government and not to their heirs. Republicans couldn’t take this and are forced to vote for something they didn’t like. They will try to justify their vote by saying it is for a tax decrease since we went over the cliff already. With all the publicity this issue has gotten, the public has gotten a little wiser.
The House will vote on the unamended Senate bill at 9 PM ET, reports CNN's Dana Bash. Any attempt to alter the bill by adding spending cuts has reportedly been abandoned for now. Update at 9:10: The vote has been pushed back to 11 PM ET. [View news story]
Nothing wrong if you are protected against inflation.
The House will vote on the unamended Senate bill at 9 PM ET, reports CNN's Dana Bash. Any attempt to alter the bill by adding spending cuts has reportedly been abandoned for now. Update at 9:10: The vote has been pushed back to 11 PM ET. [View news story]
Did you ever think, for a moment, the Republicans or the Democrats were not going to protect themselves from large increases in estate tax?
The haggling to avert a fiscal cliff brings more movement, with President Obama offering to limit tax increases to those earning over $400K - up from his long-held desire of $250K but well below John Boehner's proposal of $1M. The latter's aides say the offer represents "a step in the right direction" but is too heavy on the tax revenues and too light on the spending cuts. [View news story]
Because some taxes are only a small portion of what is needed does not mean they should be ignored. (Taxes on those making over a certain amount) Many small portions of spending cuts, efficiency improvements, and increases in age for Social Security and Medicare would solve the problem. Robbing Medicare to pay for Affordable Health Care was improper.
The haggling to avert a fiscal cliff brings more movement, with President Obama offering to limit tax increases to those earning over $400K - up from his long-held desire of $250K but well below John Boehner's proposal of $1M. The latter's aides say the offer represents "a step in the right direction" but is too heavy on the tax revenues and too light on the spending cuts. [View news story]
Whatever the final agreement is on the breakpoint for defining the income for tax increase, it should be indexed or it will become another AMT tax.
Markets are priced for "almost permanent disaster," says Goldman Sachs' Jim O'Neill in an otherwise forgettable interview in which he rehashes the need for Europe to create a fiscal union to go alongside monetary union. [View news story]
We have fiscal union in the US with respect to government insuring deposits and taking over failing banks. Maybe a model like ours should be followed.
Senior IMF economist Peter Doyle is resigning, and has published a fiery resignation letter (.pdf) accusing his ex-employer of failing to issue warnings about the eurozone's crisis in spite of being told to do so by staff. Doyle also accuses the IMF of "analytical risk aversion, bilateral priority, and European bias," and calls the last decade's Managing Director appointments to have been "disastrous." "After twenty years of service, I am ashamed to have had any association with the Fund at all." [View news story]
Whenever someone is on the giving side of the IMF they will have negative comments about the receiving side. Is it just possible that they are trying to so what they think is overall best?
If the ECB only cuts its overnight lending rate by 25 bps to 0.75% on Thursday, investors are likely to be disappointed and unload euros, writes Citi's FX team. What the market needs to continue to move higher is something beyond what's already priced in - just 5 of 62 forecasters expect a 50 basis point move. [View news story]
Gold prices clawed their way out of bear market territory today, as gold futures spiked over $40 to more than $1575 an ounce, posting the biggest one-day gain of the year. Whats behind the move? Beyond just a dismal U.S. manufacturing report, there appears to be a fundamental shift in investor sentiment. Individuals, as well as governments, have started pricing in the potential for prolonged global economic weakness going forward. [View news story]
There are 2 main forces driving gold. When the dollar is stronger gold valued in dollars is priced lower. When the dollar is weaker or currencies are in economic turmoil, gold is the flight to safety and goes higher.
Eurogroup chief Juncker dismisses as "propoganda" and "nonsense" the idea of Greece exiting the eurozone. Talk of a Greek exit from top EU offiicals gained momentum over the weekend, leading to panicky action in European stocks yesterday. [View news story]
The handwriting is on the wall. The constant jawboning and patch jobs for Greece will not stop the exit of Greece from the Euro zone. The question is can the Euro survive? I believe it can survive but a lot of time will be required while Euros are printed to inflate their way out of debt.
"Run for the hills," says Jim Rogers, busy making sure all of his bank accounts are within guaranteed levels. With the IMF and the EU saying its ok to loot bank accounts, a precedent has been set, he says, and the next country getting in trouble will point to Cyprus and do the same thing. "What more do you need to know ... the gall of these politicians." [View news story]
More on Cyprus: EU finance ministers approve deal. Bloomberg says deposits above €100K at Bank of Cyprus could incur losses up to 40% while deposits above the €100K threshold at Cyprus Popular Bank (Laiki) may be wiped out entirely. Deal may not need to be approved by the Cypriot parliament.
[View news story]
The budget deficit shrank to $260M in December from $86B in the same month a year earlier and came in well below consensus of $1B. The numbers were helped by tax payments being shifted to December to avoid higher rates in 2013, says Jefferies economist Thomas Simons. "We are still going to run fairly substantial deficits this year and in coming years," he adds. [View news story]
The House will vote on the unamended Senate bill at 9 PM ET, reports CNN's Dana Bash. Any attempt to alter the bill by adding spending cuts has reportedly been abandoned for now. Update at 9:10: The vote has been pushed back to 11 PM ET. [View news story]
The recession caused government expenditures to increase and government revenues to decrease because people out of work cost money and don’t bring in tax revenue.
The faked Republican idea of cutting spending is designed to screw the country out of spending induced stimulation so that things will get worse and Republicans will be elected.
The fiscal cliff backfired on the Republicans and to a lesser extent on the Democrats because our leaders are in a category of net worth that will result in passing most of their estate value on to the government and not to their heirs.
Republicans couldn’t take this and are forced to vote for something they didn’t like.
They will try to justify their vote by saying it is for a tax decrease since we went over the cliff already.
With all the publicity this issue has gotten, the public has gotten a little wiser.
The House will vote on the unamended Senate bill at 9 PM ET, reports CNN's Dana Bash. Any attempt to alter the bill by adding spending cuts has reportedly been abandoned for now. Update at 9:10: The vote has been pushed back to 11 PM ET. [View news story]
The House will vote on the unamended Senate bill at 9 PM ET, reports CNN's Dana Bash. Any attempt to alter the bill by adding spending cuts has reportedly been abandoned for now. Update at 9:10: The vote has been pushed back to 11 PM ET. [View news story]
The haggling to avert a fiscal cliff brings more movement, with President Obama offering to limit tax increases to those earning over $400K - up from his long-held desire of $250K but well below John Boehner's proposal of $1M. The latter's aides say the offer represents "a step in the right direction" but is too heavy on the tax revenues and too light on the spending cuts. [View news story]
The haggling to avert a fiscal cliff brings more movement, with President Obama offering to limit tax increases to those earning over $400K - up from his long-held desire of $250K but well below John Boehner's proposal of $1M. The latter's aides say the offer represents "a step in the right direction" but is too heavy on the tax revenues and too light on the spending cuts. [View news story]
Markets are priced for "almost permanent disaster," says Goldman Sachs' Jim O'Neill in an otherwise forgettable interview in which he rehashes the need for Europe to create a fiscal union to go alongside monetary union. [View news story]
Senior IMF economist Peter Doyle is resigning, and has published a fiery resignation letter (.pdf) accusing his ex-employer of failing to issue warnings about the eurozone's crisis in spite of being told to do so by staff. Doyle also accuses the IMF of "analytical risk aversion, bilateral priority, and European bias," and calls the last decade's Managing Director appointments to have been "disastrous." "After twenty years of service, I am ashamed to have had any association with the Fund at all." [View news story]
If the ECB only cuts its overnight lending rate by 25 bps to 0.75% on Thursday, investors are likely to be disappointed and unload euros, writes Citi's FX team. What the market needs to continue to move higher is something beyond what's already priced in - just 5 of 62 forecasters expect a 50 basis point move. [View news story]
Gold prices clawed their way out of bear market territory today, as gold futures spiked over $40 to more than $1575 an ounce, posting the biggest one-day gain of the year. Whats behind the move? Beyond just a dismal U.S. manufacturing report, there appears to be a fundamental shift in investor sentiment. Individuals, as well as governments, have started pricing in the potential for prolonged global economic weakness going forward. [View news story]
Eurogroup chief Juncker dismisses as "propoganda" and "nonsense" the idea of Greece exiting the eurozone. Talk of a Greek exit from top EU offiicals gained momentum over the weekend, leading to panicky action in European stocks yesterday. [View news story]