iyamwutiam

Global IT Cloud Computing: India vs. China

I agree with and wagon here. As far as IP -what exact;y is it? Nothing is created De Nova-it is built on previous IP from many sources. The whole idea is disruptive to development.

Goldman Sachs: Thoughts on the Developing Stolen Trade Secrets Scandal

How much news and corraoration and FACTS do you need that the 'market' is a giant vacuum cleaner sucking the back BACK from the middle calss to the elites.

I am now out of the market period.

We've got more than enough money to backstop America's 19 biggest banks, White House Chief Of Staff Rahm Emanuel tells ABC's This Week, downplaying speculation the government would ask Congress for more money. Though Emanuel concedes he hasn't seen the stress test results.

More BS- what is he going to say? That the Fed is bailing out it's members while increasing the taxpayer burden and receiving taxpayer funds! That the global financial system underpinned by Fed Reserve members has disintegrated and its explicit recognition would undermine the chimera of American financial hegemony! I think not.

FED Balance Sheet to Expand to $8T by 2010 - No cause for Inflation worries

Your second paragraph - states that basically we suffer the malady of capitalism. That is at some point -over-capacity (due to scale of economies, improving profit ratio, productivity etc) will always occur and so the economy will go into contraction until this is worked off. However- couple that with rising unemployment (lets be generous but realistic and say it is now around 11%-including discouraged workers) there is a synergy to decreasing demand and s accentuates over-capacity, and leads to more unemployment. In short- the cycle will only run out of it's downward spiral at the extreme end.

As for the balance sheet of the Fed. Why has no analyst -or citizen ever asked the straight question regarding the relationship of the Fed/Treasury and tax payer. IF the US taxpayers are bailing out -banks who are probably members of the Federal Reserve -why can not the US government force the Fed -to write off some of the debt that the US holds. If the US is essentially paying interest on say 4-8 trillion dollars of its deficit to the Fed. -why are the bail outs not deducted from the amount the US is indebted to the Fed? The Fed has no power to expand its balance sheet were it not for the military/industrial power of the US (ask Argentina/Pakistan etc). Its ability to expand the balance sheet is solely based on the soundness and fitness of its largest debtor -the US. Therefore -I feel this would be a most opportune time for the US government to force the Fed to take a haircut - more like a crew cut -given the trillions spent to bail out it's member institutions.

What's Another $1.15 Trillion?

Well-in some way -it does allow people to see that the Fed has a;ways been the financier of the US. The irony is incredible really- the 'Fed' is printing up money to bail itself out from MBS /CBOs etc = (the banks Citi/BOA/UBS etc). The Fed in England is doing the same thing (Llyods, etc).

Look for the global trade scenario to change very quickly -where IS dollars are shunned for regional currencies. The Ponzi scheme has been revealed -and the US and Euro land have continue to pretend they are rich.

Look for continued housing price falls -as 'finally' the American public realize that chaining them to debt was an insidious way to rob a hard working population of amenities such as retirement, healthcare, etc.

Look for surreptious taxes -no idling your car, consumptioon taxes (alcohol/cigarretes, a pole tax (strip joints-seriously being discussed in NY). Don't forget municipal and state taxes and of course suspending all rebates and having a lot of working joes -being adited by the IRS -and being asked to fork out a few grand.

Welcome to the beginning of the end. Seems like 2012 by Mayans -may not just be a cultural belief.

Country Default Risk Continues Its Rise

It would have been nice to include GDP/Debt ratio -as well as say actual GDP. I think we may see that countries with the lowest GDP/Debt ratio's (Russia) have a very high CDS rate -which is puzzling when compared to countries that have very high GDP/debt rate -(Japan/Itlay etc).

How much is the 'perception' of a political system being tied into these CDS's?

Who Will Win the Economic Battle for Ukraine?

As stated earlier given the historical ties and the rather large Russian population - it was foolish to expect that a coup led by Yushchenko would last. As Hungary, Romania and especially Poland is finding out the largesse of the 'west'- is generally tied into profit first. Mortgages denominated in foreign currency (Swiss Francs/Euros) coupled with the horrific depreciation of their currency (which they were availed upon to 'float' has caused an economic turmoil and anger that is barely glimpsed at in Euroland and the US.

Latvians attacking their Treasury should give pause to acceptability of bringing out the rallying cry of 'democracy' -a code word for unfettered capitalism. Social safety nets were cut in abandon and generations used to such are now causing huge swaths of the population to wax nostalgic of a an inept socialism that provided free education and plentiful support-though not the grand visitations of opulence, conspicuous consumption and of course Ipods and Iphones. This nostalgia is spreading like wildfire to Lithuania, Bulgaria and perhaps even Georgia.
Putin is in no danger - any minor hiccup by a foreign leader who is on the 'blacklist' is mindlessly turned into a 'political crisis'. We have seen these establishmentarian hacks do so time and time again with Chavez, Castro, Morales and of course Putin. Not one of these leaders actually faced a crisis -and in reality seem to cement their hold by doing the ridiculous - such as decreasing poverty, disparity of wealth, and the exodus of capital siphoned from natural resources. They have increased their hold despite the clarion calls of doom proffered by western journalists across the globe.

Apparently - someone forgot to tell the entire populations of Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela and Russia - since it is much easier to just publish the drivel meant primarily for the consumption of gullible 'western' populance who remarkably after two elections of Chavez winning by large margins -still can not get over the fact that he and all others are elected leaders. I would seriously disregard any further writings of this journalist- next he will write how Bear Stearns is fully capitalized - or perhaps he already did.

Gold Price Chart

I think this is profit taking for the short run. The massive spending of the US government amongst other countries can not be denied. The 'safety' of treasuries/etc must be fortified as a perception. But I don't it will hold. When there is a looming hole of 13 trillion dollars and an upcomingdeficit of an additional 1.5 trillion coming (current account)- there will be a lot of investors piling into gold -down the road.
There is a limit as to how much hogwash 'people' can swallow. I seriously doubt that the borrowing your way out of debt path will be welcomed. Once more as the panic subsides -gold will slowly and surely uptick.

Global Markets in Review: In the Clutches of Uncertainty

The US will not blow a lot of countries into the stone age. Because it is akin to killing the goose that lays the golden egg. You can forget China (we need to keep those American factories in Taiwan/China/etc profitable so they can continue to exploit foreign labor and disenfranchise American labor -facilitating the concentration of wealth to the connected and incompetent.

There doesn't need to be an 'alpha' male of currencies. Simply put -there just needs to be a lack of interest in the illusion of hegemonic theory. In fact- there is a lot of movement underway to trade in regional currencies in South American and Asia. The only reason it isn't happening in the GCCs is because we are very careful to prop up dictatorships of nincompoops (usually hereditary-to ensure a more nincompooped line thank to in-breeding). At some point -these countries will have suppressed their populations a bit too much with their camel prod carrying police (think taser) and addiction to an entitlement lifestyle which necessarily forces one to be encumbered with wholesale hypocrisy. But at some point -sheer economic necessity and the fear of being overthrown will cause them (like Saddam) to be disloyal to their 'master'.

The writing is on the wall-as surely as it was for Britain. The Western era has ended in a brief 4-5 hundred year span. Perhaps it may be the Chinese in the interim- however- I think in the long run -the indigenous socialist movements of South America and the countries vast resource and relative under-population will be the start of the new era-starting around 2125- but the date for the beginning of the end is 2012-as was prophesied.

Santelli's Chicago Tea Party: The Quest for Our Nation's Soul

"We are Russia if promises are not kept, chains of preference not honored, and apparatchiks select winners and losers." And exactly what part of this -is the US not doing?What the heck is a chain of preference -other than a meaningless sentence with out elaboration?

I am surprised that cynicism and critical perspective have rarely been applied to our country and it's actions. Though amply documented (always by immoral employees who 'worked' with in the system -enriched themselves and then write a 'tell-all' book --such as 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman'.

What does this really say about the american 'character'- where and why is Iraq so drastically different from Vietnam? Why is it necessary to kill millions of people rather than simply remove the leaders -who after all -were/are in the employ of the US/ Western powers (see Eygpt/Saudi Arabia/ etc)?

'Our governement' has started down this road -with the support of the Unnited Fruit Company (Cuba), the invasion of a pennniless and practically armyless Grenada, a decade long genoicde that eventually encompassed Laos, Vietnam etc -and now Iraq and Afghanistan. How are we so 'advanced' from the Dutch/English who killed millons to feed a population that congratualted themselves of
their' hard work -when all the while cannabalizing other populations fora 'lifestyle'. Sorry -I got to go vomit -- the gall that is in this article -not to mention the ignorance.

Ukraine's 'Great Depression' Arrives

If anything - I suspect these countries of the former soviet bloc wax nostalgic about the good old days when the slow turtle like pace of progress will be warmly remembered when compared to the eplosive growth and torturous crisis of the full blooded, non-discretionary embrace of capitalism. The masses always prefer decades of stability and a lower standard of living which provided them with costless education , health care etc to the massive disenfranchisement and chaotic aftermath of an economic disintegration.

Rick Santelli Speaks for the Silent Majority

I feel that Aristophanes, the Ideologic Dyslexic and of course dc2ndtest- have all put forth a countervailing interpretation that is valid. After all- the term majority is bandied about with out a shred of objectivity. Fine -50 people on this site agree with him or a 1000 -that does not constitute a majority- it may in fact constitute an opinionated and loud minority. As has been proven with the 'moral majority' -who neither moral nor a majority.

If the trillions of dollars pumped into the banking system and corporate sector and guarantee GSE's is looked into and the stimulus bills. We can see that the simplest and most direct method would have been to wipe out the banking system -start a new one which would later be privatized. A jubilee for the indebted upto 50k and a tax rebate applied over 5 years for those who are not indebted.

The leading culprits (Madoff/Stanford/Thain etc) should be permanently exiled from the country and have 60% of their assets remanded to the US government and be permanently exiled from the US. All insolvent institutions (banking, auto etc) should be taken over by the government and sold t investors after bankruptcy proceedings of which no sovereign fund, foreign country , hedge fund can own more than 30 percent of the stake.

The Federal Reserve should be forced to take a 30 percent haircut on the debt it holds of the US. In return for the trillions of dollars already spent by the taxpayers in bailing out it's main institutions (Citi,JP Morgan/Chase/BOA).

A sovereign bank will be created by the sale of assets of bankrupt institutions that would always provide prime + 1 percent loans to US citizens in need who meet strict lending criteria and agree to do some sort of volunteer or national service. That means doctors/MBAs/ etc would in return for government education loans must work in the government for a period of 3 years to access these loans or provide volunteer services to their commuity (police/fire/boys&... clubs, healthcare, eldercare).

The reduction of the debt burden would revitalize America with in a few years. The banks/Fed Reserve would still be allowed to function but have paid their requisite penalties. The Credit card agencies usurious rates would be caped at the prevailing rate of a 30 year mortgage + annual fees not to exceed 5% of credit extended. The soveriegn credit bank for US citizens ensures that US citizens do not have to be ripped off by private institutions that seek to further indebt them through unfair practices. FDIC protection would only extend to US sovereign banks and nationalized banks -this forces private banks to be more careful when taking risks with depositors money and also forces them to increase interest rates for deposits in order to compete. Gone will be the days of zero percent interest on savings and checking accounts and therefore encourage savings and also attract those clients who would take on greater risk of losing their money i return for higher interest rates.

In short- US government must tackle indebtedness that engulfs this nation. I do feel that the US government is well with i its right to demand a 30 percent haircut fro the Fed on all US debt held by the federal reserve. The extra money fro savers will be put in the economy rewarding thse who led their lives responsibly. The debtors get a break and are punished by not being able to participate in the opportunities provided when the national debt burden is reduced.

Russia's Pact with China: Will Others Follow Suit?

Actually I see more of these 'credits' coming down the pike. It makes perfect sense to synergize raw materials and manufacturing (Russia and China). This could be done in an mutually beneficial way (with more benefit for China).

Russia -staves off the effects of capital flight from Western countries via China excess dollars. China gets to invest in it's infra-structure while commodities are low and bring another option other than investing in a declining dollar. The deals wil eventually be converted into local currencies -and remove the effects of dollar hegemony from attacking these countries-allowing them both to develop.

If India was smart -they would do the same thing and exchange their service sector achievements as well as management for raw materials. In the short run -they get a jump start on investing in much needed infra-structure in a deflationary environment. Russia gets to re-nationalize their core resources usurped by corrupt oligarchs.

If Russia would allow immigration freely -with in twenty years they would be the new US. Where immigrant labor and services exchanged for raw materials would lead to a vastly improved infra-structure that Russian businesses would leverage to competitive advantage. Just as US corporations did with the highways, airports and telecommunications infra-structure created by government funds.

Time to Fix the Trade Deficit

I am not sure that there is no return on ' American security' services- as the person above puts it. Other's may call it colonialization. Take Japan for example where we have over 150K troops for over 50 years and also Korea. Japan in particular has gone out of its way to make sure the policies it implements will benefit the US at the cost to its own people. Germany as well, Saudi Arabia, Kuawait are also in the so-called subsidized services beneficiary line -with whom we wouldn't have two of OPECs producers helping to drive down the price of oil for the benefit of the consuming American public.

I am not sure why people thik that these 'services' are primarily there to benefit the US political and strategic missions (hegemony and using the military to support a move out of the US dollar's by many Asian/MidEast countries (Iraq/Iran). It has been well documented that the US military is used to support dollar hegemony -which is the real reason the US can sustain such mind-boggling deficits.

Gold's Current 'Message'

There were some numbers floating around that said that global stimulus is about 3% of global GDP. Which is ludicrous since -if Global GDP is around 50trillion -that means the US itself has put up all of the stimulus. I would say more like 8% of GDP - when you throw in the Euro countries (England for sure), China and the rest of the world. In short- massive global fiat money creation will lead to inflation - and most investors see the writing on the wall.

All of a sudden you now find an increasing number of articles propounding shorting Gold. Which basically means -that there are a lot of concerned policy people that private investor dollars will see commodities as a safer haven than government bonds/ corporate bonds. Which means that the stimulus will have to continue till atleast 2010 if not 2011.

There will be a concerted effort to drive investors back into bonds and equities -so look for some funny action in commodities. Which will take off -once all this stimulus comes on board.