Financial Permaculture: Greening a Rural American Community
October 24-28, 2008
Hohenwald, Tennessee
Attend this 5-day regenerative business and community development course and design simulation wi…
Facing Federal Probe, JPMorgan Exits Municipal Swaps
Business Standard (5 Sep 2008)
“JPMorgan Chase & Co will stop selling interest-rate swaps to government borrowers in the $2.6 trillion US munic…
My focus during the presidential elections — as it has been for the last three elections — is on helping you understand what you can do to protect your assets before, during and after the election, …
If it is bothering you that the price of everything that is losing value is up and the price of everything that is increasing in value is down, Eric Sprott’s latest may help you stay grounded.
The Ph…
Fighting Foreclosure: Subprime Borrowers Battle (and Beat) Lenders in Court
By Amanda Stutt – Village Voice (3 Sep 2008)
Excerpt: “If the paperwork is garbage I deny it”
More and more Judges have dem…
“Deja Vu View” is our title to revive things we have written in the past that are worth revisiting given current events.
The federal government having to assume another $5 trillion in liabilities fo…
Moody’s ratings downgrades of Freddie and Fannie preferred last week are going to be bad news for insurance companies and regional and small banks who are believed to have large holdings in approximat…
Financial Permaculture Blog:
a resource for gathering information and conversations about financial permaculture
Also see: The Farm Blog
In 1989, I was serving as Assistant Secretary of Housing. The housing bubble of the 1980’s had burst, and foreclosures were rising. The mortgage insurance funds of the Federal Housing Administration…
The financial permaculture conversation continues . . .
Pebble Mine
At Gaiapoiesis – 19 Aug 2008)
Pebble Mine – at Wikipedia
This weekend, Barrons published a piece on Fannie and Freddie indicating the chances for nationalization were rising. Today, the stocks dropped like a stone.
Bailout Concerns Slam Freddie, Fannie Sha…
Charles Warns GM Farming Will End in Ecological Disaster
By Robert Booth – The Guardian (13 Aug 2008)
Bohemian Grove 2008 – July 11-27
Wikileaks: Bohemian Grove 2008 Guest List
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was passed by the United States Congress on July 24, 2008 and signed by Preside…
On August 12, Maureen Dowd writes in the New York Times that Hillary Clinton is planning on staging a commotion at the Democratic convention at the end of August. During the day, I keep hearing rumors…
Even Bloomberg is saying something stinks on the Bear Stearns option trading:
Bringing Down Bear Began as $1.7 Million of Options
By Gary Matsumoto – Bloomberg.com (11 Aug 2008)
Nestlé to renegotiate McCloud Deal
By David Benda – Redding News (6 Aug 2008)
“Nestle Waters North America announced Tuesday it’s pulling out of its original contract with McCloud Community Services …
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008:
An Analysis by Catherine Austin Fitts
~ Click here for the full article.
If there is to be any blessing in this housing bill, perhaps it will be to so …
In the Destruction of the Old, Let There Be the Creation of the New
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation is now marketing a new documentary called I.O.U.S.A. I have only seen the trailer. Based on readin…
Gauging life by the Koolee Index
by Micheal Overall – Tulsa World.com (11 Aug 2008
Gauging life by the Koolee Index
by Micheal Overall – Tulsa World.com (11 Aug 2008
The Two Great Financial Mysteries of Our Time: Missing Money and Collateral Fraud
There are two great financial mysteries in America:
where is all the missing money and how do we get it back?
…
Excerpt:
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth … later was removed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which said he had lost his objectivity. The government had asked t…
Andrew Cuomo Owes Us $5 Trillion
It is not easy to engineer the bankrupting of the American middle class and the U.S. government.
Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve banks and their members can p…
The Tapeworm Corporation Comes Out of the Closet
(Comparison Chart: Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the DOW, 1989-2008)
Eisenhower warned us about a military industrial complex. I have read that he had …
Withholding Taxes Chart – Current through the Daily Treasury Statement dated August 4, 2008
From Matt Trivisonno’s Blog
~ Thanks to The King Report for pointing this out.
It looks like Royal Dutch Shell will end up paying about $600 million in connection with global class action lawsuits and enforcement that were triggered by its reclassifications of its oil and gas re…
It looks like Royal Dutch Shell will end up paying about $600 million in connection with global class action lawsuits and enforcement that were triggered by its reclassifications of its oil and gas re…
Overview
I have had several requests to comment on the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.
This afternoon I read hundreds of pages of bill language. Essentially, my take on the bill is that …
Nation State or Investment Syndicate?
One of the instructive features of the housing bill is the nature of creditor politics that is a subtext on housing and mortgage politics these days. One invest…
Your House Is Bigger than My House
When I was Assistant Secretary of Housing – Federal Housing Commissioner, then Secretary of HUD Jack Kemp asked me to his office for a private discussion. He explai…
The Profits of Playing Ball
The housing bill brings up a number of important questions about the risks and rewards that result from government subsidy and bail outs.
One recent market commentator p…
Where Is the Collateral?
Any government official asked to come up with a workout plan for troubled financial institutions, large portfolios of financial assets and liabilities and/or places that are…
What will be the successful business models of the future? This is an important conversation and our ally at Gaia Emerging has some thoughts. This is right in line with the mission investing conversa…
This Friday, we will experience a solar eclipse. Here are links to learn more:
NASA Eclipse Web Site
Solari Eclipse of August 1, 2008 – at Wikipedia
If a Single Household Loses $250,000, a Community Loses $3.3 Billion
As someone who lives in a rural community where everyone knows everyone else, I love to see people and communities prosper. In m…
This weekend each American became liable for another approximately $2,666 of debt (and counting) to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Congress Backs Rescue Package
By A…
NAB Will Shock Wall Street
By Robert Gottliebsen – Business Spectator, Australia (25 Jul 2008)
To the Business Speculator, Australia:
Good piece. Thanks.
You stated that “NAB had a 55 per cent loss…
New Green Deal Same as the Last
Gaiapoiesis Blog (21 Jul 2008)
“The deep answer to all of the myriad of social justice, environmental justice, and resource depletion problems lies not in centralized …
Case-Schiller Home Prices and Consumer Confidence Index
By Natalie – Swivel Preview (10 Jul 2008)
SEC Short-Sale Rule Gets Negative Reviews
By Kara Scannell – Wall Street Journal (19 Jul 2008)
The Backbone Campaign has asked Cabinet nominees to record recommendations for candidate positions. Here’s mine as nominee for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
Listen here >>>
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Read the tr…
We live in a flow of economic warfare. There are no markets. There are resources, politics that weave into highly complex legal and regulatory issues, as well as operational and market issues which im…
Posted On: Monday, July 14, 2008, 9:33:00 PM EST
“Receiving Share Certificates For Stocks In An IRA Without Being Penalized”
Author: Jim Sinclair
Dear CIGAs,
The following comes with a disclaimer a…
If we look at a community as a financial ecosystem with financial sustainability as one of our goals in achieving overall sustainability, one of the questions we should ask as we reduce waste is “who …
Fannie and Freddie are down again this morning…
Fed’s Discount Window Said Open to Fannie and Freddie
By Romain Bostick – Bloomberg News (11 Jul 2008)
In 1997, in my attempt to persuade US leaders…
Fannie and Freddie are down this morning:
One consensus is emerging on line that the Fed is to blame for mortgage market woes:
Who Killed the Economy? – At Portfolio.com (24 Jun 2008)
The respon…
Given the interest in the housing and mortgage bubble, here are links to introduce leading institutional players in the governance, regulation and credit guarantee/enhancement of the US mortgage market.
As the housing and mortgage bubble was a component of the “strong dollar policy,” the same players are also present in the other components, including the suppression of the gold price (a necessary step that preceded this bubble as the suppression of the gold price turns off the financial “smoke alarm”) and the refusal to produce audited financial statements for the US government from fiscal 1995 to date (as required by law) thus allowiing trillions to go missing from the US government.
Given the interest in the housing and mortgage bubble, here are links to introduce leading institutional players in the governance, regulation and credit guarantee/enhancement of the US mortgage market.
As the housing and mortgage bubble was a component of the “strong dollar policy,” the same players are also present in the other components, including the suppression of the gold price (a necessary step that preceded this bubble as the suppression of the gold price turns off the financial “smoke alarm”) and the refusal to produce audited financial statements for the US government from fiscal 1995 to date (as required by law) thus allowiing trillions to go missing from the US government.
I am quite inspired these days by the folks I am working with on sustainability issues here in Tennessee. (Example: see Financial Permaculture ) I asked one of our sustainability leaders recently for…
The inflation of the U.S. financial and mortgage finance stocks that began in the mid-1990’s with institution of the strong dollar policy, the suppression of the gold price and the movement of signifi…
View the vote tally in the Oklahoma House of Representatives
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Wikipedia on Gun Politics
The Supreme Court Opens Fire
The Economist (26 Jun 2008)
Read the Supreme Court Decision
Charlie Black, in an interview with Fortune, said “a fresh terrorist attack ‘certainly would be a big advantage to him [John McCain].'” Black also “said that the December assassination of former Pakis…
Here is the year-to-date price change in commodities and stocks:
Crude oil up 43%
Ethanol up 21%
Heating oil up 44%
Natural gas up 77%
Unleaded gas up 40%
Cattle up 1%
Corn up 59%
Soy beans up; 26%
W…
Money High Street
By Mark Nestmann
For many years, I’ve advocated keeping valuable items in private vaults, rather than safety deposit boxes. A raid June 2 on three private vaults in London has le…
I just love reporters who take the time to dig into financial statements and come up with the truffles to be found there. I posted Jonathan Weil’s gem from Boomberg this week on the Fed’s treatment of…
Most Recent Hillary Clinton Stories:
The Clinton Scandals
What You Won’t Find in The Clinton Museum and Library
The Real Divide on Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama & Vanna White
Th…
Catherine’s post – “What’s Up in Alabama?” has been updated. ~ View it here.
Catherine’s post – “What’s Up in Alabama?” has been updated. ~ View it here.
Wind farms that use spinning blades and turbines to generate electricity have the undesirable side effect of disrupting the operation of radar systems. The JASON defense science advisory group was ask…
A new report from the Bank of International Settlements indicates that global outstanding derivatives just keep growing in amount.
Highlights of International Banking and Financial Market Activity – …
I first met Jim Johnson in the early 1990’s. I was a great admirer of his predecessor at Fannie Mae, David Maxwell. David had recruited Jim from Lehman Brothers to serve as Vice-Chairman at Fannie Mae…
Money Supply at 5 Jun 2008
St. Louis Federal Reserve Report
~ Previous blog posts on MZM: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
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Adjusted Monetary Base
St. Louis Federal Reserve Report
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Water Crisis to be Biggest World Risk
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard – London Telegraph (6 Jun 2008)
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Just 17% Say Federal Government Represents Will of the People
Rasmussen Reports (3 Jun 2008)
Just 17% of voters say that the federal government represents the will of the American people. A Rasmussen…
Neither Honest Nor Trustworthy: The 10 Worst Corporations of 2007
By Russell Mokhiber & Robert Weissman – Multinational Monitor.org (Nov/Dec 2007)
“A November 2007 Harris poll found that less tha…
From Phil Cubeta – At GiftHub.org:
Getting Your Philanthropy Advice from a Loan Shark?
(31 May 2008)
Mr. Repo Man as Philanthropic Advisor
(31 May 2008)
Total Borrowings of Depository Institutions from the Fed – 1910 to present:
Rob Kirby wrote to the Wall Street Journal earlier this week:
Kate Kelly:
Congratulations on your article, “Fear, Rumors Touched Off Fatal Run on Bear Stearns.
Quite a story you’ve written there….
Rob Kirby wrote to the Wall Street Journal earlier this week:
Kate Kelly:
Congratulations on your article, “Fear, Rumors Touched Off Fatal Run on Bear Stearns.
Quite a story you’ve written there….
The proprietor of GiftHub.org has his next comment for us:
Read the full article here.
Tonight, Dennis Bernstein and I are going to be back on Flashpoints helping Dennis switch from his existing bank, Wells Fargo, to a local credit union.
Here are some links that we will be using durin…
Oh, my.
Terrorizing honest government regulators and their contractors in life threatening ways, seizing and stealing their software tools and databases providing public access to transparency regard…
If you are curious to know more about the headlines regarding losses on auction rate securities, here is a new lawsuit filed against UBS that outlines some of the background and issues.
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Good news! The Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor has announced the April Producer Price Index. You will be delighted to hear their finding that gasoline prices decreased 4.6 p…
Rob Kirby of Financial Sense discusses his conversation with Catherine about the demise of Bear Stearns and related events.
The Next Shoe to Drop
By Rob Kirby – Financial Sense WrapUp (19 May 2008)…
Dmitry Orlov’s book “Reinventing Collapse” is an excellent introduction to the de-industrialization that numerous areas of the world have experienced, written for Americans interested in preparing for…
Dmitry Orlov’s book “Reinventing Collapse” is an excellent introduction to the de-industrialization that numerous areas of the world have experienced, written for Americans interested in preparing for…
One of the signs watched to determine risks of inflation or deflation is the relationship of current commodities prices to those expressed in future contracts. Here are two words we are going to be se…
Does Being Ethical Pay?
By Remi Trudel & June Cotte – Wall Street Journal (12 May 2008)
<ul>”After reading about the company and its coffee, the people told us the price they were willing t…
“Now previously we have said that we expect housing prices to fall at least 15% nationally, and today they [have fallen] about 9% through the measure we use which is relative to our market. We want …
The Kaufman Foundation has an excellent mission. I always want to know what Bob Litan is thinking about, so I have high hopes for Growthology, a new blog from the Kaufman Foundation. I wonder what the…
Investors’ New Worry: “Auditor Risk”
By Robert Barker – Barker.Online (25 Jan 2002)
“Thank heaven for Arthur Andersen.
You may think I’m nuts, given the hellfire now licking at the once-venerable Ch…
I was speaking with Dennis Bernstein of Flashpoints about our show, Community Business, which we do each Wednesday night. We were talking about Solari Audio seminar, “The REAL Economic Hit Men” I me…
Bernanke Lunched with Dimon, Rubin Before Bear Rescue
By Scott Lanman – Blomberg.com (12 May 2008)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke lunched on March 11 with a Who’s Who of Wall Street leade…
Investor Releases
Zurich / Basel, April 21, 2008, 07:00 AM
UBS announced today that it has issued a Shareholder Report detailing the key facts relating to the firm’s positions and losses in the U.S. s…
China is Hit by 7.8-Magnitude Earthquake Near Chengdu
By Aaron Sheldrick & Eugene Tang – Bloomberg.com (12 May 2008)
China Earthquake Information – USGS
From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org…
Chilean Volcano Erupts ~ View all photos in the series
Chile Volcano Forces Evacuations
BBC News (2 Jan 2008)
Update:
Men’s Health ranks Birmingham as one of the four most impotent cities in the country. Could this help explain the problems in Alabama?
Impotence Hits You Where You Live
Men’s Health.com
~ Vie…
Update:
Men’s Health ranks Birmingham as one of the four most impotent cities in the country. Could this help explain the problems in Alabama?
Impotence Hits You Where You Live
Men’s Health.com
~ Vie…
The chances of the Clear Channel $20 billion buyout closing look even more uncertain as the parties prepare to go to trial.
“Law and Order” Court Preps for Clear Channel Trial
By Leslie Gevirtz – R…
Now that the year-end figures are in, the silence of the pension funds on their mortgage and financial institution losses is eerie. This includes the NY pension funds:
Unanswered Questions About NY P…
Jay Taylor just sent out a letter to his subscribers describing a meeting at the Committee for Monetary Research Education, Inc. and his fellow speaker, Stanley Sporkin, as “known for his uncompromis…
The inflation in Zimbabwe is a current example of how monetary bailouts send the price of food and other essentials into the stratosphere.
[Click image to view full report.]
Human Flourishing in a Constitutional Republic
By Phil Cubeta – Gift Hub (4 May 2008)
Two Gems From Gift Hub
Catherine Austin Fitts Blog Post – Solari (2 Aug 2007)
Special Thanks to Rob Kirby of Kirby Analytics and LeMetropole Café.
Those of you who wonder what I mean by “the Tapeworm” will better understand the concept after reading the following article:
The Real Matrix: The Pentagon Invades Your Life
When something is so per…
I find Peter Barnes proposals in Capitalism 3.0 to be/have:
1. Well intended. That’s important. Smart people, who are willing to try to figure out what is going on, communicate and collaborate, can…
If ten percent of the Bay Boomers allocated $9,000 to buy silver, we would have 7.5 million (ten percent of the boomer population) times $9,000. Pretty simple arithmetic; the product is $67.5 billion….