Free Republic

Hopes that a reluctant European Central Bank will ultimately take up its "bazooka" and agree to massive sovereign bond buying have helped keep the euro zone debt crisis from a full meltdown. But such bold action would only prevent a sudden collapse. Years of managing market expectations and fears would follow, along with long-term painful austerity measures and other reforms to keep countries on the path to fiscal discipline.

A note by JP Morgan released today contains the following gem: "The quite frankly frightening volatility in the Italian bond market this week together with the rapid pace of political developments (nascent new governments in Greece and Italy) confirms not only a new, more extreme phase in the European crisis, one in which the very irrevocability of the euro is now up for discussion, but also the disconnect that now exists with the currency markets. Yes EUR/USD dropped but the worst daily decline was a 3-sigma move compared to the 10 sigma surge in BTP yields Wednesday followed by the...

Former Penn State coach out of jail on $100,000 bondUpdated: Nov 07, 2011 11:49 AM EST By Melissa Daigle (CBS/CNN) - A former Penn State football coach is out of jail on $100,000 bond. Police arrested Jerry Sandusky over the weekend for allegedly sexually assaulting eight underage boys over a 15-year period. Head coach Joe Paterno says he was told in 2002 about an alleged inappropriate incident involving Sandusky at a Penn State locker room shower. Paterno alerted the school's athletic director. That athletic director and another school employee stepped down late Sunday night.

This morning in London, Sony Pictures had a big press conference about the next James Bond movie, the one that has been rumored and delayed and speculated about for months upon years.

There has been a lot of articles discussing the long-term future of Social Security, and the possible alternatives. In most articles, assertions are made about the actual value of a person's contributions, in comparison to the benefits received. Part of the problem is that most people don't realize that Social Security benefits are not a simple linear calculation. There is a connection between your average wages over your entire career and your benefits, but it's not a straight line. So, I created this graph: The blue line is the Social Security benefit that you would receive, if your average monthly...

Roger George Moore was born in Stockwell, south London on October 14, 1927, the son of a policeman.

SALT LAKE CITY — There was a lot of contention in federal court Thursday over whether Walter Bond rose to the level of a "serial arsonist." But U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart didn't seem that confused before sentencing the 35-year-old to more than seven years in prison — 12 considering that Stewart ordered the sentence to run consecutive with a five-year sentence handed down for arson in Colorado. "I will be the first to admit that I am a serial arsonist," the judge said, quoting something Bond wrote in February. "He does take pride (in what he's done). The court...

Since one can not get a downgrade of a bank during market hours for fears of springing who knows what circuit breakers, Fitch had to wait until just after the market close to release its latest market surprise which consisted of a "watch negative" announcement on the following banks Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman, Morgan Stanley; others it just slashed some by multiple notches, among which: Landesbank Berlin IDR downgraded to A+ from AA-; Lloyds Banking Group IDR downgraded to A from AA-; RBS IDR downgraded to A from AA-; and most importantly UBS IDR downgraded...

This is a big story that you're not hearing much about. cites a forbidden source: This is nearly a half-trillion dollars that the Federal government is on the hook for, which might not be showing up in deficit numbers. Another "perfect storm."

Little to say here: total debt is now at, obviously, a new record high of $14,856,859,498,405.73, which is a $20 billion increase overnight, $67 billion in the past two days, and $162 billion in the last three days. We will repeat the last part: total US debt has increased by $162 billion in three days. Said otherwise, total US Debt/GDP is now 98.9%. Please carry on.Today's debt summary.Yesterday's Debt summary:And from the day before:

Why The Inflationists PROBABLY Have It Wrong, For Now Economics / Deflation Oct 03, 2011 - 01:27 PM By: David Haas Many people are trying – with increasing desperation – to discern the future and plan correctly for the economic environment we’re most likely to find ourselves experiencing. My continued bets have been that deflation will prevail, at least in the early years of the great collapse, and nothing has yet occurred that changes my view. To further advance your personal understanding of the powerful forces (people) at work in the hidden halls of high finance, here is an excellent...

Hang Seng Index leads Asia fall, diving more than 4%. Hong Kong stocks tank as financials plunge on reports that Greek budget misses austerity targets. • Japan stocks dive, with exporters tumbling • Australian stocks fall sharply on Europe jitters

The first set of John Gardner 007 continuation novel trade paperbacks out on Tuesday in the US and the UK. The first three novels shall be License Renewed, Icebreaker, For Special Services and Two more shall be released in May. US Covers UK Covers

20 Bond Bloopers

That’s what we’ve been seeing on world markets since Thursday trading began in Asia; this morning it hit the US with the kind of sickening thud we remember too well from 2008. Amid the general hurricane of bad economic news a few things stand out. Chinese stocks fell almost 5 percent and key real estate company stocks were down by double digit percentages as fears grow that the long-delayed bursting of the China property bubble is here; the European bank crisis is deepening, with the IMF sticking to its guns about the massive capital losses faced by the continent’s banks...

George Robert Lazenby was born on September 5, 1939 in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia.

Sittin here waitin for the race to start, (doesn't look good) and started thinking about all the different actors who played 007. Question, who, in your opinion, played the best Bond and what was his best movie?

Strange. Canada and Australia both have AAA rating yet after the S&P downgrade for US to AA+, their currencies slip in value.

James Bond actor Daniel Craig has recently admitted he believes the script for the latest Bond film is far better than Casino Royale. The Cowboys & Aliens actor said he was excited to reunite with Road to Perdition director Sam Mendes for the upcoming Bond 23, where he will be reprising his role as secret agent James Bond. During an interview, the actor told Cowboys & Aliens director Jon Favreau: "I think it's a great choice because Sam has a fervour and energy to really direct a Bond movie, with a capital B."

The first screen adaptation of a James Bond book was telecast on October 21, 1954 on the anthology series, Climax!. Barry Nelson played CIA agent Jimmy Bond. Wikipedia article IMDb article Casino Royale (1954) The Curious Legacy of Casino Royale In spite of the YouTube titles, this was shown in 1954, not 1953. You may have to crank up the volume a bit: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) - Linda Christian, the Hollywood starlet of the 1940s who married heartthrob Tyrone Power and went on to become the first Bond girl, has died. Her daughter, Romina Power, says Christian died Friday in Palm Desert after battling colon cancer. She was 87.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!!! July 14, 2011 Contact: (323) 556-2623 LOS ANGELES—The newly formed black led South Central L.A. Tea Party group will hold a major rally to expose the lies and misinformation of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) during its 102nd annual convention in Los Angeles on July 24. The purpose of the rally is to bring attention to the failed liberal big government agenda of the NAACP and to expose their lies and hypocrisy on race issues. Who: South Central L.A. Tea Party What: Rally to expose the failed big government agenda and lies...

Bill Gross has reversed course, with the manager of the world’s largest bond fund scaling back bets against the value of US government debt in June as investors sought safety in Treasuries. Pimco’s $244bn Total Return fund increased its holdings of government debt for the second consecutive month and returned its overall position in what it terms “government-related securities” to zero for the first time since February, according to a report issued by the company on Tuesday.

An animal rights activist who burned down a Colorado sheepskin store as well as a leather store and restaurant building in Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty to federal charges Wednesday. Walter Edmund Bond, 35, pleaded guilty to felony counts of arson and violence involving animal enterprises. He has already been sentenced to five years in Colorado and could face between five to 20 years for the Utah fires when sentenced Sept. 19. Prosecutor John Huber said the government will argue to make the Colorado and Utah sentences consecutive to one another. "He is unapologetic. He is an unrepentant serial arsonist,"...

"Bond v. United States and Standing to Challenge Putative President Obama on His Eligibility to be President The U.S. Supreme Court on June 16, 2011 decided Bond v. United States, 564 U. S. ____ (2011). The Bond decision does not say anything that has not been expected regarding filing a case which can establish standing to challenge Putative President Barack Obama on his legitimacy to be President. It has always been my position that a criminal defendant or someone being compelled to pay money challenging an Obama-endorsed Congressional statute which is the basis for the criminal charge against him or...

The Space Shuttle has dominated American space policy—and American space culture—for over three decades now. As Wired magazine recently noted, the shuttle appeared in numerous movies and books and television shows for decades, everything from (shudder) Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (not exactly a shuttle, but it had wings), to a classic episode of The Simpsons (“I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.”), to Top Gear, to (shudder again) Armageddon, to Space Cowboys.

The James Bond film series ended the 1970s with one of its most extravagent entries, Moonraker, where James Bond went into outer space. For the first Bond film of a new decade, producer Albert R. Broccoli opted to bring the gentleman agent back down to earth in For Your Eyes Only. Moonraker hadn’t used much of Ian Fleming. For Your Eyes Only would tap the plots of two Fleming short stories, For Your Eyes Only and Risico. Both had been published in the same 1960 collection of short stories by Fleming. Broccoli brought back screenwriter Richard Maibaum, who hadn’t been...

CHICAGO (CNNMoney) -- Pimco founder Bill Gross reiterated his warning to cash out of Treasuries Wednesday afternoon. Investors who have been betting on Treasuries are destined "to get cooked like frogs in an increasingly hot pot of water," the well-known bond bear told attendees at a Morningstar Investment conference in Chicago. Gross, who manages the $235 billion Pimco Total Return Fund (PTTAX), said real interest rates, which remove the effect of inflation to measure the actual yield an investor receives, have fallen into negative territory. He pointed out that Treasury inflation-protected securities with a maturity of 5 years are trading...

Last Monday [March 21, 2011] marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Arthur “Jibby” Jibilian, the WWII O.S.S. radioman who risked his life in Operation Halyard to help rescue more than 500 U.S. pilots who were shot down over Yugoslavia. This was done with brave assistance from the Tuskegee Airmen. The operation was part of the largest WWII rescue from behind enemy lines, and since it couldn’t have happened without the Serbs, the story has been suppressed and remains largely unknown to Americans. Few people can boast Jibby’s patriotic credentials, yet when our fighting men and women were sent...

The voters of Rio Rancho voted down a $22 million bond proposal yesterday by a more than 2 to 1 margin. The proposal - which was strongly opposed by the local Tea Party - would have raised money to repair roads and to expand and extend existing roads. City officials claimed that the bond was needed as general revenues were not sufficient to maintain existing roads. The Tea Party claimed that with recent increases in the Gross Receipt (Sales) Tax and property taxes general revenues should be sufficient. They also argued that the projects were poorly planned and that the...

"Fundamentals are horrifying: unfunded pension liability [is] growing from $7 trillion this year to $11 trillion next year to $15 trillion in two years. Health care costs going up at 9 percent a year, inability to raise taxes ... headline risk is predominant," Albrycht said. "You need to have aggressive reform, like we are seeing in New Jersey. You need to have governments dealing with the situation, like we're seeing in Wisconsin and Illinois," he added. If over the next 24 months there is not pension reform, the munis are in trouble, Albrycht went on to say. "13 states right...

WASHINGTON (MNI) - The following is the text of a statement Thursday by Standard & Poor's regarding it's decision to convert its credit ratings on the United States to "unsolicited": Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today said it converted its issuer and issue credit ratings on the U.S. federal government (AAA/Stable/A-1+) to "unsolicited." This conversion follows previously announced conversions of the ratings on seven sovereigns in Europe. These actions, in turn, follow new EU regulations on credit ratings (Article 10(5) of EU Regulation 1060/2009), which address matters relating to the disclosure and presentation of credit ratings, requiring, among other things,...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Federal Reserve official says he may push for an early end to the central bank's $600 billion bond-purchase program if inflation shows signs of spreading. Charles Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, is an outspoken critic of the program, which is slated to end in June. Plosser says he "would not rule out" pressing the Fed for an early end to the program if the economy grows more strongly than anticipated and inflation picks up too much speed. The Fed's next meeting is March 13.

Pimco’s Total Return Fund, the largest bond fund in the world and which is run by Bill Gross, has reported that its holdings of US government-related securities fell from 22 per cent in December to 12 per cent in January. The proportion of US government-related holdings, which includes US Treasuries, is at the lowest level held by the $239 billion fund since January 2009 when it held 15 per cent of its assets in the category. In September last year, one-third of the fund was held in government-related securities. Under almost any scenario, interest rates appear to be heading higher....

A Salt Lake City man connected to animal rights activism faces up to 20 years in prison for setting fire to a Denver-area store that sells products made from sheepskin. Thirty-four-year-old Walter Edmund Bond ...also faces federal charges in Utah for fires at the Salt Lake City Tandy Leather Factory Store, and the Tiburon Fine Dining restaurant in Sandy.

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japan's Mount Shinmoe erupted again on Wednesday, spewing more lava, smoke and ash through the area, the country's meteorological agency said. The volcano erupted twice on Wednesday, at 5:25 a.m. and 10:47 a.m., Japan's Meteorological Agency said. Since January 26 when it broke its decades-long slumber, the volcano has erupted seven times, the agency said. For many outside Japan, Mount Shinmoe is known for its role in the 1967 James Bond movie "You Only Live Twice," where it served as the lair for the villain, Ernst Blofeld. In the nearby town of Takaharu, ash blanketed cars, houses...

LONDON (AP) - Composer John Barry, who won five Oscars for his film work but was best known for his contributions to a dozen James Bond movies, has died. He was 77. Barry died in New York on Sunday, his family said. The English-born composer won two Oscars, for the score and the song, for "Born Free" in 1966, and he earned single statuettes for "The Lion in Winter" (1968), "Out of Africa" (1985) and "Dances with Wolves" (1990).

Recent headlines trumpeting staggering budget deficits in states and cities throughout the nation have stricken fear into the hearts of municipal bond investors. California's deficit has grown to an astounding $25 billion, while Illinois is grappling with a projected deficit that could swell to $15 billion. In September 2010, Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg, announced its intention to default on $3.3 million in bond obligations, before their bond insurer stepped in to bail them out. Crunch the numbers and it's not hard to see why investors are feeling nervous about how municipal bond issuers are going to make good on their obligations...

You thought the foreclosure mess was bad? You’re right about that. But it gets so much worse once you start adding in a whole bunch of parallel messes in the world of mortgage bonds. For instance, as Tracy Alloway says, mortgage-bond documentation generally says that if more than a minuscule proportion of notes in a mortgage pool weren’t properly transferred, then the trustee for the bondholders can force the investment bank who put the deal together to repurchase the mortgages. And it’s looking very much as though none of the notes were properly transferred. But that’s not even the biggest...

The San Joaquin Valley town of Chowchilla — known for its dairy farms and prisons — has defaulted on a municipal revenue bond, underscoring the tight times and drastic choices faced by struggling California cities. The city, which has a skeletal manufacturing base, failed to make its January payment on a bond issued in much flusher times to renovate the ample City Hall, which houses a government that has seen a 45% cut in its workforce since mid-2009. But Assistant City Administrator Wayne Padilla said Thursday that he had negotiated with the bond trustee to draw down on bond reserves...

The Leftwing extremist group called 'The Southern Poverty Law Center' of Montgomery, Alabama has with one stroke of the pen smeared conservatives and Patriots in its new, infamous 'blacklist' it entitles, 'Meet the Patriots.' Among those it includes in the blacklist are some of the most reputable conservative Patriots in America today, such as U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), federal judge and Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano, U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R-TX), Gun Owners of America (GOA) chief Larry Pratt, Fox News personality Glenn Beck, and U.S. Representative Paul Broun (R-GA), among others.

Japan to investigate China's bond buying motives Thu Sep 9, 1:49 am ET TOKYO (AFP) – Japan's Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Thursday the government was closely monitoring China's ramped-up buying of Japanese government debt and would check with Beijing on its motives. "We are paying close attention" to recent increases in Chinese purchases of Japanese government bonds (JGBs), Noda said during a session of the upper house financial affairs committee, Dow Jones Newswires reported. "I don't know the true intention" of China regarding its growing appetite for JGBs. However Tokyo plans to "closely cooperate (with Beijing) and examine its...

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AFP) – US President Barack Obama Wednesday admitted some of his policies were unpopular and had not revived the economy quickly enough, but sought to rekindle his frayed bond with American voters. "It's still fear versus hope, the past versus the future," Obama said in economically bereft Ohio, pleading with voters to chose "moving forward" with him, rather than "sliding backward" with Republicans. Obama, seeking to reframe the political debate ahead of November elections in which Democrats fear thumping losses, slammed his foes for pitching the economy into a historic crisis, and "moralizing" about the ballooning deficit. But...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tony Michello of A&A Digital Productions was hired by two bail bonding companies to document bounty hunters apprehending bail jumpers. "It started out pretty simple, go out, no one puts up a fight, handcuff them," said Michello. The bondsmen wanted to shop a reality TV show about bounty hunters. Michello said as the weeks went by more excessive force was being used to apprehend bail jumpers. "Somewhere along the line something twisted, and the heat started to turn up," said Michello As Michello's camera rolled he said he caught bondsmen kicking a man who skipped bail on...

Walter Edmund Bond was taken into custody Thursday in Denver after allegedly telling an informant that he started the Glendale fire and two fires in Utah because they were businesses that "profited from animals." At the time of his arrest by FBI and ATF agents, Bond was carrying a backpack, according to an affidavit by Rennie Mora, a special agent for the ATF. Agents searched the backpack and found literature titled, "The Declaration of War - Killing People to Save the Animals and the Environment - Strike a Match Light a Fuse We've Only Have the Earth to Lose." Bond...

THE JESSE LEE PETERSON RADIO SHOW TUNE INTO JESSE'S SHOW HERE 6 am to 9 am PST, 9 am to 12 pm EST BOND Action, Inc. has been created to educate, motivate and rally Americans to greater involvement in the moral, cultural and political issues that threaten our great country ”Rebuilding the Family by Rebuilding the Man”... Tickets for BOND's 20th Anniversary Fundraising Celebration are now available! Come join BOND Founder and President Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson and Special Guest Speaker Pat Boone for an evening of patriotic fun Saturday, October 16th, 2010 in Los Angeles CLICK HERE for...

NASCAR and the military -- it's a bond you don't see anywhere else in the sports world. From pre-race entertainment to sponsorship, from flybys to honored guests at the track -- no one group is as closely partnered with NASCAR than the U.S. military. But how did the marriage come to be? And why does it work so well? The relationship is where it is today after some hard work, some controversy and some serious thinking outside the box. But one thing is for sure -- the bond between NASCAR and the military is as tight as it's ever been,...

Jim Rogers: Bond Market Bubble Headed for Disaster Thursday, 01 Jul 2010 08:33 AM By: Julie Crawshaw The bond market is a bubble ready to burst because central banks have flooded the world with cash and harmed the world economy, says investing guru Jim Rogers. "I'm watching the bond market, I have no longs and no shorts," Rogers told CNBC. "It is a bubble which is developing; it's one of the few bubbles in the world which is developing." "I think it's going to be a disaster and I plan to be selling them short sometime in the foreseeable future,"...

June 15, 2010 A Vicious Circle for European Governments By LANDON THOMAS Jr. LONDON — As financial markets demand higher interest rates on its debt, Spain, like a number of economies in Europe, is battling to persuade skeptical investors that it can continue to service its mounting financial obligations. At a closely watched auction for 12- and 18-month bills on Tuesday, the Spanish government raised €5.2 billion, or $6.4 billion. The rate of 2.3 percent on the 12-month bills was a sharp rise of 0.7 percentage point from the rate it paid last month and a return significantly higher than...