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Even before he took the oath of office, Barack Obama embraced the financial crisis of 2008.  In the words of his then Chief-of-Staff Rahm Emanuel, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” and Obama saw the recession as an opportunity for him to play investor picking winners and losers with hundreds of billions of borrowed dollars.  This was his moment to “transform” the American economy to match his vision for a brave new world.  Lavishing billions on green technology was high on Obama’s list of favorites.  In just three years, his Administration has pumped $80 billion into...

I'm not sure if this has been posted on Free Republic. I am posting in case it hasn't been. Here are the top 20 contributors to Mitt Romney's campaign: Goldman Sachs $367,200 Credit Suisse Group $203,750 Morgan Stanley $199,800 HIG Capital $186,500 Barclays $157,750 Kirkland & Ellis $132,100 Bank of America $126,500 PriceWaterhouseCoopers $118,250 EMC Corp $117,300 JPMorgan Chase & Co $112,250 The Villages $97,500 Vivint Inc $80,750 Marriott International $79,837 Sullivan & Cromwell $79,250 Bain Capital $74,500 UBS AG $73,750 Wells Fargo $61,500 Blackstone Group $59,800 Citigroup Inc $57,050 Bain & Co $52,500 What does this tell you? Well,...

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the approval process for Bank of America’s $8.5 billion mortgage put-back settlement should be moved to federal court, making it more vulnerable to attack from investors and public officials. William Pauley, a federal judge in Manhattan, said the case must be heard in federal court because it “implicates core federal interests in the integrity of nationally chartered banks and the vitality of the national securities markets.” Bank of America in late June struck the $8.5 billion deal with 22 big institutions like BlackRock that had invested in Countrywide’s mortgage-backed securities and claimed that...

There's nowhere for investors to hide. No safe haven. The fourth-quarter kickoff yesterday saw the S&P 500 Index slip below 1,100 to a one-year low, while oil and commodities extended their declines in a sign global economies may be headed toward a recession. And in the third quarter, which ended Friday, 45 of 46 countries' stock indices posted declines, and U.S. stocks had their worst quarter in three years. More importantly, many of the issues that prompted those miserable performances remain unresolved, which bodes poorly for the stock market for the rest of the year. What analysts and investment advisers...

“How can the government help me?” This seems to be a growing sentiment among the American middle class. “The land of opportunity” is quickly becoming the “nation of the needy.” Here’s a question I received from a reader just last week: “I am not happy with how things are going since the Bush Administration allowed tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy. These cuts were supposed to end for those who just keep earning more off the middle class. My question is: I am told that investors can invest as little as $1000.00 in real estate, and make a living...

Aug 12 (Reuters) - Bank of America Chief Executive Brian Moynihan met privately this week with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo amid the campaign to calm investors and employees about the bank's share price fall, the Wall Street Journal reported. The separate meetings took place on Wednesday in Washington, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the situation. The intent of the meetings with the two top federal officials was for Moynihan to discuss issues related to housing, consumer spending and the U.S. economy, two people familiar with the meetings told the Journal.

Some of the best cow impersonators let their best bovine bellow out yesterday. They got two chances to showcase their moo and were judged on realism, style and originality. The winner turned out to be an 18-year-old moo-er. He walks away with $1,000, a year's worth of free subs, a coveted cow print jacket, and a golden cowbell trophy.

The U.S. dollar may weaken and Treasury yields rise when Asian markets reopen on Monday, though any selling in response to ratings agency S&P's downgrade of the United States is likely to be tempered by the escalating crisis in the euro zone. The S&P cut in the U.S. long-term credit rating by a notch to AA-plus is an unprecedented blow and results from concerns about the nation's budget deficits and climbing debt burden. It called the outlook "negative," signaling another downgrade is possible in the next 12 to 18 months. "The initial reaction will be a high degree of uncertainty...

For the record, I still believe that there will not be a breach of the debt ceiling and no overt default for the US. Things will be worked out in the nick of time, like they always are.However, the media is full of articles wondering about what ‘investors’ might do in response to a US default and/or credit downgrade. What will happen to Treasury prices? Will they go down as investors dump them en masse in response to a credit downgrade forcing interest rates to climb?It’s a big question and the most likely answer is “No, not really”. Partly because...

Could the financial markets be heading for a June swoon? The answer likely hinges on what happens after the Federal Reserve's $600 billion effort to boost the economy expires. Some investors warn that the end of the program, known as QE2, will upend the stock market and push other markets in unexpected directions. Under QE2, the Fed buys Treasurys from investors who can then put the money in stocks and other investments. Economists call it quantitative easing, and it is the second time the Fed has used the tactic. Since last August, when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke outlined the plan,...

“Lower costs. Higher oil and gas recoveries.” That's how Dan Themig, President of Packers Plus – a privately owned, Calgary-based fracking (completions) company – describes an interesting new development in fracking... ...A development that spells bigger profits for energy producers... You see, Themig's new QuickFRAC® product is one great example of a new trend in fracking – one that gets away from the traditional horsepower model and into one a “Recovery Factor” (RF) model. (The RF approach looks to increase the amount of oil and gas recovered from a well. It's estimated that most wells recover just 5% -20% of...

Earlier this month, Microsoft borrowed $2.25 billion in unsecured debt. What in the world possesses a company with $40 billion in cash and short-term securities to go out and borrow money? Rock-bottom interest rates are one reason. But the bizarre, byzantine U.S. tax code seems to be another. Microsoft declined to comment on whether its recent borrowing was partly driven by tax considerations. But, like many purportedly cash-rich companies, Microsoft can't bring home much of its cash without writing a fat check to the Internal Revenue Service. Politicians have been carping about the more than $2 trillion in cash sitting...

Now for a bit of good news: Rationality may be breaking out in the hedge fund world. Investors are punishing funds that have engaged in questionable behavior and balking at ever-escalating fees. Regulators are showing uncharacteristic backbone, insisting that they will not merely fight the last war when it comes to new rules. That’s a big change from the old way of doing business in hedge fund land, which was to reward failure and ignore problems. Think back to Long-Term Capital Management. The multibillion-dollar hedge fund imploded spectacularly in 1998, presaging much of the larger financial crisis a decade later....

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed securities fraud charges against three former IndyMac executives—including the former CEO and two former CFOs of the company. The SEC complaint alleges that the former IndyMac executives made false and misleading claims in the company's 2007 annual report—as well as in offering materials for a $100 million stock offering. The SEC press release summarizes: "In early February 2008, IndyMac projected that it would return to profitability and continue to pay preferred dividends in 2008 without having to raise new capital. In late February 2008, Perry and Keys knew that contrary to the rosy projections...

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Shoppers who are looking for something sparkly to put under the Christmas tree can skip the jewelry and go straight to the source: an ATM that dispenses shiny 24-carat gold bars and coins. A German company installed the machine Friday at an upscale mall in Boca Raton, a South Florida paradise of palm trees, pink buildings and wealthy retirees. Thomas Geissler, CEO of Ex Oriente Lux and inventor of the Gold To Go machines, says the majority of buyers will be walk-ups enamored by the novelty. But he says they're also convenient for more serious...

The Republicans seem headed for victory in next month's elections. Pollsters say they are likely to take control of the House of Representatives, after a four-year gap, and they might even win control of the Senate. What might this mean for investors? It's still early. What we don't know about the future is probably more important than what we do know. But one thing seems clear: A Republican victory makes it even more likely that the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts will get extended, perhaps indefinitely. While President Barack Obama and the Democrats want to extend the cuts for...

As if battered investors needed more abuse, they are in for a rude awakening at the end of the year. SNIP The most dramatic change will be in the taxation of dividends. Who doesn't love big, stable dividend-paying companies in these uncertain times? Well, you may have to adjust your portfolio as the tax on dividends will rise from the current Bush-era maximum capital gains rate of 15% to a Clinton-era maximum income-tax rate of 39.6%. While Obama had proposed a 20% tax on dividends as an alternative, that now appears unlikely given budget rules enacted by Congress. Speaking of...

The LA Times proudly proclaims, "Obama blasts continued tax cuts for the rich!" But every time you hear leftists refer to "the rich," remember that "the rich" are also known by these other terms: employers, investors, the self-reliant, self-starters. Attacking "the rich" is a direct assault on the people who invest and employ. Hate the rich if you must, but don't force them into poverty or offshore solutions. If you hope to bankrupt the rich, you have only seen the beginning of the economic collapse to come. From the LA Times article: "President Obama drew a sharp contrast with Republicans...

Amid signs that another financial bubble might be in the making — this time involving U.S. Treasury bonds priced at about 100 times their yield — it would be helpful to review what one might call bubble dynamics. That’s the subject of a new book, Crisis Economics, by Nouriel Roubini, the New York University economics professor who famously warned about the housing bubble that began to break in 2007. He discusses “how and why markets fail.” He blames the financial meltdown on “the mantra of free markets” and “decades of free market fundamentalism.” He declares that “in the future, central...

Wary investors are buying gold and silver despite signs of improving home sales and consumer confidence in the U.S. Gold for December delivery rose $11.10 to settle at $1,250.30 an ounce Tuesday, its highest level in about two months. Silver also settled higher. A new report shows consumer confidence is improving but concerns about unemployment linger. Another report says home sales are better, but much of the improvement was traced to government tax credits. The economic worries also are causing energy prices to retreat, while grains are mixed.

Obama's poorly coded message to investors is to take your money out of America and keep it out. Whether through excessive taxation, suffocating over-regulation, or thuggish confiscation, the lesson to be drawn by anyone with excess capital is to look for friendlier places to put it to work. The list of friendlier places excludes North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran for the time being, but almost everywhere else qualifies. Russia's president spent several days in Silicon Valley recently looking for adventurous investors and came away with a $1B commitment from Cisco Systems. For Cisco, sitting on a cash hoard of...

RBS: Equity Investors Are The "Worst Cult In History," Prepare For The "Cliff Edge" The Pragmatic Capitalist Jun. 30, 2010, 4:59 AM I’ve read some alarming research in recent weeks and months, but this one takes the cake. RBS is sounding the alarm on risk assets with a call that markets are at risk of falling off the edge of the cliff. They refer to equity investors as the “worst cult in history….which has no basis in fact, or history, but yet seems universally accepted.” (There’s actually a strange truth in that comment). They believe the current downturn could very...

"SCHWARZENEGGER FLEXES MUSCLE FOR MOSCOW, WHILE OBAMA IGNORES WARNINGS FROM RUSSIAN DISSIDENTS" International News Analysis Today June 29, 2010 By Toby Westerman SNIPPET: "California governor, and former film superhero, Arnold Schwarzenegger has pledged to lead a trade mission to Russia and assist "in any way possible" Russia's drive to develop its own high tech "Silicon Valley." U.S. president Barack Obama has also promised his backing in facilitating the flow of U.S. technology to Russia. The eager participation of Schwarzenegger and Obama in exporting U.S. technological capabilities came during Russian president Dmitry Medvedev's three day visit (June 22-24) to the United...

Uranium is a very unusual sector. For one, it's small. So small, that at one point in history top-producing nations like Canada and France tried to form a uranium cartel to control prices for the metal. The "uranium OPEC" failed. But production today is de facto controlled by a handful of companies. Consider this. The world's top ten uranium mines account for 59% of global production. (The top mine, Saskatchewan's McArthur River, alone puts out 15% of the world's supply.) This is very concentrated, compared to other sectors. In the copper sector, the top ten mines turn out just 30%...

Investor Fund Flows Have Never Been This Bearish Since Lehman Collapsed Vincent Fernando, CFA Jun. 6, 2010, 8:45 AM It's a bit of a surprise that stocks didn't fall further. The last four weeks were actually the worst 1-month outflows since Lehman collapsed in 2008, as shown below in red: From a fund flow perspective, investors in mutual funds have now pulled money out of U.S. stocks during 2008, 2009, and now year-to-date in 2010. To us this should be read as a substantial contrarian indicator. The investor panic was enormous during the last four weeks, and on a multi-year...

LONDON (Reuters) - BP will seek to patch up its battered share price by reassuring investors the cost of cleaning up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is manageable and will not affect dividends, British media reported on Wednesday. The oil major's Chief Executive Tony Hayward will tell investors in a call this week the cost of the clean up -- that has so far spiralled to nearly $1 billion -- can be easily absorbed by cash generated from its operations around the world, the Daily Mail said. BP's failure to stop the oil spill prompted a plunge...

This year I wrote a column that argued it was time to start a debate about the definition of “sophisticated” investor. That was sparked by a saga bubbling in Italy, where investment banks have flogged numerous derivatives trades to local governments, and other entities (including convents) - and some of the deals are now turning sour, sparking law suits. Now, however, this issue of investor “sophistication” has become doubly fraught, for reasons that have nothing to do with Italian nuns. Earlier this week, two Democratic senators filed an amendment to the US financial reform bill, that seeks to impose a...

It's getting harder to trust Washington's numbers. There was, for example, the not insignificant matter of fuzzy health care budgeting. How it was possible for the CBO to budget six years of health care spending based on ten years of revenues is still a puzzle to me. There was also the little matter of restoring a 22% cut in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for physicians, a problem solved by shifting the expense to a separate bill. Then there was the odd coincidence of the autumn Labor Department jobs numbers coming in above what private-sector economists estimated they would be just...

Charles Schwab lost a big court decision last week in a case that has significance for investors in mutual funds. A federal judge ruled that Schwab violated the law when its YieldPlus (SWYSX) ultra-short bond fund failed to get shareholder approval before loading up on mortgage-backed securities. When the market for those securities collapsed, the fund lost 36% — a nasty surprise for investors who believed that YieldPlus was a safe alternative to cash. Left to decide is the amount of damages the investors should receive; lawyers say California investors alone lost about $170 million, the rest about $800 million....

I just finished reading a 144-page document from the Committee of European on ways to prevent market abuse. The paper discusses myriad ways regulators can browbeat listed companies into following disclosure rules. Basically, it's 144 pages on how to force people to tell the truth. Here's the ultimate truth on market regulation. It can't be done. We have insider-trading rules that require company officials to report their personal buying of stock in the companies they own and run. We want to know if the CEO is driving the stock up, or blowing out his holdings ahead of bad news. This...

Investors withdraw up to €10bn from Greece as government prepares tax crackdown to cut down deficit staggering €8bn-€10bn (£7bn-£8.7bn) may have been taken out of Greece by private investors since it became engulfed by economic turmoil in November. Under pressure from the European Union and international markets to rein in the nation's €300bn debt, socialist prime minister, George Papandreou, announced last week that he would have to enforce tough deficit-cutting measures. But the coming austerity package is leading panicked wealthy Greeks to divert their savings out of the country.

Zero Hedge discussed a month ago the disastrous prospects of what would happen if the new proposal contemplated by the SEC, which would allow the suspension of redemptions from Money Market Funds, were to pass. Well, in a nearly unanimous vote, Money Market Funds now have the ability to suspend redemptions, courtesy of the SEC's just passed 4-1 vote. This explains the negative rate on bills: at this point, should there be another meltdown, money market investors will not, repeat not, be able to withdraw their money purely on the whim of Mary Schapiro. As the SEC noted: "We understand...

Do hedge funds have an impact on energy trading? While the answer might seem intuitive, the debate as to whether they actually do has come to resemble the medieval theological dispute about how many angels can dance on the head of the pin. Because, like angels, many trades in energy futures are invisible, and it is often not possible to pinpoint where they take place. And yet, for most of us, including lawmakers on Capitol Hill, it seems obvious that when hedge funds buy and sell billions of dollars worth of oil and gas futures, it must be having an...

For General Electric's investors, yesterday's deal to combine NBC Universal with Comcast was more like a burnt-out light bulb than a bright idea. While shareholders were gratified that GE was finally selling off a business that never quite fit in with the company's industrial bent, the deal's details generated Wall Street's version of a big, fat yawn, with shares in GE falling 7 cents to $16 a share. By comparison, Comcast's stock popped 97 cents to $15.91. GE investors' muted response reflected a few factors, sources said. First, there was a sense among many investors that GE waited too long...

Global markets sank sharply at the end of last week on fears that Dubai World, a subsidiary of the government of Dubai, was on the verge of defaulting on approximately $60 billion of the emirate's $80 billion in total debt held by creditors world-wide. The rush of news stories added to the wildfire of panicky speculation, with headlines ranging from "Dubai Default Risk May be Big US Bank Problem," to "Dubai Shows Limits of Government Rescues." The mini-panic, however, has little to do with Dubai and everything to do with the tenuous psychology of global investors still skittish after the...

A Big, Fat Stock Market Selloff By Eric Fry 10/20/09 Laguna Beach, California – Stocks prices are very, very high… Our contrarian colleagues over at The 5-Minute Forecast continuously lament…which means that the collective anxiety of investors is very, very low. Our colleagues don’t mind that a rising stock market is adding trillions of dollars to the asset side of household balance sheets. That’s good news. But the worrisome part is that a falling stock market could erase those trillions from the ledger just as quickly as they first appeared. And as our colleagues correctly point out, rising share prices,...

Vanguard Cautions Investors On RallyOct. 6, 2009, 4:25 p.m. EDTSam Mamudi, Market WatchDon't be taken in by this year's robust gains, fund firm warns. NEW YORK (MartketWatch) -- Many mutual funds are poised to celebrate stellar returns this year, but one fund firm is going out of its way to warn investors not to get too giddy. Vanguard Group issued a cautionary note on Tuesday, emphasizing that strong third-quarter gains don't mean it's time to go overboard on certain areas of the market. Investors Brace for Earnings SeasonMichael Cuggino of the Permanent Portfolio Funds says the coming parade of quarterly...

HONG KONG -- Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in what was billed as her first public-speaking engagement outside North America, blamed the world financial crisis on government excesses and called for a new round of deregulation and tax cuts for U.S. businesses. "We got into this mess because of government interference in the first place," the former Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate said Wednesday at a conference sponsored by investment firm CLSA Asia Pacific Markets. "We're not interested in government fixes, we're interested in freedom," she added. On the foreign-policy front, she told the room full of bankers and executives...

"After the collapse of the equity and real estate bubble that has plagued us for the last 10 years, Americans have absorbed a tremendous blow to their wealth. We all know housing is down about 30% from its peak. But I’d like to concentrate on what the equity market has done since December of 1999 in both nominal, dollar and gold terms. In nominal terms the S&P500 is down “just” 28.6% since the decade began. But when you ask questions like what how much of my purchasing power have I lost vs. gold and other currencies, the data become even...

Barrick Gold has been hedging its gold production by selling futures contracts, thus locking in the price a year or more in advance of the physical gold being mined. This is a great strategy when gold is falling in price. It makes no sense when gold is in a bull market. Gold has been in a bull market for close to 10 years. It has climbed from a low of $255.10 an ounce to over $1,000 an ounce. Thus, Barrick Gold executives look pretty much like idiots. What were they thinking say back in 2003, when all the key players...

What's interesting is that Connecticut, a state that has for the past three years failed to have passed legislation providing greater transparency in government finances is now calling for more transparency in the private sector.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Cleveland Cavaliers have agreed to allow an investment group from China to become a minority owner of the basketball franchise and its arena. The group, which includes JianHua Huang, a Chinese businessman who has brokered sponsorship deals with the New York Yankees and other sports franchises in the U.S., could acquire as much as 15% of Cavaliers Operating Co., the entity that owns the team and operates Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

Remember the Chrysler "hedge fund investors" that President Obama berated on national TV? Among these people labeled as "no goodniks" by the President were organizations such as the the Indiana State Teachers’ Retirement Fund, and the Police retirement fund. The President of the United States was trying to intimidate retired teaches from exercising their rights as primary investors. That's the politics of change, screw a bunch of retired teachers to reward the UAW for helping you get elected. Now that GM is nearing its bankruptcy a new group of investors are about to get the Presidential screw. Unlike the Chrysler...

'I'm saying that when the president does it that means it's not illegal," shouts Frank Langella's Richard Nixon at Michael Sheen's David Frost in "Frost/ Nixon." He was wrong, and so was President Obama when he said last week that he'd override the contractual and legal rights of Chrysler's senior lenders and carve up the company between the government and the United Auto Workers. Typically, lenders who make money available to a company in return for a first claim on the company's as- O's deal will make investors sit on their assets. sets get about 80 cents back for every...

Citigroup posted a smaller-than-expected loss thanks to cost-cutting and improved investment banking. Still there were missing details and the report left questions open like when will Citi be ready to repay its bailout funds to the government and are its taxpayer supported profits from this quarter sustainable? (See "Citi Profits, For Now.") Wall Street was unimpressed with Citigroup and the stock fell 1.5%, or 6 cents, to $3.94, in midday trading. The past 12 months have been unkind to the New York-based firm, whose seen its market value sink no less than 84.3%. Meanwhile, General Electric ( GE - news...

NEW YORK – Investors doused a two-week-old stock rally Thursday as concerns emerged that the Federal Reserve's new bond-buying campaign could wind up hurting the dollar and causing inflation. ... The retreat came a day after stocks surged in reaction to the Fed's aggressive plans to pump more than $1 trillion into the financial system by buying Treasury bonds and stepping up its purchases of other debt securities. The aim is to lower borrowing rates and stimulate lending. On Thursday, investors began to digest the possible downsides of the Fed's program such as a potentially weaker dollar. That can lead...

JOINT BASE BALAD — Coalition forces and members of the Balad Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) recently hosted Iraqi business investors, future entrepreneurs and local government leaders for the first Iraqi Banking and Finance Conference in this area. Soldiers from 3rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment worked with the PRT to provide a safe environment for approximately 80 economic leaders, including city managers from Yathrib, Ishaki and Dubuiya, to network together and discuss future business opportunities. Amir Abdul-Hadi, the Mayor of Balad district, said to the group there are many profitable projects in the Balad district...

Seventy-five percent (75%) of investors now say the economy is getting worse. That’s an increase from 58% since Lehman Brothers collapsed last September to begin the financial industry meltdown. On the day that President Obama was inaugurated, 63% of investors thought the economy was getting worse.

Let me be very clear on the economics of President Obama’s State of the Union speech and his budget. He is declaring war on investors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, large corporations, and private-equity and venture-capital funds. That is the meaning of his anti-growth tax-hike proposals, which make absolutely no sense at all — either for this recession or from the standpoint of expanding our economy’s long-run potential to grow.

The FBI is probing possible money laundering linked to Mexico's infamous narco-trafficking Gulf Cartel in its investigation of Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford.... An FBI source close to the investigation would not give exact details but confirmed the agency was looking at links to international drug gangs as part of the huge investigation into Stanford's banking activities. Reports in the US have said Mexican authorities have detained one of Stanford's private planes as part of an investigation into possible links to the Gulf Cartel. It has been alleged cheques found inside the plane were linked to the cartel, which is...