Free Republic

As Zero Hedge speculated recently, the latest participant on the gold bandwagon is now officially Russia, which last month was said to be considering a sale of up to 25 tons of gold. That posturing did not last too long. Not only that, but Russia is now also actively participating in the dollar intervention market, buying more than $1 billion of dollars to keep the ruble low. Due to moderating inflation and a rapidly appreciating ruble, the country is now considering diversification in the same way that India and China presumable are: by shifting into dollars. Look for much more...

Treasury Blocks the Sale of Tax Credits by Fannie By NICK TIMIRAOS The U.S. Treasury blocked Fannie Mae's proposed sale of nearly $3 billion in low-income housing tax credits to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Friday after concluding that the deal was too costly for taxpayers. The extraordinary move was the latest sign of tensions within the Obama administration over how to balance political and financial pressures resulting from the housing crisis. Fannie Mae had agreed to sell roughly half of its $5.2 billion tax-credit portfolio and had received approval to proceed with the sale from...

So the Treasury threw a party, or a press conference or something, and I was not invited. Geez, it's not like I am against covering Treasury officials. I did, for example, breakdown Phil Swagel's skills as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. And, it is not like I am not curious about the Treasury. I do want to know how many times Treasury Secretary Geithner's father me with President Obama's mother in Indonesia. I do want to know if Geithner's father was a CIA operative working Asia and if his influence helps in keeping Geithner in a position where he is...

When two months ago we discussed the IMF's selling of one eighth of its gold reserves of which as most know by know half was recently acquired by India, we came to the conclusion that the IMF's proposed naive and subjective purpose for this disposition which was framed as "safeguarding against disruption in the gold market" would instead end up with "rioting in goldbugland." Based on gold price action over the past 3 days, we have been so far correct. And the concern for the IMF (and all Central Banks as well) is that India's example will be promptly followed...

The Treasury announced on Monday: •During the January - March quarter, Treasury expects to issue $478 billion in net marketable debt, assuming an end-of-March cash balance of $45 billion, which includes $15 billion for the Supplementary Financing Program (SFP). •These estimates do not include any incremental borrowing needs that would result from a potential increase in issuance under the SFP Got that? $478 billion! There is no sane reason to own Treasury paper, at some point this baby explodes.

<p>The Treasury has been announcing record debt auctions, and yet we see little in the form of increasing interest rates to attract buyers to these securities that are still somehow gobbled up. The Fed's balance sheet, of late, doesn't seem to account for it, as any buying they are doing seems to be sterilized. Are the Chinese so insane that they are buying up anything the Treasury throws up in the air? It appears not.</p>

Asked repeatedly on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether this means taxes will rise, Geithner avoided giving specifics.

The Federal Reserve joined the Treasury Department on Thursday in imposing new limits on executive pay, extending the government's control over compensation at taxpayer-owned companies to institutions that are merely government regulated. {snip} However, the Fed's proposed rules have wiggle room: The guidelines would let banks set their own compensation but give the Fed veto power over pay practices that it determines could threaten the safety and soundness of a bank. They would extends the regulators' reach into pay practices affecting tens of thousands of bank employees, from senior executives to traders of complex securities.

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department and a senior House Democrat have decided against making financial firms pay upfront the costs of dismantling them if regulators decide they have grown "too big to fail," according to a House aide familiar with the plan. Instead, those companies would be allowed to borrow money from the government. The government would then recoup the costs by either seizing the firm's profits or seeking restitution from the entire industry, the aide said. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because details had not been released. Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who chairs the House...

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner is trying to lead the U.S. economy out of its doldrums with - figuratively - one arm tied behind his back: Almost nine months after the Obama administration took power, more than half of the 33 highest-level Treasury Department posts are still vacant. The department oversees the $787 billion economic stimulus program, the $700 billion bank-bailout program and the administration's coordination with other nations on the global financial crisis. The department also has taken an active role in a legislative push to overhaul financial regulation - another Obama priority.

Mortgage Loan Modification is the only solution to save your home and stop foreclosure. As of last month, lenders had sent out more than 571,000 offers to reduce borrowers' monthly payments, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. Treasury says 48 mortgage companies are now involved in the program, up from 38 in July. The companies have requested financial information from almost two-thirds of eligible borrowers and say they are on track to have 500,000 loan modifications in place by Nov. 1. What is Obama's Mortgage Relief Program & How do you qualify?

What did Turbo Timmy and Bendover Bernanke think they were trying to pull? The Fed's "Quantitative Easing" is now basically defunct, with about $6 billion left out of the original $300. Of course the scam of buying Fannie and Freddie Paper (even though it is not full-faith-and-credit, as I have noted repeatedly) will continue through the first quarter of next year. But there looms a larger and more immediate problem for Treasury - their incessant "rolling down the curve" activity over the last few years has led to some real trouble, although Treasury has started to recognize this issue. Currently...

Dispute of Paulson, Bernanke testimony Court documents show that federal regulators were told about billions of dollars in bonuses awarded to Merrill Lynch executives during the company's takeover by Bank of America - contradicting statements to Congress by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), in a brief filed in ongoing litigation with Bank of America Corp., said the bank informed the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve of the Merrill Lynch bonuses as early as Dec. 17 - weeks before the government approved a $20 billion bailout...

I ran across this graph at CampaignForLiberty.com which I think every American should view. A picture is worth a thousand words and this one illustrates what the Federal Reserve System, aided and abetted by the Federal Government's deficit spending policies, have caused. There is good reason why this country has undergone another economic tsunami which will lead to eventual economic suicide. The only one way to prevent this from happening is to recognize the event that caused it and then attempt to reverse it. In 1913 the 16th Amendment to the Constitution abrogating the original words "no capitation, or other...

New revelations about Tim Geithner’s phone records show an appallingly small Wall Street circle. With a probe likely, Simon Johnson says the Treasury secretary needs a bailout—from Larry Summers.

As the federal government propped up the housing market and braced for the collapse of General Motors, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner capped a busy week this spring with phone conversations with three men. The first was Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs. The second was Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of J.P. Morgan Chase. The third was President Obama. Dimon and Blankfein are members of an exclusive club: Along with officials at Citigroup, they are among a cadre of Wall Street executives who have known Geithner for years, whose multibillion-dollar companies survived the economic crisis with his...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has kept in frequent contact with a small group of Wall Street firms since taking the helm at the Treasury, speaking most often with top officials from Citigroup Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.</p>

Barofsky, reviewing the first big bailouts to 9 firms, concludes that the government was too rosy to the public about the banks' health. WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- A government watchdog says federal officials weren't entirely honest with the public about the health of the first 9 financial firms that got federal bailouts, according to a report released Monday. Bailout special inspector general Neil Barofsky says in an audit that Treasury Department officials painted an overly rosy picture, creating "unrealistic expectations," when they called the first bailout banks "healthy" institutions that would be able to lend more with government help. "It is...

The fast-talking and well-dressed Texas customs broker has arrived at the Treasury Department twice in recent years with luggage stuffed with crusty, grimy greenbacks. The money was ruined, he said, and worth about $6.4 million. The broker wanted to exchange the soiled bills, unearthed in Mexico, for a U.S. government check. But the transactions raised alarms for authorities... Felhaber first came onto authorities' radar in August 2005, when he, his uncle and a female relative appeared at the Federal Reserve Bank in El Paso. They had $120,000 in water-damaged and ruined cash, just a small portion of millions of dollars...

The Administration’s proposal on the resolution of systemically-important financial institutions, if adopted, would lead to the creation of ‘zombie banks’ that can neither die nor restructure sufficiently to be viable.

US no longer insures your money-market fund, but that’s good news Withdrawing federal insurance is part of a broader exit strategy from the government's emergency supports for the economy, expected to gather steam this year. ### Savers take note: Your money-market fund is no longer insured by the US Treasury. These mutual funds, which earn interest for millions of Americans in brokerage or 401(k) accounts, rarely run into financial trouble. Almost always, they are able to maintain a reliable value of $1 per share. “Almost” is the key word, though. Last year, one of the original money-market funds, the Reserve...

A little over a year ago the collapse of Lehman Brothers sparked heavy redemptions from the dozen or so money market funds that held Lehman debt securities. The hit was particularly hard at The Reserve Fund, a money market fund that had a $785 million position in Lehman commercial paper. Soon The Reserve saw a run on its Primary Fund, spreading to other Reserve funds. Reserve tried to furiously sell its portfolio securities to satisfy redemptions, but this only depressed their values. Despite its best efforts, The Reserve Primary Fund couldn't find enough buyers and on Sept. 16 the unthinkable...

The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure has been discovered buried beneath a field in Staffordshire. Experts said the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date back to the 7th Century, was unparalleled in size. It has been declared treasure by South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh, meaning it belongs to the Crown. Terry Herbert, who found it on farmland using a metal detector, said it "was what metal detectorists dream of". It may take more than a year for it to be valued. The collection contains about 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, making it far...

Tim Geithner, the Goldman Sachs Secretary of the Treasury, has gone on record as saying that the government will withdraw its $3 trillion backstop guarantee from the money market fund industry, on schedule, today, September 18th. While I am for any reduction in the government's role in the economy, this decision is pretty interesting. Why would they do it now, when even a cursory examination of the real economy shows that things are shaky and rocking the boat on investor confidence seems a bit of a gamble? I will try to answer that question, but only after stepping back to...

Treasury says it will wind down emergency program Treasury says it will start winding down emergency rescue program to buy time for debt ceiling By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer On Wednesday September 16, 2009, 8:19 am EDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Treasury Department said Wednesday it will begin winding down one of the emergency programs created at the height of the financial crisis to give the government more time before it hits the national debt limit.

I wouldn't exactly call this a positive development for Obama's green agenda. Now you know why we have called it 'Cap and Tax.'

As of a few moments ago Bloomberg broke a story suggesting that the US government would be selling off its stake in Citigroup stock. As much as I'm for the US Government and Taxpayer getting away from any of our illegitimate TARP children, Bloomberg's story is just off. here is no such thing as a profit on the sale of this stock when, as a nation, we are into Citi Bank for much more than what was placed into Citi Stock. Specifically, from Bloomberg's article and confirmed via Pro Publica there will be at least $25 billion in warrants left...

Interesting. I would particularly like to know why the gold is valued at $44.22/oz? From the Wall Street Bear.. Would you believe me if I told you that BOTH the Fed and Treasury... Rasputin - Sun, Sep 13, 2009 - 05:07 PM ...claim to own the same U.S. stockpile of gold, in what is apparently a case of "double counting"? Well, it's true, unless there is something I'm missing. And I believe I can prove this allegation, NOT by citing some "Doom and Gloom", "End of the World", conspiracy-minded Website, but rather by providing links to the Fed and Treasury's...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The government will soon begin to pull back on some support for financial markets, U.S. Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner told a congressional oversight panel Thursday afternoon. Geithner said in testimony that the country had moved away from the edge of financial disaster and appeared to moving in the right direction. The Treasury is withdrawing its request for $750 billion more in bank rescue funds that had been included in the 2010 budget request. He said the government will require banks to hold more capital. Since the Bush administration created the Troubled Asset Relief Program in 2008,...

BY END-JULY 2009, sales of new US Treasury bonds had already outstripped full-year sales in calendar 2008. Creating money from nowhere, the Fed's asset-purchase scheme bought bonds equal to more than 18% of that 7-month record, effectively financing $224bn of the total $1.2 trillion in new government bonds. No, the Fed didn't simply hand that cash straight to the government. But it funded the national debt via the primary dealers who did buy the bonds...only to sell them onto the Fed...and thus stumped up 32% of the net cash flowing to Treasury from its bond sales (gross issuance minus maturities)....

The US Treasury Thursday eased restrictions on travel and money transfers to Cuba, a move aimed at promoting "greater contact between separated family members in the United States and Cuba." The move follows an April 13 announcement by President Barack Obama that Washington would lift curbs on travel and money transfers by Cuban-Americans to the island. The 47-year-old US economic embargo on Cuba however remains.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Treasury Department has decided not to challenge the independence of the government watchdog agency that Congress created to oversee spending of the $700 billion rescue package for the financial sector. The confrontation between Treasury and the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, SIGTARP, had prompted congressional complaints that the Obama administration was seeking to restrain the work of inspector general Neil Barofsky. This week, Barofsky declared in a letter to lawmakers that Treasury had, in effect, acknowledged that he is not subject to Treasury's supervision.

That's from today's Washington Post. The "moral hazard risk" arises when government encourages people to gamble by suggesting that government will rescue them if they fail. By bailing out the banks, the federal government has essentially declared to the world that they will do it again. That created a moral hazard.

Goldman Sachs insiders steal 200 million a day Goldman Sachs has bribed politicians to allow the use of their “insider software”; which allows them to know in advance which direction stocks are going! Trust me – It’s hilarious! And the rich wives of Goldman Sachs executives this weekend were screaming that the peasants needed to get out of their way at the Hamptons! The video is done in fun spirits – And the info is unbelievable! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwETpwuSmvc

WASHINGTON — The brightly illuminated room looks like mission control for a space flight. Seven people, wearing headphones, stare intently at computer screens. Three minutes before the deadline, a disembodied voice exclaims, “We have coverage.” This is no shuttle launch. It is an auction of United States Treasury securities, and $32 billion has just been sold in a blink. It was another successful operation for Van Zeck, the commissioner of the public debt, who has the world’s biggest credit card. Mr. Zeck has worked for the federal government for 38 of his 60 years. He is a very busy man...

From Karl Denninger at the Market Ticker: *U.S. TREASURY TO AUCTION $27 BILLION IN 52-WEEK BILLS *U.S. TREASURY TO AUCTION $42 BILLION IN TWO-YEAR NOTES *U.S. TREASURY TO AUCTION $31 BILLION IN THREE-MONTH BILLS *U.S. TREASURY TO AUCTION $28 BILLION IN SEVEN-YEAR NOTES *U.S. TREASURY TO AUCTION $30 BILLION IN SIX-MONTH BILLS *U.S. TREASURY TO AUCTION $39 BILLION IN FIVE-YEAR NOTES

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it plans to purchase Treasury securities in three operations in the next two weeks, fulfilling policy makers' promise last week to slow down purchases of U.S. debt in the hopes that the program could help keep a lid on borrowing costs for consumers and businesses.

Dick Bove points out  this is insane: It is being reported that China Investment Corp (CIC) intends to purchase $2 billion of AAA rated, distressed mortgages in the United States. The press reports are suggesting that CIC is presently interviewing 9 American money managers.These managers have been approved by the Treasury to participate in the PPIP program as servicers. CIC will pick one or perhaps two to manage its investment program. Note that the PPIP program:Has the Treasury matches whatever a private investor puts up, then credits 6X as much capital. So if the Chinese are buying $2 billion, the...

Stocks plunged and Treasury prices soared Monday as investors around the world feared that consumers are too anxious to lift the economy into recovery. The losses on stock exchanges extended the heavy selling that began Friday with a disappointing reading on consumer confidence. And bond investors, once again searching for a safe investment, bought heavily into Treasurys. The Dow Jones industrials fell 165 points, while overseas, the Shanghai stock market tumbled almost 6 percent and the major indexes in Europe fell more than 1.5 percent. Stocks fell across all industries as investors worried that consumers' reluctance to spend will hurt...

Last September, as Wall Street turned to rubble and panic threatened to come unleashed, Ken Lewis, the CEO of Bank of America, agreed to swallow one of the country’s most toxic investment houses. The deal was not altogether voluntary; as details have slowly emerged, the coercive role of the Fed and Treasury has loomed larger. What exactly happened in the weeks leading up to the merger? Did the deal save us all from economic apocalypse? And what does the government’s unprecedented role in it portend for the future of our economy? It’s been almost a year since Bank of America...

In a brilliant piece of investigative reporting, Chris Martenson has uncovered that the Fed, merely a week after issuing $28 billion in 7 year bonds (which Zero Hedge discussed previously) via its puppet, the US Treasury, of which $10 billion ended up being purchased by primary dealers, has turned and bought 47% of the primary allocated bonds in Open Market Purchases. This is undisputed monetization removed simply via one primary dealer and less than 5 days of temporal separation in order to leave no easy trace. Zero Hedge salutes CM for this brilliant piece of sleuthing: now if only the...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner formally requested that Congress raise the $12.1 trillion statutory debt limit on Friday, saying that it could be breached as early as mid-October. "It is critically important that Congress act before the limit is reached so that citizens and investors here and around the world can remain confident that the United States will always meet its obligations," Geithner said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that was obtained by Reuters. A Treasury spokeswoman declined to comment on the letter. Treasury officials earlier this week said that the debt limit, last raised in...

WASHINGTON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday it would sell $75 billion in debt next week in a record quarterly refunding and announced plans to gradually increase issuance of inflation-indexed notes as its borrowing to fight a recession grows. The Treasury said it would sell $37 billion in three-year notes US3YT=RR, $23 billion in 10-year notes US10YT=RR and $15 billion in 30-year bonds US30YT=RR, raising $14.9 billion in new cash. The refunding comes as the U.S. government continues to break new borrowing records, selling over $6 trillion in gross Treasury debt for the first 10 months...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner blasted top U.S. financial regulators in an expletive-laced critique last Friday as frustration grows over the Obama administration’s faltering plan to overhaul U.S. financial regulation, according to people familiar with the meeting. The proposed regulatory revamp is one of President Barack Obama’s top domestic priorities. But since it was unveiled in June, the plan has been criticized by the financial-services industry, as well as by financial regulators wary of encroachment on their turf Watch Video: http://butasforme.com/2009/08/04/geithner-goes-on-expletive-laced-tirade/

WASHINGTON (AP) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the U.S. must cut the annual federal budget deficit, now more than $1 trillion, for the economy to have a sustained recovery and he's not ruling out new taxes. He said the country needs to understand the Obama administration will do what's necessary. He did not detail how the government plans to shrink the deficit, though he said overhauling the health care system and lowering costs are essential. "When we have recovery established, led by the private sector, then we have to bring these deficits down very dramatically," he told ABC's "This...

Analysts say the US will have to triple its bond issuance this year to meet the cost of federal bailout and stimulus packages, while in the UK the printing of money has sent 10-year gilt yields tumbling from 3.64 to 2.94 per cent. The Bank of England’s move to quantitative easing by buying government securities to boost the supply of money is being closely watched by the US as a route it may follow shortly. Now the lower yield on Bank of England bonds sounds like an initial success, as bond holders will experience a rise in the capital value...

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/annceresult/press/press_secannpr.htm Let's see if I can count this up.... 70 day CMBs, $30 billion (July 24th) 13 week Bills, $32 billion (July 27th) 26 week Bills, $31 billion (July 27th) 52 week Bills, $27 billion (July 28th) 2 year Notes, $42 billion (July 28th) 5 year Notes, $39 billion (July 29th) 7 year Notes, $28 billion (July 30th) 19 year, 6 month TIPS (reopened), $6 billion (July 27th) That's two hundred thirty-five billion dollars over the next week!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are squaring off in a public dispute over who should become the nation's top consumer watchdog. Geithner wants to strip the Fed of its consumer protection duties and create a new federal agency designated solely to such a mission. Bernanke says those responsibilities should stay with the central bank and has suggested he is up to the task by outlining new rules for mortgage lenders. Both officials were scheduled to make their cases Friday in back-to-back testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. "We believe we can...

US bail-out efforts are having a significant impact on some credit markets, the Treasury and Federal Reserve said in a report on Monday, just as the watchdog for the rescue effort attacked a lack of transparency.Neil Barofsky, special inspector-general for the troubled asset relief programme, said that the various US schemes to shore up banks and restart lending exposed federal agencies to a risk of $23,700bn – a vast estimate that was immediately dismissed by the Treasury. He added in his own report to Congress that “disagreements remain” between the office of the special inspector-general for the troubled asset relief...

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1946360420090619 Fri Jun 19, 2009 By David Lawder WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) - A purported $134 billion in U.S. government bearer bond certificates seized by police near the Italian-Swiss border are fake, the U.S. Treasury said on Friday. "Based on the photograph we've seen online, they are clearly fake. And not even good fakes," said Stephen Meyerhardt, a spokesman for the Treasury's Bureau of the Public Debt. He added that there is only $105 million in Treasury bearer bond securities outstanding, so the $134 billion amount seized far exceeds the universe of outstanding securites. The Treasury's determination confirmed the suspicions...