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My Fed Forecast Was Right on Target — What to Look for Next

"Outgoing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke sounded a much more confident tone on the economy in his post-meeting press conference. And he indicated that the incoming chairman, Janet Yellen, fully supported the day’s action. Furthermore, he said that barring some economic catastrophe, the $10 billion reduction in the QE program we’ll get in January is just the first of many steps. It should be followed by cuts of roughly an equivalent size — or more — at every single meeting in 2014. That, in turn, sets the stage for the next major surprise. (At least to the Wall Street crowd.) I’m talking about the first actual short-term interest-rate hike in 2014." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMy Fed Forecast Was Right on Target — What to Look for Next

What Happened to the Fed’s Trillions? Back on Deposit…at the Fed!

"So you can understand why they wanted to have the tool. Now the question is whether or not this tool as it was implemented throughout this financial crisis, and aftermath, has exacerbated the problems with the credit channel. A bank can decide, 'Do I want to give a three-year loan to a risky borrower, or do I want to get 25 basis points at the Federal Reserve? I'm really risk averse right now. I don't really want to lend to anybody so I'd rather take my 25 basis points.' So I believe that at the margin, this has affected the credit channel, the effectiveness of the credit channel." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Happened to the Fed’s Trillions? Back on Deposit…at the Fed!

David Stockman: Lunatic Fed Engineering Global Collapse

"Yellen has been part of this Fed system since the 1990s. Just start with the year 2000: The balance sheet of the Fed was $500 billion. Today it’s pushing $4 trillion. That’s an eight-fold increase just in this century. She’s been part of it all along, and if that isn’t monetizing the debt, (then) I don’t know what the word means. It is only the top 1% that has experienced a huge windfall from the serial bubbles that the Fed has created. So, if you go right to the core of what this is all about -- what the Fed’s mission is, what the new chairman of the Fed will be doing and saying, I think we had a pretty good indication that she’s going to take this lunatic policy that we’ve had for years now right over the edge." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Stockman: Lunatic Fed Engineering Global Collapse

Yellen Strikes Out

"Mrs. Yellen insisted that she supports 'transparency and openness on the part of the Fed.' She claimed that in terms of the 'range of information and the timeliness of that information, we are one of the most transparent central banks in the world.' That’s not only irrelevant but wan. She then declared that she would not support 'a requirement — any requirement — that would diminish the independence of the Federal Reserve in implementing, and deciding on implementing, monetary policy.'" Continue reading →

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The FED’s New Normal: $900 Billion a Year . . . Indefinitely

"This is the Federal Reserve System at 100 years. The economy is now addicted to an emergency monetary policy. The FOMC has made it clear: the bubble conditions of the financial markets will not deliberately be popped by a return to 2007. This is the new normal -- endless addiction to monetary expansion. Meanwhile, the banks refuse to lend into the economy. They pile up excess reserves. The FOMC clearly does not expect this to cease. That is why $900 billion a year is the new normal." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe FED’s New Normal: $900 Billion a Year . . . Indefinitely

Report Suggests NSA Engaged In Bank Account Manipulation

"Governments should not use their offensive cyber capabilities to change the amounts held in financial accounts or otherwise manipulate the financial system.' While there have been plenty of reports about the US running hundreds of offensive cyberattacks on others, outside of things like Stuxnet, not many have been directly identified. And I'm unaware of any claims suggesting attempts to 'manipulate the financial system' of any particular country and/or to 'change the amounts held in financial accounts.' It seems a bit odd to come out of the blue like that, and certainly suggests that this particular bullet point likely came as a result of a rather specific thing that came up during the task force's review. " Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReport Suggests NSA Engaged In Bank Account Manipulation

Bill Bonner: The Fed’s Big Lie

"Whatever may be said about today’s cockeyed economies, there is nothing 'normal' about them. What’s normal about a government that runs up as much debt as it had in World War II – with no war… no national emergency… and no way to pay the money back? What’s normal about an economy that depends on the lowest interest rates in three generations… and a central bank that holds them down like a crooked butcher with his finger on the meat scale? And what’s normal about an advanced capitalist country where the typical man earns less than he did 43 years ago?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: The Fed’s Big Lie

Chinese Bitcoin crackdown sparks revenge cyber-attack

"China’s central bank is thought to have been targeted in a revenge cyber-attack by investors infuriated at government attempts to destroy the local Bitcoin market. As the yuan-denominated value of Bitcoins collapsed today, the website and official, Twitter-style weibo account of the People’s Bank of China suffered a series of crashes believed to have been caused by hackers. Although the attacks were not claimed by any group, they followed a decision by Beijing earlier this week that will effectively shut down Bitcoin trading on China’s online exchanges. Bitcoins have proved exceptionally popular in China." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChinese Bitcoin crackdown sparks revenge cyber-attack

Bitcoin Value Sinks After Chinese Exchange Blocked

"China’s biggest Bitcoin exchange was forced to stop accepting deposits in the Chinese currency on Wednesday, sending the price of the virtual money tumbling in one of its biggest markets globally. The development comes less than two weeks after China’s central bank and four other government agencies that regulate finance and technology issued a joint announcement banning Chinese financial institutions from dealing in the virtual currency. By Wednesday evening, the Shanghai-based BTC was quoting Bitcoins at about 2,300 renminbi, or about $380, apiece. That was nearly 40 percent lower than where they had traded on Tuesday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Value Sinks After Chinese Exchange Blocked

U.S. Treasury cautions Bitcoin businesses on legal duties

"Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has sent 'industry outreach' letters to about a dozen firms, regarding potential anti-money laundering compliance obligations related to Bitcoin businesses, FinCEN spokesman Steve Hudak told Thomson Reuters' regulatory information service Compliance Complete. The letters have had a 'chilling effect' on Bitcoin businesses, which are intimidated by the threat of civil and criminal sanctions for non-compliance, said Jon Matonis, executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, an advocacy group. The firms, he said, may effectively be 'put out of business in an extrajudicial manner.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Treasury cautions Bitcoin businesses on legal duties