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Debt: Still Cheap, and Getting Looser

“The industry is clearly rebounding. Guy Cecala, publisher of the trade magazine Inside Mortgage Finance, says, ‘You’re going to see a little more risk coming into the system’ as lenders permit smaller down payments and finance more investment properties. ‘Five years down the road and we’re back in the thick of it again. It’s a weird place to be,’ says Cliff Rossi, who was a high-level risk management executive at Countrywide, Washington Mutual, and Freddie Mac before the crisis. ‘In that intervening 20 years, we forgot what we learned in the ’80s,’ he says. ‘I fear right now, human nature being what it is, that downstream we could find ourselves in the same situation.'” Continue reading →

The FED Does Not Control the Federal Funds Rate

“Because they are sitting on $2 trillion of excess reserves, banks rarely borrow money overnight. They do not have to. They have plenty of reserves. Before late 2008, a bank would borrow overnight if its reserves threatened to fall below the legal requirement set by the FED. But now banks have so many reserves that they rarely borrow. So, there is little demand. So, the rate is low. The FOMC has increased the monetary base at times. In most of 2012, it decreased it. The FedFunds rate has not changed when FOMC policy has changed. Here is the inescapable conclusion: the Federal Reserve does not control this rate. The FED pretends that it does.” Continue reading →

The biggest Bitcoin win in gambling history

“In just one weekend of furious gambling, a single Internet high roller has taken home close to 11,000 bitcoins—or about $1.3 million. The man, known online as Nakowa, has turned one of Bitcoin’s most popular and profitable casinos into a loser. What no one can figure out: Is he a cheater, a genius, or the luckiest man on earth? Just-Dice.com, a European-based cybercasino offering a set of dice games played for the highly valuable digital currency Bitcoin, has been on a roller coaster ride. Nakowa’s weekend started on a losing streak that made Just-Dice richer than it had ever been, causing the site to hit its highest single profit point of all time (7,000 bitcoins or $862,400 on hand).” Continue reading →

Cruz’ plan B for defunding Obamacare: ‘Shut down the military’

“Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Sunday warned Senate Republicans that refusing to filibuster a bill that defunds President Barack Obama’s health care reform law ‘is a vote for Obamacare,’ and he also advised House Republicans to ‘shut down the military’ if they had to. ‘If Harry Reid kills the bill in the Senate, the House should hold its ground, and should begin passing smaller continuing resolutions, one department at a time,’ Cruz explained. ‘It should start with a continuing resolution focused on the military.’ ‘Send it over, see if Harry Reid is willing to shut down the military,’ he quipped.” Continue reading →

Japan nuclear agency says Fukushima water leak risk exaggerated

“The chief of Japan’s nuclear watchdog chided the operator of the Fukushima plant Thursday for its inability properly to explain problems, which he said was inflating fears around the world. Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, said information given by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) on the level of radioactive contamination was ‘scientifically unacceptable’. Tanaka’s comments come after TEPCO announced it had detected a hotspot with a reading of 2,200 millisieverts per hour. TEPCO has confirmed that a reading of 2,200 millisieverts per hour would be enough to kill a person in a matter of hours.” Continue reading →

Grid Down Acapulco: “There’s Nothing to Eat”

“Though the government would like us to believe there is rarely looting or panic in the aftermath of a disaster, the fact of the matter is that within 72 hours of any serious crisis people will lose it. Case in point: Acapulco, Mexico. … Continue reading →

Bangladesh police fire rubber bullets at workers seeking $100 month wage

“The vast majority of the impoverished nation’s three million workers earn a basic monthly wage of 3,000 taka ($38) — among the lowest in the world — following a deal between unions, the government and manufacturers in August 2010. On Saturday, dozens of factories were forced to shut after at least 20,000 workers left their machines to demand the wage rise. Angry demonstrators hurled stones at the outside of some 20 factories after managers refused to allow some employees to join the protests, police said. Widespread protests seeking wage rises in 2006 and 2010 led to deadly clashes, leaving dozens of workers dead and hundreds of factories vandalised.” Continue reading →

Saudi Arabian women call new day of defiance against driving ban

“‘I will drive on October 26,’ activist Nasima al-Sada told AFP on Sunday, saying that some 20 women are going to take part in the campaign in the kingdom’s Eastern Province. ‘Many women are enthusiastic about learning to drive, or to teach other’ women how to drive, she said, as many Saudi women have obtained abroad the driving licences they are denied in their homeland. ‘There is not a single text in the Sharia Islamic law that prevents us (from driving). Any pretexts used to do that are based on inherited customs,’ said the online petition. The last day of of defiance against the ban was on June 17, 2011.” Continue reading →