Land Of The Flea

Federal Reserve Spies on France

"New documents from WikiLeaks show the National Security Agency spies on French companies as well as its government. That's not especially surprising. What is surprising is seeing the Federal Reserve Board on the list of 'supported elements' for whom the NSA spied. We've always known the Fed had its nose in every economic nook and cranny. Now, thanks to WikiLeaks, we have proof. You can view the secret document online. What you will see is a standing topic list, dating back to 2002, on which the NSA collects information for further analysis. NSA's 'customer' list includes not only the Fed but also the Commerce Department, Treasury Department and U.S. Trade Representative." Continue reading →

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IRS Seeks To Require Reporting Of All U.S. Bank Accounts

"Currently, information reports are not required on non-interest accounts, while there is a $10 threshold for reporting on interest bearing accounts. This change would be effective for the current tax year of 2015, giving banks and credit unions little time to adapt their systems for compliance. Should this provision be enacted, taxpayers will be awash in new 1099s reporting de minimis amounts of interest. In many cases, they will report less than a one dollar in earned interest per year. Additionally, this new reporting requirement will impose substantial costs on the financial services industry that far exceed the revenue that will be gained by the proposal." Continue reading →

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Shadowy federal agency snooping in your wallet

"Created under the sweeping Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, the agency sets regulatory guidance for an array of financial products. The bureau is funded through a direct percentage of Federal Reserve income, not by Congress – and that means there’s no congressional oversight. A recent report found that the CFPB has accomplished the monitoring of more than 85 percent of all credit card records from U.S. consumers. The agency’s goal is to reach 95 percent of the domestic credit card marketplace. The bureau presided over the U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point, a campaign to choke off the credit lines of targeted businesses." Continue reading →

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Chicago Public Schools’ pain is these financial firms’ gain

"Struggling to make payments for pensions and pay down billions of dollars in debt, the Chicago Public Schools last week announced 1,050 layoffs and $200 million in spending cuts to keep the school system afloat. Dozens of financial and legal firms have been paid $18.1 million in fees from CPS borrowing and debt-refinancing deals since 2011, according to records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. CPS still owes billions on borrowing deals dating to the mid-1990s, when then-Mayor Richard M. Daley took formal control of the school system, which then began renovating and building schools using borrowed money." Continue reading →

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The Ominous Warning in Denny Hastert’s Downfall

"The speaker who pushed through financial monitoring provisions of the USA Patriot Act found himself ensnared in the same law. By 'structuring' his cash withdrawals to avoid reporting requirements, he aroused suspicions at his bank and gave the FBI reason to investigate. As delightful as it is to see the mighty brought low, Hastert may also be victim of a grave injustice. If the government thinks it can prove Hastert committed a sex crime, the right course would be to file charges and let a jury decide. Law enforcement now has the power to bypass courts and inflict punishment without trial. Before we relish Hastert's downfall, we should remember that any one of us could be next." Continue reading →

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Indian in US? Your Account is Now Under Delhi Surveillance

"Thousands of Indian citizens in the US – from IT workers, health professionals, students and everyone else under the sun – will soon be innocent victims to snooping by the Indian government. If an Indian citizen holds a bank account in the US, minute details about his/her bank account will be shared with New Delhi by Washington. Although India gets access only to bank account information of Indian citizens, the US can get access to even information of 'non-US entities' operating in India if it has even one American working for them. That means information about any Indian corporation or organisation would be provided to Washington on request, if it has an American on rolls." Continue reading →

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Feds to return $107K they seized from NC business owner

"McLellan is just one of thousands of Americans the IRS has seized money from, supposedly for 'structuring' funds to avoid a law requiring banks to alert the government of deposits over $10,000. The law was instituted to help the government ferret out drug dealers, terrorists or other criminals -- but the IRS occasionally flags deposits of just under $10,000 as suspicious even if there's no evident criminal wrongdoing, in turn ensnaring people who may be innocent. That's what allegedly happened in McLellan's case. His convenience store in North Carolina was raided in October by IRS agents who said he made a series of just-under-$10,000 deposits in a 24-hour period." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: The Dumbest Investment Mistake You Can Make

"There could be a 15-day cooling off period… which could be extended by the Fed, in the interest of market stability. Economists don’t know what will work because no one can know what the future will bring. But we all know what won’t work: central financial planning. Likewise, investors can’t consistently choose good investments; because they don’t really know the future. All they can know is what isn’t true and, knowing that, avoid bad investments. That’s why investing is often called a 'loser’s game.' You don’t win by choosing winning investments; you win by not losing. You don’t win by pretending to know what is true; you win by knowing what is false." Continue reading →

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Fed looks at imposing exit fees on bond funds

"Federal Reserve officials have discussed whether regulators should impose exit fees on bond funds to avert a potential run by investors, underlining concern about the vulnerability of the $10 trillion corporate bond market. US retail investors have pumped more than $1 trillion into bond funds since early 2009. This has created a boom environment for fixed income money managers, but raises the prospect of a massive disorganized flight of money out of the industry should interest rates rise sharply in the coming years. Exit fees would seek to discourage retail investors from withdrawing funds, thereby making their claims less liquid and making a fire sale of the assets more unlikely." Continue reading →

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The Feds Step Up Utility Growth

"Federal regulators’ recent move to change the criteria used to calculate regulated utilities’ allowed returns may be a small victory for income investors. Over the past few years, regulators pared utility profits in response to ultra-low Treasury rates. But investors and energy executives have long argued that these historically low rates are a market distortion created by Federal Reserve stimulus and, therefore, do not accurately reflect utilities’ actual operating environment. The order in late June by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the agency that regulates the transmission and wholesale sale of electricity in interstate commerce, finally acknowledged this reality." Continue reading →

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