Mainstream News

The £240million private jet with a Turkish bath, boardroom and concert hall

"When you have £16billion in the bank, a Cessna is simply not an option. Instead, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al-Saud is about to take delivery of an Airbus A380, the world’s biggest private jet. The same model is used by Singapore Airlines and Emirates and can fly 800 passengers 8,000 miles before refuelling. But the Saudi prince doesn’t need 800 seats, so he will have them removed to make room for an opulent, marble-finished Turkish bath and a parking space for his Rolls-Royce. The Western-educated prince, 57, is known as the Warren Buffett of the Middle East because of his reputation as a shrewd investor. He also owns 7 per cent of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation." Continue reading →

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Banks Seek a Shield in Mortgage Rules

"The legal protection stems from the Dodd-Frank Act, the sweeping regulatory overhaul passed in 2010 to help repair the financial system. The legislation mandated that loans be affordable, but Congress conceded that banks might fear the legal consequences if the mortgages did not comply. So lawmakers created a type of home loan that would have legal protection, called a 'qualified mortgage.' In practice, the protection will make it harder for borrowers to sue their lenders in the case of foreclosure." Continue reading →

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HSBC to spend $700m vetting clients

"HSBC will spend $700m on a global 'know your customer' programme, as part of a 26-point plan agreed with US regulatorsto settle money laundering and sanctions breaches. The UK bank, which signed up to the A-Z programme of management changes covering both its US and global operations, reiterated apologies for its failure to prevent Mexican money launderers and countries subject to sanctions, including Iran, from using its network." Continue reading →

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Argentina Deploys Troops To Contain Looting

"What started with the ouster Thursday afternoon of a supermarket in the Patagonian resort town of Bariloche quickly spread to other parts of the country, with thousands of looters attacking supermarkets and shops in the cities of Rosario, Campana and Zárate. In the central city Rosario, two people were killed during the incidents and 137 people arrested. The Kirchner administration deployed 400 federal agents Thursday night at the request of Río Negro Province's governor to help restore order in Bariloche after inhabitants of a shantytown looted at least one supermarket and attacked several other supermarkets and shops." Continue reading →

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Fitch expects ‘Bond Bubble’ carnage when rate cycle turns

"Yields on 10-year US corporate bonds have fallen to the lowest levels in history as a result of central bank liquidity, halving from 4pc to well under 2pc since early 2011. Fitch said a 'sudden rise' would devastate the portofolios of life insurers, pension funds, and other fixed-income institutions. 'If interest rates were to revert rapidly, a typical BBB-rated US corporate bond could lose 15pc of its market value, with longer duration bonds suffering a 26pc loss,' it said. Fitch said the authorities face an ugly dilemma. If they persist with ultra-loose policies, they will push investors deeper into 'low-coupon securities' that are most vulnerable to rising yields." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFitch expects ‘Bond Bubble’ carnage when rate cycle turns

Central bankers rethink their devotion to slaying inflation

"A subtle shift in monetary policymaking is afoot with a new generation of central bankers, striving to secure global economic recovery, prepared to challenge the old doctrine of inflation-fighting at all costs. Policymakers from the U.S. Federal Reserve to the Bank of Japan have reconsidered or relaxed their inflation targets and have given more emphasis to economic growth. With the financial crisis having starkly exposed central banks' failure to stave off danger, and policymakers having responded by flooding world markets with trillions of dollars in cheap funding, a small run-up in inflation may no longer be the anathema it once was." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCentral bankers rethink their devotion to slaying inflation

Going for gold? Don’t forget the vault

"Investors in Asia are increasingly dealing with a seemingly anachronistic problem: finding a place to stash their bars of gold. Gold is a popular choice for those seeking to diversify their holdings and spread risk but it isn't the most mobile of assets. Still, gold has been moving east, and that has created opportunities for security companies in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai -- financial hubs where the metal's popularity is soaring. Security companies are busy ordering two-ton steel doors and sophisticated monitoring systems, and hiring more armed guards as they expand their high-security vault capacity in Asia." Continue reading →

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Why Milk Prices Could More Than Double After January 1

"Come Jan. 1, there is a threat that milk prices could rise to $6 to $8 a gallon if Congress does not pass a new farm bill that amends farm policy dating back to the Truman presidency. Without last-minute Congressional action, the government would have to follow an antiquated 1949 farm law that would force the government to buy milk at wildly inflated prices, creating higher prices in the dairy case. Milk now costs an average of $3.65 a gallon. Higher prices would be based on what dairy farm production costs were in 1949, when milk production was almost all done by hand." Continue reading →

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China’s state-run TV broadcast of ‘V for Vendetta’ shocks viewers

"China’s state-run television network shocked viewers by broadcasting 'V for Vendetta', an anarchist-themed film showing an uprising against an authoritarian government. Chinese Internet users expressed surprise after watching the broadcast, circulating subversive lines from the movie including: 'The people should not be afraid of the government, the government should be afraid of the people.' The film was once banned in mainland China, the state-run China Youth Daily reported, and was not shown in Chinese cinemas." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina’s state-run TV broadcast of ‘V for Vendetta’ shocks viewers

China arrests nearly 1,000 doomsday ‘cult’ members of ‘Almighty God’

"The Christian-inspired group 'Almighty God' has been accused of spreading doomsday rumours apparently linked to the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar and urging followers to slay the 'red dragon' of communism, state media reports said. Close to 1,000 followers of the sect, which state-run media labels an 'evil cult' – the same description it applies to the banned Falun Gong group – have been held in a nationwide crackdown that began last week, state-run CCTV reported." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina arrests nearly 1,000 doomsday ‘cult’ members of ‘Almighty God’